Dae-Ho

Dae-ho was a respectful young man. He shows great discipline, however he lied about serving in the Marines, rather he served as a Social Services Personnel.

Dae-ho is shown to have a strong moral compass. Upon Gi-hun informing them the 2nd game he played in the past was Dalgona, Dae-ho suggested they tell everyone so they can all pass the round. He also planned to switch to X immediately after the 2nd round and actually kept his word on doing so. This was despite of the fact the prize money not being enough to cover his debt, being the only X player to do so other than Lee Myung-gi. When Myung-gi was being jumped by Thanos and Nam-gyu, he agreed with Jung-bae they should intervene before the former get seriously injured and later in the bathroom, he offered to protect Myung-gi alongside the rest of his team if he was bullied again. During Mingle, Dae-ho, alongside Jun-hee, defends Myung-gi when Cho Hyun-ju blames him for Kim Young-mi's death, agreeing that he saved their lives and there wasn't enough time to save her.

During the Revolt, Dae-ho gets scared and abandons his task upon seeing a corpse. Dae-ho only began to crack from the pressure when the shootout fully unfolded and after witnessing Player 072 being killed right in front of him. It is subtly implied that Dae-ho's father was abusive, as he mentions that his father disapproved of his interests that his four sisters instilled in him. Furthermore, when Dae-ho is suffering a trauma episode and fearfully hides in the dorms, Hyun-ju approaches him to retrieve the magazines he was sent for, but he reflexively flinches when Hyun-ju simply raises her hand, apparently anticipating her to hit him, which may imply childhood abuse he suffered from his father that still affects him decades later. That means his father would torture him more than we already thought.

(Past events leading up to the scenario) Off-screen, Dae-ho successfully completed Red Light, Green Light. Later, his player number is called, but Player 388 walks up to vote. He votes to continue the games off-screen. Dae-ho first appears in "Six Legs". He proclaims to have become a 'fan' of Seong Gi-hun after he saved everyone during the game by expressing his knowledge about the games. He and Gi-hun's old friend, Park Jung-bae, discover that they were both in the marines (though, Dae-ho lied for his own protection), something to which Dae-ho reacts to by addressing Jung-bae as 'sir' and acting like a soldier.

When the second game is not Sugar Honeycombs, as Gi-hun has predicted, but in fact Six Legs, Dae-ho is one of the only contestants to stick by him. He finds a former marine to be their teams' final member, but they are interrupted by Kim Jun-hee who asks for their help, as she is pregnant. She joins their team instead and is asked to play gonggi due to it being a game associated with women, but Dae-ho volunteers, hurriedly stating he only knows how to play because he has sisters. As they wait for their turn, Dae-ho is told by the others to practice the flip and other moves. When they reach the Gonggi, Dae-ho perfectly does the entire sequence, shocking everyone. Their team barely manages to pass.

For the next vote, Dae-ho switches to "X" to end the games, but admits he almost voted "O". Jung-bae votes "O", and Dae-ho convinces him to re-join the group despite his shame, although he becomes uncomfortable at Jung-bae's reaction to his revelation he almost voted "O". Their team all begin to discuss their lives, but when Jung-bae begins asking about Dae-ho's home life and reasons for joining the marines, he hurriedly changes the subject to their names and what they mean. When heading to the restroom later, he, Young-il and Jung-bae witness Thanos almost attacking Lee Myung-gi before backing off (Young-il earlier protected Myung-gi and beat Thanos up for jumping him alongside Nam-gyu). Dae-ho tells Myung-gi if they harass him again, he can ask their team for help

The third game is Mingle, and for the first round (groups of ten) Dae-ho's team of five joins up with the four-person team of Cho Hyun-ju, Kim Young-mi, Jang Geum-ja, and Park Yong-sik, as well as Seon-nyeo. For the next round of four, 001 leaves the group to allow them to survive, and Dae-ho is relieved when he also survives to next round. For the round of three, Dae-ho splits with Jung-bae and Jun-hee, again surviving. For the following round of six, Dae-ho quickly volunteers to join the other group of four with Jun-hee, and after Dae-ho first runs into an already occupied room, Hyun-ju finds an empty one. In the confusion, Young-mi is knocked over and left behind, with Myung-gi taking her place, saving everyone inside the room due to the lack of time but leaving her to die. Hyun-ju blames him, but Jun-hee defends him, with Dae-ho agreeing with her and also defending him, stating there was no time for Young-mi to have made it to the room. In the final round, the number is two, and Dae-ho survives by pairing with Gi-hun.

After the round ends, Dae-ho and his allies' debate whether to try and convince people who voted "O" to switch or not. Dae-ho again votes "X", but the vote is a tie, and Dae-ho becomes worried when Jung-bae vaguely gives a warning about 001. He later brings this up in front of 001 but is stopped by Jung-bae. When an argument begins between the two factions, Dae-ho becomes offended when one of the "O" sides calls him a coward, so reveals his military tattoo and begins advancing, starting a conflict. However, both sides are calmed down before anything too drastic happens.

Dae-ho learns of a bathroom fight leading to multiple deaths, and Gi-hun warns them that the "O" side will likely attack them tonight. He agrees and joins Gi-hun's plan to allow their side to be attacked and likely killed, then to attack the guards and start a revolt. They successfully overpower the guards and begin the revolt outside. Despite his supposed knowledge in combat, Dae-ho quickly becomes terrified, shooting over the top of the barriers without looking and wasting all of his bullets quickly. When everyone begins to run out of bullets, Dae-ho volunteers to return to the dormitory to collect more. He manages to reach the room and begins hurriedly searching through the deceased guards whilst talking to himself. Sensing something is wrong, Yong-sik asks him what is happening and where everyone else is; Dae-ho attempts to explain his job but is terrified and unable to articulate himself. When his allies begin radioing in, Dae-ho suffers a panic attack and does not return, and instead hurries back to the dormitory.

Hyun-ju arrives to see what happened and collect more bullets, where she discovers Dae-ho shaking and hiding on one of the beds. She attempts to talk to him and retrieve the bullets, but he breaks down and repeatedly apologizes. Many guards suddenly enter to control the situation, which Dae-ho complies with.

Later, after the rebellion's failure, Dae-ho would remain hidden on his bunk in the dormitory and would then briefly leave his bunk to witness a bunch of pink guards delivering a coffin carrying an unconscious Gi-hun in the dormitory. Dae-ho then returns to his bunk and trembles in fear after witnessing Gi-hun attempting to end his own life following the rebellion's failure. Following this, Dae-ho voted "X" once again and then ate his sweet potatoes from his bunk before sleeping for the night.

The next morning, Dae-ho woke up and would get uncomfortable from the distorted morning alarm (due to the speakers getting damaged during the revolt) before witnessing Gi-hun giving him a death glare for his failure to deliver the magazines to his team during the revolt. Afterwards, Dae-ho and the remaining players are taken through the staircase maze where the bodies of the deceased rebels (including Jung-bae but excluding "Young-il" and Gyeong-seok) are hanged, causing him to shake in fear and almost throw up, and would get even more frightened after turning to Gi-hun and finding him still angrily staring at him. Later, before the start of the fourth game Hide and Seek, Dae-ho would be assigned to the blue team as a hider and given a key. After finding out Gi-hun is a seeker and would come for him, Dae-ho tries desperately swapping his place with some other seekers, but to no avail. Dae-ho would then get tired at Gi-hun staring at him and would furiously confront him and tell him its his fault the rebellion failed, and would attempt to shake him before getting stopped by a pink soldier. Dae-ho would then enter the maze and get a 2 minute head start alongside the other hiders and would then attempt to hide from Gi-hun and the other seekers.

Sometime after that, Gi-hun starts following Dae-ho, which quickly tries to run all around the place, and Gi-hun quickly chases after, then, Dae-ho tries to unlock a door with his key, however It leads for a dead end for Dae-ho, when he tries to turn back, he is quickly held at knife point by Gi-hun, he begs for mercy, and when Gi-hun was going to kill him, he realized It was not really Dae-ho and in fact a player with a similar appearance to him, Player 197, Gi-hun spares him and later sees the real Dae-ho on the second floor. (Fun facts) His fear of gunshots can be seen many times around S2, with him quickly flinching and covering his ears when any gunshots happen (during Six-Legged Pentathlon and the Revolt). Due to dialogue referencing the Vietnam War, which has sparked criticism for allegedly distorting history. Vietnamese state media outlet Lao Dong reported on Monday that the Culture Ministry’s Cinema Department is reviewing whether the second season of Squid Game violates Vietnam’s laws. It is likely that he was abused as a child. When he was asked about his family/past, he quickly changed the subject. When Hyun-ju asked him where the ammo was in the revolt, he flinched, and covered his head reflexively with his hands when Hyun-ju grabbed the ammo. And when he was asked why he joined the marines, he lied and said "It was my dad's idea. He said I had to be tougher." Which could mean that Dae-ho was 'sensitive' when he was (possibly) hit or physically punished. He is the only friend of Gi-hun that was directly killed by him. Gi-hun and possibly Kim Yeong-sam are the only players that know that Dae-ho isn't actually in the Marines. Dae-ho claims that "Dae" means big, and "ho" means tiger. Kang Dae-ho was the last Hider to be eliminated in Hide and Seek. He is one of the few characters who is not seen during the Red Light Green Light game. He seems to be hated by some of the other main characters due to his actions in the Rebellion.