| "I don't know much about her early life other than she became a master at a young age and was highly regarded. [...] Then, on a journey through the Earth Kingdom, she met my father in a small town somewhere. [...] He dragged her into a scheme, and she fell in love with both him and the life of an outlaw. [...] She became a relatively big figure among daofei, more so than my father. But her airbending suffered from a spiritual taint. Or so her journal says. Letting herself be absorbed by worldly concerns, and greedy ones at that, caused her power to dwindle." |
| ā Kyoshi telling Rangi about Jesa's life.[1] |
Jesa was a renegade Air Nomad nun, crime boss, and the mother of Avatar Kyoshi. Originally considered a promising airbending master and much respected among her people, Jesa's life changed upon meeting an Earth Kingdom thief named Hark and partaking in one of his heists. Finding enjoyment in a life of violent adventure and crime, she abandoned her monastic existence and founded the "Flying Opera Company" crime network with Hark who eventually became her lover. As her airbending powers weakened upon becoming a criminal, Jesa crafted a pair of metal fans to strengthen her bending.
Over time, Jesa became one of the most renowned daofei outlaws in the Earth Kingdom, and along with Hark led her criminal organization to great successes. The two reduced their activities following the birth of their daughter Kyoshi, though they eventually left her in the care of villagers at Yokoya. Jesa eventually died of fever, and Kyoshi would come to use her metal fans to enhance her own bending.
History
Life
Jesa was born in the Eastern Air Temple, and showed great promise as a bender. She earned her arrows and became an airbending master while still young, and was highly regarded among the Air Nomads. All that changed, however, when she met a young earthbender and thief named Hark during a journey through the Earth Kingdom. He convinced Jesa to join him for one of his criminal schemes, and as it turned out, she greatly enjoyed this kind of adventure. After a short time, she went rogue, became a full-time criminal, and fell in love with Hark.[1]
Disavowing the traditional Air Nomad lifestyle, she tattooed snakes over her airbender arrows, quickly became infamous in the underworld, and rose to the de facto head of the Flying Opera Company,[1] a daofei outfit she and Hark had founded.[3] Using her sky bison, Longyan,[1] Jesa and Hark's underground network became very influential and powerful, even able to force Earth Kingdom officials to do their bidding.[3] For her crimes, the Air Nomads considered her one of the greatest disgraces to their culture in recent memory.[1] Over time, Jesa's airbending powers weakened; she believed that this was related to her abandoning a spiritual lifestyle and turning to a materialistic existence full of violence and greed. To compensate, she crafted a pair of metal fans to enhance her lessening airbending abilities.[1]
In 312 BG, she gave birth to a daughter, Kyoshi. Jesa and Hark consequently decided to mostly quit their large-scale criminal activities; they did not explain the reason for this decision to their associates. The small family consequently traveled through the entire Earth Kingdom, never staying in one place for a long time. When Kyoshi was about five or six, however, Jesa and Hark left her in the village of Yokoya in the care of a local villager. Jesa gave her daughter her fans as well as a journal she had written before departing.[3]
The two consequently resumed their criminal activities and gathered their crew once again. In their last years, Jesa and Hark came across a young orphaned Si Wong Desert tribesman named Lek in the village of Date Grove. They saved him from death, and made him their disciple; he consequently came to greatly adore them.[3] At some point, Jesa personally did business with some Fifth Nation pirates.[4] She and Hark eventually died of a fever in 299 BG.[3]
Legacy
Jesa and Hark's deaths were mourned by their remaining companions, most importantly Lek, who continued to hold them in high regard for their capabilities and great loyalty to their group.[3]
After being left behind by her parents, Kyoshi was quickly abandoned by the villagers of Yokoya. They left her to die on the streets, and she barely survived for a year in near-constant starvation. As a result, Kyoshi came to despise her parents and criminals in general,[3] and regarded Jesa in particular as a "disgrace".[1] She was eventually rescued by the Air Nomad master Kelsang who became her de facto adoptive parent. Kyoshi never told Kelsang of her mother, believing it to be a too-touchy subject for an Air Nomad.[1] When learning of her parents' death, Kyoshi's first reaction was relief and even satisfaction.[3]
After the revelation that she was the Avatar, Kyoshi used the knowledge from Jesa's journal to find the remnants of the Flying Opera Company, joining them to prepare for a showdown with Jianzhu. Kyoshi's low opinion of her parents resulted in tensions between her and Lek.[3]
Physical description
Jesa was a tall woman with a freckled face and gray eyes. She earned airbending master tattoos in her youth, which she later added serpents markings over, upon becoming a daofei. She shared enough physical similarities with Yangchen that Kyoshi temporarily mistook the Avatar for her mother, as they shared the same smile and slight laugh wrinkles about the eyes.[1][2]
Personality
Jesa relished in the life of a criminal and would easily give up everything for her goals. She disregarded her teachings, culture, and status as airbending master upon falling in love with Hark and becoming a daofei.[1]
She showed compassion toward Lek as she and Hark saved him from death, but she was mostly selfish as she placed her wishes of continuing illegal activities above her daughter, whom she left in the care of farmers.[3]
Relatives
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Appearances
Kyoshi novels
The Rise of Kyoshi
- 107. "The Iceberg" (dream, no lines)
- 114. "The Introduction" (dream)
Trivia
- Kyoshi inherited her freckles and height from Jesa.[3][4]
- Jesa is the first known Air Nomad to have an earthbending child, through her daughter Kyoshi.[5]
- Jesa is the only known Air Nomad to have gone renegade and become a criminal.[5]
References
- ā 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Yee, F. C. (author), DiMartino, Michael Dante (author). (July 16, 2019). Chapter Sixteen, "The Agreement". The Rise of Kyoshi. Amulet Books.
- ā 2.0 2.1 2.2 Yee, F. C. (author), DiMartino, Michael Dante (author). (July 21, 2020). Chapter Twenty-Seven, "The Meeting". The Shadow of Kyoshi. Amulet Books.
- ā 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Yee, F. C. (author), DiMartino, Michael Dante (author). (July 16, 2019). Chapter Fourteen, "The Introduction". The Rise of Kyoshi. Amulet Books.
- ā 4.0 4.1 Yee, F. C. (author), DiMartino, Michael Dante (author). (July 16, 2019). Chapter Seven, "The Iceberg". The Rise of Kyoshi. Amulet Books.
- ā 5.0 5.1 Yee, F. C. (author), DiMartino, Michael Dante (author). (July 16, 2019). The Rise of Kyoshi. Amulet Books.