Han Mi-nyeo/Synopsis

The story of Han Mi-nyeo from Squid Game.
==Background==
Not much is known about her life before the 2020 Squid Game, but she claims to have a newborn child who she had still not named before the first game. She also claims that she never studied in her life but is smart and was accused of fraud five times.
Like the other participants of the games, Mi-nyeo has severe financial problems to deal with, to the point that she describes life outside the games as "hell". At some point, she was offered the chance to be a contestant in the 33rd Squid Game and accepted. Mi-nyeo was put to sleep and taken by the staff to the island where the games happen, along with other 455 players. There, Mi-nyeo was designated the number "212" and the masked workers dressed her in her player uniform before the beginning of the games.
==Squid Game==
==="Hell"===
During the first game (Red Light, Green Light), 255 of the players were killed. Mi-nyeo survived and is first seen in the dormitory along with the other players who passed the first game. Having witnessed more than half of the players die, Mi-nyeo gets on her knees and cries, begging the masked staff to let her go and she will find a way to pay her debts. She tells them she has a child that she did not even register the birth because she did not name him yet. As others join Mi-nyeo in begging the staff to let them go, manager reminds them that the first clause of the Squid Game consent form says that a player isn't allowed to voluntarily quit the games. The players become agitated, causing the manager to shoot into the air and the soldiers to point their guns at the them. Terrified, Mi-nyeo and all the other players cower on the floor. The manager proceeds to state the second clause, which says that players who refuse to play will be eliminated. But then Cho Sang-woo stands up and reminds the staff about the third clause of the games, which allows players to vote to terminate the competition. The manager accepts to have the players voting to stop the Squid Game. However, before the vote, the manager announces they will show the amount of the prize money that was accumulated from the first game. 
Upon seeing 25.5 billion of money accumulated in the piggy bank, Mi-nyeo is impressed and asks the staff what will be the final prize, and the manager says that it will be ₩45.6 billion. However, if they quit the games, all the money will go to the families of the deceased players, and living players will be left with nothing. Because of this, she changes her mind and decides to vote against the termination of the games. Another player accuses her of being crazy, but she says that life is already hell outside, so nothing changes if they die there. Despite this, the majority votes to stop the games. Mi-nyeo and group of players protest against this result and request the guards that those who still want to continue should be allowed to play. The masked staff deny their request and say that the games are terminated, unless the majority later decides to play again.
==="The Man with the Umbrella"===
Eventually, when the majority of the contestants decide to return to the Squid Game, Mi-nyeo has her chance to rejoin. She returns to the games along with other 186 players. Back in the players' dormitory, Mi-nyeo is first seen by herself while being spotted by Seong Gi-hun and Oh Il-nam. The two of them wonder if she was able to name her baby before returning to the competition. Mi-nyeo later tries to approach the gangster Jang Deok-su, as he is trying to recruit Kang Sae-byeok to the group he is forming to play during the next games. Mi-nyeo says very interested in him and asks to join his group, explaining that she is much better than a skinny girl like Sae-byeok. However, Deok-su refuses and makes a dirty joke, the other players in his team mock her, causing her to be disgusted with them. 
Later, Mi-nyeo is inside the players' dormitory and calls the guards outside their door, demanding to go to the bathroom. She asks a soldier to speak with a manager. However, the manager appears in front of the door and refuses to let her leave the dormitory past the curfew. Mi-nyeo is frustrated by this and makes a fuss about it, threating to piss on the floor. With this, the soldier outside agrees and opens the door, telling her to follow him to the bathroom. Sae-byeok approaches and asks to go with her. Mi-nyeo gets annoyed by this, because Sae-byeok is taking advantage of the situation after she had to make a scandal to get her permission. Sae-byeok ignores her and Mi-nyeo thinks the girl is being rude.
In the bathroom, Mi-nyeo pulls out from inside her body a small container with a lighter and cigarettes that she managed to hide, so that the guards would not confiscate them from her when she arrived at the location of the games. While she smokes, she is startled when Sae-byeok opens the door of her stall holding a switchblade, which she also managed hid from the staff. Mi-nyeo offers Sae-byeok a cigarette, but the girl ignores this offer and uses her blade to open the cover of a vent on the ceiling. Sae-byeok says she is going to investigate the vent and asks Mi-nyeo to distract the guards. Sae-byeok promises to tell Mi-nyeo if she finds out something. Mi-nyeo agrees and helps Sae-byeok by letting the girl step on her shoulder to enter the vent.
While Sae-byeok is inside the vent, Mi-nyeo screams and pretends to be constipated, so that the masked soldier will not enter the bathroom. The soldier thinks the two women are taking too long and eventually enters and opens the stall, only to find Mi-nyeo with her pants down and Sae-byeok seemly standing beside her to help. Mi-nyeo pretends to be offended by the soldier's disregard on her privacity and accuses him of sexual harassment before leaving the bathroom. Returning to the dormitory, Mi-nyeo asks Sae-byeok what she saw. Sae-byeok says she'll tell her tomorrow. 
In the following morning, Mi-nyeo reminds Sae-byeok that she said she would tell her, so she questions the girl again. Sae-byeok hesitantly reveals that the masked men were melting something in large pots. Mi-nyeo asks what it was, but Sae-byeok is not sure. Mi-nyeo is frustrated that after her efforts to distract the masked soldier, this is all that Sae-byeok found out. Sae-byeok then adds that it smelt like sugar. Still not completely satisfied with this answer, Mi-nyeo tells Sae-byeok not to hide anything from her and threats to burn the girl's eyes with a cigarette if she is withholding any information. Hearing this, Sae-byeok just shoots her a long look, making Mi-nyeo lets it go. Claiming to be hungry, Mi-nyeo leaves for breakfast and says she wants to eat something sweet.
Mi-nyeo soon finds out the meaning of what Sae-byeok saw during the second game. No knowing what the game is, Mi-nyeo choses the star when asked to pick a shape for the game. She becomes frustrated when they announce that the game is Dalgona (Sugar Honeycombs), because she chose the second hardest shape to extract. The announcer explains that players have 10 minutes to cut out their shapes without breaking or cracking it. However, despite disappointed with her chosen shape, Mi-nyeo finds a way to overcome the disadvantage. Without the guards noticing, Mi-nyeo pulls out her lighter and uses it to heat her needle, allowing her to easily cut her dalgona candy. 
While cutting out her shape, Mi-nyeo looks around and notices Deok-su struggling to cut his. Mi-nyeo finishes to cut her candy around 2 minutes before the game is over. Once done, Mi-nyeo approaches a soldier and tapps him on the shoulder. As the soldier turns to her, she smiles and shows her star to him. When announcer says that she passed this game, Mi-nyeo eats her star-shaped candy. As she exits the area of the game, she surprises Deok-su by leaving her lighter on the floor next to him. When he looks at her confused, Mi-nyeo signs that it is for him to use it to cut out his star. She is later seen going down the spiral staircases while returning to the dormitory, along with other players who survived this game. Deok-su comes down the stairs right behind her. Along the way, however, Mi-nyeo and the others stop and look up as they hear the soldiers shooting the players who are still in the playground because they didn't finish the game in time.
==="Stick to the Team"===
While the players go down the spiral staircases as they walk back to the dormitory, Deok-su returns the lighter to Mi-nyeo and thanks her for helping him.
 
Helping Deok-su during the second game makes him accept her in his gang. The two of them are seen together as the announcer says 79 players were eliminated in the Dalgona game, and witness ₩7.9 billion being added to the prize money accumulated in the piggy bank. With this, 108 players remain in the games. Later, the workers serve each player only hard-boiled egg and a glass bottled soda for lunch, leaving Deok-su irritated, but Mi-nyeo suggests him that their group should get in the line again to get more food. After a few of the players didn't get any food because Mi-nyeo, Deok-su and his group had eaten twice, Player 271 confronts Deok-su, but is beaten to death by him. This causes everyone to discover that there is no punishment for killing players in between games, as they simply announce the dead contestant's elimination and the guards remove the body as usual. Knowing this, Deok-su and his gang plan a riot after the lights are out to eliminate the competition.
Later, with less than 5 minutes before the lights out, Player 111, whose name is Byeong-gi, approaches and asks to join the gang. Byeong-gi tells them he is a doctor, but Mi-nyeo and the others are skeptical about letting him join. Byeong-gi ultimately does join after confiding to Deok-su that he has information about the future games. When the lights go out, Mi-nyeo is seen lying awake on her bed, preparing for what will happen next. After the lights go out, Deok-su's gang starts the riot. The lights start to flicker on and off and chaos ensues. During the riot, Mi-nyeo is seen hiding behind Deok-su and his group alongside Byeong-gi, when their group is confronting Sang-woo and Gi-hun's team. 
After the riot, the gang is reunited as Byeong-gi stitches a stab wound on Deok-su's leg. When the doctor states that he will treat Deok-su's wound better once they leave and go to a hospital, Mi-nyeo says that the Byeong-gi is too pretentious for being so sure that he is going to leave the games alive. She reminds him that his career obviously didn't work out, otherwise he would not be in the Squid Game, but Byeong-gi confidently replies that he will leave the competition with the money. Mi-nyeo looks at the large screen in the dormitory, which shows that the total number of players is currently 80. She counts that they were able to eliminate 27 players, before turning to Deok-su. Because Mi-nyeo constantly refers to him as "babe/older brother" ("oppa"), Deok-su wonders if this is in fact correct, thinking that she might be older than him. Mi-nyeo asks how old he thinks she is. Mi-nyeo becomes annoyed when Deok-su replies 49 and then 39. She tells him that she regrets helping him in the second game. Mi-nyeo becomes satisfied when Deok-su says 19 years old. Deok-su asks if he is not going to be rewarded for guessing correctly, so she invites him to have intercourse in the bathroom. 
While doing it, Mi-nyeo says that Deok-su and the doctor are hiding something. Deok-su denies it, saying that there is nothing to hide. She questions if he will stay with her until the end and asks him not to deceive her. Deok-su replies that she can trust him and says that they will get out of the games together. She asks for his name and he tells her. Mi-nyeo then promises that if he betrays her, she will kill him.
In the following day, they enter a white room as the announcer says that the third game will be played as a team and players have 10 minutes to form teams of 10. While teams are being formed Mi-nyeo is seen friendly chatting with Player 040 and Player 303. Despite promising not to betray Mi-nyeo, Deok-su knows that the next game is Tug-of-War thanks to the information given by the doctor, so as the teams are being formed, he dismisses her to have a group composed only with strong men. 
Deok-su tells Mi-nyeo that the group is already full and he will team up with her during the next game. Not accepting this, Mi-nyeo gets on her knees and apologizes, promising that she will do better, but Deok-su insists that the two of them should split up for this game. She hugs him and holds his face while begging him to let her stay in his team, because she can't do it without him. She reminds him that he promised they would be together. When Mi-nyeo tries to kiss Deok-su, he pushes her off him, knocking her on the ground. He says that Mi-nyeo is too clingy and furiously tells her to stop calling him "babe/older brother" ("oppa") or he will rip her mouth off. Infuriated, she stands up and faces him, swearing at him. Deok-su notes her quick change of tone, saying that these are her true colors. Mi-nyeo reminds Deok-su about her promise to kill him. Unfazed by her threat, Deok-su wishes her "good luck" in the game before leaving with his group. 
Abandoned by Deok-su, less than 20 seconds before the time is over, Mi-nyeo approaches Sang-woo and Gi-hun's team which still is missing a player to complete 10 members for the game. She immediately points out that she is not a leftover to fill their remaining spot and says they are lucky she will play with them. Looking at the group, Mi-nyeo says she will be a better addition to their team than Sae-byeok and Ji-yeong, as the two of them are just scrawny girls. Mi-nyeo is reluctantly accepted by them as they are out of time to look for other people. Sang-woo in particular does not seem pleased with her joining and becomes more anxious than he already was before the game.
Moving to the location of the game, they enter a space where there are two huge towers with platforms forming a bridge-like structure but with the middle missing. The game is revealed to be Tug-of-War and players should pull the rope towards their platform to make their opponents fall to their deaths. Because of this, Mi-nyeo becomes alarmed when her team with a variety of people is sorted to play with team 5, a group composed only by men. As the team walks to the elevator to the platform where they will play, they walk past Deok-su's gang, who is leaving the location after winning against their adversaries. Mi-nyeo glares at Deok-su as she walks past him. Despite Sang-woo and Gi-hun's team being at a disadvantage, Oh Il-nam tells them about a strategy to win even with a weaker team. 
Arriving on the platform, both teams play Tug-of-War after being shackled by the workers to the rope. Mi-nyeo and her teammates execute Il-nam's strategy and it temporarily works but the other team eventually manages to pull them and slowly drags them to fall to their deaths, causing Mi-nyeo to become terrified. Mi-nyeo screams for someone in the team to do something. Sang-woo quickly comes up with another plan and tells everyone to take three steps foward, which Mi-nyeo thinks it is absurd. She says that Sang-woo is crazy and his plan won't work, but Gi-hun yells that the team should try his friend's idea. Sang-woo tells her that she has do it or she will die. With no options, she executes Sang-woo's plan.
==="A Fair World"===
Thanks to Sang-woo's tactic, their team manages to win by knocking down the other team before dragging them to fall on the edge. As Mi-nyeo and her team walk into the dormitory, Deok-su and his group stare at them, surprised to see that they survived. Mi-nyeo looks back at Deok-su and sarcastically gives him a faint smile which soon turns into angry stare. In third game, 40 people were eliminated and now 40 players remain in the games.
Discussing with the team while eating a corn for dinner, Mi-nyeo says she was impressed by Il-nam's strategy and compliments Sang-woo for his last minute plan, saying he was so cool. She asks Sang-woo how he thought about his tactic, but he doesn't reply and seems annoyed by her. Ali Abdul remembers that she cried and did not believe Sang-woo's plan would work. Offended by this, she points out that Ali is an illegal immigrant and they need to restructure the team. She asks Sang-woo if he is the captain for him to solve this complaint, but he tells her that there is no leader in their team. She compares them to Deok-su's team, saying that her new team is better since the gangster wants to control everyone as if he was a king. Gi-hun asks why she was kicked out from Deok-su's group, addressing her as "missus". Mi-nyeo turns to Gi-hun and stares at him for this, before telling him not to call her "missus", saying that he should call her by her name. Mi-nyeo lies and says that she wasn't kicked out, she chose to leave because the gang is in a different level than hers. Sang-woo notices that they abandoned her for strong men before the game was revealed as if they knew that the game was Tug-of-War, making Mi-nyeo reflect about it. 
With 30 minutes left before the lights go out, Gi-hun tells the team that they should set up a barricade in case there is another riot, so Mi-nyeo is seen helping the others to move the metal parts of the beds. 1 minute before the lights go out, the whole team is reunited inside the barricade. Sang-woo and Gi-hun then suggest to Mi-nyeo and others of their team that they should take turns and keep a watch to prevent members of their group from being killed in their sleep. 
Later, Mi-nyeo is sleeping on her bed when all players are awakened by the lights snapping up and the sound of a siren. As she and her teammates get out of their beds, they see the masked staff entering the dormitory to check on them.
==="Gganbu"===
After being awakened, all teams stand in lines while being checked by the staff. Mi-nyeo becomes annoyed with a masked manager that stops to check on her and asks what he is looking at. The announcer says that the fourth game will begin soon. Going up the spiral staircases, Mi-nyeo and the other players are surprised at the sight of five corpses hanging from their wrists on a giant mobile: a player, two soldiers, a manager and a worker. A manager explains that this is the fate of the people who broke the rules of the games for their own benefit and tainted the ideology of equality of the competition. Mi-nyeo recognizes that the executed player is Byeong-gi, confirming her suspicious about Deok-su conspiring with the doctor to get information from the games. As they all enter the white room, Mi-nyeo aproaches Deok-su, who looks upset. She provokes him, noting that he looks unhappy and asks if it is because he just lost his source of information. 
 
It is announced that players have 10 minutes to form pairs for the next game. Once two people agree to play together, they should shake hands to become partners. Right after, Mi-nyeo and her teammates are gathered. Mi-nyeo pleads Gi-hun to accept her, saying that she is better than he expects and stronger than most men. She claims to have committed fraud five times and explains that despite never having studied, she is very smart. As Gi-hun doesn't reply and avoids her eyes, she turns to Sang-woo, who is standing nearby his friend. Mi-nyeo tries to convince Sang-woo to be her partner, stating that she will do anything he wants and he will be shocked to find out what she could do for him. Annoyed by Mi-nyeo, Sang-woo also doesn't respond and avoids looking at her. Realizing that both men rejected her, she turns to the team says she knows that everyone actually wants to play with her and are just hesitating. She wonders if they are undecided and offers to make the decision for them. Sae-byeok tells Mi-nyeo to stop humiliating herself because she won't convince anyone like this, then looks at Gi-hun and Sang-woo, before saying that they should just be honest and admit they won't risk their lives playing with a woman or with Il-nam, who is an old man. Before leaving the group to search for a partner, Mi-nyeo turns to Gi-hun and Sang-woo again and says that they both will regret not choosing her. 
 
As the time to find a partner runs out, she continues to beg others to accept her, asking even people that are already paired up with someone. She then approaches Player 278, who teamed up with Deok-su. She tells 278 not to trust the gangster because he will abandon him. She reveals Deok-su's conspiracy with the dead doctor and asks if 278 knew about it. She states that Deok-su hid the conspiracy from everyone to save his own skin. Mi-nyeo grabs Deok-su's arm, screaming for him to admit the truth. Not believing in Mi-nyeo, 278 helps Deok-su to pull her off him. 278 yells at Mi-nyeo to let Deok-su go and knocks her on the ground as everybody walks to the location of the next game, leaving Mi-nyeo behind in the white room. Alone and without a partner, Mi-nyeo screams as she is dragged by the masked soldiers.
==="VIPs"===
During the fourth game (Marbles), 5 teammates of Mi-nyeo were eliminated: Ji-yeong, Ali, Player 276, Player 196, and Il-nam (but unknown to all players, the old man just left without being killed). Only 16 people survived this game.
Returning to the dormitory, all the surviving players, especially Deok-su, are surprised when they find Mi-nyeo sleeping on a bed. Mi-nyeo waves at them and noticing Deok-su's shock, she mocks him by asking why he looks like he just saw his mother back from the dead. Deok-su just stares at her, speechless. Mi-nyeo explains that the masked men said she is the "weakest link" like when children play together but leave someone without a partner. She laughs at the others repeating what the masked men said and says that she was nicely escorted back to the dormitory. She tells them that the staff did this because of a rule used by children that does not allow the weakest kid to be excluded from playing. As Deok-su hoped not to see Mi-nyeo ever again, he is very irritated to see her alive. Because Deok-su still has no response, Mi-nyeo laughs and points at him, amused by his reaction. 
As Mi-nyeo was allowed to skip the Marbles game, now 17 players remain in the games. Later, all players sit on their beds eating after being given a potato and a bottle of water. Deok-su and Mi-nyeo sit on opposite sides of the room and he furiously stares at her while aggressively biting his potato. Mi-nyeo looks back at him as she calmly finishes eating, then shows him her middle finger. After the lights go out, Mi-nyeo and some other players sit on their beds awake for awhile instead of sleeping right away. She and Deok-su glare at each other across the room. In the following day, the players discover that Player 069 hanged himself during the night because of the grief of losing his wife in the Marbles game, so only 16 people will participate in the next game.
Before the fifth game, they enter the white room again and find mannequis wearing pink vests numbered from 1 to 16. The announcer says that players should choose one of the mannequins and wear its corresponding numbered vest. Mi-nyeo quickly picks number 11. The announcer later adds that the numbers are the order in which they will be playing the game, so Mi-nyeo will play only one number after Deok-su in the sequence, as he chose number 9. Moving to the location of the game, they enter a space constructed to resemble a circus tent, where there is a high bridge with 18 pairs of glass tiles. The game is revealed to be Glass Stepping Stones and the announcer explains that each tile is made of either tempered or normal glass. The tempered glass can withstand two players, but the normal glass will shatter with just one person. Players should guess which tiles are tempered and only step on them to cross the bridge safely. They have 16 minutes get to the other side.
With 6 minutes left, all the players in front of Deok-su fell to their deaths after choosing the wrong tile, causing the gangster to refuse to move on. Instead, Deok-su tries to make the others jump in his place, or else they will all die with him when the time to cross the bridge runs out. As Deok-su keeps arguing with Jung Min-tae (Player 322), the one between Deok-su and Mi-nyeo, she decides to take action and face Deok-su herself. Mi-nyeo pushes Min-tae foward, causing him to be shoved off the bridge by Deok-su. With this, Mi-nyeo comes face to face with the gangster. She tells him that he is a coward and she is ashamed that she had sex with him. Mi-nyeo says that she will jump first, not wanting for a coward like him to cause her death when their time runs out. Deok-su lets her move to his tile, however, when they are together, Mi-nyeo grabs Deok-su by the waist. She calls him an idiot for believing she would jump and sacrifice herself so he could go on. Mi-nyeo once again reminds him they promised to stick together until the end and that she would kill him if he betrayed her. Deok-su becomes terrified and begs her to let him go. Mi-nyeo despises his cowardice and tells him how small his genital organ is, before throwing herself off the bridge, taking Deok-su with her. This action kills both her and Deok-su.
Mi-nyeo sacrificing herself to kill the gangster allows the 5 remaining players (Sang-woo, Gi-hun, Sae-byeok, Player 017, and Player 360) to resume the game without Deok-su's threat, and also allows them to figure out the next glass to step on, because Mi-nyeo and Deok-su broke one of the regular glass tiles during their fall.
Category:Synopsis