Wait, is Squid Game based on a true story? All the real life inspiration explained

Right now, everyone on TikTok is discussing the theory that Squid Game might be based on a true story. There are images and stories being discussed, with everyone hoping the deadly games were never real.

It’s widely thought the images spreading onlinethat look like Squid Game’s pink stairs and hallway areas are AI produced. But, still some people are sharing stories of things that have happened, that have been compared to Squid Game. So, here’s everything we know about if any part of Squid Game on Netflix is based on a true story.

via Netflix

There was a Korean camp that has been described as ‘real life Squid Game’

In the 80s, a man was jailed for embezzlement and illegal confinement, for having a Korean camp which has been described as like a “real life Squid Game”. According to reports, Brothers Home was run like a dictatorship, forming platoons in which inmates were forced to compete against and abuse others to survive. Punishments for people there were called “games.”

It was apparently set up when the country was “cleaning the streets of homeless and other unwanted people” before the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. The creators of the camp believed they were “purifying” the country. 551 people are reported to have died at Brothers Home, but the real number is thought to be far higher.

What has the Squid Game creator said about Squid Game being based on a true story?

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Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has said the idea for Squid Game isn’t based on a true story, but the stories within it do reflect a deeper meaning of society. The story is based on his own economic struggles, as well as the class disparity in South Korea and capitalism.

He has also previously said he drew much of his inspiration from Japanese manga and anime, with themes of survival. “I freely admit that I’ve had great inspiration from Japanese comics and animation over the years,” Dong-hyuk told Variety. “When I started, I was in financial straits myself and spent much time in cafes reading comics including Battle Royale and Liar Game.”

via Netflix

The story of Gi-hun in Squid Game is based on real life events

In 2021, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk explained Gi-hun’s backstory is inspired by the real Ssangyong Motor Strike that took place in South Korea in 2009. At the start of season one, Gi-hun was laid off from his job at Dragon Motors, where he had worked for 16 years. This is what lead him to go into the games.

In 2009, the Ssangyong Motor Company in Pyongtaek laid off 43 per cent of its whole workforce in one go, which was a huge 2,646 workers. The workers then did a sit-in strike which lasted 77 days, one of the longest and most intense stints of industrial action in the history of South Korea.

“Through the reference to the SsangYong Motor layoffs, I wanted to show that any ordinary middle-class person in the world we live in today can fall to the bottom of the economic ladder overnight,” the creator said.

Squid Game 2 is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.