There are very few of Aang’s past lives who are actually named or important characters withinThe Last Airbenderfranchise, but possibly the most prominent isAvatar Kyoshi, who is an interesting protagonistbecause she is both a genuine hero who is unafraid to carry out the Avatar’s duties and stop wars at all costs, but also a quick and decisive judge who has the potential to become the very tyrant she tries to stop in the world.
As an earth bender first and foremost, and one ofthe most powerful earth benders of the franchise, Kyoshi was raised with a solid resolve and a strong outlook on life, which made her a resilient Avatar who managed to keep peace in the world for over 200 years. It is no wonder then, that she inspired the Earth Nation to follow in her footsteps and maintain her courage and tenacity throughout the 100-year war that the fire benders started.
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There are many hugely strong kingdoms within the Earth Nation, the most famous of which is Ba Sing Sei where Aang goes to seek an earth-bending master to teach him the element after water, but possibly one of the more interesting homages to the mighty Avatar is the island upon which she was born, where Aang, Katara and Sokka meet the Warriors of Kyoshi. This remarkable group of young warriors manage to easily and deftly capture the air-bender and his friends, and bring him back to their village in order to ascertain whether they are Fire Nation spies. They are a formidable group of women who have trained themselves in the arts of deception, combat, meditation and weaponry, and they are some of the strongest warriors in the whole ofThe Last Airbender, which is amazing considering that they have no bending abilities among them. So what makes these fighters so powerful?
Their very foundation is built upon the principles that Kyoshi taught the world during her time as Avatar. Starting out as an earth bender, she was rooted in strength and brute force, smashing rocks into her foes and suing the very soil beneath her feet to keep her grounded whilst she wiped her enemies away. But as the Avatar, she also had to learn thesoft magic systemsand elements, how to ebb and flow like water, how to be untethered with the air, and this process taught her that true strength isn’t about brute force, but about learning how to interact with your opponents and use their own force against them.
This is a lesson that underpins everything the Warriors of Kyoshi learn, as they harness their opponents' strength and redirect it to their advantage, easily throwing the enemy off balance. In this way they are able to exceed and thrive in hand-to-hand combat, but as the series develops they even learn how to do this with bending, so they are easily able to evade whips of water, streaks of fire, and even huge boulders that are thrown their way.
When Suki, the leader of the Warriors of Kyoshi, takes Sokka under her wing, she teaches him not only to check his attitudes around what makes a good warrior, no matter if they are male or female, but also to be in touch with himself, down to the very threads he wears and what they symbolize.Sokka is the funniest character on the show, but when he meets Suki, he suddenly has to learn to out himself in someone else’s shoes.
Every action is precise, every decision is nurtured and calculated, and this is something that Kyoshi lived by in her time as Avatar, when she wasn’t afraid to wipe out and enemy for the greater good, because she knew it would prevent hundreds more lives being lost in the long run. This is one of the most important lessons she teaches Aang, who,as an Air Nomad, has been taught never to take a life, and to avoid conflict and confrontation where necessary. Kyoshi, in some ways, could be considered too quick to judge and hand out punishment, and Aang, on the other extreme, is too passive and could potentially let slip a danger that comes back to haunt him.
The Warriors of Kyoshi exist somewhere in between the two, in balance and harmony with the world and with one another, but also with the enemy themselves. They perfectly walk the line between not giving out false retribution but also being willing to do what it takes to defend their people form the Fire Nation onslaught. They use their slight staures, their stealth, and their cunning minds to their advantage, and they are instrumental in Aang’s journey to defeating the Fire Lord Ozai, one of themost iconic kings in a TV show, and restoring peace and balance to the world. Ultimately, they are some of the strongest warriors and are able to defeatthe best villains in the franchisebecause they know discipline and restraint, but they also know love and loyalty unlike any others, and they work in harmony with all of these elements to become a truly formidable force.
