Iroh was believed to have killed off the last of the world's dragons, which along with his ability to breathe fire earned him the title "The Dragon of the West"; but in actuality he was secretly the pupil of the last two dragons, Ran and Shaw, and thus learned from them to drive his firebending powers from vitality rather than from rage as most of his contemporary firebenders did; Iroh lied about killing the last of the dragons to bring an end to the Fire Nation tradition of dragon hunts. He was a high-ranking member (Grand Lotus) of the international secret society known as the Order of the White Lotus.