Sumith Prasad
Netflix’s crime comedy series ‘GG Precinct’ revolves around a copycat murderer who kills random residents of New Taipei City the same way Hsu Shui-yuan killed two of his students two decades ago. Since the Chinese language teacher murdered his disciples because the latter couldn’t learn idioms properly, he became infamous as the Idiom Monster. When the detectives of the Gia Gun precinct fail to solve the case on their own, they seek the help of the serial killer to find the copycat. In reality, several serial killers had a background in teaching, and numerous others were obsessed with literature. However, the Idiom Monster is not one of them!
The Idiom Monster Was Created to Explore the Absurdity of His Motive
Hsu Shui-yuan, also known as the Idiom Monster, is a fictional serial killer created by Cheng Wei-hao, Yin Chen-hao, and Chou Man-you, the writers of ‘GG Precinct.’ The series was conceived as a spin-off to the supernatural comedy ‘Marry My Dead Body.’ The screenwriters wanted to explore the absurd dynamics of Wu Ming-han, Lin Tzu-ching, and their colleagues with another bizarre case, which convinced them to create a serial killer as a prominent character. When Wei-hao, Chen-hao, and Man-you were crafting the character, they wanted a “ridiculous” motive to present the murderer as an outrageous personality. That was how the Idiom Monster was brought to life.
The writers and the creative team behind the crime comedy crafted the idioms and the Idiom Monster’s murder methods to terrorize the viewers. Even though the character is fictional, his modus operandi reminds us of several serial killers, most importantly Jeffrey Dahmer, who is infamous as the Milwaukee Monster. In the crime series, the Idiom Monster extracted flesh from one of his victims, only to roast the same with onions and other vegetables. This scene is eerily similar to how Dahmer gave sandwiches to his neighbor, Pamela Bass. The woman was scared that the meat in the sandwich belonged to one of his victims. “I have probably eaten someone’s body part,” she said while appearing on ‘The Jeffrey Dahmer Files.’
The Idiom Monster can also be seen as a serial killer version of a “grammar Nazi,” people who criticizes and/or corrects grammar or spelling mistakes. In the case of the fictional character, rather than correcting the errors, he punished the students who made the same by killing them.
The Idiom Monster Has Several Real-Life Parallels
While the Idiom Monster is not based on a particular serial killer, he can be paralleled with several others. The real-life murderer who is similar to the character the most is Andrei Chikatilo, a Ukrainian-born Soviet serial killer known as the Butcher of Rostov. Like the Idiom Monster, Chikatilo was a language teacher, as he taught Russian language and literature. Similar to the character, the real-life killer’s victims also include students. In one of the episodes of the show, Shui-yuan’s students mock him because of his nature. Similarly, Chikatilo’s students also reportedly took advantage of his modest nature to ridicule him.
The Idiom Monster’s obsession with idioms can be compared to the infamous Zodiac Killer’s cryptic letters. Even though the latter did not kill the people he had known like the former, they shared a similar obsession that troubled the authorities. Serial killers who made literary references also include Dennis Rader, globally known as the BTK Killer. One of Rader’s letters to the police and/or media featured an altered version of the folk song “Oh, Death.” Similarly, David Berkowitz, also known as the Son of Sam, made a reference to “The Wicked King Wicker,” a symbol from ancient druidic culture, which reminds us of the Idiom Monster’s connection with the ancient Chinese culture.
The Idiom Monster’s presentation as a literary figure or expert reminds us of the Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger. The latter is known for his prison writings. While he was serving his sentence, he even edited a magazine called “Wortbrücke.” Shui-yuan can be seen as a combination of these real-life serial killers’ unique characteristics, which makes him all the more terrifying and memorable.
Read More: GG Precinct Ending, Explained: Who is the Copycat Killer?
