I know it’s rather difficult to go through every anime or manga just to stumble upon a protagonist who’s as good as Sung Jin Woo from Solo Leveling Manhwa or anime.
Sung Jin Woo, the protagonist of Solo Leveling represents a strong, cold, and smart personality supported by the powers he was bestowed by the system!
We all know that at some point Sung Jin Woo was referred to as the ‘weakest hunter of all’. However, fate decided to transform his destiny and allowed him to wield the powers of the system.
There are several other animes and manga with characters that mirror Sung Jin Woo. Doesn’t matter if those characters had a leveling system or not. However, in this list, some characters resemble every aspect of Sung Jin Woo.
Characters like Sung Jin Woo:
1. Naofumi Iwatani from “The rising of the Shield hero”
- Both Sung Jin woo and Naofumi Iwatani makes their way to the top.
- Both are mocked by others because of their weakness.
- They don’t reason with monsters.
- Both of them are cold hearted character.
- They believe in action more than words.
When it comes to characters like Jin Woo, Naofumi Iwatani is a clean reflection.
The Rising of the Shield hero is set in a world where ‘The Waves of Cates trophies’ occur periodically. These waves bring along hordes of monsters that slay everything on their way.
Our protagonist is teleported into a parallel world along with three other humans.
However, Naofumi Iwatani, the main protagonist is assigned the role of shield hero who is hated and never praised by the people in their world.
Just because everyone assumed that Shield hero wouldn’t be of much help as other heroes. By shield, the first thing to strike the mind is ‘protection’.
Naofumi Iwatani is set into traps and is humiliated by the people and other heroes. Knowing that he can’t return to his world, he strives to get stronger since his powers are based on his shield and its levels.
2. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from ‘Classroom Of The Elites’
- Both Ayanokouji and JinWoo have a somewhat similar mentality.
- They are hardly influenced by the opinions of others.
- Both of them strive to be the strongest in their respective worlds.
- Girls are another thing that none of the characters spend much thought on.
I know ‘Classroom of the Elites‘ has an entirely different setting than Solo Leveling. However, when we consider the similarities between the main characters instead of the Manga/Manhwa itself, we do get the gemstone!
I have gone through various Manga that could introduce a somewhat similar character to Sung Jin Woo. However, not many exist to fulfill the criteria.
He has been nothing less than a prodigy when it comes to making decisive decisions on every single step of life and working to advance by taking the mistakes under consideration to avoid similar incidents in the future.
3. Cid Kagenou from ‘The Eminence in Shadows’
- Both Sung Jin Woo and Cid prioritize their thoughts and opinions over the others.
- Cid Kagenou is known for his intelligence and cold personality that never compromises.
- Both characters are the top #1 powerful entities in their respective verses.
- Sung Jin Woo commands millions of Shadow armies. As for Cid Kagenou, he does have an army of girls who call themselves ‘Shadows’. They have their own will and could betray Cid if they wanted to, but that’s something we would never get to see.
Eminence is Shadows is an isekai manga/anime that revolves around the life of Cid Kagenou, who aspires to become the ‘Eminence is Shadows,’ those who lurk into shadows and hunt the shadows.
Cid was a normal human on Earth, leading the life of a typical high schooler. But the problem here was his dream to attain strength that surpassed the limits of any other creature on Earth. Ever since his childhood days, Cid trained like none other. And since there was no magic in his first world, physical training was the only thing Cid could go after.
He indeed became strong but it was not enough to meet his expectations. One day he dies in an accident and is reborn in another world with magic powers.
He now witnesses the opportunity to make his dream a reality and goes on to become Eminence in Shadows’ along with his army, who call themselves ‘Shadows.’
4. Leon Fou Bartfort from ‘Trapped in a Dating Sim’
- Both Leon and Sung Jin Woo don’t compromise for what believe is true.
- Well, Leon might not be as cold as Sung Jin Woo, but he does represent a strong sense of individualism.
- Both of Them start small and turn out to be remarkable protagonists.
So, when we’re talking about characters like Sung Jin Woo, Leon cannot be compared to the former in all manners. However, the Main character possesses many traits that people like to see in a protagonist like Sung Jin Woo.
Trapped in a Dating Sim’ is an Isekai anime where the main character is reborn in a game that he hated the most in his former life.
You can’t ignore his thoughts and reviews about a world that is governed by women who wield almost all of the powers in terms of making decisions and directing activities.
Leon defies the vague and cringe ideas presented by most of the characters in the anime. He doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind whenever the situation demands.
You would not regret trying this anime!
5. Ichigo Kurosaki from “Bleach”
- Both of them have a keen sense of duties and responsibilities.
- Most people agree with the similarities between Ichigo and JinWoo when compared to characters from other popular Shonen.
- Arise/Bankai [Both give goosebumps]
Ichigo started as a high school student unaware of the mysteries going around him when it comes to souls and Hollows. However, after coming into contact with Rukia, he understands the reason why he could see ghosts and others couldn’t
Although his life so far wasn’t all that tragic, Ichigo soon discovers various patterns that he must follow and protect those who are closer to him.
From the very beginning, he’s been a kind-hearted being. But after his encounter with Rukia, his life takes a drastic turn and exposes Ichigo to countless difficulties that he must face and overcome.
6. Buroto Uzumaki from ‘Boruto: Two Blue Vortex’
- Boruto and Sung Jin Woo are both wise and well-developed characters when it comes to dealing with friends or foes.
- Boruto never tried to engage in unnecessary conversations in Two Blue Vortex Manga.
- Both are Powerful prodigies.
The first part of Boruto anime/manga wasn’t all that likable, and fans resented the overall presentation of the series mostly owing to the writer’s choice to nerf Sasuke Uzumaki and Naruto Uzumaki.
However, after the completion of the first part, we were presented with ‘Two Blue Vortex ‘ manga where things have changed quite a lot. For example, Boruto is no longer the naive child who pulled pranks on others or harbored crazy ideas.
He’s now become a purely cold and calm person who thinks rationally, acts according to the plan, and aims for the best outcome possible, without being distracted by any external forces.
Supporting characters like Sung JinWoo:
7. Sasuke Uchiha from ‘Naruto’ franchise:
Sasuke Uchiha has been a cold-hearted prodigy from the very beginning of the series. He was faced with a very uncomfortable situation when he was around 6-7 years old. Whether it be in terms of academic achievements or combat capabilities, Sasuke has always been at the top of his class.
As the series continued to progress, Sasuke Uchiha sought greater power to defeat his brother Itachi. Every glimpse of Sasuke could be compared to that of Sung Jin Woo in terms of similarities.
8. Killua Zoldyck from ‘Hunter x Hunter’
When talking about similarities between two characters, it’s always important to consider the aspects that set them apart from the rest, and in the case of Sung Jin Woo, various aspects are hardly noticeable among the others, which makes things both difficult and easy.
Killua has been raised as an assassin as he comes from the family of the finest assassins, ‘the Zoldyck family.’ They are known to be very smart and capable of carrying out even the toughest missions with efficiency.
There are many similarities among the two in question including the roles of assassin, being powerful, smart, etc.
Conclusion:
Most of the characters mentioned in this article are somewhat cold-hearted and smart enough to make their own decision with full assurance and not be held behind by the influence of others.
However, their personality might vary, and their ways of dealing with situations might seem different.
