History Main / InscrutableOriental

* Subverted in the ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'': Harold's coworkers ''think'' he is this, but for the viewers, he's TheEveryman with a weed habit. Culminates in a spectacular WorldOfCardboardSpeech in which Harold spells out to his coworkers how very goddamned much he is ''not'' this, thank you.

This can be shown tropewise as being TheStoic in more serious and/or positive portrayals. And as TheComicallySerious or OnlySaneMan in more comedic and negative portrayals. The OldMaster may also be this trope.

One reason for this trope being less popular nowadays is its association with offensive YellowPeril villains, who were frequently untrustworthy, scheming {{Chessmaster}}s who used their lack of emotion to disguise their motives.

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

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

* The series bible for ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' explicitly describes Sulu as being the total opposite of this. (This got a nod in the animated show; see below.)

* Señor Chang, the StereotypeFlip Spanish teacher in ''Series/{{Community}}'', rants about this.

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* Shen Yu in ''Videogame/EvilGenius'' is described as "inscrutable", which is not surprising as he's a take on Literature/FuManchu.
* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has this for most of the Asian people, particularly the old men. Especially, the old Chinese herbalist.
* Chairman Shen-Ji Yang of ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri''. He's like Mao Zedong meets Nietzsche meets Confucius. Your GreyAndGrayMorality may vary.

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

* Lampshaded on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'', during an exchange between Kirk and Sulu. Incidentally, this episode was written by WalterKoenig, who played Chekov on [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]] and was friends with Creator/GeorgeTakei in real life:

* Shen Yu in ''Videogame/EvilGenius'' is described as "inscrutable", which is not surprising as he's a take on FuManchu.

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

[[caption-width-right:350:Japan: So inscrutable that he can't even ''[[PerpetualFrowner smile]]''.]]

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

* The series bible for ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' explicitly describes Sulu as being the total opposite of this.

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

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

* Lampshaded on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'', during an exchange between Kirk and Sulu. Incidentally, this episode was written by WalterKoenig, who played Chekov on [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]] and was friends with GeorgeTakei in real life:

* Mocked in a strip of the Italian comic ''Sturmtruppen'' where a crossdressing spy is ordered to escort the Japanese ally to another base, and affirms that "Nothing can surprise these inscrutable orientals". Cue to the Japanese ally trying to hump him.

* Mr. Miyagi from ''TheKarateKid'' appears to be this at first. As we (and Daniel) get to know him we learn this couldn't be further from the truth.

* Subverted (and how!) by every role [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sessue_Hayakawa Sessue Hayakawa]] ever played. One of his greatest roles was [[TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai a man who was doing his best to appear impassive and inscrutable]] -- but [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain wasn't]].

* In ''TheWatchmakerOfFiligreeStreet,'' Mori (the titular watchmaker) plays this trope largely straight.

* Averted on ''[[Series/FlashForward2009 Flash Forward]]'', in which JohnCho played the more HotBlooded, emotional and temper-prone half of a [[RedOniBlueOni pair of FBI partners]]. In fact, JohnCho has pretty much made a career out of averting this stereotype (see ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'', above).

* Shen Yu in ''EvilGenius'' is described as "inscrutable", which is not surprising as he's a take on FuManchu.

* ''ATreeGrowsInBrooklyn'' features a ChineseLaunderer character who's stereotypical in other ways, but it actually calls out this trope. The young heroine sees the Chinese man as a wise mystic and assumes he's listening thoughtfully when she talks to him, when in reality he doesn't speak English and is just waiting for her to leave.

* In ''TheWestingGame'', Mrs. Hoo is seen this way at first, but it soon becomes obvious that it's solely a language barrier.

* Agent Kimball Cho on ''TheMentalist'' is the deadest of the [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan snarkers]] and most definitely TheStoic. However, he's also willing to go CowboyCop and NotSoStoic when the situation calls for it.
* Averted on ''[[FlashForward2009 Flash Forward]]'', in which JohnCho played the more HotBlooded, emotional and temper-prone half of a [[RedOniBlueOni pair of FBI partners]]. In fact, JohnCho has pretty much made a career out of averting this stereotype (see ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'', above).

* Mr. Miyagi from ''TheKarateKid''.

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

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