Solo Leveling’s 10 Best Fights in the Anime So Far, Ranked

Based on the Korean manhwa of the same name, Solo Leveling was one of the most anticipated anime of 2024. The manhwa was already famous among readers, and fans were excited to see its action come to life courtesy of A-1 Studios, famous for anime like Sword Art Online and Kaguya Sama: Love is War. The storyline revolves around Sung Jinwoo, an E-rank hunter dubbed “humanity’s weakest hunter” due to having a measly mana score and notably weak physical prowess, while striving to provide for his family despite lagging behind other hunters.

Unlike many other anime universes, in Solo Leveling‘s world, a hunter’s rank can neither increase nor decrease unless someone undergoes a reawakening, which is an extremely rare event. Jinwoo, however, goes through something unpredictable. After a near-death experience in a dungeon, the mysterious “System” guides and rewards him to become stronger with every battle he fights. Thanks to this, Jinwoo fights his way towards S-rank, the highest possible hunter rank, while battling super-strong enemies inside complicated dungeons. This is where things start to get interesting, and we see some of the best fights in the anime through Season 2, 10 of which are ranked below. 

10) Jinwoo vs. Hwang Dong Suk

Before this fight, Jinwoo joined a C-rank raid with a D-rank rookie, Yoo Jinho. The strike team was led by Hwang Dong Suk, a C-rank hunter who, unbeknownst to the two, had a history of committing crimes inside dungeons. Dong Suk planned to leave Jinwoo and Jinho for dead so he and his team could gather more mana crystals. But this plan failed when Jinwoo killed the boss of the chamber and was ordered by the System to kill Dong Suk’s team as well.

While Jinwoo was initially hesitant to attack humans, he had to do it to avoid a penalty from the System. Using a dagger he got from killing Kasaka, Jinwoo effortlessly killed Dong Suk’s teammates. He then beheaded Dong Suk with the same dagger despite the latter begging for his life and even offering him money. 

This fight in Solo Leveling was the first where the enemies were humans instead of magical creatures, with signals of more to come in future episodes. It also introduced Jinwoo to Jinho, with whom he began a long-term partnership, finally giving Jinwoo someone he could trust and rely upon.

9) Jinwoo vs. Giant Arachnid Buryura

Giant Arachnid Buryura was the boss of the C-rank insect dungeon Jinwoo raided with Hwang Dong Suk. After Dong Suk’s betrayal, Jinwoo had to act fast to save himself and Jinho as the two were trapped inside the boss chamber while Hwang’s men had blocked the exit with rubble. This was Jinwoo’s first time against a C-rank boss in a real-life dungeon. Buryura was faster than Jinwoo had anticipated, and as it kept pounding him with its legs, Jinwoo was quickly getting exhausted.

The only way out was to attack Buryura’s weak spot: its eyes. But as soon as Jinwoo aimed for the eyes, Buryura spat out acid that Jinwoo barely survived. Luckily, he hadn’t used his daily rewards granted by the System yet and made use of a full recovery just in time to finally take down the beast with Kasaka’s venom fang dagger, the debuff from the dagger killing Buryura almost instantly.

8) Jinwoo vs. Kang Tae Shik

Jinwoo, along with a few other surviving members of the Double Dungeon raid, was invited to a C-rank gate. They were joined by three convicts alongside Kang Taeshik, a B-rank hunter who worked for the Hunter Association. But while everything seemed fine at first, Jinwoo soon sensed that something was wrong. 

Jinwoo, Joohee, and Song Chiyul arrived at the scene to find that Kang Taeshik had killed the convicts and two of the other members of the team. Taeshik then attacked the trio, and while Mr. Song tried to fight him first, he was soon overpowered. Kang Taeshik then revealed his psychopathic tendencies, admitting he had been working as an assassin for hire simply because he enjoyed killing humans more than killing monsters.

At this point, Jinwoo joined the fight, using stealth mode for the first time. Unexpectedly, Taeshik also had the same ability, and their fighting speed matched as well, creating a dynamic fight scene worth watching in the early episodes of Solo Leveling. However, Jinwoo soon claimed the upper hand, fatally stabbing Taeshik with his poisonous dagger. 

7) Jinwoo vs. Blue Venom Fanged Kasaka

Kasaka was a dungeon boss that looked like a giant snake with hard blue scales all over. He was extremely fast and ruthless, and Jinwoo had a hard time fighting him, the sword he earned from the inventory breaking on contact with Kasaka’s scales. Backed into a corner, Jinwoo resorted to using all his physical strength and crushed Kasaka to death with his bare hands. 

This was the first time we saw Jinwoo conquering a dungeon on his own. He not only leveled up, but also killed every single creature in the dungeon and came out victorious. The sheer satisfaction of finally seeing Jinwoo defeating a boss makes this battle quite memorable.

6) Jinwoo vs. Cerberus

Based on Greek mythology, Cerberus was a three-headed giant dog who guarded the Demon Castle inside the second instant dungeon. Jinwoo entered the dungeon after learning that the Demon Castle held the ingredients for the Elixir of Life that he needed for his comatose mother. But as expected of an A-rank beast, Cerberus gave Jinwoo a really hard time and nearly killed him. Murderous Intent and Drain debuffs were instantly cancelled against Cerberus, and even Kasaka’s venom dagger had no effect. 

But even more horrifying was Cerberus’s ability to double his power for three straight minutes. Jinwoo was struggling so much that, at one point, he even tried to use the Teleportation Stone and go back. But before he could use it, Cerberus attacked again. With no other choice in sight, Jinwoo looked for options in the System shop and purchased three bottles of healing potion to restore his health. He then took a major risk, consuming a bottle of poison and letting Cerberus bite him. This gamble paid off as the poison worked, and after that, it was a matter of constant stabbing with the venomous dagger for Jinwoo to come out victorious.

5) Jinwoo vs. Ice Elf Baruka

Trapped inside a Red Gate, Jinwoo faced the S-rank boss, Baruka. The egotistical elf was intelligent and, unlike previous dungeon bosses, had the ability to speak. As the two talked, Baruka made Jinwoo realize that he was not aware of his status as the “player” yet, and glitched when Jinwoo asked for more details. 

During their duel, Jinwoo struggled initially as his shadow soldiers fought with Baruka’s minions, the elf dodging most of his attacks. But then came a shocking moment where we witnessed Jinwoo killing a human on purpose. He killed the leader of the strike team, Kim Chul, raised him as his shadow soldier, and used him and Igris to finally take down Baruka. After winning this fight, Jinwoo got Baruka’s dagger as a reward. He then tried to raise Baruka as a shadow, but the extraction failed all three times. This could be because of Baruka’s strength and also his unwillingness to serve Jinwoo even after death. 

4) Jinwoo vs. Kargalgan

Jinwoo was merely acting as a porter for the Hunters Guild Gate Arc, trying in vain to keep a low profile. But when the team was overpowered by high orcs, Jinwoo helped them silently using his stealth mode. However, he eventually had to show his true abilities when they faced the boss of the dungeon, Kargalgan. Kargalgan was a high orc shaman who looked down upon humans. After he saw his Orcs raised as Jinwoo’s shadow soldiers and fighting for him, he momentarily glitched and talked about the order he heard constantly. In an act of desperation, Kargalgan then used multiple abilities simultaneously using his Zodiac circles. 

But Jinwoo had his shadow soldiers fight the high orcs while Igris fought Kargalgan’s commanders, eventually killing them. Jinwoo then made use of his agility and the Hand of the Ruler to take Kargalgan down, after which he was killed by his own commanders, ruthlessly raised by Jinwoo as new Shadow soldiers. In the end, Jinwoo overtook Kargalgan’s Shadow as well and named him Tusk.

3) Jinwoo vs. Demon Monarch Baran

On the 100th floor of the Demon Castle, Jinwoo encountered the Demon Monarch Baran in all his purple majesty. Accompanied by Esil, Jinwoo soon realized that his enemy was too strong for him to fight alone. He summoned his shadow soldiers to fight Baran’s minions, planning to bring Baran to the ground from his dragon-like Wyvern. 

With Tusk and Igris’s help, Jinwoo managed to kill the Wyvern, forcing Baran to his feet. Baran effortlessly saw through Jinwoo’s attacks and inflicted injuries on him, also causing Jinwoo’s mana points to drop to zero. But just when Jinwoo was about to take a point-blank hit, Esil distracted Baran with her sword, giving Jinwoo enough time to level up his strength. With his bare hands, Jinwoo then tore Baran’s arms and ended his life with a final, mighty punch. 

This Solo Leveling fight was significant because it gave Jinwoo the last ingredient for the Elixir of Life. This elixir put Jinwoo’s mother out of her Eternal Sleep and allowed her to live a normal life once again. Meaning with this fight, Jinwoo finally reached the ultimate goal he had been working towards since Season One. 

2) Jinwoo vs. Ant King Beru

Jinwoo initially did not participate in the Jeju Island raid near the end of Solo Leveling Season 2, but had to interfere when he sensed the powerful presence of the Ant King. With his fellow S-rank hunters heavily injured and their healer killed, Jinwoo quickly went on to attack the monster ant. In this Solo Levelling fight, Jinwoo mostly used his bare-handed strength since his dagger did not have any effect on Beru. However, Beru stung Jinwoo with poison, which did work on him.

Fortunately, Jinwoo quickly healed himself and went into full berserk mode. He had Cha Hae-in in mind, but to speed things up, he upgraded his Mutilation skill and kept pounding the Ant King with all his might in the moment Solo Leveling fans were waiting for through all of Season 2. In fact, the fight is a strong case to watch both subbed and dubbed, especially to see just how much gravitas went into Aleks Le’s performance in English here. The battle ended with the Ant King losing all his limbs and finally being killed by Jinwoo, before he promptly made him his newest, most powerful Shadow and named him Beru. 

1) Jinwoo vs. Igris the Bloodred

Igris was the final obstacle in Jinwoo’s job change quest at the end of Season 1, and was significantly stronger than Jinwoo at that point in Solo Leveling. Once the duel started, Jinwoo was quick to realize that his conventional weapon was of no use against Igris. Making him decide to drop his dagger and fight using his strength only. But to Jinwoo’s surprise, Igris also dropped his weapons, showing respect for his opponent.

Despite this handicap, however, Igris maintained the upper hand, injuring Jinwoo to the point of exhaustion. But just as Igris was about to end Jinwoo with his sword, Jinwoo blocked the attack, making a desperate final push as he lunged into Igris for a death blow with his dagger in a spectacular final strike, leveraging his inventory system to deftly finish the job. After the fight was over, Jinwoo earned the title of Necromancer, using his new ability to extract Igris’s shadow, making him Jinwoo’s first shadow soldier and one of his most loyal commanders for battles to come.

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Solo Leveling as an action anime has thrilling fights as arguably one of its single greatest hooks. Were there any fights you felt were missing from this list? Let us know in the comments below!