Iljimae

Iljimae is a mysterious, black-swathed thief who robs from corrupt government officials and gives to the poor. He steals not only material treasures but also people, be they wrongfully held prisoners or criminals hiding from judgment. At the scene of each robbery, he leaves a small painting of a branch of red plum blossoms called a "mae hwa". (His name reflects this act: il means "one", ji means "branch" and mae means "plum tree".) The citizens support Iljimae while the king and the nobility try to catch him and find his identity.

Gyeom (겸) is the son of a virtuous nobleman Lee Won Ho (이원호), a trustworthy supporter and brother to the king and a central member of the secret organization Cheonwoohoe, comprised of important nobles and with the king as their leader. He lives peacefully in a house with many plum trees with his wife, daughter, and son. However, a mysterious rumor is spread that he is plotting to overthrow the king.

The king finds out about the rumor and kills Lee Won Ho as he believes that 'two suns cannot exist on the same sky'. Gyeom witnesses the incident from the inside of a safe where his father hid him. Later, he is saved and adopted by a retired thief, Soe Dol (쇠돌), after he becomes stricken with amnesia due to the shock of losing his father and being forced to throw a rock at his mother's head to prove that he was not the son. 13 years later, Gyeom, now called Yong (용), starts to regain his memories and begins to search for his older sister, Yeon (연), only to see her being sentenced and hanged.

The murder of his older sister leaves Gyeom seeking revenge. With the emblem on the killer's sword he remembers from 13 years ago his only clue, he swears that he will find the one who killed his father and murdered his older sister. To find the sword and its owner, he disguises himself as Iljimae and breaks into the nobles' estates. During the course of his actions, he winds up fighting not only for himself, but also for the people; and so he becomes a fighter for the common people, jumping into action whenever the people are oppressed and wrongly exploited for the sake of the nobles, although at the core of his motives his desire to bring the person who ruined his life and his family to justice burns bright.