Summary

S-Rank hunters are highly valued worldwide, but not all live up to the hype. Some are disappointingly weak or unethical.
Power scaling among S-Ranks varies, with some being leagues above even the top A-Ranks.
Characters like Kei and Goto Ryuji, despite their hype, prove to be embarrassingly helpless in battles.

In the world of Solo Leveling, S-Rank hunters are known as individuals who stand at the pinnacle of power. They are the chosen ones, the best of the best. After all, one S-Rank hunter is as powerful as a squad full of high-level A-Rank hunters. That’s why countries around the world are willing to pay good money and even bend the rules for the sake of having an S-Rank fight under their banner.

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By Harry Nugraha

While it’s true that S-Ranks are the most powerful hunters in the world, the power scaling is a bit more complicated than that. Some S-Rank hunters are merely slightly more powerful than the top A-Rank hunter, while other S-Rankers, such as Sung Jinwoo, are clearly leagues above even the other S-Ranks. This list is all about the first group of S-Ranks; the ones that are not up to the standard, be it in terms of power or due to their lack of ethics. These are the most disappointing S-Rank Hunters in Solo Leveling, ranked based on how disappointing they are.

Spoilers Ahead for Solo Leveling, both the anime and the manhwa, including upcoming moments in Season 3.

7 Ma Dongwook

The Weakest S-Rank Hunter In South Korea

Country of Origin: South Korea
Affiliation: Fame Guild
First Appearance: Episode 21

Ma Dongwook is one of the ten S-Rankers from South Korea. He is the leader of the Fame Guild and has participated in the clearing of many high-ranking dungeons. He is the only Tank among the active S-Ranks in the country. He has the ability to grow the size of his body, which also increases his strength proportionately. However, his role as a tank and his unique ability to grow bigger prove to be quite useless in an actual battle.

The best display of Ma Dongwook’s skills in a battle is during the Jeju Island raid. There, viewers can see that, as a tank, he could barely handle the attacks of the ant army and was completely hopeless against the Ant King. While it’s true that his bigger form grants him formidable strength, it also slows him down. This makes him useless against fast-moving enemies, such as the Ant King. This also makes Ma Dongwook arguably the weakest among South Korean S-Rank Hunters.

6 Kei‎‎

The Arrogant S-Rank

Country of Origin: Japan
Affiliation: Blade Guild
First Appearance: Episode 21

Kei is one of the S-Rank Hunters from Japan who were sent to assist the South Korean S-Rankers in their effort to retake Jeju Island. In general, the Japanese S-Ranks are quite arrogant, but Kei takes it to another level. He looks down on the Korean S-Ranks and actively badmouths them.

Some might expect that with such a big mouth, he could at least back it up with his power. Well, Kei’s ice-based power is indeed quite impressive, but he is still embarrassingly helpless against the attacks of the Ant King. Forget defending against the King’s attacks, Kei can’t even track its movement. As a result, he lost his life in a matter of seconds.

5 Lennart Niermann

A Helpless S-Rank

Country of Origin: Germany
Affiliation: Richter Guild
First Appearance: Chapter 142

Lennart Niermann is the top S-Rank hunter from Germany. He may not be a National Level hunter, but as an S-Rank, he is undoubtedly strong. He can easily go toe-to-toe with the other S-Rank hunters from other countries. Unfortunately, Niermann’s power is not enough to survive a fight against the Monarchs.

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Lennart Niermann first came in contact with a Monarch not long after he met Sung Jinwoo. The one that he encounters is Rakan, the Monarch of Fangs. Niermann launches his most powerful charge, which could destroy a building, and it does nothing to Rakan. On the contrary, Rakan’s casual attack nearly kills Niermann. Sure, the enemy is unimaginably strong, but it is still disappointing to see the top S-Rank Hunter from a major country being so helpless in a fight.

4 Christopher Reed

A Disappointing National-Level Hunter

Country of Origin: USA
Affiliation: N/A
First Appearance: Chapter 138

Christopher Reed is one of the top S-Rank Hunters from the United States of America. In fact, he is one of the few National-Level Hunters in the world. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Mr. Reed is the strongest S-Rank Hunter on this list.

Considering Reed is hailed as someone on par with Thomas Andre, it’s disappointing to see him completely dominated by the Monarchs. Yes, the Monarchs did outnumber him during their confrontation, but one would expect a National-Level Hunter like him to at least take one of them down. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Christopher Reed lost his life while the Monarchs remained unscathed.

3 Yuri Orloff

A Weak And Unethical S-Rank

Country of Origin: Russia
Affiliation: N/A
First Appearance: Chapter 123

Yuri Orloff is an S-Rank Hunter from Russia, who specializes in defense, particularly in creating supposedly impenetrable barriers. He is the only known user of this unique ability, which makes him special even among the S-Rank Hunters.

Yuri knows just how rare and valuable his ability is, so he offers his services at an exorbitant price to anyone willing to pay, making him one of the most corrupt hunters in the series. To make matters worse, Yuri is also an alcoholic and a womanizer. As if that’s not disappointing enough for somebody in such an esteemed position, the barrier that Yuri was so proud of ends up being destroyed in mere minutes by the soldier of the King of Giants.

2 Hwang Dongsoo

A Petty And Cruel S-Rank Hunter

Country of Origin: South Korea
Affiliation: Scavenger Guild
First Appearance: Episode 7

Hwang Dongsoo was a Korean S-Rank Hunter who left his country to become an S-Rank Hunter for the United States of America. He was willing to abandon his home country simply because the other side offered him a huge sum of money. Furthermore, he is also greedy, arrogant, selfish, rude, and prone to violence.

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If his lack of ethics is not disappointing enough, Hwan Dongsoo is also a sore loser. When Sung Jinwoo defeated him fair and square, he resorted to using underhanded tactics to lure Jinwoo into a trap. He was willing to kidnap and hurt an innocent person just so he could satisfy his petty desire for revenge. What a sorry excuse for an S-Rank.

1 Goto Ryuji

The Most Hyped-Up S-Rank

Country of Origin: Japan
Affiliation: Blade Guild
First Appearance: Episode 20

When Solo Leveling fans talk about the most disappointing S-Rank Hunters , the first name that comes to mind is undoubtedly Goto Ryuji. The reason is simply that the story hypes him up so much. When Goto Ryuji was first mentioned in the story, he was touted as the strongest S-Rank in Japan, and the closest person to the title of National-Level Hunter. A swordsman who is not only deadly on the battlefield, but also incredibly cunning and ruthless in real life.

When he first met the S-Ranks in Korea, Goto and his people boasted about how he was the strongest hunter in the room. He even seems to be able to go toe-to-toe with Sung Jinwoo, the strongest S-Rank in Korea.

Then the real battle happened on Jeju Island, and he was absolutely helpless against the Ant King. Not only that, but he also lost his life to that ferocious insect before he even got the chance to show what he was capable of. Viewers were eager to see what Japan’s best had to offer, yet he was embarrassingly defeated within seconds of facing the big boss. All that hype for nothing.

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