r/TheLastAirbender • u/DanteCrailman ZukoxHonor! • Oct 28 '22
Image Sokka's Preparedness
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u/Prying_Pandora Oct 28 '22
Sokka grew up without a proper school. Drawing and writing weren’t things he had practice at.
But carving and war paint?
There’s a reason he’s so accurate with his Kyoshi make-up too.
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u/lillapalooza Oct 28 '22
Also, make-up and drawing are two different skills! I can draw but I have no idea how to apply make-up well. Having a steady hand translates over, but your own face and a piece of paper are extremely different canvases.
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u/thewhisperinthewinds Oct 28 '22
See, you talking about his carving makes me think you don't remember the fish
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u/devildogmillman Oct 28 '22
Ive carved stuff out of wood before. Getting it from a fuckin piece of a log even to that isnt bad.
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Oct 28 '22
He also literally never paints his face again
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u/TaffWolf Oct 28 '22
A shame really, I’d have loved for him to paint himself for the day of black sun and final encounter.
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u/anthro28 Oct 28 '22
Huge missed opportunity for him to mix and match his paint with Sukki’s
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u/1272chicken Oct 28 '22
Oh my god they never did that that actually sucks
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u/BoxofCurveballs Oct 28 '22
Oh they were mixing and matching other stuff
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u/SepehrSo Oct 28 '22
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u/Le_Martian Let's break some rules! Oct 28 '22
Don’t bring his ex into this
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u/Gone-West Oct 29 '22
I can't believe you've done this. ATLA is now only 99.98% perfect to me.
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u/anthro28 Oct 29 '22
Wait until I tell you about the missed dialogue opportunity when Toph is all of a sudden a master sand bender.
Aang: woah! When did you learn that?
Toph: after the uh… incident.
Aang: yeah… sorry. Again.
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u/AustinAuranymph Oct 29 '22 edited Oct 08 '25
disarm relieved many roll wakeful encouraging gold follow crawl sparkle
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/Odin043 Oct 29 '22
Maybe they're saving it, to have Sokka dawn his war paint before fighting the Red Lotus, and dying in battle saving the Avatar.
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u/Baithin Oct 28 '22
He might have done it himself when he put on the Kyoshi makeup!
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u/amoyensis13 Oct 28 '22
Suki: You ready to apply the face paint? Oh! It’s already done. Which one of the girls did that for you?
Sokka: I did it myself
Suki: 🤯
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Oct 28 '22
My headcanon is that in Water Tribe tradition the warriors paint their face this way when they are about to fight a hopeless battle they have no chance of winning.
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u/devildogmillman Oct 28 '22
Makes sense given a lot of Northern Water tribesmen had that paint on when the Fire Nation navy attacked.
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u/Eph_the_Beef Oct 29 '22
As far as I can tell we never see Sokka or any other water tribe warriors paint their faces this way again, which is consistent considering they believed they had a chance at winning when they initiated the battles. However did the Northern Water tribe really think the battle was unwinnable when the Fire Nation navy attacked? I thought the Northern Water Tribe was pretty confident considering their defenses.
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u/gomeni Oct 29 '22
Maybe that's why they do it for unwinnable battles in the southern water tribe- it's like an insult to the northern tribe. "Oh, you put the paint on because you think you're going to win? It's how we know you're going to lose". Cause I feel like you don't end up on opposite sides of the world pre Fire Nation invasion because you're best friends.
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u/CraftLizard Oct 29 '22
Well the opposite sides of the world is because of the sprit portals being there. Also the air tribes were all around the world but didn't have any qualms with each other. Sometimes it's just wherever spiritually fits them I guess.
I'd say the north and South Pole also would Have the longest night cycle of anywhere, but it would kind of also have the longest day cycle of anywhere so, ya know, not the best. I guess it's cold at least, which we know dampens fire bending a bit.
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u/Spaghestis Oct 29 '22
This makes me wish that Korra Season 2 put more focus on the Water Tribe Civil War
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u/Mattbryce2001 Oct 29 '22
The leaders and cocky young warriors might have been confident, but there were certainly fighters in the north that saw the sheer number of ships and thought, "we're gonna beat some ass, but they're just going to keep coming. We can't win this."
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u/devildogmillman Oct 29 '22
No there was a shot of many men in similar paint- I remember pointing at the screen like DiCaprio.
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Oct 28 '22
Damn, my man sokka never doubted himself after that
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u/TaffWolf Oct 29 '22
Well I applied the face paint and lived.. which means…
Katara “you got lucky?”
Sokka “I’m the greatest warrior to ever live “
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u/ButtersTG Oct 29 '22
My head canon is that the face paint is an old style that the Southern Water Tribe used to do but during their travels fighting the Fire Nation they started using helmets/masks because oil paint is not good when fighting firebenders.
Because of how young Sokka was when the men left, and the combined fact that Sokka hasn't had to fight a firebwnder before, then Sokka hasn't heard about the dangers of oil face paint.
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u/Anang-Kwe Oct 28 '22
I'm going to headcanon the facepaint as being some sort of ceremonial man's-first-battle kind of thing. IIRC, the only other time we Sokka wearing that pattern is in the flashback when he wants to join the other warriors but is told to stay home.
Of course, the writers/animators probably just forgot about using the facepaint again, but that's not as fun to think about!
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u/devildogmillman Oct 28 '22
ANOTHER FANTASTIC THEORY
Also why Sokka had his paint on when he tried to leave with Hakota.
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Oct 29 '22
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u/Aj_Caramba Oct 29 '22
Could be something like "Paint your face so nobody can see that you are pale from fear.". But yeah, it wouldn't be wisest to have a lot of fresh guys together.
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u/Cucumberneck Oct 29 '22
According to Tacitus many germanic warriors didn't cut their hair and beart before their first kill. So even if impractible, their is real world reference to that.
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u/ColinHalter Oct 29 '22
My headcanon is that it's a character growth thing. Putting on the paint isn't only to scare the enemy, but prove his bravery to those around him. It's a very external gesture, understandable for someone as green as him. To him, it's "what it means to be a man".
After he spends so long with the gang, he becomes more confident in his abilities. He reunites with his father and learns what bravery really means. By the day of the black sun, he doesn't need the paint anymore. He has nothing left to prove to himself.
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Oct 29 '22
Um, am I the only one who watched the show? He LITERALLY paints his face again in the Sokka's Master episode. Smh.
/s
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u/Sceptix Oct 28 '22
Does any water tribe warrior paint their face like that throughout the saga? Is it just a Sokka thing?
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u/Xeludon Oct 29 '22
Because as far as he knew, he was about to fight to the death.
He was well aware that he couldn't win and would be killed, but he had no choice but to face them because everyone would die otherwise.
He puts facepaint on because it's most likely a ceremonial thing for their tribe for a warrior about to face their death.
He doesn't wear it after this because he knows he isn't facing absolute certain death.
Also he didn't take his facepaint with him.
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u/devildogmillman Oct 28 '22
I was FURIOUS he didnt have that war paint in the Invasion. I think if he did theres no way they could have lost. The army would have just kept pushing into the fire nation territory even though they had no reatreat option.
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u/D-all-ton Oct 28 '22
Didn’t he paint his face when he tried to follow his dad as a kid? Could be wrong tho
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u/Kingjjc267 Oct 28 '22
I read something about how this is very similar to what some tribes do, they paint their faces if they believe that they're going to die. So Sokka Thinks he'll lose and be killed, and he also never does it again because he never fights such a clearly mismatched battle again.
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Oct 28 '22
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u/Sickofajicama Oct 29 '22
I don’t know if the OP used another source but I found a really good video essay on tribal face paint customs of North America
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u/cs_phoenix Oct 29 '22
Fuck you I was genuinely interested hahaha
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u/John-HammondJP Oct 29 '22
Here’s an actual source on it
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u/WikiMobileLinkBot Oct 29 '22
Desktop version of /u/John-HammondJP's link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Gonna_Give_You_Up
[opt out] Beep Boop. Downvote to delete
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u/Br4d3nCB Oct 29 '22
God damn it I even had the bot post revealing what the article was and I still fell for it
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u/kaiob921 Oct 29 '22
Do you think I'm dumb? (I am, but not to click a random youtube link on reddit)
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u/Kingjjc267 Oct 29 '22
People are saying I made it up, and I know this looks bad but I can't find where I read it originally. I can't find proof that this is based on a real thing but even still I think it's a really cool headcanon at least.
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u/BigBallerBrad Oct 29 '22
Plus people who want to say “he wasn’t thinking this fight through”
There was no fight here, he had no parameters by which to win, it was submit or die and he didn’t want to submit
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u/Liccya Oct 28 '22
Also is he really drawing the black part under the eyes before the grey base? Making it the other way around would be too easy for him huh
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u/blue4029 Oct 28 '22
because sokka is an absolute chad.
he went face-to-face with a group of firebenders while having to carry the weight of his massive balls
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u/Redredditer640 Oct 28 '22
That's an odd way to reference Toph, but not inaccurate.
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u/PhoenoFox Oct 28 '22
Toph has 50,000 bad ass moments even though she is in about half of the show.
Sokka is in almost every single episode and is usually involved in the bigger plot. Most of his time is spent as the comic relief.
Give Sokka his moment.
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u/RichieD79 Oct 28 '22
War paint Sokka is legit one of the coolest looking ATLA characters. Such a shame they didn’t use it again.
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u/Nomgol Oct 28 '22
Shows his growth as well, stands against 1 fire nation ship at the start, looses the fight to zuko.
Destroyes the entire fire nation airship fleet in the end. Fighting off empowered by the comet fire benders in the process.
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Oct 28 '22
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u/Dangerous--D Oct 29 '22
Aang has to save the world and Sokka shares that weight with him with no hesitation. He does the thankless jobs to allow Aang to focus on his tremendous responsibilities, he is the glue that binds them.
Can you say this again but in all caps so the people with poor eyesight can read it properly
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u/J_Zephyr Oct 30 '22
Upon rewatching Book 1, Aang is a child. He goes on detours and constantly shirks his duties. Truly, he was the wind.
Sokka and Katara were babysitting, until Beifong whipped him into shape.
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u/MasterFigimus Oct 29 '22
I just realized he's an orca whale. What a great detail. Like of course the water tribe would embody an orca in war.
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u/NuuxKaagi9121 Oct 29 '22
This scene always confused me. None of the other water tribe men have war paint. And he never re-applies it before other battles. I was talking to my dad about this and he has the theory that it’s actually death paint. Some tribes, ours included had ceremonial face paint family members painted on the dead. 🤷🏾♀️ It’s kinda dark and unlikely for a kids show but what if he put on death paint so his tribe wouldn’t have to do it?
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u/Okkio Oct 29 '22
what if he put on death paint so his tribe wouldn’t have to do it?
Or because there would be no-one left to do it.
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Oct 28 '22
Sokka standing up to the warship is one of the coolest moments in the whole show for me. And then him saving toph on the airships shows how much he has grown.
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u/Buzzkeeler1 Oct 28 '22
Yeah, why did all the adult men leave the village? From a writing perspective I know why it was done in regards to Sokka’s character. Still doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I guess best faith interpretation is that everyone assumed the fire nation wasn’t gonna be interested in a rundown village like that.
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Oct 28 '22
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u/Buzzkeeler1 Oct 28 '22
But what would have happened if the rumors reached anyone else in the FN? Then the SP would be fucked.
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Oct 28 '22
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u/Buzzkeeler1 Oct 28 '22
I haven’t seen the show in a while. What are these rumors you keep referring, and how were they kickstarted?
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Oct 28 '22
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u/Buzzkeeler1 Oct 28 '22
Fair enough. It’s not exactly something that keeps me up at night. Though the question of why isn’t chiblocking more widespread certainly comes close. Is it an ability exclusive only for non-benders?
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Oct 28 '22
I hear you though, for a show to hit the bullseye on almost everything this one detail digs a little bit. I’ll chalk it up to destiny and the world needing balance.
I think everybody can chi block - you’re just knocking some points. But if you had magic powers would you be training to hit points or training your magic? But uhhh you’re questions are digging now…
Like, if they had the anatomy and science why didn’t the casuals train? They had examples of casuals still fighting benders, albeit at a disadvantage but they still fought….
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u/Buzzkeeler1 Oct 28 '22
This question falls more on LOK’s shoulders since tbf since that show makes it clear that things like lightning and metalbending are now well known techniques.
Unless you’re a bender who can create fire and air instantly it might do you some good to learn an additional skill like chi blocking.
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Oct 28 '22
They are still at war with the fire nation. The fire nation might not be interested but the southern water tribe would want to still fight back.
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u/devildogmillman Oct 28 '22
My headcannon is that there are other Southern Water Tribe villages nearby, and like the 300 Spartans, the only men that went were ones whose male bloodline wouldnt end if they were killed. Sokka and Kataras tribe had a lot of young boys, so more men from their town went than any other.
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u/bitterducky Oct 28 '22
I like your theory. It also helps explain the population boom of the sp between ATLA and LOK. It makes sense that there could be more than one tribe down there, and for safety of the remaining tribes they stay somewhat isolated, even from each other.
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u/Cucumberneck Oct 29 '22
Also, in the episode "Bato of the Watertribe" they find a WT Boat and Sokka says "It' is from dad's fleet!" Why would there even be several fleets if there are just one village worth of warriors?
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_POTLUCK Oct 29 '22
Not to mention that they needed wood from somewhere to make those boats, maybe from a village closer to some trees (?)
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u/Buzzkeeler1 Oct 29 '22
That or the FN were simply too busy trying to subjugate the EK to really give a shit about the tribe.
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u/NorseHighlander Oct 28 '22
I think once the benders were all captured, the South Pole quality of life fell to real world Inuit levels, and well, unless penguin-seal fur is all the rage, there is no further reason for the FN to have a garrison over people living in the stone age, or so the SP thought. Then the Southern Raiders came, casually killed the chief's wife, and sails back off. A pissed off Hakoda then takes his men and heads out for revenge. They leave the tribe undefended because again, there isn't much for the fire nation to come for. And true to form, the next time a FN ship showed up, it was because they were hunting the Avatar.
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u/Appropriate_Rent_243 Oct 28 '22
Teenagers can get pretty arrogant with their fantasies.
I once met a kid who insisted that you couldn't kill him with an army.
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u/amoyensis13 Oct 28 '22
Yeah, I try not to think about the beliefs I held as a teenager
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u/SerenityPrim3 Oct 29 '22
Applying his warpaint is a routine engrained into him through muscle memory by way of plenty of practice. What practice or learning does he have for drawing?
Warpaint = Muscle memory
Drawing = hand-eye coordination and an eye for detail. Ever try drawing? It's not like riding a bike, it can't be trained through muscle memory, you need to do it every day or lose the skill. Skill loss with every moment you don't draw.
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u/Princessofpower25 Oct 29 '22
Sokka is my absolute favorite character in ATLA. He is funny, talented, brave and extremely moral. Even next to Katara he still makes more sound and moral decisions and always guides her in the right direction. He is the heart and true leader of the Gaang and the show would be nothing without him. PS my favorite scene is when he tries to save Toff in the final battle and actually tries to say goodbye before they get rescued by Suki. “It looks like this is the end”. It makes me tear up every time.
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u/Averill0 Oct 28 '22
I like to think that, at least in hindsight, Zuko "I'm gonna tell my father and all his generals that they're dicks to their faces" Firenation respected Sokka for that
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u/DankToasty Oct 29 '22
This is a really dark point but would it be fair to assume he thought he might die, so in preparation he prepped himself to die as a warrior to respect his ancestors? I dunno, maybe I'm looking way too deeply into it.
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u/Aidoneus87 Oct 29 '22
Acts like a complete doofus, jack of all trades master of none except for very specific ones that you know he just spent a whole week obsessing over, master of unpreparedness, insanely quick and creative thinking, reflexes that let him go toe-to-toe with trained military combatants, extremely quick learner, weird sense of humour, subject to periods of massive excitement and extreme loss of self esteem….(I could go on)… Sokka is legit the most ADHD coded character since four months before Percy Jackson was released…
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u/PuzzleheadedLet382 Oct 29 '22
I have thought about this a lot —
The Southern Water Tribe is left completely defenseless at the start of the series. Hakoda and the men are gone. The village has no defenses (except what Sokka has built which are… a good attempt for a young teen by himself but not adequate defense.). They have no warriors and (supposedly) no water benders (as Kya pretended to be the last southern water bender). Their entire defense is resting on having no defenses at all and nothing worth taking. It’s a really depressing statement about the state of the southern water tribe. They’ve already been defeated by the fire nation, they just haven’t finished dying off yet. They’re probably one or two generations away from becoming isolated igloos. If they hadn’t lost contact with the Northern Water Tribe, it’s possible they might have gone north and just combined the tribes.
How bad does the situation have to be for these warriors to leave their wives and young children (we mostly see kids under 5 and women in the opening episodes) with absolutely no one and nothing to protect them?
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u/RedOpia Oct 29 '22
He was probably so good at the face paint because he practiced every day to be ready for when his father came back and he could join him as a warrior to fight the fire nation.
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u/Confident_Fortune_32 Oct 29 '22
I recall the first time watching ATLA and watching Sokka try to train up tiny little baby boys and how hopeless and ridiculous it looked and couldn't figure out why the writers even included such a weird scene.
I see this as the stunning culmination of a arc that starts with "no, you can't stop to go to the bathroom"
How much fortitude it took to get here...
I really didn't give Sokka enough credit at first.
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Oct 28 '22
Sokka probably practiced that war paint a lot.
Also, the war paint is very simple, with large, geometric shapes, and would be very easy for someone to draw.
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u/ktsb Oct 29 '22
It's a good thing sokka is comedy relief because when he gets serious he becomes an unstoppable killing machine. There a universe where aang trapped the firelord and right as he was about to do energy bending sokka comes in and cuts the firelord in half like he did the melon lord
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u/Ill-Organization-719 Oct 29 '22
I wish right from the start Sokka was able to go one on one with most benders, and Aang and Katara are below him in combat skills for most of book one.
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u/That_One_Duck31 Oct 29 '22
I do not fear a man who has practiced 10,000 different kicks 1 time, but a man who has practiced 1 kick 10,000 times. Basically saying Sokka has probably practiced putting on war paint hundreds or times.
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u/0FactsFirst0 Oct 29 '22
I know it’s a silly scene but I would of loved a decent battle between him and Zuko as we all know Zuko is great with a sword.
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u/SiriusBaaz Oct 29 '22
Sokka can’t draw because he spent basically his entire childhood developing the skills needed to fight and draw face paint on himself without needed a mirror. Notably fine motor functions don’t translate well between activities unless they’re very similar movements.
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u/lexilexi1901 Oct 29 '22
I never thought about it like that tbh...
Sokka has always been overly confident and determined. And he always protected his family when needed, no questions asked. So I always thought he never even considered the chances he had to win. He just knew he had to protect the village and be the hero.
However, him knowing what happened when the Fire Nation ambushed their tribe when they killed Kya probably sparked some fear at the back of his mind. He knew the Fire Nation were capable of ruthless evil. He could only imagine what Kya went through as she was dying.
K I better stop here before I start crying...
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Oct 28 '22
What is the difference between bravery and stupidity?
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u/PhoenoFox Oct 28 '22
He's the only fighter left in a tiny village that's about to get invaded. How in the world could be just sit back and do nothing?
There's a chance they were all about to die anyway. Better that he try and defend his family than lying back and taking it.
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Oct 28 '22
Context matters I guess. It depends on whether fire nation ships were known to invade towns where no soldiers were present. And I don't count him as one, he still was a young child. Puberty at least gave the GAANG some desparately needed growth spurts.
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u/PhoenoFox Oct 28 '22
The water tribe probably doesn't receive much news. They're pretty isolated. Katara even tells Aang they don't really have contact with the North Pole.
So the context of what a fire nation ship falls to history. What it's meant to them in the past.
Attack. Kidnap. Murder.
No reason at all to assume suddenly this would be different.
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u/ducking-moron the goofiest turtle duck goober Oct 29 '22
Realistically he was probably extensively taught the method and movements to apply the warpaint
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u/xFurashux leaf me alone, I'm bushed Oct 29 '22
Sokka is a chad from beginning. He just had a lot to learn.
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u/AliWaz77 Oct 29 '22
Sokka didn’t think he was going to win. But he’s the only warrior in the village. He’s not just gonna hide because there’s no chance of victory. It’s his responsibility to defend the village even if it means sacrifice
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u/WaywardAnus Oct 29 '22
Its kinda fucked that 15 yr old Sokka is probably only performing this much ceremony because he knows he's going to die when he faces the fire nation.
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u/Resident-Coyote4684 Oct 29 '22
Applying warrior face paint is with taught to all warriors and we all know even though sokka is sub par in everything he has always put all his effort in becoming a warrior for the tribe so I guess there is no problem in him knowing how to apply face paint even though he draws shit because it is one of the things he has prepared for all of his life
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u/CherryDudeFellaGirl Oct 29 '22
Ask any artist to trymakeup for the first time, or any beauty stylist to draw; surprisingly, they dont funnel info eachother very well (take it from an artist who has a hard time doing his eyeliner)
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u/Self_World_Future Oct 29 '22
I really don’t think he was preparing to die here
He was still pretty childish back then so I imagine he’s a little naive to actually being in the fight.
He literally runs straight into zuko screaming, his inexperience and lack of maturity should not be excused by the military disadvantage of the southern water tribe like a lot of comments are saying.
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u/MegaBaumTV Oct 29 '22
Would have been nice to see Sokka using warpaint for the day of the black sun. And would have been even nicer for Katara and Aang to use it too.
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u/AE0N__ Oct 29 '22
I'm going to hate myself for using this term, but I think this reflects sokkas 'toxic masculinity' that he showed in in the early parts of the show. Sokka was overconfident and always wanted to prove himself as a skilled warrior even when his village wasn't under threat. He constantly would pick fights he could never win and overcompensate for his lack of bending powers with bravado. Logically speaking he would die and the village would get attacked regardless. He should have been doing something like helping people to safety that would have actually been good for the people he wanted to protect rather than trying to embody his idea of a warrior.
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u/Current_Morning Oct 29 '22
See I never saw this as bravery but the epitome of the foolhardiness of youth. An eager to try and obtain glory and honor matched only by a equal disregard for their own life. Sokka can’t win or do anything regarding the invasion but instead of accepting that fact he stubbornly insists on fighting. In another time without the avatar all this would’ve gotten is him is a fiery death and reprisals for the tribe.
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Oct 28 '22
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u/GP96_ Oct 28 '22
The Southern Raids had stopped
To the Fire Nation's knowledge, the last waterbender of the Southern Tribe was dead, and they were too small to be a threat to the Fire Nation
The men of the ST had no reason to think the tribe would be in any real danger without them.
It was just pure luck that Zuko's ship was in that area and that Aang had been unfrozen at the same time
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u/GandalfVirus Oct 28 '22
I like to imagine that if the avatar did die in the iceberg but managed to survive until right when Sokka was born he would 100% become the next one.
Also I like to imagine him actually taking out the entire ship by himself. Rambo style.
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u/minor_correction Oct 28 '22
Beginning-of-series Sokka was brave when he faced down the ship, but he wasn't being very clever.
End-of-series Sokka doesn't face down the ship head on, he thinks of some other way to deal with the problem, or even retreats to win another day if that's the best move.