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Music / Red Velvet

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https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/redvelvet1.png
Sometimes you gotta be boldL-R 

"Happiness~ Hello, we're Red Velvet!"

Red Velvet is a South Korean Girl Group formed by SM Entertainment. They debuted with the single "Happiness" on August 1, 2014. Their image is split into two concepts: strong and feminine, represented by "Red"; and soft and sensual, represented by "Velvet." Originally consisting of four members, member Yeri was added to the group's line-up in 2015.

In July of 2020, the group's first sub-unit, consisting of members Irene & Seulgi, debuted with a mini album titled Monster to overwhelming success and critical acclaim. In 2021, Wendy and Joy made their solo debuts with the respective mini albums Like Water and Hello (안녕).

Seulgi and Wendy were selected as part of the lineup for GOT The Beat, SM's "Girls On Top" project, which aims to put together different units made up of different members from their female girl groups/solo artists. Other members include BoA, Taeyeon and Hyoyeon of Girls' Generation, Karina and Winter of aespa.

They're known for their great live performances and outstanding versatility. While Wendy is the powerhouse vocalist, and Seulgi and Irene are the most celebrated dancers, every member has a key role in the group and they're all known to be above average in dancing, singing and visuals.

    open/close all folders 

     Members 
  • Irene (Bae Joohyun, born March 29, 1991): Leader , Sub Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Main Rapper, Visual
  • Seulgi (Kang Seulgi, born February 10, 1994): Lead Vocalist, Main Dancer
  • Wendy (Son Seungwannote , born February 21, 1994): Main Vocalist
  • Joy (Park Sooyoung, born September 3, 1996): Lead Vocalist, Lead Rapper
  • Yeri (Kim Yerim, born March 5, 1999): Sub Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Lead Rapper, Maknae
     Discography 
Korean Discography
Studio Albums:
  • The Red - 2015
  • Perfect Velvet - 2017
    • The Perfect Red Velvet (Perfect Velvet Repackage) - 2018
  • Chill Kill - 2023
Extended Plays:
  • Ice Cream Cake - 2015
  • The Velvet - 2016
  • Russian Roulette - 2016
  • Rookie - 2017
  • The Red Summer - 2017
  • Summer Magic - 2018
  • RBBnote  - 2018
  • The Reve Festival: Day 1 - 2019
  • The Reve Festival: Day 2 - 2019
  • The Reve Festival: Finale - 2019
  • Queendom - 2021
  • The Reve Festival 2022 - Feel My Rhythm
  • The Reve Festival 2022 - Birthday

Japanese Discography
Studio Album:
  • Bloom - 2022
Extended Plays:
  • #Cookie Jar - 2018
  • Sappy - 2019

Non-album Releases
  • "Happiness" (debut single) - 2014
  • "Be Natural" (feat. SR14B TAEYONG) - 2014
  • "Wish Tree" (Christmas special single) - 2015
  • "Would U" (SM STATION 2) - 2017
  • "Rebirth" (SM STATION 2) - 2017
  • "Close To Me" (with Ellie Goulding) - 2019
  • "Beautiful Christmas" (with aespa - 2022

OST Songs
  • Because I Love You (Wendy) - 2014 (pre-debut)note 
  • Return (Wendy with Yuk Ji-dam) - 2015note 
  • Let Me Know (Wendy) - 2015note 
  • Yossim - 2016note 
  • Don't Push Me (Seulgi & Wendy) - 2016note 
  • I Can Only See You (Seulgi & Wendy) - 2016note 
  • You, Just Like That (Seulgi) - 2016note 
  • Yeowooya (Joy) - 2017note 
  • I'm Okay (Joy with Lee Hyun-woo) - 2017note 
  • Hair in the Air (Yeri with Jeno, Jaemin, and Renjun of NCT) (SM STATION 3) - 2018note 

Other

     Links 

Tropes that apply to Red Velvet

     General Tropes 
  • Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Irene is very flexible. She can sleep while doing splits and bend her back very far.
  • The Ace: Seulgi has earned the nickname "The Ace of Kpop" due to her proficiency at both singing and dancing.
  • Adam Westing: Especially the "3-Minute Girlfriend" skit, they do a lot of this in their SNL Korea guesting. For instance: Irene's famed beauty is parodied and she plays a Brainless Beauty caricature of herself who does everything with her face (e.g. attempting to withdraw money from the bank using her looks as the currency, trying to reconcile a bickering couple with "face donations").
  • Affectionate Nickname:
    • "Baechu" for Irene, "Wannie" for Wendy, "Squirtle" for Yeri, "Doodoongie" for Joy, "Ddeulgi" and "teddy bear" for Seulgi are the most common ones. In addition, all the girls make up new nicknames for each other from time to time.
    • Seulgi's father calls her "princess". According to the girls, he went on to use it for the whole group, too.
    • The members started to call Irene "Best Woman of the Generation, Bae Joohyun" after she bought them all food.
  • Alliterative Name: Wendy aka Son Seungwan.
  • Animal Motifs:
    • Irene is a bunny, Seulgi is a bear, Wendy is a hamster, Joy is a chick and Yeri is a turtle. All of these have been aknowledged by the members, who often use them to sign themselves on social medias, and are used in their 2018 season greetings.
    • Alternatively, Irene has cats, Seulgi has tigers, Wendy has squirrels and dogs (specifically Samoyeds), and Yeri has otters and unicorns.
  • The Baby of the Bunch: Yeri. As the girls often say, especially in Irene and Seulgi's case, they basically raised her since she was 11 years old.
    • Seulgi is regarded as this sometimes because of how innocent and naive she is.
  • But Not Too Foreign: Wendy was born in South Korea, but spent the rest of her childhood in Canada.
  • Catchphrase: "Happiness! Hello, we are Red Velvet!"
    • Every comeback they also have one or two phrases that become popular among the members. One that was born with "Russian Roulette" and has stuck with them since is "Dae-Dank You~" (Tha-thank you!)
    • Yeri's had several: No-no hae~ (It's a no-no~), Shh! Chip-jung! (Shh! Concentrate!), Ah, choron... (Oh, dear...)
  • Celeb Crush: Seulgi is a big fangirl for Before Sunrise. Before Sunrise-era Ethan Hawke is also exactly her ideal type.
  • Character Tics:
    • Seulgi has the habit of cracking her joints. Expect Irene to grab her hands to make her stop if she's nearby.
    • If Irene is wearing long sleeves, particularly oversized hoodies or sweaters, she'll probably stick her nose in cuffs to smell the laundry detergent, as she loves delicate scents.
  • Child Popstar: Yeri had yet to turn 16 when she was introduced as a member of the group. Joy, too, debuted at 17.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Red Velvet dyed their hair with different colors for "Happiness", and the color arrangement has stuck with them since. For reference:
    • Pink: Irene
    • Yellow: Seulgi
    • Blue: Wendy
    • Green: Joy
    • Purple: Yeri
  • Cute Clumsy Girl: Seulgi, especially noticeable because she's so graceful when she's performing. She has the tendency to knock things over, forgets about looking pretty when food is placed in front of her, and if she's drunk or slightly tipsy, expect her to trip over her feet.
  • Could Say It, But...: The members say that Irene is very, very funny, but she's just too reserved to show it on camera.
  • Dancing Is Serious Business: Seulgi is hailed as one of the finest dancers of her generation of idols, and also one of the best in the entire business. What's curious is that she auditioned as a singer, and started to seriously improve in her dancing when she hurt her throat and couldn't sing for a long period of time during her trainee days.
  • Delayed Reaction: Oh, Seulgi. There's a reason why Joy called her "Big dumb bear."
    Irene: "On stage, Seulgi is full of charisma, but in real life..."
    Wendy: "She's slow."
  • Easily Impressed: One of Wendy's nicknames is "Reaction Queen." So many memes have spawned from the expressions she makes.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: A large part of their fanbase is made up by females.
  • Friend to All Living Things:
    • Seulgi. When she was little she used to think flowers go to heaven and, as seen in Level Up Project 2, she still refuses to even touch them out of fear of hurting them.
    • Joy, who wants to bond with every animal she comes across. Except seagulls.
  • Genki Girl: Wendy, when she's excited, and Yeri. Especially Yeri.
    Irene: "When Yeri's there and disappears later on, it becomes quiet".
    Wendy: "But! You can still hear her from far, far~~ away".
    • Wendy was, apparently, a menace as a kid. She was very mischievous and would often do reckless things, such as sticking her father's razor in her mouth because she wanted to imitate the way he shaved.
  • Irony: Irene's favourite color is purple and Yeri's is pink. Their representative colors are inverted.
  • The Leader: Irene. Though she's One of the Kids most of the time, the members clearly respect her immensely. She's extremely perceptive, has an iron will, and always puts the members before herself.
  • Meaningful Name: As stated in the page's description, Red Velvet is a double-concept group: Red which gives off a strong and energetic feel and Velvet which denotes being soft, sensual and feminine.
    • "Irene" is a Greek goddess who personifies peace. Irene is the leader and has to keep order within the group. Zig-Zagged since Irene can be pretty mischievous, especially in competitions, and hates losing.
    • "Wendy" means "a friend who gives help to others". Absolutely spot on.
    • "Joy" chose her stage name so that she would become a person who is full of joy.
  • Motor Mouth:
    • When Wendy gets handed the microphone during award acceptance speeches, she has a tendency to talk very fast out of excitement.
    • No one expected Irene to rap that fast in "Campfire" and many agree that her parts are the highlight of an already good song.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Cutie-Sexy Joy, acknowledged In-Universe, so much so that one of her most promintent nicknames is "Sexy Dynamite". She went viral on Twitter for this specific reason.
  • Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Irene slips back into her hometown's dialect whenever she gets too excited.
  • Older Than She Looks: Irene is nearly three years older than Seulgi, the next oldest member. Not only is she the oldest in Red Velvet, if she were to be placed in Girls' Generation, she would still be three months older than the youngest, Seohyun.
  • One Head Taller: Without heels, Wendy could easily fit under Joy's chin.
  • Pursue the Dream Job: Wendy gave up her Canadian citizenship to become a singer.
  • Renaissance Woman: Wendy can sing, dance, rap, play four instruments, and she is the resident Team Chef. When she was in Canada, she was in both sports club and the school's choir, and her grades were so good that she received the presidential award. To top it all off, she comes from a wealthy background and has a heart of pure gold. Luvies started joking that she's reaching Parody Sue levels.
  • Shipper on Deck: when Joy was on We Got Married the other girls behaved like typical sisters and actively shipped her with her virtual husband, Sungjae of BTOB.
  • Singer-Songwriter: Yeri, who has penned and helped composing the song Story for Indie singer Ragoon, and released via Instagram 1000, a song dedicated to Luvies. She also got to release "Dear Diary" through the SM Station project.
    • Both Wendy and Yeri contributed to writing the lyrics for the "Close To Me" remix.
    • Seulgi penned "Dead Man Runnin'" from her debut solo album.
  • Sixth Ranger: Yeri joined the group after two eras, although the members have heavily implied multiple times that she'd been preparing to debut with them. Her addition was delayed most likely due to her age.
  • Stage Names: Irene, Joy, and Yeri are stage names for Bae Joohyun, Park Sooyoung, and Kim Yerim respectively. Wendy's case is a little different — her birth name is Son Seungwan, but she adopted the name "Wendy" during her years in North America.
  • Step Up to the Microphone: Irene and Yeri were already a key part of the harmonizations thanks to their low registers, but over time they've improved so much that they went from receiving barely a full line to leading the line distribution for two songs in "Perfect Velvet". They're the official rap line along with Joy, and finally get to sing in the range they're most comfortable with.
    • Yeri often uploads covers on the group's Instagram account and her improvement is noticeable. In the span of a year it's clear that her confidence has also increased.
    • Irene can hit D7 notes as she proficiently showed in "RBB": they are registered as the highest notes ever hit in a K-Pop song. For her debut in the sub-unit with Seulgi, some fans were worried that she'd be relegated to rap parts and little else, but she held her own with the group's lead vocalist and they basically share even line distribution throughout the whole mini-album.
  • Surprise Jump: Irene and Joy, hilariously so.
  • Team Mom: The members have referred to Wendy as this more than once, her being The Heart of the group and a naturally nurturing person. She shares the role with Irene, who usually is more of a silent caretaker, but can keep the girls in line with even just a glance and will fight for them.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Pringles for Seulgi, sushi for Yeri, fried chicken for Joy, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) or bubble tea (with looooots of pearls) for Wendy.
  • Vocal Tag Team: Wendy and Seulgi were this especially at the beginning of the group's career when it came to "velvet" songs, those being the most vocally complex. Now, the line distribution has considerably evened out.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Yeri gets uneasy around animals and Wendy is scared of high water. Irene is scared of both, plus heights and loud noises.
    • Yeri has since gotten over her canine phobia after meeting her friend Taeyeon's dog Zero, and has even gotten a puppy herself!
  • World's Most Beautiful Woman: Irene is regarded as this by the other members and basically everyone else in the industry. The other members are obviously quite attractive, but Irene’s stunning princess-like looks have garnered the attention of several random strangers and even members of other guy and girl groups. In one radio interview, the others revealed Irene was already such a looker even in her late teens that she could barely walk the streets without men asking for her number. Even back when she was in high school, people would literally line up outside her classroom just to get a peak at her rumored beauty.
    Music Tropes 
  • Badass Boast: "Psycho" has Irene claiming that she is "the original visual". Considering her reputation in the industry, the lyrics don't stray too far from the truth.
  • Birds of a Feather: Lyrically, "Bad Boy" is described as being about The Casanova who's met his match. In the English version, they plainly sing that they know how to make the devil cry, breaking down and looking in their eyes.
    If you play, I fight back, I fight back
    I'll show you who's in control
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: "The Red", "Perfect Velvet " and "The Perfect Red Velvet".
  • Christmas Songs: "Wish Tree" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas".
  • Cover Version: "Be Natural" was originally by S.E.S. Red Velvet not only covered the song, but used the same arrangement. The only difference aside from the vocals is that Red Velvet's version cuts out part of the introduction and the second verse.
    • "Rebirth", originally sung by Yoon Jong Shin, was covered by the group when they took part in the "Snowball Project", a collaboration between SM and Mystic Entertainment. Mystic's artists covered "Dumb Dumb".
    • Wendy's solo "Last Love" from the Rookie EP is a rearranged cover of 90s group Eco's song of the same name.
  • Creepy Children Singing: The "la la la" in "Ice Cream Cake" definitely count as this.
  • Genre Roulette: One of their greatest strengths. Their ability to shift between bright, energetic Pop songs and a more calm, R&B or Jazz influenced style is what makes them emerge in the industry. The group's name conveys this, too; the "red" is in reference to their brighter and poppier songs, while the "velvet" refers to their more mature and R&B focused side.
  • Genre Throwback: "Love Is The Way" is highly reminiscent of doo-wop from the past century.
  • Harmony: One of their trademarks. It helps that all the members have different, yet complementary vocal tones and colours. They are widely regarded as one of the strongest vocal groups in the business.
  • Hotter and Sexier: Compared to "Happiness" and "Ice Cream Cake", "Be Natural" and "Automatic" definitely qualify. It comes with the "Velvet" theme.
  • Incredibly Long Note: Wendy is usually the one these are destined to, so much so that songwriters write long, difficult notes in the songs specifically for her. Seulgi and Joy can hold their own as well, though it happens less frequently.
  • Intercourse with You: "Automatic" and "Ice Cream Cake" have shades of this.
    • "Light Me Up", that is all. Some comments even lampshade how Yeri should probably not be singing it.
    • "Underwater" is decidedly not about swimming.
      I want you, no one else. Just come lay your body on me
      You can leave everything to me when you reach your limit, you want me endlessly
  • Love Makes You Dumb: "Dumb Dumb" details a narrator who wants to be normal, but when they're around the person they love everything just freezes up. In the words of the song itself, "I should just act like I do normally / But whenever I see you, I act so stupid".
  • Lyrical Dissonance: The instrumentation of "Body Talk" has a warm and sensual vibe similar to songs like "Automatic." The lyrics, on the other hand, are from the point-of-view from someone who is heartbroken over the end of a relationship with someone whom they are still in love with.
  • The Masochism Tango: The lyrics to "Psycho" paint the picture of a cycle where two lovers hurt each other but then get along just fine. They might fight like it's their last, and they may even hurt each other, but in the end they'll still love each other like nothing else.
  • Melismatic Vocals: The vocal line pulls these off frequently, especially Wendy.Oh Boy and "Hit That Drum" are prime examples.
  • "Miss X" Pun: One of the songs on the Power Up EP is called "Mr. E". The song is about an eponymous man who is, as the name suggests, shrouded in much mystery, which draws in the narrator.
  • Mood Whiplash: The Rookie EP follows up "Talk to Me," a cheerful song in which the narrator asks the object of their affection to talk to her, with "Body Talk," a breakup song in which the partner's body language signifies the end of their relationship. Taken together, it also serves as an example of Be Careful What You Wish For.
  • Mythology Gag: "My Second Date" has the line "Everything from one to ten is so awkward, Dumb Dumb".
    • The rap section of "Umpah Umpah" name drops "Dumb Dumb", "Red Flavor", "Happiness" and "Ice Cream Cake".
  • One-Word Title: "Happiness", "Zoo", "Campfire", "Look", "Rookie", and "Attaboy" all qualify as this.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Vocally speaking, Wendy is this. The girl is tiny, but she is the only female singer in the industry to possess a 4 octave vocal range. And she knows how to use it.
  • Self-Empowerment Anthem: "You Better Know" from The Red Summer is an uplifting track that encourages the listener to not get caught up in sadness and reminds them there is a world that has been "waiting for them".
  • The Scream: People were blown away by the high pitched screams/D7 notes in "RBB" and immediately assumed that it was work of resident power vocalist Wendy. It's actually Irene showcasing the very top of her range, and it's registered as the highest note ever hit in a K-Pop song.
  • Sexiness Score: "Perfect 10" is unsurprisingly about being the "perfect 10/10 girl".
    I?ll be your perfect 10, 10, 10
    Be your perfect 10, 10, 10
    Each cut is 10, 10, 10
    When you place me in your arms
    No more, no less, perfect
  • Shout-Out: Irene and Joy's tandem rap in "Dumb Dumb" name-drops Michael Jackson and several of his songs.
  • Silly Love Songs: Well, of course, it's a Girl Group we're talking about here. "Ice Cream Cake", "Dumb Dumb", "Russian Roulette" and "Rookie", just to name a few of their title tracks.
  • Title Track: The mini albums "Ice Cream Cake", "Russian Roulette" and "Rookie" all take their names from their respective principal tracks.
  • Translated Cover Version: "Dumb Dumb" and "Red Flavor" in Japanese, though to be fair some of the lyrics were altered. The former loses all the Michael Jackson references while the latter adds more English to the rap portion.
    • Averted with the English version of "Bad Boy". The only thing that stays the same is the title. Same thing with "RBB" and its English version.
  • A Wild Rapper Appears!: Taeyong from NCT, back then still part of SM Rookies, does the rap portion in "Be Natural."
     Music Video Tropes 
  • Alpha Bitch: Joy's character in "Rebirth" seems to be this: the snooty, popular pretty girl. She's the last member to look at the Hot Teacher by a good number of seconds; she's too busy staring at the reflection on the mirror in her hand, and even has a dismissive expression on her face... that is, until she sees how handsome he really is.
  • Animated Music Video: In "Rebirth" to liven up a little 3:40 minutes of a one take in Slow Motion.
  • The Chanteuse: Wendy is an optimistic version of this in her "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" cover.
  • Crapsaccharine World: The "Russian Roulette" music video is wonderfully unsettling, seeming to take place in a world that resembles the real world except much brighter and much more bizarre at the same time. The premise sounds pretty straightforward, with Seulgi confirming it's about the girls attempting to murder one another because they all like the same boy. There are scenes in a school and a shared residence. Yet, in addition to the unnaturally lurid hair colors (a clear throwback to retro video games), the world in the MV apparently doesn't work the way it does in real life: When doing various activities, including eating breakfast, the members are Emotionless Girls; cars move in the direction of the sidewalk; their efforts to murder one another leave no noticeable injuries, and in at least one instance (Irene and Seulgi pushing Wendy's bed into the sidewalk to kill her), the girl subjected to the murder attempt doesn't visibly care or struggle. Enhances the creepiness factor, being coherent and familiar enough for the overall sheer weirdness to leave an impression. (And, again, probably inspired by classic video game mechanics as well as cartoons like Tom and Jerry and Itchy and Scratchy, which also defy real-world rules.)
  • Dangerously Close Shave: Irene to Seulgi is "Peek-A-Boo".
  • Darker and Edgier: You thought seeing Red Velvet trying to murder each other for the love of a guy in "Russian Roulette" was creepy? Watch them being actual serial killers in "Peek-A-Boo" then.
  • Design Student's Orgasm:
    • Everything about the music videos for "Happiness" and "Dumb Dumb" is colorful, creative, and confusing.
    • "Rookie" took this trope up to eleven.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Yeri appeared in the music video for "Happiness" briefly in the opening before she was officially added as a member.
  • Fairytale Motifs: The music video for "One of These Nights" sets Red Velvet in fairytale-inspired settings. Wendy's look is based off of The Little Mermaid, Yeri is based off of Sleeping Beauty, and Irene is based off of Snow White.
    • The Korean title for "One of These Nights" is "July 7", which is Chilseok in South Korea, and is based on the Spinning Maid and Cowherd story.
    • "Rookie" borrows elements from Alice in Wonderland.
  • Fanservice:
    • The only plausible reason why Joy would crawl towards a house made of pizza in "Peek-A-Boo".
    • Irene and Joy's Almost Kiss in "Bad Boy". Joy was the one who suggested it, actually with Seulgi at first, because of course she would.
    • "Monster" takes the fanservice up to eleven. From the very beginning with Seulgi crawling toward Irene, to the numerous shots of the two of them nearly kissing throughout, and to them being scantily clad for much of the video, it's easily the most risqué video from them yet.
    • Some of their outfits reveal their midriffs. For example, Joy's outfit in "Bad Boy" reveals a lot of skin.
  • G-Rated Drug:
    • Oddly, in "Peek-A-Boo." The video in itself is hardly kid-friendly. Perhaps in the vein of no actual violence or other R-rated activity being shown onscreen, however, the cult's victim gets fed some green jelly. In the context of the clip, it's easy to see what it's meant to represent, especially when things indeed go trippy after he scarfs it down.
    • The cookies the girls find in the woods in "Cookie Jar" are one hell of a hallucinogen it seems.
  • Hot Teacher: Well, we don't see him, but in "Rebirth", when said teacher enters the classroom the girls instantly fall for him.
  • In Da Club: "Automatic" has a brief club scene during the bridge. "Red Flavor" has various shots like this, though it looks like they're in a house rather than in a club.
  • Light Is Not Good: Everything about "Russian Roulette" is bright and colourful. The concept itself is killing your rivals in love with traps a la Tom And Jerry.
  • Love Makes You Evil: "Russian Roulette"'s MV in a nutshell.
  • Mind Screw: Seriously, just what the heck is going on in the music videos for "Dumb Dumb" and "Rookie"?
    • "Zimzalabim" fits to a T.
  • The Ophelia: Well, everything about Psycho relates to a glamorous case of Love Makes You Crazy, but Seulgi in the MV is probably the most reflective of this trope. She's given glitter-coated tears and is being romantic and touchy-feely with a handsome statue.
  • Psychopathic Womanchild: The girls show shades of this in the "Peek-A-Boo" music video. The song itself seems to describe a harmless case of the narrator being immature and falling in love too easily, but the music video puts a horrifying spin to the "love is a game" motif. It's implied that the girls, who are in what appears to be a cult in the MV, see both love and murder as a fun game. To what degree this is Obfuscating Stupidity is YMMV.
  • Queer Romance: A popular theory about "Bad Boy" features Joy and Seulgi being in a relationship until Joy is seduced by Irene, who is implied to represent the titular bad boy.
    • "Monster" from the Irene and Seulgi subunit contains numerous shots in which the two are nearly kissing.
  • Rose-Haired Sweetie: Played with in the "Russian Roulette" video, but ultimately Subverted. Irene has rosy-pink hair and smiles endearingly at various points of the video, but as it goes on, yeah... you'll know that she absolutely is trying to kill the other girls.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Stepford Smiler: Of the "secretly Ax-Crazy" variety in "Peek-a-Boo." The girls in put on warm smiles for their victim, who seems to fall for it completely.
  • Toilet Humor: The five-mini bun hairdo sported by Wendy in "Russian Roulette" was jokingly called the "5 Poop Hair" by the members.
  • Trophy Room: In "Peek-A-Boo" they keep every single shirt of the numerous pizza boys they've killed in glass cases.
  • Vanity License Plate: The plate of the car in "Automatic" reads "140801", the group's debut date.
  • Wham Shot: Judging by most YouTube reaction videos at least, the refrigerator plummeting towards Joy in "Russian Roulette" is this for a lot of people. If you're somehow not quite sure yet the girls are trying to kill each other a few minutes into the video, when the fridge drops you probably will be... and even if you've already grasped that, it can still be a shocking thing to see, especially for the first time.
  • Yandere: Basically the concept behind the video for "Russian Roulette". If you can't beat them, just push 'em in an empty pool.

     Level Up! Project 
  • Accidental Pervert: Wendy "porn & erotic novels" Shon.
    • Yeri in episode 19.
  • Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Irene will stop whatever she's doing to stare at the sky if she can. She loves to watch the clouds.
  • Best Served Cold: Wendy, after 17 episodes, towards Yeri.
    "What did you tell me to do then? Charms... show off what?! [...] Please show off your charms."
    • She caves about 10 seconds in.
  • Born Winner: Irene the "Game Goddess".
  • Butt-Monkey: Wendy,anytime there's a game.
    • Ramyun PD has probably been traumatized by constantly losing against Irene.
    • Seulgi is season 2. You know you're easy to push around when even sheep notice it.
    Seulgi: They thought I was weak! The sheep...
  • Can't Hold Her Liquor: Everyone but Wendy becomes a bit tipsy when they visit a winery in Ljubljana, but Seulgi gets straight up hammered.
  • Crazy-Prepared: Wendy has everything and more in her bag, especially cool tissues, and she's known as the "Search King" because she always looks up whatever activity they could be doing ahead of time.
  • The Dreaded: Irene and Yeri in episode 18-19 of season 1.
  • Drunk with Power: Anytime Yeri wins a gameand gets to make decisions she becomes this.
  • Genre Savvy: The staff has a hard time keeping the destination of the trips a secret because the members actively try to find out by any means necessary. For example Wendy, in season 3, uses the codes on the plane tickets to check if it's real or not.
  • Lethal Chef: There's a reason why nobody wants to team up with Yeri when it's time to cook.
  • Like an Old Married Couple: Wendy with Seulgi, as usual, but also with Joy in season 2, to the point that "wifey" and "hubby" are the captions inserted by the editors almost anytime they interact.
  • Longing Look: Yeri in Season 3 when she becomes smitten with Eric, the indoor skydiving instructor.
    Wendy: Eric, we miss you. Come to Korea, we'll show you around. Or Yeri will show you around.
  • Naïve Newcomer: Joy in season 2. She believes until the end that they'll be going to Europe while the other members think they'll be staying in Korea. Guess who's right.
  • Never Live It Down: "Porn" and "erotic novels"... really, Wendy?
    • Come season 2's first episode and Irene still laments that Wendy didn't like their room.
  • Poor Communication Kills: The zip line challenge from season 2 summed up in three words.
  • Put on a Bus: Joy is absent in the first season due to drama filming. The Bus Came Back for the last episode, when she appears in a video message, and in the special clips.
    • Irene and Yeri both aren't there to feed the sheep in season 2 due to their fear of animals. Yeri also misses the tour in the German village because of indigestion.
    • Season 2 is the season of indigestion apparently, because Irene misses the luxury session of the trip because of it.
  • Thrill Seeker: Seulgi, big time.
  • Tsundere: Yeri towards Seulgi.

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