# Re: Star Trek: TNG, What Nationality Was Dr. Noonian Soong? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197 "2004-07-21T16:26:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/21 "2004-07-21T20:42:42Z")
> [@Katisha](#): > > I was always amused by my sister’s theory that Picard wasn’t really French at all, but that he was on the run from the Vulcan Mafia and had consequently entered the Witness Protection Program. (That fire that killed his brother and nephew in the first TNG movie? That was no accident…) > > 😉 The funniest thing about that theory is just the idea of a Vulcan mafia. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/22 "2004-07-21T21:39:22Z")
Often Wrong Soong was clearly Irish. Kevin O’Riley was his grandpappy. And Picard is from Texas. Just listen to him! Okay, you got me. I am lying. Soong was from Texas. B4 Data and Lore were built, he left to go that planet with the almost naked people on it. But, his starship had a flat or threw a rod or something and he ended up on the planet that was tasty to Silicon Avatars. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/23 "2004-07-22T04:24:23Z")
> [@alimarx](#): > > Cite? What ep? > > I’m still looking for the link (probably anecdotal anyway), but I remember reading somewhere that Roddenberry once had a friend whilst in the military who had a name very similar to “Noonian Singh”. He had lost touch with him, and Roddenberry’s multiple use of the name was his way of trying to hook up again (and IIRC, he never did). I heard that as well. It was a clever maneuver, though fruitless. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/24 "2004-07-22T05:50:38Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Keiko whateverthenamewas was Asian, etc. Keiko Ishikawa (Rosalind Chao) was Japanese. Similar to the other examples, Nurse Alyssa Ogawa was also clearly Japanese, played by Japanese-American actress Patty Yasutake. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/25 "2004-07-22T06:16:55Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > Keiko Ishikawa (Rosalind Chao) was Japanese. Similar to the other examples, Nurse Alyssa Ogawa was also clearly Japanese, played by Japanese-American actress Patty Yasutake. Right. Thanks! I was at work and somehow just didn’t want to get caught googling Star Trek characters. 😉 > [@chirsk](#): > > The funniest thing about that theory is just the idea of a Vulcan mafia. 😃 V1: “Do I appear analogous to a clown to you? Does my behavior cause you to experience amusement?” V2: “Amusement at such a time would not be logical.” V1: “Agreed.” ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/26 "2004-07-22T06:31:33Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > Keiko Ishikawa (Rosalind Chao) was Japanese. Similar to the other examples, Nurse Alyssa Ogawa was also clearly Japanese, played by Japanese-American actress Patty Yasutake. Thinking about it now, were there any Asian characters in Trek that weren’t Japanese? All the ones I can think of off the top of my head are all Japanese even if they aren’t played by Japanese actors. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/27 "2004-07-22T06:39:16Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > The funniest thing about that theory is just the idea of a Vulcan mafia. 😃 Isn’t that a great concept? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/28 "2004-07-22T06:56:11Z")
Yet another confirmation here of the Noonian Signh/Soong-“old acquaintance of GR” story Btw, when I was a teen, I always got the idea that Khan’s rise in the Mideast as the protagonist of the Eugenics wars in the 1990s was supposed to be an Antichrist/Nostradamus reference. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/29 "2004-07-22T07:10:04Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Thinking about it now, were there any Asian characters in Trek that weren’t Japanese? All the ones I can think of off the top of my head are all Japanese even if they aren’t played by Japanese actors. What about Harry Kim, from _Voyager_? I’m not sure, but isn’t “Kim” a Vietnamese name? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/30 "2004-07-22T07:26:10Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > What about Harry Kim, from _Voyager_? I’m not sure, but isn’t “Kim” a Vietnamese name? I think it’s Korean, but it’s definitely not Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/31 "2004-07-22T07:36:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Not a bad thought, but none of the other character names seem to work that way - Jean-Luc Picard is (ostensibly) French, My personal theory is that sometime in the future, before Federation is formed, the USA, UK, and other Anglo influenced countries conquer just about everybody else, which explains why everyone in the Federation speaks English. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/32 "2004-07-22T07:45:56Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > Keiko Ishikawa (Rosalind Chao) was Japanese. Later Keiko O’Brien, mother of the very asian looking Molly O’Brien. Their son got a…mixed name. Kirayoshi, in honour of both Yoshi Ishikawa, Keiko’s father, and Maj. Kira Neris, who carried him to term. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/33 "2004-07-22T14:26:45Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > What about Harry Kim, from _Voyager_? I’m not sure, but isn’t “Kim” a Vietnamese name? Harry was Korean. A google search on “asian star trek” found a page which listed about 20 parts, most of them minor. Very few of the memorable characters were non-Japanese, although most of the actors were Chinese. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/34 "2004-07-22T14:44:09Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Harry was Korean. > > A google search on “asian star trek” found a page which listed about 20 parts, most of them minor. Very few of the memorable characters were non-Japanese, although most of the actors were Chinese. Go figure. Incidentally, is it just me or were several of the asian characters in star trek given a back story of having grown up in the western americas, having their roots there several generations? Sulu and Harry Kim both spring to mind here. Of course, it does make a little sense that people who happen to grow up in the San Francisco area would be a little more likely to join starfleet, what with Command and the Academy right there. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197/35 "2004-07-22T15:35:18Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > V1: “Do I appear analogous to a clown to you? Does my behavior cause you to experience amusement?” > V2: “Amusement at such a time would not be logical.” > V1: “Agreed.” hehehe. Or: [V1 pulls out a phaser and shoots V3 in the chest] V2: Are you feeling OK? Have you been bitten by a Lazerian bloodworm? What you just did was not a logical response to my attempt at humor. V1: Humor? What do you mean humor? What you said to me seemed quite inflammatory. V2: I am attempting humor and you fire your phaser at him? V4: He is dead. V2: I cannot believe you did this. You must dig the grave. V1: Fine, I will dig the grave, that seems logical. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-star-trek-tng-what-nationality-was-dr-noonian-soong/256197.md?page=1)