Solo Leveling: The 5 Fastest Monarchs, Ranked by Speed

Speed in Solo Leveling isn’t just about cross-country sprinting. It’s the lethal razor’s edge between instant annihilation and absolute supremacy. When primordial entities clash, raw physical strength means nothing if your head leaves your shoulders before your nervous system registers the threat. We’ve seen world-shattering attacks wiped out simply because a Monarch blitzed the field before their rival could form a single spell.

While Sung Jinwoo isn’t an “original” Monarch born of the Absolute Being’s darkness, his total convergence with the Shadow Monarch’s mantle earns him a prime spot among these cosmic speed demons. Grounded in pure manhwa feats and canon lore, here is the definitive ranking of the absolute fastest and strongest Monarchs in existence.

5 Sillad Freezes His Enemies Before They Can Counterattack

Sillad (Monarch of Frost / King of Snow Folk) from Solo Leveling webtoon. [Credit: D&C Media]

The Monarch of Frost relies on sub-zero spatial control to dictate combat pacing. Sillad’s actual physical movement speed isn’t mind-blowing, but his casting speed and instant area-of-effect ice generation function like a hard velocity check. During his initial strikes on Earth and his joint raid on Seoul alongside Rakan, Sillad repeatedly caught S-Rank Hunters and Shadow Soldiers off-guard by flash-freezing entire city blocks instantly.

However, his movement relies heavily on environmental setup and ambush tactics. When forced into direct, high-tempo hand-to-hand combat against a fully awakened Jinwoo, Sillad’s reaction speed lagged drastically, landing him firmly at the bottom of our speed elite.

4 Rakan Combines Savage Strength With Blinding Hunting Speed

Rakan (Monarch of Fangs / King of Beasts) from Solo Leveling. [Credit: D&C Media]

As the Monarch of Beasts, Rakan operates on raw predator instinct and explosive kinetic bursts. Unlike Sillad’s stationary zoning, Rakan relies on spatial dashes and predatory blitzes to dismantle foes before they can raise a barrier. In his duel against Thomas Andre, Rakan stripped away the world’s strongest Tank’s defenses using hyper-accelerated claw strikes that bypassed visual tracking.

His combat reactions match his top-end velocity, allowing him to dodge heavy counterattacks with animalistic fluidity. Yet, for all his beastly acceleration, Rakan’s speed drops significantly when facing enemies with superior spatial manipulation, leaving him vulnerable to higher-tier cosmic entities.

3 Ashborn’s Shadow Powers Make Him a Nightmare to Outspeed

Ashborn (Monarch of Shadows) from Solo Leveling webtoon. [Credit: D&C Media]

The original Shadow Monarch and Greatest Fragment of Brilliant Light possessed reaction times honed over eons of war against both Rulers and Monarchs. Ashborn’s speed isn’t merely physical agility; it is seamlessly integrated with the Shadow Domain. By merging his physical presence with shadows, he could instantaneously shift across battlefields, effectively blending absolute movement speed with near-instantaneous repositioning.

Ashborn was powerful enough to fight multiple Monarchs, and his legacy gave Jinwoo the foundation for his own evolution. Still, because Ashborn’s eons of warfare are primarily conveyed through historical lore, his peak operation speed remains eclipsed by his successor’s climactic battles, which is why he ranks third.

2 Antares Turns Into a Dragon of Destruction That Strikes Like Lightning

Antares (Monarch of Destruction) from Solo Leveling. [Credit: D&C Media]

The Monarch of Destruction is synonymous with absolute cataclysm, but underestimating his speed is a fatal mistake. In his human form, Antares effortlessly matched Jinwoo’s hyper-speed dagger clashes, proving his base reaction time is virtually peerless. When he assumes his colossal Dragon Form, common sense suggests his massive scale would slow him down.

Instead, Antares emits fiery breath attacks and claw swipes that move with light-speed precision, engulfing entire landscapes before targets can even initiate spatial escape spells. He misses the top spot only because his immense mass creates minuscule momentum shifts that a perfected Shadow Monarch can exploit.

1 Sung Jinwoo’s Shadow Monarch Evolution Puts Every Rival in His Rearview

Taking the crown at number one, Sung Jinwoo isn’t just fast. He fundamentally breaks the concept of combat velocity and battle-tested reactions with the full authority of the Shadow Monarch. After Rakan and Sillad help kill him, Ashborn restores him with the true power he had been holding back. Jinwoo then dispatches the two Monarchs, showing just how dramatically the balance has shifted.

His Quicksilver skill boosts his speed, while Shadow Exchange provides near-instant travel between shadows. But these are distinct advantages, not interchangeable feats. His battle against Antares further tests his limits against the strongest Monarch. Jinwoo’s combination of demonstrated combat performance and adaptable movement makes him the strongest pick for first place.

Who do you think is the fastest character in Solo Leveling? Tell us your pick in the comments.

Solo Leveling is available on Crunchyroll.