ASIAN STEREOTYPES in VIDEO GAMES BY YICHEN SHOUSTEREOTYPEster·e·o·typenouna widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

1. Charlie Chan: Emasculated, weak and obedient, characters of this “good” Asian-male stereotype are often non-threatening and exist only to foil the superiority of the protagonist. 2. Fu Manchu: Cunning, cruel and grotesque, this Asian-male stereotype embodies the fear of the “Yellow Peril” and is usually revealed to be the evil mastermind behind plots to destroy the West.3. China Doll: Weak, submissive and hyper-sexualized, this “good” Asian-female stereotype often plays the role of romanic interests needing rescue and are easily replaced by non-Asian romantic interests. 4. KungFu Master: Despite being strong and capable, this character is often a desexualized sidekick whose martial arts expertise is only justified by their (usually Chinese) heritage. 5. Samurai/Ninja: A stereotype mainly reserved for the Japanese, these katana/ninja-star wielding characters are emotionless, fearless, fanatically loyal to their masters, and obsessed with the concept of honor.6. Dragon Lady: The “evil” counterpart of the China Doll, these hyper-sexualized Asian-females are temptresses who use deception and sex appeal to further their evil plans.

Major Asian Stereotypes

ABOUTThe purpose of this project is not to show the underrepresentation of Asians in video games (for there are plenty), but to expose the misrepresentation and overuse of stereotypes for Asian characters. 28 of the most popular games from 2008-2014 were chosen,and all of the games’ major Asian characters were studied using the respective wikia pages of each game. The gender, nature and characteristic of each character was determined from each character’s wikia page description, and the stereotypes of each character were judged on a case-by-case basis by seeing which criterias each character fits. For example, “Emperor Yoshiro” is filed under the “Honorable Samurai/Ninja” category for his samurai background and often mention of honor during the game; he is then determined to fit the “Samurai/Ninja” stereotype because of his display of that stereotype’s major characteristics. Characters displaying multiple characteristics are filed under the trait displayed most prominently. Note that “Not Stereotyped” only defines characters who don’t fit in any of the 6 sterotypes explored by this project; some of them are stereotyped in other ways. “Sam Lin”, for example, fits the mysogynist Asian stereotype.

RESOURCES- Most popular games from 2008-2014: “best games of 20XX” articles compiled by IGN and Gamsradar, e.g. “http://www.gamesradar.com/best-games-2014/” and “http://www.ign.com/lists/best-of-games-platform”.- Definitions of Asian stereotypes: “http://racerelations.about.com/od/hollywood/a/Five-Common-Asian-american-Stereotypes-In-Tv-And-Film.htm”, “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_East_Asians_in_the_United_States”. “http://sitemaker.umich.edu/psy457_tizzle/asian_american_women”, “http://sitemaker.umich.edu/psy457_tizzle/asian_american_men”.- Character information: taken from each character’s respective wikia pages, e.g. “http://cnc.wikia.com/wiki/Emperor_Yoshiro” and “http://sleepingdogs.wikia.com/wiki/Wei_Shen”.

65% Male

35% Female

Gender

72%Good

28%Evil

55%Good

45%Evil

Nature

44%Weak/Obedient/Desexualized

20%Neutral

20%Honorable Samurai/Ninja

16%Martial Arts Expert

45%Scheming/Cruel/Grotesque

10% Honorable Samurai/Ninja

35%Neutral

5% Weak/Obedient/Desexualized5% Martial Arts Expert

Characteristic

50%Weak/Need Rescue/Sexualized

44%Neutral

6% Martial Arts Expert

70%Deceiving/Temptress/Backstabbing

15% Martial Arts Expert15% Neutral

18%Charlie Chan

13%China Doll

13%Fu Manchu

10%KungFu Master

10%Samurai/Ninja

8%Dragon Lady

28%Not Stereotyped

Stereotype Character (Playable)Character (Non-Playable)

Faifth ConnorsMirror’s Edge

Broken Nose JiangSleeping Dogs

Huang ShuyiBattle�eld 4

Jane TengSleeping Dogs

Kasumi GotoMass E�ect 3

Kate ConnorsMirror’s Edge

Lucy KuoInfamous 2

Sandra TelfairC&C 3: Tiberum War

Mrs. ChuSleeping Dogs

Ajay GhaleFarcry 4

Chau WuNeed for Speed: Undercover

Premier ChenCall of Duty: Black Ops 2

Joseph OdaThe Evil Within

Sri IrawanJust Cause 2

Sam LinSleeping Dogs

Uncle PoSleeping Dogs

VinceThe Walking Dead

Wei ChenGTA V

Winston ChuSleeping Dogs

Xiaoyong BaiFarcry 2

Zhang SunJust Cause 2

Chase LinhNeed for Speed: Undercover

Jade NguyenHitman: Absolution

Yuma LauFarcry 4

Zhao Yun RuDeus Ex: Human Revolution

Takeo MasakiCall of Duty: Black Ops

Japanese SoldierCall of Duty: World at War

Queen HimikoTomb Raider

Emperor YoshiroC&C: Red Alert 3

JyunichiSaints Row 4

KenshiMortal Kombat

Prince TatsuC&C: Red Alert 3

Sub ZeroMortal Kombat

Wei ShenSleeping Dogs

Ling ShanGTA: Chinatown Wars

Lady ShivaBatman: Arkham Origins

Kai LengMass E�ect 3

Kung LaoMortal Kombat

Liu KangMortal Kombat

Sifu Henry KwokSleeping Dogs

Knives ChauScott Pilgrim vs. the World: the Game

Jade TanJust Cause 2

Samantha NishimuraTomb Raider

SandraSleeping Dogs

Takara SatoC&C: Red Alert 3

Ti�any KimSleeping Dogs

Not PingSleeping Dogs

Suki ToyamaC&C: Red Alert 3

Vivienne LuSleeping Dogs

Chang WeiBattle�eld 4

Big Smile LeeSleeping Dogs

Pegan MinFarcry 4

Shang TsungMortal Kombat

Tian ZhaoCall of Duty: Black Ops 2

Wu LeeGTA: Chinatown Wars

KanoMortal Kombat

Sunny WooSleeping Dogs

Yi SuchongBioshock: In�nite

Chen LinBioshock: In�nite

Bo’ Rai ChoMortal Kombat

Huang LeeGTA: Chinatown Wars

Jackie MaSleeping Dogs

Ricky WongSleeping Dogs

Tao ChengGTA V

Cheng LorckTitanfall

Jin JieBattle�eld 4

Tong Si HungDeus Ex: Human Revolution

GlennThe Walking Dead

Raymond MakSleeping Dogs

Two Chin TsaoSleeping Dogs