Chu, nicknamed Buddha, was the deceased brother of Short Round.
Biography[]
Short life[]
The younger brother[2] of Wan Li,[3] the boy later known as Short Round,[4] he was the child of a steel plant foreman in Shanghai.[5] Chu’s nickname had been Buddha, not only for his portliness and disposition, but because of the substantial size of his earlobes. They once had an argument about who was the better clean-up batter, Jimmy Foxx or Lou Gehrig.[1] Wan Li was orphaned when a Japanese bombing raid killed his family[4] during a night[1] in January 1932,[3] including his brother.[1]
Legacy[]
In 1935 Short Round met and befriended "Big Short Round", a baby elephant in the Indian village of Mayapore[4] that he believed was Chu reincarnated, hence why he talked to him to solve family matters, ownership disputes over certain toys and apologize for long-dormant squabbles over their baseball preferences.[1]
Personality and traits[]
Of the rotund build, Chu was always in excellent good humor. Chu’s nickname of Buddha was not only for his portliness and disposition, but because of the substantial size of his earlobes.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
Chu was first mentioned in the novelization of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, where he was described as deceased by 1935 though the characterization of Short Round as having a vivid imagination and being liberal with the truth even to himself leaves it ambiguous as to whether or not Chu even existed.[1] The defunct IndianaJones.com Marshall College database later specified that Short Round's entire family was killed in the bombing, leaving him as a orphan, suggesting that Chu died alongside them;[5] compared to Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide where it is stated that only his parents died.[3]
Presumably his full name was Wan Chu, as his brother's full name was Wan Li.[3]
Appearances[]
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom novel (Mentioned only)
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom novel
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Short Round Marshall College article describes Short Round as the oldest child of his family, indicating that Chu was younger than him and was born after 1926, Short Round's birthyear according to Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
- ↑ 5.0 5.1
Short Round's Marshall College entry on IndianaJones.com (backup link on Archive.org)