Earth Rumble VI is an earthbending tournament held underground in a giant earthen arena in the Earth Kingdom town of Gaoling. The competition is a popular Earth Kingdom attraction, and the stands are always full, save for the front rows, which are constantly demolished and pummeled by flying rocks that come out of the ring. The host of the tournament is Xin Fu.[1]
The rules of Earth Rumble are simple: knock the other fighter out of the ring with earthbending and you advance to the next round. The fighter who defeats all others has to challenge and defeat the winner of the past Earth Rumble competition for the title of Earthbending Champion and the prestigious Earth Rumble belt. To make things more interesting, Xin Fu would sometimes offer prize money to an audience member that believed they could defeat the Earthbending Champion.
History
When Avatar Aang and his friends came to the town of Gaoling searching for an earthbending teacher, they heard about Earth Rumble VI from some earthbending students. They visited the competition hoping to find a master earthbender willing to teach Aang. There, they discovered Toph Beifong, under the alias "The Blind Bandit", the champion of the competition. After she won the tournament, Xin Fu offered money to whoever could beat her in a fight. Hoping to get the chance to talk to her, Aang accepted. However, he accidentally beat her with his airbending, causing her to storm off, refusing to speak to him.
Known contestants
A number of earthbenders with a variety of mannerisms competed in Earth Rumble VI.
- Xin Fu (manager and former champion)
- Aang (current champion)
- The Blind Bandit (former champion)
- The Boulder
- The Big Bad Hippo
- Fire Nation Man
- The Gopher
- The Gecko
- Headhunter
Trivia
- The Earth Rumble competitions are similar to real world professional wrestling shows — extravagant fighters with unique names and skills fight each other in matches, with a championship belt at stake.[2] It is particularly like wrestling in North America popularized by promotions such as the WWE, emphasizing elaborate angles and over-the-top personalities, or "gimmicks". Taking a look at the contestants listed above plays out as an itemized list of stock characters:
- The token "Evil Foreigner" (Fire Nation Man)
- The "Big Guy" (The Big Bad Hippo)
- High-Flyers (The Gecko, The Gopher, and Headhunter)
- The Star Attraction / Merchandise Driver (The Boulder)
- The Champion (The Blind Bandit)
- Badgermoles are used to clean up the debris in the stadium, similar to the zamboni in ice hockey.
- Earth Rumble VI is similar in objective to pro-bending.
References
- ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante (writer) & Spaulding, Ethan (director). (May 5, 2006). "The Blind Bandit". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 2. Episode 6. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ Template:Nickold