The Fire Nation's relentless conquest of the world earned it some bitter enemies over the years, but perhaps none carried the grudge as forcefully as Jet did. Introduced early on in Avatar: The Last Airbender as the suave and composed leader of the Freedom Fighters, it seemed like Jet was the perfect vigilante. However, after just one episode centered on his character, Jet revealed just how much his hatred of the Fire Nation had corrupted him.
Like many other characters in the Avatar universe, Jet had been personally victimized by the Fire Nation's war against the rest of the world. When he was only eight years old, his parents were killed in a Fire Nation raid. In Jet's own words, that day changed him forever and he had to fend for himself from then on. Somewhere along the line, he met the other Freedom Fighters and they began opposing the Fire Nation presence in the Earth Kingdom from the shadows.
Jet believed himself to be a revolutionary spearheading a worthy resistance to the Fire Nation, but as Sokka quickly realized, his hate had made him little more than a thug. The image of the Fire Nation -- as well as anyone with any affiliation to it -- had been forever sullied in Jet's mind. That was why he had no qualms about attacking a defenseless old man in the woods. Even after Sokka pointed out that the man couldn't have done any harm, Jet continued to assault him and defended his actions by asking if the Fire Nation would have had any mercy.
This hatred for the Fire Nation blinded Jet so much that he couldn't see the true cost of flooding an entire village. To him, removing the Fire Nation from that valley was the ultimate goal. Tricking the Avatar and his teammates into wiping out a whole town didn't faze him at all. Luckily, Sokka's quick thinking was enough to save the townspeople from becoming "necessary sacrifices". Jet's disdain for the Fire Nation in The Last Airbender was simply not normal.
Even after he professed to turning over a new leaf, all it took was the slightest hint of Fire Nation activity for Jet to fall back into his old habits. While traveling to Ba Sing Se, he found good company in the disguised Prince Zuko and Uncle Iroh. All was well for a while -- Zuko even joined the Freedom Fighters for a mission -- but the good times couldn't last. When Jet realized Uncle Iroh may have discreetly been firebending, he put his plans for a new life in Ba Sing Se on hold and made it his personal mission to expose his former comrades as Fire Nation citizens.
As a newcomer to Ba Sing Se, Jet didn't realize the danger that being so outspoken about the war could put him in. It didn't help that Prince Zuko and Uncle Iroh were doing an excellent job blending in with the rest of the refugees, making Jet's claims of them being Fire Nation sound even more ludicrous. Pretty soon, Jet was captured by the Dai Li and that was the beginning of his end. He was forcibly brainwashed and sent to Team Avatar to sabotage their search for Appa.
With Katara's help, Jet was able to overcome most of the brainwashing and escorted Team Avatar underneath Lake Laogai in search of Appa. Unfortunately, they were confronted by Long Feng and several more Dai Li agents. In the battle that ensued, Long Feng fatally injured Jet, leaving him to die with the other Freedom Fighters. Long Feng may have struck the final blow but ultimately, it was Jet's obsession with the Fire Nation that proved his undoing in The Last Airbender.
