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The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling: Ragnarok. It also contains spoilers for the latest arcs in the Dragon Ball Super manga.
Dragon Ball‘s Son Goku has remained the pinnacle of strength to whom all other anime heroes are compared for 40 years – but the balance of power may be shifting. There’s a brand-new OP anime protagonist on the block by the name of Sung Jinwoo, and Goku will have to do a lot more sparring with Vegeta if he wants to match Solo Leveling’s Shadow Monarch. Comparing Goku from Dragon Ball Super to the Sung Jinwoo in Season 2 of the Solo Leveling anime isn’t even a fair match, as the anime version of Ultra Instinct Goku is still much stronger than Sung Jinwoo post-Season 2’s Jeju Island arc.
In fact, even by the end of the original Solo Leveling manhwa storyline, Sung Jinwoo still wasn’t strong enough to beat the latest incarnations of Goku, who mastered Ultra Instinct as of the Super Hero Saga in DBS. However, that has all changed as of Solo Leveling’s sequel series, Ragnarok. In Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, Sung Jinwoo has achieved a level of power that can only be referred to as “god-like”; and it’s a level which allows him to easily defeat Goku in Dragon Ball Super’s latest manga arcs.
Sung Jinwoo is Officially a God in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok
Goku Has Fought Godly Beings Before, But None of Jinwoo’s Caliber
Solo Leveling’s Sung Jinwoo is known for leveling up and growing increasingly stronger thanks to the ability of the enigmatic System. However, that “leveling up” actually becomes entirely irrelevant by the end of the original Solo Leveling storyline. After gaining the full power of the Shadow Monarch, Jinwoo becomes King of Death, giving him power beyond just mere immortality. All Monarchs and Rulers are already immortal to a degree, but Jinwoo surpasses even that by having the power to even resurrect himself from the dead. Even by the end of the original manhwa, Jinwoo cannot be killed by Goku, because he can’t physically die.
By the start of Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, Jinwoo can control millions of Shadow Soldiers, some of whom (like Beru, Igris and Bellion) are strong enough to stand up to the Monarchs themselves. It’s in Ragnarok, though, where Jinwoo becomes so OP that even Goku can’t beat him. At the very start of Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, it’s revealed that Jinwoo is in an endless war with a group of beings called the Itarim. The Itarim are gods who have each created innumerable Universes in Solo Leveling’s world, and are of the same race as the Absolute Being, who also created all the Monarchs and Rulers from the original series. The Absolute Being is also the one who gifted the original Shadow Monarch with his control over death to begin with. Jinwoo has essentially ascended to the level of the Absolute Being, making him on par with the actual creators of the Solo Leveling multiverse.
These are cosmic deities more akin to something from a Lovecraftian horror tale than an anime.
The Itarim are beings who transcend time and space, having existed long before either of those concepts were created. They’re the ones who created the very Universes where time and space took shape to begin with, and even the natural laws that those Universes adhere to. These are cosmic deities more akin to something from a Lovecraftian horror tale than an anime. The only downfall the Itarim seem to display is that they can potentially be defeated by their own creations, as was the case with the Absolute Being. However, it’s important to note that the Absolute Being’s death at the hands of the Rulers was an anomaly, and far from the rule. The other Itarim even pokes fun at the Absolute Being for having been destroyed by his own creations, instead of just destroying them himself.
Some fans have considered whether the Absolute Being actually wanted to be destroyed, because it was the one state of existence he had never experienced. This is a possible scenario which helps explain why Sung Jinwoo was able to use the same powers the Absolute Being had to single-handedly defeat the Monarchs on his own. In any case, as a being on par with the Itarim, Sung Jinwoo has truly become a god in the truest sense in Solo Leveling.
Goku’s One Potential Advantage Over Jinwoo Could Be Dragon Ball’s Cosmology
The Nature of the Dragon Ball Multiverse is The Only Thing That Works in Goku’s Favor
Insofar as their current power levels are concerned in their latest canonical series, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok’s Sung Jinwoo would beat Dragon Ball Super’s Ultra Instinct Goku. However, the best argument against Jinwoo being stronger than Goku, even in Ragnarok, is the fact that the Dragon Ball cosmology is itself potentially much larger than that of Solo Leveling’s. It’s difficult to measure the size of Solo Leveling’s multiverse, but it’s already well-known that Dragon Ball’s multiverse is unimaginably vast. It’s possible that even a Universe in Sung Jinwoo’s cosmology is only comparable to a Galaxy in Dragon Ball’s, in which case Goku would have a much better argument for being stronger than Ragnarok Jinwoo. On the other hand, if their cosmologies are even remotely similar in scope, Sung Jinwoo would be far and away stronger than any singular character in Dragon Ball Super, perhaps only rivaled by mythical beings like the Dragon God Zalama and Super Majin Rymus.
However, the part of their Universes which should theoretically be comparable in both Solo Leveling and Dragon Ball is the Earth itself. Both Goku and Jinwoo live on a fictional representation of Planet Earth, which should make their home planets fairly comparable. In Solo Leveling, Sing Jinwoo cannot remain on earth without the entire planet being imbued with fortifying mana that protects it from his power. If Jinwoo were to exist on Earth without that fortification, the planet would crumble under the weight of his strength. In contrast, Goku and the Z Fighters engage in innumerable battles on Earth without destroying it. While this is, of course, the result of Toriyama needing someplace for the characters to fight, it can also be explained by the fighters’ ki control. Ki control is what allows Dragon Ball‘s heroes to raise or lower their battle power at will, and also to focus their energy into blasts which only destroy their target area.
In any case, Sung Jinwoo’s power alone being enough to destroy the Earth proves he was several times stronger than planetary level by the end of the original Solo Leveling manhwa. His ability to fight back against multiple beings who are capable of creating entire Universes proves that he is on the same level as those beings, at the very least. Goku’s single greatest feat in Dragon Ball remains his potentially Universe-ending punches in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. In it, Elder Kai explained that Beerus and Goku’s clashes created shockwaves capable of potentially destroying the entire Universe.
Since that fight, Goku has gotten exponentially stronger, meaning he should easily be able to destroy Universes as he could against Beerus. Against Jinwoo at the end of the original Solo Leveling manhwa, current Dragon Ball Super’s Ultra Instinct Goku would’ve easily wiped the floor with the Shadow Monarch. However, the Itarim are beings with so much mana and power that simply traveling between Universes results in space being distorted, upsetting the balance of the multiverse. As a being with mana levels comparable to the Itarim, Jinwoo himself finds it difficult to travel between dimensions without causing issues in the balance of the cosmos. This makes Goku’s shockwaves destroying the Universe seem childish in comparison.
Sung Jinwoo’s Current Hax Are Just Too OP For Goku to Beat
Goku Can’t Brute Force His Way Past Death Itself
Aside from his raw power as a rival of the Itarim, another thing Sung Jinwoo has over Goku is his special abilities, also known as “hax” in the power scaling community. For Sung Jinwoo, these hax include immortality, healing and regeneration (including regenerating severed limbs), and the ability to create a pocket dimension in which he controls reality itself. Of course, Goku has a history of overcoming powerful hax such as these through brute force. A prominent recent example is when he overcame Hit’s Time Skip by simply pushing beyond it by way of a combination of Super Saiyan Blue and Kaioken.
Jinwoo has himself demonstrated similar capabilities over time and space, and is known to transcend time itself as a Ruler/Monarch. The most obvious example of the Monarchs and Rulers transcending time is when Jinwoo turned back time using the Cup of Reincarnation, yet all the Universe’s higher beings still retained their memories of the prior timelines. It’s certainly possible that Goku could brute force his way through many of Jinwoo’s hax if his power level were sufficiently high enough. However, some of Sung Jinwoo’s personal hax as the Shadow Monarch are just too overwhelming for Goku to overpower. The most obvious singular ability Jinwoo had that Goku could not overcome is his control over death.
Sung Jinwoo’s hax include immortality, healing (including regenerating severed limbs), and the ability to create a pocket dimension in which he controls reality itself.
Jinwoo’s true relationship with death is a bit ambiguous, even for seasoned Solo Leveling veterans. In some cases, it seems Jinwoo could be the equivalent of death itself, as though he embodied its very concept. However, if Jinwoo were to cease to exist, the concept of death would likely still persist beyond his death, meaning he isn’t beyond the already-established laws first created by the Absolute Being himself. At the same time, even if Jinwoo dies, he can revive his own body from beyond the grave. Even worse for Goku, Jinwoo could kill other members of the Z Fighters, like Krillin or Piccolo, and raise them as immortal soldiers of his Shadow Army. If Jinwoo were allowed enough time to exist within the Dragon Ball Universe, he could just have his immortal Shadow Soliders wear down all Goku’s allies, raising them as members of his army until Goku was left to fight every one of his friends to the death.
Being that Jinwoo can’t die, the only possible way Goku could ever stop him is to try to seal him away using something akin to the Evil Containment Wave. Unlike Zamasu, the last person Goku used the Evil Containment Wave on in Dragon Ball Super, Jinwoo is able to not only teleport using his Shadow Exchange skill, he can also move freely between dimensions. Jinwoo could simply create a Gate between the realm of the Evil Containment Wave and that of the real world. Also unlike Zamasu, Jinwoo is not contained solely to his physical existence. Jinwoo can manifest his spiritual body to turn into any form he wants, as shown in the epilogue of the Solo Leveling manhwa.
Sung Jinwoo Might Not Be Able to Defeat Every Incarnation of Goku – Just The Canonical One
Dragon Ball’s Non-Canon Storylines Introduce Unique Versions of Goku Who Could Probably Defeat Jinwoo
Sung Jinwoo has officially surpassed Son Goku as anime’s new protagonist to beat (One Punch Man is another story entirely), but that doesn’t mean he has completely overcome the Dragon Ball Universe as a whole. In fact, while not canonical to Akira Toriyama’s original Dragon Ball storyline, an interesting side story known as Super Dragon Ball Heroes does introduce a version of Goku who Sung Jinwoo likely wouldn’t stand a chance against. That’s because in Super Dragon Ball Heroes, Goku is stronger than ever.
Commonly referred to as CC Goku (or Capsule Corp Goku, due to the Capsule Corp logo on his gi), Heroes’ version of Goku is easily the strongest in the franchise. This version of Goku has all the experiences and abilities of the canonical Dragon Ball Super Goku, while also having gone through the non-canon DBZ films. In Super Dragon Ball Heroes, CC Goku ascends beyond even Xeno Goku, whose own power is enough to fight Demigra: a being who many consider one of the franchise’s most powerful villains. The exact scaling of both CC Goku and Xeno Goku is still highly debated today, making it difficult to pin either character down. Nonetheless, they’re both far stronger than the canonical Goku in DBS, giving both of them a far better chance of defeating Sung Jinwoo’s.
Some fans have scaled CC Goku (the main Goku from Super Dragon Ball Heroes) as having the capability to destroy an entire multiverse with ease, and potentially even transcend fiction itself.
While technically not Goku, there is also one other “version” of Goku in the canonical series who could have a better shot at beating Sung Jinwoo: Goku Black in his Fused Zamasu form. Importantly, Goku Black wouldn’t stand a chance against Jinwoo on his own; he would require fusing with his counterpart to reach the godly levels he displayed during the climax of the Future Trunks Saga. In Dragon Ball Super, Goku encounters a villainous doppleganger of himself who comes from an alternate timeline. Called Goku Black, this Goku is actually a Kai (one of the gods of the Dragon Ball Universe) named Zamasu, who stole Goku’s body using a wish on the Dragon Balls. This gave Zamasu the incredible capacity for growth that Goku’s Saiyan body was capable of.
Goku Black was strong enough to cut through dimensions in his basic form, but things went overboard quickly after Goku Black fused with another version of Zamasu from yet another timeline, creating the immortal godly entity known as Fused Zamasu. At that point, it would be hard to argue that he was even Goku Black anymore, let alone a version of Goku, but Fused Zamasu was so powerful that Zeno had to erase him because he had fused with the entire universe. Fused Zamasu’s power was potentially limitless, making him a major threat to Sung Jinwoo if Zamasu were allowed to absorb multiple universes over time.
Goku is Still Getting Stronger in Dragon Ball Super
Jinwoo Could Defeat Goku’s Current Power, But The Dragon Ball Super Manga Could Very Well Change That in Time
The biggest difficulty with power scaling different anime universes is the fact that the rules, laws, and overall mechanics of the power systems in each series vary greatly. That’s especially the case with a series like Dragon Ball, whose cosmology is so expansive and fleshed out. This differs from Solo Leveling, which has only just started to really expand its Universe as Sung Jinwoo grew too powerful to be challenged by planetary threats anymore. In that way, Solo Leveling and Dragon Ball are quite similar, because it was really only to match Goku’s incredible power creep that Toriyama slowly pushed the series beyond Earth into outer space and beyond.
If both series’ cosmologies are considered equal in scale, there’s no denying that the canonical version of Goku wouldn’t stand a chance against the current Sung Jinwoo from Solo Leveling: Ragnarok. However, that doesn’t mean it’ll be that way forever. In the latest arc in Dragon Ball Super’s chronology, the Super Hero Saga, Goku has mastered Ultra Instinct to new levels, allowing him to easily access its power while still feeding into his emotions. Considering his propensity for astronomical growth, there’s definitely a strong possibility that Goku could once again surpass his limits to grow far stronger if/when the Dragon Ball Super manga eventually returns from its current hiatus. That could potentially allow him to surpass Sung Jinwoo’s current Solo Leveling: Ragnarok power level.
After all, Sung Jinwoo may be known for leveling up, but Goku has been personally “leveling up” as a martial artist his entire life. That’s one of the major themes of Dragon Ball, which was a lesson Goku learned from his beloved teacher, Muten Roshi, in the very earliest arcs of Dragon Ball. Goku will never stop working to grow stronger, because he knows there’s always someone out there like Sung Jinwoo, who could be stronger than he is. Fans can rest assured that even if Goku isn’t stronger than Sung Jinwoo right now, he’ll almost certainly get there eventually. As it stands currently, though, Goku couldn’t even beat Sung Jinwoo with a wish on the Dragon Balls.
Solo Leveling is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
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Solo Leveling
TV-MA Action Adventure Animation Fantasy 8 10 1023
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Taito Ban Shun Mizushino (voice)
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Genta Nakamura Kenta Morobishi (voice)
In a world of gifted hunters and monsters, a weak hunter Sung Jin-Woo gains extraordinary powers through a mysterious program, leading him to become one of the strongest hunters and conquering even the strongest dungeons.
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Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball tells the tale of a young warrior by the name of Son Goku, a young peculiar boy with a tail who embarks on a quest to become stronger and learns of the Dragon Balls, when, once all 7 are gathered, grant any wish of choice.
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