Jeong Jeong

"fire"

- Fire brings only destruction and pain. It forces those of us burdened with its care to walk a razor's edge between humanity and savagery. Eventually, we are torn apart.

Jeong Jeong, also known as The Deserter, was a strong, enlightened, but embittered man who had seen more than his share of the cruel reality of war. Once an honored admiral of the Fire Nation military, he disagreed with Fire Lord Ozai's oppressive and cruel way of ruling, and defected from the military. In doing so, he gained his famous title, "The Deserter". Because he was the first person to abandon the military and survive, he was considered a legend within the Fire Nation. He lived in the Earth Kingdom wilderness, so as to avoid Fire Nation soldiers and bounty hunters. He traveled with a small group of followers, including Chey, the second man to survive leaving the Fire Nation military.

History
Jeong Jeong was sixty-one years old, had two vertical scars next to his right eye, and was a master at firebending. Jeong Jeong conveyed conflicting feelings of firebending, referring to it as a "burning curse". He admitted in a conversation with Katara that he had always wished that he was a waterbender, since water is considered the element of healing, whereas firebending "brings only destruction and pain". However, in contrast, he referred to the sun as the greatest source of fire as it is in perfect harmony with nature. Jeong Jeong's technique seemed to reflect this quality by being both overwhelmingly powerful and non-destructive.

Many years before Avatar Aang returned to the world, Jeong Jeong had a pupil, Zhao, who did not acknowledge the dangers of firebending. Zhao was only concerned with using fire to destroy his opponents; he wasn't concerned with learning about the discipline that came with it, much to Jeong Jeong's disappointment.

When Aang was brought by Chey to Jeong Jeong's camp in order to learn firebending, Jeong Jeong was furious since it was clear to him that Aang was not interested in learning discipline. He could tell just by watching Aang walk into the camp that Aang had not mastered waterbending nor earthbending, the disciplinary principles which would aid Aang in controlling the power of firebending and thus refuses to even see him. Defiantly, Aang sought out Jeong Jeong in a small hut, where he was depicted meditating beside a small tree and surrounded by a half circle of candles on the ground around him as well as in the tree beside him. Jeong Jeong reiterated his refusal and furthermore remarks on Aang's lack of discipline referring to him as "weak", the flames of the candles around him burst into flames and then go out completely. It was at this time that Jeong Jeong was visited by Avatar Roku who demanded that he trained Aang and set the tree beside Jeong Jeong ablaze. After this vision, Jeong Jeong reluctantly caved and commenced Aang's firebending training.

Jeong Jeong's teaching techniques rested heavily on discipline. Before he taught Aang how to firebend, he made sure that Aang learned discipline, so that he wouldn't unintentionally hurt anyone. Jeong Jeong instructed Aang to do breathing exercises for several hours; Aang became impatient, which greatly angered the master, who used Zhao, his former student, as an example of what could happen to one who did not learn the discipline associated with firebending. Aang quickly apologized, and said that he was ready to learn Jeong Jeong's way.

Jeong Jeong then proceeded to teach Aang to use real fire, much to Aang's excitement; however, Aang was disappointed when Jeong Jeong assigned him the simple task of preventing a leaf from being completely burned. Aang decided to create his own fire, and accidentally burned Katara's hands in an attempt to copy a trick he saw a magician do earlier. The accident was another example of why Jeong Jeong's teachings of discipline were vital in learning firebending. Shortly thereafter, Zhao and his men sailed up river toward Jeong Jeong's encampment in pursuit of the Avatar. Zhao was instead confronted by Jeong Jeong, who raised a wall of fire that stretched from the clearing of the riverbanks and across the river itself, the ships hindered by this dock on the side of the river. Unfortunately, Zhao, aware of his former masters’ reluctance to fight, was not deterred and simply walked though the wall of flames. Realizing that the wall was no longer necessary, Jeong Jeong dispersed it completely, leaving no trace of wild fire to spread and harm the surrounding environment. It was at this point that Aang arrived on the scene. With a grin, Jeong Jeong disappeared into a ball of flame and in response to this Zhao commanded his men to search the forest for Jeong Jeong the deserter leaving him alone to deal with Aang. The young Avatar, also reluctant to fight, dodged several of Zhao's attacks and ultimately tricked the overconfident Admiral into destroying all of his own ships, thus teaching him a valued lesson in discipline.



After deciding to master the four elements and defeat Ozai, Team Avatar discussed the necessity of finding a new firebending teacher. Katara suggested the possibility of finding Jeong Jeong, though Aang remained doubtful, replying "Yeah right. Like we'll ever run into Jeong Jeong again."

Before the Liberation of Ba Sing Se, Jeong Jeong returned and was revealed to be a member of the Order of the White Lotus. During Aang's battle with Ozai, Jeong Jeong, along with the rest of the Order, liberated Ba Sing Se. Jeong Jeong and Iroh both used the power of Sozin's Comet during the battle.

Abilities


Jeong Jeong was an extremely powerful firebender; however, his approach to fighting was very conservative. He believed firebending to be a curse, a dangerous power that, generally, only causes destruction, thus, his style emphasized self-control, precision, and patience. His teachings to Aang demonstrated his philosophy of discipline, for Jeong Jeong believed that many firebenders, such as Fire Lord Ozai, Admiral Zhao, and Princess Azula, drew all of their power from their anger and thus easily lost control of the flames. His own style was focused on slow development and constant return to the basics, which he made a point to impart to Aang. Nonetheless, Jeong Jeong demonstrated later that this attitude does not equate with weak or unsure firebending, but rather the opposite.

Although few of his abilities were seen, Jeong Jeong seemed to specialize in the creation of walls of fire and large blasts. He first used this to fend off Zhao's river boats, controlling the wall so precisely the flames could burn on water as well as not endanger the nature of the surrounding area. Subsequently, he created a ball of fire that fended off four simultaneous fire blasts, and provided a distraction for him to flee. Later on he is depicted surrounding an Aang-less Team Avatar with a large wall of fire. In addition, during the battle for Ba Sing Se Jeong Jeong's control of firebending became apparent once more when he created several fire walls to only push Fire Nation tanks back, rather than melting them. This ability corresponded with his belief that firebending can be dangerous if not consistently controlled.

He was shown to be able to keep himself suspended in the air, by extending a jet of fire below his feet. His technique was different from Ozai's in that Jeong Jeong seemed to levitate rather than fly, and could execute other large firebending techniques without needing to land or cut off his propulsion.

His control of fire walls showed a very similar aspect with the waterbending Jeong Jeong seemed to envy so much, as he created the fire walls resembling rising tides to push tanks away like tidal waves do naturally.

Jeong Jeong's master firebending ultimately stemmed from his keen and experienced mind, as he was able to tell just from looking that Aang had not mastered waterbending and earthbending, thus making him unready to learn firebending. Better defined by his love for nature and acceptance of other cultures, Jeong Jeong had also achieved enlightenment, and was very in-tune with spiritual things, much like Iroh. This attitude was seen when he reluctantly obeyed Avatar Roku, who appeared to him in a vision, to teach Aang firebending.

Trivia



 * Jeong Jeong was the first person to desert the Fire Nation Military and survive.
 * He was revealed to be a member of the Order of the White Lotus, despite not ever showing or hinting toward any affiliation to the organization, or even to the game Pai Sho.
 * Jeong Jeong had a more negative view of firebending than other characters, such as the Sun Warriors, although he shared the same belief that firebending must not be generated by anger.
 * Jeong Jeong was based on Jeong Jeong-gyun, the CEO of DR Movie, the animation studio which worked on this episode.
 * Jeong Jeong was originally from the Navy, as suggested by his Fire Nation wanted poster; the Chinese characters state that he was an ex-admiral.
 * The first episode in which Jeong Jeong appeared, The Deserter, shared the name of a Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode; the two episodes have very much in common in terms of plot.
 * Jeong Jeong remained the only known bender to regret his or her abilities.
 * Jeong Jeong was not featured in .
 * Jeong Jeong's original objection to teaching Aang firebending elaborated on the reason why the Avatar must master the elements in a certain order, first referenced by Katara, stating that Aang lacked the stable and firm control of earthbending, and also did not present the calm, smooth and flowing skill demanded by waterbending.
 * Jeong Jeong bore a strong resemblance to Colonel Kurtz in Ford Copolla's 1979 film Apocalypse Now, as he was a deserter apparently dissatisfied with the Fire Nation's policies and the war. He was also protected by natives and is in the company of another deserter Chey, who also bore a strong resemblance to the photojournalist that accompanies Colonel Kurtz.