WARNING: The following article spoilers for One-Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows, on sale now.
Taking place concurrently with the first two seasons of the hit anime series, One-Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows expands on the franchise's cast and story with the insertion of the video game's player character; fitting them into the overall narrative of the anime's first two seasons -- including several pivotal moments in the story. With this approach, players are set for an inevitable collision course with the series' protagonist in a surprising way: As the aspiring student to Saitama's own self-proclaimed protege, Genos.
The player character -- whom the game default refers to as Mr./Ms. Nobody -- joins the Hero Association, inspired after their life is saved from a towering monster by Saitama, who easily dispatches the behemoth with a single blow. As the player progresses through the ranks of the Hero Association, they encounter the cybernetic S-Class hero Genos in one of the first season's most classic fights: Against the bloodthirsty Mosquito Girl who gains power by the more blood she and her swarm drain from hapless victims throughout the city. With both the player and Genos outmatched, both heroes are rescued by Saitama who easily annihilates the insectoid monster with his signature single punch.
As he does in the anime series, Genos immediately approaches Saitama to become his disciple and grow stronger from his teachings. In a twist from the original source material, however, the player character also asks to become a protege of Saitama's, resulting in a deeply jealous reaction from Genos. Already unsure of having Genos constantly tagging along, Saitama instead decides to kill two birds with one stone by having the player character train under the cybernetic hero as his student to Genos' visible surprise and annoyance.
As the game progresses, Genos can be seen wandering the city's central hub, however, whenever he is approached by the player character, the stoic hero often dismisses them as a waste of his time as he continually seeks to attain new levels of combat strength. As with all the major members of the Hero Association, the player character can improve his social standing with Genos, leading to a warmer response from him though the cyborg is still ill-equipped to progress from a student to a hero mentor himself.
Establishing Genos as an unwilling mentor-figure confirms a lot about Genos' character within the overall context of the franchise. While appearing as a noble, selflessly motivated hero, Genos is actually revealed to be a bit of a self-centered, jealous individual, unable to even entertain the possibility of someone studying alongside him under Saitama. And even when given the responsibility of training the latest generation of Hero Association members -- with the player character as a promising recruit -- Genos instead is too focused on obtaining new cybernetic improvements to make himself the ultimate hero.
Genos has often been compared to a walking parody of many action anime tropes, from his status as a cybernetic warrior with a tragic past and thirst for justice to his obsession with constant self-improvement. This all makes him one of the worst characters in One-Punch Man to take on a pupil of his own, with A Hero Nobody Knows taking full comedic advantage of this development for the character. And with the player character steadily growing stronger themselves, soon Genos may find himself outmatched by his own student as his quest for glory continues to elude him.
One-Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows is developed by Spike Chunsoft Co. LTD. and will be available on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It is on sale now from Bandai Namco.