If, like me, you grew up watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, you probably remember the show very fondly. After all, it had everything you could ask for in a cartoon: a cool storyline, beautiful artwork and music, supernatural elements, and, most importantly, amazing characters. The Last Airbender featured a cast of rich, diverse characters. Of course, you probably had your favorite among the members of Team Avatar, as Aang's crew is called. Maybe it was Aang himself, for his goofiness and peaceful disposition. Maybe you liked Toph better because she was strong and didn't let anyone push her around. Or maybe you liked Zuko's redemption arc or Katara's fierce independence. And maybe your favorite character was Sokka, Katara's wisecracking older brother.
Sokka was a warrior from the Southern Water Tribe; he and his sister were the ones to free Avatar Aang from the ice, giving hope back to a world torn by war. He was originally supposed to be a minor character, but thanks to his voice actor, Jack De Sena, he became much more than that. De Sena added a humorous dimension to the character, and Sokka quickly became a fan favorite thanks to his comedic timing.
However, there's still quite a lot of misconceptions about Sokka, and I'll readily admit that even I didn't realize just how complex he was until I started doing research for this article. This is why I'm writing about 25 things that people get wrong about Sokka. He's an amazing, underrated character, and he deserves recognition!
25 He’s More Than Just A Warrior
You may remember Sokka as a great warrior, and it’s true he was trained in the Southern Water Tribe, and by a great swordmaster later on.
But more than a warrior, Sokka is also an amazing strategist, a skill he hones and develops over the course of the show.
He’s incredibly smart and was invited to join the elite Order of The White Lotus, a secret society of scholars from all of the four Nations. He’s also the mastermind behind the final attack on Fire Lord Ozai, and a big part of the reason Team Avatar was able to restore peace to the world.
24 He’s Not A Bender
He may be from the Southern Water Tribe, but, unlike his younger sister Katara, Sokka isn’t a bender. At the beginning of the show, he’s shown to resent benders, and dismisses his sister’s abilities as “magic water.” Later on, he warms up to bending, though it’s still obvious he’s not quite comfortable with firebending in particular. Over the course of the show, Sokka is depicted as a formidable warrior, and the fact that he is a non-bender shows the importance of skill, intelligence, and dedication.
23 But He’s Just As Important As The Rest Of Team Avatar
Because he’s a non-bender, Sokka tends to be “dismissed” as comic relief, or “the meat and sarcasm guy” as he refers to himself. But as I stated earlier, he was instrumental to Team Avatar’s victory over the fire-lord, and he’s indispensable to the rest of the team. He may not have supernatural abilities like the rest of his friends, but it would be a foolish mistake to underestimate him! He’s a central character—and, apart from Katara’s voiceover, he’s actually the first character to speak.
22 He Was The Leader Of Team Avatar
While Aang is technically the main character of the series, he’s not the leader of Team Avatar—Sokka is. Aang may be over a hundred years old, but Sokka is more serious and more mature. Aang focuses on his role as the Avatar, and on mastering the four elements, and Sokka is the one who plans out the team’s moves and tries to keep an eye on his younger friends; and his sister of course, of whom he’s very protective.
21 He’s Younger Than You Think
Did you know that Sokka was originally meant to be 13 years old? While his leadership role and his somewhat bossy personality might make you think he’s almost an adult, he’s actually only 15 in The Last Airbender. Katara and he were left to take care of their tribe, and think of themselves as adults, as is shown in the first episode, when Katara says “when I was a kid” and Aang replies “You still are a kid!” Despite all this, Sokka is still very young.
20 But He’s Definitely Not An Immature child
He may be stubborn and sometimes goofy, but he’s far from immature. You could argue that Sokka stopped being a child when his mother was tragically taken from him during a Fire Nation raid. Then, when his father and all the men of the tribe left to fight the Fire Nation and he was left to take care of his tribe, effectively making him the leader, he definitely grew up faster than he should have, which explains his bossiness and no-nonsense attitude.
19 He’s Not Just There For Comic Relief
Sure, Sokka has some really funny scenes—like the episode where he and Momo hallucinate because of cactus juice in the desert. I’ll admit it, I used to dismiss him as just a funny side-character.
But writing this article made me realize just how complex he is as a character.
He’s both funny and serious, sarcastic and earnest, tough and vulnerable, etc. A lot of people dismiss him and just one thing or the other, but he really is more than just “the guy with the boomerang, here for comic relief.
18 He Is Less Serious Than The Movie Adaptation Makes You Think
The live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender got a lot of things wrong, but it really got Sokka wrong—to the point where Jackson Rathbone, who played him in the movie, got a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor. Not only is Rathbone white while Sokka and the Southern Water tribe are inspired by the Inuits, he was also, well, boring. And as I just pointed out, Sokka is a complex character; he’s meant to be interesting, and he’s meant to be funny. Someone who just saw the live-action remake would have a completely wrong impression of him!
17 Brains And Brawns: He’s Really Good At Poetry
Sokka’s intellectual brilliance shines in the episode The Tale of Ba Sing Se, where he finds himself unintentionally competing in a haiku competition. To everyone’s surprise, he turns out to be really good! He does lose the match because of an extra syllable at the end of his haiku, however. If anything, this goes to show that Sokka really is more than just a warrior: not only is he a gifted strategist, he’s gifted with words in general. It’s not something you’d expect from him, so many people get that aspect of his personality wrong.
16 But He’s A Terrible Artist
Sokka may be good at poetry, but he’s a terrible artist—something you might not expect knowing his determination and his precision. Sokka’s actually ambidextrous and is shown using both his right and his left hand to paint, but in either case, his paintings turn out kind of terrible.
There’s a running gag in the show about how proud Sokka is of his mediocre artwork.
Surprisingly, a lot of people don’t remember that. It made for some funny situations, and it shows that no matter how hard he tries to be an adult, Sokka’s not always perfect!
15 Didn’t Believe In Spirit Magic, Though His Girlfriend Turned Into The Moon
Sokka’s first love was Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe. Their love was doomed from the start, however, since Yue was already betrothed. She also had a strong connection with the spirits and sacrificed herself to give life back to the wounded moon spirit, effectively becoming the moon. Knowing that, you’d expect Sokka to be fairly spiritually inclined, but really, he barely believes in spirits. Out of all the members of Team Avatar, (expect maybe for Toph) he’s the most down-to-earth.
14 A Warrior, A Strategist, But Also A Scientist
Indeed, Sokka believes in science, which partially explains his skepticism towards spirits and his distrustful attitude to bending.
He turns his back to bending and to the supernatural in general.
This is represented symbolically in the first episode of the show, when we first see Katara bending. While his sister waterbends, Sokka keeps his back to her, and doesn’t turn around once. He not only considers himself a scientist, he’s also really good at science—as we can see when he solves the hot water balloon dilemma in the episode Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang.
13 His Boomerang Isn’t His Only Weapon
Sokka got his boomerang from his father, and he defines himself in the first episode as “a guy with a boomerang.” But he’s also a guy with a sword, and with many other weapons. Feeling useless compared to the benders of Team Avatar who trained with incredible masters, he trains with swordmaster Piandao in order to become a better warrior and learn how to wield a sword. His weapon of choice once he’s completed his training? A jet-black meteorite sword—it doesn’t get much cooler than that.
12 There’s A Reason Behind His Hatred For The Fire Nation
When Avatar: The Last Airbender begins, the four Nations have been at war for a hundred years, and Fire Lord Ozai has proved himself to be a tyrannical leader and a dangerous opponent. This alone could be grounds for Sokka’s hatred of the Fire Nation, but it really runs deeper than that. Sokka and Katara’s mother was taken from them by firebenders, as I mentioned earlier, and Sokka hates firebenders to the point where he doesn’t like the idea of Aang learning firebending.
11 He Fell In Love With Suki, But Never Forgot Yue
Yue was Sokka’s first real love, and her loss when she abandoned her human form to become the moon spirit hit him hard.
He later falls in love with Kyoshi Warrior Suki, but that doesn’t mean he forgot Yue.
This is obvious as he refuses to kiss Suki under the moon. You can also see how much he misses Yue when the gang sees a play depicting them and he gets emotional. Despite that, he still deeply cares about Suki, and the question is less whether he got over Yue than the impact she had on him.
10 He Loves His Sister More Than You Think
The first time viewers met Sokka and Katara, they were bickering—and a misogynistic comment from Sokka angers Katara so much, she breaks a giant iceberg and accidentally frees Aang from the ice.
They bicker and argue quite often, but don’t get it wrong—Sokka loves his little sister.
Since his mother is gone and his father left to fight the Fire Nation, Katara and his grandmother are the only family he has left, after all. He’s fiercely protective of her, as you can see when Aang accidentally injures her and he gets furious.
9 His Strengths In Battle Are His Creativity And Intelligence
As we’ve seen several times before, you’d be very wrong to assume Sokka relies on brute force, even though he’s not a bender. Over the course of the show, Sokka finds out that in battle, his creativity and intelligence grant him the upper hand. He learns this thanks to his swordmaster Piandao. Throughout their training, he demonstrates exceptional creativity and greatly impresses Piandao. A good example of this is his choice of meteorite iron when it’s time for him to craft his sword!
8 He Loves Meat, But He’s Still Great With Animals
One of the running gags involving Sokka is his love for meat. He professes it several times, and it even lands him in trouble once or twice. Because of this, and of his rational attitude, people often assume he’s not good with animals, but that’s simply not true. He has an adorable (and comical) bond with Momo, and eventually warms up to Appa (who covered him in bison snot when they first met), calling him “my big furry friend.” He even adopts a messenger falcon!
7 He’s Impartial, Even With The People Of His Tribe
Sokka is fiercely loyal to his people and loves his tribe dearly, so when Team Avatar meets Hama, a mysterious waterbender from the Southern tribe, you’d expect him to try and protect her. However, even when the seemingly sweet old woman is revealed to be a sinister bloodbender, and the mastermind behind the disappearance of many Fire Nation villagers, Sokka doesn’t do that. He remains impartial and judges her fairly. This shows he’s got the skills of a great leader, as he doesn’t let his emotions or his loyalty to his tribe cloud his judgment.
6 Not So Stubborn: He’s Very Adaptable
Sokka is often seen as stubborn, especially when it comes to things like bending, spirits, and other supernatural events, but you’d be wrong to dismiss him as headstrong and inflexible.
In fact, Sokka is very adaptable, which is, once again, a sign that he’s a great warrior.
His adaptability allows him to come up with ingenious plans, and he doesn’t let his stubbornness get in the way of Team Avatar’s mission. For instance, though he despises the Fire Nation, he does disguise himself as one of them, and eventually accepts a reformed Prince Zuko into Team Avatar.