Bumi (King of Omashu)

King Bumi was the king of Omashu. As a child, a hundred years before the series, Bumi was a close friend of Aang. He is now a very old and eccentric man, prone to cackling laughter at unfunny jokes. Despite his age and his apparent frailty, Bumi is an Earthbending master (claiming at one point to be "the most powerful Earthbender you'll ever see").



Bumi's eccentricity arises out of the fact that he always keeps his mind "open to the possibilities". As a child, Bumi decided to use the Omashu mail delivery system as a chute ride, for which Aang dubbed him "a



mad genius", a name that Bumi seems to appreciate. Although Bumi seems senile, he is in fact a brilliant and patient tactician, willing to wait until the opportune moment to strike to best effect. Bumi acts the same during a quiet, peaceful meal as he does when his city is under attack, and he rarely explains his actions, which tends to infuriate his underlings (such as General Yung).

Bumi is the only one of Aang's childhood friends who has survived the 100 years in which Aang was stuck in the iceberg.

History
In "The King of Omashu", Aang returned to Omashu in order to show his friends Sokka and Katara the mail delivery system (in particular, they wished to use it as a slide). After accidentally destroying a coatload of cabbages belonging to the Cabbage Merchant, they were arrested and brought before King Bumi. However, Aang did not recognize his old friend, who was now 100 years older than when they last met. When asked what their punishment should be, Bumi told his guards to "throw them... a feast!"

During the feast, Bumi tricked Aang into Airbending, demonstrating that he was the Avatar. Now refusing to let them leave, Bumi demanded that the three be taken to "the newly refurbished room that was once bad" - in fact a comfortable sleeping chamber. After a relaxing night's sleep, Aang woke up to find his friends gone. King Bumi blackmails Aang into completing three tasks for him, or Sokka and Katara will be encased in Jennomite.



Aang successfully completed the first two tests (collecting a key from inside a waterfall and finding Bumi's pet Flopsie). The King instructed Aang to choose an opponent to duel as the final test. The King presented two different opponents for Aang to choose from, both formidable-looking in their own respects, and told Aang to "point to your opponent." Aang pointed to the frail-appearing king, but quickly realized his mistake when Bumi threw off his robes and flexed his muscles, revealing himself to be a powerful and muscular Earthbender. Although Bumi had the upper hand during the fight, particularly against the run-and-evade tactics typical of Airbenders, Aang eventually impressed the old man by adopting a new strategy, and Bumi conceded the match.



However, before releasing Sokka and Katara, the King demanded that Aang guess his name, and gives him an hour to think on it. At first, Aang is clueless, but as he thinks about the challenges he realises that each one was designed to make him think differently than he normally would, and he solves the riddle with the words "Bumi, you're a mad genius". Bumi explained to Aang that strength and bending alone would not be enough to defeat the Fire Lord, and that when it came time for Aang to face him, "I hope you will think like a mad genius." After Bumi freed Aang's friends from the Jennomite (in fact made of edible rock candy), Aang and Bumi spent an enjoyable day using the Omashu mail delivery system as a chute ride, just like old times. Aang and his friends then left Omashu to continue their journey.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka returned to Omashu in "Return to Omashu", hoping that Bumi would act as Aang's Earthbending teacher. However, the group found that the city had been taken over by the Fire Nation. After helping Omashu's citizens and army to escape their imprisonment within the city, Aang attempted to free Bumi as well. After a chase down the city's large mail-delivery chutes, Aang and Bumi managed to escape a pursuing Azula. However, Bumi disappointed Aang with the statement that he could not leave Omashu just yet, as he was waiting for the proper time to strike against the Fire Nation from within, revealing that he, despite the metal cage he was kept in, was still capable of bending. Bumi advised Aang to seek an instructor skilled in neutral jing, or doing nothing (as Bumi himself put it, someone who "waits, and listens.") It was this advice that eventually led Aang to accept Toph as his Earthbending instructor.

Bumi has not been seen since.

Trivia

 * The name "Bumi" means "Earth" in Indonesian and the Malay language, which is in turn derived from the Hindi or Sanskrit "Bhumi", meaning "Earth". However, since the word bumi with that exact meaning does not exist in Chinese, the negotiation letter in Return to Omashu had his name transliterated as 布米 (bù mǐ) which translate as 'to spread rice.'
 * Bumi's voice actor, André Sogliuzzo, also plays Hakoda.