There are numerous Avatar: The Last Airbender fan theories. Most of them involve Aang, Katara, Zuko, and Toph, the most powerful benders in their respective elements. Many center around romance and the will—they—won’t—they dynamic between the Avatar and Katara or Zuko and Katara.
Sokka is often overlooked. Despite being an unquestioned fan favorite due to his dorky sense of humor and ability to get himself in trouble, he doesn’t have as many theories circulating around him. Never fear, the boomerang wielding warrior from the Southern Water Tribe is getting his due.
Fling With Princess Yue
Princess Yue appeared in the last three episodes of the first season and tragically gave up her life to revive the mortally wounded moon spirit. Her time may have been short, but she and Sokka hit it off from the moment they laid eyes on each other. Speculation surrounding the two came true. Despite an impending arranged marriage with a member of her tribe, she confesses to having feelings for Sokka. The signs indicate that her intention was to follow in Sokka and Katara’s grandmother, who left an unhappy relationship to marry their grandfather.
Hot Air Balloons
In the Avatar universe, Sokka—with some help from refugees who have claimed an Air Temple as their homeùis credited with inventing the hot air balloon. He uses it to push back the Fire Nation army from raiding the temple. Following the battle, the Fire Nation get their hands on the balloon and claim it will lead them to many victories.
The balloons return late in Book 3, along with their higher-tech descendants (blimps), which Ozai plans to use to burn the Earth Nation into oblivion. This prompts the showdown between the Fire Lord and Aang.
Connection with Bolin
The Legend of Korra revealed the legacy of each major figure of Team Avatar. While Sokka may not have a giant statue overlooking Republic City, nor did he establish a metalbending police force, his status as a fan favorite lives on in the shape of Bolin. Like Sokka, Bolin is the series’ go-to character for comic relief, clueless self-aggrandizement, and a tragic backstory involving a murderous firebender.
The show needed a Sokka-esque character to balance out the creators’ decisions that took Korra’s journey in an increasingly dark direction. Tragedy becomes more palatable when there’s someone around to make you laugh.
Connection with Varrick
Varrick’s ability to invent gadgets on the spot and use them to turn a difficult situation into his favor makes him yet another extension of Sokka. One theory has gone so far as to call him a reincarnation of Sokka. That does not appear to be true, but the two are linked. Both are non-bending members of the Southern Water Tribe and make themselves useful to their powerful allies through their ingenuity and ability to adapt.
The Legend of Korra, once again, needed to fill a Sokka-shaped hole in the series and did so by taking a piece of him and building a character around it.
Non-bending Prejudice
Sokka is the only non-bending member of the Team Avatar core group, a point he is often ridiculed for by the other members. This is especially evident in “The Waterbending Scroll,” “The Chase,” and “Sokka’s Master.” He gets assigned the menial tasks. It is not a 4 on 3, but “3 on 3 plus Sokka.”
The negative treatment is small and used for comic relief, but the concept of prejudice towards non-benders becomes the driving force behind Amon’s rise to power in Book 1 of The Legend of Korra. If only Amon and his followers had Sokka’s sense of humor.
Return to the Southern Water Tribe
The Avatar comics were written to expand on the world and provide greater depth. One focused on Zuko’s search for his mother, an underground coup in the Fire Nation, Toph’s relationship with her father, and another centered around Aang’s role in stopping a possible war. It only seemed a matter of time before Sokka and Katara would return home to visit their family.
The place they left with the Avatar is no longer there. Gone is the small igloo village. In its place is a modern city with fancy buildings. Sokka’s father is in the new city hall serving as chief. They soon find that something is rotten in the Southern Water Tribe.
First Love
Sokka and Suki meet early in the series when the gang stops on Kyoshi Island so Aang can ride the giant koi fish. While Aang is out entertaining the young ladies on the island and letting the attention get to his head, Sokka tries to prove his manliness by training with the Kyoshi warriors. He is no match for them, but he and Suki end up kissing after Zuko attacks.
Suki isn’t heard from until well into Book 2 where she helps Team Avatar navigate the Serpent’s Pass. They kiss again, and their relationship blossoms.
A Master
Avatar: The Last Airbender (understandably) revolves around Aang’s trials and tribulations on his journey to becoming a fully realized Avatar. Katara, Toph, and Zuko become his bending masters. They, too, have their own masters. Sokka, however, was not a bender. His strengths were bad jokes, battle strategy, and his accuracy with his boomerang.
A master for Sokka eventually arrives. While undercover in the Fire Nation, he meets the great Piandao, an expert bladesmith and swordsman. Sokka gains greater skill as a warrior and nabs a fancy blade fashioned from a meteorite.
Republic City Councilman
The Legend of Korra spawned numerous theories about the members of Team Avatar and what happened to them. While his legacy does not appear to be as obvious as Aang, Toph, Zuko, and Katara, he ultimately proved to be a major figure in the early days of Republic City. He is a councilman and is seen deliberating on a trial for crime lord Yakone who proceeds to bloodbend Sokka.
What we are left to ponder is if he married and had children, though the answer is likely no, since the descendants of the other major characters are shown in the series.
A Life of Pain
Early in the series, a fortune-teller dismisses Sokka, claiming she does not need to read his fortune because it is obvious that he will live a life filled with self-inflicted pain. This got fans going on how this would come about. The answers are still vague.
However, by the start of The Legend of Korra, Sokka has died. He does not have any known descendants, and he is almost an afterthought, a historical figure whose brightest moments were as an adolescent.
Chances are he lived up to the fortune teller’s predictions and made things hard for himself.