Kyoshi

"earth"

- Only justice will bring peace.

Avatar Kyoshi was a previous incarnation of the Avatar, born into the Earth Kingdom. She was the Avatar immediately succeeding and preceding Avatars Kuruk and Roku respectively, about 412 years before the start of the series. Kyoshi was a gigantic woman, possessing the largest feet of any Avatar, and lived to be 230 years old, also giving her the title of oldest Avatar. Her traditional weapons were golden metal fans which, in addition to her manner of dress and style of fighting, were adopted by the young warrior women of Kyoshi Island, her homeland.

Unlike her successor, Roku, and the current Avatar, Aang, Kyoshi was determined that only true justice could bring peace, and had no qualms about possibly killing enemies to achieve this goal. She was thus a generally effective Avatar. However, Kyoshi was the founder of the Dai Li, a decision she deeply regrets due to their corruption, power and control.

Early life
Not much is known about Kyoshi's early life other than she was born in the year 312 BSC on a peninsula off the tip of the South-West Earth Kingdom that would one day become Kyoshi Island. It is assumed she was raised there.

Stopping Chin the Conqueror
"'In my day, Chin the Conqueror threatened to throw the world out of balance. I stopped him, and the world entered a great era of peace.' - Kyoshi to Aang"



During Kyoshi's life, the current Earth King's rule was unpopular among many people of the Earth Kingdom. Using this to his advantage, a warlord named Chin (also known as Chin the Conqueror, according to Kyoshi) launched a war to conquer the continent. He was successful until he reached the peninsula where Kyoshi lived. When he refused to listen to Kyoshi and her people, she confronted him and separated the peninsula from the mainland through a combination of all four bending arts, forming Kyoshi Island to protect her people from subsequent threats. An indignant Chin was left standing on the edge of a cliff, which then crumbled beneath his feet. Chin fell into the sea, where he drowned. Chin's death ushered the world into a great era of peace.

Because of Kyoshi's act, the people of Chin Village on the mainland founded Avatar Day to vilify Kyoshi and all the other Avatars after her for the death of their leader. The people of Kyoshi Island, meanwhile, founded "Kyoshi Day" to honor how she created the island. They also erected a large totem, topped with a statue of Kyoshi.

History with the 46th Earth King
"'How dare YOU defy your Avatar!' - Kyoshi to the Earth King"

Some time after her confrontation with Chin, Kyoshi was summoned to Ba Sing Se at the request of the Earth King. His unpopular rule had caused a peasant uprising in the city. By the time Kyoshi got there, the peasants had already destroyed anything that represented the "old government", including ancient and valuable historical and cultural artifacts. The King demanded that she stop it by whatever means necessary. Kyoshi staunchly refused, stating that it wouldn't be right for her to do so. Incensed by her defiance, the Earth King ordered that she be arrested, but a display of her power and a warning caused him to agree to a compromise. The Earth King agreed to give the peasants a voice in his ruling, while Kyoshi in turn agreed to protect Ba Sing Se's cultural heritage from further disruption. She trained a platoon of elite Earthbenders who would later come to be known as the Dai Li, though their subsequent corruption weighed heavily on Kyoshi's mind afterward.

Death
Kyoshi died in the year 82 BSC at the age of 230, making her the oldest Avatar in currently known history. After her death, her daughter Koko took on her role as leader of Kyoshi Island. The Avatar spirit then passed on to a new born Roku as Kyoshi's successor.

Appearances throughout Aang's Life
During his trip to Kyoshi Island, Avatar Aang saw a statue of her. She thereafter appeared in a vision as the most recent Earth Kingdom Avatar when Avatar Roku was explaining the nature of the Avatar State to Aang. Kyoshi manifested herself through Aang (like Roku had on the Winter Solstice) to testify in a trial proving the Avatar's innocence (though she confessed to killing Chin during her "testimony").

Before the arrival of Sozin's Comet, Aang summoned Kyoshi's spirit, hoping that she could advise him on how to defeat Ozai without killing him. Kyoshi reminded him that her forceful ending of Chin the Conqueror's war for dominance brought a great era of peace. Aang pointed out that she didn't actually kill him, and that Chin's own arrogance killed him. Kyoshi said she saw no difference in this, and told him that she would have done anything she had to do to stop Chin. Aang regretted consulting Kyoshi on this complex matter after hearing this.

Abilities
As the Avatar, Kyoshi was able to perform all four bending arts and utilize the Avatar State. Her most spectacular feat was using the Avatar State to separate Kyoshi Island from the Earth Kingdom mainland, and push it far out to sea. To do so, she first cut down to the earth's mantle with Earthbending to sever the landmasses, then used a combination of all four elements to push the island out to sea. This is one of only two instances in which Kyoshi uses the Avatar State, the other instance being in a flashback.

Trivia



 * On the golden button on the right arm guard of the Kyoshi Warriors and on the fan that the statue of Avatar Kyoshi held to her face is the word 京. The other fan, the one on her outstretched arm, is the word 士. In Japanese, 京士 is pronounced 'kyōshi' and translated as 'capital samurai.' However, on the mural in Avatar Day, her name appeared as 虛子 (Kyoshi in Japanese, a near-homophone with 京士, but with a shorter 'o' sound). Kyoshi (虛子) is a proper name in Japanese, as for example the poet Takahama Kyoshi (高浜 虚子 ,Takahama Kyoshi?, 22 February 1874–8 April 1959).
 * Kyoshi also means teacher (capitalized) in Japanese.
 * In Japanese, Kiyoshi, with the same pronunciation, means purity.
 * In the episode "The Southern Air Temple," Kyoshi was seen to the right on the painting in the Earth Kingdom's Avatar Temple. Strangely, the statue that preceded Roku's statue in the Southern Air Temple isn't Kyoshi's. This may have been simply due to ill-planning (or lack thereof) on the creator's part. However, there was a statue that may had been of Kyoshi. Also, when Aang went into the Avatar State, the eyes of a painting of Earth Kingdom born Avatars illuminated, the far right Avatar looked very much like Kyoshi.
 * Avatar Kyoshi lived to be 230 years old, making her the longest living Avatar in currently known history.
 * She also had the largest feet of any Avatar, and might also be the physically largest, as seen when confronting Chin the Conqueror in Avatar Day, and the time she faced the 46th Earth King's guards where she is seen to be easily two to three heads taller than them.
 * Kyoshi was shown to be a more straightforward type of Avatar; rather than trying to make peace with a conqueror and trying to convince him to end his reign of terror like Aang would, Kyoshi would simply end him if she had to.
 * In a chibi comic, Kyoshi was a gym teacher, which is ironic, as her name is translated means "Teacher".
 * Kyoshi is the first known Avatar to have had descendants.
 * Kyoshi told the Forty Sixth Earth King: "How dare you defy your Avatar?!" A similar phrase was used by Fire Lord Sozin to Avatar Roku: "How dare you, a citizen of the Fire Nation, address your Fire Lord this way?!"
 * It is possible that Kyoshi took her role as Avatar very seriously because her previous life Avatar Kuruk didn't take his role as Avatar very seriously. This could have been Kyoshi's way of making up for Kuruk's mistakes, in the same way that Aang has tried to make up for Roku's mistakes.
 * Kyoshi is the Chinese word for 8th degree black belt in most Chinese martial arts.
 * Avatar Kyoshi's legacy and work as Avatar has started two groups: the Kyoshi Warriors and the Dai Li, both of which Azula made use of to conquer Ba Sing Se.
 * Kyoshi has done one of the most remarkable things of any Avatar, specifically separating a mass of land, and then moving it miles away into the ocean, creating an island, which would later be named Kyoshi Island. In fact, this act was the only time in the entire series where a landmass was formed using man-made means, in this case with her vast and powerful bending skills.
 * Technically, Kyoshi is a Founding "Mother" since she created Kyoshi Island and the Dai Li.
 * Though by nationality and Avatar Cycle position as an Earthbender, Avatar Kyoshi appeared in the series to utilize Airbending much of the time, which is ironic since it is Earthbending's opposing art.
 * Kyoshi's Airbending skills may have been amplified or channeled through her fans in the same way that Aang used his glider staff to aid his Airbending. In addition, Kyoshi was never seen bending naturally. She was always seen bending with her fans.
 * Kyoshi, Roku and Aang are all known for defying the leader(s) of their respective nations. Kyoshi, at first refused to aid the 46th Earth King when he asked her to aid in the Peasant Uprising in Ba Sing Se. Roku nearly killed Fire Lord Sozin in an attempt to put a stop to his imperialistic actions. Aang did not move to the Eastern Air Temple when he was told to and instead ran away.