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APPEARANCE

Members of the Fire Nation have black or dark brown hair, yellow or grey-ish eyes, and rather pale skin. The men in older years sport beards and mustaches, and almost all Fire Nation members have topknots. Members of the army wear red and black uniforms that may have yellow touches to them. Civilians wear red and white or red tinted outfits.


NATIONAL EMBLEM

The National Emblem of the Fire Nation is a stylized, teardrop-shaped flame forked into a Trident of three tongues that taper upward to a point. It is displayed on the pennants of Fire Navy Warships , and the sides of their various vehicles of War . It seems that the royal family or certain members, wear the emblem in their topknots. (Though only Azula and Ozai have been seen wearing them).


CULTURE


The Fire Nation is ruled with an iron fist, by the latest in a long line of Firebenders, , and the brother of General Iroh .

The Fire Nation's political system is a Absolute Monarchy that has been waging a century-long Imperialist war against the other three nations of the World ; the stated goal of which is to create a planetwide Empire . They are not above employing Genocide to accomplish this goal, having already eliminated the entire nation of Air Nomads , and driven the Southern Water Tribe to the brink of Extinction . A recent naval Siege of the Northern Water Tribe failed, but the Nation's current ambition is to conquer the Earth Kingdom by storming their Capital city of Ba Sing Se . A previous siege of the city led by General Iroh lasted six-hundred days until Iroh felt the battle was yielding nothing and he ordered a retreat; the defeat has since branded him a failure. The Fire Nation has also taken the earth stronghold of Omashu.

As illustrated in its cultural Festival s, the Fire Nation employs Propaganda to indoctrinate a sense of Nationalism and loyalty to the Fire Lord ( Cult Of Personality ) in its citizens from the earliest age possible. (A popular attraction cast Ozai as a hero in a children's Puppet Show .)


MILITARY


The Fire Nation military is definitely the strongest of the four nations. They succeeded in wiping out the Air Nomads early in the war, and though they are fighting on two-fronts with the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom, they still have the upper hand. As the war drags on, it becomes clear that the Fire Nation will eventually win if the Avatar does not intervene. The Water Tribe hasn't the military might to directly challenge the Fire Nation, and the vast Earth Kingdom continues to lose territory to the firebenders.


Technology

The Fire Nation is the most technologically advanced of the nations, boasting .


The Yu Yan Archers

The Yu Yan Archers are Colonel Shinu's highly skilled unit of Archers , capable of nonfatally pinning a fly to a tree from 100 yards away. They're so skilled that they succeeded in overwhelming and capturing Aang , the Avatar , though he subsequently escaped from custody.


Navy

The Fire Nation's navy comprises coal-powered warships, built of metal. In addition to its sturdy properties, the Fire Nation's use of metallurgy to remove impurities from the metal ensures that Earthbenders cannot damage their ships with their powers. In one particular episode, captured Earthbenders were forced into labor to work on a mid-ocean mining rig, and knowing that they couldn't bend the metal of the rig, many of the captured Earthbenders lost their will to fight.

The Fire Nation's navy is apparently huge. Admiral Zhao laid siege on the Northern Water Tribe with no less than a thousand ships.


Land Forces

The Fire Nation's military comprises both normal foot soldiers (Non-benders normally wield spears and swords) and Firebenders. Fire bending soldiers wear white faceplates shaped like abstract skulls, while ranking officers do not. Both have spiky fire crests on the front of their helmets. Normal soldiers wear cone shaped helmets without masks.

In episode 17, "The Northern Air Temple" the Fire Nation sieged an air temple with metal tanks. Each vehicle was heavily armoured, equipped with fire ports (to allow the crew to fire projectiles), and had a water-based "balancing system" that allowed the tank to continue fighting even if it tipped over.

Later, in the same episode, the Fire Nation captured a prototype "war balloon," which may allude that they're creating an air force.


CITIES AND LOCATIONS

Crescent Shaped Island/ Avatar Roku's Temple
  • A crescent shaped island located betwen the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, it is barren and rocky. Ontop of the island, is Avatar Roku's Temple. The Temple on the outside seems small, but the inside contains numerous passageways and a spiraling staircase that leads to a room behind a complex locked door where a statue of Avatar Roku is. Thanks to Aang/Roku in the Avatar State, the temple was burnt to the ground.


New Ozai
  • After conquering the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu, the city is being recontructed to better suit the new Fire Nation occupants. The former ruler, King Bumi, is currently disposed and Earth Kingdom forces continue to resist their new masters, at least in secret. The new governor's daughter, Mai, is a friend of the Princess Azula, who renamed the city New Ozai after her father.



INFLUENCES

In many aspects, the Fire Nation is modelled on Ancient China in terms of architecture, clothing, and combat style. The country itself may be modeled on Japan , as both are a group of islands.

Their empire-building goals may be based on the one-time goals of Japan as well. Japan, during World War II, attempted to create an Asiatic empire. The extreme militarism and loyalty to the Fire Lord (similar to the Japanese emperor) may also reflect Japanese culture during WW2. The fire navy being so heavily used may also be an allusion to Japan.


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