Appa (character)

Appa
Avatar: The Last Airbender character
Appa (right) with Momo
First appearance	"The Boy in the Iceberg"
Created by	Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko
Voiced by	Dee Bradley Baker
Information
Aliases	Sky Bison Wind Buffalo Flying Bison
Gender	Male
Nationality	Air Nomads
Bending element	Airbending (master)
Age	106 in the series 107 in the comic book series
Hair color	White (with brown arrow-shaped patch of fur)
Eye color	Brown

Appa (阿柏, Ā Bǎi^?) is a fictional character on the Nickelodeon animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and in the film The Last Airbender. In the series, Appa is the only known living sky bison, a species of animals that can fly naturally, and is the animal guide of the protagonist, Aang. Dee Bradley Baker voices Appa, along with all the other animals, in both the TV series and the film.

The show's creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have described Appa's appearance as a cross between a buffalo and a manatee. According to an interview with the artists involved with creating the show, Appa's design was based on that of Catbus from the movie My Neighbor Totoro, as they found it difficult to create a six-legged mammal.

In the Avatar franchise, Appa is the last known living sky bison, which are large mammal-like creatures that fly through airbending and steer through air currents with their broad tails. The bison are covered in thick white fur with a large brown arrow marking that is remarked to be extremely itchy. In the show, the markings on the flying bison's backs are what inspired the tattoos which symbolize an Air Nomad's mastery of Airbending. Their fur is shed at the end of winter. The Air Nomads summon the sky bison to their side through the use of whistles that only the animals can hear. Aang and friends use the words "yip yip" to get Appa to take off into the air.