Why Can’t Sung Jin-Woo Extract Baruka, Explained

The Shadow Extraction skill is arguably the most useful ability of Sung Jin-Woo in Solo Leveling. He can raise an army of shadow soldiers from his fallen enemies with a single phrase to activate the skill. For various reasons, not every opponent Sung Jin-Woo defeats can be raised from the dead, one of which is Baruka, the Red Gate dungeon boss and the leader of the Ice Elves.

Before the eventful encounter with Baruka, Sung Jin-Woo has two powerful and loyal shadow soldiers at his side. Jin-Woo succeeds in extracting Igris’ shadow on the third try, while he succeeds on the first try with Tank’s shadow. He later adds Kim Chul to his collection and names him Iron before deciding to use the same skill on Baruka, in the hopes of using his strength for future fights in Solo Leveling.

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Sung Jin-Woo’s Encounter With Baruka

Jin-Woo’s Clash With the Leader of the Ice Elves

Sung Jin-Woo encounters Baruka during the Red Gate dungeon incident at the same time as Scavenger Guild’s S-rank hunter Hwang Dong-Soo returns to South Korea. Within the Red Gate, Jin-Woo discovers ice elves and ice bears waiting to slaughter him and his fellow hunters. While Jin-Woo effortlessly takes down the ice bears and turns them into his shadow soldiers, he has some trouble dealing with Baruka.

Before fighting each other, Jin-Woo learns that he is fluent in monster tongue and that he can understand Baruka. He also learns that there are voices inside the heads of the monsters that constantly tell them to attack humans. Baruka offers a deal with Jin-Woo to avoid fighting each other, since he believes Jin-Woo is not one of the humans and there’s no reason for them to suffer any unnecessary losses. Sung Jin-Woo rejects the deal and proceeds to fight with Baruka instead.

In the end, Sung Jin-Woo barely wins the fight against Baruka through sheer determination and a little bit of luck. With the combined forces of Igris, Tank, and Iron, in addition to Jin-Woo himself, they successfully defeat Baruka despite the difference in their strength.

Possible Reasons Explored

Foremost, Sung Jin-Woo’s Shadow Extraction skill doesn’t have a 100 percent success rate, which explains why he has three chances to use the skill on a single target. The moment Sung Jin-Woo exhausts his chances, he can’t do anything about it, even if he has a huge desire to add them to his force. Shadow Extraction, after all, is not guaranteed to work on every opponent Jin-Woo faces for various reasons, and Baruka is no exception.

Difference in Strength

In Solo Leveling chapter 55, Sung Jin-Woo thinks that he failed in extracting Baruka’s shadow because there’s a huge difference in their strength. At the time of their encounter, Baruka is at a much higher level than Jin-Woo, who, despite having more troops at his side, doesn’t have enough mana to sustain them for very long. Even Igris, his foot soldiers, and his mages can’t stand against Baruka. That said, Baruka may just have been significantly stronger than Jin-Woo when he tried to use the skill and failed.

Baruka’s Mental Resolve

Some fans think that Baruka’s mental resolve before he died also contributed to Sung Jin-Woo’s failed attempt. He might possess an unusually strong will to resist Jin-Woo’s orders compared to the rest of his shadow soldiers. If only Jin-Woo had weakened Baruka’s resolve before his death, he might have had a higher success rate, although this assumption is never confirmed.

For Plot Purposes

Outside the Shadow Extraction’s restrictions, Baruka’s presence may no longer be needed in the development of Sung Jin-Woo. If Jin-Woo had successfully extracted Baruka’s shadow, Sillad, the Frost Monarch, would have learned about him and his shadow troops much earlier, as revealed in Solo Leveling chapter 151. The Frost Monarch would have made contact with Jin-Woo way earlier than anticipated.

Sung Jin-Woo’s failed attempt at extracting Baruka’s shadow is a reminder that even the most overpowered anime protagonists can still fail when there are restrictions in place. If Sung Jin-Woo were to turn every powerful enemy he faced into his shadow, the stakes of his future fights in Solo Leveling would most likely be lowered. Besides, Jin-Woo already has a few strong shadow soldiers at his disposal, even without Baruka’s shadow.

Solo Leveling

Release Date

January 7, 2024

Directors

Shunsuke Nakashige

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  Taito Ban

  Shun Mizushino (voice)

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  Genta Nakamura

  Kenta Morobishi (voice)