Whilemost manhwa seriesare often captivating for readers due to their well-detailed plot and the usual plot twists and turns, an even more captivating technique is one where the manhwa employs a change in the protagonist. This happens when the main character is either replaced permanently or for a substantial part of the story.
By doing this,the shift in the lead rolebroadens the story somewhat, giving the narrative a new look and opening up newer possibilities in the general storyline and even among the characters. Therefore, this piece highlights the most notable manhwa series that successfully employs a protagonist change and how it affects the story’s narrative. So, here is a list of the best manhwa that falls in the protagonist change category.
10Reborn As The Sword God
Anime-Planet Rating: 3.6 / 5
Reborn As The Sword Godexplores the life of the well-set up and cozy life of an ordinary civil servant as he gets sucked intothe reality of a noveland becomes its protagonist, Baek Rijin. Unable to return to his previously lazy life of luxury, Baek Rijin finds himself in a dilemma as he has become the spoiled young heir to the great Jaegal Family.
On top of that, only he knows of the horrible future that awaits his family at the hands of the Blood Demon Cult. So, with nothing but the knowledge of the novel, it remains to be seen if Baek can do enough to overturn the seemingly inevitable future that awaits him and his family.
9Villain Unrivalled
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.0 / 5
Imagine gettingreincarnated as a villainin the book you wrote, oddly offensive, right? This is the protagonist, Lee Siwoon’s latest problem in theVillain Unrivaledseries. The story follows Lee Siwoon after he gets reincarnated into his own novel as the villain, Hyuk Ryeon-un, the worthless fourth son of the Demonic Cult leader. Now, with a new life as Hyuk Ryeon, only Lee Siwoon knows of the future that awaits Hyuk Ryeon.
Unless he becomes stronger, Hyuk Ryeon is destined to die at the hands of the novel’s protagonist due to being utterly weak. So, with no choice to avoid death but to get stronger, Hyuk Ryeong sets out to get strong enough or create a strong enough force of allies to defy his seemingly inevitable fate.
8I Became The Tyrant of a Defense Game
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.1 / 5
I Became The Tyrant of a Defense Gamepresents a rather unique gaming perspective in this thrilling series. The story begins with the central character, the renowned Mr. Gamer Geek after he not only clears the infamous game Protect The Empire— the world’s most difficult game for a decade but also clears it in its hardest mode. However, instead of claiming his achievements from the game, he is mysteriously sucked into the game as the in-game Prince Ash’s body.
Now, the Prince, Ash, soon realizes the harshness of his mindless commands to clear the game and the heavy costs that came with them. So, to make up for his previous actions, Ash is determined to protect his allies from the almost never-ending rush of monsters. However, he must also find the person responsible for trapping him in the game. But, to do so, he must first of all survive his immediate battlefield.
7The Novel’s Extra
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.2 / 5
More than a dream, waking up in the world of your creation seems like the protagonist’s worst nightmare inthe Novel’s Extraseries.The story’s protagonist, Kim Hajin, finds himself in nothing short of a dilemma after he is mysteriously transported into his web novel.
Even worse, he is not part of the main cast but rather a mere extra, but he has no choice but to see his current situation through. Fortunately for Kim Hajin, he knows everything there is to know in his new world. However, with the increasing holes and twists in the plot that he created, Kim soon finds that his knowledge is very limited to what he can control.
6I am The Fated Villain
I am The Fated Villaintakes place in afantasy martial arts world. The central character is a transmigrator who finds himself in the body of the world’s villain, Gu Changge. With no way to return to his world and the concept of villainy tempting, Gu Changge seems set on embracing his role as a villain in this world.
Fortunately, his decision is reinforced by the constant persecution of the supposed world’s heroes, the Sons of Fate. With a system that allows him to harvest their luck and convert it into his, Gu Changge aims to become the world’s most powerful villain.
5Regressor Instruction Manual
The Regressor Instruction Manualpresents a story where it is possible to suddenly be summoned to another world to play a game of survival while having the lowest skill set possible. This is the reality of the story’s protagonist, Lee Giyoung, as he is suddenly summoned to another world to play a survival game with the worst possible skills.
However, Giyoung’s luck has not completely run out as he can read the status of other players. With this skill, he discovers Hyungsung, who is a regressor, and by implication, Giyoung’s means of survival. With his survival all but guaranteed, Giyoung must find a way to stick to Hyunsung.
4Trapped in a Webnovel as a Good For Nothing
Trapped in a Webnovel as a Good For Nothingdetails the life of the central character, Yuseong, an ordinary Korean office worker whose life takes a violent twist when he suddenly wakes up as the side character of a web novel he was reading with the same name. Still Yuseong, but of the Haesung Group conglomerate, he finds a life where he is hated by his family and prone to violent tantrums, often not in his best interests.
Essentially doomed to be manipulated till death, Yuseong is bent on escaping his lurking doom. However, to do so, he must find a way to become one of the Awakened— people with supernatural abilities. But can Yuseong really overcome all of his problems at the same time?
3Greatest Estate Developer
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.5 / 5
Sleeping while reading a web novel seems harmless until Suho Kim, the series' protagonist, does the same and suddenly finds himself reincarnated into the fantasy world of the book he was reading. Now awakened as Lloyd Frontera of the noble Frontera Household, Kim finds a life where his family is slowly overwhelmed by huge debts, and he himself is a lazy drunk.
With no other way to prevent the family’s bankruptcy, Llyod relies on the memories and knowledge of his previous life as an engineering student to make inventions of value. Running out of time, Lloyd allies himself with a giant hamster and a magic knight. However, it remains to be seen if Lloyd can do enough to avert his family’s looming crisis.
2Trash of the Count’s Family
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.3 / 5
Trash of the Count’s Familybegins with the life of the ordinary Kim Roksu, a college student, who is mysteriously transmigrated into the web novel he was reading— The Birth of A Hero. Not only is he now trapped in the story, but he discovers he is now a minor villain in the story, Cale Henituse of the noble Henituse household.
What’s worse is that Cale Henituse is destined to die at the hands of the story’s supposed protagonist, Choi Han. However, only Kim Roksu, now Cale Henituse, knows of this impending future. With no idea how his actions may affect this new world, Cale sets out to avert his seemingly inevitable demise.
1Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint
Omniscient Reader’s Viewpointbegins from the life of the protagonist, Kim Dokja, a solitary officer worker and real-life loner whose only life pleasure is reading the novel: Three Ways To Survive the Apocalypse. Kim Dokja’s reading hobby should have remained a hobby until the contents of his hobby became a reality the instant he finished reading the book.
With the knowledge of 3,149 chapters of a reality that should have remained a book, Kim Dokja is the only one who knows what will become of this new life, and perhaps with his knowledge; he can become the needed protagonist in this new story.
