Avatar Roku's History
Early Life
Roku was born to a noble family from the Fire Nation. Roku never much wanted for anything in life, and was a kind, determined, and friendly child. During his childhood, the world had enjoyed an unprecedentedly long time of peace due to the long life of the previous Avatar, Kyoshi, and was on the brink of an industrial revolution, due to the unprecedented collaboration fostered by business and academia to solve the world's most pressing issues, and scholars, educators, and innovators directly forged connections with one another in the name of progress.
He spent much of his childhood visiting the palace, and Roku and Prince Sozin were best friends; they spent a lot of time together, and practiced their firebending. They were so close that Sozin was able to immediately recognize Roku's crush on Ta Min, encouraging him to speak with her. They also shared the same birthday, which they celebrated together.
During a party celebrating his and Sozin's sixteenth birthday, Roku was informed by the Fire Sages that he was the Avatar. Before Roku left the Fire Nation to master the other three elements, Sozin came by to talk to him and was informed by Roku that the Sages had told him not to bring anything with him on his travels, as the Avatar required no worldly possessions on his journey. After learning this, Sozin gave him the headpiece worn by the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, hoping that he was at least allowed to have that. Roku took the headpiece gratefully and wore it for the rest of his life.
Avatar Journey
After learning of his identity as the Avatar, Roku began his journey to train under masters of the other three bending arts. Following the cycle, he needed to learn airbending first, so he traveled to the Southern Air Temple. While there, Roku became good friends with a young Air Nomad named Gyatso, who would, in his elder years, become the guardian, mentor, and friend to Avatar Aang.
During one of the airbending lessons, which involved the students taking off with their gliders, Roku showed off by performing a loop. When Gyatso tried to upstage him by air-surfing but fell, Roku came to the aid of his friend, though their combined weight proved too much for Roku to control and they crashed into the other students standing safely on the ground.
After training for several years, Roku mastered the art of airbending and traveled to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending from Taqukaq. At first, Taqukaq refused to train the Avatar, believing that any Fire Nation subject would hold a higher loyalty to the Fire Lord than the people of the four nations, as he had been betrayed by his best friend spying for the Fire Nation as a young man. However, Roku refused to seek another instructor, and eventually convinced Taqukaq of his devotion by living in the North for several years. When he started to train to learn waterbending in earnest, the task was particularly difficult for Roku, as water is the natural opposite of fire. However, years of training enabled him to duel his master and stand his ground. During one of these confrontations, Roku took the brunt of a water blow and ended up in the ocean, but popped back up to stand on an ice platform and swept Taqukaq away with a tall wave of water, crashing into the pinnacle of the chief's palace, a good distance away.[4] After Roku mastered waterbending, he often worked together with Taqukaq in private, but they maintained their distance in public to ensure that the waterbending master was not accused of being the Avatar's puppet during his diplomatic missions.
Moving on, Roku traveled to the Earth Kingdom to learn earthbending from a master named Sud, with whom he developed a great friendship. During one of their training sessions, they raced each other atop slabs of earth to the top of a hill. Although Sud was in the lead most of the time, Roku managed to best him to the top with time to spare to prepare tea for both of them, much to Sud's surprise.
Through his travels, Roku saw how unique each nation was, and how their peace was held together by fragile threads. He learned what it was like for people living in poverty, and realized what his privilege afforded him in his youth. For Roku, traveling the nations had not just been about learning the elements, but also about understanding the world and his duties as the Avatar.
Soon after Roku set out on his journey, the world began to change, with events such as Earth King Jialun's purge of the sages taking place, and the Earth Kingdom government began to grow greedy and corrupt. Changes at the hands of ambitious world leaders when Roku was still young meant that the world was a much more complicated place by the time he had mastered the four elements than it had been after Kyoshi's death.
Between 54 - 58 BG, the Four Nations Summit & Technological Symposium took place in Hari Bulkan, and Avatar Roku sent his waterbending master, Taqukaq, to ensure everything went smoothly. Both the Avatar and the waterbender foresaw a possible political incident occurring at the summit and it was important that the delegates kept the peace with one another so the summit did not turn into an international incident. Taqukaq did not want to out himself as Roku's spy, so he tasked a group of heroes to help him during the event.
Mastering the Avatar State
During 55 BG, after mastering earthbending, Roku spent five months in retreat at the Crescent Island Fire Temple, one of the Avatar Temples, attempting to master the Avatar State under the guidance of Fire Sage Kaja. Growing impatient after failing to master it with meditation, he tried using the winter solstice sun to force himself into the Avatar State. Despite his success, he became trapped under its influence and was unable to control his powers, resulting in the destruction of the upper half of the Fire Temple and the eruption of the nearby volcano. Kaja eventually managed to free Roku from the state by aligning the Avatar's eyes with the winter solstice sun once more, halting the destruction of the temple.
In payment for his near destruction of the Fire Sages' temple, Roku rebuilt parts of the temple and carved new underground passages out of the island's magma. He also personally provided aid to people living on the neighboring islands, as the region was suffering from seismic instability as a consequence, with earthquakes damaging many homes across the eastern Fire Islands. Following the incident, Roku became more patient with his training and completely mastered the Avatar State afterward.
Maintaining international peace and returning home
War threatened to break out between the Northern Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom after a tsunami hit the northern coast of the Earth Kingdom state of Chenbao. The Earth Kingdom blamed waterbenders for sending the tsunami, while the Northern Water Tribe blamed earthbenders for creating an underwater earthquake, but the truth was that it was simply a horrible natural disaster. Supported by the Air Nomads of the Northern Air Temple, Roku intervened before the conflict could escalate, and both sides backed down, though their navies remained in the contested waters.
Roku requested Air Nomad Elders to form a covert group of airbenders, whose job centered around quickly and quietly dealing with issues for the Avatar without question. This delegation was led by Sherab, who took his role very seriously.
In the following years, Roku faced rising worldwide tensions due to cultural changes and the growing influence of nationalist expansionist ideas. As the world continued to develop new technologies, nations began to compete with each other over raw materials and other resources which were needed for such innovations, leading to numerous small-scale conflicts and diplomatic incidents. Dark spirits also began to stir in the polar regions, which spiritually-inclined tribespeople believed was the result of nations abusing natural resources and laying claim to sacred land, and the Fire Nation beginning to hunt dragons. Meanwhile, the world was affected by disasters such as floods in the southern Earth Kingdom. Roku worked hard to maintain the balance between the nations, and did all that he could to negotiate the potentially volatile situations of his day. With most of the nations becoming increasingly selfish and aggressive, the Air Nomads were Roku's main allies, and the temples gladly came to Roku's aid when he called upon them, despite the protests of the breakaway sect known as the Guiding Wind, who claimed that Roku was overstepping as Avatar by asking the Air Nomads to be involved in worldly politics.
After his mastery of the Avatar State, Roku returned to the Fire Nation Capital, having become a fully realized Avatar. He reunited with Sozin, who had since been crowned as Fire Lord, greeting each other with a hug. A few months later, Roku married his childhood sweetheart, Ta Min, and had Sozin take the position of his best man during the ceremony. At the wedding, Sozin asked to speak with Roku in private and informed his close friend that he had thought hard about the state of the world.
He told Roku that he firmly believed the Fire Nation had entered a period of great prosperity, and proposed to Roku that together the pair could spread this wealth to the world by expanding the empire. Roku was horrified by this proposition, telling Sozin that the four nations were to be kept separate, and advised the Fire Lord to never bring the subject forth in future conversations.
At some point in his life, Roku found a dragon, Fang, when he was a baby, not yet hatched from his egg, and adopted him as his animal guide and constant companion during his life as the Avatar. He eventually settled down and began living out his life with Ta Min, with whom he later had a daughter, Rina.
Seventeen years after Roku's wedding, he discovered that Sozin had proceeded with his plans and set up colonies within the Earth Kingdom. Infuriated at this act of war, Roku confronted Sozin. Blasting open the doors to the throne room inside the Fire Nation Royal Palace, he lambasted his old friend and ordered him to cease his aggressive expansion. When Sozin retorted that Roku's loyalty lay with the Fire Lord and the nation's progress, deeming him a traitor if he did so otherwise, Roku warned the Fire Lord not to challenge him. As he turned to leave, Sozin attacked him from behind, but Roku easily dodged the attack and used his earthbending to reappear behind Sozin, giving him the opportunity to strike him with an air blast. Suspending Sozin in the air with an earth pillar by the collar of his robes, Roku entered the Avatar State and destroyed the throne room and part of the palace with a massive gust of air. He spared Sozin's life for the sake of their past friendship and left him still hanging above the ground, though not before warning him never to move forward with his plans again, as it would otherwise result in his "permanent end". However, the Avatar allowed the first Fire Nation colonists to remain at their new homes in the Earth Kingdom.
Death
Twenty-five years later, Roku's home island was consumed in a violent volcanic eruption so massive that even Fire Lord Sozin could see and feel it from his palace a hundred miles away. Initially, he managed to give time for the other inhabitants including his wife to escape the island by forming an air sphere around him. Through the use of his bending abilities, Roku attempted to contain the volcanic destruction, although it was delayed by continuous spitting of lava from the volcano's mouth, using earthbending to create trenches to divert the lava safely to the sea, and using airbending to solidify the lava and blow away the poisonous gases from the geysers formed underneath until he used the Avatar State to bend lava to the other side. He eventually lost hope though, when the secondary volcano close by also erupted. At that moment, however, Sozin arrived on his dragon and offered his assistance to the Avatar. The two used their bending to try to contain the lava flow, with Roku saving Sozin from a nasty fall using earthbending, but the poisonous gases eventually forced them to flee the mountainside. On their way down, Roku warned Sozin to not breathe the gas and used his airbending to protect them, before succumbing to a gas geyser himself. His vision blurring, Roku pleaded for help. Instead, Sozin realized that without Roku in his way, his plans of conquest would come into fruition, therefore leaving on his dragon and a shocked Roku to die. Aghast by his former friend's decision and reason to leave him for dead, Roku ultimately realized that his death was inevitable. Right before the pyroclastic flow engulfed him, Fang curled up with his master and the two died together.
Legacy
Like all the other Avatars before him, a statue of Roku was built in the sanctuary of the Southern Air Temple, next to Kyoshi's. Another statue of him was also built in the Fire Temple on Crescent Island where he had once trained. Roku was reincarnated into Aang, an Air Nomad who would later become the sole survivor of the Air Nomad Genocide. The Fire Sages, who were once loyal to Roku, eventually lost faith that the Avatar would return and fell under the control of the Fire Lord, gradually turning away from their true purpose of serving the Avatar.
Appearances in Aang's life
A century after Roku's death, during a winter solstice, Aang was able to communicate with him by visiting the sanctuary of the temple that Roku had inhabited 112 years prior. There, Roku informed Aang of the impending return of Sozin's Comet and described Fire Lord Ozai's plan to harness the comet's energy and gain victory in the War. He entrusted the young Avatar with the task of mastering the four elements and defeating the Fire Lord before the comet's arrival, before the summer's end. Roku also helped Aang defeat a group of firebenders along with their leader, Admiral Zhao, who waited outside of the sanctuary to capture the young airbender by manifesting himself in Aang's place, seizing control of the fire bent at him and sent it back in a powerful wave that knocked back all opposition and melted the chains of those captured. Furious over the treachery of the Fire Sages, except Shyu, he used lavabending to awaken the dormant volcano directly underneath the temple, destroying the structure before the solstice ended during which he disappeared after the completion of his task.
Roku aided Aang several times after this, appearing to Jeong Jeong to persuade him to teach his successor firebending after the deserter refused to teach the art. During the Siege of the North, he offered critical wisdom in the ways of the Spirit World, informing Aang of how he could save the Moon Spirit and defeat the invading Fire Navy. Later, after Aang entered the Avatar State without control after "losing" Katara due to General Fong, he revealed to Aang the nature of the Avatar State, including the fact that, if he was ever killed in the such a state, the Avatar Cycle would be broken and cease to exist. Thus, he acted as somewhat of a mentor and spiritual guide for Aang.
Roku appeared to Aang in the Spirit World after the Air Nomad was struck by lightning from Azula during the Coup of Ba Sing Se, although the Avatar was revived by Katara who used spirit water to heal his spirit. He offered encouragement and shared his own experience in mastering the Avatar State.
Shortly after, Roku showed himself to the young airbender once more, when the latter was feeling disheartened over his perceived failure in Ba Sing Se. Roku, however, blamed himself for the entire tragedy, saying that he should have foreseen the War and taken steps to prevent it. He proceeded to tell Aang that he believed it was his destiny to save the world and redeem him. Shortly afterward, Roku appeared to Aang in a dream and said that the young Avatar should visit his homeland, where he would learn about the origins of the War. Aang entered the Spirit World and Roku guided Aang through his life, from his friendship with Sozin to his eventual death.
Aang also communicated with Roku immediately prior to the arrival of Sozin's Comet. He told Roku that he felt insecure about killing Phoenix King Ozai, as he was taught by the Air Nomads to respect all life. While understanding Aang's discomfort, Roku insisted that Aang must kill Ozai in order to save the world. He told Aang that it was his reluctance to end Sozin's life that initially started the Hundred Year War, and that Aang must not make the same mistake by showing mercy to Fire Lord Ozai.
A year after the Hundred Year War, Aang again called on Roku regarding the behavior of Fire Lord Zuko, Roku's great-grandson. Aang had promised to Zuko that he would end his life if he ever developed ridiculous plans just as his father had; the young Fire Lord appeared to be in such a mental state when he withdrew his support of the Harmony Restoration Movement. Roku again told Aang he needed to be decisive, as the former again expressed his regret for not ending Fire Lord Sozin's life when he had the chance.
When discord erupted between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom concerning the city of Yu Dao, Aang sought Roku's advice, who advocated him to uphold his promise with Zuko and kill him to keep the world in balance. Aang later arrived at Yu Dao to separate the two battling armies, but at the last moment chose to spare Zuko's life. A few days later, at Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se, Roku berated Aang for his mercy in allowing Zuko to live and his failure to keep the four nations separate. Aang retorted that Roku's doctrine no longer applied in the post-war era. Stating that Roku could not teach him anymore in this era, Aang burned his fire amulet into ash, breaking the connection to his past life, a tear rolling down his cheek as he did so. This later proved to have great repercussions when Yangchen explained to Aang that by severing his connection with Roku, he damaged his connection with all the Avatars before him as well, leaving Aang unable to contact his other past lives at will.
With Aang needing to get in contact with Yangchen due to General Old Iron's approach, he re-established his connection with Roku by re-crafting the fire medallion for his meditation beads from stone with his earthbending. Roku appeared before his apologetic successor and offered him a hug. As they embraced, he told the young Avatar that his past lives could only advise him from their own perspectives and that he had to find balance, not just between human and spirit, but also the past and present. He pointed Aang to his most recent past lives leading up to Yangchen and added that he remember this advice as he looked for a solution to his dilemma.
Appearances in Korra's life
Roku appeared, along with Aang, Kuruk, Yangchen, Kyoshi, and all previous Avatars, before Korra when her bending was removed by Amon. He and every other Avatar present entered the Avatar State to restore her bending, and disappeared when this task was completed. He also appeared when Korra was suffering from amnesia, taking over from Avatar Aang, and told her that in order to recover her identity, she needed to reconnect with her Avatar Spirit.
While Unalaq was attacking Raava, Korra envisioned Roku among the Avatar lineup she had seen prior to regaining her bending; however, his connection to Korra was severed due to Unalaq's assault on and subsequent destruction of the light spirit.
