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These are other characters Team Avatar encounter in their adventures.
The Blue Spirit
A mysterious figure known for his iconic oni mask. With his incredible badassery and excellent stealth skills, he tries to protect Aang from Admiral Zhao. It turns out the man behind the mask is Zuko, who wanted to free Aang so that he could capture him. In later episodes, Zuko also uses the Blue Spirit's identity to escape his problems. Iroh eventually calls him out on this and Zuko abandons the Blue Spirit at his urging.
- Anti-Hero: Type IV.
- Badass Abnormal: Secretly a skilled Firebender. He never uses these powers while wearing the mask, though.
- Byronic Hero
- Cool Mask
- The Cowl
- Dual-Wielding: His dual dao swords are so iconic that Zhao can figure out his identity just by seeing them in his room.
- Le Parkour
- Lovable Rogue
- Mask Power
- Mysterious Protector
- Ninja - a master of infiltration. Not so lucky on extraction, though.
- Secret Identity
- Shrouded in Myth
- The Voiceless: Until his last appearance.
Jet
Voiced by: Crawford Wilson |
"We can't win without making some sacrifices." |
As a young boy, Jet's family was killed by the Fire Nation. Swearing vengeance, Jet became a dashing rebel agains their forces, forming a Merry-Men esque group of freedom fighters with other war orphans. However, Jet has an extremist side and is willing to destroy the Fire Nation by any means necessary. After getting called out by Katara and Sokka, Jet realized the error of his ways and tried to start over, only to get brainwashed into an agent of the Dai Li by Long Feng. And then killed by him when he tried to break free.
- Anti-Villain-->Anti-Hero
- The Atoner: In Season 2.
- Badass Normal
- Badbutt
- Brainwashed and Crazy
- The Charmer: "I like your hair-loopies."
- The Dragon: To Long Feng, but not intentionally.
- Dual-Wielding: With some rather unique hooked-swords.
- Dying as Yourself
- Evil Counterpart: To Sokka.
- Evil Eyebrows
- Fantastic Racism: Toward the Fire Nation, but he's hardly unique in this.
- Fatal Flaw: Even as The Atoner, he's completely incapable of thinking of the Fire Nation as anything but Exclusively Evil. However, he does get a better idea of how to treat them without going off the slippery slope. Before his development, he would've gladly flooded a Fire Nation-controlled town full of Earth Kingdom civilians. After, he tries to keep his anger under control and simply gathers evidence to report to the police.[1]
- Freudian Excuse
- Heel Face Revolving Door: Considering his character, it's no surprise.
- He Who Fights Monsters
- Inspector Javert/Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: To Zuko and Iroh. Turns out he was right to be suspicious, after Zuko helps take over Ba Sing Se.
- Ironic Echo
Katara: We were just following instinct! |
- Just Like Robin Hood: NOT!
- Kick the Dog: Perfectly willing to attack innocent people, as long as they're Fire Nation.
- Killed Off for Real
- Manchurian Agent
- Manipulative Bastard: In his debut episode, his interactions with Aang, Katara, and Sokka are extremely manipulative. He frequently compliments them; this is not merely an example of him being The Charmer as some compliments are more subtle than others, such as implying that Katara was responsible for Sokka's supposed Out-of-Character Moment. This not only makes her feel good, it neatly deflects them from wandering down any nasty trains of thought. When he realizes that Sokka and the other two have a split over their trust of him, he plays them against each other while still trying to court each side. He continues to try to win over Sokka even near the end of the episode; not because he thinks he will be successful, but to keep up appearances.
- In his second appearance, he tries to tempt Zuko into joining the Freedom Fighters by cleverly picking up that A) Zuko's the kind of guy who believes he deserves better that what he's getting and B) despite his gruff nature, he will help people who he recognizes a similar situation in (Jet thought Zuko's scar marked him as a fellow victim of the Fire Nation). Jet's only flaws in his plan is that he doesn't understand Zuko and Iroh's relationship and it isn't until too late that he realizes Zuko's a Firebender.
- Not So Different: Twice. First to Zuko and then to Katara (Aang makes the comparison to the latter).
- Oral Fixation Fixation: Likes to carry a piece of wheat in his mouth.
- Smoking Is Cool: Arguably done for this reason, because they can't exactly have him smoke in a kid's show.
- Redemption Equals Death
- Reformed but Rejected: Technically a subversion, as he was unknowingly working for Long Feng at the time and was less reformed then he thought he was.
- Revenge Before Reason: Even though he was completely justified in being suspicious of Zuko, the methods he goes to to prove he's from the Fire Nation were not smart.
- Sacrificial Lion
- Shout-Out: His laid back demeanor, character design, and name are shout outs to the works of Shinichiro Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo fame. His characterization, on the other hand...
- Small Name, Big Ego: Seems to think he's a much bigger threat to the Fire Nation than he actually is. Though this could just be him trying to boost the Freedom Fighters' morale.
- Tragic Hero: Despite redeeming himself, his deadly obsession with Fire Nation was what led him to becoming a pawn of Long Feng.
- Troubled but Cute
- Well-Intentioned Extremist
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness
- You Have to Believe Me: Does this a lot in Ba Sing Se after discovering Zuko's and Iroh's secret.
The Freedom Fighters
The Freedom Fighters are a handful of children from (apparently) all over the Earth Kingdom who have been orphaned by the attacks of the Fire Nation. Led by Jet, they are a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits who pretty much throw monkey wrenches into Fire Nation activity wherever they can.
Longshot and Smellerbee show up with Jet en route to Ba Sing Se in Season 2. Pipsqueak and The Duke show up in Season 3. The rest of the freedom fighters are pretty much never mentioned again.
- The Archer: Longshot.
- Badass Normal: Longshot and Smellerbee can hold their own against Dai Li Earthbenders. As Freedom Fighters though, we can assume that anti-Firebender combat is something of a specialty for them.
- Berserk Button: Don't mistake Smellerbee for a boy. Never forget the "the" in The Duke's name.
- Bifauxnen: Smellerbee.
- Bolivian Army Ending: For Longshot and Smellerbee. Their ultimate fates are unknown.
- In the post-show comic The Promise, we see Longshot and Smellerbee alongside Sokka, Toph, and the background Freedom Fighter Sneers. We now know that they escaped Lake Laogai.
- Five-Man Band/Five-Bad Band:
- The Hero/Big Bad: Jet. Also The Smart Guy/The Evil Genius.
- The Lancer/The Dragon: Longshot.
- The Brute/The Big Guy: Pipsqueak.
- The Chick/Dark Chick: Smellerbee.
- Tagalong Kid: The Duke.
- Heel Face Turn: Unlike Jet, they're a lot more consistent about it.
- Non-Indicative Name: Guess which one's called Pipsqueak...
- Lampshaded by Aang when they first meet. He first believes Pipsqueak is The Duke's name for obvious reasons. But when he learns which Freedom Fighter's it really is, he changes his mind... It's hilarious!
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Fairly obvious. Even "Jet" can also mean "black". Possibly Smellerbee is the only one who's known by her real name.
- The Smurfette Principle: Smellerbee is the only female freedom fighter.
- Spell My Name with a "The": It's THE Duke!
- Tagalong Kid: The Duke
- Tsundere: Smellerbee
- The Voiceless: Longshot. By choice, apparently.
- The Silent Bob: Smellerbee and Jet often act as though he had said something, though.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Longshot and Smellerbee. Also all the other kids we see in "Jet" apparently went off on their own after.
- They return in Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise. Smellerbee, Longshot and another Freedom Fighter named Sneers meet up with the Gaang when the latter go to Yu Dao.
The Cabbage Merchant
Voiced by: James Sie |
"MY CABBAGES!!!!" |
A hapless cabbage merchant whose produce keeps getting inadvertently destroyed by the Gaang. Needless to say, he's not too fond of them.
- Butt Monkey/Chew Toy
- Disproportionate Retribution: While he understandably hates the Gaang, he's a little overzealous about it. Like that time he thought they were going to be executed:
"Off with their heads! One for every head of cabbage!" |
- This was the first time they had destroyed his cabbages, too.
- Fruit Cart
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In his last appearance, he goes, "My Cabb...oh, forget it!"
- No Name Given
- Recurring Extra
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Didn't meet up with the Gaang at all during the final season, and even worked as a consultant for an anti-Avatar play.
- The Legend of Korra reveals that he and his family go on to build a large corporation that makes automobiles, among other things.
Foamy Mouth Guy
A fan of the Avatar who lives on Kyoshi Island. Known for his tendency to go into a screaming fit and foam at the mouth when he thinks Aang is near.
- Hero Worshipper
- Loony Fan
- New Old Flame: Word of God is that he used to date Suki. "She's not too proud of it..."
- One-Scene Wonder: Actually two scenes, but the trope applies as the second time ends very differently.
- Squee
June
Voiced by: Jennifer Hale |
"So this is your girlfriend... no wonder she left. She's way too pretty for you." |
A skilled bounty hunter, June is out for money and doesn't care who she has to work for to get it. She collects bounties with Nyla, her pet Shirshu, a ferocious beast with an incredible sense of smell. When she inadvertently damaged Zuko's ship while chasing a bounty, Zuko had her hunt the Avatar as compensation. In the finale, she was recruited by Zuko to track down Iroh.
- Bounty Hunter
- Dark Action Girl
- Deadpan Snarker
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
- Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: And how!
- Fluffy Tamer: Though not at first. In her first appearance, she has no problem with whipping her Shirshu when it underperforms. Later, she seems to have adopted this behavior, calling it her "Snuffly-Wuffly."
- Hell-Bent for Leather
- The Ladette: Spends her spare time in taverns arm wrestling burly men.
- Name's the Same: She's a snarky ladette named June...sounds oddly familiar.
- The Nicknamer: "Oh great, it's Prince Pouty."
- The Nose Knows: Her Shirshu can track anyone across continents if it only gets a whiff of something with their smell on it.
- Parent Service
- Peek-a-Bangs
- Punch Clock Villain: She only hunted Aang because Zuko hired her. Later, she works with the Gaang in the finale, apparently for no pay.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin
- Scarily Competent Tracker: Though to be fair she has the world's best tracker animal as a pet.
- Shipper on Deck: Even though she's just teasing, she's largely considered the patron saint of Zutara.
- Tall, Dark, Bishoujo And Snarky
- Too Many Belts
- Whip It Good: Both June and her shirshu, who's also The Paralyzer.
Long Feng
Voiced by: Clancy Brown |
"There is no war in Ba Sing Se." |
In the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se, a group called the Dai Li keeps the war with the Fire Nation a secret, in order to maintain cultural order. A man who has fought long and hard for his position, Long Feng serves as their Big Brother-like leader. Using the Dai Li to keep himself in power, Long Feng manipulates both the city and the Earth King himself, whom Long Feng uses as a puppet ruler. After getting exposed by the Gaang, he tried to get back in power by working with Azula and double-crossing her at the moment of triumph. That didn't work out too hot.
- Affably Evil
- Awesome McCoolname/Names to Run Away From Really Fast: His name is Chinese for "Dragon Phoenix". Bonus points for sounding like "long fang."
- Bald of Evil/Beard of Evil
- Big Bad Wannabe: Is even the subject of the page quote.
- The Chessmaster
- Dishing Out Dirt
- Evil Chancellor
- Eviler Than Thou: Ended up on the wrong side of this. Azula claims, "You were never even a player."
- From Nobody to Nightmare
- Manipulative Bastard
- Orwellian Editor: Makes sure to keep the citizens of Ba Sing Se from knowing about the war.
- Thoughtcrime: If you already know, you're brainwashed into forgetting.
- Self-Made Man
- What Happened to the Mouse?: His fate after being beaten by Azula remains unknown.
- Yellow Peril
Koh
Voiced by: Erik Dellums |
"It's been a long time since I've added a child's face to my collection. So... how may I help you?" |
One of the oldest spirits in the Spirit World, Koh is a nightmarish centipede creature with a dangerous hobby of stealing faces. If he sees a face that makes even the slightest twitch of emotion, he will snatch it off and wear it as his own. Ever since he was attacked by Avatar Kuruk, he's held a grudge against the Avatars. Still, he is privy to many secrets of the world around him. So if Aang comes knocking on his door for help, who is he to refuse? There's always room for one more...
He only appears in one episode (three technically, but the other two were a flashback to that episode and a cameo), and barely does anything, but he's so damn creepy that everyone remembers him.
- Affably Evil
- The Collector: Of faces.
- Defanged Horrors
- Eldritch Abomination: More corporeal than most, but he qualifies.
- Face Stealer: The Trope Namer, though he can't really shapeshift beyond the face.
- Friendly Enemy: Subverted. He's just trying to get Aang's guard down so he can steal his face. Though he still helped Aang at no benefit to himself when it didn't work.
- The Magnificent/Names to Run Away From Really Fast: The Face Stealer.
- Malevolent Masked Men: He treats his various faces like masks.
- Nothing Is Scarier
- One-Scene Wonder
- Series Continuity Error: Koh claims that a past Avatar tried to kill him "Eight or nine-hundred years ago." but only Kuruk is ever mentioned as having attacked Koh. Even taking into account some Avatars' extended lifespans, it's very unlikely that Kuruk lived any more than 450–550 years previous.
- It's possible previous avatars before Kuruk have had problems with him, since we only know of the immediate 4 prior to Aang and that's he's an Arch Enemy of the Avatar.
- We Will Meet Again: He says this, but their second encounter is never shown on screen, instead happening in an online game taking place between the second and third seasons, while Aang is in a coma.
- White Mask of Doom: His most common, and possibly his true, face.
The Boulder
Voiced by: Mick Foley |
"The Boulder and The Hippo no longer fight for others' entertainment. Now, we fight for our Kingdom!" |
An arrogant yet entertaining Earthbender, he was a wrestler and arena champion who thought he would easily defeat a certain little girl in the tournament. He was painfully curb stomped instead. However, we got to see him again later...
- Boisterous Bruiser
- Captain Ersatz: Of The Rock.
- Given that Mick Foley is the one voicing him, he could be seen as an outright parody.
- Dishing Out Dirt
- Heel Face Turn: He's one of the many wrestlers who kidnaps Aang and Toph, but he (and The Hippo) eventually come to the good side to help with the invasion, as evidenced by his quote.
- Hurricane of Puns: Or would that be an avalanche?
- You mean a rockalanche?
- Large Ham
- Nobody Calls Me Chicken
The Boulder: The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl. |
- Pec Flex: Can be seen briefly during his winning streak in "The Blind Bandit".
- Third Person Person
- Walking Shirtless Scene
Xin Fu and Yu
Voiced by: Marc Graue (Xin Fu), Sab Shimono (Yu) |
"Nobody cheats Xin Fu!" |
"If you pay for the whole year in advance I'll bump you up to the next belt." |
Xin Fu is the coordinator of the wrestling tournament in which Toph participates. When he thinks Toph cheated him out of the prize money he offered for her defeat, he kidnaps her and demands the prize money back as ransom. He is later hired by Toph's father to bring her home after she runs away.
Yu is an Earthbending teacher in Toph's hometown. He was hired to teach Toph Earthbending, but he grossly underestimated her abilities and thought she would never get passed the beginner level. Once Toph runs away, he is hired to work alongside Xin Fu in retrieving her.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Xin Fu.
- Bounty Hunter: Not their actual occupation, but they're willing to do anything for a buck.
- Brains and Brawn: Yu actually thinks things through, realizing things like trying to take down two people with large bounties in a Bad Guy Bar full of desperate outlaws will probably mean having to take on the whole room. Xin Fu will just charge in and beat up the half dozen guys in his way.
- Combat Commentator: Xin Fu's dayjob.
- Fate Worse Than Death: Being stuck in a metal cage for eternity since Earthbenders can't bend metal.
Xin Fu: (while inside the metal cage) ...I'm going to be stuck with you here forever, aren't I? |
- Ironic Echo: "You may think you're the greatest Earthbender in the world, but even you can't bend metal." Oh, just guess what she does next...
- It gets better. Before that, Toph tried using the Potty Emergency trick to get the two of them to let her out of the box. Immediately after Toph locks them in the box, Yu has his famous potty emergency.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Toph sealed them in the metal prison originally intended for her.
- Large Ham: Xin Fu.
- Odd Couple
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: They would have been fine if they hadn't taunted Toph about her inability to bend metal, making Toph that much more determined to do it.
- Not So Harmless Villains: They actually got the drop on Toph, and would have won if Toph hadn't invented Metalbending just to escape/beat them.
- Potty Emergency: Master Yu's final line, AFTER the two are locked in the metal box, is used to inform us of this.
- Punch Clock Villain: Master Yu, definitely. Though Xin Fu is a debatable case.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man
- Those Two Bad Guys
Jin
"You're right, Zuko. I've seen that girl in here quite a lot. It seems to me she has quite a little crush on you!" --Iroh |
Jin is a citizen of Ba Sing Se and a regular patron of the tea shop where Iroh and Zuko work. She nurses a crush on Zuko and decides to ask him out on a date, which doesn't go very well. She appeared in one of the Avatar comics that came out between seasons two and three and had a two-second cameo in the first episode of the third season. Despite her very short screen time, she has gained a decent measure of popularity with the fandom.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys
- Big Eater: Zuko even addresses it.
- Cat Smile: One of the reasons fans like her quite a bit.
- Girl of the Week
- Shallow Love Interest: Her whole purpose was being a (sort of) love interest for Zuko, but Tropes Are Not Bad in this case.
- Too Dumb to Live: Gets accused of this sometimes for not realizing that Zuko was a Firebender after he lit all the candles around the fountain, though it's entirely possible that she knew and just didn't think it was bad. After all, there is no war in Ba Sing Se. Alternatively, she may not know the specifics of bending, since she doesn't appear to be one herself.
- Unkempt Beauty
Wan Shi Tong
"You think you're the first person to believe your war was justified? Countless others before you have come here seeking weapons or weaknesses or battle strategies!" --Wan Shi Tong |
Wan Shi Tong is known as the great knowledge Spirit, which takes the form of a large black owl with a white face. Wan Shi Tong created the Spirit Library to house his ever growing collection of knowledge, and brought it to the mortal world so that humanity might benefit from such wisdom. However eons of seeing humans abusing his knowledge for the sake of conflict has turned Wan Shi Tong to ban humans from his library for their misuse. When the Gaang arrive their, Aang promises not to abuse the knowledge they gain from the library, but quickly go back on their world and learn about the Fire Nation's vulneralbility during a solar eclipse. Wan Shi Tong decided enough was enough and took his library back to the Spirit World while simultaneously trying to kill the Gaang for what they did.
- Above Good and Evil
- Bilingual Bonus: Wan Shi Tong literally means "He who knows ten thousand things."
- Department of Redundancy Department: "I am Wan Shi Tong. He who knows ten thousand things."
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: The Spirit is fed up with humans seeking knowledge just so they can find new ways to fight their wars.
- Informed Ability: Wan Shi Tong stated that he learned all styles of Waterbending when he cornered Katara. If that means he can Waterbend himself or simply knows how to counter it wasn't found out.
- Knight Templar
- The Library of Babel: The Spirit Library.
- One-Winged Angel: Becomes more serpent-like when he attacked the Gaang.
- The Owl-Knowing One
- Owl Be Damned: See One Winged Angel.
- Power At a Price: Wan Shi Tong will let mortals into his library on occassion, but they have to make a donation of knowledge to his collection to prove their worth as scholars, though YMMV on if it counts for this trope.
- Right Behind Me: Showed up behind Sokka just as he blurts out that the Fire Nation was going down.
- "Mortals are so predictable. And such terrible liars.''
- Scary Librarian
- They Know Too Much: Played with in that the knowledge the Gaang has wouldn't do anything to him personally since he has no ties to the Fire Nation, but just the fact that they have this knowledge they intend to use for warfare is enough to silence them.
- ↑ Tries, but fails.