TV dramas use similar names for main characters

Jang Tae-san, Jang Tae-joo, Jang Tae-ha…

They sound like names for brothers, but they are characters appearing in different TV dramas in Korea. Jang Tae-san (played by Lee Joon-ki) is the main character in MBC TV’s Wednesday and Thursday drama series “Two Weeks.” He is a fugitive who is mistakenly charged for murder, and struggles to save his daughter. Jang Tae-joo (played by Goh Soo) is the main character in SBS TV’s Monday and Tuesday drama series “The Empire of Gold,” and is an ambitious man who seeks a hostile takeover of a chaebol enterprise to take revenge for his father who died due to false allegations. Jang Tae-ha (played by Park Sang-min) is a character of hard-headed conglomerate owner on MBC TV’s weekend drama series “Scandal.” They come to have similar names because all of them are serious and strong characters, and the screenplay writers sought to pick names suitable for such characters.

Characters in TV dramas generally get names that represent the roles in the drama. Notably, characters in the dramas based on screenplays by writer Moon Yeong-ran enable viewers to instantly learn the personality of characters upon hearing the name of characters. “Mr. Wang’s Family,” a weekend TV drama series on KBS TV, comes with characters of the father named “Wang Bong (played by Jang Yong)” who always sacrifices for his family, and the mother named Lee Ang-geum (played by Kim Hae-sook), who has deep regret for her lifetime sacrifice to support her family. Their children are named “Wang Soo-bak (played by Oh Hyeon-gyeong), Wang Ho-bak (played by Lee Tae-ran), Wang Gwang-bak (played by Lee Yun-ji), Wang Hae-bak (played by Moon Ga-yeong), and Wang Dae-bak (played by Choi Won-hong), which are compatible with the nature of the respective characters.

Screenplay writer Lim Seong-han famous for her distinctive personality, gives special names to characters in her dramas, including “Eun Ariyeong,” “Boo Yong-hwa,” “Goo Wang-mo,” and “Boo Gil-la,” which are so strange that viewers can remember once they hear the names. The main character of “Princess Aurora,” a weekday drama series on MBC TV, comes with main characters Aurora (played by Jeon So-min) and Hwang Ma-ma (played by Oh Chang-seok). Hong Ja-mae, the screenplay writer of “The Sun of the King,” the Wednesday and Thursday drama series on SBS TV, comes with rare family names such as Dokgo, Goo, Tae, Seong, and Na. In some cases, the name of a sponsor company was revealed through the name of the main character, causing controversy.

“The Innocent Man,” which aired on KBS TV last year, sparked controversy because the main character Kang Ma-ru (played by Song Joong-ki) had the same first name as Chicken Maru, a sponsor of the drama.