Suki

Suki is the eldest of the young female Kyoshi Warriors of the Earth Kingdom's Kyoshi Island, and is in charge of training the younger warriors. Having begun her training when she was only 8 years old, Suki is well respected by her fellows and acts as their leader.

History


Suki and her fellow warriors are first seen when they captured Aang and his friends for intruding on Kyoshi island. She and the village quickly accepted them as guests when they learned Aang was the Avatar. Initially rather offended by Sokka's somewhat chauvinistic attitude, she paid him back by repeatedly humiliating him in combat training and even forced him to dress in full female warrior garb when he asked to come train with her, but was eventually attracted to him once he admitted his mistake. The two bonded over sparring matches, and, before parting, she kisses Sokka on the cheek admitting that even though she is a warrior, she was also a girl. It is discovered, in the episode "Avatar Day", that she and the other warriors of Kyoshi, inspired by Sokka particularly, have gone off to fight in the war against the Fire Nation.

Suki makes her reappearance in the second season episode "The Serpent's Pass". She and the other Kyoshi Warriors have been assisting refugees on their way to Ba Sing Se and decided not to return to Kyoshi Island and, in hopes of making a difference in the war, acted as security guards at a hidden ferry terminal. When Aang decides to escort a group of stranded travelers through the Serpent's Pass, Suki accompanies them to ensure that they make it through safely. It is during the night her feelings for Sokka are made more clear, though he's reluctant to jump into a relationship with her due to his perception of failing to save Princess Yue during the Siege of the North Pole. At one point during the night Suki goes to kiss him, but Sokka is reluctant to do so under the full moon, as it obviously reminds him of Yue, and puts Suki off without an explanation. Before her departure, she apologizes to him, telling him she acted rashly, but Sokka stops her, and immediately makes up for the previous night by kissing her back. He also tells her about Princess Yue, implying that he now cares more about her.



In "Appa's Lost Days" she discovered an injured Appa and attempting to get him to Aang, but she is confronted by Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. The Kyoshi Island Warriors and Azula begin to battle, and Suki reluctantly drives Appa away with a burning branch to keep him safe. She then clashes with Azula but was eventually defeated, captured and sent to the Fire Nation. After the guards discovered her identity as the leader she was sent to the Fire Nations highest security prison, the Boiling Rock. The other Kyoshi warriors were probably imprisoned back on the Fire Nation mainland.

In "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse", when Azula is attempting to distract Aang and his friends from finding Fire Lord Ozai, she tells Sokka that she learned about him from her "favorite prisoner", and that she had at first been hoping for him to rescue her, but that she has since given up on him. This is enough to send Sokka into a blind rage, distracting him and the team for the last few minutes they had to find Ozai.



In "The Boiling Rock, Part 1", Suki is found by Sokka who had initially sneaked in along with Zuko hoping to find his father Hakoda. Contrary to Azula's claims, she had never given up on hopes of rescue, happily embraces Sokka, and readily joins in the breakout plans. In "The Boiling Rock, Part 2", when Sokka decides to remain behind in hopes of finding his father she instantly decides to remain behind as well even though they may end up trapped. When the group starts a riot to cover their escape, Suki quickly and decisively captures the prison Warden. When Azula and Ty Lee attack the group on the prison gondolas she fights with Ty Lee and holds her off quite effectively. She and the rest of the escapees return to the Western Air Temple via Azula's Airship.



Later in "The Southern Raiders", Suki chooses to remain with the core group when Azula's attack splits them up. When Zuko goes to Sokka's tent to ask him about his mother, he collides with Suki, who suspiciously denies her true intention of seeing Sokka and rushes back to her tent. When Zuko enters the tent, it is apparent that Sokka was waiting to have a romantic evening with Suki, but was surprised and embarassed to see Zuko instead. After Zuko leaves the tent, Sokka calls out to Suki and, seeing Zuko is still there, whistles guiltily to make him go away.

During "The Ember Island Players" Suki is seen in Fire Nation disguise and accompanies them to the play. In the play, she is character portrayed most accurately, though some physical details (like her headpiece) are slightly exaggerated, but to a lesser extent. During the play, she is seen exchanging looks with Sokka during the scene where they practice using Kyoshi Warrior outfits, and acts jealous when Sokka shushes her during the scene where Yue becomes the Moon Spirit.



Three days prior to the arrival of Sozin's Comet, Suki and the rest of Team Avatar hold a beach party on Ember Island. Sokka creates a crude sand sculpture of Suki that bears no resemblance of her, but she is flattered by this gesture and kisses Sokka. When Zuko informs the group of the Fire Lord's plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom, Aang runs off, and Suki aids in the search for him. When they are unable to find Aang, Zuko takes them to the Earth Kingdom, where they "hire" June to track him. When she is unable to, he decides to track Iroh, leading the group to Ba Sing Se, where they are approached by the Order of the White Lotus. It is decided that Suki, Sokka and Toph will destroy the Airship Fleet. Sokka drives one Airship into the others, bringing them down. Unfortunately, Suki is separated from her friends as the Airship falls apart underneath them. She insists that Sokka continue onward.

Suki finally reappears unharmed when she uses a captured Airship to save Toph and Sokka, who were hanging helplessly from an Airship. When Aang takes away Ozai's firebending, Suki makes a lame attempt to taunt the fallen tyrant, earning her Toph's criticism.

Zuko is later crowned Fire Lord and officially ends the War. Suki finally reunites with her team of warriors, who were released from prison along with Mai and Ty Lee. After discovering how well her team bonded with Ty Lee while in prison, Suki allowed her to join her team. Later, the entire gang hangs out at Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se, where Suki plays Pai Sho with Mai. She later teases Sokka for his crude drawing of the group, which depicts Suki firebending.

Personality
Befitting her status as leader of the Kyoshi warriors, Suki is tough, assertive and not afraid to speak her mind; at the same time, she has a very compassionate and loyal spirit. Her softer side is frequently demonstrated in the presence of Sokka. She held out hope for a long time during her imprisonment of seeing Sokka again and showed no sign of breaking in the face of Azula's torments pertaining to Sokka. She also has a mild tendency to hold grudges as seen by her rather cool treatment of Zuko when they meet in prison and readily looks forward to a rematch with Azula and Ty Lee. A woman of action, she quickly and skillfully captured the prison Warden, an action which prompted approval from Hakoda.

Abilities
Although not possessing any bending abilities, Suki is more than capable of handling herself in a fight. She is an impressive hand to hand combatant (using a style reminiscent of Aikido) as well as traditional Kyoshi war fans (a style reminiscent of Tessenjutsu) and katana. She can hold her own against other skilled fighters such as Ty Lee, readily avoiding her disabling pressure point strikes, and is a good teacher, passing some of her fighting methods onto Sokka. She also possesses considerable physical strength, able to swim easily in full plate armor and toss aside a full grown man with ease. During the breakout of the Boiling Rock, she bypassed a full scale riot by jumping across the tops of the rioters heads and scaled the vertical face of a building with an agility comparable to that of Ty Lee.

Trivia

 * 'Suki' is Japanese for 'like/love' and is pronounced similar to the Japanese word for moon, tsuki. It is also a term in Aikido and Kendo for being vulnerable to attack or having flawed technique.