Okja

Okja is the Mirando Corporation’s best super pig, and of course the films namesake. She has many traits that are meant to anthropomorphize her, including her puppy-like ears, human-like eyes, and a high intelligence. Bong Joon Ho has this to say about her design: “‘Okja’s eyes, how clear they are, the innocence, the kindness within that’s embedded in her eyes,’ Bong says. ‘Many people have a puppy. It was the most efficient, easy and simple way for the audience to really feel for Okja’”(LA times).

At the beginning of the film, Okja warns Mija with her reluctance to go through the shortcut, and eventually saves Mija through her analysis of the situation. (shown in the first image).

At the end of the film, she is seen whispering something to Mija, which Mija appears to understand; this highlights the intelligence of the super pigs, which makes the cruelty they endure worse since it is implied that they feel the torture deeply.

A defining property of Okja is described by Ju Young Jin in "Making the Global Visible: Charting the Uneven Development of Global Monsters in Bong Joon-Ho's Okja and Nacho Vigalondo's Colossal.": “Indeed, Okja is a liminal being, the radical otherness, a super pig and a super pet at the same time.” This liminality is what creates the main conflict in the film - the Mirando Corporation sees the super pigs as just that - pigs, something to be killed to be sold and eaten. Meanwhile, Mija sees Okja as family.

At the end of the film, Okja hides one runaway baby super pig, which she is seen raising in the mountains (as seen above).