[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/61d60piqwvl.jpg]]
''Veritas'' is a martial arts sonyun {{Manhwa}} written by Yoon Joon-sik and illustrated by Kim Dong-hoon. It was published in ''Booking'' magazine from 2005 to 2010. The official website can be found [[http://toondosi.nate.com/toon/veritas here]].

Gangryong is a high schooler unlike others. He's a [[BookDumb hard headed]] young man who's always dreamed of becoming the strongest. One day, he meets [[{{Mentor}} Youcheon, the ''Lightning Tiger'']], who saves him from a bunch of thugs. Gangryong begs the Lightning Tiger to teach him, but the latter only teaches him one [[ShockAndAwe powerful skill]] and then disappears. One year later, people come to see him and announce that his "master" is [[MentorOccupationalHazard dead]] and show him the only body part they managed to recover was the charred, broken remains of his arm. Because he was his [[HeirToTheDojo only student]], Gangryong has to follow them and go to a [[NinjaSchool school]] where everybody has [[SupernaturalMartialArts supernatural powers]]. He accepts this as a way to further hone his training and to find out why his master was killed. There, he endears himself to the student body with his reckless and cocky attitude.

Part 1 has since concluded, with the series left in indefinite hiatus. A continuation of the series seems unlikely as the years go by, as Kim Dong-hoon has worked on multiple other projects since the end of Part 1.

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!!Tropes:
%%* AbhorrentAdmirer: Guesong Chun
* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: Vera Linus, as its [[StudentCouncilPresident president]], can organise ''[[DuelToTheDeath death duels]]'' between students. Not to mention that there's an obscene amount of backstabbing, deal-making, side-changing, and outright spies and conflicts of interest. The manga is half political drama, with interactions more suited to high-level corporate espionage and control than a freaking school council. Granted, this one IS backed by a multinational corporation...
%%* AlphaBitch: Shinra
%%* ArcWords: Veritas
%%* AxCrazy: Muyong seems a little '''too''' unstable [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v08/c056/16.html even for a BloodKnight.]]
%%* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Honse's specialty. Gangryongs capable of it too, though to a much lesser extent.
* BaddieFlattery: Inverted, good guy Gangryong compliments his opponent, SmugSnake Eunhwa, that she has pretty eyes. [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v02/c013/7.html While slamming her head on the ground.]]
%%* BadassNormal: Honse Gu [[spoiler: Subverted as of chapter 75, where we learn Honse was never normal, and it was all a ruse.]]
%%* BeastAndBeauty: The cute [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v07/c050/13.html Yuhwa]], and the clearly AxCrazy [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v08/c056/16.html Muyong]], why she [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v08/c060/14.html cares so much about the guy]] completely boggles the mind.
%%* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Subverted with several characters.
%%* BewareTheNiceOnes
%%* TheBigGuy: Honse
%%* BigOlEyebrows: Gangryong
%%* BlackAndGrayMorality
* BloodKnight: Gangryong. His idea of a good time is a fight. He spends most of his time at the school picking fights with people. He's jumped right into the middle of a feud every side takes as SeriousBusiness simply because that's where the good fighters are. Hell, the only reason he even picked a side was because his teacher was a Traditionalist instead of being a member of Reunion. He has very little loyalty to anyone but his master.
%%* BoisterousBruiser: Gangryong
* BolivianArmyCliffhanger / BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler: Gangryong is fighting Vera, Yuri is awake, and the few people who've survived the portion of the manga are actively being hunted by the Traditionalists. If the artist and writer get around to doing Part 2 for reals, this will be the first one. If they don't, it's the second.]]
* BookDumb: Gangryong is completely incapable of understanding anything that anyone tries to teach him.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Pretty much what the series is all about. Martial Arts = Superpowers.
%%* CombatPragmatist
%%* ClothingDamage
%%* CoolMask: Guesong
%%* CoversAlwaysLie: In stark contrast to her EmotionlessGirl nature, we get things like [[http://www.mangareader.net/227-16850-2/veritas/chapter-36.html this image of Vera]].
* CurbstompBattle: Listing them all would take too long, but the most notable ones have been Vera vs Guesong, and LT vs the entire student council!
%%* CuteBruiser
* {{Determinator}}: Gangryong, once he gets into a fight, he won't stop until he wins or loses.
* DissonantSerenity: Hayato is generally wearing a smile, even during his fight with Gangryong.
* DoubleEntendre: The entire scene where Lightning Tiger "removes Vera's seal".
* ElaborateUniversityHigh: The school has a lab, a hospital, an arena for matches, and isolation rooms for training.
* EmotionlessGirl: Vera, most of the time.
* {{Fauxreigner}}: Madoka, she's really Korean using a Japanese name as an alias. For all we know she could be of mixed race, ButNotTooForeign.
* FanService: The Manhwa starts with a pin-up-poster picture of Vera and Shinra in bikinis. In fact these two are MsFanservice incarnate.
* {{Flashback}}s: Used extensively. ''Veritas'' takes place near the climax of a bunch of conflicts that have been developing for years. The plot involves as many flashbacks to explain the current state of affairs as it does new events. One event, in particular, is the subject of multiple flashbacks from multiple perspectives, to show how important its effects have been: [[spoiler: Lightning Tiger's attack on the Reunion school.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Guesong's conversation with Vera after his [[spoiler: failed rape attempt.]]
** Early on, while Gu Honse was giving tips to Gangryong, he noticed that Honse seemed to know a lot about the Heaven's Riches class of martial arts for some reason. [[spoiler: It's because Honse dedicated the last couple of years to creating a martial art specifically designed to defeat Vera's Heaven's Riches.]]
** Yoochun (Lightning Tiger) mentioned that friends call him "Yoochun" while enemies called him "Lightning Tiger." As expected, almost everyone at reunion called him that in public. [[spoiler: Although Vera uses "Lightning Tiger" to talk about him, she called him "Yoochun" when talking out loud after a flashback. It's because she fell in love with him after his assault on the school.]]
* GenericCuteness: Subverted. Despite using a fairly glamorous art style, and having almost every character in peak fighting shape, the artist actually managed to make Gangryong believably uglier than everyone else without resorting to {{Gonk}}. It's noted many times in story, including by Gangryong himself.
-->'''I might not have heard that I was attractive before, but still!'''
** He's just much too HotBlooded to be yet another lame-ass pretty boy. Many readers think he looks just fine.
* GodhoodSeeker: The goal of Yuri Linus, head of Reunion. [[spoiler: It's also the goal of Vera.]]
%%* GoodNewsBadNews: Honse when he was told that he had to watch over Gangryong.
%%* GoodOldFisticuffs: Gangryong
* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: This is about as close as it gets to describing the Hate Dodecahedron that is the plot of 'Veritas'.
* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Madoka
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: A main theme. Everyone ''but'' Gangryong [[spoiler:and Vera]] have taken Ki transfusions that exceed what would usually be gotten through a lifetime of training ''multiple times''. A good deal of the plot is Gangryong trying to bypass his obvious and extraordinarily bad disadvantages through sheer hard work, pain, and dirty, dirty fighting. Also shown in that many of the students give up their own family's style to take up Reunion's, which is far easier to use and train with, rather than master their own intricate and hard to use styles.
** It's worse than that. [[spoiler: The students never really learned how to fight, choosing to rely on flashy techniques, speed, and power, while glossing over the basics, such as proper stance and breath control. In a straight-up fistfight, even some of the most powerful students make rookie mistakes, like dropping their guard, a fact Gangryong gleefully takes advantage of.]]
%%* HeirToTheDojo: Lots of the students in Reunion are the heirs of their respective dojo.
%%* {{Herald}}: Zerar
%%* HiddenEyes: Guesong
%%* HotBlooded: Gangryong
%%** Guhoo as well.
* IdentificationByDentalRecords: A skull believed to be Lightning Tiger's was [=IDed=] this way.
* IdiotHero: Gangryong and his master, Lightning Tiger. Both get caught up in schemes quite beyond their understanding and only interfere because things are literally shoved into their faces.
* ItsPersonal: Between [[{{Bishounen}} Rud]] and [[JerkJock Guhoo]], after[[spoiler: Guhoo [[StuffedIntoTheFridge stuffed]] [[DisposableWoman Anichella]] [[BodyInABreadbox in a fridge]]]].
** [[spoiler: It would appear that Guhoo is only partly responsible, as it was revealed, that Yuri secretly gave him a hand in winning since Anichella became a threat to Veras position as the student council president.]]
* JerkAss: Gangryong, at least, when he's trying to pick a fight. Hayato, who is by FAR the calmest and least volatile of the cast, still manages to get riled up after a little while.
%%* JerkJock: Guhoo
%%* {{Joshikousei}}
* KiManipulation: The [[SupernaturalMartialArts Martial Arts]] may use Ki. This basic idea is a bit different from the norm in that Gangryong is trained to use attacks that use pure ki while all the strong students at Reunion use artificial ki transfusions to augment their ki attacks.
%%* MadeOfIron: Subverted with Gangryong. Guhoo is the more literal example.
%%* MaleGaze: Oh yeah.
%%* ManlyTears
%%* MenDontCry: Averted. Oh, Honse.
* MundaneMadeAwesome: So the amazing defensive technique everyone is shocked by is...a half step to the left or the right? That seems like kind of a no-brainer.
* MyFistForgivesYou: Ma Gangryong certainly likes to give Gu Honse copious forgiveness for his antics.
* NavelDeepNeckline: Madoka's battle outfit, of all things, has a plunging neckline. Not to mention Park Hyunmi's half-unzipped leather jacket.
* NearRapeExperience: Guesong to Vera. He backs off when he realizes that even in those circumstances, he's still completely and utterly insignificant in her eyes.
* NebulousEvilOrganization: Reunion has its hands in everything, all with the goal of making its leader into a god.
* NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead: Madoka, she chastises Mu-Young for dissing Guesong's death.
%%* NewTransferStudent: Gangryong
* NinjaSchool: Reunion runs one of these, and it is the location of most of the story.
* NonActionGuy: Subverted. [[spoiler:Gu Honse used to be one of the three most powerful students in the school, but he deliberately destroyed his own Ki system to save himself. He still is one of the most intelligent combatants, and it seems that he's using his fall to the background to become the {{Chessmaster}}.]]
* NowThatsUsingYourTeeth: A popular Gangryong tactic. [[http://www.onemanga.com/Veritas/31/14/ As seen here]].
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Gangryong admits that part of the reason he went around picking fights that he had no chance of winning is that no matter how powerful he gets, nobody will be able to shake their first impression of him as a weak loser.
** As of the climax of chapter 75, Honse proved that he's [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v10/c075/25.html godlike at this.]]
** As of the final chapter of this part of the manhwa, [[spoiler:Ganryong,]] for some time. Especially due to the fact that [[spoiler:he was powerful enough to release Lightning Tiger's seal on Yuri will no effort, after chasing Fire Dragon deep into the forest]]. And even then, he [[spoiler:still had more than enough power to pick a fight with Vera]].
%%* {{Ojou}}: Vera.
%%* PsychoticSmirk: Guesong
%%* RebelliousSpirit: Gangryong
* RetroUpgrade: After spending long periods training to purify his ki flow, Gangryong discovers that he gets much better results if he deliberately clogs the flow until it bursts and washes out his system. Overlaps with DangerousForbiddenTechnique, since timing it wrong could kill him.
%%* RivalTurnedEvil: Fire Dragon
%%* ScarfOfAsskicking: Park Hyunmi wears one of these.
%%* SchoolOfHardKnocks
%%* {{Shout Out}}s: Several.
%%** Anime/DragonBallZ: [[http://www.onemanga.com/Veritas/12/11/ This]] and [[http://www.onemanga.com/Veritas/14/02/ this.]]
%%** Anime/GreatMazinger: Lightning Tiger: "[[http://www.onemanga.com/Veritas/6/08/ I really like the ''Great Mazinger''.]]"
%%** Franchise/StarWars: [[http://www.onemanga.com/Veritas/67/05/ Force Grip.]]
%%** VideoGame/StreetFighterII[=:=] [[http://www.onemanga.com/Veritas/1/18/ Shouryuuken!]]
%%* {{Sidekick}}: Honse
* SequelHook: Despite ExecutiveMeddling to force a fast-paced progression for its plot and almost facing cancellation, Veritas still ended on a note for a possible Part 2, even after the series' decline in popularity, Yoon Joon-sik (the writer) still expressed his will to someday continue Veritas with the previously planned Part 2.
%%* ShockAndAwe: EOTL, Ganryong's style.
%%* StepfordSmiler: Madoka
%%* SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder: Heaven's Riches at the hands of [[spoiler: Yuri]]. Worst of all, it happened offscreen.
%%* TheStoic: Vera, although sometimes she's NotSoStoic.
%%* StoneWall: Guhoo
%%* SuperDeformed: Used for jokes. Usually includes Honse.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Subverted, when Madoka wanted to take out Gangryong after finding out that he will be helping Rud to take over the student council. [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v07/c050/5.html Instead of slamming him to the ground instantly,]] [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v07/c050/6.html she got into a discussion with him.]] While she was talking, Gangryong had the time to make a few attempts to use a new technique, although he managed to [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v07/c050/7.html fire it off successfully,]] [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v07/c050/7.html only after she stopped talking, and was about to waste him.]]
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: In order to be recognized as the leader of Reunion and Heaven's Riches, Vera [[spoiler: kills ''every other student at the school'' barring the Nine Dragons who were away at the time. The twisted logic behind this is that the power of Reunion can only belong to one worthy successor, and the "traditionalist" students at the school were still "tainted" by Reunion and had to die as well. Gangryong is the ''only'' person Heaven's Riches will allow to live since he never participated in Reunion's experiments and his training under Lightning Tiger was "pure".]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Gangryong, several times. When he gets to the school at the beginning of the Manhwa, he's just a punk kid with the very basics of his master's style and is considered so pathetic that Vera thinks he's only going to be good for passing the style down to someone with potential. By the tenth volume of the series, despite the fact he's only really been practicing for a few years, he's stronger than people who've been born and raised as martial artists.
** Rud also counts, having taken a martial art considered so pathetic that Reunion didn't even bother to copy it into one of their styles and grown strong enough to be one of the strongest, most powerful fighters in school.
** This is the reason Shinra hates Gangryong so much. It really upsets her that some punk who has only been seriously practicing martial arts and ki channeling for a few years can match people like her who have spent their entire lives training and, in the case of Reunion members, risked their lives using experimental ki fusions.
%%* TragicKeepsake: LT's ''charred arm.''
* UnderdogsNeverLose: Subverted, Gangryong has lost a few fights but when he wins it tends to be a shock for his opponent.
* WaifFu: Many (read: ALL) of the female fighters that have shown up so far do not have the physique one would expect of someone who has both trained in martial arts for their entire life and participates in (sometimes) rather bloody fistfights using said martial arts (the most obvious examples being the aforementioned Vera and Shinra, who have the bodies of bikini models rather than fighters). Contrast this with most of the male fighters that have shown up, who are ripped and generally have the physique of someone who regularly trains in hand-to-hand combat (e.g. Gangryong). However, due to the ability of ki to drastically augment the strength and power of the user, developing muscle tone is not quite as necessary as it is in real life.
* WeakButSkilled: Funnily enough that's what Gangryong is in comparison with the other fighters at school. Since he's been training properly for only about a year, and has a minuscule amount of ki, with low purity, his attacks are really weak. To compensate for that, he has obscene amounts of real fighting experience he earned in street fights. It was most obvious in his fight with Eunhwa who was much stronger than him. He won by using superior tactics and having more experience, he even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v02/c012/27.html here.]]
%%* WellIntentionedExtremist: Guhoo killing Anichella to protect Vera's status.
%%* WhamEpisode: Chapter 79.
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: EOTL is supposed to be able to call lightning from anywhere and can decimate even Vera's style, which is supposedly the end-all-be-all to martial arts. Gangryong doesn't know how to do that yet, so he instead would like to beat your face in with an electrified fist.
* WorfHadTheFlu: It was revealed that the only reason that Guhoo manhaged to kill Anichella, was because Yuri helped him.
* WouldHitAGirl: Gangryong WILL hit a girl or at least tries to, if she pisses him off.
** Everyone else, as well. Gender holds absolutely ''no'' sway over brutality in combat in this manga, and two of the three strongest characters introduced are sisters.
%%* {{Wuxia}}: Uses many wuxia tropes but the story itself is more on the cynical side and the main hero is a BloodKnight rather than a traditional noble wuxia hero.
* TheWorfEffect: Anichella was supposed to be a genius, and Vera's rival, yet she was killed in a fight with [[MadeOfIron Guhoo]], who isn't really all that impressive, and seems to be one of the weakest peaple in the student council. Rud even lampshades, [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v04/c028/25.html how unbelievable that is.]]
** [[spoiler:Averted with chapter 75. Turns out, [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v10/c075/16.html Guhoo had some help]] and Anichella was just as [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/veritas/v10/c075/17.html tough]] as everyone thought she was.]]
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