Roku's waterbending master

"water"

- After my years mastering Airbending, I traveled to the Northern Water Tribe. Waterbending was especially challenging for me, but in time I mastered it as well.

Roku's Waterbending teacher taught Avatar Roku Waterbending when the latter was learning the four elements.

History
Not much is known about Roku's Waterbending teacher, not even his name. He was a citizen of the Northern Water Tribe when Roku was a young man. He was likely a very skilled and powerful Waterbender, as he demonstrated great Waterbending proficiency and was given the honor of teaching the Avatar.

At first, Roku experienced difficulties with learning Waterbending, as it was the opposite of his native element, fire. Yet after several years, Roku's mastery over the element enabled him to defeat his teacher in a duel. It appeared that Roku's Waterbending teacher was very uncompromising as the duel started with Roku being attacked by swirling water torrent. However, when Roku created a giant wave, the Waterbender was washed up against a building in the center of town. It is likely Roku and his teacher remained good friends after Roku journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to master Earthbending.

Trivia

 * A more detailed look highlights a largely physical resemblance to Avatar Kuruk, specifically the beard and the size of the amulet around his neck.
 * A simplified form of the hair bead hairstyle can be seen on Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe.