“Squid Game” returns for one last round with the launch of its third and final season on June 27.
Though it’s been only six months since Season 2 premiered with its Dec. 27 drop on Netflix, and proved to be another giant success for the streamer, it’s probably a good idea to refresh your memory regarding which major “Squid Game” players (both those in the actual deadly games and those who are key characters outside the fatal arena) are still alive going into the show’s final six episodes.
Among the many who have already fallen by the end of Season 2 are Gi-hun/Player 456’s (Lee Jung-jae) best friend Jung-bae/Player 390 (Lee Seo-hwan), who was shot and killed by the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) in the final moments of the second-season finale after Gi-hun led an uprising of the players in the current game.
Though the act was committed right in front of Gi-hun, who screamed in pain as his friend bled out next to him, Gi-hun remains unaware that the masked Front Man is actually In-ho. Using the fake name Young-il, he had entered the games to toy with Gi-hun’s optimistic worldview and thwart his plans to stop the games, and also befriended him throughout Season 2.
Along with Jung-bae, absent from the final installment of “Squid Game” are other notable “Squid Game” characters who died (both inside and outside the games), including: The Recruiter (Gong Yoo), Mr. Kim (Oh Dal-su), Se-mi/Player 380 (Won Ji-an) and Hye-won/Player 196 (Song Ji-woo). Su-bong, a.k.a. Thanos/Player 230 (Choi Seung-hyun) — who served as Gi-hun’s main antagonist in the second season — was killed during a fight one night in the barracks, stabbed to death by Myung-gi/Player 333.
See below for a guide to the main characters heading into “Squid Game” Season 3.
Gi-hun/Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae)
Image Credit: No Ju-han/Netflix
The winner of the Squid Game that took place three years ago in the original season, Gi-hun has decided to re-enter in an attempt to figure out who is still running it after the death of game creator Oh Il-nam, in order to take them down. Gi-hun has become consumed by his grief and trauma over his experiences in the games, and has spent the past three years using the blood-money prize he earned (45.6 billion in South Korean won) to investigate the games.
By the end of Season 2, Gi-hun has built a crew of followers who are also trying to stop the games and managed to lead an uprising against the guards, but lost his best friend and fellow player Jung-bae in the process.
In-ho/The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun)
Image Credit: No Ju-han/Netflix
The current head of the Squid Game, following the death of game creator Oh Il-nam at the end of Season 1. In-ho has been working for the games since winning them himself years ago, leading the pink masked guards while wearing his own all-black uniform.
In Season 2, In-ho decides to follow in Oh Il-nam’s footsteps and enter the games as Player 001, in order to teach a lesson to Gi-hun upon his return to the game. Gi-hun, who only ever encountered the Front Man when he was masked, has no idea that In-ho, who goes by the name Young-il during the games, is the man in charge. He befriends Gi-hun and saves him and his friends multiple times during the games, only to fake his own death and then return to his masked role as the Front Man. In the final moments of Season 2, while masked, he kills Jung-bae in front Gi-hun, undermining the uprising.
