Meet all the new characters in the Netflix series
With 456 players involved in the deadly competition in ‘Squid Game,’ viewers are sure to have a hard time keeping track of every character when they binge-watch Season 2 when it launches on December 26. The good news is that not everyone of those players is essential to the story of Gi-hun’s (Lee Jung-jae) return to the games.
See below for a guide to all the major new ‘Squid Game’ – and just a handful returning, as most of the season 1 cast was wiped out by the fatal finale – characters appearing both in and outside of the games. Beware: spoilers for the first few episodes.
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Gi-hun / Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae)
Gi-hun, the winner of the Squid Game that took place three years ago, has decided to compete again in an attempt to find out who is still running the game after the death of game creator Oh Il-nam and eliminate them . Consumed by his grief and trauma at being the sole survivor of the last games, Gi-hun has spent the past three years using the blood money prize he earned (45.6 billion in South Korean won) to try to stop the games traces. again.
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In-ho/The frontman (Lee Byung-hun)
The current head of the Squid Game, following the death of gamemaker Oh Il-nam at the end of season 1. In-ho has been working for the games since he won them himself years ago and led the pink masked guards while carrying his own . all black uniform.
Spoiler alert: This year, In-ho decides to follow in Oh Il-nam’s footsteps and enter the games as Player 001, to teach Gi-hun a lesson when he returns to the game. Gi-hun, who only met the Front Man when he was masked, has no idea that In-ho, who goes by the name Young-il during the games, is the man in charge.
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Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun)
A police officer who infiltrated the Squid Game in season 1 in hopes of finding his lost brother In-ho, who has been missing since participating in the games. At the end of season 1, Jun-ho finds his brother In-ho, but it turns out that he is now the front man in charge of the game. In-ho shoots Jun-ho off the top of a cliff, apparently leaving him to fall to his death. Jun-ho recovers and starts working as a traffic cop at the beginning of season 2.
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Recruiter (Gong Yoo)
This guy returns from season 1 and is in charge of going out and recruiting people who are unlucky enough to participate in the games. He selects candidates and challenges them to a game of Ddakji, slapping them if they lose and giving them money and an invitation to participate in the Squid Game if they win. He recruited Gi-hun in season 1.
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No-eul (Park Gyu-jong)
A woman who works at an amusement park after escaping from North Korea to South Korea and being separated from her daughter. She pays investigators to search for her daughter on her small salary, but then takes a job as one of the masked pink guards at the games in exchange for an offer of help finding her child. While working as a security guard at the games, she tries to help some of the players, including Player 246, whom she recognizes as a former colleague whose young daughter has cancer.
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Woo-seok and Mr. Kim (Jun Suk-ho and Oh Dal-su)
Mr. Kim (top right) and Woo-seok (top left) are two of the men hired by Gi-hun to look for The Recruiter who brings people to the Squid Game. Mr. Kim is a former loan shark of Gi-hun’s who trusts that something in Gi-hun’s story about the games must be true because he was able to pay him back a huge debt three years ago. Mr. Kim is Woo-seok’s boss and friend, and Woo-seok is equally invested in helping Gi-hun find the people behind the games.
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Jung-bae / Player 390 (Lee Seo-hwan)
An old friend and former colleague of Gi-hun who was last seen gambling next to Gi-hun
the horse racing track in season 1. Gi-hun is shocked to discover that Jung-bae participated in the games when Gi-hun returns to try to take them down from the inside. -
Myung-gi/Player 333 (Yim Si-wan)
A former cryptocurrency influencer who, after losing a hefty sum of money and incurring huge losses for himself and his subscribers, becomes a fugitive until he gets involved in the game.
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Jun-hee / Player 222 (Jo Yu-ri)
A strong-willed woman who enters the game due to bad investments on the advice of one
influencer. It is soon revealed that Jun-hee entered the deadly competition while pregnant with the baby of her estranged lover and now co-star in the games, Myung-gi. -
Dae-ho / Player 388 (Kang Ha-neul)
A young player in the games who quickly becomes attracted to Gi-hun’s group and bonds with Jung-bae over their shared military background.
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Hyun-ju / Player 120 (Park Sung-hoon)
A transgender woman who competes in the Games hoping to earn enough money to complete her transition process. The character is played by cisgender male actor Park Sung-hoon. In an interview with TV guide“Squid Game” creator Hwang Dong-hyuk explained his casting choice decision: “At the beginning, we were doing our research, and I thought about doing an authentic casting of a trans actor. When we did research in Korea, there were almost no actors who were openly transgender, let alone openly homosexual, because the LGBTQ community in Korean society is unfortunately still quite marginalized and more neglected at the moment, which is heartbreaking.”
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Su-bong aka Thanos / Player 230 (Choi Seung-hyun)
A famous rapper who joins the games because he is deeply in debt due to a cryptocurrency crash. The character is played by real-life South Korean rapper Choi Seung-hyun, better known by his stage name TOP
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Nam-gyu/player 124 (Roh Jae-won)
Like many other players, Nam-gyu joins the games because he is deeply in debt after following cryptocurrency advice from player 333. Nam-gyu quickly becomes friends with Thanos in the games.
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Yong-sik / Player 007 (Yang Dong-geun)
A compulsive gambler who is deeply in debt discovers that his own mother, player 149, is in on the game.
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Geum-ja/Player 149 (Kang Ae-sim)
A headstrong woman with a strong drive to provide for her family. She participates in the game with intention
of paying off her son Yong-sik’s debts, but discovers that he has also participated in the game as Player 007. -
Se-mi/player 380 (Won Ji-an)
A player who works with both Min-su and Thanos in the games.
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Min-su/player 125 (Lee David)
An intelligent player who tries to join up with Thanos and his cohort and befriends Se-mi in the games.
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Gyung-seok / Player 246 (Lee Jin-uk)
A man who works as a caricaturist at an amusement park (the same one where No-eul worked) who participates in the Games to pay for his young daughter’s cancer treatments. No-eul watches him participate in the games when she serves as one of the pink guardians.
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Hye-won / Player 196 (Song Ji-woo)
A woman who joins the games after falling deeply into debt after seeking cryptocurrency advice from Player 333, as do several others in this year’s games.
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Seon-nyeo / Player 044 (Chae Kook-hee)
A shaman whose seemingly incoherent talk rubs many of the other players the wrong way.