Not to undermine the importance of Katara’s character (and I’ve recently talked a lot about Katara’s
Not to undermine the importance of Katara’s character (and I’ve recently talked a lot about Katara’s role in Avatar, so there’s that), but let me get this straight: Bryke: Creates the concept of Zuko and Aang’s friendship before they create the majority of the Avatar universe.Bryke: Creates two characters whose elements represent power on the one hand and freedom on the other.Bryke: Creates two characters whose abilities, while not polar opposites of each other, can at times be opposed to one another and exist as interdependent forces–much like Tui and La.Bryke: Creates two characters who start off on the opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to fighting style (offense v defense), but who through time adopt components of each other’s fighting styles, as well as other forms of fighting into their style (ie., waterbending and earthbending moves).Bryke: Creates two characters whose plots and story arcs mirror and parallel each other almost completely. Bryke: Creates an entire episode dedicated to Zuko, and dedicates a crapload of screentime to Zuko. Bryke: Creates a shitload of symbolism relating to Zuko and Aang.Bryke: Creates a very interesting dynamic between Zuko and Aang.Bryke: Creates “The Avatar and the Firelord,” and other connections between Aang and Zuko. Bryke: Creates this giant theme of friendships that not only unites the members of the Gaang, but also ties into this whole idea of friendships transcending lifetimes.Bryke: Creates two characters who have an immense impact on one another, parallel one another, compete with one another, oppose one another, and finally befriend one another. Bryke: Calls Katara the deuteragonist. Ok, technically speaking, the only points relevant here are the ones having to do with Zuko and Aang paralleling each other, but still. Anyway, while Katara is incredibly important to the story (and I won’t argue with the “the story is being told from Katara’s POV,” point since I agree with it completely), but I’m hesitant to call her the deuteragonist. Yes, she’s a catalyst of sorts, and she helps connect Zuko and Aang, but when push comes to shove one of the most important relationships in Avatar was always between Aang and Zuko. Yes, there’s this lovely relationship between Aang and Katara where the two learn from each other and work and cooperate together both in situations where they need to bend together and other situations and it’s really great, and yes there is symbolism relating to Aang and Katara. But, to be fair, while there has been a lot of storytelling done to make Aang and Katara interact and learn from one another, the relationship between Aang and Zuko has always been a main focus of the series more than the relationship between Aang and Katara, I think. Although, to be fair, that may because Zuko’s not just an antagonist–he’s an antagonist turned protagonist with a strong connection to Aang. That, and there’s no mention of the sort of character that Bryke considers Zuko to be. Plus, we already know that Zuko is a favorite of Bryan’s, so there’s that I guess–but still.And I guess we can have more than one deuteragonist–the same way someone (looking at you, Zuzu) can be both an anti-hero and an anti-villain. Not to mention including two deuteragonists instead of demoting one character to the position of tritoagonist retains their importance. I‘m still getting a bit of this this weird “Bryke’s comment is more relevant to the pilot’s idea for the plot,” vibe though for some reason.And granted, as of recently, I’ve attempted to point out connections between all three central characters (as opposed to looking at Aang/Zuko, Aang/Katara, and Katara/Zuko separately), and maybe it’s best for it be done that way–otherwise you end up alienating one central character in favor of another and things get messy from there, especially when you have three central characters who are pretty crucial to the plot. That’s even why I created the central character tag in the first place.Final revelations aside, I’m still posting this though because reasons. And by reasons I mean “Bryke is puzzling.” Hell, they had an entire episode where Sokka’s down in the dumps because he’s supposedly just the “normal” guy even though he usually doesn’t give a rat’s ass about his lack of bending abilities and is actually pretty badass. Who needs bending when you’re an innovative genius? I have to say though, I think Mike and Bryan and are the only people I know of who have called Katara the deuteragonist. The only other variation of this I see is people calling Zuko the main character as opposed to Aang. I’ve never seen Katara called a the main character or deuteragonist though–unless I’m just looking in the wrong places. -- source link
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