Monarchs vs Rulers: The True Power War

Both Monarchs and Rulers were created by a single entity known as the Absolute Being — an omnipotent god-like figure who crafted them as soldiers for an eternal war. The Rulers were given the mission of protecting the world, while the Monarchs were created as instruments of destruction.

The Monarchs eventually grew resentful of their purpose and rebelled against the Absolute Being. The Rulers, believing the Absolute Being had grown indifferent and cruel, stood aside. The resulting vacuum is what drives the conflict that underpins the entire Solo Leveling story.

There are eight Monarchs in total, each ruling over a domain of destruction. Antares, the King of Dragons and the strongest of all Monarchs, commands fire-breathing dragons and is the primary antagonist of the endgame. Ashborn, the Shadow Monarch, eventually chooses Sung Jinwoo as his successor rather than continuing the war.

Baran the Storm Monarch wields lightning and commands the thunder giants. Querehsha the Plague Monarch controls insects and biological corruption. The Beast Monarch leads monsters of all varieties. The Frost Monarch commands ice and cold. The Iron Body Monarch and the White Tiger Monarch round out the eight.

Each Monarch can appear in human form on Earth by taking possession of a willing or unwilling host. Their presence on Earth is what causes the appearance of Gates and the awakening of hunters — Gates are physical rifts created by their mana leaking into the human world.

The Rulers are the counterpart faction, angelic beings of pure light energy. Unlike the Monarchs, they do not take physical form easily on Earth and instead work through intermediaries — specifically, the System and the hunter awakening process were both engineered by the Rulers to produce humans strong enough to fight back against the Monarchs.

The highest-ranking Ruler is Haetae, who built the System specifically for Sung Jinwoo. Two other Rulers have speaking roles in the story, appearing to Jinwoo as winged figures of light. Their goal is to prevent Antares from completing his destruction of Earth.

Ashborn is unique among the Monarchs because he chose to end the cycle of destruction rather than perpetuate it. Recognizing that Sung Jinwoo possessed both the power and the moral clarity to inherit his throne, Ashborn spent years guiding the System to cultivate Jinwoo before merging with him.

The moment of this inheritance — Jinwoo fully accepting Ashborn's power — marks the transition from the 'hunter leveling' arc to the 'cosmic war' arc of the story. Jinwoo becomes the new Shadow Monarch: technically a Monarch, but aligned with protecting humanity rather than destroying it.

Antares is the reason the cosmic war exists. As the strongest Monarch and the Monarch most committed to destruction, he is the final obstacle Jinwoo must overcome. His dragon army alone is powerful enough to devastate entire continents, and his personal combat ability dwarfs every other character in the series.

The fight between Jinwoo — empowered with Ashborn's full legacy and supported by the Rulers — and Antares is the climax of the entire narrative. Its outcome determines whether humanity survives.

The Monarchs and Rulers appear as characters in Solo Leveling DLE. Their 'affiliation' attribute in the game distinguishes them from regular hunters and shadows. In Higher or Lower, questions about raw power frequently position Monarchs above all hunters, reflecting the cosmic scale of their strength.

Understanding who is a Monarch, who is a Ruler, and who is a shadow helps you narrow down the daily puzzle much faster — these three groups cover a large part of the character roster and each has distinct attribute patterns.