Warning! This article contains spoilers for Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Summary

• Roku was Aang's predecessor in the Avatar Cycle, representing the Fire Nation before Aang from the Air Nomads.
• Roku's backstory, especially his relationship with Fire Lord Sozin, hints at future storylines in The Last Airbender.
• In Netflix's adaptation, Roku's character differs from the original show, with a new storyline involving Koh the Face Stealer and the fact he is less of a direct mentor to Aang.

Netflix's past Avatar in The Last Airbender's introduction before being properly introduced later in the series. Roku's introduction comes in The Last Airbender episode 6 when Aang seeks out his aid in dealing with a vengeful spirit named Koh.

Koh is linked to The Last Airbender's live-action cast already including Roku proves the past Avatar will continue to appear should the live-action show continue into season 2. Until then, though, it is worth exploring Roku's character from whom the Avatar is, what his life was like, how he is important to Aang's journey, and any differences made to the original show's depiction of him.

Roku Was The Last Firebending Avatar, Aang’s Direct Predecessor

The Avatar Cycle explains who Roku was in The Last Airbender's universe.

One of the lore elements of Avatar: The Last Airbender's universe that is immediately explored is the idea of the Avatar Cycle. Every time an Avatar dies, the spirit of the being is reincarnated into another human. This is known as the Avatar Cycle and is decided by what comes next concerning the Four Nations. The cycle is as follows: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.

As is evident from the show's title, Aang is the Last Airbender and was born into the Air Nomads as the Avatar. This means that, before Aang was born, the Avatar was part of the Fire Nation. This Avatar was Roku, Aang's direct predecessor and the successor of another of The Last Airbender's past Avatars - Kyoshi, a native Earthbender. As the direct predecessor of Aang, Roku serves as one of many mentors to the character - highlighted by his appearance in The Last Airbender episode 6 - as do the other Avatars.

Avatar Roku’s Backstory Hints At A Massive Future Story

Roku's history will provide one of The Last Airbender's most intriguing story threads.

While The Last Airbender episode 6 mainly keeps Roku's presence contained to tie in with the story of the Spirit World, the live-action show also includes some hints at his vital backstory. Throughout Roku's first scene with Aang, the former makes several references to "painful consequences" in his lifetime. He also states that Aang cannot rely on Sokka and Katara as friends have proven to be a liability to the Avatar. These teases directly set up Roku's backstory, which is not explored until season 3 of the original show.

The following paragraph contains minor spoilers for the original The Last Airbender show.

Roku's references to his life in The Last Airbender episode 6 refer to his history with Fire Lord Sozin. Roku was born as a friend to the Fire Nation royal family, meaning that he was best friends with Sozin. Sozin was shown in the opening of Netflix's The Last Airbender as the man who started the Fire Nation's war and wiped out the Air Nomads. Roku's hints at his history with Sozin set up the story of how their relationship went sour, forcing Sozin to seek the Avatar's demise so that he can wage his war against the other nations.

Avatar Roku Once Fought Against Koh The Face Stealer

The predecessor of Aang is given an interesting former enemy in Netflix's show.

Concerning Roku's appearance in The Last Airbender episode 6, Aang seeks his former self out as he once fought against Koh. Aang needs advice in defeating Koh so that he can save Sokka, Katara, and the people of a small Earth Kingdom village from the Face-Stealer. Roku tells Aang that, while he never defeated Koh in his lifetime, he did manage to steal something from him that Koh desperately wishes to reclaim.

Roku took a pendant signifying the Mother of Faces, Koh's mother. Aang finds the pendant in Roku's temple and trades it with Koh for the lives of his friends and the spirit's innocent captives. Without Roku's knowledge of Koh, Aang would never have triumphed over the spirit, thus proving Roku to be an immeasurably valuable ally in this regard.

Avatar Roku’s Differences In Netflix’s The Last Airbender Explained

Roku's depiction in Netflix's live-action show marks some notable changes from the source material.

For those familiar with the original Avatar: The Last Airbender show, Roku's story in Netflix's adaptation makes some significant changes to his character. For one, the idea that Roku tangled with Koh and stole the Mother of Faces pendant from the spirit is a new creation for Avatar: The Last Airbender's live-action story. Nowhere in the original three seasons is it mentioned that Roku fought against Koh. Therefore, this also changes the reason why Aang seeks out Roku in Netflix's The Last Airbender compared to the source material.

The original show and the Netflix adaptation have some similarities at first, with Aang intending to help a village being plagued by an angry spirit. While traveling through the Spirit World on this journey in the original show, Aang is sought out by the spirit of Fang, Roku's pet dragon. Fang was sent by Roku to prompt Aang to travel to Roku's temple, as the former Avatar wished to speak to his successor about an urgent matter.

This means that, in the original show, Roku sought out Aang rather than the other way around. Furthermore, the reason why Roku wished to speak with Aang had nothing to do with Koh as Netflix's story does. In Nickelodeon's story, Roku seeks out Aang to warn him about Sozin's Comet, the celestial body that provided Sozin and his army with enough power to wipe out the Air Nomads. Roku tells Aang that Sozin's Comet will return in a few months, meaning Aang must master all four elements and confront the Fire Lord before then to avoid catastrophic consequences.

As alluded to, none of these elements are mentioned by Roku in Netflix's The Last Airbender. Roku does not mention that the Comet is returning and instead teaches Aang some broader lessons about being the Avatar while helping him in his plight against Koh. Due to this change - and the subsequent lack of appearances Roku makes after Netflix's The Last Airbender episode 6 - the live-action show does not depict Roku as much as a direct mentor to Aang.

The original show depicted Roku as taking on the brunt of these responsibilities, while Netflix's show has longer appearances of both Kyoshi and Kuruk to shoulder the mentorship of Aang.

Instead, Netflix's The Last Airbender story separates the mentorship of Aang between three Avatars before him: Roku, Kyoshi, and Kuruk. The original show depicted Roku as taking on the brunt of these responsibilities, while Netflix's show has longer appearances of both Kyoshi and Kuruk to shoulder the mentorship of Aang. This change certainly makes sense, though it somewhat diminishes Roku's importance to the overall show. That said, the teases of Roku's history prove he will still have a role to play should Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender return for future seasons.

All episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1 are now streaming on Netflix.