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Hotel del Luna
Jang Man-wol
Played by: Lee Ji-eun
The ill-tempered and aloof owner of Hotel del Luna. She was cursed to run it 1,300 years ago, to atone for the sins she committed and the lives she'd taken.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Being betrayed by her first love and thousands of years running Hotel del Luna have left her quite jaded.
- Arc Symbol: The moon. Having grown up a semi-illiterate robber, she could only draw a crescent moon on everything she owned. In the present, the same symbol is used for the hotel's logo, the staff's pins, and the hotel's official stationery. Even most of her jewelry and clothing have crescent moon motifs on them.
- Anti-Hero: Man-wol may be the series' protagonist, but she can be quite cold, pragmatic, and has next to no compunctions about using her powers to kill someone.
- The Atoner: Her services to Hotel del Luna and its inhabitants definitely make her one.
- Big Eater: Man-wol, despite her petite frame and height, is an enormous foodie. It's implied that years of serving Hotel del Luna have made her bored, and constantly trying out new food is how she passes the time. One episode reveals that it was actually a time-travelling Chan-sung who started this habit of hers, seeing as he wanted her to have another obsession that didn't involve gambling.
- Blessed with Suck: Although she was granted immortality and various powers by the deities, Man-wol is clearly weary after years of being unable to cross over to the afterlife.
- Break His Heart to Save Him:
- She tries to do this to Chan-sung after a revenge ploy on Mi-ra, who is the reincarnation of Princess Song-hwa, goes wrong and harms him instead. Thankfully, it fails.
- Ironically enough, she was on the end of this thousands of years ago, when Chung-myung opts to let her hate him instead of revealing that her people's deaths were part of a bargain he made with the Princess, just so she would live.
- Combat Hand Fan: When she confronts Ji-won's corrupted ghost, she uses a fan to channel her magic more effectively.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Though she detests Chan-sung's presence at first, she eventually warms up to him and outright declares him to be under her protection when the ghost of a serial killer threatens to harm him.
- Fangirl: Of comedian Kim Jun-hyun.
- Fate Worse than Death: Her immortality. Jang Man-wol has spent a thousand years paying for her mistakes, and she doesn't know whether or not she'll ever be able to see the end of her "debt."
- Flower Motifs: The midnight-blue Moon Flowers from the Moon Tree, which is said to be an extension of Man-wol herself.
- Forced to Watch: When a jealous Princess Song-hwa orders the deaths of her people, a tied-up Man-wol can only look on in horror and sob as they are tortured and hanged one by one.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: It doesn't really take much for Man-wol to lose her cool. As the series goes on, she eventually matures and loses the trait altogether.
- The Hedonist: One of Man-wol's signature traits is her penchant for extravagance. The girl has more clothes and jewelry than she could ever wear in a lifetime, eight luxury cars, *two dozen SUVs*, and a preference for champagne and caviar.
- Inelegant Blubbering: The normally stoic Man-wol is reduced to this when Kim Seon-bi, her faithful bartender, finally departs for the afterlife, but not before leaving one last drink for her.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Man-wol enters a press conference decked out in a regal purple gown, carrying a rifle. Ultimately subverted, however, as this visual is only used to taunt her victim. She doesn't actually fire at him, and just messes up his mental state.
- Like Brother and Sister: With her best friend, Yeon-woo.
- Mayfly–December Romance: With Chan-sung. He's a regular mortal, she's old enough to be his ancestor.
- Meaningful Name: In English, Man-wol's full name translates roughly to "long full moon."
- The Napoleon: When she's not in heels, Man-wol stands at 5'4, and yet, her staff—and to some degree, Chan-sung—are terrified of her.
- Older Than They Look: Man-wol doesn't look a day over twenty-five, but she's actually thousands of years old, having lived since the Goguryeo Era.
- Pragmatic Hero: She makes a lot of decisions that superficially seem awful, and to be fair, many of them do have a bit of underlying selfishness. However, she truly does have the interest of fulfilling her duties to the dead at heart. Though her methods sometimes appear dubious and cold, but they are typically well-calculated.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Man-wol has extremely pale skin and black hair. Helps with her archetype as the Aloof Dark-Haired Girl.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The fiery, hot-headed red to Chan-sung's calmer, more level-headed blue.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Goes on one after Princess Song-hwa orders the deaths of her best friend and her people. It's what gets her the job as Hotel del Luna's owner in the first place.
- Second Love: Although she detests him at first, she eventually falls for Gu Chan-sung.
- The Stoic: Having lived for thousands of years, not much fazes Man-wol anymore. It's a testament to how fucked-up the situation truly is when even Man-wol is rattled.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Man-wol loves champagne so much, she's got crates upon crates of the stuff in the hotel's winery.
- Tranquil Fury: In one episode, after it's revealed that the man who had caused the ghost in Room 13's downward spiral has been doing the exact same thing to other women as well, a furious Man-wol simply stares at him and leaves his car to be smashed by a train.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: To Chan-sung when they finally get together, and with good reason. With Chan-sung being a regular mortal, he's naturally defenseless against supernatural attacks.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Kim Seon-bi, her bartender. She insults every single drink he makes, orders him around despite him being older than her (at least physically), and calls him an idiot every chance she gets. It's also his departure that causes her to sob the most, albeit in private.
- When She Smiles: Man-wol is already very beautiful, but her beauty increases tenfold whenever the people she's closest to manage to draw a real smile out of her.
Gu Chan-sung
Played by: Yeo Jin-goo
The new general manager of the hotel. Due to his father making a deal with Man-wol when he was a child, he now has to work for her.
- Audience Surrogate: Most of the story is shown through his eyes, and he's just as baffled as we are in the first episode, having been introduced quite recently to the world of the supernatural.
- Big Brother Instinct:
- Despite being a year or two younger, he definitely has one in regards to his best friend, Sanchez.
- He also forms one for Yoo-na as well. In the series finale, it's revealed that he still checks up on her from time to time, long after the hotel has closed, and is shown talking to her about school in a very sweet manner.
- Brainy Brunette: It's remarked several times that he was a top student at Harvard, which is no easy feat. He's also a fast thinker who adapts quite quickly to the supernatural aspects of his new job.
- Connected All Along: Played with. Contrary to most K-dramas, he isn't the reincarnation of Man-wol's first love. However, it's revealed that a past incarnation of him met Man-wol when they were children, and that he was the one who told her about the Guest House of the Moon in the first place.
- Deadpan Snarker: Being around Man-wol often tends to bring out the snarkier aspect of his personality.
- Distressed Dude: Played with. Chan-sung can hold his own in a regular fight, but seeing as the beings who want to harm him are often supernatural, Man-wol has to step in most of the time and save him.
- Establishing Character Moment: As a child, Chan-sung saw his father try to keep a bill of money that fell from strangers' pockets for himself. Despite his father's attempt to rope Chan-sung in, the boy persists in giving the strangers their money back. And this was despite the fact that it was his birthday, and they had no money at all to buy food or presents. Awww.
- He Is All Grown Up: Man-wol first met him as a little boy and he grows up to become a handsome man.
- I See Dead People: Being a general manager at a hotel for the dead, it's a given that he has this gift.
- Inelegant Blubbering: He's reduced to racking sobs when Man-wol finally walks into the tunnel to the afterlife.
- Lovable Coward: His initial encounters with the ghosts, specifically the eyeless woman, often ends with Chan-sung screaming and running away, much to Man-wol's amusement.
- In episode 3, Man-wol dares him to enter a room that supposedly no regular human can come back from. He rises to the challenge ... and immediately agrees to move on when she tells him they have other rooms to visit.
- Missing Mom: Chan-sung's mother disappeared when he was very young. He meets her again as a ghost, years later, and is even there to see her off.
- Nice Guy: See his Establishing Character Moment. Despite the fact that the hotel's guests scare the living crap out of him, Chan-sung is nothing but polite and courteous, often going out of his way to ensure that they enjoy their stay. He's also one of the most selfless characters on the show, going so far as to put Man-wol's unfulfilled dream of crossing over to the afterlife above his own love for her. It's no wonder she falls for him eventually.
- Only Sane Man: Between handling the hotel's more bizarre cases and Man-wol's hedonistic tendencies, the poor boy regularly has his hands full.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The calmer, more level-headed blue to Man-wol's fiery, hot-headed red.
- Second Love: He's this for Man-wol.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: The corollary of growing up to be a man with corporate ambitions; he sure knows how to pick his suits and such.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Chan-sung towers over Man-wol, has dark hair, and several characters comment on his appearance multiple times.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Although he initially tries to refuse Man-wol's job offer, lost souls start to follow him everywhere, leaving him little choice in the matter.
Kim Seon-bi
Played by: Shin Jung-geun
- Animal Motifs: Man-wol compares him to a crane when she has to psych him up to do things for her.
- Brainy Brunette: He was once a scholar who passed the difficult state exam at a notoriously young age.
- Driven to Suicide: What he does after being publicly shamed by the board of scholars and stripped of his rank.
- Face Death with Dignity: When his time to cross over finally comes, he is nothing but calm and is last seen smiling as his limousine departs for the afterlife.
- Ship Tease: With Mrs. Choi, but mostly on his end.
- The Bartender: His main role in the hotel. He can often be seen at the Sky Bar, making drinks of all sorts for the guests and staff alike.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With his boss, Man-wol. She insults every single drink he makes, orders him around despite him being older than her (at least physically), and calls him an idiot every chance she gets. It's also his departure that causes her to sob the most, albeit in private.
Choi Seo-hee
Played by: Bae Hae-sun
The hotel's gentle housekeeper and room service provider.
- Freudian Excuse: Her husband's family allowed her daughter to starve to death after a shaman convinced them her existence was a curse which would prevent any boys from being born. She's dedicated her (after)life to sticking around until no more male heirs are born to that line, ending it.
- Heel Realization: She's happy to find out the last son of her husband's line died unmarried, and prepares to move on once he leaves. Then she learns that he had a girlfriend his parents didn't approve of, who is pregnant with what could be a boy. She spies on the woman, who experiences a medical emergency, and is seemingly about to leave her to die when she hears the woman weakly pleading for someone to help her baby. This makes her remember how no one helped her and her daughter, and Choi gets Chan-sung to call an ambulance, saving both their lives.
- Team Mom: She treats the guests warmly and motherly, encouraging them to indulge on what they couldn't while alive and looking after them as best she can. This most likely stems from her not getting to be a mother to her own child when she was alive.
Ji Hyun-joong
Played by: Pyo Ji-hoon
The unfailingly polite receptionist of the del Luna. Though he dislikes his job, he always does it with a smile on his face. In life, he was a student during the Korean War.
- Big Brother Instinct: He was very caring and protective toward his younger sister while he was alive. This applies even in his dying moments, when he implores his (accidental) killer to watch over her for him.
- Buttmonkey: Man-wol tends to harp on him the most. In fairness to her, he does tend to slack off or screw up the most of all her named employees.
Kim Yoo-na
Played by: Kang Mi-na
A cruel, rich young girl whose body is stolen by a girl she bullied and callously left to die. The victim, Soo-jung, eventually assumes her identity and begins a new life as Yoo-na.
- Asshole Victim: Body theft would be a pretty horrific experience for anyone — but, hey, so is being pushed to death off a bridge by a bully.
- And I Must Scream: The original Yoo-na's soul gets unwittingly destroyed by her parents while she's pleading with them not to do it.
- Body Snatcher: Soo-jung, a girl she bullied, steals her body.
- Fate Worse than Death: The girl you murdered stealing your body, then seeing your parents destroy your very soul, all while being a teenager would qualify.
- Rich Bitch: She's The Bully, and her family is filthy rich.
- Teens Are Monsters: The original Yoo-na killed Soo-jung by pushing her off a bridge, in addition to the relentless bullying.
Deities
Mago
Played by: Seo Yi-Sook
A female deity in twelve individual "sister" personalities, one of whom who was responsible for Man-wol becoming the keeper of the Guest House of the Moon.- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Their motivations are most of the time ambiguous, as one will in an episode help out because by a mortal's standards, it's the right thing to do; while in another, one will insult and threaten someone just for mouthing off to them.
- Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: In the 1800s, Man-wol used one of her guests to help her cheat at gambling. Poverty!Mago punished her for this misbehavior by visiting her everyday and inflicting bad luck on her until Chan-sung convinced her to stop.
- Good Is Not Nice: Reaper!Mago is technically good (she's responsible for destroying evil ghosts) but she's at best rude to most people, and seems almost gleeful at the thought of Man-wol becoming an evil ghost that she can destroy.
- The Hecate Sisters: There are twelve of them, though only six are seen in the series:
- Destiny!Mago is the personification who interferes the most directly in human affairs, manipulating (usually for benevolent reasons) people's lives. She wears a pink Queen Elizabeth II-style suit and hat, with lace gloves.
- Flower!Mago is the personification who made Man-wol the guardian of the Guest House of the Moon. She's also the one who checks up on Man-wol most often. She dreses in Later Silla period clothing with her hair pulled back and carries a basket of flowers.
- Luck!Mago is the personification who brings good fortune to people if she feels they deserve it. She wears a fancy contemporary outfit with multiple rings on her hands.
- Pharmacist!Mago is the personification who prepares various supernatural medicines to be given to people who need them. She dresses in an ordinary outfit with a pair of glasses, and wears her hair loose.
- Poverty!Mago is the personification who brings bad fortune and bankruptcy to people if she feels they deserve it. In her only appearance, she dressed like a beggar, with her hair in a sloppy ponytail.
- Reaper!Mago is the personification who oversees the apprehension and punishment of evil ghosts (ghosts who have harmed a human). She wears black robes, with her hair in a Prim and Proper Bun hidden by a black hat.
The Grim Reaper
Played by: Kang Hong-Seok
A deity who works directly for the afterlife, responsible for ushering spirits over the Samdo River. He's also responsible for catching evil ghosts.- Good Is Not Nice: He's definitely on the side of good, but isn't the friendliest sort, though this may just be because he doesn't interact much with humans.
- Neck Lift: Captures and kills Ji-won this way.
- Rules Lawyer: He's bound by intricate rules which govern life and death, and can't kill someone for no reason. When he's prevented from taking the soul of a terminally ill young boy (his parents were buying part of the lives of other people to extend his), his only choice is to make a bargain with Man-wol for her to convince the boy to die.
Ghosts
The Eyeless Ghost
The very first ghost Chan-sung sees. A young woman who is missing her eyes.
- Blind People Wear Sunglasses: She has no eyes and wears a big pair of sunglasses to obscure her empty sockets. Though it's unclear whether she was always lacking eyes or if the loss of her eyes was the cause of her death.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Though very off-putting and scary to look at, she is completely harmless, merely following Chan-sung around like a lost puppy and not doing anything to hurt him. He eventually realizes this himself and helps her get to Hotel del Luna to pass on.
- Eye Scream: Underneath her sunglasses, her eye-sockets are burned out and empty. It's never revealed what exactly happened to them.Her eyes return after Chang-sun encourages her to act as if they were there, since her blindness shouldn't be a problem in death.
- Inhuman Eye Concealers: Or rather lack of eye concealers. Her sunglasses hides the bloody holes where her eyes (maybe) once were.
- No Name Given: No one ever asks for her name and she never gives it.
The Tiger Ghost
The ghost of the last Siberian tiger, who was brought to South Korea as a peace gift from North Korea.
- The Hermit: According to the chairman, he neither mated nor got along with any of the other tigers when he was alive and died completely and utterly alone.
- Last of His Kind: He was the last wild Siberian tiger in his life time.
- You Can't Go Home Again: The region he came from no longer exists, so he can't return there even as a ghost. However, the chairman gives Man-wol the painting of his original habitat to pass into, so that he may at least re-visit it in the afterlife.
The Room 13 Ghost
The vengeful ghost of a murdered young woman, who relentlessly attacks humans whenever she has the chance.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: She's by far the most dangerous of the ghosts in the series, and seems to be completely psychotic (Ji-won is a sociopath, but he can at least act normal). Man-wol is the only one who has the power to deal with her (apart from perhaps the Grim Reaper or Mago) and her solution is to keep her locked up in Room 13.
