Choi su-bong
Before I got here, things were so rough, I was gonna jump off the Han River Bridge. Actually, I was there when this man wearing a suit gave me a business card. You must have got one too. Now, I'm not religious or anything, but... How should I put this? It felt like divine intervention. Like the universe was giving me a second chance, man. That's when I decided I was gonna turn my whole life around, make my mom proud. The thing is, when someone gets in the way of that, I don't mean to, but I lose my shit! I'm so fucking angry, man!
Thanos to Park Min-su in "O X"
Choi Su-bong (최수봉 Choi Su-bong?, November 4, 1987 - November 3, 2024) better known as Thanos (타노스 Tanoseu?) and also as Player 230, was a rapper who participated in the 37th Squid Game in 2024.
History[]
Prior to his entry in the 37th Squid Game, Choi Su-bong gained fame as a rapper under the stage name "Thanos". At some point, he won second place in a rap battle tournament called "Rap Battlegrounds", missing first place after forgetting his lyrics. He was also an avid fan of YouTuber Lee Myung-gi, and claims to have watched every video posted under his channel "MG Coin".
When Myung Gi began promoting a new cryptocurrency called "Dalmatian", Thanos decided to invest all the money he had made from rapping (which was around ₩500 million) into the coin. Unfortunately, the cryptocurrency turned out to be a scam, and he would fall into a debt totaling ₩1.19 billion.
Feeling like his life was over, Thanos went to the Han River Bridge to kill himself before being stopped by a recruiter who offered him a chance to win all his money back after a game of Ddakji. Thinking that the opportunity was some sort of divine intervention, Thanos entered the Squid Games in a last-ditch effort to start a new life and make his mother proud.
Squid Game[]
Waking up in the Dormitory, Thanos is one of the first players who complain to a Manager. He bemoans that the staff took away his limited edition shoes, and that they will have to replace them if they get ruined.
Before the first game begins, Thanos quickly bonds with Nam-gyu over their shared hatred of Myung-gi. As the contestants are signing consent forms, the two spot the former YouTuber in the crowd and confront him about the money they have lost because of his investment advice. When Myung-gi defends himself, Thanos angrily states that he had told them to "bet it all" on the cryptocurrency "Dalmatian" before grabbing him by the collar. He is then stopped by Nam-gyu who tells him to calm down and that people are watching them. Just before leaving, the rapper warns Myung-gi that he "better do well because [he is] coming to get [his] money back."
Thanos and the other 454 contestants are then led to get their photos taken for the game. Along the way, several people recognize him, and want to get their picture taken with him. Having all their belongings, including their phones, taken from them by the Squid Game staff, they choose to swarm around the rapper before a Manager tells them that is not allowed. Faced with his fans disappointment, Thanos promises them that once the games are over he'll take a photo with each one of them before beckoning them to leave.
As Thanos and the other players enter the first game "Red Light, Green Light", he shamelessly flirts with player 196, Kang Mi-na. Despite her apparent disinterest, the two continue to talk as Seong Gi-hun warns the other contestants about the first game. He alongside many others, including Mi-na disbelieves Gi-hun's warnings, and the rapper even claims him to be a mentally unstable drunkard, akin to his father.
When the game does begin, Mi-na is the first to move after Thanos told her there was a bee on her neck and complimented her. She gets shot directly in the head. After she is shot, he appears visibly terrified as his eyes remained focused on the ground, most likely where Min-na's body is. During the next couple of green lights, Thanos is seen hurriedly taking out his cross necklace and swallowing one of the many colorful pills it contains.
The drug appears to have an instantaneous effect as Thanos' demeanor suddenly changes to a carefree one afterwards. He pushes three players in front of him with an amused expression, and even smiles as they are all shot, going as far as to say a mocking "bye" once they are all killed. His newfound excitement remains even as the game continues, and more players are killed. In the following green lights, Thanos is seen swinging his hands in the air while jumping multiple times, and even doing a heel click in one particular instance.
Once the survivors of "Red Light, Green Light" return to the Dormitory, a masked manager holds an election on whether the contestants will continue or end the games. Thanos quickly votes to continue playing, just before Seong Gi-hun warns the remaining voters to vote "X". Faced with the players' suspicions on his mental status and reliability, Gi-hun is forced to announce that he has "played these games before". After his confession, Thanos appears even more determined to take advantage of the games and earn back his fortune, telling Gi-hun: "If you really won, it actually works better for us. You can give us some tips on how to beat these games".
After it is determined that the contestants will continue the games, Thanos is seen celebrating with Nam-gyu with an arrogant expression. Later that day, the two confront Lee Myung-gi in which the rapper tells the former Youtuber that he has to make a lot of money in the games so that he can reimburse him for the money he "earned from busting [his] ass rapping".
When Nam-gyu takes away Myung-gi's dinner, and he demands for it back, Thanos shoves the food into his face proclaiming that since he wanted it so bad, he would personally feed it to him. The two proceed to get into a physical altercation in which the rapper lands multiple punches on him with the help of Nam-gyu who restrains Myung-gi. When Hwang In-ho warns them to stop fighting, Thanos tells him to "save the lecture for your own damn kids" before being kicked multiple times, and then choked by him.
The next morning, Thanos is seen taking another pill from his cross and is questioned by Nam-gyu on what it is. He easily brushes it off, and tells him the next game is about to begin. When the Pink Guards instruct that the contestants form groups of five, Thanos teams up with Nam-gyu, Gyeong-su, Se-mi, a girl he found pretty and Park Min-su, the boy that Se-mi already teamed up with. Despite Nam-gyu stating that Min-su looks like a dork, Thanos is quite accepting of him, even calling him "cute" looking.
After forming the Thanos Crew, it is announced that the second game is "Six-Legged Pentathlon," which consists of five children's games: Ddakji, Biseokchigi, Gonggi, Paengi Chigi and Jegi. After both of the first groups are killed, Nam-gyu begs Thanos for one of the pills he had taken that very morning. Faced with his deflection, Nam-gyu threatens that his nervousness will cause him to mess up one of the games and have them killed which causes the rapper to concede in giving him a pill.
In the following groups' turns, Thanos appears excited whenever a player beats a game, cheering them on with celebratory phrases such as "Let's go!" and "Way to go!" During his team's turn, he looks animated in the beginning, but is later seen fidgeting with his hands after Min-su failed to do gong-gi. But once he does pass, Thanos returns to his playful demeanor, dancing as Nam-gyu plays spinning top before he himself plays jegi.
Back in the Dormitory, Thanos is seen mimicking DJ moves before breaking up an argument between Nam-gyu, Park Min-su and Se-mi. After learning that Min-su and Nam-gyu are the same age, and that Se-mi is a year older, he orders that the two should treat each other as friends and that they should both address Se-mi as "noo-na."
When the second vote is held, Thanos and Nam-gyu force Min-su to vote to "O", which he does after some hesitancy. In the men's bathroom, Thanos, Nam-gyu, and Gyeong-su confront Myung-gi over his decision to vote "X", with the rapper deeming him a traitor. He then declares that Myung-gi is his slave, and that he will continue playing until the games end because that is what the rapper wants him to do. Thanos even says that he might win the entire prize in which Myung-gi responds that he would have to be dead in order for that to happen. Despite Lee Myung-gi proceeding to attack his memory, Thanos remains fairly quiet until he brings up how the rapper forgot his lyrics during "that show's finale." In a fit of rage, Thanos pins Myung-gi against the wall before walking out of the bathroom once Jung bae, dae ho, and Hwang In-ho appears. Thanos takes a glance at the three possibly warning them not to interfere. He then left telling Myung Gi he’s not done with him.
The next day, Min-su catches Thanos taking another pill from his cross which seems to have become a daily routine. Nam-gyu is also seen taking one after pleading for one of his pills.
During the third game Mingle, Thanos is seen dancing in a circle with his arm interlocked with Nam-gyu's. When the woman on the PA announces that they have to have four people in a room, Thanos is seen deciding between Gyeong-su and Min-su. Despite the former's pleas to pick him, the rapper kicks him before running into the room with the other "Thanos Team" members. Strangely, when the group is in one of the various rooms, Thanos asks where Gyeong-su is, though it was most likely due to his sudden flash of sobriety. Through the door's peephole he calls out Gyeong-su's name in a distressed tone before watching him being killed by one of the Pink Guards.
Gyeong-su you're OUT. LET'S GO!
When the next round of Mingle begins, and the woman on the PA announces that they have to have three people in a room, Thanos declares that they will either pick Min-su or Se-mi through a game of rock, paper, scissors. Despite Se-mi asking Min-su to join her and leave the other two behind, he plays scissors against her extended hand which causes Thanos to happily exclaim that Min-su won.
In the final round of Mingle, when the woman on the PA announces that they have to have two people in a room, Thanos chooses Nam-gyu. Despite easily leaving Min-su behind, the rapper appears relieved that he survived, embracing him in a tight hug and proclaiming how happy he was to see him.
When the third vote is held, Thanos skips his way up to the "X" and "O" buttons before leaning in to kiss the latter. After Min-su votes to stop playing, the rapper confronts him outside the bathroom stall in which Min-su locked himself in. Once Nam-gyu threatens him, Min-su opens the stall's door in an attempt to escape, only to be aggressively shoved back down by Thanos.
Noticing his terrified expression, Thanos tries to explain why he wants the games to continue, confessing that he was about to kill himself before being offered the chance to win all of his money back. He notes that the opportunity felt like divine intervention despite not being religious before proclaiming that Park Min-su is stopping him from starting a new life and curses about how angry that makes him.
Hearing the commotion, Lee Myung-gi tells Thanos to stop yelling at Park Min-su. The former Youtuber then goes on to claim that he was forcing a member of "Team X" to vote "O" next time which causes a standstill between both sides of the voters. As Min-su attempts to leave the bathroom, Thanos tries to stop him before being blocked by Myung-gi. The rapper then goes on to threaten him, proclaiming that if he voted to stop playing again, he would cut off his finger, give it to Kim Jun-hee, and then ask her out, adding she would "love it."
Enraged, Myung-gi attempts to attack Thanos before being punched by him. A fight between the "X" voters and the "O" voters then breaks out in which Thanos quickly gets Myung-gi into a chokehold, and repeatedly punches him, emphasizing with each punch that his money, his ex-girlfriend, and his life are all his.
Death[]
It's all mine! Your money! Your girl! Your fucking life! It's all Thanos's property now! You fucking son of a goddamn motherfucking bitch!
Thanos' last words to Lee Myung-gi in "O X"
Thanos being killed by Lee Myung-gi during the Bathroom fight
After calling Myung-gi a "son of a fucking bitch" he is unexpectedly stabbed in his submentum by Myung-gi with a fork that was previously handed to them during dinner. Thanos continues to hold him down despite the large amount of blood that is pouring out of his throat, but he is stabbed again, this time on the side of his neck. Even with the fork lodged in his neck, the rapper grabs Myung-gi by the ankle before the latter manages to shake him away.
Shortly after, Thanos is seen dead next to the bathroom stall in which Myung-gi had entered. When Nam-gyu is punched and falls on the floor next to him, he attempts to grab his cross necklace, before taking the Fork from his neck and using it to stab another player to death.
Legacy[]
Thanos makes a posthumous appearance in "⭘△☐", alongside Nam-gyu (who had since died in the Jump Rope game), as a hallucination experienced by Min-su during the Sky Squid Game.
Personality[]
I... like... you!
Thanos to Kang Mi-na in "001"
Thanos jumping during "Red Light, Green Light" after taking drugs
Not much can be said about Thanos' actual personality as he is high for the majority of the series. From what can be inferred, Thanos is a spontaneous and careless individual who tends to act without thinking. This can be seen in him investing his entire life savings into the cryptocurrency "Dalmatian" after Lee Myung-gi insisted his fans should. And in the men's bathroom, he demands that Myung-gi has to keep playing until the game ends, adding he may win the entire Prize money alone. Myung-gi then reminds him that if he won the ₩45.6 billion, the rapper would have to be dead which appears to leave him speechless.
Despite Myung-gi questioning his intelligence, Thanos is linguistically intuitive. When flirting with some of the female players, he easily comes up with rap lyrics on the spot. Along with this, Thanos has also displayed an extreme proficiency in the English language which he frequently exercises when talking to other contestants. Even when his emotions get the better of him, the rapper continues to speak in grammatically correct English, though it is usually mixed with Korean as seen in his last words: "You fucking son of a--씨발 놈의 bitch."
Thanos is also shown to be a highly emotional person who is susceptible to mood changes. In the men's bathroom, he aggressively shoves Park Min-su into one of the stalls, yelling at him to "sit the fuck down," before confessing to him in a hushed voice that before entering the Squid Games he was on verge of committing suicide after his debt amounted to ₩1.19 billion. He then proceeded to curse about how "fucking furious" and "fucking angry" he is by Min-su's apparent betrayal for voting 'X'.
His fluctuating, yet strong emotions are also seen in his interactions with various other people. In the first game, after Kang Mi-na is shot, Thanos appears saddened at the loss despite only knowing her for a few hours. During the game "Mingle," he is visibly pained when he sees Gyeong-su shot. When he yells Gyeong-su's name, Thanos adds a "-yah" at the end which showcases his perceived closeness with him.
Due to his high intensity emotions, Thanos is also the type to hold grudges. He harbors an extreme hatred towards Myung-gi for "scamming him" of all of his money and engages in various physical altercations with him. He is constantly blaming him for ruining his life, and proclaimed that Myung-gi's money, girlfriend, and life all belong to him due to the suffering he has caused him. He even adds that the former YouTuber should not only pay him for the money he lost in the crypto scam, but also for the damage to his soul he has caused him.
When experiencing emotions such as fear or anxiety, Thanos is seen to rely on drugs to suppress his nerves. This is not only shown during the Squid Games, but also during the round of ddakji he played with a recruiter in which he is seen vaping. While high, Thanos is a completely different person, one that is extremely unhinged and displays near psychopathic behaviors. Throughout the game, he is shown to have no remorse for causing the deaths of multiple people. In addition to this, Thanos displays aggressive behavior towards those who oppose him, and doesn't hesitate to harm others whenever he sees fit, though it is normally aimed at Myung-gi.
He is also seen to be highly manipulative alongside his friend Nam-gyu. Se-mi even recognizes his manipulative behavior, telling Min-su that he is the only person part of the 'Thanos Team' who she believes will not deceive her. Though it may be unintentional, Thanos frequently uses people to his advantage, acting friendly and welcoming when people agree with him, but becoming childishly angered and violent when his orders are questioned or defied. Throughout the duration of the game, he repeatedly takes advantage of Min-su’s timid nature by reminding him to vote for "one more game" and stick by his side, though he seems clueless to Nam-gyu's blatant threats of physical harm to Min-su.
However, Thanos has also shown that he cares about his comrades in a warped sense. Before his death, he had maintained a positive, but somewhat demeaning relationship with Nam-gyu, with whom he danced and mocked other Players with. During the game "Mingle," Thanos is seen pulling his hair in distress through a security camera, most likely from the emotional turmoil he was experiencing from Gyeong-su's recent death. This warped perception of camaraderie is also shown with Min-su, but it is mostly due to the rapper's changing levels of sobriety. thumb Thanos and Nam-gyu met at Club Pentagon. They quickly bonded over the fact that both of them were scammed by Lee Myung-Gi, also known as MG Coin. They were millions of won in debt and were both angry at Myung-gi. The two of them took many drugs together at Club Pentagon. When the games first started, they took pride in ganging up on Myung-gi and made him their slave, basically forcing him to pay them back, and if not, they’ll own him.
Murders Committed[]
| Episode | Character | Image/GIF | Method |
| 001 | Kang Mi-na | 
|
Unintentionally and indirectly distracted during Red Light which led to her being killed by a sniper |
| Player 216, Player 270 and Player 257 | 
|
Pushed during Red Light, causing them to be killed by snipers | |
| O X | Gyeong-su | 
|
Indirectly killed by having hindered him from finding a room during Mingle |
| Player 251 and Player 279 | 
|
Deaths caused by blocking their access to the room (alongside Nam-gyu) |
Trivia[]
- Su-bong's appearance and stage name "Thanos" is based on the Marvel villain of the same name via the purple hair and the color of his nails (green, purple, blue, red, orange) that represent all of the Infinity Stones except the Mind Stone (Time, Power, Space, Reality, and Soul). This is referenced in the show by Se-mi who questioned if Su-bong had all the Infinity Stones when he claimed his rapper name was "Thanos."
- Thanos' character shares a stark resemblance to his actor Choi Seung-hyun. Both are former rappers who have abused drugs, and enjoy dancing, though Seung-hyun's drug usage was minimal compared to Thanos.
- Thanos can be speculated to be around 36-37 years old. According to his profile seen in ⭘△☐, he finished high school in 2006; moreover, T.O.P stated that Thanos had reached the peak of his career in the 2000s.[1]
- He can be heard speaking three languages during season 2: Korean, English or Spanish.
- In the scene of Mingle in One More Game, Thanos' dance is a reference to one of the actor's video clips, in which T.O.P does the same gesture while sitting on a car hood.
- In real life, Seung-hyun is close friends with Seong Gi-hun's actor, Lee Jung-jae, who actually provided Seung-hyun with the opportunity to act in Squid Games.
- Thanos shares various similarities to Jang Deok-su from Season One; both are villainous players who are on the opposing team to the protagonist Gi-hun. However, the two differ in that Thanos doesn't interact with Gi-hun as often as compared to Jang Deok-su who had several confrontations with the protagonist. The rapper is also portrayed as a more comedic villain, and is a lot more reckless while playing the Games, though it is mostly credited to his drug usage.
- 8 characters deaths can be directly attributed to him (not counting the other team in the six legged race)
- Although he eaten drugs Symptoms Increased energy and Temperament changes further, This is likely he eats Ecstasy.
- Su-bong and his actor, Seung-hyun, both go by the surname of Choi.
- He placed 100th overall in the 37th Squid Game.
- Thanos tells Min-su about how he was going to jump off a bridge to kill himself, before being approached by the Recruiter, who gave him the card to invite him to the games. This is likely a complete lie, as when the manager announces his number, name, and debt to the players in 001, we see him in a subway. However, it can be debated that the Recruiter decided to take him to a nearby subway before playing ddajki with him there.
- Thanos died the day before his birthday.
Behind the scenes[]
Choi Su-bong is portrayed by rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor Choi Seung-hyun (최승현), better known by his stage name "T.O.P." In 2017 (seven years prior to his casting in Season 2), T.O.P, pled guilty to drug use and was blacklisted in the Korean music industry. During the scandal, he was hospitalized after overdosing on anxiety medication.[2]
In 2024, Seung-hyun was cast as Thanos (Player 230) who is portrayed as a rapper and shown to have a drug problem. Even years later, the character's striking resemblance to Seung-hyun's personal life drew ire and backlash from some fans.[3] Hwang Dong-hyuk, the director of Squid Games, though praised the actor for the courage to return to the public spotlight after nine years, saying, "Despite the long hiatus, I have to say, as a director, he performed very impressively and I’m very satisfied with what he did with the character."[4]
Appearances[]
- Season Two
- "001"
- "Six Legs"
- "One More Game"
- "O X"
- "Friend or Foe"
- Season Three
- "Keys and Knives" (mentioned)
- "The Starry Night" (mentioned)
- "⭘△☐" (hallucination)
Gallery[]
.jpg "Thanos (Meet the cast).jpg (1.52 MB)")
.gif "0708 (1).gif (8.68 MB)")
Promotional[]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV0o_BRKz3I
- ↑ K-pop superstar T.O.P. in intensive care after overdose - BBC
- ↑ T.O.P excluded from 'Squid Game' season 2 poster and cast list amid controversy - AllKPop
- ↑ ‘Squid Game’ Creator Praises K-Pop Star T.O.P’s Onscreen “Comeback” After Marijuana Scandal - Deadline