Bat Family

Bat Family is the family ship between Metal Bat, Zenko and Tama from the One Punch Man fandom.

Metal Bat and Zenko
Metal Bat and Zenko are siblings. Metal Bat is very caring brother to his younger sister, often doting on her and wanting to see her happy. Zenko is often Metal Bat's first priority in life and one of his hobbies is seeing his sister's piano recitals. Zenko is also shown to be protective of her brother and seems to sometimes worry about his well-being.

Volume 6
During the "Great Prophecy" (chapter 31), Metal Bat interrupts Sitch by telling how he had to skip on his sister's piano concert because of the S-class meeting, and if he doesn't have anything important to say Metal Bat threatens to destroy the Hero Association headquarters.

Volume 7
In volume 7's second omake, after Saitama defeated Boros and the spaceship crashed down, Metal Bat picks a fight again with Sweet Mask because of his attitude towards the other heroes. When they are about to start their fight, suddenly Metal Bat's phone starts ringing. He realizes it's his sister and answers immediately. He asks Zenko how did her concert go and she seems to tell him that she got third place. This moved Metal Bat so much that he started crying happy tears and he says how he knows how much she practiced playing the piano. He then tells her how great it is and she should be happy about it. He then asks if she is mad at him. He apologizes a lot to her, because he couldn't be there watching her play. In the end when Sweet Mask is tired of waiting him, Metal Bat suddenly asks him to sign for his sister.

Volume 10
In volume 10, chapter 52 she calls Metal Bat again after he was assigned as a bodyguard for one of the Hero Association's sponsors and his son. However, Metal Bat wasn't aware of the task when he accepted the request. Metal Bat moves elsewhere for a minute to talk with his sister, answering almost immediately when he saw her calling. She asks him to help her with her shopping bags, but he tells her he has an "important mission" right now, and Zenko seems to ask where he is now to which he answers "Mouse Sushi". Zenko seems to think he is having fun in the sushi place, but Metal Bat tries to reason that he really has a job. He then tries to calm her sister down, asking her to not cry, and Zenko ends the call suddenly which makes Metal Bat remark that he is the one who feels like crying and that this is the last time he accepts requests from HA.

In volume 10's holiday manga special 7-11, there is a one page comic that asks about certain heroes' Christmas plans. In it Metal Bat tells how his sister asked him to take her to a theme park. He reveals that it's usually crowded which he hates, but he promised her so he has to go with her.

Volume 11
Zenko is then first time seen in volume 11, chapter 58. She stops Garou and Metal Bat's fight by going between them. In this she shows extreme bravery and how protective she is of her brother. She doesn't even flinch when Garou seems to be confused by her demand to stop fighting. She also tells him that her brother promised her that he won't show her any violence, and eventually even Garou respects it when he leaves the siblings alone. Despite Zenko stopping her brother's and the Hero Hunter's fight, a conversation between the siblings makes Metal Bat realize that Elder Centipede is still after the family he was assigned to protect. He then is walking towards the centipede, but Zenko is not having any of it. She tries to stop him and tells him he will die if he goes, but exhausted Metal Bat still tells her to go home. She hits him in the head in frustration and this makes Metal Bat suddenly fall unconscious. Zenko then tries to wake her brother up. When one of the monsters plan to kidnap Zenko, Garou manages to intervene and stop the monsters from doing anything else to the siblings.

Volume 11 also contains couple extra stories involving the Bat siblings. In the extra story "Weapon", which takes place a year before the present timeline, Metal Bat asks Hero Association to give him a new unbreakable metal bat, but after he gets it Zenko angrily asks Metal Bat why he didn't ask for Sweet Mask's signature for her. Metal Bat apologizes, telling her he forgot. Another extra story tells how Metal Bat is arriving to one of his sister's piano concerts. As he tries to enter he notices the note on the door, telling everyone that all kinds of noise making objects such as plastic bags would need to be left outside as the concert is being recorded. Metal Bat is a bit surprised as he is holding a giant bouquet of roses that are wrapped in noisy material. A presumably a continuity story to this one has Metal Bat trying to sit still and quiet listening her sister's piano play. He tries not to cry proud tears. When Zenko asks after the concert that did he cry, Metal Bat denies it. Zenko is seen holding the giant bouquet of roses in her arms without problem.

Volume 12
In chapter 66, Hero Association's medical team eventually collects and transfers Metal Bat to the hospital with patient Zenko by his side.

Volume 15
Chapter 80, Metal Bat is awake, still injured, and follows the news on TV about the bad news how the Monster Association managed to take the sponsor's son as hostage, and how there has been increased number of monster incidents. Zenko is worried and Metal Bat doesn't like the situation.

Volume 17
Volume 17 has an extra story that tells how Metal Bat and Zenko were walking together. Metal Bat was holding onto Zenko's hand and suddenly Zenko notices a box floating in the river with two kittens yelling for help. She worriedly points it out and Metal Bat suddenly jumps in the water. When he finally gets a hold of the box, Garou appears to have done the same. They start fighting in the water while the dark cat flies to Tareo on the other side of the river and the white cat flies to Zenko's arms. Eventually both Garou and Metal Bat return to their respective children.

Chapter 131 (online)
Metal Bat is still following the news on TV in the hospital with his sister Zenko. They hear how the Monster Association base's location is rumored to be in Z-city, and how all the S-class heroes have been dispatched to deal with the situation. While Zenko's attention is still on the TV, Metal Bat reaches secretly under his hospital bed and throws a bag outside the window that has all his changing clothes and metal bat in it. Meanwhile, the news tell how the situation seems to be unclear and all everyone can do now is pray. Zenko seems to be shaking a little, because of the tremors caused in the Z-city. She then turns to her brother and asks if the heroes are going to win. Metal Bat confidently reassures her that heroes won't lose. He then pats her head and rises up from the bed. Zenko asks where he is now going and he tells that he is going to the toilet. In reality he lied and had jumped out of another window, finding the bag he threw outside from the window and changing to his hero gear. Metal Bat then thinks about Zenko and how sorry he is for keeping her worried about him. In the end, he takes off running towards Z-city to help the other heroes in the fight, and to find Garou.

Tama
Tama is Metal Bat and Zenko's female cat, and Metal Bat seems to love her as much as he loves his sister.

Chapter 180 (online)
Metal Bat was assigned to deal with a massive Dragon-level monster in H-City known as the Kenzan Rat that was destroying the city. Frustrated, Metal Bat runs through the city towards the monster and is angry about how Tama is expected to give birth at home and if something happens to her, he'll make someone pay for it since he can't be home now. Zenko is seen watching the news about the incident at home with Tama. However, the monster dies in no time when Tatsumaki and Saitama deal with it. Metal Bat is speechless despite running a long way there for nothing, but he calms himself by thinking about how Tama is still waiting at home and he can now go back.

Fanon
Among certain OPM fans Bat Family is very beloved. However, a lot of the family's life is still unknown and includes mostly fanon content created from headcanons. Most fans think the parents are dead/absent due to the fact how so far they are never mentioned in the canon story. When Metal Bat was in the hospital after his fight with Garou, only Zenko is seen with him and there is no mention of their parents. Also the fact how often it's told how Metal Bat is speaking with Zenko through the phone or Zenko seeks him out, and how Metal Bat is involved in her activities (e.g. piano concerts), tells the fans that he seems to be her sole guardian. Metal Bat's behaviour seems to be also indication of him being the only other member (beside Tama) in their family who is still around. This may change if Bat Family is explored more in the manga, but online manga chapter 191 seems to support this theory even more, or even confirm it.

Tama was first only mentioned in webcomic, which is the reason she may not be included to the fanworks or conversations as much as the Bat siblings. She is then presumably shown in a chapter 57 cover page. However, she was shown briefly in online chapter 180 with Zenko. And due to the manga exploring relationships more, there is hope Tama will be shown or mentioned more in the story itself in future.

Batarou fans often include Bat Family into their fanworks. This sometimes leads to Garou being "adopted" to the family. In some cases also Tareo is included to the family alongside Garou.

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