10 Best ‘Solo Leveling’ Panels, Ranked

Solo Leveling is a South Korean novel series written by Chugong and published online at KakaoPage, before being published by D&C Media under its Papyrus publishing imprint. The series consists of 14 volumes and 270 chapters. A webtoon adaptation, comprising 179 chapters was completed on December 29, 2021. An anime television series adaptation by A-1 Pictures was also announced, set to premiere in January 2024. While we’re waiting for the anime, in this article, we are going to discuss the manhwa in more detail.

This article is actually going to be a list of the 10 best manhwa panels from the Solo Leveling manhwa series. We are going to include a variety of panels from all arcs of Solo Leveling, providing you with a short explanation of the scene and the context. Some spoilers might be present, but we’re going to try to keep it short and sweet so that you can enjoy the art.

10. Antares’ first death

Arc: Final Battle Arc

As fans of Solo Leveling will know, Antares was an exceptionally important character and the series’ final villain. He was the ruler of the Monarch and the King of Dragons, which made him an exceptionally dangerous and powerful villain. In the Final Battle Arc, Antares faced the Rulers, who managed to kill him and thus end the war that had been raging for some time.

This panel shows his first and is one of the most important panels in the series, as well as one of the most shocking ones, considering that Antares was soon revived by the Cup of Reincarnation and Sung Jinwoo, as the second Shadow Monarch, had to defeat him for good in the series, thus ending his life before ultimately using the Cup himself to change the past and save his friends.

9. The Academy Arc danger?

Arc: Academy Arc

The war is over. Having used the Cup of Reincarnation, Jinwoo went back in time and is now living as a completely normal high school student. What he does not know is that the problems are not over and that he will have to face new challenges sooner rather than later. This was a brief outline of the Academy Arc, and we picked the panel above to show just how relevant the ending of Solo Leveling is.

The story ended, and the manhwa is seemingly over, but the Academy Arc seemingly foreshadowed some new dangers, and that is why we decided to pick one panel from that arc as well, as it tells us that there might be more of Solo Leveling to come in the future.

8. The International Guild Conference

Arc: International Guild Conference Arc

We know that Solo Leveling had a very specific organizational structure and that the Guilds were an important part of that structure. Now, while Korean Guilds were more or less the focus, it was later discovered that there were other Guilds all around the world, and these Guilds united during the International Guild Conference, as seen on this panel.

Why is this so important? Well, the International Guild Conference was a turning point in the story of Solo Leveling, as we had the pleasure of reading, as it signaled the beginning of a new phase in the story’s narrative, a phase that ultimately gave the story a much more epic context.

7. The Demon Castle…

Arc: Demon Castle Arc

Aside from the fact that the Demon Castle was the setting of two important arcs, the panel we’ve chosen for this place is just epic. The Demon Castle is more a skyscraper than a castle really, but it fits into the context and lore of Solo Leveling. The location is exceptionally important, and we simply had to tell you more about it, which is why this panel ultimately ended up on our list.

The Demon Castle was important because it provided Jinwoo with information on how to cure his mother, which was also one of the most important narrative moments in the whole series, and that is why this panel ended up on this list.

6. The Cup of Reincarnation… one last time?

Arc: Final Battle Arc

A very epic panel, the one we have selected here, shows the Rules using the Cup of Reincarnation seemingly one last time. Now, a bit of context. The Rulers had killed Antares, but the Monarch used the Cup to bring himself back to life. Jinwoo, as the Shadow Monarch, then faced him again and defeated him, but there were still things that had to be done.

Jinwoo wanted to go back in time and save everyone and asked the Rulers to grant him one last request; seeing what he had done for them and that his goals were noble, they decided to use the Cup one last time, seemingly to get him back in the past to change the course of history and save his friends’ lives.

5. Dragon’s Fear

Arc: Japan Crisis Arc

Sung Jinwoo’s evolution as a character in Solo Leveling was brilliantly executed, both in terms of his story and his personality, as well as his powers and abilities. In that aspect, his activation of the Dragon’s Fear ability was one of the most important and epic moments in the whole series, and that is why this panel ended up on this list.

Using this ability, Sung Jinwoo is able to release a mana-infused shout directly from his soul that will send anyone weaker than him into a state of complete despair and panic. While Dragon’s Fear is not Sun Jinwoo’s only ability, it is one of his most formidable ones, and we decided to honor this aspect of his story by selecting this panel and putting it here on this list. This was important both for him and for the story of Solo Leveling.

4. The first solo mission

Arc: Instant Dungeon Arc

We all know what happened in the Double Dungeon and how that experience changed Jinwoo’s life. The System, as we are going to see below, helped a lot, but the gist happened later, as Sung Jinwoo grew as a character and became more experienced. Solo missions were a distant wish for him initially, but this panel shows Sung Jinwoo during his first solo mission, and that is why we simply had to put it here on the list, as it is important enough to deserve this brief remark.

3. Jinwoo discovers the System

Arc: Reawakening Arc

The initial adventure with the Double Dungeon is something that Jinwoo and his companions managed to survive, somewhat miraculously, but they were alive; Jinwoo would soon wake up in the hospital, where he would soon discover the System. The System, as a whole, was an exceptionally important element of the Solo Leveling lore, and that is why we have listed it here, giving it such a high spot.

The System was the basis for Jinwoo’s evolution as a character, and while it was not the most important one, as you will see in the next panel, it was still worthy of a little note here as it helped Jinwoo reach the level of power and importance that he would have by the time the story of Solo Leveling ended.

2. Jinwoo becomes the second Shadow Monarch

Arc: Monarchs War Arc

One of the most important and epic panels in the series is the one showing Sung Jinwoo’s transformation into the second Shadow Monarch. We all know that Jinwoo was special because of his connection to the Shadow Monarch, and while we had this coming and it did not surprise us in that aspect, it was still one of the most epic moments in the whole series, as well as one of the most important ones.

Seeing how Jinwoo’s transformation into the second Shadow Monarch resolved a lot of in-universe issues in that aspect, we have to say that this is undoubtedly one of the most important moments in the whole series and that we simply had to list it here.

1. Sung Jinwoo and Cha Hae-in

Arc: Epilogue

Well, this panel is probably the essence of the non-shonen element of Solo Leveling, which is the romance between Sun Jingwoo, the series’ protagonist, and Cha Hae-in, the love of life. The two had a very interesting storyline in Solo Leveling, but it wasn’t until the series’ epilogue that the two of them finally ended up together, as the series revealed.

The two of them married and even had a child together, and this panel shows just how important their romance was for Solo Leveling, and how relevant this panel is, which is why we simply had to conclude this list with this panel in the first place.

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