Biggest Hypocrites In Squid Game, Ranked

Summary

• Characters in Squid Game are unpredictable, showing hypocrisy and betrayal when faced with life-or-death situations.
• Deok-su acts tough but proves to be a coward, Sae-byeok keeps her distance despite reliance on others, Sang-woo betrays friendships.
• The Front Man’s harsh management style contrasts with his history of winning, the VIPs are soulless spectators mocking desperate players.

In Squid Game, there is no shortage of evil and manipulative characters that will do anything to win, even if it means throwing a teammate under the bus. Often times the viewer can get a pretty good idea of who is to be trusted and what their intentions are, based on the actions and the way they conduct themselves around others.

But there are plenty of instances in which a character will say and act one way and completely flip the other just a few scenes later. The games are stressful and a matter of life and death, so they are hardly to blame for a few hypocritical moves or decisions that shift their morality one way or another.

9

Jang Deok-su

Bully On The Outside, Coward On The Inside

• First appearance: Season 1, Episode 1 “Red Light, Green Light”

One of the most despicable and ruthless characters in the series, Deok-su marches around as if he owns the place, building up his gang and pushing aside anyone deemed useless. He is completely abhorrent and commands himself as a fearless leader with intimidation and physical violence.

But the second things start to look dicey, he betrays even his own tactics, opting to flee and resort to cowardice whenever possible. The facade of a big burly bully quickly falls apart when death is a prospect and many characters see through him for who he truly is.

8

Kang Sae-byeok

Distrustful From Afar

• First appearance: Season 1, Episode 1 “Red Light, Green Light”

A fan favorite for many reasons, Sae-byeok likes to keep a distance from others, insulting they way they conduct themselves, and tries to keep trust to a minimum for everyone around her. She even goes as far to be critical of other characters who lost their lives as a result of getting too close to others.

Taking on the persona of a supposed lone wolf, it is convenient that she often joined groups for her benefit and still relied on others despite an insistence that she didn’t want friends or partners. At the end of the day, when her life was at risk, her true colors are shown, needing support and help in spite of a continuous rejection of it.

7

Hwang Jun-ho

No One Is Above The Law

• First appearance: Season 1, Episode 2 “Hell”

Jun-ho is one of the few characters in the show that doesn’t actually participate in the games himself. He sees the inner workings of the island and gets very close to blowing the whole operation open and is still searching for answers regarding his brother. He does everything he can to learn more and stay alive, even if it means breaking a few laws along the way.

He spies, he murders, and infiltrates a private location, crossing several moral and legal boundaries all in the pursuit of revenge. By following similar actions as those he condemns, there is a great deal of hypocrisy in the way he handles things and conducts his investigation into the games.

6

The Front Man

Previous Winner, Now Ruthless Dictator

• First appearance: Season 1, Episode 1 “Red Light, Green Light”

Playing and managing to win the games is no small feat, and it clearly has a profound and lasting impact on any individual lucky enough to make it out alive. The front man is known to have won the games a few years prior to the present day in the show, now taking on the role as games runner and masked leader of the guards and the players.

He conducts himself in a very specific way, seeking order and fairness, yet hosting an incredibly biased set of games that favors the strong and punishes the weak. He is also seen shooting his own brother, betraying the very foundation of his ideologies related to his wife and family. Even simply his participation in the games is a foolish endeavor, ridden with some good fortune and and blatant dismissal of his presence in a previous set of games.

5

The VIPs

Sophisticated And Soulless

• First appearance: Season 1, Episode 7 “VIPS”

Little is known and shown about the VIPs that spectate the games from the safety and comfort of a viewing room not far from where the murders are taking place. They show up in the first season and berate and mock the players extensively, looking down on the poor from the elite pedestal of wealth and fortune.

They pretend to be of a higher class, degrading those in the games who struggle and are desperate for a way out. By lowering the players to something less than human, they themselves are removing all humanity from their own bodies, watching on as entertainment but showing no sympathy or etiquette, despite claiming to be refined individuals.

4

Lee Myung-gi

Irresponsible And Unreliable

• First Appearance: Season 2, Episode 1 “Bread and Lottery”

Myung-gi entered the games as a result of his own financial losses from cryptocurrency investments. Initially, a Youtuber who promoted said investments to his followers, many of whom suffered similar losses as a result, he seeks to recover his debts and for himself and his ex-girlfriend Kim Jun-hee, a fellow player who is revealed to be pregnant with his child.

He is attacked several times by players like Thanos, both verbally and physically, for putting them into a financial predicament as a result of his actions. Instead of taking the blame himself, he places it on external factors and does not admit responsibility for misleading his viewers. He wants to have his cake and eat it too, wanting all the benefits of the relationship and the crypto scam but none of the accountability.

3

Han Mi-nyeo

Arrogance Only Gets You So Far

• First appearance: Season 1, Episode 2 “Hell”

Mi-nyeo is cunning, evil, and simply irredeemable. With a sheet of arrogance that she waves across the entire group of players, she parades around as some sort of manipulative genius who can defend herself from anyone and doesn’t need help from a large man or anyone else but herself.

Yet when push comes to shove, she heavily leans towards individuals who may be able to assist her, mainly Deok-su, begging for an alliance when a threat is posed to her life. But even then she continues to swap between people and attempt to cling onto any strands left of friendship right until the end, proving her desperation and weakness despite mocking those for the same traits.

2

Cho Sang-woo

Old Friend Turned Ruthless Traitor

• First appearance: Season 1, Episode 1 “Red Light, Green Light”

Calm, collected, and brutal in the games, Sang-woo preaches his intellect and rationality constantly, demanding that Gi-sun make smart decisions and stick to his principles. Yet when the games are on, he too loses all rational thought in place of cut-throat aggression and deception of those closest to him.

He undergoes a significant transition from highly intellectual and calculated in his approach, to opting for a more physical style and caring less about friendship and more about winning. His fate is decided when he finally returns to his former self at the end, but the damage is done to those he crossed along the way.

1

Seong Gi-hun

Fatally Flawed

• First appearance: Season 1, Episode 1 “Red Light, Green Light”

The main man himself, Gi-sun is a complex character filled with contradictions and uncertainties. He enters the games as a way of fishing his family out of financial ruin, remaking several times his dislike for players who have made desperate financial choices in the past, despite having done so himself.

In terms of mortality, he criticizes others for a lack of morals, directing this towards Sang-woo and berating him for betraying friendships and bonds with him and others. However, it is clear that inside Gi-sun lies a fire for survival, and though he does show some remorse for his actions, has no problem throwing Il-nam under the bus in the marble game, deceiving him for his own gain which is something he scolded others for just moments prior.