avatar-character-profiles

Azula

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:10:31 +0100

Azula

Avatar: The Last Airbender character

Azula
Nationality	Fire Nation
Bending Element	Fire
Notable Aliases	Fire Nation Princess
Gender	Female
Hair color	Dark Brown
Position	Antagonist in second and third season
First appearance	"The Storm" (Cameo) "The Siege of the North"
Voiced by	Grey DeLisle

Azula (Princess Azula) is fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Grey DeLisle.

In the show, Azula is a Firebending prodigy and highly favored princess of the Fire Nation, a race of people with the ability to create and manipulate fire. She is initially depicted as bent on retrieving her exiled brother, Prince Zuko, and delivering him to their father, Fire Lord Ozai while accompanied by her childhood friends, Mai and Ty Lee. Eventually her focus becomes more directed toward capturing the Avatar and aiding in the war to help secure her nation's victory.

Plot overview

Azula first appears in a flashback displaying Iroh's story about the Agni Kai in which Prince Zuko was punished by his father for speaking out of turn at an important War meeting by receiving his trademark facial scar and sentence of exile. Azula is not shown again until the end of the season, after the siege of the Northern Water Tribe, at which point Ozai orders Azula to arrest Zuko and Iroh for failure to capture the Avatar and the betrayal of the Fire Nation, respectively.

Azula's destructive ways were evident even as a child.

Although Azula's age is never stated in the series itself, the Avatar website gives her age at the time of her first appearance as fourteen. She is the great-granddaughter of both Fire Lord Sozin, through Ozai, and Avatar Roku, through Ursa.

In another flashback, it is revealed that she is named after her grandfather, Ozai's father Azulon, and that she and Azulon are both firebending prodigies. Even when she was a child, Azula demonstrated her natural talents early in life, along with her tendency for malice and perfectionism. Her sharp wit and the skill she displayed towards Firebending gained her much attention and acclaim. Her father showed her obvious favoritism, often at Zuko's expense.

Azula is depicted as interested in power from a very young age. She is shown destroying a doll that her uncle had sent her, pushing Ty Lee over when she does a better cartwheel and young Zuko mentions that she throws rocks at the tame turtle-ducks that live in their garden pond. She is also seen putting an apple on Mai's head and then setting it afire, under the pretense that they are playing a "game." She thus orchestrates a situation which results in Zuko knocking Mai into the fountain (himself falling in with her), as Zuko was attempting to save her from the fire. Azula then stands giggling with Ty Lee at her brother and friend's humilitation. Young Azula suggests that her father would make a far better Fire Lord than the heir apparent, her uncle, Iroh, whom she also dubbed "a quitter and a loser" for abandoning his siege at Ba Sing Se after the death of his son and only child, Lu Ten. In Azula's mind, she thought of her mother thinking that she was a monster and loved Zuko more than her. So she took her father's side and drove herself into perfection. In her father's eyes she is nothing less than perfect to become the next firelord. Years later, when her brother is scarred by their father during an Agni Kai duel, she is shown watching triumphantly and eagerly.

After Iroh's betrayal at the north pole, Ozai tasks Azula with capturing Zuko and him (deciding to consider Zuko no better for not yet capturing the Avatar). While Zuko initially believes that Azula is here to escort Zuko home, it later becomes apparent that Azula is only there to capture them. Zuko and Iroh escape from Azula and are wanted by both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. Azula eventually encounters the Avatar in Omashu, wherein she and Aang battle. Soon after, she names the Avatar as a personal target in addition to her brother and enlists the help of her friends Ty Lee and Mai. Azula continues to pursue the Avatar, Zuko, and Iroh for the rest of the season, becoming the main antagonist as Zuko had been during the previous season. After initially failing to gain entry to Ba Sing Se, Azula comes in contact with the Kyoshi Warriors after a battle she defeats and imprisons them. Using the disguises of the Kyoshi Warriors, Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai enter Ba Sing Se and she arranges to meet with the security agents known as the Dai Li, with whom she overthrows the Earth Kingdom. Azula captures Zuko in Ba Sing Se and convinces him to join her and defeat the Avatar in order for Zuko to get his birthright back. During their showdown in the catacombs, Azula appears to have mortally wounded Aang while he is in the Avatar State with a lighting bolt. It is assumed that the Avatar State has now become broken, and Aang is later shown explaining that his seventh chakra is now "locked". Azula suspects that Aang survived and eventually blames this on her brother.

Upon her return home in the third season, it is revealed that Azula has not taken credit for the murder of the Avatar, but has given it to Zuko, hinting that his honor would suffer if Aang's survival were known. This could lead many fans to believe that Azula planned to steal the throne from Zuko all along, as hinted at during a prophetic dream that Zuko has in Ba Sing Se, wherein Azula was depicted as a blue dragon.

During "The Day of Black Sun," Azula serves as a distraction to keep Aang, Sokka, and Toph from finding Fire Lord Ozai, assisted by Dai Li agents. Also in that episode, Zuko, having decided that the Fire Nation was wrong in trying to conquer the world, becomes a trator and leaves to join the avatar. Later, Azula accompanies Mai and Ty Lee to the Boiling Rock, where Zuko has been captured, but Zuko, Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda escape. During the escape, Mai attacks the guards allowing them to escape. When Azula questions her about her actions, the reply is "I guess you just don't know people like you think you do. You miscalculated," hinting that she is not as perfect as she believes herself to be. "I love Zuko more than I fear you." (Earlier in season three Mai and Zuko had begun a romantic relationship, but it was temporarily ended when Zuko became a traitor.) Azula's calm breaks, and in a fury, she attempts to attack Mai, but is stopped by Ty Lee. After having Mai and Ty Lee locked away thus severing her ties with them, a crazed Azula leads a platoon to the Western Air Temple. There she duels with Zuko until they are both thrown from the airship. She survives by propelling herself to safety.

Azula has a vision of her mother, signifying the start of her breakdown.

In the finale, Ozai, after declaring himself the Phoenix King, dubs Azula as the new Fire Lord, but says that she must remain in the Fire Nation to lead the people while he is gone. Azula's sanity begins to deteriorate, which leads her to banishing nearly all of her servants, along with the Dai Li. When she is about to be crowned, Katara and Zuko arrive, whereupon she challenges Zuko to an Agni Kai. Zuko accepts the offer and later gains the upper hand, after which Azula distracts him by attacking Katara with lighting. Zuko saves Katara at the cost of his own safety; Katara then fights for her own life and ultimately captures Azula. After Katara healed Zuko's injuries, Azula began screaming, crying and shooting fire out of her mouth uncontrollably while Zuko and Katara looked on.

According to the official Nick website, Azula has been sent to a mental health facility on an island where she receives constant care and supervision.

Wardrobe

Azula wears fire nation clothes, while at the tea shop and crystal catacombs she wears Dai Li clothes, when she's at the beach she wears a swimsuit, while at the party Azula wears her evening dress, while in her bedroom asleep she wears her sleeping robe, at the Earth King's place she wears a Kyoshi Warrior uniform, as a fire lord she wears a long cape, Azula has a top-knot in her hair and wears red and yellow and black shoes and red slippers, sometimes Azula is featured with her hair down while at the royal spa, Fire Nation palace servants, chained by the drains, surrounded by blue fire and falling from the temple.

Personality

Azula is a complex young woman. Ever since she was born, she was raised by her father to be a cruel, ruthless firebender and to manipulate people by controlling them through fear. She is a dedicated nationalist, relentlessly drilling herself towards perfection and will settle for nothing less. Even as a child she was seen to react with hostility when outdone. In a flashback, a young Azula is shown pushing Ty Lee over after Ty Lee beats her at cartwheeling.She is rather vain and believes that power and domination are what makes a person strong. She is known for being one of the cruelest characters in the series. From a young age, Azula demonstrated sadistic aggression and lack of remorse. She lacks empathy, treats people as expendable, and seems unable to view them as her equals. Her amorality and ability to act without hesitation or remorse also accounts for her ability to create lightning, as the skill requires peace of mind.

Ironically, for all her refinement and self-confidence, Azula does retain some insecurities. Although she is shown as a good strategist and capable of predicting what her enemies will do, she has a disadvantage in ordinary social situations. In particular, she does not know how to act around teenage boys, whom she tends to intimidate. Her over-competitive nature surfaces during a Kuai ball game, where, despite its being a friendly game, she turns an opponent's slight lameness against her and overly crushes her, comparing the game to an act of war. She later admits to jealousy of Ty Lee's ability to attract potential sweethearts. It later becomes apparent that her bullying and abusive treatment of people, even friends such as Mai and Ty Lee, stems not only from her cruel nature but a deep-rooted fear of love, and inability to trust in others. From a young age, she believed her mother favored Zuko and thought Azula monstrous. Although her father clearly favored her over her brother Zuko, it is plain that Ozai did not show genuine love for either of his children, simply dispensing approval to his daughter (or Zuko) when it suited his purpose. This shaped Azula's fears that she would be unable to rely on anyone for affection. Unable to trust others, she instead tries to dominate them by making them fear her - a paranoia that ultimately drives her insane following the betrayal of her closest friends. Above all, she is obsessed with pleasing her father, as pleasing him is the only way to gain his approval, which she craves.

Abilities

Azula is a very difficult person to defeat in a single combat. Her excellent fire-bending abilities, hand-to-hand combat skills, intelligence, and quickness has made her a formidable opponent to the main characters in the show.

Azula is proficient in the difficult technique of using lightning, a pure form of Firebending. The only other known firebenders who are capable of lightning are Iroh and Ozai. Iroh, Aang and Zuko have been shown to redirect lightning by Iroh's technique, though Aang and Zuko have never been seen creating lightning. Even while breaking down into paranoia and insanity, Azula is still able to create lightning.

The second most noticeable feature of Princess Azula's bending is that she creates blue flames, setting her apart from the Avatar, Zuko, Iroh, and Fire Lord Ozai. (Whether this is due to some superior ability is never stated but not likely, as Iroh or Fire Lord Ozai would most likely be able to do it if it were.) Azula has been seen using flames in previously unseen ways, such as jets of flames and whirling disks. Notably, Azula often firebends using only two fingers, rather than a closed fist or open hand. Azula can fight for long periods of time without tiring. This discipline seems to deteriorate with her sanity; in her final battle with Zuko, she strikes with less precise, somewhat wasteful bursts of flame, explaining why she tires so quickly and easily in that fight. Her reckless unpredictability in that battle, however, makes her all the more dangerous, given that Sozin's comet was present at the time. She is also able to generate powerful shields of swirling flames, which she once used to withstand the simultaneous combined attacks of Aang, Zuko, Katara, and Toph She is even able to charge up her fire before releasing it, as was seen during one fight with Aang.

Azula is able to propel herself, using her flames, in a manner similar to a rocket. This ability has also been extended as a means to fly for short periods of time as seen in the Boiling Rock. She is also a skilled melee fighter; in the "The Avatar State", she easily blocked or parried all of Zuko's attacks without the use of Firebending, and in "The Eclipse", avoided the combined forces of Aang, Toph, and Sokka for several minutes without her bending to aid her. In "Appa's Lost Days", when Suki made a stab attack at Azula with her sword, Azula jumped horizontally and knocked Suki's sword out of her hand and onto a tree.

Her ability to lie without altering her heart rate and breathing patterns may stem from her discipline, or from the detached aspect of her personality that allows her to inflict savage cruelty without any hint of hesitation or remorse. She is also an accomplished tactician, as she was able to conquer Ba Sing Se, a city thought to be impenetrable, while usurping the entire Government and hierarchy of the Earth Kingdom capital all in one swift move.

Lastly, Azula is an expert in persuasion. She is capable of using psychological warfare, intimidation, and lying in order to change other peoples' minds quite effectively. She has used this to persuade Zuko and Iroh to return home in the episode "The Avatar State," she convinces Ty Lee to give up her dream career in order to hunt Zuko in "Return to Omashu" intimidating an entire legion of elite Earthbenders (the Dai Li) to turn traitor and join the fire nation, as well as convincing Zuko to betray Iroh, at the end of season two.

Iroh

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:11:21 +0100

Iroh

Avatar: The Last Airbender character

Iroh
Nationality	Fire Nation
Bending Element	Fire
Notable Aliases	The Dragon of the West Mushi (refugee alias)
Gender	Male
Hair color	Grey (originally brown)
Eye color	Brown
Position	Anti-Hero in the first season, Protagonist in second and third seasons
First appearance	"The Boy in the Iceberg"
Voiced by	Mako (season 1-2) Greg Baldwin (season 3)

Iroh (also known as The Dragon of the West, and most commonly referred to as "Uncle" ) is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, was voiced by Mako in the first and second seasons, but after Mako's death of esophageal cancer, Iroh was voiced by Greg Baldwin in the third season. The short story "The Tale of Iroh", in episode 15 of Season Two, "The Tales of Ba Sing Se", was dedicated "In Honor of Mako".

Iroh is a Firebending master and a former Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, a race of people who can create and manipulate fire. He is a retired General of the Fire Nation, and older brother of Fire Lord Ozai. Iroh accompanied his exiled nephew, Zuko, on his quest to capture Aang, the long-lost Avatar, in order to restore the young prince's honor and rights to the throne.

History

In the second season, Iroh was revealed to be the firstborn son of Fire Lord Azulon and Fire Lady Ilah. Iroh was destined to succeed Azulon as Fire Lord of the Fire Nation. Although the change was never officially announced by Fire Lord Azulon, Ozai became Fire Lord. Even when Ozai had seized the throne, there was never any action taken by Iroh to take back the throne. In The Firebending Masters, Zuko tells Aang that Iroh killed off the last of the dragons, earning him the nickname "Dragon of the West". In truth, Iroh lied to conceal and protect the last two dragons, who had taught him the true art of Firebending. The method that the Fire Nation currently uses gets its source from anger and rage, as opposed to the form that the dragons taught Iroh, Zuko, and Aang, which draws its energy from life. In the 2 hour episode event "Sozin's Comet" it is revealed that he is a Grand-Lotus, or high-ranking member, of an international secret society named the "Order of the White Lotus", which is also composed of Katara's, Aang's, and Sokka's old masters: Waterbending Master Pakku, Swordmaster Piandao, Omashu King Bumi, and Firebending Master Jeong Jeong.

Plot overview

Iroh leading an assault along with other members of the Secret Society known as the 'Order of the White Lotus'.

The show itself is divided into three seasons. The producers of the show have named each season as a "book". When the show opened, Iroh is shown accompanying the exiled Prince Zuko on his journey. It is revealed that the pair spent three years at sea, searching in vain for any sign of the Avatar, who is the spirit of the planet manifested in human form. Near the end of the first episode of the show, a strange beacon lit the skies off the coast of the South Pole. When this is investigated, Zuko discovers that the Avatar has reappeared. Zuko and Iroh quickly engage in hot pursuit, tracking the Avatar and his friends across the globe. In order to get Zuko to the Northern Water Tribe in the end of season 1, Iroh hides Zuko aboard Admiral Zhao's ship and serves as Zhao's chief adviser for his invasion of the North. When Admiral Zhao's plan threatens the spiritual balance, Iroh attacks Zhao and later is branded a traitor to the fire nation and blamed for the failure of the invasion.

At the beginning of Season Two, Iroh and Zuko have been branded traitors to the Fire Nation. They later take refuge in Earth Kingdom towns, acting as homeless beggars. Iroh decides to teach Zuko the advanced Firebending techniques he would need to defeat Princess Azula, who is sent to capture him and the Avatar. Iroh teaches Zuko a technique of his own creation—to absorb and redirect lightning, which he developed after studying Waterbenders. Iroh and Zuko eventually reach Ba Sing Se, where they soon begin a very prosperous life running a tea house. Iroh eventually convinces Zuko to stop his search for the Avatar, though this does not last. Azula arrives in Ba Sing Se and convinces Zuko to help her conquer the city and defeat the Avatar and Katara in order for him to regain his honor and his father's love. Iroh defends the wounded Avatar and Katara after Zuko had betrayed him, later to be imprisoned by Azula's new allies, the Dai Li, for his actions.

In season three, Iroh has been imprisoned for his actions defending the Avatar. While in prison, he refuses to talk to Zuko after what he did at Ba Sing Se until eventually telling him he is descended from Avatar Roku, and exercises to become very muscular. He finally escapes during the solar eclipse.. In the series finale, he is revealed to have reunited with his fellow members of the White Lotus and he is located by Zuko and the others. When a much changed Zuko arrives to beg forgiveness for his betrayal, Iroh grants it without hesitation and declines his own birthright to the Fire Nation's throne after Zuko tells Iroh his intention for defeating Azula. Here, Iroh states his wish to return to his tea shop. He later plays the role of liberating Ba Sing Se from Fire Nation control. In the final scene, he is later seen with the rest of the cast, relaxing at his new tea shop.

Personality

A cheerful Iroh holds up the missing White Lotus Pai Shō piece he had previously "lost".

Easygoing, friendly, and dryly good-humored, Iroh treats his self-imposed exile of the first part of the series as though it were an extended vacation. Something of a hedonist in his old age, he focuses more on the pursuits of relaxation and amusements than on the pursuit of the Avatar, clashing with the dedication of his nephew. However, beneath the easy going exterior lies a wise man experienced in the ways of the world, a seasoned and wily strategist, a powerful Firebending master and a good mentor. He believes that Zuko will not succeed in bringing Avatar Aang to Fire Lord Ozai, but sees this pursuit as a way to give Zuko a goal that would occupy his mind and keep him busy, thus healing his psychological well-being that was damaged by the Fire Lord.

Iroh is particularly fond of food, good tea, the strategy game Pai Sho, and pleasant music. He later displays skill at playing the pipa, singing lullabies to pacify a crying child. Most likely because of his love of tea, he has shown himself to be an amateur botanist with knowledge of a wide variety of plants, though misinterpretation of some plant characteristics lead him to accidentally poisoning himself.

He also demonstrates a respect and appreciation for all cultures, which seems to be a rarity among those of the Fire Nation. This partially stems from his trip into the spirit world, which left him with a certain spiritual awareness, and partially from his membership in the Order of the White Lotus. He also tends to act as a mentor to everyone he meets, including the Avatar and his friends. In this respect, he is something of a father-figure to Prince Zuko and cares deeply for him, to the point of willingly following his nephew into a self-imposed exile. In Tales of Ba Sing Se, it is suggested that his perpetual optimism and generosity are a form of post-traumatic growth resulting from the death of his son.

Though Iroh has endured much pain in his life, he's been able to grow and appreciate all that he's been through, big and small. From learning from the darkest times in his life, he's developed a great deal of wisdom and compassion for others. This is seen on numerous occasions throughout the show, and with a wide array of the characters; including his talk over tea with Toph, to knowing his place in the world when the Avatar's friends ask him to face the Fire Lord. He declined, regretfully pointing out that the world would only see it as a brother killing a brother, simply another civil war in Fire Nation history, and that balance had to be restored through the Avatar. Yet, his strongest display of his caring and gentle character is best shown in his relationship with his nephew, Zuko. He always pressed Zuko to find his true self, and realized that Zuko could only find those answers for himself. Even when Zuko marked him as a lazy old man, a disgrace to the Fire Nation, and rebelled against him, Iroh acted solely out of love, and waited for Zuko to discover that what he wanted meant losing himself. Never lashing out at him, and only giving him guidance, he accepted him immediately, before Zuko could even fully ask for forgiveness. Iroh's strengths are his trust in the future, which allows him to act in a carefree fashion, an open mind, and the compassion which drives his actions.

Despite his age, Iroh is seen flirting with various women throughout the series, and has been addressed as "handsome" on multiple occasions.

Veteran

It is revealed that in his younger days, Iroh was a great general and war hero, once known among his enemies as the "Dragon of the West" because he supposedly slew the last two dragons in the world, as well as his particular aptitude for breathing fire during combat. It is revealed in "The Firebending Masters" that he did not kill these dragons, but pretended to do so in order to hide and protect them. It should also be noted that Firebenders that have defeated dragons are given the honorary title "Dragon". Though Iroh still commands a great deal of respect, he fell from grace when after six hundred days of siege he failed to conquer Ba Sing Se. Iroh gave up the assault when his son and only child, Lu Ten, was killed. While many, including Ozai, viewed this failure as a disgrace, Iroh believed he did the right thing and later claimed that he and his men were tired after the long siege. As a result of his long service in the military, Iroh knows many of the Fire Nation soldiers personally, although many are now enemies due to his being branded a traitor to the Fire Nation.

In addition to his extensive military service, Iroh has endured other trials, the hardest and most painful being his beloved son's death, and a journey to the Spirit World, which has left him with respect for the other world. It also gave him the unique ability to see the characters of the spirit world from the regular world. The nature and events surrounding his journey to the Spirit World has yet to be revealed. At one point in his life, he also encountered the last surviving dragons in the world, who judged him and deemed him worthy to know the true nature of Firebending. In order to protect them, he lied and fabricated a story about him having actually slain the last dragon, thus stopping any further hunts from being conducted. Near the finale, he is addressed again by his former title of "General".

Abilities

Iroh demonstrates the separation of positive and negative energies, thus creating lightning.

Iroh is a renowned and powerful Firebender in the Avatar world. A wise old man who exercises 'neutral jing', Iroh's style of Firebending tends to be less aggressive than others. Iroh has a tendency to not involve himself in battles, but when he does partake in them, he displays great skill. He has a famous "Breath of Fire", which resembles a dragon breathing flames on its opponent.

Iroh stands as one of the select few Firebenders the show has revealed who possess the ability to generate lightning. Most notably, he is also the inventor of a unique technique involving the absorption and redirection of lightning. Iroh developed the technique by observing Waterbenders, who use their fluid movements to redirect attacks. Thus far, he, his nephew Zuko, and Avatar Aang are the only ones to show this ability, although Firelord Sozin possessed a similar ability to redirect heat.

This ability to both generate and redirect lightning makes Iroh the only character to demonstrate the ability to both use lightning as a weapon and defend against while all other firebenders with knowledge of lightning only demonstrate the ability to generate or redirect lightning, not both.

Recently Iroh used time in prison to secretly improve himself in a more physical manner, although the exact level of fitness that he has reached is unclear. It is here implied that his large, ungainly stomach is at least partly a ruse created by placing a pillow under his robe. After his escape (off screen) the bars of his cell are seen to be bent and the tied up warden informs Zuko that his uncle was "like a one-man army". Due to Sozin's Comet, Iroh finally realized his dream to take Ba Sing Se, although in the name of the Earth Kingdom.

Toph

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:06:25 +0100

Toph Bei Fong

Avatar: The Last Airbender character

Toph Bei Fong
Nationality	Earth Kingdom (Gaoling)
Bending Element	Earth
Notable Aliases	The Blind Bandit, The Runaway
Gender	Female
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Pale green/Gray (blind)
Position	Supporting Character
First appearance	"The Swamp" (Aang's vision), "The Blind Bandit" (actual appearance)
Voiced by	Jessie Flower

Toph Bei Fong (北方托芙) is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character was voiced by Jessie Flower.

In the show, Toph is a blind Earthbending master of the Earth Kingdom, a race of people who can control and manipulate earth. She grew up in a wealthy and highly respected family but left it behind when she had agreed to teach Aang earthbending to help him fulfill his duty as the Avatar, and accompanies him on his quest to defeat the imperialistic Fire Nation and bring peace to the war-torn nations.

History and family

The luxurious Bei Fong estate

Toph is the only child of the wealthy Bei Fong family, who reside in the Earth Kingdom town of Gaoling and whose symbol is a winged boar. Toph's parents are very protective of her, viewing her blindness as a disability. They assume that she is weak and vulnerable to everything around her. To avoid risk and danger, they kept her at the beginner level of earthbending for over six years and had guards keep close watch on her at all times.

Despite her handicap, Toph has developed special skills that make her a very formidable Earthbender. Once, when she was very young, Toph ran away from home, seeking refuge in nearby caves. It was there she found companionship with the blind, earthbending Badgermoles that inhabited the caves. By imitating their movements, Toph came to harness her own earthbending abilities, becoming a master in her own right. However, she kept her talent secret from her family and Master Yu, her earthbending teacher. Toph fought frequently in Earth Rumble, an underground earthbending Lei tai tournament, under the alias "The Blind Bandit". By the time Aang and his friends discover Toph at the tournament, she had won her way to become the current champion, holding a 42-0 win-loss record prior to her encounter with Aang.

In order to escape entirely from her parents' control, Toph fled secretly with Aang and his friends and volunteered herself as Aang's Earthbending instructor. Early on, Toph's defiance of authority and lack of cooperation annoyed Katara. The two eventually put aside their differences and became close friends.

The Bei Fong family appears to be well-known and influential in the Earth Kingdom. In the episode "The Serpent's Pass", Toph's mere display of her family's seal was sufficient enough to gain passage on a Ba Sing Se-bound ferry, despite lacking proper documentation to obtain a ticket normally.

Plot overview

In search of an earthbending teacher who "waits and listens", the group arrives in the town of Gaoling and eventually come across the town's underground earthbending tournament, Earth Rumble VI. After watching Toph's performance and recalling the vision he experienced in the swamp, Aang believes she is the requisite person. When Xin Fu, the tournament host, calls for volunteer challengers, Aang takes up the offer for a chance to speak to her. Thanks to his airbending in conjunction with her inability to see what is not on the ground, Aang easily defeats Toph and upsets her winning streak. She, however, does not give him a chance to speak and immediately leaves the arena in a huff.

Aang later finds Toph at the Bei Fong estate, and he is eventually able to talk to her about his quest and need for an earthbending teacher. Before Toph can make a decision, she and Aang are kidnapped by the earthbending tournament staff, who believe that Toph lost intentionally because they failed to see anything hit her.

The tournament wrestlers demand a ransom, which Katara, Sokka, Master Yu, and Toph's father (voiced by Cam Clarke) pay, but only Toph is released. The competitors announce that they will be handing Aang to the Fire Nation for the reward instead, prompting Katara to plead Toph for her help in rescuing Aang. Her father interjects, claiming that his daughter is blind, tiny, helpless, and fragile, and unable to help them. Slighted, Toph steps forward and single-handedly defeats the entire tournament staff and the host, Xin Fu. Master Yu is speechless and awed by Toph's amazing earthbending skill. Her father is silent.

That night, Toph tries to reason with her parents that she is skillful at fighting and enjoys it, and that she should be allowed to live a normal life. She hopes that all of this new information does not change the way they feel about her. Toph's father replies that it does not change his love for her as a father, but it instead has made him realize that he has allowed her too much freedom. He plans to have guards watching over her all day long. Toph's protests are unheard.

Outside town, just as Aang and his friends are about to depart, Toph appears and claims that her father had changed his mind, saying that she was free to travel the world. Upon hearing this testimony, the group is swift to depart, sailing into the night sky with a new member and earthbending teacher. With his daughter's sudden absence, Toph's father concludes that the Avatar has kidnapped his daughter and issues a large reward to Master Yu and Xin Fu to bring her back by any means necessary. While traveling with the Avatar, Toph's social attitudes change considerably. She becomes much less snide and private, but nonetheless still retains her cocky attitude. Her bending abilities also improve throughout Book Two, as she has learned to bend metal using her special ability to "see" the impurities (small fragments of earth) in the metal.

Toph joins Sokka and Suki in the series finale to hijack a Fire Nation airship to attempt to prevent the "burning of the old world". While commandeering an airship she uses Metalbending almost as proficiently as Earthbending. The three succeed in stopping the airship brigade, giving Aang the time he needed to defeat Phoenix King Ozai and to save the world. Toph's last appearance is complimenting Sokka's poorly drawn painting of the group by saying "they all look perfect", again pointing out that she cannot see it, and makes everyone laugh except Sokka. It is unknown whether she returned to her parents after the battle ended.

Character

As a tomboy, Toph brings a totally new personality to the group. Unlike the nurturing Katara, flighty Aang, or gruff but goofy Sokka, Toph is fiercely independent, sarcastic, direct, brutally frank, and confrontational; the choleric of the group. She appears to have the same carefree and adventurous personality as Aang, and she is very tomboyish in the way she acts and dresses very differently than the way she presents herself to her parents. However, unlike Aang, who avoids fighting whenever possible, Toph loves battling and takes great pride in her earthbending skills.

Despite being blind, Toph is arguably the most perceptive of a person's true character in the group, most likely due to her ability to perceive people's lies by their heart rate. When Zuko attempted to join the Avatar's group, for example, she was the only one who trusted his sincerity, while the others perceived it as deceit. While a good judge of character and often logical, she can sometimes let her fierce pride cloud her judgment of a situation or people she knows, especially when she believes she has been insulted. This makes her quick to anger at others, but she never fails to admit her own fault when she has calmed.

Toph's relationship with her parents is very conflicted: when Aang suggested that she should leave with them, Toph voiced reluctance of doing so. After she joined "Team Avatar", she claimed that she hated them. In "The Earth King", Toph receives a letter supposedly from her mother, saying that she seemed to understand her daughter. Toph is glad to go see her mother again, although it turns out to be a trap. In "The Runaway", Toph revealed the reason she relied on Katara: Katara cared about the person Toph was on the inside, instead of seeing her only for her disability. Toph even added that this was more than her own mother ever did. Later, Toph dictated a conciliatory letter to her parents, which Katara wrote and sent on Sokka's messenger hawk.

Toph is brutally honest when criticizing others. She is vocal about her opinions of others regardless of status or age. Her occasional spoiled attitude or aloofness may be related to her being the only child of one of the richest families in the Earth Kingdom. Thanks to her time as a competitor and champion of the earthbending tournaments, she is an expert in verbally taunting and insulting her opponents, and on occasion her friends, particularly Sokka.

Inside this hardened exterior, though, Toph hides trace insecurities in regards to her blindness, which is hinted at in the episode "The Tales of Ba Sing Se". She has doubts about her appearance, being unable to see what she looks like. Being coddled by her parents all her life because of her disability, Toph hates being patronized. Her eagerness to prove her strength and independence has led to some initial difficulties with Aang and his friends. Toph insists that she can "carry her own weight" and often mistakes a simple friendly gesture for an act of pity for her blindness. Her encounter with Iroh, however, has taught her that Aang, Katara, and Sokka care for her because they are friends, not because her disability makes them feel obligated to do so.

One of Toph's most obvious traits involves her very poor personal hygiene. She has been seen picking her nose, spitting, and belching loudly. She is also usually covered in dirt or, as she calls it, "a healthy coating of earth". Despite her uncouth habits, Toph is in fact well-educated in the manners and bearings of high society, which she only chooses to ignore.

Name

Toph is the only character within the series to express a surname, "Bei Fong". In "The Serpent Pass," Toph's passport reads as 土國頭等護照北方拓芙 (tǔ guó tóu děng hù zhào běi fāng tuò fú) which translate as 'Earth Kingdom First Class Passport: Bei Fong Toph'. Here, her name means 'supported lotus', which matches her parents' view of their daughter as a flower in need of protection. In "Tales of Ba Sing Se", her name was written as 托夫 (Tuō Fū), which means "entrusted man". In "The Earth King," on the document from home, her name is reverted back to 拓芙. Her last name Bei Fong (北方) is the Mandarin pronunciation for the word "North". The word 托 (Tuō) also means 'to support in one's palm' and the word used for child care and is usually a prefix to another Fù (付) that means "pay".. Tophus is the Latin word for a type of volcanic stone.

Earthbending

A visual of Toph's ability to feel vibrations traveling through the ground.

While the Earthbending style used by most Earthbenders is rooted in the Hung Gar style of Kung Fu, Toph's style is uniquely based on Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Though blind, Toph has the unique ability to use Earthbending to "feel" even the most minute vibrations in the earth, be it the presence of trees and buildings or the march of ants several meters away. Through this heightened seismic sense, she can visualize where people are, their relative distance to her, and their physical build. This sense provides her with a distinct advantage when facing other Earthbenders in combat, as they characteristically require contact with the ground and extract rocks from their surroundings. As another result of her blindness, Toph has acquired an acute sense of hearing, enabling her to recognize people by the sound of their voices and home in on distant conversations. Most significantly, Toph retains the ability to sense when a person is lying based on his or her heartbeat and breathing patterns.

Unfortunately, due to her dependency on vibrations in the earth, Toph is left considerably vulnerable to attacks initiated in midair or opponents who require little constant contact with the ground, such as Aang. Terrain that impairs Toph's ability to sense vibrations also hinders her abilities; she has some difficulty with sand, which constantly shifts and lacks solidity, preventing her from accurately "feeling" her surroundings. Since Toph needs her feet to "feel" the earth in order to perform Earthbending, she becomes truly "blind" if her feet (specifically, the soles of her feet) are badly damaged, as shown when Zuko accidentally burned her feet. As further illustrations of her affinity with the earth, Toph does not know how to swim and expresses an aversion to flying as well as travelling underwater in a submarine.

Toph is the only known Earthbender with the ability to bend metal. When Toph is seen concentrating in her iron prison, the sadhu known as Guru Pathik explains to Aang in a parallel scene that metal is refined Earth. As a result of her ability to feel the vibrations in earth, Toph is able to locate the impurities (the small fragments of earth) and manipulate them to "bend" the metal portion. Later on, Sokka gives Toph a small piece of meteorite, which she can easily mold into myriad shapes.

Toph is shown to be one of the world's most skilled Earthbenders at the end of the series. She and Aang are the only two Earthbenders known to use the Badgermoles' Earthsight ability. She is also the only known metalbender as well as becoming proficient in Sandbending, even making an incredibly detailed sand sculpture of Ba Sing Se.

Zuko

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:06:46 +0100

Zuko

Avatar: The Last Airbender character

Zuko
Nationality	Fire Nation
Bending Element	Fire
Notable Aliases	The Blue Spirit (alter ego) Lee (refugee alias)
Gender	Male
Hair color	Dark Brown
Eye color	Amber
Position	Antagonist in Book 1, Antihero in Book 2, Protagonist in Book 3
First appearance	"The Boy in the Iceberg" Book 1, Chapter 1
Voiced by	Dante Basco
	Elijah Runcorn (Young Zuko)

Zuko is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Dante Basco and will be portrayed by Dev Patel in the upcoming film The Last Airbender by M. Night Shyamalan. He has changed from antagonist (Book 1), to anti-hero (Book 2) to protagonist (Book 3) respectively over the course of the series.

In the show, Zuko is the elder child of Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Ursa. Zuko is a skilled Firebender and the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, a race of people in which some have the ability to create and manipulate fire and (later) lightning to an exent. Zuko is his mother's favorite, as Azula is her father's favorite for her skills in firebending. Before the events of the series, he is exiled from the Fire Nation by his father Fire Lord Ozai and sent to capture the Avatar in order to restore his honor and right to the throne. Zuko is accompanied and advised in his search by his uncle, Iroh. He will be portrayed by Dev Patel in the film adaptation of the show.

Plot overview

Season One

Six years prior to the start of the series, Prince Ozai, Zuko's father, makes a bid for the throne over his elder brother Iroh, due to the latter's having recently lost both his only son and his campaign against the city of Ba Sing Se. Fire Lord Azulon, Iroh and Ozai's father, is furious that Ozai would try to cheat Iroh at such a low point in his life, and orders Ozai to kill his eldest son in order for him to realize the severity of his action. Ozai, considering Zuko a disappointment, was willing to kill Zuko to appease his father. However, in an effort to protect him, Ursa, Zuko's mother, does "terrible, treasonous and treacherous things" that result in Azulon's death, Ozai's ascension to the throne, and her own banishment.

A few years after, Zuko objects to a plan of attack that would have sacrificed many soldiers as bait, whereupon Ozai challenges his son to an Agni Kai for disrespecting him in his own war chamber. Unwilling to fight his father, Zuko begs forgiveness, only to be savagely burned across the left side of his face. Ozai banishes Zuko from the Fire Nation, ordering him not to return until he finds the Avatar, which was thought an impossible quest. After three years of searching on Zuko's part, Aang emerges from suspended animation, and Zuko begins the chase immediately. They encounter each other multiple times throughout the first season, but Zuko fails to capture Aang or Aang escapes. During Zuko's pursuit, another Fire Nation leader named Admiral Zhao also takes up chasing the Avatar. Zhao views Zuko as a failure and a traitor, and ultimately attempts to have him murdered by pirates. Zuko escapes this attempt on his life and stows away on Zhao's ship during his invasion of the Northern Water Tribe, where Aang is learning Waterbending. At the North Pole, Zuko is still unable to capture the Avatar while Zhao dies after being seized by an ocean spirit.

Season Two

The second season opens with Zuko and Iroh still chasing the Avatar, only to be confronted by Azula, Zuko's sister. They escape and realize they have been branded traitors to the Fire Nation. Now on the run from Azula, Iroh and Zuko travel the Earth Kingdom like ordinary refugees, much to Zuko's frustration. Eventually Zuko splits away from Iroh, feeling he could no longer learn from his uncle. However, Iroh follows Zuko out of concern, and the two reconnect after Azula injures Iroh. Zuko begins his transformation, no longer driven by hunting the Avatar, and is allowed to begin to establish an identity free of pursuit. Their travels take them to Ba Sing Se, where Zuko follows his uncle's advice and tries to make a new life for himself. Both prosper; but when Azula launches her plan to capture Ba Sing Se, Zuko is faced with the opportunity to return home and chooses to side with his sister. After being betrayed by Zuko, Iroh is thrown in jail, and his nephew begins regretting his choice.

Season Three

The final season begins with Zuko and Azula's return to the Fire Nation after conquering Ba Sing Se. Both are praised as heroes by the Fire Nation for capturing Ba Sing Se and for killing the Avatar. Zuko is shocked to discover that his father, who he is now on speaking terms with, believes him to have killed the Avatar. Further inspection reveals that Azula suspects Aang survived her attack, and has transferred the glory to Zuko to protect herself from blame in the event that the Avatar resurfaces.

Zuko begins to visit his uncle often in prison, who eventually tells him that he is the descendent of Avatar Roku and it is his destiny to bring balance to the world. Hearing this, he was distressed because to do this, he would lose the love of his father, the one thing he had worked so hard for. Soon after though, in a war meeting held in preparation for Day of Black Sun, he unintentionally helped Ozai invent a plan by which to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground. His father seemed genuinely half-proud, but because of this Zuko realized that to have the love of his father, he had to be cruel and ruthless, willingly submitting to foul deeds. He realized that this would make his father's love useless, because he would have to sacrifice his own conscience, and what was left of the identity that he'd started to build for himself. Knowing this, that the strongest tie he had to the Fire Nation was pointless, he takes his uncle's earlier advice and begins to plan to train the Avatar firebending.

Soon after this meeting, he fully resolves to help Aang defeat his father. He confronts his father, places himself firmly on the Avatar's side, and leaves, later to discover that Iroh has escaped from prison. Zuko then finds Aang and his friends and expresses his desire to join their team and teach Aang firebending. Although the team rejects him at first, Aang and company gradually come to accept Zuko, and eventually befriend him. When Zuko's lack of a motive (his previous motive being anger and his need to capture the Avatar) weakens his firebending power, he and Aang travel to discover the long-forgotten source of firebending, ultimately to learn it from their world's last two dragons.

Later, Zuko helps Sokka free Sokka's father, Hakoda, and Sokka's girlfriend Suki, from the Fire Nation's maximum security prison, the Boiling Rock. He also helps Katara find her mother's killer in order to make amends for both his betrayal of her in Ba Sing Se and to attempt to clear up bad feelings towards him due to his nation having been who killed her mother. Through these actions, he earns full trust from the group at last.

During the finale, Aang disappears shortly before Sozin's Comet arrives and Zuko is put in charge of finding him. When Zuko is unable to find Aang, he searches for and finds Iroh, who immediately forgives him for his betrayal. Iroh then tells Zuko that he must face Azula for the crown and Zuko chooses Katara to assist him. At the Fire Nation capital, Azula challenges Zuko to single combat, to which Zuko accepts. During the duel, Zuko clearly has the advantage due to his enduring calm, his ability to redirect lightning, and Azula's deteriorating sanity. In a desperate attempt, Azula attempts to strike Katara down with lightning. Zuko jumps in front of the lightning, and because of this instinctive move is barely able to redirect the energy, and is badly injured. Katara then defeats Azula and heals Zuko. Afterwards, Zuko is crowned Fire Lord. He also makes up with Mai and gets back together with her (on the condition that he never breaks up with her again). Later Zuko visits his father asking the whereabouts of his mother which brings into question whether or not his mother is still alive. An ending clip shows Zuko in the Jasmine Dragon, in which he is finally happy and at peace with himself.

History

Zuko's Father is Fire Lord Ozai and his mother is Princess Ursa who was banished from the fire nation. His great grandfather from Fire Lord Ozai's side is Fire Lord Sozin and his great grandfather from Ursa's side is Avatar Roku. His father clearly favors Azula for her fire bending ability.

Appearance

Zuko is a teenager who matures, both mentally and physically, throughout the series. Zuko is around 16 years old at the beginning of the series, making him the oldest of the main children. His most prominent feature is a dark red scar over his left eye that extends over his ear, inflicted by his father, Ozai, when Zuko refused to duel him. The scar unintentionally causes people to pity him, as they take it for a war scar inflicted by the Fire Nation. At the end of the series, he has a scar on his lower chest received from a lightning strike.

His hair is black, though he was initially bald save for a long, thick lock of hair that was put up in the traditional Fire Nation hairstyle for royalty (a ponytail) at the beginning of the series. As the series progresses and Zuko matures, he cuts his hair (a symbol of exile) and grows it out. Besides moving from an exotic style inspired by samurai and Qing dynasty China, to a familiar one popular among teenage boys at the time the series was produced, his later shaggy-mop hair hides the more jagged areas of his burn scar.

He has also changed his clothing from his Fire Nation Royal Armor to just the simple red and gold robe that disclude his armor to make himself less conspicuous.

Personality

While initially the series' primary antagonist, over time, Zuko has shown that he is a complex young man, motivated to restore his honor and dignity, and not an evil character; he eventually forsakes his past goals and becomes a hero. Zuko's sole motivation for many years was catching Aang, so he could return home with honor as his father had proclaimed. Although, as his quest continues, he begins to doubt whether his father will ever welcome him home. However, his mistakes and struggles lead him to realize his destiny was to oppose his father and join the Avatar to help defeat the Fire Lord.

Zuko's bitterness and his personal circumstances make him believe himself victimized. However, he also believes that his struggles have made him a wiser and stronger human being. He is frequently impatient and arrogant. Both of these qualities vanish after his change of alliance. However, even before this change, the episode "Zuko Alone" shows a softer side of him. After his banishment, his experiences with those less fortunate change his mind, making him a kinder and more tolerant person.

His past mistakes still haunt him. Perhaps due to this, he is very intolerant of his own mistakes, expecting the best of himself and others. He also becomes extremely upset when he does not meet his own expectations or when he feels he has jeopardized his honor (something that he claims is the only thing he has left.) However, after he restores his honor by joining the Avatar, he becomes a much happier and laid-back person, although still retains some of his bitter personality at times. Although, he does claim in the Boiling Rock he is "never happy", but he might be exaggerating. His Uncle Iroh felt that Zuko was destined to restore the honor of the Fire Nation as its new Fire Lord, something Zuko took to mean his father would accept him back as crown prince. However, he eventually realizes his father's true character and turns against him to help the Avatar. This shows a desire for peace and for each nation to rule itself, putting him at odds with many members of the Fire Nation elite. Having earned the trust and friendship of Avatar Aang, Zuko is determined to help lead the Fire Nation and the world into an era of peace and kindness.

He is also shown as loving his family and being friendly to certain individuals who earn his trust. These include Iroh, his mother,and to a slightly less obvious extent; Aang, Toph, Sokka, Katara and Suki. He is deeply protective of those he loves. Although he rarely shows his feelings, he is unusually good at helping and dealing with the issues and problems of others, making him the group's "agony aunt" when he is in a relaxed state of mind.

In “Tales of Ba Sing Se”, Zuko’s name was written as 蘇科.

Firebending and special skills

Firebending

Zuko using broadswords in conjunction with his Firebending.

Despite his youth, Zuko is highly skilled in both Firebending and dual wielding. He is capable of holding his own against fighters and benders more experienced than himself due to his adaptability. Through determination, an ability to adapt, and strength, Zuko refuses to give up during a fight. He has also shown great agility and strength (pushing a grown man backwards with a slight push from his palm, breaking a metal chain with his foot, ect.)

Originally, though powerful, he relies on large brute force attacks that drain him and leave him open to counter-attacks. However, he is usually able to defeat opponents using his superior strength and agility to tire them out. Later, as he gets more confident and efficient due to training from his uncle, he is shown to use more refinement and economy of energy, out-thinking his opponent instead of out-shooting them. For example, in the Season 2 finale, he is proved evenly matched in a duel with Katara, who had long since been a Waterbending master. This stalemate only ended when they switched opponents. (In a previous fight, Katara was able to match him having only just finished mastering waterbending. The time of day, with the moon increasing Waterbender's powers and the sun increasing Firebender's powers, was the deciding factor.)

Although skilled, whenever Zuko faces his sister Azula in the earlier series, she proves to be the more skilled fighter. She has the ability to generate lightning, a skill very few Firebenders are capable of learning. Zuko attempts to learn this skill from his Uncle Iroh, but is unable to generate lightning because of his own inner turmoil. However, Iroh does teach him how to redirect lightning, a technique he created from watching Waterbenders, but Zuko cannot test this skill as Iroh refuses to throw lightning at his nephew due to the immense risk involved. Zuko does successfully redirect lightning when his own father, Fire Lord Ozai, shoots lightning at him months later.

Zuko later shifts from pupil to master by joining Aang and teaching him Firebending. Zuko initially has trouble doing so due to losing his passion (as for years, his sole motivation was hunting the Avatar), the source of his Firebending. After he and Aang go on a quest to discover the true source of firebending, the two encounter the last two known dragons in existence and learn that Firebending is more about life and harmony than destruction and rage. Learning the secret of Firebending, Aang and Zuko both display incredible skill, though Zuko is more proficient with more experience.

When Zuko finally faces Azula again in "The Boiling Rock", the two are shown to be evenly matched. During the Agni Kai in the series finale, Zuko fights well throughout the entire duel, showing a mastery of offensive and defensive firebending, while Azula slips deeper into madness and fatigue. As the battle goes in Zuko's favor, he taunts his sister to use her lightning so that he can redirect it. Azula charges up but at the last second sends the lightning in Katara's direction. Zuko jumps in the way to save her, but isn't able to properly redirect the lightning, and thus sustains a large burn on his chest. He is able to survive the injury, as Katara heals him after the battle.

Other skills

Zuko has also shown to be highly skilled in the use of the double broadswords, a talent he refined during his time at sea. In "The Blue Spirit" and "Zuko Alone", Zuko succeeds against a number of adversaries with nothing but his sword skill. Zuko can also firebend while wielding swords.

Zuko has demonstrated an ability in stealth on multiple occasions, in which he uses his alter-ego, the "Blue Spirit". He was able to infiltrate a Fire Nation fortress, the Northern Water Tribe's city and the Dai Li's base at Lake Laogai without detection. His proficiency at stealth was also utilized during the 3rd season episode, "The Southern Raiders", in which he and Katara snuck into and out of a Fire Nation command outpost, onto a Fire Nation ship, and then stalked and cornered the former commander of the Southern Raiders in his home village without revealing themselves.

Film

According to Entertainment Weekly, pop singer Jesse McCartney was negotiating to play against type in the role of the Prince Zuko." On February 1, 2009, McCartney was replaced by actor Dev Patel amidst surrounding controversy over casting roles and schedule conflicts.

Aang

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:07:21 +0100

Aang

Avatar: The Last Airbender character

Aang
Nationality	Air Nomads
Bending Element	Air (main), Fire, Water, Earth, Energy
Notable Aliases	Avatar
Gender	Male
Hair color	Black / dark brown (generally shaven)
Position	Protagonist
First appearance	"The Boy in the Iceberg"
Voiced by	Zach Tyler Eisen
	Mitchel Musso (television pilot)

Aang is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen. Aang—the show's main protagonist—has appeared in all but one episode of the show, the exception being "Zuko Alone". Aang also appeared in the pilot episode, which has never been aired. Aang has appeared in other media, such as trading cards, video games, T-shirts, and web comics.

In the show, Aang is the last surviving Airbender and a monk of the Air Nomads, the only race of people with the unique ability to manipulate the air around them. He is also a supercentenarian at the age of 112. He was in suspended animation for one century, making his biological age twelve. It is revealed in the second episode that he is the current incarnation of the Avatar, the spirit of the planet manifested in human form. As the Avatar, Aang controls the elements and is tasked with keeping the Four Nations at peace. The show follows Aang's journeys to complete this task.

Most of Aang's traits, such as vegetarianism, are based on Buddhist and Taoist tradition. Aang is the series' reluctant hero, showing hesitation when joining his friends to save the world from the Fire Nation. His "lighthearted" personality has been accepted well among critics. The creators intended Aang to "defeat enemies with his wits" and be a "trickster hero".

Creation and conception

Aang's character was developed from a drawing by Bryan Konietzko. The sketch depicted a middle-aged bald man with an arrow on his head. Konietzko evolved the character into a picture of a child with a flying bison. Meanwhile, Michael Dante DiMartino was interested in a documentary about explorers trapped in the South Pole. The idea caused the pair to think:

There's an air guy along with these water people trapped in a snowy wasteland...and maybe some fire people are pressing down on them...

—Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

The plot they described corresponds with the first and second episodes of the series, where the "water people" (Katara and Sokka) rescue the "air guy" (Aang) while "trapped in a snowy wasteland" (the Southern Water Tribe) with "some fire people [that] are pressing down on them" (Fire Nation Troops and Zuko). The creators of the show intended Aang to be trapped in an iceberg for one thousand years. He was to wake inside a futuristic world, where he would have a pet robot named Momo and a dozen flying bison. The creators lost interest in the theme, and changed it to one hundred years of suspended animation. The robotic Momo was changed to a flying lemur, and the herd of bison was reduced to one.

Aang's character has a well developed cultural ideology. According to the show's creators, "Buddhism and Taoism have been huge inspirations behind the idea for Avatar." A notable aspect of the character is his vegetarian diet, consistent with Buddhism or Taoism. In the Brahmajala Sutra, a Buddhist code of ethics, vegetarianism is encouraged. In "The King of Omashu", Aang demonstrates his vegetarian beliefs by refusing to eat meat. Aang consistently shows a reluctance to fight and an aversion against killing. In "The Spirit World (Winter Solstice, Part 1)", Aang gets into a fight with an angry spirit who is destroying a village; instead of fighting the spirit, Aang negotiates. In Buddhism, this principle is known by its Sanskrit name, ahimsa, or non violence.

Airbending, the style Aang primarily uses in the show, is based on an "internal" Chinese martial art called Baguazhang. This fighting style focuses on circular movements, and does not have many finishing moves. These characteristics were meant to represent the unpredictability of air and the peaceful nature of Airbenders in the show.

Plot overview

The producers of the show have named each season as a "book"; each of these books was named after one of the four elements in the show. Flashbacks also reveal events that happened before the show opened. In a flashback during "The Storm", the elder monks hold a private meeting with Aang to reveal his identity as the Avatar. Monk Gyatso, Aang's mentor and father-figure, insists that Aang be raised as a regular child. Nearing the end, the monks began to believe that Gyatso interfered too much, so they decide to send Aang to the Eastern Air Temple. Aang refuses to be torn away from his mentor; he writes a note for Gyatso before flying away on his bison. It is revealed in the first episodes of the show that a violent storm catches Aang and plummets him into the ocean during his escape. Aang then enters the Avatar State, unknowingly, for the first time to encase himself and Appa in a frozen air bubble. An image of this air bubble, resembling an iceberg, ends the flashback.

After 100 years in the frozen iceberg, the show opens when Katara and her brother Sokka free Aang and Appa in the first episode of the show. In the next episode, they all set off for the Northern Water Tribe, with intentions to find a waterbending master to teach Aang and Katara. Throughout their journey they are chased by Zuko, the banished prince of the fire nation, with whom they have many encounters. In another episode, Aang meets his previous incarnation, Avatar Roku, informing him that he must master all four bending arts and defeat Fire Lord Ozai before the end of summer. Later, in the second season, Aang meets Toph Bei Fong, a blind earthbending master, who becomes one of his teachers. A couple of episodes later, Aang and his friends find out that a solar eclipse will occur before the end of the summer, rendering the Firebenders powerless. During the season finale, Aang battles in the underground caverns of Ba Sing Se. He is nearly killed when Azula strikes him with lightning, but survives thanks to Katara's healing abilities.

In the third season, Aang and his comrades gain a new enemy while traveling – an assassin hired by Zuko who firebends with his third eye. Aang and his remaining allies attack the Fire Nation capital in the tenth and eleventh episodes of the season, but are thwarted by Azula. In the following episode, Zuko has a change of heart and offers to teach Aang firebending. Aang accepts, despite the group's strong opposition. In "The Firebending Masters" Aang learns firebending with the help of the last two dragons.

During the two hour series finale, he struggles with the question of whether or not to kill the Fire Lord. After he sleepwalks into a forest, he speaks to four previous Avatars, seeking advice. Each gives him a reason to kill the Fire Lord, discouraging him. After discovering that the forest is atop a swimming lion-turtle, and receiving advice from said lion-turtle, he prepares to confront the Fire Lord. Once Ozai arrives, Aang engages him in battle. After sparing Ozai when redirecting his lightning and then being backed into a corner, Aang releases his seventh chakra and enters the Avatar State. The Avatar State tips the battle in Aang's favor, and makes swift work of Ozai. Using a technique taught to him by the lion-turtle, Aang removes Ozai's ability to firebend, effectively eliminating the threat. Later, in the Fire Nation capital, Aang is seen in monk robes, standing beside Zuko while Zuko is appointed Fire Lord. He is later seen relaxing with his friends in Ba Sing Se. The series ends with Aang and Katara kissing.

Characteristics

The Avatars (from right to left): Aang, Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, Yangchen, and other previous Avatars.

Michael Dante DiMartino, the show's co-creator, said:

We wanted Aang to solve problems and defeat enemies with his wits as well as his powerful abilities.

—Michael Dante DiMartino

Aang is a vegetarian, as shown in "The King of Omashu" and "The Headband" when he refuses to eat meat since the Air Nomads taught him that all life is sacred. Aang states a reluctance to fight in "The Spirit World (Winter Solstice, Part 1)"; Aang hopelessly negotiates with a spirit who is destroying a village instead of fighting. Due to his non-violent nature, he also shows ethical reluctance in killing Firelord Ozai, and eventually strips Ozai of his bending instead of killing him. In the show, Aang has a complex network of friends extending over all four nations.

Aang reveals in "The Storm" that he wishes he had been there to help his people a century ago, but would rather live a child's carefree life. Multiple times in the show, Aang demonstrates how much he cares for those close to him and also demonstrates his fun-loving nature. He also showed that he can act immaturely, and once tried to deceive others in order to keep the group together. In "Bato of the Water Tribe", Aang thinks Katara and Sokka might leave to visit their father. Aang hides the map showing their father's whereabouts and lies about having it in the first place.

In some episodes, he demonstrates flight abilities with airbending. One technique for this is to make a ball of air and ride on it, which Aang calls the Air Scooter. Other methods of flying include his glider, and Appa. In the Avatar State, Aang can also fly in a ball of air.

Reception

In the show's intended demographics, Aang has been received exceptionally well. Kendall Lyons stated, "Aang seems to be the lighthearted kid that you can easily familiarize yourself with", and that he "seems to bring comfort in the most dangerous or hostile situations." There are many similar descriptions about Aang as a child-like character who is "reckless and excitable". Reviews point out that "as the Avatar, Aang seems unstoppable, but as Aang, he is just another Airbender"; the review states later that the show continues to focus on a more realistic character instead of a perfect one by revealing many character flaws.

Appearances in other media

Noah Ringer as Aang in the M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender.

Aang's character appeared in the Avatar: The Last Airbender Trading Card Game on a multitude of cards He appeared in the Avatar: The Last Airbender video game as one of the four playable characters. Two sequels were made: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth, followed by Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno. Avatar T-shirts, some with Aang appearing on them, are being sold through the Nickelodeon Shop website. Tokyopop has published a films comic (sometimes referred to as cine-manga), which Aang, being the main character of the show, appears in repeatedly.

Aang appeared in Escape from the Spirit World, an online video game that can be found on Nickelodeon's official website. The game includes certain plot changes that are not shown in the show. The show's directors, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, claim the events are part of canon. This means that even though the events occurred in a separate media, they still are considered part of the storyline.

According to Entertainment Weekly, after "an open casting call in Texas, M. Night Shyamalan discovered tae kwon do star Noah Ringer and offered him the part of Airbender’s 12-year-old hero, Aang, an avatar with super-powers who must stop the Fire Nation from destroying the world."

Sokka

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:07:47 +0100

Sokka

Avatar: The Last Airbender character

Sokka
Nationality	Southern Water Tribe
Gender	Male
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Blue
First appearance	"The Boy in the Iceberg"
Voiced by	Jack DeSena, Johnny Yong Bosch(Video Games only)

Sokka is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Jack DeSena. According to Entertainment Weekly, “Twilight’s Jackson Rathbone has been asked to play Aang's pal Sokka” in The Last Airbender.

In the show, fifteen-year-old Sokka is a warrior of the South Pole's Southern Water Tribe, a race of people who can control and manipulate water. Although not born with the gift of Bending, he continually strives to become a worthy warrior and leader, blessed with a considerable ingenuity that has proven invaluable in times of crisis. He, along with his younger sister Katara, discover an Airbender named Aang, the long-lost Avatar, and accompanies him on his quest to defeat the imperialistic Fire Nation and bring peace to the war-torn nations.

Concept and creation

It is provided in the Avatar Nick Mag Presents: First Edition issue by co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko that Sokka was originally designed to be much more low-key, but when his comedian voice actor Jack DeSena came in and brought liveliness to his character, they began writing towards that strength. Much of Sokka's dialogue and actions are derived from improvisations and intentional exaggerations on DeSena's part that the writers chose to include within scripts. Furthermore, DeSena has stated that he is inspired by fellow comedian Jim Carrey, which would explain a majority of Sokka's mannerisms and facial expressions throughout the show.

As a result of his design, Sokka's character has come to serve as a source of comic relief throughout the series, often a victim of visual slapstick. Among various running gags involving Sokka are his tendency to get covered in viscous substances, such as raw sewage, slurry, and Appa's phlegm or saliva, and his forgetting that Toph is blind. Sokka also has a tendency to produce or at times laugh at jokes that nobody else thinks funny, a trait he shares with his father.

In “Tales of Ba Sing Se”, Sokka’s name was written as 索卡.

History

Sokka prepares to defend the village in war makeup.

Sokka grew up in his village as an aspiring warrior-in-training of the Southern Water Tribe. Forced to mature quickly when his mother Kya was killed in a Fire Nation raid, he cultivated his warrior skills with a militant zeal, while his sister Katara did chores and practiced waterbending. When Sokka was thirteen, his father and the other village men left to fight alongside the Earth Kingdom in the war against the Fire Nation, leaving him and his sister to look after their tribe with their grandmother, Gran Gran. As the oldest male left in the South Pole, Sokka came to assume a semi-leadership role by the time he was fifteen, fiercely protecting the village from any possible outside threats while trying to train children to be a new generation of defenders.

While on a spearfishing expedition, Katara and Sokka discovered Aang in suspended animation inside an iceberg. After Katara freed him, Sokka initially believed that the Airbender might be a Fire Navy spy, and he eventually grew xenophobic enough to banish him from the village. Upon discovering that Aang was the Avatar, destined to master all four elements and bring peace to the world, Sokka relented, realizing that they had a common enemy in the Fire Nation. He then set off with Katara and Aang on their journey to find a waterbending instructor at the North Pole, determined to hone his warrior skills by way of fighting Firebenders along the way. Fire Nation general Zhao killed Tui (the moon spirit) causing the mooon to turn red and then vanish as during a lunar eclipse thus preventing the waterbenders from using waterbending. Princess Yue (Sokka's first love interest) then becomes the new moon by giving her life energy to the moon spirit, thereby restoring the moon in the sky and the abilities of the waterbenders.

In "Sokka's Master," Sokka expresses self-doubt and worry that he is not contributing as much to the group as his bender companions are. Inspired by his friends' encouragement, he seeks out a master from whom he could learn the art of the sword. Rather than fighting with brute force and flawless technique, Sokka's creativity and heterodox approach to things are the cornerstones of his technique, and his master notes that in time Sokka will be a superior swordsman. As he departs, his master gives him a game piece that was previously established as a sign of connection to the secret society known as the Order of the White Lotus.

In the two-hour series finale, Sokka and Katara meet with Katara's Waterbending master, Pakku, who has now married their grandmother. In the battle against Ozai, Sokka, his girlfriend Suki, and Toph hijack a Fire Nation airship and use it to destroy others of its kind while Aang duels with the Phoenix King (Firelord Ozai). Sokka and Toph are separated from Suki and attack another airship, but Sokka breaks his leg and strains his arm grabbing hold of Toph, who was falling off the ship. In a compromised position, the pair are attacked by two soldiers, whom Sokka defeats at the cost of his sword and boomerang. As he and Toph are on the edge of the crashing ship, Suki arrives with another airship and saves the two. With the battle over, the trio reunite with Aang and the vanquished Phoenix King. At Zuko's coronation, Suki is reunited with her fellow Kyoshi Warriors, Sokka and Katara are reunited with their father, with the rest of the group reunited with their friends. In the end, Sokka is seen at Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se where everyone teases a painted picture he created of the entire team, wherein he altered some factual details to make the scene more "memorable".

Personality

Sokka takes on a Haiku challenge.

Skeptical, abrasive, and sharp-witted, Sokka is detached from Aang, Katara, and Toph's pursuit of the bending arts. Not gifted with bending abilities himself, Sokka instead prefers the ways of the warrior and the scientist, and he takes his responsibility as protector very seriously. He is also very intelligent and good at inventing ideas and plans on the spot, even if these ideas are not always effective.

Patriotic and long to hold a grudge, he strongly wants to exact vengeance for the Fire Nation's decimation of the Water Tribe and the death of his mother. He holds little interest in the mysticism surrounding bending and prefers to solve problems using his strength and his wits. He tends to be rash, however, and his pride often leads to embarrassment. With this, along with his tendancy to over-react in a blustering manner, Sokka sometimes appears foolish. In truth, he is very clever. His sarcastic and absurd behavior can sometimes extend into important decisions.

In the episode "The Deserter", Aang experiments with firebending and accidentally burns Katara. Despite their close friendship, Sokka forcefully tackles and pins down Aang, yelling at him for burning his sister. Sokka shows protectiveness towards his sister and girlfriends in other episodes as well.

A passionate carnivore, Sokka has demonstrated his love of meat on multiple occasions and is the chief hunter of the group. Sokka also has an affinity for sarcasm. In the episode "Bitter Work," Sokka shouts vowing to give up both meat and sarcasm for assistance, agreeing to consider himself no longer "Sokka, the meat-loving and sarcasm guy," but willing to be "Sokka the veggies and straight-talk fellow." By the end of the episode, however, he has given up neither meat nor sarcasm.

Under the guidance of swordsmaster Piandao, Sokka displays various unorthodox procedures when undergoing his training. As he presents Sokka with his blade, Piandao relates that though his skills were hardly impressive, he displayed much creativity, versatility, and intelligence.

After the failure of the Invasion, Sokka proves to have a sense of honor. He felt strongly disappointed, given that the invasion was his idea and probably his fault for the invasion force being captured. Sokka was willing to restore his honor by risking his life in order to rescue his father from a highly secure Fire Nation prison.

Sokka writes with his right hand, but draws with his left hand. He is possibly ambidextrous, as he is often seen wielding his club, sword, and boomerang with both hands, although his art skills prove to be crude and rudimentary.

Innovations and abilities

Sokka demonstrates his model hot air balloon.

For an inhabitant of a mystical world, Sokka shows a remarkable proclivity towards science and is something of a jack-of-all-trades. He seems naturally adept at creating weapons out of any materials at any time. He learned how to construct amateur explosives from his father, which he once used to simulate Firebending. In another instance, Sokka used trickery and optical illusions to help his sister Katara fake the ability of Earthbending. Working side by side with fellow technologist, the Mechanist, Sokka has managed to engineer a system of control for an experimental hot air balloon as well as conceptualize the design for waterbending-powered submarines. Sokka also demonstrated advanced math skills and a talent for geometry towards the end of the series. He is also able to navigate the landscape by just looking at the map. Alongside his trademark boomerang, Sokka is proficient in a variety of weapons, including clubs, a machete, spears, and the newest addition, a black jian molded from a meteorite that is capable of cutting through solid metal, called a "space sword". Sokka's ultimate achievement is destroying the entire Fire Nation Air Force along with Suki and Toph, as well as being the one to finally take down the fire bender he called "combustion man" .

Also, Sokka is often shown attempting to draw and miserably failing. In "Lake Laogai", he attempts to draw a picture of Appa and cannot get it right even after several attempts and he angrily tears one of the papers up after Aang and Katara bring back a professionally drawn poster. In the end of the series finale, he attempts to "capture the moment" and draws Suki firebending and Iroh's stomach much larger than it actually is and so on.

In addition to his engineering skill, Sokka has shown a remarkable talent for poetry. In The Tales of Ba Sing Se, he stumbles into a poetry reading and holds his own when competing with the instructor in a haiku contest. However, his hubris gets the best of him and he is thrown out for accidentally adding an extra syllable to the end of a haiku.

As the only non-bender in Aang's group, Sokka is often overshadowed by the bending skills of his friends. However, it is usually Sokka who comes up with a plan for victory. His skill in Martial Arts noticeably improves as the series progresses, though earlier in the series it was usually his persistence rather than skill that often allowed him to fight against more extensively trained opponents, such as Zuko in "The Avatar Returns" and Ty Lee in "The Chase."

Sokka wields his Black Blade.

Sokka has come to learn the art of swordsmanship in order to improve his contribution to the team. Under the tutelage of the Fire Nation swordmaster Piandao, Sokka undergoes various activities, including sparring matches with the butler Fat to hone his sword wielding skills as well as arts such as painting, calligraphy and rock gardening to sharpen to his mind. Eventually, when instructed to make his own sword, he uses fragments of a meteorite that fell the night before to collect the metal needed to forge his blade. Sokka's sword, like his master's, is patterned on a Chinese jian, but unique in that due to the properties of the alien material used for its creation, the blade retains an unusual all-black appearance. The sword is also able to slice through the toughest materials, including regular metal (as seen when Sokka slices through a Fire Nation cannon during the Day of Black Sun). Although Sokka proves unable to defeat his master in heated battle and must leave to continue his training on his own, Piandao states the belief that Sokka retains traits which one day could very well come to make him an even greater swordsman than himself. This is proven as the series progresses; during the invasion, Sokka used his sword skills to defeat multiple Fire Nation soldiers. Also, in The Boiling Rock, Sokka and Zuko teamed up to fight Azula, a highly skilled firebender, to a stalemate with Zuko defending against her fire blasts and Sokka keeping her back with his sword. In the series finale, his fighting abilities culminate in a scene that finds Sokka using a combination of his speed, agility, and deft motion to disable two Firebenders of the Royal Guard, while wounded and dangling from a falling Fire Nation airship, though he sacrifices the sword by loosing it far into a forest below, sadly but comedically yelling "Bye, space sword!"

Sokka was also given a white lotus Pai Sho piece by his master, an important symbol to the secret White Lotus Society. Members of the society are known for appreciating philosophy, being masters of bending and warrior disciplines, and for disregarding traditional rivalries and hatreds held between the nations.

Beginning in the third season, Sokka also on occasion assumes the persona of Wang Fire, an upperclass Fire Nation citizen. First done to pass as Aang's father, he subsequently dons an oversize beard for comic relief as in "Nightmares and Daydreams", pulling scams in "The Runaway", and used it to enlist in the Fire Nation army in Avatar comics.

Katara

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:08:10 +0100

Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Avatar: The Last Airbender character

Katara
Nationality	Southern Water Tribe
Bending Element	Water
Notable Aliases	The Painted Lady, Saphire Fire
Gender	Female
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Blue
Position	Main Character Main Love Interest
First appearance	“The Boy in the Iceberg”
Voiced by	Mae Whitman

Katara is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Mae Whitman.

Katara is a waterbender from the South Pole's Water Tribe, a race of people who can control and manipulate water. Katara earns the title of Master Waterbender from Master Paku of the Northern Water Tribe by the age of fourteen, something very rare. She is the last remaining waterbender in the Southern Tribe (Katara's Home) because of continuous raids on her village by the Fire Nation, specifically by the Southern Raiders. She, along with her older brother, Sokka, discover an Airbender named Aang frozen in an iceberg, the long-lost Avatar, and accompanies him on his quest to defeat the imperialistic Fire Nation and bring peace to the war-torn nations.

Creation and conception

According to the unaired pilot episode included on the Avatar Complete Book 1 Collection DVD set, Katara’s name was originally Kya, but was changed. The name Kya would be later used for her deceased mother. In “Tales of Ba Sing Se”, Katara’s name was written as 卡塔拉. Kǎ (卡) means to check, block, or card; Tǎ (塔) means pagoda; and Lā (拉) means to pull.^{[citation needed]} The character Lā is the same La as the Ocean Spirit’s name from the season one's finale, while the character for Kǎ also appears in Sokka's name.

In the commentary of the unaired pilot episode, co creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino state that Katara's “hair loopies” used to hang down but was changed because the animators said it would be too hard to animate and suggested that they’d be looped back rather than beaded locks.

Katara also is the owner of her grandmother's betrothal necklace. Her grandmother handed it down to Katara’s mother, who handed it down to Katara. The necklace is a navy blue choker, with the water bending insignia carved on the only hanging ornament, a sky blue pendant.

Plot Overview

Katara grew up as the mature, motherly figure of her family and tribe. When Katara was eight years old, her mother gave her life for her daughter's during a Fire Nation raid in order to protect her identity as the only Waterbender in the tribe. Katara managed to locate her mother's killer, but was unable to kill him when she thought him unworthy of her revenge.

Though her interests lay in developing her waterbending skills, she resigns herself to cooking and cleaning duties while her brother, Sokka, trains to become a warrior. Later, Katara’s father Hakoda and the other tribesmen journey to the Earth Kingdom to participate in the war effort against the Fire Nation. This leaves her, alongside her brother and grandmother, Kanna ("Gran Gran"), to look after the tribe.

The events of Avatar: The Last Airbender begin two years following this, during a spearfishing expedition, when Katara and Sokka find Aang in suspended animation inside an iceberg. Katara frees him and comes to discover that Aang is the Avatar. With a common goal of mastering waterbending, Katara, along with her brother, joins Aang in the journey to the Northern Water Tribe to find a waterbending master to teach them. Upon arrival, Master Pakku refuses her apprenticeship, because she is female. However, after noticing an engagement gift he gave to Katara's grandmother half a century ago, he agrees to teach her.Katara advances so quickly in her art during their stay in the Northern Water Tribe that Pakku formally deems her capable enough to be Aang's waterbending teacher.

The second season opens with Katara leaving the North Pole and receiving water from its Spirit Oasis. Katara then journeys with Aang to the Earth Kingdom for him to learn earthbending. While at an Earth Kingdom stronghold, General Fong places Katara’s life in danger in an attempt to get Aang to enter the Avatar State, resulting in Aang destroying a whole courtyard. Aang leaves, heading for Omashu to meet up with an old friend, King Bumi. When he gets there, however, he finds that Omashu has been taken over by the Fire Nation's princess, Azula. After Toph joins the group to teach Aang, Katara and Toph often quarrel until their differences are settled. While in Ba Sing Se, Katara is thrown into a prison with Zuko, a sometime antagonist. Initially hostile, she speaks to him and begins to believe he has changed for the better. She then offers to heal his scar. Before that can happen, Aang and Iroh show up to save the two. During the following battle, Aang is struck by Azula's lightning and is mortally wounded. After Aang is hurt Katara manages to save Aang and escape, while Iroh fights off Zuko, Azula, and Dai Li. At the end of Season Two, Katara uses the water from the Spirit Oasis to heal Aang.

While on the ship that the group obtains to reach the Fire Nation in the third season, they are attacked by another Fire Nation ship that discovered their false identity, Katara aids in their escape. While in a village burdened by the Fire Nation's pollution, Katara surreptitiously disguises herself as the river spirit known as the Painted Lady in order to help the village. While staying with an old woman the group meets in the woods, they find that she is a Waterbender of the Southern Tribe. Later, she offers to teach Katara the technique of "bloodbending", which enables the user to control the movements of animals. When Katara refuses to learn this technique, Hama bloodbends Aang and Sokka, forcing Katara to use the power herself to save her friends. In "The Western Air Temple", when Zuko offers to join Team Avatar, it is Katara who makes the first move to attack him and send him off. At the end of the episode Katara makes a threat to Zuko that if he so much as thinks to hurt Aang, she will end Zuko's life. Zuko does not gain Katara's trust until "The Southern Raiders", in which Zuko helps Katara find the man who killed her and Sokka's mother, Kya. She sets out with the intent to kill him, but ultimately withholds. With this experience, Katara warmly embraces Zuko aftering declaring that while the Fire Nation's crimes against her and her nation are unforgivable, the exiled prince himself has fully atoned for his own in her eyes.

During the Sozin's Comet two-hour finale, Katara goes with Zuko to stop Azula from becoming the new Fire Lord. When Azula and Zuko clash, Azula attempts to blast Katara with lightning. Zuko, however, jumps in the way, and is badly wounded, forcing Katara to fight. Having captured Azula, she heals Zuko and they wait for the outcome of Aang's battle with Phoenix King Ozai. When the war ends, she is seen in Ba Sing Se, living a peaceful life. The story ends with Aang and Katara sharing a kiss.

Waterbending

Katara uses Waterbending as a primary source of fighting

Katara's abilities have greatly improved since the very first episode. At the outset, she had little control over her waterbending and often needed someone else to help her defeat an opponent, though her temper, which would increase her waterbending tenfold, would often get in the way by causing unnecessary destruction. As time went on, thanks to practicing diligently, studying a waterbending scroll, and then studying under Master Pakku, her waterbending rapidly improved, to the point that she was considered a Waterbending Master.

Katara can use water to cut through objects, can summon lashing waves and whips of varying sizes, cover herself with a sheath of water and manipulate it at will, surf on a surfboard made out of ice, run and stand on the sheer surface of water, melt and control existing ice, forming it into various shapes, and can freeze water and objects surrounded by water with little effort, create giant walls of mist and steam, transform steam into ice instantly, or evaporate large amounts of water. She has even used the water from her own sweat to break herself out of a wooden jail-cell. She has learned from Hama to use and take the water from the moisture in the air and in plants. In the early seasons, Katara used to carry with her a little canteen containing some water to use in case of emergency. However, after her training with Hama, Katara learned to draw water from the air moisture, so the canteen became unnecessary to carry. She also has learned from Hama to manipulate people and animals using the water within their bodies through a rare and sinister form of waterbending called "Bloodbending", which can only be used during a full moon. Katara learned this skill in a day, while it took Hama years to perfect the technique. She has used bloodbending against Hama to stop her from harming Aang and Sokka, albeit reluctantly, and again on an individual who she had thought had killed her mother without remorse.

Katara using her Healing Ability on injured Aang

Katara has proven herself a very powerful Waterbender, most notably during her duel with Hama in single combat, bloodbending effectively first time around and fending off the bodies of Sokka, sword in hand, and Aang when Hama was manipulating their bodies against their will. She has fought even matches with Zuko more than once and was even able to match Azula with a nearly full moon increasing her, Katara's, power. She defeats Azula at the end of the series, while Azula is weakend from her mental breakdown, chaining her to a grate. In the midst of their battle, Master Pakku was mildly impressed by the skills she had developed on her own and admitted, despite his belief that women were not to be warriors, that she was a powerful waterbender in her own right. Under his training, her hard work advanced her waterbending skill even faster than Aang. Pakku eventually named her a waterbending master.

Katara is one of the few waterbenders born with the Waterbending sub-talent to heal using water as a catalyst, manifesting itself when she was burned by Aang when he first attempted Firebending. Her ability to heal has only proven to get better under the tutelage of the Northern Water Tribe's Head Healer, Yagoda. She has used it to relieve sickness, temporarily undo brainwashing, and heal seemingly mortal wounds such as burns and bleeding injuries. She was also able to heal the almost dead Aang with magical water from the Spirit Oasis, although her own skill played a relatively small part in this. Her healing powers have limits, as she cannot cure all sicknesses, completely undo brain damage, or heal internal injuries and birth defects.

Katara has also demonstrated the ability to bend water-based liquids, as well. In season 3 episode 16, The Southern Raiders, Katara and Zuko sneak into a Fire Nation scouting ship to retrieve information of her mother's killer. To get rid of a guard, Katara bends on cup of ink on a table onto a map a guard was working on. She is also seen bending soup, which allows her to cook meals and serve Appa.

Characteristics

Being another protagonist of the show, Katara also receives a lot of attention from reviewers. She is described as "Smart, capable; almost a generic anime heroine". In addition to these features, she also is "kind, brave, and passionate."

Katara is also very nurturing, acting as den mother for the group. She usually cooks their meals and washes their clothes. She takes responsibility for her brother, Sokka, and later Toph, and especially Aang. Her maternal instincts, while with good intentions, can sometimes make her bossy. Despite her kind and loving nature, a darker side of her was shown in the episode "The Southern Raiders". When Zuko revealed he knew who killed her mother, she went off with him to hunt down and kill the man. She bloodbended on someone who she believed was the killer without remorse. When she finally found the man, she manipulated rain into dozens of large ice spikes which she sent at the man. However, her good side managed to overcome her rage and she stopped herself before the ice made contact with the man. Rather than be a murderer, she left the man with the knowledge that he was pathetic and empty and the guilt of what he did.

In addition to that she is very stubborn, often butting heads with the abrasive, independent and often hygienically challenged Toph. She feels that she should help everybody, and as a result she was hurt by a boy named Jet. Her stubborn nature and eagerness to help everyone pay off, however, when she stands up to Sokka, saying she will not turn her back on anyone who needs her, in order to save a village.

Katara matures greatly through the course of the series. In the beginning of the story she shows some immature characteristics, such as her jealousy towards Aang when he is able to learn water bending moves very quickly. But as the story proceeds she proves to be the clear thinker in the group. For example, when the team is stranded in the desert and everyone's hopes are down, Katara refuses to give up, makes good decisions and leads everyone through the desert.

Appearances in other media

Katara's character has appeared in three THQ video games for the show, which are Avatar: The Last Airbender (video game) and Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth. and Avatar: Into The Inferno. Like Aang, Katara also appears on some Avatar T-shirts sold by Nick, as well as in Tokyopop's films comic (sometimes referred to as cine-manga). According to Entertainment Weekly, "Nicola Peltz (Deck the Halls) will star as...Katara" in The Last Airbender.

The Last Airbender

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:08:31 +0100

The Last Airbender

The Last Airbender
Teaser poster
Directed by	M. Night Shyamalan
Produced by	M. Night Shyamalan Frank Marshall Sam Mercer
Written by	M. Night Shyamalan
Starring	Noah Ringer Nicola Peltz Jackson Rathbone Dev Patel
Music by	James Newton Howard
Cinematography	Andrew Lesnie
Editing by	Conrad Buff
Studio	Nickelodeon Movies Kennedy/Marshall Blinding Edge Pictures
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	July 2, 2010 (2010-07-02) (United States) August 6, 2010 (United Kingdom)
Country	United States
Language	English

The Last Airbender is an upcoming 2010 adventure-fantasy film written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan. It is a live-action film adaptation of the first season of the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, which has its influences from Asian art, mythology, and various martial arts fighting styles. The first of a planned trilogy, the film, starring Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, and Dev Patel, will be marketed and released in North America by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies on July 2, 2010.

Premise

Cast

Noah Ringer as Aang, a 12-year-old, though technically 112, "Avatar" whose duty it is to protect the world. He is capable of bending all four elements, though at the beginning of the film he has only learned to airbend. He is fun-loving and carefree and gets distracted with fun which affects his responsibilities.
Nicola Peltz as Katara, a 14-year-old and the last remaining waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe. She is Aang's good friend and love interest.
Jackson Rathbone as Sokka, a 15-year-old warrior from the Southern Water Tribe and Katara's older brother.
Dev Patel as Prince Zuko, a 16-year-old prince who travels with his uncle and tries to capture the Avatar in order to regain his honor and position as heir to the Fire Nation throne.
Aasif Mandvi as Admiral Zhao, a hot-tempered Fire Nation Commander in pursuit of the Avatar. He is Zuko's principal rival.
Shaun Toub as Uncle Iroh, an older man who is extremely easy-going and friendly and often acts as a surrogate father to his nephew, Zuko.
Cliff Curtis as Fire Lord Ozai, the leader of the war and the Fire Nation. He is the primary antagonist in the series.
Jessica Andres as Suki, a leader of the young female warriors of Kyoshi Island, the Kyoshi Warriors. She is a friend to Aang and one of Sokka's love interests.
Seychelle Gabriel as Yue, is a princess and the daughter of the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe. She is a friend to Aang and one of Sokka's love interests.

Production

Development

On January 8, 2007, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies announced that they had signed M. Night Shyamalan to write, direct and produce a trilogy of live-action films based on the series; the first of these films will encompass the main characters' adventures in the first season of the show. The film was in a dispute with James Cameron's film Avatar regarding title ownership, which resulted in the film being titled The Last Airbender. Paramount Pictures has budgeted an estimated $250 million for the entire trilogy.

According to an interview with the co-creators in SFX Magazine, Shyamalan came across Avatar when his daughter wanted to be Katara for Halloween. Intrigued, Shyamalan researched and watched the series with his family. "Watching Avatar has become a family event in my house ... so we are looking forward to how the story develops in season three," said Shyamalan. "Once I saw the amazing world that Mike and Bryan created, I knew it would make a great feature film." He added he was attracted to the spiritual and martial arts influences on the show.

Avatar co-creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko voiced their opinion within an interview regarding Shyamalan writing, directing and producing the film. The two displayed much enthusiasm over Shyamalan's decision for the adaptation, stating that they admire his work and, in turn, he respects their material. M. Night Shyamalan said he will write the second film while preparing to shoot the first.

Casting

Shyamalan originally offered the roles of Aang to Tae Kwon Do-trained Texan Noah Ringer; Sokka to Jackson Rathbone; Katara to Nicola Peltz; and Zuko to Jesse McCartney. The casting of white actors in the Asian-influenced Avatar universe triggered negative fan reaction marked by accusations of racism, "Whitewashing", a letter-writing campaign, and a protest outside of a Philadelphia casting call for movie extras. Rathbone dismissed the complaints, saying "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit." In February 2009, Dev Patel replaced McCartney, whose tour dates conflicted with a boot camp scheduled for the cast to train in martial arts. Aasif Mandvi will play Admiral Zhao, Shaun Toub will play Uncle Iroh, Cliff Curtis will play Fire Lord Ozai and Keong Sim has been cast in the role of an Earthbender father. Katharine Houghton and Seychelle Gabriel are expected to play "Gran Gran", the grandmother of Katara and Sokka, and Princess Yue, another of Sokka's love interests and princess of the Northern Water Tribe, respectively. Isaac Jin Solstein is playing an earthbending boy.

Filming

Pre-production began in late 2008, while filming began in March 2009 in Greenland. After two weeks, the cast and crew moved to Reading, Pennsylvania to commence filming at the Pagoda on Mount Penn on April 2, 2009. According to Frank Marshall, as of June 27, 2009, principal photography has finished. The film is currently in post-production.

Music

On May 13, 2009, producer Frank Marshall announced that composer James Newton Howard was recording music for the teaser trailer. Howard has also composed the musical score for The Sixth Sense and all of Shyamalan's subsequent films.

Marketing

The teaser trailer for the film was attached to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, released in theaters on June 24, 2009. The teaser trailer was also shown on Entertainment Tonight on June 22, 2009 as an ET network exclusive. The trailer shows Aang airbending in a temple which is being attacked by a multitude of Fire Nation ships.

A theatrical trailer was to be released around Christmas 2009 but it was pushed back until February 2010 because not enough visual effects shots were completed.

Advertising Age reports that Paramount Pictures has bought a Super Bowl spot for the film. Super Bowl XLIV will air on February 7, 2010.