Tower of God

Development

Author Lee Jong-hui majored in visual arts education on a university level before being conscripted into the South Korean military. By the advice of a senior in the army, Jong-hui started drawing cartoons. During this period, Jong-hui drew "ten books" worth of practice cartoons, which formed the backbone of the Tower of God comic he later started to create for the Internet.^{[source needs translation]}

Setting and plot

Tower of God centers around a boy called Twenty-Fifth Bam, who has spent his life trapped beneath a mysterious tower. Chasing after his best friend, he manages to open a door into the Tower, and must now face challenges at each floor of this tower as he tries to find his companion.

The Tower

In the webtoon, "The Tower" is a mysterious structure that is completely enclosed and hosts many unique environments. It is permeated by an element called "Shinsu", which has strange properties. It is inhabited by many different intelligent species. Living on the top floors is associated with a higher status in the Tower and better living conditions. This is a result of ascension from one floor to the next being only allowed by passing increasingly difficult tests of strength, dexterity and wit. Atop of the Tower sit the "10 Big Families" which form the governing body of the Tower, with king Jahad as chief leader.

Each floor is composed of three layers: an external Outer Tower which serves as the residential area, an Inner Tower where people are tested, and a Middle Area, which acts as a network linking each floor. Residents of each floor are given the chance to ascend, provided that they are deemed "worthy" of doing so by Headon, the First Floor's Guardian and caretaker of the Tower. Such people are referred to as "Chosen Regulars" in Tower of God. The Tower is sealed from the vast, unknown "Outside" by portentous, impenetrable doors. On rare occasions, extraordinary people are able to open the doors and enter the Tower. Such people are called "Irregulars" in the webtoon, and protagonist Twenty-Fifth Baam is one of them.

According to the author, each floor is the size of the North American continent.

Shinsu

Shinsu (Hangul: 신수, RR: Shin-soo), roughly translated as "Divine Water", is a substance found within the Tower in varying concentrations on each floor. On the lower floors, Shinsu is diffuse and inconspicuous, similar to air. However on higher floors, Shinsu increases in power and concentration, and is said to be viscous and flow, similar to water. High Shinsu resistance is required to enter these floors. Residents in the tower must form a contract with the "guardians" of the respective floors in order to manipulate Shinsu. However, individual known as "Irregulars" seem to be an execption to this case, with one (Enryu) who even managed to kill a seeminly immortal guardian of a floor.

Shinsu can be manipulated to enhance physical abilities, power weapons, and even manipulate the elements.

Twenty-Fifth Bam

Twenty-Fifth Bam (Hangul: 스물다섯번째 밤; RR: Seumul-daseot-banjjae Bam; literal translation: Twenty-fifth Night) is the protagonist of Tower of God. Bam is the latest Irregular to enter the Tower, but because of his young age and naiveté, his abilities don't resemble those that previous Irregulars are known for.

In the story, Bam enters The Tower in search of his best friend Rachel, the only person who visited him and cared for him in the years of isolation that he spent in a cave underneath the Tower. After entering the Tower, he is told that all the answers that he seeks will be answered if he climbs the tower, though he is immediately presented with a seemingly impossible and deadly test. Bam succeeds, and is allowed to move onto the second floor, where all would-be Regulars start their ascension. Throughout the webtoon, Bam makes several friends among the candidates, and together they pass the many tests of the floor.

Bam returns in Tower of God: Part 2 - The Return of the Prince, which takes place six years after the original story, using the alias Jue Viole Grace (Hangul: 쥬 비올레 그레이스; RR: Jue Biolae Geuraeiseu). In this story, Bam is under the control of the infamous anti-government group FUG, forced to cooperate to keep his old team-mates safe.

Rachel

Rachel (Hangul: 라헬; RR: Rahel) was Bam's best friend until she entered the Tower and became an Irregular. She desires to see the stars in the night sky at the top of the Tower and is determined to reach it by all means. This wish comes from her fear of the darkness of the night. Later in the webtoon, she is wounded and pretends to be heavily crippled, at which point Bam declares that he will "be her legs" and help her continue climb the Tower. In a later test, she decides to betray Bam and apparently kills him. She convinces his friends that Bam died protecting her and profits from the pity of the group that wants to continue the task Bam had started: carrying her to the top of the tower.

Khun Aguero Agnis

Khun Aguero Agnis (Hangul: 쿤 아게로 아그니스; RR: Kun Agero Ageuneseu) is from one of the 10 Noble families that first climbed the tower, and the son of High Ranker Khun Eduan. He meets Bam in the first test of the second floor, and deems him interesting enough to accompany and aids him while they climb the tower. He and Rak quickly become Bam's closest friends. He is usually in the Lighthouse position, but he has been shown to be capable of basic close combat as well when the situation calls for it.

Khun is named after the Argentinian soccer player Sergio "Kun" Agüero.

Rak Wraithraiser

Rak Wraithraiser (Hangul: 라크 레크레이셔; RR: Rahk Rekraisher) is a large, powerful, and very confident spear wielder. He unwillingly teamed up with the black haired turtle and the blue haired turtle early in the story, and he quickly became attached to them during the following tests. Due to his reptile-like features, he is sometimes referred to as "Alligator" or "Gator". Rak refers to his friends and people he meets as "turtles"; the term by which he also earnestly addresses his "prey".

Ja Wangnan

Ja Wangnan (Hangul: 자 왕난; RR: Ja Wangnan) is another primary protagonist introduced at the start of part II, which initially focuses on him before spreading attention to the other main cast again. Wangnan on the 20th floor is initially selfish and willing to resort to trickery to pass the test to the 21st Floor, as he has been stuck on the 20th floor failing the same floor advancement test repeatedly ever since arriving on the 20th floor which results in him falling into financial debt with loan sharks; but later in his last chance test he starts to display his inner caring side and is shown to be sympathetic and forgiving to people who similarly used trickery against others to survive. His goal is to become the King of the Tower. He is blond haired, has red protrusions on the back of his head, and has a red ring with the symbol of Zahard (also known as Jahad in other translations) inscribed on it, a ring that Karaka, one of the rising members in FUG wears. He has not displayed any special abilities with Shinsoo or martial arts, he was able to survive a fatal pierce through his heart in the Workshop battle when Beta tried to stop him from summoning Bam, later showing a full recovery, which garnered suspicion and interest from the few people who took notice of this. He is also referred to as Prince of the Red Light district.

Other media

In 2013, Naver released a mobile role-playing game on Google Play based on Tower of God, developed by Sunrise. The game drew in 12 million players shortly after its initial release. The Tower of God role-playing game's development continued for two years after its initial release, and the game saw a full commercial release in 2016. In February 2016, the game ranked in the top 10 most popular games on Google Play, with its popularity still rising. In the game, a player can choose one of the characters from the webtoon; each represents a unique character class.

Naver sells a variety of Tower of God merchandise, such as figurines. During the commercial release of the Tower of God role-playing game, Naver released limited edition items worth ₩30,000 South Korean Won.

Popularity

Head of Line Webtoon Tom Akel stated in July 2015 that the webtoon's weekly installments are read by five million people.