There’s a lot of buzz in my home country of the Philippines about the upcoming game Civilization VII. Not because it’s going to be a great game (which I’m absolutely sure it’s going to be despite me not being a fan), but because of the reveal of a new selectable leader. That leader is none other than one of the country’s greatest national heroes, Jose Rizal.
Sure, I may find Jose Rizal’s inclusion kind of odd because, strictly speaking, he wasn’t exactly a “leader” but he did introduce writings that did inspire the country to declare their independence. Also, Ghandi was never technically the leader of a country as well but he’s been a part of the Civilization games since the first one! Heck, thanks to an urban legend, he seemed much more bloodthirsty than the supposed peaceful man he was supposed to be! Makes me wonder if this “bug” will affect Jose Rizal in his first appearance.
Oh, and just in case, I will be putting up a SPOILER WARNING as I will have to spoil a few things here and there.
Oh, come on! Stop crying already!
The announcement of the first Filipino character in the Tekken franchise was met with a lot of fanfare from the fanbase in the Philippines. Sure, it was met with some derision as it was basically a female version of Jose Rizal but most were fine with it. However, I don’t really know a lot of Filipino Tekken players who actually played the game using Josie Rizal.
Personally, I’m not a fan for a couple of reasons. First off, I simply don’t think she’s a good representation of the Philippines because all I know about her personality is she’s a crybaby and sensitive! What’s does that have to do with being Filipino? I also found it weird that, unlike most Tekken characters, she never really speak the native language. I know most Filipinos speak English but not even an accent, Bandai Namco? What’s especially weird is that it would be fine if she doesn’t speak English, especially since every character in Tekken is multilingual, apparently. Finally, she’s a crybaby. Yeah, I said that already but that’s just how much it irks me.
Thankfully, she’s not the only Filipino character to appear in a fighting game.
Still kind of sad we don’t have another Soulcalibur game, Bandai Namco.
At first glance, you might not even know Talim is from the Philippines. She doesn’t exactly look the part but, once you see her story, you soon realize she is. And she’s a pretty positive showcase of Filipino representation, too. Basically, she’s a young priestess who can control the winds to some degree. That kind of makes sense as the Philippines does get battered by typhoons from time to time.
What is amazing is how Talim became a very strong fan favorite in the Soulcalibur fandom as she was voted the most popular character during a 2015 poll. I will say she doesn’t really exude Filipino in general. She does have some design elements showing off traditional Filipino clothing but her default weaponry doesn’t really seem to be derived from local culture. Eh, doesn’t matter too much to me because they are pretty cool looking tonfa-like blades.
Jason Mendoza (The Good Place)
What a lovable (and rather dangerous) doofus.
We actually don’t know a Jason Mendoza during the first few episodes of The Good Place. That’s because he’s introduced to us as Jianyu, who was supposed to be a monk who took a vow of silence. It’s then revealed this was a “mistake” as Jason died at the same time as the supposed monk went into a trance-like death state. Of course, that was actually a lie as, if you know the big twist at the end of the first season of The Good Place, Jason deserves to be in this alleged “good place.”
Despite Jason Mendoza not really being a good person in life, I have no real qualms about him being a Filipino. Him doing bad things is mostly due to a combination of poor circumstance and him possibly being mentally challenged. Still, he does have a good heart and that does seem to be a strong Filipino trait in general. So, yeah. He’s fine in my book.
Wait, both Superstore and The Good Place were made by NBC? And they both have Filipino characters? What a coincidence!
Fun fact: the reason I started watching Superstore was because YouTube recommended me this clip of Mateo Liwanag arguing in Filipino with another guy who retorted in the language even though he wasn’t Filipino. Honestly, that was one of the best decisions of my life because I really did think Superstore was incredibly funny and, despite Mateo being a conniving social climber, he became my favorite character.
I honestly do see a lot of truthfulness in Nico Santos‘ portrayal of this gay store clerk as he does capture the personality of a lot of Filipino gays here. He’s loud and boisterous for the most part. And I also love the weird air of superiority he exudes as he tries to outdo the rest of his coworkers as, yeah, I do see that kind of behavior a lot here in the offices of the Philippines. Not necessarily a bad thing but just a statement of fact for a lot of workers here in the country.
Oh, and I guess I have to give an honorary mention to Marcus White, the guy Mateo was talking to in Filipino…
Hey, if he learned enough to have a conversation, he deserves some respect!
Aww, he didn’t last all four seasons?
Now, I have to be honest but I haven’t really seen Tacoma FD as it isn’t available on any streaming services in the Philippines. And I think that’s a disservice to the show and most especially to Andy as he is a Filipino. However, I have been watching a lot of clips of Tacoma FD so that’s how I found out about him.
Actually, in most of the clips I’ve seen, I really didn’t know he was a Filipino until I ran across a clip where Andy prepares coffee that his mom gave him that’s supposed to give him and his fellow Tacoma FD buddy extraordinary energy. It turns out the coffee is made in the Philippines and, since he got it from his mom, I can only assume his mom is Filipino. By the way, the translation he gives isn’t exactly accurate… but it is accurate enough to be funny.
So, while Andy may not really show a lot of Filipino traits from the clips I’ve seen, seeing that he’s been living in the United States and has adapted to life there, well, that’s incredibly Filipino, in my opinion!
BONUS: Various Ewoks (Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Oh, they aren’t technically Filipinos. After all, the Ewoks found in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi are supposedly creatures who live on Endor. But then again, why do some of them speak Filipino? No, really. That’s clearly the Philippines’ native language!
Tell me I’m wrong!
Are there any other Filipinos characters who have appeared in non-Filipino movies, television and video games? Let me know in the comments section below!
3rd World Geeks 