What is a Monarch in Solo Leveling? Is Sung Jin-Woo a Monarch?

With the end of the Chimera ant arc in the Manhwa, Solo Leveling fans can’t wait for season two.

There were many mysteries teased in the first season that got me to thinking, such as the identity of the two people who appeared on Jeju island. The secrets surrounding Jin-Woo’s father, the enigmatic system, and the war it keeps hinting towards.

Now, if you have tried to fool around and spoiled the story a bit, you must be thinking the same question that I did — What is a Monarch in Solo Leveling? How powerful are they? Is Sun Jing-Woo a Monarch? Let me answer these questions for you.

1. Quick Answer

The Absolute Being in another world, split the forces of Light and the Dark into eight pieces each. The pieces of darkness came to be called Monarchs. They became calamity monsters that decided to invade Earth as their new home ground.

SPOILER ALERT: There will be spoilers from the novel from here onwards.

2. What is Monarch? How many Monarchs are there?

The purpose of the Monarchs, as set by the Absolute Being, was to destroy the Universe. At the same time, the Rulers fought against them to maintain it.

After a lengthy war between them, the scales tipped in favor of the Rulers. Six of the remaining Monarchs hid in the gap between dimensions, biding their time and rebuilding their forces.

The Monarchs, still bent on destroying the Universe, had set their sights on another planet, Earth.

I. Who are Rulers in Solo Leveling?

Rulers are powerful beings created by the Absolute Being to maintain the Universe and protect it from the Monarchs whose purpose is to destroy it.

The Rulers, tired of the never-ending war, begged the Absolute Being to aid them and destroy the Monarchs, to ensure peace would be achieved. The Absolute Being refused, and soon the Rulers discovered that the gruesome war between the Monarchs and the Rulers was merely for the amusement of the Absolute Being.

Tired and full of grief about the war, seven of the Rulers rebelled against the Absolute Being. All except Ashborn, who remained loyal. However, Ashborn’s efforts were naught, and soon the seven Rulers succeeded in destroying the Absolute Being.

However, the war between the Monarchs and the Rulers did not end. After a lengthy war, scales tipped in favor of the rulers, and the Monarchs were forced to go into hiding and bide their time. The Monarchs, however, still bent on destroying the Universe, set their sights on Earth.

Another war ensued, during which Earth had been destroyed 7 times. After rewinding time and hoping to save Earth, which had no Mana and was destroyed in the war 7 times, the Rulers injected Gates into Earth to increase its Mana to survive the coming 8th war.

II. How powerful are Monarchs?

The Monarchs are one amongst the most powerful existences with only the Rulers as equals.

Monarchs command massive and powerful armies that can lay waste to anyone crossing their path. The Monarchs are near-invincible existences that destroyed Earth 7 times.

3. Why did Monarchs come to Earth?

Because of the death of Baran, one of the Monarchs, and the unwillingness of Ashborn, another Monarch, to participate in the fight, the scales of war tipped to the side of the Rulers.

Six of the remaining Monarchs hid in the gap between dimensions, biding their time and rebuilding their forces. The Monarchs, however, were still bent on destroying the Universe and had set their sights on another planet, Earth.

During another war between the Rulers and the Monarchs, Earth had been destroyed 7 times. Hoping to save Earth, which had no Mana and was destroyed in the war 7 times, the Rulers injected Gates into Earth. It was done to increase Earth’s Mana to survive the coming 8th war and inhabited certain humans to act as their vessels to help humanity fight.

The Monarch’s later came to Earth to start killing the Ruler’s Vessels and, therefore, weaken the Ruler’s army.

4. Is Sung Jin-Woo a Monarch?

Sung Jin-Woo was chosen as a player inside a dual dungeon. After completing the quests and powering up thanks to the system, he became the strongest hunter on Earth.

It was later revealed that the system was created by the Architect as a means to support the Shadow Monarch, Ashborn, in finding a suitable human to inherit his powers. Ashborn had chosen Jin-Woo as a result of his daily battle with life and death as the weakest hunter.

Even before Jin-Woo had completely inherited the powers of Ashborn, he was already capable of fighting three Monarchs. But his power only helped him so much, and he was killed by the Monarchs.

Just when Jin-Woo’s heart stopped beating, the “Black Heart” of the Shadow Monarch, Ashborn, which he got in the game system, fully replaced his own. It is at that moment that Jin-Woo completely became the Shadow Monarch.

I. Who is Ashborn? Is he a Monarch?

Ashborn was the Greatest Fragment of Brilliant Light created by the Absolute Being. When the Rulers and the Monarchs were created, their purposes were set. To have war with one another and win.

Eventually, the Rulers found out that the Absolute Being made the Rulers and Monarchs to fight each other for his own amusement. Angered and filled with grief from the war, 7 out of 8 Rulers killed the Absolute Being.

Ashborn was the only one out of the Rulers that was still loyal to the Absolute Being. He tried to protect the Absolute Being against the angered Rulers, but he was outnumbered and killed.

After ‘dying,’ he realized that the Absolute Being planted a failsafe inside it’s a most faithful servant – him, in case everything went wrong. A powerful and terrifying power capable of ending everything. The power of Death.

After waking up, he discarded any remains of his previous life by tearing off his wings and forging a mighty armor out of the surrounding shadows and making a brand new army of Shadow Soldiers. He joined the Monarchs to combat the Rulers and came to be called the Shadow Monarch.

II. Are Monarchs Evil?

The main purpose of the Monarchs is to destroy the Universe and everything that lies in their way.

After they have set their sights on Earth, their goal is to destroy the planet and wipe out humanity. So yes, Monarchs are Evil and the epitome of destruction and carnage.

5. About Solo Leveling

Solo Leveling is a South Korean novel written by Chu-Gong; it was serialized in Papyrus and later in KakaoPage and concluded with 14 volumes and 270 chapters.

Since a portal connecting our world to a world full of monsters and creatures of all kinds appeared, some people have acquired powers and the ability to hunt them: they are called hunters.

Sung Jin-Woo is the weakest of the rank E hunters and barely stronger than a normal human. One day, he and other hunters find themselves trapped in an extremely dangerous dungeon, and only a few of them survive and manage to escape.

Sung Jin-Woo himself hardly survives and is the only one who completes all the trials in this dungeon. Thus, he begins his journey of becoming the most powerful hunter!