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Squid Game: Jeong-dae's Faction

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Im Jeong-dae's Faction

During his time in the 37th games, Im Jeong-dae (aka Player 100) gathered more players to join his cause, pushing his fellow players to vote for "one more game".


Team Leader

    Player 100 (Im Jeong-dae) 

Im Jeong-dae

Sandbox / Squid Game: Jeong-dae's Faction
"Now, let’s play one more game! Just one more, and that’s it. Let’s play just one more game!"

Played By: Song Young-chang

An old man who took out a massive loan of ₩10 billion and failed to pay it back, thus causing him to join the games. He is hell-bent on continuing playing the games until his prize money reaches this large amount.
  • Acrofatic: In spite of being the old Fat Bastard he is, Jeong-dae handled most physical aspects of the games pretty fine, from Red Light, Green Light to Jegi in the Six-legged Pentathlon to Mingle. He even somehow manages to clear the Jump Rope even though he suffers the most from being trapped on the bridge for an extended period of time by Player 096 together with Player 336.
  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: He does this multiple times in season 3. First when Player 096 is blocking him from finishing the game, and later when Myung-gi and Gi-hun have defeated his cronies and cornered him.
  • All for Nothing: After all of what he done out of greed, he ends up getting pushed off the edge of the triangle building in the final game by Myung-gi. And he just made enough to pay his large debt.
  • Ambiguous Situation: He asks the guards if the prize money he has accumulated thus far will go to his kids if he ends up dying in the next game. The way he asks makes it unclear if he actually has children or if he was simply using an example to point out how unfair he believed Jun-hee’s baby taking his mother’s place was.
  • Arc Number. 100. His player number is 100, and his debt is stated to be 10 billion (100억 baeg-eog). The credits also label him as "10 Billion Man" (백억남 baeg-eog nam).
  • Arc Words: "One more game!" It is started by Jeong-dae himself, and repeated throughout the second and third seasons by several other characters. It also highlights his and the other players' Just One More Level! mentality and greed in wanting more of the prize money.
  • Asshole Victim: Whilst Jeong-dae never directly killed anyone, his actions throughout the games causes countless of unnecessary deaths just to satisfy his own Greed and ensure his own survival. These actions include forcing the players to vote ‘O’, inciting a riot that kills many of the ‘X’ voters, leaving his own allies to die and wanting to murder a baby so that he can leave with enough money. His Jerkass attitude, selfishness and cowardice easily make him one of the most unsympathetic players in all of Squid Game.
  • Bloody Horror: Whereas the more sympathetic characters like Gi-hun, Min-su, and even Myung-gi had relatively clean deaths after they died (with no brain matter or visible broken bones), Jeong-dae's corpse after his death looks incredibly twisted up, his brains spilling out. Earlier, Seon-nyeo claimed in Hide and Seek that he would die in the exact way he did.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Implied. He wears a business suit when getting slapped and has a massive debt due to a loan which he can’t repay. He also has the ruthless and demanding attitude.
  • The Corrupter: Encourages the crowd to keep going by appealing to their gambling addiction and greed after the second game. He encourages the survivors into voting yes for one more game as the amount split isn't enough to change their life.
  • Dirty Coward:
    • Throughout the first game, he’s constantly trembling and after Red Light, Green Light, Jeong-dae hides underneath a bed and only comes crawling out when he sees the money enter the piggybank. He talks big game, but when action goes down, he usually hides behind others, such as during the night brawl or when Gi-hun announces his revolt.
    • In Hide and Seek, he throws a player who made the mistake of trusting him to one of the killers, then holds the door shut behind him so that his former comrade can't escape and risk his own life.
    • It’s implied this is what causes Kim Young-sam, his Number Two, to despise him and turn against him.
  • Establishing Character Moment: In the introductory seminar, Jeong-dae is found to have the biggest debt out of all the players at a whopping ten billion won, prompting everyone around him to remark in astonishment... whereupon Jeong-dae bellows indignantly at people for being shocked, insisting that not everyone qualifies for those kinds of loans - immediately establishing his belligerence and pride.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Geum-ja. Both are older folks who act as the elders of their respective sides of the "stay or leave" argument, but Jeong-dae is primarily motivated by greed and is abrasive, whereas Geum-ja just wants to protect everyone and is motivated by her motherly love for her son and the other players, even willing to give away her share of the money just to end the games. And while she implores her son to kill her in order to save a baby, he has the gall to beg for his own life when he's only ever been looking out for himself the whole time.
  • Evil Old Folks: Is at least in his sixties and is the most hellbent of all the players on continuing the games. Later, he's usually the ringleader when murders are being discussed, even if the intended victim is a newborn baby.
  • Fat Bastard: He has a plump build, and is one of the most unpleasant players in the game.
  • Faux Affably Evil: On occasion, he can dial down his usual cantankerous attitude and seem almost jovial, especially when he's in a good mood. During the final banquet, he even toasts his fellow players, despite still being ready to screw them over at a moment's notice.
  • Flunky Boss: Jeong-dae himself isn't much of a threat. But what makes him dangerous is the fact that he commands the largest alliance of players within the 37th games. His face off against Gi-hun in Sky Squid Game is treated as this since he is the leader of a six man alliance out nine finalists until Myung-gi betrayed the group. Once all of Jeong-dae's henchmen were taken care of, it didn't take much for Myung-gi to kill him.
  • Foil:
    • Something of a foil to Thanos as detailed further under Hate Sink. Both characters want to keep playing until the end to win the money; however, Jeong-dae is an outwardly abrasive but direct old man motivated primarily by winning as large of a share as possible, while Thanos is an outwardly sleazy but unpretentious young man motivated primarily by causing as much chaos as possible.
    • Also to Oh Il-nam. Both are old folks who are pivotal to the voting in their respective Games, and both amount to being serious antagonists in their seasons due to their amorality. However, Oh Il-nam gladly voted to end the Games, not desiring the money and knowing that enough people would later pivot out of desperation; Jeong-dae's crippling debts, and the desperation that comes with it, made him the face and voice of the force dedicated to continuing. Il-nam also secretly ended the riot in his Games, preferring that the players die "fairly" in the proper rounds; and while Jeong-dae tried projecting an air of fairness to the deaths in Sky Squid Game (by putting them up to a vote), he basically started the riot in his Games upon realizing that deaths out of the the proper rounds contributed to the prize pool. Il-nam saw Gi-hun as a genuine friend while Jeong-dae constantly views Gi-hun as a “nut job”. Il-nam peacefully died in his bed while Jeong-dae is brutally executed by Myung-gi. Note that both their player numbers are also inverse of each other. Jeong-dae being player 100, while Il-nam is 001.
  • Foreshadowing: During the montage of players being slapped in the face by the Recruiter, he can be seen furiously insisting on "one more game." Later on, these very words become his slogan for driving the players to cast their vote for just one more game to boost the winnings, to the point that it almost seems to become a Madness Mantra.
  • Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Jeong-dae does have a legitimate reason for wanting to keep the games ongoing considering his massive ten billion won debt, by far the most money owed. In order to clear his debt, he would need to be among the final four playersnote . That said, his massive debt does not detract from the fact that he is a monstrous individual who prioritizes his own gain above everyone else.
  • Greed: Most of the players in the game already had poor financial management skills by default, but Jeong-dae stands out as being completely motivated by the prize money more than survival. He doesn't give a damn about who lives or dies so long as his share of the prize gets to be as big as possible.
  • Grumpy Old Man: Bitter, cynical, and rude, he's well past middle age, rarely ever smiles, and always seems to be indignant over something.
  • Hate Sink: While Thanos is arguably worse, he has a fanfare and hamminess to him that makes him entertaining to watch. Jeong-dae however is incredibly callous about the lives lost, aggressive and antagonistic to everyone of the protagonists and he has no problem killing the contestants who voted to stay in the middle of the night to keep the games going and cull the competition which would divide the prize money less. He even ends up becoming hellbent on killing a baby to preserve the height of his potential price money.
  • The Heavy: Arguably the most prominent contestant antagonist in Season 3, lasting longer than most other villains (i.e., Nam-gyu, Seon-nyeo) and leading the remaining Team O's to kill Gi-hun and the child in the final game. His role is usurped by Myung-gi who becomes Gi-hun's final antagonist in said game.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • Despite his unpleasant personality, he manages to convince many players to join his side and easily finds new teammates after most of his original team has died, implying he has some level of charisma which isn’t shown in his interactions with Gi-hun or the other main characters.
    • He fares surprisingly well as a hider, although by being as morally bankrupt as ever. He initially tells his fellow hiders to spread around the arena and whoever can manage to find exits to tell everyone else. He also devises escaping Player 349's attack by betraying and sacrificing Player 232, keeping mind to steal his key once he is finished off. And finally, he smears his face in Player 418's blood and plays dead to escape Nam-gyu and Myung-gi's notice.
  • Hypocrite: He generally uses whatever argument is most advantageous in the moment, even if it contradicts a previous argument. Whenever he needs to persuade people to vote for continuing he downplays the difficulty of the games and talks about how everybody can succeed if they cooperate, but at other times he acknowledges the zero-sum nature of the games and says that more people need to die to increase the payout for the remaining players.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: He forms a bond with Kim Yeong-sam (Player 226), a middle-aged man much younger than he is. This collapses before Hide and Seek though.
  • It's All About Me: Im Jeong-dae couldn’t care less about anyone other than himself. When he finds out Gi-hun has won the games before, Jeong-dae tries to get him to help him by telling him what the next game will be, but keep it a secret from everyone else. When he finds out the games have changed, he immediately ditches Gi-hun the moment he is of no more use. After his entire Six-Legged-Pentathlon team dies during the final round of Mingle (minus Young-sam), Jeong-dae isn’t the least bit disturbed and simply finds himself a new group of players who are willing to follow him. He also makes himself the only player to clear Hide and Seek through the option of using an exit, though he was only able to make it because Seon-nyeo worked with him to open the door with the keys she had. He takes one of the keys out of the lock as he exits, trapping Seon-nyeo within the labyrinth.
  • Jerkass: He’s a really pissy piece of work to everyone and that’s saying it lightly.
  • Just One More Level!: In between the second and third rounds, seeing how the prize money goes up each round and each elimination, Jeong-dae pushes his fellow players to play "one more game, and that's it", promising to quit after that. However, he keeps going back on his word by continuing to vote O, clearly wanting more of the prize money.
  • Karma Houdini Warranty: After surviving all the games and events of Season 2 despite being one of the most despicable players, he also survives games 4 and 5 despite getting put in near-death situations that nearly killed him. Then, he outlives almost all of the sympathetic players, makes it to the very last game, has very clear advantage, and is even among last few surviving players, only to finally get pushed off to his death by Myung-gi.
  • Karmic Death: He pushes the hardest for more games to be played out of greed, always angling for a bigger prize. Once he has enough money to pay off his debt and begs for his life on the ground of each of the remaining players already having enough money, Lee Myung-gi kills him out of greed, wanting an even bigger prize.
  • Lack of Empathy:
    • He thinks of his fellow players as little more than money bags, and his reaction in the aftermath of a game or when players die in general is to ask how much cash has been added to the prize pile, rather than any concern for their lives.
    • When Jun-hee's newborn baby is registered in as a new player, filling in her spot as Player 222, Jeong-dae opposes to the idea... because having Player 222 "re-enter" doesn't increase the accumulated prize money when she's already eliminated rather than the fact that a baby is forced into a Deadly Game against her will.
  • Large Ham: Speaks very loudly and broadly.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: He's the most vocal player about continuing to play the games, and is most associated with the plea of "one more game!" He survives to play all six games, but dies before the finish line during the final game that he was so eager to reach and win the money that he was so focused on more then anything.
  • Manipulative Bastard: He manages to convince half of the players to continue to play the games, either by convincing them their odds of winning are much higher than they actually are or by using their debts as an excuse to keep playing.
  • Money Fetish: Downplayed. He doesn't just want the prize money — he craves for it. He would stop at nothing to get his share, if not all of it.
  • Never My Fault: Right before the second game starts and everyone learns it’s not Dalgona, he chides Gi-hun and demands to know what he plans to do for the contestants who voted to stay. Never mind the fact that he was the one who convinced half the players to continue the games while Gi-hun tried to save everyone by getting them to vote for ending them. He also does the same thing in Gi-hun’s nightmare as well.
  • NO INDOOR VOICE: He almost never speaks in a lower volume. Even his first appearance has him bellow so loud and abrupt that everyone jumps and looks at him.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: Amusingly, despite being a finalist, Jeong-dae is less than physically fit due to his age and body shape and being a huge coward. He hides during the special game and sacrifices others during the 4th game, he barely survives the 5th game due to Gi-hun helping him and is the only ‘O’ player who refuses to put up a fight in the 6th game, simply attempting to beg and negotiate his way to victory.
  • Noodle Incident: He has a debt of ten billion won to his name. He tries to spin it as proof that he is important enough to be able to get that kind of loan in the first place, but won't elaborate on how he was able to get or lost that money.
  • Numerical Theme Naming: His player name, 100, references his debt of 10 billion won, or in Korean 100억 (baeg-eog), with 억 referring to 100 million in the Korean numerical system.
  • Numerological Motif: Both his player name and debt consist of the number 1 followed by several 0's. This references the fact that he would constantly advocate for one more game and constantly vote O to continue the games.
  • Only in It for the Money: All Jeong-dae cares about is the prize money that he can use to pay off his debts. After each game, he always complains that too many players are left for him to pay off his enormous debt.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
    • After his faction wins the vote to continue playing, he can be seen jubilantly giving one of his fellow voters a high-five — a sign that his victory was enough to cut through his usual bitterness. He also does the same thing when his team passes the second game.
    • Normally, he's very outspoken and extremely argumentative. However, during Gi-hun's rebellion, he's so stunned that he has absolutely nothing to say and can only meekly remain where he is.
    • During Hide-and-Seek, when he ends up on the hiders team, he reluctantly asks Gi-hun if he'll swap vests with him, since he realizes other players will hunt him down. Gi-hun refuses, and Jeong-dae is stuck as a hider.
    • By the final game, he is ready to settle for just or even less of the amount needed to pay his debt as the reality finally sets in that making out of the games alive is all that matters.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: The one cruel thing that actually was good and beneficial that he ever did was locking out Seon-Nyeo (player 044) during the Hide-and-Seek and leaving to be killed by a drugged Min-su.
  • Pet the Dog: Despite him being an insufferable greedy monster, he does have his moments of decency.
    • He, along with almost every other player, cheers for Hyun-ju's team when they finish the Six-Legged Pentathlon.
    • After his team passes the same challenge themselves, he can be seen congratulating his team members.
    • He even cheers for Gi-hun after he successfully get's Jun-hee's baby across the bridge in the fifth game.
  • Playing Possum: During Hide and Seek, when he sees Myung-gi and Nam-gyu approaching, he covers himself with the blood of a dead player and plays dead to fool the two seekers. It almost fails because Nam-gyu is crazed and thinks he's faking, but Myung-gi calls him off because he doesn't want to waste time and they've already made their kills.
  • Pre-Final Boss: He manages to outlive very other major villainous player like Thanos, Seon-nyeo, and Nam-gyu and is set up to be Gi-hun's main opponent during the final game, Sky Squid Game. However, he is killed by Myung-gi during the second stage of the game. Myung-gi himself would become the true Final Boss to Gi-hun.
  • Pride: He holds himself out as better than the other contestants, boasting that to even qualify for his loan in the first place he had to be extraordinarily capable.
  • Rousing Speech: During the second voting round in "One More Game", Jeong-dae and Yeong-sam deliver a speech to the players saying the games are easy and they can make it through and obtain more of the prize money, chanting "One more game!", motivating the players into voting to continue the games by a landslide.
  • Screams Like a Little Girl: His voice noticeably becomes higher when he's at the mercy of Player 096 in Jump Rope and Myung-gi in Sky Squid Game.
  • Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Uses his seniority to throw his weight around a lot.
  • Seven Deadly Sins: While some of the sins are less obvious than others, Jeong-dae manages to portray all seven of them.
    • Greed: Even among the players who want the prize money to pay off their own debts, Jeong-dae stands out as being completely motivated by the prize money more than survival. He would also do absolutely anything to get it, be it betraying his own allies to increase the prize pool or trying to murder a baby for the same reason.
    • Sloth: He is a Dirty Coward who hides behind his teammates' backs, and whenever he realizes he's in a pickle, he immediately starts begging for mercy. He also uses dirty tactics to gain an advantage — when Gi-hun reveals that he's played these games before, Jeong-dae goes up to him and tries to get information about the next game, but ditches him once he realizes the next game is completely different.
    • Wrath: He is a bitter, cynical, and rude old man who is almost never shown smiling.
    • Pride: His first introduction has him boasting that for him to obtain a loan as big as 10 billion won he had to be extraordinarily capable.
    • Gluttony: In contrast to Season 1's finalists, who were so traumatized by the games at this point that they couldn't eat much, Jeong-dae and his teammates casually stuff their faces with the fancy food, ask for seconds with glee, and sleep like babies for the night.
    • Envy: When Kim Jun-hee's baby is announced to be the new Player 222, and thus the others will have to share the prize money with her, Jeong-dae and his teammates immediately fly into a rage, with Jeong-dae asking in bewilderment if the prize money he has accumulated thus far will go to his kids if he ends up dying in the next game.
    • Lust: This case is not as obvious as the others. However, Jeong-dae doesn't just want money — he craves for it, to the point of bordering on Money Fetish. He would do absolutely anything for the prize money, and shows no shame whatsoever for what he does to obtain it.
  • Sole Survivor: He is the last surviving member of his Six-legged Pentathlon group after Players 023, 285 and 428 got killed in Mingle and Yeong-sam got killed in Hide and Seek.
  • Suicide Dare: After they vote to eliminate Min-su, he tells the latter (who’s desperately apologizing) to “let it all go and jump”. Min-su isn’t exactly cooperative.
  • Sunk Cost Fallacy: Every time a vote is held about whether to continue the games, he argues that previous sacrifices will go to waste if they quit early.
  • The Unfettered: He's willing to do anything to win, no matter how humiliating, violent, or horrific, from smearing himself in someone else's blood so he can fake being dead to arranging a conspiracy to murder a baby.
  • Undignified Death: Cowardly attempts to convince Myung-gi and Gi-hun to spare him by posthumously turning on his allies and convincing them to take out Player 039 instead. Myung-gi has none of it. To make it worse for him, he was just one elimination away from the prize money being high enough for him to pay off his ₩10 billion debt.
  • Ungrateful Bastard:
    • Gi-hun attempts to warn him and the other players multiple times, yet Jeong-dae acts incredibly entitled and starts to yell whenever one of Gi-hun’s plans to save him and the other players backfires. He’s one of the first to accuse Gi-hun of being a fraud despite him having just saved his life during the first game. Later, he asks for Gi-hun’s help despite having been nothing but rude towards him and when the second game is different, Jeong-dae becomes furious and starts to yell at him again until Young-il steps between them.
    • What's the thanks he gives to Seon-nyeo for helping him unlock an exit door in "Hide and Seek?" Going through the door to clear the game for himself while taking a key with him to keep Seon-nyeo inside.
    • Although Gi-hun saves his life in Jump Rope from Player 096, Jeong-dae is quick to turn on him and actively tries to kill Gi-hun during the final game, Sky Squid Game.
  • Villain Has a Point:
    • While he's a callous, greedy, Jerkass who's leading hundreds of people to their deaths by hounding them on to keep voting to continue the games, he's not wrong in claiming that what money many of the surviving players will get to take home won't be enough to cover their debts or significantly change their lives.
    • Right before the start of Hide and Seek, he argues with the masked manager about how unfair the hiders have it and that they should get something like a shield. Players 377 (a consistent X voter) and 192 are quick to agree with him and that the hiders should get something too.
  • Villainous Glutton: In contrast to season 1's finalists, who were so sickened and traumatized by the games that they ate without enjoying everything or couldn't eat at all, Jeong-dae and his minions gluttonously stuff their faces, gleefully exploit the opportunity for seconds, and sleep like babies before the final game, showing how unaffected they are by the suffering of others.
  • Villain Respect: He and Player 203 compliment Myung-gi for his idea of using the metal pole in the centre of the Sky Squid Game towers to kill Min-su.
  • Villains Want Mercy: Once the prize money is high enough for him to cover his debt (and all of his followers are dead), he begs for his life, offering to share the remainder of his amount. Of course, by this point, his treachery and indifference to human life are too clearly exposed for this to work.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: An instance of this trope happening to the villain. Just when it's gotten to the point where enough players have been eliminated to increase the prize money high enough for him to pay off his ₩10 billion debt, he's pushed off the platform by Myung-gi.

Original Team

    Player 226 (Kim Yeong-sam) 

Kim Yeong-sam

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/226.png
"Stop trying to run away like a goddamn coward."

Played By: Lee Sung-woo

Another player who wants the games to keep going.
  • And I'm the Queen of Sheba: When he gets into an argument with Dae-ho, the latter tries to intimidate him by showing off his ROKMC tattoo and telling him he was a Marine. He then tauntingly retorts by saying that if Dae-ho was a Marine, then he was in the Air Force. Ironically, he was absolutely right.
  • Asshole Victim: Like many of the players who voted ‘O’, Kim Yeong-sam is not a sympathetic individual. What makes him particularly detestable besides being one of the loudest voices to continue the games is his eager participation in both the special game and 4th game, as well as his constant Jerkass behavior towards every other character. When he is killed by Hyun-ju in Hide-and-seek, he isn't mourned or even remembered after that.
  • Boisterous Weakling: He’s incredibly arrogant and constantly provokes the other characters to attack him. When he’s finally given a weapon, he’s seen playing with it like a kid would play with his favorite toy. However, he proves to be all bark and no bite as Hyun-ju has no problem handling him when they cross paths, even though he has a weapon and Hyun-ju does not. In fact, Player 202, another seeker who fights Hyun-ju later on, proves to be a bigger threat than Yeong-sam.
  • Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: He has prominent bags under his eyes, complementing his generally jerkish behavior.
  • The Dragon: He steps up as Jeong-dae’s Number Two before the start of the second game.
  • Funny Background Event: When the Pink Guards reveal Jeong-dae's massive debt, he jumps around like an excited kid to find him among the crowd of fellow players.
  • Hidden Disdain Reveal: Much like Player 278 in Season 1, he reveals that he has no qualms about his so-called friend Jeong-dae dying in Hide-and-Seek. His remark on Jeong-dae "hiding like a rat" is more than enough to show he really doesn't have any respect for him, and would've been more than willing to kill him should they ever cross paths.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: He forms a bond with Im Jeong-dae (Player 100), who is easily twice his age. This collapses before Hide and Seek though.
  • Jerkass: Most of his screen time just shows him callously egging on players to continue the games and being an overall unpleasant person. He even joins Nam-gyu and the other young male O players to kill the X players during the night riot.
  • More Despicable Minion: Unlike Jeong-dae, he actually has a weapon during the nighttime riot and is killing other players with a sadistic smile.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: As evil as it sounds, this trope comes into play when he finds the trio of Hyun-ju, Jun-hee and Geum-ja and requests Hyun-ju to let him kill either of the other two to pass the game whereas someone like Nam-gyu would've tried killing all three of them to maximise the prize money.
  • Professional Butt-Kisser: He’s this to Im Jeong-dae, almost as much as Player 278 and Nam-gyu are to Deok-su and Thanos. When he offers to team up with Jeong-dae for the Six Pentathlon challenge, he even calls it an ‘honor’. It's massively subverted in the Hide and Seek game where he calls out on Jeong-dae for being a cowardly rat after finding out he's a hider, making no secret that he would kill him if they ever meet in the arena.
  • Properly Paranoid: He accuses Gi-hun of being a member of the game's staff trying to manipulate the players. He's wrong about Gi-hun, but he's entirely correct that a member of the staff has infiltrated the players—and that staffer even casts the deciding vote to continue on.
  • Rousing Speech: During the second voting round in "One More Game", Yeong-sam and Jeong-dae deliver a speech to the players saying the games are easy and they can make it through and obtain more of the prize money, chanting "One more game!", motivating the players into voting to continue the games by a landslide.
  • Sadist: Has a terrifying Slasher Smile right before the O’s start murdering the X’s. He also seems to be the most excited about the 4th game, whereas many of his fellow contestants seem disturbed by it.
  • Sadistic Choice: He demands Hyun-ju let him kill either Jun-hee or Geum-ja. But Hyun-ju decides to Take a Third Option instead.
  • Slasher Smile: He sports a rather glowing one right before he and the other O voters start the riot to kill off the X voters.
  • Smug Snake: Despite being extremely cocky at the start of the 4th game, Yeong-sam loses his fight against Hyun-ju without proving much trouble. Justified since Hyun-ju has a military background which Yeong-sam lacks.
  • Undignified Death: During Hide and Seek, despite being armed with a knife and Hyun-ju only having her fists, Yeong-sam gets utterly destroyed by the hider in their scuffle. And once Hyun-ju manages to pry the knife from Yeong-sam's hand, Yeong-sam can only beg the hider not to kill him before she stabs him in the chest, killing him unceremoniously.
  • Use Their Own Weapon Against Them: He's a tagger in Hide and Seek and Hyun-ju kills him by stabbing him with the dagger he was given.
  • Villains Want Mercy: He briefly starts begging Hyun-ju not to stab him when she gets the upper hand during their fight.
  • Would Hit a Girl: As a tagger in Hide-and-Seek, he corners Hyun-ju, Jun-hee, and Geum-ja and settles with attacking one of them to pass the game. However, thanks to Hyun-ju's military prowess, she easily fends off and kills him.

    Player 023 

Player 023

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/37_player_023_voting_5.webp

Played By: Kim Joon-hwan

A player who joins Jeong-dae's group for the Six-Legged Pentathlon.


  • Killed Offscreen: He's not seen after the second-to-last round of Mingle, confirming that he died off-screen in the last round.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: His vote to continue the games gets him killed during the Mingle round.
  • Sixth Ranger: 023 is the newcomer to Jeong-dae's team for the second game. 226, 285, and 428 had already allied with Jeong-dae at this point.
  • Social Circle Filler: 023 acts as an extra supporter to Jeong-dae, but has no relevance outside of that. Even 285 and 428 have more to do, by virtue of having more scenes and visibility.

    Player 285 

Player 285

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/player_285_5.jpg

Played By: Jo Kyung-hyun

A player that follows Jeong-dae and teams up with Player 343 in the final round of Mingle.
  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: He could be seen amongst the many players begging to be spared after surviving the first game after Geum-ja and Yong-sik.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: He voted to continue with the Mingle game due to being unsatisfied with the current amount of cash all the remaining players would get if most of them chose to leave. He ends up being among the players who die during the game.
  • Forgotten Fallen Friend: Despite being a part of Jeong-dae and Yeong-sam's inner circle of followers, they don't mourn his death at all.
  • Hidden Depths: As shown in the montage footage of “One More Game”, he’s shown to be good at Gong-gi enough to where his team has enough to time to complete all five minigames.
  • Last Villain Stand: After being kicked out of Room 33 by Young-il, he makes a last ditch effort to force his way back into it but is stopped by Jung-bae.
  • Social Circle Filler: His main role is being one of Jeong-dae's cronies that aid him in convincing people to keep voting for the games to continue.
  • Villainous Breakdown: In his final moments, he just loses it as he desperately tries to force his way back into Room 33. The English dub makes him sound even more unhinged in his attempt by adding more F bombs to it.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: 285 almost made it through the Mingle game but was kicked out of his room at the last second by Young-il.

    Player 428 

Player 428

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/37_player_428.webp

Played By: Lee Jong-moo

A player who joins Jeong-dae's group for the Six-Legged Pentathlon.


  • Bald of Evil: His hair is thinning, and he's among the loudest voices advocating for the games to continue.
  • Killed Offscreen: His absence after Mingle means that he failed to find a door in the last round and was killed for it.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: As one of Jeong-dae's principal allies, 428 heavily pushes for the players to swing to the O vote and start another game. He dies in said game.
  • Social Circle Filler: He doesn't have a lot to say, but he's often seen standing by Jeong-dae's side.

The O Finalists

    In General (MAJOR UNMARKED SPOILERS
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snapshot_40.jpg

Jeong-dae: "Since we have made it this far, let's toast to giving it our best shot until the end. Everyone, raise your glasses! Cheers!"
Player 203: "Cheers!"
Player 353: "Cheers!"

The final iteration of Im Jeong-dae's faction that forms in preparation for the Sky Squid Game. Their motive is to complete the game by eliminating Seong Gi-hun, Park Min-su and Kim Jun-hee's baby, but their plans are laid to waste by someone who pretended to be one of their own.


  • Arc Number: Aside from Jeong-dae, the number 3 appears on each of the players' numbers (039, 203, 333, 336, and 353).
  • Ascended Extra: Aside from Myung-gi and Jeong-dae, every member of this team received significantly greater attention in Season 3 compared to the Season that came before it:
    • Players 203 and 336 only came to prominence after the Bathroom brawl in "Friend or Foe", arguing with X voters after the announcement of the bathroom brawl deaths, participating in the Special Game and killing Players 094 and 431 respectively.
    • Exaggerated for Players 039 and 353, who were literal background characters in Season 2 with no lines.
  • Democracy Is Bad: Player 353 comes up with "democratically" electing their targets for eliminations. However since he and his allies are already the majority among the finalists, this proves to simply legitimise their pre-determined goal to eliminate Gi-hun, Jun-hee's baby and Min-su.
  • Disney Villain Death: All of them fall of a tower to their deaths except for Player 203 who gets stabbed to death by Gi-hun.
  • Drugs Are Bad: Invoked, it is the justification they use for eliminating Min-su.
  • "Everybody Dies" Ending: All of them save for Myung-gi get killed off in the second round of the Sky Squid Game with Myung-gi himself dying by falling off the third tower.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: They do not understand why Gi-hun is so protective of Jun-hee's baby, and start thinking Gi-hun might be her father to justify his protectiveness. Gi-min also argues that Gi-hun is only bluffing and would give her up when his life is on the line.
  • Faux Affably Evil: They pretend to regret being forced to kill Min-su or try to paint killing the baby as a Mercy Kill but it’s clear none of them actually care for the two. The sole exception is the Token Good Teammate of Myung-gi, who does sincerely apologize to and regret killing Min-su and legitimately does feel regret for threatening his child.
  • Five-Man Band: Evil Counterpart to the usual getup:
  • Greed: Greed is what held the team together, out of anger from Kim Jun-hee's baby being reinstated as Player 222 reducing their winnings by some ₩633 million. When the manager guard gives them a hint for the final game (at least 3 players can be chosen to get eliminated to make the survivors winners), they band together to eliminate the baby in addition to Gi-hun and Min-su to win ₩7.5 billion for each winner.
  • Insane Equals Violent: Myung-gi invokes this trope against Min-su, whom he argues might do something crazy in his state of drug withdrawal, to convince his team to get him eliminated before Gi-hun or the baby.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: They’re completely unaware that Myung-gi is the father of the baby and don’t learn the truth until after the former betrays them by knocking Seung-won of the triangle platform. Jeong-dae even hypothesizes that Gi-hun is the father before considering Myung-gi to be the dad.
  • Near-Villain Victory: They successfully pass the first round by eliminating a hallucinating and withdrawal-addled Min-su, but things go very awry for them in the second round when Myung-gi turns on them and manages to get them all killed.
  • No Honor Among Thieves: This alliance doesn't last very long, needless to say.
  • Orphan's Ordeal: They use this trope to justify killing the baby. Since the mother is already dead and the father is "out of the picture", the baby would've lead an awful life anyway. They seem to genuinely believe this since they are shocked by the baby turning out to be Myung-gi's daughter.
  • Sliding Scale of Antagonist Vileness: The whole team is all over the place. Lee Myung-gi is the Anti-Villain bordering on Hero Antagonist, only voting O to destroy the team from the inside to save his baby daughter and willing to Shoot the Dog to do so, such as when he killed Min-su. Player 039 is another Anti-Villain but bordering on merely Moderately Sympathetic, having a grudge against the baby himself, but otherwise being Forced into Evil. Players 336 and 353 are slightly less sympathetic, initially willing to vote X, only to vote O due to the unexpected outcome of the baby becoming the new Player 222 and reducing their prize pools. They are both willing to kill the baby to get back their prize money. Jeong-dae is least sympathetic, with Player 100 being happy to betray even these teammates to reach his ₩10 billion target and having no qualms about wanting to kill the baby. And Player 203 is completely irredeemable, in addition to being willing to vote O from the start, being furious at the news of the baby becoming a player, and directly attempting to kill her himself several times.
    • This even reflected in their death’s. Gi-hun attempts to save both Player 039 and Myung-gi from their deaths, with both at least having the dignity not to beg for mercy, whereas he never protests against Myung-gi killing any of the other’s and even personally kills Gi-min in self-defense.
  • Suicide Dare: After they have decided to eliminate Min-su, Jeong-dae and Player 353 initially try to convince Min-su to simply jump off the platform and kill himself. Unsurprisingly, Min-su doesn't quite agree to this, deciding to loudly curse them out and tear at them for treating him like garbage.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Nobody bothers to show Gi-hun any gratitude for everything he did in Jump Rope to allow them to pass and not die, they even think of eliminating him to pass the final game.
  • Villainous Glutton: All devour their food during the final dinner with extreme joy except for Myung-gi, who hesitates a bit longer to start eating and at least bothers to look over at his baby when the guards come over to fed her.
  • Villains Want Mercy: All of them beg for mercy in some way or form before dying. Only exceptions are Player 039 who decides to commit suicide to die with some dignity and Lee Myung-gi who, while scared, never verbally begs for mercy before falling to his death.
  • Villain Team-Up: The entire team consists of greedy psychopathic killers antagonistic to Gi-hun and motivated by money.
  • We ARE Struggling Together: The team proves to be unstable from the start to the very end, with things starting off somewhat uneasily with Player 039 and Myung-gi being somewhat hesitant to fall in line with Jeong-dae's plan, and ending up in flames with Player 203 growing impatient and bickering with his alleged allies and the entire team electing to convert Player 039 into a scapegoat to use as a sacrifice for the last round when it becomes clear they won't be eliminating Gi-hun or the baby.
  • What You Are in the Dark: Upon the revelation that Jun-hee’s baby is a player that gets her mother’s share of the prize money, which lowers their share, they become livid and demand that the guards eliminate her before trying to kill her on the spot themselves. For all they know, the VIPs aren’t manipulating the game policy and watching them from the sidelines.
  • Who Will Bell the Cat?: After Myung-gi suggests switching to "the easier target" aka the Addled Addict Min-su, the group try to push Player 203 into pushing him off after failing to convince him to get himself eliminated. Player 203 himself refuses after understanding the risk of him getting dragged to his death by Min-su and also refuses, putting the group at an impassé until Myung-gi dismounts an iron pole at the centre of the building to finally kill Min-su. Lampshaded by VIP Richard.
    VIP Richard: It won't be easy to eliminate Player 125 if he keeps resisting. It's like Belling the Cat.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Exaggerated. One of their targets is a two day-old newborn baby.

    Player 039 

Player 039

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s3_player_039_hns.png
"But we still don’t know exactly what the game will be. They also said more than three could be eliminated."

Played By: Woo Jung-kook

A former X voting player who joins Jeong-dae's group right after the special game for the fear of being targeted.
  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Jeong-dae's team betrays him to make him their "lunch box", he begs Gi-hun to help him.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: While still an Asshole Victim for wanting to kill a baby, 039's death is more pitiful than triumphant compared to the other O finalists. His alliance betrays him by savagely beating Player 039 within an inch of his life and breaking his leg as they plan on dragging him to the next round to be eliminated. He gets a glimmer of hope that he could be saved when Gi-hun and Myung-gi overpowers the O players, only to realize that Myung-gi plans to kill him anyways when he takes out Jeong-dae. The sobbing 039 is so thoroughly broken by his experience that even when Gi-Hun and Myung-gi offer to spare him for now and talk to him fairly, he still chooses to commit suicide than risk becoming their "lunch box," rolling himself off the edge of the platform. What makes his demise even sadder is that 039 was the Token Good Teammate of Jeong-dae's faction who only joined the O players in Season 3 as a means of survival instead of greed.
  • All for Nothing: He joins Jeong-dae's alliance in Season 3 simply because he didn't want to be targeted by the O players only to be subjected to an You Have Outlived Your Usefulness moment during Sky Squid Game that resulted in him receiving a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown by his so-called allies, so they can use him as the last sacrifice needed to complete the game. Realizing that Myung-gi also plan to kill him due to his association with Jeong-dae, Player 039 opted to kill himself after reaching his Despair Event Horizon.
  • Ascended Extra: He is a very minor player in Season 2 but is given more focus in Season 3 due to becoming one of the nine finalists.
  • Asshole Victim: While far more downplayed compared to his allies, he was still going with them to murder the baby before the guards stepped in and was even the first one to suggest eliminating her in the final game.
  • Better to Die than Be Killed: During the Sky Squid Game, after Player 336 is killed and Myung-gi has defected to Gi-hun's side, the remaining Os beat Player 039 half to death; the reasoning they can drag him across to the next platform as a "lunch box" and chuck him off there as the final sacrifice, thus negating any need to try to overpower the two combatants with weapons. Gi-hun refuses to engage in such a dishonorable tactic, however, leading to a brawl. Player 039 survives the melee that kills the rest of the Os, but knowing that he's too weak to resist either Gi-hun or Myung-gi, chooses to kill himself before the next round so they'll have to fight among themselves rather than being their "lunch box" as the others wanted him to be.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Min-su, another quiet Extreme Doormat who joined a villainous faction within the 37th games against their better judgement. But whereas Min-su learned to stand up for himself against Thanos and Nam-gyu, 039 stuck with his alliance until they pulled a You Have Outlived Your Usefulness that Min-su was largely able to avoid with own group. Ironically, both are the last members of their factions who would die during Sky Squid Game.
  • Extreme Doormat: A quiet and nervous man who follows Jeong-dae's orders so not to become a victim himself. This is best shown during the final round of voting where Jeong-dae doesn't even let 039 properly vote as the Os already had the majority and 039 said that he was already going to vote O when he likely would have voted X had his vote actually could make a difference. The fact the O players chose him to be their "lunch box" during Sky Squid Game all but confirms he was at the bottom of the pecking order when it came to Jeong-dae's alliance.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Rather than let anyone else use him as a sacrifice, he goes out on his own terms by choosing to end his own life.
  • Face–Heel Turn: He actually continuously voted X to end the game throughout Season 2. However, once the O voters became the majority in Season 3, he changed his voted to O as not to be targeted and joined Jeong-dae's group for extra protection. When asked if he how he would vote in the final round, he claims he would have picked O but it is clearly due to peer pressure.
  • Five-Second Foreshadowing: He has to repeatedly remind the other Os that, if they shove Gi-hun off with the baby, they'll have to shove off one of their own in Round 3. It quickly becomes apparent that the other Os will shove him off if they have to, as they brutally snap one of his femurs when Gi-hun ceases to be an option.
  • Forced into Evil: He clearly wants to end the games as soon possible, but would decide to join Jeong-dae's faction out of fear when Gi-hun's failed rebellion resulted in most of the X voters being killed.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: After seeing Hyun-ju kill Player 202 during Hide-and-Seek, he wisely chooses to not engage with the hider knowing that it's just going to be a fight he won't win, and just walks away.
  • Mauve Shirt: He's the final minor character to be killed off before the final round between Gi-hun and Myung-gi.
  • No Name Given: He's the final nameless contestant to die, though the winner is also nameless.
  • Sacrificial Lamb: He's deliberately forced to become this In-Universe by Jeong-dae's team towards the end of Sky Squid Game when things go South for them. When Myung-gi betrays their alliance, they dish out a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to Player 039 to make him their "lunchbox" that they drag to the circle platform and throw him off at the start of the final round.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Of the suicide variation. Right before he throws himself off the triangle platform, he makes it clear that he's sick of the games and that he wont be the Sacrificial Lamb for the remaining players.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: His semi-spiteful suicide between Rounds 2 and 3 of Sky Squid Game breaks Myung-gi, as the latter realizes he now has to kill either Gi-hun or the baby.
  • Taking You with Me: Rather than crossing with the others and jumping off, he jumps off early so either Gi-hun or Myung-gi would have to sacrifice themself or the baby.
  • Token Good Teammate: Relative to his "allies" at least. He is implied to be peer pressured into supporting Jeong-dae's faction. Fittingly, he is the only one of two members of the team alongside Myung-gi whom Gi-hun attempts to save from their deaths and they don't pathetically beg for mercy.
  • Ungrateful Bastard:
    • While it's understandable that he wouldn't want to be dragged to the final round just to serve as a sacrifice, and while having some level of spite toward Myung-gi makes sense given that the latter's betrayal ruined what appeared to be a safe pass for him and the rest of the majority, his decision to commit suicide guaranteed at least one more death than necessary, in particular putting Gi-hun in extra danger despite the latter having given him a chance by refusing the "lunchbox" plan and insisting on drawing lots. Downplayed in that it's not even clear he was conscious to hear Gi-hun stand up for him and he had no guarantee Gi-hun would do it again in the final round.
    • He also never thanks Gi-hun for saving him and the rest of his team from Player 096’s interference in Jump Rope either.

    Player 203 (Kim Gi-min) 

Kim Gi-Min

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s3_kim_gi_min_jump_rope.png
"What are you staring at? I did you all a favor."

Played By: Choi Gwi-hwa

An especially cruel and violent player who joins Jeong-dae's group.
  • Alliterative Name: Downplayed. In Korean, both his surname and forename begin with the same consonant (ㄱ), meaning his name would actually be romanized as "Gim Gi-min".
  • All There in the Script: His real name is only given in the credits.
  • Ascended Extra: In Season 2, he is a pretty forgettable henchmen among Jeong-dae's thugs. Gi-min would be given more focus in Season 3 due to becoming one of the nine finalists.
  • Asshole Victim: Due to his cruelty and depravity, as well as his attempt to kill Jun-hee’s newborn baby, he’s one of the few players whom Gi-hun personally kills. The way he dies, slowly stabbed in the chest with a dagger until he dies, is also perfectly karmic given how violent he has been for the duration of the games.
  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: When Gi-hun and Myung-gi team up and hold him and 3 other O finalists hostage on the triangle tower of the Sky Squid Game, Player 203 loses patience and jumps for Gi-hun's dagger.
  • Ax-Crazy: He is the most bloodthirsty out of all the players, being one of the leaders of the special game and killing players during every challenge. He's also the most vocal in killing Jun-hee’s baby when it's revealed that she has replaced her mother as a player.
  • Bait the Dog: During Jump Rope, when Player 349 returns to the starting platform out of duress, Gi-min appears in front of her and asks her if she's okay... right before kicking her over the edge and sending her plummeting to her death.
  • Blood Knight: One of the first players to attack the X team during lights out, the first member of the red team to run into the maze and the player to start the brawl on the triangle platform of the Sky Squid Game by attacking Gi-hun.
  • The Brute: Among Jeong-dae's group, he is the most aggressive and physically capable of his followers.
  • The Coats Are Off:
    • Played Straight when he takes off his jacket and shouts at the X voters during an argument between them and the O voters in " O X".
    • Downplayed when he leaves his finalist suit coat unbuttoned for the entirety of the Sky Squid Game.
  • The Dragon: Replaces Player 226 as Jeong-dae's Number Two after Yeong-sam is killed during Hide-and-Seek.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: When Myung-gi reveals that he is the father of Jun-hee's baby he is confused because Myung-gi too was talking about killing the kid before. While Player 203 is fine killing the newborn it's because it's not his and callously points out the baby has no family to go back to as Jun-hee wouldn't be in the game if the father was still around, this is obviously not the case for Myung-gi.
  • Faux Affably Evil: When he points out that Jun-hee's baby seems to have no remaining family (at this point he doesn't know about Myung-gi being the baby's father) and would've led a terrible life anyway to justify murdering her, he does this with the most condescending tone imaginable.
  • Foil: To Jeong-dae's previous number two Kim Yeong-sam. Yeong-sam was primarily a condescending bully who demeaned and mocked others but did so from afar, and surrounded by his O voter allies. He was willing to kill other players but not unless placed in a situation where it was easy for him to do so, like the "secret round" and the "knife and key" game. Gi-min on the other hand is a murderous sadist who is much more direct and likely to take action, who goes out of his way to try to kill anyone when he gets the chance.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: He’s very short-tempered and quick to resort to violence.
  • The Heavy: Does most of the dirty work for Jeong-dae's team.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Gi-hun kills him with the knife he stole and attempted to kill Jun-hee’s baby with.
  • In the Back: He passes the Hide and Seek challenge by stabbing Player 172 while he was distracted by attacking Yong-sik from behind, first in the back, then in his neck.
  • Jerkass: He’s the most cruel and aggressive of the finalists, which already includes the most ruthless players in the game. He cruelly mocks and threatens the players who want to leave and has no loyalty to any of his teammates.
  • Karmic Death: In Lights Out and Hide-and-Seek, he killed several players by stabbing them to death. In Sky Squid Game, Gi-hun kills him with the knife provided to him by the Front Man. What makes this especially poetic is that the dagger in question was given by the Front Man to Gi-hun so that he could kill all the "trash" before the final game begins, something Gi-hun ultimately doesn't go through with. Gi-min getting himself killed by this very dagger symbolizes how he is easily the most unsympathetic among the O finalists and is genuinely a piece of trash.
  • Kick the Dog:
    • In Jump Rope, he kicks Player 349 to her death when she retreats to the starting point out of fear and to catch her breath.
    • When he lashes out at the Pink Guards for making the baby of the late Kim Jun-hee Player 222 in her place and reducing the other survivors' prize money, he also goes far as to call Jun-hee a "little slut".
    • He is the loudest advocate for the "Lunchbox" plan, having his teammates hold Player 039 up for him to beat up and stomping on the helpless player's thigh to break his femur.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: During Sky Squid Game, while his teammates are still discussing on how to separate Gi-hun from the baby, Gi-min just "accidentally" pushes the button to start the round and the timer before the team could even come up with a solution. This would ultimately end up screwing himself and his entire team over.
  • More Despicable Minion: While always a part of Jeong-dae's faction, he seems to step up as the right hand man after Kim Yeong-sam's death. While Jeong-dae is cruel and manipulative but ultimately is a coward who is all talk, Gi-min is a murderous psychopath who clearly gets off on killing.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: This appears to be his psychology throughout the games. When he sees the other players' shocked reactions to him kicking Player 349 to her death in Jump Rope, he proclaims that he's done them a favor. In Sky Squid Game, when Gi-hun makes it clear he won't separate himself from the baby, Gi-min decides to simply kill them both, despite his teammates warning him that they would have to sacrifice one of their own.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: Him pressing the start button before he and his teammates have actually separated Gi-hun and the baby is the first falling domino that leads to their plan failing.
  • No-Nonsense Nemesis: He is very insistent to get Min-su pushed off the square tower of "Sky Squid Game". But he quickly finds out why his teammates are hesitant to do it.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: During Hide and Seek, he apparently saves fellow seeker Yong-sik from Player 172. However, it's pretty clear that he didn't mean to and killed the hider merely to pass the game, as he looks surprised to see Yong-sik only after he kills 172 and then just leaves without saying a word, absentmindedly crushing Yong-sik's glasses on the way out.
  • Psychotic Smirk: He sports a disturbing-looking grin when he demands Gi-hun to hand over the baby, clearly intending to kill her.
  • Sadist: Whilst the other players kill due to necessity or desperation, 203 seems to simply enjoy killing people For the Evulz.
  • Speak Ill of the Dead: He calls the late Jun-hee a "little slut" just because her baby ended up becoming the new Player 222 in her place, something which wasn't in the slightest her fault and directly caused by the Front Man.
  • Stupid Evil: He forgets multiple times that by killing Gi-hun and Jun-hee's baby, there will not be enough people left to sacrifice. Either that or he simply doesn't care — notice how swiftly he and the rest of his team sacrifice 039 when Gi-hun and Myung-gi puts them in a stalemate on the second platform.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He often finds himself at odds with Jeong-dae and only teams up with him to continue the games and getting rid of the baby.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Even among the greedy members that make up Jeong-dae's team, Gi-min is just a downright monster. Jeong-dae is a Laughably Evil Large Ham; Seung-won and Yun-tae at least kill for a reason; and Player 039 and Myung-gi are Token Good Teammates. Gi-min, however, is a sadistic, petty, batshit insane bully who seems to be willing to murder other players simply for the hell of it, as shown when he kicks Player 349 off the platform in Jump Rope even though she wasn't blocking the way.
  • Troll:
    • When Player 349 retreats to the starting point in Jump Rope, Gi-min asks her if she's okay... and proceeds to kick her over the edge.
    • This gem during the finalists' dinner when the guards ask for any objection to the baby having abstained her vote due to her "inability to make decisions":
      Guard: Are there any objections?
      Gi-min: (stands up) I... do not object.
  • The Unfettered: He makes it pretty clear that nothing will stop him from winning the games and the prize money.
    • It's one thing to push another player off the Jump Rope bridge for blocking the way — it's another to push another player off the starting platform despite them not being in the way. That's exactly what Gi-min did to Player 349 when the latter retreated back to the start out of fear. Even the other players can't help but stare in horror.
    • He is willing to push Gi-hun and the baby together off the triangle platform even if that forces him and his team to sacrifice one of themselves on the following circle platform to win the game.
  • Uniformity Exception: He is the only finalist (besides Min-su) to not button his coat.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Downplayed. He becomes increasingly frustrated over his teammates' hesitation to kill Gi-hun and the baby due to the need to separate them beforehand to avert having to sacrifice one of their own.
  • Villainous Cheekbones: Courtesy of his actor Choi Gwi-hwa.
  • Villainous Rescue: He saves Yong-sik from being killed by Player 172 in Hide-and-Seek, albeit unintentionally, as he he just saw the latter as an easy kill.
  • Villain Respect: He and Jeong-dae compliment Myung-gi for his idea of using the metal pole in the centre of the Sky Squid Game towers to kill Min-su.
  • Would Hit a Girl:
    • Kicks Player 349 to her death for no particular reason other than increasing the prize money.
    • He's apparently not above killing baby girls either.
  • Would Hurt a Child: The most vocal and willing of the finalists in trying to get rid of Jun-hee’s newborn baby. His last act is to try and use Gi-hun’s knife to kill the baby.

    Player 336 (Lee Seung-won) 

Lee Seung-won

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/36_player_336.png
"Once we eliminate those three, the six of us will play nice, divide up the money and get the hell out."

Played By: Park Jin-woo

Another player who wants to continue the games and joins Jeong-dae's group after Mingle.
  • Acrofatic: In spite of being obese, he clears the Jump Rope game along with Jeong-dae even though he was blocked by Player 096 and trapped on the bridge for an extended period of time.
  • All There in the Script: His real name is only given in the credits.
  • Ascended Extra: Just one of Jeong-dae's thugs from Season 2 who is given more attention in Season 3 due to becoming one of the nine finalist. While 203 takes over Yeong-sam's role as Jeong-dae's number two, 366 ends up being much more similar to Yeong-sam by being a cocky, outspoken bully who constantly belittles the players who picked X, as opposed to the violent and gleefully murderous 203.
  • Asshole Victim: He spent the second half of the games murdering several people and going as far as to try and kill a newborn baby. He's the first one of Jeong-dae's team to bite it when he's forced off the triangle platform in the finale.
  • Disney Villain Death: He’s the first member of Jeong-dae’s finale alliance to be pushed off the triangle to his death.
  • Dumb Muscle: He admits to not being very educated, but he’s a very strong guy.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: In an effort to appeal to Gi-hun, who’s defending Jun-hee’s newborn daughter, he mentions that he knows what he’s going through and that he himself has a wife and two children. Subverted in that he is trying to manipulate Gi-hun so that he would get pushed off by Myung-gi who is sneaking up behind him.
  • Even Evil Has Standards:
    • He was the only member of Jeong-dae's group that doesn't join in on the mocking applause towards Gi-hun, although he still stares at him in contempt.
    • It’s a brief moment, but he is shown to be dismayed at the sight of the hanging corpses of the failed rebellion members.
  • Fat Bastard: Has a rotund body and is a shown to be a very unlikable guy.
  • I Have a Family: When he is at Gi-hun and Myung-gi's mercy he pleads for them not to push him off the platform and that he has a wife and two kids.
  • Jerkass: Not an affable person at all. From telling the X voters to just starve during Dae-ho and Yeong-sam's argument to flat out killing them in "Lights Out."
  • Numerological Motif: As the group’s cocky bully who constantly follows Jeong-dae around, he’s essentially Jeong-dae’s replacement for Kim Yeong-sam/226, which is reflected by his very similar player number, 336.
  • Oh, Crap!: He has this reaction when he realizes that Gi-hun has cut the makeshift rope tying him to the rest of his team and is holding him at knifepoint. He tries to save his own skin by claiming he was forced to follow his team's commands.
  • Villains Want Mercy: When Gi-hun overwhelms him during their scuffle and holds him at knifepoint, Seung-won starts begging for mercy, claiming that he was forced to follow Jeong-dae's faction's commands and saying he has a family. Myung-gi pushes him off.

    Player 353 (Kim Yun-tae) 

Kim Yun-tae

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jnlkm.jpg
"That’s 44.8 billion divided by 8 people, which makes 5.6 billion."

Played By: Lee Kyu-hoi

Another player joins Jeong-dae’s group after Mingle. He is very good with math, due to his former job as a math teacher.
  • All There in the Script: His real name is only given in the credits.
  • Ascended Extra: Another of Jeong-dae's minor minions from Season 2 who is given more attention in Season 3 as a result of becoming one of the nine finalist.
  • Asshole Victim: Considering he was one of the players who constantly voted O and wanted to kill baby 222, it is rather satisfying to see Myung-gi kick him to his death off the triangle platform in Sky Squid Game.
  • Can't Kill You, Still Need You: He gives up on trying to push away Gi-hun and the baby off the Triangle platform after realising he needs to get them separated first.
  • Disney Villain Death: He’s pushed to his death of the giant triangle platform by Myung-gi.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: He's shocked by Player 203 kicking Player 349 off the platform to her death in "Jump Rope."
  • Evil Counterpart: To Player 062 of the 33rd Squid Games in Season 1. Both are math teachers who use their academic skills to get past the games. But whereas as Player 062 was mostly a neutral contestant who at least try to help the remaining players by exposing as many of the glass panels he can before his inevitable death, Player 353 is firmly an antagonist who is only really looking out for himself. Both would die by falling to their deaths as the third person eliminated from their final respective games.
  • Evil Genius: To Jeong-dae’s alliance being a math teacher who helps his allies calculate the possible ways the prize money can be split up based on how many players are left. Although, he is not as clever as Myung-gi.
  • Evil Teacher: It’s revealed that he was a teacher before he joined the games.
  • Good with Numbers: Courtesy of his former job as a math teacher. He can calculate the prize money each player would get depending on the number of winners in just mere seconds.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: He’s killed by Myung-gi after trying to attack and kill him.
  • One-Steve Limit: Averted. There is another character named Kim Yun-tae who won the games in 2003.
  • Soft-Spoken Sadist: He mostly speaks in a very calm and diplomatic tone, even if the stuff he is talking about involves justifying killing Jun-hee's baby and telling Min-su to kill himself.
  • Suddenly Shouting: When he approaches Gi-hun and the baby with a metal pole on the triangle tower, he demands Gi-hun hand the baby over, before screaming at him and threatening to push them both off.
  • Suicide Dare: To Min-su after they vote to eliminate him. Naturally, he refuses to comply.
  • This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: While number crunching doesn't sound like a skill that would be hugely important in the games, his arithmetic skills come into importance when he quickly calculates the prize money each player would get on request before the guards even announce the numbers or in other scenarios.
  • Villains Want Mercy: When Myung-gi overpowers him and hangs him over the edge, Yun-tae starts begging for his life. It falls on deaf ears as Myung-gi kicks him off, sending him falling to his death.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Like the rest of Jeong-dae’s alliance, he’s willing to kill off Jun-hee’s newborn baby after they learn that she counts as a contestant, which causes their share of the prize money to be less than they anticipated.

    The Sixth Member (MAJOR UNMARKED SPOILERS

Lee Myung-gi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bhk.jpg
"We have to figure something out. In this round, we can just pick the easier target."

Played By: Yim Si-wan

Player 333 or Lee Myung-gi, the Cryptocurrency Youtuber, the ex-lover of the late Jun-hee and the father of the new Player 222, unexpectedly voted O in the last round and joins Jeong-dae's team. He seemingly did it to blend in with the big majority that voted O, and to foil their plans while saving his daughter. To see tropes on him, see his entry here.

Other Members

    Player 096 

Player 096

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marine_player_096.png
"What do you think I'm doing? I'm playing the game."

Played By: Lee Suk

A former member of the ROKMC that was originally supposed to join Gi-hun's team in the Six-Legged Pentathlon but was replaced by Jun-hee.
  • Ascended Extra: He gets a much more prominent and active role in season 3, after being featured as a Recurring Extra in season 2.
  • Asshole Victim: An ‘O’ voter who has no qualms about murdering his fellow contestants to ensure the continuing of the games, is completely apathetic to having to hunt his fellow players in the fourth game and attempts to murder every player in the fifth game just so he can get all the money for himself.
  • Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: While Gi-hun is too moral of a person to approve of Player 096's tactics during Jump Rope, they actually helped Gi-hun in the long run. Player 096 eliminating several of O voters greatly reduced the number of opponents Gi-hun had to deal with in following game, Sky Squid Game.
  • Bait the Dog: After finishing the fifth game, 096 cheers on his fellow players and even encourages and embraces Player 312… just so he could lower 312’s guard and push him off the podium.
  • Boss in Mook Clothing: He was initially a neutral character who would become minor antagonist after he joins the O voters alliance in Season 2. Surprisingly, he become the main threat of the fifth game, Jump Rope. After being the third personnote  to cross the bridge, 096 comes up with a plan to prevent all the other players from getting to safety by blocking the way and pushing them off the platform if they get too close. At that point, stopping 096 becomes the main objective for everyone in the game.
  • Cold Ham: He rarely raises his voice, yet delivers his lines in a menacing tone during Jump Rope.
    Player 096: What do you think I'm doing? I'm playing the game.
  • Commonality Connection: 096 almost joins Gi-hun's team for the Six-Legged Pentathlon because he's a former ROK marine (specifically, from class 946), just like Jung-bae and Dae-ho.
  • Disney Villain Death: He ends up plummeting to his death after getting whacked by the jump rope.
  • Evil All Along: He starts out as a neutral character who just happens to be in a dire financial situation with hundreds of other people in the same boat. After Lights Out he reveals himself to be a greedy, sociopath who’s willing to kill off other players to increase the prize money.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: It never occurs to him that Gi-hun wants to save as many players as he can (more specifically Jun-Hee and her baby during Jump Rope) and isn’t in it for the money. He even asks Gi-hun to help him stop his fellow players from reaching the finish.
  • Evil Counterpart:
    • To the 33rd games' Player 096. The first season's Player 096 is a fearful man who wanted a chance to prove he's not a coward and ends up being the very first casualty of the game. This Player 096 is already a badass and villainous ex-marine who actually manages to clear the fifth game (initially at least) and causes the vast majority of the remaining players to die in said game.
    • He can also be seen as this to Kang Dae-ho. Both are former marines who were invited by Jung-bae to join Gi-hun's Six-Legged Pentathlon team for that reason. However, while Dae-ho stayed in Gi-hun's team, Player 096 was replaced by Jun-hee and turned out to be Evil All Along. It is later revealed that Dae-ho was actually pretending to be a former marine and only served in Social Services; meanwhile, 096 served in the marines for real.
  • Evil Laugh: He gives out a malicious laugh when he reveals his plan to Gi-hun to push all the other players off in Jump Rope.
  • Eye Scream: Gi-hun manages to crush his left eye in their brief fight.
  • History Repeats: He's the second Player 096 who dies in the fifth game, which ironically also involves crossing the bridge in some way.
  • Hope Crusher: Pushes others off the bridge after they have successfully completed the fifth game.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: He believes Gi-hun would accept his proposal in splitting the prize money after preventing the remaining players from finishing Jump Rope and is shocked at being told to stop. Despite the fact that Gi-hun made it abundantly clear that he wants as many people to survive.
  • Karmic Death: After his plan to push every other player to their deaths has failed, 096 attempts to ambush and kill Gi-hun for foiling his plan. After a brief fight, Gi-hun pushes him back on the bridge, and he is thrown off the bridge by the rope a few seconds later.
  • Kick the Dog: When Jeong-dae unsympathetically tells the X players that they will all die in the fourth game, 096 laughs along with him.
    • After completing the fifth game, 096 motivates the other players to cross the bridge and win, only to kill them when they reach the end. He then reveals that he intends to push anyone who reaches the end to their deaths below. After revealing his plan, he cruelly mocks the other players who are now stuck on the bridge and starting platform.
  • Lack of Empathy: His reaction to the fourth game isn’t one of horror or shock at having to murder his fellow players, but rather one of anger at the other team having an easier objective.
  • Psychotic Smirk: He sports this during Jump Rope as he pushes the other players off. When the other players protest, 096 simply tells them to just die in an enthusiastic tone.
  • Recurring Extra: After "Six Legs," he can often be seen among the crowd of "O" voters.
  • Sixth Ranger Traitor: He's this to Jeong-dae's team. He becomes a late entry member after the riot and tries to kill all of them, as well as everyone else in "Jump Rope", when he successfully maneuvers to the other side. He actually does succeed in inadvertently causing the deaths of Players 192 and 442.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Him attempting and succeeding the Jump Rope challenge immediately after Gi-hun and blocking other players from crossing the bridge not only gets the vast majority of the remaining players killed but also effectively doomed Jun-hee by wasting too much time for Gi-hun.
  • Sociopathic Soldier: He’s an ex-marine who continues to vote for the games despite knowing fully well there’s a pregnant woman in them. If killing other players in Lights Out and Hide-and-Seek wasn’t bad enough, but he also attempts to kill the remaining players in Jump Rope by preventing them from getting to the end.
  • Stupid Evil: Zigzagged. On one hand, he comes up with a pretty smart, but morally bankrupt plan to eliminate every other player except him and Gi-hun during Jump Rope by blocking the way to safety. On other hand, assuming that Gi-hun, a person who repeatedly tried to stop the games, just risked life and limb to get Jun-Hee's baby to safety, and outright announced of his intention of going back to help her next, would ever agree to his monstrous tactics (at least before Jun-Hee can get across) is incredibly stupid.
  • Too Clever by Half: His strategy during Jump Rope of being one of the first to get across the bridge and then prevent all other players getting to safety is actually a very clever plan. But where it falls flat is that he fail to take into account what Gi-hun (the first person to successfully cross the bridge) wanted. Had try to appeal to Gi-hun's desires or teamed up with another unscrupulous O voter, his plan could have worked.
  • Villain Respect: To Gi-hun, seeing as he suggested they team-up to eliminate all the other players during Jump Rope so they can split the prize money. Too bad for him, Gi-hun refuses to go along with his plan.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Despite joining Jeong-dae's faction after "Lights Out", he tries to pull this trope on him and the rest of his cronies when he passes "Jump Rope."

    Player 192 

Player 192

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/37_player_192.webp
'"Hey. Hey! You guys started killing us first. You wanted us to die. That's how you planned to win the vote, wasn't it?'"

Played By: Jang Tae-min

A nearly bald player who joins Im Jeong-dae’s group during the special game and dies in the jump rope game.
  • Asshole Victim: A murderer who wants to continue playing even after discovering the newborn baby has entered the games. His death is especially deserving due to his’s betrayal of 440, his apathy to Geum-ja’s pleas to end the games and his threats to push other players.
  • Bald of Evil: He has a noticeable buzzcut and is one of the more immoral players.
  • The Brute: He is a tough fighter who survives a 3v1 in the bathroom fight against 072, 206 and 324, participates in special game, and kills Player 440 during hide and seek.
  • Disney Villain Death: He and Player 442 both plummet into the pit after the former loses his balance and grabs onto the latter.
  • Et Tu, Brute?:
    • He switches vests with Player 440, whom he then kills to pass the 4th game.
    • He is disgusted by Jeong-dae offering up him and Player 442 to save himself.
  • Even Evil Has Standards:
    • He is disgusted by Im Jeong-dae when he offers 096 to push him and Player 442 off the platform in exchange for his own safety.
    • He is visually disturbed from witnessing Nam-gyu's death at the start of Jump Rope.
  • Gratuitous English: He responds to Player 440 accepting his request to switch vests with himself with a "Thank you" in English.
  • Hypocrite:
    • He is furious at Players 096 and Jeong-dae for betraying him and trying to throw him off the bridge with Player 442, yet they themselves are completely okay with killing players and even urge others to push Jeong-dae off even before he sells them out.
    • He also shows zero loyalty as he murders the player who gave him a knife in the first place.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: He rightfully accuses the X team of starting the bathroom fight, as Myung-gi was technically the one who threw the first punch, although he assumes they were doing so to kill the O players and win the vote.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Geum-ja begs him to change his vote after the 4th game, he refuses and instead votes to continue the games. He dies alongside 442 when they are betrayed by Jeong-dae and 096 and fail to successfully complete the game.
  • No Sympathy: As Geum-ja begs him to press X, he coldly ignores her pleas and shows no concern for her.
  • Taking You with Me: An accidental example when he begins to lose his balance, he grabs onto 442, which leads to both of them to getting hit by the rope and falling into the pit.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He and Player 442 to do this to Jeong-dae, who offers 096 to do this to them. They end up dying before either party can kill each other.

    Player 442 

Player 442

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/37_player_442.webp
'"What's the hell's that all about? Why you trying to start shit, huh?'"

Played By: Seo Ho-chul

A player with a heavy build and long crew cut hair who join Im Jeong-dae’s group during the special game.
  • Asshole Victim: A murderer who wants to continue playing even after discovering the newborn baby has entered the games.
  • The Brute: He is a tough fighter who participates in the bathroom fight, the special game and kills Player 418 in hide and seek.
  • Disney Villain Death: He plummets into the pit with Player 192 after the latter loses his balance and grabs the former.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: He is disgusted by Jeong-dae offering up him and Player 192 to save himself.
  • Even Evil Has Standards:
    • He is disgusted by Im Jeong-dae when he offers 096 to push him and Player 192 off the platform in exchange for his own safety.
    • He visibly winces in horror in reaction to Nam-gyu's death.
  • Hypocrite: He is furious at Players 096 and Jeong-dae for betraying him and Player 192 and trying to throw them off the bridge, yet they themselves are completely okay with killing players and even urge others to push Jeong-dae off even before he sells them out.
  • I'll Kill You!: He yells this to Jeong-dae when he offers Player 096 to stop Player 442 and the other players from crossing the bridge to save himself from death.
  • Taking You with Me: An accidental example, him being on the receiving end. When Player 192 begins to lose his balance, he grabs onto Player 442, which leads to both of them to getting hit by the rope and falling into the pit.
  • This Is Gonna Suck: He cringes in horror and despair over watching Nam-gyu get himself killed in the jump rope game.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He and Player 192 try to do this to Jeong-dae, who offers 096 to do this to them. They end up dying before either party can kill each other.

"ONE MORE GAME! ONE MORE GAME! ONE MORE GAME!"

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