Avatar: The Last Airbender characters

Chief Arnook
Chief Arnook is the tribal chief of the North Pole's Northern Water Tribe, the father of Princess Yue. When his daughter was first born, she was gravely ill. Desperate to save her life, he prayed to his tribe's patron Moon Spirit. The answer came to him, and he took his infant daughter to the sacred pool, where a koi, the mortal form of the spirit, dwelt. He placed his daughter in the spirit oasis, and her hair turned white, as she was revitalized by a measure of the spirit's own life force. His wife then named her Yue, for the moon. At Yue's birth, Arnook had a prophetic vision of his daughter, when grown to maturity, becoming the reincarnation of the Moon Spirit. Despite his best efforts to prevent this, appointing the young warrior Sokka as her bodyguard, his daughter fulfilled her destiny during the Fire Nation siege.
Chief Arnook first appears in "The Waterbending Master".

Chey
Chey is a Fire Nation rebel and former army soldier who three years came to achieve the dubious distinction of being the second to desert the military and live. As a soldier, Chey used his explosives and pyrotechnics expertise to destroy many villages and ruin the lives of countless innocent people in the name of war. After some time, he began to realize his actions and question the purpose of war as well as his role in it. After learning of Jeong Jeong, Chey sought him out hoping to gain some of his spiritual knowledge and wisdom. Armed with smoke grenades and expert knowledge of his former trade, he is now a devoted resistance fighter.

Chey appears in "The Deserter." He also appears on wanted posters on roadside kiosks in "The Deserter" and "The Desert.".

Freedom Fighters
The Freedom Fighters are a rag-tag group of children led by Jet who do what they can to fight the Fire Nation. Planning their attacks from a secret treetop hideout, these children are very skilled woodsmen who communicate with bird calls to avoid detection. Ever since the Fire Nation took over a nearby town, the Freedom Fighters have been cutting off Fire Nation supply lines and using all available means to sabotage their occupation. They are all wanted by the Fire Nation. Members of this group include Sneers , Longshot, Smellerbee, the Duke, and Pipsqueak. Their group structure and lifestyle are similar to those from the stories of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys or Robin Hood and his Merry Men; Pipsqueak in particular seems to be a nod to Little John, the largest and strongest of Robin Hood's merry men.

The Freedom Fighters all appear in the episode "Jet," while only Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot make a return in the "The Serpent's Pass" and subsequently appear in "The Drill", "City of Walls and Secrets", and "Lake Laogai." The Duke and Pipsqueak later appear in "The Awakening." The current status of Sneers is unknown.

Gan Jins
An Earth Kingdom tribe who when first seen had been forced to flee their homeland following Fire Nation attacks. The Gan Jin currently are refugees traveling to the capital city of Ba Sing Se. The Gan Jin leader is a male warrior who wields a double-egded straight sword. For centuries, the tribe once performed a sacred custom that has come to be known as the Redemption ritual, in which a their sacred relic orb was carried from the Great Eastern Gate to the Great Western Gate, a voyage that imitated the rising and setting of the sun. It was believed that the ritual purified their connection to the spirits. The ancestor of the Gan Jin tribe, Jin Wei, was assuambly robbed of the orb by the forefather of the Zhangs, Wei Jin, inciting the two tribes century-long war. Ever since the incident, the two have grown much animosity for each other.

The Gan Jin appear in "The Great Divide." Gan Jin, translates as "clean" in Mandarin.

Hahn
Hahn is a seventeen-year-old warrior in the Northern Water Tribe and is betrothed to Princess Yue; however, he only thought of her as a ticket in getting on good grounds with Chief Arnook. Described by Sokka as "a jerk without a soul," Hahn is both arrogant and selfish; his heart never being in the right spot. Hahn took advantage of the Water Tribe's betrothal customs (the girl has no say in who she wants to marry) and makes Yue his Bride-to-be. While he acknowledges that Yue is nice, Hahn is more interested in all the prestige and respect that will come as her new husband; he also admitted that he has courted other girls (though he never pursued them for marriage).

Hahn has trouble remembering the names of those around him; in addition to mispronouncing Sokka's name, Hahn also called Admiral Zhao by several other names, such as Cho or Choi. Ironically, according to creator commentary, his own character was forgotten, until Aaron Ehasz, head writer for "The Siege of the North, Part 2," pitched the idea of him encountering and being tossed overboard by Zhao.

Hahn first appears in the "The Siege of the North, Part 1."

Haru
Haru is a young Earthbender, whose Earth Kingdom village was occupied by the Fire Nation. Seizing the village's coal mines to fuel their ships, they extracted exorbitant taxes from the citizenry, and most cruelly, took all known Earthbenders to a prison shipyard, Haru's father Tyro among them. To ensure his safety, Haru's mother forbade him from earthbending (although he continued to Earthbend in secret).

Haru appears in "Imprisoned," and is a playable character in the Avatar video game.
In Akkadian, haru means 'to dig out' and in Japanese, Haru means 'spring'.

Hei Bai, the Forest Spirit
The spirit of a giant panda bear, normally docile and friendly, until angered where it turns into a large multi armed monster. When the Fire Nation burnt down his forest, Hei Bai transformed into its monstrous form and terrorized the nearby village, abducting one villager every night for a few days. When Aang came, Hei Bai kidnapped Sokka, the next night, he was confronted by Aang who showed Hei Bai the acorns that covered the burned forest's ground. Aang told Hei Bai the forest would come back because of the acorns. Hei Bai's anger faded and he returned to his normal form and took the acorn in his mouth and left through the village's gate. From that gate sprouted bamboo, from where the villagers stumbled through, unharmed, though Sokka seriously had to use the restroom. Oddly, although Hei Bai is a panda, his statue is modeled after a brown or black bear.

Hei Bai translates in Chinese as 'black-white.'

The Herbalist
The herbalist is a kind and wise old women who lives in the remains of an old herbal institute. She along with her cat Miyuki are the only living inhabitants of an old and abandoned earth kingdom town. She told Aang that she has been living there for over forty years; and that she treats wounded Earth Kingdom soldiers who happen to come along. Though she is wise and kind she is also absent minded; and can be unexpectedly very severe.

The Herbalist first appears in "The Blue Spirit" and then again in "Bato of the Water Tribe."

Jee
Lieutenant Jee was one of the leading senior officers aboard Prince Zuko's ship. He had little patience for Zuko's non-stop orders, his apparent disregard for the well-being of the crew, and his seemingly selfish desire to find the Avatar at all costs. Tired of Zuko's disrespectful attitude towards the personnel and even Iroh, Jee challenged Zuko to a duel only to be cut short because of a coming storm. Jee's attitude does not change until Iroh reveals to the crew the circumstances behind why Zuko was after the Avatar; Zuko was banished for his compassion for the fire nation's soldiers, and even if finding the Avatar is a fool's errand, it brings Zuko hope for the future. After learning all of this, his views of the hot-headed Prince cease and he becomes more understanding and compassionate towards Zuko in him finding the Avatar. During the storm, he aids Zuko in saving the helmsman from certain death. He is also seen in another episode trying to plot the Avatar's course after the storm. Much later on, Admiral Zhao takes over Zuko's ship, and he and the other crew (including the cook), leave to help Zhao in his attack against the Northern Water Tribe.

Jee appears in "The Storm," "The Blue Spirit," "The Waterbending Scroll," and amongst the ships band in the beginning of "The Waterbending Master."

Jeong Jeong

Jeong Jeong later told Katara that he envies her Waterbending skills for their capacity to heal. He sees his abilities as a curse, due to fire's purely destructive nature and the risk of its bearers turning brutal and merciless.

This case holds true with a former student, Admiral Zhao. He stayed under Jeong Jeong's tutelage only as long as it took to learn destructive maneuvers, and had no interest in learning self-control. Both his former teacher and the newly wiser Aang exploited his flaws in order to escape capture. Jeong Jeong and followers uprooted their camp, and escaped into the trees.

Jeong Jeong appears in "The Deserter." Based on the wanted posters seen in "The Deserter" and "The Desert," Jeong Jeong's. Pronounced as chēng in Mandarin, means "tinkling of gems."

June
June is a bounty hunter who travels around the Earth Kingdom. Prince Zuko and his Uncle Iroh employed the mercenary and sarcastic beauty to track down Aang, the Avatar, with the help of her mount, a giant beast called Shirshu. A starry-nosed anteater that can smell like a scent hound and has a tongue coated in paralyzing neurotoxins, this creature was both a help and hindrance in their mission. While they succeeded in finding Aang, it was thrown off by quantities of perfume that Katara had bended towards the beast. As the Shirshu lashed out in confusion, June and Zuko were temporarily paralyzed. Having developed an unrequited crush on June, Iroh was content to feign paralysis, simply to get close to her.

June is also extremely strong since she is seen easily defeating a large man in arm wrestling as well as single-handedly picking up the stowaway on the ship.

June appears in "Bato of the Water Tribe." The creators of Avatar have (half-jokingly) noted her popularity among fans, though it is unsure if she will make subsequent appearances.

Gran Gran Kanna
Gran Gran, Katara and Sokka's grandmother, at 80 years old is the eldest woman in the Southern Water Tribe. She once told Katara hopeful tales of Avatar lore, but is world-weary, jaded and pessimistic in the face of her tribe's decimation at the hands of the Fire Nation. Upon her grandchildren's discovery of Aang, the Avatar destined to master all four elements and bring peace to the world, hope rekindles within her. She bids her grandchildren farewell and blesses their decision to join the Avatar on his journey.

Gran Gran first appears in "The Boy in the Iceberg." Given that Kanna has seen the harshness of an avatar-less world, it is likely her name comes from the Japanese word 'kanna' ( (神無) for 'godless world.'

Koh the Face Stealer
Koh is an ancient, malevolent spirit residing in the Spirit World. He lurks in a dark cave under the root structure of a giant tree. He is called "the face stealer" — if any creature in his presence shows even the slightest expression of emotion, he steals its face. His body is that of a giant centipede, while his head acts like an eye socket. When a pair of lids blink over his face, it will change to one of the many faces he has collected from his victims. Koh has millions of different faces.

In the Book 1, Disc 5 commentary for Episode 20 "The Siege of the North, Part 2," the producers mention in passing that we will be seeing Koh again someday.
Koh appears in "The Siege of the North, Part 2" and Avatar Escape, an internet game including a series of question and answer segments with Koh.

La, the Ocean Spirit
La, along with its counterpart Tui, entered the Physical World near the beginning of time, taking on the mortal form of a black koi fish with a white diamond shaped mark on the top of its head. They have resided in the North Pole's Spirit Oasis for many years.

The name "La" literally means "pull" in Chinese.

The Mechanist
The Mechanist is a brilliant, eccentric Earth Kingdom inventor and engineer. After a flood destroyed his village (killing the Mechanist's wife and leaving his son Teo paraplegic), the Mechanist led his people into the surrounding mountains in search of a new home. They came across the Air Nomads' long abandoned Northern Air Temple, and promptly moved in. Inspired by the Airbenders, the Mechanist mass-produced modified versions of the Airbenders' gliders, creating a whole new method of transportation for his people. He devised an ingenious hot air-based power source for the whole temple, completely refurbishing and remodeling it. Among other ingenious inventions of his, the Mechanist also created time candles (filled with an exploding powder to signify the time of day) and a cut-safe knife sharpener. This "only took [him] three tries to get it right!", explaining the lack of three fingers on his left hand.

The Mechanist appears in "The Northern Air Temple."

Miyuki
Miyuki is the pet of the herbalist, she is the first normal creature to appear in the series. She enjoys eating plum blossom. Miyuki first appears in "The Blue Spirit" and briefly appears in "Bato of the Water Tribe.

The Pirates
The Pirates prefer to be called "high risk traders" and will do anything to get money and treasure. Aang and his friends first encounter them in The Waterbending Scroll. The pirates assume correctly that they are travelling around the world; but also assume incorrectly that the kids have money to be swindled out of.

The Pirates first appeared in "The Waterbending Scroll" and then again in "The Waterbending Master."

Pupil Sangok
Born and raised in the Northern Water Tribe, Sangok is among the many students that Master Pakku had taught waterbending before Katara and Aang arrived to receive tutelage under Pakku. He is also one of the several novice Waterbenders in his class to be easily and utterly defeated by Katara's abilities in a match, becoming incapacitated by her within seconds before being able to land a single blow.

Sangok appears briefly at the very beginning of "The Siege of the North, Part 1." His name literally translates as "Third Individual" in Chinese or what the production business calls Extra # 3. the word 'sangok' could also be a variation of the Japanese word 'sango' for 'coral' which in fact goes well with Master Pakku's comment about him one day being ready to fight a sea sponge.

Fire Sage Shyu
At age sixty, Shyu is the youngest of the Five Fire Sages that guard the Fire Temple on a mysterious crescent shaped Island. Shyu helps Aang speak with Avatar Roku in "Winter Solstice, Part 2." When a beacon lit in the sky (seen in "The Southern Air Temple") and the eyes of the statue of Avatar Roku began to glow several weeks before Aang's arrival on Roku's temple, the Fire Sages all knew the Avatar had returned. Unlike his colleagues, Shyu chooses to help the Avatar, knowing that the other sages obey the will of Fire Lord Ozai.

At the end of the "Winter Solstice, Part 2," it is revealed that Shyu was among the five Fire Sages captured and imprisoned by Zhao; although he is the only one loyal to his original calling in his disobedience to the Fire Nation's cause, both he and his colleagues are categorized by Zhao as traitors. Shyu's ultimate fate is unknown.

Teo
Teo is a thirteen-year-old Earth Kingdom boy who lives in the Northern Air Temple with his father, the Mechanist. As an infant, Teo was badly injured and his mother killed during a flood. Teo lost the use of his legs. His father, in an effort to give Teo a new, happy life, led the survivors of the flood to settle at the abandoned Northern Air Temple. He even created a special glider made to accommodate Teo's wheelchair, which Teo is quite skilled at flying.

Teo appears in "The Northern Air Temple." Since he flies, the name Teo is likely a variation of the Mandarin word蜩 (tiáo) for 'cicada'.

Tui, the Moon Spirit
Tui, along with its counterpart, La, entered the Physical World near the beginning of time, taking on the mortal form of a white koi fish with a black circle on the top of its head. They resided in the North Pole's Spirit Oasis for many years.

"Tui" literally means "push" in Chinese.

Tyro
Tyro is an Earthbender and both the father and teacher of Haru. Several years ago, Tyro led a courageous but unsuccessful rebellion against Fire Nation troops invading their mining village. Though he and the other Earthbenders fought bravely, they were unfortunately outnumbered ten to one. After the attack, he and many other Earthbenders were arrested and imprisoned within a metal rig situated in the middle of the ocean. Being the leader and source of inspiration of his people, it comes as no surprise that the prisoners eventually lost all hope of escape following Tyro's own despondant conclusion of his fate.

Tyro appears in "Imprisoned."

Aunt Wu
Aunt Wu is a fortuneteller who resides in an Earth Kingdom village near the active volcano Mt. Makapu. Well-regarded for her free and accurate readings, every prediction she makes is taken as gospel by the village at large. Her methods of divination run from palmistry to oracle bones and cloud reading.

Surprisingly, Aunt Wu freely admits that she does not believe in any kind of predestination, claiming that her predictions will come true only if a person wishes them to. She also appears to find Uncle Iroh attractive.

Aunt Wu first appears in "The Fortuneteller." She also makes a short appearance in "Bato of the Water Tribe." Wu may be written in Chinese as 巫, meaning "witch".

Zhangs
An Earth Kingdom tribe who when first seen had been forced to flee their homeland following Fire Nation attacks. The Zhang currently are refugees traveling to the capital city of Ba Sing Se. The Zhang leader is a female warrior whose weapon of choice is a two-handed crescent sword. Generally, the people of the tribe are seen as unkempt and unrefined, especially by their rival Gan Jin tribe. Most likely due in part to their history as a society of hunters, outdoorsmen, and other wild professions. This is illustrated by the fact that all members sport pelts made from what appears to be the hide of wild Hog Monkeys. The Zhangs in turn view the Gan Jins as stuffy and unjust individuals.

The ancestor of the Zhang tribe and the other person involved in what began the great hundred year old feud between the tribes was a man named Wei Jin. The Gan Jin believe that Wei Jin attacked their forefather Jin Wei and robbed him of their tribe's sacred orb, while the Zhang claim that Wei Jin was returning the orb for Jin Wei when he was arrested by the Gan Jin and unjustly imprisoned.

The Zhangs appear in "The Great Divide." Zhang, tranlates as "dirty" in Mandarin.