Solo Leveling: Rulers and Monarchs Explained

As Solo Leveling progresses towards achieving the status of the greatest anime of all time, fans are growing increasingly interested in it. They have many questions, particularly about Solo Leveling's Rulers and Monarchs. This curiosity is quite understandable, given that these two groups play a significant role in the series, and most of the strongest characters belong to either of these factions. Get ready to learn everything about the Rulers and Monarchs in Solo Leveling, from their history to their wide range of supernatural abilities.

Who are Solo Leveling’s Rulers and Monarchs?

At the beginning of the world, the Absolute Being lived alone in the entire universe, along with light and darkness. Due to boredom, he decided to bring entertainment to his life by splitting light and darkness. Through the division of light, he created the Rulers, and by splitting darkness, he brought forth the Monarchs. The Monarchs were created with the sole purpose of destroying the world using their magical powers. On the other hand, the Rulers' goal is to protect the world from them, utilizing their angelic powers. Due to their extremely opposing missions, they engaged in an endless war with no conclusion, all created solely for the amusement of the Absolute Being.

Who are the Rulers in Solo Leveling?

Rulers, a group of eight angel-like species, were created by the Absolute Being from “Light”. Rulers do not have any organic form and always need a human vessel to enter the human world. As a result, all the Rulers choose suitable vessels; these individuals are known to us as the strongest Hunters in the human world. However, these human vessels are incapable of fully harnessing their respective Ruler’s powers. Since the opening of the gates, the human world has created Hunter Associations. Their goal is to provide special training to humans so they can push themselves to the limits of their power, becoming strong enough to face stronger magical beasts.

Being created from light, Rulers continually engage in the never-ending battle against Monarchs to save the world. Moreover, they support the human world by lending their spiritual powers to their human vessels, who use them against the Monarchs. Aside from granting powers to humans, they also use a special divine tool called the "Cup of Reincarnation," created by the Absolute Being. This divine tool allows them to turn back time by 10 years and gives them another chance to save the world from Monarchs.

Powers and Abilities of the Rulers

Being spiritual creatures, Ruler’s are blessed with divine powers and a wide range of supernatural abilities. You can visualize their incredible power level from how they rebelled against their own creator, the Absolute Being, and even succeeded in killing him. The Rulers also demonstrate their immense power by withstanding the fearsome groups of beast monsters used in the never-ending war with Monarchs.

Sadly, all of their deadliest battles and powerful abilities are never properly showcased in the series; they are merely discussed in the background. The Rulers do not get the opportunity to display their immense power and abilities to the viewers. However, the only power that is properly showcased in the series is “Ruler’s Authority”. It is an incredibly powerful telekinetic ability that is exclusively used by human vessels while facing formidable magical beasts. The more powerful the human vessel is, the more potent their telekinetic ability becomes.

List of all Rulers in Solo Leveling:

1. Ashborn: He is the strongest and most popular Ruler in Solo leveling
2. The Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light

The 6 Unnamed Rulers human vessels:

• Thomas Andre
• Liu Zhigang
• Christopher Reed
• Siddharth Bachchan
• Go Gunhee
• Jonas.

Who are the Monarchs in Solo Leveling?

Monarchs are a group of nine monster-like species created by the Absolute Being from “Darkness”. Because they were born from darkness, they were blessed with all demonic powers and aimed to destroy the world. Consequently, they serve as the main villains of the series and are often involved in the deadliest battles with Hunters. Similar to Rulers, Monarchs also lack their own physical forms and require human vessels to enter the human world. However, unlike Rulers, Monarchs exert complete control over their human vessels. Moreover, they command vast armies of magical beasts that are extremely powerful and cannot be easily handled even by top-ranked Hunters.

Each Monarch holds a separate title of king and commands different types of armies, some examples are:

• Dragons Army
• Dead Army
• Demons Army
• Snow Folk Army
• Beasts Army
• Giants Army
• Demonic Spectres Army
• Insect Army

Whether considering power level, screen time, captivating personality, or fan following, Monarchs consistently prevail against Rulers in all categories. Most Monarchs in Solo Leveling make their debut as the main boss of a dungeon, showcasing their incredible powers and abilities. The power level of each Monarch can be estimated by how they’ve remained undefeated against every powerful character, except Sung Jinwoo.

Powers and Abilities of the Monarchs

Being spiritual creatures, Monarchs are quite formidable monsters against whom no one can stand, except the Rulers. Due to their continual involvement in a never-ending war with the Rulers, they have honed their fighting skills to the utmost, becoming invincible. Their formidable power level and magical abilities are openly showcased in the series, which is completely different from the Rulers' power, which we only hear about in the background. As the primary villains, each of the Monarchs receives enough screen time to display their individuality and immense power level. They all possess exceptional physical strength, speed, durability, regeneration, and combat skills that surpass those of S-rank Hunters, except for Sung Jinwoo.

Each of them is blessed with different kinds of supernatural abilities, some examples present in the series are:

• Lightning
• Necromancy
• Telepathy
• Ice Magic
• General Magical Power
• Shadow Skills
• Dragon Breath

If they still run out of power, they all have their vast, powerful armies for backup until they restore their energy and find a way to defeat their opponents.

List of all Monarchs in Solo Leveling:

• Antares: The Monarch of Destruction
• Ashborn: The Monarch of Shadows
• Baran: The Monarch of White Flames
• Rakan: The Monarch of Fangs
• Frost Monarch: The Monarch of Frost
• Tarnak: The Monarch of the Iron Body
• Legia: The Monarch of the Beginning
• Queresha: The Monarch of Plagues
• Yogumunt: The Monarch of Transfiguration

How Did Sung Jinwoo Obtain Ruler Authority in Solo Leveling?

Sung Jinwoo is an initially weak Hunter in Solo Leveling who joined the Hunter Association to provide financial support to his family. While raiding a D-rank dungeon, he becomes tragically trapped in a hidden double dungeon filled with powerful statue-like monsters. Unlike his fellow raiding Hunters, who were killed by the statues, he fortunately survives and is chosen as the player of the system. Along with being a player in the system, he is also selected as the human vessel for Ashborn, the Shadow Monarch who was searching for a perfect candidate.

Subsequently, he undergoes proper training by the system and continually upgrades himself by clearing several powerful dungeons. As a result, he finally becomes strong enough to unleash the power of a Shadow Monarch and Ruler that he inherited from Ashborn. Because he is the human vessel of Ashborn, he can also fully utilize his “Ruler’s Authority”. This ability grants Rulers the power to move and control objects through telekinesis. Due to being the most powerful human vessel, his “Ruler’s Authority” power level far exceeds that of the other human vessels.

Is Sung Jinwoo a Ruler or a Monarch in Solo Leveling?

Sung Jinwoo is the only character in Solo Leveling who fits into all possible categories, whether it be Hunter, Monarch, or Ruler. He is not an ordinary human vessel; instead, he is the successor of Ashborn, who is both a Monarch and a Ruler. As a result, Sung Jinwoo is also a Ruler as well as a Monarch , which enables him to wield the power of both sides, such as the “Ruler’s Authority” and the “Monarch’s Domain”. Sung Jinwoo’s power level surpasses that of his predecessor, Ashborn, making all of his abilities all the more invincible.