Zhang Xun

Full Name: Zhang Xun
Gender: Male
Age: 29
Element: Earth
Birthplace: Earth Kingdom
Position: Naval officer
Training:

• Tactics and strategy (Expert)
  
• Sailing (Expert)
  
• Earthbender (Intermediate)
  
• Navigation (Intermediate)
  

Personality: (307)
Being a quiet, cold, and calculating individual, Zhang Xun is usually quiet around others and prefers "thinking over talking", as he likes to put it. Neither does he have anyone that he considers to be a friend, and, outwardly, appears to be a quiet and unfeeling person. The earthbender rarely raises his voice and usually speaks with the same impassive tone. The man is very organized and tends to plan ahead, whether it is in a battle or in a civil matter. Zhang Xun is constantly analyzing whatever situation he may find himself in, plotting how he could turn it in his favor, and thus being a good tactician as well as strategist. He is also highly ambitious, planning to reach the rank of admiral.

Despite his cold and emotionless appearance (being quite used to hiding his emotions), Zhang is not entirely unfeeling. He cares for the lives of his fellow sailors and tries to ensure that they all survive. That being said, the man can be cruel and uncaring when the situation calls for it, usually not showing mercy to his enemies.

He was raised by his parents to be patriotic, and he has become an Earth Kingdom nationalist, viewing the country to be superior to the Fire Nation, Water Tribes, and Air Nomads. He is highly loyal to the throne particularly, being a staunch monarchist. The man also is loyal to the Earth Kingdom Navy, which he is part of, and loves the military life. Zhang Xun also personally looks down on those who constantly about bending skill with contempt. Although he himself is a an earthbender, he prefers using smarts to defeat his opponent rather than brute force. The man also is not against negotiation and diplomacy, first preferring to see if there are other alternatives to fighting rather than rushing into a battle.

Abilities: (251)
Zhang Xun can earthbend at an intermediate level, being capable of defending himself, and having received military training. But earthbending is actually not his primary strength. Zhang looks down with contempt on those who rely on brute force to win in battles and prefers to outsmart is opponents. The man is intelligent, and is considered by his colleagues in the fleet to be a skilled tactician and strategist. He excels particularly in naval tactics. During his time fighting against the Fire Nation, he served aboard a cruiser as the first officer, and became a tactical adviser to the captain of the ship. His advice was implemented on several occasions, generally producing successful results.

But he is pragmatic enough to have accepted training in some hand-to-hand combat styles to optimize his self-defense skills. He knows the basics of unarmed combat and may get involved in a brawl with other seamen every once in a while to keep his abilities at some level. The earthbender nonetheless prefers to leave the "dirty work" to his subordinates. If he had to get into a one-on-one fight with a skilled soldier, he is likely to lose. In that situation, Zhang would most likely have to use the speed and agility granted to him by his thin form to get away.

Coming from a family of fisherman, he is an experienced sailor and navigator, having spent much of his life traveling the seas aboard ships. Being at sea is where Zhang Xun feels the most "at home."

Appearance: (217)
Height: 189 centimeters
Weight: 86 kilograms
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
Skin: Fair

With flawless pale skin and brown hair, Zhang Xun has the look of an aristocrat, a fact that helped him on more than one occasion. He also possesses green eyes, traits that are all common to citizens of the Earth Kingdom.

Being an Earth Kingdom naval officer, he typically wears a green, brown and grey naval uniform, sporting the insignia of a captain. It is similar to the uniforms worn by Earth Kingdom Army soldiers, but is lighter and has very little armor, allowing the wearer to swim and move around on the deck of a ship quicker rather than be weighed down. The shoulders and collar are made of a light metal and are there to show rank rather than protect the wearer. Zhang has three bars on the metal shoulder epaulets, signifying his captain's rank.

He does not have any birthmarks or scars to speak of, and has a thin form. Although he does not use earthbending that often, the man does have a considerable amount of muscle from military training and conditioning, but, again, he prefers to stay out of direct combat when he can.

Since he is a sailor, Zhang Xun usually does not carry weapons, especially since he has had no real training in the usage of swords, spears, or other weapons.

History: (560)
Born to a middle class family of fishermen in the town of Garsai of the western Earth Kingdom, Zhang Xun's family had served the Earth Kings of eras long past by joining the military and fighting under their banner. As a result, Zhang's parents are both highly patriotic, and raised their son to be the same. He was never really close to them, though, due to the fact that they spent much of their time away from each other while on fishing or other trips, and their relationship was a bit icy. The young man spent much of his youth enjoying sailing.

He was also an earthbender, which he found out at the age of seven, but he never spent much time practicing the art, being at an intermediate level. He thought that it was best to defeat his opponents by outsmarting them rather than by relying on brute force. So, as a result, he just learned the minimal amount of skills in earthbending necessary for being able to defend himself in fights with those not particularly skilled in the art, such as thugs, pirates and the like. Zhang did not get any training with weapons, such as swords, at all, not seeing it necessary.

At the same time, the young Zhang was too ambitious to remain in the lowly position of a fisherman and had no intentions of remaining with the family that he didn't care for very much anyway. Having learned much about sailing and spending much of his time at sea over the years while fishing with his father, Zhang became a capable sailor. It was that and his patriotism which caused the young man to leave his family and enlist in the Earth Kingdom Navy at the age of eighteen.

It did not take long for him to rise through the ranks and become an officer in the Fleet due to his experience as a sailor and tactical ability. Lieutenant Zhang Xun served aboard an Earth Kingdom cruiser during battles with Fire Nation vessels in the Mo Ce Sea, and was promoted to lieutenant commander in the final stages of the conflict. The man served as a tactical adviser to the cruiser's captain, who quickly found out to listen to Zhang's advice. He also became a proponent of modernizing the Earth Kingdom Fleet, witnessing first hand of the inferiority of their ships to those of the Fire Nation.

He proved to be a capable tactician during the war, resulting in a promotion to commander, and later, to captain. But the commanding officer of the squadron Zhang was part of, a rear admiral, was envious of the man's successes, and used his influence to have him transferred to what he thought would be a "dead end" position for the officer. That position was to serve as an adjutant on the staff of the admiral commanding the fleet at Chameleon Bay, the body of water leading to Ba Sing Se, away from the action.

But Captain Zhang Xun saw being transferred to this position as an opportunity rather than a punishment. He proved to be a reliable adjutant, becoming the right hand man of the admiral commanding the fleet at Chameleon Bay, and, after working in that capacity for several years, was given his first command: a cruiser part of the fleet stationed on the western coast of the Earth Kingdom.

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Zhang Xun
Mood: Impassive Condition: Fine	Link: