EXO's Kai was Revealed to be the Inspiration for the KPop film 'Demon Hunters'

EXO's Kai was revealed to be the inspiration for the popular K-pop animated film, Demon Hunters. Since the premiere of K-pop Demon Hunters on Netflix, many fans have noticed similarities between EXO's Kai and the fictional character Jinu Saja Boys. 

This was finally confirmed by the animator himself. KPop Demon Hunters premiered on Netflix on Friday June 20, 2025. The story follows three female K-pop idols who lead double lives as members of the girl group HUNTR/X and demon hunters. 

They attempt to save humanity from the members of the boy group Saja Boys, a group of evil demons who drain fans' energy from their songs during every performance. When K-pop's Demon Hunters was released, many K-pop fans speculated about which idols were the main inspirations for its creator, Maggie Kang. 

The director and screenwriter of K-pop's Demon Hunters told Forbes that she was inspired by many boy groups in her portrayal of Saja Boys, including TXT, BTS, Stray Kids, ATEEZ, BIGBANG, and MONSTA X.

However, the creator of the K-pop film Demon Hunters, Maggie Kang, specifically acknowledged two handsome Korean actors who inspired her character Jinu, the leader of the boy group Saja Boys. They were ASTRO's Cha Eun Woo and Nam Joo Hyuk. 

Although Ahn Hyo Seop was chosen to voice Jinu Saja Boy, the character was created before the handsome actor signed a contract with the K-Pop production team Demon Hunters. Maggie Kang herself admitted there are slight similarities between Jinu Saja Boy and Ahn Hyo Seop's character in the Korean drama Business Proposal. 

In the making of the K-pop film Demon Hunters, Maggie Kang appointed animator Min Hong and professor Wi Hyun Song from Cheonggang College of Cultural Industries as the animation director. Recently, the two revealed a new fact that has EXO fans hysterical. 

They used Kai's expressions to bring the character of Jinu Saja Boys to life. "To capture the emotional expressions of Jinu, the leader of Saja Boys, I took a lot of inspiration from Kai, a member of the KPop group EXO," said animator Min Hong, in an interview with Hankyung on Tuesday July 29, 2025.

Previously, many EXO-Ls (the name for EXO's fans) had pointed out Kai's resemblance to the character Saja Boys' Jinu in the K-Pop series Demon Hunters, including his hairstyle, eye shape, nose, and badass vibe. This suspicion was confirmed by the film's animator. The Saja Boys' performance of "Your Idol" also reminded fans of Kai's fashion style. 

The main dancer of K-Pop group EXO appeared dressed in a black hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) complete with a hat, like Jinu, while performing "Peaches" on the YouTube channel Studio Choom. "I TOO LOOK LIKE KAIII," commented a fan of EXO's Kai on X. 

"From the start when he appeared, I could really feel Kai's vibe," said a fan. "The song 'Your Idol' by SAJA BOYS has a similar vibe to EXO's 'MAMA'," said another fan who saw the similarity between the soundtrack of the KPop film Demon Hunters and EXO's song.