| 1 | [[quoteright:300:[[Advertising/TheBurgerKingKidsClubGang https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1144769881369.jpg]]]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:300:[[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kids-worlds-adventures/images/c/c0/The_Burger_King_Kids_Club_Gang_and_The_Honbatz.png/revision/latest?cb=20140403221330 Asian member]] not included.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"Okay, let's see... we got the Hispanic one, the black one, the Asian one, the one in a wheelchair... oh yeah, and the white one. Time to write the scripts."'' |
| 5 | |
| 6 | A Five-Token Band consists of characters from very obviously different backgrounds and ethnic groups, but rather than being assembled disparately they all happen to live in the [[EverytownAmerica same area]], regardless of how diverse the town should be. In school-centered shows and media, the "different backgrounds" may also include different social groups, hobbies, or cliques (ex. nerds, artists, jocks). Typically, this is designed for one of two purposes: |
| 7 | * To bring diversity to a cast for the sake of mass market appeal, [[CastOfSnowflakes visual distinction]], complaining {{Media Watchdog}}s, to represent an area, field or organisation that genuinely is just that diverse, or just because. |
| 8 | * To deliver AnAesop about accepting others' differences. This version was commonly used in TheNineties when diversity was considered [[SeriousBusiness a big deal]] (''especially'' following the 1992 Los Angeles riots). |
| 9 | |
| 10 | The first type is [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools more likely to be benign]] than the second. The second may be handled [[CluelessAesop poorly]]. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | The MultinationalTeam will often have a reason for the cast's diversity, whereas the Five-Token Band may often be diverse [[ShapedLikeItself for the sake of being diverse]]. This is not to say that a MultinationalTeam is immune to tokenism or stereotype -- it is simply a different breed of trope. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Note that in real life, people often ''do'' have ''extremely diverse backgrounds''. There really are Jewish Black Brits,[[note]]Creator/SophieOkonedo for example[[/note]] or half-Polish half-Palestinian Polish-speaking Americans,[[note]]Abed Nadir from ''Series/{{Community}}'', though he is portrayed by the ''Indian''-/Polish-American Danny Pudi.[[/note]] or even lesbian, Malaysian-born Chinese Australians.[[note]]Penny Wong, current leader of the Australian Senate.[[/note]] It is not JustForFun/{{egregious}} to include such characters, as that merely reflects the diversity of the real world. When the diversity is shown in a way that is absurdly ham-fisted, too stereotypical or formulaic, or ignorantly written, however, ''that'' may be a problem. Specifically, it is very noticeable when the combination conforms to a standardized formula with set roles, typecasting, and numbers, as listed below. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Despite the emphasis on racial harmony, in this trope, the [[AllAmericanFace Caucasian, blond, All-American male]] is all too often the [[WhiteMaleLead leader]], or conversely, the [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong complainer]]. Other characters may also end up more as stereotypes than people. However, the Five-Token Band is usually created with no malicious intentions, and indeed, many of the bands listed below have well-developed characters or are from well-written shows. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | The most common layout of a Five-Token Band, especially in the nineties, seems to go as followed: |
| 19 | |
| 20 | * WhiteMaleLead. The guy in charge is almost ALWAYS a white male. It's not even that if he wasn't white it wouldn't be a Five-Token Band, but somehow, chances are 99% he is a WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant male anyway. Usually associated with the color red and/or fire. Often a StandardizedLeader. It's not rare for him to be a non-WASP male, like Irish or Italian, but it's not very common either. |
| 21 | * TokenBlackFriend of the white male. Frequently TheLancer and CloserToEarth than the white male. Is either great at sports or BlackAndNerdy, whichever makes him more different than the white male. If there are powers of any sort, he's likely to be an ElectricBlackGuy |
| 22 | * A white female lead. LoveInterest/designated crush of the White Male Lead. And all too often she's white and [[EveryoneLovesBlondes blonde]] too. If she isn't a WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant like the White Male Lead, she might be German, [[EveryoneLooksSexierIfFrench French]], or even [[SensualSlav Slavic]]. She is usually depicted as TheHeart, TeamMom, and/or GirlNextDoor of the team. If there are powers or vehicles of any sort, she's associated with air/wind, flight or [[WaterIsWomanly water]]. |
| 23 | * [[TwoGirlsToATeam Another female]]. Usually not white, but if she is, she will ''always'' have a different hair colour to the white female lead. Part of a TomboyAndGirlyGirl or (more rarely) a LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine duo with the white female lead. (If it's the latter, there'll be a third female to fulfill the tomboy role.) Once the white male and the white female hook up, expect her to [[TokenMinorityCouple lean towards the black male]]. If not, she might be a TokenLesbian or token [[ButNotTooBi bisexual]] to represent LGBTQ+ community. |
| 24 | * As well as the top four, the fifth minority typically includes one of the below, or sometimes a {{Twofer Token|Minority}}. |
| 25 | ** [[AmbiguouslyBrown Another brown male]] who is not [[AllAmericanFace American]]. He may variably be Native American, South Asian, or [[LatinoIsBrown stereotypically brown Hispanic]]. He may be TheHeart. Or he may just be there for window dressing. |
| 26 | ** Somebody who is [[TheBigGuy fat or large]] with the [[BigEater stereotypes]] [[FatIdiot that]] [[ButtMonkey go]] [[BigFun with it]]. May represent another minority group such as [[InformedJudaism Jewish]] or other white groups like Polish, German and even white Hispanics. |
| 27 | ** Somebody who is physically handicapped (typically with wheelchair, or with hearing/visual impairment in the less common cases) or mentally handicapped character (typically with HollywoodAutism or some random disorders without any official [[DiagnosisOfGod confirmation]]), usually TheSmartGuy (IdiotSavant in the case of mentally handicapped character) to prove they're not useless in a mildly offensive way that assumes they can only provide any use with their brains, or TheHeart to enforce that they're more innocent, completely harmless and [[DisabledMeansHelpless always need a non-disabled guardian]]. |
| 28 | ** The {{Token Rich|Student}} Kid who has to learn to be nice to non-rich people. |
| 29 | ** The Asian (typically represent Chinese, Japanese, or [[InterchangeableAsianCultures ambiguous east Asian]]) who is either AsianAndNerdy or the [[AllAsiansKnowMartialArts martial art user]]. If not overlap with second girl in the team, this character [[SixthRanger may likely to add in the team later]]. |
| 30 | ** The GayBestFriend who can be either MagicalQueer or [[CampGay stereotypically]] [[QueerPeopleAreFunny gay caricature]]. |
| 31 | *** Or if he is a CampStraight, he is created for being the first part of SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan dynamic with the WhiteMaleLead and can be either non-WASP white (sometimes also [[NiceJewishBoy Jew]][[JewishAndNerdy ish]]) or the aforementioned Asian. |
| 32 | * A TeamPet (usually a dog or cat, or in a sci-fi series, a RobotBuddy) may be added, usually for the sake of having a KidAppealCharacter, or, in a more plot-driven work, a MentorMascot. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | Compare the more economical TokenTrio, and the villainous counterpart, EqualOpportunityEvil. The AllStereotypeCast is related, and the worst executions of this trope will probably cross over with it. If it's people with power, it's likely a CosmopolitanCouncil. Compare/contrast MultinationalTeam and PartyOfRepresentatives. See also TokenMinority and TokenWhite. This can also be a side-effect of ColorBlindCasting. CastFullOfGay can cross over with this, often when the characters are not all the same kind of LGBTQ. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[noreallife]] |
| 37 | ---- |
| 38 | |
| 39 | !!Examples: |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 44 | * Advertising/TheBurgerKingKidsClubGang, as illustrated at the top of the page. The intent was to make Burger King appeal to all ethnicities and groups, with characters such as Wheels, who is in a wheelchair, and Jaws, who is African-American. Later on, an Asian girl named Jazz [[SixthRanger was also added]] to the team. |
| 45 | * The [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160511112824/http://www.sweetcred.com:80/kidshome.html Sweet Cred Gang]]. It's hard to tell whether their efforts were inspired by political correctness, though -- the black kid plays basketball, raps, and sports a gold tooth and chains. |
| 46 | * One "Must Drink More Milk" ad featured the "Teen Power Team", who seem to be a [[TheNineties '90s-esque]] mishmash of the Franchise/PowerRangers and the Literature/{{Animorphs}}: white male leader, blonde girl, [[AmbiguouslyBrown vaguely]] Native American boy, Indian boy and Spanish-speaking Hispanic girl. |
| 47 | [[/folder]] |
| 48 | |
| 49 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 50 | * In the early 1990s, before Creator/DiC acquired the rights to the North American release of ''Anime/SailorMoon'', an outfit called Toon Makers [[WesternAnimation/ToonMakersSailorMoon made a bid for them]]. As part of their pitch, TM made a short demo film of what they wanted to do with the property. They threw out the original cast and diversified the cast of all-Japanese girls into two white girls (one of which is in a wheelchair), a black girl, and a Hispanic girl. Curiously, only one was kept Asian (Mars), and the leader is one of the white girls. The result is often called "Saban Moon" or "The Saban Nightmare" due to people mistaking the relatively unknown TM for a more well-known company. (See it [[https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=saban+sailor+moon&search=Search here]].) They've even got a wheelchair that can sail through space. |
| 51 | * ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': |
| 52 | ** A similar thing would have happened to the ''Gundam'' series, but it would have been a decision of Creator/{{Sunrise}}. ''WesternAnimation/DoozyBots'' was a way to get the ''Gundam'' franchise to America, and it would have featured a cast of a Football-playing [[CharClone Char look-alike]], a skater/surfer, a cheerleader, a hockey player, and [[TwoferTokenMinority a black kid who uses a wheelchair]]. For an extra dose of UnfortunateImplications, while the heroes turn into SuperDeformed versions of various ''Gundam'' mecha, the paraplegic kid turns into... a [[http://mahq.net/mecha/gundam/msgundam/rx-75-4.htm Guntank]]. |
| 53 | ** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' is the most famous ''Gundam'' example, with Heero (Japanese), Duo (American), Quatre (Middle Eastern[[note]]This gets a lot of debate because Quatre is blond-haired and blue-eyed, but {{Fanon}} typically explains it as Berber heritage or simply taking after his mother.[[/note]]), Wu Fei (Chinese), and Trowa (...something[[note]]Because Trowa was orphaned at a very young age, his ethnicity is vague. Even if you accept that he's Cathy Bloom's long-lost brother, that doesn't change the fact that official sources have variously labeled her Latino, Russian, and "Eastern European". All we know for certain is, he's some kind of European.[[/note]]). That said, the characters' ethnicities have absolutely no impact on the plot, and no special attention is drawn to them (except for explaining why Wu Fei is an ArrogantKungFuGuy). |
| 54 | ** ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'' did it first, although there '''is''' a slightly reasonable explanation for this, since the setting is a worldwide tournament (with each nation getting to send a single fighter to represent them) and the FiveManBand were the ones who realized there was something more important going on. |
| 55 | ** Done again in ''Anime/{{Mobile Suit Gundam 00}}'', but instead we focus on four Gundam pilots with no extras to pop in and instead of a centralized theme focused on individualizing the characters, the pilots do not particularly act like their nationality rather they are based on their own personality templates. An example is that although Tieria is by technicality the [[NerdGlasses Glasses]] character, he is the complete opposite of most of them where he is in fact completely capable killing just about anyone who gets in his way. Likewise, the fact that team sniper Lockon is Irish and main character Setsuna is an Iranian Kurd are simply pieces of their backstories. Nobody has a name that fits their nationality, because [[CodeName they stopped using their birth names after joining Celestial Being]]. |
| 56 | * The main team of ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' consists of a black man, a Jewish guy, a Half-Chinese-Half-American girl, and a Japanese ex-salaryman. |
| 57 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'' is set in a fantasy world, but WordOfGod has given each of the Straw Hats a real-world nationality based on their looks, and they are very diverse: |
| 58 | ** Luffy: Brazilian |
| 59 | ** Zoro: Japanese |
| 60 | ** Nami: Swedish |
| 61 | ** Usopp: African |
| 62 | ** Sanji: French |
| 63 | ** Chopper: Canadian (and that whole reindeer thing) |
| 64 | ** Robin: Russian |
| 65 | ** Franky: American |
| 66 | ** Brook: Austrian |
| 67 | * In ''Anime/SonicX'', Chris Thorndyke (who is white) has a black friend (Danny) and a white female friend in a wheelchair (Helen) who is also Chris' ImpliedLoveInterest. |
| 68 | * ''Manga/ShamanKing'' works with this: |
| 69 | ** Yoh: Japanese, TheHero |
| 70 | ** Manta: Japanese, TheSmartGuy |
| 71 | ** Anna: Japanese, TheMentor |
| 72 | ** [[InconsistentSpelling Ren/Lian/Len]]: [[StereotypesOfChinesePeople Chinese]], TokenEvilTeammate |
| 73 | ** Horokeu/Horohoro/[[DubNameChange Trey]]: Ainu, TheLancer |
| 74 | ** Lyserg: British, SixthRangerTraitor |
| 75 | ** Chocolove/Joco: African-American, SixthRanger |
| 76 | ** Faust VIII: German, TheHeart |
| 77 | ** Ryunosuke/Ryu/Rio: Japanese, TheBigGuy |
| 78 | ** Silva: [[MagicalNativeAmerican American Indian]], TheMentor |
| 79 | * The main cast of ''Anime/TigerAndBunny''. |
| 80 | ** Kotetsu/Wild Tiger: Japanese |
| 81 | ** Barnaby: White |
| 82 | ** Karina/Blue Rose: White |
| 83 | ** Nathan/Fire Emblem: Black and [[CampGay Gay]] |
| 84 | ** Keith/Sky High: White |
| 85 | ** Huang/Dragon Kid: Chinese |
| 86 | ** Antonio/Rock Bison: Latino |
| 87 | ** Ivan/Origami Cyclone: White |
| 88 | * In the Digimon World Tour arc of ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', the New York team is revealed to be a Seven Token Band, in contrast to the Australian team which doesn't even have one TokenMinority: |
| 89 | ** Mimi: Japanese |
| 90 | ** Michael: White |
| 91 | ** Phil/Sam: Black |
| 92 | ** Maria: Latina |
| 93 | ** Tatum: Irish-American |
| 94 | ** Steve: Jewish |
| 95 | ** Lou: Native American |
| 96 | * The pilots of Team Harlequin from ''Anime/EurekaSevenAo'' are quite diverse: |
| 97 | ** Liu Ing: Chinese |
| 98 | ** Lerato: Black |
| 99 | ** Rajkumar: Indian |
| 100 | ** Hanna: White |
| 101 | * Any FiveManBand from ''WebComic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' would have to be this by default due to [[NationsAsPeople the premise]]. As it stands, the only canon example is the Allied Forces, with an American, an Englishman, a Frenchman, a Russian and a Chinese. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And]] [[SixthRanger sometimes]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg a Canadian]]. |
| 102 | * The Riot Force 6 from ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' has soldiers from different worlds, the majority being from Mid-Childa. Some of them aren't even actually human. For example: |
| 103 | ** Forward [=StarS=] has Nanoha (Earth human), Vita (a living program), Subaru ({{Cyborg}}), and Teana (Mid-Childan human). |
| 104 | ** Forward Lightning has Fate and Erio (clones), Signum (living program), Caro (Alzas human) and Friedrich (dragon). |
| 105 | ** The Forwards are a {{Cyborg}} (Subaru), a clone (Erio), a human from Mid-Childa (Teana), a human from Alzas (Caro) and a dragon. |
| 106 | * ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': The Wild Bunch (Monster Makers in the dub) were/are a group of programmers with different nationalities and ethnicity. |
| 107 | ** Jiang-yu Lee (a.k.a. Tao) is a Chinese man. |
| 108 | ** Gorou Mizuno (a.k.a. Shibumi) is Japanese (and you couldn't tell that without looking at his name, as he looks more like Jesus than a Japanese man). |
| 109 | ** Rob [=McCoy=] (a.k.a. Dolphin) is a white red-headed man (possibly Irish). |
| 110 | ** Rai Aishuwarya (a.k.a. Curly) is an Indian woman. |
| 111 | ** Daisy is a white blondine (possibly American). |
| 112 | ** Babel is a black man (possibly American). |
| 113 | * ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon'''s main group fits the bill. Aside from Ash himself (who is Asian), there's: |
| 114 | ** Lillie: White blonde female. Is also rich. |
| 115 | ** Kiawe: AmbiguouslyBrown male. |
| 116 | ** Mallow: AmbiguouslyBrown female, though she's nowhere near as dark-skinned as Kiawe and only slightly darker than Ash. |
| 117 | ** Lana: A female who appears to be of Asian descent. |
| 118 | ** Sophocles: Fat white male. |
| 119 | * ''Manga/ACentaursLife'': {{Invoked|Trope}} and {{exaggerated|Trope}}, all due to the worldbuilding: race is an extremely touchy subject InUniverse. As a result, all of the MagicalGirl anime produced for young girls (though it can be reasonably assumed a great deal more cartoons besides) in this world, as an unwritten rule, must have a supporting cast containing a magical girl of each race, with the focus character being from a different race every episode. |
| 120 | [[/folder]] |
| 121 | |
| 122 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 123 | * ''ComicBook/XMen'': |
| 124 | ** ''The All-New, All-Different X-Men''. The wheelchair-bound mentor ([[Characters/MarvelComicsProfessorX Professor X]], representing the handicapped) and Caucasian male team leader ([[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]] from the original team, which was all-white and all American) were joined by an African woman ([[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]]), an Asian (Sunfire), an Apache (Thunderbird), a German ([[Characters/MarvelComicsNightcrawler Nightcrawler]]), an Irishman (Banshee), a Russian ([[Characters/XMen70sMembers Colossus]]), and a Canadian ([[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]]). The in-universe reason the "All New All Different" X-Men were so diverse was that, back then, mutants were assumed to be danged ''rare'', and Professor X had to gather together those few he could find on short notice from all around the world. Of course, as more and more mutants kept getting introduced in subsequent years, mutant rarity became a forgotten concept, until a bit of ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'' [[StatusQuoIsGod forcibly restored it]] decades later. |
| 125 | ** ''ComicBook/XMenDeadlyGenesis'' {{Retcon}}ned in a team of X-Men who were recruited to rescue the original team before the "All-New, All Different" cast. This new team consisted of an Afro-Latino boy (Darwin), a Chinese-American girl, (Sway), a Danish-American girl and a Caucasian boy (Kid Vulcan). |
| 126 | ** The ''ComicBook/NewMutants'' spinoff is no better. [[AmbiguouslyGay Ambiguously Lesbian]] Vietnamese (Karma), check. Son of Brazilian self-made millionaire ([[Characters/MarvelComicsSunspot Sunspot]]), check. Neurotic Scots werewolf (Wolfsbane -- devout Calvinist half-convinced she is damned to Hell for bonus {{Wangst}}), check. Angry young Cheyenne ActionGirl (Mirage), check. Appalachian coal-miner's son (Cannonball), check. As for the ones who joined up later, let us say that the only OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent (Cypher) joined the same night as the shapeshifting alien of living circuitry (Warlock). |
| 127 | ** The teen series ''ComicBook/GenerationX''. The Asian girl (Jubilee) is the class clown, the Latino (Skin) is physically the ugliest member and a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, the redneck (Husk) is the brain, the black girl (Characters/{{M|arvelComicsMonetStCroix}} is the RichBitch / AlphaBitch, etc. |
| 128 | ** Creator/BrianWood's all-female line-up from the adjectiveless ''X-Men'' fits as well. Aside from the two white ladies (Rogue and Rachel Grey), the team consists of Storm (Kenyan mother and African-American father), Jubilee (Chinese-American, a single mother, and suffers from a learning disability), [[Characters/MarvelComicsPsylocke Psylocke]] ([[FreakyFridayFlip white British woman in the body of a Japanese assassin]]), Characters/{{M|arvelComicsMonetStCroix}} (Afro-Algerian and a Muslim), Karima (Indian), and Bling ([[TwoferTokenMinority African-American and bisexual]]). Wood has said he didn't set out to create a racially-diverse cast, but is proud of how diverse the book turned out. |
| 129 | ** The original line-up of ''X-Men 2099'' featured Krystalin (black, female), Cerebra (Arab, female), Serpentina (white, female, [[SacrificialLamb quickly killed off]]), Xian, Meanstreak, and Metalhead (Vietnamese-, Chinese- and Japanese-American, respectively) and Skullfire (the TokenWhite who [[WhiteMaleLead quickly became the leader]]). They were later joined by La Lunatica (Hispanic albino, female), and two more Caucasians in Bloodhawk (who normally appears as a scaly, red-skinned dragon man) and Sham (who is incidentally female). This was probably intended in the spirit of the All-New, All-Different X-Men, though this incarnation wasn't much of a MultinationalTeam. |
| 130 | * The ''ComicBook/RelativeHeroes'' are made up of Aviva and Joel Weinberg (Jewish heritage), their adopted brothers Tyson Gilford (African-American) and Cameron Begay (Native American name, mixed appearance, but actually a mode-locked shapeshifting alien), and Damara Sinclair (white female). |
| 131 | * In ''ComicBook/Robin1993'' Tim's high school clique worked out to fit here, especially after they were down to five. There was Tim Drake the white rich kid protagonist, Sebastian Ives the [[JewishAndNerdy nerdy Jewish]] leader, Callie Evans the twitchy {{tomboy}}, Kevin Hudman the smart [[BlackAndNerdy nerdy black]] boy, Hudson the ambiguously brown chubby boy, and Ariana the refugee girly girl who eventually stopped hanging out with the others. |
| 132 | * ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', as a result of creators intentionally trying to avoid many superhero team cliches. They even [[LampshadeHanging lampshade it]] as looking like those [[EqualOpportunityEvil multiethnic gangs you only see on TV]]. Original line up (not counting Old Lace the dinosaur): Alex Wilder (black male, first leader), Gertrude Yorkes (Jewish female), Karolina Dean (looks white but actually an alien, female and gay), Molly Hayes (white female, mutant), Nico Minoru (Japanese-American female, second leader), and Chase Stein (white male). Later members: Victor Mancha (looks hispanic but actually a robot, male), Xavin (shapeshifting alien, sometimes looks like a black female, sometimes black male, sometimes Skrull male, involved in lesbian relationship, genderfluid), Klara Prast (white female). |
| 133 | * Creator/ChrisClaremont's rebooted ''ComicBook/{{Gen 13}}'' has a team of a poor Irish-American kid (whose father was a firefighter who died in 9/11), a black girl, a Chinese-American girl and a Black Muslim boy ''[[TwoferTokenMinority in a wheelchair]]''. |
| 134 | * The ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'', now that their white male leader is gone, are a shining example of how Marvel are really, ''really'' trying. Patriot (black) leads an interspecies gay couple, two girls and an android. Young!Kang looked Asian in the ''Young Avengers'' (or at least biracial).[[note]]Given that Young!Kang, like all versions of Kang, was born a thousand years in the future, a significantly amount of racial mixing is likely, though most versions have appeared Caucasian when unmasked.[[/note]] |
| 135 | ** The ComicBook/MarvelNOW relaunch consists of the Caucasian Kate Bishop and Marvel Boy, Caucasian-looking Norse God Loki, Wiccan ([[TwoferTokenMinority Gay and Jewish]]), Miss America ([[AffirmativeActionLegacy Latina]]), Prodigy (African-American and bisexual), and Hulking (Gay). Creator/KieronGillen noted once that this trope resulted from, as it usually does in such cases in comics books, trying to include members of as many marginalized groups possible, until the cast grows too big to include more than one of each. When Prodigy joined the team, Gillen noted he actually faced the dilemma of whether to add more LGBT men or another woman. |
| 136 | * The original ComicBook/NewWarriors had (among others) ComicBook/{{Nova}} (white), [[FadSuper Night Thrasher]] (African-American), Justice (half-Jewish and a mutant), Firestar (mutant), Namorita (Atlantean), Rage (African-American), Silhouette (half-African-American and half-Vietnamese), Speedball (white), Turbo (Japanese-American), and Rage (African-American). |
| 137 | ** The ComicBook/MarvelNOW relaunch has the new Nova (half-white and half-Mexican), ComicBook/ScarletSpider (white and a clone), Water Snake (blue-skinned Atlantean), Haechi (Korean and an [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Inhuman]]), the above-mentioned Speedball and Justice, Hummingbird (Latina), and Sun Girl (African-American). WordOfGod states that the diversity is intentional, as a major theme of the book is different fantasy races (such as mutants and Inhumans) being forced to unite against a common foe. |
| 138 | * The ComicBook/MarvelNOW relaunch of ''ComicBook/MightyAvengers'' is another example of Marvel listening to criticism about their MonochromeCasting and trying to do better. The team is lead by African-American superhero Characters/LukeCage and consists of [[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics Spectrum]] and [[ComicBook/AdamLegendOfTheBlueMarvel Blue Marvel]] (both African-American), [[ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan Superior Spider-Man]] (white), Power Man (Dominican), Characters/{{White Tiger|MarvelComics}} (Puerto Rican), and ComicBook/SheHulk (white/green). There's also a [[LegacyCharacter new Ronin]], but their identity has yet to be revealed ([[spoiler:it's {{Characters/Blade}}]], who is black and English). Superior Spider-Man got kicked out fairly quickly, and got replaced by another white guy, Characters/IronFist. |
| 139 | * The main cast of ''ComicBook/XFactor'' volume 3 had a black Algerian Muslim, a time-displaced [[TwoferTokenMinority half-black, half-Latino]] teenager, a bisexual Mexican male and a gay futuristic gladiator from another dimension. |
| 140 | * The ComicBook/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} goes back and forth on this. As of 2013, the main ''Justice League'' team had [[Characters/TeenTitansNewTeenTitans Cyborg]] (African-American), ComicBook/TheAtom (Latina) and Element Woman (Asian-American), while the [[WestCoastTeam spin-off team]] had ComicBook/GreenLantern Simon Baz (Lebanese-American), [[Characters/TheOutsidersDCComics Katana]] (Japanese), and [[Characters/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Vibe]] (Mexican-American). |
| 141 | * Lampshaded in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueElite'', where Sister Superior refers to the team's ethnic make-up as a "PC Nightmare". Coldcast was black, Manitou Raven and Dawn were dark-skinned Atlantean Natives, [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2000}} Batgirl]] was Asian-American, Menagerie was Latina and Naif al-Sheikh was an Arab. The only white males on the team were ComicBook/TheFlash, ComicBook/GreenArrow and Major Disaster. |
| 142 | * ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational'' usually had a pretty varied roster. At various points the team included Doctor Light III (Japanese woman), Fire (Brazilian woman), Martian Manhunter (last of his kind extraterrestrial), Ice (Roma woman), and Tasmanian Devil (gay man). |
| 143 | * Very much so in the first ''ComicBook/AtariForce'' series, which featured two Caucasians, a TokenBlackFriend, one Asian Indian, and a ''Chinese/Irish'' security chief out to save humanity. |
| 144 | * ComicBook/AvengersAcademy was arguably an example, as Reptil (the leader of the group) was Latino, Mettle was Polynesian, Hazmat was Asian-American, Finesse and Veil were women, and the only Caucasian man on the team, Striker, was a gay teenager [[spoiler:from a working-class background and a survivor of sexual abuse]]. The West Coast revamp of the title introduced Characters/{{White Tiger|MarvelComics}} (Puerto Rican), Power Man ([[TwoferTokenMinority Black Dominican]]), Spider-Girl (Latina), Wiz Kid (Asian American), Rocket Racer (African American) and Hollow/Penance (originally Yugoslavian, retconned into being a black Algerian, current ethnicity unknown) into the Academy. It also added Julie Power (bisexual), and [[Characters/MarvelComicsLauraKinney X-23]] to the cast. |
| 145 | * ''ComicBook/PrideHigh'' has this: Mindsweeper (half black, gay), Kid Mischief (Puerto Rican, gay), Suravi (Indian, blind, lesbian), Scotch Bonnet (Scottish, bi-curious), Chip Cheetah (British), Unison (from Hong Kong), Kid Olympus (half Chinese, half Greek), Kilauea (Hawaiian), Cameron Ashton (gay), and Lightspot (gay). WordOfGod says that diversity was not the reasoning as the characters were created by different people, and his own experiences in high school were just as diverse (though the diversity of gay characters ''was'' intentional). |
| 146 | * The ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint|DCComics}}'' version of [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] is a group of six children who can turn into [[MythologyGag Captain Thunder]]. In addition to the original Caucasian PowerTrio of Billy and Mary Batson and Freddy Freeman (who's disabled), there's Eugene (Asian-American), Pedro (Latino), and Darla (African-American). Following the CosmicRetcon caused by fixing ''Flashpoint'', the six of them become a new Shazam Family, sharing Billy/Shazam's power. |
| 147 | * The Marvel event ''ComicBook/FearItself'' had a teenage superhero team consisting of Caucasian [[Characters/MarvelComicsLauraKinney X-23]] and ComicBook/{{Thunderstrike}}, [[Characters/IncredibleHulkSupportingCharacters Amadeus Cho]] (Korean-American), [[Characters/LukeCage Power Man]] (Dominican), and [[ComicBook/AnyaCorazon Spider-Girl]] (Hispanic). |
| 148 | * ''ComicBook/{{Mingamanga}}'' from Germany: One Bavarian from the countryside, one Turk, one black African, and one Vietnamese. |
| 149 | * ''The Adventures Of Olivia'' doubles as ForeignFanservice (being an American porn comic) with the title character originally being an obvious SassyBlackWoman before further designs made her more like [[AmbiguouslyBrown vaguely]] [[SpicyLatina Puerto Rican]] with "Mickey Mouse-like afro puffs" on the side of her head bordering otherwise straight hair, [[ValleyGirl Sandy,]] South Asian (never specified what country) [[BigBeautifulWoman Fatima,]] Mexican-American [[SpicyLatina Lupe,]] Ambiguously East Asian [[ThirdPersonPerson Mi-Hy,]] [[BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins Native American]] [[LipstickLesbian Pen]][[TwoferTokenMinority ny,]] tanned, but apparently Caucasian [[LovableAlphaBitch Sylvia]] [[RichBitch Wellington]] Jewish-American Meganekko Naomi and Italian-American Anna Provalone. Additionally, the whole team appear together as [[HospitalHottie nurses.]] |
| 150 | * ''ComicBook/BloodSyndicate'' is about, well, the Blood Syndicate. Formed by the survivors of a freak accident at a multi-gang war, the group is mostly black and Latino (including a couple black Latinos, a gay Latino, and a black Muslim), but also features two Asians (one Korean-American and the other a Chinese-American woman) and a TokenWhite. |
| 151 | * ''ComicBook/FearlessDefenders'' was one of the better-handled and more organic examples seen in comics. The entire team was female, and included [[AfroAssKicker Misty Knight]] (African-American and an [[ArtificialLimbs amputee]]), Annabelle Riggs (lesbian), Dani Moonstar (Cheyenne), and the [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Inhuman]] Ren Kimura (Japanese-American and a lesbian). |
| 152 | * ''ComicBook/LaRibambelle'', a Belgian comic book, features Phil the WhiteMaleLead, Grenadine TheHeart, Archibald TheSmartGuy (who happens to be a white Scot), Atchi and Atcha (two Asian twins) and Dizzy (a black kid who enjoys playing trumpet). |
| 153 | * ''ComicBook/TheMovement'': Virtue is African-American (and lesbian), Tremor is Indian-American (and asexual), Karthasis is Laotian-American, and Vengeance Moth and Burden are both Caucasian. Moth is also transgender and wheelchair-bound from muscular dystrophy, while Burden is Amish and gay. |
| 154 | * ''ComicBook/{{Champions|MarvelComics}}'': The Champions had a bunch of them, whoo boy. You had [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 Ms. Marvel]] ([[Characters/MarvelComicsKamalaKhan Kamala Khan]], a Pakistani-American and an Inhuman), [[ComicBook/SpiderMan2016 Spider-Man]] ([[Characters/MarvelComicsMilesMorales Miles Morales]], African-Hispanic mix), ComicBook/TotallyAwesomeHulk (Amadeus Cho, a Korean-American), ComicBook/{{Nova}} (Sam Alexander, half Mexican), [[ComicBook/TheVision2015 Viv Vision]] (android) and [[ComicBook/XMenBlue the time-displaced Cyclops]] (Scott Summers, mutant). Cyclops subsequently left and was replaced with two others: ComicBook/TheUnstoppableWasp (Nadia Van Dyne, part-Hungarian) and Characters/{{Ironheart}} (Riri Williams, African-American) |
| 155 | * {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d with ''ComicBook/{{The Ultimates|2015}}'', who a National Security Council member compares to a Benetton ad. |
| 156 | * ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'' and its [[WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}} animated adaptation]] has the title team like this. The lead Will is biracial (half-AmbiguouslyBrown and half-white), Irma is white and implied to be Latina in the cartoon, Cornelia is white, Taranee is black (her father is black, her mother is unidentified asian, and she's adopted), and Hay Lin is American-Chinese. |
| 157 | * The titular team in ''C.O.V.E.N.'': Jaxon is Latino, Motoko is Half-Japanese and AmbiguouslyJewish, Vivi is an albino, Hunter is AmbiguouslyBrown (possibly biracial since her dad is white,) Lissie is white, and Stéphane is a [[CuteMonsterGirl Cute Monster Boy]] with green skin and a few lizard traits like scales and a tail. |
| 158 | * ''ComicBook/ZodiacStarforce'': Emma is biracial, Kim and Savanna are white (while Savanna is also bi), Molly is Asian, and Lily is black (and a lesbian). |
| 159 | * ''ComicBook/JuniorBravesOfTheApocalypse'': The main team displays a wie variety of ethnicities, backgrounds, and religions. Pabir is the glasses-wearing Indian Hindu. Amir is a redheaded Jewish second-generation immigrant. Lucas is a black Lutheran. Johnny is Apache and adopted. Travis is a bit overweight, but otherwise fits the role of the token white guy, complete with blond hair and blue eyes. |
| 160 | * ''ComicBook/HarleyQuinn'' ended up picking up one of these during the New 52 -- her Gang of Harleys. The team includes Shona Choudhury (Indian), Carlita Alvarez (Latina), Hannah Borgman (Jewish), Antonia Moore (black), Erica Zhang (Chinese), Harvey [=McPhearson=] (gay and TheOneGuy), and Holly Hamden (blind and paraplegic). |
| 161 | * In ''ComicBook/RoyThomasAnthem'', Liberty is a Polish Jewish immigrant, Dawns Earlylight is a Native American, Bomb-Burst is black, Stonewall is a white Southerner, Rockets Redglare is a former pacifist, and Stars and Stripes are the sons of a German-American. |
| 162 | [[/folder]] |
| 163 | |
| 164 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 165 | * Creator/AlisonBechdel's ''ComicStrip/DykesToWatchOutFor''. Bechdel herself has joked that, yes, the cast is almost diverse to a fault (with a main cast comprising just about every ethnicity, religion, political affiliation—-[[GayConservative yes, there are indeed lesbian Republicans out there]]). However, as they're all fully-fleshed characters with their own personalities, they tend not to suffer from being the token something-or-other. Thea (disabled, with MS) is the only possible exception, even lampshaded by her in an AnimatedActors segment: "I move that ''no'' new personnel be introduced until I get properly established here! I thought I was gonna be a fully-fledged, three-dimensional character like everyone else, but nooooo! I just show up on my crutches every tenth episode like a goddamn poster child!" |
| 166 | * The "N Gang" in the german Club Nintendo promotional magazine. |
| 167 | * ''Wee Pals'' (and its AnimatedAdaptation ''Kid Power'') featured a cast full of kids from different races and cultures. The strip came out during the 1960s Civil Rights movement, aimed at supporting desegregation. |
| 168 | * ''Cleats'' featured a diverse ensemble cast of kids. There was Jack (a white boy who has a huge mixed European ancestry), Abby (a biracial girl; half white, half Navajo), Mondo (a Latino boy), Peri (a Black girl), Bailey (a neurotic white boy), Edith (another biracial girl; half—Asian, half white), Dee (a Jewish white boy), and Jerome (a black boy). They all have fully fleshed out personalities and their ancestries are only brought up a handful of times. |
| 169 | [[/folder]] |
| 170 | |
| 171 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 172 | * In Fanfic/AlexandraQuick this is Justified and mildly deconstructed. Alex's core group of friends is formed from those in her class who, for whatever reason, do not fit in with the mainstream school culture. The deconstruction comes when the diverse cultural backgrounds of the group, and the intra-group conflicts they sometimes cause, are explored rather than ignored as is typical for this trope. |
| 173 | * ''Fanfic/ThirtyHs'' parodies this when describing a group of children: "They were well-groomed and impeccably attired, and there were 5.8 of them, just enough to represent an array of genders and races that would leave no-one unhappy, save for the Eskimos." |
| 174 | * ''Blog/AlwaysHavingJuice'' definitely features this. Visit the page for the full description. |
| 175 | * Invoked by the superhero team Concert's [[CorporateSponsoredSuperhero corporate sponsor]] in ''Fanfic/WormMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' as part of a PR campaign, due to the owner's son being arrested six members of Geselleschaft. |
| 176 | * ''Fanfic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': All six of the new Bearers are different species: Xvital is an Ahuizotl visiting from the Cuanmiztl Kingdom, Night Blade is a batpony/nox pony (essentially a pegasus with tufted ears, bat-like webbed wings, non-hairy tails and a crest on their heads) from a noble family, Page Turner is a unicorn [[spoiler:(supposedly; she's later revealed to be actually a unicorn/Changeling hybrid)]], Wind Breaker is a griffon, Vix-Lei is a minotaur visiting from the Minos Islands, and Rex is a doberman pinscher-like Diamond Dog originally from the Under, but who moved to Middle Canterlot. |
| 177 | * In ''Fanfic/RiseOfTheSaveUms'', Rosie and Ben are South Asian, Max is trans, Alexa is a lesbian, Tom is white, and Jackson is black. |
| 178 | * ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocus'': In the ''Orchid Observer'' side story, we have the Native American asexual LovableJock, the NonHumanNonBinary aromantic MirrorSelf, the gay Japanese hacker, and the bi-curious PluckyGirl who considers herself half-British/half-French. |
| 179 | [[/folder]] |
| 180 | |
| 181 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 182 | * ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'': So we have the French geologist, the Italian demolitions expert, the female Hispanic mechanic, the half-black/half-Native American doctor -- and the white American guy. He's near-sighted though -- does that count? Either way, he's clearly the ButtMonkey, at least for the first half. After that he's the naive idealist before finally becoming the hero. And of course, you can also add his love interest (who is a dark-skinned Atlantean girl) in the group too. |
| 183 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfKells'' has possibly the most bizarre version of this of all time: a Five-Token Band of Irish Catholic monks. We get a French monk, a Russian monk, an English monk, a Chinese monk, and Black monk. It's not even alluded to how they all came to be at the same Irish monastery in the 9th century. The creators state that this was to represent diverse influences in the ''Book of Kells''. There was a large amount of immigration to Ireland during this period, especially among the clergy. It had a bit to do with Ireland being one of the few countries in Europe to escape [[DarkAgeEurope The Dark Ages]]. |
| 184 | * ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' has a black guy, a Korean girl, a light-skinned Latina girl, a half-Japanese/half-white boy, and a rich white guy as the members of its titular team. ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Oh, and a robot too.]]) However, the white guy ''isn't'' the lead but the PluckyComicRelief, and the mixed-race TeenGenius is the main character. The whole team was Japanese[[note]] (With Fred also being descended from the Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan) [[/note]] in the Marvel comic series the movie is loosely based on. |
| 185 | * The human kids that Mary Beth [[spoiler:who's actually La Muerte in disguise]], talks to at the museum during the FramingDevice of ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'' are this: Sanjay is Indian-American, the Goth Kid is Mexican-American, Sasha is Russian-American, Jane is Chinese-American, and Joao is Brazilian-American. [[http://fire-miracle.tumblr.com/post/100064956173/steveholtvstheuniverse-the-book-of-life-showing#notes Here's]] a page from the movie's official guidebook. |
| 186 | * ''Franchise/DisneyFairies'': |
| 187 | ** ''Disney Fairies'', where there are five fairies in the group. They consist of the blonde Tinkerbell, the black Iridessa, the Latino Fawn, the Asian Silvermist, and the Southern-accented redhead Rosetta. |
| 188 | ** This is different from the [[Literature/DisneyFairies original books]]. They feature Tinker Bell, Fira, Beck, Prilla, Rani, Bess, and Lilly. All of them are white except for Fira and Lily, though Rani ended up with a DisabilitySuperpower after giving up her wings. |
| 189 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'': the six Spider-People consist of two white guys (Peter B. Parker, who [[AmbiguouslyJewish may or may not be Jewish]], and Spider-Man Noir, who is presumably white by virtue of being an alternate Peter Parker but never takes off his mask), a white teenage girl (Gwen Stacy), a younger, Japanese-American girl (Peni Parker), an Afro-Latino teenage boy (Miles Morales), and a [[FunnyAnimal talking, intelligent spider-turned-pig]] (Peter Porker). Peter B. starts out as the de facto leader, [[spoiler:although Gwen and subsequently [[TheHero Miles]] take over when Peter's issues start to act up]]. |
| 190 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Mei is Chinese-Canadian, Priya is Indo-Canadian, Abby is Korean-Canadian, and Miriam is a white Canadian who [[AmbiguouslyJewish may or may not be Jewish]]. [[spoiler: In the third act, they quickly adopt Tyler, an Afro-Asian-Canadian boy, into their friend group over their shared obsession with the boyband 4*Town.]] |
| 191 | * Disney also likes doing this with [[AllDogsArePurebred groups of dogs]]: The dogs at the pound in ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'' were all recognizable breeds except one (a chihuahua, a borzoi, a bulldog, a dachshund, and a pekingese), and half of them were given accents fitting their national origins. Similarly, Fagin's gang in ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' comprised a Jack Russell terrier, an English bulldog, a chihuahua, a Great Dane, and a saluki; the chihuahua was once again given a Mexican name and accent, and the bulldog was portrayed as a classy Brit. The Junkyard Dogs in ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTrampIIScampsAdventure'' are a downplayed case in that none of them have accents matching their breed and most are breeds that are ambiguous or uncommon or both, but there's still a sheepdog, a Boston terrier, and an Afghan hound; Buster himself is somewhere on the Doberman-Rottweiler spectrum and Angel is apparently part pomeranian. |
| 192 | [[/folder]] |
| 193 | |
| 194 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 195 | * [[UrExample A nice early example]] are the ''[[Film/TheLittleRascals Our Gang]]'' theatrical shorts. Despite the fact that every kid was some obvious stereotype, the series broke major ground in depicting the group in an informal manner and as getting along with each other despite their differences without really calling attention to it. Their major shared trait was being lower-middle class and a dislike of [[GirlsHaveCooties icky girls]]. |
| 196 | * ''Film/TheWarriors'' is a prime example of this (although it falls more under WhiteGangBangers). The title street gang is a mixture of blacks, whites, and Latinos. The enemy gangs are portrayed much more realistically: there is an all-black gang and a white biker gang. And then there's the Baseball Furies. |
| 197 | * ''Film/DungeonsAndDragons2000'' goes a step further and enforces representation of ''fictional'' minorities. After the white man [[MightyWhitey the leader and destined hero, naturally]], there's a white girl as the snobby wizard, a black man as the comic-relief bumbling sidekick, another white man as the ''tallest dwarf in the world'', and a black woman playing the elf (making her a threefer, maybe?). Worst of all, each and every one of them is 100% pure, concentrated stereotype. |
| 198 | * The commando team in ''Film/ExecutiveDecision'' consists of a white guy, an Asian guy, a Hispanic guy and a black guy, and is led by Creator/StevenSeagal, who might be part Native American (seriously, does anyone know for sure what Steven Seagal is?). To add bonus minority points, [[spoiler:the black guy is injured early on and spends most of the movie paralyzed from the neck down]]. |
| 199 | * In the notorious ''Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave'', the heroic BruceLeeClone must [[GottaCatchThemAll track down and defeat]] [[QuirkyMinibossSquad some villains]] consisting of "A Japanese, a black man, a white man, a Mexican, and a cowboy." |
| 200 | * ''Film/TheBigHit'' has the Irish-American protagonist working for [[spoiler:and later against]] the most diverse criminal syndicate of all time. The crime boss is black, Melvin's fellow [[spoiler:and rival]] hitmen are black, Latino, East Asian and Italian-American, and he spends part of the film juggling his blonde Jewish fiancée, his black mistress, and the Japanese girl he kidnaps for ransom. This is partly {{lampshade|Hanging}}d for laughs in a scene where the aforementioned Jewish fiance's father wanders in drunk, sees the aforementioned protagonist and hitmen (not knowing that [[spoiler:they were sent to confront him about his suspected betrayal]] and remarks how happy he is to see four young men of different races sitting together in friendship, in contrast to his wife's rejection of Melvin as a future son-in-law for not being Jewish. |
| 201 | * In ''Film/TheLifeAquaticWithSteveZissou'', the crew of Steve's ship (on the hunt for the Jaguar Shark) consists of Steve himself, Klaus Daimler, Vikram Ray, Bobby Ogata, Renzo Pietro, Vladimir Wolodarsky, Anne-Marie Sakowitz, Pelé dos Santos, and seven interns from the University of North Alaska. Of course, as a world-sailing international icon, this is justified, even though Steve points out that none of them actually have outside nautical experience. |
| 202 | * In ''Film/PowerRangers2017'', the Red Ranger is Caucasian, the Black Ranger is Asian, the Blue Ranger is African-American, the Yellow Ranger is Hispanic, and the Pink Ranger is half-Indian. |
| 203 | * In ''Film/{{Twilight}}'', Bella's school "friends" are this. Jessica is a white female, Eric is Korean, Mike is a white male, Tyler is black, and Angela is Hispanic/Italian/Irish. |
| 204 | -->'''Podcast/{{Rifftrax}}:''' Our surprisingly diverse group of friends certainly does have fun. |
| 205 | * In ''Film/{{Battleship}}'', the main characters are Hopper (white male), Nagata (Japanese male), Raikes (Black Female), Sam (White love interest) and Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales (Black male). |
| 206 | * In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', the Howling Commandos represent this trope. The group consists of Dugan (white American), Morita (Japanese-American), Falsworth (Brit), Jones (African-American), and Dernier (Frenchman). |
| 207 | * The new mutants from ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' consist of Bishop (black), Blink (Chinese), Warpath (Apache), and Sunspot (Brazilian). |
| 208 | * ''Film/LittleAnnieRooney'' is a 1926 film with one of these. Annie's gang consists of Annie herself (who is Irish), a Jewish boy, a Chinese boy, and a black boy. Annie is the sole female out of either of the gangs in the film. |
| 209 | * ''Film/{{DEBS}}'' has an all-girl version. Amy Bradshaw (white) becomes the captain of her D.E.B.S. squad, Max is her black frenemy, Dominique is a French-speaking Asian, and Janet is a naive, immature other white girl. |
| 210 | * ''Film/TheSingleMomsClub'' consists of two white women, two African-Americans, and one Hispanic, with a socioeconomic range from wealthy to blue-collar. |
| 211 | * The [[Film/Shazam2019 Shazam family]] ticks a lot of boxes, between one black kid, one Asian kid, one hispanic kid (who is AmbiguouslyGay besides) and one disabled kid. However, much like the trope description they also have a WhiteMaleLead (Billy), there is TwoGirlsToATeam (making it two thirds male), and the character who is shown as the most equal to the hero (Mary, being the oldest sibling and the other one besides Billy who [[JackOfAllStats doesn't "specialise" in her powers]]) is the only other white abled-bodied one. |
| 212 | * Intentionally evoked in ''Film/HeroesWanted'', where the five members are drawn from the different ethnic groups of Spain as a diversity measure... despite them being an elite task force whose missions stay off the books. |
| 213 | [[/folder]] |
| 214 | |
| 215 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 216 | * ''The 13th Reality'' series has the four new Realitants: white male leader Tick, black Paul (who is ''both'' BlackAndNerdy and good with sports), excitable Italian girl Sofia, and Japanese boy Sato (somehow managing to pull off being the SixthRanger in a four-man crew). |
| 217 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': |
| 218 | ** In the novel ''Literature/MenAtArms'', the Night Watch is forced to admit a dwarf (other than Carrot), a troll and a female [[spoiler:who is also a werewolf]]. They've had a [[spoiler:Nac Mac Feegle who thought he was a]] gnome since ''Literature/FeetOfClay'', hired because he was six inches tall and thus had certain capabilities biggers lack (he rides an assortment of birds, buzzards and falcons and such, as the Watch's airborne division). In ''Literature/{{Thud}}'', they are forced to enlist another woman (this time a vampire). Though they have a lot of women, but a lot of them are dwarves, who tend to be less open about gender (the first exception being Corporal Littlebottom, who possibly counts as a minority group just for that). In terms of humans, ''Feet of Clay'' also introduces Constable Visit, who's from Omnia (which ethnically speaking is part of the Disc's FantasyCounterpartCulture of the Middle East) and ''Literature/{{Snuff}}'' has Lance-Constable Precious Jolson whose family is from Hwondaland (the Disc's DarkestAfrica). In ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'' it's considered notable that Mr Nutt (believed to be the first goblin in the city) ''doesn't'' join the Watch, because that's what members of new minority groups in Ankh-Morpork ''do''. |
| 219 | ** ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', where the army recruits are also varied but the title [[spoiler:is, if you know a different title, a deliberate spoiler of a subversion. Try Googling "First Blast of the Trumpet Against"]]. |
| 220 | * ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'': It went beyond having to have a black girl and an Asian girl. A diabetic, [[TheOneGuy a boy]], and a girl in a very large family also counted for diversity points, as well as family relationships that got to the point where the {{backstory}} of the characters was TheThemeParkVersion of DysfunctionJunction. The CousinOliver seemed to be everything the author left out [[TwoferTokenMinority crammed]] into one: she was Jewish, an asthmatic and a twin. All the girls also have different areas of interest: writing, art, sports, fashion, etc. One of the main characters in the spinoff series ''California Diaries'' is Latina. |
| 221 | * ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' does this with its main cast. The white Jewish male leader Jake, his female cousin Rachel, his black girlfriend Cassie, his Hispanic best friend Marco, and Tobias who has a [[ParentalAbandonment messed-up]] [[ResentfulGuardian family]] (and is a bird). They later add [[SixthRanger an alien]], Ax. Toward the end of the series, they get a RedshirtArmy made up of disabled children (though {{justified|Trope}}--they specifically picked disabled kids because [[PuppeteerParasite Yeerks]] wouldn't bother to infest them). Rachel's parents are divorced, too -- she's raised by her mother, who isn't Jewish. |
| 222 | * ''Literature/{{Remnants}}'' has a large cast that can justify its racial diversity, but for a group thrown together by the American government at the last minute, the survivors of Earth's destruction include a surprising number characters born outside the United States (Billy, T.R., Kubrick's dad, possibly [=2Face=]'s dad...) |
| 223 | * Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse: |
| 224 | ** {{Invoked|Trope}}: the original lineup for the rebuilt [[Literature/XWingSeries Rogue Squadron]] in the eponymous books was deliberately chosen on politically correct grounds by the Alliance leadership, given how important a propaganda symbol the squadron is. However, this is a ''Star Wars Galaxy'' Twelve Token Band, so it consists of: the token Bothan (for their work in finding the second Death Star), the token Twi'lek (Ryloth is coming into its own at this time), ''other'' other token aliens (an insectoid, a wolfman, and another... thing, to represent the more non-human ones), the token refugee (a woman), the token kid brought up in jail (also a woman), the token precocious kid (who's also from Tatooine), and ''two'' token Thyferrans (including one woman) because that's the only way to please the two factions of the planet producing the most critical medical supply in the galaxy. In fact at one point, a good Corellian pilot isn't allowed to join because they already have two Corellians. Wedge is highly displeased about leadership picking the squadron for him, but he grows to like his people. |
| 225 | ** ''Young Jedi Knights'' has as its main characters: one male human, two female humans (one of whom is from a primitive planet), one male Wookiee, and a miniature protocol droid. The SixthRanger is also a male human, but was written in the ''Dark Nest'' trilogy as bisexual. It's somewhat subverted by the fact the droid was built by C-3PO, and the Wookiee is Chewbacca's nephew. |
| 226 | * ''Literature/TheEgyptGame'' (1967) is an early example. April and Toby are white; Melanie and Marshall are black; Elizabeth and Ken are Asian. April, the white girl, is the main point-of-view character. The six characters are based "loosely but with ethnic accuracy" on students the author had in her class one year when she was teaching at UC Berkeley. |
| 227 | * ''Literature/TheGreatGreeneHeist'': Of the six members of Jackson's team, Jackson is African-American, Victor is Korean-American, Hashemi is Middle Eastern, Bradley and the AmbiguouslyJewish Megan are white, and Charlie is Hispanic. |
| 228 | * ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' has this with the Fellowship: four Hobbits, two Men, an Elf, and a Dwarf all to represent the Free People of Middle-earth. Leading them? A Wizard originally from the West. Of course, the process of their meeting was well-described by Tolkien: the Council did not want to have Elves, Dwarves, or Men to be carrying the Ring (since they would resent each other, which would be bad for morale); and although Gandalf called the meeting and needed to go south to help prepare the war, he didn't want the Ring either, so it fell to Frodo (who volunteered, at any rate); Sam, Merry, and Pippin insisted on joining Frodo; Aragorn was TheChosenOne; Boromir is from Gondor and would be going that way anyway; and then Gimli and Legolas are intentional Tokens to ensure that all races are represented in the quest. |
| 229 | * In Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{It}}'', the Loser's Club is made up from kids who are ostracized by the others for various reasons: Bill stutters, Ben is fat, Eddie is physically weak, Stan is Jewish, Mike is black, Beverly is poor, and Richie just can't keep his mouth shut. |
| 230 | * ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'' has Damien and later Jack, two gay boys who quickly become a TokenMinorityCouple, Shaunee, a black girl, her white mental "twin", Erin, and Stevie Rae, a country girl from the middle of nowhere with an Oklahoma accent. Add in Zoey, the main character of [[MagicalNativeAmerican Cherokee descent]], and you definitely have one of these forming. |
| 231 | * The ''Virals'' series by Kathy Reichs has the main character Tory, a white girl, Sheldon, a biracial (black and Japanese) guy, Hiram, who is Jewish, and Ben a white guy who claims he is part Native American. |
| 232 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'': |
| 233 | ** An example that only works in-universe: the main trio has Harry, the half-blood, Ron, the pure-blood, and Hermione, the Muggle-born. |
| 234 | ** Dumbledore's Army, though predominantly made up of white Brits, includes three blacks (Dean, Lee, and Angelina), two Indians (the Patil twins), an Irish boy (Seamus), a Chinese girl (Cho), and a Jew (Anthony), along with a healthy mix of pure-bloods, half-bloods, and Muggle-borns. They also are implied to come from many different parts of the British Isles. Harry himself has [[BlindWithoutEm a visual impairment]]. |
| 235 | * {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'', where one of these appears in the final pages to promptly save AnotherDimension both John and Dave deemed to lame to bother with. |
| 236 | * In the followup series to ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', Riordan goes from having a protagonistic band of two whites and a satyr to a ten-man band of two white male leads, an Italian male (who is [[spoiler:StraightGay]]), a white girl, a Native American girl, a black girl, a Chinese-Canadian boy, a Hispanic boy, a Puerto Rican girl, and a different satyr. On top of this, all of the listed kids (except Frank, the Chinese-Canadian boy) have some combination of ADHD and/or Dyslexia, due to the way demigod brains are wired. Frank is lactose intolerant. Justified because they are all the offspring of the Greek and Roman Pantheons, and they all met up at the only two summer camps in the world where it is safe for demigods. |
| 237 | * Unusually well {{justified|Trope}} in the ''Literature/SpiritAnimals'' series. The world of Erdras is divided into four main continents, each of which has a different ethnic phenotype and patron deity (Zhongese correspond to Asians, Nilosians to Africans, Eurans to Europeans, and Amayans to Native Americans (though their society is closer to Modern America with medieval technology)). The plot is kicked off when the four deities choose four mortal children to partner with, and naturally each chose to bond a person from their region. |
| 238 | * The group in ''Literature/SeekerBears'' consists of a captive-raised black bear named Lusa, a grizzly bear named Toklo, another grizzly bear (who can shapeshift into other species) named Ujurak, and a polar bear named Kallik. |
| 239 | * ''Literature/InCryptid'': Since few members of any given cryptid species show up, nearly every group or team is a mix of different species (though they may look like the same race). |
| 240 | ** In the first couple books, Verity's circle of allies includes Dominic (human, Italian), Ryan ({{tanuki}}, Japanese-passing), Istas (waheela, Inuit-passing), and Sarah (Johrlac, white-passing). The dragon princesses (mostly white-passing) and Sunil and Rochak (madhura, Indian-passing) are more tangential allies. |
| 241 | ** Verity's friends from the reality show ''Dance or Die'' include Pax ([[SharkMan ukupani]], Pacific islander-passing, and bisexual/pansexual), Malena ({{chupacabra}}, Hispanic), and Lyra (black). |
| 242 | ** Antimony's group of TrueCompanions includes herself (white), Fern (sylph, white-passing), Cylia (jink, white-passing), Sam (furi, half-white, half-Asian), and James (white, gay[[note]]though this isn't revealed until later books[[/note]]). |
| 243 | * In ''Literature/ThePeshawarLancers'', the core protagonists consist of a mixed Anglo-Indian Hindu, an Indian Sikh, an Afghan Muslim, a white British Christian, a Jew and a Russian. At some point they also assemble a band of mercenaries which include a Black African, a Jewish Mongol and a Celtic savage. |
| 244 | * The titular band in Creator/CathyCassidy's Lost and Found series is a very diverse group, with Sami, who's a Syrian refugee; Happi, a Christian Nigerian girl; Sasha, an [[spoiler: epileptic]] girl, who's implied to be Russian; Phoenix, a Scottish girl; Lee, who has ADHD; Romy, a poor, plus-sized girl; Marley, from an abusive household and [[spoiler: gay]]; Lexie and Bex, who are foster children; and briefly Soumia, a hijabi Muslim girl. |
| 245 | [[/folder]] |
| 246 | |
| 247 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 248 | * ''Series/{{Glee}}'' takes this to the next level, starting with ''ten'' tokens who aren't exactly a band, but sing and dance, and adding more as time goes on. |
| 249 | ** Season one starts with a SassyBlackWoman, an Asian PerkyGoth, a white nerdy wheelchair user, a white Jewish girl with two gay dads and a white CampGay. The later additions to the team are black and Asian boys, an AmbiguouslyJewish kid, a SpicyLatina girl, a [[TeenPregnancy pregnant teenage girl]], and Brittany. |
| 250 | ** Invoked by Sue in the episode "Throwdown" when they split the glee club into two groups and Sue picked all the minorities for her half in an attempt to drive a wedge into the group. |
| 251 | ** The current roster now stands as follows. Graduated members: Rachel (Jewish female), Mercedes (black female), Puck (Jewish), Kurt (gay), Mike (Asian), Santana (Hispanic and lesbian), Quinn (former pregnant teen and female), Brittany (bisexual female), and Finn (white male). Current members: Tina (Asian female), Artie (handicapped), Sam ([[spoiler:poor]], Blaine (gay), Marley (poor and female), [[TwoferTokenMinority Unique]] (transgender female and black), Jake (half black, half Jewish), and Ryder (dyslexic). Former members are Rory (Irish exchange student), Joe (progressive white male Christian), Sugar ([[BlatantLies claims]] to have Asperger's), Lauren (female wrestler) and Matt (black). |
| 252 | * ''Series/MythicQuest'': Invoked. Brad manipulates his well-meaning white boss David into forming an ethics committee that's as diverse as possible to figure out how to deal with hate groups on the platform (as a way to buy time since the Nazis are paying customers -- Brad's priority). David initially recruits Brad himself (Indian-Polish), Jo (white woman) and Dana (black woman). He also includes Rachel and C.W. after considering they're a lesbian and old respectively. The show itself also qualifies, as that group is most of the show's main cast minus Ian (WhiteMaleLead) and Poppy (Filipino woman). |
| 253 | * The cast of ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' combined the ethnic and clique versions of the trope into one group. Slater was Hispanic, Lisa was African-American, and the rest were white, although Zach had some Native American ancestry and Kelly was less well off than her friends, if that counts. |
| 254 | * British sitcom ''All About Me'' centers around a man with an Indian partner and a wheelchair-bound child with cerebral palsy. It scores high for political correctness, low for comedy or interest. |
| 255 | * ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' in most of its incarnations. |
| 256 | ** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' started off with Caucasian Red (mixed-race), Blue and Pink, African-American Black, Asian Yellow, and Native American Green (played by a white actor). |
| 257 | *** After cast changes in Seasons Two and Three, the team was Hispanic Red, Caucasian Blue, Asian (Korean) Black, African-American Yellow, (Caucasian) Australian Pink, and Native American White (same Caucasian actor listed above). |
| 258 | *** The Aquitian Rangers were all RubberForeheadAliens, but going by their actors, they had Caucasian Red, Yellow and Black, African-American Blue, and Arab-American White. |
| 259 | *** The original series gets a lot of flak because the Black Ranger was African-American and the Yellow Ranger was Asian (Chinese, but played by a Vietnamese actress). WordOfGod from the producers and WordOfSaintPaul from Creator/WalterEmanuelJones (Zack) himself confirm this was unintentional and something they didn't notice until several episodes had been filmed, and the real reason why the Rangers were swapped is due to either budget or popularity issues. Not to mention, Trini was played by a Hispanic actress in the {{Pilot}}, only to be recast before the show entered full production. |
| 260 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersZeo Zeo]]'' reshuffled the ''Mighty Morphin[='=]'' cast into Native American Red (played by a white actor), Asian (Korean) Green, Hispanic Blue, African Yellow (not the same as the previous season, though), (Caucasian) Australian Pink, and Caucasian (mixed-race) Gold. |
| 261 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Turbo]]'''s first half used the same cast as ''Zeo'', with the exception of swapping the Hispanic Blue for a preteen Caucasian. The second half had African-American Red, preteen Caucasian Blue, Caucasian Yellow, Hispanic Green, and Asian (Chinese) Pink. |
| 262 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersInSpace In Space]]'', which was two-thirds returning ''Turbo'' cast, had (Caucasian) {{Human Alien|s}} Red and Silver, African-American Blue, Caucasian Yellow, Hispanic Black, and Asian (Chinese) Pink. |
| 263 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Lost Galaxy]]'' had Caucasian Red, Magna Defender (Black Ranger; brothers), and first Pink, African-American Green, Asian (Chinese) Blue, and (Caucasian) Human Alien Yellow and second Pink (the former played by Cerina Vincent, who is Italian-American). |
| 264 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Lightspeed Rescue]]'' had Caucasian Red, Yellow, Pink, and Titanium (Silver) Ranger (the latter two being siblings), African-American Green, and Asian Blue (Chinese, played by a Thai actor). |
| 265 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Time Force]]'' had Caucasian Red and Pink, Eurasian Blue and Quantum (also Red) Ranger, African-American Yellow, and [[RubberForeheadAliens Rubber-Forehead Alien]] Green (played by a Eurasian). |
| 266 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Wild Force]]'' had Caucasian Red (played by a light-skinned Puerto Rican actor), Yellow, and Silver, Afro-Asian Blue, Latino Black, and Native American White (played by a Filipino-American actress). |
| 267 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Ninja Storm]]'' had Samoan Red, Caucasian Blue, Yellow (whose actor is half-Brazilian) and Crimson, Latino Navy Blue (Crimson and Navy are brothers by adoption), and Asian (Japanese, played by a Chinese actor) Green. Notably, this was the first (and so far only) season where the darkest-skinned member of the team (Shane) was not of African descent. |
| 268 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Dino Thunder]]'' had Caucasian Red and Yellow, African-American Blue (played by an actor of Jamaican heritage), Native American Black (once again, the same Caucasian actor from ''MMPR'' though ''Turbo''), and Filipino (played by an Italian-Filipino actor) White. |
| 269 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersSPD SPD]]'' had Afro-Carribean Red, Caucasian Blue, Pink, and Green (with Green being AmbiguouslyJewish as well as being plaued by a Jewish actor), Latina Yellow, dog-lizard-alien Shadow Ranger (Black Ranger; played by a Maori actor), and Caucasian Omega Ranger (White; his first appearance, as a preteen, reveals that he is Caucasian; he passes through a time portal that takes him 20 years into the future, which "crystalizes his being into light energy"; as a result, for most of the season, he appears as a ball of light when not morphed, and at the end, he briefly appears without his helmet). |
| 270 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Mystic Force]]'' had Arab ([[spoiler:{{Human Alien|s}}]]) Red (Firass Dirani has Lebanese descent; his biological parents are played by a [[ColorblindCasting Caucasian actress and Maori actor]]), Latina (Filipino/mixed-race) Blue and Pink (sisters), Caucasian Yellow, (Caucasian) Australian Green, and a (Maori) Human Alien Solaris Knight (Gold; played by John Tui, the same Maori actor who played the Shadow Ranger the previous year). |
| 271 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Operation Overdrive]]'' had Caucasian Red ([[spoiler:an android who becomes human in this season's finale]]) and Yellow, Afro-Caribbean Black, Asian (Chinese) Blue, Latina Pink (played by a Filipino actress), and {{Human Alien|s}} Mercury Ranger (Silver; played by a Caucasian). |
| 272 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Jungle Fury]]'' averts this noticeably; it had Caucasian Red, Yellow, Wolf Ranger (Purple), and Rhino Ranger (White), and an [[TokenMinority Asian Blue]]. |
| 273 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersRPM RPM]]'' had African-American (played by an Australian of Jamaican-Canadian descent) Red, Caucasian Blue (Scottish, played by a New Zealander who imitates a Scottish accent), Yellow, Green, and Black, and Asians Gold and Silver (twin brother and sister). |
| 274 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersSamurai Samurai]]'' had Caucasian Red ([[spoiler:actually Red''s'', brother and sister]]) and Yellow, African-American Blue (whose actor is half-Caucasian), Latino Green and Gold (the latter was played by Thai-German Steven Skyler, but was AmbiguouslyBrown and threw around a lot of [[AccentOnTheWrongSyllable horribly mispronounced]] GratuitousSpanish), and Asian (Japanese, played by a Korean-Chinese actress) Pink. This is particularly odd for this season, as all of them but Gold were supposed to be descended from actual samurai. |
| 275 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Megaforce]]'' had Caucasian Red (whose actor is part Caucasian, part Mexican, and part Native American) and Yellow, Eurasian Pink, African-American Blue (whose actor is Brazilian) and (Tunisian-American, specifically) Black/Green, Human Alien Silver (played by a Caucasian), and android Robo Knight (also Silver). |
| 276 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Dino Charge]]'' had Hispanic Aqua and Red ([[spoiler:a father and his son]]), Caucasian Green, Purple, and (New Zealander) Black, [[HandsomeHeroicCaveman prehistoric Native American]] Blue (played by an Indonesian), African-American Pink, "Zandarian" (that is, ambiguously European) Gold and Graphite (Gold has a Brazilian actor, Graphite is Caucasian), and bird-alien Silver. |
| 277 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel Ninja Steel]]'' had Hispanic Red and Gold ([[spoiler:brothers]], [[ColorBlindCasting played by Arab/Desi (Jordanian/Egyptian and Indian) and Maori actors, respectively]] with [[spoiler:their father played by a Caucasian]]), Asian Blue (Vietnamese, but like the previous season's Blue actor, played by an Indonesian; Yoshi and Peter Sudarso are brothers), African-American White (whose actress is half-Caucasian), and Caucasian Pink ([[FakeNationality played by a white Brazilian]]) and Yellow (whose actor is half-Colombian). Yellow was originally set to be played by a light skinned black actor, but was replaced early in filming. |
| 278 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers Beast Morphers]]'' had African-American Red, Indian Blue, Caucasian Yellow, Latino Gold, and robot Silver ([[spoiler:who, much like the Red Overdrive Ranger, becomes a white human in the finale]]). |
| 279 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersDinoFury Dino Fury]]'' had {{Human Alien|s}}/[[RubberForeheadAliens Rubber-Forehead Alien]] Red and Gold (former played by an Afro-Asian, the latter, African-American), Pacific Islander Blue (with a Hawaiian surname, played by a Hawaiian of mixed Hawaiian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, and European descent), light-skinned Hispanic Black and dark-skinned South Asian Green (stepbrother and -sister; as with the ''Ninja Steel'' Yellow Ranger, the Green Ranger was originally cast as Latina, but was recast shortly before filming began, so the Garcias became a blended family via ADR), and Caucasian Pink. For bonus diversity points, the Green Ranger is [[TwoferTokenMinority also]] a ButchLesbian. |
| 280 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersCosmicFury'' had the returning cast of ''Dino Fury'' with some character shifts: the Hawaiian in Blue [[spoiler:is benched for most of the season due to being captured and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] by the villains]], necessitating the return of the original Caucasian Blue Ranger; Black becomes an amputee (not the performer, just the character); the Caucasian Pink Ranger is [[RankUp promoted to Red]]; the Afro-Asian alien who formerly wore Red is now the off-white Zenith Ranger; and midway through the season, an East Asian lesbian becomes the Orange Ranger. |
| 281 | ** ''WebVideo/PowerRangersHyperforce'' has Human Alien Red and Green (who was also Silver for Time Force beforehand) (played by the aforementioned Indonesian brothers from ''Dino Charge'' and ''Ninja Steel''), Caucasian Pink, Hispanic [[spoiler:RidiculouslyHumanRobot]] female Black, big-bodied Caucasian Yellow, and African American Blue. |
| 282 | * The casts of every incarnation of ''Franchise/StarTrek''. Also, there are tons of characters, so you'd expect some variety. And today it's easy to forget how shockingly ''radical'' the original series was to do this. Maybe Uhura was a switchboard operator in a go-go dress, but she did it on the bridge of an (essentially) military spaceship; Martin Luther King Jr. personally told Nichelle Nichols how important it was she keep plugging away at the role. ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]]'' also famously featured one of the first interracial kisses to be shown on TV (Kirk and Uhura) -- but as a sop to the standard 1960s racist Southern audiences made it involuntary, [[AliensMadeThemDoIt forced to happen]] by {{Jerkass}} aliens. Of course, every later series developed the characters far beyond their ethnicities. Indeed, they were never brought up outside of the occasional time travel story. This makes them more an aversion of HumansAreWhite than Five-Token Bands... except ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. |
| 283 | * Parodied by Creator/StephenColbert's "friends". When his Black Friend Alan betrayed him by being seen at an anti-war protest, he advertised for a new one. He has an assortment of other ethnic friends, the best known being Jewish Friend Creator/JonStewart. Many fans who have met him have reported getting him to take a picture with them under the promise that they'll be his ____ best friend: deaf, French, asexual, bipolar. Presumably he's being CrazyPrepared in case the need should ever arise for any of those. Note that, beginning with Alan, the photos of Stephen with his ____ best friend have always showed him beaming at the camera and ''pointing'' at his companion, while the companion has his/her arms folded and a "You've got to be fucking kidding me" facial expression. |
| 284 | * An arguable example of a villainous version is in the series ''Series/SleeperCell''. [[EqualOpportunityEvil The terrorists in both seasons are from several nations and ethnicities]] as a deliberate counterpoint to the stereotype of all terrorists being Arabs. They were all [[TruthInTelevision based on real terrorists]]. |
| 285 | * [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'', which featured Zack, Cody, Carey, Arwin and Maddie who were White (with Maddie implied to be specifically of Italian and Irish descent), London who was Asian, Mr. Moseby and Nia who were Black, and Esteban who was Hispanic. |
| 286 | ** Zack & Cody's middle school and high school friends included Bob (who was implied to be part Irish), Mark, Tapeworm, Max, Amber and Agnes who were White American, Janice and Jessica who were British, Warren and Drew who were Black, and Barbara who was Asian (and this also counts as an inversion of the [[MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow "Mighty Whitey and Mellow Yellow"]] trope because Cody dated Barbara, and Barbara was the more domineering one in their relationship, while Cody was the more submissive and docile one). |
| 287 | ** London and Maddie's friends included Millicent who was White, Corrie who was of mixed Hispanic and Asian ancestry, Mary-Margaret and Nia who were Black, and Lance who was implied to be of mixed Hispanic and White ancestry. |
| 288 | ** This trope gets even more downplayed in its spin-off ''The Suite Life On Deck'', by adding more White characters with Bailey, Maya, Woody, and Ms. Tuttweiler, but London and Mr. Moseby still count as the token minorities being Asian and Black, and with Marcus also being Black. |
| 289 | * ''Series/TheKnightsOfProsperity''. Obviously, the only American one is the leader. |
| 290 | * ''Series/{{Ghostwriter}}'', which had a black male leader, rich white girl, and Hispanic brother and sister as the original team, [[SixthRanger later adding]] a Vietnamese girl, white male MilitaryBrat, Puerto Rican boy, and black female TagalongKid. {{Guest Star Party Member}}s include an older white boy, three Irish-American kids (one of whom is an orphan), and a British brother and sister. In one episode, a music company decided to sign cast member Lenni, and the record executive actually said out loud that her multiethnic friends would be demographically perfect for the music video. |
| 291 | * The Swedish kids show ''Series/{{Vintergatan}} 5A'' (''Milky Way 5A'') had a cast consisting of a Spanish-Swedish youngster, an African-American-Swedish youngster, a Swedish youngster, and a Swedish oldster. In the sequel, ''Vintergatan 5B'', a Russian youngster was added. |
| 292 | * ''Series/{{Community}}'': |
| 293 | ** Lampshaded when the dean sees the main cast assembled: |
| 294 | -->"Well, look at this group, having some kind of meeting and being so diverse. There's is just -- boy! -- there is just one of every kind of you, isn't there?" |
| 295 | ** The trope is played straight up until this point, as the Spanish 101 study group has two black characters, one guy of Middle Eastern descent (who's also autistic), a Jewish woman, an array of socioeconomic backgrounds, and a massive age range, from 18 to sixtysomething. Also, the leader is "All American" and he has the hots for the other blond in the group. |
| 296 | ** The gag is extended later in the same episode when designing the mascot for the new school team, ''The Human Beings''. Wanting to represent every ethnicity and background without explicitly mentioning any of them, the Dean eventually creates a powder-white, amorphous blob man with a slit for a mouth as the new mascot. |
| 297 | ** It's taken even further in the Holiday episode where it's revealed they all have different ''religions'' as well. We have Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Jehovah's Witness, Atheist, Agnostic and "Buddhist" (Pierce ''thinks'' he's Buddhist, but he's actually in a cult without knowing it). |
| 298 | ** In "[[Recap/CommunityS3E08DocumentaryFilmmakingRedux Documentary Filmmaking Redux]]", they're described as "Greendale's brightest,[[note]]Well, counting out Pierce and Troy, who are, shall we say, rather dimwitted...[[/note]] most coincidentally diverse -- Hispanics notwithstanding -- study group." |
| 299 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 300 | ** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d. The Master congratulates the Doctor's team on "ticking every demographic box". His posse at that point consists of himself (could currently pass for white British despite being an alien), Martha (black British and female) and Jack (white, bisexual and apparently American). |
| 301 | ** In Series 11, the Doctor's TARDIS team consists of [[SexShifter herself]] (alien who could currently pass for a white British woman), Ryan (black British man with dyspraxia), Yasmin (British Desi woman), and Graham (white British man). |
| 302 | * Ironically (or not) ''The Beeb'' itself does this, or at least looks like it. Some children's shows which invite viewers onto the show as one-episode characters appear to use carefully-selected representatives of almost every conceivable ethnic and religious demographic, or as many as a small cast makes available. |
| 303 | * Joked about on ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', which also somewhat uses the trope (four white main characters one of whom is female, a black doctor, a Hispanic nurse and plenty of variety for the supporting characters). Turk mentions that he always got special treatment because he was black, and schools always wanted to seem like they are ethnically diverse. When J.D. mentions that everyone was put on the cover of their college newsletter, Turk retorts that he was put in there twice... ''in the same picture''. |
| 304 | * ''Series/LookAroundYou'' spoofs the tendency for math textbooks to go for an unlikely level of diversity in the characters in their problems, as well as the general nature of such problems themselves: |
| 305 | -->"Jean is shorter than Brutus but taller than Imhotep. Imhotep is taller than Jean, but shorter than Lord Scotland. Lord Scotland is twice the height of Jean and Brutus combined but only one-tenth of the height of Millsy. Millsy is at a constant height of (x − y). If Jean stands exactly one nautical mile away from Lord Scotland, how tall is Imhotep?" (Answer: [[spoiler:Imhotep is invisible.]]) |
| 306 | * The kids in ''Series/SpaceCases'' were each from a different planet, and one was from a different galaxy. Harlan Band, the token human, is an interesting case in that he very much played the role the white guy usually plays in this trope as both the leader and the complainer, but he was played by a black actor. Also, he had a strong case of FantasticRacism. |
| 307 | * ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' pulls one of these together, without making it feel forced. The main character and her sister are half-latina, Andre is black, Robbie is Jewish, [[StraightMan Beck]] is Indian but ''not'' a BollywoodNerd. The last 2 characters are Cat, who is a white redheaded GenkiGirl, and Jade, a white Goth, for whom the fandom believes might be bisexual. |
| 308 | * Lampshaded in ''Series/{{House}}'': |
| 309 | -->'''House:''' Our Five-Token Band is missing [[AmbiguouslyBrown Brown]] and Bi. |
| 310 | * Both versions of ''Series/{{Zoom}}'' revolve around this concept. The cast was always supposed to be ethnically diverse. |
| 311 | * On ''Series/{{Jessie}}'' about a famous (Caucasian) couple who adopted 3 foreign-born children, they have the Caucasian Jessie (their nanny), Emma (their only biological child), Luke (AmbiguouslyBrown), Ravi (Indian; specifically, Gujarati, of northwestern India), and Zuri (African; specifically, Ugandan). |
| 312 | * Season 3 of ''Series/NewYorkUndercover'', there was Williams (a black man), Torres (a latino man), Lt. Cooper (a white woman), Moreno (a Latino woman) and [=McNamara=] (a white man). |
| 313 | * Unintentionally on ''Series/TheAmazingRace 10'' with the Back Pack alliance that formed out of the teams on the second bus in the second leg. There was Lyn & Karlyn (black single moms from Alabama), Erwin & Godwin (Asian brothers, one of whom went to Harvard), David & Mary (a coal miner and his wife from Kentucky), Tom & Terry (boyfriends), and Kellie & Jamie (college cheerleaders). |
| 314 | * ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' actually drew positive reception for being a show set in New York with a cast that ''actually looks like the citizens of New York for once''. The main cast consists of two white guys (one is Jewish), two black guys (one of whom [[TwoferTokenMinority is also]] [[StraightGay gay]]), two Latina women (one of whom is also bisexual), and one white woman (though she's PutOnABus in later seasons). Terry Crews actually went so far as to [[TakeThat tout the realistic level of diversity as "What]] ''Series/{{Friends}}'' [[TakeThat should've been"]]. |
| 315 | * ''Series/ChicagoPD'': Intelligence Unit is made up of various incarnations of this throughout the series. The current makeup is Voight, Halstead and Ruzek (Caucasian), along with Upton(Greek-American, as is her actress, Creator/TracySpiridakos), Burgess(played by Italian-American Creator/MarinaSquerciati), Atwater(African-American) and Rojas(Latina). Before their departures there were Jin (S1 Asian-American) and Sumner (S1 African-American) , Lindsay (S1-4 Caucasian), Dawson (S1-6 Latino), and Olinsky (S1-5, Polish, played by Greek-American Elias Koteas). |
| 316 | * Both of the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' non-Japanese InternationalCoproduction series use this. |
| 317 | ** ''Series/UltramanTowardsTheFuture'': Three white members (one of whom was female and one who was the captain), one black member, and two Asian members (one who was female and the other is Ultraman's human host) |
| 318 | ** ''Series/UltramanTheUltimateHero'' had an African-American team captain, three white members (two of whom were female), and one Asian member (who was also Ultraman's human host). |
| 319 | * The team in Season Two of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' is a bit like this -- out of a team of 9, there are three white males (one American, one English, one Scottish and mentally disabled), two white females (one American, one English), two black males, one Chinese-American female, and one mixed-race female (Chinese and white). |
| 320 | * At the start of Season Three of ''Series/TheLastManOnEarth'', the main group consists of one white male, three white females, a Hispanic American male, a black Australian female, and an Asian American male. |
| 321 | * While ''Series/{{Empire}}'' is primarily about a black family with the occasional non-black love interest, this trope was directly invoked when Hakeem tossed around the idea of forming a multiracial GirlGroup named "Rainbow Connection", composed of a black girl, a white girl, and a Latina. However, the others minced no words in telling him [[LampshadeHanging how corny that sounded]], and when Andre informed him that Latin Americans are the fastest-growing consumer base in the country, Hakeem opted to form an all-Latina girl group instead, Mirage a Trois. |
| 322 | * Ironically, ''Empire's'' sister-series ''[[Series/LeeDanielsStar Star]]'' is about a girl group, Take 3, that isn't unlike Hakeem's original idea: a white girl, her biracial half-sister, and their black friend. But these girls at least have a natural connection to each other rather than being put together specifically to invoke this trope. |
| 323 | * ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'' always had a diverse cast of children every season: |
| 324 | ** ''The Backyard Gang'' had Michael and Amy (white), Tina and Luci (Hispanic), Jason and Derek (Black), and Adam and Jeffrey (Asian) |
| 325 | ** The first three seasons included Michael, Jason, Julie, Kathy, Shawn, and Kenneth (White), Tina, Luci, Carlos, and Juan (Hispanic), Derek and Tosha (Black), and Min (Asian). |
| 326 | ** The next three seasons included Stephen, Kristen, Hannah, Chip, Linda, Emily, Jeff, and Jill (White), Robert, Maria, and Kim (Hispanic), Ashley, Alissa, Keesha, and Curtis (Black), and Danny (Asian). |
| 327 | ** The following two seasons featured Beth, Scott, Sarah, and Nick (White), [[Music/DemiLovato Angela]], [[Music/SelenaGomez Gianna]], Mario and Tony (Hispanic), Whitney and Jackson (Black), and Kami (Asian). |
| 328 | ** The ninth season featured Nick, Rachel, David, Stacy, and Laura (White), Miguel (Hispanic), Whitney and Jackson (Black), and Kami (Asian). |
| 329 | * ''Series/GrownIsh'' has in the main group Zoey, Jazz, and Sky who are all black women, Aaron who is also black, Vivek who is Indian-American, Ana who is Cuban-American, and Nomi who is Jewish and bisexual. |
| 330 | * ''Series/TheReal'': The hosts (and guest co-host Amara La Negra) had a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfojvfE8dhc whole discussion]] about this trope. [[Creator/TiaAndTameraMowry Tamera Mowry-Housley]] said she and her twin sister Tia were the first African American twins to have [[Series/SisterSister a TV show]]. Jeannie Mai said "I feel lonely" being one of three Asian-American woman (and the first one of Vietnamese descent) who co-hosted a daytime talk show. Adrienne Bailon was "sad" to find out she was the first Latino-American on an English language talk show. Loni Love joked that she was the second plus size African-American woman on daytime TV (referring to her friend Sheryl Underwood of ''Series/TheTalk'' as the first). They said their show was important so they can see more daytime TV hosts that look like them years from now. |
| 331 | * On ''Series/KirbyBuckets'', Kirby, Eli, and Dawn are white, Fish is black, and Belinda is Asian. |
| 332 | * On ''Series/ShakeItUp'', Cece, Flynn, Gunther, and Tinka are white, Rocky and Ty are black, and Deuce is Hispanic. |
| 333 | * ''Series/MightyMed'': Kaz, Oliver, and Gus are white, Alan and Horace are Hispanic, and Skylar is an alien who takes the appearance of a Filipino. |
| 334 | %%* ''Series/BellaAndTheBulldogs'': Bella and Newt are white, Ace is Italian-American, Sawyer is Jewish, |
| 335 | * ''Series/RedDwarf'' has a science fiction take on the subject. The crew consists of a mixed race human from Liverpool (Lister), a White [[VirtualGhost Hologram]] who originates from Io (Rimmer),, the descendent of Lister's pet cat who resembles a Afro-British Male (The Cat), the RobotBuddy (Kryten) and a BenevolentAI who has been both a male and a female over the course of the show's run (Holly). The Series VI and VIII cast reinforces this with the addition of an alternate universe version of Kochanski, (a white female from another dimension) to the cast. |
| 336 | * All the Season 4 residents of ''Series/TheGoodDoctor'': Shaun and Asher are white; Claire, Olivia, and Jordan are black; Park is Asian; Enrique is Hispanic. Shaun also checks off having a character with a disability, and Asher covers having an LGBTQ+ character. |
| 337 | * ''Series/StrangerThings'' has a mostly white main cast among the kids (Mike, Will, and Dustin), though Dustin has a disability and Will is gay. Lucas is the TokenBlackFriend, and Eleven is the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple lone girl]]. In Season 2, Max joins the gang as a second girl. |
| 338 | * The team from ''Series/{{Obliterated}}'': Ava, McKnight and Hagerty are white, Trunk is black, Gomez is Hispanic, Yung is Asian, and Maya is AmbiguouslyBrown, most likely Indian. Trunk and Gomez are both also LGBTQ. |
| 339 | * ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'': The titular ranger, Cordell Walker, is part-Caucasian and [[BadassNative part-Native American]], the [[BlackAndNerdy tech-savvy]] Ranger James Trivette is [[TokenBlack African]]-[[TokenBlackFriend American]], Assistant D.A. Alex Cahill, retired ranger-turned-restauranteur C.D. Parker, infantryman-turned-karate instructor and [[PrivateDetective P.I.]] Trent Malloy and Ranger Francis Gage are white, and Dallas PD Detective Carlos Sandoval and Ranger Sydney Cooke are both Hispanic. |
| 340 | [[/folder]] |
| 341 | |
| 342 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 343 | * Music/TheSmashingPumpkins started out this way, with a dark-haired white man, a redhead (before he went bald), a blonde woman and an Asian. |
| 344 | * After their performance at the 2013 UsefulNotes/SuperBowl, several news outlets noted the diversity of Music/{{Beyonce}}'s band, The Sugar Mamas. There's guitarist Bibi Mcgill (African American), keyboardist Rie Tsuji (Japanese), saxophonist Kat Rodriguez (Afro-Latina), and trumpeter Crystal Torres (Hispanic). |
| 345 | * Girl Authority is a ''nine''-token music band consisting of both racial and social/hobby tokens. |
| 346 | %%* The Pussycat Dolls |
| 347 | * Casted girlgroups come to mind; just think Music/{{Sugababes}} (they eventually replaced a white redhead with a white blonde, Filipina girl with a Moroccan girl, and the black one with a biracial girl [black and white parents]). |
| 348 | * British girlband Music/TheSaturdays are literally the most diverse group of five women imaginable: a blonde, a brunette, a [[AmbiguouslyBrown sort of mixed race-looking]] girl, an Asian girl and a black girl. |
| 349 | * The Music/BlackEyedPeas have a black guy, a Mexican/Native American guy, another black guy who's half-Filipino, and a white woman who's also Mexican and Native American. |
| 350 | * The {{defictionaliz|ation}}ed band Film/TheCheetahGirls has a black member, a mixed-race member, and a Latina member. In the book series, though, all of the girls were black except for Chanel, who was Cuban and Dominican. |
| 351 | * The five-piece GirlGroup the Beach Girl 5 ([=BG5=]), whose members include dark-haired dancer/singer Mandy Jiroux (of WebVideo/TheMileyAndMandyShow fame), consists of black Dominique Domingo, white Austrailan blonde Laura New, American white blonde Brooke Adams and Asian Noreen Juliano. |
| 352 | * Music/GogolBordello consists of Ukrainian, Russian, Ethiopian, Ecuadorian, Chinese-Scottish, American, and Belarusian members. Previously, they had Israeli and Romanian members. Fittingly, the band's music is a fusion of Eastern European Folk Music with American Punk Music, and other influences such as Jamaican dub and Brazilian music. |
| 353 | * Music/{{Pentatonix}} consists of two gay white men (one of whom is of Italian descent), a Hispanic woman, a Jewish guy, and a black guy. And when the Jewish guy left the group, he was replaced with another black man. |
| 354 | * Music/CultureClub's name lampshades this. As Wikipedia explains, they comprised "an Irish gay man as the lead singer, a black Briton on bass, a blond Englishman on guitar and keyboards, and a Jewish drummer". |
| 355 | * Music/FifthHarmony's original line up had two Cubans (Music/CamilaCabello and Lauren Jauregui), one Mexican-American (Ally Brooke), one black girl (Normani) and one person of Pacific Islander descent (Dinah Jane). |
| 356 | * Parodied with the Music/{{Rubberbandits}} song "Black Man" where one of the Bandits starts singing about needing a black man to complete his gang. The list he has already is a Puerto Rican, an Orthodox Jew, a Russian thug, a well-endowed blonde girl, a dumb guy, a TagAlongKid, a Mafioso, a guy in a wheelchair, an Asian who's "good with knives", a ButchLesbian, "both types of Indians", a fat guy and an AmbiguouslyBrown guy who apparently isn't dark enough to qualify. |
| 357 | * Music/OneDirection contains three white Brits, a British Pakistani, and a white Irishman. |
| 358 | * Music/TheSubways initially consisted of a bisexual guitarist (Billy Lunn), a female bassist (Charlotte Cooper) and an autistic drummer (Josh Morgan). Then Morgan left and was replaced with another woman, Camille Phillips. |
| 359 | [[/folder]] |
| 360 | |
| 361 | [[folder:Pinballs]] |
| 362 | * A variation appears in Creator/{{Bally}}'s ''[[Pinball/PlayboyBally Playboy]]'' pinball, with the five Playmates the player can collect -- there are three Caucasians (two blondes and a redhead), along with an African-American woman and a black-haired Asian. |
| 363 | * Done literally in ''Pinball/{{Diner}}'', whose five customers are a stereotypical Indian (Haji), a stereotypical Britain (Babs), a stereotypical Russian (Boris), a stereotypical Hispanic (Pépé), and a stereotypical American cowboy (Buck). |
| 364 | [[/folder]] |
| 365 | |
| 366 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 367 | * All of the [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]] seasons with the possible exception of season 4 (Byron Saxton and Wrestling/BrodusClay were black while the other four were white) have a pretty diverse set of wrestlers: |
| 368 | ** [[Wrestling/TheNexus Season 1]] had Wrestling/WadeBarrett (white and English), Wrestling/JustinGabriel (South African and mixed-race), Wrestling/DavidOtunga (black), Michael Tarver (black), [[Wrestling/{{Ryback}} Skip Sheffield]] (white), [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] (white), Wrestling/DarrenYoung (black) and Wrestling/HeathSlater (white). |
| 369 | ** Season 2 had [[Wrestling/LowKi Kaval]] (mixed-race), [[Wrestling/CurtisAxel Michael McGillicutty]] (white), [[Wrestling/BrayWyatt Husky Harris]] (white), Wrestling/TitusONeil (black), Eli Cottonwood (Jewish), Percy Watson (black), Alex Riley (white) and Lucky Cannon (white). |
| 370 | ** [[Wrestling/{{NXT3}} Season 3]] had Wrestling/AJLee (Puerto Rican), Wrestling/NaomiNight (black), Wrestling/{{Kaitlyn}} (white), Jamie Keyes (white), [[Wrestling/KarleePerez Maxine]] (mixed-race -- Cuban, Chinese, Mexican and Lebanese to be specific) and Wrestling/{{Aksana}} (white and Lithuanian). |
| 371 | [[/folder]] |
| 372 | |
| 373 | [[folder:Print Media]] |
| 374 | * The cover of every textbook (especially ones about health or social psychology) will have the Five-Token Band laughing together at something. |
| 375 | ** [[http://i.imgur.com/zjwHc.jpg This cover from the Internet book in the 90s]] starring a gang of kids who look like the cast from ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'' who are literally surfing on a keyboard. There's the blonde-haired boy (the leader since he's the one in the front) and trailing behind him is the blonde girl, the black boy, the Asian, and two tannish-skinned boys who are probably Hispanic. The only thing missing is the kid in the wheelchair. |
| 376 | * Math textbooks are also prone to having word problems with non-Caucasian names. |
| 377 | * This is a common theme in pamphlets and brochures, especially those extolling the virtues of an organization. |
| 378 | ** The Jehovah's Witnesses, in New Zealand at least, often brought pamphlets showing children of all races happily playing together... as well as a Five-Token Band of animals as well. |
| 379 | [[/folder]] |
| 380 | |
| 381 | [[folder:Puppet Shows]] |
| 382 | * Possibly the example to beat all others: the cast of the Creator/PBSKids {{Puppet Show|s}} ''Series/ThePuzzlePlace'' consisted of a Chinese-American girl, a Lithuanian-Jewish girl, a white boy of German and Norwegian origin (who is definitely "the Scandinavian guy" and not "the white guy"), a Latina/Mexican girl, a handicapped Irish-American (added towards the series' end), a Black boy (probably of West African heritage), and an Apache boy from an Indian reservation in Arizona. And oh yeah, the cat and the dog. The show was created in response to the 1992 LA riots as a way to teach kids about racial harmony. |
| 383 | [[/folder]] |
| 384 | |
| 385 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 386 | * Present in ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', with MightyWhitey Marcus, his Hispanic best friend Dom, the Asian Delta squad leader Kim, and the black UncleTomfoolery [[TheBigGuy Big Guy]] Cole. Now if TheSmartGuy Baird was disabled, he would complete the band. Unfortunately, he's only a rather JerkAss blond. You could even count Jack as the RobotBuddy. |
| 387 | * The cast of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', while not including enough people for a ''Five'' Token Band, is something of a [[MultinationalTeam Multi-Ethnicity Team]]. |
| 388 | * ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is a downplayed example if you think about it. It's a multinational team whose members all hail from predominantly white countries, for an important reason: Their national and/or regional origins are all PlayedForLaughs and reduced to wacky stereotypes. That wouldn't play well if there were, say, an Asian on the team. Even the one black guy is also Scottish so they can make fun of that instead. Contrast with its spiritual successor ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'', which has a far more diverse cast (even for its comparative size) and plays it completely straight. |
| 389 | * The 3rd Street Saints in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' is one of the aforementioned inexplicably diverse gangs. Their most prominent members include the Asian Johnny Gat, the Caucasian female Shaundi, the black (and AmbiguouslyGay) Pierce, the Latino Carlos, and [[CharacterCustomization whomever you decide to be.]] Later added the Russian Oleg Kirrlov. |
| 390 | * ''Franchise/MassEffect'': |
| 391 | ** Commander Shepard's team could be seen as an in-universe version, especially in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''. Excluding humans, there's only one teammate of any species per game at a time, but most species are represented on the team at some point. The characters are well-developed regardless of race, but some fit their stereotypes and some don't. Mordin fits the salarian mold: he's smart, lives at high speed, and good with technology. Garrus wonders aloud if he's bad turian: he's never been with rules and regulations, but on the other hand he's excellent in combat. Wrex is unlike almost any other krogan you meet: he knows when to be diplomatic and when to fight, and he's good at both. |
| 392 | ** Humans on Team Shepard tend to be pretty diverse as well, and the melting pot nature of the Alliance makes for some weird combos. There's Kaidan Alenko (seemingly white Canadian with a Japanese/Russian name), Joker (disabled; brittle bones), Ashley (female, Hispanic), Dr. Chakwas (very fair-skinned British-accented woman with implied Indian heritage), etc. The sequels throw in an Aussie (Miranda), a black man (Jacob), a Japanese woman (Kasumi), a probably Arabic guy (Zaeed), a Latino guy (Vega), and even a semi-recovering addict (Jack). |
| 393 | ** Teams in multiplayer in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' have potential for this. Every species that Shepard can recruit can be used in multiplayer, plus batarians, vorcha, and volus. [[spoiler: though the Prothean character in multiplayer is actually an awakened collector.]] |
| 394 | * ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' had a trio of multiracial go-go girls who were actually a QuirkyMinibossSquad with sniper rifles. Before you encountered them, they lounged around their dressing room moaning about how ''so very bored'' they were. |
| 395 | * ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney''[='s=] four major (human) characters are a Japanese man (who became American in the localization, but hey, he could still be Asian), a black man, a Hispanic man, and a white Russian woman. |
| 396 | * In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', you start with the fantastic version: Two humans and one of every other race. |
| 397 | * ''VideoGame/BackyardSports'' featured 30 characters and lot of them were ethnic, so most of the time you could make your team like this trope. Overall, the series consisted of thirteen whites[[note]]Annie, Pete, Lisa, Dmitri, Marky, Reese, Billy Jean, Kimmy, Gretchen, the [=DelVecchios=], and the Webbers[[/note]], nine blacks[[note]]Dante, Ernie, Ricky, Mikey, Jocinda, Stephanie, Kiesha, and the Dobbs[[/note]], three Hispanics[[note]]Pablo, Maria, and Jorge[[/note]] three East Asians[[note]]Luanne and the Kawaguchis[[/note]], and two Middle Easterners[[note]]the Khans[[/note]]. Meanwhile, play-by-play commentator Sunny Day is black, while most of the color commentators are white. |
| 398 | * Lara's supporting cast in the ''VideoGame/{{Tomb Raider|2013}}'' reboot. Samantha is Japanese, Joslin is Afro-Latina, and Jonah is Māori. |
| 399 | * ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'': The command crew of the USS ''Enterprise''-F. One white woman[[note]]Dr. Mathias, ship's counselor[[/note]], one [[WordOfGay gay]] white male human[[note]]Cdr. Samuel Winters, first officer[[/note]], one half-Irish, half-Japanese human[[note]]Lt. Kirayoshi O'Brien, chief engineer[[/note]], one Vulcan[[note]]Cdr. Savel, chief medical officer[[/note]], one Andorian[[note]]Capt. Va'Kel Shon, commanding officer[[/note]], one Caitian[[note]]Lt. Kyona, tactical officer[[/note]], one Betazoid[[note]]Lt. Jirelle Kav, operations officer[[/note]], and one black Bajoran[[note]]Lt. Cdr. Tem Inasi, science officer[[/note]]. |
| 400 | * ''VideoGame/ShadowWatch'' features a team consisting of a black British man, a Canadian woman, an Anglo-Chinese woman, a dark-skinned Brazilian man, an Eastern European man and a Canadian man. They're the security force for a corporation hired to foster co-operation between many different nations - it makes sense that their security force would be suitably multicultural. |
| 401 | * The kids from ''VideoGame/TheClueFinders''. TheLeader is Joni Savage, a [[FieryRedHead red-haired]] white girl, with Hispanic Santiago Rivera as TheSmartGuy and TheLancer, Leslie Clark as the BlackAndNerdy girl, and Owen Lam as the TotallyRadical Asian dude. They also have a RobotBuddy who's a floating laptop and a [[AmplifiedAnimalAptitude highly intelligent]] dog named Socrates who serves as the gang's TeamPet. |
| 402 | * The main group in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' is made up of the customizable protagonist (can be white or AmbiguouslyBrown), the implied Arabic Shauna, the hispanic/latino Tierno, the redheaded Trevor, and the white rival (who is the opposite gender of you). |
| 403 | * ''VideoGame/RaveHeart'': The party consists of two Errans (Ellemine and Klein) , a human (Chad), a Farian (Veronica), a Kunian (Sola), and a Draconian/Granian hybrid (Zazir). |
| 404 | * ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'': Boy howdy, the Van der Linde gang sure does consist of people of all ages, races, nationalities, genders, and creeds to go by.[[spoiler:.. that is, until one bigot and rat among them decides to have the authorities either capture them or wipe them out.]] They include: |
| 405 | ** Dutch van der Linde, the leader and founder of the gang, who is AmbiguouslyBi and [[spoiler:seems to have been mentally disabled and becoming paranoid, and easily being manipulated by Micah Bell himself]]. |
| 406 | ** Hosea Matthews, an old conman who is also AmbiguouslyBi. |
| 407 | ** Arthur Morgan, who is of Welsh descent and irreligious, and yet is able to read and write and has a lot of respect for all races, genders, sexual orientations, and creeds. He can also be customizable into being very thin or obese. [[spoiler:Oh, and he suffers from tuberculosis too.]] |
| 408 | ** John Marston, who is of Scottish descent and blinded in his left eye, yet is very semi-literate and has barely legible writing skills. |
| 409 | ** Abigail Roberts, a former prostitute who is John's future wife and one of the few members who are completely illiterate. |
| 410 | ** Bill Williamson, who is an obese former US Army soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his experience in Indian Wars and from growing signs of dementia he inherited from his father; he is also implied to be either gay or bi. |
| 411 | ** Javier Escuella is Mexican by birth, and is said to be a practicing Catholic. |
| 412 | ** Uncle, Karen Jones and Molly O'Shea are habitual drinkers. |
| 413 | ** Josiah Trelawny is a city slicker who is a native New Englander. |
| 414 | ** Lenny Summers and Tilly Jackson are Black Americans, while Charles Smith is a half-Black Native American. |
| 415 | ** Leopold Strauss is Austrian by birth. |
| 416 | ** Sadie Adler is a CrusadingWidow whose husband was killed by the O'Driscolls and is driven to avenge him, as well as only female who mainly operates as gunwoman. |
| 417 | ** Sean [=MacGuire=] and Molly O'Shea are Irish by birth, and Kieran Duffy is implied to be the same descent by the way he was formerly an O'Driscoll. |
| 418 | ** Orville Swanson is a former clergyman who is a drug addict and a habitual drinker. |
| 419 | ** Simon Pearson is an obese and jolly chef who formerly serves in the US Navy. |
| 420 | ** Susan Grimshaw is an elderly but wise lady. |
| 421 | ** Of the entire gang, nine of them (six alive, three dead) are women. |
| 422 | * ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': |
| 423 | ** In [[VideoGame/MortalKombat1992 the first game]], the main heroes were a TokenTrio consisting of Liu Kang (Chinese and male), Johnny Cage (white, American and male) and Sonya Blade (white, American and female). [[VideoGame/MortalKombatII The second game]] introduced Sonya's partner Jax Briggs (African-American male), Kuai Liang the second Sub-Zero (Chinese-American male), Kung Lao (Chinese male) who is Liu Kang's fellow WarriorMonk and the Princess Kitana who hails from the fictional realm of Edenia and has been depicted as Latina, white or Asian depending on the media. |
| 424 | ** Other recurring heroes include Nightwolf, a Native American shaman and historian; Jade, Kitana's black friend; Kai, a black Shaolin monk; Smoke,[[McNinja a Czech ninja]]; Cyrax, a ''Botswanan'' ninja; Kenshi Takahashi a blind Japanese swordsman; and Stryker, a white police officer. |
| 425 | ** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' introduced four new heroes who were relatives and/or apprentices of previous heroes. Cassie Cage is the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade and is white. Jacqui Briggs is the daughter of Jax Briggs and is black. Takeda Takahashi is Scorpion's apprentice and the son of Kenshi and a Thai woman named Succhin. And Kung Jin is a gay Chinese man and the cousin of Kung Lao. |
| 426 | * ''VideoGame/FarCry2'': There are nine playable characters who are men of various ethnicities and nationalities. Xianyong Bai is Chinese, Marty Alencar is Brazilian-American, Warren Clyde is American with [[AmbiguouslyBrown ambiguous ancestry]], Paul Ferenc is Hungarian-Israeli, Frank Bilders is Northern Irish, Hakim Echebbi is Algerian, Andre Hyppolite is Haitian, Quarbani Singh is Mauritian and has Indian ancestry, and Josip Idromeno is Kosavar Albanian. |
| 427 | * ''VideoGame/DiabloIV'' takes this trope in an unusual direction: while the game does offer a wife variety of racial features, what stands out more is that every class is a unique body type. Whether male or female, Barbarians are muscular, Necromancers are tall and lanky, Rogues are short and wiry, Druids are "more to love," and Sorcerers are average. |
| 428 | [[/folder]] |
| 429 | |
| 430 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 431 | * The cast of ''WebAnimation/BravestWarriors''. Of the four leads, Beth is Japanese, Wallow is Samoan, and Danny is Latino. Chris is the only white person in the main cast. |
| 432 | * In ''WebAnimation/LaGolda'', the kids soccer team is made up of La Golda, who's Columbian (presumably), Liam, who's British, Sanya, who's Russian, Santana, who's American, and Malcolm, who's Chinese. |
| 433 | [[/folder]] |
| 434 | |
| 435 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 436 | * ''Webcomic/MadameOutlaw'': Lampshaded by Estelle, who comments that describing her and her traveling companions (a Frenchwoman, an Irishman, a Native American man, and a Black woman) sounds like the introduction to a joke. |
| 437 | * Parodied in ''Webcomic/TheNoob'', when the incompetent design team for the {{M|assivelyMultiPlayerOnlineRolePlayingGame}}MORPG "''Cliche Quest''" decides to show they embrace ethnic diversity in a commercial for their video game, to emphasize to the viewer that they don't follow "the old Fantasy stereotype where everyone is white" ("...or a squid"). Of course, after casting actors for the roles of "a Jewish-American, an Irish-American, an Italian-American, a Latino, an Asian and an African-American", the lead developer is furious because "no one will recognize them": His "solution" leads to [[http://www.thenoobcomic.com/comic/197/ even worse racial/cultural/ethnic stereotypes]]. Oh, and because they forgot to cast the "Caucasian with the rural or Southern accent", they come up with a last-minute [[http://www.thenoobcomic.com/comic/198/ alternative]]. Not to mention [[http://www.thenoobcomic.com/comic/247/ all those Scottish-accented dwarves]] sprouting [[http://www.thenoobcomic.com/comic/262/ Communist propaganda]] and Euro Nerd Techno... |
| 438 | * Played straight in ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt''. Of note: The character-in-a-wheelchair (Daisy) ends up more capable for it thanks to ArtificialLimbs (let alone her ''other'' DisabilitySuperpower) and the lone white guy (Jason) is classed as a HeroicComedicSociopath; and beyond that [[WorldOfFunnyAnimals the rest of the cast isn't even human]]. |
| 439 | * Steve, Conrad, Yuko, Mike and Ananth are the [[https://web.archive.org/web/20090829071105/http://www.johnnywander.com/comics/96 Multicultural Squad!]] |
| 440 | * The five Webcomic/AgentsOfTheRealm are all girls, but they are black, Latino, AmbiguouslyBrown, white and black-Asian. |
| 441 | * While ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'''s troll's, being aliens, do not have the same concept of race as humans, they're almost as diverse as their [[AlienBlood hemospectral]] [[FantasticRacism caste system]] allows (all the way from the future Empress to a mutant who would be hunted down and summarily executed should his mutation become known), and their group includes a blind girl, a wheelchair boy, a [[EveryoneIsBi monosexual]], and a [[{{UsefulNotes/Juggalo}} religious minority]]. The only caste they do not have, excluding other possible mutants, is one that was [[spoiler:brought to extinction in the past.]] |
| 442 | * ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' pokes fun at the somewhat belated discovery of the "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20120928023856/http://www.shortpacked.com/2007/comic/book-4/13-its-a-long-long-way-to-botcon/minoriteam/ Minoriteam]]" concept. |
| 443 | * ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfGynoStar'' deconstructs this, lampshades it and parodies it all in one go. See [[https://web.archive.org/web/20150410184007/http://www.gynostar.com/archives/comic/gotta-catch-em-all this page]] in particular. |
| 444 | [[/folder]] |
| 445 | |
| 446 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 447 | * At the SuperHeroSchool Whateley Academy in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', the main characters are in Team Kimba and form a pretty good Five-Token Band. The trope is slightly averted and somewhat reinforced in the reason they come together and stay together: they're the transgender mutants in their high school grade. Chaka, the nominal leader, is black, but comes from an upper-middle-class family. Generator is Japanese-American. Shroud? Not even really ''alive''. Phase is a WASP and the disinherited scion of one of the richest families on the planet. Lancer is an Army brat. Tennyo? Her mutation has made her look like an anime character. Fey not only looks like one of the Sidhe, she literally ''is''. Other characters around them include a hermaphrodite who is Lakota (American Indian), a half-demon, a Hispanic... You get the idea. |
| 448 | * ''Website/TheOnion'': "[[http://www.theonion.com/articles/graphic-artist-carefully-assignsethnicities-to-ant,1588/ Graphic Artist Carefully Assigns Ethnicities To Anthropomorphic Recyclables]]" |
| 449 | [[/folder]] |
| 450 | |
| 451 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 452 | * In ''WebVideo/TheGuild'', the Axis of Anarchy consists of a white man, a black man, AmbiguouslyGay Hispanic, Korean man who can't speak English, and white, paraplegic woman. |
| 453 | * Website/CollegeHumor parodies this in their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbsdlSpA2GU honest college ad]] (at about 1:00). It shows a group with a black man in a wheelchair, an Asian girl, a white guy, an AmbiguouslyBrown girl and an Indian guy (played by Creator/KumailNanjiani), who says, "We're actors. This literally never happens." |
| 454 | * ''WebVideo/DemoReel''. Donnie was bisexual and grew out of his WhiteMaleLead tendencies fast, Tacoma was the black guy who was okay with wearing a dress, Rebecca was the badass feminist lady, and Karl and Quinn were east-German and Irish manly men, respectively. |
| 455 | * ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'' created his very own Token Troop, featuring: |
| 456 | ** The Token Cool Kid (Jim Jarosz) |
| 457 | ** The Token Black Kid (Malcolm Ray) |
| 458 | ** The Token Geeky Kid (Rob Walker) |
| 459 | ** The Token Fat Kid (Jason Laws) |
| 460 | ** And, of course, the charming, awkward, shy main character with a heart of gold (Critic himself) |
| 461 | ** The Token Girl (Tamara Chambers) was only included when the token troop realized the error of their way halfway through the third act. |
| 462 | * ''WebVideo/PrettyDudes'' plays this pretty straight (for a queer show), where the differences in race and sexuality between the characters drive a lot of the plot (the straight characters trying to get a boyfriend for one of the queer characters) and leads to many of the more heartfelt moments (like Afro-Latinx Ellington bonding with Mexican Zario on the different ways they feel ostracized from the main group). |
| 463 | ** Interestingly, half of the main characters in season one are Asian. Eagle is played by a Chinese-American actress, Sunji by an Indonesian of Chinese descent, and Jay is played by a Korean American. The other leads are Afro-Latinx, Mexican, and white. |
| 464 | ** According to WordOfGod, this impacted the format of the show. Originally the character Alexander was supposed to narrate all of the episodes, but after casting the role with a white guy, the producers wanted to avoid the perception that this was a show about a white man and his ethnic friends. Although Alexander does narrate a few episodes, all of the characters became narrators. |
| 465 | ** Even with the expanded cast in season two, out of the nine lead characters, three are Asian, three are Black (with two Afro-Latinx), two are white, and one is Mexican. |
| 466 | [[/folder]] |
| 467 | |
| 468 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 469 | * ''Anna's Tales'', a cartoon about disabled girl named Anna who tells all sorts of fairy tales to her friends (who metaphorically reenact those stories in turn, along with Anna) whenever they visit her, features a quite "diverse" cast. According to the English dub, they should include Olga the East Asian American with a Russian-sounding name, Tod the white Brit, Anna, Theo and Agnes the white Americans, and Zach the black American. |
| 470 | * ''{{WesternAnimation/Barbie}}'': |
| 471 | ** The main group includes Franchise/{{Barbie}} (Swiss-French-American), Teresa (Latina), Nikki (black), Renée (Japanese-American), and Daisy (Greek-American). |
| 472 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheRockersOutOfThisWorld'' features Diva (Scotch-Irish-American), Dee-Dee (black), and Dana (Korean-American). |
| 473 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheBarbieDiaries'': Barbie (white), Tia (black) and Courtney (Japanese-American). |
| 474 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInAMermaidTale'': Merliah (American), Hadley (Latina), Fallon (black), Xylie and Kayla (British). Minor characters in both movies include Ally Mahoney (Asian), the lipstick fish (Hungarian accent) and Syrenka (Polish). In the sequel we have Kylie (Australian) and the Ambassadors: Kattrin (Korean), Selena (Russian), Mirabella (Brazilian), and Renata (African). |
| 475 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInRockNRoyals'': Courtney, Olivia (European), Erika, Rayna and Zia (American), Sloane (Scottish-American), Aubray (Irish), Genevieve (black British). |
| 476 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BarbiePrincessCharmSchool'' has Blair, Delancy, and Lorraine (European), Hadley (Latina), Isla (Japanese), Portia (Scottish), Josette (black) and Miranda (American). |
| 477 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAFairySecret'': Barbie, Raquelle (American), Carrie (brown but of Irish descent), Taylor (British), and Zane (Italian). |
| 478 | ** ''Toys/MyScene'': Barbie, Kennedy (American), Nolee (Japanese-American), Nia (Mexican), Madison (black), Kenzie (Irish-American), Delancey and Chelsea (Irish-Danish-Italian-American). |
| 479 | * ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' features Dee Dee (white) and her posse, Mee Mee (black) and Lee Lee (Asian). |
| 480 | * ''Literature/TheMagicSchoolBus'': |
| 481 | ** The cast of the original cartoon is almost mathematically precise: Four boys, four girls. Four white students (one of whom is [[InformedJudaism Jewish]], one British with implied partial Mediterranean descent, one Quebecois, and one Italian), two black students (one of whom is Jamaican), one Asian (of Chinese extraction), and one Hispanic (of Venezuelan extraction). All of them have very different personalities, except for the one who [[TheGenericGuy doesn't have a personality at all]]. |
| 482 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBusRidesAgain'' changes it up a bit as the white Phoebe has been been replaced. This means that the class consists of three white students, one latino student, two Asian students (Wanda and the new kid, East Indian Jyoti), and two black students. |
| 483 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': |
| 484 | ** The main cast. T.J. the chunky, smart-aleck white boy (who's implied to be [[AmbiguouslyJewish Jewish]]), Gretchen the nerdy white girl with glasses, Spinelli the Italian tough girl, Vince the athletic black boy, Mikey the big-bodied, over-dramatic white boy, and Gus the nebbishy white boy with glasses. Actually lampshaded in a Christmas special episode in which the principal tries to put together a culturally diverse Christmas show while complaining about "political correctoids" |
| 485 | ** The Ashleys as well. Ashley A. is the stuck-up white leader, Ashley B. is the prissy, sarcastic second-in-command black girl, Ashley Q. is the tough, {{Jerkass}} white girl, and Ashley T. is the quiet Hispanic girl. |
| 486 | * The cast of ''WesternAnimation/ClassOf3000''. More specifically, we have a black boy (Lil D), a black ''girl'' (Tamika), fraternal Asian twins (Kim and Kam), a nerdy white redhead (Philly Phil), a white girl with Greek ancestry (Madison), a white boy (Eddie), and of course their black teacher (Sonny Bridges). |
| 487 | * Spoofed for all it's worth in ''WesternAnimation/{{Minoriteam}}'', which is about team comprised entirely of CaptainEthnic minority superheroes. For reference, it's Dr. Wang (Chinese), Nonstop (Indian), Fasto (black), El Jefe (Mexican), and Jewcano (Jewish). |
| 488 | * The Creator/{{PBS}} show ''WesternAnimation/MayaAndMiguel''. The main characters are Hispanic, there's a black friend, the [[TwoferTokenMinority Afro-Dominican girl]], the Asian girl and a disabled white guy. The fat, stupid, forgetful soccer coach is Polish. |
| 489 | * In ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters'', there was a black guy, a {{Goth}} girl, a guy in a wheelchair, and a Latino slacker. Oh, and Egon, the white (and AmbiguouslyJewish) nerd. But the Goth girl's (stereotypical) interest in the paranormal came in handy; the African-American was [[BlackAndNerdy a rather uncool smart guy]]; the Latino, while a slacker, had a brother who was a cop; and the paraplegic was the team jock.\ |
| 490 | The show could be pretty honest about that. In the episode "The True Face of a Monster", the paraplegic was thrown out of his wheelchair (amazingly, by somebody he thought was his friend) and there was really nothing he could do until he got back in. Most shows are ''far'' too kid-friendly to show the wheelchair kid being actually helpless. And the Ecto-1 needed a ramp. That's not the only episode where Garrett is somehow forced out of his wheelchair. They actually have quite a few. Two that come to mind immediately are the gremlin episode (although he holds his own) and the one with the demon that turns metal into rust (where he has to sit out of a minor fight and then uses an old-fashioned wicker chair for the duration of the episode). Eh, well, as the said paraplegic is a BoisterousBruiser, there's nothing wrong to balance that a bit by some realistic helplessness. |
| 491 | * The four main characters of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Bratz}}'' cartoons (and doll line). There's the white girl Cloe, the sassy black girl Sasha, the super smart Asian Jade, and vaguely {{Granola Girl}}ish Iranian-Jewish (default)/Latina-Jewish (live-action movie) Yasmin. The fifth ethnicity is usually covered by whatever one-shot character is hanging out with them in that particular episode/movie. |
| 492 | * ''WesternAnimation/SkyDancers''. The original VHS opening also has suspiciously ethnic-sounding [[LeitMotif leit motifs]]. |
| 493 | * Another token family is the Bennetts, aka the ''WesternAnimation/BionicSix''. The Black kid JD aka IQ doubles as TheSmartGuy and the Asian kid Bunji is naturally code-named [[IKnowKarate Karate-1]]. |
| 494 | * Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Mojo Jonesin'", where a diverse group of kids get [[SuperSerum Chemical X]] powers as part of Mojo Jojo's BatmanGambit. One of them is even in a wheelchair... and despite Chemical X allowing him to fly, he flies ''still holding on to the chair''.[[note]]The Chemical X eventually wore off, so it turns out this was a good thing, but while Mojo knew this was going to happen, the kid didn't.[[/note]] |
| 495 | * On ''WesternAnimation/KingArthurAndTheKnightsOfJustice'', two of the twelve heroes are black, one is Latino and one is Asian. Another one, while white like the rest, may be Italian. |
| 496 | * ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': While the ''worldwide'' KND is logically diverse, the main characters (all living in the same town) include a white Jewish American, a white Australian, a Japanese-American girl, a black girl whose mother is French and a Brit with a Spanish surname. And a Scottish operative lives in the same town. While it requires a healthy suspension of disbelief to accept the Australian, Scottish, and English kids, the idea of the other three leads being friends and living in the same area isn't far-fetched in the slightest. Many areas, particularly cities, have very diverse populations. |
| 497 | * On ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', the main characters' FiveManBand is rather diverse with British [[TheQuietOne Ferb]], Indian [[BollywoodNerd Baljeet]] and [[ButNotTooForeign Mexican]]-[[InformedJudaism Jewish]] Isabella (who is also the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple only permanent girl]] in the group) alongside the white American Phineas and Buford. Added to the extended cast are Stacy (Japanese), Coltrane (black), [[MadScientist Doofenshmirtz]] and his [[{{Ruritania}} Druelselsteinian]] relatives (including his white American ex-wife and his daughter) and [[AnimalSuperhero Perry]], who may or may not have been hatched in Australia. And don't forget resident smart kid [[SixthRanger Irving]]. The Fireside Girls are also racially diverse. |
| 498 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'': |
| 499 | ** The show gives us a more fantastic variation of this trope. The leader of the team, Robin, is a [[BadassNormal badass normal]] Caucasian (and Romani, if we're going by the comics and [[LegacyCharacter assume that he's Dick Grayson]]). Raven is part demon on her dad's side and part (presumably Caucasian) human on her mom's side. Cyborg is African American and, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a cyborg]]. Starfire is an [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe orange-skinned space babe]]. Beast Boy's race/species however is ambiguous due in part to his [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation green skin and hair]], though his comic book origin has him as a white blond human who turned green. |
| 500 | ** The East Coast spin-off team features Bumblebee (black female), Speedy (apparently white, but part Navajo if we go by the comics), Mas and Menos (Hispanic male twins) and Aqualad (white Atlantean male). Justified in that with the exceptions of Mas and Menos, the Titans East was made up entirely of teen heroes who had met and teamed up with the original Titans in earlier seasons. |
| 501 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'': |
| 502 | ** Jem and the Holograms are made up of redhead keyboardist Kimber, her blonde biological sister Jem (Jerrica) as the singer, the Asian (implied to be half-white and half either Chinese or Japanese) guitarist Aja, the black drummer/guitarist Shana, and later, the Latina drummer Raya. Aside from the SixthRanger Raya, they were all raised together as Shana and Aja were the Benton's foster daughters. |
| 503 | ** The Misfits are also fairly diverse with the Hungarian Jewish-American Pizzazz (Phyllis Gabor), Italian-American Roxy (Roxanne Pellegrini), American Stormer (Mary Phillips) and British Jetta (Sheila Burns). |
| 504 | ** The Stingers also include Riot (Rory Llewelyn), who appears to be Welsh-American based on his last name, German Minx (Ingrid Kruger), and American Rapture (Phoebe Ashe). |
| 505 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}!'' Kid Chorus consists of one brunette boy, three blonde boys (one short, [[DumbBlonde one dumb]], and one from California with a permanent sunburn), a blonde girl, an African-American girl, a teenaged red-haired girl, an Asian girl, a German boy without an accent, and a Native American girl. Oh, [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and an Asian boy and two more kids with tan skin]], but they're only in crowd shots or songs. |
| 506 | * The five girls from ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub''. The original team included Bloom (white), Stella (white Latina), Flora (brown Latina), Musa (East Asian), and Tecna (white, [[AccentAdaptation British is the 4kids dub]]). Later Aisha (black) became the SixthRanger and eventually TheLancer. |
| 507 | * A villainous example in the ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' episode "The Princess and the Bounty Hunters". A team of bounty hunters includes a white female leader, a Russian, a Southern American, an Aboriginal Australian and two asian-ish cat aliens. |
| 508 | * When it came time to expand the {{WesternAnimation/Superfriends}} from the original Batman-Superman-Wonder Woman-Aquaman cadre to the 11-member Justice League (for ''Challenge of the Super Friends''), they added a token black (Black Vulcan), a token native American (Apache Chief), and a token Asian (Samurai). The following season added a token Hispanic (El Dorado). |
| 509 | * Explicitly parodied with the Ultimen in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited''. The team contains Wind Dragon (Asian American), Long Shadow (Native American) and Juice (African American), with Shifter and Downpour (Albino alien teenagers) rounding out the team. The Ultimen are explicitly formed as a marketable, publicity-friendly alternative to the Justice League. It makes sense that the team would need to be as diverse as possible in order to hit all the key demographics. Specifically, the Ultimen were [[CaptainErsatz close parallels]] to the characters created for ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}} Challenge of the Super Friends]]'' to add some ethnic diversity to the team. |
| 510 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'': |
| 511 | ** The "Runaways" are reimagined, YoungerAndHipper versions of the {{Captain Ethnic}} ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'': [[ComicBook/{{Static}} Virgil]] is black, [[AstralProjection Tye]] is Native American, [[{{Teleportation}} Eduardo]] is Hispanic, and [[BlowYouAway Asami]] is Asian. In their later appearance they add [[ArmCannon Arsenal]], who is [[ArtificialLimbs disabled]] and arguably their TokenWhite (in the comics he identifies as Native American). |
| 512 | ** Averted with the actual titular team of superheroes. It's very diverse, but the characters themselves aren't tokens. ComicBook/BlueBeetle (Latino), Aqualad, (African-[[{{Atlantis}} Atlantean]]), Robin/Nightwing (Romani), and Artemis (half-Vietnamese) have large roles in the plot, and that's not even counting Guardian, Bumblebee, or Rocket (all black). |
| 513 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheReplacements'', Riley and Todd's circle of friends ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Shelton]]) includes the Japanese Tasumi, the African-American Abby, the Hispanic Jacobo and the Jewish Shelton. |
| 514 | * One more example of a fantasy token band; ''WesternAnimation/{{ThunderCats|1985}}'', but especially ''WesternAnimation/Thundercats2011''. The members belong to clans based on real life cat species, though Panthro is the only one whom most obviously looks and sounds [[TokenBlack black]]. |
| 515 | ** This is expanded upon in the reboot, where it's made much clearer the divide between the various clans as well as the introduction of tailed Thunderians, who are considered lower class. Kit and Kat have tails, as did Panthro once, who is still obviously the black guy of the group. Then there's Tygra, whose race has it's own separate culture and society, and could be seen as being vaguely Asian. Cheetara's comparatively fair coloring would almost make her look Scandinavian, and Pumyra could count as AmbiguouslyBrown due to her unique appearance and brown hair. |
| 516 | ** Ironically, it's the bad guys who outdo the Thundercats by having EqualOpportunityEvil ''and'' a MultinationalTeam. There is Slithe (Lizard), Grune (Cat), and later Kaynar (Dog/Jackal), and Addicus (Primate). Except for Slithe though, they're considered traitors and criminals to their own kind. |
| 517 | * On ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' it's oddly the jerky popular kids who fill this trope: [[JerkJock Dash]] (white guy), [[AlphaBitch Paulina]] (Hispanic girl), [[TokenGoodTeammate Kwan]] (Asian guy), [[WellIntentionedExtremist Valerie]] (black girl) and sometimes [[SixthRanger Star]] (white girl). They're like [[EqualOpportunityEvil Equal Opportunity]] {{Jerk Ass}}es. (Valerie is eventually exiled from the group when she becomes a FallenPrincess, though, and becomes [[AntiHero kind of]] nicer.) |
| 518 | * The Safety Patrol on ''WesternAnimation/{{Fillmore}}''. The protagonist is a black guy partnered with a white girl, the forensics expert comes from a Japanese family, DaChief is Mexican-American, the main MauveShirt is Italian-American, and the photographer is a loony white guy who does the comic relief, if "CloudCuckoolander" can be considered a token role. A similar effect was shown in "A Cold Day At X", with the team of villains featuring a girl in a wheelchair and a very well-spoken, extremely English black guy. |
| 519 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 520 | ** The protagonists are the fantasy equivalent of this, consisting of two members of each race -- unicorn, pegasus and earth pony. (Until [[spoiler:Twilight became an alicorn]], that is.) They also provide a wide range of personality types -- notably, three are gradually revealed to be in line with the stereotypes of their races (Applejack the country bumpkin farmer, Rarity the haughty artisan, Rainbow Dash the hotheaded jock) while the others are wildcards (Pinkie Pie the happy-go-lucky party planner, Twilight Sparkle the bookworm and HumbleHero, and Fluttershy the bashful animal lover). The beta protagonists (the Cutie Mark Crusaders) similarly have one of each. (Babs Seed, the fourth crusader, breaks the configuration somewhat, but is a minor recurring character and is trying to start her own team.) |
| 521 | ** In "School Daze", a band of six students at Twilight Sparkle's Friendship School, all different species, become fast friends. There's Sandbar (an earth pony), Ocellus (a changeling), Gallus (a griffon), Yona (a yak), Silverstream (a hippogriff), and Smolder (a dragon). |
| 522 | * The Burners in ''WesternAnimation/{{Motorcity}}'' consist of Mike Chilton (mixed race), Dutch (black), Texas (Filipino) and Chuck and Julie (white, but Julie is also the only girl). You also have (at times) a [[CuteMachines robot]] and a [[CoolOldGuy man old enough to be their grandfather]]. |
| 523 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' has a fantastic variation with the Planet Express crew. Fry, Leela, and Farnsworth are white Americans (with Leela also being a [[{{cyclops}} one-eyed]] {{mutant|s}}); Bender is a robot who was built in Mexico; Hermes is a black Jamaican; Amy is ethnically Chinese, but was born and raised on Mars; [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Zoidberg]] is a member of an [[FishPeople aquatic alien race]] with a [[SpaceJews quasi-Jewish culture]]. |
| 524 | * The main kids in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', believe it or not. They include Kyle, who's Jewish, Cartman, who's obese, and Kenny, who's poor. Their extended circle of friends has a gay couple (Tweek and Craig), the only child of rich black parents (Tolkien), and disabled children with different conditions (Jimmy and Timmy). Despite poking fun at them ''mercilessly'', the series has been praised by equal rights groups for treating them all as equals. |
| 525 | * ''Toys/PollyPocket'': The main group is made of white (British-American) Polly Pocket, Shani Mayne/Smith (black), and Lila Draper (Scottish-American). Formerly there was Lea Torney (Irish-American), Ana Leeth (American), Crissy Maxwell (white American, then Latina, then Asian) and Kerstie Perx (American). |
| 526 | * In the same vein as ''South Park'', ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has a surprisingly diverse core cast. The part where this trope truly comes into play, though, is with Peter Griffin and his regular drinking buddies: Peter is the white male leader as well as the "big guy". Cleveland is the token black character, Joe is the disabled one in a wheelchair. And then there's Quagmire, who, while not fitting into any of the categories described above, definitely has his own way of standing out. . . |
| 527 | * ''WesternAnimation/TenkoAndTheGuardiansOfTheMagic'': The Guardians are a racially diverse bunch. Tenko is Japanese, Bolt is white, Hawk is Native American and Steel is African-American. [[spoiler:They are later joined by Ali who is white.]] |
| 528 | * ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'': The show primarily revolves around a TokenTrio consisting of Sam (Irish-American), Clover (Caucasian-American) and Alex (Latina/Asian-American according to WordOfGod). They are sometimes joined by Britney (Japanese-American). |
| 529 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' averts the racial variant as the main characters are three white children and a black boy. It becomes glaringly obvious in the holiday episode though that their backgrounds are very different. Italian-American Tino celebrates Winter Solstice, Lor celebrates Christmas, the African-American Carter celebrates Kwanzaa, and Tish who has Eastern-European parents celebrates Hannukah. |
| 530 | * Though not as pronounced as many other examples, the cast of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' count even if you ignore the fact that they aren't human. Francine is Jewish, The Brain is black, Muffy is the "rich kid", and they later introduced Carl, who's on the autism spectrum, as the disabled character. |
| 531 | * ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' has Asian (Japanese) Shiro, HalfHumanHybrid (with an ambiguous ethnicity) Keith, Latino (Cuban) Lance, biracial (Samoan/African American) Hunk, Caucasian (Italian) Pidge, and AmbiguouslyBrown {{Space El|ves}}f {{Human Alien|s}} Allura. |
| 532 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'' gives us (based on the voice actors--the characters themselves are animals) Austin (white male), Tasha (white female), Tyrone (black male), Uniqua (black female), and Pablo (Hispanic male). An unusual example, as Uniqua is the only one to appear in every single episode and Austin is absent from more episodes than anyone else. However, it's worth mentioning that the show was created by a black woman. |
| 533 | * The eponymous Planeteers in ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers''. Kwame (African; specifically, Nigerian), Wheeler (white American), Linka (Russian), Gi (Asian; specifically, Korean), and Ma-Ti (South American Indian). |
| 534 | * On ''WesternAnimation/HeroElementary'', show's main human characters are Lucita Sky (who's Latina), AJ Gadgets (who's black and autistic), Sarah Snap (Asian American), Benny Bubbles (Caucasian), and their teacher Mr. Sparks (also Latino). |
| 535 | * The main group of ''WesternAnimation/{{Horseland}}'' gives us Sarah (blonde), Molly (African American), Alma (Hispanic), Bailey (brunette), Zoey (redhead), Chloe (Irish American) and Will (also blonde). They are soon joined by Nani (Native American). |
| 536 | * ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Jet is a human-like alien (so he isn't actually white), who appears male but is actually sexless. The other kids featured in the show are: |
| 537 | ** Sydney Skelley (African-American) |
| 538 | ** Sean Rafferty (implied to be Irish-American) |
| 539 | ** Mindy Melendez (Latina; her exact nationality is never stated on the show, but she is most likely Mexican-American as the show's official social media pages often use Mindy to promote Cinco de Mayo) |
| 540 | ** Mitchell Peterson (white; judging by his name, he's probably of English, Scottish, and/or Scandinavian descent) |
| 541 | ** Lillian (Chinese-American) |
| 542 | * ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'' gives us Molly (Gwich'in/Koyukon/Dena'ina Athabascan), Tooey (Yup'ik, Koyukon, and Japanese), Trini (African-American), Oscar (Alaska Native of an unknown tribe), Vera (Filipino-Athabascan), and Jake (token white). |
| 543 | * ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'' has a diverse cast of heroes: Adora and Perfuma are white lesbians; Bow and Netossa are Black (the former AmbiguouslyBi, the latter a lesbian); Glimmer, Frosta, and Sea Hawk are East-Asian (the former and latter being AmbiguouslyBi); Mermista is South-Asian; Entrapta is autistic, bisexual, and AmbiguouslyBrown; and Swift Wind is a talking horse. This even carries over to the villains's side: Hordak is [[DarkLordOnLifeSupport disabled]] and speaks with a British accent; Catra is a Hispanic lesbian; Scorpia is a white lesbian; Kyle is a white guy; Lonnie is a Black woman; Rogelio is a mute reptile man; and Double Trouble is a nonbinary shapeshifter. |
| 544 | * "The J-Team" in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures''. The team includes [[TheHero Jackie]] and [[TagalongKid Jade]] (Chinese-American), [[TheBigGuy Tohru]] (Japanese), [[MaskedLuchador El Toro Fuerte]] and [[KidSidekick Paco]] (Mexican), and [[ClassyCatBurglar Viper]] (Jewish, and implied to be Israeli). Notably, the only white character who's even ''affiliated'' with the team is [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Captain Black]], who just serves as their MissionControl. |
| 545 | * ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' has the main protagonists in different seasons. Book 1 has Tulip (white), book 2 has Mirror Tulip (chromium) and Jesse (Native American), book 3 has Grace (black), and book 4 has Ryan and Min-Gi (East Asian). |
| 546 | [[/folder]] |
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