"The patriarch of our tribe, Jin Wei, was an earthbender warrior who was assigned an important duty, transporting our sacred orb from the great eastern gate, to the great western gate."
— The Gan Jin leader to Katara.[1]
Jin Wei was the patriarch of the Gan Jin tribe, and one of the two people who began the historic feud with the Zhang tribe. He was an earthbender warrior who, in 0 ASC, was assigned the duty of transporting the sacred crystal orb from the great eastern gate to the great western gate for the tribe's ancient redemption ritual. He is portrayed as either a heroic warrior or an ungrateful wimp, depending on which tribe's story is being told.[2]
The Gan Jins have believed for one hundred years that during the process of this ritual when Jin Wei was approaching the Western post of their tribe with the sacred orb, a man from the Zhang tribe, called Wei Jin, knocked him out and stole the orb. This legend started the tribal feud between the Zhang and the Gan Jin.[1]
The Zhang thought for a hundred years that Wei Jin was traveling the country when he stumbled upon a man of the Gan Jin tribe. The Zhang stated that he tried to tend to the man's wounds, but Jin Wei insisted he finish the ritual and carry the orb to the West post instead of caring for him. As believed, Wei Jin did what he said, but as he approached the West post, he was arrested by other Gan Jin warriors for stealing the orb and sentenced to twenty years in prison without being thanked for his selfless deeds as the Zhang stated.[1]
AvatarAang, upon hearing the names of the two tribes' ancestors, revealed that he knew them and that they were twins. He recounted the true events of the supposed incident, explaining that when they were eight, they played a game called "Redemption". Jin Wei was running with the ball when he fell, so Wei Jin picked it up and started running to the other end of the field. However, he stepped out of bounds and was put in the penalty box for two minutes. Finally, the tribes made up and continued their journey to Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom capital, together, followed by the canyon guide. Aang later revealed to Sokka and Katara that the story was completely fictional.
Both Jin Wei and Wei Jin's names comprise of the exact same words in a different order.
Jin Wei's eye and hair color changed in both of the stories. In the Gan Jin's story, he had black eyes and black hair, while in the Zhang's story, he had amber eyes and brown hair.
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Added by Lady Lostris
