Kanna

"water"

- It's been so long since I've had hope, but you brought it back to life, my little Waterbender.

Kanna, also known as Gran Gran, was Katara and Sokka's caring paternal grandmother.

Kanna was the oldest person in the Southern Water Tribe, though not a Waterbender. Although she had her doubts about Aang at first, when it was revealed that he was indeed the Avatar, she regained hope, something she said she hadn't had for a long time. She cared deeply for her two grandchildren.

History
Kanna was actually born in the Northern Water Tribe. When she was around sixteen years of age, it was arranged that she would marry Pakku, a young Waterbender. Following the tribe's engagement tradition, Pakku carved a betrothal necklace for her. Though he loved her very much and thought highly of their future together, he adhered to the Northern Water Tribe's chauvinistic social standards, and this caused Kanna to despair and search for a way out of the marriage. Sometime before their wedding, Kanna ran away and headed for the Southern Water Tribe. She didn't even say goodbye to her friends, although she did take the necklace with her, and married an unknown man from the Southern Tribe with whom she bore a son, Hakoda. The necklace was eventually passed down to her daughter-in-law, Kya, who in turn passed it down to Katara. Kanna never told her grandchildren the history of that necklace, nor of her 'past life' in the Northern Water Tribe. Sometime after the Siege of the North she was reunited with Pakku. Her old friend Yugoda claims that Katara is a spitting image of her.



Kanna soon became good friends with Hama, one of the Southern Water Tribe's most skilled Waterbenders. They were present when the Southern Water Tribe was first attacked by the Fire Nation. The Waterbenders tried to fight them off, but were greatly outnumbered. Hama became the last Waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe until she too was captured. When she was taken onto the Fire Nation boat, Kanna was the last face of her friends Hama saw before she was locked away when she was still a young woman.

The years passed, yet the War didn't seem to ease, making Kanna somewhat bitter and cynical. At an unknown date, her son became the Tribal Chief and married a woman named Kya, who eventually bore two children, Sokka and Katara. Katara would later be revealed to be a Waterbender, the first to be born in the Southern Tribe for many years.

Kya would eventually be killed in a Fire Nation raid, leaving her family traumatized, though it is unknown what effect the murder had on Kanna, or what was the exact depth of her relationship with her daughter-in-law.

On the year prior to Sozin's Comet return, Kanna's grandchildren discovered a frozen Airbender, Aang. They later brought him back to their village. Like her grandson, Kanna didn't trust the stranger, and eventually saw him as a threat, as he had accidentally triggered a Fire Nation warning system. She was among the people who asked for Aang to leave and persuaded her granddaughter to stay with them, despite Aang being Katara's only chance to go to the North Pole and learn from a true Waterbending master.

Nevertheless, the village was attacked anyway by the Fire Nation and Kanna was directly threatened by Zuko, the banished Crown Prince. However, they were saved by Aang, who was revealed to be the Avatar. When Aang later surrendered to protect the villagers and Katara and Sokka decided to go save him, Kanna allowed them to leave, having finally regained hope with the return of the Avatar. She's never directly seen again.

Master Pakku eventually went to the Southern Water Tribe to reclaim his beloved and carved her a new betrothal necklace ; the two were subsequently married. It is unknown if Pakku and Kanna settled after the War in either of the Water Tribes.

Relatives

 * Unknown first husband (deceased)
 * Hakoda (son)
 * Kya (daughter-in-law, deceased)
 * Sokka (elder grandson)
 * Katara (younger granddaughter)
 * Pakku (second husband)
 * Aang (grandson in-law)
 * Tenzin (great-grandson)
 * Meelo (great-great-grandson)
 * Ikki (great-great-granddaughter)
 * Jinora (great-great-granddaughter)

Connections
Gran Gran strongly resembled the wise elder women found in many of the works of Hayao Miyazaki – most notably, the Wise Woman who starts Prince Ashitaka on his quest in Princess Mononoke. The series' creators have professed their fandom of Hayao Miyazaki in many interviews.

Name Origin

 * Kanna's name may be derived from the Japanese word Kan, meaning cold.
 * "Kana" is also Inuit for "down there", "the one below", "downriver" or "in the direction of the sea", possibly referring to her traveling from the Northern to Southern Water Tribe.
 * Kanna can mean "river fish".
 * There is a river and lake by the name of Kanna.
 * "Cana", pronounced the same way, means "white hair" in Spanish.
 * In Telugu, an Indian dialect, Kanna means "dear", or "child".
 * "Kanna" also means "carry" in Finnish.
 * In Hindi, an Indian dialect, Kanha is the name of a Hindu God.

Trivia

 * Kanna's nickname in the Spanish version is "Gran Gran Abuela", which translates into great-great grandmother. In the French version her nickname is "Mabouba", but the origins of this translation are unknown.
 * Kanna was portrayed by in .
 * Kanna (Gran Gran) was voiced by Melendy Britt, the voice actress who played She-Ra in the popular "Princess of Power" cartoon series from the 80s.
 * Kanna seemed to have kept her same hairstyle, hair loopies, her whole life.
 * Kanna looked very much like Katara when she was younger.
 * Originally, Katara's name was to be Kya. However, when Nickelodeon vetoed the creators renamed her Kanna, which stuck for a few weeks before the two decided to name her Katara. Kya became the name of Katara's mother, while Kanna became Gran Gran's name.