The series paints them all in a terrible light, and rightly so, but why did they have to be the only queer characters on the show? Yes, we are of course referring to the VIPs, those vile, decadent men who watch the deadly squid games play out for their own twisted pleasure. Still, that hasn't stopped the internet from doing its thing, and to be fair, decades of marginal LGBTQ+ representation has trained us to read practically anything as gay in the right context.īut bearing that in mind, there is one group of Squid Game characters who are openly coded as gay, or queer in some way, and let's just say it's not the most flattering representation, not by any means. Then there's also Abdul Ali and Cho Sang-woo, although given how their relationship ended, that might not be the healthiest ship to champion. followed swiftly by pain and endless torment. While brief, the time they share together strips back society's usual restraints to create an intimate bond that led viewers down a sapphic road of hope. The most obvious one that comes to mind is the connection formed between Kang Sae-byeok and Ji-yeong in episode six. This porcelain gay icon has been meme'd countless times already, and speaking of memes, is it any coincidence that Squid Game has its very own Drag Race-style " game within a game"?Īs is custom in LGBTQ+ circles, a lot of fans are also shipping characters who aren't technically queer, but certainly share some queer-coded relationships. If it was, Seong Gi-hun would have probably crisis-bleached his hair blond at the end instead of red.īut that hasn't stopped gay Netflix subscribers from thirsting over Gong "slap me" Yoo or living for the giant robot doll that Vulture affectionately refers to as "Chantal".