Solo Leveling creator shuts down major fan theory about Jinwoo’s shadow army

Solo Leveling has already proven to be one of the new anime hits of 2024, with its thrilling, adventure-laden narrative and enigmatic personalities grabbing fans’ attention right from the start. The action-packed series tracks the world’s most lowly hunter, Sung Jinwoo, as he rises to the top after being given powerful new abilities in a brutal world teeming with horrific monsters and treasure-filled dungeons. Fans have been gobbling up his larger-than-life odyssey. A recent statement from the creator just turned our perception of one of the show’s most controversial aspects, Jinwoo’s shadow army, totally on its head.One of the largest fan theories centered on the character Greed, the shadow embodiment of Korean-American stalker Hwan Dongsoo. Audiences were understandably thrown when Greed – of all characters – was granted the lofty General rank, equal to Beru, the Ant King. This just didn’t make sense to me, as Dongsoo is terribly underwhelming to the point he’s embarrassed by Jinwoo and his father, leaving him with obnoxiously little screen time.Except now we actually know what’s going on. In a post originally hosted on Korean platform DCInside (translated and discussed on Reddit by Neo GAF user N0T0RI0US), Chugong discussed his reasoning.First, “to fix or fill their pothole” 3.Hwang Dongsoo was just incredibly, incredibly powerful. He was an S-Rank hunter that even overshadowed Cha Hae-in. He received a big power-up from Madam… It’s just that the only people he fought are Jinwoo and his dad, both of whom stand in another league completely.”So when fans saw him go down fast, that was only due to the fact that he was matched against absurdly buffed enemies. Greed’s rank wasn’t an error—Dongsoo truly was deserving of the title.Fans were under the impression that shadow soldiers were more powerful the more powerful Jinwoo became. According to Chugong, that’s not entirely accurate. Instead, the System that bestowed Jinwoo his powers actually places restrictions on new shadows when they’re first born. Each of these limits gradually rises as Jinwoo gets closer to awakening his true self as the Shadow Monarch.That’s how Greed and Beru appeared to be evenly matched at first, even if Beru became way stronger afterwards. Beru’s power was already near the Marshal rank by the time Greed was summoned, and Jinwoo’s power level at that point let Greed keep a lot of his original strength.Historically, a fan favorite exception to this has been shadow soldier Igris, one of the very first shadows Jinwoo summons. He was always the most loyal and powerful, but most people slept on him because he showed up so early in the narrative.“If Igris had come down in his true form, all the National Level hunters across the globe working together wouldn’t have been able to hope to defeat him—much less every S-Rank in the world combined.>>>That means Igris is not only strong. He’s one of the strongest characters in the entire Solo Leveling universe, right out of the gate.Solo Leveling is officially available to stream in the US and UK exclusively on Crunchyroll, with both subbed and dubbed versions released. Episodes are available for purchase on digital platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV, and Vudu.These new insights from Chugong effectively put an end to numerous fan theories regarding the series and further clarify the reasoning behind the power scaling in Solo Leveling. As Season 2 just began streaming, there are plenty more exciting developments on the way, including Jinwoo becoming the true Shadow Monarch.