Few protagonists have demonstrated abilities and mindsets as exceptional as Arthur Leywin, be it in anime or manga. While, yes, many fantasy series do feature overpowered main characters,Arthur from “The Beginning After the End"is gifted with a different kind of reincarnated wisdom, unprecedented magical aptitude, and determination that frequently leaves both enemies and allies questioning his humanity.
But, the beauty doesn’t lie in his raw power, but in the way he thinks: his willingness to break conventions, and his ability to adapt seemingly impossible situations. As a former king reincarnated in the generic-scape of magic, Arthurconsistently demonstrates qualities unbefitting oftypical protagonists.
10 Best Manhwa With Overpowered Characters
If you’re looking for the most overpowered Manhwa characters, this list has you covered.
This ranking is based on how mind-blowing, or impactful his decisions / aptitude has been to the scenarios he’s dealt with:
8Protecting Disciplinary Committee Prodigies
Peerless Beyond Measure
When Arthur enters Xyrus Academy, he’s placed in classes with studentsseveral years olderdue to his abilities. Even then, he dominates his peers with such effortlessness that it creates tension. This eventually results in a confrontation with a teacher trying to target the committee, where elite student mages expect to easily put the younger one in his place.
Yet Arthur has a fundamental difference in approach to combat. Whle his opponents rely on flashy techniques and raw power, Arthur demonstrates an economy of movement and tactical awareness that makes their efforts appear childish by comparison.
However,most telling is the aftermath, where, rather than celebrating his victory, Arthur analyzes his performance with critical detachment, identifying inefficiencies that no one else could even perceive.
7Surviving the School Dungeon Collapse
Defying Death Against All Odds
When Xyrus Academy’s dungeon training ground collapses, trapping students in increasingly dangerous depths with deadly creatures, most experts believe survival impossible. Yet Arthur not only survives but manages to protect others through acombination of combat prowess, strategic thinking, and sheer determinationthat defies normal human limitations.
As his mana reserves deplete and physical injuries mount, his extraordinary fortitude is portrayed through visual cues. Like how his eyes remain focused and calculated even as his body approached breaking point.
He quickly realized conventional methods won’t be enough and adapts mid-battle, developingnew techniques under extreme pressure. He’s not fighting opponents he can defeat, but the ones he can’t (notnormal isekai protagonistmaterial), and that shows as he uses every card in his arsenal to dispose off his enemies.
6Mastering Mana Manipulation As a Toddler
Childhood Prodigy Beyond Compare
While most children in Arthur’s world struggle with basic magic until formal education, Arthur began manipulating mana before he could properly walk. What makes this achievement particularly exceptional is thesophisticated controlhe displayed, not just accessing magical energy, but shaping and directing it with precision that left even veteran mages stunned.
When his father, Reynolds, first witnessed Arthur creating complex mana constructs at age three, his reaction wasn’t just surprise but genuine disbelief. The scene brilliantly illustrates Arthur’s uniqueness through the contrast between Reynolds' expectations of normal childhood development and the reality of Arthur casually demonstrating mage abilities that most adults struggle to master.
5Besting Adult Adventurers at Age Four
The Toddler Who Outclassed Veterans
When Arthur accompanied his father on an expedition to Twin Horns at just four years old, nobody expected the child to participate in combat. Yet when faced with a threatening situation, Arthur didn’t just defend himself, he systematicallyoutmaneuvered experienced adventurersusing a combination of advanced mana manipulation and combat awareness normally impossible for his age.
What makes this impressive isn’t Arthur’s victory, but how the faces of shock on those adventurer’s faces were so apparent since this has never happened before in their world. To be fair, in what world does a4-year toddler outclasses adultadventurers? This scene serves as the first public demonstration that Arthur exists in a category entirely his own.
10 Best Regression Manhwa
From My Daughter Is The Final Boss to Level Up With The Gods, here are some of the best Regression Manhwa series.
4Forming a Perfect Bond with Sylvie
An Unprecedented Asura Bond
When Arthur first forms a contract with the dragon Sylvia’s egg, he expects a typical mage-beast bond. What emerges instead is something unprecedented in the world’s history, asymbiotic connectionwith an Asura-blooded dragon that transcends normal limitations. This bond eventually allows Sylvie to take humanoid form and develop sentience far beyond other bonded creatures.
What distinguishes this bond is its fundamental impossibility according to the established rules of the world. As characters like Virion later reveal, the depth and nature of Arthur’s connection to Sylvie should not be possible for a human mage. Yet it’s not one of ownership, but of apartnership of equals. His very presence had been bending the established rules of his world.
3Awakening All Four Mana Cores
In this world, where mastering even one elemental affinity takes decades. Arthur has demonstrated affinity for all four elemental attributes, which not even the mostlegendary figures in the world’s historyhave achieved. Before Arthur, this had been theoretical at best.
But he doesn’t just possess affinities, but has strategically incorporated all three into his fighting style, creating combinations that other mages cannot comprehend, let alone counter. For reference, general Varay Aurae had reached the status of a white core mage by submittingherself to Asuran tech. Arthur was the only general without a white core, yet possessed power beyond one.
2Integration of Aether Arts
An Understanding Beyond the Asuran’s Grasp
After losing his mana core, Arthur accomplishes what was considered impossible: harnessing and manipulating Aether, the fundamental building block of the universe that even Asuras struggle to control.
This achievement doesn’t just put him in a different league from humans; it places him in acategory entirely his ownin the hierarchy of his world. As the Asuran King mentioned, this achievement made Arthur being categorized as a new Asuran race; one that rose from lowly mortality to godhood.
Aether starts not as gifts or inherited abilities but as techniques to be systematically understood and mastered. His methodical experimentation and integration of differentAether abilitiesdemonstrates a fundamentally different relationship with power than any other character in the series, viewing even godlike abilities as tools to be refined rather than powers to be worshipped.
1Standing Against Scythes and Retainers
A Mortal Defying Godlike Opponents
Perhaps nothing demonstrates Arthur being built differently more clearly than his confrontations with Scythes and Retainers, essentially demigods with centuries of combat experience and power beyond mortal comprehension. While conventional wisdom holds that humans cannot challenge such beings, Arthur repeatedly proves this assumption wrong.
What distinguishes these confrontations is how they’re portrayed not as hopeless battles but asstrategic challengesthat Arthur approaches with analytical precision. The manhwa excels at showing Arthur identifying and exploiting weaknesses in opponents who have never needed to consider such vulnerabilities due to their overwhelming advantage against normal adversaries.
Most remarkable is Arthur’s ability to adapt mid-battle as these godlike opponents reveal new abilities. Rather than being overwhelmed, he demonstrates a learning curve thatoperates at impossible speeds, sometimes mastering counters to techniques moments after first encountering them.
