Annyeong Chingu

Squid game has a good number of captivating characters with interesting backstories and decisions that made viewers hold their breath regarding their fate in this hunger games for 45.6 million won. However, out of all the characters, there’s none as intriguing as “The Recruiter,” played by Gong Yoo.

He is a nameless, mysterious man in suit who handled the recruiting people into joining the Squid Game, where most of them will end up losing their lives to violent means in their quest to change their luck in this get-rich-quick game of life and death.

According to the series, armed with a briefcase containing a game of Ddakji, he approaches these down-on-luck individuals, challenging them to a game where he gives them 100,000 won if they successfully flip over his Ddakji and returns the favor with a hard slap across the face if he wins. I must say for a fact, though, he has a mean wrist.

Although he had a very minor role in the first season, his character got a little more screen time, and we got an exclusive into the dark, grainy world of the perfect-looking man in suit called “The Recruiter.”

*SPOILER ALERT*

1. He is only found when he wants to be

Giving the feel of a much grimmer Man-in-Black, Seong Gi-Hun (played by Lee Jung-Jae), the winner of the season one games spent a little fortune out of his much bigger prize money looking for him for two years straight, hoping he could lead him to the Front Man. However, his team of city thugs could not get the job done despite them pulling a 5am to 11pm every day.

The Recruiter literally went around slapping people and signing them up into death games with zero worries. When he got cornered by two of Gi-Hun’s searchers, he easily overpowered them and got away.

2. A Psychopath and More

Although the recruiter has a clean and likable face and is demure, he is an absolute nut-job who would trample on a hundred bread snacks in front of homeless people in the middle of a park to prove a point. He often referred to players as “things which are not human, but trash that needs to be disposed of," and he revealed that he worked very hard for this to happen.

After capturing Gi-Hun’s searchers, he made them play Russian roulette and Rock, Paper, Scissors minus one and killed the loser. He definitely has no trouble killing people and does a crazy laugh by the side. He also shot himself twice, so he’s a certified nut-job who has fun when he can.

3. He started as a clean-up staff in Squid Game

Although the process of how the pink overall soldiers are recruited was not stated, during his one-on-one with Gi-Hun, he revealed that he started in the games as a clean-up staff and incinerated the bodies of squid game players before he was given a gun, which according to him felt good. However, it seemed that he lost his marbles after he was ordered to shoot a player who had lost the game, and it turned out to be his father who he shot point-blank in the head and felt no remorse.

4. He loves games and always follows the rules

Apart from the slap fests he puts the players through before giving them squid game cards, he seems to make every decision based on the outcome of a game. After playing Ddakji at the train station, he bought 100 lottery cards and 100 bread snacks, giving homeless people a choice between both, and was obviously disappointed when most of them went for lottery cards that turned out to be duds.

He also killed one of Gi-Hun’s searchers after he lost a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors minus one. He also challenged Gi-Hun to a game of Russian Roulette to prove he could truly end the games; however, despite knowing the last shot would kill him, he followed the rules and died a flamboyant death.

5. He led Gi-Hun to the Front Man

Before his death, he told Gi-hun that in case he loses, his prize is in his pocket, and this turned out to be true. He gave Gi-hun the last piece of the puzzle that led him back into the squid game and activated his plan to destroy the game. Whether it worked or didn’t work is left to be discussed.

He also revealed that he was actually rooting for Gi-hun to have a good life and forget about the games, so he had a gray side to him that wasn't completely evil.

Although “The Recruiter” character died off early into the season, his impact still resonates across the entire series, and he remains the mysterious, messenger of doom for the Squid Games.

Hopefully, the creators of Squid Game should do a mini-series into his past and what made him sell his soul to the game. That is a prequel I’ll definitely love to see.