5 ‘Solo Leveling’ Characters Who Deserved Better (#4’s Fate Is Tragic)
Polygon has published a list highlighting five characters from the "Solo Leveling" franchise whose story arcs, the outlet argues, were cut short or left underdeveloped despite significant potential. The piece reflects on how the anime and webtoon's format, built around protagonist Sung Jin-woo's relentless power progression, tends to sideline or kill off supporting characters before they can be fully explored, even when they show strong narrative promise.
Among those named are Esil Radiru, a demon noble whose arc was curtailed in the source material but expanded in the spin-off "Solo Leveling: Ragnarok", and Christopher Reed, one of America's top-ranked National Level Hunters, who is killed following an ambush by three Monarchs during the International Guild Conference arc. The list also references other overlooked figures, including Liu Zhigang, though the article notes it contains spoilers for the series throughout.
- Polygon lists five "Solo Leveling" characters it says deserved fuller story arcs
- Esil Radiru's cut-short role was later expanded in spin-off "Ragnarok"
- Christopher Reed, a top US hunter, dies after a Monarch ambush
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Solo Leveling is a hugely popular South Korean fantasy franchise, originally a web novel and then a webtoon, which has since been adapted into a successful anime series. It follows Sung Jin-woo, an initially weak "hunter" in a world where portal-like gates release monsters, who gains the unique power to grow stronger without limit and rises to become the most formidable fighter alive.
Because the story is built so tightly around Jin-woo's own rise in strength, many of the supporting cast around him tend to be introduced, developed briefly and then killed off or sidelined before their stories are fully told. Figures such as Esil Radiru, a demon noble, and Christopher Reed, a top-ranked American hunter, are examples often pointed to by fans and critics as characters with strong potential whose arcs ended abruptly.
This kind of list, published by the entertainment outlet Polygon, reflects ongoing fan discussion about which characters were underused in the franchise, rather than reporting any new plot development. It matters mainly to readers and viewers already invested in the series, as it touches on long-running debates about pacing and character depth in Solo Leveling's storytelling.