Painted Lady


 * This article is about the spirit. For the episode, see "The Painted Lady". For the person who disguises herself as the Painted Lady, see Katara.

"spirit"

- Thank you.

The Painted Lady, known for her kindness and healing abilities, was the benevolent spirit of the Jang Hui River. She watched over the river town of Jang Hui, although she had fled before due to pollution. As was the case with many other spirits, only the spiritually enlightneed could see her.

History
The Painted Lady watched over the river town of Jang Hui until a factory moved in and began polluting the river. This event drove the Painted Lady away, leaving the villagers to fend for themselves.

When the Avatar and his friends came to the village of Jang Hui, Katara noticed that it needed help. She disguised herself as The Painted Lady and brought food and medicine to the village. Another night, she went and healed the sick. The following night, she dressed up and, with Aang's help, destroyed the factory in an effort to cure the village permanently. As they prepared to leave, they saw a squad of Fire Nation troops heading towards the town on jet skis, and realized that they must have believed that the villagers had sabotaged the factory. Katara was determined to stop them. The soldiers started attacking the village, but a gust of wind blew their flames out. With help from Appa, Toph, and Sokka providing spooky sound effects, Aang and Katara staged an encounter with the troops and successfully defeated and drove them away.

After Katara helped the villagers of Jang Hui, drove away the Fire Nation and cleaned the river, the real Painted Lady revealed herself to Katara and thanked her.

Trivia



 * The Painted Lady's makeup somewhat resembled the makeup of the Firebender seen in the unaired pilot episode's opening.
 * Katara was the second character to take up the identity of a spirit, the first being Zuko, as the Blue Spirit.
 * The Painted Lady is an example of abused and censored spirituality belonging to a pre-war Fire Nation.