In Starship Troopers, what is Juan Ricos race?
At the end of the book, Rico makes reference to [Ramon] Magsaysay, a great Filipino hero, and mentions that his family’s native tongue is Tagalog (the principal language of the Phillipines). Many Filipinos have Spanish names. Q.E.D. Rico is Filipino. (While we’re here, no, Rico does not die at the end of the book. The slightly ambiguous transition from “The Ballad of Rodger Young” being played to Rico’s Roughnecks to the short biography of Rodger Young has led some readers to infer that Rico himself dies.
