Solo Leveling: Who Is Hwang Dong-Suk & What Happens to Him? Is He a Traitor?

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 talk about the series, and in this article, we are going to be covering one of the series’ characters. Hwang Dongsuk was initially introduced as a very friendly and caring character, but it turned out that the guy was a “Lizard” and a very underhanded figure. In this article, we are going to tell you all you need to know about the guy.

Hwang Dongsuk is an underhanded character who seemed to be friendly

After the events in the Instant Dungeon, Jinwoo began searching for more work and he found a call to join a party that was about to raid a C-Rank Dungeon. He did not have to do much, but just be there, as the rules required an 8-member party, so Jinwoo was the last one. The leader of the party was Hwang Dongsuk, who was a C-Rank Hunter and who initially appeared as a very friendly and understanding character.

He protected Jinwoo from the mockery of the other members and told him that he did not have to fight – he just needed to carry their stuff and would get paid. All of this seemed fine and dandy, but Jinwoo had a weird feeling that turned out to be right when Dongsuk left Jinwoo and Jinho to be killed by the Spider Boss so that they could later mine the Mana Crystals.

He did not know about Jinwoo’s Double Awakening, so when Jinwoo managed to defeat the boss, he was shocked. He ordered his party members to try to kill him, but they all failed and were killed by Jinwoo, who then charged at Hwang Dongsuk and killed him as well. As it turned out, he was a “Lizard,” and such an ending was justified for such a vile character in the series. Now, let us discuss some other questions related to this character in Solo Leveling.

Is Hwang Dongsuk a traitor?

There is absolutely no doubt that Hwang Dongsuk is a villain in the series, and there is really a lot of basis to call him a traitor as well, although this description is really not that… simple to comprehend. Why? Well, we have explained what happened in the C-Rank Dungeon and how Dongsuk’s group of “Lizards” wanted to sacrifice Jinwoo and Jinho so that they could excavate Mana Crystals for themselves.

This is what “Lizards” do for a living. They are underhanded characters, and while they are villains, they are not necessarily traitors in the true sense of the word. Sure, they betrayed the trust that Jinwoo and Jinho had when they signed with them, but they really did not develop an emotional connection with them. To be called a traitor requires a certain amount of connection and loyalty, and that was never really present here.

So yes, Hwang Dongsuk and his group did betray Jinwoo and Jinho, but they are not really traitors – they are just evil and underhanded people.

How strong is Hwang Dongsuk?

Well, based on the information we do have about him, we know that he is – in fact – a C-Rank Hunter, which means that he is a mid-tier character in terms of his powers and abilities. He is skilled with the sword and also has a powerful shield, so we assume that he is more than capable of handling multiple Beasts at a given time, seeing how he is – in fact – a solid Hunter. He was, though, easily killed by Jinwoo, but Jinwoo’s evolution in terms of his skills and abilities was rapid, so there is no reason to doubt our original evaluation of Hwang Dongsuk, as Jinwoo is not the best character to be compared wit him in this aspect.

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