Katara is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Mae Whitman in the original series and Eva Marie Saint in the sequel series.
Katara is a fourteen-year-old waterbender (i.e., she has the ability to telekinetically control water and ice); at the beginning of the story she is the only waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe, one of two known communities (along with the Northern Water Tribe at the opposite pole) in which waterbending is practiced. She and her older brother, Sokka, discover an Airbender named Aang, the long-lost Avatar, frozen in an iceberg, and accompany him on his quest to defeat the imperialistic Fire Nation and bring peace to the war-torn world.[1] She later earns the title of Master Waterbender from Master Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe at the age of fourteen
Katara has appeared in other media, such as trading cards, T-shirts, video games[4] and web comics.
Book Two[]
After mastering waterbending with the guidance of Master Pakku, Katara left the North Pole with Aang and Sokka and journeyed to the Earth Kingdom for the Avatar to master earthbending.[1]
After Admiral Zhao's unsuccessful Siege of the North, Katara and the group left the North Pole on a Water Tribe ship. Master Pakku presented Katara with an amulet containing water from the Spirit Oasis, telling her the water had unique healing properties. After leaving Master Pakku and the other members of the Northern Water Tribe, the group traveled to an Earth Kingdom base where they were to be escorted to Omashu, where Aang would learn earthbending under the tutelage of Bumi, the king of the city. Katara and the team met General Fong, who believed Aang was wasting time mastering the elements, and instead suggested a plan to aid Aang in triggering the Avatar State, which would grant him the power to defeat Fire Lord Ozai. Aang consented, but Katara opposed this shortcut, trying but failing to convince Aang to resume learning to bend the four elements one at a time. After several unsuccessful attempts to induce the Avatar State, Fong attempted to trigger it by ordering his troops to attack Aang. When this failed, Fong used earthbending to bury Katara, pretending to kill her. This enraged Aang, who fell under the Avatar State. Realizing the power Aang possessed being under the influence of the state, Fong attempted to explain that he faked Katara's death to trigger the Avatar State; however, his attempt to calm Aang fell on deaf ears, as the Avatar used a powerful wave of earthbending to defeat Fong and his troops. Afterward, the group abandoned the base and flew away onAppa, resuming their journey to King Bumi.[1]
While the team relaxed by a lakeside, a group of Earth Kingdom nomads, including Chong, Lily, and Moku, appeared, displaying the characteristics of carefree and nature-loving people. When the group revealed their intention to travel to Omashu, Chong spoke of a shortcut through tunnels passing beneath a mountain. Although Sokka remained distrustful of the nomads, the team later followed them to the tunnels after an unsuccessful attempt to fly over the mountains.
Chong explained the tunnels formed a labyrinth protected by a curse where only those who put their trust in love could navigate their way through; those who did not would be lost forever. Sokka created a map while traveling though the labyrinth, but his attempts were useless because the tunnels consistently changed around them. Things grew even worse when Appa, after becoming frightened by fire, ran wildly around the cave. His rampage caused the ceiling to cave in, separating the group. After Aang pushed Katara out of the way of falling rocks, they and Appa were forced to continue their travels alone.
After traveling for what was estimated at three hours, Aang and Katara discovered a large tomb designed for the two lovers spoken of in lore. By reading script carved into the walls, they discovered the true story of the two lovers. The final line in the script stated "love is brightest in the dark." Katara, inspired by this statement, suggested a possible way to solve the labyrinth: by following the example of the lovers and kissing in the hopes that she and Aang could find the way out. Although Aang found this idea highly intriguing due to his yet unexpressed but growing affection for Katara, he attempted to reassure an embarrassed Katara that he could not imagine kissing her. When she seemed insulted by this response, he assured her he would rather kiss her than die, which he insisted was a compliment in order to calm her down; instead, it only served to frustrate Katara further. She stormed off, which cooled the ardor between them for a while, but later, as the torch began dying out, desperation, and possibly affection, led them to dare the unknown. As the torchlight faded, they leaned toward each other, closing their eyes, and kissed.[2] In the resulting darkness, Aang and Katara discovered the two lovers navigated the tunnels by putting out their lights and following the ceiling of glowing crystals that only lit up in the dark. They finally found their way out of the tunnel and were soon reunited with the others, with Aang explaining to Sokka that they had let love lead the way out. When the nomads departed in song of love, Katara was left blushing in silence. Concluding this, Aang, Sokka, and Katara finally arrived at Omashu only to find the great city had been conquered by the Fire Nation.[3]
Despite the dangers of being caught, Aang decided to infiltrate the city to find Bumi, despite Katara's beliefs that Aang should seek a different earthbending teacher. She was convinced, however, when Aang explained that Bumi was a friend as well as an earthbending teacher. The team found their way into the city by traveling through a sewer; they emerged from the pipes unharmed, except for Sokka, who had several purple pentapuses stuck to his face. They turned out to be harmless and Aang removed them easily. Suddenly, they were discovered by two Fire Nation soldiers who questioned why they were out past curfew. Aang quickly covered his arrow tattoo with a piece of cloth as Katara stated they were just on their way home and the soldiers decided to let them go. Just as they began leaving, however, the soldiers noticed the marks left by the pentapuses and grew suspicious, interrogating the group as to how Sokka received the markings. Katara quickly claimed that Sokka had "pentapox", a very contagious disease. The soldiers ran away in fear, thereby allowing the group to avoid capture.
In Omashu, the new Fire Nation governor of the city, his wife, baby son, and daughter, Mai, discovered Aang's presence in the city. The trio ended up in an underground cavern where an Earth Kingdom officer, Captain Yung, revealed that King Bumi had surrendered to the Fire Nation, an account that surprised all of them. When Yung insisted on fighting the Fire Nation, Aang opposed his idea by suggesting they leave Omashu to which Yung reluctantly agreed. Sokka devised a plan where all the citizens were to have "pentapox". After seeing all the "sick" citizens, the Fire Nation governor ordered them to be evacuated immediately.
Once outside of Omashu, Katara took an instant liking to Tom-Tom, the governor's son who, out of curiosity, had followed the citizens. She cuddled and praised him and even insisted that Sokka gave in to Tom-Tom's desire to hold his club. When the leader of the resistance warned her that "he'll be a killer" once he grew up, Katara responded, "Does this look like the face of a killer to you?" while holding Tom-Tom up.
When the resistance received a note demanding they return Tom-Tom to his family in exchange for Bumi, the trio went to the meeting place, where they found Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee waiting for them. A fight ensued when Azula recognized Aang as the Avatar. While she and the Avatar fought on the mail chute, Katara battled Mai, freezing her arm in ice as Ty Lee targeted Sokka, who had narrowly kept Tom-Tom from falling to his death, only for Katara to use a water whip to pull her away. The duel continued between her and Mai; Katara momentarily gained the upperhand until Ty Lee blocked herchi which disabled her waterbending abilities. Mai tauntingly asked, "How are you going to fight without your bending?" and prepared to strike her with a sai, but Sokka intervened and saved Katara. The team left Omashu after Bumi advised Aang to seek a different earthbending teacher.[4]
When the team was flying on Appa above a giant swamp, Aang stared down at it in a sort of hypnotic trance and unknowingly guided Appa lower and lower above the area. Sokka noticed their strange descent and inquired as to why they were flying downward which snapped Aang out of his trance. Katara asked him if something was wrong to which Aang replied that he felt the swamp was calling to him. Aang stated Bumi's advice, which was to listen to the earth and felt strongly obligated to land. However, strong objections by the rest of the group changed his mind and he agreed to keep flying. However just as he did so, a tornado appeared and knocked the group down into the depths of the swamp.
After the fall, Aang, Katara, and Sokka became separated from Appa and Momo. Aang began to search for them, but to no avail. While searching, he discovered the tornado had mysteriously disappeared. The trio, led by Sokka, started searching for their animal friends, with Sokka chopping away at everything in sight with his machete. Aang urged him to treat the swamp more respectively. Katara agreed with Aang, as she felt some supernatural qualities were present within the swamp. She claimed that it felt alive, but Sokka ignored their warnings and dismissed their concerns. Things became stranger when the group decided to camp out for the night; they saw glowing eyes within the darkness and had a strange sense they were being secretly watched. In the midst of the night, strong vines emerged from within the undergrowth and jarred the sleeping trio awake by suddenly dragging them away screaming. After each of the three successfully broke free from their captor of vines, they were completely separated from each other.
Katara, now looking for Sokka and Aang, saw a strange figure in the distance. She identified it as her mother and began to run up to her. However, when she turned to face her mother, she realized it was only a hallucination. The figure she thought was her mother turned out to be an ordinary stump. She broke down into tears at this reality. Eventually, the group reunited and all confessed they had witnessed visions while traveling through the swamp. They found themselves at the center of the swamp which Aang believed was "calling" to them. Sokka objected saying there were no supernatural events happening, but was proved wrong when a terrifying swamp monster emerged from the water and attacked them. A fight soon erupted; Katara's prominent waterbending skills proved to be a challenge for the monster.
Aang and Katara finally defeated the swamp monster who was really a waterbender named Huu bending the water in the vines. He went on to explain that, in reality, the swamp was one enormous tree spread over miles and miles of land. He taught how everything on Earth was connected and had the same origins. When Katara asked him about the meaning of their visions, he explained that oftentimes people envisioned loved ones in the swamp which was a way to communicate to them that all people, dead or alive, were connected. Aang's vision continued to perplex him because he was certain he had never met the girl he had envisioned, but realized he will meet her in the future. From Huu's statement, the Avatar also realized that if everything were connected, he could find Appa and Momo, so he touched the tree and used his chi to connect with the roots around him to locate them. When they did, Aang and Katara persuaded the natives to free their friends.[5]
When visiting Chin Village, Katara and the gang witnessed the annual Avatar Day festival, denouncing the Avatar. Horrified at this scene, they questioned the leader, Mayor Tong, who told Aang he was not welcome to the village after the murder of their great leader, Chin, by one of his past lives. Aang was jailed and beckoned Sokka and Katara to find evidence to clear his name. The two consented and began searching for evidence; their investigation eventually led them to Kyoshi Island. After arriving back at the village, a trial was held and Aang was found guilty of murder. However, when a Fire Nation group, known as theRough Rhinos, invaded the town; the Avatar was excused from his trial in order to defend the town. The team's brave victory over the Rough Rhinos resulted in the celebration of a new Avatar Day; instead of denouncing the Avatar, the Avatar would be honored from that point on.
The trio went to the town of Gaoling to continue their search for an earthbending instructor. While searching, Aang received a free earthbending lesson from a man named Master Yu, but he found that Yu cared more about having him pay for lessons than he did about teaching. Afterward, they overheard a pair of studentsdiscussing Earth Rumble VI, a tournament featuring several powerful earthbenders. The boys were not very inclined to inform Aang of the tournament's location, until Katara secretly used her "feminine charm", which involved freezing them to the walls, to coerce them to tell.
At the tournament, they witnessed a powerful earthbender named The Boulderdefeat every challenger he came across. Sokka became completely enthralled in the spectacle, but Aang was not very impressed, saying that The Boulder was "just listening to his big muscles" as opposed to listening to the earth. After vanquishing all other contenders, The Boulder confronted the current champion, the Blind Bandit, a blind twelve-year-old girl. Aang noticed the Bandit's techniques, especially how she waited and listened carefully to the movements of her opponent and realized she was the master of neutral jing Bumi had been encouraging him to find. He also realized that she was the girl whom he had envisioned in the swamp.
After the Bandit effortlessly defeated The Boulder, the host of the tournament, Xin Fu, offered a large sum of gold to whoever could defeat the Blind Bandit in a fight. Seeing an opportunity to talk to the Bandit, Aang challenged her. The Bandit, however, was ready for a fight and refused to engage in conversation, instead launching a boulder at Aang. She was not prepared, however, to face an airbender and was defeated when Aang blew her out of the ring. The Bandit took badly to her loss and stormed off, refusing to listen to Aang when he beckoned to her.
Aang and the others returned to Master Yu's school to try to find out where the Blind Bandit lived. They approached the students they had confronted earlier, both of whom were quite intimidated by Katara. They did not obtain much information; however, Aang recalled the flying boar he had seen with the girl in his vision. The boys stated that the flying boar was the symbol of the Beifong family, the wealthiest family in the town.
Aang and company traveled to the family's house, where they were accosted by the Bandit, now wearing the same dress Aang had seen her wearing in the swamp. The girl, named Toph, refused to aid Team Avatar and called the house guards to chase them off.
That evening, Aang used his status as the Avatar to gain a formal audience with the entire Beifong family. He attempted to gain her father's support regarding Toph aiding him, but Toph used her earthbending to keep him from saying anything revealing. Her parents and teacher were completely unaware of her true skill, and she wanted to keep it that way. After numerous interruptions, Aang retaliated by sneezing, bringing the dinner to both a premature end and into everybody's faces.
After dinner, Toph called a truce with Aang and recounted her history. Her parents perceived her as a weak and fragile child due to her blindness and severely restricted her freedom. From an early age, she began sneaking out of the house and mastering earthbending on her own, secretly competing in tournaments and surpassing her "teacher" in skill. The pair was suddenly ambushed and captured by Xin Fu and his stable of earthbenders, who suspected the two of duplicity earlier during the tournament. Toph was later freed and, after defeating Xin Fu's earthbenders, rescued Aang, an event her father witnessed.
Toph later confronted her parents, expressing her desire to accompany Team Avatar on their journeys. Her father denied this request and ordered Aang and the others to leave the estate. As the team prepared to depart, however, Toph ran up to them, saying that her father had ultimately granted her permission to travel with them. Before departing, she launched Aang into a tree via earthbending and, declaring them even, demanded to have her championship belt returned
In a remote Earth Kingdom forest, Team Avatar was pursued by a tank train operated by Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. Their machine allowed them to cover great distances at high speeds; additionally, they were able to trace the team's whereabouts by following a trail of shed fur Appa consistently left. Aang and his friends were repeatedly forced to escape, depriving them of much-needed rest and draining the last of their power and patience. To make matters worse, Katara and Toph became tangled in a bitter conflict with Toph eventually leaving the group after a particularly acrimonious fight.
Aang attempted to deceive Azula by leaving a false trail of Appa's shed fur for her to follow, while Katara and Sokka retreated somewhere safe. Azula, however, unfolded his plan; she sent Mai and Ty Lee in the direction she believed the group to have gone and followed Aang's fabricated trail herself.
Aang's ultimately wound up in an abandoned town where he was later found and confronted by Azula. Zuko arrived on scene shortly after and all three assumed fighting stances, prepared to duel. Azula fired the first shot, hitting Zuko hard and knocking him back. All three exchanged blows until the duel was joined by Katara, Sokka, Iroh, and Toph. Azula was eventually cornered by the other six combatants. She surrendered and Iroh momentarily let his guard down, turning to see his comrades. Azula took advantage of this and launched a fire blast at him, striking him in the chest. Zuko let out a horrified cry, and all four benders unleashed their power against her; Azula, however, was able to escape the scene unharmed. Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph gathered around Iroh, but Zuko yelled for them to leave, backing up his words with a sweeping arc of flame. Respecting his need for privacy, Aang and the others fled.[7]
Super Powers[]
- Waterbending
- Healing
Training[]
- The mind can be a powerful ally or your greatest enemy.
- Now I want you to try taking a Step.
- Use your mind to overcome the pain.
- Close your eyes visualize yourself walking over to Naga.
Training Episodes[]
- Korra Alone
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