The Major Accomplishment That Has Avatar Fans Looking Twice At Sokka
Of all the main characters present in Nickelodeon's "Avatar: The Last Airbender," Sokka (voiced by Jack DeSena) certainly got the short end of the stick in terms of powers. Though he served as an invaluable member of Team Avatar alongside his sister Katara (Mae Whitman), Toph (Jessie Flower), and the Avatar himself, Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), Sokka was the sole member of the group who was unable to use any form of bending. Bending is an ability that allows someone to manipulate one of four main elements: Water, Air, Earth, or Fire.
Though bending is an essential component of the world in "Avatar: The Last Airbender," some people (such as Sokka) are simply born without any bending capabilities whatsoever. Sokka makes up for his lack of bending by fighting with his trusty boomerang, though that boomerang hardly seems a match for foes who can crack the earth apart on a whim, or shoot lightning from their fingertips. Despite being the odd man out, Sokka still manages to be an essential part of the team and is instrumental in their eventual victory over Ozai (Mark Hamill).
In fact, there's one thing that Sokka accomplished that no other character on the series — not even Aang – managed to do.
Sokka mastered a fighting style from all four nations
As Twitter user @weebsage pointed out in a post that was later deleted and re-uploaded to Reddit, Sokka managed to master a non-bending fighting style from every single nation.
From childhood, Sokka had trained in the traditional fighting style of the Southern Water Tribe, attempting to become an esteemed warrior like his father. In the Earth Kingdom, Sokka learns the fighting style of the Kyushi warriors from Suki (Jennie Kwan), and at the Northern Air Temple, Sokka helps construct (and later pilot) an airship with help from the Mechanist (René Auberjonois). Finally, Sokka is trained to be a master swordsman by Piandao of the Fire Nation, eventually forming his own specialized sword from a chunk of meteorite.
In a way, Sokka's mastery of these fighting styles mirrors Aang's mastery of the four different types of bending. While Aang was able to pick up all of his bending styles rather quickly for the simple reason that he is the Avatar, Sokka had to work incredibly hard to learn all of these new techniques. Indeed, perhaps realizing exactly how impressive Sokka's accomplishments truly are will have fans looking at him differently the next time they rewatch the series. For a guy who serves all too often as a source of comic relief, Sokka undoubtedly has one of the most compelling story arcs on the entire show.