Katara
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| Avatar: The Last Airbender character | |
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| Katara | |
| Nationality | Water Tribe (Southern Tribe)  |
| Aliases | June Pipinpadalopsicopolous, Kuā Měi |
| Gender | Female |
| Hair color | Brown |
| Eye color | Blue |
| Age | 14 |
| Position | Waterbending Master |
| First appearance | "The Boy in the Iceberg" |
| Voiced by | Mae Whitman |
Katara is a fictional character and heroine voiced by Mae Whitman on the Nickelodeon animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Fourteen-year-old Katara is a Waterbending master from the South Pole's Southern Water Tribe who, along with her older brother, Sokka, discovers Aang, the long-lost Avatar, and accompanies him on his quest to defeat the Fire Nation and bring peace to the war-torn nations.
Katara's name might be derived from "catarata," which is Spanish/Portuguese for "waterfall."[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
Katara grew up as the mature, motherly figure of her family and tribe. When Katara was eight years old, her mother was killed in a Fire Nation raid. Because of this, Katara adopted the responsibilities left by her deceased mother. Though her interests lie in developing her waterbending skills, she resigned herself to cooking and cleaning duties while her brother, Sokka, trained to become a warrior.
At the age of twelve, Katara saw the departure of her father, Hakoda, and the other tribesmen to the Earth Kingdom to participate in the war effort against the Fire Nation. This left her, alongside her brother and grandmother, Kanna ("Gran Gran"), to look after the tribe.
The events of Avatar: The Last Airbender begin at this point where, during a spearfishing expedition, Katara and Sokka find Aang in suspended animation inside an iceberg. The siblings free him and discover that Aang is the Avatar, whose destiny revolves around mastering the four elements of air, water, earth, and fire. With a common goal of mastering Waterbending, Katara, along with her brother, joins Aang in hopes of visiting the Northern Water Tribe to find a Waterbending master willing to teach them.
Throughout Book Two, Katara journeys through the Earth Kingdom in hopes of finding an earthbending teacher for Aang. Her travels take her to Ba Sing Se, where Aang and his friends assist the Earth King in devising strategies for an invasion of the Fire Nation.
[edit] Waterbending progress
[edit] Book One
To Katara, waterbending is a unique skill that she dearly wanted to master. With no other Waterbenders to instruct her, Katara initially taught herself. Able to do feats ranging from maneuvering a fish-filled water globule to freezing water at will, she displayed much potential. However, she lacked a fine sense of control, unable to aim some of her larger attacks. After meeting Aang, she and Sokka set off on a journey to their sister tribe in the north, on a quest to find a waterbending master to instruct them.
Katara continued to practice waterbending diligently while journeying with Aang and Sokka, acquiring new skills. Passing through a port town, Katara stole a waterbending scroll from pirates. Following the scroll's forms, Katara and Aang learned the "water whip," a maneuver that lashes a target with a whip-shaped formation of water. Later, while being fooled by Jet, she learned to bend underground water, as she and Aang pulled water up through geysers and into a river.
After Aang accidentally burned her hands while learning firebending, Katara learned that she has a rare waterbending talent: the vitakinetic ability to heal wounds, using water as the catalyst.
When they finally arrive at the North Pole, Katara and Aang met Master Pakku, a waterbending master. She hoped to learn waterbending from him, but Pakku rebuffed her, explaining that tribal custom forbids women from learning waterbending to fight. Instead, women with the gift are trained formally as Healers.
While Aang learns from Pakku, Katara is sent to the healing huts for Yagoda's lessons. After her lesson, she learned that her grandmother, Kanna, had been good friends with Yagoda as a young girl. However, she had fled to the Southern Tribe to escape an arranged marriage to a young Waterbender.
Filled with newfound contempt for Northern customs, Katara schemed to learn from Aang at night. Pakku quickly discovered them and banned Aang from further instruction until Katara apologizes. Rather than submit to Pakku's sour chauvinism, Katara challenged Pakku to a duel. She acquited herself remarkably, but Pakku still did not consent to teach her, and he finally defeated her.
When he discovered Katara's heirloom choker, he recognized it as the betrothal necklace he had carved sixty years ago for his young fiancée, Kanna. Realizing that his stubborn adherence to custom had cost him a wife, Pakku consented to teach Aang and Katara. When Katara rose to mastery faster than any of his students, Pakku tasked her with instructing the slower-learning Aang and deemed her a master Waterbender.
[edit] Book Two
At the beginning of Book Two, the group is given by Master Pakku a box of waterbending scrolls and an amulet full of water (with special properties) from the spirit oasis.
Master Pakku deems Katara a master Waterbender so she could officially teach Aang. In "Return to Omashu," Katara is able to defeat Mai temporarily before Ty Lee comes up behind her and blocks her flow of chi, temporarily preventing her from waterbending.
In "The Swamp," Katara shows a great deal of skill and power against the swamp creature. She demonstrates her mastery of water's cutting ability as she sends continuous blades of water to hack the creature down. It is unknown if Katara can manipulate the water in plants like some members of the Foggy Swamp Tribe can. Even though this "plantbending" is derived from waterbending, it appears to be a highly specialized form, as only one member of the Swamp Tribe is seen performing it.
Katara saves the waterbending scrolls in "Avatar Day" from a large Fire Nation man and, soon after, is able to put out fires on the parade floats with little available water. She uses the water from her water skin numerous times to cut through certain objects such as leather straps or wooden beams.
She is able to defeat two earthbending students with little effort at all, pinning them between two walls with ice in "The Blind Bandit." In "The Chase," she shares her fear of losing her waterbending ability while she and Aang are shown washing Appa. She fares well against Ty Lee in a short confrontation by dodging her attacks, but Mai is able to defeat her by pinning her arms to a tree with shurikens; Katara, however, is saved by Appa in that scenario. When Azula tries to hurt Aang, she is prevented from doing so as her hand is grabbed by Katara's water whip. Katara offers to heal Iroh after his injury but is unable to proceed when Zuko refuses. In "The Library," Katara gives a waterbending scroll to Wan Shi Tong, the guardian spirit. From its illustrations, the scroll appears to be the same one she stole from pirates in The Waterbending Scroll.
Katara has been shown able to create larger water whips, large whirlpools (with some help from Aang), and even small tidal waves. Her mastery over freezing water has also increased, ranging from small ice spikes, to small ice bridges, to surfing freely on water using an ice platform for support in The Serpent's Pass." She is also shown capable of rapidly condensing steam into ice in "The Drill." In the episode "The Earth King," she displays further mastery of waterbending, being able to defeat many royal guards using a single aerial water whip kick after jumping over a moat. Furthermore, she can condense the water onto her arms (similar to when Aang collected rocks onto his arm against Azula in "The Drill") and use it as a limb extension in order to throw guards down into the moat.
Her advancing skills were further shown at the end of the second season finale "The Crossroads of Destiny" when she fought Azula in single combat and not only held her ground, but managed to drive Azula back. Despite Azula's powerful firebending abilities, Katara was able to deflect the force of her attacks by covering her entire body except her head with water and then using the water on her arms as two enormous water whips, which she then uses to grab Azula's arm and leg to prevent her from firebending. Azula's dire position was only relieved by timely aid from Zuko. The fact that she was able to best Azula signifies the extent of her combat prowess. At the end of the episode, she was able to create and ride a small tidal wave, knocking over Prince Zuko and the Dai Li agents at once. She was then able to lift herself and Aang by creating a water spout and riding a waterfall upwards. As they leave the city on Appa's back, she attempts to heal the fatal wound on Aang's back and, though the wound remains present, Aang does awaken soon thereafter.
[edit] Personality
Mature and kind, Katara is dedicated to her friends, family, and duties. Resentful of the traditionally passive gender roles her tribe ascribes her, Katara's fondest dream was to become a waterbending master and fight to save her tribe. But she can also be bossy and controlling, always believing her ways and beliefs are the in the right and refusing to relent on her views (rarely being shown in a bad light, unlike many others). Passionate and dedicated to her goal, she taught herself an array of novice moves before receiving any formal instruction. Katara's sense of justice is so strong that she will rush headlong into dangerous situations to aid those she feels have been wronged, or if there is any injustice. Once, Katara rallied a group of imprisoned Earthbenders to overpower their captors. Although she is devoted to and can be very patient with friends and family, Katara has a rather short temper and possesses a ferocious amount of power, especially when angered. On rare occasions when Katara becomes truly angry, her outbursts are accompanied by involuntary waterbending strong enough to shatter icebergs (as seen in "The Boy in the Iceberg"). Katara's kind heart sometimes makes her care for others before herself. In "The Desert," she gives Sokka, Toph, and Momo water without taking any for herself. Katara also has an extraordinary capacity to forgive. In "The Crossroads of Destiny," she offers to heal Zuko of his facial scar, despite their long and complicated history of conflict.
[edit] Family
[edit] Mother
Before she was killed in a Fire Nation attack, Katara's mother gave her a navy blue necklace with a blue stone pendant that bears the waterbending symbol as a last memento and gift. Katara can almost always be seen wearing this necklace. Carved by Pakku as a betrothal necklace for Katara's grandmother, it was handed down to Katara's mother (possibly as a wedding present), then passed to Katara. It appears that Katara was very close to her mother, as in "The Swamp" she has a vision of her lost mother and breaks down crying when the mirage disappears.
[edit] Hakoda
Katara also dearly misses her father, not having seen him in the two years since he went off to war. Though she does not idolize him as her brother does, she once seriously considered leaving Aang behind in order to meet him at a military rendezvous point, briefly acting on this desire during an argument with him. However, her loyalty to Aang and his quest won out. In "Bato of the Water Tribe," there is mention that Hakoda is heading to Ba Sing Se. In "The Earth King," it is confirmed that Hakoda is near the great city at Chameleon Bay. Katara allows Sokka to travel with Aang to meet their father while she remains with the Earth King to plan for an invasion of the Fire Nation during a solar eclipse.
[edit] Gran Gran Kanna
Katara initially seems to have little in common with her grandmother Kanna, (affectionately known as "Gran Gran"), who tells Katara the stories of Avatar lore she holds so dear. Initially jaded and pessimistic in the face of Katara's hopes for herself and Aang, she later blesses Katara and Sokka's departure. If Yugoda's claims of a "spitting image" resemblance and a similar rebelliousness are to be believed, perhaps Katara is more like Kanna than she knows.
[edit] Sokka
Katara loves to tease her older brother Sokka, and they frequently trade jabs and argue, he being the more quick-witted, but also the more prideful of the pair. She also resents his (now somewhat tempered) sexist streak and tendency to belittle her waterbending as bothersome "magic." Sokka feels an instinctual obligation to protect his sister, though often this makes him over-protective, to Katara's dismay. Still, the siblings love each other dearly.
[edit] Relationships
[edit] Aang
In regards to Aang, Katara has a great deal of faith in the young Avatar's ability to save the world, and cares for him as a close friend. She is, for the most part, genuinely oblivious to the twelve-year-old's love for her. It is possible that Aang and Katara kiss during the events of "The Cave of Two Lovers," but the show leaves this ambiguous. Katara is the person that suggested they kiss in hopes it would help them escape the maze-like cave. However, Katara has kissed Aang twice, though on the cheek: once when Aang delivered her mother's necklace back to her, and towards the end of "The Earth King," when Aang and Sokka depart.
Aang connects to Katara more than any other person he has interacted with in the show. As of the events in "The Desert," Katara remains the only person able to calm Aang down from the Avatar State. Also, as seen in "The Serpent's Pass," Katara is able to renew emotions and beliefs in Aang where others were unable. While others had tried to renew Aang's optimism and hope, only Katara was successful, further demonstrating how meaningful she is to Aang.
Katara is the only one of Aang's teachers so far to use positive reinforcement as a teaching method. Aang responds well to this method, most likely due to free spirited and gentle nature of Airbenders.
[edit] Toph
Katara has shown great sympathy for Toph over her restricted life under her parents. Like Aang and Sokka, Katara gladly welcomes Toph when she joins their group. The two were at odds with each other in "The Chase" when Toph refused to help set up their campsites (Katara going so far as to use Toph's blindness to insult her), but they have since come to better terms. After spending a day together getting makeovers in Ba Sing Se, Toph and Katara bonded and showed signs that they were getting close. After being taunted by a troupe of pompous girls, Katara gets a rare view of the vulnerable, self-conscious side of Toph, who feels insecure about her looks as a result of the insult. Though she tries to hide it, Toph can't help displaying tears before Katara, who offers reassurance and comfort to the earthbender. She admires that Toph is "confident and self-assured" and certifies the blind girl that she is "really pretty".[2] Cheered up, Toph offers to return the compliment, had she any idea of what Katara looked like, and rewards her with a genuine "thank you" and a friendly punch on the shoulder. This interaction demonstrates that, despite their previous differences, both of them have come a long way in their journey and are becoming close friends. Katara and Toph have generally opposing personalities, with Katara being generally kind and encouraging, and Toph being tougher and more authoritative.
[edit] Prince Zuko
As Aang's close friend and staunch defender, Katara is, by association, an enemy of Zuko. At the end of "Imprisoned," the only trace of the Avatar and his companions that Zuko finds on an Earthbender prison rig that they helped to liberate is Katara's tribal necklace, lost in the commotion. In "The Waterbending Scroll," after capturing Katara with the assistance of a band of pirates, Zuko attempts to use the necklace as a bribe to get Katara to reveal Aang's whereabouts, but she stoutly refuses. Then, in "Bato of the Water Tribe," Zuko employs a bounty hunter, June, and her Shirshu, a tracking beast with a hypersensitive olfactory system, and uses the necklace to track Katara, thus tracking Aang by proxy. However, when he does find Aang, Aang reclaims the necklace and returns it to Katara.
In "The Siege of the North," after Zuko has made his way into the Spirit Oasis of the Northern Water Tribe, Katara is the only obstacle in his plan to abduct Aang, who is in a meditative state as he tries to enter the Spirit World. Katara subdues Zuko at first, having trained with Master Pakku while at the North Pole and receiving a power boost due to Waterbending's lunar sympathy with the nearly full moon. But as the sun rises, her abilities weaken while those of Zuko and the attacking Fire Navy increase. Zuko catches Katara offguard with a powerful fire blast, knocking her out, and escapes with Aang. Later, with the moon again on her side, she defeats Zuko in one strike to rescue Aang. In "The Chase," Katara, along with Toph and Aang, attacks Azula in unison with Zuko. Once Azula has disappeared, Katara tries to tell Zuko that she could assist the injured Iroh with her healing abilities, but runs off with her companions when Zuko violently demands that they leave him and Iroh alone. In the Season II Finale, Katara and Zuko learn that they both lost their mothers to the Fire Nation. Katara offers to heal his scar, but never gets the chance to, as Aang and Iroh arrive on the scene, later followed by Azula and members of the Dai Li. The resulting battle pits Katara and Aang against Azula and Zuko, and the trust that Katara had recently developed in Zuko is erased.
[edit] Master Pakku
The greatest Waterbender of the Northern Water Tribe, Master Pakku denies Katara Waterbending training on the basis that she is female. Enraged, Katara battles the Waterbending master in an effort to prove her worth. Although Katara fights very well, Pakku defeats her. In the battle, her mother's necklace falls off and is later retrieved by Pakku. Upon inspection, Pakku realizes that it is the necklace he carved as a gift for his fiancé decades before- Katara's grandmother, Kanna. However, she ran away before they could be married. After realizing that the sexist attitudes of his culture caused him to lose his bride and love, Master Pakku has a change of heart, and agrees to teach Katara waterbending. At the end of Book 1, Pakku deems her a Waterbending Master. Before they take off, he gives Katara a water amulet from the spirit oasis, and one last hug.
[edit] Jet
Jet is a rebel against the Fire Nation who Katara had an immediate crush on. He, learning of this, used her to unknowingly assist him in a plot to flood a local Fire Nation-occupied village. This ruthless plot would kill the innocent civilians living there. Needless to say, when Katara found out about his plan to flood the village, she was horrified. After a confrontation alongside Aang, Katara froze Jet to a tree and left him there. In Lake Laogai, Katara meets up with Jet again, after he is brainwashed. She was the most hesitant to accept his help to find Appa and it was obvious that she was still angry with him. At the end of the episode, when Jet was seriously injured, it was apparent that she was worried, indicating that her trust in him had been restored.
[edit] Ty Lee
In the episode "The Chase," Katara reveals that she is frightened of Ty Lee. She tells Toph that Ty Lee's ability to remove one's bending is "scary". Eventually, this fear develops into anger. In the episode "The Drill," Katara seems to really detest Ty Lee. She is seen aggressively trapping her within a tunnel of water and even taunts Ty Lee by calling her a "circus freak."
[edit] Trivia
- According to the pilot episode included on the Avatar Complete Book 1 Collection DVD set, Katara's name was originally Kya.
- In "The Serpent's Pass," a refugee goes into labor and Katara delivers the baby, claiming she did it lots of times, proving how much responsibility she had in her former home. Not only does she have experience delivering babies, Katara claims to have delivered baby seals as well.
- In "City of Walls and Secrets," the names Katara and Toph used at the party were Kuā Měi (姱 美) for Katara and Dòng (侗) for Toph. Toph was not happy with hers because while Kuā Měi translates as 'fascinating beautiful,' Dòng means 'ignorant' or 'rustic.'
- In "The 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. 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.
[edit] References
- http://www.avatarspiritmedia.net/transcripts.php - Episode transcripts
- ^ http://www.syvum.com/cgi/online/serve.cgi/learn/languages/English_Spanish/geography_features_1.html
- ^ "The Tales of Ba Sing Se". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. 2006-09-29. No. 15, season 2 (Book 2).
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