Does Manhwa have much dark skinned characters?

[Silver7]

Manhwa doesn't really have much black or dark skinned characters though, am I right about that statement?

Manga has some dark characters like The Raikage, Killer B, Yoruichi, Kaname Tousen and more but I wanna know about the Manhwa

[RedLenai]

Similar situation with Manga, most of these asian countries don't have a big population of dark skinned people, some of their authors never seen or interacted with one, and different to Western countries, there isn't much of a requirement or demand from the readers/main public either

[NickRowler]

I have met Korean people with tan skin but not dark skin. Most people who have darker skin in Korea are immigrants or bi-racial. South Korea also has a beauty standard that prefers lighter skin, which is the reason why a lot of manhwa feature very pale characters, even more so than your average Korean IRL.

I remember seeing something where Raikage and Killer B were inspired by Kishimoto seeing black fans internationally who loved Naruto.

[Leyelle]

I don't know of Manhwa or Manga having many, but I've seen a few brown characters in both, though what you consider dark skinned depends on the person I suppose. I've seen some browner ones in popular webtoons like Lily Cha from 'your smile is a trap,' but I rarely see relevant central characters in Manga or Manhwa that I would call 'Dark-skinned'

[thepenmonster]

Manhwa doesn't really have much black or dark skinned characters though, am I right about that statement?

Probably. It's still very much a mono culture. Since it's a "by Koreans for Koreans" industry there's really no motivation to have a dark skinned character in a Korean comic.

Also, Naver and Kakao focus on webtoons they think can get a live action adaptation on Korean Netflix or one of the national networks and the comics creators know this as well. It's a lot easier to find a Korean actor than it is a foreign actor who can speak Korean fluently. There's no financial motivation either.

Make no mistake though- Japan doesn't have dark-skinned characters because they're down with the culture. They fetishise black men and hip-hop to the same degree they do school girls. It's the same thing that gets white folk calling their comics "manga" and drawing like they're Oda.

Most people who have darker skin in Korea are immigrants or bi-racial.

Don't forget the American GIs stationed throughout Korea. In my experience they make up the majority of dark skinned people Koreans meet.