Avatar: The Last Airbender stars a huge cast of characters, from heroes like avatar Aang himself and the rogue Earthbender Toph Beifong to classic villains such as Prince Zuko and Fire Lord Ozai. In the first season, called Book One: Water, the secondary villain was none other than Admiral Zhao.

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Zhao received a promotion part way through the season, and once he became a proper Admiral of the Fire Nation navy, he began hunting for the avatar with the full might of the Fire Nation armada. What else should newcomers to the Avatar series know about Admiral Zhao?

10 He's Somewhat Similar To Zuko

Zuko and Zhao

Admiral Zhao would bristle if he were to be compared to a 16-year-old prince, but in all fairness, these two have their similarities. During Book One, both of them are actively hunting the avatar, both for the Fire Nation's sake and for personal glory.

Zhao and Zuko also move primarily by ship in Book One, and these two characters are noted for their hot tempers and their reckless streaks. Both of them have been chided by uncle Iroh for this, in fact, though Zuko is slightly more willing to listen.

9 Zhao Likes To Party

zhao facing tenzin avatar korra

Admiral Zhao never really showed his fun side during the series; he wasn't invited when Princess Azula and the gang visited Ember Island for some fun in the sun. But some extra content in the Avatar DVD sets makes it clear that even Zhao has fun sometimes.

When Commander Zhao was promoted to Admiral, he kept a straight face at first. But later, he let loose and partied hard all night long to celebrate his big promotion, and it's amusing to picture him getting tipsy and howling praise to himself all night.

8 Aang Almost Mirrored Him

Aang firebending while Katara watches

It may sound strange to compare the kind, selfless avatar Aang to Admiral Zhao, but for one episode, they had some startling overlap. After escaping a Fire Nation culture festival, Aang was invited to meet Jeong Jeong, who had quit the Fire Nation army in previous years.

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Aang was eager to learn firebending; too eager, actually. Jeong Jeong was cautious until Aang's previous incarnation, avatar Roku, demanded that Jeong Jeong teach him. Aang was impatient and reckless, and ended up burning Katara's hands. Zhao, too, had been impatient as a student and cared only about power. At least Aang learned from his mistake.

7 Zhao Enjoys Commanding Diverse Minions

archers avatar last airbender yuyan

Admiral Zhao is better off commanding armies than fighting in person. After all, Zhao is a sloppy and reckless Firebender, but he does have a solid grasp of military strategy. And like any good commander, Zhao knows how to find the right people for the job.

Zhao has his regular troops and ship crews to command, but he also wisely turned to the elite Yuyan archers to take Aang by surprise and capture him. Later, Zhao recruited some pirates to help get his rival, Zuko, out of the picture.

6 Zhao's Movie Death Was Different

admiral zhao avatar the last airbender

Critics and fans alike widely panned the live-action The Last Airbender movie for a variety of reasons, including its omissions and revisions of the source material. One of the changes concerns Admiral Zhao and his fate during the siege of the Northern Water Tribe.

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In the animated show, Zhao met his doom at the hands of the great water spirit, but in the live-action movie, Zhao is cornered and overwhelmed by Water Tribe warriors while Aang is making a great tsunami to scare off the Fire Nation fleet. In the movie, the great water spirit didn't really appear, so Zhao had to be defeated by some other means.

5 Admiral Zhao Is Like A Prototype Princess Azula

Azula from avatar angry with blue flames

Many of the Avatar: The Last Airbender characters mirror each other in startling ways, and not only does Zhao have some overlap with Zuko, but he's roughly similar to Princess Azula, too. Azula filled Zhao's shoes when Book Two: Earth began.

How are they similar? Zhao and Azula are both high-ranking Fire Nation commanders, they are cunning and smart, and they are competing with Zuko to capture avatar Aang. And they are both obsessed with military glory and honor, too.

4 Zhao Is Named After A Historical Chinese State

Zhao smile in Avatar

This series' creators did a lot of research into real-life history, culture, and politics of various Asian nations and groups, and Admiral Zhao's name is a reflection of that. In real life, the Zhao state started off rather small, but it expanded rapidly thanks to some cunning leadership.

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Like that state, Admiral Zhao started off at the very bottom of the Fire Nation military but dreamed of greatness. He worked hard and trampled on anyone who got in his way, and he rose to the top step by step.

3 Zhao Is Also Named After General Zhao Kuangyin

admiral zhao

Another piece of Chinese history lends itself to Admiral's character: a certain General Zhao Kuangyin. This military leader was brilliant and ruthless, and he often conquered neighboring lands and won many battles.

But he wasn't fighting solely for land. He was noted for collecting books and scrolls from those conquered lands to learn more and enrich his mind, and Admiral Zhao studied long and hard in Wan Shi Tong's spirit library to figure out new ways to be an effective leader. Zhao is brash and reckless, but at least he values a good book.

2 Zhao's Ranks Go Out Of Order

zhao avatar last airbender

Admiral Zhao is one of the few characters who is frequently addressed by rank, but the funny thing is, his ranks don't quite line up with current, real-world naval ranks. In the show, Zhao went from a Captain to a Commander and finally to Admiral.

In real military naval ranks, the rank of Commander must be reached, and then the officer in question may be promoted to Captain. After that, the officer may eventually reach the rank of Admiral. It seems the Fire Nation navy has different ideas on rank order.

1 Zhao Represents The Fire Nation At Its Worst

zhao admiral avatar the last airbender

In all fairness, the Fire Nation is not simply a realm that's evil for the sake of it. Rather, this land is defined by its people's creative thinking, passion, emphasis on the future, and a can-do attitude. In practice, this is a more mixed bag, since many Fire Nation technological innovations are used to create weapons of war.

Admiral Zhao is the classic Fire Nation commander, in all the wrong ways. He dreams of glory and conquest, he's reckless and impatient, and he seeks new resources and ideas only if they can be useful in military matters. At its best, the Fire Nation is a place of innovation and optimism; at its worst, the Fire Nation wants to abuse its power and trample on the other three nations just because it can.

NEXT: Avatar: The Last Airbender - Every Main Character's Age