Earth monarch


 * This article is about the political position. For other similar uses, see Earth King (disambiguation).

"earth"

- His Majesty is an icon, a god to his people.



The Earth King or Earth Queen is the sovereign of Ba Sing Se and hence the ruler of the Earth Kingdom. As of 171 AG, there have been fifty-three monarchs of the Earth Kingdom. The earth monarch consolidates their power, palace, and seat of government in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, the capital of their kingdom.

Traditionally, the earth monarch leaves behind all personal possessions upon ascending the throne, including their given name, and is henceforth known only as "Your Majesty" or by their reign number, enhancing their status as a figurehead, though the citizens of Ba Sing Se did not care and continued to view them as gods. However, this was not a universal standard, since Earth King Kuei preferred his given name over his title after returning to the throne, allowing even peasants to use it to address him. Generally, he tried to be closer to the people than his predecessors. This change was largely reversed by his daughter, Hou-Ting, who was viewed as godlike by some citizens, but others openly rebelled against her reactionary regime before her assassination at the hands of Zaheer in 171 AG. Since her rule, the earth monarch has once again ultimate authority in all sectors, such as the military, the Dai Li, and law enforcement.

History


Early Earth Kings controlled their lands personally, sometimes even brutally. This began to change under the rule of the 46th Earth King. He tried to change the Earth Kingdom into a centralist empire. To achieve this goal, he used violence and oppression, causing a civil war and a peasant uprising in the process. Due to these events and the intervention of Avatar Kyoshi, the Earth Kingdom was transformed into a constitutional monarchy to prevent future monarchs from abusing their power. This caused a dramatic change in the politics of the Earth Kingdom, and over time bureaucrats and local rulers used the new constitution to gather more and more power. In the process, the monarchy became stagnant and corrupt, as kings ceded or were forced to cede more and more control over the day-to-day operations to the governments and bureaucracy that sprang up around them. They traditionally made use of sixty-seven different seals, depending on the document in question.



Due to Earth King Kuei's premature ascendancy to the throne at the age of four, the position finally declined to that of a figurehead, allowing Grand Secretariat Long Feng, Kuei's regent and later adviser, to take control of the capital Ba Sing Se. The traditional rule of the Earth Kings eventually ended when the Fire Nation Princess Azula usurped the throne in a violent coup. The rightful Earth King Kuei was forced into exile. When the Fire Nation took control over the city by Azula's order, the usurper left a Joo Dee as a puppet ruler with the title of "Supreme Bureaucratic Administrator of Ba Sing Se".

After the end of the century long war, Earth King Kuei was restored on his rightful place as the leader of the Earth Kingdom. As such, he played a very important role in the execution of the Harmony Restoration Movement in order to remove the Fire Nation presence in the Earth Kingdom by transferring the Fire Nation colonials back to the Fire Nation. Kuei also reformed the Earth Kingdom government back to its original form so the monarch has full power over the government.

Eventually, Kuei's daughter, Hou-Ting, succeeded her father as ruler of the Earth Kingdom, who allowed the Dai Li back into the city as a force working for her. During her reign, she spent large amounts of money on personal interests and was somewhat unpopular with her people because of that. Hou Ting was later killed by Zaheer in 171 AG, and after her, the next in line to take the throne was Prince Wu.

Known earth monarchs

 * Yi Ming
 * 46th Earth King - c. 270 BG
 * Kuei, 52nd Earth King - 79 - 100 AG, 100 AG - Unknown
 * Azula - Spring 100 AG
 * Hou-Ting - Unknown - 171 AG

Trivia

 * No Earth King had been to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se until Kuei ventured there with Team Avatar.
 * A trait shared by both Earth Kings and Ancient Imperial China rulers is their yellow-colored clothing. In Ancient China, yellow was a color reserved only for the Emperor and was often associated with the gods and the element of Earth.
 * The earth monarchs are the only leaders of one of the four nations to have never demonstrated any bending ability.