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The following contains minor spoilers that have not yet been adapted to the Solo Leveling anime.
Overpowered protagonist Sung Jinwoo fromSolo Levelinghumorously shares a few similarities with the titular Saitama fromOne Punch Man. They both follow a simple daily routine to gain immense strength in their respective universes and eventually have no equal in combat.
By Season 2 ofSolo Leveling, Sung Jinwoo stands heads and shoulders over even the most powerful hunters introduced in the series so far, with seemingly no limits to his growth. Given Sung Jinwoo’s limitless potential and their narrative similarities, just how strong is Sung Jinwoo compared to Saitama? If the two had to fight, how would the battle go?
Sung Jinwoo’s Power
The Serious Saitama
Saitama and Sung Jinwoo both represent characters who can overcome the normal limits of other people in their universes. However, the main difference between the two is that Saitama’s power is often played as a gag, whileSung Jinwoo is a more serious takeon this type of character. As a power fantasy protagonist, Sung Jinwoo’s progression follows a hard rule that he will eventually always win out over his opponents.
“I feel like something within me is lost every time I get stronger.” - Sung Jinwoo
In the story currently adapted to the anime,Sung Jinwoo still has a bit to gobefore he truly is more powerful than anything in his verse. However, the future story will see him outscale nearly every being in his own universe and beyond.
What makes Jinwoo’s abilities particularly impressive is that he also gains a power over death later in the story.His shadow army ability to resurrect dead foesto fight for him becomes critical against higher-level beings and Gods from other planes. Jinwoo is also able to overcome his own death thanks to his powers as the Shadow Monarch. This means even if he is killed, death is not the end for the overpowered hunter. Just like Saitama continues to outclass every opponent he comes across, Jinwoo, too, eventually outpaces everyone with his growth inSolo Leveling.
More Than One Punch
How A Serious Clash Would Go
If Saitama existed in the world ofSolo Leveling, his power would be immeasurable, and he would outclass nearly every hunter, but would that include Sung Jinwoo? If the two squared off, Saitama would likely have to contend with Jinwoo’s shadow army for quite a bit. Since Jinwoo’s forces continually regenerate as long as he has mana, Saitama would likely throw quite a few punches before he figures out that attacking them is useless.
“I’ll leave tomorrow’s problems to tomorrow’s me.” -Saitama
Eventually, Saitama would have no choice but to take on Jinwoo directly to stop the shadow army from going on a rampage. However,Jinwoo is a tactical strategist in battleand would have likely spent time distracting Saitama and raising more powerful shadows from their now-shared universe. His stealth skill would allow him to hide from Saitama, and his shadow exchange skill would make it very difficult for Saitama to track him. If the clash between the two is allowed to escalate, Saitama might be facing off against nearly every powerful being in both universes and Jinwoo at the same time.
Faced with this extreme challenge, Saitama’s growth would accelerate, allowing him to overcome everything eventually. Unfortunately for Sung Jinwoo, Saitama’s durability, speed, and power displayed in his anime and manga adaptations are too far above what the leveling hunter can match. In a serious fight between the two, Saitama is more likely to carry the day.Sung Jinwoo’s only chance is to stalemate Saitamausing his abilities or by trapping him in a dungeon gate, but even that may not work forever. Still, even though he would lose to the caped baldy, Sung Jinwoo would likely be one of the more difficult fights the one-punch man has ever been in.
Solo Leveling
Cast
A-1 Pictures' Solo Leveling is an anime based on Chugong’s popular web novel. Set in an unforgiving fantasy world where hunters explore dungeons filled with monsters, the vulnerable Sung Jinwoo gains a significant power boost after he is picked to be a solo player by the System.
