Korean Dramas have gained much fame because of their captivating soundtracks, storyline, and high production budgets. A single Korean drama production costs about 54 billion Korean won. Because of the wide popularity of Korean culture, Netflix spends about 500 million $ alone on original Korean content.
If you are also a Korean drama fan, then you might have heard or watched one of the most popular Korean dramas “Goblin”. It has been a fan-favorite from the year 2017. This Korean TV series was broadcasted by tvN and ran for 16 regular and 3 special episodes. From the very first episode, it caught the attention of the viewers because of its fictional and alluring storyline and had a rating of 6.3%. The story is so catchy and captivating that fans get addicted to it. Most of its fans are females as today’s females like to watch stories about men who can solve all issues. The production cost for “The Lonely and Great God” was about 13 billion Korean won.
With a very unique storyline, the cast members acting made the drama more compelling. The Goblin cast list had several popular actors including Gong Yoo, Kim Go-Eun, Kim Dong-Wook, Yoo In-na, and Yook Sung-Jae. Each and every episode of this series is full of twists and surprises, hence, as a viewer, you will love it to the end.
Let’s take a look at the plot of previous episodes, casting members along with its wonderful original soundtracks (OSTs). These original soundtracks have featured several top Korean singers.
The Story of Goblin: The Lonely And Great God Korean Drama
The Lonely and Great God is set up in the Goryeo era. Kim Shin (God of war and doom) is the general of the Goryeo era under the teenage ruler Wang Yeo.
The back story of Goblin the lonely and great god
The king obtained his power when he was a child. Ancestors and other relatives of Wang Yeo were poisoned by the most trusted servant (Park Joong-Heon) of the royal family. Later on, he is brought up by the cunning eunuch Park Joong-Heon. He leads the king to various cruel and meaningless decisions. Wang Yeo has too much trust him, consequently, he becomes a puppet king in the hands of that cunning servant.
Kim Shin was a general and a great warrior who always won tough and challenging wars with the enemies. Because of his success in every battle and humbleness towards citizens of that region, he was much favored by the locals. Even, the citizens considered Kim Shin as a god, because he never lost a battle against the enemies. Wang Yeo was jealous of Kim Shin, due to his increasing fame in the area. For strengthening power over the military, the king marries Kim Shin’s younger sister. Wang Yeo was whipped for Kim Shin’s younger sister Kim Sun.
But the cunning eunuch manipulated the king’s mind and told him that it is best for the royal family if Kim Shin dies. King had a soft heart for Kim shin as his sister was king’s wife, but still, jealousy was much more than softness.
Later on, the king is manipulated by the eunuch to become more suspicious and fearful of the Shin family. Wang Yeo sends Kim Shin to the Northern border for a battle and orders him to die there. He officially gave Kim Shin a sword and ordered him to not come back from his next battle. In other words, he ordered him to die or else his household people would face death. When Kim Shin returns with victory, the king labels him as a traitor.
The king threatens him with the lives of the family members to force him for taking his own life. But Kim Shin’s sister forces him to fight the king. Kim Shin was full of rage and he also wanted to do the same.
With each step Kim Shin took towards the king, innocent people from his household faced a painful death. Even her sister faced a sharp arrow in her heart and died. At last, Kim Shin realized that he did wrong because many naive people died.
He took the blade (sword) and dragged it in his chest with his own hands. King ordered to throw away Kim Shin’s dead body in the wheat field so that his body is eaten by the stray animals.
Twenty years later, the Deity resurrects Kim Shin and transforms him into a Goblin. His power and immortal life are both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because he had various supernatural powers and can even interfere in the matter of life and death. It’s a curse in such a way that he had a transparent but painful sword stuck in his chest which can only be seen and taken out by his bride( who had a specific birthmark).
He also had to stay immortal forever and endure the deaths of his near ones.
The next story takes place in the modern era with Kim Shin saving the life of a young woman and her unborn child. The newborn is a baby girl called Ji Eun-Tak. She has a mysterious birthmark and is called Goblin bride by the spirits. Ji Eun Tak can see spirits and ghosts and can even talk to them. Grim Reaper (Lee Dong Wook) went to take the soul of that young lady and her unborn child, but as the goblin gave them life, so they were added to the special case list (neither in living nor in death).
Luckily that young lady gave birth to Ji Eun Tak and invested in many insurances as she got a new life. At the age of nine, Ji Eun Tak went home. Her mother was waiting with a birthday cake for her. But Ji Eun Tak realized that her mother was not alive, that was her soul with whom she was celebrating her birthday. Her mother’s soul comforted young Eun Tak and told her to live a prosperous life with her aunt.
Little Eun Tak controlled her grief and went with her aunt. Gream Reaper went to Eun Tak’s home to take her soul as well (as she was on a special case list). But Eun Tak went with her aunt. She spent a messy life with her aunt’s family and they treated her like a servant. When Eun Tak turned 19 her aunt started hitting and torturing her to get the insurance money of her mother. She was too stressed and went to the seaside (where she used to go with her mother) along with her birthday cake.
As she blew the candles after making wishes, Goblin was summoned there. Goblin was also clueless about he was summoned there. Guardian: The lonely and great god asked her about the wishes. Eun Tak told him that she wants to get rid of her aunt and to get a part-time job. Goblin promised that her wishes would come true.
Teenager Eun Tak became happy. After a few days, she was sitting and thinking that the wishes haven’t come true yet. Beside her a paper caught fire, as she blew on it to stop the fire, the goblin was again summoned there. Thus, she gets to know the fact about how to summon the goblin. She tried to convince the goblin that she is the actual goblin’s bride, but the goblin didn’t believe her as she didn’t say a thing about the sword stuck in the goblin’s chest.
Will she be able to see and take the painful sword from the goblin’s chest? Will she get rid of her tragic life? Will goblin be able to get rid of immorality?
Watch this fascinating series of a bubbly high school student and a mature decorated military girl. The story has various thrilling twists. Also, the deeper story unfolds about the reincarnation of young king and Goblin’s sister (as sunny).
To enjoy the emotional roller coaster, watch this masterpiece (Guardian: The Lonely and Great God) also known as the Goblin.
The main cast
Along with the interesting storyline, this kdrama has the best and popular cast as well. Let’s take a look at the characters of this Korean folklore drama.
Gong Yoo as Kim Shin or Goblin (Male lead)
The role immortal goblin lonely and the great god of age 939 years is played by Gong Yoo. If you are a K-drama fan, then you probably know about this famous actor. The 39 years old Gong Yoo is one of the best actors in South Korea. He started his career in 2001.
He is well-known for his acting skills, good looks, and great body.His great acting skills caught the eye of people around the world. Coffee Prince, Screen, Big, and Hello My Teacher are his most adored dramas that are watched worldwide. His participation in various genres had led him to be a leading figure in Korean Cinema, and television.
His act as the lonely and great god has led him to win multiple awards on korean drama industry. His bromance with the grim reaper is still consisdered as the best male duos in the kdrama industry.
His character as the lonely and great god had a love-and-hate relationship with the grim reaper which has entertained kdrama lovers from all around the world. His character in this world renowned character as goblin: lonely and great god is being considered as one of his best work after Train to Bhusan.
Kim Go-Eun as Ji Eun-Tak (female lead)
The bubbly and optimistic high school student and the bride of Goblin have been played by Kim Go-Eun. This 28-year-old actress debuted in 2012 and won the Best New Actress awards in South Korea in the following year. She is best known for her role in Goblin(2016) and Trap (2016).
Her chemistry with the lonely and great god and the grim repear (lee dong wook) has been praised in multiple medias since the drama got released. All thoough she had multiple flop series and movies on her career, guardian the lonely is a drama that skyrocketed her fame both nationally and internationally.
It is still believed that she was the perfect cast as the wife of guradian lonely.Beside the overall chemistry of her with guardian the lonely, her screenplay at the end of the drama series with grimrepeaer has made millions of viewers cry to their last tears.
Her innocense at the beginning of the series, meeting the guardian the lonely, and dying an eminent death at the end had been nothing but a perfect story telling.
Lee Dong-Wook as Grim Reaper
The humorous, sexy, and cynical role of Grim Reaper is played by Lee Dong-Wook in the series. He is a 38 years old South Korean actor, cum model host, and entertainer, who made everyone his fan with his charming look and great on-screen acting. His other big hits “The Tail of Nine-Tailed” and “Bad and Crazy” caught worldwide attention.
His character started as a cursed entity which was assigned the job to find the souls that have escaped their death. His path crossed with goblin aka guardian the lonely when the guardian the lonely helped the mother of ji-eun tak to survive until she gave birth to her beloved daughter.
Since then his character as the grip reaper has a love and hate relationship with the guardian the lonely. At a certain point when he realized that eun tak was the so called wife of goblin, he started living under the same roof as the guardian the lonely Gong Yoo.
During this time there are tons of screentime that has made the fans fall in love with his character, while his screentime with Yoo in-Na (sister of the guardian the lonely in past life) has made viewers burst into tears. Lee don and Yoo in is still considered as one of the best on-screen couples in K-drama history.
Yoo In-Na as Sunny
Grim Reaper’s wife are played by Yoo In-na. In the series, she is constantly confused by the social awareness of Grim Reaper. This beautiful 37 years old actress played her character brilliantly in the show.
No one can deny the fact that miss sunny has become one of the most expensive actresses in Korea. “High Kick! Through The Roof”, “Secret Garden”, “The Greatest Love”, “My Love From the Star”, and “Touch Your Heart” are the most leading dramas of Yoo In-Na. In each and every page of her life she has done an excellent acting that has created a permanent space in our mind.
You will see tons and tons of page on the internet that will have nothing but good words about her work.
During the drama Goblin guardian the lonely we have found sunny interweave to be one of the prime characters of this drama. Her on screen chemistry with lee dong wook is still considered to be one of the best on screen couple in kdrama histroy. Some may call their relationship way more attractive then the chemistry of the goblin bride.
The work of lee eung bok on these 2 second leads have been nothing but perfect. You can find all about this couple in various nielsen korea media. Her character has been stated as nothing less then the main characters with her funny chicken shop screenplays, infused with her grieving past.Although her character faces a sad ending at the end, the closure still remains cheerful. The writer has done a fantastic job with this character without any error code.
The screentime related to her story as the queen of goryeo dynasty we have found her to be one of the most neglected and abused queen of goryeo dynasty. Although one might think it was too much but as you watch the drama, you too will realize this to be the only way that made the kind a kind man.
Yoo deok hwa as Grandson of Yoo family
Yoo deok hwa’s career as an actor took of after his role in goblin. His character as the grandson of yoo shin woo (longterm servents of the goblin), was nothing less then adorable. His recent role on doom at your service has also been hit to kdrama lovers all over the internet. Recently the news has spread that deok hwa will be joining the millitery very soon.
Although deok hwa was an additional character in this kdrama but he played an important role to bring all the major leads together. So, definitely yoo deok hwa character is not “just strangers” in this super natural kdrama. Unline all the major leads, his character didi not possess supernatural powers.
In this kdrama with see him as the landlord of the chicken restaurant that yoo in owned, and where ji eun tak, worked as the waitress at later point. His character fast appears as the grim reapers land lord. As the kdrama progresses we see a deep rooted relations of his character with the goblin as his grandfather served the guardian all his story. His character made the viewers laugh whille fates begin the reveal and the grim reapers work to find the missing soul starts to unreveal.
When Goblin Season 2 Will Come?
Every K-drama fan is eagerly waiting for the Goblin season 2. The end of the last chapter of the first season clearly assured that there would be a season 2. With everyone cheering for the second season, we hope it will come very soon on the screen.
All though the kdrama has become a cultural phenomenon for the whole kdrama industry but the director has confirmed that there will not be any second season of this kdrama.
Netizens did asked for an indetail kdrama on the previous story of the goblin to show more of his story as the decorated military general but the director and the producer has denied that request.
According the writer, there has been enough screentime covering his past lives as teh decorated military general needed to complete the story line. So, there will be not be any season 2 for the kdrama that have become a cultural phenomenon in the korean drama industry.
Where to get Goblin OST?
The original soundtracks of Goblin are very popular. These have been played by top Korean singers. All the songs are available on YouTube and Spotify. This song has gained enormous popularity and have been performed is numourous concerts.
Everytime this song is played the moments and scene from this wonderful flases before our eyes. In a certain way this story has give immortality as the goblin’s immortality. If you search on youtube, you will still find the video to be one of most liked OSTs.
How to watch Goblin with eng subtitles?
Don’t know where to watch the first season? If you have not watched season 1 yet, it is high time you should go to kissassian sites to watch the English dubbed version. There is 16 episodes to watch on this drama, and there is an extension/special episodes to watch where to writer shows more about the life of the second leads.
You can watch those episode on kissasian sites as well. Recently this drama has been dubbed in hindi, chinese and in other languages so that international viewers can watch it with ease.
