Queen In Hyun's Man

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Queen In Hyun's Man (인현왕후의 남자) is a 16 episode Korean Drama which aired on the cable network tvN in 2012. It stars Ji Hyun Woo as the Joseon scholar Kim Boong Do and Yoo Inna as aspiring actress Choi Hee Jin.

In 1694 Joseon, it is the reign of King Sukjong. Queen In Hyun is living in exile after being deposed through the machinations of the ambitious concubine Lady Jang (also known as Jang Heebin). Fearing that the king will have a change of heart, Lady Jang and Right Minister Min decide to kill Queen In Hyun, but their assassination attempt is foiled by Kim Boong Do, a scholar loyal to Queen In Hyun. The conspirators later attempt to assassinate Boong Do in a library, but just as the assassin Ja Soo is about to kill him, Boong Do mysteriously vanishes.

2012 Seoul. Choi Hee Jin is an aspiring actress who has just received her first big break: the role of Queen In Hyun in the upcoming historical drama New Jang Heebin. She runs into a strange man on set -- Boong Do, who has somehow been transported to the future. Boong Do soon figures out that the time travel is caused by a talisman given to him by the loyal gisaeng Yoon Wol, and uses it to help his plans of toppling Minister Min and reinstating Queen In Hyun. Hee Jin eventually believes his story and helps him adapt to modern life, and the two soon fall in love. But it is not easy to fight a time gap of 300 years, and changing history has it's consequences.

Tropes used in Queen In Hyun's Man include:
  • Badass Bookworm: Kim Boong Do, a Joseon scholar who can fend off assassins with books.
  • Blood From the Mouth: When Boong Do gets hit in the chest with an arrow.
  • Corrupt Politician: Minister Min, who conspired with the current queen to assasinate the previous one, and have their faction take over the courts.
  • Delayed Ripple Effect: Boong Do realizes in 2012 the problems he's created with his time travel, but has enough time to return and attempt to set history to rights.
  • Ermine Cape Effect: The Queen wears a specific gown; anyone wearing something similar is immediately executed. Boong Do becomes confused when memories of kissing Hee Jin wearing her mini-series costume overlap with his memories of talking with the Joseon Queen
  • Fish Out of Temporal Water: Boong Do is over 300 years from his reality.
  • Eiffel Tower Effect: Namsam Tower is in the background of Episode 14.
  • Meanwhile in the Future: The story continues simultaneously between 1694 and 2012.
  • Reset Button: After Boong Do's talisman is sliced into two.
  • Show Within a Show: Hee Jin plays Queen In Hyun, her ex boyfriend Hang Dong Min plays King Sukjong and Na Jung plays Lady Jang in the historical drama New Jang Heebin.
  • Time Travel