History Main / MagicalAsian

* I-Ching, Wonder Woman's mentor from the period at the beginning of the Bronze Age where she lost her powers for four years' worth of stories, is a texbook example. More recently he's been seen mentoring China's new local super-heroes.

* I-Ching, Wonder Woman's mentor from the period at the beginning of the Bronze Age where she lost her powers for four years' worth of stories, is a texbook example.

** In ''Series/KungFu: The Legend Continues'' the IdenticalGrandson of Kwai Chang Caine, also called Kwai Chang Caine, took this role towards his [[LongLostRelative long-lost son]] Peter and others, and The Ancient One was this to Kwai Chang.
* Creator/BruceLee's character on ''Longstreet''.

* The Ancient One is the previous Sorceror Supreme and trained Marvel's ComicBook/DoctorStrange in magic. The Ancient One's colleague Kaluu counts as well, Kaluu has taught Doctor Strange black magic and was at one point the resident black magic expert for the ComicBook/LukeCage's branch of [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]].

* Mantis from ''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'' and several other Marvel franchises who is half-Vietnamese and was raised in an oriental Temple of the Priests of Pama, becoming an adept of Eastern mysticism gifted with superpowers. She is a rare case when ethnic stereotypes do not spoil the character: she is seductive (to the point of [[AsianHookerStereotype working as a prostitute at a certain period of her life]]), she goes barefoot (bearing association with Asian martial arts), and almost always [[ThirdPersonPerson refers to herself in the third person]] (which is also a common practice in Eastern religions). Nonetheless, she is a very smart, independent and strong-willed character whose depiction is not in the least patronizing.

* Chirrut from ''Film/RogueOne'' is pretty much this exactly if you just substitute the Force for the source of "wisdom".

* The Ancient One is the previous Sorceror Supreme and trained Marvel's ComicBook/DoctorStrange in magic. The Ancient One's colleague Kaluu counts as well, Kaluu has taught Doctor Strange black magic and is currently the resident black magic expert for the ComicBook/LukeCage's branch of [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]].

The Magical Asian, like the MagicalNegro or MagicalNativeAmerican, exists to dispense lessons to white characters using the wisdom of his people. He will usually be a [[AllAsiansKnowMartialArts martial arts master]], a practitioner of traditional Asian medicine, or a sage of some Eastern religion. If he is not explicitly supernatural, he will often (but not always) be so highly skilled in his art that it will [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower appear superhuman]]. Martial artists will be impossibly good fighters, the medicine-men will be able to easily diagnose and cure any illness (bonus points if he mentions chi), and the sage will be enlightened with some kind of supernatural intuition. Expect at least one scene of them meditating. They will often quote {{Ice Cream Koan}}s attributed to Buddha, Confucius, or some other famous Asian sage.

[[folder: Anime / Manga ]]

* Inverted in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''. All Might swears in English, has his named-moves named after American states, and is generally a caricature of an American. He serves as the mentor figure for the protagonist, even calling his training routine the 'American Dream Plan'.
** Despite this, it is shown that All Might is actually Japanese, having the name Yagi Toshinori.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Yao Fei the Accomplished Perfect Physician from DC's ''Great Ten'' is a magical Chinese doctor. He gets transplanted on the ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' tv show and becomes the archer mentor to ComicBook/GreenArrow, but still retains his healer roots by being the person who Oliver Queen learnt medicinal herbs from.

[[folder: Film ]]

* Chirrut from ''Film/RogueOne'' is pretty much this exactly if you just substitute the Force for the source of 'wisdom'.
* Mr. Miyagi from ''Film/TheKarateKid'', though he's more well-developed than most other characters on this list.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Master Po and Master Kan in ''Series/KungFu''. Their protege Caine is half-Chinese and half-White.
** Also from ''Kung Fu'', Caine himself to the people he meets when he's WalkingTheEarth of TheWildWest.

* An acupuncturists' teacher in ''{{Series/The Invisible Man}}''. He is able to intuit that the acupuncture needles he is using were stolen by his apprentice from a museum when they are ineffective.

* Yao Fei on ''{{Series/Arrow}}'' uses magical herbs capable of accelerating healing on several characters.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Parodied in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series by Lu-Tze, the sweeper at the Temple of Oi-Dong, who is also a master of the martial art Deja-Fu (in which the hands move through both time and space):
-->'''Rule One:''' "Do not act incautiously when confronting little bald wrinkly smiling men".
** Also played straight, in that as a result of the NarrativeCausality of the Disc, Lu-Tze ''does'' have power over the course of history.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', younger characters tend to have American accents while older, wiser mentor figures tend to have Asian accents regardless of what nation they are from. Iroh is the most prominent example. He was originally also played by {{Creator/Mako}}.

[[folder: Other ]]

* The Ancient One is the previous Sorceror Supreme and trained Marvel's Doctor Strange in magic. The Ancient One's colleague Kaluu counts as well, Kaluu has taught Doctor Strange black magic and is currently the resident black magic expert for the Luke Cage's branch of Avengers.
* Yao Fei the Accomplished Perfect Physician from DC's Great Ten is a magical Chinese doctor. He gets transplanted on the Arrow tv show and becomes the archer mentor to Green Arrow, but still retains his healer roots by being the person who Oliver Queen learnt medicinal herbs from.

* Master Po and Master Kan in ''Series/KungFu''. Their protege Caine is half Chinese and half White.

** In ''Series/KungFu: The Legend Continues'' the IdenticalGrandson of Kwai Chang Caine, also called Kwai Chang Caine, took this role towards his [[LongLostRelative long lost son]] Peter and others, and The Ancient One was this to Kwai Chang.

* VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo for a level has the old NPC Chinese herbalist who can sense auras/chi, who gives Neo a golden powder to make him permanently stronger.

* Chirrut from ''RogueOne'' is pretty much this exactly if you just substitute the Force for the source of 'wisdom'.

** In ''KungFu: The Legend Continues'' the IdenticalGrandson of Kwai Chang Caine, also called Kwai Chang Caine, took this role towards his [[LongLostRelative long lost son]] Peter and others, and The Ancient One was this to Kwai Chang.

* ''TheDestroyer'' series. Chiun is a Korean who is the Master of Sinanju, which is the sun source (original) martial art and the basis for all other martial arts. He teaches his knowledge to the protagonist, Remo Williams. The reason stated in the series for not simply employing Chiun to do the killing (instead of training Remo to do the killing) is to avoid invoking the related "Phantom Oriental" trope in passers-by.

He will speak in proverbs and {{Koan}}s. He will often be referred to as sensei, sifu, or master. Your training will be complete WhenYouSnatchThePebble from his hand.

* Pai-Mei from ''Film/KillBill''. His treatment of students is less WaxOnWaxOff and more TrainingFromHell.

Unlike the MagicalNegro, the Magical Asian is not always nice to his white protégé. It is common for the Magical Asian to put his student through a number of demeaning and seemingly pointless tasks. However, it always turns out that there is a purpose to these tasks that helps get his lesson across. [[TheKarateKid Mr. Miyagi's]] famous "WaxOnWaxOff" routine is one of the best known examples. This tendency is possibly related to AsianRudeness.

* Mr. Miyagi from ''TheKarateKid'', though he's more well-developed than most other characters on this list.
** Mr. Han, played by Creator/JackieChan, in the 2010 remake.

** Mr. Han, played by JackieChan, in the 2010 remake.
* JackieChan and JetLi's characters in ''Film/TheForbiddenKingdom''.

[[folder: Film ]]

* Mr. Miyagi from ''TheKarateKid'', though he's more well-developed than most other characters on this list.
** Mr. Han, played by JackieChan, in the 2010 remake.
* JackieChan and JetLi's characters in ''Film/TheForbiddenKingdom''.
* Pai-Mei from ''Film/KillBill''. His treatment of students is less WaxOnWaxOff and more TrainingFromHell.
* Mr. Lee, played by {{Creator/Mako}}, in the ''Karate Kid'' ripoff ''Film/{{Sidekicks}}''. His own version of WaxOnWaxOff is throwing raw dumpling dough at his student and giving him a demeaning nickname. He is also somehow able to teleport a lit cigarette into the pocket of a racist who insulted him.
* The Indian characters in ''Film/EatPrayLove'', who teach spiritual lessons to Julia Roberts' character.
* The nameless monk in ''Film/BulletProofMonk''.
* Pretty much every Chinese character in ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina''. For some reason, a restaurant owner, a maitre'd, and a Chinatown tour guide are all experts in Chinese [[AllAsiansKnowMartialArts martial arts]] and sorcery.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Game ]]

* VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo for a level has the old NPC Chinese herbalist who can sense auras/chi, who gives Neo a golden powder to make him permanently stronger.

[[/folder]]

Unlike the MagicalNegro, the Magical Asian is not always nice to his white protégé. It is common for the Magical Asian to put his student through a number of demeaning and seemingly pointless tasks. However, it always turns out that there is a purpose to these tasks that helps get his lesson across. [[TheKarateKid Mr. Miyagi's]] famous "WaxOnWaxOff" routine is one of the best known examples. This tendency is possibly related to AsianRudeness.

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[[AC:{{Web Original}}]]

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[[AC:VideoGame]]

[[AC:Other]]

** Also from ''KungFu'', Caine himself to the people he meets when he's WalkingTheEarth of TheWildWest.

* Uncle from ''JackieChanAdventures'', voiced by Sab Shimono. A highly-skilled practitioner of ''qi'' magic, he could send spells through the phone, but didn't know how a fax machine worked.

* Master Po and Master Kan in ''KungFu''. Their protege Caine is half Chinese and half White.

* BruceLee's character on ''Longstreet''.

* Lampshaded in an episode of ''ZekeAndLuther'', then played straight with the Asian mailman who appears in that episode and tries teaching one of the boys some sort of kung-fu technique.

* The Ancient One is the previous Sorceror Supreme and trained Doctor Strange in magic. The Ancient One's colleague Kaluu counts as well, Kaluu has taught Doctor Strange black magic and is currently the resident black magic expert for the Luke Cage's branch of Avengers.

[[folder:Comic Books]]