Avatar:Shu
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Imported: 2025-12-22
- This article is about the namesake of Omashu. For the character in Netflix's live-action series, see Shu. For the ex-bounty hunter, see Shu-Hui. For other similar uses, see Omashu (disambiguation).
"But their love was strong and they found a way."
Shu is a legendary figure within Earth Kingdom history who, together with his lover Oma, was one of the world's first humans to learn earthbending directly from the badgermoles. His death eventually led to the creation of the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu. Oma and Shu's tombs lie side by side within the Cave of Two Lovers, with its decorated walls telling their story.[1][2]
History
Shu met Oma on top of a mountain that divided their two villages, but because they belonged to two warring tribes, they were forbidden from seeing each other. However, their love was strong, and they found a way to continue meeting. Both of them learned earthbending from the badgermoles who dwelt within the mountain; thus, Oma and Shu became the first earthbenders. Using their bending, they carved elaborate tunnels and continued to see each other secretly by traveling these passages, designing the tunnels so that anyone who followed them would be lost forever.
The two lovers conducted these underground meetings until Shu was killed in a raid on his village. Distraught by her loss, Oma unleashed a powerful and devastating display of her earthbending prowess, but instead of destroying the two villages, she declared the war between them over. Together, both villages helped her build a new city where they would peacefully coexist. The great city was named Omashu as a monument to the couple's love.[1]
Appearances
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Book Two: Earth (ๅ)
Trivia
- The surname "Shu" (่) means "widespread deployment" or "leisure" in Chinese.
- Shu bore a very close resemblance to Romeo from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. Like Romeo, Shu belonged to a territory at war with Oma's. Even though they were considered enemies, they fell in love with each other. He, like Romeo, met a tragic end.
- Shu's name eventually entered the slang in the World of Avatar.[3]
- Shu is a woman in Netflix's live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.[4]