Pai Sho

Pai Sho is a fictional strategy game that appears in the Nickelodeon show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. It is a favored pastime of many, including Iroh, Aang, and Monk Gyatso.

Overview

The game pieces seem to have taken their nomenclature from flowers, along with objects such as ships and wheels and possibly animals. It seems that each piece type has a different use or strength in the game, as Iroh mentioned that the lotus piece is a token usually assumed to be of little value.

Pai Sho is not limited to a single one of the Four Nations, played by a variety of people throughout the world. It has been seen played by Monk Gyatso and Aang of the Air Nomads, Iroh has been seen playing the game with other Fire Nation citizens, and many Earth Kingdom citizens have been shown playing the game throughout the kingdom.

The games rules within the show have yet to be revealed, but on-screen gameplay shows players take turns placing and moving game pieces on the board. Pai Sho is consistently seen with two players, seated opposite one another across the board. Dialogue within the show reveals that there is a gambling aspect of the game as well, as Iroh has referenced "taking the pot" and Zuko explicitly mentioned gambling with the game during "The Desert".

Order of the White Lotus

The Order of the White Lotus is a secret society within the Avatar universe that seems to transcend national boundaries. They communicate membership through Pai Sho by placing Pai Sho tiles on the board in a specific manner that identifies themselves to other members of the society.

Iroh, a lover of Pai Sho, is a Grand Master of the order and has always said, "Pai Sho is more than just a game."

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See Also

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