| “ | I'm never going back to prison! If I'm going down today, YOU'RE COMING WITH ME! | „ |
| ~ Ghazan final words. |
Ghazan is a supporting antagonist of The Legend of Korra, the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, serving as one of the secondary antagonists of Book 3: Balance.
He is one of the four most dangerous criminals in the world, along with Zaheer, P'Li, and Ming-Hua, and serves as a member of the anarchist terrorist organization known as the Red Lotus. He is the archrival of Bolin and possesses the rare ability of Lavabending.
He was voiced by Peter Giles.
History[]
Ghazan after escaping his prison cell.
Years ago, Ghazan was a dangerous Earthbending criminal and a member of the Order of the Red Lotus. He and his gang, led by Zaheer, attempted to kidnap the Avatar, Korra, when she was a little girl, but all of them were defeated by Tonraq, Sokka, Firelord Zuko, and Tenzin. Ghazan, like all his compatriots, was deemed extremely dangerous and was placed in a specialized prison cell exclusively for him. To prevent Ghazan from escaping, the Order placed him in a wooden cell in a water vessel, virtually cutting him off from any earth to Earthbend with and making escape impossible. Also like his Red Lotus allies, he was brutally interrogated about his motives for kidnapping Korra; none of the criminals revealed anything.
Ghazan creating a lava shuriken.
After Zaheer escaped and acquired the ability to Airbend, the Red Lotus leader arrived to free Ghazan from prison. While Zaheer was fending off the guards, he managed to toss Ghazan three rocks, which Ghazan lavabended into a blazing shuriken. He then used this weapon to cut his way out of his cell and murder his captors by slicing them with his magma weapon.
After successfully escaping from his imprisonment, Ghazan joined forces with Zaheer once again to break another criminal named Ming-Hua out of her cell. The two traveled to a prison hidden inside a volcano, where Ming-Hua was being held. They engaged her captors in battle and tossed Ming-Hua a barrel of water, which allowed her to escape from her containment.
After Ghazan and Zaheer successfully broke Ming-Hua out from her cell, Ming-Hua joined the two so they could break out P'Li, Zaheer's girlfriend, from her containment in the Northern Water Tribe. At P'Li's cell, they were confronted by Tonraq, Zuko, Eska, and Desna, who hoped to stop them. Ghazan battled Zuko and defeated him. The team, now reunited, escaped from the Northern Water Tribe. He was dismayed to see Zaheer and P'Li kiss in their reunion.
Following their reunion, Ghazan became the muscle of the team. After Zaheer infiltrated Air Temple Island, the group escaped Republic City aboard a delivery truck. When they were discovered by the police, the authorities gave chase. Ghazan turned a section of the bridge into lava, trapping the police cars and allowing them to escape.
When Zaheer discovered Korra's location, he brought Ghazan and the Red Lotus to kidnap her. After tranquilizing her, Ghazan was seen carrying the Avatar over his shoulder until Lin intervened and saved her. Surrounded by Team Avatar and a legion of Metalbending soldiers, Ghazan created a lake of lava around him and his allies. He then cascaded lava on his enemies until Zaheer created cover for their escape.
Ghazan's tattoos.
Later, Ghazan was tasked with capturing Korra when she was staying at the Misty Palms Inn, along with Ming-Hua, while Mako and Bolin attempted to stop them. He easily overpowered Bolin, who said he was basically "giving him ammo" because Ghazan could turn any earth thrown at him into magma to counterattack with. Ming-Hua sent him after the Avatar, but the Earth Queen's forces captured her before he could. He returned with Mako and Bolin, and Zaheer resolved to go to Ba Sing Se.
En route to Ba Sing Se, Ghazan struck up a casual conversation with Bolin, displaying his affable side. He revealed how he had kept his sanity in his cell by naming and renaming constellations. He also hinted at a veiled affection for Ming-Hua.
Ghazan followed Zaheer to Ba Sing Se and disguised himself as a bounty hunter. After Zaheer betrayed and killed Hou-Ting and announced her death on the radio, Ghazan brought down the outer wall with his Lavabending, causing many riots to start.
Ghazan later accompanied Zaheer, Ming-Hua, and P'Li to the Northern Air Temple to capture and, if necessary, kill the Air Nomads who lived there. Ghazan dueled with Bumi, whom he nearly killed with his Lavabending. Bumi then gnawed on his shoulder until he detached him with his Earthbending.
Ghazan later met with Bolin, whom he briefly dueled with before Ming-Hua ordered him to bury them already. He complied by trapping Bolin and Mako inside a chamber by surrounding them with a pool of lava. He destroyed the entire Air Temple by melting the mountainside it was built on. However, Team Avatar successfully escaped the destruction.
Later, Ghazan was in awe by witnessing Zaheer fly and commented on how he didn't need a ride. Afterwards, he was present in the Red Lotus' cavernous headquarters where he and Ming-Hua question Zaheer on being able to fly before he explained how he learned from the other airbender who learned it. Ghazan and Ming-Hua soon learn of P'Li's death and confronted the chained-up Korra in an attempt to kill her. When Avatar Korra went into the Avatar State, Ghazan and Ming-Hua attempted to kill her, but their attacks were easily repelled by the Avatar. When Korra chased Zaheer out of the cave, he and Ming-Hua stayed behind to battle Bolin and Mako respectively, where he learned that Bolin had now learned to bend lava like himself. After a smirk from Bolin, Ghazan remarked on how his group managed to escaped and commented he wasn't bad and decided to see who was better.
Ghazan about to kill himself in hopes he can kill Mako and Bolin.
While Bolin fared better thanks to his new ability, the more experienced Ghazan eventually had the upper hand. After Mako killed Ming-Hua, he and Bolin combined their attacks and overpowered Ghazan. Faced with inevitable defeat, Ghazan chose death over returning to captivity. In a last-ditch attempt to kill his opponents, Ghazan turned the walls of the cavern to magma and screamed as he brought it down, killing himself in the process. In the end, his attack was in vain as Bolin earthbent himself and his brother to safety.
Powers and Abilities[]
Ghazan's tattoos.
- Earthbending: Ghazan is a powerful Earthbender. He can increase the heat and liquefy material, which allows him to bend lava. As an Earthbender alone, Ghazan can overpower the vulnerable but powerful Zuko in combat. He is also shown to be very agile and strong, dodging attacks and performing difficult jumps and flips in combat. He is shown to be able to quickly redirect a bombardment of attacks by Dai Li agents with relative ease.
- Lavabending: His ability to Lavabend is his most dangerous ability. He can create small, precise attacks like a blade or stream of lava, or generate enough lava to melt an entire mountainside. Ghazan's use of Lavabending also allows him to directly counter any Earthbender he faces, as he can turn any earth-based attack that gets thrown at him into lava and redirect it, which Bolin described as "giving [him] more ammo". Ghazan's lava is instantly lethal and cannot be redirected by anyone except an Avatar or another Lavabender, both of which are extremely rare opponents. Other than Zaheer, Ghazan is shown to be the most powerful and dangerous Red Lotus member due to his unblockable attacks and the sheer collateral damage he creates.
Trivia[]
- Ghazan is the first known non-Avatar capable of Lavabending, the second being Bolin.
- It is hinted that he and Ming-Hua may have an "unspoken attraction" during their conversation with Bolin.
- Ghazan is the second character to commit suicide, the first one being Tarrlok.
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