Pretty much every female character in Avatar: The Last Airbender has been up for the mantel of "Best Girl" at some point or another, but it keeps seeming like Ty Lee wins almost every time. Her fun and quirky personality plus her totally cute appearance made her the crush of many as they watched the show for the first time in their youth. Now that the show is back on the rise thanks to Netflix, many fans are being reminded of why they fell in love with Ty Lee.
However, there are a fair few ladies who constantly contest Ty Lee's role as "Best Girl." Her best friend, Mai, is constantly on the list for being the resident "Goth Girl" of the series. Toph is another fan-favorite and frequently seems to appear on these lists as well. But there is one more girl who is a bit of niche love in the fandom due to her semi-lacking popularity, Suki, the leader of the Kyoshi warriors. Plainly put, Suki is amazing and there are so many qualities about her that should make her the actual best girl in the series.
Updated on February 1st, 2021 by Theo Kogod. It has been nearly a year since this article was first published, but in that time, fans of Avatar have proven that love for this series will never go out of fashion. In truth, the events of 2020 turned the world into a dumpster fire— not unlike what happened when the Fire Nation attacked— but one of the shows that helped get people through that year was Avatar: The Last Airbender. And just as Avatar is “Best Show,” re-watching the series has given more insights into why both Suki and Kyoshi are strong contenders for “Best Girl.”
15 SUKI: Keeps the Past Alive
As the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki works to preserve the past traditions of the Earth Kingdom and the Avatar’s legacy— something particularly important during the long stretch of time where the Avatar was believed to be missing.
She also taught Sokka the fighting style of the Kyoshi Warriors, making her the first of his many teachers in the series, passing on a centuries’ old legacy of war fan martial arts techniques.
14 TY LEE: Spirituality
The easygoing nature of Ty Lee makes her the ultimate flower child. In a world with ancient wisdom being passed down through the generations by wizened masters and elderly gurus, she is happy to talk excitedly about how someone’s aura is pink.
Her gymnastic movements have a yogic quality to them, and her ability to block chi shows an understanding of how chi moves through the body.
13 SUKI: Support for Appa
One of the most painful and tragic episodes of the entire series is “Appa’s Lost Days,” in which the flying bison travels from one tragedy to the next. The pain that this animal is subjected to is truly agonizing to watch.
Amid his many travails, Appa is only given a few moments of respite, the most significant of which is offered to him by Suki and her fellow Kyoshi Warriors. They show Appa tenderness and care for him, then fight against Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee to allow Appa to escape.
12 TY LEE: Chi Blocking
Ty Lee is a skilled fighter capable of defeating almost any bender she encounters. One reason for his success in battle is that she has mastered chi blocking. Of course, the way she can parkour through the trees of a forest and literally flip over her enemies are also impressive, but really, when people think of Ty Lee, they think of her chi blocking abilities.
By striking a bender at specific points along their body, she can disrupt the flow of chi to prevent them bending. She can also temporarily paralyze someone through this technique.
11 SUKI: War Fan
The chosen weapon of the Kyoshi Warriors is the war fan. As it lacks a bladed edge, it cannot be swung wildly to cut down enemies. Rather, it requires precision and training to use.
The Kyoshi Warriors turn their enemies’ strength against them, using the war fans defensively to redirect the force of opponents’ weapons. Suki is a master of the war fan, and is the first non-bender character introduced in the show who uses a weapon other than a generic sword or spear.
10 TY LEE: Circus Girl
Even though she is one of the daughters of an esteemed nobleman, Ty Lee has always wished for a more adventurous lifestyle. She left home in order to join the circus, which is where viewers first encounter her when Azula comes to ask for some help.
Ty Lee is a contortionist, and thus is incredibly flexible and nimble. This skill also wonderfully transfers over to her fighting style, in addition to her chi blocking technique, making her a dangerous threat to Team Avatar before her change of heart.
9 SUKI: Totally Understanding & Patient
Suki has shown how patient and understanding she could be time and time again. The perfect example of this is when she reunites with Sokka during Team Avatar's trip through the Serpent's Pass into Ba Sing Se. Sokka and Suki almost immediately began a romance in the earlier parts of Avatar, but a lot has changed for Sokka since their last meeting.
He met and fell in love with Yue, Princess of the Northern Water Tribe, who gave her life essence to the Moon spirit and thus became its replacement. Sokka has feelings for Suki, but he feels bad about those feelings. When Suki tries to kiss him one night under the moon, he turns away, as the presence of the moon overhead makes him feel like Yue is watching. Without needing an explanation, Suki apologizes for her advances and doesn't seem to take Sokka's rejection personally, but rather accepts it with patience and understanding.
8 TY LEE: An Amazing Friend
Ty Lee agreed to join Azula's hunt for the Avatar seemingly out of fear. Azula is an incredibly powerful foe to have and pretty much everyone is afraid of her. After Azula threatened Ty Lee's circus life, she agreed to join the Fire Nation princess.
However, Ty Lee is still Azula's friend and tries to help her as much as possible. However, it is because Ty Lee understands the value of friendship that she turns on Azula to prevent the princess from attacking the other member of their trio, Mai. Ty Lee saves Mai in that dire moment and proves that she values her friendship with Mai more than she fears Azula.
7 SUKI: Part Of Team Avatar
Suki is oftentimes a forgotten member of Team Avatar (even Legend of Korra seems to forget about her), but she was still a vital member of the team in the final season. Whenever Suki is around, she is willing to die for the cause and willing to help in any way she could.
In the final battle, she saves Toph and Sokka from dying just as they're about to accept defeat. And as was stated earlier, during the episode, "Appa's Lost Days," she tries to help him get back to Aang without even thinking twice and urges him away before he can get caught by Azula's gang.
6 TY LEE: Empathy & Kindness
Even while Ty Lee was on Azula's side, she still had empathy for her enemies. She always seemed like she was fighting just because Team Avatar was on the opposing side, never as if they were her enemy. She was oddly flirtatious with Sokka and never really seemed to care if Team Avatar defeated her and her friends.
Later on in the series, fans find out that Ty Lee made friends with the Kyoshi Warriors during her time in prison and ended up joining them. Her ability to make friends with former enemies shows that she can empathize with with anyone and be open to other points of view.
5 SUKI: A Warrior's Heart
Suki is always at the ready, with her warrior heart amped for any battle. She fights with honor and courage and never seems to back down from a fight, even if she is on the losing side. She is also not afraid to take on the battle herself if that means her comrades get to safety. She did this during her first meeting with Aang, Katara, and Sokka as the Fire Nation attacked Kyoshi. Suki urged Sokka to leave and that she and the other Kyoshi warriors could handle the rest.
The same can be said for when she urged Appa to leave as she fought Azula, as previously mentioned. In the prison break episode, Suki fights alongside Zuko without even questioning it once she sees that Sokka trusts him. She also takes the fight into her own hands as she hurriedly climbs to where the Warden is in order to set Sokka's plan into motion.
4 TY LEE: Beach Episode
The beach episode became a fan favorite for many Avatar fans due to its fun and relaxed nature in such an intense season. It also features a new side to the "villain" characters that fans hadn't seen before. Ty Lee swooned the hearts of many young viewers in this episode based on her looks and relaxed personality. However, this episode also showed another key feature in her personality.
Ty Lee is the only one during the talk around the fire pit to empathize with Zuko. It is somehow easily forgotten that Ty Lee has been friends with Zuko just as long as she has been friends with Mai and Azula. Zuko and Ty Lee are a very underappreciated friendship in The Last Airbender but this moment in the episode shows that Ty Lee has felt for Zuko during his entire journey and has been rooting for him along the way.
3 SUKI: Beach Episode
Just as Sozin's Comet is about to occur, Team Avatar also decides to take their own little beach trip on Ember Island. While their beach time didn't consume an entire episode like Ty Lee and friends, we still got to see a glimpse of the gang having fun in the sand and water.
Sokka tries to make a sand model of Suki (which looks more like a blob than anything else) and Suki tells him she loves it anyway. Suki and Sokka share some pretty cute scenes in this episode as Suki portrays that she is definitely a great match for Sokka.
2 TY LEE: Sees The Difference Between Right And Wrong
While it may not always seem clear to the audience, Ty Lee shows more than a couple of times that she does know the difference between right and wrong. She quickly changes sides when the moment calls for it and easily becomes friends with those who were once her "enemies," once again showing that Ty Lee may have never considered these characters her enemies in the first place.
Ty Lee can also be seen in Iroh's tea house in the final episode, showing that she was mostly just with Azula because she was afraid, but that she knows Team Avatar is instead where she should be.
1 SUKI: Accepting Of All, Even Her Enemies
The first time fans see Suki, they instantly learn that she is utterly accepting. She accepts Sokka's apology for ridiculing the Kyoshi warriors and teaches him the ways of the Kyoshi Warriors. She forgives Zuko for attacking her home and quickly becomes allies with him, even becoming one of his closest friends and personal guard in the following comics of the series.
She also forgives Ty Lee, even though they have fought a number of times in the series, accepting her as one of her sisters in battle as a valued Kyoshi Warrior.