Squid Game requires more than simply a desire to survive. The players have to be able to make alliances with others, play the deadly children’s games, be strong enough to overpower opponents, and smart enough to outsmart them. Many of the Outer Banks characters could likely make it through a big chunk of the games, but they wouldn’t necessarily have the patience to make it to the end.
Rafe
It’s unlikely that Rafe would make it through the very first round of Squid Game, and that’s not because he ultimately becomes one of Outer Banks’ least likable characters. He doesn’t understand the meaning of patience, and he would find standing still to avoid being taken out by a giant doll ridiculous.
In fact, Rafe likely wouldn’t initially take the game seriously, which would be his downfall. He wouldn’t think that a game of “Red Light, Green Light” could end in bloodshed.
Barry
Barry has a bit more patience than Rafe. That’s demonstrated by all of the times Rafe drags him into messes that could get him in trouble and Barry manages to slowly untangle himself from the events. Where Barry would fail, however, is in his overconfidence.
Barry would absolutely think he had an edge in Squid Game because of his dangerous living situation already. He often thinks of himself as the baddest guy around, and is proven wrong when Ward Cameron puts him in his place. The same would happen over the course of the game. He wouldn’t last long because someone else would quickly prove themselves more capable than him.
Sarah
Sarah finds herself at the center of a lot of complicated relationships in Outer Banks. She has a history of dropping friends when she’s getting too close to them, and if that reputation followed her into the game, other players might be hesitant to ally with her.
Sarah also has a tendency to put herself into dangerous situations without thinking about the consequences. Many times, her friends have to save her life. She wouldn’t have that luxury in the games.
John B
John B is surprisingly smart considering how much trouble he ends up in. That’s largely because he’s also incredibly impulsive. John B puts together a lot of the clues his father leaves him, so he would be pretty observant in the dorms of the Squid Game compound.
The trouble is that John B likely wouldn’t be in the dorm long as he would quickly make himself a target for the guards. He’s not subtle in his research of lost treasure in Outer Banks, so he likely would be just as obvious at his attempts to understand the games and find loopholes in his situation.
JJ
Once JJ gets going, he doesn’t stop. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t take the time to plan things out though. His plans just usually aren’t great. JJ is a hot-head, but he’s not quite as impulsive as John B. That might help him last a little bit longer.
JJ is also, despite his temperamental nature, incredibly likable. He’d easily bond with other people playing the games and make alliances. As someone who is incredibly loyal though, JJ wouldn’t see the betrayal of his allies coming.
Topper
Topper knows how to make people trust him. That would serve him well once he got past the first few games. It would make forming alliances easier for him. Unlike JJ, Topper would be more likely to betray those allies.
For Topper though, he wouldn’t be quite as good at playing the actual games. His frustration would get the better of him. In fact, it would be surprising if he made it past the “Dalgona” round of the game because he wouldn’t have the patience to get the shape of his candy to be perfect.
Pope
The most analytical of the Pogues, Pope wouldn’t have a hard time playing different children’s games. He might actually be the best suited to this particular type of competition, but he would have a hard time keeping his cool as he watched his allies die around him.
Pope would likely make it pretty far. The round that would get him would be the “Glass Hopscotch” as he would want to observe others before he made his move, and that might not be an option as the glass panels fall.
Kiara
It has to be noted that Kiara would find Squid Game deplorable. She would hate the idea of people fighting with their lives to pay off their debts. Kiara is already so anti-wealth that she wouldn’t be shy about making her feelings about the games known. That could put a target on her back, but Kiara is also smart, tough, and competitive, so she wouldn’t go down easily.
Where she might have the toughest time is actually “Marbles” once she realized her opponent would die if she won. Though Kiara is more than willing to fight back, she would be devastated to choose a partner, only to sentence them to death. It would likely wreck her concentration going into the next rounds.
Cleo
Cleo is tough and she is shrewd. She survived being chased by police in the Bahamas, John B hitting her with a car, and jumping off a freighter into the ocean. She also isn’t someone who trusts easily, which would serve her well where she could be betrayed at any moment.
What Squid Game would come down to for Cleo is the final round. It would all depend on who she was up against in a one-on-one battle. Cleo would be willing to do whatever it took to win, but she might not necessarily be as tough as her opponent.
Ward
If anyone could win Squid Game amongst the Outer Banks characters, it’s Ward Cameron. He’s very intelligent, able to conceal his true motives from those around them until he’s ready to play his hand, and he doesn’t seem to have any qualms about taking a life.
Ward would also be more than willing to ally with people he thought could help him and then quickly betray them so that he could make it through “Marbles” and “Glass Hopscotch” easily. He’s already demonstrated that he can take people on one-on-one as well. As much as fans would hate to see him triumph, Ward would come out on top.
