Cabbage merchant

:This article is about the character in the animated series. For the character in Netflix's live-action series, see . For the airbender, see Kai.
Cai,Avatar: The Last Airbender: My Cabbages! better known as the cabbage merchant, was an Earth Kingdom businessman and founder of Cabbage Corp.The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book One: Air, page 92. Originally an ordinary salesman who specialized in selling cabbages, he was constantly plagued by misfortune during his business endeavors, as his cabbages were continually destroyed or damaged after encountering Team Avatar and their enemies. Inspired by an incident at the Earthen Fire Refinery, the cabbage merchant eventually founded Cabbage Corp, a company that mainly produces automobiles and other technologies, sometime before 120 AG.
== History ==
=== Early life ===
Born as Cai, the cabbage merchant traveled to various locations in the Earth Kingdom in his profession, selling cabbages from a cart that was repeatedly destroyed, to which he would exclaim, "My cabbages!"Throughout Avatar: The Last Airbender. As he traveled widely, the merchant was able to collect various recipes related to cabbages. He was known to have visited the northwest, southwest, and the southern islands of the kingdom, where he gathered inspiration to develop and perfect some of his cabbage dishes.Avatar: The Last Airbender Cookbook: Official Recipes from the Four Nations, p. 69.
=== Misfortune in Omashu ===
When the cabbage merchant was trying to enter Omashu, his cart was destroyed by a troop of overzealous earthbending guards. Though horrified at the actions of the guards, the merchant retroactively admitted that his vegetables had indeed lost their freshness during the travel to Omashu. He subsequently obtained a new cart filled with fresh cabbages, and began his attempt at selling his merchandise. Before long, the cabbage merchant was encountered by the disguised Avatar and his companions. As he nearly harassed Aang into buying cabbages, the merchant realized that the latter's hair was fake. In an attempt to prevent him from blowing their cover, Team Avatar agreed to buy three of his cabbages.
Soon after, his cart and cabbages were destroyed again when Team Avatar crashed into them while riding on the Omashu delivery system. Following this, the outraged merchant alerted the guards to arrest the offenders. He demanded they be beheaded, "One for each head of cabbage!", during their subsequent trial, but King Bumi threw them a feast instead, to the merchant's shock and annoyance. His cart was destroyed for a third time in Omashu by King Bumi and Aang while they rode the mail system again.
Undeterred, the cabbage merchant aquired yet another cart and continued his attempts at selling cabbages in Omashu. Before long, a group of thugs approached him to buy some cabbages, yet were outraged at the price he was demanding. The thugs were about to rob the merchant when a group of adventurers intervened, saving him and his beloved vegetables. To his further joy, the adventurers explained that they also intended to buy one hundred cabbages, earning him one hundred gold pieces. He promptly bought a luxurious new cart.
Eventually, the adventurers returned as they still needed one more cabbage. Having gotten cocky due to his unexpected improvement of fortune, the merchant declared that his "luxury greens have gone up in price to meet the current demand", now demanding an absurd amount of gold pieces for just one cabbage. As the group needed the vegetable for King Bumi himself, they paid up. As the adventurers left, the cabbage merchant openly celebrated his new wealth. Unsurprisingly, this attracted attention, and criminals promptly robbed him and destroyed his luxurious cart. After these events, the merchant left Omashu.
=== Journey to and work in Ba Sing Se ===
At the seedy merchants pier, yet another of his carts was destroyed by Aang when he airbent the cart while being chased by pirates, causing him to yell that the pier was worse than Omashu and walk away dejectedly. The cabbage merchant was among other refugees waiting at Full Moon Bay for a ferry to Ba Sing Se; while waiting, the ferry's passport attendant told him he could not bring his cabbages due to the risk of a cabbage slug infestation. The cabbage merchant was distraught at this, thinking there could not possibly be cabbage slugs on his cabbages. However, the attendant ordered his cart to be destroyed by a security platypus bear over the screams of the merchant. Nevertheless, her suspicions were proven correct when a cabbage slug was found among the cabbages. The cabbage merchant was severely traumatized by this experience and had to be carried away by the security officers.
In Ba Sing Se, an escaped rabaroo ate his cabbages, to which he responded by exasperatedly saying, "My cabb- Oh forget it," and walked off to sob over his predicament. Eventually, the cabbage merchant met Pu-on Tim, an acclaimed Earth Kingdom playwright, during his travels. As Pu-on Tim was writing a play about Avatar Aang at that time, he provided the playwright with information about Team Avatar by recounting their many encounters. Because of the merchant's considerable knowledge on the topic, Pu-on Tim later mentioned him as "a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage" as one of the sources of information for his play.
At some point during his stay in Ba Sing Se, the merchant took in a turkey duck as a pet and named her Daisy. One day, during the Flying Koi Carnival, while the merchant was picking up a few cabbages that had fallen to the ground, he and Daisy were accidental witnesses of the kidnapping of Rose, a wealthy young woman, in the Middle Ring Earthmarket, where he owned a booth. The kidnapper took Daisy from the merchant as collateral for his silence.Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Core Book, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 275.Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Core Book, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 276.
=== Settling down ===
After the Hundred Year War, the cabbage merchant began a small restaurant called "Cabbage Delicacies Bistro" near Cranefish Town, believing a restaurant would be a safer place to keep his beloved cabbages than a cart. When Avatar Aang visited his establishment in 102 AG, he immediately recognized him and assumed a protective stance over his cabbages, stating that bad things always happen to his cabbages when the Avatar was around. Regardless, due to his business being slow, he allowed Aang and the Air Acolytes to stay at his restaurant and even eat their own food, though only under the condition that they at least ordered one dish; he subsequently prepared his signature dish for them, namely cabbage cookies. When Aang entered into the Spirit World, he became fearful once more for the safety of his cabbages and moments later, an earthquake tipped over his cabbages.
As General Old Iron prepared to attack the village around the Earthen Fire Refinery, the villagers needed to evacuate, the cabbage merchant being one of them. Forced by Katara to leave his restaurant, he tearfully lamented the loss of his cabbages once more. When the waterbender attempted to comfort him by saying that they would get him new cabbages, the cabbage merchant claimed that it would not "be the same". While sobbing, however, he suddenly noticed Satoru driving his forklift and, with an inspired look in his eyes, exclaimed what a "remarkable" machine it was. After the conclusion of the battle between Avatar Aang and the ancient spirit, the cabbage merchant approached Satoru and asked if he was the one who built the forklift.
This encounter would inspire the cabbage merchant to shift his attention to technology.The Rift Library Edition commentary, page 182. He initially continued to maintain and expand his Cabbage Delicacies Bistro, using the money he made there to fund his new enterprise. The cabbage merchant eventually bid his produce-selling days goodbye and set up a company, Cabbage Corp, orientated to the manufacturing of affordable automobiles, consumer as well as commercial machinery, and other technologies. Due to his fondness for his favorite vegetable, the company also continued to trade in cabbages as a side business.Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Republic City, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 25.
Under his leadership, Cabbage Corp became one of the largest companies in the world. Considering his countless past misadventures, the cabbage merchant always remained extremely concerned for his company's safety, and consequently organized insurance policies for nearly every kind of natural disaster, authority intervention, and other threats. His son, Lau Gan-Lan, later took over its ownership.
=== Legacy ===
Outside Cabbage Corp's headquarters, a metal statue of the cabbage merchant was erected in order to commemorate his first stand in Cranefish Town, by then renamed to Republic City. Perched atop a high pillar, he is depicted standing, while raising a cabbage in the palm of his hand, next to his cart full of cabbages.
The cabbage merchant's paranoid insurance policies, maintained by Lau Gan-Lan, proved to be a blessing to Cabbage Corp when the company faced and survived a series of crises, disasters, revolutions, and wars in the 170s AG, weathering these better than many competitors.
== Personality ==
The merchant excessively revered cabbages, to the degree that other people often considered his behavior odd or off-putting. He treated his vegetables with great care and wished for all those around him to also realize how great cabbages were; accordingly, he usually reacted with horror or extreme anger when someone harmed his products. For instance, he would freeze in shock or demand the death sentence for those damaging his business. His repeated bad luck in protecting his cabbages made the merchant very paranoid, a trait he kept even after rising to lead a large company.
When he was not hampered by his obsession with cabbages, however, the merchant also displayed a shrewd business sense. Furthermore, he had a soft side, as displayed in his care for his pet turkey duck Daisy. He was also a bit vain, and tended to revel in any money he made during phases of good fortune.
== Abilities ==
In his days as traveling salesman and restaurant owner, the cabbage merchant was generally unsuccessful at doing business, partially due to bad luck and partially due to his obsession with cabbages. However, he was a talented chef and proved very adept at leading a major manufacturing company.
== Relatives ==
== Appearances ==
=== Avatar: The Last Airbender ===
==== Book One: Water (水) ====
==== Book Two: Earth (土) ====
==== Avatar comics ====
=== Graphic novels ===
=== Avatar games ===
* Avatar: Generations
* Avatar: The Last Airbender: Quest for Balance
== Trivia ==
* The cabbage merchant was meant to be a one-time character, intended to appear in only one episode.Avatar Extras for "The King of Omashu" on Nicktoons Network.
* Despite his cart being destroyed and supposedly not allowed in either Omashu or Ba Sing Se, he was seen with them in each city.
* The cabbage merchant has also been referred to as "our lovable loser, the cabbage merchant".Avatar Extras for "The Waterbending Scroll" on Nicktoons Network.
* An e-card from early in the show's production states that the cabbage merchant was only selling cabbage temporarily and that "the real [action was] in cantaloupes".. Archived from the original on July 2, 2011.
* The cabbage merchant can be seen in the PlayStation 2 and GameCube version of the Avatar: The Last Airbender video game.
* The cabbage merchant was voiced by James Sie, who later provided the voice of Cabbage Corp owner and son of the cabbage merchant, Lau Gan-Lan, in The Legend of Korra.
* He was seen in the Avatar Extras promo before the episodes with the extras were released.
* The cabbage merchant was inspired by a character from The Electric Company who would stack cans only to have them knocked over. The idea for the cabbage merchant to be recurring came from three characters in Cowboy Bebop, Antonio, Carlos, and Jobim, who would randomly run into the main characters.Basco, Dante (host), Varney, Janet (host), O'Bryan, John (guest). (August 17, 2021). "Meet the Writer with John O'Bryan". Avatar: Braving the Elements. Episode 11. iHeartRadio.
== References ==
de:Kohlkopfhändler
es:Comerciante de las coles
fr:Marchand de choux
he:איש הכרובים
id:Pedagang Kubis
nl:Kolen man
pl:Sprzedawca kapusty
ru:Продавец капусты
Category:A to Z
Category:Avatar: Generations characters
Category:Characters
Category:Earth Kingdom characters
Category:Graphic novel characters
Category:Merchants and businesspeople
Category:Minor characters
Category:Minor graphic novel characters
Category:The Rift characters