BL Webtoon Gets Suspended After Basing Character On Top Celebrity
A newly released BL (Boys’ Love) web novel has been abruptly suspended after readers accused the author of directly modeling the main character on a real-life, world-famous e-sports star.
On October 24, a BL novel titled A Mad Dog Hunts A Tiger was published on Korea’s major digital platform, Ridibooks. However, it was taken down just one day later after netizens pointed out striking similarities between the protagonist and legendary League of Legends player Faker, who holds a record six World Championship wins.
The novel follows a 19+ story centered around a male character named Beom Juhwan, known by the nickname “Tiger.” In the story, he is portrayed as an undefeated, legendary player for a fictional pro gaming team called Critique, with five championship wins, a dominant and commanding personality, and a childlike, socially inexperienced side due to debuting at a very young age. He is also written in the “top” role of the BL genre.
Readers quickly noticed that many of these traits — including the age of debut, career milestones, leadership portrayal, and overall image — closely mirrored Faker’s real-life journey. Faker debuted at 17, achieved multiple back-to-back championships, failed a three-peat attempt at one point, before eventually reclaiming his titles years later — a storyline that appears almost identical to the one used in the novel.
Even more, the novel referenced a “re-peat” (two consecutive wins) followed by a failed “three-peat,” then a successful three-peat attempt a decade later — a timeline that matches the real history of Faker’s career with SKT and later T1. Netizens pointed out that T1 is also the only team in esports history to maintain the same roster for over three years, which further fueled the controversy.
As the backlash intensified on X (formerly Twitter) and online communities, the author initially referred to the situation as a “coincidence,” while the novel’s description stated that it was “entirely fictional with no real-life inspiration.” However, that did little to calm public outrage. Facing mounting criticism, the author later released a formal apology, addressing both the athlete and his fans. She admitted that she failed to recognize how uniquely specific the career parallels were, and confessed that her judgment was “short-sighted.” While she denied intentionally borrowing the real person’s story, she acknowledged that her lack of stricter review caused confusion and harm. She also promised to revise any problematic elements and issue an additional statement in the future.
As of now, if users search for the title on Ridibooks, they are met with a notice stating that the work has been temporarily suspended at the request of the publisher or copyright holder, and no further information can be viewed. The incident has reignited debates over creative boundaries in fiction, particularly when stories appear to closely mirror the lives of real individuals — especially those who have made history.
