Katara
Encyclopedia
Katara is a fictional character
in Nickelodeon's
animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender
. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino
and Bryan Konietzko
, is voiced by Mae Whitman
. In the live-action film The Last Airbender
, she is portrayed by Nicola Peltz
.
Katara is one of only two current Waterbenders from the Southern Water Tribe, a race of people who can control and manipulate water, because continuous Fire Nation raids on her village have taken away all other waterbenders. Katara earns the title of Master Waterbender from Master Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe by the age of fourteen, a rare feat. 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 nations.
; and Lā (拉) means to pull.The character Lā is the same La as the Ocean Spirit’s name from the season one's finale, while the character for Kǎ also appears in Sokka's name.
In the commentary of the unaired pilot episode, co creators Bryan Konietzko
and Michael Dante DiMartino
state that Katara's "hair loopies" used to hang down but was changed because the animators said it would be too hard to animate and suggested that they’d be looped back rather than beaded locks.
Katara also is the owner of her grandmother's betrothal necklace. Her grandmother handed it down to Katara’s mother, who handed it down to Katara. The necklace is a navy blue choker with a blue pendant hanging down. In the movie, the water tribe symbol is carved on it.
Though her interests lie in developing her Waterbending skills, she resigns herself to cooking and cleaning duties while her brother, Sokka, trains to become a warrior. Later, Katara’s father Hakoda and the other tribesmen journey to the Earth Kingdom to participate in the war effort against the Fire Nation. This leaves her, alongside her brother and grandmother, Kanna ("Gran Gran"), to look after the tribe.
The events of Avatar: The Last Airbender begin six years following this, during a spearfishing
expedition, when Katara and Sokka find Aang in suspended animation
inside an iceberg
. Katara frees him and discovers that Aang is the Avatar. With a common goal of mastering Waterbending, Katara, along with her brother, joins Aang in the journey to the Northern Water Tribe to find a Waterbending master to teach them. Upon arrival, Master Pakku refuses her apprenticeship, because she is female, and the customs of the Northern Water Tribe dictate that females cannot learn Waterbending, only healing.
However, after noticing Katara's necklace, which was an engagement gift he carved and gave to Katara's grandmother half a century ago, he agrees to teach her. Katara advances so quickly in her art during their stay in the Northern Water Tribe that Pakku formally deems her capable enough to be Aang's Waterbending teacher.
The second season opens with Katara leaving the North Pole and receiving water from its Spirit Oasis. Katara then journeys with Aang to the Earth Kingdom for him to learn earthbending. While at an Earth Kingdom stronghold, General Fong places Katara’s life in danger in an attempt to get Aang to enter the Avatar State, resulting in Aang destroying a whole courtyard. Aang leaves, heading for Omashu to meet up with an old friend, King Bumi. When he gets there, however, he finds that Omashu has been taken over by a Fire Nation's General and his family, including Mai, Zuko's soon to be girlfriend. After Toph joins the group to teach Aang, Katara and Toph often quarrel until their differences are settled. While in Ba Sing Se, Katara is thrown into a prison with Zuko, a sometime antagonist. Initially hostile, she speaks to him and begins to believe he has changed for the better. She then offers to heal his scar. Before that can happen, Aang and Iroh show up to save the two. Katara then shows just how powerful a waterbender she is when she manages to push Azula back and almost defeat her, until Zuko intervenes. During the following battle, Aang is struck by Azula's lightning and is seriously injured. After Aang is hurt Katara manages to catch him before he hits the ground and escape, while Iroh fights off Zuko, Azula, and the Dai Li. At the end of the second season, Katara uses the mystic water from the Spirit Oasis to restore Aang's life.
While on the ship that the group obtains to reach the Fire Nation in the third season, they are attacked by another Fire Nation ship that discovered their false identity, and Katara aids in their escape.
While in a village burdened by the Fire Nation's pollution, Katara surreptitiously disguises herself as the river spirit known as the Painted Lady in order to help the village. While staying with an old woman the group meets in the woods, they find that she is a refugee Waterbender of the Southern Tribe who was imprisoned during the Fire Nation raids of the south. Later, she offers to teach Katara a Waterbending technique called “Bloodbending”, which enables the user to control the water in blood, therefore granting the waterbender physical control of living things such as animals and humans. “Bloodbending” can only be used on nights of the full moon, when Waterbenders are at their strongest. When Katara refuses to learn this technique, Hama Bloodbends Aang and Sokka, forcing Katara to use the technique herself to save her friends. In "The Western Air Temple", when Zuko offers to join Team Avatar, it is Katara who makes the first move to attack him and send him off. At the end of the episode, when Zuko is accepted into the group, Katara openly threatens to kill him should he give her any reason to think he might try to hurt Aang. Zuko does not gain Katara's trust until "The Southern Raiders", in which Zuko helps Katara find the man who killed her and Sokka's mother, Kaya. She sets out with the intent to kill him, but ultimately withholds. With this experience, Katara warmly embraces Zuko after declaring that while the Fire Nation's crimes against her and her nation are unforgivable, the exiled prince himself has fully atoned for his own in her eyes. During the episode "The Ember Island Players", Katara is confronted by Aang. He asks how she feels about him, and when she says "It's complicated", kisses her. She fustratedly storms off.
During the four-part "Sozin's Comet" finale, Katara goes with Zuko to stop Azula from becoming the new Fire Lord. When Azula and Zuko clash, Azula attempts to blast Katara with lightning. Zuko, however, jumps in the way, and is badly wounded, forcing Katara to fight back. Having captured Azula, she heals Zuko and they wait for the outcome of Aang's battle with Phoenix King Ozai. When the war ends, she is seen in Ba Sing Se, living a peaceful life. The story ends with Aang and Katara sharing a kiss.
It has been confirmed that the spin-off mini-series, The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra
, will feature Aang and Katara's son, Tenzin, as one of the major characters. In addition to Tenzin, it has been stated that Katara and Aang had two other children. Conversations with the creators of Avatar have led to the belief that they are a Waterbender and Nonbender. It is plausible that Katara will make an appearance either in flashbacks or in the actual series.
Katara can use water to cut through objects, summon lashing waves and whips of varying sizes, cover herself with a sheath of water which she controls, surf on an ice surfboard, run and stand on the sheer surface of water, melt and control existing ice, form ice into various shapes, freeze water and objects surrounded by water with little effort, create giant walls of mist and steam, transform steam into ice instantly, or evaporate large amounts of water. She even uses the water from her own sweat to break herself out of a wooden jail-cell.
Under the tutelage of Hama, another Waterbender from the Southern Tribe, Katara learns to bend the moisture in the air as well as the water in plants. Hama also teaches her to control and manipulate people and animals using the water within their bodies through a rare and sinister form of Waterbending called "Bloodbending" which can only be used on full moons. Katara learns this skill in a day, while it took Hama years to invent and perfect the technique. Although she typically considers this variant of waterbending morally abhorrent, she was forced to use this power against Hama to stop her from harming Aang and Sokka and later in a fit of vengeful rage on an individual whom she had thought had killed her mother without remorse. When she learns that he was not the man who had murdered her mother she releases him from her control but shows deep regret for using the technique on him.
Katara proves herself an exceptionally strong and powerful Waterbender, most notably during her duel with Hama in single combat, Bloodbending effectively first time around and fending off the bodies of Sokka, sword in hand, and Aang when Hama was controlling and manipulating their bodies against their will. She is able to hold her own in fights with Zuko more than once and is even able to match Azula in single combat. She defeats Azula at the end of the series by chaining her to a grate while Azula is weakened from her mental breakdown. In the midst of their battle, Master Pakku is mildly impressed by the skills she had developed on her own and admitted, despite his belief that women were not to be warriors, that she is a powerful Waterbender in her own right. Under his training, her hard work greatly advances her Waterbending skills even faster than Aang's.
Katara is one of the few Waterbenders born with the Waterbending sub-talent to heal using water as a catalyst, manifesting itself when she is burned by Aang when he first attempts Firebending. Her innate power and ability to heal only proves to get better and better under the tutelage of the Northern Water Tribe's Head Healer, Yagoda. She uses it to relieve sickness, temporarily undo brainwashing, and heal seemingly mortal wounds such as burns and bleeding injuries. She is also able to heal Aang and bring life back in in him with magical mystical water from the Spirit Oasis, although her own skill plays a relatively small part in this.
Her healing powers and abilities have limits, as she cannot cure all sicknesses, completely undo brain damage, or heal internal injuries and birth defects.
Katara also demonstrates the power and ability to bend water-based liquids, as well. In episode sixteen of the third season "The Southern Raiders", Katara and Zuko sneak into a Fire Nation scouting ship to retrieve information of her mother's murderer. To get rid of a guard, Katara bends a cup of ink on a table onto a map a guard was working on. She is also seen bending soup (which allows her to cook meals and serve Appa), and bends perfume while battling June's Shirshu.
Katara is also very nurturing, acting as den mother for the group. She usually cooks their meals and washes their clothes. She takes responsibility for her brother, Sokka
, and later Toph
, and especially Aang (although initially she took a very mercenary attitude toward him, viewing him more as someone who could help her become a Waterbender than a friend). These tendencies were shaped by the fact that her tribe's losses from Fire Nation raids and the departure of so many members of the tribe to fight the Fire Nation forced her (as well as her brother Sokka) to take on numerous responsibilities beyond her age. Her maternal instincts, while with good intentions, can sometimes make her bossy.
Katara tends to be the most sensitive and compassionate member of the group (with the possible exception of Aang.) She can be very kind and generous, and she tends to be the most trusting in new situations. However, she can become very angry if someone hurts or insults her, or especially if she feels someone has betrayed her; she can allow anger to cause her to say or do unwise things, and she can carry a grudge against someone who has betrayed her for a long time, as was the case with Zuko.
Her relationship with Aang is complicated. On the one hand, a part of her tends to view him with great, almost reverential respect, befitting his role as the Avatar. At the same time, she is very protective of Aang, almost in the manner of an older sister, as she is sensitive to the fears he feels due to his responsibilities as the Avatar, and his pain and grief over the loss of all his fellow Airbenders. She seems unaware of his romantic feelings (even though she shares mutual feelings for Aang) for her until he kisses her on the eve of the invasion in Book Three. However, by the end of the series, she and Aang kiss once more.
Despite her kind and loving nature, a darker side of her was shown in the episode "The Southern Raiders". When Zuko revealed he knew who killed her mother, she went off with him to hunt down and kill the man. When Aang objected to her hunting down someone in cold blood, she rather contemptuously dismissed him, stating that his pacifist beliefs made him unable to understand, prompting Aang to remind her of the pain and rage he felt when he learned that the Fire Nation had exterminated every other Airbender. When Sokka sided with Aang, Katara stated rather coldly that if he believed Aang was right, Sokka did not love their mother as much as Katara did, a statement that clearly hurt him. What made it worse was the fact that Zuko also sided with her, creating a division that clearly showed. At the time, Zuko was only trying to help Katara, and at the end of the episode admits that violence was not what she needed. She Bloodbended on someone who she believed was the killer without remorse. When she finally found the correct man, she manipulated rain into dozens of large ice spikes which she sent at the man. However, her good side managed to overcome her rage, and she stopped herself before the ice made contact with the man. Rather than be a murderer, she left the man with the knowledge that he was pathetic and empty, and the guilt of what he did.
In addition to her bossiness, Katara is also very stubborn, often butting heads with the abrasive, independent and often hygienically challenged Toph
. She feels that she should help everybody, and as a result she was hurt by a boy named Jet who used her and her friends in order to try and take out a Fire Nation town. When she and Jet met again later in the series, her anger initially remained, and she attacked him. Her stubborn nature and eagerness to help everyone pay off, however, when she stands up to Sokka, saying she will not turn her back on anyone who needs her, in order to save a village that only appears in the episode "The Painted Lady
".
video games for the show, which are Avatar: The Last Airbender video game
and Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth
. and Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno. Like Aang, Katara also appears on some Avatar T-shirts sold by Nick, as well as in Tokyopop
's films comic
(sometimes referred to as cine-manga).
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in Nickelodeon's
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz...
. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino
Michael Dante DiMartino
Michael Dante DiMartino is an American animation director, best known as the co-creator, executive producer and story editor of the hit TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender on Nickelodeon...
and Bryan Konietzko
Bryan Konietzko
Bryan Konietzko is the co-creator and executive producer of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He has also worked as a character designer at Film Roman for Family Guy and as Assistant Director for Mission Hill and King of the Hill. He was a Storyboard Artist and Art Director for the...
, is voiced by Mae Whitman
Mae Whitman
Mae Margaret Whitman is an American television, movie and voice actress. She is known for her role as Ann Veal in the TV series Arrested Development, her role as Amber on the TV series Parenthood, her role as Roxy Richter in Scott Pilgrim vs...
. In the live-action film The Last Airbender
The Last Airbender
The Last Airbender is a 2010 American fantasy adventure film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It is a live-action film adaptation of the first season to the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender....
, she is portrayed by Nicola Peltz
Nicola Peltz
Nicola Peltz is an American actress. Her most notable role to date is Katara in the 2010 film The Last Airbender, directed by M. Night Shyamalan.-Career:...
.
Katara is one of only two current Waterbenders from the Southern Water Tribe, a race of people who can control and manipulate water, because continuous Fire Nation raids on her village have taken away all other waterbenders. Katara earns the title of Master Waterbender from Master Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe by the age of fourteen, a rare feat. She and her older brother, Sokka
Sokka
Sokka is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Jack DeSena...
, discover an Airbender named Aang
Aang
Aang is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character is created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and is voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen. Aang is depicted as the show's main protagonist, and as such has appeared in all but one...
, 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 nations.
Creation and conception
According to the un-aired pilot episode included on the Avatar Complete Book 1 Collection DVD set, Katara’s name was originally Kya, but was changed. The name Kya would be later used for her deceased mother. In “Tales of Ba Sing Se”, Katara’s name was written as 卡 塔 拉. Kǎ (卡) means to check, block, or card; Tǎ (塔) means pagodaPagoda
A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...
; and Lā (拉) means to pull.The character Lā is the same La as the Ocean Spirit’s name from the season one's finale, while the character for Kǎ also appears in Sokka's name.
In the commentary of the unaired pilot episode, co creators Bryan Konietzko
Bryan Konietzko
Bryan Konietzko is the co-creator and executive producer of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He has also worked as a character designer at Film Roman for Family Guy and as Assistant Director for Mission Hill and King of the Hill. He was a Storyboard Artist and Art Director for the...
and Michael Dante DiMartino
Michael Dante DiMartino
Michael Dante DiMartino is an American animation director, best known as the co-creator, executive producer and story editor of the hit TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender on Nickelodeon...
state that Katara's "hair loopies" used to hang down but was changed because the animators said it would be too hard to animate and suggested that they’d be looped back rather than beaded locks.
Katara also is the owner of her grandmother's betrothal necklace. Her grandmother handed it down to Katara’s mother, who handed it down to Katara. The necklace is a navy blue choker with a blue pendant hanging down. In the movie, the water tribe symbol is carved on it.
Plot overview
Katara grows up as the mature, motherly figure of her family and tribe. When Katara was eight years old, her mother, Kya, sacrificed her life during a Fire Nation raid in order to protect Katara's identity as the only Waterbender in the tribe.Though her interests lie in developing her Waterbending skills, she resigns herself to cooking and cleaning duties while her brother, Sokka, trains to become a warrior. Later, Katara’s father Hakoda and the other tribesmen journey to the Earth Kingdom to participate in the war effort against the Fire Nation. This leaves her, alongside her brother and grandmother, Kanna ("Gran Gran"), to look after the tribe.
The events of Avatar: The Last Airbender begin six years following this, during a spearfishing
Spearfishing
Spearfishing is an ancient method of fishing that has been used throughout the world for millennia. Early civilizations were familiar with the custom of spearing fish from rivers and streams using sharpened sticks....
expedition, when Katara and Sokka find Aang in suspended animation
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
inside an iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
. Katara frees him and discovers that Aang is the Avatar. With a common goal of mastering Waterbending, Katara, along with her brother, joins Aang in the journey to the Northern Water Tribe to find a Waterbending master to teach them. Upon arrival, Master Pakku refuses her apprenticeship, because she is female, and the customs of the Northern Water Tribe dictate that females cannot learn Waterbending, only healing.
However, after noticing Katara's necklace, which was an engagement gift he carved and gave to Katara's grandmother half a century ago, he agrees to teach her. Katara advances so quickly in her art during their stay in the Northern Water Tribe that Pakku formally deems her capable enough to be Aang's Waterbending teacher.
The second season opens with Katara leaving the North Pole and receiving water from its Spirit Oasis. Katara then journeys with Aang to the Earth Kingdom for him to learn earthbending. While at an Earth Kingdom stronghold, General Fong places Katara’s life in danger in an attempt to get Aang to enter the Avatar State, resulting in Aang destroying a whole courtyard. Aang leaves, heading for Omashu to meet up with an old friend, King Bumi. When he gets there, however, he finds that Omashu has been taken over by a Fire Nation's General and his family, including Mai, Zuko's soon to be girlfriend. After Toph joins the group to teach Aang, Katara and Toph often quarrel until their differences are settled. While in Ba Sing Se, Katara is thrown into a prison with Zuko, a sometime antagonist. Initially hostile, she speaks to him and begins to believe he has changed for the better. She then offers to heal his scar. Before that can happen, Aang and Iroh show up to save the two. Katara then shows just how powerful a waterbender she is when she manages to push Azula back and almost defeat her, until Zuko intervenes. During the following battle, Aang is struck by Azula's lightning and is seriously injured. After Aang is hurt Katara manages to catch him before he hits the ground and escape, while Iroh fights off Zuko, Azula, and the Dai Li. At the end of the second season, Katara uses the mystic water from the Spirit Oasis to restore Aang's life.
While on the ship that the group obtains to reach the Fire Nation in the third season, they are attacked by another Fire Nation ship that discovered their false identity, and Katara aids in their escape.
While in a village burdened by the Fire Nation's pollution, Katara surreptitiously disguises herself as the river spirit known as the Painted Lady in order to help the village. While staying with an old woman the group meets in the woods, they find that she is a refugee Waterbender of the Southern Tribe who was imprisoned during the Fire Nation raids of the south. Later, she offers to teach Katara a Waterbending technique called “Bloodbending”, which enables the user to control the water in blood, therefore granting the waterbender physical control of living things such as animals and humans. “Bloodbending” can only be used on nights of the full moon, when Waterbenders are at their strongest. When Katara refuses to learn this technique, Hama Bloodbends Aang and Sokka, forcing Katara to use the technique herself to save her friends. In "The Western Air Temple", when Zuko offers to join Team Avatar, it is Katara who makes the first move to attack him and send him off. At the end of the episode, when Zuko is accepted into the group, Katara openly threatens to kill him should he give her any reason to think he might try to hurt Aang. Zuko does not gain Katara's trust until "The Southern Raiders", in which Zuko helps Katara find the man who killed her and Sokka's mother, Kaya. She sets out with the intent to kill him, but ultimately withholds. With this experience, Katara warmly embraces Zuko after declaring that while the Fire Nation's crimes against her and her nation are unforgivable, the exiled prince himself has fully atoned for his own in her eyes. During the episode "The Ember Island Players", Katara is confronted by Aang. He asks how she feels about him, and when she says "It's complicated", kisses her. She fustratedly storms off.
During the four-part "Sozin's Comet" finale, Katara goes with Zuko to stop Azula from becoming the new Fire Lord. When Azula and Zuko clash, Azula attempts to blast Katara with lightning. Zuko, however, jumps in the way, and is badly wounded, forcing Katara to fight back. Having captured Azula, she heals Zuko and they wait for the outcome of Aang's battle with Phoenix King Ozai. When the war ends, she is seen in Ba Sing Se, living a peaceful life. The story ends with Aang and Katara sharing a kiss.
It has been confirmed that the spin-off mini-series, The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra
The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra
The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra is an upcoming American animated television series that is expected to air on Nickelodeon in mid-2012. The series is a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, which aired on the same network from 2005 to 2008, and may run for 26 episodes...
, will feature Aang and Katara's son, Tenzin, as one of the major characters. In addition to Tenzin, it has been stated that Katara and Aang had two other children. Conversations with the creators of Avatar have led to the belief that they are a Waterbender and Nonbender. It is plausible that Katara will make an appearance either in flashbacks or in the actual series.
Waterbending
Katara's Waterbending abilities develop considerably throughout the series. At the outset, she has little control over her Waterbending, often relying on others to help her defeat an opponent. Her temper, which greatly strengthens her Waterbending abilities, often causes unnecessary destruction. Thanks to diligent practice, a Waterbending scroll, and Master Pakku's tutelage, her Waterbending rapidly strengthens and improves to the point that she is given the title of Waterbending Master by Master Pakku. She carries with her a canteen containing some water to use when no other water is available.Katara can use water to cut through objects, summon lashing waves and whips of varying sizes, cover herself with a sheath of water which she controls, surf on an ice surfboard, run and stand on the sheer surface of water, melt and control existing ice, form ice into various shapes, freeze water and objects surrounded by water with little effort, create giant walls of mist and steam, transform steam into ice instantly, or evaporate large amounts of water. She even uses the water from her own sweat to break herself out of a wooden jail-cell.
Under the tutelage of Hama, another Waterbender from the Southern Tribe, Katara learns to bend the moisture in the air as well as the water in plants. Hama also teaches her to control and manipulate people and animals using the water within their bodies through a rare and sinister form of Waterbending called "Bloodbending" which can only be used on full moons. Katara learns this skill in a day, while it took Hama years to invent and perfect the technique. Although she typically considers this variant of waterbending morally abhorrent, she was forced to use this power against Hama to stop her from harming Aang and Sokka and later in a fit of vengeful rage on an individual whom she had thought had killed her mother without remorse. When she learns that he was not the man who had murdered her mother she releases him from her control but shows deep regret for using the technique on him.
Katara proves herself an exceptionally strong and powerful Waterbender, most notably during her duel with Hama in single combat, Bloodbending effectively first time around and fending off the bodies of Sokka, sword in hand, and Aang when Hama was controlling and manipulating their bodies against their will. She is able to hold her own in fights with Zuko more than once and is even able to match Azula in single combat. She defeats Azula at the end of the series by chaining her to a grate while Azula is weakened from her mental breakdown. In the midst of their battle, Master Pakku is mildly impressed by the skills she had developed on her own and admitted, despite his belief that women were not to be warriors, that she is a powerful Waterbender in her own right. Under his training, her hard work greatly advances her Waterbending skills even faster than Aang's.
Katara is one of the few Waterbenders born with the Waterbending sub-talent to heal using water as a catalyst, manifesting itself when she is burned by Aang when he first attempts Firebending. Her innate power and ability to heal only proves to get better and better under the tutelage of the Northern Water Tribe's Head Healer, Yagoda. She uses it to relieve sickness, temporarily undo brainwashing, and heal seemingly mortal wounds such as burns and bleeding injuries. She is also able to heal Aang and bring life back in in him with magical mystical water from the Spirit Oasis, although her own skill plays a relatively small part in this.
Her healing powers and abilities have limits, as she cannot cure all sicknesses, completely undo brain damage, or heal internal injuries and birth defects.
Katara also demonstrates the power and ability to bend water-based liquids, as well. In episode sixteen of the third season "The Southern Raiders", Katara and Zuko sneak into a Fire Nation scouting ship to retrieve information of her mother's murderer. To get rid of a guard, Katara bends a cup of ink on a table onto a map a guard was working on. She is also seen bending soup (which allows her to cook meals and serve Appa), and bends perfume while battling June's Shirshu.
Personality
Being another protagonist of the show, Katara also receives a lot of attention from reviewers. She is described as "smart, capable; almost a generic anime heroine". In addition to these features, she also is "kind, brave, and passionate."Katara is also very nurturing, acting as den mother for the group. She usually cooks their meals and washes their clothes. She takes responsibility for her brother, Sokka
Sokka
Sokka is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Jack DeSena...
, and later Toph
Toph
Toph Bei Fong is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character was voiced by Jessie Flower.Toph Bei Fong is a blind Earthbending master...
, and especially Aang (although initially she took a very mercenary attitude toward him, viewing him more as someone who could help her become a Waterbender than a friend). These tendencies were shaped by the fact that her tribe's losses from Fire Nation raids and the departure of so many members of the tribe to fight the Fire Nation forced her (as well as her brother Sokka) to take on numerous responsibilities beyond her age. Her maternal instincts, while with good intentions, can sometimes make her bossy.
Katara tends to be the most sensitive and compassionate member of the group (with the possible exception of Aang.) She can be very kind and generous, and she tends to be the most trusting in new situations. However, she can become very angry if someone hurts or insults her, or especially if she feels someone has betrayed her; she can allow anger to cause her to say or do unwise things, and she can carry a grudge against someone who has betrayed her for a long time, as was the case with Zuko.
Her relationship with Aang is complicated. On the one hand, a part of her tends to view him with great, almost reverential respect, befitting his role as the Avatar. At the same time, she is very protective of Aang, almost in the manner of an older sister, as she is sensitive to the fears he feels due to his responsibilities as the Avatar, and his pain and grief over the loss of all his fellow Airbenders. She seems unaware of his romantic feelings (even though she shares mutual feelings for Aang) for her until he kisses her on the eve of the invasion in Book Three. However, by the end of the series, she and Aang kiss once more.
Despite her kind and loving nature, a darker side of her was shown in the episode "The Southern Raiders". When Zuko revealed he knew who killed her mother, she went off with him to hunt down and kill the man. When Aang objected to her hunting down someone in cold blood, she rather contemptuously dismissed him, stating that his pacifist beliefs made him unable to understand, prompting Aang to remind her of the pain and rage he felt when he learned that the Fire Nation had exterminated every other Airbender. When Sokka sided with Aang, Katara stated rather coldly that if he believed Aang was right, Sokka did not love their mother as much as Katara did, a statement that clearly hurt him. What made it worse was the fact that Zuko also sided with her, creating a division that clearly showed. At the time, Zuko was only trying to help Katara, and at the end of the episode admits that violence was not what she needed. She Bloodbended on someone who she believed was the killer without remorse. When she finally found the correct man, she manipulated rain into dozens of large ice spikes which she sent at the man. However, her good side managed to overcome her rage, and she stopped herself before the ice made contact with the man. Rather than be a murderer, she left the man with the knowledge that he was pathetic and empty, and the guilt of what he did.
In addition to her bossiness, Katara is also very stubborn, often butting heads with the abrasive, independent and often hygienically challenged Toph
Toph
Toph Bei Fong is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character was voiced by Jessie Flower.Toph Bei Fong is a blind Earthbending master...
. She feels that she should help everybody, and as a result she was hurt by a boy named Jet who used her and her friends in order to try and take out a Fire Nation town. When she and Jet met again later in the series, her anger initially remained, and she attacked him. Her stubborn nature and eagerness to help everyone pay off, however, when she stands up to Sokka, saying she will not turn her back on anyone who needs her, in order to save a village that only appears in the episode "The Painted Lady
The Painted Lady
The Painted Lady is a 1912 short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet. A print of the film survives.-Cast:*Blanche Sweet - The Older Sister*Madge Kirby - The Younger Sister*Charles Hill Mailes - Their Father...
".
Appearances in other media
Katara's character has appeared in three THQTHQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
video games for the show, which are Avatar: The Last Airbender video game
Avatar: The Last Airbender (video game)
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a video game based on the animated television series of the same name for Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, and Xbox...
and Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth
Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth
Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth is a video game for Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and based on the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was one of the last games released for the Game Boy Advance in North America...
. and Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno. Like Aang, Katara also appears on some Avatar T-shirts sold by Nick, as well as in Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
's films comic
Films comic
A , or , also referred to as ani-manga, are Japanese manga volumes which use images from an anime series, film, or video release instead of the standard drawn panels. They generally contain the full dialog from the anime from which they are adapted...
(sometimes referred to as cine-manga).