Strongest Solo Leveling Characters In The Manhwa, Ranked

Solo Leveling manga, authored by Chugong, is a thrilling webtoon based on the novel, “I Alone Level Up.” Its popularity skyrocketed after the novel’s manga adaptation in 2016, featuring striking character and story designs and a solid plot. In 2024, the series received a high-quality anime adaptation by A-1 Pictures, which proved to be enough of a success to warrant a 2025 sequel.

The plot of Solo Leveling revolves around Sung Jin-woo, who unknowingly obtains a power-up system that grants him powerful superhuman abilities after the completion of assigned missions. Sung Jin-woo, who was formerly a scorned E-Rank hunter, gained tremendous abilities and surpassed even S-Rank hunters. However, his unique power-up does not leave him unscathed, and soon he encounters powerful adversaries. There are many powerful characters in Solo Leveling, some strong enough to destroy worlds.

This article is based on the manhwa, so there will be major spoilers for anime-only fans.

Updated on April 29, 2025, by Mark Sammut: The Solo Leveling anime completed its second season in Winter 2025, which ended up being by far the biggest show of that quarter. Season 3 is pretty much confirmed to be in production, although rumors suggest that a delay seems to be on the cards. As such, fans will have to wait a while to continue watching Sung Jin-woo’s journey and, more importantly, to be introduced to some of the strongest Solo Leveling characters, as quite a few have yet to debut in the adaptation.

This article has been expanded with more information on each character, along with galleries for those who have debuted in the anime. Kandiaru has also been added.

21

Kamish

Race: Monster (Magic Beast)

• Abilities: Immense strength, Immense durability, Dragon’s Fear, Dragon’s Breath
• Rank: S-Rank
• Web Novel Intro Chapter: 135
• Anime: Yet To Debut

Regarded as humanity’s greatest calamity, Kamish is the first S-Rank monster to be presented in the series following the emergence of the first-ever S-Rank gate. Single-handedly responsible for laying waste to the entire American West Coast and the killing of multiple S-Rank hunters, other than the final five that ultimately defeated it, Kamish was genuinely a calamity humanity was not prepared for.

Being an S-Rank magic beast, Kamish can speak as he possesses intelligence similar to humans and a rather fierce ego. Like all magical beasts, Kamish had an intense bloodlust and disdain for humanity due to the command from the Rulers. Originally a servant of Antares, the Monarch of Destruction, Kamish was captured by the Rulers after the first war and was sealed with an essence stone, which enabled him to emerge from the S-Rank portal thousands of years later.

20

Go Gun-Hee

Race: Human

• Abilities: Ruler’s Authority, Spiritual Body Manifestation, Immense Speed, Immense Durability, Immense Strength
• Rank: S-Rank
• Guild: Korean Hunters Association
• Nationality: Korean
• Web Novel Intro Chapter: 78
• Anime: Season 1, Episode 1, “I’m Used to It”

Chairman of the Korean Association of Hunters, Chairman Go Gun-Hee, is a Korean S-Rank hunter who had to retire due to old age, as his body could no longer contain the amount of power he possessed. Easily once Korea’s most powerful hunter, until the appearance of Jin-Woo, and potentially rivaled by Cha Hae-In, Chairman Gun-Hee is an immensely powerful individual.

However, the series never showcases the full extent of his powers, and the testament to his powers is that he is one of the four humans chosen to be Vessels for the Rulers. Capable of even using the Ruler’s Authority and Spiritual Body Manifestation. The chairman ultimately dies at the hands of the Frost Monarch in an event that kickstarts the war against the monarchs.

19

Kandiaru

Race: Specter

• Abilities: Ruler’s Authority, Conversation, Statue Manipulation, System Moderation
• Web Novel Intro Chapter: 2
• Anime: Season 1, Episode 1, “I’m Used to It”

Responsible for one of the most memorable visuals of Solo Leveling‘s opening episode, Kandiaru disappears from the story for a long time after Sung Jin-woo originally leaves the Double Dungeon. However, in the manhwa, this entity returns around chapter 150, which will likely be covered by season 3 of the anime.

Going by the Architect, Kandiaru is in charge of moderating the system that gives Sung his powers, and the former’s goal is to ensure the latter is a good vessel candidate for the Monarch of Shadows. Although nowhere near the level of his master, Kandiaru is a powerful force in his own right, and he manages to present Sung with a considerable challenge during this particular arc. He can mostly overwhelm capable S-Rank Hunters like Cha Hae-in and Choi Jong-In as well.

18

Christopher Reed

Race: Human

• Abilities: Ruler’s Authority, Spiritual Body Manifestation, Immense Strength, Immense Durability.
• Rank: S-Rank
• Nationality: American
• Web Novel Intro Chapter: 176
• Anime: Yet To Debut

America’s strongest hunter and one of the five national-level hunters, Christopher Reed, was the third-ranked hunter in the world. He is depicted as somewhat conceited and arrogant due to his belief in his powers, and understandably so, as he is the only character who can use his Spiritual Body Manifestation and does so in his battle against the monarchs.

Usually operating alone, Reed was not mindlessly arrogant enough to not know when to take caution. Reed is one of the four Vessels of the Rulers, and, like the chairman, he is capable of Ruler’s Authority and Spiritual Body Manifestation. Despite his powers, however, his death was unavoidable at the hands of multiple monarchs, but not without putting up a fight.

17

Liu Zhigang

Race: Human

• Abilities: Spiritual Body Manifestation, Immense Speed, Immense Strength, Ruler’s Authority
• Rank: S-Rank
• Nationality: Chinese
• Web Novel Intro Chapter: 185
• Anime: Season 2, Episode 13, “On to the Next Target”

Once the strongest hunter in all of Asia, Liu Zhigang is a Chinese S-Rank hunter ranked second globally, with the one ahead of him being the human Goliath, Thomas Andre. As one of the five National Level Hunters, Liu Zhigang is also a Ruler’s Vessel, which implies the magnitude of his strength. Depicted to be battle-hungry and somewhat brash, Liu does not sugarcoat his words, especially in conversations of power.

However, he is friendly towards people he has acknowledged, especially individuals more powerful than himself, a trait that showed when he admitted that the gap in power between himself and Jin-Woo was worlds apart. As a Ruler’s Vessel, Zhigang can use the skill of the Ruler’s Authority and theoretically Spiritual Body Manifestation, although he never gets to use the latter in the series.

16

Thomas Andre

Race: Human

• Abilities: Immense Durability, Immense Strength, Ruler’s Authority, Immense Speed, Reinforcement, Collapse, Capture, Spiritual Body Manifestation, Power Smash.
• Rank: S-Rank
• Guild: Scavenger
• Nationality: American
• Web Novel Intro Chapter: 125
• Anime: Season 2, Episode 9, “It Was All Worth It”

The strongest of the five National Level Hunters, Thomas Andre, officially ranks first in the world and is America’s strongest hunter. Known as The Goliath, Thomas Andre boasts of a physique that makes other humans pale in comparison. Thomas is portrayed as aggressive and proud, but also with a strong sense of comradeship, a trait evident in his treatment of Hwang Dongsoo, even after the latter disobeyed him and went after Jin-Woo.

Typical of a National Level hunter, Thomas Andre is a Ruler’s Vessel capable of using the two primary skills of Ruler’s Authority and Spiritual Body Manifestation. Despite being immensely powerful as a human, he could only fight on level terms with Rakan, one of the Monarchs, for a fair amount of time, and almost lost his life when the monarch decided to take him seriously and not hold back.

15

Monarch Of Plagues (Querehsha)

Race: Monarch

• Abilities: Venom Inducement, Spiritual Body Manifestation, Necromancy, Immense Strength, and Flight.
• Web Novel Intro Chapter: 215
• Anime: Yet To Appear

The Monarch of Plagues, also referred to as Querehsha, is the Queen of Insects and is one of the strongest characters in Solo Leveling; however, she is also one of the weakest monarchs. Querehsha’s beauty does nothing to hide her bloodthirsty nature. In the Monarchs War Arc, where she, the Monarch of Frosts, and the Monarch of Beastly Fangs battled against Sung Jin-Woo, she morphed using Spiritual Body Manifestation.

Being able to use Spiritual Body Manifestation signifies her unquestionable strength. But unfortunately, it wasn’t strong enough to conquer Sung Jin-Woo, who killed her.

14

Igris

Race: Monster (Magic Beast)

• Abilities: Telekinesis, Immense Strength, and Regeneration.
• Web Novel Intro Chapter: 49
• Anime: Season 1, Episode 12, “Arise”

Commander Igris is one of Sung Jin-Woo’s strongest Shadows; however, before his rise to great power as Sung Jin-Woo’s subject, he is among the knights in a dungeon. Sung Jin-Woo encountered this dungeon during one of his solo missions to “level up.” In this dungeon, Sung Jin-Woo had to use his wits and drawn-out strength to defeat the monsters.

One of the major perks Sung Jin-woo obtained after conquering the dungeon was necromancy, an ability to resurrect the dead to become his minion. Using this power, Sung Jin-Woo revived Igris, who became his loyal Shadow Knight. Throughout the series, Igris’s powers increased significantly, allowing him to reach the Marshal rank in Sung Jin-Woo’s army.

13

Beru

Race: Monster (Magic Beast)

• Abilities: Immense Strength, Immense Speed, High Durability, Healing Magic, Regeneration, Skill Absorption, and Flight.
• Web Novel Intro Chapter: 125
• Anime: Season 2, Episode 13, “On to the Next Target”

The Ant King Beru is an interesting character in the Solo Leveling series. First debuting in the Jeju Island Arc, Beru was the main product of an ant-organism evolution, which triggered the world to take action. The phenomenon caused powerful hunters to team up and eliminate all the evolved ants on Jeju Island.

At first, the raid went on without any hitches until Beru was born. The Ant King easily killed many powerful hunters until he was stopped by Sung Jin-Woo, who triumphed over him in a power clash. As usual, Sung Jin-Woo added him to his large army of soldiers. At the end of the series, Beru reached the position of Marshal in Sung Jin-Woo’s army.

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12

Monarch Of White Flames (Baran)

Race: Monarch

• Abilities: Immense Strength, Lightning Creation, and Spiritual Body Manifestation.
• Web Novel Intro Chapter: 107
• Anime: Yet To Appear

Demon King Baran, also known as the Monarch of White Flames, was the final villain boss for Sung Jin-Woo to eliminate as he reached the 100th floor of his “solo mission.” Although Baran was created by the Architect and not the Absolute Being, he wasn’t in any way weak. In fact, he gave Sung Jin-Woo a hard time during their battle since he was stronger than Jin-Woo at the time.

Regardless, Sung Jin-Woo won the battle by leveraging on his battle wits. The moment Baran’s concentration wavered a bit, Sung Jin-woo used the opportunity to kill Baran and claim his Wyvern ride, Kaisel, as his trophy.