From Goblin to BTS: How is KPop Demon Hunters a fantastical love letter to Korean pop culture

Netflix's 2025 musical fantasy Korean movie KPop Demon Hunters is not just a catchy title brimming with neon lights and mythical demons. It is also a mystical love letter to Korean pop culture, filled with many K-pop and K-drama easter eggs.

Directed by Maggie Kang, the movie follows a stylish K-pop girl group called HUNTR/X, secret demon hunters, serving as a metaphor for the dual lives of K-pop idols on and off stage.

The movie is already the talk of the town and a hit among K-pop and K-drama fans, and is brimming with references to K-dramas like Goblin and Business Proposal. In addition, the fictional K-pop groups in the movie are inspired by real-life idol groups such as BTS, Stray Kids, and BLACKPINK.

At its heart, KPop Demon Hunters celebrates Korean pop culture and mythology at its finest, and the fantastical fusion of the two is truly worth watching.

Here are some K-pop and K-drama references in KPop Demon Hunters that you might have missed.

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Exploring K-pop references in KPop Demon Hunters

From the very first trailer, KPop Demon Hunters felt like a K-pop anime inspired, and fans were already speculating and comparing the characters to famous K-pop idol groups.

Considering the craze for idol groups in South Korea, which is now spreading globally, it is no surprise that Kang drew inspiration from real-life K-pop bands for her characters.

Talking about the KPop Demon Hunters' dashing boy band The Saja Boys, the characters Jinu, Abby, Mystery, Romance, and Baby were inspired by popular Korean boy bands like BTS, Tomorrow X Together, Stray Kids, BIGBANG, and many more.

In an interview with Forbes, Kang discussed how she collaborated with her directing partner Chris Appelhans and tapped into K-pop group archetypes, which can also be seen in The Saja Boys.

Like every K-pop boy band, Kang's fictional group also has the muscular one, the romantic one, and the baby (also called the maknae) of the group, as she explained:

“I purposely gave him [the romantic idol] these bangs that were meant to be heart-shaped...Baby Saja is, obviously, the maknae (youngest)...[They] have this look and they’re usually the rapper of the group.”

The female group HUNTR/X (Rumi, Mira, and Zoey), who are the stars of KPop Demon Hunters, was also inspired by popular K-pop girl bands.

In addition, Kang wanted each of the female characters to have a traditional Korean look but strikingly different features from one another. Discussing her inspiration, she name-dropped ITZY, BLACKPINK, TWICE, and Korean model Ahn So Yeon.

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KPop Demon Hunters: K-drama easter eggs you might have missed

While KPop Demon Hunters was a joyride for all K-pop fans, Kang had a few surprises for all the K-drama lovers out there, too.

Since we are on the topic of characters, K-pop is not the only area Kang and her team looked for inspiration. You might notice that the Saja Boys also sport a traditional Korean look, which has fangirls gushing even over their animated looks.

Since Jinu is the lead of the Saja Boys and has a secret positive identity, his character was inspired by South Korean actors Cha Eun-woo and Nam Joo-hyuk.

From his dark hair to droopy eyes, everything screamed a K-drama lead, and after actor Ahn Hyo-seop was roped in to voice the character, which somehow matched his character's personality from Netflix's K-drama Business Proposal.

Ahn Hyo-seop is not the only Business Proposal easter egg hidden in KPop Demon Hunters. Eagle-eyed fans caught on to the K-drama's OST Love Maybe playing in the background when Rumi spots Jinu during his band's intro.

Lastly, the finale scene that stole every fan's hearts was so 'Goblin-coded', where Jinu sacrifices himself and transfers his restored soul into Rumi, who eventually defeats Gwi-Ma and the remaining Saja Boys.

K-drama fans could not help but compare Jinu's sacrifice to Gong Yoo's Kim Shin's from the hit K-drama Goblin, where he too sacrifices himself for his bride Eun-tak.

Right from the sacrifice to Jinu's disappearance in the form of ash, KPop Demon Hunter's ending was an ode to fantastical K-dramas, leaving room for a sequel and Jinu's resurrection (much like Goblin).

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