Appa

"air"

- Choose well. A Sky Bison is a companion for life.

Appa is Aang's loyal Sky Bison. Aang and Appa, along with Momo, have a strong bond to each other because they are each the last of their kind. He is most noted for his ability to fly in spite of his heavy weight, a feat achieved through Airbending. This makes Appa the primary means of transportation utilized by Team Avatar.

Early Life


The earliest known stage of Appa's life is when he was a young calf. This is the moment when he first encounters Aang. Once airbenders reach 6 years of age, they are taken to the Eastern Air Temple where Sister Iio allows them to meet their future companions and are bonded for life. It appears that the Mother Sky Bison was willingly directing her calves down to the young monks. Not much is explained about the exact nature of the relationship between the Air Nomads and their flying bison. Aang came forward and offered an apple to Appa. Almost immediately, the two became friends and would be together for most of their lives up until the present day.

Journey to the North
When Aang heard that the monks were going to separate him and Monk Gyatso he decided to runaway, Aang took Appa with him, since Appa was his companion for life. Aang didn't know where he was going; only that he was going away from the Air Temple. Aang flew Appa over the ocean and was caught in a storm, Aang and Appa were knocked underwater by the winds and the waves, and Aang lost consciousness. Sensing that death was near, Aang entered the Avatar State and froze himself and Appa in an iceberg, where Appa was stuck in hibernation along with Aang for 100 years until their discovery by Katara and Sokka. Since then, Appa has been the group's main form of transport in their quest to help Aang master all the elements.

Disappearance


Appa became lost for a short while, when the group was traveling in the Earth Kingdom. He was kidnapped by Sandbenders in the middle of the vast Si Wong Desert, while Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Momo were trapped in an intricate underground library. It is later revealed that he was eventually sold to a Fire Nation circus where a sadistic animal tamer attempted to make him part of the show. Encouraged by a sympathetic boy, Appa later escaped and journeyed throughout the Earth Kingdom until he encountered the Kyoshi Warriors, who attempted to heal the various wounds he had sustained in his travels and escort him back to Aang. Appa was forced to leave after an attack by Azula and her allies, ushered away by Suki while the warriors tried to delay the three Fire Nation women. On his journey he encountered Guru Pathik at the Eastern Air Temple. The Guru was able to tell Appa of Aang's location by reading his energy. Consequently, Appa flew to Ba Sing Se, where he was captured by Long Feng.

Appa was kept in a secret location at Lake Laogai until his rescue by Zuko, who was initially planning on utilizing him to capture the Avatar. Appa eventually returns to the main group in the last scenes of "Lake Laogai". Aang is overjoyed to see his old companion again.

Appa takes part in forcibly entering the royal palace of Ba Sing Se, providing the first piece of evidence to the Earth King of Long Feng's subterfuge since Appa bit Long Feng in the previous episode and the bite mark still lingers. When the Dai Li's coverup efforts leave the Earth King skeptical of Team Avatar's claims, Sokka makes a last-ditch effort to show the King the ruined Fire Nation Drill by enticing him with a ride on Appa. Since his saddle was lost during Appa's capture, the group is forced to ride bareback. Appa is seen at the end of Book 2 spiriting Team Avatar (including a grievously wounded Aang), the Earth King, and his pet Bosco out of the now captured city.

In the Fire Nation
Appa stays with the group as they find their way aboard Hakoda's commandeered Fire Navy vessel, and has had a new saddle constructed for him. After Aang runs off into a storm, Appa and the rest of Team Avatar split off from Hakoda's crew after Aang, and they regroup on Crescent Island. As they travel through the Fire Nation, Appa must stay hidden. When Appa flies, Aang and Katara must create a cloud around him so that to civilians, he just looks like a cloud. Also, when they leave him and Momo alone, they must cover him with some sort of camouflage.



After the invasion of the Fire Nation failed on the Day of Black Sun, Appa took Aang's friends and all of the younger members of the invasion force to the Western Air Temple to seek refuge. When Prince Zuko, who had abandoned the Fire Nation during the invasion arrived at the Temple, Appa immediately welcomed him and licked him. This is because Appa is still grateful that Zuko freed him at Ba Sing Se from Lake Laogai. Zuko then requested that he join the group so that he could teach Aang Firebending. Despite Appa's obvious welcome for Zuko, the group does not accept Zuko until later, when he saved the group from an attack by the Combustion Man.

During the Sozin's Comet finale, Appa helped Team Avatar (sans Aang) to travel to the Earth Kingdom, where they had June and her Shirshu Nyla try and track Aang, though that did not succeed, they tracked Iroh instead, and Appa helped them get to Ba Sing Se, and then took Zuko and Katara to the Fire Nation Capital for their confrontation with Azula.

After the War's end, Appa is seen in Ba Sing Se with the gang as they celebrate their victory at the Jasmine Dragon, seemingly enjoying Iroh's tsungi horn.

Personality


Little can be said about Appa's personality, as he lacks the ability to speak. However, he has displayed an ability to understand humans on several occasions. He is also afraid of going into tunnels, underground and of fire. His fear of fire could be due to his experience at the circus or a natural tendency of his species. It would be safe to assume that Appa had a reasonably trusting attitude before the events of "Appa's Lost Days". He did not take long to accept the apple offered to him by Aang and took an immediate liking to Sokka in the first episode of the series. However, this trait was damaged due to his experience with the ringmaster. Appa also may have shown some degree of intelligence as shown in "The Runaway" when he apparently "scolds" Hawky and Momo when the two fight due to Sokka's order that Appa is "in charge".

Abilities
Appa possesses the ability to fly, hence the name Flying Bison. He utilizes his Airbending for this purpose; his tail appears to be the main driving force behind his bending but has shown to also be able to accomplish it with his mouth. Due to his size and mass, it takes a lot of energy for him to stay aloft. As a result, Appa cannot fly for an extended time and periodically requires stopping and resting. But there are times when he displays extreme stamina, such as in The Waterbending Master, when Katara states that they flew two days non-stop, as well as in The Chase, when Appa continually had to fly to avoid Azula, Ty Lee and Mai for hours on end with only a few minutes of rest each time he stops. He has also shown to be a fairly adept swimmer as well, although he is more frequently seen flying or walking than swimming. Despite the tranquility related to his personality as well as his species, Appa has shown himself to be very capable of fighting when necessary. With his bending, Appa can create powerful gusts of air with just a flick of his tail and can gain advantage over his opponents by hovering. Being a bison, he is also naturally capable of brute strength and endurance. The best demonstration of this was in "Bato of the Water Tribe" and "Appa's Lost Days".

Aang, in "The Great Divide", also remarks the fact that Appa has five stomachs that might be because of his size and the amount of energy he needs to be able to fly. This may also be a nod to the actual bison, with four stomachs.

Relationships

 * Appa's Relationships

Relatives

 * The Mother Sky Bison

Trivia

 * "Appa" in Korean and Tamil (Indian language) is similar to the word meaning "father" or "dad", and also an anagram of the word "Papa". "Apa", in Hungarian means "Father" or "Daddy" and in Urdu, the word "Appa" is used to refer to a "Female Caretaker" or a "Female Elder". "Appa" also sounds like "Abba", the Hebrew word for "father". This may be intentional, and rightly so, as the group rely on Appa to carry them around the world, and to protect them when everything else fails. This is exemplified in Lake Laogai where Appa appears to protect the group against a seemingly unstoppable force of Dai Li Agents.
 * In Indonesian language, "Appa" is pronounced as "Apa", which has the same meaning with "what" in English. A phrase "That's Appa!" translated as "Itu Appa!" also readable as "Itu apa!" which means "What is that!" in English. This causes some confusion amongst new watchers. In Indonesia's neighboring country, the Philippines, "Apa" means cone (as in ice cream cone).
 * Appa's name is very similar to the first syllable in the word "apple". This is interesting to note due to the fact that an apple was the first food that Aang fed Appa when they met.
 * Appa is a herbivore. His flat teeth are indicative of this and Appa's diet, from what we've seen has been mainly plants and fruits. Appa has also consumed honey and attempted to snatch an egg when he was desperate for food in the desert ("Appa's Lost Days").
 * According to his missing posters from "Lake Laogai" and Aang's statement in "The King of Omashu", Appa's weight is 10 tons.
 * Appa's design is similar to that of the Catbus from the anime film "My Neighbor Totoro" which was made in 1988. The Catbus also has multiple legs and a large tail.
 * Appa's name is a palindrome.
 * It is speculated that since Appa is the last surviving Sky Bison, then the original source of Airbending will be lost if he dies.

Appa