| Overview |
Woo Jinchul (우진철) is a Korean A-Rank Hunter and the current Chairman of the Korean Hunters Association. Before ascending to this role, he was the Chief Inspector of the Hunters Association's Surveillance Team under the leadership of the previous Chairman, Go Gunhee. He is a supporting character in Solo Leveling and one of the major characters in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok.
Appearance
Jinchul is a young man with slick orange hair, having only a single strand poking out and black eyes. When using his abilities or agitated, his eyes glow purple.
As a high-ranking official in the Korean Hunters Association, he is typically seen wearing a black suit with his sunglasses. On raids, he wears a shiny suit of silver armor with blue trims and golden shoulder plates.
In the revised timeline, he has grown a full beard and wrinkles over his face. Having became the new head of the Korean Hunters Association, he is wearing a blacksuit.
Personality
Jinchul is a very stoic man who rarely ever shows emotion. As noted by Choi Jong-In, he does not like to speculate about things and prefers to stick only to the facts. Much like his superior Go Gunhee, Jinchul also despises those who are only after personal gain.
Despite his cold and professional exterior, Jinchul deeply respected Gunhee and was depressed for days after learning about his murder. He also has no qualms with showing his temper if he is pushed too far, as displayed when he grew annoyed with Lee Minsung's incessant demands.
In the revised timeline, he became the most cautious and wary hunter due to his memories of the old time, as becoming the Chairman, he was calm and smart enough to lead the Association not only because of his knowledge of the gates and magic beast, but also the fact that he realise there is an upcoming war due to Jin-Woo's disappearance in a long time, making him recognize that the enemy is far more dangerous than the Monarchs.
History
D-Rank Dungeon Arc
In the aftermath of the first Double Dungeon Incident, Jinchul visited Jinwoo in the hospital that he was staying at to measure his mana output on the belief that Jinwoo had undergone a reawakening. When it turned out to be a false alarm, Jinchul left the hospital disappointed, unaware of the fact that Jinwoo had gotten something better from the Double Dungeon than a simple reawakening.
Dungeon & Prisoners Arc
In the aftermath of a massacre caused by Kang Taeshik, Jinchul appeared on the scene to investigate the situation and immediately assumed that there was no way that Jinwoo could have killed Taeshik due to their difference in rank. After concluding his investigation, Jinchul warned Jinwoo that Hwang Dongsoo was after him for the death of his brother and suggested that he leave the country until things cooled down.
Red Gate Arc
When Hwang arrived in Korea to hunt down Jinwoo, Jinchul was sent to monitor him for the duration of his time in the country. Without any other choice, Jinchul was forced to act as Hwang's chauffeur and drove him to the gate where Jinwoo was supposed to be located. When Baek Yoonho and Hwang got antagonistic with each other, Jinchul stepped in and grabbed their arms before their attacks could connect, defusing the situation and prompting Hwang to head to his hotel for the night.
Retesting Rank Arc
Around a week after the Red Gate Incident, Jinchul was talking with Choi Jong-In outside the Korean Hunters Association's testing center when the two of them overheard a commotion going on inside the building. Curious as to what was going on, Jinchul walked in to find out that Jinwoo was the cause of the commotion due to having just been re-evaluated as a S-Rank Hunter.
Later that night, Jinchul located Jinwoo as the hospital his mother was a patient at and convinced him to come with him to see Go Gunhee. He then watched silently as Gunhee tried and failed to recruit Jinwoo for the Association and eventually decided to take up Gunhee's offer to go out for some drinks.
Hunters Guild Gate Arc
On Jinwoo's second day as a miner under the Hunters Guild, Jinchul attempted to track him down at the gate and learned that not only had Jinwoo gone inside the gate with the main strike squad, but also that Cha Hae-In was looking for him too. Seeking to bring him in anyway, Jinchul and his men walked through the gate and eventually made it to the boss room, where they witnessed Jinwoo in the middle of a fight with Kargalgan and his troops.
After Jinwoo killed Kargalgan and cleared the dungeon, Jinchul helped him get back to the human world without making a scene and ordered the rest of the strike squad to keep quiet about what they had seen so that they wouldn't alert the press and exacerbate the situation.
Return to Demon Castle Arc
On the day that Jinwoo was set to be officially announced as a S-Rank Hunter, Jinchul and his men were tasked with making sure that nobody entered the Association's testing center until Jinwoo's official re-evaluation was finished. When Lee Minsung attempted to forcefully enter the building as part of his show for the press, Jinchul was able to intimidate him into backing off.
When the announcement was finally made, the press attempted to enter the building themselves to get an interview with Jinwoo, but were thwarted when Jinchul and his men forcefully blocked their path.
Ahjin Guild Arc
After Gunhee was successfully able to convince the National Assembly to allow Jinwoo to raid high-ranking dungeons alone, he sent Jinchul to observe the Ahjin Guild's first official A-Rank dungeon raid and make sure that everything worked out safely. As he had never actually seen Jinwoo in action up-close, Jinchul was astonished by his battle prowess during the raid, especially when he killed the boss of the dungeon in one strike. The experience left Jinchul overwhelmed and drained, and he ultimately reported to Gunhee that Jinwoo was so strong that the raid was more like a massacre than a proper raid.
Double Dungeon Arc
Having received the notifications about the appearance of a Double Dungeon, Jinchul, accompanied by Choi, Cha, and several other members of the Hunters Guild, ventured inside to see for themselves. Due to having entered the dungeon without having been explicitly invited, they were almost immediately attacked by the Architect as punishment. During the battle, Jinchul attempted to destroy one of the stone statues by punching it in the face, but was stunned when his attack did virtually no damage to it. Realizing their enemies were far too strong and that they were dead if Jinwoo didn't wake up, Jinchul, Choi, and Cha made various attempts to reach him and snap him out of his trance to no avail. Fortunately, Jinwoo regained consciousness on his own and immediately came to their aid when he realized what had transpired while he was out, essentially saving their lives. When he asked how Jinwoo knows about the Double Dungeon, he learns that Jinwoo was called by it.
International Guild Conference Arc
When Jinwoo and Jinho were selected by the FBH to represent Korea at the International Guild Conference, Gunhee sent Jinchul to accompany them on their trip to America as their bodyguard. However, as they obviously didn't need any protecting, Jinchul was very embarrassed by his role in the situation, as demonstrated when Jinho comically teased him about it.
Monarchs War Arc
The news of Gunhee's murder took a heavy toll on Jinchul, causing him to mourn privately for several days. By the time he turned up at Gunhee's funeral, his hair had grown significantly longer and his facial hair was completely unshaved. Upon meeting Jinwoo in the crowd, Jinchul apologized for his appearance, admitting that he hadn't been himself since the Chairman's death, and thanked the former for staying at Gunhee's side until he died.
About a week after Gunhee's death, the top brass of the Association, Jinchul included, had a meeting to decide who should be the next Chairman. After some discussion, the officials chose to offer the position to Jinchul, believing him to the best possible candidate due to his years of experience as Gunhee's right-hand and his connections with Jinwoo. Although Jinchul was initially hesitant to take the spot, he eventually changed his mind after some thought and officially succeeded Gunhee soon after as the new Chairman of the Association.
After Jinwoo's fight with the Monarchs, Jinwoo proceeds to share his knowledge of the war between the Monarchs and the Rulers by sharing his memory through Jinchul, which made him shocked upon learning this knowledge, convincing that the threat is too dangerous for every hunters.
Epilogue
In the revised timeline, Jinchul is now a detective, working four years in the Violent Crimes Division. Despite his memories erased he had a vague sense of feeling he had forgotten something. One day while at his team's unit, they receive an unusual case where three men had turned themselves in for their crimes, claiming that a monster from the shadows approached them telling them to do so lest there be consequences within 24 hours. Alas his superior decide to release the trio, despite their confessions to their crimes, as he wanted to see what would happen when the deadline passed.
Jinchul thinks the men's claims were just a result of drugs though a colleague reports no evidence of drugs was found in their tests. To get to the bottom of this, the police detain one of the men to a storage lot, tied him up and waited for the 24 hours to run out. When it did the police and criminal believe it was all just a joke, until Jinchul sense that there was something else in the room. All the police officers save for Jinchul are knocked unconscious. Jinchul sees that three giant shadow ants appear and proceed to kill the criminal. The monsters proceed to vanish, but not before one of them gives Jinchul a smile as if recognizing him.
In the aftermath of the incident, Jinchul claims to his superior that he had no idea what happened after his colleagues were knocked out. Even though the case is swept under, Jinchul suspects that there is something more going on. He begin investigating and finds there were other people who had confessed to their crimes at other precincts. It is noted by a colleague that the number of criminals who turned themselves in this way, dropped between end of February to the beginning of March, which so happens is when students start or go back to school. While seems like useless information, it provide Jinchul a clue to where to start looking for the culprit to the weird events.[2]
Jinchul was able to regain his memories when he reunites with Jinwoo during his high school year thanks to the "shadow ants" massacre he witnessed. He then asked how long Jinwoo has fought against the Monarchs, knowing Jinwoo disappeared in two years to be impossible to finish them fast, but Jinwoo replied he battled 27 years, as Jinchul likened his ability to changed his age consciously and immortality to a god, but with Jinwoo wanted a normal life, he offered him a job of being a detective, which Jinwoo thought about it when he was ready.
After many years, Jinwoo is now a homicide detective and Jinchul is the head of a police force.
Ragnarok
After Jinwoo and Cha Hae-In's disappearance, along with the gates being opened once again, Jinchul, with the knowledge of the original timeline, knowing these incidents were signs of the world being endangered once more, suspected that the missing Jinwoo was currently fighting the enemy outside of Earth. Jinchul began to prepare and reinitiates the Korean Hunters Association.
Lacking the political influence and wealth of his former superior in the old timeline, Go Gunhee, Jinchul having Awakened ahead of everyone else worked to convince various politicians to support the idea of a Hunters Association and keeping the Hunter world separate from domestic politics. Sometimes he was forced to coerce various corrupt politicians for his endeavors, and even there were many assassination attempts on his life. Though due to having collected many runestones, before the world knew exactly what they were, Jinchul reigned as the strongest Hunter.
Thanks to his knowledge of the old timeline, Jinchul quickly recruited people who would awaken into the nascent Korean Hunters Associations. Among these people were Choi Jong-In and Kim Chul.
Some of his actions included morally grey areas to maintain the stability of his nation, such as hiring Kang for his assassination skills, along with assigning Awakened ones being "Villains" by predicting their future criminal activities and having them detained to protect the public. He also enlists Jinho, Jinwoo's brother-in-law, for preparation against whatever threat was approaching Earth, as they cannot afford to repeat the same horrors in the old timeline. He also finds out Suho has awakened through Jinho, realizing Suho's growth ability has been activated, he promised Jinwoo that he will help his son in any way he can.
Due to what appeared to be astounding visionary foresight in navigating South Korea in the new age of monster, hunters, and magic, Jinchul was hailed as a savior of the nation. His achievements garnered international fame, that made revered and respected almost like an S-Rank Hunter. Though in truth Jinchul cared none of these achievements as from the start the institution of the Hunters Association was to be ready for Jinwoo’s eventual return for him to command and take charge against the whatever new threat was coming to Earth. As such Jinchul even made an official provision in the creation of Guilds to allow summons to be counted as members, to accommodate the Monarch of Shadows and his Shadow Army.
With the collapse of North Korea, due to multiple dungeon breaks, Jinchul personally led a contingent of Hunters from the Hunters Association to attempt to quarantine and pacify the region so as it would not spill over into South Korea.
Asura Guild Arc
Whilst resting from another battle in the North Korea Field, Jinchul was alerted by Choi Jong-In about something odd occurring in Manipur. The Chairman was shown a video tablet displaying an army of shadowy figures clearing the Loktak Lake Field. Upon seeing it, Jinchul mistook the beings as part of the Shadow Army, but seeing who was leading them, realized it was the work of Jinwoo’s son, Suho.
Abilities
Jinchul stands among the elite A-Rank hunters in Korea, with capabilities that nearly rival those of an S-Rank. Jinchul was able to single-handedly prevent a clash between S-rankers Baek Yoonho and Hwang Dongsoo, though they did hold back at the last moment.[3]
During the renewed timeline, he reawakened as an A-Rank Hunter, but due to recalling the events that came after, he acquired an unknown number of Rune Stones, obtaining their skills to maintain order. However, his vessel was unable to contain them, shortening his lifespan. To counteract this, Jinwoo used a technique to reconstruct and merge the skills he obtained using Xavier's Stone.[4]
- Enhanced Durability: Jinchul was able to punch one of the Architect's immensely durable statues without breaking his fingers.
- Enhanced Speed: Jinchul was able to narrowly dodge the Statue of God's heat vision.
- Survival Instinct: Evolved from Crisis Detection and Toxicity Tolerance, both gained from Rune Stones, one letting him sense even an Assassin's presence and immune to poisons.
- Strong Body: Evolved from Superhuman Strength and Mana Concentration.
Trivia
- In the Japanese version of the anime, Jinchul's name is changed to Akira Inukai (犬飼晃).
- In the revised timeline, Woo Jinchul knowing he lacked the same power as Go Gunhee, a S-Rank Hunter in the original timeline, he compensated by acquiring numerous skills through the acquisitions of runestones. However doing so left his body and health highly unstable. Though this was later anticipated by Jinwoo, so he left an item in his son's inventory that activated to correct Jinchul's condition.
References
- ↑ Solo Leveling Novel: Chapter 163
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Epilogue 01
- ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 52
- ↑ Solo Leveling: Ragnarok: Chapter 301
| Members | Go Gun-Hee (Former Chairman) | Woo Jin-Chul (Current Chairman) | Kang Tae-Shik | Han Jaehyuk | |
|---|---|---|
| Staff | Jung Gi-Soo | |