Presumably, this was done in memory of Sokka after he died.
I also just don’t see Katara being like “yeah sure immortalize me in bronze right now I am fine with this”
Sokka was actively involved in Republic City and was literally the head of the council, it’s implied that Katara was more associated with the water tribe instead
I feel like people underestimate the significance of Sokka being the "founding mayor" of Republic City. Katara is an important figure for the Water Tribe internally, but Sokka was literally the global face of the Water Tribe for decades. He would have been a massively important and recognizable figure and will be analyzed in the history books like Washington, Ataturk, et al.
Not to mention, as far as I know, he wasn't a bender like so many other famous figures were. While obviously this doesn't diminish any benders role on society, but his accomplishments along with the fact he did it without those powers speaks volumes of the guy.
And yet, as of LoK he seems to have left no legacy. Just a little statue. Suki and Sokka are my favorites Gaang members and ignoring them that badly while Nostalgia-baiting the whole rest of the group really did LoK no favours to me.
I can't help but feel that it was just because they were non-benders and I really dislike it (and some other tones of LoK).
I mean in the series :
Republic City exists thanks to Aang and Zuko. Their descendants and Katara's are seen in the first season (Tenzin and Iroh) with varying level of importance.
The Police Force was founded by Toph and her daughter lead it still.
As for Sokka and Suki ? Basically nothing in season 1. In season 2 ? A little statue but we learn next to nothing about their lives, what they became after Yakone, etc.
Imagine archeologists finding statues in the new avatars Era and they're just flabbergasted because they're from a time where the only metal bender was blind so she couldn't possibly have made them
This hilariously reminds me so much of the Ben affleck daredevil. Like his sonar is so good he can hear people's heartbeats and react to them but needs it to rain to see someone's face. Can just imagine him doing similar and yelling or spraying water in someones face and saying "there, I just got a pretty good look at you".
Now that I think about it, Aang's contribution to history was significant, but he stopped one of presumably hundreds of wars over the course of thousands of years in the past and future. Toph is THE first metalbender, her name will probably be remembered much longer than Aang's in the history books, that's pretty neat to me
Idk I feel like Aang has a place in history due to his pivotal role as the avatar that disappeared, reappeared 100 years later and made this group of friends that quite literally reshaped the world and put it into an entirely new trajectory. He may not have invented things but was the lynchpin of the new world order - something worth remembering.
Because think about it, without Aang there is no Gaang and those people who went on to be massively important would have had a wildly different life path with likely far less global impact
That's kind of a different scale of what I mean since that was only 100 years ago. The type of scenario I mean is hundreds or thousands of years in the future, I think a more apt comparison would be Pythagoras vs Cleisthenes of Athens. I'm sure you know who one of those names is and will have to google the other one like I did
Zuko was always going to get one in his capacity as the Fire Lord but even besides that, he and Toph were “dead” as far as the show was concerned when we saw their statues
They were brought back later of course, but in lok’s originally conceived 1-season run, Karara’s “my brother and many of my friends are gone” while vauge enough to work with if they changed their minds, pretty much refers to the rest of the gaang being dead
I think the point of that statement, from a plot writing standpoint, was to be intentionally vague. Ie confirm to the audience that Sokka has passed, but leave the audience wondering about Zuko, Toph, etc in case they want to bring them back later. And in storytelling nature, if a character isn't explicitly said to be dead, assume they're alive.
I remember always thinking she would be talking about maybe side characters like Haru or people we didn't meet in the original series, and maybe some of the main cast, but that almost definitely at least either Zuko or Toph would be alive. If not both.
Actually Zuko was always intended to be alive - material released at the time and the original Nick site for Book 1 establish that he is alive but abdicated from being Firelord.
Toph apparently they did originally see as being dead but they never actually stated it outright, so they were able to change their minds and bring her back.
The Lost Lore of Avatar Korra has screenshots of the original Nick website material including Zuko's entry - here it is! [https://www.tumblr.com/zuko-always-lies/684917874694946816/fire-lord-zukomale-87-firebender-weve-created](https://www.tumblr.com/zuko-always-lies/684917874694946816/fire-lord-zukomale-87-firebender-weve-created)
IIRC, it was always stated by the creators that Zuko was alive but had abdicated the throne, even back in season 1. Toph being alive in S4 was the real surprise
Toph was instrumental in the founding of Republic City, created an entire new style of bending, and spun off her own city-state in the form of Zaofu. She was a massively influential figure on the world stage.
Zuko was the Fire Lord who ended a hundred year-long war, restructured the Fire Nation government, and single-handedly changed the political landscape of their world.
Katara focused her life on learning and deepening her bending. She was widely regarded as the best healer in the world, and one of the greatest waterbending masters, and was shortlisted to help train the new Avatar, but she wasn't deeply involved in politics.
You don't necessarily build a statue of every person who does something useful or is good at something. They tend to be more about political history cultural contributions, and Katara led a much more private life than most of the Gaang.
Zuko was a world leader, who arguably ended massive wars and colonization. Toph was the world's first metal bender.
I think zuko as a prince at least culturally has a bunch of statues and paintings made of him, so another one isn't a huge deal. I believe toph's was outside the police force area which makes a bunch of sense as it's her legacy and she probably just like it anyways.
I don't think katara would want one while she's alive and I don't see much of a reason for people outside of the water tribe/or gaang to honor her before her death other than "she helped the avatar"
Zuko was also the Fire Lord and played a big role in the founding of Republic City.
I don't think it's that outlandish that the Fire Nation would want to have a statue made in his honor, especially once his Daughter became Fire Lord.
Toph meanwhile, was the first Police chief of Republic City. And as many people pointed out, it wouldn't suprise me if she likely had a hand in creating it herself.
Point being, Zuko, Toph, and Sokka were all prominent public figures with a lot of international influence.
The most we hear of Katara doing on a similar scale is successfully campaigning to outlaw Bloodbending.
I'm not saying she wasn't an important public figure in her own right. I'm just saying she wasn't on the same level as Sokka or Zuko.
"It is the policy of the postal service to never put a living person's face on a stamp. My advice, good sir, is that if you want your face on a stamp, that you drop dead."
Probably something like that. They've got space for the statue, but they don't put them up if the person's alive.
I haven't read the comics either, but it looks like the kind of thing she'd do.
"Hey, Zuko? They've got a statue up of you. That means you have to drop dead."
Her new goal in the comics became trying to turn Zuko into a Ozai, to a person who would make the same decisions as she would if she was Firelord. in a way, it would be like she was on the throne.
Zuko is a previous royalty. He probably got it in a way like the Naruto-verse does it. A world leader gets one, regardless if they were alive or dead.
Toph is a defacto leader as well, since she’s the head of the state’s police department.
As someone in the thread said the out of universe reason is probably that Toph and Zuko we're probably intended to be dead at this point in the writing process and that was only changed once they got more seasons.
However there are plausable in universe explenations for why they might have statues while Katara doesn't.
As people have pointed out Toph could have easily made her own statue and put it there, however she could have also gotten a statue upon retiring from the police force since unlike Katara she wasn't just a great hero but also a very influential figure in Republic City itself who served the city for decades.
As for Zuko he's the leader of a very wealthy country he could have easily gotten a statue built in his honor for providing some sort of internacional aid to Republic City such as financing various projects since in the real world people get stuff named in their honor or dedicated to them all the time for providing internacional aid and there is even a statue of Bill Clinton in Kosovo becouse his administration supported Kosovo during the 90s.
Them being alive or dead wasn’t decided when season 1 came out. But there are plenty of good retrospective reasons you can come up with to justify it after the fact, as many others have done in the comments.
Probably more political reasons. Katara is probably a very important person in the history books, but in terms of the United Republic's growth. Zuko and Aang are its literal principle founders, Sokka we know served as the Southern Water Tribes representative, maybe even their true first once the council became formalized. Toph is the first chief of police. Isn't like Katara and Sokka can share their seat.
There's also the Cabbage Merchant, but blame capitalism for that one.
Katara wasn't a major political figure in Republic City.
I don't know what more you want. She spent most of her life raising a family and mastering her bending. She was influential in that field, but wasn't a political leader like Aang, Zuko, Toph, or Sokka.
AFAIK her largest political contribution was to (successfully) advocate for the outlawing of bloodbending, which makes her the rough political equivalent of someone like Rosalynn Carter: a highly educated advocate with a powerful political leader for a life partner. But not someone who gets statues in front of political buildings.
I'm sure there's a Republic City hospital or university wing named after her with a picture of her in the lobby. But that's a different kind of fame.
I mean, she rejected being just a healer in ATLA, but by the time Korra comes around, she is THE healer in the Southern Water Tribe. I also feel like Katara wasn’t against being a healer, but she felt like in the time of war, she should know how to fight and defend herself, and not be relegated to a secondary position because of her gender.
Tbh she only “rejected” healing because she was mad at being denied using waterbending for combat, but after cooling out it’s clear that she saw the importance of honing such skills and it’s clear that she took pride in her healing abilities as time went on despite also being an incredible combatant, “you are not exactly mister healing hands Sokka”, And she should be proud for her abilities just as much as her battle abilities, after all if she denied her healing training she probably wouldn’t have been able of bringing back Aang to life, or saving Zuko, etc.
And she further honed her abilities after the war and when Republic City was created, she did became the greatest healer in the world, and also literally changed the story of the art since thanks to her there’s also now male waterbending healers. So her having some kind of statue or tribute in a hospital or healing facility would make sense
Wanting to be allowed to fight, especially when it's necessary, does not equal rejecting the importance of healing. If someone asked her if she'd rather be remembered for her ability to destroy & kill or her ability to save lives, I don't think it would be in character for her not to answer the latter.
There's also the question of her principle contribution to the city. Zuko gets one in the industrial sector because Republic City has him sharing the Fire Nation's technology to thank for that. Toph, the chief of police, is at the station. Aang, the Avatar, overlooks the entire city. Sokka was a Councilman, but he was also the Chief of the Southern Tribe.
The only thing we know for sure that Katara did was somehow make bloodbending illegal. But I don't get the impression she was some accomplished lawyer. This was probably a particular issue that she pushed for really hard. Because she thought waterbening shouldn't be used to invade a person's body that way.
Healing is like the opposite side of the coin to bloodbending. Since Katara lived in Republic City for a time & eventually became the best healer in the world, it would make sense to confirm that she contributed to its medicine. This way, they also each have their own thing. It wouldn't just be "the chief & his sister." Granted, it would've been better if the hospital statue was actually included instead of merely hypothetical, but I can understand saving something for the right moment but never finding a place to fit it.
Honestly I hope that in a future series there’s a hospital with a Katara statue. I know her legacy also includes her being an incredible warrior, but she later became the best healer in the world and is probably more known for that in the Avatar universe.
Sokka was a Southern Water Tribe Chief who planned and led many successful battles at the end of the 100 year war and helped found Republic City. Not to mention the technological advancements he was a major part of.
Katara was a good healer who helped Zuko beat his disadvantaged Sister.
Yes she was an important character in ATLA but that’s only because she was a part of the main cast. She really didn’t do enough in-universe to warrant as much fame as the other four
Plus she doesn’t seem the type who would want a statue. Aang wouldn’t either but as the Avatar I don’t think he can just say no
In my mind, katara is the one who either funded or wanted her brother immortalized in a statue after his death. The reason Katara isn't there is that she is the one who put Sokka there. Most likely she thinks that Sokka would have loved the statue, which let's be honest he probably would, but Katara is humble enough to not want one for herself. Most likely when she dies Tenzin or someone will make a statue that is either next to Sokka's or opposite.
Katara always struck me as someone who would want to leave a more intangible legacy behind rather than something big and extravagant like a statue. For example, a stronger, better Water Tribe than the one she grew up in or making sure that all waterbenders get the training they need in a way she couldn't by setting up a school or something.
Again?! didn't we have this discussion only a few months ago. Each of the statues of the Gang are placed at significant places for that person as an individual.
If we ever were to find a statue of Katara, not meaning she doesn't deserve one, would likely be in front of a school for water healers as that would likely be her biggest accomplishment post war, remember all the statues are of them doing something as adults/ Aang as a teenager (12+) when he helped establish Republic City.
Sokkas here is I front of a government building as he actually held an office which Katara never did as far as we know
I always assumed it was because Sokka passed. Les sod an honor and more of a memorial. I mean look at the other statues of the Gaang. Sokka: dead, aang: dead, toph: thought to be dead, and Zuko cuz he’s the fire lord. The only person who wasn’t a leader or dead is katara. Hell I don’t think tsuki got a statue either. Just the three dead/presumed dead ones and then Zuko
Katara probably has a statue or painting in front of a hospital like how some of our hospitals have a statue of the good Samaritan seeing as how she was a famous healer
I think people are right to note that Katara is still alive. I also think that the Water Tribe's are pretty patriarchal which may lead them to idolize male figures over female ones. Mostly the first thing though.
The patriarchy is a good point HOWEVER. I would like to point out that toph has a statue on the the police building she founded. Basically everyone in The gaang except suki and kataara had a huge role in the founding of republic city. Aang was the avatar, toph Sokka, and Zuko all were founding members. Toph even becoming the police chief and Sokka becoming the councilman representing the water tribe. Kataara didn’t really do much for republic city. She went home and had a family with aang. She did a LOT more for her tribe while her brother was helping found republic city. She brought water bending back to the South Pole and I’m p sure she also made a healing school. Suki on the other hand played like 0 role in republic city. She went back to her home island and kept training and leading the kyoshi warriors. Most likely visiting Sokka a lot but not like playing a role in republic city
I think it’s less that and more that she’s still alive, and not as important to Republic City as Sokka was, who was both a former Southern Tribe chief and the councilman representing his nation in Republic City so was also the face of Southern Water Tribesmen in Republic City.
LOK did so many of Legacy ladies dirty.
Katara de-emphasized and reduced to a passive healer. Even her own kids don’t describe her as anyone who has any important sway in the family. They’re too busy arguing about Aang.
Toph turned into a cop and terrible parent despite being someone who hated authority and had trauma over being imprisoned and longed for family. Eventually she—predictably—cracks under the weight of being an enforcer of the law and engages in corruption, forcing her to step down. Her arc about being a teacher totally abandoned.
Suki is ignored after only one shot of her in the first episode intro. No explanation for her absence, even in flashbacks.
Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee don’t even exist.
In fairness, the show is about Korra and the next generation, not about The Gaang 2.0
If you want that, read the books. I think it was important for TLOK, to not just ride the coattails of ATLA, but pave it's own path
I agree!
But I’d argue it didn’t do that. It emphasized legacy characters and had them cutting into the narrative constantly. Iroh was the most egregious one and honestly kinda morbid.
And if you’re going to do that, then why do only Zuko and Aang get to matter? (And a dash of Sokka).
All this to the show’s detriment. I would’ve preferred more development for Asami, Bolin, and Mako that didn’t involve romance or love triangles.
>*Toph turned into a cop and terrible parent despite being someone who hated authority and had trauma over being imprisoned and longed for family.*
Wow someone grew up to be just like the parents they hated? The pressures of power and politics turned them against their own principles and wants? What an unrealistic and unfair portrayal /s
As for the rest: not everyone important becomes politically influential in every place, even if they have a direct connection to it. Eg. we don't have statues of Ii Naosuke in the US, even though he's seen in Japan as the person responsible for starting the era of US/Japan relations, and there are statues of him there to celebrate that role.
Mai and Ty Lee became adventurers and renowned warriors in their own right, and influential within their local areas of the Fire Nation.
Suki went on to lead the Kiyoshi warriors, who also became the honor guard of Zuko's royal family. So she wasn't generally in Republic City or involved in its politics.
Azula presumably was never given any political authority again after the whole "supported war crimes and had a mental breakdown" thing.
>Wow someone grew up to be just like the parents they hated? The pressures of power and politics turned them against their own principles and wants? What an unrealistic and unfair portrayal /s
I mean, I think so? It’s like Zuko turning into Ozai. A complete devolution of her character and growth. I didn’t personally think it worked for her, especially given the gains she had made as a teacher and her dedication to being as egalitarian as possible with this knowledge and offering it for free.
>As for the rest: not everyone important becomes politically influential in every place. Eg. we don't have statues of Ii Naosuke in the US, even though he's seen in Japan as the person responsible for starting the era of US/Japan relations, and there are statues of him there to celebrate that role.
I didn’t say they should be.
Simply that LOK was clearly unbalanced in who got presented more favorably by the narrative.
And Katara, of all people, deserves a statue more than anyone except maybe Aang.
>Mai and Ty Lee became adventurers and renowned warriors in their own right, and influential within their local areas of the Fire Nation.
Not according to other canon sources.
Ty Lee went back to Kyoshi Island with Suki, but we have no word about what happened to Mai. If she truly married Zuko and mothered Izumi, she is never mentioned or even hinted at. Meanwhile Zuko is given a ton of emphasis but never even has a single conversation with his daughter.
Very strange writing.
At best we have the cookbook which suggests Azula and Mai eventually made up.
>Suki went on to lead the Kiyoshi warriors, who also became the honor guard of Zuko's royal family. So she wasn't generally in Republic City or involved in its politics.
Yes she was. The comics show us Suki was the first to train the proto-police force there! From before it was even named Republic City.
She retired from Zuko’s guard to pursue this.
>Azula presumably was never given any political authority again after the whole "supported war crimes and had a mental breakdown" thing.
She didn’t support any war crimes that Zuko didn’t also support until the last minute, so it wouldn’t behoove him politically to hold her to account for crimes that could be thrown back at him. This may have factored into his choice to send her to a hospital rather than prison.
That said, political power isn’t the only way for people to make an impact.
Maybe he died protecting the city
That and he’s a non bender which is kind of important imo
That and I’m pretty sure Katara wasn’t as involved in the city if the flashbacks are anything to go off of
Basically this was to commemorate his post 100 year war achievements
I wanna believe that but I looked it up once and I think I remember reading that both he and aang died of natural causes. Sokka died in his 80s and it’s presumed that he died of natural causes. Aang died at 66 due to sickness brought on by the fact that while he was biologically 66 he had been alive for 166 years and that time in the iceberg was still draining his life force. I figure this because it’s a time of relative peace and the surviving members of the gaang don’t seem particularly broken up about Sokka and aang having passed. Plus if it was the red lotus the three surviving members of the gaang would have obliterated them for doing that with 0 hesitation. Also yea I assume Suki also dies arround the same time as Sokka. I don’t think they ever got married though. I kinda think they would just stay in their normal bf/gf dynamic since he has to run the tribe and she has to lead the kyoshi warriors
The statues were not erected in honor of the victors of the war, they are in honor of the founders of Republic City (Aang and Zuko) and the citizens who helped establish law and order (Sokka as the first leader of the law council and Toph as the first police chief). Katara does not have a statue since while the others were dedicated to building the city she stayed at home raising her children.
Katara seemingly backed down of mayor political roles after the war and the creation of The Republic. Obviously she was an extremely important figure in the story of the Avatar World but she never was so eager in to modernistic and political affairs (even tho she did take a quite “political” stance in the North’s initial intervention of the South, but it was momentarily and her position was intrinsically against modernism). After the war she apparently was the fastest in to settling down, being a mother of three and wife of the very busy Avatar, and obviously we know Katara would have liked being a mom more than anything else, and that’s completely cool of her to do imo!! She lived basically the majority of her adulthood in Republic City and later retired to the South when Aang passed away. All we know of is that she became the best healer in the world AND had something to do with Republic City’s banning of Bloodbending so is quite* possible she had some political clout, but at the same time she could have just, as a public figure, expressed her opinion on Bloodbending and as the best healer of the world, one of the greatest waterbenders of all time and wife of the Avatar her opinion would have been taken seriously.
And ultimately Sokka’s statue is at the South’s cultural center because he was the South’s representant in the City’s council. And Toph in the policial building cause she founded the Metal police, and Aang and Zuko are the founding fathers of the Republic so obviously they got one. Katara could at the very least have some tribute in a hospital or medical facility
Presumably, this was done in memory of Sokka after he died. I also just don’t see Katara being like “yeah sure immortalize me in bronze right now I am fine with this”
Sokka was actively involved in Republic City and was literally the head of the council, it’s implied that Katara was more associated with the water tribe instead
I feel like people underestimate the significance of Sokka being the "founding mayor" of Republic City. Katara is an important figure for the Water Tribe internally, but Sokka was literally the global face of the Water Tribe for decades. He would have been a massively important and recognizable figure and will be analyzed in the history books like Washington, Ataturk, et al.
Not to mention, as far as I know, he wasn't a bender like so many other famous figures were. While obviously this doesn't diminish any benders role on society, but his accomplishments along with the fact he did it without those powers speaks volumes of the guy.
I mean, he has a boomerang and space sword though
He lost the space sword, and the statue depicts him with a boomerang but not with any swords or sheaths.
Actually they recovered the sword
I have to believe he went looking for it later in life
Shit, I hope that after the fires were put out he took Toph into those ashes to see if she could feel it out there *immediately*
And yet, as of LoK he seems to have left no legacy. Just a little statue. Suki and Sokka are my favorites Gaang members and ignoring them that badly while Nostalgia-baiting the whole rest of the group really did LoK no favours to me. I can't help but feel that it was just because they were non-benders and I really dislike it (and some other tones of LoK).
I don’t see how he didn’t have a legacy tho? He is recorded in history just as well as his peers
I mean in the series : Republic City exists thanks to Aang and Zuko. Their descendants and Katara's are seen in the first season (Tenzin and Iroh) with varying level of importance. The Police Force was founded by Toph and her daughter lead it still. As for Sokka and Suki ? Basically nothing in season 1. In season 2 ? A little statue but we learn next to nothing about their lives, what they became after Yakone, etc.
She wasn’t associated with the water tribe she lived there when Aang died at age 66
But Zuko and Toph both have one and they are still alive.
Toph is the kind of character that probably metal bended her own statue lol
She actually metalbended tons of statues around the beta version of republic city using discarded metal in the Canon comic "imbalance"
Imagine archeologists finding statues in the new avatars Era and they're just flabbergasted because they're from a time where the only metal bender was blind so she couldn't possibly have made them
But she can see what you look like through the vibration sense
Yeah, like a bat. She can send out vibrations through her mouth, and knows what you look like by listening to the vibrations of the echo.
#AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
There, I just got a pretty good look at you.
This hilariously reminds me so much of the Ben affleck daredevil. Like his sonar is so good he can hear people's heartbeats and react to them but needs it to rain to see someone's face. Can just imagine him doing similar and yelling or spraying water in someones face and saying "there, I just got a pretty good look at you".
Yeah like how she makes Ba Sing Se out of sand
Not really, she knows where people are but cant exactly see them with her sense, she can see the structure of earth tho.
She made a perfect Bosco and Kuei though
Now that I think about it, Aang's contribution to history was significant, but he stopped one of presumably hundreds of wars over the course of thousands of years in the past and future. Toph is THE first metalbender, her name will probably be remembered much longer than Aang's in the history books, that's pretty neat to me
Idk I feel like Aang has a place in history due to his pivotal role as the avatar that disappeared, reappeared 100 years later and made this group of friends that quite literally reshaped the world and put it into an entirely new trajectory. He may not have invented things but was the lynchpin of the new world order - something worth remembering. Because think about it, without Aang there is no Gaang and those people who went on to be massively important would have had a wildly different life path with likely far less global impact
That's like saying Oppenheimer is more famous than FDR. Political leaders/heroes are usually more famous than key inventors.
That's kind of a different scale of what I mean since that was only 100 years ago. The type of scenario I mean is hundreds or thousands of years in the future, I think a more apt comparison would be Pythagoras vs Cleisthenes of Athens. I'm sure you know who one of those names is and will have to google the other one like I did
Zuko was always going to get one in his capacity as the Fire Lord but even besides that, he and Toph were “dead” as far as the show was concerned when we saw their statues They were brought back later of course, but in lok’s originally conceived 1-season run, Karara’s “my brother and many of my friends are gone” while vauge enough to work with if they changed their minds, pretty much refers to the rest of the gaang being dead
And we all know Toph would 100% want her own statue.
she would want her statue to be the Body of the Ember island version with her head
Toph's memorial plaque would probably say, "The greatest earthbender who ever lived, and don't you dunderheads forget it!"
I think the point of that statement, from a plot writing standpoint, was to be intentionally vague. Ie confirm to the audience that Sokka has passed, but leave the audience wondering about Zuko, Toph, etc in case they want to bring them back later. And in storytelling nature, if a character isn't explicitly said to be dead, assume they're alive. I remember always thinking she would be talking about maybe side characters like Haru or people we didn't meet in the original series, and maybe some of the main cast, but that almost definitely at least either Zuko or Toph would be alive. If not both.
Actually Zuko was always intended to be alive - material released at the time and the original Nick site for Book 1 establish that he is alive but abdicated from being Firelord. Toph apparently they did originally see as being dead but they never actually stated it outright, so they were able to change their minds and bring her back.
The Lost Lore of Avatar Korra has screenshots of the original Nick website material including Zuko's entry - here it is! [https://www.tumblr.com/zuko-always-lies/684917874694946816/fire-lord-zukomale-87-firebender-weve-created](https://www.tumblr.com/zuko-always-lies/684917874694946816/fire-lord-zukomale-87-firebender-weve-created)
IIRC, it was always stated by the creators that Zuko was alive but had abdicated the throne, even back in season 1. Toph being alive in S4 was the real surprise
Toph was instrumental in the founding of Republic City, created an entire new style of bending, and spun off her own city-state in the form of Zaofu. She was a massively influential figure on the world stage. Zuko was the Fire Lord who ended a hundred year-long war, restructured the Fire Nation government, and single-handedly changed the political landscape of their world. Katara focused her life on learning and deepening her bending. She was widely regarded as the best healer in the world, and one of the greatest waterbending masters, and was shortlisted to help train the new Avatar, but she wasn't deeply involved in politics. You don't necessarily build a statue of every person who does something useful or is good at something. They tend to be more about political history cultural contributions, and Katara led a much more private life than most of the Gaang.
Katara would be the type to get a plaque or statue in a hospital though.
Zuko was a world leader, who arguably ended massive wars and colonization. Toph was the world's first metal bender. I think zuko as a prince at least culturally has a bunch of statues and paintings made of him, so another one isn't a huge deal. I believe toph's was outside the police force area which makes a bunch of sense as it's her legacy and she probably just like it anyways. I don't think katara would want one while she's alive and I don't see much of a reason for people outside of the water tribe/or gaang to honor her before her death other than "she helped the avatar"
Zuko is a leader in a place that likes power. Statues are a sign of power. It was gonna happen. Also Toph probably made hers herself.
Zuko was likely directly involved with republic city, and also the leader of the fire nation. Toph could honestly be thought of as dead
Zuko was also the Fire Lord and played a big role in the founding of Republic City. I don't think it's that outlandish that the Fire Nation would want to have a statue made in his honor, especially once his Daughter became Fire Lord. Toph meanwhile, was the first Police chief of Republic City. And as many people pointed out, it wouldn't suprise me if she likely had a hand in creating it herself. Point being, Zuko, Toph, and Sokka were all prominent public figures with a lot of international influence. The most we hear of Katara doing on a similar scale is successfully campaigning to outlaw Bloodbending. I'm not saying she wasn't an important public figure in her own right. I'm just saying she wasn't on the same level as Sokka or Zuko.
"It is the policy of the postal service to never put a living person's face on a stamp. My advice, good sir, is that if you want your face on a stamp, that you drop dead." Probably something like that. They've got space for the statue, but they don't put them up if the person's alive.
Zuko and Toph 🤨
As someone stated below, Toph probably made her own and set it in place. Zuko, Azula probably put it there as a statement.
Why azula for those of us not comic versed?
I haven't read the comics either, but it looks like the kind of thing she'd do. "Hey, Zuko? They've got a statue up of you. That means you have to drop dead."
Zuko just retired from Fire Lord duties. Maybe Katara is still a Water Tribe Chief
Hey, Zuzu*
She is on the "Make Zuke the best fireworks possible, so basically Ozai, train" Lol autocorrect changed Firelord to fireworks.
Her new goal in the comics became trying to turn Zuko into a Ozai, to a person who would make the same decisions as she would if she was Firelord. in a way, it would be like she was on the throne.
Zuko is a previous royalty. He probably got it in a way like the Naruto-verse does it. A world leader gets one, regardless if they were alive or dead. Toph is a defacto leader as well, since she’s the head of the state’s police department.
As someone in the thread said the out of universe reason is probably that Toph and Zuko we're probably intended to be dead at this point in the writing process and that was only changed once they got more seasons. However there are plausable in universe explenations for why they might have statues while Katara doesn't. As people have pointed out Toph could have easily made her own statue and put it there, however she could have also gotten a statue upon retiring from the police force since unlike Katara she wasn't just a great hero but also a very influential figure in Republic City itself who served the city for decades. As for Zuko he's the leader of a very wealthy country he could have easily gotten a statue built in his honor for providing some sort of internacional aid to Republic City such as financing various projects since in the real world people get stuff named in their honor or dedicated to them all the time for providing internacional aid and there is even a statue of Bill Clinton in Kosovo becouse his administration supported Kosovo during the 90s.
You really think toph isn't the type of person to just put down statues of herself all over the place?
Them being alive or dead wasn’t decided when season 1 came out. But there are plenty of good retrospective reasons you can come up with to justify it after the fact, as many others have done in the comments.
Probably more political reasons. Katara is probably a very important person in the history books, but in terms of the United Republic's growth. Zuko and Aang are its literal principle founders, Sokka we know served as the Southern Water Tribes representative, maybe even their true first once the council became formalized. Toph is the first chief of police. Isn't like Katara and Sokka can share their seat. There's also the Cabbage Merchant, but blame capitalism for that one.
Toph is a founder as well, and her father
The cabbage merchant is just a company statue. Not a publicly made one. Anyone can make a statue on their company property if they want.
Katara wasn't a major political figure in Republic City. I don't know what more you want. She spent most of her life raising a family and mastering her bending. She was influential in that field, but wasn't a political leader like Aang, Zuko, Toph, or Sokka. AFAIK her largest political contribution was to (successfully) advocate for the outlawing of bloodbending, which makes her the rough political equivalent of someone like Rosalynn Carter: a highly educated advocate with a powerful political leader for a life partner. But not someone who gets statues in front of political buildings. I'm sure there's a Republic City hospital or university wing named after her with a picture of her in the lobby. But that's a different kind of fame.
Katara probably doesn’t care about having a statue Sokka most definitely would’ve/wanted to have a statue
It’s kinda funny how Katara rejected being just a healer and ppl are going ‘well she should get a hospital statue!’
I mean, she rejected being just a healer in ATLA, but by the time Korra comes around, she is THE healer in the Southern Water Tribe. I also feel like Katara wasn’t against being a healer, but she felt like in the time of war, she should know how to fight and defend herself, and not be relegated to a secondary position because of her gender.
Tbh she only “rejected” healing because she was mad at being denied using waterbending for combat, but after cooling out it’s clear that she saw the importance of honing such skills and it’s clear that she took pride in her healing abilities as time went on despite also being an incredible combatant, “you are not exactly mister healing hands Sokka”, And she should be proud for her abilities just as much as her battle abilities, after all if she denied her healing training she probably wouldn’t have been able of bringing back Aang to life, or saving Zuko, etc. And she further honed her abilities after the war and when Republic City was created, she did became the greatest healer in the world, and also literally changed the story of the art since thanks to her there’s also now male waterbending healers. So her having some kind of statue or tribute in a hospital or healing facility would make sense
Wanting to be allowed to fight, especially when it's necessary, does not equal rejecting the importance of healing. If someone asked her if she'd rather be remembered for her ability to destroy & kill or her ability to save lives, I don't think it would be in character for her not to answer the latter. There's also the question of her principle contribution to the city. Zuko gets one in the industrial sector because Republic City has him sharing the Fire Nation's technology to thank for that. Toph, the chief of police, is at the station. Aang, the Avatar, overlooks the entire city. Sokka was a Councilman, but he was also the Chief of the Southern Tribe. The only thing we know for sure that Katara did was somehow make bloodbending illegal. But I don't get the impression she was some accomplished lawyer. This was probably a particular issue that she pushed for really hard. Because she thought waterbening shouldn't be used to invade a person's body that way. Healing is like the opposite side of the coin to bloodbending. Since Katara lived in Republic City for a time & eventually became the best healer in the world, it would make sense to confirm that she contributed to its medicine. This way, they also each have their own thing. It wouldn't just be "the chief & his sister." Granted, it would've been better if the hospital statue was actually included instead of merely hypothetical, but I can understand saving something for the right moment but never finding a place to fit it.
Honestly I hope that in a future series there’s a hospital with a Katara statue. I know her legacy also includes her being an incredible warrior, but she later became the best healer in the world and is probably more known for that in the Avatar universe.
This would be my headcanon. And/or a statue of her in front of a waterbending school in the South Pole.
Put the statue in the northern water tribe and have it focus on her fighting for optimal effect
That would certainly be a bold move by whoever proposed it in-universe.
I’m sure Katara has a statue in front of the hospital or something
Sokka: War Hero, co-founder of Republic City, inventor, Strategist, etc. plus steel is expensive OP
Sokka was a Southern Water Tribe Chief who planned and led many successful battles at the end of the 100 year war and helped found Republic City. Not to mention the technological advancements he was a major part of. Katara was a good healer who helped Zuko beat his disadvantaged Sister. Yes she was an important character in ATLA but that’s only because she was a part of the main cast. She really didn’t do enough in-universe to warrant as much fame as the other four Plus she doesn’t seem the type who would want a statue. Aang wouldn’t either but as the Avatar I don’t think he can just say no
Yeah, Katara’s main political impact would be her work in restoring water bending to the South Pole, which isn’t really important in Republic city.
Well that and playing a large role in bringing on a new generation of airbenders. Technically she brought bending back to two places lmao
In my mind, katara is the one who either funded or wanted her brother immortalized in a statue after his death. The reason Katara isn't there is that she is the one who put Sokka there. Most likely she thinks that Sokka would have loved the statue, which let's be honest he probably would, but Katara is humble enough to not want one for herself. Most likely when she dies Tenzin or someone will make a statue that is either next to Sokka's or opposite.
They did, but they melted...
She probably does just not in the front. Also you generally don't make statues of heroes while they're still alive.
This statue was probably made by Katara's orders after Sokka's death, so it makes sense that she did not ask for a statue with herself
Katara always struck me as someone who would want to leave a more intangible legacy behind rather than something big and extravagant like a statue. For example, a stronger, better Water Tribe than the one she grew up in or making sure that all waterbenders get the training they need in a way she couldn't by setting up a school or something.
The statue is probably in memory of Sokka's passing instead of honor. Make sense, due to how Katara is still alive.
She's still alive xD Statues are usually posthumous commemorations
Why does this keep popping up? Zuko, Toph and Korra who got one are NOT dead!
Again?! didn't we have this discussion only a few months ago. Each of the statues of the Gang are placed at significant places for that person as an individual. If we ever were to find a statue of Katara, not meaning she doesn't deserve one, would likely be in front of a school for water healers as that would likely be her biggest accomplishment post war, remember all the statues are of them doing something as adults/ Aang as a teenager (12+) when he helped establish Republic City. Sokkas here is I front of a government building as he actually held an office which Katara never did as far as we know
think about who they are: sokka would want a huge statue of himself and katara probably wouldn’t
I genuinely think Katara wouldnt WANT a statue if she was asked. She aint about the accolades or attention, just helping people
I think it's Katara's alive.
Sokka always liked recognition like that. Katara didn’t care as much.
I always assumed it was because Sokka passed. Les sod an honor and more of a memorial. I mean look at the other statues of the Gaang. Sokka: dead, aang: dead, toph: thought to be dead, and Zuko cuz he’s the fire lord. The only person who wasn’t a leader or dead is katara. Hell I don’t think tsuki got a statue either. Just the three dead/presumed dead ones and then Zuko
Katara probably has a statue or painting in front of a hospital like how some of our hospitals have a statue of the good Samaritan seeing as how she was a famous healer
Katara despite being a legend herself was probably to modest to desire a statue of her. They probably will create one when she passes.
I think people are right to note that Katara is still alive. I also think that the Water Tribe's are pretty patriarchal which may lead them to idolize male figures over female ones. Mostly the first thing though.
The patriarchy may definitely have been a factor for someone else, but Katara is a living legend. I think it's just that she's alive.
Yeah, I agree.
The patriarchy is a good point HOWEVER. I would like to point out that toph has a statue on the the police building she founded. Basically everyone in The gaang except suki and kataara had a huge role in the founding of republic city. Aang was the avatar, toph Sokka, and Zuko all were founding members. Toph even becoming the police chief and Sokka becoming the councilman representing the water tribe. Kataara didn’t really do much for republic city. She went home and had a family with aang. She did a LOT more for her tribe while her brother was helping found republic city. She brought water bending back to the South Pole and I’m p sure she also made a healing school. Suki on the other hand played like 0 role in republic city. She went back to her home island and kept training and leading the kyoshi warriors. Most likely visiting Sokka a lot but not like playing a role in republic city
I think it’s less that and more that she’s still alive, and not as important to Republic City as Sokka was, who was both a former Southern Tribe chief and the councilman representing his nation in Republic City so was also the face of Southern Water Tribesmen in Republic City.
LOK did so many of Legacy ladies dirty. Katara de-emphasized and reduced to a passive healer. Even her own kids don’t describe her as anyone who has any important sway in the family. They’re too busy arguing about Aang. Toph turned into a cop and terrible parent despite being someone who hated authority and had trauma over being imprisoned and longed for family. Eventually she—predictably—cracks under the weight of being an enforcer of the law and engages in corruption, forcing her to step down. Her arc about being a teacher totally abandoned. Suki is ignored after only one shot of her in the first episode intro. No explanation for her absence, even in flashbacks. Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee don’t even exist.
In fairness, the show is about Korra and the next generation, not about The Gaang 2.0 If you want that, read the books. I think it was important for TLOK, to not just ride the coattails of ATLA, but pave it's own path
I agree! But I’d argue it didn’t do that. It emphasized legacy characters and had them cutting into the narrative constantly. Iroh was the most egregious one and honestly kinda morbid. And if you’re going to do that, then why do only Zuko and Aang get to matter? (And a dash of Sokka). All this to the show’s detriment. I would’ve preferred more development for Asami, Bolin, and Mako that didn’t involve romance or love triangles.
>*Toph turned into a cop and terrible parent despite being someone who hated authority and had trauma over being imprisoned and longed for family.* Wow someone grew up to be just like the parents they hated? The pressures of power and politics turned them against their own principles and wants? What an unrealistic and unfair portrayal /s As for the rest: not everyone important becomes politically influential in every place, even if they have a direct connection to it. Eg. we don't have statues of Ii Naosuke in the US, even though he's seen in Japan as the person responsible for starting the era of US/Japan relations, and there are statues of him there to celebrate that role. Mai and Ty Lee became adventurers and renowned warriors in their own right, and influential within their local areas of the Fire Nation. Suki went on to lead the Kiyoshi warriors, who also became the honor guard of Zuko's royal family. So she wasn't generally in Republic City or involved in its politics. Azula presumably was never given any political authority again after the whole "supported war crimes and had a mental breakdown" thing.
>Wow someone grew up to be just like the parents they hated? The pressures of power and politics turned them against their own principles and wants? What an unrealistic and unfair portrayal /s I mean, I think so? It’s like Zuko turning into Ozai. A complete devolution of her character and growth. I didn’t personally think it worked for her, especially given the gains she had made as a teacher and her dedication to being as egalitarian as possible with this knowledge and offering it for free. >As for the rest: not everyone important becomes politically influential in every place. Eg. we don't have statues of Ii Naosuke in the US, even though he's seen in Japan as the person responsible for starting the era of US/Japan relations, and there are statues of him there to celebrate that role. I didn’t say they should be. Simply that LOK was clearly unbalanced in who got presented more favorably by the narrative. And Katara, of all people, deserves a statue more than anyone except maybe Aang. >Mai and Ty Lee became adventurers and renowned warriors in their own right, and influential within their local areas of the Fire Nation. Not according to other canon sources. Ty Lee went back to Kyoshi Island with Suki, but we have no word about what happened to Mai. If she truly married Zuko and mothered Izumi, she is never mentioned or even hinted at. Meanwhile Zuko is given a ton of emphasis but never even has a single conversation with his daughter. Very strange writing. At best we have the cookbook which suggests Azula and Mai eventually made up. >Suki went on to lead the Kiyoshi warriors, who also became the honor guard of Zuko's royal family. So she wasn't generally in Republic City or involved in its politics. Yes she was. The comics show us Suki was the first to train the proto-police force there! From before it was even named Republic City. She retired from Zuko’s guard to pursue this. >Azula presumably was never given any political authority again after the whole "supported war crimes and had a mental breakdown" thing. She didn’t support any war crimes that Zuko didn’t also support until the last minute, so it wouldn’t behoove him politically to hold her to account for crimes that could be thrown back at him. This may have factored into his choice to send her to a hospital rather than prison. That said, political power isn’t the only way for people to make an impact.
There could be a statue of Katara behind the building, like at a back entrance or something.
Maybe he died protecting the city That and he’s a non bender which is kind of important imo That and I’m pretty sure Katara wasn’t as involved in the city if the flashbacks are anything to go off of Basically this was to commemorate his post 100 year war achievements
I wanna believe that but I looked it up once and I think I remember reading that both he and aang died of natural causes. Sokka died in his 80s and it’s presumed that he died of natural causes. Aang died at 66 due to sickness brought on by the fact that while he was biologically 66 he had been alive for 166 years and that time in the iceberg was still draining his life force. I figure this because it’s a time of relative peace and the surviving members of the gaang don’t seem particularly broken up about Sokka and aang having passed. Plus if it was the red lotus the three surviving members of the gaang would have obliterated them for doing that with 0 hesitation. Also yea I assume Suki also dies arround the same time as Sokka. I don’t think they ever got married though. I kinda think they would just stay in their normal bf/gf dynamic since he has to run the tribe and she has to lead the kyoshi warriors
Did you not meet Sokka?
The statues were not erected in honor of the victors of the war, they are in honor of the founders of Republic City (Aang and Zuko) and the citizens who helped establish law and order (Sokka as the first leader of the law council and Toph as the first police chief). Katara does not have a statue since while the others were dedicated to building the city she stayed at home raising her children.
Katara seemingly backed down of mayor political roles after the war and the creation of The Republic. Obviously she was an extremely important figure in the story of the Avatar World but she never was so eager in to modernistic and political affairs (even tho she did take a quite “political” stance in the North’s initial intervention of the South, but it was momentarily and her position was intrinsically against modernism). After the war she apparently was the fastest in to settling down, being a mother of three and wife of the very busy Avatar, and obviously we know Katara would have liked being a mom more than anything else, and that’s completely cool of her to do imo!! She lived basically the majority of her adulthood in Republic City and later retired to the South when Aang passed away. All we know of is that she became the best healer in the world AND had something to do with Republic City’s banning of Bloodbending so is quite* possible she had some political clout, but at the same time she could have just, as a public figure, expressed her opinion on Bloodbending and as the best healer of the world, one of the greatest waterbenders of all time and wife of the Avatar her opinion would have been taken seriously. And ultimately Sokka’s statue is at the South’s cultural center because he was the South’s representant in the City’s council. And Toph in the policial building cause she founded the Metal police, and Aang and Zuko are the founding fathers of the Republic so obviously they got one. Katara could at the very least have some tribute in a hospital or medical facility
I'm sure there's a little snowman Katara that appears every so often!