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Fu Manchu Wikipedia

This article is about the fictional literature character. For the California stoner rock band, see Fu Manchu (band).

Dr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character, a villain of China|Chinese origin, first featured in a series of novels by Birmingham author, Sax Rohmer.

"Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present... Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man."—The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu

Fu Manchu has appeared as a villainous character in several film|motion pictures and cliffhanger serials over the years, and even a television series, The Adventures of Fu Manchu (1956). There were a number made around 1930 including The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929) and The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930). The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), featuring Boris Karloff, is considered the best of those produced in the 1930s. The name was revived in a series starring Christopher Lee in the 1960s with The Face of Fu Manchu (1965), The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966), The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967), The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968), and finally The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969). His last major film appearance was The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu, a 1980 parody starring Peter Sellers as Fu.

On film, the Fu Manchu character wore a distinctive style of moustache which is sometimes known by that name. See: Fu Manchu moustache

He reappears as a minor character (but still a villain) in the comic book series Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu from Marvel Comics. He is the (unnamed) criminal lord of Victorian Limehouse in Alan Moore|Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

The character has remained controversial, being charged by some as an example of Western countries|Western racism and stereotyping of the Chinese.

Last Modified:   2005-04-13