May means Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and there's no better time to spotlight some of the best AAPI characters in comics. As a company that has been publishing (albeit under a variety of names) since 1939, Marvel has published the escapades of a variety of AAPI heroes, villains, and everything in between.
Although early work published by the company was often problematic, Marvel's representation of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Asian-Americans has greatly improved. As AAPI Month continues, favorite characters with connections to the 616 AAPI community truly shine.
10 Amadeus Cho Is A Totally Awesome Genius
The son of Korean immigrants, Amadeus Cho is Marvel's most fun boy genius. Starting out with little more than his brainpower, Cho soon joined up with the Incredible Hulk and later Hercules as a traveling companion. While alongside Hulk, Cho helped the Jade Giant survive the slugfest of World War Hulk. While alongside Hercules, Cho battled Greek divinity and joined the Mighty Avengers.
Amadeus Cho also had his fair share of solo adventures. In the 2010s, Cho gained the ability to absorb gamma radiation, becoming the Totally Awesome Hulk. Since then, his brain and brawn have proved him one of the most valuable heroes in the MU.
9 Hazmat Is Strong Beyond Her Trauma
Part of the inaugural class at the Avengers Academy, Jennifer Takeda took the codename Hazmat due to her power to generate dangerous, toxic substances. After her powers manifested as a teen, Takeda took to wearing a containment suit to protect those around her but recently came to control her outbursts.
As a student at Avengers Academy, Hazmat fought in plenty of battles. This, alongside her imprisonment in Arcade's Murderworld — alongside fellow Avengers Academy students Mettle, Reptil, and X-23 — caused her to develop PTSD. Despite her hardships, Takeda has continued to fight the good fight alongside heroes like Captain Marvel and Doctor Strange.
8 Jubilee Is Ever-Relatable
Everyone's favorite mutant mallrat, Jubilation Lee has the power to generate colorful, explosive "fireworks" from her hands. After first joining the X-Men in their "Outback" Era, Jubilee would become most famous as the audience surrogate character in the 90s X-Men cartoon.
Jubilee's escapades reach far beyond the small screen. After leaving the X-Men, Jubilee joined the new mutant class of Generation X as their most-experienced member. Later, Jubilee would, among other things, become a vampire and have a baby named Shogo. Currently, Jubilee lives on Krakoa with her child and most often finds herself embroiled in the mutant nation's mystical conflicts.
7 Dust's Faith Makes Her Wildly Compelling
A mutant born in Afghanistan, Soorya Qadir would join the New X-Men, the Champions, and the X-Men themselves. Born with the power to turn into small granular particles, Dust can become a human sandstorm, ripping across battlefields and helping control dust storms on the terraformed Mars.
In addition to being a superhero, Qadir's Sunni Muslim faith is a critical part of her character. She's almost exclusively depicted wearing traditional Muslim dress comprised of a niqab atop an abaya. Although her faith occasionally creates conflict with other characters, Qadir's faith remains strong and makes her one of the most positive representations of Muslim women in speculative fiction.
6 Shang-Chi Has Blown Past His Stereotypical Beginnings
Originally known as the "Master of Kung-Fu," Shang-Chi was conceived of the martial-arts craze of the 1970s as the son of pulp supervillain Fu Manchu. Since then, Shang-Chi has become one of the most celebrated and central characters in the Marvel Universe as well as one of the MCU's most recent stars.
As a master of the martial arts, Shang-Chi is a capable fighter who has taken on big-name heroes like Captain America and Spider-Man. He was one of the first heroes selected to join the "Avengers World" initiative and helped Daredevil track down the Punisher. As the current wielder of the Ten Rings, Shang-Chi possesses great powers of strength, durability, stamina, and flight.
5 Mondo Has Kept His Cool Despite It All
The mutant Mondo can absorb matter and retain its properties, making him one of the most powerful members of Generation X. Born in the Polynesian nation of Samoa, Mondo's deep connection to the Earth and his laidback attitude make him a fan-favorite mutant.
While on his way to join the Xavier Institute, the original Mondo was kidnapped and replaced with a plant-based clone by Black Tom Cassidy and Juggernaut. After the clone was destroyed, Mondo eventually returned to the side of good and has been seen more recently on Krakoa with the New Mutants.
4 Karma Is Devoted To Her Found And Birth Families
A founding member of the New Mutants, Xi'an Coy Manh debuted before any of her teammates. As a teenage Vietnamese immigrant with the power to possess others, Karma found her way to the Xavier Institute after both possessing and working alongside Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four to free her imprisoned siblings.
Since joining the X-Family, Manh has fought alongside her New Mutants teammates as well as the greater X-Men host against foes like Bastion, the Shadow King, and Cameron Hodge — to who she lost her leg. Karma was revealed as a lesbian in writer Matt Fraction and artist Greg Land's Uncanny X-Men #508 and has since become one of the most prominent queer figures in X-Comics.
3 Ms Marvel Has Been An Instant Classic
Since her superheroic debut in 2014, Ms. Marvel has become one of the breakout stars of comics. A character not even a decade old, Kamala Khan has starred in team books, best-selling solo series, and has a Disney+ TV show on the way. Khan's comic character has made her one of the genre's most exciting recent heroes.
The Muslim daughter of Pakistani immigrants, Khan is an Inhuman with the power to change the size and shape of her body. Even though Khan has done things like join the Avengers and fight in the second superhero Civil War, her true appeal comes from her relatability as a teenage girl.
2 Loa Is Resilient And Fun
Alani Ryan is Loa, a mutant Hawaiian girl with the ability to shatter solid matter by phasing through it. Her powers manifested when, while surfing with her father, they were attacked by the supervillian Great White. After she fought off a shark, Namor intervened, resulting in a lifelong fascination with Atlantean culture.
After joining the Xavier Institute as a member of the New X-Men, Loa was one of the few mutants to retain her powers after M-Day. Loa has assisted Namor, the X-Men, and Defenders against various water-based threats and — after a death at the hands of human supremacists — was recently resurrected on Krakoa.
1 Nico Minoru Has Strong Bonds Of Magic And Love
Nico Minoru was an average kid with average parents — that is, until she wasn't. After secretly witnessing her parents and several other adults murder an innocent, Minoru and the other kids there ran away to form the aptly-named Runaways. When her magic-wielding parents later confronted the group, Nico learned she was a witch and began to wield the legendary Staff of One.
Even though the Runaways eventually stopped operating as a group, Minoru retains strong connection to her magical ability as well as her friends. Currently, Minoru is in a relationship with fellow Runaway Karolina Dean and works as Professor Of Creative Spellcasting at Strange Academy.