18 Player 456 (Seong Gi-hun)

Lee Jung-jae

Lee Jung-jae plays the main character, Gi-hun, in Squid Game seasons 1 and 2. While his circumstances lead him to the games in season 1, he intentionally arrives at the games' venue in season 2 to stop them. Even though he makes provisions before the games to ensure he and his team overpower the forces running the games and even plants a tracker in one of his teeth to help his team find him, the game's organizers manage to stay a step ahead of him.

They remove the tracker in his tooth before taking him to the game's venue, leaving him to his own devices again. Gi-hun still tries his best to use his experience to help other players at the games, but his good intentions backfire when many grow suspicious about his motives. Gi-hun still does not give up and formulates a plan to overpower the guards and wage war against the authorities running the games in Squid Game season 2.

17 Player 390 (Jung-bae)

Lee Seo-hwan

When Gi-hun makes his way to the venue of the first "Red Light, Green Light" game in Squid Game season 2's opening arc, someone calls out his name. Moments later, Lee Seo Hwan's Jung-bae emerges from the crowd, which surprises Gi-hun because he and Jung-bae have a long history. The Lee Seo Hwan character first appeared in Squid Game season 1 as Gi-hun's close friend.

Season 2 establishes that, like Gi-hun, Jung-bae, too, gambled his fortune away. Without truly understanding how the games work, he, too, arrives to play them, hoping to win some money to pay off his debt. Fortunately, for him, Gi-hun ensures his safety by guiding him through the first game. Although Jung-bae takes time to realize the games are not worth the risk of his life, he eventually becomes Gi-hun's biggest accomplice as he and the other heroes set out to punish the game's organizers.

16 Player 388 (Dae-ho)

Kang Ha-neul

Jung-bae and Dae-ho find common ground in Squid Game season 2's early moments when they learn they both served in the Marine Corps. Dae-ho also refers to Jung-bae as his senior and plays a crucial role in helping the main heroes win many games. However, Dae-ho's story takes a dark turn towards the end of the season when he struggles to use a gun against the guards. His inability to operate a weapon suggests he might have lied about his military background.

Dae-ho also takes the responsibility of collecting loaded magazines from the dead guards and bringing them back to his fellow players in the show's finale. However, his fear gets the best of him, and he never goes back to fighting the guards. Due to his inability to follow through with his commitments, Gi-hun and the team lose their battle against the guards. Many players like Kyung-seok also lose their lives because Dae-ho fails to bring them the ammunition to fight back.

15 Player 380 (Se-mi)

Won Ji-an

Player 380, Se-mi, intentionally s Thanos' team because she believes playing the games with less intelligent team would improve her odds of survival. She thinks she would be able to outsmart all her team by manipulating them when necessary. However, to her dismay, nothing goes as planned and the player, Min-su, whom she trusts the most, ends up betraying her.

14 Player 333 (Lee Myeong-gi)

Yim Si-wan

Player 333, Lee Myeong-gi, confronts the guards before the beginning of the games in Squid Game season 2's episode 3 by asking them to return his wallet and phone. When he claims to have invested a lot of money in the stock market, the guards expose him by disclosing how he ran a YouTube channel named MG Coin and made his subscribers invest in a crypto coin that caused losses of approximately 15.2 billion won. This makes him a target for other competitors like Thanos and Nam-gyu, who had also put their money in his coin.

As the Squid Game season progresses, it is also revealed Lee Myeong-gi's former lover, Kim Jun-hui (Player 222), is also at the games. After learning that Jun-hui is pregnant, Myeong-gi tries to convince her to quit the games and start a new life with him. However, after recalling how he abandoned her, Jun-hui struggles to trust him.

13 Player 246 (Kyung-seok)

Lee Jin-wook

Park Gyu-young's No-Eul is portrayed as one of the guards in the central game, who, before taking up the job, crosses paths with a child battling cancer. When she arrives at the games to fulfill her role as a guard, she spots the child's father, Kyung-seok, during the first "Red Light, Green Light" game. This revelation confirms that Player 246, Kyung-seok, only showed up to compete because he wishes to win enough money to be able to fund his daughter's treatment. Like the other heroic characters, he avoids resorting to morally questionable methods to survive the games.

12 Player 230 (Thanos)

T.O.P

Real-life rapper and singer, T.O.P, plays the role of a famous retired artist, dubbed Thanos, in Squid Game season 2. Like most other characters, Thanos initially does not take the games too seriously. However, when he finally understands the gravity of the games and the stakes involved, he takes psychedelic drugs to take the edge off and keep himself calm and collected. Although his approach makes him a little too detached from reality, it works wonders as it allows him to play the games with a relaxed and childish sense of wonder.

Thanos keeps blaming Yim Si Wan (Player 333) for his financial downfall, claiming that he invested all his money in a coin he suggested on his YouTube channel. He also keeps picking on him throughout the games and threatens him to return his money once they are outside. This conflict eventually escalates into chaos as brutal physical confrontation breaks loose between the ones who voted in favor of the games' continuation and the ones who voted to stop them in the second round of voting.

11 Player 222 (Kim Jun-hui)

Jo Yu-ri

Player 222, Kim Jun-hui, is introduced as a young pregnant woman who ends up becoming a part of the games after her former partner, Lee Myeong-gi, abandons her. Jun-hui is perceived as a weak contestant by many because of her condition, but the main heroes take her on board. Later in the series, Lee Myeong-gi also tries to get back with her, claiming they should combine their earnings from the games and create a good life for their child. However, Jun-hui refuses to share her winnings with her ex because she does not trust him anymore.

10 Player 196

Song Ji-woo

Thanos is smitten with Player 196 in Squid Game season 2's early moments and tags along with her during the "Red Light, Green Light" game. The two even joke about Gi-hun's behavior and call him a disillusioned old man. Owing to this, when a bee lands on Player 196's neck, and Thanos tells her about it, she forgets about the game and moves. Although she still refuses to take the game seriously, the doll detects her movement, and a sniper shoots her dead. With this, Player 196 becomes the first player to die in Squid Game season 2.

9 Player 149 (Jang Geum-ja)

Kang Ae-shim

Unlike other players at the games, Kang Ae-shim's Jang Geum-ja is not driven by a desire to increase her bank balance. She only arrives at the games' to ensure her son's well-being. Jang Geum-ja is such a selfless mother that she even encourages her son, Park Yong-sik, to leave, assuring him that she will play the games and win him the money. As the show progresses, she becomes a motherly figure for many other characters, like Kim Jun-hui and Hyun-ju, as she guides them through dire situations.