- This article is about the character in the animated series. For the character in Netflix's live-action series, see June.
| "I've done more traveling and seen more action in six months as the Jasmine Dragon's official tea discoverer than I did in five years as a bounty hunter. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Retirement suits me." |
| — June to Iroh about her new career.[1] |
June was a bounty hunter and adventurer who traveled around the world.[1][3] She rose to fame during the late Hundred Year War, operating in the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation and gaining a reputation as the best and most expensive bounty hunter of her time. She was a mercenary and had no allegiance to any nation, only to the highest bidder for her services.[3]
Confident and self-assured, she tracked her prey with the help of her mount, Nyla, a shirshu. Though blind, he saw by means of his powerful scent receptors, reportedly sensitive enough to "smell a rat a continent away".[4] When her work began to dry up after the Hundred Year War's end, June eventually retired from bounty hunting to become the Jasmine Dragon tea discoverer, using her and Nyla's skills to seek out the most rare and dangerous tea ingredients.[1]
Quick Answers
What made June the most expensive bounty hunter of her time in "Avatar: The Last Airbender"?
How does June's neutrality shape her character in Avatar?
How did June come to own her shirshu, Nyla?
How does June's physical strength compare to other characters in "Avatar: The Last Airbender"?
History[]
Early life[]
June's family was torn apart when her mother stayed behind to delay a raid by Earth Kingdom security forces.
June originated from the Earth Kingdom.[3] Her parents were an unusual couple, as her mother was an infamous thief who had been first captured and then rescued by her father, an Earth Kingdom soldier turned bounty hunter. In her childhood, June loved to listen to her parents' stories, in particular of how they fell in love after her father understood her mother's cause. One day, soldiers discovered them, June's mother telling them to flee, as his punishment for being a deserter would be more severe than hers, telling June to be free.[1]
Now alone with her father, she spent much time traveling with him. It was from him that she adopted the tracking and fighting skills she employed. June's father received a shirshu from a rare animal collector in payment for a bounty, and gave it to her. The shirshu, named Nyla, became June's inseparable companion.[3] She and her father both swore to never owe allegiance to no one and never represent any government authority.[1] Over the course of her career, she met various other bounty hunters, taking a liking to some such as Fan's crew.[1]
Hunting and aiding the Avatar[]
June successfully captured her target with Nyla's help on Zuko's ship, earning the interest of Zuko and Iroh.
Early in 100 AG, June tracked a fleeing target who had stowed on board Zuko's ship and captured him while inflicting mild damage to the ship. Iroh developed an immediate interest in her while Zuko was angered, though quietly impressed, with her proficiency and skill.[4]
The two subsequently followed the huntress, finding her in a tavern where she was arm wrestling a man on a bet. Zuko demanded reparations for the damages inflicted on his ship, but June was unimpressed. After defeating her wrestling opponent and collecting her winnings, she sarcastically responded that she was "a little short on money" and promptly squandered her winnings on a round of drinks for all present. The defiant prince angrily informed her that he was not interested in money, but wanted June to find the Avatar. However, the bounty hunter refused to work for free, only agreeing to the proposal when Iroh offered her a substantial amount of gold.[4]
Accompanied by Zuko and Iroh, June subsequently tracked down Aang by following his trail after obtaining Katara's scent from her necklace. After traveling through various locations including Taku and Makapu Village, the group successfully found Team Avatar at an abbey. A battle erupted, with June and Nyla being largely occupied with an angry Appa. Eventually Nyla was "blinded" by a large quantity of perfume that Katara had waterbent over him. As the shirshu lashed out in confusion, June and Zuko were both temporarily paralyzed. Iroh caught and supported her and was content to feign paralysis simply to get close and hold her. Although the act clearly annoyed her, she could not do anything about it.[4]
June was urged by Zuko to find Avatar Aang to prevent "the end of the world".
Months later, June encountered Zuko again, though the prince had reformed and joined Team Avatar by this point. He asked her to find the unaccounted-for Aang. Initially, June was not interested until Zuko gave her some encouragement, mentioning "the end of the world". However, Aang's scent could not be found by Nyla, as if the Avatar had ceased to exist.[2] Instead, Zuko suggested they search for Iroh, hoping he would know what to do. June subsequently led the group to the broken walls of Ba Sing Se, saying that Iroh was just on the other side of the large pile of debris. With her job complete, she wished the group good luck before riding off.[5]
Changing careers[]
After the Hundred Year War's end, bounty hunting became an increasingly difficult profession as job offers started to dry up and governments curtailed the business in an effort to reinforce regular law and order. Many bounty hunters opted to enter state employment to escape poverty or jail, but June refused to do so out of a sense of honor and lasting resentment over her family's past treatment by security forces.[1] At one point, Zuko hired June in one of his many attempts to track down his long lost mother; to no avail.[6]
June ambushed Iroh outside the Jasmine Dragon to collect the bounty on his head.
Eventually, June was hired by a crime boss named Keung to kidnap Iroh from Ba Sing Se; the reward was quite high and would have kept her and Nyla "in luxury for years". The bounty hunter thus ambushed Iroh outside the Jasmine Dragon, but he managed to fend off her initial attack. To June's surprise, Iroh was happy to see her, but she kept attacking him and eventually overpowered him with shirshu venom sleeping powder after a short duel. Having tied him up, June subsequently put Iroh onto Nyla and began traveling to Daxia Harbor. When the older man woke up and inquired about her employer and their destination, June initially refused to answer until Iroh annoyed her and Nyla by terribly singing a Water Tribe love song. After the bounty hunter revealed that they were going to Daxia Harbor, Iroh agreed to not resist in order to learn who held a grudge against him.[1]
Despite being outnumbered, June fought Yuze's mercenaries.
The group continued their journey until they were ambushed by Yuze's mercenaries, a group of ex-bounty hunters who were seeking to arrest June in the name of the Earth King. In the resulting battle, June initially had to upper hand but was eventually disarmed by one mercenary, whereupon Nyla and Iroh intervened together and terrified Yuze's group into fleeing. As a reward for his help, June subsequently released Iroh from his shackles and talked more freely with him; the two conversed about the bounty hunter's ongoing job struggles as well as her disinclination toward retirement due to preferring a nomadic lifestyle. Yet she also refused to turn on fellow bounty hunters and turn them over to authorities, one of the few easy ways to remain in the profession.[1]
After several days on the road, June, Nyla, and Iroh eventually arrived at Daxia Harbor. Once inside the city, the bounty hunter allowed Iroh to visit the local tea market. There, she unexpectedly ran into Fan and her crew including Wei, Kinmei, and Shu-Hui, discovering that they had transitioned to farming and agriculture, wishing to give back to the struggling community, much to June's shock. After some friendly small talk, June promised to later visit Fan's farm just outside Daxia Harbor. June and Iroh then made their way to the Wuyi Tea Cartel's headquarters where the bounty hunter delivered her quarry to Keung, the triad's leader.[1]
To her surprise, June learned that Keung was Iroh's former subordinate who had developed a deep grudge due to feeling betrayed by his superior over the Siege of Ba Sing Se. Though Iroh deeply apologized for not having been able to save Keung's troops amid the siege, the vengeful criminal declared that the only true apology would be torture and death. Not wishing to see Iroh die, June asked Keung to refrain from such extreme retaliation, but the triad boss instead demanded that she took her bounty and leave. Reluctantly, the hunter did so. She subsequently visited Fan's farm, outlining her conflicted feelings to the ex-bounty hunter. After some advice from Fan, June came to the conclusion that Keung's desire for Iroh to die in atonement for abandoning his unit during the Siege was unjustified, as Iroh was a different person now. Reflecting on the difficulty of changing and learning from one's mistakes, June used her collected bounty to hire Fan's crew to rescue Iroh.[1]
June and her allies subsequently stormed the Wuyi Tea Cartel's headquarters, quickly overpowering most of the guards. The bounty hunter managed to free Iroh from the triad's prison, but soon found herself locked in combat with Keung who proved to be a potent firebender. After asking Keung to back down one last time, June called on Iroh to intervene in the duel, quickly concluding the fight in the triad leader's defeat. Afterward, June decided for a career change, whereupon Iroh offered her a job. She thus began to work as procurer of rare teas for the Jasmine Dragon, which allowed her to remain travelling, an aspect of bounty hunting she could continue to enjoy. Six months into the job, she deemed it more exciting than her last five years as a bounty hunter.[1]
Personality[]
In June's profession, she had to mix with a variety of people from unsavory to low life as well as regular characters. Her determination, resolve and superior physical strength enabled her to get the job done in the toughest of assignments. June's character along with her shirshu's abilities made her a force to be reckoned with.[4][2]
A fearless woman who was rarely misunderstood, June was also confident and decisive, though occasionally sassy. While she was often dark and uncaring,[4] she did not ask for payment from Zuko when he said that the world would be destroyed and needed her help, proving that loyalty to her pocket was not the only consideration.[2]
Abilities[]
June and Nyla tracked Aang and his friends to the abbey.
June was a professional bounty hunter and an experienced shirshu rider. Despite her slender frame, she was also deceptively strong, as she was able to effortlessly defeat a muscular man in an arm-wrestling match[4] and lift up a grown man.[4] Additionally, June proved to be a formidable fighter, as she demonstrated amazing speed, hand-to-hand combat skills, and evasiveness. She was able to defeat multiple opponents before a cup she was drinking from, which she had thrown in the air, hit the ground.[2] She was also known to be skilled in using the whip.
Relatives[]
Appearances[]
Avatar: The Last Airbender[]
Book One: Water (水)[]
- 115. "Bato of the Water Tribe"
Book Three: Fire (火)[]
- 318. "Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King" (no lines)
- 319. "Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters"
Graphic novels[]
Trivia[]
- In "Bato of the Water Tribe", June treated Nyla harshly, but in "Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters", she treated him much more kindly, calling him her "snuffly wuffly".
June and Nyla were drawn chibi-style for their appearance in School Time Shipping.
- June was featured in the Super Deformed Short School Time Shipping with her shirshu, Nyla.
- June's design was inspired by staff writer Lisa Yang, and her shirshu's name Nyla is also the name of Yang's Rottweiler.[7][8][9]
- Iroh appeared to have a small crush on her.[4]
- By the time Team Avatar met up with June, she and Nyla had been together for more than seventeen years.[10]
- A cut concept for the invasion storyline in Book Three involved June tracking down and recruiting Team Avatar's allies such as the mechanist.[11]