"Hmm... I used to work at the games, you know. Clearing and incinerating the bodies of countless people like you, Mr. Seong. These things aren't human. They're just trash, useless. They have no purpose in this world. That's what I kept telling myself for years, and I worked hard. One day they gave me a gun. I liked the way it felt. It was like someone had finally acknowledged my existence. And I don't know which year it was. There was a man who'd lost, and I went over to shoot him but... Hmm. I recognized his face. Guess who it was. My dad. I was aiming a weapon at my very own father. And he begged me, tears in his eyes, to spare his life. And so do you know what I did? I shot him, bang, right in the middle of his forehead. That's when I knew. 'Ah... I guess I really am cut out for this.'"
—The Recruiter explaining his backstory to Seong Gi-hun in "Bread and Lottery"
The Recruiter, also known as The Salesman and South Korean Recruiter (died September 1-2, 2024), was a man who worked as a recruiter for the Squid Games from the 33rd Squid Game in 2020 until his death in 2024. Though he presented himself as an approachable, calm, and polite man, The Recruiter is in actuality a ruthless sadist with a hatred for impoverished people. He is the first step of the games—the recruitment process.
He was originally a worker from the Squid Games. He was then promoted to soldier and eventually earned the trust of the game's creator, Oh Il-nam, over time. After raising his position, the Recruiter was given the opportunity to work outside the games. His role was to be the recruiter and recruit people by playing Ddakji with them and later giving them a card if they win.
Personality
What's the matter? Is your mind starting to race? Now your odds of death are 1 in 2. That's pretty high indeed. I'm sure you're afraid. Lots going through your mind. Let me guess what you're thinking right now, "The gun is in my hand. Screw the rules. Pull the trigger once or twice, and I can blow this guy's face off.” Isn't that right? If you want to meet the person you mentioned earlier, the key is in my pocket. You can simply shoot me with that gun and take it. But I'll have you admit one thing. That you're a piece of trash, just like everyone else. A piece of trash who got lucky and made it out of the dumpster.
The Recruiter's final words to Seong Gi-hun while playing Russian roulette in "Bread and Lottery"
During the episode "Red Light, Green Light", The Recruiter appeared to be a polite and relaxed man, carrying himself with a calm demeanor and smile while carrying out his duties and playing games of Ddakji with prospective contestants for the Squid Games. Though nonetheless tasked with recruiting financially desperate individuals into the Squid Games, The Recruiter still appeared to be an amicable individual that honored his promises of ₩100,000 to players who won a game of ddakji, as well as congratulating the players for any wins with celebratory clapping and a smile. However, there were still undercurrents of sadism beneath his seemingly honorable actions; the stakes for losing a ddakji game would involve the Recruiter slapping the player to make up for the loss of ₩100,000, and his congratulatory acts were a manipulation tactic for players to be more accepting of the Squid Games invitations that he would offer them.
It was not until Season Two where The Recruiter's true personality would be revealed. Beneath his polite and amicable facade, The Recruiter was a ruthless and cruel man who took immense sadistic glee in the games he would force players to participate in. The Recruiter was shown to hold an immense disdain and hatred for poor and indebted people whom he mainly recruits to be the players of the games, which was demonstrated in numerous actions that he took. For example, his "social experiment" involved having homeless people select either a loaf of bread or a lottery card, with most of them selecting the lottery card in order to escape their desperate situations. Upon those who selected the lottery card inevitably losing with their tickets, The Recruiter would dump all of the remaining bread in front of them while cruelly taunting them about wasting food and blaming them for their losses, all before aggressively stomping and destroying the bread in clear view. The Recruiter's sadism would be fully demonstrated in the twisted game of "Rock Paper Scissors, Minus One" and "Russian roulette" that he would force Kim Jeong-rae and Choi Woo-seok to participate in; throughout the game, he took great joy in the terror and desperation of the two Loan sharks as they played the games, eventually elevating the stakes of death by increasing the amount of bullets in the revolver to five upon being bored.
The Recruiter's hatred for poor people extended to even his own father, who he callously executed for losing in the Squid Games without any remorse back when he worked as a Masked Soldier. As is the case with many of the Squid Games staff, the Recruiter was apparently wholly dedicated to the organization to the point where his life had little value to himself. This is best displayed during his fateful game of Russian roulette with Gi-hun, where during his first turn, he grabs the revolver with no hesitation and pulls the trigger almost instantly, unfazed by the risk of death. He also appeared to possess great pride and joy in his role as a recruiter to the Squid Games, as he became increasingly more irritated when Seong Gi-hun repeatedly called him a mere underling to those who controlled the Games. This, alongside his belief that poor people such as Gi-hun were trash and that he was able to win the 33rd Squid Game simply due to luck, was what motivated him to play a fatal game of Russian Roulette with Gi-hun as a result of their philosophies clashing - as well as his inevitable suicide when he lost the game, desiring to prove wrong Gi-hun's taunt of the Recruiter being a mere pawn and obedient dog.
History
The Recruiter started out as a Pink Guard from the Squid Games who earned the trust of the game's creator, Oh Il-nam, over time. He initially was a worker before being promoted to a soldier, and then finally a manager. He killed his own father during one of the games. After achieving the highest position as a Pink Guard, the Recruiter was given the opportunity to work outside the game in the "real world" and began to recruit players.[2] At some point he befriended and went fishing with Park Yeong-gil, a fisherman connected to the Squid Games; a picture of them fishing was later discovered by Choi Woo-seok during his search for evidence connecting Park to the games.
The Recruiter was the first point of contact between the players and the organizers of the games. With his briefcase of cash and Ddakji envelopes, he lured players in by offering them an easy way to make money. After several rounds of Ddakji, he gave the players a card with a logo and a phone number for the players to call for the chance to play more games and make money. If the player wished to participate and call the number, the Recruiter would instruct them to state their name and birthdate before allowing them to play.
2020
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The Recruiter asking Seong Gi-hun to play Ddakji with him.
In 2020, the Recruiter began to recruit players for the 33rd Squid Game, including Cho Sang-woo, Kang Sae-byeok, Ali Abdul, Jang Deok-su, Han Mi-nyeo and Ji-yeong. After 455 players were recruited for the 33rd Squid Game, the Recruiter approached who would ultimately be the last player, Seong Gi-hun, on the subway. He asked Gi-hun to play Ddakji with him where the winner would receive ₩100,000. Gi-hun reluctantly agreed to play. Gi-hun failed the first round but the Recruiter succeeded. He asked Gi-hun if he had any money, to which Gi-hun declined, and got slapped in the face as an alternate for the ₩100,000. Gi-hun decided to keep playing only to lose and get slapped in the face several times until eventually winning. He tried to get revenge on the Recruiter by trying to slap him, but the Recruiter blocked him and gave him the prize money.
He then offered Gi-hun a chance to participate in the 33rd Squid Game but Gi-hun was doubtful. the Recruiter then revealed that he knew about Gi-hun's debts to banks and loan sharks and reminded him as a way to persuade him. When Gi-hun asked how he knew this information, the Recruiter gave him a business card and asked him to call soon as there weren't many spots left and exited the subway station. Gi-hun eventually decided to accept the Recruiter's chance to participate in the games and called the number. the Recruiter picked up the phone and asked Gi-hun, "Who's calling? Do you wish to participate in the game? If you wish to play, please state your name and birthdate." Gi-hun told The Recruiter his name and birthdate, and by doing so, officially began his participation in the games, being taken to the island shortly thereafter.
Footage of the Recruiter slapping the other players of the 33rd Squid Game, including Cho Sang-woo, Kim Mi-ok and Park Ju-un, was shown to the players by the guards.
2022
In 2022, the Recruiter began to recruit players for the 35th Squid Game. Following Il-nam's death a year before, Gi-hun (who had won the 33rd Squid Game) spotted the Recruiter playing Ddakji with another person at a subway station while he is talking to Seong Ga-yeong on the phone. The Recruiter sees Gi-hun staring at him and gives him a sneaky smirk before leaving, giving the other person a business card. Gi-hun then rushed towards him, but before he made it, The Recruiter had boarded a train and waved goodbye to Gi-hun as the train began to leave the station. Gi-hun then took the card from the person, and used the number to inform the game's operators that he can't forgive them; in doing so, he heard The Recruiter's question again: "Do you wish to participate in the game? If you wish to play, please state your name and birthdate."
2024
Between the months of August and September of 2024, The Recruiter began to recruit players for the 37th Squid Game that would be hosted in October, including Thanos, Kim Jun-hee, Cho Hyun-ju, Lee Myung-gi and Park Jung-bae. After 454 players were recruited for the 37th Squid Game (Gi-hun later returning as the 456th player again, while the Front Man went undercover as Player 001), The Recruiter continued with his day. Meanwhile, two men (Kim Jeong-rae and Choi Woo-seok) recruited by Gi-hun, who had found him after searching for the Recruiter for two years, tracked his movements. Their motive for this pursuit was financial, as they were presumably being paid a sum of 1 billion won by Gi-hun himself.
The Recruiter made his way to a bakery, where he purchased a large quantity of bread, and another shop where he purchased 100 lottery tickets. He then proceeded to a park, carrying these items. At the park, The Recruiter approached the impoverished individuals gathered there and presented them with a choice: they could either take a loaf of bread or a lottery ticket, offering them a chance at potential fortune. Most of the poor opted for the lottery tickets, driven by the hope of winning (except for one seen destitute individual who decided to take the loaf). The Recruiter took sadistic pleasure in this interaction, appearing visibly entertained when a ticket turned out to be a losing one.
The recruiter playing Rock Paper Scissors Minus One and Russian roulette with Kim Jeong-rae and Choi Woo-seok.
Following this, The Recruiter moves to the center of the park. He discards all the bread onto the ground and begins stomping on it, rendering it inedible. As he does so, he delivers a message to the poor, implying that their greed for wealth has ultimately caused them to lose the very sustenance that keeps them alive.
The Recruiter continues about his day, still leaving a strange trial of not knowing what his presumed plans are. The men hired by Gi-hun at this point lose patience and decided to attack him directly, but to no avail as the Recruiter effortlessly overpowers them and kidnaps them to his place.
The Recruiter aims to extract information but not before taking pleasure in introducing a game where the stakes are high. Rock, Paper, Scissors Minus One but the loser goes through a round of Russian roulette, the man loads a single bullet to the revolver and explains that every round the chamber is rotated and aimed towards the loser where the chance of survival or death remains unknown.
After each of their constant survival. The Recruiter gets bored and loads 5 bullets in total and leaving one blank, increasing the stakes. On the final round, one survives, and the other is shot dead. After this, The Recruiter "talks" with the winner, presumably wanting to know who sent them.
Fate
The recruiter's final confrontation with Gi-hun.
He later confronts Gi-hun at his place, where he expresses his curiosity in how Gi-hun was able to win the Squid Games before. Gi-hun then retaliates by insulting the Recruiter and calling him a dog to the Squid Games' workers. Angered, the Recruiter explains his needs of sacrifices to achieve his place; initially working at the Games, the Recruiter encountered his father, who he killed without remorse. Having gained their trust, he was hired as the recruiter and given a revolver, and then explains his vision of the poor people, as useless scum and trash.
The recruiter's corpse.
The Recruiter then uses his revolver for another game of Russian Roulette. However, feeling Gi-hun to be very special, the former applies a rule to which the cylinder is not rotated, making each round deadlier. Both Gi-hun and the Recruiter survive twice, during which he sadistically taunts Gi-hun with unsettling smiles and slow, theatrical gestures. Before Gi-hun shoots the fifth round (giving him a 1-in-2 chance of surviving), the Recruiter taunts Gi-hun, baiting him to break the rules, shoot him, and steal the key to meet the one person he wants to see (the Front Man)—but only if Gi-hun admits he's just lucky trash like everyone else. Gi-hun doesn't take the bait and puts the gun to his own head. He pulls the trigger and, to the Recruiter's shock, survives, confirming to both men that the sixth—and last—chamber is holding the bullet. Gi-hun then turns the challenge back, daring the Recruiter to cheat and kill him—saying it would only prove he’s nothing but a masked lapdog serving his masters. The Recruiter, despite seemingly shaken by these words, gives him one final mocking smile, before he spitefully shoots himself under his chin, instantly dying. However Despite his death he still indirectly killed all the players of 37th squid game with only survivors being Park Gyeong-seok (saved by Kang No-eul) and The Newborn Infant Of Jun-hee.
Aftermath
Upon arriving at the scene of the Recruiter's death, Hwang Jun-ho initially suspects Gi-hun killed him, before Gi-hun tells him that he didn't and that the recruiter simply lost the game. Choi Woo-seok expressed frustration at the Recruiter's death as he wanted to kill him personally to avenge his boss. Footage of the Recruiter slapping the other future players of the Squid Game was shown to the players by the guards. He then makes a brief appearance as a flashback in Choi Woo-seok's mind in the episode It's Not Your Fault. In 222 he appears in a photo alongside Park Yeong-gil when Woo-seok shows it to the cops.
Kill Count
| Character | Information | Image/GIF |
|---|---|---|
| "Bread and Lottery" | ||
| The Recruiter's Father | Shot him in the forehead after losing to an unknown game. | N/A |
| Kim Jeong-rae | Shot him in the head with a revolver after he sacrificed himself for Choi Woo-seok at Rock Paper Scissors, Minus One. | 
|
| Himself | Shot himself under his chin after losing at Russian roulette against Seong Gi-hun. | 
|
Trivia
- Fans speculated the red and blue envelopes represent the staff and players of the Squid Games. It was later revealed that the colors of the envelopes are just alluding to the Japanese legend Aka Manto, where a masked spirit asked people if they want red paper or blue paper in the bathroom. Players seen on the monitor in Red Light, Green Light are seen having chosen the red ddakji, and director Hwang Dong-hyuk has also confirmed the rumor to be false in an interview.
- Fans also theorized that the reason the Recruiter smiled at Seong Gi-hun was because it was likely the first time he saw a contestant after the Squid Games or that he was happy to see Gi-hun again. This theory was debunked in Season 2 when the Recruiter made it clear he viewed Gi-hun as trash.
- The Recruiter appearing in a subway station is a likely reference to the actor's appearance in Train to Busan which took place on a train.
- It's very likely that The Masked Officer used to work as a recruiter before Him, before getting promoted to be second-in-command of The Frontman. However, unlike the Recruiter who only recruits players. The Masked Officer used to Recruit both players and guards.
- There was a mistake on "Halloween Party" in which some fans caught the Recruiter open his eyes during the act in a split moment.
- Despite his apparent death in season 2, he still indirectly caused the death of all the 454 players in 37th squid game including Seong Gi-hun, Kim Jun-hee, Cho Hyun-ju, etc. with only survivors being Kim Jun-hee's baby and Park Gyeong-seok (saved by Kang No-eul).
- The Recruiter has very indirectly recruited the infant 222 as he recruited Jun-hee when she was still pregnant which caused her to enter the games and give birth in that environment to which he indirectly led jun-hee to her death and indirectly caused the child to be the winner.
- He and Ji-yeong are the only characters to have killed their own fathers. However, Ji-yeong had killed her father in order to avenge her mother's murder while The Recruiter killed his father out of sadism and cruelty showing no remorse during his time as a Pink Soldier.
- This also makes him somewhat similar, in a sense, to Player 069 (33rd Squid Game) and Jang Geum-ja. All three of them killed a family member at some point during the Games and died by suicide afterwards.
- However, unlike the other two, the Recruiter did not kill himself by hanging, in the dormitory, or out of guilt but rather out of Sadism and Pragmatic reason and he killed himself years after killing his father whereas Player 069 and Geum-ja kill themselves hours after the games.
- This also makes him somewhat similar, in a sense, to Player 069 (33rd Squid Game) and Jang Geum-ja. All three of them killed a family member at some point during the Games and died by suicide afterwards.
- Lee Myung-gi was likely the last player he recruited as after that he was chased by Kim Jeong-rae and Choi Woo-seok afterwards.
- It's very likely he had been working as a recruiter before 33rd Squid Games.
- It's possible that the Recruiter avoids playing Ddakji with people who have lost the will to live, since, for example, when Ji-yeong tells Sae-byeok how she entered the games, she simply mention that she received an invitation, or when Thanos tells Min-su about his encounter with the Recruiter when he was about to commit suicide, he says that he was simply given the card, and he isn't even shown being slapped in his video.
- It's possible that the Recruiter slaps some people harder upon losing because he hates them as seen how his one slap bruised Im Jeong-dae's face.
Behind the scenes
The Recruiter was portrayed by Gong Yoo, who is famously known for playing Seok-woo from Train to Busan and Kim Shin from Goblin.
Initially, Gong Yoo was not supposed to be part of Squid Game. When the director first approached him, he was very busy at the time and declined the offer. However, after the director explained the plot—specifically a scene where he would get to slap his boss Lee Jung-jae—Gong Yoo immediately agreed. He was so enthusiastic that he didn’t even ask for a payment to appear in the series.
In June 2022, series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk teased that The Recruiter "might be back" for Season 2. His return was later confirmed, which would ultimately be Gong Yoo's last as his character was killed off in the first episode.
Appearances
- Season 1
- "Red Light, Green Light"
- "Gganbu" (mentioned)
- "One Lucky Day"
- Season 2
- "Bread and Lottery"
- "Halloween Party" (corpse and archive audio)
- "001" (video)
- "Six Legs" (mentioned)
- "O X" (mentioned)
- Season 3
- "It's Not Your Fault" (new image/flashback)
- "222" (image/mentioned)
- ”Humans Are…” (mentioned)
Gallery
See also
References
- ↑ When he intercepts Seong Gi-hun in his room at night after killing Mr. Kim hours prior, a fully crossed-out calendar for August 2024 can be seen on the wall behind him.
- ↑ The Real Backstory Behind Gong Yoo’s “Squid Game” Character — Director Reveals All