The Monarchs (군주) are an ancient race of monsters created by the Absolute Being and the arch-enemies of the Rulers. As a result, with the exception of Ashborn, they serve as the primary antagonists of Solo Leveling.
History
The endless war between Light and Darkness
At the dawn of time, when light and darkness was all that existed, the Absolute Being split the light to create the Rulers and split the darkness to create the Monarchs. As the Monarchs were born to destroy the world and the Rulers born to protect it, it wasn't long before they engaged in a devastating war with each other.
Eons later, when the Absolute Being was ousted and murdered, the Rulers used tools containing fragments of his power to hunt down the Monarchs and were able to capture the Monarch Legia alive, tipping the tide of the war in their favor and giving them a solid shot towards victory. Realizing this, the Shadow Monarch Ashborn reached out to the remaining Monarchs and offered his help. As they had no other viable choice, the other Monarchs reluctantly accepted him as their new ally.
Ashborn is betrayed by the Monarchs
Unfortunately for Ashborn, even though he managed to stabilize the power balance and keep the war going, his overwhelming powers earned him great fear from both sides and eventually led two of the Monarchs, Rakan and Baran, to betray him and ambush him with their armies. Although Ashborn easily defeated both Monarchs and killed Baran in retaliation for his treachery, his shadow army was nearly annihilated.
Antares allows Ashborn to rejoin his forces
Deciding to seek revenge against Rakan, Ashborn went into hiding to rebuild his army, allowing the Rulers to finally win the war and forcing the Monarchs to escape to the cracks between worlds. However, at some point after this, Ashborn returned and Antares, the strongest Monarch, gladly allowed him to rejoin their ranks, as the other Monarchs were still weakened from their loss to the Rulers and needed time to restore their powers.
Centuries later, the Monarchs tried to vanquish the human world in order to rebuild their armies and the Rulers attempted to stop them to save the human race from certain extinction. When their efforts failed, the Rulers used a tool created by the Absolute Being called the Cup of Reincarnation, which had the power to turn back time 10 years each time they used it, in order to give them a second chance. Unfortunately, this only prolonged what seemed to be inevitable, as the human world would always be destroyed regardless of which side won the war and regardless of how many times the Rulers turned back time.
Jeju Island Arc
The fated rematch between the Monarchs and the Rulers begins
Several days after the Jeju Island S-Rank Gate was finally cleared, Rakan picked up traces of the Shadow Monarch's power on Jeju and traveled there to verify his findings. Along the way, he encountered Sillad, who had picked up on Ashborn's trail as well, and the two of them agreed that it was about time to start their rematch with the Rulers.
Japan Crisis Arc
Christopher Reed is killed by the Monarchs
Several months after the events of the Jeju Island Raid, the Rulers gave Legia a way out by spawning a S-Rank Gate in Tokyo. Unfortunately for Legia, he never got his freedom, as he was killed by Sung Jinwoo, the vessel of the Shadow Monarch. At the same time, the Monarchs initiated their hunt for the Rulers in the human world and killed Christopher Reed, the strongest hunter in America and one of the seven Rulers' vessels.
International Guild Conference Arc
Several days before the International Guild Conference was scheduled to take place, the Monarchs abducted and murdered Jonas, the strongest hunter in Brazil and another Rulers' vessel.
Monarchs War Arc
The Monarchs regroup to decide their next move
On the last day of the conference, Sillad killed Go Gunhee, the second strongest hunter in Korea at the time and another Rulers' vessel, but not without discovering that the Shadow Monarch had found his human vessel and turned against them. Realizing that this development could completely derail their plans to win the war, the Monarchs regrouped to decide their next move. Ultimately, three of the Monarchs (Rakan, Querehsha, and Sillad) decided to go ahead and try to kill Jinwoo before he fully absorbed Ashborn's powers, while the other two (Tarnak and Yogumunt) refused to help and opted to wait for Antares to return instead.
Jinwoo faces off against three Monarchs at once
With that, the three Monarchs invaded Seoul in order to lure out Jinwoo and kill him. Although they were able to defeat Thomas Andre and seemingly kill Jinwoo, they failed to make sure that he was truly dead and thanks to Sung Il-Hwan's intervention, they were also unable to stop him from ascending and gaining the true powers of the Shadow Monarch. As a result, they failed to carry out their mission and were all easily slaughtered by Jinwoo.
Final Battle Arc
Shortly after Jinwoo killed the three Monarchs who came after him in Korea, Antares learned from Yogumunt that the Shadow Monarch had betrayed them and annihilated most of their forces. Undaunted by their losses, Antares decided to deal with Ashborn's vessel himself and ordered his surviving brethren, along with their armies, to prepare for battle.[1]
Jinwoo faces off against Antares
Several days later, Antares and his allies descended into the human world through a gigantic gate in Canada and attempted to lure Jinwoo out by cutting a wide path of destruction across the country, massacring millions in the process.[2] Unfortunately, they failed to deduce that Jinwoo already had a plan made to counter their own and as a result, he was able to easily defeat Yogumunt and Tarnak without even having to actually fight them in-person, leaving Antares the last Monarch still standing.[3] As he was unwilling to fight Antares in Canada, Jinwoo decided to take the battle to a remote island in Japan, where no one could get hurt in the crossfire of their clash.
Antares is killed by the Rulers, ending the war
Upon arriving on the island, the two of them then began to fight in earnest and although Antares was able to gain the upper hand without much trouble, he failed to realize in time that Jinwoo had just been using their battle to distort space in order to summon his allies from the chaos world. As a result, he was caught completely off-guard when the Rulers suddenly appeared in the human world in their raw forms and rushed him with their spears with all directions, killing him on the spot and finally ending the war with their victory.[4]
Epilogue
Jinwoo slaughters the Monarchs
After the Rulers used the Cup of Reincarnation to turn back time at Jinwoo's request, all of the Monarchs, except for Baran, were brought back from the dead with their memories intact.[5] In order to ensure that the events of the previous timeline were not repeated, Jinwoo then began killing them off one by one and although it took him 27 years, he eventually killed them all and returned back to the human world in one piece, allowing the Rulers to win the war once and for all and leaving himself as the last Monarch alive.[6]
Abilities
As one of the two races created by the Absolute Being, the Monarchs are some of the strongest beings in existence, surpassed only by the gods. Their exceedingly great strength, along with the eons of fighting experience that they have, makes them nearly unparalleled in battle, with only the Rulers capable of matching them. They are also far more powerful than the average S-Rank Hunter, with even the National Level Hunters standing no chance against them in combat, and they each have millions of soldiers under their command.
The Monarchs are all capable of using a skill called Spiritual Body Manifestation, which enables them to take on their true forms and access their true powers. They can also create gates and use them to travel over vast distances and between worlds.
Weaknesses
As they are spiritual creatures and lack organic form, the Monarchs cannot descend into the human world without suitable human vessels, a property that they share with the Rulers. Unlike the Rulers, the Monarchs completely possess their vessels and essentially steal their bodies for themselves. The only exception to this was Ashborn, who gave all his powers to his vessel (Sung Jinwoo) and allowed him to retain full control instead of taking control of his vessel's body for himself. Although this technique allows them to exert their full power in the human world, it comes at the cost of making them completely mortal, meaning that they will die if their human vessels are killed in battle.
Succession
As revealed by Antares, a magic beast can succeed a deceased Monarch either by being selected by the Absolute Being or by a priest working for the deceased Monarch. While this process was originally conducted by the Absolute Being, it is now done by the Monarchs and their chosen priests, as the Absolute Being was killed centuries ago by the Rulers.
To complete the succession process, a potential successor must fight against a legendary, eight-headed serpent called Nidhogg and slice off one of its heads. Apparently this is not an easy task to accomplish, as Esil was only able to take off one of the serpent's heads with Suho's help when it came time for her to succeed Baran as the Demon Queen.[7]
Monarchs
- Antares: The Monarch of Destruction, the King of Dragons
- Ashborn: The Monarch of Shadows, the King of the Dead
- Sung Jinwoo: Ashborn's chosen successor and the second Shadow Monarch
- Baran: The Monarch of White Flames, the King of Demons
- Rakan: The Monarch of Fangs, the King of Beasts
- Sillad: The Monarch of Frost, the King of Snow Folk
- Tarnak: The Monarch of the Iron Body, the King of Monstrous Humanoids
- Legia: The Monarch of the Beginning, the King of Giants
- Querehsha: The Monarch of Plagues, the Queen of Insects
- Yogumunt: The Monarch of Transfiguration, the King of Demonic Spectres
| Monarchs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antares | Ashborn | Sung Jinwoo | Baran | Rakan |
| Sillad | Tarnak | Legia | Querehsha | Yogumunt |
Trivia
- As revealed in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, the Monarchs all have successors to replace them if they are to ever die in battle.
- Jinwoo's son Suho was originally in line to replace his father as the Monarch of Shadows. However, since Jinwoo's necromantic abilities and overwhelming power make him virtually impossible to kill, Suho was eventually chosen to replace Antares as the Monarch of Destruction instead.
- As Rakan's descendant and last living heir, Gray is the next in line to succeed him as the Monarch of Fangs.
- As Sillad's granddaughter, Sirka is next in line to succeed him as the Monarch of Frost.
- As the last living demon noble, Esil is next in line to succeed Baran as the Monarch of White Flames.
- As the strongest known bug-type monster, Arsha is in line to succeed Querehsha as the Monarch of Plagues.
- It is also revealed that a Monarch's title might not always be inherited by their successor and can be altered during the succession process.
References
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 167
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 170
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 173
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 177
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 178
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 179
- ↑ Ragnarok Novel: Chapters 247-248
External Links
- The Monarchs on the Villains Wiki