Solo Leveling Thomas Andre

Thomas Andre (트마스 아드레) is the strongest hunter in America and one of the five National Level Hunters, ranking 1st in the world.^[1]

Appearance

Thomas is an extremely large and muscular man with long blond hair, red eyes, a toothy smile, an overgrown blonde goatee, and black tattoos. When using his powers or agitated, his eyes glow bright yellow and golden vein-like patterns appear across his body. He is almost always dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, beach shorts, and sandals.

Personality

Thomas is a proud and aggressive individual with a strong sense of camaraderie. As a result, he still gave Hwang Dongsoo a proper funeral even though the man was a heartless murderer and even fought Jinwoo to the death in order to save his life. Thomas also has little tolerance for insubordination and disrespect, as displayed when he threatened Dongsoo for attempting to argue with him and became angry when Jinwoo refused to spare Dongsoo for torturing Jinho.

However, despite his pride, Thomas is very gracious in defeat, as he showed no ill will towards Jinwoo after the latter nearly killed him during their battle in the States. He also hates owing people favors and will go out of his way to make sure that they're even, as displayed when he traveled to Korea just to treat Jinwoo to a meal and give him Kamish's Wrath as repayment for sparing the lives of his guildmates.

History

Thomas was the son of a poor European immigrant family and spent his childhood surrounded by enemies. In order to survive in such a harsh environment, he became a brawler and proved his natural talent for domination repeatedly through an endless series of fights with those stupid enough to oppose him. Years later, when the existence of magic beasts was discovered, Thomas seized the opportunity to become a true king and was granted power by the Rulers, eventually rising up to become one of the strongest hunters in the world.^[2]

During his battle with Kamish, Thomas was able to get his hands on the dragon's sharpest fang after it bit him with it. Following Kamish's death, he was allowed to keep the fang as a souvenir and eventually sought to make a weapon out of it. As the fang was too short to make a longsword, it was crafted into a pair of daggers instead. However, as Thomas wasn't an assassin-type hunter, he chose not to use the daggers and as a result, they spent the next eight years collecting dust in the basement of the Scavenger Guild's HQ.

Jeju Island Arc

When Hwang caused a scene in Korea in his attempt to hunt down and kill Jinwoo, Thomas flew over to Korea about a month later to personally meet with Go Gunhee and make sure that Hwang wasn't given a second opportunity to make the same mistake. However, after learning that Gunhee had already denied Hwang entry into the country, Thomas decided to head back home and made it clear that he would not participate in the Jeju Island Raid unless he was paid his fee.^[3]

While watching the footage of Jinwoo's battle with the Ant King, Thomas learned from Laura that Jinwoo was responsible for the death of Hwang's older brother and that Hwang was looking to get revenge. This lead Thomas to realize that it was going to be very difficult to meet Jinwoo in person from now on and express his disappointment in not being able to. When Laura then asked him what he planned on doing if Jinwoo and Hwang got into a fight, Thomas sternly told her that Hwang belonged to the Scavenger Guild, which he owned, and that he wouldn't forgive anyone who messed with his property.^[4]

Japan Crisis Arc

When a S-Rank Gate spawned in Maryland about a month later, Thomas overheard a trio of S-Ranks taking bets on when Jinwoo would die trying to clear the new S-Rank Gate in Tokyo. When one bet his yacht and another bet his house, Thomas barged into their conversation and bet his guild's HQ that Jinwoo would prove them all wrong, clear the gate without incident, and survive in one piece.^[5]

After the Maryland S-Rank Gate was cleared without incident, Thomas learned that he had won his bet and gleefully confronted the same trio at the party held by the American government for losing their bet, rubbing it in their faces that they were stupid to underestimate Jinwoo as much as they did. Things got complicated, however, when he later learned from Laura that Jinwoo was coming to America to represent Korea at the International Guild Conference, which was a problem for them as Hwang was still bent on getting his revenge on Jinwoo for murdering his brother.^[6]

International Guild Conference Arc

Two days before the conference was set to take place, Thomas summoned Hwang to his office and ordered him not to mess with Jinwoo under any circumstances and told him to take the day off on the day of the conference. Unfortunately, Hwang did not listen and targeted Jinho, Jinwoo's right-hand man, to get his revenge instead. By the time Thomas later tracked down Hwang to an abandoned factory, Jinwoo had already beaten him there and reduced Hwang to a bloody pulp.

Not wanting to lose Hwang over something as petty as revenge, Thomas requested Jinwoo to let him go, saying that he would pretend that this whole thing never happened if he did. When Jinwoo refused, Thomas angrily attacked him and the two of them got into a brutal fight as Jinwoo stubbornly refused to back down. When Jinwoo proved to be strong enough to make him bleed, Thomas decided to stop holding back and went all out, even using Reinforcement to get his best shot at victory. Unfortunately, it still wasn't good enough, as Jinwoo easily beat him to the brink of the death with his bare hands.^[7]

After spending a day recovering in the hospital, Thomas met Jinwoo at the conference hall and asked the latter why he didn't kill him or any of his guild members. When Jinwoo responded by saying that they hadn't done anything to him that deserved death like Hwang had, Thomas accepted his reasoning and had Laura to ask Jinwoo for his contact info so that they could get a bite to eat together sometime.^[8]

Monarchs War Arc

After his arm fully healed, Thomas retrieved Kamish's Wrath from his guild's HQ and traveled to Korea in order to give the weapon to Jinwoo as repayment for sparing the lives of his guild members. Unfortunately, when he arrived at the Ahjin Guild's office, Jinwoo was out raiding, forcing Thomas to wait over two hours before Jinwoo finally showed up.

The two then went out to eat and just when they were finishing up their meal, Thomas revealed Kamish's Wrath to Jinwoo, who was amazed by their staggering attack power and gladly accepted the daggers as a gift. However, before they could head back to Jinwoo's office, the two of them suddenly detected a massive amount of mana nearby and walked outside to see a gigantic gate spawning in the sky, with Thomas noting that it was far larger than the one that Kamish had crawled out of. As there were no new gates back home in America, Thomas decided to stay in Korea and help clear the gate free of charge.^[9]

Several days later, when Rakan, one of the nine Monarchs, appeared out of the blue and started rampaging across the city, Thomas swiftly arrived on the scene and attempted to kill the creature himself. Although he was able to fight evenly with Rakan for a considerable amount of time, Thomas was unfortunately beaten when Rakan stopped holding back and activated his Spiritual Body Manifestation. However, before Rakan could kill him, Thomas was saved by Lennart Niermann, who was able to force Rakan back by firing an energy blast into his face.^[10] Soon afterwards, Jinwoo showed up to fight and saved them both, giving Thomas enough time to leave the scene safely and get his injuries healed.

Final Battle Arc

After Antares, the strongest Monarch, invaded the human world and had his armies cut a wide path of destruction across Canada, Thomas arrived on the battlefield to fight his forces and was almost immediately confronted by Tarnak, who sneered at him for nearly dying to Rakan before and mocked him for being stupid enough to get himself killed all over again.^[11] In response, Thomas summoned the shadow soldiers who had been hiding in his shadow, which included Bellion and Beru, and the three of them easily dispatched Tarnak in the ensuing battle.^[12]

Epilogue

After the Rulers used the Cup of Reincarnation one last time per Jinwoo's request, this created a new timeline where humanity never learned of the existence of magic beasts. As a result, in his timeline, Thomas never became a hunter and eventually found his calling as a wrestling champion.

In his new life, Thomas nearly died in a car accident, but was saved thanks to Norma Selner after she informed him of the mail stuck in the tire of his car that would have resulted in a deadly crash.

The mystery of why she saved him of all people, only telling Thomas that it was due to him being a hero in another life, led to a strong friendship, with Thomas occasionally visiting her between his fights.

Ragnarok

At some point in his life, Thomas was encouraged by Madame Selner to learn Korean, advising him it would be a useful skill in the future. While not understanding the fortuneteller’s reason, the pro wrestler learned the language, trusting her, becoming fluent and also enthralled by Korean dramas.

Preparation Arc

Thomas would regain his powers and his status as one of the strongest hunters in the world. Thomas would once again establish the Scavengers Guild, turning it into one of the strongest guilds in the world. Later at the behest of his old friend Madame Selner, Thomas was encouraged to seek Sung Suho in South Korea, after she received a prophecy that his help would be needed. ^[13]

Thomas never doubting Norma traveled with Laura to Korea to seek Suho for his assistance in conquering the Glacier Dungeon. Whilst in transit from the airport to Suho’s house Laura was able to find his residence and his information of being a C-Rank Hunter. Thomas was surprised as he doubted that a C-Rank Hunter could he the of any help in an S-Rank dungeon. Upon meeting Suho at his door, Thomas decided to test Suho’s strength, and thus release a gale of his magic aura.^[14]

Thomas’s test, almost devolved into a fight after Suho not only resisted the pressure of mana, but rose to challenge the S-Rank Hunter. Before a fight could break out, Suho’s uncle Yoo Jinho arrived and demanded they cease. Laura recognized Jinho as being a major investor of the Scavenger Guild told Thomas to restrain himself, which he complied.^[15] Under a more rational setting, Thomas explained that he came to bring Suho to help him conquer the Glacier Dungeon. As an incentive he passed a message to Suho from Norma that a clue to his missing mother Cha Hae-In could be found there.^[16]

Thomas and Laura would depart but promised to return to hear Suho’s answer. The next day Thomas was annoyed that the Hunter was not at home. At first thinking he split down, Laura found a note from Suho that informed them he went out for a bit. The two deduced Suho’s location to be at Euljiro, the nearby Korean Hunter weapons market. Upon arriving there, Thomas was met by a dungeon break in the premises and was eager for some action, claiming the boss of the dungeon. However it was already sniped by Suho who gave credit to Lim Tae-Gyu.^[17]

Abilities

As the vessel of a Ruler and a National Level Hunter, Thomas is one of the strongest hunters in the world and his immense power earns him both great fear and respect from his fellow S-Ranks and governments from all over the globe.

• Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Thomas is well-versed in hand-to-hand combat, as shown by how he was hold his own against Rakan with his bare-handed fighting skills during their brief skirmish.

• Immense Strength: Thomas possesses immense physical strength. As a testament to this, he was able to send Jinwoo flying with one punch, bring down buildings just from the wind pressure generated from his attacks, and match Rakan in strength during their battle in Seoul, even punching him through several buildings at one point.

• Immense Speed: Thomas can move at immense speeds. He was able to keep up with Jinwoo in their battle and eject himself out of his armor so quickly Rakan didn't even notice that he was gone until it was almost too late.

• Immense Durability: Thomas possesses immense durability and is able to withstand a ridiculous amount of punishment, even from opponents far stronger than himself, without suffering any injuries to himself. He was virtually unscathed when Jinwoo punched him in the chest, stabbed him in the abdomen, and threw him through several buildings, and was completely unharmed when Rakan slashed him across the torso with his claws.

• Reinforcement: Thomas dramatically increases both his defense and attack power, covering himself from head to toe in golden armor with black horns and giving his hair a glowing flame-like quality. It should be noted that the additional defensive power that Thomas gets from this skill is so great that Jinwoo bruised his hands from punching him so many times during their fight.

• Capture: Thomas telekinetically pulls in objects towards himself. According to Jinwoo, with Reinforcement activated, this attack is almost like a black hole in potency and he would have been sucked in had he not been able to use Ruler's Authority himself. As a further testament to the sheer might of this attack, it was able to pull Kamish out of the sky.

• Collapse: Thomas smashes his fists into the ground, creating a massive shockwave that demolishes anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in its blast radius.

• Spiritual Body Manifestation

• Power Smash: Thomas infuses his mana into a single arm and throws an extremely powerful punch.