All ‘Squid Game’ winners in order

The new Squid Game spinoff show going by the name of The Challenge may have received a lukewarm reaction, but that hasn’t killed the hype for this fictional universe by a long shot, with the fans still busy trying to divine its dirtiest secrets; What exactly was the organization behind these twisted games, and who were the competition’s previous winners?

Since the heyday of HBO’s Game of Thrones, we haven’t had a show that has captured the zeitgeist quite like it did. Enter Squid Game in 2021. Created by Hwang Dong-hyuk and starring Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game’s premise wasn’t entirely unique, reminiscent of earlier stories like Battle Royale or The Hunger Games, but it nevertheless managed to become Netflix’s biggest hit. The show follows a secret contest in South Korea between 456 people from all walks of life, where contestants participate in a series of children’s games with a sinister twist: Those eliminated are killed outright.

Part of what made the show special was the mystery behind the competition and its organizers, and though we eventually learned about the mastermind behind the titular Squid Game, the ending revealed that there may be offshoots of the competition in other countries. More intriguing still was the realization that Squid Game has been going on for quite a while, dating back to the late 80s. 

So, what has happened to each year’s winners?

All the winners in Squid Game‘s history sorted in chronological order

Well, aside from one of the previous winners, who is acting as the Front Man in the show, and the contest winner in the first season (Seong Gi-hun), the audience doesn’t really meet any other former contenders. Fans have theorized about the fate of the previous Squid Game winners repeatedly, of course, but the only solid info is in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene from episode five, where a rogue guard is reading a list of previous winners.

Here they are in the order they appear on the list:

So, there you have it, folks. Will season 2 introduce new contenders and an ultimate winner again? I guess we’ll only have to wait and see.