Roku

Avatar Roku was the Avatar immediately preceding Aang. He is thus an aspect of Aang's self. Born into the Fire Nation in life, Roku is a benign force in spirit, serving as Aang's adviser and protector throughout the series. Roku possesses a spectral animal guide, a red dragon named Fang that served him in life, in the same capacity as Appa does to Aang.

History


In his youth, Roku and Prince Sozin were best friends, and even shared the same birthday, which they celebrated together. By the time they were teenagers, they were both likely Firebending Masters, given Roku's secret status as the Avatar, and the Royal Family's natural affinity for their element. At the party celebrating their sixteenth birthdays, Roku is told by the Fire Sages he is the Avatar, and the two friends are forced to separate as Roku goes to master the other three elements. Before leaving, Sozin gives him a gift: the headpiece worn by the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation.

Afterwards, Roku goes on his Avatar journey and trains under masters of the other three bending arts. To learn Airbending, Roku traveled to the Southern Air Temple. One of Roku's good friends was none other than Monk Gyatso, Aang's guardian and mentor. Roku comments that Aang's relationship with Gyatso years later proves that some friendships are able to transcend lifetimes. After years of training, Roku had mastered Airbending and he traveled to the Northern Water Tribe to learn Waterbending from his teacher. This task was especially hard for Roku seeing as how water is the natural opposite of fire; yet in time he mastered it as well. After mastering Waterbending, Roku traveled to the Earth Kingdom to learn Earthbending, and he became very good friends with his teacher.



He then spent five months in recession to the Fire Temple on Crescent Island, trying to master the Avatar State under the guidance of Fire Sage Shyu's grandfather, Fire Sage Kaja. After growing impatient with the failed meditation attempts, he tried using the winter solstice sun to push him into the Avatar State easily. It worked, but he was unable to control his powers and ended up destroying the upper half of the Fire Temple before Kaja managed to free him from the Avatar State.

Twelve years after leaving his country for his Avatar journey, Roku has become a fully-realized Avatar. He returns to the Fire Nation to reunite with his friend Sozin, who has since become Fire Lord. Roku winds up marrying his childhood sweetheart, Ta Min, with Sozin taking the position of his best man. At the wedding, Sozin asks to speak with Roku in private. He begins telling Roku that he has been thinking hard about the state of the world, and that the Fire Nation is going through a period of great prosperity. He proposes to Roku that together, the two of them could spread this wealth to the world by expanding the empire. Roku is horrified by this proposition, and tells Sozin that the Four Nations are meant to be kept separate and that he should not think of this again. Years later, however, Roku discovers that Sozin has gone ahead with his plan, and set up colonies in the Earth Kingdom. He confronts his old friend, and commands him to stop his aggression, which leads Sozin to attack him. The two engage in a battle, with Roku finally destroying most of the palace and defeating Sozin, sparing his life for the sake of their their past friendship, but warning him never to move forward with his plans again.



Twenty-five years later, Roku's home island is consumed in a volcanic eruption so massive that the Fire Lord can see and feel it from a hundred miles away. Roku attempts to contain the destruction, using his Bending and even going into the Avatar State; however, the awesome power of the volcano proves to be too powerful, even for the Avatar. At that moment, Sozin flies in on his dragon to assist his old friend. The two use their Bending to try to contain the lava flow, but are hindered by poisonous gases, which eventually overwhelm Roku, leaving him lying on the ground and begging for his old friend's help. Sozin suddenly realizes, however, that Roku's death would allow him to fulfill his plans, and leaves his old friend to die along with his dragon Fang, who curls up with Roku as he dies. Twelve years later, Sozin begins The War. The old Fire Lord later regrets leaving Roku to Die.

During the episode "Winter Solstice Part 2: Avatar Roku", Aang was able to communicate with Roku by visiting the Fire Temple that Roku called home 112 years ago. There Roku informed Aang of the impending return of Sozin's Comet. He also described Fire Lord Ozai and the Fire Nation's ability to harness the comet's energy to finally win the war. He gave Aang the task of mastering the four elements and defeating the Fire Lord before the Comet arrives. Roku also manifested himself with Aang to defeat a group of Firebenders attempting to kill the young Airbender. He awakened the dormant volcano directly underneath the temple, destroying the temple before the solstice ended. In The Awakening, the lava still flows from that event.



He has guided Aang several times since, appearing to Jeong Jeong to persuade him to teach Aang Firebending, offering critical wisdom in the ways of the Spirit World during the great siege of the North Pole in order to defeat the invading Fire Navy and save the Moon Spirit, and most recently, revealing to Aang the nature of his Avatar State. He can thus be seen as a kind of mentor or spirit guide for the current Avatar, Aang; this may be because Aang has no appointed teacher (the Air Nomads having been killed), or it may be possible that all Avatars have such a guide during their lives.



In the beginning of the third season, Roku appeared to Aang when he thought he failed when Ba Sing Se fell. Roku said the failure was really his because he should have foreseen the war and taken steps to prevent it. He then tells Aang he believes it is his destiny to save the world and redeem him. He would later reveal his history with Fire Lord Sozin to him.

In "The Avatar and the Fire Lord", Zuko angrily accuses Iroh of having sent him the message, and then demands to know the point, as the testament did not even reveal anything about Sozin's death. Iroh explains that the message that Zuko must find out about his great-grandfather's death did not refer to his paternal ancestor, Sozin, but his mother's grandfather, who was none other than Avatar Roku. Iroh then produces the lost crown prince's headpiece, once worn by both his great-grandfathers, and gives it to a stunned Zuko, explaining that, as he has both Roku and Sozin's blood in his veins, he has the power to redeem their family by choosing which of their paths to follow.



Trivia

 * Avatar Roku first appears as a statue within a shrine in the episode "The Southern Air Temple," and Aang mentions that although he never met him, he felt a particular connection to his previous incarnation. In the episode "Avatar Roku (Winter Solstice, Part 2)", Aang finally meets the spirit of Roku for the first time.
 * Roku's voice actor, James Garrett, narrates an interlude episode called "The Legend So Far" that recaps the first seventeen episodes of the first Avatar season and is also the voice which says "Previously... on Avatar" when it appears before an episode begins. Roku is also silhouetted in the opening sequence of every episode as the Avatar that demonstrates the use of all four elements.

Relatives
See Fire Nation Royal Family Tree
 * Ta Min (wife)
 * Ursa (granddaughter)
 * Zuko (great grandson)
 * Azula (great granddaughter)