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Cho Hyun-ju (조현주 Jo Hyeon-ju?), also known as Player 120, is a major character in Season 2 of Netflix's South Korean survival thriller series Squid Game. She is a former sergeant in the Special Forces who was disbarred from the military and blacklisted from jobs due to being a transgender woman.
Afterwards, she joins the 36th Squid Game to earn money for her gender affirming surgery, alongside her eventual team members Kim Young-mi, Park Yong-sik, Jang Geum-ja, and Seon-nyeo. She later participates in Seong Gi-hun's plan to take down the Squid Game operation through armed rebellion.
She is played by Park Sung-hoon.
Biography[]
Background[]
Details about Hyun-ju's early years, including her life before transitioning, remain scarce. What is known is that she once enjoyed the strong support of her family and friends. At an unspecified point, Hyun-ju enlisted in the military, where she climbed the ranks to become a sergeant. Before the 36th Squid Games, Hyun-ju began her transition as a woman. However, her family distanced themselves from her because of this, and her friends grew increasingly absent. Following her discharge from the army, Hyun-ju found herself isolated and unemployed. She relocated to Gwangmyeong for a fresh start, and looking to escape her mounting debts and pursue the surgeries necessary for her transition, Hyun-ju entered the 36th Squid Games. She was chosen as the 120th contestant to win the prize money to fund her move to Thailand and rebuild her life.
36th Squid Game[]
Hyun-ju first appears at the photo booth before the initial game. Jang Geum-ja is initially judgemental about Hyun-ju's identity as a transgender woman, but Hyun-ju remains composed. Unlike many players who mock Gi-hun's warnings about the games' brutality, she instead listens attentively. After Player 444 is shot in the legs during "Red Light, Green Light," Hyun-ju steps in to help Gi-hun save him, carrying him across the finish line while completing the game herself. Despite surviving the round, the prize amount isn't enough for her goals, so she votes in favor of continuing the competition. In the next game, where teams of five form for the Six-Legged Pentathlon, Hyun-ju struggles to find a group, facing rejection due to bias. She is eventually invited to join a team by Kim Young-mi, alongside Park Yong-sik, Jang Geum-ja, and Seon-nyeo. Hyun-ju reassures a timid Young-mi, which gives her the confidence to participate.
During the event, Hyun-ju focuses on keeping Seon-nyeo from disrupting their team's progress. When Seon-nyeo has a religious meltdown after struggling with Paenginchigi, Hyun-ju snaps, slapping her twice and threatening to "end her before her gods do." The discipline compels Seon-nyeo to complete the challenge. When it's Hyun-ju's turn to kick the Jegi, she shyly asks the group not to watch her. She succeeds, and the team wins the round. Afterward, Hyun-ju votes to continue the games, causing tension with her teammates, especially Young-mi, who had promised to spend time together outside the competition. To explain her decision, Hyun-ju shares her story, revealing that she once thrived as a confident sergeant with a strong support system, only to lose it all after transitioning. She explains her dream of starting a new life in Thailand among a supportive transgender community. Her team accepts her, with Young-mi affectionately calling her "Unnie," a term that causes Hyun-ju to tear up. Later that night, she accompanies Kim Jun-hee and Geum-ja to the bathroom, where she gains more confidence after seeing herself in a mirror. However, her composure falters as she witnesses Jun-hee's own fear, likely triggering memories of her own struggles.
During the first round of Mingle, Hyun-ju saves Seon-nyeo by pulling her into a safe room, only to endure another of Seon-nyeo's religious outbursts. She survives the second round with her team and the third round off-screen. In the fourth round, Young-mi trips and falls and cannot make it into the room in time. Hyun-ju risks her life to rescue her but is ultimately saved by Lee Myung-gi, meaning Young-mi is unable to reach safety and is shot. Hyun-ju lashes out at Myung-gi, but he silences her, reminding the group that he had saved their lives and that Young-mi could not have been saved. In the final round, Hyun-ju survives alongside Park Gyeong-seok. However, because of Young-mi's death and possibly blaming herself for it, she decides to leave the games during the vote and is comforted by Geum-ja.
After the bathroom altercation, Seong Gi-hun initiates a plan to overthrow the staff and confront the Front Man. Hyun-ju, now in the "X" camp, agrees to join in on the rebellion. During the dorm massacre, she feigns death to avoid detection by the Pink Soldiers, later using her military training to kill several of them with precision. She becomes a major player in the revolt, taking charge of the group and destroying cameras to hinder the staff's surveillance. However, the rebellion ends up running low on ammunition near the Front Man's office. Hyun-ju sends Kang Dae-ho to retrieve more ammo from the soldiers' corpses in the dorm room, but when he fails, she returns to the dorm to find him trembling in fear and apologizing. As pink soldiers arrive, Hyun-ju prepares to fight but is persuaded by Geum-ja to stand down. She reluctantly complies and lays low.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Squid Game[]
Videos[]
External Links[]
- Cho Hyun-ju on the Squid Game Wiki
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