Create Your Own Solo Leveling Character: A Tarot Guide

Recently, I have been really into Solo Leveling, and I watch it every week with my roommate, who is just as passionate about the show as I am. With the season possibly coming to an end soon—and with the uncertainty of whether a third season is on the horizon—I find myself in a dilemma. I want to see what happens next, but I promised my roommate that I wouldn’t. So, to satisfy my Solo Leveling fix, I thought it would be fun to create a character, imagining them as someone who lives and works as a hunter in that universe.


The Reading

For this character reading, I used three decks:

  • Heavenly Bloom by Noa Ikeda: Used for backstory details.
  • Dark Mirror by Laura Sava: I pulled two cards for this deck, keeping the reading simple.
  • The Citadel – A Fantasy Oracle by Fez Ink Wright: Used for personality traits (again, only two cards).

If you create a character using this reading, please let me know how it turned out and what kind of character you came up with!

To help determine the rank of our hunter character, I used this wheel spinner randomizer to ensure unbiased selection (and to avoid always picking an S rank). This spinner can also be handy for ranking monsters by assigning difficulty ratings for your heroes to fight. When I spun the wheel, I landed on an E rank hunter, opening up a world of possibilities. This allows us to explore interesting support characters—ones who might not be throwing out those fancy moves like Jin Woo or the high-rank hunters.


Their Personality

Now that we have our rank for this character, let’s look at the cards and see what inspiration we can pull from them for this character. Starting with The Citadel oracle deck, I pulled The Walker and The Waker.

The Walker

The Walker card talks about the unknowns and a journey. Looking at this card, one thing to note is the earth symbol on the bottom of the card, which we will come back to in a moment. Other than that, and the keywords that we see on the card, what does it mean? This card speaks to how this journey is started by some sort of regret and sadness, as one seeks answers. Now, to the symbol at the bottom of the card: Earth. When we think in terms of personality, earth reflects someone who is loyal, grounded, practical, responsible, and finally, someone who has a strong work ethic.

The Waker

The Waker speaks about being aware of what is going on around us and to be observant. This card also advises being inquisitive, asking questions, and trusting your own intuition and gut instincts. It sports the fire symbol, so we can assume that this character is a pretty passionate person who can come off as aggressive and angry at times. They are also quite goal-oriented, outgoing, and determined to get what they want.

I would try to fuse these two together to form the character’s personality because it adds complexity and makes them seem like a real person. After all, our personality isn’t just one thing; however, you don’t have to incorporate every aspect if you don’t want to. Take what resonates with you for what you are trying to create and leave the rest.


Character Flaws

Using the Dark Mirror Oracle deck to determine their character flaws (after all, we can’t have a completely perfect character; there would be no room for growth on their journey in your story or world), I drew two cards to provide a major character flaw and a minor one, influencing their actions moving forward in their story.

Fragmentation

This card speaks about how, if we project rage inward amidst confusion, our sense of self and what we know can shatter. This is a confusing state of being because you no longer know what’s what or who you are because of that sense of anger and rage. Once the rage quiets down and you see the shattered pieces before you, you can start to put them back together—maybe not as perfectly as before, but you will be able to.

When I pulled this card, it seemed like a major character flaw, because while the next card could be a major flaw, I felt that this one was more of a reason as to what caused the fragmentation to occur in the first place. This also made more sense as I pulled later cards in the reading for this new character.

Black Flower Fragrance

Black Flower Fragrance speaks about how the world is unfair and that things others have, you can never seem to grasp no matter how hard you try. Your complaints, insecurities, grief, fears, or any aspects that may be considered “forbidden” are valid.

Often, it’s the most potent and meaningful experiences in life that come from subtle, quiet insights. By bringing these darker insights into your awareness, you can open the door to healing and a richness that defies the superficial appearances that can blind us to a better life.


The Backstory

In this section, we will look at the cards that will create the backstory for our character using the Heavenly Bloom tarot deck. With this process, if you want to try this on your own, you can draw as many cards as you need for your backstory. Keep in mind the more cards you pull, the more overwhelming it can feel, as if things won’t align or make sense with the other cards.

While going through this section, the way I have the cards laid out made sense in terms of a progression of events for this character. That being said, move the cards in a way that makes sense to you and the character you have in mind. With that in mind, let’s dive into the backstory and the cards.

The cards are:

  • Reversed King of Laurels (Pentacles)
  • The Devil
  • Reversed Magician
  • Reversed Wheel of Fortune
  • Reversed 3 of Swords

Reversed King of Laurels

This card mentions being someone who has a lot of power, influence, and money—much like any king does. But somewhere along the line, they began to covet more and more, abusing it along the way to get what they want. They once understood the power of money and the responsibility that came with their position. But now, they flaunt their wealth to be seen in a different light, as something important and respected. In the end, they can no longer see the true value of monetary and material things.

Remember what Uncle Ben told us: “With great power comes great responsibility.” At this moment, they seem to have forgotten that message.

The Devil

This card could represent the one on their shoulder, urging them to do all the bad things or give in to vices, making them feel powerless to change. However, they are not as trapped as they might believe, but regardless, even if they could escape the confines they find themselves in, they seem perfectly content in staying put.

Reversed Magician

This card suggests that the material things they have may be clouding their mind, or even that they believe another person or group is trying to trick them—to sabotage them so that they may receive whatever punishment they feel our character deserves.

It is here that I believe these two cards are the root of the backstory, as they play well off each other and provide more information as to why the King of Laurels appeared reversed in this reading. The next card in the reading is where I believe the character feels the weight of everything.

Reversed Wheel of Fortune

Much like its upright position, this card signifies that what goes around comes around, and while there may be some ups and downs, they need to accept that some things are out of their control and focus on what they can control. To me, this screams, “Karma is going to bite you in the butt!” For the character, this could mean that everything they’ve built is starting to unravel because of the actions they took to get to the position they were in and the power they have cultivated.

This also sounds like the start of the card we got in the character flaws, Black Flower Fragrance, where they feel that the world is unfair because things are crumbling down around them, and they see themselves as the victim rather than the aggressor. They are angry at this point because of that, and are probably taking out their anger on people who haven’t done anything to them. Another thing I thought of—while this isn’t The Tower card—is that, in this situation, it feels like it’s playing out like that card. This is this character’s tower moment.

Reversed 3 of Swords

Finally, we come to the last card in the reading. Reversed 3 of Swords tells us that the character is probably breaking down, and in the chaos of the world around them (as seen with the Reversed Wheel of Fortune), they are seeking forgiveness. Moreover, they are realizing that they can grow and transform from what they were into a better person. They may not be perfect on their healing journey, but they are trying their best to be better and to right the wrongs they committed, however long it may take to make up for their transgressions.


Conclusion

This character tarot reading blends personality, flaws, and backstory to create a complex and evolving character for the Solo Leveling universe. Whether you’re using these insights to develop your own narrative or simply for creative exploration, I hope this reading inspires you to embrace both the light and dark facets of your character’s journey. Remember you don’t have to incorporate every aspect if you don’t want to. Take what resonates with you for what you are trying to create and leave the rest.

Feel free to share your creations or thoughts in the comments below. Happy storytelling!

Leave a comment