How many Asian sci-fi heroes can you name?

[nquixote]

Unlike in Hollywood movies, in which (East) Asians are notoriously underrepresented, sci-fi literature seems to contain a good number of East Asian heroes. Off the top of my head, I can think of:

Johnnie Rico, Starship Troopers
Rydra Wong, Babel-17
Louis Wu, Ringworld
Toshio, Startide Rising
Pham Nuwen, A Fire Upon the Deep
Hiroko Ai, Red Mars
Ezr Vinh, A Deepness in the Sky
Paula Myo, Pandora's Star
Robert Gu, Rainbows End

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but already it's a pretty strong list. Can anyone add to that?

 

[Ropie]

Are you only including East Asia in this list?

I can think of a few more Chinese:

Chung Mae and her friends/family, Air
Ed Chianese, Light
Bobby Zha, 9 Tail Fox

Can't think of any Indians or Middle Easterners, although Arthur C Clarke's novel, The Fountains of Paradise, was set in a sort of fictional Sri Lanka I think.
Can think of plenty of Russians, of course.

 

[FitzChivalry]

I'll add Hiro Protagonist

 

[nquixote]

I'll add Hiro Protagonist

Good call. He's half-Japanese, half-black, right?

As for Middle Easterners, I can think of a few:

Fedmahn Kassad, Hyperion
Horace Bury, The Gripping Hand
Marid Audran, When Gravity Fails

 

[Michael B]

Johnnie Rico, Starship Troopers

I am not saying that his family may not have emigrated, but it is highly unlikely that Johnnie Rico was East Asian. In fact he was most likely to have been South American. Not just because of his name, but also because his mother died in Buenos Aires when the Bugs smeared it.

 

[Ropie]

Hûd Ramstan from The Unreasoning Mask by Philip Jose farmer, I always felt was Middle Eastern.

 

[nquixote]

I am not saying that his family may not have emigrated, but it is highly unlikely that Johnnie Rico was East Asian. In fact he was most likely to have been South American. Not just because of his name, but also because his mother died in Buenos Aires when the Bugs smeared it.

On the last page of Starship Troopers you find out that Johnnie Rico is Filipino.

They white-ified him for the movie...

 

[Kabada]

Takeshi Kovacs in Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. At least until he changes his body. But the name stays.

 

[nquixote]

The true underrepresented group is South Asians...you'd think that the people who start 40% of Silicon Valley startup companies would be well-represented in the spaceships of the future...

 

[KatG]

Maureen McHugh:

China Mountain Zhang in China Mountain Zhang
David Dai in Half the Day is Night
Hariba in Nekropolis

 

[nquixote]

Nice, KatG.

 

[DurzoBlint]

I'll state the obvious Sulu from Star Trek.

Also, Evangeline Hollis from the Marked series

 

[Po6oT]

Gray Leader. Or whoever the Y-Wing pilot is in RotJ

 

[DurzoBlint]

Gray Leader. Or whoever the Y-Wing pilot is in RotJ

- Wow, we are really starting to stretch here. Nice call.

How about Grace Park aka Lt. Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii from Battlestar Galactica.

Lexa Doig from Andromeda

 

[Randy M.]

Nobusuke Tagomi in Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle.


Randy M.