Jin Wang is the main protagonist (alongside Wei-Chen Sun) in the Disney+ original series American Born Chinese. and the main protagonist (alongside Josh Boswell) in American Born Chinese: The Wicked Descendant. He is portrayed by Ben Wang. He is an American born Chinese 10th grader at Sierra Mona High School.
Background[]
Personality[]
Jin Wang is a relatively normal teenager, but hides some self-loathing due to how people perceive him and his heritage as well as how his personal life appears to be slowly falling apart. While he acts reasonable, he starts off pursuing his own self interests and puts off other things that should be more important to him. Upon coming to this realization, he starts to experience regret before deciding to adopt the title of Guide from Wei-Chen. He still maintains a love for all things manga, comic, toy, and cartoon related, showing that he does have personal and fun interests.
Physical appearance[]
Jin is a young man who has a youthful face with short brown hair and bright eyes that sparkle with joy. On his feet are white sneakers, completing the casual look of his outfit.
Powers and abilities[]
Jin, for the most part, does not appear to have any special powers or abilities. However, with the revelation that he is the Fourth Scroll of legend, it is possible that he possesses some unknown supernatural abilities that he has yet to unlock. He is also skilled at soccer as he is capable of kicking a ball at long range distances.
History[]
Season 1[]
In What Guy Are You, Jin is shopping with his mother Christine Wang for new clothes as he is starting tenth grade. While he has his eyes set on an expensive denim jacket, his mother insists on trying on a much cheaper white hoodie that she found. He likes it, but embarrasses himself when he runs into Amelia Taylor, his classmate and crush, who simply smiles and tells him "Hot stuff". He realizes that it is due to a cartoon chili pepper on his jacket with this phrase and immediately discards it. Upon returning home, it turns out that Jin stole the denim jacket and overhears his parents arguing about something, hearing the term "fried squid". To which Jin can't understand much, since he only knows some Mandarin. On the way to school the next day, Jin reveals that during the summer he and his friend Anuj had a falling out at camp and it is unlikely that he wants to speak with him. This is proven true when he tries to talk with him at the school entrance, only to get a cold stare in return. He goes to his new soccer friends he made at camp during the summer where it is shown that they are much rowdier than even Jin. He meets Greg, the varsity captain, who takes a liking to Jin and offers that he go to tryouts. Jin goes to his science class where he runs into Amelia and the two of them seem to hit it off. Principal Finney, comes in asking for "Jim Wang" (pronouncing the last name literally rather than as "Wong"), to come and speak outside with her. Jin meets Wei-Chen, and Finney asks that Jin allow Wei-Chen to shadow him because they "have so much in common". Jin is slightly embarrassed by the sudden change in events and even more so when his soccer friends assume that he is going to eat with Wei-Chen at lunch. Jin learns that Wei-Chen is a fan of Kugo Ren Saga, a manga series that apparently has more issues that have not been released in the US. When Jin returns home, his parents begin to argue during dinner. Sensing tension between the two, Jin calmly tries to steer the situation away to something different. Later that night, Jin watches an episode of a controversial 90s sitcom called Beyond Repair which features a white blond haired character named Danny living in an apartment complex with a stereotypically Chinese neighbor named Freddy Wong who clumsily gets injured after exclaiming his catchphrase "What could go Wong?". The next day, Jin wears the stolen jacket at school and tries to ask Amelia to hang out with her, only for Wei-Chen to ruin the moment where it is revealed that he also has the same denim jacket. Amelia agrees to hang out as "buds". Wei-Chen attempts to apologize, but a furious Jin tells him he is not his friend, runs into door, slides across the floor on a janitor's trolley and crashes into a glass display case which is seen by everyone. Jin attempts to sit with Anuj and it is revealed that Jin allowed the other soccer players during the summer to make fun of him due to him dressing up as a character from Naruto during one of their games. Anuj reveals that his accident has become a meme, associated with the Freddy Wong character from Beyond Repair. Jin attends soccer practice where Travis makes a snide remark in reference to the "What could go Wong?" meme and during the tryout, Jin angrily jumps and attacks Travis. Coach Garrett tells Jin that he should try a different sport, though he is impressed with his kicking abilities. Jin apologizes to Wei-Chen about arguing with him and reveals the meme. Jin arrives home and overhears his parents arguing again. When the two start to yell at one another, Jin, having had enough, comes out of his room and yells at them to stop. As Jin goes back into his room, he realizes that Wei-Chen left his Kugo Ren action figure in his backpack as a thank you gift. He opens to chest to discover that the robot has a second head resembling the classic Monkey King head. He places the action figure on his shelf as the eyes begin to glow.
In A Monkey on a Quest, Christine asks Jin if he will be asking about soccer again from Coach Garrett, but Jin does not think it will be possible. Jin arrives at school where he talks to Wei-Chen, thanking him for the Kugo Ren action figure, but admitting that he feels bad for having it when his father bought it for him and insists that he take it back. Jin finally makes amends with Anuj who comforts him over the things that have happened to him recently. However, Jin is made uncomfortable when the Culture Club, lead by activist Suzy Nakamura, makes a protest over the video about Jin, embarrassing him somewhat. At school, Suzy tries to get Jin to make a statement about the video, but he nervously turns her down, which she interprets as him being afraid to speak up and gets Wei-Chen instead. Amelia and her friend Ruby talk to Jin and empathize with his predicament where he once again attempts to blow it off, only for the Culture Club to make a demonstration in the cafeteria about Jin and out Greg as the culprit behind the video. Later, Greg approaches Jin by telling him that he sees potential in him and plans to talk to the coach about him joining the soccer team by subliminally bribing him into saying nice things about him. Jin instead goes straight to Coach Garrett to ask for another chance and he sets him with cleaning up the equipment room in exchange for talking about it. Wei-Chen finds Jin and ask that he take the Kugo Ren action figure back, but he refuses, admitting that he is angry for being called out publicly. Wei-Chen attempts to help, but accidentally knocks over the equipment, destroying much of the equipment room. Jin goes home that day feeling that nothing has been going as he had hoped that year. The next day, he tells Suzy that he will make a statement, however, it is of him telling everyone that he is okay with the video and that Greg is a nice person, disappointing her. Jin speaks with Coach Garrett who informs him that due to a misplaced fire extinguisher, the district will be paying for a new equipment room rather than the school itself and tells him that he is now on the soccer team thanks to good word of mouth. Jin is later confronted by Suzy who scolds him for giving in to Greg's bribe in favor of a spot on the soccer team. While she criticizes him for his practice, she commends him for his honesty. Jin then finds out that Wei-Chen snuck the Kugo Ren action figure in his backpack again and goes to return it to him. Still at school, Jin hears the commotion and enters, only for Wei-Chen to accidentally send Zhu Bajie straight into Jin and knocking him out. Wei-Chen convinces Bajie to go back home as he checks on a dazed Jin.
In Rockstar Status, Jin has a strange dream about Wei-Chen and the Kugo Ren action figure before waking up and heading to school. He joins his fellow teammates at a pep rally where he spots Wei-Chen and suddenly remembers his fight with Zhu Bajie. Wei-Chen finally reveals that he is the son of the Monkey King and that he came to Earth after having a dream about a crane, the school's mascot. While Jin is able to fathom it, he reluctantly agrees to meet with Guanyin after school at five. However, Travis comes by and invites Jin to a pool party they are holding at his house, which he ends up agreeing to. Jin arrives at the party where he apologizes to Travis for attacking him earlier, though he easily forgives him. Jin has fun at the party and manages to speak to Amelia who informs him that the other guys plan to do something with him. Jin reveals facts about himself such as his dislike towards root beer and birds and him knowing the lyrics to "Despacito". As Jin attempts to leave, he is coaxed into taking part in the "Chump Run" where the older soccer teammates have the new players perform a series of actions with the winner getting a pair of golden cleats. Jin heads to school to meet with Anuj and perform his first task which is to wear something stupid. Anuj gives him Pikachu pajamas and he heads off to the next task, continuously sending photos and videos to confirm each one. He must sing "Despacito" and dance in public, steal coins from a fountain, befriend a parrot, chug a liter of root beer, and finally must TP their rival school's statue of a bear. Jin goes to the church to get toilet paper and runs into Wei-Chen who agrees to help him on the condition that he eventually come meet Guanyin. Wei-Chen uses the Jingu Bang to help wrap the statue in toilet paper and Jin ends up having fun with him. Afterwards, Jin gets a message confirming that he has won the golden cleats. Wei-Chen tells Jin to go and meet with his friends about it and that he can meet Guanyin later. When Jin returns home with the golden cleats, he declares that he had a good day with Christine also telling Jin that her day was good too.
In Make a Splash, Jin returns to school where he is hailed as a hero by everyone for TPing the rival school's mascot. As he sits in class, he is greeted by Amelia who asks how he managed to accomplish the task. He turns to look for Wei-Chen, only to see that he is not there. Later, when Wei-Chen finally appears, he goes to meet up with Jin, believing that it has only been a day, but Jin tells him that he has been gone for a month.
In Abracadabra, Wei-Chen informs Jin what happened with him and why he was gone for a month (time moves differently in Heaven). Jin accepts this explanation. Jin takes Wei-Chen to his room where the latter explains that Sun Wukong, his father told him of an expert who may be able to help. While Jin does not know why it is necessary for him to be there, he agrees to come along. Wei-Chen gets distracted by a simple magic kit and is impressed with a switch out hanky trick, which Jin promises to teach him at some point. Wei-Chen takes Jin to a strip mall restaurant called The Golden Temple where they come across a drunk busboy who tells them to leave. While Wei-Chen decides to stay to look around, Jin opts to leave to study for biology. Jin's biology study date is actually that with Amelia whom he has grown closer to. He meets Amelia's incredibly happy family and starts to feel at home with them. Later, Jin is still studying with Amelia when he gets a call from Wei-Chen. However, he slights him and hangs up, leaving Wei-Chen unable to tell him that he is at his parents house. Jin continues to study with Amelia who is noticeably irritated by her mother. Up in her room, Amelia admits to Jin that she sometimes cannot stand how her mother acts around people as she is too nice and sometimes wishes she could say something mean. Jin has the opposite problem, but admits that he sees her point. He is about to agree to join the Taylors for dinner, but upon calling his mother, learns that they all went out to eat at the Golden Temple, confusing him when he learns about Wei-Chen's "uncle". Jin arrives at the Golden Temple to find the whole group, sans Wei-Chen, in a drunken stupor. Wei-Chen reveals what he has learned and that he is certain that the jade pendant is the fourth scroll, but Jin does not think so. Later, Jin comforts Christine and proceeds to sing karaoke with her. Wei-Chen returns with the pendant to Jin, who thinks that he stole it. Jin becomes furious as the pendant has resulted in his parents arguing and accuses him of lying. As Jin attempts to take the pendant back, Wei-Chen accidentally hurts him and Jin angrily sends him away.
In Hot Stuff, at school, Jin reluctantly tells Amelia about his and Wei-Chen's falling out before revealing that it is his birthday. Not wanting it to go unnoticed, Amelia offers to invite him to the local bowling alley to celebrate and even opts to invite some of their friends over. Meanwhile, Jin has two separate conversations with his mom and dad. In talking to both of them, Jin realizes that they are both upset over the loss of the jade pendant and claims that the other wants to talk to make up and apologize. As Jin is dropped off at the bowling alley, he is greeted by all his friends, including Anuj and Suzy Nakamura the latter of whom claims to be keeping Travis in line should he say something offensive. As a gift, Amelia gives Jin the hoodie he wore when they met at the store early in the year. During the party, Wei-Chen arrives. Amelia reveals that she invited him and Jin gets a gift from him: Christine's new green powder that was blessed by Guanyin. While the party is still running smoothly, Jin confronts Wei-Chen and he admits that he wanted to apologize and go back to being friends. A fight between the two breaks out and Gong chases Jin and Wei-Chen, only to get knocked out by Sha Wujing who goes to aid Wukong. Jin and Wei-Chen try to usher the party to end soon. Back at home, Christine and Simon both realize that Jin lied to them about wanting to talk, but are both amused by it. Jin manages to get everyone out, learning that Anuj and Suzy are "together", though the latter denies it, and Amelia is happy to see that Jin enjoyed himself. Jin goes to check on Wei-Chen and he tells him that Mowang made off with his father.
In Beyond Repair, Jin and Wei-Chen regroup outside the bowling alley and head off to go see Guanyin. They are disappointed to learn that the jade pendant is not the fourth scroll and they cannot even use it to barter as Pixiu ate it. Wei-Chen tells Jin that he is no longer needed as a guide, making him feel sad. Jin begins to miss Wei-Chen and when Christine drives him to school, she tells him that she is going to visit her sister Elaine for a while. Jin suspects that Christine is separating from Simon, making him feel disoriented. He goes to school and does not respond to Coach Garrett telling him that he has made midfielder and struggles to explain what is happening to Amelia. When the school mascot begins to interact with him, Jin shoves him into a locker and he is immediately sent to the principal's office. While waiting outside, Anuj sends Jin a video of his pratfall on TV along with the Beyond Repair interview. Jin is sent back to class while Christine makes it obvious that she is not leaving after all.
In The Fourth Scroll, Jin has a dream that he is on Beyond Repair talking to Jamie Yao as Freddy Wong, but is interrupted by the appearances of Christine, Simon, Anuj, and Guanyin. The latter of whom informs Jin that it is the Autumn Equinox which is when Niu Mowang will enact his plan and that he needs to find Wei-Chen and help him before Heaven and Earth are destroyed. Jin wakes up and goes to school where he begins to notice things that align with his dream before going to meet with Anuj and convincing him that he needs to help him. Jin and Anuj return to the apartment where they find Wei-Chen, in his real monkey appearance, and tell him that they need to stop Mowang. The boys arrive to search for Mowang, but Jin is stopped by Amelia who wants to speak privately with him. She admits that she does not feel right being just "buds" and has started to feel saddened when he is not around. Realizing that they are in love with each other, Jin and Amelia share a kiss before Jin has to go prepare for the big fight. The sky begins to open up, just as Simon and Christine show up, and they are running out of time. However, Jin decides that they need to draw Mowang out. With the school having clubs perform sketches that night, Anuj hijacks his own cosplay club to have him and Jin perform a sketch about Guanyin and Mowang. Jin attempts to appeal to Mowang's better half by pointing out that he is simply afraid of being himself because he does not want people to perceive him in such a matter. When that does not work, he proceeds to mock his appearance, revealing that Mr. Larkins is actually Mowang in disguise and tries to attack Jin, only for Wei-Chen to jump in and fight Mowang. As Wei-Chen and Mowang have an aerial battle, Jin and Anuj initially flee. However, Jin has one final thought about his parents and instead leaps over the Jingu Bang as it gives off a light blast, only for Jin to absorb it and survive. Wukong arrives to sedate Mowang and reveals that Jin is the fourth scroll, much to everyone's delight. Wei-Chen, Wukong and Mowang then disappear. After Jin gets dropped off at home by Anuj, he is visited by Wei-Chen who tells him that he is just as confused as him about how he managed to stop the destruction. Wei-Chen hopes to see Jin again as he flies away in the form of an eagle. Jin enters his house, but his parents are missing. He is confronted by Princess Iron Fan who demands that he come with her if he ever wants to see his parents again. However, Jin fails to catch the last part as she was speaking in Mandarin and he didn't understand it.
Quotes[]
- "Cosplay … it's where you dress up as, like, a warrior or a sexy demon."
- "I'm not actually sure if my parents have any interests."
- "I got like eight of 'em. One for every day of the week."
- "He's just sort of stressed and tired all the time."
- "I also know all the words to 'Despacito.'"
- "Is there some other reason you're still sticking around? Or do you just wanna find new ways to ruin my life?"
- "I had a dream last night, and everything in it is weirdly coming true."
- "No one can stop my plan of destruction."
- "At the end of the day, everybody can tell how hard I'm trying."
- "I'm sorry, can you say that one more time slower? My Chinese isn't super good."
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the original graphic novel, Jin Wang never enters a battle of Chinese mythology and spends most of the time trying to distance himself from Wei-Chen and pursue his crush, only to be turned down by a mutual friend.
- This results in him transforming into an "all-American" boy named Danny who is visited by his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee (horrifically portrayed as an obnoxious racist stereotype). He gets into a fight with him, only for Chin-Kee to be revealed to be Sun Wukong in disguise who came to remind Jin to embrace his heritage.
- His last name is pronounced like "Wong".
- The episode "Rockstar Status" reveals various details about himself such as :
- His favorite soccer player is Lionel Messi.
- He is allergic to cats and birds freak him out.
- Root beer makes him gag.
- He knows all the lyrics to "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi, going so far as to claim that he knows some Spanish because of it.
Appearances: 8/8[]
- What Guy Are You
- A Monkey on a Quest
- Rockstar Status
- Make a Splash
- Abracadabra
- Hot Stuff
- Beyond Repair
- The Fourth Scroll
References[]
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