Boomstick: Popeye, the Sailor Man.
Wiz: East versus west. Old versus new.
Boomstick: Healthy eating versus basic exercise!
Wiz: These two warriors may seem ridiculous, but their unassuming exteriors bely impossible strength.
And so it is that this season ends with two of the strongest men from their respective mediums. These once-ordinary brawlers, as absurdly strong as they are bald, used mundane means to reach heights no human could hope to achieve. Considered unbeatable to the point of parody, these two combatants are known for the sheer strength of their fists, and now is the time for them to trade blows and round out the show's anniversary with a death battle.
First off is the One-Punch Man himself, Saitama. Once a failed salaryman, Saitama lived a hollow existence, devoid of meaning or passion. It was after saving an unfortunately-chinned child from a crab monster that Saitama turned his life around. Inspired, he set out to become not just a superhero, but the strongest person to have ever lived. He worked tirelessly to push his body beyond his natural limits to heights unknown and turn him into a superhuman. This regimen worked, but to his horror, Saitama suffered prematured hair loss; more importantly, he grew overwhelmingly powerful, to the extent that any foe who faced him was soundly obliterated with a single punch. The challenges that Saitama dedicated his life to were replaced with the crippling realization that nothing was worth the effort anymore. Since then, Saitama has taken up superhero work under the sobriquet of Caped Baldy, in the hopes of finally finding an opponent who can defeat him, and his chronic boredom by extension.
Though adversity in some way always plays a crucial role in Saitama's life, his road to overcoming it and seeking it again has yielded phenomenal results. According to the science of Dr. Genus, every living thing has a limit as to how much they can grow. Somehow, Saitama's training was able to surpass this limit, becoming stronger and swifter beyond any expectation. Saitama's physicality is one that reaches absurd levels. Everything from lava to energy taken from the core of the earth and even brief trips into space are all part of the trials Saitama's body has endured. His agility is another point of pride, with punches that can approach light-speed and the speed to create afterimages by just hopping from side to side. The true strength of Saitama, however, lies in just that: his strength. A normal punch from the Caped Baldy, one in which he uses the absolute minimum of his effort, can still tear apart mountains and meteors, sometimes without even touching them. Should a foe be able to pose something resembling a threat, Saitama can throw several of these punches in quick succession. Similarly worthy foes force him to put a slight modicum of effort into his punches, which, despite the minimum increase on his part, increases the force of that punch further.
Having the kind of power that Saitama carries means having several opportunities to showcase it, and showcase it he has. The salaryman turned hero can withstand being launched to the moon and a subsequent jump back off it. With this kind of power, Saitama has matched every manner of otherworldly threat, such as the monstrous Orochi, who could lift chunks of the earth and the alien warlord Boros. Boros in particular stands out as the kind of being regularly bested by Saitama, as the Caped Baldy could survive the brunt of Boros' planet-busting Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon long enough to easily redirect it with a Serious Punch. Even his regular workout routine, hundreds of weight training reps and marathons every day, would tear apart his muscles, but the fact Saitama keeps to this regimen daily is in itself a testament to his durability. The seemingly limitless scope of Saitama's power, however, did little to give him his due by the public. This gave the superhero a new lease on life, as he came to find comfort in smaller, day to day pleasures instead of the constant urge of battle. Even so, Saitama can only be swayed from his life goals for so long, and as greater threats emerge, he comes ever closer to finally finding an enemy who can make him feel something once more. And, until he does, he'll always end his fights in… ONE PUNCH!
- Saitama: (oblivious to the exploding city behind him) I guess that takes care of that.
With that said, the hosts then cover Popeye the sailor, the classic cartoon icon nearly a century in the making. Born to the distant and uncaring Poopdeck Pappy, Popeye was abandoned out of shame for his unsightly appearance. Once the kinder Whaler Joe took him in, Popeye was motivated to fight the wrongdoers of the world and joined the navy from his adopted father's example. His experiences becoming a real sailor in the midst of World War II and its numerous racial caricatures also gave him the opportunity to better hone his fighting prowess. He eventually left the military, but he never lost a touch of his fighting spirit. Earning an assortment of friends and rivals, Popeye found himself in countless adventures in life beyond the navy; but just as often as trouble finds him does he always find a way out, his bulging biceps leading the charge.
The time Popeye served in the navy taught him professional boxing, but the true breadth of his skills is far greater. Hailing from the golden age of animation, Popeye possesses all the classic elements of characters from that time period. His body is highly malleable, able to contort into any shape and volume Popeye needs. A similar ability that Popeye possesses is rewriting the laws of reality on a whim; colloquially known as toon force. With toon force, the sailor can do virtually anything he wants, though some of the more common tricks in Popeye's lineup include shooting fire through his corncob pipe and deconstructing the victims of his punches into their component elements. All of these abilities, formidable as they are, only intensify with the cornerstone of Popeye's fighting prowess: the consumption of spinach. This leafy vegetable, in Popeye's world, is loaded with seemingly unlimited amounts of nutrition, granting the eater with astronomical power. As Popeye can acquire spinach whenever and however he needs to, he can be guaranteed invulnerability, flight, and shapeshifting well beyond the norm.
As one of cartoons' longest lasting figures, Popeye has developed quite the résumé. Some of his punches have been witnessed as causing injury to the sun, and he can punch himself while shadow boxing, simply by virtue of moving so fast. As a baseline, his toon force can interact with forces outside the medium portraying his story; tearing the film reel of his shorts, receiving spinach from the audience watching his cartoon, and attacking the very artists drawing him are all examples of it at work. With spinach, however, Popeye reaches godlike potential, given the leafy greens contain so many calories that a fully grown sprout can reach into a neighboring star system. Even the creator of the universe turning off reality with a switch in an attempt to kill Popeye, failed to do so thanks to the power of spinach. Clearly, such a reputation as this lives up to the hype, and Popeye, making sure only to unleash this devastating brawn against those deserving of it, has earned every bit of praise as a hero and a pop culture legend.
- Popeye: I'm Popeye the sailor man! (toots his pipe twice)
With some of the strongest fighters ever covered on this series fully covered, the time has come to bring this season to a close. One advertisement for betterhelp online therapy later, and now, it's time for a death battle!
At the supermarket in his home of Z-City, Saitama, the One-Punch Man, boredly browses its wares. A special offer on spinach catches the superhero's eye, but the price drives him away. The gruff sailor adorning the can's logo hears Saitama dismissing him, and Popeye begins to pull himself into the real world, a fist cocked back. As the son of Poopdeck smashes Saitama through several shelves, he stashes the can away and prepares to throw hands in response to Saitama shunning his spinach. The Caped Baldy, his expression blank as always, lets Popeye charge forward...
FIGHT!
... and wordlessly dodges every swinging fist headed towards him. Even after Popeye grabs Saitama's exposed arm, the ensuing volley of punches does little to face the bald wonder. The sailor man throws a punch hard enough to launch Saitama further out, straight out the market and skidding across the street; ever courteous, Popeye lifts the broken wall and fixes it before turning his attention back to the fight at hand. Seeing Saitama none the worse off is met with Popeye's shock and the hero's own continued apathy. Halfheartedly pulling his own fist back, Popeye focuses more on the kanji manifesting on Saitama's knuckles than the imminent destruction it heralds. Indeed, Popeye is reduced to unassorted organs and diving equipment littering the blood-soaked asphalt once the hit connects. The former salaryman prepares to leave, but a can of spinach lands in Popeye's dismembered arm; squeezing it causes the veggies within to burst forth and land in Popeye's lifeless mouth. With a few seconds of chewing, the sailor springs to life, his body reassembling itself in a flurry of spinach leaves.
Saitama, while more perplexed, is still able to keep pace with the reinvigorated Popeye. Back and forth they go leaping across the street, matching each other's blows perfectly. Saitama begins to take the fight a touch more seriously; using his speed, he surrounds the sailor and throws a series of furious punches that causes him to stretch back. The seaman slingshots his torso and a muscular fist straight into Saitama's face; so powerful is this hit that reality warps around the pair. To a jaunty chiptune melody, a sprite of Saitama is pursued across the ocean by an equally-pixellated Popeye. The Caped Baldy comes to his senses and uses his punches to launch forceful currents at Popeye's boat, only for the sailor man to paddle to safety. Soon, the navy veteran leaps out the boat and enlarges his arm for another blow. As fists collide, reality fractures again as the now animated Popeye is launched into the air.
Meanwhile, on the ocean floor, Saitama uproots a chunk of tectonic plate, before both earth and sea are hurled into orbit. Popeye turns to face the displaced earth and realize his predicament when Saitama flies from behind and drives him clean through. The explosion begins tearing the earth asunder as Saitama comes to process his new, CG model. A throaty laugh cuts through the superhero's confusion as he trades fists with a muscular Popeye. The sailor quickly gains the upper hand as he pummels the One-Punch Man through numerous planets. Landing on shattered remains, the bald brawlers land blows at an increasingly overwhelming pace. In the midst of the utter hellscape, the fighters ready to trade fists and on them both are printed kanji; "shi" versus "bō" When these colliding punches launch the pair deeper into the cosmos, Saitama finally grows ecstatic, awestruck by the colossal amounts of strength Popeye has from his spinach. Grabbing the strongest of superheroes by his cape, Popeye goes into a hammer throw that launches Saitama into the camera.
The view of the fight shatters into white nothingness. As a hand-drawn Saitama punches the void back into existence, he stares out into space. For the first time in ages, he finally has challenge in his life. Popeye, meanwhile, has stood all he can stand, and drifting towards the sun, can stand no more. The Caped Baldy leaps from the empty planet hard enough to shatter it, overjoyed at the fact this fight has actually forced him to push his limits. Silently thanking Popeye for giving his life meaning, he joins the sailor in heated laughter as their punches meet one last time. It takes a moment, but Saitama's knuckles, his arm, his whole body gives way, fracturing and becoming enveloped in pure energy. Popeye slams face first into a grassy plain when a shower of eggs follows him. Catching one, the seaman sees Saitama's face, stoic once more, printed on the shell. The screen irises out as Popeye cheerily launches into his theme, punctuating his victory with the classic whistle of his pipe.
K.O.!
With Saitama's defeat, the hosts prepare the last post-fight analysis of the season. Saitama's inherent limits were broken, but as there was no suitable challenge to force him to grow, there was only so far he could improve his strength. To more accurately explain Saitama's tremendous brawn, his creator has described him as a shonen protagonist starting his journey with the strength at the end of it. As a generous estimate, Saitama's Serious Punches with which he deflected the Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon is assumed to bear the least amount of effort he can muster. Scaling it to the highest recorded real world punch, this would put his highest striking strength at over 200 times greater than the Serious Punch. Undeniably impressive, but Popeye's spinach could create sprouts that reach neighboring stars and subsequently break them; and Popeye, by extension, would have power of this level after eating the spinach. Meanwhile, Popeye's own greatest accomplishments, such as occupying multiple points in space and tearing his own cartoon's film strip, simply defy any attempts at calculation. Even if Popeye could be killed in one punch, complete disintegration and the shutting down of reality are feats of destruction that Popeye has recovered from with the aid of spinach. Saitama, for how his physical prowess is incomparable in his series, is still from a relatively realistic world, whereas Popeye's operates on its own brand of logic. For that reason, Popeye had the sort of force only cartoon physics adhere to that would prove him to be a step above his competition.
Wiz: The winner is Popeye.
Coming soon. Bigger Heroes. Bigger Villains. Death Battle Season 9.
Saitama vs. Popeye contains examples of:
- Artistic License – Biology: Discussed when it's pointed out that Saitama's workout regimen would be both ineffective and dangerous in real life. 100 push-ups and sit-ups a day should be easy for most healthy adults to achieve, especially if they do it across multiple sets, so it would not result in much gain. The same could be said for the 100 squats, but when combined with a 10km run, which is nearly a quarter-marathon (erroneously stated to be half a marathon in the episode), on a daily basis, the result would likely destroy your leg muscles, as it would not give them time to heal between sessions. This proves that Saitama's strength doesn't come from the exercise itself, but rather from his mental tenacity to keep pushing himself even as he was tearing his body apart.
- Art Shift: As mentioned in Medium-Shift Gag, the fight rapidly warps between art styles, though overall the fighters look the same... Until the 3D animated segment where Popeye suddenly has the appearance of an extremely buff and detailed man without a shirt.
- Beyond the Impossible: The reason why Popeye wins. No matter how generous the hosts were when calculating Saitama's feats, in the end, his power boils down to applying some arbitrary amount of force, in a way that could theoretically be measured. Meanwhile, Popeye's strength is so great that logic or the laws of physics simply do not apply to him at all. There's no equation to calculate how many yottatons of TNT (or whatever unit of measurement you want to use) are equivalent to punching a shark so hard it turns into several smaller fish, or Breaking the Fourth Wall and punching out your animator in the real world.
- Bilingual Bonus: While Saitama's Death Punch kanji is easily known to mean "death" in Japanese, the "Spinach Punch" instead uses the Chinese kanji for Spinach.
- Bittersweet Ending: The fight ends up being one for Saitama. He gets killed by Popeye, but in the process, he finally achieves his dream of finding an opponent that can give him a challenge.
- Bookends: Early on in the fight Saitama and Popeye engage in a Punch Parry, the final attack between the two that ends Saitama's life ends up becoming one again.
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: When bringing up Popeye's ability to punch things into their smaller parts, Wiz brings up Popeye turning an anchor into fish hooks, an alligator into hand bags, and Native Americans into… Wiz doesn't want to know.
- Butter Face: While Popeye's 3D model looks okay for the most part, his face is a bit off-putting.
- Call-Back: Like the last fight to feature a master of Toon Physics, circumstances keep forcing Saitama and Popeye to undergo one Art Shift after another.
- Cast from Calories: In an effort to determine Saitama's highest theoretical power, the hosts compared his casual punch and possible highest level to how many calories one burns when doing absolutely nothing and to the calories burned by the strongest punch ever, respectively. The end result is that Saitama could be able to punch with enough power to destroy Uranus 4 times over. However, when compared to how many calories are in a can of Popeye's Spinach, which grew large enough to stretch far into space, then Popeye could draw on fuel which was millions of times stronger.
- Chekhov's Gun: Popeye catches the can of spinach into his hat. After he's split apart into body parts, that same can of spinach lands in his hand. Cue the real fight.
- Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Happens three times after the fight goes to space. Earth is left with a hole in it after Saitama lifts a tectonic plate, Mars is shattered after Popeye punches Saitama into it, and Pluto is destroyed when Saitama leaps from it.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Saitama decides against buying spinach at the grocery store because of its price. This angers Popeye enough to beat him up and send him flying out of the store, then continue escalating the fight to lethal levels.
- Groin Attack: During the duo's brawl after Popeye brings himself back with spinach, a quick shot of both Popeye and Saitama nailing each other in the groins could be seen. Not that the two don't react to it too much.
- Irony: Despite being named The One-Punch Man, Saitama had no way of defending against Popeye's reality warping punches and turning him into eggs, meaning Popeye could defeat him with one punch.
- Kung-Fu Sonic Boom: With almost as much frequency as the Punch Parry below, some of the biggest shockwaves stem from the fighters' punches connecting once.
- Ludicrous Gibs: After being punched out of the store at the start, Saitama retaliates with a Death Punch... which immediately splatters Popeye into a ton of blood, his body parts scattered and various sailor man-assorted items falling from the sky. The sailor recovers from this though thanks to his spinach.
- Medium Blending: Unlike the other hand-drawn fights, which took place in drawn environments, the episode's hand-drawn sections take place in 3D environments. Some Popeye cartoons did something similar through the stereoptical process, where 2D animated characters were combined with real miniature sets.
- Medium-Shift Gag: The episode shifts through numerous mediums, starting with hand-drawn animation between the two, followed by a video game-styled sprite animation, going back to hand-drawn animation, then to 3D animation, and finally back to hand-drawn animation.
- Mythology Gag:
- The cans of spinach Saitama was looking at was "Segar's Spinach", after Popeye's creator, E. C. Segar.
- In the city backdrop early on, there is a Wimpy's Hamburgers restaurant, after the Popeye character's Trademark Favorite Food. There is a real life burger chain named for him
, but none in Japan. - Popeye recovering from being reduced to Ludicrous Gibs via a can of spinach earns him Saitama's iconic "OK", complete with the exact same deadpan expression he gave Boros.
- Popeye's only reply to being asked how he's so unfathomably strong is a nonchalant "I eats me spinach!". In Bobby London's Popeye comics, that's the exact same reply he had for the Supreme Jeep, a Reality Warper above Reality Warpers that had just switched off existence itself only to find Popeye still there.
- Oh, Crap!: Saitama has this when his final punch proves no match against Popeye's.
- Outside-Context Problem: Popeye's status as this for Saitama is part of the reason for Popeye's victory. Saitama might be able to easily defeat super-strong opponents, but he has no experience dealing with Reality Warpers of Popeye's caliber.
- Pummel Duel: Saitama and Popeye engage in one early in the fight, with Saitama breaking it by going faster. They have a second one in the 3d portion of the fight.
- Punch Parry: Happens several times in the fight, notably when both Saitama and Popeye clashed with both the Death Punch and the "Spinach Punch" respectively, and in the finisher when Popeye finishes off Saitama with a component punch to reduce the Caped Baldy to eggs.
- Reality Warper: While Saitama has a limited version of this thanks to the In-Universe theory that he broke his "limiter" that allows him to reach to potentially unlimited physical ability unconstrained by the laws of his reality, Popeye is the more overt one thanks to both the Toon Force and most notably his signature spinach letting him not just snap reality in half over his knee, but outright defy both the in-universe creators of his world and the out-of-universe ones (read, the real world drawers and animators).
- Refuge in Audacity: The big deciding factor on Popeye's win is that while Saitama's abilities are definitely OP, his world still operates on some measure of realistic physics (or as realistic as you can manage in a Shonen manga) and thus Saitama's abilities can be quantified. While his limits are inhumanly high, they at least exist. Popeye on the other hand comes from a Rubberhose world that pushes Toon Physics to their nonexistent limits, and thus Popeye's abilities can't be quantified.
- Sliding Scale of Silliness vs. Seriousness: Saitama, The Comically Serious superhero from a world where aliens and monsters are seen as world-ending threats, versus Popeye, the sailor from a world operating off Toon Physics where anything can and does happen. The very nature of their home series means Popeye has greater feats to scale to, meaning the sillier combatant wins once again.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Saitama, thanks to depression at having seen and defeated all sorts of enemies, bats no eyes at seeing Popeye climb out of the spinach can's logo and punch him across the supermarket, and only responds with a simple "Ok." at the sight of Popeye reassembling his body after eating a can of spinach.
- Values Dissonance: Nervously discussed in Popeye's segment, due to the sailor's... rather colorful history with stereotypes back in the old days of cartoons, with the footage pausing or censoring itself before it could show anything potentially offensive.
- Visual Pun: During Saitama and Popeye's first Pummel Duel, we can see 400lb weights and cinderblocks on Popeye's side, in other words he was adding more weight to his punches.
- Worthy Opponent: A heavy focus of the climax of the fight is Saitama finally finding one of these in Popeye, crying Tears of Joy as he prepares to engage him in one last Punch Parry and thanking the sailor for his help.
