| “ | Kyoshi, was it? Kyoshi, I'm eternally grateful for you and your compatriots for rescuing me. But you're young and that's why you don't understand. Eight years of my life were stolen from me. Thousands of my followers. At your tender age, what would you know about that kind of injustice? A lesser man might quit in the face of a setback that large. But not me. I relish the work, not the reward. I will get what I am owed. The world is on the verge of forgetting my name. Which means I didn't carve the scars deep enough last time. I'll do better with the second chance you've given me, Kyoshi. | „ |
| ~ Xu explains himself to Kyoshi. |
Xu Ping An is a major antagonist in the Avatar: Kyoshi series, appearing as the secondary antagonist of The Rise of Kyoshi and a posthumous antagonist in The Shadow of Kyoshi.
He is a psychopathic daofei elder and leader of the Yellow Neck rebellion. Believing himself to be the most important person in the world and that he could do whatever he wants without consequences, Xu led a campaign of brutal destruction in the Earth Kingdom’s inner provinces. He and his army were eventually defeated by Jianzhu, but his surviving followers got him out prison eight years later, after which he began to restart his reign of terror before being killed by Avatar Kyoshi.
Biography[]
Initial Rise to Power[]
Xu Ping An’s exact origins are unknown beyond that he has some Fire Nation ancestry and lived in the Earth Kingdom for most of his life. He was an exceptionally talented firebender, even being able to generate lightning, an ability so rare at the time most thought it to be mythical.
Xu became a daofei leader sometime during the lifetime of Avatar Kuruk, organizing a gang of followers which started small but later grew thanks to his unusual abilities and promises of revolutionary societal change. He called his gang the “Yellow Necks” because of the yellow scarves they all wore. Xu became increasingly megalomaniacal as the Yellow Necks became more successful, and declared that his gang were no longer simple daofei bandits, but rebels supported by the spirits and destined for greatness. With a thousands-strong army, Xu began a destructive campaign across the central Earth Kingdom, wiping out entire settlements, including the children, and then declaring them "liberated". He began calling himself the "General of Pandimu", with Pandimu being the name he gave the entire world which he believed owed him for his protection.
Xu’s crusade ended at Zhulu Pass when he was defeated in battle by Jianzhu, who forced Xu to watch as he killed 5,000 Yellow Necks by burying them alive. With the rebellion crushed, Xu was publicly declared dead, though Jianzhu secretly had him imprisoned underneath the mansion of Governor Te Sihung so his lightningbending could be studied by the Fire Nation. Witnessing the massacre of his fellow Yellow Necks left a lasting impact on Xu. Captivity caused his already unstable mental health to deteriorate even further, leading to a desire to take revenge on the entire world.
Meanwhile, the surviving Yellow Necks, led by Mok and Wai, reorganized themselves into the Autumn Bloom Society.
Liberation from Prison and Restoration of the Yellow Necks[]
Eight years later, Mok and Wai learned of Xu’s location at Governor Te’s palace, and forced the Flying Opera Company (Kyoshi’s daofei group) to help free him, though they don’t identify Xu by name, simply calling him "one of our own". The Flying Opera Company broke into the prison at night, where Rangi, Kirima, and Wong found Xu in his cell. They put a sweet potato sack over his head and bound his hands to prevent him from attacking his rescuers, believing he might be confused or terrified after his long confinement.
Wong brought Xu to the Autumn Bloom Society, after which Mok began to berate them for altering the attack plan and for their rough treatment of their leader. Xu recognized Mok’s voice and ordered him to cease his criticism and instead undo his bindings and take the sack off his head. Mok complies, after which he and Xu embrace in a hug. Xu brutally squeezed Mok, furious that it took eight years for him to be rescued, but eventually let go and tossed Mok aside.
Xu turned toward the other daofei who bowed before him in reverence, but before he could address them, Kyoshi spoke up and asked if the Flying Opera Company’s debt to the Autumn Bloom Society had been paid. Xu happily replied that not only was their debt paid, but the Flying Opera Company now had "the friendship and brotherhood of Xu Ping An", revealing his identity. He then gave a speech to his fellow criminals, expressing his pleasure that there were still real followers of the old daofei code. As the sun rose behind him, Xu asked the crowd if they were ready to avenge those killed at Zhulu Pass, causing the criminals to scream in approval. He announced that their rebellion had restarted, and that they would collect the "debts" the world owed them. He and his followers donned their yellow scarves, rechristening themselves as the Yellow Necks.
Xu intended to make his reemergence public as soon as possible, so he and the Yellow Necks began to march toward Zigan Village. The village supplied Governor Te’s mansion with goods, so Xu considered them collaborators of his imprisoners and thus deserving of punishment. The Yellow Necks came across a farm on the way, and Xu decided to vent some of his pent-up rage on its inhabitants. He nonchalantly read a book he found at the house while the rebels savagely beat the farmer’s wife and son and prepared a cauldron of boiling water for the farmer to be killed in. Kyoshi, who followed the rebels to the farmer’s house, kicked the cauldron away before the farmer could be fully submerged, to which Xu calmly commented that she spilled his tea. She demanded that he free the family, to which he explained that the farmer was among those who worked for Te and thus among those who had to die to repay the world for his imprisonment, and he would do even worse things in Zigan.
Kyoshi declared she wouldn’t allow him to harm anyone anymore. The Yellow Necks moved to attack her, but Xu waved them off. He expressed his gratitude to the Flying Opera Company for saving him but bluntly stated he would not cease his war on law abiders. He deemed the 16-year-old Kyoshi too young to understand the suffering he and his forces endured the previous eight years. His imprisonment was a large setback, but he would continue his work and get what he is owed. Xu claimed the world was starting to forget him, meaning this time he would have to leave deeper "scars" than his initial rebellion. Xu returned to his book and ordered Wai to slit the farmer’s wife’s throat. Kyoshi screamed at them to stop and challenged Xu to a lei tai duel, the only thing she could think of that would delay his destruction. Xu calmly asked what insult he gave her to warrant the duel, to which Kyoshi claimed his entire existence was an insult. This caused Xu to drop his casual attitude and give Kyoshi his full attention. Kyoshi said that all bending and weapons would be allowed and Xu, regarding her as no real threat, accepted.
Final Defeat and Death[]
The Yellow Necks quickly erected a makeshift earthen platform for the duel, after which Xu asked Kyoshi if she was truly sure she wished to battle him, to which Kyoshi said he shouldn’t be so sure of himself. They stepped onto the platform and got into combat stances, with Xu’s stance not revealing his bending technique. When the referee announced the duel’s beginning, Xu immediately struck Kyoshi’s fans with lightning, causing her to collapse in pain. Believing Kyoshi to be finished, Xu walked closer to her and shot three more lightning bolts at her motionless body, though the chain mail in her armor prevented these subsequent lightning shots from injuring her as much as the first strike. Kyoshi played dead, waiting for Xu to get close enough so she could grab him.
Xu furiously yelled that Kyoshi had the greatest gift in the world, his respect, and threw it away like it was nothing. As he came to a halt next to her, he kicked her in disgust and rambled about how he was above any and all judgment and how she was mistaken to condemn his actions. He shot lightning at her again: first a short bolt and then a continuous stream to burn her seemingly dead body. As he was doing so, Kyoshi suddenly grabbed his ankle, causing the lightning to enter his body. Stopping his attack, Xu was thrown onto his back by Kyoshi as she entered the Avatar State. She rose hundreds of feet into the air with an airbending tornado while still holding on to Xu. He screamed and attempted to flee to no avail, shielding his eyes from the intense light radiating from Kyoshi.
The Avatar asked what Xu would do now, knowing there was someone who stood above him in judgment. Although he was terrified, Xu managed to feel an overwhelming outrage at the fact that Kyoshi expected him to suffer consequences for his actions, since consequences were only for his enemies. Believing Kyoshi had let her guard down, Xu breathed a stream of fire into her face, but she easily dodged it. With his chance to repent wasted, Kyoshi dropped Xu to his death. With their leader dead, the Yellow Necks scattered in terror, taking Xu’s body with them.
Legacy[]
Xu’s initial lightning strike left permanent scars on Kyoshi’s hands, causing her to wear military gloves as part of her iconic armor to cover them up.
Xu’s death didn’t mark the end of the Yellow Necks. Mok managed to reorganize those who were still loyal into the Triad of the Golden Wing, and deemed Kyoshi a murderer when she defeated the triad a year later. Kyoshi never regretted killing him Xu, firmly believing he was beyond saving, though the fact that she was so willing to kill troubled her.
While Kyoshi’s killing of Xu Ping An technically served as her first time delivering justice as the Avatar, the event wouldn’t be widely known. Because the daofei never reveal their identities to outsiders, neither the Flying Opera Company nor the Yellow Necks told any outsiders the truth about what happened. Instead, the Yellow Necks claimed Xu was killed by a spirit.
Appearance and Personality[]
Xu is described as having a handsome face with a pale complexion, long and shaggy dark hair, and a short beard.
Outwardly, Xu seemed like a rather charming and amiable man, appearing friendly to prospective recruits. He was incredibly charismatic and could be very inspiring to others. He usually displayed almost a carefree come, sometimes to an eerie extent. However, this was a mask to hide his true nature: a merciless psychopath who would gladly slaughter, enslave, and torture any law-abider his army caught. He was subject to unexpected and wild mood swings and not even his followers were immune from his wrath. He was very quick to respond to slights (both genuine and imagined) with disproportionate levels of violence and cruelty, and would gladly brutalize those he claimed brotherhood with if they failed to meet his standards.
He was extremely entitled, refusing to recognize the rights of others. He believed everything in the world was his for the taking, that everyone in the world was his to torment, and that anyone who resisted or failed to show him gratitude for his actions deserved to die. His self-importance and disconnect to reality reached the point that he referred to himself as “General of Pandimu” (a place that exists only in his mind). Xu Ping An was absolutely unremorseful for his actions right up until the end. When Kyoshi held him by the collar hundreds of feet in the air, he was outraged that someone dared hold him accountable and punish him for anything.
Powers and Abilities[]
Xu was a very powerful firebender, though he didn’t bend very often meaning many people didn’t know he could firebend at all. Nonetheless, he was so skilled that he was able to breath a great stream of fire while being held by Kyoshi in the air, while he was having difficulty breathing, which was large enough to be visible from ground level. Xu was arguably the most skilled lightningbender in history, even more so than Ozai, as he could generate lightning simply by inhaling before striking, rather than performing the usual circular motions. He was able to shoot multiple lightning bolts in rapid succession with little effort, immediately followed by a continuous stream of lightning.
In addition to his bending, he was physically strong and fit, even after spending eight years imprisoned. He was also a skilled orator and could be very charismatic, instilling a long-lasting legacy in his followers.
Trivia[]
- Chronologically, Xu is the first major enemy of the Avatar known to be killed directly at their hands, and would be succeeded by Yun and Unalaq in this regard.
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 Villains
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