Hei Bai

"spirit"

- I know Hei Bai! We're close personal friends!

Hei Bai, also known as the Black and White Spirit, was a forest spirit that normally took the form of a docile panda bear, but could turn into a large multi-armed monster when angered.

History
Upon seeing the remnants of the once lush Senlin Forest which he protected, Hei Bai became enraged, and, not knowing that it was the Fire Nation who destroyed the forest, targeted the nearby Senlin Village, blaming the villagers. As a result of his anger, Hei Bai transformed into his monstrous form and terrorized the village by abducting one villager each day. When Aang came to the village, he attempted to reason with the enraged spirit, but to no avail. Hei Bai kidnapped Sokka during the night. Later, in an attempt to calm down the angered spirit, Aang showed Hei Bai the acorns that covered the burned forest's ground. Aang told Hei Bai that the forest would come back because of the acorns. Hei Bai's anger faded and he returned to his normal form. He took the acorn in his mouth and then left through the village's gate. From that gate sprouted bamboo stalks, where the villagers stumbled through, unharmed, albeit requiring the use of a bathroom.

Later, Hei Bai returned to give Aang a ride back to the gateway out the Spirit World after he met with Koh. He shot a stream of light from his mouth onto Aang, sending him back into the physical world. In response to a rude comment from Enma upon Aang's departure, he transformed into his monster form and blasted the disrespectful monkey, scaring him away, then again transforming into his normal form.

Hei Bai appeared later in the online game, Escape from the Spirit World, and helped Aang in his quest.

Personality and Abilities


Hei Bai was very docile and friendly in his panda form; when angered, however, he changed into a six-legged, black and white monster that destroyed everything in its path. Somewhat vengeful and very protective of his forest, Hei Bai generally kept to himself and didn't bother others unless they provoked him first. He was a very powerful spirit despite usually being very kind and gentle. He had amazing strength as he could smash a house with one swing of his arm and could move at extreme speeds as shown when he was destroying one house and suddenly in a streak of light appear in front of another structure. He was also able to use powerful sonic screams that ranged from being as powerful as a breeze to decimating a house in seconds. He could also teleport himself and others to any place he wanted including the spirit world and he could make bamboo grow.

Trivia

 * "Hei Bai" (黑白, hēi bái) means "black white" in Chinese.
 * In his normal shape, Hei Bai was one of very few non-chimerical (non-hybrid) earth animals seen in the World of Avatar. Another such animal was Earth King Kuei's pet, Bosco, which was also a bear.
 * Hei Bai's monster form was based on the design of the Angels from the popular anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, of which the creators are fans. It also bears some physical similarities to the Monster from the Film Cloverfield, which was released two years after Avatar aired.
 * When Aang tried to get the Painted Lady to talk to him, not knowing it was Katara in a disguise, he mentioned being good friends with Hei Bai.
 * Oddly, although Hei Bai was a panda, his wooden totem was modeled after a brown bear.