When you dive into the world of Sung Jinwoo, everyone wants to know who the solo leveling strongest hunters really are. It’s a trick question. Depending on where you are in the manhwa or the anime, the answer changes completely. Honestly, the power scaling in Chugong’s masterpiece is less of a ladder and more of a vertical cliff that Jinwoo just happens to be sprinting up while everyone else is stuck at the bottom looking confused.
The gap between a standard S-Rank and a National Level Hunter is basically the difference between a firecracker and a nuke. It's massive.
The National Level Hunters and the "False" Peak
Before the Monarchs showed up and started breaking reality, the world thought the National Level Hunters were the absolute ceiling. These guys are basically walking gods. They aren't just strong; they survived the Kamish raid, which was the single most disastrous event in Hunter history. But being a National Level Hunter isn't just about raw stats. It’s about being a "Vessel."
Thomas Andre is the name everyone remembers. The "Goliath." He's the American powerhouse who looks like he walked out of a heavy metal concert and decided to punch dragons for fun. Thomas is a tank in the truest sense of the word. His "Reinforcement" skill makes his body nearly indestructible. When he fought Jinwoo, the shockwaves were leveling city blocks. But here’s the thing—Thomas Andre, despite being one of the solo leveling strongest hunters, represents the peak of human potential, not the peak of the series.
Then you have Liu Zhigang. The 7-star Hunter from China. We don't see him fight as much as Thomas, but the hype is real. He’s the only one who really stands on the same pedestal as the Goliath. These guys were granted power by the Rulers, the ancient beings opposing the Monarchs. That’s the secret sauce. If you aren't borrowing power from a higher dimension, you’re basically just playing in a sandbox while the adults are moving mountains.
Christopher Reed was another one of these giants. Sadly, we see him get absolutely wrecked by the Monarchs off-screen, which was the author’s way of saying "the old power levels don't matter anymore." It was a wake-up call for the fans. The era of humans being the strongest was over before it even really started.
Why Sung Jinwoo breaks the concept of rankings
It’s almost a joke to call Sung Jinwoo a "Hunter" by the end of the story. He’s the Shadow Monarch. He is death. Most people focus on his summons—the Shadow Army—but his individual stats are what make him the definitive king of the solo leveling strongest hunters.
Early on, he was the "World's Weakest Hunter." That E-Rank tag was a badge of shame. But the System, designed by the Architect, allowed him to bypass the most fundamental rule of the Solo Leveling universe: that a Hunter’s mana is fixed from birth. Everyone else is stuck with the hand they were dealt. Jinwoo is the only one who can "Level Up."
✨ Don't miss: Priyanka Chopra Latest Movies: Why Her 2026 Slate Is Riskier Than You Think
Think about the fight at the Jeju Island raid. The S-Rank hunters from Korea and Japan were being slaughtered by the Ant King, Beru. These were the elites. The best of the best. They looked like toddlers against Beru. Then Jinwoo shows up. He doesn't just win; he dominates. That was the moment the scale shifted. We realized that "S-Rank" was just a label for "anything we can't measure," and Jinwoo had already gone off the charts.
By the time he masters the Black Heart and fully merges with Ashborn’s power, he isn't even in the same conversation as Thomas Andre. He's fighting the Monarch of Destruction, Antares. That’s a being who can incinerate entire planets. If you're looking for the absolute top of the solo leveling strongest hunters list, it's Jinwoo, then a massive gap of empty space, then maybe the Monarchs, and then everyone else.
The overlooked powerhouses: Go Gunhee and Lennart Niermann
Go Gunhee is a tragic figure. He was the Chairman of the Korean Hunter Association, and if he had been twenty years younger and healthy, he probably would have been the strongest human alive. He was a vessel for the brightest fragment of light—one of the Rulers. But his body was too old. It was like putting a Ferrari engine in a cardboard box. It just didn't hold up. His fight against the Ice Monarch showed us glimpses of what he could do, but his heart literally couldn't take the strain of his own power. It’s a classic "what if" scenario that fans debate constantly.
Then there’s Lennart Niermann. Poor Lennart. He’s the #1 Hunter in Germany and technically one of the solo leveling strongest hunters in the world, ranking just below the National Levels. He has this incredible sense of "Power Perception." He was the first one to realize that Jinwoo wasn't just strong, but was actually a walking apocalypse. He never gets the big flashy fight scenes, but his survival instincts are top-tier. He knew when to step aside, which is a skill many dead S-Ranks lacked.
Understanding the "Vessel" Mechanic
To really get why some hunters are stronger than others, you have to understand the lore behind the Rulers and Monarchs. The Rulers wanted to save humanity, or at least use Earth as a battleground to stop the Monarchs. They couldn't descend in their true forms because they would destroy the world just by existing. So, they used "Vessels."
The solo leveling strongest hunters like Thomas Andre and Christopher Reed are just humans who can host a portion of a Ruler’s power. This is why they can use "Ruler’s Authority"—that telekinetic grab move that looks like Jedi powers on steroids.
- Thomas Andre: Vessel for a Ruler, focuses on physical defense and gravity-based attacks.
- Liu Zhigang: Vessel for a Ruler, focuses on offensive swordplay and massive mana output.
- Sung Jinwoo: Not just a vessel, but the successor. He didn't just borrow Ashborn's power; he became the Shadow Monarch.
This distinction is why Jinwoo eventually leaves everyone in the dust. While Thomas is borrowing a cup of water from the ocean, Jinwoo became the ocean.
🔗 Read more: Why This Is How We Roll FGL Is Still The Song That Defines Modern Country
The Shadow Army: A Hunter's True Strength?
We can't talk about the solo leveling strongest hunters without mentioning the shadows. In a way, Igris, Beru, and Bellion are stronger than almost every human S-Rank hunter.
Bellion is the Grand Marshal. He was the original servant of Ashborn. When he first appeared, he traded blows with Beru like it was nothing. Beru, who wiped the floor with the strongest Japanese hunters, was suddenly the "underdog." Bellion has hundreds of thousands of years of combat experience from the eternal war between Heaven and Hell. If you took Jinwoo out of the equation, Bellion could probably solo half the National Level Hunters by himself.
Igris is the fan favorite. The Red Knight. He represents the "cool" side of Jinwoo’s power. He isn't as loud as Beru, but his swordsmanship is flawless. As Jinwoo grew, Igris grew. That’s the terrifying part about the Shadow Monarch's ability. The shadows aren't static. They level up too. It makes the ranking system even more irrelevant because Jinwoo's "summons" are technically higher-ranked than the people trying to rank them.
The Power Scaling Problem
A lot of people get frustrated with how quickly the "normal" hunters become irrelevant. It’s a common trope in Power Fantasy, but Solo Leveling leans into it hard. By the final arc, characters like Cha Hae-In—who is an incredible fighter and easily one of the solo leveling strongest hunters in Korea—are basically relegated to the sidelines.
Cha Hae-In is special because of her "smell" ability. She can sense the "stink" of mana. It’s a unique sensory skill that makes her more sensitive to power levels than even the Chairman. She’s fast, precise, and arguably the most skilled swordswoman in the series. But against a Monarch? She’s a fly.
This isn't a flaw in the writing, though. It’s a deliberate choice to show the cosmic scale of the conflict. The war isn't between humans and monsters; it’s between the Creators and the Destroyers. Humans are just caught in the middle.
How to Rank the Strongest (The Real List)
If you're trying to keep track of who actually sits at the top, ignore the official Association rankings. They’re based on politics and public safety records. Here is the "real" hierarchy of power at the series' end:
💡 You might also like: The Real Story Behind I Can Do Bad All by Myself: From Stage to Screen
- Sung Jinwoo (The Shadow Monarch): Uncontested. He has the power of a God and the shadows of an army that could conquer the stars.
- Antares (The Monarch of Destruction): The final boss. His Dragon Fear and physical strength were so great that Jinwoo almost lost.
- The Other Monarchs (Beast, Frost, etc.): These beings are far beyond any human. They exist to destroy.
- Bellion: The strongest shadow. His power is on a tier that humans can't even perceive properly.
- Thomas Andre / Liu Zhigang: The peak of human-Ruler hybridization.
- Beru / Igris: At their maximum level, they are effectively National Level threats on their own.
What Most Fans Get Wrong About "Strongest"
People often debate if Sung Il-Hwan (Jinwoo's father) should be on the list. The answer is a resounding yes. Sung Il-Hwan was a vessel for a Ruler, specifically tasked with monitoring or stopping the Shadow Monarch. He fought the Frost and Beast Monarchs simultaneously to protect his son. That feat alone puts him above Thomas Andre in my book. He didn't have the flashy "Goliath" branding, but his raw output was insane. He was a man out of time, literally living in the dungeons for years just to gain the strength to protect his family.
Another misconception is that the "S-Rank" hunters from other countries are weak. They aren't. It’s just that the story focuses on the outliers. The Russian hunter Yuri Orlov was a barrier specialist who thought he could stop an S-Rank gate alone. He was arrogant, sure, but his mana capacity was huge. The problem is that the world of Solo Leveling is cruel. One mistake, one power gap you didn't account for, and you're erased.
Moving Beyond the Rankings
If you're looking to dive deeper into the lore of the solo leveling strongest hunters, the best way is to look at the Solo Leveling: Ragnarok sequel. It explores the legacy of these powers and how the world deals with the aftermath of Jinwoo's godhood.
The next step for any fan is to stop looking at the numbers. Don't worry about whether a hunter has 100,000 mana or 200,000. Look at the source of their power. Did they get it from a Ruler? Are they a Monarch? Or are they just a regular human trying their best? In this universe, the source of your power determines your ceiling.
To truly understand the power dynamics, re-read the Jeju Island arc and then skip to the fight between Jinwoo and Thomas Andre. The contrast is where the real story lives. It shows the transition from "Strongest Hunter" to "Supreme Being."
If you want to see these characters in action, the anime adaptation is the best place to witness the sheer scale of their abilities, especially the way they handle the "Ruler's Authority" telekinesis. It adds a layer of weight that the manhwa panels sometimes can't fully capture. Keep an eye on the background details—the way the air ripples around a National Level hunter is often the only warning people get before a city disappears.
Check out the official light novel for the internal monologues during these big fights. It explains the "pressure" or "intent" that the solo leveling strongest hunters emit, which is something the visual mediums can only hint at. Understanding that "intent" is the key to knowing why a C-Rank hunter will literally collapse and vomit just by standing near someone like Sung Jinwoo.