One-Punch Man: Does Genos die?

Garou kills Genos as seen in the manga
Garou kills Genos as seen in the manga (Image credit: Shueisha)

One-Punch Man is a series beloved for its unique take on the superhero genre. Season 3, which is scheduled for release in October 2025, will feature the story arc with the highest stakes yet, as the members of the Hero Association take on the immensely powerful monsters from the Monster Association.

While One-Punch Man is not generally known to feature heavy on-screen deaths, the dangers in the upcoming arc have many fans fearing for one particular individual, Genos. Given the deuteragonist’s frequent brushes with death and his selfless nature, where he is willing to sacrifice himself to protect others, many may be curious about his fate.

Yes, Genos does die in One-Punch Man during the Monster Association Arc. However, soon after his death, Saitama resets the timeline, essentially bringing the beloved cyborg back to life.

Saitama vs Garou as seen in the manga (Image credit: Shueisha)
Saitama vs Garou as seen in the manga (Image credit: Shueisha)

Genos’s fate in One-Punch Man

Genos is a fan-favorite character in One-Punch Man, adored for his loyalty toward Saitama, his heroic nature, and his memorable powers. However, although he may be an S-Class hero, Genos often takes a lot of damage during battle due to his tendency not to cower in front of uneven matchups.

Though Saitama has saved him several times from near-fatal situations, fans had anticipated that the time would come when the hero would finally be too late to save his disciple. The worst fears of the fandom ended up coming true during the final part of the Monster Association Arc, where Garou had been influenced by God and awakened his Cosmic mode.

The antagonist’s very presence let out radiation that was deadly to all those around him. However, Genos, who was resistant due to his nature as a cyborg, attempted to fight back despite the severe injuries he had accumulated till then. Unfortunately, this was to no avail.

Since this corrupted version of Garou sensed Saitama’s hidden strength and wished to fight him seriously, he chose to motivate him by taking a drastic step, killing Genos. Garou picked up Genos and pierced through his body, after which he snatched his core and threw it to Saitama.

His taunt worked, as Saitama became enraged for the very first time and engaged in a battle that was intense enough to destroy planets. After a short but exhilarating fight, Saitama managed to defeat Garou, while the antagonist realized the severity of his actions.

Hoping to undo the disastrous future that had occurred through God’s influence, Garou used his limited remaining life force to teach Saitama to manipulate anti-particles, which would let him travel back in time. Saitama instantly mastered it and ended up in a timeline where Garou’s rampage in his Cosmic mode was yet to begin.

Genos sees the original timeline as seen in the manga (Image credit: Shueisha)
Genos sees the original timeline as seen in the manga (Image credit: Shueisha)

The protagonist quickly beat him with a punch and then merged with his other self that existed in the timeline. Meanwhile, Genos, who was alive in this world, saw glimpses of his death through the core of his alternate self that Saitama was carrying.

Therefore, while Genos did die in the original story, Saitama created an alternate reality by going back in time. The rest of One-Punch Man continues in this same timeline, where Genos is still alive.

Additionally, Saitama soon forgot the events of his original battle against Cosmic Garou, leaving Genos the only one aware of what had transpired in both worlds.

Edited by Sroban Ghosh