As seen with Sung Jin-Woo when he was E-rank in the early stages of Solo Leveling, even among hunters of the same rank, there exists a disparity. As hunters are unable to grow any stronger, the weak remain weak. Most hunters are unable to get any stronger after they’ve awakened, so the weaker hunters are usually the lower-ranked E to C-rank hunters.

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Weaker hunters are unable to properly earn money, so they often do odd jobs like mining to help stronger hunters to earn enough. Even among higher-ranked hunters, things like trauma may not allow them to properly display their abilities, making them generally inefficient and weaker than other hunters portrayed in the Solo Leveling series.

8 Song Chi-Yul

Has Impressive Leadership Qualities, But A Poor Hunter Ranking

As the leader of the raid team that encountered the first Double Dungeon incident, many may look up to Song Chi-Yul. However, as a C-rank hunter who participated in what was supposed to be an E-rank dungeon, Song Chi-Yul is one of the weaker hunters in the series.

Although his hunter ability may be weak, Song Chi-Yul constantly trained in kumdo and had higher-ranked hunters, including Cha Hae-In, as students. Unfortunately for him, when he awakened as a hunter, he did so as a mage class hunter, making him unable to properly utilize his melee skills, and this greatly impacted him in his fight against a B-ranked assassin.

7 Cho Kyuhwan

Hwang Dongsuk’s Right Hand Man Is Not So Strong

Hwang Dongsuk’s right-hand man, Cho Kyuwan, is one of the weaker named characters in the Solo Leveling manhwa series. After Sung Jin-Woo became newly awakened and joined Hwang Dongsuk’s party as an extra, Cho Kyuwan, like the rest of the party, turned out to be a lizard who killed weaker hunters for profit. Unfortunately for him and his party, they targeted Sung Jin-Woo and lost their lives as a result.

Despite Sung Jin-Woo being newly awakened and testing out his abilities, Cho Kyuwan was unable to kill him, even though he was a C-rank hunter. When he confronted Sung Jin-Woo, he was killed almost instantly.

6 Kim Sangshik

A D-Rank’s Abilities Are Not Enough

As one of the five survivors of the Double Dungeon incident, Kim Sangshik has a bit of history with Sung Jin-Woo. Before the Double Dungeon incident, Kim Sangshik was shown to be a friendly person who was confident in himself. However, when his life was on the line, he quickly betrayed everyone else to ensure his survival.

Unfortunately for the hunter, even after miraculously surviving the Double Dungeon incident, he later died at the hands of Kang Taeshik, a B-rank hunter who killed others for money and pleasure. Right before his death, Kim Sangshik apologized to Sung Jin-Woo, showing that he may truly have been a good-hearted person, but one whose self-preservation controlled his actions.

5 Yoo Jinho

The Vice-Guild Master Of Ahjin Guild Is More Business Savvy Than Strong

Starting as an unknown D-rank hunter and the son of the Chairman of Yoojin Construction, Yoo Jinho was portrayed as a weak hunter with little to no battle experience. Being the son of an affluent individual allowed him to get expensive equipment, which typically helped him to survive what would be fatal situations.

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Throughout the series, Yoo Jinho didn’t get drastically stronger, as even after he became acquainted with Sung Jin-Woo, Jin-Woo handled most raids. After becoming the Vice-Guild Master of Sung Jin-Woo’s Ahjin guild, Yoo Jinho focused on running the guild and handling the business affairs, while Sung Jin-Woo handled the battle aspects.

4 Park Beom-Shik

This D-Rank Hunter Was Powerless Before The Double Dungeon Monsters

This D-rank hunter was introduced early on in the series, and among various hunters, Park Beom-Shik’s life truly shows just how cruel the hunter world can be. Before the Double Dungeon incident, Park Beom-Shik had retired as a hunter. However, his wife was just about to give birth, and with an extra mouth to feed and take care of, Park Beom-Shik decided to make money to take care of his family.

Unfortunately for him, what was supposed to be a harmless dungeon turned out to be his last. In the Double Dungeon, Park Beom-Shik's abilities were completely useless, and with insufficient ability and knowledge, he lost his life.

3 Yoon Kijoong

Cried Tears Of Relief After His Life Was Spared From A Red Gate

After unknowingly entering a red gate, Sung Jin-Woo, Kim Chul, and many other hunters were trapped within the gate. As the raid was only to serve as a training exercise, many of the hunters in it were weaklings. Of the various hunters in the Red Gate, Yoon Kijoong was a C-class hunter who was grouped with Sung Jin-Woo and other lower-ranked hunters by Kim Chul, the highest-ranked hunter in the expedition.

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As Kim Chul considered the weaker-ranked hunters a liability, he grouped them together, effectively sending them to their deaths, which ironically led to Yoon Kijoong and the other weak hunters surviving. At the end of the raid, Yoon Kijoong cried tears of relief.

2 Lee Johee

This B-Rank Healer Is Weaker Than Most

Despite being a B-rank healer, Lee Johee is among the weakest hunters in the series. Although healers are generally a step behind their counterparts in terms of attack prowess, Lee Johee is among the weakest hunters because of her trauma and inability to handle pressure and monsters.

Most times, healers are often protected by the attack force during a raid, but even with having numerous hunters protecting her, Lee Johee gets frightened at the sight of monsters, causing her healing prowess to be less than efficient, especially for someone of her rank. Because of this, despite being a B-rank healer, she often joins D and E-rank dungeons.

1 Han Song-Yi

A Child E-Rank Hunter Has No Strength To Speak Of

Immediately after awakening as an E-rank hunter, Han Song-Yi, a friend of Sung Jin-Woo’s sister, started skipping school to make money as a hunter and live her life. As an E-rank, Han Song-Yi was among the weakest of all hunters; however, as someone new to the whole hunter space, she was very much under-experienced.

Luckily for her, she met Sung Jin-Woo, who, rather than try to discourage her from dropping out of school and pursuing a career as a hunter, decided to allow her to witness what it means to be a hunter, and a weaker-ranked one at that, but under his protection.

Solo Leveling

Action

Fantasy

Studio

A-1 Pictures

Creator

Chugong

Number of Episodes

12

Streaming Service(s)

Crunchyroll