source : (x) Yi Bang-Won 이방원 (李芳遠 / 太宗, 1367~1422) / Yoo Ah-In (Child : Nam Da-Reum) King Taejong, the 3rd king of Joseon dynasty. He was born as the 5th son of General Yi Seong-Gye who was leading the military forces on Goryeo's Northern frontier. Bang-Won was the 5th son, neither the eldest nor the second, which means he has never been regarded as the heir to his family. Since he does not belong to the inner circle, he has a relatively free childhood. He is purpose-oriented. He tells what he wants from what he wants to get rid of, so he has an excellent sense of judgement. He is so smart. He is not talkative, but when he puts ideas on action, he is like a secretly and quickly moving blade. When Yi Bang-won goes to Gaegyung(* the captital city of Goryeo kingdom) for the first time in his life, he comes across his life mentor Jung Do-jeon and his ideology, which would change his life in the future. Jung Do-Jeon 정도전 (鄭道傳, 1342~1398) / Kim Myung-Min The political founder of Joseon, and Yi Seong-Gye's schemer.Yi Bang-Won's life mentor and his final political opponent. Jung Do-jeon was the first born of a country official under the Mongol's colonial occupation of Goryeo. In his precocious eyes, Goryeo was a hopeless country. As a conspicuously smart genius, he comes up with new ideas that others can't imagine. He starts to set up concrete plans to make the world's most difficult dreams come true.Goryeo’s Sadaebu(scholar-gentry class) have sought for their own interests and changed nothing with their empty talks and petitions. In font of them, Jung Do-jeon puts his thoughts into action and makes a speech on the best way Goryeo should move forward.Later, he becomes the best contributor to the founding of Joseon as Yi Seong-Gye's shhemer, but he clashes with Yi Bang-Won who used to be his pupil. Yi Seong-Gye 이성계 (李成桂 / 太祖, 1335~1408) / Cheon Ho-Jin King Taejo, the founder of Joseon dynasty.The military founder of Joseon. Yi Bang-Won's father. Yi Seong-Gye is an invincible warrior and a dead shot a.k.a. Shin-gung(神弓) which means "God-like archer." He is one of the greatest hero of his times. He lives by loyalty and will die by loyalty.He dotes on his followers. He never retreats on the battlefield and always takes the lead to fight.His dependable and trustworth personality makes his followers risk their lives for him, and more and more people want to follow him. Although Goryeo's noble class in power is growing wary of his popularity, Yi Seong-Gye tends to hesitate and pussyfoot around in terms of political moves.However, he and Jung Do-jeon hit it off really well, and finally found Joseon together. Boon-Yi 분이 / Shin Se-Kyung (Child : Yi Re) Yi Bang-Ji(Tang-Sae)'s younger sister.Yi Bang-Won's lover. Gan-nan's daughter. From early years, she was braver and smarter than her brother. She was a girl of good charater, so she can't stay quiet when she sees anything unjust and wants to look after the weak. Her biggest strength is that she will never be discouraged under any circumstances. Boon-Yi does not care about whether it is possible or not. What's the most important thing to her is not how much possibility it has, but whether she should do it or not. Her fateful meeting with Yi Bang-Won leads to a triangular love affair including Lady Min who would be the future queen of Joseon. Tang-sae (Yi Bang-Ji) 땅새(이방지, 李方地) / Byun Yo-Han (Child : Yoon Chan-Young) Yi Bang-Ji is known as the top swordsman of Three Hans. (* 'Han' means ancient Korean kingdom. 'Sam-han(Three Hans)' refers to the entire Korean peninsular in an old-fashioned way).He is Boon-Yi's older brother, and Jung Do-Jeon's bodyguard. He is a swordsman who belongs to nowhere like a wind.He was born as a poor farmer's son. His small family of three, including his mother Gan-nan and sister Boon-Yi, used to work and live off the land his father left when he died. It was hard work but they tried to stay strong in their own way.When it comes to expressing his opinions, he was inarticulate and couldn't dare to complain to others. He was at best naively honest, and at worst as thick as two short planks. A son of the soil was bred in his bone, but the turbulent situation of Goryeo didn't let him grow up as an ordinary farmer. His mother's disappearance was the beginning. Tang-Sae went to Gaegyung(* the capital city of Goryeo) with his sister Boon-Yi in search of his missing mother. During the process, he was involved with Jung Do-Jeon, and it forced him to the center of the political stage surrounding the fall of Goryeo and the rise of Joseon. Moo-Hyul 무휼 (無恤) / Yoon Gyun-Sang (Child : Baek Seung-Hwan) As the closest aides to King Sejong the Great, Moo-hyul is Joseon's top swordsman and would rise to the head of Royal guards in the future. Moo-Hyul is a Musa(武士, meaning 'warrior' in Korean) who achieved great works with Yi Bang-Won but ended up refusing to serve him.He was a kid from a tiny little rural area, and was completely illiterate. He was the eldest of the 9 children brought up by his widowed grandmother. He was so big and strong for his age that there was no adult man in his village to knock him down.Moo-Hyul's life dream is to become the top swordsman of three Hans and revive his poor family. So, he decides to learn from Hong Dae-Hong who was a very famous expert in martial arts at that time. Later, he easily surpasses his teacher and leaves in search of the mysterious warrior named 'Kachidoksa(Short-Tailed Viper Snake)' who was rumored to often show up in the areas infested with Japanese pirate raiders and defeat them all. Yeon-Hee 연희 / Jung Yoo-Mi (Child : Park Si-Eun) Tang-Sae's ex-lover, and Jung Do-Jeon's lover.Tang-Sae and Yeon-Hee are old friends in their hometown. When he was utterly bereft about losing his mother, she looked after his wounds and developed a loving bond. However, when the manservants of some greedy nobles sacked thier village, she was raped in front of her lover. After the incident, she said cold good-bye to Tang-Sae. Later, she attracts the attention of Cho-Young who is the leader of Hwasadan, one of Goryeo's top information organizaion comrprised of merchants. She is reborn as a Hwasadan’s spy. Lady Min Da-Gyung (Queen Wonkyeong) 민다경 (원경왕후, 元敬王后) / Gong Seung-Yeon In the future, she is known as the queen of King Taejong, the 3rd king of Joseon dynasty.The mother of King Sejong the Great. She is a daughter of Min Je who is the head of Min clan, one of the top 10 powerful families in Goryeo.With intelligent and flamboyant rhetoric as well as cold and beautiful looks, she can get abreast of any Confucian scholars in discussions and debates.Min Da-Gyung married Yi Bang-Won for political benefits, thinking "Love is meaningless in these turbulent times". Da-Gyung and Bang-won resemble each other way too much that it makes them unhappy couple. However, instead of spending her life in blaming her loveless husband in tears, she chooses to take back her pride by protecting him and seeking the prosperity of her clan. She aims to rise to the top as a woman by setting her husband on the throne. Other characters will be added later.Character descriptions on the official SBS homepage
