Manhwa / The Breaker

Let the rampage of Nine Arts Dragon begin.

"Isn't it better to fight and lose than not fight at all?"

— Shi Woon

Shi Woon lives a pathetic life of being beaten up by a particular group of bullies who just seem to have it out for him. Why? Who knows, maybe he's just unlucky but he's pushing his limit and is on the verge of suicide.

Enter Han Chun Woo, a highly suspicious teacher substituting while the actual teacher is on pregnancy leave. A master of nine martial arts with a mission and plenty of secrets to keep, he doesn't want to concern himself with some kid's playground drama.

Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. And for Chun Woo, they don't ever go as planned. Shi Woon ends up asking his teacher to train him how to fight and Chun Woo just can't wait to get rid of the kid. He gives him bad advice, such as jumping off of a bridge to show his resolve without really meaning it. He jumps, and the training begins. Of course there's still the issue of what Chun Woo came to Korea for. And why do more suspicious people keep ending up on staff at this school?

Part one ends after 72 chapters, after which a Time Skip occurs. Part two is called The Breaker: New Waves, and ended after 200 chapters.

After an extended hiatus, Season 3, titled Eternal Force, began in May 2022 in a new all-color format. It focuses on Shi Woon training a boy named Ha Jae, who was also a bullying victim, while reluctantly bringing him into his world.

Compare with Veritas which has a similar set up, but sets off in a completely different direction.

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This manhwa provides examples of:

• Action Girl(s): Jinni, Shi-ho, Sera and any female martial artists on the good guys' side.
• Adults Are Useless: Well any adult that isn't a Murim. Shi Woon is tormented endlessly by Chang Ho at school, at one point being beaten by a bat in the middle of the hallway and the teachers are nowhere to be found. Not even his own mother notices any of attacks and beatings prior to this. Explained by the mother's long work hours caused by his father being absent and possibly dead.
• The Aloner: Unwol, due to the nature of his punishment. He illicitly took on an apprentice, however...
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Yoo Ji-Gun uses Saehee to manipulate Shi Woon.
• Anti-Villain:
  • Hyuk So Chun and Kangsung, among others. One of the things that sets this series apart is how most enemies are not presented as evil, even if they may seem to be at first. Instead, they're just people, who sometimes have to do unpleasant things in the course of their work, and if they act like jerks it's more bravado than actual hatefulness.
  • Deconstructed in New Waves with a wider variety of villains, which include Card Carrying Villains and a couple Obviously Evil characters.
• Applied Phlebotinum: The Ilwollsindan, one big pill, changes Shi Woon from an utter wimp to a powerhouse bursting with ki. Although if Chun Woo hadn't intervened the bursting would've been literal.
• Art Evolution: At the very beginning, the art was drawn with thicker, heavier, and darker lines than what you see now. Even the characters' faces change to a degree. Once Eternal Force starts, the author has adopted the full color format that's more common in Korean comics, and the characters proportions are changed. While before high school students weren't drawn all that differently from adults aside from being skinnier, they're now drawn in a way that matches the average height and figure of normal students. Overall, there's more variety in people's body types.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: How the Murim world seems to be organized. Also how the Murim-in get the authorities of various countries to stay out of their affairs.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Shi Woon just refuses to go down.
• Attempted Rape: Poor Sae Hee.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Chun Woo and Shiho in the Koa Tower fight.
• Badass Crew: Ji-Gun the Smiling Sword forms one of this to combat SUC with his friends. Unfortunately, SUC bombed their base and Smiling Sword is the only survivor of them. He immediately forms another Badass Crew with disciples of multiple schools who answers his call. Chun-woo's group in New Waves also counts.
• Badass Normal: Shi Woon during the period between having his Ki center shattered and getting properly integrated into the murim world.
• Batter Up!: Chang Ho uses a bat in his last fight. Not that it helps him any.
• Battle Aura
• Battle Couple: Chun Woo and Shiho, eventually
• Belligerent Sexual Tension:
  • Chun Woo and Shiho.
  • Seems to be developing between Shi Woon and Jin-le
• Berserk Button:
  • Chun Woo may act like he doesn't care about Shi Woon, but if you touch his disciple you're dead. Talking shit about his master's death will also get him very mad. Also, seeing Shiho badly hurt makes Chun Woo one-hit that cheap old bastard! Thank God for that, finally.
  • Eventually, Shi Woon gets his own: anyone threatening his Love Interest Sae Hee.
  • At this point disgracing the Sun-Woo or threatening innocents probably qualify as well.
  • For Elder Kwon, any insult to the Sunwoo or the deceased Sunwoo founder is an instant trigger.
  • Don't touch Ha-Ill's hat.
• Betty and Veronica:
  • Yoon Ji and Shiho, respectively.
  • Sae He and Jin-e seem to be shaping up like this.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Shi Woon is the nicest guy in the series but hurt his family and friends (or keep him from saving a friend who got horribly injured saving his ass) and even HE will seriously consider killing you.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Chun Woo, all the time. May be justified, since his apprentice is always getting into trouble with guys way out of his league.
  • Shi Woon's about to get curb stomped yet again when Mamungi conveniently intervenes
  • Alex and Those Two Guys show up in this fashion too.
  • Also Jin-le in New Waves.
  • The Sunwoo Elders coming to rescue Shi-Woon from Jung Lae Won and Ju Sang Sik.
• Big Eater: Jin-le can eat 10 servings of rice along with other food in a single sitting.
• Blade Run: In New Waves, Shi-Woon seemed to lure Ju Sang Sik into showing him an opening by which he launched a powerful attack, only for once the dust to settle after the attack to reveal Ju Sang Sik had evaded it by balancing himself off Shi-Woon's out stretched fist... on one finger. AND the place he was balancing turned out to be a pressure point.

• Boob-Based Gag: Kim Soon Lee, the star of the omake in New Waves, is subject to several jokes about her large bosom.
• Bound and Gagged: Shi-Woon in chapter 71 of New Waves. It ain't pretty...can you say, Strapped to an Operating Table?
• Brainless Beauty: Kim Soon Lee, enough so that it takes her awhile to realize she's bait in her first mission.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The characters occasionally do this and call the authors on it.
• Breather Episode: Chapter 37 plays double duty by also being the Beach Episode. Both are heavily noted by the cast. It still manages to find the time to load a bullet in that special gun though.
• Broken Pedestal: The Nine Arts Dragon has quite a number of followers among the lesser murim-in; they expected that he would start great change in the martial arts world. When he failed to bring about that change, some of them, including Yi Gyu-Bum, felt as though they were abandoned and became bitter and cynical.
  • Unfortunately, this will eventually happen with Shi-Woon as well. By the end of New Waves Chun Woo ends up killing Elder Kwon, which sends Shi-Woon into the Despair Event Horizon and willing to try and kill his old master.. By the time of Eternal Force even hearing his master's name or title is enough to send him into a bitter fury.
• Broken Masquerade: Part of the meaning of the Title. The Nine Arts Dragon and members of the Black Forest Defense Group and later the S.U.C are breaking long standing traditions around Murim society and especially its prohibition on using Murim abilities in view of the normal world.
• Butt-Monkey: Early on Shi-Woon. Also Yoon Ji has her moments of this, thanks to the running gag of her dates with Chun Woo ending poorly. Especially since it's all Played for Laughs.
• Bystander Syndrome: Until Chun Woo showed up, no one does anything about Chang Ho's frequent assaults on Shi-Woon.
• Can't Catch Up:
  • The bullies.
  • Implied to be one of the reasons Shi-Woon scares or impresses so many people. It's not that he's better than them now it's that his rate of progress is looking to quickly put him at the top of the Murim world.
• Car Chase
• Car Fu: Alex vs. Mamungi
• The Cavalry:
  • The Sunwoo Clan arriving in several helicopters to the island where Shi-woon is being held by Jung Lae Won.
  • Sun-Woo Clan as SUC force attacked Shi-Woon's school but they're not successful as it is within SUC's precaution.
  • Ji-Gun's second!Badass Crew to Shi Woon in the final arc of New Waves. Sun-Woo Clan force, Ghost Hand Doctor, Kang-sung De-hyung and some Murim elders also came in the same battle but they came late.
• Cavalry Betrayal: Government Special Force under the Chief comes under impression to help the good guys but eventually revealed as they came to foster chaos for their own end.
• Cerebus Syndrome: Interesting version of this. The first few chapters are actually fairly depressing with Shi-Woon constantly being bullied. Then the mood gets lighter and more comical once Shiho arrives and as Shi-Woon Took a Level in Badass. The last few chapters of the first series are pretty dark though, at least until the launch of the second series.
• Charles Atlas Superpower
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The SUC code card Shi-Woon was given back in chapter 35 of New Waves finally is used over 30 chapters later.
  • It appears that the blood sample Shi-Woon traded to the doctor may be one in regards to the attempt to bring Shiho back from the dead.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • Hyun Tae, who went crazy after the deaths of his master Song-Hak-Jang and Gijuu's and tried to get revenge on Chun Woo only to get badly beaten when they first meet.
  • Much more on the spot is Jung Lae Won aka the bespectacled government agent, who plays a major role at the end of the Part 1.
• Clothing Damage
• Conservation of Ninjutsu
• Cool Car: Lots of them...a Maybach, Lamborghini Murcielago, Mercedes-McLaren SLR...
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Mamungi and his gang, who'd absolutely brutalized Shi-Woon, don't do so well against Chun Woo.
  • Shi-Woon vs Hyuk So Chun a unique twist because of Hyuk So's own conditions he "lost", but Shi-Woon got his ass completely handed to him a dozen times over without doing any damage the entire time.
  • Shi-Woon has handed out a few of these recently with the most impressive probably being when he is under-estimated by one of the 5 heads of the SUC only to completely KO the guy in THREE HITS, with the last one blasting him down the length of a hallway and through a door. More on the way too since Shi-Woon has progressed a lot since his last public fight and there's still a rumor that he's worthless as a Gaju. Expect lots of surprise looks when he proves otherwise
• Cycle of Revenge: Kangsung comments on it in Chapter 71.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Gijuu during his fight with Chun Woo, was using 10th level Strong Metal Hand, without having a body capable of withstanding the strain it put on his hands. If he survived the fight he would've been a cripple for the rest of his life.
• Dark Action Girl: Julia, Ji-Woo the Black Princess and Ha-ru aka. Chunmyungrang.
• Deadly Upgrade: The low level SUC all seem to take something that gives them their superior fighting strength from that of a normal person without any training. However it would appear after a certain amount of time they die from a seizure.
• Deal with the Devil: Chun Woo's alliance with the Black Forest Defense Group is treated this way in-story.
• Death by Origin Story: Chun Woo's master Unwol.
• Death Glare: Chun Woo is a pro with these, and Shi-Woon is not half bad himself.
• The Determinator: Most of the martial artists to some degree, but Shi-Woon takes the cake.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Shiho. Poor, poor Chun Woo.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • Shi-woon is at the receiving end of this just for being Chun Woo's disciple. Jinnie is also at the receiving end of this, because her mother, Lady Hae-jin, ran away to the United States and breaking the arranged marriage that Elder Kwon had set up for her and the previous head of the Sunwoo Clan.
  • Made even worse when Elder Kwon finds that his daughter didn't break the arranged marriage, it was the Clan Head.
• Dissonant Serenity: Shiho after she gets shot, then Chun Woo when he's about to kill the Chief.
• Distressed Dude: Shi-Woon gets into some pretty extreme situations after meeting Chun Woo.
• The Ditz: Rookie special forces agent Kim Soon Lee in a special side chapter released during New Waves.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Jin-le seems to take Shi-Woon's nice guy personality to her as this early in the story.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap:
  • Played straight with Chun Woo being drained of ki already during his fight with Gijuu.
  • After that fight, it's subverted. Chun Woo is supposed to be weakened since he's got his arm in a cast most of the time, but so far it looks like it hasn't been a problem. As of now, this is finally over.
  • In Part II Shi-Woon's broken ki center qualifies, as it prevents him from doing high level martial arts without injury to himself. Most of the time, at least. Though as of the latest arc he's fully recovered and stronger than ever.
• Driven to Suicide: Shi-Woon Almost.
• Dude He's Like In A Coma: Jin-le seemed to attempt this with Shi-Woon, but her cell phone goes off and she loses her nerve.
• Dynamic Entry: Its a martial arts manga, its to be expected.
  • Despite his normal demeanor, Kangsung makes an impressive one at the end of Part 1.
  • Jin-le, the girl who chewed out Shi-Woon for trying to help her earlier.
  • Elder Kwon seems to have a thing for these. So far he's Jumped out of a Helicopter and on several different occasions his arrival is preceded by a group of enemies being sent flying without anyone seeing him do it. He's just that fast.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Fattie, one of the members of the SUC and security for Shi-Woon's school is seen in chapter 2 being yelled at by the principle.
• Easily Forgiven: Elder Kwon. He eventually changes his mind and devotes himself to Shi-Woon and comes to accept Jin-le. But he still doesn't face much punishment or even apologize for attempting to kill Shi-Woon several times, exiling his own daughter over an arranged political marriage, and emotionally abusing his own orphaned granddaughter, deeming her a useless foreigner. Somewhat justified. His daughter well knew the risks and became scapegoat willingly to protect the dignity of previous clan leader. Attempting to rectify Elder Kwon's behavior might expose the ruse making her sacrifice meaningless. Shi-Woon didn't even notice those murder attempts and/or didn't associated them with Elder Kwon to the point that even when Jinny told him, he dismissed her words. Telling Shi-Woon can only endanger a newly formed and quite delicate relationship. Bonus points for Elder Kwon for substituting his apologizes with Undying Loyalty.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Yong-Hyun expresses disgust at Sung-Jae bragging about hospitalizing Shi-Woon's mother.
  • Averted completely with the head of the S.U.C. who has no problem attacking a school and using explosives to get at Shi-Woon and the Sunwoo clan.
• Everyone Can See It: Any of the main female characters' feelings toward Shi-Woon, which he seems to be completely oblivious to.
• Evil Old Folks:
  • Chief of the Alliance in Part 1, Sun Woo clan elder, Kwon Jae Kyu assumes that role in New Waves.
  • Elder Kwon isn't actually evil, it's just that he's devoted his whole life to the well-being of the Sun Woo clan. He's a lot nicer once Shi-Woon proves himself worthy of being the new head and it's clarified that his daughter never betrayed him.
• Eyelid Pull Taunt: Jin-le does this in a meido outfit just makes the people who were trying to kill her think that she's cute.
• Eye Scream
• Faceless Goons: The S.U.C. Mooks. They're kind of useless against actual trained Murim-in though, and if they're fighting a main character expect them to be literally sent flying in groups.
• Fanservice:
  • Mostly Shiho, though Yoon Ji and even Sae He have their moments. In New Waves Jin-le provides most of it, as she frequently wears clothing that shows off her assets. At one point, she's stuck in a skimpy maid outfit.
  • Jin-le is not immune
• Fanservice Cover: Pretty much every other chapter cover especially with one of the main characters on it, especially in New Waves.
• The Farmer and the Viper: Li Joo. Turns out you can't be nice to everybody, Shi-Woon.
• Finger Poke of Doom: One of Yoo Ji-Gun's moves.
• Flash Step
• Foe-Tossing Charge: A few examples. This one's the most literal.
• Freak Out: Shi Woon has one in the basement, after he uses his abilities for the first time, accidentally curb stomping some mooks. You can't really blame the kid for freaking out, given the end result◊.
• Funny Background Event
• Fun with Acronyms: Soldiers Under Command aka S.U.C.
• Gambit Pileup:
  • For the first half... Chun Woo, the Black Forest Defense Group and the Murim Alliance all have their own agendas and are poised to use each other to achieve them. All of which birth the conflicts of the story.
  • In New Waves... the number of factions involved has only increased especially during the School raid arc, where the S.U.C. and Shi Woon try to out gambit each other with near disastrous results.
• Gang of Bullies: Pretty much played straight with Chang Ho's gang.
• Generation Xerox: Chun Woo spends a good chunk of Part 1 beating people up with his arm in a sling. Shi Woon continues the tradition in Chapter 30.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man:
  • Delivered by Shi-Woon to Chun Woo while in Demon King mode, no less!
  • In New Waves Elder Jeong delivers one to Shi-Woon.
• Giant Mook: Kang Oongsan, the giant of a man that Shi Woon one-shotted while running from the martial arts organization. That guy had to have been at least more than 2 meters tall.
• Gilligan Cut: Shi Woon asks Jinnie if she'd like to have seconds. She accuses him of calling her a pig. The frame pans out to show her belching loudly in front of several empty plates and an empty rice cooker.
• Give Him a Normal Life: At the end of Part 1, obviously doesn't work for Shi-Woon as even before the first arc of the sequel he was getting targeted by enemies of Chun Woo behind the scenes.
• Godiva Hair: Shiho invokes this trope a couple times.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: Ji-Gun summons allies after his first Badass Crew annihilated by SUC via bombing.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: While Shi woon is a sponge for martial arts and has as masters several of the strongest Murim warriors in the world, every technique he can do gained it by having the crap beaten out of him constantly by enemies several times stronger and breaking his body over and over and over again.
• Go Through Me:
  • Shi Woon invokes this trope trying to stop Chun Woo's murderous rampage, but it doesn't work. Fortunately Hyuk So pulls a Diving Save, barely just in time.
  • Shi Woon does it again to protect Jin-Ie. Fighting off waves of SUC mooks to protect her after she is severely injured protecting him from most of the damage. It is due to this action by Shi Woon and being given The Reveal that his daughter did not break the engagement to the clan head at the time that Elder Kwon did a Face–Heel Turn.
• Gratuitous German: Chapter 86 of New Waves has the line "du armer Freund" (You poor friend), which is not only plain wrong grammatically but also not something an actual native speaker would say in that situation, even if the grammar were correct.
• Guns Are Worthless: Partially subverted but mostly played straight. Guns are a threat to most normal Murim-in, unfortunately the people using them are rarely facing the normal Murim-in and the result is generally fairly predictable.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: Played with. Shi-Woon, seems to learn techniques that would take years after just seeing them once. Sera even lampshades this fact with Green-Eyed Monster jealousy at this fact, but on the other fact not a single character has suffered so much brutal beatings for each technique in their arsenal.
• Healing Factor:
  • Thanks to his insane amount of ki, Shi Woon has a rather insane recovery rate. Lampshaded by Chun Woo, when he compares him to a planarian. And it seems most powerful martial artists, have a bit of it, since Chun Woo remarked that normally his broken arm would've healed within few days.
  • As of New Waves, Shi Woon is still shown to have it to a lesser degree.
• Here We Go Again!: At the start of Eternal Force Shi Woon in his second year has come to take up the role for another student, Hang Jae, that Chun Woo took up for him. To the point that Eternal Force so far can be considered a Whole Episode Callback to the original manhwa, what with him saving a student who is bullied to the point of suicide and teaching him martial arts. He's just significantly less harsh about it.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • Jung Jipsa, and Chun Woo's master, Un-Wol in a flashback
  • Shiho, but hopefully it won't stick.
  • In New Waves Elder Jang-Il Jeong
• Heroic Spirit: Hyuk So Chun, completely cold and rational since he was a child, is so intimidated by Shi Woon's Heroic Spirit that he is caught off guard and allows Shi Woon to punch him, losing based on the rules they set for the fight.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: The leader of the Black Forest Defense Group.
• Hidden Eyes
• Hopeless Boss Fight: Shi Woon vs. Hyuk So Chun's first fight in Part 1.
• Hope Spot:
  • While Chun Woo's getting trashed by the Chief of the Alliance, Shiho figures out a way to replenish his ki. It works... but then Hyun Tae of all people comes out of nowhere and shoots at Chun Woo, prompting Shiho's Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Chapter 99 of New Waves Shi-Woon seems to be out of direct danger without using his ki, the Sun Woo clan having arrived seems to signal the S.U.C's retreat... except the S.U.C. had planned for this and left bombs in their cars so that when the Sun Woo clan surround the school.
• Hot for Student: Shiho isn't really, but she teases Shi-Woon in a couple instances. It's very awkward for him.
  • Played straight with Sera in New Waves, though she's around Shi Woon's age anyway.
• Husky Russkie: Dmitri
• I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: Jung Jipsa, who's badly wounded when he asks Alex to take his car and its cargo, Sosul. Then Mamungi finishes him off for good.
• I Didn't Mean to Turn You On: Shi-Woon tends to evoke this in his love interests. Especially Jin-le.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: In first few chapters of New Waves it's Battle 1, 2, 3 etc
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!
• I Have No Granddaughter: Jin-le's grandfater thinks of her as nothing more than a useless child. Even when one asks him about saving her, he merely replies, "I never saw that red headed foreigner as my family". At least at first
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Shiho, seemingly.
• Insult Backfire: Chun Woo responds positively to being called "a player".
• Interrupted Suicide
• Invisible to Normals: Most normal people aren't able to recognize murim abilities when they see them and seem prone to think its a trick or someone is shooting a movie.
• It's Not You, It's My Enemies
• Jumping on a Grenade In New Waves, after getting thrown from a motorcycle just hit by a car, Jin-le does this for Shi Woon, using her skills in midair to alter their descent so that she takes the majority of the impact.
• Karma Houdini: Chang Ho's fellow bullies. They weren't as bad as he was, but they still tormented Shi Woon and attempted to gang rape Sae Hee.
• Ki Manipulation
• Kick Chick: Jin-le shows shades of this.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Chun Woo kicked the dog at the end of Part I. Shoot the Hostage was one thing, but disowning your own disciple and leaving him to die after that? Kangsung isn't pleased. Of course, that's exactly what Chun Woo wants them to think.
  • Li Jioo kills the cat Jin-le befriended.
• The Lad-ette: Jin-le. Most definitely a girl, but Shi Woon wonders if she really was one because of her loud, abrasive personality.
• Laughing Mad: "Kyahahaha... gotcha."
• Last Kiss: Maybe.
• Let's Get Dangerous!
• Let's You and Him Fight:
  • Elder Kwon did this to Shi-Woon and Yong-Hyun
  • Later on Jung Chun and Jae Gal attempt to do this to Sun Woo and the Alliance.
• Looming Silhouette of Rage: Used most by Chun Woo, but occasionally used by other characters.
• Love Epiphany: Oh if Jin-le hasn't yet she is certainty so very close after this
• Love Triangle:
  • Yoon Ji, Chun Woo and Shiho can be interpreted this way initially, but later it becomes Chun Woo, Shiho, and (her ex) Wonjae. Shi Woon, Sae He, and Sosul is also a possibility, now that Sosul clearly has a crush on Shi Woon.
  • In New Waves it appears to be Shi Woon, Sera, Jin-le, as Sae He is Out of Focus and Sosul has been Put on a Bus.
• Made of Iron: Anyone who fights in this series.
• Madness Makeover: Hyun Tae started off okay, then after Gijuu gets killed he gets progressively crazier.
• Major Injury Underreaction:
  • Shi-Woon when using the Black Origin Threshold while battling Ryu-Ji
  • Jung Lae when trying his amputation technique on Shi-Woon didn't realize until the fight was stopped and it was pointed out to him that his fingers were all twisted to the point of nearly being destroyed due to their exchanges.
• Male Gaze: Shi Woon when he first notices Jin-le's maid outfit. Not that anyone can blame him.
• Malevolent Masked Men:
  • The Mooks of the S.U.C.
  • Masked Murim Special Forces
• Manipulative Bastard: Quite a few notables include Jung Lae Won and Sera Kang
• The Masquerade: The murim-in.
• Master-Apprentice Chain
• Meditation Powerup: Shi Woon, while his Ki Center is shattered, uses this to train. Subverted in that he actually does meditate for long periods, but the effects are decidedly abnormal.
• Might Makes Right:
  • Chun Woo frequently claims that in the Murim-in the strong makes the rules and whatever they do is right. If he really believes this or not is up to you.
  • Shi Woon counters this philosophy by saying the Chun Woo is strong enough to do the right decisions and not slaughter people for his own convenience.
• Misplaced Retribution:
  • A lot of the people who were actually wronged by Chun Woo seem to find it easier to get their revenge on Shi Woon instead.
  • Elder Kwon toward Jin-le and her mother
• Moment Killer: Alex, you idiot!!! Then there's Shi Woon saving Chun Woo and Shiho.
• Mook Horror Show: Pity the poor bastards who go up against Chun Woo.
• Mugging the Monster: Near the beginning of the manhwa a group of low-lifes try to beat up Chun Woo. You probably know how this turned out. In a later example, the first time the bullies try to pick on Shi Woon post-Taking A Level In Badass, they're not in on The Masquerade so you can hardly blame them. But after Shi Woon shows that he can make ki blasts with his fists and break cement columns they have no excuse.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Hyun Tae
• Nebulous Evil Organization: The Black Forest Defense Group.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: As badass as the protagonists may be, they do still screw up.
  • Chun Woo's vendetta against the Alliance ends up with Shiho's death. To be fair, she knew what she was getting into and even told him that it was okay.
  • Shi Woon's plan to lure the SUC to his school for a trap fails spectacularly to say the least.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Poor Shi Woon is on the receiving end every time. Fortunately, in later chapters of the Breaker, he's been able to turn the situation around. The cycle repeats in New Waves.
• No, I Am Behind You
• No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Subverted in New Waves. A murim-in calls out Shi Woon, threatening Sae Hee. When they meet, the murim-in has already set up tea, table included. Its the best tea he ever tasted. Turns out, its drugged, but not poisonous. He talks them out of throwing his body off a bridge, before he passes out.
• Normally, I Would Be Dead Now: Shi woon has even lampshaded this about himself many times.
• Not So Stoic: Hyuk So Chun has a minor Freak Out caused by Shi Woon's Heroic Spirit
• Not What It Looks Like: Shiho and Chun Woo's first meeting.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner:
  • Jin-le to Li Jioo. It is incredibly satisfying.
    Li Jioo *as she strangles Shi-Woon*: Die!
    Jin-le:No, you die!
  • A second one with Elder Kwon to Li Jioo
    Elder Kwong: I will now proceed to school you on exactly who you have dared to touch.
• The Obstructive Love Interest: Sae-Hee. Though she means well pretty much every time she makes an appearance in the series it somehow causes problems for Shi-Woon.
• Offscreen Teleportation: Invoked when Chun Woo pursues the mook who was trailing them, Played for Laughs.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Practically anybody who realizes just who Chun Woo is mid-battle. Shi Woon also has a big one when he encounters Hyuk So Chun.
  • Li Jioo is petrified by Elder Kwong's aura after finding out S.U.C. gravely injured Jin-le. Even Shi Woon is terrified by it.
  • Several Murim Special Forces members on the island where Shi-Woon is being held when they realize he is much more dangerous then they thought he was.
• Old Master: The Alliance Chief for sure and later Elder Kwong Jae-Kyu and Ju Sang Sik.
• Only Mostly Dead:
  • Shiho. Wonjae appears to be keeping her in a state of suspension and is trying to revive her.
  • More recently Elder Jang-Il Jeong in Chapter 107.
• Perky Goth: Li-Ji-Oo.
• Please Keep Your Hat On: Bae Sung-Jae
• Police Are Useless: Even the ordinary SUC fighters were able to defeat ordinary patrolmen and the NPA's famed anti-riot division. Lampshaded somewhat as the authorities who know about the SUC are aware of exactly how useless they are. One of the primary sources of tension between the governments and the Murim world.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • Shi-Woon is attacked by Yoo Ji-Gun because he thought Shi-Woon was a member of the S.U.C. that was running around causing trouble under the name of the Nine Arts Dragon. If he bothered to actually talk things over with Shi-Woon, that would have be cleared up immediately. To his credit, it was established that Shi-Woon had mysterious allies protecting him and the Sunwoo Clan was trying to keep the outside world from realising Shi-Woon was the new Clan Head.
  • In general, a lot of the events going on could've simply been avoided if anyone Shi-Woon encountered would simply ask him what he knows or answer any questions he has. Instead, they senselessly fight him or otherwise occupy his time.
• Pressure Point: The foundation of medical Murim techniques, though apparently very hard to use in combat.
• Primal Scene: Narrowly averted.
• Punched Across the Room
• Punk in the Trunk: Sosul's first appearance
• Put on a Bus:
  • Many major characters from Part 1. Justified, since now they are on the run from the Alliance. The Bus Came Back for most of them although at different stops
  • Lampshaded with So-Chun Hyuk, who disappeared for over 80 chapters when a subordinate immediately states that he was so engrossed in research he hasn't heard about any of the major events since he disappeared.
• Race Against the Clock:
  • Chun Woo's battle against Gijuu
  • All of Shi Woon's fights in New Waves since his Ki Center was destroyed.
• Recurring Boss: Chang Ho and later within New Waves, Yong-Hyun.
• Revenge: Not only is it Chun Woo's main motive, but there's also a lot of people looking to get revenge on him.
• Revenge Before Reason: Gijuu, Hyun Tae, and "Iron Fist" Munju play this straight. Chun Woo himself also starts invoking this trope in later chapters.
• Roaring Rampage of Rescue: How Shi Woon usually gets into or out of trouble, especially in New Waves.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Revenge is revealed to be Chun Woo's main motive for fighting the murim-in organization. In later chapters, he takes the opportunity to confront the murim-in leaders responsible for his master's death. It's getting to the point you think he and Roberta are going to trade tips.
• Romantic False Lead: Is it Shiho or Yoon Ji? Turns out to be Yoon Ji.
• Running Gag: Chun Woo's dates with Yoon Ji always get interrupted.
• Run the Gauntlet: This appears to be a standard in the manhwa.
  • Shi-Woon goes through a smaller scale version at the start of the final arc of Part 1 going from a skirmish with Chang Ho through various Mooks in the rain and ending with Kangsung and later Yu Gyu Bum.
  • Chun Woo goes through the a more literal one when he decides Trap Is the Only Option later in the same arc.
  • Jin-le in New Waves goes through one as well.
  • Shi-Woon goes through another one on the island arc in New Waves.
• Sadistic Choice:
  • Given to Chun Woo by the Chief. Give up the Black Heaven and Earth technique, or let Shiho die?
  • In Volume 10, this takes new turn. Give up the Black Heaven and Earth technique, or let Shi Woon die?
• Sexual Harassment Is Okay When Its Female On Male: Shiho invokes this a lot, with her teasing the male protagonists with false sexual advances or trolling them at every opportunity.
• Self-Sacrifice Scheme: Sera when confronting Bae Sung-Jae in the dark to let Shi-Woon escape.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Chi Woon believes Chun Woo likes Shiho, and keeps offering to give them privacy. Chun Woo, of course, yells at him for thinking something so stupid.
  • Ha-ll Kang is this to Ji-Nie and Shi Woon. This time it's Ji-Nie doing the yelling in response.
• Shirtless Scene
• She Is Not My Girlfriend:
  • Both Chun Woo and Shi Woon have these moments.
  • Gender-Inverted moment comes from New Wave Jin-le towards Shi-Woon. Though the Luminescent Blush she gives off while around him makes it so Everyone Can See It.
• Shoot the Hostage: In-story, most characters considered this to be a Kick the Dog moment for Chun Woo. However, there's also evidence to support a Shoot the Dog interpretation.
• Shouldn't We Be in School Right Now?: Shi-Woon, Jin-le and Yoo Ji Gun after the first two dozen chapters of New Waves, when the SUC take more story prominence.
• Shout-Out: When Chun-Woo first goes into the form of the Chaos King, it looks like the Black Beast.
• Shower of Awkward
• Slasher Smile: Besides Chun Woo, Hyun Tae starts using theseafter he goes off the deep end.
• Spanner in the Works: Shi-Woon to the bad guy's plans. Repeatedly.
• Spell My Name With An S: All day long.
• Springtime for Hitler: Shi-Woon asks the Sun-Woo heads to train him, and they agree... with the intention of training him so intensely that he would burn out and not be able to continue. Instead he takes the training in stride, shocking everyone, and it is revealed that he still has his Healing Factor due to his whole body being infused with ki, despite his ki center being broken.
• Super-Deformed: Maaany but Sera is usual victim of this.
• Supernatural Martial Arts: The whole concept of the Murim and the Manga in general.
• Super Serum: How Shi-Woon ended up with such strong Ki in the first place thanks to Shiho. Also how Shi-Woon was able to do martial arts after the destruction of his ki center at the end of Part 1 for most of New Waves. Also revealed later to be how the S.U.C. are able to get non-murim to be able to perform murim techniques without the normal extensive training.
• Super-Toughness: Shi-Woon.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Shiho casually mentions that it's been a few days since Shi-Woon last came by. Shosul then loudly proclaims that she has no interest in guys like him. Shiho points out that she didn't ask.
• Taking the Bullet: Aaargh, Shiho!
• Taking You with Me: Gijuu. Later Shiho and Chun Woo consider this option, when gravely outnumbered.
• Thanks for the Mammary: See for yourself. It was accidental... Or was it?
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: "Iron Fist" Munju towards Chun Woo
• These Hands Have Killed: Subverted. Shi Woon looks like he's going to have one of these during his Freak Out, when he asks Chun Woo if the assassins were still alive, but Chun Woo tells him they're fine.
• This Cannot Be!:
  • Shi Woon in New Waves when confronted with a video showing Chun Woo addressing the S.U.C.
  • Uttered repeatedly by Shi-Woon's opponents in Series 2 generally by the person he's fighting or one of their allies.
• Title Drop: The meaning of the title isn't really touched until chapter 32 of the first series and the meaning of the 'New Waves' subtitle wasn't broached until chapter 19.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl:
  • Jin-le and Sae Hee, though they have not spent any real time together.
  • Ji-Nie and Sera.
• Time-Limit Boss: Gijuu had rigged the place to blow up within 10 minutes.
• Too Awesome to Use: Shi Woon's powers, without proper training, can kill ordinary people which is why several characters prevent him from using it on some bullies. They would also rip his body apart without proper training.
• Took a Level in Badass: Shi Woon, majorly. In-fact this seems to happen every time Shi-Woon gets beaten nearly to death. Chang Ho in New Waves as a member of SUC. It's still not enough for him to beat Shi-Woon though.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: Shi Woon who gets captured by Bae Sung Jae, where all signs were pointing toward abduction including getting into his car (made worst in that the two times Shi Woon met him previously he was living in a box in the subway) and drinking a drink that was offered to him by a relative stranger.
• Took a Level in Cynic: Played with. At the beginning of Eternal Force this seems to have happened to Shi-Woon, who presents a far colder and bitter demeanor than he ever had previously. As the story continues though it becomes clear that he only is like this towards characters that have not been in the story previously. Towards Jin-Ie and Sera he's for the most part how he has always been, though maybe slightly more subdued.
• Training from Hell
• Tranquil Fury: Kangsung.
• Tsundere: A few. There's Chun Woo, Sosul, Jin-le and Elder Kwon.
• Undying Loyalty:
  • Shi Woon develops this toward Chun Woo well into Part 2 of the series.
  • His personality later begins to inspire this among others, notably Sera.
  • Also more recently Shi-Woon for the Sunwoo clan.
  • Even more dramatically, Elder Kwon for Shiwoon. Shiwoon reminds Kwon of the Sunwoo founder returned, and Kwon will sacrifice anything for the Sunwoo and Shiwoon, in that order.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Li Jioo, after Shi Woon calls off Jin-le and even returns her compact, once they leave she immediately orders her SUC mooks to kill them.
• Villain Protagonist: It is not clear until halfway through New Waves that we come to realize that Chun-Woo was always the baddest guy in a world of Grey-and-Gray Morality, barring Shi-Woon's Idealism.
  • This does get played with by the end of New Waves. Chun-Woo certainly is no saint and has tons of blood on his hands, but it turns out that he had been drugging himself to numb the pain of losing Shiho, to the point of forgetting everything about her (and thus all but forgetting the contents of the original Manhwa) which informs his far nastier tendencies in New Waves. Once he reclaims his memories, while he's still on the wrong side he's not the complete Jerkass he had been in New Waves up until that point.
• Wall Jump: The Wall Tiger Skill.
• What You Are in the Dark: Jini is ordered by her grandfather to kill Shi Woon after his fight. Given how brutal it was, the only people who would know she did it would be her and Elder Kwon. She almost goes through with it too (to the point of strangling him), but ultimately decides to spare his life.
• Will They or Won't They?: Chun Woo and Shiho. They do. Until Murim kills her. And as of Chapter 38 of New Waves, no she's not dead! (maybe)
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: The Black Origin Threshold is described as "the highest existing level of the martial spirit" that had previously only been found in legends. Unfortunately using this technique pushes the user into an uncontrollable, Ax-Crazy, rage-driven state of mind in which they cannot distinguish friend from foe.
• World of Badass: The Murim itself.
• Would Hit a Girl: Gender is no objection in Murim.
• You Remind Me of X: Shi-Woon inspires a lot of different characters by reminding them of someone they once knew or themselves.

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