Rumi was first created in 2016 for the comic Plastic Walrus.
Maggie Kang and her husband, Radford Sechrist, originally developed Rumi for Sechrist’s comic. Kang later repurposed the character for KPop Demon Hunters, transforming her into Huntrix’s leader and the film’s half-demon protagonist.
This origin predates the movie’s formal development. Kang pitched the idea that became KPop Demon Hunters in 2018, and Sony publicly announced the project in 2021 under the working title K-Pop: Demon Hunters. Rumi therefore existed as a character before the feature film’s production history began.
The comic connection is a useful background detail because it shows that the film was not created from an entirely blank slate. Rumi’s later story—her secret heritage, shame, voice, and leadership—was integrated into the larger mythology of demon hunters and the Honmoon.