Earthbender captain

"earth"

- These dangerous hands must be crushed.

This earthbender captain was a vengeful soldier who wanted the Fire Nation to pay for its actions as the instigator of the Hundred Year War. He fought against General Iroh and the Fire Nation army during the six hundred-day Siege of Ba Sing Se, and considered Iroh an enemy of the Earth Kingdom and pledging himself to promoting the defense of his nation, especially its capital.

History
The earthbender captain served in the Earth Kingdom military during General Iroh's siege of Ba Sing Se, and had a strong dislike of Iroh and the Fire Nation from that point on.

Not long before the winter solstice of 99 ASC, he and his unit of earthbending soldiers stumbled upon Iroh while the latter was bathing, thus enabling them to quickly overpower and capture him. While he was being transported to Ba Sing Se via ostrich horse, Iroh attempted to convince the captain that he was nothing more than a harmless old man. Iroh pretended to fall asleep on his saddle and slipped off his mount, leaving behind his sandal as part of a trail for Prince Zuko to follow. He later made an escape attempt by complaining that his handcuffs were too loose, asking for them to be tightened. Iroh heated the chains to scalding hot temperatures, and pressed the hand of the soldier that came to tighten them against his cuffs, consequently burning him.

Iroh proceeded to shoot fire out of his feet, clearing his path. He rolled off the ostrich horse and down a mountainside. The captain and his soldiers caught up to him, however, and recaptured him through the use of earthbending. The captain decided that it was too dangerous to transport him to Ba Sing Se as he was, and planned to crush Iroh's hands as a precaution. However, before he could do so, Iroh was freed by Zuko. The two firebenders faced off against the captain and his soldiers. The captain challenged them by saying that they were clearly outnumbered, to which Iroh cleverly responded that although that was true, the captain and his men were clearly outmatched. After the Earth Kingdom warriors were defeated, Zuko and Iroh left to continue their quest.

Trivia

 * The earthbender captain thought that Iroh had grown senile after meeting the famed retired general bathing in an Earth Kingdom hot spring.