Roku


 * This article is about the character. For the episode with a similar name, see "Winter Solstice Part 2: Avatar Roku".

"fire"

- In my life, I tried to be disciplined and show restraint, but it backfired when Fire Lord Sozin took advantage of my restraint and mercy. If I had been more decisive and acted sooner, I could have stopped Sozin and stopped the War before it started.

Avatar Roku was the Fire Nation-born Avatar immediately succeeding Avatar Kyoshi and preceding Avatar Aang. In spirit form, Roku served as a guiding force for Aang throughout his quest to end the Hundred Year War. Roku possessed an animal guide, a red dragon named Fang, who assisted him much in the same manner as Appa did for Aang and Naga does for Korra.

Roku was a wise and merciful Avatar who possessed good intentions; however, he himself acknowledged that he was too indecisive during his mortal lifetime. Roku's long friendship with then-Fire Lord Sozin resulted in his inability to halt Sozin's imperial ambitions, ultimately culminating in Roku's death. Thus, he was unable to prevent a great war, which would last for one hundred years. Avatar Aang inherited the burden of healing the war-torn world, and Roku firmly believed Aang was destined to amend his mistakes.

Youth


In his youth, Roku and Prince Sozin were close friends, as they practiced firebending together and even shared the same birthday.

At the party celebrating their sixteenth birthday, Roku was informed by the Fire Sages that he was the Avatar. The two best friends became separated as Roku went to master the other three elements. Before leaving, Sozin came by to talk and was told by Roku that the Sages told him to bring nothing, as the Avatar required no material goods. By this statement, Sozin gave him a gift: the headpiece worn by the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, hoping that he was at least allowed to have that.

Mastering the other elements


After realizing he was the Avatar, Roku went on his Avatar journey and trained under masters of the other three bending arts. Following the cycle, he needed to learn airbending first, so he traveled to the Southern Air Temple. One of Roku's good friends was none other than Monk Gyatso, Aang's eventual guardian and mentor. During his communications with Aang, Roku commented that Aang's relationship with Gyatso years after his death proved that some friendships were able to transcend lifetimes. After years of training, Roku mastered the art of airbending and traveled to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending from his teacher. This task was particularly difficult for Roku as water is the natural opposite of fire. After eventually mastering waterbending, Roku traveled to the Earth Kingdom to learn earthbending, and later formed a great friendship with his teacher, Sud.

Mastering the Avatar State

 * To see the clip detailing this story go to "Escape from the Spirit World" page.

During 55 BSC, after mastering earthbending, Roku spent five months in retreat at the Fire Temple on Crescent Island, attempting to master the Avatar State under the guidance of Fire Sage Shyu's grandfather, Fire Sage Kaja. After growing impatient with the failed meditation attempts, he tried using the winter solstice sun to force himself into the Avatar State with ease. Despite its success, he became stuck in the Avatar State, and was unable to control his powers, resulting in the destruction of the upper half of the Fire Temple. Kaja eventually managed to free Roku from the state by aligning the Avatar's eyes with the winter solstice sun once more, thereby halting the destruction of the temple.

Following the incident, Roku became more patient with his training, and completely mastered the Avatar State afterwards. He rebuilt parts of the temple, and carved new underground passages out of the island's magma.

Return to the Fire Nation


Twelve years after departing from his native homeland to embark on his Avatar journey, Roku had become a fully-realized Avatar. He returned to the Fire Nation to reunite with his friend Sozin, who had since been crowned as Fire Lord. Roku married his childhood sweetheart, Ta Min, with Sozin taking the position of his best man during the ceremony. At the wedding, Sozin asked to speak with Roku in private, and informed his close friend that he had thought hard about the state of the world.

He firmly believed the Fire Nation had entered a period of great prosperity, and proposed to Roku that together, the pair could spread this wealth to the world by expanding the empire. Roku was horrified by this proposition, telling Sozin that the four nations were always intended to be kept separate, and advised the Fire Lord to never bring the subject forth in future conversations. With Roku, Ta Min bore at least one child, who had their granddaughter Ursa.

Seventeen years later, however, Roku discovered that Sozin had proceeded with his plans, and set up colonies within the Earth Kingdom. He confronted his old friend, and ordered him to end his aggression; Sozin replied that Roku's loyalty lies with the Fire Lord and the nation's progress. Once the Avatar declined this, Sozin attacked him. The two engaged in battle, with Roku easily overpowering his formerly close friend, destroying most of the palace in the process. He spared Sozin's life for the sake of their past friendship, but not before warning him never to move forward with his plans again, or it would result in his "permanent end".

Death


Twenty-five years later, Roku's home island was consumed in a violent volcanic eruption so massive that even Fire Lord Sozin could see and feel it from his palace a hundred miles away. Using his bending and entering the Avatar State, Roku attempted to contain the volcanic destruction; however, the power of the volcano proved to be too powerful, even for the Avatar. At that moment, Sozin flew in on his dragon to assist his old friend. The two used their bending to try to contain the lava flow, but were hindered by poisonous gases, which eventually overwhelmed Roku as he accidentally inhaled its fumes, leaving him lying on the ground and pleading for his old friend's aid. Sozin suddenly realized, however, that Roku's death would allow him to fulfill his plans, and left his old friend to die along with his dragon Fang, who curled up with Roku as he was engulfed in a pyroclastic flow. The Avatar spirit was then reincarnated into the Southern Air Temple as a boy named Aang. Twelve years later, Sozin began the War. Near his death, however, the old Fire Lord regretted leaving his former close friend to die.

Appearances in Aang's life
A century after Roku's death, Aang was able to communicate with him by visiting the Fire Temple that Roku inhabited 112 years prior. There, Roku informed Aang of Sozin's Comet's impending return. He also described Fire Lord Ozai and the Fire Nation's ability to harness the comet's energy and gain victory in the War. He entrusted Aang with the task of mastering the four elements and defeating the Fire Lord before the Comet's arrival. Roku also manifested himself in Aang to defeat a group of firebenders who attempted to kill the young airbender. He awakened the dormant volcano directly underneath the temple, destroying the temple before the solstice ended. Months later, the lava still flowed from that event.



He guided Aang several times after this, appearing to Jeong Jeong to persuade him to teach Aang firebending, offering critical wisdom in the ways of the Spirit World during the Siege of the North in order to defeat the invading Fire Navy and save the Moon Spirit, and revealing to Aang the nature of his Avatar State. He can thus be seen as a kind of mentor or spirit guide for Aang; this may be because Aang had no appointed teacher, the Air Nomads having been killed, or it may be possible that all Avatars have been guided by their previous incarnation through their lives.

Roku appeared to Aang when he thought he had failed after Ba Sing Se had fallen. Roku said the failure was really his because he should have foreseen the War and taken steps to prevent it. He then told Aang he believed it was his destiny to save the world and redeem him. He would later reveal his history with Fire Lord Sozin to him.

Aang communicated with Roku prior to the arrival of Sozin's Comet. He felt insecure about killing Fire Lord Ozai, as he was taught by the Air Nomads to respect all life. While understanding Aang's discomfort, he insisted that Aang must kill Ozai should it be necessary to save the world. He told Aang that it was his reluctance to end Sozin's life that started the Hundred Year War, and that Aang must not make the same mistake by sparing Fire Lord Ozai's life. Aang later searched for advice from three other Avatars, hoping for a more satisfying answer.

A year after the Hundred Year War, Aang again called on Roku regarding the behaviors of Fire Lord Zuko. Aang had promised to Zuko he would end his life if he ever became like Ozai, and this moment appeared to have been nearing when Zuko pulled his support of the Harmony Restoration Movement. Roku again told Aang he needed to be decisive, as the former again expressed his regret for not ending Fire Lord Sozin when he had the chance.

Appearances in Korra's life


Roku appeared, along with Aang, Kuruk, Yangchen, Kyoshi, and presumably all previous Avatars before Korra when her bending was removed by Amon. He, and every other Avatar present, entered the Avatar State to give back Korra her bending. They disappeared when this task was completed.

Connection to Prince Zuko and Princess Azula
Zuko angrily accused Iroh of having sent him the message to learn more about his great-grandfather's death to help him choose his right destiny. When demanding to know the point, as the testament did not even reveal anything about Sozin's death, Iroh explained that the message that Zuko must find out about his great-grandfather's death which did not refer to his paternal ancestor, Sozin, but his mother's grandfather, who was none other than Avatar Roku. Iroh then showed Zuko the lost crown prince's headpiece, once worn by both his great-grandfathers, and gave it to a stunned Zuko, explaining that, as he had both Roku and Sozin's blood in his veins, he had the power to redeem their family by choosing which of their paths to follow.

Bending


By age twenty-eight, Roku was a master of all four bending arts and a fully realized Avatar, able to control the Avatar State and to perform blasts of all elements one by one and hold them simultaneously. Among his abilities, he could bend lava and cool it with his breath, move huge amounts of earth or water, quickly tunnel through earth, fly via an Air Nomad glider or mini-tornado, and create a shield of air large enough to cover a whole village. His control was not only powerful but precise - he could leave a single rock pillar standing while he leveled a building, and melt chains on others while leaving them unharmed.

As well as having tremendous control over the elements, Roku was a skilled combatant, which was displayed when he was attacked by Fire Lord Sozin. Roku easily defeated him before his opponent had the chance to make a second attack.

Firebending


As it was his native element, Roku used to practice firebending with his former best friend, Sozin. They would practice in the Fire Nation Capital during the daytime, while they could absorb energy from the sun.

Roku was very skilled at firebending. He harnessed the ability to bend lava, as shown when he battled a volcano which was destroying his village. He also showed his firebending capabilities when he engulfed his spirit in Aang's body, in order to save Team Avatar from the Avatar Temple on Crescent Island.

Airbending


The first of the remaining three elements that Roku had to learn was airbending. His airbending training commenced at the Southern Air Temple, where he quickly befriended Monk Gyatso. Enjoying the nature of airbending, he would regularly tease Gyatso by airbending his hair at Gyatso's face. They would often mess around creating new airbending moves with their gliders.

Roku was very skilled in the art of airbending. He used it in many different cases when necessary, including protection from the toxic gases from the volcano that killed him. He also used airbending to cool lava from the volcano.

Waterbending


After leaving the Southern Air Temple, Roku traveled to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending. Being his natural opposite, he found it difficult to learn at first, but in time, he mastered it as well. He had become such a skilled waterbender that he eventually was able to defeat his teacher in a duel with one move.

Earthbending


After completing his waterbending training, Roku moved on to learn earthbending as his final element to master. He excelled in the art, eventually being able to best his master, Sud, in an earthbending wave race up a mountain. Roku won by such a large margin that he was able to make tea for them both before Sud arrived. He could also quickly and silently burrow through the ground to surprise his opponents. Later, while defending his home from the volcanic eruption, he was able to skillfully handle the ever moving ground by shifting it to maintain his footing, even managing to do the same for Sozin despite the on-going eruption.

Avatar Spirit


As a fully realized Avatar, Roku mastered the Avatar State. He was also Aang's mentor on his journey as the Avatar, and did so for several years. He engulfed his spirit into Aang's body once in order to save him from danger at the Avatar Temple. He used Aang's presence to command Jeong Jeong to teach Aang firebending. He also appeared as a spirit in the middle of the ocean to give Aang some advice.

Appearances
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Trivia



 * Avatar Roku's first appearance in the series was in the opening credits. In the opening sequence, when Roku is seen bending each of the four elements, his location resembles the place where Combustion Man first attacked Team Avatar, and Wulong Forest.
 * Avatar Roku first appeared as a statue within a shrine, and Aang mentioned that although he never met him, he felt a particular connection to his previous incarnation. In the episode "Winter Solstice Part 2: Avatar Roku", Aang finally met the spirit of Roku for the first time.
 * Roku's voice actor, James Garrett, narrated an interlude episode called "The Legend So Far" that recapped the first seventeen episodes of the first Avatar season and was also the voice which said "Previously on Avatar..." when it appeared before an episode begins. Roku was also silhouetted in the opening sequence of every episode as the Avatar that demonstrated the use of all four elements.
 * Roku was the only Avatar who as a spirit was shown to have aged. All the others were shown at younger ages as spirits.
 * Roku means "six" in Japanese. Roku is also a Japanese girls name for emolument.
 * Roku destroyed the Fire Nation Palace once and the Fire Temple twice.
 * Roku's spirit was the one that Aang had conversed with the most throughout the entire series.
 * In both the opening sequence and "The Avatar and the Fire Lord", Roku bent all four elements in the pattern of the Avatar Cycle, and both times he bent them in the exact same way, first water, then earth, fire, and air.
 * Roku, Kyoshi, and Aang are all known for defying the leader(s) of their respective nations. Roku nearly killed Fire Lord Sozin in an attempt to put a stop to his imperialistic actions. Kyoshi, at first refused to aid the 46th Earth King when he asked her to aid in the peasant uprising in Ba Sing Se. Aang did not move to the Eastern Air Temple when he was told to and instead ran away.
 * Both Avatar Roku and Avatar Aang had to combat a volcanic eruption. Roku fatally did so against the volcano in his village and Aang against Mt. Makapu in Makapu Village.
 * Including Aang's fatal injury sustained in "The Crossroads of Destiny", from which he was resurrected shortly thereafter, Roku was the seventh of eight characters to have been observed dying or being murdered in the series. In chronological order, the others were Tui, Yue, Zhao, Chin, Jet, Aang, and Combustion Man.
 * Roku is shown as the firebender in the opening sequence of The Legend of Korra.
 * In "The Avatar and the Fire Lord", Roku seems to utilize airbending more than any other element while fighting the volcano.
 * Roku is the only known Avatar to have ever raised and tamed a dragon.