The main characters who live and breathe within the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe are beloved by nearly everyone who watches the series, and there's a good reason for that. They aren't simply written to be heroes who can do no wrong, but rather much more like real people who have developing, learning and growing to do as the series progresses. Aang initially struggles with not wanting to face the weight of his responsibilities, and Sokka's ideals are rooted in sexism until he starts travelling the world and is taught otherwise by powerful women.
Much of Katara's growth focuses on her waterbending rather than her personality, as she's forced to take on a motherly role at quite the early age and is already rather mature and level-headed compared to the others. And while she isn't immune to having the occasional outburst, she's overall an incredibly strong addition to the team with many traits that help keep them afloat throughout Avatar.
10 She's So Maternal That Sokka Pictures Her As His Mother
When viewers are first introduced to Katara and Sokka, the two are bickering and seem to be at odds with one another. However, even Sokka admits that it's Katara's maternal nature that held their family together after the passing of their mother. After her passing, it's Katara who picks up the slack and takes on the responsibilities that her mother once had, to the point where Sokka even admits that he pictures her in place of their actual mother.
9 She's Fiercely Protective Over Her Group And Isn't Afraid To Defend Them
Going hand-in-hand with Katara's more maternal nature is her fierce dedication to her group. She'll protect Sokka, Aang, and even Toph and Zuko - though they don't see eye-to-eye at first - at all costs.
This is actually part of the reason why Katara is so distrustful of Zuko and hesitant to allow him to join the group. Not only does she have her past trauma involving the Fire Nation, but Zuko himself hunted the group for quite some time and even accidentally injured Toph after claiming to have changed, so it makes sense that she'd put her group's safety over believing him.
8 Her Inner Strength Keeps The Group Going In Times Of Hopelessness
Katara possesses more internal strength than almost anyone else in Avatar. After all, it has to take immense strength to be able to pick up the pieces left behind by her mother's death and fill her role in the family.
Katara constantly acts like a beacon of hope and support for others, even when she too is caught in a seemingly hopeless situation, such as when she's imprisoned and attempts to rally other prisoners together under the notion of possible escape. When the gang are travelling through the desert and growing weary from exhaustion and dehydration, it's Katara who's able to keep everyone's spirts up.
7 She Refuses To Turn Her Back On Those In Need Even If She Doesn't Agree With Them
Katara's strong sense of justice and willingness to get involved if she believes she's able to make a difference doesn't extend solely to her group. She's absolutely unable to ignore those suffering who need help, even if the group is preoccupied with other matters.
This is even true of those who share viewpoints that she doesn't agree with, such as when she helps the village of Jang Hui which is full of Fire Nation civilians. She's even willing to accept being hated for helping others, as seen when the villagers react negatively to her revealing herself as the Painted Lady.
6 She's Fiercely Determined To Master Waterbending And Practices Tirelessly
Katara's fierce determination doesn't simply go as far as wanting to protect her group or helping people in need. It also extends to her learning waterbending, as even without a teacher, she trains tirelessly to perfect the basics and shrugs off all of Sokka's criticism on the matter.
She's incredibly strong-minded as well, not allowing the sexist beliefs of the Northern Water Tribe - which doesn't allow women to learn combat-focused waterbending - to stop her from finding a teacher. Katara quickly excels, and her teacher notes that it's precisely because of her fierce determination and hard work that she's able to improve so quickly.
5 She's The Most Mature Of The Group With A Strong Sense Of Morality
Out of all of the members of Team Avatar, Katara is portrayed as the most mature of the group. This makes sense due to her maternal instincts, but she's also seen cracking less silly jokes compared to the others, and she possesses an incredibly strong sense of morality. She berates Toph for scamming others, and her morals are so strong that when she is forced to suggest that they pull a scam themselves, Aang and Sokka are genuinely taken aback.
4 She's Mature Enough To Grow Past Her Jealousy And Apologize For Her Actions
At the start of Aang's journey, though she hasn't done much except practice on her own, Katara is the closest thing to a waterbending expert that he has. The two train together, and Katara bursts into a loud fit of jealousy when Aang picks up on, and even does better than her in techniques that she's been practicing herself for years.
However, going hand-in-hand with her standing as the most mature member of the group, this jealousy is rather short-lived. Especially after Katara is able to find a master of her own and perfect her techniques, she comes to understand that her outburst was uncalled for, and she does end up apologizing.
3 She Sympathizes With Zuko And Offers To Attempt To Heal Him While The Two Are Still Enemies
It's true that Katara holds the most bitter grudge towards Zuko after his change into a good person. She even threatens to go as far as to kill him if he slips back into his old evil ways, but back when the two of them are still enemies, it's Katara who sympathizes with Zuko.
The two end up having an intimate heart-to-heart about their families and how the Fire Nation has wronged them, and Zuko opens up about his scar. Katara doesn't have much water from the Spirit Oasis, but she still offers to use it in an attempt to heal his scar - but they're sadly interrupted before they can do so.
2 She's Strong Enough To Stop Herself From Entering The Cycle Of Revenge When She Meets Her Mother's Killer
Katara ultimately ends up forgiving Zuko and accepting him into the group after the two of them embark on a journey to find the man who killed her mother. However, Katara learns an even greater lesson here: that entering the cycle of revenge and taking one life to avenge another is never worth having blood on one's own hands.
The two of them successfully track him down, and Katara launches a barrage of icicles at him with the intent to kill, only to pull back last minute. She instead berates him for being a weak and pathetic individual that she can't bring herself to kill for the sake of revenge. This is another a great moment when she demonstrated how strong her morals are.
1 She's Determined And Skillful Enough To Become The Only Waterbender To Both Heal And Bloodbend
Katara goes from being the only waterbender in her village, teaching herself everything that she knows and improving on her own, to a master of her element. Not only that, but she's actually the only known waterbender who can both heal and bloodbend using her powers. She's shown to be highly advanced at both, being able to bring Aang back from the edge of death using water from the Spirit Oasis, and she's the only known person to have broken free of someone else's bloodbending.