Who Deserves to Die? A Content Analysis of Deserving and Undeserving Victims in Squid Game

This study draws on the ideal victim framework and narratological theories of emotional arc to examine how victims are portrayed in the globally popular South Korean series Squid Game . Using a quantitative content analysis, it investigates whether the frequency of deserving victims and the level of deservingness follow the inverted-U emotional trajectory commonly associated with classical tragedies. Findings suggest that the convergence towards a single mid-series climax was either statistically nonsignificant or undetectable, which may be explained by the show’s large number of victims, its game-based fragmented structure and its complex moral characterisation. These findings extend the ideal victim framework into fictional storytelling and offer preliminary evidence that emotional arcs in non-Western serial tragedies may diverge from well-established Western models. The study contributes to understanding how fictional narratives frame victimhood and highlights the need for further research on audience sympathy and narrative form.