Katara


 * This article is about the character. For other similar uses, see Katara (disambiguation).

"water"

- No! I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!

Katara is a waterbending master, born and raised in the Southern Water Tribe by her grandmother, Kanna, alongside her older brother Sokka, and is the daughter of Chief Hakoda and Kya. During her childhood, Katara was the last native of the South Pole still living there who was capable of waterbending. At first she lived a peaceful life with her family, until she lost her mother in a Fire Nation raid. Years after this tragedy, as a teenager, she and her brother discovered the young Air Nomad Avatar, Aang, who had been frozen in an iceberg with his bison, Appa, for one hundred years. In need of a waterbending master, the siblings and Aang left the South Pole, headed to Northern Water Tribe. Katara and Sokka eventually became close friends of Aang, and after their journey to the North Pole, continued to travel with him across the world as he mastered the remaining elements, earth and fire. The siblings' assistance helped Aang halt the Fire Nation's ambitions of world domination, ending the century-long war, and finally restoring balance to the world.

The murder of Katara's mother, Kya and the later departure of her warrior father, Hakoda, left her feeling traumatized and alone. Though she was cared for by her grandmother, Kanna, she invariably found herself filling the mother role left behind by Kya, even to her own older brother. As was the custom of the Water Tribe for women to see to domestic duties, Katara soon took on many of the responsibilities expected of an adult and quickly became independent and strong willed. Morally and emotionally driven, she developed a great sense of justice and compassion for others, becoming fiercely protective of others in need.

Initially, Katara's waterbending abilities were rather limited because there was no one to teach her at the South Pole. However, after acquiring a waterbending scroll, and formal training at the North Pole, her determination and hard work allowed her to surpass Aang, and completely master the element. She became Aang's waterbending instructor after their departure from the Northern Water Tribe, replacing Master Pakku, who had instructed them during their time there. Her mastery of water made her a formidable asset to the group. After the Hundred Year War ended, Katara and Aang began a close romantic relationship that eventually led to marriage, and raising a family with three children named Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin.

Early life
Born into the diminished Southern Water Tribe to Hakoda and Kya, Katara faced the reality of her tribe's dwindling strength from an early age. At the time of her birth, forty-five years of repeated Fire Nation invasions intended to capture and imprison the tribe's waterbenders had left them devoid of benders. The tribe's defenses would have crumbled under the might of the Fire Nation. However, due to their relative inaccessibility in the South Pole, and the perception they were a non-threat, they were mostly left alone. However, when Katara was a young girl, the Fire Nation again raided the village when charged by Fire Lord Azulon to find and dispose of the last remaining waterbender in the tribe. During the battle, the leader of the raid Yon Rha confronted Katara's mother, who was taking refuge in the family's igloo. Seeking shelter with her mother, Katara ran back to her home and interrupted their exchange. Realizing the intentions of Yon Rha, who had demanded Kya tell him the identity of the waterbender, Kya insisted Katara leave, and gave herself up as the last waterbender, lying to protect her daughter. Katara ran to fetch her father, Hakoda, but by the time they returned, Yon Rha had left and her mother had been killed. The death of their mother had a profound impact on both Katara and Sokka.



With the absence of a mother figure in the family, Katara soon found herself filling the role left behind by Kya. Katara began to take on many of the domestic responsibilities expected of women of the Southern Water Tribe, despite her young age. Several years later, her father Chief Hakoda, left to fight in the Hundred Year War with the rest of the men of the Southern Water Tribe. Katara and Sokka were left in the care of their grandmother, Kanna. Though Kanna loved the two and cared deeply for them, Katara was left feeling traumatized and alone.

Living in a tribe consisting almost entirely of women, children, and elderly, Katara took care of not only her own family, but aided others as well. She developed a protective and motherly personality which she would carry with her for the remainder of her life. Even to her own elder brother, Sokka, she was sometimes seen as a maternal figure. Much later, Katara overheard Sokka admitting to being unable to picture his mother, whose image had been replaced by Katara's. Katara displayed deep affection for those she traveled with, as well as being fiercely protective whenever danger threatened their safety. The inner strength she had developed in the absence of parental figures aided her in keeping Aang and their friends together through their most difficult experiences.

Harmony Restoration Movement
As part of the Harmony Restoration Movement, Katara and her friends began moving Fire Nation colonials back to the Fire Nation, starting with the more recent colonial establishments. A year later, when Aang, Katara, and Sokka were assisting in the relocation of a Fire Nation colony led by Mayor Nishi, the team found out that Zuko had withdrawn his support for the movement, so they immediately traveled to Yu Dao, the colony where the Fire Lord was staying. After landing, soldiers ordered Aang to leave.



Once there, Katara and the rest of Team Avatar encountered a protest that included several members of the Freedom Fighters and learned that Zuko was preventing people from entering and exiting Yu Dao, so she and Aang flew over the colony's walls with his glider to meet the Fire Lord. They were, however, confronted by Fire Nation soldiers who prevented them to talk to Zuko, so they had to fight them. After Aang defeated several guards, Katara became enraged when she saw the guards were trying to set her boyfriend on fire and knocked them out. Zuko suddenly grabbed Katara, admonishing her for attacking his "people". Aang, angry at Zuko's action, warned him to let her go, but after he insisted that she had first to agree to stop attacking his people, Aang separated Zuko from Katara with airbending, prompting him to retaliate, causing the airbender to block the attack and enter the Avatar State. But Katara, telling him that he would not be able to control himself in an altered emotional state, managed to calm him down. The Fire Lord agreed to talk and gave the couple a tour of Yu Dao, pointing out how heavily integrated the lives of the citizens were in the colony. At this, Katara proposed a meeting with the Earth King concerning the matter, to which the Avatar and the Fire Lord both agreed.

After leaving Yu Dao, Smellerbee said that Aang had three days to make a compromise before the Freedom Fighters take action. On Appa, Aang thanked Katara for not letting him kill Zuko while in the Avatar State. The group continued to Ba Sing Se in order to inform Earth King Kuei about the colony's situation as Toph explained to Katara what Sokka meant with 'oogies'.

As Katara arrived in Ba Sing Se with Aang, they met two girls, who claimed to be members of the Official Avatar Aang Fan Club, much to the airbender's excitement but Katara's indifference. After learning they were looking for a place to stay, the girls immediately offered their clubhouse. They spent the night and the following morning there as Aang entertained the girls, much to Katara's annoyance and apparent jealousy as she was left out of the party. She reminded Aang that they had to meet with the Earth King, finally getting him to leave the clubhouse. After leaving, Aang thanked Katara for allowing him to spend some time with the girls, as he had felt like he was at home again, but she, feeling guilty because of her attitude, responded that she did not deserve it.



When Aang and Katara went to the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace and met Kuei, they communicated him the news. At the king's final decision of sending troops to attack Yu Dao to solve the conflict, the couple showed their surprise and disagreement, however, they were not able to change the sovereign's mind. Realizing that sending in the army would be seen as a declaration of war, Aang and Katara hurried back toward Yu Dao in an attempt to persuade as many of the Fire Nation colonials there to evacuate.

Upon their return at Yu Dao, Aang attempted to evacuate the city, though they were met with severe resistance from both earth and firebenders. After fighting off their attackers, the couple noticed Smellerbee, Kori, and the Yu Dao branch of the Official Avatar Aang Fan Club, much to Katara's annoyance. However, she came to the fan club's defense when Aang got angry at them for sporting Air Nomad attire, opting that it was probably a mistake. When an angry Aang stormed off, she followed him onto the roof, and comforted him when he verbalized his conflicting opinions about his promise to Zuko, and the separation of the four nations. Offering him her opinion, she reminded him of the words Guru Pathik and Huu told him prior: separation is an illusion, so is the separation of the four nations, who are actually all the same.



Later, when Aang entered the Avatar State to fulfill his promise, Katara calmed him down, and explained that when she saw Kori's family, she saw their future, outing her doubts about what would happen to them as a couple if the four nations would remain separate. Sharing a kiss, she convinced him to find a quiet place to think about it all before jumping to action based on rushed conclusions.

When the battle unfolded, Katara used her waterbending to confront King Kuei, and eventually took him into the city to show him the lives he would change if he would persist in his war.

A smiling Katara later witnessed Aang declaring that he would teach the Official Avatar Aang Fan Club the ways of his people, calling them the first Air Acolytes.

Searching for Ursa


Some time after the Battle for Yu Dao, Katara attended a meeting together with her friends and several government officials at the home of the governor of Yu Dao to discuss the future of the city. She was listening attentively to the lecture that an Earth Kingdom professor gave on ancient Earth Kingdom philosophies regarding the four nations, though got annoyed and subsequently shushed her brother and boyfriend as the two kept talking among themselves. Aang swiftly apologized, but when Sokka commented that he was not surprised that she, his "boring sister", was interested in the "boring" lecture of the professor, she promptly waterbent the water from her glass into his face, transforming it into a snowball midair. She repeated the action a few moments later after a similar insult by her brother.

A week later, Katara traveled to the Fire Nation Royal Palace together with Aang and Sokka upon Zuko's inquiry. Upon arrival, they were delightfully surprised when they discovered Iroh there as well. Zuko explained that Iroh was there to act as interim Fire Lord while he would be gone, looking for Ursa, a journey on which he invited Team Avatar to accompany him. The amicable atmosphere quickly changed, however, when Azula emerged from behind Zuko, and Katara promptly attacked the princess with ice spikes, which she easily avoided. Zuko explained the situation and after some words, Team Avatar accepted that Azula would come with them in search for Ursa.



The following day, as Aang was preparing Appa for the journey toward Hira'a, taking care of Azula's luggage, Katara voiced her still present concerns about the princess's presence on the trip, though she took confidence in the knowledge that if Azula did try something, there would be four of them to take her down. When Azula subsequently zapped Sokka with her lightning, Katara was quick to trap the princess's hand in ice with her waterbending to prevent any further action. As the tension subsided, she released her, withdrawing the water into her pouch, though warned Azula to never touch her brother again, albeit to little effect.

As they set off on their journey, Katara rode atop Appa's head, sitting next to Aang. When Sokka commented how the adventure felt like "old times", Katara and Aang kissed, after Aang had stated that it was better than old times, since he could now kiss her whenever. The mood was broken, however, when Azula had another one of her aggressive psychotic episode, followed by Aang's making a gruesome expression, caused by the presence of the wolf spirit, though no one could see the creature. Sokka mocked the Avatar, much to the annoyance of Katara, who asked him to stop as Aang's situation was serious, though when he would not let up, she ended his mockery with another snowball to the face. Their playful antics suddenly became serious when Azula had dived off Appa and set fire to Aang's glider, who had swooped down to save her from plummeting to her death, subsequently sending him crashing down on the ground. As they landed, Katara and Sokka quickly jumped off to tend to the downed airbender, while Zuko went after his sister.



Katara, Sokka, and Aang caught up with the two firebenders at a nearby river, right when they were about to fight one another. Katara cut the battle short by encasing Azula in ice, completely immobilizing her. As Zuko talked to the other guys, Katara crossed the river to yell at Azula that she did not appreciate her actions against Aang. Azula's insulting rebuttal was cut short, however, as the wolf spirit Aang had seen earlier had shown up and attacked them. Katara and Zuko noticed that the pattern on the spirit's chest was the same as the gruesome face Aang was making, prompting the young Avatar to attempt to reason with the creature. When his attempts failed as the wolf snapped at him, Katara, together with Zuko and Sokka, launched another attack at it, though her ice spears shattered without effect against the spirit's side. After a brief scuffle with Appa, the spirit threw up a swarm of moth wasps that attacked the entire group, making it hard for Katara to breathe. They were eventually saved when Azula shot a lightning bolt away from them all, drawing the moths and the wolf spirit with it.

That night, Katara agreed with Aang and Zuko to each take turns watching Azula sleep. Awaiting her turn, she tried to get some sleep next to Appa.



The next morning, Katara was startled when Azula woke up and suddenly grabbed her wrist. Sokka forced the princess to let his sister go with his boomerang. Azula realized that the letter she was carrying was missing and consequently grew angry, demanding to know Zuko's whereabouts. She set the camp on fire as a distraction, forcing the Water Tribe siblings to deal with it, as she went out in search of Aang and Zuko. Aang returned to help put out the fire and by the time they were able to smother it, Zuko had managed to calm his sister down. They continued on to Hira'a.

Arriving at the outskirts of the village, the group went in disguise, so the Fire Lord and Avatar could avoid attracting attention, and came upon the entire town attending the Hira'a Acting Troupe's version of the play, Love Amongst Dragons. After the play was concluded, Zuko started asking about Ursa. This caught the attention of Noren, the director of the acting company, who invited them all to his home, where they could talk more freely. Aang and Katara complimented Noriko, Noren's wife, about their lovely home, and the Avatar asked how long they had been married. Noriko happily informed them that it had been nearly five years, subsequently embarrassing the young couple when she noted that they were perhaps a bit young to be already thinking about marriage, though she soon digressed, concluding that love was ageless. Under the cover of being drama historians, they did not get any new information regarding Ursa, but they did learn that her ex-boyfriend, Ikem left town, heading toward Forgetful Valley.

As they left the family's home, Azula voiced her disgust and stated that if it wasn't for Zuko, she'd burn their house down, convinced that their happiness was all an act. Katara became upset and tempers flared between her and Azula, before Zuko announced that they will be going to Forgetful Valley.



Upon arriving, Azula's first thought was to firebend a path, which Zuko and Aang quickly put out. Suddenly, Aang started make a weird facial expression similar to their encounter with the wolf spirit. Sokka noted that there were facial markings on all the plants and animals surrounding them. Aang spotted a flutter bat, who had exactly the same pattern on his wings as he had on his face, and followed it down to a round pond. Aang felt a spiritual calmness surrounding the water, sensing a resemblance to the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole, and asked everyone to be respectful. However, Azula disregarded his request and fired a lightning bolt straight into the pool, believing that her mother was there. Soon after, the group was attacked by plants and vines, though the skirmish was cut short as Katara deduced the attackers to be waterbenders, and forced them to reveal themselves.

Heeding the order, Rafa and Misu showed themselves, and set up camp with the others, sharing a meal. Misu warned them that Forgetful Valley's ponds needed to remained undisturbed, and retold the team her life's story. When Aang learned that they were on the lookout for a spirit with the ability to grant faces, one that only appear when the wolf spirit appears at one of the ponds, he offered his help. But as Aang meditated, Azula suffered another of her psychotic episodes, believing that her mother sent the elderly Water Tribe siblings to impede her progress and aimed a bolt of lightning at them, which Zuko attempted to stop.

With Azula showing no signs of restraint, Katara and Sokka prepared to attack the princess at Zuko's insistence. Katara waterbent at Azula despite Misu's protests to not disturb the area. Aang was able to get them to stop after revealing he had summoned the Mother of Faces, who would grant them only one request. Zuko decided to let Misu have Rafa's face restored, but Azula interrupted and instead asked for and received information on Ursa. The Mother of Faces told the group that she had been visited by Ursa, and gave her a new face. Azula fled toward Hira'a, Sokka and Zuko following them. Katara and Aang remained with Rafa and Misu, with the Avatar trying to pursue the Mother of Faces under her sacred pool's water. After Aang was ejected from the pool, Katara came to his aid while the spirit appeared before them, denouncing humans for being selfish and making her their slave. She ordered them to leave, with her spirits attacking the group to force them out.

Katara and Aang tried to ward the spirits off, with the waterbender able to protect Misu from a spirit by freezing its claws. After Aang incidentally revealed Rafa's empty face, he recognized it at the work of Koh, which, upon hearing this name, prompted the Mother of Faces to tell her animals to stop their attack. Aang explained what he had learned about Koh, to which the Mother of Faces told the group he was her son. Katara and Aang watched as the ancient spirit restored Rafa's face, and they happily watched as the siblings hugged. Afterward, they returned to Hira'a with the spirit, who restored Ursa's face and memories. With Azula having escaped and left the letter behind, Katara watched as Aang and Sokka discussed if they thought the princess had truly changed. Sokka argued against this, but Aang believed she had, to which Katara kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, saying that she loved him because he saw the bright side of things.

Later life


Sometime after the Harmony Restoration Movement, Katara married Aang and gave birth to three children: Bumi, a nonbender; Kya, a waterbender; and Tenzin, who was an airbender like his father. Katara continued to develop her skills in waterbending, eventually becoming a leading expert in its various styles and respective skills and techniques, as well as being regarded as the greatest master and healer in the world. Sometime before 128 ASC, Katara's efforts led to the outlawing of bloodbending in the United Republic. Through Tenzin, who eventually married Pema, she became the paternal grandmother of Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan. After the passing of Avatar Aang and his reincarnation into the new Avatar, Korra, she became the Avatar's waterbending teacher once again, and included healing lessons in her teachings, making Korra a skilled healer.



In 170 ASC, Katara supervised Korra's firebending test alongside other members of the Order of the White Lotus. She noted the Avatar's ferocity, to which the White Lotus leader responded that she also lacked restraint. After Korra defeated her opponents, the White Lotus turned to Katara for counsel, wondering whether or not they should let Korra start her airbending training with Tenzin since the young Avatar had yet to grasp the spiritual side of bending. Confident in her son's abilities, Katara announced that she believed Korra to be ready to commence her airbending training, as Tenzin would be able to teach her what she needed to know.

When Tenzin and his family arrived at the Southern Water Tribe compound, Katara and Korra greeted Tenzin and his family. At her son's asking, Katara helped Meelo off of his head, much to her grandson's displeasure. As she expressed her joy over seeing her family again, Jinora approached her, informing her that she had read everything about her past adventures and asked what happened to Zuko's mother, Ursa. Katara attempted to elaborate, only to be interrupted by an excited Ikki, who fired several random questions at the old waterbender.



As the young airbenders ran off to play in the snow, Katara turned her attention to Tenzin and Pema, the latter being pregnant with their fourth child. She predicted that the child would be an airbender, much to Pema's worry, who explained that it would be nice to have a nonbending child like her. When asked if Tenzin and his siblings were as rambunctious as the young airbenders, Katara said that Tenzin had always been more serious than Kya and Bumi.

When it was revealed that Korra's airbending training with Tenzin was to be delayed and the Avatar decided to find her own path by traveling to Republic City on her own, Katara was the only one who understood that Korra had to go and find her own place in the world. Confident in Korra, she gave her husband's reincarnation her blessing.

Months later, after Korra's bending had been removed by Amon, Katara tried using her healing powers to restore Korra's abilities, but to no avail. She later witnessed Korra, whose bending was restored by Aang, energybend Lin Beifong, restoring her earthbending abilities.



Six months later, Katara invited her oldest son, Bumi, to attend the Glacier Spirits Festival with her and the rest of their family. However, when her children were reunited with one another, she could only look on with concern as Tenzin was being picked on by his elder siblings.

The next day, Katara encouraged Tenzin to take his siblings along with him on his trip to all the air temples, reasoning that he should cherish the time he spends with his entire family. She also felt that the three siblings should visit Aang's birthplace together. Tenzin agreed to let his siblings join him and gave his mother a farewell hug, promising to see her soon. Before they all left, she gave Kya an old family picture of their family together while they were still young.

During the Water Tribe Civil War, Katara helped tend to injured rebels along with several other healers in her healing hut. She was sought out by her family, who brought a spiritless Jinora for her to examine. Alarmed over the amount of time Jinora had been in that state, Katara placed her granddaughter in a bath of water to heal. Assessing the situation with her bending, she stated she was unsure how much longer Jinora would be able to survive with her body and spirit separated, noting that Jinora was strong to have lasted as long as she had. When Jinora's spirit returned to her body, Katara happily embraced her granddaughter, and later accompanied her and her family to Korra's announcement that peace was restored between the Southern and Northern Water Tribes, but the South was officially independent.

Personality
When Katara was a young girl, her mother was killed in a Fire Nation raid. This event had a tremendous impact on Katara's life and personality and arguably shaped her into the person she became. She was very emotionally driven, involving herself completely in the heartache and needs of those around her. Placing her whole heart in the affairs of others, as well as bearing her own heartache, she was often easily reduced to tears. According to Sokka, Katara largely prevented their family from falling apart and took on many responsibilities to the point where she filled the void left by their mother (so much that he pictured her in place of his mother). As such, Katara had a very maternal personality and often acted as a motherly figure to the group, something that often irritated the rebellious Toph. Her loss was also part of what drove her in her fight against the Fire Nation, although she did not exhibit as much outward prejudice as her brother. She was also a bit of a stickler for morality, even to the point of causing Sokka and Aang to faint from shock when she stated she wanted to pull a scam, as she had berated Toph for scamming people. According to Sokka, she was an optimist.

She had a soft spot for children. When aiding in baby Hope's birth, she stated that she helped her grandmother deliver many babies in their tribe, and in Jang Hui, she gave a portion of her food to a little boy. She even went as far as to care for and defend Tom-Tom, Mai's little brother, despite the fact that he was from the Fire Nation and that everyone else, with the exception of Aang, was distrustful of him for it.

Katara was caring and compassionate, and was often marked by a fierce determination to aid others. She stated herself that she would never turn away from people who need her help. Katara was even willing to defend Fire Nation civilians such as when she helped the village of Jang Hui and when she fought Hama, who was from the Southern Water Tribe, to protect the Fire Nation village she was living in. This strong desire often frustrated others, particularly Sokka.



Katara was portrayed as the most mature member of the group, rarely taking part in Sokka and Aang's goofy pranks and Toph's less silly ones, though she did have a sense of humor. Katara was described as being very motherly by Toph and Sokka. While the team traveled through the Si Wong Desert, Katara was able to hold the group together in its most desperate moments.

On the other hand, Katara could be overly domineering. For all her kindness and compassion, she was sometimes very self-righteous, had a rather nasty temper, and could be extremely fierce when provoked. With lack of sleep, this side of her can quickly become more apparent. She also was very set in her ideals and frequently refused to relent on her views in the face of opposition. Combined with her strong sense of compassion, this gave her a very strong sense of justice and she would run headlong into often dangerous situations to help others, which was best illustrated at the prison rig and at Jang Hui. Her short temper had frequently clashed with others; she showed open, but extremely short-lived, jealousy of Aang's talent, and was frequently perturbed by Toph's confrontational and rebellious nature.

Despite being one of the more compassionate members of the group, Katara was one of the least willing to let go of a grudge, especially against those who she felt have betrayed her trust. She held a considerable grudge against those who have threatened Aang, as Zuko had, or done things she considered morally wrong, like Jet. At the Western Air Temple she showed outright hostility toward Zuko and threatened to kill him if he slipped back to his old ways. Upon her re-encounter with Jet, Katara reacted hostilely at the mere sight of him, and she was harsh and unforgiving of Zuko even long after he had joined Team Avatar and gained the trust of everyone else. However, this could be because Zuko's betrayal of her at Ba Sing Se was far more personal than his betrayal of anyone else. For a while, she also was argumentative with her father because she felt that he had abandoned her and Sokka when he left to fight in the War. However, Katara was sometimes willing to give people second chances; with much reluctance, she allowed Jet to guide Team Avatar to Appa, and she appeared to be saddened by his death, but possibly due to the fact she once had feelings for him. Also, she offered to try and heal Zuko's scar when they were enemies. Eventually, even after his betrayal, Katara decided to forgive him, embracing him as a friend, after he helped her find the man who killed her mother.

Katara was marked by a fierce desire to learn waterbending, viewing it as a part of her and her culture that needed to be expressed. She also may have viewed it as a hope for rebuilding her tribe. Her enthusiasm for waterbending caused her to constantly train herself in the art, and when she finally found a master to teach her formally, she became overjoyed. Having quickly advanced under the tutelage of Master Pakku, he stated that Katara accomplished this due to her fierce determination, passion and hard work.

Sokka told Toph that Katara could be a pain and would get "involved and in-your-business". This behavior was probably due to her strong maternal instincts. Even so, Katara was very understanding of other people's privacy. This was best demonstrated when Katara continually scolded Sokka for snooping around Hama's inn and rummaging through her personal belongings.

Motherly and feminine as she might be, Katara was not afraid to go beyond her feminine looks and way of being to achieve what she wanted. When she and Toph were denied entrance to a rowdy pub because the both of them were girls, they dressed up as boys. Katara in particular showed her masculine side when wanting to ride a mechanized bull; she was even willing to start an all-out brawl with some of the guys there who mocked her ability to stay on the bull. The whole thing ended with Toph dragging Katara away before things came to a head. Later, Katara and Toph were seen in a spa reflecting on how being a girl is not so bad at all.

Waterbending
Katara's most notable ability was her waterbending. She rapidly developed her skill at the art, and her fierce resolve to master the element helped her become one of the most powerful waterbending masters. She was identified as a waterbender when she was a small child. As she grew older, she kept practicing even though she did not have a teacher, and learned whatever little she could with great ambition, while ignoring the criticism of Sokka, as he downplayed her ability to bend, referring to it as "magic water".

Over the course of her childhood, with her father having been unable to obtain her a master, Katara taught herself basic waterbending techniques and managed to master some simple waterbending forms. This was a difficult feat, considering she would have never had the chance to have observed any waterbending in practice.



As of the discovery of Aang at the South Pole, Katara was capable of "pushing and pulling" water, streaming small amounts and manipulating it into basic forms and movements, and was beginning to gain some control over the ability to change its physical state, freezing it into ice, as well as attempting to create sizable waves of water. What little she knew, she taught to Aang, who quickly mastered all she had to offer. That which had taken her years to achieve, Aang managed to imitate and outperform her within mere minutes, much to her envy and frustration.

Her waterbending remained amateurish at best until she came across a Northern Water Tribe waterbending scroll depicting several different traditional waterbending forms, among a collection of wares in a pirate-traders ship. Unable to afford the high price demanded for the scroll by the pirates, yet incapable of passing up such an opportunity to finally have formal instruction in waterbending, she deftly stole the scroll and eventually made away with it. Katara and Aang first learned the water whip technique from the scroll, and afterward continued to improve their overall technique. Up until their arrival at the Northern Water Tribe, both Katara and Aang demonstrated considerable improvement, and Katara's confidence in her own abilities increased dramatically.

Later, Katara demonstrated the ability to bend with much greater precision and ease compared to when she first stole the scroll. She was able to draw unseen water out of different sources and bend greater quantities in general, streaming them into powerful blasts and freezing water with much more control than before. She later developed several of her own techniques, including cloud manipulation and a hand-held variation on the water-whip technique. Katara also demonstrated greater manipulation of ice and snow, as well as discovered her ability to heal. In the time between her acquisition of the waterbending scroll and arrival at the North Pole, Katara's sheer determination and discipline saw her proficiency improve greatly, clearly surpassing that of Aang.

Katara's pride, strong-mindedness and sense of justice caused conflict with the traditions of the Northern Water Tribe, which forbade women from learning combat focused waterbending. Katara, furious at having traveled to the opposite end of the Earth, only to be denied instruction by irrational customs, challenged the master waterbending instructor of the Northern Water Tribe, Pakku, to a duel. Though she was undoubtedly no match for the master, she valiantly held her own, determined not to be beaten. She demonstrated not only more advanced techniques than she ever had previously, but also a surprising amount of agility and skill in physical combat, as well as greater proficiency in basic waterbending techniques she had previously learned. For the first time, she was seen bending with her feet, employing nonbending hand and foot strikes in combat, and transforming the physical state of a wave. Pakku eventually removed her ability to bend by trapping her body and limbs between spikes of ice, and so won the fight without harming her. Though he admitted that she was an exceptionally talented waterbender, he rigidly stuck by the laws of his culture and refused to teach Katara.

At the fight's conclusion, Pakku discovered Katara's necklace which had broken off during their duel. Recognizing the carved pendant, he revealed that the necklace had originally been given to Kanna by himself as a symbol of their engagement sixty years prior. After realizing Katara was the granddaughter of his ex-fiancée, who had left the Northern Water Tribe to escape their arranged marriage, he decided to instruct Katara in combative waterbending.

Under the guidance of Master Pakku, Katara's waterbending abilities advanced quicker than that of any student he had ever trained, which he accredited to her fierce determination, passion and hard-work. She fought and defeated Zuko with the augmented power of the near-full moon. During the fight, she knocked him off his feet, deflected and shielded his attacks, imprisoned him in a dome of solid ice, and later, a wave of solid ice. Though she was defeated by Zuko after the sun rose, she fought him again with the full moon and defeated him easily.

Following the Siege of the North, Pakku declared Katara a full-fledged waterbending master.



Katara continued to hone her waterbending potential, regularly demonstrating her waterbending mastery in battle. In Omashu, Katara blocked a flurry of Mai's knives by waterbending wooden boards into the air as shields in front of herself. She managed to block Mai's hand arrows with ice and retaliated by freezing Mai's arm in ice. Ty Lee sneaked behind Katara and blocked her chi, preventing her from waterbending. While in the swamp, Katara cut apart the vines holding her with the water stored in her pouch. In the battle where she, Aang, and Sokka fought against Huu, Katara created large waves in the swamp water, froze a part of the swamp monster, and created a coil of water that she used to blast a hole into the monster. She also created large round blades out of the water and used them to cut up Huu's monster. Later, she easily defeated two earthbending students by freezing them in solid ice.

When facing Ty Lee a second time, Katara fought using the water in her pouch to fend off her chi blocking attacks, forcing Ty Lee to cartwheel away from disks of razor-sharp water. She also stopped Azula from killing Aang by catching her hand in a water whip. While crossing the Serpent's Pass, she made a bridge of ice for the group to travel across, and worked with Aang to support an underwater bubble for the group to travel in. She also surfed around on a surfboard of ice and, together with Aang, created a massive whirlpool to defeat the serpent.

She also rapidly condensed water vapor into ice to defeat her foes. When assaulting Jet upon re-encountering him, she used ice spikes, similar to Mai's daggers, to pin Jet to the wall in an alley. While fighting off the Royal Earthbender Guards, Katara defeated dozens of them with whips and streams of water. In the Crystal Catacombs, Katara and Aang fought against Zuko and Azula. Katara managed to cut one of Azula's hair bangs with a water blade, and created two enormous whips of water, which she used to briefly trap Azula. Later, these whips were able to match Zuko's enormous fire whips. Finally, when Katara was surrounded by Dai Li agents, she defended herself with the octopus form, and rode on an enormous wave which knocked down these agents as well as Zuko. She proceeded to escape on a rising stream of water, carrying Aang to safety.



Katara's waterbending later became even more advanced and destructive. During a fight with a Fire Nation ship, Katara used a huge wave to separate the two ships and created a huge steam barrier between them for cover. Once their ship was hit by a harpoon, Katara used her frosty breath of waterbending to freeze the hole in the ship's hull, thus repairing it. When Aang held a dance for some of his Fire Nation school friends, Katara also created a fountain out of solid ice for beverages, as well as the glasses they used to drink from. At the Jang Hui River, Katara created a cover of steam and sped herself atop the water's surface. Assisted by Aang, she used crashing waves and precise missiles of water to destroy a Fire Nation Army factory. She also blasted a Fire Nation river craft into the air and against a cliff. Katara also transported a huge bubble of water from a nearby creek to put out a fire. When Combustion Man locked Katara and Toph in jail, Katara used her own sweat as a water knife to break out of a wooden prison cell. During Katara's time hiding within the Fire Nation, she met an elderly woman named Hama, who turned out to be a fellow waterbending master from the Southern Water Tribe. After learning this, Hama began training her in Southern Style waterbending. Among many techniques and combat tactics, Katara became able to condense moisture in the air to create her own water source for her bending, as well as becoming aware she could remove water from plant life.

On the Day of Black Sun, Katara fought against the Fire Nation guards at the capital, destroying several guard towers with Sokka and defeating many soldiers. At the Western Air Temple, she rained ice spikes onto Combustion Man. While tracking down her mother's killer, she used the enhanced power of the full moon to nearly take down a whole Fire Nation ship of the Southern Raiders single-handedly. During her encounter with Yon Rha, Katara created a large wide dome of water by gathering rainwater and created ice spikes from it, nearly killing him. Finally, during Sozin's Comet, she froze herself and Azula into a block of solid ice, thawed the center of it, and chained Azula to a grate.

Healing


Katara's innate aptitude toward waterbending abilities made her a rare case to also naturally have access to the incredible ability to heal by manipulating the chi paths in a person's body, including herself. She inadvertently discovered this ability after Aang accidentally burned her hands, and subsequently used this power again to heal Aang's own burn after his face-off with Admiral Zhao. Once she reached the Northern Water Tribe, she further developed this ability by training with Yugoda.

With the aid of a small vial of spirit water, which held special properties, from the Spirit Oasis, Katara's healing abilities were enhanced. Katara was going to use the spiritual water from the Spirit Oasis in an attempt to heal Zuko's scar, but Aang and Iroh burst in, making Zuko angry at Iroh for allying with the Avatar. Instead, she later used the spirit water to bring Aang back to life after he had been struck in the back by Azula's lightning. Katara unsuccessfully attempted to heal Jet after he was fatally wounded by Long Feng. During the invasion, Katara's father, Hakoda, was injured while taking out a Fire Nation ballista tower. Aiding him, her healing was enough to allow him to walk again. During Azula and Zuko's Agni Kai, Azula generated lightning and aimed it at Katara rather than Zuko; however, Zuko jumped in front of Katara and let the lightning shock him instead, sparing her from near death. After chaining Azula to a water grate, Katara used her healing to aid Zuko. Her healing had been successful enough that he could rise to his feet just moments after she had begun.

As an adult, her prowess continued to grow, as she became well-recognized in her abilities throughout the world. She proved herself to be an excellent waterbending teacher, having trained both Avatars Aang and Korra to become highly adept masters themselves, including teaching Korra the art of healing. However, even though her healing skills were recognized to be "the best in the world", she could not restore Korra's bending after Amon severed the connection Korra had to the three elements other than air with his bloodbending.

Bloodbending


After learning all of Hama's Southern Style skills, Hama decided to teach Katara bloodbending, a very advanced ability to manipulate the water within the body of all living beings, controlling them like puppets. When Katara refused to learn such a technique, viewing it as dark and immoral, Hama decided to silence her with the said technique. Despite only just hearing about the skill, Katara showed an innate talent for the art, quickly becoming the first person to break the effects of Hama's bending grip and free herself. Ultimately however, Hama tricked Katara into utilizing bloodbending to save Sokka and Aang, leaving her greatly distressed. Sometime later, Katara traveled with Zuko to hunt down the man who killed her mother, Yon Rha, the captain of the Southern Raiders. The night they arrived at the Southern Raiders' ship, under the full moon, she alone took out nearly the entire crew. When she discovered where the captain was, she let her anger take over and started using bloodbending on him, which stunned Zuko. When she looked into his eyes and discovered that he was not the one, she released him, shocked and dismayed that she had just used bloodbending on an innocent person. Though this was the last known time she used the technique, she came to greatly understanding its workings, as she was able to determine how Amon had used bloodbending to remove Korra's bending. Later on in life, Katara saw to it that bloodbending was made illegal.

Other skills


Katara had little combat skills apart from her bending, which often led to her defeat, such as during her fight with Master Pakku, in which she unleashed a series of quick, fast jabs, which he easily blocked or dodged and countered with a powerful water blast. Like all waterbenders, Katara was rendered helpless when her arms were restrained, or were affected in a way that would prevent her from bending. This was different from other benders that had combat skills to a certain degree, such as Zuko, who had extensive knowledge on the art of sword fighting. Despite being unable to fight in close combat, Katara exhibited remarkable agility and acrobatic skill, such as when she performed a dance with Aang. Furthermore, Katara was very resourceful and had a remarkable ability to adapt to her environment, reflecting on the fundamentals of her element, being that of change, such as using her own sweat as a catalyst for her waterbending. Despite being cut off from the rest of the world, Katara possessed a healthy knowledge of spirituality and was one of the few to possess a deep respect for spiritual and cultural matters, unlike her brother Sokka. Katara was also versed in midwifery, demonstrated in her crucial role in delivering an unexpected baby.

Appearances
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Book Two: Spirits (神靈)
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Trivia



 * In the Avatar Series Pilot, Katara's character was named Kya. The name Kya was later given to her previously unnamed mother. Nickelodeon's legal department vetoed the name when they discovered there was already a video game character named Kya, so they had to change it. Kanna was first proposed to replace Kya, but was later used for the name of her grandmother instead.
 * Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have stated that they think of Katara as the deuteragonist of the series, as well as the "person the story is being told through".
 * Other than in the opening sequence, Katara was the first person to bend in the series.
 * Katara once stated that she hated the papaya fruit.
 * Katara seemed to have been quite knowledgeable on yoga.
 * According to Aunt Wu, Katara should have her third great-grandchild before quietly passing away in her sleep. There is a chance that Aunt Wu could be correct, since Katara is the only known member, besides Zuko, of the original generation still alive in The Legend of Korra.
 * In "The Cave of Two Lovers" with Avatar Extras bonus commentary, it was confirmed that Katara mastered waterbending in the short time that she was at the North Pole, making her the first female student of Master Pakku.
 * Katara was seen or mentioned in every episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender except "Zuko Alone".
 * Katara narrated the opening sequence, and therefore was the first person to speak in the series.
 * Katara was the first person in the series to demonstrate the ability of healing, and is the only known healer to have used their abilities on themselves.
 * In some comics, her name is misspelled Takara instead of Katara, a word meaning "treasure" in Japanese.
 * In the Greek dub, her name is "Tamara". This is probably because "katara" (κατάρα) means curse in Greek. However, when Nickelodeon translated Sifu Kisu's words about waterbending he mentions her as Katara. Her name was also mentioned as Katara by the White Lotus leader in The Legend of Korra.
 * The last character in Katara's name, 拉, means pull, which is one of the basics of waterbending.
 * In Arabic, Katara,قطرة, can be translated as droplet or water droplet.
 * Katara was the only member of Team Avatar never to meet Fire Lord Ozai on-screen during the series.
 * Katara was the first person to touch Zuko's scar in the series, other than Zuko himself. Mai was the second to touch his scar, when they kissed after reuniting with one another.
 * Katara was the only character ever shown to calm Aang out of the Avatar State, aside from Aang himself.
 * Katara, along with her brother, Sokka, had the longest list of love interests in the show: Jet and Aang both had her eye, and although nothing ever happened, Toph once assumed Katara and Haru "had a secret thing" together. Unlike her brother, she had no love interests from the Water Tribes or the Fire Nation.
 * Katara is the only person to have participated in all of the water duels featured during the Hundred Year War, battling Pakku, Hama, Aang, and a number of Pakku's waterbending students.
 * Katara is the only character to appear in both the first and last scenes of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
 * Katara was originally envisioned as a twelve-year-old girl, but after a suggestion from one of the crew members, she was "aged up" along with Aang and Sokka.
 * LEGO produced a Katara minifigure, and still to date remains the only toy based upon this character in the markets.
 * Katara's quick series of jabs against her master, Pakku, during their fight is the first instance of two benders using hand-to-hand combat in the series.
 * The way Katara discovered Korra leaving the Southern Water Tribe compound is similar to the way Kanna discovered Katara and Sokka leaving in "The Avatar Returns". Both times a young person is leaving, somehow involving the Avatar's fate, and both times the elder lets them go.
 * When Katara was fourteen years old, Yugoda stated that Katara was the spitting image of Kanna when she was younger. When Katara is eighty-five years old, she still resembles Kanna.
 * Just like she addressed Kanna in her youth, Katara's grandchildren call her Gran Gran.
 * When in need of a fake name, Sokka named Katara "Sapphire Fire". Katara also used the name "June Pippinpaddleopsicopolis" when trying to enter Omashu for the first time, following Aang's lead after he called himself "Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis, the Third".
 * Katara is the only known person to learn to use all sub-skills of waterbending; healing and bloodbending, though she moved to declare the latter illegal over time.
 * Katara is the only known person, other than the Avatars themselves, to have seen four Avatars. She saw Roku and Kyoshi manifest themselves through Aang, and she was Avatar Korra's waterbending master.
 * Katara was an active participant, if not the leader, in the outlawing of bloodbending as stated by Yakone.
 * Katara appeared in the first and the last episode of Book One: Air of The Legend of Korra.
 * Katara is the first person known to break free of a bloodbender's hold by their own doing.
 * Of the five known bloodbenders, Katara is the only one who was never known to have had someone else break free of her bloodbending grip, though she rarely used the skill.
 * All future airbenders will be descendants of Katara and Aang, since Aang was the sole survivor of the Air Nomad Genocide; this includes all future Avatars of Air Nomad and airbending heritage.
 * Katara is the first known waterbender to have given birth to an airbender.
 * Katara is the only known waterbender to have taught more than one Avatar.