Solo Leveling Ragnarok Guide: Top Solo Characters (PS5)

Sung Jin-woo is often treated as the peak of what “fictional power fantasy” looks like. In Solo Leveling, he’s the main character who uses a mysterious System to grind levels, redistribute stats, buy new equipment, and unlock class changes that let him do things most hunters can only dream about—like bringing the dead back. Between the Shadow Army he commands and the crushing strength he develops on his own, Sung Jin-woo has become functionally unstoppable. Even a matchup with Goku is presented here as something that would be far from simple.

Ragnarok is escalating the power ceiling with new rivals and a new Hunter

Solo Leveling Ragnarok is positioning Sung Jin-woo’s dominance as something that’s finally starting to get pressured. While he’s occupied holding off the Itarim as humanity’s last hope, other characters in the Solo Leveling universe are catching up to him—so much so that the series frames only its most powerful players as true contenders, and suggests they can all be counted on one hand. The story is also adding a new Dark S-Rank Hunter named Agnes Rivera.

Sung Jin-woo is undeniably operating in his own tier, but Solo Leveling Ragnarok is starting to put him in situations where he has to contend with an actual challenge. As he keeps the Itarim occupied, other figures across the Solo Leveling universe have begun to close the gap for the first time. The series treats this as one of its most impressive “power shift” moments in fiction: only the strongest characters from Solo Leveling have the ceiling to rival Sung Jin-woo, and the list is short enough to fit on a single hand.

Solo Leveling is also introducing a new Dark S-Rank Hunter, Agnes Rivera.

5 Antares proved to be the strongest opponent Sung Jin-woo faced in the original story

As the climactic antagonist in the original Solo Leveling, Antares is described as the only character who truly managed to match Sung Jin-woo in a straight contest. Antares delivers Sung Jin-woo’s toughest fight in the series, forcing him to test his absolute limits instead of being able to rely on an automatic win. The King of Dragons is portrayed as overwhelmingly dominant—so strong that, among the Monarchs, he’s framed as the most dangerous one aside from Sung Jin-woo himself.

Antares is also singled out as the only enemy in Solo Leveling that Sung Jin-woo can’t take down through brute force alone. Nearly every attack he launches at Antares gets countered or avoided. In the end, Sung Jin-woo doesn’t just overpower him—he wins by outthinking him, engineering a situation where the Rulers handle the Monarch of Destruction. With power, speed, and intelligence that outclass every other major villain in Solo Leveling, Antares stands as Sung Jin-woo’s greatest challenge during the original run.

4 Thomas Andre has finally caught up to Sung Jin-woo again

Thomas Andre is introduced as the top-ranked National Level Hunter in the world and America’s strongest S-Rank Hunter. Before Sung Jin-woo’s System-driven reinvention of the power hierarchy, Andre is presented as the ceiling of what humanity could produce. The story claims that Thomas Andre will be stronger than Sung Jin-woo for most of Solo Leveling Season 3, but that the Monarch of Shadows won’t stay behind for long—eventually surpassing the “Goliath” for the remainder of the series.

Even so, Thomas Andre receives a major power-up in Solo Leveling Ragnarok that brings him back up to Sung Jin-woo’s level at last. After this boost, Andre becomes the Monarch of Conquests, taking over the role previously held by Legia as the King of Giants. He’s not just another Monarch—he’s the strongest he’s ever been, and he finally has the strength required to help Sung Jin-woo in the war against the Itarim.

Sung Jin-woo may be the best-known name, but the wider Solo Leveling multiverse includes several extremely powerful hunters who might never get the spotlight they deserve in the main manhwa.

3 Cha Hae-In is among Ragnarok’s most powerful S-Rank Hunters

Cha Hae-In is initially presented as one of the strongest S-Rank hunters in South Korea at the time of her first appearance in Solo Leveling. However, the series’ power scaling means she starts falling behind faster than her reputation and importance would suggest. By the conclusion of the original Webtoon and web novel, she’s effectively sidelined and becomes nearly useless during the final battle. That changes in the revised Ragnarok timeline, when she becomes pregnant with Sung Suho.

Because Sung Suho is Sung Jin-woo’s son, his potential is treated as mirroring his father’s. The universe is described as treating Sung Suho like a Ruler while he’s still in the womb, which in turn makes Cha Hae-In a Ruler’s Vessel. By holding that kind of contained power for so long, Cha Hae-In’s mana and overall capacity are said to grow exponentially. In Solo Leveling Ragnarok, she goes on to fight and destroy an Apostle of Itarim—placing her above even National Level Hunters in the story’s power tiering.

2 Sung Suho is destined to outgrow his father

Born at the end of the original Solo Leveling and taking center stage in Solo Leveling Ragnarok, Sung Suho is the extremely overpowered son of Sung Jin-woo and Cha Hae-In. The narrative frames him as having even more potential than his dad, making him one of the strongest members of the Sung family—second only to Sung Jin-woo himself. Like his father, Sung Suho can use the System to level up, increase his stats, buy and store items, and learn new abilities.

Sung Suho also gains access to his own Shadow Army. He can further enhance himself through Beast Possession, fusing with his Shadow Wolf, Grey, which makes him even stronger than he already is. On top of inheriting Sung Jin-woo’s abilities, he levels up faster than his father ever did, and he’s already sitting on higher stats at a lower level than Sung Jin-woo had during the events of the original Solo Leveling. He still has some distance to cover before matching the exact “OP” feats Sung Jin-woo pulled off, but the story insists he’s going to surpass his father sooner than almost anyone expects.

Solo Leveling finally wrapped up in Japan following a successful seven-year run.

1 The Itarim represent Sung Jin-woo’s toughest fight yet

The Itarim function as the primary antagonists in Solo Leveling Ragnarok, and they’re also framed as the creators behind the entire Solo Leveling universe. They’re described as Outer Gods that exist beyond the reality where Solo Leveling takes place, yet they can still affect the world in meaningful ways. Outer Gods are characterized as omniscient, omnipotent, and effectively immortal—making them the kind of foes you can’t realistically restrain, much less defeat, unless you’re Sung Jin-woo.

Sung Jin-woo is identified as the only character in Solo Leveling who can truly threaten the Itarim. In the present of Ragnarok, he’s spent most of the story buying time and keeping them at bay. Even though he can’t personally wipe out all of the Outer Gods on his own, he’s stalling so Sung Suho can keep growing stronger and eventually give humanity a real fighting chance against the Itarim—without requiring the Rulers’ direct help.

Solo Leveling

Cast

Taito Ban — Sung Jin-woo
Genta Nakamura — Yoo Jin-ho