Avatar: The Last Airbender facts for kids

Avatar: The Last Airbender (also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang in Europe) is a popular American animated TV show. It aired on Nickelodeon for three seasons. The show was created by Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Aaron Ehasz.

The story takes place in a world inspired by Asian cultures. People in this world can control elements like water, earth, fire, and air using Chinese martial arts moves. This special ability is called "bending." The show mixes styles from anime and American cartoons.

The main character is a young boy named Aang. He travels with his friends Katara, Sokka, Toph, and later Zuko. Their mission is to save the world by defeating the evil Fire Lord Ozai. They must also end a terrible war that has lasted for 100 years.

The first episode, "The Boy in the Iceberg," aired on February 21, 2005. The series ended with a special two-hour movie called "Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle" on July 19, 2008. Many people loved the show, and it won several awards. You can watch Avatar: The Last Airbender on DVDs and streaming services like Netflix.

What is Avatar: The Last Airbender About?

Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in a world with humans, amazing animals, and spirits. Human society is split into four nations:

• The Water Tribes
• The Earth Kingdom
• The Air Nomads
• The Fire Nation

Each nation is linked to a natural element and builds its society around it. Some people, called Benders, can control their nation's element using special martial arts moves. The show's creators based each bending style on real-world martial arts:

• Waterbending uses tai chi chuan.
• Earthbending mostly uses Hung Ga kung fu.
• Firebending uses Northern Shaolin kung fu.
• Airbending uses baguazhang.

Each nation is also connected to a season: Air Nomads with autumn, Water Tribe with winter, Earth Kingdom with spring, and Fire Nation with summer.

Who is the Avatar?

In the world of Avatar, only one person at a time can bend all four elements. This person is called the Avatar. The Avatar is the spirit of the planet in human form. When an Avatar dies, they are reborn into the next nation in the Avatar Cycle. This cycle follows the order of the seasons.

The Avatar must learn to master each bending art in the same seasonal order. Learning to bend their opposite element can be very hard for the Avatar. For example, Aang, an Airbender, found Earthbending difficult because it requires standing firm, which is different from his usual circling and adapting movements.

The Avatar also has a special power called the Avatar State. In this state, the Avatar gains the knowledge and skills of all past Avatars. It acts as a defense mechanism, but the Avatar can also learn to control it. If an Avatar is killed while in the Avatar State, the cycle of rebirth ends, and there will be no more Avatars.

Throughout history, Avatars have worked to keep the four nations in peace. They also act as a bridge between the human world and the Spirit World. This allows them to solve problems that normal benders cannot.

Season One: Book One: Water

The story begins 100 years before the show's start. A 12-year-old Airbender named Aang learns he is the new Avatar. Scared of the huge responsibilities, Aang runs away on his flying bison, Appa. A storm causes them to crash into the ocean. Aang's Avatar State activates, freezing them inside an iceberg in a state of suspended animation.

After Aang disappears, Fire Lord Sozin attacks the Air Nomads. He wants to stop the Avatar from interfering with his plans for world domination. Sadly, Aang is the only Air Nomad to survive this attack.

A century later, Katara, a 14-year-old Waterbender, and her older brother, Sokka, find Aang and Appa. The three friends travel to the Northern Water Tribe so Aang and Katara can learn Waterbending. Along the way, Aang visits the Southern Air Temple and discovers what happened to his people. There, he also meets his Avatar guide, Avatar Roku.

During their journey, they are chased by Prince Zuko. Zuko is the exiled son of Fire Lord Ozai. He believes capturing the Avatar will bring back his honor and allow him to return home. Zuko travels with his wise uncle Iroh, known as "Dragon of the West." Admiral Zhao also hunts the Avatar. Zhao leads a Fire Nation attack on the Northern Water Tribe, but Aang and his friends successfully defend it.

Season Two: Book Two: Earth

After leaving the North Pole, Aang continues to learn Waterbending with Katara. They search for an Earthbending teacher and meet Toph Bei Fong. Toph is a blind Earthbending genius who teaches Aang to "see" using earthbending and vibrations. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh are now fugitives from the Fire Nation. They try to start new lives in the Earth Kingdom. Zuko struggles with his past and his obsession with the Avatar.

Aang and his friends discover that a coming solar eclipse will take away Firebenders' powers. This gives them a chance to defeat the Fire Lord. Azula, Zuko's younger sister, and her friends Mai and Ty Lee chase Team Avatar. The group tries to reach Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom capital, to warn the Earth King about the eclipse.

Azula captures and pretends to be the Kyoshi Warriors, who are friends of Team Avatar. She then convinces a special group of Earthbenders, the Dai Li, to help her take over Ba Sing Se. This allows the Fire Nation to capture the city. In a big fight, Zuko joins Azula, who promises to restore his honor. Azula badly hurts Aang with lightning while he is in the Avatar State. Katara uses spirit water to heal Aang, but he cannot enter the Avatar State anymore.

Season Three: Book Three: Fire

Aang wakes up to find his friends disguised as Fire Nation soldiers on a ship. Zuko has been welcomed back as a prince. Sokka plans a small invasion of the Fire Nation to defeat Fire Lord Ozai during the solar eclipse. A group of benders and warriors, whom Aang helped earlier, join the invasion.

The invasion starts well, but Aang cannot find the Fire Lord before the eclipse ends. Azula knew about their plan. The invasion fails, and only Aang and his closest friends escape. Zuko has a change of heart and decides to leave his father. He joins the Avatar at the Western Air Temple and offers to teach Aang Firebending. After some doubt from Katara and Sokka, Team Avatar accepts Zuko.

In the final episodes, Aang defeats Fire Lord Ozai by taking away his Firebending ability. With Ozai defeated, the war quickly ends. Zuko becomes the new Fire Lord. With the help of the Avatar and his friends, he begins to rebuild the four nations. The series ends with Aang and Katara kissing as the sun sets.

Main Characters

• Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen) is a 12-year-old boy. He is the most important character in the show. He was frozen in ice with his flying bison, Appa, for 100 years. A young Waterbender named Katara found him. Aang is the Avatar, meaning he can master all four elements: water, earth, fire, and air. He is a hero, but he does not want to be one. He tries to bring peace back to the world.

• Katara (Mae Whitman) is 14 years old. She is a Waterbender, which means she can control water with her movements. She is from the Southern Water Tribe. Katara and her brother, Sokka, find Aang frozen in ice. They join Aang on his adventure to defeat the evil Fire Lord Ozai. Katara is Aang's first teacher for Waterbending.

Note: Katara can also do bloodbending. This means she can control people's bodies by "bending" their blood. She does not like to use this power.

• Sokka (Jack DeSena) is 15 years old. He is a warrior and Katara's brother. He lives in the Southern Water Tribe. Sokka joins Aang on his journey to defeat the Fire Lord. He is very funny and describes himself as "meat-loving" and "sarcastic". Unlike his friends, Sokka cannot bend any elements. However, he is a skilled fighter and a smart thinker. He has many good ideas and uses weapons like a boomerang and a sword made from a meteorite. Michael Dante DiMartino, the show's creator, said Sokka could have been a Waterbender but never learned.

• Toph (Jessie Flower) is 12 years old and blind. She is an Earthbender. Her family is rich, but she does not care about money. Toph is very strong and loves to fight. When she meets Aang and his friends, she thinks they are strange. She decides to help them and becomes Aang's Earthbending teacher. Even though she is blind, Toph can "see" by feeling vibrations in the earth with her feet. This allows her to know what is happening around her. Toph is considered the most powerful Earthbender ever.

• Zuko (Dante Basco) is 16 years old. He is the son of the evil Fire Lord, making him a prince. In Season 1, he is the main villain. Zuko has had a difficult life, and his father does not like him. Zuko believes that capturing the Avatar will make his father proud. He is often angry and struggles with his family. Throughout the show, Zuko learns to be a better person. He sometimes wears a blue mask to hide his identity and help people. In Season 3, he leaves the Fire Lord and joins Aang's group. He becomes Aang's Firebending teacher. At the end of the series, Zuko becomes the new Fire Lord.

• Azula (Grey DeLisle) is a powerful Firebender and Zuko's younger sister. She is a major villain in the show. Azula is very skilled at Firebending and can even create lightning. She is often mean to her friends Mai and Ty Lee, using fire to scare them. The Fire Lord likes her more than Zuko.

• Iroh (Mako in seasons one and two, Greg Baldwin in season three) was once a general for the Fire Lord. He is known as the "Dragon of the West" because he can breathe fire. He is Prince Zuko's uncle and mentor. Iroh is older than the Fire Lord and should have been the leader, but the Fire Lord tricked him. People think Iroh is kind, wise, and happy. He often acts silly, making others think he is not strong or smart. However, Iroh is very intelligent and powerful. He has a secret group of strong fighters called The Order of the White Lotus. In the last episode, they fight the Fire Nation and help bring peace to the world. Iroh is special because he learned Firebending from Dragons.

Other Important Characters

How the Show Was Made

Michael DiMartino, one of the co-creators of the show, at the 2008 New York Comic Con.

Avatar: The Last Airbender was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. They worked at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California. The animation itself was done by a Korean studio called DR Movie.

Bryan Konietzko shared that the idea for the show came to him in 2001. He drew a picture of an old man and then changed him into a child. This child was herding bison in the sky. He showed the drawing to Mike DiMartino. At the same time, DiMartino was watching a documentary about explorers stuck in the South Pole.

Konietzko explained their early ideas: "We thought, 'There's an air guy along with these water people trapped in a snowy wasteland... and maybe some fire people are pressing down on them...'" They presented their idea to Nickelodeon just two weeks later, and it was approved.

The show was first shown to the public at Comic-Con in 2004. Episodes started airing on February 21, 2005. The first two episodes were shown together as a one-hour special. The second season had twenty episodes and ran from March 17, 2006, to December 1, 2006. The third and final season began on September 21, 2007, and had twenty-one episodes. The last four episodes were combined into a two-hour movie.

Cultural Inspirations

Avatar is known for using many ideas from Asian art and mythology to create its world. The characters and designs are inspired by anime, Chinese art and history, Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Yoga. Even the writing in the show uses traditional East Asian calligraphy styles. The creators used cultural consultants to make sure everything was accurate.

The bending moves, which are like choreographed martial arts, were inspired by Asian movies. Bryan Konietzko said, "Our love for Japanese anime, Hong Kong action and kung fu cinema, yoga, and Eastern philosophies led us to the initial inspiration for Avatar."

All the music and sounds for the series were made by Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, known as "The Track Team." They used many different instruments, like the guzheng and pipa, to create music that fit the show's world.

The Meaning of "Avatar"

The word "Avatar" comes from Sanskrit, an ancient language from India. The word Avatāra means "descent." In Hindu texts, avatara means a god coming down to earth in human form. Someone who connects with a spiritual power and then returns to help humanity is called an avatar. The Chinese characters on the show's title card mean "the divine medium who has descended upon the mortal world."

When Aang was young, he unknowingly showed he was the Avatar. He chose four toys out of thousands, which were the childhood toys of past Avatars. In Tibetan Buddhism, there is a similar test for reborn spiritual leaders. Children are asked to pick out objects that belonged to the previous leader.

Elements and Fighting Styles

Avatar uses the four classical elements: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. These elements are found in many ancient philosophies. In the show's opening, each element is shown with two Chinese characters. One is an ancient character for the element, and the other describes a feature of it.

• Water (pinyin: shui) is shown with 善 (pinyin: shan), meaning kindness and adaptability.
• Earth (pinyin: tu) is shown with 強 (pinyin: qiang), meaning strength and stability.
• Fire (pinyin: huo) is shown with 烈 (pinyin: lie), meaning intensity and passion.
• Air (pinyin: qi) is shown with 和 (pinyin: he), meaning peace and harmony.

The fighting styles for each element come from different types of Chinese martial arts. A martial arts expert, Sifu Kisu, helped with the show. Each style was chosen to match the element:

• "Waterbending" uses Tai Chi, which focuses on smooth, flowing movements.
• "Earthbending" uses Hung Gar, known for strong stances and powerful hits.
• "Firebending" uses Northern Shaolin, with its strong arm and leg movements.
• "Airbending" uses Ba Gua, which has circular movements and quick changes in direction.
• The only exception is Toph, who uses a Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis style.

Awards and Popularity

Audience Ratings

When the show first aired, it was the top-rated animated TV series for its age group. New episodes had about 3.1 million viewers. A special one-hour episode called "The Secret of the Fire Nation" had 5.1 million viewers. This made it the most-watched cable TV show that week. By 2007, Avatar was shown in over 105 countries and was one of Nickelodeon's most popular shows. It was ranked first in countries like Germany, Indonesia, and Belgium.

The series finale, Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle, had the highest ratings ever for the show. It premiered on July 19, 2008, and had 5.6 million viewers. This was 95% more viewers than Nickelodeon usually had. It was also the most-watched program for kids under 14 that week. The popularity of Sozin's Comet also boosted online games. An online game based on the finale had almost 815,000 plays in just three days.

Other Awards

Avatar: The Last Airbender won many awards for its amazing storytelling, animation, and characters.

Other Media

Books and Comics

Dark Horse Comics released an art book called Avatar: The Last Airbender — The Art of the Animated Series. It came out on June 2, 2010. This book has 184 pages of original art and details about how the Avatar animated series was made.

Toys and Merchandise

The "Avatar Airbender" roller coaster at Mall of America's Nickelodeon Universe.

Because Avatar was so successful, it led to many products and promotions. Companies like Burger King and Upper Deck Entertainment created Avatar-themed items. There are also Avatar-themed roller coasters, like the "Avatar Airbender" at Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America.

Nickelodeon also published special magazines about the show. The creators and cast members appeared at conventions like Comic-Con. Avatar has its own line of T-shirts, LEGO playsets, toys, a trading card game, and comic books.

Mattel's action figures caused some discussion because they did not include any female characters at first. Mattel later said they would add Katara to the toy line, but the whole line was stopped before she could be made.

Nickelodeon executives were very hopeful about Avatar's future. Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami believed the franchise "could become their Harry Potter." They expected people to spend a lot of money on Avatar products. These marketing plans were timed with the release of the first live-action movie based on the series in 2010. This movie was planned to be the first in a trilogy.

Video Games

There is a series of video games based on Avatar: The Last Airbender:

• Avatar: The Last Airbender, based on the first season.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth, based on the second season.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender - Into the Inferno, based on the third season.

A computer game called Avatar: Legends of the Arena was released on September 25, 2008, by Nickelodeon. In this game, players can create their own character, choose a nation, and play with others online.

Movie Adaptations

The Avatar: The Last Airbender series also inspired a movie trilogy called The Last Airbender:

• The Last Airbender, released on July 1, 2010. This movie was based on the first season of the TV show.
• The Last Airbender 2 was planned for 2012, based on the second season. No further updates have been given.
• The Last Airbender 3 was planned for 2014, based on the third season. No further updates have been given.

Movie Actors

Avatar: The Legend of Korra

A new series based on Avatar: The Last Airbender was developed by Nickelodeon and released in 2012. It was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the original creators. The show, called Avatar: The Legend of Korra, is a twelve-episode mini-series. It takes place in the same world, 70 years after Fire Lord Ozai was defeated in Sozin's Comet. The plans for the show were announced at Comic-Con in San Diego on July 22, 2010.

The series focuses on Korra, a teenage girl who is the current Avatar. According to the president of Nickelodeon, Korra is "hotheaded, independent, and ready to take on the world." She has already mastered Water, Earth, and Firebending, but she still needs to master Airbending. The creators said Korra was partly inspired by Avatar Kyoshi from the first series, who was very popular.

To avoid repeating Aang's adventures, the creators wanted the show to be set mostly in one place: Republic City. Early drawings of the city show it was inspired by cities like Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s, Hong Kong, Manhattan, and Vancouver. In the show, Korra learns Airbending from Tenzin, who is the son of Avatar Aang and Katara. She also has to deal with a revolution against benders in the city.

The creators said the show would not necessarily be more grown-up, but it would cover different mature topics. They explained, "It won't be another war, but a different sort of conflict." They also mentioned there would be some "cheesy teen romance" for Korra. At the 2010 Comic-Con, it was confirmed that Joaquim Dos Santos and Ryuki Hung would continue to work on the animation and design. The creators also wrote all twelve episodes themselves, making sure the story was "really tight" and "cool" without filler episodes. In late July, Jeremy Zuckerman, who composed music for the original series, was confirmed to return for The Legend of Korra.

Images for kids

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  A map of the four nations

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  Fictional locations featured in the show are based on the architecture and designs of real locations. For example, the creators modeled the city of Ba Sing Se off the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.

See also

In Spanish: Avatar: la leyenda de Aang para niños