Top 10 Tropes In Solo Leveling

Solo Leveling is a brand new action anime series debuting in the Winter 2024 anime season, a great way to start the year. As fans of the original Korean web novel have already seen, Solo Leveling is a fantastic action/adventure story full of memorable moments, a great combat system, and fun characters. Now, anime fans can see it all for themselves as the Solo Leveling anime continues to air, and anime fans can catch some familiar story tropes along the way. In anime, clichés are to be avoided, and the industry has plenty of them, but fans have a different attitude towards tropes. These are basic, familiar narrative elements that can be tweaked and flavored to suit any story or theme, the building blocks of any anime, like Solo Leveling. So far, fans have seen a lot of these tropes in anime, some universal in storytelling and others more specific to the anime industry. And they all fit together to make Solo Leveling a fantastic viewing experience.

10: An Alien Invasion of Sorts Takes Place

The general "alien invasion" trope is often used literally in science fiction, such as author Rumiko Takahashi's humorous Urusei Yatsura, but in other anime, such as Solo Leveling, it is a less literal but no less interesting trope. In this anime world, fantasy monsters can invade the world through portals and threaten everyday life in contemporary Korea. Monster Invasion Solo Leveling is why battle hunters of all levels perform dungeon crawls, killing monsters and closing dungeon portals before goblins and other creatures can transfer to the real world and wreak havoc. It creates basic but meaningful stakes for the entire hunter vs. monsters and explains why people willingly risk their lives to clear these dungeons.

9: There Are Adventurer Guilds

Many fantasy anime series feature one or more adventurer guilds, and this trope is especially common in isekai anime. A guild can give the protagonist a sense of belonging and new friends to meet, all while giving their adventures more structure and purpose. Anime like Goblin Slayer and even the subversive comedy Konosuba use the adventurer's guild trope. The Solo Leveling anime hasn't shown much of this trope yet, but fans of the overall franchise know it's definitely there. Such guilds include a lot of mid to high rank hunters, so they can fight all kinds of deadly monsters with trusted allies by their side. Protagonist Sung Jinwoo may not have to join the guild as he becomes incredibly powerful, but it's still an option to consider.

8: Jinwoo Sung Has a Strong Big Brother Instinct

A lot of anime heroes have a beloved family member to fight for—or even several. Solo Leveling's protagonist Jinwoo Sung became a hunter to support his family after a tragedy struck his parents and will do anything to take care of his teenage sister Jinah. Jinwoo risks his life in the dungeons so that Jinah can go to high school and eventually college without fear. This makes Jinwoo more likeable and worth rooting for, a good example of the "protective big brother" trope. Protective older siblings are inspiring to watch in anime, even when they're practicing tough love or being tunderers who don't easily admit how much they care. Big sisters are equally inspiring, even the ruthless tsundere Olivier Armstrong in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

7: Solo Leveling Has an Official Ranking System For Hunters

Some action anime only allow fans to "watch" to determine who the strongest and most capable fighters are, especially in realistic action series such as Tokyo Revengers where RPG-style statistics do not apply. Fantasy anime like Solo Leveling, meanwhile, often implement an official ranking system to make it clear which characters, techniques, monsters, or even weapons are the strongest and which aren't. Examples abound, from the jutsu ranks in Naruto to the ten ranks in the Demon Slayer Corps in Demon Slayer, plus the special Hashira rank. Solo Leveling has a conventional ranking system in place, with the weakest hunters being E rank. Then there's D, C, B, and A, with A-rank hunters being elite warriors that everyone respects. And of course, this anime trope also includes an S rank, perhaps for "super" or "special". Rare S-rank hunters like Hae-In Cha are true battle masters and unmatched.

6: Jinwoo Sung is an Underpowered Underdog Hero

The underpowered MC trope is a fairly common one in action-oriented anime series, though not all anime underdogs are actually underpowered MCs. Naruto Uzumaki, for example, always had the power of Kurama in him. This trope works best when the hero really does lack any meaningful power and must survive with their resourceful wits or sheer luck. Solo Leveling embodies this trope well with Jinwoo Sung, an E-rank hunter with no notable skills, magic, or accomplishments to his name. That makes him far more vulnerable than other hunters during dungeon crawls, adding to the tension. Even lowly fantasy monsters like goblins are serious threats to the underpowered Jinwoo Sung, so he must use clever, even desperate tactics to take them down.

5: Jinwoo Has an Embarrassing Nickname

Some anime heroes are blessed with lofty titles and are widely respected, such as Kakashi Hatake in Naruto who became a "copier ninja" or All Might who was nicknamed the symbol of peace in My Hero Academia. Conversely, there's a trope for characters being given unflattering nicknames they don't like, all to emphasize how underdogs they are. For example, Izuku Midoriya was given the demeaning nickname Deku by his childhood friend Katsuki Bakugo. The protagonist of Solo Leveling begins the story with the grim but accurate nickname "world's weakest hunter", which he had to live with for some time. As the premise of the anime already revealed, Jinwoo will definitely not stay this weak for much longer and may become the strongest hunter one day. Still, this nickname may stick with fans in the future as a reminder of how far Jinwoo Sung has come.

4: Jinwoo Doesn't Want Pity

If an anime character is clearly underpowered or lacks any serious accomplishments, other characters may feel sorry for them, often out of genuine interest. Depending on their personality, the pity character may either be grateful for the emotional support, be an object for pride, or have another reaction. The easy-going Jinwoo Sung reacted gracefully, but he still didn't want any regrets. Jinwoo is an example of the "don't you dare pity me" trope, where the character knows he's weak but doesn't want pity or accommodation for it. Characters like Jinwoo prefer to focus on the mission at hand rather than feel sorry for themselves, and the pity of others is just a useless distraction. Maybe Jinwoo is grateful that his healer friend Joohee is making him feel bad, but Jinwoo knows it won't make him stronger either.

3: Jinwoo Has Training Montages to Get Stronger

In action movies and action anime series, characters may undergo training cutscenes that show them learning new skills or abilities to prepare for future battles against their enemies. However, unlike the combat, the training is predictable and repetitive, and the stories tend to use montages so the audience can get a basic idea and move on. Still, the training scenes can be fun, like Naruto learning to use the Rasengan jutsu. So far, the Solo Leveling anime with Jinwoo Sung fulfills this basic trope. Ever since he survived that deadly dungeon and became a player of some new game, he has been training daily and facing deadly dangers like fleeing sand monsters when he fails. Fans don't need to see all of Jinwoo's workouts to get the point; brief cuts like in Episode 3 are sufficient.

2: Solo Leveling Uses "As You Know" Exposition To Set Up the Premise

The "as you know, Bob" trope is never exciting or inspiring, but if handled correctly, it can be a useful trope to help the audience quickly familiarize themselves with the fictional setting and story. The anime industry is known for its constant exposition, and in extreme cases, characters may even interrupt their fight to explain things to their enemies - a trope often seen in Bleach and its kin. Fortunately, the Solo Leveling anime only lightly uses the "as you know" trope to set up the hunter vs monster system in this world. Jinwoo's superiors reviewed the basic details to help the audience understand the world of Solo Leveling, and just in time the narrative returned to Jinwoo and his adventures, setting the story in motion with the basic foundations firmly in place.

1: Sung Jinwoo Came Back Stronger

Some anime heroes gradually get stronger as they train and gain their abilities over time, while others start their abilities. Some heroes even mix the two ideas without contradicting each other, usually by giving the completely powerless MC some new abilities that require training to fully master. Solo Leveling used the "come back stronger" trope in the beginning to give Jinwoo Sung a chance to rise above his highest rank of E. The story even said that hunters cannot increase their power level once their powers are awakened, but Jinwoo became an exception when the "came back stronger" trope was used. Jinwoo cheated death and woke up safe and sound in the hospital, leading him to begin his solo leveling adventure to become much stronger than any E-rank hunter would ever be.