Hou-Ting

"earth"

- What's the Earth Queen like?" "I've never met her, but I've heard she can be quite ... demanding.

Hou-Ting is the daughter of Earth King Kuei and the Queen of the Earth Kingdom, making her the 53rd earth monarch. However, she is more concerned with her possessions than with the welfare of her people.

History
Hou-Ting was born to Earth King Kuei following the Hundred Year War and eventually succeeded him as earth monarch. However, she was critical of her father's decision to cede Earth Kingdom land to form the United Republic of Nations.

During her reign, the Dai Li reemerged as a powerful political force within the kingdom. Hou-Ting, unlike her father, took a more active role ruling the Earth kingdom. Many of her rulings proved unpopular. Active uprisings sprouted across the Earth kingdom making administrative tasks such as tax collection difficult.

Following the emerging of new airbenders after the Harmonic Convergence of 171 AG, Hou-Ting ordered the Dai Li to capture them so she could conscript them into an army of her own.

Upon the arrival of Avatar Korra, the queen was shouting orders at her servants to properly construct the royal garden in her desired image. After Korra requested her help to find the new airbenders, Hou-Ting revealed that barbarians had been stealing collected taxes and stated she would only even consider helping the Avatar if the latter could deliver her money to her. After Korra completed the task, she asked the monarch about the airbenders, but Hou-Ting denied their existence and insisted that Korra and her party leave the city. However, the Avatar did not believe her and criticized her for extorting her own subjects. Annoyed by Korra's remarks, Hou-Ting ordered her to leave her presence, which the Avatar did, but not before warning the queen that she was not leaving the city until she found the airbenders.

The next day, Hou-Ting approached Korra and her friends and had Gun deliver claims of airbenders in the Yang Province before she reminded them that it was exactly the news they sought. Just as Hou-Ting began to wonder if they would be leaving, she began sneezing in mid-sentence and demanded that Gun tell her if animal was in her presence, as it would be "[his] head" should one be in the vicinity. Afterward, she told the team that Gun would provide them any assistance in packing for an evening departure, but was told by Asami that the airship needed repairs, which would be completed by tomorrow. The queen walked away from this, continuing to sneeze.



That night, Hou-Ting caught Korra, Tenzin, and Bumi attempting to leave the city with her airbending regiment, which had been kept in custody beneath her temple. She declared that because the airbenders were the kingdom's citizens and thus under her control, taking them would be considered an act of war, and also threatened the Avatar with "the force of [her] entire kingdom". Upon Korra's refusal to turn over the airbenders, Hou-Ting ordered the Dai Li to attack, but the agents' efforts proved to be unsuccessful as Team Avatar escaped with her army. As they flew away, Hou-Ting again ordered the airships brought to her, but was left sneezing as Oogi's fur fell from the sky. After this, Hou-Ting branded Team Avatar as outlaws, issuing wanted posters for them and putting a price on their heads.

Personality


Hou-Ting is a temperamental, demanding, and somewhat sour person. Unlike her father, she holds a low opinion of the Avatar due to Aang's part in taking the old Fire Nation colonies on Earth Kingdom soil and turning them into the United Republic of Nations. She is deceptive and manipulative, promising to help Korra find airbenders in her city, only to later lie to the Avatar by claiming the reports were false. She is extremely possessive of anything she sees as hers, from the tax money she extorts from her citizens, to the captive airbenders, seeing them not as people, but as property of the Earth Kingdom. Hou-Ting is also very volatile, having been seen displaying extreme outbursts of rage at the slightest provocation, from simple things like topiary placement to the escape of the kidnapped airbenders beneath her temple. She is also highly irreverent of endangered animals, even those held sacred, having paid poachers exorbitant amounts of money for sky bison steaks.

Relatives

 * Earth King Kuei (father)
 * 51st Earth King (grandfather)
 * 46th Earth King (great-great-great-great-great-grandfather)

Trivia

 * Unlike her father, Hou-Ting does not tolerate any animals in her presence as she is allergic to their fur.
 * Hou-Ting's character design is similar to the Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi; this is most evident with the design of her nails.
 * It is rumored that Hou-Ting ate her father's pet bear, Bosco.