History Main / InscrutableOriental

* Spoofed in ''Film/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays2004'', where Fogg asks for help from a stereotypical-looking old Chinese man in loud pidgin English. The man turns out to speak English perfectly.

* The new Judomaster's first appearance in ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' is characterized by her being silent, cold, and reserved out of combat. Mind you, before then, she'd been portrayed as witty and perfectly capable of speaking English, but [[DependingOnTheWriter these things happen]]. Mind you, she did warm up a bit when she fell for Damage.
* Mocked in a strip of the Italian comic ''ComicBook/{{Sturmtruppen}}'' where a crossdressing spy is ordered to escort the Japanese ally to another base, and affirms that "Nothing can surprise these inscrutable orientals". Cue to the Japanese ally trying to hump him.

* The Japanese storm god, Susano-o-no-Mikoto from ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' is portrayed leaning heavily into this stereotype. Amusingly, in the actual Japanese mythology he's anything but inscrutable.

* Seraph and the Keymaker from ''Film/TheMatrix'' films were meant to invoke this trope, fulfilling the "Orientalist fantasy".

* Lampshaded on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'', during an exchange between Kirk and Sulu. Incidentally, this episode was written by Creator/WalterKoenig, who played Chekov on [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]] and was friends with Creator/GeorgeTakei in real life:
-->'''Kirk:''' Any chance of teaching me that body throw? Could come in handy sometime.
-->'''Sulu:''' I don't know, sir. It isn't just physical, you know. You have to be...inscrutable. ''[winks]''
-->'''Kirk:''' Inscrutable? ... Sulu, you're the most ''scrutable'' man I know.

* The series bible for ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' explicitly describes Sulu as being the total opposite of this. (This got a nod in the animated show; see below.) Instead we get Creator/GeorgeTakei who revels in LargeHam when he has a chance to do so (see "The Naked Time" for a glorious example). Ironically Spock and other Vulcans would end up using many of the characteristics of this trope.

Throughout the years, people from East Asia have been depicted in European media as being more reserved and stoic than Europeans. This comes from how the comparatively individualistic culture of Enlightenment-era Europe saw UsefulNotes/{{Confucianism}}, then the dominant philosophy of East Asian (Chinese-dominated) cultures. Due to Confucianism's priority of social harmony and filial piety over individual freedom of expression, it had become stereotyped as [[TheNeedsOfTheMany collectivist]] and repressive, like how [[TheStoic Stoicism]] came to be negatively portrayed in modern culture as "emotional repression". Europeans also saw East Asian culture as exotic: very similar to Western culture and advancements, but at the same time alien and mysterious, though there was a beauty and intellectualism in their alien-ness. In other words, East Asians had become a real-life equivalent of [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elves]], including the ancient wisdom that [[CantArgueWithElves would make them win an argument with a Western gaijin every time]].

Contrast AsianRudeness.

->''"Everyone is polite. Everyone smiles and bows. But beneath their courtesy I detect a deep reservoir of feeling."''

If treated positively, a character who follows this trope can come across as being a calm, cool, [[JapanesePoliteness polite]] and fairly collected (if a bit eccentric) person who may also serve as a source of wisdom and encouragement. If treated negatively, characters come across as being overly dour, uptight, dull, and all around boring fellows who seem to have trouble comprehending concepts like leisure or fun. The distinction is similar to that between StiffUpperLip and BritishStuffiness, respectively.

* The new Judomaster's first appearance in ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' is characterized by her being silent, cold and reserved out of combat. Mind you, before then, she'd been portrayed as witty and perfectly capable of speaking English, but [[DependingOnTheWriter these things happen]]. Mind you, she did warm up a bit when she fell for Damage.

* Spoofed in ''Film/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays2004'', where Fogg asks for help from a stereotypical looking old Chinese man in loud pidgin English. The man turns out to speak English perfectly.

* In season 2 of ''Series/TheMole'', Dorothy was so withdrawn and emotionless that many other contestants suspected her of being the Mole. [[spoiler:It turns out she wasn't; she deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoked this trope]] to draw contestants' suspicions toward her and away from the true Mole so that they would flunk on the quiz about the Mole and be eliminated. It worked well enough for her to win in the end.]]

* Played for laughs in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': J.D is narrating that many factors influence how each individual patient handles pain. On "race," we see a sushi chef with a kitchen knife ''buried in his shoulder'', stoically asking "Does what hurt?"
* Occasionally played with on ''Series/BarneyMiller'' with Detective Nick Yemana, who was pretty scrutable but also a world-class DeadpanSnarker. A blind man who claimed he could perceive character described him as calm, stoic, and in-control... that or Japanese. And when Dietrich expressed admiration of the stoic Japanese attitude towards death, Nick whispered to another detective that he personally planned to go out kicking and screaming.

--> Someone once told him that the rest of the world sees Agateans as inscrutable, and he decided this was a good idea. He is very inscrutable, and goes everywhere with a gang of large guards chosen for their inscrutability.

-->'''Sulu:''' I don't know, sir. It isn't just physical, you know. You have to be... inscrutable. [winks]

[[quoteright:330:[[ComicBook/JourneyIntoMystery https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hogun_the_grim_7.png]]]]

* "Some Girls" from Music/TheRollingStones' ''Music/SomeGirls''.
--> ''Chinese girls are so gentle''
--> ''They're really such a tease''
--> ''You never know quite what they're cookin' ''
--> ''Inside those silky sleeves''

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/am_I_the_only_one_who_finds_this_oddly_moe_517.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[InvokedTrope Japan]]: So inscrutable that he can't even ''[[PerpetualFrowner smile]]''.]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

* Kaito Nakamura from ''Series/{{Heroes}}''.

* Agent Melinda May from ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''

Throughout the years, people from East Asia have been depicted in European media as being more reserved and stoic than Europeans. This comes from how the comparatively individualistic culture of Enlightenment-era Europe saw UsefulNotes/{{Confucianism}}, then the dominant philosophy of East Asian (Chinese-dominated) cultures. Due to Confucianism's priority of social harmony and filial piety over individual freedom of expression, it had become stereotyped as [[TheNeedsOfTheMany collectivist]] and repressive, like how [[TheStoic Stoicism]] came to be negatively portrayed in modern culture as "emotional repression". Europeans also saw East Asian culture as exotic: very similar to Western culture and advancements, but at the same time alien and strange, though there was a beauty and intellectualism in their alien-ness. In other words, East Asians had become a real-life equivalent of [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elves]], including the ancient wisdom that [[CantArgueWithElves would make them win an argument with a Western gaijin every time]].

Throughout the years, people from East Asia have been depicted in European media as being more reserved and stoic than Europeans. This comes from how the comparatively individualistic culture of Enlightenment-era Europe saw UsefulNotes/{{Confucianism}}, then the dominant philosophy of East Asian (Chinese-dominated) cultures. Due to Confucianism's priority of social harmony and filial piety over individual freedom of expression, it had become stereotyped as [[TheNeedsOfTheMany collectivist]] and repressive, like how [[TheStoic Stoicism]] came to be negatively portrayed in modern culture as "emotional repression". Europeans also saw East Asian culture as exotic: very similar to Western culture and advancements, but at the same time alien and strange, though there was a beauty and intellectualism in their alien-ness. In other words, East Asians had become a real-life equivalent of [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elves]], including the ancient stoic wisdom that [[CantArgueWithElves would make them win an argument with a Western gaijin every time]].

Throughout the years, people from East Asia have been depicted in European media as being more reserved and stoic than Europeans. This comes from how the comparatively individualistic culture of Enlightenment-era Europe saw UsefulNotes/{{Confucianism}}, then the dominant philosophy of East Asian cultures. Due to Confucianism's priority of social harmony and filial piety over individual freedom of expression, it had become stereotyped as [[TheNeedsOfTheMany collectivist]] and repressive, like how [[TheStoic Stoicism]] came to be negatively portrayed in modern culture as "emotional repression".

Throughout the years, people from East Asia have been depicted in European media as being more reserved and stoic than Europeans. This comes from how the comparatively individualistic culture of Enlightenment-era Europe saw UsefulNotes/{{Confucianism}}, then the dominant philosophy of East Asian cultures. Due to Confucianism's priority of social harmony over individual expression, it had become stereotyped as collectivist and repressive, like how [[TheStoic Stoicism]] came to be negatively portrayed in modern philosophy as "emotional repression".

Throughout the years, people from East Asia have been depicted in European media as being more reserved and stoic than Europeans. This comes from the perceptions of European merchants, soldiers, and officials unable or simply unwilling to appreciate the astonishingly diverse social customs of a region of many million square kilometres and more than 300 million people (from the 17th century onward). Faced with a continent ''even more heterogenous'' than their own, they more-or-less gave up on trying to figure out what [[PlanetOfHats each region's 'hat' was]] and simply wrote them all off as 'inscrutable' or mysterious/unreadable.

If treated positively, a character who follows this trope can come across as being a calm, cool, and fairly collected (if a bit eccentric) person who may also serve as a source of wisdom and encouragement. If treated negatively, characters come across as being overly dour, uptight, dull, and all around boring fellows who seem to have trouble comprehending concepts like leisure or fun. The distinction is similar to that between StiffUpperLip and BritishStuffiness, respectively.

* [[MoeAnthropomorphism Japan]] from ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', pictured above, who is extremely popular in his country's fandom due to the self-deprecating stereotypes he embodies. His memorized rules of conduct consist of gems like agreeing to consider options when he actually means 'no', never giving straight answers in a corner, becoming more polite when he is annoyed by other people, and apologizing when others are causing trouble.

* ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'': Compared to [[{{Keet}} Italy]] and [[{{Tsundere}} Germany]]—the Europeans—[[TheStoic Japan]], the Asian, is ''far'' more calm and collected. [[NotSoStoic Unless you make him mad]].

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/am_I_the_only_one_who_finds_this_oddly_moe_517.jpg]]]]

* [[MoeAnthropomorphism Japan]] from ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'', pictured above, who is extremely popular in his country's fandom due to the self-deprecating stereotypes he embodies. His memorized rules of conduct consist of gems like agreeing to consider options when he actually means 'no', never giving straight answers in a corner, becoming more polite when he is annoyed by other people, and apologizing when others are causing trouble.

* Taki from ''[[Manga/MaidenRose Maiden Rose]]'', although done rather interestingly so that he has his [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]] moments while at a foreign military academy and then suddenly switches to "inscrutable" mode upon returning home, only to confuse the hell out of Klaus who goes with him.