| “ | Why bother rooting around in the mud with these pigs? | „ |
| ~ Gow about Lee's family. |
Gow is a minor antagonist in Avatar: The Last Airbender. He serves as the main antagonist of the season 2 episode "Zuko Alone". He is the corrupt commander of a small group of soldiers stationed in the Earth Kingdom village that Zuko visited during his travels.
He was voiced by Gary Anthony Sturgis.
History[]
Gow and his crew bullied and terrorized the citizens of an Earth Kingdom town while justifying their crimes by claiming that they are soldiers. When Zuko entered the village, Gow immediately took notice of this stranger. When Lee and a friend of his threw an egg at one of Gow's men, he was quick to intimidate Zuko into telling him who threw it. However, the banished prince did not flinch, and Zuko's smart remarks angered Gow even more. When the salesman of the town gave Zuko the bags of feed he had purchased, Gow quickly stepped in and took the bags away, thanking Zuko for "his contribution" and saying that "the army appreciated his support". Gow turned to warn Zuko to leave town, saying that the "penalty for staying was a lot steeper than [he] could afford."
Later, Gow led his band to Gansu's homestead. He informed the farmer that his elder son, Sensu, had been captured. Gansu threatened Sensu when he began to taunt the suffering family. Angered by this challenge, he charged Gansu, but backed down when Zuko crossed his path.
After Gansu had left, Gow and his men came back to the farm, ordering the family to give them food. Gow then kidnapped Lee, Gansu's younger son, when the young boy pulled a knife on him which he proceeded to take for himself. He threatened to conscript the boy into the Earth Kingdom Army. At Lee's mother's request, Zuko confronted Gow and attempted to rescue Lee.
Zuko easily defeated the weaker soldiers, but Gow used his earthbending abilities in combination with his hammers to pose a bigger challenge and to defeat Zuko, who was hiding his past as a firebender. As he closed in for the kill with his twin hammers, Zuko rose up and used firebending in conjunction with his dual dao swords. Gow proved to be no match for the firebender, who quickly defeated him. When the shocked soldier demanded to know who he was, Zuko announced his true identity and took his knife back.
Despite what Zuko did, the entire town shuns and rejects him, including Lee, due to his former alliance with the Fire Nation and he leaves.
Personality[]
Gow was shown to be very unkind, uncaring, vindictive, curmudgeonly, and sarcastic, and as Lee's father stated, "a thug". He was shown only bullying others and "abusing their power, mostly over women and children". He also seems to have a cowardly quality about him, as he allowed all of the other soldiers to attempt to defeat Zuko before he did, and when he was knocked back, he fearfully questioned his identity.
Powers and Abilities[]
Gow's twin hammers.
Gow was skilled with his twin hammers which he used to earthbend and to strike down Zuko, who fought only with his dual dao swords at the time. Despite his advantages, he was soon defeated handily by Zuko when the latter finally utilized firebending.
Trivia[]
- It is stated by Avatar Extras that Gow enjoyed causing fearmongering among the citizens as well as tripping old people and stealing candy from babies.
- His name is a Scottish surname that is derived from the Gaelic word "Gobha", meaning "Smith".
