- “That's all I got. It's pretty much my whole identity. Sokka, the meat and sarcasm guy.”
- ―Sokka to the universe after getting trapped in a small fissure.
Sokka is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel series The Legend of Korra. He is also one of the two tritagonists (alongside Toph Beifong) of the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Jack DeSena in the original series and by Chris Hardwick in the sequel series. In the live-action film adaptation The Last Airbender, he is portrayed by Jackson Rathbone. In the upcoming Netflix live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, he will be portrayed by Ian Ousley.
In the original series, fifteen-year-old Sokka is a warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, a nation where some people are able to telekinetically manipulate, or "bend", water. He, along with his younger sister Katara, discovers an Airbender named Aang, the long-lost Avatar, and accompanies him to defeat the imperialistic Fire Nation and bring peace to the war-torn nations. Unlike his companions, Sokka is a non-bender, but as the show progresses he masters swordplay and proves himself to be a worthy strategist. Being a non-bender, Sokka uses different weapons such as his boomerang and machete; and eventually a jian sword to combat enemies.
Biogrpaphy[]
Sokka was a Water Tribe warrior of the Southern Water Tribe and the son of Chief Hakoda and Kya. Following the death of his mother and his father's departure for war, Sokka was raised by his grandmother Kanna along with his younger sister Katara.
Hakoda left along with all of the other men in his tribe to fight the Fire Nation when Sokka was a young boy. Despite his desire to join his father, Sokka was not permitted to accompany the men on the mission and was left behind. As there were no other teenage boys in the tribe, Sokka was the oldest male in the South Pole and, therefore, left as the leader of the tribe. He assumed responsibility for the tribe, haplessly training children to be future warriors until his sister discovered an Air Nomad named Aang frozen in an iceberg. When he learned that Aang was the Avatar, he was at first skeptical that a child could really save the world. As he and his sister helped Aang on his quest, he began to believe that Aang really was the only hope for peace in the world.
Despite his inability to bend, Sokka became the strategist of the group, constantly trying to prove himself to be a great warrior like his father. He attempted to train the younger children of the Southern Water Tribe in fighting. Sokka was also the "matter of fact" guy in the group and did not believe in spirit magic, as he openly mocked it. His leadership skills improved during his travels with the Avatar, culminating with his masterminding the plan for the invasion of the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun. His humor and his ability to organize and plan became imperative to the group on their travels. By the conclusion of the Hundred Year War, Sokka became a master swordsman and a great warrior like his father.
After Aang and Zuko formed the United Republic of Nations, Sokka became the representative for the Southern Water Tribe on the United Republic Council, as well as its chairman.
Personality[]
According to his sister Katara, Sokka was initially skeptical, abrasive, sexist and immature but was always sharp-witted. Incapable of bending abilities himself, Sokka instead pursues martial arts, sciences, and engineering. He is intelligent, resourceful and at times he even proves to be quite scholarly. However, he is often clumsy and sometimes mistaken. Despite his flaws, he is loving, brotherly, and protective. He holds little interest in the mysticism of bending and prefers to rely on his strength and wits. He tends to be rash, and his arrogance often leads to embarrassment, as during a haiku contest when, in his last verse of his song, he included too many syllables. Even though Sokka finds himself victim to embarrassment, he has the capability to apologize and seek resolution to avoid preceding moments of embarrassment from recurring. This capability is evident from his sincere apology to the Kyoshi Warriors for his chauvinistic opinions in the fourth episode of Book One.
As an advocate of human carnivorism, Sokka is the main hunter in the group; often makes dry-witted jokes or abrasive remarks; and accordingly once describes himself as "the meat and sarcasm guy".
Under the guidance of swordsmaster Piandao, Sokka displays various unorthodox procedures when undergoing his training; such that Piandao relates that though Sokka's skills were unimpressive, he displayed much creativity, versatility, and intelligence. As a rule, most or all of the foregoing characteristics appear as sources of comic relief.
After the failure of his Fire Nation invasion plan, Sokka attempted to restore his honor by risking his life in order to rescue his father from a highly secure prison known as 'the Boiling Rock'.
Behind the scenes[]
- Aside from Katara's opening narration, Sokka is the first character to speak in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
- Sokka's sarcasm is also referred to as "Sok-casm".
- Both of Sokka's known romantic partners have names that mean "moon", as "Yue" and "Suki" (as the anglicized version of "Tsuki") both refer to the moon in Chinese and Japanese, respectively. Furthermore, both Suki and Yue are written as "月" in Japanese and Mandarin, respectively.
- Sokka was portrayed by Jackson Rathbone in the film adaptation, The Last Airbender. His portrayal earned him the Golden Raspberry award for the "Worst Supporting Actor" of 2010.
- Sokka's favorite pastime was shopping, followed by developing plans.
- Sokka means "loverboy" in Zulu, which fits his character well.
- Sokka was an active sleeper, meaning that he tossed and turned at night.
- Sokka was seen or mentioned in every episode of the original series except "Zuko Alone".
- Sokka's outfit for The Promise was meant to appear similar to Hakoda's character design in order to symbolize their bond.
- Sokka stated that he was unable to steer the pirate ship as it was not a Water Tribe vessel. This suggests that he was knowledgeable in operating Water Tribe ships.
- Sokka gained forging skills when he made his own sword in a forge. He later made a suit of armor that fit Appa perfectly.
- Sokka is one of only two people, aside from the Avatars themselves, to have seen four Avatars in their lifetime, the other being Katara. He saw Roku and Kyoshi manifest themselves through Aang, knew Aang, and helped to save Avatar Korra from the Red Lotus when she was five.
- After LEGO released a Sokka minifigure in one of their product sets, the company's official site stated that Sokka's boomerang came from his father, Hakoda.
- Sokka and Katara were created at the same time. The creators of the show liked the idea of a sibling rivalry, inspired by the fact that the two both had sisters. They were also attracted to the idea of the sister being a bender, while the brother was not.
- Sokka was conceived as a thirteen-year-old, but after a suggestion from Eric Coleman, he was "aged up".
- Sokka had an alter-ego named "Wang Fire", which he used while hiding in the Fire Nation.
- Sometime after the conclusion of the Hundred Year War, Sokka worked at a grocery store.
- Sokka was twice mistaken for the Avatar, the first time in the comic "Sokka the Avatar" and the second in the episode "The Earth King".
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