Oh Il-nam

Template:Mature

* Front Man
* Masked Managers
* Masked Soldiers
* Masked Workers

The VIPs
Gi-hun & Sang-woo's team

* Seong Gi-hun (former close friend; formerly)
* Cho Sang-woo † (indirect victim)
* Ali Abdul † (indirect victim)
* Kang Sae-byeok † (indirect victim)
* Han Mi-nyeo † (indirect victim)
* Ji-yeong † (indirect victim)
* Player 276 † (indirect victim)
* Player 196 † (indirect victim)
* Player 244 † (indirect victim)

**Oh Il-nam**, also referred to as **The Host** or **Player 001**, is the main antagonist of the first season of the South Korean Netflix Drama *Squid Game*.

He seems like an ordinary old man and a player, it seemed like he didn't fully grasp the game situation, however Il-nam was the true mastermind behind the game and has been hosting it for decades.

He was portrayed by Oh Young-su.

## His "Good" Ranking

### His "Heroic" Deeds

#### Pre-Reveal

* He had a wife and daughter that he cared for dearly.
* He formed legitimate friendships with the VIPs and the Front Man.
* Overall, he helped Seong Gi-hun and his team win all the games up to Gganbu.
* He terminated the games so that people can choose whether or not they want to come back after one night.
* He shared some ramen with Seong Gi-hun.
* He inadvertantly stopped Jang Deok-su's night riot by whimpering that he wants to go home.
* Last but not least, he sacrificed his life to allow Seong Gi-hun to win the games.

#### Post-Reveal

* He still remains legitimately kind to Seong Gi-hun, which was never a facade and his affability is the main reason why he's not Near Pure Evil.
* He doesn't tolerate cheating in the games. And while exceptions exist if his own life is in danger because the Front Man and masked men came to his rescue, that was purely because he wanted to end the Night Riot Deok-su started.
* He doesn't take any sadism over what he does unlike the VIPs.
* Although he doesn't show any remorse for his crimes and is a Karma Houdini, he is still played for sympathy since his nihilism over life is reasonable considering people like Jang Deok-su are likely among the reasons why he believes there is no more good in the world and the Front Man and even Gi-hun shows some sadness over his death because he legitimately wanted to relieve his happiest moments in his childhood before passing away.
* He pities the poor and as a result decides to give them one last chance to do something thrilling.
* Although this is a debated validation considering he was dead at the time, there wasn't any proof he'd backstab Gi-hun after their deal was complete and Gi-hun won.

### Why Isn't He Actually Heroic?

* Most of heroic deeds are just a facade under his true nature as the mastermind of the games for over 30 years. Due to that and the fact that his remaining redeeming qualities after his reveal still hold, he can never be considered debased.
* He started the Squid Games out of boredom over his life, which shows how petty he is, making him the one behind several deaths, destroyed bonds, and leaves PTSDs for the winners that exit the games safely.
* He is a hypocrite, since he delusionally thinks that he can help people get out of debt but he has no problem with putting them in even MORE debt.
* He never showed any remorse or atoned for any of his crimes. If he ever showed remorse (such as the time where he was reluctant to sacrifice himself to save Gi-hun or him showing shock over killing 10 players in Tug of War), it's just a facade.
* He is really arrogant as he thought that the man dying on the streets wouldn't be saved.

## External Links

* Oh Il-nam on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
* Oh Il-nam on the Villains Wiki
* Oh Il-nam on the *Squid Game* Wiki
* Oh Il-nam on the The Ultimate Evil Wiki