The Inspiration For KPop Demon Hunter’s Demon King Revealed

KPop Demon Hunters constructs a vibrant mythology where the power of music serves as the ultimate weapon to unite humanity against encroaching darkness. Furthermore, the narrative stakes come from the constant threat of an invasion from the demon realm, led by the terrifying Demon King, Gwi-Ma (voiced by Lee Byung-hun). This antagonist is driven by an insatiable hunger to break into the human world and steal souls, presenting a lethal challenge for the girl group heroes. While the final version of the villain is incredibly memorable, the newly released art book for KPop Demon Hunters reveals that the character almost took a completely different form.

The Art of KPop Demon Hunters outlines the drastic evolution of Gwi-Ma’s persona during the development phase. Writer Danya Jimenez reveals that earlier drafts envisioned a more mortal version of the villain who simply wanted to be a performer, comparing him to “essentially Mr. G from Summer Heights High and all he wanted was to perform on stage as an idol.” Ultimately, the team shifted toward a more abstract concept discovered by writer/director Maggie Kang during her research into demonology: a being described only as a giant, consuming mouth. “There was no physical description of it, so we had a lot of liberties to create the design of him,” Kang explains. “This flaming mouth, because he’s the voice in all our heads. He’s the little whispers that tell you the little bad things about yourself when you don’t want to listen to them.”

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The shift created a villain that stood apart from the typical tropes of animated antagonists. Writer/director Chris Appelhans notes that, unlike traditional bad guys “who want to sit on a throne and lord over the human world,” Gwi-Ma is defined by a terrifying nothingness. “He’s kind of nihilistic. He just wants to pull you down into this void and consume your soul…there’s nothing beyond it, it’s just the end, which feels scarier, and more primal,” Appelhans says.

The Villains of KPop Demon Hunters Were Inspired By Korean Folklore

The threat in KPop Demon Hunters extends beyond Gwi-Ma to the legions of lesser demons infiltrating the human world. The art book details how the creative team designed these creatures to allow for “subtle intrusion within the storyline” while maintaining a cohesive visual language rooted in Korean history. While the minions vary wildly in terms of size, limb count, and eyes, their general aesthetic is heavily inspired by Dokkaebi, the mischievous goblins of Korean folklore, mixed with the traditional colorful coloring known as dancheong.

To ensure the demon army felt uniform despite their physical differences, the designers implemented specific recurring traits. The creatures consistently exhibit glowing golden eyes and unique “subdermal patterning.” This skin texture, as the book reveals, echoes the shape language of the Woodblock of Daedongnyeojido, a famous early map of Korea from the Joseon Dynasty. This attention to cultural detail grounds the supernatural elements of the film, connecting the modern K-pop aesthetic back to the country’s deep historical roots.

KPop Demon Hunters is currently streaming on Netflix.

What do you think of the version of Gwi-Ma that made it into the final cut of KPop Demon Hunters? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!