Park Min-su (박민수 Bag Min-su?), also known as Player 125, is a contestant of the Squid Game in 2024.
Personality
Min-su is timid, lacking in confidence, and tends to go along with whatever others say. This submissive nature caused him to make cowardly choices, such as picking scissors when Se-mi offered to pick a door with her, and instead opting to go with Thanos, and Nam-gyu.
In times of stress, he is shown to be prone to panicking and crumbling under pressure, but at heart, he does wish to help those who have truly looked out for him. This is proven when he changes his vote from "O" to "X" after the third game despite Thanos and Nam-gyu's peer pressure into continuing the games. Furthermore, he was the only person who tried to help Gyeong-su after Thanos kicked him from the group and the only one, other than Thanos, concerned for him when they reached safety. His cowardice led to him betraying Se-mi, but his betrayal didn't have any malicious intent, it was just because he was too anxious and scared to do anything. After Se-mi's death, he is left in utter distress.
History
Backstory
Min-su was a victim of a rental scam, leading to immense amounts of debt he could not sustain. At some point he was approached by a recruiter and invited to join the Games.
2024
Off-screen, Min-su successfully completed Red Light, Green Light, and when they had their first vote, he voted to end the games.
Min-su is introduced when Thanos, Nam-gyu and Gyeong-su approached Se-mi, due to the former being attracted to her and needing an extra player for their team. Se-mi had previously approached Min-su and asked to partner with him and so refuses unless they let him join too. Despite Min-su's timid nature and the reluctance of his allies, Thanos agrees. Whilst waiting for their turn, Nam-gyu becomes annoyed by Min-su for just looking at him, but Se-mi defends her new friend.
In "Six-Legged Pentathlon, Min-su played Gonggi. Despite Nam-gyu getting infuriated at his failed attempts, the five eventually completed the pentathlon together successfully. Back in the dormitory, Nam-gyu begins insulting the other surviving groups and asks Min-su to count them. He reluctantly agrees but is stopped by Se-mi. She candidly insults Nam-gyu, pointing out the guards will soon tell them how many died; Thanos stops the argument by talking to Min-su and pointing out both he and Nam-gyu are 27, so he does not have to follow his orders. When voting begins, Min-su is pressured by his team, apart from Se-mi, into voting "O".
Once voting has ended and "O" wins, Min-su approaches Se-mi and refers to her as Noona, asking why she chose to vote "O". She reveals that she fears the outside world more, and that she had lied about her age to Thanos and others, as she is actually younger than Min-su.
The next morning, Min-su sees Thanos and Nam-gyu taking drugs and Se-mi tells him not to even think about trying one as "Once you start taking drugs you can't stop.", to which Min-su agrees. Se-mi tells him that as soon as they get out of there, she doesn't want him to get involved with those "stupids" again. Min-su asks her why she decided to be with them, to which Se-mi tells him that people like them are easy to control. Min-su then questions why she wanted to be with him, and she tells him that she believes he wouldn't betray her. Se-mi says that she will go when the prize reaches ₩200 million and she suggests that he think about whether he wants to leave, saying he that he "won't last long there".
In the next game, "Mingle", Min-su survives the first round of groups of ten, by staying with Thanos, Nam-gyu, Se-mi and Gyeong-su. In the second round the number is four, Thanos chooses Min-su over Gyeong-su who he kicks out and tells the team to run. Min-su worries about Gyeong-su, but Se-mi grabs his arm and they run along with Thanos and Nam-gyu to a room. The team arrives in a room with little time left.
Min-su asks Nam-gyu about Gyeong-su, to which he angrily hits Min-su and says "Talk to me like I'm your friend again and I'll leave you out there next time.", the the team hears gunshots, making them realize that the Pink Guards killed Gyeong-su. Thanos expresses regret for leaving him outside, his rapid change in opinion exacerbated by his substance abuse. Stepping outside, Min-su is frozen and shocked by the pools of blood, but Thanos brings him back to reality by telling him to come with the team.
In the third round the number is three. Thanos and Nam-gyu force Min-su and Se-mi to play rock, paper, scissors to choose who comes with them. Se-mi tells Min-su to come with her and extends her hand, but Min-su gets scared by the pressure and pulls out scissors, winning the game. Thanos and Nam-gyu take Min-su with them, leaving Se-mi alone. After exiting the room, Min-su sees that Se-mi survived and they both look at each other, Se-mi walks away and Min-su feels guilty for leaving her alone.
In the fourth round the number is six and Min-su manages to survive alongside Thanos and Nam-gyu. In the fifth and final round the number is two, Thanos chooses Nam-gyu and Min-su is left alone, fortunately Min-su joins Seon Han-nam (Player 015) and they manage to get to a room in time.
Upon returning to the Dormitory, Thanos is glad that Min-su is still alive, hugs him and tells him that he was worried about him, Nam-gyu mentions when Min-su beat Se-mi in rock, paper, scissors and they tell him to play one more game, but Min-su is distracted thinking about Se-mi. Then the Pink Guards arrive, announce that there are 100 players left and the third vote begins, Se-mi decides to join Gi-hun's side and votes for "X", which angers Thanos and Nam-gyu. When Min-su comes to vote, Thanos and Nam-gyu try to get him to vote for "O", but Min-su decides to do what Se-mi told him and votes for "X" and in the end the vote ends up 50-50, so it will be voted on again the next day.
Min-su goes to the bathroom to hide from Thanos and Nam-gyu, but they find him and try to intimidate him into voting with them. Fortunately, Lee Myung-gi arrives and defends Min-su. Myung-gi asks Team X for help and warns them that Thanos and Nam-gyu threaten Min-su to join them, Thanos asks Team O for help and declares that Team X wants to attack them. Then Min-su leaves the cubicle and hides among the Team X, Thanos tells him to come, but Myung-gi gets in the way to protect Min-su. Afterwards, Thanos and Nam-gyu mock Kim Jun-hee which makes Myung-gi furious and ignite a fight between Team O and Team X, giving Min-su a distraction to escape to the dormitory. During the fight, Thanos tries to kill Myung-gi but Myung-gi stabs him with a fork in the chin and neck, which causes Thanos to bleed to death, freeing Min-su from Thanos forever.
In the dormitory, Min-su hides between the bunk beds and it is announced that the fight claimed the lives of 5 players, making it 95 players left and the prize increases to ₩36,100,000,000 (making it ₩380,000,000 for each player), the survivors of the fight arrive at the dormitory and both teams blame each other for starting the fight. Then, teams count their players and discover that died 2 players from Team X and 3 players from Team O, which means that Team O has 47 players left and Team X has 48 players left. As a result, Team X now has the advantage in the vote and they believe that if no one changes their mind, they will be able to go home.
Min-su was not one of Gi-hun's inner circle and so was unaware of the plan to hide and not help Team X when the Team O attacks. This causes him to be taken off guard and forced to fight. He grabs a glass bottle for protection and escapes to a high bunk. Below him, he sees Se-mi get attacked by Nam-gyu and throws the glass bottle down. It misses him, but Se-mi is able to use the shards to fight back. Ultimately, however, she is overpowered and stabbed to death whilst Min-su hides from view, frozen and sobbing. When Gi-hun's rebellion prevents the guards from removing all of the bodies, Min-su begins hyperventilating and becoming emotional upon standing by Se-mi's corpse.
Fate
Min-su survives the fighting and riot, as well as choosing not to join Gi-hun's rebellion. He ultimately survives to continue the games.
Behind the scenes
Min-su is portrayed by Lee David.
Trivia
- The name Min-su is associated with the characters Young-hee and Chul-su. All three of them appear in Korean children's textbooks.
Appearances
- Season Two
- "001" (icon)
- "Six Legs"
- "One More Game"
- "O X"
- "Friend or Foe"
Gallery
References
- ↑ "One More Game"
- ↑ Under the traditional Korean age system, which was changed in June 2023, a year is added to a person's age after birth, meaning he would be 28 in 2024. His age, as stated, is given in international years.