Since my characters are recurrent, I thought, why not make a visual since most of them are in the series ?
I don't introduce you to the main characters, so here are the others :
Jang-Soon
Taeju's best friend and his closest lieutenant. Has three nieces.
Soo-Yeon
Friend and lieutenant of Taeju. Father of a little girl.
Ji-Hu
Taeju's Friend and Lieutenant
Tohyeon
Taeju's Friend and Lieutenant
Lee Jin-Su (left) and Daniel Choi (right)
Respectively the "publicist" chief of Dongcheon and the "head of the smuggling network".
Lee Jin-Su probably died in 2017 or 2018 since his face is crossed out in the group photo that the STUPS have.
Daniel Choi is (apparently) a cousin of Mujin Choi.
Kwang-Sun
Old soldier of the gang. Although he has never risen in line, he has the official function of "Mujin's driver", which allows him to be much more aware of some of Mujin's shenanigans and decisions than we think.
Minseok
The least stupid of the trio he formed with Gangjae and Oh-Kim. If he participated in Jiwoo's harassment, he is also the one who tries to reason with them when they want to rape Jiwoo and warns Taeju to stop them.
Gyeom
One of the young soldiers of the Gang. (No doubt very good friends with the two other men who accompany him)
Yeon-Gi
Recruit and then soldier of the gang. Killed by Gangjae. Had a girlfriend.
Hey everyone ! Sorry for the long absence, I have to make progress on my thesis and my courses, so I had less time to devote to the blog and my fanfictions 😞
The fanfiction is progressing well by the way, I hope to be able to serve you chapter 2 before May if everything goes well !
My Name is a series with many symbolisms.
I've already mentioned the famous photo of Mujin and Donghoon: when Mujin burns Jiwoo's papers, the flames separate him and Donghoon, and are where Taeju was in the second shot.
It symbolized the moment when Mujin finally cut off his relationship with Jiwoo and, by extension, his relationship with Donghoon : he ended his mourning for Donghoon and his nostalgia. Taeju's death was the electroshock that Mujin unfortunately needed to come back to reality and take off his blinders.
But there is another symbolic object, which is even more important in the plot : Mujin's knife.
Mujin gives this knife to Jiwoo at the beginning of the series, making him keep the promise to plunge him into the heart of Donghoon's murderer.
Of course, we will learn later that Mujin IS the murderer... And many will assume then that this is one more clue that Mujin has been wanting to die since the beginning at Jiwoo's hands.
The reality is simpler: Jiwoo is convinced that Cha is the murderer, Mujin knows it and has only reinforced this idea in her head, since he convinces her that the gun that killed her father was that of a policeman (and she will mistakenly think it was Cha's)
It's quite vicious but also characteristic of Mujin to act like this: he kills traitors with his own hand, and given the contempt he has for Cha, it's not surprising that he wanted to leave his "mark" on his death.
Especially since it was probably Cha who had Donghoon infiltrate Dongcheon. In Mujin's eyes, he's not just a boring cop doing his job and that revenge was personal.
And this knife, well, we all know where it ends up. Not in Cha's chest, or even in Mujin's (and I think Mujin wouldn't have objected to it and that he would have seen a certain poetry in it).
No, he ends up in the Taeju chest.
Taeju who, since the beginning of this whole story, was reluctant to Mujin's plan and had told him countless times that he didn't trust Jiwoo.
Taeju who was loyal to him despite doubts and reproaches, who ended up resigning himself to do what Mujin was unable to do.
Taeju whom Mujin indirectly killed. By giving the knife to Jiwoo. By spending years manipulating her, ignoring all of Taeju's warnings.
And this assassination becomes the catalyst for Mujin's revenge.
And again, the knife is the tool, since we see, when Jiwoo storms the Liber, that Mujin has the bloody knife on his desk.
So Mujin's objective is obvious at this point : the weapon that was used to kill Taeju (this death for which Mujin is indirectly responsible because of the dozens of shitty actions he has chained) will be used to avenge him and kill his killer.
But there is also something else.
It's been several days since Taeju died: there is Jiwoo's arrest and his custody then his escape with Pildo, then the hours spent hiding waiting for the right opportunity to storm the Liber.
And despite all this time... Mujin did not clean the knife of Taeju's blood, and kept it on display on his desk.
Why ?
I like to think that Mujin needed to keep the tainted blade so as not to flinch in front of Jiwoo and to remember why he needs to eliminate her and not try to save her or put their relationship back together.
Hello! A little post about a character that is not often mentioned in the series!
(For fanfiction: I wrote the final chapter, and I'm writing chapter 2 – I hope to finish it at the end of next week -)
Can we talk about a very underrated character in the series ?
Gi-Oh Cha.
A character that is not so impressive at first glance and who resembles the cliché of the "old cop" : an old man who has worked at the police station, who has dedicated his whole life to fighting criminals and who now has only one obsession, to bring down his "great enemy", regardless of ethics or morals.
He even becomes a rather pathetic character when we see his apartment for the first time: a lonely man, with no family or any other relatives than Pildo, whose apartment is a mix between a brothel and an archive depot because the only thing that keeps him going is his revenge against Dongcheon (as Jiwoo doesn't own anything in his apartment because she is focused on her own revenge by the way).
And yet, he is the one who gives Mujin the most trouble !
The ship ? If it hadn't been for Jiwoo to shoot the electrical box, Mujin and Taeju would probably have been captured.
Gangjae ? If it weren't for Jiwoo's warnings that releasing Mango was a trap and that he was waiting for him to move, Mujin would have been fooled and Gi-Oh Cha would no doubt have had ways to corner him more easily.
And that's not to mention the fight between Dongcheon and Gangjae where Mujin would have been arrested if Taeju hadn't saved his skin!
And Cha-Gi Oh owes his near-successes to his in-depth knowledge of Mujin's psychology:
He knows Mujin well enough to know that he would demand to see the new lab once he owns it, because Mujin is eager and ambitious and will want to get it up and running as soon as possible to increase their numbers.
He knows him well enough to know that Mujin will want to seek to kill Gangjae directly because his pride has been hurt and his authority challenged. And he's right since that's literally what Mujin says to Taeju:
Mujin: "Find Gangjae"
Taeju: "It's risky to act now"
Mujin turns to him, "Are you scared Taeju?"
Taeju : « No Mister. »
Mujin looks away and retorts, "If we don't fight back, we lose everything. They must know that those who attack the Dongcheon pay with their lives. »
But he is also cunning :
Already, he quickly understands that there is a mole within their unit, and, logically, thinks that it is Oh Hye-Jin since his arrival coincides with the leaks.
And what does he do to get to the bottom of the mole ? Announce that he has returned a Dongcheon (without mentioning who) to the entire team and, with Pildo's help, simply wait to see who will come to find out the mole's identity. And as a bonus ? This meeting will throw a spanner in the works of Doncheon, weakened by Donghoon's betrayal.
Then, seeing that Mujin does not react against Gangjae as hoped, he changes tactics instead of giving up :
If Mujin doesn't want to destroy Gangjae, so be it. Gi-Oh knows that Gangjae wants revenge on Dongcheon... so he will use Gangjae, who is much more unstable and desperate.
Which works since the police pressure is enough to make Gangjae crack who will offer him Mujin on a platter in exchange for his freedom.
And when you put it all together and you see how much he manages to put Mujin in trouble in a few months (while he has Jiwoo as a mole!)....how did he manage not to lock up Mujin after all these years ?
Especially when you remember that he has Donghoon's files... you know, the famous reports that detailed the meetings and the associates of Dongcheon met.
And precisely :
Donghoon wrote these reports for years. Day after day, he detailed every meeting, every decision made, every company or partner related to Dongcheon.
So how come Dongcheon is still standing ? All this information should have destroyed them, and it's not like Gi-Oh Cha still has to protect Donghoon since he is dead.
We can assume two things :
First, it can be assumed that in reality, Donghoon's reports would not contain much incriminating: perhaps he says that Mujin met with an X but that he could not actually detail the content of their conversation.
After all, after years of being around Mujin and Taeju every day, it must have been hard to betray them. And perhaps Donghoon, consciously or not, may have omitted some sensitive information to protect it.
The second theory is that Donghoon's case has been closed and the fear that the evidence will disappear.
After all, Donghoon's case was closed without investigation thanks to Mujin's contacts. It can be assumed that Gi-Oh Cha originally intended to unveil the files but must have feared what would happen if he presented the evidence (destruction ? corrupt justice ?). Not to mention that in recent years, many of these reports must be completely unverifiable and outdated.
It would also explain why they are desperate to bring down Mujin in a way that would make his accusations damning and difficult to silence in court: a gang war, videos showing him in a methamphetamine lab... These are far harder things to challenge and silence than dusty reports written by a mole whose loyalty and reliability could be challenged.)
In any case, it can be assumed that Cha Gi-Oh preferred to be much more cautious after Donghoon's death and probably hunted other small fish while waiting for the opportunity to go after Mujin again.
Gi-Oh Cha may not be the most charismatic character on the show, but he's a very cunning and intelligent person. He also shows how much knowledge of his opponent can be enough to destroy him! Something that Mujin has always neglected on his side, seeing in Gi-Oh Cha only a fool and probably an insect to be crushed.
« I would have liked to have taken care of his case. But apparently, you don't know the real Mujin. »
« Donghoon was weak and cowardly. He had more than one opportunity to kill me, but he lacked courage. He was born to be prey and I devoured him. He was so weak, that he managed to ruin his life and that of his poor little daughter…and mine too. »
I love that Mujin was comfortable enough with Taeju to show him his true colors. Taeju really knew the "real" Mujin.
Jiwoo thought she knew him, but Mujin only showed her his most charming and pleasant aspects to better manipulate her.
(And he ends up showing her the real monster he is when he knows that all is lost and that there is nothing left to save)
One day, I promise, I'll do a post about Taeju, Jiwoo and Mujin. I love the triangle they form !
Not because he is possessive or in love, but because Taeju is such a constant presence in his life that he has come to see him as an integral part of it.
