“ | No matter how much effort one puts in, every living being has an intrinsic limit to its growth. Too much power becomes unbearable and overwhelms its host, turning it into a mindless, rampaging monster. To ensure that we do not enter the realm where we lose all purpose and reason, God has set limits to the growth of every being. The mechanism with which growth is controlled is called the limiter. | „ |
~ Dr. Genus |
Summary
The limiter (リミッター, Rimittā) is a barrier placed by God on all beings in the One-Punch Man world that restricts their physical growth[1]. The limiter acts as a sort of cap to an individual's growth, making it impossible to grow past a certain point[1]. There are different ways to bypass the limiter, such as Monsterization, which essentially transforms an individual into a new being, granting them a new limiter, and Cyborgification which only limits are of the technology itself.
It is also possible for the limiter to be broken[2]. Doing so allows an individual to grow indefinitely, however in order to do so, the individual would need to conquer death, overbearing their body and soul. This process is very difficult, and is only possible via sheer willpower and resilience.
Uses of Breaking the Limiter
- Statistics Amplification (People who have broken their limiter become far stronger than before, being able to achieve things far above their normal capabilities)
- Indefinite Accelerated Development (Breaking the limiter removes the cap on their physical growth, allowing them to continuously grow forever)
Willpower
In order for a character to have the potential for their limiter to be broken, the individual needs to wield abnormal willpower.
Going beyond standard supernatural willpower, in One-Punch Man, having strong willpower grants the user several abilities and resistances as seen below:
- Supernatural Willpower
- Immense Pain Tolerance and Limited Immortality (Type 2; Those with abnormally strong willpower can survive near death conditions[3], as well as flat out death[4] via sheer willpower)
- Accelerated Development (Those with abnormally strong willpower can experience explosive boosts of strength[4] by overcoming death[5] or going through an upsurge of emotion[6])
- Resistance to
- Absorption, Mind Corruption, and Madness Manipulation (Those with abnormally strong willpower can avoid having their minds corrupted[7] and taken[8] over[4] by Monsterization and Fusionism)
- Mental BFR and Telepathy (Child Emperor could break out of Phoenix Man's mental plane through willpower[9])
- Empathic Manipulation (Fubuki could avoid getting turned into a love slave by Do-s' whip through willpower[10])
- Sleep Manipulation (Metal Bat could resist Rafflesidon's sleeping gas through willpower[11]. Pri-Pri Prisoner could resist anesthetic gas through willpower[12])
- Electricity Manipulation, Freezing, Extreme Heat, Sound Manipulation, and Pain Manipulation (Pri-Pri Prisoner was unaffected by an onslaught of attacks from several monsters through sheer willpower[12])
- Poison Manipulation (Pri-Pri Prisoner could resist being stabbed with venomous blades through sheer willpower[12])
- Limited Resistance to
- Biological Manipulation and Transformation via Body Control (Those with abnormally strong willpower who have also been Monsterized are able to turn themselves back into humans at will[13])
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 One-Punch Man Chapter 88
- ↑ One-Punch Man Chapter 126
- ↑ One-Punch Man Chapter 98
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 One-Punch Man Chapter 92
- ↑ One-Punch Man Chapter 15.5
- ↑ One-Punch Man Chapter 168
- ↑ One-Punch Man Chapter 128
- ↑ One-Punch Man Chapter 74
- ↑ One-Punch Man Chapter 99
- ↑ One-Punch Man Chapter 65
- ↑ One-Punch Man Chapter 55
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 One-Punch Man Chapter 107
- ↑ One-Punch Man Chapter 78