| By Neo Bahamut | Part of the Republic City Renaissance continuity. |
Overview[]
Roatha diversifies the cast a bit, being of a different gender, bending style, and profession than the other characters featured by that point. Like Zuko but without the bad attitude or family problems, he has a lot of work ahead of him to fulfill his destiny, something I hope to expand upon in a later Book.
Background[]
Born to Sarai and Abram, both nonbenders. His father went into the United Forces, and though it quickly became clear that Roatha was not interested in a military career, Abram still sought to train him in his military techniques and leave heirlooms like his sword and uniform. He was able to use his connections with the United Forces to get Roatha a firebending teacher, convincing him that learning to control his powers would be important if he wanted to make it as a Pro-Bender.
However, Roatha's low stamina and even lower firebending temperatures made him lucky to get work as a furnace operator in the power plant. Roatha initially moved to the Dragon Flats to be closer to his job, but with the rising Triad activity, was seeking employment elsewhere.
Book 0[]
Roatha was dragged to Keter's welcoming party by his coworkers, and mostly stood awkwardly on the sidelines until being noticed by Euryale, hoping to find someone Thiera would bond with. They did not bond, but Roatha unknowingly provided Aroma with an idea for a sting operation. He was among the locals Euryale questioned for information about Triads who might be able to help and asked her out on a date. Aside from her showing up very late, it went well, but Roatha became impatient when she cancelled their 2nd date at the last minute. As she was unable to tell him about the sting, they fell apart.
Book 0.5[]
After meeting back up with the girls, he started hanging out with Thiera, sharing information about the Purist remnants. He was there when the sandbender Venetia was rescued and joined the Pro-Bending team they formed for her. He also assisted Thiera with her independent investigation into the rumored infiltration of the police department, ultimately helping to thwart the coup.
Book 3.5[]
He joined Euryale's task force on a trip to the Earth Kingdom, planning mostly to provide supporting fire. He didn't expect to be embroiled in a fight between mercenaries, the sandbender tribes, and a dark spirit. Nevertheless, when the unearthly cloud overtook his body, it was only thanks to Euryale's teachings that he expelled it, escaping with his life. The chance encounter left him with a newfound lightning power, but his emotions were increasingly blurred with the spirit's, and giving into rage would cause it to take control and spread the infection.
Even so, a mortal injury at the assault on the mercenaries' stronghold forced him to tap into the spirit's full power. It was so effective at obliterating their defenses that he willingly accessed the transformation one more time, ignoring the effects it would have.
His growing addiction to the power was called into question when he entered the Spirit World, and the distraught firebender felt he was no different than the Red Monsoon leader, consuming spirits to increase his own powers. He fled into the jungle, where he was found by Iroh, who advised him to find a new way forward: If he couldn't defeat the spirit or control it, he would meditate into their shared mind and try making peace with it.
His first attempt ended in disaster, forcing him to flee back to the outside world before the spirit could destroy him completely. However, he did learn that the spirit called itself "Rudra" and once had a human friend over 10,000 years ago. Armed with this new knowledge, he next meditated when the mercenaries attacked the Northern Tribe, and that time was able to defeat the spirit. It refused to stop fighting, pushing his rage, but at the last second before the transformation would complete, he gained control of himself and reverted to his human form.
He finally got through to Rudra at the Spirit Oasis but couldn't stop Senthose from devouring him. Armed with full, unlimited control over lightningbending, he turned to face the bloodbender, but Senthose's fighting experience evened the odds and he tipped the scales by absorbing Tui and La. They managed to push the bloodbender to the brink, forcing him to emerge in spirit form, but the deadlock was broken when the Dream Spirit burst from him like breaking a cocoon. It was his ability to think outside the box, more than his power, that defeated the Dream Spirit, particularly when he used his lightningbending to purify its chi.
Legacy[]
Roatha returned home as a rumor that was whispered about in some circles, but quickly forgotten as he consistently failed to display his powers. In addition to not seeing the need, Roatha's firebending was actually becoming increasingly painful. He finally collapsed shortly before Kuvira's invasion. By the time it concluded, Avatar Korra broke the bad news: In order to save his life from his failing spirit powers, she had to remove every trace of bending from him.
He took it in stride and dedicated himself instead to mastering the art of swordsmanship, his father's hilt reforged with Lilith's blade. He and Thiera would have a daughter, who would need to learn firebending without his help. Roatha himself drifted more and more to the new spiritualist community in the heart of Republic City, serving as a local protector.
Personality[]
A bit more outgoing and less socially awkward than Thiera, but not by much. Significantly less intelligent, though this still makes him smarter than the average platypus bear. He is a bit more successful at hiding changes to his emotional state than Euryale, and like her does not want to be seen as weak, but is prone to sulking after a bad day. He can be reckless at times, but his temperament is fairly even. His combination of coolness under pressure, reluctance to seek the spotlight, and suggestibility make him a convenient place for others to dump their responsibilities.
Abilities[]
At the time of the Purist Crisis, Roatha was known as an unskilled firebender. He could perform basic tricks like sparks and simple shapes, but the flames' temperatures were low and couldn't be kept up for long. He was taught lightning redirection at the power plant as a basic safety precaution, proving generally competent with it. Though he'd tried many times, he'd proven predictably incapable of generating lightning.
He improved greatly during his training for the Armadillo Lions, gaining the ability to perform athletic leaps and contortions while his accuracy grew to the point where he could strike a hole in a moving airship during fee-fall with just a few shots. He also finally unlocked lightning generation, and combined with his redirection abilities, was even able to create a crude replica of Kalika's electrified kali stick, though it required both hands and a large arc of electricity to maintain.
Origin[]
Roatha was among my earliest characters, and as such is a bit of a hybrid of Author Avatar and Everyman, though I try not to cling to those tropes too much. He is frequently associated with lightning or sometimes fire, a red coat, and a focus on speed and cunning in a fight, sort of like a trickster figure. In the early days, he had a theme of "using evil powers for good deeds," which may show up later. His given name is simply made-up gibberish. I don't have an ideal surname for him, so I'm holding out in case something better comes along.
Trivia[]
- Abram and Sarai are the original names of Abraham and Sarah, the patriarch of Judaism/Christianity/Islam and his wife. It's not much more original than naming them "Father" and "Mother."
- The intended pronunciation of the middle vowels is as in "throat."
Reflections[]
Despite being a minor character in Book 0.5, I always knew that he would be the protagonist if I reached the post-Red Lotus period and that would most likely be the end of the story. That gave him the hefty job of not only expanding the story into the open world but also carrying its overall themes. Book 3.5 ended up being a lot about subversion, so there was really only one way it could end: After spending so much of the story amassing power, he needed to realize that the only true path to peace was to let go of that desire.
Thus, the story that began as a nonbender gaining confidence ends with an increasingly powerful bender having the confidence to become a nonbender. This also led to the idea that, much like the Avatar Cycle, the death of Roatha the Legendary Lightning-Bender was the birth of Roatha the Spirit Protector, and he hones his other skills in service of that goal. So, where Senthose once mocked him for being an amateurish swordfighter, if they met again, Roatha would most likely defeat him in a duel.
On the subject of the spirit hybrids, it seems remiss not to talk about Rudra's character somewhere and, though he lacks his own character page, he's intimately tied with Roatha. The fact that Roatha has trouble telling their feelings apart when they fuse serves to foreshadow that the Book's morality isn't as black-and-white as it seems. I have to admit to a bit of Undertale influence, and I struggled with how to reveal the big plot twist, but hopefully it was sufficiently mind-blowing. I wanted to recontextualize the idea of an evil possessing spirit and show just how deceiving appearances can be, although I recognize his redeemability is complex and very much debatable.
I don't think it particularly matters if Roatha was his friend's reincarnation literally since he already is figuratively, but I'd like to think they reunited in the end. The important thing is that he, like Roatha, found peace in letting go of hatred and atoning for his actions. This is why their lightning, which changes color throughout the story to represent level of spiritual enlightenment, turns white after this. Both have chosen to accept each other and commit to stopping the war.
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