Ali Abdul

Listen carefully. Buy tickets for the earliest flight for you and our kid and go home first. I'll be there as soon as my job is done.

Ali to his wife in "Hell"

Ali Abdul (Korean: 알리 압둘 Alli Abdul, Urdu: علی عبدل Ali Abdil), also known as Player 199, was a contestant in the 33^rd Squid Game.^[3][4] An immigrant from Pakistan, he has a young wife and a one-year-old son, whom he struggled to support after his employer stopped paying him six months prior to Ali's participation in the game.^[5][6]

Ali entered the Squid Game to financially support his family, after Factory Owner refused to pay him for months. During Red Light, Green Light, Ali saves Seong Gi-hun's life and befriends him. After the first round, he confronts his boss due to the fact he has been denying him his paycheck for six months. This results in a bloody accident where his boss's hand gets injured by a rolling machine, and Ali ends up taking the envelope of cash from his boss.

Ali later formed an alliance with Gi-hun, Cho Sang-woo, Kang Sae-byeok and Oh Il-nam, and they managed to pass the second and third games successfully. However, during the fourth game, when Ali teams up with Sang-woo, he was eliminated after being tricked into giving him his marbles.

Physical Appearance

Ali is a man with a slightly below average height, brown skin and curly black hair. He has brown eyes and faint stubble. He has two missing fingers on his left hand, from a previous accident at work. He is shown to have immense strength, as he lifted Gi-hun by his jacket, who was physically bigger than Ali himself, saving him from getting eliminated in Red Light, Green Light using his injured hand, and being able to carry a steel beam during the lights out.

Personality

Ali is a polite and grateful man who is one of the most altruistic players in the game, risking his life by saving Gi-hun in Red Light, Green Light, even if it would mean death for someone he barely knew. He would also repeatedly thank others for doing him small favors, such as Sang-woo lending him his phone and paying for his bus fare. Being the most kind-hearted among the players, he is a bit naive and would easily fall into hindsight which has caused him trouble. Usually calm, he can be emotional at times, such when he tried to get his paycheck that he needed, or during Marbles when he realized he had been betrayed by Sang-woo.

History

Ali came to South Korea from Pakistan in order to get a well-rounded job. Unfortunately, he had to leave his parents behind in the process. He is hired by an unnamed Factory Owner, where he is later denied of his paycheck, over the span of six months.

2020

Ali agrees to enter the 33^rd Squid Game to create a better financial situation for his family,^[5] and he saves the life of Seong Gi-hun during the first game.^[3]

Ali is among the majority of contestants to initially vote to withdraw from the competition, but he ultimately decides to voluntarily return after he accidentally injures his boss after he pushed him into rolling machine, crushing his fingers during a confrontation about the fact that his boss hasn't paid him for six months. He takes the opportunity to steal an envelope of cash from his boss, runs away, and give it to his wife, telling her to return to Pakistan with their child, promising he will return to them soon.^[5]

Unfamiliar with the ins and outs of many Korean games, Ali is at a disadvantage as soon as he steps foot in the game play arena. But, trusting of his fellow man, he naively leans on his newfound allies for support, allowing them to guide him through the competition. At the start of the game, Ali's plan seems to be working, but as tensions rise and players became more ruthless, he unintentionally leaves himself vulnerable to the unrelenting nature of the game. He enters into an alliance with several other players, including Gi-hun and Cho Sang-woo, the latter of whom he has particular admiration for due to acts of kindness Sang-woo showed him outside of the Squid Game.^[6][7]

Players are instructed to pair off into teams of two to prepare for the fourth game of the competition. Unsure what the next task will be, Sang-woo, one of the more strategic players, asks to team up with Ali, who is quickly identified as one of the youngest and strongest competitors. Together, he insists they'll be an unstoppable team and make it to the end. Holding a deep respect for Sang-woo and his kindness, Ali agrees to team up with him after only a brief moment of hesitation, waiting for Gi-hun's approval.

To begin the game, the guards distribute small bags containing ten marbles each to every player. Moments later, the disembodied voice over the loudspeaker reveals that the teams won't actually be competing together but facing off in a one-on-one marble game of their choice, with the losers facing immediate elimination. Unfamiliar with any sort of marble game, Ali lets Sang-woo choose and ends up playing a guessing game in which they pick an odd or even number of marbles to conceal in their hands. When Ali revealed he did not understand what "odd" and "even" meant, Sang-woo explained to him, along with the rules of the game. Taking turns, they then guess whether their opponent is holding an even or odd amount of marbles. If they guess correctly, they're allowed to keep the other's marbles.

Even though he's never played before, Ali quickly ends up winning every round, enraging Sang-woo who accuses him of lying and cheating. Afraid, Ali apologizes but insists he's been playing fairly. After Sang-woo calms down, he tells Ali he's sorry for losing his temper and convinces him he's come up with a plan to outsmart the system so that they'll both make it out of the game alive.

Fate

Sang-woo. Sang-woo, where are you? Sang-woo. Sang-woo! I checked everyone. Sang-woo! Sang-woo!

Ali's last words before getting shot by a Soldier in "Gganbu"

With no reason to believe Sang-woo would betray him so far, Ali agrees and watches as Sang-woo takes his sack of marbles to make him a cloth necklace out of fabric from his shirt, which he tells Ali will make it easier for him to carry the bag. Sang-woo then insists they should split up to observe the other players and meet up again with three minutes left in the game.

Unfortunately for Ali, Sang-woo's plan was a trick to distract him while he swapped Ali's bag of marbles for a bag of pebbles, keeping the real bag for himself. With minutes left in the challenge, Sang-woo turns in the bag of marbles he stole from Ali, securing his safety and Ali's demise a few moments later. His body is later placed in a box to be incinerated.

Trivia

• Despite having two of his fingers missing and thanks to his work as a factory worker, he has incredible strength, as shown during the Red Light, Green Light, Special Round and Tug of War games.
• He and Player 276 are the only non-Korean players, being both Pakistani. Both characters are killed in the Marble round and have have their actors' nationalities not matching the characters' nationalities. In Ali's case, he is from Pakistan while his actor is from India.
• Ali Abdul's player number (199) is a prime number.
• Ali Abdul has fifteen minutes worth of screentime.

Behind the scenes

Ali Abdul was portrayed by actor Anupam Tripathi.

Appearances

• Season One
  • "Red Light, Green Light"
  • "Hell"
  • "The Man with the Umbrella"
  • "Stick to the Team"
  • "A Fair World"
  • "Gganbu"
  • "VIPS"

References