Draft:Huntrix

The members of Huntrix are the protagonists of the 2025 Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters which was directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans.^[3] With-in the film's universe, the members of Huntrix are demon hunters who use their singing and concerts to empower the Honmoon barrier to protect the world from demons; their goal is to create the Golden Honmoon which will permanently keep demons out of the world.^[4][5] David Tizzard of The Korea Times explained that Huntrix perform "a traditional Korean shamanic gut ritual reimagined in a hypermodern stadium".^[5] KPop Demon Hunters was conceived by Kang who wanted to make a film "set in Korean culture"; she "delved into mythology and demonology for something that could be visually unique" compared to "mainstream media".^[6] She also called the film her "love letter to K-pop" and her "Korean roots".^[3] Kang explained that when developing the history of the demon hunters they decided to play into "the shaman women from Korean culture" as historically these women would "sing and dance to protect their village and their communities".^[7]

On the character design of Huntrix, Kang highlighted wanting to differentiate from "Marvel female superheroes that were just sexy and cool and badass" and instead have "girls who had potbellies and burped and were crass and silly and fun" leading to the creation of "something that encompassed all of those elements".^[8] The three members of Huntrix were modeled after K-pop girl groups like Itzy, Blackpink, and Twice. Kang commented that 2NE1 and Blackpink provided an early reference.^[9] Baek Byung-yeul of The Korea Times stated the styling of Huntrix and their rival group the Saja Boys connects to "the past and the present of Korea" – the members of Huntrix "wear 'norigae' pendants integrated into modern K-pop fashion" and the weapons they wield are rooted in "traditional Korean objects".^[10] The character of Rumi was originally "created for story artist Radford Sechrist's" comic Plastic Walrus;^[11] Sechrist is also Kang's husband^[12] and together "they came up with her name and her signature hairstyle together, and Kang later molded the concept into the Huntr/x leader".^[11]

For the film's music, Kang and Appelhans considered K-pop as an integral genre for selecting the musical tone.^[13][14] They enlisted an array of music producers to work on "chart-worthy K-pop tracks" including Teddy Park, co-founder of The Black Label, along with Grammy-nominated and winning producers Lindgren, Stephen Kirk, and Jenna Andrews, who had worked on music for K-pop artists such as BTS, Twice, and Blackpink amongst others. Ian Eisendrath served as the executive music producer, who noted "I've always thought of K-pop as the most theatrical genre of pop, and so I was just instantly excited by the possibilities of what could happen in a narrative context with the K-pop songs [and] incorporating actual, hit-making K-pop artists. I just felt like everything was really set up to be a special musical and narrative experience."^[15]

Huntrix debuted on June 20, 2025, in the animated film KPop Demon Hunters and on its accompanying soundtrack.^[4][16] The Huntrix singers Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami did not meet until the film's premiere event as each singer recorded separately. Nuna commented that they "were thrown together, basically", and after seeing photos of them together, thought "'Damn, we look like we were perfectly calculated to be in this group.' The balance is nuts. But to think how serendipitous it was that this happened – we didn't audition in rooms or go through multiple rounds of pairings to find each other… It just speaks to the beauty of the universe and how things go and when things just happen".^[17] The group made a cameo appearance on the season 51 premiere of Saturday Night Live in a sketch based on the film, reprising their respective roles as Rumi, Mira and Zoey.^[18] A few days after, on October 7, 2025, "Golden" was performed live in full for the first time by Ejae, Nuna, and Rei Ami on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.^[19][20] In 2025, the group also performed at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,^[21] the KIIS-FM Jingle Ball,^[22] and at Snoop's Holiday Halftime Party.^[23]

Then on January 8, 2026, they performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! with the debut of a new symphonic version of "Golden". This version, "Golden (Glowin' Version)", was released the following day.^[24][25] Also in January 2026, it was announced that "Golden" will be one of two live musical performances at the 98th Academy Awards (March 2026), following its nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.^[26]

• Rumi (voiced by Arden Cho, young Rumi voiced by Rumi Oak, singing voice provided by Ejae): lead vocalist and leader of Huntrix, who wields a saingeom sword in combat.^[27][10] Rumi is the daughter of a demon father and her late mother Ryu Mi-yeong, who was a demon hunter and K-pop idol in the group Sunlight Sisters. She was raised by her mother's bandmate Celine.^[28][29] Ejae was originally brought onto the film's production as a songwriter.^[30][31] Kang attributed Ejae's demos as one of the reasons the film was greenlit; in an interview with Genius Korea, Ejae explained she had co-written and recorded "most of the demos" for the film when the directors then asked her to be the official singing voice for the character Rumi.^[31] She attributed her casting to "the directors [getting] used to hearing [her] voice in the demos".^[31] Ejae commented that not only "was it a cool opportunity" but also she had "known the character for a long time" and "resonated so much with her and her storyline" so "it felt natural and confident to emote all Rumi's feelings while singing".^[31]
• Mira (voiced by May Hong, singing voice provided by Audrey Nuna): the visual and main dancer of Huntrix,^{[29][better source needed]} who wields a gokdo polearm in combat.^[27][10] Mira comes from a wealthy background and was considered the black sheep of her family due to her rebellious nature.^[29] The character of Mira was inspired by Korean model Ahn So Yeon;^[32][33][34] Yeon posted a comparison of her live modeling of the sleeping bag with the animated version.^[35]

• Zoey (voiced by Ji-young Yoo, singing voice provided by Rei Ami): the main rapper, lyricist, and maknae of Huntrix,^[29] who wields shinkal throwing knives in combat.^[27][10] Zoey is Korean American, and was raised in Burbank.^[29][36]

Following the October 2025 performance by Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jennifer Zhan of Vulture wrote that "the more these three perform together, the more they look like a real group with an inspiring backstory, distinct personalities, and harmony onstage and off".^[37] Zhan commented that "their harmonies and high notes sound just as stable in real life as they do on the soundtrack".^[37] She argued that "with talent like this, it would be a waste to keep Huntr/x on the screen" and that "the longevity of a group this promising shouldn't be tied to Netflix or Sony's development timeline".^[37]

The Huntrix song "Golden" rose to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the week of August 16, 2025. Billboard reported that this was a milestone in multiple categories as Huntrix is the first to reach number one "for all-women collectives of three or more members" since "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child in 2001, the first fictional act to reach number one since "We Don't Talk About Bruno" in 2022, and "'Golden' is the ninth song associated with Korean pop to conquer the Hot 100" as well as "the first by female lead vocalists".^[38] Vulture highlighted that those eight other K-pop songs were either BTS songs or solos by BTS members.^[39] "Golden" also claimed the number one spot on the Billboard Global 200 during the week of July 19, 2025.^[40]