The “Grand Duke of the North” From Korean Web Novels Is Now a Boy From Namhae: ATEEZ’s San

Featured photo: San of ATEEZ at the 33rd Hanteo Music Awards, February 2026. Photo: sublimitas viii, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The “Grand Duke of the North,” a hero Korean web novels have written countless times, now exists outside the books. He’s San of ATEEZ. And this duke of the north comes from the opposite end of the peninsula: Namhae, on Korea’s southern coast.

Honestly, as a fan, it has been pure joy to watch the name of a stock web-novel character become one man’s nickname and then cross to the other side of the world. Something that started with a few seconds of choreography has now been running for more than four months.

The “Grand Duke of the North” is a man web novels built

The “Grand Duke of the North” is a fixed character in Korean romance-fantasy web novels, the huge genre Korean readers call “rofan” and that English-speaking webtoon readers know as the “Grand Duke” trope. He’s a strong, cold nobleman who rules a harsh, freezing northern domain, and the story usually bends toward him opening his heart to the heroine alone (The Korea Herald).

The name first stuck to San in November 2024, during ATEEZ’s “Ice On My Teeth” promotions. Watching his cold, restrained stage concept, fans began calling him the Grand Duke of the North from the web novels (The Korea Herald, Edaily). The nickname followed the mood of the stage.

Also read: Japanese Teens Say "Kenchana" When They Comfort Each Other

A few seconds of “BAD” pulled the duke into real life

What carried the nickname around the world was “BAD,” the title track of the 14th mini album “GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5,” released June 26, 2026. Near the end of the song, San, standing center, tilts his body to one side, then snaps his chest forward on a Brazilian funk beat (The Korea Herald, Edaily). Korean fans call this moment the “everybody-drop-dead part,” an exaggerated way of saying it’s so intense it knocks out anyone watching. Stage clips and parodies rode the algorithm to people who never watch idols (Edaily).

The official music video has passed 112.52 million views as of November 10, and San’s choreography version has 1.74 million (YouTube, checked November 10). The album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the group’s third chart-topper, and its first-week sales passed 1.88 million copies (Edaily, Hanteo Chart). The “BAD” performance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” has about 29.9 million views (official ATEEZ channel, checked November 10).

When Ma Dong-seok copied it, the nickname set in stone

On July 20, actor Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee) posted a “BAD” video on his social media copying San’s pose and captioned it “Ma-San.” The comments filled with “Ma-San has arrived” and “the true Grand Duke of the North” (Sports Kyunghyang). Three days later, Samsung Electronics president Roh Tae-moon joined the challenge in a promo video for the new Galaxy foldables, shouting that not using a Galaxy is “BAD” (Edaily), and comedian Lee Su-min made a parody too (SBS Star). The Philippines’ GMA Network reported that San’s “chest pop” move had gone viral.

By then, “Grand Duke of the North” was no longer fan slang. Photos of San at a fashion event photo wall on November 5 ran under headlines like “The ‘Grand Duke of the North’ who left everyone breathless” and “The Grand Duke of the North enters” (Newsen, Sports Today). Photos of him in a black uniform at Deoksugung Palace on November 1 produced the headline “The Grand Duke of the North descends on Deoksugung” (Ilgan Sports). On November 8, Ilgan Sports summed it up: “The chorus choreography of ‘BAD’ spawned countless social media challenges along with member Choi San’s ‘Grand Duke of the North’ meme.” A web-novel character’s name has become a newspaper photo caption.

The duke of the north came from Namhae

Here’s the twist: San’s hometown is Namhae County in South Gyeongsang Province, a seaside place at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. The Korea Herald described him as the first entertainer from Namhae to achieve mainstream success. During “BAD,” his white sleeveless stage outfit and Latin-flavored choreography even earned him a new nickname: the “Grand Duke of the South” (The Korea Herald).

The road wasn’t smooth from the start. San appeared as a trainee on JTBC’s “MIXNINE” in 2017 and was eliminated relatively early, then debuted with ATEEZ the following October (The Korea Herald). Looking back on those years of holding on, San has said his greatest talent is effort (Arena Homme+, August 2025, as cited by The Korea Herald). About “BAD,” he said he pays attention to every single move to deliver the song’s emotion properly, and thanked fans for recognizing that effort (Edaily, July, as cited by The Korea Herald). Those few seconds of the “everybody-drop-dead part” weren’t a lucky accident. They were a scene made by someone who puts feeling into every move.

The duke’s next domain is “UP”

ATEEZ returns on November 13 at 2 p.m. Korea time (midnight Eastern) with the 15th mini album “GOLDEN HOUR : Part.6” and the title track “UP.” A world tour starting in Incheon next January and continuing through Japan, Europe and North America is also scheduled (bnt News). The preview video passed 390,000 views within five days.

Even people who don’t read web novels now picture the duke of the northern castle with the face of a boy from Namhae. The web novels wrote him cold, but I’m already waiting to see what few seconds he leaves us with on the first “UP” stage.

Sources

• The Korea Herald: Viral performances, provocative gaze made him a stage standout
• Edaily English, July 24, 2026
• Sports Kyunghyang, July 20, 2026 (Ma Dong-seok)
• SBS Star, August 20, 2026
• GMA Network: ATEEZ’s San goes viral for his chest pop move in BAD
• Newsen, November 5, 2026, Sports Today, November 5, 2026, Ilgan Sports, November 2, 2026, Ilgan Sports, November 8, 2026
• bnt News, November 6, 2026 (comeback and tour)
• YouTube view counts: checked November 10, 2026 (official KQ ENTERTAINMENT and ATEEZ channels)