Eugene Gale (서준태, Seo Juntae; "Juntae Seo") is a secondary character in the webtoon Weak Hero. He is a first year student at Eunjang High School and is in Class 1-5. Eugene is Gray Yeon's closest friend in Eunjang and a member of Ben Park's Gang. Eugene is an absolute fanatic of the delinquent gangs in Yeongdeungpo. Though he has no fighting capabilities, he possesses a wide variety of knowledge regarding delinquents, making him the gang's info broker.
Appearance
Eugene has short light brown hair swooped to the left which calls attention to his large square glasses. He has a frail, weak-looking body similar to that of Gray Yeon.
Personality
Eugene is quiet and a rather distant person to new people or people who seem “like a bully”, but the opposite to people he feels comfortable around. He is a kindhearted person as he is often buying drinks for the group or Eunjang High students after a fight.[1][2] Eugene is very compliant person, especially to “bullies” known from the past as a shuttle or aka an errand-runner.[3][4] He gets intimidated easier than the characters we’ve been introduced to before.
Eugene cares a lot about his friends to the point where he's willing to take hits for them. Despite Hwangmo repeatedly hitting, he still clung onto him to prevent him from interfering with Wolf and Gray's fight. He also held Timothy Park back and wouldn't let go even though Timmy kept on punching him.
History
Eugene is childhood friends with Rowan Im, and the two would sometimes visit Eugene's aunt's vet clinic in Singil.
Eugene attended Daehyeon Middle School with Rowan, and it was revealed in a flashback that they were both former homework shuttles and had to do their tormentors' homework assignments. Sometime in their first year, Rowan suddenly moved away to Australia. During his third year, Eugene was in the same homeroom class as Jake Ji.
Eugene landed in Eunjang High School through the designated high school process in Korea.
Plot
Eunjang and Yoosun Arc
Eugene was introduced as a "loser" in Eunjang, stating that he was the lowest in the school hierarchy and was easily picked on by Colton Choi, Evan Yoo, and Teddy Jin in the early chapters. Despite Gray often giving the cold shoulder to Eugene and the latter being somewhat socially awkward, he still looks out for Gray and his belongings, as especially shown when Teddy tried to grab Gray's bag. Gray slowly opens up to Eugene, and during Ben Park's fight with Yoosun, Eugene expressed concern for Gray's well being and followed him, even protecting Gray from a Yoosun student and taking the hits for him. Because of this, Ben Park saw Eugene as a valuable member of the gang, especially with his vast knowledge of the Yeongdeungpo Union. After joining Ben Park's gang, Eugene has no longer been the target of bullies at Eunjang High.
Hyeongshin Arc
Ganghak Arc
Daehyeon Arc
Relationships
Gray Yeon
Eugene is Gray's classmate and closest friend at Eunjang High. Their first interaction was hostility on Gray's part due to Eugene's constant staring. Eugene offered friendly advice to Gray on how to avoid confrontation with bullies and to avoid certain routes. After Phillip Kim stole Gray's bag, Eugene went with Gray and ended up tackling a Yoosun student who was about to attack Gray from behind with a metal stick. After Gray began to open up more to the group, he and Gray became friendlier with each other. Eugene's status as Gray's friend helped to prevent bullies from targeting him, although when Gray wasn't present due to attending a conference, a certain idiot tried to bully Eugene, but Gray was quick to put him in his place. Gray helped Eugene with homework and his entry for the science competition. He was furious upon discovering Dongha had beaten up Eugene, and Alex had to hold him back from going too far.
Rowan Im
Rowan is Eugene's oldest friend. They knew each other back in elementary school but lost contact in middle school when Rowan and his family moved to Australia. After Rowan moved back to South Korea, the two happily reunited and were still on friendly terms.
Teddy Jin
Eugene feared Teddy just like he would any bully. When Teddy stole Gray's bag, Eugene tried to stop him which resulted in Teddy punched him into letting go. After Teddy's defeat at the hands of Gray, the two crossed path once again when they both stumbled upon a stray kitten. Seeing that Teddy was going to bring the kitten home, Eugene gave him the supplies that he had just bought. When Co fell ill, Teddy went to Eugene for help and he told him about his aunt's vet clinic.
After the clash against Hyeongshin, Eugene accompanied Teddy to pick up Co from the vet. Teddy apologized to Eugene and gifted him a bag of Coke. Teddy would then go onto becoming a member of their friend group. He didn't hesitate to get revenge against Minsu Gong when the latter bullied Eugene while Gray was away.
Co
Eugene initially planned to care of Co. He built them a makeshift cardboard shelter while he went to buy supplies. When he saw Teddy Jin taking it home, despite still being afraid of Teddy, Eugene gave him the supplies meant for the kitten and told him about his aunt's vet clinic.
Dr. Kim
Dr. Kim is Eugene's aunt whom he is close to. He and Rowan often visited her vet.
Abilities
Physical
Eugene is the weakest member of Ben Park's gang, having no fighting experience and poor physical strength. However, having been on the receiving end of bullying for years, Eugene is capable of taking a few hits, if not a full beating.
On the occasions where Eugene does get involved in fights, he focuses on restraining enemies to protect his friends from ambushes, generally putting himself in harm's way to do so.
Mental
Eugene initially has poor grades, although this appears to be a matter of effort and investment rather than intellect. Once he begins attending cram school and receiving help from Gray, Eugene's academic performance improves considerably.
Within Ben Park's gang, Eugene is the most knowledgeable about the Union and Shuttle Patch.[5] He also possesses a great deal of emotional intelligence, being able to guess a person's favorite drink[6] and break any awkward situation.[7]
Trivia
- While the majority of the main characters received English given names in the English translation (especially for characters introduced early in the series), Eugene and Eddie Moore are the only characters to have an English last name.
- Eugene attended Daehyeon Middle School and was in the same class as Jake Ji.
- Eugene admires Jake Ji; he was the reason Eugene got into delinquents.
- Eugene reminds Gray of Stephen.
Quotes
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