Freedom Fighters

The Freedom Fighters were a revolutionary group comprised of Earth Kingdom refugee teenagers and children under the leadership of Jet, who aimed to rid the world of firebenders, even if it meant killing innocent people.

They were all very skilled woodsmen who communicated with bird calls to avoid detection and planned their attacks from a secret treetop hideout. Ever since the Fire Nation took over a nearby town, the Freedom Fighters had been cutting off Fire Nation supply lines and using all available means to sabotage their occupation. They were all wanted by the Fire Nation.

In the woods
Avatar Aang and his friends first encountered the group when they accidentally walked into a Fire Nation camp. The Freedom Fighters saved them in a very swift ambush against the firebenders and welcomed the gang to their treetop hideout. Jet took a liking to Katara, who admired his skills and sympathized with the loss of his parents to the Fire Nation. Sokka, however, was not fond of Jet, fearing that there was more to the warrior than met the eye. Later the gang helped the Freedom Fighters to remove the Fire Nation from the group's locale, a little village called Gaipan, which was situated in a small valley. Unbeknownst to Aang and Katara, Jet planned to liberate the village by blowing up a nearby dam and thereby flooding it, killing both the Fire Nation soldiers and the villagers. However, Sokka discovered the plot, and he was able to evacuate the village before Jet succeeded in tricking Katara and Aang into flooding the village. The gang then abandoned the Freedom Fighters for their unjust actions.

In Ba Sing Se


The Freedom Fighters had apparently broken up since this engagement. Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot all traveled to Ba Sing Se to put their misdeeds behind them and start a new life. Jet was captured by the Dai Li after a failed attempt to expose Prince Zuko and Iroh as firebenders when they fled to the city. Jet was killed by Long Feng when he attempted to help Team Avatar to free Appa from captivity, who was being held by Long Feng in Lake Laogai. The gang forgave Jet for his past crimes after this redemption.

Later exploits
After Ba Sing Se fell, Pipsqueak and The Duke ran into the Avatar's gang and joined the invasion force for the Day of Black Sun. The two had ended the crimes they committed months before and proved to be valuable assets in the invasion. However, when the invasion was foiled by Princess Azula, Pipsqueak stayed behind with the adult forces to surrender to the Fire Nation and was imprisoned, while The Duke fled with Aang to the Western Air Temple.

While at the Western Air Temple, The Duke quickly befriended fellow fighters Teo and Haru, and became a temporary member of Aang's gang. He spent his free time exploring the temple's many features with his two new friends. When the Fire Nation attacked the Western Air Temple, The Duke fled the scene with his friends and allies while Aang and his group escaped on Appa.

After the Hundred Year War ended with the defeat of the Fire Nation, The Duke returned to the Fire Nation Capital with his friends and was finally reunited with Pipsqueak, who was released from prison.

One year later, several Freedom Fighters, including Sneers, Longshot, and their leader, Smellerbee, were at Yu Dao to protest the Fire Nation's continuing occupation of the province. The group supported Aang upon his arrival, but Smellerbee issued an ultimatum to the Avatar saying that he must have the Fire Nation out of Yu Dao within three days to prevent the Freedom Fighters from devising their own solution.

When their deadline was up, Aang pleaded for more time but Smellerbee refused to wait any longer. They distracted Aang with a stone battering ram to keep him from noticing a drilling machine breaching the town wall. But upon entering Yu Dao, they found that Sneers had sided with its resistance fighters out of loyalty to his girlfriend Kori Morishita. Negotiations to convince the Freedom Fighters to avoid forcing the colonials from Yu Dao quickly deteriorated as Freedom Fighter earthbender provoked a fight. The battle started to escalate as the armies both the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation arrived. The battle ended when Aang entered the Avatar State, used earthbending to uplift Yu Dao and save Fire Lord Zuko, and Katara brought Earth King Kuei down to see the lives he'd be destroying. Though the Freedom Fighters chanted for Kuei to commit to the Harmony Restoration Movement, but he decided to keep an open mind, rather than bow to their demands.

Members



 * Smellerbee
 * Longshot
 * Sneers

Former members

 * Jet (deceased)
 * Pipsqueak
 * The Duke

Allies

 * Earth Kingdom
 * Team Avatar

Enemies

 * Fire Nation
 * The Dai Li

Trivia

 * "Freedom Fighters" is the name of a song of 1974 by the progressive rock band 'Utopia'.
 * It also happens to be the name of a group of Mobians in the Sonic Archie comics. In these comics, there are many different Freedom Fighter groups, not just one like it is in the Avatar series.
 * The Freedom Fighters mirror the historical Freedom Riders, a band of American citizens who sought to eliminate segregation of public facilities. Like the Freedom Riders, the Freedom Fighters wish to correct social injustices.
 * "Freedom Fighters" is the name of a shooter video game, originally titled Freedom: The Battle For Liberty Island, released in 2003.
 * "Freedom Fighters" is also the name of a "DC Comics" comic book about a superhero team.
 * In the Avatar: The Last Airbender series, Sneers only appeared in "Jet". However, he is seen again in the The Promise trilogy.