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| “ | Their spirit names are Tui and La, push and pull. And that has been the nature of their relationship for all time. | „ |
| ~ Koh the Face Stealer describing Tui and La. |
| “ | That... is wrath... | „ |
| ~ Iroh in the TV series after Aang and La merge into a Koi monster. |
Tui and La are overarching characters in the Avatar franchise. They are the spirits of the moon and the ocean respectively. Together they form an delicate balance that allows the moon and the ocean to work together and thus allow humans to waterbend.
Appearance[]
Tui and La take the basic form Koi fish. Their appearances are the opposite of each other: Tui is white with a black spot on her head (As such, she resembles the "yang" side of the yinyang symbol.), while La is black with a white spot on his head (bearing a resemblance to the "yin" side of the yinyang symbol). La's second form is basically a bigger, bluer, anthropomorphic version of a Koi fish, and is attained when he and Aang fuse their life forces together to avenge Tui after Commander Zhao destroys her.
Biography[]
In the past, Tui and La crossed the barrier between the Spirit World and the Mortal Realm to give waterbenders the ability to bend water. They made a new home in the alcoves of Agna Qel'a, creating the Spirit Oasis that would later become not just their home, but also the Northern Water Tribe's greatest landmark.
Thousands of years later, Chief Arnook's newborn daughter Yue was stricken with a terminal illness and none of the tribal healers could help her. Desperate for a miracle, he brought Yue to the Spirit Oases and Implored Tui and La to save her. Tui responded by granted the infant a portion of her lifeforce, turning Yue's hair white. Though Arnook was overjoyed that his daughter was saved, he feared that one day Yue would have to repay Tui.
After he learned of their existence, Commander Zhao decided to disrupt the balance by capturing Tui, who was necessary for waterbending. Even though his retired general, Iroh, warned him that killing Tui would cause chaos even for his people, Zhao, now promoted to Admiral, decided to destroy the Moon Spirit anyway. Because he had lost his sister, La swam around frantically in the pool.
Acknowledging the situation, Aang realized that he and La could work together to save the world. Aang then fused his life force with him, transforming La into a giant humanoid Koi fish that proceeded to decimate the Fire Nation. La then proceeds to trap Admiral Zhao in the Spirit World for his crimes. Zuko, despite his rivalry with Zhao, tried to help him, but failed, leaving Commander Zhao to spend his life in the Spirit World.
Yue realized that since a piece of Tui's life force was inside of her, she must return it in order to resurrect Tui, but such an act would kill her. Despite Sokka's protests, Yue gave her lifeforce Tui. With his companion now alive, La returns home, releases Aang, and revisits his companion, who helps him restore balance to the world just as they always have.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Their names of Tui and La translate to "push" and "pull" in Mandarin Chinese.
- The form that La takes on during his rampage on the Fire Nation Fleet has been nicknamed "Koizilla," a pun on the koi fish form that he and Tui assumed and Godzilla.
- In the live action remakes, Tui dies due to being stabbed with a knife, rather than being burned to a crisp; the TV series states that Kuruk created this knife to give himself an edge during his fight with dark spirits, explaining why she is vulnerable in koi form.
- Including Roku's death in "The Avatar and the Fire Lord" and Aang's fatal injury sustained in "The Crossroads of Destiny", from which the latter was resurrected shortly thereafter, Tui was the first of three out of eight characters to have been observed dying or being murdered in the original series. In chronological order, the others were Yue, Chin, Jet, Aang, Fang, and Combustion Man. But like Aang, Tui was resurrected shortly after, in this case due to her life force being replenished by Yue.
External Links[]
- Tui on the Avatar Wiki
- La on the Avatar Wiki
