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Main characters
Jin Seon-mi/Samjang
Jin Seon-mi/Samjang
Played by: Oh Yeon-seo, Kal So-won (as a child).
The main protagonist of the series, Jin Seon-mi is a young woman whose life was made unusual by the ability to see ghosts. As the black sheep of her family and having no friends, she started up a real estate business around finding cheap haunted properties, exorcising the ghosts, and making a profit. Reuniting with Son O-gong changes her life forever.
- Badass Normal: At first. Since she failed to get Woo's supposedly magical umbrella when she was little, Seon-mi had no choice but to deal with the evil spirits around her without any supernatural powers except what makes her a target. By the time we catch back up with her as an adult she has built a successful real estate business out of dealing with ghosts in her own way.
- Black Sheep: Aside from her grandmother, who passed away shortly after the prologue, Seon-mi is an outcast in her family. They generally avoid her for being "cursed" (eventually revealed not to be because her strange behavior around invisible spirits but because of her parents and home village getting wiped out by a mysterious outbreak leading up to her birth) and mostly interact with her just to mooch off of her.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She comes across as this to Muggles since they can't see spirits or understand her strange mannerisms, but she's the CEO of a very successful real estate company, and kept herself alive and safe with just her little magic umbrella.
- Grew a Spine: Having O-gong in her life to protect and care for her after a lifetime of isolation due to her abilities helps Seon-mi tell her cousin to stop demanding money.
- Informed Ability: Exactly how she survived all the evil spirits she met while growing up until reuniting with O-gong and Woo is never really explained, as once she reunites with them she is consistently helpless without them (at least until she starts to gain real powers). The only spirit we see her defeat prior to the reunion is coincidentally a human ghost she manages to help resolve the Unfinished Business of, not a legitimately dangerous evil spirit.
- I See Dead People: Jin Seon-mi has always been able to see ghosts which helped make her a pariah growing up.
- Messianic Archetype: As Samjang, her role is to save humanity from a great evil (and die in the process). Even her birth, while seen as cursed to most Muggles (since it took place during a mysterious and terrible outbreak) turned out to be what saved everyone (her blood had the key to ending the outbreak).
Son O-gong
Son O-gong
Played by: Lee Seung-gi
Being the Monkey King himself, O-gong is a powerful yet mischievous immortal being.
- The Ace: He's not The Great Sage Equal To Heaven for nothing.
- Declaration of Protection: He struck a deal with Seon-mi when she was little that he would protect her if she freed him from his prison. He had no intention of actually doing so, but circumstances force him to follow through.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The deal he made with no intention of following through later prevents him from eating Samjang. He tries to get Seon-mi to undo it, but his previous lies mean she sees through him.
- Monkey King Lite: He is the actual Monkey King from Journey to the West.
- Nailed to the Wagon: A variant. He's banned from drinking alcohol until he's reinstated in the Spiritual Realm. He has a collection of nearly 3,000 bottles he plans to drink once he's allowed.
- The Only One Allowed To Eat You: Justifies protecting Seon-mi from other evil spirits this way.
Devil King Woo
Devil King Woo
Played by: Cha Seung-won
Once an evil monster, Devil King Woo turned over a new leaf a thousand years ago and seeks to earn his place as a deity by doing good deeds without falling back into temptation.
- Catchphrase: He is known for his catchphrase as a judge on his show, usually saying that a contestant passed (to the annoyance of the other judges).
- Large Ham
- Satan Is Good: While based on an unrelated character from Journey to the West, Devil King Woo runs Lucifer Entertainment, yet is an affable guy who is serious about his Heel–Face Turn.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Is almost always wearing expensive, often brightly colored suits.
Villains
Asanyeo
Asanyeo
Played by: Lee Se-young
An ancient priestess who was sealed away millennia ago. She returns in the present to regain her former power by any means necessary.
- Cosmic Plaything: When Asanyeo discovers that Kang Dae-sung originally killed the body she now inhabits, she realizes to her horror that she did not choose him out of her own free will as she thought, but that she was just the Unwitting Pawn of destiny all along.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Asanyeo was sealed in a stone coffin buried beneath a sacred tree and actively guarded by a spirit capable of possessing people to keep them away from the land.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Asanyeo is introduced as a terrible evil threat that was sealed away in the past for good reason and her first actions upon being released threaten several of the main characters. However, as time goes on, she is consistently shown to not simply believe her actions are justified, but that she is a proper benevolent priestess. She is horribly offended at being called an evil spirit and is legitimately shocked to the point of denial when it's revealed that the dragon she plans to summon will be an evil one. What little we learn of her backstory is that she was horribly betrayed and we know she also saved Summer Fairy, implying her perspective is honest. At the end of the series, when the devastation of her actions can no longer be denied, she finally accepts that she had become a villain and forces the heroes to break her immortality and kill her.
Kang Dae-sung
Kang Dae-sung
Played by: Song Jong-ho
A charming politician with a dark secret who begins to seek power at any cost.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Kang Dae-sung first appears fairly early in the series and his future role is subtly foreshadowed, but he doesn't start to appear regularly until close to halfway and doesn't take his central role until after Asanyeo's initial scheme go awry.
- It Gets Easier: Kang Dae-sung's first murder was a legitimate accident. After Asanyeo desensitizes him to having obstacles in his way being killed for him, he orders it more and more casually until he kills someone by his own hands.
- Sanity Slippage: Kang Dae-sung starts out as a very calm and charismatic man who is only really shaken when he thinks his involuntary manslaughter has come back to haunt him. As Asanyeo starts to kill for him and fill him with delusions of grandeur, however, he becomes increasingly unhinged, more likely to adopt wild expressions, and more willing to take extreme actions (culminating in committing a murder intentionally and directly himself).
- Villain with Good Publicity: Dae-sung starts out as a charming and extremely popular public figure. Even once the heroes expose some of his evil deeds, his reputation is enough to save him from any serious fallout.
Supporting Cast
Jeo Pal-Kye/PK
Jeo Pal-Kye/PK
Played by: Lee Hong-gi
A pig demon who now works as a K-Pop star under Devil King Woo.
- All-Loving Hero: PK is the only one willing to see the good in Asanyeo, even admitting that he realized Jung Se-ra had passed on yet was still treating Asanyeo well. He also is extremely vigilant about making sure Jade Dragon respects Alice's body while he inhabits it.
- Punny Name: Pal-kye the pig goes by "PK", as a star, which sounds like "Piggy".
Sa O-Jeong
Sa O-Jeong
Played by: Jang Gwang
Another monster and one of O-gong's only true friends. Works in the human world as the CEO of MSUN, a major mobile phone company.
- Almighty Janitor: Played with. His true identity is an undyingly faithful servant who loves nothing more than to serve his friends, whether it be cleaning or cooking or anything in between. His human world identity is an extremely powerful CEO of a major mobile phone company, where the idea of him talking subserviently to anyone is treated as a complete shock.
Richie/Jung Se-ra
Richie/Jung Se-ra
Played by: Lee Se-young
Initially a zombie accidentally reanimated by Samjang's blood, she regains enough of a mind to befriend the heroes as they search for her identity and why she was killed.
- Major Injury Under Reaction: Since she's already dead, she doesn't really notice serious injuries unless either someone notices or they actively impede her.
- Our Zombies Are Different: Richie is animated and maintained by Samjang's blood. She begins fairly mindless and potentially dangerous, but slowly regains her mind and memories. Nevertheless, decay is a constant problem for her, which the other characters find several ways to combat.
Ms. Ma Ji-young
Ms. Ma Ji-young
Played by: Lee El
Devil King Woo's right hand, an extremely loyal and hyper-competent dog demon.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: While Ma is loyal to Devil King Woo no matter what, she slowly grows to realize that what he wants isn't always what he needs, eventually becoming a bit of The Conscience that helps keep him on his path to redemption.
- Terrible Artist: Her drawing of the Japanese child ghost is...not great. Subverted in that she included enough relevant information that Seon-mi is able to identify her.
- Undying Loyalty: Ms. Ma is completely and utterly loyal to Devil King Woo.
- Yes-Man: Ma is very eager to please Devil King Woo. Early on she regularly offers to kill people who cause him even the slightest of inconveniences and he has to remind her they're trying to be good now.
Master Subori
Master Subori
Played by: Sung Ji-ru
The public face of the Spiritual Realm. Initially is working with Devil King Woo to help him become a deity.
- Butt-Monkey: He constantly has to suffer the wrath of O-gong or Devil King Woo on behalf of his bosses, and his bosses themselves often leave him to pick up the pieces of their decisions.
Lee Han-ju
Lee Han-ju
Played by: Kim Sung-oh
Seon-mi's only employee and only remaining connection to other humans. A loving family man.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Has to deal with work issues while Seon-mi is distracted by supernatural concerns.
- Butt-Monkey: He's a goofy guy working for an infamously strange boss and gets dragged along into strange situations that he simply isn't prepared for. O-gong often takes advantage of his Muggle nature to sometimes abuse him without Han-ju having any way of knowing why his "bad luck" just occurred.
- Good Parents: For all his goofiness, Han-ju is consistently shown to not just be a good parent to his own kids, but goes so far as to rescue and adopt a victim of child abuse.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Han-ju is introduced to almost every supernatural character and his children are even exposed to some of their magic, but the truth of the situation is never revealed to him even when he sees Seon-mi's ghost at the end of the series.
General Winter
General Winter
Played by: Sung Hyuk
Once a powerful being, now has retired and runs an ice cream shop.
- An Ice Person: Cold weather both influences General Winter's power level and is in turn influenced by his emotional state. General Winter can manipulate cold even to the point of making objects out of ice. A running joke is his ice cream shop is unpopular because he makes the whole place cold, making people want warmer food.
- The Atoner: After Summer Fairy dies and he realizes his mistake in assisting Asanyeo, General Winter works to make up for it. He takes over his sister's business, drops the aggression from his advice, is talked into actions to help make up for his past, and ultimately risks his life to buy everyone else time.
Summer Fairy
Summer Fairy
Played by: Sung Hyuk, Seo Eun-woo (as a spirit)
General Winter's opposite, a social lady who runs a cocktail shop.
- The Bartender: A fairly straightforward example of a character who sells alcohol and dispenses some of the most helpful advice in the series.
Jonathan Lee
Jonathan Lee
Played by: Michael K. Lee, Kim Hyun-bin (as a child)
A kind-hearted Korean-American who was saved by Seon-mi as a child and seeks to immortalize her heroism in a film based on her life.
- Gratuitous English: Being from America, most of his dialogue is in English which occasionally leaves others in the conversation confused.
Cha Eun
Cha Eun
Played by: Kim Ji-soo
The Devil King's first love and motivation behind his actions. She was cursed to live through a 10,000 year cycle of tragic reincarnations as punishment for stealing the souls of children to save her own child's life.
- Fate Worse than Death: For stealing the souls of children to save her own child's life, she was cursed to regularly reincarnate in lives that would turn out tragically with her losing her family and dying attempting to avenge them.
Jade Dragon
Jade Dragon
Played by: Yoon Bo-ra
A water spirit who was kicked out of his home. Found by O-Jeong in a fish market and rescued before he could be eaten.
- The Alcoholic: Constantly causes trouble by getting drunk in Alice's body, leading to PK and Devil King Woo having to go to great lengths to avoid scandal (not always successfully).
Alice
Alice
Played by: Yoon Bo-ra
One of Devil King Woo's top stars, often seen with PK.
- Locked Out of the Loop: She is completely unaware of the supernatural creatures that employ her. Even after she's spent an extended time possessed by one, she is merely left wondering why she made such unusual decisions and why she doesn't remember any of them.
The Peddler
The Peddler
Played by: Im Ye-jin
A mysterious older woman who runs a shop full of magical artifacts.
- Secret-Keeper: Turns out to know secrets for most of the characters, like Samjang's true destiny and what happened to Devil King Woo's child.
The Peddler's Grandson/Hong Hae-a
The Peddler's Grandson/Hong Hae-a
Played by: Jung Jae-won
The peddler's grandson who doesn't take his job very seriously and tends to sell dangerous artifacts to the unwary.
- High-School Hustler: He's a teenager who isn't above scamming customers when his grandmother isn't around.
- Phoneaholic Teenager: Spends his time minding the shop playing video games on his phone.
- Spoiled Brat: He's almost always playing video games when someone comes into the shop, tries to rip the customers off, and even tries to sell artifacts to Muggles to make extra cash on the side.
Others
The Great Egret
The Great Egret
Played by: Oh Yeon-ah
The spirit who, in the form of a doctor, delivered Seon-mi as a child. Also turns out to have been the guardian of a previous Samjang.
- Love Hurts: She never got over losing her Samjang to the point of eventually convincing O-gong to help her kill herself.
- Spanner in the Works: The Great Egret reveals to O-gong the fact that many of the events that have taken place in the story so far have been arranged by the Spiritual Realm all along. This knowledge throws the plan off its tracks and allows the heroes to Screw Destiny (if only a little).
Seon-mi's Grandmother
Seon-mi's Grandmother
Played by: Lee Yong-yi
The one who raised Seon-mi after her parents passed away. Having died before Seon-mi became an adult, she nevertheless has an effect on her life.
- Creepy Changing Painting: Non-creepy variant. Seon-mi's family has a memorial service for her grandmother that they won't let Seon-mi attend. O-gong eventually agrees to send the grandmother's favorite popcorn to the event in a fashion that comes across like a Poltergeist attack to the attendees. The portrait of the grandmother smiles at the sight of the chaos done in her memory.
- Doting Grandparent: Seon-mi was not only the only one in her family to not treat her as a Black Sheep, she cared for her enough to return as a ghost to save her from an evil spirit.
- Like Mother Unlike Son: Seon-mi's grandmother adored her and cared for her granddaughter even after her passing. Her son, Seon-mi's uncle meanwhile fully believes that Seon-mi is cursed, and treats her like a pariah while still demanding money.
