Jiwoo Seo (서지우 Seo Ji-u) is the protagonist of the manhwa, Eleceed. He is the only disciple of Kayden and the second person to have the ability Electrokinesis, though his main ability is Super Speed. He is an independent awakener and has attended the Awakened Academy with a sponsorship from the Shinhwa Association.
Background[]
Jiwoo spent the majority of his childhood friendless due to his fear of accidentally revealing his power to other people. He was also ostracized by his fellow peers, who treated him like a freak when he once demonstrated his power in front of them.[1] As a result, his family moved around a lot during his childhood in order to keep his ability a secret, which only further contributed to his isolation. These early experiences caused him to fear his own power and avoid confrontation with others. The first friend he ever made was a stray cat, which led to his adoration for cats today.
He feeds the stray cats around his neighborhood every day. Although they don't have names, he cares about them all very much. He fosters a pseudo-awakened cat that was experimented on by Dr. Delein. He currently lives in a large house residing in the Shinhwa territory. He is in his second-year of high school.
His mentor is Kayden Break, who started living with him after he saife on a certain fateful night. Kayden refers to him as "needlessly sincere" and often comments about how soft-hearted he is. Much like Kayden, Jiwoo isn't interested in joining an awakener organisation and is content with being an independent awakener. After involving himself into the world of the Awakened, he managed to finally make his first group of friends, namely Jisuk Yoo, Wooin, and Subin Lee, and has made connections with some of the most powerful awakeners in South Korea.
Appearance[]
Jiwoo Seo has light, cream colored hair and amber doe eyes that often glitter or brighten when something excites him. He is also easily prone to blushing, which is why he can often be seen with little red on his face. He is quite short for a teen of his age, as he is shorter than Wooin and Jisuk. In terms of build, Jiwoo has curated a lean, muscular body thanks to Kayden's training. His face is also said to be very naive-looking and kind, which is why many Awakeners often underestimate him despite being introduced as Kayden's disciple.
His school uniform consists of a grey blazer, a light blue tie, a white polo shirt and sneakers. His academy uniform consists of a black track jacket with red trim, black track pants and sneakers.
For his casual wear, he is first seen wearing a plain white hoodie and pale blue pants.[2] He is later on seen wearing a plain dark grey hoodie and grey pants that matches his grey sneakers[3] or a plain white sweater and the same grey pants and sneakers.[4]
For his training with Kayden, he wears either a white tracksuit with black stripes[5][6] or a black tracksuit with purple stripes.[7] He's also sometimes seen wearing a plain white/black shirt and pants without shoes, though only for indoor training.[8][9]
Personality[]
Jiwoo Seo is a very compassionate, warm-hearted individual. He is seen as someone who is kind and caring. Also, he looks after the stray cats of his neighbourhood. Growing up alone and afraid of revealing his powers, he is a reserved and somewhat cautious person, though he is occasionally prone to recklessness whenever he sees that someone is in danger. He is also a highly empathetic individual as a result of his troubled childhood. Due to his reserved personality, he avoids confrontations whenever possible, and is very careful as to not bring himself into the spotlight, especially with his powers.
Stemming from his reserved personality, Jiwoo has a tendency to think that he is the one always at fault whenever a problem arises. Despite his flaws though, Jiwoo has always stood up for his friends in times of need. He can't look away whenever there is a problem in front of him and strives to help others, even if there is a risk of getting hurt or revealing his powers to the public.[10] Although he is reserved on the outside, he is very sociable to people he has opened up to and cares a lot about the people and cats around him, including strangers or acquaintances — sometimes making other people slightly uncomfortable due to his friendly nature.[11][12] Jiwoo Seo is also shown to be an attentive learner, always remembering the advice others have given him and following that advice to the letter, even if it sometimes gets him in trouble.[13][11]
Kaiden has called him the king of pushovers, as early on in the series, he asked Kaiden to let Woo-in (his friend who tried to save him from his evil master) and Woo-in’s master (who tried to murder him) go free and unharmed. He told Kaiden he didn’t want him to kill for him.
Contrary to his innocent appearance, Jiwoo is actually a rather competitive person and hates losing. He will persistently see a fight through until the very end, even if the odds are completely against him. Even when knocked down, he'll get back up again until he can't get up anymore. In many ways, his stubborn and competitive attitude as an awakener highly resembles that of his mentor, Kayden, and that resemblance has continued to grow stronger the further he has walked down his path as an awakener, as noted by many characters.
However, unlike Kayden and other Awakeners, Jiwoo remains modest and has an accurate understanding of how he was able to win.[14] Jiwoo also keeps his promises and is very loyal to those he considers his family and friends, especially to Kayden. He refuses to abandon them behind and is stubborn enough that no one is able to change his decisions once he has made up his mind about something.[15]
It's because of his kind and modest personality, alongside his surprising inner strength, that makes people gravitate towards Jiwoo and want to help him.
Trivia[]
- Currently, Jiwoo has six cats (including Kayden and Kartein ). The other four consist of a plain black cat, a black and white cat, a brown striped cat, and an awakened cat. The four cats currently don't have names that we know of. The defining traits of the three stray cats are that the brown striped cat is affectionate, the plain black cat is curious, and the white and black cat is a troublemaker.
- Although Jiwoo has stated to have friends in the past, due to his fear, he has never formed any proper friendship until meeting Wooin, Jisuk and Subin.
- Due to his sincere and kind nature, along with his inner strength, those who have gotten to know him (Kayden, Wooin, Inhyuk Goo, Jisuk Yoo, etc) would end up becoming endeared and protective of him within a short span of time.[16][17][18]
- Jiwoo came 3rd in the 1st Popularity Poll with 107 votes.
- Jiwoo's appearance is inspired by the South Korean singer Kang Daniel.
- Iseul Ju has a very obvious and noticable crush on him, though Jiwoo remains completely oblivious.
- Jiwoo was confirmed to be 17 in a Q&A live stream held by the creators of the webcomic.
References[]
- ↑ Episode 8
- ↑ Episode 64
- ↑ Episode 115
- ↑ Episode 122
- ↑ Episode 24
- ↑ Episode 57
- ↑ Episode 117
- ↑ Episode 27
- ↑ Episode 59
- ↑ Episode 1
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Episode 73
- ↑ Episode 77
- ↑ Episode 70
- ↑ Episode 89
- ↑ Episode 42
- ↑ Episode 14
- ↑ Episode 17
- ↑ Episode 21