A character sheet for Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid. Spoilers for the whole comic follow.
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Whale Star
Su-a Heo
The heroine. She starts out a handmaiden for a young lady, but becomes entrenched in the Joseon independence movement after losing her voice.
- Country Mouse: She grew up in a seaside town and is a bit out of sorts upon first arriving in the bustling Gyeungsong.
- Cute Mute: She loses her voice after being forced to drink lye, but keeps her cute appearance that both Uihyeon and Haesu are charmed by.
- Exact Eavesdropping: Su-a has a habit of listening in on conversations during pivotal moments. Her involvement with Whale Star begins when she overhears Haesu and Yeongyeong talking about their plans for the arms and explosives, and ends after she overhears how Uihyeon plans to kill his dad and send her away for her safety.
- Fairytale Motifs:
- After Su-a compares herself to a fish, content so long as she has basic necessities provided for her, Uihyeon compares her instead to the title character of The Little Mermaid. The story itself is a broad retelling, since Su-a falls in love with him, a rich and handsome young man whom she saves from drowning, but loses her voice, and eventually sacrifices herself to save him.
- Haesu, who grew up in Russia, compares Su-a to Snegurochka for her innocence.
- He Knows Too Much: Yeongyeong and Haesu poison her because she happened to overhear them talking about the resistance's plans.
- More Expendable Than You: After learning that her love interest Uihyeon will likely kill himself in taking down his father, Su-a knocks him out with opium and goes to do the deed herself. She succeeds.
- Never Learned to Read: Su-a was raised as a servant and can't read or write. It becomes a roadblock when she is rendered mute. Uihyeon later starts teaching her how to read.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: In the story's final act, she dresses as a boy and goes on the run in an attempt to contact Uihyeon after the rebels are scattered.
- Talking with Signs: After she becomes literate, she sometimes communicates with others by writing down what she wants to say on pieces of paper.
- Tareme Eyes: In contrast to the aristocratic Yunhwa and Yeongyeong, who are drawn with sharper eyes, Su-a is drawn with round eyes that make her look more innocent and less worldly.
- Unrequited Tragic Maiden: Fitting for the main character in this retelling of The Little Mermaid. The kind and cute Su-a realizes that Uihyeon loves her, but he will always love Joseon more, so she undertakes a Suicide Mission in his place so he can live.
Uihyeon Kang
- Patriotic Fervor: He loves Joseon purely and deeply and wants to fight for its freedom without caring for his personal wellbeing.Uihyeon: To love Joseon is to keep death a close companion. That is my original sin.
- Princely Young Man: The only son of a rich and influential judge, Uihyeon is handsome, kind, educated, and well-regarded by his peers. He also fills the Prince Charming role in the plot's The Little Mermaid theme.
- Rich Kid Turned Social Activist: Uihyeon is the Korean son of a rich judge who afforded him many opportunities, including studying abroad in Japan. However, witnessing the abuse of Koreans in Japan following the Great Kanto Earthquake made him want to fight for Korean independence, so he went home, took a gap year, and joined an independence movement.
- Stepford Smiler: In the second half of the story, Uihyeon is returned to the clutches of his father and starts plotting against him. To avoid that latter part being clear, he schools himself into the perfect and dutiful son, even as he tries to cope with the loss of his friends.
- Uncertain Doom: The final chapter reveals that nobody knows what happened to him after Su-a died assassinating his father. Rumors circulate that he killed himself, went insane, or was spirited away to another country. Geon thinks he's still alive, but the story doesn't clarify if Geon is right.
Haesu Song
- Dark and Troubled Past: His past is revealed in a Troubled Backstory Flashback in the story's second half. His father was executed during a Japanese massacre in Yeonhaeju, during which his younger brother was forced to kill his mother; said brother killed himself as well afterwards. After this, Haesu went down to Gyeongseong and joined the independence movement.
- Dye or Die: He's wanted by the Japanese government so he cuts his long hair short to avoid being recognized.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's stern and cold towards Su-a, but hides a dark backstory and is truly loyal to the rebel cause.
- Licked by the Dog: The first hint that Haesu isn't simply the ruthless hardass Su-a thinks of him as is that 13-year-old Nokju adores him. It is later revealed that they lived in the same Korean settlement in Russia, and traveled to Gyeongseong together after a massacre happened in their village.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: After Uihyeon calls him out for causing Su-a's muteness, Haesu scoffs at the notion that Uihyeon can fight for Joseon without a little dirty work.
- Tragic Dream: He wanted to become a doctor in order to help the citizens of Joseon. After the death of his whole family, his aptitude for quick thinking and on-the-fly decisions are diverted to becoming a freedom fighter instead, and he dies without seeing either dream come true.
Sunim Hwang
- Parental Substitute: She acted as a mother figure to both Haesu and Nokju after the loss of their families.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: She's the most senior of the independence fighters who understands how deeply Su-a was wronged by Haesu and Yeongyeong. After Su-a refuses to enact vengeance on them Sunim ensures she is looked after, giving her a job and later lodging.
Yeongyeong Han
- Broken Bird: The losses of her father, their family business, and husband turned her into an emotionally withdrawn woman who only has the rebellion in mind. Geon laments that she doesn't let herself be comforted.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: As she describes it, her marriage was actually arranged by a matchmaker, but she grew to love her husband and still carries the memory of him. Too bad he was sickly and then died after being tortured by the Japanese only a few years into their marriage.
- Signature Headgear: The hairpin she is almost always shown wearing was a gift from her beloved, deceased husband.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Yeongyeong lost her husband to torture by the Japanese and now raises their infant son without him.
Inseong Han
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After he learns that Yeongyeong plans to leave her baby in an orphanage so she can continue supporting the rebels he calls her out for being uncaring and declares that he'll take care of little Jingyu himself.
- Regretful Traitor: He betrays the rebels to Gyeunhyeong in hopes of getting Yeongyeong out of prison. Not that Gyeunhyeong had particularly strong intentions of helping him, but she kills herself before Gyeunhyeong can lift a finger. Inseong is turned over to the resistance a broken man.
Nokju
- Happily Adopted: She misses her biological family but is very happy as Sunim's adopted daughter.
- Genki Girl: She's thirteen and can't help but talk a mile a minute at all times.
- Locked Out of the Loop: She confides in Su-a that she hates that nobody tells her anything important due to her youth.
- Precocious Crush: That young girl Nokju wants to marry Haesu, who is much older than her, is initially treated as an endearing quirk before it's explained that the two of them are survivors of a tragedy that struck their hometown.
- Sacrificial Lion: She's a cute, sweet, and innocent child, and her death at the hands of Gyeunhyeong Kang's man at the story's midpoint signals the plot's much darker turn.
Other Characters
Yunhwa Yeo
- Driven to Suicide: Feeling trapped by her gender and her father's expectations for her, Yunhwa kills herself.
- Important Haircut: After learning that her father has set up a marriage between her and a Japanese officer, Yunhwa cuts her hair short in an attempt at rebellion.
- Informed Attractiveness: Su-a's narration lets us know that Yunhwa is a great beauty.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Yunhwa is prickly and rude to the help, but is stifled by her gender and position in life. When push comes to shove she recognizes the value of helping Uihyeon and helps him escape. Before she kills herself, she makes sure her loyal handmaiden is provided for.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: She's the daughter of a rich man who been kept cloistered in the Yeo compound for most of her life. It frustrates her that she isn't allowed to go outside and learn about the world.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Her father wouldn't let her study in Tokyo like her brothers and she's just kept around the house like a doll on display. She tells Uihyeon that she can only muster up a bit of sympathy for the independence movement because she'll be treated as a second-class citizen for her gender no matter what.
Geon Lee
- Country Mouse: He's a scholarship student from the country and describes being amazed when he first arrived in Gyeongseong.
- Establishing Character Moment: He is introduced going out of his way to help Su-a, a total stranger, find her destination, and even lends her money to get there. He remains a loyal and true character to the end.
- Nice Guy: He's very friendly and affable. His Establishing Character Moment is helping Su-a, a complete stranger who happens to be mute, to her destination. Throughout the comic he shows nothing but niceness to the other characters, and is even understanding of Yeongyeong's extreme coldness.
- Romancing the Widow: Downplayed. He falls in love with Yeongyeong, who is (a) a widow (b) with a baby (c) who is more than a few years older than him (d) and is part of the independence movement. He's well aware that all of the aforementioned factors means a romance between them is unfeasible and is simply grateful for the time they get to spend together.
- Scholarship Student: He's on a scholarship studying education. He's a little unhappy that being one means he doesn't have much of a choice in his future career and is further depressed by how he'll probably just wind up teaching Japanese. It's part of why he slowly falls in with the rebels.
Gyeunhyeong Kang
- Abusive Parents: He compares his son to a dog that must be trained to one's preferences, and cares more about his household's reputation than he does about Uihyeon himself. After Uihyeon is returned to him Gyeunhyeong has him tied up without food or water for days to teach him a lesson. Later Gyeunhyeong railroads him into continuing his civil servant career and marrying Haruko in order to become an even more respectable pro-Japanese family.
- Archnemesis Dad: After Geunhyeong causes the downfall of the rebel cell, his son Uihyeon, who was a member, decides to assassinate him.
- Les Collaborateurs: He's Korean but remains prominent and rich because he's a pro-Japanese judge in Gyeongseong/Seoul. In flashbacks, the other rebels refer to him as "practically Japanese", and joke that his tongue has been licking Japanese boots for so long it's probably black by now.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: He's an influential judge who uses his resources and connections to destroy Uihyeon's group of comrades, then make Uihyeon look like a heroic spy for the government who ratted them out.
Haruko Ijuin
- Elegant Classical Musician: She's a rich and pretty young lady who is rather skilled with the violin. Uihyeon used to sit under her window and listen to her playing.
- Hopeless Suitor: Her crush on Uihyeon doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell (even if Uihyeon wasn't so taken with Su-a, he still resents Haruko for being the clueless representative of the Japanese occupying force).
- Loving a Shadow: Poor Haruko can't get it through her head that the version of Uihyeon she loves, the sensitive young student who used to live in her home, is gone. Nevertheless she keeps trying to reach out to him, hoping he'll eventually like then love her back. He finally breaks off their engagement for good.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: She's the shy and sheltered daughter of a rich Japanese businessman who can't understand why Uihyeon empathizes so much with the struggles of his fellow Koreans.
- Shrinking Violet: Her father describes her as painfully shy. She tends to shrink herself in scenes and initially struggles to assert herself in conversations with Uihyeon.
