Live action TV
Description
Kwon Hyuk-ju was originally a human pastor who ran the Saejin Church for fifteen years before he was killed by a parasite and his body was taken over. The parasite that replaced him inherited his social position and used the church as a front to gather and lead other parasites. As the chief antagonist, he quickly becomes the most organized and ambitious force among the invading creatures, moving beyond mere survival toward long-term political and social dominance over humans.
His personality is marked by cold calculation, high intelligence, and strategic patience. He views humans primarily as resources or obstacles, yet understands the necessity of mimicking human behavior to remain hidden. He teaches other parasites to adopt human mannerisms and social norms, which makes the group far more dangerous than scattered individual threats. His outward calm and pastorly demeanor mask an absolute ruthlessness toward anything that threatens the purity and secrecy of his plan.
Motivated by a vision of parasite supremacy, Kwon Hyuk-ju systematically builds a structured organization. He recruits and coordinates parasites, including Seol Kyung-hee, whose body belongs to the sister of the protagonist’s ally, and he forms a secret partnership with the corrupt detective Kang Won-seok, who feeds him information from law enforcement. He sees the hybrid Jeong Su-in, who shares her body with a parasite but retains human consciousness, as a threat to his order and tries repeatedly to eliminate her.
Throughout the story, Kwon Hyuk-ju escalates his schemes from running a hidden parasite congregation to plotting the infiltration of high-level government structures. He kills the detective Kim Chul-min and assumes his physical form, then later abandons that body to possess the detective’s partner, Won-seok, in pursuit of the mayor’s office. His adaptability and willingness to use human faces as masks illustrate his tactical flexibility. In the final confrontation, however, his arrogance and underestimation of human-parasite cooperation lead to his downfall. A temporary alliance between Su-in, the rogue parasite using Kyung-hee’s body, and the Grey task force thwarts his takeover, and he is destroyed.
Physically, he possesses the typical parasite abilities: his head can shapeshift into bladed or tentacled forms for combat, he regenerates from damage at high speed, and he can detach his own head to transfer to a new host. What sets him apart is his leadership and organizational acumen, which turns the parasite threat from isolated attacks into a coordinated campaign for dominance.
His personality is marked by cold calculation, high intelligence, and strategic patience. He views humans primarily as resources or obstacles, yet understands the necessity of mimicking human behavior to remain hidden. He teaches other parasites to adopt human mannerisms and social norms, which makes the group far more dangerous than scattered individual threats. His outward calm and pastorly demeanor mask an absolute ruthlessness toward anything that threatens the purity and secrecy of his plan.
Motivated by a vision of parasite supremacy, Kwon Hyuk-ju systematically builds a structured organization. He recruits and coordinates parasites, including Seol Kyung-hee, whose body belongs to the sister of the protagonist’s ally, and he forms a secret partnership with the corrupt detective Kang Won-seok, who feeds him information from law enforcement. He sees the hybrid Jeong Su-in, who shares her body with a parasite but retains human consciousness, as a threat to his order and tries repeatedly to eliminate her.
Throughout the story, Kwon Hyuk-ju escalates his schemes from running a hidden parasite congregation to plotting the infiltration of high-level government structures. He kills the detective Kim Chul-min and assumes his physical form, then later abandons that body to possess the detective’s partner, Won-seok, in pursuit of the mayor’s office. His adaptability and willingness to use human faces as masks illustrate his tactical flexibility. In the final confrontation, however, his arrogance and underestimation of human-parasite cooperation lead to his downfall. A temporary alliance between Su-in, the rogue parasite using Kyung-hee’s body, and the Grey task force thwarts his takeover, and he is destroyed.
Physically, he possesses the typical parasite abilities: his head can shapeshift into bladed or tentacled forms for combat, he regenerates from damage at high speed, and he can detach his own head to transfer to a new host. What sets him apart is his leadership and organizational acumen, which turns the parasite threat from isolated attacks into a coordinated campaign for dominance.