Summary
Conventionally, manhwa takes the path of youth to push and explore their endless narratives; however, some specific subsets of narratives deviate from the typical trope of youth to adulthood. These stories tell of themselves byfeaturing seasoned protagonistswith no nostalgia for youthful exuberance.
In these stories, readers are immersed in protagonists' lives who bear the marks of experience on their faces, but their lives remain far from predictable. From self-discovery to conflicting pasts, the lives of these characters become thedriving force of the story itself, leaving readers with a resonating and thrilling experience. For readers who prefer these protagonists, here are some of the best manhwa to find them in.
10Mr. Baek
Anime-planet rating: 4.0/5
The manhwa,Mr. Baek, follows the life of twin brothers, Baek Yisu, a federal informant and top secret agent, and Baek Dogyeong, head of Seoul’s most powerful criminal gang. With one face, the duo have different personalities and have lived in contrasting ways all their lives.
In a world where betrayal is easy, and life means little, the two quickly become casualties of this reality when Baek Yisu is betrayed by his trusted superior and his whole team is murdered. Baek Dogyeong is caught in the crosshairs and is killed, too.Blinded by rage, Baek Yisu swears vengeance on the ones behind the murder of his brother and team, but to carry out his revenge, Baek Yisu must become Baek Dogyeong, the criminal boss of Seoul’s largest gang.
9Demon Defense Agency
Anime-Planet Rating: nil
Set ina supernatural reality infested with demons,Demon Defense Agencyfollows the happenings after demons' sudden and mysterious invasion of society. Following the attack, a secret elite task force, the Demon Defense Agency, is created to deal with these demons using weapons called Imperiums, crafted from the cores of these demons.
At the heart of the Agency is the story’s central character and the world’s greatest Defender, Atlas, who has the most confirmed demon kills. However, after discovering a sinister secret about the agency, Atlas is forced to stand against everything he once stood for. Whether he can survive the coming storm and prevent the apocalypse remains to be seen.
8The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.2/5
The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Lifemanhwafollows the reincarnationof Junghyeok Baek, the divine demon ruler of the murim world, into the body of the eldest son of the noble House of Dmitri. In a predicament that is neither a blessing nor a curse, Baek Junghyeok awakens as Roman Dmitri.
No longer the supreme overlord of the murim, he is determined to liven up the Salamander continent as Roman Dmitri. This is the story of the birth of the most fearsome magic swordsman in the history of Salamander.
7Peerless Dad
Peerless Dadtells an immaculate tale of thechallenges of fatherhoodfrom the lens of a martial artist. The story revolves around Gajang Noh, a strong, dedicated, and headstrong man whose paramount desire, aside from his family, is martial arts.
After the death of his wife, following the birth of his three children, Gajang Noh only desires an easy job that will allow him to take care of and continuously monitor his little children. He is even happy enough to be hired as a guard if it means he can return safely; however, when children start to go missing all over the city. Gajang must step up to the danger that may soon befall his children.
6Solo Necromancy
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.0/5
The world suddenly ended, and monsters came out from nowhere. People were asked to choose, andhe chose necromancy.Solo Necromancypresents a post-apocalyptic tale of a world suddenly plunged into chaos following the appearance of monsters.
The series follows Seongwu, a former special forces soldier who returned to college after completing his national service. Unfortunately, his college life ends abruptly when he and his classmates are suddenly faced with a strange prompt, asking each person to choose a role. Seongwu selects an ability to control the undead: necromancy, and with this new ability, he must find a way to survive the horrors of this new world.
5Tomb Raider King
Tomb Raider Kingfocuses on the life of Jooheon Suh, who becomes a tomb explorer after the God Tombs mysteriously begins to appear worldwide. Each of these tombs contained relics that granted its owner supernatural abilities.
While collecting these relics, Jooheon is betrayed and about to be killed by a powerful relic, which he found when he suddenly awakens fifteen years into the past, right before the tombs appear. Back in the past, armed with all the knowledge of his previous life, Jooheon sets out his revenge plan and will be the world’s greatest tomb raider.
4Leveling With The Gods
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.3/5
Leveling With The Godspresents a fantasy world where the Gods and humans strive to attain unrivaled power through the Tower. The story focuses on Kim Yuwon, one of humanity’s strongest warriors, who leveled up faster than anyone else.
However, utter defeat and destruction at the hands of the Outer Gods awaited both Gods and humans at the top of the Tower. Defeated and awaiting death, Kim Yuwon is chosen to return to the past and given another to rewrite the fate of the inhabitants of the Tower. Now returned before it all went wrong, it remains to be seen if Kim Yuwon can change an already-decided future.
3Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.5/5
Fiction quickly becomes a reality in this post-apocalyptic manhwa as it follows the life of Kim Dokja, a recluse whose only pleasure is reading web novels. Kim Dokja is the sole reader of the novel ‘Three Ways To Survive The Apocalypse’; finally reaching the novel’s conclusion, Kim Dokja soon realizes that the novel he just completed has become a reality.
Being the only one to have read the novel to its conclusion, Kim Dokja must now use the knowledge of the events he has to change the already set ending of the novel and save humanity from destruction.
2Second Life Ranker
Second Life Rankerfeatures thefantasy tale of a manwho loses his twin brother to the conquest of a supernatural tower. Yeon Woo is an ex-special forces soldier who, upon his return, discovers his brother had gone missing about five years prior.
Left with clues and a pocket watch that confirms the death of his brother, Yeon Woo vows to find all those who are behind the death of his brother within the Tower of The Sun God. However, it remains to be seen if Yeon Woo has what it takes to climb the Tower and all who stand in the way of his revenge.
1The World After The Fall
In a world where mysterious towers suddenly appear, and monsters ravage the world, humans have been summoned to the building as tower walkers, and among them is Jaehwan, the story’s protagonist.
Given a choice between returning to the past and pressing on through the endless horrors and ordeals of the Tower, Jaehwan is the only one who chooses to press forward and leaves it all behind in the hopes of somehow still saving humanity. Choosing to stab through the lies and truths of the Tower, Jaehwan discovers even more horrors within the Tower.
