Squid Game’s VIPs, the powerful billionaires who watch and bet on the outcomes of the death games, wear a variety of golden masks to hide their identities – but why do these masks look like the faces of different animals? The deep pockets of these VIPs are the source of Squid Game’s 45.6 billion won grand prize. And while this amount of cash would forever change the life of any regular Squid Game player, for the VIPs, it is likely a negligible sum, as it’s inferred that these VIPs are some of the richest and most powerful people in the world.
That being said, just like anyone else who isn’t a player on Squid Game’s island, even the VIPs need to wear their own respective masks to keep their identities secret. The VIP masks are also made of gold, befitting the status of those who wear them. However, what’s the significance of these masks being made in the likeness of different animals?
In a nutshell, Squid Game’s surreal golden animal VIP masks are designed to exude wealth and power, in a theme that subtly alludes to the inhuman and animalistic ways they view the death games. Moreover, while the backstories of Squid Game’s VIPs remain a mystery throughout the series, the masks that they wear could provide clues about their bigger roles in the Squid Game universe. For instance, in Korea, deer are historically considered to be divine animals that connect earth’s shamans with the heavens, which infers that the wearer is a religious or spiritual leader. Meanwhile, the tiger mask could be a Siberian tiger, the national animal of South Korea, possibly representing a political leader or broker. And as the bull is a commonly used symbol in financial trading, the bull mask could represent a stock trader. In any case, these masks are striking reminders of the power and wealth that allow these anonymous VIPs to take their place as the live spectators and bettors of Squid Game.
However, while very little is confirmed about the VIPs behind these masks, the backstory of the most crucial Squid Game VIP is well-established. Curiously, Squid Game founder old man Oh Il-nam wears a golden mask in the likeness of an owl, which can be seen to allude to the intelligence of Il-nam that saves Gi-hun more than once in the death games - and that also allows Oh to conceal his true identity from the players for the entire game.
Moreover, the inherently surreal look of animal masks is also an easy way to represent danger and evoke uneasiness in viewers. In fact, the animal mask is a classic horror trope, as seen in shows and films like Black Mirror, Creep, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Donnie Darko, and the Saw movies. Following Squid Game’s rise to fame as Netflix’s most watched series, the show has earned its own place among classic horror titles that have used the animal mask to great effect.