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Claim: The nationality of Kato, the Green Hornet's valet, was abruptly changed from Japanese to Filipino in radio broadcasts after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Origins: That the Green Hornet, who battled crime on the radio airwaves from 1936 to 1952, bore many resemblances to a modern day Lone Ranger was no coincidence. Both programs were created under the aegis of George W. Trendle at WXYZ in Detroit; thus the similar three-word titles consisting of "The" followed by a monosyllabic adjective 
and a two-syllable noun and main characters who fought crime while remaining outside the realm of official law enforcement (and were often mistaken for outlaws themselves), had faithful sidekicks (both of whom were men of different races with two-syllable names ending in 'o'), and employed masks in their crime-fighting guises to create secret identities. And although the metropolitan Green Hornet could hardly be expected to pursue lawbreakers mounted on horseback as his western precursor did, the similarity between the two heroes was reinforced by the Green Hornet's automotive conveyance being given a name ("Black Beauty") that was both equine and formed from a color word. The link between these two unconventional lawmen was made more explicit by a background history that made the Lone Ranger the great-uncle of Britt Reid, the "daring young publisher" who matched "wits with the underworld, risking his life that criminals and racketeers" might feel "the sting of the Green Hornet!"
Unlike the previous century's Lone Ranger, however, the Green Hornet had a faithful sidekick whose nationality became potentially troublesome in light of current events. Kato, Britt Reid's faithful valet, was an Oriental, a distinction of some consequence after the Japanese drew the USA into World War II by launching a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Was there a change? Some people insist there was, others claim that Kato was an Oriental of unspecified nationality prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the "Filipino" aspect of his character was emphasized afterwards (understandably leaving some A similar type of occurrence took place forty years later, less than two weeks after the 1981 debut of the TV series The Greatest American Hero, a superhero parody show featuring a caped, crime-fighting high school teacher named Ralph Hinkley. President Ronald Reagan was shot during an assassination attempt by a man named John Hinckley, and the TV show's main character was thereafter referred to simply as Last updated: 5 August 2007 Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2009 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson. This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.  Sources:
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