Wu


 * This article is about the Earth Kingdom monarch. For the woman who worked as a fortuneteller in Makapu Village, see Wu (fortuneteller).

"earth"

- Don't let my reputation intimidate you. I'm still human just like everyone else. Only more human, like, extra human, or, hmm, superhuman.

Wu of the Hou-Ting Dynasty is the 54th sovereign of the Earth Kingdom, a great-nephew of the late Earth Queen Hou-Ting, and great-grandson of Earth King Kuei. He was forced to leave the kingdom due to its instability and sought refuge in Republic City, where he was crowned the new Earth King in 174 AG. His authority was denounced by Kuvira and her supporters, however, after the former declared herself leader of the newly established "Earth Empire", which prevented him from returning to Ba Sing Se.

Life in Republic City
Following the assassination of his great-aunt, Prince Wu was set to be crowned as the next king of the Earth Kingdom, though had to temporarily be relocated to Republic City to ensure his safety during the time of anarchy in the Earth Kingdom. While residing in the city, he was kept under constant surveillance by Mako, who was assigned as his personal bodyguard.



In 174 AG, the prince attended the grand reopening of Republic City's Central City Station, where he listened to President Raiko's speech and posed for a picture when the president mentioned him. He proceeded to watch Asami Sato, who had been a driving force behind the modernization of the station, cut the ribbon. After the ceremony, the prince approached the Sato heiress and complimented her on the station, requesting to be given a personal tour someday. Although Asami dismissed his advances by quipping that she liked the idea of sending him away on a train, Wu laughed her comment away and proceeded to introduce himself as the future king of the Earth Kingdom and referred to himself as "super human" because of that status. He asked her out to a night in town, though before Asami could answer him, he was interrupted by Mako, who told him that President Raiko needed to talk to him in regards to his future position. Sighing about having to deal with politics, he waved a kiss in Asami's direction and asked her to think about his offer while he retreated toward the president.

When Wu heard from Tenzin that the United Forces would escort him back to the Earth Kingdom after his coronation, the prince asked the airbending master, President Raiko, and Chief Lin Beifong whether the Earth Kingdom was really safe enough for him to return, recalling the fate that befell his great-aunt, Queen Hou-Ting. Although the trio tried to reassure him, he was not convinced by their statements in regards to a "nearly" stabilized kingdom, "mostly" dispersed bandits, and an "almost" zero chance of him being assassinated.



Wu retreated to his hotel, where he changed clothes before leaving his suite to pamper himself with a spa treatment that would last a minimum of four hours. He excitedly gushed about the treatment to Mako when his bodyguard asked incredulously what the prince could be having done that took that amount of time. As they neared the exit of the hotel, Wu noticed a gathered group of people and assumed them to be his fans in town for his coronation. He proudly strutted out onto the red carpet and posed for the people, even letting his picture be taken with two female fans. However, Mako quickly snatched him up and shoved them into the waiting Satomobile when Kuvira supporters began hurling a barrage of pies at the prince.



In the car, Wu saw that his abdomen was covered in a red substance and assumed that he had been severely wounded, beginning to writhe in pain. Mako informed him, however, that it was merely strawberry pie, which the prince confirmed by tasting it. Wu continued to sing Mako's praise for having saved him, stating that he would be lost without his bodyguard. He interrupted himself, however, when he realized that he had just tasted some strawberry, to which he claimed to be allergic. He dramatically fell to the floor of the Satomobile while clutching his throat, lamenting that he was having trouble breathing. When an annoyed Mako commented that Wu was allergic to bee stings and not strawberries, the prince stopped his antics and merrily sat down, resting on Mako's knees, and commented that he always got the two mixed up.

At some point during his stay in the city, Wu approached Raiko and asked him to assign Mako over to him as his permanent bodyguard who would accompany him to Ba Sing Se after his coronation, as Wu had claimed that he would not know what to do without him.

Later that night, Wu attended dinner at Air Temple Island, where he had an entertaining conversation about spa treatments with President Raiko and his wife, Buttercup Raiko. When an Air Acolyte announced the arrival of a ship from the Southern Water Tribe, Wu, Mako, Lin, the presidential couple, and Tenzin's family all went to the docks to greet Korra, as she had been scheduled to arrive that day. However, when it became apparent that Korra was not on the ship and had left the South six months prior, Wu looked to his companions in surprise while they all sported looks of worry.

Coronation
The day before his coronation, Wu and Mako traveled to City Hall, where he excitedly detailed the schedule of the ceremony to Mako, which he predicted would be the most dynamite six-hour show the firebender would have ever seen. Upon being asked about his preparations to rule the kingdom, Wu waved off Mako's question, stating that he would have ministers to deal with that while the two of them would merely "live the life" in the capital. As President Raiko joined their conversation and inquired how Wu was holding up, the prince ran off to scold at a Metalbending Police Force officer for erecting bleachers in the place where he intended to have people perform the "Dance of the Badgermoles". To emphasize his point, Wu promptly started dancing.



Wu and Mako retired to the hotel, where the world leaders who would attend his coronation began to arrive. Upon spotting Kuvira, Wu approached her and complimented her appearance. Although she did not respond, he continued his attempt to swoon her by saying that he would talk to the hotel staff on her behalf in order to procure an upgrade for her room. When Kuvira dryly stated that she had no need for his help as she was staying in the Presidential Suite, Wu laughed the comment off as he was occupying that room. Being informed by the military leader that he had been moved out, the prince demanded from a nearby hotel clerk to tell him where all of his belongings were and grew disheartened upon learning that he had been relocated to a junior suite on the seventh floor of the hotel.

The following day, Wu was pacing through the lobby of City Hall, waiting anxiously for the arrival of his royal cabinet who would crown him king. As Gun and two other officials arrived merely ten minutes before the start of the ceremony, he promptly inquired where the rest of his servant and all of the royal relics were. He panicked upon being informed that the crown was among the things looted during the anarchy in the Earth Kingdom, wondering how people would realize he was officially the king without said object. His panic was soon replaced with anger as he realized that his ceremony would not be extravagant and that he was to be crowned by having an earring from the royal jewels be pinned on him as a Royal Brooch. When Gun tried to ease his misgivings about the jewel by showing him how it would look on his vest, he stormed off.



Despite his earlier resentment, Wu proudly accepted the Royal Brooch as he was crowned "king of all the earth lands and Glorious Defender of Ba Sing Se". In his speech, he thanked his countrymen for having worked hard to stabilize the country, which he deemed to have been done in order to place him, their "beloved leader", back on the throne. In that regard, he called forth Kuvira and bestowed her with the Kyoshi Medal of Freedom for her service to the kingdom. Upon her request, he allowed her to speech, noting bitterly that hey had six hours to fill anyway. When Kuvira denounced his authority and dissolved the Earth Kingdom, a shocked Wu showed off his brooch to all spectators as a defense for the legitimacy of his rule. As she finished her speech in which she appointed herself as the ruler of the new Earth Empire and received a standing ovation from many of the public, Wu slumped his head, muttering that it was the "worst coronation ever".

Wu retreated with Mako to his junior suite, where he lamented about the loss of his suite and his throne, declaring his royal brooch to be a lie. When Bolin knocked on the door, Wu bitterly ordered Mako to get rid of him as the king recognized the earthbender to be part of Kuvira's army. As Mako excited the room to talk with his brother, Wu hovered near the door, eavesdropping on the siblings' conversation. He was offended to hear Bolin refer to him as a "snotty, rich bozo". Upon his disgruntled bodyguard's reentry, Wu apologized to Mako and offered to cheer him up with a visit to the Little Ba Sing Se Fashion Mall, where he would treat the firebender to a smoothie.



At the mall, Wu was going over his shopping plans with his bodyguard, though cut himself short as he noticed two females wearing a T-shirt with Kuvira's face printed on the front. Offended, he asked them where they had purchased the item, following which he was directed to a small shop selling Kuvira merchandise. Angered, he ran over to the vendor and his customers, yelling that such goods could not be sold in the Little Ba Sing Se Fashion Mall as he was the "Little King" there and they needed to respect that position. Upon being booed at, he threw his smoothie at the customers, prompting Mako to drag him away from the angry mob.



The two sought refuge in the Upper Ring of the shopping mall, which Wu declared to be destiny as they arrived at a replica of the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace, which was in reality a restaurant. He excitedly ran inside and made a mad dash for the replica of the throne, shoving people aside. Wu rudely pulled the royal scepter out of the hands of a child that was sitting in the chair and snatched the royal robe away from the child's mother, declaring that the young boy would have a birthday next year to celebrate whereas he would never have another coronation day. Donning the crown and other royal artifacts, the king burst out into tears, declaring it to be the worst day of his life. When Mako told him that it was no wonder that the people favored Kuvira over him, as he, as opposed to her, had yet to do anything beneficial for the people of the kingdom, Wu calmed down and agreed with Mako, labeling himself "a joke who got what he deserved". They were forced to flee again, however, when Mako spotted the angry Kuvira supporters. Wu asked to be carried, though was denied that request.

Personality
Accustomed to getting his way, Wu has little regard for the feelings of others. Although he loves being around others and even tries to sympathize with them, he will make sure that he has something to gain from it as well. Spoiled and somewhat naive, Wu thinks the world of himself and is oblivious to people not sharing that notion. Wu is very talkative, though as a materialistic oriented person, his conversation topics usually revolve around himself or a luxurious lifestyle. Loving attention, he can also overreact to situations, naturally drawing attention to himself. Despite this, Wu is accepting of his mistakes and their consequences when pointed out to him.

Relatives

 * 46th Earth King (ancestor)

Trivia

 * Wu is allergic to bee stings.