That guy's gotta be drunk or something. If we move, he says they'll shoot us.
Kang Mi-na (강미나 Gang Mi-na?), also known as Player 196, was a contestant of the Squid Game in 2024. She is the first player to be eliminated from the game.
History[]
Backstory[]
Not much is known about Kang Mi-na's past and outside life, except that she was in ₩45 million worth of debt, which led her to enter the Squid Games after playing Ddakji with The Recruiter.
Waking up in the dormitory[]
Did you people strip me when you shoved me into this?
Kang Mi-na appears on screen waking up in the dormitory. She can be briefly seen above Seong Gi-hun's right shoulder in the scene with him throwing aside the counterpane and recognized by her braids. Later, she can be seen walking in the middle of the dormitory and looking around.
Mi-na complains on her uniform
When the Pink Guards arrive to introduce the new players with the games, Mi-na listens to other players complain and seems dissatisfied as well. She throws off her jacket and snatches a moment to complain that the guards took off her clothes and put her in the uniform. Thanos (Player 230) begins to speak and she waits, displeased, until he stops talking. Mi-na then continues to complain about the size and colour of her uniform, and asks the guards if she can wear their outfit instead. Having received a refusal, she stops talking.
Mi-na is the second player, whose name and debt amount are read aloud by the Squid Game staff. She feels uncomfortable when the staff play footage of her being slapped by the Recruiter. Later, Mi-na gives a brief look to Kim Yeong-sam (Player 226) when he jumps in front of her, seeking Im Jeong-dae (Player 100) in the crowd, and looks at him when he erupts in front of the players. When the guards reveal the massive piggy bank to the players, she looks up at it with surprise and smiles.
Mi-na signs a consent form
One of the first amongst the players, she signs a consent form and becomes a witness of the confrontation between Thanos and Lee Myung-gi (Player 333). When it's over, Mi-na stays at the same spot and notices that Thanos stares at her, passing by. She seems dissatisfied with such attention. While the players take their photos, Mi-na sees several people swarming around Thanos in order to take a group photo with him, but shows no interest in joining them. Having received Thanos's personal offer to join him and his fans, she gives him a look of contempt and proudly retires.
Before the first game[]
Is this you trying to flirt?
Kang Mi-na to Thanos in "001"
Mi-na smiles at compliments
Mi-na takes her photo and goes upstairs to play the first game, followed by Thanos who catches up with her at the entrance of the large room and makes up rap lyrics about her on the fly. Mi-na seems unimpressed by his lyrics and self-praise, putted in it, but smiles when he says that he likes her and does the finger heart gesture (Korean gesture, which symbolizes love and affection). Shortly after Mi-na notices Young-hee and changes the subject, leaving Thanos' advances without an approval or rejection.
Before the game named Red Light, Green Light, having heard Seong Gi-hun (Player 456) warnings players about the danger of being shot, Mi-na doesn't believe him, suggesting that he may be drunk. She repeats Gi-hun's words to Thanos, and he tells her about his father who behaves similarly to Gi-hun while being drunk.
Fate[]
Oh, shit. I just moved, didn't I?
Kang Mi-na's last words, to Thanos in "001"
Mi-na asks how would Thanos know about drugs
The game starts. Mi-na does well, advancing slightly ahead of Thanos. When Young-hee turns its head towards the players at the seventh time, Mi-na hears yet another Gi-hun's warning and starts questioning if he is high. Thanos answers in the negative and tells her that people don't act like that when they're on drugs. With a smile, Mi-na asks how would he know, and Thanos, in turn, asks if she wanna try. Being distracted by a bee that flies over to her and lands on her neck, Mi-na doesn't answer the question.
She follows the rules, doesn't move and asks what is it out of the corner of her mouth. Thanos gives her a compliment and an answer. Suddenly, Mi-na starts to panic, scream and jump. Once she chases the bee away and calms down, she realizes that she moved and laughs nervously at the possibility of being eliminated.
Kang Mi-na's corpse
Mi-na doesn't expect to be killed and when she gets shot in the back of her head, she has a surprised expression on her face. She falls on the ground dead and is lying there with her eyes open. The bee can be seen crawling on Mi-na's cheek, but soon it flies away, passing by Lee Eun-ju (Player 283), who turns her head, sees Mi-na's body and screams in horror, kick-starting a mass panic. Thanos looks at Mi-na's corpse for a long time, being scared and saddened by her death, swallows a 'pill' in order to supress his nerves and continues to advance towards the finish line.
Personality[]
Look at this. The size is all wrong, and I hate the colors you're using. Can I have the outfit you guys are wearing instead? The pink's cute as hell.
Kang Mi-na to a manager in "001"
Kang Mi-na takes a photo
Kang Mi-na is a pretty and feminine girl who concerns about her appearance. She has pink manicured fingernails. Taking a photo for the game, Mi-na uses one of her clip-in braids to prink in front of the camera. Trying to look more attractive, she ties up her T-shirt and exposes her stomach with a navel piercing jewellery. Mi-na loves luxury. She wears jewellery and was dressed in fashionable clothes before the games as it is shown in the video of her playing ddakji with the Recruiter.
Mi-na is asking for the pink suit
Kang Mi-na highly values comfort. She complains on her uniform and playfully asks the guards if she can wear theirs, since she prefers pink. She panics when she learns that it is a bee is crawling on her neck, afraid of being stinged. She seems slightly excited when she finds out that Thanos has some knowledge about drugs, which can indicate that she has a craving for pleasure.
Kang Mi-na is susceptible to flattery. She is unconcerned about Thanos being a celebrity and dislikes his arrogance, but relents when he says that he likes her. She teams up with him and requests his assistance when she gets into the difficult situation due to the bee.
Trivia[]
- Mi-na's name is a charactonym.
- From Sino-Korean 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" combined with 娜 (na) meaning "elegant, graceful, delicate".
- Mi-na's player number, 196, is
- a square number (196 = 14²)
- Player 324, who was the first to die in Season One, participated in the games under a square number too (324 = 18²).
- a Lychrel number (a number that can't form a palindrome through the iterative process of repeatedly reversing its digits and adding the resulting numbers)
- Similarly to how 196 can't form a symmetric number, Mi-na has problems with her uniform.
- a square number (196 = 14²)
- Amongst all players whose debts are known, Kang Mi-na had the lowest debt.
- Her debt, ₩45,000,000, is less than half the amount of the prize money earned for her death, ₩100,000,000.
- Before the series was released, fans mistook the actress for a singer Kang Hye-won and called player 196 Hye-won and Bee Girl.
- Her appearance in Squid Game is mainly a cameo by her actress, Song Ji-woo, who is quite well-known in South Korea
Behind the scenes[]
Kang Mi-na is portrayed by Song Ji-woo. She is credited as "패션녀" in Korean, which translates to "fashion girl".
Appearances[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Hwang Jun-ho's phone screen showed the date was November 1, 2024 directly before the start of the Squid Game, which began with Red Light, Green Light on the same day.