In Captain Planet, what country is Linka from?

It is never specified, but her accent and the non-English words that she inserts into her sentences sometimes are both Russian. Her brother is also named “Mishka,” which is a common Russian diminutive name (though oddly enough, “Linka” is primarily a Hungarian name). On balance, then, the evidence tends to suggest that Linka is Russian—and that was probably the impression viewers were expected to get from how she was portrayed.

Then again, Gi turned out to be Malaysian despite how many people assumed she was Chinese. So Linka could conceivably be from Ukraine or Belarus (due to the reasonably similar accents and the increased likelihood of Russian being a resident’s primary language). Only Wheeler and Ma-Ti are explicitly identified by national origin in the show, but it is Wheeler and Linka whose characterizations both play heavily on stereotypes.

Yeah, I thought about this later after asking this and realized that in the intro, none of the kids’ countries are ever mentioned. They tell which continents they’re from, but not the countries. Later in the show countries are indeed mentioned, but I only remember Ma-Ti being raised in Brazil. And yeah, Wheeler is obviously American haha. I laugh whenever Linka calls him an imperialist pig or a yankee lol.
So then I’m like, wait, Linka could be from Russia after all. When it was the Soviet Union, Russia I guess was not considered a country so her saying she was from the Soviet Union didn’t rule out Russia. Nor does the intro saying she’s from Eastern Europe, for that matter. Shoulda gave it more thought before asking.

And really, Gi is Malasyian? I thought she was from the Philippines, not sure where I got that from though.

So, are you a fan of the show, or did you just look shit up? :p Either way, GA bro. :)

Not only is Wheeler American, he’s from Brooklyn. He and Linka are basically Cold War caricatures (but they fall in love, symbolically rejecting the US/USSR animosity, so it’s all good). I think calling her “Eastern European” was, as you say, just to emphasize that each character represents a continent. But exactly what counts as Eastern Europe—and whether or not Russia is part of it—is disputed, so it’s left vague exactly where Linka is from. Although now I’m wondering why there was no Australian Planeteer. No nature lovers Down Under?

And yeah, Gi is Malaysian. It’s never mentioned on the show, but one of the creators said so in an interview. Also, Kwame is from Ghana (which makes sense, since “Kwame” is almost exclusively a Ghanaian name). As for how I know, I was a huge fan of the show. I watched it, recorded it on VHS, and read whatever I could about it. (This was all part of being a huge environmentalist nerd more generally. I annoyed the shit out of my parents making sure they never threw away anything that could be recycled, even if we were miles away from home and would have to carry it with us.)

Woohoo, another fan! I came in too late in the series though, so I never really got to see them in proper order. If I ever find a box set, I’m getting it. So who’s your favorite character? Mine is, obviously, Linka. Wheeler comes as a close second, mainly for being hilarious most of the time.

My favorites were always Kwame and Linka. And Gi had an awesome dolphin pal, so that was cool. I have to admit, though, that it took me awhile to get over thinking that Ma-Ti was lame.

P.S. There are a few places online where you can watch the whole series. I think a couple of them are even legal.

I tried YouTube, most of them are there, but they’re all buggered up and fucked. And for some reason, episode 7 of season 1 is nowhere to be found. The one I did find is…destroyed.

And yeah, Kwame rules. I like how he’s kind of the leader, but that he was never elected as such. That the planeteers accept him as leader like that always gave me the sense that the bond they have together was much stronger than in other likewise shows where someone is defined as leader. (ninja turtles, power rangers for example)

It’s also great to watch when you’re drunk lol.

Let our powers combine.

You guys remember Captain Pollution lol?

“The polluting power is yours!” How ridiculous was it that all of his lines were basically just Captain Planet lines with “pollution” wedged in somehow?

In Captain Planet is Doctor Blight Lynka from the future?