Military of the Water Tribe
General information
Leader(s) Chief Hakoda (Southern Water Tribe) Chief Arnook (Northern Water Tribe) (formerly) Chief Unalaq (Northern Water Tribe)
Notable members Sokka Bato Hahn
Headquarters Northern Water Tribe Southern Water Tribe
Affiliation Water Tribe
Purpose Defense of the Water Tribe
Chronological information
First appearance "Bato of the Water Tribe"
Last appearance "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang"

The military of the Water Tribe is a military group of organizations protecting the various Water Tribes. It is divided between the Northern Water Tribe, the Southern Water Tribe, and the Foggy Swamp Tribe.

Chain of command is not very well defined. There is no overall military commander of the Water Tribe, command being divided between the North and South. It is clear however, that the Chiefs of the two tribes have the overall command of their respective tribal militia.^[1][2]

As a result of the strong customary theme expressed by the two major sects, the Water Tribe military is considerably less sophisticated than that of the recently industrialized Earth Kingdom or the highly industrialized Fire Nation. It is also much smaller. Nevertheless, the tribes also exhibit deep pride and willpower typical of a warrior race.

Contents 1 Northern Water Tribe 1.1 Equipment and uniform 1.1.1 Infantry 1.1.2 Other equipment 1.2 Navy 1.3 Special task forces 1.3.1 Hahn's task force 1.4 List of known commanders 2 Southern Water Tribe 2.1 Equipment and uniform 2.1.1 Infantry 2.1.2 Other equipment 2.2 Navy 2.3 List of known commanders 3 Foggy Swamp Tribe 3.1 List of known commanders 4 List of major engagements 5 References 6 See also 7 Comments

Northern Water Tribe Edit

The more organized Northern Water Tribe has a more sophisticated militia. All adult male members of the Northern Water Tribe are fully-trained warriors. There are both waterbender warriors and non-bender warriors.^[1]

Equipment and uniform Edit

Infantry Edit

These Water Tribe elite fighters are all master waterbenders and skilled at defending the ramparts of the Northern Water Tribe. They bear the traditional war-paint of both the Northern and Southern Water Tribes.

Non-bender weaponry includes clubs, spears made of bone, also used in spearfishing, scimitars, and machetes laced with whale teeth on the dull side of the blade. They typically apply black and white warpaint onto their full face before going into battle.^[1]

Other equipment Edit

The Northern Water Tribe makes use of armories located on the warrior training grounds, which serve as weapon storage and war planning rooms where orders are distributed. The armories also contain weapon sharpeners, which use a spinning wheel kept in motion by pressing down on a foot pad to grind spear tips and knives. Their waterbenders engender and utilize a countless amount of iceberg spikes scattered across the ocean just outside the city as a first line of defense against Fire Nation ships. The spikes are capable of ripping through solid metal and sinking even the largest ships. The currents in the iceberg fields are known to be extremely dangerous, but are easily traversed by Water Tribe vessels. The iceberg spikes themselves are also used as cover for warriors to hide behind, enabling them to easily ambush any unwanted visitors.^[1]

Navy Edit

The Northern Water Tribe has a small number of ships. The most common ship is a double-hulled vessel powered by waterbending. Though its small, compact size enables it to be used for a variety of applications, including transporting civilians across the canals within the city, its main purpose is to be used for short, open ocean trips. Even though it is not necessarily designed for long voyages, it is capable of being used to travel over a thousand miles and withstanding the harshest ocean conditions. Warriors use this ship to patrol and protect the waters just outside the Northern Water Tribe.^[3]

The Northern Water Tribe also possesses, however, great ships and maritime vessels. Master Pakku used such a ship, technically called a catamaran, to travel from the Northern Water Tribe to the Southern Water Tribe as he began his effort to restore the decimated sister tribe. The ship is massive, easily transporting scores of waterbenders and healers, the Avatar, along with his friends, and his ten ton flying bison. The ship dwarfs Appa, who could be seen standing on its deck just before Aang and friends departed from Pakku and headed off on their journey toward the Earth Kingdom.^[4]

Though perhaps used as a plot device, the Water Tribe, ironically, has the smallest navy in the world (excluding the Air Nomads on the basis that they did not exist at the time), and that the nation whose power is quelled by water, the Fire Nation, has the most powerful navy of them all.

Special task forces Edit

Hahn's task force Edit

These militants of the Northern Water Tribe were recruited when Chief Arnook called on his tribe asking for participants for a mission to stop the invading Fire Nation Navy. Sokka was one of the participants, and while training for the mission, he got into a quarrel with its then leader, Hahn. He was subsequently removed from the team by Chief Arnook, although in reality it was so he could protect Princess Yue. Hahn and his team disguised themselves as Fire Nation soldiers with the intent of infiltrating the Fire Nation Navy in order to assassinate its commander, Admiral Zhao (the outfits were however outdated).^[1]

Hahn's task force was apparently successful in boarding Zhao's ship, but the mission ended in failure when Zhao threw the warrior overboard just as he attempted to kill the admiral. What became of Hahn and the rest of his team was never revealed.^[5]

List of known commanders Edit

• Chief Arnook
• Hahn
• Chief Unalaq

Southern Water Tribe Edit

All adult male members of the Southern Water Tribe are fully-trained warriors. Since the loss of the waterbenders, the Southern Water Tribe has been a purely non-bender force.

Equipment and uniform Edit

Infantry Edit

Warrior weaponry includes clubs, sharpened boomerangs, spears made of bone, scimitars, large shields and machetes lined with whale teeth on the dull side of the blade.^[6] Water Tribe warriors typically apply black and white war paint to their faces before going into battle.^[7]

Hakoda's expeditionary force, however, appears to wear different armor while on campaign. They wear helmets in the shape of a wolf's head and are outfitted with arm braces and greaves. The designs on their chests are different for each man.^[8] They are better equipped than the warriors of the Northern Tribe, possessing full body armor and shields that can withstand small fire blasts.

Other equipment Edit

Southern Water Tribe warriors have used tangle mines, buoyant, terrible smelling makeshift mines of Hakoda's invention, which he affectionately nicknamed the "stink n' sink". The tangle mines are constructed with a bamboo frame and covered with dried animal skin, while the inside is filled with skunk fish and seaweed. These mines float in the water and detonate when a ship hits them. When the mines detonate, they erupt seaweed, which tangles around the propeller of the ship, incapacitating it, and skunk fish, which terrible smell forces people to abandon ship. Though a very unusual type of mine, they had apparently been quite effective.^[2] Hakoda was also seen using small, handheld bombs. They appear to be quite powerful, considering their size, only a few inches in diameter.

Navy Edit

The Southern Water Tribe has a number of cutter sailing ships with wooden hulls that utilize the wind for propulsion. The boats are operated by at least two people, one to maintain the main sail and one to control the jib, a smaller sail at the rear.^[6]

The Northern Water Tribe navy employs waterbending-propelled catamarans with great maneuverability against larger ships as well as the more conventional wind-sailing ships.

List of known commanders Edit

• Chief Hakoda
• Bato
• Sokka

Foggy Swamp Tribe Edit

The Foggy Swamp Tribe has a far less organized military than either the Northern or Southern Tribes. However, its waterbenders are skilled fighters and have been involved in at least one operation, the Invasion of the Fire Nation.^[8]

Their military uniform consists of simple wooden chest and arm guards. Foggy Swamp members utilize their waterbending when needed for combat purposes.^[8] They also use small canoes which are used mostly for hunting and traveling.^[9]

List of known commanders Edit

• Huu

List of major engagements Edit

• Northern Water Tribe Raids ^[1]
• Southern Water Tribe raids^[10]
• Siege of the North^[1][5]
• Invasion of the Fire Nation^[8][11]

References Edit

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "The Siege of the North, Part 1". Aaron Ehasz (writer) & Lauren MacMullan (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. December 2, 2005. No. 19, Book One: Water ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Guru". Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko (writers) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. December 1, 2006. No. 19, Book Two: Earth ↑ "The Waterbending Master". Michael Dante DiMartino (writer) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. November 18, 2005. No. 18, Book One: Water ↑ "The Avatar State". Aaron Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Tim Hedrick, John O'Bryan (writers) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. March 17, 2006. No. 1, Book Two: Earth ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Siege of the North, Part 2". Aaron Ehasz (writer) & Dave Filoni (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. December 2, 2005. No. 20, Book One: Water ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Bato of the Water Tribe". Ian Wilcox (writer) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. October 7, 2005. No. 15, Book One: Water ↑ "The Avatar Returns". Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko (writers) & Dave Filoni (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. February 21, 2005. No. 2, Book One: Water ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion". Michael Dante DiMartino (writer) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. November 30, 2007. No. 10, Book Three: Fire ↑ "The Swamp". Tim Hedrick (writer) & Giancarlo Volpe (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. April 14, 2006. No. 4, Book Two: Earth ↑ "The Southern Raiders". Elizabeth Welch Ehasz (writer) & Joaquim Dos Santos (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. July 17, 2008. No. 16, Book Three: Fire ↑ "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse". Aaron Ehasz (writer) & Joaquim Dos Santos (director). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. November 30, 2007. No. 11, Book Three: Fire

See also Edit

• Military of the Earth Kingdom
• Military of the Fire Nation
• Organizations in the World of Avatar
• Water Tribe

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