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 an Earth Kingdom village which 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. After Lee and a friend of his threw an egg at one of Gow's men, Gow was quick to attempt intimidating 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 warned Zuko to leave town, tapping his hammer and 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 at Gansu, but backed down when Zuko blocked 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 and took the weapon for himself, threatening to conscript the boy into the Earth Kingdom Army. At Lee's mother's request, Zuko confronted Gow in order 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 defeat Zuko, who was hiding his abilities 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 and was quickly defeated. When the shocked soldier demanded to know who he was, Zuko announced his true identity and reclaimed his knife.

Personality
Gow was very unkind, uncaring, and, as Lee's father stated, "a thug". He was shown bullying others and "abusing [his] power, mostly over women and children". He also seemed to have a cowardly quality about him, as he allowed all the other soldiers to attempt to defeat Zuko before he did; additionally, when he was knocked back, he questioned fearfully, "Who... who are you?" and recoiled when the prince stepped forward to retrieve his knife.

Abilities


Gow was skilled with his twin hammers, which he used to earthbend and strike down Zuko, who fought only with his dual dao swords at the time. Despite his advantages, he was soon defeated easily 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.
 * His hammers bear a resemblance to Mjölnir, the hammer of Thor, particularly as it is depicted within the Marvel Comics universe.