Music / Stray Kids

Step Out!^note From top to bottom, L-R: Lee Know, I.N, Felix, Hyunjin, Seungmin, Changbin, Bang Chan, HAN

Stray Kids (Korean: 스트레이 키즈), SKZ for short, is an eight-member South-Korean boy band that debuted on March 25, 2018 under JYP Entertainment with the song "District 9." Unlike other JYPE groups, Stray Kids was not formed by the company and instead was put together by their leader, Bang Chan.

While their main influences lie in hip-hop, their work is also heavily influenced by various offshoots of electronic music and any other genres that may catch their fancy. Their lyricism primarily draws upon personal experiences and feelings, with recurring themes of youth and the place of the young within society, and often delving into topics such as coming-of-age, mental health, alienation, expectations pushed upon young people and various social disparities.

Previously, the group had nine members, but on October 28, 2019, member Woojin left the group due to undisclosed reasons.

Members Bang Chan, Changbin and Han are part of a pre-debut hip hop trio named 3RACHA and also compose and produce the entirety of Stray Kids' discography.

The group as a whole also puts out additional solo/subunit work under two series on their YouTube channel - SKZ-PLAYER^note solo songs written and performed by individual members/subunits, original choreography to other music and SKZ-RECORD.^note song covers, more informal experiments and original music

Members

Current Members:

• Bang Chan (Christopher Bang, born October 3, 1997) - Leader, Lead Vocalist, Rapper
• Lee Know (Lee Minho, born October 25, 1998) - Main Dancer, Vocalist, Rapper
• Changbin (Seo Changbin, born August 11, 1999) – Main Rapper, Vocalist
• Hyunjin (Hwang Hyunjin, born March 20, 2000) – Main Dancer, Lead Rapper, Visual
• Han (Han Jisung ^note English name: Peter Han, born September 14, 2000) – Main Rapper, Lead Vocalist
• Felix (Felix Lee ^note Korean name: Lee Yongbok, born September 15, 2000) – Lead Rapper, Main Dancer
• Seungmin (Kim Seungmin, born September 22, 2000) – Main Vocalist
• I.N (Yang Jeongin, born February 8, 2001) – Lead Vocalist, Maknae

Former Members:

• Woojin (Kim Woojin, born April 8, 1997) – Vocalist

Discography

Extended Plays

• Mixtape (2018)^note Pre-debut Extended Play
• I am NOT (2018)
• I am WHO (2018)
• I am YOU (2018)
• Clé 1: MIROH (2019)
• Clé 2: Yellow Wood (2019)
• Clé: Levanter (2019)
• All In (2020)
• Christmas EveL (2021)
• ODDINARY (2022)
• MAXIDENT (2022)
• 樂-STAR (2023)

Studio Albums

• GO生 (2020)
• NOEASY (2021)
• 5-STAR (2023)

Repackage Albums

• IN生 (2020)

Compilation Albums

• SKZ2020 (2020)
• SKZ2021 (2021)
• SKZ-REPLAY (2022)

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Stray Kids provides examples of the following tropes:

Band and Members Tropes

• Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Bang Chan can rotate his arms and wrists 360 degrees. According to him, it's a family inheritance.
• The Ace: Han Jisung. He is one of the main producers and main rappers, possesses a sweeping tenor vocal range that allows him to hit resounding falsetto notes, has an incredible stage performance, can speak in at least 3 different languages fluently, is really handsome and knows it, is really good at drawing (as shown by his accurate sketches of other members), a hilarious comedian, is scarily good at stealing anything unnoticed, and can even temporarily take on leadership when Chan isn't available (as shown in the video call for the 4th anniversary where Chan's WiFi was lagging), the list could go on and on since he's naturally good at everything.
• Adorably Precocious Child: I.N is The Baby of the Bunch and is often in the unofficial Only Sane Man position of the group, more so than even Bang Chan.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Changbin is often referred to as "Baby Changbin" due to his Not So Stoic nature.
  • Fans, and subsequently the members themselves, have taken to calling Felix "sunshine" due to his optimistic and gentle temperament.
• Alliterative Name: Hwang Hyunjin.
• Animal Motifs: More obvious with their SKZOO characters.
  • Bang Chan is nicknamed "kangaroo", and often associates himself with wolves thanks to his Papa Wolf nature.
  • Lee Know is similar to a cat (even personality-wise) and a bunny (his teeth look like the ones of a bunny).
  • In the unofficial song "Can't Live without Changbin", Changbin is briefly compared to a walrus, much to his displeasure. He also insists to be referred to as a "dwaekki" (pig-rabbit hybrid).
  • Hyunjin is often referred to as a llama or a ferret.
  • Han is referred to as either a squirrel or a quokka.
  • Felix's resemblance to a cat is often commented upon, but he's occasionally also associated with birds, especially chicks.
  • Seungmin has been compared to a snail in the past, and nowadays the members (and even his own family) associate him with a puppy.
  • I.N resembles a fennec fox, especially his eyes.
• Amusing Injuries: Lampshaded by Lee Know in a conversation with I.N about woodwork.
  Lee Know: It goes buzz, and you accidentally cut off a finger...
  I.N: (shook)
• The Artifact: The vocalists are not labelled as rappers... doesn't mean they can't hold their own against the official rappers. Ditto for the rappers who don't hold official vocal positions.
• Ascended Extra: Prior to debuting, Bang Chan has starred in TWICE's "Like Ooh Ahh" as a zombie and miss A's "Only You" MV. Lee Know used to be a backup dancer for BTS, and he was one of the dancers in Not Today.
• Attractive Bent-Gender:
  • Lee Know. When he dressed up as a girl for SKZ-FAM, he was so pretty that non-fans even swooned over him.
  • Hyunjin as well, though to a lesser extent.
  • As of the recent comeback of SKZ Family, I.N., too.
• Awesome Aussie: Chan and Felix. Chan was born in Korea but moved to Australia at a really young age, while Felix was born and raised in Australia.
  • They even have thick Australian accents when speaking in English.
• The Baby of the Bunch: I.N is so adorable that basically everyone ends up cooing over him and babying him - sometimes much to his chagrin. He even has a Theme Song called "Maknae on Top"! Ultimately subverted, however, since Jeongin is only five months younger than Jisung, Felix, and Seungmin are, and he's also much more mature than what his maknae position lets on.
• Badass Adorable: Particular examples include Felix, who is chirrupy and adorkable but also holds a 2nd-degree black belt in taekwondo; Lee Know, who is wiry and a trained boxer; Seungmin, who doesn't look particularly strong but frequently bests several members in playful rough-housing and Chan, who is the second-strongest overall.
• Berserk Button: This isn't even all of them.
  • Lee Know is not really a fan of lame puns. Which is strange, because his stage name is based on a lame pun of both his real name and "We Know". He isn't too fond of seeing members acting cute either.
  • Changbin does not like being called a walrus. It's often played for laughs, and it elicits a lot of laughter from fans.
  • Despite being compared to baby chicks, Felix isn't exactly a fan of being called chicken.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Chan is a sweet, kind, and selfless person who can beat Changbin in a power fight.
  • In a SKZ-TALKER video, Felix was shown to be ready to throw hands at HAN after the latter imitated his performance in Pops in Seoul.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Don't let Han's funny personality fool you, during his trainee days he had a bit of a reputation as someone who got into fights. Case in point, he once threw a wallet at Seungmin's face because he was pissing him off.
• Big Brother Bully: Lee Know is this to everyone in the group, except Felix (most of the time). He once laid down on I.N, smothering the latter with affection, and tickling him everywhere, and even refusing to leave I.N alone even after I.N asks him to stay away to not spread his (Lee Know's) cold to him.
  • Seungmin is this to I.N, as well.
• Big Eater: According to the members, Bang Chan is the biggest eater, capable of easily eating four bags of ramen. The other members also give him their leftovers.
• Big Little Brother:
  • I.N, the youngest, is taller than half of his members and the same height as Lee Know.
  • Hyunjin and Seungmin, the 4th and 2nd youngest members, are the two tallest ones of the group.
• Birthday Buddies: Han and Felix were born a day apart, the former on September 14 and the latter on September 15 respectively.
• Brutal Honesty: I.N is notorious for his brusqueness. He calls Chan short to his face several times, scolds Hyunjin for being a Heavy Sleeper, describes Lee Know as "weird," exposes Han for kissing him in the dorms when Han yelled that he hadn't kissed him yet, and says Changbin is small - once after complimenting the older for being cute.
  I.N: You're cute because you're small.
• Butt-Monkey: Poor, poor Changbin fills this role the most, being the The Chew Toy of many jokes everyone (mostly Seungmin and Lee Know) makes. He does take it pretty well, most of the time.
  • Hyunjin, sometimes. Usually under Lee Know.
  • Han, mainly due to Changbin and Seungmin.
• But Not Too Foreign: Bang Chan and Felix are both of Korean descent, but were raised in Australia.
• Catchphrase: "Step out! We are Stray Kids!"
• Cloudcuckoolander:
  • Han can come off like this. Normally, one does not belt high notes after getting hurt.
  • Despite being one of the older members, Lee Know actually embodies it even more than Han does. More than once have the members called him weird to his face, even in the lyrics for "FAM"!
• Cuddle Bug: Felix likes receiving affection (especially cuddles) from the others, which makes him even more adorable.
• Curtains Match the Window: During MAMA 2018 Han had his hair dyed blue and wore blue contact lens.
• The Cutie: Felix is undoubtedly the cutest member with his adorable habits, freckles on his baby face, and his sweet, energetic and optimistic personality. Plus he loves getting cuddles from the other members, is an unabashed fan of TWICE and even bakes sweets like cookies and brownies! All the members, even I.N, the actual maknae, and especially Chan can't help but coo at his cuteness and dote on him, and Lee Know notably teases him the least.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Mainly Lee Know and Seungmin, the group's resident tsunderes/trolls.
  • With his Brutal Honesty and being one of the very few (and exasperated) only sane people in the group, I.N doesn't lag far behind either.
  • Butt-Monkey Changbin is able to keep up with the three of them in Snark-to-Snark Combat.
• Death Glare:
  • Lee Know can pull some pretty good ones, usually when his patience has been stretched to its limit.
  • I.N takes on some surprisingly scathing ones in the MVs for "MIROH" and "District 9.
• Drama Queen: More like Drama King. Hyunjin, who is prone to giving grandiose, over-the-top reactions to the tiniest of things. So much so that fans have given him the nickname "Drama Llama."
• Even the Guys Want Him:
  • Compared to typical boy group demographics, Stray Kids have a lot of male fans.
  • Some men were heard to be praising Lee Know's side profile and eyes.
  • Changbin loves Hyunjin's lips. I.N feels the same about Hyunjin's long hair.
  • "The Felix Effect" is now a running gag among the fandom, where guys reacting to Stray Kids for the first time are immediately mesmerized by Felix's looks+voice combination.
• Evil Laugh: Some rather hair-raising ones are a part of Lee Know's repertoire.
• Family of Choice: If the song "FAM" is any indication.
• Fanboy: Hyunjin is a huge fan of GOT7's Jinyoung, Seungmin and Felix are huge fans of DAY6 (to the point that Seungmin is unable to choose between the band and his own group), Lee Know is one for 2PM, WonderGirls and BTS, and all of them like TWICE to different degrees.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Hyunjin and Han have admitted that they disliked each other a lot at first. After working hard together, they became friends and now don't understand what they got so worked up about.
• Funny Background Event: Nearly half of the members have weird or 4D personalities, so there are also hilarious things going on when they are doing livestreams. Questionable things are usually done by Lee Know - prone to non-sequiturs and surprising observations, Han - who likes making weird expressions and admitted that he is good at doing weird things, and Felix - who often brings out random objects like boiled eggs and bananas with no context, randomly exclaims loudly and references memes.
• Gasp!: Hyunjin often punctuates situations with dramatic gasps.
• Genius Ditz: Han is called the 4th gen ace of K-pop for a reason, and he's even the youngest KOMCA member with 100+ songwriting credits of beautiful songs to his name, got a GED for elementary at 15 and for middle and high school at 16 (which meant that he took 3 exams within 1 year), and on a few occasions has mastered newly learned skills rather quickly, which proves that he's truly a genius. But it's hard to tell at first glance since, while not an actual ditz, Jisung stands out as one of the strangest and more rambunctious members in an already chaotic group.
• Hates Being Touched: I.N resists very wildly even when being touched slightly. Unfortunately for him, older members like Han or Seungmin love cuddling, tickling and hugging him.
• Hidden Depths: Despite being the loudest and most talkative of the group, HAN is actually a calm introvert. On a sadder note regarding his introversion, in December 2019, it's revealed he actually suffered from symptoms of intermittent psychological anxiety and felt extreme tension when he is close to groups of people.
• I Have Many Names: While all of them have a bunch of nicknames, Felix takes the cake with his innumerable nonsensical nicknames.
• Important Haircut: Hyunjin, for their "DOMINO" promotions. Jeongin even cried when his hair was cut.
• Jack of All Trades: God. All of them can sing, rap, dance, and contribute to writing and producing music, although a few of them do stand out.
  • Bang Chan is one of the main producers, main rappers and a vocalist, has learnt modern dance and ballet, knows how to speak English, Korean, Japanese and some Mandarin, and can cook well.
  • Han is this naturally. See The Ace above for more details.
  • Lee Know was initially a vocalist, but during training his talent in rapping was discovered. He is also one of the main dancers and he's so good at this that he was once a backup dancer for BTS. He even graduated from school smoothly, getting a car license while on tour with BTS!
  • Seungmin usually doesn't get assigned rap lines, but boy can he rap. On a Weekly Idol episode, he was able to cover Han's part in a 3RACHA song (which is quite fast) flawlessly.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Lee Know adores cats, adopting and raising three throughout his teenage years. He has also been noted to have a general affinity for them.
  • Felix and I.N have also professed their love for cats several times.
• Land Downunder: Two of them hail from it. They visited and yes, they met kangaroos.
• Large Ham: Everyone. Just look at this video. These are the more hammy ones:
  • Befitting someone with Leo as a Zodiac sign, Changbin is naturally one of the more loud and extra ones.
  • Felix is famous for his theatrical expressions, maniacal laughter and affinity for memetic gestures and reactions.
  • Hyunjin is this too. His reactions to literally everything is often over-the-top.
  • HAN is the most talkative and loudest of the group.
• Last-Second Word Swap: Felix checks himself just in time when complimenting Changbin's jawline by placing a sandwich on it.
  Felix: It's so sharp, it could cut a - it could - it could hurt you.
• The Leader: Bang Chan may be counted as the "Levelheaded" and "Mastermind" type, having trained for 7 years and picking each member to assemble the current team. He has also stated that he views the well-being of each member, as well as the group as a whole, as his personal responsibility.
• Lethal Chef: Changbin, Lee Know and Hyunjin are really messy when trying to cook. One of their attempts involved Hyunjin nearly burning his jacket, Lee Know barely managing to not spill all of the rice cakes in the pan, and them forgetting to wash the pan and spoon before cooking - the spoon is washed only after Hyunjin notices that the food has a metallic taste, and Changbin realises their mishap.
  • Bang Chan had to teach Changbin how to shell a boiled egg. Changbin still asks others to do it for him, as he keeps cracking eggs.
  • Lee Know has improved in his cooking, though. He (along with HAN and I.N) stars in Mysterious Kitchen, a mini-show of 3 episodes where the members cook various food, and guides his dongsaengs as they prepare the dishes. He even posts the food he cooks on the members' Instagram.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Hyunjin is one of the visuals and is more recognizable with long hair than short hair. I.N loved the look on him so much that he actually cried when Hyunjin cut it short.
• Mad Libs Catchphrase: "Seungmin in the [insert name of place]!" [[note]]i.e. "Seungmin in the Buzzfeed!" during their interviews there[[/note]] It initially started out simply as "Seungmin in the building!" but is now often altered according to location due to Han and Hyunjin sometimes taking the catchphrase for themselves instead.
• Manly Tears: Hyunjin cries when watching sad movies.
• Meaningful Name:
  • The group's name implies that, although coming from myriad backgrounds and experiences, they have now banded together to take on life's challenges and chase their dreams together. In the process, they also wish to act as a voice for similar "stray kids" all around the world by talking about their own journey and feelings.
  • The fandom name, Stay, is one letter away from "stray" - R. Bang Chan often explains this choice as representing the fact that Stays are the reason for Stray Kids to continue to fight on and, well, stay.
  • As much as Lee Know's stage name is punny and chucklesome, there's a meaning behind it: the pronunciation of Minho is similar to that of Lee No, but since Lee No could be read as self-deprecatory, Minho changed the romanized spelling to Lee Know.
• Mr. Fanservice:
  • Bang "Christopher" Chan. A lot of his outfits tend to expose his very nice body, more prominent in "Thunderous" era where a few of his outfits◊ even having a "shirt" that's just barely wrapped bandages. He flashes his abs whenever it's convenient for him in some performances for songs like in "MIROH", "Victory Song" and "Charmer". He has even stripped shirtless (his slightly sweaty body from dancing not helping the poor viewers' sanity) on national TV! He's also not above going along with some STAY's flirtatious comments, even flirting back harder.
  • While the other members tend to show less skin (especially when compared to Chan), like him, they have not shied away from doing Fanservice whenever it's convenient. Just◊ look◊ at◊ their◊ buff◊ arms◊!
    • If anyone is ranking who in the group shows off their abs the most, HAN◊, Felix◊, and I.N◊ are just right behind Chan. They especially like to flash their abs in performances for the above mentioned songs.
  • While in a swimming pool, some of the members are downright shirtless, as seen in a vlog they filmed in Melbourne for their concert there.
  • Zigzagged in Lee Know's case, who on one hand prefers wearing modest clothes (and especially refuses to expose his stomach) and sometimes goes through extreme (and hilarious) lengths to avoid doing fanservice whenever he can, and was pretty uncomfortable when he was dressed in a rather sexy outfit in a "Maniac" stage. And on the other hand, he can be an even bigger tease than Chan is when he's actually willing to do fanservice and seems fine with exposing his chest.
  • Completely averted with Seungmin, who, unlike Lee Know, has never worn anything that isn't conservative.
• The Napoleon: Woe betides anyone who teases Changbin about his shortness beyond friendly limits.
• Not a Morning Person: On top of his weird sleep-talking habits, Hyunjin is a heavy sleeper of legendary magnitude and notoriously difficult to wake up. It's often a source of consternation for the others.
  I.N: Hyung, please wake up when I tell you to wake up.
• No Indoor Voice: The whole group is pretty noisy. Special mention goes to Changbin and Lee Know who are both prone to yelling a lot.
• Not So Above It All:
  • Seungmin seems like one of the more chill members, since he's quieter and often acts more serious, calm and normal. But actually... isn't, being fully capable of being as weird, silly and chaotic as the rest of them. He's also prone to saying non-sequiturs.
  • While Chan is often at the studio producing music, he can also sometimes be found playing with the other members.
• Not So Stoic:
  • Changbin, at first glance, appears cold and stern, but he likes to act cute, and is one of the more sentimental ones who cries pretty easily - he cried really hard when Felix was initially eliminated, and again when Bang Chan gives an emotional speech about their debut.
  • Seungmin rarely stutters in his speech and is one of the less emotionally expressive members. Yet, when Stray Kids won Inkigayo for the first time, he was at a loss for words.
    • A similar event occurred at their second #Love STAY fan-meet, where Seungmin breaks down crying after they performed "#Love STAY". This is telling as he's one of the group's emotional pillars.
• Odd Name Out: Together with Wonder Girls, they don't follow JYP's numbering names. While you can still argue that the "won" in Wonder Girls sounds like "one", Stray Kids really doesn't have any number in their names, although they are still associated with "9".
• Older Than They Look: I.N, somehow.
  Idol Master MC: Who's the youngest among you?
  I.N: (raises hand) Me.
  MC: Ah, how old are you?
  I.N: I'm 18.
  MC: Really? I thought you were 17.
• Only Sane Man: Chan, most of the time, finds himself wrangling the others and trying to bring some order - although, hilariously, I.N also sometimes takes up this role and does most of the scolding, such as telling members not to fight or snapping at them when they cross a line.
  • Han Jisung, of all people, finds himself in this position during a live video call, STA Ys even joking that he temporarily took the role of leadership, though he still had his moments like dropping his cake.
• Otaku: Han and Lee Know apparently enjoy anime a lot, and they have even been seen re-enacting the Sasuke and Naruto fight behind Chan during a live. Han is also seen with a couple of figurines and has based some of the songs he writes on anime. Also, his favorite movie is Howl's Moving Castle.
  • Not to Han's extent, but Chan has a Dragonball figurine.
• Papa Wolf: Chan is fiercely protective of his members. His SKZOO character is even a wolf to highlight this.
• Precision F-Strike: Several. Despite being idols, they use some coarse language sometimes.
  • Jisung has nearly swore a few times, one time in front of a live concert!
  • Felix muttered a swear word while playing UNO with Chan. He also accidentally swore on radio, though that's somewhat subverted as he wasn't very fluent in Korean yet. But in general, he's got the coarsest mouth out of all of them.
  • Fellow Aussie Chan falls very frequently to this.
    • Sometimes, STA Ys unknowingly recommend him a song with explicit language. This comes full circle when he listens to "Pretty Savage" by BLACKPINK, which has swear words itself/
    • He has talked about swearing on a V Live before, though the clip was later deleted during reupload. That didn't stop STA Ys from capturing the moment.
    • He explicitly allows explicit songs (though not ones with swear words) to be played on Chan's Room!
    • In the behind-the-scenes video for "Red Lights", he cursed under his breath while tied up with Hyunjin, causing the latter to giggle.
    • While on a call with the members, he cursed as he fell off the chair he was sitting on.
• Princely Young Man: Hyunjin, to a point that he was already being called a prince back in middle school.
• Promoted Fanboy: Felix loves TWICE. Not only is he in the same company as them, he got to participate in a song from Nayeon's 1st solo album!
• Proud Beauty: Slightly subverted by Hyunjin and Changbin.
  • For Hyunjin, although he knows he's handsome, he wants others to recognize him as a talented person instead of merely a pretty boy.
  • For Changbin, he only became confident with his looks because Felix always compliments his sharp jawline and his generally good-looking features.
  • In contrast, Han often gets disappointed when no one compliments his looks, even once holding Hyunjin by his ponytail and refused to let it go until he got called handsome.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Despite Changbin's insistence on his 'dark' concept, he does love his pink sweater, and the color pink as a whole to some extent (He's fine with his SKZOO character being pink and wants a pink-colored microphone), after all. He's also a self-professed romantic at heart, and is fond of writing sentimental verses, plus most likely responsible for the creation of several of the group's love songs.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Lee Know is the blue to Han's red. Changbin is also the blue to Felix's red. Although sometimes it can be the other way around.
• Running Gag: At one concert, a fan held up their camera so that Changbin could take a picture, but he accidentally turned it off instead. Since then, it's become a running gag between the rest of the members and the fans to turn off any cameras being held up in the front row after recording for a while.
  • With the installation of Bubble, there's been a running gag where the members steal Chan's phone to leave a voice message. Given how busy Chan is, this is usually justified. However, throughout 2021 alone, every other member has already left a voice message in Chan's wake!
• Singer-Songwriter: All of them (mostly Bang Chan, Changbin and Han) have contributed to various songs’ melodies and lyrics.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: While most of them don't exactly have the cleanest mouths, Felix of all people has the crudest mouth out of all of the members, is guilty of being responsible for saying the most curses, the most shocking one being the time he called Chan a dick on a live broadcast!
• Slapstick: Lee Know's favorite type of humor. While he wouldn't hurt someone for laughs or enjoy seeing anyone seriously hurt, he often makes jokes about cooking and roasting his bandmates or feeding them tissues and other inedible objects.
  [Felix offers some chocolate to their "sleeping dad"] ^note Half of the members were asked to prepare a present quietly without getting caught by the guy pretending to be sleeping behind them who's acting as their father.
  Lee Know: Stuff it up his nose!
  (...)
  [The members deciding on who's gonna drink the smelly, bitter sophora root tea]
  Lee Know: Should we pour it in Dad's mouth since he's sleeping?
  [The Dad immediately covers his mouth in fear they'd actually do this.]
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: A frequent feature of their off-stage banter, especially when Lee Know or Changbin get involved. So expect to see this when Lee Know, Changbin, Seungmin, or I.N are around. Especially so when seeing banters among the four of them.
• Stage Names:
  • Lee Know for Lee Minho, Han for Han Jisung and I.N for Yang Jeongin.
  • In 3RACHA, Bang Chan, Changbin and Han have the stage names CB97, SPEARB and J.ONE respectively.
• Stepford Smiler:
  • Apparently Felix is one. Changbin and I.N told him through their letters that he doesn't need to keep the stress all to himself.
  • I.N also admitted that he's always smiling - partially because he feels that his eyes make him look scary if he doesn't smile, but more importantly he doesn't want to let the older members know that he's having a hard time.
• The Stoic:
  • Seungmin is a downplayed combination of this and The Quiet One. While having chaotic moments of his own, they're slightly more restrained than the others, plus is generally more emotionally reserved than everyone. And as for the latter, he doesn't talk that much unless he wants to screw with someone and often keeps his voice at a normal volume, while the others tend to be very loud and often pretty shouty. These traits were more apparent in the group's rookie days.
  • Subverted with Changbin who appears to be this, but is actually one of the more Large Ham ones.
• Sweet Baker: Felix, who's the group's resident cutie and is even ranked as the group's sweetest member, is mentioned to bake pastries in his spare time and is seen doing so on a few of his vlogs.
• Sweet Tooth: Apparently Felix is one, sneaking up to snack on marshmallows during Kingdom Week.
  • Jisung is also one as well; his favorite food is cheesecake.
• Stylistic Suck: If it were up to HAN, you can count on him to sing their songs in tone-deaf (a manner befitting this trope). So far, he's done "God's Menu" (multiple times, in fact), "Back Door", "Ex", "Thunderous", and "Christmas Eve L"!
  • He has also done "All of My Life", which is NOT from their discography, in front of the actual singer!
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Hyunjin is dark-eyed, often seen with dark-colored hair, the tallest member and the official visual. He most certainly suits darker vibes too. His real personality doesn't fit this trope, though.
• Talking in Your Sleep: Hyunjin's sleep-talking habits are very odd, to put it lightly.
  Han: I was listening to music with my earphones on when I suddenly heard, "ARRRRGH!!!" from next door (Hyunjin's room), so I immediately pulled off my earphones thinking "What's that sound? Did I hear wrong?" Then, just as I was about to put my earphones back on, "BRRRRWA!!"
• Team Dad: Chan has been repeatedly called the "Dad" of Stray Kids, and these many fan compilations show it, along with the fact that he often looks so done dealing with his rowdy members.
• Team Mom: Despite his mischievous Tsundere attitude and tendency to screw with the others, Lee Know is regarded as the mom of the group, keeping the members well-fed with snacks and (sometimes) doting on them.
• Teen Idol: The entire younger half of the group (HAN, Felix, Seungmin, I.N) debuted at the young age of 17.
• Third-Person Person:
  • Lee Know tends to use third-person, but more frequently on Instagram than in real life.
  • Chan also uses it, but extremely rarely.
• The Trickster: Lee Know. He enjoys messing with the members so much, like smashing a boiled egg on Changbin's forehead without hesitation and declaring that it's too bad that the egg isn't raw, or saying that there's ugliness on Bang Chan's face. He still, however, loves his members to death, and will not stand for any hate tossed their way.
• True Companions: It's evident that they are willing to stick together till the end, and share a deep mutual admiration, respect and fondness for each other - to the point that they consider themselves a family.
• Tsundere: Especially Lee Know and Seungmin.
  • Lee Know is absolutely fond of teasing his members. However, at the same time, he is actually quite a good-natured person, keeping the members well-fed and helping Chan care for their dongsaengs. He's also very (and more openly) sweet to cats, raising and taking care of three at his home, and has stated in a Japanese interview that cats are his soft spot.
  • Seungmin usually doesn't hesitate to savagely insult or smack his teammates - or to hit something else and declare that it represents a member - but he can also be gentle and sweet, and is often a shoulder to cry on for the rest of the team.
• Tsurime Eyes: I.N, whose eyes further heighten his resemblance to a desert fox.
• Underdogs Never Lose: Being a group that was formed through a survival reality show, it's bound to have some cases of this.
  • Lee Know, who went from an eliminated vocalist to the one who raps the first line in their debut song.
  • I.N's vocals improved a lot since the reality show, and this is reflected in the increasing amount of lines assigned to him in every song.
• Verbal Tic:
  • Han tends to say "UWA!" whenever he's surprised or amazed by something.
  • The Aussie line call each other "mate" or "bro"' when they converse in English.
  • When Changbin is annoyed by someone he calls them "ahjussi". He also uses "aigoo" when stalling for thought.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Lee Know and Seungmin are this to everyone else on the team. Prominent examples include:
  • Changbin and Seungmin. Seungmin may always tease Changbin towards his limit, but their more serious conversations show that the two rely on each other and care for one another more than they'd like to show.
  • Lee Know and Seungmin take the cake for this. The two are constantly teasing one another, even coming up with the divorced couple concept, but they still love each other nonetheless.
  • Seungmin and Jeongin as well. Just look at the SKZ-TALKER videos!
  • Seungmin and Chan. If Seungmin's messages to Chan are of any indication. Poor Chan, he only wants to give and receive some love.
  • Lee Know and Changbin.
• Vocal Dissonance: Felix's doe-eyed appearance and sunshine-like personality is at complete odds with his cavernous bass voice.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Lee Know is afraid of heights and sudden loud noises.
  • Chan is scared of tight spaces and on a lighter note, curse words.
• Youthful Freckles: Uniquely for a K-pop idol, Felix's face is full of natural freckles. They add to his cuteness.
  • Chan also has these, although his are lighter and less noticeable than Felix's.
• You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry!: Lee Know. Although it's always Played for Laughs, he has no problem making Ineffectual Death Threats, or just any empty threats in general, or running after the band member who pisses him off that it became a Running Gag of his and even between the members.
  Lee Know: I think I've made a mistake. I should've put Changbin (on the stove) instead of the chicken.

Music and Music Video Tropes

• Album Intro Track: "NOT!", "WHO?" and "YOU." serve as this in I Am NOT, I Am WHO and I Am YOU respectively. "Entrance" functions as one for MIROH, while "Road Not Taken" and "GO LIVE" are for Yellow Wood and GO生 respectively. The extended version of "GO LIVE", "The Tortoise and the Hare", serves as this for IN生, while "CHEESE" is effectively this for the group's latest release, NOEASY.
  • "NOT!" gives a brief glance for the themes of the album, and has some references towards "Mirror" and "3rd Eye".
  • The lyrics of "WHO?" includes the titles of the sidetracks, "Voices", "Insomnia", "M.I.A." and "Question".
  • "YOU." speaks directly of the theme of the album, "I am not afraid because I am you."
  • "Entrance" serves as a brief overview of MIROH and features many musical motifs - the war cries from the title track, the yells and whoops from "Victory Song," the electronic effects from "Maze Of Memories," the bells from "Boxer," the whispers of "watch out, watch out!" and "tick-tock, tick-tock, getting closer!" from "Chronosaurus" and the echoing bass from "19" are all wrapped up and paced to the looming beat of drums, bass and snares.
  • Backed by a frenzied electronic improvisation, "Road Not Taken" introduces Yellow Wood's primary themes of confusion, anger and sorrow at having "lost the way".
  • "GO LIVE" features a murky synth-based instrumentation that backs furious verses about "not following time" and wanting to live at one's own pace.
  • "CHEESE" calls out haters who secretly enjoy Stray Kids' music but attack them just to spite the band.
• Angry Dance: Of the "war dance" variety. The choreography for "MIROH" takes some moves from Haka, and several other songs have choreography reminiscent of or inspired by the power, acrobatics and aggression of war dances.
• Auto-Tune: Often applied for stylistic effects. Bang Chan's verses in both 3RACHA and Stray Kids usually have a touch of this, while most of "M.I.A." uses auto-tune. Han makes use of it in his verses in "Double Knot" as well.
• Badass Boast:
  • 3RACHA's Matryoshka, talking about how they will never fall down even when being "peeled off", a metaphor for being attacked or looked down on.
  • "God's Menu" uses cooking metaphors to underscore their resilience and uniqueness.
  • "Victory Song" is centred around being "undefeated" even in the face of adversity.
  • "Thunderous" has the group assert their own identity, refusing to conform to the general public's tastes and continuing to make music they like.
  "Man, I'm not sorry, I'm dirty"
  • "SSICK" is one heck of a cocky track. It might be their most boastful one to date. Here, the members talk about the hate and how it doesn't affect their music and uniqueness as a group.
• Battle Cry:
  • A lot of the yells and vocalisations in the more aggressive songs are meant to be this.
  • "ZONE" from 3RACHA features a Maori war chant in the chorus.
  "Kia rite! Kia rite! Kia rite! Ah, upane, ha!" ^note "Be ready! Be ready! Be ready! One step forward, another step forward!"
• Beast in the Maze:
  • The lyrics of "Chronosaurus" personify time as a Eldritch Abomination chasing the protagonist through a labyrinth, and uses it as an allegory for feeling like time is running out too quickly while still young.
  • "Maze Of Memories" also makes use of monsters in a labyrinth as a metaphor for the trials and tribulations of youth.
• Boastful Rap: Mostly appears in 3RACHA's productions.
  • Also appears prominently in "SSICK".
• Brutal Honesty: "Christmas EveL" describes the stresses of the holidays in full bluntness.
• Call-Back:
  • 3RACHA's "ZONE" - also a part of the SKZ-PLAYER series - shares similar themes with "District 9" such as reaffirming the fact that hate cannot knock them down.
  • Chan's line in "0325" mentions "Start Line", a 3RACHA song.
  This is our start line, our start line, our start line.
  • In I Am YOU, a line from Changbin is that he is holding hands with 'you' so he can be able to do anything, in contrast with the pre-chorus of Hellevator where Chan's line notes that "no one holds [his] hand."
  • Lines from "CHEESE" reference previous title tracks "God's Menu" and "Side Effects".
  You find DU DU DU funny? What's funny about a headache?
• Careful with That Axe:
  • "Side Effects" is punctuated by piercing, heavily-distorted screams throughout, courtesy of I.N and Changbin.
  • A sudden, guttaral screech precedes Felix's verse in "Maze Of Memories."
• Character Development: In I am NOT, the boys realize that they are not themselves and start to fight against the society. The epiphany leads to I am WHO, where they start to wonder who they really are and why they are here. Then, in I am YOU, although they still don't know who they are, they are not afraid to continue their journeys because they realized that they have each other and 'you', the listener.
• Cover Version:
  • Seungmin has covered Baekhyun's "Love Again", Ha Hyunsang's "3108", and more as part of SKZ-RECORD. Being the ultimate MyDay^note Day 6's fandom name, he has also covered "You Were Beautiful", "Congratulations", and "Zombie", the last two being a collaboration with HAN.
• Dancing Is Serious Business: The dance line - Lee Know, Hyunjin and Felix. Words don't do them justice.
• Darker and Edgier: "Side Effects" is considerably darker and heavier in comparison to the other title tracks, with a much harsher, psy-trance influenced sound, harsh chants and screams, and grim, downbeat lyrics that are frank in their description of hopelessness and anxiety.
• Deadpan Snarker: Lee Know ends the SKZ2021 version of "N/S" this way.
• Every Episode Ending: Every music video ends with a title card - usually black with text in All Caps and in the primary colour of that particular era - that reads "Stray Kids everywhere, all around the world. You make Stray Kids stay."
• Funny Background Event:
  • Han makes a rather hilarious face in the MV of "District 9", when the bus rocks.
  • I.N can be seen repeatedly smacking himself in the head with a foam baseball bat at the start of the performance video for "Boxer."
• Fun with Foreign Languages:
  • "Matryoshka" has some Russian mixed in it.
  • The Clé series comes from the French word for "key".
  • "ZONE" uses a Maori war chant in the chorus.
  • "Megaverse" from their most recent album Rock Star, starts with Felix counting in French.
  • "Christmas Eve L" uses it for a pun with the Spanish "Feliz Navidad" flowing into "Felix never bad"
• Free-Range Children: The concept of "District 9", that is, breaking the social stereotype and fighting for their own freedom and protect their own district, which also echoes their name, Stray Kids.
  • In "I am YOU", although they still live on the streets, they no longer wander around and have found their own district.
  • Most of the videos for MIROH, including the title track and "Victory Song," see them prowling round the streets as they quietly prepare a coup.
• Friendship Song: "4419" and "Sunshine."
• Growing Up Sucks: A fair amount of songs deal with the fears and uncertainties associated with coming of age. "19" is one of the more straightforward and sombre examples - it was penned by Han as a response to still feeling as uncertain and riddled by questions as a teenager after realising he was one year shy of entering his 20s.
• Hotter and Sexier:
  • 3RACHA's "WOW" has more provocative lines and sensual noises in the background.
  • The dance line's video for SKZ-PLAYER is definitely this to Stray Kids' usual choreography.
  • "Drive" by Bang Chan and Lee Know is this compared to other SKZ-PLAYER original songs.
  • Bang Chan and Hyunjin's "Red Lights" is probably the hottest and sexiest official track that SKZ has ever released to date.
  • Connected by Chan is also pretty open to interpretation.
  • TASTE, by the members of Danceracha, is considered a sister song to Red Lights.
  • Super Bowl also contains more sensual delivery, what with the ASMR whispering.
• Lighter and Softer: Their MVs for "Grow Up," "On Track" and "Get Cool" and performance video for "Young Wings" is a huge contrast to all of their previous MVs and performance videos.
  • "School Life" is this to the rest of their discography, being more in the vein of synthpop.
  • I am YOU is even softer than I am WHO, because the boys realize that they have each another to rely on.
  • "The View", compared to most other songs in NOEASY, is this, with instrumentals falling under the realm of tropical house.
  • Time Out has a lighter, pop-rock sound very reminiscent of Disney Channer comedies, and a lighthearted music video of them just having fun at a vacation spot.
• Incredibly Long Note: These tend to fall to either Han or Seungmin.
• Looped Lyrics: Happens quite often, most notably in "Grow Up," "Grrr" and "Side Effects."
• Lyrical Tic:
  • "La la la" appears in quite a number of songs, such as "School Life", "Grrr (Law of Total Madness)" and "Awkward Silence" and now they actually have a songa called "LA LA LA LA".
  • Rap parts (especially by Changbin) are usually prefaced by and peppered with variations of "yoh," "skrrt," "brrah!" and "ah!"
• Lyrics/Video Mismatch:
  • "Hellevator" is a song talking about how they feel lonely and helpless as the pressures of society build up on young shoulders, but many portions of the MV have the boys playing around together and walking through empty streets with their arms around each other.
  • "Boxer" is a defiant anthem about taking the punches dealt out by life with grace and resilience. The MV features the boys goofing about in a playground and playing with toddlers while recording most of their shenanigans on their phones.
  • "Mixtape: OH" is a peppy, cheerful, and sweet song about being childish in the wake of extreme happiness. The MV is somewhat angsty, with the boys trying to reconcile and reconnect with Hyunjin and by extension each other, after a fight breaks the bonds between them.
• Motor Mouth: Han and Changbin are perfectly capable, such as their verses in "District 9" and Changbin's second verse in My Pace, but Hyunjin also comes close in tracks like "District 9," "Mixtape #1" and "MIROH."
• Non-Appearing Title: "4419", "M.I.A.", "Insomnia", "God's Menu" and "MIROH."
• One-Word Title:
  • Mixtape: "Hellevator", "BEWARE", "GLOW"
  • I am NOT: "Mirror", "Awaken", "Rock", "Placebo"^note This is its title in the SKZ 2021 and 3RACHA's versions; originally, it was called "Mixtape #1".
  • I am WHO: "Voices", "Question", "Insomnia", "M.I.A."
  • I am YOU: "편"
  • MIROH: "MIROH", "Boxer", "Chronosaurus"
  • Yellow Wood: "TMT"
  • Levanter: "STOP", "Levanter", "Booster", "Sunshine"
  • GO生: "Pacemaker", "Easy", "Haven", "Phobia", "Blueprint"
  • IN生: "Any", "Ex", "Wow"
  • ALL IN: "FAM"
  • NOEASY: "CHEESE", "Thunderous", "DOMINO", "SSICK", "Surfin'", "WOLFGANG"
  • Scars: "Scars", "CALL"
• Pep-Talk Song: Some notable ones include "Placebo," "Behind the Light," "Broken Compass," "Blueprint," "My Pace," "Young Wings," "Sunshine" and "Awkward Silence." Also "Youtiful" from the 5-Star album.
• Performance Video: Several songs have these, either as stand-alones or as dance-only variations of more story-heavy music videos. Examples include "Voices," "Victory Song," "Double Knot," "Grrr (Law of Total Madness)," "My Pace," "Mirror," "Side Effects," "Young Wings" and the dance-line's SKZ-PLAYER video.
• Pun: The title for GO生 has a two-way version. One of the readings for the Chinese character "生" is "live," and is pronounced as "saeng." This is also where the English title of "GO LIVE" comes from, as a command. When read as one word, "GO生" would be read as "gosaeng," which is the Korean word for "hardship" - one of the album's primary themes.
  • Some album titles tend toward the punny side. No Easy stylized to also read Noisy, Oddinary being Odd+Ordinary, Maxident and most recently, Rock Star, which uses a Korean word that's also pronounced similar to either Rock or Luck in English
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: The chorus for "Side Effects" is only comprised of screams of "MEORI! APU! DA!"^note "MY HEAD HURTS!"
• Rapid-Fire "No!": One of the verses in "Side Effects" devolves into a panicky series of "no, no, no!"
• Rearrange the Song:
  • "Mixtape #1" is a Stray Kids version of 3RACHA's "Placebo" with slightly different instrumentals and an extra bridging verse.
  • "Mixtape #2," similarly, is originally by 3RACHA, but this time only the chorus is completely conserved and the mood and instrumentals of the song is very different from the original "Even Shadows Need Light to Exist"
  • "Mixtape #3", again, is a Stray Kids version of 3RACHA's "For You" with different instrumentals.
  • "Mixtape #4" is a rearrangement of 3RACHA's "Broken Compass."
  • The arrangement of 0325 consists of half of "NOT!", "WHO?" and "YOU.": The main verses consist of the beat from "NOT!", then transited into the softer beat of "WHO?" in the pre-chorus, and the chorus uses the comparatively cheerful beat from "YOU."
  • "STOP" is an expanded version of "Road Not Taken."
  • Likewise, "The Tortoise and the Hare" is the extended version of "GO LIVE."
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Mostly 3RACHA's songs. "Matryoshka" is the most iconic one.
  • "CHEESE" from NOEASY can also be this, especially to the band's haters.
  • "Thunderous". They even outright call the haters villains.
• Self-Empowerment Anthem: Young Wings talks about how we can just live as our age and there's no need to act like an adult, while My Pace also talks about how we can just live as ourselves and not to compare ourselves with others.
• Shout-Out:
  • Yellow Wood takes its name and primary concepts of conflict and difficult choices from "The Road Not Taken," a poem by Robert Frost.
  • The primary motif of Levanter is change and renewal, with the title being inspired by the eponymous winds in "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho.
  • 3RACHA's Wow mentions Shrek and Fiona.
  SPEARB: You can be my Fiona today, I'll be your Shrek, ugly immature swag.
  • "God's Menu" uses the concept "secret ingredient", which is inspired by the film Kung Fu Panda.
• Signature Dance Move:
  • The post-chorus of "My Pace".
  • Chorus of "Young Wings".
  • The 'You and I' hand flipping part in "I am YOU".
  • Felix's Fortnite dance and shoot dance.
  • The haka in "MIROH".
  • The flailing arms in "Side Effects".
  • The sprinkling of spices, as well as the butterfly pose, from "God's Menu."
  • The chorus portion of "Back Door".
  • The chorus portion of "Thunderous" and the laughing pose before the second chorus.
  • The head-hitting part during the chorus of "MANIAC".
• Singer Name Drop:
  • Quite a lot of songs integrate some form of this, such as "Pacemaker," "Victory Song,"^note "Stray Kids, ah!" "Double Knot," "MIROH"^note "STRAY KIDS, WHOO!", "District 9"^note "Stray Kids, everywhere, all around the world", "Opposite"^note "Stray Kids on the block!" and "YAYAYA"^note "Stray Kids! Watch out! 2018!"
  • "GO LIVE" drops in "I know, you know, we know, Lee Know."
  • "FAM" takes this to the logical extreme, with both the band name and all of the members' individual stage names mentioned.
  • "Christmas EveL" features "Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, I can feel the evil coming but Felix never bad."
  • Songs of 3RACHA feature this as well. Examples include "Broken Compass"^note "Music is 3RACHA's ship on the sea", "Start Line"^note "I'd like to start of this speech with a little thank you to everyone that helped little Chris grow up" and "but little Chris always waited for Santa to come", "I See"^note "The mirage J.ONE saw seemed to be a folk tale that rose up from an oral fairy tale" and "Matryoshka"^note "Ey, J.ONE, even when I break you down, how come you're never defeated but always get stronger, yah?"
  • Changbin mentions his own name in his verse in "Thunderous".
• Songs of Solace:
  • The lyrics of "My Pace" are about not comparing oneself with others and it's okay to just be yourself.
  • A few songs in I am YOU are this, promising fans that they will stay by their sides no matter what.
  • "Sunshine" and "You Can STAY" from '"Levanter''.
• Soprano and Gravel: Most members are in the tenor range, with Han, Seungmin and Lee Know often taking charge of falsetto and long notes. Changbin's voice is grittier and can pitch down into lower registers. Then there's Felix, who can reach the lowest of the baritone register without much effort.
• Spoken Word in Music: Can be heard in the chorus of "Side Effects":
  "Common side effects include nervousness, insomnia, nausea, agitation, anxiety, sweating, vision problems, psychosis, numbness, dizziness, headaches, weight loss"
• Take That!: One of the set-pieces in the MV for "God's Menu" is a construction site. Seeing as how the song primarily boasts about their individuality and defiance, this is implied to be a response to those who tend to disparage their music as "construction noise."
  • "CHEESE", "Thunderous", and "DOMINO" (the first three tracks of NOEASY) are this to the many people who call them "flops" or their tracks "noise."
• Third-Person Person: Felix does this in his verse of "Christmas EveL".
  Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, I can feel the evil coming but Felix, never bad.
• Vocal Tag Team: They usually have a combination of 5 rappers and 3 vocalists, but it can vary as the vocalists and rappers often switch positions.
  • Lee Know started off as a vocalist before his talent in rapping was unearthed. So another usual combination is 6 rappers and 2 vocalists.
  • "Maze Of Memories" is a variation where everyone raps in a call-and-response manner.
  • Some songs (particularly "Secret Secret" and "24 to 25" of note) have all the members sing.