The 12 Best Squid Game Players, Ranked

This article contains spoilers for "Squid Game" season 3. 

"Squid Game" is Netflix's most popular show of all time and a huge pop culture phenomenon. A lot of it has to do with a deceptively simple premise: Bring together a group of colorful contestants with tragic enough backstories to warrant participating in a game that will kill almost all of them. Allow the audience time to get to know a core group of players from all walks of life. Then, kill them off via a series of visually arresting scaled-up playground games. 

As eye-popping as the show's aesthetics might be, and as fiendishly clever the games are, none of this would work if the players themselves were dull and faceless. Fortunately, the show has routinely gone all-in with fleshing out its poor lost souls, and the best characters on "Squid Game" are so deeply likeable or loathsome that viewers are deeply affected by their nigh-inevitable deaths.

The three seasons of "Squid Game" cover the 2020 and 2024 games, and the show has sent the overwhelming majority of its players to an untimely and often gruesome doom. This doesn't mean that all of them were created equal, though. On the contrary, there's a small number of players who are very, very good with whatever the game throws at them. Let's take a look at the absolute cream of the crop by ranking the 12 best "Squid Game" players in the show's history. 

Rap celebrity Thanos (Choi Seung-hyun) is a thoroughly unpleasant guy, but there's no denying that this cloud cuckoolander of a player is very good at staying alive at the expense of others. He immediately understands the most nihilistic version of the Squid Game assignment, becoming a murderous agent of chaos who's prepared to do anything and kill anyone in order to get ahead. He's not particularly bright, but he's big and reasonably strong ... not to mention the most reckless, ruthless player in the series' history. 

There's one thing Thanos can't do, though: stay sober. Much of his efficiency as a player comes from his stash of narcotics, and he routinely competes while high. This makes him dangerous and unpredictable, but he has a finite amount of pills and he's pretty bad at keeping count. Even if Lee Myung-gi (Im Si-wan) hadn't managed to fork-stab Thanos to death near the end of season 2, there's a big chance that the rapper's supply would've run out ... and as Nam-gyu (Roh Jae-won) later finds out to his detriment, going into withdrawal is an excellent way to lose your focus in the middle of a game. 

Thanos' overly confident attitude is another Achilles' heel, as both the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) and Myung-gi get the best of him in physical confrontations where he severely misunderestimates his opponent. Still, without the fork incident, there's no telling how far his sheer chutzpah would have taken him. And even after his demise, Thanos maintains a healthy "Squid Game" presence after Nam-gyu starts picking up his mannerisms and Min-su starts hallucinating him. 

There are many ways to play the game, and season 1's Han Mi-nyeo (Kim Joo-Ryung) picks a particularly peculiar one. She's a shrill, obnoxious, and thoroughly untrustworthy person who constantly attempts to clumsily weasel her way into what she believes to be the strongest faction. Fortunately for her, Mi-nyeo's audacity can be an asset: She gets to sit out the most heartbreaking game in the season, Marbles, simply by being so awful that no one wants to partner with her. 

Mi-nyeo's effectiveness as a character is easier to understand when you compare her to the wannabe shaman Seon-nyeo (Chae Kook-hee) — a similarly intense and rude woman, but one who presents herself as a prophet and projects her entire unpleasant personality into being as condescending and self-aggrandizing as humanly possible. Compared to Seon-nyeo, it's easy to see how Mi-nyeo is able to use her personality (grating as it may be) and far keener survival instincts to form temporary alliances and stay alive. Even when her time comes during the Glass Stepping Stones game, she ultimately goes out on her own terms by taking her treacherous former ally/lover Jang Deok-su (Heo Sung-tae) with her.

You'd never believe it when he first turns up in "Squid Game" season 1 — or even when he enters the game as Player 390 in season 2 — but Seong Gi-hun's (Lee Jung-jae) best bud, Park Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), is really not bad at this at all. A former marine and a surprisingly tough nut to crack, his jovial nature and ability to concentrate when push comes to shove make him a pretty good player. Yes, fans might speculate whether he'd have survived Red Light, Green Light without Gi-hun's intel, but in all fairness, that game is an absolute crapshoot. Even Gi-hun himself only survived the season 1 version because Ali Abdul (Anupam Tripathi) saved him from falling. 

Jung-bae proves to be a capable enough player in both Mingle and Six-Legged Pentathlon. He attracts allies well enough, and fights valiantly regardless of the odds against him. The one thing that keeps him in the lower end of this ranking is his lack of longevity. Since he only competes in three games (and receives inside information for the first one) before the Front Man kills him in the season 2 finale's failed revolt, there really is no telling how well Jung-bae would have fared in the grand scheme of things. Still, I'd say that his "Squid Game" season 2 showing is proof enough that he has the social, physical, and mental aptitude to go pretty far in the game — especially if it happens to involve high-stakes gunfights. 

Jang Deok-su (Heon Sung-tae) may just be the single most violent player on the show. Season 1's Player 101 is a large and hostile man who's able to survive unlikely action movie scenarios in his civilian (well, gangster) life outside the game, and he brings every single ounce of his cunning, ruthlessness, and attitude to the Squid Game arena. This and his penchant for attracting henchmen makes him a dangerous player in any setting, and it's easy to see him fare reasonably well in the season 2 and season 3 games, too.

Of course, there's one little hitch, and that's Mi-nyeo. In the "Squid Game" twist on the old saying "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" (which one of the ever-so-subtle VIPs actually sees fit to say out loud) Mi-nyeo makes extremely sure that Deok-su's path ends on the Glass Stepping Stones. Because of this and the surprising cowardice he displays during his final game, the otherwise formidable Deok-su only barely makes it into the Top 10. 

It may seem strange to include the elderly Jang Geum-ja (Kang Ae-shim) on a list of strongest "Squid Game" contestants. Still, I can't help but feel that the only thing preventing her from competing like a beast is the fact that her son (Yang Dong-geun), unbeknownst to her, has also signed up for the game. Geum-ja enters the game with grim determination and a stated willingness to die if that's the way the cookie crumbles. Her mission is simply to earn enough money to pay (what she thinks is) her kid's debt in full. After she gets over her initial bout of discrimination toward the trans competitor Cho Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon), Geum-ja turns out to be a kind person, quick to make allies. Oh, and she carries a concealed blade in order to stab the first fool who gets on her way.

An argument could be made that Geum-ja only makes it as far as she does because her son is there to protect her. I'm going to make the opposite argument and state that the main reason she doesn't go further is because he's there to keep her down. More often than not, Yong-sik's attempts to protect her amount to little, and when they get separated during Mingle, she does fine. In fact, Yong-sik ultimately proves to be Geum-ja's undoing, as she's forced to use her hidden hair bun blade on him when he tries to kill Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri). This, and only this, causes her to lose the will to go on ... but not before giving Gi-hun a nuanced pep talk and effectively tasking him to look after Jun-hee and the baby. Never underestimate an old lady: Geum-ja is hardcore. 

Going by her skill set alone, Cho Hyun-ju should be at the top spot of this list. A former Special Forces sergeant, she has the kind of close quarters combat skills and firearms training that no other "Squid Game" character can hope to match. She's a deeply resilient person whose ability to withstand extremely challenging situations is second to none, and as her extremely good showing in the Hide and Seek game proves, even armed opponents are no match to her if she sees them coming. Should she have reached the Squid Game final, she would have been the runaway favorite to emerge as the winner. 

Unfortunately, the first trans character on "Squid Game" has one considerable flaw in her role as Player 120: She's far too caring and compassionate to survive in the kill-or-be-killed world of the game. Once she finds a group of allies, she's so faithful to them that she's willing to protect the weakest members of her team at the expense of her own safety. In "Squid Game" season 3, episode 2 ("The Starry Night"), this causes her to forfeit a chance to escape in favor of returning to help Jun-hee and Geum-ja, and earns her a stab in the back courtesy of Myung-gi. Without such compassion, Hyun-ju would be an even more dangerous player and would have stood an excellent chance at making it through Jumping Rope and Sky Squid Game. Then again, why would a character who's willing to sacrifice everything just to be herself want to be a worse person than she truly is? 

Im Jeong-dae (Song Young-chang), whom you almost certainly know better as Player 100, is one of the longest-running player antagonists on the show and Gi-hun's primary foil among the 2024 Squid Game players. He establishes himself as a money-driven jerk who cares little for the lives of others very early in season 2, and openly flies that flag forevermore. A powerful but fallen businessman, he needs to get further in the game than anyone else if he wants to clear his massive debt, and will stop at nothing to keep the game going. He questions and aggravates Gi-hun and his "leave" faction at every turn and becomes a charismatic figurehead for the "stay" faction, holding this unofficial position until the final game. In this way, he's Gi-hun's biggest player adversary in this game, to the point that the protagonist genuinely ponders killing Jeong-dae in his sleep. 

Unlike Gi-hun, who either relies on pre-existing information or plays by the seat of his pants, Jeong-dae opts for a tactical mix of opportunism, bull-headed aggression, and maintaining the majority vote by force, if necessary. As his lengthy survival despite his advanced age proves, it's an effective cocktail. What's more, his good fortune rivals season 1-era Gi-hun. Through desperate last-ditch maneuvers, opportunism, and plain old luck, Jeong-dae survives, dodges, and outwits multiple close calls despite the knife sometimes being very literally on his throat. Should Gi-hun have opted against participating in the 2024 game, there's every chance that Player 100 and his Sky Squid Game majority voting tactic would have led to a comfortable victory and a hefty monetary prize. As it stands, however, Jeong-dae meets a fairly unceremonious end in the penultimate episode of season 3, which lands him just outside top five. 

The 2024 Squid Game counterpart to season 1's Sang-woo, Lee Myung-gi is a fallen finance guy with an analytical mind and a tendency to figure out the best possible angle for himself — even when he ostensibly looks out for those he holds dear. A crypto currency influencer by trade, he's an opportunist who will leave no back unstabbed if that suits his own needs. As Thanos finds out the hard way, he's also the kind of guy that you never, ever want to back in a corner, because he will turn the tables. 

Myung-gi is the first entrant in our top five, where each and every character is either a Squid Game winner or an incredibly strong finalist. As such, there are no real weaknesses in his game, and his biggest threats are unique circumstances that are directly related to his notoriety and personal life. The fact that several players recognize him and have lost money because of him provides plenty of speedbumps for his early Squid Game path, and both Players 222 — his former girlfriend Jun-hee and their baby who's born midway through the Hide and Seek game — understandably distract him quite a bit.

"Squid Game" often reminds us that an antagonist isn't the same thing as a villain, and season 1's Cho Sang-woo is the shining example of this tendency. Adored by Gi-hun as "The Pride of Ssangmun-don" due to his rags-to-riches backstory, Sang-woo has managed to mess up his career as an investment banker so badly that playing the game is his only option — and even if he wins, he's wanted for various financial crimes. Remembering the gutter but having tasted the high life before his downfall, Sang-woo is arguably the most desperate season 1 player, and his desperation soon turns ugly.

Initially a valued member of season 1's "good guy" faction, Sang-woo goes on to commit horrifying betrayals and outright murders that eliminate some of the most beloved characters of the season. His Machiavellian scheming, utter lack of scruples, vast intellect, and decent physical fitness make him a terrifying opponent, especially since you rarely see him coming until it's far too late. Technically, he doesn't even lose the 2020 Squid Game. Instead, he realizes what he has become and dies by suicide in the finale, effectively forfeiting the game in Gi-hun's favor. 

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When a movie or a TV show needs to take a troublesome or overpowered character out of the equation, a big action scene and a subsequent dramatic reveal of a debilitating torso injury is a popular choice. This is what happens to Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon) in "Squid Game" season 1 after the Glass Stepping Stones explode, and it's why she ranks higher than Sang-woo, the character who killed him before the final game.

Arguably the most resourceful player we've seen on the show, Sae-byeok has already escaped North Korea by the time the show starts, and has survived while looking out for her little brother (Park Si-wan) ever since. She's able to figure out and bypass the knockout gas the guards are using, smuggles a knife into the game, maintains a (honestly healthy) suspicion toward just about every other contestant, and keeps on surviving even though the game's heavy-hitter, Deok-su, is openly out to get her. 

As a person, Sae-byeok changes and opens up considerably during the game, but as a player, she retains her skills. Given her track record as a survivor and her agility compared to investment banker Sang-woo and out-of-shape ex-chaffeur Gi-hun, she would likely have fared very well in the Squid Game finale of season 1 without her injury and Sang-woo's ruthlessness. Still, even though she died, she did technically win her own version of the game. After all, her primary goal was to earn enough money to give her brother a good life, and thanks to the late-game pact she made with Gi-hun, this is exactly what ends up happening.   

The Front Man (aka Hwang In-ho, Oh Young-il, Player 132, or Player 001, depending on which part of his storyline we're looking at) is technically the show's ultimate villain and the guy who keeps the games going after Oh Il-nam (O Yeoung-su) passes away. However, he's also the winner of the 2015 Squid Game, which makes him a top tier player as well. 

In "Squid Game" season 2, the Front Man gives us a sample of his player skills when he temporarily infiltrates the game under the Young-il identity and befriends Gi-hun. This version of the character turns out to be an incredibly nice and charming guy who's quick to make friends and even quicker to put down bullies. He has considerable skill and physical power to go with his intellect and penchant for wicked plans; he handily beats down Thanos and his minion when they become unruly, and breaks the neck of a fellow contestant during the Mingle game. 

All in all, the Front Man would be the odds-on favorite to breeze through the competition and emerge as a winner in any given version of the game ... if it wasn't for the fact that he has never won the game without cheating. In season 3, episode 5 ("Circle Triangle Square"), we find out that Il-nam provided him with a knife before the grand finale, and he used it to kill every other remaining player and win by default. This slight doesn't take away from the Front Man's physical and mental abilities, but it does blemish his track record just enough to drop him from the top spot. 

Two Squid Games. Two finals. A target the size of Australia on his back for the majority of the show, in one way or another.

Seung Gi-hun is an iceberg: A goofy, semi-lovable loser with a massive heroic streak hiding just out of immediate view. Yes, he often survives by sheer luck or the goodwill of others. However, he actively attracts said goodwill by being a genuinely nice and approachable guy, whose protagonist traits are easily seen by just about everyone except the man himself. A rabble-rouser, an idealist, and a keen humanist, Gi-hun both embodies and fights for all that is good in humanity. This gives him a fair amount of plot armor, sure — but since he represents the proverbial forces of light on the show, he needs to be around as long as his dark counterpart, the Front Man. If that means constant strokes of luck and incredibly specific circumstances that keep him alive and playing, so be it. 

As a player, Gi-hun is weaker, less skilled, and honestly less intelligent than many others on this list. However, his superpower is heart. He uses his ability to connect with people and appreciate his fellow human beings to inspire and endear, which is a surprisingly crucial skill that lends him an air of authority among similar spirits in both games. He does stumble on occasion, and keeps having to do everything the hard way ... but the fact that he does so and just keeps surviving anyway is the exact reason he's the ultimate Squid Game player.