Summary
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In its original premise,Solo Levelingmade a seemingly strange decision to handcuff its storytelling by establishing that awakened hunters can never grow their powers. This seems to have been done to allowSung Jinwoo, as the protagonist, to be more unique, making him the only hunter who could grow in strength.
While this conceit works, in the beginning, to make Jinwoo feel more special in his world, it has unfortunate consequences for the world as the story continues. Since essentially every character besides Jinwoo can’t grow, this means that characters will be outscaled and left by the wayside when bigger threats emerge. While this may help thematically with the theme of being isolated that Jinwoo feels as his power grows inSolo Leveling,it ultimately hurts the potential ceiling for the series. It could also make it feel repetitive and one-note by the time it ends.
The Yamcha Problem
Characters Losing Importance Hurts the Story
This problem of the story outpacing its own characters is not unique topower fantasy stories likeSolo Leveling.This is also a common problem in popular shōnen titles likeDragon BallandNaruto. As the power of enemies grows, characters that were once known for their fearsome techniques and abilities become bystanders and have nothing they can do to help against upcoming threats.
However, the difference is that in these shows, there is always a chance that a character who has been on the sidelines could receive a power upgrade. InDragon Ball Super,Master Roshi was allowed to stand beside the other fightersin the tournament of power. Piccolo received power upgrades several times through multiple series that let him be relevant in newer story arcs. Unfortunately for the hunters inSolo Leveling, the fact that their powers are locked means this opportunity won’t exist for them.
“Oh yeah, he’s definitely a step above the other S-ranks. But I can still dodge him.” -Sung Jinwoo commenting on Ryuji Goto’s power during their sparring match.
S-rank hunters, who were given distinct personalities, powers, and character designs, are ultimately not powerful enough to keep up with Jinwoo’s new threats as he continues climbing in strength. This power gap creates missed opportunities for these characters in the story that can cause fans of those characters to sour.
“I have a good grasp of everyone’s skills now. Sent soldiers into five of their shadows, too.” -Sung Jinwoo casually commenting on the S-rank hunters who he sees as way below him.
Solo Leveling Needs to Change This Rule
This section contains minor manhwa spoilers.
Ultimately, for the story to continue while having room for all its established characters, this rule about hunters being unable to become stronger must be broken somehow. Rules are great in storytelling for both establishing the world and giving the author something to break to change the dynamics of the story. Just because hunters are stuck in their original power awakening, which was one of the world’s initial rules, doesn’t mean that it cannot be changed later in the narrative.
In the manhwa, we see some limited waysin which this hard rule gets slightly broken. Some hunters are empowered as vessels of the Rulers, which allows them to exceed their original limits. Also, it seems that the fact the rulers were able to defeat the Absolute Being in the first place despite being its creation implies there is some way for beings to exceed their limits in this universe.
While the focus ofSolo Levelingis undoubtedly Sung Jinwoo,he needs other characters to react to himfor the audience to feel how powerful and cool he is. The story needs more than just the main character, otherwise it can lose its original hook and become stale over time. Hopefully, as the series continues to be adapted, we will see more changes that shake up this original hard rule about hunters to allow other characters to shine as well.
