Ever watch a Star Wars movie and felt it was lacking Asian characters? According to the Fall 1999 issue of Yolk Magazine, there are a few. In Return of the Jedi, there is an Asian A-Wing pilot who has a speaking part. He says "There's too many of them!" and then his craft gets hit and explodes. In The Empire Strikes Back, there are a couple of Asians in Lando Calrissian's guard. Finally, in The Phantom Menace (or Episode I), we have another Asian character - Sei Taria is the administrative aide to Chancellor Valorum.
The June/July 1999 issue of Stir Magazine featured an article (note: link and site no longer available) that found a few more Asian-looking characters in The Phantom Menace. Stir Editor Pallavi Sharma writes, "Not only is there a female Jedi in the Jedi Council, she looks South Asian-complete with pearl bindi on her forhead. OK, so she doesn't get to speak, or even wield a light saber, and I bet you didn't even notice her. But I did. I also noticed the South Asian-looking Queen's handmaiden. And of course, there is 'Kitster,' (played by Dhruv Chanchani) Anakin's friend who speaks with an AMERICAN accent, not the 'Apu Quicky Mart' accent we'd expect from a South Asian actor."
But, alas, with the exception of the A-Wing pilot, no other Asian Star Wars action figures have been made.
Or, is this really true? Acutally, look closer at the aliens. You'll begin to see that Asians abound. Okay, I've heard that Asians feel alien in America, but I think George Lucas took things a little too literally. Take a look at what I've found:
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Nien Nunb Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Power of the Force 1983 (ROTJ) and 1997 (POTF), Kenner Return of the Jedi Individual Figure I have a loose version of the vintage 1983 Return of the Jedi version as well as a carded 1997 Power of the Force version of the figure. Nien Nunb, a Sullustan alien, served as a rebel pilot and navigator in Return of the Jedi. He helped pilot the Millennium Falcon during the second attack of the Death Star. The vintage figure is actually really nicely done. His jump suit is darker than the newer version and his face has more crags, but the appearance still true to the film version. The vintage figure also only comes with a blaster pistol (which I don't have), while the Power of the Force version also comes with a blaster rifle. I think several Asian Americans saw a little bit of Asian in this little guy. Perhaps we were all looking for some kind of representation. It also sounded like he was speaking in some variation of Asian language. But, according to Peter J. Chen's Asian American Action Figure Homepage, Nien Nunb is really speaking a modified Kenyan dialect. Oh, well. Like for Peter, he will always remain Asian in my mind.
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Rystáll and Lyn Me Star Wars: The Power of the Force 1998, Kenner Return of the Jedi In 3 piece set (Jabba The Hutt's Dancers) with Greeata Rystáll and Lyn Me were two dancers, along with the Rodian known as Greeata, in Jabba the Hutt's Palace on Tatooine. These dancers only appear in the special edition of Return of the Jedi which was released in 1997. According to Peter J. Chen's Asian American Action Figure Homepage, Rystáll was "played by an Asian American, of Vietnamese descent. Her name is Mercedes Melinda Ngoh." Lyn Me was "played by Dalyn Chew, a dancer for a SFO-based dance troupe. She plays a Twi'lek, the race of aliens with two tentacle-like protrusions coming out of her head."
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Rune Haako and Nute Gunray Star Wars: Episode I 1999, Hasbro The Phantom Menace Individual Figures Rune Haako and Nute Gunray were Neimoidian viceroys of the Trade Federation in the 1999 release of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. When the film came out, it was criticized for incorporating racial stereotypes into the aliens. Haako and Gunray were part Fu Manchu and part Ming the Merciless...all the evil Chinese emperor stereotypes rolled into one. The accents were undeniably Asian and the clothing reminiscent of Fu Manchu. Anyway, decide for yourself. I was just happy they made action figures of them.
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Ten Numb and "Arvel Crynyd" (or J'ef Hsu) Star Wars: The Power of the Force 1998, Hasbro In 3 piece set (Rebel Pilots) with Wedge Antilles Okay, this set has got me stumped. Reading in the Fall 1999 issue of Yolk, I learned that an Asian A-Wing pilot came in a "Rebel Pilots" set. So, when I saw the Rebel Pilots set in the store, I was quite excited. Then, when I did some research on "Arvel Crynyd" (the figure in question), I found that he wasn't Asian at all. At the same time, all the pictures I saw of Arvel Crynyd looked nothing like the figure in the box. Crynyd was dressed in green and didn't have a full helmet. So, I did some additional research to see if I could find anything out about an Asian rebel pilot. Finally, I found a page that profiled a Y-Wing Pilot Lt. J'ef Hsu who died during the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi. Looking at the photo provided, the costume of J'ef Hsu looked more like the figure than Arvel Crynyd. And, I guess I wasn't the only person to think this. The page that gave me the most information (http://web.qx.net/red6/aliens/Rebel/Pilots/Hsu.htm) notes at the end, "He currently has no figures to his name...Although the third figure in the Rebel Pilots cinema scene is rumored to be him." Whatever the case might be, the set also includes another Sullstan pilot by the name of Ten Numb. Could this be a relative to Nien Numb, loved by many as an Asian inspired alien?
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The following are items I still need to complete the set. If you notice any other items that should be added, please e-mail me.
- None that I know of...
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