Japanese-born American actor, comic, and special effects artist (and pianist. And kendo practitioner. And director. And probably something else we've forgotten).
Has played several
noteworthy characters, including:
Tropes associated with Masi Oka
- Adorkable
- All Asians are Alike: He once played a Chinese man
in Without A Trace. - The Cast Showoff: Hiro uses swords, Franklyn sings in Japanese, and Max plays the piano. Why? Because Masi already had the skill.
- Catch Phrase: Hiro's "YATTA!" has become a bit of a rallying cry in the fandom. His Japanese fans are known to run up, shout "Yatta!", bow, and then scurry off.
- Everything's Better with Plushies: Several of his fans compare his cuteness a living plushie.
- Full Name Ultimatum: Zigzagged. It was in full force as a child, when only his mother called him Masayori, and then only when he was in trouble. Then there's a period where he's listed under his full name in credits for special effects, and now that he's more known for acting, the trope has swung back around again with him admitting nobody calls him Masayori, even in Japan.
- Geek
- Improbably High IQ: His was tested at 180. Considering he was the go-to guy for doing special effects without breaking computers in Star Wars, that measurement is probably right (or as right as any IQ score ever is).
- Humble Hiro: He refuses to see himself as anything but book smart and claims the high score is just because he's a good guesser.
- Ivy League For Everyone: He graduated from Brown in '97.
- Megane
- Nerd
- Lovable Nerd: Some fans find him cute in an endearing way, like a small puppy.
- Nerds Are Sexy: Others find him attractive in a much less innocent manner.
- Older than They Look: He was 32 when he started playing Hiro, who, depending on the episode, was either 24 or 28. He actually looked his character's age more than his own.
- Omniglot: English, Japanese, and...Spanish? German? What?
- One of Us: He likes Eyeshield21, One Piece, and Pluto, as well as several video games.
- Renaissance Man: He even admits he likes using both the left and right sides of his brain.
- Role Association: Anyone who ever saw him on Heroes will now constantly be caught saying, "Hey, it's Hiro!" if he shows up anywhere else.
- Some Call Me Tim: His real name is Masayori. Despite it not being a very long name, apparently 80's grade school teachers never got it right. A teacher called him "Messy Masi" due to his atrocious handwriting and he decided it was easier to go by Masi than to try to get them to say his full name.
- Ironic Nickname: Autographed Heroes memorabilia usually has a slew of mostly-illegible signatures...and one legible bit of extraordinarily neat Japanese next to his (very messy) name.
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