Nam-gyu

Before the games, Nam-gyu worked as a club promoter at Club Pentagon, where he became acquainted with the rapper Thanos. He was an active drug user as well, having tried nearly every street drug he could obtain through his position in the clubbing scene.

In 2024, Nam-gyu invested large amounts of money in a cryptocurrency called Dalmatian, on the advice of the YouTube channel MG Coin. Unfortunately, the currency turned out to be a scam, and Nam-gyu lost over ₩300 million when the rug was pulled. This led him to participate in the Squid Games, where he hoped to find a quick way to settle his financial problems.

Before the games, Nam-gyu worked as a club promoter at Club Pentagon, where he became acquainted with the rapper Thanos. He was an active drug user as well, having tried nearly every street drug he could obtain through his position in the clubbing scene.

In 2024, Nam-gyu invested large amounts of money in a cryptocurrency called Dalmatian, on the advice of the YouTube channel MG Coin. Unfortunately, the currency turned out to be a scam, and Nam-gyu lost over ₩300 million when the rug was pulled. This led him to participate in the Squid Games, where he hoped to find a quick way to settle his financial problems.

Squid Game Throughout the games, he forms an alliance with Thanos. Thanos seeks revenge on Myung-gi, the crypto influencer whose greed caused him a huge financial loss. Nam-gyu becomes an accomplice to Thanos, and together they plan to take down Myung-gi, whom they blame for their respective downfalls. Their alliance is not only based on a desire for vengeance but also on the desperation they both feel after losing everything in their lives.

Nam-gyu was among the players who passed through the first game successfully. In the second game, Thanos and he teamed up with Gyeong-su. Together, they proceeded to recruit Se-mi and Park Min-su to form their team for the second game, despite Nam-gyu's apprehensions about the latter due to his timid nature. Whilst waiting their turn, Nam-gyu takes some drugs, and insults Min-su for watching, Se-mi defends her friend leading to Nam-gyu insulting her 'attitude' and expressing annoyance at having her as an ally. Nam-gyu played Spinning top and eventually, their team managed to pass the second challenge successfully.

At the dormitory, Nam-gyu expressed his dismay at the number of players who had survived. He then ordered Min-su to count the players who made it through. However, Se-mi interrupted, saying that the guards would soon arrive to announce the results. Irritated, Nam-gyu's tension with Se-mi began to rise, but Thanos intervened to diffuse the situation. He shifted the conversation by asking about his team's respective ages. Gyeong-su was the youngest, while Se-mi was the eldest. Nam-gyu and Min-su were the same age. Thanos then demanded that Min-su stop taking orders from Nam-gyu and insisted that Nam-gyu refer to Se-mi as noona.

In the vote, despite Min-su wanting to end the game and previously voting 'X', Nam-gyu works with Thanos and Gyeong-su to pressure him into changing his vote. Nam-gyu also votes 'O', successfully continuing the games.

Later, in the bathroom, Nam-gyu and Thanos confronted Lee Myung-gi, accusing him of being a "traitor" for voting X and choosing to leave the game. They questioned how he planned to pay off their debts with how little the accumulated prize money were and pressured him to stay in the game. Myung-gi, in turn, remarked about Thanos's forgetfulness and his incident at his concert, which greatly annoyed him. Before Thanos could retaliate, Gi-hun's team entered the scene, notably Young-il, and both teams ultimately decided to leave Myung-gi alone for the time being.

In the third round 'Mingle', Nam-gyu survived the first round, but on the second the number is 'four'. Thanos physically kicks Gyeong-su away before fleeing to a room with Nam-gyu, Min-su and Se-mi following together. When Min-su asked what happened to Gyeong-su, Nam-gyu angrily insults him stating they will never be friends or equals. The next number is 'three', with Nam-gyu and Thanos proclaiming together that whoever wins rock paper scissors can join them, Se-mi instead tells Min-su to join her, but he betrays her and joins them. They survive the next round of 'six' then the final round is 'two' in which Nam-gyu and Thanos abandon Min-su and survive together by violently pushing out a pair who had already reached a room.

After the game is over, Thanos and Nam-gyu discover Min-su survived, and they hug him, expressing pride in his betrayal of Se-mi, despite her survival. Nam-gyu notices Myung-gi and Kim Jun-hee talking, and deduces they are likely a couple, after watching Jun-hee further he also suspects she is pregnant. Nam-gyu again attempts to pressure Min-su into voting 'O'. When Se-mi switches her vote to 'X', Nam-gyu insults her, and she gives him the middle finger upon noticing his continued abuse of Min-su. Min-su switches his vote to 'X', infuriating him. When the vote ends in a tie, Nam-gyu and Thanos follow Min-su to the bathroom, and Nam-gyu scales the stall to physically force Min-su into changing his vote. Myung-gi sees this and attempts to stop them, leading to the bathroom splitting into 'X' and 'O', after Nam-gyu brings up Jun-hee, the confrontation turns violent.

During the Special Game Nam-gyu faces Se-mi (Player 380), and attempts to kill her with the fork. Min-su attempts to help her by throwing down a glass bottle from above, but he misses Nam-gyu, and despite Se-mi's retaliation with the glass shards, Nam-gyu brutally kills her.

Throughout the season, Nam-gyu's familyhip with Thanos and his hatred for Myung-gi continue to shape his decisions, but by the end of the season, Nam-gyu is one of the few survivors of the game.

Nam-gyu is shown to be a more violent, cruel and sadistic than even Thanos is. While Thanos treats his teammates with respect and is even upset by Gyeong-su's death, Nam-gyu bullies both Se-mi and Min-su frequently, to the point where even Thanos calls him out for it.

While as not nearly as unhinged as Thanos, Nam-gyu is still somewhat mentally disturbed. Like Thanos, he doesn’t care about using other people to his advantage and sees them as disposable. He also shares Thanos' vengeful nature, and sees any comrade who opposes him as a traitor. He can also act very rudely towards others people and displays crude and inappropriate behavior. Unlike Thanos, who at least treats his teammates well and is even shown to be upset after Gyeong-su's death, Nam-gyu kills Se-mi with no hesitation during the special game.

In line with his reckless behavior, Nam-gyu states that he believes an individual can escape the fear of death by telling themselves they don't care about whether they live or die.

Namgyu is 28 years old and 175cm tall. He has shoulder-long, black hair, which he always sticks behind his ears, and black eyes. He has a round face. He wears one ring on his middle finger, on his right hand.