Yoon Tae-goo

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Photo of Yoon Tae-goo, J and J Productions 1809, 25 October 2017. Web

Yoon Tae-goo (Hangul: 윤태구/Yun Tae-gu) aka the Weird is a bandit and one of the two protagonists in the Korean movie The Good, The Bad and The Weird. He is the one who steals the treasure map from Japanese officials and ignites a conflict where various gangs, bounty hunters, and the Japanese army race to acquire the map and treasure for themselves. Yoon Tae-goo is an eccentric man whose odd behavior often leads others to underestimate him, though he is truly a master survivor that is driven by enrichment. He is an anti-hero, showing signs of kindness and yet is a ruthless bandit with a bloody past he would rather forget. The events of the film put him on a collision course with Park Chang yi (The Bad) and Park Do-won (The Good).

He is portrayed by Song Kang-ho

Plot

In the desert wilderness of Manchuria 1939 Park Chang-yi, The Bad (Lee Byung-hun)—a bandit and hitman—is hired to acquire a treasure map from a Japanese official traveling by train. Before he can get it however, Yoon Tae-goo, The Weird (Song Kang-ho)—a thief—steals the map and is caught up in The Bad's derailment of the train. This involves the slaughter of the Japanese and Manchurian guards, and various civilians. Park Do-won, The Good (Jung Woo-sung)—an eagle-eyed bounty hunter—appears on the scene to claim the bounty on The Bad. Meanwhile, The Weird escapes, eluding his Good and Bad pursuers. A fourth force—a group of Manchurian bandits—also want the map to sell to the Ghost Market. The Weird hopes to uncover the map's secrets and recover what he believes is gold and riches buried by the Qing Dynasty just before the collapse of their government. As the story continues, an escalating battle for the map occurs, with bounties placed on heads and the Imperial Japanese Army racing to reclaim its map as it can apparently "save the Japanese Empire".

After a series of graphic shootouts and chases, a final battle erupts in which the Japanese army, Manchurian bandits, The Good, The Bad and his gang are chasing The Weird all at once. The Japanese army kills most of the bandits. The Good kills many Japanese soldiers and sets off an explosion that drives them away. The Bad's gang is slowly killed off and he kills those that attempt to leave the chase. Only the Bad, the Weird and the Good make it to the "treasure". However, they find that it is nothing more than a boarded-over hole in the desert. The Bad recognizes The Weird as the "Finger Chopper"—a criminal that cut off his finger in a knife fight five years ago—and the man that the Good had thought the Bad to be. Turning on each other in a final act of vengeance for the slights they suffered, they finally gun each other down after a prolonged Mexican standoff. The three lie in the sand, dying and alone, as the "useless hole" that they fought and died for suddenly and belatedly erupts with a geyser of crude oil. The Good does survive along with the Weird. With a newly raised bounty on the Weird, a new chase begins as he flees across the Manchurian desert.

In the alternate ending, The Weird, Tae-goo, gets up. He reveals the thick metal sheet he hid under his quilted jacket and limps over to demolish the corpse of Chang-yi, The Bad. While doing so, he discovers diamonds in Chang-yi's pocket and giggles with delight before realising he's surrounded by the Japanese army. Inadvertently lighting a stick of dynamite, Tae-goo scares off the Japanese and dives for cover before realising it was lit. Over the credits, Tae-goo sets off to continue hunting for the treasure with his bounty multiplied sevenfold, while The Good, Do-won, vindictively pursues him. 

Personality

Yoon Tae-goo, the Weird, is a bandit and a master survivalist. An eccentric man who is driven by greed and enrichment. Yoon Tae-goo's personality is full of contradictions and nuance; escaping easy definition.

While Park Chang-yi values pride and Park Do-Won values honor, Yoon Tae-goo values monetary gain and his life above all else. The balance of how Yoon Tae-goo's life and treasure stand as priorities is very nuanced. Yoon Tae-goo passed up early opportunities to sell the treasure map, even though it put him in danger, and yet he later turned down a chance to win a small fortune if it meant dueling with Park Chang yi and Park Do-won. In the end, Yoon Tae-goo is willing to face incredible danger for incredible rewards but there is a line he draws where the reward doesn't justify the danger.

Yoon Tae-goo cannot understand killing or risking one's life for reasons other than survival or monetary gain which puts him at odds with both Park Chang yi and Park Do-won. Both of his foes are motivated by intangible desires and risk their lives to pursue them. Yoon Tae-goo finds both Park Chang yi and Park Do-won to be insane, stupid, and terrifying for this reason.  

However, when backed into a corner Yoon Tae-goo is a ruthless warrior. Shown when Park Chang yi killed his gang 5 years before the events of the film and again when Park Chang yi and Park Do-won made it clear that he couldn't escape the mexican standoff. In that latter moment Yoon Tae-goo said: "You are digging your own graves. Don't regret this, boys. Lets roll."

Yoon Tae-goo dreams of using the treasure to buy a farm with livestock in his native country, Korea. Park Do-won found his dream shallow and remarked at the futility of owning land in a stolen country. Yoon Tae-goo then said that the rulers are not that much different revealing that he sees all authorities as authority. Perhaps, Yoon Tae-goo's life as a criminal influenced this belief as any authority would punish him for his crimes and it was up to him to make a livelihood for himself in spite of these authorities. Yoon Tae-goo also seemed to dream of sharing the treasure with his Grandmother.  

Yoon Tae-goo's other interactions with Park Do-won reveal much about both of their personalities. Neither trusts each other much at the best of times. While Park Do-won looks down on Yoon Tae-goo as a criminal, Yoon Tae-goo sees Park Do-won as a high threat who is motivated by forces he cannot understand. Yoon Tae-goo even went so far as to say that Park Do-won scared him more than Park Chang yi because he would hunt a man to Hell itself for reasons of principles. In spite of all this Yoon Tae-goo demonstrates that he respects Park Do-won. When sleeping near Park Do-won, Yoon Tae-goo got up and had every opportunity to kill Park Do-won but didn't take it. Why exactly he spared Park Do-won is unknown but it was an incredible choice; given that Yoon Tae-goo is a survivor and Park Do-won a deadly warrior in the film who would certainly chase after him.  

In terms of taking pride in his legacy, Yoon Tae-goo is a complete inversion of Park Chang yi. Yoon Tae-goo has a bloody and infamous past that he would rather leave behind. This is befitting for his survivalist bandit lifestyle as having infamy makes him a target and interferes with his ability to keep a low profile. Why Yoon Tae-goo left Korea and his past as the "Finger Chopper" behind is one of the film's mysteries. What is clear is that he was able to lose his infamy and had to change himself to do it. Yoon Tae-goo dresses, acts, and even moves differently than how he did five years before the events of the film. Yoon Tae-goo describes his past as "sad" to Park Do-won and was visibly pleased when his friend, Man Gil, made it clear that the public currently sees him as a lowly thief. He succeeded in leaving his past and forgetting most of it until Park Chang yi reminded him of it.  

Given that Yoon Tae-goo's desire is to achieve the life of a wealthy farmer, infamy and his past would make the dream impossible. Yoon Tae-goo's attitude puts him completely at odds with Park Chang yi who lives to make a legacy for himself as the most infamous killer on earth. This difference of opinion and Yoon Tae-goo's victory over Park Chang yi made conflict inevitable between them. The events of the film end tragically for Yoon Tae-goo as, while he does survive, he loses his anonymity and his actions gain him new notoriety as one of the most infamous criminals in Manchuria. This was made more devastating when Yoon Tae-goo realized that the treasure he fought so hard for was oil, immensely valuable to an organization but not to a thief. The alternate ending does give him a small fortune though, taken from Park Chang yi's pockets.    

Of the three, Yoon Tae-goo is the only one who has significant interactions with women. He finds them interesting and they often find him interesting as well. Yoon Tae-goo is not a particularly lustful man; he often keeps his attention on acquiring money while he is around women. Still, Yoon Tae-goo frequently finds himself surrounded by beautiful women.    

Yoon Tae-goo has a thieves mentality. He believes that thieves have a code and was angered that Park Chang Yi would try to steal the map that Yoon Tae-go already had stolen. Believing in a "first finders" rule for thieving.

Yoon Tae-goo has an odd mix of ruthless behavior mixed with acts of kindness. 1st and foremost, Yoon Tae-goo is a bandit and will readily attack and kill anyone who has his desired money. In his past, Yoon Tae-goo was a brutal criminal with a MO of slicing off the fingers of his enemies. Throughout the film, he always looks out for himself first. And yet, Yoon Tae-goo also demonstrates care for his Granny, his partner Man Gil, and even Park Do-won on occasion. When jailed in a brothel, he met three kids sold into sexual slavery and immediately began protecting them; ultimately saving them and driving them away from their captors. Yoon Tae-goo's kind hearted nature is comparable to Park Do-won, though Yoon Tae-goo is still more ruthless in his pursuit of money.    

Powers / Abilities

Apex Survivalist: Yoon Tae-goo is easily the greatest survivalist of all the characters in the film. He achieves his survival using a combination of fighting prowess, intelligence, caution and charismatic negotiation. During the race to the treasure multiple gangs, drug lords, bounty hunters, and the Japanese army were all specifically chasing Yoon Tae-goo. In spite of having most of the country hunting him, Yoon Tae-goo survived the events of the film with minimal injuries.

Combat Gear: Yoon Tae-goo has a goofy appearance but his combat gear is actually laid out very deliberately and with intelligence. His belts are strapped across his chest to allow for swift drawing and reloading. In the alternate ending, it is revealed that he wears a metal chest shield underneath his suit which prevents the chest shots he received in the Mexican standoff from being fatal.

Gunslinger: Yoon Tae-goo was the least talented gunslinger of the three warriors. Unlike his peers, Yoon Tae-goo frequently demonstrated a lack of accuracy in his shots. However, Yoon Tae-goo has exceptional reflexes and his speed at drawing made him a deadly shooter in firefights. He would compensate for his lack of accuracy by duel-wielding two high magazine pistols with which he could lay down a barrage of bullets at his targets. In the Mexican standoff, Yoon Tae-goo was unable to land a single blow against his foes though he survived as Park Do-won and Park Chang yi destroyed each other.

Expert Brawler: While Park Do-won and Park Chang yi tend to finish their melee fights with speed and grace, most of Yoon Tae-goo's melee fights turn into drawn-out brawls. However, Yoon Tae-goo has defeated very powerful foes with well-placed hits, scrappiness and creative use of the resources at hand. He has had assistance in defeating some of his foes though that to can be credited to Yoon Tae-goo's ability to find support in unlikely places.

Interestingly, Yoon Tae-goo displayed uncharacteristic speed and effectiveness in his duel with Park Chang yi five years before the events of the film.

Expert Knife Fighter: Though Yoon Tae-goo rarely uses a knife he easily bested Park Chang yi in a knife fight when he was the Finger Chopper. He is also able to remove a man's finger in a single slice; hence his nickname.

Exceptional Intelligence and Creativity: Yoon Tae-goo's greatest weapon is his mind; made doubly strong since most assume he is a fool. Yoon Tae-goo is exceptionally creative, thinking of ways to use his environment in ways that others don't. He will frequently win fights and survive encounters using this skill. His use of a diving helmet as body armor is one such example. He is also a master of surprise attacks and fake-outs. Examples include being pretending to be dead after Park Do-won shot his motorcycle wheel and going for his gun once the sniper got close. Another example is when he jumped onto the car that an attacker had just jumped off to land on his motorcycle.

Frequently Underestimated: Due to his goofy appearance and eccentric mannerisms, most who meet Yoon Tae-goo assume he is an idiot. This misperception usually means that Yoon Tae-goo's enemies are dying by the time they realize that he is, in fact, a genius.

Criminal Sensibility: Yoon Tae-goo is fully immersed in the life and culture of banditry. It is part of his ability to survive; a mixture of violence and social acumen. Yoon Tae-goo knew that he might be pursued when he stole the map and had the good sense to be very cautious with it; something his partner, Man Gil, didn't do and got killed for. He would use distrust, sneakiness, scrappiness, and intimidation exceptionally well.

A Sense of Self Preservation / Brave at Heart: Unlike Park Do-won and Park Chang yi, Yoon Tae-goo is not particularly daring and will avoid fighting if at all possible. While not as fearless as his peers, it is his fear that makes him a great survivor. If he is in a possibly lethal situation he will first try, often successfully, to negotiate his way out. If a fight is necessary, he faces it with no fear. Yoon Tae-goo may try to avoid danger but proves that he is strong at his core when danger is unavoidable.

Charismatic Negotiator: As mentioned, Yoon Tae-goo will turn to negotiation socialization when put in a sticky situation. He is very good at it too. When captured by Park Do-won, instead of giving Park Do-won reason to turn him in for the bounty, Yoon Tae-goo offered him a cut of the treasure. This was the start of what would become a temporary partnership that kept Yoon Tae-goo alive through multiple few fights. When locked in an opium den, Yoon Tae-goo immediately made allies of three children who had been sold into sexual slavery. Together the four of them killed all their captors and escaped.

Expert Liar: Yoon Tae-goo was able to effectively walk away from his past and keep it secret not only from Manchuria but the intelligent Park Do-won until Park Chang yi made the truth public.

Escape Artist: While captured Yoon Tae-goo has a good sense of when he can make a move to escape. He nearly succeeded in escaping from Park Do-won while being tied to a wall. He later not only escaped Park Do-won while sleeping but had an opportunity to kill him in his sleep. Later he escaped an opium den, murdering all his jailors.

Master Driver: Yoon Tae-goo is the only one of the three who uses vehicles; never once riding a horse. He favors a motorcycle though he can drive cars as well. Yoon Tae-goo is a master driver, proven when he survives a chase involving multiple pursuers and artillery. He was even able to knock down a pursuing horse with skillful driving.