Avatar:Jin
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- This article is about the protagonist of City of Echoes. For other similar uses, see Jin (disambiguation).
"No matter how the ruling powers change, from the Earth King to the Fire Lord. Whether the tides of power shift in the Lower Ring from the Fangs to the Wolves. They can all come and go, but what I will hold on to are those I care for... My friends. My new family. We'll have to do this our own way."
Jin was a refugee of the Hundred Year War and revolutionary who lived in Ba Sing Se. Forced to leave her home in Daying after the Fire Army killed her parents during her early youth, she spent her teenage years as a delivery girl in Ba Sing Se's Lower Ring. In spring 100 AG, Jin and her acquaintances became entangled in the city's great conspiracy when she attempted to save her friend Susu Wen from a "Joo Dee" contract. As a result, she joined the Silver Fangs, an underground association of revolutionaries who sought to overthrow Ba Sing Se's dictatorship. Working as a Silver Fangs errand runner and agent, Jin developed a close bond with other rebels such as Xuan, Smellerbee, and Longshot.
Her life was further disrupted when the Fire Nation conquered Ba Sing Se, whereupon Jin and her associates went underground and participated in operations against the occupation forces. Having helped to rescue Susu in a daring mission at the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace, Jin ultimately acted as one of the Silver Fangs coordinators of a mass uprising during the liberation of Ba Sing Se in summer 100 AG.
History
Early life
Jin was born into the Guan family[8] in 84 AG,[2] at the Earth Kingdom village of Daying.[9] Her mother Biyu was an earthbending worker as well as soldier,[10][11] while her father was a scholar who served as Daying's magistrate.[12] Though they struggled most of their lives, Jin's parents were strong and able to provide for their family;[4] she initially had a happy childhood.[10] As she got older, Jin showcased early scholarly talents and interest in her grandfather Gong-gong's work as an expert calligrapher. The old man happily responded to her interests and began to teach her calligraphy.[8]
Around 97 AG, the Fire Nation military attacked Daying. Jin's mother was one of the earliest victims, being killed alongside the rest of the village's soldiers in an ambush. As the Fire Army stormed Daying, her father sent her away under Gong-gong's protection; her father subsequently went missing, and was believed dead.[10][13][14] Even as their home burned behind them, Gong-gong brought Jin to safety and they joined a group of refugees, moving toward Ba Sing Se.[8][13] The journey to the Earth Kingdom capital proved to be treacherous. At one point, Jin's group stumbled upon a patrol of two Fire Army soldiers, but the enemy combatants were empathic and let them go. As a result of this experience, Jin never came to hate the Fire Nation despite her parents' fate, realizing that people could be good-hearted regardless of their origin.[15] At a later point of their travels, Jin was almost killed by a falling tree, but barely saved by Gong-gong, though the old man was badly injured by the accident.[8]
After finally crossing the West Lake,[5] Jin and Gong-gong reached Ba Sing Se and managed to secure a small apartment in the city's Lower Ring.[9] Soon after their arrival, Jin sought food at a local refugee kitchen; a local girl, Suyin "Susu" Wen, offered her help in this regard. Afterward, the two quickly developed an especially close bond,[13] and Jin often spent time with Susu's family at the Wen Bakery. She eventually began to work at the bakery as an assistant and delivery girl. At times, Jin felt strange to take payment for her services from Susu and her family, considering their unwavering support and kindness to her as well as Gong-gong.[13][9][16] Meanwhile, Gong-gong forbade Jin from honing her earthbending skills, wanting her to avoid her mother's fate by not engaging in dangerous tasks. He continued to teach her calligraphy so that she could socially advance through education. Indeed, Jin's skills were noticed at a Lower Ring school and she managed to get a scholarship for a literature academy.[10][8]
However, Gong-gong gradually developed a permanent sickness and mental condition, possibly relating to his injuries obtained during their journey to Ba Sing Se.[8] This left the old man mentally absent and confused ever more often. To aid him, Jin began to seek advice and medicine from the Doctor Jan of the Hu Yuan Apothecary in Ba Sing Se.[8][17] Thus, Jin increasingly struggled to make a living and care for her grandfather, while also attending school.[9][10]
100 AG
By spring 100 AG, Jin remained committed to her daily routine of work and studying with few changes, though she met and developed a crush on "Lee", a new worker at the Pao Family Tea House.[9][13] Greater events of the time, such as the Avatar's arrival in the city, played little role in her life.[18] However, everything changed when Susu's father gambled away the Wen Bakery, forcing Susu take a contract job in the Upper Ring to pay her family debt and save their business.[16][10]
Distraught over her friend's fate, Jin became increasingly angry over the injustices of Ba Sing Se. She was determined to make enough money to buy Susu out of her contract. Yet Jin realized that even if she dropped out of her literature school, she would not find a well-paying full-time job.[19][11] A potential solution presented itself when one of her classmates, Xuan –the son of Doctor Jan– offered her a job as an errand runner for some black market associates.[11][20] She successfully delivered the package to Professor Om of the Ba Sing Se University, even chancing upon Susu on the campus. To Jin's distress, however, her friend appeared utterly changed and did not recognize her.[21][22] After some advice by "Mushi" at Pao's tea shop, Jin remained committed to her plan of collecting money to save Susu, reasoning that the latter had just acted like a stranger to deceive some guards.[22][23]
Jin continued to accept job offers by Xuan, and the two gradually developed a friendship,[23] though she initially remained distrustful due to his upper-class background.[24] During one smuggling assignment in the Upper Ring, Jin (using the alias "Huajin") made a positive impression on Madame Macmu-Ling of the Fragrant Blossoms Institute, something none of the other delivery girls before her had managed to do.[24][25] This impressed Xuan and his superiors in the Silver Fangs.[24][26]
As this was going on, Jin also kept up many of her old routines such as work at the Wen Bakery and studying.[17][27] Seeking to break out of her constant worrying, she decided to ask "Lee" out on a date and took him to the Kuanming Square restaurant and the Firelight Fountain, one of her favorite places in the city.[3][27][15] Though Jin enjoyed the date and subsequently felt more at ease, she realized that they were not meant for each other.[15][28]
Having gained greater confidence, Jin subsequently sought to become part of the Silver Fangs to ease her efforts to help Susu. With Xuan's assistance,[28] she was granted a meeting with Silver Fangs co-leader Sumi and passed some initial assessments, also learning that the network was using its black market activities as a cover for revolutionary work. Having become disillusioned with Ba Sing Se's government, this revelation only strengthened Jin's determination.[26][29] Afterward, she began training earthbending with Xuan and was assigned to a team of Silver Fangs initiates consisting of Smellerbee and Longshot. For their first mission, the trainee trio was ordered to steal an object from Lady Mei in the entertainment district.[17][30][31] To her own surprise, Jin was able to work well with Smellerbee and Longshot, succeeding in the mission which was revealed to be an entry test. The trio was officially welcomed into the Silver Fangs by Patron Wu.[31][32]
Over the next weeks, Jin befriended Smellerbee and Longshot, while continuing to carry out Silver Fangs missions.[32][33] After one assignment, the trio encountered Susu. Smellerbee and Longshot informed Jin that her friend had probably been brainwashed by the Dai Li into becoming a "Joo Dee".[33][34] Realizing that her quest was far more complex than anticipated, Jin hoped that the Silver Fangs network might aid her. At the same time, however, the Coup of Ba Sing Se took place and the Earth Kingdom government was overthrown. The Silver Fangs ordered their associates to scatter, knowing that the new regime would seek to ruthlessly eliminate opposition groups.[34][35][36]
Jin retreated to her home and cared for her ailing grandfather as the Fire Army marched into Ba Sing Se, resulting in vicious street fighting.[36][37] Gong-gong suffered a heart attack during the Fire Nation conquest, whereupon Jin ventured through the war-torn city to seek aid from Doctor Jan's family. She managed to reach Xuan who tried to help her grandfather,[38][39][40] but the old man passed away in his sleep, devastating Jin.[41]
After mourning for Gong-gong, Jin continued her efforts to rescue Susu with the help of her friends. Based on intel by Smellerbee and Longshot, Jin's group decided to infiltrate the Dai Li's Lake Laogai base.[41][42] They rescued several prisoners –including General Sung and a few Joo Dees-in-training– and flooded the complex, but Susu had already been relocated to the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace to serve as one of the new collaborationist "Supreme Bureaucratic Administrators".[43][44]
Using the Silver Fangs' old criminal links, Jin and Xuan subsequently secured menial jobs at the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace, spending weeks to scout the location.[44][45] When the Day of Black Sun eventually rendered the firebending guards in the palace powerless, the two disguised themselves as Dai Li agents and managed to enter the Supreme Bureaucratic Administrators' private rooms.[45][46] However, they were ambushed by a true Dai Li patrol and thrown into the palace's prison, deemed to be rebel assassins. Facing potential death, Jin and Xuan continued to bond in their cell and eventually realized that they had fallen in love.[12][5] Sharing a kiss, they were grateful to still have each other. Yet their hopeless situation was interrupted by an unexpected visit of Susu; despite being brainwashed, she had decided to visit their cell out of curiosity and subconscious recognition. Jin was overjoyed by Susu's presence and sought to revive her memories by using techniques she had learned from Smellerbee and Longshot. This worked, and Susu gradually regained her true self.[5][47]
Eventually, Jin and Xuan were taken away for judgement. To their surprise, the judge turned out to be Sumi who revealed that she was a ranking Dai Li member who had gathered pro-Earth Kingdom loyalists within the secret police. Jin learned that the Silver Fangs remained active, covertly preparing a mass uprising in Ba Sing Se.[48][1] Sumi agreed to arrange an escape route for Jin and Xuan, provided that they would resume their work for the revolutionary network. Thanks to this aid, the two successfully escaped and even managed to save Susu as well, before returning to the Lower Ring.[1][49][50]
From this point onward, Jin alongside Xuan, Smellerbee, and Longshot helped to prepare the Silver Fangs' planned rebellion. Using the Wen Bakery, they spread coded messages by the insurgent leadership around the Lower and Middle Rings. The revolution was triggered on the day of Sozin's Comet,[51][14] with rebel cells across Ba Sing Se rising up even as the Fire Army prepared to destroy the city on Fire Lord Ozai's orders. Jin's cell joined the battle, clashing with regular Fire Nation troops and the Rough Rhinos.[14][52][53] Though the battle was hard-fought, the insurgents were reinforced by the Order of the White Lotus and ultimately liberated the capital.[53] With the Hundred Year War concluded, Jin and her comrades were officially honored as war heroes by the restored Earth Kingdom government. Having entered a relationship with Xuan and being reunited with Susu, Jin concluded that Ba Sing Se finally felt like home.[6]
Personality
Embittered by her past and hardships from the Hundred Year War, Jin initially struggled with her identity and adjustment to life in Ba Sing Se, exacerbated both by the loss of her parents and the fact that she was an "outsider" who did not initially fit in with the students of Ba Sing Se's high-class educational system. This resulted in her keeping to herself at school and often snapping at others if she felt inferior to them, which was a main part of why she was hesitant to befriend Xuan and his friends and was often hostile to them. In her mind, she felt that her classmates resented her existence and looked down on her as too inferior to ever associate with their ranks.[19] She was also initially distrusting of Xuan, hesitant to let him in or confide too much in him in case he ever tried to use her or make fun of her, though her initial hostility toward him was also a way of inwardly coping with her feelings for him.
Though not usually aggressive or assertive, Jin was nonetheless a determined girl, pursuing her desires through her kind personality. After her best friend Susu left her and the Wen family, she was ecstatic to see her again whilst on her delivery service at Ba Sing Se University, only to be confused and shocked that Susu did not even acknowledge her. Unable to understand what was happening, she tried endlessly to get through to Susu, only to be stopped by a guard. When she saw Susu again on the monorail, she was again determined to get through to her and became increasingly devastated as Susu continued to fail to recognize her, again stopping only at Smellerbee and Longshot's insistence, as they did not want her to get in trouble. Learning of Susu's brainwashing, Jin vowed to get her best friend back. Even after being imprisoned in the palace with Xuan, she persistently called out to Susu when she brought food to their prison cell, reminding her of their shared childhood memories until she finally broke through Susu's brainwashing.[5][47]
Jin was a selfless and kind girl. She was loyal to her friends and willing to make sacrifices at any length if it would keep her friends and loved ones out of trouble. She never told Gong-Gong about any of the stress she dealt with while at school or about the events surrounding the conspiracy or war so as not to worry him.[11] Jin was greatly devoted to her grandfather and was devastated when she lost her only family, falling unconscious for an entire night. She was also willing to give up her education if it meant she could take on the Silver Fangs' trade and earn money to support the Wen family and her grandfather. When she and Xuan attempted to save Susu from the palace, she told Xuan to save himself upon realizing that they were lured into a trap, not even thinking to save herself.[46] Even after they were released with the help of Sumi, she attempted to tell Xuan this again as she did not want to endanger him on her mission to save Susu, only to be told by him that he would never leave her.[1] She greatly sympathized and bonded with Smellerbee and Longshot, understanding their grief over Jet's death and equally as disgusted as them at Ba Sing Se's conspiracy.
Her time spent with Xuan and the Silver Fangs increased her confidence and boldness, both in her earthbending and combat as she continued to train, and also in her daring and resolve to save her friends and resist the oppressive tyranny of the conspiracy and the Fire Nation. She was originally nervous when running her first two errands for the Silver Fangs at Ba Sing Se University and the Five-Seven-Five Society, respectively, due to having never associated with high-class Earth Kingdom citizens, but became relieved when she made a good impression on Madame Macmu-Ling and Professor Om.[21][24] Later, she gained the courage to help Smellerbee and Longshot in a heist to steal a war fan from the Pine entertainment house, even swinging from a makeshift rope to jump from the balcony of the house while held by Smellerbee.[30] By the last month of the war, she was brave enough to infiltrate the palace with Xuan on the Day of Black Sun to save Susu, and she did not hesitate in fighting in the liberation of Ba Sing Se alongside Smellerbee, Longshot, and Xuan, using her earthbending to trap soldiers and throw several boulders at them.
Upon discovering the corruption and conspiracy forming in Ba Sing Se, Jin grew disgusted at the capital's leadership and how they were treating their own people that they were supposed to protect like disposable tools, fueled by the way her best friend and many other Joo Dees were ruthlessly brainwashed. While in Lake Laogai, she shouted at General Sung, telling him to treat them like people instead of machines.[43] She also feigned ignorance when addressed by Sumi in the palace for her and Xuan's judgment following their imprisonment for infiltrating the palace on the Day of Black Sun, thinking that Sumi was originally involved in the conspiracy and not wanting to play into her games.
Jin also highly valued the art of calligraphy, a trait passed to her by her grandfather.[25][48]
Abilities
Earthbending
Jin did not much use her earthbending abilities for most of her early life due to her grandfather warning her not to use her abilities for fear of being targeted by the Fire Nation if her abilities were needed to fight in the army. She retained an aptitude for her abilities taught by her mother, being able to feel the "warmth" of the earth in her hands but limited to skipping pebbles in the water and drawing shapes in the dirt.[10] She improved considerably after training with Xuan for her first mission for the Silver Fangs. She practiced with Xuan using a jade pendant to push with her right hand and pull with her left hand, later applying this ability to open the lock behind a hidden earthen safe at the Pine entertainment house.[30] She continued to practice with Xuan on locks and doors.[43] When the Fire Nation invaded Ba Sing Se, Jin was able to rescue Longshot after a huge wall of stone fell on top of him, lifting the part of the slab up long enough for Smellerbee to get him out.[37] When she rushed to the Hu Yuan Apothecary to get medicine for her grandfather, she was able to form a series of small platforms to scale down a wall, pulling them out one-by-one as she descended, a notably impressive feat such that Xuan was amazed and commented that her earthbending had improved.[39] She also became efficient at emulating the Dai Li's earthbending methods, imitating their technique of using small rock beads to form earthen gags or rock gloves,[44] and she used the technique to restrain a Joo Dee by the wrist.[49]
Calligraphy
Under the tutelage of her grandfather, Jin became an accomplished calligrapher of considerable skill and developed a fine taste for the art. She was able to identify the finest brushes and calligraphy styles,[25][48] and was well versed in writing in the Duanshan style.[19] Though she considered her calligraphy merely adequate enough to get by within the education system, her abilities were praised by various teachers, including highly demanding masters such as Macmu-Ling.[19][25][24]
Relatives
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Appearances
Avatar: The Last AirbenderBook Two: Earth (土)
Appearances: 1
Book Three: Fire (火)
Appearances: 1
Avatar comicsBook Two: Earth (土)
Appearances: c
Avatar Legends novelsCity of Echoes |
Trivia
- Jin (仁, じん) is a Japanese name meaning "gentleness", "tenderness", or "benevolence".
- Three words that Judy I. Lin used to describe Jin are: clever, romantic, genuine.[54]