because avatar: the last airbender is making a (well deserved) comeback i would like to present my argument: sokka has the most underrated character arc/development in atla.

who is sokka? here are the defining characteristics that make up his identity:

at 9 years old, sokka had wished to follow his father in war, but he had been too young to do so. when we first meet sokka, he is the only leading male of the southern water tribe.

at first, sokka seems to have many negative characteristics. he's unwilling to trust aang, he tells his younger sister she is unable to fight because of her gender, and is caught looking at his own reflection multiple times.

but as we get to know sokka more, we find he is intensely brilliant when it comes to strategizing, is loyal to his friends and family like no other, and determined to do what is right.

here is a quick overview of sokka's character arc that we will go over more in-depth.

defining moments for sokka in book one: water. as sokka leaves his home and travels the world, he begins to widen his perspective of what it means to be a leader, a "man", and learns lessons in loving and losing others.

defining moments for sokka in book two: earth. while a lot of this season does not focus on developing his character he does have some very important relationship-building and self-accepting moments that demonstrate just how much he's grown since his time in the water tribe.

defining moments for sokka in book three: fire. starting off as overconfident & egotistical, s3 finds sokka in constant question of his abilities in comparison to those around him. he doesn't find this balance until the very end of the season which i just think is super awesome.

who are our competitors? i decided to stick with original characters only for it to be fair in my season to season comparison.

what's interesting about sokka's character growth is that it's not a steady, gradual thing that happens. he betters himself in certain aspects but then falls behind in others. he's like a pendulum of sorts going from one extreme to the other. i love this because it's relatable.

sokka is rarely acknowledged by the fandom for his growth of character despite the amount of change he goes through even within the first four episodes of the series. yes, zuko has an awesome character arc, but he is well known and praised for this.

if we look at the ratio of character development to fan appreciation and recognition, we can conclude that...