Summary
- Not all S-Rankers in Solo Leveling are impressive characters, since many of them suffer from poor writing and a lack of screen time.
- Eunseok died in the Jeju Island Raid, making him weak and forgettable among stronger S-Rankers from South Korea.
- Characters like Jonas and Jay Mills, despite being strong, disappointed fans by never showcasing their immense power on-screen.
In the magical world of Solo Leveling, only the absolute strongest hunters can obtain the S-Rank, the highest tier in their fantastical hierarchy. As a result, some of the most powerful and efficient hunters in the entire series belong to the S-Rank, including the main character himself, Sung Jinwoo.
However, just because someone is ranked in this prestigious tier, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re a good, interesting or impressive character. Many S-Ranker hunters in Solo Leveling are quite poor in terms of writing, likability and overall performance, but the following are the absolute worst ones in the entire series. This list is not based on strength alone, as all the S-Rankers are obviously strong, but many other factors were taken into consideration as well.
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8 Eunseok
The Only Person Who Died In The Original Jeju Island Raid
- Anime Debut: Episode 1
The story takes place almost entirely in South Korea, meaning that this country’s S-Rank hunters are among some of the strongest and most interesting in the series, despite a few missteps. However, one South Korean S-Ranker, Eunseok, is notorious for dying before Sung Jinwoo’s journey even started. He was killed by the ant monsters during the original Jeju Island Raid, many years in the past.
Eunseok’s role in the story was so inconsequential that he didn’t even appear in the original manhwa, something that was rectified later by the anime adaptation. Of course, fans eventually learned that the Jeju Island ants are actually quite powerful. But the fact that Eunseok was the only S-Ranker that died during this raid made him come off as weak and underwhelming, especially compared to his fellow party members.
7 Jonas
Brazil’s Strongest Hunter Was Never Seen In Action
- Manhwa Debut: Chapter 151
Something particularly fascinating about the world of Solo Leveling is that every single country seems to have at least one or two S-Rankers. While the story mainly focuses on hunters from Asian, European and North American countries, Latin American readers were excited to learn that Brazil’s strongest hunter, Jonas, was #6 in the global rankings.
Unfortunately, Jonas was killed by the Monarchs before he could even do anything interesting on-screen, which was very disappointing, especially considering that he was a vessel of the Rulers. Of course, American S-Rank hunter Christopher Reed met a similar fate, but at least readers got to witness how strong he was, whereas Jonas appeared in only a single panel in the entire manhwa. Hopefully, the anime will fix this in future seasons by adding a new scene of Jonas fighting the Monarchs right before his demise.
6 Mari Ishida
A Boring Japanese Huntress Who Fell To The Ant King
- Manhwa Debut: Chapter 90
- Anime Debut: Episode 21
All the Japanese S-Rankers ended up being quite a disappointment. This was likely intentional by the author, as they had a villainous role and acted as antagonists to the South Korean S-Rankers. Despite all their build-up, at least half of them were killed by the Ant King during the second Jeju Island Raid, and one of his first victims was a young huntress named Mari Ishida.
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Unlike her fellow Japanese party members, Mari chose not to spar against the South Korean party, meaning that viewers never got to see the magical powers that allowed her to obtain S-rank. On top of that, the Ant King killed before she could display her abilities or her personality, which made her even more forgettable as a result.
5 Kei
With His Ice-Based Powers, He Should Have Lasted Much Longer
- Manhwa Debut: Chapter 90
- Anime Debut: Episode 21
At least Mari Ishida died before she could showcase her strength . Kei, a fellow Japanese S-Ranker, was shown to be powerful on-screen, and yet he also ended up being underwhelming. For starters, he had high sensitivity to other people’s mana, which made him act quite rude and competitive towards everybody else. For context, Cha Hae-In has similar sensitivity issues, and yet she’s a nice person.
Kei wielded potent Ice Magic that allowed him to freeze his enemies and even create ice barriers for protection. But, despite his impressive powers, he couldn’t fight back against the mighty Ant King and was killed by this monster. To make things even worse, Kae indirectly made the Ant King even more powerful, seeing as it absorbed the Japanese S-Ranker’s formidable Ice Magic and eventually learned how to use it.
4 Goto Ryuji
Japan’s Strongest Hunter Was A Huge Disappointment
- Manhwa Debut: Chapter 85
- Anime Debut: Episode 20
The lackluster performance of the Japanese S-Rank hunters can be chalked up to their leader, Goto Ryuji, the strongest hunter in the entire country. Throughout his brief appearance, he presented himself as a cold, arrogant, cruel man who believed he was better than everyone else. He was far from the hero a strong S-Ranker is supposed to be. He participated in the Jeju Island Arc, but not to help South Korea reclaim the island. His actual goal was to eliminate that country’s S-Rank hunters.
But Ryuji was all bark and no bite at the end of the day. Despite his personality and actions, he was beheaded by the Ant King in a quick and unsatisfying way, before he could even showcase his supposed strength. Even some of the other Japanese S-Rankers who worked under him got to display their abilities, whereas Goto Ryuji remains one of the most disappointing characters in Solo Leveling to this day.
3 Jay Mills
Made The Mistake Of Not Taking The Monarchs Seriously
- Debut: Chapter 169 (Manhwa)
Jay Mills was the strongest hunter in Canada. Like Goto Ryuji, he acted arrogantly towards everyone else, to the point that he even dismissed Sung Jinwoo’s warning that the most powerful Monarch, Antares, was going to invade Earth very soon.
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But, of course, Jay Mills’ overconfidence led to his demise. Antares emerged from a gate in Canada a few days later, and the Canadian S-Ranker challenged him by claiming that he was the king that Monarch of Destruction was looking for. Antares responded by attacking before he could do anything, and ended up burning him to death in a few seconds. The worst part about Jay Mills is that he never even showcased his power on-screen, making fans wonder if he deserved to act so confidently.
2 Yuri Orloff
Tried To Scam An Entire Country, But It Backfired
- Manhwa Debut: Chapter 123
Yuri Orloff, Russia’s strongest S-Rank hunter, was a notorious Barrier Specialist who could create some of the biggest and most durable magic barriers in the world. So, when a giant S-Rank gate appeared in Tokyo, Orloff made an ambitious deal with Japan’s Draw Sword Guild. He would create a barrier that could protect the city from whatever monster that came out of it, in exchange for 10 million US dollars a day.
It was evident from the get-go that Orloff only cared about getting riches. His immense strength and prestigious reputation made him careless and arrogant, and his behavior was even more despicable than Goto Ryuji’s and Jay Mills’. However, he couldn’t keep his promise. The giants that emerged from the aforementioned gate destroyed his Magic Barrier easily and ended up devouring him, thus proving that the Russian S-Ranker was nowhere near as powerful as he had assumed.
1 Hwang Dongsoo
A Resentful, Selfish Hunter Who Only Cared About Revenge
- Manhwa Debut: Chapter 85
- Anime Debut: Episode 20
Hwang Dongsoo was a South Korean S-Rank hunter who was working in America. When he found out that his older brother, Hwang Dongsuk, had been killed by Sung Jinwoo, he traveled to his home country to find this new hunter and avenge his sibling. This behavior was pathetic on his part, not only because it made him abandon his position temporarily, but also because his brother was a “lizard” who tried to murder Jinwoo while they were inside a dungeon.
There’s no denying that Dongsoo was quite powerful and that he was worthy of the S-Rank. However, he spent his entire story trying to use his immense strength for his own selfish objectives instead of using them to try and help others, not to mention that he also caused unnecessary tension between Thomas Andre and Sung Jinwoo. As a result of his questionable actions, this unlikable antagonist ended up becoming a punching bag to many characters, like Il-Hwan and Jinwoo himself. The latter eventually turned him into a shadow soldier named Greed.
Solo Leveling
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2024 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- Tokyo MX, Gunma TV, BS11, Tochigi TV
