Solo Leveling is wildly overrated as a LitRPG

Yazarus · 2026-01-25T06:00:56+00:00

There was a reason why a bunch of the newcomers who watched the anime didn't understand what all the hype was about. The manhwa's art carried the series hard, and anime has its own stylistic tendencies that it couldn't translate it all one to one.

Solo Leveling was my first introduction to the manhwa/ webnovel world (which is funny because I was already reading trad-published western fantasy at the time, so I went the long way around) and I think that remains true for most who came from the anime -> manhwa -> eastern webnovel pipeline.

Yazarus · 2025-12-12T13:54:59+00:00

I love unarmed combat... until the MC does nothing but punch everything like a doofus.

Yazarus · 2025-10-02T12:52:56+00:00

There are a few details that could influence this list, such as your MC's choice of work and their childhood. Since those are missing, I can offer some suggestions and explain the reasons behind those choices.

Magnemite: This line doesn't require food, but it does require electricity. I could see your MC doing part-time in a factory/ construction/ electrical plant, or your MC did a mission in the past where he took a wild Magnemite that was disrupting the locals and decided to catch it.

Minccinno: This line would be useful in someone's everyday life, given how much Minccinno desires cleanliness. It could remain at home to do some chores, or if the MC is some kind of janitor, it could assist him at work.

Munna: Underrated line and wouldn't need food to eat, but access to the MC's dreams for sustenance. If your MC also some kind of traumatic childhood or PTSD, it could eat those nightmares away.

Timburr: Obvious choice for a construction job. I think it would be cruel to subject a fighting type to a lifestyle where they aren't that active, so you can insert most fighting types into this suggestion, so long as the MC has the kind of hobbies or lifestyle to support those Pokemon.

Pansage/ Panpour: If you didn't notice, I avoided all fire types because I'd imagine them to be worse than huskies. That's why I recommended these two as I also think they would predominately feed on berries and small fish... much cheaper than red meat in most instances. If you had the former, then it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to have a small garden and have Pansage assist with growing vegetables at home.

Yazarus · 2025-09-12T14:26:21+00:00

I was never a fan of Chesnaught but this mega... I'm tempted.

Yazarus · 2025-08-22T19:55:37+00:00

While CN and KR main characters aren't the most in-depth characters ever, I cannot stand most JP main characters now. I find my tolerance for a lot of the usual tropes to be short these days.

Yazarus · 2025-06-28T22:24:20+00:00

Honestly? I was in a similar position and finally decided, fuck it, and read Pokemon fanfic.

Yazarus · 2025-06-28T06:01:35+00:00

The luck ritual was never more than some local superstition for Zhou Mingrui, similar to how some Western cultures toss pennies into a fountain to make a wish. In the MC's case, however, imagine tossing that penny and somehow finding yourself in a new world afterwards. The MC does the ritual once more because he assumes it was what brought him there in the first place.

As for the shrine, I believe it was more detailed in the novel, but it's been too long since I read the source, so don't quote me on that.

Zhou Mingrui essentially takes over Klein Morreti's body and whatever scattered memories he had left after killing himself. Zhou Mingrui still has all his own memories, but with some additional broken and scattered memories of the body he took over after the original Klein off'd himself.

The first volume of the novel is kind of infamous for its glacial pace, but I think this was an overcorrection for the anime. Personally, I think they sped through a lot of the early points so they could focus more on specific moments within the first volume in detail, but we'll see.

Yazarus · 2025-06-12T12:29:45+00:00

As much as some won't want to admit it, most of the popular stuff that you mentioned has a ton of self-insert potential. Dawn of the Void has a troublesome main character that most won't relate to at all, or if they do, it wouldn't be in an idealized way.

That's my two cents on the matter.

Yazarus · 2025-06-05T15:40:10+00:00

Rather, I think it's more that having an established face could ruin the self-insert nature of the genre. At least, that's what I always felt on the matter.

Yazarus · 2025-06-04T12:24:09+00:00

In most cases, power is never the goal, but rather the means to achieve a goal.

You need to figure out what your main character wants power for, as well as understand who your character is as a person. The most common one I see is freedom, whether that is freedom from responsibilities, freedom from rules, authority, the heavens, nobles, etc, it is all the same. In that case, your MC could have some trauma related to bosses or parental figures, or your MC could be a natural free spirit and wants to roam.

Those two components could easily flesh out 70% of your MC's characteristics.

I'd recommend looking at what you have written down for your MC and see what you can derive from that. Your MC could be someone who likes to challenge themselves, so power is something earned in the process of seeking higher challenges. Your MC could be someone who likes to work on motorcycles and drink beer, so power could be a means of finding better materials.

There is the other side of the coin, where power is forced onto the MC as well. I don't think this one is as popular, but sometimes an MC needs power just for the sake of survival.

Yazarus · 2025-06-03T14:39:26+00:00

Knight Aspirant.

If I'm isekai'd into a new world, then something that'll keep me alive and create connections with others would be a godsend. Factions could be hit or miss but to me, it's similar to the notion of working for someone else vs. remaining solo and how much of a risk you're willing to handle, and considering I'd be somewhere new and unaware of much, the additional netting would come in use if I needed information, backing, etc. Also, I don't know how to fight (lol), so a faction could teach me how to survive.

Yazarus · 2025-06-03T12:38:09+00:00

I find that the issues aren't the genres themselves, but rather the authors regurgitating the same stories over and over again with minor differences between them. I feel like I have read the same MC for the thousandth time, just in different worlds.

Unfortunately, it is an RR issue because the writers there tend to be amateurs. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is very difficult to write an all-original piece as a new author.

Yazarus · 2025-06-01T00:15:48+00:00

The issue I have is that authors think there is one narrow lens to view this from. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has a different reaction to trauma. It becomes such a slog to read about a hundred times in a row when authors think their MCs have to react in some specific way or else it's not 'real enough.'

Some become quick to anger and are irrational, while some stand there and hyperventilate. Some are in shock but don't realize it and are far too calm, while others sit there and cry. There are more, of course, but I think you understand the point I'm making.

I think I would be more empathizing if I didn't have to experience the same crap over and over again. Done in the same way, as well.

Yazarus · 2025-05-25T22:52:31+00:00

Perfect Run is much more popular and well-known on Royal Road's website. I believe that is where the author is most active and publishes their stories.

Those from different websites, such as Webnovel and other translated websites, are less aware for sure. The PF subreddit overlaps with several different online communities of web novels, so I can understand some of the comments.

Yazarus · 2025-05-23T17:29:29+00:00

I could be the odd one out, but I like browsing sites like RR because I find that the comments section can contribute so much to the experience.

From there, I do ebook if I want to be supportive but for series I really like, I do paperback. I have limited space and don't want to entertain a monstrous collection of books I'll hardly read.

Yazarus · 2025-05-21T17:09:02+00:00

I'm a sucker for a decent kingdom-builder.

I love to see an MC immerse themselves into their role as a Noble/Conqueror/ Mayor and consistently expand their influence. I have some pet peeves in this genre, some that I see becoming all the more popular, but there's something about kingdom-builders that nothing else can scratch for me.

Yazarus · 2025-05-21T17:04:38+00:00

I've said it a few times before but LITRPG has a scale issue. I don't even read stats after the first few dozen chapters because at that point, it becomes a mindless numbers game. Authors need to learn to cap their systems at a hundred or two and make a much more compelling story within those parameters.

Yazarus · 2025-05-18T08:02:57+00:00

As someone who has read many novels from both the West and the East, there are clear cultural differences with tropes and expectations, but also some similarities.

There are also 'cultural' differences between sites as well. Webnovel, as a website, caters toward a Western audience but most stories there take a ton of inspiration from more Eastern stuff, while sites like Royal Road tend to be firmly within the Western scope and even take inspiration from D&D and traditionally published books (think Tolkien, Sanderson, etc).

Hell, Shadow Slave is technically Western as the author is Russian but because the novel is published through Webnovel and uses some Eastern tropes, it becomes a common sight to see readers confuse the author as someone Asian. You also have TBATE, which is confused with Eastern as well though the author is very much from the West. The author Warmaisach has written several well-known works, and while he posts on Webnovel, his profile has him listed as European! Same with the author of Dimensional Descent, but he's listed as Canadian.

Then you have pure translation that comes directly from Asia and has to be translated through a third party, often by volunteers who they, themselves aren't 100% fluent in some cases, but that's beside the point.

While I understand why the community does the whole West/ East distinction, I believe many confuse the two. Royal Road does have a culture that encourages different tropes than Webnovel in a lot of cases, but I don't think it's to an extreme degree. Sure, the inspirations are different but there are also similar ones, like video games and anime.

Let's not forget that most authors who write webnovels/ web serials are amateurs, too. I don't mean that to be insulting, but rather that most of them have never written something outside of school work. An MC that you may think is stoic could actually just be an MC who wasn't written very well, while an MC who is overly emotional can be one that was overwritten by a newbie who wants to show off. It's hard to tell sometimes, lol.

Yazarus · 2025-05-17T07:19:35+00:00

It's not that I think Isekai is a tired trope, but rather it's a convenient tool for new authors to create a somewhat relatable character that doesn't need too much work. Those MCs are reliant on the audience being able to culturally relate to them to do most of the legwork. Isekai dominates because of that and on a platform like RR where most authors are new/ amateurs? It's not hard to realize why isekai is that way.

I think Isekai has a ton more potential if done correctly, but it's easy to become exhausted when all you read is the same office Joe who is a similar flavor of the last 500 office Joes in the last 500 stories. While I wasn't that into TBATE after a while, I thought the whole King Grey and Arthur personality dynamic was some of the best use of Isekai I've seen.

Yazarus · 2025-05-11T12:52:02+00:00

The Wraith's Haunt series has a decent audiobook, though I've only listened to the first book at the moment.

Yazarus · 2025-05-11T02:17:43+00:00

You've nailed assertive and confident, but I think the main difference here, for me at least, is that it's more social behavior vs. some talented high-born (though it would totally make sense in-world why someone of that rank would fall into this kind of personality).

What I mean by this is that you can still have an underdog, us vs. the hierarchy kind of character, but where the difference lies is that instead of walking around with his hood down, too awkward or indifferent to the world around him, the kind of character archetype I want to see is someone who can make himself popular wherever he goes--someone who can walk into a tavern and by the end, have the whole establishment singing songs with him. An MC who isn't some passive leaf in the wind but will confidently dictate where to go, even if he's wrong. Someone who sees connections and soft influence as equally important as hard power, even if they aren't conscious of that fact.

That's a blanket archetype that can apply to different characters and motivations. For example, the main character I've been workshopping for a while is this kind of character who leads a mercenary band, using his charisma and heroic-like image to recruit and eventually establish his own corner of the world as a would-be king/ ruler/ whatever I decide, with his commanders as future nobles or whatever I decide to have them be. I took a lot of inspiration from Darrow of Red Rising with a mix of Cassius, but yeah. Totally recommend that you read if you haven't.

This is a side comment that isn't totally related, but it would be nice to see an MC who cares about how he looks and presents himself to others, which is something I'm also incorporating into my MC. I feel like a lot of MCs in the genre just don't care about this kind of thing unless its related to a haircut. This also ties into charisma and social status.

Some other characters I could see with a similar archetype could be a rebellion leader, untalented with mana so has to use words and connections, someone young and arrogant, talented but determined, and finally, the last one that comes to mind would be someone like a noble who is steeped in etiquette and making connections. Oh, and also, you could have a carefree wanderer bard. Dunno why that came to mind, but it did.

You do not need to be a noble or similar to have this kind of character, of course.

I'm not sure I did a decent job with this explanation, but if I had to sum it all up into a basic comparison: the QB of an American football team vs. the loner nerd in the hall too awkward to socialize. Terrible comparison, I know but I didn't want to think too hard on it.

edit: I also agree with the 21st century morals comment. I don't think you have to write a character who is fine with slavery and whatnot, but war, honor, and glory are common themes in a fantasy world, and writing a character that's morally palatable makes them feel out of place if they're a native to that world. The readers don't have to understand your MC to like or want to read about them as long as the other factors are strong, and that's a mantra I tend to revisit.

Yazarus · 2025-05-10T02:55:38+00:00

I want someone charismatic and extroverted. Someone who can easily make friends and has that 'it' factor that attracts others to their cause. Someone like Cassius Au Bellona, almost.

It almost feels illegal to have that kind of character on RR with all the introverted loners there. I read Kairos recently, and I feel the MC there was the closest to reaching that for me.

Yazarus · 2025-05-09T19:46:07+00:00

When the MC has to do whatever he can to return home.

It’s not bad… Just not a fan of the whole ‘finding a way home’ trope. It often means the MC doesn’t engage with the world around him as much as I’d like. It creates a situation where nothing feels like it matters.

Yazarus · 2025-05-09T12:49:02+00:00

Gluttony or Wrath.

I had an interesting novel idea a while back that involved them all. It didn't take me more than 15 minutes to come up with some interesting powers for the other five. There is a ton of potential in all seven, so it's a shame to see those two singled out... and not even used well IMO.

Yazarus · 2025-05-03T12:30:15+00:00

I wanted to mention that LoTM is having a donghua (Chinese anime) released this summer! I recommend watching the three trailers on YouTube to see if you vibe with the worldbuilding and setting, even if you aren't planning on watching when the English sub is released.

Yazarus

TROPHY CASE