Ding

"fire"

- Eeh, yeow! Aw, dang blame it! What? Can't you see I'm busy? Got a full moon rising. And why does everyone call me that? I'm not that old.

Old Man Ding was a resident of a small Fire Nation village. This kooky old codger was the only person in the village who managed to escape the "moon monster" that captured people when they went out into the woods during the full moon.

History
When Aang, Sokka, and Toph inquired some information about the alleged spirit that had been abducting the village people, a traveling townsman redirected them toward "Old Man Ding", stating that he was the only one to have ever seen it and lived. According to Ding, he was walking in the woods one night when he felt an odd sensation come over him; he could not even control his own limbs. As he got close to the mouth of a cave, he looked up at the moon for what he thought would be his last glimpse of light. Suddenly, the sun started to come out, and he was immediately released from the "spirit's" grip, so he high-tailed out of there as quick as he could. Since his narrow escape, he prepared for each full moon by boarding up his home and taking refuge. It was later revealed by Team Avatar that it was not a spirit, but Hama bloodbending him.

Trivia

 * Ding is a traditional southern Chinese surname and one of the Hundred Family Surnames. It is also the simplest family name, being composed of only two strokes.
 * Among the sixty-year-old characters in the series, Old Man Ding was shown to be the physically weakest of all, having trouble lifting up a wooden board, while others were usually shown to be master benders and physically strong, or had average strength.
 * Ding did not understand why people always called him an "old man", but when he failed to lift the wooden board he admitted that he at least was "young at heart".