I have some questions regarding the epic and its heroes, maybe some of you have some insight for me.
I cannot get over the role of Sita in Ramayana.
She is supposed to be an avatar of the Divine Mother and could have killed Ravana & his allies by a mere glance, but there She sits and waits until Rama comes.
Why does She behave that way?
Hinduism has a great number of goddesses like Durga & Kali, they kill demons and don't wait for a guy to come along and help them.
Why is Sita so passive?
Is it true that when Lakshmana dies (before Hanuman brings the medicine mountain and revives him) Ramana says He would commit suiccide when Lakshmana dies because I might find another woman like Sita but I will never find another brother like Lakshmana?
Is it true that Valmiki's Ramayana does not contain the fire test of Sita?
Rama's army consisted of monkey & bears, we know about Hanuman the monkey but what about the bears?
Is there a divine bear in Hinduism who receives worship as Hanuman does?
The Role of Sita can be viewed and explained in a variety of ways and not all of hem appeal to our 21st century ideals, which doesn't necessarily mean the stories have no value. However, as a Shakta who also loves the Ramayana, I will try to explain the best I can.
There are many ways to fight adharma and ignorance and even more ways to depict that fight/victory. When we limit the ways we can battle adharma because of something as temporary as gender, we do ourselves a disservice. So in Hinduism, as you ave pointed out, there are demon fighting Goddess that use an array of weapons and who display characteristics that are very "un-ladylike". However, there are other ways to dispel ignorance and fight injustice that do not involve physical weapons.
Ravana knew that if he tried to rape sita he would suffer immeasurably, so the only way to defeat her was to use the weapon of coercion and maya to break down her will power and make her give up. Not only on Rama but herself. So Sita fights back in kind. She uses the strength of her conviction and Ravana's own fear and weaknesses against him. By consitantly saying no and denying him what he wants, she robs ravana of the only power he has over her. The Demon King of Lanka, who bent the three worlds to his will and made armies bow before him, cannot get a woman to do as he says. Rama may have made the killing blow, but Ravana's doom was sealed the moment he thought he could manipulate Sita the way he had manipulated so many other women.
Rama's comment about his brother's value over Sita's has a lot to do with the different social values of the time. In the west, Romantic love is seen as the most valuable and worthy thing to fight for. But in Rama's world, familial love is the kind that conquers all. This is hard for our romantic minds to stomach but it's just a different way of thinking about love and relationships. If the sentence had been reversed, wouldn't it be just as sad? (To say one can replace their brother but not their bride?) Also take into account that people say and act in ways they normally wouldn't when confronted with extreme grief. Rama is an avatar, but he also struggles with his humanity (in the same way we all struggle with our coexisting divine and human natures). The Ramayana is meant to connect with human listeners at all stages of spiritual development, so the message/lesson that is received will be slightly different depending on who is doing the interpreting.
As for the Fire test, I am no scholar but I have read that most believe it was added later. However, even if it was, in my opinion it carries important lessons and isn't just a horrible misogynistic spectacle. However that is a longer post for a different time =)
The leader of the bear army that fights with Rama is named Jambhavan. He is said to be the king of the region which is now known as Nepal and that is why India and Nepal have a close relationship. I do not think he is widely worshiped in the traditional sense, but I could be wrong. However he is honored through the retelling of the Ramayana.