Avatar:Serpent

<infobox theme-source="nation"> <image source="image" /> <title source="name"><default>Serpent</default></title> <group> <header>General information</header> <label>Habitat</label> <label>Status</label> <label>Bending</label> <label>Uses</label> </group> <group> <header>Chronological information</header> <label>First appearance</label> <label>Last appearance</label> <label>Voiced by</label> </group> <header>Image gallery (0)</header> </infobox> The serpent or sea serpent is a large aquatic creature that inhabits the lakes surrounding the Serpent's Pass, which was named after it. Since an encounter with a serpent was potentially dangerous, the pass was rarely used, and fear of the creature was instilled by local lore. A graffito reading "abandon hope" was carved into one of the posts at the southern entrance of the pass.

History

The serpent is infamous among the people who live at the shores of the East and West Lakes, with nearly every family traditionally claiming to know someone who was eaten by the creature at some point.

In the 50s BG, the serpent attacked the Unity, a massive ship which moved through the East and West Lakes during its great journey across the world.

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Aang and Katara battled and defeated a serpent by trapping him in a maelstrom.

In spring 100 AG, Team Avatar, accompanied by Than, Ying, and Than's sister, once encountered a serpent when Katara used her waterbending to part the water and allow the party to travel in a small, capsule-like bubble below the surface in order to cross a submerged portion of the Serpent's Pass. The creature menacingly circled the group before swimming right through their bubble, causing it to burst. Before the creature could attack again, Toph earthbent the ground underneath the group, raising them from the surface. Encircling the earth pillar once, the serpent burst through the surface and threateningly loomed over his prey, now stranded in the middle of the two ends of the pass. As Sokka's attempt to appease the serpent by offering Momo in exchange for safe passing, he attacked but was knocked aside by a powerful air swipe from Aang. As the Avatar took to the sky, the serpent hunted him down, enabling Katara to create an ice path to the shore for the rest of the group. The serpent failed to snatch Aang out of the air and soon found part of his body encased in ice as well, when Katara had also jumped into the fight. The frozen barrier did little to stop his advance, however, and he easily broke free and focused his attention on Katara, who was surfing the water. Despite his efforts to catch up to his nimble prey, the creature eventually found himself trapped in a large whirlpool created by the combined efforts of Aang and Katara. Unable to break out of the current, the centrifugal force caused the serpent to collide with one of the walls along the pass, after which he sunk into the water and retreated.

The same serpent encountered Team Avatar once again some time later as they attempted to outrun a Fire Nation destroyer with their own captured Fire Nation warship commanded by Bato and Chief Hakoda. The creature breached the surface near the two ships, poised to attack the one Team Avatar was commanding, but before he could execute his attack, he was hit against the head by a flaming projectile fired by a trebuchet. Angered, the serpent constricted the other ship, enabling Team Avatar to escape to safety.

Anatomy

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The serpent's tongue is lined with dome-shaped sensory papillae.

The serpent can grow to be over one-hundred-feet long and is brightly colored with teal scales from the neck to the tail and purple veins segmenting the length of the body. The anterior ends of the upper jaw extend into frill-like structures on which a pair of rods are situated, directly underneath a pair of bright red eyes.

Purple stripes extend from each eye and continue down the length of the snout, which is flanked on both ends by long, purple nasal barbels. Two smaller, green maxillary barbels are also located just underneath the lower jaw. The serpent possesses an extensive gape, multiple rows of sharp teeth oriented backward, and enlarged canines on both jaws. While most of the teeth retract back into the mouth, the canines and incisors of the upper jaw remain outside of the mouth. The creature also has a prehensile tongue, the dorsal surface of which bears rows of dome-shaped sensory papillae.

A series of evenly dispersed green finlets gradually increase in size from the base of the head toward an enlarged dorsal fin near the center of the body, bearing multiple spines interconnected by cartilage. The dorsal fin extends from the central region of the body well past the pelvic region, where the structure sharply terminates. Otherwise, the serpent seems to lack any other functional fins.

Behavior

The serpent was known to attack ships around Serpent's Pass.

An apex predator, the serpent lives mostly on fish and other water creatures, but it will attack and eat just about anything. It has even been known to attack ships when looking for a meal. The serpent lets out a loud, blood-curdling scream just before it attacks.

Connection

The serpent's head and body are based on the seahorse, which is a long-faced fish with frills and a prehensile tail. In overall anatomy and design, the serpent is based on a group of fish called the syngnathidae, which include seahorses and pipefish.

Trivia

The serpent is considerably smaller and less threatening in School Time Shipping.

• The serpent Team Avatar encountered was featured in the unaired pilot of Avatar. He rose from the ocean and stood before Prince Zuko's ship, and later in the episode, the serpent's burned head was brought into the fort where Zuko was staying.
• The serpent also made an appearance in the non-canonical short School Time Shipping. Housed within a tank in the classroom, the serpent appears as a small seahorse being fed by Aang.
• The serpent's overall design bares a resemblance to that of Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent, in ancient depictions.

See also

• Fauna in the World of Avatar
• Serpent's Pass
• Unagi