The Solo Leveling anime focuses on Sung Jinwoo entirely, causing other characters to fade into the background rather easily. Among these characters who don’t get a consistent amount of focus are Jinwoo’s shadow army. While the various members of the army are shown to be recruited in numerous interesting ways, many of them only get a handful of moments to show off. However, the anime has recently highlighted the growth of the shadows. While the mention felt more like a throwaway line, it’s nice to know that the various shadows will continue to grow stronger and thus remain relevant.
Jinwoo has no reason to stop recruiting new shadows. If the shadows were unable to level up, they would have to be replaced. That they can level up keeps them from becoming redundant and ensures that these interesting characters don’t fall to the wayside. Each of the shadows that Jinwoo has correlates to a victory for Jinwoo. Each member of Jinwoo’s army means something to his character development, so it’s important that they stay relevant.
The Solo Leveling Anime is Doing a Disservice to Jinwoo’s Shadows
After Jinwoo Names the Shadows, They Become Unimportant
While all the important shadows are given proper build up as they’re introduced, most of them fade into the background after Jinwoo adds them to his army. This is in part due to cut scenes that highlighted moments around the shadows. However, even without those scenes, the shadows just don’t feature prominently as individuals in the grand scope of Jinwoo’s story.
The sheer scale of his army is a greater exploration of Jinwoo’s power than the parts that make it up. Occasionally, the shadows have been used in more interesting ways in response to Jinwoo’s growing strategic skills. These few occasions aren’t enough to let the shadows shine as individual characters.
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There are two major moments for each type of shadow that consistently matter. It’s important when Jinwoo defeats the original form of his shadow and also when he eventually names them. Each of the shadows is a challenge that represents a level of growth through power or cleverness that Jinwoo has accomplished. By retrieving a shadow, he proves his strength of will and ability to shape the future.
However, a shadow isn’t properly his until Jinwoo names it. Only notable figures in Jinwoo’s army get names, and these names often reflect the most prominent trait Jinwoo values in them. From there, this value becomes a background feature that shapes how battles function, but it also makes the shadows easy to write off as one note.
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Jinwoo Always Wanted to Be An Assassin-Type Hunter
Jinwoo is on his way to becoming the most powerful hunter alive through his ability to handle every role needed to clear a gate alone. His shadows represent many of these skills, but Jinwoo also has many abilities that let him fight opponents directly, and that’s how he usually prefers to fight. He likes the challenge that direct combat provides him with.
Plus, he’s stronger than any individual shadow is anyway. The Baran fight proves that Jinwoo can’t just rely on his shadows. Jinwoo keeps himself stocked up with various helpful items so that he’s always ready when a fight breaks out. Jinwoo thought he was going to be an assassin-type hunter, and that’s the route he preferred until he realized the System made him a mage.
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The anime has been much more clear about showing how Jinwoo’s skills have evolved as he levels up, rather than emphasizing what his shadows can do. His tendency to fight opponents alone gives him plenty of places to shine. His shadows do help him in battle, but the most recent major fights have all had Jinwoo going after the most powerful opponent in a one-on-one.
As such, there just isn’t as much need to show the various shadows and their power levels. That the shadows get stronger directly based on Jinwoo’s strength only reinforces this point. When Jinwoo doesn’t rely on his shadows, their power levels can remain vague, regardless of how that affects the Solo Leveling story overall.
Jinwoo’s Shadows Are Weaker Than Their Living Counterparts in Solo Leveling
Jinwoo’s Shadows Are An Extension of the System
When Jinwoo extracts a shadow, the shadow is always weaker than the living version of the being. This is most easily seen in Igris, who was stronger than Jinwoo when they first fought. After that battle, he’s much weaker than before. All the shadows rely on Jinwoo’s strength for their power, just as they rely on his mana to become corporeal.
As they exist as an extension of Jinwoo, the shadows level up through him, too. In Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 8, “Looking Up Was Tiring Me Out”, both Tank and Igris are shown leveling up. The shadows appear to work on a tier system. They gain levels among elite, knight, and elite knight ranks. When they max out each of these, they move onto the next tier.
| Original Name | Original Rank | Original Species | Light Novel Debut | Manhwa Debut | Anime Debut | Light Novel Shadow Debut | Manhwa Shadow Debut | Anime Shadow Debut | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Igris | Knight Commander Igris the Bloodred | A | Living Armor | Chapter 48 | Chapter 38 | Episode 11 | Chapter 49 | Chapter 45 | Episode 12 |
| Tank | Alpha Ice Bear | B (At minimum) | Ice Bear | Chapter 60 | Chapter 50 | Episode 13 | Chapter 100 | Chapter 50 | Episode 15 |
| Iron | Kim Chul | A | Human | Chapter 58 | Chapter 47 | Episode 13 | Chapter 64 | Chapter 54 | Episode 15 |
| Tusk | Kargalgan | S | High Orc | Chapter 88 | Chapter 71 | Episode 17 | Chapter 91 | Chapter 75 | Episode 18 |
The shadows level up automatically, without Jinwoo’s input. However, these mechanics have not seen any of the anime’s focus. How the various tiers translate to the hunter ranks is also unclear. It’s possible that Igris and Tank have at least restored their previous strength upon leveling up. As they are shadows, they can also grow stronger than that base power.
While they were alive, all of these beings were under the same constraints that made leveling up impossible, but that’s no longer the case as a function of the System. When it comes to their relationship with the System, Igris is notable because he’s the only major shadow that the System chose for Jinwoo.
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Despite Being Silent Characters, The Shadows Still Have Personality
The shadows all had distinct personalities before they died. Although those personalities have changed some, they still exist. The anime just doesn’t show them off as characters very often. This is a shame considering how important they are to Jinwoo as the only people he truly relies on. It’s also a shame because each of them made an impression with the various ways they joined Jinwoo’s army.
Igris had to be convinced to join, but that doesn’t stand for the others. Iron has changed dramatically from being Kim Chul, and that has interesting implications for what it means for a human to be turned into a shadow. These shadows are best characterized by their loyalty to Jinwoo, but that isn’t their only trait. As much as Jinwoo has formed relationships with humans, he only depends on his shadows for help.
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ββββThis dynamic doesn’t go one way. Jinwoo is the only way for the shadows to exist and someone they all willingly follow. For at least practical reasons, the shadows care for Jinwoo. However, this dynamic remains without support. Without more scenes dedicated to this dynamic or showing the shadows aiding Jinwoo in fights more, the shadows end up being just another tool in Jinwoo’s arsenal.
Their potential for characterization is overall neglected. This rise in strength could indicate a change in how the shadows are handled. All the shadows are just remnants of living beings. Whether they were human or magical beasts, all of them lived very different lives before falling under Jinwoo’s control.
Through being stronger than them or being persuasive, Jinwoo has provided several of his former enemies with a second life. However, that life is one completely dedicated to him. Despite these constraints, none of the shadows seem unhappy with their lot in this new life. How they’ve adapted to his army of the dead is a fascinating development that deserves more exploration.
