Reincarnation is a tale as ancient as time. In a fantasy romance context, it's the gift that keeps on giving, especially where the "destined soulmate"
Reincarnation is a tale as ancient as time. In a fantasy romance context, it’s the gift that keeps on giving, especially where the “destined soulmate” trope is concerned. Individuals who find one another across time, sometimes even defying fate to do so — what’s not to love? There’s one condition: if the emotional investment doesn’t match the stakes, and the female lead’s personality gets subsumed by her past life. (So, that’s two conditions.) Even though the journey matters more than the destination in K-Drama romances, a fact underscored by reincarnation’s very nature, audiences still need to care. Part of that care necessitates a leading lady forceful enough to retain her present individuality rather than having it replaced by the memories of her past incarnations, a move that can invalidate all that came before.
Tale of the Nine-Tailed, a 2020 Netflix-distributed K-Drama by writer Han Woo-ri, offers an empowered, ferocious, competent female lead who’s rarely a damsel in distress. When she is, she isn’t joyful about it. Contemporary K-Drama women have richly intricate interior lives, yet Tale of the Nine-Tailed takes it to a refreshingly modern-day place with Nam Ji-ah (Jo Bo-ah, also the co-lead on Netflix’s Destined With You) without sacrificing the desired trifecta: a tender love story, high production value, and nimbly plotted escapism. Plus, there’s an ageless god falling in love with a woman while his nefarious arch-nemesis stirs up trouble.
What Is ‘Tale of the Nine-Tailed’ About?
Set in modern-day Korea, Tale of the Nine-Tailed’s Ji-ah immediately sets herself apart. For one, she’s a television producer/journalist investigating urban myths. Through her work, she encounters Lee Yeon (Lee Dong-wook), an historic nine-tailed fox spirit roaming through the human world in the guise of an unfairly handsome guy. This chance meeting isn’t the first time the two have crossed paths. Ji-ah has spent two decades looking for Lee Yeon, believing he kidnapped her parents and tried to murder her when she was nine years ancient. Instead, Lee Yeon protected her from certain death and wasn’t able to wipe the incident and his face from her memory — unusual, since he could do that in his sleep.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz
Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like?
Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
Paul Atreides
Capt. Kirk
Princess Leia
Ellen Ripley
Max Rockatansky
FIND YOUR HERO →
01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher?
The way you lead under pressure is the most truthful thing about you.
AI absorb everything — every variable, every pattern — and move only when I know the path forward.
BI read the room, make the call, and own the consequences. Hesitation costs more than mistakes.
CI rally people. A cause needs a voice, and I refuse to let fear be louder than conviction.
DI assess the threat, establish what needs doing, and get it done without waiting for permission.
EI don’t lead. I act. Others can follow or not — I’m already moving.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis?
The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
APrescience — the ability to see further ahead than anyone else and plan accordingly.
BImprovisation — I’m at my best when the plan falls apart and I have to invent a recent one.
CConviction — I know what I’m fighting for, and that certainty doesn’t waver under fire.
DComposure — I stay functional when everyone around me is falling apart. Panic is a luxury.
EEndurance — I outlast things. I take the hit and keep moving long after others have stopped.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for?
Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
AThe survival and dignity of my people — even if I have to become something frightening to ensure it.
BThe safety of my crew — every single one of them. No one gets left behind.
CFreedom — for my people, for every world still crushed under the weight of an empire.
DThe truth — what actually happened, what’s actually out there, whether anyone believes me or not.
EThe one person — or the one memory — that still makes any of this worth surviving for.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
How do you relate to the people around you?
Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
AWith intensity and distance — I care deeply, but the weight I carry makes closeness complicated.
BWith warmth and irreverence — I take the mission seriously, not myself.
CWith directness and trust — I say what I mean, and I expect the people I work with to rise to it.
DWith professional care but clear limits — I’ll protect you, but I won’t pretend we’re family.
EWith wariness that slowly becomes loyalty — I don’t trust easily, but when I do, it holds.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do?
How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
APrepare in silence. If they won’t listen, I’ll be ready when they finally have to.
BKeep pushing until someone listens — and if no one does, handle it myself.
CBuild the case, find the allies, and make the threat impossible to ignore.
DDocument everything. The truth matters even if no one believes it yet.
EStop trying to convince anyone. Survive it. That’s the only argument that counts.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
What has your heroism cost you personally?
Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
AMy innocence — I’ve seen what I’m capable of, and I can’t unsee it.
BPeople I loved — the command chair has a view, but it’s a lonely one.
CA normal life — I gave up everything ordinary the moment I chose the cause.
DMy sense of safety — I know exactly what’s out there now, and I can’t pretend otherwise.
EAlmost everything — and I’m still not sure what I’m carrying it all for. But I keep going.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in?
Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
AI understand them deeply — and I know exactly which ones must be broken, and why.
BI respect the spirit of them and bend the letter when the situation demands it.
CThe system is the problem. I’m not here to work within it — I’m here to dismantle it.
DI follow protocol until protocol stops being useful. Then I make the call myself.
EThe rules collapsed a long time ago. What’s left is instinct, and mine are reliable.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going?
The answer is the most truthful thing about you.
ADestiny — or something that feels so much like it that the difference no longer matters.
BThe people on my ship — their faces, their trust, the fact that they’re counting on me.
CThe belief that what we’re fighting for is worth every sacrifice, including this one.
DSheer refusal to let it win — whatever it is. I don’t stop. That’s just who I am.
EI’m not sure anymore. But the road is still there, and I’m still on it.
REVEAL MY HERO →
Your Hero Has Been Identified
Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
- You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
- You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
- Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
- That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
- You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
- Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
- Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
- That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
- You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
- You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
- Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
- That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
- You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
- Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
- You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
- When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
- You don’t ask for facilitate, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
- Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
- Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
- That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
Lee Yeon is only part of the puzzle for Ji-ah, though, a necessary obstacle to overcome. Rescuing her parents is her true objective. She’s devoted her life in pursuit of that goal. Although she takes pride in her professional capability, hunting down supernatural creatures is no niche whim. After Lee Yeon fails to evade Ji-ah’s single-minded pursuit, she outfoxes the fox, manipulating Lee Yeon into revealing his powers. In other words, Ji-ah pulls a classic Lois Lane move, and she flings herself off a building. Lee Yeon has no choice except to fly down and rescue her (a task he does with a thoroughly exasperated, eye-rolling sigh). There’s triumphant awe in Ji-ah’s eyes; she’s got her man. Then, she stabs Lee Yeon with a hypodermic needle. Cue Episode 1’s end credits and a standing ovation for this proactive heroine!
Naturally, Lee Yeon isn’t Ji-ah’s man — well, he’s her man, but not her story’s villain. Neither is Lee Yeon a bastion of flawless heroism, as time reveals. He certainly takes the crown when it comes to sheer yearning. A 1,000-year-old god who guards the Baekdudaegan mountain range, he devotes his existence to protecting humanity from mystical threats. Working at the Afterlife Immigration Office is his 9-to-5 job. The real reason Lee Yeon bothers to operate in the modern-day human world — and perhaps the one reason he’s still bothering with existence — is because he’s tirelessly searching for the reincarnated soul of his first and only love: Ah-eum, a Joseon-era princess, died tragically, as is prone to happen in backstories. Lee Yeon blatantly broke the rules to guarantee her reincarnation. While many women have resembled Ah-eum across the centuries, none carried her soul. Lee Yeon’s haunted by her loss, a piece of his own soul cleaved away. He quickly dismissed Ji-ah after a cursory analysis; she doesn’t possess the tell-tale signs. Yet nothing about Tale of the Nine-Tailed is as it seems.
The K-Drama ‘Tale of the Nine-Tailed’ Subverts Expectations
Unsurprisingly, Ji-ah is absolutely Ah-eum’s only reincarnation. It’s not the reveal of her identity but the surprising story avenues and character journeys the series pursues along the way. In a refreshing subversion, Ji-ah remains her own person. Ji-ah witnesses her past life in bits and pieces. She untangles a web of messy half-truths, secrets, and context, grappling with her recent reality. She recognizes some of Ah-eum’s traits and habits in herself and lets them inform her future without losing sight of what makes her Ji-ah. Nor does she stay at home to pine over Lee Yeon and fret for his safety. She’s stubborn, she’s determined, she’s a journalist, and she’s dedicated 21 years of her life to rescuing her parents. Ji-ah makes vigorous plans, collaborates with Lee Yeon, and achieves her goals with ruthless conviction. When Ji-ah learns that Imugi, the mythical reptile responsible for Ah-eum’s death, might be her parents’ captor, Imugi becomes the subject of her unwavering vengeance.
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None of these characteristics forbid Ji-ah from retaining her (and Ah-eum’s) characteristic generosity. Neither does needing a dramatic rescue now and again invalidate her carefully cultivated independence. She falls in love with Lee Yeon because he’s Ji-ah’s perfect match, not Ah-eum’s lost love. Ji-ah ah is so accustomed to having nightmares that they barely register; waking up to a shadowy and empty room, however, takes its toll. After meeting Lee Yeon, Ji-ah looks for him during her moments of distress. He gets past her tough shell, which is a trope commonly reserved for the male half of a heterosexual couple. Tale of the Nine-Tailed granting Ji-ah emotional range and narrative autonomy, makes her a well-defined heroine and provides a more engaging watch than K-Dramas loaded with dated gender politics.
It’s worth noting Ah-eum died with her agency intact. She made the call to protect Lee Yeon because this couple saves each other. She was also a precocious, adorable child who decided to become besties — then lovers — with the lonely mountain god. Neither woman is an innocent, either. Ah-eum’s the king’s daughter, whereas Ji-ah is a modern-day professional woman, but each is world-wise, heroic, in their 30s, and a sexual being. Contrasting with K-Drama heroines of the past, Ji-ah initiates kisses and actively participates, and reciprocates, during her and Lee Yeon’s atmospheric sex scene. She’s an independent woman who doesn’t need a man, but she wants one and gets one. That’s queen behavior.
Netflix’s ‘Tale of the Nine-Tailed’ Is a Perfect K-Drama Binge
Jo Bo-ah as Nam Ji-ah cupping Lee Dong-wook as Lee Yeon’s face as both smile in the K-Drama Tale of the Nine-TailedImage via Studio Dragon
Intrinsic to Ji-ah and Tale of the Nine-Tailed’s success is Jo Bo-ah, an effortlessly engaging performer who nearly steals the spotlight from Lee Dong-wook — who just happens to be an industry icon. Lee established himself in 2005, struck hit after hit series, and became a certified legend after co-leading Guardian: The Great and Lonely God. Lee Yeon is a recent brand of leading role for the actor, one as fitting as a bespoke suit. Lee Yeon’s perfectly pure longing understood the assignment for an epic fantasy-romance drama, a facet emphasized by his mop of floppy — and fetching — red hair. Lee Dong-wook balances the romantic fantasy demands with a featherlight, winking wit and a graceful physicality that lends him credibility as an historic god, and, frankly, as a badass, despite the action scenes leaning toward silly.
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All his longing aside, Lee Yeon deserves his flowers for falling in love with Ji-ah because of the woman she is instead of unfairly superimposing his Au-eum angst and expectations onto her. It’s another fantastic upending of conventions, demonstrating how Tale of the Nine-Tailed prizes Ji-ah as an equal lead. The mountain god never forgets Ah-eum, but he equally loves Ji-ah. The pair are an elite power couple with frankly ridiculous chemistry. Whether they’re bickering about Lee Yeon eating human livers (he doesn’t), sharing a tub of ice cream, having platonic sleepovers with a hangover cure breakfast, or Lee Yeon literally enduring actual hell for her twice over, Jo Bo-ah and Lee Dong-wook spark and sparkle off one another’s energy. It’s impossible not to smile-cry when a smitten Lee Yeon daydreams about a future where his hair goes gray. He wants to become human, take long walks with Ji-ah, share good ramyeon, and die by her side. He wants the impossible.
Ultimately, Tale of the Nine-Tailed is about treasuring love’s precious fragility. Lee Yeon muses that “living as a human being is dealing with unpredictable pain,” but it’s also about cherishing your firsts and your lasts. Tale of the Nine-Tailed is a twisty, perfectly satisfying binge that’s still a must-watch six years later. And even in a series anchored by Lee Dong-wook, the stereotype-shattering Ji-ah is this K-Drama’s peak: the independent heroine of our dreams.
