In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Katara might not be the main character, but she is an extremely important one. Her strength of character and deviation to helping Aang, along with her skill as a water bender, are instrumental in fighting against the Fire Nation.
There’s no denying that Katara is a good character who does everything she can to help people, but this doesn’t mean she has a perfect personality. She’s an interesting character who has both negative and positive traits, and this combination marks her compelling to watch.
Worst: Uptight
Katara is the member of Team Avatar who can be the most uptight and worried about everything. In a way, however, this makes a lot of sense. Katara lost her mother at a young age and her father was usually away at war, so she had to take on a lot of adult responsibilities especially in a rather gendered society.
Because of this, she’s learned that she needs to tell others what to do and can tend to mother people a little too intensely.
Best: Responsible
While Katara can definitely be uptight, she can also be really responsible. This goes to show that sometimes bad traits can be good traits when they aren't taken too far.
Katara is usually the one who keeps Team Avatar on track and reminds them of what needs to be done. After the group loses Aang, it’s Katara who stays responsible and tries her best to get them all out of the desert.
Worst: Over-emotional
Katara can react rather emotionally in situations, but it’s worth noting that she’s only a teenager in the series. In her old age when we see her in Legend of Korra, she seems more even-kill and wise, but as a young person, her overall determination and ability to feel deeply means she can be a bit over-emotional.
This doesn’t mean having emotions is bad, but sometimes she can lash out too much.
Best: Strong
While Katara might be emotional and a bit reactive, she’s also incredibly strong. These aren’t two traits that can’t coexist together. In fact, Katara has been through a lot of traumatic things at such a young age, and she’s still incredibly kind and put together.
She’s also an extremely skilled water bender who quickly becomes a master. She’s a strong warrior, and she doesn’t back down from a fight especially when she’s trying to protect other people.
Worst: Too serious
Of all the members of Team Avatar, other than Zuko, Katara is definitely the most serious. Others such as Sokka are really funny or enjoy having a good time.
This doesn’t mean Katara doesn’t like to have fun, but she is more anxious and worries about the consequences more. Of course, this isn’t a bad thing either, but sometimes she needs to let others around her enjoy themselves.
Best: Protective
Katara is the main protector of the group. While all of Team Avatar looks out for one another and saves each other, Katara is the one who is most defined by her protective nature.
She especially looks out for and defends Aang, and she also wants to protect all innocent people that Team Avatar tries to save. She almost always uses her strength and skill to protect others.
Worst: Unforgiving
While the other members of Team Avatar actually take to Zuko pretty quickly and start to forgive and trust him, Katara is the one who doesn’t at all. This does make sense too given that Zuko did break her trust specifically. Because she’s such a protective and caring person, she doesn’t take well to people who betray her or hurt those she cares about.
These aren’t necessarily bad things by any means, but sometimes learning to forgive and give people second chances is a good thing. She does seem to learn this lesson after she finally starts to trust Zuko and become his friend.
Best: Compassionate
One of Katara’s absolute best traits is that she is extremely caring and compassionate. She doesn't like to see people suffer, and she believes in equality and fairness.
Her compassion combined with her ferocity is what drives her to become the Painted Lady and save the Fire Nation town even though they are technically not on the same side. Her compassionate nature makes her one of the most inspiring characters from the show.
Worst: Controlling
Because Katara has a lot of responsibility on her shoulders at such a young age, she feels the need to get other people to do what she wants.
This usually comes out of good intentions as she wants to keep the group on track and safe, such as when Toph and Aang take their tricks to steal money too far, but sometimes Katara needs to stop trying to control others. This personality trait is why she and Toph butt heads so much.
Best: Passionate
Overall, if you look at both all of Katara’s good traits and all of her bad, the best adjective to describe her is passionate. This is one of her biggest strengths.
She does everything with a lot of passion, dedication, and intention. She is always there to protect the people she cares about, and she believes deeply in causes and will give her life to them. She doesn’t do anything halfway, and she doesn’t let anyone make her feel less than.