WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Hierarchy.
Summary
Hierarchy’s five main characters were all full of secrets and hidden agendas, but some of theK-drama’s protagonists were more interesting than others. The newestNetflix K-dramasaw Kang Ha executing his revenge after the mysterious death of his brother, who had entered Jooshin High School thanks to a scholarship program.Hierarchy’s castincludes a lot of promising young actors who perfectly brought their characters to life in one of the most anticipated K-dramas of 2024. WhileHierarchyhad flaws, its characters were a highlight of the show.
Hierarchyepisode 7redeemed a lot of characters and ended on a positive note, except for the epilogue. Still, for most of the show, it seemed like Kang Ha was the only good person in the whole school.It is difficult to rank theHierarchycharacters considering that, during certain points of the story, they were all acting awfully toward Kang Ha and the other scholarship students. That said, a great character is not necessarily a great person.Hierarchy’s protagonists were flawed, which made them interesting.
5Yoon He-ra
Played by Ji Hye-won
AlthoughYoon He-ra is far from a bad character, there is not as much nuance about her as there is about otherHierarchyprotagonists. He-ra’s goals and personality are made clear from the start – she loves money and the status that comes with it. As He-ra said it herself, there is no such thing as“good enough.”She believes in going after anything and anyone she wants, regardless of the consequences. He-ra also believed that the separation between high-class students and scholarship ones was justified and didn’t care about all the bullying, which can be said for most of them.
Another important part of He-ra’s character, which defines most of her story on the show, is that she is Jae-i’s best friend. Their friendship is tested throughout the series, though, to the point thatHe-ra starts seeing Jae-i as a rival.Considering these two had been best friends since they were kids, it would have been interesting to explore more of how everything fell out. It can be assumed that He-ra was always jealous of Jae-i, but the show does not get into detail about it. Regardless, He-ra said she always had feelings for Ri-an.
As soon as Jae-i broke up with Ri-an and started dating Kang Ha, He-ra saw it as an opportunity to go after one of the things she always wanted. Still, she failed to realize that Ri-an did not really care about her and would end their “fake dating” ploy as soon as Jae-i welcomed him back.The most interesting part of He-ra’s story was when her father’s company almost went bankrupt, causing their family to briefly lose all their wealth. It would have been nice to see more of He-ra living without any money after how she treated scholarship students.
4Lee Woo-jin
Played by Lee Won-jung
Lee Woo-jin may not have had as much screen time as characters like Jae-i and Kang Ha, but he was incredibly important toHierarchy’s story. In athriller K-dramawhere everyone had secrets,Woo-jin was perhaps the character with the most to hide.His original, most shocking secret is that he was sleeping with Ji-soo, one of the teachers at Jooshin Academy. It is unclear when this relationship started, but the fact is that they have been together since before In-han died. Woo-jin and Ji-soo’s secret was only part of what made their relationship so sinister.
In addition to hiding the fact they were seeing each other, these two characters were also behindIn-han’s death in Hierarchy. The night In-han died, he caught Woo-jin and Ji-soo making out. Aware that he was now a liability to them, In-han ran away from the party, fearing for his life. Unfortunately, as he was trying to call his brother, In-han was run over by the teacher. While Woo-jin was not there and even asked Ji-soo not to go after In-han, he helped her cover her tracks and was willing to keep it a secret.
In-han was using a spy pen camera the night he died, which Woo-jin retrieved.
Woo-jin was a relatively quiet character who was seemingly not involved with all the drama concerning Jae-i, Ri-an, He-ra, and Kang Ha. He even advised He-ra not to get in the middle of whatever was happening between Jae-i and Ri-an. However, Woo-jin also had stakes in the multipleHierarchylove triangles. Despite his relationship with the teacher, Woo-jin loved He-ra and was willing to destroy Jae-i’s life if it meant helping her. He was the one who told Jae-i’s father about her pregnancy, only to help He-ra. Fortunately,Woo-jin had a change of heart and came clean at the end.
3Kim Ri-an
Played by Kim Jae-won
Kim Ri-an could have been the typical villain of a high school K-drama, but there was more to the character than that. Heir to the family who owns the school,Kim Ri-an is royalty at the Jooshin Academy.The entire system in which the school operates revolves around Ri-an, including the separation between scholarship students and high-class ones. It is unclear whether Ri-an was ever a bully before In-han’s arrival, but the fact is that he let Kang Ha’s brother be beaten up because he was jealous of his friendship with Jae-i.
Ri-an and Jae-i grew up together and became each other’s first love. However, once Jae-i returned from the United States, she broke up with Ri-an without a clear reason.Ri-an could not comprehend why Jae-i was doing what she was doing, which only made his attitude toward Kang Ha worse. On the one hand, there had to be something good about Ri-an for Jae-in to care so much about him even after their breakup. On the other hand, he could have stopped the bullying at the school anytime but chose not to.
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This made Ri-an quite a difficult character to decipher, which is why it was exciting to see where his story was going to go next. Ri-an’s feelings for Jae-i also walked a fine line between love and obsession, to the point he could not stand that she was becoming friends with In-han.Ri-an could have beenHierarchy’s ultimate villain, but the show still managed to somewhat redeem himat the end. Ri-an confessed he was part of the bullying and admitted that he could have brought an end to it.
2Kang Ha
Played by Lee Chae-min
One of the leads inHierarchy,Kang Ha picked a fight against some of the country’s richest families.Kang Ha did not fear the students at Jooshin, not even the ones who could beat him up, because his goal was precisely to expose everything wrong that was happening at the school.Hierarchywas not the typicalrevenge K-dramasimply because Kang Ha wanted more than just revenge – he wanted to change the system that had crushed his brother. Lee Chae-min’s character couldn’t understand why the other scholarship students would accept the way they were treated.
Hierarchydoes a good job of only revealing Kang Ha’s connection to the dead student at the end of episode 1, after which the character had already made quite the first impression.Kang Ha plays the role of the outsider inHierarchy– someone who sees the big picture and thinks outside of the box to defeat the powers behind Jooshin. To avenge his brother, Kang Ha first needed to understand what was happening at the school, and why In-han was so scared during the phone call.
Kang Ha’s revenge became way more complicated when he started to have feelings for Jae-i, who may or not have been involved with his brother’s death. Although Jae-i blamed herself for what happened to In-han, Kang Ha realized she was different from the other rich students. Jae-i actually cared about In-han and wanted all the bullying to stop. Kang Ha’s character was almost paradoxical in the sense he was ruthless toward everyone, except Jae-i. Regardless,Kang Ha completed his mission.In-han’s murderer was arrested, the bullies were exposed, and the school went through major changes.
1Jung Jae-i
Played by Roh Jeong-eui
It takes several episodes for Jae-i’s true personality and intents to become clear, which makes her a fascinating character andHierarchy’s most interesting lead. Whereas Kang Ha’s mission is obvious from the start – he wants to “beat” the school from within – Jae-i is much more mysterious.Hierarchydoes not tell viewers why she broke up with Ri-an, let alone why she feels so comfortable when Kang Ha is around. Most importantly, the reason why Jae-i went to New York and came back is only disclosed a couple of episodes into the Netflix K-drama.
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Despite being the heir to one of the country’s most powerful families, Jae-i did not believe in the separation between rich kids and scholarship students that was taking place at Jooshin. She also blamed herself for what happened to In-han, which is one of the reasons why she distanced herself from Ri-an. Jae-i’s biggest secret, however, was that she was pregnant when she went to the United States. After going through a miscarriage, Jae-i returned to Korea and could not bring herself to tell Ri-an the truth.
Jae-i was afraid of what her father, who only cared about his business and saw his daughter as nothing but an asset, was going to do if he found out about her pregnancy. AlthoughK-dramalove trianglescan get tiresome very easily, the one inHierarchyworks. Jae-i deeply cared about Ri-an and had a long history with him, yet she also had a strong connection to Kang Ha. That said, at the end of the show, Jae-i was not focused on romantic relationships but rather on reconnecting with her mother.
