Sud

"earth"

- My Earthbending master, Sud, was uncompromising, stubborn, and blunt... and a life-long friend.

Sud was Avatar Roku's Earthbender teacher, who taught him Earthbending when he was learning the four elements.

History
Not much is known about Sud except that he was a citizen of the Earth Kingdom when Roku was a young man. He was likely also a skilled and powerful Earthbending Master, being given the honor of teaching the Avatar Earthbending.

He trained Roku in the art of Earthbending, the last element Roku needed to master to become a fully-realized Avatar. Once mastered under Sud's tutelage, Roku beat his teacher in a race up a mountain by surfing on rocks. By the time Sud reached the top of the hill, Roku was already sitting there brewing a pot of tea. Sud laughed, and they sat down to enjoy the hot beverage. They remained very good friends afterward, and having mastered all four elements, Roku now had to master the Avatar State before he began his time as the Avatar.

Trivia

 * Sud resembles the shadowed Earthbender in the Avatar opening sequence. His character design was confirmed by Mike and Bryan to be Toph's original design.
 * Sud is identical to the French and Italian word for south. It is also close to the German (Süden) and the Spanish (Sur) words for south.
 * It is interesting to note that to be "south" is to be resistant to change or to be stubborn with new ideology, which are two main principles involved in Earthbending. In contrast, to be "north" is to be open to change, a principle involved with Waterbending. These two notions are paraphrased by Iroh in "Bitter Work", when he explains the philosophy of the Four Nations to Zuko.
 * It also makes him a counterpart to Toph, whose last name (Bei Fong) means "north".
 * Roku's description of Sud held many of the same traits that Toph holds, and his earlier comment of friendships transcending lifetimes leads to speculation that he was the past life of Toph or maybe Toph's ancestor.