Katara

Katara is the love interest of Aang and Jet in the show Avatar: The Last Airbender.

A 14-year-old waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe and thought to have been the last until she met Hama. She and Jet developed a mutual attraction to each other but the relationship ends upon Katara's discovery that Jet was using her waterbending powers. Jet later dies making their relationship impossible to ever reconcile.

At first Katara just sees Aang as a friend and is "confused" about him wanting to start a relationship with her, but she eventually reciprocates his feelings.

Biography

Born into the diminished Southern Water Tribe to Hakoda and Kya, Katara faced the reality of her tribe's dwindling strength from an early age. At the time of her birth, forty-five years of repeated Fire Nation invasions intended to capture and imprison the tribe's waterbenders had left them devoid of benders. The tribe's defenses would have crumbled under the might of the Fire Nation. However, due to their relative inaccessibility in the South Pole, and the perception they were a non-threat, they were mostly left alone. However, when Katara was a young girl, the Fire Nation again raided the village when charged by Fire Lord Azulon to find and dispose of the last remaining waterbender in the tribe. During the battle, the leader of the raid Yon Rha confronted Katara's mother, who was taking refuge in the family's igloo. Seeking shelter with her mother, Katara ran back to her home and interrupted their exchange. Realizing the intentions of Yon Rha, who had demanded Kya tell him the identity of the waterbender, Kya insisted Katara leave, and gave herself up as the last waterbender, lying to protect her daughter. Katara ran to fetch her father, Hakoda, but by the time they returned, Yon Rha had left, and her mother had been killed. The death of their mother had a profound impact on both Katara and Sokka.

Living in a tribe consisting almost entirely of women, children, and the elderly, Katara took care of not only her own family but aided others as well. She developed a protective and motherly personality which she would carry with her for the remainder of her life. Even to her own elder brother, Sokka, she was sometimes seen as a maternal figure. Much later, Katara overheard Sokka admitting to being unable to picture his mother, whose image had been replaced by Katara's. Katara displayed deep affection for those she traveled with, as well as being fiercely protective whenever danger threatened their safety. The inner strength she had developed in the absence of parental figures aided her in keeping Aang and their friends together through their most difficult experiences. With the absence of a mother figure in the family, Katara soon found herself filling the role left behind by Kya. Katara began to take on many of the domestic responsibilities expected of women of the Southern Water Tribe, despite her young age. Several years later, her father, Chief Hakoda, left to fight in the Hundred Year War with the rest of the men of the Southern Water Tribe. Katara and Sokka were left in the care of their grandmother, Kanna. Though Kanna loved the two and cared deeply for them, Katara was left feeling traumatized and alone.

Aang

Katara, who listened to her grandmother's stories regarding the Avatar, believed that he would one day return to save the world. When Aang was released from the iceberg by Katara, she developed an immediate attachment to the young Airbender, believing him to be special. Upon learning that he was the long-lost Avatar, Katara wasted no time in convincing her brother to go after Zuko's shipto rescue him. From that moment on, she was Aang's staunch defender and protector, adopting maternal instincts toward him. Aang revealed his past life at the Southern Air Temple<spanstyle="font-size:13px;"> to her, his reasons for running away, and how he feels responsible for the War. Katara remains the only known person Aang has personally confided all of this information to. Being that she was his closest friend, Katara offered Aang emotional support throughout their travels. Later on, after Aang was thought to be dead and revived by Katara, using water from the Spirit Oasis in the Coup of Ba Sing Se, Katara went on to heal and personally care for Aang. Shortly after Aang awoke from his comatose state, he disappeared, and Katara broke down in horror and fear, feeling abandoned yet again, relating the feeling to when her father left. However, she was the first to embrace Aang in a hug when he was found lying on the shores of Crescent Island.

Aang took an immediate liking to Katara, starting with an instant crush, which gradually developed into stronger and purer feelings of love for the young waterbender as the series progressed. Even though there had been numerous hints that she was interested in Aang romantically, Katara's feelings for the Avatar had been mostly ambiguous, even to herself. During the intermission of The Boy in the Iceberg play performed by the Ember Island Players, Katara confessed to Aang that she was not sure about seeking a romantic relationship with him at that time, saying that she was confused. Her actions, however, could be associated with a fear of losing him to Ozai. With her denial of her true feelings for him being a way to spare her the pain of what might come. Despite her inner turmoil at that point, she still had strong faith that he would prevail over Ozai as expressed in her statement, "Aang won't lose. He's going to come back. He has to."

This ambiguity was finally eliminated after the War, when, in a private room of the Jasmine Dragon, the two shared a warm embrace and soon shed their clothing and like they wanted to for months make out. Aang and katara soon cum in each other with him, finally saying I love you, and she answered I knew, and they kissed happily again.

Katara's love for and protection of Aang continued to show a year later. When Aang was attacked by Zuko's soldiers in Yu Dao, Katara retaliated by launching several attacks until she was restrained by Zuko. When Aang responded by engaging the Avatar State, Katara again successfully pulled him out of it, saying he could not end Zuko that way. Aang later thanked Katara for this act, and the two shared a warm hug.

As the crisis in Yu Dao reached a boiling point, with Earth King Kuei threatening all-out war against the Fire Nation, the couple traveled to the colony in an attempt to evacuate its residents from the incoming dual invasion. Following their trip to Ba Sing Se, Katara revealed to Aang that she no longer supported the Harmony Restoration Movement as she thought about their potential future mixed bloodline, much like the current Morishita family. Confused over what that could mean for them specifically, Katara encouraged Aang to isolate himself from the active battle and think about what forced separation of the nations would mean. While Toph and Sokka questioned the Avatar's decision to leave, Katara declared her trust in him to make the right decision.

<spanstyle="font-size:13px;">After Aang returned, he engaged the Avatar State and opened a fissure in the ground, which nearly caused Zuko to plummet below and die. After Aang saved the Fire Lord and got out of the state, Katara rushed over and hugged him. After the crisis ended, she smiled as she watched Aang train the Official Avatar Aang Fan Club to become the new Air Acolytes.

Katara eventually married Aang, and she later gave birth to the couple's three children: A waterbending daughter named Kya, named after Katara's mother, a nonbender son named Bumi, named after Aang's old friend named King Bumi, and an airbending son named Tenzin.

Trivia

• In the Avatar Extras for "The Avatar Returns" episode, a commentary states "Zuko was originally going to be the love interest for Katara". In "The Ember Island Players" episode, it states "the creators and writers toyed with the idea of Zuko and Katara falling in love". The co-creators of the series, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, deny this in the commentary for the "Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle", where they state that there was never any intention for Zuko and Katara to get together. However, this statement is contradicted by writer John O'Bryan, who said that the topic of Zuko and Katara becoming a couple came up a lot in the writer's room. This is corroborated by writer Joshua Hamilton who said that the staff argued about whether Katara should end up with Zuko or Aang. M. Night Shyamalan has also recalled that during the production of Book Three: Fire, DiMartino and Konietzko were undecided, "At that time they hadn't even decided where things were going to end, even like who Katara was going to end up with."