"...Then there were people who didn't understand the concept of 'Asian-American'...I went on a promotional tour for [All-American Girl]...I went to one morning show and the announcer said *imitating Southern accent* 'Hey Margaret, we're changing over to an ABC affiliate. So why don't you tell our viewers in your native language we're making that transition.' [Beat] So I look at the camera and said: 'They're changing to an ABC affiliate.'"
— Margaret Cho, I'm the Only One I Want
Media about Asian-American people, these works can explore racial identity and culture, though not necessarily a requirement. Asian-American, as defined by the United States Census Bureau
, refers to American people of South Asian, Southeast Asian, and East Asian descent. We also ask to list Asian-Americans in central roles (as in the story centers around them in some part); a good rule of thumb is to consider is that whether or not the work is about an Asian-American person or Asian-American people as opposed to playing a part in an ensemble.
See also African-American Media, Arab-Americans in Media, Latino-American Media, Native American and First Nations Media, Pacific Islanders in Media, and American Media. Also, see Asian-American Creators for a list of Asian-American performers.
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Anime and Manga
- Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President: Should be self-explanatory based on the title alone, but the main character is an Asian-American man running for president of the United States.
- Tiger & Bunny: Set in a fictionalized version of New York City, the main character is of Japanese descent and one of the other top heroes is from China.
Audio Plays
- Cheech and Chong
- 1973 - Los Cochinos
Comic Books
- Agents of Atlas: For the 2019 volume, the Chinese-American Jimmy Woo is the main character of the ensemble cast which is entirely Asian/Asian-American.
- The Atom: Main character The Atom II/Ryan Choi, is a Hong Kong-born American.
- American Born Chinese: The lead character is a Chinese-American teen and the story alternates between his POV along with two other protagonists.
- Avengers: The Celestial Madonna Saga: The titular Celestial Madonna is Mantis, whose backstory is incredibly convoluted but is half-Vietnamese, half-German born and raised in Vietnam (albeit raised by aliens)... and eventually becomes a prostitute because... the seventies.
- Batgirl (2000): The main character of Batgirl/Cassandra Cain is half-Asian, and her mother Lady Shiva's country of origin varies.
- Shadow of the Batgirl: A one-shot YA graphic novel adaption based on the original comic run that is written by Japanese American author, Sarak Kuhn.
- The Best We Could Do: Graphic novel memoir written and illustrated by the Vietnamese-American Thi Bui, and is about her family history before, during, and after the Vietnam War.
- Cheat(er) Code: The main character of this erotic graphic novel is a gay Asian-American man navigating a break-up while being sucked into several video game worlds.
- Chew: Main character John Chu is Chinese-American, and by extension, many other Chinese-American characters as Tony Chu's family play a large role in the Myth Arc.
- Daughters of the Dragon
- The Dead Lucky: A comic book set in Image Comics' Massive-Verse which stars Mexican-Chinese American Bibiana "Bibi" Lopez-Yang, an Afghanistan War vet battling PTSD and dealing with her new electric superpowers while defending her hometown of San Franciso.
- Double Happiness
- Empire State
- Fire Power: The main character is a half-Chinese-American man, and the supporting cast contains Chinese characters and characters of Chinese descent.
- The Good Asian
- The Green Hornet: Kato, the partner of The Green Hornet, is an Asian immigrant; his country of origin varies between China and Japan.
- Green Lantern: Legacy: The main character Tai Pham is Vietnamese-American.
- Infidel: Horror comic centering a Pakistani-American woman.
- Johnny Hiro Half Asian All Hero
- Level Up: The main character Dennis is Chinese-American.
- The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist: Autobiographical comic by Japanese-American Adrian Tomine.
- The Magic Fish: Main character Tiến Phong is Vietnamese-American and he uses fairy tales and stories to help teach his mother English and to come out to her.
- Mech Cadet Yu: The main character is Chinese-American.
- Ms. Marvel: Main character Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel is a Pakistani-American teenager, and her family and culture are featured prominently.
- Radiant Red: A spin-off of Radiant Black and part of the Massive-Verse which stars Japanese-American Satomi Sone as a superhero/Anti-Villain who is being blackmailed into robbing banks by criminals.
- The Shadow Hero: The main character is Chinese-American main character.
- Shang-Chi: Main character Shang-Chi is Chinese-American.
- Shortcomings: The main character is Ben Tanaka is Japanese-American.
- Shi: Main character Ana Ishikawa is Japanese-American.
- Silk (Marvel Comics): The character of Silk/Cindy Moon is a young adult Korean-American woman.
- Snotgirl: The main character is half Japanese-American.
- Superman Smashes the Klan
- Totally Awesome Hulk
- Xombi: The main character is Korean-American.
Comic Strips
Films — Animated
- Batman: Soul of the Dragon (Asian American co-leading characters, set in Asian countries and communities)
- Big Hero 6: The main character Hiro Hamada is half-Japanese and leads a superhero team that has a Korean-American member, in addition his brother who is a supporting character is also half-Japanese.
- One Small Step (Chinese-American main character)
- Sanjay's Super Team (Pixar Short) (Indian-American main character)
- Up: The story is about a elder shut-in going on one last adventure with his floating house, there is a secondary lead character Russel, who is a young Asian-American boy.
Films — Live-Action
- Abduction of Eden (Korean-American main character)
- Afterlife of the Party
- Ali & Ratu Ratu Queens (Indonesian protagonist moves in with Indonesian immigrants to the US)
- Already Tomorrow In Hong Kong (Chinese-American main character)
- Always Be My Maybe (Vietnamese-American main character, Korean-American main character)
- Asian Schoolgirls (Asian-American main cast)
- Best of the Best (Korean-American main character)
- Better Luck Tomorrow (Asian-American cast)
- The Big Sick: Semi-biographical film about Pakistanti-American comedian Kumail Nanjiani; The film revolves around him falling in love with an American woman in a coma while balancing familial expectations.
- Big Trouble in Little China (One of the main characters is Chinese-American and the setting is San Francisco's Chinatown)
- Blue Bayou (Korean-American main character)
- The Broken Hearts Gallery
- Chan Is Missing (Chinese-American main character)
- Charlie Chan (Chinese-American main character)
- Cheech and Chong
- Columbus (Korean-American protagonist)
- Crazy Rich Asians: A Chinese-American woman falls in love with the heir to a wealthy Singaporean company and deals with the culture shock and living up to his expectations.
- Daughter of Shanghai (Chinese-American main character)
- The Debut
- Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
- Driveways (Asian-American main character)
- Easter Sunday
- Eastern Condors
- Enter the Dragon (Bruce Lee, Chinese-American)
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (Chinese-American main character)
- The Fabulous Filipino Brothers
- The Farewell: The main character is a Chinese-American woman and her family as they travel to China to visit the ailing matriarch under the guise of a wedding to hide her real diagnosis.
- The Fifth Commandment
- Final Score
- Fire Island: The film stars Korean-American Joel Kim Booster and Chinese-American Bowen Yang as two gay Asian-American men looking for fun and romance on Fire Island, additionally there is a supporting character played by Conrad Ricamora who is Filipino.
- Fistful Of Vengeance
- Gran Torino is about the Hmong community in Detroit.
- The Green Hornet (Chinese immigrant main character)
- The Green Hornet Serials (Korean immigrant main character)
- The Half of It (Chinese-American main character)
- Harold & Kumar: Stoner Flick series starring the Korean-American John Cho and Indian-American Kal Penn.
- Hustlers: One of two of the main characters is an Asian-American woman that works in a high-end strip club working to con Wall Street men.
- India Sweets And Spices: The film is about an Indian-American young woman, Alia Kapur, along with her family and community in New Jersey.
- Ip Man 4 (Chinese immigrant main character, Chinese-American supporting characters)
- Joy Ride
- The Karate Kid (prominent Japanese-American supporting character)
- Late Night: One of the two leads is an Indian-American comedian who lands a job at a late night TV show writing for her comedy idol.
- Lingua Franca
- Marry Me (2010) (Asian-American main character)
- The Marvels (2023) (Pakistani-American Kamala Kahn / Ms. Marvel serves as one of the three main characters)
- Minari (Korean-American main character and supporting characters)
- Mortal Kombat: The Movie
- My Name is Khan (Indian-American cast)
- The Namesake (Indian-American main character)
- The One
- Past Lives (Korean-American protagonist, Korean "love interest")
- The Princess Switch (Filipino-American leading actress)
- Pushing Hands (Chinese-American main character)
- Rapid Fire
- Romeo Must Die
- Rush Hour: Film series starring Jackie Chan about a Chinese immigrant police officer teaming up with a snarky African-American detective played by Chris Tucker to solve cases.
- Saving Face (Chinese-American main character)
- Searching: The film, told through found footage/computer screens is about a Korean-American father working tirelessly to find his missing daughter.
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: The main character is a Chinese immigrant, his best friend/supporting character is Chinese-American. In addition, there are several Chinese characters, both main and supporting throughout the film.
- Showdown in Little Tokyo (Asian-American main character)
- Snow Falling on Cedars (Japanese-American main character)
- Spa Night: The main character is a gay Korean-American young adult balancing family life and expectations with his budding sexuality.
- Spin (2021) (Indian-American main character)
- Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Chinese-American main character)
- Stuber: The film stars the Filipino-American Dave Bautista as a hardened detective and the Pakistani-American Kumail Nanjiani as a rideshare driver on the heels of catching a brutal killer.
- The Sun Is Also a Star (Korean-American main character)
- They Call Me Bruce
- To All the Boys I've Loved Before (Half Korean-American main character)
- The Wedding Banquet (Taiwanese-American main character)
- Wedding Season (Indian-American main characters)
- Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (Chinese-American main character)
- White Frog
- Wild Side (One of the central figures is an Asian-American woman)
- Yellow Rose
- Young Hearts (Indian-American lead character)
Literature
- America Is Not the Heart (Filipino-American cast)
- Angel Child, Dragon Child: Protagonist is a Vietnamese immigrant to the United States.
- Aru Shah and the End of Time: Protagonists are Indian-American.
- The Bane Chronicles: The protagonist is a half-Indonesian who has lived in the US for a long time.
- The Eldest Curses: The same half-Indonesian character is one of the series' two main protagonists.
- The Best at It: The main character a gay Indian-American boy coming into his own identity.
- China Mountain Zhang: Protagonist is half-Chinese.
- The Chosen and the Beautiful: Protagonist is a Vietnamese American adoptee.
- Crazy Rich Asians (Chinese-American main character)
- Eleanor & Park: Set in the US; one of two protagonists is half-Korean.
- Everything, Everything: Protagonist is half-Japanese.
- Everything I Never Told You: Focuses on a Chinese-American family.
- The Farm: Protagonist is Filipino who migrates to the US.
- Flower Drum Songnote : Protagonists are Chinese-American.
- Golden Mountain Chronicles (Chinese-American main character)
- Hawaii
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: Focuses on Japanese-Americans.
- How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life: The main protagonist is an Indian-American girl who tries to embrace American culture; it's controversial due to accusations of plagiarism, including plagiarizing an earlier novel about an Indian-American teenager, Born Confused.
- I'm Ok (2018)
- Joel Suzuki
- The Joy Luck Club: Characters are Chinese-American.
- Kira-Kira: Main characters are Japanese-American.
- The Kitchen God's Wife: Characters are Chinese-American.
- The Kite Runner: The characters are largely Afghan and/or Afghan-American.
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club: Protagonist is Chinese-American.
- Legend Series: One of the two main protagonists is half Mongolian-American.
- The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali: The protagonist is Bangladeshi-American, and most of the characters are of Bangladeshi origin.
- Millicent Min, Girl Genius: Protagonists are Chinese-American.
- Miracle Creek
- The Namesake: Protagonist is Indian-American.
- Nikhil Out Loud: The protagonist is a 13-year-old gay Indian-American boy who voices the main character of a popular animated show and moves to Ohio with his mom to help his ailing grandfather.
- On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: Protagonist is Vietnamese-American.
- The School for Good Mothers: Protagonist is a Chinese-American mother who must complete a year at said school if she wants to regain custody of her daughter.
- The Sympathizer: Main characters are Vietnamese men who emigrate to the United States during the story.
- Team Human: Protagonist is Chinese-American.
- Tell Me How You Really Feel: One of the two protagonists is Indian/Iranian American.
- Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mysteries: Protagonist is a second-generation Filipino-American.
- To All the Boys I've Loved Before: Protagonist is a half-Korean American.
- Yoko: Protagonist is a Japanese-American kitten.
- Zara Hossain Is Here: A story about a girl who immigrated from Pakistan to the US with her family.
Live-Action TV
- Accused (2023): "Jori's Story" is about a Japanese-American man, while his older brother along with Jori's daughters are focused on too.
- Alexa & Katie
- All-American Girl: The sitcom stars the Chinese-American Margaret Cho, who is a young college student living at home with her Chinese-American family.
- American Born Chinese (2023): A series adaptation of Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel American Born Chinese.
- Andi Mack: A coming-of-age Tween Drama about Andi, a girl with Chinese-American heritage, navigating life after discovering a family secret, her family is American with Chinese heritage.
- Awkwafina is Nora from Queens: Protagonist is Chinese-Korean-American.
- Beef: Main characters are Asian-American.
- Being Human (US): One of the three co-leads is Indian-American.
- Black Sash
- Blockbuster: Protagonist is Asian-American.
- Blue's Clues & You!: Host Josh Dela Cruz is Filipino-American.
- Bizaardvark: A Kid Com about two kids working at a digital media company making funny videos, both leads are Asian-American, one being Chinese-American and another being half Filipino-American.
- The Cleaning Lady: French Cambodian actress Élodie Yung in the lead plays a Cambodian immigrant who's a former doctor and now cleaning lady that helps the mob clean up crime scenes. Her Filipino relatives and in-laws are supporting characters, along with her Cambodian-Filipino son.
- Dash & Lily: The female lead is half Japanese-American, with her brother having the same ancestry, who along with her Japanese-American relatives is a supporting character.
- Devs: The female lead, Lily Chang and her boyfriend Jamie are Chinese-American.
- Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.
- Dr. Ken: The protagonist is Korean-American.
- Erin & Aaron: Kid Com about a blended family and starring two different step-siblings bonding over music; both Erin and her father Chuck are of Asian descent.
- Fresh Off the Boat: Sitcom loosely based on the life of Taiwanese-American chef Eddie Huang set in the 1990s, the cast of characters is Chinese-American.
- The Green Hornet: Asian immigrant main character played by Bruce Lee.
- Hawaii Five-0
- Hawaii Five-O
- Into the Badlands: The lead character, in a future where the US has broken up into warlord states, has East Asian ancestry.
- Iron Fist (2017): Adaptation of the Iron Fist comics set in Chinatown USA; Colleen Wing, the series' co-lead is an Asian-American woman.
- Jon & Kate Plus Eight: Jon Gosselin is of Korean descent, as are his eight children.
- Kung Fu (1972): The main character is half-Chinese (yellowface portrayal) and there are several Asian supporting characters.
- Kung Fu: The Legend Continues: The main characters are of Chinese descent (yellowface portrayal)
- Kung Fu (2021): A modern-day reboot of the previous Kung Fu series, the lead character is Chinese-American, along with her family, and a majority of the supporting cast is of Asian-American descent.
- Martial Law
- Master of None: A mid-30s man finds his way through life and his career in acting, the protagonist is played by Indian-American Aziz Ansari and his Indian immigrant parents are supporting characters.
- The Mindy Project: The protagonist is played by the Indian-American Mindy Kaling.
- Modern Love
- Mortal Kombat: Conquest
- Ms. Marvel (2022): The lead character is a Pakistani-American teenage girl, with her family being supporting characters along with other members of the local Jersey City Muslim Pakistani-American community.
- The Muppets Mayhem: The main human character is Indian-American.
- The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo: The protagonist is an Chinese-American girl who is an aspiring detective working solving cases in her hometown while interning at a police station, there is also her grandfather who is Chinese, played by Pat Morita.
- Never Have I Ever: Protagonist is Indian-American, played by a Tamil-Canadian actress. The main family is Indian-American. Supporting characters include a Chinese-American best friend and a half-Japanese-American love interest.
- The Night Of: Protagonist is Pakistani-American.
- Nikita: Protagonist is a half-Vietnamese American.
- Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj: Creator and host Hasan Minhaj is Indian-American.
- PEN15: One of the two protagonists is half-Japanese.
- Quantico: Protagonist is Indian-American.
- Quantum Leap (2022): Reboot of the 1980s/1990s sci-fi series, with the Korean-American Raymond Lee being the lead actor.
- Samurai Girl
- Selfie: The co-lead is Korean-American.
- Sullivan & Son: American protagonist is half-Korean.
- Supah Ninjas: The lead character is half-Japanese, along with Japanese-American actor George Takei playing a mentor figure.
- The Terror: Infamy: About a Japanese-American community.
- True Lies (2023): One of the two lead characters is Helen, a Filipina-American who came from the Philippines as a child. Her two children with her husband (who's white) also have Filipino ancestry through Helen.
- Twisted (2013): The protagonist is Indian-American.
- The Twilight Zone (2019): "The Comedian" centers on a Pakistani-American comedian.
- Two Sentence Horror Stories:
- "Gentleman": Features a young Asian-American woman protagonist.
- "Legacy": Features Korean-American main characters.
- "Little Monsters": Features Vietnamese-American protagonist along with African-American protagonists.
- "Bag Man": Features an Asian-American main character.
- "Imposter": Features a Filipino-American protagonist.
- "Essence": Features two Asian-American protagonists, along with several Asian-American supporting characters.
- "Plant Life": Features an Asian-American protagonist along with his African-American boyfriend.
- "Patel Motel Cartel": Features a young Indian-American protagonist and his Indian-American family.
- United States of Al: One of the two main protagonists is an Afghani immigrant to the US.
- Warrior (2019): The protagonist is Chinese-American.
- Welcome to Chippendales: Biopic series of Indian—American entrepreneur Soman “Steve” Banerjee.
- WMAC Masters: Several of the main characters and performers are Asian-American.
- Wu Assassins: The main characters are Asian-American.
Music
- Deftones
- 2000 - White Pony
- Fort Minor
- 2005 - The Rising Tied
- 2018 - Post Traumatic (released under Mike Shinoda)
- Japanese Breakfast
- 2016 - Psychopomp
- 2017 - Soft Sounds From Another Planet
- 2021 - Jubilee
- Linkin Park
- 2000 - Hybrid Theory
- 2003 - Meteora
- 2007 - Minutes to Midnight
- Yoko Ono
- 1968 - Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins
- 1969 - Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions
- 1969 - Wedding Album
- Shuggie Otis
- 1971 - Freedom Flight
- 1974 - Inspiration Information
- Utada Hikaru
- 1999 - First Love (Japanese release)
- 2001 - Distance (Japanese release)
- 2002 - DEEP RIVER (Japanese release)
- 2004 - ULTRA BLUE (Japanese release)
- 2006 - HEART STATION (Japanese release)
- 2008 - Exodus
Podcasts
- Residents Of Proserpina Park (Series creator Angela Yih is Taiwanese-America, and one of the main characters is confirmed to be Japanese-American)
Radio
- The Green Hornet: Japanese immigrant main character, later changed to Filipino as a result of rising anti-Japanese sentiment.
Theater
- Allegiance: Protagonists are Japanese-American.
Video Games
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
- Life Is Strange: True Colors
- Mirror's Edge
- Mortal Kombat (Several Asian-American main characters)
- Parasite Eve
- Prey (2017)
- Sleeping Dogs
- Thirsty Suitors: The player character and her family are South Asian.
- True Crime: Streets of LA
Visual Novels
- Butterfly Soup: Protagonists are Asian-American.
- Ever After Academy: The player characters are both half-Indonesian.
- Gangsters in Love: Yoshimitsu's route (Japanese-American love interest) and Ash's route (mixed-Korean-American love interest).
- Lovestruck Shorts: Homeroom Sweethearts (Chinese-American main character).
- Sin With Me: Chinese-American main character.
- Villainous Nights: Andi's route (Korean-American love interest) and Renzei's route (Chinese-American love interest).
Web Animation
- Camp Camp: Indian-American main character.
- Dead End: Norma, one of the main characters, is Pakistani-American.
- The Hiros: Japanese-American main characters.
- Mr Wong: Mr. Wong is Chinese-American main character and a Chinese stereotype.
Webcomics
- DeadEndia: Norma, one of the main characters, is Pakistani-American.
- Demon: Protagonist is Chinese-American.
- He's Harmless, I Swear!: One of the two protagonists is Japanese-American.
- The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal: Webcomic focusing on a gay Indian-American man's budding romance with a mysterious stranger while they take a road trip across America.
- The Lounge: Protagonists are Japanese-American and Filipino-American.
- Negative One: One of the two protagonists is Asian-American.
Web Video
- Baby Mentalist: Protagonists are Korean-American.
- Binging with Babish: Subseries Anime With Alvin is hosted by Chinese-American Alvin Zhou.
- BuzzFeed Unsolved (One of two hosts is half-Japanese)
- Watcher (Two out of three. As well as half-Japanese Ryan Bergara, Steven Lim is Malaysian Chinese American)
- Dhar Mann: Founded and hosted/narrated by an Indian-American.
- Emma Approved: Protagonist is half-Asian.
- Filthy Frank (created by Japanese-Australian expatriate George Miller)
- Geography Now: Hosted by a half-Korean American.
- Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'?
- Riley Rewind: Protagonist is Asian-American.
- Ryan ToysReview: Titular reviewer is Japanese-Vietnamese-American
Western Animation
- Abby Hatcher: (half Chinese-American main female character)
- The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan (Chinese-American main male character, Chinese-American ensemble cast/supporting characters)
- American Dragon: Jake Long (half Chinese-American main male character)
- Amphibia (Thai-American female main character)
- Big Hero 6: The Series: The main character is a half Japanese-American boy, and there is a Korean-American female supporting character.
- Dead End: Paranormal Park: Norma, one of the main characters, is Pakistani-American.
- The Ghost and Molly McGee (main human character and her family members (excluding her father) are Thai-American)
- Glitch Techs: One of the main character is a half Japanese-American girl.
- Inside Job (2021) (half Japanese-American main character)
- Invincible (2021): The main character is a half Korean-American teenager, with his Korean-American mother as a supporting character.
- Jackie Chan Adventures (Chinese-American main characters and supporting characters)
- Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: The main character is a half Korean-American and half African-American girl.
- The Life and Times of Juniper Lee: The main character is a Chinese-American girl, there are several Chinese-American supporting characters.
- Lou and Lou: Safety Patrol (Asian-American main characters)
- Magical Girl Friendship Squad
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: The main character is a young Chinese-American girl and the series features Mandarin Chinese vocabulary skill learning.
- The Nutshack: (Filipino-American main characters)
- Pantheon: This sci-fi series centers on a Korean-American girl uncovering the mystery behind her Korean father's disappearance. Her mother placed a supporting role.
- Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (Filipino-American—and, for bonus, gay—main character)
- Sanjay and Craig: The main character Sanjay is a Indian-American boy.
- Still Water
- Three Delivery: The series features three Chinese-American main characters.
- Transformers Earthspark: The main human family is half-Filipino, half-African-American.
- Velma: The title character Velma (from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!) is reimagined as a south-Asian American.
- Xiaolin Showdown
