As a major webtoon fan, the Crunchyroll originals is a dream come true for me. The Tower of God anime getting such a positive reception already opens the way to many intriguing possibilities. And with my fave webtoon: God of Highschool, finally getting the anime adaptation it's always needed, I thought it was high time I do some more analysis on it.
But instead of talking about stuff like fights or powers, I thought it was high time I talked about my favorite character in the entire series. It isn't Mira Yu, Dawei Han, or even Mori Hui Naw, for me, Mori Hui will always be not only my favorite character in the series but also one of my favorite characters in all of Webtoon. But before I do another one of my expert analyses,' you all know what time it is.
Note
I will be pretty much spoiling everything about the series up until chapter 440. Then, and for all of you newcomers to the series, I will be brief on the plot again. Around the world, there is a special tournament called the God of Highschool. The prize for winning said tournament involves one wish of yours being granted.
After such a tasty reward, our main characters all have different reasons for joining the said tournament. Mori Jin wants to prove that he is the best fighter, Dawei Han wants to save his friend from a deadly illness, and Mira Yu wants to pass her swordsmanship to an heir.
With these ambitions on the line, it's soon revealed there is far more going on. So with that all out of the way, please read this series if you like anything DBZ-esque. Now with that out of the way, back to his analysis.
Intro
Shortly after his fight with Ardun, Mori Jin sends one of his clones out to support his friends and all of the monsters of Oreaguek. However, after the destruction of Oreaguek, Mori Hui's connection with the original died out, leaving Hui unsure about what to do next.
At first, Hui tried to uphold the legacy of Jin, but after losing a fight with R, Dawei encouraged the clone not to try to act like his original. From then on, Mori Hui begins a frankly amazing journey of self-discovery as he makes a name for himself.
Overview/Personality
Despite being a clone, Hui can't be any more opposite to Mori Jin. He's soft-spoken, pragmatic, cautious, polite, and, most of all, incredibly intelligent though naive in certain areas like Jin. Another thing that sets him apart from Jin is that despite immediate goals like stopping Nox and gaining independence, Hui less wants to make Jin's house the most sophisticated and expensive it can be. Other than that, there are other small differences and references to dissect about Hui.
Hui's existence could be considered an inverse of Silent Monk, a clone of Sun Wukong, who preferred martial art to contrast the two characterss further. However, a key thing about Hui's fighting style is that he is far more liberal in using his god-like powers, making sense that his fighting style reflects this since he is a clone of Wukong, not Mori jin.
Hui's robes are also very different from Jin's as they look more like actual clothes and remain inconsistent in their overall appearance as time goes on. Finally, a running theme of Hui's future development is often characterized by the appearance of an Imoogi, a lesser dragon in Korean mythology that ends up later as a dragon.
Overall I think Hui's creation and development in the story worked on many different levels. For one, Arc Mori Jin was already 100 times more powerful than any Six member by the World Tournaments. So it was a nice call to pull Jin back from the spotlight to develop the main cast further and avoid definitive power creep.
Other than that, though, I think that what draws me to Hui's character is his resourcefulness, resolve, and willingness to go 100% in everything he goes into. On his quest for independence, Hui valued the time he's had with his friends more than almost any character. He knew he wasn't as strong as the original, so he learned every experience he's made to become stronger while being far more vulnerable.
And most of all, he is completely and utterly willing to fight till his last fucking breath against the toughest of odds, even it means certain death, even it means sacrificing his own life to people that he owes almost nothing. It was through all of these aspects that made Hui a character that could make anyone respect and acknowledge him.
Effectively Hui learned the value of life and used it to cherish so many others by putting everything on the line, which granted him his own independence. He was a fully-realized mc from beginning to end, and I wish we got more, but with this part out of the way, I might as well get into his best fights to review them.
Hui vs Dante
To finally cap off the emotional roller coaster of the Consolation G.O.H. tournament, Team South Korea is forced to fight Sang Man-Jin, the Japanese team, and the sadistic Dante all at once to save the rest of the rest the contestants from certain death.
While Mori Hui holds the advantage in the first part of the exchange, his power quickly runs out, with the only timely arrival of Alex saving him. As Alex and Violeta buy him the time he needs with his friends already preoccupied, it's up to Mori Hui to use his new wealth of Re-tawkendo info to not only rise and separate himself from the legend of Mori Jin.
With the two clones putting their lives and legacies on the line, Mori Hui finally stops doing everything Dante had done until that point; he stops using his status as a clone to hold himself back. He then delivers one of the most utterly savage beatdowns of the entire series, overwhelming Dante with techniques all his while still using Jin as his inspiration. And just like that, our Imoogi rises. Overall easily one of the most badass exchanges of the series and a great way to close off the arc.
Hui vs Samuel Rosiante
As an avid mythology buff, when I saw the setup for this fight, my hype for this series reached an all-time high. On the left, we have the infamous Mori Hui clone of the all-powerful, mighty Monkey King of the monsters who time and time again turned the heavens into his playground and whose actions redefined Asian culture forever.
And on the right, we have Samuel Roisante, the descendant of Hercules, the legendary hero whose strength was unrivaled in both heaven and earth, who later became the definition of heroism to many. Mubong pretty much becomes the audience as every chapter in the battle to come is just used to bring about even more hype.
The fight gives us a great indicator of what both fighters are capable of as Samuel starts by literally destroying Hui's staff (which was believed to be his Yeoui at the time) and ragdolling Hui through six pillars, a statue, and a truck! But Hui quickly gains the upper hands once again as he instantly comes back and wrecks Samuel with a volley of staff attacks with the real (copy) of Yeoui.
However, when you think that it's going to be another easy win, the full power of Hercules reveals itself in full glory, completely taking over his descendants' body. Now, with the monster butcher's full power at his beck and call, the real round 2 begins. Again, the warriors stare each other down for only a moment before they begin their battle.
Every hit is felt for miles as not even the Barabdium made stadium can contain their might. As Samuel draws out more of Hercules's power, Hui's stamina begins to run out, forcing him to finish the fight in his base form.
With a combination of both Hallyang Style Pumba, Retawkendo, and Yeoui, Hui can overwhelm and outmaneuver Samuel's overwhelming power. And when you think that he's going to finish him off with a final punch, Hui uses Yeoui and his completed variant of the Kick of Immogi. Then, finally, he finishes off the god Butcher himself. This is another major win for Hui as he further manages to prove his independence and heritage as he uses the power of Wukong, the skill of jin, and his hard-earned precision to get himself one step closer to the King of Nox.
Hui vs The King
With the raid on Nox in full force, Hui is forced to answer a major question as he faces the powerful and almost unbeatable king in single combat. Will he stand and fight a battle he has almost no chance of winning with a guaranteed bid for pure sentience, or will he stand and fight with the people he cares for? For Hui, that is not even a question as he quickly strikes the King at full force; from there, it becomes the ultimate battle of David and Goliath. Far above the carnage below, Hui begins the epic clash using everything against the deity. It is the definition of a struggle as you can feel Hui push himself to his very limit to get even the slightest bit of progress as one by one, they manage to rise to the king's might.
Realizing that his godly powers are going nowhere and realizing that he will put his fragile life on the line, Hui uses his martial art talent to overwhelm him for a few seconds. However, even that is useless as he copies him blow for blow.
And yet, despite the struggle, Hui still smiles because he knows that his pain and progress throughout the fight only proves now more than ever that he is alive and making an impact. And through this one-of-a-kind experience, he managed to mix them all to push him back finally!
And all of this was almost culminates in one of the most powerful climaxes in the series as the King reaches his peak; our heroes pour everything they have into Hui, bringing his power to limits he has never before seen! And as the sheer power of their blows annihilate the entire city and quake the very planet to near smithereens! Once again, another desperate ensues bit by bit. Yet, you can still feel the gap being narrower than ever as Jin uses the power of his own Yeoui passing the torch of mc to Hui as their combined battle breaks the blade of Tathagata!
It doesn't get more epic than using an opera of martial arts; they clash again until Hui, a seemingly insignificant move from earlier in the fight, made even the King sweat in fear as he attempts to kick his head clean off! Yet even after all of that, Hui, unfortunately, loses steam and transforms back, but it is still enough as The King finally admits defeat, realizing that the puny beings he once looked under have finally caught up to him. Which, in my book, is still a major win.
This fight symbolizes everything that I love about Hui as a character and a perfect note for him to go out on. While this could be better as everyone vs King, Hui is still the real M.V.P.
Epilogue/Legacy
Unfortunately, after his fateful fight with King Huy, he had to witness Ragnorak. However, as the heavenly gods destroy what was left of Korea, Hui, as a paraplegic, still decides to pick a fight with Zeus himself and is fully willing to die fighting. After this short exchange, R, another clone like Hui, tell him why he's even fighting in the first place.
If Mori Jin does get back, then Hui's independence will be erased; if he dies, he won't be remembered by anyone; if he gave up, then maybe there would be some small chance for his survival. But Hui doesn't care, instead fully willing to sacrifice himself a thousand times over to be accepted. And with that proclamation, Hui dies without the world knowing his sacrifice, in the arms of his friend as he dies a fully-fledged dragon.
While many people didn't appreciate the sacrifices he's made, his presence still lives in many aspects. For example, the current executives Q and X both trained hard to surpass Hui's power. And the two strongest characters still acknowledge his presence, with Jin following his example to finally make him one of my favorite characters.
"I just can't hate you," Ultio R ch. 284.
"Three good friends. One is Dawei Han, and another is Mira Yoo. And the guy who was more "real" than anyone is than anyone in the world. Mori Hui," Mori Dan, ch.440.
While I never did wait two years to see Mori Jin, I did find it frustrating to see Hui's feats get undermined by Mori Jin all the time. But I know in my heart that he had far surpassed what anyone had originally thought of him. Thank you all for checking my analysis, and I hope you tune in to see more.