Avatar: The Last Airbender, the animated television series, has captivated audiences with its deep lore of a world divided into four nations, with each nation specializing in one of four elemental techniques and its family-oriented approach. So much so that it received an unfortunate film adaptation years ago, and has recently sprouted Avatar Studios, where we will be getting much more Avatar content. With the series’ first episode airing in 2005, it picks up during a 100-year war waged by the power-hungry Fire Nation and gives a brief history of the world’s struggles up to that point. The Avatar, master of all four elements, went missing 100 years prior to the series’ beginning, which allowed the Fire Nation to conquer most of the known world.
The other nations of air, water, and earth have been either exterminated, ravaged, and/or heavily colonized by the Fire Nation. Luckily, two siblings, Sokka and Katara, of the Water Nation (southern tribe) found the new incarnation of the Avatar, Avatar Aang of the destroyed Air Nation, concealed in an iceberg with his animal guide. They help Aang out of the iceberg, where he was accidentally trapped for 100 years in the Avatar State (a spiritual state of being). This incident intertwines the trio’s destinies; they then form the first iteration of Team Avatar and set out on a mission for Aang to learn the remaining three elements (he is a master of airbending already) in order to bring balance to the world.
Through the three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the team goes to many places, helps many people, and makes many allies (including additions to the core Team Avatar). In this article, we will rank the six main members of Team Avatar by powers, abilities, and skill-sets. While Aang’s Team Avatar has made countless friends throughout their quest to do good, only a few individuals have joined their direct mission and become part of Team Avatar. Without further ado, let’s rank Aang’s Team Avatar!
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6 Suki
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Suki is introduced early in the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and is seen as the leader of a group of warrior women, known as the Kyoshi Warriors. The Kyoshi Warriors live on Kyoshi Island; they are representations of a great past Avatar, Avatar Kyoshi, and are in place to protect Avatar Kyoshi’s homeland.
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Suki is a non-bender, but a martial artist specialist. Her main weapon is an amazingly useful mental fan, and she is versed in hand-to-hand combat. Suki develops a long-standing relationship with Sokka and is actually the first person to give Sokka formal training in fighting (not counting any training given by Sokka’s father or any other people from his tribe). While Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors become great allies to Aang and Team Avatar, it isn’t until the third and final season that Suki joins the everyday operations of Team Avatar.
5 Sokka
Sokka is the only other non-bender on the list and wasn’t initially as skilled in combat as the likes of Suki, though throughout the series, Sokka has become a very talented swordsman. He was trained and mentored by the world’s most renowned swordsman, Piandao, and, in addition to his skills with his trusty boomerang, Sokka became a very suitable fighter.
Sokka can also be given the props of being a master navigator, organizer, and plan developer. Sokka is quick-witted, cunning, and sarcastic; he can potentially talk his way out of many situations, and has a knack for devising the best course of action, especially in a pinch. While he may say or do some ridiculous things at times, and has a tendency to make himself look foolish, Sokka is far from ignorant. Without Sokka and his character development, Team Avatar may not have succeeded in bringing balance to the four nations.
4 Toph
Toph was the fourth everyday member of Team Avatar, and was introduced in the second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender. She is the daughter of a wealthy Earth Kingdom family and a master of earthbending (unbeknownst to her parents). Toph was born blind and had a hard-hearted, my-way-or-the-highway personality, which suited her well when learning earthbending from the world’s first earthbenders, Giant Badgermoles.
Toph is the youngest, and another essential member of Team Avatar, as she taught Aang to earthbend, as well as how to use your feet as a sort of sixth sense in sensing vibrations to assist in earthbending. Another feat of hers that shouldn’t be overlooked, is creating metalbending, as a subsection of earthbending. While Toph lacked social skills and experience in sharing emotions, she made up for it with a strong will and amazing fighting techniques. Toph is definitely a young woman you’d want on your good side.
3 Katara
Aang’s love interest, Katara, is the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, the first one to believe in Aang, Team Avatar’s moral compass, and all of our favorite Water Nation girl. When we were introduced to Katara, as she and Sokka discovered Aang and Apa in the iceberg, she wasn’t very strong, nor disciplined in her waterbending techniques. However, throughout the series, we see Katara develop into an amazing waterbender, leader, and healer.
Katara helped Aang master waterbending, and also learned a very controversial subsection of waterbending, bloodbending. Bloodbending may be the strongest subsection of any element and is a technique Katara didn’t like to use at all. She only used it a couple of times, when it was absolutely necessary, and the feats that can be completed with bloodbending are incredible, yet horrifying. Katara could have been higher on the list, but after much thought and consideration, we decided she belongs in the three spot.
2 Zuko
Zuko, the banished prince of the Fire Nation and former heir to the Fire Lord’s Thorne, is an incredibly powerful, intelligent, and adaptive character. Starting as an antagonist to Aang and Team Avatar, tracking them down and attempting to capture Aang, Zuko became a pivotal member of Team Avatar in season three. He was banished from the Fire Nation at 13 years of age after his pure heart made him “speak out of terms” during an exclusive war meeting with his father, Fire Lord Ozai, and his father’s generals.
With the mentorship of his uncle Iroh and the aid of a ship’s worth of Fire Nation soldiers and crew, he went around the world searching for the Avatar as a way to regain his honor. Zuko had lost everything several times before realizing his true destiny was to assist Team Avatar in taking down his father in order to end the devastating 100-year war. Zuko’s combat abilities in firebending and swordsmanship are second to few, and he has had great leadership development throughout the series. Another ability of his is producing lightning, as well as redirecting lightning attacks, which he also taught to Aang.
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1 Aang
The Avatar, Aang, is the last surviving member of the Air Nation from a Fire Nation purge, and is the obvious choice for the number one ranked member of Team Avatar. Being the current Avatar during a time of an incredibly devastating war, as well as being extremely young and inexperienced, Aang had a long way to go to bring balance to the world. Aang lost everything and everyone he once knew and loved when his people were wiped out at the start of the 100-year war, while he was trapped in an iceberg. Luckily, Aang found a new family (Sokka, Katara, and Toph, to name a few) and a support system that would help him hone his abilities in order to master all four elements.
Aang is somewhat childish, yet wise; excitable yet determined, and inexperienced, yet crafty. Aang, throughout the series, successfully mastered the four elements, including fire, and even learned how to extract someone’s bending entirely. As Aang was a peaceful individual and didn’t think he could bring himself to murder the evil Fire Lord, Aang was able to eradicate Fire Lord Ozai’s bending and, with the help of many, put an end to the war, allowing Zuko to take the Fire Nation’s Throne. In addition to Aang’s elemental abilities, Aang also has access to many Avatar-exclusive abilities while in the Avatar State.
Without Aang’s determination, will, and support system, he may never have been able to defeat Ozai and put an end to the unjust war. Aang may not be the most powerful Avatar in the series’ lore, but he is definitely the most influential in the show’s modern history. Through his hard work, along with his Team Avatar and their allies, Aang was able to bring a new chapter to a war-torn world and rebuild the nations better than ever. A true people’s Avatar.
