Sokka

"water"

- I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying, and magic...

Sokka was a teenage Water Tribe warrior. Raised by his grandmother Kanna along with his younger sister Katara in the Southern Water Tribe, Sokka is the son of Kya and Chief Hakoda, who left along with all of the other men in his tribe to fight the Fire Nation.

As a result, Sokka was the oldest male in the South Pole. He assumed responsibility for the tribe, until his sister discovered an Air Nomad named Aang frozen in a block of ice. When he learned that Aang is the Avatar, he was at first skeptical that a child could really save the world. As he and his sister helped Aang on his quest, he began to believe that Aang really was the only hope for peace in the world.

Despite his inability to bend, Sokka became the strategist of the group, constantly trying to prove himself to be a great warrior like his father. Sokka was also the "matter of fact" guy in the group and did not believe in spirit magic, as he openly mocked it. His leadership skills improved over the series, culminating with his masterminding the plan for the eclipse Invasion of the Fire Nation. His humor and his ability to organize and plan became imperative to the group on their travels. By the conclusion of the series, Sokka became a master swordsman and finally becomes a great warrior like his father.

Background


Sokka came from the Southern Water Tribe. A warrior-to-be, 15-year-old Sokka was a very physical person. He was protective of his younger sister, Katara, and treasured the boomerang given to him by his father, Hakoda.

When his father left with the other men of the tribe to fight in the war, Sokka was put under his Gran Gran's care and became his tribe's last defense, although there were little kids who were about seven–nine years old who assumed the role of soldiers. He took the task very seriously and even built a number of snow watchtowers around the village. Although Sokka had the spirit of a soldier and the courage to stand up to any enemy, at the beginning of the series he lacked the skills and techniques that would make him a formidable opponent. That wouldn't stop him from trying though, especially if his friends needed help.

During his travels with Aang, Sokka bettered his skills significantly and had evolved into a very skilled fighter with a sword forged from meteorite, a true leader , and a cunning strategic planner.

After the War
Not much is known about Sokka's future, but Andrea Romano confirmed in a recent interview that he and the rest of Team Avatar have died by the time of The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra.

Personality
At first, Sokka was skeptical and abrasive, "sexist" and "immature", according to Katara. He was always sharp-witted. Detached from Katara's and Aang's pursuit of the Bending Arts, he openly expressed his 'Bender Envy'. Sokka thought bending was what got the world in trouble in the first place, so he believes only the skill and strength of ordinary men like himself could ultimately defeat the Fire Nation. Not having bending abilities himself, Sokka instead prefered the ways of the warrior and the scientist. He took his responsibility as protector very seriously. Initially, he didn't seem to believe in the bending arts, calling Katara's bending "magic water". The appearance of the Avatar seemed to change his mind. However, he never seemed to fully accept the fact that as the Avatar, Aang must learn Firebending. He is the least eager for Aang to start learning Firebending under Jeong Jeong. Later on, when Aang accidentally burned Katara, Sokka threw him to the ground and yelled how he knew that Aang learning Firebending was a mistake. This antagonism toward Firebending seemed to persist. Later, he refered to Zuko's training of Aang as, "jerkbending". Apparently, Sokka only accepted the mastering of the last element because it would help Aang defeat the Fire Lord.

He could become serious when he wanted to or when needed arises and was very protective of his sister, Katara. This is shown when he violently tackled Aang to the ground after Aang accidentally burned Katara's hands. Sokka was also protective of Aang, and when Aang surrendered himself to Zuko, Sokka immediately prepared to rescue him. Later, he decided that getting Aang to the North Pole was more important than seeing his father again after years of separation. Sokka was also very intelligent and good at coming up with ideas, even if said ideas were not always very good. He was also generally the one who was counted on determining the strategy of attack.

Sokka was clearly very loyal to his friends, family, and allies. Many times over he had helped them when he could and when he was needed. However, Sokka also seemed to realize the importance —and sometimes necessity— of one having to fight their own battles. When Master Piandao attacked Sokka, Aang, Katara, and Toph rushed in to help Sokka, but he told his friends to stay back as it was his battle to fight alone. He had to prove himself as a swordsman (although it turned out Piandao simply attacked his pupil just to test him). Later, he held a similar view during Aang's battle with Ozai when Sozin's Comet arrived. When Suki suggested she, Toph, and Sokka should help Aang, Sokka pointed out that "the Fire Lord is Aang's fight." He understood it was Aang's destiny to face Ozai alone, while he, Suki, and Toph focused their energies on stopping the Fire Nation Airship fleet.



Patriotic and long to hold a grudge, he strongly desired and eventually meted out vengeance for the Fire Nation's decimation of the Water Tribe and the death of his mother. He held little interest in the mysticism surrounding bending and prefered to solve problems using his strength and his wits. He tended to be rash, however, and his pride often lead to embarrassment. When Sokka had been humiliated, his versatility made for a heartfelt apology and changing of his ways. A good example of this is when he apologized to Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors for saying that boys were better than girls.

Sokka learned to be flexible. He may be closed-minded at first, but that was because he wanted to protect himself and those he loved. Not long after he started traveling with the Avatar, Sokka began to change, even to the extend that he humbly apologogizes to Suki. As the series progressed, he became more optimistic. He liked to keep smiles on his friends' faces using his wit, sarcastic humor, and overall eccentricity. Sokka was an underdog. He was constantly the one who got beaten upon. Most of his plans failed miserably ; however, he bravely kept fighting.

From the very start, Sokka was willing to die defending his tribe, even though he never stood the smallest chance. Despite his obvious cleverness, Sokka sometimes acted very silly, if not outright stupid. He occasionally created ridiculous plans that were nearly impossible to carry out. He was also a general victim of slapstick, often being sent flying or getting struck by things. Aunt Wu even stated, "Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it, self-inflicted". When Sokka protested that she didn't even read his palm, she remarked "I don't need to. It's written all over your face". His sarcastic and strange behavior could sometimes carry over into important decisions.

Sokka had a habit of over-explaining his plans, much to the annoyance of his friends. He also had a habit of missing the point in certain situations, again much to the annoyance of his friends.



A passionate carnivore, Sokka had demonstrated his love of meat on multiple occasions and was the main hunter in the group. Sokka also had a habit of using sarcasm. However, when he got trapped at one point, Sokka shouted at karma in the heavens, vowing to give up both meat and sarcasm for assistance. He would also consider himself no longer "Sokka, the meat and sarcasm guy", but willing to be "Sokka the veggies and straight-talk fellow". However, when he was freed eventually, he had given up neither meat nor sarcasm. He even asked "Aang, thank goodness, have you got any meat?" after being found less than a second after shouting to Karma. Despite his love of meat, he found it almost impossible to resist food, often gorging himself on various dishes when the group eats properly cooked meals. He showed contempt for Katara's cooking, however.

As much as Sokka loved meat, he grew close to every pet he received. He had a hilarious relationship with Momo. He tried to adopt a Messenger Hawk, which he fondly named "Hawky".

Perhaps the biggest growth and change in Sokka between the beginning and end of the series was his learning to accept people of the Fire Nation. As shown from experience throughout the series, he had learned that no nation was entirely good or bad, meaning that he should not blame the people of the nation but rather its ruler.

Sokka also appeared to be unbiased. Despite Hama having been from the Southern Water Tribe like himself and his sister, a victim of War and the last true Waterbender of their tribe, Sokka still did not exempt her from his suspicions as the probable cause of the strange disappearances. He also makes no effort to prove her innocence when faced with absolute proof that she is behind them.

Under the guidance of swordmaster Piandao, Sokka expressed various unorthodox procedures while undergoing his training. In one exercise, when told to stamp his identity onto a sheet of paper, rather than simply writing his name, Sokka smeared ink all over his face and pressed it onto the paper. As he presented Sokka with his blade, Piandao related that it was not his skills that impressed him, but his creativity, versatility and intelligence. All were traits that go beyond mere skills and define a great swordsman.

Sokka wrote with his right hand but drew and ate with his left hand. He was possibly ambidextrous, because he was seen painting with his right as well his left hand. His left-handed art was crude and rudimentary, however, this could just be due to a limited drawing ability.

Overall, Sokka probably had the biggest heart of all the characters, possibly excluding Katara. He changed where change was needed, learned to love and respect others, embraced his own identity, accepted failure, and formed lasting loyalties. He fought to the death even when the cause seemed hopeless. Sokka became the warrior he had always dreamed of by the end of the series. He became a master swordsman and finally became a great warrior like his father.

Abilities


For an inhabitant of a mystical world, Sokka showed a remarkable proclivity towards science. He seemed naturally adept at creating weapons out of practically anything 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 to Earthbend. 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. Alongside his trademark boomerang, Sokka was proficient in a variety of weapons, including clubs, a machete , spears , and the newest addition, a meteorite iron sword. However, it is unclear if Sokka ever recovered his sword after throwing it off an airship.

In addition to his engineering skill, Sokka had shown a remarkable talent for poetry. For example, he stumbled into a poetry reading and went toe-to-toe with the instructor in a haiku contest and held his own and nearly won. However, his hubris got the best of him, and he was viciously thrown out for accidentally adding an extra syllable to the end of a haiku, where he then decided to change his outlook on poetry. Sokka was also, quite humorously, a terrible artist, yet somehow strangely unaware of it (or is in denial). He emotionally defends his "artwork", which is still met with more laughter from his peers.

As the only non-bender in Aang's group, until Suki joins, Sokka is often overshadowed by the bending skills of his friends. However, it was Sokka that usually devised plans, gathered intelligence, and collected data and maps that could help his group defeat the Fire Nation. He often become the navigator and chose the route to follow despite the objections of others. His skills as a fighter had noticeably improved as the series progresses, although it was usually his persistence rather than skill that allowed him to land a blow against opponents of superior skill, such as Zuko and Ty Lee. Sokka employed other strategies to defeat larger enemies. He incapacitated Wan Shi Tong by using the element of surprise and attacking him from above. In that particular encounter, Sokka's wit succeeded where Aang and Katara's bending had failed. It was also Sokka who discovered that a solar eclipse disables Firebenders to bend and his idea to travel to Ba Sing Se and inform the Earth King. Perhaps his greatest triumph, however, was his nearly single-handed defeat of Combustion Man by using his boomerang to block the latter's chi flow. This action ultimately resulted in Combustion Man's demise, something that the combined efforts of his friends failed to do.

Sokka's leadership skills had evolved in the series. Initially he assumed leadership of the group based on that he was the oldest, that he had some rudimentary warrior training, and that Aang was just a goofy kid. However, his bossy attitude infuriated Katara. His skills were also undermined by his xenophobia, chauvinism and general bullheadedness. However, Sokka was usually willing to admit when he was wrong. This seemed to earn him the respect of several of the people he met and helped him grow as a warrior and as a person. It should also be noted that Sokka was occasionally right in his opinions. His immaturity, though, often caused Katara and Aang to ignore him. By the second season, Sokka seemed to have matured and refered to the group as a team. He also seemed to respect the opinions of others. They, in turn, considered his advice more seriously, even coming to rely on it. Later, in the third season, the group told Sokka how much they need him. Without him, they were bored, lost, unable to decide what to do, couldn't remember what they needed to do, and were being killed by Katara's horrible jokes, to the point where Aang admitted, "I guess the jokes don't run in the family", much to her annoyance.



Sokka had come to learn the art of swordsmanship, wielding a Jian sword, and had improved his contribution to the team. Under the tutelage of the Fire Nation swordmaster Piandao, Sokka underwent various activities, including sparring matches with the butler Fat to hone his swordwielding skills and arts such as painting, calligraphy, and rock gardening to sharpen his mind. Eventually, when instructed to make his own sword, he used 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, was patterned on a Qing Dynasty jian, but had the properties of the alien material used for its creation, making it unique. The blade retained an unusual all-black appearance and was able to slice through the toughest materials, such as steel. Although Sokka proved unable to defeat his master in a duel, Piandao stated that Sokka possessed the traits that one day could make him an even greater swordsman than he was. During the passing of Sozin's Comet, Sokka was once again able to prove his proficient skills in fighting. Even after breaking his leg from a fall and holding onto Toph who was about to fall to her death, he managed to take out two Firebenders that were about to finish him off. He defeated them by drawing his boomerang and throwing it at the first Firebender and knocking him out, then kicking his sword into the air, catching it, then throwing it to slice through the platform the other Firebender was standing on. He unfortunately lost both items in the process, only for a group of Firebenders to appear. Luckily, he and Toph survived when Suki crashed another airship into the one they were on and they managed to safely drop onto it.

Sokka showed his incredible intellectual potential, capacity to learn, and critical thinking skills throughout the series. He absorbed information quickly and completely and solved problems at an alarming rate. An example of this can be seen when he solved the dilemma of the hot air balloon (which stumped an engineering genius) shortly after having the concept explained to him. More examples were present in his training with Piandao. Sokka became an advanced swordsman rapidly, besting Piandao's servant, Fat, in just a couple of days. He also managed to gain a firm grasp on blacksmithing in that short time, as he forged his own sword and later a suit of armor for Appa. His unique critical thinking ability came into play often through the training exercises of Piandao. He "stamped his identity" on a page by applying ink to his face and rolling it across the paper after he was informed that he got a little of it on him while thinking. During the rock gardening exercise, he "manipulated the terrain to his advantage" by rolling boulders and relocating moss to make a sort of lounge chair in the shade, thus appealing to his love of relaxation.

Relatives

 * Gran Gran Kanna (paternal grandmother)
 * Hakoda (father)
 * Kya (mother, deceased)
 * Katara (younger sister)
 * Aang (brother-in-law)
 * Pakku (step-grandfather)
 * Tenzin (nephew)
 * Meelo (Great-nephew)
 * Ikki (Great-niece)
 * Jinora (Great-niece)

Appearances
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Book Three: Fire (火)
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Trivia



 * Sokka appeared in both the very first and the very last scenes of the entire series.
 * "Avatar Extras" mentioned that sarcasm used by Sokka is called Sokkasm.
 * Excluding Katara's narration during the opening sequence, Sokka got the first regular line in the series ("It's not going to get away from me this time").
 * In "The Waterbending Master", while Sokka was flirting with the daughter of the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, Princess Yue, he told her that he was "kinda like" a prince back in his tribe in an attempt to impress her (although Katara mocked and questioned his statement) but as son of Hakoda, Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, Sokka technically was in fact a prince.
 * Sokka is portrayed by Jackson Rathbone in the film adaptation, The Last Airbender.
 * Sokka's favorite pastime, apparently, was shopping. Second to that was developing plans.
 * Sokka had a habit of smacking his own forehead when aggravated, to the point that it became heavily reddened after his time with the nomads in "The Cave of Two Lovers". This had apparently strengthened his head quite a bit as shown in "The Chase", where after Ty Lee paralyzed both of his arms and one of his legs, she hurt herself after striking his forehead.
 * In "The Chase", Sokka mentioned that his "ponytail" was actually a "Warrior's Wolf Tail", a traditional hairstyle sported by male Water Tribe warriors.
 * Sokka was kissed far more times than any other character in the series, having been kissed at least three times in the first season alone, twice in the second season, and at least three more in the third season, totaling at a minimum of eight kisses.
 * Sokka was the only member of Team Avatar shown to kill an enemy, albeit indirectly. Sokka prevented the release of Combustion Man's chi after he successfully struck the assassin's tattoo with his boomerang. This subsequently led to Combustion Man's demise via explosion, after he unsuccessfully attempted to release the energy.
 * According to "Avatar Extras", Sokka was an active sleeper, meaning he tossed and turned at night.
 * Sokka's name is derived from the Japanese phrase Sou ka, meaning "'I understand" or "Is that so?" This may be a reference to his often sarcastic sense of humor, as well as his abilities as an analyst, technologist, and scientist.
 * Sokka was well versed in most, if not all, Water Tribe weapons.
 * During the events of "The Drill", Sokka considered giving Team Avatar a name, which at the time was still nameless. He eventually settled on Team Avatar, though before he did, he considered names such as The Boomer-Aang Squad, The Fearsome Foursome, and The Aang Gang.
 * Sokka was seen or mentioned in every episode except Zuko Alone.
 * Sokka was sometimes treated differently because he isn't a bender. In "The Avatar State", when leaving the Water Tribe vessels, Sokka failed to receive a parting gift from Pakku, while Katara and Aang received Waterbending Scrolls and Spirit Water. In "The Chase", Toph insulted him, saying that it was a three on three battle, and that Sokka didn't count because he wasn't a bender. Afterwards, Toph corrected herself, saying the group consisted of "three plus Sokka." Sokka also wanted to help his team douse the fire in "Sokka's Master" but was told by Aang to just take care of Momo.
 * In "The Siege of the North, Part 1" with "Avatar Extras" bonus commentary, when Sokka was with Princess Yue, one of the commentary bubbles stated that, "No girl can resist Sokka's charm".
 * A girl from each of the present nations had a crush on Sokka: Suki and Toph from the Earth Kingdom, Yue from the Water Tribes and Ty Lee from the Fire Nation.
 * In "The Waterbending Scroll", Sokka stated that he was unable to steer the pirate ship as it was not a Water Tribe vessel. This suggested that he was knowledgeable in operating Water Tribe ships.
 * Sokka is the only name of the original Team Avatar to be mentioned by Azula.
 * Sokka lost both his sword and boomerang during the attack on the Fire Nation Air Fleet.
 * According to Sokka in "The Southern Air Temple", the reason he didn't trust Aang when they first met was because he was a Firebender in his past life, realizing this upon finding that Avatar Roku was a Firebender.
 * Sokka appeared to have gained forging skills in "Sokka's Master", when he made his own sword in a forge. He later made a suit of armor that fit Appa perfectly.
 * Despite his age at the start of the series, Sokka technically wasn't a man until after he went Ice Dodging, the Water Tribes' cultural test of manhood. He had passed the required age to go Ice Dodging, but a man needed to conduct the test in order to pass. Since his father and all the other men in the village were away fighting in the War, Sokka was unable to take the test until "Bato of the Water Tribe", where Bato took Sokka Ice Dodging.
 * Sokka was one of the first outsiders to ever visit an Air Nomad temple, not including the Fire Nation.
 * Even though Sokka hated the Fire Nation for killing his mother, he failed to show any desire to get revenge on it, possibly due to realizing that not all Fire Nation people are bad, like Zuko.
 * Throughout the series, Sokka was repeatedly shown to be the "killjoy" for Team Avatar; focused mainly on the War, he protested against actions that would jeopardize their plans, such as in "The Painted Lady", when Sokka attempted to get Katara to forget about the sick and starving people in Jang Hui because it would take up too much of their time.
 * Sokka was shown to be, to some extent, ambidextrous. He was shown using both hands at different times to write, attack and draw (though he does so poorly) and was even shown switching hands at times.
 * Sokka could perfectly navigate a Fire Nation Airship, as seen in "Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into The Inferno".
 * Sokka's face changed from the beginning to the end of the series. Originally, he had smaller eyes and an altogether more adult face than at the end.
 * In the movie, Sokka tended to be less of a comical character.
 * Sokka was the most frequently shown non-bender in the series.
 * Until Yue's death, Sokka held little to no interest or respect for any spiritual matters. Even after her death, Sokka was the least spiritual of Team Avatar; his lack of concern for otherworldly sanctity was rivaled only by Toph's own disregard for the subject.
 * After LEGO released as Sokka minifigure in one of their products, their official site (LEGO.com) stated that the Sokka's boomerang came from his father, Hakoda.
 * Sokka and Katara were created at the same time. The creators of the show liked the idea of a sibling rivalry, inspired by the fact that the two both had sisters. They were also attracted to the idea of the sister being a bender, while the brother was not.
 * Originally, Sokka was 13, but after a suggestion from Eric Coleman, he was "aged up".