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Deok-Su's "friends".
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Changed line(s) 447 (click to see context) from:
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:When they discover that only one person can win in the end, they ''re-enter'' the game knowing that one of them will inevitably die, but still act shocked when they're faced with a SadisticChoice in the fourth game.]]
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* DidNotThinkThisThrough: DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:When they discover that only one person can win in the end, they ''re-enter'' the game knowing that one of them will inevitably die, but still act shocked when they're faced with a SadisticChoice in the fourth game.]]
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* AssholeVictim: Not as big as the other examples, but he’s a sexist hypocrite and a murderer whose death is completely his own doing.
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* AssholeVictim: Not as big as the other examples, but he’s he's a sexist hypocrite and a murderer whose death is completely his own doing.
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Blood knight tends to refer to bloodlust, not just violence
Changed line(s) 539 (click to see context) from:
* AssholeVictim: Not as big as the other examples, but he’s a sexist hypocrite and a murderer who’s death is completely his own doing.
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* AssholeVictim: Not as big as the other examples, but he’s a sexist hypocrite and a murderer who’s whose death is completely his own doing.
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* BloodKnight: He prays for other players to die and attempts to convince Gi-Hun and the others to kill the weaker teams, saying everyone’s hands are already dirty, implying he killed several people during the night time brawl.
* EgocentricallyReligious: He [[PrayerOfMalice prays]] for other players to die and attempts to convince Gi-Hun and the others to kill the weaker teams, saying everyone’s hands are already dirty, implying he killed several people during the nighttime brawl.
Changed line(s) 547 (click to see context) from:
* {{Hypocrite}}: Despite being a pastor, he is heavily implied to have killed people before the tug-of-war game and is openly sexist. He also prays for god to kill other players instead of praying for his own survival.
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* {{Hypocrite}}: Despite being a pastor, he is heavily implied to have killed people before the tug-of-war game and is openly sexist. He also prays for god God to kill other players instead of praying for his own survival.
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*** Even picking Il-nam as a partner to begin with proved to be a fortunate decision over player 62, the math teacher, who offered his partnership to Gi-hun. [[spoiler:Since his math skills would've cause Gi-hun to easily lose the marbles game.]]
* GoThroughMe: [[spoiler:During the night brawl, he, Sang-woo, and Ali form a wall in front of Sae-byeok to protect her against Deok-su and his goons.]]
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:He dies in Gi-hun's arms after stabbing himself in the neck.]]
Changed line(s) 187 (click to see context) from:
* StatuesqueStunner: Her actress is 176 cm (5'9"), making her one of the taller women in the show, which is most noticeable when [[OneHeadTaller she stands next to Ji-yeong.]]
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* StatuesqueStunner: Her actress is 176 cm (5'9"), making her one of the taller women in the show, which show. This is most noticeable when [[OneHeadTaller she stands next to Ji-yeong.]]
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Changed line(s) 523 (click to see context) from:
* JerkassHasAPoint: Most of his lines are him insulting Gi-Hun’s team, but he has good reasons. He argues that Il-Nahm should save his strength and doesn’t trust him to stay awake all night. He also tells the girls that it wouldn’t be very wise to team-up, since most challenges rely on strength rather then agility. Finally he also agrees with 244 to attack the other teams, since they’re in a DeadlyGame, it wouldn’t be a dumb idea to take out the competition.
to:
* JerkassHasAPoint: Most of his lines are him insulting Gi-Hun’s Gi-hun's team, but he has good reasons. He argues that Il-Nahm Il-nam should save his strength and doesn’t doesn't trust him to stay awake all night. He also tells the girls that it wouldn’t wouldn't be very wise to team-up, team up, since most challenges rely on strength rather then agility. Finally Finally, he also agrees with 244 to attack the other teams, teams; since they’re they're in a DeadlyGame, it wouldn’t wouldn't be a dumb idea to take out the competition.
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Changed line(s) 8 (click to see context) from:
* AnimalMotifs: Altogether, the players all share the horse; their exploits in trying to win the games are observed, commented and bet on the same way race horses are. They are given various numbers and the Front Man even compares the competitors to horses.
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* AnimalMotifs: Altogether, the players all share the horse; their exploits in trying to win the games are observed, commented and bet on the same way race horses are. They are given various numbers numbers, and the Front Man even compares the competitors to horses.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/player196.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Offense is the best form of defense. Let's attack first."'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Offense is the best form of defense. Let's attack first."'']]
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* GigglingVillain: Player 278 has a tendency to giggle when he's winning, it gets on Deok-su's nerves.
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* GigglingVillain: Player 278 has a tendency to giggle when he's winning, it winning. It gets on Deok-su's nerves.
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* TheQuietOne: Player 303 gets the least amount of lines and screen time. Player 040 is shown dying and talks during more frequently.
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* TheQuietOne: Player 303 gets the least amount of lines and screen time. Player 040 is shown dying and talks during more frequently.
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* TheStarscream: 278 has no problem playing against his ‘boss’ Deok-su during the marbles game.
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* TheStarscream: 278 has no problem playing against his ‘boss’ "boss" Deok-su during the marbles game.[[spoiler:Marbles game]].
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* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Mi-nyeo and Sae-byeok warn the men that Deok-su will betray them as soon as he gets the chance, and they're right: during the marbles game, Deok-su and 278 are turned against each other and neither seems very upset.
to:
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Mi-nyeo and Sae-byeok warn the men that Deok-su will betray them as soon as he gets the chance, and they're right: during the marbles game, [[spoiler:Marbles game]], Deok-su and 278 are turned against each other and neither seems very upset.
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* ProfaneLastWords: Player 278 shouts "You're all assholes!" at a guard just before he's killed.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: Player 278 isn’t very physically intimidating, so he’s constantly praising his ‘boss’.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: Player 278 isn’t very physically intimidating, so he’s constantly praising his ‘boss’.
to:
* ProfaneLastWords: Player [[spoiler:Player 278 shouts "You're all assholes!" at a guard just before he's killed.
killed.]]
* ProfessionalButtKisser: Player 278isn’t isn't very physically intimidating, so he’s he's constantly praising his ‘boss’."boss".
* ProfessionalButtKisser: Player 278
Changed line(s) 501,502 (click to see context) from:
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: 278 tries to run away after losing the marble game. [[spoiler: He doesn’t get very far.]]
* SmugSnake: PlayedWith. 278 becomes increasingly smug and unpleasant during the marbles game, but it’s because he’s winning. It’s only because of Deok-su’s LoopholeAbuse and [[BornLucky dumb luck]] that he loses.
* SmugSnake: PlayedWith. 278 becomes increasingly smug and unpleasant during the marbles game, but it’s because he’s winning. It’s only because of Deok-su’s LoopholeAbuse and [[BornLucky dumb luck]] that he loses.
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* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: 278 [[spoiler:278 tries to run away after losing the marble Marbles game. [[spoiler: He doesn’t doesn't get very far.]]
* SmugSnake: PlayedWith. 278 becomes increasingly smug and unpleasant during themarbles [[spoiler:Marbles game, but it’s it's because he’s he's winning. It’s It's only because of Deok-su’s Deok-su's LoopholeAbuse and [[BornLucky dumb luck]] that he loses.loses]].
* SmugSnake: PlayedWith. 278 becomes increasingly smug and unpleasant during the
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* VillainousFriendship: Averted for the most part. Deok-su and 278 are constantly seen bullying others together, but when they're forced to battle it out, they immediately end their alliance.
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* VillainousFriendship: Averted for the most part. Deok-su and 278 are constantly seen bullying others other players together, but when they're forced to battle it out, out in the [[spoiler:Marbles game]], they immediately end their alliance.
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[[quoteright:301:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/player151.png]]
Deleted line(s) 565 (click to see context) :
[[caption-width-right:197:]]
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Deleted line(s) 526 (click to see context) :
->'''Played by:''' Kim Si-hyun
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->'''Played by:''' Kim Si-hyun
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->'''Played by:''' Moon Jung-dae
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A contestant who makes it to the fifth game.
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A contestant who makes it to the fifth game.
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[[folder:Player 322]]
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[[folder:Player 322]]322 (Jung Min-tae)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/player322jungmintae.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Lim Ki-hong
->''"I don't have a home to go back to anyway. At least here, I have hope. But out there? I got nothing out there. Let's stay and stick it out to the end! I'd rather stay here and die trying than die out there like a dog."''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/player322jungmintae.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Lim Ki-hong
->''"I don't have a home to go back to anyway. At least here, I have hope. But out there? I got nothing out there. Let's stay and stick it out to the end! I'd rather stay here and die trying than die out there like a dog."''
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* BullyingADragon: Tries to aggressively steer the vote (after Round 1 was completed) in his favor to continue the game by being obnoxiously loud then violent as No. 119 tries to beat him up, leading to a guard threatening his life with an AK-47 to regain his composure.
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: He gets pushed by Mi-nyeo and deflected off by Deok-su's immense weight off the stepping stones game and to his death without breaking any glass, making his death extremely wasteful as now the others couldn't determine which glass was real or tampered]].
* IJustWantToBeFree: He hounds the other players to continue the game to get out of their financial debts. When No. 369 tells them they should all go home, No. 322 reveals he's homeless.
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: He gets pushed by Mi-nyeo and deflected off by Deok-su's immense weight off the stepping stones game and to his death without breaking any glass, making his death extremely wasteful as now the others couldn't determine which glass was real or tampered]].
* IJustWantToBeFree: He hounds the other players to continue the game to get out of their financial debts. When No. 369 tells them they should all go home, No. 322 reveals he's homeless.
to:
* BullyingADragon: Tries to aggressively steer the vote (after Round 1 was completed) in his favor to continue the game by being obnoxiously loud then violent as No. Player 119 tries to beat him up, leading to a guard threatening his life with an AK-47 to regain his composure.
* DisneyVillainDeath:[[spoiler: He [[spoiler:He gets pushed by Mi-nyeo and deflected off by Deok-su's immense weight off the stepping stones game and to his death without breaking any glass, making his death extremely wasteful as now the others couldn't determine which glass was real or tampered]].
* IJustWantToBeFree: He hounds the other players to continue the game to get out of their financial debts. WhenNo. Player 369 tells them they should all go home, No. Player 322 reveals he's homeless.
* DisneyVillainDeath:
* IJustWantToBeFree: He hounds the other players to continue the game to get out of their financial debts. When
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* SenselessSacrifice: He got up to Round 5 (the stepping stones game) and was shoved by [[spoiler: Mi-Nyeo]] to try to determine which stone was safe to step on. [[spoiler: He instead falls off the rails after Deok-su lets him bounce off without testing a glass, worsening the chances of survival for everyone else]].
to:
* SenselessSacrifice: He got up to Round 5 (the stepping stones game) and was shoved by [[spoiler: Mi-Nyeo]] [[spoiler:Mi-Nyeo]] to try to determine which stone was safe to step on. [[spoiler: He [[spoiler:He instead falls off the rails after Deok-su lets him bounce off without testing a glass, worsening the chances of survival for everyone else]].
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Changed line(s) 591 (click to see context) from:
* IJustWantToBeFree: He hounds the other players to continue the game to get out of their financial debts. When No. 369 tells them they should all go home, No. 322 reveals he's homeless. Even after [[spoiler: the vote is decided that players can leave if they want, he demands the remainder stay and keep playing]].
to:
* IJustWantToBeFree: He hounds the other players to continue the game to get out of their financial debts. When No. 369 tells them they should all go home, No. 322 reveals he's homeless. Even after [[spoiler: the vote is decided that players can leave if they want, he demands the remainder stay and keep playing]].
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Changed line(s) 591 (click to see context) from:
* IJustWantToBeFree: He hounds the other players to continue the game to get out of their financial debts. When No. 369 tells them they should all go home, No. 322 reveals he's homeless.
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* IJustWantToBeFree: He hounds the other players to continue the game to get out of their financial debts. When No. 369 tells them they should all go home, No. 322 reveals he's homeless. Even after [[spoiler: the vote is decided that players can leave if they want, he demands the remainder stay and keep playing]].
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* LowerClassLout: He tried to physically assault a contestant who voted to leave .
to:
* LowerClassLout: He tried to physically assault a contestant who voted to leave .leave.
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Changed line(s) 208 (click to see context) from:
* TheLoad: Downplayed. He did offer valuable strategy on the strength-based [[spoiler:Tug-of-War]], but being a frail old man, no one wants him on their team in the game, except for [[NiceGuy Gi-hun]].
to:
* TheLoad: Downplayed. He did offer valuable strategy on the strength-based [[spoiler:Tug-of-War]], but being a frail old man, no one wants wanted him on their team in the game, except for [[NiceGuy Gi-hun]].
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Changed line(s) 208 (click to see context) from:
* TheLoad: Downplayed, he did offer valuable strategy on the strength-based Tug-Of-War, but being being a frail old man, no one wants him on their team in the games, except for [[NiceGuy Gi-hun]].
to:
* TheLoad: Downplayed, he Downplayed. He did offer valuable strategy on the strength-based Tug-Of-War, [[spoiler:Tug-of-War]], but being being a frail old man, no one wants him on their team in the games, game, except for [[NiceGuy Gi-hun]].
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Changed line(s) 209 (click to see context) from:
* NameAmnesia: At one point some of the players are introducing themselves and he can't remember his name due to his brain tumor. [[spoiler: He remembers it just before being supposedly killed, but given what we later learn about him he probably pretended to have forgotten it all along.]]
to:
* NameAmnesia: At one point some of the players are introducing themselves and he can't remember his name due to his brain tumor. [[spoiler: He [[spoiler:He remembers it just before being supposedly killed, but given what we later learn about him he probably pretended to have forgotten it all along.killed.]]
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* NameAmnesia: At one point some of the players are introducing themselves and he can't remember his name due to his brain tumor. [[spoiler: He remembers it just before being supposedly killed, but given what we later learn about him he probably pretended to have forgotten it all along.]]
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Changed line(s) 54 (click to see context) from:
** He almost falls after he slips on someone's body in the first game and would've been killed if Ali didn't save him.
to:
** He almost falls after he slips on someone's body in the first game and would've been killed if Ali didn't save him. Even if you argue that if he fell down and stayed down he wouldn't have been caught moving, he still wouldn't have made it to the finish line on time had Ali not caught him.
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Changed line(s) 42 (click to see context) from:
* ActionSurvivor: Doesn't have outstanding combat skills, or strength but [[spoiler:manages to come out on top of the series of {{deadly game}}s through a combination of quick thinking and empathy.]]
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* ActionSurvivor: Doesn't have outstanding combat skills, or strength but [[spoiler:manages to come out on top of the series of {{deadly game}}s through a combination of quick thinking thinking, luck, and empathy.]]
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6 billion is sangwoo's debt, not gihun's
Changed line(s) 40 (click to see context) from:
A down-on-his-luck chauffeur and gambling addict living with his mother, estranged from his ex-wife and daughter, and trapped by debts to the mob, specifically 6 billion Won[[note]]approximately $5 million US Dollars[[/note]].
to:
A down-on-his-luck chauffeur and gambling addict living with his mother, estranged from his ex-wife and daughter, and trapped by debts to the mob, specifically 6 billion 400 million Won[[note]]approximately $5 million $340,000 US Dollars[[/note]].
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Changed line(s) 8 (click to see context) from:
* AnimalImagery: Altogether, the players all share the horse; their exploits in trying to win the games are observed, commented and bet on the same way race horses are. They are given various numbers and the Front Man even compares the competitors to horses.
to:
* AnimalImagery: AnimalMotifs: Altogether, the players all share the horse; their exploits in trying to win the games are observed, commented and bet on the same way race horses are. They are given various numbers and the Front Man even compares the competitors to horses.
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Added DiffLines:
* AnimalImagery: Altogether, the players all share the horse; their exploits in trying to win the games are observed, commented and bet on the same way race horses are. They are given various numbers and the Front Man even compares the competitors to horses.
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Changed line(s) 479 (click to see context) from:
[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: 040, 278, 101 (Deok-su), and 303]]
to:
[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: 040, 278, 101 (Deok-su), and 303]]303, with 212 (Mi-nyeo) and 111(Byeong-gi) in the back]]
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deok_su27s_group_special_round.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: 040, 278, 101 (Deok-su), and 303]]
[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: 040, 278, 101 (Deok-su), and 303]]
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/player_244_5.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"You poor lost lamb. Can't you hear the cries of those who were nailed to the cross today?"'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"You poor lost lamb. Can't you hear the cries of those who were nailed to the cross today?"'']]
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* HeroKiller: [[spoiler:He's directly responsible for Ali's death and personally murders Sae-byeok.]]
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[[/folder]]
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[[WMG:[[center: [-''Series/SquidGame'' '''[[Characters/SquidGame Main Character Index]]'''\\
'''Players''' | [[Characters/SquidGameGameStaff Game Staff]]-]]]]]
'''Players''' | [[Characters/SquidGameGameStaff Game Staff]]-]]]]]
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[[foldercontrol]]
!!In general:
[[folder:In general]]
* AintTooProudToBeg: Most of the players start doing this once they realize they've lost a game or are about to die.
* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: A rare male example with Ali, Sang-woo and Gi-hun, who lead [[TheTeam the main team]] in the middle set of the games. Ali, the physically strongest and capable, is brawn, calculating and educated Sang-woo is the brains, and the sociable Gi-hun, who emerges as the group leader, is the beauty/heart.
* BeautyInversion: Naturally, the cast members are made to look as dowdy and "plained down" as possible, because of their situation. Even Sae-byeok, who is played by a FashionModel (Jung Ho-yeon), gets this treatment. The exception is Sang-woo, who often grooms himself well despite the circumstances and even attempts to commit suicide in Episode 2 while still dressed impeccably. WordOfGod is that Sang-woo wanted to look perfect even in death. [[spoiler:However, in the penultimate episode, Gi-hun, Sae-byeok, and Sang-woo all look quite sharp in nice suits.]]
* CastSpeciation: The final trio are essentially a live-action version of CombatDiplomacyStealth. Sang-woo is the talker of the three - he was even able to use diplomacy and understanding the rules to get everyone out of the Squid Game the first time with some of the people being saved from a violent death. Sae-byeok is clearly the thief and stealth specialist being able to spy on the workers for the Honeycomb game. While all three are capable in a fight, once Gi-hun's courage is rallied - he becomes the combatant of the team. He was the one to stand up and get in Deok-Su's face before the night brawl and ultimately he's the triumphant one in the final game which descended into a knife fight.
* CrazyPrepared: Certain players amongst them came prepared upon their return to the game island after their initial release, having known what to expect.
** Sae-byeok held her breath when the sleeping gas in the van was released, and pretends to be unconscious throughout her trip there. She manages to sneak in ''a knife'' through sleight-of-hand with a Guard's pocket while they changed her clothes.
** Mi-nyeo manages to sneak in a capsule of cigarettes and a lighter via her VictoriasSecretCompartment [[TrouserSpace in her pants]], avoiding the guards' detection. The lighter ends up becoming a ChekhovsGun.
* DysfunctionJunction: All of the players [[spoiler:(except for Il-nam, who is actually rich and just participating to have fun)]] are there because they're so deep in poverty that being out in the real world is a FateWorseThanDeath. They also each have a trauma-riddled backstory relating to their debt and destitution. Even after learning that losing means they'll be killed, 93% of the players return voluntarily to continue playing.
* DwindlingParty: Due to the nature of the game, the bonds they form are only short-lived. By the end of the fifth game, only [[spoiler:Gi-hun, Sang-woo, and Sae-byeok]] remain.
* FamilyOfChoice: Deconstructed. It's clear that some of them form familial attachments to each other. Sang-woo sees Gi-hun as a brother, Ali calls Sang-woo "hyung" ("older brother"), and [[LikeASonToMe Gi-hun reminds Il-nam of his son.]] But given that this is a game where they literally have to either murder each other or get executed until only one player is left, none of these family-like relationships end well.
* TheTeam: Gi-hun and several others eventually form one.
** TheLeader: Seong Gi-hun. While the team has no official leader, he's the one who gathered them and acts as their face, best emphasized when he's chosen to stand at the front during the tug-of-war contest.
** TheLancer: Kang Sae-byeok, who has an aloof personality and starts off hostile to the rest only to warm up over time.
** TheSmartGuy: Cho Sang-woo, a clever businessman who comes up with most of the team's strategies.
** TheBigGuy: Ali Abdul, a tough but kind factory worker with a tremendous amount of physical strength.
** TheChick: Ji-yeong, a strange but compassionate girl who helps Sae-byeok to open up.
** TheMentor: Oh Il-nam, whose age and experience helps the team through several challenges.
** TheSixthRanger: Han Mi-nyeo and players 196, 244 and 276. The former inserted herself into the group after Deok-su kicked her out of his team for the [[spoiler:tug-of-war]] game, and the latter three were just around to fill up the missing space.
* TownGirls: Within the three named female players, Ji-yeong, compassionate and selfless, is the femme, Mi-nyeo, the (attempted) FemmeFatale, is the neither, and Sae-byeok, the stone-hearted pickpocket, is the butch.
* TrackingChip: They have these installed behind their ears. The Guards scanned these to confirm the identities of returning Players after their initial release.
* WeakButSkilled: During the [[spoiler:Tug-of-war game. Due to the game generally favoring raw brute strength to win, and Gi-hun's team consisting of those lacking it, they have to come up with a strategy to beat the much stronger opposing group. Which actually works.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: While the Front Man tells his staff to keep tabs on the contestants who don't return after the first game, we never hear about what happened to them afterwards.
* YouAreNumberSix: The contestants have names, but the people running the games give them shirts and jackets with numbers on them and address them as "Player", followed by the number on their shirt/jacket.
[[/folder]]
!!Major players:
[[folder:Player 456 (Seong Gi-hun)]]
[[quoteright:304:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7de386837ee3ceeb80f40f90bad3c4fac946a2372490442e96c2418ddd6efa7c3628186dd38ef8d7bfbcc7e96256bc4dccda12a761a60c8df1bcfc955b92a8d051209adb3f2ecd78a260adcbb061ee5734f7417e2203d6e81d254b01d21ceecc.bmp]]
[[caption-width-right:304:''"It will take a whole lot more killing Gi-hun!"'']]
->'''Played by:''' Lee Jung-jae, Creator/GregChun (English dub), Creator/VictorUgarte (Latin American Spanish dub), Takayaki Sakazume (Japanese dub)
A down-on-his-luck chauffeur and gambling addict living with his mother, estranged from his ex-wife and daughter, and trapped by debts to the mob, specifically 6 billion Won[[note]]approximately $5 million US Dollars[[/note]].
----
* ActionSurvivor: Doesn't have outstanding combat skills, or strength but [[spoiler:manages to come out on top of the series of {{deadly game}}s through a combination of quick thinking and empathy.]]
* AdultFear: Applies to everyone participating in the games, but as the protagonist, Gi-hun is millions of won in debt, and if he fails to pay up, the mobsters will take one of his kidneys. His ex-wife is disgusted with him, and he fears that if she takes their daughter to Los Angeles, the young girl will forget her Korean heritage and start referring to another man -- his ex-wife's new husband -- as her father. Additionally, his mother is in very poor health and is in need of surgery due to her diabetes.
* AllForNothing:
** His main motivation for returning to the games was to procure funds to cure his mother's diabetes. [[spoiler:After he finally returns from the games however, she was long dead.]]
** [[spoiler:Wanting nothing to do with the dirty money he had won, he makes a final AllOrNothing bet with Il-nam based on their differing philosophies: If anyone helps a drunken man they spotted on the streets by midnight, Il-nam would have to take back all the prize money. Despite Gi-hun winning the bet, [[YouAreTooLate Il-nam had silently passed away on the dot]], preventing the latter from acknowledging his loss and leaving Gi-hun stuck with the money. It ultimately becomes subverted as this event also convinces Gi-hun to accept and use the money for good.]]
* AntiHero: [[ClassicalAntihero Type I,]] as he is something of a loser who begins the story making all the wrong decisions in his life. He turns out to be a very moral person in the end, though, and ends up developing a backbone as the story goes on. By the end, [[spoiler: he's the last man standing and determined to end the games for good.]]
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: He's given TheReasonYouSuckSpeech by [[spoiler: Sang-Woo, about how he's in this game because of his terrible choices and terrible personality flaws leading him to mooch off his elderly sick mother.]] He replies that all of this is true, but [[spoiler: Sang-Woo is the golden child of the town, admired by everyone, graduated from Seoul University and became a succesful businessman. "So, why are you here too?"]]
* BasementDweller: Started the series off as this even well into his 40s, and he'd even steal his own mother's money without her permission but still beg her for more promising to pay her back. [[spoiler: At the end, he's forced into independence after his mother dies of complications to diabetes]].
* BeardOfSorrow: [[spoiler: He grows one a full year after beating the game, indicating that he's still traumatized by all of the death he's witnessed.]]
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Gi-hun is an immature man-child, but his understanding of people and how to effectively ally makes him a far more effective player than most. When angered he is also capable of fighting brutally and even killing, [[spoiler: and may well have killed Sang-woo or Il-nam if he hadn't been stopped]].
* BigBrotherMentor: Sang-woo sees him as one, [[spoiler:initially]]. The Japanese dub emphasizes this by having the latter call him ''aniki''.
* BornLucky: His introduction foreshadows this quality (he guesses the PIN on his mother's card wrong but gets it right on the last try; loses at the races only to then win big; and has no luck at the claw machine but still gets a toy thanks to a random boy helping him). In the games themselves, he comes pretty close to dying multiple times, but survives all of them thanks to sheer dumb luck.
** He almost falls after he slips on someone's body in the first game and would've been killed if Ali didn't save him.
** He picks the honeycomb with the most difficult shape in the second game, but figures out how to remove the shape easier by licking it just before the time runs out.[[note]]Though one could argue this one is more ingenuity than luck since other contestants such as Mi-nyeo resorted to similar outside-the-box tactics.[[/note]]
** He ends up with the weakest team in the third game (tug-of-war), and only survives thanks to Il-nam and Sang-woo's good strategies.
** [[spoiler:He ''actually'' fails in the fourth game when he loses all his marbles, but thanks to Il-nam's memory problems [[ILetYouWin (which he faked to allow Gi-hun to win)]], he manages to turn his loss into a win before the time is up.]]
** Before the fifth game begins, he is left with two numbered vests to pick: the first and the last numbers. He initially goes for the first vest, but gives it to another contestant who begs him for it, leaving him with the last vest - which actually turned out to be the ''best'' position to be in. If he had picked the first position, he would have most likely died in the glass bridge crossing, while the only disadvantage of being last to go was not having enough time remaining to finish the cross, which he made it JustInTime.
** [[spoiler:Finally, while he wins the fight with Sang-woo fair and square in the sixth game, he refuses to finish the game and win the prize money. Sang-woo decides to kill himself instead to let Gi-hun be the sole winner and win the ultimate prize.]]
** While not a death game, [[spoiler:Gi-hun wins his last game with Il-nam, where they bet on if a homeless man outside would receive help or not before midnight, at the last second when a passerby comes back to the homeless man with a police car to help him, proving Gi-hun right that the world isn’t as bad as Il-nam thinks it is before the old man passes away]].
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:Defied. Despite having to walk the TraumaCongaLine during the course of the games and experiencing senselessly gruesome deaths, the downward spirals of its participants, and the loss of old and new friendships, he still manages to hold onto his idealistic attitude and that people have the capacity to do good to each other. The one time during the games he genuinely considers killing someone he’s stopped because Sae-byeok points out that he’s not that type of person, and when he gets the chance again, he holds onto his inherent goodness and would rather end the game than kill his backstabbing friend. Ultimately getting to walk away with the money didn’t heal him from a year-long depression; winning a final wager with Il-nam that reinforced his world view did.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: By the end of the season, Gi-hun has grown to be much more mature and responsible, while still maintaining his inherent goodness.
* ClassicalAntiHero: Before the above character development.
* CombatPragmatist: Uses such tactics as throwing sand into his opponent's eyes and biting hard enough to draw blood on their exposed heel in the [[spoiler:final game against Sang-woo]].
* CynicIdealistDuo: Between him and Sang-woo, he's the idealist. Gi-hun spends most of the games forming friendships and listens to others while Sang-woo [[spoiler:betrays and puts other players in expense to benefit himself. One particular example of this being played is at the final night that when Sae-byeok is revealed to be bleeding to death, Gi-hun rushes to try and get her medical help, while Sang-woo uses this chance to murder her while she's defenseless.]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Between Game 3 and Game 4, Gi-hun reveals his past to Il-nam: [[spoiler: he was once an employee of a car manufacturer, who got unexpectedly laid off by his own company because of their mismanagement, which is why he and his colleagues went on strike which ended with a violent fatal riot. This caused Gi-hun to miss his own daughter's birthday when he has to attend to one of his friends who was severely injured during the protest, which ended with the man's death anyway. This event, which also left him with [=PTSD=], led Gi-hun's life to go on a downward spiral until he turned into a slacker with no day job who wastes his life gambling and getting into more debts in the present day.]]
* DarkHorseVictory: In-universe. [[spoiler:After winning the final round and thus winning the ultimate prize, the Front Man congratulates him personally, before remarking that he never expected Gi-hun to come this far.]]
* DisappearedDad: Is worried that he will turn out like this for his daughter, especially once his ex-wife reveals that [[spoiler: she is taking her to live in America.]]
* TheDogBitesBack: A pretty darn literal example with [[spoiler:Sang-woo]] in the final game. [[spoiler:Sang-woo]] gets the upperhand, but just as it seems that Gi-hun will succumb to a fate of death, he bites [[spoiler:Sang-woo's]] leg. Gi-hun then proceeds to rough [[spoiler:Sang-woo]] up, angrily telling the ruthless player that "you killed them, you killed everyone."
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Despite being introduced as a self-serving compulsive gambler even willing to steal from his own mother, the first episode also showed Gi-hun as being something of a FriendToAllChildren to both [[MoralityPet his own daughter]] and even a random kid who helped him win at a crane-machine game. Gi-hun is even the first participant who gets to vote on whether to continue the Squid Game or end it after the first game and despite all of his greed, he votes to end the game [[EveryoneHasStandards because he wouldn't put the other contestants lives at risk just to get rich]].
** Lee Jung-jae had the following scene included to show that Gi-hun's kindness early on. After receiving some dried mackerel from Sang-woo's mother, he discovers a hungry kitten and then gives the little cat some of his mackerel (because of the drying process and enhanced flavours, dried seafood in East Asia is often a lot more expensive than fresh).
* EurekaMoment: During the honeycomb game, Seong Gi-hun realizes that he can lick the honeycomb pattern at the back since the outline is thinner and therefore will melt first without actually breaking it.
* [[FinalGirl Final Guy]]: [[spoiler:He ends up winning the grand prize money and is the only surviving main character from Season 1.]]
* FireForgedFriends: With Sae-byeok, the woman who pickpocketed him in the first episode.
* TheGamblingAddict: Gi-hun is deep in debt because he blows all his money gambling on horse races. In the first episode, when he gets hold of a bit of money to buy a birthday gift for his daughter, he uses it to try to win her a gift from a claw machine instead of just buying something from a store.
* GuileHero: Doubles with his BornLucky trait, but Gi-hun manages to make it through each round by befriending the right allies and using his wits. He manages to even talk Deok-su out of his cullings by delivering an ArmorPiercingQuestion that makes Deok-su paranoid that his men will eventually turn on him.
* HairTriggerTemper: He is quite shouty in the first episode, mostly due to the stress he's under.
* HealthcareMotivation: One of the reasons he joined the games again despite knowing how deadly they are is too hopefully use the prize money to get his mother proper medical care. [[spoiler: However all his efforts amounted to nothing as she died in the end anyway before Gi-hun could even use the money]].
* ImportantHaircut: In the final episode, [[spoiler:he gets his hair cut and dyed bright red after pulling himself out of his year-long depression. According to the creator himself, Hwang Dong-Hyuk, it's meant to symbolize Gi Hun's inner rage coming out.]]
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: He wavers a bit by cheating in the marbles game ([[spoiler:after Il-nam intentionally hands him an opportunity on a platter as a test]]), but ultimately, Gi-hun proves to be this trope. [[spoiler:Even after everything Sang-woo has done, Gi-hun turns away from the prize and offers him a chance to leave together. A year after the games, Il-nam comes to him to try to shake his faith in humanity's inherent goodness, but fails. The series ends with Gi-hun giving up a visit to his daughter to instead hunt down the people behind the games and bring them to justice.]]
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With II-nam and Sae-byeok. The first is an old man while the second is a young woman in her twenties.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Starts outs as one in the beginning as a slacker who shamelessly gambles on horseracing and also tends to have a short temper, but still cares about his own families, particularly his mother and daughter. Upon being entered into the games and witnessing the atrocities of lives being taken away, the "jerk" part eventually goes away.
* KarmicJackpot: His compassion and empathy for others during the games [[spoiler:other than dumb luck is what led to him being the winner of the games. However, this is subverted when he refuses to use the money he won for a year until the last meeting with Oh Il-nam.]]
* KindheartedCatLover: As seen when he shares some of the fish he bought for dinner with a stray cat near his house.
* LoserProtagonist: Our hero starts the series off as a basement-dweller living off of his elderly mom after his wife divorced him and took his child away, suffering from a gambling addiction while also not appearing to be particularly bright. He gets better over time.
* ManChild: Gi-hun is one of these at the beginning of the series, still living with his mother, blowing all his (or rather, his mother's) money, and refusing to take responsibility for his life. Growing out of this is part of his CharacterDevelopment.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Breaks down sobbing when he realizes [[spoiler: him terminating his mother's health insurance policy for some extra money to gamble led to her dying from her Type 2 diabetes and lack of healthcare]].
* NiceGuy: Despite his flaws, Gi-hun is a pleasant and friendly person, and easily makes friends in the game.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His habit of stealing from his mother and emptying her bank account on the first episode leads to his mother being forced to give up medical treatment to take care of her diabetes, [[spoiler:ending up costing her life and dying alone when he returns home with the money to cure her.]]
* NumerologicalMotif: Gi-hun is numbered 456 indicating he's the last of the 456 players participating in the game [[spoiler:and the last one standing by the end of it. Additionally, he [[TragicKeepsake dons Player 001's jacket after Il-Nam was eliminated]] to highlight his protagonist status and how he's declared the winner of the 2020 Squid Games]].
* OlderThanTheyLook: Especially at the start of the show, his styling and general demeanor (especially in his interactions with his mother) can make him read younger than a man who is pushing 50 years old.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: For much of the game, Gi-hun never plays to kill anyone, and he heavily regrets every death he caused by winning against them because of the rules, which makes it all the more impactful when he [[spoiler: decides to go Offense against Sang-woo in the final round's Squid Game after Sang-woo murdered Sae-byeok the night before. It was the only time Gi-hun is playing to kill. He snaps out of it at the very last second, though, and decides to spare Sang-woo's life after he finally got him down]].
** Gi-hun also has an earlier dark moment. When he [[spoiler:sees a sleeping Sang-woo drop his knife, Gi-hun intends to murder Sang-woo so that Sae-byeok and him can be safe. Gi-hun only stops when a tearful Sae-byeok tells him not to as that's not the type of person he is]].
* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler: Gi-hun initially considers winning the Squid Game to be this. His mother died days before he returned home with the prize money, so now he doesn't know what to do with it until he sees the Salesman playing Ddkaji with other indebted clients and hatches an idea to take down the games]].
* RagsToRiches: Gi-hun goes from an indebted slacker to [[spoiler:a millionaire after winning the games. Once we check in with him a year later, however, he hasn't touched his fortune and still lives as he did, until a "chance" encounter...]]
* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:Aside from the few who survived the first game then chose not to come back, Gi-hun is the only survivor of the 2020 games by the end of the last episode. Il-nam survived initially because he is the creator of the game, but he dies of his brain tumor a year later.]]
* SurvivorsGuilt: [[spoiler: By the end of the series, he's nearly broken from guilt, to the point that he apparently refuses to spend any of the money at all and just lives as an aimless drifter. It takes meeting Il-nam again and beating him at one last game before Gi-hun starts to move past his guilt and start using the prize money to turn his life around and fulfill some promises.]]
* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler:When Il-nam confronts him about using his dementia to trick him out of his marbles to come out of their paired game alive, but then gently allows him to have his last marble and hugs him to tell Gi-hun that what's about to happen is not really his fault. Gi-hun breaks down sobbing.]]
* TragicKeepsake: Il-nam's jacket and the marble given to him before he was eliminated. Unfortunately, he loses both by the next episode.
* TrappedByGamblingDebts: He owes a LoanShark a large sum from his horse racing gambling.
* TroubledBackstoryFlashback: While he's standing watch one night, he has a flashback of the automobile plant union crackdown that killed his friend. Losing his job there is what precipitated his downward financial spiral.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Comes to this realization after witnessing [[spoiler:Sang-woo kill Player 017 to save his ass and ensure he moves on to the final game]].
* YouMonster: [[spoiler:Gi-hun delivers this as he proceeds to beat up Sang-woo in the final game, telling him that "he murdered them".]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 218 (Cho Sang-woo)]]
[[quoteright:304:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ee672d7f7da73e0ec1959b61345638313f67644c2c340b1fd07bcaeb38ddd4caa0873197af6baecb2930dc2e3935fb9ffc0ca10d4bf0c1aaff2457c8fe76ff7f93a9f75e2dae7f61231afe416bb2b1b2a0e691d97f11ac3d8fa0c4511b96ffd7.bmp]]
[[caption-width-right:304:''"I'm alive right now because I tried damn hard to stay alive."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Park Hae-soo, Creator/StephenFu (English dub), Oscar Flores (Latin American Spanish dub), Keiichi Nakagawa (Japanese dub)
A childhood friend of Gi-hun's who became a successful businessman, but is now wanted by the law for stealing from his clients.
----
* AintTooProudToBeg: [[spoiler:When Ali wins the marbles game, Sang-woo drops to his knees and begs for a second game, which Ali foolishly agrees to.]]
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Even after the atrocities he's done to further himself in the games, Gi-hun, instead of taking the final step to finish the game, instead asks the guards to end the game so he and Sang-woo can still live. However, Sang-woo, knowing that he's lost and refuses to leave the game with no money, instead takes his own life so Gi-hun can be the ultimate winner. Gi-hun is horrified and cradles his body in tears.]]
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: [[spoiler:He even accuses Gi-hun of this, claiming he could only maintain a moral high ground because he let others do the murdering so he didn't have to. This goes all the way to the final game, where he offs himself so Gi-hun can claim the prize money instead of accepting his proposal to vote the games over and leave both of them with nothing.]]
* BigBrotherMentor: He encourages Ali to call him "hyung" (형, meaning "older brother" in Korean). This makes [[spoiler:Ali's death after being betrayed by Sang-woo]] even more tragic, because Ali screams "hyung" while trying to find him right beforehand. However, this detail is not included at all in the English dub or subs.
* BrokenAce: An extremely gifted student who became his town's golden boy after getting into Seoul National University and enjoying success in business. The thing is, he got rich mostly by embezzlement, and he is wanted by the law at the time he enters the games.
* ColdEquation: His approach to the game: whatever he needs to do to have a better shot at winning, he will do.
* CynicIdealistDuo: Between him and Gi-hun, he's the cynic. Gi-hun spends most of the games forming friendships and listens to others while Sang-woo [[spoiler:betrays and puts other players in expense to benefit himself. One particular example of this being played is at the final night that when Sae-byeok is revealed to be bleeding to death, Gi-hun rushes to try and get her medical help, Sang-woo uses this chance to murder her while she's defenseless.]]
* DrivenToSuicide:
** Attempted in episode 2, where he can be seen in his bathtub with a charcoal briquette burning in an enclosed space, a tragically common way for South Koreans to commit suicide by fume inhalation. He is ultimately unable to go through with it.
** [[spoiler: He ultimately drives his knife through the side of his throat to finish himself off and end the final game so Gi-hun will be able to collect the prize money.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Teaching Gi-hun the tactic to hide behind someone else in the first game establishes himself as both cunning and willing to put others in danger to protect himself.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Despite his fall from grace and [[spoiler:eventual descent into villainy during the games]], his main motivation is firmly about trying to support his financially-struggling mother. [[spoiler:His last words before dying is to ask Gi-hun to take care of his mother with the prize money he won.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: As the games go on and become more intense, his willingness to sacrifice other people to save his own life becomes apparent [[spoiler:in the marble game, where he manipulates Ali into giving him all his marbles and sends him off on a wild goose chase with some "marbles" in his hand -- which turn out to be useless old pebbles. While he appears momentarily remorseful at Ali's death, it proves to be the push that leads to him remorselessly killing Player 017 and Sae-byeok to keep himself in the game.]]
* FalseFriend: [[spoiler: While he's never outright malevolent over it, he gradually becomes more and more willing to betray and mislead his friends if it keeps him in the game, even when it results in their deaths. Gi-hun doesn't catch on until the fifth game after he shoves Player 017 to his death.]]
* FinalBoss: [[spoiler:Being the last contestant with Gi-hun, he is forced to fight him in the sixth game.]]
* {{Foil}}: To Gi-hun. Both of them hailed from the Ssangmun-dong neighborhood in Seoul and are even childhood friends. While Gi-hun is a slacker who wastes his life gambling, Sang-woo is TheAce who got himself enrolled into the prestigious Seoul National University, though both of them eventually end up in rough places financially. Gi-hun is mostly friendly to others while Sang-woo is aloof and calculating. [[spoiler:While Gi-hun is willing to walk away from the ultimate prize as the game becomes more and more brutal, Sang-woo is willing to do whatever it takes to get the prize money, even if it means he has to screw other players over.]] Also, despite their other negative qualities, both of them do love their mothers.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Following the aforementioned EstablishingCharacterMoment, the players of the Squid Game is given the option to vote if they want to quit the game or continue to the next round. [[spoiler: Sang-woo votes to continue the game, knowing full and well that he would be putting everyone else's life at risk. While the prior moment could be rationalized as Sang-woo making a call in the heat of the moment to save his life, this moment drives the nail in that he is really prioritizing the money over the lives of everyone else.]]
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:Seems to have one before plunging the knife in his neck and allowing Gi-hun to win. He also asks Gi-hun to take care of his mother before succumbing to his self-inflicted wound.]]
* HeManWomanHater: Played with. Is adamantly, and oftentimes irrationally against the idea of having women on his team, though he [[JerkassHasAPoint sometimes has a point]] as he was expecting more games that ostensibly require size and strength and concerned about his chances following his team's near-defeat in the tug-of-war.
* InterruptedSuicide: After the majority of players decide to quit after the first game and go back to the real world, he attempts to kill himself by burning a charcoal briquette. He only stops when he hears the doorbell ring and finds another Squid Game card slipped under the door.
* ItGetsEasier: Sang-woo grows increasingly more callous as the game goes on. [[spoiler: It's after he directly allows Ali to die to save himself that he finally loses any remaining qualms about killing personally.]]
* IveComeTooFar: He rationalizes his [[KickTheDog actions]] as the games go on this way, pointing out that [[IDidWhatIHadToDo he had no choice but to do them]] in order to be able to survive and keep playing for the chance to win.
* JerkassHasAPoint:
** When Player 069 begs for the other players to quit the game after losing his wife, Sang-woo shows NoSympathy towards him, but he is not wrong when he says that the nature of the game means that one or the other was bound to die, that quitting won't bring his wife back, and that other people aren't going to throw away their chance to get all that money out of sympathy for him, and quitting would mean that all the prior bloodshed would have been for nothing.
** While Sang-woo's decision to [[spoiler: push the Player 017 to his death during the fifth game]] was morally reprehensible, he is right to point out that [[spoiler: if he didn't push him out of the way, Player 017 likely would've caused them all to be eliminated by running out the clock with his indecisiveness.]]
* KickTheDog: He does this [[spoiler:regularly after episode 6, which includes inducing player 069 to kill himself, pushing player 017 to his death, stabbing Sae-byeok, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and]] making a HiddenDisdainReveal to Gi-hun.]]
* KickTheMoralityPet: [[spoiler: Sang-woo was nicest to Ali of all of the participants which makes his tricking him out of his marbles and getting him killed all the more shocking.]]
* LastRequest: [[spoiler: After losing in the final game, he kills himself to allow Gi-hun to receive the prize money and simply requests that he look after his mother once he's gone.]]
* MercyKill: [[spoiler: Sang-woo claims that he killed Sae-Byeok out of mercy - until he later reveals that he wanted to stop both Gi-hun & Sae-byeok from casting a majority vote.]]
* PetTheDog: Despite also being in the red, he buys Ali a cellphone, noodles and bus fare after they are dropped off together after the first game. [[spoiler: He later brings this up when trying to con Ali out of his marbles in the fourth game.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: At the start of Episode 8, [[spoiler: Sang-woo tries to give one to Gi-hun until the latter pointed out that the supposed "golden child of Ssangmun-dong" is here with him playing the same game.]]
* RichesToRags: Attended a top-tier university and got a great-paying job, but lost it all to bad investments and is now wanted for embezzlement and white-collar crime. Gi-hun is dumbfounded that the childhood friend with so much going for him is in ''even deeper'' debt than himself.
* SignificantWardrobeShift: Sang-woo going shirtless underneath his jacket (as he ripped off part of his shirt to create a makeshift lanyard for Ali's pouch of "marbles") coincides with his [[FaceHeelTurn turn to the dark side]].
* TheSmartGuy: He's the cleverest player in Gi-hun's group of allies. His strategy helps their team win the tug-of-war. When picking partners for the fourth game, he immediately goes to [[TheBigGuy Ali]], reasoning that they can be a BrainsAndBrawn team and be well-prepared for whatever the challenge is.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: He starts to resort to ever more deplorable means to survive, [[spoiler:tricking Ali in game 4 so he can steal his marbles and get him killed, throwing a guy in front of him to his death in game 5 because he was taking too long, and viciously murdering Sae-byeok before the final round just so she and Gi-hun won't vote to quit.]]
* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: As the resident [[TheSmartGuy smart guy]] of Gi-hun's team, he often wears a pair of spectacles. [[spoiler:By the end of the series, he crosses into FourEyesZeroSoul territory.]]
* SoreLoser: Upon losing the marbles game to Ali, Sang-woo furiously accuses him of cheating and grabs and shakes him until a guard stops him.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Certain media romanises his name as ''J''o Sang-woo.
* TheStrategist: He plays each game strategically, [[spoiler:which allows him to reach the final round.]]
* TookALevelInJerkass: Sang-woo is at first a cooperative friend worth having for Gi-hun and the others but as they advance through the games, while Sang-woo still remains intelligent and rational, he becomes more ruthless and pragmatic by resorting to [[spoiler: manipulating and backstabbing anyone even his own friends like Ali and Sae-byeok sending them to their deaths to make sure he survives and will go a long way to extreme measures to win that cause Gi-hun to be pissed off with him. Although he never takes pleasure from it because if he chooses to withdraw from the games, he will be arrested for embezzling his client's money to pay for the 6 billion Won debt and his mother's fish store will be taken as financial collateral.]]
* TragicVillain: [[spoiler:By the end, he has become completely ruthless in pursuit of victory, but he takes no pleasure in what he's doing and only resorts to betrayal and murder because the alternative to victory is death or crippling debt for himself and his family.]]
* VillainsDyingGrace: [[spoiler: After being beaten in the final game, he kills himself so that Gi-hun can leave with the money and give some to his mother, instead of taking Gi-hun's offer to leave together and get nothing.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 067 (Kang Sae-byeok)]]
[[quoteright:304:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c7e77f00e0597e559bb0b7b47d7cecad9fd9742f43a5d65318539f952aec544c31fddafcada3a6d3c3c6daf4a8f4271e925c20ef7aecbf68ab32b21acc8d0cd8b0d81eab8210c8d3f7db73d9d217c1122c67219a012f8461f38958394432c5ed.bmp]]
[[caption-width-right:304:''"I don’t trust people. And that’s twice as true for anyone who’d end up in here. Got it?"'']]
->'''Played by:''' Jung Ho-yeon, Vivian Lu (English dub), Cassandra Valtier (Latin American Spanish dub), Sachi Kokuryu (Japanese dub)
A defector from North Korea, struggling to find money to get her mother to South Korea and her brother out of a children’s home.
----
* ActionGirl: She's probably one of the most combat-capable in the main cast, which helps in the [[spoiler:nighttime brawl.]] She's also smart enough to not inhale the gas when she re-enters the games, which allows her to plant and then pick-pocket her knife from one of the guards while she's being changed and pretending to be unconscious.
* BigSisterInstinct: The reason she's going through the games is to help her little brother who has to stay in an orphanage while she tries to get money to bring the rest of their family to South Korea.
* BirdsOfAFeather: She is drawn to Ji-yeong, another EmotionlessGirl, after spotting her sitting alone, away from the crowd during the third game. They have initial friction, but their conversation in the marble game creates a pretty strong bond between them.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: One of the most troubled out of the all the major characters. She grew up in North Korea before defecting, and has been living a criminal life in South Korea to make enough money to bring the rest of her family over.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Zig-zagged. She is initially not very expressive and dissuades Gi-hun and the others from trusting her. Even though she was the one who sought out Ji-yeong to join Gi-hun's team for the tug-of-war game, she's rather dismissive of her when she tries to spark a conversation. But during the fourth game, when she's partnered up with Ji-yeong, [[spoiler:the two engage into a heart-to-heart talk, revealing her backstory and hopes for the future. When Ji-yeong purposefully loses the game, Sae-byeok snaps at her and walks away in tears after she gets executed. After that, she's still not that much talkative, even hiding the fact she's bleeding to death until the final night where she asks Gi-hun to look after her young brother before Sang-woo kills her.]]
* DramaticIrony: Her brother got into a fight with the other kids at the orphanage who said his sister abandoned him. [[spoiler: Sae-byeok ends up dying during the games and unable to bring the rest of her family to South Korea, essentially leaving her brother orphaned.]]
* EmotionlessGirl: She rarely ever emotes.
* FireForgedFriends: With Gi-hun, who had nothing but contempt for her early on due to the fact she pickpocketed him. But after the marbles game, she starts to be more empathetic towards him, even helping him out during the glass bridge game where she reminds him what panels to step on.
* GameBreakingInjury: [[spoiler: Sae-byeok gets impaled by a large shard of glass after completing the fifth game, leaving her with an AgonizingStomachWound that prevents her from eating the final meal of the game and causes her to slowly die of internal bleeding during the night cycle.]]
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: In episode 8, [[spoiler: Sae-byeok stops Gi-hun from murdering Sang-woo when he finds the chance, since she still believes Gi-hun is a good man at heart. Gi-hun points this out towards Sang-woo in the final game after the latter murders Sae-byeok to avoid the majority vote that could've stopped the game.]]
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Gi-hun, she is a young girl in her twenties while he is forty-seven.
* IWorkAlone: She's rather distrusting of other people, and even warns her teammates not to trust her either.
* KnifeNut: She carries a pocket knife that she manages to sneak in during the re-entry process. Unfortunately, it gets lost and later confiscated after [[spoiler:the night brawl.]]
* LastRequest: [[spoiler: Sae-byeok's dying wish to Gi-hun is to take care of her little brother who's still in an orphanage waiting for her.]]
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:Sae-byeok dissuades Gi-hun from killing Sang-woo in his sleep, reminding him that he's a good person at heart. Sang-woo thanks her for her integrity and mercy by slashing her throat open when Gi-hun's back is turned.]]
* NotSoStoic: Sae-Byeok is usually TheStoic and often distrusting even towards her own team. But during the [[spoiler: Marbles game, Sae-Byeok gets into a heart-to-heart talk with Ji-yeong, gets angry at her for deliberately throwing the win and breaks into a sob when Ji-yeong gets executed.]]
* TheOldestProfession: It is implied during her conversation with [[{{Jerkass}} Jang Deok-su]] in episode 1, with Sae-byeok claiming that he took everything from her.
* PercussivePickpocket: She's a very efficient pick-pocket. Her first introduction shows her running into Gi-hun who's attempting to escape from loan sharks and she falls to the floor. However, when Gi-hun checks his coat for the money he just won from the races, his pocket has been slashed. She also does this to the man who she's paying to help bring the rest of her family over after he makes it clear he's just milking her for money. She can be more stealthy as she easily first plants and then pretends to be unconscious while planting her knife in guard's pocket and take it back while they're being changed into uniform so she can bring it into the game.
* ThePromise:
** [[spoiler: As she slowly dies from her wounds, she begs Gi-hun to look after her brother for her.]]
** When she visits her little brother, she promises him she will never abandon him and that she ''will'' bring their whole family with them to South Korea. [[spoiler: She unfortunately ends up dying during the games, leaving her brother orphaned until Gi-hun finds him and has Sang-woo's mother look after him.]]
* SecretlyDying: [[spoiler:The aforementioned AgonizingStomachWound listed on GameBreakingInjury. Although Sang-woo fatally stabs her before the wounds take her life, in what he considers both a MercyKill for her and a taunt to Gi-hun for caring too much about her.]]
* StatuesqueStunner: Her actress is 176 cm (5'9"), making her one of the taller women in the show, which is most noticeable when [[OneHeadTaller she stands next to Ji-yeong.]]
* TheStoic: She hardly expresses emotion.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Gi-hun originally gets caught up in the Squid Game because Sae-byeok pick-pocketed him of his Horse Race winnings in the first episode. This led to the chain of events of him signing over a body part to the mob if he can't make his next months payments and then being desperate enough to take the salesman up on his offer. [[DownplayedTrope On the flipside]], Gi-hun was already a compulsive gambler in so much debt that he had ''already'' been scouted out, so all Sae-Byeok ultimately did was speed up the inevitable happening.
* YouthfulFreckles: One of the defining features of the character is her freckles. Appropriate as she's the youngest of the main characters. Even the Funko version of her, has the freckles on prominent display. In real life, Ho-yeon Jung doesn't have freckles and they were added cosmetically.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 001 (Oh Il-nam)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c53fd60d_1655_4b05_bef9_295230df8332.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Gganbu always share everything with each other, no matter what."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Oh Yeong-su, Hideo Kimura (English dub), Creator/ArturoMercado (Latin American Spanish dub), Kazuaki Ito (Japanese dub)
An elderly man dying of a brain tumor who joined the games to relive the joy of being alive.
----
* CavalierCompetitor: He only has a very limited time to live, so he participates in the games so he can enjoy his final moments of life. He even has a smile during the games despite them putting his life at risk.
* CoolOldGuy: A genuinely kind old man, with his friendly and helpful attitude and a great degree of familiarity with the games that he participates in.
* DeathByIrony: Gi-hun takes him on as his partner for the fourth game, fearful he'll be executed if he's the one left by himself (as no one else is willing to take him on due to his age and infirmity). [[spoiler:However, this is the game that presents each group of two with a SadisticChoice -- one member of the team will inevitably die, and Il-nam ultimately throws the game so Gi-hun can proceed.]] As Gi-hun soon learns, [[spoiler:the leftover contestant wasn't actually executed, meaning he brought Il-nam into the game [[AllForNothing for nothing]].]]
* DecidedByOneVote: He’s the deciding vote during the voting on whether the other contestants should leave or not.
* DissonantSerenity: During the first game of "Red Light, Green Light" while everyone else is cowering in fear for their lives, he's the only one that goes on playing, smiling happily as he continues on with the game and even getting a decent head start of the others. For most of the other games, he can be seen with a grin on his face as the others struggle to survive. It makes sense given his motivation for joining the games in the first place, to feel the joy of living again.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: During the "Red Light, Green Light" game, while all the other contestants are frozen stiff once they realize it's a literal life and death game, he's the first to move and the only one to do so [[DissonantSerenity with a cheerful smile on his face]]. And the smile never leaves his face even as other players are getting shot around him.
* GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler:Unlike the other named characters, his elimination is not shown onscreen after the fourth game.]]
* TheLastDance: His reason for participating in the games is that he doesn't have much longer to live, and might as well participate in something dangerous to feel alive one last time.
* TheLoad: Downplayed, he did offer valuable strategy on the strength-based Tug-Of-War, but being being a frail old man, no one wants him on their team in the games, except for [[NiceGuy Gi-hun]].
* NiceGuy: A very friendly and charismatic guy who generously offers Gi-hun ramen noodles when the latter couldn't able to buy to feed for himself after they quit the Squid Games at first and even during the Marbles game, [[spoiler:he lets Gi-hun keep the last marble for himself even at the cost of his life when he already knew he tried to scam the last marble out of him.]]
* NonActionGuy: He's a frail old guy, so it's to be expected. [[spoiler: During the nighttime brawl, he hides above a bunch of bunk beds, and is pleading for the madness to stop]].
* ObfuscatingInsanity: Although he legitimately has a brain tumor, [[spoiler:he fakes having dementia to avoid giving details about his life. He pretends to have a severe case of it during the marbles game to test Gi-hun, though this ends up being because he genuinely likes him and wants him to pass]].
* NumerologicalMotif: Il-nam is 001, being the first to participate and is the eldest of the participants.
* PottyFailure: He wets himself after a particularly stressful evening, likely as a result of [[spoiler:the klaxons indicating an emergency among the facility's staff going off]].
* PunnyName: Probably unintentional, but his name sounds very similar to the phrase "old ill man" in English.
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Gi-hun has to let him die in the fourth game in order to advance, which he seems to be at peace with since he doesn't have long to live anyway.]]
* ScatterbrainedSenior: In addition to his brain tumor, he has a ''very'' severe case of dementia, which proves detrimental to Gi-hun during [[spoiler:the marbles game. Though it's revealed to be fake; his last moment before being eliminated is him telling Gi-Hun his name, Oh Il-nam]].
* WeakButSkilled: He has the physical condition of what can be expected of someone his age, but he is very good at playing games.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 101 (Jang Deok-su)]]
[[quoteright:304:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b2b63d4cedb6d85291846002a55b76cdbf1a0100bac42f9300f96ddf48c5b6b68dab84d9cb97086ddd2f9a4a0b5bf9076fedf6658bc8c26ff21ecd588844e0f4005bc45a18257c4e4752df133ec37825d7a4d54bf848ec169f8fd1f2a600d9f7.bmp]]
[[caption-width-right:304:''"We're in Hell here. There's no rules in Hell."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Heo Sung-tae, Creator/PaulNakauchi (English dub), Jose Arenas (Latin American Spanish dub), Masaki Aizawa (Japanese dub)
A gangster trapped in gambling debts to fellow gangsters.
----
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: When Mi-nyeo falls through the bridge during the fifth game, she takes Deok-su with her. No tears were shed on his behalf.]]
* AxCrazy: A low-functioning sociopath who easily gets triggered into violent, murderous outbursts.
* BigBadWannabe: While he puts up a tough front and is one of the primary antagonists for the series, he's a coward prone to dirty tactics who [[spoiler:doesn't even make it to the final game.]]
* BloodKnight: He's ruthless and not above resorting to violence and murder to get rid of other players. During the [[spoiler:tug-of-war]] game, he repeatedly shouts out "die!" to the other team, was ecstatic that he successfully killed ten more players, and laments not going against Gi-hun's group.
-->"What a shame, I wanted to kill you guys myself."
* TheBully: He's used to getting his way in life through intimidation and violence, and this is how he plays the game.
* CurbStompBattle: In the [[spoiler:tug-of-war game]], his group easily overpowers the opposing team.
* DirtyCoward: He talks tough, but whenever the tables turn against him, he starts sweating and quivering. [[spoiler:In the fifth game, he refuses to go ahead once he's at the front of the pack, demanding that someone else take the risk for him, not to mention how much he panics once it becomes clear that Mi-nyeo plans to take both herself and him out of the game.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: As the most unambiguously evil contestant and the one set up as Gi-hun's main enemy in the games [[spoiler:who gets killed by Mi-nyeo in the fifth game as revenge for his betrayal. This leaves Sang-woo to act as the FinalBoss for Gi-hun.]]
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: He plunges to his death in the fifth game, dragged off the platform by Mi-nyeo.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: Deok-su beats another contestant, No. 271, to death when the latter complains about how Deok-su's gang screwed some players out of their food by cutting in line for seconds, then breaks his bottle of water during the ensuing scuffle. [[spoiler:The guards' apathy to the situation emboldens him and his henchmen as they plan their next move, as noted below.]]
* DumbMuscle: He's big and strong, but not nearly as smart as he'd like to think he is.
* HateSink: Within all the contestants, he's easily the most unlikeable one. Selfish, backstabbing, and violent, [[spoiler:his death at the hands of Mi-nyeo is [[AssholeVictim nothing but deserved]].]]
* TheHeavy: Deok-su is the one causing the most personal trouble for the heroes and is the most antagonistic of all the players. That said, he's still just another player, unlike the Front Man or the Host.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: The only reason he dies is because Mi-nyeo kills him in a murder-suicide, which she wouldn't have done if he hadn't betrayed her or been as cruel as he was, especially since she starts off the games completely devoted to him and willing to follow his every word.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: During the fifth game, [[spoiler:he insults and threatens the players that go before him if they take too long to jump to a 50/50 chance of death. But once his turn comes around, he himself refuses to take his turn, saying that he'd rather [[TakingYouWithMe take everyone with him]] than sacrifice himself to help them.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Is established early on as a ruthless criminal and bully, and even if his charisma gains him several allies early on, he won't hesitate to throw them under the bus, as [[spoiler:[[TheDragon No. 278]] learns the hard way during the marbles game.]]
* KarmicDeath: After spending the majority of the games bullying and deceiving others, [[spoiler:he meets his end plummeting to his death with Mi-nyeo, the one that he picks the most on, and one that he repeatedly screwed over (in more ways than one).]]
* LackOfEmpathy: He's displayed a callous disregard for other players' lives all throughout the games, but it's especially notable when [[spoiler:Player No. 069 kills himself out of grief due to letting his wife die in the fourth game]]: while the others look saddened and horrified, his only reaction was to smirk at how there's now less competition for the grand prize.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: [[spoiler:Once he realizes that the guards will not stop him from killing fellow players, even between games, he starts a riot after lights-out as he and his henchmen attempt to murder as many contestants as possible to improve their odds of survival.]]
* NeverMyFault:
** After the Honeycomb game, Deok-Su and his gang take second helpings of breakfast, leaving 5 players without tiffin boxes. When one of the players calls him out for it, Deok-su blames said player for having a problem with it.
** During the glass bridge game, he refuses to proceed when he finds himself at the front of the line. However, he accuses the player behind him of holding everyone else up, for refusing to skip in front of him.
* NoHonorAmongThieves: Deok-su is prone to [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder abandoning his allies]] the moment he no longer thinks they will benefit him. Gi-hun rather innocently flips this on his head and managed to get Deok-su to stop his "culling" just by [[ArmorPiercingQuestion asking him]] what does he think would happen after they kill all the weaker players; eventually, his men would turn against him next.
* NumerologicalMotif: Deok-su's assigned number is 101, a palindrome number that can be read in two ways (either forward or backwards). This represents how Deok-su is two-faced in nature, as he uses brute strength, lackeys and backstabbing to intimidate the competition, but take that power away and he's a [[SmugSnake sniveling coward]].
* ObviouslyEvil: He's an intimidating [[EvilIsBigger hulk]] of a gangster with a [[TattooedCrook snake tattoo]] on his face, and was [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introduced]] as a [[SmugSnake smug]], [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain racist]], [[WouldHitAGirl woman-beating]] [[TheBully bully]].
* OhCrap: [[spoiler: After taunting a contestant who fell to his death due to his overconfidence in game 5, he realizes that he is now at the front and that his chance to live is slim to none. Therefore, he turns around and pressures all the contestants to go in front of him, wasting precious time. He also has another one when he is restrained by Mi-nyeo and is about to fall to his death with her.]]
* PetTheDog: Even though he’s a bullying JerkAss, he promises not to push the player ahead of him in the fifth game, even giving him some words of encouragement. It’s later undone when he makes a rude comment about the player after he’s dead, but at least he never pushed him.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He is introduced bullying Sae-byeok just because she is female and North Korean.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Once he gets cornered by some gang members, he quickly makes for the edge of the bridge and jumps off.
* SmugSnake: He's extremely confident that he's the toughest, smartest guy in the room, but he only survives the games through dumb luck and other people helping him. Whenever he's not on top, his tough-guy facade crumbles quickly.
* SnakesAreSinister: Deok-su is one of the cruelest players of the games, being happy to intimidate or murder the competition and showing a general LackOfEmpathy. His despicable nature is represented by the snake tattoo on his neck and face.
* TheSociopath: The reason why he is the most vile out of the contestants. He is certainly no stranger to killing and doesn't feel the slightest remorse for any of his murders or betrayals.
* TattooedCrook: He's a gangster with a large snake tattoo on his neck which parallels his [[SmugSnake true nature]].
* TeenyWeenie: [[spoiler:Mi-nyeo insults him about his penis size before killing him.]]
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: His reaction once he realizes that he picked one of the more difficult shapes for the second game.
* UngratefulBastard: He repays Mi-nyeo for saving him in the second game by leaving her to die in the third and fourth game. [[spoiler: She gets her payback in the fifth game by [[TakingYouWithMe taking him with her]] as they fall through the glass.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: During the fifth game when Mi-nyeo [[spoiler: wraps her arms around his body in an attempt to break the false glass and [[TakeYouWithMe have them both fall to their deaths]], he starts panicking and angrily berating her before screaming for his life.]]
* VillainsWantMercy: Despite fearing death as much as every other player Deok-Su would never admit this and maintains his veneer of snarling indifference.[[spoiler: Thus in the fifth game, when Mi-Nyeo is about to pull them both off the bridge, he pathetically breaks down and fruitlessly begs her to let him go.]]
* WouldHitAGirl: He's clearly not above physically attacking women, as evidenced early on with Sae-byeok and murder of a female inmate who protested him cutting in line and later on when he excludes Mi-nyeo ahead of the third game.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 199 (Ali Abdul)]]
[[quoteright:302:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/00515248c4b0d29127924b3b10147d423aa1adf6c87d0e83783bf92ba9b29a6c37fca7776389d60b0e40c71bd043d6ff2b30a93d95b06461977dee5e936b1ae2a1a9cd2d54ca007ac18c6a3823cef8d62ab6c7414f16acb4d78e921a5b7f9de7.bmp]]
[[caption-width-right:302:''"Now that I'm working with you, I feel like we could win!"'']]
->'''Played by:''' Anupam Tripathi, Rama Vallury (English dub), Luis Fernando Orozco (Latin American Spanish dub), Setsuji Sato (Japanese dub)
A Pakistani immigrant struggling to provide for his wife and infant.
----
* AlliterativeName: '''A'''li '''A'''bdul.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: The reason why he trusts Sang-woo so much is because the latter lent him money and helped him out after the first game, and even allowed him to call him ''hyung'' (which is a big deal considering his status in Korean society). [[spoiler:And then Sang-woo betrays him in the worst way possible...]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: In the second episode, his crooked boss pushes him to the brink by, once again, refusing to pay him because business isn't going well. Once Ali discovers he actually has money, both men get into a fistfight that ends with the boss seriously injuring his hand on the machinery and Ali running away with the boss' cash.
* TheBigGuy: The strongest member of Gi-hun's group of allies. [[spoiler:In the tug-of-war, he stands at the back of the group as an anchor. When picking teams for the fourth game, [[TheSmartGuy Sang-woo]] goes right to him, reasoning that they can be a BrainsAndBrawn pair and be well-prepared for any challenge.]]
* BornLucky: [[spoiler:In the fourth game against Sang-woo. Despite having just learned the minigame of ''Odd or Even'' from the latter, he manages to make all his guesses right out of sheer dumb luck, to the point that Sang-woo, accusing him of cheating, decides to swindle all the marbles off him instead [[LoopholeAbuse without any violence]].]]
* {{Catchphrase}}: "Thank you!" [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that as an immigrant to South Korea, he's essentially lived a life of constant obedience to his Korean-native bosses and co-workers to fully establish his place in a racially homogenous country.
* CommonalityConnection: When he and his allies split up to recruit five further teammates for the Tug-of-War challenge, Ali likely knows that his status as a Pakistani immigrant and obvious outsider reduce his chances of engaging other competitors. In the end however, he manages to seek out and recruit the one other competitor (number 276) who is also brown-skinned (his actor is Filipino), likely out of mutual solidarity.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Saving Gi-hun in the first game by grabbing and holding the back of his shirt mid-fall immediately establishes that Ali is physically strong, dependable, and willing to risk his life to save others.
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler: Sang-woo tricks him during the marbles game, swapping his marbles for a bag of gravel. Ali realizes the betrayal seconds before he is executed, and is visibly devastated.]]
* FatalFlaw: [[spoiler: His kindness and trusting nature. He agrees to Sang-woo's plan in the fourth game without a shadow of a doubt, and only realizes that he has been betrayed moments before being killed.]]
* FishOutOfWater: Owing to his TokenMinority status as the lone Pakistani player in a Korean death game, he sometimes doesn't understand the games being played.
* GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler: We only hear a gunshot to indicate poor Abdul’s death. Though this is subverted in the next episode where we see his corpse.]]
* HandicappedBadass: Downplayed in that it is not much of a liability, he has lost two fingers of his left hand due to an implied work-related accident. Nevertheless, he fulfills his role as TheBigGuy in Gi-hun's team, although Sang-woo does advise him to hide his fingers so the other players won't look down on him.
* TheIllegal: Mi-nyeo accuses him to be one, and it's heavily implied.
* ImprovisationalIngenuity: It's highly implied he doesn't know how to properly play the second game, ''Honeycomb'', as instead of actually using the needle properly he decides to ''break off the edges of the dalgona bit by bit until he gets his required shape remaining''. This, plus the fact that [[BornLucky his circle is one of the easier shapes]], allows him to still pass the game despite using such an unorthodox method.
* MoralityPet: Sang-woo, despite being fairly cold and aloof even to his ChildhoodFriend, develops legitimate camaraderie with Ali, giving the younger man money to get home, cracking the rare genuine smile around him, and even letting Ali call him [[BigBrotherMentor hyung]]. [[spoiler:When Ali is [[KickTheMoralityPet betrayed by Sang-woo]] during the marbles game, it becomes clear there's nothing the latter won't do to win.]]
* NiceGuy: Among the characters with a name, he is easily the coolest as he is altruistic and is never motivated by ulterior motives.[[spoiler: This doesn't end well for him. His altruism and gratitude to Sang-woo makes him easy to manipulate in the fourth game. Sang-Woo betrays him and it ends with Ali dead.]]
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Sang-woo angrily accuses him of this after he repeatedly beats him at marbles despite claiming not to know how to play.
* RuleOfSymbolism: The Islamic Ali is number 199. According to Islamic Hadith 199, it goes, "There are three signs of a hypocrite: When he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he is trusted, he betrays his trust." [[spoiler:This foreshadows how Ali will be betrayed by Sang-woo.]]
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:His death is not only an indicator that even the main characters are not safe, but also to show Sang-woo's true colors as a ruthless backstabber.]]
* SkilledButNaive: He's a fast enough learner to beat Sang-woo, noted genius who has actually played the game growing up, at a game he's never played before. However, being a migrant worker in an unfamiliar country poses problems for him. His naïvete and kindness to a fault also lead to [[spoiler:his death.]]
* StunnedSilence: [[spoiler:After discovering that Sang-woo has tricked him out of his marbles, he can only look towards him in devastation, unable to say a word with tears streaking down his face, as a guard raises their gun to his head.]]
* TokenMinority: The only non-Korean main character, which is reflected in his backstory (a migrant worker lower on the social ladder than the others, who are already poor people deep in debt), relationships (his deferential attitude to the others), and the ways he approaches the challenges (since he isn't familiar with the childhood games).
* TooDumbToLive: While it's mostly because of his goodness and he does some justification for his ignorance too (as a non-Korean he doesn't know the game rules well), [[spoiler:Ali ultimately falls for a ''very'' obvious swindle and that indeed costs him his life.]]
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: As established in his first scene, Ali is a kind and caring man who is willing to do anything to help others or those he cares for. [[spoiler:So of course, during the marble games, he gets manipulated by Sang-woo, who steals his marbles, and ends up paying with his life.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 212 (Han Mi-nyeo)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/edbc0921_7526_480f_a0a1_26fafc2e7e0d.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I’ll be way more help than either of these wimpy little girls. Plus, I’m good at everything except the things that I can’t do."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Kim Joo-ryoung, Stephanie Komure (English), Leyla Rangel (Latin American Spanish dub), Creator/YukaKomatsu (Japanese dub)
A manipulative fraudster who claims to be a poor single mother.
----
* AintTooProudToBeg: After the first game, she's the first person to get on her knees and beg the guards to let them go free. A lot of others soon join her and begged to be sent home.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: She's understandably pissed at [[spoiler:Deok-su's ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, and she ends up taking both herself and him down to their deaths, which gave the others a fighting chance to win the stepping stone game.]]
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Mi-nyeo initially serves as TheFriendNobodyLikes and comic relief, until she [[spoiler:was rejected by everyone in the fourth game. She has the last laugh, as she has never been in real danger of her life, and in the fifth game, she kills two people: an unnamed player, and Deok-su who had humiliated her earlier and was the main antagonist until that moment.]]
* BlatantLies: The idea that she's 19 years old. Nobody believes her. For the record, her actress is 45.
* ChewingTheScenery: She's really over-the-top with her shouting, even during dire situations like almost getting caught by the guards and when [[spoiler:her team is about to lose in the tug-of-war game.]]
* CompulsiveLiar: She lies constantly in order to impress whoever she's looking to get in with. No one buys it.
* DeadlyHug: [[spoiler:During the fifth game, she grabs Deok-su in a hug and pulls him down with her, causing them both to fall through a glass panel to their deaths.]]
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: She falls to her death with Deok-su in the fifth game.]]
* DyingSmirk: [[spoiler:She smiles maliciously before taking Deok-su with her to their deaths.]]
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:She was shocked and devastated when Deok-su wouldn't put her on his team for the tug-of-war game then he proceeds to embarrass her in front of everyone when she starts begging him. Needless to say, she swore to get revenge on Deok-su for it.]]
* EveryoneHasStandards: She's absolutely disgusted by Deok-su cowardly trying to make someone else go ahead of him in the stepping stone game, and calls him out on damning everyone else to die because he's too much of a selfish wimp to man up [[spoiler:before eventually killing him and herself.]]
* EvilerThanThou: [[spoiler:Mi-nyeo's final act in the game was to go up to Deok-su, the most ruthless player in the game, and intimidate him before grappling him and swandiving with him onto the glass]].
* FemmeFatale: She tries to play up this role around Deok-su, but she's not particularly good at it.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When she applauds her team for winning the [[spoiler:tug-of-war game, she says that she felt at her most powerful when she was leaning backwards as part of Il-nam's strategy. She would use the same method to kill Deok-su and herself in the fifth game.]]
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Obsequious, loud, a CompulsiveLiar, prone to making unusual comments, and overall unpleasant. She also oversells her abilities to play the games, insisting repeatedly that she's "good at everything except the things I can't do." No wonder no one wants to team with her in the marble game [[spoiler:though it's the best thing that could have happened to her at that point, as she gets to sit out the game for not having a partner.]]
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: She somehow managed to sneak some cigarettes into the game, as she smokes a bit during her bathroom break and even slips Jang Deok-su her lighter during the honeycomb game.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Her allegiance flips as frequently as her mood swings and usually at the whims of whoever she can convince to move her forward in the games. Her first real act within the main cast is helping Sae-Byeok investigate the vents in the facility, but when not much comes out of it she seeks the graces of Deok-Su and his murderous crew, until his gang ditches her because they consider her a liability in the coming games, leaving her having to partner up with Gi-Hun’s team. [[spoiler:She ultimately, arguably, settles on the face side of things, as she gets a self-sacrificial revenge kill on Deok-Su to let the others advance.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Despite her unctuous nature, she refuses to let Deok-su damn everyone to die in the stepping stone game, so she kills both herself and him to give the rest a chance. It works, and this act even reveals a fake glass panel for the others.]]
* HiddenDepths: While it was only the phrase "Excuse me", she can speak English without an accent.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: She figured that ''[[TheSociopath Deok-su]]'' of all people would be the best to team up with in the games and assumed he would not [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder betray]] her after she helped him advance to the next round. She is [[EtTuBrute rewarded]] for that choice. On the other hand, she would have likely been one of the many who were killed in the night fight if she hadn't joined Deok-su's gang. She seems to adopt this as a general survival tactic, trying to buddy up to whomever she perceived to be the strongest guy even when she joined Gi-hun's group. What she really misjudges is not other people's characters, but [[TheFriendNobodyLikes her own desirability and seductive powers]].
* {{Jerkass}}: Sleazy and unpleasant to be around, to the point that nobody wants to even team up with her in the marble game.
* LargeHam: She's as unhinged and kooky as it gets. Probably the best case is her constantly screaming about her bowel movements as Sae-byeok crawls through the vents.
* MotorMouth: She never stops talking, leading to the others trying to distance themselves from her as much as possible.
* MustHaveNicotine: She's so desperate for a smoke that she resorts to smuggling cigarettes and a lighter into the games via a certain body cavity. Plus, she goes so far as to argue with the guards and threaten to piss on the floor just for an excuse to get into the bathroom, where she can smoke in private.
* MysteriousPast: She's the only one among the major characters whose background outside the games is unknown. While she claimed to have a newborn child when begging to be let go early on, given her CompulsiveLiar tendencies this may very well also be a lie.
* NoIndoorVoice: When she talks, everyone knows.
* NumerologicalMotif: Mi-nyeo's number 212 is a palindrome that can be read two ways (either forwards or backwards) as well as starting and ending with '2'. This signifies her two-faced nature of hiding her ManipulativeBitch tendencies with an obnoxious loudmouth upfront.
** Another way to see her number is that every digit in 212 is a direct increase of every digit in 101 (Deok-su's number) by one. [[spoiler:She was always one step ahead of Deok-su through manipulation, and for betraying her, she dragged him down to their deaths in the fifth game.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Once she starts getting quieter after the fourth game, something is clearly up with her. [[spoiler: It's because she's grown fed up with Deok-su backstabbing her and decides to take him down with her during the bridge game when he refuses to move ahead of the others.]]
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: She's one of the most morally dubious players, and at one point starts slinging racist and xenophobic insults at Ali when he points out her hypocrisy.
* PopCulturalOsmosis: She references the bullet-dodging scene in ''Film/TheMatrix'' at one point, but refers to the film as the "guy swimming backwards" as she didn't exactly know the title. When Ali correctly guesses the film's name, she starts throwing xenophobic remarks at him (likely out of taking offense).
* QuirkyCurls: Her hair is naturally wavy, and her personality matches her carefree attitude. Unfortunately, this just leads everyone around her to find her annoying.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: She finally calls out Deok-su for being a DirtyCoward and even makes fun of his [[TeenyWeenie dick size]] right before [[spoiler: she plunges both of them to their deaths in the fifth game.]]
* ShooOutTheClowns: DoubleSubverted. [[spoiler:Her being the only one without a partner during the fourth game causes her to be dragged away in fear... [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing then it's later found out she got to sit out the entire round.]] Then in the fifth game she's a lot more quiet and serious and then kills Deok-su along with herself.]]
* SmallNameBigEgo: She's constantly talking herself up and insisting that anyone should be lucky to have her on their team. No one buys it.
* TakingYouWithMe: During the fifth game, [[spoiler: she falls together with Jang Deok-su as revenge for betraying her earlier.]]
-->'''VIP''': "Hell hath no fury like a WomanScorned."
* TokenEvilTeammate: To Gi-Hun's team during the Tug-of-War game, as she only sides with them because of being dumped by Deok-su's team and nobody is happy to have her, but they're forced to accept her as she is the only unselected player left.
* TranquilFury: While she was [[LargeHam loud and bombastic]] early on, she gets a lot more serious by the time the fifth game starts after [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Deok-su]] throws her under the bus one too many times. She's finally had enough once he tries to take advantage of her again, so she gets her revenge by [[spoiler: [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calmly insulting him]] and [[TakingYouWithMe dragging both of them down to their deaths]].]]
* TrouserSpace: She manages to smuggle in a lighter and cigarettes during her return to the game island, having stored them in a capsule in her... [[VictoriasSecretCompartment private parts]]. [[ChekhovsGun The lighter becomes surprisingly helpful for the second game]].
* WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing: [[spoiler:She gets to sit out the fourth game entirely as a consolation prize for no one picking her as a teammate.]]
* YoungerThanTheyLook: During their taunt-to-taunt game, she calls Deok-su "an old man", which the latter takes offense. She challenges him to guess how old she is. He goes from 49 to ''19'', and she answers with a "bingo". Considering her CompulsiveLiar tendencies, however, this isn't likely true.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 111 (Byeong-gi)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8bdf501f6b1c38e2159a07294b6763da68985d154e6c7a15ec9ea022b97014e972d1c63a0d9d91739b3a02ecb0b65bd1b6e4a124284c75caa6f7c5e9b51ff002d7615eb2963ebd6895bf69f7cff5253a184df3ce832c8c0b430d73d1fdcd45a8ae98d9f7d633f30aab5e8824703528f4.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm just barely escaping death every damn day."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Yu Seong-Ju, Creator/JoseGilbertoVilchis (Latin American Spanish dub)
A doctor wanted for malpractice.
----
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: The guards need him to harvest the organs of dying players, so they give him hints so he can survive the games; in turn, 111 allies himself with Deok-su by giving him hints on the upcoming games, hoping this will make him too valuable to kill.
* CheatersNeverProsper: [[spoiler: He eventually gets executed by the Front Man alongside the corrupt guards as punishment for cheating.]]
* DeadGuyOnDisplay[=/=]MakeAnExampleOfThem: [[spoiler: Gets his dead body hanged along with that of the corrupt guards as a warning to the players.]]
* DoctorsDisgracefulDemotion: Player 111 is a doctor who has entered the DeadlyGame due to an incident of malpractice. His medical expertise gets him recruited for an OrganTheft racket run by a team of guards.
* EatTheEvidence: After finding a note on the next game slipped into his food, 111 pauses just long enough to read it before quickly swallowing the note.
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: He decides to team with [[TheBully Deok-su]] of all people because of his raw brute strength, which is favored in a game like [[spoiler:tug-of-war]], in exchange of giving him information about the round.
* MadDoctor: Wanted for malpractice and currently part of an organ-harvesting ring. Plus, as the stress of the games steadily escalates, 111 begins to noticeably crack under the strain.
* OnlyOneName: Only his forename is given.
* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Wears spectacles, an early indication of his intellectual specialties.
* SanitySlippage: The stress of having to perform complex surgery while on starvation rations and sleep deprivation begins to strain his composure over time, to the point that he's reduced to screaming in panic when his source of info on the games unexpectedly dries up. [[spoiler: This leads to him having a meltdown and attacking the guards, killing one and fleeing into one of the playgrounds - where the Front Man catches and executes him for cheating.]]
* SleepDeprivation: A combination of stress and the need to defend himself from rival players after lights-out means that 111 isn't getting as much sleep as he should. As a result, it becomes harder and harder to perform the operations the guards need him to perform.
* SuddenlyShouting: The first sign that 111 is starting to lose it is when he admonishes the guards to stop questioning Jun-ho, then suddenly erupting into enraged screaming in mid-sentence.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 240 (Ji-yeong)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/81ab2eb4_a3ee_4e1a_9bb0_a70f697abee0.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'll make sure you win. Whatever it takes."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Lee Yoo-Mi, Yuuki Luna (English Dub), Yurika Kubo (Japanese dub)
A mysterious young woman who strikes up an unlikely bond with Sae-byeok.
----
* BerserkButton: Fairly downplayed since she doesn't get very emotional, but it's clear that she hates the mention of religion and lashes out at the pastor for praying during the [[spoiler: Tug-of-War]] game. [[spoiler: You later come to find out that her father was a pastor who would pray after raping her.]]
* BirdsOfAFeather: She forms a genuine bond with Sae-byeok, another EmotionlessGirl with a traumatic past.
* BrokenBird: She doesn't even care whether she lives or dies in the game. [[spoiler:Most played during the fourth game, where Ji-yeong willingly loses since she believes Sae-byeok has someone to live for, while she has nothing.]]
* CrimeOfSelfDefense: [[spoiler:She kills her dad as revenge for raping her and murdering her mother, this gets her arrested, and all of her father's debts going onto her, which leads to her into the games in the first place.]]
* EmotionlessGirl: Comparable to Sae-byeok in this regard, which is likely what draws them to each other.
* EvilStoleMyFaith: In Episode 5, Ji-yeong mocks a pastor who prays to God after the [[spoiler:Tug-of-War]] game. It is then revealed next episode that [[spoiler:her father was a pastor who killed her mother and [[RapeAsBackstory raped her]], only to then immediately pray for forgiveness as if that made it ok. [[{{Patricide}} Ji-yeong murdered her father]] for the former and ended up becoming one of the contestants after getting out of prison.]]
* ExactWords: She promised to Sae-byeok that she will help her win at any cost if she partners up with her in the fourth game... [[spoiler:even if it costs her her life.]]
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:She dies smiling, thanking Sae-byeok for playing with her.]]
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:She spends her last moments saying goodbye to Sae-byeok with a grin.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: During the [[spoiler: Marbles game, she gets into a heart to heart talk with [[TheStoic Kang Sae-Byeok]] and decides to give her a chance to live since Sae-Byeok has someone to live for.]]
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: [[spoiler: Ji-yeong's final words to Sae-byeok right before she's shot is thanking the girl for playing with her and that she was honored to have met her.]]
* OnlyOneName: Only her forename is given.
* {{Patricide}}: [[spoiler:She murdered her own father as revenge for murdering her mother and raping her.]]
* ThePromise: Subverted. When she and Sae-byeok talk to one another during the marbles game, she asks what Sae-byeok's plans were if she were to win. When Sae-byeok says she wants to go to Jeju Island, Ji-yeong chides her and asks her to "dream bigger" like going to Hawaii. She even says they should plan a girls night together... before [[MoodWhiplash remembering]] [[DeadlyGame where they were]] and knowing that only one of them could leave.
* RapeAsBackstory: She reveals to [[spoiler: Sae-byeok that, after murdering her mother, her father "did things to her" and would then ask God for forgiveness.]]
* ShedTheFamilyName: Implied to be the case. When she and Sae-byeok introduce each other, Ji-yeong doesn't mention what her family name is, prompting Sae-byeok to ask, to which Ji-yeong replies that she doesn't have a family name.
* ThrowingTheFight: During the marbles game against Sae-byeok [[spoiler: she intentionally drops her marble so it doesn't go near the wall where Sae-byeok tossed her marble, letting her win.]]
* TryingNotToCry: [[spoiler: As she is about to be executed for losing the Marbles game, Ji-yeong briefly struggles to contain her composure and not cry when thanking Saw-byeok for being her partner.]]
[[/folder]]
!!Other players:
[[folder:Players 250 and 324]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9d6f8f621ecdcecea29540be09575c13433a556a6396871f3eb58a7200bdb9356a6115f107fcf76f954696045823f39b47c3533986df8c17ac21549b943d67324f296deed484c541408d32f6f8780f6390767899b1eb2466f67eca0aecec17d4ace06523fc762ff2638fb1a1128440ff.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Dumbass got caught."'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ab5a4ccf5a9a69fca2e41fa2c9dfe9bba44c941ca9687fc458737b4318d2ceb3526f6ff3e26b1f6b33700cde1afb0142d4c33891290995857f5f440f10debf0ae89f00552bdd376dfe91ed17c2c0a9af6ce9f1b483010765b67fb877f30738ce.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Holy shit. This place is huge!"'']]
->'''Played by:''' Park Ji-hoon (Player 250) and Lee Han-sol (Player 324)
Two young male participants. They were the first ones eliminated throughout the whole course of the game.
----
* BloodFromTheMouth: Player 324 vomits blood to show he's not kidding after getting shot and dropping dead to the ground.
* DecoyProtagonist: At first, it seems that they'll stick around long enough to the show's comic reliefs after having enough screentime to establish their personalities, but are the first two casualties of the game.
* FlippingTheBird: When the players' photos are being taken, 324 sticks out his tongue and flips off the camera with both hands.
* RedOniBlueOni: Player 324 is the impulsive red, Player 250 is the exasperated blue.
* SacrificialLamb: While not named, they were given some screentime to establish their personalities and dynamic, but were the first ones to die to showcase the brutality of the games.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After realizing that 324 really is dead, 250 tries making a run for the entrance doors, with his inevitable murder solidifying to the rest of the players the seriousness of their punishment, and inciting [[MassOhCrap mass panic]].
* ShooOutTheClowns: Their dynamic added some comic relief to the show before being the first people killed off.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Their deaths solidify the seriousness of the game and give everyone else a huge wake-up call.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Share this vibe as they were close friends before the game, introduced together and died within moments apart from each other.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Became the first two deaths of the very first game.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 062]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/29b108d5a75a66e7b700a5a963f061ba27c7aa17afe01df5f33139d7f63f226dc4f1fc3a84355500278056fc14a34a0adef745cbab93e0cc57c36faf125e76f0b9b15157b2b887df9256857bea05866e09f12e0a9cc9371fd7cb59e07bb0258dafa5a8a59800605126d721595b995060.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"That's a 1-in-32,768 chance."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Lee Doo-seok
A math teacher who applies his mathematic skills to get past the games.
----
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: As a math teacher, it's implied that he used his mathematic skills to get through the games that required them, allowing him to reach as far as Round Five. He even uses this to try to convince Gi-hun to let him partner up in the fourth game. [[spoiler:It ultimately doesn't save him in the end, once he manages to calculate his odds of getting through the [[LuckBasedMission "Glass Stepping Stones"]] game and realizes that the chances are slim to none, he resigns himself to his fate and just goes through the glass panels randomly, managing to go through three correct panels before falling to his death.]]
* BadassBookworm: Not only is he pretty good with maths, he's said to have played soccer regularly as well, which explains why he survived physical-based rounds like the "Red Light, Green Light", "Tug-of-War", and the nighttime brawl.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Realizing his chances to win are almost impossible, he resigns to his fate and tries his best to pass as many glasses as possible before falling to his doom.]]
* MirthlessLaughter: [[spoiler:Laughs without humor as he realizes just how badly the odds are stacked against him.]]
* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler:His sprint across three correct panels randomly in the fifth game becomes this, as in the moment of panic, no one could recall which panels he stepped on before falling, leading to more sacrifices to re-reveal the panels he got correct.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Players 069 and 070]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/players_no_069_and_070_in_squid_game_7.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Kim Yun-tae (Player 069) and Lee Ji-ha (Player 070)
A husband and wife pair participating in the game.
----
* BarefootSuicide: [[spoiler:Player 069 takes his shoes off before he hangs himself.]]
* DeathIsTheOnlyOption: Due to being each other's partners in the fourth game, no matter what the outcome is, [[spoiler:either the husband or the wife would have to die.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:No. 069 is driven to despair after having to let his wife die in the fourth game, and after failing to convince the other remaining players to quit the game again, ultimately kills himself that same night.]]
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:When they discover that only one person can win in the end, they ''re-enter'' the game knowing that one of them will inevitably die, but still act shocked when they're faced with a SadisticChoice in the fourth game.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:No. 069 hangs himself due to the guilt of defeating his wife in the marble game, which, of course, led to her death.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Their first prominent appearance is right before tug of war, in which Player 069 refuses an offer from Sang-Woo to fill a gap in his team, [[HappilyMarried since he wants to play together with his wife Player 070.]]
* HappilyMarried: They're the only players with an actual familial connection, being two consecutive numbers even. No surprise they picked each other as partners in the fourth game. No. 069 even refused to join Sang-woo's team for the third game unless his wife could come with him and protected her when Mi-nyeo attempted to grab her as a partner.
* KilledOffScreen: [[spoiler:Player 070's death is never shown, but it is announced in the PA.]]
* LOL69: VIP 4 bets on Player 069 just because of the innuendo [[spoiler:and is disappointed to find that he had hung himself soon after.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Even after winning the fourth round, No. 069 couldn't overcome the fact that he just allowed his wife to die just to get further in the game.]]
* OhCrap: Both of their reactions are this when they realize what the fourth game is, [[spoiler: and that they would have to play against their partner.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 096]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2fe63c8621fa6926189372bb0e544bf05d1491eb78d2dded807c58f2db892120a6dbc09ec1c8657d24f994de7b35776f8de29d927838c9c86b4602c7f57ec90ba7a0ec3388fcd88bb6c2e9df51b64b5197cef652cc678cc96159be3e7316026c03b59fdf2561c7db1ff3b50992b056b1.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[TemptingFate "Excuse me... Can I be the first?"]]]]''
->'''Played by:''' Jung Woo-hyuk
A man who begs Gi-hun to let him be the one to go first in the fifth game.
----
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Wanting to be the first player of the fifth game leads to [[spoiler:him being its first casualty]].
* IJustWantToBeBadass: Before the fifth game begins, players have to pick numbered vests which tell the order they have to play the game. When it was down to only the first and the last vests, 096 begs Gi-hun for the former since he wants to feel in control of his life for once and so he wants to be the first to play the game. He changes his attitude pretty quickly once he finally saw what the game really is about...
* LOL69: VIP 4 chooses to bet on 096 after [[spoiler:069 commits suicide out of grief, since it's the closest number to 69. Turns into BlackComedy when 096 is the first to snuff it in the game immediately thereafter.]]
* OhCrap: Realizes that he just signed his own death warrant by choosing to go first in the fifth game.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 119 (No Sang-hoon)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/890c49bd72b8d19826da662c6b75124de0f72d79c466cc8e77c937428b806dc54ae7b889b9eb49d6e1b03ef76bfc429a11de0fad63bd814da8d0810686b7adb92933b4e8de9e18f07e0ec2b35befcb32796478347e41b1a6701dd8b29deb835aa4e440b3283672c2b1f8ff80eb18acca.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Such a young kid...How did you end up like this?"'']]
->'''Played by:''' Yun Don-sun
A contestant that made it through the first round, but narrowly lost the second, before he was eliminated, he uncovered a secret about the guards and the system.
----
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: When he was cornered by the guards, after realizing one of them is a young man, aims a gun at his own temple and pulls the trigger.
* DespairEventHorizon: He's so stunned by the AwfulTruth that the guards are [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse young, ordinary people]] that he decides to just turn the gun [[DrivenToSuicide on himself]].
* SanitySlippage: When he realizes he lost the second round, he snaps and attacks the guards.
* YankTheDogsChain: He came ''very'' close to passing the second game. Had it not been for his umbrella's broken handle, he could've passed the second round.
* YoureInsane: Despite that he's the one losing his sanity, he screams this at both Player 322 for trying to interfere with the vote and then at the Pink Guards when he loses Round 2 complaining why the shapes on the sugar honeycombs wildly varied from triangle to umbrella.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Players 278, 040 and 303]]
->'''Played by:''' Ja-Hyoung Kwak (Player 278), Lim Ki-hong (Player 040) and Kim Dong-won (Player 303)
Deok-Su's "friends".
----
* AssholeVictim: They're a bunch of sadistic and perverted bullies who are just as bad as Deok-su and murder their fellow contestants in order to get ahead, so it's not surprising that not one person mourns any of them when all of them eventually die.
* TheDragon: Player 278 serves as this to Deok-su.
* DumbMuscle: 040 and 303 are mostly used for intimidation.
* FatBastard: 278 is noticeably chubbier than the other contestants. 040 and 303 are LeanAndMean while Deok-su is LargeAndInCharge.
* GangOfBullies: They follow Deok-su and do as he says.
* GigglingVillain: Player 278 has a tendency to giggle when he's winning, it gets on Deok-su's nerves.
* GoodHairEvilHair: 040 wears his hair long and in a ponytail and is one of the few contestants with a prominent mustache.
* HateSink: They steal food, kill their fellow contestants in order to get ahead [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and laugh]] [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor at terrible jokes.]]
* NoHonorAmongThieves: During the marbles game, Player 278 takes delight in mocking Deok-su when he's winning. He refuses to switch games until the guard forces him to.
* NoNameGiven: Despite getting a lot of screen time and lines, none of them are named. Especially noticeable in 278's case, who actually refers to Deok-su by his name, but never gets a name himself.
* NumberTwo: Player 278 is Deok-su's [[TheDragon Dragon]].
* OhCrap: 278 after realizing he and Deok-su need to battle against each other, and later after he loses the marble game.
** 040 as well, when he realizes he's out of marbles.
* ProfaneLastWords: Player 278 shouts "You're all assholes!" at a guard just before he's killed.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: Player 278 isn’t very physically intimidating, so he’s constantly praising his ‘boss’.
* TheQuietOne: Player 303 gets the least amount of lines and screen time. Player 040 is shown dying and talks during more frequently.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: 278 tries to run away after losing the marble game. [[spoiler: He doesn’t get very far.]]
* SmugSnake: PlayedWith. 278 becomes increasingly smug and unpleasant during the marbles game, but it’s because he’s winning. It’s only because of Deok-su’s LoopholeAbuse and [[BornLucky dumb luck]] that he loses.
* TheStarscream: 278 has no problem playing against his ‘boss’ Deok-su during the marbles game.
* ThoseTwoBadGuys: 040 and 303 are always seen together.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: In round 4, Player 278's death by submachine guns (when previously most failed players are executed by pistols) distracted Ali from his own game, [[spoiler: allowing Sang-woo to quickly replace the bag containing the marbles with another bag that has only pebbles while Ali isn't looking, which ultimately leads to Ali's death]].
* VillainousFriendship: Averted for the most part. Deok-su and 278 are constantly seen bullying others together, but when they're forced to battle it out, they immediately end their alliance.
** Played straight with 303 and 040, who seem to genuinely be on very good terms and respect Deok-su.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Despite partnering up with player 040 during the marble game, player 303 disappears in that episode. When Player 040 gets shot, he's playing against someone else, indicating they switched partners, even though the rules specifically state this isn't allowed. Furthermore, the player who beats 040 has a index which can be partially read as "_26", yet no player with an index matching those two digits is among the sixteen to play the bridge game, making this appear to be an outright continuity error.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Mi-nyeo and Sae-byeok warn the men that Deok-su will betray them as soon as he gets the chance, and they're right: during the marbles game, Deok-su and 278 are turned against each other and neither seems very upset.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 196]]
->'''Played by:''' Kim Dong-hyun
A paranoid contestant who joins Gi-hun's team during the tug-of-war.
----
* BoomHeadshot: His body is shown with a bullet hole through his skull.
* DeadpanSnarker: His response to Il-nam when the latter says that tug-of-war requires more than just strength.
-->"Well then, what's it about, huh? We just go out and speak to them?"
* TheEeyore: Generally dismissive and pessimistic during his brief appearance.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Most of his lines are him insulting Gi-Hun’s team, but he has good reasons. He argues that Il-Nahm should save his strength and doesn’t trust him to stay awake all night. He also tells the girls that it wouldn’t be very wise to team-up, since most challenges rely on strength rather then agility. Finally he also agrees with 244 to attack the other teams, since they’re in a DeadlyGame, it wouldn’t be a dumb idea to take out the competition.
* KilledOffScreen: [[spoiler:While his elimination is never stated by the announcer, 196 teaming up with 244 in the marbles game, combined with 244's presence in the following glass bridge game, indicates 196 met some unfortunate fate in the marbles round, while 244 got to advance. His body is briefly shown when Sae-byeok and Ji-yeong begin to play their game.]]
* ThoseTwoGuys: He and 244 get along pretty well.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 244]]
->'''Played by:''' Kim Si-hyun
A pastor who joins Gi-hun's team during the tug-of-war.
----
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Relies on the Story of Creation when picking numbers for the fifth game.
* AssholeVictim: Not as big as the other examples, but he’s a sexist hypocrite and a murderer who’s death is completely his own doing.
* BadassPreacher: By virtue of the fact he survived until the fifth game.
* BloodKnight: He prays for other players to die and attempts to convince Gi-Hun and the others to kill the weaker teams, saying everyone’s hands are already dirty, implying he killed several people during the night time brawl.
* ButtMonkey: Poor guy isn't treated well by his peers. Ji-yeong mocks him for his religious tendencies and he gets killed in the fifth game by being shoved into a false glass panel.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Seems to be this thanks to his religious rants that keep all the players awake, his constant hypocrisy and sexist comments. The only one who tolerates him is 196, but that didn’t last very long.
* HateSink: Not as bad as the other characters, but he's a sexist hypocrite who does little to help his teammates and only comes up with terrible ideas. His death is PlayedForLaughs and well-deserved.
* HeManWomanHater: He seems to be the most sexist out of the team, since 196 and Sang-Woo act out of pragmatism and self-preservation, but 244 actually uses quotes from the bible for his reasoning and even tells the girls that god made men the superior species.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In the fifth game, while he's praying to God while holding everybody up, the player behind him tries to forcefully make him proceed, but 244 ends up pushing the man onto a panel that shatters, dropping the player to his death. He then visibly gets the idea of [[ASimplePlan continuing to hold the others up by praying until someone approaches him so he can eliminate them while determining which panel is safe to stand on]]... however, [[DeathByIrony he doesn't get the chance to put this plan to practice as the next player behind him impatiently shoves 244 to his death.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: Despite being a pastor, he is heavily implied to have killed people before the tug-of-war game and is openly sexist. He also prays for god to kill other players instead of praying for his own survival.
* LackOfEmpathy: If his behavior in the fifth game demonstrates anything.
* LaserGuidedKarma: During the glass bridge game, he begins to stall by beginning to pray even though there is a time limit. This frustrates the players behind him who try to hurry him up. After getting into a struggle he manages to throw one of the players into the glass ahead of him. Thanking god, he decides to pray once more, but the player behind him is not having any of it, so he shoves him into the glass almost immediately.
* TheLoad: He takes his sweet time praying to God atop the glass panel he's on in the fifth game, wasting precious seconds in the time limit and blocking everyone else's progress.
* MauveShirt: Receives a decent amount of focus, is given a bit of personality and a memorable death. He makes it to the fifth round, which is where nearly every player still alive at that point dies.
* StrawMisogynist: In one of his religious rants, he says that god made men the superior species.
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: He is killed immediately after thanking god for saving him.
* TemptingFate: See above.
* ThoseTwoGuys: He and 196 get along pretty well.
* TokenReligiousTeammate: His most defining trait is him being a religious man who’s constantly praying. No other character is seen doing so.
* TooDumbToLive: He decides to waste time by praying whilst in the middle of a life-or-death game with a timer. After someone tries to kill him, he decides to try the same thing AGAIN until someone catches him off guard and pushes him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 151]]
A contestant who makes it to the fifth game.
----
* DeathByIrony: Met the exact same fate he tried to inflict on 244.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Jumps forward to try and throw 244 forward. Needless to say, it doesn't end well for him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 276]]
[[quoteright:197:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/276.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:197:]]
->'''Played by:''' Christian Lagahit
Another contestant who joins Gi-hun's team during the tug-of-war.
----
* KilledOffScreen: [[spoiler:He sticks with Gi-Hun's team until the beginning of round 4. He is last seen walking into the arena with his partner, Player 021, as Mi-nyeo goes into hysterics. While he isn't shown getting shot, 276's elimination is announced at the same time Sang-woo open's Ali's bag of marbles -- With his death reinforced by the appearance of Player 021 in the bridge game.]]
* TokenMinority: The most significant role he plays is being the only other migrant worker alongside Ali. In the tug-of-war game, Ali even approaches him for his team, as if in a show of solidarity. 276 is also brown-skinned, something that stands out in the tug-of-war lineup next to the much fairer-skinned Korean characters' skin tones. His actor Christian Lagahit is Filipino, and fascinatingly, ''two'' Filipino actors were considered for the role of Ali. It makes sense that 276's greatest role is solidarity with Ali.
* TheVoiceless: While GuestStarPartyMember Player 196 and 244 got several lines during the tug-of-war game, Player 276 remained quiet all throughout his appearances. Even when recruited by Ali for game 3, Player 276 only managed a salute.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Receives even less screentime than the other minor characters on the tug-of-war team like 244 and 196. While 244 and 196 have dialogue where they advocate preemptively attacking the other participants, and 244 [[spoiler:outright makes it to the second-last round of the game]], we receive no dialogue from 276 and [[spoiler:he ends up losing to Player 021 in the marbles game.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 453]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/realization.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"So he went right."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Yang Mal-Bok
->''"The left one I think!"''
A contestant who makes it to the fifth game.
----
* AintTooProudToBeg: She's among the players who got on their knees and begged to be let go in episode 2. Despite this, however, when given a chance to invoke the third clause to allow the players to vote on stopping or continuing the game, she's the first person who votes to continue - after taking a long look at the vast sum of money in the piggy bank hanging above.
* BloodyHorror: Although her fall is offscreen, the viewer is still shown the gruesome aftermath of her long fall down. Her head is cracked wide open and she's lying in a pool of her own blood and brain matter.
* KilledOffScreen: In the fifth game, she fell off the glass bridge offscreen, with only her pawn being shown falling off the model bridge in the VIP room.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Despite making it as far as the fifth game, she gets little in the way of dialogue or characterization, and is even KilledOffscreen.
* WrongAssumption: After Player 062's mad dash across several tiles in the fifth game, Player 021 is unable to recall which tiles he went on and approaches 453 for help. She urges him that he went left (he went right), leading to 021's untimely death.
[[folder:Player 322]]
A homeless, bitter contestant who wants to win the game to have a house to live in.
----
* BullyingADragon: Tries to aggressively steer the vote (after Round 1 was completed) in his favor to continue the game by being obnoxiously loud then violent as No. 119 tries to beat him up, leading to a guard threatening his life with an AK-47 to regain his composure.
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: He gets pushed by Mi-nyeo and deflected off by Deok-su's immense weight off the stepping stones game and to his death without breaking any glass, making his death extremely wasteful as now the others couldn't determine which glass was real or tampered]].
* IJustWantToBeFree: He hounds the other players to continue the game to get out of their financial debts. When No. 369 tells them they should all go home, No. 322 reveals he's homeless.
* {{Jerkass}}: Though his homelessness and debts doesn't really excuse him from making a cacophonous ruckus trying to influence the vote and force the others to let the game continue.
* LargeHam: He screams a lot of his dialogue across to signal how determined he is to win the Squid Game.
* LowerClassLout: He tried to physically assault a contestant who voted to leave .
* SenselessSacrifice: He got up to Round 5 (the stepping stones game) and was shoved by [[spoiler: Mi-Nyeo]] to try to determine which stone was safe to step on. [[spoiler: He instead falls off the rails after Deok-su lets him bounce off without testing a glass, worsening the chances of survival for everyone else]].
* WorthIt: His sentiments on the Squid Game, including Round 1 which was a Red Light, Green Light game riddled with AI-powered gun turrets.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 017]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/player_017.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I used to make glass for over 30 years. You can't normally tell but..when you look at tempered glass when its lit from its side, then you can see faint stain marks."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Lee Sang-Hee
->''"Hold on. Wait one second. I can tell the panels apart."''
A contestant who used to manufacture and create glass for 30 years.
----
* MauveShirt: Literally the ''only contestant left'' near the end of the fifth game who isn't a main character. [[spoiler:Too bad he couldn't make it.]]
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: He doesn't tell anyone about his ability to tell apart the glass panels in the fifth game until it's his turn to lead. When Gi-hun calls him out for it, he says it's because the other players are always out to kill him every chance they get.
* SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat: His experience in glass manufacturing isn't mentioned at all until the fifth game, which just so happens to require players stepping on glass. Even the game designers failed to account for this despite his background being written in his files, so the Front Man had to turn off the lights to remove his advantage.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: His glass background ends up to be extremely useful in the fifth game, where the players are supposed to differentiate between 18 rows of tempered and normal glass. His advantage is only taken away in the last row, after the [=VIPs=] complain that the game is no longer fun to watch due to it.
* UnluckyThirteen: Zig-zagged. He picks to be #13 in the fifth game of stepping stones, and his glass manufacturing experience of over 30 years makes him able to tell the difference between real glass and tempered glass just by examining the light refraction - thus making Gi-hun, Sae-byeok and Sang-woo very lucky to have him or else they'd have picked the wrong stones themselves. The [=VIPs=] complain the games are getting boring thanks to his expertise, so the Front Man kills the lights to make it more of a challenge. 017 loses all confidence, [[spoiler:and Sang-woo pushes him into the last set to determine which was the tempered or real glass. Turns out the one 017 tested was the real one]].
* YankTheDogsChain: [[spoiler:He was literally just ''one step'' away from passing the fifth game.]]
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Sang-Woo disposes of him when the gamemakers take away his advantage.]]
[[/folder]]
----
!!In general:
[[folder:In general]]
* AintTooProudToBeg: Most of the players start doing this once they realize they've lost a game or are about to die.
* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: A rare male example with Ali, Sang-woo and Gi-hun, who lead [[TheTeam the main team]] in the middle set of the games. Ali, the physically strongest and capable, is brawn, calculating and educated Sang-woo is the brains, and the sociable Gi-hun, who emerges as the group leader, is the beauty/heart.
* BeautyInversion: Naturally, the cast members are made to look as dowdy and "plained down" as possible, because of their situation. Even Sae-byeok, who is played by a FashionModel (Jung Ho-yeon), gets this treatment. The exception is Sang-woo, who often grooms himself well despite the circumstances and even attempts to commit suicide in Episode 2 while still dressed impeccably. WordOfGod is that Sang-woo wanted to look perfect even in death. [[spoiler:However, in the penultimate episode, Gi-hun, Sae-byeok, and Sang-woo all look quite sharp in nice suits.]]
* CastSpeciation: The final trio are essentially a live-action version of CombatDiplomacyStealth. Sang-woo is the talker of the three - he was even able to use diplomacy and understanding the rules to get everyone out of the Squid Game the first time with some of the people being saved from a violent death. Sae-byeok is clearly the thief and stealth specialist being able to spy on the workers for the Honeycomb game. While all three are capable in a fight, once Gi-hun's courage is rallied - he becomes the combatant of the team. He was the one to stand up and get in Deok-Su's face before the night brawl and ultimately he's the triumphant one in the final game which descended into a knife fight.
* CrazyPrepared: Certain players amongst them came prepared upon their return to the game island after their initial release, having known what to expect.
** Sae-byeok held her breath when the sleeping gas in the van was released, and pretends to be unconscious throughout her trip there. She manages to sneak in ''a knife'' through sleight-of-hand with a Guard's pocket while they changed her clothes.
** Mi-nyeo manages to sneak in a capsule of cigarettes and a lighter via her VictoriasSecretCompartment [[TrouserSpace in her pants]], avoiding the guards' detection. The lighter ends up becoming a ChekhovsGun.
* DysfunctionJunction: All of the players [[spoiler:(except for Il-nam, who is actually rich and just participating to have fun)]] are there because they're so deep in poverty that being out in the real world is a FateWorseThanDeath. They also each have a trauma-riddled backstory relating to their debt and destitution. Even after learning that losing means they'll be killed, 93% of the players return voluntarily to continue playing.
* DwindlingParty: Due to the nature of the game, the bonds they form are only short-lived. By the end of the fifth game, only [[spoiler:Gi-hun, Sang-woo, and Sae-byeok]] remain.
* FamilyOfChoice: Deconstructed. It's clear that some of them form familial attachments to each other. Sang-woo sees Gi-hun as a brother, Ali calls Sang-woo "hyung" ("older brother"), and [[LikeASonToMe Gi-hun reminds Il-nam of his son.]] But given that this is a game where they literally have to either murder each other or get executed until only one player is left, none of these family-like relationships end well.
* TheTeam: Gi-hun and several others eventually form one.
** TheLeader: Seong Gi-hun. While the team has no official leader, he's the one who gathered them and acts as their face, best emphasized when he's chosen to stand at the front during the tug-of-war contest.
** TheLancer: Kang Sae-byeok, who has an aloof personality and starts off hostile to the rest only to warm up over time.
** TheSmartGuy: Cho Sang-woo, a clever businessman who comes up with most of the team's strategies.
** TheBigGuy: Ali Abdul, a tough but kind factory worker with a tremendous amount of physical strength.
** TheChick: Ji-yeong, a strange but compassionate girl who helps Sae-byeok to open up.
** TheMentor: Oh Il-nam, whose age and experience helps the team through several challenges.
** TheSixthRanger: Han Mi-nyeo and players 196, 244 and 276. The former inserted herself into the group after Deok-su kicked her out of his team for the [[spoiler:tug-of-war]] game, and the latter three were just around to fill up the missing space.
* TownGirls: Within the three named female players, Ji-yeong, compassionate and selfless, is the femme, Mi-nyeo, the (attempted) FemmeFatale, is the neither, and Sae-byeok, the stone-hearted pickpocket, is the butch.
* TrackingChip: They have these installed behind their ears. The Guards scanned these to confirm the identities of returning Players after their initial release.
* WeakButSkilled: During the [[spoiler:Tug-of-war game. Due to the game generally favoring raw brute strength to win, and Gi-hun's team consisting of those lacking it, they have to come up with a strategy to beat the much stronger opposing group. Which actually works.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: While the Front Man tells his staff to keep tabs on the contestants who don't return after the first game, we never hear about what happened to them afterwards.
* YouAreNumberSix: The contestants have names, but the people running the games give them shirts and jackets with numbers on them and address them as "Player", followed by the number on their shirt/jacket.
[[/folder]]
!!Major players:
[[folder:Player 456 (Seong Gi-hun)]]
[[quoteright:304:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7de386837ee3ceeb80f40f90bad3c4fac946a2372490442e96c2418ddd6efa7c3628186dd38ef8d7bfbcc7e96256bc4dccda12a761a60c8df1bcfc955b92a8d051209adb3f2ecd78a260adcbb061ee5734f7417e2203d6e81d254b01d21ceecc.bmp]]
[[caption-width-right:304:''"It will take a whole lot more killing Gi-hun!"'']]
->'''Played by:''' Lee Jung-jae, Creator/GregChun (English dub), Creator/VictorUgarte (Latin American Spanish dub), Takayaki Sakazume (Japanese dub)
A down-on-his-luck chauffeur and gambling addict living with his mother, estranged from his ex-wife and daughter, and trapped by debts to the mob, specifically 6 billion Won[[note]]approximately $5 million US Dollars[[/note]].
----
* ActionSurvivor: Doesn't have outstanding combat skills, or strength but [[spoiler:manages to come out on top of the series of {{deadly game}}s through a combination of quick thinking and empathy.]]
* AdultFear: Applies to everyone participating in the games, but as the protagonist, Gi-hun is millions of won in debt, and if he fails to pay up, the mobsters will take one of his kidneys. His ex-wife is disgusted with him, and he fears that if she takes their daughter to Los Angeles, the young girl will forget her Korean heritage and start referring to another man -- his ex-wife's new husband -- as her father. Additionally, his mother is in very poor health and is in need of surgery due to her diabetes.
* AllForNothing:
** His main motivation for returning to the games was to procure funds to cure his mother's diabetes. [[spoiler:After he finally returns from the games however, she was long dead.]]
** [[spoiler:Wanting nothing to do with the dirty money he had won, he makes a final AllOrNothing bet with Il-nam based on their differing philosophies: If anyone helps a drunken man they spotted on the streets by midnight, Il-nam would have to take back all the prize money. Despite Gi-hun winning the bet, [[YouAreTooLate Il-nam had silently passed away on the dot]], preventing the latter from acknowledging his loss and leaving Gi-hun stuck with the money. It ultimately becomes subverted as this event also convinces Gi-hun to accept and use the money for good.]]
* AntiHero: [[ClassicalAntihero Type I,]] as he is something of a loser who begins the story making all the wrong decisions in his life. He turns out to be a very moral person in the end, though, and ends up developing a backbone as the story goes on. By the end, [[spoiler: he's the last man standing and determined to end the games for good.]]
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: He's given TheReasonYouSuckSpeech by [[spoiler: Sang-Woo, about how he's in this game because of his terrible choices and terrible personality flaws leading him to mooch off his elderly sick mother.]] He replies that all of this is true, but [[spoiler: Sang-Woo is the golden child of the town, admired by everyone, graduated from Seoul University and became a succesful businessman. "So, why are you here too?"]]
* BasementDweller: Started the series off as this even well into his 40s, and he'd even steal his own mother's money without her permission but still beg her for more promising to pay her back. [[spoiler: At the end, he's forced into independence after his mother dies of complications to diabetes]].
* BeardOfSorrow: [[spoiler: He grows one a full year after beating the game, indicating that he's still traumatized by all of the death he's witnessed.]]
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Gi-hun is an immature man-child, but his understanding of people and how to effectively ally makes him a far more effective player than most. When angered he is also capable of fighting brutally and even killing, [[spoiler: and may well have killed Sang-woo or Il-nam if he hadn't been stopped]].
* BigBrotherMentor: Sang-woo sees him as one, [[spoiler:initially]]. The Japanese dub emphasizes this by having the latter call him ''aniki''.
* BornLucky: His introduction foreshadows this quality (he guesses the PIN on his mother's card wrong but gets it right on the last try; loses at the races only to then win big; and has no luck at the claw machine but still gets a toy thanks to a random boy helping him). In the games themselves, he comes pretty close to dying multiple times, but survives all of them thanks to sheer dumb luck.
** He almost falls after he slips on someone's body in the first game and would've been killed if Ali didn't save him.
** He picks the honeycomb with the most difficult shape in the second game, but figures out how to remove the shape easier by licking it just before the time runs out.[[note]]Though one could argue this one is more ingenuity than luck since other contestants such as Mi-nyeo resorted to similar outside-the-box tactics.[[/note]]
** He ends up with the weakest team in the third game (tug-of-war), and only survives thanks to Il-nam and Sang-woo's good strategies.
** [[spoiler:He ''actually'' fails in the fourth game when he loses all his marbles, but thanks to Il-nam's memory problems [[ILetYouWin (which he faked to allow Gi-hun to win)]], he manages to turn his loss into a win before the time is up.]]
** Before the fifth game begins, he is left with two numbered vests to pick: the first and the last numbers. He initially goes for the first vest, but gives it to another contestant who begs him for it, leaving him with the last vest - which actually turned out to be the ''best'' position to be in. If he had picked the first position, he would have most likely died in the glass bridge crossing, while the only disadvantage of being last to go was not having enough time remaining to finish the cross, which he made it JustInTime.
** [[spoiler:Finally, while he wins the fight with Sang-woo fair and square in the sixth game, he refuses to finish the game and win the prize money. Sang-woo decides to kill himself instead to let Gi-hun be the sole winner and win the ultimate prize.]]
** While not a death game, [[spoiler:Gi-hun wins his last game with Il-nam, where they bet on if a homeless man outside would receive help or not before midnight, at the last second when a passerby comes back to the homeless man with a police car to help him, proving Gi-hun right that the world isn’t as bad as Il-nam thinks it is before the old man passes away]].
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:Defied. Despite having to walk the TraumaCongaLine during the course of the games and experiencing senselessly gruesome deaths, the downward spirals of its participants, and the loss of old and new friendships, he still manages to hold onto his idealistic attitude and that people have the capacity to do good to each other. The one time during the games he genuinely considers killing someone he’s stopped because Sae-byeok points out that he’s not that type of person, and when he gets the chance again, he holds onto his inherent goodness and would rather end the game than kill his backstabbing friend. Ultimately getting to walk away with the money didn’t heal him from a year-long depression; winning a final wager with Il-nam that reinforced his world view did.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: By the end of the season, Gi-hun has grown to be much more mature and responsible, while still maintaining his inherent goodness.
* ClassicalAntiHero: Before the above character development.
* CombatPragmatist: Uses such tactics as throwing sand into his opponent's eyes and biting hard enough to draw blood on their exposed heel in the [[spoiler:final game against Sang-woo]].
* CynicIdealistDuo: Between him and Sang-woo, he's the idealist. Gi-hun spends most of the games forming friendships and listens to others while Sang-woo [[spoiler:betrays and puts other players in expense to benefit himself. One particular example of this being played is at the final night that when Sae-byeok is revealed to be bleeding to death, Gi-hun rushes to try and get her medical help, while Sang-woo uses this chance to murder her while she's defenseless.]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Between Game 3 and Game 4, Gi-hun reveals his past to Il-nam: [[spoiler: he was once an employee of a car manufacturer, who got unexpectedly laid off by his own company because of their mismanagement, which is why he and his colleagues went on strike which ended with a violent fatal riot. This caused Gi-hun to miss his own daughter's birthday when he has to attend to one of his friends who was severely injured during the protest, which ended with the man's death anyway. This event, which also left him with [=PTSD=], led Gi-hun's life to go on a downward spiral until he turned into a slacker with no day job who wastes his life gambling and getting into more debts in the present day.]]
* DarkHorseVictory: In-universe. [[spoiler:After winning the final round and thus winning the ultimate prize, the Front Man congratulates him personally, before remarking that he never expected Gi-hun to come this far.]]
* DisappearedDad: Is worried that he will turn out like this for his daughter, especially once his ex-wife reveals that [[spoiler: she is taking her to live in America.]]
* TheDogBitesBack: A pretty darn literal example with [[spoiler:Sang-woo]] in the final game. [[spoiler:Sang-woo]] gets the upperhand, but just as it seems that Gi-hun will succumb to a fate of death, he bites [[spoiler:Sang-woo's]] leg. Gi-hun then proceeds to rough [[spoiler:Sang-woo]] up, angrily telling the ruthless player that "you killed them, you killed everyone."
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Despite being introduced as a self-serving compulsive gambler even willing to steal from his own mother, the first episode also showed Gi-hun as being something of a FriendToAllChildren to both [[MoralityPet his own daughter]] and even a random kid who helped him win at a crane-machine game. Gi-hun is even the first participant who gets to vote on whether to continue the Squid Game or end it after the first game and despite all of his greed, he votes to end the game [[EveryoneHasStandards because he wouldn't put the other contestants lives at risk just to get rich]].
** Lee Jung-jae had the following scene included to show that Gi-hun's kindness early on. After receiving some dried mackerel from Sang-woo's mother, he discovers a hungry kitten and then gives the little cat some of his mackerel (because of the drying process and enhanced flavours, dried seafood in East Asia is often a lot more expensive than fresh).
* EurekaMoment: During the honeycomb game, Seong Gi-hun realizes that he can lick the honeycomb pattern at the back since the outline is thinner and therefore will melt first without actually breaking it.
* [[FinalGirl Final Guy]]: [[spoiler:He ends up winning the grand prize money and is the only surviving main character from Season 1.]]
* FireForgedFriends: With Sae-byeok, the woman who pickpocketed him in the first episode.
* TheGamblingAddict: Gi-hun is deep in debt because he blows all his money gambling on horse races. In the first episode, when he gets hold of a bit of money to buy a birthday gift for his daughter, he uses it to try to win her a gift from a claw machine instead of just buying something from a store.
* GuileHero: Doubles with his BornLucky trait, but Gi-hun manages to make it through each round by befriending the right allies and using his wits. He manages to even talk Deok-su out of his cullings by delivering an ArmorPiercingQuestion that makes Deok-su paranoid that his men will eventually turn on him.
* HairTriggerTemper: He is quite shouty in the first episode, mostly due to the stress he's under.
* HealthcareMotivation: One of the reasons he joined the games again despite knowing how deadly they are is too hopefully use the prize money to get his mother proper medical care. [[spoiler: However all his efforts amounted to nothing as she died in the end anyway before Gi-hun could even use the money]].
* ImportantHaircut: In the final episode, [[spoiler:he gets his hair cut and dyed bright red after pulling himself out of his year-long depression. According to the creator himself, Hwang Dong-Hyuk, it's meant to symbolize Gi Hun's inner rage coming out.]]
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: He wavers a bit by cheating in the marbles game ([[spoiler:after Il-nam intentionally hands him an opportunity on a platter as a test]]), but ultimately, Gi-hun proves to be this trope. [[spoiler:Even after everything Sang-woo has done, Gi-hun turns away from the prize and offers him a chance to leave together. A year after the games, Il-nam comes to him to try to shake his faith in humanity's inherent goodness, but fails. The series ends with Gi-hun giving up a visit to his daughter to instead hunt down the people behind the games and bring them to justice.]]
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With II-nam and Sae-byeok. The first is an old man while the second is a young woman in her twenties.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Starts outs as one in the beginning as a slacker who shamelessly gambles on horseracing and also tends to have a short temper, but still cares about his own families, particularly his mother and daughter. Upon being entered into the games and witnessing the atrocities of lives being taken away, the "jerk" part eventually goes away.
* KarmicJackpot: His compassion and empathy for others during the games [[spoiler:other than dumb luck is what led to him being the winner of the games. However, this is subverted when he refuses to use the money he won for a year until the last meeting with Oh Il-nam.]]
* KindheartedCatLover: As seen when he shares some of the fish he bought for dinner with a stray cat near his house.
* LoserProtagonist: Our hero starts the series off as a basement-dweller living off of his elderly mom after his wife divorced him and took his child away, suffering from a gambling addiction while also not appearing to be particularly bright. He gets better over time.
* ManChild: Gi-hun is one of these at the beginning of the series, still living with his mother, blowing all his (or rather, his mother's) money, and refusing to take responsibility for his life. Growing out of this is part of his CharacterDevelopment.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Breaks down sobbing when he realizes [[spoiler: him terminating his mother's health insurance policy for some extra money to gamble led to her dying from her Type 2 diabetes and lack of healthcare]].
* NiceGuy: Despite his flaws, Gi-hun is a pleasant and friendly person, and easily makes friends in the game.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His habit of stealing from his mother and emptying her bank account on the first episode leads to his mother being forced to give up medical treatment to take care of her diabetes, [[spoiler:ending up costing her life and dying alone when he returns home with the money to cure her.]]
* NumerologicalMotif: Gi-hun is numbered 456 indicating he's the last of the 456 players participating in the game [[spoiler:and the last one standing by the end of it. Additionally, he [[TragicKeepsake dons Player 001's jacket after Il-Nam was eliminated]] to highlight his protagonist status and how he's declared the winner of the 2020 Squid Games]].
* OlderThanTheyLook: Especially at the start of the show, his styling and general demeanor (especially in his interactions with his mother) can make him read younger than a man who is pushing 50 years old.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: For much of the game, Gi-hun never plays to kill anyone, and he heavily regrets every death he caused by winning against them because of the rules, which makes it all the more impactful when he [[spoiler: decides to go Offense against Sang-woo in the final round's Squid Game after Sang-woo murdered Sae-byeok the night before. It was the only time Gi-hun is playing to kill. He snaps out of it at the very last second, though, and decides to spare Sang-woo's life after he finally got him down]].
** Gi-hun also has an earlier dark moment. When he [[spoiler:sees a sleeping Sang-woo drop his knife, Gi-hun intends to murder Sang-woo so that Sae-byeok and him can be safe. Gi-hun only stops when a tearful Sae-byeok tells him not to as that's not the type of person he is]].
* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler: Gi-hun initially considers winning the Squid Game to be this. His mother died days before he returned home with the prize money, so now he doesn't know what to do with it until he sees the Salesman playing Ddkaji with other indebted clients and hatches an idea to take down the games]].
* RagsToRiches: Gi-hun goes from an indebted slacker to [[spoiler:a millionaire after winning the games. Once we check in with him a year later, however, he hasn't touched his fortune and still lives as he did, until a "chance" encounter...]]
* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:Aside from the few who survived the first game then chose not to come back, Gi-hun is the only survivor of the 2020 games by the end of the last episode. Il-nam survived initially because he is the creator of the game, but he dies of his brain tumor a year later.]]
* SurvivorsGuilt: [[spoiler: By the end of the series, he's nearly broken from guilt, to the point that he apparently refuses to spend any of the money at all and just lives as an aimless drifter. It takes meeting Il-nam again and beating him at one last game before Gi-hun starts to move past his guilt and start using the prize money to turn his life around and fulfill some promises.]]
* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler:When Il-nam confronts him about using his dementia to trick him out of his marbles to come out of their paired game alive, but then gently allows him to have his last marble and hugs him to tell Gi-hun that what's about to happen is not really his fault. Gi-hun breaks down sobbing.]]
* TragicKeepsake: Il-nam's jacket and the marble given to him before he was eliminated. Unfortunately, he loses both by the next episode.
* TrappedByGamblingDebts: He owes a LoanShark a large sum from his horse racing gambling.
* TroubledBackstoryFlashback: While he's standing watch one night, he has a flashback of the automobile plant union crackdown that killed his friend. Losing his job there is what precipitated his downward financial spiral.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Comes to this realization after witnessing [[spoiler:Sang-woo kill Player 017 to save his ass and ensure he moves on to the final game]].
* YouMonster: [[spoiler:Gi-hun delivers this as he proceeds to beat up Sang-woo in the final game, telling him that "he murdered them".]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 218 (Cho Sang-woo)]]
[[quoteright:304:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ee672d7f7da73e0ec1959b61345638313f67644c2c340b1fd07bcaeb38ddd4caa0873197af6baecb2930dc2e3935fb9ffc0ca10d4bf0c1aaff2457c8fe76ff7f93a9f75e2dae7f61231afe416bb2b1b2a0e691d97f11ac3d8fa0c4511b96ffd7.bmp]]
[[caption-width-right:304:''"I'm alive right now because I tried damn hard to stay alive."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Park Hae-soo, Creator/StephenFu (English dub), Oscar Flores (Latin American Spanish dub), Keiichi Nakagawa (Japanese dub)
A childhood friend of Gi-hun's who became a successful businessman, but is now wanted by the law for stealing from his clients.
----
* AintTooProudToBeg: [[spoiler:When Ali wins the marbles game, Sang-woo drops to his knees and begs for a second game, which Ali foolishly agrees to.]]
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Even after the atrocities he's done to further himself in the games, Gi-hun, instead of taking the final step to finish the game, instead asks the guards to end the game so he and Sang-woo can still live. However, Sang-woo, knowing that he's lost and refuses to leave the game with no money, instead takes his own life so Gi-hun can be the ultimate winner. Gi-hun is horrified and cradles his body in tears.]]
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: [[spoiler:He even accuses Gi-hun of this, claiming he could only maintain a moral high ground because he let others do the murdering so he didn't have to. This goes all the way to the final game, where he offs himself so Gi-hun can claim the prize money instead of accepting his proposal to vote the games over and leave both of them with nothing.]]
* BigBrotherMentor: He encourages Ali to call him "hyung" (형, meaning "older brother" in Korean). This makes [[spoiler:Ali's death after being betrayed by Sang-woo]] even more tragic, because Ali screams "hyung" while trying to find him right beforehand. However, this detail is not included at all in the English dub or subs.
* BrokenAce: An extremely gifted student who became his town's golden boy after getting into Seoul National University and enjoying success in business. The thing is, he got rich mostly by embezzlement, and he is wanted by the law at the time he enters the games.
* ColdEquation: His approach to the game: whatever he needs to do to have a better shot at winning, he will do.
* CynicIdealistDuo: Between him and Gi-hun, he's the cynic. Gi-hun spends most of the games forming friendships and listens to others while Sang-woo [[spoiler:betrays and puts other players in expense to benefit himself. One particular example of this being played is at the final night that when Sae-byeok is revealed to be bleeding to death, Gi-hun rushes to try and get her medical help, Sang-woo uses this chance to murder her while she's defenseless.]]
* DrivenToSuicide:
** Attempted in episode 2, where he can be seen in his bathtub with a charcoal briquette burning in an enclosed space, a tragically common way for South Koreans to commit suicide by fume inhalation. He is ultimately unable to go through with it.
** [[spoiler: He ultimately drives his knife through the side of his throat to finish himself off and end the final game so Gi-hun will be able to collect the prize money.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Teaching Gi-hun the tactic to hide behind someone else in the first game establishes himself as both cunning and willing to put others in danger to protect himself.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Despite his fall from grace and [[spoiler:eventual descent into villainy during the games]], his main motivation is firmly about trying to support his financially-struggling mother. [[spoiler:His last words before dying is to ask Gi-hun to take care of his mother with the prize money he won.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: As the games go on and become more intense, his willingness to sacrifice other people to save his own life becomes apparent [[spoiler:in the marble game, where he manipulates Ali into giving him all his marbles and sends him off on a wild goose chase with some "marbles" in his hand -- which turn out to be useless old pebbles. While he appears momentarily remorseful at Ali's death, it proves to be the push that leads to him remorselessly killing Player 017 and Sae-byeok to keep himself in the game.]]
* FalseFriend: [[spoiler: While he's never outright malevolent over it, he gradually becomes more and more willing to betray and mislead his friends if it keeps him in the game, even when it results in their deaths. Gi-hun doesn't catch on until the fifth game after he shoves Player 017 to his death.]]
* FinalBoss: [[spoiler:Being the last contestant with Gi-hun, he is forced to fight him in the sixth game.]]
* {{Foil}}: To Gi-hun. Both of them hailed from the Ssangmun-dong neighborhood in Seoul and are even childhood friends. While Gi-hun is a slacker who wastes his life gambling, Sang-woo is TheAce who got himself enrolled into the prestigious Seoul National University, though both of them eventually end up in rough places financially. Gi-hun is mostly friendly to others while Sang-woo is aloof and calculating. [[spoiler:While Gi-hun is willing to walk away from the ultimate prize as the game becomes more and more brutal, Sang-woo is willing to do whatever it takes to get the prize money, even if it means he has to screw other players over.]] Also, despite their other negative qualities, both of them do love their mothers.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Following the aforementioned EstablishingCharacterMoment, the players of the Squid Game is given the option to vote if they want to quit the game or continue to the next round. [[spoiler: Sang-woo votes to continue the game, knowing full and well that he would be putting everyone else's life at risk. While the prior moment could be rationalized as Sang-woo making a call in the heat of the moment to save his life, this moment drives the nail in that he is really prioritizing the money over the lives of everyone else.]]
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:Seems to have one before plunging the knife in his neck and allowing Gi-hun to win. He also asks Gi-hun to take care of his mother before succumbing to his self-inflicted wound.]]
* HeManWomanHater: Played with. Is adamantly, and oftentimes irrationally against the idea of having women on his team, though he [[JerkassHasAPoint sometimes has a point]] as he was expecting more games that ostensibly require size and strength and concerned about his chances following his team's near-defeat in the tug-of-war.
* InterruptedSuicide: After the majority of players decide to quit after the first game and go back to the real world, he attempts to kill himself by burning a charcoal briquette. He only stops when he hears the doorbell ring and finds another Squid Game card slipped under the door.
* ItGetsEasier: Sang-woo grows increasingly more callous as the game goes on. [[spoiler: It's after he directly allows Ali to die to save himself that he finally loses any remaining qualms about killing personally.]]
* IveComeTooFar: He rationalizes his [[KickTheDog actions]] as the games go on this way, pointing out that [[IDidWhatIHadToDo he had no choice but to do them]] in order to be able to survive and keep playing for the chance to win.
* JerkassHasAPoint:
** When Player 069 begs for the other players to quit the game after losing his wife, Sang-woo shows NoSympathy towards him, but he is not wrong when he says that the nature of the game means that one or the other was bound to die, that quitting won't bring his wife back, and that other people aren't going to throw away their chance to get all that money out of sympathy for him, and quitting would mean that all the prior bloodshed would have been for nothing.
** While Sang-woo's decision to [[spoiler: push the Player 017 to his death during the fifth game]] was morally reprehensible, he is right to point out that [[spoiler: if he didn't push him out of the way, Player 017 likely would've caused them all to be eliminated by running out the clock with his indecisiveness.]]
* KickTheDog: He does this [[spoiler:regularly after episode 6, which includes inducing player 069 to kill himself, pushing player 017 to his death, stabbing Sae-byeok, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and]] making a HiddenDisdainReveal to Gi-hun.]]
* KickTheMoralityPet: [[spoiler: Sang-woo was nicest to Ali of all of the participants which makes his tricking him out of his marbles and getting him killed all the more shocking.]]
* LastRequest: [[spoiler: After losing in the final game, he kills himself to allow Gi-hun to receive the prize money and simply requests that he look after his mother once he's gone.]]
* MercyKill: [[spoiler: Sang-woo claims that he killed Sae-Byeok out of mercy - until he later reveals that he wanted to stop both Gi-hun & Sae-byeok from casting a majority vote.]]
* PetTheDog: Despite also being in the red, he buys Ali a cellphone, noodles and bus fare after they are dropped off together after the first game. [[spoiler: He later brings this up when trying to con Ali out of his marbles in the fourth game.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: At the start of Episode 8, [[spoiler: Sang-woo tries to give one to Gi-hun until the latter pointed out that the supposed "golden child of Ssangmun-dong" is here with him playing the same game.]]
* RichesToRags: Attended a top-tier university and got a great-paying job, but lost it all to bad investments and is now wanted for embezzlement and white-collar crime. Gi-hun is dumbfounded that the childhood friend with so much going for him is in ''even deeper'' debt than himself.
* SignificantWardrobeShift: Sang-woo going shirtless underneath his jacket (as he ripped off part of his shirt to create a makeshift lanyard for Ali's pouch of "marbles") coincides with his [[FaceHeelTurn turn to the dark side]].
* TheSmartGuy: He's the cleverest player in Gi-hun's group of allies. His strategy helps their team win the tug-of-war. When picking partners for the fourth game, he immediately goes to [[TheBigGuy Ali]], reasoning that they can be a BrainsAndBrawn team and be well-prepared for whatever the challenge is.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: He starts to resort to ever more deplorable means to survive, [[spoiler:tricking Ali in game 4 so he can steal his marbles and get him killed, throwing a guy in front of him to his death in game 5 because he was taking too long, and viciously murdering Sae-byeok before the final round just so she and Gi-hun won't vote to quit.]]
* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: As the resident [[TheSmartGuy smart guy]] of Gi-hun's team, he often wears a pair of spectacles. [[spoiler:By the end of the series, he crosses into FourEyesZeroSoul territory.]]
* SoreLoser: Upon losing the marbles game to Ali, Sang-woo furiously accuses him of cheating and grabs and shakes him until a guard stops him.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Certain media romanises his name as ''J''o Sang-woo.
* TheStrategist: He plays each game strategically, [[spoiler:which allows him to reach the final round.]]
* TookALevelInJerkass: Sang-woo is at first a cooperative friend worth having for Gi-hun and the others but as they advance through the games, while Sang-woo still remains intelligent and rational, he becomes more ruthless and pragmatic by resorting to [[spoiler: manipulating and backstabbing anyone even his own friends like Ali and Sae-byeok sending them to their deaths to make sure he survives and will go a long way to extreme measures to win that cause Gi-hun to be pissed off with him. Although he never takes pleasure from it because if he chooses to withdraw from the games, he will be arrested for embezzling his client's money to pay for the 6 billion Won debt and his mother's fish store will be taken as financial collateral.]]
* TragicVillain: [[spoiler:By the end, he has become completely ruthless in pursuit of victory, but he takes no pleasure in what he's doing and only resorts to betrayal and murder because the alternative to victory is death or crippling debt for himself and his family.]]
* VillainsDyingGrace: [[spoiler: After being beaten in the final game, he kills himself so that Gi-hun can leave with the money and give some to his mother, instead of taking Gi-hun's offer to leave together and get nothing.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 067 (Kang Sae-byeok)]]
[[quoteright:304:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c7e77f00e0597e559bb0b7b47d7cecad9fd9742f43a5d65318539f952aec544c31fddafcada3a6d3c3c6daf4a8f4271e925c20ef7aecbf68ab32b21acc8d0cd8b0d81eab8210c8d3f7db73d9d217c1122c67219a012f8461f38958394432c5ed.bmp]]
[[caption-width-right:304:''"I don’t trust people. And that’s twice as true for anyone who’d end up in here. Got it?"'']]
->'''Played by:''' Jung Ho-yeon, Vivian Lu (English dub), Cassandra Valtier (Latin American Spanish dub), Sachi Kokuryu (Japanese dub)
A defector from North Korea, struggling to find money to get her mother to South Korea and her brother out of a children’s home.
----
* ActionGirl: She's probably one of the most combat-capable in the main cast, which helps in the [[spoiler:nighttime brawl.]] She's also smart enough to not inhale the gas when she re-enters the games, which allows her to plant and then pick-pocket her knife from one of the guards while she's being changed and pretending to be unconscious.
* BigSisterInstinct: The reason she's going through the games is to help her little brother who has to stay in an orphanage while she tries to get money to bring the rest of their family to South Korea.
* BirdsOfAFeather: She is drawn to Ji-yeong, another EmotionlessGirl, after spotting her sitting alone, away from the crowd during the third game. They have initial friction, but their conversation in the marble game creates a pretty strong bond between them.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: One of the most troubled out of the all the major characters. She grew up in North Korea before defecting, and has been living a criminal life in South Korea to make enough money to bring the rest of her family over.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Zig-zagged. She is initially not very expressive and dissuades Gi-hun and the others from trusting her. Even though she was the one who sought out Ji-yeong to join Gi-hun's team for the tug-of-war game, she's rather dismissive of her when she tries to spark a conversation. But during the fourth game, when she's partnered up with Ji-yeong, [[spoiler:the two engage into a heart-to-heart talk, revealing her backstory and hopes for the future. When Ji-yeong purposefully loses the game, Sae-byeok snaps at her and walks away in tears after she gets executed. After that, she's still not that much talkative, even hiding the fact she's bleeding to death until the final night where she asks Gi-hun to look after her young brother before Sang-woo kills her.]]
* DramaticIrony: Her brother got into a fight with the other kids at the orphanage who said his sister abandoned him. [[spoiler: Sae-byeok ends up dying during the games and unable to bring the rest of her family to South Korea, essentially leaving her brother orphaned.]]
* EmotionlessGirl: She rarely ever emotes.
* FireForgedFriends: With Gi-hun, who had nothing but contempt for her early on due to the fact she pickpocketed him. But after the marbles game, she starts to be more empathetic towards him, even helping him out during the glass bridge game where she reminds him what panels to step on.
* GameBreakingInjury: [[spoiler: Sae-byeok gets impaled by a large shard of glass after completing the fifth game, leaving her with an AgonizingStomachWound that prevents her from eating the final meal of the game and causes her to slowly die of internal bleeding during the night cycle.]]
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: In episode 8, [[spoiler: Sae-byeok stops Gi-hun from murdering Sang-woo when he finds the chance, since she still believes Gi-hun is a good man at heart. Gi-hun points this out towards Sang-woo in the final game after the latter murders Sae-byeok to avoid the majority vote that could've stopped the game.]]
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Gi-hun, she is a young girl in her twenties while he is forty-seven.
* IWorkAlone: She's rather distrusting of other people, and even warns her teammates not to trust her either.
* KnifeNut: She carries a pocket knife that she manages to sneak in during the re-entry process. Unfortunately, it gets lost and later confiscated after [[spoiler:the night brawl.]]
* LastRequest: [[spoiler: Sae-byeok's dying wish to Gi-hun is to take care of her little brother who's still in an orphanage waiting for her.]]
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:Sae-byeok dissuades Gi-hun from killing Sang-woo in his sleep, reminding him that he's a good person at heart. Sang-woo thanks her for her integrity and mercy by slashing her throat open when Gi-hun's back is turned.]]
* NotSoStoic: Sae-Byeok is usually TheStoic and often distrusting even towards her own team. But during the [[spoiler: Marbles game, Sae-Byeok gets into a heart-to-heart talk with Ji-yeong, gets angry at her for deliberately throwing the win and breaks into a sob when Ji-yeong gets executed.]]
* TheOldestProfession: It is implied during her conversation with [[{{Jerkass}} Jang Deok-su]] in episode 1, with Sae-byeok claiming that he took everything from her.
* PercussivePickpocket: She's a very efficient pick-pocket. Her first introduction shows her running into Gi-hun who's attempting to escape from loan sharks and she falls to the floor. However, when Gi-hun checks his coat for the money he just won from the races, his pocket has been slashed. She also does this to the man who she's paying to help bring the rest of her family over after he makes it clear he's just milking her for money. She can be more stealthy as she easily first plants and then pretends to be unconscious while planting her knife in guard's pocket and take it back while they're being changed into uniform so she can bring it into the game.
* ThePromise:
** [[spoiler: As she slowly dies from her wounds, she begs Gi-hun to look after her brother for her.]]
** When she visits her little brother, she promises him she will never abandon him and that she ''will'' bring their whole family with them to South Korea. [[spoiler: She unfortunately ends up dying during the games, leaving her brother orphaned until Gi-hun finds him and has Sang-woo's mother look after him.]]
* SecretlyDying: [[spoiler:The aforementioned AgonizingStomachWound listed on GameBreakingInjury. Although Sang-woo fatally stabs her before the wounds take her life, in what he considers both a MercyKill for her and a taunt to Gi-hun for caring too much about her.]]
* StatuesqueStunner: Her actress is 176 cm (5'9"), making her one of the taller women in the show, which is most noticeable when [[OneHeadTaller she stands next to Ji-yeong.]]
* TheStoic: She hardly expresses emotion.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Gi-hun originally gets caught up in the Squid Game because Sae-byeok pick-pocketed him of his Horse Race winnings in the first episode. This led to the chain of events of him signing over a body part to the mob if he can't make his next months payments and then being desperate enough to take the salesman up on his offer. [[DownplayedTrope On the flipside]], Gi-hun was already a compulsive gambler in so much debt that he had ''already'' been scouted out, so all Sae-Byeok ultimately did was speed up the inevitable happening.
* YouthfulFreckles: One of the defining features of the character is her freckles. Appropriate as she's the youngest of the main characters. Even the Funko version of her, has the freckles on prominent display. In real life, Ho-yeon Jung doesn't have freckles and they were added cosmetically.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 001 (Oh Il-nam)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c53fd60d_1655_4b05_bef9_295230df8332.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Gganbu always share everything with each other, no matter what."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Oh Yeong-su, Hideo Kimura (English dub), Creator/ArturoMercado (Latin American Spanish dub), Kazuaki Ito (Japanese dub)
An elderly man dying of a brain tumor who joined the games to relive the joy of being alive.
----
* CavalierCompetitor: He only has a very limited time to live, so he participates in the games so he can enjoy his final moments of life. He even has a smile during the games despite them putting his life at risk.
* CoolOldGuy: A genuinely kind old man, with his friendly and helpful attitude and a great degree of familiarity with the games that he participates in.
* DeathByIrony: Gi-hun takes him on as his partner for the fourth game, fearful he'll be executed if he's the one left by himself (as no one else is willing to take him on due to his age and infirmity). [[spoiler:However, this is the game that presents each group of two with a SadisticChoice -- one member of the team will inevitably die, and Il-nam ultimately throws the game so Gi-hun can proceed.]] As Gi-hun soon learns, [[spoiler:the leftover contestant wasn't actually executed, meaning he brought Il-nam into the game [[AllForNothing for nothing]].]]
* DecidedByOneVote: He’s the deciding vote during the voting on whether the other contestants should leave or not.
* DissonantSerenity: During the first game of "Red Light, Green Light" while everyone else is cowering in fear for their lives, he's the only one that goes on playing, smiling happily as he continues on with the game and even getting a decent head start of the others. For most of the other games, he can be seen with a grin on his face as the others struggle to survive. It makes sense given his motivation for joining the games in the first place, to feel the joy of living again.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: During the "Red Light, Green Light" game, while all the other contestants are frozen stiff once they realize it's a literal life and death game, he's the first to move and the only one to do so [[DissonantSerenity with a cheerful smile on his face]]. And the smile never leaves his face even as other players are getting shot around him.
* GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler:Unlike the other named characters, his elimination is not shown onscreen after the fourth game.]]
* TheLastDance: His reason for participating in the games is that he doesn't have much longer to live, and might as well participate in something dangerous to feel alive one last time.
* TheLoad: Downplayed, he did offer valuable strategy on the strength-based Tug-Of-War, but being being a frail old man, no one wants him on their team in the games, except for [[NiceGuy Gi-hun]].
* NiceGuy: A very friendly and charismatic guy who generously offers Gi-hun ramen noodles when the latter couldn't able to buy to feed for himself after they quit the Squid Games at first and even during the Marbles game, [[spoiler:he lets Gi-hun keep the last marble for himself even at the cost of his life when he already knew he tried to scam the last marble out of him.]]
* NonActionGuy: He's a frail old guy, so it's to be expected. [[spoiler: During the nighttime brawl, he hides above a bunch of bunk beds, and is pleading for the madness to stop]].
* ObfuscatingInsanity: Although he legitimately has a brain tumor, [[spoiler:he fakes having dementia to avoid giving details about his life. He pretends to have a severe case of it during the marbles game to test Gi-hun, though this ends up being because he genuinely likes him and wants him to pass]].
* NumerologicalMotif: Il-nam is 001, being the first to participate and is the eldest of the participants.
* PottyFailure: He wets himself after a particularly stressful evening, likely as a result of [[spoiler:the klaxons indicating an emergency among the facility's staff going off]].
* PunnyName: Probably unintentional, but his name sounds very similar to the phrase "old ill man" in English.
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Gi-hun has to let him die in the fourth game in order to advance, which he seems to be at peace with since he doesn't have long to live anyway.]]
* ScatterbrainedSenior: In addition to his brain tumor, he has a ''very'' severe case of dementia, which proves detrimental to Gi-hun during [[spoiler:the marbles game. Though it's revealed to be fake; his last moment before being eliminated is him telling Gi-Hun his name, Oh Il-nam]].
* WeakButSkilled: He has the physical condition of what can be expected of someone his age, but he is very good at playing games.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 101 (Jang Deok-su)]]
[[quoteright:304:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b2b63d4cedb6d85291846002a55b76cdbf1a0100bac42f9300f96ddf48c5b6b68dab84d9cb97086ddd2f9a4a0b5bf9076fedf6658bc8c26ff21ecd588844e0f4005bc45a18257c4e4752df133ec37825d7a4d54bf848ec169f8fd1f2a600d9f7.bmp]]
[[caption-width-right:304:''"We're in Hell here. There's no rules in Hell."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Heo Sung-tae, Creator/PaulNakauchi (English dub), Jose Arenas (Latin American Spanish dub), Masaki Aizawa (Japanese dub)
A gangster trapped in gambling debts to fellow gangsters.
----
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: When Mi-nyeo falls through the bridge during the fifth game, she takes Deok-su with her. No tears were shed on his behalf.]]
* AxCrazy: A low-functioning sociopath who easily gets triggered into violent, murderous outbursts.
* BigBadWannabe: While he puts up a tough front and is one of the primary antagonists for the series, he's a coward prone to dirty tactics who [[spoiler:doesn't even make it to the final game.]]
* BloodKnight: He's ruthless and not above resorting to violence and murder to get rid of other players. During the [[spoiler:tug-of-war]] game, he repeatedly shouts out "die!" to the other team, was ecstatic that he successfully killed ten more players, and laments not going against Gi-hun's group.
-->"What a shame, I wanted to kill you guys myself."
* TheBully: He's used to getting his way in life through intimidation and violence, and this is how he plays the game.
* CurbStompBattle: In the [[spoiler:tug-of-war game]], his group easily overpowers the opposing team.
* DirtyCoward: He talks tough, but whenever the tables turn against him, he starts sweating and quivering. [[spoiler:In the fifth game, he refuses to go ahead once he's at the front of the pack, demanding that someone else take the risk for him, not to mention how much he panics once it becomes clear that Mi-nyeo plans to take both herself and him out of the game.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: As the most unambiguously evil contestant and the one set up as Gi-hun's main enemy in the games [[spoiler:who gets killed by Mi-nyeo in the fifth game as revenge for his betrayal. This leaves Sang-woo to act as the FinalBoss for Gi-hun.]]
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: He plunges to his death in the fifth game, dragged off the platform by Mi-nyeo.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: Deok-su beats another contestant, No. 271, to death when the latter complains about how Deok-su's gang screwed some players out of their food by cutting in line for seconds, then breaks his bottle of water during the ensuing scuffle. [[spoiler:The guards' apathy to the situation emboldens him and his henchmen as they plan their next move, as noted below.]]
* DumbMuscle: He's big and strong, but not nearly as smart as he'd like to think he is.
* HateSink: Within all the contestants, he's easily the most unlikeable one. Selfish, backstabbing, and violent, [[spoiler:his death at the hands of Mi-nyeo is [[AssholeVictim nothing but deserved]].]]
* TheHeavy: Deok-su is the one causing the most personal trouble for the heroes and is the most antagonistic of all the players. That said, he's still just another player, unlike the Front Man or the Host.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: The only reason he dies is because Mi-nyeo kills him in a murder-suicide, which she wouldn't have done if he hadn't betrayed her or been as cruel as he was, especially since she starts off the games completely devoted to him and willing to follow his every word.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: During the fifth game, [[spoiler:he insults and threatens the players that go before him if they take too long to jump to a 50/50 chance of death. But once his turn comes around, he himself refuses to take his turn, saying that he'd rather [[TakingYouWithMe take everyone with him]] than sacrifice himself to help them.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Is established early on as a ruthless criminal and bully, and even if his charisma gains him several allies early on, he won't hesitate to throw them under the bus, as [[spoiler:[[TheDragon No. 278]] learns the hard way during the marbles game.]]
* KarmicDeath: After spending the majority of the games bullying and deceiving others, [[spoiler:he meets his end plummeting to his death with Mi-nyeo, the one that he picks the most on, and one that he repeatedly screwed over (in more ways than one).]]
* LackOfEmpathy: He's displayed a callous disregard for other players' lives all throughout the games, but it's especially notable when [[spoiler:Player No. 069 kills himself out of grief due to letting his wife die in the fourth game]]: while the others look saddened and horrified, his only reaction was to smirk at how there's now less competition for the grand prize.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: [[spoiler:Once he realizes that the guards will not stop him from killing fellow players, even between games, he starts a riot after lights-out as he and his henchmen attempt to murder as many contestants as possible to improve their odds of survival.]]
* NeverMyFault:
** After the Honeycomb game, Deok-Su and his gang take second helpings of breakfast, leaving 5 players without tiffin boxes. When one of the players calls him out for it, Deok-su blames said player for having a problem with it.
** During the glass bridge game, he refuses to proceed when he finds himself at the front of the line. However, he accuses the player behind him of holding everyone else up, for refusing to skip in front of him.
* NoHonorAmongThieves: Deok-su is prone to [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder abandoning his allies]] the moment he no longer thinks they will benefit him. Gi-hun rather innocently flips this on his head and managed to get Deok-su to stop his "culling" just by [[ArmorPiercingQuestion asking him]] what does he think would happen after they kill all the weaker players; eventually, his men would turn against him next.
* NumerologicalMotif: Deok-su's assigned number is 101, a palindrome number that can be read in two ways (either forward or backwards). This represents how Deok-su is two-faced in nature, as he uses brute strength, lackeys and backstabbing to intimidate the competition, but take that power away and he's a [[SmugSnake sniveling coward]].
* ObviouslyEvil: He's an intimidating [[EvilIsBigger hulk]] of a gangster with a [[TattooedCrook snake tattoo]] on his face, and was [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introduced]] as a [[SmugSnake smug]], [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain racist]], [[WouldHitAGirl woman-beating]] [[TheBully bully]].
* OhCrap: [[spoiler: After taunting a contestant who fell to his death due to his overconfidence in game 5, he realizes that he is now at the front and that his chance to live is slim to none. Therefore, he turns around and pressures all the contestants to go in front of him, wasting precious time. He also has another one when he is restrained by Mi-nyeo and is about to fall to his death with her.]]
* PetTheDog: Even though he’s a bullying JerkAss, he promises not to push the player ahead of him in the fifth game, even giving him some words of encouragement. It’s later undone when he makes a rude comment about the player after he’s dead, but at least he never pushed him.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He is introduced bullying Sae-byeok just because she is female and North Korean.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Once he gets cornered by some gang members, he quickly makes for the edge of the bridge and jumps off.
* SmugSnake: He's extremely confident that he's the toughest, smartest guy in the room, but he only survives the games through dumb luck and other people helping him. Whenever he's not on top, his tough-guy facade crumbles quickly.
* SnakesAreSinister: Deok-su is one of the cruelest players of the games, being happy to intimidate or murder the competition and showing a general LackOfEmpathy. His despicable nature is represented by the snake tattoo on his neck and face.
* TheSociopath: The reason why he is the most vile out of the contestants. He is certainly no stranger to killing and doesn't feel the slightest remorse for any of his murders or betrayals.
* TattooedCrook: He's a gangster with a large snake tattoo on his neck which parallels his [[SmugSnake true nature]].
* TeenyWeenie: [[spoiler:Mi-nyeo insults him about his penis size before killing him.]]
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: His reaction once he realizes that he picked one of the more difficult shapes for the second game.
* UngratefulBastard: He repays Mi-nyeo for saving him in the second game by leaving her to die in the third and fourth game. [[spoiler: She gets her payback in the fifth game by [[TakingYouWithMe taking him with her]] as they fall through the glass.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: During the fifth game when Mi-nyeo [[spoiler: wraps her arms around his body in an attempt to break the false glass and [[TakeYouWithMe have them both fall to their deaths]], he starts panicking and angrily berating her before screaming for his life.]]
* VillainsWantMercy: Despite fearing death as much as every other player Deok-Su would never admit this and maintains his veneer of snarling indifference.[[spoiler: Thus in the fifth game, when Mi-Nyeo is about to pull them both off the bridge, he pathetically breaks down and fruitlessly begs her to let him go.]]
* WouldHitAGirl: He's clearly not above physically attacking women, as evidenced early on with Sae-byeok and murder of a female inmate who protested him cutting in line and later on when he excludes Mi-nyeo ahead of the third game.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 199 (Ali Abdul)]]
[[quoteright:302:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/00515248c4b0d29127924b3b10147d423aa1adf6c87d0e83783bf92ba9b29a6c37fca7776389d60b0e40c71bd043d6ff2b30a93d95b06461977dee5e936b1ae2a1a9cd2d54ca007ac18c6a3823cef8d62ab6c7414f16acb4d78e921a5b7f9de7.bmp]]
[[caption-width-right:302:''"Now that I'm working with you, I feel like we could win!"'']]
->'''Played by:''' Anupam Tripathi, Rama Vallury (English dub), Luis Fernando Orozco (Latin American Spanish dub), Setsuji Sato (Japanese dub)
A Pakistani immigrant struggling to provide for his wife and infant.
----
* AlliterativeName: '''A'''li '''A'''bdul.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: The reason why he trusts Sang-woo so much is because the latter lent him money and helped him out after the first game, and even allowed him to call him ''hyung'' (which is a big deal considering his status in Korean society). [[spoiler:And then Sang-woo betrays him in the worst way possible...]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: In the second episode, his crooked boss pushes him to the brink by, once again, refusing to pay him because business isn't going well. Once Ali discovers he actually has money, both men get into a fistfight that ends with the boss seriously injuring his hand on the machinery and Ali running away with the boss' cash.
* TheBigGuy: The strongest member of Gi-hun's group of allies. [[spoiler:In the tug-of-war, he stands at the back of the group as an anchor. When picking teams for the fourth game, [[TheSmartGuy Sang-woo]] goes right to him, reasoning that they can be a BrainsAndBrawn pair and be well-prepared for any challenge.]]
* BornLucky: [[spoiler:In the fourth game against Sang-woo. Despite having just learned the minigame of ''Odd or Even'' from the latter, he manages to make all his guesses right out of sheer dumb luck, to the point that Sang-woo, accusing him of cheating, decides to swindle all the marbles off him instead [[LoopholeAbuse without any violence]].]]
* {{Catchphrase}}: "Thank you!" [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that as an immigrant to South Korea, he's essentially lived a life of constant obedience to his Korean-native bosses and co-workers to fully establish his place in a racially homogenous country.
* CommonalityConnection: When he and his allies split up to recruit five further teammates for the Tug-of-War challenge, Ali likely knows that his status as a Pakistani immigrant and obvious outsider reduce his chances of engaging other competitors. In the end however, he manages to seek out and recruit the one other competitor (number 276) who is also brown-skinned (his actor is Filipino), likely out of mutual solidarity.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Saving Gi-hun in the first game by grabbing and holding the back of his shirt mid-fall immediately establishes that Ali is physically strong, dependable, and willing to risk his life to save others.
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler: Sang-woo tricks him during the marbles game, swapping his marbles for a bag of gravel. Ali realizes the betrayal seconds before he is executed, and is visibly devastated.]]
* FatalFlaw: [[spoiler: His kindness and trusting nature. He agrees to Sang-woo's plan in the fourth game without a shadow of a doubt, and only realizes that he has been betrayed moments before being killed.]]
* FishOutOfWater: Owing to his TokenMinority status as the lone Pakistani player in a Korean death game, he sometimes doesn't understand the games being played.
* GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler: We only hear a gunshot to indicate poor Abdul’s death. Though this is subverted in the next episode where we see his corpse.]]
* HandicappedBadass: Downplayed in that it is not much of a liability, he has lost two fingers of his left hand due to an implied work-related accident. Nevertheless, he fulfills his role as TheBigGuy in Gi-hun's team, although Sang-woo does advise him to hide his fingers so the other players won't look down on him.
* TheIllegal: Mi-nyeo accuses him to be one, and it's heavily implied.
* ImprovisationalIngenuity: It's highly implied he doesn't know how to properly play the second game, ''Honeycomb'', as instead of actually using the needle properly he decides to ''break off the edges of the dalgona bit by bit until he gets his required shape remaining''. This, plus the fact that [[BornLucky his circle is one of the easier shapes]], allows him to still pass the game despite using such an unorthodox method.
* MoralityPet: Sang-woo, despite being fairly cold and aloof even to his ChildhoodFriend, develops legitimate camaraderie with Ali, giving the younger man money to get home, cracking the rare genuine smile around him, and even letting Ali call him [[BigBrotherMentor hyung]]. [[spoiler:When Ali is [[KickTheMoralityPet betrayed by Sang-woo]] during the marbles game, it becomes clear there's nothing the latter won't do to win.]]
* NiceGuy: Among the characters with a name, he is easily the coolest as he is altruistic and is never motivated by ulterior motives.[[spoiler: This doesn't end well for him. His altruism and gratitude to Sang-woo makes him easy to manipulate in the fourth game. Sang-Woo betrays him and it ends with Ali dead.]]
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Sang-woo angrily accuses him of this after he repeatedly beats him at marbles despite claiming not to know how to play.
* RuleOfSymbolism: The Islamic Ali is number 199. According to Islamic Hadith 199, it goes, "There are three signs of a hypocrite: When he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he is trusted, he betrays his trust." [[spoiler:This foreshadows how Ali will be betrayed by Sang-woo.]]
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:His death is not only an indicator that even the main characters are not safe, but also to show Sang-woo's true colors as a ruthless backstabber.]]
* SkilledButNaive: He's a fast enough learner to beat Sang-woo, noted genius who has actually played the game growing up, at a game he's never played before. However, being a migrant worker in an unfamiliar country poses problems for him. His naïvete and kindness to a fault also lead to [[spoiler:his death.]]
* StunnedSilence: [[spoiler:After discovering that Sang-woo has tricked him out of his marbles, he can only look towards him in devastation, unable to say a word with tears streaking down his face, as a guard raises their gun to his head.]]
* TokenMinority: The only non-Korean main character, which is reflected in his backstory (a migrant worker lower on the social ladder than the others, who are already poor people deep in debt), relationships (his deferential attitude to the others), and the ways he approaches the challenges (since he isn't familiar with the childhood games).
* TooDumbToLive: While it's mostly because of his goodness and he does some justification for his ignorance too (as a non-Korean he doesn't know the game rules well), [[spoiler:Ali ultimately falls for a ''very'' obvious swindle and that indeed costs him his life.]]
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: As established in his first scene, Ali is a kind and caring man who is willing to do anything to help others or those he cares for. [[spoiler:So of course, during the marble games, he gets manipulated by Sang-woo, who steals his marbles, and ends up paying with his life.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 212 (Han Mi-nyeo)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/edbc0921_7526_480f_a0a1_26fafc2e7e0d.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I’ll be way more help than either of these wimpy little girls. Plus, I’m good at everything except the things that I can’t do."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Kim Joo-ryoung, Stephanie Komure (English), Leyla Rangel (Latin American Spanish dub), Creator/YukaKomatsu (Japanese dub)
A manipulative fraudster who claims to be a poor single mother.
----
* AintTooProudToBeg: After the first game, she's the first person to get on her knees and beg the guards to let them go free. A lot of others soon join her and begged to be sent home.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: She's understandably pissed at [[spoiler:Deok-su's ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, and she ends up taking both herself and him down to their deaths, which gave the others a fighting chance to win the stepping stone game.]]
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Mi-nyeo initially serves as TheFriendNobodyLikes and comic relief, until she [[spoiler:was rejected by everyone in the fourth game. She has the last laugh, as she has never been in real danger of her life, and in the fifth game, she kills two people: an unnamed player, and Deok-su who had humiliated her earlier and was the main antagonist until that moment.]]
* BlatantLies: The idea that she's 19 years old. Nobody believes her. For the record, her actress is 45.
* ChewingTheScenery: She's really over-the-top with her shouting, even during dire situations like almost getting caught by the guards and when [[spoiler:her team is about to lose in the tug-of-war game.]]
* CompulsiveLiar: She lies constantly in order to impress whoever she's looking to get in with. No one buys it.
* DeadlyHug: [[spoiler:During the fifth game, she grabs Deok-su in a hug and pulls him down with her, causing them both to fall through a glass panel to their deaths.]]
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: She falls to her death with Deok-su in the fifth game.]]
* DyingSmirk: [[spoiler:She smiles maliciously before taking Deok-su with her to their deaths.]]
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:She was shocked and devastated when Deok-su wouldn't put her on his team for the tug-of-war game then he proceeds to embarrass her in front of everyone when she starts begging him. Needless to say, she swore to get revenge on Deok-su for it.]]
* EveryoneHasStandards: She's absolutely disgusted by Deok-su cowardly trying to make someone else go ahead of him in the stepping stone game, and calls him out on damning everyone else to die because he's too much of a selfish wimp to man up [[spoiler:before eventually killing him and herself.]]
* EvilerThanThou: [[spoiler:Mi-nyeo's final act in the game was to go up to Deok-su, the most ruthless player in the game, and intimidate him before grappling him and swandiving with him onto the glass]].
* FemmeFatale: She tries to play up this role around Deok-su, but she's not particularly good at it.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When she applauds her team for winning the [[spoiler:tug-of-war game, she says that she felt at her most powerful when she was leaning backwards as part of Il-nam's strategy. She would use the same method to kill Deok-su and herself in the fifth game.]]
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Obsequious, loud, a CompulsiveLiar, prone to making unusual comments, and overall unpleasant. She also oversells her abilities to play the games, insisting repeatedly that she's "good at everything except the things I can't do." No wonder no one wants to team with her in the marble game [[spoiler:though it's the best thing that could have happened to her at that point, as she gets to sit out the game for not having a partner.]]
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: She somehow managed to sneak some cigarettes into the game, as she smokes a bit during her bathroom break and even slips Jang Deok-su her lighter during the honeycomb game.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Her allegiance flips as frequently as her mood swings and usually at the whims of whoever she can convince to move her forward in the games. Her first real act within the main cast is helping Sae-Byeok investigate the vents in the facility, but when not much comes out of it she seeks the graces of Deok-Su and his murderous crew, until his gang ditches her because they consider her a liability in the coming games, leaving her having to partner up with Gi-Hun’s team. [[spoiler:She ultimately, arguably, settles on the face side of things, as she gets a self-sacrificial revenge kill on Deok-Su to let the others advance.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Despite her unctuous nature, she refuses to let Deok-su damn everyone to die in the stepping stone game, so she kills both herself and him to give the rest a chance. It works, and this act even reveals a fake glass panel for the others.]]
* HiddenDepths: While it was only the phrase "Excuse me", she can speak English without an accent.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: She figured that ''[[TheSociopath Deok-su]]'' of all people would be the best to team up with in the games and assumed he would not [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder betray]] her after she helped him advance to the next round. She is [[EtTuBrute rewarded]] for that choice. On the other hand, she would have likely been one of the many who were killed in the night fight if she hadn't joined Deok-su's gang. She seems to adopt this as a general survival tactic, trying to buddy up to whomever she perceived to be the strongest guy even when she joined Gi-hun's group. What she really misjudges is not other people's characters, but [[TheFriendNobodyLikes her own desirability and seductive powers]].
* {{Jerkass}}: Sleazy and unpleasant to be around, to the point that nobody wants to even team up with her in the marble game.
* LargeHam: She's as unhinged and kooky as it gets. Probably the best case is her constantly screaming about her bowel movements as Sae-byeok crawls through the vents.
* MotorMouth: She never stops talking, leading to the others trying to distance themselves from her as much as possible.
* MustHaveNicotine: She's so desperate for a smoke that she resorts to smuggling cigarettes and a lighter into the games via a certain body cavity. Plus, she goes so far as to argue with the guards and threaten to piss on the floor just for an excuse to get into the bathroom, where she can smoke in private.
* MysteriousPast: She's the only one among the major characters whose background outside the games is unknown. While she claimed to have a newborn child when begging to be let go early on, given her CompulsiveLiar tendencies this may very well also be a lie.
* NoIndoorVoice: When she talks, everyone knows.
* NumerologicalMotif: Mi-nyeo's number 212 is a palindrome that can be read two ways (either forwards or backwards) as well as starting and ending with '2'. This signifies her two-faced nature of hiding her ManipulativeBitch tendencies with an obnoxious loudmouth upfront.
** Another way to see her number is that every digit in 212 is a direct increase of every digit in 101 (Deok-su's number) by one. [[spoiler:She was always one step ahead of Deok-su through manipulation, and for betraying her, she dragged him down to their deaths in the fifth game.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Once she starts getting quieter after the fourth game, something is clearly up with her. [[spoiler: It's because she's grown fed up with Deok-su backstabbing her and decides to take him down with her during the bridge game when he refuses to move ahead of the others.]]
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: She's one of the most morally dubious players, and at one point starts slinging racist and xenophobic insults at Ali when he points out her hypocrisy.
* PopCulturalOsmosis: She references the bullet-dodging scene in ''Film/TheMatrix'' at one point, but refers to the film as the "guy swimming backwards" as she didn't exactly know the title. When Ali correctly guesses the film's name, she starts throwing xenophobic remarks at him (likely out of taking offense).
* QuirkyCurls: Her hair is naturally wavy, and her personality matches her carefree attitude. Unfortunately, this just leads everyone around her to find her annoying.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: She finally calls out Deok-su for being a DirtyCoward and even makes fun of his [[TeenyWeenie dick size]] right before [[spoiler: she plunges both of them to their deaths in the fifth game.]]
* ShooOutTheClowns: DoubleSubverted. [[spoiler:Her being the only one without a partner during the fourth game causes her to be dragged away in fear... [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing then it's later found out she got to sit out the entire round.]] Then in the fifth game she's a lot more quiet and serious and then kills Deok-su along with herself.]]
* SmallNameBigEgo: She's constantly talking herself up and insisting that anyone should be lucky to have her on their team. No one buys it.
* TakingYouWithMe: During the fifth game, [[spoiler: she falls together with Jang Deok-su as revenge for betraying her earlier.]]
-->'''VIP''': "Hell hath no fury like a WomanScorned."
* TokenEvilTeammate: To Gi-Hun's team during the Tug-of-War game, as she only sides with them because of being dumped by Deok-su's team and nobody is happy to have her, but they're forced to accept her as she is the only unselected player left.
* TranquilFury: While she was [[LargeHam loud and bombastic]] early on, she gets a lot more serious by the time the fifth game starts after [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Deok-su]] throws her under the bus one too many times. She's finally had enough once he tries to take advantage of her again, so she gets her revenge by [[spoiler: [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calmly insulting him]] and [[TakingYouWithMe dragging both of them down to their deaths]].]]
* TrouserSpace: She manages to smuggle in a lighter and cigarettes during her return to the game island, having stored them in a capsule in her... [[VictoriasSecretCompartment private parts]]. [[ChekhovsGun The lighter becomes surprisingly helpful for the second game]].
* WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing: [[spoiler:She gets to sit out the fourth game entirely as a consolation prize for no one picking her as a teammate.]]
* YoungerThanTheyLook: During their taunt-to-taunt game, she calls Deok-su "an old man", which the latter takes offense. She challenges him to guess how old she is. He goes from 49 to ''19'', and she answers with a "bingo". Considering her CompulsiveLiar tendencies, however, this isn't likely true.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 111 (Byeong-gi)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8bdf501f6b1c38e2159a07294b6763da68985d154e6c7a15ec9ea022b97014e972d1c63a0d9d91739b3a02ecb0b65bd1b6e4a124284c75caa6f7c5e9b51ff002d7615eb2963ebd6895bf69f7cff5253a184df3ce832c8c0b430d73d1fdcd45a8ae98d9f7d633f30aab5e8824703528f4.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm just barely escaping death every damn day."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Yu Seong-Ju, Creator/JoseGilbertoVilchis (Latin American Spanish dub)
A doctor wanted for malpractice.
----
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: The guards need him to harvest the organs of dying players, so they give him hints so he can survive the games; in turn, 111 allies himself with Deok-su by giving him hints on the upcoming games, hoping this will make him too valuable to kill.
* CheatersNeverProsper: [[spoiler: He eventually gets executed by the Front Man alongside the corrupt guards as punishment for cheating.]]
* DeadGuyOnDisplay[=/=]MakeAnExampleOfThem: [[spoiler: Gets his dead body hanged along with that of the corrupt guards as a warning to the players.]]
* DoctorsDisgracefulDemotion: Player 111 is a doctor who has entered the DeadlyGame due to an incident of malpractice. His medical expertise gets him recruited for an OrganTheft racket run by a team of guards.
* EatTheEvidence: After finding a note on the next game slipped into his food, 111 pauses just long enough to read it before quickly swallowing the note.
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: He decides to team with [[TheBully Deok-su]] of all people because of his raw brute strength, which is favored in a game like [[spoiler:tug-of-war]], in exchange of giving him information about the round.
* MadDoctor: Wanted for malpractice and currently part of an organ-harvesting ring. Plus, as the stress of the games steadily escalates, 111 begins to noticeably crack under the strain.
* OnlyOneName: Only his forename is given.
* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Wears spectacles, an early indication of his intellectual specialties.
* SanitySlippage: The stress of having to perform complex surgery while on starvation rations and sleep deprivation begins to strain his composure over time, to the point that he's reduced to screaming in panic when his source of info on the games unexpectedly dries up. [[spoiler: This leads to him having a meltdown and attacking the guards, killing one and fleeing into one of the playgrounds - where the Front Man catches and executes him for cheating.]]
* SleepDeprivation: A combination of stress and the need to defend himself from rival players after lights-out means that 111 isn't getting as much sleep as he should. As a result, it becomes harder and harder to perform the operations the guards need him to perform.
* SuddenlyShouting: The first sign that 111 is starting to lose it is when he admonishes the guards to stop questioning Jun-ho, then suddenly erupting into enraged screaming in mid-sentence.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 240 (Ji-yeong)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/81ab2eb4_a3ee_4e1a_9bb0_a70f697abee0.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'll make sure you win. Whatever it takes."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Lee Yoo-Mi, Yuuki Luna (English Dub), Yurika Kubo (Japanese dub)
A mysterious young woman who strikes up an unlikely bond with Sae-byeok.
----
* BerserkButton: Fairly downplayed since she doesn't get very emotional, but it's clear that she hates the mention of religion and lashes out at the pastor for praying during the [[spoiler: Tug-of-War]] game. [[spoiler: You later come to find out that her father was a pastor who would pray after raping her.]]
* BirdsOfAFeather: She forms a genuine bond with Sae-byeok, another EmotionlessGirl with a traumatic past.
* BrokenBird: She doesn't even care whether she lives or dies in the game. [[spoiler:Most played during the fourth game, where Ji-yeong willingly loses since she believes Sae-byeok has someone to live for, while she has nothing.]]
* CrimeOfSelfDefense: [[spoiler:She kills her dad as revenge for raping her and murdering her mother, this gets her arrested, and all of her father's debts going onto her, which leads to her into the games in the first place.]]
* EmotionlessGirl: Comparable to Sae-byeok in this regard, which is likely what draws them to each other.
* EvilStoleMyFaith: In Episode 5, Ji-yeong mocks a pastor who prays to God after the [[spoiler:Tug-of-War]] game. It is then revealed next episode that [[spoiler:her father was a pastor who killed her mother and [[RapeAsBackstory raped her]], only to then immediately pray for forgiveness as if that made it ok. [[{{Patricide}} Ji-yeong murdered her father]] for the former and ended up becoming one of the contestants after getting out of prison.]]
* ExactWords: She promised to Sae-byeok that she will help her win at any cost if she partners up with her in the fourth game... [[spoiler:even if it costs her her life.]]
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:She dies smiling, thanking Sae-byeok for playing with her.]]
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:She spends her last moments saying goodbye to Sae-byeok with a grin.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: During the [[spoiler: Marbles game, she gets into a heart to heart talk with [[TheStoic Kang Sae-Byeok]] and decides to give her a chance to live since Sae-Byeok has someone to live for.]]
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: [[spoiler: Ji-yeong's final words to Sae-byeok right before she's shot is thanking the girl for playing with her and that she was honored to have met her.]]
* OnlyOneName: Only her forename is given.
* {{Patricide}}: [[spoiler:She murdered her own father as revenge for murdering her mother and raping her.]]
* ThePromise: Subverted. When she and Sae-byeok talk to one another during the marbles game, she asks what Sae-byeok's plans were if she were to win. When Sae-byeok says she wants to go to Jeju Island, Ji-yeong chides her and asks her to "dream bigger" like going to Hawaii. She even says they should plan a girls night together... before [[MoodWhiplash remembering]] [[DeadlyGame where they were]] and knowing that only one of them could leave.
* RapeAsBackstory: She reveals to [[spoiler: Sae-byeok that, after murdering her mother, her father "did things to her" and would then ask God for forgiveness.]]
* ShedTheFamilyName: Implied to be the case. When she and Sae-byeok introduce each other, Ji-yeong doesn't mention what her family name is, prompting Sae-byeok to ask, to which Ji-yeong replies that she doesn't have a family name.
* ThrowingTheFight: During the marbles game against Sae-byeok [[spoiler: she intentionally drops her marble so it doesn't go near the wall where Sae-byeok tossed her marble, letting her win.]]
* TryingNotToCry: [[spoiler: As she is about to be executed for losing the Marbles game, Ji-yeong briefly struggles to contain her composure and not cry when thanking Saw-byeok for being her partner.]]
[[/folder]]
!!Other players:
[[folder:Players 250 and 324]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9d6f8f621ecdcecea29540be09575c13433a556a6396871f3eb58a7200bdb9356a6115f107fcf76f954696045823f39b47c3533986df8c17ac21549b943d67324f296deed484c541408d32f6f8780f6390767899b1eb2466f67eca0aecec17d4ace06523fc762ff2638fb1a1128440ff.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Dumbass got caught."'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ab5a4ccf5a9a69fca2e41fa2c9dfe9bba44c941ca9687fc458737b4318d2ceb3526f6ff3e26b1f6b33700cde1afb0142d4c33891290995857f5f440f10debf0ae89f00552bdd376dfe91ed17c2c0a9af6ce9f1b483010765b67fb877f30738ce.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Holy shit. This place is huge!"'']]
->'''Played by:''' Park Ji-hoon (Player 250) and Lee Han-sol (Player 324)
Two young male participants. They were the first ones eliminated throughout the whole course of the game.
----
* BloodFromTheMouth: Player 324 vomits blood to show he's not kidding after getting shot and dropping dead to the ground.
* DecoyProtagonist: At first, it seems that they'll stick around long enough to the show's comic reliefs after having enough screentime to establish their personalities, but are the first two casualties of the game.
* FlippingTheBird: When the players' photos are being taken, 324 sticks out his tongue and flips off the camera with both hands.
* RedOniBlueOni: Player 324 is the impulsive red, Player 250 is the exasperated blue.
* SacrificialLamb: While not named, they were given some screentime to establish their personalities and dynamic, but were the first ones to die to showcase the brutality of the games.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After realizing that 324 really is dead, 250 tries making a run for the entrance doors, with his inevitable murder solidifying to the rest of the players the seriousness of their punishment, and inciting [[MassOhCrap mass panic]].
* ShooOutTheClowns: Their dynamic added some comic relief to the show before being the first people killed off.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Their deaths solidify the seriousness of the game and give everyone else a huge wake-up call.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Share this vibe as they were close friends before the game, introduced together and died within moments apart from each other.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Became the first two deaths of the very first game.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 062]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/29b108d5a75a66e7b700a5a963f061ba27c7aa17afe01df5f33139d7f63f226dc4f1fc3a84355500278056fc14a34a0adef745cbab93e0cc57c36faf125e76f0b9b15157b2b887df9256857bea05866e09f12e0a9cc9371fd7cb59e07bb0258dafa5a8a59800605126d721595b995060.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"That's a 1-in-32,768 chance."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Lee Doo-seok
A math teacher who applies his mathematic skills to get past the games.
----
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: As a math teacher, it's implied that he used his mathematic skills to get through the games that required them, allowing him to reach as far as Round Five. He even uses this to try to convince Gi-hun to let him partner up in the fourth game. [[spoiler:It ultimately doesn't save him in the end, once he manages to calculate his odds of getting through the [[LuckBasedMission "Glass Stepping Stones"]] game and realizes that the chances are slim to none, he resigns himself to his fate and just goes through the glass panels randomly, managing to go through three correct panels before falling to his death.]]
* BadassBookworm: Not only is he pretty good with maths, he's said to have played soccer regularly as well, which explains why he survived physical-based rounds like the "Red Light, Green Light", "Tug-of-War", and the nighttime brawl.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Realizing his chances to win are almost impossible, he resigns to his fate and tries his best to pass as many glasses as possible before falling to his doom.]]
* MirthlessLaughter: [[spoiler:Laughs without humor as he realizes just how badly the odds are stacked against him.]]
* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler:His sprint across three correct panels randomly in the fifth game becomes this, as in the moment of panic, no one could recall which panels he stepped on before falling, leading to more sacrifices to re-reveal the panels he got correct.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Players 069 and 070]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/players_no_069_and_070_in_squid_game_7.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Kim Yun-tae (Player 069) and Lee Ji-ha (Player 070)
A husband and wife pair participating in the game.
----
* BarefootSuicide: [[spoiler:Player 069 takes his shoes off before he hangs himself.]]
* DeathIsTheOnlyOption: Due to being each other's partners in the fourth game, no matter what the outcome is, [[spoiler:either the husband or the wife would have to die.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:No. 069 is driven to despair after having to let his wife die in the fourth game, and after failing to convince the other remaining players to quit the game again, ultimately kills himself that same night.]]
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:When they discover that only one person can win in the end, they ''re-enter'' the game knowing that one of them will inevitably die, but still act shocked when they're faced with a SadisticChoice in the fourth game.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:No. 069 hangs himself due to the guilt of defeating his wife in the marble game, which, of course, led to her death.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Their first prominent appearance is right before tug of war, in which Player 069 refuses an offer from Sang-Woo to fill a gap in his team, [[HappilyMarried since he wants to play together with his wife Player 070.]]
* HappilyMarried: They're the only players with an actual familial connection, being two consecutive numbers even. No surprise they picked each other as partners in the fourth game. No. 069 even refused to join Sang-woo's team for the third game unless his wife could come with him and protected her when Mi-nyeo attempted to grab her as a partner.
* KilledOffScreen: [[spoiler:Player 070's death is never shown, but it is announced in the PA.]]
* LOL69: VIP 4 bets on Player 069 just because of the innuendo [[spoiler:and is disappointed to find that he had hung himself soon after.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Even after winning the fourth round, No. 069 couldn't overcome the fact that he just allowed his wife to die just to get further in the game.]]
* OhCrap: Both of their reactions are this when they realize what the fourth game is, [[spoiler: and that they would have to play against their partner.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 096]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2fe63c8621fa6926189372bb0e544bf05d1491eb78d2dded807c58f2db892120a6dbc09ec1c8657d24f994de7b35776f8de29d927838c9c86b4602c7f57ec90ba7a0ec3388fcd88bb6c2e9df51b64b5197cef652cc678cc96159be3e7316026c03b59fdf2561c7db1ff3b50992b056b1.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[TemptingFate "Excuse me... Can I be the first?"]]]]''
->'''Played by:''' Jung Woo-hyuk
A man who begs Gi-hun to let him be the one to go first in the fifth game.
----
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Wanting to be the first player of the fifth game leads to [[spoiler:him being its first casualty]].
* IJustWantToBeBadass: Before the fifth game begins, players have to pick numbered vests which tell the order they have to play the game. When it was down to only the first and the last vests, 096 begs Gi-hun for the former since he wants to feel in control of his life for once and so he wants to be the first to play the game. He changes his attitude pretty quickly once he finally saw what the game really is about...
* LOL69: VIP 4 chooses to bet on 096 after [[spoiler:069 commits suicide out of grief, since it's the closest number to 69. Turns into BlackComedy when 096 is the first to snuff it in the game immediately thereafter.]]
* OhCrap: Realizes that he just signed his own death warrant by choosing to go first in the fifth game.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 119 (No Sang-hoon)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/890c49bd72b8d19826da662c6b75124de0f72d79c466cc8e77c937428b806dc54ae7b889b9eb49d6e1b03ef76bfc429a11de0fad63bd814da8d0810686b7adb92933b4e8de9e18f07e0ec2b35befcb32796478347e41b1a6701dd8b29deb835aa4e440b3283672c2b1f8ff80eb18acca.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Such a young kid...How did you end up like this?"'']]
->'''Played by:''' Yun Don-sun
A contestant that made it through the first round, but narrowly lost the second, before he was eliminated, he uncovered a secret about the guards and the system.
----
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: When he was cornered by the guards, after realizing one of them is a young man, aims a gun at his own temple and pulls the trigger.
* DespairEventHorizon: He's so stunned by the AwfulTruth that the guards are [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse young, ordinary people]] that he decides to just turn the gun [[DrivenToSuicide on himself]].
* SanitySlippage: When he realizes he lost the second round, he snaps and attacks the guards.
* YankTheDogsChain: He came ''very'' close to passing the second game. Had it not been for his umbrella's broken handle, he could've passed the second round.
* YoureInsane: Despite that he's the one losing his sanity, he screams this at both Player 322 for trying to interfere with the vote and then at the Pink Guards when he loses Round 2 complaining why the shapes on the sugar honeycombs wildly varied from triangle to umbrella.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Players 278, 040 and 303]]
->'''Played by:''' Ja-Hyoung Kwak (Player 278), Lim Ki-hong (Player 040) and Kim Dong-won (Player 303)
Deok-Su's "friends".
----
* AssholeVictim: They're a bunch of sadistic and perverted bullies who are just as bad as Deok-su and murder their fellow contestants in order to get ahead, so it's not surprising that not one person mourns any of them when all of them eventually die.
* TheDragon: Player 278 serves as this to Deok-su.
* DumbMuscle: 040 and 303 are mostly used for intimidation.
* FatBastard: 278 is noticeably chubbier than the other contestants. 040 and 303 are LeanAndMean while Deok-su is LargeAndInCharge.
* GangOfBullies: They follow Deok-su and do as he says.
* GigglingVillain: Player 278 has a tendency to giggle when he's winning, it gets on Deok-su's nerves.
* GoodHairEvilHair: 040 wears his hair long and in a ponytail and is one of the few contestants with a prominent mustache.
* HateSink: They steal food, kill their fellow contestants in order to get ahead [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and laugh]] [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor at terrible jokes.]]
* NoHonorAmongThieves: During the marbles game, Player 278 takes delight in mocking Deok-su when he's winning. He refuses to switch games until the guard forces him to.
* NoNameGiven: Despite getting a lot of screen time and lines, none of them are named. Especially noticeable in 278's case, who actually refers to Deok-su by his name, but never gets a name himself.
* NumberTwo: Player 278 is Deok-su's [[TheDragon Dragon]].
* OhCrap: 278 after realizing he and Deok-su need to battle against each other, and later after he loses the marble game.
** 040 as well, when he realizes he's out of marbles.
* ProfaneLastWords: Player 278 shouts "You're all assholes!" at a guard just before he's killed.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: Player 278 isn’t very physically intimidating, so he’s constantly praising his ‘boss’.
* TheQuietOne: Player 303 gets the least amount of lines and screen time. Player 040 is shown dying and talks during more frequently.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: 278 tries to run away after losing the marble game. [[spoiler: He doesn’t get very far.]]
* SmugSnake: PlayedWith. 278 becomes increasingly smug and unpleasant during the marbles game, but it’s because he’s winning. It’s only because of Deok-su’s LoopholeAbuse and [[BornLucky dumb luck]] that he loses.
* TheStarscream: 278 has no problem playing against his ‘boss’ Deok-su during the marbles game.
* ThoseTwoBadGuys: 040 and 303 are always seen together.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: In round 4, Player 278's death by submachine guns (when previously most failed players are executed by pistols) distracted Ali from his own game, [[spoiler: allowing Sang-woo to quickly replace the bag containing the marbles with another bag that has only pebbles while Ali isn't looking, which ultimately leads to Ali's death]].
* VillainousFriendship: Averted for the most part. Deok-su and 278 are constantly seen bullying others together, but when they're forced to battle it out, they immediately end their alliance.
** Played straight with 303 and 040, who seem to genuinely be on very good terms and respect Deok-su.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Despite partnering up with player 040 during the marble game, player 303 disappears in that episode. When Player 040 gets shot, he's playing against someone else, indicating they switched partners, even though the rules specifically state this isn't allowed. Furthermore, the player who beats 040 has a index which can be partially read as "_26", yet no player with an index matching those two digits is among the sixteen to play the bridge game, making this appear to be an outright continuity error.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Mi-nyeo and Sae-byeok warn the men that Deok-su will betray them as soon as he gets the chance, and they're right: during the marbles game, Deok-su and 278 are turned against each other and neither seems very upset.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 196]]
->'''Played by:''' Kim Dong-hyun
A paranoid contestant who joins Gi-hun's team during the tug-of-war.
----
* BoomHeadshot: His body is shown with a bullet hole through his skull.
* DeadpanSnarker: His response to Il-nam when the latter says that tug-of-war requires more than just strength.
-->"Well then, what's it about, huh? We just go out and speak to them?"
* TheEeyore: Generally dismissive and pessimistic during his brief appearance.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Most of his lines are him insulting Gi-Hun’s team, but he has good reasons. He argues that Il-Nahm should save his strength and doesn’t trust him to stay awake all night. He also tells the girls that it wouldn’t be very wise to team-up, since most challenges rely on strength rather then agility. Finally he also agrees with 244 to attack the other teams, since they’re in a DeadlyGame, it wouldn’t be a dumb idea to take out the competition.
* KilledOffScreen: [[spoiler:While his elimination is never stated by the announcer, 196 teaming up with 244 in the marbles game, combined with 244's presence in the following glass bridge game, indicates 196 met some unfortunate fate in the marbles round, while 244 got to advance. His body is briefly shown when Sae-byeok and Ji-yeong begin to play their game.]]
* ThoseTwoGuys: He and 244 get along pretty well.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 244]]
->'''Played by:''' Kim Si-hyun
A pastor who joins Gi-hun's team during the tug-of-war.
----
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Relies on the Story of Creation when picking numbers for the fifth game.
* AssholeVictim: Not as big as the other examples, but he’s a sexist hypocrite and a murderer who’s death is completely his own doing.
* BadassPreacher: By virtue of the fact he survived until the fifth game.
* BloodKnight: He prays for other players to die and attempts to convince Gi-Hun and the others to kill the weaker teams, saying everyone’s hands are already dirty, implying he killed several people during the night time brawl.
* ButtMonkey: Poor guy isn't treated well by his peers. Ji-yeong mocks him for his religious tendencies and he gets killed in the fifth game by being shoved into a false glass panel.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Seems to be this thanks to his religious rants that keep all the players awake, his constant hypocrisy and sexist comments. The only one who tolerates him is 196, but that didn’t last very long.
* HateSink: Not as bad as the other characters, but he's a sexist hypocrite who does little to help his teammates and only comes up with terrible ideas. His death is PlayedForLaughs and well-deserved.
* HeManWomanHater: He seems to be the most sexist out of the team, since 196 and Sang-Woo act out of pragmatism and self-preservation, but 244 actually uses quotes from the bible for his reasoning and even tells the girls that god made men the superior species.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In the fifth game, while he's praying to God while holding everybody up, the player behind him tries to forcefully make him proceed, but 244 ends up pushing the man onto a panel that shatters, dropping the player to his death. He then visibly gets the idea of [[ASimplePlan continuing to hold the others up by praying until someone approaches him so he can eliminate them while determining which panel is safe to stand on]]... however, [[DeathByIrony he doesn't get the chance to put this plan to practice as the next player behind him impatiently shoves 244 to his death.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: Despite being a pastor, he is heavily implied to have killed people before the tug-of-war game and is openly sexist. He also prays for god to kill other players instead of praying for his own survival.
* LackOfEmpathy: If his behavior in the fifth game demonstrates anything.
* LaserGuidedKarma: During the glass bridge game, he begins to stall by beginning to pray even though there is a time limit. This frustrates the players behind him who try to hurry him up. After getting into a struggle he manages to throw one of the players into the glass ahead of him. Thanking god, he decides to pray once more, but the player behind him is not having any of it, so he shoves him into the glass almost immediately.
* TheLoad: He takes his sweet time praying to God atop the glass panel he's on in the fifth game, wasting precious seconds in the time limit and blocking everyone else's progress.
* MauveShirt: Receives a decent amount of focus, is given a bit of personality and a memorable death. He makes it to the fifth round, which is where nearly every player still alive at that point dies.
* StrawMisogynist: In one of his religious rants, he says that god made men the superior species.
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: He is killed immediately after thanking god for saving him.
* TemptingFate: See above.
* ThoseTwoGuys: He and 196 get along pretty well.
* TokenReligiousTeammate: His most defining trait is him being a religious man who’s constantly praying. No other character is seen doing so.
* TooDumbToLive: He decides to waste time by praying whilst in the middle of a life-or-death game with a timer. After someone tries to kill him, he decides to try the same thing AGAIN until someone catches him off guard and pushes him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 151]]
A contestant who makes it to the fifth game.
----
* DeathByIrony: Met the exact same fate he tried to inflict on 244.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Jumps forward to try and throw 244 forward. Needless to say, it doesn't end well for him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 276]]
[[quoteright:197:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/276.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:197:]]
->'''Played by:''' Christian Lagahit
Another contestant who joins Gi-hun's team during the tug-of-war.
----
* KilledOffScreen: [[spoiler:He sticks with Gi-Hun's team until the beginning of round 4. He is last seen walking into the arena with his partner, Player 021, as Mi-nyeo goes into hysterics. While he isn't shown getting shot, 276's elimination is announced at the same time Sang-woo open's Ali's bag of marbles -- With his death reinforced by the appearance of Player 021 in the bridge game.]]
* TokenMinority: The most significant role he plays is being the only other migrant worker alongside Ali. In the tug-of-war game, Ali even approaches him for his team, as if in a show of solidarity. 276 is also brown-skinned, something that stands out in the tug-of-war lineup next to the much fairer-skinned Korean characters' skin tones. His actor Christian Lagahit is Filipino, and fascinatingly, ''two'' Filipino actors were considered for the role of Ali. It makes sense that 276's greatest role is solidarity with Ali.
* TheVoiceless: While GuestStarPartyMember Player 196 and 244 got several lines during the tug-of-war game, Player 276 remained quiet all throughout his appearances. Even when recruited by Ali for game 3, Player 276 only managed a salute.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Receives even less screentime than the other minor characters on the tug-of-war team like 244 and 196. While 244 and 196 have dialogue where they advocate preemptively attacking the other participants, and 244 [[spoiler:outright makes it to the second-last round of the game]], we receive no dialogue from 276 and [[spoiler:he ends up losing to Player 021 in the marbles game.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 453]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/realization.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"So he went right."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Yang Mal-Bok
->''"The left one I think!"''
A contestant who makes it to the fifth game.
----
* AintTooProudToBeg: She's among the players who got on their knees and begged to be let go in episode 2. Despite this, however, when given a chance to invoke the third clause to allow the players to vote on stopping or continuing the game, she's the first person who votes to continue - after taking a long look at the vast sum of money in the piggy bank hanging above.
* BloodyHorror: Although her fall is offscreen, the viewer is still shown the gruesome aftermath of her long fall down. Her head is cracked wide open and she's lying in a pool of her own blood and brain matter.
* KilledOffScreen: In the fifth game, she fell off the glass bridge offscreen, with only her pawn being shown falling off the model bridge in the VIP room.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Despite making it as far as the fifth game, she gets little in the way of dialogue or characterization, and is even KilledOffscreen.
* WrongAssumption: After Player 062's mad dash across several tiles in the fifth game, Player 021 is unable to recall which tiles he went on and approaches 453 for help. She urges him that he went left (he went right), leading to 021's untimely death.
[[folder:Player 322]]
A homeless, bitter contestant who wants to win the game to have a house to live in.
----
* BullyingADragon: Tries to aggressively steer the vote (after Round 1 was completed) in his favor to continue the game by being obnoxiously loud then violent as No. 119 tries to beat him up, leading to a guard threatening his life with an AK-47 to regain his composure.
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: He gets pushed by Mi-nyeo and deflected off by Deok-su's immense weight off the stepping stones game and to his death without breaking any glass, making his death extremely wasteful as now the others couldn't determine which glass was real or tampered]].
* IJustWantToBeFree: He hounds the other players to continue the game to get out of their financial debts. When No. 369 tells them they should all go home, No. 322 reveals he's homeless.
* {{Jerkass}}: Though his homelessness and debts doesn't really excuse him from making a cacophonous ruckus trying to influence the vote and force the others to let the game continue.
* LargeHam: He screams a lot of his dialogue across to signal how determined he is to win the Squid Game.
* LowerClassLout: He tried to physically assault a contestant who voted to leave .
* SenselessSacrifice: He got up to Round 5 (the stepping stones game) and was shoved by [[spoiler: Mi-Nyeo]] to try to determine which stone was safe to step on. [[spoiler: He instead falls off the rails after Deok-su lets him bounce off without testing a glass, worsening the chances of survival for everyone else]].
* WorthIt: His sentiments on the Squid Game, including Round 1 which was a Red Light, Green Light game riddled with AI-powered gun turrets.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Player 017]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/player_017.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I used to make glass for over 30 years. You can't normally tell but..when you look at tempered glass when its lit from its side, then you can see faint stain marks."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Lee Sang-Hee
->''"Hold on. Wait one second. I can tell the panels apart."''
A contestant who used to manufacture and create glass for 30 years.
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* MauveShirt: Literally the ''only contestant left'' near the end of the fifth game who isn't a main character. [[spoiler:Too bad he couldn't make it.]]
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: He doesn't tell anyone about his ability to tell apart the glass panels in the fifth game until it's his turn to lead. When Gi-hun calls him out for it, he says it's because the other players are always out to kill him every chance they get.
* SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat: His experience in glass manufacturing isn't mentioned at all until the fifth game, which just so happens to require players stepping on glass. Even the game designers failed to account for this despite his background being written in his files, so the Front Man had to turn off the lights to remove his advantage.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: His glass background ends up to be extremely useful in the fifth game, where the players are supposed to differentiate between 18 rows of tempered and normal glass. His advantage is only taken away in the last row, after the [=VIPs=] complain that the game is no longer fun to watch due to it.
* UnluckyThirteen: Zig-zagged. He picks to be #13 in the fifth game of stepping stones, and his glass manufacturing experience of over 30 years makes him able to tell the difference between real glass and tempered glass just by examining the light refraction - thus making Gi-hun, Sae-byeok and Sang-woo very lucky to have him or else they'd have picked the wrong stones themselves. The [=VIPs=] complain the games are getting boring thanks to his expertise, so the Front Man kills the lights to make it more of a challenge. 017 loses all confidence, [[spoiler:and Sang-woo pushes him into the last set to determine which was the tempered or real glass. Turns out the one 017 tested was the real one]].
* YankTheDogsChain: [[spoiler:He was literally just ''one step'' away from passing the fifth game.]]
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Sang-Woo disposes of him when the gamemakers take away his advantage.]]
[[/folder]]
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