With Jinwoo himself finally becoming an S-rank hunter, Season 2 of Solo Leveling has brought the S-rank hunters as a whole into the limelight. The Jeju Raid Arc in particular has introduced fans to not only the rest of the Korean S-rank hunters like Ma Dong Wook, Min Byung-gu, and Lim Tae-gyu but also the fearsome Japanese S-rank hunters. All that said, the entry of these new, powerful, and extremely skilled S-rank hunters like Goto Ryuji has only proven that there is a huge disparity in power and abilities within the S-rank category which has many fans confused about the ranking system as a whole, but fortunately, Solo Leveling’s creator is here to clear up these misconceptions.
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In a recent post on the DC Inside forum, Chugong, the creator of Solo Leveling, was asked whether Goto Ryuji, the newly introduced Japanese S-rank hunter, can be considered the strongest of all the S-ranks. The exact question by the fan reads, “Can Goto Ryuji be considered the topmost tier hunter among the S-ranks, excluding the National Level Hunters? I’m also curious how he compares to other S-rank individuals like Yuri Orlov and Lennart Niermann.”
Even though Goto Ryuji is even said to be the strongest S-rank hunter in Japan, Chugong’s answer to the question was far more nuanced, reading, “The difference within S-rank tier is greater than the difference between E-rank and A-rank, so it’s difficult to consider him as the topmost tier.” Chungong’s response perfectly confirms what fans have been suspecting for quite some time, this being that there is a huge world of difference in power among the S-rank hunters even though they may be grouped under the same tier.
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Solo Leveling’s Creator Addresses the Huge Power Difference Within the S-Rank Category
Ever since the start of the series, the S-rank hunters have been among the elite and the rarest of the rare within the fictional confines of the story. The extent of their powers and abilities have long been set up as being beyond an ordinary individual’s wildest imagination and being capable of decimating their surroundings should a battle break out between them. The fact that Jinwoo is only the tenth S-rank hunter in all of Korea is an excellent example of how uncommon this level of power is.
That said, even amidst this topmost tier of hunters, it has always been clear that there are some hunters who are significantly more powerful than others, and the Jeju Island Arc has further proven this point through the recent spar between the Japanese and Korean S-rank hunters. This only gets even more confusing when the National Level Hunters, (who are yet to properly make their debut in the anime) enter the equation. The National Level Hunters’ strength is clearly a tier above the regular S-rank hunters as a single National Level Hunter is said to rival the might of a nation’s entire military force, which explains the special moniker.
As a result, the S-class category itself is quite confusing to many and makes power scaling a literal nightmare. That said, Solo Leveling’s author, Chugong, explains it quite succinctly but accurately when he states that the difference in power levels between various S-rank hunters is almost as vast as the difference between the E-rank and A-rank hunters. This is not even taking into account the National Level Hunters, who, as later revealed in the webtoon, borrow their power from the Rulers, which is why they belong in a sub-tier of their own.
Why the Difference in Power Level Between S-Rank Hunters Makes Sense
Though Chugong does not go into the reasons for this huge difference in power levels in his comment on the forum, Solo Leveling has arguably already laid out several plausible explanations. The first and most obvious is that the S-rank hunters belong to different classes, and thus, each brings a different type of value to the time besides having their own unique fighting styles. For example, Choi Jong-in is a Mage Class hunter, and his offensive fire abilities are best suited to taking out weak hordes in one fell swoop as opposed to fighting one strong opponent in close-range combat, which is more Baek Yoonho’s style. Lim Tae-gyu is the only Archer Class S-rank hunter and is more inclined to support his teammates from a distance. It is difficult to fairly compare hunters, even S-rank ones who belong to different classes.
Another more obvious reason why this disparity within the S-rank category makes sense is the metrics used to define an S-rank hunter. A hunter’s rank is defined by their magic power, and an S-rank hunter, as seen in Jinwoo’s re-evaluation, is simply an individual whose magic power exceeds the limits of the evaluation machine and cannot be quantified. If humanity were to develop technology capable of evaluating the S-rank hunters’ magic power, then surely it might be possible to rank them even further, though as things stand in Solo Leveling power scaling the S-ranks remains an impossible, incredibly subjective matter, and the S-rank tier itself remains a broad, all-encompassing rank.
Source: DC Inside Solo Leveling Gallery.
