Avatar: The Last Airbender The Ember Island Players/Characters



The Ember Island Players are an ensemble of actors performing at the theatre on Ember Island, the vacation home of the Fire Nation nobility. They are underpaid hams who dazzle the audiences with impressive special effects and wild costumes. Two of their plays are known: Love Amongst the Dragons and The Boy in the Iceberg. Ursa used to take Zuko to Love Amongst the Dragons, but Zuko thinks the Players "butchered" it.

Team Avatar went to see The Boy in the Iceberg in the episode "The Ember Island Players" and considered it absolutely horrible, despite the special effects. The Boy in the Iceberg, named for the first episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, is a highly dramatised, propagandistic, exaggerated tale of the adventures of Aang and his silly friends, who are eventually defeated by Fire Lord Ozai. The play is also commentary on Fandom. Here, then, are the Ember Island Players. Hold your applause until the end.

Player Aang
"Voiced by: Rachel Dratch"

Player Aang is an athletic young woman wearing a bald cap. She plays Aang as hyperactive and excessively outgoing, with a penchant for playing pranks on people. Player Aang's mission as the Avatar is to bring "joy and fun" to the World. Player Aang triggers the Avatar State by saying "Avatar State, yip-yip!" Aang is dismayed to see that Player Aang is a woman. He is even more dismayed when Player Ozai kills Player Aang at the end.


 * Affectionate Parody: Of the Broadway adaptation of Peter Pan, right down to using a female actress to play a young male and using wires to simulate flying. Even the way she talks sounds like Mary Martin playing Peter.
 * Bald Woman: Averted. Player Aang's scalp is a different colour from the rest of her skin, so she is most likely wearing a bald cap.
 * Big No: A good eight seconds long.
 * Catch Phrase: "Avatar State, yip-yip!"
 * Character Exaggeration
 * Crosscast Role: Much to Aang's frustration.
 * Dawson Casting: Player Aang looks to be ten years older than Kid Hero Aang.
 * Genki Girl: Playing a Keet.
 * The Hero Dies
 * Like Brother and Sister: With Player Katara.
 * Not Quite Flight: To fly, Player Aang is hoisted up by a crane, the typical practice for a flying god since the days of ancient Greek theatre.
 * The Prankster
 * Suppressed Mammaries: Averted.
 * Take That: Konietzko and DiMartino's criticism of the practice of women voicing boys in Peter Pan, The Simpsons, and other productions.
 * Villain Protagonist: Because the play is told from a perspective sympathetic to the Fire Nation, the character of Aang is seen as the bad guy.



Player Katara
"Voiced by: Grey DeLisle"

Player Katara is older and fatter than Katara, and not as beautiful. She speaks in a much huskier voice than the real Katara. Player Katara is melodramatic, prone to crying on any occasion, obsessed with hope, and an incompetent fighter. She wears her heart on her sleeve, especially in front of Player Aang. Player Katara is in love with Player Zuko, and regards Player Aang as her little brother.


 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: "Oh Jet, you're so...bad...."
 * Character Exaggeration
 * Chickification
 * Dawson Casting
 * Foe Yay: With Player Zuko.
 * Like Brother and Sister: With Player Aang.
 * Melodrama
 * Ms. Fanservice: The real Katara's outfit is not that skimpy...
 * Show Some Leg: The real Katara wears trousers under her dress.
 * Team Mom
 * Water Works



Player Sokka
"Voiced by: Scott Menville"

Player Sokka is much older than Sokka, with buck teeth. He is a fool, a hick, and the comic relief. Player Sokka is constantly hungry, and obsessed with eating meat. Sokka does not like Player Sokka's jokes and sneaks backstage during the intermission to give some jokes he wrote himself to Player Sokka. Player Sokka tries the real Sokka's jokes, and these jokes really do amuse the audience.

"Player Sokka: Don't go Yue! You're the only woman who's ever taken my mind off of food!"
 * Big Eater
 * Catch Phrase: "I'm starving!" He says it twice in the first 30 seconds of the play.
 * Character Exaggeration
 * Dawson Casting
 * The Fool
 * Obsessed with Food:


 * Plucky Comic Relief: He's every bit the Butt Monkey that Sokka is in real life, much to his displeasure.
 * Real Men Eat Meat
 * Throw It In: He uses Sokka's suggestions of making up catch-phrases and throwing in jokes for the third act.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: When Player Suki teaches him the way of the Kyoshi Warriors, she makes him wear the dress and makeup. Player Sokka asks "Does this make my butt look fat?"



Player Toph
"Voiced by: John Dimaggio"

Player Toph is a big, burly man who is blind, but can "see" using echolocation, emitting a loud scream. Toph likes Player Toph, saying "I wouldn't have cast it any other way."

"Player Toph: I don't "see" like you do -- I release a sonic wave from my mouth, like this: [Releases an ear-curdling scream] There! I just got a pretty good look at you!"
 * The Big Guy
 * Blinding Bangs: Player Toph wears the real Toph's fringe.
 * Character Exaggeration
 * Crosscast Role
 * Disability Superpower
 * Make Me Wanna Shout:


 * Mythology Gag: Player Toph is based on an early design for Toph as a man, which was later reused as Avatar Roku's Earthbending master Sud.

Player Zuko
"Voiced by: Derek Basco"

Player Zuko is more accurate than other Players, but Zuko considers Player Zuko too stiff and dour, and Player Zuko's scar is on the wrong side. Player Zuko is even more obsessed than the real Zuko with honour and capturing the Avatar, and shouts "honour!" more than he says anything else. He flirts with Player Katara. In Act III, he is killed by Player Azula for his betrayal of the Fire Nation.

"Azula: Look, there's your honor.
 * Casting Gag: Derek Basco is the brother of Zuko's VA Dante Basco.
 * Character Exaggeration
 * Emo Teen: Big Time.
 * Foe Yay: With Player Katara.
 * Honor Before Reason

Zuko: WHERE?!"


 * Straight Man
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?: Player Zuko leaves Iroh because Iroh demanded that he gets a haircut.
 * Your Costume Needs Work: Most notably his scar.



Player Iroh
"Voiced by: John Dimaggio"

Player Iroh is Player Zuko's doddering glutton of an uncle. He is obsessed with cake instead of tea, and is trying and failing to give Player Zuko cake. Player Iroh is betrayed and defeated by Player Zuko, which is uncomfortably close to the truth for Zuko.


 * Big Eater
 * Big Ol' Eyebrows
 * Character Exaggeration
 * Fat Bastard
 * The Hedonist: Player Iroh lacks the spirituality of the real Iroh.



Player Azula
"Voiced by: Tara Strong"

Player Azula is older than Azula, with a huskier voice, and wears pink, along with thick makeup and long painted nails. Player Azula electrocutes Player Aang at the end of Act II, then kills Player Zuko in Act III.


 * Daddy's Little Villain
 * Dawson Casting
 * Femme Fatalons
 * Hero-Killer
 * Princesses Prefer Pink
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something



Player Ozai
"Voiced by: Dee Bradley Baker"

Player Ozai is the Fire Lord in the play. As the play is propaganda, Player Ozai is a heroic leader, and he looks much more like the real Ozai than any of the Players look like their characters. In the climax of Act III, he kills Player Aang with the power of Sozin's Comet and conquers the World.


 * Beard of Evil
 * Cool Crown
 * Hero-Killer
 * Kill It with Fire
 * No, You: "No, it is YOU who are going down!"
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Supporting Leader
 * Take Over the World



Player Mai and Player Ty Lee
Player Mai looks similar to real Mai, albeit with a few differences. Her belt has a sad face on it, her fringe covers her eyes, and she keeps her knives in her "ox horn" hair.


 * Beauty Inversion
 * Blinding Bangs
 * Emotionless Girl
 * Knife Nut
 * Odango Hair
 * The Stoic

Player Ty Lee is an overweight ballerina. Instead of doing acrobatic stunts, she dances sedately across the stage. Instead of chi-blocking by poking people, she kisses them.


 * Beauty Inversion
 * Bare Your Midriff: Does not work so well when Player Ty Lee is overweight.
 * Dance Battler
 * Flynning
 * Kiss of Death
 * The Paralyzer

Player Suki
Player Suki looks very close to the real Suki, but her headdress and fans are exaggerated. She has no lines. In Act I, she trains Player Sokka in the ways of the Kyoshi Warriors.


 * Action Girl
 * Amazon Brigade
 * Battle Ballgown
 * Cool Mask: Her kabuki makeup.
 * Ninja
 * Paper Fan of Doom



Player Bumi
"Voiced by: Dee Bradley Baker"

Player Bumi is the King of Omashu. He wears a padded suit to simulate the real Bumi's muscles, and wears a feathered hat as a crown, which looks like Bumi's pet Flopsy. Player Bumi speaks in rhymes.


 * Bunny Ears Lawyer
 * Mismatched Eyes
 * Nice Hat
 * Rhymes on a Dime

Player Yue
"Voiced by: Jennie Kwan"

Player Yue appears at the end of Act I. She wears a purple dress with many bows, and her hair is a braid attached to her hair loops. When she sacrifices herself to become the Moon Spirit, she is hoisted up on a moon prop, while Player Sokka grieves below.


 * Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Her "moon duties."
 * Color-Coded Patrician
 * Famous Last Words: "And yes, I did have pickled fish...."
 * Graceful Ladies Like Purple
 * Heroic Sacrifice
 * The Lost Lenore
 * Lunacy
 * Pimped-Out Dress
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl



Player Jet
"Voiced by: Dee Bradley Baker"

Player Jet, who has spiky hair and chews on a flower, appears in two scenes. In Act I, he floods a village to impress Player Katara, who hugs him and says "Oh Jet, you're so...bad...." In Act II, he appears in Lake Laogai, and is presumed dead when a rock lands on him. He is Brainwashed in that scene, as indicated by googly eyes. Instead of the real Jet's twin hook swords, Player Jet is armed with twin hook hands.


 * Brainwashed and Crazy
 * Dual-Wielding
 * Hook Hand
 * Rebel Leader
 * Wild Hair