Solo Leveling Made Sung Jinwoo So Strong, It Forgot to Make Him a Good Character

Solo Leveling is one of the most popular anime in recent years, setting a benchmark for future shonen anime and power fantasies. It became such a big hit that it even won the title of Anime of the Year at the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, beating other celebrated shows like Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. While its narrative is not highly unique or out-of-the-box, the way it tackles the known elements makes for an entertaining watch experience.

For many Solo Leveling fans, the biggest highlight of this anime is, hands down, its protagonist, Sung Jinwoo. His journey from weak to strong also inspires admiration from his fans and envy, as many would love to be like him. However, in making him such a powerful and high-performing personality, the anime compromises his character growth. Jinwoo eventually turns into a caricature of an overpowered hero, with no real challenges affecting him, making the script feel flat and predictable.

Solo Leveling’s Power Fantasy Spectacle Overpowers Its Plot

The world of Solo Leveling operates in a very interesting manner, where random appearances of dungeons are the norm. These foreign dimensional worlds also contain different kinds of beastly races and demons who would otherwise come outside and wreak havoc if hunters do not close their gates on time. In such a precarious situation, Jinwoo begins his journey as the lowest-ranking hunter who came into the profession because of his financial situation.

Unlucky for Sung Jinwoo, one trip to a shady dungeon flips his life, following which he emerges as a completely new person. The setup is compelling, and the stakes are already set very high in the first episode, which showcases the brutality of this world. However, the moment Jinwoo gets the power to level up from his mediocre E-rank and grow stronger to unknown heights, all the high stakes of the plot vanish for the hero himself.

The first time Jinwoo begins to win his battles, it feels exhilarating for the fans, as now they can witness Jinwoo’s journey to the top. However, with his constant wins against very menacing enemies, his rise becomes redundant and unsurprising. Jinwoo literally falls into a pattern where a monster with a huge reputation for being the worst will come, kill a bunch of other very strong characters, and then be slain by Jinwoo. This is exactly what happened with the series’ Ant King, who got extreme hype, managed to beat almost every high-ranking hunter, but was killed in a one-sided battle by Jinwoo.

This kind of framework functions well for a time, but then the tension disappears, and no real conflict remains for the hero. It becomes clear that in every arc, a new powerful villain might come, but they will never get a decent development for the sake of maintaining Jinwoo’s reputation. While Solo Leveling is undeniably entertaining, largely due to its stunning animation, it is hard to ignore elements like these that prove the show lacks substance.

Jinwoo’s Character Regresses Rather Than Learning From His Mistakes

Many agree that Jinwoo showcased the most personality when he was still a weak character. He also had some steady character growth in the initial episodes, where he was becoming stronger. But now that he has achieved a certain level of mastery, Jinwoo has literally become one-dimensional with no room for any personality development. After evolving into a force of nature, Jinwoo has been reduced to an aura farming icon who works better as a concept rather than a character.

There are times within the anime where Jinwoo does show some emotion, and how his internal changes are affecting him. For instance, in Season 2 of Solo Leveling, he initially shows no remorse while murdering Kim, a fellow hunter. Jinwoo also did not need to kill him and could have easily stopped Kim, but he chose the other option because he realized how it would be more beneficial for him to use Kim rather than let him live. This obviously paints Jinwoo as a grey character who does not hesitate to take human lives for a better outcome. Yes, he was self-aware of what he had done, as later, in the bathroom, he thought about the incident, but that was it. The anime deliberately refuses to dive into these emotional and psychological aspects and only indulges in them in bits and pieces.

Another time when Jinwoo was seen with proper emotion, showing he is still a human to a certain extent, is when he heals his mother. But other than that, Solo Leveling is all about the great feats of Jinwoo, the hero, who will continue to be powerful and defeat any threat that comes his way. It is true that in almost every anime, the hero is the one who is slated to win in the end. However, Jinwoo’s plot armor works in a completely different proportion where he hardly ever tastes any defeat, even at a nominal stage. This obviously affects the narrative, and this is also why there is a major section of fans who consider Solo Leveling to be a good show, but agree it is overrated, with bland characters.