Summary
Solo Levelingis possibly thebiggest and most popular power fantasy animein recent times, as A-1 Pictures’ magnificent adaptation of Chu-gong and Jang Sung-rak’s original manhwa focuses on protagonist Sung Jinwoo and his journey to get gradually stronger – even more so than every other hunter in the world – by leveling up with the help of the mysterious player system he awakened.
As a result, both seasons of this anime are full of legendary scenes that display the immense power that Jinwoo and the other characters wield, with the following being the most remarkable examples so far. Needless to say, theSolo Levelingmanhwa also features many incredible showcases of power that haven’t been animated yet, but this topic will focus solely on the anime.
8Weakening The Stone Golem Without Anyone Noticing
Sung Jinwoo
Jinwoo didn’t just get incredibly powerful the moment he awakened the system, as he needed to put in the work and level up if he wanted to get stronger. As a result, his first days with the system required a lot of effort, to the point that he even entered an Instant Dungeon where he struggled to defeat both its regular enemies and its boss. He was getting stronger very slowly, but at least he finally got the chance to display his newfound power when he returned from the dungeon.
A giantStone Golemhad broken out from another D-Rank gate, and the hunters who were trying to defeat it were quickly running out of mana. To test his recently enhanced strength, Jinwoo threw his broken sword at the monster and instantly pierced through its defenses, allowing the other hunters to finish it off. The most fascinating part of this achievement is that the attack was so quick that nobody else noticed that it was he who threw the weapon (except for Lee Johee). Nevertheless, this was the first legitimately impressive showcase of Jinwoo’s power in the entire show.
7Murdering All The Lizards
For the first few episodes of the show, Sung Jinwoo exclusively fought and defeated monsters, and he didn’t even attempt to use his strength to fight other humans. However, everything changed when he entered the Insects Dungeon alongside Hwang Dongsuk and his party, self-proclaimed “Lizards” who murdered innocent people inside dungeons, where nobody outside could see what was happening.
At first, the Lizards tried to trap Jinwoo and Jinho inside the boss room so Buryura would kill them, and they could extract the valuable resources, but Jinwoo ended up defeating the giant spider, which was already an impressive showcase of power in and of itself. When their initial plan failed, the Lizards tried to kill the two D-Rank hunters with their own hands,prompting the system to give Jinwoo a new mission that forced him to kill his attackers in self-defense. Needless to say, murdering other human beings with his newfound strength was very jarring for Jinwoo, but he overpowered all of them so easily and efficiently that it was evident he was already much more powerful than most regular hunters.
6Taking Down Baruka’s Army By Himself
At the very beginning of Season 2, Sung Jinwoo joined a bunch of hunters who were entering what seemed to be a C-Rank dungeon, but much to their surprise, it was actually a highly dangerous Red Gate dungeon instead. Of course, the main character knew that he was the only person strong enough to survive, so he bravely protected the few hunters who decided to join him.
However, the dungeon’s boss suddenly appeared before him:Baruka, the leader of the Ice Elves, who had previously killed all the other hunters in the dungeon. The boss monster was very powerful, but Jinwoo quickly counterattacked by killing his strongest soldier in an instant, and moving on to clearing the rest of his army without much effort. The main character ended up defeating all the Ice Elves and Baruka all by himself, without the help of the other, much weaker, hunters who were in the dungeon with him. Furthermore, this was also the perfect opportunity to put his newly-acquired shadow soldiers to the test, which were crucial in leveling the playing field.
5Defeating Kargalgan And His High Orc Army
Kicking off Season 2 with his battle against Baruka’s Ice Elf army was already a perfect showcase of Jinwoo’s newfound strength, but things got even more interesting in the Hunters Guild Gate Arc, when he single-handedly fought and defeatedKargalgan. This powerful High Orc shaman was the boss of an A-Rank dungeon, andhe and his massive army captured the Hunters Guild members who were raiding it.
Fortunately, Sung Jinwoo quickly revealed his true strength to protect them and take down the boss monster. With the help of his shadow soldiers, the protagonist defeated Kargalgan’s forces, and he was even able to extract their shadows to create High Orc soldiers of his own. Kargalgan himself was an extremely powerful sorcerer who could cast all sorts of offensive, defensive, and support spells, but Jinwoo was able to kill him anyway and even turned him into the Tusk, the new marshal of his shadow army. Needless to say, this is one of Jinwoo’s most incredible showcases of power in the entire anime, and the Hunters Guild was there to witness it all.
4Killing A Swarm Of Ants With One Attack
Liu Zhugang
But, of course, Sung Jinwoo is not the only highly powerful hunter inSolo Levelingwho got the chance to display his immense strength. At the very end of Season 2, a swarm of ants escaped Jeju Island and quickly reached Chinese waters,where they were stopped by that country’s strongest S-Rank hunter,Liu Zhugang.
He completely obliterated the entire swarm with one simple, quick, and effortless attack, thus proving that he’s worthy of this prestigious title. After all, international S-Rankers like him will play a crucial role in future seasons of the anime, so it was very clever to include this scene in the finale to properly establish that there still are many hunters out there who are at the same high level as Jinwoo.
3The Final Punch Against Baran
To clear the Demon Castle quest and craft the Holy Water of Life,Jinwoo was tasked with defeating the King of Demons,Baran. This entire battle is an awe-inspiring spectacle of over-the-top attacks, unique abilities, and incredible strength that perfectly reflected how powerful both combatants were, but the final deciding punch was its biggest highlight.
With the help of his shadows (and Esil Radiru), Jinwoo was able to land a potent uppercut on Baran’s jaw just as the Demon King was charging up his lightning breath, thus making his entire head explode with one final attack that even removed the clouds in the sky. Unbeknownst to both him and the audience at the time, the version of Baran that Jinwoo defeated at the top of the Demon Castle was a construct of one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe, which makes his victory even more impressive in retrospect.
2Defeating The Japanese And South Korean S-Rankers
Ant King (Beru)
When a power fantasy series likeSolo Levelingwants to give its overpowered main character a real challenge, it has to introduce an almost equally strong antagonist and make them do something unbelievable that establishes how truly dangerous he is. This is exactly what happened with theAnt Kingin the middle of the Jeju Island Arc:every single Guild in South Korea joined forces and even required the assistance of Japan’s strongest huntersto put an end to the ant colony on the island once and for all, but none of them knew that the Ant Queen had just given birth to her most powerful and deadiest heir.
The newly born Ant King was strong, fast, cruel, and could even absorb the magical powers of the people he consumed. He very quickly killed the Japanese S-Rankers, including the mighty Goto Ryuji, and he went on to defeat the South Korean S-Rankers, like Cha Hae-In, Baek Yoonho, Choi Jong-In, and Min Byung-Gyu. The Ant King single-handedly defeated and/or killed some of the strongest hunters in the entire world, and things would have gotten pretty grim if Sung Jinwoo had never arrived to defeat him.
1Saving Everyone At Jeju Island
There’s no denying that the Ant King is the strongest monster who has appeared in the anime (so far), since he almost succeeded in stopping the Jeju Island Raid and spreading his colony of ant monsters throughout the entire world. But, just when everything seemed hopeless,Sung Jinwoodecided to break his promise and quickly arrived at the island with his Shadow Exchange ability.
The Ant King was undoubtedly a very dangerous and powerful opponent, but Jinwoo managed to defeat him alone, without using any of his shadow soldiers,not to mention that he even extracted the monster’s own shadow to create Beru. On top of that, he ordered the rest of his army to exterminate every other ant flying around, both in Jeju Island and its surroundings. At the end of the day, Jinwoo was not only able to save everyone, but he also eliminated the ant colony by himself, something that not even two entire countries and thousands of human hunters working together could accomplish. This was the moment that cemented him as the strongest person in the entire show and the only one who can face the incoming otherworldly threats in future seasons.
