Hank aspired to be like his father, running the store when he gets older. But with his mother overhearing the greatness that comes out of being a superhero, she questions why her own child cannot do the same? Eventually, he does just that, but when he puts on his mask, his identity isn’t the only thing that gets covered. Rather, the evident physical traits of his ethnicity get hidden as well. This opens the door to what people say when they think they aren’t being listened to. This is especially evident with the detective. When he brings an actor playing the role of emperor to his precinct, he is immediately taken as a fool. And to add more wood to the fire, the detective makes it a point to call the enemy “sneaky slanty-eyed bastards.” The detective then realizes the superhero standing before him is of Chinese decent as well and becomes awestruck. Hank, in retaliation, pulls the skin near his eyes back and mocks the detective’s words. By doing so, he informs the detective that what he said was insulting.
This event comes up later in the plot, after Hank apprehends Mock Beak and hands him over to the police. The detective reminisces on what he said in front of Hank. Hank states that what he said isn’t representative of who he is, but the detective counters by saying it is who he is, but not who he wants to be.
In the end, Hank comes to terms with himself as a superhero, striking down the offer that Red, the daughter of the emperor, had approached him with. When he is approached by Anchor of Justice, a physically caucasian superhero, he is asked to join him in recruiting men to fight for his country. Just before Anchor of Justice leaves, he keys Hank in on a secret he’s never told anyone: that he too is not classified as the majority group, and is from somewhere far away as well.
