11 K-Drama villains with unexpectedly heartbreaking backstories

Tatler Asia

13-05-2025

2. 'Strong Girl Nam-soon' (2023): Ryu Shi-oh/ Byeon Woo-seok
On paper, Ryu Shi-oh (Byeon Woo-seok) is a sleek CEO with a cartel's worth of secrets. But behind the smirking façade, Ryu Shi-oh is the lonely poster boy for emotional neglect. Raised without warmth or love, he yearns for human connection, even if it's warped beyond repair. His obsession with Nam-soon isn't just villainous infatuation; it's a twisted reflection of what he never had: unconditional love. 3. 'Monster' (2016): Do Gun-woo/ Park Ki-woong
Do Gun-woo (Park Ki-woong) is the illegitimate son of a chaebol family who grows up amidst violence and secrecy. His mother's tragic suicide and the abuse he suffers from his stepfather lay the groundwork for his descent into darkness. He's not evil without reason—he's a ticking time bomb of trauma and resentment. His actions become a chilling meditation on how neglect and shame can disfigure even the most promising hearts. 4. 'Remember: War of the Son' (2015): Nam Gyu-man/ Namkoong Min
Nam Gyu-man (Namkoong Min) is a chilling example of what happens when a sociopath is born into privilege. But his story is also one of parental neglect and learned cruelty. Terrified of disappointing his powerful father, he grows up with no moral compass and a desperate need to dominate. His violence is horrifying, but rooted in the fear of being seen as weak or irrelevant, which seems to be a recurring theme among K-drama villains. 5. 'Vincenzo' (2018): Park Joo-hyung / Vincenzo Cassano/ Song Joong-ki
Vincenzo is technically the anti-hero in this story, but when discussing morally ambiguous characters with poignant backstories, he represents the gold standard. Abandoned by his Korean birth family and adopted into the Italian mafia, he evolves into a consigliere—fluent in revenge yet foreign to intimacy. Though he dispenses justice with the flair of a (stylish) grim reaper, his choices invariably carry undertones of longing: for identity, belonging and a life where he needn't have become a weapon.
Don't miss: The rise of the antihero: 10 K-drama characters who played by their own rules 6. 'Strangers from Hell' (2019): Seo Moon-jo/ Lee Dong-wook
One shouldn't be deceived by the charming dentist's smile. Seo Moon-jo (Lee Dong-wook) represents pure nightmare fuel. What renders him truly chilling isn't merely the brutality, but glimpses into his evolution. Subjected to abuse as a child and conditioned to associate pain with affection, Moon-jo matured with a warped perception of intimacy and power. His terrifying acts constitute his distorted method of connecting, controlling and coping. Lee Dong-wook delivers a disturbingly elegant performance that simultaneously repels and evokes empathy. He emerges less as a monster in human form and more as a man sculpted by cruelty.
See more: 12 intense K-drama thrillers that will keep you on the edge of your seat 7. 'Vincenzo' (2018): Jang Han-seok / Jang Jun-woo/ Ok Taec-yeon
This series abounds with compelling villains, but this one is in no way an antihero—he's unequivocally the antagonist. Initially portrayed as the bumbling intern Jang Jun-woo (Ok Taec-yeon), he later emerges as Jang Han-seok, the ruthless chairman of Babel Group. Nurtured in a toxic environment that rewarded power over empathy, Han-seok's sociopathic tendencies are products of his upbringing. His metamorphosis from seemingly harmless assistant to cold-blooded killer underscores the perils of unchecked ambition and the corrupting influence of power. 8. 'Hello, Monster (I Remember You)' (2015): Lee Joon-young/ Choi Won-young
Lee Joon-young's (Choi Won-young) descent into criminality is rooted in a traumatic childhood marked by abandonment and abuse. His actions, including mentoring a young boy into following his path, reflect a twisted attempt to recreate the connections he was denied. The series delves into the nature versus nurture debate, questioning whether monsters are born or made. 9. 'Mouse' (2021): Jung Ba-reum
Perhaps one of the most shocking turns in K-drama history, Jung Ba-reum (Lee Seung-gi) starts as a doe-eyed rookie cop and slowly unravels into a full-blown psychopath. Mouse complicates the narrative by posing the question: what if serial killers are born, not made? And what happens when one acquires a conscience?
After undergoing a brain transplant, Ba-reum inherits the memories of someone capable of empathy, triggering his spiral. His villainy horrifies, yet viewers wonder whether he can actually resist what's been encoded in his DNA. Jung Ba-reum exists simultaneously as victim and perpetrator, scientific experiment and monster, heartbreakingly torn between guilt and compulsion. 10. 'Duel' (2017): Lee Sung-hoon/ Yang Se-jong
This underappreciated sci-fi thriller features one of the few K-drama villains who isn't human—or is he? Lee Sung-hoon (Yang Se-jong), a cloned human, faces accusations of kidnapping and murder, but his history reveals something profoundly more tragic: he was an experiment, a byproduct of unethical cloning, stripped of identity and humanity. What presents as cold-blooded violence actually constitutes a desperate search for truth, justice and survival in a world treating him as disposable. Yang Se-jong portrays both the hero and the clone, lending emotional complexity to a man caught between genetic predetermination and moral reckoning. 11. 'Squid Game' (2021 - ongoing): Hwang In-ho, AKA The Front Man/ Lee Byung-hun
Before becoming the enigmatic overseer of the deadly games, Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun) was a respected police officer. His life took a devastating turn when his wife was diagnosed with acute liver cirrhosis while pregnant. Despite medical advice to terminate the pregnancy, she chose to carry the baby to term, a decision that compounded their financial and emotional strain. Desperate to afford her treatment, In-ho accepted money from a criminal source, which was misinterpreted as a bribe, leading to his dismissal from the police force. After his wife's death, In-ho entered the Squid Game , won and eventually became the Front Man, overseeing the very system that had contributed to his downfall. His transformation from a devoted husband and officer to a cold enforcer underscores the series' themes of desperation, sacrifice and the corrupting influence of systemic failures.