View source for Avatar:Shihan (Earth Kingdom)

{{Imported Content
|source=Avatar Wiki
|url=https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Shihan_(Earth_Kingdom)
|date=2025-12-22
|license=CC-BY-SA
}}

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Shihan}}
{{Icons|Earth Kingdom|URN}}
:''This article is about the dean at Republic City University. For the headmistress of the [[Royal Fire Academy for Girls]], see [[Shihan]].

{{Character infobox
| nation         = earth
| image          = 
| name           = Shihan
| nationality    = [[Earth Kingdom]]
| ethnicity      = Earth Kingdom
| residence      = [[Cityscape of Republic City#Roku Plaza district|Roku Plaza district]], [[Republic City]]
| age 		 = 40s by 174 [[History of the World of Avatar#After war (100 AG – Present)|AG]]<ref name="RPG-RC-42">''[[Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game]]''. ''[[Republic City (Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game)|Republic City]]'', Version 1.0, 2023, p. 42.</ref>
| birth 	 = 124-134 AG
| hair           = 
| pronouns       = She/her<ref name="RPG-RC-42" />
| allies         = [[Wu]]
| enemies        = 
| profession     = Lecturer
| position       = University dean
| affiliation    = * [[Republic City University]]
* [[Hou-Ting dynasty]]
| appearance     = ''[[Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game]]'' - ''[[Republic City (Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game)|Republic City]]'' {{oa}}
| lastappearance = 
}}'''Shihan''' was a dean of [[Republic City University]] during the lifetime of [[Avatar]] [[Korra]]. Born into the [[Earth Kingdom]]'s [[Hou-Ting dynasty]], she traveled the [[Earth|world]] to further her knowledge and worked as lecturer at various institutes before settling down in [[Republic City]]. For years, Shihan was highly respected and popular among Republic City University's students, though she was eventually drawn into controversy due to the growth of a [[Equalists|Equalist]] revival movement on the campus. Furthermore, she assisted in drafting policies for the [[democratic movement in the Earth Kingdom]].<ref name="RPG-RC-42" />

== History ==
Born around the 120s/130s [[History of the World of Avatar#After war (100 AG – Present)|AG]], Shihan was a distant cousin of [[Earth Monarch|King]] [[Wu]], belonging to a branch of the royal Hou-Ting dynasty.{{#tag:ref|Though Shihan's exact position within the Hou-Ting dynasty is unclear,<ref name="RPG-RC-42" /> her part of the family must have branched off before [[Kuei]] as the latter was an only child<ref name="dead 218-2">{{Cite nickold|218|2}}</ref> and any of his descendants would not be "distant" cousins to Wu. |group = nb}} As a scion of the Earth Kingdom's elite, she embarked on a journey of learning and teaching across the [[four nations]]. In the course of her career, she earned many degrees and worked as a guest lecturer at various respected [[Education in the World of Avatar|educational institutes]].<ref name="RPG-RC-42" />

Shihan ultimately settled down in Republic City after being offered the position of dean of the metropolis' university. There, she hoped to share all what she had learned, while creating a learning culture built on discourse, empathy, and overcoming opposing views. When her cousin Wu started to democratize the Earth Kingdom, Shihan began to help him in her free time by helping to draft policies.<ref name="RPG-RC-42" />

For years, she was popular among the students due to her approachable and hands-on stance as well as her willingness to tackle any problems arising for the university. However, her tenure also saw the rise of an Equalist revival movement. Though Shihan was not someone to shy away from confrontation, her view on the importance of fair discussion meant that she tolerated the movement. Regardless, she also clarified that this tolerance was tied to the movement remaining within the confines of the [[United Republic of Nations|United Republic]]'s [[Law and order in the World of Avatar|laws]]. Some students and staff members criticized these statements, claiming that Shihan should always put the university first regardless of the circumstances.<ref name="RPG-RC-42" />

As the Equalists grew in strength and began to organize regular protests at the university and in the surrounding [[Cityscape of Republic City#Roku Plaza district|Roku Plaza district]], Shihan struggled to bridge the gaps among the increasingly divided students and staff members. In an attempt to mediate, she set up a monthly debate night at the campus offering students of differing ideologies to dispute while also listening to the "other side". While the debate nights initially worked well, they became more and more heated as radical Equalist supporters began attending. Eventually, a large section of the university's Equalists including Professor [[Rabten (nonbender)|Rabten]] decided to attend one debate night. Though the professor promised that his followers were nonviolent, Shihan knew that some students had become militant enough to violently disrupt the event. Not willing to cancel the debate due to the possible bad press but also fearing an escalation, Shihan turned to some associates to help her identify any extremists who were trying to incite unrest on the campus.<ref name="RPG-RC-43">''[[Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game]]''. ''[[Republic City (Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game)|Republic City]]'', Version 1.0, 2023, p. 43.</ref>

== Family tree ==
{{Main|Hou-Ting dynasty}}

{{Familytree
|||||[[46th Earth King]]|_
||||||!|_
|||||Descendants|_
||||||!|_
|||||[[Jialun]]|_
||||||!|_
|||||Descendants|_
||||||)|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.|_	
|||||51st Earth King|||||||!|_
||||||!||||||||!|_
|||||[[Kuei]]|||||||!|_
|||,|-|-|^|-|-|.|||||!|_
||[[Hou-Ting]]||||Unknown|||Descendants|_
|||||||||!|||||!|_
||||||||Unknown||||!|_
|||||||||!|||||!|_
||||||||[[Wu]]|||'''Shihan'''|_
}}

== Appearances ==
=== ''Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game'' ===
* ''[[Republic City (Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game)|Republic City]]''

== Trivia ==
* Shihan (師範, しはん) is a Japanese title meaning "master instructor" or "senior teacher", primarily used in martial arts and traditional arts.

== Notes ==
<references group="nb" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[pl:Shihan (Królestwo Ziemi)]]
[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game characters]]
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Earth Kingdom characters]]
[[Category:Hou-Ting dynasty]]
[[Category:Minor characters (Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game)]]
[[Category:Teachers and instructors]]
[[Category:United Republic characters]]