Zhao

Zhao was a crafty yet impatient Fire Nation officer. He worked his way up from a lieutenant to an Admiral.

## Zuko

Zhao's natural rival was Zuko. He always felt that the highest level royals like Zuko, Azula, and even Macai never deserved what they got. Still out of those three Azula gained his respect the most because of her constant rate of accomplishments and her hardcore mentality that he could relate to. Zhao was royal enough to get opportunities to become a lieutenant but never the nepotism to get his own ship (granted Zuko got a small one) while failing his father's standards time and time again. Zhao believed Zuko was a failure and his mistakes gave Zhao an excuse to pick on him and unleash his subconscious disdain on someone that he believed genuinely deserved it.

When Zuko initially discovered Aang by accident, he was unable to keep him in custody. The Avatar escaped and Zuko's team worked on a perilous hunt for the boy. After verbally assaulting Zuko a few times as the two attempt to catch the Avatar, Zuko engaged Zhao in an Angi Kai (traditional firebender duel). In the fight, Zhao nearly overwhelmed Zuko but Zuko listened to Iroh's advice and bested the Fire Nation officer. Thought Zhao was humbled for the moment, his hatred for Zuko never wore thin.

Zhao eventually captured Aang, using sound strategy. Zuko couldn't stand the thought of Zhao passing him up and getting more of Ozai's favor. He also knew that meant he would never be able to return home with honor. This led to the Prince disguising himself as a "blue spirit" and going on a mission where he saved Zuko. Zhao had his ship open fire on Zuko's but framed it on pirates. Zuko knew the truth and was nearly killed by the attack. Fortunately, Iroh and most of his crew were away during the strike.

After Zuko's apparent "death", Zhao asked Iroh to join him as an advisor. The duo attacked the Northern Water Tribe and engaged them in a tough battle. Zhao had numbers, weapons, and tech on his side but the Northern Water Tribe had Avatar Aang and an army of highly motivated warriors on it's side. After several hours of intense fighting, Zhao decided to search out and find the moon spirit. The sun and moon spirit were both represented by two spiritual fish. If he killed the moon spirit the waterbenders would lose their power.

Iroh turned on Zhao and warned him that pulling an attack like that would disrupt the balance of the world and would create new problems for everyone. Zhao raged and attacked the spirit anyway. Iroh swiftly demolished Zhao's squad and Zhao promptly fled. The Northern Water Tribe Princess Yue gave her life to ensure the spirit survived. Zhao was then found by Zuko and the two fought in an intense showdown. Zuko got the best of Zhao again and he was eventually swept away by an ocean spirit that rose to the defense of the Northern Water Tribe alongside the Avatar. There Zhao was tormented without end as he was taken away into spiritual peril. Zuko offered to save Zhao but Zhao ignored his request. He rather suffer death than deal with the humiliation of letting Zuko rescue him.

## Jeong Jeong

Before his defection from the Fire Nation, Jeong Jeong trained Zhao. Jeong Jeong knew Zhao always had potential but the two fell out. Jeong Jeong discovered Zhao was never patient enough to maximize his potential and Zhao believed Jeong Jeong was an old fool and coward who never got to the point. Zhao's disdain for his old master only grew after he deemed him a "traitor".

## Abilities

Zhao had the second-largest flames after Ozai and the most explosive flames in the Fire Nation (along with Kanna). Zhao was an offensive juggernaut with a high pain tolerance but terrible defense. Zhao also was easy to irritate and lacked self-control.