Characters / Boys Before Flowers

The following tropes can be applied to the characters of the Korean Series Boys Before Flowers.

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Geum Jan Di

The protagonist of the Drama (originally Tsukushi Makino). Comes from a Poor Family but gains a Scholarship to attend Shinhwa High.

Portrayed by: Ku Hye Sun.
Voiced by: Leyla Rangel (Latin American Spanish dub)

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Even though she falls in love with Ji Hoo at first, she eventually falls in love with Jun Pyo.
• All of the Other Reindeer: At Shinhwa. Up to the eleven.
• Break the Cutie: Basically the whole series.
• Childhood Friends: She and Ga Eul have been friends since kindergarten.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Doesn't want to be treated as if she needs help.
• New Transfer Student
• Ordinary High-School Student: The most ordinary student in Shinhwa.
• Perpetual Poverty
• Second Love: She's Ji Hoo's second love, after Seo-hyun.
• Scholarship Student: The reason she studies at Shinhwa is because she was given special privileges to enroll after saving a student from jumping off the school roof.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: When she's "abducted" into Jun Pyo's house and when Min Seo Hyun helps her to dress properly for the balls.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Ga Eul's girly girl.
• Tsundere
• Will Not Be a Victim: In regards to the F4's bullying.

Gu Jun Pyo

Originally named Domyouji Tsukasa, he is the heir to the Shinhwa Corporation and the leader of the F4. He bullies Jan Di after her friend spills some ice cream on his shoe. He eventually falls in love with her.

Portrayed by: Lee Min-ho.

Voiced by: Gabriel Cobayassi (Latin American Spanish dub)

• Amnesiac Lover: In the later episodes, he experiences amnesia due to an accident and forgets all about Jan Di. He gets better, though.
• Anger Born of Worry: His preferred method of showing concern to Jan Di.
• Arranged Marriage: With Jae Kyung. She eventually calls it off after finding out that Jun Pyo is serious about Jan Di.
• Berserk Button: Jun Pyo is not pleased when Jan Di is threatened, even though he is the reason why people bully her in the first place.
• Big Little Brother: He is taller than Jun Hee.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Consistently wears black in the same vein that Ji Hoo consistently wears white, to indicate that he's morally the most unpure of the F4 due to being the leader.
• Domestic Abuser: He starts all of Jan Di's misfortunes, then decides he likes her. He is also a control freak around her as well.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Even though he's the one that ordered the bullying, Jun Pyo is actually pretty pissed when he finds out that some students went so far as to almost rape Jan Di.
• In-Series Nickname: Jae Kyung calls him "Jun" sometimes.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: It is mentioned that he cried when Jun Hee got married.
• Not a Morning Person:
  • In one episode, Yi Jeong and Woo Bin visit Jun Pyo to take him out and hang out. He refuses to get up until the boys mentioned about Jan Di's date.
  • During his stay in Macau, the hotel's manager woke him up with a trumpet. Jun Pyo gets up due to getting annoyed.
• Hair-Trigger Temper / Hot-Blooded: The F4 member who is always the first to get angry.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Parental Abandonment: His sister was the one who raised him.
• Uptown Guy: He is the heir to Shinhwa, but is in love with Jan Di, the daughter of a dry cleaning business.

Yoon Ji Hoo

The nicest member of the F4, based on Hanazawa Rui. He is the grandson of Korea's former president.

Portrayed by: Kim Hyun Joong.

Voiced by: Carlo Vázquez (Latin American Spanish dub)

• Cloudcuckoolander: He is called the fourth-dimensional member of F4. It is stated in an early episode that he has mild autism which stemmed from his parents' deaths.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Consistently wears white in the same vein that Jun Pyo consistently wears black, to indicate that he's morally the purest of the F4.
• First Love: He is both Jan Di's and Seo Hyun's first love. His first love was Seo Hyun.
• Nice Guy: The nicest one of the F4, who doesn't participate in the bullying and even helps Jan Di.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: However, he does take Jan Di away from Jun Pyo. But it's also revealed that some of the things he did that time was due to Jan Di and Jun Pyo not being honest with each other.
• Put on a Bus: He follows Seo Hyun to Paris. He does come back after realizing he has feelings for Jan Di.
• Prince Charming
• Romantic Runner-Up: To Jan Di.
• Uptown Guy: He is the grandson of the former president, but is in love with Jan Di, the daughter of a dry cleaning business, just like Jun Pyo.

So Yi Jeong

The cold-hearted Casanova, originally Soujiro Nishikado. He is the son of a family into traditional pottery, and he owns the largest museum in Korea. He is also one of the most famous potters.

Portrayed by: Kim Bum.

Voiced by: Carlos Díaz (Latin American Spanish dub)

• Abusive Parents: Dad is unrepentant Womanizer and mother is suicidal... not a lot of fun.
• Beta Couple: With Ga Eul.
• Callingthe Old Man Out: He doesn't hesitate to do so when facing his father.
• The Casanova: Among the F4, he is the member who always has women swooning over him. It is later revealed that it's more of a defense mechanism: his father is a womanizer, which is why he hates his father and the primary reason why his mother is suicidal.
• The Charmer: The 5 second-kill!
• The Dutiful Son: From a family into traditional pottery, instead of tea ceremony like the original.
• Follow in My Footsteps: With regards to his father, both in pottery and flattering women.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Woo Bin.
• I Am Not My Father: They are both Casanovas, but unlike his father, Yi Jeong changes his ways after falling in love with Ga Eul.
• Inter-Class Romance: With Ga Eul.
• Ladykiller in Love: He becomes this when he falls for Ga Eul.
• Sibling Triangle: With his brother, who also likes Eun Jae.
• Those Two Guys: Usually seen with Woo Bin.
• What Have I Become?: Probably why he changes in the end.

Song Woo Bin

Originally Akira Mimasaka, the F4's friendliest member is from a family who works in construction and with connections to the mafia.

Portrayed by: Kim Jun.

Voiced by: Arturo Castañeda (Latin American Spanish dub)

• Gratuitous English: In real life, Kim Jun is the rapper for T-Max.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Yi Jeong.
• Only Sane Man: Especially in the later episodes where Jun Pyo gets a fiancee, Ji Hoo meets his grandfather, and Yi Jeong shuts himself from the world.
• Pair the Spares: In fanwork, he is usually paired up with Jae Kyung.
• The Un-Favourite: Count his lines in the whole series! Thankfully, T-Max has a lot of songs in the soundtrack to make up for it.
  • In an interview:
  Kim Jun: I didn't need that many lines. It was mostly, 'Yo! What's up!' It's not very friendly. When I meet my friends, I would say, 'Yo! What's up!' It's awkward, right?
• Those Two Guys: Usually seen with Yi Jeong.
• Yakuza Prince: He has connections with the mafia.

Chu Ga Eul

Jan Di's best friend since childhood (originally Yuki Masuoka). She gets dragged into the F4's activities.

Portrayed by: Kim So Eun.

Voiced by: Julieta Rivera (Latin American Spanish dub)

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: She eventually falls in love with So Yi Jeong. She even lampshades it.
  Chu Ga Eul (to So Yi Jeong): You need to get rid of your misconception that good girls want good guys.
• Beta Couple: With Yi Jeong.
• Childhood Friends: She and Jan Di have been friends since kindergarten.
• Food Slap: Pours a glass of water over Yi Jeong after he suggests that his father should borrow Ga Eul.
• Friend to All Children: She becomes a kindergarten teacher, where she is shown teaching her students how to mold clay.
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Ga Eul comes off as this in the Bodyguard CF with Yi Jung.
• Nice Girl: Is always called as such, especially by Yi Jeong.
  So Yi Jeong: I have a few rules when it comes to dating. One, I don't mess with good girls. Two, I also don't mess with idiotic girls. Three, never mess with girls related to my friends. Ga Eul, you meet all three criteria.
• Ordinary High-School Student: The only character her age that doesn't attend Shinhwa.
• Second Love: Yi Jeong's first love was her pottery teacher, Eun Jae.
• Shrinking Violet: She is quite shy, especially around the glamorous and confident F4.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Jan Di's tomboy.
• Uptown Girl: She is this to Yi Jeong.

Shinhwa Group

Gu Jun Hee

Jun Pyo's charismatic and glamorous older sister, who raised him in lieu of their parents. Originally Doumyouji Tsubaki.

Portrayed by: Kim Hyun-Joo

Voiced by: Kerygma Flores (Latin American Spanish dub)

• Beware the Nice Ones: Normally, she is kind, friendly and wise but whenever she sees Jun Pyo's terrible personality, she doesn't hesitate to teach him a lesson (usually in public).
• Big Sister Instinct: To Jun Pyo.
• Big Little Brother: Jun Pyo is taller than her.
• Brother–Sister Team: With Jun Pyo. Especially when they call out Madam Kang for lying to them about their father.
• Calling the Old Man Out: She doesn't hesitate to get angry at her mother for all the things the latter has done to control their lives.
• Combat Stilettos: When we first meet her, she gets out of her car and cartwheels over to Jun Pyo while wearing stilettos.
• Cool Big Sis: To Jun Pyo, the rest of the F4, and to Jan Di.
• Onee-sama: She is probably the only one that Jun Pyo ever respects.
• Ojou: She is sophisticated and glamorous, and fulfills her role flawlessly.
• Only Sane Woman: Compared to her greedy, cold-hearted mother and her spoiled, sometimes cruel and whiny brother, she is a breath of fresh air and normalcy in the family.
• Parental Abandonment: She had to act as a Parental Substitute to her younger brother due to how emotionally neglectful her mother was.
• Promotion to Parent: She raised Jun Pyo.
• School Idol: She is kind, charismatic, intelligent, well-dressed and impeccably mannered, and has a very keen sense of fairness, which made her popular with the student body back when she was still in high school, and her reputation has persisted even years after she graduated. She is also the only person who can tame Jun Pyo. She was the only one, until Jan Di came along.

Kang Hee Soo

Jun Pyo and Jun Hee's mother, the President of Shinhwa Group. Originally Doumyouji Kaede.

Portrayed by: Lee Hye Young

Voiced by: Yolanda Vidal (Latin American Spanish dub)

• Defrosting Ice Queen: She rarely shows her emotions, to the point of ignoring her injured son, Jun Pyo, after receiving news that he survives the car accident. Until when she sees a happy family through her car that she realizes how she knows nothing about her own son's well-being, that she finally bursts into tears.
• For Your Own Good: She claims that everything she does is for Jun Hee and Jun Pyo's wellbeing. When Jun Pyo gets into an accident, Jun Hee then asks her if everything she did was for Jun Pyo's own good. It makes her repent.
• Evil Is Petty: Madam Kang makes sure Jan Di's family falls into misery just because Jan Di is dating her son. There is a moment where Jan Di's mom pours a bowl of salt on her, because she couldn't accept the money she attempted to give them over the condition to keep Jan Di away from seeing Jun Pyo... and Madam Kang's response was forcing them out of business.
• Evil Matriarch: She is emotionally neglectful of both her children and vindictive toward Jan Di.
• Food Slap: Jan Di's mother pours a bowl of salt over the head after she offers the Geum family a large amount of money in exchange for Jan Di to stay away from Jun Pyo.
• Nobility Marries Money: Implied to be her principal. She wants all of her children to marry for status and wealth, albeit their happiness.
• Parental Neglect: She values money and power above her children's well-beings while insisting that it's for their best. She gets better.
• Rich Bitch: Extremely wealthy, haughty and mean.

Geum Family

Geum Il Bong

Jan Di's father, who works at their dry cleaning service.

Na Gong Joo

Jan Di's mother who seems to think that money is the only reason for their family to be happy.

Geum Kang San

Jan Di's younger brother who has an affinity for technology.

Shinhwa High

Oh Min Ji

Jan Di's first and only friend at Shinhwa High who betrays her when she finds out that Jan Di is her rival for Jun Pyo's affections. Originally, Sanjou Sakurako.

Portrayed by: Lee Si Young

Voiced by: Gaby Ugarte (Latin American Spanish dub)

• Abhorrent Admirer: She's crazy in love with Jun Pyo even after Jun Pyo cruelly rejected her (twice).
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Betrays one of the few people who has shown her genuine kindness and loyalty.
• Composite Character: She has Sakurako's backstory and motives, but also shares traits with Makiko Endou, Tsukushi's Only Friend whom she defends from the F4.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: She was traumatized as a young child by Jun Pyo calling her ugly, so she became obsessed with the idea of becoming beautiful, going as far as to have painful plastic surgery every two years in Germany in order to become the beautiful girl she hopes Jun Pyo will accept. Unfortunately, Jun Pyo sees through her ugly character and states that he preferred her when she was younger, because at least then she was beautiful on the inside.
• Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: She knows Jun Pyo since kindergarten, and although he has been downright awful to her, she has been infatuated with him ever since, to the point where it deteriorated into something very unhealthy.

The Mean Girls Trio

Composed of Choi Jin Hee (Ginger), Park Sun Ja (Sunny), and Lee Mi Sook (Miranda). They bullied Jan Di when she first transferred to Shinhwa, but then wanted to become friends with her after being Jun Pyo's girlfriend. When bad issues between Jun Pyo and Jan Di began to spreak out, they once again treat Jan Di badly. Originally Yuriko Asai, Minako Yamano, and Erika Ayuhara.

Other Supporting Characters

Min Seo Hyun

A famous Korean model who is Jan Di's idol. It is revealed that she is childhood friends with the F4, as well as Ji Hoo's first love. Originally Todou Shizuka.

Portrayed by: Han Chae Young

Voiced by: Mireya Mendoza (Latin American Spanish dub)

• Cool Big Sis: To Jun Pyo, the rest of the F4, and to Jan Di.
• Eventhe Girls Want Her: She is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, and the fans who were waiting for her at the airport seemed to be mostly women. Jan Di herself makes a mention in regards to how stunning Seo Hyun is.
• The Fashionista: She is a famous model, and everytime we see her she is wearing something very pretty.
• Fashion Magazine: She's famous all over Korea for being a model, and her face appears on many ads for various products.
• First Love: Ji Hoo's. He is also her first love.
• Follow in My Footsteps: People talk about her becoming a lawyer just like her parents, but she doesn't want that.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She lets Ji Hoo return to Korea so he could be with Jan Di.
• Ojou
• Parental Substitute: She was Ji Hoo's.
• Put on a Bus: She leaves for Paris so that she can live her life as her own person.
• School Idol: She was adored for her beauty and gentle personality.

Ha Jae Kyung

Portrayed by: Lee Min Jung

Voiced by: Alma Juárez (Latin American Spanish dub)

A girl who saved Jan Di in Macau. She is Jun Pyo's fiancee. Originally, Ookawahara Shigeru.

• Action Girl
• Action Girlfriend: To Jun Pyo. They break up in the end, though.
• Cool Big Sis: To Jan Di and Ga Eul.
• Disposable Fiancé: To Jun Pyo.
• Fairytale Wedding Dress
• Fun Personified: Loves taking Jan Di ang Ga Eul to shopping trips and activities where they can have fun. She also took Yi Jeong and Woo Bin out for a day off, and the boys were really tired at the end of the day.
• Heartbreak and Ice Cream: In episode 18, she eats a gallon of strawberry ice cream upon discovering that her fiancé, Jun Pyo, only loves Jan Di.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She stops her wedding with Jun Pyo so that he can return to Jan Di.
• In-Series Nickname: Jun Pyo calls her "Monkey".
• Lady of War: She can kick asses while wearing fashionable clothes and boots.
• Ojou: Even though she doesn't act like one.
• Pair the Spares: In fanwork, she is usually paired up with Woo Bin.

Yoon Seok Young

A doctor who frequently visit's the porridge shop where Jan Di and Ga Eul work at. He is actually Ji Hoo's grandfather, the former president of Korea, who believes that the accident involving Ji Hoo's parents was his fault.

So Il-hyun

Yi Jeong's older brother who left their family.

• Sibling Triangle: With Eun Jae and Yi Jeong.

Cha Eun Jae

Ga Eul's pottery teacher who is revealed to be Yi Jeong's first love.

• Love Confession: She sets up a romantic love confession to Yi Jeong. Unfortunately, he doesn't show up.
• Settle for Sibling: After she believes she was rejected by Yi Jeong, she begins a relationship with his older brother, and seems very happy with him.

Jang Yu Mi

A girl who was hospitalized at the same time Jun Pyo got into an accident.