Sokka's relationships

Katara
Despite constant bickering in the course of their travels, the siblings love each other dearly. Sokka feels obligated to protect his younger sister, as urged by his father before his departure to the Fire Nation. Sokka takes this very seriously and, at times, can become somewhat overprotective. He proves to be very loyal to her in the third episode of season three; when Katara decides to defend the fishing village against the fire nation army, he puts his anger aside in order to help her. In "The Runaway" Sokka tells Toph that Katara has always been the one he sees as being there for him, and that he cannot remember his mother's face, for the only face he sees is that of Katara.

Mother
The death of Sokka's mother in a Fire Nation raid is the primary fuel for Sokka's deep grudge against the Fire Nation forces. Though his anger has faded somewhat, her loss remains a very sore point. Sokka has even admitted that though his caring, loving mother was important to him, he cannot remember her face very well due to the fact that she died when he was at a young age. Whenever Sokka thinks of his mother, he sees instead sees the face of his sister, who seems to have always been the maternal figure in his life.

Hakoda
Sokka idolizes his father, Hakoda, hoping to become a great warrior and fight the Fire Nation just as valiantly. Deeply saddened by his father's departure, Sokka eagerly awaits the day he can meet him again. He 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. Sokka's primary weapon (and most prized possession) is his metal boomerang, given to him by his father before going off to war. In "Bato of the Water Tribe", it was mentioned that Hakoda was heading to Ba Sing Se. Sokka reunites with his father in "The Guru", where Hakoda recognizes his son as a man. Sadly, this reunion is cut short, as Aang comes with news about Katara's capture in Ba Sing Se.

It has been shown throughout the series that Sokka strives to be like his father, and shares many personality traits with Hakoda, such as planning, leadership, bravery, inventive ingenuity, and sense of humor. Bato remarked upon this, saying, "You're definitely your father's son," after only Sokka laughed at Hakoda's attempt at wit in naming his bomb the 'stink and sink'.

Gran Gran Kanna
Sokka's grandmother, Kanna, is the oldest survivor of the Fire Nation raid on the Southern Water Tribe. Being such, she looks after the tribe. Like Sokka, she is cautious and wary of change and tends to be cynical. When she believes Aang's actions have endangered the village, she takes Sokka's side in the argument. However, she comes to see that it is her grandchildren's destiny to journey with the Avatar and sees them off, telling her grandson to take care of his sister and not to make fun of her.

Hawky
In "The Runaway" Sokka buys a pet messenger hawk he names Hawky. Hawky has something of a rivalry with Momo and the two frequently get into fights. Though a new addition to the group he seems quite loyal to Sokka and apparently understands his speech. Toph and Katara use Hawky to send a letter to Toph's parents and hasn't been seen since.

Aang
In regards to Aang, Sokka did not embrace him as quickly as his sister did. In the early episodes of the series, he seemed skeptical of Aang's powers and occasionally frustrated with Aang's cavalier attitude. He has shown fierce anger when Aang's carelessness gets Katara hurt in "The Deserter" and when Aang purposely deceives them in "Bato of the Water Tribe," though he forgives him fully afterwards. As the series goes on, Sokka begins to show more marvel at Aang's strength. Sokka eventually even openly admits that Aang is "part of the family" in "Bato of The Water Tribe". The two can also be seen goofing around on occasions (as seen in "The Chase", "City of Walls and Secrets" and "The Painted Lady"). Even though Sokka and Aang have their differences, they have since reached better terms with one another, and they can talk to each other easily.

In "The Day of Black Sun" Sokka laments that he failed being a public speaker to inspire the invasion force like his father did. Aang assured him that Sokka's moment of glory would be witnessed in the actual fight. This established that both Sokka and Aang finally consider each other as brothers-in-arms. When Zuko offered to join the group to teach Aang Firebending, Sokka bluntly refused largely out of concern for Aang's well-being. When Aang eventually did welcome Zuko after he saved the group from an attack, Sokka gave his consent, knowing that Aang knew what was best.

Toph
Because of Toph's young age and blindness, Sokka was at first skeptical of her Earthbending prowess. Upon witnessing her skills, however, he is astonished to the point of fainting. Like Katara and Aang, Sokka gladly welcomes Toph when she joins their group, and he was the only member of the group to not deride Toph's apparently selfish attitude during "The Chase", even commenting that Katara and Aang are "pretty much jerks" to her. However, during "The Chase", when everyone was preparing to fight the approaching tank, Toph discounted Sokka because he could not bend an element, much to his annoyance. A recurring joke seems to involve Sokka occasionally forgetting that Toph is blind (for example, Toph commenting that she likes Sokka's drawing, and his apparent joy before realizing she couldn't actually see it), and she frequently uses this to annoy him.

In "The Serpent's Pass", after Toph saves Sokka's life while they cross the dangerous path, he is intently focused on whether or not Suki is okay and forgets thanking Toph, which seems to cause her a small amount of annoyance. Later in the episode, Suki saves Toph from drowning and Toph, thinking Suki to be Sokka, gives her a kiss on the cheek. In "The Painted Lady", Sokka and Toph work together to figure out Katara's secret identity. While Sokka is away from the team developing his swordsmanship, Toph expresses as much dismay as rest to his absence. Later when he returns, both Aang and Katara enthusiastically welcome Sokka back and proclaim how much they've missed him, while Toph somberly states that she didn't really care, but then turns away to hide her blushing. Toph nonetheless is quite excited when Sokka gave her a piece of the meteorite he used to make his sword with, which she promptly begins bending into a spiral, a star, and a splatter (the Nickelodeon logo) and subsequently transformed into a bracelet that she now treasures.

"The Runaway" shows his strong friendship with Toph, such as conspiring various scams together to obtain money for the invasion and having a heart to heart talk regarding Katara's motherly attitude. He even admitted to her that seeing Katara as his mother figure was something he never told to anyone.

In "The Puppetmaster" Toph uses the meteorite as a key to help Sokka uncover Hama's secrets, and while doing this blushes. Later when Toph jumps down into the cave, she grabs onto Sokka's hand.

Bato
Bato is a good friend of Sokka's father whom the gang encountered in "Bato of the Water Tribe" recuperating from his wounds that he sustained during an ambush against the Fire Nation soldiers. As Hakoda's proxy, Bato oversees Sokka's traditional Water Tribe coming of age ritual of ice dodging. Only in this case, Sokka solely controls and commands Bato's ship as he maneuvers the vessel in an ocean full of pointed rocks. Sokka passed the challenge and in turn Bato awarded him the ceremonial mark of the wise, the same mark Hakoda also wore in his challenge.

Jet
Unlike Katara and Aang, Sokka did not trust Jet when they first met. He initially saw Jet as a rival and a threat, as Jet had stolen his thunder in a fight against a group of Fire Nation soldiers. He stood with his instinctive views even when his two companions opposed it. Although not friendly to each other, the two were very similar in nature, and both had loved ones killed by the Fire Nation. However, Jet took more extreme measures in his revenge, planning to wipe out an entire Earth Kingdom village in an attempt to get rid of the Fire Nation soldiers stationed there, without remorse for the innocents living there. Sokka is the first to learn this, and despite Jet and his group capturing him, he manages to escape and then evacuate all the people in the village. Jet calls him a traitor, but Sokka replies saying that Jet became the traitor when he stopped protecting innocent people.

Unlike his sister, in "Lake Laogai" he was willing to accept Jet's help to find Appa. He was the first to surmise that Jet was brainwashed, and unsuccessfully tried to help Jet regain his memory by sticking his trademark chewing straw in his mouth.

The Mechanist
With their shared admiration of science and technology, Sokka immediately formed a friendship with the Mechanist, the leader of a group of Earth Kingdom refugees who had established the Northern Air Temple as their new home. Working together, the two were able to complete the Mechanist's experimental hot air balloon which was then used to drive off the Fire Nation forces attempting to invade the temple.

Sokka apparently kept in touch with the Mechanist, providing him with the idea and designs for a waterbending-powered Water Tribe Submarines to be used as a form of transportation for the Fire Nation invasion.

Piandao
During the episode "Sokka's Master", Sokka goes to the master Piandao in order to be instructed in the ways of the sword, for he felt that he wasn't contributing enough for the group, specially after being unable to do anything to help put out a fire, even Momo outdoing him. During his stay at Piandao's castle, he says that he's not sure whether he's worthy of being trained by him. After a day worth of training, Piandao instructs Sokka to make his own sword, to which he uses the meteorite which caused the fire the night before. Piandao states that while his technique did not impress him at all, he intelligence, creativity and versatility did, even saying that those traits would allow him to become a greater master than he is. Sokka then reveals his Water Tribe status, causing Piandao to attack him. During the fight, Sokka is able to apply the concepts of his training, but is eventually defeated by Piandao, who reveals that he knew of Sokka's ancestry before even training him. When asked by Katara why would he train someone not from the Fire Nation, he says that the way of the sword belongs to all nations. As a farewell gift, Piandao gives him a White Lotus Pai Sho tile.

Prince Zuko
Sokka and Zuko never had much social interaction with each other. Their first encounter was a brief faceoff against each other in "The Avatar Returns", during which Zuko attacked the Southern Water Tribe while Sokka zealously defended it. Zuko was the clear winner, despite Sokka's persistence. They met in other battles after that, mostly as foes, with one exception being when Zuko teamed up with Sokka and the rest of the group against Azula at a ghost town during "The Chase". Other than that, Sokka has constantly been opposed to assisting Zuko whenever Aang suggested it, clearly indicating how little Sokka trusts him.

The two are properly introduced in "The Western Air Temple". Sokka still doesn't trust Zuko after their history, even going so far as theorizing that Zuko covered himself in honey to get Appa to lick him, a sign of affection from the bison. Despite his distrust of Zuko, Sokka does trust Aang and concedes to let Zuko join the group when Aang feels it is the best course of action. At the end of the episode, Sokka is seen showing Zuko to his room. Sokka is nervous and uncomfortable, but Zuko smiles at him, implying he has no hostility towards Sokka. Sokka remarks that escorting his former enemy was "really weird." Unlike his sister, it seems that he holds little hostilities against Zuko currently. However, in "The Firebending Masters", Sokka jokingly commented on Zuko's and Aang's "jerkbending".

During "The Boiling Rock, Part 1", Sokka's oppinion towards Zuko changes for the best, seeing that he asks him for information on where the invasion troops might be imprisoned. Zuko reveals their most likely situation and assists him in breaking in the Boiling Rock. There, he helps Sokka break out Suki. After the events of this episode, their relationship is on a much better shape than it ever has.

Suki
Sokka once nursed a sexist streak (the Water Tribes seem to be fairly traditional with gender roles), but his associations with two particular young women have drastically changed his views. His presumption that women were incompetent fighters was tested when he met Suki, a young female warrior on Kyoshi Island. Humbled by her skill, he turned to her for instruction. The two bonded over sparring matches, and, before parting, shared what was presumably Sokka's first kiss.

The two are reunited when Sokka and the others are on their way to Ba Sing Se in "The Serpent's Pass," where she and her warriors operate as sentries for the Ba Sing Se ferry. He was extremely overprotective of Suki during the beginning of the trip, and continued to be overbearingly cautious after she confronted him about it. During the night on the Serpent's Pass, Sokka and Suki talk and he explains to her how hard it is to lose someone you care for, and that he does not want to lose anyone else. As they talk, the moon is visible behind them, implying the presence of Princess Yue, the first girl he ever really fell in love with and whose death he blames on himself. Suki expresses how important Sokka is to her and the two almost kiss, but Sokka draws back reluctantly. However, the next day when she bids him good-bye, she apologizes about the night before and he kisses her twice before she finally leaves.

In the middle of the solar eclipse, Azula uses her knowledge of Suki's whereabouts to successfully stall Sokka, Aang and Toph. Azula reveals that her favorite prisoner used to mention Sokka all the time, convinced that he would rescue her. He however never came, and she came to give up on him. Sokka responds to Azula's taunts by shedding a single tear and rashly charging towards her. He demands to be told where Suki is being kept, but the Fire Nation Princess reveals nothing and is eventually able to escape once the eclipse has passed.

During the events of "The Boiling Rock, Part 1", Sokka and Zuko travel to the Boiling Rock Prison in an attempt to save Sokka's father. While there, Sokka finally finds Suki, and takes this opportunity to free her. When Sokka comes to her in her cell, Suki is overwhelmed with happiness and embraces him. She reveals that she never lost faith in Sokka's return, and the two share a kiss. She assists Sokka in freeing his father and escaping the prison. She impressed Sokka with her agility in her capture of the prison Warden, who they planned to use as a captive for the escape. Sokka is eventually able to free Suki and his father, and Suki joins the group after they reach the Western Air Temple. She will reappear in future episodes.

Princess Yue
Love found Sokka again when he became smitten with Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe. Sokka's attempts to court Yue were first reciprocated; however, Yue eventually said she could not see him anymore, because she was already engaged to a young man named Hahn, though in reality it was a political union and she did not love him. She explained that she liked Sokka, but could not abandon her people and their customs. The relationship came to a tragic end when Yue sacrificed her mortal form to give the Waterbenders' patron Moon Spirit new life. Sokka's former love now exists as a reincarnation of Tui, the Moon Spirit.

While Yue promised to remain with him always in spirit and parted with one last kiss, her loss still deeply affects Sokka. In "The Swamp", he has a vision of her confronting him and asking why he was unable to protect her, something that her father Chief Arnook had asked him to do. On several occasions has Sokka been illustrated to contemplate Yue when the moon is referred to, such as in "The Serpent's Pass", when Suki comes across Sokka sitting in seclusion gazing at the moon. When she comments how beautiful the moon is tonight, Sokka agrees in all literal how it truly is. Sokka then expresses reluctance towards kissing Suki under the moon. In "The Puppetmaster", when Toph suggests the disappearances are due to the Moon Spirit having turned mean, Sokka angrily defends Yue, saying she's a gentle loving lady who rules the sky with "lunar goodness."

Princess Azula
Sokka first encountered Azula, along with everyone else, in the episode The Chase. It wasn't until season 3's "Day of Black Sun" that Sokka has his real confrontation with her. In this episode, Sokka determined that Azula has done something to Suki, as she taunts him, telling that she gave up on him due to her time as a prisoner. Sokka proceeds to interrogate a constricted Azula, who did this in order to make the group waste their time with her.

Sokka and Azula meet face-to-face again during "The Boiling Rock, Part 2", as she tries to stop Zuko from fleeing the Boiling Rock Prison. Sokka and Zuko team up to ward her off and Sokka nearly sends her falling to her death by sticking his sword in her face. Sokka eventually escapes, this time with his friend and Azula's former prisoner, Suki.

Ty Lee
In "The Chase," after she and Mai were defeated after combating Katara and Sokka, Ty Lee mentioned that Sokka was "kinda cute." Later, in "The Drill", she addressed him and gave him a flirtatious look when they encountered one another within the Drill, to which Sokka replied with a bashful "hey" and a small wave. They come face to face yet again in "The Crossroads of Destiny", where she calls him a "cutie". As they do battle in the Earth King's throne room, she flirts with him remarking that "it's like we're dancing together." However, in this battle, Sokka expresses less interest with her than he did in their previous encounter, explaining that he is already involved with Suki.

Ty Lee and Sokka finally meet again in "The Boiling Rock, Part 2" in Sokka's attempt to escape the Boiling Rock Prison, but they never actually come face-to-face as Ty Lee was too busy fighting Suki. Ironically, Ty Lee does not even acknowledge her crush on Sokka as she did in her past appearances.

Ty Lee is imprisoned later for betraying Azula out of defense for her friend Mai, who helped Sokka and Zuko to escape the prison. It has yet to be seen if Ty Lee and Sokka will meet again following this development or what state their relationship will be.

Combustion Man
Sokka first encountered the "Combustion Man" in the episode The Beach. Toph, Katara, and even Aang's inability to defeat the Combustion Man left Sokka in fear. Sokka would later meet the Combustion man once more in The Runaway. In this episode, he nicknamed the Fire Nation assassin as "Sparky Sparky Boom Man", when he later figured that the name doesn't quite fit, he decided to formally call him as "Combustion Man" instead in the events of "The Runaway". Sokka single handedly defeated the assassin in The Western Air Temple (episode), when he successfully calculated their enemy's position using his boomerang, striking Combustion Man's head, which led to his demise as his own attack backfired at him.