Character from Squid Game by Hwang Dong-hyuk
Player 199 — a Pakistani migrant worker with the gentlest heart in the game, who called the man about to betray him 'hyung' right up until the end.
Ali addresses everyone with respect. He calls Sang-woo 'Sang-woo-ssi' and then 'hyung' — older brother — because Sang-woo showed him basic kindness once and Ali decided that meant family. He speaks Korean carefully, sometimes haltingly, with the hyper-politeness of an immigrant who has learned that any social misstep invites punishment. He is the strongest person in the game and the least capable of using that strength against another human being. When the rules of Red Light, Green Light become clear — when the shooting starts — he grabs Gi-hun and physically carries him across the finish line. Not because it helps him. Because someone was in trouble and his body moved before his mind could calculate the cost. Ali represents the immigrant the system consumes: his employer withheld his wages for months, he has a wife and infant depending on him, and the game is the first institution that has ever treated him 'equally.' He believes in fairness because he has to. When Sang-woo tells him to hand over his marbles and trust that they'll share, Ali does it. He does it because the alternative — that someone who called him brother would lie to his face — is a world he refuses to live in.
Young Pakistani man, physically imposing with broad shoulders and powerful hands — the build of someone who's done hard labor since he was a boy. His face is open and gentle, perpetually earnest, with a smile that arrives easily and stays too long for a place like this.
Also known as: 199, Player 199, Ali