Dive into the moral complexity of Squid Game's characters as we break down their alignments from the purest heroes to the most sinister villains. From Ali's selflessness to Deok-su's brutality, we're exploring the nuanced personalities that make this series so compelling!
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're analyzing the moral alignment of the central Squid Game characters from seasons 1 and 2.
00:12Major spoilers ahead.
00:24These two characters, though their paths are never destined to meet,
00:27are some of the purest that this twisted series has to offer.
00:33We'll start with season 1's Ali.
00:34His selfless nature was apparent from episode 1, when he saves Gi-hun's life during Red Light, Green Light.
00:40He stays true to himself and his values through to the very end, putting his life in Sang-woo's hands,
00:45believing his ally to be trustworthy and kind.
00:48But sadly, this was not the case.
00:50Poor one out for our sweet king.
00:52And by one, we mean one bag of marbles.
00:57Hyung, where are you?
00:59Hyung! Sang-woo hyung!
01:02I came to see you!
01:04As for Geum-ja, this season 2 standout is only risking her life in the games to help her debt-ridden son, Young-sik.
01:10Mom! What are you doing here?
01:13She repeatedly votes to exit the competition as soon as she realizes that everyone's lives are at stake,
01:19and offers to cook dinner for her new friends once they're free.
01:22She is forgiving, she's helpful, and we'll say it, she's mother.
01:26Mom!
01:27It's okay.
01:31Neutral good, Sung Gi-hun.
01:33Can we confidently say that our protagonist here is morally spotless?
01:37Of course not.
01:38Gi-hun makes a slew of questionable choices over the series' two seasons.
01:46However, we'll go out on a limb and say that the sum of his actions are, well, good, neutrally.
01:57He always follows through with his word,
02:00exhibited through his care of Sang-woo's mother and Sae-byeok's brother.
02:03Most significantly, by refusing to run off with his 45.6 billion won earnings
02:08and deciding to attempt to put an end to the games altogether,
02:12Gi-hun shows that he is willing to put his life on the line for the greater good.
02:16Did he kind of abandon his daughter in the process and inadvertently let his mother and best friend die?
02:21Well, yeah, but he's trying.
02:27Chaotic good, Hwang Joon-ho and Cho Hyun-joo.
02:30Let's talk about Hyun-joo.
02:31She breaks out in the second season by assisting Gi-hun
02:34in attempting to save a non-fatally hit contestant,
02:37despite the risk of being eliminated herself.
02:39But while kind at heart,
02:41She flip-flops on her vote to continue the games
02:44and shows some tough love to her teammates during the pentathlon.
02:57Moving on to Joon-ho,
02:58who goes to wild lengths in the hopes of finding his missing brother In-ho
03:01and later by teaming up with Gi-hun to stop the games.
03:06He infiltrates the island, is shot by In-ho,
03:09and still spends the three years that follow searching for the truth.
03:12It's a good thing he hung up his traffic cop vest.
03:15He is destined for so much more.
03:25Lawful neutral, Kang No-eul.
03:27We're introduced to No-eul as a complicated but kind figure
03:30with a harrowing past as a North Korean defector
03:32who lost her child in the midst of her escape.
03:39Viewers may have anticipated seeing her as a participant in the games,
03:43but it's revealed that she'll be acting as a masked sniper,
03:46taking out the eliminated players.
03:48This immediately reveals her darker, detached nature
03:51as she carries out orders for the game's manager.
03:53However, she refuses to break the rules
03:56to help the rebellious soldiers in the organ trade,
03:58as it wasn't the job she was tasked with completing,
04:01which she felt was a merciful act of killing.
04:09She stands on her principles,
04:11up until she's pretty badly threatened by the other soldiers, that is.
04:15We have a hunch she'll play a significant role in the third season,
04:18given what we've learned about her so far.
04:22True neutral, Kang Se-byeok and Park Jung-bae.
04:25It's tough to say that any one of the game's participants are truly neutral,
04:29given that their circumstances call for some pretty dire decision-making,
04:32revealing much about their natures.
04:39But, with that said,
04:41it's safe to say that these two are some of the more even-keeled
04:44of the players from the series.
04:46Though a beloved character, Se-byeok is hardly a hero.
04:49She's looking out for herself and her family,
04:51and is willing to play by the game's deadly rules in order to do so.
04:55She begins to find friendship in Ji-young,
04:57but she sacrifices herself for Se-byeok,
05:00not the other way around.
05:02As for season two's Jung-bae,
05:04we learn that he entered the games to pay off his gambling debts
05:07after having lost custody of his daughter,
05:09similarly to his friend Gi-hun.
05:33While he does show valiance by participating in the riot
05:36against the leaders of the games,
05:38his loyalties wavered when tempted by the increased monetary prize
05:42that resulted from the deaths of his fellow contestants.
05:45Despite their imperfections, both Se-byeok and Jung-bae deserved better.
05:53Chaotic neutral, Han Min-yo and Sun-yo.
05:55Did Squid Game reuse their quote-unquote crazy lady trope
05:59a little too closely in season two?
06:01Perhaps, but we'll let it slide
06:03given that these two characters are both extremely entertaining to watch.
06:21And naturally, they have their differences.
06:23Min-yo will side with anyone regardless of their moral character,
06:27having teamed up with both Big Bad Deok-su and Gi-hun's band of misfits.
06:36And, lest we forget,
06:38she ends her own life in an act of revenge against the former.
06:41Season two's Sun-yo is similarly vengeful,
06:44casting a spell against Gi-hun's team
06:46after she was pushed aside in the Mingle Game.
06:57We're afraid that given the events of the last episode,
07:08her curse is destined to come true.
07:13Lawful evil, Oh Il-nam.
07:15We've reached the section we've all been waiting for,
07:17our bad guys.
07:18Il-nam is a fascinating villain,
07:20entering the games as a player,
07:22though secretly being their creator.
07:28He genuinely feels that these deadly games provide some value to the world,
07:32as entertainment to the wealthy and opportunity to the poor.
07:51On his deathbed,
07:52he expresses his belief that humanity is ultimately unkind
07:56and uses the games as a sort of social experiment
07:59to watch his pessimistic outlook in practice.
08:01While it's debatable whether or not his actions are lawful,
08:04we're classifying him as such due to the philosophies behind his madness.
08:27He's not exactly evil for evil's sake,
08:30nor does he act out of a desire for personal gain.
08:33His evilness is an attempt to expose a larger truth about humankind,
08:37even if his methods are ultimately pretty brutal.
08:57Neutral evil, Hwang In-ho and Cho Sang-woo.
09:01Let's get Sang-woo out of the way first.
09:08Not literally, sorry player 17.
09:10The games brought out an inner wickedness in him,
09:13as he kills innocent people to get ahead
09:15and betrays those who trusted him.
09:17Did he redeem himself by ending his life and letting Gi-hun win the sole prize?
09:21We'll let you decide.
09:23But if you ask us,
09:24though a complicated man,
09:25Sang-woo was pretty sociopathic.
09:36Anyway, on to our frontman In-ho.
09:38We dig into his character in season 2
09:40when he disguises himself as a player to deceive Gi-hun.
09:43Quick side note,
09:44but he should have known better than to trust another player 1.
09:55In-ho is truly cold-blooded,
09:57gaining loyalty with Gi-hun's squad
09:59in order to put an end to their master plan
10:01with no concern for any single player's life.
10:03His calculated and sinister nature
10:05makes him arguably the baddest baddie of the whole series.
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10:32We have one word for both of these guys.
10:35Yuck!
10:36Alright, we suppose we have a few more words.
10:49Rapper Thanos may have been under the influence
10:51for a majority of his time in the games,
10:53but that does not change the fact that he is,
10:55for lack of a better word,
10:56a sicko.
11:03He pushes players down during Red Light, Green Light
11:06and manipulates others for his own benefit.
11:08Who does that remind you of?
11:10Oh, right.
11:11Season 1's Deok-su.
11:12He's more of a brute than a sicko,
11:14but he's also a devious and heartless person
11:16who tosses people aside like garbage.
11:24At least we get to see both of these villains get their comeuppance.
11:27And hey, we'll admit it,
11:28a little bit of chaos keeps things interesting.
11:38Do you agree with our analyses of these complex characters?
11:41Let us know in the comments.
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