All 10 S-Rank Korean Hunters, Explained

In the world of Solo Leveling, hunters are humanity’s only protection against the monsters emerging continuously from portals called Gates. These extraordinary people are categorized by their levels, which start at E and end at S, with the latter being as strong as a god. Whereas the rest of the hunters are barely able to provide for themselves and each battle is a battle for their survival, S-Rank are certainly in a different world altogether—strong enough to wipe out cities or defeat notorious disasters on their own. Some are so high that they are similar to the highest-ranked big game hunters globally, identified as National Level Hunters.

South Korea is a small country, yet some of the most dangerous and powerful S-Rank hunters ever have originated from it. Each of these ten individuals has their own special skills, and they are all an integral part of the constant battle against the increasing menace of the Dungeon Breaks. From fire-wielding mages to the bestial warriors and even the mysterious ‘returned’ hunters, each S-Rank hunter has an interesting background that adds to the depth of Solo Leveling. Here, we take a look at all the ten S-Rank Hunters, what abilities they have, and how strong they are.

7 Most Versatile Hunters In Solo Leveling, Ranked

Among the countless hunters that feature in the Solo Leveling series, these are arguably the most versatile of the bunch.

Korea’s Cream of the Crop, The Strongest Hunters

Go Gunhee—Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light

Go Gunhee was the Chairman of the Korean Hunters Association, and he was one of the top hunters of Korea. He was also one of the first-ever S-Rank hunters to awaken, making him a well-matched fit for even the strongest S-Rank hunters with his physical strength and toughness.

Despite being old, he possessed incredible combat capabilities and there were very few people that could stand alone against monstrous threats, but because he was awakened as a hunter quite late, he was only able to work as a hunter for a couple of years; he had to retire because his own body could no longer handle the abilities that were awakened in him. However, because of his ability, Gunhee devoted his time to making Korea safe for hunters and its citizens. He was also involved in influencing Korea’s hunter system and all revered him for his wisdom and leadership.

Choi Jong-In—The Ultimate Hunter

Choi Jong-In is a character recognized as the strongest mage in Korea and referred to as The Ultimate Hunter; he is the guildmaster of the Hunters Guild. His awakening enables him to have the ability to create and manipulate fire at his own will, as shown by the superpower pyrokinesis. What largely defines him are his skills—he can summon great fireballs that are destructive and deadly, though he is capable of controlling them to ensure that only the enemy catches the flames. Not only is his fire magic powerful in sheer strength, but it can also be used tactfully depending on the nature of a battle, either in a large group or one-on-one.

Jong-In’s ability can be a significant asset for the group when it comes to dungeon raids. His ability to light up and fry most targets is unprecedented, and he also uses his head to make sure that he burns many enemies while destroying very little. He has complete control over the element of fire — therefore, he is one of the most powerful S-Rank hunters to date. Before a reawakened Jinwoo came into the picture, Choi could be considered one of the strongest hunters in the series.

Baek Yoonho—The White Tiger’s Roar

Baek Yoonho is the tough and influential leader of the White Tiger Guild, a Korean guild that is considered one of the most powerful guilds in the country. While many of them may have weapons or magic as their abilities, Yoonho has no power except for great physical strength. It also gave him the ability to shift from a human into a monstrous figure endowed with superhuman strength, agility and endurance. In this state, he rages and becomes a beast that can take down any high-level monsters without breaking a sweat. His change also makes him more perceptive and agile than most hunters and makes it possible for him to react to any danger more quickly than possible, which was seen during his first appearance in Episode 1 when he swiftly took care of the ants that even a dozen other hunters were struggling with.

In addition to possessing monstrous strength, Yoonho is wise and also has a great sense of justice and leadership abilities as well; he is also the one most willing to retake Jeju Island, as he knows what it would mean if they weren’t able to get rid of the ants. Indeed, he himself deserves respect and his guild is very successful when he is in charge. His beast transformation does not only turn him into a ferocious fighter but also gives his foes something to fear during a fight, thus being an asset in any front-line combat.

Cha Hae-In: The Dancer, A Swordsmaster with Elegance

Cha Hae-In is the only woman classified as an S-Rank hunter in Korea, but she is definitely one of the strongest. In fact, she could be considered the strongest, other than the Sung family. As a prominent figure in the Hunters Guild, holding the position of Vice-Guild Master, she holds absurd levels of senses as well as agility. This special condition enables her to feel the presence of mana in other people, making her a tracker and a fighter of immense levels of danger. Her battle instincts are developed to the extent that she can counter an attack in a flash, avoiding blows as if they were moving in slow motion.

Her sword skill is so remarkably good and her movement as well as the techniques; it appears that she is dancing with her sword skills; hence, why she was dubbed the nickname “The Dancer.” Thanks to her heightened perception, she is able to predict the movements of her enemies, and she is considered to be one of the quickest and most efficient S-Rank hunters. Even though Hae-In is shy, she is a strong and resilient fighter with the instincts of a warrior in Solo Leveling. It’s also another evidence of the fact that she is one of the few characters who can stand up against Sung Jin-Woo in terms of fighting prowess at one point.

Lim Tae-Gyu—The Deadliest Archer

Lim Tae-Gyu, who leads the Fiend Guild, is a living example of the fact that force is not the only way to gain strength. His awakening granted him superhuman accuracy when aiming his bow and arrows, thereby enabling him to shoot targets from a very long range. He also enchants the arrows, making them faster and heavier to deal fatal blows to enemies. Monsters themselves cannot escape from his targeting, and thus are an important long-range support in dungeon raids. However, Lim is the strongest ranger-type hunter in Korea and performs well in battle even without his bow, but he is at a massive disadvantage when it comes to strength or close combat, and is even mentioned by Hanekawa as being one of the weakest S-rank hunters in the world.

He is mostly situated as a long-range fighter; it is the task of Tae-Gyu to take out key targets from a long distance during raids because they might become lethal. He guarantees his squad the ranged support, which makes him a valuable part of tactical fights on a large scale. He is very composed and lethal, which makes him a formidable foe. Despite the fact that he likes to avoid fights, his arrows do not allow any particular enemy to remain out of the danger zone.

Min Byung-Gyu—The Pacifist Healer

While he is an S-Rank hunter, Min Byung-Gyu is not someone who will fight most of the time because that’s not his specialty, and he is one of the best healers in the series. Byung-Gyu might be considered one of the most important support-type hunters, whose unique skills enable him to heal even critical damage that just makes teammates fully ready for fighting immediately.

Byung-Gyu is quite a pacifist in essence, harboring a strong distaste for violence and thus tending to try to avoid fighting at all costs. During the third raid on Jeju Island, he saw the consequences of being a hunter and decided to retire, especially after losing his friend Eunseok, but his healing abilities can be so powerful that they could completely turn the tide of a battle just by his presence. Without him, they would never have survived the previous raid on Jeju Island, and he will play an even greater role in the upcoming 4th Raid on Jeju Island at the time of writing.

Ma Dong-Wook—The Unbreakable Tank

Ma Dong-Wook, the guild master of the famous team, Fame Guild, can arguably be considered as Korea’s best tank. His power lets him grow his size to monstrous proportions and his skin hardens to be nearly impenetrable. In combat, he can be positioned as a tank since he takes so many hits while his teammates attack from behind.

He is one of the strongest S-Rank tank-build hunters because of his sheer tenacity and impenetrable defenses. Being able to take hits that would most likely be fatal to any other hunter, Dong-Wook takes those hits like it’s nothing. With the upcoming raid on Jeju Island, he will have a major role in protecting his team.

Eunseok – The Overlooked Lightning Mage

Eunseok was one of the top ten S-Rank hunters of Korea, yet he was not named much in the Solo Leveling series. It is interesting that he has the rating of the S-rank hunter, yet he appeared only once during Episode 1 and was shown only for several minutes, which makes him one of the most enigmatic characters of the series. His whole fate was not disclosed until season 2; Eunseok was killed during the Third Jeju Island Raid operation, which was a disastrous mission that saw many hunters die. It was especially relevant for the plot because the death of Eunseok was the final straw for the best healer of Korea, Min Byung-Gu, who decided to retire after that.

He was an S-Rank mage who wielded lightning magic and had the ability to release powerful electricity to several enemies in a line. It helped him earn a reputation as a fighter who could practically neutralize a number of strong monsters in the given areas. Still, even all his magical powers could not protect him on Jeju Island as the number of powerful ants was overpowering. It was a touch of reality that even the strongest hunters that exist within the world of Solo Leveling are not safe.

Sung Il-Hwan – The Mysterious Returnee

Sung Il-Hwan, the father of Sung Jin-Woo. During his younger years, Il-Hwan worked as a firefighter and, with a strong sense of justice, he became a hunter after he awakened. In the anime, he is still a man whose background is quite mysterious. He disappeared into a dungeon several years ago and came back with abilities that would fall under the national-level hunter; he beat up Hwang like he was an E-rank hunter, whereas Hwang might be considered Korea’s strongest S-rank hunter after Gunhee. His whole background and history are enshrouded in mystery.

Ten years prior to the main storyline, Il-Hwan inadvertently became locked in a dungeon during a raid and after being presumed dead, his wife raised the children on her own. But just when Il-Hwan was nearing death from thirst or hunger, he was found by the Rulers (some very important entities that would be revealed in the anime pretty soon), who cast their power into him and anointed him as their agent to kill the Shadow Monarch, who was soon to be born, or rather reborn in this case. Having no other option of getting back home by himself, Il-Hwan was left with no option but to accept their propositions.

Hwang Dong-Su—The Korean PowerHouse With An Attitude

Hwang Dong-Su was previously a Korean S-Rank hunter, and he then moved to America to be an S-Rank hunter there. His awakening granted him many physical attributes, which made him one of the strongest S-Rank hunters in terms of physical power and speed. However, his actions have made him violent and arrogant, which made him more of a villain among hunters than a hero. For him, personal success in battle was more important, since he possessed great power, but because of his impulsivity, he often sought a fight.

His strength increased even after he relocated to the United States of America, whereby he sided with key players such as Thomas Andre. However, arrogance and personal grudges sometimes have their costs—which is proved by the fact that Hwang could not escape defeat in the end. Despite the fact that he could be an incredibly powerful character in Solo Leveling, he has certain flaws, including anger and revenge.

Sung Jinwoo – The Strongest S-Rank Hunter

Sung Jinwoo is the last and the strongest S-rank hunter in Korea to awaken. His awakening was different to the other hunters as he became the Shadow Monarch instead of an S-Rank hunter. At first, he began as an E-Rank hunter who barely had the strength to enter the dungeon, which can only be considered basic. But after an unfortunate fate in a double dungeon, with the help of a mysterious system, he received a second awakening and became something much more than a regular human.

With hard work, Jinwoo accelerated and stood as the only S-Rank hunter whose power was exponentially beyond that of others and created a realm of destruction power enough to face a whole army. It was due to this that he was able to manage an endless number of shadows that were very strong and, therefore, he was the ultimate warrior. Thus, the man turned into a legend not only in Korea but slowly around the world among hunters and in real life too, fans are already comparing Jinwoo from the end of the series to be stronger than Goku and Saitama and calling him the strongest.

Solo Leveling

Release Date

January 7, 2024

Directors

Shunsuke Nakashige

Writers

Noboru Kimura

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  Taito Ban

  Shun Mizushino (voice)

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  Genta Nakamura

  Kenta Morobishi (voice)