Mother of Faces

"spirit"

- Since the beginning of time, I've fashioned faces with great deliberation -- with all my heart! In each face, I put a piece of my own being!

The Mother of Faces is a spirit who resides in Forgetful Valley. She has the ability to give faces to living organisms, bestowing plants and animals with expressive markings. She owns a wolf that has a face imprinted on its fur, like many other creatures in Forgetful Valley. She is the mother of Koh, the Face Stealer.

History
The Mother of Faces began creating faces in the beginning of time, placing a piece of herself in each face she created. It was because of her actions that separateness and identity came into the world. During this time, she became estranged from her son, who later became known as Koh, the Face Stealer.

She was often sought out by humans, who usually requested her to give them a new face and identity. Despite being offended by people when they rejected the faces she had created for them, she pitied them enough to grant their request. However, she would only grant one request to one human once a season. When that time comes, she travels through Forgetful Valley, following the path her wolf spirit had chosen for her, and looked for a human whose wish she would grant.

During one of her travels through the forest, she encountered Ikem, who had been living there as a hermit, and she was asked to grant him a new face. She complied with the request, enabling him to return to Hira'a as Noren and start his new life.

In 95 AG, the Mother of Faces was again visited by Ikem, this time joined by Ursa, who also wished to have a new face to hide her identity. The great spirit was surprised that a woman of such beauty would desire this, so she offered her a much plainer face to test her sincerity. Ursa accepted this new face regardless of its appearance. Sensing that Ursa was experiencing great emotional pain, the spirit offered to erase her memories as well, though warning the former Fire Nation princess that she would not remember her children. Ursa accepted both gifts, and the Mother of Faces gave her a new identity as Noriko.



In 102 AG, the Mother of Faces was approached by Aang, who had been brought to her by clutching on to her wolf's fur. Enraged that somebody would use her wolf as a "beast of burden", she demanded his name. In return, he asked for hers and she told him that she was the Mother of Faces. Aang convinced her to take a path different than the one chosen by her wolf, and emerged from the pool the others were at. After introducing herself, she remained adamant that she would grant only one wish. Misu was given the chance to request a new face for her brother, Rafa, but was interrupted by Azula, who asked the spirit where her and Zuko's mother, Ursa, was. The Mother of Faces revealed Ursa's new identity as Noriko, and proceeded to sink back into the pool. Misu waterbent at the spirit, but the Mother of Faces admonished her for bending the water of her sacred pool before receding back underwater. Aang claimed her to be cruel by not granting the second wish, prompting the spirit to once again rise from the pool. She explained how she crafted faces and felt as though humans were defiling her forest and making her a slave. She further admonished the Avatar for defiling her sacred pool and scolding her, and declared him just as bad as other humans. The Mother of Faces demanded that Aang and his friends leave the forest, siccing spirit animals on them. While trying to defend himself, one of Aang's air blasts knocked off Rafa's mask, revealing him to be faceless. Aang remarked how similar it seemed to the work of Koh, which piqued the Mother of Faces' interest, demanding her animals be silent. After Aang repeated what he knew about Koh, she revealed that he was her son, and that Koh was not the name she had given him. She asked Aang about how he had met Koh, and listened as he told her about their previous encounters. The Mother of Faces felt Koh's handiwork on Rafa's face, and at once restored it. Afterward, she listened to Aang's apologies, who explained that they needed two favors to restore two different relationships. The Mother of Faces followed them out of Forgetful Valley and toward Hira'a, where she found and asked Noriko if she wanted to remember her old life as Ursa. She accepted the offer, and the Mother of Faces restored her memories and original face.

Trivia

 * The Mother of Faces was originally conceived with the design of a Korean queen, but Gurihiru's trial sketches were enough to make Yang realize that this approach would not work. Once Michael Dante DiMartino began his collaboration with the art duo, the current design was finalized, with inspiration having been drawn from depictions of Guan Yin, goddess of compassion. The team also hoped that the Mother of Faces would feel "primal, ancient, and mysterious." For this purpose, images of multi-headed Hindu goddesses were sent to Gurihiru for reference.
 * Central aspects of the Mother of Faces were influenced by the production of The Legend of Korra at that time. When Gene Yang pitched the Mother of Faces to DiMartino, he was wary of her powers being too magical for the typical Avatar spirit. However, at that point in the series development, the team was apparently writing "Beginnings, Part 1": "For one of the episodes, we came up with the idea that spirits can take over a human body for a short time, but at great peril to the human." DiMartino told Yang to make it so that through contact with Ursa, the Mother of Faces could change her appearance based on this development in the show.
 * The abilities of the Mother of Faces seem diametric to her son Koh's; she has the ability to give faces, whereas Koh has the ability to take them.
 * In addition to living organisms, the Mother of Faces can also brand inanimate objects, such as rock formations, with distinct facial markings.
 * She also has the ability to change her size at will, being able to grow beyond the size of a forest.