Solo Leveling: Who is the ‘God’?

Aparna Ukil
Screenshot from Solo Leveling

Solo Leveling Episode 1 introduces an evil entity known as the ‘God.’ If you want to know who exactly is this supernatural being, bear with us as we delve deeper.

Solo Leveling manhwa has been one of the most significant gifts the industry has given us. Now that the anime is finally here, none of the fans can stop thinking about the fast-paced events showcased in the first two episodes.

Sung Jin-Woo is the main protagonist of the series who doesn’t seem the lead character at first. Instead, he appears as the weakest character in the beginning. However, things change for Jin-Woo when a mysterious entity chooses him as a vessel. Not only does he get back to life from the dead but he also gets immense powers.

Of course, the series will reveal more mysterious entities in the future, but for now, everyone is intrigued to learn about the God who played a crucial role in the first two episodes.

The official poster of Solo Leveling anime

How does the ‘God’ entity come into the picture?

Solo Leveling Episode 1 sees the hunters heading toward a D-Rank dungeon that seems “not so deadly” to anyone. However, within minutes after entering the dungeon, every hunter realizes that they shouldn’t take this mission lightly. The Hunters, including Jin-Woo, arrive at a place where they see several big statues holding different tools in their hands. For instance, some statues held musical instruments while some held weapons.

Soon, the B-Rank healer Joohee senses that something is indeed wrong with the place and when she turns around, she sees the eyeballs of the biggest statue moving. When she alerts Jin-Woo about the same, he does not believe the Healer. However, the E-Rank hunter feels that the air is a lot more chillier than it was when they entered the Dungeon. While exploring the place, a few Hunters came across some rules engraved on the walls. Apparently, everyone learns that these Rules are Commandments of the “God.”

Suddenly, the door gets shut, and when one of the hunters tries to leave, he gets killed by a statue. That’s when everyone learns they are about to get a near-death experience in the dungeon. Several hunters start dying at the hands of the statues. Jin-Woo decodes the commandments of god and helps his fellow hunters to survive the whole ordeal. The ones who don’t listen to him die, and at last, Jin-Woo decides to sacrifice himself to help the remaining ones, especially Joohe.

When the episode ends, we see “Courage of the Weak” written on the screen. It confirms that God has granted the ‘System’ to Jin-Woo. That’s how this ‘God’ entity becomes relevant to Jin-Woo’s journey. So, who exactly who is he?

The Statue Of God Explained

The statue that grants Sung Jin-Woo the power of “The System” is the puppet of the Architect. The Architect is a supernatural being who agrees to find a human vessel for Ashborn, the Shadow Monarch.

The Statue that Jin-Woo sees in the Dungeon is the replica of the Absolute Being. This Statue does the Architect’s bidding and tests every human who steps into this Dungeon. Over the years, the Architect tests several humans to find a perfect vessel for Ashborn, and he eventually comes across Jin-Woo, who passes the Architect’s every test.

Who is the Absolute Being and Ashborn?

Absolute Being is the vital force that created Monarchs out of the darkness and Rulers out of the light when only these two elements existed. The former were created to destroy the entire human race while the latter were created so that they could save humanity. To be precise, despite being a God, the Absolute Being was a self-centered individual who did everything for his entertainment.

However, when the Rulers approached requesting immense power to eradicate the Monarchs, the Absolute Being didn’t even respond. The Rulers understood that the Absolute Being didn’t want the war to end as he was happy seeing the chaos around him. They also realize that the situation will only get worse until they find a way to defeat the Absolute Being. So, every Ruler, except Ashborn, decides to kill the ‘God’ and put an end to all the bloodshed.

Ashborn, being the strongest of all tried to oppose his own race but he couldn’t do anything. Absolute Being gets killed by the Rulers and when Ashborn gets resurrected as the Shadow Monarch, he finds the God’s corpse on the throne but not in good shape, of course.

So, you could say that Jin-Woo is the Absolute Being’s chosen warrior, who eventually becomes Ashborn’s vessel to fight on God’s behalf. Obviously, Jin-Woo doesn’t know about any of this, but eventually, he’ll be made aware of everything by Ashborn himself.

About The Author

Aparna is a Writer at Dexerto and focuses her content on everything Anime. Besides this, she also enjoys watching the latest TV shows and movies explicitly falling under the horror genre. She started her professional journey in the retail industry but her admiration for films and TV shows pulled her into the field of entertainment writing where she has experience writing for various well-known publishers including Otakukart, Sportskeeda and Game Revolution.