Or to make it easier, should the champion demon father who's like the boss at the end of this tournament be American or European instead? Then the family clan would just be American or European caucasian would that make it easier and less offensive?
And the anti hero in the meth lab to save his family. Don’t forget that. Everyone should have Walter White in their fiction. Even if he’s called Barbra.
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I think I mostly agree with @The Bluestocking on this one. Do your homework and pass it to some people you know who are of the ethnicity you are representing, regardless of what you decide to do in the end. I will give you a fair heads up, though, that you may run afoul of the "all Asians are martial artists" stereotype with what you are describing. I inadvertently made a shopkeeper very angry at me in Chicago while on a desperate search for a gi that way... Now, you could probably steer clear of it by having some non-martial artist Chinese characters in it, but these will have to be done well to not be superfluous in the story.
I'm definitely going to do my research and have people of that ethicity to look at my writing for the characters im creating. Now I know this is going to sound crazy but Mortal Kombat is about a story, a game, and a comic series and they have Asian martial artist that revlove around the story and a fighting tournament and no one complains why are these Asian doing martial artists.
Maybe I should base my story for a real fighting game video game instead? Would that make a difference? Do fighting games and animes that have Asians fighting ok?
It probably takes some of its inspiration from a whole genre in Chinese literature called Wuxia - basically the adventures of martial arts heroes. Think all the Hong Kong martial arts movies. The genre itself has its own tropes, themes, and stereotypes etc that many of the best Wuxia authors play off and subvert. Have a look at LEGEND OF THE CONDOR HEROES which is written by Jin Yong, whom many people regard as the father of Wuxia.
And MORTAL KOMBAT's a game that is basically designed for martial arts fights and no matter what gamers and game designers go on about the importance of story in the game, it doesn't compare to something that is pure story like a novel, a movie, or a play where characters really have to be developed and where you have no excuse for not doing the required homework and work to produce well-rounded characters.
As for INTO THE BADLANDS - Daniel Wu (who is ethnic Chinese) choreographs and produces the show. He and Mark Millar and Alfred Gough have transposed the Wuxia genre very well into the series and they seamlessly mashed it up with Western elements. Notice that the characters in the series are all very well-rounded even if they are martial artists and Daniel Wu's character isn't a stereotype at all.
But what if my story was revolved mainly around martial arts fights too?
Also doesn't that game series Mortal Kombat have a lot of developed characters that are almost on par with novels, movies and plays? Didn't they make a bunch of movies and books based on the game? And aren't characters like Scorpion, Sub Zero, Liu Kang and Shang Stung who are Asian have very long and in depth storytelling that goes in very deep? Btw Sub Zero is described as a Chinese clan member from a Lin Kuei society, Liu Kang a member of shaolin, Scorpion a member of a Shirai Ryu clan of ninjas that have all been through survival, family loss, death, love, hate, resurrections. Aren't they developed like almost any character in a story? Or am I missing something? Sorry if I did? I apologize.
In my story I would have the MC almost like Daniel Wu's character but a more scruffier version and the antagonist father would be something like a very charismatic and clean cut, fancy Devil-like figure, tall, powerful, seductive and very collected. I don't think this character is often seen as an Asian villain. Isn't it more common for the crazy sinister fu manchu type master to be the antagonist?
Then, as @Joshua Jones pointed out above - you had better be even more careful about not falling into stereotypes. And you had better become well-versed with the Wuxia genre.
And read Fonda Lee's JADE CITY. Pronto.
In a novel, the responsibility falls on the writer to tell the story and develop the characters. A book is mainly static and the reader is mostly a passive participant - far more than a gamer. Your novel is going to live or die based on how well you develop the characters and handle the story, plot, and other elements.
Dude - just do your research, make sure you treat each character as a person in their own right (you'll be surprised how doing this can often-times automatically undermine and subvert stereotypes), and decide what the stakes are for your hero AND your villain. That will help decide what sort of villain is appropriate. Or if you need an antogonist rather than a villain.
In fact - stop thinking about villains, and reframe the opponent to your hero/protagonist as the antagonist. Having a villain might drop you straight into a landmine that your story might not survive because you might just unknowingly walk straight into writing that person as a caricature, especially since you aren't familiar with Chinese culture etc yet.
The correct course on characterisation as needed after copious amounts of beta reading.
Just get started and get your first draft done before sending it off to be critiqued. Or you can write a few chapters then run it by friends who have Chinese heritage to see how they react to it and get their feedback so you can correct course along the way.
Point is: if you keep fussing about this and not writing anything, nobody can really help you with getting things right.
Go. Do. Your. Prep. NOW. I've given you more than enough pointers and leads to get you started.
I've spent a good number of years in Asia, and the premise of a Chinese-Japanese marriage is going to ruffle somebody's feathers, no matter how you write it. Be careful not to distort historical facts, if you're really worried about defending your choices. And just go for it. I think the idea sounds great.
Any other good recommendations like Wuxia genre I can use to research more? Is the legend of 8 Immortals good for me to research more about?[/USER]
And not to dishearten you, but my sister's fiance of 11 years was duel heritage (Hong Kong/N England) and his experience of being either/or was incredibly complex. She is invested so much in Chinese culture, has travelled there and really engages with it culturally the way I do with West Africa. When I mentioned this thread to her she was incredulous that you would even attempt this saying that even with her experience of "China" since 1996, she'd not even consider doing something like this - not because of worrying she'd be offending people, exactly, but because it's just soooo complex.