Squid Game Animal AU: Reasoning For The Species I Chose, Plus Headcanons 

Squid Game Animal AU: Reasoning for the species I chose, plus Headcanons 

(This is gonna be long, strap in sluts)

Gi-hun - Tibetan Wolf: Gi-hun is a relatively pacifistic person. He wants to prove that people have something good in them more than anything. Usually those are traits one would assign with herbivores. But Gi-hun is also willing to make sacrifices (as seen in S2). He’s willing to face reality but stoic enough to still want to get his ideas through. I made him a wolf/dog mix because in season 1 he has more of a domesticated/puppy like vibe, while he turns a little more violent/feral in season 2  

Jung-bae - Grizzly Bear: Jung-bae as a bear just made sense to me? He’s this sweet, nice guy but he was also a marines and probably shot some people so he definitely knows his shit. I think a bear reflects those traits the best. They look cuddly and fluffy but can rip you apart. Also I like the headcanon that Gi-hun uses his big body to sleep sometimes 

In-ho/Young-il - Chinese Water Deer: In-ho is a predator. He’s dangerous and manipulative as shit. But because he’s so manipulative, he’s able to make the audience forget that he’s a predator. That’s why I chose to make him a herbivore. He’s able to fool people with the way he looks but his fangs (even though they’re useless) are a little reminder of what he’s capable of 

Jun-hee - Ocelot: I honestly primarily chose an Ocelot because it fits her hair. But still, Jun-hee has a very feline vibe to her (at least in my eyes). She’s graceful but not afraid to get her hands dirty → willing to raise the baby on her own, not relying on help from Myung-gi. Also, in ocelots, the mother raises the kits alone. So it kinda made sense to me that she’d want Myung-gi out of her life, not only because of what he did but also because of instinct 

Dae-ho - Black Panther: choosing for Dae-ho was a little difficult. I wanted to make him a tiger at first, of course, because of his name. But that didn’t make sense to me. To me, Dae-ho isn’t a tiger, he just doesn’t fit the vibe. I chose a black panther because I thought it fits his physique better, if that makes any sense. He looks and moves in a way that I associate with panthers. Oh, and they’re my favourite big cats and I love Dae-ho so… 

Thanos - Chinese Crested Dog: for Thanos I originally wanted to make him a hyena. And then I got the idea to make him a spoiled pet dog, that grew up on the streets, got adopted, turned into a show dog and then got dropped off on the streets again, making him turn to… whatever drugs dogs have access to. And a Chinese crested made sense with his hair. I imagine, it’s dyed purple from his time as a show dog and he just never figured out how to get rid of the dye so he made it part of his personality  

Nam-gyu - Domestic Ferret: Nam-gyu was either gonna be a ferret, raccoon or cat. I chose a ferret because he just… looks like one?? There is something very ferret-like about Jae-won’s face. I can’t really pinpoint what it is, but he just… looks like a ferret to me. That’s my main reason, really. The other reason I wanted to make him a ferret, was because I thought it would be cute if he was small enough to laze in Thanos’s hair and lay on his head 

Gyeong-su - Marmoset Monkey: I have really no other reasoning for making Gyeong-su a marmoset, other than my sibling coming in, seeing a picture of him and going “he looks like one of those tiny monkeys”. That’s it. That’s my reasoning for Gyeong-su. I imagine he was an illegal pet and saw Thanos on TV, becoming a big fan of his show dog career idk 

Min-su - Domestic Bunny: Idk if anybody noticed that but Min-su is the only ‘pure’ herbivore of Thanos’s group (apparently Marmoset monkeys aren’t solely herbivorous, whatever that’s supposed to mean). He’s the only one without sharp teeth, lets say it like that. He’s the only one I would consider prey, even as a human, so I made him prey as an animal. I think Min-su is very self aware of his flaws and his weaknesses, even in the show. I wanted to transfer that into this AU, making him the only prey animal in a group of predators, so he has to be reminded of it every second, not sure if he can trust the people around him. I think it really fits him. 

Se-mi - Oriental shorthair/American shorthair cat: Se-mi I chose because of my sibling again. Because they came, looked at a picture of her and said “She looks like a Felix/Hyunjin love child” (from Stray Kids). And I couldn’t unsee it. And I always picture Felix as a cat, so it was pretty easy to decide. Also I think it fits her. And I’ve seen some adorable Cat/Bunny friendships so I think her interactions with Min-su (even though I don’t really consider them friends/close) would be really cute 

Geum-ja - Texel Sheep: having some experience with sheep, I think they really fit her caring and sweet nature. She also looks like she gives warm and nice hugs, similar to how it feels to hug a sheep. No idea if this makes sense to anybody else but… it did to me

Yeong-sik - Texel/Suffolk Sheep: Yeong-sik… I chose because of his hair. Ngl, I chose a sheep because of his curly hair. But I do think it fits him. Sheep tend to ‘follow the herd’ or ‘get easily influenced’ and I think Yeong-sik is someone who’s easily peer pressured into things → the way he left his mother, even though he did fight back at first 

Young-mi - Pallas Cat: Young-mi looks a lot like a Pallas cat, fucking fight me on it. 

Hyun-ju - Maned Lioness: Hyun-ju, I originally wanted to make a black panther too. I thought it would’ve fit her. But I also wanted to show the fact that she was transgender, since it’s such a big part of her character and just important in and on itself. I then read about maned lionesses and that they have enough testosterone to grow full manes.  I thought it fit so well and really showed what her character was about while still giving her individuality. It makes her stand out but not in a bad way. Also I think maned lionesses are fucking badass 

The Salesman - British Shorthair cat: This one I chose because I hate this fucker. Just to spite him. He wants to be special so bad, he wants to be above everyone, he wants to have a special little job outside of everything. Okay. Then he gets to be the most basic fucking animal ever. A simple, common British shorthair tuxedo cat. A fat tuxedo cat. Jokes aside, I also think Gong-yoo looks like a kitty. 

Gyeong-suk - Bull: now, that one was actually because I had no idea what else to do with him. I was debating if I should do an otter or some other kind of sea animal but a bull just fit better ig 

Seon-nyeo - European badger: I chose the badger for two reasons. One: her hair reminds me of the face markings. Two: I was a hardcore Warrior Cats kid and the whole ‘Midnight (a badger) gives out prophecies’ thing stuck with me 

Jun-ho - Deer: for Jun-ho I also wanted to do something deer-like, to resemble In-ho. Instead of being a Chinese water deer, he’s just a regular common deer. He lacks the fangs. Do with that what you will. 

Myung-gi - Civet: I fucking hate Myung-gi. I wanted to give him an otter at first but then I found out about civets. And I don’t know why but Siwan’s face just looks very civety. Similar to Nam-gyu 

@bushy-tailed-menace