There is no shortage of compelling characters in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender but is it fair to say that one stands out more than others? Perhaps even more than the Avatar himself? The series starts off by establishing a clear baseline of good and evil. We learn that one hundred years prior to Aang crashing into the ocean and saving Appa and himself by surrounding themselves in a block of ice, the fire nation attacked the other three nations starting a worldwide war. They sought out power and control and justified their treachery by telling people that they would bring peace and harmony to the world by bringing them under the singular rule of the Fire Lord.
Each of these characters is treated with love and respect by the authors, providing them with interesting backstories which help us understand their motives and actions. The writers even made it easy to understand the motives of characters who only appeared on screen for a handful of episodes. Sokka and Katara grew up in the Southern Water Tribe which was attacked by the Fire Nation when they were children which resulted in the loss of their mother and eventually their father left them to fight in the war. Aang is simply a child who wants to enjoy his life spending time with the people he loves but his childhood ends quicker than he anticipated as the monks in the Southern Air Temple are forced to reveal that he is the next Avatar earlier than they would have liked. Due to the increasing rumors regarding the Fire Nation attacks they felt that they had no choice but to start training Aang right away regardless of his age. Zuko’s sole purpose is to capture the Avatar to restore his honor so that he may return to the Fire Nation and reclaim his rightful place as heir to the throne with the help of his loyal Uncle.
As we get further into the series new characters as revealed such as Zuko’s power hungry sister, Azula and her friends Ty Lee and Mai. The newest member on team Avatar during season 2 is Toph, the mighty earth bender known as the Blind Bandit when they first meet. Azula is tasked with finding her brother and Uncle to bring them back to the Fire Nation to face their punishment after Fire Lord Ozai declared them traitors to the Fire Nation for interfering Admiral Zhao from killing the moon spirit and seizing the Northern Water Tribe once and for all. She recruits her friends Ty Lee and Mai to become part of an elite squad to track down Aang and the gang without drawing too much attention by traveling in her usual royal ships. Ty Lee is quick and nimble striking her opponents in their pressure points, taking away their ability to bend any element or even move. Mai specializes in throwing knives which make her a deadly force. As team Avatar is being hunted by this elite group, Aang is finally learning earth bending from Toph. Aang struggles with earth bending at first as it is the opposite of air bending just as fire bending is the opposite of water bending, but eventually Toph uses her tough love and is able to give Aang the right push to become a successful earth bender.
There are several other characters who help bring the show to life such as Jet and his freedom fighters, Suki, Princess Yue, King Bumi, Master Pakku, and Admiral Zhao. Jet and his freedom fighters are always trying to bring the Fire Nation down at any cost, blurring the lines between what is justice and vengeance. Suki is an elite Kyoshi warrior who quickly humbles Sokka and teaches him the importance of never underestimating any opponent, especially not because of their gender. Princess Yue is yet another girl who plays an important role in Sokka’s character development and ends up making the ultimate sacrifice to save the moon spirit. As a baby, she was born still, and if it wasn’t for the moon spirit she wouldn’t have made it. After Admiral Zhao killed a part of the moon spirit creating an imbalance in the world, she knew that she could give that life back to maintain peace and order. Similar to Sokka, Master Pakku maintained very old fashion values regarding the duties of men and women, believing that women couldn’t and shouldn’t fight but are better suited to learn how to help the men heal from the injuries after battle. Furious by this notion, Katara constantly challenges his outdated beliefs until he sees her necklace that he once gave Katara’s grandmother and eventually has a change of heart. In the long run, Master Pakku gains a tremendous amount of respect for Katara and even declares her a master and someone who is suited to help the Avatar master water bending. King Bumi may be extremely unorthodox, but without his guidance Aang would have never found his perfect earth bending teacher, Toph. Bumi also forced Aang to face several challenges when they first met before Aang realized who he was. He wanted Aang to learn to think outside the box since he knew he was at a disadvantage and would need to outthink the Fire Nation and not rely purely on strength. Prior to killing a part of the moon spirit, Admiral Zhao was constantly causing chaos in search of power. He was manipulating everyone he could to gain the upper hand. He even tried to have Zuko killed by bribing a group of pirates to blow up his ship. After Princess Yue sacrificed herself to save the moon spirit, karma came for Zhao, and he paid the ultimate price. There is also Fire Lord Ozai himself, who lurked in the shadows of the show for the first few seasons relying on his children to capture the Avatar, but he would eventually come face to face with him during the series finale and it was the most epic battle of the series.
There aren’t many shows that have been able to make a connection with the fans through non-speaking characters but Avatar: The Last Airbender was able to do exactly that. They even did it with more than one character. An essential part of team Avatar is Appa, Aang’s flying Sky Bison. He is constantly carrying the team on his back…literally. Without Appa, they would not have been able to travel to so many places so quickly. In addition to his flying ability, he has also fought several other large animals threatening the group and at times he was even able to fend off dangerous people. Another key member of the group is Momo, the flying Lemur. He may not be able to fight as well as Appa or fly the group on his back across the world, but he constantly proved his worth. At minimum, he was a great emotional support animal, but he was also a loyal team member who always did anything he could to help the group, flying headfirst into danger whenever necessary even if it was just for a distraction.
As the youngest Avatar in the history of Avatars with the shortest amount of time to master all four elements, Aang had to grow up quicker than most people. He had a gigantic chip on his shoulder, and he became a legend for defeating the Fire Lord and restoring balance to the four nations at his age. These elements might just make him the most compelling Avatar in history but is it the best character arc in the show? Of course, everyone has their own opinions but looking at the characters objectively, you can’t help but compare Aang to Zuko. Both of them were ruled by destiny. Zuko was never a bad person, but he was raised with an emotionally abusive and neglectful father and a sister who always seemed to outshine him. His own father burned his face leaving him scarred just for speaking up during a war meeting for the sake of the Fire Nation military. His father declared that he could not return until he captured the Avatar regardless of the fact that no one has ever seen him in about 100 years. Prince Zuko lost his home, his father, his mother left years prior, and his sister got to stay and live like royalty. Time and time again Zuko captured the Avatar but inevitably lost him leaving him to feel nothing but despair. For the longest time all he wanted was for his father not to think he was worthless but with the guidance of his Uncle Iroh, eventually he finally realized that he was not the problem and he managed to find his own path. He realized that his true destiny was to help the Avatar by teaching him fire bending to help him stop his father’s tyranny. His struggles and his strength to overcome the curse of his family was a true inspiration.
