Summary
Themanhwaindustry’s diversity, and no lack of new books coming out, have given the world all sorts of unique, wild, and unhinged stories and characters. Manhwa writers aren’t afraid to touch upon unconventional topics and themes, nor do they hold back oncreating unusual twists in their stories. Even the most conventional manhwa throws in some unexpected plot or character moments on account of the writers' creative liberty, which usually ends up being extremely successful and popular among fans.
With that said, there is one theme that manhwa doesn’t explicitly explore as much as it should—immortality. Immortal characters, while very common in the medium, are not exactly written based around said supernatural quality. Their immortality is usually just a afterthought that mostly stems from some sort of primary ability/point of conflict. However, this shouldn’t imply that the manhwa realm is devoid of any immortal characters whatsoever. Given the rich lore surrounding it, these everliving characters are among the most captivating and compelling within the genre.
6Kubera (Kubera)
The God Of Earth
Kuberais primarilybased on gods and deitiesfound in Buddhist and Hindu mythology and scriptures, and naturally, has characters in it that do not ever die. Most of the characters inKuberaare everliving, and most of them possess immense, fantastical powers.
Kubera,or God Kubera, is not the main character of this story, though it’s worth noting that the protagonist shares the same name as him. He’s hailed as the Earth God, renowned for his immense strength, apathy, and wealth, among both mortals and immortals in the realm. He’s clearly immortal, but capable of manipulating his age at will—often manifesting as a small child when in the human realm, despite likely existing for eons.
5Suki Kang (Neolithic Girl)
A Seemingly Young Girl Who Has Lived Since The Neolithic Era
Neolithic Girl, regardless of itscomedic elements and slapstick sequences, is a manhwa that touches upon some pretty serious and heartfelt themes of love, desperation, and survivor’s guilt. The main character,Suki, despite being a (very) loud, sweet, happy-go-lucky girl on the surface, harbors a pretty heavy history that’s explored throughout the manhwa.
Suki Kang is a high school student who has little inclination toward studying, and finds no interest in doing anything productive. She mostly spends her time watching baseball, eating cheap food, and collecting antique weapons and ammunition. From time to time, she takes on odd jobs to feed herself and her pet exotic turtle. While everything about Suki appears entirely ordinary on the surface (apart from her occasional awkward interactions with the manhwa’s male lead), she’s actually an immortal woman with mysterious healing powers who’s lived for thousands of years, and is too odd for her own good.
4Tai (Immortal Weakling)
An Immortal Who Has Nothing Going For Him Except His Immortality
A certain character having immortality automatically hints at that character being stronger and superior to others. Their immortality is usually a side effect oftheir already incomparable strength, rather than being the source of it, and it immediately deems them as being better than everyone else. The author ofImmortal Weaklingdoesn’t exactly take this trope as it comes. They use the main characterTai’simmortality as a weakness, as it literally prevents him from growing in any way—as a hero, as a person, and even as a protagonist.
Tai is a not-so-ordinary kid in a world full of heroes and bad guys. Even though he’s constantly surrounded by strange, powerful people, the strangeness of his own power is not lost on anyone. Tai possesses bizarre healing abilities that make him nearly immortal—he can’t be injured, killed, or even dismembered, as his body reverts to a previous ‘healthy’ state the instant something goes wrong with it (building muscles isn’t possible, either, because of this). He can even regenerate his organs, even after they’re removed, and often exploits this by selling them to the nearest hospital for money.
3Dam (Dam Of The Forest)
A Kid Whose Immortality Became A Curse
LikeImmortal Weakling,Dam of the Forestalso tackles immortality in a considerably unconventional way, and uses it as a source of the main character’s misfortune rather than their strength. It also doesn’t feature an averageaction-adventure storyline, despite its premise, and focuses more on sentimental values and the consequences of being an immortal.
Damused to be an average 14-year-old with a penchant for gardening. He never really questioned why his plants grew so quickly, or why he, himself, seemed to have stopped growing altogether. That is, until he outlived not only his parents but also his friends and their children. To add to that, he had a strange power that made everything he touched grow faster than average. In order to prevent himself from making unsuspecting victims, Dam made the decision to retreat from society and seclude himself in a nearby forest, where he stopped counting the days and eventually lost his humanity completely.
2On Mirae (Zomgan)
An Immortal Human Amongst The Undead
Zomganisn’t just another post-zombie apocalypse manhwa—it’s an odd masterpiece thatmixes together multiple themes and genres, resulting in a wild plotline that absolutely works! The main monsters in the story are these human-zombie hybrids called ‘Zomgans’, who are not only sentient, but are also completely cruel and psychotic. They kill and feed on humans, not because they can’t help it, but out of their sheer enjoyment of it. However, the ‘interesting’ part of the premise comes from its main character,On Mirae.
On Mirae is an everliving ‘human’ who was given immortality under mysterious circumstances when the world was first hit by the deadly zombie virus. Because of these unwanted powers, Mirae had to go through some very traumatic experiences that featured, among other things, him having to kill his own virus-ridden mother. He, understandably, cannot get over the past, and considers his superhuman strength and eternal life anything but a blessing. Despite his years of existence, he wishes for nothing more than a normal life and a normal death.
1Ram (Epic Of Gilgamesh)
A Tired, Jaded Being Weary Of His Immortality
Epic of Gilgameshis the prequel book to the widely known manhwaThe Ember Knight, and gives a little origin story and context to it. It follows the story of a young knight-in-training, Tludia, who gets kicked out of her academy for being too rowdy. On her journey to find another purpose in life, she comes across anold man about to be robbedby a bunch of very violent men. Funny enough, the man is neither old, nor does he need any rescuing.
The “old man” Tludia encounters is an immortal being known asRam. He’s as old as time itself, and is an embodiment of Earth’s life in human form. Naturally, he’s very strong, wise, occasionally childish, and completely exhausted because of his immortality.
