Yue

:This article is about the character in Avatar: The Last Airbender. For the character in Netflix's live-action series, see . For other similar uses, see Yue (disambiguation).
Yue was a princess of the Northern Water Tribe, daughter of Chief Arnook, as well as one of the latter's advisors. After the death of Tui during the Siege of the North, she sacrificed her life to replace it and shared its position as the Moon Spirit.
== History ==
=== Early life ===
Yue was born in the Northern Water Tribe's capital of Agna Qel'a to Chief Arnook and his wife, the daughter of a tribal chieftain. She had an unknown illness as an infant, being still and quiet as though asleep, so her parents feared she would die. As her condition was critical and the tribe's healers, including Yagoda, could not cure her, Arnook prayed to the Moon Spirit in desperation and placed her in the tribe's Spirit Oasis. The Moon Spirit gifted her with part of its own life force, saving her life and turning her hair white as a side effect. Thus, her parents named her Yue, for the moon.
Sometime prior to Team Avatar's arrival at the Northern Water Tribe, it was arranged that Yue would marry a young, egotistical warrior named Hahn. He carved a betrothal necklace for her to mark their engagement, but she did not really love him and consented to the marriage only to stay in line with her people's customs.
=== Meeting Team Avatar ===
Upon arriving at the Northern Water Tribe, Sokka was smitten with Yue, taken by her beauty at first sight. He first engaged in conversation with the young princess during the joint celebration of the Avatar Aang's arrival and her sixteenth birthday, in which she was seated along with her father and Master Pakku.
After he awkwardly flirted with her, Yue and Sokka soon began to arrange meetings. These included riding on Appa and taking walks together around Agna Qel'a. Although affection budded between the two, she was bound in an arranged marriage to Hahn, who had more love for her high status than toward her, boasting once to Sokka that "she [came] with the most perks". The two teenagers came to realize their love for each other, but she could not bear to continue their meetings because they conflicted so strongly with her responsibilities to her tribe. He eventually became angered when she insisted that being together was "wrong" and that it was her duty to marry Hahn for her people, to which he replied that she was not marrying her people.
During Admiral Zhao's siege of Agna Qel'a, Sokka was ordered by Arnook to act as his daughter's bodyguard, noticing how their love persisted. Yue led Aang and Katara to the Spirits Oasis, helping him to enter the Spirit World. When Aang had been captured by Zuko, she accompanied Katara and Sokka as they tracked the two of them down on Appa.
Upon their return to the Spirit Oasis, Yue and Team Avatar were confronted by Zhao, who fatally struck the Moon Spirit's mortal form, leaving all waterbenders powerless without the moon's influence. Appearing on scene, Iroh saw that she had been touched by the Moon Spirit, which reminded her how her life was saved by Tui as a newborn. Once again acting dutifully to her tribe, Yue sacrificed herself to give back the life that the Moon had given her. This was against Sokka's wishes, but the young warrior did not stop her in the end. She placed her hands onto the fish, closed her eyes, and died in Sokka's arms. Yue's spirit appeared before Sokka when her physical body vanished from his arms. She whispered and swore that she would always be with the former before the two shared a final kiss, then vanished completely.
=== After death ===
Several times following her death, Yue's influence on Sokka became apparent: While in the Foggy Swamp under its spiritual influence, he hallucinated about her. Her hallucination angrily told him that he failed to protect her, reflecting the guilt he felt about her death. During his time in the Si Wong Desert, Sokka directly referred to the moon as Yue while in an intoxicated state brought about by drinking cactus juice. When Sokka and Suki nearly kissed while crossing the Serpent's Pass, a waning gibbous moon was visible in the background, alluding to Yue's presence. His memory of Yue's death prompted him to refuse the kiss, while acting overly protective of Suki.
After Aang was struck down by Princess Azula's lightning during the Coup of Ba Sing Se, Yue was able to provide more tangible assistance to Team Avatar: She took it upon herself to meet the Avatar in the Spirit World, informed him of the damage that had taken place to the Avatar Spirit and explained how to return to his body. She further instructed him to seek out the past four Avatars while avoiding Koh, the Face Stealer.Escape from the Spirit World online game. Yue later appeared to Aang once more to encourage him not to lose hope and to continue fighting the war, as he had already saved the world once. She subsequently assisted him in forming a massive wave of water to ride toward the island where Roku's temple once stood, utilizing her powers as the Moon Spirit.
While looking for leads as to disappearances surrounding the full moon and in response to Toph's suggestion that the Moon Spirit might be harming people, Sokka reacted with anger and declared that the Moon Spirit was "a gentle, loving lady who rules the skies with compassion and lunar goodness", showing that he still cared deeply for Yue. While with Zuko on the way to the Boiling Rock, Sokka mentioned that "[his] first girlfriend turned into the moon." In one of the few accurate scenes from a play that parodied the Avatar's journey, the Yue character was presented as the only woman who had ever taken Sokka's mind off food, before floating away on a crescent moon prop. In the audience, he wept as Suki looked on in confusion, as she was never told the full story of Yue. Sokka shushed the Kyoshi Warrior while he still cried, showing that he still cared for Yue.
=== Legacy ===
Yue's sacrifice was honored by the Northern Water Tribe. For example, the tribe developed special cakes made from roots and seeds of the Spirit Oasis which were to be consumed to both remember her life as well as her current role as the Moon Spirit.Avatar: The Last Airbender Cookbook: Official Recipes from the Four Nations, p. 49. Her sacrifice was also honored by the United Republic of Nations, who named the bay connecting Republic City to the Mo Ce Sea Yue Bay.
== Personality ==
Yue was a remarkably kind, sweet, and gentle girl with a certain sense of humor. She offered hope to others even in crucial times, including a despaired Aang. Yue was courageous enough to sacrifice her own life to save the Moon Spirit, a feat that not only saved her tribe but possibly the world.
Yue had a deep sense of loyalty and duty to her tribe. This is evident through her willingness to enter an arranged marriage with Hahn despite her affections for Sokka, and her choice to sacrifice her life to bring the Moon Spirit back. Her spiritual nature was influenced by her upbringing in the Northern Water Tribe and the circumstances of her birth and ill-health as a child.
== Abilities ==
=== Waterbending ===
Although she did not possess any waterbending ability during her life, Yue took over the Moon Spirit's abilities and became a waterbenderBasco, Dante (host), Varney, Janet (host), Giancarlo Volpe (guest). (February 2, 2024). "Secrets from the Vault: Young Love and Familiar Faces". Avatar: Braving the Elements. Episode 104.5. Apple Podcasts. capable of Avatar-level techniques. She can generate massive tidal waves, enlarging Aang's own in order to safely carry him to shore.
== Relationships ==
== Relatives ==
== Appearances ==
== Trivia ==
* "Yue" () means "moon" in Mandarin Chinese.
* Yue's appearance as the Moon Spirit is very similar to that of Chang'e (), the Goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology.
* After seeing Angela Mueller's initial design for Yue, Aaron Ehasz requested that her hair color be changed from a dark color to a silvery white, in order to further Yue's connection to the moon.DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan & Ehasz, Aaron (September 19, 2006). "The Waterbending Master" commentary. Book 1: Water, Volume 5 DVD.
* As the incarnation of the Moon Spirit, Yue's wears a Tenne (天衣 / 纏衣), a halo-like scarf of gauze, or a ribbon-like strip of narrow and ornamental, floating cloth found on the depiction of many deities and divine beings, denoting them as "divine". Tenne are heavily featured in Buddhist artwork.
* She was one of the few people belonging to the Water Tribe whose name did not have an "uh" sound.
* Yue was the only known person to have life given to them by a spirit.
* Despite her affinity for the spirits, she has shown to be unfamiliar with the Avatar's spiritual power, being visibly concerned Aang was in danger the moment he meditated into the Spirit World.
* After Zhao killed the Moon Spirit, everything turned gray except for her eyes which remained blue, showing the life force of Tui inside of her.
* Aside from the elderly, Yue was the only white-haired character in the series.
* Her betrothal necklace vanished after becoming the Moon Spirit.
* Yue and Jinora were the inspiration for The Destined playbook in Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game.Sargeant, Alexi. "I can confirm that some of the thought behind the Destined was "What if Jinora was a PC?" ... "Yue was the other major inspiration!" Magpie Games Discord server (March 15, 2022).
== References ==
== See also ==
* in 
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Category:A to Z
Category:Avatar: Generations characters
Category:Characters
Category:Major characters
Category:Northern Water Tribe characters
Category:Protected
Category:Spirit World
Category:Spirits
Category:Water Tribe characters
Category:Waterbenders