Series / Running Man

"Don't Walk. Run."

From left to right: The Giraffe, The Tiger, The Grasshopper, The Cat, The Impala, The Penguin, The Monkey

Running Man is a popular South Korean Variety Show focused on a main cast of seven celebrities who compete in various games and races throughout a number of locations in Korea. The show became famous with its signature set up of velcro-ed nametags of the players on their backs and ripping them off in the final game to ‘oust’ other players.

The earlier episodes featured the popular ‘hide and seek’ game where half the group became the mission team (with some special task to do) and the chasing team (who must rip the mission team’s nametags in order to win). The show has since developed from locking the group in an empty building overnight into a race around the city with minor games at different places that eventually lead up to a nametag-ripping game among the teams or individual members at the end. The show is responsible for creating the new sub-genre of ‘urban variety’ for its unique structure. While the show's action-oriented format helped the show earn early fame, the camaraderie and chemistry of the cast is the main reason for its continued popularity.

In June 24 2017, an animated version of the same name was announced. After 10 months, the Running Man animated series has been aired in Korea, and after a while, Asia on Cartoon Network.

Not to be confused with The Running Man.

---

This show provides examples of:

• The Ace:
  • Song Ji Hyo's nickname.
  • Kim Jong Kook could also apply since he's proved to be talented at almost everything (much to the cast's annoyance).
  • Yonghwa from CNBlue is a frequent guest who also has this nickname.
• Accidental Pervert: When Ji Hyo spills tea on her chest at the start of Episode 92, poor Kwang Soo instinctively tries to dry her with his napkin. Cue uproar from the rest of the group.
• Acting Unnatural:
  • Ji Suk Jin. Full Stop.
  • Gary used to be this, though it seems he's finally getting the hang of it. In episode 177, he fakes his own kidnapping.
• Action Girl: Song Ji Hyo. Part of her popularity comes from the fact that she can hold her own against the guys and often show them up.

• Air Hugging: A natural way to hug someone when you have to be mindful of them backstabbing you and tearing your name tag.
• The Alcoholic: Jihyo is frequently framed as one by Kwang Soo.

• Anchored Ship:
  • After the announcement of Song Ji Hyo's relationship, the Monday Couple was ended. Sort of. Doesn't stop determined shippers though.
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: The rest of the players whenever Kim Jong Kook is eliminated.
  • Meta example when Running Man was revealed to not be cancelled and will continue on for years to come.
• Animal Motifs:
  • See picture caption above. A fan even draws it for clarity.
  • In episode 141, the "Animal Kingdom" themed one, guests Eun Ji-Won^note Panda and Jessica^note Rabbit gets their own motifs as well.
  • Gary gets labeled as a squid by Haha during the X-man special. It has stuck since then.
• Assassin Outclassin':
  • In the first round of episode 93, all six other members must hunt down and take out Kim Jong Kook within thirty minutes. It doesn't go as planned.
  • The subtitles even have to remind the viewers who should be the hunted and who should be doing the hunting in case they're confused.
• Assumed Win:
  • Any 1v9 or 9v1 challenge in the early days when the fooled one(s) didn't figure it out.
  • The Tru-Gary episode (60) was one of these, but The Ending Changes Everything.
  • The third Hunter episode (118) where the Running Man aren't actually capable of winning until all but one of them are eliminated.
• Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!:
  • Usually when a group of people try to team up to take out Kim Jong Kook only to have Jong Kook eliminate one of their guys.
  • In the Romantic Comedy episode, the entire group gathers to watch Jong Kook punch Kwang Soo a few times with a boxing glove before ripping off his name tag. Kwang Soo then rips off Jong Kook's (who is the only one with the power to eliminate Kwang Soo at that point) name tag causing the rest of the cast to run off
• Attack Its Weak Point:
  • Ji Hyo grabbing Jong Kook's hair.
  • When his hair is too far away to grab, she's fine with attacking other places or using other methods.
• Attention Whore: Jin Suk is accused of making up the "smack in the head in the dark room" case in episode 157 since he has previously shown he will do anything to be the star of the show.
• Audience Participation: Some missions done in public require finding someone to play a game with them, from kai bai bo to massive tug of war showdowns.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other:
  • Despite their usual bickering, the cast can't help but show this trope every now and then.
  • During Song Joong-ki's time on the show, Kwang Soo would often claim to be close friends with him due to similar age, only to have Joong-Ki deny it. In his departure speech, Joong-Ki finally admits to being close friends with Kwang Soo.
• Awesome, but Impractical:
  • Yoomes Bond (and other characters too at times) is always offered a wide variety of water guns, including some huge ones with awesome water capacity, or others that can shoot powerful blasts extremely far. He always chooses the smallest and most unassuming one to be stealthy.
  • Subverted in Episode 196, where the Kookminator ends up using the biggest, scariest water gun.
• Back to School: There are several high school-themed episodes, notably episode 98 where they are all high school classmates going on a field trip.
• Backwards-Firing Gun: One episode has Yoo Jae-suk, acting as Yoomes Bond, searching for an apprentice. He ends up taking in Lee Kwang-soo, whose medical history has a prominent case of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder. Nonetheless, the two working together were able to eliminate the other players with squirt guns until they were the last ones left, whereupon Jae-suk presents Kwang-soo with one last test by handing him a squirt gun and challenging him to either shoot him and take the prize for himself, or put the gun down and they can split it. It becomes a Secret Test of Character, as the gun Jae-suk hands over is a trick gun that fires backwards. Kwang-soo fails the test and pulls the trigger only to shoot himself in the face, to Jae-suk's disappointment but not to his surprise.
• Bad Liar:
  • Lee Kwang Soo can't lie to save himself. Though considering he's an actor by trade, this may be a case of Bad "Bad Acting".
  • Gary and Suk Jin are not far behind. Though Gary does get better. Suk Jin... not as much.
  • Also see Cannot Keep a Secret.
• Badass Crew:
  • Played with. Sometimes the cast works well together and other times they completely fall apart because they start betraying each other left and right.
  • Put to the test in Episode 178 when the cast had to cross the Han River in nothing but a boat made out of cardboard. Cold winds, exhaustion, freezing waters and even one of the boats capsizing didn't deter them. AND they passed!^note One of the boats managed to barely make it to the opposite shore just in time.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: In episode 76, the PDs enforced this trope on the four guests for the episode's Killers theme. Deconstructed when the guests realized how eye-catching their wardrobes were, making it incredibly difficult for them to blend in with the crowd.
• The Bait / We Need a Distraction: In episode 52, HaHa knew that Choi Min-Soo was coming for him next so he volunteered himself as bait to buy Ji Hyo and Gary enough time to find the rest of the crowns.
• Bathroom Break-Out: Averted. Usually leads to said breakout attemptee being cornered instead.
• Battle Aura / Burning with Anger: The producers frequently impose a fiery aura around Kim Jong Kook. Occasionally it's because he's pissed off at someone (and it's probably Lee Kwang Soo).
• Battle Couple:
  • Any pair in a couple race could qualify as this.
  • There are just some pairs that much stronger than others. Spart-Ace is one - their first appearance happened because Ji Hyo was frustrated by how pathetic the others were.
• Berserk Button:
  • Don't mention Ha Ha's height. Or Ji Hyo's weight.
  • And don't mention Joong Ki in front of Kwang Soo.
  • And while you're at it, don't mess with Jong Kook's hair, unless you're Ji Hyo.
• Big Brother Is Watching: In Episode 151, the members have to shut off 108 surveillance cameras around the SBS building before they can confront Jung Woo Sung, who is using them as his eyes.
• Big Damn Heroes: Happens pretty often in team battles as they try to save their own team members from opposing teams during the nametag games. It's also extremely common for anyone on Jong Kook's team to start screaming his name when they are on the verge of getting eliminated, hoping this trope happens.
• Big "NO!":
  • Gwangsoo liked to scream "ANDWAEEEE" whenever the PDs give a tough mission. Then he starts to apply it to pretty much anything.
  • It's extremely irritating to the other members ("Your 'Andwae's come out every week!"), and he got "arrested" for it in episode 175. When his "crime" is revealed to him, he unsurprisingly invokes this trope again.
• Bond Villain Stupidity:
  • In episode 13, after getting cornered by no less than three members of the seeking team, Yoo Jae Suk essentially invokes this to his advantage, pretending to give up. This trope gets invoked to the letter.
  • In episode 79, the Sherlock Holmes episode Suk Jin had 2 of last survivors pinned by his bodyguards. One of the survivor offers a ceasefire while Suk Jin still holding to another survivor, agree. After making it clear that the bodyguards cannot elimiate them, one of them disable both bodyguards and the other one overpower and eliminate him
  • This becomes a popular tactic throughout the show. Sometimes attacker explicitly says they can't give the other player a break out of fear of this trope happening.
• Born Lucky: Ji Hyo throughout the series.
• Born Unlucky:
  • Kwang Soo. He basically cemented his status as the Icon of Misfortune during the First Unluckiest Festival (Ep 292), where he literally suffered all the punishments thrown at him en route to the final round, losing out only to Suk Jin. In fact, the fact that he lost out to Suk Jin in the final round despite "winning" every single round prior also points to his unluckiness from another angle.
  • Sixth Ranger Yang Se Chan quickly began to rival Kwang Soo in this department starting from his first day. On a day trip to Taiwan with Song Ji Hyo and Ha Ha they had to eat (among others) stinky tofu - one piece was left, so as a bet they agreed that the loser of a spin would have to eat a whole piece with no liquid to wash it down. They agreed to rock-paper-scissors with the winner getting the fewest spots - Se Chan won and only had 3 spots out of 16. Guess where the spinner lands.
• Break the Badass: Choi Min Soo's easy 'defeat' of the Commander.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall:
  • Given the show's format, there's technically No Fourth Wall to begin with, but it's worth mentioning that the cast members often interact with elements of the show that you might typically expect to be "off-limits" on a show like this, e.g. borrowing a VJ's camera to disguise themselves as members of the production crew.
  • Of note, Yoo Jae Suk's VJ, Kwon Ryeol, is probably one of the most well-known crew members due to Jae Suk frequently interacting with him and, at times, asking for his assistance; among other things, this has included blocking the doorway to hold off the chasing team, acting as a Body Double while the real Jae Suk prepared an ambush, and even impersonating Song Ji Hyo over the phone.^note That last one obviously didn't work.
• Brick Joke: In episode 13, Gary at one point stakes out the 16th floor by propping up two poster boards in the corner of the room to use as a makeshift hiding spot, where he sits down and waits patiently. The game then carries on as normal for a while, until Jae Suk eventually makes his way up to the 16th floor himself...
• Bully and Wimp Pairing: Kim Jong Kook and Lee Kwang Soo whenever they're coupled together
• Butt-Monkey: Lee Kwang Soo, full stop. Even the staff can be heard laughing at his misfortune at times.
  • Episode 108 was more or less centered entirely around his Butt-Monkey status.
  • Reaches unbelievable levels in Episode 143 with the raw egg incident: each player takes a turn choosing an egg and smashing it against their forehead; choose the one raw egg out of the batch (the rest are hard-boiled) and your team loses. Out of thirty total eggs in the first round, Lee Kwang Soo gets that one raw egg; the staff brings out a new batch of 20 eggs and Kwang Soo goes first...and immediately picks the raw egg again. Also proves he is a Cosmic Plaything.
  • Ascends to celestial tier in Episode 292 in the Unluckiest Festival, where unfortunate events happening to a player is considered a win. First, in the initial elevator test (ten total floors with half having some kind of prank like being shot with a water gun, pick three floors and those with the most bad things happening to them are team captains for the day) Kwang Soo is the only one to go 3-for-3 in picking unlucky floors^note his face had to undergo clapping chalk-filled erasers, getting scribbled on with a marker, and getting aggressively kissed all over his face. Then in the actual Unlucky competitions he goes 6-for-7 in having something bad happen to him^note smacking his head with a real wooden stick (6 out of 9 were real), getting a dried octopus tentacle for a sword blade (3 out of 6 had joke blades), smashing a raw egg against his head (2 out of 3), getting squirted in the face with Chinese ink instead of water (1 out of 2), drinking extremely bitter tea instead of something refreshing (1 out of 3), eating a pastry full of wasabi instead of banana cream (1 out of 2); his only reprieve was Ji Suk Jin "winning" Pop-Up Pirate. At least the Unluckiest Festival is one where being unlucky means you win. Which, naturally, meant that his bad luck deserted him in the very last match-up between him and Ji Suk Jin, meaning Kwang Soo didn't even win the prize for all of his misfortune that day.
• By the Power of Grayskull!: How all the superpowers are activated. It is always extremely embarrassing and impossibly cheesy.
• Cannot Keep a Secret: Lee Kwang Soo and Ji Suk Jin. Sometimes they give away that they have a secret before the members even knew there was supposed to be a secret at all.
• Casanova Wannabe: Haha constantly asked female guest "Be my last love!" until he got married. He promptly swung to the other extreme and turned into an extremely enthusiastic Would Hit a Girl character.
• The Chew Toy:
  • See Butt-Monkey, Lee Kwang Soo. Ji Suk Jin can also apply, well known as the easiest member of the group. Guests often say that their goal for that episode is to rip off his nametag. He's even nicknamed the 'Race Starter' since he's usually the first to go and it's as if the real race starts after he's been ousted.
  • He even has his own YouTube compilation.
• Catchphrase:
  • Feel! Chok! Cross!
  • THE ONE WHO CONTROLS SPACE! Though it's become a Memetic Mutation. In-Universe.
  • Haha had "Be my last love!". This stops after he gets married to Byul^note  As a trivial note, when Haha proposes Byul to be his wife, he actually said that line to her.
  • Lee Kwang Soo's "ANDWAE!!" and "I love (insert foreign country here)."
• Cassandra Truth: Two different examples happen to Kim Jong Kook. One in episode 62 where no one believes him when he says Jihyo is the thief, and another in episode 130 where no one believes him when he says Gary was the winner eighty years ago.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder:
  • Lee Kwang Soo. To the point that Kim Jong Kook thinks it's an actual disease.
  • There's even the Betrayal Trio comprising of Lee Kwang Soo, Ha Ha and Ji Suk Jin. Episode 146 centers around them.
• Class Clown: Ha Ha.
• Color-Coded Characters: Not strictly adhered to, but noticeable throughout the series (especially in episodes 74 and 91).
  • Yoo Jae Suk - Green
  • Kim Jong Kook - Red
  • Song Ji Hyo - Purple
  • Gary - Blue
  • Ha Ha - Yellow
  • Ji Suk Jin - Orange
  • Lee Kwang Soo - Black
• Comedic Underwear Exposure: Lee Kwang Soo had this going on in a few episodes, of both "pants splitting" and "pants falling off" varieties.
• Comically Missing the Point: In episode 91, one of the "crimes" Yoo Jae Suk commit is his affection to the color green. Despite this, he still gets a green jacket during the "imprisonment".
• Cool and Unusual Punishment:
  • The punishments in the earlier episodes all invoke this, particularly wearing the infamous Hot Pants around the city.
  • One of the biggest punishments the show ever pulled off was the 1470 game punishment. The members who lost had to fly to Taiwan (the distance from Seoul Inchon Int'l to Taipei Taoyuan Int'l is 1470 km) immediately to ride the Screaming Condor roller coaster the very next day and keep riding it until everyone could see two numbers on posts as they whizzed by.
• Coordinated Clothes: Usually when they're grouped into couples.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Gary may act kind of slow and innocent, but he's the Ensemble Dark Horse when the chips are down. He's won the first two individual all-out battles between the members. He later gained the "Sudden Commander" nickname for his seemingly-out-of-nowhere demonstrations of great skill. When he bothers to make the effort, even Kim Jong Kook might not be his match.
• *Crack!* "Oh, My Back!"!: Ji Suk Jin and his leg cramp during the 'Once Chance' aquarium mission. Ridiculed by the other members because he literally wasn't doing anything but standing around.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Although this can apply to Kim Jong Kook in any physical competition against the members, Kim Jong Kook's wrestling matches with Yoo Jae Suk are infamously... one-sided.
• Dare to Be Badass: Yoo Jae Suk in Episode 13. And how.
• A Day in the Limelight: Every now and then, there will be an episode focusing on a specific member.
• Deadly Hug: Hugging someone just allows them easier access to tear off your nametag.
• Designated Girl Fight: Sort of. It's not deliberately set up that way but because some of the members Wouldn't Hit a Girl, it falls to Jihyo to eliminate the female guests.
• Detective Mole: Several episodes set up a detectives-have-to-catch-the-thieves scenario with the latter trying to evade elimination. Of course, the producers don't say that they had to be different people. Such as in Episode 381.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The Ultimate Ddakji, which in 158 tries the producers couldn't flip once. Jong Kook flips it on his first try.
• Dog Pile of Doom: In order to subdue the Commander in episode 75.
• Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Ji Suk Jin tries to bluff about his power in front of the Commander. Thanks to Ji Hyo's tip-off, he sees right though it. And the inevitable happens.
• Do Well, But Not Perfect: When playing the Multiplication Game, members have to answer a multiplication question such that exactly one of the two digits is correct. For example, for "6 x 4" "22" or "44" would work, but "24" or "30" would not. Gets tricky when the player has to do it without hesitation.
• The Dreaded:
  • Choi Min-Soo for the entire crew. But especially for the Grasshopper.
  • Episode 136 with the Golden Sword, Haha's mannerisms become similar to Gollum's and Ji Sukjin ends up being outed when riding on a cow while yelling 'Big Nose Power!'.
• Dumb Muscle: Averted. Kim Jong Kook may not be the smartest cast member, but he's definitely better than most of them.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • Ji Hyo is actually not one of the original cast member. Her appearances in episode 2 to 5 is considered to be guest appearance. She joined them full time in episode 6, yet doesn't make her official debut until episode 7. Song Joong Ki, who dropped out from the show at the end of episode 41 due to schedule issues, is one of the original ones.
  • Before episode 48, all the missions are done in one single landmark.
• Easily Forgiven: Gwangsoo's betrayals. Lampshaded himself in a recent episode, where he teaches another guest how to properly betray other people. Gwangsoo mentions that it's even fine to hit or kick Jong-Kook, as long as he makes sure to apologise later.
• Easily-Overheard Conversation:
  • Usually happens right when someone is about to betray someone else.
  • The PDs take special care to avert this trope when they have to inform one of the members of their secret mission or spy status by bringing them somewhere isolated. However on a few occasions they deliberately re-avert this trope again by having the other members watch the secret mission being given from another room through a CCTV.
• Elevator Escape:
  • Yoo Jae Suk has done this on a few occasions.
  • Subverted for Ji Suk Jin - he runs into the elevator and asks the cameraman why the door isn't closing. That's because Kim Jong Kook already has a hand on the door.
• Embarrassing Nickname: A kind of inversion of this trope with the nickname "Kookie". The name refers to the Commander when he's acting cute or like a child much to the annoyance of the rest of the cast. But Jong Kook embraces the name (even sometimes getting it on his nametag with little hearts) while it embarrasses everyone else to watch or say. Even the staff.
• Embarrassing Old Videos: One episode had a challenge that involved this.
  • "I Swear..."
  • Kim Jong Kook's early days as a young singer/actor...
  • Yoo Jae Suk's self camera...
• Enemy Civil War: From the perspective of the hiders, this is pretty much what's happening any time the chasers are divided into two competing teams, such as in episode 41. At times, the chasing teams clamoring over each other trying to capture the same person proves beneficial to the target in question.
• Enemy Eats Your Lunch: Any time when someone gets better food than the others as part of a game, the other members are bound to swoop down like hungry hyenas, leaving just a small portion of what was originally a feast for the intended owner.
• Enemy Mine: In free-for-all games, or at least games that split the members into three or more teams, it's not uncommon to see these types of temporary team-ups. Not surprisingly, the common enemy that they're teaming up against is often Kim Jong Kook.
• Everyone Is a Suspect:
  • Episode 89 in particular, as well as Episode 222. Spy or X-man episodes also count.
  • The basic motto of Running Man is "don't trust anyone". Since secret missions can be issued in any episode, suspecting everyone else has become a natural part of the show. Some guests are shown to be completely paranoid, while other guests are not Genre Savvy enough.
  • The guests that claim to be a fan of the show and have watched a lot of the episodes tend to fall under the first category. Moon Geun-young is so proficient at tearing off the members' name tags that they start to suspect her of being a saboteur 20 minutes into the episode she's not.
  • Go Ara is accused of secretly carrying out a mission when she eliminates Jaesuk and Gary quickly and without much fanfare justified, as she really IS carrying out a mission.
• Everyone Chasing You: Obviously. Most clear examples are the matches in episode 93 where their mission is to take out one member of the group specifically.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: Haha.
• Exact Words:
  • In Episode 62, the thief is a Running Man member. That means the thief could also be a Running Man cast member who was supposedly away filming a drama, i.e. Jihyo
  • In episode 70, Jong Kook told Ji Hyo that they would not tear off their nametag. They kept their promise by having their partner do the deed instead.
• Facial Composite Failure:
  • In Episode 101, the Running Men have to draw sketches of the suspects based on a few descriptors. Sure enough, their artistry is questionable.
  • In one of the earlier episodes, one of the Running Man drew Gary's face as a rectangular & expresionless head, partially because of how unusually calm Gary is even during a chaotic situation (hence his nickname Peaceful Gary). This is later revisited during the episode guest starring Dong Bang Shin Ki, where one of the teams have to draw Gary's face & they all decided to do the same thing.
• Family-Friendly Firearms: Water guns only, kids.
• Fake Defector: The guests in Episode 101 tried to do this, only to fail miserably in what the captions called "The Worst Operation in Running Man History".
• Faking the Dead: In episode 79, Ji Suk Jin is revealed to have pulled off the Running Man equivalent of this, in a shocking turn of events; specifically, he had his two agents drag him off with his mouth covered, giving the appearance that he was eliminated, and then spent the rest of the game eliminating members in secret. It even leads to a He Knows Too Much moment when Kwang Soo is unfortunate enough to witness him eliminating Ha Ha.
• Feel No Pain:
  • Kim Jong Kook and acupuncture mats... usually.
  • Gary in Episode 8, when they use chopsticks to hit themselves on the forehead. Even Jong Kook can't hide the pain of that hit.
• Fight Magnet:
  • Any guest that wants to show that they mean business will do so by challenging the Commander.
  • Choo Sung-Hoon was dying to do so. He won.
• Fire-Breathing Diner: Averted by Gary in Episode 124 - despite eating a whole bowl of vegetable porridge that had been laced with extremely spicy peppers, a bowl so spicy Ji Hyo complained about the smell despite being two feet farther away from the bowl and Kwang Soo immediately giving in after one spoonful when he got curious, Gary managed to down it all without letting the spiciness get to him and pass the challenge.
• Fire-Forged Friends:
  • Although they started out basically strangers, Kim Jong Kook and Song Ji Hyo now make a great team and trust each other a lot even when they're in an individual battle.
• Friendly Tickle Torture:
  • Choi Min Soo does this to Yoo Jae Suk whenever he captures him during his second episode special.
  • Invoked on Jae Suk in order to get his heartbeat racing as part of a challenge.
  • Ji Hyo also invokes this on Jong Kook in episode 128. There was no chance that she could win and fit into the chair, so this was purely for torture.
• Food as Bribe: Frequently episodes will run through lunch or dinner, which the show's staff will serve to the Running Men...if they win the related game. This ends up with some members getting nice meals and others getting a relative pittance (dried seaweed laver, rice, and bottled water is common); antics begin when those that had won offer up some of their food in exchange for the others putting on a floor show of some kind.
• Friend to All Children: Lee Kwang Soo and Haha both seem especially popular with kids.
• Fun with Subtitles: A staple of Korean variety shows.
• Funny Background Event: Just because the camera isn't focused on the Running Men doesn't mean they're not involved in some sort of highjinks.
• Genre Savvy:
  • Jihyo shows herself to be this in Episode 140, when she points out that it's been a year since the second Yoomes Bond episode, and people are getting themselves eliminated when their nametags are shot by water guns (which is Yoomes Bond's schtick). It doesn't help that he's been acting pretty suspiciously. Ends up as a subverted trope because she is the culprit and was framing Yoomes Bond for it.
  • Ji Suk Jin in Episode 79. Since he is the spy and needs to find a way to not be suspected by anyone, he decided to fake his own elimination early on the mission, because he knew that everyone will not be surprised that he's eliminated early. It worked out so well until Spart-Ace shows up...
• Ghost Leg Lottery: Will be used on occasion by the Running Men to make randomized pairings or distribute prizes...or duds.
• Great Escape:
  • The jailbreak premise for Episode 91, where members needed to find hints in their jail cells to escape. Kim Jong Kook manages it twice, a feat the staff weren't even expecting.
  • The earlier episodes were set up with the members locked inside different landmarks and competing for freedom.
• Groin Attack:
  • Happens more often than you'd think. You can almost guarantee that there'll be at least one if there's dodgeball involved. Never intentional, though. Probably.
  • The crowning example of this would be in Episode 150, where Gary had to be dragged out of the arena.
• Halfway Plot Switch: Episode 118, which starts out as a dating episode with guest Park Bo-Young. Then she disappears without any explanation, and Choi Min-Soo shows up and the episode becomes a Hunter vs Running Man mission.
• Happy Dance: Ji Hyo has a notable one, and it's made fun of by the rest of the gang in episode 28.
• Heroic Sacrifice: In one episode, Ji-Hyo and the guest (who happens to be this tiny twenty-something year-old girl) end up the only survivors of the mission team. On their way to retrieve the last mission item, they hear bells approaching, so Ji-Hyo confronts them head-on to create a distraction. She even hugs the guest before heading off.
• High-Dive Hijinks: First appeared in episode 3. Appeared again in the Winter Olympics episode.
• Honor Among Thieves: Averted. Always.
  • Especially in Episode 146. But really, what were you expecting when they are called The Betrayal Trio.
• Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Essentially the non-lethal premise of the show - but not necessarily the non-violent version.
• Hurricane of Puns: Happens occasionally, usually instigated by Ha Ha or Gary.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: Kim Jong Kook may bully or order the other members around most of the time, but he isn't too pleased when one of the guests kept hitting Yoo Jae Suk or when one of the guests tried to push Ha Ha around.
• Incredibly Long Note: Whenever a team member has to hold a note while those in the same team run around trying to find items. Seen in episode 92 and 119, to name a few.
• Intergenerational Friendship: The main cast have varying ages from their twenties (Kwang Soo), thirties (Gary, Jong Kook, Haha, Ji Hyo) and forties (Jae Suk, Suk Jin).
• Internal Reveal: With all the mind games the PDs like to play on the cast members, this trope happens pretty frequently in various forms, and then it's all about watching to see how long it takes for them to finally catch on. If ever. At other times, however, this trope is averted, and the audience is left just as much in the dark as the cast, usually leading to a Once More, with Clarity recap after The Reveal happens.
• In-Universe Nickname: Too many to count. Here's a sample:
  • Playboy Haha; due to saying the line of "Be my last love!" on just about every female guest^note  Pre marriage, of course.
  • Betrayer Kwang Soo; due to his tendency to betray someone else, particularly Jong Kook.
  • Song Ji Yok; due to Ji Hyo's tendency of anger & especially in earlier episodes, cursing^note  Yok means cursing in Korean. Also Mong Ji ("Blank Ji"), thanks to frequent occurrences of being filmed with a blank expression on her face.
  • Race Starter; due to how easy it is to eliminate Ji Suk Jin.
  • Easy Brothers; A transliterated version of Kwang Soo and Suk Jin's surnames (이-지 / LEE-JI), pronounced EE-JI.
  • Kim Jong Kook and the Kids; due to Jong Kook, Haha, & Gary is often found on the same team, with the latter two shown to be completely scared of Jong Kook for obvious reasons.
  • And so on...
• I Surrender, Suckers: Yoo Jae Suk in episode 13, who at that point was the only surviving member of his team. He finally finds the last Plot Coupon, but at the pivotal moment, he soon finds himself cornered by almost the entire opposing team. So of course, he resigns to his fate and casually engages in idle joking and chit-chatting with his captors...until he shoves Jong Kook out of the way and makes a mad dash out of the room to turn in the Plot Coupon, with Jong Kook and co. in hot pursuit. He ends up winning the game.
• I Want My Mommy!: Usually invoked by Song Ji Hyo or Lee Kwang Soo.
• I Was Beaten by a Girl: Ji Suk Jin.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kim Jong Kook's TV persona may seem rough around the edges, but he's actually very sweet and well-mannered in person. He also has certain moments in episodes that show he does care about his castmates and friends, particularly in the later episodes.
• Jump Scare:
  • Choi Min-soo specializes in this.
  • Episode 157 has the girl from The Ring appearing out of a well, scaring both Jong Kook and Kwang-Soo.
• Just in Time: Some of the games can come remarkably down to the wire. There have been multiple occasions where either the last surviving member of the mission team barely survives to complete the mission or the chasing team catches the last person just in time to stop them. Of course, depending on who you root for, this could also count as a Hope Spot.
• Keet: Haha every now and then.
• Kansas City Shuffle: In one citywide find-the-mystery-guest manhunt, the two teams at one point end up taking the same subway line, both heading for the same location. The blue team, however, soon makes a change of plans and intend to get off an earlier stop, and to deter the red team from following their lead, they pull this trope; namely, they feign getting back onto the train, making it look as if they were trying to fool the red team into following them off.
• Kinda Busy Here: A not-infrequent reply when teammates try to communicate via walkie-talkie with a member who is currently being chased.
• Kryptonite Factor: Women, especially Yoon Eun Hye is this to Kim Jong Kook. Apparently, this is the only weakness Jong Kook has.
• Large Ham: Jong Kook and Haha. Kwangsoo has his moments as well.
• Laugh Track: Of course - it's a staple in Korean variety shows.
• Leitmotif:
  • Most famously "St. Agnes and the Burning Train" by Sting for Lee Kwang Soo. He may also have "Theme of False Emperor" from the Sangokushi Taisen OST.
  • Kim Jong Kook: "What We Need is a Hero" from the Beowulf (2007) OST. In addition, his song "Loveable" whenever there is a karaoke or other singing mission.
  • Song Ji Hyo: The Angry Birds theme song.
  • Ha Ha: The Pororo theme song. Lutricia McNeal's "Perfect Love" was his theme song before he get married.
  • Ji Suk Jin: "The House You Live In" by JYP
  • Yoo Jae Suk: "Step by Step" by New Kids on the Block. "Extreme Ways" by Moby if it's a Yoo-mes Bond-themed episode, or if he exhibits his Yoo-ruce Willis tendencies.
  • Kang Gary: "Leessang Blues" by Leessang, or really just about any Leessang song.
  • Song Joong Ki: "Pretty Boy" by M 2 M
  • Even Choi Min Soo has "Cranes" by Losif Kobzon
  • Jeon So Min: "Tunak Tunak Tun" by Daler Mehndi
• Lethal Joke Item : Water guns, of course.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen:
  • Members do this often when outnumbered or disadvantaged somehow.
  • Sometimes averted and used instead just as a trick to get their opponent's guard down.
• Like Brother and Sister: The guys all refer to Ji Hyo as part of the family and like a sister even with the temporary love line in the show with Gary.
• Live-Action Escort Mission: Inverted. The guys were tasked with escorting Ji Hyo to the soccer goal in episode 95, but they end up being more or less useless as she was the one who spotted the "assassins".
• The Load: A number of guests tend to fall into this category, much to the annoyance of some fans.
• Lottery of Doom: Ep 292, where you are eliminated if you win the game, and in which every single game is luck based.
• Lured into a Trap: Given the show's many "combat" and/or "hunting" oriented games, this trope inevitably happens from time to time.
• Manchild: Practically all the main cast are this to some extent, being in their late twenties (Kwang Soo) to their late forties (Suk Jin), and can act and behave ridiculously childish and mischievous. Generally HaHa is the king of this trope.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": In episode 93, the group thought that voting for who you'd want to oust the most would actually oust them. When they realize that the person they voted for is actually now their target that they personally have to chase down and eliminate, their faces say it all.
• Maximum Fun Chamber: Choi Min-Soo. Not even Kim Jong-Kook could stand up to him.
• Mission Briefing: Some episodes have particularly dramatic ones.
• Mistaken for Spies:
  • The hunt for spies usually starts with ousting the wrong people. Typical traitors Kwang Soo and Ha Ha are often suspected early.
  • The Actors team on episode 132 had this going on for almost the entire episode when their leader believed that either Jae Suk or Kwang Soo was the enemy spy on his team. It was actually Ji Hyo.
  • Came to a full head in Episode 222. Everyone suspected each other of being a Venutian trying to oust the Martians, when in reality only Kim Jong Kook was the real Venutian of the group. The PDs set everything up to think that they were actually against each other due to the mistrusting nature of the show.
• Mood Whiplash: Song Joong Ki's farewell. It comes very abruptly at the end of episode 41, so sudden that you barely have time to stop smiling before his tearful goodbye. The members also crying doesn't help matters much.
• Motor Mouth: The entire cast, especially Yoo Jae Suk given his extensive MC experience, but surprisingly, Kim Jong Kook takes the cake. If you're in a car ride with him, expect him to talk about various things for hours ON END. Guests Kim Min Seo and Seo Woo found this out the hard way; the latter even nearly felt like sleeping because he was talking so much.
• Mundane Made Awesome: The show heavily uses a lot of tongue-in-cheek dramatic editing, and suddenly a bunch of grown men in their 30s and 40s playing hide-and-seek or blasting each other with squirt guns becomes this climactic battle for the ages.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: The rest of the boys treat Ji Hyo like their little sister and any guest who is interested in her will have to deal with several protests, as seen in episode 220.
• Mysterious Watcher: This trope frequently occurs in episodes involving secret mystery guests, usually with their identity eventually revealed to the audience. Episode 62 even dramatically unmasked Ji Hyo, who was supposedly absent due to scheduling conflicts - she actually took an early-morning flight to China a day after the others.
• Naïve Newcomer: Guests who have never seen Running Man or been in a variety show are often caught unaware and lost about the things that happen in the show and need the regulars to explain this to them.
• Noisy Guns: The added sound effects are a comically exaggerated use of this trope in that the guns in this case are water guns. Of particular note, Jae Suk pumping up his BFG in episode 67 was accompanied by mechanical powering-up noises, and the blasts fired were appropriately loud and explosive.
• Not Worth Killing:
  • BigBang's Taeyang treats Ha Ha this way whenever he finds him.
  • Ji-hyo's answer when Ji Suk Jin asks her why she didn't kill him when he wandered around as bait in the China Special.
• Now It's My Turn: The hide-and-seek switching game for the Running Man Olympics. This trope gets invoked every ten minutes when the hiding team becomes the chasing team.
• An Odd Place to Sleep: In episode 178, Ji Hyo somehow managed to fall asleep on top of a giant Jenga tower with almost half of its blocks removed. Both the producers and the members are completely shocked on how she managed to do that.
• Oh, Crap!: The general reaction when someone sees Jong Kook coming for them. Certain guests such as Choi Min Soo invoke terror throughout the whole main cast.
• Older Than They Look: Kwang-Soo usually gets this from the guests, despite the fact he is the youngest out of the main cast.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Choi Min Soo and Yoo Jae Suk seem to have this sort of relationship.
• Pain-Powered Leap: Acupuncture mats. Even Jackie Chan was hopping about and screaming in pain.
• Potty Emergency: Lee Kwang Soo in episode 91.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Jong Kook makes it clear that he is not happy being voted as the person they'd want to oust the most.
  Jong Kook: Everyone listen well. Everyone can hear me, right? You wrote my name? That's too much, isn't it? I'm telling you now: This may be a variety show, but Round One is not variety. Take that to heart. I'm going to do this properly today. See you later.
  Jae Suk: I think he's going to rip out our backs.
• Prison Episode: Episodes 91 and 175 have the members each being arrested and charged with some crime, with the episodes' missions centered around them trying to be the one to escape.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: At first glance, one wouldn't think that a bunch of actors and musicians (save perhaps Kim Jong-Kook) would be all that good at the sometimes-seemingly-insane physical and mental challenges the producers come up with, but with so many years of experience they now more often than not outdo guests who are physically younger than them in competitions.
• Refuge in Audacity: Gwangsoo in episode 158, where he completed his final mission of doing the limbo while wearing an animal hat right in front of the guests who weren't supposed to see him..
• Regretful Traitor: Jong Kook in episode 70 was genuinely regretful after having tricked Ji Hyo and helped to eliminate them.
• Relax-o-Vision: The show had to resort to this in episode 377 during the Five-Second Talk game because So Min and Ji Hyo made each other answer a long string of swear words.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: More often than not, the traitor will get what's coming to them after they betray someone by getting eliminated themselves. Mostly Kwang Soo.
• The Rival: Notable ones include Jong Kook-Jae Suk (obviously), Haha-Gary, and more recently, Kwang Soo-Joong Ki, although this is pretty one-sided considering Joong Ki has been out of the show for a couple of years.
• Sacrificial Lion: Jong Kook is eliminated second (after Suk Jin) by Choi Min Soo in episode 52 incredibly efficiently to show just how frightening and serious this hunter is.
• Sarcastic Confession: Kim Joong-Kook in the China Special. He was the spy but one of the conditions was that he couldn't tell a single lie. Not so much sarcastic, but he did nothing but tell the truth the entire day and managed to keep the suspicion off the real thief completely, despite truthfully claiming who it was every time the topic came up.
• Ship Tease:
  • The 'Monday Couple' love line between Gary and Ji Hyo, even if it's mostly one-sided. At the beginning of the show, Ji Hyo was too shy to really keep it up as much as Gary who seemed to use it just to make her more comfortable in the variety setting. Ji Hyo ended it when she began her real-life relationship though.
  • Monday Couple also has to compete with shippers of the Spart-Ace couple with Kim Jong Kook and the Secret Couple with Ha Ha.
  • Kwang Soo and So Min have gotten teased as being an item ever since it was mentioned Kwang Soo crashed at So Min's house after a night of drinking.
• Shipper on Deck: In episode 114-115, everyone seems to be pushing for Jong Kook and guest Moon Geun-Yong.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: The guys make a fuss whenever Song Ji Hyo wears make-up or something more formal to the show.
• Shout-Out: Many. The series thrives on making references to and basing episodes around other works—for instance, Yoo Jae Suk's famous nicknames 'Yooruce Willis' and 'Yoomes Bond' originated on this show.
• Sixth Ranger: Jeon So Min and Yang Se Chan were introduced as part of the main cast in Episode 346. Technically, Song Ji Hyo is as well since she officially joined the main cast in Episode 7 (she was a guest in Episodes 2-5) although the sheer longevity of the show means she basically feels like she's always been a main cast member.
• The Smurfette Principle: Ji Hyo, the only running woman until So Min joined in Episode 346.
• Sole Survivor: Song Ji Hyo against Choi Min Soo in his first episode. Kim Jong Kook in the second Olympics.
• Something We Forgot: In Episode 127, the team forgets about poor Ji Suk Jin who is still hiding long after the game has ended.
• Special Guest: Most episodes have guest stars competing with (or against) the regulars.
• Spell My Name With An S: Kim Jong Kukk or Kim Jong Kook, Lee Kwang Soo or Lee Kwang Soo...
• Spy Versus Spy: Everyone is told that they're a spy in episode 82, unaware the "actual" spy is the guest. The "Tru-Gary" show episode could also be a complicated inversion of this... but it's ambiguous.
• Squee: More often than not, the main cast come face to face with a guest that they really admire or respect and have this reaction.
• Stage Name: Stage names are extremely common in Korean entertainment as a means of differentiating oneself from others in a country where a shade under half of the population have one of four surnames (Kim, Lee, Park, Choi); it should be no surprise that of the main cast, Haha and Song Ji Hyo are actually stage names^note Back when he was on the show, Gary would also have been on this list — his real name is Kang Hee Gun. In the show itself, when it gets called to attention it's usually for trivial use such as for a hint during races (e.g., "the culprit uses a stage name"). Usually:
  • During the Hangul Race, Haha laments that he goes by "Haha" and not "Ha Dong Hoon" for Running Man purposes since that meant he only had one consonant to survive on in a race where consonants were eliminated as they were found and you were eliminated when you were out of consonants. Unsurprisingly, he gets eliminated quick and early that race.
  • There have been a couple instances when the Running Men were staying in hotels for a special project that they ended up calling Ji Hyo by her real name Cheon Seong Im (usually Yoo Jae Suk). It got to the point where when her team was at Incheon Airport to go on a trip to Mongolia, Ji Hyo revealed she had changed her name to Cheon Soo Yeon because thanks to Jae Suk everyone knew what her real name was.
• Suicide Mission: Ji Hyo has to make this sacrifice in both Olympics episodes, as well as in episode 143 as ordered by guest Lee Kyung Kyu. Ha Ha also gives himself up as bait in episode 68.
• Superpowers for a Day: The super power specials.
• Swivel-Chair Antics: The final mission of episode 128 is entirely this trope - essentially Musical Chairs spread out over a whole building.
• Talking through Technique:
  • The members often have to find creative ways to send messages, especially when spies are involved.
  • Joong-Kook and Ji-hyo do this on occasion, though Ji Sukjin was able to decipher it and jump on board with the plan despite not being in on it, leading to Haha being named the number 1 person the Running Man would like to eliminate in episode 93.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Because the entire cast is made up of Vitriolic Best Buds, this trope gets invoked in every episode. Especially the alliances that sometimes have to be formed in individual competitions.
• Tempting Fate: Cast members sometimes do this, particularly the Unlucky Trio
• The Nose Knows: Ji Hyo's perfume can give away her presence sometimes. In episode 98, this is how Jaesuk manages to evade her.
• The Nudifier:
  • Invoked in episode 250 by Yoo Jae Suk and Lee Kwang Soo. How do you make sure Kim Jong Kook doesn't get a chance to play? Simply strip him right out of his clothes! Made even worse by the fact that they were playing a basketball game in a lake.
  • Invoked again in episode 254 during the Pac Man game. Almost everyone that wasn't a Girls' Generation member nearly got stripped, especially Ha Ha, Yoo Jae Suk and Lee Kwang Soo.
• This Is Unforgivable!: In episode 195, 2NE1's Minzy was unceremoniously eliminated in a name tag race. Upon hearing this, her teammate, Kim Jong Kook, incensed that they would eliminate a girl so easily, decided to go into the game himself. The announcement that he entered the game put a HUGE scare into everyone else. He ended up eliminating everyone in his path, giving his team the ultimate victory.
• Time Bomb: This trope appeared as early as episode 12, which lead to a Wire Dilemma. The James Bond special is also focused on defusing one, and episode 47 invokes this in a timer race.

• Tired of Running: On many occasions, particularly when a member is the Sole Survivor of their team.
• Took a Level in Badass:

• The entire cast has taken several levels of badass over the years. Just compare their first few episodes to the ones where the entire Running Man cast faces off against another team without any handicaps in the Attack/Defend matches. More often than not, the cast proves that their experience and teamwork lets them best almost anyone

• Trick-and-Follow Ploy: Used often, most notably in episode 132 to find the suitcase locations.
• Troll:
  • Jae Suk and Haha. They're not above tricking others into thinking they've found mission items during search missions, only to find out there's nothing there. Usually Played for Laughs.
  • Done full stop during the final mission in episode 259. Especially hilarious considering they trolled Kim Jong Kook into thinking his team won, especially since he attempted to do the same to them afterwards after thinking he won.
• True Companions: The cast in real life seems to be this. They're also good friends with the staff, forming one large Dysfunctional Family.
• Twist Ending: The ambiguous ending of the "Tru-Gary" show episode seems to imply Gary knew all along. The cast also never mentions the ending ever again, so it's anyone's guess.
• Useless Superpowers:
  • Kwang Soo's 'Death Note' can only take out one person and can only be used once. The power is even voted the least useful by fans.
  • Jong Kook's 'Red Card' power during superpower soccer isn't incredibly helpful either. In fact, using it would make the team weaker rather than stronger.
• Unishment: Some of the punishments for losing are not so much of a punishment, and actually makes the punished casts happy to have done it, as usually it involves making others happy, such as making dolls or puddings for others. Other times, it gives a good enough new experience for the punished casts that they didn't mind it at all in the end.
• Unstoppable Rage: If Kim Jong Kook wants revenge, Kim Jong Kook will get revenge.
• The Virus: The main theme of episode 140, where the cast must find a happiness antidote to stop an anger virus that's plaguing Korea (and Kwang Soo).
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Essentially the entire cast with itself. Also falls into With Friends Like These... territory, considering how frequently they'll betray each other to win.
• Water Guns and Balloons: Yoomes Bond. Also, several episodes have revolved around this.
• We ARE Struggling Together: In the Avengers episode, the team are too busy fighting amongst each other and are easily picked off when it came to trying to fend off the guests.
• We Will Meet Again:
  • In episode 52, shortly after Jae Suk backstabs Choi Min Soo while their teams were under a temporary alliance, the latter declares he'll return for "Grasshopper Hunting."
  • In episode 69, when Min Soo makes good on his threat and successfully gets his revenge, Jae Suk makes a surprisingly Badass Boast after being terrorized for the majority of the episode and retorts "Min Soo hyung...it's one win, one loss."
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Quite a few episodes have the guys dress up as girls for team balance, such as episodes 181 and 220. Usually, Kwang Soo is the first choice for this situation.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl:
  • The members generally go easy on the girls, including Ji Hyo, though Kim Jong Kook is the one who most strongly adheres to this trope. Haha and Lee Kwang Soo have been known to go all out against female guests, with Haha wrestling several to the ground without remorse. As for Ji Suk Jin, he tries his best against them as well, but then again his best is... well...
  • The first no-holds-barrel fight between all of the Running Man cast had this particular gem in the end:
  Jae Suk: He [Gary] outed you? Already?
  Ji Hyo: He said it was 2 minutes past Monday and came at me at full strength.
• Women Are Delicate:
  • Although it's true that there is a physical difference between the genders (especially when the guests are well-muscled male stars and tiny female stars), this can come into play a lot depending on the guest or the mission.
  • Kim Jong Kook, on his team of three people against another team of three, tried to argue that his team was technically only two people since Ji Hyo was a girl and didn't count when it comes to a fight.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: A comedic variant. Expect people to start ripping off their allies' nametags when their goal (usually getting Kim Jong Kook out) is accomplished. Sometimes even before that.

---