Who is the strongest character in Solo Leveling? Our pick is Sung Jin-woo, the Shadow Monarch, and the order below him is where the arguments start. If you have only watched the anime, you have probably seen a ranking that spoils half the story before you reach episode 13, and you want to know who actually belongs near the top. We rank by what the story shows: kills, rank and who beat whom, and we say where the evidence runs thin. Spoiler warning: this goes well past the anime, into the manhwa and web novel.
The short version
- Our order: Jin-woo, Ashborn, Antares, Rakan, Baran, Thomas Andre, Sung Il-hwan, Liu Zhigang, Beru, Cha Hae-in.
- How we ranked: stated feats, hunter and Monarch status, and head-to-head results. We did not guess at power levels the story never shows.
- Anime-only? The anime covers the early story up to the end of Season 2. Most of the top five only appear later in the manhwa and web novel.
- Why it can change: rankings are opinion, and the middle of any list like this moves depending on how you read the fights.
How we ranked them
Solo Leveling has no official power scale, so a ranking has to lean on what the story spells out.
We used three things: the feats a character has pulled off, their rank or title (hunters are graded from E up to S, and the Monarchs sit above that), and who beat whom. Why do it that way? Because it stops a ranking turning into a vibe check. Two fans can read the same chapters and swap places five and six, and both can be right. What we will not do is invent a feat to settle it.
Quick background if you are new: Sung Jin-woo starts as a weak E-Rank hunter. After a rare double dungeon nearly wipes out his party, a mysterious program called the System picks him as its only player, and unlike other hunters he can level up. The story was a Korean web novel by Chugong, adapted as a webtoon and then as an anime from A-1 Pictures, which aired two seasons across 25 episodes.
1. Sung Jin-woo: the Shadow Monarch
Jin-woo is number one because the story ends with him on top of everyone else it has measured.
He rises from E-Rank to surpass the National Level Hunters, kills the Ant King, kills S-Rank hunter Hwang Dong-soo, and defeats Thomas Andre in a fight. After he has killed three Monarchs, Antares invades the human world to draw him out. Why does that last detail matter? Because the strongest Monarch had to come looking for him, not the other way round.
2. Ashborn: the original Shadow Monarch
Ashborn is the reason Jin-woo exists as a Shadow Monarch at all.
He is described as the strongest Ruler, and after eons of war with the Monarchs he chose Jin-woo as his successor. When the Monarchs kill Jin-woo, Ashborn appears in person, revives him and transfers his remaining power before going into eternal sleep. A separate ranking notes that the Rulers, acting together, defeated Ashborn before he became the Shadow Monarch. So he sits second: he made Jin-woo, but he is not the one still standing at the end.
3. Antares: the Monarch of Destruction
Antares is the strongest Monarch and the final antagonist of the series.
He leads the Monarchs, and after Jin-woo killed three of them, he invaded the human world to draw him out. He failed, and he was killed by the Rulers. Why not higher? Because the Rulers finished him, and Jin-woo is the one the story keeps building towards. In the revised timeline, Jin-woo defeats him again.
4. Rakan: the Monarch of Fangs
Rakan beat the number one hunter in the world and nearly ended Jin-woo.
According to CBR's ranking of the series, he single-handedly defeated Thomas Andre and stabbed Jin-woo through the heart. Jin-woo survived because he already had Ashborn's black heart. That is a Monarch-level result against the two best humans the story offers, which is why he sits above the hunters.
5. Baran: the King of Demons
Baran is the first Monarch Jin-woo faces and defeats, in the Demon Castle.
You can see this fight in the anime, which makes him the best entry here for anime-only fans. The same CBR ranking says his clone nearly overwhelmed Jin-woo until another figure stepped in, and argues the original must have been far stronger. We rank him below Rakan because that is a clone fight, so it tells us less than a head-to-head result.
6. Thomas Andre: the strongest hunter in the world
Thomas Andre, nicknamed Goliath, is one of the five National Level Hunters and is ranked first in the world.
CBR describes him as "the strongest hunter in the world" and says he would have ended the Jeju Island raid quickly. He loses to Jin-woo, then befriends him and gives him Kamish's Wrath, described as the strongest magical weapon in the world. He is the ceiling for humans, which is exactly why Rakan beating him means so much.
7. Sung Il-hwan: Jin-woo's father
Sung Il-hwan is the biggest wildcard on the list, and we rank him on his comeback.
He is an S-Rank hunter who disappeared inside a dungeon ten years before the main story, then returns to help Jin-woo fight the Monarchs. CBR's anime-season ranking even puts him first among the human characters it covers, saying he is likely strong enough to transcend humanity. He exceeds what his body can handle and dies in Jin-woo's arms, so we keep him below the two hunters with more on-screen results.
8. Liu Zhigang: the top-ranked hunter from his country
Liu Zhigang is ranked second in the world and was the strongest in Asia until Jin-woo passed him.
In the anime's Jeju Island raid, he casually obliterates many of the remaining ants and says he wishes he had fought the Ant King alone. He is a Ruler's vessel, like Thomas Andre. The honest caveat: the sources give no fight between him and Jin-woo, so his spot rests on rank and reputation.
9. Beru: the Ant King
Beru is the best of Jin-woo's shadows, in terms of what he did before he joined.
As the Ant King he is an S-Rank beast that killed Goto Ryuji in one hit. Jin-woo kills him and extracts his shadow, and Beru becomes a General who later rises to Marshal. Why only ninth? Because Bellion holds the Grand Marshal rank as the strongest shadow, and none of the shadows outrank the Monarchs above him.
10. Cha Hae-in: the Dancer
Cha Hae-in closes the list as the only female S-Rank hunter in Korea, known for her swordsmanship.
She survives the fourth Jeju Island raid, and in the story other hunters smell foul to her while Jin-woo does not. She is the strongest person on this list who is not a Ruler's vessel or a Monarch. Left out: the Absolute Being and the rest of the Monarchs and Rulers, because we could not source enough solid feats to rank them fairly.
The ranking at a glance
| Rank | Character | Best evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sung Jin-woo | Kills Hwang Dong-soo, the Ant King and three Monarchs; defeats Thomas Andre |
| 2 | Ashborn | Strongest Ruler; chose and revived Jin-woo |
| 3 | Antares | Strongest Monarch; killed by the Rulers |
| 4 | Rakan | Defeated Thomas Andre; stabbed Jin-woo through the heart |
| 5 | Baran | First Monarch Jin-woo defeats, in the Demon Castle |
| 6 | Thomas Andre | Ranked first among hunters in the world; beaten by Jin-woo |
| 7 | Sung Il-hwan | S-Rank hunter and a Ruler's vessel |
| 8 | Liu Zhigang | Ranked second among hunters in the world |
| 9 | Beru | S-Rank Ant King; became a Marshal |
| 10 | Cha Hae-in | Only female S-Rank hunter in Korea |
Common questions
Who is the strongest Solo Leveling character?
Sung Jin-woo, the Shadow Monarch. Some lists put the Absolute Being higher, but the story gives us far less to measure it by.
Is Jin-woo stronger than Antares?
Yes, on the evidence. Jin-woo killed three Monarchs before Antares came looking for him, and in the revised timeline he defeats Antares again. The Rulers were the ones to kill Antares the first time, so that is the part fans argue about.
Is Thomas Andre stronger than Liu Zhigang?
Thomas Andre is ranked first in the world and Liu Zhigang second. The sources give no fight between them, so rank is all we have.
What is covered in the anime so far?
Season 2, Arise from the Shadow, aired in 2025, and its finale was episode 13. The official site shows that a film, Beyond the System, is in production, with no release date given on the page. Check your streaming service for where to watch.
What to do next
If you remember one thing, make it this: in Solo Leveling the strongest character is whoever the story has shown beating the last one, and that is Jin-woo, with Ashborn behind him. So if you are anime-only, enjoy the climb before reading on. Then see how other worlds stack up in our strongest Jujutsu Kaisen characters, ranked and strongest One Piece characters, ranked, and pick up something from our Solo Leveling collection. Our facts come from the Solo Leveling Wikipedia page and the official anime site.
Featured image: © Solo Leveling Animation Partners, via sololeveling-anime.net.