| “ | ♫ Mugunghwa-kkochi pieot-seumnida ♫ (Green light! Red light!)
|
„ |
| ― Young-hee singing repeatedly in Red Light, Green Light |
Young-hee (영희 Yeong-hui?), also known as The Doll, is a large motion-sensing female animatronic doll that has been used in the Squid Games, including the 33rd Squid Game in 2020 and the Squid Game in 2024, during "Red Light, Green Light".
Her eyes are able to scan the movement of players quickly to see if any of the players are moving after hearing "red light," all players who did so are eliminated, along with any players who don't make it to the end in time.
Role
Overview
Based on the Korean textbook character of the same name, Young-hee resembles a young girl with black hair in low short pigtails with faded purple beads and a barrette in her hair that resembles the Squid Game symbol that is the same color as her beads. A yellow collared T-shirt, orange pinafore, knee high white socks and black shoes. She has black eyes which the pupils turn red when detecting a player moving on red light.
During the "Red Light, Green Light" game, Young-hee is positioned at one end of the field, the other players are given the task of getting to her side of the field within a set time limit, but they can only move when Young-hee's back is turned. If any players are caught moving when she turns around, they are eliminated from the game and shot dead by unseen snipers. Any players who fail to reach Young-hee's side of the field in time are also eliminated.
Young-hee repeatedly says (무궁화꽃이 피았습니다 Mugunghwa-kkochi pieot-seumnida?, which roughly translates to "The Mugungha Flower has bloomed") – referring to the hibiscus syriacus, the national flower of South Korea. She adjusts the tone of her song slightly each time, which has caught several players off-guard over the years.
33rd Squid Game
Red Light, Green Light
Young-hee as she appeared during the 33rd Squid Game
Young-hee was responsible for 255 deaths, the largest death count of the games that year. This was mainly due to the mass panic amongst the players following the deaths of Player 324 and Player 250, with Young-hee's sensors detecting all their movements, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of hundreds of players. Some people such as Cho Sang-woo and Kang Sae-byeok were able to exploit her sensors by hiding behind others which therefore made it more difficult for Young-hee to notice them. After this, the game and Young-hee's movement were paused briefly as the instructor of the games repeated the rules of the game twice to the traumatized surviving players, 201 players completed the game but the rest were killed by either being detected by Young-hee or failing to reach the end in time.
Squid Game
Young-hee was shown in the background as the game took place in the same room as "Red Light, Green Light". Since she was not a part of the game, Young-hee was temporarily deactivated until the end of the game. Sang-woo commented on both games taking place in the same room during his fight with the eventual winner of that year's Squid Games, Seong Gi-hun.
2024 Squid Games
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Young-hee as she appeared during the Squid Game in 2024
For the version of the "Red Light, Green Light" game used in the Squid Game in 2024, Young-hee's model was updated, looking significantly different than the version of her used in the 33rd Squid Game in 2020.
Young-hee was positioned at one end of the field, the other players were given the task of getting to her side of the field within a set time limit, but they can only move when Young-hee's back was turned. If any players were caught moving when she turns around, they were eliminated from the game and shot dead by unseen snipers. Any players who failed to reach Young-hee's side of the field in time were also eliminated.
Contrary to the 33rd Squid Game, the 2024 Squid Game’s Red Light, Green Light round had a higher survival rate than previous one. This was mainly as a result of Gi-hun warning the players about the game's true nature (including revealing the fact Young-hee is a motion sensor; as Sang-woo had done previously) several rounds before anyone got killed. Out of the 456 players who entered this game, 91 players who moved were eliminated, and the remaining 365 players progressed to the next round.
2015 or 2024 Squid Games
Young-hee as she appeared during the mid credits scene.
At an undetermined year in the Squid Games (possibly either in the 2024 Squid Games or the 28th Squid Game won by Hwang In-ho in 2015), Young-hee was accompanied in an unknown game by her "boyfriend", the large motion-sensing male animatronic doll Chul-su.
Squid Game: The Challenge
Young-hee as she appears in Squid Game: The Challenge
A near identical version of Young-hee was featured in the reality spin-off series Squid Game: The Challenge in the first game "Red Light, Green Light", appearing in the episode of the same name. This version of her functioned almost identically to the original, with the one notable difference being that players whom she detected moving were not actually killed during this version of the game. 97 players passed this game while 259 players got eliminated.
Behind the scenes
Young-hee is based on the character of the same name from South Korean textbooks in the 1970s and 1980s
Young-hee is voiced in the Korean sub by Chantal, and is voiced by Reagan To in the English dub.
Young-hee is based on the character of the same name who appeared on the covers of Korean textbooks Chul-soo and Young-hee in the 1970s and 1980s, and her hairstyle was inspired by Hwang Dong-hyuk's daughter's.[1] HoYeon Jung (who played Kang Sae-byeok) explained the doll's origins in a virtual appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[2][3] The Netflix Twitter account confirmed the doll's name is Young-hee in a tweet discussing Squid Game Profile Icons.[4] Her singsongs in Korean, "Mugunghwa Flower has Blossomed", refers to the hibiscus syriacus, the national flower of South Korea. The use of this familiar character was meant to juxtapose memories of childhood and unsettling fear in the players.
The doll used for Young-hee's scenes in the series, which has inspired replicas that have toured around the world
Young-hee has achieved worldwide popularity following the success of Squid Game, and has been described as the mascot of the series.[5] Due to her popularity, she has been used in merchandising, with South Korean toy designer Hyun-Seung Rim (aka twelveDot) unleashing heads of the doll, albeit in a smaller size, which have been given to various members of the cast and will be available for the public to buy at a later date.[6] A Young-hee alarm clock has been made, which fires soft pellets at its owner if they're not awake when their alarm goes of.[7] Additionally, various plushies and figures of Young-hee have been made.[8][9] An officially licenced Young-hee Vinyl Figure was released in January 2022.[10] On October 1st 2021, a humorous fake interview with Young-hee (whose actor is named "Chantal" in the interview) was posted on Vulture.[11][12]
The doll used for Young-hee is a real artifact residing in a horse carriage village in Jincheon County in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea. The doll was built in October 2016. Hwang borrowed the doll for the "Red Light, Green Light" scene in the episode of the same name and the "Squid Game" scene in One Lucky Day. It has since been returned to the village. However, it was removed from the public in late September 2021 due to the massive popularity of both the doll and the series.
To celebrate Halloween in October 2021, a giant replica of Young-hee was placed in Sydney, Australia, accompanied by two people roleplaying as workers.[13] Similar replicas of the doll have also been featured across the world, including an appearance at the Birmingham New Street Station and Manchester Trafford Centre in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2021. In the Philippines, a replica has been installed as a promotional stunt that detects jaywalkers at zebra crossings, and turns its eyes red when it detects one.[14]
In June 2022, it was revealed by Hwang Dong-hyuk that Young-hee has a "boyfriend", a large motion-sensing male animatronic doll named Cheol-su. He teased "a romantic duet from the couple right before they give you that deadly look".[15] It the final episode of the second season "Friend or Foe, it was revealed Cheol-su will be featured alongside Young-hee in the third season rather than the second season, appearing in the game "Jack and Jill".
Gallery
Squid Game
Original Doll, Replicas and Merchandise
References
- ↑ THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE SQUID GAME DOLL
- ↑ ‘Squid Game’ Cast Talks Show’s Success, Origin of Robot Doll on ‘Tonight Show’
- ↑ Watch the Squid Game Cast Discuss the Hit Show, Including the Innocent Origin of That Robot Doll
- ↑ Squid Game Profile Icons are now on Netflix and I'm immediately changing to Sae-byeok!
- ↑ The Creepy Doll From Red Light, Green Light Is Basically the Mascot of 'Squid Game'
- ↑ Want your very own “Red Light, Green Light” doll from Squid Game?
- ↑ Squid Game alarm clock viral video is freaking out fans of the Netflix series
- ↑ Squid game 123 wooden Little Girl with skeleton joints can move humanoid dolls
- ↑ Squid Game Action Figure Model Masked Man Doll Toy Kids Figurine Gift
- ↑ Squid Game “Young-hee” Vinyl Figure Open Edition Pre-Order
- ↑ A Conversation With Squid Game’s Breakout Robot-Doll Star
- ↑ You Really Need To Read This Vulture “Interview” With The 10-Foot Killer Doll From ‘Squid Game’
- ↑ Squid Game: Enormous ‘Red Light, Green Light’ doll appears in Sydney for Halloween
- ↑ Are you ready to play? ‘Squid Game’ doll polices jaywalkers along Ortigas mall
- ↑ It’s a Green Light for ‘Squid Game’ Season 2