Who, really, raised me?
I’ve been thinking a lot about who raised me to be who I am. And I’m preparing an essay about that. But this one is not about that. This one is about the CARTOONS and TV that raised me.
When I think about what I value today, throughout my life, from childhood to now, I can only admit that fictional characters have influenced me heavily in my upbringing, my emotions, my feelings, and my paradigms. It’s absolutely insane!!! Jajaja
I was able to identify many of the emotions tied to each. Here’s how it goes!
Here’s my fictional character pantheon!!
🗡️ Samurai X / Kenshin Himura — The repentant warrior. Strength in silence. Discipline forged through trauma.
🔥 Los Caballeros del Zodiaco — Brotherhood. Sacrifice. El Cosmo y el Universo como poder interno. Defender hasta la muerte!!
⚔️ Piratas de las Aguas Negras — Rebellion. Magic. Lost history. Mystical maps for chosen warriors. We played this so much at school, holy shit!! We had a sand playground, so the sand was the water- went hard AF.
💪 He-Man — The quiet man who becomes the god of power only when needed. Protector energy. Never liked his hair.
🐉 Goku / DBZ — Relentless evolution. Joyful mastery. Purity. The warrior with a heart of gold. I stopped inviting people to spar years ago, close people still get asked sometimes (hi son! lol).
🌒 Ninja Scroll — Darkness, betrayal, honor. The lone blade that survives everything.
🩸 Berserk / Guts — Pain as power. Love through chaos—unstoppable resolve. The eclipse arc broke me. I ain’t going to lie, I have to remind myself this is only fantasy.
🧠 Dr. House — Logic + madness. Brutal truth-telling. Isolation as protection. 😅 nothing to see here…
🧱 Reacher — Power held in stillness. Silent justice. Unshakeable code. Dispatches bullies with elegance and proportional force.
💀 The Punisher — Vengeance + discipline. A protector that walks through fire unflinching. He HATES bullies!!! HE FUCKING HATES BULLIES! I dislike bullies.
🥋 Daredevil — Blind faith, both literal and spiritual. Fighting with conscience. If he can do it, I can do it.
🦸 Superman — Humility with godhood. The immigrant myth. The protector who never turns away. Imagine if he did NOT have a code, an immediate horror movie.
There’s more. But these are the main ones.
Now that I’m older, the characters influencing or giving me joy are different. Now that I’m older… the teachings don’t hit the same — they go deeper. They don’t just inspire — they unfold me.
🌀 My Hero Academia — Deku’s trembling hands, still moving forward. All Might’s fragile smile. Uraraka’s silent bravery. The fire family arc broke me in half. What it means to carry trauma, keep going, and be worthy of your gift.
⚔️ Samurai Champloo — Mugen and Jin: the animal and the monk. The chaos and the code. The dance of masculine duality. I’ve lived both. I do. If you know me. You know.
🧠 Evangelion — That psychological dread, the loneliness. How can you be surrounded and still feel hollow? Shinji’s scream sometimes lives in my chest. The soundtrack…
🩸 Jujutsu Kaisen — Gojo’s radiant pain hidden behind power. The bond between Yuji and Todo — true brotherhood forged in battle. They SPAR. They grow. No ego. Just respect. That’s sacred.
🔥 Demon Slayer — Total Concentration Breathing is my emotional regulation. Literally. Tanjiro’s fierce love… that’s how you protect your sister. That’s how you protect your people. Now I know. Thanks, Tanjiro, for literally showing me what nobody else had before. Unbelievable.
💥 JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure — Be yourself, fully. Loudly. Stylishly. Own it. Earn your legacy with flair and grit. Power is personality. Your authenticity to YOU is your power.
👊 Baki — Okay, come on. Do I even need to say anything? Discipline. Insanity. Combat as conversation. The gym is my dojo.
🕶️ Afro Samurai — Cool is earned. Grief is sacred. Revenge is a weight. The path is lonely, and beautiful, and necessary.
🦴 Primal — No words. Just rawness. Loss. Survival. The bond of beings who see each other. I cried over a caveman and a dinosaur, man. Don’t @ me.
🌑 Berserk, again — Because people will betray you. And still, you must protect your joy. You must carve your truth with a broken blade if you have to.
And last but not least…
🧢 One Punch Man / Saitama — The loneliness of mastery.
The absurdity of getting everything you wanted… and feeling nothing. He won. He beat the game. He trained so hard that he went bald — literally.
100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, 10 km run. Every. Day. I did this until it became so easy. I can do this now in minutes. Saitama gave me that!
No AC. No excuses. No glory. No applause. Just effort. And now? He’s a god wandering through mediocrity.
No challenge. No equal. No thrill.
Saitama isn’t about winning. He’s about what happens after. And then… the beauty starts:
👦 Genos — His loyal disciple. Obsessed with revenge, fire, ambition. He thinks power = worth. But Saitama? He couldn’t care less. He teaches Genos restraint, humility, and presence. Sometimes by accident. Sometimes? LOL. But truths always leak out from the still ones.
👊 King — The most powerful fraud. Everyone believes he’s a god-tier fighter, but it’s all a misunderstanding. He hides his cowardice behind a poker face. And yet Saitama? Treats him like a friend. With no judgment. No agenda. Boom. Because Saitama doesn’t care about titles. He cares about the energy.
👽 Boros — The only one who made him use a tiny bit of effort. A conqueror from the stars. A god in his own right. Boros dies smiling — not because he won — but because someone finally met him. Saitama gave him the gift of a real fight. That was mercy.
🐜 Tatsumaki — The psychic girl with attitude and trauma. Saitama just… annoys her. But she can’t shake him. He’s immune to her drama. That kind of emotional immovability? It heals, eventually. She’ll never say it, but she sees it. Let’s leave this here…
🧠 Mumen Rider — The opposite of Saitama. No power. No chance. But infinite heart. The real Saitama. The Real King. The real main character. And Saitama respects him. DEEPLY. Because heart is what he’s missing (Sensei!).
💀 Garou — The anti-hero. The broken boy who wants to become a monster. And Saitama? He talks to him. No hate. My boy. No revenge. Just listening. Just the truth. He offers him a mirror, not a fist. And that saves Garou.
🌀 Fubuki — She wants power. Influence. Control. But ends up hanging around Saitama because he’s the only man she can’t manipulate. Sounds familiar? Sigh.
🎭 The Hero Association — Obsession with ranking, numbers, fame. Saitama quietly dismantles that whole system just by existing. He’s proof that none of it means anything. And that makes them… uncomfortable.
🌌 The Universe Itself — Threat level: God. Still not ready. Because he hasn’t lost all his humanity yet. There’s still boredom. There’s still mild curiosity. There’s still… his grocery runs.
Saitama is not a joke. He’s a lesson.
He’s what happens when you outgrow everything. He’s the detached master. The man with no desire. No fear. No rivals. Only emptiness and sale items. But even in that space, he remains gentle. Remains kind. Remains available. He reminds me…
- To never forget joy.
- To never let success steal your wonder.
- To keep it real, even if the world misunderstands your power.
And above all? To keep showing up. To the fight. To the friends.
To the market on discount day. LOL fuck off with that, Saitama Sensei, respectfully.
Because the meaning isn’t in the victory — It’s in the living.
I hope you enjoyed this. What’s your jam? Who raised you?
