Avatar:Roku's relationships
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| More about Roku |
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| Roku's main article |
| History |
| Early life (82 BG - 67 AG) First mission as Avatar (66 BG) Avatar journey (66 BG - c. 55 BG) Later life (c. 55 BG - 12 BG) |
| Relationships |
| Roku's relationships |
| Other media |
| Roku in the Netflix live-action series |
This page is about Roku's relationships with other characters in the world of Avatar. Born into the Fire Nation's nobility, Roku initially grew up as a close associate of the Fire Nation Royal Family and developed a friendship with Crown Prince Sozin. However, his life and relationships experienced an upheaval when his status as the Avatar was revealed. Roku subsequently spent years traveling across the world, meeting many people and forming bonds with members of all four nations. In his later life, he returned to the Fire Nation with his wife Ta Min. In his elder years, Roku's long friendship with Sozin broke down due to their political differences, and the Avatar spent his remaining life attempting to oppose the Fire Lord's imperialist plans.
Relatives
Grandmother
In his youth, Roku had a good relationship with his grandmother who was able to put his worries at ease. She wrote letters to him after the start of his Avatar journey, and these were among the few messages from others that he looked forward to.[1]
Parents
Growing up in a noble family who headed a business enterprise, Roku never wanted for anything. His parents tried to pass on a sense of high status to their sons, making sure that they never had to do manual labor.[2] Despite his privileged upbringing, Roku always felt that his parents favored his twin brother Yasu over him, preferring the latter's positive and confident nature. This belief was confirmed when Yasu drowned and his father openly and coldly blamed Roku for not saving his brother, while his mother ignored him in her grief. At Yasu's funeral, Roku mused that his parents would probably have been happier "if it were instead his bloated body floating somewhere out in the open water".[3]
Roku's relationship with his parents never truly recovered, and they remained distant.[1][2][4] After the start of his Avatar journey at age 16, Roku cared very little about his parents' letters,[1] and rarely thought about them. He cynically believed that his father was likely thrilled about his son's newly discovered status because he could profit off it.[5]
Rina
Rina was the daughter of Roku and Ta Min.[6] After her father's passing, she somehow recovered his heirloom, the Crown Prince headpiece, and continued to treasure it. When Rina was informed that Fire Lord Azulon intended to take away her own daughter, Ursa, she cradled her father's heirloom in her sadness.[7]
Zuko
Zuko was Roku's great-grandson through his daughter Rina's line. Fearing a repeat of his own history with Sozin in his successor's life, Roku advised Avatar Aang to kill Zuko when the latter seemingly became more imperialistic as Fire Lord. When Aang expressed horror at the idea, Roku countered that he knew of his advice's weight due to Zuko being his descendant.[8] Roku repeated this drastic advice before and after the Battle for Yu Dao, but could not convince Aang.[9]
Love interest
Ta Min
Roku fell in love with Ta Min when the two were teenagers, and Sozin regularly teased him about his crush. However, Roku could not muster enough courage to ask out the noblewoman.[10] In truth, Ta Min reciprocated Roku's feelings,[11] and the two eventually married after Roku completed his Avatar training. Their marriage was happy, and they had at least one daughter, Rina.[6] After Roku died, Ta Min's love persisted until her own death.[11]
Allies
Aang
After his death, Roku served as a wise mentor to his successor, Avatar Aang, during the last stage of the Hundred Year War. He repeatedly attempted to aid Aang,[12][13] and retold his own life experiences in an attempt to guide Aang to avoid his own indecisiveness.[10]
After the Great War, Roku advised Aang to ensure that the four nations remain separate at all costs. However, Aang increasingly disagreed with this viewpoint, and after Roku repeatedly recommended killing Zuko over fears of the Fire Lord's behavior, Aang temporarily severed their connection.[8][9] The two eventually reconciled after Avatar Yangchen explained the results of this decision to Aang. At the time, Roku told Aang that the Air Avatar had to find balance for himself as his past lives could only advise him from their perspectives.[14]
Gyatso
Roku first met Gyatso when he was training airbending at the Southern Air Temple, and initially considered the young monk annoying. However, the two subsequently stumbled into an adventure together,[15] and eventually became good friends. Gyatso remained close to Roku until the latter's death, and the Avatar often sought the monk's advice.[10][16] The monk eventually became the guardian of his successor, Aang.[10]
Kaja
As Roku's spiritual mentor, Kaja became his staunch supporter. Though sometimes frustrated by Roku's occasional impatience, the Fire Sage successfully guided him as he tried to master the Avatar State.[16][17] Later, Kaja supported Roku's non-militaristic vision for the world and attempted to uphold the Fire Nation's spirituality alongside the rest of his order, though this became increasingly difficult due to Sozin's policies.[16] Kaja survived Roku by decades and became a public opponent of Sozin;[18] his family continued to stay loyal to the Avatar during the entire Hundred Year War.[17][12]
Sherab
As the leader of an Air Nomad team formed to support Roku, Sherab served as an agent for the Avatar alongside their comrades.[19]
Sud
Sud served as Roku's earthbending master, and the two became close friends during the Avatar's training.[10]
Taqukaq
After mastering air during his Avatar journey, Roku intended to train waterbending with Taqukaq, who was a highly acclaimed master. However, the waterbender initially refused to train the Fire Avatar due to a lasting mistrust toward Fire Nationals related to a betrayal in his early life. Despite this, Roku stated that he would not accept any other waterbending master. To earn Taqukaq's trust, Roku lived for years among the people of the Northern Water Tribe. Moved by this display of earnestness, Taqukaq eventually agreed to train Roku.[20][21] This process lasted years, as Roku struggled with waterbending; ultimately, he defeated his master in a great duel at Agna Qel'a, signaling his training's success.[10]
After the Avatar left the North Pole, Taqukaq remained Roku's ally and often went on diplomatic missions on behalf of his former disciple. In addition, the waterbender engaged in espionage to assist Roku, though he maintained enough distance from his friend so any dubious actions could not reflect on the Avatar's public image.[22] Long before Roku became an opponent of Sozin, Taqukaq started to spy on and oppose the Fire Lord's schemes.[22][23]
Enemies
Sozin
Roku and Sozin grew up together, sharing a birthday and becoming great friends. During a party celebrating their sixteenth birthday in 66 BG, Roku was informed by the Fire Sages that he was the Avatar, much to the young man's shock. Later, the prince met with Roku to ease his mind over the upcoming Avatar journey as well as gift him the Crown Prince headpiece, at the direction of his father, Fire Lord Taiso. Taiso believed the headpiece should serve as a reminder of where Roku's loyalties should lie.[4] Roku kept and wore it for the rest of his life as a reminder of this lasting friendship, unaware of the true intention behind its gifting.[4][24] Roku and Sozin parted as "dear friends".[25] Soon after Roku had begun his Avatar journey, Sozin secretly contacted him and requested his aid in a conflict with Earth King Jialun. Despite his masters' misgivings, Roku complied with his friend's request.[15]
After Sozin's ascension to the throne, some of Roku's associates like Taqukaq began to covertly oppose the Fire Lord's policies.[22][26] However, Roku continued to trust Sozin and even feared how his long absence might affect their friendship. When Roku finally returned to the Fire Nation Capital in person in 54 BG, he was very happy when Sozin embraced him and discarded all formalities. A few months later, Sozin gladly served as Roku's best man during the latter's wedding. Their relationship began to crack when Sozin used the wedding to reveal his imperialistic plans to Roku, horrifying the Avatar. Roku was completely unwilling to even discuss Sozin's ideas, causing a lasting rift. Regardless, the Avatar remained ignorant of the extent of Sozin's ambitions and extremism.[10]
Seventeen years later, Sozin began to implement his most radical ideas by conquering Earth Kingdom territory and setting up Fire Nation colonies. When he learned of the event, Roku was furious and confronted his long-time friend. The Avatar angrily warned Sozin to back down, but the Fire Lord was outraged over this behavior and initiated a fight. Roku easily defeated Sozin, but spared him in memory of their past friendship. The two did not talk again for 25 years. Cowed but bitter, the Fire Lord secretly continued his preparations for a global war of conquest despite Roku's final warning.[10]
In 12 BG, Roku's island experienced a massive volcanic eruption. Remembering their old relationship, Sozin hurried to the island and assisted Roku in an attempt to contain the eruption. For a short while, Roku was genuinely glad to rekindle their old relationship, even under these conditions. However, the effort of the two was not enough, and Roku was hit by a geyser of poisonous gases. At this moment, Sozin realized that the Avatar had been the only obstacle for his own plans, and left Roku to die instead of helping him. In his final moments, the Avatar was furious and horrified over this final betrayal.[10]
Roku remained deeply bitter over Sozin's actions and continued to regret his mercy even beyond his own death.[8][9]
References
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