Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Creation and conception

According to the un-aired pilot episode, Katara’s name was originally 'Kya', which was later used for her deceased mother instead. 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 pagoda; and Lā (拉) means to pull. The character 'Lā' appears in the first season's finale, while the character '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" were intended to hang downward, but were thought too hard to animate and looped backward instead.

Personality

Katara is described as "smart, capable; an anime heroine", and as "kind, brave, and passionate." In many situations, Katara appears as a mother to the other protagonists: a role attributed to her tribe's losses to raids and the departure of many members to war, which allegedly required her (as well as her brother Sokka) to assume responsibilities beyond her age. Katara tends to be kind and generous, but is often stubborn, or confined by her morals; becomes angry if doubted, insulted, or betrayed; and carries resentment for years on end.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

When Katara was 8 years old, her mother, Kya, sacrificed her life during a Fire Nation raid in order to protect Katara; whereafter her daughter assumed an adult's role in later life. Though her interests lay in developing her Waterbending skills, she resigned herself to cooking and cleaning duties while her brother, Sokka, trained to become a warrior. Later, Katara’s father Hakoda and the other warriors journey to the Earth Kingdom to oppose the Fire Nation; leaving Katara, Sokka, and their grandmother Kanna to look after the tribe.

The events of Avatar: The Last Airbender begin six years thereafter, when Katara and Sokka find Aang in suspended animation and identify him as the Avatar, a messianic figure. Bent on mastering Waterbending, Katara joins Aang to reach the Northern Water Tribe to find a Waterbending master, with Sokka alongside them. Upon arrival, Master Pakku refuses her apprenticeship, because the customs of the Northern Water Tribe dictate that females cannot learn Waterbending as a martial art; but upon noticing Katara's necklace, which he himself gave to Katara's grandmother, he agrees to teach her. Katara having achieved her own expertise, Pakku deems her sufficient to teach Aang.

Katara then accompanies Aang to the Earth Kingdom for him to learn earthbending. At an Earth Kingdom stronghold, General Fong places Katara’s life in danger to induce Aang's Avatar State; but achieves only destruction. After the earthbender Toph Bei Fong joins the group to teach Aang, Katara and Toph initially quarrel; but thereafter become friends. In the Earth Kingdom's capital, Katara encounters antagonist Prince Zuko and his sister Azula; and during the following battle, Aang is injured by Azula's lightning, whereupon Katara takes him to safety and eventually heals him.

In a village burdened by the Fire Nation's pollution, Katara disguises herself as the river spirit 'Painted Lady' in order to help the village. While staying with the semi-reclusive Hama, the protagonists learn she is a Waterbender of the Southern Tribe imprisoned by the Fire Nation. Later, she offers to teach Katara a Waterbending technique called "Bloodbending", which enables physical control of animals and humans. When Katara refuses to learn this technique, Hama uses it on Aang and Sokka, forcing Katara to use the technique herself on Hama. When Prince Zuko offers to join the protagonists, he does not gain Katara's trust until he has assisted her in the finding of the man who was responsible for killing her mother.

During the four-part series finale, Katara assists Zuko in preventing Azula from becoming Fire Lord; and having captured Azula, she heals Zuko. When the war ends, she is seen in Ba Sing Se with the other protagonists and she finally shares a passionate kiss with Aang, confirming that they are an official couple.

The Legend of Korra

In the sequel series The Legend of Korra, Katara, now eighty-five, is one of the surviving members of the original Team Avatar (along with Zuko and Toph). She is a high-ranking member of the White Lotus and took it upon herself to train Korra in waterbending, becoming the latest in a line of masters to serve as a teacher to multiple Avatars. Katara and Aang are also revealed to have had three children: the non-bender Bumi (who later acquired the ability to airbend), the waterbender Kya and the airbender Tenzin. She plays a rather minor role in the first season of the series, only giving Korra her blessing to leave for Republic City to train with Tenzin and attempting to unsuccessfully heal her after she lost her waterbending, firebending and earthbending abilities to Amon.

In the second season's first episode "Rebel Spirit", Katara is seen celebrating with all three of her children at the Southern Water Tribe's Glacier Spirits Festival. While together with them, Katara, holding her new grandson Rohan, watches sadly as she notices Kya and Bumi joking at Tenzin's expense. At the end of the episode, Katara implores that Tenzin take his brother and sister with him to the Southern Air Temple, saying that he will enjoy looking back on the time he had to spend with his siblings and that it might be best for the three to visit their father's home together. In "Harmonic Convergence," Katara is seen in her healing hut tending to injured Southern Water Tribe soldiers, and later used healing to keep her granddaughter Jinora's body alive while her soul was trapped in the spirit world. In Light in the Dark, she is seen listening to Avatar Korra addressing the independent Southern Water Tribe and how she decided to have spirits and human coexist by leaving the spirit portals open.

In the fourth season episode "Korra Alone", Katara aids Korra in healing her body after being poisoned by Zaheer at the end of the third season, enabling her to walk again after being wheelchair bound for over six months.

Abilities

Katara's abilities develop considerably throughout the series. At the outset, she has little control over her innate waterbending, and often loses control in moments of frustration or anger. Thanks to diligent practice, an instruction scroll, and tutelage under a Master, her skill improves until she is bestowed with the status and title of "Waterbending Yang-style Master". She was chosen by Korra as her instructor in the Southern Tribe martial arts, bending arts and the healing arts.

Waterbending

Katara is highly skilled in Waterbending which utilizes chinese martial arts techniques of "internal style" T'ai chi ch'uan and Jeet Kune Do; Katara is the only surviving Master of "Southern Tribe Yang-style" after the 100 year genocide. Waterbending represents the element of change, and is categorized as the most adaptive or pliable of the "four bending arts". Waterbending emphasizes "softness and breathing" over "hard aggression"; fluid and graceful, acting in concert with the environment; creating opportunities where none exist; this "flow of energy" allows their defensive maneuvers to translate into focus on control and counter-offenses, turning their opponents' momentum against them. Despite these advantages, Waterbending is almost entirely dependent on inertia; it is essential not to be rigid, but to be fluid and able to adapt to any situation.

Katara has demonstrated to be a formidable opponent to her enemies, able to fight on equal terms with Azula and Long Feng. Katara eventually outmatched the fire nation princess to demonstrate the extent of her skill. Without the aid of a full moon, Katara can use water to cut through objects; summon lashing waves and whips of varying sizes; cover herself with a sheath of water; surf on a length of ice; run and stand on the surface of water; melt and control existing ice; form ice into various shapes; freeze water and objects surrounded by water with little effort; create walls of mist and steam; transform steam into ice; evaporate large amounts of water; or derive a weapon from any moisture including her own perspiration. She can control huge amounts of water at a time, forming huge waves and bubbles of water. On one instance, Katara knocked down the entire Dai Li, Zuko, and Azula while riding atop a giant wave. As with all Waterbenders, Katara's powers max under the influence of a full moon.

Katara demonstrates the ability to levitate and control water-based liquids, as well as pure water, in episode "The Southern Raiders", wherein Katara bends ink onto a map. She is also seen bending soup (which allows her to cook meals), and bends perfume while battling a smell-dependent monster. In the episode "The Painted Lady," she uses her bending to create a thick fog. Katara also demonstrates the ability to bend sweat and the ability to manipulate mud with Toph, who manipulates the dirt while Katara controls the water.

Healing abilities

Katara is one of the few waterbenders born with the sub-ability of healing injuries or wounds, first demonstrated after she is burned by Aang's first attempt at firebending; She stregthens this ability under the tutelage of the Northern Water Tribe's healer Yagoda. She uses it thereafter to relieve sickness; overcome brainwashing; and heal seemingly mortal wounds such as burns and bleeding injuries. Nevertheless, she cannot cure all sicknesses, completely mend brain damage or heal internal injuries and birth defects. Using special water she obtained from the Northern Water Tribe's Spirit Shrine that she kept with her continually, she was able to heal a fatal wound Azula inflicted upon Aang, thus reviving him from death. She speculated that she would be able to use that same water from the Spirit Shrine to heal the scar on Zuko's face when they were imprisoned underground together in Old Ba Sing Se. However, they were interrupted before she could attempt it. By the time of The Legend of Korra, Lin Beifong (Toph's metalbender daughter) claims that she is the strongest healer in the world.

Bloodbending

Katara has another waterbending technique known as "bloodbending". She is able to manipulate the fluids inside a human body (and presumably any other living creature), leaving the target unable to move or resist in any way. Once she has taken control, she can make it move in any manner she desires. She is only able to bloodbend during a full moon, when her waterbending power is at its peak. Katara was forced to learn bloodbending by Hama, an elderly Water Tribe woman who originally developed the technique and who wanted Katara to learn it in order for it to be passed on to others ("The Puppetmaster"). However, Katara abhors this technique and has only used it once or twice in times of great stress. In later years, she worked to make the practice a criminal offense.

Appearances in other media

Katara's character appeared in the Avatar: The Last Airbender Trading Card Game and three THQ video games including the eponymous video game and Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth and Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno

Like Aang, Katara also appeared in Tokyopop's films comic (sometimes referred to as cine-manga).

In 2010 film adaptation of the series, The Last Airbender directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Nicola Peltz portrayed Katara. The film was universally panned by critics and audiences. Many reviewers cited inconsistencies within the plot and between the screenplay and the source material, as well as the acting, writing and casting and has been considered to be one of the worst adaptations ever made.