Highlights

• Sung Jin-Woo's rise from being the weakest hunter to the strongest in the manhwa's universe is nothing short of amazing.
• His abilities as a necromancer, including shadow extraction and shadow exchange, make him a powerful force with a loyal army of shadows at his command.
• Sung Jin-Woo's intelligence, strength, speed, and invulnerability to attacks set him apart from other protagonists and make him an unstoppable force in combat.

Solo Leveling presents the thrilling story behind the protagonist, Sung Jin-Woo, who became the strongest being in the manhwa’s universe – an astonishing feat unrivaled by most manhwa protagonists. As impressive as Sung Jin-Woo's strength is, he wasn't always powerful. At the beginning of the series, he was once called the “World’s Weakest hunter,” based on his title as an E-Rank Hunter.

E-Rank is the lowest possible class any Hunter can be in, proving that Sung Jin-Woo’s meteoric rise in power was nothing short of amazing. Sung Jin-Woo gained most of his powers through the System after a traumatic experience at a "Double Gate" dungeon. Thanks to the System, Sung Jin-Woo maxed out his abilities well enough to become the Shadow Monarch’s successor – one of the cosmic beings created by The Absolute Being.

Sung Jin-Woo’s abilities as a necromancer are immeasurable; however, some stand out from the rest due to their unique nature. So which of Sung Jin-Woo's abilities can SL fans consider the strongest?

Updated January 15, 2024, by Emedo Destiny: Very few things are more endearing and appealing about the Solo Leveling manhwa other than its protagonist, Sung Jin-Woo. Jin-Woo is, without a doubt, actively the most powerful existence in the Solo Leveling universe. However, he wasn't always so powerful, and compared to other manhwa that employ the overpowered protagonist trope, the manner of his power growth sets him apart. After a near-death experience during a dungeon raid, he gains access to the 'System,' an occurrence that kickstarts his astronomic rise to power. Due to this system, Jin-Woo grew unrestrained and unhindered until he succeeded Ashborn, the Shadow Monarch. By the end of the series, Jin-Woo had surpassed his predecessor well and maxed out his abilities. Powerful as he may be, some of Jin-Woo's abilities stand out considerably more than others. So below is an examination of these stand-out abilities.

14 Stealth

Ability Type: Active & Physical

Stealth is a scarce skill used mainly by high-ranking Assassin hunter types. The skill gifts him a completely erased presence from perception both physically and magically, which makes him undetectable even to the most powerful hunters. Obtained through a rune- stone he got after killing the contracted assassin and inspector of the Korean Hunter Association's surveillance team, Kang Taeshik.

Stealth, in tandem with Jin-Woo's other active skills, like mutilation and quicksilver, makes him an incomprehensible force in combat, especially against opponents weaker than him. Despite not being a skill he uses often and Jin-Woo not being an assassin-type hunter, Jin-Woo is the ultimate assassin whenever he does use it.

13 Nigh Invulnerability / Durability

Ability Type: Physical & Passive

Jin-Woo's power is undoubtedly immeasurable, but probably due to his immense power, his near-impregnable defense, and his invulnerability to almost any and every attack is often overlooked. An example of his nigh invulnerability comes to the fore in his fist fight against the Ant King Beru during the Jeju Island Raid. This was Jin-Woo a little after achieving the title of Korea's 10th S-Rank hunter.

At the time, Beru was overwhelmingly powerful compared to the S-Rank hunters present. Another example of Jin-Woo's extreme durability is his battle against Antares, the Monarch of Destruction. With Antares being the most powerful of the monarchs, Jin-Woo took multiple hits from the fully-powered monarch with very little damage as they went all out against each other.

12 Stamina

Ability Type: Passive & Physical

Jin-Woo's stamina is measured differently than that of other hunters due to the system's effects. Measured in percentages, zero to sixty-nine percent indicate that Jin-Woo has taken very little damage, while from seventy to eighty-nine percent will see his movement and speed decrease by almost half, making his breathing labored, and from ninety percent upwards, his movements become incredibly difficult.

The growth of his stamina is tracked carefully through the series by the keys he received. By the first key, he exhausted his stamina reasonably quickly. By the time he received the second key, he could hunt for days under heat and flames that were highly intense, even for hunters. By the fourth key, he could hunt under the same circumstances for over a month and only stopped because he was needed in the outside world. At the end of the story, and by the revised timeline, Jin-Woo continuously fought all the monarchs for twenty-seven years without rest.

11 Intelligence

Ability Type: Active / Passive

Jin-Woo's intellect is one of his greatest abilities, and it is divided into two ways: active intelligence and passive intelligence. As an active skill, Intelligence is one of the classifications of stats given to him by the System. The advantage of this was that his shadow subordinates could get stronger and more reliable through his intelligence stat. The implication was that the higher the number of intelligence stat points he had, the more powerful his shadow army could grow and become, exemplified in his battle against Baruka, an ice-elf warlord.

The passive side of his intelligence ability is that Jin-Woo is a combat genius capable of adapting to the most unconventional fighting styles introduced in the series. With his insatiable thirst for growth, every battle ensures he is constantly improving on his battle IQ, and this was captured in his battle against Antares, where after being outplayed by the Monarch of Destruction the first time, Jin-Woo instantly came up with a scheme to neutralize Antares's entire army and minimize the level of destruction.

10 Colossal Strength – Multi-Continental Level

Ability Type: Physical & Passive

Sung Jin-Woo's strength, despite being a necromancer, is impressive. The first proof of his physical strength was his ability to defeat Thomas Andre, revered as the "World's Strongest Hunter,” using nothing but his fists. Even after Thomas used Spiritual Body Manifestation – his apex power, he was still beaten by Sung Jin-Woo to the point that he fainted.

Sung Jin-Woo also defeated the Beast Monarch, who had strength as his forte among his prime abilities. At the end of Solo Leveling, Sung Jin-Woo was strong enough to destroy the Earth with just his presence, proving that his strength wasn't to be trifled with.

9 Speed – Exceeds The Speed of Light

Ability Type: Physical Ability & Passive

Generally, the Hunters in Solo Leveling are extremely fast due to their incredible abilities and unique body composition. Initially, Sung Jin-Woo was fast enough to evade powerful monsters in dungeons, roughly placing him above the speed of sound. However, one of Sung Jin-Woo’s exclusive skills is the constant growth of his abilities. At some point, Sung Jin-Woo became fast enough to become undetected by powerful S-Rank Hunters.

Sung Jin-Woo's biggest feat in the aspect of speed was at the final fight of the manhwa. In the fight against the Monarch of destruction, Sung Jin-woo evaded the Monarch's Breath of Destruction that moves at light speed. This achievement alone makes Sung Jin-Woo one of the fastest existences in Solo Leveling.

8 Shadow Extraction

Ability Type: Job-Specific

Sung Jin-Woo is a necromancer, and dealing with shadows is his exclusive ability. He gained this ability after clearing a dungeon hosting the powerful knight monster, which ended up becoming his minions. Sung Jin-woo’s Shadow Extraction allows him to resurrect any creation he kills, with the exception of the Monarchs as his soldier.

The Shadows Sung Jin-Woo creates are incredibly loyal to him and would do anything to honor their master. This was seen after Sung Jin-Woo converted the S-Rank Hunter, Hwan Dong-Su (who hated him), to his loyal minion. With this ability alone, Sung Jin-Woo could create a powerful army, which he did. Presently, Sung Jin-Woo has over 10 million powerful shadows under his command.

7 Shadow Exchange & Dimensional Travel

Ability Type: Job-Specific

Another quirk of Sung Jin-Woo’s Shadow Extraction ability is Shadow Exchange. Shadow Exchange is a teleportation ability that allows Sung Jin-Woo to swap locations with any of his shadows wherever they are (including continent-wide locations). For instance, Sung Jin-Woo used this ability to save his sister, who was almost killed by a monster. He simply swapped places with the Shadow he put in charge of her protection.

At the end of the series, Sung Jin-Woo upgraded the ability to a dimensional one. Simply put, Sung Jin-Woo can create gates and travel anywhere he wants in the universe. The “Gates” he creates can become large enough for thousands of people to cross.

6 Detoxification & Regeneration

Ability Type: Passive

Sung Jin-Woo is immune to any disease, illness, or poison. He gained this ability through the System that granted the ability to nullify any possible threat to his internal body system. An offshoot of this ability is regeneration. In the final arc, Sung Jin-Woo was killed, albeit for a short period, by the Monarchs. However, through the aid of the Shadow Monarch, he was able to come back stronger with all of his injuries completely healed.

Although there is no open fact to prove that Sung Jin-Woo possesses instant, ultra-speed regeneration, it is possible that he has such an ability.

5 Monarch’s Domain & Ruler’s Authority

Ability Type: Job-Specific

Unlike any other character in Solo Leveling, Sung Jin-Woo possesses both the powers of a Monarch and a Ruler. This is probably because Sung Jin-Woo inherited the powers of the Shadow Monarch, who was once the Greatest Fragment of the Brilliant Light. Sung Jin-Woo’s Monarch’s Domain increases the stats (strength and speed included) of all his Shadows by 50%. This is extremely powerful considering that Sung Jin-Woo has millions of Shadows under his command.

On the other hand, Ruler's Authority is a telekinetic ability that allows Sung Jin-Woo to control objects or opponents without touching them.

4 Existential Erasure

Ability Type: Passive & Job-Specific

Generally, the Monarchs in Solo Leveling possess profound powers and abilities. One such ability is the capacity to erase one's presence from the very fabric of existence. This means that no parts of the person exist even at the sub-atomic level. Usually, when people die, their remains serve as nutrients in the Earth & atmosphere. So, some parts remain after death.

However, the dreadful ability, existential erasure, erases a person totally without any traces left. Sung Jin-Woo possesses this ability and is immune to it. Consequently, other people with the ability can’t use it on him.

3 Astralization

Ability Type: Job-Specific

Astralization is the culmination of all Sung Jin-Woo’s abilities as the Shadow Monarch. In Astralization form, Sung Jin-Woo sports a dark, gigantic form and is able to contend with large beings like Antares in his Dragon form. With this ability, Sung Jin-Woo clashed with Antares generating enough force to collapse the battleground they stood on.

While using the Astralization form, Sung Jin-Woo bore a striking resemblance to the first Shadow Monarch, Ashborn. The limit of this ability is unknown; however, it can be regarded as Sung Jin-Woo’s apex form.

2 Acausality – A Being That Transcends Time

Ability Type: Passive

Even in the fictional world, the concept of time is an intangible entity that most characters are subject to. Time always catches up to everyone, even some "immortals." However, the rule doesn't apply to Sung Jin-Woo. At the end of Solo Leveling, he achieved "Acausality," an ability that grants him immunity from the concept of time in any and every way. In other words, Sung Jin-Woo transcends time as the entity doesn't affect him.

This makes him un-killable since most characters that achieve Acausality can't be killed easily. Even though one version of them is killed, they still exist on another timeline. Simply put, the concept of the past, present, and future is inapplicable to acausal characters because even if they are killed in the present, they still exist in the future. They tweak the very fabric of time, making their existence complex and difficult to fathom.

1 True Omnipotence – Dimensional Manipulation

Ability Type: Passive & Job-Specific

At the end of Solo Leveling, Sung Jin-Woo gained total control over an infinite-sized world called the “Territory of Eternal Rest.” In other words, he is the ruler of that world – he determines everything that happens in the boundless world. The concept of omnipotence in fiction is quite complex. The usual classification includes Meta Omnipotence, Absolute Omnipotence, True Omnipotence, Practical Omnipotence, Questionable Omnipotence Almightiness, Nigh Omnipotence & Specialized Omnipotence.

These Omnipotence types vary significantly; however, Sung Jin-Woo's power over the Territory of Eternal Rest makes him a True Omnipotent being in that world. Although this ability doesn't place Sung Jin-Woo on the level of cosmic characters like DC’s The Presence or Marvel’s The One Above All (TOAA), it shows how powerful he is in the Solo Leveling world.