Tale of the Nine Tailed


Tale of the Nine Tailed is a 2020 South Korean television series starring Lee Dong-wook, Jo Bo-ah, and Kim Bum. It aired on tvN from October 7 to December 3, 2020, every Wednesday and Thursday at 22:30 with 16 episodes.
On November 18, 2020, the series took a one-week break from airing to ensure better production for the remaining four episodes, and aired a behind-the-scene special titled Tale of the Nine Tailed: A 600 Year Legend. From November 18 to December 4, it also aired a three-part spin-off titled Tale of the Nine Tailed: An Unfinished Story, centering around Lee Yeon's younger brother Lee Rang and his accomplice Ki Yu-ri.
A second season, titled Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 premiered on May 6, 2023 with Lee Dong-wook and Kim Bum reprising their roles and the female lead set to be portrayed by Kim So-yeon, as well as several new cast members like Ryu Kyung-soo.
A South Korean animated series, titled Tale of the Nine Tailed Tiger: The Beginning of a Lotus will be released on TVING in 2024, the series is produced by Studio Bazooka.

Synopsis

Lee Yeon, an over 1000-year-old Gumiho and the former guardian mountain spirit of Baekdu-daegan, is now a city dweller. He works with Taluipa, an agent in the Afterlife Immigration Office and the protector of the Samdo River, to eradicate supernatural beings that threaten the mortal world. He lives in the city where he is assisted by his loyal subject, veterinarian, and fellow Gumiho, Goo Shin-joo.
On a mission to capture a fox that has killed and eaten the livers of many humans and is now marrying a man in the guise of a human woman, he is spotted by Nam Ji-ah, a smart, ferocious, and dauntless producer at TVC Station.
Ji-ah recognizes Yeon when he is leaving the venue and later spots him on camera through his red, distinctly marked umbrella. She finds where Yeon lives, suspects him of being supernatural, and ultimately tests her theory by jumping off of his flat with a memory chip that contains a video of Yeon fighting another fox with their powers, forcing Yeon to follow and save her.
It is then revealed that as a child, on her ninth birthday, Nam Ji-ah was involved in a road accident in which her parents were supposed to be dead. However, Ji-ah is the only one who remembers that two other people, not human, posed as her parents. They were foxes trying to eat Ji-ah but she was saved by Lee Yeon. Even though he compelled her to forget him, the magic did not work on her. Later, she found herself at the accident site but her parents' bodies were never discovered.
It motivated her to believe that her parents were alive and so she decided to look into supernatural beings and look for any way to find and rescue her parents.
Later in the series, it is revealed that Nam Ji-ah is the reincarnation of Ah-eum, a human who was the first love of Yeon.
She died at the hands of Yeon while trying to save him from Imoogi, an evil earth dragon who wanted to inhabit the body of the guardian mountain spirit. By abusing his powers, a heartbroken Yeon stopped the boat carrying Ah-eum across the Samdo River, kissed her, and gave her a fox bead while asking her to promise to be reincarnated. In return, he promised Ah-eum that whenever she came back, he would find her through the bead.
Throughout centuries, Yeon encountered several lookalikes of Ah-eum but none bore the fox bead.
The story progresses as Lee Yeon tries to fight his growing attraction to Nam Ji-ah despite the absence of the fox bead, his investigation as to why Ji-ah not only looks like Ah-eum but also resembles her habits, and his reaction upon discovering that she indeed is his first love.
Meanwhile, Yeon has to deal with Lee Rang, his half-brother who felt abandoned when Yeon abdicated his post as guardian mountain spirit to work with Taluipa in exchange for Ah-eum's reincarnation. Rang develops a deep grudge against his brother for choosing Ah-eum over him and being the mountain's protector. With the assistance of Ki Yoo-ri, he continuously harms human beings as a way of antagonizing his brother.
In this mix is added the also reincarnated earth dragon. Imoogi is back and this time, he wants not only Yeon's body but also Ji-ah's heart.
With so many humans, demons, and supernatural beings standing between their reunion, just how the nine-tailed mountain spirit and fierce production director will protect their love, pacify the broken hearts around them, and beat the hellish being that craves their bodies, hearts, and lives makes up the rest of the story.

Cast

Main

  • Lee Dong-wook as Lee Yeon
  • Jo Bo-ah as Nam Ji-ah / Yi Ah-eum / Imoogi
  • * Park Da-yeon as young Ji-ah / Ah-eum
  • Kim Bum as Lee Rang
  • * Lee Joo-won as young Lee Rang

    Supporting

Mythical beings around Lee Yeon

  • Kim Jung-nan as Taluipa
  • Ahn Gil-kang as Hyunuiong
  • Hwang Hee as Goo Shin-joo
  • Kim Soo-jin as Snail Bride / Bok Hye-ja

    Mythical beings around Lee Rang

  • Kim Yong-ji as Ki Yu-ri
  • Lee Tae-ri as adult Imoogi / Lee Ryong / Terry
  • * Kim Tae-yul as young Imoogi
  • Jung Si-yul as Kim Soo-oh

    People around Nam Ji-ah

  • Um Hyo-sup as Kwon Hae-ryong
  • Jung Yi-seo as Kim Sae-rom
  • Kim Kang-min as Pyo Jae-hwan
  • Joo Suk-tae as Choi Tae-suk
  • Kim Hee-jung as Lee Young-sun
  • Song Young-kyu as Nam Jong-soo

    Other mythical beings

  • Shim So-young as the Spirit of Darkness, the Imoogi's partner who preys on someone's greatest fear. She appears as a lady peddler in a green outfit, targeting her victims by giving away bottled juice for free, then showing them a door that will open towards their greatest fear with the victims hearing the "Doorkeeper Game" from Ganggangsullae, and as they engross themselves with their own fears they slowly die. She has been part of Korean urban legends but rarely anyone could even recall her name in the present day. Among her victims were Bok Hye-ja's husband and through the Imoogi's bidding, Lee Rang, Nam Ji-ah & Lee Yeon as well. Ultimately, she was killed by Yeon after he tricked her to enter his subconscious and taunted her with her greatest fear.
  • Woo Hyun as the Jangseung of Yeou Gogae who appears as a mysterious old one-eyed drunkard. He first appeared at a bus stop where Nam Ji-ah was supposed to board a bus that went into a fatal accident later. He annoyingly grabbed Ji-ah's leg to stop her from boarding which also meant saving her life. She volunteered to carry him on her back going home but asked to be dropped off by the side of the road. Later on, he involuntarily gave Rang the lead to obtaining the Eyebrows of the Tiger.
  • Son Woo-hyeon as Jung Hyun-woo, a security staff at TVC station whose true form is a Bulgasari.
  • Lee Kyu-hyung as Governor / Moon Bear, a former mountain spirit and best friend of Lee Yeon. He currently resides at a Korean folk village with other supernatural spirits under his care playing their parts entertaining tourists. He owned the Mirror of the Moon, one of the four gems of the four mountain spirits. He provided a crucial lead on the disappearance of Nam Ji-ah's parents, revealing that Ji-ah was in fact the actual target in the first place.
  • Lim Ki-hong as King Odo Jeollyun, the 10th and last Afterlife judge who is in charge of the Darkness Hell as well as of reincarnation. He would occasionally leave his post to stay in the human world. He is first seen as a mysterious fortune teller with white eyes, who trades powerful objects with the most precious thing in someone's life. Through him, Lee Rang traded his brother Lee Yeon in exchange for the Eyebrows of the Tiger. In turn, Nam Ji-ah traded her fox bead to redeem Lee Yeon .
  • Lee Jung-min as the bride whose true form is a gumiho. On her wedding day, Lee Yeon pursued her to execute the punishment by death for the crimes she committed against humanity.

    Eohwa Island

  • Kim Young-sun as a shaman who attempted to sacrifice Nam Ji-ah to the Imoogi. She was the one who discovered the Imoogi when he was swept into Eohwa Island and was hidden inside a covered well for safekeeping. She then distributed shamanist folk paintings of the Imoogi disguised as the Dragon King towards the island's fishing community, while also luring young women into the island to be sacrificed for Imoogi's resurrection. In return for her loyalty, she was bestowed long life and youth, until Lee Yeon killed her while rescuing Ji-ah from being sacrificed to the Imoogi.
  • Do Yun-jin as Seo Pyung-hee, daughter of Seo Ki-chang. She is the only one who did not mysteriously disappear on the island; however, she is the one who cursed her father's crew-mates with the help of the shaman & Lee Rang.
  • Maeng Bong-hak as Seo Ki-chang, father of Seo Pyung-hee, who was murdered and eaten by his crewmates when they were lost at the sea.
  • Ji Heon-il as Jin-sik, a fisherman.
  • Jang Yong-chul as a fisherman.
  • Keum Dong-hyun as a fisherman.
  • Kim Gui-seon as fishing boat captain.
  • Kim Sun-yool as a mountain spirit bound to a tree. She relayed what scant information she knew about the Imoogi, and was later released by Ji-ah.
  • Joo Boo-jin as an elderly woman.
  • Park Seung-tae as an elderly woman.

    Special appearances

  • Lee Taek-geun as the groom of the disguised gumiho bride.
  • Son Dong-hwa as the groom next door.
  • Chu Ye-jin as Jung Soo-young, a 17-year-old student who was the only survivor of a deadly bus accident at Yeou Gogae, later morphed into Lee Rang as her true form. The real Soo-young was killed by Rang.
  • Jang Won-hyung as Baek Si-woo, the detective who investigated the bus accident at Yeou Gogae that killed 5 people.
  • Jang Eui-don as a bus passenger who died in the accident, husband.
  • Yoon Tae-hee as a bus passenger who died in the accident, wife.
  • Kim Hwan-young as son of the bus passengers. He met Lee Rang at a wishing fountain at Moze Department Store before.
  • Yu Jun-won a family member of one of the deceased bus passengers.
  • Choi Sung-woong as funeral hall security.
  • Choi Seung-il as father of the real Ki Yu-ri.
  • Oh Jung-won as mother of the real Ki Yu-ri.
  • Lee Ye-bit as Min-seo, a child ghost.
  • Jung Ah-young as Yeon-seo, a child ghost.
  • Park No-shik as Min-seo & Yeon-seo's father. He was away at work as a truck driver when his daughters died allegedly by his "negligence".
  • Kim Nak-gyoon as Min-seo & Yeon-seo's uncle. It was revealed that he sexually molested his nieces while drunk, and while escaping accidentally fell off the veranda to their deaths.
  • Jang Young-hyeon as watch salesman at Brennetano.
  • Jo Hyun-im as Imoogi's first babysitter.
  • Seo Jin-won as Seo Hwan-ho, a baseball player who maltreated a puppy.
  • No Seong-eun as No Hae-sung, a baseball player who maltreated a puppy.
  • Han Chang-hun as Han Tae-soo, a baseball player who maltreated a puppy.
  • Shin Ji-Yeon as Imoogi's final babysitter, his last meal before becoming an adult.
  • Park Su-yeon as Lee Rang's mother who abandoned him. She resented having a child with a gumiho.
  • Sunwoo Jae-duk as the King of Joseon, Ah-eum's father, the first host body of the Imoogi. He made a deal with the Imoogi to possess him in exchange for Ah-eum escaping her fate as the Imoogi's sacrifice.
  • Kim Young-sun as Psychiatrist Choi, a friend of Nam Ji-ah's mom. She facilitated Ji-ah's hypnotherapy session when she was 9 years old, which revealed that a part of the Imoogi survived despite Ah-eum's death and reincarnation as Ji-ah.
  • Kim Hyo-myung as Kim Soo-oh's stepfather. Lee Rang led him to be turned into a cherry bladder for Kwon Hae-ryong's consumption.