Fire Nation Man

"earth"

- Fire Lord, my flame burns for thee.

Fire Nation Man was an Earthbender who was a fighter in Earth Rumble VI. However, his name is contradicted by the fact that he is not a real Fire Nation citizen, and is actually an Earthbender. His role is to be hated by the audience, then defeated instantly in order to generate enthusiasm for other fighters.

History
Fire Nation Man was a contestant in Earth Rumble VI. He carried a Fire Nation flag, wore a red cloak, and sported a stereotypical Fire Nation hairstyle; he somewhat resembles Admiral Zhao, though not in figure. Fire Nation Man spoke with a thick pseudo-Russian accent as part of his gimmick for the tournament. Even though his name is "Fire Nation Man", he was really an Earthbending fighter, and according to DVD commentary, an immigrant from the desert. He acted like a Fire Nation citizen and got easily defeated just for show. In Earth Rumble VI, he was quickly defeated by The Boulder in the tournament. When all of the Earth Rumble fighters kidnapped Toph, Fire Nation Man was defeated almost effortlessly by her.

From what little is shown of his Earthbending, Fire Nation Man seemed to prefer using dirt-based attacks, as opposed to solid rock. In his second appearance, he arrived in the ring using a dust tornado, and Earthbent a large stream of dirt at Toph. This would be consistent with his desert upbringing, where Sandbenders specialize in bending loose Earth. The technique also vaguely resembles Firebending, which plays into his persona.

His ultimate fate after the war and the reason why he didn't join The Boulder and The Hippo in the invasion of the Fire Nation is unknown.

Trivia

 * Fire Nation Man shows a resemblance in his entrance to that of many "bad guy" foreign wrestlers, most notably Nikolai Volkoff who was known for singing Soviet Russia's national anthem prior to his matches in the WWF, much to the crowd's ire. Another point that links the two is his aforementioned thick accent, which sounds stereotypically Russian.
 * Additionally, the boots Fire Nation Man wears have the pointed tip at the end, in the style of The Iron Sheik.