This article contains spoilers from the Solo Leveling manhwa series.
Summary
- Awakening is crucial for humans to become hunters, with genetics potentially playing a role.
- Hunters emerged in response to Gates appearing worldwide, offering humanity defense against monsters.
- The emergence of hunters is triggered by a large-scale war between higher beings, causing Earth to be injected with magic.
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In Solo Leveling, humans gifted with extraordinary magic abilities are considered superior individuals. They are classified based on a ranking system that reflects their combat potential, mana level, and overall strength. The government, particularly the hunter association, governs these individuals and their activities to preserve the power balance in the world. But before the humans raided dungeons and defeated monsters, how did they awaken in the first place?
Awakening is mandatory for humans to become hunters in Solo Leveling. Those who fail to manifest magic abilities have no chance of joining, let alone earning a living from dungeon raids. No kind of endorsement or recommendation can give an ordinary civilian a pass to become a hunter unless they awaken their abilities. It’s unclear how some people manifest their abilities while others don’t, but there’s a belief that genetics plays a huge part in the entire process.
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Solo Leveling: Who Could Be the First S-Rank Hunter?
When the gates first appear in Solo Leveling, who is the first S-rank hunter among the awakened individuals?
When Did the Hunters Awaken Their Abilities?
The Emergence of Hunters
When mysterious Gates appear in different parts of the world, humans also begin manifesting magic abilities one after another. The appearance of these gifted humans is tied to a catastrophic event called Awakening—an unexplained transformation where certain individuals gain strength like no other. Those who experienced it are later recognized as hunters, making it seem as though humans became hunters at the perfect time to counteract the dangerous monsters emerging from the Gates.
“As long as I am a hunter, I will never miss my prey.”—Sung Jin-Woo
Over time, the hunters act as humanity’s primary defense against the magical beasts that are out for blood. They are then classified according to strength and potential based on the S-E ranking system, but there are cases when certain individuals undergo a process of second awakening. False rankers also exist, as there are hunters who are improperly assessed by the mana meter technology, posing a danger to the community.
Sung Jin-Woo’s Hunter Awakening
Many fans of the series are intrigued by Sung Jin-Woo’s awakening as an E-rank hunter with dismal magic abilities and combat potential. It’s unfortunate that for someone as hardworking as Jin-Woo, he can’t improve his strength, as the abilities of most hunters are set in stone after they awaken. Armors and weapons may help Jin-Woo in battle, but they don’t erase the fact that Jin-Woo is still at a level at which goblins can kill him with a pathetic attack. Despite this, Jin-Woo is still significantly stronger than ordinary humans because he is still an awakener.
“I belong in the dungeons.”—Sung Jin-Woo
As the plot unfolds in Solo Leveling, the Shadow Monarch bestows his powers on Sung Jin-Woo not because he empathizes with him but because Jin-Woo repeatedly persevered in the face of death. After Jin-Woo becomes a player in the system, it’s almost impossible to stop his growth, leading to public suspicions that he is either a false ranker or a second awakener. But we all know by now that it’s not technically the case.
How Did Hunters Awaken Their Magic Abilities?
A Large-Scale War Triggered the Emergence of Awakeners
The truth behind the awakening of the hunters lies in the never-ending conflict between the Rulers and the Monarchs. After the Monarchs choose Earth as their new battlefield with the Rulers, humanity is wiped out. The result of the fight doesn’t matter, for humanity is not strong enough to survive without magic abilities. And since the Rulers are supposed to maintain the world, they decide to use the Cup of Reincarnation, the only God tool that can turn back time by a decade, to save humanity.
However, Earth and its inhabitants still cannot endure the mass-scale battle between the Rulers and the Monarchs, no matter how many times the Rulers turn back time with the God tool. This leads to the rulers’ drastic decision to inject the world with magic, resulting in the emergence of the gates and the awakening of the hunters. Through this process, several humans will be strong enough to survive at the cost of the lives of the magical beasts and ordinary humans.
“They were making humans capable of surviving the collision between two forces. The Rulers wanted the humans to survive, no matter what they had to do.”—Ashborn, the Shadow Monarch
By Sung Jin-Woo’s definition, hunters or awakeners are just humans who can survive the aftereffects of the war between the Monarchs and the Rulers. Everything that has happened so far was just a process to filter out a few humans, solidifying that the true war is between the Monarchs and the Rulers, while humanity is once again caught in the middle. It’s not an unfamiliar narrative, as Solo Leveling is not the only anime and manhwa series that explores a war between two higher beings with humanity in the middle of everything.
Solo Leveling
- Release Date
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January 7, 2024
- Directors
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Shunsuke Nakashige
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Taito Ban
Shun Mizushino (voice)
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Genta Nakamura
Kenta Morobishi (voice)
