About

신상 (Korean: Shin-Sang English: Statue of God) refers to an image of the hidden boss Shin-sang in the Korean "Manhwa" (comic) Solo Leveling, depicting several people bowing down to him. Online, it is used as an object labeling template, particularly among the Indonesian community, as a means of expressing how one thing is superior to its alternatives.

Origin

On March 4th, 2018, Solo Leveling published chapter 6 on Kakao.^[1] This chapter marked the first appearance of the hidden boss named "Statue of God," which forces characters to bow down to him, including the main character Sung Ji-Woo (shown below, left). On July 14th, 2020, Facebook^[2] page "Leo Legend Messi" uploaded a meme by using the image as an object labeling template, showing many soccer players bowing down to Lionel Messi. The post received more than 4,300 reactions and 273 shares (shown below, right).

Spread

On July 18th, 2020, Facebook user "Daily Dose of Anime" uploaded a version of the meme depicting anime series bowing down to Attack on Titan. The post was deleted, but re-uploaded to Reddit's /r/titanfolk^[3] the same day, gaining over 100 points (shown below).

A year later, on February 1st, 2021, Redditor^[4] 099Nanadessuyo_ uploaded a variation showing tempeh as a higher tier of gorengan (Indonesian deep-fried snack) after fried tofu and fried banana to /r/indonesia subreddit. The post received 487 upvotes (shown below).

In the middle of February 2021, the image grew popular among Indonesian users as a means to discuss opinions on various cultural items. For example, on February 14th, 2021, Twitter^[5] user @iqballl___ uploaded an image saying a person who prays Qabliyah with two rakaats is the richest person in the world. The image received more than 33,200 likes and 9,365 retweets (shown below, left). On February 13th, 2021, Facebook^[6] user Ggukies uploaded a variation about people who are smart at math are getting more attention than people who smart at drawing, language, etc. The post received 383 reactions and more than 1,300 shares (shown below, center). On February 15th, 2021, Facebook^[7] user Jue Viole Grace uploaded a variation depicting Ufotable studio as the best anime studio compared to otherss to "Shounenposting S2" Facebook group. The image received more than 375 reactions and 60 shares (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References