When you have an OP protagonist like Solo Leveling’s Sung Jinwoo, it’s important to give them an eclectic mix of unique abilities that will set them apart from all the other characters as well as progress the story in new and interesting ways to keep the audience that you’ve managed to snag in those first crucial hooking moments. Throughout the series, Sung Jinwoo has shown off enough mad skills to make our jaws drop, but which of Sung Jinwoo’s abilities are his best and why?
If you could have any of the abilities listed below, which would you have? After all, with great power comes great responsibility. Has Sung Jinwoo used his abilities as best he can? Or is there more still for him to achieve?
#1: Leveling Up
‘No!’ we hear you cry, ‘What about Sung Jinwoo’s ability to regenerate and the fact that he’s immortal?’. Calm yourself, Iago, we’ll get to that when it’s time. The best of Sung Jinwoo’s abilities is definitely his leveling up, not just for the ability itself, which grants Sung Jinwoo freedom that no other character in the series enjoys, but for what the ability offers to his mentality.
Born as an E Rank Hunter, Sung Jinwoo was one of the weakest people in the field, consistently getting himself hurt but fighting through that peril to support his mother and little sister. The other characters either make fun of him for his weaknesses or use him as cannon fodder when things get real, and so Sung Jinwoo harbors the same passive thoughts about himself as the story begins.
I Have To Get Stronger
The introduction of the System and the potential to open doors for Jinwoo that never close. It fires up his natural inclination to progress, something that impresses the Chairman of the Hunter’s Committee, and it gives him the strength to overcome hardship, rather than submit himself to it. It also allows him to challenge those who cause problems for him and his loved ones as the story progresses, safe in the knowledge that everything he comes up against is simply a new opportunity for him to evolve.
#2: Kandiaru’s Blessing
Technically, this is the gift that led to the potential to level up in the first place. It essentially grants longevity, so Sung Jinwoo has enhanced strength and speed at a base level, as well as the power to eradicate most poisons. The ability is an insurance card to make sure the candidate for Shadow Monarch stays alive as he progresses through the stages of becoming strong enough to become an appropriate successor.
Jinwoo relies on the ability quite heavily as well, a noteworthy incident occurring with the Ant King when he poisoned Sung Jinwoo using the biology of the local marine life. Using his poison resistance, Jinwoo is able to brush this off and continue the altercation to the point of eventually saving Korea.
The Fine Print
Of course, this example of Sung Jinwoo’s abilities is only relevant so long as Kandiaru and the System are on Jinwoo’s side. Unlike the Leveling Up ability, which changed something intrinsic in Jinwoo’s psychology, this ability is merely a boon to be exploited while it’s available. Certainly, should the System turn on him, this ability could also be considered a detriment because Jinwoo will be expecting to rely on his longevity, while it’s quite possible that he could have it stripped and be significantly weakened.
#3: Immortality
But why is this insane ability this far down the list? Because of the age-old problems that something like this would bring. Sure, immortality is great on paper. You don’t have to worry, really, about being hurt or killed, about sickness or a changing body due to age and natural deterioration. But that doesn’t extend to the rest of Jinwoo’s family, or to the friends that he’s made along the way. At some point, Jinwoo will be forced to contend with their deaths, and with his current struggle to retain his humanity as it is, could this push him to shed his mortal influences completely?
Extracting Their Shadows
If they were to die, would Jinwoo then extract their shadows for his shadow army? As master of death and a necromancer in this way, it would make sense for him to do this, particularly with the joy that Beru expressed at being given the chance to be reborn. If this is the case and Jinwoo can simply carry his loved ones with him, is Immortality the greatest of Sung Jinwoo’s abilities? But what does becoming a shadow really do to the original vessel? Would his mother or his sister retain the power of speech, or would they simply be mute shades of themselves?
#4: Shadow Extraction
Dude can literally create an army out of the shadows of the dead. They’re completely loyal to him, they allow him to fight large numbers of foes, and if that wasn’t cool enough, he can choose to change places with them in an extension ability called Shadow Exchange, so he can be anywhere he wants to be in an instant. Now here is a protagonist who doesn’t have to worry about clocking air miles.
Jinwoo gets three chances to extract a shadow, and the stronger his opponent, the harder they are to extract. If he’s successful, he is then able to give them a new name and a new identity under his rule, and with them under his thumb, he is essentially able to set up patrols to further protect his family. This protection will roll over a larger surface area as he gains more shadows until he could, potentially, have his own protection racket for the entirety of Korea all on his own.
#5: Monarch’s Domain and Ruler’s Authority
This is a particularly strong one of Sung Jinwoo’s abilities, granting him psychokinesis so he can chuck cars at his enemies without even touching them, and giving his shadow army’s stats an overall 50% increase. It also grants him his own dimension, in which he really is a god as he’s able to warp and change the landscape there with a single thought, as well as bring people to that dimension if he so chooses. This is one of Sung Jinwoo’s abilities that essentially turns him into the Phoenix from X-Men, although less cosmic super entity and more cosmic super entity, if you get what I mean.
An Important Distinction
These abilities are granted to Sung Jinwoo once he’s fully accepted his roles and what they mean. It’s a turning point that properly marks the end of his freedom and his willingness to take up the mantle that Ashborn is offering him. As such, this ability does bring the potential for drawbacks, again to his humanity, as he’s taking on god-like responsibilities that his mortal friends and family can’t even begin to empathise with. His personal dimension, as well, gives him an escape route from certain situations and decisions, should he choose to shirk responsibilities, where nobody can reach him.
This ability is very much a double-edged sword, and it will be exciting to see Jinwoo adjust to it so he can weather the storm as best he can.
#6: System Shop Access and Unlimited Inventory
Unlike regular Hunters, Sung Jinwoo doesn’t have to go around being over-encumbered with this and that. This is one of the more practical of Sung Jinwoo’s abilities, allowing him to have everything at hand so he’s never caught off guard in a dungeon if things go south. One of the best examples of how useful this ability can be is when he pulls out warm clothing and full camping equipment in the Frozen Red Gate dungeon, giving his companions some much-needed comfort while he went to scout ahead (and amass a frost bear army).
Alongside access to the unlimited inventory, Jinwoo can also purchase items from the System shop, which allows him things like better healing potions, weapons, and more. With this in his arsenal, Sung Jinwoo really has the potential to upset the economy. If he placed one of the legendary items he has access to on the market, he could make himself enough money to retire completely from hunting, though his drive to get stronger would surely bring him back into the fold.
#7: Mana and Stamina
Ah, the bars beneath the HP bar that none of us really knew what to do with as small children, secretly playing video games in the dead of night. The ability to use mana and increase stats to give himself more stamina is crucial in making Sung Jinwoo as formidable as he is. Without the ability to access mana, Jinwoo wouldn’t be able to engage in his Shadow Extraction technique, nor would he be able to summon the shadows back to help him out in battle.
Pros and Cons
We did debate putting this example of Sung Jinwoo’s abilities much higher on the list, but while this ability is crucial, it is baseline and could be considered a set of sub-skills related to Kandiaru’s Blessing. Mana output is also the reason that Jinwoo’s mother originally fell to the Eternal Sleep disease, raising the question of how compatible it really is with human anatomy anyway. The way it depletes also causes issues for Jinwoo when he faces off against Baran, as when he loses his mana, he is unable to summon his shadows and is stripped of a large chunk of his power.
#8 Stealth
This is one of those practical skills that comes in handy in more ways than you expect it to. With Stealth, Jinwoo is able to conceal himself and his power, allowing him access to more places and more power-ups. It also aids him in making sneak attacks and in sussing out the less-than-kosher intentions of others. Jinwoo obtains the skill from a rune stone in his travels and mostly relies on the skill to face down strong opponents while on raids without being detected as he goes, though some have the perception skills enough to see him in his dexterous passes.
An Assassin’s Skill
This example of Sung Jinwoo’s abilities goes well with Jinwoo’s subset class of assassins and has the passive bonus of increasing speed and agility. It seems like an OP skill, allowing the user to make quick work of enemies, but this ability does have its weaknesses in the form of being broken by some magics, rendering the user visible and vulnerable. Unlike some of Jinwoo’s higher-level skills, this one can also be learnt by others, as it was by Kang Taeshik to murder other hunters in the Hunter’s Association.
#9: Murderous Intent
Though this example is at the bottom of the list of Sung Jinwoo’s abilities, it still packs that patented Solo Leveling wallop. With nothing but his intimidation factor, Jinwoo can petrify an opponent and decrease their stats by 50%, a pretty impossible debuff to overcome by any standards. Of course, this has a chance of failing against higher-level opponents, which, as we get into end-game territory, is all Jinwoo is going to be facing, so this skill is rendered moot.
It is fun to watch Jinwoo take on bad guys like the Hunter team in Episode 6, however, and scare them so terribly that they can’t move as they’re taken down. In terms of narrative progression, this skill does pull Jinwoo’s humanity and morals into question, making us wonder if he will abuse his powers or if he will remain as humble as he seems to want to be.
Sung Jinwoo’s Legacy
While Sung Jinwoo is Ashborn’s successor for the position of Shadow Monarch, in the spin-off sequel series Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, Jinwoo has a son with Cha Hae-in named Suho, and his own story to follow. But will Suho inherit all of Sung Jinwoo’s abilities? Considering Jinwoo himself was born an E Ranker, even though his father, Sung Il-Hwan, was an S Ranker, this isn’t exactly guaranteed, though it is made clear at the beginning of Suho’s story that he is one of the strongest humans alive.
But if not all of Jinwoo’s abilities, then which ones is he missing and why? And if he is to inherit the Monarchy of Destruction as his story implies he will, does that mean that he will eventually come up against his father, the Monarch of Shadows, in combat?
