Xin Ming

Xin Ming was a member of a hidden dojo on an island near the Southern Air Temple during the late Hundred Year War.
== History ==
In winter 99 AG, Team Avatar was making their way from the Southern Water Tribe to the Southern Air Temple. Xin Ming greeted Aang, Katara, and Sokka, surprising the group on their way through the Patola Mountain Range. Sokka demanded to know who she was, and she apologized for startling them. She introduced herself, noting that she had overheard the group looking for food. Xin Min said that there was some nearby, but she would need Team Avatar's help to get it. She told them to follow her, saying she could explain more.
Xin Ming took the group through the mountain passage to a temple courtyard that looked old and abandoned. She explained that it was a dojo, and that they kept it run down to hide from the Fire Nation while they trained to fight in secret. When Sokka inquired about the food she claimed to have, Xin Ming said that everything started when the dojo students started acting up, with the master setting a challenge. Fed up with their undisciplined behavior, the master had locked all the food in the dojo, saying that only the strongest would enter. The sifu broke the dojo's key into pieces, and the students split into factions and started fighting over them. Xin Ming hoped that they could work together and share the pieces so that they could all eat, but no one listened to her. She noted that it had been a day since anyone had eaten, and she was the only one without a faction. Sympathizing with her predicament, Aang offered for Team Avatar to be her faction, though Sokka took him aside for a moment, with the group discussing whether they should help Xin Ming or search for food elsewhere.
With Katara and Aang both agreeing that they should help others and look for something for Appa to eat, they agreed to help out Xin Ming. Xin Ming enthusiastically expressed her gratitute, explaining that the factions that had formed were Gonji Tao, ZhiSheng Tao, and FangShou Tao. Each faction had a piece of the key, but each also had mastered one of the sifu's techniques: offense, defense, and the mind. As Xin Ming and Team Avatar began to take down the students of each faction, Sokka tried to attempt at flirting with her. Katara quickly stopped him and discussed the local situation more, discovering that the Fire Nation had been raiding crops of the locals in Patola, and they hired the dojo master to train them to fight back in exchange for food. They also discussed the identity of the master, saying that no one knew who they were, and that they only agreed to train the locals if no one asked them about their past. She also explained that anything Fire Nation touched a nerve with them, more than anything she had ever seen, even with the war going on.
After defeating the students of all factions, Team Avatar and Xin Ming retrieved all the pieces of the key to unlock the dojo. She was excited to enter the building and retrieve the food, but was surprised to see the master there, reprimanding her for bringing outsiders. Aang said that it was not her fault, as they were the ones trying to help her, and Katara questioned the master starving their students. Sokka said he would not be leaving without the food, and Team Avatar proceeded to confront the master.
Once the master was defeated, Team Avatar was told that they had passed the test and beaten the challenge. They were deemed to be the strongest ones there, including Xin Ming. A student from the Gonji Tao protested, saying that they got lucky because they had been surprised, and that Xin Ming could not hurt a fly. However, the master declared that the strongest was not the one who conquered all, but the one who unites them, and that Team Avatar and Xin Ming managed to defeat the others even though they were outnumbered. With that, the master agreed to open up the food for everyone, allowing Team Avatar to feed Appa. Aang told her it was time to hit the road, and Xin Ming thanked him for all the help, having a feeling that things would change where they were. She also informed him that the master would let him come back to the dojo to train any time. She wished the Avatar good luck on his journey, as he and his friends left for the Southern Air Temple.
Later on, the dojo master asked Xin Ming about their situation. She responded that new trainees were arriving to swell the dojo's ranks, but expressed concern that most students appeared to still focus more on fighting each other than the Fire Nation. When the master asked Xin Ming for her opinion on how to solve this issue, she was startled but then proposed that they could invite outsiders as challengers. These would combat the students for rewards; in this way, the dojo's members would train and also unite against a common foe. The master responded positively to the idea, and ordered Xin Ming to set the plan in motion. Honored by this expression of trust, she immediately went to work.
Before long, the first group of strangers arrived at the dojo, having heard of its reputation and its offer for honorable duels. Xin Ming first explained the rules to them, and subsequently accompanied the challengers and assisted them as they faced the dojo's students in a series of duels. Ultimately, the challengers mastered the tasks set before them and even defeated the dojo master. This left the dojo's members, including Xin Ming, dejected, as they felt as if they had made no progress with their training. However, the dojo master argued that they had grown in power and could only continue to do so by learning from their defeats.
== Appearances ==
=== Avatar games ===
* Avatar: Generations
== Trivia ==
* Xin Ming's necklace seems to feature a stylized, swirling orb that resembles the traditional Air Nomad symbol.
== References ==
Category:A to Z
Category:Avatar: Generations characters
Category:Characters
Category:Neutral characters