Suki

"earth"

- I am a warrior, but I'm a girl too.

Suki is the eldest of the young female Kyoshi Warriors of the Earth Kingdom's Kyoshi Island. Having begun her training when she was only 8 years old, Suki is well respected by her fellow warriors and is their leader. When the Avatar and his friends arrive at Kyoshi Island, Suki and a few other Kyoshi Warriors captured them, later releasing and befriending them, forming a particular bond with Sokka.

Inspired by the outsiders for helping save their village from Prince Zuko, Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors left the island to help the Earth Kingdom fight against the Fire Nation. Suki protects the Avatar's lost sky-bison Appa from falling into the enemy's hands, but she and the other Kyoshi warriors are defeated by Princess Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee.

Imprisoned in the Fire Nation, Suki is placed within a high-security prison called the Boiling Rock. It is only by good fortune that Sokka infiltrates the prison looking for his captured father, Hakoda, instead finding Suki. Freed from captivity, Suki helps Aang and friends defeat the Fire Nation and reunites with her fellow Kyoshi Warriors.

Background
Suki lived and grew up on Kyoshi Island. She studied as a Kyoshi Warrior, and became a master in the art of fans (tessenjutsu). Her family is not shown nor known.

Meeting Team Avatar


Suki and her fellow warriors are first seen when they captured Aang and his friends for intruding on Kyoshi island, as they assume he is a Fire Nation spy. Suki interrogated the group, threatening to throw Sokka to the Unagi. She and the village then quickly accepted them as guests, once they learned Aang was the Avatar. Initially rather offended by Sokka's somewhat chauvinistic attitude, she paid him back by repeatedly humiliating him in combat training. She later even forced him to dress in full female warrior garb when he asked to come train with her, but she was eventually attracted to him once he admitted his mistake. The two bonded over sparring matches, and, before parting, she kisses Sokka on the cheek admitting that even though she is a warrior, she was also a girl. She and the other warriors of Kyoshi, inspired by Sokka particularly, have gone off to fight in the war against the Fire Nation.

The Serpent's Pass


She and the other Kyoshi Warriors have been assisting refugees on their way to Ba Sing Se. They decided not to return to Kyoshi Island and, in hopes of making a difference in the war, acted as security guards at a hidden ferry terminal. When Aang decides to escort a group of stranded travelers through the Serpent's Pass, Suki accompanies them to ensure that they make it through safely. Suki rescues Toph at one point, saving her from drowning. Toph proceeds to kiss Suki, thinking that it is Sokka who saved her. It is during the night her feelings for Sokka are made more clear, though he's reluctant to jump into a relationship with her due to his inability to stop Princess Yue giving her life to save the moon spirit during the Siege of the North Pole. At one point during the night Suki goes to kiss him, but Sokka is reluctant to do so under the moon, as it obviously reminds him of Yue, and puts Suki off without an explanation. Before her departure, she apologizes to him, telling him she acted rashly, but Sokka stops her, and immediately makes up for the previous night by kissing her back.

Finding an Injured Beast
Later, she discovered an injured Appa and attempting to get him to Aang, but she is confronted by Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. The Kyoshi Island Warriors and Azula begin to battle, and Suki reluctantly drives Appa away with a burning branch to keep him safe. She then clashes with Azula but was eventually defeated, captured and sent to the Fire Nation. After the guards discovered her identity as the leader she was sent to the Fire Nation's highest security prison, the Boiling Rock.

Boiling Rock


Suki is found by Sokka who had initially sneaked in along with Zuko hoping to find his father Hakoda. Contrary to Azula's claims, she had never given up on hopes of rescue, happily embraces Sokka, and readily joins in the breakout plans. Sokka decides to remain behind in hopes of finding his father she instantly decides to remain behind as well even though they may end up trapped. When the group starts a riot to cover their escape, Suki quickly and decisively captures the prison Warden. When Azula and Ty Lee attack the group on the prison gondolas she fights with Ty Lee, saying it's "a rematch she's been waiting for", and holds her off quite effectively. She and the rest of the escapees return to the Western Air Temple via Azula's Airship.

The Southern Raiders
Suki chooses to remain with the core group when Azula's attack splits them up. When Zuko goes to Sokka's tent to ask him about his mother, he collides with Suki, who suspiciously denies her true intention of seeing Sokka and rushes back to her tent. When Zuko enters the tent, it is apparent that Sokka was waiting to have a romantic evening with Suki, but was surprised and embarrassed to see Zuko instead. After Zuko leaves the tent, Sokka calls out to Suki and, seeing Zuko is still there, whistles guiltily to make him go away.

The Ember Island Players
Later, Suki is seen in Fire Nation disguise and accompanies them to the play. In the play, her character is portrayed most accurately, though some physical details (like her headpiece) are slightly exaggerated. During the play, she is seen exchanging looks with Sokka during the scene where they practice using Kyoshi Warrior outfits, and acts jealous when Sokka shushes her during the scene where Yue becomes the Moon Spirit. When Sokka desires to sneak backstage to help out the actor playing him, Suki assists him, saying that her years of training in the art of stealth should help.

Sozin's Comet


Three days prior to the arrival of Sozin's Comet, Suki and the rest of Team Avatar hold a beach party on Ember Island. Sokka creates a crude sand sculpture of Suki that bears no resemblance to her, but she says that she thinks it is sweet of him, resulting in him kissing her. When Zuko informs the group of the Fire Lord's plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom, Aang runs off, and Suki aids in the search for him. When they are unable to find Aang, Zuko takes them to the Earth Kingdom, where they "hire" June to track him. When she is unable to, he decides to track Iroh, leading the group to Ba Sing Se, where they are approached by the Order of the White Lotus. It is decided that Suki, Sokka and Toph will destroy the Airship Fleet. Sokka drives one Airship into the others, bringing them down. Unfortunately, Suki is separated from her friends as the Airship falls apart underneath them. She insists that Sokka continue onward.

Suki finally reappears unharmed when she uses a captured Airship to save Toph and Sokka, who were hanging helplessly from an Airship. When Aang takes away Ozai's firebending, Suki makes a lame attempt to taunt the fallen tyrant, earning her Toph's criticism.

Zuko is later crowned Fire Lord and officially ends the War. Suki finally reunites with her team of warriors, who were released from prison along with Mai and Ty Lee. After discovering how well her team bonded with Ty Lee while in prison, Suki allowed her to join them. Later, the entire gang relaxes at Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se, where Suki plays Pai Sho with Mai. She later teases Sokka for his crude drawing of the group, which depicts Suki firebending. She and Sokka seem to still have a very strong relationship.

Personality
Befitting her status as leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki is tough, assertive and not afraid to speak her mind; at the same time, she has a very compassionate and loyal spirit. Her softer side is frequently demonstrated in the presence of Sokka. She held out hope for a long time during her imprisonment of seeing Sokka again and showed no sign of breaking in the face of Azula's torments pertaining to Sokka. She also has a mild tendency to hold grudges as seen by her rather cool treatment of Zuko when they meet in prison and readily looks forward to a rematch with Azula and Ty Lee. A woman of action, she quickly and skillfully captured the prison Warden, an action which prompted approval from Hakoda.

Abilities


Although not possessing any bending abilities, Suki is more than capable of handling herself in a fight. She is the last warrior to be captured by Azula, showing the extent of her skill. She is an impressive hand to hand combatant (using a style reminiscent of Aikido) as well as traditional Kyoshi war fans (a style reminiscent of Tessenjutsu) and katana. She can hold her own against other skilled fighters such as Ty Lee, readily avoiding her disabling pressure point strikes, and is a good teacher, passing some of her fighting methods onto Sokka. She also possesses considerable physical strength, able to swim easily in full Kyoshi Warrior armor and toss aside a full grown man with ease. During the breakout of the Boiling Rock, she bypassed a full scale riot by jumping across the tops of the rioters heads and scaled the vertical face of a building with an acrobatic skill comparable to that of Ty Lee. Suki is an accomplished swimmer, as shown in her ability to rescue Toph while fully clothed in Kyoshi Warrior's uniform in The Serpent's Pass.

Relationships

 * See Suki's Relationships

Trivia

 * 'Suki' is Japanese for 'like/love' and is pronounced similar to the Japanese word for moon, tsuki. It is also a term in Aikido and Kendo for being vulnerable to attack or having flawed technique. Her name is also similar to 'tsuki', the Japanese word for 'moon', referring to Yue, Sokka's lost love.