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 during his travels.

History
Gow and his crew bullied and terrorized the citizens of the town while excusing themselves by claiming to be Earth Kingdom soldiers. When Zuko entered the village, Gow immediately took notice of this stranger. When Lee and a friend of his threw an egg at one of Gow's men, he was quick to intimidate Zuko into telling him who threw it. The banished prince, however, did not flinch, and Zuko's smart remarks angered Gow even more. When the salesman of the town gave Zuko the bags of feed he had purchased, Gow quickly stepped in and took the bags away, thanking Zuko for "his contribution" and saying that "the army appreciated his support". Gow turned to warn Zuko to leave town, saying that the "penalty for staying was a lot steeper than [he] could afford."

Later, Gow led his band to Gansu's homestead. He informed the farmer that his elder son, Sensu, had been captured. Gansu told him to "watch [his] mouth" when he began to taunt the suffering family. Angered by this challenge, he charged Gansu, but backed down when Zuko crossed his path.

After Gansu had left, Gow and his men came back to the farm, ordering the family to give them food. Gow then kidnapped Lee, Gansu's younger son, when the young boy pulled a knife on him which he proceeded to take for himself. 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 pose a bigger challenge and to defeat Zuko, who was hiding his past as a Firebender. As he closed in for the kill with his twin hammers, Zuko rose up and used Firebending in conjunction with his dual dao swords. Gow proved to be no match for the Firebender who quickly defeated him. 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.

His ultimate fate after the War is unknown though he likely lost his position as a Commander of the village.

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



Abilities
Gow was skilled with his twin hammers which he used to Earthbend and to defeat Zuko, who fought only with his dual dao swords at the time. Despite his advantages, he was defeated handily by Zuko when the latter finally utilized Firebending.

Trivia

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