Hiroshi Sato

"fire"

- I too came from humble beginnings.

Hiroshi Sato is a non-bending, barrel-chested businessman with a big personality. His family lineage extends back to the first Fire Nation colonists. His idea for the Satomobiles caused him to become the captain of industry in his era. During a police search of his secret factory, he revealed himself to be an Equalist, creating high-tech weaponry to fight against benders.

History
Hiroshi Sato was born to a poor family from the Dragon Flats district. A child with big dreams, he worked at a very young age shining shoes, to help support his family. When he was eighteen, he convinced a wealthy businessman to invest in the idea of automobiles for the common man. Before long, he was producing Satomobiles in his first "Future Industries" factory. By the time he was twenty-five, the ingenious industrialist had made his first million yuans. Realizing that not everyone in Republic City could afford their own Satomobiles, but needed transportation nonetheless, he created a taxi cab for those less wealthy to still get around in the city.

At some point, he married and had a daughter named Asami, but in 158 ASC, his wife was killed by a member of the Agni Kai Triad after the invasion and robbery of their mansion.

In 170 ASC, Asami brought Mako to Hiroshi's factory, where he explained his humble beginnings to him, and then announced that he would sponsor the Fire Ferrets in the pro-bending tournament, provided they would bear the Future Industries logo on their uniforms. Hiroshi later attended a gala hosted by Councilman Tarrlok in honor of Avatar Korra. There, he saluted Korra, saying that everyone was expecting great things of her.

As the Fire Ferrets' sponsor, he and his daughter attended the Pro-bending Tournament final, which, along with the Equalists' ambush, they spectated from a private balcony. After the Equalists attacked the Pro-bending Arena, Hiroshi was asked to come to police headquarters to be questioned about what he witnessed during the attack. When he was done, Hiroshi was led out by Tenzin and Lin Beifong. Lin told him to come back if he remembered anything else. He accepted this statement, stopped to acknowledge Korra, and walked out.

After the attack, Hiroshi, as one of the witenesses of the incident, was interrogated by Lin Beifong and Tenzin, finally stating that he wanted the Equalists "to pay for what they've done."

While Korra visited his home, she overheard Hiroshi talking on the phone and began to suspect he was working with the Equalists. Lin and Tenzin interrogated visited him and communicated him their suspicion, to which Hiroshi excused saying it was all a misunderstanding and he was just talking about business and a opportunity to strike the market with a new line of Satomobiles, but at the obvious doubts of the benders, he offered his factory to be investigated. The Metalbending Police Force searched all of his warehouses but they were not able to find any evidence. After receiving a tip from a worker about Hiroshi being part of the Equalist by manufacturing their weapons and having an underground factory in his mansion, Korra, Tenzin, Lin, and some metalbending officers searched the house and found the place under his workshop. However, this was a plan by Hiroshi to abush the benders, so he and some Equalists, using mecha tanks, attacked the group and eventually overpowered them.

When Hiroshi discovered Mako and Bolin trying to save the uncuncious benders, he prepared to thwart their mission, but was confronted by his daughter, to whom tried to convince to join the Equalists, stating that his reason for being part of the revolt was to get revenge on all benders due to the death of his beloved wife, who had died at the hands of a firebender. However, after telling her father she loved him, Asami took an electrified gloves and stunned him with it, letting the benders and herself escape.

Relatives

 * Asami Sato (daughter)
 * Unnamed wife (deceased)

Trivia

 * Hiroshi is one of the few characters to have a confirmed last name.
 * Hiroshi Sato's voice actor, Daniel Dae Kim, previously voiced Fong in the original series.
 * Hiroshi is a common Japanese male name, whose meaning of which changes depending on the Kanji used. Sato is the most common Japanese surname; the first character means "help", possibly referencing Hiroshi's sponsorship of the Fire Ferrets.
 * Hiroshi can be compared to Henry Ford, who was the first person to mass produce cars for the common man in America. However, similiar to how Ford was a supporter of the Nazis, Sato is a supporter of the Equalists.
 * Hiroshi strongly resembles Theodore Roosevelt and Yataro Iwasaki.