The voice ensemble, including Zach Tyler Eisen as Aang and Mark Hamill as Fire Lord Ozai, was packed with experienced performers adept at navigating both the comedic and dramatic tones of the series. Intrigued by the voices that shaped your childhood memories? We’ve compiled a guide to reveal the faces behind these iconic characters. Discover the actors who tugged at your heartstrings as a child—and likely again as an adult.

Aang, the central figure of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” serves as the series’ core, embarking on a journey of spiritual, emotional, and physical growth. This nine-month quest to conquer the Fire Lord and restore balance to the world is compelling because Aang embodies charm, humor, and boundless energy. Initially a young boy dodging the daunting weight of responsibility, his playful nature fuels his accelerated path to maturity.

Katara, with her unwavering moral compass, emotional strength, and formidable bending abilities, is the unsung hero propelling “Avatar: The Last Airbender” forward. Her resolve to support Aang’s journey is the series’ driving force, while her personal quest to master waterbending and cope with her mother’s loss adds a poignant layer to the show’s wartime narrative. Often seen as the nurturing team mom, this label understates Katara’s vivacious, intricate, and humorous nature throughout the series’ three-season run. It’s no surprise that episodes focusing on Katara rank among the show’s finest.

Aang’s journey is perfectly reflected in the performance of voice actor Zach Tyler Eisen — who, against the common cartoon practice of casting adult women as young male characters, was actually a preteen boy whose voice matured along with Aang’s. Also the voice of Pablo on Season 1 of “The Backyardigans,” Eisen starred as Lucas Nickle in “The Ant Bully” while “Avatar” was airing. He has since mostly dropped out of acting roles and opted to keep a low profile on social media while working in other capacities in the entertainment industry. His most recent credits are as a gaffer in the 2023 short film “There’s Something Wrong” and as a voice in the 2023 one-shot video game “Lost Odyssey: Shadows of Destiny.”

With her strong moral fiber, emotional resilience, and sheer bending prowess, Katara is the unsung driving force without which “Avatar: The Last Airbender” wouldn’t have worked. Her determination to see Aang through his journey is largely what keeps “Avatar” moving forward, and her own quest to become a master waterbender while grappling with the still-open wound of her mother’s death gives an indelible personal charge to the series’ war narrative. Her reputation as the sensitive team mom undersells what a vibrant, complex, and hilarious character she is throughout the three seasons; it’s no wonder that the Katara-centric episodes are consistently some of the show’s best.

Katara is voiced by Mae Whitman, who has arguably become the biggest breakout star of the “Avatar” cast, racking up iconic live-action TV roles like Ann Veal in “Arrested Development,” Amber Holt in “Parenthood,” and Annie Marks in “Good Girls.” She has also starred in several beloved teen movies, playing Roxy Richter in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” Mary Elizabeth in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” and Bianca Piper, the protagonist of “The DUFF.” Additionally, she has continued to add to her voice actor resume with roles in several animated series.

No team of generationally talented benders intent on saving the world from the clutches of tyranny is complete without a wise-cracking, non-bending, strategy-obsessed boomerang guy. The oldest member of the original Team Avatar, Sokka struggles with bouts of insecurity over his inability to bend any elements, but his lack of power is important to the overall cast’s alchemy. And he nonetheless proves crucial to the team with his intelligence, craftsmanship, level-headedness, and above all, his unrelentingly snarky sense of humor, which buoys the team and the audience through even the (literally) driest stretches of the journey.

As Sokka, actor Jack De Sena gives one of the finest voice performances in “Avatar” — a masterclass of comedic timing, tricky tone modulation, and deeply considered line readings. A graduate of Nickelodeon’s “All That,” De Sena has done a number of live-action roles since “Avatar” concluded, mostly in comedy and sketch series. His most notable post-“Avatar” role, however, has arguably been another voice role: Between 2018 and 2024, De Sena starred as Prince Callum on the Netflix animated series “The Dragon Prince,” a spiritual successor to “Avatar: The Last Airbender” co-created by Justin Richmond and “Avatar” head writer Aaron Ehasz.

Every main character on “Avatar: The Last Airbender” has a memorable trajectory, but Zuko’s is something else entirely. Though he was originally the main villain who chased after Aang and tried to capture him week after week, Zuko was slowly unveiled as a more complex character. Viewers got to know Prince Zuko’s backstory and understand him as a disgraced, ostracized prince whose every action was a desperate plea for the approval of an abusive father (and, by extension, a tyrannical regime), though his very nature disagreed with the Fire Nation’s bloodthirst. His slow, painstakingly developed march from antagonist to full-fledged member of the heroes’ team ranks among TV’s great redemption arcs.

Of course, Zuko’s story wouldn’t have hit as hard as it did without the performance of Dante Basco, who vividly captured the character’s pain, inner struggle, and hotheaded yet affably awkward personality. Unlike the rest of the main cast, Basco was not himself a teen while voicing Zuko. Having played roles like Rufio in “Hook” and Dolph in “But I’m a Cheerleader,” he was already a seasoned, established actor by the time he joined “Avatar.” After the show, he also voiced General Iroh in “The Legend of Korra,” and had numerous roles on animated series. He even made a voice cameo on an episode of “The Dragon Prince.”

There is something beautifully, fascinatingly off about Uncle Iroh from the start. Even though he’s introduced as a mentor to the show’s main villain, he has a calmness, kindness, and wisdom to him that run wholly counter to the imperial ethos of the Fire Nation. As we learn more about Iroh, it turns out that he’s both a worse and better man than he initially appeared. Once a highly successful and lethal military official, he experienced such a dramatic change of heart following the death of his son that he ultimately refashioned himself as one of the Fire Nation’s last bastions of morality and spirituality. It’s in that role that Iroh undergoes a redemption not dissimilar from Zuko’s.

In the first two seasons, the sprightly, stately, yet hilarious and moving voice performance that makes Iroh who he is is given by Makoto Iwamatsu, or Mako, a legendary Japanese-American actor. An Oscar nominee for 1966’s “The Sand Pebbles,” Mako had a prolific career spanning nearly 50 years and gave numerous iconic screen performances; as a voice actor, he also brought to life Aku from “Samurai Jack.”

Mako’s passing in 2006, halfway through the airing of Season 2 of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” dramatically impacted the show. Although most of his work for Book Two had been recorded and continued to air throughout 2006, the show needed a replacement for Book Three who could suitably capture Maxo’s warm, rich, unique drawl and do justice to the conclusion of Iroh’s redemption.

They ultimately enlisted Greg Baldwin, who was primed to take over the role before he was ever cast. Baldwin’s voice, mannerisms and inflections matched Mako’s so uncannily that he became an expert in subbing in for the late Japanese-American titan, voicing not only Iroh on Book Three of “Avatar” but Splinter in some scenes that Mako wasn’t able to complete in 2007’s “TMNT,” and Aku on the 2017 revival and final season of “Samurai Jack.” Baldwin has also had numerous other voice acting roles on animated series and video games throughout the years, and a small live-action part as a communist writer in the Coen brothers’ “Hail, Caesar!”

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” is so deft at crafting compelling characters that even its cute animal sidekicks are full of personality. This is demonstrated by Appa, the grumpy but stalwart sky bison who survives in a frozen iceberg for 100 years along with Aang and becomes his last remaining connection to his old life in the Southern Air Temple. As if Appa’s melancholy charisma weren’t enough, there is also Momo, a winged lemur who joins Team Avatar later in the series and becomes a dependable source of comic relief with his straight-faced yet mischief-loving personality.

Although both Appa and Momo are animals who communicate only in growls, huffs, and squeaks, their sounds are provided by a human actor who is more prolific than you might think: Dee Bradley Baker, a prolific voice actor with a special talent for animal vocalizations. With literal hundreds of credits to his name, Baker has lent his elastic voice to characters like Perry the Platypus in “Phineas and Ferb,” numerous creatures in “Teen Titans” and “Ben 10,” Daffy Duck and Taz in “Space Jam,” as well as several traditional speaking roles and a handful of live-action ones.

Toph Beifong is one of those mid-show cast additions who come to feel so integral that it becomes retroactively strange that there was ever a stretch of episodes without her. Introduced in the second season, she is a surly, smug, hot-tempered 12-year-old blind girl who, unbeknownst to her aristocratic parents, just so happens to be the mightiest earthbender in the world. Her bootcamp-esque coaching of Aang is the backbone of Book Two, and her brash, imperious personality made her a runaway fan favorite and an essential component of Team Avatar.

The show’s preference for casting voice actors close in age to the main characters also extended to Toph, who was voiced by Michaela Jill Murphy, also known by her stage name Jessie Flower. She was cast as Toph at 11 years old, after making a strong impression with her performance as Meng, the fortuneteller’s assistant with a crush on Aang, in Book One’s episode “The Fortuneteller.” Having stayed busy as a child voice actor, with five credits in 2006 alone, Murphy later studied theater at Yale and became a stage actor in addition to her continuing voice acting career.

Any fan of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” is well-acquainted with the rush of excitement when Suki showed up on an episode. Originally a Season 1 one-off character who helped out Team Avatar during their stop at Kyoshi Island, Suki is the sharp, level-headed, and highly skillful leader of the local band of Kyoshi warriors, whose clothing, makeup, fighting style, and principles take after the late fan-wielding Avatar Kyoshi. From Book Two onward, Suki becomes a recurring presence who often lends a hand to Aang and company; by the homestretch of Book Three, she has officially joined Team Avatar in a full capacity.

Suki is voiced by American actor Jennie Kwan, who has been doing voice acting since she was a teen, beginning her career as the singing voice of Audrey Mushnik on the 1991 “Little Shop of Horrors” cartoon spin-off “Little Shop.” Her numerous voice roles since “Avatar” have included frequent contributions to English dubs of anime series and films, Chef Marci and Renata Robin on “Superkitties,” and Chun-Li in 2023’s “Street Fighter 6.”

If any character stands as a testament to how outside the norm “Avatar: The Last Airbender” is as a children’s animated series, it’s Azula. The ruthless, hypercompetent younger sister of Zuko, she enters the show on Book Two as a nearly implacable villain, whose intelligence, lack of scruples, and gobsmacking firebending skills become a constant menace for Team Avatar. Her sheer effectiveness as an antagonist nearly renders her two-dimensional — until Book Three homes in on Azula’s emotional life and inner demons, and reveals her as the show’s most complex and tortured character.

Between the steely cruelty, the effortless manipulation skills, the sly sense of humor, and the eventual psychological meltdown, the role of Azula would require a lot from any performer. Thankfully, it went to a highly skilled voice actor: Grey DeLisle, a veteran who has been breathing life into memorable animated characters since the ’90s. DeLisle’s resume boasts too many roles to count; suffice to say that, if you grew up in the U.S. in the 2000s or the 2010s, you’re almost guaranteed to have heard her voice.

It ain’t easy being a rich girl in the Fire Nation. Although her status as the daughter of a wealthy nobleman grants her immense privilege and endless opportunities, Mai leads a dejected and apathetic life at the start of “Avatar.” She has gotten so used to suppressing her emotions and her personality to fit the mold of a high-society perfect daughter that she no longer cares much about anything — which makes her uniquely suited to join Azula’s Avatar-chasing task force as a deft shuriken-wielding warrior. But there’s a wrinkle to Mai’s indifference: Her relationship to Zuko, her childhood sweetheart, which eventually becomes the catalyst for a surprising character transformation.

With her weary, fry-laden monotone dripping in cynicism, Mai has one of the most identifiable voices in the “Avatar” universe. That voice is provided by actor Cricket Leigh. Mai is her most notorious role, but she also did voice work in several other projects in the ’90s and 2000s, including playing Mariah Carey, Hillary Clinton, and Demi Moore on the MTV claymation spoof “Celebrity Deathmatch,” and Tangier and Basil in the shooter games “Red Faction II” and “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition,” respectively. She also had a live-action role as Bernice in the 2006 film “The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down.”

One of Team Avatar’s most dangerous foes across the series is Ty Lee, the other member of Azula’s task force in addition to Mai. But you might not guess it just from Ty Lee’s demeanor: She is so constantly sweet, chipper, and bubbly that an unassuming bystander in the Earth Kingdom might easily confuse her for one of the good guys. Before the start of the show, Ty Lee has run away from the home she shared with six identical sisters, and joined a circus where she’s found fulfillment as an acrobat. But Azula, knowing that Ty Lee’s agility and chi-blocking ability would be invaluable in any struggle against proficient benders, promptly threatens her childhood friend into joining her chase for the Avatar.

Ty Lee’s effervescently cheery voice is the flipside to Mai’s, and it’s provided by actor Olivia Hack. Hack began her career as a child actor, starring as Cindy Brady in 1995’s “The Brady Bunch Movie” and 1996’s “A Very Brady Sequel.” Prior to “Avatar,” she voiced Rhonda Wellington Lloyd in “Hey Arnold! The Movie” and had guest spots in numerous television series. She also provided the voice of Cloe in various “Bratz” media, a role that she has continued to play since. Indeed, after her tenure as Ty Lee, Hack has remained consistently active as a voice actor.

Before “Avatar: The Last Airbender” expanded the Fire Nation’s presence and lore in Book Two, it was largely represented onscreen by three figures: Prince Zuko, Uncle Iroh, and Commander (later Admiral) Zhao. Zhao, for his part, acted as a kind of decoy in the show’s early storylines — a smarmy, arrogant, bull-headed military officer whose ultimately ill-fated hunger for power served to offset Zuko’s complexity, and to lay the groundwork for the much greater fearsomeness of Fire Lord Ozai.

That’s not to say Zhao wasn’t a compelling villain, of course. With Jason Isaacs providing his voice, that was hardly within the realm of possibility. A celebrated English actor with a career spanning four decades, Isaacs is famous for roles like Captain Hook in 2003’s “Peter Pan,” Lucius Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” films, Hap on Netflix’s “The OA,” and, most recently, Timothy Ratliff on HBO’s “The White Lotus.” He has received numerous awards and nominations, including significant acclaim for his work as Jay Perry in “Mass.” during the 2021 to 2022 award season. Even outside of his most famous and renowned roles, Isaacs has the kind of deep resume that all but guarantees you’ve probably seen him in something.

Ultimately, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” can be summed up as the story of the conflict between Aang and Fire Lord Ozai. As the show progresses, the ruler of the Fire Nation grows in prominence: first a non-speaking background presence for most of Book One, then a shadow-shrouded silhouette on Book Two. It’s not until Book Three that Ozai emerges from his ether of lofty authority, and viewers start to see him as another full character in the cast. At that point, his thirst for death and destruction positions him as more elemental force than human, the diametrical opposite of everything Aang represents and believes in.

The show needed a performer of equal loftiness to do justice to Ozai, and it found one in Mark Hamill. Naturally, Hamill is best known for his work as Luke Skywalker in the “Star Wars” movies. But, in addition to playing the protagonist of one of the most popular film series of all time, Hamill is such a legend of voice acting that he’d still be a suitably royal pick for Ozai even if he had never been in “Star Wars” at all. Among his many other voice roles, he has portrayed the Joker in several animated projects, including what’s widely considered one of the best on-screen Jokers ever in “Batman: The Animated Series.”