Katara is one of the most beloved characters from
Avatar:Â The Last Airbender
because of her wits, generosity, and passion. She gets a lot of exposure in certain comics that show a bit more of who she is and what she stands for which is always appreciated by fans.
The comics generally focus on building the world of Avatar, but there're key character moments that fans should know about, especially if they like Katara specifically. From exploring with pirates to tense homecomings, there's a lot to learn about the waterbender of Team Avatar.
Katara Gets Separated From Team Avatar
In "Katara And The Pirate's Silver," Katara falls off of Appa while being attacked by Fire Nation soldiers. She saves herself by creating a cushion of water from a nearby river, but because of all the chaos, she gets separated from Team Avatar and can't find them easily.
In the show, there're very few instances of the gang being split up often, but it's a great opportunity to see how characters would react if they were forced to power through a situation like this. They're all-powerful benders and warriors so it isn't a big concern for them to be alone, but it's great to see them with a sense of agency in their own stories.
Katara And Pirates
Throughout
Avatar: The Last Airbender
, there're many diverse subgroups of people, cultures, and operators of the black market that interact with Team Avatar. Pirates are one such group that the crew is confronted by when Katara steals a secret waterbending scroll from them. This isn't the only time she interacts with pirates though.
As the title implies, in "Katara And The Pirate's Silver," she actually joins a group of pirates as their bodyguard, navigator, and resident waterbender in exchange for escape from firebenders.
Her Waterbending Potential
Since she's the waterbending teacher of the Avatar and an exceptional healer with combat prowess,
it's no question that Katara was one of the strongest waterbenders
to exist during the time of team avatar. The real question is, how powerful was she from the start?
The events of the Pirate's Silver story seems to take place not long after Aang learns earthbending which is well before the climax of the Last Airbender story. In the comic, Katara is able to crush firebender ships with literally one hand, without even looking. It's hard to truly understand how strong she is, especially at such a young age.
She Looks Up To Toph
As a waterbender, it's in Katara's nature to "go with the flow," but sometimes she feels that makes her a pushover. In the comics, she tells herself multiple times to be more like Toph and stand her ground. In doing so she takes out some firebender soldiers and feels proud of herself for standing against them.
She also feels conflicted by these feelings when Toph brings up that she taught Aang to earthbend in a matter of days when it took her weeks. There's a lot more nuance when it comes to learning bending styles and since Aang had already learned a new element, learning his second new one came a lot quicker to him. Either way, Katara took it personally and used it to fuel her motivation to become a better teacher.
She's Got A Side Gig
Katara has a side gig. Well, not exactly. It's more of an opportunity if she ever wanted to take it. After the events of the Pirate's Silver storyline, the pirates ask her if she wants to join their crew permanently. The pirates showed that they were a Robinhood-type group that provided medicinal herbs to sick people in their town, and acted illegally to spite the fire nation. Katara has a special hatred of the fire nation so her joining the crew would make sense if she wasn't a member of Team Avatar.
Return To The Southern Water Tribe
Every fan knows that Katara and Sokka are from the Southern Water Tribe, What they might not know is that the siblings return to their tribe without Aang. When they arrive, they're met with a bustling ice city that took the place of their small village of huts and tents that was there at the start of the series.
The two water tribes have met up at this point and attempt to unify, creating a more modern sphere for the southern tribe. Katara is disappointed with this change since it upends her entire thinking of life at home.
Hair Loopies
During early parts of
The Last Airbender
series, Katara wears her hair with two loops that start in the front and loop to the back by her neck. This style is mentioned as important in the TV series but it gets explained in more detail in the comics. In the North and South storyline, Katara and Sokka return to their hometown and fans get to learn more about what it means to be from the Southern Water Tribe.
The "hair loopies" are depicted as just as important as the warrior's wolf tail hairstyle that Sokka sports, showing the reader that there's a great deal of pride associated with hair in the Southern Water Tribe. The hairstyle is also based on a real Inuit hairstyle, which the water tribe is based on.
Waterbending Master Grandfather
Pakku is
one of the strongest waterbenders to ever live
, and also a master of Katara at one point in the animated series. He's from the Northern Water Tribe and at first refused to teach women how to fight, as per the traditions of his tribe. After Katara fights him and shows her strength, he goes to the Southern Water Tribe to open a school and teach there.
He also gets reunited with his ex-fiance, who happens to be Katara's grandmother. A few weeks before the siblings return home, he marries their grandmother and becomes their new grandfather.
Her Dad Can't Catch A Break
Hakoda is the leader of the Southern Water Tribe, a fantastic warrior, and Katara's father.
Throughout multiple stories, he can't seem to catch a break
even though he's one of the tribe's greatest warriors who fought off tons of fire nation soldiers and united the disorganized tribes of the south. In the comics he gets saved by almost literally everyone.
Zuko helps him not fall off a bridge, Aang helps him break his fall when he falls down a ravine, Sokka saves him with some good intelligence, and Katara has to heal his fatal wounds. He also gets betrayed by a nationalist from the north that he falls in love with, who proceeds to try to colonize his tribe. Overall, for a strong warrior, he sure does seem to need a lot of help.
She's Helped Sokka Pretend To Be The Avatar
In "The Lost Adventures: Book 2," Team Avatar stops in a small Earth Kingdom town where Sokka meets another girl to flirt with. To impress her, he spouts a lie that he's the Avatar and has to back it up for her and the whole town. Katara, Toph, and Aang all help him pretend by bending around his actions, making it look like he's actually the one bending. Somehow the town buys it and Sokka becomes "Avatar Sokka", shocking everyone.