Guardian: The Lonely and Great God TV Series Details:
| Hangul | 쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 – 도깨비 |
| Also known as | Goblin |
| Literal meaning | The Lonely and Great God – Goblin |
| Revised Romanization | Sseulsseulhago Challanhasin – Dokkaebi |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ssŭlssŭlhago Ch’allanhasin – Tokkaebi |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Genre | Fantasy Romance Drama Comedy |
| Season | 1 |
| Episodes | 16 + 3 specials |
| Release date | December 2, 2016 – January 21, 2017 |
| Running time | 60–90 minutes |
| Age rating | TV-14 |
| Starring | Gong Yoo Kim Go-eun Lee Dong-wook Yoo In-na Yook Sung-jae |
| Created by | Studio Dragon |
| Directed by | Lee Eung-bok (Ep. 1–16) Kwon Hyuk-chan (Ep. 5–16) Yoon Jong-ho (Ep. 3–16) |
| Creative directors | Yoon Jong-ho (Ep. 1–2) Jung Ji-hyun (Ep. 1–16) Kim Sung-jin (Ep. 1–16) |
| Written by | Kim Eun-sook |
| Produced by | Joo Kyung-ha Kim Ji-yeon |
| Executive producers | Kim Beom-rae Yoon Ha-rim |
| Cinematography by | Park Sung-yong Kang Yoon-soon |
| Edited by | Lee Sang-rok |
| Music by | Opening theme “Round and Round” by Heize and Han Soo-ji Ending theme “Stay With Me” by Chanyeol and Punch Composer Nam Hye-seung |
| Production locations | Gimje, South Korea Gangwon Province, South Korea Seoul, South Korea Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
| Production Company | Hwa&Dam Pictures |
| Original Network | tvN |
Guardian: The Lonely and Great God TV Series Cast & Character:
Main
- Gong Yoo as Goblin / Kim Shin
- Kim Go-eun as Ji Eun-tak
- Han Seo-jin as young Ji Eun-tak
- Lee Dong-wook as Grim Reaper / Wang Yeo
- Kim Min-jae as young Wang Yeo
- Yoo In-na as Sunny / Kim Sun
- Kim So-hyun as young Kim Sun
- Yook Sung-jae as Yoo Deok-hwa
- Jung Ji-hoon as young Yoo Deok-hwa
- Kim Hyun-bin as teenage Deok-hwa
Supporting
- Lee El as Samshin, Goddess, the creator of birth and fate
- Kim Byung-chul as Park Joong-heon, a cunning and manipulative eunuch from the Goryeo Dynasty
- Kim Sung-kyum as Chairman Yoo Shin-woo, Deok-hwa’s grandfather
- Jo Woo-jin as Kim Do-young, Deok-hwa’s secretary
- Yeom Hye-ran as Ji Yeon-sook, Eun-tak’s maternal aunt
- Jung Young-gi as Park Kyung-shik, Eun-tak’s male cousin
- Choi Ri as Park Kyung-mi, Eun-tak’s female cousin
Others
- Hwang Seok-jeong as triplet sisters; two of them as a shaman fortune teller and a ghost
- Ham Sung-min as North Korean soldier
- Ghosts around Eun-tak
- Ahn Ji-hyun as Go Jung-hyun, the ghost in the library who was Eun-tak’s mother’s best friend
- Park Kyung-hye as Virgin Ghost, who always tries to take Eun-tak with her
- Park Se-wan as Go Shi-won, the ghost who asked Eun-tak to clean her dormitory and fill it up with food so that her mother will not be sad (Ep. 2, 4–5)
- Kim So-ra as Lee Jung-hwa, a vengeance ghost whose husband killed her (Ep. 4, 6–7, 9, 11)
- Go Soo-jung as a ghost (Ep. 2)
- People around Eun-tak
- Noh Gang-min as the boy in the back-alley of the chicken shop who thinks he has wind powers
- Kim Min-young as Park Soo-jin, Eun-tak’s schoolmate who harasses her and takes pictures of her and the Goblin
- Go Bo-gyeol as Kim Yoon-ah, Eun-tak’s class president who defends her and later becomes her friend
- Kim Nan-hee as Eun-tak’s homeroom teacher who discriminates against her because she’s an orphan
- Ma Min-hee as one of Soo-jin’s friends
- Yoon Hee-kyung as one of Soo-jin’s friends
- Grim Reapers around Wang Yeo
- Kim Ki-doo as a Batch 21 Grim Reaper who is Wang Yeo’s friend and colleague and is very serious about his work
- Choi Woong as Wang Yeo’s junior grim reaper who lives in the rooftop above Sunny’s apartment
- Jo Hyun-sik as a Batch 22 Grim Reaper
- Kim Chang-hwan as a Batch 23 Grim Reaper
- Yun Da-yeong as a Batch 23 Grim Reaper who was once Wang Yeo’s Court Lady
- Others
- Kim Nam-hee as Overworked doctor in ER
- Yoon Kyung-ho as Kim Woo-sik, Kim Shin’s loyal lieutenant from the Goryeo era (Ep. 1, 12, 14)
- Lee Moon-soo as a loyal old man from the Goryeo era who kept Kim Shin’s body (Ep. 1)
- Nam Da-reum as Kim Soo-bok, the boy who met the Goblin in Paris (Ep. 1, 4)
- Park Jin Woo as Loan Shark (Ep. 2–3, 6)
- Yoon Joo-man as Loan Shark (Ep. 2–3, 6)
- Lee Seul-bi as a vain woman at café (Ep. 3)
- Kim Hyun-mok as Bus Passenger (Ep. 8)
- Kim Hye-yoon as the young era of a widowed old lady (Ep. 15)
Special appearances
- Park Hee-von as Ji Yeon-hee, Ji Eun-tak’s mother (Ep. 1, 7)
- Kim Min-jae as Wang Yeo (Ep. 1, 7–13)
- Kim So-hyun as Kim Shin’s sister (Queen)
- Jung Hae-in as Choi Tae-hee, Ji Eun-tak’s first love (Ep. 7, 8)
Storyline:
Kim Shin (Gong Yoo), once a revered general of the Goryeo Dynasty, is wrongfully accused of treason and killed by a young king. After his death, he is cursed by the Almighty to live as an immortal goblin, doomed to witness the deaths of his loved ones as penance for the soldiers he killed. Despite his grief, he uses his powers to help others, knowing that only his destined bride can end his immortality by pulling out the sword embedded in his chest.
Ji Eun-tak (Kim Go-eun), a high school student who can see ghosts, accidentally summons Kim Shin, entwining their fates. She works at a chicken store run by the charismatic Sunny (Yoo In-na). Meanwhile, Kim Shin’s nephew, Yoo Deok-hwa (Yook Sung-jae), rents out the goblin’s house to a Grim Reaper (Lee Dong-wook), leading to an unexpected cohabitation. As the lives of Kim Shin, the Grim Reaper, Ji Eun-tak, and Sunny interconnect, it becomes clear that they share deep-rooted bonds from past lives, revealing a complex and intertwined destiny.
About Guardian: The Lonely and Great God TV Series:
Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (Korean: 쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 – 도깨비) is a South Korean television series starring Gong Yoo in the title role, alongside Kim Go-eun, Lee Dong-wook, Yoo In-na, and Yook Sung-jae.
The series was written by Kim Eun-sook, who also wrote the popular series Secret Garden (2010), The Heirs (2013), and Descendants of the Sun (2016). The drama marked her second collaboration with director Lee Eun-bok after both worked on Descendants.
The Korean drama “Goblin” had its first script reading in Seoul in August 2016. Filming included Goryeo-era scenes in Gimje, South Korea, and palace scenes in Naju. External shots of Goblin and Grim Reaper’s house were filmed at Unhyeongung’s Western House, now within Duksung Women’s University. Overseas filming took place mainly in Quebec City, Canada, in locations like Château Frontenac and Parc du Bastion-de-la-Reine. The crew received a special vacation to Phuket, Thailand, after the drama concluded.
Guardian: The Lonely and Great God is aired on tvN from December 2, 2016, to January 21, 2017.
Its final episode recorded an 18.68% nationwide audience share, making it the seventh highest-rated drama in Korean cable television history. It received critical acclaim and became a cultural phenomenon in South Korea. The series won numerous awards, including the Grand Prize (Daesang) for writer Kim Eun-sook and Best Actor for Gong Yoo at the 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards.
Guardian: The Lonely and Great God TV Series Episodes List:
| Episode | Original Broadcast Date | AGB Nielsen Nationwide (%) | AGB Nielsen Seoul (%) | TNmS Nationwide (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | December 2, 2016 | 6.322 | 7.540 | 6.7 |
| 2 | December 3, 2016 | 7.904 | 10.024 | 8.1 |
| 3 | December 9, 2016 | 12.471 | 14.274 | 12.0 |
| 4 | December 10, 2016 | 11.373 | 13.768 | 12.7 |
| 5 | December 16, 2016 | 11.507 | 12.075 | 14.0 |
| 6 | December 17, 2016 | 11.618 | 14.772 | 13.0 |
| 7 | December 23, 2016 | 12.297 | 13.993 | 13.8 |
| 8 | December 24, 2016 | 12.344 | 14.748 | 11.6 |
| 9 | December 30, 2016 | 12.933 | 13.333 | 14.6 |
| 10 | December 31, 2016 | 12.702 | 14.551 | 13.3 |
| 11 | January 6, 2017 | 13.894 | 15.749 | 14.8 |
| 12 | January 7, 2017 | 13.712 | 15.680 | 14.6 |
| 13 | January 13, 2017 | 14.254 | 16.525 | 15.3 |
| 14 | January 20, 2017 | 16.043 | 17.767 | 16.3 |
| 15 | January 21, 2017 | 16.917 | 18.829 | 17.7 |
| 16 | January 21, 2017 | 18.680 | 20.986 | 19.6 |
| Special | January 14, 2017 | 9.427 | 11.786 | 9.1 |
| Special | February 3, 2017 | 3.606 | 5.050 | 3.9 |
| Special | February 4, 2017 | 4.075 | 5.582 | 4.2 |
