- This article is about the character in the animated series. For the character in Netflix's live-action series, see Roku. For other similar uses, see Roku (disambiguation).
| "In my life, I tried to be disciplined and show restraint, but it backfired when Fire Lord Sozin took advantage of my restraint and mercy. If I had been more decisive and acted sooner, I could have stopped Sozin and stopped the War before it started. I offer you this wisdom, Aang: You must be decisive." |
| — Roku to Aang.[1] |
Roku was the Fire Nation-born Avatar immediately succeeding Avatar Kyoshi and preceding Avatar Aang. Roku's memory served as a guiding force for Aang throughout his quest to end the Hundred Year War.
Roku was a wise and merciful Avatar with good intentions. Living in a period of change, technological revolution, and nationalist expansion, he worked tirelessly to maintain peace between the four nations during a time of complex political issues and tense diplomatic relations.[5] However, he himself acknowledged that he was too indecisive during his lifetime. Roku's long friendship with Fire Lord Sozin resulted in his reluctance to end his friend's life and thus his imperial ambitions. This ultimately led to Roku's death, preventing him from stopping a war which would last for one hundred years, something which weighed heavily on him in his afterlife. Aang inherited Roku's burden of healing the war-torn world, and Roku firmly believed Aang was destined to amend his mistakes.
Quick Answers
Who was the Avatar immediately before and after Roku?
What role did Roku's memory play in Aang's quest to end the Hundred Year War?
How did Avatar Roku die?
Who was Avatar Roku's wife?
Is Zuko related to Roku, and if so, how?
History[]
Early life[]
Roku was born to a noble family from the Fire Nation in 82 BG,[5][6] along with his twin brother, Yasu.[7] His father was a businessman who imparted at least some ideas of economics to his son.[2][8] Roku never much wanted for anything in life, and was a kind, determined, and friendly child. During his childhood, the world had enjoyed an unprecedentedly long time of peace due to the long life of the previous Avatar, Kyoshi, and was on the brink of an industrial revolution, due to the unprecedented collaboration fostered by business and academia to solve the world's most pressing issues, and scholars, educators, and innovators directly forged connections with one another in the name of progress.[5][6]
Despite his privileged upbringing, Roku's childhood was not ideal. His relationship with his parents was strained and not marked by emotional warmth.[2][9] His parents were much more fond of his twin brother Yasu.[10] However, he was close to his grandmother.[9] As he spent much of his childhood visiting the palace, Roku met Prince Sozin. The two gradually became best friends,[2][11] as both struggled with their respective families, while their personalities were very compatible: Roku's trusting, mild, and unambitious nature put Sozin at ease, whereas the prince encouraged Roku to be more self-confident.[2] The two also valued that they could be honest with each other.[2][12]
When they were still young, Roku and Sozin were often accompanied by Yasu; for instance, the trio secretly explored the Dragonbone Catacombs together.[7] After Yasu's death, Roku's relationship with his parents became further complicated as they blamed him for not rescuing Yasu from drowning. Meanwhile Sozin's relationship with Roku strengthened. Sozin was originally closer with Yasu, but upon his death, he promised to Yasu to remain close with Roku.[10][13] Roku and Sozin even shared the same birthday, which they celebrated together.[11]
Growing up, Roku and Sozin trained firebending and went to school together.[2] They were so close that Roku divulged his crush on Ta Min to Sozin, who encouraged him to speak with her.[11][12] With the aid of the prince, Roku gradually became skilled in various matters, though his self-confidence remained poor.[2][8]
Avatar journey[]
Start of his airbending training and first Avatar mission[]
- Main article: History of Roku (66 BG)
As a parting gift to his friend, Sozin gave Roku the Crown Prince headpiece.
During a party celebrating his and Sozin's sixteenth birthday in 66 BG, Roku was informed by the Fire Sages that he was the Avatar.[11] The young man initially had great doubts about this claim, seeing himself as incapable of being an individual of great importance.[8] Roku was encouraged by Sozin[2] who also gifted the Crown Prince headpiece to him. Roku took the headpiece gratefully and wore it for the rest of his life.[11] Unbeknownst to the young Avatar, Sozin's words had been genuine, but the headpiece gift had also been secretly ordered by Fire Lord Taiso as part of a manipulation plot.[2]
Soon after learning his identity as the Avatar, Roku began his journey to train under masters of the other three bending arts. Following the cycle, he needed to learn airbending first,[11] so he traveled to the Southern Air Temple to learn from Sister Disha.[9][8] As part of his initial training, Disha encouraged Roku to shed his wordly ties and stop thinking like a Fire National; the Fire Avatar struggled with these lessons and felt that he made no progress.[8] While he assisted Disha on aid missions, Roku met a young Air Nomad, Gyatso, who had also reached an impasse in his training due to a recent personal loss. At first, Roku and Gyatso disliked each other.[8][9]
Three months after his training's start,[8] Roku received a covert request of aid by Sozin, delivered by Ta Min (at the time acting as an agent and diplomat-in-training). The prince asked his friend to intervene in a local conflict over a remote Fire Island which was allegedly falsely claimed by the Earth Kingdom.[12] Even though Sister Disha encouraged the young Avatar to decline the request, Roku felt obliged to accept only after being deceived into thinking the Earth Kingdom attempted to assassinate him, in reality the "assassin" was hired by Kozaru, Sozin's subordinate. Roku secretly slipped out of the Southern Air Temple with Gyatso tagging along much to his annoyance at first. Roku discovered that the island in question was holding a deadly secret and soon found himself desperately fighting to keep it out of the "wrong hands".[13] Roku and Gyatso became great friends during this adventure, bonding over the loss of a sibling by helping Gyatso giving him advice to solve his bending problems, as well as promising to protect one another after a argument.
Roku ultimately discovered a spiritual cave which was controlled by the Lambak Clan and its chief Ulo, which harness energy from clashing spirits in the spirit world and greatly enhanced bending. Roku dueled Ulo upon his attempt to sacrifice him to the spirits to gain this power outside of the cave. Sozin arrived to save Roku upon realizing the mission was useless, believing a person could not harness this power outside the cave. Sozin could not handle this power and was saved by Roku from Ulo. Roku airbent for the first time, as well as earthbent after connecting to Kyoshi to escape the cave.
Roku afterwards spoke to Sozin and requested Air Nomad philosophy and culture have a place in the Fire Nation, which ultimately became the Fire & Air Center of Learning, as he believed these teachings were the key to achieving world peace.[13]
Completing his airbending training[]
Roku and Gyatso trained together at the Southern Air Temple.
After completing his first adventure as the Avatar, Roku resumed his airbending training at the Southern Air Temple.[11] At one point, the Avatar also learned from Monk Xay.[14] Meanwhile, he and Gyatso continued to bond and cause all kinds of mischief.[14] During one of their airbending lessons, which involved the students taking off with their gliders, Roku showed off by performing a loop. When Gyatso tried to upstage him by air-surfing but fell, Roku came to the aid of his friend, though their combined weight proved too much for Roku to control and they crashed into the other students standing safely on the ground.[11]
While Roku was still involved in his airbending training, the world began to change, with events such as Earth King Jialun's purge of the sages taking place, and the Earth Kingdom government began to grow greedy and corrupt. Changes at the hands of ambitious world leaders when Roku was still young meant that the world was becoming a much more complicated place by the time he had mastered the four elements than it had been after Kyoshi's death.[5][15]
Mastering the other elements[]
After years of waterbending training, Roku mastered the art.
After training for several years, Roku mastered the art of airbending and traveled to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending from Taqukaq. At first, Taqukaq refused to train the Avatar, believing that any Fire Nation subject would hold a higher loyalty to the Fire Lord than the people of the four nations, as he had been betrayed by his best friend spying for the Fire Nation as a young man.[16] However, Roku refused to seek another instructor, and eventually convinced Taqukaq of his devotion by living in the North for several years.[17] When he started to train to learn waterbending in earnest, the task was particularly difficult for Roku, as water is the natural opposite of fire. However, years of training enabled him to duel his master and stand his ground. During one of these confrontations, Roku took the brunt of a water blow and ended up in the ocean, but popped back up to stand on an ice platform and swept Taqukaq away with a tall wave of water, crashing into the pinnacle of the chief's palace, a good distance away.[11] After Roku mastered waterbending, he often worked together with Taqukaq in private, but they maintained their distance in public to ensure that the waterbending master was not accused of being the Avatar's puppet during his diplomatic missions.[18]
Roku teased his earthbending teacher Sud by offering him tea after a race.
Moving on, Roku traveled to the Earth Kingdom to learn earthbending from a master named Sud, with whom he developed a great friendship. During one of their training sessions, they raced each other atop slabs of earth to the top of a hill. Although Sud was in the lead most of the time, Roku managed to best him to the top with time to spare to prepare tea for both of them, much to Sud's surprise.[11]
Through his travels, Roku saw how unique each nation was, and how their peace was held together by fragile threads. He learned what it was like for people living in poverty, and realized what his privilege afforded him in his youth. For Roku, traveling the nations had not just been about learning the elements, but also about understanding the world and his duties as the Avatar.[5] At some point in his life Roku found a dragon egg, from which hatched Fang, and adopted him as his animal guide and constant companion during his life as the Avatar.[19]
Between 58 - 54 BG, the Four Nations Summit & Technological Symposium took place in Hari Bulkan, and Avatar Roku sent his waterbending master, Taqukaq, to ensure everything went smoothly. Both the Avatar and the waterbender foresaw a possible political incident occurring at the summit and it was important that the delegates kept the peace with one another so the summit did not turn into an international incident. Taqukaq did not want to out himself as Roku's spy, so he tasked a group of heroes to help him during the event.[20]
Mastering the Avatar State[]
Using the winter solstice sun, Roku forced himself into the Avatar State, though quickly lost control.
During 55 BG, after mastering earthbending, Roku spent five months in retreat at the Crescent Island Fire Temple, one of the Avatar Temples, attempting to master the Avatar State under the guidance of Fire Sage Kaja. Growing impatient after failing to master it with meditation, he tried using the winter solstice sun to force himself into the Avatar State. Despite his success, he became trapped under its influence and was unable to control his powers, resulting in the destruction of the upper half of the Fire Temple and the eruption of the nearby volcano. Kaja eventually managed to free Roku from the state by aligning the Avatar's eyes with the winter solstice sun once more, halting the destruction of the temple.[21]
In payment for his near destruction of the Fire Sages' temple, Roku rebuilt parts of the temple and carved new underground passages out of the island's magma. He also personally provided aid to people living on the neighboring islands, as the region was suffering from seismic instability as a consequence, with earthquakes damaging many homes across the eastern Fire Islands.[15] Following the incident, Roku became more patient with his training and completely mastered the Avatar State afterward.
Maintaining international peace and returning home[]
War threatened to break out between the Northern Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom after a tsunami hit the northern coast of the Earth Kingdom state of Chenbao. The Earth Kingdom blamed waterbenders for sending the tsunami, while the Northern Water Tribe blamed earthbenders for creating an underwater earthquake, but the truth was that it was simply a horrible natural disaster. Supported by the Air Nomads of the Northern Air Temple, Roku intervened before the conflict could escalate, and both sides backed down, though their navies remained in the contested waters.[15]
Roku requested Air Nomad Elders to form a covert group of airbenders, whose job centered around quickly and quietly dealing with issues for the Avatar without question. This delegation was led by Sherab, who took his role very seriously.[22]
In the following years, Roku faced rising worldwide tensions due to cultural changes and the growing influence of nationalist expansionist ideas. As the world continued to develop new technologies, nations began to compete with each other over raw materials and other resources which were needed for such innovations, leading to numerous small-scale conflicts and diplomatic incidents.[5] Dark spirits also began to stir in the polar regions, which spiritually-inclined tribespeople believed was the result of nations abusing natural resources and laying claim to sacred land, and the Fire Nation beginning to hunt dragons.[17] Meanwhile, the world was affected by disasters such as floods in the southern Earth Kingdom.[23] Roku worked hard to maintain the balance between the nations, and did all that he could to negotiate the potentially volatile situations of his day.[24] With most of the nations becoming increasingly selfish and aggressive, the Air Nomads were Roku's main allies, and the temples gladly came to Roku's aid when he called upon them, despite the protests of the breakaway sect known as the Guiding Wind, who claimed that Roku was overstepping as Avatar by asking the Air Nomads to be involved in worldly politics.[25]
Roku told Sozin that the four nations were to be kept separate.
After his mastery of the Avatar State, Roku returned to the Fire Nation Capital, having become a fully realized Avatar. He reunited with Sozin, who had since been crowned as Fire Lord, greeting each other with a hug. A few months later, Roku married his childhood sweetheart, Ta Min, and had Sozin take the position of his best man during the ceremony. At the wedding, Sozin asked to speak with Roku in private and informed his close friend that he had thought hard about the state of the world.
He told Roku that he firmly believed the Fire Nation had entered a period of great prosperity, and proposed to Roku that together the pair could spread this wealth to the world by expanding the empire. Roku was horrified by this proposition, telling Sozin that the four nations were to be kept separate, and advised the Fire Lord to never bring the subject forth in future conversations.[11]
He eventually settled down and began living out his life with Ta Min,[11] with whom he later had a daughter, Rina.[26]
Roku destroyed the throne room and subdued Fire Lord Sozin.
Seventeen years after Roku's wedding, he discovered that Sozin had proceeded with his plans and set up colonies within the Earth Kingdom. Infuriated at this act of war, Roku confronted Sozin. Blasting open the doors to the throne room inside the Fire Nation Royal Palace, he lambasted his old friend and ordered him to cease his aggressive expansion. When Sozin retorted that Roku's loyalty lay with the Fire Lord and the nation's progress, deeming him a traitor if he did so otherwise, Roku warned the Fire Lord not to challenge him. As he turned to leave, Sozin attacked him from behind, but Roku easily dodged the attack and used his earthbending to reappear behind Sozin, giving him the opportunity to strike him with an air blast. Suspending Sozin in the air with an earth pillar by the collar of his robes, Roku entered the Avatar State and destroyed the throne room and part of the palace with a massive gust of air. He spared Sozin's life for the sake of their past friendship and left him still hanging above the ground, though not before warning him never to move forward with his plans again, as it would otherwise result in his "permanent end".[11] However, the Avatar allowed the first Fire Nation colonists to remain at their new homes in the Earth Kingdom.[27]
Death[]
Roku attempted to save his home, which resulted in his death.
Twenty-five years later, Roku's home island was consumed in a violent volcanic eruption so massive that even Fire Lord Sozin could see and feel it from his palace a hundred miles away. Initially, he managed to give time for the other inhabitants including his wife to escape the island by forming an air sphere around him. Through the use of his bending abilities, Roku attempted to contain the volcanic destruction, although it was delayed by continuous spitting of lava from the volcano's mouth, using earthbending to create trenches to divert the lava safely to the sea, and using airbending to solidify the lava and blow away the poisonous gases from the geysers formed underneath until he used the Avatar State to bend lava to the other side. He eventually lost hope though, when the secondary volcano close by also erupted. At that moment, however, Sozin arrived on his dragon and offered his assistance to the Avatar. The two used their bending to try to contain the lava flow, with Roku saving Sozin from a nasty fall using earthbending, but the poisonous gases eventually forced them to flee the mountainside. On their way down, Roku warned Sozin to not breathe the gas and used his airbending to protect them, before succumbing to a gas geyser himself. His vision blurring, Roku pleaded for help. Instead, Sozin realized that without Roku in his way, his plans of conquest would come into fruition, therefore leaving on his dragon and a shocked Roku to die. Aghast by his former friend's decision and reason to leave him for dead, Roku ultimately realized that his death was inevitable. Right before the pyroclastic flow engulfed him, Fang curled up with his master and the two died together.[11]
Legacy[]
Avatar Aang in front of his predecessor's statue in the the Southern Air Temple sanctuary.
Roku was remembered as an Avatar "renowned for his knowledge of the world as a whole".[28] Following his death, his friend Gyatso became the guardian, mentor, and friend to his successor Avatar Aang.[29]
Like all the other Avatars before him, a statue of Roku was built in the sanctuary of the Southern Air Temple, next to Kyoshi's. Another statue of him was also built in the Fire Temple on Crescent Island where he had once trained. Roku was reincarnated into Aang, an Air Nomad who would later become the sole survivor of the Air Nomad Genocide. The Fire Sages, who were once loyal to Roku, eventually lost faith that the Avatar would return and fell under the control of the Fire Lord, gradually turning away from their true purpose of serving the Avatar.[30]
Referencing his reputation as an intellectual, Roku Plaza in Republic City was named after him, as well as the surrounding district which is home to Republic City University.[28][31] Within this district, Roku Park was also named after him and even features a large statue of him.[28] In addition, the "Roku style" chicken skewers were named in his honor.[32]
Appearances in Aang's life[]
Roku informed Aang of the impending return of Sozin's Comet and urged the young Avatar to defeat the Fire Lord before its arrival.
A century after Roku's death, during a winter solstice, Aang was able to communicate with him by visiting the sanctuary of the temple that Roku had inhabited 112 years prior. There, Roku informed Aang of the impending return of Sozin's Comet and described Fire Lord Ozai's plan to harness the comet's energy and gain victory in the War. He entrusted the young Avatar with the task of mastering the four elements and defeating the Fire Lord before the comet's arrival, before the summer's end. Roku also helped Aang defeat a group of firebenders along with their leader, Admiral Zhao, who waited outside of the sanctuary to capture the young airbender by manifesting himself in Aang's place, seizing control of the fire bent at him and sent it back in a powerful wave that knocked back all opposition and melted the chains of those captured. Furious over the treachery of the Fire Sages, except Shyu, he used lavabending to awaken the dormant volcano directly underneath the temple, destroying the structure before the solstice ended during which he disappeared after the completion of his task.[30]
Roku aided Aang several times after this, appearing to Jeong Jeong to persuade him to teach his successor firebending after the deserter refused to teach the art. During the Siege of the North, he offered critical wisdom in the ways of the Spirit World, informing Aang of how he could save the Moon Spirit and defeat the invading Fire Navy. Later, after Aang entered the Avatar State without control after "losing" Katara due to General Fong, he revealed to Aang the nature of the Avatar State, including the fact that, if he was ever killed in the such a state, the Avatar Cycle would be broken and cease to exist.[33][34][35] Thus, he acted as somewhat of a mentor and spiritual guide for Aang.
Roku appeared to Aang in the Spirit World after the Air Nomad was struck by lightning from Azula during the Coup of Ba Sing Se, although the Avatar was revived by Katara who used spirit water to heal his spirit. He offered encouragement and shared his own experience in mastering the Avatar State.[21]
Shortly after, Roku showed himself to the young airbender once more, when the latter was feeling disheartened over his perceived failure in Ba Sing Se. Roku, however, blamed himself for the entire tragedy, saying that he should have foreseen the War and taken steps to prevent it. He proceeded to tell Aang that he believed it was his destiny to save the world and redeem him.[36] Shortly afterward, Roku appeared to Aang in a dream and said that the young Avatar should visit his homeland, where he would learn about the origins of the War. Aang entered the Spirit World and Roku guided Aang through his life, from his friendship with Sozin to his eventual death.[11]
Roku told Aang that he needed to be decisive in his actions.
Aang also communicated with Roku immediately prior to the arrival of Sozin's Comet. He told Roku that he felt insecure about killing Phoenix King Ozai, as he was taught by the Air Nomads to respect all life. While understanding Aang's discomfort, Roku insisted that Aang must kill Ozai in order to save the world. He told Aang that it was his reluctance to end Sozin's life that initially started the Hundred Year War, and that Aang must not make the same mistake by showing mercy to Fire Lord Ozai.[1]
A year after the Hundred Year War, Aang again called on Roku regarding the behavior of Fire Lord Zuko, Roku's great-grandson. Aang had promised to Zuko that he would end his life if he ever developed ridiculous plans just as his father had; the young Fire Lord appeared to be in such a mental state when he withdrew his support of the Harmony Restoration Movement. Roku again told Aang he needed to be decisive, as the former again expressed his regret for not ending Fire Lord Sozin's life when he had the chance.[27]
Aang severed his connection with Roku.
When discord erupted between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom concerning the city of Yu Dao, Aang sought Roku's advice, who advocated him to uphold his promise with Zuko and kill him to keep the world in balance. Aang later arrived at Yu Dao to separate the two battling armies, but at the last moment chose to spare Zuko's life. A few days later, at Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se, Roku berated Aang for his mercy in allowing Zuko to live and his failure to keep the four nations separate. Aang retorted that Roku's doctrine no longer applied in the post-war era. Stating that Roku could not teach him anymore in this era, Aang burned his fire amulet into ash, breaking the connection to his past life, a tear rolling down his cheek as he did so.[37] This later proved to have great repercussions when Yangchen explained to Aang that by severing his connection with Roku, he damaged his connection with all the Avatars before him as well, leaving Aang unable to contact his other past lives at will.[38]
After reconciling, Roku told Aang to find balance for himself as his past lives could only advise him from their perspectives.
With Aang needing to get in contact with Yangchen due to General Old Iron's approach, he re-established his connection with Roku by re-crafting the fire medallion for his meditation beads from stone with his earthbending. Roku appeared before his apologetic successor and offered him a hug. As they embraced, he told the young Avatar that his past lives could only advise him from their own perspectives and that he had to find balance, not just between human and spirit, but also the past and present. He pointed Aang to his most recent past lives leading up to Yangchen and added that he remember this advice as he looked for a solution to his current dilemma.[39]
Appearances in Korra's life[]
Roku appeared, along with Aang, Kuruk, Yangchen, Kyoshi, and all previous Avatars, before Korra when her bending was removed by Amon. He and every other Avatar present entered the Avatar State to restore her bending, and disappeared when this task was completed.[40] He also appeared when Korra was suffering from amnesia, taking over from Avatar Aang, and told her that in order to recover her identity, she needed to reconnect with her Avatar Spirit.[41]
While Unalaq was attacking Raava, Korra envisioned Roku among the Avatar lineup she had seen prior to regaining her bending; however, his connection to Korra was severed due to Unalaq's assault on and subsequent destruction of the light spirit.[42]
Personality[]
During his youth, Roku was a cheerful man who showed devotion to his loved ones, which later proved to become a weakness.
Roku was a warm hearted, wise, disciplined, and merciful Avatar. In his youth, he was a cheerful young man who wore his heart on his sleeve and easily befriended people around him, including Gyatso, Sud, and Sozin.[11] His affectionate nature remained even after his death as he offered his successor, Aang, a warm hug despite the young airbender damaging his connection to Roku and his other past lives.[39]
Even though he had a noble upbringing, his journey around the world to master the four elements made him realize what his privilege had afforded him, and he understood what it was like for those who lived in poverty. These experiences allowed him to understand his duty as the Avatar.[5] He appreciated novelty and individuality. Traveling extensively, he knew that the world was full of beautiful unique things. He believed that people were stronger when their talents were valued, and took time to listen what others had to say.[24]
Roku believed that friendship could transcend a single lifetime and showed immense devotion to his friends and loved ones. When recalling his youth with Prince Sozin, he did so with fondness and without any bitterness about how things later soured between them because of Sozin's ambition. However, this devotion also proved to be a weakness because upon having a chance to stop Sozin's mad conquest later in life, Roku spared him in honour of their friendship.[11] His traumatic death and the war that followed caused Roku's spirit to regret sparing his old friend and he advised Aang against making the same mistake, telling him that it would be best to kill Fire Lord Ozai.[1] This was also shown when Aang was in a predicament about whether to kill Zuko as per the promise he made to him if he ever acted like his father. After Aang refused to do so, Roku criticized him for his indecision.[27]
Roku was a wise and experienced man, and exuded competence and skill to others after he became a fully-realized Avatar.[24] Maintaining the peace between the four nations, Roku did everything in his power to negotiate, calm, and guide potentially volatile situations.[24] However, Roku was also aware of the limits of a single man's perception, telling Aang that he did not have all the answers and could only advise him from his own point of view.[39] He was self-critical, believing himself to be an indecisive man and acknowledging that Sozin had used his own merciful nature against him as Roku could have prevented the Hundred Year War if he had been decisive enough to kill the Fire Lord.[1] Roku was not above intimidating people in order to maintain balance in the world but rarely followed through with his threats, something he regretted after his death.[11][33]
Abilities[]
Bending[]
Roku was capable of bending all four elements at once.
As a reincarnation of the entity known as the Avatar, Roku possessed the power to bend all four elements. By age twenty-eight, Roku was a master of all four bending arts and a fully realized Avatar, able to control the Avatar State and to bend all four elements simultaneously. Among his abilities, he could bend lava and cool it with his breath, move fairly large amounts of earth or water, quickly tunnel through earth, fly using an Air Nomad glider or mini-tornado, and create a shield of air large enough to cover a whole village.[11] His control was not only powerful but precise – he could leave a single rock pillar standing while he leveled a building, and melt chains on others while leaving them unharmed.[30]
As well as having tremendous control over the elements, Roku was a skilled combatant, which was displayed when he was attacked by Fire Lord Sozin. Roku easily defeated him before his opponent had the chance to make a second attack.[11]
Firebending[]
As it was his native element, Roku was an accomplished firebender and used to practice with his former best friend, Sozin. They would practice in the Fire Nation Capital during the daytime, while they could absorb energy from the sun. Roku was also able to create and maintain massive blasts of fire while simultaneously bending the other three elements, doing so even without the aid of the Avatar State.[11] While in the Avatar State, when he had taken over Aang's body, Roku was also able to dispel and overtake the fire attacks of Commander Zhao, a powerful firebender in his own right, and eight of his men.[30]
Airbending[]
Roku could suspend himself with airbending.
The first of the remaining three elements that Roku had to learn was airbending. His airbending training commenced at the Southern Air Temple, where he quickly befriended a young Gyatso, who at that time was a student himself. Enjoying the nature of airbending, he would regularly tease Gyatso by airbending his long hair in Gyatso's face. They would often mess around, creating new airbending moves with their gliders.
Roku was skilled in the art of airbending. He used it in many different cases when necessary, including protection from the toxic gases from the volcano that killed him. He also used airbending to cool lava with his breath. Through his airbending, he easily defeated Fire Lord Sozin by blasting back the master firebender and then destroyed the throne room with a powerful gust of wind in a show of strength.[11]
Waterbending[]
Roku managed to best Taqukaq by bending a massive wave at him, breaking the glacier into several pieces.
After leaving the Southern Air Temple, Roku traveled to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending. Being his natural opposite, he found it difficult to learn at first, but in time, he mastered it. He became such a skilled waterbender that he was eventually able to defeat his teacher in a duel with one move, creating a massive wave that was powerful enough to carry Taqukaq from the glacier on which they were training all the way to the top of the chief's palace.[11]
Earthbending[]
Roku won an earthbending race against Sud.
After completing his waterbending training, Roku moved on to learn earthbending, his final element to master. He excelled in the art, eventually being able to best his master Sud in an earthbending wave race up a mountain. Roku won by such a large margin that he was able to make tea for them both before Sud arrived. He could also quickly and silently burrow through the ground to surprise his opponents and restrict their movements by wedging them on pillars of earth, even firebending master Sozin. Later, while defending his home from the volcanic eruption, he created two big, hollow paths for the lava to retreat to the sea and was able to skillfully handle the ever-moving ground by shifting it to maintain his footing, even managing to do the same for Sozin despite the ongoing eruption.[11]
Lavabending[]
Roku's great earthbending skill was also demonstrated by his ability to bend lava, which he utilized while battling a volcanic eruption that was destroying his village.[11] He also demonstrated his capabilities when he engulfed his spirit in Aang's body, in order to save Team Avatar from the Avatar Temple on Crescent Island, splitting the earth below him and bending out the lava from the dormant volcano on which the temple was lying.[30]
Avatar Spirit[]
Roku had a mastery over the Avatar State.
After mastering all four elements, Roku initially had difficulty to master the Avatar State due to his impatience. Over time, however, he was able to master it, becoming a fully-realized Avatar as a result.[21] He was also Aang's mentor on his journey as the Avatar for several years. He engulfed his spirit into Aang's body once in order to save him from danger at the Avatar Temple.[30] He used Aang's presence to command Jeong Jeong to teach Aang firebending.[33] He also appeared as a spirit in the middle of the ocean to give Aang advice.[36]
Relationships[]
- Main article: Roku's relationships
Relatives[]
- Main article: Fire Nation Royal Family
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| Izumi's daughter[43] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appearances[]
Avatar: The Last AirbenderBook One: Water (水)
Book Two: Earth (土)
Escape from the Spirit WorldBook Three: Fire (火)
Graphic novels
The Legend of KorraBook One: Air (气)
Book Two: Spirits (神靈)
Book Four: Balance (平衡)
Chronicles of the AvatarAvatar Legends: The Roleplaying GameAvatar games |
Trivia[]
Roku was featured in the opening sequence.
- Avatar Roku's first appearance in the series was in the opening sequence.
- Roku is the first Avatar with a confirmed biological sibling, as well as the first Avatar to have a twin as a sibling.[9]
- Avatar Roku first appeared as a statue within a shrine; Aang mentioned that although he never met him, he felt a particular connection to his previous incarnation.[4]
- Roku's voice actor, James Garrett, narrated an interlude episode called "The Legend So Far" that recapped the first seventeen episodes of the first season and was also the voice that said "Previously on Avatar ..." when it appeared before an episode began. Roku was also silhouetted in the opening sequence of every episode as the Avatar that demonstrated the use of all four elements.
- Roku was the only named Avatar to appear as an elderly man when called upon by the current Avatar; all the others are represented during their primes.
- Roku destroyed the Fire Nation Palace once and the Fire Temple on Crescent Island twice.[11][21][30]
- In both the opening sequence and "The Avatar and the Fire Lord", Roku bent all four elements in the pattern of the Avatar Cycle, and both times he bent them in exactly the same way, first water, followed by earth, fire, and air.
- Roku, Kyoshi, Aang, and Korra are all known to have defied the leaders of their respective nations. Roku nearly killed Fire Lord Sozin in an attempt to stop his imperialistic actions.[11] Kyoshi, at first, refused to aid the 46th Earth King when he asked her to aid in the peasant uprising in Ba Sing Se.[44] Aang did not move to the Eastern Air Temple as ordered by the monks and instead ran away.[29] Korra aided the Southern Water Tribe rebels against the then chief of both Water Tribes, Unalaq, and later killed him when he became the Dark Avatar.[45][46]
- Both Avatar Roku and Avatar Aang had to combat a volcanic eruption. Roku fatally did so against the volcano on his island,[11] and Aang against Mt. Makapu in Makapu Village.[47]
- Roku is shown as the firebender in the opening sequence of The Legend of Korra.
- Roku seemed to utilize airbending more than any other element while fighting the volcano on his home island.[11]
- Roku was the last Avatar to learn of his Avatar status and master the elements in the traditional manner; he was told of his status at the age of 16 and traveled to the other nations to learn the other elements.[11] His immediate successor, Aang, was informed of his status at the age of 12,[29] while the last known Avatar, Korra, was discovered to be the Avatar at the age of 4 and taught the other elements at a secluded compound in the South Pole.[48]
- In the Polish translation of the series, "Roku" is renamed "Roko" so as to avoid calling him "Awatar Roku", which translates directly into "Avatar of the year". However, in the Czech and Ukrainian translation, he is named Roku even through "Avatar Roku" can still translate into "Avatar of the year".[49]
- Roku's voice was inspired by James Garrett's idea of Merlin from Arthurian legend.[50]
| Preceded by Kyoshi |
Avatar 82 - 12 BG |
Succeeded by Aang |