Do the player numbers have any symbolism or significance?
In Squid Game, each of the 456 players is assigned a unique number from 001 to 456. E.g., the protagonist, Gi-hun's player number is the last number, "456", while Il-nam's (the old man) player number is the first number, "001".
Some of the player numbers:
| Player name | Player number |
|---|---|
| Oh Il-nam (the old man) | 001 |
| unnamed player (the glassmaker) | 017 |
| Kang Sae-byeok (the North Korean defector) | 067 |
| unnamed player, husband of Player 070 | 069 |
| unnamed player, wife of Player 069 | 070 |
| Jang Deok-su (the thug) | 101 |
| Byeong-gi (the doctor) | 111 |
| Abdul Ali (player from Pakistan) | 199 |
| Han Mi-nyeo (manipulative woman) | 212 |
| Cho Sang-woo (Gi-hun's childhood friend) | 218 |
| Ji-yeong (Sae-byeok's partner in the marbles game) | 240 |
| unnamed player (the pastor) | 244 |
| Seong Gi-hun | 456 |
Do these player numbers have any significance or symbolism (from Korean culture, numerology, etc.) associated with them and the players they are assigned to?
I understand some of the significance or symbolism behind Gi-hun's and Il-nam's player numbers.* I am unsure about the others.
* Gi-hun having the last number probably foreshadowing him being the survivor of the games, and Il-nam having the first number probably symbolizing him being the originator of the games
Best Answer
I think there is some symbolism.
Doctor is 111 - that's one of the emergency numbers in the Republic of Korea.
69 for the couple is not so much the innuendo as it is about partnership. that number looks like the Pisces sign (two fish swimming in a circle).
As for gi-hun - 456 strikes very much a gambler's number, due to its ascending digits. It's also the last number, to say he's an outlier, on the edge of society. Also, if I recall correctly, 4 is considered unlucky in some East-Asian cultures. the word for the number sounds much alike the word for "death".
SPOILERS AHEAD
I couldn't identify anything with 218 (San-Woo) on it's own, but notice how the last two players - 456 and 218 don't share any of the most common typological "lucky numbers" - 3 and 7.
this is all speculation I thought of while watching the show. didn't finish the last episode yet.
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What is the significance of the numbers in Squid Game?
In Squid Game season 1, episode 1, each player is assigned a number, which they learn corresponds to the order in which they were recruited. Episode 1 hints that Gi-hun is player 456 before he actually joins the game, but he learns it for the first time just before the game begins.What do numbers signify?
Natural numbers are symbols or units that are part of a calculating and counting system. A number also stands for a position or amount in a series. Number is different from numerals. A numeral is a representation of a number.What are the players numbers in Squid Game?
In Squid Game, each of the 456 players is assigned a unique number from 001 to 456. E.g., the protagonist, Gi-hun's player number is the last number, "456", while Il-nam's (the old man) player number is the first number, "001".What does the number 3 symbolize?
In their eyes the number 3 was considered as the perfect number, the number of harmony, wisdom and understanding. It was also the number of time \u2013 past, present, future; birth, life, death; beginning, middle, end \u2013 it was the number of the divine.The Meaning Of Repeating Number Patterns | Numerology | Angel Numbers
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Answer 2
Really there is no significance other than 1 and 456.
1 being an old man at the beginning and cockily beating the first challenge. Easy to assume he had been playing the game a while from some of the small talk he made.
456 I guess being the last or last man standing. And player 1 pointing out to that he was the last number...
The others have no significance because either people vote to quit or they die. Based on the last few challenges I would assume that almost all of the games had no winners. They were not supposed to finish the glass challenge until the glass maker helped, and then the leader rigged that challenge for them to die still.
At best every single year the last 2 standing go to the last challenge - leader rigged. I did not get that inference from the series, just saying it could be an option. So one person wins. If the leader doesn't rig the glass game to have 2 or small number of people left... then why call it Squid Game, if they never play it.
Meaning all of the numbers mean nothing as they assign the numbers to new people every game because all of the old players - except player 1 - die.
Player 2 could be only significant because he was the first player that signed up or the first person the guards captured or the first person that got handed a numbered shirt. But there's nothing to say player 2 would have played another game somewhere.
Answer 3
Simply put, the numbers have no significance or greater meaning. Basically, there are 456 players, and I believe that it is in order of when they had joined. I assume number 001 was the first to join meaning, number 456 (Seong Gi-hun) was the last. The man did say they were running out of spots. Seong Gi-hun must have taken the last spot.
Answer 4
In this interview, the writer/director makes it clear the numbers do not mean anything:
The original plan was to have 1,000 contestants:
At the time, the largest ever cash prize in a lottery had been 40 billion won, so they decided to have their number to be around 400 because that would equal the csh prize amount.
It isn't that clear on the screenshot (or even in the video), but he points out that 456 is flanked by 123 and 789:
The only numbers with any "meaning" are 001 (being on the top of society) and 456 (being at the bottom of society), and one other player's number:
That curse word is also used in one of the dialogues between 218 and 456.
Like the writer/director states: the numbers don't really have a lot of meaning:
The only other number that isn't "random" is that of contestant 199:
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