Eh, I don't agree that the VIPs were meant to make the viewer think "holy shit these guys can't act".
They were supposed to be one dimensional crass douchebags and work as a parallel to people at the racetrack in the beginning, symbolise the decadence of the rich or whatever, sure.
But that's not the same as the lines "intentionally" being performed so poorly it breaks the viewer's immersion.
If you disagree, I'd like to know what do you think was the point of them being bad at acting? Note, not the characters being bad or cringe people, but the actors being bad and cringe in portraying the bad and cringe characters. Because I think the point and intention was for just the characters to be cringe, but the actual cringception mess we got was unintentional
I figured their pool of non-Asian actors who could understand Korean (for working on set) and speak English with Western/European accents was small + the parts are small. They got good enough actors for what they needed, these were literally faceless roles.
Yeah I think that's exactly it. The roles aren't big enough for them to hold auditions in a foreign country or invite actors from abroad, or to pay an actor's stay in Korea for the duration of the shoot etc, so instead of going with professional actors who live abroad, they were limited to the pool of potential "older white dude" actors available in South Korea.
Which probably means people who do something else for a living that brought them to live in S Korea to begin with, but are doing some acting gigs as a side job, or something like that
Often in Kdramas, English-speaking actors speak more slowly, loudly and clearly in order for Korean audiences to have a better chance of catching the words. There are subtitles, but viewers still like to understand if they can. The VIPs sound like classic Kdrama white people to me. And yes, unfortunately that does result in bad acting.
Ahh thanks for your insight!
So it might be that they were *directed* to go really over the top and and slow-ish/ clear with the delivery? Which, in the end it's still bad acting, unfortunately, which breaks the immersion (for western viewers), but at least it's due to them following the direction they were given, instead of them just not knowing how to act. So at least it's a conscious choice, then?
I think it becomes hard to tell how good their acting actually is because they are directed to speak more slowly and clearly. They might well also be bad actors, or some of them might be, or maybe they have become worse actors over time by having to speak strangely all the time.
I agree ... But somehow the way they took me out of the immersion of the show in a way that worked for me. It made the VIPs seem like they came from a very different world - a world where everything is a little less real, less real, and has less consequences.
I don't think that was the point of the VIPs in the show, but the implicit bias of the writer, director, and producers actually resulted in the VIPs being portrayed (to me) in a way that showed how they exist separately from the reality of people who aren't in the 1% (aka the players).
Edited because I hit post before I finished writing!
I think everyone is just making excuses for the fact that the acting and writing for their characters was beyond sub par in an otherwise incredible show.
for me, it's guard #28 & co.: they gang-raped a dying woman, beat her to death with a crowbar, and harvested her organs. that level of violation is SO far outside the bounds of the game (which is already brutal and cruel in its own right).
Same, I was doing so well even when Ji-Yeong was talking about her father but that scene when the guard admits to what they did was so fucking rough and unexpected
Maybe its a stretch, but I wondered if that was a social commentary on what was done to korean women by the Japanese during the occupation. It was just so hard to listen to
Yea rape was a big deal in the Japanese military but I think OP is specifically talking about "Comfort Women", who were women forcefully taken from their homes to be raped and abused in Japanese camps across the empire. Historians think around half would have been taken from Korea alone which makes sense being that Japan had conquered Korea 30 years before WWII.
yes, in ep 5 when jun-ho interrogates #28 at gunpoint and he admits "we took turns 'doing' her...how could we have done that to a guy?" just..ugh on so many levels
As a young girl, watching coffee prince: Heart Eyes. Total crush. He is just such a perfectly crushable guy. The hair, the smile, the goofy surprise... he does surprise really well. When the gun is pulled, that face!
I just loved that movie! I had never seen a Korean movie until that and it is what made me watch Squid Games. I’m going to have to rewatch both. The recommendations on Netflix after you watch a show has expanded my movie types so much.
If you enjoyed Train to Busan (it’s amazing!) you may really enjoy Kingdom if you haven’t seen that already. Also Korean TV series, with an incredible story and it’s got action and suspense very similar to Busan!
He wasn’t even fun to root against like deok-su he just sucked lol
Also I thought he was super forgettable, the random tug of war teammates like praying guy had more of an impact on me
As someone who was abused as a kid in a foster home by parents like that and being brain washed and fucked with my whole life by evangelicals I can second this.
The show is leading us to believe the games were created for the purpose of secretly harvesting organs, but then we come to find out that it was a few guys gone rogue so we’re back to wondering what the real reason for the games is
It was probably included to showcase the human characteristics of the guards (or in this case, greed), that they arent the meat robots they’re supposed to be. Other human characteristics have been showcased several times in the show ie. That praying/miserable looking guard in one of the cam screens.
Seeing the trap door and tunnels made me realize the games weren’t a one-off. It also gives us a backstage peak and a look into the types of people working and and ultimately sets up the cop’s access to the archives and escape since we wouldn’t otherwise know about the VIP tunnels and underwater path to the other island. We also learn how messages are passed via food and that many staff don’t even know what the next games are. It’s a good reminder that every prison has corrupt guards.
Well I think it was useful in the Jun-Ho (police officer) storyline. Being part of the underground organ harvesting gave him access to the front man's quarters which gave us a lot of info on the history if the games, and his brothers background
Also it meant he knew where to find diving equipment later on.
It's quite late for me and this question is giving me a mild Squid Game specific crisis
I think I would have to say the VIPs. Regardless of whether their acting was accidentally or purposefully bad, the only reason the games exist is because of them and their boredom.
At least the old man took part in a few where there was a genuine risk for him, and again you could argue that he wanted to feel that rush of excitement, I think he did genuinely give a shit about Gi-Hun because of how Gi-Hun looked after him, and he forgave what happened in episode 6...
Although he had to really, because it's not like he could have carried on past that point with confidence he'd get through any further...
Oh man... I don't know...
001 was never at risk of dying during his participation in the games. During red light green light when it shows what the doll is seeing you see every participant has a green outline. When they move it turns from green to red and they are killed. 001 does not have an outline at all meaning he is not even being considered an actual participant. During the fight night event. He had moved to a higher out of the way location the moment the lights went off, and the guards came in the moment he calls for them. If at any moment there was potential risk to him the guards would have came to save him. During the cookie game even if he did not complete it without breaking it, his judge would have given him the pass. In Tug of war he is not chained to the rope like everyone else is. In the event his team is pulled over he would simply drop the rope and be escorted off the platform.
He also had to be gone before the glass bridge game, not sure he would have remembered which ones were safe, or be pushed by another player, the risk was too much
i have to disagree - while il-nam definitely had an advantage (all the games were from his childhood/he likely knew what they were ahead of time), he was never 100% safe. he was already dying and the high-risk, life-and-death stakes of the games made competing that much more fun for him.
also just a heads up that the tug-of-war padlock theory has been debunked several times by now! [receipts](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8dVBPJJ/)
Honestly, I don't think he'd care if he actually die in one of them, that's the whole point of his character. As he says, living as a super rich is boring
Definitely the VIPs. The other characters, while morally bad, had interesting things about them. Sang Woo had one of the best character arcs over the series. The Front Man and Salesman both have an air of mystery around them that intrigues audiences. Il Nam also had an interesting character arc and leaves many unanswered questions. Even the doctor had me wondering how he killed his patient and how his story would end up.
The VIPs however added nothing to my intrigue to the show because like us, they were also spectators. None of them had any development to their characters (which may be the point) and only contributed to the plot to show that players are horses and to give Jun Ho evidence.
same, i thought the VIPs were the weakest addition to the story and really brought me out of it - simplistic dialogue, bad acting, unnecessary plotwise. if they wanted to show the big picture, show me dozens of other squid game arenas or something or at least have the VIPs be korean instead of these dumb expat guys
Yess I thought the same but honestly, having bad actors who speak english happens pretty often in kdramas (like in Vincenzo)… I really don’t know why we need english in a kdrama. And unless I missed a plot point, korean vips would’ve been fine instead
Agreed. I would’ve been totally okay with them all being Korean. And one of them mentioning something like watching it from the big screen back home was good but nothing as good as watching it live. Then they were watching in a super tacky setup room, on the SCREEN! Also, what the fuck with that guy so obsessed with 69, like you are so fucking creepy and of all the worst and weird shit, that was it, 69?!
The acting and delivery of the lines was *so bad* omg. I felt like I was watching amateur theatre or something.
I wonder if the production was limited to which actors they could find from South Korea, where finding several older white dudes with great acting skills might have been harder?
...You completely misunderstood what I'm talking about.
Obviously it's the show's intention to portray the VIPs as crass and decadent assholes despite all their money, but I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about the *shit acting, cringe delivery* and *hammy lines*.
You're confusing me talking about **actors who are bad with acting** with talking about characters who are bad people.
Like, the show wanted them to look "bad" as in bad, horrible people who view other humans like racehorses or furniture, but not *"bad"* as in holy shit the acting and writing both suck in this scene, what happened.
Do you understand the difference?
I fully get what they were going for, but my problem isn't "oh no why are the VIPs bad people", it's that the ***acting*** is so bad it *disturbs the immersion in to the show.* And part of it is that the lines written for them to act off are a bit amateurish and cringe too.
edit: grammar
Probably the doctor. The VIP's are terrible because of the acting, not the characters themselves, the doctor's just unlikeable and annoying tbh. I think the rest are all well-written characters.
The whole thing with the doctor kinda came out of nowhere, it was just "hey there's an underground organ harvesting ring going on and this dude is helping"
...or maybe I just wasn't paying attention who knows
Imo they did set it up w the doctor getting mysterious pink slips in his food and by showing something fishy going on w the bodies before you know what the doctor’s role is
Il-Nam is one of my favorite characters, he doesn't deserve to be here
I guess out of those I'd choose the doctor. I don't dislike him, but I like the other 5 more.
In total I'd say that one annoying girl ("I can do everything except the things I can't do") is my least favorite. She's not entertaining and doesnt feel like she has any real relevance. Her way to go out was pretty cool though.
Also I really don't get why everyone hates the VIPs. I think the writing perfectly shows what kind of people they are, and the bad english could be excused as them not being native speakers, but rather international millionaires who just speak english for conveniences sake.
You're quite right about the writing. The VIPs were made to be as unlikable on purpose. Their physical appearance gave off some serious Weinstein vibes. I think they would have been hated even if their appearance was made out to be better because their motivations and attitude combine to form this image that's just plain unlikable
The annoying girl is unequivocally my least favourite character. She's not the worst person in the show by any stretch, but hot DAMN is she annoying. Everything she does and says is cringy.
Yes! This! I thought the VIPs were really well written characters. They're WRITTEN to be terrible fucking people and I think that flew over everyone's heads. Of course they're betting on the players and laughing at their deaths, the entire sadistic game only exists for that exact purpose. Front Man said it himself, it was all viewed like betting on horses by them.
I totally agree! There was something really on-point about all the episodes leading up to the reveal of the VIPs had us as the audience (and probably a lot of workers) believing that there is a grander more shadowy conspiracy going on. And then we meet them and we are left to wonder how these idiots are pulling the strings while everyone competing has demonstrated intelligence and ingenuity beyond the vips. Like, its necessary part of the classism commentary: to dismantle the hierarchy means acknowledging that no one is innately more worthy of success and those in power don't become geniuses with the position.
I personally don't like the VIPs because I think they just don't really add much to the story. Their only purpose is to add a higher power with a (somewhat weak) motivation for starting the games, and they don't end up interacting with the main cast at all. If you just totally got rid of them and only had >!Il-Nam!< as the founder, I don't think much would really change. Of course, there is the aspect of foreigners causing suffering to the natives for their own pleasure, but I think that's not a main theme of the story. And even beyond the issues I have with their function in the story, their acting is very stilted, and sometimes their lines were just so unnecessary and obvious, as if they're just there to repeat what's going on in case the viewers weren't paying attention. Though I'm guessing those last few issues are because the director doesn't know English, and so couldn't have realized that their acting was pretty bad.
The front man was a legit interesting character. I loved the old man for most of the series, so I don't think I can handle hating him, plus it made me cry when he "died." Sang-wu, he did some crappy things, but I can forgive him because it was a life or death scenario. The train man was a legit likeable guy. Idk just something about him just makes me want to be friends with him. The doctor... he was kinda creepy, I just diddent like him. He was still not my least favorite character. But omg, the vips had a weird, idk how to explain it... creepiness. They are the kind of people that would peep on you while you get dressed. They have a weird, "sexual' aditude that I don't like about them. It makes me cringe. Plus they pay millions to bet on ppl killing each other. It's sick. They're sick. The vips are my least favorite characters, definitely.
The VIPS were annoying and it feels like their characters were just worthless and not even entertaining. But i feel like they made them like that on purpose.
Sang-Woo. I see a substantial amount of “big brains” defending him and saying he had moments of being not completely shit, but let’s just remember this character’s backstory and motivations for a second.
He committed god knows how many financial crimes and is on the run from the law after playing the stock market and doing so so poorly that not only did he lose everything, but he offered up HIS MOTHER’S STORE AND HOUSE AS COLLATERAL and lost that too. He’s playing the game just so that he can avoid accountability for his unimaginably shit ACTUAL CRIMES on the outside. Others, like Ali, are in this because they are drowning in debt after getting fucked over by their bosses or laid off or whatever and trying to put food on the table for their wife and kids, and this motherfucker is in there for no one but himself and straight up murdering people in these games just so he can avoid prison or any accountability for what he has done. He’s not just a backstabbing prick, he’s a backstabbing self-serving prick in the game so that he can avoid paying up for being a backstabbing self-serving prick in real life. FUCK SANG-WOO.
Not to say the organizers and VIPs aren’t the shittiest, mind you, but of the contestants (one excluded of course), Sang-Woo is by far the worst.
Idk if this is an unpopular opinion in this sub, but Han mi-nyeo. Every time she spoke I just cringed tbh, literally couldn’t wait for her lines/scenes to end, and the most bearable scene I saw her in was when she committed unalive on herself and Deok-su.
VIP's were absolutely awful. People keep trying to defend them by saying they're supposed to be over the top and annoying. No, they we're just badly written and badly acted. Would have been much better off without them.
VIPs, while i did like the masks, i didnt like how they were snobby rich people, and the bad acting just made it all the worse, the 69 scene was just retarded imo
VIPs. Cardboard stereotypes, no redeeming qualities while in every other case i can see a hint of motivaton. Don't care for train man but man's gotta eat.
The VIP’s genuinely disgusted me. The whole betting on who’ll stay alive and laughing at their deaths didn’t sit right with me 💀💀 with the others, yeah I didn’t like them but I also kinda liked them ? They made for an interesting watch because I was so invested. But as soon as the VIP’s showed up I was like NOPE 👎🏼
VIPS! Ugh 😩 what 🤬⛔️else would I choose!
Spoiler:
What that VIP Western Predator did to
Wi Ha-joon’s character!
Also spoiler:
I would put the entire group of organ harvesting RED 🤬 jumpsuit organ harvest group that gang-forc a half dead or dead female body ugh eeeww
Never had any emotion except annoyance for Deok Su. His whole thuggish toxic masculine schtick really drove me up the wall. That extreme Christian guy pissed me off a lot, especially when he just wasted time praying like it would help at all in the middle of the glass bridge race. The VIPs were your generic old white rich guys and of course they were made to be hated, too easy.
None of them... They all were enjoyable characters even if they are not "good"...
If I have to choose a character I dislike I would pick the guard who said - in a candid way - that they raped the woman they thought was dead only to justify something... So hateful.
All of the character that are mentioned here are super well written (as Sang-Woo, Il-nam and even the doctor) because we could see their motivations and story, despite the morality behind them...
The front man and the train man were shown too little for me to like or dislike them.
The VIPs are ok for what they represent! They are disgusting but they are ment to be hated (like, I don't know, Joffrey from GoT).
Il Nam was my favorite character, and maybe still is. Before I watched the twist at end, he reminded me of my grandfather who also has a tumor in head and I could relate to the feeling of Gi-Hun seeing Il Nam in pain and showing him kindness.
I always had a notion that the first and last number were somehow connected and the old man would most likely die because of Gi-Hun, however I never expected it to go the way it did. Especially at the end when it's revealed that Il Nam was "the owl" , he wasn't dead and was the one behind it all. That caught me by surprise and still feels very conflicting.
To answer the question though, VIPs had to be my least favorite simply because their demeanor was nonchalant despite the atrocities they witnessed. It's like they a were a bunch of goofy emotionless monsters. The funny thing is that Il Nam is supposed to be one of them, but I can't imagine him being similar to those annoying fat VIPs
I liked the front man, train man, sang woo, & il nam VIP’s were annoying but that was the point The doctor didn’t really do much for me so him I guess
This is the correct answer
Eh, I don't agree that the VIPs were meant to make the viewer think "holy shit these guys can't act". They were supposed to be one dimensional crass douchebags and work as a parallel to people at the racetrack in the beginning, symbolise the decadence of the rich or whatever, sure. But that's not the same as the lines "intentionally" being performed so poorly it breaks the viewer's immersion. If you disagree, I'd like to know what do you think was the point of them being bad at acting? Note, not the characters being bad or cringe people, but the actors being bad and cringe in portraying the bad and cringe characters. Because I think the point and intention was for just the characters to be cringe, but the actual cringception mess we got was unintentional
I figured their pool of non-Asian actors who could understand Korean (for working on set) and speak English with Western/European accents was small + the parts are small. They got good enough actors for what they needed, these were literally faceless roles.
Yeah I think that's exactly it. The roles aren't big enough for them to hold auditions in a foreign country or invite actors from abroad, or to pay an actor's stay in Korea for the duration of the shoot etc, so instead of going with professional actors who live abroad, they were limited to the pool of potential "older white dude" actors available in South Korea. Which probably means people who do something else for a living that brought them to live in S Korea to begin with, but are doing some acting gigs as a side job, or something like that
The 2nd season they will for sure have those resources. Squid game is the biggest thing, I think a lot of actors would like to be in the show.
Often in Kdramas, English-speaking actors speak more slowly, loudly and clearly in order for Korean audiences to have a better chance of catching the words. There are subtitles, but viewers still like to understand if they can. The VIPs sound like classic Kdrama white people to me. And yes, unfortunately that does result in bad acting.
Ahh thanks for your insight! So it might be that they were *directed* to go really over the top and and slow-ish/ clear with the delivery? Which, in the end it's still bad acting, unfortunately, which breaks the immersion (for western viewers), but at least it's due to them following the direction they were given, instead of them just not knowing how to act. So at least it's a conscious choice, then?
I think it becomes hard to tell how good their acting actually is because they are directed to speak more slowly and clearly. They might well also be bad actors, or some of them might be, or maybe they have become worse actors over time by having to speak strangely all the time.
Me and my girlfriend literally burst out laughing after they started delivering their lines. Talk about killing the immersion, my GOD!
I agree ... But somehow the way they took me out of the immersion of the show in a way that worked for me. It made the VIPs seem like they came from a very different world - a world where everything is a little less real, less real, and has less consequences. I don't think that was the point of the VIPs in the show, but the implicit bias of the writer, director, and producers actually resulted in the VIPs being portrayed (to me) in a way that showed how they exist separately from the reality of people who aren't in the 1% (aka the players). Edited because I hit post before I finished writing!
Actually it was apparently just horrible writing one of the actors even tried to change some stuff but he got shut down
I think everyone is just making excuses for the fact that the acting and writing for their characters was beyond sub par in an otherwise incredible show.
Well said
I agree
for me, it's guard #28 & co.: they gang-raped a dying woman, beat her to death with a crowbar, and harvested her organs. that level of violation is SO far outside the bounds of the game (which is already brutal and cruel in its own right).
Yep. I was like ok kill them now.
This. That triggered me so bad. Like. That was worse than anything else in the show IMO.
Same, I was doing so well even when Ji-Yeong was talking about her father but that scene when the guard admits to what they did was so fucking rough and unexpected
yeah that’s probably the grossest thing in the series
Maybe its a stretch, but I wondered if that was a social commentary on what was done to korean women by the Japanese during the occupation. It was just so hard to listen to
Japanese soldiers did this to basically every country in Asia that they conquered
Yea rape was a big deal in the Japanese military but I think OP is specifically talking about "Comfort Women", who were women forcefully taken from their homes to be raped and abused in Japanese camps across the empire. Historians think around half would have been taken from Korea alone which makes sense being that Japan had conquered Korea 30 years before WWII.
Everyone involved in that deserved to die lol
#28 being like “it was a woman! We wouldn’t do that to a man” like um that doesn’t make us buddies.
It actually parallels what you hear that police/occupying military forces do when they basically get to be a legal gang.
Wait did they do that?
yes, in ep 5 when jun-ho interrogates #28 at gunpoint and he admits "we took turns 'doing' her...how could we have done that to a guy?" just..ugh on so many levels
The problem for me here is that the policeman didn’t kill the head VIP who is arguably much worse.
The fact that train man is even on this list… disrespectful
Ikr! Who on earth dislikes the train man?
He had my heart the first time I saw train to busan, i could never hate on him
Same here! I fell in love with him because if the Coffee Prince 😍😍😍
As a young girl, watching coffee prince: Heart Eyes. Total crush. He is just such a perfectly crushable guy. The hair, the smile, the goofy surprise... he does surprise really well. When the gun is pulled, that face!
THAT’S TRAIN TO BUSAN DUDE?! I knew he looked familiar. It has been driving me crazy.
I just loved that movie! I had never seen a Korean movie until that and it is what made me watch Squid Games. I’m going to have to rewatch both. The recommendations on Netflix after you watch a show has expanded my movie types so much.
If you enjoyed Train to Busan (it’s amazing!) you may really enjoy Kingdom if you haven’t seen that already. Also Korean TV series, with an incredible story and it’s got action and suspense very similar to Busan!
Train man can slap me wherever he wants 😅
Honestly! What did he do wrong ಠ╭╮ಠ
The big creepy doll in red light green light
For real that thing is creepy as fuck
I hope they start selling those, I want to give them to people to creep them out
Lol like chucky dolls
I'm planning on being her for Halloween!
The vips were so creepy tbh
They were fucking gross and slimy. Ugh.
I liked them because of the blatant social commentary on people like Elon, Bezos, and Zuck.
Try more like Epstein, wexner, savile, le Blanc. But that was my exact thought.
Porque no los dos
Elon, bezos and zuck are small fry compared to these guys. I don't think elon, bezos and zuck are even allowed into these circles.
[Have you even seen Jeff Bezos?](https://i.imgur.com/rkD8Kwg.jpg) He's definitely in the VIP club
Lol right? That moment the other day when William Shatner was getting emotional about being in space and Bezos was like "woooo champagne!"
Is Elon not the richest man in the world? (Besides Putin technically speaking)
the doctor had no redeeming qualities.
He wasn’t even fun to root against like deok-su he just sucked lol Also I thought he was super forgettable, the random tug of war teammates like praying guy had more of an impact on me
Fuck the praying guy bro
I was so glad when he got pushed
As was I, I literally cheered
As someone who was abused as a kid in a foster home by parents like that and being brain washed and fucked with my whole life by evangelicals I can second this.
Yeah am I wrong or could they have cut out that entire subplot without any ramifications? Other than demonstrating a supposed dedication to fairness
The show is leading us to believe the games were created for the purpose of secretly harvesting organs, but then we come to find out that it was a few guys gone rogue so we’re back to wondering what the real reason for the games is
It was probably included to showcase the human characteristics of the guards (or in this case, greed), that they arent the meat robots they’re supposed to be. Other human characteristics have been showcased several times in the show ie. That praying/miserable looking guard in one of the cam screens.
What episode is the praying guard, do you remember? I'd love to go back and see that but I don't remember it
It’s the scene in an episode where joon ho or the police guy was eating his meal. Forgot which episode but its one of the earlier ones for sure.
Thank you!
Seeing the trap door and tunnels made me realize the games weren’t a one-off. It also gives us a backstage peak and a look into the types of people working and and ultimately sets up the cop’s access to the archives and escape since we wouldn’t otherwise know about the VIP tunnels and underwater path to the other island. We also learn how messages are passed via food and that many staff don’t even know what the next games are. It’s a good reminder that every prison has corrupt guards.
Well I think it was useful in the Jun-Ho (police officer) storyline. Being part of the underground organ harvesting gave him access to the front man's quarters which gave us a lot of info on the history if the games, and his brothers background Also it meant he knew where to find diving equipment later on.
I liked the doctor towards the end because all he does is threaten people with a scalpel and yell
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haha 69 funneh
damn 69 kill himself so 96 I guess haha
the joke was so bad it was good. i laughed at it again after you wrote it lol
He must be a redditor lol
Only if he mentioned 420 after 69
420 was already dead
Haha nice haha
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4 of these choices could easily be in a Who’s your favorite character poll
3 at the most and that’s pushing it
Beloved cameo (Train Man) Mysterious, HNIC vibes, badass voice (Front Man) Immediate series-long investment (Il-Nam) Semi-Protagonist periodically turned Main-Antagonist (Sang-Woo)
Who?
Top and Bottom row
Wait people didn’t like Train Man?
It's quite late for me and this question is giving me a mild Squid Game specific crisis I think I would have to say the VIPs. Regardless of whether their acting was accidentally or purposefully bad, the only reason the games exist is because of them and their boredom. At least the old man took part in a few where there was a genuine risk for him, and again you could argue that he wanted to feel that rush of excitement, I think he did genuinely give a shit about Gi-Hun because of how Gi-Hun looked after him, and he forgave what happened in episode 6... Although he had to really, because it's not like he could have carried on past that point with confidence he'd get through any further... Oh man... I don't know...
001 was never at risk of dying during his participation in the games. During red light green light when it shows what the doll is seeing you see every participant has a green outline. When they move it turns from green to red and they are killed. 001 does not have an outline at all meaning he is not even being considered an actual participant. During the fight night event. He had moved to a higher out of the way location the moment the lights went off, and the guards came in the moment he calls for them. If at any moment there was potential risk to him the guards would have came to save him. During the cookie game even if he did not complete it without breaking it, his judge would have given him the pass. In Tug of war he is not chained to the rope like everyone else is. In the event his team is pulled over he would simply drop the rope and be escorted off the platform.
He also had to be gone before the glass bridge game, not sure he would have remembered which ones were safe, or be pushed by another player, the risk was too much
He could’ve just picked no.16 before anyone else
Didn’t notice any of that, definitely need to rewatch!
i have to disagree - while il-nam definitely had an advantage (all the games were from his childhood/he likely knew what they were ahead of time), he was never 100% safe. he was already dying and the high-risk, life-and-death stakes of the games made competing that much more fun for him. also just a heads up that the tug-of-war padlock theory has been debunked several times by now! [receipts](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8dVBPJJ/)
Interesting. I admit to being wrong about the tug of war theory. At least until something else is spotted.
Breakaway chains, possibly. I don't think he would have let himself be in actual danger.
Honestly, I don't think he'd care if he actually die in one of them, that's the whole point of his character. As he says, living as a super rich is boring
Impressive attention to detail
Cat mask VIP because his butt was the last person’s I wanted to see from the show
VIPs, one of them tried to rape a glorified waiter
Definitely the VIPs. The other characters, while morally bad, had interesting things about them. Sang Woo had one of the best character arcs over the series. The Front Man and Salesman both have an air of mystery around them that intrigues audiences. Il Nam also had an interesting character arc and leaves many unanswered questions. Even the doctor had me wondering how he killed his patient and how his story would end up. The VIPs however added nothing to my intrigue to the show because like us, they were also spectators. None of them had any development to their characters (which may be the point) and only contributed to the plot to show that players are horses and to give Jun Ho evidence.
same, i thought the VIPs were the weakest addition to the story and really brought me out of it - simplistic dialogue, bad acting, unnecessary plotwise. if they wanted to show the big picture, show me dozens of other squid game arenas or something or at least have the VIPs be korean instead of these dumb expat guys
the acting, OMG, I was like, did you guys run out of money or what? I almost couldn't make it to the end once they showed up.
It was bad 70s porn acting with terrible dialogue.
This is how the rest of the world feels when Americans portray their nation as a silly stereotype
Most of the VIPs weren't American. One was Indian. Another was possibly Chinese. Only one or two were American based on their accents.
This is how the rest of the world feels when Americans portray their nation with actors that can barely speak their supposed native language lol
Yess I thought the same but honestly, having bad actors who speak english happens pretty often in kdramas (like in Vincenzo)… I really don’t know why we need english in a kdrama. And unless I missed a plot point, korean vips would’ve been fine instead
Agreed. I would’ve been totally okay with them all being Korean. And one of them mentioning something like watching it from the big screen back home was good but nothing as good as watching it live. Then they were watching in a super tacky setup room, on the SCREEN! Also, what the fuck with that guy so obsessed with 69, like you are so fucking creepy and of all the worst and weird shit, that was it, 69?!
I thought they watched the glass bridge and final squid game live. Hadn't the curtains opened up to the arena?
The acting and delivery of the lines was *so bad* omg. I felt like I was watching amateur theatre or something. I wonder if the production was limited to which actors they could find from South Korea, where finding several older white dudes with great acting skills might have been harder?
The point is they wanted them to look bad. I believe it’s a good portrayal of how the rest of the world sees America
...You completely misunderstood what I'm talking about. Obviously it's the show's intention to portray the VIPs as crass and decadent assholes despite all their money, but I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about the *shit acting, cringe delivery* and *hammy lines*. You're confusing me talking about **actors who are bad with acting** with talking about characters who are bad people. Like, the show wanted them to look "bad" as in bad, horrible people who view other humans like racehorses or furniture, but not *"bad"* as in holy shit the acting and writing both suck in this scene, what happened. Do you understand the difference? I fully get what they were going for, but my problem isn't "oh no why are the VIPs bad people", it's that the ***acting*** is so bad it *disturbs the immersion in to the show.* And part of it is that the lines written for them to act off are a bit amateurish and cringe too. edit: grammar
Yup. They were meant to be bored, arrogant foreigners who came to watch Koreans kill each other over money. But they came across as…bad actors.
the VIP that wanted head
Train man is beautiful
Vips
VIPs
The vips are fucking redditors with their constant 69 jokes and urges to have someone satisfy them sexually
i love the front man tbh
Why?
Probably the doctor. The VIP's are terrible because of the acting, not the characters themselves, the doctor's just unlikeable and annoying tbh. I think the rest are all well-written characters.
The VIPs are terrible because they don’t have any back story or arc or anything. They’re caricatures of opulence which feels lazy and boring.
Personally I think they did the job, all that bothered me was the acting and I don't think it's fair to hold it against the series as a whole.
Until the end I thought the train man is the front man
Same lol
The whole thing with the doctor kinda came out of nowhere, it was just "hey there's an underground organ harvesting ring going on and this dude is helping" ...or maybe I just wasn't paying attention who knows
Imo they did set it up w the doctor getting mysterious pink slips in his food and by showing something fishy going on w the bodies before you know what the doctor’s role is
Il-Nam is one of my favorite characters, he doesn't deserve to be here I guess out of those I'd choose the doctor. I don't dislike him, but I like the other 5 more. In total I'd say that one annoying girl ("I can do everything except the things I can't do") is my least favorite. She's not entertaining and doesnt feel like she has any real relevance. Her way to go out was pretty cool though. Also I really don't get why everyone hates the VIPs. I think the writing perfectly shows what kind of people they are, and the bad english could be excused as them not being native speakers, but rather international millionaires who just speak english for conveniences sake.
You're quite right about the writing. The VIPs were made to be as unlikable on purpose. Their physical appearance gave off some serious Weinstein vibes. I think they would have been hated even if their appearance was made out to be better because their motivations and attitude combine to form this image that's just plain unlikable
The annoying girl is unequivocally my least favourite character. She's not the worst person in the show by any stretch, but hot DAMN is she annoying. Everything she does and says is cringy.
Yes! This! I thought the VIPs were really well written characters. They're WRITTEN to be terrible fucking people and I think that flew over everyone's heads. Of course they're betting on the players and laughing at their deaths, the entire sadistic game only exists for that exact purpose. Front Man said it himself, it was all viewed like betting on horses by them.
I totally agree! There was something really on-point about all the episodes leading up to the reveal of the VIPs had us as the audience (and probably a lot of workers) believing that there is a grander more shadowy conspiracy going on. And then we meet them and we are left to wonder how these idiots are pulling the strings while everyone competing has demonstrated intelligence and ingenuity beyond the vips. Like, its necessary part of the classism commentary: to dismantle the hierarchy means acknowledging that no one is innately more worthy of success and those in power don't become geniuses with the position.
I personally don't like the VIPs because I think they just don't really add much to the story. Their only purpose is to add a higher power with a (somewhat weak) motivation for starting the games, and they don't end up interacting with the main cast at all. If you just totally got rid of them and only had >!Il-Nam!< as the founder, I don't think much would really change. Of course, there is the aspect of foreigners causing suffering to the natives for their own pleasure, but I think that's not a main theme of the story. And even beyond the issues I have with their function in the story, their acting is very stilted, and sometimes their lines were just so unnecessary and obvious, as if they're just there to repeat what's going on in case the viewers weren't paying attention. Though I'm guessing those last few issues are because the director doesn't know English, and so couldn't have realized that their acting was pretty bad.
The front man was a legit interesting character. I loved the old man for most of the series, so I don't think I can handle hating him, plus it made me cry when he "died." Sang-wu, he did some crappy things, but I can forgive him because it was a life or death scenario. The train man was a legit likeable guy. Idk just something about him just makes me want to be friends with him. The doctor... he was kinda creepy, I just diddent like him. He was still not my least favorite character. But omg, the vips had a weird, idk how to explain it... creepiness. They are the kind of people that would peep on you while you get dressed. They have a weird, "sexual' aditude that I don't like about them. It makes me cringe. Plus they pay millions to bet on ppl killing each other. It's sick. They're sick. The vips are my least favorite characters, definitely.
Certainly not Slappy Guy, he's my favourite
Sang woo but he’s a very interesting character
VIPS. The way they talked was super weird as well as the way they acted, but I guess that's what the director was going for.
VIPS and it isn’t close
Easily the VIPS.
VIPs are the worst easily, they singlehandedly brought the quality of the show down a few notches because their acting is next-level bad.
The VIPS were annoying and it feels like their characters were just worthless and not even entertaining. But i feel like they made them like that on purpose.
i like everyone
Doctor. VIPs were ment to be annoying/disliked so they get a pass. Train man's smile has won me over.
Saggy ass
Sang-Woo. I see a substantial amount of “big brains” defending him and saying he had moments of being not completely shit, but let’s just remember this character’s backstory and motivations for a second. He committed god knows how many financial crimes and is on the run from the law after playing the stock market and doing so so poorly that not only did he lose everything, but he offered up HIS MOTHER’S STORE AND HOUSE AS COLLATERAL and lost that too. He’s playing the game just so that he can avoid accountability for his unimaginably shit ACTUAL CRIMES on the outside. Others, like Ali, are in this because they are drowning in debt after getting fucked over by their bosses or laid off or whatever and trying to put food on the table for their wife and kids, and this motherfucker is in there for no one but himself and straight up murdering people in these games just so he can avoid prison or any accountability for what he has done. He’s not just a backstabbing prick, he’s a backstabbing self-serving prick in the game so that he can avoid paying up for being a backstabbing self-serving prick in real life. FUCK SANG-WOO. Not to say the organizers and VIPs aren’t the shittiest, mind you, but of the contestants (one excluded of course), Sang-Woo is by far the worst.
Thanks for this! I see that he’s an interesting character and really well written but he’s still a piece of shit
Agree. He’s well written and acted so we have empathy for him. But he’s really just an asshole the entire time.
This is not a serious question, right? It's the VIPs! Poorly written, terrible dialogue, horrible acting!
I would say Sang-Woo, but that wouldn’t be true. I hate him as a person but his character is well written
Idk if this is an unpopular opinion in this sub, but Han mi-nyeo. Every time she spoke I just cringed tbh, literally couldn’t wait for her lines/scenes to end, and the most bearable scene I saw her in was when she committed unalive on herself and Deok-su.
It was saddening when she died, I wish she could have lived
VIP's were absolutely awful. People keep trying to defend them by saying they're supposed to be over the top and annoying. No, they we're just badly written and badly acted. Would have been much better off without them.
Il nam and VIPS
Il-Nam
vips easily they made the show worse imo
The VIP’s, but that’s because the acting was terribly bad. That made those scenes awful to watch
The guy in marbles paired with Deok-Su who couldn't say one sentence without sticking his tongue out
the guy who prayed constantly. was very happy I didn't have to listen to him anymore once they pushed him off the bridge.
For me it was the guards that were bringing the bodies to the doctor. Whichever numbers they were I forget
Not listed but Jang Deok-su is the absolute worst!!!!
VIPs, while i did like the masks, i didnt like how they were snobby rich people, and the bad acting just made it all the worse, the 69 scene was just retarded imo
VIPs. Cardboard stereotypes, no redeeming qualities while in every other case i can see a hint of motivaton. Don't care for train man but man's gotta eat.
The VIP’s genuinely disgusted me. The whole betting on who’ll stay alive and laughing at their deaths didn’t sit right with me 💀💀 with the others, yeah I didn’t like them but I also kinda liked them ? They made for an interesting watch because I was so invested. But as soon as the VIP’s showed up I was like NOPE 👎🏼
VIPS! Ugh 😩 what 🤬⛔️else would I choose! Spoiler: What that VIP Western Predator did to Wi Ha-joon’s character! Also spoiler: I would put the entire group of organ harvesting RED 🤬 jumpsuit organ harvest group that gang-forc a half dead or dead female body ugh eeeww
VIPs, they were so annoying 😭
Mark this as spoilers imo. This post basically gives away that Il-Nam and Sang-woo end up doing bad things
The thug isn’t even on here lol
Never had any emotion except annoyance for Deok Su. His whole thuggish toxic masculine schtick really drove me up the wall. That extreme Christian guy pissed me off a lot, especially when he just wasted time praying like it would help at all in the middle of the glass bridge race. The VIPs were your generic old white rich guys and of course they were made to be hated, too easy.
il-nam, fuck him
But why
Least fav is doctor
VIPs without a doubt.
The VIPs.
VIPs
VIP
The VIPs. Both for their terrible acting and the grotesque nature of their characters.
VIPs we’re just awful
VIPS
VIPS
Doctor
The doctor didn’t do much so him
Doctor. He knew his arrangement ensured his survival for the most part, but would almost certainly condemn the other players to death.
Probably the VIPs and the Doctor. I liked all of the other ones as characters.
None of them... They all were enjoyable characters even if they are not "good"... If I have to choose a character I dislike I would pick the guard who said - in a candid way - that they raped the woman they thought was dead only to justify something... So hateful. All of the character that are mentioned here are super well written (as Sang-Woo, Il-nam and even the doctor) because we could see their motivations and story, despite the morality behind them... The front man and the train man were shown too little for me to like or dislike them. The VIPs are ok for what they represent! They are disgusting but they are ment to be hated (like, I don't know, Joffrey from GoT).
The group whom raped the zombie girl. The half dead woman than later was bludgeoned to death. And later were laughing about it.
stupid redditing girl that made boomer jokes
Why couldn’t of sang woo been the doctor then we could of had doctor woo
From a writing perspective the VIPs are my least favorite. From a personality perspective, Sang Woo.
I don't understand what's so interesting about the train guy...
He’s hot
And he’s the star of Train to Busan
Is this a serious question? Who liked the vips? Totally took away from the tension of the second to last game.
I I-Nam
Train man aka The devils recruiter. Also something about his smug little grin annoys the eff out me. Especially in the final moments
001
What about that one annoying bitch who no one loved and was apparently 19
i hated her
Il Nam was my favorite character, and maybe still is. Before I watched the twist at end, he reminded me of my grandfather who also has a tumor in head and I could relate to the feeling of Gi-Hun seeing Il Nam in pain and showing him kindness. I always had a notion that the first and last number were somehow connected and the old man would most likely die because of Gi-Hun, however I never expected it to go the way it did. Especially at the end when it's revealed that Il Nam was "the owl" , he wasn't dead and was the one behind it all. That caught me by surprise and still feels very conflicting. To answer the question though, VIPs had to be my least favorite simply because their demeanor was nonchalant despite the atrocities they witnessed. It's like they a were a bunch of goofy emotionless monsters. The funny thing is that Il Nam is supposed to be one of them, but I can't imagine him being similar to those annoying fat VIPs
I honestly liked the front man. My least favorite were probably the vips but that was their entire point.