Sokka was a Water Tribe warrior of the Southern Water Tribe and the son of Chief Hakoda and Kya. Following the death of his mother and his father's departure for war, Sokka was raised by his grandmother Kanna along with his younger sister Katara. Hakoda left along with all of the other men in his tribe to fight the Fire Nation when Sokka was a young boy. Despite his desire to join his father, Sokka was not permitted to accompany the men on the mission and was left behind. As there were no other teenage boys in the tribe, Sokka was the oldest male in the South Pole and, therefore, left as the leader of the tribe. He assumed responsibility for the tribe, haplessly training children to be future warriors until his sister discovered an Air Nomad named Aang frozen in an iceberg

Katara, born and raised in the Southern Water Tribe by her grandmother, Kanna, alongside her older brother Sokka, and is the daughter of Chief Hakoda and Kya. During her childhood, Katara was the last native of the South Pole still living there who was capable of waterbending.

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.

Kuruk was the Water Tribe Avatar immediately succeeding Avatar Yangchen and preceding Avatar Kyoshi. Native to the Northern Water Tribe, he was a powerful and gifted bender who dreamed of changing the mortal world for the better by uniting the people and acting upon the foundations laid by Yangchen. He lived till age of 33 (the shortest life from all the avatars) from spiritual sickness.

Hama was a waterbending master from the Southern Water Tribe. She was the very last to be captured and imprisoned by the Fire Nation during the Southern Water Tribe raids, but she escaped through the use of bloodbending, a waterbending technique she developed while incarcerated.

Pakku was a Northern-style waterbending master and instructor who possessed immense skill and power, and was once regarded as the best waterbender in the world. Dryly sarcastic and very serious about his art, he was a harsh, but nonetheless effective teacher, as well as an outwardly acerbic yet inwardly caring old man.

Hakoda was a Southern Water Tribe chieftain, the father of Sokka and Katara, the husband of the late Kya, and the son of Kanna.

Kya, the mother of Sokka and Katara, and wife to Hakoda, died from the hands of the fire nation soldier, Yon Rha, commander of the southern raiders. When the Southern raiders heard there was one more southern water bender, Kya said it was her to protect her daughter Katara who was really the last water bender of the southern tribe

Huu was a waterbending master native to the Foggy Swamp Tribe located southwest of the Earth Kingdom. Huu reached enlightenment while sitting under the great banyan-grove tree in the heart of the swamp. Huu, being the wisest member of the tribe, believed that all living things were connected to one another.