 |
This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, strong drug use, extremely traumatic themes, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
|
| “ | Are you the king of the humans? | „ |
| ~ Ant King to Jinwoo |
The Ant King is a major antagonist in the dark fantasy Korean manhwa, light novel, and anime series Solo Leveling, serving as the main antagonist of the Jeju Island arc. He is the king of the island's ants and the hidden boss of the S-rank dungeon located on Jeju Island, who wiped out the majority of the Japanese island raid team hunter and the Korean hunter Min Byung-Gyu as an attempt to avenge his mother's death. Before he could further his massacre, he is killed by the Korean S-Rank hunter Sung Jinwoo, who recruited him as one of his Shadow soldier, naming him Beru.
Both him and Beru are voiced by Akira Ishida (who also voiced Regulus Corneas from Re:Zero, Akaza from Demon Slayer, Fyodor Dostoevsky from Bungo Stray Dogs, Zeref Dragneel from Fairy Tail, and Makoto Yuki from Persona 5, Gaara from Naruto) in Japanese. And by Ernesto Jason Liebrecht (Who also voiced Zeke Yeager from Attack on Titan and Dabi from My Hero Academia) in English.
Appearance[]
The Ant King was a menacing towering humanoid insect-type magical beast with thin but extremely sturdy long arms equipped with razor sharp talons. His body was covered with a thick dark carapace. As an ant, he had long antennas on his head and red glowing fearsome eyes. He also has a second pair of arms hidden in front of his stomach.
Personality[]
| “ | Are you...the King? | „ |
| ~ The Ant King's question to each of his opponents he encounters. |
The egg of the King about hatch.
Confronting Sung Jinwoo as each's aura collides.
The Ant King only enjoyed a challenging battle in which he could engage hunters. He screamed out of rage upon finding out that his mother, the Ant Queen is now dead, leading him to start a rampage against all hunters nearby while asking them if they are the "king".
Biography[]
At Hallasan Baengnokdam (Jeju Island), the Queen of the Ants is struggling in survival of her empire as her children can only survive by devouring each other. She is determined to create a stronger child who should stop all hunters opposing the ants. The Ant King emerges out of his egg among the field of smaller ones and the Ant King is born.
Days passed, the king swiftly beheads a few hunters, Kenzo Tanaka, Akari Shimizu, Kei, Tatsumi Fujishima, and Akari Shimizu in the blink of the eye as they stood in front of his cave. As Cha Hae-In, a member of the Jeju Island Raid Party beheads the Ant Queen, the other hunters question if their battle is over. Soon, the hunters are hit by a traumatizing aura coming from a magical beast that walks out of the dark, shocking them to sense that a single being can emit an aura this powerful and fearsome. The hunter sees the humanoid ant in traumatization walking past them to look at the corpse of his mother, the Ant Queen. Seeing that his mother is no longer by his side, he screams out of anger, pressuring the hunters. Losing no time for revenge, he appears behind a tired Chae-In and strikes her in the abdomen, sending her against the wall. He swiftly breaches the shield and arm of Ma Dongwook before brutally breaking both of his arms.
One by one, he ruthlessly dispatches all hunters with his claws with ease. Before he could move on to another hunter, Dongwook charged at the ant, showing that he recovered his arms thanks to the team's healer, Min Byung-Gyu. The ant swings the hunter by seizing his arm before noticing Byeong-Gu's presence, despite having used a skill to hide it. He stabs through his chest from behind as his friend yells at him. He even decides to take a bite of the hunter, causing his victim's ally to charge at him and get seized by the neck. The magical beast interrogates him who is their king but leaves before he can continue interacting upon sensing a stronger aura. In a forest, he locates and beheads one of the three hunters, Mari Ishida and confronts Goto Ryuji, asking if he is the king. Pointing his sword at him, he replies that he is, but is pressured with an unpleasant aura before beheading him in the blink of an eye.
| “ | Now you act more like an insect. | „ |
| ~ Jinwoo to the Ant King |
As he comes back to the cave, out of disappointment, he declares that the hunters he just took out were no king and asks the hunters if anyone here could be one. Jinwoo walks toward and comments that an ant is talking to him. As the two of them stare at each other face to face with both of their aura colliding with each other, the ant comments how he possess a dangerous aura and strikes him a few times with his fist. Jinwoo disappears as the king unleashes a puissant blow on the ground. With the hunter nowhere to be seen, he comments again that he is not the king either to his disappointment. Jinwoo reappears in front and activates his skill, Dominator's touch, causing his legs to collapse on the ground. Jinwoo sends the ant across the area.
He charges back at him to engage in a fight where he realizes that he is on the verge of losing. He uses his poison on the hunter and declares that he dies, but his arm is seized by Jinwoo and is thrown to the wall. He attempts to flee but is struck by Jinwoo's Critical Chain skill. He then unleashes his army of ants as his last chance to win.
Seeing that despite all his best attempts done to harm Jinwoo who comes out unharmed, the Ant King attempts to flee in panic but is crushed on the ground. He tries to quickly crawl away but Jinwoo finally finishes him off with his Mutilation skill. Soon after, he is resurrected as a shadow and asks his enemy-turned-master to name him. Jinwoo decides to name him Beru.
Known Victims[]
Japanese Raid Team[]
- Goto Ryuji
- Akari Shimizu
- Kenzo Tanaka
- Tatsumi Fujishima
- Kei
- Ippei Izawa
Korean Raid Team[]
Powers and Abilities[]
- Immense Speed: The Ant King was fast enough to behead Shimizu then the rest of the Japanese team in minutes. The Ant King's movements could hardly be tracked down as even the strongest Japanese hunter stood no chance as he also received the same fate like his teammates. He was even fast enough to appear behind Chae-In before anyone could process what happened. Although Hae-In was already in a weary state.
- Immense Durability: The Ant King was able to give Jinwoo a decent fight thanks to having strong carapaces to withstand the hunter's powerful strikes. The Ant King ultimately reached his limit when Jinwoo outclass in every single aspect during their fight.
- Immense Strength:
- Gluttony Skill: By devouring his victims, the Ant King can steal their memories and their powers, such as Byung-Gyu's healing powers as a hunter.
- Memory Absorption and Communication: The Ant King was able to find out who killed his mother by consuming his mother's brain and possibly see from her perspective seconds before she died, prompting him to abruptly attack Hae-In by surprise since she was the one to land the final blow on her. The Ant King later consumes Byung-Gyu's head and gains the ability to talk, and other memories belonging to him. Even after the Ant Kings's death, Beru retains all the Ant King's powers and memories stolen from his victims. As Byung-Gyu was a historical K-drama lover, Beru eventually also finds himself watching the genre as well.
- Ice Magic: Unlike the manhwa, it was confirmed in the anime that Beru did devoured all Japanese hunters and gained their powers. This can be shown when the Ant King blasted ice magic at Jinwoo, which was not shown in the manhwa.
The Ant King using ice magic against Jinwoo.
- Intelligence: The Ant King, compared to other of his kind, was much more intelligent as he was capable of human speech and interaction. He also understood that he stood no chance again Jinwoo as he attempted to flee the best he can. The novel explains more of Beru's cunningness when he repeadly slammed Dongwook on the ground to force Byung-Gyu to keep healing him and track his location as his healing magic traced back to him.
| “ | The skill I just happened to absorb from a cone snail: Paralysis Poison, one of the most deadly poisons that naturally occurs in the wild. It combines with magic inside the body and concentrates turning into a much deadlier poison. | „ |
| ~ The Ant King explaining his skill. |
- Paralysis Poison Skill: He gained an ability to inject poison into his victims with a long purple tongue after having devoured a cone snail. The effect of the ant's poison is however so deadly that any opponents aside from Jinwoo (due to being immune to poisons) would die from it within seconds.
Trivia[]
- Someone pointed out on Twitter that in the visual of the key visual for Season 2 of the anime, Jinwoo's hood resembles the Ant King/Beru's head, teasing the Jeju Island Arc and the Ant King/Beru's introduction. [1] Furthermore, at the CCXP event in Brazil, someone claims that the anime producer said that Season 2's key visual has "something" fans haven't noticed yet.
- The Ant King is possibly inspired by the character Meruem, the king of the Chimera Ants from the anime and manga series Hunter x Hunter.
- Coincidentally, the Ant King's voice actor Ishida also voiced Akaza who killed a character in his show the same way the Ant King did to Min Byung-Gyu; both by impaling their arms into the chest of their victim or making them a "donut" as fans like to joke of.
External Links[]
- The Ant King on the Solo Leveling Wiki
- Beru on the Solo Leveling Wiki
- Beru on the Solo Leveling ARISE Wiki
- Beru on the Heroes Wiki
[]
 Villains
| ||
|
Monarchs Humans Hunters Magic Beasts Others | ||