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 family 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 who bond with them 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 run away, taking Appa with him. Aang didn't know where he was going, only that he was going away from the Air Temples. Aang flew Appa over the ocean and was caught in a vicious storm. The two were driven underwater by the winds and the waves, and Aang lost consciousness. Sensing that death was near, he 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 girls. 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 finds the group cornered by Long Feng and the Dai Li and is instrumental in their defeat, biting Long Feng on the leg when confronted by him. Aang welcomes Appa in a tearful display of affection.

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 Long Feng's 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 Appa's Saddle was lost during his capture, the group is forced to ride bareback. Appa is seen at the end of the second book 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 create a cloud around him so that he resembles a cloud to Fire Nation civilians. Also, when they leave him and Momo alone, the gang must cover Appa up 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 Zuko, who had abandoned the Fire Nation during the invasion, arrived at the temple, Appa immediately welcomed him and licked him. This is due to Appa remaining grateful to Zuko for freeing him in Ba Sing Se from his imprisonment in 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 Combustion Man.

In the last days before Sozin's Comet, Appa helps Team Avatar (sans Aang) to travel to the Earth Kingdom, where they had June and her Shirshu, Nyla, try and track Aang. Unsuccessful, they track Iroh to Ba Sing Se. Appa later escorts 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


There is little said about Appa's personality, as he lacks the ability to speak. However, he has displayed an ability to understand human language on several occasions. He is also afraid of going underground and of fire. His fear of fire could start due to his experience at the Fire Nation Circus, or it could be a natural tendency of his species. It would be safe to assume that Appa had a reasonably trusting attitude before the events occurred when he was captured in the Si Wong Desert and the circus. 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 and the Sandbenders. In these difficult moments, Appa showed to have similar feelings to humans when he missed Aang and he made all he could with the objective of find the team. In the Eastern Air Temple, he also remembered with sorrow his childhood with his sibling and his mother.

Appa also may have shown some degree of intelligence as shown when he yawns after Aang prompts him, and 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 Sky 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 when Katara states that they flew two days non-stop, as well as 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 is also capable to carry quite a burden on his back, Appa carried seven medium-weight persons once. He has also shown to be a fairly adept swimmer, 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. He even defeated Long Feng, Ty Lee and Mai. Being a bison, he is also naturally capable of brute strength and endurance. The best demonstration of this was in the fight against Nyla in the Abbey, and against a Boarcupine in the forest.

Aang also remarks the fact that Appa has five stomachs that may be due to his size and the amount of energy he requires to fly. This may also be a nod to the actual bison, with four stomachs.

Relationships

 * Appa's Relationships

Relatives

 * The Mother Sky Bison
 * 9 unnamed Siblings

Trivia

 * Appa is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, who also voices Momo. Both of these characters are voiced by Baker in the film too.
 * Appa in Korean, Hungarian, Arabic and several Indian dialects is similar to the word meaning father or dad, and also an anagram of the word papa. In Urdu, the word Appa is used to refer to a female caretaker or a female elder, alluding to an unused idea to reveal Appa as female in the finale. 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.Appaconcept.png
 * 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 "Appa's Lost Days".
 * According to his missing posters and Aang's statement, 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, like Kuruk.
 * Co-creator Bryan Konietzko describes Appa as a manatee-bison hybrid, although the manatee aspect of Appa is extremely subtle. Early development sketches of Appa show him with much more manatee-like facial features.
 * Appa was originally a dog-like animal and much smaller, albeit still larger than Aang.