American Born Chinese Characters

Your Average TeenJin's your average male teenager: he's insecure about how he looks, how he acts, how he sounds. Case in point, his date with Amelia. You'd think he'd be happy that, in the movie th...

I am Monkey, Hear me RoarThink of the most arrogant, egotistical person you know—that's the Monkey King. He's the character that no one likes. At first, that is. At first, Monkey thinks he knows...

In with the In Crowd Think of Danny as Jin's fantasy alter ego—and unlike Jin, Danny's blond and poised for popularity at his new school. How do we know this? He's just made Oliphant High's varsi...

Think of Chin-Kee as Jin's/Danny's worst fears come alive. He represents everything they don't want to be associated with: the idea of the "c****y" Chinese. (Get it? Chin-kee/c****y? Clever, Gene Y...

The Best FriendWei-Chen is just about the coolest character in the book. Yeah he can't dress or style his hair (2.62)—even when he becomes super-gangsta toward the end of the book—and sure his...

What do guys fight about? Girls. But Wei-Chen's girlfriend isn't your typical trophy piece, who Wei-Chen and Jin fight over. She's sensitive and smart and, like Jin, sick of being viewed like an ou...

Amelia's basically Jin's goal for the novel. She drives him—unknowingly—to try and be someone he's not. How does she do this? She's just a nice, white girl after all, and even though she's popu...

What do you need to know about Greg? He's a jerk. But he wasn't always that way. In elementary school, he tries to defend Jin when Timmy bullies Jin for being Chinese, telling Timmy, "'Hey, be cool...

Call him the Chinese version of God. He's everywhere and nowhere, he's the creator of all Earth, and he knows how to use his powers. For example, when the Monkey King tries to prove that Tze-Yo-Tzu...

Humble, kind monk does good, and in so doing, he inspires others to do good too. That's pretty much Wong Lai-Tsao's function in the book. He's the model for perfect kindness and humility: the true...