Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (Hangul: 도깨비; RR: Dokkaebi; lit. Goblin) is a South Korean television series starring Gong Yoo, Kim Go-eun, Lee Dong-wook, Yoo In-na, and Yook Sung-jae. It aired on cable network tvN every Friday and Saturday at 20:00 starting December 2, 2016 until January 21, 2017.
Its final episode recorded an 18.68% nationwide audience share making it the second highest rated drama in Korean cable television history, behind Reply 1988.
Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) is an immortal goblin (Dokkaebi 도깨비) and protector of souls. He lives with an amnesiac grim reaper (Jeoseung-saja 저승사자) (Lee Dong-wook). who is in charge of taking deceased souls. Together, they see the dead off into the afterlife. One day Kim Shin meets a girl, Ji Eun-tak (Kim Go-eun), who has a special ability to see ghosts, and is destined to be his bride and return him to ashes.
Gong Yoo as Kim Shin, also known as Goblin
A 939-year-old immortal goblin and protector of souls who is in search for his bride, the only one who can remove the sword he was killed with, piercing his chest. Once the sword is removed, he may finally move to the after-life and rest in peace. Although initially skeptical that Eun-tak is the Goblin bride, he gradually begins to love her and accept her as his long-awaited bride. He can teleport through any door, freeze time and can look into the future of a person's life. When he is sad or in a gloomy mood it rains and when he is happy flowers bloom, even in the winter. He can be quite childish sometimes (as said by Eun-tak) but is actually kindhearted. He and the Grim Reaper are the best of friends until he discovers that his friend is actually the reincarnation of his great enemy, Wang Yeo, the king who ordered his and his household's death. Yet he forgives him in the end and let's him date Sunny, the reincarnation of his sister.
Kim Go-eun as Ji Eun-tak
Han Seo-jin as young Ji Eun-tak
An optimistic and bubbly high school student, who is one of the two missing souls that the Grim Reaper is after, and the legendary Goblin's bride. She was born by the Goblin's mercy: he saved her mother from dying while she was pregnant with her. It left a mark on her back, a sign that she was destined to be the Goblin's wife. Her mom died when she was 9 and at first, she struggled under her vicious aunt's custody until she is 19 years old. Having the ability to see and speak to dead spirits since a young age, additionally, she can always summon the Goblin by extinguishing any candle-light by blowing on it, which leads to their first encounter. Immune to the Goblin's powers, she can teleport through doors with him, and isn't affected by the Goblin's time-freezing.
Lee Dong-wook as Wang Yeo, also known as Grim Reaper
A good-looking, 300-year old amnesiac grim reaper (grim reapers come into being as punishment for committing the greatest and heaviest of sins; taking of their own lives in their past incarnations) who escorts souls of the dead to their afterlife or to be reincarnated. Him, along with other Grim Reapers, have no memory of their past life and serves their role as an escort as a punishment. He is the reincarnation of Wang Yeo, a Goryeo Dynasty king who ordered the killing of his brother-in-law Kim Shin for treason and sentenced his family to death out of fear induced by his "advisor". Initially he and the Goblin have a difficult relationship (levitating the utensils while they eat, fighting over the ownership of the house, as such) but later on become good friends due to him helping Goblin protect Eun-tak from dying. He finds various ways to please Sunny, whom he likes to call Sun-hee.
Yoo In-na as Kim Sun, also known as Sunny
A bright and attractive owner of a chicken restaurant who falls in love with the Grim Reaper from the very first time they meet. Kim Sun is Kim Shin/Goblin's younger sister, who is the reincarnation of Wang Yeo's queen consort, who was tragically killed along with Kim Shin's family. She is constantly confused at the Grim Reaper's strange behaviors, but is intrigued by him otherwise.
Yook Sung-jae as Yoo Deok-hwaJung Ji-hoon as young Yoo Deok-hwa
A rebellious but kind-hearted chaebol heir and the only grandson of the Yoo family. Living under the same roof with the Goblin and the Grim Reaper, Deok-Hwa learns of their true identities, and the trio grows to be good companions of one another. After being coerced by his grandfather, he promises to be a companion and look after Goblin. The Almighty also borrows Deok-hwa's body to speak to Goblin, Grim Reaper, and Samshin.
Lee El as Samshin, goddess of birth and fate
Kim Sung-kyum as Chairman Yoo Shin-woo, Deok-hwa's grandfather
Yum Hye-ran as Ji Yeon-suk, Eun-tak's aunt
Jung Yeong-gi as Park Kyung-shik, Eun-tak's male cousin
Choi Ri as Park Kyung-mi, Eun-tak's female cousin
Jo Woo-jin as Kim Do-young, Deok-hwa's secretary
Park Hee-von as Ji Yeon-hee, Ji Eun-tak's mother (Ep. 1, 7)
Kim Min-jae as Wang Yeo, the Grim Reaper's past mortal incarnation. (Ep. 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
Kim So-hyun as Kim Sun, Sunny's past mortal incarnation. (Ep. 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
Jung Hae-in as Choi Tae-hee, Ji Eun-tak's first love (Ep. 7, 8)
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 first script-reading was held at Nuri Dream Square in Sangam-dong, Seoul, South Korea, on 30 August 2016. The sageuk scenes were filmed on September 22 in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, South Korea. The cemetery scenes were shot in Quebec City, Canada in October.
The drama was a hit and consistently topped cable television viewership ratings in its timeslot. Its final episode recorded an 18.68% nationwide audience share according to AGB, making the episode the second highest rated in Korean cable television history, behind Reply 1988. It also topped various indexes measuring influence of both cable and terrestrial television programs on traditional and new media, as well as the commercial values of the actors on various shows. Its popularity was reflected on fashion trends and costs of its commercial airtime. Kim In-yook's poetry book, The Physics of Love, also gained renewed attention after one of its verses was featured in the drama. The original soundtracks also topped local digital music charts.
The Korea Times stated, "...the depth of perspective looking at life of the goblin that bears a bloody sword in his chest and has been given eternal life as punishment, immerses the audience into the fantasy story. The twist and complexity of life and death make the story more interesting."
Despite its success, Guardian was criticized for its several consumer product placements which drew an estimated 2-4 billion KRW from revenue.
In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
This drama aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC & EBS).
Episodes 15 and 16 aired back-to-back on January 21, 2017
In Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, the drama aired on Oh!K with subtitles. It premiered on December 3, 2016 24 hours after its original broadcast in South Korea.
In Sri Lanka, Brunei, Malaysia and the Maldives, the drama is available to stream on-demand on Iflix. During its original run, episodes of the drama were exclusively streamed on Iflix within 24 hours of its original South Korean broadcast with English subtitles between December 3, 2016 and January 22, 2017.
In Japan, the drama will start airing in March 2017 on Mnet Japan.
The series is available on-demand on Viu in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia with English, Chinese, Indonesian and Malay subtitles.
Outside of Asia, the drama streams on DramaFever and Viki, both with subtitles.
In Thailand, the drama will start airing in early 2017 on True4U.
