Firebending is super cool, so who cares about nonbending Fire Nation folks? Well, that’s…kinda ableist, actually. Let’s explore the heavily Japanese culture–influenced Fire Nation a little bit more deeply by giving some much-deserved appreciation to some of the nonbenders in its ranks. Only characters with appearances—or, well, references—within the TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Legend of Korra may apply. (Sorry, Dark Horse comics.)
9. Ozai (formerly a firebender, Fire Lord, and self-declared Phoenix King)
Lolololololol. Just go watch the finale.
8. The Warden of the Boiling Rock
“No one has ever, ever escaped from here,” he says, right before a bunch of people escape from there. “I’d sooner jump in the boiling lake myself than let that record fall,” he says, right before he’s foiled from a self-sacrificial attempt to do just that. “Don’t forget it.” OK, uh, we won’t.
7. Fire Lord Izumi (maybe?)
She seems like a capable ruler, and she wears glasses, which is a plus in my book. And maybe she’s a firebender! But there’s not so much as a hint in the show that she is, and she’s relegated to, like, one scene in the last season of Korra, so she lands lower here than maybe she should.
6. Piandao
He teaches Sokka how to be a badass. He helps Sokka forge a sword out of meteorite. He’s a member of the goddamn White Lotus, for Sozin’s sake, which means he’s almost definitely boys with Iroh. Honestly, he should probably be higher, but the candidacy is sort of stacked.
5. Ursa
She never appears in the show, but she is, in a way, its most important character. Without her sacrifice, Zuko would never become the man he did, and Aang may have never learned firebending. Plus, her backstory—even, alas, without counting the comics—is as riveting as it is tearjerking. (But, yeah, just wait until you read the comics.)
4. Mai
To be honest, Mai should probably be #1 here. But we promised we wouldn’t count the comics, so, here we are. Seemingly brooding but really just very emotionally stunted by her childhood, Mai’s wit is as sharp as the many very pointy objects she throws. There’s a scene where she pins people to metal walls using throwing daggers. I mean, come on.
3. Ty Lee
Not to be predisposed to favoring the lighthearted, but she’s just so goddamn FUN, somehow managing to be both insufferably cutesy and infectiously endearing simultaneously, while still having a complex backstory. Plus she becomes a Kyoshi Warrior. I mean, come ON!
2. Lo and Li
There is probably nothing better in the entirety of animation than the way anime adapts the Japanese cultural reverence for elderly women. Hayao Miyazaki’s movies are rife with this, and Avatar takes the lead of one of its greatest inspirations. They steal every scene they’re in, and it’s impossible not to always be grateful for it.
1. Suki
Yeah, OK, she’s from the Earth Kingdom, and she only allusively swears her sword—err, fan—to the Fire Nation in the last episode of the series. (Again, read the comics.) So sue me. Try to argue with Suki being the best nonbender to serve the Fire Nation. Really. Just try it.
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