Tui

"spirit"

- The legends say the moon was the first waterbender. Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves.

Tui, the Moon, is one of two spirits which reside in the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole, in the Northern Water Tribe's capital city. Tui and La circle each other in an eternal dance, pushing and pulling.

History
Thousands of years ago, Tui and her counterpart, La, decided to manifest themselves in the physical world to better benefit mankind, taking up residence in an alcove of the Northern Water Tribe's capital city. They created the oasis in the North Pole and took the form of two koi fish. Thus, the Spirit Oasis in the city became its most treasured landmark. Tui's physical form resembles a white koi fish, with a large black spot on its head.

When she was a baby, Princess Yue was taken by her father, Chief Arnook and his wife to the Spirit Oasis. She was seriously ill, very weak, and on the brink of death. He dipped her in the waters at the Spirit Oasis; her black hair turned white and she started crying. Although Tui did grant healing to Yue, Chief Arnook had a dream that one day Yue would have to take Tui's place as Moon Spirit.

Many years later, the Fire Nation launched a siege on the capital city of the North. Steadily, the Fire Nation navy advanced upon the city, eventually destroying its protective locks and dams and advancing onto its icy surface. Admiral Zhao, the leader of the attack, advanced with his personal guard to the back of the royal palace to kill the Moon Spirit, as he had thought to do so ever since he had discovered the existence of the Spirits in the mortal world from Wan Shi Tong's library. In a scoop, Zhao caught Tui in a bag of water, causing the spiritual equivalent of a lunar eclipse, destroying the power of the waterbenders worldwide. However, Iroh stepped in and threatened Zhao, telling him whatever he did to the moon spirit, he would unleash on him tenfold. To the horror of Katara, Aang, and Iroh, Zhao murdered Tui anyway, under the guise of releasing her, destroying the power of the moon altogether. Iroh, in anger, lashed out at Zhao, incapacitating his guards. Zhao, however, slipped away, only to be attacked by Zuko. Meanwhile, Aang entered the Avatar State, fused with La and defeated the Fire Nation invasion force on land. He took care of the fleet by bending massive waves that washed all their ships away from the Northern Water Tribe.



Iroh realized that Yue had some of Tui's life energy, since it had bonded with her to save her life when she was born. Yue then made the ultimate choice: to sacrifice her life in order to resurrect Tui, against Sokka's objections, since he was in charge of protecting her. Once this happened, not only did the moon return to its full power, but Yue's physical body disappeared from Sokka's arms and reformed as Yue's spirit form, making Yue the new Moon Spirit. In this form, she kissed Sokka one last time and disappeared.

By having her life force energy re-bond with Tui, Yue not only reincarnated as Tui's successor, but she also gained the ability to waterbend, a trait she did not carry in life. Her abilities were seen to some extent when she generated a massive wave for Aang to ride on, toward the island where Roku's temple once stood.

Trivia

 * "Tui" means "push" in Chinese (the Ocean spirit's name, La, means "pull"). According to Princess Yue, the ancient waterbenders saw the tides push and pull, giving a hint to the two spirits' existence in the tribe.
 * In  film, associated the Moon Spirit with Yang (white, male) and Pull (拉, Lā), a different convention than the animated series. As such,  referred the Moon Spirit as male, "He gave me life when I was a child."
 * It is quite ironic that Zhao killed the white, masculine counterpart of the Yin and Yang symbol as in Taoism it represents the sun and fire, while Yin, the dark and feminine part, represents the moon and water.
 * Including Aang's fatal injury sustained in "The Crossroads of Destiny", from which he was resurrected shortly thereafter, Tui was the first of eight to have been observed dying or being murdered in the series. In chronological order, the others were Yue, Zhao, Chin, Jet, Aang, Roku, and Combustion Man.
 * Tui, Yue, and Zhao all died in the same episode, with Yue sacrificing herself to resurrect Tui, thus becoming the new incarnation of the Moon Spirit.
 * The Moon is viewed as the original waterbender. Members of the Water Tribe used to watch how the Moon pushed and pulled the tides, and learned how to do it themselves, which makes waterbending the only bending art that did not originate within an animal species.
 * A petroglyph depicting Tui and La, encircling each other, was present on the stone wall behind the waterfall in Tarrlok's office.