| "No! Not my Cabbage Corp!" |
| — Lau Gan-Lan upon hearing that his company will be closed.[1] |
Lau Gan-Lan is the son of the cabbage merchant and current owner of Cabbage Corp, the rival company of Future Industries in Republic City.[3] His tenure was marked by considerable troubles, as he was framed by Hiroshi Sato as the manufacturer of Equalist weaponry[1][4] and his company's properties in Republic City were heavily damaged during a series of crises in the early 170s AG. Overall, he and Cabbage Corp endured these problematic times rather well, and Lau Gan-Lan subsequently worked on further improving his company's public perception as well as diversifying their production.[4]
History[]
Early life[]
Alongside his mother and sister, Lau Gan-Lan said goodbye when his father started his grand journey.
Lau Gan-Lan was born to Cai, the cabbage merchant, and his wife in the Earth Kingdom town of Gaoling in the 90s AG. The boy spent the first years of his life on the family farm, often playing with his older sister. When Lau Gan-Lan was still young, however, his father left their farm to find a better place to sell his products. Lau Gan-Lan was left in the care of his mother. Over the following time, the family sometimes received letters from Cai.[2]
Eventually, his father's cart-based business started to take off in Ba Sing Se. With his fortunes improving, the merchant asked his family to join him in the Earth Kingdom capital. Lau Gan-Lan thus started to live in the great city. After several months, Fire Lord Zuko bought a great amount of cabbages from Cai and invited the family to the Jasmine Dragon to make up for Team Avatar's negative role in the merchant's life. Lau Gan-Lan and his sister greatly enjoyed their time at the Jasmine Dragon, playing with pieces of cabbage.[2]
Eventually, the family moved once again, this time to Cranefish Town where Lau Gan-Lan's father opened a restaurant called "Cabbage Delicacies Bistro". From this point onward, the young boy helped his father at the bistro.[2] Cai eventually founded a large company called Cabbage Corp, based in Cranefish Town (later renamed to Republic City).[3]
Leader of Cabbage Corp[]
Decades later, Lau Gan-Lan inherited the leadership of Cabbage Corp as well as his father's extensive insurance policies. He maintained the latter and further expanded the former.[4]
In 170 AG, Republic City Police was alerted of Lau Gan-Lan's alleged Equalist ties. After finding sufficient evidence, the police came to Cabbage Corp's headquarters and arrested him. Despite his assertions that the allegations were false, authorities proceeded with carrying away Lau Gan-Lan, causing him to begin crying upon hearing that his assets would be frozen and Cabbage Corp would be closed. It was later discovered that Hiroshi Sato had framed Lau Gan-Lan, who was subsequently released and continued running his company.[1][4] The next years saw further troubles, as Republic City and, by extension Cabbage Corp property, suffered significant damage due to the Unalaq Crisis, the emergence of urban Spirit Wilds, and the Earth Empire invasion. With his company being exceptionally well insured, however, Cabbage Corp emerged financially unscathed. Using his funds amid the struggles of other companies, Lau Gan-Lan invested into various smaller corporations and startups, turning them into Cabbage Corp subsidiaries.[4]
In addition, Lau Gan-Lan attempted to change his company's public perception. The company was mainly known for its cheap products, but he wanted it to also produce a unique product of high quality to demonstrate Cabbage Corp's ability to be a technological leader instead of just an affordable alternative to its corporate rivals. Before long, Lau Gan-Lan became the most important source of corporate espionage bribes in all of Republic City's Downtown, trying to identify the next big technological discovery so that Cabbage Corp could buy it before the competition.[4]
Relatives[]
| Cai |
| Cai's wife[2] |
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| Lau Gan-Lan |
| Daughter[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appearances[]
The Legend of Korra[]
Book One: Air (气)[]
- 107. "The Aftermath"
Avatar books[]
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game[]
Trivia[]
- Lau yelled "No! Not my Cabbage Corp!" when he was taken into custody by the metalbending police, which is strikingly similar to "My cabbages!", the catchphrase of his father, the cabbage merchant.
- Both characters were voiced by the same actor, James Sie.
- Lau Gan-Lan is a pun on the Chinese words 老, which is a respectful title meaning "old man" or "Mr." and 甘藍, meaning "wild cabbage": his name could therefore be translated as "Old Man Cabbage" or "Mr. Cabbage".
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 DiMartino, Michael Dante, Konietzko, Bryan (writers) & Dos Santos, Joaquim, Ryu, Ki Hyun (directors). (May 19, 2012). "The Aftermath". The Legend of Korra. Book One: Air. Episode 7. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Gyllenhaal, Rebecca (writer); Yang, Jessica (writer), Bonnie, Pang (artist). Avatar: The Last Airbender: My Cabbages! (August 27, 2024), Penguin Random House.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book One: Air, page 92.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Republic City, Version 1.0, 2023, p. 26.