Cho Sang-woo

Cho Sang-woo (Korean: 조상우) is the deuteragonist-turned-final antagonist of the first season of the South Korean Netflix drama Squid Game. 
Sang-woo is Seong Gi-hun's childhood best friend and the former leader of a investment team at a securities company. Being extremely intelligent, Sang-woo graduated as the top of his class at Seoul National University and became a successful businessman. However, after siphoning money off from his clients and failing upon investing it mostly in the future market, he became heavily indebted and wanted by the Korean police. Sang-woo accepted to join the 33rd Squid Game to win the crash prize, in order to pay his ₩6 billion debt and solve his financial problems, especially because they will also cause his mother's financial ruin.
Starting as Gi-hun's closest ally and teammate in the Squid Game, the two friends form a team to survive the games. Because of Sang-woo's more calculated and pragmatic ways to deal with the games, he eventually becomes his friend's rival and final adversary near the end of the brutal competition for the ₩45.6 billion prize.
He was portrayed by Park Hae-soo, and by Park Si-won as a child. In the English dub, he was voiced by Stephen Fu.
== What made him heroic? ==
* He is childhood best friends with Seong Gi-hun, and genuinely cares about him. He also shows great care for his mother and befriends Ali during the games.
* He joins the games determined to save his mother from financial ruin.
* He motivates and tells Gi-hun how to survive the first game, which saves his friend's life.
* He reminds the staff that players can vote to terminate the games after the first game, which ends up saving lives as 14 people don't rejoin after the games being temporarily terminated.
* He helps Ali in Seoul by buying him food, lending his phone to him and then giving Ali money to take a bus to his home.
* After forming his team with Gi-hun, he helps his teammates by thinking about strategies for the group to survive.
* He protects his team during the special game, where he saved Gi-hun's life more than once and defended Sae-byeok from Deok-su's gang.
* He saves his entire team during the Tug-of-War game.
* He redeems himself in the end, and lets Gi-hun be the winner.
== What led him to being villainous? ==
* He siphoned money off from his clients, causing his great debt that later led him to join the Squid Game.
* He betrays Ali and caused his death in the Marble game, although he didn't want to do it and had no other option to survive the game.
* He kills Player 017 for wasting too much time at the fifth game, although this saved not only his life but also Gi-hun's and Sae-byeok's.
* He kills Sae-byeok because he hears Gi-hun's desperate pleas to save the dying girl and thinks that they both will vote to terminate the games.
* He attempts to kill Gi-hun on the final game, although he quickly stops trying once he is beaten.
== Trivia ==
* He is a fallen hero towards the final episodes of the series, however, he redeems himself at the end, making him also a redeemed villain.
* He's so far the only Squid Game fallen hero.
* He is on the Spoilers Template.
== External Links ==
* Cho Sang-woo on the Heroes Wiki.
* Cho Sang-woo on the Villains Wiki.
* Cho Sang-woo on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki.
* Cho Sang-woo on the Squid Game Wiki.
Category:Chaotic Neutral
Category:Grey Zone
Category:Hypocrites
Category:Opportunists
Category:Master Orator
Category:TV Show Fallen Heroes
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Category:Counterparts
Category:Criminals
Category:Friend of a Hero
Category:Homicidal
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Category:Protagonists
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Category:Traitor
Category:Anti-Villain
Category:Tragic
Category:Pawns
Category:Murderer
Category:Masterminds
Category:Affably Evil
Category:Delusional
Category:Remorseful
Category:Fighters
Category:Charismatic
Category:Symbolic
Category:Provokers
Category:Destroyers of Innocence
Category:Deal Makers
Category:Thieves
Category:Egoists
Category:Elitist
Category:Evil Vs. Evil
Category:Sophisticated
Category:Mentally Ill
Category:Insecure
Category:Scapegoat
Category:Suicidal
Category:Successful
Category:Tricksters
Category:Necessary Evil
Category:Businessmen
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Category:Mascots
Category:Obsessed