"...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, refers to American people of South, Southeast, 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
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.
Comics
Comic Books
- Agents of Atlas (Chinese-American male main character; ensemble cast, Asian and/or Asian-American characters [2019 volume])
- The Atom (Hong Kong-born American male main character [The Atom II/Ryan Choi])
- 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, her mother Lady Shiva's country of origin varies.
- Shadow Of The Batgirl: An one-shot YA graphic novel adaption based on the original comic run. Mother is specified as Chinese in this adaption.
- Cheat(er) Code: The main character of this erotic graphic novel is an gay Asian-American male navigating a break-up while being sucked into several video game worlds.
- Chew: Chinese-American protagonist, and by extension many other Chinese-American characters as Tony Chu's family plays a large role in the Myth Arc.
- Daughters of the Dragon
- Double Happiness
- Empire State
- Fire Power: The main character is a half Chinese-American man, the supporting cast contains main Chinese characters and characters of Chinese-descent.
- The Good Asian
- The Green Hornet (Asian immigrant main character — country of origin varies between China and Japan)
- Green Lantern: Legacy (Vietnamese-American main character)
- Infidel (Pakistani-American female main character)
- Johnny Hiro Half Asian All Hero
- Level Up (Chinese-American male main character)
- The Magic Fish (Vietnamese male main character)
- Mech Cadet Yu (Chinese-American male main character)
- Ms. Marvel (2014): The character of Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel is a Pakistani-American teenager.
- The Shadow Hero (Chinese-American main character)
- Shang-Chi (Chinese-American main character, miniseries)
- Shi (Japanese-American female main character)
- Silk: The character of Silk/Cindy Moon is a young adult Korean-American woman.
- Snotgirl (half Japanese-American main female character)
- Superman Smashes the Klan
- Totally Awesome Hulk
- Xombi (Korean-American male main character)
Comic Strips
Film
Animation — Short Film and Feature-Length
- 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.
Live-Action — Action/Thriller
- Big Trouble in Little China (One of the main characters is Chinese-American and the setting is San Francisco's Chinatown)
- Eastern Condors
- Enter the Dragon (Bruce Lee, Chinese-American)
- The Fifth Commandment
- The Karate Kid (prominent Japanese-American supporting character)
- Ip Man 4 (Chinese immigrant main character, Chinese-American supporting characters)
- Rapid Fire
- Romeo Must Die
- Rush Hour: Film series starring Jackie Chan about a Chinese immigrant police officer teaming up with a snark African-American detective to solve cases.
- Showdown in Little Tokyo (Asian-American main character)
- Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Chinese-American main character)
Live-Action — Comedy/Musical
- Afterlife of the Party
- Ali & Ratu Ratu Queens (Indonesian protagonist moves in with Indonesian immigrants to the US)
- Chan Is Missing (Chinese-American main character)
- Cheech and Chong
- Final Score
- Harold & Kumar (Korean-American main character, Indian-American main character)
- Late Night: One of the two leads is a Indian-American comedian who lands a job at a late night TV show writing for her comedy idol.
- Stuber: The film stars a Filipino-American cop and Pakistani-American rideshare driver on the heels of catching a brutal killer.
- They Call Me Bruce (Korean-American main character)
Live-Action — Children/Family
- Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (Chinese-American main character)
- Spin (2021) (Indian-American main character)
Live-Action — Drama/Suspense
- Abduction of Eden (Korean-American main character)
- Asian Schoolgirls (Asian-American main cast)
- Better Luck Tomorrow (Asian-American cast)
- Charlie Chan (Chinese-American main character)
- Daughter of Shanghai (Chinese-American main character)
- Driveways (Asian-American main character)
- 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.
- Gran Torino is about the Hmong community in Detroit.
- 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.
- Minari (Korean-American main character and supporting characters)
- My Name Is Khan (Indian-American cast)
- The Namesake (Indian-American main character)
- Pushing Hands (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.
- 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.
- White Frog
- Wild Side (One of the central figures is an Asian-American woman)
Live-Action — Fantasy/Sci-Fi
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (Chinese-American main character)
- Fistful Of Vengeance
- The Green Hornet (Chinese immigrant main character)
- The Green Hornet Serials (Korean immigrant main character)
- Mortal Kombat: The Movie
- The One
- 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.
Live-Action — Historial Fiction/Biopic
Live-Action — Romance
- Already Tomorrow In Hong Kong (Chinese-American main character)
- Always Be My Maybe (Vietnamese-American main character, Korean-American main character)
- 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.
- 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.
- The Princess Switch (Filipino-American leading actress; it's never specified if the character herself has Filipino descent in-universe)
- The Half of It (Chinese-American main character)
- Marry Me (2010) (Asian-American main character)
- Saving Face (Chinese-American main character)
- The Sun Is Also A Star (Korean-American main character)
- To All the Boys I've Loved Before (Half Korean-American main character)
- The Wedding Banquet (Taiwanese-American main character)
Live-Action — Sports
- Best of the Best (Korean-American main character)
Literature
Literature
- America Is Not the Heart (Filipino-American cast)
- 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 tween 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.
- I'm Ok (2018)
- 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 Trilogy: 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.
- On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: Protagonist is Vietnamese-American.
- 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.
- 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
Live-Action TV
- 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.
- 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.
- Black Sash
- 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: Cambodian-American leading actress plays a Filipino immigrant woman, former doctor now cleaning lady that helps the mob clean up crime scenes.
- "The Comedian": The Twilight Zone (2019)
- Dash & Lily: The female lead is half Japanese-American.
- Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.
- Dr. Ken: The protagonist is Korean-American.
- 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
- Iron Fist (2017): Adaptation of the Iron Fist comics set in Chinatown USA, the co-lead is an Asian-American woman.
- Jon & Kate Plus Eight: Jon Gosselin is of Korean descent, as are his eight children.
- Kung Fu: The main character half-Chinese (yellowface portrayal), along with 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.
- Mortal Kombat: Conquest
- Ms. Marvel (2022):
- 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.
- 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.
- Twisted: Protagonist is Indian-American.
- 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.
- "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): Protagonist is Chinese-American.
- WMAC Masters: Several of the main characters and performers are Asian-American.
- Wu Assassins: Characters are Asian-American.
Music
Music/Audio Plays
- Cheech and Chong
- 1973 - Los Cochinos
- Deftones
- 2000 - White Pony
- Fort Minor
- 2005 - The Rising Tied
- 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
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
Radio
- The Green Hornet (Japanese immigrant main character, later changed to Filipino as a result of rising anti-Japanese sentiment)
Theater
Theater
- Allegiance: Protagonists are Japanese-American.
Video Games
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
- True Crime: Streets of LA
Visual Novels
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
Web Animation
Webcomics
Webcomics
- Demon: Protagonist is Chinese-American.
- He's Harmless, I Swear!: One of the two protagonists is Japanese-American.
- The Lounge: Protagonists are Japanese-American and Filipino-American.
- Negative One: One of the two protagonists is Asian-American.
Web Video
Web Video
- Baby Mentalist: Protagonists are Korean-American.
- 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
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.
- 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)
- Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (Filipino-American—and, for bonus, gay—main character)
- Sanjay and Craig: The main character is a Indian-American boy.
- Still Water
- Three Delivery: The series features three Chinese-American main characters.
- Xiaolin Showdown
