Asian (sometimes referred to as Oriental) was an ethnicity of Humans that lived in the Asian continent and Orient regions of the planet Earth.
- The term "Oriental" originated as a "catchall" term for all Asian natives, assigned by colonizers from the Western world. Although it has been used in Star Trek by 23rd century characters, in reality the term is currently considered derogatory and being phased out in favor of more accurate names for specific geographic origins for the wide array of peoples the term was used to refer to.
History and specifics[]
Asians characteristically had eyes slanted by the epicanthic fold. (TOS - Star Trek 10 novelization: The Omega Glory)
Ghosts and spirits were sometimes featured in Oriental folk tales. (TOS - Star Trek 8 novelization: Catspaw)
Scotty referred to some of the Asian Augments on the SS Botany Bay as Oriental. (TOS episode: "Space Seed")
Hikaru Sulu was of mixed Asian ancestry, but predominantly Japanese. (TOS novel: Spock, Messiah!)
Asians were stereotyped for being "inscrutable". When James T. Kirk jokingly pointed out to Sulu that he was not a very inscrutable Oriental, Sulu admitted that he had tried it when he was a kid from watching old movies in which the villains were Asian. (TOS - Star Trek 12 novelization: The Corbomite Maneuver)
Certain Klingon-Human fusions occupying Organia had features and hairstyles that looked like old Oriental stereotypes, possibly because some were originally of Oriental or Asian stock when they became afflicted with the Augment DNA virus. (TOS - Star Trek 2 novelization: Errand of Mercy)