10 Most Heroic Characters in 'Avatar: The Last Airbender,' Ranked

One of the most celebrated fantasy cartoons in television history, Avatar: The Last Airbender largely revolves around its three heroes: Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), Katara (Mae Whitman), and Sokka (Jack DeSena). Though they get the most attention as the protagonists of the story, they're far from the only characters one might call heroic. There are many others, even people in the more antagonistic Fire Nation, who also have noble qualities that befit such a characterization. You don't have to be perfect to be selfless and courageous, after all. It's also not necessary to be a major player in the narrative or even be a person to qualify as heroic (Appa and Momo, for instance).

People come and go from episode to episode, and this series is excellent at making such characters feel real in a short period. From flashbacks of Zuko's mother to the fleeting Princess Yue, someone who only appears briefly can nonetheless demonstrate humankind's tremendous capacity for good. Then there's a person like Zuko: while he does become one of the good guys in the end, that's not how we identify him for the majority of the show. With that in mind, the most heroic characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender sacrifice more than most, bravely confront danger, and do these things more consistently than everyone else in the Avatar narrative.

10 Hakoda

Voiced by André Sogliuzzo

Chieftan of the Southern Water Tribe, Hakoda, is a great leader and a resilient man. He's also Sokka and Katara's father, which means that he not only had to raise his kids as a single parent for a while, but he also had to leave them to fight in the war. When Avatar begins, they haven't seen him in years; he could very well be dead, for all they know. It's been a tragic life, but it turns out that he survived and retained the respect of his battalion for long enough that his kids finally catch up with him.

Sokka definitely considers his father a role model. Saying goodbye to his kids to fight against the Fire Nation was a very painful but necessary sacrifice. It takes even more strength to know that his wife won't be waiting at home for him. Along with the wisdom he imparts to his children when they finally reunite, this man surely ranks among the most heroic side characters who make fans love Avatar to this day.

9 Kya

Voiced by Grey DeLisle

While Sokka and Katara's father gave up a lot in the ongoing struggle for freedom, their mother sacrificed even more: her life. Katara was the final waterbender left in the Southern Water Tribe, and she would have been killed as a child if it weren't for her mother. When the show begins, all Katara knows is that The Fire Nation invaded their village and took her mother's life when they were there. The why becomes clearer in Season 3, though.

In "The Southern Raiders," Katara learns the specifics. A subsection of the Fire Nation army called The Southern Raiders was looking for what their source called the last waterbender in the South Pole. Her mother, Kya, obviously knew it was Katara, so she told them that it was herself instead. She expected to be taken prisoner, but the consequences proved more severe. Kya pays the ultimate price for her child, and that alone makes her a hero in her daughter's (and our) eyes.

8 Ursa

Voiced by Jen Cohn

Zuko (Dante Basco) loved his mother, and it's easy to see why once we're given a closer look at her in one of Avatar's most distinctive episodes. Ursa was the opposite of her husband in every way. She wasn't a bender; instead, she was kind, attempted to have her children get along rather than compete, and reprimanded Azula for her foul behavior. What makes Ursa heroic, however, is that she saves Zuko from his grandfather's wrath.

After Ozai foolishly suggested that his father skip over Iroh and give him the throne instead, Firelord Azulon rebuked him. Azulon ordered Ozai to lose his son, as Iroh had lost his. Ozai himself told Zuko that he was going to kill him, but Ursa concocted a plan to have her husband's father killed so that Ozai would become Firelord. As a consequence, she would be banished for her treason. Her last words to her son were, "No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are." With such limited screen time, Ursa's devotion to Zuko is very touching.

7 King Bumi

Voiced by André Sogliuzzo

The eccentric King Bumi is astoundingly the one friend from Aang's childhood who's still alive. At the wise old age of 112, Bumi has such a nutty sense of humor that he spends a whole episode giving Aang ridiculous tasks while Sokka and Katara slowly get more and more engulfed by rock candy. Bumi is also the most powerful earthbender in the world, able to travel underground and execute all sorts of hyper-advanced techniques. His wisdom is just as formidable, though.

Both play a part in his approach to fighting the Fire Nation when they invade Omashu. Bumi did nothing when they first arrived, and his city quickly surrendered. Though he never explicitly says this when he explains his strategy to Aang, it seems that he vastly reduced the number of casualties by making sure that no one fought to begin with. Then, when the solar eclipse arrives, Bumi again makes sure that none of his people are lost to war with a simple strategy: take Omashu back all alone. This sacrifice takes a true leader and a "mad genius"—as the Avatar likes to call him.

6 Iroh

Voiced by Makoto Iwamatsu (Seasons 1-2) and Greg Baldwin (Season 3)

Sure, Iroh was on Zuko's team in Season 1, but he was always trying to cool down his nephew's temper. In Season 2, Iroh was more than willing to accept a quiet life making tea in Ba Sing Se. The former general even got Zuko to be happy with their new life in the Earth Kingdom, if only briefly. Zuko's return to his old ways in the Season 2 finale (one of the best episodes in Avatar) would go on to plague the young man throughout Season 3, largely because of his uncle's influence.

The point is that Zuko would not have permanently changed sides if it weren't for Iroh. By extension, it's difficult to think that Aang and his friends would have prevailed if fate had turned out otherwise. Along with giving up his life in the Fire Nation to help his nephew regain his honor, Iroh diligently protected him as well. To name just a few more things, he's a leader in The Order of the White Lotus, helped recapture Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation, and protected the final dragons by pretending to have killed them.

5 Toph

Voiced by Michaela Jill Murphy

Toph started the show living a double life as The Blind Bandit, and she would soon use her talents to fight actual bad guys. She didn't join the team until the sixth episode of season two, but that's more than enough time for her to accrue quite the portfolio of heroic moments throughout the remainder of this series. It doesn't take very long at all for Toph to feel just as much of a main character worth rooting for as Aang, Katara, and Sokka—showing just how much character development can be accomplished in just a few terrific seasons.

Maybe it wasn't a huge sacrifice for Toph to leave her life behind since she hated living with her parents. However, she did love being the champion in the underground battle scene, so her joining the others still counts as a selfless act. Toph would then teach Aang earth-bending to the point where he's made a ton of progress by the time he has to fight Firelord Ozai. Along with her vital contributions (including keeping that library from sinking), Toph has proven herself time and time again.

4 Sokka

Voiced by Jack DeSena

Sokka was a part of the gang from the beginning, so it's hard not to put this guy near the top of the list. He's contributed so much to the Avatar's mission that it's hard to know where to even begin. Perhaps with his bravery, given the fact that Katara and Aang have been able to more reliably defend themselves with their bending. Even Momo and Appa can escape most situations with their abilities to fly and glide away. What's Sokka had this whole time? A boomerang.

He would eventually get a sword, too, but that came in pretty late to the game. Sokka often has to use his savvy when the gang gets into sticky situations. He proves integral, for instance, in getting Aang through some special doors by tricking some sages into thinking he has already made it inside. Among other things, he also frees Suki and his father from a Fire Nation prison and leads the assault on those Fire Nation airships during Sozin's Comet. By the end, Sokka's drive to be a great leader like his father pays off marvelously.

3 Katara

Voiced by Mae Whitman

First of all, Katara is the one who released Aang from that iceberg in the series premiere. Bonus points for doing it while standing up to her immature brother, and more extra points for actively trying to break open the ice when she realizes that someone is inside. The instinct to help other people is one of Katara's defining characteristics in the series, and the audience never doubts that she is the most sensitive member of Team Avatar. Her occasional lapses, like stealing that water-bending scroll from those sketchy pirates, hardly even count as lapses.

Since the beginning, Katara has been as brave as anybody. She's down to fight if that's what it takes, but she's also able to calm Aang down when he's in his dangerous Avatar State. Like Sokka, there are too many examples of her fighting someone evil or saving someone good to count them all, but her victory over Azula in the finale should suffice. Katara is one of the best characters in Avatar, and a big reason is her endearing and consistent heroic spirit.

2 Princess Yue

Voiced by Johanna Braddy

What's more heroic than saving the world? This is more or less what Princess Yue does, something that's both beautiful and tragic to watch. Yue was born to the royal family in the Northern Water Tribe, but she was so sick that it was clear that she wouldn't survive infancy. Thus, Yue's parents prayed to the moon to spare her and dipped her into the sacred pond where the moon and ocean spirits dwell. Her hair then turned its signature white color, and she started to cry.

The moon spirit put some of itself in her, meaning she would be able to save the moon spirit, too, if that were ever necessary. Unfortunately, that day would indeed come, and returning the rest of the moon spirit would also mean instant death for her as a person. Without the moon, not only is the water tribe defenseless against the Fire Nation but the world is also completely out of balance. Though we never see what the lasting worldwide consequences would be, it's clear that Yue made arguably the most significant sacrifice in Avatar.

1 Aang

Voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen

It's hard enough to list all of Katara's, Sokka's, and Toph's noble actions, but Aang is in another league here. After all, this kid is the main character in one of the best Nicktoons of all time, so the narrative throughout the show is built to give him as many heroic moments as possible. In practically every episode, he saves someone's life, saves a community from destruction (such as Kyoshi Island), or restores someone's faith in something.

Aang is still a kid, of course. He struggled with his enormous and impending responsibilities as the Avatar, which led to him trying to run away from his problems and accidentally freezing for 100 years. That said, what he does when he emerges from the ice is nothing short of incredible. He saves countless people even before he definitively defeats the Fire Lord and saves the world. One must also not forget his insistence on not taking a life, which even other Avatars disagree with him on. Aanf is undoubtedly a positive influence on his viewers and the most heroic figure in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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