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[[Here There Be Dragons|Here, there be]] <s>dragons</s> tropes specific to characters from [[Vathara]]'s ''[[
[[Late Arrival Spoiler|For late readers and those recently]] [[Fan Fic Recommendations|recommended this FanFic]]: this page '''contains spoilers'''.
== Main Canon Characters ==
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Our protagonist who, thanks to [[Alternate Timeline|one alternate decision]] in early Season Two, now finds himself on an entirely different path as to what canon depicted. Among the bigger changes: the capacity to heal with fire, becoming a [[Combo-Platter Powers|yaoren]], finding his long-lost remaining grandfather, befriending Dai Li agents and fugitives from the same, and getting an entire Fire Nation ship to defect to his cause.
Most of this is because [[What If|he didn't steal Song's ostrich horse]], skipping one of his most notable displays as a villain. While not quite a full-time anti-hero, he always tries to do the best for his people. Now, 'honor' is less synonymous with 'ticket to Ozai's favor,' and [[Blood Oath|Loyalty]] has replaced much of his attempt to relive 'when his family was actually happy'.
Tropes associated with Embers' version of Zuko include:
* [[Adorkable]]
* [[Barrier-Busting Blow]]: He shatters a stone cellar door with a shove to get to Jinhai when Min<ref>He's an earthbender, so he's holding the door down</ref> is especially ticked off at his little brother. [[Subverted Trope|And ironically]], it does not tie in to Zuko's reputation as a [[Determinator|fairly]] [[Implacable Man|unstoppable]] [[Scarily Competent Tracker|persecutor]].
* [[Big Brother Mentor]]
* [[Blessed
* [[Celibate Hero]]
* [[The Comically Serious]]: [[Stargate SG-1
{{quote|
'''Lee''': I don't. }}
* [[Cover-Blowing Superpower]]: His bending, healing, swordsmanship, and royal manners all have the potential to put in him some very uncomfortable situations. Even his [[Ninja]] skills can come into question if he becomes to difficult to read.
* [[Doom Magnet]]: He's almost the go-to pawn for spirit-world exploits. Thing is, he's not so easy to handle and he's pretty [[Genre Savvy|savvy]] about living with the some of the worst luck in the world. He doesn't even need to watch out for meteors or lightning strikes, since fate will steer [[Shock and Awe|Azula]] and [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|an entire army of]] [[Dishing Out Dirt|Earthbenders]] his way, instead.
** [[Be Careful What You Wish For|Be Careful What Others Wish For]]: Twice, has Zuko has been on the bad end of a wish he didn't make. The first [[Genre Savvy|he saw]] [[Properly Paranoid|coming]]. The second time? [[It Got Worse|He nearly died.]]
** [[Properly Paranoid]]: Starting plans is easy for Zuko and Iroh; they think of the worst situation possible, then work from there.
** [[Laser-Guided Karma]]: [[Subverted Trope]] and [[Loophole Abuse|perverted]]. His ancestry, position, and goals put an obscenely obvious "Kick Me" sign on Zuko's back.
* [[Don't You Dare Pity Me!]]: Doesn't stop people from doing it anyway.
* [[Double Consciousness]]: Amaya's [[Soul Power|technique]] created a 'mask' that takes the patient's spirit and forges an alternate personality fitting a Ba Sing Se refugee.
** [[Doublethink]]: 'Lee' is of the Water Tribe and adept at living in Ba Sing Se; he's there to catch Zuko before he does something in ignorance, and Zuko can depend on him to help deal with Fire Nation [[Blood Oath|loyalty]] to some degree. {{spoiler|He's also heavily affected by [[More Than Mind Control|Katara's Inner Waterbending]].}}
* [[Dreaming of Times Gone By]]
* [[Eyes of Gold]]: Their particular shade is a sign of a powerful firebender.
** [[Green Eyes]]: Amaya implanted a blue tint, as she did for Iroh and her other hidden folk.
* [[Elemental Baggage]]: As a firebender, he's aware of his [[Hair-Trigger Temper]], and has extensively trained to control it. He has {{spoiler|broken his "[[More Than Mind Control|ties of fire and spirit]]" to the Fire Lord. Unfortunately, he's not really aware of his "ties of family and community" as a water yaoren - even though he's 1000% aware that his father and sister are [[Complete Monster
* [[Expecting Someone Taller]]: Scarce meals have slimmed the imposingly ripped Zuko of before, damping the more obvious flare of his presence. When he arrives as a healer, no one expects the teenaged mass of stern grumpiness.
* [[Finger-Snap Lighter]]: He unintentionally starts to forms fire daggers when angered.<ref>
* [[Flight, Strength, Heart]]
** [[Elemental Powers]]
** Chi-fueled Bursts of [[Super Strength]]<ref>
** Rock-hard nails that...steel can't cut? Admittedly, they let him [[Wall Crawl|scale rock like a mountain goat dipped in glue]] and if he ever chose to grow them out, he could sharpen them into [[Natural Weapon|deadly claws]].
* [[Genre Savvy]]:
* [[Good Is Not Nice]]: And ''how''.
* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]: Part of why he has such a bad temper.
* [[Heal It
** [[Cold Flames]]
** [[Combat Medic]]
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* [[Horrible Judge of Character]]: Zuko takes many leaps of cynicism with Aang, even thinking him nearly irreparably stupid and failing to see the psychological reasons behind Aang's actions. He also admits " I don't ''understand'' people. I try and I try and I ''don't.''"
* [[Implacable Man]]: "Zuko does not give up. He doesn't quit. He doesn't get bored. For all I know, he doesn't even sleep. You can smack him with a boomerang. Freeze him in ice. Dump him in the ocean. Blast him into a wall hard enough to leave little Zuko-shaped dents! And Aang's done that. Lots of times. He. Doesn't. Stop." Sokka to Hakoda
* [[Incendiary Exponent]]: [[Playing With Tropes|Played with]]. Zuko can weapon-ize certain things by firebending into them and moving them as he would flame (air heated into plasma), thus passing as a pseudo-bender of other elements.
** By setting leaves on fire and bending the flame and heat to carry what it burns, he can even create a Flaming Whirlwind.
** He tells Sokka that everyone uses chi, but it just so happens Firebenders use theirs to ignite the air.
* [[It Never Gets Any Easier]]: Zuko's skills aren't limited [[Non-Lethal KO|harmless knockouts]] and [[Inverse Law of Sharpness and Accuracy|deadly strikes that never touch flesh]]. Enemies can and do die in-scene. Zuko ''expects'' nightmares after a kill and Iroh tells him decreasing regret is a sign of something wrong.
* [[Knight in Sour Armor]]
* [[Leave No Witnesses]]: In chapter 6, he and Iroh had an entire ambush [[Killed to Uphold
* [[Misery Builds Character]]: A key element of his character in canon(one which he canonically ''abandoned'' once he realized cruelty has no constructive purpose), but in Embers he's turned it into ''[[Warrior Therapist|Warrior Therapy]]'' - he {{spoiler|sends his mind-breaking message to Katara hoping that the scarring will lead her to abandon what he sees as a genocidal hate for the Fire Nation.}}
** Uh, no. The point of the letter was divert her attention to himself, not Iroh or the rest of the Fire Nation or their people. Yes, the letter is an obvious trap to separate Team Avatar, but the beauty of such deception cannot be denied.
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: He says himself a lot of heartache could have been avoided if he'd just talked to Aang at the South Pole.
* [[Not Good
** Asahi, his ostrich-horse companion.
** Toph, who also knows courtly manners, but might as well be a talking badger-mole, otherwise.
** Shidan, the very draconian husband to the Lady of Byakko {{spoiler|who is literally a dragon. Being Zuko's grandpa also helps.}} He's under standing orders from his wife to NEVER go to court: he controls his temper by avoiding people that make him want to eat them.
* [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse]]: While the show [[Your Size May Vary|altered his size]] depending on how imposing he needed to be, here Zuko is always hinted as being rather short. He even grumbles about the men of other nations being built so big, but that doesn't stop him from being the imperially trained, fire-breathing, [[Dual-Wielding]] [[Ninja]] badass he's always been.
* [[Refusal of the Call]]: Zuko is meant to be Aang's adviser, but doesn't want to be anywhere near the boy.
** [[The Call Knows Where You Live|The Call Knows Where Zuko Lives]]: Spirits aren't easily dissuaded by Zuko's lack of acceptance.<ref>
* [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Super-Powered]] [[Unstoppable Rage|Angry Side]]: His capabilities shoot up, but he loses his grasp of language.
** [[Cooldown Hug]]: besides a dead obstacle, the only thing that brings him back.
** [[Hell Is That Noise]]: His growling raises hairs on ''[[Retired Badass|Iroh's]]'' neck.
* [[Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids]]: Towards Aang.
* [[Tranquil Fury]]: When he's channeling his usual, explosive anger through Lee {{spoiler|especially when he's drawing on Lee's nature as a water tribesman, and more so still, when channeling [[More Than Mind Control|Katara]]'s [[The Corrupter|raw loathing]] and combining it with his more explosive hatred.}}
* [[This Is a Drill]]: When he needs to get through solid rock and not around it, he can use his Firebending in this manner. {{spoiler|As seen at the end of the Beach arc and when killing the Plague Spirit.}}
* [[What Were You Thinking?]]: Just got this from Iroh. Lampshaded several times several chapters back.
=== Prince General Iroh, AKA Mushi ===
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* [[Badass General]]: He held Ba Sing Se under siege for 600 days, and the city's residents and generals ''still'' freak out to varying degrees on hearing his name.
* [[Be Careful What You Wish For|Be Careful What You Wish For Others]]
* [[
* [[Exact Words]]: Sly as Iroh is, he almost never lies, but instead choses to use words that let listeners craft their own deception.
* [[No Time to Explain]]: By chapter four, Iroh knows Aang doesn't understand Fire Nation loyalty and customs. While Team Avatar is (grudgingly) willing to listen, he can't divulge his [[Mr. Exposition|usual lecture]], lest [[Scarily Competent Tracker|Azula returns to]] [[Shock and Awe|strike]], again.<ref>
* [[Older and Wiser]]: In many ways the failed siege and its aftermath changed Iroh for the better. In others... there's room for improvement.
* [[Papa Wolf]] [[Shock and Awe|Smites]] [[Cold Sniper|In Cold]] [[Tranquil Fury|Fury]] - Forgetting this is probably the quickest way to a thundering death. [[Improbable Aiming Skills|Don't even try to hide in a crowd]]. {{spoiler|Although Iroh claims to have a practical reason for killing General Gang.}}
* [[Retired Badass]]: Until the above happens.
* [[Tempting Fate]]: The end of chapter 4. Iroh is making some progress with Zuko, bit by grudging bit, when he thinks "At least we haven't seen the bison". Sure enough, Zuko takes another three steps and finds a familiar clump of white fur, on the ground. The events of ''The Chase'' ensue.
{{quote|
* [[We Want Our Jerk Back]]: When [[Soul Power|Amaya creates]] [[Doublethink|spirit-masks]] for Zuko and him, they both worry that actually being their aliases would screw with their familial relationship. They get over it.
=== Avatar Aang ===
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Tropes associated with Embers' version of Aang include:
* [[And That's Terrible]]
* [[Base Breaker]]: Aang has an increasingly bad reputation among the cast. It is argued to be:
** Bashing with a weak justification.
** The cast's failure to separate the idea of Aang and the Avatar or Aang with previous incarnations.
** Or Aang getting a well deserved "[[What the Hell, Hero?|What the hell?!]]".
* [[Brilliant but Lazy]]: Canon saw him unprepared right before the comet, and Toph calls him out on it both then and here.
* [[Broken Pedestal]]: Air Nomads don't have evil people! {{spoiler|In chapter 54, Temul shows them how Kuzon was killed...by airbenders, trained by Aang's fellow Temple mate, Ja Aku.}}
** The latest chapter has Aang realizing that Monk Gyatso, his beloved teacher, was WRONG about "no one can make you do anything you don't ''want'' to". For him, it's like the sky is falling.
*** Might be worse when he realizes that it's an Airbender [[Exact Words]] twist; Gyatso was technically correct in his defense of free will, he just failed to mention that, "Some people ''can'' [[More Than Mind Control|make you want what they want]]."
* [[Culture Blind]]: Most notably, because the Avatar is supposed to help everyone ''else'' in the world get over such a problem.
** However, he's also tolerant of cultural differences; Air Monk philosophy is that eating meat is wrong, but he never mentions this to the others until Sokka asks him about it. He shows no surprise or horror at the burial customs of other nations. Respecting other cultures is easy for him; it's finding out what the differences ''are'' that's hard.
* [[Cursed
* [[Good Cannot Comprehend Evil]]: Vathara's problem with Aang in a nutshell. He is ''implicitly'' [[Good Is Dumb|Not Dumb.]] His "problems" are;
** A. Airbenders tend to be flighty (pun intended) and don't sit around to show off their intelligence. Problem solved, big world full of problems, move on to the next one. Not unjustified, as he ''does'' have an entire world to save, and canonically learned his lesson about staying on one place too long back on Kyoshi Island. Unfortunately, he hasn't quite figured out that [[The World Is Always Doomed|problems don't necessarily STAY solved]].
** B. Because he is a textbook example of [[The Messiah]], he is all but incapable of believing that people can ''choose'' to be destructive and/or ignorant [[For the Evulz]], let alone [[My Country, Right or Wrong|willingly choose to OBEY such people]].
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* [[Humanity Is Infectious]]: The Avatar Spirit incarnates as humans so that it can understand humanity and acquire human traits.
* [[I Just Want to Be Normal]]: [[The Woobie|Poor, poor kid.]]
* [[Ignorant of His Own Ignorance]]: Almost wilfully so, in earlier chapters. Although trying to fix that, with Tao and Toph aiding him, it's slowly going. ''Very'' slowly.
* [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness]]: Deconstructed. In the [[Darker and Edgier]] world of Embers, he needs to be corrupted with some realism/lose his faith in the world before he gets eaten alive. Iroh sums it up:
{{quote|
''...I do not think I will be sleeping well tonight.'' }}
** Although his idealism and faith are also necessary to prevent atrocities; it's a balancing act.
* [[It Sucks to Be
* [[Kick the Dog]]: With Boots. (Boots was not exactly blameless toward Aang, but given the power differential... )
* [[Kid
* [[Last of His Kind]]: Partially averted. In Embers, while there are survivors of several Air Nomad groups still out there, Aang is still the last remaining Air ''Monk'', and the only one left who holds to (what he knows of) their ways. {{spoiler|All the others would ''much'' rather see those ways die out. In fact, a character in chapter 59 all but implied that until Aang gives up the Temple ways, the only way to be rid of all traces of the Temples is to wait for Aang to die.}}
* [[Living Lie Detector]]: Being an Airbending master, he can easily see through lies. So easily, he knew Zuko wasn't using lethal force the ''entire'' time he'd been chasing the Avatar.
** This turns out to be not as reliable as Aang thought, as ''he doesn't want to use leathal force'' is not the same thing as ''he won't use lethal force''.
* [[Mother Earth]]: He's the avatar of the planet. Sadly, [[Wrong Genre Savvy|this is no]] [[Green Aesop]].
* [[Obliviously Evil]]: He doesn't want to hurt anyone. Unfortunately, between dealing with three different alien value systems, chronic lack of patience and insane powers, a lot of the characters who meet him see him this way.
* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Normal for Air Nomads, to the point he sees nothing wrong with it, which the others find disturbing. Chapter 51 shows [[Rurouni Kenshin|a nun and her ex-Onmitsu lover]] that may be his birth parents.
* [[The Pollyanna]]
* [[Sadly Mythtaken]]: Him and people in regards to him.
** It is after the Beach Arc, after he finally got to lash out at Aang, that Zuko realizes there is more distinction within the Avatar beyond incarnation. Until then, he'd assumed Aang was [[A Million Is a Statistic|fully aware in the Avatar state]] and that it was a shift in mood, not a shift of ''spirit''.
** Aang knows his culture as well as one would expect from a 12-year-old monk, even some of the details others in the cast would consider less-than-fitting for their spotless image of Air Nomads. Most notably, the community/family-oriented Water Tribe is a bit shaken by an Air Monk's lack of parents.
** Unbeknown to Aang, some of his own legends are less than shining examples of decency.
* [[Stupid Good]]: His blindly following Air Monk doctrine.
* [[Spanner in
{{quote|
** ''Three times.''
*** {{spoiler|A very dangerous volcano, the one that killed Yangchen, was set to go off when Aang would have been training with the Northern Water Tribe a century ago. He would have tried to stop it, and a less-than-half-trained avatar going up against what killed Yangchen and all her yaoren? His disappearance caused that plan to be put on hold, and the eruption with it, for a full century.}}
*** {{spoiler|The group Kuzon and his uncle wanted Aang to spend time with instead of being brainwashed? Turn out to be brainwashing people for the Fire Lord.}}
**** {{spoiler|Debatable; it seems probable that Kuzon and his Uncle wanted Aang spending time with the yamabushi, not the onmitsu. Although it is suggested that Kuzon didn't realize how thoroughly the onmitsu had bought into Sozin's side, given that he did send some of his rescued airbenders to them.}}
* [[Super-Powered Evil Side]]: The Avatar State, or at least the inconsiderate [[Gaia's Vengeance]] side.
* [[Time Travel]]: Sort of. It took a one-way trip into the future courtesy of an iceberg; it's taking him a while to catch up with the cultural changes.
* [[Tomato in
* [[The Trickster]]: Deconstructed to hell and back.
* [[Violence Really Is the Answer]]: Played with. Aang is unwilling to take a life, but quick to use his bending, which often does more damage than he notices. Because of the war, those closest to him want him let down even his [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]] policy and for a while before that, Aang believe that his allies somewhat shared his belief. He is stricken, knowing that they don't.
* [[What an Idiot!]]/[[Idiot Hero]]: Mostly due to ignorance about the spirits and interrupted training by Gyatso. If not that, Aang doesn't stick around his worst fans to prove them wrong. Otherwise, he'd just rather play than think, provided there's nothing urgent going on.
** [[Unreliable Narrator|Zuko]] literally believes Aang is [[Too Dumb to Live]]. 'Just look for the place where no sane person would go and he's there!' is what he cites as his main tracking method (besides Appa being obvious), while in full rant-mode.
** Langxue practically wants to choke him out for letting Tui at the wheel.
** Toph nearly palms her face when he asked the question : 'Just finished handing out the fliers! Has anyone come about Appa?'.
** Of course, much of these blunders come from him being: 1) a kid Air Monk and 2) being a century behind on the times.
*** So, 1) He's immature and almost naturally prone to just [[Incredibly Lame Pun|winging]] it, and 2) he never had to grow up with the things his foreign friends ''didn't'' want to talk about. Thanks to freezing himself, he didn't have steady friends like Kuzon or Bumi to set him straight on how not to look like a moron. Sokka and Toph are picking up the slack.
* [[What the Hell, Hero?|What The Hell, Avatar?]]: From Amaya (failure to sense spirit trouble in Ba Sing Se), Ty Lee ([[Lawful Evil|not surrendering]]), and Langxue (unleashing the wrath of Tui).
* [[The White Prince]]
* [[Wide
* [[The Woobie]]: He really, ''really'', REALLY is. No one outside of his [[True Companions]] and obvious allies likes him as a person. The rest of the world is split betweeen worshipping him for being the Avatar (and the only person who can save the world) and hating and fearing him for being the Avatar {{spoiler|and/or an airbender and/or an Air Monk}}. He doesn't know how to live up to the expectations the "good guys" have, he doesn't know how to cope with having things expected of him at all and he doesn't know how to cope with needing to cope. The world's become too small and dangerous for Aang's ''run away / do whatever seems most immedidiately expedient then run off'' problem-solving strategy to work, but he's too busy mentally avoiding the consequences to work out where he's going wrong.
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Tropes associated with Embers' version of Katara include:
* [[Angst Coma]]: Zuko gave her a choice between her [[True Companions]] and her Tribe and [[Your Mind Makes It Real|it tore more than just her attention]].
* [[Base Breaker]]: Vathara has run with her seeing Zuko as the face of the enemy. Some readers were put off by or disagreed with her tantrums and abrasive characterization. Others see it as a brilliant way to get issues on the table and resolved. [[Broken Base|They argue]].
* [[Berserk Button]]: Deconstructed and Justified. Why did Katara go on the defensive when Zuko wasn't actually attacking her or doing anything terrible? Because he ''was.'' On top of being the symbol of what killed her mother, by trying to get through to Katara he was attacking the idea of herself that she'd built up in order to function. In other words, he was attacking her psychological weak point [[For Massive Damage]]. What happened when her [[Sanity Meter]] went to zero? She went into an [[Angst Coma]] ''and nearly died.'' In a world with Embers' laws of metaphysics, he was essentially coming at her with a knife ([[Hanlon's Razor|not that he knew this]]), no one would help her or believe her (a double whammy) and her subconscious reacted accordingly.
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]
* [[The Chief's Daughter]]
* [[Completely Missing the Point]]: Involving the Fire Nation.
* [[Disability Superpower]]: Most likely averted, by [[Word of God]]. Katara has a wound to her spirit and could become a yaoren, but Katara is such a self-reliant person that she's almost certain to never ask the world in general or a Great Spirit of another element for help, giving them an opening.
* [[Extreme Doormat]]: A normal person's response to nearly being killed should not be {{spoiler|"''We'' betrayed ''him.''"}} It's this tendency towards just taking it from her loved ones and saying that it's not the other person's fault because they were hurting (that reasons are not excuses and don't make it right is a major theme of the fic) that got her into this mess.
* [[Genre Blindness]]: She (along with Aang), genuinely believes that she's doing the right thing, which doesn't always match with the changed world of ''Embers'' (which has gradually grown from [[For Want of a Nail|divergence]] to full-on AU); her actions have both more realistic implications and more supernatural consequences.
* [[The Heart]]: She remains this in Embers. Lampshaded by Toph in Chapter 37: "Katara keeps us together."
** [[Heart Is an Awesome Power]]: Her abilities allow her to pull on others' emotions. The bad part about this is that she was not taught to control it very well, thanks to Pakku. Hakoda and Sokka are wary about her pulling on their hearts.
* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Both a positive trait and a negative trait. Zuko praises her for being willing to do the right thing, even when it's hard, but [[
* [[Horrible Judge of Character]]: Though this seems more of a side-effect of her [[Moral Myopia]]. Anyone who doesn't side with her or Aang (Xiu, for instance) isn't a friend, especially if they happen to like Zuko. She's especially this around those of the Fire Nation.
* [[Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance]]: Katara often needs Toph to help put things into perspective for her.
** [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]: Things that would fix problems in a more idealistic world actually ''start'' problems in Embers. Contrast this with Zuko, now the Protagonist, who has had to learn to calm down before he can't think, lest he get [[Anthropic Principle|himself and Iroh killed]], when they were on the run.
* [[Kid
** Not really. The thing about that letter was that Katara was torn between her family (the Tribe) and Aang (her friend and student). The Water Tribes need revenge, and Aang says that "No you don't! You're a good person, and good people don't DO that!". Chief Hakoda isn't entirely blameless either, as he was the one who gave Katara an ultimatum of death should she ever try bending their hearts again. He has a quasi-religious respect for waterbenders as well, as he inadvertently let Katara think that it's ok to do her duty as a woman of the Tribe and as a waterbender, because Waterbenders are blessed by by their Gods, and therefore, their Chosen People.
* [[Lecture
* [[Mama Bear]]: Towards Aang. When her own mother was murdered in front of her. In an attack by the Fire Nation. [[Oh Crap|The Fire Nation Zuko represents.]] Comes to a head in the Beach Arc.
* [[Moral Myopia]]: Every character is biased to some degree, but [[Author Tract|Katara doesn't even give a convincing argument]], having grown up with the impression that she is supposed to be a strong pillar to hold up her tribe. Its the darker half of her [[Team Mom]] tendencies.
** [[I Did What I Had to Do]]: Much of her hard-edged choices have to do with growing up in a culture with the [[Wendigo]] and [[Shoot the Dog|having to deal with it]] [[Sanity Slippage|before it becomes]] [[I'm a Humanitarian|a problem]].
** [[Hero Insurance]]: Invoked. Katara is disturbed when she is prevented from trying to heal someone while they were sleeping. She's the Avatar's teacher. Why does ''she'' need consent to fix somebody? She's the good guy!
** [[Never My Fault|Never The Avatar's Fault]]: After Aang (unintentionally) blasts a ''steel door'' into her, her first words to Toph are "we betrayed him".
* [[More Than Mind Control]]: Waterbenders can heavily spur the emotions of their tribesmen. Very good for morale. {{spoiler|[[The Corrupter|Not so good when you're an angry wreck on the inside]] and haven't been trained to control this ability.}}
** [[Lunacy]]: The moon augments a waterbender's power.
* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: With Zuko, and the colors flipped.
* [[Revenge]]: Her motives still remain the same from her canon self.
* [[Stepford Smiler]]: Resulting from being forced into the [[Team Mom]] position ''for her own family'' after her mother was killed protecting her. As her grandmother points out in the show, Katara was also the symbol of hope for the Southern Water Tribe not for herself, but because she was a waterbender. No one wanted to deal with the fact the person they needed to cheer them up was not a very happy person, actually, so she grew up convinced that if she showed her true self {{spoiler|with the pain of losing her mother, her resentment of being put into this position and her hatred of the Fire Nation}} no one would love the real her. {{spoiler|For a waterbender, with their emphasis on community, this is explicitly just as bad as what Ozai did to Zuko.}}
* [[Team Mom]]: The problems with trying to be this while coping with the loss of her own mother are brought up.
* [[There Are No Therapists]]: Not only did Katara not have one, as a waterbender she was expected to be that much-needed therapist. Even Kanna was understanding about the fact that Katara couldn't have prevented all those deaths without training, but Katara still blamed herself.
* [[Vision Quest]]: Only non-yaoren to have one, so far (Aang's canon one was cut short).
* [[The Woobie]]: With everything that's happened by now, it's a wonder she's still walking, let alone carrying out her [[The Heart|self-imposed duties]] toward the rest of the Gaang.
** [[Iron Woobie]]: [[Don't You Dare Pity Me!|Don't you dare pity her.]] Her trauma comes out not in [[Angst]] but in [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|fury]]. This is because she learned how to hide her pain, even from herself, thinking that her family needed her to be okay. Whenever she starts to think about her own pain, it either turns into anger or she starts thinking that she has no right to feel that way because other people have it so much worse. When Toph tries to show her sympathy, she tries to turn her away and generally doesn't know what to do about someone trying to comfort her when it's always been her job to comfort others.
=== Sokka ===
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* [[Badass Normal]] - Same as in canon.
** [[Disability Superpower]] - Averted. All Sokka really gets from Temul is some much needed indepth knowledge about the Fire Nation and its culture. Otherwise, Temul kicks his ass during their sword training.
* [[Face Palm]]: He does this in ch. 37 when he hears how Aang and Katara put their address on the posters they posted of Appa while staying in Ba Sing Se.
* [[Genre Savvy]]: Though not as much as Toph. That's mainly because he's not as well-educated about other cultures as Toph is.
* [[Head Desk]]: Forgoing his [[Face Palm|palm]], Sokka smacks himself with the blunt end of Boomerang when Aang reveals he knew of Zuko's non-lethal intentions the whole time.
* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: [[Conversed Trope|Conversed]]. Zuko, informing him about the chi and bending, points out that the usage of chi extends beyond the elements, into relatively mundane skills, such as nailing a target with a boomerang just right.
* [[Oh Crap]]: Being [[The Smart Guy]] makes him sensitive to the [[Unfortunate Implications]] after a [[Culture Clash]] and to the sheer scope of trouble down the road, if some things don't get fixed right away. The most current example is in Chapter 60 at the end {{spoiler|where Sokka figures out that the Fire Nation knows about their plans to invade during the Day of Black Sun, which Shidan confirms}}.
* [[The Smart Guy]]
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* [[Face Palm]]: Several times. Particularly when Aang talks about putting up more Appa posters.
* [[Healing Hands]]: Only in an emergency; she says after doing it that it takes more out of her than a [[Professional Wrestling|Rumble]], and she'll leave it to the professionals otherwise.
** [[Combat Medic]]: Emphasis on 'combat'. She's quickly picked up on Earth-Healing, but states that she'd rather deal damage than fix it, only when Zuko or Katara are absent would she try it.
** [[Cast
* [[Genre Savvy]]: Along with being the daughter of filthy rich merchants, her experience as a Rumble Fighter and being [[Memetic Badass|The Greatest Earthbender in the World]] helps her understand people. Especially from other nations, for some reason...
* [[Genius Bruiser]]/[[Dangerously Genre Savvy]]: Toph is fully aware of the implications of her Metal-bending; if "no one" is supposed to bend metal, then how many ''other'' "impossible" techniques can she get away with? She's experimenting with the use of salt in seawater, and even bent the ''ashes in smoke''.
** [[I Thought It Was Forbidden]]: Tao immediately tries to shut her down for bending the ash, thinking that she's begun [[Blow You Away|bending Air]] and thus insulted both the great spirits of Air and Earth by not sticking with what she was given. While not immediately revealed to the cast in-scene, the readers can easily pick up that Tao is [[Sadly Mythtaken]].
* [[Head Desk]]: Discovering the sheer scope of [[Separated
* [[Only Sane Man|Only Sane Girl]]: Amongst everyone else's not so sane moments, Toph's the only one keeping a level head and looks at the situation objectively, especially with regards to the Fire Nation. She's the only one who can.
* [[Secret Keeper]]: She knows that Zuko, Iroh and the Fire Nation have draconic ancestry. She also knows that Zuko can waterbend, too, but she doesn't tell Aang, Sokka or Katara.
* [[Stealth Hi Bye]]: Her favorite greeting.
* [[Wise Beyond Their Years]]: Much more so than Aang.
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Fire Princess and [[Daddy's Girl]], Azula personifies all the worst that one of her ancestry can claim - and she, along with Zuko, has more draconian ancestry than most. All Fire Nation citizens have dragon's blood to some degree (it's practically required to firebend in the prescribed form), and a few have dragons for recent ancestors (Teruko). Azula and Zuko? Out of their 8 great-grandparents, ''three'' were dragons, Sozin was a [[Half-Human Hybrid|dragon child]] (someone whose parent was a dragon), and Roku was the Avatar. It's a recipe for disaster, and while Zuko thankfully has chosen a different path under Iroh's guidance, Azula was raised by Ozai. As a result, she's running headlong down the Dark Dragon road of carnage, death, and utter destruction. It's all in the name of her father, for the glory of the Fire Lord and her Nation... And she won't let ''anyone'' get in her way.
Tropes associated with Embers' version of Azula include:
* [[Consummate Liar]]: {{spoiler|A staple of dark dragons, who can lie through a [[Psychic Link]].}}
* [[Enfante Terrible]]
* [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]]: She just does not understand how people can be so easily compelled by emotion to do drastic things. To her, there has to be an ulterior motive and hidden agenda; after all, that's why ''she'' would be openly passionate.
* [[Kick the Dog]]: Tortured animals to death, as a child.
* [[Big Brother Bully|Little Sister Bully]]: Zuko has learned to make himself scarce when she utters the phrase 'Little Zuzu'.
* [[Loves the Sound of Screaming]]
* [[I Shall Taunt You]]
* [[More Than Mind Control]]: Her 'Inner Fire'.
** [[Mind Rape]]: Unsurprisingly, being the psychopathic genius she is. {{spoiler|Poor Min}}.
** [[Mind Manipulation]]: Whether of hesitating followers or resistant prisoners, Azula will herd undesirable emotions.
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=== Mai ===
Daughter of Governor Tsumami and the Lady Niji, Mai is still the dour girl we met in canon. But she makes her [[Heel Face Turn]] a lot sooner, once it become clear just how long Azula's been lying to her - and just how deep her deception went. It's one thing to date someone. {{spoiler|It's another to be ''related'' to said person, in a way and to the degree of consanguinity that the laws clearly state are prohibited. (In Embers, she is descended from Roku's daughter, Momiji, the sister of Ilah, who was the wife of Azulon.)}} The worst part is Azula knew the entire damn time, and had incorporated the expected side effects into several plans.
Tropes associated with Embers' version of Mai include:
* [[Action Girlfriend]]: To Min, much to his distress. She plans to go back to the Fire Nation.
* [[Awesome Yet Practical]]: Her knives. The diamond-laced wire she gave to Min to help him break out of his prison.
* [[Badass Normal]]: [[Up to Eleven]]. Despite not being a firebender, she survives breaking [[Blood Oath|Loyalty]] to Azula. And she didn't require a healer, either.
* [[Blue Oni]]: To Ty Lee, as true in canon.
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: She knows how to choose her battles most shrewdly. This comes from being the daughter of a noble close to the Fire Lord's family, and as well as dealing with Azula.
* [[Defrosting Ice Queen]]: More so in Embers.
* [[Heel Face Turn]]
* [[Incest Is Relative]]: She and Min are related through Momiji and Gyokuro respectively, so they can have a relationship.
* [[Nerves of Steel]]: She displays a cool head in the face of [[Magnificent Bastard|Azula]], who in ch. 34, suspects her of treachery, and is right when Mai does her [[Heel Face Turn]].
* [[Pair the Spares]]: With Min Wen.
=== Ty Lee ===
Still our ditzy, bubbly, bouncing acrobat, Ty Lee becomes much more than that in Embers. {{spoiler|Descendant of the Duo Qang, one of many Airbender tribes that used to roam the winds, Ty Lee's people were decimated during the era of Avatar Yangchen, and those who weren't killed outright in that period were later kidnapped to the temples and brainwashed into becoming monks and nuns. The survivors who escaped both fates ended up settling in the Fire Nation and ultimately pledged their services to the Fire Lord. Since those services tend to include chi-blocking and the arts of stealth, it's no wonder that the Duo Quang are now known as the ''onmitsu'' - Ozai's own army of ninjas and assassins.}} Ty Lee knows about her family history, and will do what it takes to stop Aang - last of the Temple Monks - from what she and her people believe will be a second Holocaust.
Tropes associated with Embers' version of Ty Lee include:
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** [[The Empath]]
** Ability to see an [[Astral Projection]]
* [[Badass Abnormal]]: Take a wild guess.
** [[Badass Adorable]]
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Her vs. Makoto. She did have the Dai Li help her, but her actions led to Makoto flying away.
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* [[Highly-Visible Ninja]]
* [[Lawful Good]]: She apparently acts out of concern for others, effectively 'the greatest good for the greatest number'. Which clashes with...
** [[Lawful Evil]]: She obeys whatever orders her Elders have given her, which include serving the Fire Lord and his heir.
* [[Les Collaborateurs]]: Her clan, the Fire Nation-allied Onmitsu, descendants of the Duo Qang.
* [[Obliviously Evil]]
* [[Red Oni]]: To Mai.
* [[Remembered I Could Fly]]: {{spoiler|Almost [[Blow You Away|literally]], as [[Power Limiter|her airbending]] and [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|some memories]] had been sealed away by her clan.}}
* [[Sadly Mythtaken]]: The stories she was told about Kuzon, known to her as [[False Friend|the Great Betrayer]]. {{spoiler|Ty Lee, and the onmitsu as a whole, [[Kidnapped
** She's also this about Aang, too. Despite being a Temple Monk, Aang would NOT condone any of what Xiangchen or his followers did, and never would Aang do this to her or any of the other Air Nomad survivors.
*** There's also Zuko. In chapter 42 she says that Zuko is too nice. She's in for a surprise when she sees him again...
* [[Tomato in
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]
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Essentially unchanged from canon, Long Feng takes much the same path as he did on the show. The only difference is the end: after imprisoning Azula, he attempts to double-cross her, using Ty Lee as leverage. Azula does not take kindly to Long Feng's treatment, {{spoiler|killing him with a well-placed lightning strike.}} His old responsibilities are divided afterwards, with leadership of the Dai Li falling to Agent Chan, while Agents Quan and Bon becomes Kuei's new advisors.
Tropes associated with Embers' version of Long Feng include:
* [[The Chessmaster]]: Pity Azula plays one better.
* [[Smug Snake]]: Oh boy, is he ever.
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=== Earth King Kuei ===
The 24-year-old royal gets a major fleshing out in Embers. For starters, Kuei never leaves Ba Sing Se, but instead retreats underground (quite literally) to strike back at the Fire Nation forces occupying his city. It gets better. Turns out the Earth Kings were and are still considered the spiritual heart of the Earth Kingdom for a damn good reason - they descend from ancient shamans and have power over the spirits in their domain that's second only to a fully realised Avatar. How powerful is Kuei? {{spoiler|He evicts Wan Shi Tong, the knowledge owl, and all his servants, out of the Earth Kingdom. Permanently. Yikes.}}
Tropes associated with Embers' version of Kuei include:
* [[Adorkable]]: Second only to Zuko.
** [[Ascended Fanboy]]: This line says it all:
{{quote|
* [[Arranged Marriage]]: Most Earth Kings get this. Kuei just got his due to Agents Bon and Quan saying "It'd take a miracle to find spriritually strong women in the middle of a Fire Nation invasion-", and also because the Touzaikaze were impressed with Kuei enough to send their own special women as prospective brides.
* [[Badass Bookworm]]: He's got a personal library ''full'' of powerful information yet unknown to the rest of the world, and he's a powerful enough spiritbender to kick ''Wan Shi Tong'' out of the Earth Kingdom.
** [[Cultured Badass]]/[[Gentleman and
* [[Compelling Voice]]/[[God-Emperor]]: Just being in the Earth Kingdom puts one under his supernatural jurisdiction.
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|Did You Just Banish Wan Shi Tong?]]
** Kuei delivers this sentence in chapter 29 to the fox servant of Wan Shi Tong:
{{quote|
* [[Fisher King]]
* [[Good Is Not Dumb]]: Long Feng had it so that the Earth King was seen as a naive, harmless, puppet-king bookworm who needed to be protected. Sure, he's ignorant of many things, including what's been going on within his city. However, he has had years and ''years'' and YEARS of reading the scrolls in his [[Tower of Babel|personal library]], so he knows things the Dai Li and the rest of the cast do not.
** He's also a fairly competent commander, since he lacks the usual Earth compunctions against tearing up your own streets to get at the enemy.
* [[The Heart]]: Literally. All Earth Kings are the heart of Ba Sing Se.
* [[
* [[Let's Get Dangerous]]: Both taking on spirits, and taking over the resistance.
* [[La Résistance]]: He's running it, and rather more effectively than the military. A Fire Nation guard in Chapter 45 muses that an Earth Kingdom general would ''never'' dig pit traps in the streets of his own city. Kuei is not fighting like traditional Earth generals.
* [[Missing Mom]]/[[Disappeared Dad]]: Kuei's parents were killed 20 years before Embers starts. The assassins were said to have been from Taku.
* [[Non-Action Guy]]: He has protection in his Dai Li, as well as Eshe and Amisi.
* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: He's become this. Granted, Bon and Quan are carrying out his orders, but with Long Feng dead, he's heading towards being a competent and capable ruler.
* [[Royal We]]
* [[Soul Power]]: He has authority over the spirits of Ba Sing Se. Also noted to become one of the best spirit-benders out there.
* [[Spanner in
=== Wan Shi Tong ===
The giant owl spirit who, pissed off at humanity, sank his library in the desert and nearly took the
Tropes associated with Ember's version of Wan Shi Tong include:
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Tropes associated with Embers' version of Kuzon include:
* [[Back
* [[Backup From Otherworld]]: Sometimes Zuko unconsciously uses Kuzon's old speech patterns and memories. Then Yangchen comes along.
* [[Defiant to
* [[Dual-Wielding]]
* [[Posthumous Character]]: For the most part.
* [[Unexpected Successor]]: Before Sozin started the war, Kuzon wasn't expected to become Lord of Byakko. Loyalty sickness claimed everyone ahead of him, after Clan Byakko refused the Fire Lord's orders to kill. Kuzon only survived thanks to Shidan's fire healing.
=== Fire Lord Ozai ===
His core personality is unchanged, though his background has been fleshed out. Ozai is considered a dragon child, and a dark dragon, to boot. With Azulon's heritage (three-quarters dragon, one-quarter human) and Ilah's (Avatar Roku's daughter), it's lucky Iroh and Lu Ten turned out as well as they did. Ozai, on the other hand, personifies all the worst that a human with too much dragon blood can become - and he's [[Daddy's Little Villain|trained Azula]] to be [[Oh Crap|just like him]].
Tropes associated with Embers' version of Ozai include:
* [[Ambition Is Evil]]: More so than Zhao, and the consequences are bound to be worse.
* [[Complete Monster]]: He's completely the same as in canon.
* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Azulon trained him as such, to complement Iroh's rule when the time came.
* [[What an Idiot!]]: Screwed up his dad Azulon's plans, first by usurping the throne, then burning and exiling his son. Considering the results in Embers, the [[Disaster Dominoes|domino effect]] [[It Got Worse|may yet lead to his own downfall.]]
=== Lady Ursa ===
Like her husband, retains her characterization, though Vathara has tweaked her genealogy in Embers. Here Ursa is no longer Roku's descendant (that honour goes to Ilah, Azulon's wife), but rather the daughter of Lady Kotone of Byakko and her husband Shidan. After Azulon put on the pressure, Ursa was sent to marry Ozai mostly to put Clan Byakko in line. All is not what it seems - Lady Kotone's father was Kuzon of Byakko, and Shidan was his dragon companion before their marriage. Byakko always plays to stay ahead of the game, and Ursa knows to do whatever she must for her family and her clan.
Tropes associated with Embers' version of Ursa include:
* [[Arranged Marriage]]: The reasons in Embers are such that Byakko's rulers needed to buy protection from Azulon, and also for [[Revenge]].
* [[Broken Bird]]: Or at least seriously spirit-damaged.
* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]: She's the daughter of a dragon and a human woman.
* [[Heal It
* [[Hot Chick
* [[Missing Mom]]: She's still around... somewhere...
* [[Yamato Nadeshiko]]: Her core personality remains the same as in canon.
=== Lieutenant Jee ===
Last seen in canon being transferred to Zhao's command, just before Zuko's ship blew up, Jee survived the resulting deluge at the Siege of the North. In Embers he's since been promoted to Captain (more due to lack of experienced officers than anything else) and he and his crew now deal with the scores of newcomers onboard the ship.
Tropes associated with Embers' version of Jee include:
* [[The Captain]]: Only now he actually holds the rank, instead of acting as such under another's command.
* {{spoiler|[[Fighting For
* [[No One Gets Left Behind]]: Even when they've been declared traitors to your own nation.
* [[Reassigned to Antarctica]]: The entire crew, not just Jee.
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* [[Ax Crazy]]
* [[Moral Myopia]]: More like Moral Blindness, which he has in spades.
* [[Revenge]]/[[Revenge Before Reason]]: Jet will drop defending himself from an opposing horde to kill a Firebender. He'll even drop his friends.
* [[What Happened to
* [[Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters]]: He ''personifies'' this trope, even in canon.
=== Smellerbee ===
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Tropes associated with Embers' version of Smellerbee include:
* [[Action Girl]]
* [[Samus Is a Girl|Smellerbee Is A Girl]]: if a character's perception of her gender isn't outright wrong, it's usually gender neutral or leaning toward 'likely a girl, but let someone else say it, first'.
* [[What the Hell, Hero?|What The Hell, Jet?]]
=== Longshot ===
The other member of Jet's gang who stuck by his leader, Longshot might be having second thoughts about that decision.
Tropes associated with Embers' version of Longshot include:
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The lord of Shu Jing, a gray-eyed swordsman adopted by Temul, who was present at Kuzon's death. {{spoiler|He was chosen by Temul to become her successor as Lord of Shu Jing. Piandao was only a Major when he met Kuzon and Temul, and presumably retired from the Fire Nation Army soon afterward.}}
* [[Ancient Tradition]]: A member of the White Lotus ''and'' aware of what Kuzon was up to.
* [[Badass Normal]]
* [[Gray Eyes]]: Tend to indicate air nomad ancestry. Since it's confirmed that he is still the non-bender son of Firebenders, or at least ''thinks'' he is, he [[Wild Mass Guessing|may or may not]] have anything to do with the rescued children. Apparently people in the Fire Nation assume that [[Gray Eyes]] mean someone has an ancestor who was a [[Child
* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Piandao thinks his birth parents were firebenders who orphaned him because he couldn't bend.
* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]
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* [[Ambadassador]]
* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: Shirong prayed to Agni, asking for aid in helping Zuko. Agni responded by having Shirong become the next yaoren.
* [[Conflicting Loyalty|Conflicting Loyalties]]: As a Dai Li, Shirong is supposed to be a loyal subject of the Earth King. After meeting Zuko and becoming an Earth-Fire yaoren, that loyalty shifts over to Zuko.
** Doubles as a [[Tear Jerker]] when he realises that Kuei, whom he's faithfully served for over half his life, isn't his king.
* [[Cruel and Unusual Death]]: Almost happened twenty years ago, and the reason behind his spirit wounds and really bad luck.
* [[Dishing Out Dirt]]
* [[Doom Magnet]]: Until Zuko, nobody else Shirong had met had worse luck than he did.
* [[Expy]]: of [[Airwolf|Michael Archangel]]
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* [[One Good Cop]]: For a while there, the only member of the Dai Li to heed Zuko's warning and not follow Long Feng.
* [[Nice Hat]]: it was supposedly fire-proof up until Azula's [[Up to Eleven|blue fire]] proved it wrong. Zuko later noted the absence of his hat even ruled out an option for defending against firebending.
* [[Would Hit a Girl]]: Seen in the train battle out of Ba Sing Se.
** [[Breast Attack]]
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* [[A Father to His Men]]: Felt deeply betrayed when Huojin "disappeared".
* [[Good Cop, Bad Cop]]/[[Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough]] - Good cop/Captain counterpart to the Fire Nation's Master Sergeant Yakume.
* [[Interservice Rivalry]]: City Guards and the Dai Li, to the point where no news on the latter is bad news.
** Justified, considering what the Dai Li was up to before (mindbending, involuntary disappearing acts), and what's been implied that they're up to now.
*** {{spoiler|Seems Kuei's new advisors are continuing Long Feng's practice of keeping their king in the dark, despite Kuei's leadership in [[La Résistance]] and the expectations of full disclosure. Bon? Quan? Not a smart idea, guys.}}
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Tropes associated with Huojin include:
* [[Becoming the Mask]]: 'Huojin' was the alternate persona [[Soul Power|wrought from his spirit by Amaya]], when he was six. He now doesn't even remember how we was before then, except for his birth name.
* [[Butt Monkey]]: To top the mockingly unfortunate events that seem to follow him, he was once nearly strangled to death by an ''umbrella''.
** [[Never Live It Down]]: To the point that "Umbrella" has become a sort of nickname for him.
* [[City Guards]]: Until recently.
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* [[Family Versus Career]]: Works as a jade carver in addition to raising her kids.
* [[Housewife]]: As her profession allows her to work from home.
* [[Open-Minded Parent]]: She freely associates with Fire Nation, Water Tribe, and Earth Kingdom alike.
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* [[Expy]]: of [[Indiana Jones|Doctor Henry Jones Senior]]
* [[A Father to His Men]]: He cares for his students, so one of them disappearing for digging too deeply into the wrong subjects was a bad blow.
* [[Lecture
** [
=== Meixiang Wen ===
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Tropes associated with Min include:
* [[Annoying Younger Sibling|Annoying Older Sibling]]: Inverted, in that Min's terrified of, among other things, his little brother's Firebending and their family's Fire Nation ancestry, rightfully believing it's going to get everyone in the Wen household killed. This manifests in his bad attitude and he isn't afraid to show it.
* [[Jerkass]]: Towards Zuko, and not without reason, of course, but still. Although he ''does'' get better eventually.
* [[Pair the Spares]]: {{spoiler|With Mai.}}
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Tropes associated with Jia include:
* [[Ascended Extra]]: From canon. Jia is one of the girls seen in the poetry club Sokka crashes in Season Two. [http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/e/ef/5-7-5_Society.png She's on the bottom left.]{{Dead link}}
* [[The Chick]]: Likes her looks, her clothes, her poetry...
* [[Dishing Out Dirt]]
* [[Expy]]: Of [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer
* [[Lady of War]]: Briefly, when up against Azula. Perfectly capable of asskicking (she's a competent Earthbender) and healing.
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Smarter than the facade she presents.
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=== Jinhai Wen ===
The youngest child and son of the Wen family, Jinhai is a six year old with a familiar problem that Zuko helps with. ([[Playing
Tropes associated with Jinhai include:
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=== Agent Bon ===
Another Dai Li agent, he first shows up when hunting a man-eating spirit loose in Ba Sing Se. During an interrogation session, said man-eating spirit arrives, possesses Amaya and proceeds to freeze him over. While two of his fellow agents are killed, Bon manages to hold on long enough for Zuko to save him. The methods Zuko uses, however, unwittingly give Bon the strength to break free of Azula's inner fire when she takes over. During the Fire Nation occupation, Bon acts as one of two advisors to the Earth King, concentrating mostly on the civilians and helping Kuei adjust to his rule.
Tropes associated with Bon include:
* [[Butt Monkey]]/[[Crowning Moment of Funny]]: Has quite a few of these, usually in conjunction with Kuei. How ''does'' one explain the birds and bees to one's king?
** Though not always...
{{quote|
'''Bon:''' ... I hate you, sir. }}
* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: At one point, wondered where there might be appropriately qualified bridal candidates for his king. The next moment... [[Oh Crap|Well.]]
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* [[The Matchmaker]]: For a brief period of time, much to Quan's amusement, Bon's extreme dismay, and Kuei's obliviousness. It's harder than usual, not just because she'll be a future ''royal consort'', but as the girl must also meet certain spiritual requirements rarely found outside the Dai Li's own (male-only) ranks.
** {{spoiler|The Touzaikaze solve that problem - and [[It Got Worse|create a few new ones]] - when they send in two of their own women as potential brides.}}
* [[Squick]]: Bon's reaction to the possibility of having a relationship with a Joo Dee.
* [[Those Two Guys]]: With Agent Quan, after being promoted to royal advisors.
* [[Tear Jerker]]: He and the other Dai Li, for the most part, sacrifice everything they have and everything they could have been to serve their city and their king. That preclusion includes their own happiness, any chance of marriage and family.
{{quote|
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Tropes associated with Quan include:
* [[Conflicting Loyalty]]: On the one hand, he swore to protect the city. On the other, Long Feng was his boss and leader and Quan wants revenge.
** He subverts [[Take a Third Option|the third option]] - no way in hell is he following Azula, and he can't understand why [[Les Collaborateurs|his fellow Dai Li would.]]
* [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!]]: Quan gets a long overdue one from none other than the Earth King himself.
* [[La Résistance]]: Kuei runs it, but Quan is the one who enacts his king's strategies.
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Tropes associated with Amaya include:
* [[Blue Eyes]]
* [[
* [[Expy]]: Of a [[Star Wars|Jedi Healer from the Extended Universe]].
* [[Love Interest]]/[[Magical Girlfriend]]: To Iroh.
* [[Mama Bear]]: To her hidden folk.
* [[The Medic]]/[[Healing Hands]]: Obviously.
* [[Soul Power]]: She learned Energybending (Spirit-healing/bending, in ''Embers''), from the Lion Turtle.
** [[Mundane Utility]]: While Amaya isn't [[Super Empowering|making]] or [[Brought Down to Normal|breaking]] a bender on a whim (as some authors [[Mary Suetopia|would have her]]), she has proved it a useful tool for people that have happened upon a [[Things That Go Bump in
* [[The Mentor]]: She gets Zuko started on healing.
== Original Characters - Fire Nation ==
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* [[Urban Warfare]]: It's getting there. He's lost the men and got the marks to prove it. {{spoiler|The Dai Li left in the city aren't sitting just around...}}
* [[War Is Hell]]: Well aware of this. It's why he tries to work with the locals - the alternative is worse.
* [[Won the War, Lost
* [[Would Not Shoot a Civilian]]: Holds himself, the City Guards and the occupying forces to that standard. Anyone who doesn't, Yakume promises to deal with personally.
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Tropes associated with Sadao include:
* [[Butt Monkey]]/[[Running Gag]]: His previous commanders got so sick of Sadao's "antics" they usually ended up throwing him overboard.
** Except when Sadao saved them the trouble by preemptively jumping ship. Good thing he can swim.
* [[Doomed Defeatist]]: Subverted, in that he's still around, but he definitely had the defeatist attitude down pat in his earlier appearances. He got better once Zuko got him starting on healing.
* [[Healing Hands]]
** [[Heal It
** [[Healing Shiv]]: Other marines are less successful, as Imperial Firebending is taught around ''creating'' fire and letting its destructive nature pan out; not for ''handling'' anything (beyond extinguishing the unnecessary).
* [[Ensign Newbie|Lieutenant Newbie]]: While not new to the Navy (it's implied he's been in the service for a while now) Sadao ''is'' new to the whole command thing. Leads to...
** [[The Apprentice (trope)|The Apprentice]]: To Jee. Assuming Sadao lasts long enough to learn about command.
* [[The Klutz]]/[[Having a Blast]]: He's no Combustion Man, but he has a "special" talent of accidentally blowing up things no one thinks actually could. This has wrecked his nerves for much of his life and the patience of most of his family. Before he could usher (further) havoc on his family's glass-blowing business, he was shipped off to war. In the wrong military branch. He was supposed to be headed for the Army, but ended up in the Marines, a place with less breathing room, making him more nervous and making his nervous detonations a concentrated problem.
=== Lieutenant Teruko ===
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Tropes associated with Teruko include:
* [[Dope Slap]]: Pulls one on Sokka. He then realises she's a girl.
* [[Expy]]: [[Word of God]] says she's [[JAG|Sarah Mackenzie]].
* [[Lady of War]]: Surprisingly, for a Marine. Then again, she ''is'' an officer.
* [[Samus Is a Girl|Teruko Is A Girl]]: Many (non-Fire Nation) characters are surprised to hear a woman's voice emerge from the [[Faceless Mooks|skull mask everyone is so familiar with]].
* [[Semper Fi]]: If the above didn't make it clear, the quote below will.
{{quote|
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Tropes associated with Kyo include:
* [[Dope Slap]]: He can do it without even seeming to move.
* [[Expy]]: of [[NCIS
* [[Nerves of Steel]]: Steady as a among rapids.
* {{spoiler|[[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Against the Earth Kingdom bandits who killed his family. It not only got him reassigned, but the rest of his squad too.}}
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Tropes associated with Fushi include:
* [[Action Girl]]
* [[Expy]]: Of [[NCIS
** [[Perky Goth]]
** [[The Cutie]]
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Tropes associated with Rikiya include:
* [[Expy]]: Of [[NCIS
* [[
=== Private Sukekuni ===
The only one of the Marines who'd served on the ''Wani'' prior to his posting on the ''Suzuran'', Sukekuni is familiar with Zuko's habits and has the grace to forewarn his teammates.
Tropes associated with Sukekuni include:
* [[Expy]]: [[NCIS
=== Corporal Shoni ===
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Tropes associated with Shoni include:
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]
* [[Expy]]: in a genderflipped example, [[NCIS
* [[Knife Nut]]
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Tropes associated with Moriaki include:
* [[Combat Medic]]
* [[Expy]]: [[NCIS
=== Shidan of Byakko ===
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* [[The Chessmaster]]: He's been working to overthrow Koh's faction for at least the last century. Longterm plans, indeed.
* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]
* [[Psychic Link]]: He senses Zuko becoming yaoren. He knows that Ursa is wounded. A staple of all dragons.
* [[Shapeshifting Lover]]/[[Shapeshifter Mode Lock]] - He became human to marry Kotone, but cannot revert back until she dies.
** [[To Become Human]]
** [[Humanity Is Infectious]]: [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]]. He hasn't ''quite'' lost the dragon-like presence ''or'' the teeth. His speech mannerisms betray his struggling mastery of words and when Saoluan asks why the Fire Nation has to be filled with homicidal maniacs:
{{quote|
* [[Natural Weapon]]: his piercingly sharp, rock-hard claws.
* [[Neural Implanting]]
** [[Exposition Beam]]: The story of the dragon-human lovers.
** [[The Empath]]: Inverted, unless with another dragon.
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** Fire Lord Sozin
** [[Mama Bear|Threats to her people.]]
* [[Jerk
* [[Our Ghosts Are Different]]
* [[What the Hell, Hero?|What the Hell, Avatar?]]: To Kyoshi, for what she did to the Fire Nation.
* [[Posthumous Character]]: [[Captain Obvious|She's a ghost.]]
* [[Shock and Awe]]/[[Bolt of Divine Retribution]] - And ''how!!''
=== Makoto ===
Sozin's dragon companion, and later wife, she is grandmother to Iroh and Ozai, and great-grandmother to Zuko and Azula. A dark dragon and longtime ally of Koh, {{spoiler|she is also the last known surviving dragon of the clan that once guarded the supervolcano Asagitatsu, the location of which was lost for generations. It was because there was no one able or willing to pacify the volcano that it last erupted, killing Avatar Yangchen and her yaoren in the initial blast, and countless others with the resulting ash fall. (A similar eruption took place 2000 years ago, according to archaeological findings; Asagitatsu's explosive eruptions tend to occur once every 1000 years, and the latest is presently a century overdue.) Like Shirotora, who has Clan Byakko to control it, Makoto's clan once served the same purpose for Asagitatsu - until they vanished for reasons unknown. Asagitatsu is discovered to be the volcano neighbouring the Northern Air Temple that Zuko plans to set up his colony of last resort, and luckily for the would-be settlers, two of Makoto's blood are there to make peace with the long-abandoned volcano. Whether they can succeed, or whether Makoto will allow it, remains to be seen.}}
Tropes associated with Makoto include:
* [[Ascended Extra]]: Sozin's unnamed dragon companion in canon.
* [[Bias Steamroller]]: Against Air Nomads. Avatar Yangchen's death was felt by her clan very ''very'' VERY keenly, unfortunately.
* [[Big Bad Duumvirate]]: With Koh.
* [[Death Faked for You]]/[[Faking the Dead]]: The first by claiming Makoto was killed, starting the tradition of dragon hunting, when in fact Makoto had taken the [[Shapeshifting Lover]] route to become Sozin's wife as Fire Lady Tejina. The latter happened after Sozin's death and the [[Shapeshifter Mode Lock]] on her human form ended - a badly charred human body was found in Tejina's chambers. A positive identification was never made, but everyone assumed Tejina had died. Seeing as how Makoto's still around, it's a good bet that the corpse was really that of a particularly unfortunate palace servant-turned-decoy.
* [[Dragon Lady]]: A literal one.
** [[The Dragon]] to Koh and likely Sozin.
* [[Evil Matriarch]]: Pretty much.
* [[He Who Must Not Be Seen|She Who Must Not Be Seen]]: Has yet to make an appearance in person, despite indications that she should be at least somewhat aware of current events.
** She makes her long-anticipated appearance in ch. 47.
* [[It's Personal]]: Said to be her reaction to a member of Clan Byakko killing her son Azulon. They were already enemies on general principles (all dragons want dark dragons dead).
** {{spoiler|1=[[Fridge Brilliance]]/[[Fridge Horror]]}}: {{spoiler|There is (potentially) another reason she helped instigate the current war - Asagitatsu's guardians were her clan. The Northern Air Temple was built right next door. Dragons are known to prey on sky bison. Did the Air Nomads at some point slaughter the Asagitatsu dragons in order to protect the bison? Did Makoto in turn encourage the genocide of the Air Nomads in part because of the loss of her clan? Was this the event that led to the schism and blood feud between the remmants of Clan Asagitatsu and the other dragons, and had Makoto urging Sozin to hunt all the rest down as revenge for her lost kin?}}
*** {{spoiler|Alternately, that last one could also have occurred to prevent any other dragons from setting up shop on Mount Asagitatsu and pacifying it, taking the volcano's destructive power out of the equation - and given just what Asagitatsu is capable of unleashing, it's easy to see why Makoto and Koh fully intend to keep this ace up their sleeve.}}
*** Alternately again, it's possible that she killed her clan ''herself'' to ensure there was nobody around to hold the volcano back, or that her clan died off due to throwing a high number of dark dragons, which would oblige the other clans to attack them.
*** In Chapter 47, Avatar Yangchen's death brought ruin upon her clan. She actually traded her clan's domain to Wan Shi Tong in exchange for human knowledge.
* [[Mayfly-December Romance]]: She was easily a thousand years older than Sozin when they married, and she's still alive and killing... Somewhere.
* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]
* [[Tough Love]]: She does this to Azula to see if she is worthy of Sozin's and her (Asagitatsu's) line. Azula is ''not'' amused in the least. While Azula may not realize who she is (yet), it is highly doubted now that Azula will ever take her side.
* [[Unholy Matrimony]]: With Sozin.
== Original Characters - Other ==
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* [[An Ice Person]]
* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]
** [[Blessed
** [[Cursed
* [[Expy]]: [[Bleach|Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro]]. And he's [[Shout-Out|even called Little Captain]] by Saoluan.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: To save his surrogate older sister from the Unagi, he prays for more speed, and Tengri made him into the third yaoren.
* [[Katanas Are Just Better]]: [[Double Subverted]]. [[Ancestral Weapon|It was his mother's]], so he holds it dear, despite others deriding it as ill-fitting.
** [[Razor Wind]]: It then turns out to be the traditional blade of Airbenders.
* [[Locked Into Strangeness]]: An encounter with a spirit ended in his hair having a touch of white.
* [[Power Degeneration]]
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=== Asahi ===
A black, female ostritch-horse whom Zuko healed. She has a nasty set of claws and an even worse temper. Previously belonged to '''[[Posthumous Character|Ping]]''', who was first the victim of [[Rape, Pillage and Burn|a Fire Nation raid]], and then, when the repercussions of that [[Child
Tropes associated with Asahi include:
* [[Cool Horse|Cool]] [[Horse of a Different Color|Ostritch-Horse]]
* [[Feathered Fiend]]: 'Damned Bitch Hen' has risen over a bloodied, collective panic at least twice, in the story.
* [[Morality Pet]]: Played with. As effective as she is in getting Zuko on his good side, its usually Zuko that has to keep ''Asahi'' from mauling just about everyone.
* [[Spell My Name
* [[Team Pet]]: to Zuko's company.
=== Xiu ===
A tall silk weaver who hires Zuko to treat her grandmother's headache. Later, when 'Lee' manages to anger the older woman, Xiu thanks him for distracting her grandmother from complaining about her boyfriend. Both she and the aforementioned boyfriend return about 3 arcs later and play important roles as exposition bait and plot boosters, respectively.
Tropes associated with Xiu:
* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]
* [[Statuesque Stunner]]
** [[My Eyes Are Up Here]]: with Zuko, who opens the door to glare at who ever's on the other side. It takes Zuko a second to realize that he's looking at breasts before he looks up, to see a wry look on Xiu's face.
=== Boots ===
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Tropes associated with Boots include:
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Toph named him... Which, given the rest of the Gaang (Sokka in particular), was probably for the best, since spirits tend to reflect how spirits regard him. So, if Sokka sarcastically called him Doom Greeves: The Conquerer, Boots might actually start changing to fit that name...
* [[Team Pet]]
* [[Things That Go Bump in
=== Tao ===
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Tropes associated with Tao include:
* {{spoiler|[[Bias Steamroller]]}}: {{spoiler|Against the Fire Nation, for obvious reasons.}}
* {{spoiler|1=[[Child
* [[Dishing Out Dirt]]: Is an Earthbender in addition to being a shaman.
* [[Old Master]]
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Tao/Dao means 'The Way'.
* {{spoiler|[[My God, What Have I Done?]]}}: {{spoiler|Faces this after attempting to teach a naive Aang about the realities of war and the times they live in, Aang's reaction, and Hakoda having to set Tao straight that Aang really was that sheltered and knew absolutely nothing at all about how [[Humans Are
* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|Really A Hundred-Thirty Years Old]]
* [[Sadly Mythtaken]]: About yaoren.
* [[Who You Gonna Call?]]: To teach the Avatar about sprits?
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Tropes associated with Eshe include:
* [[Action Girl]]
* [[Arranged Marriage]]: Her relationship with Kuei, if he chooses not just her.
* [[Blow You Away]]: [[You Should Know This Already|She's an airbender.]]
** [[Razor Wind]]: We've yet to see her fight, but it's a sure bet she'd be able to do it.
* [[Combat Medic]]
* [[Hot Chick
* [[Gray Eyes]]
* [[Katanas Are Just Better]]: Obviously.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: If this troper didn't know any better, her name sounds like Asia.
** Actually, it sounds like Aisha, Prophet Muhammad's third (and supposedly favorite) wife.
** And by [[Word of God]], it actually means "life" in Ancient Egyptian. Having a spiritually strong queen might just be vital for the survival of Ba Sing Se.
* [[Ninja]]: She and Amisi infiltrate Kuei's hiding place through the air shafts. Bon and Quan don't notice until the girls are ''right there in front of them''.
=== Amisi ===
A female sandbender of the Touzaikaze. She helps Yakume and Lu-shan get Tennen out of a rock-slide {{spoiler|and later, goes with Eshe to meet Kuei. She and Eshe are sent from their tribe to offer alliance with the Earth King}}.
Tropes associated with Amisi include:
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* [[Dishing Out Dirt]]
* [[Ninja]]: She and her cousin infiltrate Kuei's hiding place ''through the air-shafts''. Bon and Quan don't notice until the girls are ''right in front of them''.
* [[Pair the Spares]]: With Bon. Although Kuei ''could'' marry her as well as Eshe, he's noticed that Amisi and Bon are falling in love, and he has no intention of marrying Amisi if it would make her miserable.
** It's a little early to say that there is anything between Eshe's cousin and Kuei's head of Dai Li.
=== Runihura ===
One of the adult male members of the Touzaikaze. He is uncle to Amisi and Eshe.
=== Haqikah ===
One of the male members of the Touzaikaze. He is cousins with Amisi and Eshe.
=== Shih ===
An [[Ninja|ex-Onmitsu]] known as the Demon of Taku who deserted Sozin's forces & was hiding out in the Western Air Temple shortly before Sozin's attack on the air nomads.
* [[Death Seeker]]: Either a case of [[Forgiveness Requires Death]] or he's just a bit [[Heroic Self Depreciation|too]] [[Heroic Sacrifice|selfless]], but Shih's first impulse is to die to save the [[Dying Like Animals|Elder Nuns who hate everything he represents]].
* [[Defector From Decadence]]
* Expy: Of [[Rurouni Kenshin|Kenshin]].
* [[Heel Face Turn]]:
* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: May have been Aang's (and/or Piandao's) father.
=== Gyate ===
An air nun from the time of Sozin.
* Expy: Most likey of [[Rurouni Kenshin|Kaoru Kamiya]].
=== Ja Aku ===
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* [[Ascended Extra]] - He was the one monk during the canon episode "The Storm" who told Aang that because he was the Avatar, it would be unfair for him to play on any team.
* [[Blow You Away]] - Duh.
* [[Gray Eyes]]
* [[Les Collaborateurs]] - With Fire Lord Azulon.
* [[Poisonous Friend]] - "That's the only way it's fair." Chilling. Though, Ja Aku doesn't seem to be very attached to Aang. His fanaticism with keeping airbenders spiritual, however...
* [[Posthumous Character]] - Kuzon was pretty old when he mentioned Ja Aku, so it's safe to say that he may be dead.
* [[Evil Mentor]] - He had something to do with the incident in Shu Jing {{spoiler|where the onmitsu, trained by Ja Aku, whom Aang said himself had trained them, turned on Kuzon and killed him}}.
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A merchant for Byakko under Shidan's orders. She's one of the prisoners that Hama captured. Toph breaks her and the rest of the prisoners out. {{spoiler|With Toph's Earthsense, we learn that she is one of the members of the Yamabushi, the mountain sages living in the Fire Nation.}}
* [[Badass Normal]] - She works for Shidan. Going undercover like that takes guts. Especially when getting captured by Hama.
* [[Blow You Away]] - Averted. {{spoiler|She's an Air Nomad, but not an ''airbender''. She's a descendant of one, perhaps.}}
* [[Genre Savvy]] - The yamabushi know who the Avatar's been travelling with. Hitomi knows that Aang is not yet ready to accept certain truths outside of what he's been taught, so it's best that he finds his own Way before the mountain sages ever make themselves known to him.
* [[Warrior Monk]] - She's part of the yamabushi's order, but she's moonlighting as a spy for Shidan.
* [[No Time to Explain]] - Her fear of Avatar Aang the "Temple child" is palpable, and tells Toph why she can't meet Aang:
{{quote|
"His way?" Toph frowned.
"It's... important," Hitomi said carefully. "When you're old enough to ask questions. And think of your own answers." }}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Embers]]▼
[[Category:Characters]]
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