Solo Leveling: All Magic Beasts (Monster Classes) From the Anime, Ranked

Solo Leveling is a South Korean novel series that has recently seen an anime adaptation. Arguably the most popular manhwa in the world, Solo Leveling is sure to attract a lot of attention, especially because the anime adaptation is truly great. While we’re enjoying the episodes, we have decided to cover some basic elements from the story. In this article, we are going to talk about one aspect of the Class Rank system, one of the most important elements of the lore, that refers to Magical Beasts.

In the world of Solo Leveling, every creature that lives in the Chaos World and can be encountered via gates is called a Magic Beast or a Monster. They come in all shapes and sizes, and in this article, we have decided to cover these characters as they appear in the anime series (not the original web novel), ranking them from weakest to strongest, and providing you with some basic information about each of them.

Editor’s Note: This article is regularly updated with each new episode, as more characters are introduced. The last update was on February 18, 2024.

Before we start, here is a quick overview of the creatures in question by order of appearance:

Now, we are going to rank each of them by strength:

Goblin

Goblins are generally weak, E-Rank Beasts who appear in most dungeons. They are humanoid beasts with green skin, large ears, and sharp teeth; their appearance might vary somewhat, but not much. They generally fight with bladed-weapons or with their fists and are considered to be the weakest beasts in the series. They appear constantly and while there might be some slightly stronger variations, most of them are pretty weak and relatively useless.

Steel-Fanged Lycan

Although the precise rank of Steel-Fanged Lycans has not been revealed (they are probably an E-Rank or a D-Rank at best), based on the fact that a weak Sung Jinwoo was able to defeat many of them, we assume that they are not that powerful, despite looking menacing. They are beast-type beasts and appeared in the Instant Dungeon, where Jinwoo slaughtered many of them. They have a good defense against bladed weapons, as their lower jaws, made out of steel, help them deflect such attacks. They are similar, but not identical to the much stronger C-Rank Dungeon Jackals that will appear later in the series.

Razor-Clawed Briga

The Razor-Clawed Brigas are beast-type Beasts that resemble apes. Jinwoo met them in the Instant Dungeon and he killed at least one Briga there. Their forte is the large and sharp claws they have on their hands, which make them extremely dangerous, although their defense doesn’t seem to be that strong. They seem to be stronger than Lycans, as they appeared later, but they aren’t that strong, as a weak Jinwoo managed to defeat them, and all of that with a heavily damaged sword. Their precise rank is unknown, but they are a D-Rank beast at best.

Black-Shadow Razan

Everything we’ve said about the Lycans and the Brigas can also be applied to Black-Shadow Razans. They appeared first in the Instant Dungeon and Jinwoo slayed several of them while leveling up. They are beast-type Beasts that look like black panthers. Their precise rank has not been revealed, but since they appeared later, we assume that they are the strongest of the three non-boss beasts seen in the Instant Dungeon. They are, at best, D-Rank Beasts, although the exact rank is unknown.

Unnamed Insect Beast

This specific group of Beasts appeared in the C-Rank Dungeon that Sung Jinwoo went to with the “Lizards” who would eventually betray them. Here, we have seen just how dangerous and scary insect-type Beasts are in Solo Leveling, as everyone was afraid of them; they even thought that they were Ants, which are among the scariest Beasts in the series. These Beasts look like termites or some other form of ground-based insects and are exceptionally aggressive. The higher-ranked Hunters were able to defeat them with relative ease, despite their numbers, so we would venture a guess that they are D-Rank Beasts at best.

Stone Golem

The Stone Golem appeared as the boss of a D-Rank Dungeon that broke in Seoul while Jinwoo was training in the Instant Dungeon. Several Hunters were sent to take care of it, but its high defenses caused a lot of problems for these Hunters. It wasn’t until Jinwoo actually arrived and identified it as a D-Rank Beast that the situation became more clear. No additional details about the Stone Golem were provided, but we do know its rank so we can be sure of the position we’ve put it on, as far as this list is concerned.

Werewolf

It is quite clear what Werewolves are and we can confirm that they are fairly common types of beasts that are found in many Dungeons. They are confirmed to be C-Rank Beats, which puts them somewhere in the middle, meaning that a relatively experienced Hunter will have little to no problems defeating them. Many Werewolves were seen as secondary opponents in Dungeons and they are usually slayed with ease. Their fighting is focused on their superior physical strength, as well as their claws and fangs, which can deal a lot of damage to a Hunter if they are not careful when fighting them.

Unnamed Reptilian Beast

Many such beasts have been seen throughout the series, although these were only cameo appearances. They look like humanoid reptiles and are fairly common in mid-tier Dungeons, more or less like Werewolves and Orcs. Sometimes, they can be seen carrying a weapon as well. Not much has been revealed about them, but based on what we can deduce from the series, we assume that they are also C-Rank Beasts, like Werewolves, and that they can be treated as equally dangerous as them.

Orc

Regular Orcs also had a cameo appearance so far. They are large, humanoid Beasts usually seen carrying a club or a similar weapon. They are large, physically imposing, and are probably C-Rank Beasts as well. It generally takes more than one mid-tier Hunter to defeat an Orc, probably because of the high stats that these beasts have. Not much has been revealed about them aside from this, but they are fairly common in mid-tier Dungeons. They are related to the High Orcs who are going to appear later in the stories and are much stronger versions of these regular Orcs who have already made an appearance in the series.

Red Ant

The Red Ants are actually the first Magical Beasts seen in the anime, as they appeared in the flashback with which Episode 1 began. They look like large ants, but they attack in swarms and are quite lethal when they attack in groups. Their precise rank has not been revealed, but knowing that their leaders, the White Ants, are A-Rank Beasts, we can assume that they are probably C-Rank Beasts individually, but since they attack in swarms, they might leave the impression of a B-Rank Beast when attacking as a group, but this is just conjecture on our part. They definitely are strong and very, very dangerous.

Blue Venom-Fanged Kasaka

The Blue Venom-Fanged Kasaka was the boss of the Instant Dungeon Jinwoo was training in, and it was a large, blue venomous snake whose body was covered in hard armor. It was identified as a C-Rank Beast, meaning that it was quite powerful. It can fight on both land and water, making it highly dangerous. Sung Jinwoo managed to defeat it because he had leveled up significantly by that point, and was able to draw on his own inner power to defeat the powerful Beast. No further information has been provided about the Blue Venom-Fanged Kasaka, but it was a real challenge for Jinwoo.

Giant Arachnid Buryura

The boss of the C-Rank Dungeon was a giant spider whose exact name was never revealed. It was an extremely large and powerful creature, as we could see, and the higher-ranked Hunters planned on sacrificing Jinho and Jinwoo to the beast in order to calm it so that they could steal from the Dungeon. It was identified as a C-Rank Beast, something that Jinwoo confirmed, as he had experience with Kasaka before. Using Kasaka’s Blade, he was eventually able to defeat and kill the spider creature, which was certainly a powerful opponent with more than one trick up its sleeve. It was especially bloodthirsty and it could attack with deadly acid that even Sung Jinwoo had to run away from. Eventually, he outwitted the creature and was able to defeat it with his newly-acquired skills and abilities.

White Ant

Initially thought to be the leader of the Red Ants, the sole White Ant that debuted in Episode 1 turned out to be just one of many. It was identified as an A-Rank Beast, a very powerful one at that, with excellent defense, but it wasn’t the strongest ant beast since it later turned out that the Ant King was the leader. These White Ants are much larger and have better stats, and like the Red Ants, they come in swarms, which is why it is difficult to defeat them and why they killed so many Hunters in the series.

Hell’s Gatekeeper Kerberos

Hell’s Gatekeeper Kerberos was the first boss that Jinwoo encountered when he entered the Demon’s Castle S-Rank Dungeon. Based on the mythological beast of the same name, Hell’s Gatekeeper Kerberos was an exceptionally powerful three-headed demonic hound that tried to kill Jinwoo in an instant. Its stats are absolutely amazing, and when Hell’s Gatekeeper Kerberos activates his Rage Mode (which lasts for three minutes), he is able to double his stats and become even more dangerous, coming close to killing Jinwoo on more than one occasion. Had Jinwoo not been smart in that fight, he would have died, as Hell’s Gatekeeper Kerberos was simply too powerful for him. On the other hand, Hell’s Gatekeeper Kerberos is the weakest boss of the Demon’s Castle and the guardian of the first floor, so you can imagine how strong the Demon’s Castle was as a whole.

Poisoned-Toothed Giant Desert Centipede

The Poisoned-Toothed Giant Desert Centipede appeared in the Penalty Zone, in the large desert as the Beast that was chasing Jinwoo. Jinwoo had to survive the Penalty Zone by running away from the Poisoned-Toothed Giant Desert Centipede, which means that the System recognized that there was no way for the young Jinwoo to defeat it. Due to its size and speed, it is assumed that the Poisoned-Toothed Giant Desert Centipede is exceptionally strong and while the official ranking was not revealed, we will be so bold as to classify it as an A-Rank Beast, based on what we know. Jinwoo admitted, after defeating Cerberus, that he still had no chance against the Centipede.

Architect

To be fair, the Architect has not appeared personally in the series. The statues seen in the Cartenon Temple are not Magic Beasts, but rather statues operated by the Architect (yes, even the Lord!). The Architect thus appeared by proxy, via his statues, and we wanted to list him, as he will make an appearance personally later in the series. He is an S-Rank humanoid Magic Beast and one of the strongest ones in the series.

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