A self-styled Certified China Enthusiast hailing from France, Hendryk’s main goal on AH.com is to spread knowledge of Chinese civilization and share its countless wonders with the Western barbarians, too many of whom still think that world history is the history of Europe and the United States. A goal that would actually stand a chance of being achieved someday if he wasn’t so damn lazy.

His TL Superpower Empire China 1912 has earned him a 2006 Turtledove Award for Best Early Twentieth Century TL. Tales of the Superpower Empire, an ongoing spin-off series based on his TL, was also awarded Turtledove Awards for best early twentieth century historical fiction in 2007 and 2008.

One of his (few) claims to fame is Hendryk’s Law, also referred to as Hendryk’s Corollary to Godwin’s Law, which states that, as an online discussion progresses, the probability of someone mentioning George W. Bush approaches one. He has also coined the phrase “Laputa Syndrome” after the eponymous flying island in Gulliver’s Travels, defined as the idea that one part of an interdependent system may be immune from changes affecting the system as a whole. More specifically, it refers to the idea that the First World, or at least its middle and upper classes, will be able to go through global climate change without a drop in their standards of living.

A founding member of the Church of Whatianity, he has been elevated by His Holiness Doctor What a.k.a. The Risen One, The Good Doctor, etc. to the position of Archbishop.

At the invitation of its founder Sargon, he has been nominated Vice-President of The Royal & Imperial Society for the Appreciation of Asian Culture & History (RISAACH).

His attraction to East Asian women is a matter of public record, and is as notorious in real life as online. It is rumored that he and Flocculencio have divided the world into spheres of influence based on their respective tastes in women. One of his more idiosyncratic traits is his fondness for Asian erotic art that features tentacles. Since his latest trip to Taiwan, he has also been celebrating the local practice of having young, beautiful girls in skimpy outfits sell betelnuts from roadside booths.

He has for unknown but possibly sinister purposes covertly released clones of himself, the Hendryklones, into the world. Reliable witnesses such as Thande have testified to seeing them in random locations.

Hendryk is French, but doesn’t make a big deal out of it, reasoning that none of us chose the country we were born in, so any pride about it is unwarranted.

Having taken a long, hard look at Abrahamic monotheism, a religious tradition he himself grew up in, he has found it wanting in terms of spiritual fulfilment and plain intellectual coherence. This has made him an outspoken debater on religious issues.

Chinese hegemony

East Asian women

Taiwanese betelnut salesgirls

A world with a smaller or ideally absent Abrahamic monotheist influence

Social-democracy and assorted fuzzy moderately left-wing causes

A fair international order based on the rule of law rather than brute force

European integration

Superpower Empire: China 1912, a TL

Tales of the Superpower Empire, a spin-off series based on the aforementioned TL

The Chinese Discover America in 1435, a currently unfinished TL

Played in AH.com: The Movie as the ruler of China.

Recurring character in AH.com Series, in which he is a crew member of the transdimensional ship AH.Com. Ostensibly the ship’s quartermaster, his actual duties are unclear, but seem to mostly involve toadying to Doctor What.

Part of the cast in Doctor What‘s Extinction Event, in which he appears under his real name. His love interest in the story also happens to be a former real-life girlfriend of his.

Appeared in Dial M for Elastic as a French warlord in China, assisted by two beautiful concubines from French Indochina called Phuc Mi and Phuc Yu.

Class: Sinophile

Alignment: That which maintains Equilibrium Under Heaven

Skill bonuses and penalties: Frenchman: -2 con vs Germans; +2 con vs all other Western Europeans (except when led by Wellington), Sinophile: +4 charm vs Oriental Women, Atheist: +4 vs Rome, +3 vs Protestants/Orthodox

Special Ability: Yellow Peril: May summon 1 million Chinese 1x/Month