Solo Leveling Sung Il-Hwan

Sung Il-Hwan (성일환) was a Korean S-Rank Hunter and the father of Jinwoo and Jinah.

Appearance

Il-Hwan was a handsome and muscular man with gray eyes, shaggy black hair, and slight facial hair. When using his powers or agitated, his eyes glowed bright yellow. As noted by Hwang Dongsoo, despite having spent a decade inside the dungeons, he did not appear to have aged much during that period of time and looked significantly younger than he actually was.

During his time on the run, Il-Hwan wore a tattered brown cloak over a ragged white undershirt, white bandages on both hands, baggy black pants, and a pair of black boots. In contrast, before he went missing, Il-Hwan sported a much cleaner look and was pictured wearing a brown jacket over a simple black undershirt.

Personality

Il-Hwan cared deeply for his family and had little tolerance for those who tried to harm them or interfere with his mission, as displayed when he brutally beat Hwang Dongsoo to a bloody pulp for attempting to murder his son Jinwoo for petty reasons. He was also selfless and merciful, as he went out of his way to save the innocent bystanders who got caught in the crossfire of his battle with Hwang and chose to spare Hwang's life even though he could have easily killed him.

History

During his younger years, Il-Hwan worked as a firefighter and fell in love with a woman named Park Kyung-Hye. They eventually married and had two children, Jinwoo and Jinah, whom they deeply adored. Several years later, when the existence of magic beasts was discovered, Il-Hwan left his firefighting career to become a hunter and rose up to become one of Korea's first S-Rank Hunters. However, since the ranking system didn't exist yet at the time, his strength was never officially recognized by the public.

Ten years before the events of the main storyline, Il-Hwan got trapped inside a dungeon during a raid, leaving his family to presume him dead and his wife to raise their children on her own. However, before he could die of starvation, Il-Hwan was found and saved by the Rulers, who granted him their power and entrusted him with the mission of assassinating the new Shadow Monarch, who was soon to be born. As he didn't have a way to escape back home on his own, Il-Hwan had no choice but to accept their demands.^[2]

Demon Castle Arc

Shortly after Ashborn selected Jinwoo to be his host, the Rulers allowed Il-Hwan to return to the human world to carry out his mission and he resurfaced inside a dungeon on American soil, where he was met by a squad of A-Rank hunters. Believing him to be a monster, they attempted to kill Il-Hwan, but he effortlessly swatted their attacks aside and knocked them all out.^[3] The Federal Bureau of Hunters arrested him in the aftermath, but due to his poor English and the fact that a human had never come out of a dungeon before, they suspected him of being a magic beast with the memories of a human and brought in Hwang Dongsoo to interrogate him so they could figure out for sure.^[4]

Unfortunately, due to Hwang's antagonistic attitude and the grudge that he had against Il-Hwan's son Jinwoo for murdering his older brother, the interrogation ultimately went south, with Il-Hwan easily defeating him in a fight and causing an explosion that completely demolished the Bureau's HQ. Realizing that he was better off completing the mission on his own, Il-Hwan warned Hwang never to set foot in Korea again and went on the run.

Ahjin Guild Arc

After luring Sillad to America by deliberately leaving behind traces of his power, Il-Hwan attempted to fight and kill him, only to be forced back by the former's superior strength. Their clash resulted in a massive explosion of energy and although it's not made clear if they continued fighting afterwards, Il-Hwan later escaped the scene unscathed.^[5]

Japan Crisis Arc

Several days after the Rulers spawned a S-Rank Gate in Tokyo, Il-Hwan learned that his target would be there and traveled to Japan so that he could finally complete his mission.^[6] However, much to his horror, Il-Hwan discovered that Jinwoo was the new Shadow Monarch and could not bring himself to kill his own son.

Fortunately, the Rulers started to have a change of heart and came to accept Jinwoo as their ally, especially after they witnessed him kill Legia. As a result, they eventually gave Il-Hwan the new mission of protecting his son from the Monarchs, which he was more than happy to accept.

International Guild Conference Arc

During their investigation of Christopher Reed's murder, the Bureau discovered mana traces within the ruins of his home that were very similar to Il-Hwan's. As a result, they came to consider him as the primary suspect in Chris' murder and issued a red notice for him during the International Guild Conference, exposing the truth to Jinwoo that his father was still alive.^[7]

Monarchs War Arc

When three Monarchs appeared in Seoul to hunt down and kill Jinwoo, Il-Hwan arrived in the city shortly afterwards and watched as Jinwoo engaged them in battle and was ultimately killed by Rakan, but not before taking out Querehsha on his own. The two surviving Monarchs then attempted to finish Jinwoo off for good when the latter's black heart suddenly began to beat and he started breathing again, but before they could deliver the killing blow, Il-Hwan intercepted their attack and slammed his foot into Rakan’s face, sending him flying into Sillad and causing the two of them to crash through several buildings.^[8]

Despite being outnumbered 2-1, Il-Hwan was able to hold his own against the Monarchs, even throwing Sillad up into a nearby building at one point and stabbing Rakan right through his upper jaw, and successfully hold them off long enough for Rakan to realize that all was lost and flee the battlefield. Unwilling to accept defeat, Sillad summoned a massive ice storm, which sliced off Il-Hwan's left arm, and attempted to crush both him and Jinwoo with a giant meteor made by ice. Beaten, Il-Hwan prepared for death, but before Sillad could drop the meteor on the city, Beru shattered it in one blow and Jinwoo finally returned from the dead, having been granted the true powers of the Shadow Monarch by Ashborn. Knowing that his son could easily handle the rest, Il-Hwan fled to safety while Jinwoo resumed his battle with Rakan and Sillad, and effortlessly killed them both.^[9]

After finding shelter, Il-Hwan realized that he had used too much power in his battle with the Monarchs and his body was literally crumbling away as a result. Accepting his fate and noting to himself that he had done enough, Il-Hwan prepared for the end. However, Jinwoo showed up and asked Il-Hwan why he had just vanished without a word.^[10]

With little time left, Il-Hwan recounted to his son as to what happened to him after he got trapped in the dungeons, and how the Rulers had found him and entrusted him with their mission. He then tearfully embraced Jinwoo, noting that he had grown well in his absence, and apologized to his son for not being a better father right before his body dissolved into shards of light and floated away in the wind.

Epilogue

After the Rulers used the Cup of Reincarnation one last time at Jinwoo's request, this created a new timeline where humanity never learned of the existence of magic beasts. As a result, in this timeline, Il-Hwan never became a hunter and continued working as a firefighter to support his family.^[11] Il-Hwan would later regain his memories of the original timeline several years before Jinwoo waged war against the Monarchs and successfully killed them all, but instead of holding onto them, he had the Rulers erase them from his mind so that he could have a normal life with his family.^[12]

Ragnarok

Coming Soon!

Abilities

As the vessel of a Ruler, Il-Hwan was one of the strongest hunters in the world and quite possibly the second strongest hunter after Jinwoo. However, unlike his son, his body was not adapted to the powers that the Rulers had granted him and as a result, he disintegrated shortly after he overexerted himself in his battle with Sillad and Rakan.

• Immense Strength: Il-Hwan possessed immense physical strength. He was strong enough to effortlessly overpower Hwang Dongsoo in battle, leaving the latter with injuries so severe that he took months to fully recover from them, and kick Rakan hard enough in the face to send him flying through several buildings. He was also able to easily stab right through Rakan's upper jaw and incapacitate Sillad for a prolonged period of time just by kicking him in the chin.

• Immense Speed: Il-Hwan was incredibly fast and could move at immense speeds. He was agile enough to dodge and counter Sillad's and Rakan’s attacks at the same time, and deflect Sillad's barrage of icicles using his daggers with little trouble.

• Stealth: Il-Hwan was able to camouflage with his surroundings and hide all traces of his presence, essentially turning himself both physically and magically invisible.

• Ruler's Authority: Il-Hwan was able to control and move objects via telekinesis.

• Spiritual Body Manifestation

Trivia

• In the Japanese version of the anime, Il-Hwan's name is changed to Junichirō Mizushino (水篠 ジュンイチロー).