I've read about the original stories, but haven't had a chance to read them. From what I gather, he does seem to be an interesting character as an early example of a Noble Demon Magnificent Bastard.
I don't know how interesting the character would seem today though on account of "Seinfeld" Is Unfunny. Ra's al Ghul in Batman is essentially Fu Manchu by another name, and the Bond villain (not just Dr. No) takes a lot from him.
Hodor
Not Quite Batman
Exactly! He's the great grandaddy of all those guys. He needs to make a big comeback, and he needs to be given the chance to stand out.
"Religion isn't the cause of wars, it's the excuse." —Mycroft NextThat is true, but I horribly love Victorian fiction crossovers like Anno Dracula and The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Seeing Fu Manchu with Moriarty, for instance, is just pure nerdgasm. And if they're convincingly and faithfully written? Even better!
Fu Manchu's never really died as a character. Dr. X from The Diamond Age was pretty much a postcyberpunk Expy. Ra's al Ghul has been mentioned. The Mandarin from the Marvel Universe is based partly on him.
edited 4th Nov '10 2:09:12 PM by Zephid
I wrote about a fish turning into the moon.I'd love to see a new take on the character, free of the Unfortunate Implications. I mean, the guy's just freaking awesome. Let him have his due.
https://www.facebook.com/emileunmedicatedanduncutI'm going to have to agree on the Noble Demon/Magnificent Bastard take.
How about a TV series starring a modern-day version of Fu Manchu... Written by Steven Moffat?
...
Somebody call him now.
edited 14th Nov '10 10:08:23 AM by ThatOtherGriffin
I once conceived of a short film about a Fu Manchu Expy who was the good guy, while the Nayland Smith Expy was the bad guy. I never went anywhere with it, though.
I'm Asian and I wouldn't raise a fuss. Honestly, those who see Charlie Chan and Fu Manchu as SYMBOLS OF WHITE RACISM are kind of off - Manchu, though evil, wasn't without mercy and was a very cunning and Worthy Opponent (at least, from what I've read of The Drums of Fu Manchu.)
He'd make a great comeback in serial TV or a movie - maybe comics, but they already have Mandarin.
Half-Life: Dual Nature, a crossover story of reasonably sized proportions.Jack Mackeral, the later Fu books are not quite so bad, but the early ones tend to be much more racially charged — perhaps not so much about Fu himself as about his servants. It is a bit disquieting to see Arabs, Burmese, Chinese, Haitians, and any and all non-Northwestern Europeans treated as one big ol' Always Chaotic Evil "Eastern race."
Charlie Chan along with Mr. Moto and others of their ilk, I think, are rather different. They are very positive depictions of Asian people — especially when one considers that there is a hint that their culture actually makes them better. (After all, who comes off as smarter — Charlie or his very Americanized children?) I would like to see some Asian actors in some of these parts. (I understand there have been some Chinese Chans made in Hong Kong — anyone know if they are on-line anywhere?)
Saying that the Chinese culture is better than the Western one is still an unfortunate implication.
I've never read the Fu Manchu books, but if I find it, I can link to a blog article that explains in detail how the books are full of racism towards Asians.
In the early Oughts there were rumours of a less-racist revamp of Charlie Chan with Lucy Liu in the starring role. I was actually kind of disappointed it never happened.
A True Lady's Quest - A Jojo is You!I believe that racism is an unfortunate implication in almost any work up to the middle of the twentieth century, applied to whatever race/ culture the author isn´t part of. From the portraits of african people in the original Tarzan novels, to Cervantes' treatment of the Gypsies in one of his Exemplar Novels (sorry if I don´t get the translation straight, english isn´t my first language), HP Lovecraft´s treatment of women and anyone who isn´t caucasian, and so on to an almost unending etcetera.
However, one should be capable of reading through those novels and judge them according to their literary value, not the unfortunate implications they carry. Otherwise, one could be losing sight of many valuable compositions, despite humanity having mostly outgrown some of their premises (such as 'The Merchant of Venice' by Shakespeare).
By the way, does anyone know of an online bookstore that sells those books? They appear listed in Amazon, but out of stock :(
Suffer not the witch to live.

Isn't it about time this guy came back? He's one of the most iconic "pop literature" villains of all time, and I'm rather fond of him.
I think that, if we take away the implication that his evil nature is a reflection of his race, he'd be a great mustache-twirling mastermind once more.
Anyone agree?
"Religion isn't the cause of wars, it's the excuse." —Mycroft Next