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One-Punch Man's Metal Knight is an oddly selfish "Hero," and his late arrival to the battle with the Monster Association may validate some suspicions.

Spoilers for One-Punch Man chapter 169 (JP) ahead.

Many of One-Punch Man's top heroes had problems with thinking mostly of themselves, but they've learned and grown over the course of the Monster Association arc and already work better as a team. This growth has only served to make the absence of the series' most selfish hero, Metal Knight, look all the more suspicious when he finally showed up.

Going all the way back to the earliest chapters of One-Punch Man, Metal Knight was introduced during the Giant Meteor arc; while Bang and Genos were the only S-class heroes to show up in person to do something about it, Metal Knight deployed a remote-control drone to the area. While that might seem helpful, Metal Knight made it clear that he doesn't care at all whether the asteroid hits. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity to test his new equipment and left as soon as that was achieved. Genos was later warned by Drive Knight, another cyborg hero, that Metal Knight isn't as he appears and should not be trusted. There was even an implication that Metal Knight may have some connection to the Mad Cyborg that destroyed Genos' hometown.

While Drive Knight isn't the most reliable hero either, he did show up to the Monster Association fight early on, combining with Genos to create a powerful new form. This was quite a drain on him, and after obtaining the samples he wanted, he fled the battle. This meant leaving Genos behind with an overloading reactor, which Hellish Blizzard (Fubuki) only just managed to prevent from exploding. Metal Knight, however, didn't make his appearance until chapter 169 after the fighting concluded, where he arrived with a fleet of drones that would've been handy against the association a few hours prior. The drones are allegedly cleaning up the radioactive material caused by Garou's Cosmic Horror form, and Metal Knight did indicate his intent to help the heroes who'd been poisoned by it.

It's still impossible to say whether Metal Knight is simply curt and pragmatic, or up to some diabolical schemes, but his late arrival definitely raises more questions. Metal Knight had initially suggested bombing the One-Punch Man's Monster Association HQ, killing the child hostage Waganma and likely Tareo as well, whom they did not yet know about. The plan rightfully horrified the other heroes and was shot down, so perhaps his refusal to participate was a result of being snubbed. Sitting out the fight places Metal Knight in a powerful position as well, since the monsters have been eliminated and the heroes are far too worn out to take a stand against him should he try to pull something as Drive Knight warned. But even if Metal Knight's intentions are good, he could easily take his crusade against evil too far, and few would be able to stop his robot army.

Now that the Monster Association arc has reached its end, it may finally be time to address the lingering questions around Metal Knight and Drive Knight, and whatever connections they might have to Genos' past. Even the webcomic that One-Punch Man's manga is based on hasn't done much in that regard yet, however, so the fears over Metal Knight's loyalties may continue hanging over fans' heads for a while yet.

Next: One-Punch Man Is Officially Faster Than Goku (& It's Not Even Close)

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