Meet The Real-Life Korean Idols Who Inspired "KPop Demon Hunters"

Animated film KPop Demon Hunters is presently dominating Netflix with its eye candy visuals and irrepressible soundtrack. Directed by Maggie Kang in collaboration with Chris Appelhans, the movie merges the best of K-pop with a fantastical storyline sure to have anyone glued to their screens. Taking center stage in the flick are the HUNTRIX and the Saja Boys, two rival groups who battle it out on stage and in the supernatural realm.

Fashioning characters after one of the most beloved genres of music is no easy task, especially with fans ready to nitpick each mannerism and ad-lib. To create these fictional idols as accurately as possible, Maggie and Chris had to take notes from some of the real world's most prepossessing acts. Unsurprisingly, inspiration arose from groups that are probably already mainstays in your playlists.

For Rumi, Mira, and Zoey—the demon-slaying HUNTRIX themselves—inspiration arrived by the K-Pop genre's best of the best. "[We looked at] ITZY, BLACKPINK, and TWICE,” Maggie reveals."“Who else? I think it was a lot of mixing."

Each girl in the trio was meant to appear different from their co-members, in terms of hair color, signature style, and physical nuances. "With their smile, you'll notice Zoey has more of a heart-shaped mouth when she expresses herself," the director illustrates. "With Rumi, we leaned into a very classic, beautiful Korean look...  We wanted Mira to be long and lean because I love that look on a woman. I think that's so beautiful."

As the "problem child" and lead dancer of the group, Mira was fashioned after Korean model Ahn So Yeon. So Yeon had a "fashion-forward" aura to her, which was a crucial aspect to Mira's characterization.

Meanwhile, the Saja Boys aimed to tick off all the archetypes one might find in a typical Korean boy band. The quintet was coded after the real-life superstars of Tomorrow X Together, BTS, Stray Kids, ATEEZ, BIGBANG, and Monsta X. Each member has a trait akin to the boy band formula: there's one with an Adonis-like figure, one with a mysterious aura, and a maknae who's just plain adorable. 

While each member was uniquely designed, they were all actually built from the same CG body or template. "Except for Abby Saja, because he's a little bit bigger," Maggie adds, pertaining to the muscular member. "We bulked him up like 20%."

K-drama fans would recognize the voice behind the group's leader, Jinu, as Ahn Hyo Seop. While the character bears similarities to the Business Proposal lead's attributes, he wasn't intentionally the reference, as Jinu was created before Hyo Seop signed on to voice him. However, Maggie admits that Jinu's "classic Korea looks" were mainly inspired by Cha Eun Woo and Nam Joo Hyuk. The resemblance is uncanny!