Katara


 * This article is about the character. For the character in the video games, see here. For the character in the film, see here. For the character in the pilot episode, see here.

"water"

- No! I will never, ever, turn my back on people who need me!

Katara was a female Waterbender, born and raised in the Southern Water Tribe by her grandmother, Kanna, alongside her older brother Sokka. Katara was not only a Waterbender, but the last and only one capable of the art in her tribe. As a child, she lived a peaceful, merry life with her family's love, until she lost her mother in a Fire Nation raid. Years after this tragedy, during her teenage years, she and her brother discovered the young Air Nomad Avatar, Aang, who had been encased for one hundred years within a sphere of ice. In need of a Waterbending teacher, the siblings and Aang left the South Pole for the Northern Water Tribe. Katara and Sokka eventually became close friends of Aang, and after their journey to the North Pole, continued to travel with him across the world as he mastered the remaining elements, Earth and Fire. The siblings' assistance helped Aang halt the Fire Nation's ambitions of world domination, ending the century-long war, and finally restoring balance to the world.

The murder of Katara's mother, Kya, and the later departure of her warrior father, Hakoda, left her traumatized and alone. Though she was cared for by her grandmother, Kanna, she invariably found herself filling the mother role left behind by Kya, even to her own brother. As was the custom of the Water Tribe for women to see to domestic duties, Katara soon took on many of the responsibilities expected of an adult and quickly became ardently independent and strong willed. Morally and emotionally driven, she developed a great sense of justice and compassion for others, becoming fiercely protective of others in need, when stirred.

Initially, Katara's Waterbending abilities were very limited. However, after acquiring a Waterbending scroll, and formal training at the North Pole, her determination and hard work allowed her to surpass Aang, and completely master the element. She became Aang's Waterbending instructor after their departure from the Northern Water Tribe, replacing Master Pakku, who had instructed them during their time there. Her mastery of water made her a formidable asset to the group. After the War ended, Katara and Aang began a close romantic relationship that eventually led to marriage, and raising a family, including an Airbender son, Tenzin, who will be teaching Avatar Korra Airbending in Avatar: The Legend of Korra.

Background
Born into the diminished Southern Water Tribe to Hakoda and Kya, Katara faced the reality of her tribe's dwindling strength from an early age. At the time of her birth, forty-five years of repeated Fire Nation invasions intended to capture and imprison the tribe's Waterbenders had left them without Waterbenders. The tribe's defenses would have crumbled under the might of the Fire Nation. But due to their relative inaccessibility in the South Pole, and the perception they were a non-threat, they were mostly left alone. But when Katara was a young girl, the Fire Nation again raided the village on the their knowledge that a Waterbender remained in the tribe. During the battle, the leader of the raid Yon Rha confronted Katara's mother, who was taking refuge in the family's igloo. Seeking shelter with her mother, Katara ran back to her home and interrupted their exchange. Realizing the intentions of Yon Rha, who had demanded Kya tell him the identity of the Waterbender, Kya insisted Katara leave, and gave herself up as the last Waterbender, lying to protect her daughter. Katara ran to fetch her father, Hakoda, but by the time they returned, Yon Rha had left and her mother had been killed. The death of their mother had a profound impact on both Katara and Sokka.



With the absence of a mother figure in the family, Katara soon found herself filling the role left behind by Kya. Katara began to take on many of the domestic responsibilities expected of women of the Southern Water Tribe, despite her young age. Several years later, her father Chief Hakoda, left to fight in the War with the rest of the men of the Southern Water Tribe. Katara and Sokka were left in the care of their grandmother, Kanna. Though Kanna loved the two and cared deeply for them, Katara was left feeling traumatized and alone.

Living in a tribe consisting entirely of women, children, and elderly, Katara took care of not only her own family, but frequently assisted the other members of the tribe in their own duties. She developed a protective and motherly personality which she would carry with her for the remainder of her life. Even to her own elder brother, Sokka, she was sometimes seen as a maternal figure. Much later, Katara overheard Sokka admitting to being unable to picture his mother, whose image had been replaced by Katara's. Katara displayed deep affection for those she traveled with, as well as being fiercely protective whenever danger threatened their safety. The inner strength she had developed in the absence of parental figures aided her in keeping Aang and their friends together through their most difficult experiences.

After the War


Sometime after the War, Katara married Aang and gave birth to three children, the youngest of which was an Airbender named Tenzin. He went on to marry a woman named Pema, and thus Katara gained four grandchildren: Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and a child with whom Pema is currently pregnant. It is unknown what happened to Katara's other children.

Personality
When Katara was a young girl, her mother was killed in a Fire Nation raid. This event had a tremendous impact on Katara's life and personality and arguably shaped her into the person she became. She was very emotionally driven, involving herself completely in the heartache and needs of those around her. Placing her whole heart in the affairs of others, as well as bearing her own heartache, she was often easily reduced to tears. According to Sokka, Katara largely prevented their family from falling apart and took on many responsibilities to the point where she filled the void left by their mother (so much that he pictured her in place of his mother). As such, Katara had a very maternal personality and often acted as a motherly figure to the group, something that often irritated the rebellious Toph. Her loss was also part of what drove her in her fight against the Fire Nation, although she did not exhibit as much outward prejudice as her brother. She was also a bit of a stickler for morality, even to the point of causing Sokka and Aang to faint from shock when she stated she wanted to pull a scam, as she had berated Toph for scamming people.

She was shown to have a soft spot for children. When aiding in baby Hope's birth, she stated that she helped her grandmother deliver many babies in their tribe, and in Jang Hui, she gave a portion of her food to a little boy. She even went as far as to care for and defend Tom-Tom, Mai's little brother, despite the fact that he was from the Fire Nation and that everyone else, with the exception of Aang, was distrustful of him for it.

Katara was caring and compassionate, and was often marked by a fierce determination to aid others. She stated herself that she would never turn away from people who need her help. Katara was even willing to defend Fire Nation civilians such as when she helped the village of Jang Hui and when she fought Hama, who was from the Southern Water Tribe, to protect the Fire Nation village she was living in. This strong desire often frustrated others, particularly Sokka.



Katara was portrayed as the most mature member of the group, rarely taking part in Sokka and Aang's goofy pranks and Toph's less silly ones, though she did have a sense of humor. Katara was described as being very motherly by Toph and Sokka. While the team traveled through the Si Wong Desert, Katara was able to hold the group together in its most desperate moments.

On the other hand, Katara could be overly domineering. For all her kindness and compassion, she was sometimes very self-righteous, had a rather nasty temper, and could be extremely fierce when provoked. With lack of sleep, this side of her can quickly become more apparent. She also was very set in her ideals and frequently refused to relent on her views in the face of opposition. Combined with her strong sense of compassion, this gave her a very strong sense of justice and she would run headlong into often dangerous situations to help others, which was best illustrated at the prison rig and at Jang Hui. Her short temper had frequently clashed with others; she showed open, but short-lived, jealousy of Aang's talent, and was frequently perturbed by Toph's confrontational and rebellious nature.

Despite being one of the more compassionate members of the group, Katara was one of the least willing to let go of a grudge, especially against those who she felt have betrayed her trust. She held a considerable grudge against those who have threatened Aang, as Zuko had, or done things she considered morally wrong, like Jet. At the Western Air Temple she showed outright hostility toward Zuko and threatened to kill him if he slipped back to his old ways. Upon her re-encounter with Jet, Katara reacted hostilely at the mere sight of him, and she was harsh and unforgiving of Zuko even long after he had joined Team Avatar and gained the trust of everyone else. However, this could be because Zuko's betrayal of her at Ba Sing Se was far more personal than his betrayal of anyone else. For a while, she also was argumentative with her father because she felt that he had abandoned her and Sokka when he left to fight in the War. However, Katara was sometimes willing to give people second chances; with much reluctance, she allowed Jet to guide Team Avatar to Appa, and she appeared to be saddened by his death, but possibly due to the fact she once had feelings for him. Also, she offered to try and heal Zuko's scar when they were enemies. Eventually, even after his betrayal, Katara decided to forgive him, embracing him as a friend, after he helped her find the man who killed her mother.

Katara was marked by a fierce desire to learn Waterbending, viewing it as a part of her and her culture that needed to be expressed. She also may have viewed it as a hope for rebuilding her tribe. Her enthusiasm for Waterbending caused her to constantly train herself in the art, and when she finally found a master to teach her formally, she became overjoyed. Having quickly advanced under the tutelage of Master Pakku; he stated that Katara accomplished this due to her fierce determination, passion and hard work.

Sokka told Toph that Katara could be a pain and would get "involved and in-your-business." This behavior was probably due to her strong maternal instincts. Even so, Katara was very understanding of other people's privacy. This was best demonstrated when Katara continually scolded Sokka for snooping around Hama's inn and rummaging through her personal belongings.

Motherly and feminine as she might be, Katara wasn't afraid to go beyond her feminine looks and way of being to achieve what she wanted. When she and Toph were denied entrance to a rowdy pub because the both of them were girls, they dressed up as boys. Katara in particular showed her masculine side when wanting to ride a mechanized bull; she was even willing to start an all-out brawl with some of the guys there who mocked her ability to stay on the bull. The whole thing ended with Toph dragging Katara away before things came to a head. Later, Katara and Toph were seen in a spa reflecting on how being a girl isn't so bad at all.

Waterbending
Katara's most notable ability was her Waterbending. She rapidly developed her skill at the art, and her fierce resolve to master the element helped her become not only one of the strongest and most powerful Waterbending masters, but potentially the youngest and quickest to obtain such status in many years.

Katara was identified as a Waterbender when she was a small child, though at exactly what age or how, is unknown. Over a half-century of unrelenting Fire Nation raids and their determination to capture the last of the Waterbenders in the Southern Tribe led Katara to be born into a tribe entirely deprived of Waterbenders. Her father, Hakoda, searched across the South Pole for a Waterbender to teach her, but none were found, confirming her status as the last Waterbender in the entirety of the South Pole.

Over the course of her childhood, Katara taught herself basic Waterbending techniques and managed to master some simple Waterbending forms. A reasonable feat, considering she would have never had the chance to have observed any Waterbending in practice, and probably had only the benefit of second-hand amateur advice from the elders of her tribe and possibly from her grandmother, Kanna, who, though unknown to Katara, grew up in the Northern Water Tribe.



As of the discovery of Aang at the South Pole, Katara was capable of "pushing and pulling" water, streaming small amounts and manipulating it into basic forms and movements, and was beginning to gain some control over the ability to change its physical state, freezing it into ice, as well as attempting to create sizable waves of water. What little she knew, she taught to Aang, who quickly mastered all she had to offer. That which had taken her years to achieve, Aang managed to imitate and outperform within mere minutes, much to her envy and frustration.

Her Waterbending remained amateurish at best until she came across a Northern Water Tribe Waterbending scroll depicting several different traditional Waterbending forms, amongst a collection of wares in a pirate-traders ship. Unable to afford the high price demanded for the scroll by the pirates, yet incapable of passing up such an opportunity to finally have formal instruction in Waterbending, she deftly stole the scroll and eventually made away with it. Katara and Aang first learned the water whip technique from the scroll, and afterward continued to improve their overall technique. Up until their arrival at the Northern Water Tribe, both Katara and Aang demonstrated considerable improvement, and Katara's confidence in her own abilities increased dramatically.

Later, Katara demonstrated the ability to bend with much greater precision and ease compared to when she first stole the scroll. She was able to draw unseen water out of different sources and bend greater quantities in general, streaming them into powerful blasts and freezing water with much more control than previously shown. She later developed several of her own techniques, including Cloudbending and a hand-held variation on the water-whip technique. Katara also demonstrated greater manipulation of ice and snow, as well as discovered her ability to heal. In the time between her acquisition of the Waterbending scroll and arrival at the North Pole, Katara's sheer determination and discipline saw her proficiency improve greatly, clearly surpassing that of Aang.

Katara's pride, strong-mindedness and sense of justice caused conflict with the traditions of the Northern Water Tribe, which forbade women from learning combat focused Waterbending. Katara, furious at having traveled to the opposite end of the Earth, only to be denied instruction by irrational customs, challenged the master Waterbending instructor of the Northern Water Tribe, Pakku, to a duel. Though she was undoubtedly no match for the master, she valiantly held her own, determined not to be beaten. She demonstrated not only more advanced techniques than she ever had previously, but also a surprising amount of agility and skill in physical combat, as well as greater proficiency in basic Waterbending techniques she had previously learned. For the first time, she was seen bending with her feet, employing non-bending hand and foot strikes in combat, and transforming the physical state of a wave. Pakku eventually removed her ability to bend by trapping her body and limbs between spikes of ice, and so won the fight without harming her. Though he admitted that she was an exceptionally talented Waterbender, he rigidly stuck by the laws of his culture and refused to teach Katara.

At the fight's conclusion, Pakku discovered Katara's necklace which had broken off during their duel. Recognizing the carved pendant, he revealed that the necklace passed down to Katara from Kanna, her grandmother, had been given to Kanna by Pakku as a symbol of their engagement sixty years prior. After realizing Katara was the granddaughter of his ex-fiancée, who had left the Northern Water Tribe to escape their arranged marriage, he decided to instruct Katara in combative Waterbending.

Under the guidance of Master Pakku, Katara's Waterbending abilities advanced quicker than that of any student he had ever trained, which he accredited to her fierce determination, passion and hard-work. She fought and defeated Zuko with the augmented power of the near-full moon. During the fight, she knocked him off his feet, deflected and shielded his attacks, imprisoned him in a dome of solid ice, and later, a wave of solid ice. Though she was defeated by Zuko after the sun rose, she fought him again with the full moon and defeated him easily.

Pakku later declared Katara a full-fledged Waterbending master.



Katara continued to hone her Waterbending potential, regularly demonstrating her Waterbending mastery in battle. In Omashu, Katara blocked a flurry of Mai's knives by Waterbending wooden boards into the air as shields in front of herself. She managed to block Mai's hand arrows with ice, then countered by freezing Mai's arm in ice. Ty Lee sneaked behind Katara and blocked her chi, preventing her from Waterbending. While in the swamp, Katara cut apart the vines holding her with the water stored in her pouch. In the battle where she, Aang and Sokka fought against Huu, Katara created large waves in the swamp water, froze a part of the swamp monster, and created a coil of water that she used to blast a hole into the monster. She also created large round blades out of the water and used them to cut up Huu's monster. Later, she easily defeated two Earthbending students by freezing them in solid ice.

When facing Ty Lee a second time, Katara fought using the water in her pouch to fend off her chi blocking attacks, forcing Ty Lee to cartwheel away from disks of razor-sharp water. She also stopped Azula from killing Aang by catching her hand in a water whip. While crossing the Serpent's Pass, she made a bridge of ice for the group to travel across as well as worked with Aang to support an underwater bubble for the group to travel in. She also surfed around on a surfboard of ice and, together with Aang, created a massive whirlpool to defeat the serpent.

She also rapidly condensed water vapor into ice to defeat her foes. When assaulting Jet upon re-encountering him, she used ice spikes, similar to Mai's daggers, to pin Jet to the wall in an alley. While fighting off the Royal Earthbender guards, Katara defeated dozens of them with whips and streams of water. In the crystal catacombs, Katara and Aang fought against Zuko and Azula. Katara managed to cut one of Azula's hair bangs with a water blade, and created two enormous whips of water, which she used to briefly trap Azula. These whips were able to match Zuko's enormous fire whips later. Finally, when Katara was surrounded by Dai Li agents, she defended herself with the octopus form, and rode on an enormous wave which knocked down these agents and Zuko. Then, she escaped on a rising stream water, carrying Aang to safety.



Katara's Waterbending later became even more advanced and destructive. During a fight with a Fire Nation ship, Katara used a huge wave to separate the two ships and created a huge steam barrier between them for cover. Then, when their ship got hit by a harpoon, Katara used her frosty breath of Waterbending to freeze the hole in the ship's hull, thus repairing it. When Aang held a dance for some of his Fire Nation school friends, Katara also created a fountain out of solid ice for beverages as well as the glasses they used to drink from. At the Jang Hui River, Katara created a cover of steam and sped herself atop the water's surface. Assisted by Aang, she used crashing waves and precise missiles of water to destroy a Fire Nation factory. She also blasted a Fire Nation river craft into the air and against a cliff. Katara also transported a huge bubble of water from a nearby creek to put out a fire. When Combustion Man locked Katara and Toph in jail, Katara used her own sweat as a water knife to break out of a wooden prison cell.

Katara learned new Waterbending moves from the old Waterbender Hama of the Southern Water Tribe, learning how to pull water out of thin air and out of plants. She also learned Bloodbending, the dark and sinister ability to manipulate the water within the body of all living beings, controlling them like a puppet. Katara was greatly distressed after she was tricked into learning Bloodbending, shown when she cried after using it to save Sokka and Aang from Hama. On the Day of Black Sun, Katara fought against the Fire Nation guards at the capital, destroying several guard towers with Sokka and defeating many soldiers. At the Western Air Temple, she rained ice spikes onto Combustion Man. Katara created a large wide dome of water by gathering rainwater and created ice spikes from it, nearly taking the life of Yon Rha. During the full moon that night, when her Waterbending powers were at their zenith, she nearly took down the whole Fire Nation ship of the Southern Raiders single-handedly. Finally, during Sozin's Comet, she froze herself and Azula into a block of solid ice, thawed the center of it and chained Azula to a grate.

Healing


Katara's innate Waterbending abilities also gave her the incredible ability to heal by manipulating the chi paths in a person's body. She inadvertently discovered this ability after Aang accidentally burned her hands, and then subsequently used this power again to heal Aang's own burn after his face-off with Admiral Zhao. Once she reached the Northern Water Tribe, she further developed this ability by training with Yugoda.

Pakku gave her a small vial of water from the Spirit Oasis, which he told her held special properties. Katara was going to use the spiritual water from the Spirit Oasis in an attempt to heal Zuko's scar, but Aang and Iroh burst in, making Zuko angry at Iroh for allying with the Avatar. Instead, she later used the spirit water to bring Aang back to life after he had been struck in the back by Azula's lightning. Katara unsuccessfully attempted to heal Jet after he was fatally wounded by Long Feng. During the invasion, Katara's father, Hakoda, was injured while taking out a Fire Nation ballista tower. Aiding him, her healing was enough to allow him to walk again. During Azula and Zuko's Agni Kai, Azula generated lightning and aimed it at Katara rather than Zuko; however, Zuko jumped in front of Katara and let the lightning shock him instead, sparing her from near death. After chaining Azula to a water grate, Katara used her healing to aid Zuko. Her healing had been successful enough that he could rise to his feet just moments after she had began.

Other abilities


Katara had little combat skills apart from her bending, which often led to her defeat. Like all Waterbenders, Katara was rendered helpless when her arms were restrained, or were affected in a way that would prevent her from bending. This was different from other benders that had combat skills to a certain degree, such as Zuko, who had extensive knowledge on the art of sword fighting. Despite being unable to fight in close combat, Katara exhibited remarkable agility and acrobatic skill, such as when she performed a dance with Aang. Furthermore, Katara was very resourceful and had a remarkable ability to adapt to her environment, reflecting on the fundamentals of her element, being that of change. Despite being cut off from the rest of the world, Katara possessed a healthy knowledge of spirituality and was one of the few to possess a deep respect for spiritual and cultural matters. Katara was also versed in mid-wifery, demonstrated in her crucial role in delivering an unexpected baby. As exaggerated in the play "The Boy in the Iceberg", Katara placed heavy value on hope.

Relatives

 * Kanna (paternal grandmother)
 * Pakku (paternal step-grandfather)
 * Hakoda (father)
 * Kya (mother, deceased)
 * Sokka (older brother)
 * Aang (husband)
 * Tenzin (youngest son)
 * Pema (daughter-in-law)
 * Jinora (granddaughter)
 * Ikki (granddaughter)
 * Meelo (grandson)

Appearances
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Trivia

 * In the Avatar Series Pilot, Katara's character was named Kya. The name Kya was later given to her previously unnamed mother. Nickelodeon's legal department vetted the name when they discovered there was already a video game character named Kya, so they had to change it. Kanna was first proposed to replace Kya, but was later used for the name of her grandmother instead.
 * Other than in the opening sequence, Katara was the first person to bend in the series.
 * Katara once stated that she hated the papaya fruit.
 * Katara seemed to have been quite knowledgeable on Yoga.
 * According to Aunt Wu, Katara should have her third great grandchild before quietly passing away in her sleep. Whether or not this was the case may be revealed in Avatar: The Legend of Korra.
 * In "The Avatar State" with "Avatar Extras" bonus commentary, it was confirmed that Katara mastered Waterbending in the short time that she was at the North Pole, making her the first female student of Master Pakku, and, possibly, the quickest person to ever master Waterbending.
 * Katara was seen or mentioned in every episode except "Zuko Alone".
 * Katara narrated the opening sequence, and therefore was the first person to speak in the series.
 * Katara was the first person in the series to reveal the ability to heal.
 * In some comics, her name is misspelled Takara instead of Katara. Coincidentally, takara is a Japanese word meaning treasure.
 * However, in the Greek translation her name is "Tamara". This is probably because "katara" means curse in Greek.
 * The last character in Katara's name, 拉, means pull. This may be in reference to her Waterbending.
 * In Arabic, Katara,قطرة, can be translated as droplet or water droplet.
 * Katara's voice actor, Mae Whitman, had previously worked with Dante Basco, Zuko's voice actor, on American Dragon: Jake Long. On the show, Basco voiced the protagonist, Jake Long, who had a crush on Rose, voiced by Whitman, throughout the series, who turned out to be serving the main antagonist, Huntsman. This is the reverse of the case on Avatar, where Basco voiced the antagonist character. By the middle of Season 2, the final season, Rose becomes one of the hero's allies, just as Zuko did in season 3 of Avatar.
 * Katara's name bears resemblance to catarata, which in both Portuguese and Spanish, is translated as waterfall.
 * Katara is a name of a push dagger in India
 * Katara was the only member of Team Avatar never to meet Fire Lord Ozai on-screen during the series.
 * Katara was the first person to touch Zuko's scar in the series, other than Zuko himself. Mai was the second to touch his scar, when they kissed after reuniting with one another.
 * Katara was the only character ever shown calming Aang out of the Avatar State, aside from Aang himself.
 * Katara, along with her brother, Sokka, had the longest list of love interests in the show: Jet and Aang both had her eye, and although nothing ever happened, Toph once assumed Katara and Haru "had a secret thing" together. Unlike her brother, she had no love interests from the Water Tribes or the Fire Nation, though it was previously debated whether the character Zuko was a potential love interest.
 * Katara and Aang eventually married, as announced by the creators, and had a son named Tenzin, who will serve as the Airbending teacher for Avatar Korra in the upcoming series, Avatar: The Legend of Korra.
 * Katara was the only person who has participated in all the Water Duels featured during the War, battling Pakku, Hama, Aang, and various Waterbending students.
 * Katara appeared in both the very first and the very last scenes of the entire series.
 * Katara was originally developed with Sokka. The creators liked the idea that Katara was a bender, while Sokka was not. They also liked the idea of a sibling rivalry after being inspired by their own sisters.
 * Katara was originally envisioned as a 12 year old girl, but after a suggestion from one of the crew members, she was "aged up" along with Aang and Sokka.
 * It's interesting to note that the LEGO Katara minifigure was the only toy based upon this character in the markets.