Hwang In-Ho

Family

Park Mal-soon (stepmother) Hwang Jun-ho (younger paternal half-brother) Unnamed wife [deceased] Unnamed son [deceased]

Relations

RELATIONS Oh Il-nam [deceased] (chief) Pink Guards (employees) VIP (customers) Seong Gi-hun (arch enemy; former teammate) Thanos [deceased] (enemy) Lee Myung-gi (protected)

Activities

Front Man, leader (Squid Games) Police Officer (formerly) Detective (formerly)

Physical description

While wearing a mask, Hwang In-ho appears in an all-black outfit, including a black mask with a geometric pattern. His appearance stands out from the other staff members who wear hot pink tracksuits with a black mask that has a circle, triangle, or square symbol on it. (Not including the officer)

Personality as a leader

As the leader, In-ho is cold and calculating, being the main overseer of the games. He is shown to be relentless with his kills, showing no signs of hesitation in killing others who get in his way. He is highly analytical and meticulous with his anonymity as well as his planning, ensuring that the games are hidden from the outside world. However, despite his general lack of morality, In-ho places great importance on maintaining equality and justice in the games. He sees it as one of the most important aspects of the games and is incredibly strict with it to the point of going so far as to kill those who take advantage of the nature of the games to get ahead. It is suggested that In-ho was more empathetic in the past and was capable of loving others, as he stated that his main reason for joining the games was to save both his wife and unborn child, who were at risk of dying. In addition to this, In-ho is shown to still harbor some fondness for his brother Jun-ho, as he gave him a non-fatal gunshot wound to the right shoulder instead of killing him, after which he was rescued and brought back to shore, presumably by a fisherman In-ho sent to save him. He also appears to have genuine respect for his teacher Oh Il-nam, finishing the Special Round at his request and visiting his deathbed to pay his respects after the latter passes away.

Squid Game or Squid Game

The squid game is quite physical and only ends when a final winner is reached. The game is so named because players must draw different geometric shapes (circle, square or triangle) on the ground, which together appear to form a squid. If an attacker manages to get past the defender and into the squid's head, the attacker is declared the winner of the game.

Los VIPs

VIPs are a group of very rich men who watch the Squid Games as spectators. They wear golden masks resembling various animals. For most of their screen time, they speak English. ADMISSION CONDITIONS: To be extremely rich. Be a man. Wearing a mask (usually gold and representing an animal).

History of the VIPs

The VIPs were all originally clients of Oh Il-nam and his financial firm. At some point, bored with their life of wealth and luxury, they got together and created the games as a way to entertain themselves. The VIPs used their capital to help fund the game, so Il-nam and his masked soldiers had everything they needed to set it up properly. Halfway through the current Squid Game, all the VIPs came to the island to watch the Squid Game in person. They were greeted by the leader, as Il-nam was unable to attend himself due to secretly participating in the game as one of the players. All the VIPs watched the seventh round of the game, in which the remaining 16 players had to cross a bridge filled with tempered glass tiles and regular glass tiles that would break if stepped on.

Memories

Hwang In-ho (황인호) is Hwang Jun-ho's older brother. He was one of the winners and a previous winner of the game. He is the man who takes on the role of "The Leader" (프론트맨). At first he is seen only as a person wearing a black mask and hood. He is the one who takes full control of the progress of the squid game at the request of the real man who runs the game, also taking charge of directing the soldiers, and within the soldiers, he is called 'Leader'.

History

In 2015, Hwang In-ho was recruited to participate in Squid Game, eventually becoming the grand prize winner of that year. Following his win, Hwang remained involved in the survival conspiracy masterminded by Oh Il-nam, and became the Leader, the masked supervisor and administrator of the competition. His disappearance has since baffled In-ho's family, particularly his younger brother Hwang Jun-ho, who works as a police officer and detective at the Korean National Police Agency. Six years later, in 2020, In-ho continued to oversee the competition at the remote facility on an island southeast of the South Korean mainland. Unbeknownst to In-ho, the facility has been infiltrated by Jun-ho, disguised as a masked member of his staff. Following the resolution of the second game, after a player takes a staff member hostage (who then commits suicide upon realizing the staff member is a child), In-ho executes the child since he removed his face mask at gunpoint, violating the secrecy of the competition. In-ho later uncovers a conspiracy among his subordinates of a black market organ harvesting operation involving Player #111, a contestant who previously worked as a doctor. When this revelation came to light, In-ho executed the surviving soldier involved and had Player #111 killed by a gun squad. Later, In-ho had the bodies hung up to demonstrate to the surviving contestants the consequences of breaking the rules. A year later, he visited Il-nam's deathbed after passing away hours earlier and reveals that he is now Il-nam's successor as the host of the Squid Game.

Can

All of the pink-suited guards obey In-Ho's word. Everything he says is followed to the letter, no matter if it breaks the actual rules of the game. In-Ho is bound by the rules not to intervene in the games unless a major act occurs, such as revealing a guard's face (which means murder) or another major problem. Revealing a guard's face to a player is punishable by death for both the player and the guard and everyone else who was present.

In-Ho as a couple

He's sweet and easy going. He can be very jealous and possessive, but he can stop when you tell him to. He respects your word at all times and is very chivalrous. He uses his power to protect you and doesn't say no to anything. 'Your wish is his command.'