Iroh

"After I reconquer Ba Sing Se, I'm going to reconquer my tea shop, and I'm going to play Pai Sho every day!"

- Iroh to Team Avatar. Iroh is a major character in the Nickelodeon cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as an minor supporting character in The Legend of Korra. He was a retired Fire Nation General, a former Crown Prince of the nation, a Grand Lotus of the Order of the White Lotus, a firebending master, and a wise mentor to his nephew Zuko. He was the elder son of Fire Lord Azulon and Ilah, and the older brother of Ozai. Iroh's well-known ability to breathe fire, and his claims of "slaying" the last dragon, earned him the honorary title "The Dragon of the West".

Unlike many other individuals from the Fire Nation, particularly those within his own family, Iroh was a wise, easy-going, and spiritual man. He appreciated and admired the balance of the four elements, and even incorporated aspects of the other elements into his own firebending techniques. Iroh aided Avatar Aang and his companions on several occasions, and was consequently branded as a traitor. An extremely perceptive person, it was claimed that he journeyed to the Spirit World in search of his deceased son Lu Ten. His knowledge and respect for the four elements allowed him to provide advice to others; he assisted many close associates and friends.

After the traumatic death of his son, Iroh saw Zuko as his own son rather than his nephew, and encouraged him to choose his own destiny, rather than a fate members of the royal family expected of him. Upon Zuko's coronation as Fire Lord after Ozai's defeat and the conflict's conclusion, he reopened the Jasmine Dragon tea shop, and served tea for the rest of his retirement. When he deemed his business in the mortal world finished, Iroh chose to leave his body behind and travel to the Spirit World, where he continued serving tea to various spirits.

Personality
Easygoing, open-minded, warm, caring, generous, friendly, advising, kind, and humorous, Iroh treated his self-imposed exile during Zuko's search for the Avatar as though it were an extended vacation. Something of an epicurean in his old age, he did not devote his full energies to the pursuit of the Avatar, clashing with the dedication of his nephew. However, beneath the easygoing exterior lay a wise man experienced in the ways of the world, a seasoned and wily strategist, and an incredibly strong and powerful firebending master.

Although he appeared hedonistic, Iroh's personal philosophies were ones of living life to the fullest, and following a path of one's own choosing. He was a firm believer that everyone had the power to create one's own destiny. He appeared laid-back because he understood that there were things in life he could not control, but he also believed that a person is fully responsible for the parts they can. From Zuko's point of view, Iroh seemed lazy, but from an objective point of view, it could be seen that he understood that Zuko was misguided. Throughout the last year of the Hundred Year War, Iroh constantly asked Zuko what it was that he wanted in life, asking him if capturing Aang was the destiny that he chose, or a path that others told him he needed to follow. Iroh was a father figure to Zuko.

Iroh was particularly fond of tea, the strategy game Pai Sho, and music. He founded a music night for the ship's crew, among whom he was popular, involving singing and the playing of instruments. He later displayed skill at playing the liuqin, singing lullabies to pacify a crying child. He had shown himself to be an amateur botanist with knowledge of a wide variety of plants and their effects on the human body, though misinterpretation of some plant characteristics led him to accidentally poisioning himself. Ginseng, followed by jasmine, are pronounced to be his favorite teas.

Probably as definitive of Iroh's character as his love for tea was his sage advice and wisdom. Iroh was known by his niece and nephew for his sometimes cryptic proverbs and lengthy anecdotes. Throughout Books One and Two, Iroh constantly guided Zuko during his exile and critical, character-shaping decisions. He had also advised Aang and Toph to great effect.

Closely related to this wisdom was Iroh's affinity for spirituality. He constantly advocated maintaining the balance between elements, as demonstrated when he implemented waterbending techniques to divert lightning. Iroh was the only character besides Aang who was able to see the spirit of Roku's dragon. During the Siege of the North, Zhao also mentioned a rumor that Iroh had traveled to the Spirit World. Later in the battle, Iroh threatened Zhao for capturing the Moon Spirit and disturbing the balance of world, breaking his typical easy going manner.

Iroh had no desire for power, not protesting when his brother took his birthright title of Fire Lord. He soon retired from being a general, and stated that "there is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity."

Though an honorable man, he was not above a spot of pilfering as he once pocketed perfumes from an abbey. He also demonstrated respect and appreciation for all cultures, which seemed to be a rarity among those of the Fire Nation. This partially stemmed from his trip into the Spirit World, which left him with a certain spiritual awareness.

Despite his age, Iroh could be quite the ladies' man when the need arose, often flirting with various women on his travels. Many of these were older women but some have been much younger, such as the bounty hunter June and an Earth Kingdom peasant. He was also addressed as "handsome" on multiple occasions.

It had been hinted that Iroh may have been crueler in his days as a general before the death of his son. During a flashback, Iroh was shown, just after he had broken through the walls of Ba Sing Se, writing to Zuko, Azula, and Ursa. In his letter, he said he hoped they could see the city if he did not "burn it to the ground first". However, this may have just been his way of mocking the senseless destruction carried out by the Fire Nation during the War. On the way to Ba Sing Se years later he stated he "was a different man" when he laid siege to it.

It was unclear when Iroh traveled to the Spirit World and when he met the dragons and proved worthy to learn the original form of firebending, so it is not known if these experiences reformed Iroh into the man he became or if he was always a more peaceful man than his father and brother.

Iroh was shown to rarely show grudges, and did not seem to mind if people wronged him. This was made evident when a man attempted to mug him in Ba Sing Se; he did not fight back, but instead helped and gave advice to the mugger.

Firebending
Iroh was a firebending master, and arguably one of the most powerful firebenders of his time. It was mentioned that if Aang were to fail at defeating the Fire Lord, Iroh would be the only other person who could possibly defeat Ozai. Iroh, like Jeong Jeong, knew its destructive and alluring power which could cause an amateur firebender to lose control. Instead of anger, Iroh based his bending style on the original firebending wisdom of the dragons and teachings of the Sun Warriors from whom he learned and whose secrets he kept. This philosophy emphasized the beauty and life-giving qualities of fire; thus, Iroh firebent without resorting to anger, hate, or lust, unlike his brother, niece and most other firebenders of his time. At the same time, he was able to show truly destructive power when provoked, able to blast through the inner wall of Ba Sing Se with a large and highly charged fire blast.

Iroh was highly knowledgeable and well-versed in most styles of firebending and their respective techniques. He was also a very capable teacher of the art, having personally trained his nephew, Zuko, in the majority of his high proficiency in firebending. He also stood as one of the select few firebenders of his time who possessed the ability to generate lightning. This technique required perfect calmness of mind, but unlike his brother Ozai and niece Azula, Iroh derived this from inner peace instead of amorality.

Like his brother, he could easily perform it quickly and even during intense battle. Iroh's prowess for firebending also extended to creating his own original techniques. One of the techniques he invented was the absorption and redirection of lightning. Iroh invented this by observing the fluidity of waterbending moves and their ability to effectively redirect chi. He used this move on multiple occasions, to redirect natural as well as man-made lightning (the latter he even channeled before it was fully unleashed).

While not exclusive to him, Iroh's signature technique was his fire-breath, a feat he could perform with especially potent power that earned him the nickname "The Dragon of the West". He was able to maintain this technique in a sweeping manner against the Dai Li to give himself and Zuko enough time to escape from their clutches.

Iroh had a tendency to not involve himself in battle, but when he did partake, he displayed great skill, speed, agility, and ferocity. Even in his old age and while out of shape, he overwhelmed a group of four firebending guards accompanying Admiral Zhao within seconds, causing Zhao to retreat in fear, and defeated multiple trained earthbenders in combat, using the chains that had previously subdued him. He was also able to overpower, with notable ease, a full squad of Imperial Firebenders accompanying Azula as well as the prodigious princess herself.

His firebending skill may have developed even further after getting back in shape in prison. He managed to break himself out of the jail, leaving only an enormous hole in the bars of his cell, and various scorch-marks on the walls. A shell-shocked Warden Poon described Iroh as being like a "one-man army". During the coming of Sozin's Comet, Iroh displayed the true extent of his firebending prowess: he created a ring of fire around him and several other members of the Order of the White Lotus, expanding it and shrinking it with every breath, in and out. After a few breaths, he focused the ring around him into a ball, from which he launched a fire blast that breached the Inner Wall of Ba Sing Se itself.

Other skills
Iroh was a gifted strategist and tactician, having once been the Fire Nation's top general and next in line to become Fire Lord. His craftiness was best showcased by his skill at Pai Sho. His army won many battles in the Earth Kingdom and managed to break through the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se. There were many who still referred to him as "General" Iroh, despite the fact that he had been retired for years, though Zhao did so in a partially sarcastic manner.

Iroh was a lover of music; he was a good singer, as well as a gifted pipa and tsungi horn player. He had knowledge of other cultures, and history. He was also something of an amateur botanist, probably due to his love of tea, although this skill was not enough to save him getting poisoned, when he confused a rare tea plant with a poisonous one. Because of his love of tea, Iroh was also an excellent tea maker, increasing business in the tea shop he and Zuko worked in and was eventually awarded one of his own. With his adept entrepreneurial skills, Iroh had managed to invent a new variety of tea, mixing tea with milk and tapioca pearls.

Iroh was able to see the spirit of Aang riding Roku's dragon when no one else could. He was also able to immediately discern that Princess Yue had been given life by the Moon Spirit. His knowledge of the spirits and their world is immense, as he was later in life able to consciously depart his soul to the Spirit World, where he was welcomed.

Iroh also demonstrated an impressive physical strength and skill in close combat without the usage of firebending. While imprisoned after the fall of Ba Sing Se, he spent most of his time performing intensive calisthenic routines without the guards' knowledge. In a few weeks, his previously overweight physique had completely changed to a slim yet impressively muscular one. On the Day of Black Sun, while the scorch marks on the prison walls indicated part of his escape occurred before the eclipse began, he still escaped during the eclipse, when firebending was not possible. This implied that Iroh had some knowledge of hand-to-hand combat to accomplish this feat. Interestingly, Iroh had planned to escape on the Day of Black Sun beforehand, implying he knew not only of this firebending weakness but also knew when an eclipse was going to occur, despite none of this information being public knowledge.