The Best Characters Introduced In Solo Leveling Season 2

Summary

• Solo Leveling Season 2 introduces new characters with impactful combat abilities, like Kim Chul and Son Kihoon.
• Iron, the shadow soldier, undergoes a significant personality change and becomes a powerful asset to Jin-woo.
• Ant King emerges as the most formidable monster, possessing diverse offensive capabilities and unmatched strength in Solo Leveling.

The second season of Solo Leveling takes everything good from the first season and turns it up to eleven. This means more exciting action sequences, a wide variety of unique monsters and dungeons, and, of course, some interesting new faces as well.

Compared to the first season, the supporting characters get more chances to shine in the spotlight during Season 2. However, just like in the real world, some people are more interesting than others. With that in mind, here are the best characters introduced in Solo Leveling Season 2, ranked based on their combat power. Some of these characters briefly appeared in the first season as silhouettes or in flashbacks, but they make their full debut in the second season.

10

Kim Chul

The Arrogant A-Rank Tanker

• Race: Human
• Japanese Voice Actor: Chikahiro Kobayashi
• First Appearance: Season 2, Episode 1

Kim Chul only appears in the first two episodes of the second season, yet he manages to leave a long-lasting impact on viewers. Unfortunately for him, he stands out not because of his accomplishments, but rather due to his terrible leadership ability and nasty personality.

As pathetic as Kim Chul is during his brief appearance, the fact that he is an A-Rank hunter means his strength is the real deal. As a tanker, he is more than capable of withstanding the charging attacks of powerful monsters. It is just bad luck that led him to the Red Gate dungeon, where most of the monsters are as strong as A-Rank hunters.

9

Iron

The Most Animated Shadows

• Race: Shadows
• Japanese Voice Actor: Chikahiro Kobayashi
• First Appearance: Season 2, Episode 2

After Kim Chul loses his life fighting against Baruka, Sung Jin-woo resurrects him as a Shadow soldier and gives him the name Iron. Interestingly enough, once Kim Chul turns into Iron, his personality changes drastically. He becomes a goofy airhead who will do anything to get praise from Jin-woo, such as when he drags the corpse of Baran’s wyvern without being asked because he knows Jin-woo will awaken it as a shadow. Indeed, he earned praise for that.

Iron is way stronger as a Shadow compared to when he was merely Kim Chul. After all, he is now capable of leveling up, just like his master, Sung Jin-woo. As a result, his defensive power as a tank grows stronger with each battle, along with his destructive attacks.

8

Son Kihoon

The Rookie Leader

• Race: Human
• Japanese Voice Actor: Takaaki Torashima
• First Appearance: Season 2, Episode 5

Son Kihoon is the leader of the Strike Team B of the biggest guild in Korea, the Hunters Guild. Even though it is technically the second-tier Strike Team, it is still comprised mostly of B- and A-Rank hunters. Kihoon is a kind leader who prioritizes the safety of his teammates, but unfortunately for him, he has to encounter the powerful High Orcs and their mighty Shaman.

Son Kihoon is among the top A-Rank hunters in his guild, which makes him stronger than Kim Chul. As a tanker, he can stop and deflect the charges of the Dungeon Jackals without breaking a sweat. Add to that his remarkable swordsmanship ability, and the result is a very capable tanker hunter.

7

Baruka

The Overconfident Ice Elf

• Race: Ice Elf
• Japanese Voice Actor: Ryuuji Satou
• First Appearance: Season 2, Episode 1

Baruka is the leader of the Ice Elves from the Red Gate dungeon. Just like his brethren, Baruka is incredibly arrogant and always looks down on other species. He is the first monster who can properly talk to Jin-woo, and he is also the one who reveals the fact that he, along with other monsters and magic beasts, is controlled by the system and is forced to attack humans.

Those facts alone are enough to make Baruka stand out from the other monsters in the series, but then he reveals his devastating true power, along with a combat style that closely mirrors Jin-woo’s. The hero has to work together with Igris and the newly resurrected Iron to take Baruka down. That’s how formidable the leader of the Ice Elves really is.

6

Kargalgan

The Cruel Orc Shaman

• Race: High Orc
• Japanese Voice Actor: Kenta Miyake
• First Appearance: Season 2, Episode 5

Kargalgan is the leader of the High Orcs that ambush Son Kihoon’s Strike Team. As briefly explained by Baruka, monsters and magic beasts inside the dungeon are forced to hunt humans. While this is true for Kargalgan, and for the other high orcs as well, there’s another reason why he hunts humans: he does it for entertainment. Kargalgan likes to play around with his prey’s life. This cruelty alone makes him different from the other dungeon bosses.

Unlike other orcs and high orcs who mainly rely on their terrifying strength, Kargalgan reigns supreme thanks to his devastating magic prowess. From defending with a magic shield to attacking with a dragon’s fire breath to turning himself into a giant, no one rivals Kargalgan’s mastery of magic.

5

Esil Radiru

The Cowardly Demon Knight

• Race: Demon
• Japanese Voice Actor: Riho Sugiyama
• First Appearance:Season 2, Episode 8

Most of the demons in the Demon Realm are akin to wild beasts who act on their feral instinct. The only exceptions are the Demon Nobles, who can think and communicate like humans. Esil Radiru is the heir to the lowest-rank nobles in the demon realm, and not only that, but she is also a scaredy cat who instantly gives up once she witnesses Jin-woo’s terrifying power.

While Esil’s personality is the opposite of the other demons, who are typically cruel and prideful, her strength is the real deal. In fact, she is the most powerful demon in her family. Even Jin-woo acknowledges that her strength is on par with a lower S-Rank in the human world.

4

Min Byung-Gyu

The Ultimate S-Rank Healer

• Race: Human
• Japanese Voice Actor: Junya Enoki
• First Appearance:Season 2, Episode 9

Min Byung-Gyu is not only one of the few Healers featured in the series, but he is also the best of them all. After all, he is the only known S-Rank healer in Solo Leveling. He is a kindhearted man who suffers from PTSD after witnessing the death of his close friend in the previous Jeju Raid. Despite it all, he gathers his resolve and joins the raid team to help his allies.

In terms of strength, Min Byung-Gyu is about as powerful as an A-Rank Hunter. In terms of support magic, however, there’s nobody like him. Byung-Gu can cast the best buff that suits his teammates’ needs, such as an attack buff for Baek Yoonho or a magic buff for Choi Jong-In. He can also cast a Total Heal, even on somebody who is already on the brink of death.

3

Goto Ryuji

The Strongest S-Rank Hunter In Japan

• Race: Human
• Japanese Voice Actor: Satoshi Mikami
• First Appearance: Season 2, Episode 8

Goto Ryuji is the leader of the biggest guild in Japan, and he is the strongest S-Rank hunter in the country as well. However, that power and influence are still not enough for him because there is one title that Goto hasn’t received yet: The National Level Hunter. That’s why he arrives in Korea under the guise of offering help, while secretly advancing his own sinister plot.

As the top S-Rank in Japan, there’s no question about Goto Ryuji’s strength. It’s not even an exaggeration to say that he is one of the finest swordsmen in the world. Even Jin-woo admits that Goto is far stronger than his fellow S-Ranks and possibly more powerful than most Korean S-Ranks as well.

2

Sung Il-Hwan

Sung Jin-Woo’s Mysterious Father

• Race: Human
• Japanese Voice Actor: Rikiya Koyama
• First Appearance: Season 2, Episode 3

Sung Il-Hwan is the father of the greatest S-Rank hunter in the world, Sung Jin-woo. Il-Hwan has been missing for decades before he eventually appears once again in the third episode of Season 2. Interestingly enough, he emerges from an A-rank dungeon on American soil.

It’s unclear how strong Sung Il-Hwan was when he disappeared all those years ago, but when he comes back, he becomes one of the most powerful S-Rank hunters in the world. Even Hwang Dong-Soo, a Korean S-Rank who resides in the United States, is helpless against him.

1

The Ant King

The Most Powerful Monster In Solo Leveling

• Race: Insect
• Japanese Voice Actor: Akira Ishida
• First Appearance: Episode 10

The Ant King is the secret boss of the Jeju raid. His humanoid body is considerably smaller than his brethren, but he is also significantly stronger than them. Yet for some reason, he looks far more menacing than the other ants, including the queen herself.

Usually, monsters, or even humans for that matter, have one definitive area where they excel offensively—such as their fangs, hides, strength, martial arts, and many others. That is not the case at all with the Ant King because everything about him is created for the sole purpose of killing his opponents.

He has an extremely durable exoskeleton that can deflect swords and withstand heavy blunt attacks. He has Incredibly sharp claws that can cut through anything, strong mandibles that can chew through everything, inhuman speed that can catch S-Rank hunters off guard, and absurd strength that can destroy a boulder with a single punch. Everything about him is designed to be a perfect fighter. That’s why the Ant King is the most powerful monster, and the best character introduced in Solo Leveling Season 2.