Sokka is the Best Character in Avatar and I Can Prove It

all my homies hate Zuko Saka gang rise up [Music] avatar The Last Airbender The Animated one not this one or this one it's a good show chock full of very good characters Aang Toff not Katara Azula Zuko and of course our precious baby boy Saka but the weird thing I've found is just about everyone seems to think Zuko is the best singular character in the whole series seemingly forgetting all about the very heart soul and funny bone of Team Avatar so why despite competing with such a complete narrative package izuko so incredibly popular the simple answer Redemption Arc Zuko has a Redemption Arc and Redemption arcs are all the rage these days because they're very simple bad person becomes good therefore they are a good character too bonus points if they're actually just misunderstood or the victim of a traumatic backstory but I believe it's important to uplift characters who are a dynamic and impactful but also inherently good-natured and Saka is all that and more I am here today to prove that Saka is not only the most enjoyable character in Avatar but objectively the best and I have the evidence right here ladies and gentlemen I present to you this question what is the single most important aspect of a character in modern media relatability The Time Of Our Heroes being the ideal conglomeration of our Collective cultural virtues has long passed as we instead choose to see as much of ourselves in them as possible there is no character in Avatar more relatable than Saka because he is the every man hero he is John McLean he is Bilbo Baggins he is all of us at our best and at our worst a great many of us are probably brooding Edge Lords but every last one of us are frumpy nobodies and despite being a paragon of shockingly suave and yet thoroughly non-threatening masculinity Saka of the water tribe is in the world of Avatar just some dude with a boomerang in a party consisting of the literal Chosen One The Last Hope of a formerly great cultural institution a sheltered and restrained innovator from the global Elite and eventually a disgraced Prince all of whom are magic Living Weapons Saka and his boomerang are in it solely for their own beliefs and desire to protect their loved ones due to the absurdity of that situation he clocks in over time as somehow both the straight man and the comedic relief of the show without ever losing track of his core characteristics that is not an easy Balancing Act and that's why it's such a treat when he gets his own special character moments let's examine the boiling Rock for two reasons one it's the best episode in the series two it's the only time Saka really does anything actively stupid which is why it works so well to endear us to him and develop him in his trademark tonally ping-pong style coming off his biggest and most thoroughly failed plan the writer's pair Sako with Zuko of all characters bouncing his Newfound insecurity and lack of structure off the efforts Zuko is currently making to learn restraint their Dynamic is wildly enjoyable but only under these circumstances and letting Saka take the emotional front seat elevates the joy that comes from watching him basically improv his way through a prison break for the first time in the series we see Saka completely out of his element in what should be his Forte forced to charm and Flounder in equal measure while a near terminal case of Murphy's Law throws monkey wrench after monkey wrench into his ideas and he's never more like any of us than he is here literally faking it till he makes it when he would normally have a scale blueprint of the island and up schedule of every guard's piss breaks on hand once hokota actually shows up and the emotional risk has paid off Saka not only continues to not plan anything but actually takes a physical back seat in the escape attempt solidifying his post-eclipse Arc up until this point saka's Focus episodes have been mostly about him why to prove his worth whether it's through his intelligence his leadership or just his ability to hold his own in combat despite not being a bender the boiling rock is about Saka stepping far outside his comfort zone to forgive himself for his mistakes and to help him re-center at a time when he feels he really should be focused on something bigger than himself that's borderline out of character for him and it's that kind of personal tension that makes characters feel real and three-dimensional because that's how real people grow and change I also chose the boiling Rock because it's the only time Saka is definitively more important than Zuko now you may be thinking to yourself what makes Zuko the best character is that he becomes a better person that's the mark of a great dynamic character and while you're not necessarily wrong there's no rule in the book that says you have to go from bad person to good person that's just a Redemption Arc and it's a tried and tested formula but personal growth is universal and how much you grow isn't a direct measure of how well that growth is presented nor is it the only criteria for the importance or quality of a character Avatar is first and foremost a show made for children the tween demographic more specifically one that can't help but love a good bad boy but more likely needs a strong role model Saka of the water tribe I believe at least can be that role model a good person becoming a better person is what we should all strive to be and Saka lacking the support of a wise tea loving father figure to so callously ignore for two and a half Seasons must become better on his own allowing him to grow out of his own mistakes Saka is a good person from minute one if a little flawed he can be abrasive casually chauvinistic some might say sexist certainly if nothing else a bit ignorant but who wouldn't be growing up basically alone on the south goddamn pole what Saka expresses without fail is a profound curiosity coupled with a willingness to laugh at himself and be humbled which he is a lot as we've established Saka is an every man and one from the proverbial Backwoods of the entire world but set in his ways as he looks he never once proves to be above being taught a lesson and more importantly takes every opportunity to put others before himself when it actually matters and to take the most scenic route on this let's explore how Saka is the best romantic partner in Avatar now is that a bit like being the healthiest guy at the morgue yeah kinda but this is the funniest point I can make while still advancing my legitimate argument so bear with me there's nothing worse about this otherwise good show than the painfully shoehorned romantic subplots very few of these threads stick around for more than an episode or so but the two that aren't Saka are Zuko and his extra blase goth GF and then Katara Nang May is barely a character and the Katara Ang thing is both stomach churningly awkward and also just kind of weird because like I'm too lazy to check but I was always under the impression that he was 12 and she was like 15 or something don't correct me if I'm wrong it really doesn't make it not a crappy subplot while this trend of Wattpad levels of Bad Romance would continue into the Legend of Korra which is a series I can't be bothered to talk about in what seems like a happy accident by default saka's relationships are actually bizarrely well written specifically with Suki initially being humbled as he so often is and therefore developing immense respect for her Saka has almost immediate chemistry with Suki they actively flirt they help each other grow and they watch each other's backs you know real couple stuff that's a big deal in this show do not forget how bad the rest is they really don't spend all that much screen time together but that they act like a healthy couple respect each other's boundaries and consistently put each other's well-being before their own is something that kids could actually benefit from more than you'd think children's media is packed with oddly toxic relationships and an infectious case of shipping makes us money saka's uncanny ability to just be a good boyfriend to not one but two women and more importantly move on from one to the other in a healthy way it's a criminally underappreciated part of his character especially after being introduced as both arrogant and sexist Saka develops a thorough respect for women in an organic and narratively interesting way which is one of the stranger sentences I've said but it pays off in a tight season-long Arc that intertwines his development past his immature or chauvinism and his struggle to forgive himself for his failures he's a pretty good person generally speaking anyway now for my favorite one [Music] my friends I present to you this wobbly Angel high as on poisonous cactus juice attempting to befriend a cloud does this look like a killer to you a boy who would orchestrate not one but several separate violent uprisings before his 18th birthday well it is and that's rad Avatar is a good story unfortunately littered with weak and frankly mishandled musings on conflict and Revolution jet is the world's worst domestic terrorist for exactly one ham-fisted episode then gets like half a Redemption Arc and then just dies the White Lotus is almost an interesting idea but aside from jacked iro it's ultimately pretty goofy uh let's see fire nation Footloose is also a thing that happens and don't even get me started on Aang and the Deus Ex Turtle sensei you know who gets it right of course you do it's sock of the water tribe Saka is hard as cold steel and don't you dare tell me otherwise he may be introduced as laughably underprepared but don't ever forget Sako walks into the first battle of the entire series aware he's probably going to die and willing to do so metal as the series progresses Saka proves time and again that he is a man who fears nothing and is shaken by nothing who watched his girlfriend turn into the moon Saka who ousted a power hungry Earth Kingdom military official twice Saka yeah you forgot about that other one didn't you it's not a long scene but it counts who made a sword out of a meteor planned and led a mass scale militia counter-attack against a major military power busted his dad out of prison and his other other girlfriend too just because he's a goddamn stud Saka did that because he's metal and I hear you in the back going oh what about the southern Raiders selfish Katara is selfish and she did not earn that hardness saka's mom is dead too loser but look at him not making it everyone else's problem okay I got a little carried away that's kind of a cool episode but it it just it comes off as like awkward and tacked onto the adventures with Zuko collection and you know you just can't make me like Katara okay anyway in a story that is in a great many ways about compassion understanding forgiveness inner peace and other Kumbaya words Saka stands out as a character who finds peace within his cause he's a soldier a tactician a shrewd creative to reiterate hard as Nails man of reason he's playing chess while the rest of the cast is either playing patty cake or Russian Roulette in Zuko's case both at the same time but to fly Against the Wind the writers are sailing this narrative ship with is what makes Saka such a great character he's not an edge Lord he's just emotionally strong but he's fun he messes around arguably the most out of everyone because he's happy with who he is Saka may be accidentally but I hope not strengthens the overall point of the story by being comfortable with his beliefs even if it means he can only serve his small part there's nothing more metal than self-awareness Sun Tzu said that I'm sure the vast majority of you have already seen the light and those on the fence simply need this wrapped up in a neat bow for you I have prepared this profound statement summarizing the key themes behind my points if a lotus seed grew into a sunflower that would be impressive but that wouldn't make it a Lotus now would it floored aren't you wisdom in Spades and yet so elegant as a metaphor no no that was stupid you say well so was Zuko not killing his dad when he had the chance Saka wouldn't have waxed poetic about Destiny he would have iced ozai right there with his much cooler sword War over shouts out Moon girlfriend UA for blocking out the Sun here's my point significant growth does not require an emotional metamorphosis there's no existential fever in subsequent psychological 180 for Saka just a hard-working pillar of casually Cavalier energy doing his best to do good and getting better because of it it's more done with less in a way more by ratio I guess to take such a big character with so much going on an archetype so commonly associated with static Side characters and make him as interesting and fleshed out as Saka is it's a much more difficult task for writers than turning Zuko into kind of a nervous dork I don't want to bash Zuko either he's a well-written character I just don't think his existence and story arc are as impressive as sakas given the circumstances in my opinion as an advocate of The Craft children's media could stand to prioritize these kinds of characters more if nothing else we could just do with fewer Redemption arcs we've had enough you know not not everyone needs British tunnel [Applause]

Channel: Obvious Puppet

Views: 87,255

Keywords: avatar, the last airbender, sokka, animation, character

Id: f3nAXLhB884

Length: 15min 59sec (959 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 08 2022