History Main / CaptainEthnic

* {{Unfortunate|Implications}}ly, Captain Ethnic types are almost ''always'' heels (Wrestling/KofiKingston being a notable exception), and they are cooked up simply to stoke the xenophobic rage of the fans, and are usually [[RippedFromTheHeadlines historically timely]]. So there were "evil" Germans for an entire generation after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld "evil" Japanese]] almost up until the present day, [[DirtyCommunists "evil" Russians]] during the entire UsefulNotes/ColdWar, and "evil" Middle Easterners off and on throughout the years. A particular KickTheDog moment came in early 2003, when Canadian wrestlers Rene Dupree and Sylvan Grenier were forced to portray "evil" Frenchmen all because of the "Iraqi weapons of mass destruction" controversy. A parade of French stereotypes followed: Weird facial hair? Check. A lion-clipped poodle named Fifi? Check. [[FrenchJerk Major]] {{Jerkass}} tendencies? Check and double-check. What made this really sad was that Dupree and Grenier came from respected French-Canadian wrestling dynasties whose members had ''not'' been stereotyped in the past. This may be why these "evil Frenchmen" were so popular in Canada. (Probably also helped that the French officials who were so vocally skeptical of the Bush/Cheney claims of Iraqi [=WMDs=] were right all along.)

** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': The original Black and Yellow Rangers were an African-American guy named Zack and an Asian-American girl named Trini[[note]]According to rumors, Walter Jones was originally cast as the Blue Ranger but preferred the Black Ranger costume. Meanwhile, the Yellow Ranger was originally portrayed by a Latina actress, until she was fired for demanding more money and Thuy Trang was brought in. The creators didn't realize the UnfortunateImplications until after they had shot several episodes and it was too late to change it.[[/note]]. Ironically, their respective replacements, Adam and Aisha averted this by being the inverse of Zack and Trini; Adam was Asian while Aisha was black.
** ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'': Will the Black Ranger is played by a black actor, the first time a black actor had played a Black Ranger in 13 years. Will is also a thief, and like with Zack, the casting and writing was also criticized for UnfortunateImplications.

** In case you're wondering, the other members of the Axis team are Red Sun, a sword-wielding Japanese [[UnfortunateImplications hive mind]] with an honour obsession, and Teutonic warlord Blitzkrieg, with his [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything slicked-down hair and mustache]] and powers based on [[RefugeInAudacity hypnotising people with his ranting speeches]].

* {{Unfortunate|Implications}}ly, Captain Ethnic types are almost ''always'' heels (Wrestling/KofiKingston being a notable exception), and they are cooked up simply to stoke the xenophobic rage of the fans, and are usually [[RippedFromTheHeadlines historically timely]]. So there were "evil" Germans for an entire generation after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld "evil" Japanese]] almost up until the present day, [[DirtyCommunists "evil" Russians]] during the entire UsefulNotes/ColdWar, and "evil" Middle Easterners off and on throughout the years. A particular KickTheDog moment came in early 2003, when Canadian wrestlers Rene Dupree and Sylvan Grenier were forced to portray "evil" Frenchmen all because of the "Iraqi weapons of mass destruction" controversy. A parade of French stereotypes followed: Weird facial hair? Check. A lion-clipped poodle named Fifi? Check. [[FrenchJerk Major]] {{Jerkass}} tendencies? Check and double-check. What made this really sad was that Dupree and Grenier came from respected French-Canadian wrestling dynasties whose members had ''not'' been stereotyped in the past. This may be why these "evil Frenchmen" were so popular in Canada. (Probably also helped that the French officials who were so vocally skeptical of the Bush/Cheney claims of Iraqi WMDs were right all along.)

* Crossed with {{self deprecation}} in the World Tryout matches for the Japanese version of SMASH. Most of the participants were Canadians with a wide variety of [[TheGimmick gimmicks]] that didn't make their nationality, or ethnicity for that matter, obvious. The first Japanese tryout, Isami Kodaka, had a samurai gimmick. The Canadian SMASH isn't much different, as they usually try to make [[{{Eagleland}} team USA]] very diverse, to the point of putting their [[CanadaEh most obviously Canadian]] wrestlers [[LesCollaborateurs on it]].

* ''Manga/ShamanKing'' does this a lot. Silva is the most obvious example to American viewers, but there's also Horohoro, Faust VIII, and Ren. As they come to America, it gets more obvious, with things like a pair of Jewish twins who control a golem, a trio of witches who go on and on about "The Burning Times" (an explanation about the "Burning Times" is required: Witch hunts obviously never killed any actual witches, just people accused of being witches so their accusers could get their stuff, and in Salem, witches were hanged), and an English dowser who dresses like Literature/SherlockHolmes. Oh, and a Mexican who puts his comrades in little trinkets that are sold on the Day of the Dead.
** It's arguable that this example is, at least in principle, justified -- many shaman learn their art according to the ancient customs of their people, and so will, to some degree, appear as a representative of that culture. It's just that it so often ends up being played in such a stereotypical, over-the-top manner that you cross from a legitimately multicultural cast into Captain Ethnic territory.

* Marvel's ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'' wasted no time in parodying their own trends in one episode, where Wolverine ends up joining a team called the ''All Captains Squad''. Captain America and Captain Britain appear, along with original creations Captain Australia, Captain Brazil, and Captain Liechtenstein. Yes, Captain ''Liechtenstein''. (He's tiny, but economically prosperous!) However, the truly hilarious part is when Characters/{{Wolverine|JamesLoganHowlett}} joins the team and is forced to take up the moniker of Captain Canada, [[WholeCostumeReference complete with a costume homage to Guardian]], one of two Canadian Captain Ethnics from ComicBook/AlphaFlight.

And even an initially shallow Captain Ethnic may undergo CharacterDevelopment to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap become]] a more fleshed out and rounded character -- perhaps through the writers belatedly doing proper [[ShownTheirWork research]] into the culture he's from, or by getting picked up by a writer who is actually a member of the culture in question, or simply by giving him a personality less determined by his ethnicity.

And even an initially shallow Captain Ethnic may undergo CharacterDevelopment to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap become]] a more fleshed out and rounded character -- perhaps through the writers belatedly doing proper [[ShownTheirWork research]] into the culture he's from, or by getting picked up by a writer who is actually a member of the culture in question, or simply by giving him a personality less wholly determined by his ethnicity.

And even an initially shallow Captain Ethnic may undergo CharacterDevelopment to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap become]] a more fleshed out and rounded character -- perhaps through the writers belatedly doing proper [[ShownTheirWork research]] into the culture he's from, or by getting picked up by a writer who is actually a member of the culture in question.

Captain Ethnic can seem gauche nowadays - but you have to admit, he beats the hell out of the EthnicScrappy. Captain Ethnic ''can'' be a character portrayed in a plausible and interesting way -- usually by [[ShownTheirWork doing the research]] on local culture and creating a character that's likeable and cool in their own right. This is sadly rare. When a Captain Ethnic with real depth and interest is created, he might end up with fans in the ethnic group that he comes from. Keep in mind that many members of the ethnic group involved [[FairForItsDay loved the character when it first came out]], even if it has aged badly.

* {{Unfortunate|Implications}}ly, Captain Ethnic types are almost ''always'' heels (Wrestling/KofiKingston being a notable exception), and they are cooked up simply to stoke the xenophobic rage of the fans, and are usually [[RippedFromTheHeadlines historically timely]]. So there were "evil" Germans for an entire generation after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld "evil" Japanese]] almost up until the present day, [[DirtyCommunists "evil" Russians]] during the entire UsefulNotes/ColdWar, and "evil" Middle Easterners off and on throughout the years. A particular KickTheDog moment came in early 2003, when Canadian wrestlers Rene Dupree and Sylvan Grenier were forced to portray "evil" Frenchmen all because of the "Iraqi weapons of mass destruction" controversy. A parade of French stereotypes followed: Weird facial hair? Check. A lion-clipped poodle named Fifi? Check. [[FrenchJerk Major]] {{Jerkass}} tendencies? Check and double-check. What made this really sad was that Dupree and Grenier came from respected French-Canadian wrestling dynasties whose members had ''not'' been stereotyped in the past. This may be why these "evil Frenchmen" were so popular in Canada.

* After anti-French sentiment died down, La Resistance very quietly became French-Canadian (well, Sylvain did. Rene was drafted to Smackdown and continued to be billed from Paris; in his stead, Sylvain was partnered with American turncoat Wrestling/RobConway) Remarkably little of {{the gimmick}} was changed -- they mostly just ditched Fifi and carried a different flag.

* Vincent J [=McMahon=] (second owner of the CWC/WWWF/WWF/WWE and father of Wrestling/VinceMcMahon loved these, believing that you needed one to appeal to every ethnic group in New York. Several of his top stars were examples like the Italian Wrestling/BrunoSammartino, [[{{Kayfabe}} Russian]] Wrestling/IvanKoloff, and Puerto Rican Wrestling/PedroMorales, all of whom would become champions. Interestingly the senior Vince originally wanted Wrestling/HulkHogan to be an Irish Captain Ethnic (hence why he was originally in a stable dominated by evil foreigners). However, the Italian-Hispanic superstar objected to it because he would have had to dye his hair which he felt would escalate his hair falling out, and [=McMahon=] agreed to allow him to only use the Irish name.

* Pretty much all the non-Japanese wrestlers in ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'' are this (at least the human ones, anyway). The United States is represented by Terryman, [[AmericansAreCowboys a Texas cowboy]], Specialman, a wrestling football player, and Geronimo, a native American who weilds tomahawks; Britain is home to Robin Mask, who wrestles in a knight's suit of armour; from Germany come Brockenman, a wrestling [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi commandant]], and his son, who isn't a Nazi but still wears an SS uniform; and India brings us Curry Cook, the wrestling...[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin well, guess]]. With the addition of Wolfman, a sumo wrestler, even Japan isn't off-limits. Sometimes they at least shake it up, as in the case with Mr. Khamen, an Egyptian wrestler who dresses like a pharaoh and whose FinishingMove involves mummifying his opponent... and who is also a vampire who kills his victims by sucking out the moisture from their bodies until they're just a husk. Even the minor characters fall victim to this, including Woolman, a sheep-themed wrestler from New Zealand[[note]]which is known for its high sheep population[[/note]] and the one-shot Danish wrestler [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Vikingman]].

** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' The original Black and Yellow Rangers were an African-American guy named Zack and an Asian-American girl named Trini[[note]]According to rumors, Walter Jones was originally cast as the Blue Ranger but preferred the Black Ranger costume. Meanwhile, the Yellow Ranger was originally portrayed by a Latina actress, until she was fired for demanding more money and Thuy Trang was brought in. The creators didn't realize the UnfortunateImplications until after they had shot several episodes and it was too late to change it.[[/note]]. Ironically, their respective replacements, Adam and Aisha averted this by being the inverse of Zack and Trini; Adam was Asian while Aisha was black.

* Invoked and Discussed in ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'', where a kid on the street calls Sam "Black Falcon". Sam gets the boy back by asking him if people call him "Black Kid". He gets the point.

* Vincent J [=McMahon=] (second owner of the CWC/WWWF/WWF/WWE and father of the current chairman Wrestling/{{Vince McMahon}}) loved these, believing that you needed one to appeal to every ethnic group in New York. Several of his top stars were examples like the Italian Wrestling/BrunoSammartino, [[{{Kayfabe}} Russian]] Wrestling/IvanKoloff, and Puerto Rican Wrestling/PedroMorales, all of whom would become champions. Interestingly the senior Vince originally wanted Wrestling/HulkHogan to be an Irish Captain Ethnic (hence why he was originally in a stable dominated by evil foreigners). However, the Italian-Hispanic superstar objected to it because he would have had to dye his hair which he felt would escalate his hair falling out, and [=McMahon=] agreed to allow him to only use the Irish name.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' provides the trope image for a reason. The minority members of the titular team are based on specific aspects of their cultures and superpowers attached to their ethnic idenities: Apache Chief is ostensibly an Apache Native American who can grow big, Black Vulcan is an African-American who can unleash lightning making him a CaptainErsatz of ComicBook/BlackLightning, Samurai is obviously Japanese and he can manipulate wind by uttering GratuitousJapanese and El Dorado is a (Mestizo) Hispanic who uses telepathy, telekinesis and teleportation in addition to his name alluding to a lost city in Colombia despite being Mexican. ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' have also featured their own versions of these characters albeit far less stereotypical and having a lot more character development than their original ''Superfriends'' counterparts.

** Their enemies in the White Shadow are composed primarily of ''white'' Captains Ethnic. Foul tempered drunken Irish leprechaun Seamus [=McFisticuffs=], white rapper [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin White Rapper]], slow-witted Ivy League alumnus and yuppie Racist Frankenstein, French chicken-themed chef the Black Coq, snivelling corporate climber the Corporate Ladder, Dirty Cop, and "the captain of evil industry", the White Shadow himself.

* Marvel's ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'' wasted no time in parodying their own trends in one episode, where Wolverine ends up joining a team called the ''All Captains Squad''. Captain America and Captain Britain appear, along with original creations Captain Australia, Captain Brazil, and Captain Liechtenstein. Yes, Captain ''Liechtenstein''. (He's tiny, but economically prosperous!) However, the truly hilarious part is when ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} joins the team and is forced to take up the moniker of Captain Canada, [[WholeCostumeReference complete with a costume homage to Guardian]], one of two Canadian Captain Ethnics from ComicBook/AlphaFlight.

Of course, many superheroes traditionally come with [[SomethingPerson a theme that they're obsessed with]] -- {{Franchise/Batman}} naming all his stuff [[ToTheBatNoun "bat-whatever"]] for no apparent reason, for example. It's when this is coupled with an ethnic stereotype that the character becomes a Captain Ethnic.