Characters / The Breaker

A list of the characters in the Manhwa series, The Breaker and its sequel The Breaker: New Waves. Beware of unmarked spoilers

Shi-Woon

Shi-Woon Lee

Shi-Woon is our loser protagonist, an Ordinary High-School Student who is constantly picked on by bullies. He believes his life is so miserable, that he decides to end it all... until he is saved by Chun-Woo, the weird new teacher and secret martial artist. From then on he is determined to learn to fight and stand up for himself, going so far to jump off a bridge to convince Chun-Woo that he is serious. So far he has impressed everyone with his progress and character growth.

• Accidental Murder: Narrowly averted due to Does Not Know His Own Strength. The first time Shi-Woon stepped in to protect Sae Hee from Chang Ho's rape attempt, since Chang Ho refused to back off. Sh-Woon tried to punch him in the face with a ki-charged attack. The only reason Chang Ho survived is that Hyuk blocked the blow. Shi-Woon would later go on to thank Hyuk for it.
• Achievements in Ignorance: In The Breaker, he earned the right to be the "temporary" head of the Sun Woo clan, by the way he treated So-Sul. Although she was offended that he treated her like a child, he gained her respect when he pointed out that he did so, only as a result of her physical condition which can cause her to collapse and need immediate medical treatment for simply talking too much.

  So-Sul:" I am not a child."
  Shi-Woon:"Of course not, but this is the most your body can handle, correct?"

• Animal Motif: In New Waves, he starts being associated more and more with his teacher, and by extension, he also seems to inherit his Dragon motif.
• Anti-Hero: Type I in the beginning. He quickly grew out of it.
• The Apprentice: He has a number of mentors who teach him, all of them great in their own way.

• Awesome Moment of Crowning: At the end of Part I, he becomes the leader of Sun Woo clan. He's reasonably shocked.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: This trope combines with Underestimating Badassery all the time in the manga.
  • It is not known whether this is a side effect of the Black Origin Threshold, or his natural skill, but use a technique against him while under the effects of the Black Origin Threshold just once and he'll learn it.
    • He is not copying the moves during the fight with Ryu-Ji. It is more that he already knew the moves that Ryu-Ji was performing by watching Chun-woo's videos about those same techniques and Shi-Woon is simply relaying them as they are being performed.
  • Shi-Woon often sees through manipulation attempts (by people he doesn't trust). He's also quite skilled at reading his opponents. Just as one example, after Rae-Won demonstrated his technique that utilizes finger strikes to cripple martial artists, Shi-Woon very subtly gave ground during their fight, while slowly piling up damage on Rae-Won's hands. If Ju Sang-Sik hadn't shown up, Rae-Won might have lost fingers.

• Badass Normal: His insane Determinator traits that Chun-Woo inadvertently instilled in him made him one even before he started learning Martial Arts.
• Badass Boast: Starts making making many of these as soon as he gets his ki circulation back in order. Against Jung Lae Won, all while sporting a Death Glare.
  Shi-Woon: Come, I'll show you the power of the Sun-Woo clan!
• Handicapped Badass: After losing his Ki center he is managed to beat up two of the five Captains of the S.U.C. and almost took down a third.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: At a few points in New Waves.
• Batman Gambit: His ultimate intention in putting a giant bullseye on himself by returning to school in order to draw out S.U.C.
• Berserk Button: In later chapters, anyone threatening his friends, particularly Sae Hee.
  • Finding that S.U.C. seriously injured his mom. Gyu-Bum remarks Shi-Woon has the same expression Chun-Woo did when Shi-Ho was shot.
  • By New Waves Chapter 110, he's taking his role as Head of the Sun-Woo clan seriously, disrespecting him and/or the clan will do this to him.
• The Berserker: Just like his teacher, this happens when he enters the Black Origin Threshold.
  • Berserker Tears: The first time was before he used the Black Origin Threshold. The second was when he used it the third time after witnessing the death of Elder Kwon and the tears doesn't stop even when he is in his rage and fighting.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Even if you try to kill him, he will try to save you. Just remember that he is strong enough to easily punch through concrete walls.
• Black Eyes of Crazy: In chapter 192 and continues in 193.
• Blood Knight: Halfway through New Waves he starts bordering on this.
• Butt-Monkey: Everyone just seems out to get Shi-Woon, poor kid.
• Brought Down to Normal: At the end of Part I, this happens when Chun-Woo destroys his ki center to prevent him from having to continue to be involved in the world of Murim.
  • Seems to no longer be the case as of Chapter 110 of New Waves, see Came Back Strong.
• Came Back Strong: After he recovers from his fight against Ryu-Ji and Elder Jeong saving his life, he seems capable of using techniques without taking anything.
• Character Development: He starts out as a kid so driven to the edge by bullying that he is about to sell out his childhood friend to a teenage bully simply to avoid another beating. After training under Chun-Woo, he gets enough confidence to do a complete turnaround and go out of his way to protect his friends. He even outright threatens S.U.C. captains, various clan prodigies, and government agents in doing so. Helps a lot that he's got the strength and skills to back up his words. Another big one happens in New Waves, where initially he doesn't want anything to do with Sun Woo, but comes to accept his position as their leader and shows that he's quite willing to fight and die for the clan.
• Chekhov's Gun: The Ilwollsindan that unlocked Shi Woon's ki circulation is now functioning as his new source of power.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Let's see here, Sae-Hee, So-Sul, Jin-Ie, and Sera.
  • Everyone Can See It: And some are mildly jealous of his oblivious smoothness with the ladies.
  • It's Not You, It's My Enemies: He friendzones Sae-Hee because he knows she won't stand a chance against any Murim agent.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: He's flirted with Jin-le, sat by Sera's hospital bed, and let her know, in no uncertain terms, that he heard her Love Confession, and is acting on it, and even went on a date with So-Sul, but the most he could do with her, was build sand-castles on the beach because that's the most her body could handle. Yet, most of Murim thinks he's clueless.
  • Oblivious to Love: Completely oblivious to all the girls who have fallen for him, or so it seems.
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: When it comes to the women that are attracted to him that are also of Murim, it makes sense that they would be, considering that almost all of the men in Murim are generally testosterone embodied and down right badass. They grew up in a society in which you have to be mean, strong, and pragmatic to survive, and since they are women of Murim, they can't necessarily understand normal men. So Shi-Woon is quite different from the normal men they meet.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Gives one to Sung-Jae Bae and the S.U.C. Faceless Goons after seemingly tapping into the Black Origin Threshold. Gives another one to Gwon-Jong. And those Special Forces Soldiers didn't know what they were up against. Later on he gives one to Gwon-Jong's evil superior. In fact, most people get curb-stomped by him because they underestimate him in the first place.
• Cute Bruiser: He is strong and is getting stronger. Jin-Ie note that he got a cut side of him and is being called cutie by another guy he is most defiantly fit for this.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique:
  • Just about every technique done with a broken Ki center. His Megaton Punch ended with a broken shoulder, and doing a foot technique ended with him with a badly sprained ankle, if not broken as well.
  • The Black Origin Threshold.
  • Using Martial Arts while his Ki Center is recovering.
• De-power: At the end of Part 1 and for most of early parts of New Waves.
• Death Glare: Chang Ho received many of these for trying to go after Sae Hee on more than a few occasions. Shi-Woon Lee gives one to Jung Lae Won because he keeps calling him Shi-Woon rather than addressing him properly as the Head of the Sun-Woo Clan. And then, he does it again, coupling it with his Badass Boast. And now he gives one to Ju Sang Sik, one of the Ten Grandmasters of Murim.
• The Determinator:
  • You have to give Shi-Woon some credit. He mentally defeated a martial arts prodigy just by his utter refusal to go down. Against Ji-Gun as well. And Ju Sang Sik bows down in his duel against him after realizing that Shi-Woon would rather die than admit defeat. He NEVER gives up, he is probably the largest determinator in the series and can give NARUTO a run for his money.
  • Lampshaded by So-Chun Hyuk, who declares that Shi-Woon is more dangerous than Chunwoo, and that he actually felt more fear of Shi-Woon due to his determinator status.
• Disappeared Dad: His father is never once mentioned during the series. To a degree, he also has a case of Missing Mom. He still lives with her, but given how often she devotes herself to her job instead of her son, she might as well be this.
• Distressed Dude:
  • Two times so far, once in The Breaker and once in New Waves. Played for VERY serious drama both times. At the climax of The Breaker, the Chief of the Alliance grabs him by the throat at the last minute and threatens to kill him should Shun Woo Han refuse to show him the Black Heaven and Earth technique. The second time, he's abducted by the man who gave him medicine that temporarily subverted the whole De-power issue so that a sort of medicine could be made from his blood and body parts, to sell to S.U.C. and others interested in power boosting drugs.
  • Subverted in Chapter 110 onward when he is abducted by a government agency who think they have the perfect hostage to use as leverage against the Sun-Woo. Cue a Roaring Rampage of Self-Rescue
• Empowered Badass Normal: He originally had a medical condition that didn't get in the way of his everyday life, but prevented him from excelling at physically strenuous tasks. Shi-Ho Lee accidentally gave him some Applied Phlebotinum that fixed this problem, but it also makes him incredibly powerful, even by Murim standards. This later makes him a Living MacGuffin for many different groups, as his body has exceeded the normal bounds of ki to the point of nearly Going Critical if not for Chun-Woo teaching him the Black Heaven and Earth technique which regulated it. Which seems to cause the side effect of his body spontaneously undergoing regenerative changes due excess of ki being higher then even some masters. It also means that his blood can serve as the base for a less-effective but still potent knockoff.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Momongi addresses him as "cutie." Hyuk's obsession with him could also be seen as this.
• Explosive Overclocking: What he was experiencing when trying to use his ki to perform even the simplest of techniques.
• Fan Disservice: Down to his boxers, ball gag in mouth, and being bled to death

• Generation Xerox: He is extremely similar to his teacher in many, many ways.
• Genre Blindness: His insistence on keeping Ha-Jae at arm's length leads to this. His doing so makes some sense, as his only goal was to give Ha-Jae a chance at a normal life by healing his medical condition and getting his bullies of his back, but once multiple Murim have realized they're connected, he still doesn't clue him in on everything he needs to know. This causes Ha-Jae to innocently waltz into some dangerous situations. You'd figure someone who'd been in Ha-Jae's exact situation before would realize how important it is to at least keep him informed.
• Ground Pound: His Seismic Step technique.
• Guile Hero: In chapter 96 of New Waves, he plays Rope a Dope with Chang-Ho and uses him like a battering ram against the S.U.C. Later shows more shades of this as he gets more and more involved with becoming the head of Sun Woo clan, building relationships and becoming more aware of events/issues that are around him then in the past.
• Healing Factor: Even lampshaded by Shi-Woon at one point. Taken to its logical conclusion in the latest chapters, when his entire body reconstructs itself from the inside out after he is nearly killed. It is implied that this has also caused his Ki center to be completely healed.
• Heir to the Dojo: Some of the people in the Sun-Woo clan are not very happy about it though. At first.
• Heroic BSoD: Experiences this in chapter 101 of New Waves when Elder Jeong appears to have died. He then proceeds to enter Black Origin Threshold and fight on par with Ryu-Ji, the strongest of the S.U.C. captains and uses 3 blows to take down Kwon-Young who gets Punched Across the Room.
• Heroic RRoD: Seems he's suffering of this after tapping into the Black Origin Threshold when battling Ryu-Ji.
• Heroic Spirit: Nearly everyone he has interacted with has felt it.
• High-Pressure Emotion: Of the angry kind, during his fight against Chun Woo, while tapping into the Black Origin Threshold.
• Honor Before Reason: While he's genuinely beloved by his friends for his kindness, Shi-Woon needs to be a little more suspicious of people.
• Hope Spot: Just when look like that a Black Origin Threshold Si-Woon is pushing Chun-Woo back he get hit which make the Martial Arts Alliance members think he is down. However, Shi-Woon get up again and according to one of the M.A.A stronger than before which slightly unnerve Chun-Woo as Shi-Woon lunch his attack, but Chun-Woo is done playing around and break Shi-Woon arms and legs. then step on his head and tell him he doesn't have any plan to be defeated by a weakling like him.
• Idiot Ball: Granted, the hobo doctor who kidnapped him had been giving him super-serum to help him defend himself from the S.U.C.'s unprovoked aggression, and done a great deal to earn his trust, but entering a strange limo and drinking an already opened beverage that's offered while in a mafia-like setting is fairly unwise, especially after ditching your bodyguards.
• Incompletely Trained: With both Chun Woo and Elder Jang-Il Jeong, with the former trying to break his ties with the Murim all together while Elder Jang-Il Jeong met his end protecting Shi Woon.
• Instant Expert:
  • Surprisingly enough. The Breaking Spirit Strike was supposed to take him a few months to master, but he managed to complete it on the same day Chun Woo showed it to him. The same thing happened with the Foot techniques. He seems to genuinely be what the wuxia genre calls "a natural kung-fu genius", with one key difference: while he can grasp complex martial arts concepts and skills and perform them in a remarkably short period of time, his health wasn't good enough to actually perform any of them thanks to his blood-flow problems.
  • The foot techniques. While Chun-Woo explained how the Spirit-Breaking Strike was supposed to work, he only showed Shi-Woon the foot techniques once, and they had a very short discussion about it. Shi-Woon also didn't practice the foot techniques unlike the Strike.
  • Possibly justified. The Gu-Eum is a line of martial artists, all of whom are said to have poor circulation, but if that problem was corrected they would be ungodly strong. Sounds just like Shi-Woon's physical condition before he took the Ilwollsindan.
  • Even after his De-power, allies and enemies alike at how quickly and expertly he seems to pull off moves while using the minimum of ki power.
• It's All My Fault: He blames himself for what happened to his mother as he cries on her hospital bed while he is on his knees.
• Kung-Fu Clairvoyance: Develops it and put on full display after S.U.C. invasion of the school.
• The Leader: Of the Sun-Woo Clan in New Waves. He is a strong Type IV.
• Lightning Bruiser: In addition to his Spirit Breaker, he now even knows foot technique.
• Living MacGuffin: As of New Waves it seems that a lot of people are out to capture him for varying reasons.
• Made of Iron: His absolutely ridiculous healing factor lets him take hits like none other. A recurring pattern in his battles against exceptionally strong enemies is the opponent hitting him harder and harder with exceedingly lethal attacks, getting increasingly more frustrated. When he passes the point where far more experienced fighters should be dead, the opponent generally panics or overreaches himself, allowing Shi-Woon to slip in a Megaton Punch to devastating effect.
  • Although in chapter 108 he has to be healed or he would die. Not even his healing factor can cope with all the deathblows he got from Ryu-Ji

• Make Me Wanna Shout: His Phoenix Cry.

• The McCoy: The fact that he still cares for people who try to kill him annoys his Cynical Mentor greatly. There's also how he handled the whole So-Sul deal.

• Morton's Fork: Having to face headfront Ju Sang Sik, one of the Top 10 Murim masters, or surrender to him and Jung Lae Won.
• Mr. Fanservice: His looks become better and better.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Subverted. While he is loyal to his master he doesn't agree with everything Chun-Woo do as it shown when he tried to talk to him out of killing Ma Moongi. Averted at the end of New Waves after the death of elder Kwon, Shi-Woon cut off his loyalty to Chun-Woo and no longer trust him, stop calling him master and he is more than willing to fight him.
• Nice Guy: He's a really sweet kid. Seeing the effects of the Psycho Serum killing the Chang-Ho as the two were fighting, he delivers a one punch KO just to make sure Chang-Ho didn't kill himself.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Winds up getting one of these in nearly every fight he actively participates in Part I. But is also at the receiving end of some, the latest one at the hands of Ju Sang Sik.
• Not Afraid to Die: Whenever he fights, Shi-Woon is not afraid to die which terrifies his opponents. What's worse, is that trying to intimidate him, just makes him more determined to fight you.
• Oh, Crap!: Hands this to Everyone, including Chun-Woo, after he gives up to the dark side following Elder Kwon's death. Just one of his shouts destroyed the concrete ground around him. Kaiser quickly labels him as having greater potential than Chun-Woo's Demon King mode.
• One-Man Army: He beats an entire building filled with enemies.
• Ordinary High-School Student: Starts out as one.
• Power Copying: He's able to learn most martial arts techniques incredibly fast after seeing them just once or twice. It's taken to even more ridiculous extremes in the Black Origin Threshold.
• Punched Across the Room: Delivers these as his is M.O. after he Took a Level in Badass. Amost Megaton Punch levels.
• Puppet King: Many factions assume this about Shi-Woon when they learn the boy known to have a shattered ki center has been put in charge of the Sun-Woo clan. Jung Lae Won and the government tried to use him to control the clan as a whole after the S.U.C. attack on his school when they took him into custody. But while Shi-Woon is extremely respectful of the Elders and defers to them in most matters as they are his seniors, make no mistake. This is the true leader of the Sun-Woo clan.
• Randomly Gifted: Initially, there's no reason to believe Shi-Woon should be as gifted at martial arts as he is. Even taking the Ilwollsindan medicine would've killed him, if it hadn't been for Chun-Woo's intervention in fixing his circulation. It eventually turns out that he just so happens to have a body type that makes him extremely adept at learning martial arts, and combined with the medicine and his body essentially restructuring itself, he has ungodly potential.
• Real Men Wear Pink: An amazing cook if Jin-le's wolfing down his entire meal is any indication.
• Rookie Red Ranger: To Ensign Newbie levels. Without any experience or tutoring, So-Sul hands him the reigns of the Sun Woo clan. Many do not take this well, including himself.
• Run the Gauntlet: He gets into these somewhat often. He has gone against the murim special forces, the military, Jung Lae Won and then Ju Sang Sik. Later on he gets into another one when facing S.U.C., starting in chapter 172, to the point he's taking on two Captains at the same time. While he's holding his own, his stamina starts to deplete when he faces Jung Chan in an one-on-one duel. Luckily, the Alliance and Elder Kwon arrived to take over... until 9 Arts Dragon kills Elder Kwon and Shi-Woon enters the Black Origin Threshold.
• Spell My Name With An S: Shi-Woon or Shioon?
• Spanner Inthe Works:
  • Shi Woon has a habit of becoming a wild card in every Chess Master plan in the series. So much so that Sera, the resident Guile Hero, relies on his unpredictability to simply resolve variables that she might not account for. Opposing players however make it a point to try to eliminate him from the board.
  • During the arc to save Seoul, the Kaiser had no idea of Shi-Woon's existence and feels that 9 Arts hid Shi-Woon from him.
• Stupid Sexy Flanders: Gets this reaction from Ha-Il in chapter 88 of New Waves. Though it may be less of sexual attraction and more of plain embarrassment.
• Super-Toughness: He takes amazing amounts of punishment, even when he's just a novice, to the point that literally every character he fights comments on how indomitable his spirit must be. Several times he stands up and demands they keep fighting while technically unconscious or without a pulse. However, he has required medical attention several times after the fight ends. To put things in perspective, Shi-Woon could give Zoro a run for his money in the "beaten half to death" category.
• Super-Senses: Seems to have developed them after recovering from the S.U.C. attack on his school.
• Supreme Chef: Jin-Ie thinks so.
• Superpowered Evil Side: When tapping into the Black Threshold Origin.
• Super Serum: When his ki-center is shattered, he is initially unable to use his martial arts beyond the simple movements. However recently a murin specialist doctor and the small group of allies he is gaining has given him a drug that circulates the latent amounts of ki in his body from when he ate the Illwolsindan, which gives him the ability to use his martial arts skills he's learned, but only for brief periods of time.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Why he keeps being attacked after becoming Chun-Woo's disciple despite having his ki center shattered.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Shi-Woon had Undying loyalty for Chun-Woo and after everything his master did he was willing to believe in him and was going to help him get away unpunished. However, After Chun-Woo killed Elder Kwon right in front of Shi-Woon that loyalty was shattered, Shi-Woon gave up and no longer believe in his former master and view him as an enemy now. There fight isn't something to laugh at.

• Took a Level in Badass:
  • After catching up with the series, it's hard to remember how weak he was in the beginning.
  • Reaches new heights in chapter 113 of New Waves. He beats up an entire building of people.
  • Towards the last arc of New Waves, Shi-Woon literally curbstomps a master level government agent, then takes on 3 master level members of the SUC at the same time. He holds his own against the apparent leader of the SUC and then takes on 9 arts dragon, the latter to utter futility. He has come a long way from kid who thought of selling his friend to be raped in order to avoid getting beaten up.
• Turn the Other Cheek: To levels rivaling the depiction of Jesus in the Bible. It takes a mind-numbing phenomenal amount of offense to make him bear a grudge. It takes Chan Woo killing Elder Kwon to make him stop trying to defend him, and despite Chang Ho's constant antagonism, and attempts to rape Sae Hee, he still doesn't want to see the latter dead, although Chang Ho absolutely refuses atone or repent for his actions.
• Underestimating Badassery: How he wins a lot of his fights. The opponents that he flat-out loses to are the type that take him seriously and do not play games or even give him conditions to a technical victory. Of course, after he had his ki-center fixed and awoken with a new body, it is probably not a good idea for anyone to fight him with a self-imposed handicap.
• Unwanted Harem: Over the course of the story, four girls have developed feelings for Shi-Woon. These being:
  • Sae-Hee; his high-school schoolmate and for a time, his only friend.
  • So-Sul; the head of the Sun-Woo Clan before passing the title onto Shi-Woon.
  • Jin-le; his bodyguard and the granddaughter of one of the Sun-Woo Clan's elders, Jae-Kyu.
  • Sera; the head of the Mil-Yang Clan and who is a brilliant strategic thinker.
• We Can Rule Together: Offered the or-you'll-be-horrifically-killed variety in chapter 71 of New Waves. He turns down the offer.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: When it was pointed out that Chun Woo has always been a bad guy and is leading SUC, Shi Woon refuses to believe it until after Ji-Gun shows him a message that Chun-Woo sent to his subordinates after Chun Woo apparently massacred an entire military unit. After Elder Kwon is killed, he flat out refuses to trust Chun-Woo.
• With My Hands Tied: His right arm was in a sling after injuring himself, still he manages to land a decisive punch on Chang-Ho, and beat the crap out of other S.U.C members.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Arguably. He didn't use his Megaton Punch on Ji-Woo Lee; instead, he just tackled her. Though there is also the fact that the medicine hadn't taken effect just yet at that point, which meant that he probably would have broken his arm if he tried to punch her.
  • Would Hit a Girl" Finally resolved in a fight with Haru. He attacks her with an intent to kill and if it weren't for "Cool guy" she would have been killed.

Ha-Jae

A high school student who is contemplating suicide but is saved by Shi-Woon. Shi-Woon later decides to train him so he can better defend himself and so he can live a more normal life, inadverdently getting Ha-Jae pulled into the world of Murim.

• Child Prodigy: Shi-Woon only wanted to give him basic training and repair his broken vessels, the same condition he'd been born with, because modern medicine can't treat it and afflicted people often die young. In a short time Ha-Jae builds up enough ki to catch the attention of some powerful Murim, something Shi-Woon didn't intend on happening.
• Disappeared Dad: His father doesn't seem to be in the picture, as he only mentions living alone with his mom.
• Driven to Suicide: Eternal Force starts with him getting ready to jump off of his school's roof.
• Genre Savvy: Multiple people have tried to take advantage of him and the only time it worked was Jini snatching his phone to find Shi-Woon.
• Ordinary High-School Student: His school is tied to the Murim but is filled with ordinary students.
• Spanner in the Works: He ruins the Chief of the Alliance's plot to abduct Shi-Woon and force him to become his deciple just by earnestly trying to warn him about an attempt on his life.
• Undying Loyalty: Shi-Woon gave him the will to live and saved his life after he was badly injured, and so he refuses to give up info on him even when his life is being threatened.

Black Forest

A subversive group that is in opposition to the Martial Arts Alliance and supposedly wants to break down the barriers between the normal populace and the murim-in.

Chun-Woo Han

Shi-Woon is the protagonist, but the Deuteragonist is Chun-Woo through much of the first part of the story. He is usually the eccentric, laid-back, and perverted substitute teacher at Shi-Woon's school, but in actuality he is the "Goonmoonryung (Nine Arts Dragon)", one of the greatest martial artists in the world and a big player in the complicated politics of the murim-in. His conflict with the leaders of the murim-in eventually spills over into Shi-Woon's life...

• All for Nothing: His decision to disown Shiwoo as his disciple and destroy his key center was motivated by a genuine desire to allow Shiwoo to live a peaceful life, but this not only did little to deter his enemies from targeting the boy, it also left him nearly defenseless for a lot of New Waves. And on top of all of that, Shinwoo still restores his ki center and becomes a clan leader.
• Animal Motif: He is often associated with the Dragon.

• Badass in Distress: Since he's brainwashed and serving as Puppet King to S.U.C. Later it was revealed he did this intentionally to forget Shino's death and he is not being manipulated at all. He intentionally took the drug just to forget about the painful memories.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: At several points in the story

• The Berserker: When in ''Demon King'' mode.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: It is heavily suggested that he is given some medicine that makes him the Puppet King to the S.U.C., as he seemed to have a very hard time remembering, often questioning what he is even doing, as well as having no memory of Shi-Woon. Though this doesn't make him any less terrifying to the lower members.

• Curb-Stomp Battle: Passing 'em out, always.

• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The purest form of the Black Heaven and Earth technique, Black Origin Threshold, drastically increases your power but puts the user in a Unstoppable Rage.

• Death Glare: Chun-Woo is a pro with these, and even Shi-Woon is not safe from them. However, Chun-Woo isn't beyond receiving them from others like Elder Kwon and now he is receiving one from Shi-Woon of all people after he killed the former who preformed Thanatos Gambit to make Shi-Woon lose his loyalty to his former master.
• The Dragon: What he ultimately is to Black Forest although Chun-Woo is a highly valuable dragon. Without Chun-Woo, there wouldn't be followers willing to commit to his or Kaiser's will or mission. Kaiser realizes this and makes it no apparent that he will dispose of Chun-Woo the first chance, he gets.
• The Dreaded: For lower-ranking members of The Alliance.

• Functional Addict: The reveal at the end of chapter 168. He is taking a drug that is making him lose his memory so he doesn't have to live with the memory of losing his master and first love, Shi-Ho..
• Give Him a Normal Life: Is the REAL reason for depowering and disowning Shi-Woon as a disciple, since Chun-Woo has decided to MESS SOME SHIT UP. Naive fool.
• Ground Pound: His Seismic Step technique.
• Handicapped Badass: Pointed out by his opponent every time he fights, as he spends most of the story with a cast on his arm. Of course, this still doesn't stop him from pounding the tar out of everyone facing him.

• Heel–Face Revolving Door: We are initially shown he seems to be a nice, if gruff, guy, then his motives are brought into question, especially after we see how strong his drive for vengeance is, and the possible consequences of revealing the murim to the normal world. Indeed, he is mentioned by many masters to be considered quite a villain in the murim. However he constantly goes way out of his way to save Shi Woon and cares for him properly....and then he destroys his ki-center, preventing him from doing martial arts....except it may have been to keep him from falling into the dangerous murim world or a more recent theory that this act may have been to raise Shi-Woon's upper limits, albeit with major side effects. Then Chun-Woo has tells the S.U.C. to offer Shi-Woon's hometown to him as a offering. It finally is revealed on what side he is on in recent chapters. He had no intention on returning Shi-Woon to being his disciple and really wanted him out the world of Murim, he truly does want to break down the line between Murim and normal society which will explode into chaos, and he truly has turned his back on Shi-Woon.

• The Kirk: Not as emotional or idealistic as Shi-Woon, nowhere near as stoic as So-Chun Hyuk.
• Lightning Bruiser: Chun-Woo's both fast and powerful.
• Looming Silhouette of Rage: "Demon King" mode.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Chun-Woo, for sure. He spends the first few chapters trying to get the Main Prize.
• Mook Horror Show: He can be VERY FRIGHTENING when he wants to be.
• Mr. Fanservice: He has a lot of shirtless scenes.

• One-Man Army: Most pronounced towards the end of the first part. The Martial Arts Alliance ends up using dozens upon dozens of masters as Cannon Fodder against him.
• Papa Wolf: Chun-Woo really doesn't like it when people beat on Shi-Woon.
• Parental Substitute: To Shi-Woon, alongside Shiho in the first part.

• Signature Move: The Soul-Crushing Strike.
• Slasher Smile: A surprisingly effective one, considering how good-looking he usually is. Especially since he usually breaks it out while curbstomping mooks.

• Start of Darkness: He already had a grudge against the Alliance over his master's death, but seeing Shiho apparently die in front of him near the end of The Breaker pushed him. As of New Waves, he's pretty much a villain now, and while most of it was Offstage Villainy, he has pushed himself back into the spotlight when he decided to return to Korea and massacre a bunch of people in the Airport and at the Alliance H Qs.
• Stealth Mentor: After watching Shi-Woon struggle in front of him and after Shi-Woon interfered with him and Elder Kwon, Chun Woo beat the hell out of Shi-Woon while pointing out that his skill is too low a level to keep up with experienced master's, which other Elders later confirmed frustratingly as Shi-Woon could have destroyed Chun Woo if he weren't so incompletely trained. What is weird about this is Chun-Woo is telling this to Shi-Woon as if he were trying to help him.

• Took a Level in Jerkass: Meeting your former student after about 2 years and you said you'd kill him if he called you master and even raising your hand against him? Not cool, man.
• Tsundere: Chun-Woo is this towards both Shi-Woon and Shi-Ho.

• Unwitting Pawn: It was implied that S.U.C. has him under control of sorts after making him a mahwan addict. It is revealed that there is no way that someone as powerful as Chun Woo could ever be controlled by the drug. However, it was quickly debunked as the doctor making the mind control drug pointed out that there is no drug that could influence Chun-Woo's mind to that degree. What really happened is that he willingly took a drug that made him forget about painful memories so he could fight without the trauma of losing a loved one. He is not being controlled at all.
• Video Wills: Knowing he would part ways with Shi-Woon eventually, Chun-Woo, before everything went to hell, left a series of videos lessons for Shi-Woon on the phone that he leaves to him.
• Villain Protagonist: Initially, the Alliance was shown to be the bad guys in the first part of the Breaker. It helped that there was obvious corruption stemming from the top of the Alliance. However, it was all from Shi-Woon's, Chun-Woo's and Black Forest's point of view. Chun Woo's inherent ruthlessness against his opponents prior to meeting Shi-Woon is infamous ,and even shown to the reader during the first part, to the point that it haunted him throughout the first volume and continues to haunt Shi-Woon in New Waves even after he was relived of his ki. In hindsight, Chun-Woo was only not as evil when Shi-Woon was around. In New Waves, we finally see it from the Alliance's and clans who were affected by Chun-Woo's actions point of view. The Alliance intentionally wanted a strict divide between Murim and normal folk to prevent an inevitable war between them. While the politics among the clans were bad, it was ultimately set up for the good of Murim. Chun-Woo's Social Darwinist attitude would be intentionally antagonistic towards those who aren't able to use ki. Chun Woo was always the bad guy.
• Villain Takes an Interest: In truly ironic fashion, Ha-Jae manages to convince his mentor's former mentor he has some valuable intel and asks for a little over a week of martial arts training in exchange. Chun-woo not only obliges, many fans took note of how his demeanor was startlingly similar to his season one self when doing so.
• Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: A variation as his eyes are of normal width, but his irises are pretty much a pinprick now. He also seems to sport these perpetually after arriving back at Seoul, and of the very angry variety to boot.

• World's Strongest Man: Acknowledged as such in-universe, but Word of God states that it's actually a toss-up between him and Kang-sung. As of the latest chapters, he's confirmed to be the stronger of the two.

Kaiser

The mysterious leader of the Black Forest group (also known as Shadow Warriors) has ties to various organizations and plans.

• The Chessmaster: Sets up all the events to get Chun-Woo to destroy the Alliance on a public stage.
• The Faceless: He first appeared in chapter 3 of the first series but every appearance (including those where he is heavily featured) since has yet to show his face.
• Good Old Ways: The reason why he has invested so heavily in his group of Murim and routinely sends his elite fighters to display their abilities to opposing forces or potential allies instead of just relying on conventional and modern technology or weapons.
• Iconic Item: His jeweled cane.

• Right-Hand Cat: Keeps a panther as a pet.
• There Can Be Only One: He order Jae-Gal to kill Shi-Woon because he want to see if the "other treasure" that he have is truly worthy of him. Just as Jea-Gal is about to kill the boy he think that if there is two treasures with the same value one should be destroyed to make the other unique.
• Villain Takes an Interest: The moment he laid eyes on Shi-Woon, Kaiser immediately became curious and instead of interfering in spite of his plan falling apart, he decided to watch it play out. When Shi-Woon entered the Black Origin Threshold, Kaiser immediately becomes enamoured with Shi-Woon and sees the potential in Shi-Woon greather than Chun-Woo.
• Wicked Cultured: Normally, dresses in suits and appears in a Big Fancy House or Big Fancy Castle

Shi-Ho Lee

The sexy, mysterious Action Girl who takes a job as a health teacher at Shi-Woon's high school. Although she isn't anywhere near Chun-Woo's level, she's more than capable of taking care of herself. Much to Chun-Woo's frustration, it's hard to tell if she has real feelings towards him or it's just part of her act. She does.

• Energy Absorption: One of her specialties.

• I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: Loves invoking this trope when Alex is around.

• Morality Chain: Not as much as Shi-Woon but her death provokes quite a reaction in Chun-Woo.
• Parental Substitute: Sometimes, she seems to act more like a parent to Shi-Woon than his own mother does.

• Samus Is a Girl: Her first appearance.

• The Tease: Towards Shi-Woon and Chun-Woo, especially early on. Though later it pretty much stops.

Alex

The new "janitor" at Shi Woon's school. He is a transporter with connections to the "Black Forest Defense Group", a notorious group among the murim-in. He has a crush on Shi-Ho.

• Badass Driver: He will give Dominic Toretto from The Fast and the Furious a huge run for his money!
• Butt-Monkey: Alex just doesn't seem to be able to catch a break

• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Although his martial arts is very weak, his driving skill (no matter what kind of car you give him) is just godly. And now even a freaking helicopter!
• Dogged Nice Guy: Towards Shi-Ho. Played for Laughs.

• What Happened to the Mouse?: In New Waves.

Julia

A Member of the Black Forest Defense who accompanied Chun-Woo Han when he returned to Seoul when the SUC decided to comply to his suggestion about offering the city to him.

• Dark Action Girl: Let's see; she is a girl, she can fight, she is strong and she is with the Black Forest Defense. She totally fits.
• Master Swordsman: A very good one nonetheless.
• In Love with Your Carnage: She is very happy to watch Chun-Woo fight Kang-Sung and couldn't wait to see him press the switch to activate the bombs to destroy Seoul.

Martial Arts Alliance

An ancient group of the top Murim clans that maintain order between the various factions and works to cover up the Murim existence.

So-Chun Hyuk

The young leader of the Chun-Do-Moon (Heavenly Way School), another prestigious martial arts clan. He is considered a prodigy in martial arts. He ostensibly goes along with the Chief of the Alliance, but he has his own motives.

• The Ace: Seen as The Ace by everyone else, but may actually be closer to a Broken Ace.
• A Child Shall Lead Them: Hyuk was chosen to lead his clan when he was very young. He has grown up since then, but is still considered a young prodigy.
• Anti-Villain: He's a decent person who just happens to be on the side of the Alliance and therefore opposed to the heroes. Pity.
• Deer in the Headlights: His freezes up during his first meeting with Shi-Woon after the latter has become the Head of Sun-Woo Clan. He quickly sees a dark aura around Shioon, and wonders if he had always been that tall. He also ends up blushing.

• Homoerotic Subtext: He is a little obsessed about Shi-Woon after suffering defeat at his hands via the handicap they agreed upon.
  • In chapter 131. He blushes after seeing Shi-Woon for the first time in forever.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Nevermind his numerous misunderstanings concerning Shi-Woon, he refuses to believe that Sahyung was a willing, card-carrying member of the S.U.C., and thinks that he was "just a bit of a prankster," not a murderous, rapist thug that the audience is well aware holds responsiblity for numerous attrocities in New Waves. He is correct in that Sahyung was manipulated by the S.U.C., however.

• Man of Wealth and Taste: He's always nicely dressed in a suit and tie.
• Nerves of Steel: Strived for this as a child.
• Oh, Crap!: After having an inner monologue about why he lost his respect for Shi-Woon for using his status as Gaju to challenge him, he tries to end the duel with a single serious punch and scolds Shi-Woon for taking him and duels in general lightly. Shi-Woon responds that he was getting tired of So-Chun NOT taking him seriously in the first place and kicks him, which So-Chun is barely able to block. His reaction says it all
• Pride Before a Fall: A minor one. While he sensed that Shi-Woon had grown since his last time, he wasn't aware how much and thus was not taking him seriously at all, at least initially.
• The Quiet One: He and his whole clan have a reputation for not talking much, in-story.

• Teen Genius: He's not even old enough to drink alcohol.
  • This trope is surprisingly deconstructed: in a world where relationships are primarily determined by martial conflict, a person who instantly excels at every task he's given and finds no challenges in life, with even more people refusing to fight him seriously thanks to his reputation and importance as head of his clan means effectively his existence is empty and more or less devoid of personal meaning to him. Meeting Shi-Woon, who not only defied his flawless logic with sheer determination and dared to challenge him despite his weakness shakes him enough for So-Chun to consider him a...
• Worthy Opponent: How he feels about Shi-Woon. Although he seems to have lost a lot of respect towards him because he feels he's using his title as Head to challenge him. Or was, until he got an Oh, Crap! moment. He quickly regained his respect for Shi-Woon once he realized Shi-Woon was being completely serious from the very start and wanted to duel him in earnest.

Shin Hyun-Pung

The Big Bad of Part 1, and the target of Chun-Woo's revenge for his part in the death of Un-Wol, Chun-Woo's master. He seeks the "Black Heaven and Earth" technique, which was passed down from Un-Wol to Chun-Woo to Shi-Woon. Became the chief of the Martial Arts Alliance following Kang-Sung's disappearance between New Waves and Eternal Force.

• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: In chapter 200, he shows up and completely crushes the head of "The Maked Man," in order to recruit a crippled Shi-Woon.
• Big Damn Heroes: Shows up in Chapter 200 of New Waves to save Shi-Woon from an assassin while he's still recovering.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Normally looks like a kindly old man, but when he breaks out the slasher smiles...

• Evil Laugh: Finally uses it when Chun-Woo says he'll give up the Black Heaven and Earth technique.

• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Everyone Calls Him Chief.

• No Name Given: Over the course of 2 whole parts, we had yet to name him other than Alliance Chief or former Alliance Chief. This changed as of Eternal Force, eventually revealing his name and title as Shin Hyun-Pung, Clear Wind Origin Master of the Black Heaven & Earth Sect.

• One Degree of Separation: He was a fellow disciple being taught along with Un-Wol, Chun-Woo's master.
• Technician vs. Performer: He was the technician to Un-Wol's, Chun Woo's and Ryugi's master, performer. It is highlighted in the fight with Chun-Woo when he skillfully countered Chun-Woo's attacks and pointed out how wild and untamed they are, and cited that Un-Wol was the same. He doesn't have Chun Woo's strength and willpower however.
• Slasher Smile: Has one that can rival Chun-Woo's in creepiness.
• The Strategist: He's not quite up to The Chessmaster levels yet, but he's quite the manipulative bastard.
• The Bus Came Back: Despite seemingly being killed off at the end of Part 1, he is shown alive in chapter 139 of New Waves and apparently in good standings with many other clan heads that don't like the 'fair and just' way Kang-Sung runs the Alliance. He later shows up in Chapter 200 to offer to become Shi-Woon's new mentor, but is having to deal with Shi-Woon's refusal all the way into the start of Eternal Force.

Kang-Sung De-Hyung

The first disciple of Song-Hak-Jang clan and widely known as one of the strongest Murim currently around. For most of Part 1, he is working with the Chief of the Alliance but shows himself to be more of an Anti-Villain and all-around level-headed individual.

• Aloof Big Brother: Is seen as this to his two younger more "reckless" younger disciples.
• Animal Motifs: He is the tiger.
• Anti-Villain: A thoroughly decent and honourable man who is only opposed to the heroes because they are trying to destroy the current system, which he is loyal to.
• Attack Reflector: The Reflection Technique, a high level tai chi maneuver that stops the flow power in a attack and allows the user to reflect it into any direction or right back at the attacker as long as the person using the maneuver has footing on the ground.
• Back from the Dead: Died during his fight with Chun-Woo in the Impermanent Prison, but wound up revived by Shi-Woon under mysterious circumstances in Eternal Force.
• Berserk Button: He, unlike his colleagues, never hated Chun-Woo. In fact, he was trying to understand him. The moment Chun-Woo abandoned Shi-Woon, a student that was dedicated in his master despite him being shown to be quite the villain, Kangsung was pissed.
• Big Good: During the tenure as Alliance Chief, he ultimately is the one person who is seen as the protector of Murim's stability.
• The Dragon: To the Chief in Part 1.
  • Dragon Ascendant: He becomes the new chief of the Martial Arts Alliance in Part 2.
• Dynamic Entry: His encounter with Chun-Woo at the end of part one starts off with a massive kick that takes everyone in the fight by surprise.
• He Will Not Cry, so I Cry for Him: A variation. Kang-sung, following his fight with Chun-Woo, is clearly dying, and is being very stoic about it, but he's clearly touched by Shi-Woon's tears for his impending death.
• Honor Before Reason: In New Waves this has been shown to be his own detriment as despite being forced into the position of leading the Alliance, the clan heads regret it then start to abandon him and are willing to leave him to face Chun-Woo and his group alone because he is too just and not willing to play the political games and backroom deals they are used to.
• Humble Hero:
  • Despite being one of the strongest fighters in series, he never flaunts it and even is said to have been capable of mastering more titles like Chun-Woo to be called Nine Arts but out of respect for tradition did not proceed any further the title of Three-Arts Dragon.
  • It says something when he, an elder, often defers to the youth for advice like Sera, Shi-Woon, and So-Chuk. This is exemplary as older Clan heads refuse to do so which is why there is a rift between the generations of Murim.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Practically every time he is (or is about to) get serious, it skips to the aftermath.
  • The first and bestexample.
  • Finally averted in New Waves chapter 138, where the entire chapter is dedicated to him curbs stomping a gang of Chun-Woo's fighters effortlessly after they had tore apart several Alliance guards before going one on one with Chun-Woo.

• Rank Scales with Asskicking: He ranks pretty highly in the Alliance, and then becomes the new Alliance leader in Part 2.

• Secretly Dying: After his fight with Chun-Woo, it is revealed he has only so much time left... In fact, he's using the time left to set up Shi-Woon as the new CHIEF of the Alliance! He is somewhat cured as of now, but considerably weakened physically and politically.

• Tiger Versus Dragon: The Tiger to Chun-Woo's Dragon.
• Tranquil Fury: After Chun-Woo expels Shi-Woon and calls him a toy, Kang-Sung prepares to go all out.
• Worthy Opponent: Sees Chun-Woo as potentially being this throughout Part 1 of the story. Seems like that changes when they finally meet at the end of Part 1 but in reality Kang-Sung still considers Chun-Woo someone he respects and worth trying to save if possible rather then destroy.
• You Remind Me of X: Kang-Sung tells Shi-Woon he reminds him of himself, and in fact, used him as an inspiration when he fought against Chun-Woo.

Mun-Gi Ma

The leader of the Torrent Clan, a biker gang (emphasis on "gang"). Most notable for having a freaky face and a strange habit of calling Shi Woon "cutie". He and his gang seem like monsters at first, but as of now Mun-Gi at least has become an ally. Mun-Gi is also one of the Supernovas, a group of four martial artists whose significance is yet to be revealed.

• All Bikers are Hells Angels: Mun-Gi and the Torrent Clan. They're not Hell's Angels; they're actually worse.

• Creepy Good: Becomes very friendly with Shi-Woon after he spares him his life. He's still pretty damn creepy though.
• Dissonant Serenity: He's only lost his cool once.

• A Father to His Men: Chops off his own arm to get Chun Woo to leave his subordinates alone. It gets reattached but that's neither here nor there.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He has some sort of code of honor.

• Hidden Depths: He's introduced as a scary biker thug, but if the "Supernova" group means anything he's definitely more important in the murim world than we've been shown. There's also the effective and insightful pep talk he gave to Shi-Woon at the end of Part 1, where he guessed Chun Woo's motives better than anyone else.
• Homoerotic Subtext: Calling Shi-Woon "cutie" is kinda suggestive. Please, when he first met Shi-Woon he blew Shi-Woon a kiss.
• Implacable Man: In his first appearance before realizing who Chun-Woo is and knowing how outmatched he was.

• Kukris Are Kool: Mun-Gi wields the BFS version. Seriously, look at that thing. You could play baseball with it.
• Made of Iron: Mun-Gi also gets special mention, for the ridiculous levels of abuse he took during his first appearance.

• Red Baron: His "Supernova" nickname is Northern Black Star.

Jung Chun

So-Chun's uncle and a representative of the Martial Arts Alliance. And apparent leader of the S.U.C. — although it's much later revealed he's not at all.

• Berserk Button: Gets really upset when Shi-Woon says he's nothing compared to So-Chun.
• Blood Knight: Even when facing death, he admired the insane strength and brutality he saw that the Sun-Woo clan was prepared to display on him personally. Although he had to resort to cowardly tactics in order to escape.
• Dirty Coward: Shi-Woon walks into the HQs midfight, so he holds him hostage in order to secure their exit.]]
• Double Take: When he hears Shi-Woon is the Sun-Woo Clan Head.
• Dynamic Entry: Enters Sun-Woo HQ by literally stomping on the guards at the entrance as if he was Mario.
• Freudian Excuse: His whole reason for creating a terrorist organization out of those that worship "Goonmoonryung" was because he So-Chun were fellow disciples and So-Chun wound up beating him for the top spot of clan heir. So to prove he wasn't a also ran nobody he nearly destroyed a city trying to impress a man he would see he barely understood.
• Go Out with a Smile: After realizing that So-Chun does look up to him he dies in the in the arms of the former younger fellow disciple, happy.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Hates being in the shadow of So-Chun's shadow and want him to look up to him as his senior.
• The Mole: Used his power in the Alliance to keep them unaware of the S.U.C.
• Oh, Crap!: When confronted by a pissed-off Elder Kwon.
• Pride Before a Fall: He provoked Elder Kwon and it nearly cost him his life.
• Puppet King: He thought he was the leader of the S.U.C, he was going to change the history of the Murim. However, in the end he realized he was being used and during his dying moments he began to wonder just what he was doing all along and if he was just a puppet in a puppets show.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: He wear a nice sharp suit and didn't want elder Jeong to ruin it.
• Unwitting Pawn: He thought he was the leader, turns out he finds out there's someone who's been playing him all along, from behind the shadows, later revealed as the Kaiser and his group.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He gets killed by Ha-ru when the S.U.C's plan come undone and his usefulness is over.

Won-Jae Hyung

A murim and head of the Illwallmoon, Murim's most famous branch in dealing with special medicines. His school has a large pharmaceutical company as a front for its existence. He is also Shi-Ho Lee's ex-boyfriend before she ran off with his branch's most powerful medicine. In New Waves he also is shown to have ties to S.U.C. through Sung-Jae Bae.

• All Love Is Unrequited: This guy is obsessed with Shi-Ho and goes to such lengths as bringing Shi-Ho back from the dead. Too bad it is completely one-sided.
• Attack Hello: Tries this when first introduced to So-Chun Hyuk.
• Butt-Monkey: Whenever Shi-Ho comes into the equation, he can't win.

• Heel–Face Turn: Was something of an antagonist due to his constant attempts to get Shi-Ho and the Ilwollsindan. After being blackmailed by Sera into help her rescue Shi-Woon and witnessing Shi-Woon's actions to protect her and enable their escape, he essentially pledges to use his clan to restore Shi-Woon.
• Fool for Love: Even after Shi-Ho betrays him, he still wants her back more than anything.

• If I Can't Have You…: Tried this on Shi-Ho. It didn't take.
• Love Makes You Crazy: The most likely reason on why he's trying to bring back Shi-Ho from the dead, to the point of ignoring everything else happening in the world outside his lab.
• The Medic: After Shi-Woon and Sera's fight against Sung-Jae Bae, he treats Sera's wounds and later Shi-Woon's.

• Necromantic: He's trying to revive Shi-Ho from her potential coma or death, it hasn't been made clear yet. After 200 chapters, he succeeds.
• Oh, Crap!: After Sera puts two-and-two together and confronts him that he's in cahoots with Sung-Jae Bae and S.U.C.

Ju Sang Sik

A Murim elder from Heung-In Clinic, which also happens to be among the best. He has an interest on the Hwan Gol Tal Tae (Overhaul Rebirth) which is what is apparently the technique theory behind Shi-woon's Healing Factor is called.

• Berserk Button: He is pissed when Chun-Woo kills his arch-nemesis, Kwon.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Claims he's the one responsible for Lady So-Sul's physical condition.
• Dope Slap: Punches Jung Lae-Won in the face for making light of his estimations on Shi-Woon's regenerative abilities as a joke.
• The Dreaded: As a Grandmaster he instills this in a lot of people.
• Grumpy Old Man: He is rather unpleasant to most of his subordinates.
• Killing Intent: To such a ridiculous degree even his allies can help but feel the instinct to run when he puts it out there.
• The Medic: His branch specializes in Ki abnormalities.

• Mugging the Monster: Yeah, Ju Sang Sik, go ahead and tell Elder Kwong that you're the one responsible for Lady So-Sul's unusual physical condition, which ultimately leads to her leaving her role as the previous head and allying herself with Chun-Woo.
• Oh, Crap!: When he realizes that Elder Kwong is possibly better than him now. And again in chapter 127 when Shi-woon breaks out of his "inescapable" paralysis technique by pulling the needle out himself.
• Old Master: One of the Ten Grandmasters of Murim
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: He has this attitude towards Elder Kwon and even gets pissed when Kwon gets too reckless with another opponent. Does not take it well when he witnesses Kwon's death at the hands of Chun-Woo.
• Red Baron: Ghost-Hands Divine Healer

• Sir Swears-a-Lot: By far the most foul-mouthed character in the series. He can't go two sentences without insulting someone.
• Spanner in the Works: Seems he might be this to Jung Lae Won's attempt to discredit both Kang-Sung and Shi-Woon.

• Worthy Opponent: Considers Elder Kwong to one to such a degree one of the reasons for taking Shi-Woon is to force Kwong to finally step up and rule the Sun Woo Clan as Gaju. Eventually comes to see Shi-woon as this after seeing the latter refuse to give up despite everything Ju Sang Sik put him through.

Song Gi Joo

A hotheaded Murim disciple from the Song clan. He becomes involved early in the story after his late master's body is discovered, killed by means of a fighting technique that indicates Chun-Woo Han, the Nine Arts Dragon, as the culprit, desiring to avenge his master's death no matter the cost.

• An Arm and a Leg: Towards the end of his fight with Chun-Woo, he anchors both of them in place with a literal death-grip around Chun-Woo's ankle and a piece of rebar to hold him still long enough for the explosions to go off. It fails ultimately because Chun-Woo still had enough strength in him to sever his hand at the wrist and flee, though his presence during the fight is deduced by Kang-Sung from the damage left on Gi-Joo's stump.
• Berserk Button: His master's death is this, and he spends most of his screen time with it perpetually stapled down, simmering with restrained Tranquil Fury towards Chun-Woo after he meets him, and willing to ravage his body and risk his life to kill him no matter what to avenge his master's murder.
• Evil Counterpart: The more is shown about Chun-Woo's past and current antagonism with the Murim Alliance, the more it becomes clear that Gi-Joo's a reflection of what Chun-Woo could have become if he'd had a master accepted by the alliance, having been taught self-worth and how to improve himself by his master after a pitiful childhood, and desiring to avenge what they see as their unjust death through any means, no matter what becomes of them personally. In fact, the end of Part 1 and New Waves make it clear at in actuality, Gi-Joo was Chun-Woo's Good Counterpart all along. Chun-Woo Lampshades this, thanking Gi-Joo for reminding him that he's yet to avenge his own master's passing before landing a fatal blow to his skull.
• Finger Poke of Doom: His clan's special fighting style involves training their hands to be eventually capable of scraping through concrete or crushing steel with their grip, enabling him to gouge off chunks of Chun-Woo's flesh with his fingers durning their fight. However, Gi-Joo was only about rank 5 of their style before his master's death, and whilst he was able to push himself into reaching the Rank 10 techniques necessary to inflict such damage bare-handed in just a month, having not done the preparatory training properly means that preforming such attacks actually damages his hands steadily during his fight with Chun-Woo. Gi-Joo is aware of this limitation however, and additionally rigged the area they were fighting in to explode, planning to kill Chun-Woo at the cost of his life and body either way.
• I'll Kill You!: More or less his entire personality expressed during his screen time is all-consuming Wrath towards Chun-Woo for his master's murder, convinced he's the killer and determined to end him no matter what he has to sacrifice.
• Irony: He's characterised as being very hot-headed and rash in his actions, but the method he used to ensure Chun-Woo's death in their match either way showed a lot of forethought and planning, and he's able to keep his cool mostly throughout the fight from accepting his impending death and his self-mutilation so long as Chun-Woo dies as well.
• Starter Villain: The first member of the Murim alliance we see in action, and the first serious threat Chun-Woo faces, even if only because he's massively handicapped by the time they fight. His overt antagonism towards Chun-Woo when it's left unclear if he's even responsible for his master's death at first helps hide the twist that the Murim alliance as a whole is actually supposed to be Good All Along, and Chu-Woo is a Villain Protagonist willing to destroy them no matter the collateral damage to the normal world.
• Taking You with Me: He spells our how far he's willing to go to avenge his master's death when he forces Chun-Woo to fight in in an abandoned builded rigged for demolition, arming the charges beforehand to give them both a 10-minute limit to settle the fight. Additionally, he's revealed to have picked this tactic because pushing his martial arts style to it's uppermost limit to fight Chun-Woo is revealed to be inflicting negative and crippling damage to himself in the process, showing that he's sacrifice with his martial arts and his life isn necessary to kill him. At the climax of their fight, despite taking a lethal blow to the dead Gi-Joo manages to hold on long enough to lat a literal death-grip on Chun-Woo's ankle and a piece of rebar, anchoring them both in place for the explosions to go off. It only fails because Chun-Woo had enough strength left in him to sever his hand from his arm and flee at the last second.
• The Worf Effect: It's made very clear from Chun-Woo's later showings against the masters of the Murim alliance that if he'd been in any better condition when they fought, even Gi-Joo's backup plan and increased combat showing would have done him no good whatsoever. As it is, Chun-Woo was only in danger from him as a result of him basically exhausting his internal energy saving Shi-Woon from the backlash of his taking Shi-Ho's medicine pill to enable him to overcome his physical limits, and then having to defat 25 Mooks using the bare minimum internal energy left over from that.

Sun-Woo Clan

Sun-Woo Clan

One of the most feared and powerful clans within the Murim world. It is this reputation that caused it to be separated by the Alliance many years ago and its leader taken into protective custody.—-

• The Dreaded: The entire clan is feared throughout Murim. So much so that the Alliance kept their head into custody in order to keep the clan in check.
• Hot-Blooded: A defining characteristic of the clan.
• Lightning Bruiser: Sun-Woo style of martial arts is noted for their high speed and powerful attacks. The pinnacle of Sun-Woomastery, Jae-Kyu Kwon, can move so fast that his movements are not detectable to the human eye.
• Shock and Awe: A lot of their techniques are named after Lightning and their signature technique emits a Lightning aura.
• Shrouded in Myth: Many Murim members do not know much about their techniques and go as far to openly challenge Sun-Woo clan members to find out. It usually do not go so well for the challenger.

So-Sul

Officially titled "Princess" So-Sul, she is the former leader of the Sun-Woo, a prestigious martial arts clan. Shi-Woon (with Chun-Woo's help) saved her from the Torrent Clan, who had kidnapped her for unknown reasons. Although it took some time for her to warm up to Shi-Woon, her loyalty now lies with him.

• Beneficial Disease: The same illness that kept her body constantly weak and stuck in prepubescent form, when cured, allows her to perform normally inaccessible godly martial art skills that even top murim would have trouble using.
• Berserk Button: After hearing Shi-woon being insulted and harmed, she made it clear what will happen to those who do it again in front of her. And take note that her first victim was Sung-Jae Bae, the one who made her the medicine that will heal her from her disease, and it cost him his life. One wonders what will happen when and if anyone else would do it.
• Broken Bird: She's seen a lot of people die for her sake.
• Damsel in Distress: During her first meeting with Shi-Woon. But later the situation turns around and she pulls a Big Damn Heroes.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She warms up to Shi-Woon.
• Delicate and Sickly: So-Sul has a rare disease that affects her ki, which has a side effect of making her look like a 6-year-old girl. Turns out it wasn't a disease, it was the result of a technique used on her by Ju Sang Sik.
• Heir to the Dojo: The true heir to Sun Woo.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: Considering her looks, there's a bit of a dissonance.
• Little Miss Snarker: See for yourself.
  "Idiot, worry about yourself when you're about to die."
• Lonely Rich Kid: The Sun Woo clan is fairly well-off.
• Luminescent Blush: Shi-Woon makes her light up like a Christmas tree.
• Not Growing Up Sucks: Mostly because since she looks like a little girl, Shi-Woon doesn't take her seriously.
• Older Than They Look: She's actually 15.
• Sickly Prodigy: Her body can't handle her Ki, creating this effect.
• Token Mini-Moe: The only one in the series.
• Took a Level in Badass: When she reappears in New Waves, it appears her illness that kept her from using martial arts has been taken care of as she easily kills a gunman and seemingly ignites him on fire by touch without much effort.
• Touch of Death: She demonstrates this upon her introduction in New Waves. She doesn't even need to touch your skin. She just needs to pinch a loose garment of the clothing you're wearing to set off an unstoppable ki-chain reaction that completely immolates you in the time it takes you to scream. The scariest part is that she can flash-step across the room faster than you can blink.
• Tsundere: So-Sul has a bit of this when she first falls for Shi-Woon.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: She makes it clear to Kaiser that harming Shi Woon without her permission will end up with the person responsible being incinerated.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Seems to have disappeared in New Waves. That is, until chapter 85.

Gyu-Bum Lee

Sun-Woo's retainer, introduced near the end of Part I as an antagonist. However, he switches sides and gains much more prominence in New Waves as an ally of Shi-Woon. Like Mun-Gi, he is one of the four "Supernovas".

• Battle Butler: Played with in that he initially appears to be loyal to the Alliance, but it's revealed that he's the retainer for the Sun-Woo Clan. As soon as he finds out about what happened to So-Sul, he switches sides. And now he works for Shi-Woon.
• Eyes Always Shut: Unless he is really pissed.
• Hidden Depths: Initially appears to be just a guard, but like Mun-Gi he is a "Supernova".
  • After watching Chun-Woo fight in the Martial Arts tournament and claim the new title of the 9 arts dragon, he was excited and thought Chun-Woo would usher a new wave in Murim. He then became disillusioned after Chun-Woo disappeared.
• Put on a Bus: After Shi-Woon gets himself kidnapped while under Gyu-Bum's care, he is reassigned as Shi-Woon's primary guardian and not seen until chapter 160.
• Red Baron: His "Supernova" nickname is translated as Southern Red Star.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He is one of the few Sun-Woo authority figures that aren't trying to manipulate or deceive Shi-Woon.

• Signature Move: While Jin-Ie is shown to use it later, he seems to be the true master of the Descending Thunder Fist.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards the leader of Sun-Woo, whoever that may be—initially So-Sul, but now Shi-Woon.

Jin-Ie Kwon

First introduced in New Waves, she is the bodyguard assigned to Shi-Woon by the Sun-Woo Clan. She's pretty and a skilled fighter, and has close connections to the Sun-Woo leadership. Unfortunately, she's also loud, harsh, hard to get along with, and hates her new assignment.

• Ambiguously Jewish: She always wears a Star of David necklace.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Kung-fu girl in this case.
• Badass Adorable: Once she falls in love with Shi-Woon, she becomes this.

• Berserk Button: Don't threaten Shi Woon in front of her.
  • More importantly, don't accuse her of being a glutton...
• Big Eater; She is shown eating at least four servings from Shi-Woon's rice cooker before being satisfied.
• Bodyguard Crush: Looking that way so far.
• Break the Cutie: Her mother's death and grandfather's abuse did a bit of a number on her. Especially when he ordered her to kill Shi-Woon. She gets better though.
• But Not Too Foreign: Half-Korean and Half-Caucasian, hence her natural red hair.
• Cannot Spit It Out: She has had the most opportunities of all Shi-Woon's love interests to actually confess her feelings towards him. A good chunk of New Waves is her constantly worrying about Shi-Woon when he is not around, but when they actually interact, she stammers and hesitates until she is eventually interrupted by someone.
• Chekhov's Gun: Remember her first appearance when she used he Descending Thunder Punch, and hurt herself remarking that she is too delicate for such a maneuver? At first, it meant nothing when the other Sun Woo clansmen seemed to do Sun Woo techniques with no trouble. After 197 chapters, it is revealed that Jin-ie has been preparing to adopt Elder Kwon's style of martial arts.
• Chekhov's Gunman: She appeared in one panel in last chapter of Part I when Gyu-Bum brings her, Ha-Il, and Dae-San to visit Shi-Woon in the hospital. In Part II, she got enough screen time and focus to be the female lead.

• Delinquent Hair: Her hair is naturally red, but most people don't know that.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Most of her interactions with Shi-Woon.
• Dude, He's Like, in a Coma!: Has done this twice, both having a Moment Killer before she goes too far.
• Dynamic Entry: Jin-Ie has the habit of doing this while other people are getting attacked.
  • Feet-First Introduction: A true master.
    • Chapter 2, she gives one of Shi-Woon's attackers two heels in the face.
    • Chapter 8, does this to two guards trying to kidnap Shi-Woon.
    • Chapter 10, goes for a single roundhouse kick on Sera, although in this case, Sera was just ignoring her and she was not successful in landing it.
    • Does it again to Sera in Chapter 23.
    • Chapter 41, she does it to Li-Joo.
    • Chapter 45. Li-Joo again.
    • Chapter 92, gives a flying kick to the impostor disguised as Sae-Hee.
    • Chapter 101, after being indisposed, she lands a kick on Ha-Il's opponent. Soon after, she lands another kick on Ryu-Ji
    • Chapter 126, does it again on two guards at the same time.
• Everyone Can See It: the fact she has developed a Bodyguard Crush. Except for Shi-Woon of course.
• Fanservice Cover: Features frequently in these along with Sera.
• Fiery Redhead: It's her natural hair color, but due to red hair being a rarity in Korea, the other students assume she's a delinquent. She also has the temperament.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Anytime Shi-Woon talks to another girl in front of her.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: She seems to be mad at Shi-Woon most of the time they've been together on-screen.
• He Is Not My Boyfriend: She often gets accused of this with Shi-Woon.
• The Heart: Sera regards Jinie as such as she is often the one to kick Shi-Woon out of Heroic BSoD.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: She doesn't have much in the way of self-esteem and she tends to think of herself as useless.
• High-Heel–Face Turn: She turns good far before the rest of the Sun-Woo Clan does.

• Improvised Weapon User: She makes tonfas out of the broken legs of a chair.
• Luminescent Blush: She gets turned on constantly around Shi-Woon.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's loud, abrasive, and a tad violent, but one couldn't ask for a better friend.
• Jumping on a Grenade: She takes the brunt damage from the motorcycle crash by using her body to shield Shi-Woon.
• Kick Chick: She mostly uses kicks when she fights.
• Kind Hearted Cat Lover: After running away from the Sun-Woo Clan, Jin-Ie picked up a stray cat and took care of it. She really loved the thing, and she went berserk when Ji-Woo killed it.
• The Lad-ette: Shi-Woon remarks that she has a very unfeminine personality.
• Male Gaze: She gets this from Shi-Woon after he rescues her. Considering what she was wearing... it was only natural.
• Meido: After Ji-Gun saved her, she started working at a Maid Cafe to make enough money to eat.
• Ms. Fanservice: May be taking over Shi-Ho's position.
  • Minidress of Power: She normally wears shorts, but in her second fight against Ji-Woo Lee, she's wearing her maid uniform, which has a very short skirt, which leads to...
• Morality Pet: Even though he isn't exactly evil, she is still this to Ha-Il.
• New Transfer Student: She joins Shi-Woon's class in order to keep a closer eye on him.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Sera Kang. Mostly because they're both in love with Shi-Woon, and thus end up around each other a lot recently.
  • Betty and Veronica: The Betty to Sera's Veronica.

• Signature Move: Descending Thunder Fist is a really powerful punch requires a sheer vertical surface or ceiling that she propels off of while building up enough momentum that the sheer air pressure from the drop prevents her opponent from moving. She can't really perform the move without damaging herself unlike Gyu-Bum Yi.
• Spell My Name With An S: Ji-Nie, Jini, Jinie, all three different spellings have been used at one time or another in the scanlations.
• Through His Stomach: A gender-flipped version.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the tomboy to Sera's girly girl. Jin-Ie is the rough, abrasive brawler while Sera is the elegant Lady of War. Jin-Ie even tends to wear shorts, while Sera prefers skirts.
• Tsundere: Seems to be heading down this path. What's with Shi-Woon attracting these types?
• Unstoppable Rage: She went berserk after Ji-Woo killed her cat.
• Vapor Wear: Look at this page. She's definitely not wearing a bra under that.

• The Worf Effect: Jin-Ie is hyped as one of the top 5 fighters of the Sun Woo clan but suffers this from time to time. Sera Kang, Ji-Gun Yoo and Ji-Woo Li have manhandled her.
  • Worf Had the Flu: In her first fight against Ji-Woo, she had not eaten for several days. She fared much better in their second fight, but still lost after forced to Run the Gauntlet.
  • It helps to point out that most of her opponents are master level and while she is top 5 in her clan (with three of the top 5 in the Sun Woo clan at Master Level), it is constantly pointed out that she has the potential to be great.
  • In 199, her value is finally explained. Turns out Elder Kwon has been training her specifically for 12 years for his style of the Sun Woo martial arts. The reason why is because the traditional Sun-Woo style was not suited for her.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Done to her by her grandfather, in that he doesn't care whether she lives or dies at the hands of SUC. This changes after Elder Kwon's Heel–Face Turn

Ha-Il Kang

A young Murim master that is one of the top fighters of the Sun-Woo Clan.

• Ax-Crazy: Especially in his earlier appearances.
• Berserk Button: Damaging his fedora. Also, making him look weak in front of Jin-Ie.
• Big Damn Heroes: Saves Jin-Ie, Shi-Woon and probably Sera after the duel with Ji-Gun when rogue elements of Sera's clan attempted to kill them.
• Boring, but Practical: His fighting style consists of crushing an enemy's feet to immobilize them before smashing a knee or a foot into their face. No super spiffy ki moves involved, but damn, it's effective.
• The Determinator: During his fight with Gwong-Young, he gets a knife planted in his thigh when he was distracted by a nearby explosion. His reaction is to pull the knife out and stick it into his opponent in the exact same place he was stabbed.
• Extremity Extremist: Aside from using knives, he appears to be a kicking expert.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Or at least, Ax-Crazy cannot understand not Ax-Crazy. Take a look at this exchange:
  Ha-Il: "Come over here. I'll give you painless deaths."
  Shi-Woon: "Please, stop right there."
  Ha-Il: "Ah ha~~ So you wanna kill em personally, huh?" He offers Shi-Woon the blade he is holding "Want the sword?"
  Jin-Ie: "That's not what he said!"
  Shi-Woon: "Just let them all go."
  Ha-Il: "Let them go... Let them go... You mean I should let them go on to the afterlife?"
  Jin-Ie: "You know that's not what he said!"
• Face Framed in Shadow: First appearance was such when along with Jin-Ie and Immovable Steel Mountain, when Gyu-Bum Yi took them to visit a recovering Shi-Woon.
• Facial Markings: A Tattoo under his left eye.
• The Gadfly: His Shipper on Deck behaviour often edges into this.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He comes off as abrasive, but it's quite obvious that he cares for those around him.
• Older Than They Look: When first introduced, he seemed to be around the same age or just slightly older then Jin-Ie and Shi-Woon, but later chapters show that he was between 5 and 8 years old before Jin-Ie was even born, placing him at least around mid to late 20s.
• Papa Bear: Something happens to Ji-Nie, if he even thinks you had something to do with it, run.
• Paper Cutting: Gets a small cut on his cheek when Elder Kwon throws a small binder right beside Ha-Il's head with enough force to lodge itself into the door Ha-Il was about to use.
• Pet the Dog: He comes across as an Ax-Crazy fighter who thinks Murder Is the Best Solution, but when you see how protective he is of Jin-Ie, you know he can't be all that bad.
• Punched Across the Room: Elder Kwon sends Ha-Il flying with one attack when the latter attacks the former in response to his callous disregard for Jin-Ie. Dodges the initial punch but ate a follow up kick that would send him flying again when he approached a berserk Shi-Woon.
• Secret-Keeper: The only one that knew the true reason why Lady Hae-Jin left for America
• Shipper on Deck: Seems to try to get Ji-Nie to admit she has feelings for Shi Woon.
• Shirtless Scene: In his early appearances.
• Slasher Smile: He either wears one of these or a disinterested frown.
• The Worf Effect: He's an example of this trope done well. He's consistently shown to be one of the more badass characters in the series who can hold his own against almost any opponent, but he still gets his ass kicked by Elder Kwon and later Chun Woo to show just how monstrously powerful the people like them are.

Dae-San Han

One of the top fighters of the Sun-Woo Clan. He is a massive man who possesses immense strength.

• Apologetic Attacker: He doesn't exactly apologize for attacking, but he does apologize for not holding back.
  "Sorry, I couldn't hold back again."
• Badass in a Nice Suit: A black one.

• Does Not Know His Own Strength: Played With. He's well aware of how strong he is, but he still seems incapable of holding back, so while he doesn't exactly fit this trope, he may as well.
• The Dreaded: While not to the extent of Elder Kwon, Dae-San's very presence has inspired fear in his opponents both times he's gotten into a fight.
• Facepalm Of Doom: He can punch holes in a man's skull just by grabbing his head and forcing his fingers inward.
• Meaningful Name: His name essentially means "Big Mountain," and he is massive and pretty much unmovable.
• Punched Across the Room: It happens any time he punches someone, really.
• Red Baron: The Immovable Steel Wall.
• The Stoic: He's always calm, even in battle.
• Sunglasses at Night: He's always wearing his shades.
• Super-Strength: He's amazingly strong.

Elder Jae-Kyu Kwon

One of the top elders of the Sun-Woo Clan, he is considered second only to the Clan head within the ranks of the Sun-Woo but has enough power that if he wanted he could form his own clan.

• Berserk Button: Do NOT threaten, look down on, or even possibly endanger the Sun-Woo Clan when he is around.
  • After his Heel–Face Turn, hurting Jin-Ie.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Few outside those close to him realize what a bastard he can be.
  • Even after he Took a Level in Kindness, most that knew his true nature are still unable to believe he has changed.
• Cool Old Guy: After his Heel–Face Turn
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Poor S.U.C. mooks
• Death Glare: Ji-Woo Li got one first hand when she tried to run over Jinie.
  • Jung-Chun got his, after he barged in into Sun-Woo HQs, supposedly under Martial Arts Alliance's behalf, and attacked Sun-Woo Clan members.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Initially, towards Shi-Woon and Jin-Ie, until his Heel Realization.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: Chapter 170 reveals he didn't come out unscathed from the bomb S.U.C. planted right before his fight against Jae-Gal, even with this injury he still defeated Jae-Gal but couldn't do so with getting another injury to his arm... just before heading out to challenge Chun Woo directly.
• The Dreaded: Being one of the Ten Murim Grandmasters, he terrifies anybody who knows who recognizes him.
• Dynamic Entry: When rescuing Shi Woon, he jumps off a helicopter.
• Evil Old Folks: He seems to take over this role in New Waves at the start for the former Chief, but he grows out of it.
• Flash Step: To the point of flashing forward about 30 feet, while beating 11 S.U.C. mooks, in the blink of an eye, in what was to him a single step.
• Freudian Excuse: His primary concern is the Sun-Woo Clan, this is in part because when he was younger along with Master Soh, one of the previous heads, they helped raise the clan to be one of the top of Murim world. But Soh sacrificed his life to save him during a battle. When the clan stability was threatened by his daughter, Lady Hyae-Jin, who left for the US and broke the arranged marriage with Soh's son (So-Sul's father), he worked hard to keep the Sun-Woo clan relevant, and thus not very fond that Shi-Woon is considered the new Head of the Sun-Woo Clan thanks to Lady So-Sul.
• Heel Realization: After finding the truth regarding Lady Hyae-Jin, how he blamed everything on her and Jin-Ie; and realizing that Shi-Woon, with a severe handicap, fought against Yong-Hyun Yang because he was protecting a gravely injured Jin-Ie.

• I Have No Son!: Towards Jin-Ie, initially.
• In a Single Bound: When stuck in traffic he decides to just jump over a mountain to get to the location of Shi-Woon's fight.
• Killed Off for Real: At the hands of Chun-Woo.
• Let's You and Him Fight: Shi-Woon and Yong-Hyun
• Lightning Bruiser: He can take out 11 enemies in the blink of an eye, attesting to both his power and his speed, and so far nobody, even when they've managed to actually hit him, has been able to put him out of commission.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": He causes the Murim Special Forces, Jung Lae Won, and Ju Sang Sik to have one of these just by landing on the island... then he starts kicking ass.
• Megaton Punch: Seems to have his own version with the Heaven-Shattering Thunder Strike. We don't get to see exactly what it does, because his opponent retreats, but what we do find out is that dodging the punch means instant death for a master-level fighter. That's right, dodging the punch is lethal.
• Misblamed: He realizes later on that his daughter became a willing scapegoat so that her father would hate her, and not the previous Sun-Woo Head, who was the one who actually called off their arranged marriage, as that would be an even bigger threat to the Sun-Woo clan.
• Old Master: One of the Ten Grandmasters of Murim
• One-Hit Kill: At the cost of taking sword strike through one of his hands, he lands one on Jae-Gal that blows a hole through his head.
• Papa Wolf: After his Heel–Face Turn, he beats 10 shades of blue into the S.U.C. for hurting Jin-Ie and Shi-Woon. He repeatedly shows unwavering, unyielding spirit in the defense of Shi-Woon after accepting him as the Gaju. Thus far, he has threatened, with full intent to back his words up, the government, one of his fellows among the Ten Great Masters, the entire murim world, and Goomoonryong himself. Do NOT fuck with Shi-Woon, Jin-Ie, or the Sunwoo clan. Just don't.
• Pet the Dog: To Shi-Woon!
  Elder Kwon: (To Shi-Woon) You fought well. I'll take it from here.
  • And later to Jin-Ie, when his entire relationship with her becomes much less hostile and much more caring.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: The only thing he seems to love more than giving these is actually following up on them:
  Elder Kwon: (To Ji-Woo Lee) I'll now proceed to school you on exactly who you have dared to touch.
  Elder Kwon: (To Jung-Chun) Who gave you permission to go back as you please?
  Elder Kwon: (To Ju Sang Sik) With the current situation, I'll just have to kill you.
• Punched Across the Room: What he does to some S.U.C. mooks and previously to done to Ha-Il and a while later Jung Chun. Later send Chun Woo flying when he felt he was disrespecting the Sun Woo clan head.
• Sadistic Choice: Gives one of these to Jin-Ie, when he orders her to try to kill Shi-Woon or risk being exiled from the clan.
• Super-Speed: The man can hit so fast it looks like he hasn't even moved but will send most folks flying.
• Take Care of the Kids: Tells Shi-Woon to take care of Jinie.
• Thanatos Gambit: Multiple masters and elders after realizing the potential of Shi-Woon and his good spirit sought to break his loyalty to Chun-Woo knowing that Shi-Woon would forever be tied to the villain that is his master. Elder Kwon at first didn't care or even have an opinion on it, but when he saw how Shi-Woon was willing to allow Chun-Woo's destruction to go unpunished,he realized just how devoted Shi-Woon is to Chun-Woo and knew how disastrous it would be for Shi-Woon if he was forever tied to Chun-Woo. So he purposely did not follow the Gaiju's order to stop fighting Chun-Woo and when the climatic final clash of the two came, Kwon intentionally powered down at the last second knowing that he would be killed in the clash expecting Shi-Woon to finally break his tie to Chun-Woo. He knew that without him or someone of his prestige, the Sun-Woo clan would perish. So the moment Jinie came to the Sun-Woo clan, he secretly began teaching her his personal techniques under the guise that she has been learning general martial arts for 12 years. In case he died before he could finish the training, he left Jinie a book of his secret techniques so she could finish it on her own and Sun-Woo still has someone as capable as Elder Kwon.
• Tsundere: Well, now we know where Jin-Ie gets it from.
• Undying Loyalty: His loyalty to the former Clan head effectively determined all of his actions afterword. After he transfers his loyalty to Shi-Woon, he's willing to go to incredibly extreme lengths to protect him, including many actions that effectively threaten war with the Murim Alliance. When it's discovered that Shi-Woon lost an honorable (if manipulative) bet that effectively allowed the Alliance to kidnap him away from the Clan if he lost it, he comes up with a simplistic, if brutal solution: kill every single person in the area so that no one would be left alive to prove that the bet was made at all.
• World's Strongest Man: A contender for the title, Elder Kwon is considered the second strongest of the Ten Great Masters of the Murim. In chapter 145, he effortlessly flings Chun-Woo away after intercepting a punch meant for Shi-Woon, and threatened to kill him there on the spot, marking him as the only person thus far to face down Goomoonryong without a handicap, aside from Kang-Sung. Chapter 187 shows that even while injured Elder Kwon is able to keep up with Chun Woo for a little bit. With their exchanges in the fight being so powerful, they literally knock back the other younger murim in the area and are at times impossible for some of the others to even keep track of.

Elder Jang-Il Jeong

One of the Elders of the Sun-Woo Clan.

• Big Damn Heroes: Catches Shi-Woon when he jumps off the roof to evade the S.U.C. captains and later brings Shi-Woon out of Black Origin Threshold before when it looked like he was going completely over the edge.

• Character Development: Goes from being dismissive of Shi-Woon with the rest of the elders to sacrificing himself to save his life. His last thoughts are happiness that they met.

• Heroic Sacrifice: Protects Shi-Woon from a nearby bomb with his body. Like a boss. His heart had stopped by the time anyone came to help them. He comes back anyway, to snap Shi-Woon out of his Heroic RRoD only to die using the last of the strength that was keeping him barely alive to heal Shi-Woon's injuries.
• Hot-Blooded: Among the Sun Woo Elders.
• Killed Off for Real: Gets a Really Dead Montage in chapter 108.

• Small Role, Big Impact: While he's not a minor character per se, he fades into the background in the middle of the story. But when it came time for his Heroic Sacrifice, his death really put a mark on Shi-Woon, leading the latter to take his role as Gaju of the Sunwoo Clan seriously.
• Taking the Bullet / Jumping on a Grenade: Shields Shi-Woon from an explosion.
• Training from Hell: Tries to give one to Shi-Woon. It backfires, hilariously.
• The Worf Effect: Against Jung-Chun

The Government

Jung Lae Won

A government agent with ties to some of Murim clans, secretly working with Martial Arts Alliance and the Black Forest groups on behalf of the government in Part 1. He is also leader for a Special Ops that deals with Murim activity for the government.

• An Arm and a Leg: His martial arts specialty is to amputate people's limbs mid-fight.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Doesn't flinch when confronted with a pissed off Chun-Woo.
• Chekhov's Gunman: His name is mentioned two maybe three times but he appears throughout Part 1. He is a catalyst for a lot Hyun Tae's obsession with revenge against Chun-Woo and was the one that shot a wounded Shi-Ho (on behalf of the Kaiser) with a sniper rifle while everyone was distracted causing her to bleed out and push Chun-Woo's Unstoppable Rage at the end of Part 1.
• Defiant to the End: Rejects his corrupt superior's offer of recruitment even while he is trapped in said superior's death grip. Fortunately for him, Shi-Woon recovers in time to save him.
• Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: At first presented as a murim and government liason at the conference announcing Chun-Woo being on the loose. Then revealed to actually be working for the Martial Arts Alliance Chief. Then shown to be working for the Kaiser and it isn't until New Waves that it is shown that he was literally working on behalf of orders from the government the entire time... so far. It gets uncertain as to what exactly are his motivations until late into New Waves which sort of justify his actions up until that point. He wants to bring down the Murim Society or at least humble it to the realm of normal human Law and Order as he is tired of the disregard of Murim Society have for public safety and affairs. The fact that we later find out his superior was Evil All Along makes the waters even more murkier.
• Evil Is Petty: He tries to undermine Kang-Sung's attempts to make Shi-Woon the new leader of the Alliance mostly because he just doesn't like Shi-Woon. His superior in the government even calls him out on it.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Only a few moments in the Kim Soon Lee side story where he actually shows seemingly genuine concern for others and it not be part of a gambit.
• Hero Killer: He did snipe Shiho at the end of the first part.
  • Spear Carrier: Leads to him triggering Chun-Woo's berserker rage.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Does this all day.
  • He constantly assumes that Shi-Woon is an unpredictable element in his plans and is a danger to Murim society when Shi-Woon is the one person that wants to keep Murim and normal human beings divided for the sake of balance and order. He also keeps thinking that Shi-Woon is just a puppet of the Sun Woo clan. For some reason, he keeps trying to undermine Shi-Woon even going so far to tell other clans of Shi-Woon's sudden promotion to head of the alliance for seemingly not wanting to take orders from him.
  • He also does this with the Sun Woo clan as well. He assumes that the Gaju of the clan is merely a puppet of the Sun Woo elders when on the contrary, the elders are merely advisors at least until the Gaju is old enough or is experienced in decision making. He misinterprets certain actions as the Sun Woo treating the Gaju as bait(when in fact that the Sun Woo wanted to protect Shi Woon from all danger and were not privy to Shi Woon's and Sera's plan to draw out the SUC). He also keeps harping on the fact that the Sun Woo are wild and rampant and constantly need to be tamed when the only reason the Sun Woo are this way is because the Gaju of the Sun Woo clan,past and present, have a history of being killed if not outright messed with by other clans hence their reluctance to join an alliance with them.
• Manipulative Bastard: Plays Hyun Tae into going after Chun-Woo including leaving his gun where Hyun Tae could get it and provides Chun-Woo information and goading that leads to the climatic confrontation at the Martial Arts Alliance HQ that was meant to be a trap.
  • He quickly starts spreading rumors about Shi-Woon to the other clans in order to undermine Kang-Sung's attempt to set up Shi-Woon as being a potential leader for the Martial Arts Alliance.
• The Men in Black: Different in that he comes off as pretty personal.
• Mr. Exposition: He either provides or signals someone else explaining details of something related to the plot in most appearances.
• Not So Stoic: After he finally realizes Shi-Woon broke his fingers in the middle of the fight.
• Out-Gambitted: His plan to stop Chun-Woo with the police, including police snipers, might have worked if Chun-Woo's followers hadn't already infiltrated the police. Said snipers are actually loyal to Chun-Woo and immediately open fire on Jung.
• Out of Focus: For most of New Waves like many characters that debuted in Part 1.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: One of his trademarks.
• Walking Spoiler: Can't talk too much about his roles in most arcs without spoiling something from before.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He really does want to protect the people of Seoul. The reason he hates the Murim so much is because he believes most of them abuse their power at the expense of ordinary civilians. He is horrified when he discovers that his own superiors in the government are even worse than the Murim in this regard.
• Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: After getting knocked back and realizing that Shi-Woon is expelling the same aura as Chun-Woo. Happens again when he realizes that Shi-Woon broke all of his fingers.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: In New Waves he just misinterprets everything. Forget underestimating Shi-Woon, since everyone under the sun does that, but he assumed in chapter 146 that Goomoonryong was afraid of the police. Really, guy?

Murim Special Forces

A group of soldiers under government control trained to handle murim. Jung Lae Won currently is one of their superiors.

• Counter-Attack: One of their main techniques is to, early in the fight, bait their opponent into attacking before then using one of their powerful grappling techniques to break the limb their opponent tried to attack them with. In two separate encounters, both Chun-Woo and Shi-Woon have proven capable of breaking out of it.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: They were on the receiving end of one of these, courtesy of Shi-woon.
• Oh, Crap!: Getting one of their members hurled right into the face of the squad leader after a failed counterattack leads the rest of the team to this.
• Redshirt Army: At least this is what the majority of them became when they tried to take down Shi-Woon.

Lee Kim-soon

Special Agent and subordinate to Jung Lae Won. Temperamentally and recklessly wants to be recognized for her skill, but always comes up short.

• Berserk Button: Does not like people who reference her exceptionally large breasts and is just insecure about them entirely.
• D-Cup Distress: She does not like her breasts and is annoyed with how huge they are and the references to them. In one chapter she says she plans on using her bonus pay to get breast reduction surgery.
• The Ditz: Is not exactly the brightest bulb.
• Hero of Another Story: Had a mini-arc in the story where she was assigned to capture a man who leeches off of beautiful young women.
• Honey Trap: Her good looks and large breasts are why she was selected as bait for a killer of young women.
• Idiot Hero: Much to the dismay of Lae Won, she is too laidback and casual. She missed crucial details of a briefing such as who was the target of the operation.
• Kick Chick: Deconstructed. The Fence High style incorporates a lot of high kicks, but as Lae Won points out, it is impractical because of how predictable it is and can be easily countered in direct confrontations. It doesn't help that she doesn't utilize the full arsenal of the style because she is afraid of her breasts shaking.
• Ms. Fanservice: Wears short skirts, high-heels, and has ridiculously huge... assets.

Others

The New Waves

Young Murim upstarts that have become disillusioned with the traditional ways of the Alliance and Clans.

Ji-Gun Yoo

First seen in New Waves. He appears to be a new transfer student at Shi-Woon's school, but in actuality is a murim prodigy involved in a plot against Shi-Woon.

• Badass Crew: he's trying to set one up in order to oppose S.U.C. It appears that he succeeds at the end of New Wabes
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • He arrives just in time on his bike to save Jin-Ie and Shi-Woon from a large group of S.U.C. mooks.
  • Pulls another one when he recruits a bunch of the top Murim disciples to Shi-Woon's cause and attack S.U.C.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Subverted. He's first introduced as a polite, nice guy who befriends Sae-He. Then it seems like he only made friends with Sae-He so he could threaten her and use her as bait for Shi-Woon. But once the miscommunication between him and Shi-Woon was cleared up he turned out to be a genuinely nice guy after all.

• Defeat Means Friendship: In the most recent chapters, he and Shi-Woon have teamed up temporarily in order to fight S.U.C. He's now a full-fledged, if independent, ally of Shi-Woon's and formed an alliance between young upstarts and the Alliance.
• Defector from Decadence: Ji-Gun was once a part of the early S.U.C., until the new leader took command and reformed it into the current incarnation.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap / Worf Had the Flu: The reason why he can't fight Yong-Hyun Yang at full strength is because he seriously injured his shoulder when Yong-Hyun rammed them with his Porsche. It turns out he can only do martial arts for 30 minutes
• Finger Poke of Doom: One of his moves.
• Good All Along: It is revealed later on that the only reason he was trying to kill Shi-Woon is because he thought Shi-Woon was a member of S.U.C. After he finds out that this is not the case, he acts far less antagonistic and has even teamed up with him in recent chapters.
• Jerkass: Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's played off as an asshole villain near the beginning, but recent chapters have shown that he is a lot nicer than earlier hinted. For example, one of the main reasons he is opposing S.U.C. is because he cannot stand how they are involving innocents in the world of the Murim.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: An astounding fighter unarmed, but he's actually a swordsman who just happens to using his finger in place of a blade.

• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Apparently, how he defeated Ji-Woo Lee, although it seems he didn't come out unscathed.

• Pet the Dog: Helps Jin-Ie go into hiding, and later on saves both her and Shi-Woon from an army of mooks.
• Pretty Boy: Has a lot of fangirls at Shi-Woon's school.
• Taking the Bullet: Taking Yong-Hyun Yang's attack that was aimed at Shi-Woon. It seems he has a habit of taking attacks meant for Shi-Woon as he also took Ryu-Ji's attack.
• They Call Him "Sword": Also known as the Smiling Sword.
• Weak, but Skilled: He apparently has a physical condition that allows him to only fight seriously for no more than 30 minutes
• Whip Sword: When serious, he has a retractable sword he usually keeps wrapped around his wrist that is flexible enough to be used as a short-range whip at times.

Sera Kang

Also makes her debut in New Waves. The granddaughter of the principal of Shi-Woon's school and head of the Mil-Yang, she is apparently tasked with avenging her grandfather's death. She is also the head of the Mil-Yang clan due to her grandfather's death. A very skilled martial artist.

• A Child Shall Lead Them: Subverted. Her clan is not at all okay with Sera being the head of the Mil-Yang clan or even before, the heir. This is why she gained a stoic attitude and the ability to read people when she was a child. She flat-out doesn't trust anybody and assumes they have an agenda.
• Action Girl: Is capable of curbstomping Jin-Ie even while in a hanbeok (very restrictive traditional Korean dress).

• Battle of Wits: Loves these and sees them as games.
• Batman Gambit: Her favorite type of ploy. She thinks of it as gambling.
• Broken Bird: This Page.
• Blood from the Mouth: After getting stabbed by Sung-Jae.
• Cool Big Sis: To Shi-Woon, despite being close if not the same age.

• Covert Pervert: Well, she does somewhat casually speak of wearing Naked Apron, and that teacher outfit? Totally unnecessary, but she did it anyways.
  • What makes it sound like she is suggesting something to Shi-Woon is that she specifically says to him that she owes the Sun-Woo Clan her life and she would run around and wear nothing but an apron if they asked. Now Shi-Woon is the head of the Sun-Woo Clan.
  • Then there was her giving Shi-Woon a pill mouth to mouth.
• Deadpan Snarker: Seems to be either this or an Emotionless Girl. Her expression has never deviated far from that blank stare, even when telling Shi-Woon that she would run around in only an apron if the Sun-Woo Clan wanted her to.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She does appear in a short scene in The Breaker where the alliance was probing out Shi-Woon as a way to try to get at Chun Woo. It involved a tea ceremony and sedatives.
• Emotionless Girl/The Stoic: Jin-Ie calls her that to her face, albeit with harsher language.
  • Not So Stoic: See Hopeless Suitor. Turns out that her Stoicism is a product of having to hide her emotions so she could not be exploited by those whom either wanted her dead or removed from her station. So she suppressed emotions so she would not have a "tell" while being really good at reading people.
• Fanservice Cover: Features frequently in these along with Jin-ie.
• Fatal Flaw: Her shrewdness while it works in her plans often has people not trusting her. In while it does not cause her much harm, it does become an obstacle in building interpersonal relationship with people who she wants to trust her like Shi-Woon and the Sun Woo Clan elders. For example, feeling the need to not tell Shi-Woon things that he would really would want to know(His mother being hospitalized, the terrorist attack by SUC) and lie to him for his benefit has had near devastating consequences. This is why she is quick to relent to Jini's point that Shi-Woon should not be kept out of the loop of events in spite of whatever insane development he is going through.
• First Girl Wins: How she feels about Jini and Shi-Woon. This is besides the point because Jini is technically the third girl and she probably does not know the extent of Sosul's feelings towards Shi-Woon(considering who Sera is, she probably guessed that there had to be some romantic feelings).
• Heir to the Dojo
• Hopeless Suitor: She pretty much sees herself at this. She feels like she betrayed Shi-Woon by lying to him about the condition of his mother in order to keep him from leaving. When Shi-Woon goes to the doctor to find pills that gave him the ability to do Martial Arts instead of her, she attributes this to him not trusting her.
• Hot Teacher: When she tries to explain the nature of the Murim society to Shi-Woon. Technically more of a Sexy Mentor, but given the her position at the school along with the last page from Chapter 37 she should count.

• Lady of War: She's incredibly graceful and composed, both in and outside of combat.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Not quite as much as So-Chun Hyuk though but she grew distrustful of nearly everyone and forced herself to mature mentally in order to survive being a clan heir.
• Luminescent Blush: Gets hit with it twice after she wakes up in the hospital. She even ducked under the covers to hide her face from Shi-Woon.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: In The Breaker, she drugs Shi-Woon and threatens to throw him off a very tall structure while telling him that she planned to make it look like a suicide since she knew about Chang-Ho's little gang and their activities. Amazingly Shi-Woon doesn't hold a grudge.
• Manipulative Bitch: She can be this when needed and she's one of the good guys.
  • The Chessmaster: Even lampshaded during the conversation she has with Ha-Il in chapter 83.
  • Guile Hero: Though a potent fighter, her primary contribution to Shi-Woon is coming up with excellent solutions to problems very, very quickly.
  • Ever since it was revealed that Shi-Woon was not apart of the SUC and the Sun Woon clan certified her position as head, she has been playing three end games at the same time: the demise of the SUC in Seoul, the making of Shi Woon as the legitimate Gaju, and turning her Hopeless Suitor status into not-so-hopeless. Anything that involves those three goals, she seems to know or at least have intel about. There little to nothing that Sera does not know about or does not have the ability to obtain or exploit.
    • For example, her individual ploy to rescue Shi Woon from the creepy doctor that had been giving Shi-Woon pills that would allow him to do Martial Arts. As far back as issue 37, she had the Doctor followed before it was even revealed that he was a bad guy just to see who he was and who he was affiliated with. She found out that he was somehow affiliated with the Ilwilmoon, the greatest medical clan in Murim and creator of the medicine that gave Shi-Woon his enormous ki. Curious, she had someone look into the exact nature of the relationship and found that there have been illegal dealing between the two. So she surmised that the Ilwilwoon clan had no idea or at least did not want those illegal dealings to be known and whatever was being dealt had something to do with Shi-Woon since he had gone missing. It worked out in her favor in three ways: Shi-Woon could possibly get the best treatment to repair his ki center as it was that clan that created the source of his ki thus legitimately securing the legitimacy of his claim as Gaju, the SUC would be vulnerable since the attack would have made them definitely an enemy of one or more powerful clans, and finally, since it succeeded,Sera can now put herself in good favor of not just Shi-Woon, who was mildly mad at her for not telling him about the condition of his mom at the time, but the Sun Woo clan as well. She even calculates who she gives her personal story to, Ha-Il, the apparent father figure of her rival for Shi-Woon's heart, Jin-Ie.
    Ha-Il: Everything that you've done so far feels like you have been following a carefully scripted plan. Could it be that you already planned out all of this as well?
    Sera: You could say that, to a certain extent.
• Not So Stoic: Yes, she can blush. Especially when she found out that Shi-woon was actually paying attention to her Anguished Declaration of Love, that she didn't think he heard.
• No Sense of Personal Space: A mild example, as both Jin-Ie and Shi-Woon can attest to
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Has this dyanmic with Jin-ie, though it's subtle. She's cool-headed where Jin-ie flies off the handle easily, more cerebral where Jin-ie would really just hit problems until they're solved, and wears more conservative clothing then Jin-ie's usual punk-biker girl chosen attire. The only thing they have in common is that they're both in love with Shi-Woon and being told to get him hurt egregiously or assassinate him.
  • Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Jinie's Betty.
• Sexy Secretary: Looks to be shaping up to become this to Shi-Woon, complete with glasses. Although it is more that she is a sexy principal as she is technically filling in the position for her deceased Grandfather.

• The Unfunny: Sera has a couple of panels here and there where she's chibi-fied, usually when she's cornered people with her wits. It's meant to be funny, and it is—because even chibi-fied, Sera keeps her stoic expression and Empty Eyes.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the girly girl to Jin-Ie's tomboy. Sera is the elegant Lady of War while Jin-Ie is the rough, abrasive brawler. Jin-Ie even tends to wear shorts, while Sera prefers skirts.
• Waif-Fu: She's quite slender, but is also a master level martial artist that can kick your ass.

Pia Nim

Sera's and Ji-Gun's resident hacker and tech specialist.

S.U.C.

A group introduced in New Waves, Soldiers Under Command (S.U.C.), are a group composed of Goonmoonryung's Disciples primarily made of Murim and some non-Murim, that are seeking to subvert Murim traditions and have taken a radical and violent approach to it.

The Masked Man Jae-Gal Un

The person that seems to be in charge of the Five Captains of S.U.C. His real identity is that of So-Chun Hyuk's personal assistant and a member of the Heavenly Way School.

• Apparently Powerless Puppetmaster: His interactions with Jung Chun and other members of the S.U.C. imply that while Jung was the face, he was manipulating the situation the entire time for his own ends.

• Malevolent Masked Men: To hide his identity and later to hide the hole that Elder Kwon left in his head when they last fought at the end of New Waves.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Top hat and cane.

• The Mole: He's working under So-Chun Hyuk as his assistant, while at the same time is a working with the S.U.C. Also turns out to be working for the Kaiser as well.
• Spotting the Thread: Elder Kwon figures his real identity when he uses a technique only two people in Chun-Do-Moon would know. So-Chun Hyuk and Jae-Gal himself.

Ji-Woo Lee

One of the first of the Five Captains of S.U.C. introduced. Has a Hair-Trigger Temper and is something of a non-magical Vain Sorceress, who was actually appointed to her position late due to a loss to Ji-Gun Yoo and is still upset about the issue.

• Cool Car: She drives herself around in what seems to be a Morgan roadster.
• Combat Stilettos: Well, she wears them in combat, but her specialty is weapons.

• Determinator: For good or ill, Ji-Woo Lee does NOT give up.
• Disproportionate Retribution: She wants Jin-Ie dead for hitting her in the face.
  • Or strangling Shi-Woon on the spot, for managing to rescue Jin-Ie.
  • Now she wants to kill them both after they saw her face after she suffered a serious facial injury.

• Even Evil Has Standards: She may be the cruelest and most brutal member of the SUC, but she draws the line at terrorism and bomb attacks.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: After her Heel–Face Turn, she drops the Twintails, so she lets her hair down, she keeps the Regal Ringlets though.
• The Fighting Narcissist: Oh so very much, to the point she actually had a breakdown once the makeup that is covering a significant facial injury is scrapped off.

• Heel–Face Turn: Goes and warns Ji-Gun that his base has been found, and thus, that he's in danger.

• In-Series Nickname: "Dark Princess" or "Black Princess"
• Kick the Dog: She murders Jin-Ie's cat for no real reason. She didn't even know who Jin-Ie was, so it wasn't even an attempt to get at her. It was just pointless cruelty.
• Luminescent Blush: When she meets up with Ji-Gun in order to warn him.
• Oh, Crap!: Faced with Elder Kwon, after his Heel–Face Turn, and he was not happy at all that S.U.C. hurt Jin-Ie.

• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Yong-Hyun's Blue
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Ji-Gun doesn't recognize her at first without all the crazy gothic lolita and make up on; and she's still really pretty even when looking unkempt.
• Sinister Scythe: A Kusarigama to be precise.

• Spell My Name With An S: Li-Ji-Oo and Li Jioo have been used by scanlators.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: She stops Ha-ru from finishing off Ji-Gun, saying only she should defeat him.

• Villainous Breakdown: She suffers one after getting her make-up scraped off one of her cheeks, at the hands er... heels of Jin-Ie. Turns out she has an old cross-shaped scar and the makeup was hiding it. She freaked out because she's ashamed of the scar and normally hides it with make-up; she didn't want anyone to see her "real face".

Yong-Hyun Yang

One of the first of the Five Captains of S.U.C. introduced. Made plans to capture/introduce Shi-Woon to the S.U.C., because of orders to do so but would just as soon kill him as well.

• All Love Is Unrequited: The reason why he's more loyal to Ji-Woo than S.U.C. itself.
• Car Fu: A rare villainous example.
• Cool Car: He drives a Porsche.

• Diabolus ex Machina: His first meeting with Shi-Woon, after it was clear Chang Ho was not strong enough to beat Shi-Woon, he takes over the fight and orders for the remaining S.U.C members to 'greet' the law enforcement that was on the way, ruining Shi-Woon's plan to stall for their arrival.
  • After Shi-Woon, Jin-Ie and Ji-Gun are escaping on Ji-Gun's bike. See Car Fu.

• Graceful Loser: After a bit of disbelief, he accepts his defeat and keeps the promise he made to Shi-Woon before their fight.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Of Ji-Gun. In hindsight, this makes sense as it seemed wildly out of character to what extent he was willing to help Ji-Woo with her revenge on Jinie in spite of all the destruction, she caused. He has a thing for her and sees Ji-Gun as an obstacle of her affections.

• Hopeless Boss Fight: Proves to be this to Shi-Woon during their first encounter after the defeat of the returned Chang-Ho.
• I Gave My Word/Pet the Dog: Shi-Woon beats him and as agreed, he commands the S.U.C. to let them pass.
• In-Series Nickname: "Cool Guy."

• Only Sane Man: Among the other captains, he is the only one that questions Goonmoonryung's demand that they present control of Seoul to him before he joins up with them as something they should even try to undertake.

• Pride Before a Fall: He is winning the first serious fight quite handedly, but his defeat comes when he underestimates Shi-Woon's actual speed and power while trying to deliver what was supposed to be the Coup de Grâce.

• It happens yet again in their second serious fight, when it seems he's getting the upper hand; he ends up with his arm broken and his ego more than bruised, but at the end he's rather graceful about it, all things considered.

• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Ji-Woo's Red

• The Atoner: At the end of New Waves, Ji-Gun Yoo tells him that if he really wants to make up for killing his comrades, he must now join him and live for their lives. He accepts.

• Wild Card: Knows about Ji-Wo Lee's defiance to S.U.C. and implies that he'll back her up if needed be.

Ha-ru

Also known as Chunmyungrang, lit. Thousand Faces, and one of the Five Captains of S.U.C., spearheads the original operation to infiltrate Shi-Woon's school to get to him.

• Diabolus ex Machina:
  • Her pretending to be Sae-Hee, throws Shi-Woon's plans for waiting out the attack in a safe zone (along with Jin-Ie) off the roof itself.
  • Her use of explosives in the S.U.C. abandoned cars as part of the plan when Sun Woo clan actually arrived at the school.
• The Dragon: But not of Jae-Gal or Jung Chun.
• The Dreaded: One of the few to actually scare Ji-Woo Lee.
• Face Framed in Shadow: First appearance in chapter 61 of New Waves.
• In Love with Your Carnage: After seeing Shi-Woon fight Chun-Woo and the power he possess and despire shivering she lick her lips thinking that it look good, she like it and declare that she will see him again and call him sexy boy.
• In-Series Nickname: "Thousand Faces".
• Master of Disguise: Infiltrates Shi-Woon's school and even for a time disguises herself as Sae-Hee.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The mission was to kill Shi-Woon and if that failed, at least destroy any hope of him learning martial arts. She not only failed at killing him, she technically created the circumstances in which his body re creates himself with a ki center and the ability to perform godly martial arts.
• Oh, Crap!: When Shi-Woon proves to be more than capable in pushing back Ryu-Ji.

• The Strategist: Based off using Chang Ho, she comes up with the initial plan to get at Shi-Woon via his school and Sae-Hee.

Gwong-Young

One of the Five Captains of S.U.C., turns out to be one of Murim's 'Supernovas'.

• Curb-Stomp Battle: He was already starting to lose ground against Ha-il... enter a berserk Shi-woon, who dispatches him in 3 punches when he tried to use him as a means to escape!
  • Ha-il delivers another one to him in the following arc as well when he didn't take things seriously in their fight.

• Face Framed in Shadow: First appearance in chapter 61 of New Waves.
• In-Series Nickname: "Bloody"
• Kick the Dog: He impales Ha-Il's prized hat during their fight.
• Red Baron: As one of the Murim's 'Supernovas' — The Western White Star

Ryu-Ji

One of the Five Captains of S.U.C., the last to appear but turns out to be the strongest of the Captains.

• Barehanded Blade Block: Catches Ji-Gun's sword effortlessly.
• Death Glare: Gives one to Shi-Woon when they first encounter one another that paralyses him in his tracks after he announces his intent to kill him.

• The Dreaded: It seems he's this to all the other captains.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He may be a pissed off Blood Knight with a firm hatred towards the Alliance that got his master killed and led to him being dumped as a student, but he would not stoop to the rampant acts of terrorism that the SUC resorted to.
• Face Framed in Shadow: First appearance in chapter 61 of New Waves.
• Incompletely Trained: Un-Wol didn't complete Ryu-Ji's training before his exile, hence he was unaware of the Black Origin Threshold and he refused to get another master. Instead, he took what info he had from his master's teachings and trained alone for many years.
• In-Series Nickname: "Lone Wolf"
• Lightning Bruiser: Both fast and strong Capable of handling Shi-Woon, in the throws of the Black Origin Threshold, who began to mimick his moves.
  • Genius Bruiser: Extensive knowledge of techniques and strategies to go along with his physical abilities.
• One Degree of Separation: Before his exile by the Alliance, he was the disciple of Un-Wol, Chun Woo's master.
• Rōnin: Refused to get another master outside Un-Wol, so for years he isolated himself and trained alone until some time after Chun-Woo became the Nine-Arts Dragon.
  • It is more that he can't find another master as with Shi-Woon, his body type is made for Black Threshold Martial Arts.
• Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: A few minor one, he's honestly surprised that Shi-Woon is not only alive, but standing after taking his One-Hit Kill In the Back
  • Gets a really big one when Shi-Woon proves more than capable of not only keeping up with him, but actually keeps getting up .

Sung-Jae Bae

A homeless man who lives in a train station. He is known as the "Genius Doctor" for his incredibly skilled medical expertise. He's actually has been selling Super Serum to the S.U.C.

• Bald of Evil: Christ almighty, SO MUCH!!! Apparently he's possibly the last surviving member of the notorious Blood and Bone Society, an entire sect of the murim who use forbidden medical secrets to literally weaponize Body Horror.]]
• Combat Pragmatist: Turn off the lights and stab them until they die.
• Crazy Homeless People: Normal most of the time and has many powerful connections that you wonder why he lives in a box to begin with, but he has his moments where the crazy vibe really shows.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: At the receiving end, after pissing off Shi-Woon.
• Disney Death: Although we're never explicitly told he died. Which in later chapters reveals he hasn't.
• Expy: Looks a lot like a scruffy Chun-Woo with his hair down and wearing a hat. When the hat and wig are removed he in fact looks similar to Riddick, including his signature eyes!.

• Good Scars, Evil Scars: His scalp, OH GOD!!.
• I'm a Humanitarian: A large number of his medicines are made from human body parts. He also attempts to harvest Shi-Woon's body for "high-quality ingredients."
• Killed Off for Real: So-sul kills him for hurting Shi-Woon to get the blood to cure her.
• Mad Doctor:
• Manipulative Bastard: After Shi-Woon's fight with Yong-Hyun, he subtly encouraged him by showing off how dangerous the S.U.C. were and not long after that fostered Shi-Woon's rage for the group in hopes to get his dependence on the Super Serum by brutally attacking his mother.

• Mugging the Monster: News flash: Just because you can beat up on Shi-Woon, doesn't mean you should.
• Night-Vision Goggles: Due to his school's secret arts, he has this ability.
• Playing with Syringes: Comes with the territory when you're a mad scientist.

• Too Dumbto Live: He's a very intelligent and talented doctor, but he's not very wise.
  • He insulted Shi-Woon in front of [[spoiler: So-sul, who cares deeply for him. This is ultimately what gets him killed.
  • He kidnaps Shi-Woon and holds him captive in order to use his body to create more super serum, the main ingredient of which is blood. He has little to gain and much more to loose from draining Shi-Woon to death instead of keeping him as a constant supply of blood.

Other Non-Murim Characters

Sae-Hee

Shi-Woon's initial Love Interest, who genuinely cares for him. She is a very kind person, albeit a little naive.

• Breast Expansion: Her breasts have grown slightly bigger in New Waves.

• Horrible Judge of Character: She thinks Chang-Ho really does want to be friends with Shi-Woon. And now she's hanging out with Ji-Gun Yoo.
  • Turns out she was right about Ji-Gun (though not entirely as at that point he did want to kill Shi-Woon). If anything, it was just a misunderstanding.
• Implied Love Interest: She is often referred to as Shi-woon's girlfriend (which he doesn't correct), but nothing has been shown by either of them to confirm they are in fact in a relationship. At this point its easy to assume that they mean female friend rather than girlfriend.

• The Obstructive Love Interest: Which is odd because she was the first girl Shi-Woon showed interest in remotely. She is not even that much of an obstruction as both Sera and Jinie consider eachother rivals for Shi-Woon's affection. Sae-Hee rarely is mentioned or is hardly a concern.

• Out of Focus: She hasn't been seen for a good portion of New Waves (until a cameo in chapter 84 and a long-awated return in chapter 87), and Shi-Woon thinks more often about Jin-Ie and her well-being than Sae-Hee.
  • To be fair, it's not like she appeared that often in the first series to begin with.
• Put on a Bus: For her own safety, she relocated away from Shi-Woon and completely changed her identity and contact information between New Waves and Eternal Force. Shi-Woon has expressed interest in finding her again once the whole Chun-Woo situation has been resolved.
• Satellite Love Interest: Pretty much seems to exist to just be a potential love interest to Shi-Woon. However in New Waves she had hardly made an appearance since the beginning with more focus towards Jin-Ie. That is, until chapter 87 when Shi-Woon returns to school.
  • Turns out that her appearance and all of the sudden plot refocus was a fake out. If anything, the entire arc only showed how irrelevant of a character Sae-Hee is.
• School Idol: Some other students describe her as the prettiest girl in her grade.

Chang-Ho

A student attending Shi-Woon's school who frequently beats him up. Has SEVERE attitude problems. Between Part 1 and New Waves, he joins up with the S.U.C.

• Attempted Rape: He starts by ordering Shi-Woon to bring Sae Hee to him. When Shi-Woon refuses, getting beat up for doing so, he turns to having his gang grab her off a street corner and drag her into a covered garage where they start ripping off her clothes. Even after Shi-Woon shows up and shatters a concrete pillar with his fists, they still don't see anything wrong with their behavior.

• Beta Test Baddie: Seems to be why he's obsessed with beating Shi-Woon.

• Big Bad Wannabe: So much. So. VERY. MUCH.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Only the authorities and Sae-Hee fall for it, though.

• Curb-Stomp Battle: Winds up on the stomped side of these whenever he messes with Shi-Woon after Shi-Woon has been taught to fight.

• Determinator: No matter how many times Shi-Woon beats him, Chango-Ho refuses to leave him be.
  • Suffers from a violent case of Blood from the Mouth in chapter 97 as he is undergoing a Super-Power Meltdown in the middle of his fight with Shi-Woon... he still kept going.
• Elite Mook: Even after joining SUC and gaining access to ki and martial arts abilities, this is pretty much all he amounts to.
• Entitled Bastard: He believes it's his god-given right to both brutally abuse Shi-woon and rape Sae Hee.
• Flat Character: Seems to have literally nothing better to do than pick fights with Shi-Woon.
• Gonk: A little bit, not as bad as Mun-Gi though.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Chang-Ho seems to have nothing else to live for besides beating Shi-Woon up. Naturally, this bites him in the ass when Shi-Woon finally decides he's had enough.
• Karma Houdini: In a sane universe, he'd be in maximum security prison, considering the fact that he attempted to gang-rape Sae Hee in a pubic covered garage, went after Shi-Woon with a weapon, repeatedly, in a public school setting, before numerous witnesses (the other members of the SUC wore masks), and has attacked police officers, yet aside from a self-inflicted Phlebotinum Overload, and losing a few teeth the first time Shi-Woon fought back, he's received no other form of on-screen punishment. Fans wonder what it's going to take to make him go away.

• Mugging the Monster: Again, he wants to beat up Shi-Woon.
  • Bullying a Dragon: And decides to keep trying after Shi-Woon breaks his weapon and a concrete pillar
• Phlebotinum Overload: After letting himself believe that he's 9-arts-dragon's "true disciple," (thanks to the lies of "thousand faces") he takes a dangerous drug, and actually does well against Shi-woon for a while... Then starts coughing up blood, crying Tears of Blood, and having his veins swell like they're ready to explode. The audience found this extremely satisfying and were dismayed when Shi-Woon rendered him unconscious to keep him from killing himself through suicidal stupidity and arrogance.
• Put on a Bus: Has been "suspended" for an indefinite period of time.

• Recurring Boss: Shi-Woon has a lot of fights with this guy. As the story goes on he becomes less threatening, though.
• Psycho Serum: Given to him by the S.U.C. allowing him to use murim techniques similar to Shi-Woon in Part 1... but over exposure leads to Super-Power Meltdown in chapter 97 of New Waves.
• Took a Level in Badass: He learned Murim techniques due to the S.U.C. and their Psycho Serum but it didn't help him much though against Shi-Woon.
• Redemption Rejection: No matter how many times other characters, specifically Shi-Woon, reach out to him, he absolutely refuses to stop his delinquent, thuggish behavior and start acting like a human being, as opposed to like a rabid dog that needs to be put down. In fact, he insists Shi-Woon put him down every time they meet, and gets mad when Shi-Woon does.
• Ungrateful Bastard: His response to Hyuk saving his life from Shi-Woon's ki-charged punch is to attack Hyuk. Hyuk reacts accordingly.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After his Phlebotinum Overload, at the school where he and Shi-Woon used to attend, he has simply disappeared. No word of his fate has been mentioned by any character. Still, the options are not promising for him, as previous S.U.C. mooks under similar conditions have wound up dead as a direct result of complications from the super-serum they took.
• Would Hit a Girl: After the events of The Breaker, and getting trounced in New Waves by a Shi-Woon with a broken Ki-center, despite having been trained by the S.U.C., he goes after what he thinks is Sae Hee with a baseball bat in the school infirmiry.