As I said during the initial retrospective, Avatar the Last Airbender even makes the side characters memorable. Since there are so many, I'm going to just cover three of my favorites.
Cabbage Guy:
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| My cabbages! |
Come on, you guys all knew I'd mention him at some point. Though he wasn't a major side character, he was still memorable. Mostly used for comic relief, he also served as an interesting way to somewhat foreshadow impending events. While he never actually participated in any fights, the guy shows up wherever there was going to be a major or climactic arc. The dude has some of the worst luck I've ever seen. Not matter where he goes, the Aang and the others are always there to mess up his stuff. The dude just can't catch a break.
King Bumi:
Possibly the only surviving friend Aang had before he was frozen. The mad king of Omashu. This dude is hands down my favorite side character in the show. The dude is the ultimate personification of the crazy old man stereotype. But don't let his looks fool you, he is a powerful earthbender. While he may look old and frail but he can still mess people up.
It was sweet knowing that Aang hadn't lost everything. From his creative approaches to problems to his bending prowess, this crazy old man is all kinds of awesome.
Uncle Iroh:
Zuko's uncle and the Fire Lord's brother. He treated Zuko like a son and even went into exile with him to help him hunt for the avatar. A powerful firebender. He is known as the Dragon of the West, a name he earned by supposedly slaying the last dragon in existance. A funny and sweet old man. He carries the comic relief along with Sokka. Like his brother and Azula, he is powerful enough to lightning bend and he even created a technique to redirect lightning by studying the movements of waterbenders. He is the entire reason Zuko made the choice to side with Aang. He lost his son when he tried to invade Ba Sing Sei before the beginning of the series and one of the saddest scenes in the series as a whole is when you see him in Ba Sing Sei visiting his son's grave on his son's birthday. Seeing Zuko turning against him was almost heart-breaking for me.
Order of the White Lotus:
The Order of the White Lotus is basically a group of old warriors spanning across the four nations who seek everlasting peace in the world. Though they don't appear until season 3. The most prominent members are Jeong Jeong, Iroh, Bumi, Pakku, and Piandao. All of them are masters of their specific art and Aang and his friends met each of them on their journey. Since some of them don't have much backstory, I'll list a bit about them and their introductions in the series.
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| left to right: Jeong Jeong, Bumi, Iroh (center), Pakku, and Piandao |
Jeong Jeong: A former Fire Nation general he trained general Zhao. He became a wanted man in the Fire Nation after jumping ship and leaving the Fire Nation army.
Bumi: The mad king of Omashu (I've already talked about him so I won't repeat myself).
Uncle Iroh: The Dragon of the West (again I've already talked about him).
Pakku: The greatest waterbending master in the Northern Water Tribe.
Piandao: A great swordsman and the one who taught Sokka the way of the sword.
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