Draft:Momo

• Comment: This draft is a draft on a subtopic of an existing article, List of Avatar: The Last Airbender characters. Discussion as to whether a separate article for the subtopic is warranted should be on the talk page of the parent article, Talk:List of Avatar: The Last Airbender characters.
  Please discuss the suitability of creating a separate subtopic article on the talk page of the parent article. Please resubmit this draft if there is rough consensus at the parent talk page to create the child article, or with an explanation that the child draft satisfies either general notability on its own or a special notability guide. Robert McClenon (talk) 04:15, 27 July 2024 (UTC)

---

Momo
Avatar: The Last Airbender character
First appearance	"The Boy in the Iceberg" (2005)
Last appearance	"Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang" (2008)
Created by	Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko
Designed by	Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko
Voiced by	Dee Bradley Baker (vocal effects, cartoon and film) Matthew Yang King (vocal effects, 2024 TV series)
In-universe information
Nickname	Twinklewings (by Toph)
Species	Winged Lemur
Gender	Male
Nationality	Air Nomads
Bending element	Airbending (master)

Momo is a fictional character on the Nickelodeon animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and in the film The Last Airbender. In the series, Momo is a winged lemur, a species of animals that can fly naturally, and accompanies the protagonists throughout the series. Dee Bradley Baker voices Momo, along with all the other animals, in both the TV series and the film.

Creation and conception

Early on in production Momo was intended to be a cyclops robot monkey who had survived the destruction of a 1,000 year old civilization. This version of the character was called Momo-3 and also possessed Aang's trademark arrow tattoos and bowstaff. Co-Creator Bryan Konietzko has stated that Momo's body language, posture, and mannerisms are based on his childhood cat, Buddy. While Momo means peach in Japanese, it is also notable to consider that Momo is a common name for pets in Japan much like the name Lucky is in America.

Habits

Momo makes high pitched noises that are not easily attributed to the sounds of a specific animal in real life. Momo is sometimes gluttonous, one of his first actions in the series is to steal a moon peach from Sokka, and later on in the series he gorges himself on food in King Bumi's palace. Momo has a special friendship with Appa, and the two animals seem to be able to communicate on some level.

Personality

Momo displays intelligence that could be considered above that of the average animal. He has helped the main characters in various scenarios displaying that he is capable of recognizing and bonding with individuals. He attempted to drag aang to safety after he was knocked unconscious during the drill episode. He attempted to provide Katara and sokka with the item they wanted but was unable to realize what item they wanted. He also missed appa when he was gone and attempted to find him in the tales of ba sing se episode.

Appearances

Momo is featured prominently throughout the franchise, not only in the Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series, but also in the film The Last Airbender, various video games, and comic books. Dee Bradley Baker voices Momo in both the TV series and the film.

In the Animated Series

Momo is in almost every episode of the animated series, having appeared in 59 of the 61 episodes of the three seasons. Momo's first appearance occurs when Team Avatar visits the Southern Air Temple. Upon seeing Momo's shadow Team Avatar at first fearfully mistakes him for a fire nation soldier, and they hide behind two statues of previous Avatars. Upon discovering Momo's true identity, Aang wants to keep him as a pet, while Sokka wants to eat him. This causes Aang and Sokka to both run at Momo, resulting in a chase scene that ends with Momo leading the protagonists to the corpse of Monk Gyatso. The creators of the series have stated that Momo is intended to represent the spirit of Monk Gyatso. Momo then finds food for Sokka, and proceeds to steal a peach from him, after this Aang names Momo because Momo means peach in Japanese (it also means dumpling in Tibetan). After being adopted by Aang, Momo becomes the first new member of Team Avatar to join after its foundation, and becomes a recurring character in the series.

Momo and Team Avatar travel to Omashu and are detained in a prison chamber by King Bumi. Aang plans to have Momo slip through an air vent and call Appa for help, but Momo had eaten too many fruit and was now too large to slip through the vent. In another episode, after escaping Omashu, Momo provides more comedic relief during Team Avatar's plan to have Katara become captured so she can save Haru. The plan involves Aang airbending through a vent to levitate a rock, giving the appearance that Katara is earthbending. When Momo lifts his arm's to lick them clean, the fire nation guards initially assume that Momo is the earthbender, before Sokka hastily corrects them so they can take Katara away.

In another episode, Momo becomes part of Team Avatar's plan to trick the Fire Sages into opening the Crescent Island Fire Temple Sanctuary. Momo participates in the plan by crawling through pipes into the Fire Sages' chamber, casting a shadow. He also later helps by attacking the Great Sage, causing a distraction that allows Aang to enter the sanctuary. Momo wears the headdress of the Great Sage while accompanying Appa as the flying bison rescued Team Avatar from the collapsing temple. In the next episode, Momo frees Katara after she is tied to a tree by pirates. Momo then gets into a scuffle with the pirate captain's pet iguana parrot over the waterbending scroll, and defeats the iguana parrot by ensnaring it in a flag.

Sometime later, when Katara and Sokka become ill, Aang leaves the group to find an herbalist. Momo remains with Katara and Sokka and Katara asks Momo to get them water. Momo is unable to understand her words, and thus repeatedly brings back different things that are not water.

During the Siege of the North, Momo sat out of the battle and accompanied Katara and Princess Yue. When Zuko captured Aang while Aang was in the Spirit World, Momo stayed at the Spirit Oasis while the rest of Team Avatar searched the tundra around the city. Momo later attacked Admiral Zhao in the midst of his speech, momentarily distracting him. This did not stop Zhao from killing Tui, the Moon Spirit. After the fire nation is repelled by Aang, Momo shares a group hug with the rest of Team Avatar at the Chief's temple.

When Team Avatar returned to the city of Omashu, Momo split from the group in search of food. He got into a scuffle with the Fire Nation governor's baby, Tom-Tom. Tom-Tom chased Momo's tail and followed him out of the city. Later, while flying over a swamp, a tornada separated Appa and Momo from the rest of Team Avatar. Momo was captured by a Foggy Swamp Tribe hunting party, but the Tribe was convinced to let Momo go by Team Avatar.

Sometime later in Ba Sing Se, while Appa is still missing, Momo goes on a solo adventure in an attempt to find him. Momo finds a clump of Appa's fur around his wrist and searches the city for him. Momo is chased around the city by pygmy pumas, but then is caught and put into a circus with monkey performers. The circus is disrupted by the pumas who attack Momo, Momo and the pumas are then captured and sent to a slaughter house. Momo escapes and frees the pumas, who then lead him to one of Appa's footprints. Momo somberly falls asleep in Appa's footprints.

Promotion and merchandising

Momo has been featured in varying pieces of merchandise, including toys and plush dolls. Momo has also been featured as a McDonald's Happy Meal toy—with Appa the sky bison featured as a launcher that shoots out Momo.