Lord Hokage 👓@Lord_Hokage_PTS
Avatar Kuruk's most agonizing and soul crushing moments during his 33 years as the Avatar:
(Sourced from the light novels The Rise of Kyoshi and the Shadow of Kyoshi and the ATLA series)
1. Avatar Kuruk lost his wife to Koh the face stealer on his wedding day. Koh dragged Ummi into the Spirit World to punish Avatar Kuruk for his arrogance.
He would travel to the Spirit World, find Koh, and have to endure the sight of Ummi’s face on the spirit's body while maintaining a stone cold expression so he wouldn't lose his own face.
2. Avatar Kuruk had to fight Father Glowworm, an ancient, predatory spirit that's capable of creating rifts between the human and spirit worlds. He was a massive, slimy, multi eyed creature that had been terrorizing humans for centuries.
Avatar Kuruk tracked him down to a remote location in the Earth Kingdom and started an incredibly violent battle. The battle lasted for days. Kuruk was battered, bruised, and exhausted. During the battle, Father Glowworm managed to poison Avatar Kuruk's essence, which was a permanent stain on his soul.
Avatar Kuruk eventually won and forced the spirit to retreat and close the rift. Although Avatar Kuruk was permanently weakened, Father Glowworm never returned to the human world again.
3. Avatar Kuruk's constant battle with dark spirits left him in excruciating pain. He would wake up coughing up black bile, his skin would turn gray, and he suffered from constant, agonizing fatigue and nightmares.
To cope with the rotting of his soul, he turned to drinking just to numb the pain and feel alive for a few moments.
4. Avatar Kuruk died at the young age of 33 because his body and spirit were so ravaged by the spiritual poison in him. To the world, he died as a lazy failure of an Avatar because they didn't see the secret wars he was fighting.
He allowed the world to hate him so that he could keep the secrets of the Spirit World's anger from causing a global panic and protect Avatar Yangchen's legacy.
The world might have seen him as a failure, but i can confidently say no other avatar sacrificed and suffered as much as Avatar Kuruk.
What do you think was his most agonizing moment?