The closest manhwa like Return of the Disaster-Class Hero is Doom Breaker: the strongest human alive gets killed, comes back, and goes after the one who did it. After that it depends on what kept you reading. For the cocky returner who knows more than everyone, try Return of the Blossoming Blade. For the REDICE Studio art, Solo Leveling and I'm the Max-Level Newbie.
Quick recap of what we're matching. Tapas' description: "the zodiac gods awakened 12 humans known as saints. But there was one more that awoke," and he was "unchosen but the greatest hero of all: Geon Lee." Then "His allies betrayed him and left him for dead, but now, 20 years later, he's more powerful than ever." So the engine is a hero who's already the strongest, plus a list of people who owe him.
*Tappytoon's official 2022 trailer for the series.*Manhwa like Return of the Disaster-Class Hero at a glance
| Pick | What it shares with Disaster-Class Hero | Status in English | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doom Breaker | The strongest human returns for revenge | On a break after the Season 2 finale | WEBTOON |
| Return of the Blossoming Blade | A legend comes back and settles old scores | Ongoing, weekly | WEBTOON |
| SSS-Class Revival Hunter | Death and revenge as the power system | On a break after Season 4 | Tapas |
| Solo Leveling | The REDICE art and the OP power fantasy | Finished, with an epilogue | Tappytoon |
| I'm the Max-Level Newbie | REDICE again, and a hero who starts ahead | Ongoing, weekly | WEBTOON |
| Nano Machine | A hidden edge in a world stacked against him | Ongoing | WEBTOON |
Disaster-Class Hero itself credits BGman, HEATS and SAN.G, with REDICE STUDIO on the copyright line. It updates every Sunday on Tapas and every Tuesday on WEBTOON, which started its own English run in October 2025.
1. Doom Breaker: the closest match
Doom Breaker (Korean cover via AniList).
WEBTOON's setup: "Zephyr is the last human fighting evil in a world abandoned by the gods." He's killed by Tartarus, "the god of destruction," and then sent "ten years into the past, back to when he was a slave instead of the most powerful human alive."
That's the same shape as Lee Geon's story: the strongest fighter, taken out, back for a second round. The difference is who the enemy is. Geon's grudge is with the allies who sold him out; Zephyr's is with a god, so the revenge is aimed up at Tartarus rather than at old friends. It's also on a season break. WEBTOON's last episode is the Season 2 finale from March 2024, and the Korean run on Naver is listed as resting. Our Doom Breaker reading guide has the season split, and manhwa like Doom Breaker goes further down this road.
2. Return of the Blossoming Blade: the returner with jokes
Return of the Blossoming Blade, Korean volume 1 (cover via AniList).
Cheongmyeong of the Mount Hua Sect "awakens a hundred years in the future" after killing the Demonic Cult's leader in a "pyrrhic victory." He finds his sect "reduced to a mere shadow of itself" and sets out to restore it.
It's the same comeback story in a murim world: a legend returns to find his old home has fallen and sets about rebuilding it. The difference is tone; our review says it "gets comedy right where other murim manhwa don't." It's also the most active pick here: WEBTOON posted Season 3's Episode 179 on October 13, 2026, with five more episodes already on the app. Our reading guide covers where to start.
3. SSS-Class Revival Hunter: dying as a strategy
SSS-Class Revival Hunter, Korean volume 1 (cover via AniList).
Confucius Kim, "envying all the star hunters," gets "a legendary skill to copy others' abilities… at the cost of his life." The first person to kill him is the top hunter, and the copied skill is "the ability to travel back in time upon death."
The link to Disaster-Class Hero is the grudge. Kim's power comes straight from the people who kill him. He starts weak, though, so you're trading Geon's instant power for a slow climb. On Tapas it stopped at 154 episodes; a February 27, 2026 notice says "Season 4 has come to a close." Tapas also shuts down on March 31, 2027 (what we know), and it's this series' only English webtoon site (Yen Press prints it). Our SSS-Class Revival Hunter review explains the system.
4. Solo Leveling: the art Disaster-Class Hero is compared to
Solo Leveling (Korean cover via AniList).
Tappytoon's summary calls Sung Jinwoo "the weakest hunter of all mankind" until "a mysterious System chooses him as its sole player." It's a climb, not a revenge story, so it doesn't share Geon's setup. What it shares is the look. Tappytoon credits the art to DUBU of REDICE, the same studio on Disaster-Class Hero's copyright line. Readers make the comparison too: one r/manhwa reader said they dropped Disaster-Class Hero "when it just decided become solo leveling."
It's finished: AniList lists 201 chapters, and Tappytoon has the epilogue up. If you came to Disaster-Class Hero through the Solo Leveling wave, our Solo Leveling review and the wider manhwa like Solo Leveling list are the next stops.
5. I'm the Max-Level Newbie: REDICE, with a head start
I'm the Max-Level Newbie (Korean cover via AniList).
WEBTOON's pitch: Kang Jinhyeok, a streamer, "is the only person who has cleared the game, [Tower of Trials]." Then the tower "appears in reality with a message saying that humanity will perish unless all players clear each floor within 90 days."
Like Geon, Jinhyeok starts ahead of everyone and knows it. WEBTOON credits WAN.Z of REDICE STUDIO alongside artist swingbat and original author Maslow, so the look is close too. The edge is game knowledge instead of twenty years of grudges. It updates every Saturday. Our Max-Level Newbie review has the verdict.
6. Nano Machine: the hidden edge
Nano Machine (Korean cover via AniList).
This is the loosest fit. Yeo-un's mother "may not be one of the High Priest's six official wives," but he's still in the race for Minor Priest, helped by "a mysterious nanomachine injection from a future descendent." It's murim politics with a sci-fi cheat, not a revenge story.
It's here for one thing it shares with Disaster-Class Hero: a hero with an edge nobody around him has, up against rivals who started with more. It's long. Naver's free list reached Episode 327 on October 14, 2026. Our Nano Machine review covers the premise.
Our take: which manhwa like Return of the Disaster-Class Hero to pick
Disaster-Class Hero splits readers, and the split tells you which pick to try. In an r/manhwa thread asking "Is it good?", the top reply said "He gets so strong that there isnt even much tension," and another lumped it in with Max-Level Newbie as "edgelord fests." In a separate thread about the series, the most-upvoted comment complained about "Everyone punching down MC's best friend constantly including MC."
So if you liked the power and the attitude, Max-Level Newbie and Solo Leveling give you more of it. If what bugged you was the missing tension, Doom Breaker and SSS-Class Revival Hunter are better bets, because both stories start with the hero getting killed. Return of the Blossoming Blade sits in between: a hero just as cocky, played for comedy instead of menace.
For our full verdict on the series these picks are measured against, see the .
Return of the Disaster-Class Hero review
How we checked this
On October 15, 2026 we checked each pick's English page on WEBTOON, Tapas and Tappytoon, AniList's entries for all seven series, Naver's pages for Doom Breaker and Nano Machine, Tappytoon's trailer on YouTube, and two r/manhwa threads. We haven't read every pick to its latest chapter; the premises come from the publishers, and the "what it shares" notes are our editorial comparison. This update corrected Doom Breaker's setup (Zephyr is killed by a god, not betrayed), Return of the Blossoming Blade's latest episode and the SSS-Class time-loop description, and removed a frequently asked questions section that repeated the list.
Last reviewed: October 15, 2026
Related Reading
- Disaster-Class Hero reading guide: where each arc starts and how far the English editions have reached.
- Manhwa like Solo Leveling: the bigger list of OP-hero series for readers who want range.
- Best action manhwa 2026: our ranking of the wider action field, including several picks here.
- Best system fantasy manhwa: series built on game-like rules, where SSS-Class and Max-Level Newbie belong.
References
- The Return of the Disaster-Class Hero on Tapas and WEBTOON
- Doom Breaker on WEBTOON
- Return of the Blossoming Blade on WEBTOON
- SSS-Class Revival Hunter on Tapas
- Solo Leveling on Tappytoon
- I'm the Max-Level Newbie on WEBTOON
- Nano Machine on Naver Webtoon
- AniList: credits, status and covers for every series here.
