Ummi

"It was love at first sight. Her name was Ummi. She was from the Southern Tribe. And she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. With Ummi in my life, I decided to change my irresponsible ways and settle down."

— Avatar Kuruk.

Ummi
Biographical information
Nationality	Southern Water Tribe
Ethnicity	Water Tribe
Physical description
Eye color	Gray
Hair color	Brown
Skin color	Light
Personal information
Love interest	Kuruk (fiancé)
Allies	Kuruk, Southern Water Tribe
Enemies	Koh
Political information
Affiliation	Southern Water Tribe
Chronological information
First appearance	"The Siege of the North, Part 2" (face)
Last appearance	"Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters" (flashback only)
Image gallery (4)

Ummi was a Southern Water Tribe woman who fell in love with Avatar Kuruk and intended to marry him. However, before the wedding ceremony could commence, Koh the Face Stealer dragged her into the Spirit World where he stole her face.

History

Ummi and Kuruk were love at first sight.

During the New Moon Celebration, Ummi met Avatar Kuruk in Agna Qel'a. The two immediately fell in love and began a relationship. Kuruk soon proposed to Ummi with a betrothal necklace. The two were to be married at the Spirit Oasis in the Northern Water Tribe. However, as she crossed the bridge, she was pulled by an unseen force deep into the water. Kuruk jumped in after her, but could not rescue her in time. Koh, a spirit, had lured and trapped her forever to punish Kuruk for his arrogance.

Centuries later, when Avatar Aang entered the Spirit World, he confronted Koh and saw Ummi's face. Several months after that, Aang encountered Kuruk while in a coma and told him that Koh still had Ummi's face. Kuruk subsequently vowed that he would keep hunting Koh until he and Ummi were reunited once again. He found the spirit and had every intention of destroying him, but could not when he realized that destroying Koh also meant destroying the love of his life.

Appearances

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Book One: Water (水)

• 120. "The Siege of the North, Part 2" ^{(face only)}

Escape from the Spirit World

• "Chapter 3: Avatar Kuruk" ^(flashback)

Book Three: Fire (火)

• 319. "Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters" ^(flashback)

Trivia

• Her name is similar to Umi (海, うみ), which translates to "sea" in Japanese.
• Kuruk often referred to Ummi as his wife, despite the fact that she was stolen by Koh before she married Kuruk.
• Ummi was one of the few Water Tribe members to not have blue eyes, which were instead gray.
• According to a retelling of Team Avatar's adventures by Pakku, a bridge in Agna Qel'a is named in Ummi's honor.
• A scene depicting the first meeting between Kuruk and Ummi was originally planned for The Shadow of Kyoshi. In it, they encountered each other by chance during a gondola ride in Agna Qel'a. At first, both could not see the other's face due to their heavy parkas, and Kuruk deliberately hid his identity as he wanted to relive the time before he was famous. The two developed an interest in each other through their conversation alone, before Kuruk eventually had to show who he really was, though he embarrassed himself in the process by falling from the gondola.
  • The novel's author, F.C. Yee, wanted the scene to show that Kuruk did not fall in love with Ummi solely because of her beauty, and to highlight his awkwardness as a connecting element with Kyoshi. The scene was constructed so that it could still fit the events depicted in Escape from the Spirit World.
  • Yee scrapped the scene as it was somewhat confusing in its placement in the story, and he felt that it was ultimately unnecessary to showcase how Kuruk loved Ummi due to her personality instead of her looks because the reader would probably assume this anyway. He summed up that "we can give characters a little credit" and that a story did not have to fill all blanks in detail.