Gow

"earth"

- Why bother rooting around in the mud with these pigs?

Gow was the corrupt commander of a small group of soldiers stationed in the Earth Kingdom village that Zuko visited in his travels.

History
Gow and his crew bullied and terrorized the citizens of the town, excusing themselves as Earth Kingdom soldiers. When Zuko entered the village, they stole the feed he had purchased and accused him of throwing eggs at them. Zuko did not flinch however, and Gow warned him to leave town. Later, Gow led his band to Gansu's homestead. He informed the farmer that his eldest son, Sensu, had been captured. He began to taunt the suffering family, but backed down when Zuko threatened him. Later, Gow kidnapped Lee, Gansu's younger son, when the young boy pulled a knife on him. He threatened to conscript the boy into the Earth Kingdom Army. At Lee's mother's request, Zuko confronted Gow and attempted to get Lee back.

Zuko easily defeated the weaker soldiers, but Gow used his Earthbending abilities in combination with his hammers to defeat Zuko who was not wanting to use his Firebending skills. As he closed in for the kill with his twin hammers, Zuko rose up and used Firebending in conjunction with his Dual Dao Swords to defeat him in turn. When the shocked soldier demanded to know who he was, Zuko announced his true identity and took his knife back. When Zuko tried to give the ceremonial dagger to Lee, the boy didn't want it back, as Zuko was a Firebender.

Personality
Gow is shown to be a very unkind, uncaring, and as Lee's father states, "a thug." He is shown only bullying others and "abusing their power, mostly over women and children." He also seems to have a cowardly quality about him, as he allows all of the other soldiers to attempt to defeat Zuko before he does, and when he is knocked back, questions fearfully, "Who...who are you?"

Trivia

 * Gow is a Scottish surname that derives from "Gobha", the Gaelic for "smith", which the character resembles with his twin hammers.