Okay, Zuko is undeniably the most developed and in depth character in Avatar but honestly I fucking love Sokka’s character development just as much if not more.
Sokka started out a sexist, cocky, weak, immature character–he constantly mocked Katara, wouldn’t accept the fact that the Kyoshi warriors were women far stronger than him, was constantly skeptical and pessimistic, couldn’t hold his own in a fight for a lot of the first season… He was honestly just quite a weak person.
But even as early as the Kyoshi episodes you begin to see how he’s not afraid to learn and change his perspective on things. Suki shows him that he’s not superior just because he’s male, and he comes to understand and accept that. He constantly praises and admires Toph, and never once calls her weak. He learns to stop being so protective over Suki, because he knows that she can take care of herself. He doesn’t once underestimate Azula, even though she’s a girl who’s two years younger than him.
He learns patience and strategy. His invasion plan was genius, his inventions are genius, he was able to tell when Azula was messing with him, Aang and Toph to buy time. He managed to orchestrate the first ever jail break out of the highest security prison in the fire nation. He’s really, really intelligent, and we got to see him learn to let go of his cockiness and ego so that he could utilise his intelligence and develop it.
And then there’s the fact that he’s just so caring underneath all the sarcasm and pessimism. He cared deeply for Yue, even though he only knew her for a matter of days, and her death haunted him to the point where he’s constantly afraid of losing the other people he loves- you can see the terror and guilt he feels when he finds out Azula captured Suki, and that he failed yet another woman he loves. He’s so kind and supportive to Aang, reassuring him when he begins to lose confidence and telling him how strong he is. And he’s so tender with Toph as well. Like when he was talking about Katara and his mother, and he was so open and honest and unashamed in telling Toph such personal truths. And in the entire finale you can see his protectiveness over her (still while not treating her as if she’s weak, just knowing he needs to look out for her because she’s at a disadvantage on the airships) when he’s constantly shielding her and catching her and holding her hand to make sure she doesn’t wander off. Also, there’s so many scenes throughout the show with him leading Toph and letting her hold onto him and I love these wee details so much. Also, one thing that stuck out to me in a recent rewatch was when he and Katara find out about their father’s location, and he immediately volunteers to stay behind and allow Katara to go find him instead. Even though he’s desperately missed his father, and everything that he’s done since they last saw each other was arguably to become strong enough to make his father proud – this just shows how selfless Sokka can actually be when it comes down to serious situations.
He was so quick to accommodate Zuko, and accept him into the group, maybe because he understands that people can change, and can become better. I wish we could’ve gotten more scenes with the two of them because their friendship is bloody great.
Sokka’s training with Master Piandao is one of my favourite episodes, because we see how Sokka has learned to balance his goofiness with his intelligence, we see how he’s learned to discipline himself, and how he really does want to become stronger. He takes this seriously, even if it doesn’t always seem like it.
Honestly I think Sokka is one of the most powerful members of the group, and he and Zuko are definitely the most developed characters in the show. Azula has always been one of my faves because of how her character turned out, but most of her development happened within the last 7 episodes, unlike Sokka and Zuko who have been changing and growing since episode 1.
Zuko is great, but so is Sokka.
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