Lookism (manhwa)

Lookism is a South Korean webtoon written and illustrated by Park Tae-joon.[1] It was first published online weekly on Naver WEBTOON since November 2014. The story revolves around a high school student who can switch between two bodies—one fat and ugly, and the other fit and handsome.[2]

For the discriminatory treatment, see Lookism.
Lookism
Cover of Lookism volume 1
외모지상주의
(Oemojisangjui)
GenreDrama
AuthorPark Tae-joon
PublisherDaewon and Book
Webtoon
service
Original runNovember 20, 2014 – ongoing
Volumes13

Story

Daniel Park, or Park Hyung Suk is an unpopular, fat, ugly, and bullied high school student who is looked down upon. Constantly bullied and harassed every day by Logan Lee, he often takes out his anger verbally on his mother and asks for a school transfer. Resolving to run away from his current problems and to start fresh, he moves to Seoul and goes to his new high school. However, a few nights before he goes to school, he obtains a new body which is tall, muscular, and very handsome. When one body is in use, the other falls asleep, and he is able to switch between the bodies by waking the sleeping body.

His days are always split between the two bodies, his handsome body for the daytime and the original for the night. As Daniel lives his life with his two bodies, he begins to see just how much the world discriminates against people simply for being unattractive or different. Hence the titular name of "Lookism."

Through his original body, he experiences the world's discrimination and hate, while also seeing the kindness and special treatment through the other. His new body takes him through numerous life experiences from becoming a miniature celebrity, a trainee for an entertainment company, and modeling for clothes. Once the day turns to night, however, this rosy dream turns back into a harsh reality of what the world really is after Daniel's switches back to his original body.

Significant Arcs and Side Stories

The arcs were put into story order:

  • Festival (Chapters 21-27): J High launched "Slave Auction", a fundraising event using male J High students as "slaves" for female students to bid on. Daniel enters and breaks the record for the most expensive bid. When attempting to express his gratefulness to the winning bidder (as the second-place bidder had been notorious for treating her "slaves" terribly), Daniel gets into a (minor) physical fight with the girl's bodyguard, Jong Gun. Jong Gun is impressed with Daniel's skills.

—

  • Paprika TV (Chapters 28-33): Paprika, a live streaming site made several J High students hooked because the platform allows streamers to get paid by their fans. Zoe became a victim of a deranged fan who was obsessed to the point of stalking and attempted murder. Thanks to Daniel (in his original body) and Vasco, she was saved. Because of this, Zoe began developing feelings for Daniel in his original body. Yui, a top streamer who constantly flirted with Daniel, developed feelings for Zach after he beat up her abusive boyfriend.

—

  • Autumn Boot Camp (Chapters 41-45): J High went to a training school. Heemin, a serial rapist under the pseudonym "Zeus", worked as their trainer and almost raped Mira until Zack saved her by fighting Heemin. This is another example of lookism, since they never suspected Zeus because of his handsome face, and only suspects Won Bin, another trainer with an unsavory face.

—

  • Pavlov's Dog (Chapters 46-50): Daniel returns to his hometown in his fat body, but was set up by the person Logan Lee enlisted as Daniel's replacement. After Logan stole Daniel's lucky five dollar bill that he got from his mother, Jay fought against Logan to take back the money. The arc was named Pavlov's dog, due to Daniel's PTSD of being violently bullied and inability to stand up to Logan.

—

  • Vasco's Youth (Chapters 51-57): Jace recalls Vasco being bullied by their classmates in his childhood. After doodles were carved into Vasco's skin by a sadistic bully, Vasco developed aichmophobia. A bullied victim paid Joon Goo to deal with the bullies. Jace got tattooed to persuade Vasco to get tattoos to cover his scars and help him overcome his phobia.

—

  • Abandoned Dog Inu (Chapters 58-62): Daniel and Crystal's first impressions on each others' good looking bodies were sour, but they start to bond when helping an abandoned dog. The dog later gave birth to four puppies, and Jay adopted the puppies despite his fear of dogs.

—

  • Attention Whore (Chapters 63-68): Tae Joon, desperate to earn followers and online influence, made a shoot towards a gangster named Dae Hoon Shin alongside Doo Lee. A cat-and-mouse chase ensues, forcing Daniel, Vasco, and Zack to save the stupid duo from Dae Hoon Shin.

—

  • Jay Hong and Inu's Pups (Chapters 69-70): A silent side story about Jay and overcoming his fear of dogs.

—

  • Fitting Model (Chapters 71-72): Daniel was scouted by "Oh Clothing", a well-known fashion site, and "Gian Shop", a lesser-known start up, to be a fit model. After Daniel (in his original body) and his mother were kicked out of Oh Clothing and badmouthed when trying to buy clothes from them, he decided to model for Gian Shop. Joy went with him after she found out that Daniel was also a fitting model, for free.

—

  • Dangerous Part Time Job (Chapters 75-80): Daniel, desperate for more money, went to an escort agency. When he realized that the job entails using looks to scam women for money, he left the bar as the bar was raided, but not before mistaking alcohol for water. Then, still drunk and a rich woman still clinging to him, he went to school, earning Vasco's anger. But while at the bar, he only wants rice cooker for his own use, so the woman gave him that, plus money inside the appliance.

—

  • Illegal Toto (Chapters 83-90): Jiho Park was tricked by John, an "admin" of an illegal odds betting site, to sucker his money. Thanks to Crystal and Kouji, the issue was solved. Jake Kim, the mastermind, was imprisoned after beaten by Jong Gun and John was beaten up by the gangster who were with him.

—

  • PTJ Entertainment (Chapters 96-109): Daniel and Duke went to PTJ, an entertainment company, after Daniel was scouted and refused to come without Duke. Jay's younger sister, Joy, joined them. Oliver and La Sol, two people who had been perpetual trainees, trained them for the monthly evaluation. It is revealed that two years ago, ARU and Oliver had been in love, but were then split apart as ARU's desperation to debut trapped her in a casting couch with a major investor of PTJ. When ARU's situation became worse, Crystal, Crystal's father, DG, Jong Gun, Joon Goo, others saved her and were able to fire the CEO. After the situation, ARU went clean (but went victimizing another producer), Daniel and Joy left the group, Duke advanced to Class B, Oliver debuted as an Inspirit member, and La Sol became moved to Class A as a trainer and would go solo in the future.

—

  • Stalker (Chapters 113-120): Daniel was victimized by a psychotic sasaeng fan and Crystal tries to save him. The stalker was arrested and released in the epilogue, but with a beautiful facade.

—

  • Troubled Transfer (Chapters 123-126): To escape his debt to Joon Goo, Logan transfers to J High, joins the Comics Department, beats up Vin Jin and Zach, and twists Vasco's ankle. He also develops feelings for Zoe and tries to fight Daniel out of jealousy after seeing Zoe with him. This arc triggers the return of Daniel's PTSD.

—

  • Cult (Chapters 132-138): Side story in which Zack, Mira, and Johan are involved. Johan's mother is a hairdresser and a volunteer in a church until she went blind and insane and began following a cult named Pungsan Dog, or Dog God. Mira, Zack, and Johan found out that the cult had been crucifying a reporter and growing a unique drug to keep members addicted and "faithful". After the friends escaped with the reporter, the story was all over the news. The cult leaders were arrested and the cult members, including Johan's mom, were put in addiction treatment. Johan disappeared after the incident then reappeared many years later, beating Zack in the boxing finals, then disappearing once again with Jong Gun.

—

  • Animal Cruelty (Chapters 149-152): Disappearance of pets, including Daniel's and Johan's dogs caused the two to look for the culprit, which led them to an animal hoarder. But the legal consequence for animal hoarding was minor, equal only to Daniel's offense of forcible break-in, and the hoarder relapsed once again after paying the fines.

—

  • Seonong Goes to Seoul (Chapters 158-160): Vasco gave Seonong Ham $10,000 in cash after ruining Seonong's $400 outfit during a school trip as Seonong lied that the clothing costed $10,000. Pricked with guilt, Seonong went to return the money, encountering incidents after incidents, but Vasco gave it to a Thai man who wanted to make ends meet in Korea. The Thai man was revealed to be Vasco's teacher and a former undefeated kickboxer, who retired and fled after accidentally killing his last opponent.

—

  • Fake Bank Account (Chapters 163-173): Jiho was once again caught in an incident after he made a bank account in his name and gave it to one of his childhood bullies, James Gong. James Gong sold the account to someone who used it to scam people out of products on second hand shopping sites. The incident was resolved with the help of Kouji, Vasco, and Zach. Daniel held James Gong back when he tried to beat Jiho up. But Jiho's inferiority complex and psychosis takes over and Jiho pushed the fighting pair out of the window, wounding James and putting Daniel in a coma. Jiho was imprisoned for attempted murder in a juvenile facility.

—

  • The Truth Behind Daniel Park (Chapters 174-177): Daniel panics when the hospital struggles to find Daniel's new body's identity. Hours later, the body is identified as "James Lee", a boy whose parents were overseas. Daniel is faced with guilt as he realizes that the body may have a family of its own, leading Daniel to investigate more. After going on a wild goose chase of finding an abandoned apartment, and a school that "James Lee" apparently attended, Daniel ends back in his own apartment, where Charles Choi orders Daniel to stop looking for James Lee. Charles Choi claims that James Lee was an identity that Daniel created, but Choi's urgency for Daniel to stop looking for James gives Daniel the impression that Charles Choi is lying, and suspects that the old man was hiding something.

—

  • Juvenile Prison (Chapters 180-185): The arc was focused on Jiho's experiences in jail and his deteriorating sanity.

—

  • Homeless (Chapters 191-194): Daniel, unable to change bodies due to his body in a coma ran away from home after he overheard his mother talking to another man, and he never wants to be a burden to his mother, and met a man who did not want to return to his family because he had felt like an embarrassment and a burden for being broke. He then helped the man, defending him from thieves who wants the bag the man has, revealed that the man saved money in that bag, in order to give his daughter a decent gift for her. Daniel helped the man return to his family, the daughter welcomed her estranged dad. And it is also revealed that the cult leader (see Cult Arc), released after his sentence, acts as a cripple to sucker money, which the thieves turn into after failing to steal the money the homeless man had, stealing all the cult leader's money instead.

—

  • Daniel Park vs. Logan Lee (Chapters 195-197): Logan forces Zoe to date him otherwise he would beat up chubby Daniel. Daniel is forced to face his ultimate fear, Logan, to protect Zoe like she had been protecting him. Being beat up by Logan, Daniel realizes that although his life had changed so much after gaining a new body, he had not changed at all. He realized that he kept running away, never stayed back to fight, and always relied on his handsome body to fight his battles for him. He overcame this by getting back up and not running away after Logan's blows. Daniel told Logan to let Zoe go if Logan used his strongest arm to beat him up. That was fulfilled, when Logan used his dominant arm.

—

  • Daniel Awakens (Chapter 198): Daniel's slim body woke up after the fat one was beaten unconscious by Logan. Jay overcame by emotion seeing him conscious, revealing that Jay used his clout to transfer Daniel to a VIP facility, away from Charles Choi's hands.

—

  • God Dog (Chapters 199-213): God Dog, a gang that was run by Johan, made their move, this time against Vasco and Burn Knuckle. Some other J High students were caught in the crossfire between the two gangs. But in the end, Johan was betrayed by his second in command, Jin Jang. Jay used his money and power to cover up the incident.

—

  • Vasco's Crisis/Jacedaichi Case Files (Chapters 214-217): Gordon Park, troubled with Architecture Department's loony ways, learned of a case with Vasco involving a lost wallet full of money. It took Jace's "detective skills" to root out the true culprit. The wallet owner was the suspect Jasmine Huh, being a mythomaniac, which Gordon Park just returned to her. But the truth also revealed all embarrassing things about other persons, like Yui and Vasco taking laxatives, Logan's crush on Zoe, and Vin Jin's secret idolization of Duke. The story parodies Kindaichi Case Files.

—

  • Stockings (Chapters 217-219): A story which involved Jasmine Huh once again. She used photos of unsuspecting girls from J High to sell her own cigarette butts, spit, underwear, stockings and other personal items to those who have olfactophilia for large amounts of money. Mira, Zoey, Joy and Mary's photos were used in Jasmine's scam. Zack stopped this scam, but a larger problem quickly arose.

—

  • Runaway Fam (Chapters 219-231): After the stockings incident, Jasmine ran away to a massive gang named Hostel that was running the fetish market and prostitution scams. Hostel included a branch called the Runaway Fam, consisting of runaways and drifters. Daniel, Zack, Vin Jin, Mary and Vasco infiltrated the group. Daniel meets two girls nicknamed "Like What" and "So Funny", who ran away from their abusive home lives. James Gong survived the fall (see Fake Bank Account arc) and joined Hostel, but seemingly mentally degraded. Johan Seong's former ally, Jin Jang, joined another large gang called Big Deal and started strengthening the group. The arc ends when Olly Wang, James, Jasmine and others escaped, and Eli Jang was eventually found by members of Hostel A, revealing that he is the member of the original Hostel.

—

  • Eli Jang (Chapters 232-248): Eli's past was revealed. He ran away to escape the domestic abuse he had constantly faced at home and met Sally Park, an orphan who lived in an abandoned building that she inherited. He lived with her, alongside Warren Chae, Derek, and Max. Sally's friends, Heather and Olly Wang were frequent visitors and Eli and Heather soon fell in love. Eli then created Hostel from initials of their Korean names, excluding Olly Wang's. Hostel was formed from Eli's dream to take in abandoned children and give them better lives on the streets. Joon Goo and Jong Gun discussed the creation of Hostel. Olly Wang tricked Heather, who was carrying Eli's daughter, into thinking that Eli did not care for their child and wanted an abortion. Heather eventually died from childbirth, so Eli gave up his dream of expanding Hostel to raise his daughter, Yenna. Hostel disbanded after Heather's death and Olly Wang built another branch of Hostel called Hostel A, with his preferences. Olly and Jin plan to eliminate J High.

—

  • Wuthering J High (Chapters 250-251): a side story in which both Crystal and Daniel forgot to transform and went to school in their alternate forms. It is foreshadowed that Daniel's original body was gradually turning into his new body.

—

  • Jin Jang's Analysis (Chapters 252-254): Jin Jang, formerly of Johan Seong's God Dog, went spying on J High, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the strongest J High students.

—

  • Hostel Branch/One Night (Chapters 255-263): A story following three points of view as the friends go to Cheonliang. The first point of view is of Daniel, Joy, Zoe, Zack, Mira and Crystal in Cheonliang. The second is of Jace and Johan in an uneasy alliance against Cheonliang gangs allied with Hostel A. And the third is of Vasco and his misadventures in a forest after missing the train.

—

  • Juvenile Prison Jiho Park (Chapters 264-265): A story about Jiho Park and a rehab officer who believed Jiho to be an innocent child and wanted Jiho to get special pardon. In the end, the officer was attacked by Jiho, and the other inmates take the blame for themselves out of fear, showing Jiho's increase of power as his mental state deteriorated. The epilogue was a discussion of which inmate(s) would receive the special pardon.

—

  • Hostel (Chapters 266-283): Daniel, Jay, Zach, and Vasco went to Gangdong to find Jasmine and return her to her father. Vin Jin and Logan went to find the one who used Mary and Zoe's pictures. Eli met another "Eli", a kid trained by Olly to act like Eli Jang, and decides to fight Hostel for taking advantage of children. Daniel and Zack fought because Daniel tried to return Jasmine home, but Zach refuses to let Jasmine go after Jasmine had told Zach that her father was a sex offender. Logan and Jay fought because Logan stole Jay's motorcycle and told Jay he was going to beat up Daniel. Vasco and Vin Jin fought because Vasco despised Vin Jin's ill treatment of Duke. This entire fight is anticipated by Jin Jang as he had manipulated the situation carefully for the outcome he wanted. He then sent Hostel members to beat up each of the fighting pairs and gather them together. The J High students and Burn Knuckles are coerced to joined forces and fight the Hostel members together and the students eventually end up on the roof of the abandoned building from Sally's childhood (see Eli Jang arc). Olly Wang realizes that the only feeling he ever felt was guilt for hurting Heather so he commits suicide by jumping off the roof. The arc ends with the mourning of Olly Wang, not only by Hostel A, but by the original Hostel and the J High students as well. Jasmine Huh and James Gong set off to create a new Hostel with all of the children that Olly Wang had trained, revealing that she tells the truth about her situation at home to Zack.

—

  • VS Gun (Chapter 284-286): Jong Gun appeared with Yenna, provoking Eli. Gun beats up Eli and tells him that he would've killed him if it wouldn't for Olly Wang making Gun promise to never harm Hostel B. Eli reveals his backstory to Daniel and his friends. Daniel once again looks for his fit body's true source, but he encounters Gun when revisiting the abandoned school that "James Lee" supposedly went to. Jong Gun demands that Daniel create his own crew otherwise he would make Daniel's friends start their own crew, which led to Gun and Daniel fighting after Daniel refused to start a crew and refused to let his friends start a crew. Somewhere else, Charles Choi and Steve Hong were hunting, when Steve Hong implies that he knows about the Four Crews and that the monthly installments they paid went to Choi. Daniel and Gun's brutal fight comes to an end after Gun is severely beaten by Daniel in his state of unconscious fighting. Gun, incredibly impressed with Daniel's fighting, tells him he won't force him to start a crew anymore and that he will let him destroy the Four Crews like Daniel (and his friends) had originally intended. Jong Gun also gave Daniel access to ONE MCN, a mysterious company run by Workers, and revealed that Daniel broke his arm in the fight they have. The story ends with an introduction of ONE MCN's executive, Samuel Seo, and Like What and So Funny's (see Runaway Fam) interview to become a professional streamer.

—

  • Workers(4 Affiliates) (Chapters 287-299): The story begins with a panel of a mukbang streamer named Jamie being forced to stream by a gangster. The panel ends abruptly and cuts to Like What and So Funny's being hired after an interview with Samuel Seo. Daniel (in his original body) begins streaming on ONE MCN and shares his experiences of being bullied to viewers who could relate. Daniel goes to J-Fest, a convention of streamers, and meets Samuel Seo under the pretense that Daniel wanted to become a paid streamer. Daniel uses the ONE MCN keycard given to him by Gun (see "Vs Gun") to open a secret door found in Samuel Seo's office. The secret door leads to a hidden office, which contains a bulletin board of information on the four crews and a locked safe. After Daniel, Like What, and So Funny sign a contract with ONE MCN, they wake up in separate, locked rooms where they are forced to stream by gangsters. Daniel disguises his attractive body as a chicken deliveryman after ordering takeout chicken with his original body (under the premise of a mukbang) as clues to find his original body. Warren Chae looks for Like What and So Funny after Hostel B begins to worry over their disappearance. Daniel got intercepted by Samuel himself, having a legal team to rive him out, but not punching Samuel. Warren went to J High to ask Daniel about the two, and how to enter ONE MCN. They approached Kouji, but the hacker declined their request, interested only on Jay and they require money to make him follow, which Warren spanked his butt. But Kouji has one clue, the badge that was on Jong Gun's envelope, which was given to Daniel. The badges have hierarchy, blank gold for mercenaries, engraved gold for executives, engraved white for affiliates, and engraved black for VVIPs, the black ones were limited to 5 only. Warren and Doo Lee went on with Daniel disguised as VVIPs. They were welcomed by Alexander Hwang himself. Daniel told Doo Lee and Warren Chae to do their thing, the former to fool around, and Warren to find the kids, but Daniel told him to raise a ruckus enough to distract the guards. Daniel was escorted by Manager Kim, telling him something a VVIP will ask, and more. Eventually, he went to Samuel's office alone, telling the Manager to go alone. The manager was confronted by Warren, but was beaten by the former. Daniel saw Joon Goo in the office. But Daniel was blindsided by Goo, and was hit by a chair. The fat Daniel, regaining sense, broke through his cubicle, with the lock and his fist, revealing that the reason why he eats so much chicken, is because of protein. He managed to break out all the streamers, but Mr. Gold was there, unknowingly, that Mr. Gold is actually another gangster in disguise beat him up, revealing that the gangster disguised himself as one of the Kwitch 5 to reveal who is screwing him. And he accuses Samuel for that. Alexander then shown beating down Samuel, then forgives him after he defeated the intruders himself. But Daniel and Warren entered the room, the former beating up the security gangsters. Alexander confronted the duo personally, confident that he has no evidence of illegal activities and he just stole the black badge. Daniel threw him all the contracts he has to Alexander and Samuel, revealing that the black badge is real, and that alone unlocked the safe. Daniel says that Workers are disqualified from being the 4 major crews. Alexander called all his security team to corner the duo. Jong Gun talks while looking at his broken arm, and talks about his black badge being used by somebody else, suspecting that Daniel has a double agent assisting him. But threw his suspicions aside, confident about his skills. Daniel and Warren beat up 2 managers, but had difficulties on the ex-National Security Agency agent, Manager Kim, while Alexander and Samuel are bickering about Joon Goo's visit. Charles Choi meanwhile, talks with one of the Ten Geniuses, Tom Lee, telling him about the illegal moves by the Workers. Tom later on confronted Goo while at the site. Tom then goes to the Worker's site, single-handedly beating Warren then stripped his pants. He then beat Daniel unconscious after the latter tried to fight back. Then, Tom took Alexander and Daniel's fat body. Meanwhile, Manager Kim and the 2 managers returned Like What and So Funny, in time for Warren's return. Sally scolded him.

Days later, Jin Jang and his K House approached Samuel for a deal, but the tattooed man was in no time for niceties, so he confronted them.

In the epilogue, Johan Seong was given food by 2 former Hostel A members, when Zack arrived and took a seat near him. And a confrontation between two ensued. —

  • VS Johan Seong (Chapter 300-301):

—

  • Jake Kim (Chapter 302-?):

The story is to be continued…

Characters

Main Characters

Daniel Park/Park Hyung Suk: Daniel Park, from the Fashion Department, is a naïve high school student who is bullied by Logan Lee at the start of the series. Just before transferring to Jae Won High to run away from his bullies, he wakes up one day with a slimmer and more attractive body next to his chubby one. With his new ability, he makes new friends and learns about the world and himself through two point of views. The slimmer body was based on Park Hyung Suk, a fit model.

Vasco/Lee Eun Tae: Vasco, from the Architecture Department, has the reputation of being a "Robin Hood", as he stands up for the weak and bullied. He is one of the strongest characters in the series and is the leader of the loyal gang, Burn Knuckles, who "punish bullies". His tough exterior is misleading as he is very sweet and seeks the friendship of those he deems as good people. He is also the childhood friend of Jace Park. The character Vasco is inspired by real-life K-rapper with the same name.

Jay Hong/Hong Jae Yeol: Jay Hong, from the Fashion Department, is a quiet and mysterious character. He's rich, fights using systema and kali martial arts, and helps those that he likes. It is implied throughout the series that Jay has romantic feelings towards Daniel Park through actions such as him keeping a coupon with Daniel's face on it in his wallet (the coupon is from "Gian Shop"; see "Fitting Model"), Jay adopting Inu's puppies despite his fear of dogs (see "Abandoned Dog Inu" & "Jay Hong and Inu's Pups"), and Jay's habit of giving Daniel his clothing (Chapters 20 & 162).

Zack Lee/Lee Jin Sung: Zack Lee, from the Fashion Department, is a boxer and is quite aggressive excepting his soft spot for his childhood friend, Mira Kim, who he is in love with. He wants to become her boyfriend, but she dislikes violence, so he tries to change himself for her. With Mira's influence, Zach stops bullying others, diminishes the number of times he gets into fights, becomes more patient, and overall matures. He was once friends with Johan Seong, though Johan disappeared after the God Dog cult event.

Mira Kim/Kim Mi Jin: Mira Kim, from the Fashion Department, is a compassionate, caring, and patient person. She is very observant when it comes to human emotions and sees the good in everyone. She dislikes fighting and believes there are better ways to solve problems, which is why she gets upset when Zack gets into fights. She is the childhood friend of Johan Seong and Zack Lee. They both were in love with her, but she's never exactly reciprocated. She is very attractive and beautiful, which had put her at the risk of rape multiple times.

Zoe Park/Park Ha Neul: Zoe Park, from the Fashion Department, is a beautiful girl who, in the beginning, tries to use her charm to get what she wants. However, after Daniel's original body saves her from a stalker, she develops feelings for his original body, proving that she doesn't care about appearances as much as before.

Crystal Choi/Choi Soo Jung: Crystal Choi, the daughter of the HNH Company Chairman, is the second character that is discovered to have two bodies. She first appears as an obese student that transfers to the Fashion Department in Daniel's school. Yet, unlike Daniel Park, Crystal Choi chooses to live in her original body during the daytime. This shows that she feels a hint of pride in her first body. The different treatment to both of her bodies leads her to strongly believe that "all men are the same" and that the world judges those with different appearances without reason. This explains her initial dislike towards Daniel in his handsome form, though her treatment of Daniel shows her hypocrisy as she treats him badly and looks at him as an egotistical bully. She also likes Daniel's chubby body.

Supporting Characters

Daniel's Mother/Mrs. Kim Park: Daniel's hardworking single mother. She works twice as hard to make Daniel enter Jae Won High, from folding and selling empty cartons and boxes to working part-time waiting tables. She sacrificed everything for her son, just to see him happy and contented. She transfers her son to Jae Won High after witnessing Logan bully him. Despite nearly spoiling her son, she never got anything for herself, sadly. Little by little, Daniel returns her sacrifices.

Jace Park/Park Bum Jae: The number two of the Burn Knuckles and childhood friend of Vasco. He's the one who helped Vasco overcome his aichmophobia and even got a tattoo that said "My Hero ET", ET standing for Eun Tae.

Duke Pyeon/Pyeon Duk Hwa: From the Vocal Dance Department and an aspiring rapper. Due to his body, he was bullied by others and rejected by producers. But upon meeting and collaborating with Daniel, he gained confidence and started to do Paprika TV video streaming. He also became a member of PTJ Entertainment, when he was tagged along with Daniel and Joy. There, he became famous for his rapping ability, despite his body size.

Logan Lee/Lee Tae Sung: A strong, large man who used to bully Daniel Park frequently in his former school and the first body, and was one of the main causes of Daniel moving to Seoul. Unfortunately, Logan moved to Seoul and coincidentally entered the same school as Daniel, and now resides in the Animation Department (see "Troubled Transfer" arc).

Jiho Park/Park Ji Ho: A boy who faced much bullying until Daniel took him under his wing. Shows signs of an inferiority complex throughout the book and eventually goes to juvenile prison for attempted murder of Daniel Park and James Gong. Loses his sanity in juvenile prison.

Vin Jin/Jin Ho Bin: An arrogant member of Vocal Dance Department. He claims that he's better than the rest. Never takes off his glasses. He has a fear of losing his shades, revealing that he becomes berserk once the shades are removed.

Mary Kim: Mary is a blonde haired girl who is friends with Vin Jin and in Vocal and Dance Department. She is quite pretty and is well-known in Cheonliang (her and Vin Jin's hometown) as the Empress of Two Seconds because she is so good at fighting that she can defeat her opponents in two seconds.

Yui Kim: Introduced during Paprika TV Streaming Arc. A leading BJ on the website, until Zoe joined. Got beaten by her boyfriend after Zack exposed her flirting with Daniel. Later, she developed feelings for Zack.

Tae Joon Park: Introduced in Attention Whore Arc and is from the Architectural Department. He was a famewhore who taunted a gangster named Shin Dae Hoon in worked shoots. He got his desserts after being caught with Park Hyun Do. They were released by Vasco, Zack, and Daniel. He shares the same name as the author and PTJ Entertainment.

Leon Lee: A freshman from the Architectural Department. The mysterious person who is revealed to be a girl, though she convinces everyone in J High that she is a boy. It is implied that she has feelings for Vasco.

Joy Hong/Hong Jae Hye: Jay's little sister and an Aboki model. Later entered J High to see Daniel.

Nam Su Lee: One of the nerdy classmates, he was initially tasked by Zack to buy shoes for him, which ends up being scammed. Then after the issue was settled, he bought a Chrome Hearts ring. Later on, he started rumors that Daniel was poor and had no fashion sense, which leads Jay to give Daniel all his clothes.

David, Dylan & Sarah Park: Daniel's cousins. Dylan is a wannabe rapper and Duke's fan. David is a college boy. Sarah is Dylan's sister, who also has a crush on Daniel Park's other body.

Hong Ki Tae: Jay's older brother and the head of H Group.

—

See "Workers(4 Affiliates)" arc:

  • Samuel Seo: ONE MCN's executive. Jong Gun hired him to oversee Workers.
  • Alexander Hwang: President of Workers.

—

See "Runaway Fam", "Eli Jang", "Hostel Branch/One Night" arcs:

  • Like What and So Funny: Two girls who ran away from their troubled home lives and joined the Runaway Fam. They were forced into prostitution scams by their Runaway Fam and later joined Hostel B, as it was a more stable and non-abusive environment. In fear that they would be kicked out of Hostel B if they didn't earn money (as this frequently happened in some Runaway Fams), they began streaming on ONE MCN for money.
  • Warren Chae: One of the original Hostel's members looking for Eli. He is known as the "Gangdong's Mighty Warren Chae" and often speaks in broken and missing sentences.
  • Eli Jang/Jang Hyun: Beauty department's only male member. He is a single father of a baby girl named Yenna. Jong Gun has his eyes on him because he's not only a member of Hostel, he created it.
  • Sally Park: One of the original Hostel's members looking for Eli. She is an orphan who lives in an abandoned building she inherited. and she is usually seen with Warren Chae.
  • Max Kang and Derek Jo: Two of the original Hostel's members. Now became tteokbokki dealer and club promoter.
  • Olly Wang: Formerly part of the original Hostel, but created another one called Hostel A after the original disbanded. Died of suicide.
  • James Gong: Formerly Jiho's psychotic bully. He scammed Jiho and was pushed out of the building window with Daniel.
  • Jasmine Huh: Daniel's classmate, and a mythomaniac. Initially accused Vasco of stealing her purse, then scammed fetishists with used items, lying that it belonged to Joy, Zoey, Mira and Mary. Then disappeared, joining James Gong and into Olly Wang's group. Her father abused her, so she left home, and now with James, and the kids Olly trained.

—

See "Illegal Toto", "Cult", "Animal Cruelty", "God Dog", "Juvenile Prison" arcs:

  • Johan Seong: Johan is Zack and Mira's childhood friend. He always got bullied because he was poor and his mother was becoming blind. He had a crush on Mira and his mother's mental state deteriorated when she joined the God Dog cult. Johan eventually abandoned all those he cared about when he created God Dog, one of the 4 major gangs in Seoul, taking the cult's mascot as his own. He asked Daniel to join him, got betrayed by his gang, and lost to Gun. He appeared again, aiding Jace and later on slapped Jin and seeing Olly Wang's ashes scattered.
  • Jong Gun/Jang Dong Gun: Jong Gun is Crystal Choi's gangster bodyguard, who formerly extorts money upon others. He has reverse-colored eyes, is an excellent fighter, and manages several gangs in Seoul. Shows signs of sadomasochism.
  • Joon Goo/Goo Kim: Introduced during Vasco's Arc, a fighter who frequented juvenile centers. He became Jong Gun's equal and is in charge of Jong Gun's extortion racket.
  • Jake Kim: Jake Kim is the leader of a South Korean gang called Big Deal, and is an excellent fighter. He is put in juvenile prison for an illegal betting ring and becomes heavily influenced by Jiho's dirty fighting.
  • Jerry Kwon: Jake Kim's number two, also known for his strength as the "Sword of Jake Kim".
  • Jin Jang: Formerly Johan's lieutenant, betrayed his "friend", then starts spying upon J High, setting Eli with Olly and revived his K House crew.

—

See "Illegal Toto", "Fake Bank Account" arcs:

  • Kouji/Ko Woo Ji: Another one of HNH Chairman's minions. As a genius hacker, he duped the illegal toto operators and hacked the security feed of the store that Daniel works at.
  • Charles Choi: Crystal's father and the chairman of HNH Group. It is revealed that he worked at a convenience store years ago until he was recruited by Jong Gun to be the leader of the Four Major Crews.
  • Steve Hong: Ki Tae, Joy and Jay's father and chairman of H Group.
  • DG: A kpop talent of PTJ, later CEO of the agency, and one of Charles Choi's 10 Geniuses. It is implied throughout the story that he knows of Daniel's ability. He was modeled after G-Dragon.

—

See "PTJ Entertainment" arc:

  • Oliver Jang/Jang Udon/Woo Dong Jang: A PTJ trainee talent for 6 years and ARU's former boyfriend. Stuck as a C-Rank trainee alongside La Sol because of ARU's bias against them. Later debuts in a new group called Inspirit.
  • La Sol/Ra Sol: Another PTJ trainee talent and ARU's former friend. Stuck as C-Rank trainee alongside Oliver Jang due to ARU's bias against them. Later became PTJ's resident A-Rank trainer.
  • ARU: Formerly Oliver's girlfriend and a PTJ main star. She was caught in a casting couch by a major PTJ investor in her desperation to become famous, but was saved.

Theme

The title is self-explanatory of the theme; lookism, or bias due to a person's physical appearance. The main character is a fat, unattractive student who is bullied by those stronger than him. The story also has themes including (but not limited to) gangs, extortion, animal hoarding, cults, stalking, rape, and attempted murder.

Character designs

Daniel Park's design was inspired by a model named Park Hyung-seok, Jay Hong's design was inspired by a model named Hong Jae-yeol, DG was inspired by G-Dragon, Oliver Jang's design was inspired by Jang Dongwoo, ARU's design was inspired by IU (singer), Vasco/Euntae Lee was inspired by a rapper whose former stage name was Vasco. The creator of the manhwa is Park Tae-joon.

Adaptations

In 2019, Tencent produced the 38 episode chinese television series 外貌至上主义 (Wàimào zhìshàng zhǔyì), based on the manhwa Lookism, starring Park Solomon, Wayne Zhang, Wang Zi Xuan and Dino Lee as the main characters.

References
  1. 얼짱 박태준, '외모지상주의' 작가 되다. Ten Asia (in Korean). December 4, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  2. No, Jin-ho (August 18, 2018). 일진 미화, 여성성 왜곡…웹툰 '외모지상주의'가 전체이용가?. JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved September 25, 2018.
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