Aang is the main fictional character in the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He is voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen, but was voiced by Mitchel Musso in the pilot episode. Aang is a 112-year-old monk of the Air Nomads and the current reincarnation of the Avatar. With friends Katara, Sokka, Toph, and pets Momo and Appa, Aang journeys on a quest to master the elements, to defeat the Fire Lord, and bring peace to the war-torn nations.
| Aang | |
|---|---|
| Voiced by | Mitchel Musso (Pilot Only) Zach Tyler Eisen |
| In-universe information | |
| Aliases | Bonzu Pipinpadalopsakopolous III |
| Gender | Male |
| Position | Avatar, Airbending Master, Waterbender, Earthbender, Firebender |
| Nationality | Air Nomads (Southen Air Temple) File:Airbend.jpg |
Aang's shaved head is a symbol of his status as a monk of the Air Nomads and the blue, arrow-shaped tattoos mark him as an Airbending Master. Template:Spoilers
History
A Century Past
When Aang was a child, he unknowingly revealed that he was the reincarnation of the Avatar when he chose four toys out of thousands. These four toys were the same ones that past Avatars had chosen for generations when they were children. Raised by Airbender monks, Aang grew up in the idyllic surroundings of the Southern Air Temple. Aang was a carefree young boy, given to frequent travel, play, and possessing an almost effortless mastery over his native element. His world drastically changed when the monks revealed that he was the Avatar, destined to master all four elements and bring peace to the world.
Usually, the Avatar is told of his or her true identity only after turning sixteen; however, Aang's caretakers feared that a war between the Four Nations was on the horizon and believed that the Avatar would be needed to help maintain balance. Aang soon began to feel overwhelmed with the burden of his position. His peers ostracized him for his airbending skill, while his caretakers pressured him to mature too quickly.
The only monk sympathetic to Aang's feelings was the elder Monk Gyatso, Aang's Airbending teacher and guardian. When the burden weighed heavily on his favorite student, Gyatso worked to instill a sense of fun through jokes and games. He sincerely believed that Aang should be allowed to grow up as a normal boy. The other monks disagreed. Citing Gyatso's attachment to the boy as an interference, they decided to send Aang away to the Eastern Air Temple to focus on his training, oblivious to the fact that Aang had overheard their caucus.
Confused and frightened by what he'd learned, Aang fled from his home on his flying bison, Appa, towards the South Pole. While over the Southern ocean, a sudden storm caused Appa to plunge deep into the sea. Entering the Avatar State, Aang reflexively used Airbending to surround himself and Appa in an air bubble that quickly froze into an iceberg, putting them into a state of suspended animation for the next hundred years.
Story
Book I: Water
Reawakening
In the present day, two teenage siblings from the Southern Water Tribe - Katara, a Waterbender, and her brother Sokka - discovered and freed Aang from his iceberg. Aang's first thought from being freed from the iceberg was to go penguin sledding.
Aang soon discovered that in his absence, fears of war had became reality. The very year he vanished, the then-leader of the Fire Nation, the ruthless Fire Lord Sozin, took advantage of the Firebending-enhancing powers of a mystical comet to launch a war on the three other nations.
To Aang's utter shock and disbelief, the Fire Nation's opening gambit had been a genocidal assault on the Air Nomads. All four Air temples were stormed and the monks slaughtered in an effort to break the Avatar Cycle, leaving him as the last known Airbender in existence.
Aang has since realized that the future of the Four Nations rests in his hands. It is his duty to defeat the Fire Nation and restore peace and harmony to the world. To achieve this, Aang and his newfound friends (and pets) set off on a quest to find and learn from Master Benders, while evading capture by the Fire Nation.
During one of their detours they land on Kyoshi Island (an island named after one of his incarnations), where they were captured by the Kyoshi Warriors; the inhabitants had kept out of the war for the past 100 years and thus were xenophobic to outsiders. The village elder Oyajii and the warrior Suki believed they were Fire Nation spies and were about to throw them to the Unagi, until Aang proved he was the Avatar and he became honoured guests in the village. However Aang's new celebrity status had gotten to his head; causing him to entertain and impress a group of fan girls. When Prince Zuko arrived on Kyoshi Island he realised that by staying too long he endangered the people, by tricking the Unagi to spray water to to put out of the flames of the battle and flying away so Zuko would follow him and leave the island.
In another 'detour' he took Katara and Sokka the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu, where long ago his old friend Bumi took him on the world's biggest roller coaster ride on the city's postal system. After their own roller coaster ride they were arrested for damages and taken before the King; the old King (who seemed to be crazy) encased Katara and Sokka in creeping gem and would only free them if Aang passed three tests. The first test involved getting the King's key for his lunch box from within a waterfall, the second for collecting his pet Gorilla Bison Flopsie and the third in duel with the King himself who was actually a powerful Earthbender. Afterwards the King offered one more test to guess his name, Aang finally deduced that it was his old friend Bumi. King Bumi told Aang to end the war he must learn all the Bending Arts and defeat the Fire Lord himself.
Winter Solstice
When trying to help a village tormented by an angry spirit, he unknowingly entered the Spirit World. There he was contacted by Avatar Roku's dragon, who led him in his spiritual state to Roku's temple on a cresent island. By showing Aang various visions of a fiery Comet and beams of light shining towards Roku's statue, Aang realised he could talk with his previous incarnation during the winter solstice.
On morning of the solstice, Aang and his friends passed through a Fire Navy blockade and entered the Fire Nation, journeying to the Avatar temple. With the help of the one Fire Sage still loyal to the Avatar, Shyu, Aang managed to enter the inner chamber of the temple. Roku, who manifested himself when light from the solstice sun struck his statue, warned Aang of Sozin's Comet, a comet that returns once every hundred years and greatly increases a Firebender's power. Fire Lord Sozin used the power of the comet to start the war a century ago, and Sozin's Comet will return near the end of summer. If Aang does not defeat the Fire Lord before the Comet's arrival, not even the Avatar can stop him, and it will not be possible to restore the world to balance. Aang despairs that he has not learned the other bending arts and will be unable to complete his training before the Comet's arrival, but Roku assures him that he has done it before.
Practicing Water
With the knowledge of the Comet, the prospect of having to learn the other bending arts and to defeat the Fire Lord before the Summer's end increasingly agitates Aang. To help relieve his predicament, Katara teaches Aang some of her self-taught skills only to find Aang faster and better at learning the techniques that took her ages to learn, causing her to be jealous. While looking through a port market, Katara steals a Waterbending Scroll from Pirates. Katara insists it was for Aang to learn Waterbending but its clear she intended to learn from the Scroll herself. After a run in with the Pirates and Prince Zuko, Aang and Katara decided to learn together from the scroll.
Future deadline
Although it takes years of discipline and training to master any particular element, Aang must master them all and defeat Fire Lord Ozai before summer's end, when the return of Sozin's Comet will grant the Firebenders enough power to win the war. If these events come to pass, not even the Avatar will be able to restore balance to the world. Fortunately, shortly before Sozin's Comet is due to arrive, there will be a complete solar eclipse during which Firebenders will lose their power, giving Aang a huge advantage when invading the Fire Nation and confronting Ozai, the current Fire Lord.
Personality
Aang is fun-loving, naïve, and adventurous. He craves the stimulation of new people and places; in short, he is the consummate tourist. His frequent off-course detours frustrate both allies and pursuers alike. Yet Aang has always prided himself on a complex social network of friends extending over all four nations, and a little thing like war will not stand in his way. As well, he looks forward to playing with all the exotic fauna in each place he visits. Whether it's penguins, hog-monkeys or gigantic eels, no fit animal Aang sees goes un-ridden.
Aang feels a terrible guilt and burden in his duties as Avatar. Very much the reluctant hero, he wishes he'd been there to help his people a century ago, but he'd still rather live a child's carefree life. This initially caused him to conceal his true identity from friends, and still has a tendency to slack off in his studies of the Bending Arts, even though he naturally excels at it.
Being the last Airbender and having no living peers (with the exception of the aged King Bumi and Guru Pathik), Aang cares deeply for those close to him, even to the point of deceiving and hurting others to keep the group together. In "Bato of the Water Tribe," Aang heard that Katara and Sokka might leave the group to visit their father, so Aang hid the map showing his whereabouts and lied about ever having it in the first place. In "The Desert," Aang destroyed three Sandbender gliders when he found out they had kidnapped Appa and sold him.
Recent events in the Earth Kingdom, however, have begun to take a toll on his care-free personality. Aang's attitude changed dramatically when Appa, his air bison, was captured and taken away while Aang, Katara, and Sokka were searching an ancient library buried in a desert. Aang became visibly enraged and hostile, particularly toward Toph, who was 'keeping an eye on' Appa while they were gone. Despite attempts by Katara to calm Aang down, his anger continued to grow until finally he flew off to search for Appa alone. Eventually Aang returned to the group, but was still visibly upset. Aang then violated the principles of Airbending when Momo was snatched up by a Buzzard-Wasp. He followed the creature and rescued Momo, but then unnecessarily struck it down with his staff. After Aang returned with Momo the group was confronted by the 'Sandbenders' who had taken Appa. When one of the benders revealed that they had sold Appa, Aang lashed out and smashed all their sand boats in a matter of moments. He then turned his sights on the Sandbenders and transformed into his 'Avatar State'. Aang's rage was only stopped when Katara grabbed hold of him and held him in an embrace until he finally calmed down and returned to his normal state.
Avatar
Bending
As the incarnation of the Avatar, Aang possesses the ability to manipulate all four elements. He is already an Airbending master, so incredibly skilled that he's able to invent new techniques, like his "Air Scooter," a propelled sphere of air currents he can ride. Though he is able to master techniques with more ease than his young Waterbender friend Katara, his lack of focus has allowed her to surpass him at times. Now he must learn from her, as their teacher Master Pakku deemed her a master. He is a fairly good Waterbender, and in the episode "Bitter Work" Katara tells Aang he has the reflexes of a Waterbending Master. The Earthbending style is the opposing style to his natural Airbending, and as such conflicts with his natural personality. At first, Aang's Earthbending skills appear stunted, as he has difficulty learning simple skills from Toph in "Bitter Work". However, when confronted with a need for direct opposition, rather than avoidance, he was able to assume the position of an Earthbender. By the time of "The Drill", his skills have improved dramatically, when he comfortably uses Earthbending in combat against Azula. He appears to have achieved mastery in Earthbending by the time of "The Tales of Ba Sing Se", creating a giant zoo with his bending and fending off hundreds of Earthbenders in "The Earth King". Later, he incorporates his Airbender's staff into his Earthbending, much like avatar Kyoshi incorporates her fans into her bending. It is possible for Aang to bend two elements at the same time, as demonstrated in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se". He has little skill with fire, but has received a rudimentary object lesson in breath control and Firebending. When he was briefly instructed by the fugitive Firebending master Jeong Jeong, he ignored warnings to restrain himself and accidentally burned Katara (leading inadvertantly to the discovery of her healing powers). Newly respectful of fire's destructive power, he has not used Firebending since, and has even vowed to never firebend again, although, as Guru Pathik said in The Guru, he will eventually have to, as he is the Avatar.
As the Avatar, Aang is quite possibly the most powerful Bender in the world; he once used his Airbending skills to halt a massive lava flow, without entering the Avatar State. Additionally, Aang has exceptional natural talent towards all bending, performing waterbending on his first try when Katara took several months to learn the same move and assuming a perfect earthbending stance on his first try. However, Aang is loathe to use his skills in battle, preferring to solve problems non-violently. Even when forced into combat, Aang typically holds back, fighting defensively and trying to subdue opponents without seriously hurting them, even if they are not human. This attitude was apparently common among Airbenders, who were all vegetarians and taught that all living things are precious. The only exception to Aang's pacifism is when his friends are threatened; in which case, he gets very angry and relentlessly attacks his opponents, sometimes even entering the Avatar State. In The Desert, Aang rescues Momo from a buzzard-wasp. The creature flies away, but Aang knocks it out of the sky with an airblast due to his anger and stress.
Spirit
Aang is the newest incarnation of the spirit of the planet, which has been continually reincarnated since time immemorial. In life-threatening situations or instances of extreme emotional stress, Aang involuntarily channels the power of all his past lives, entering the powerful Avatar State. His tattoos, eyes and mouth glow white, and he either uses bending as an immediate means of self-preservation, or lapses into a dangerous fit of elemental volatility until he is calmed down.
This spiritual state is the manifestation of all the Avatar's previous incarnations, which allows Aang to tap into the sum total of their power. When in this state the Avatar is at his most powerful, but also his most vulnerable. If the Avatar dies while in the Avatar State, the previous incarnations of the Avatar will die along with him, and the cycle of reincarnation will be permanently broken.
Aang often receives advice and guidance from Avatar Roku, the previous Avatar incarnation. Born into the Fire Nation in life, Roku is a benign force in spirit, serving as Aang's adviser and protector. On the Winter Solstice, he informed Aang of the impending return of Sozin's Comet, and manifested to defeat a group of Firebenders holding his friends hostage. (When Roku manifests, his voice can be heard behind Aang's when he speaks.) He's guided Aang several times since, appearing to Jeong Jeong to persuade him to teach Aang, offering critical wisdom in the ways of the Spirit World during The Siege of the North, and most recently, revealing to Aang the nature of the Avatar State.
After receving a letter from Guru Pathik in The Earth King, Aang journeys to the Eastern Air Temple to learn to control the Avatar State. Guru Pathik reveals that the secret of entering, controlling, and leaving the Avatar State by free will lay in the 'releasing' of seven chakras. Aang has little trouble with the first six, but struggles with the seventh - earthly attachments, namely, love. Aang's love for Katara, accompanied by a vision of her in dire need of help, captured in Ba Sing Se, cause him to leave the Guru and return to Ba Sing Se. Guru Pathik states that Aang's refusal to let Katara go has 'locked the final chakra' and disallowed him to enter the Avatar State at all. Later, in The Crossroads of Destiny, however, Aang begins to open the Seventh Chakra and enter the Avatar State by doing just as he had been told - letting go of his attachment to Katara. However, moments after entering the Avatar State, the process is interrupted as he is struck from behind by Azula, fatally wounding and removing him from the State. He was at the brink of death until Katara saves him.
Medium
The Avatar also has the capacity to act as a medium, a bridge between mortal world and the Spirit World, the plane of existence where the universe's disembodied spirits dwell. Through inducing a deep meditative state, Aang can separate from his body and travel the physical world's astral plane in astral form, or, with the help of a gateway, travel completely to the Spirit World. Once in the Spirit World, Aang can travel freely and communicate with beings such as Avatar Roku or Koh the Face Stealer. This position as intermediary also allows him to channel other spirits while in the Avatar State. He once acted as the Avatar of the Ocean Spirit to defeat the Fire Nation during the siege of the North Pole. He has also channeled the spirits of previous Avatars, namely Roku and Kyoshi.
Family
Monk Gyatso
The closest person to a father-figure in Aang's days at the Southern Air Temple, Monk Gyatso was a caring and understanding teacher. He seems to have been the source of Aang's love for fun, games, and jokes. When Aang returns to the temple after a century in suspended animation, he is devastated to find the corpse of his beloved mentor surrounded by the remains of Fire Nation soldiers. This prompts Aang to enter the Avatar State, causing a violent emotional episode of involuntary Airbending, which only abates when his friend Katara promises that she and her brother, Sokka, will be his new surrogate family.
Avatar Roku
Avatar Roku, while not "family" per se, is a facet of Aang's self, the previous incarnation of the Avatar. He serves in much the same capacity as Monk Gyatso before him, guiding Aang through the difficult process of becoming a fully realized Avatar. Though a deep relationship has not yet been established, each knows the other instinctively, and both are pleased to communicate with one another when the opportunity arises.
Relationships
Katara
The first face Aang sees upon waking from suspended animation is the young Waterbender, Katara, who was his liberator from the iceberg. Aang gradually develops a crush on the fourteen-year-old. This unrequited infatuation has deepened as Aang progresses from making amateurish gifts to eavesdropping on Katara's meeting with the fortuneteller Aunt Wu (Wu's prediction that Katara will "marry a powerful bender" prompted a silent celebratory fit of glee). The episode, "The Cave of Two Lovers," has an ambiguous scene where Katara and Aang lean in to kiss. The scene then goes black until the two are seen, with their hands locked, looking up at the glowing crystals on the cave ceiling. When asked how they got out of the cave Aang said they "let love lead the way", which may be hinting that Aang has fallen in love with her. Katara, however, is known to have kissed Aang (though on the cheek) at the end of the episode "Bato of the Water Tribe" and near the end of "The Earth King".
Katara is Aang's only teacher so far to use positive reinforcement as a teaching method. Aang responds well to this method, most likely due to the generally free-spirited nature of Airbenders.
As of the events in "The Desert," Katara remains the only person able to calm Aang down from the Avatar State.
Also, as has been seen from events in "The Serpent's Pass," Katara is able to renew emotions and beliefs in Aang where others were unable. While others had tried to renew Aang's optimism and hope, only Katara was successful.
This love for Katara put Aang in an unforseen position as he goes to the Eastern Air Temple in "The Guru" to learn to control the Avatar State from Guru Pathik. Guru tells Aang that the control of the Avatar State involves the releasing of various emotions in the seven chakras spread throughout the body, including worldy attachment. In order to open the seventh chakra, Aang is told that he must let go of his attachment to Katara. He is reluctant but starts to do so, when he has a vision that Katara is in danger. Aang breaks his meditation and leaves to save her, despite Guru Pathik's warning that it would lock his chakra and he would never be able to enter the Avatar state again.
At the end of "The Crossroads of Destiny", Aang and Katara face overwhelming odds against Azula, Zuko, and the Dai Li. Believing that entering the Avatar State is their only hope, Aang isolates himself and meditates, hoping to let go of his attachment to Katara and unlock the seventh chakra. Though Aang began to release the chakra and entered the Avatar State, according to Nick.com's description of the "Celestial Avatar Spirit Aang", he is unable to complete the process due to the interruption caused by Azula's lightning bolt strike. Consequently, Aang was prevented from clearing the seventh chakra and mastering the Avatar State, leaving his attachment to Katara intact.
Sokka
Aang and Sokka have had their rough patches. While Aang has since disproved the young warrior's initial suspicions that he was a Fire Nation spy, his occasional carelessness can raise Sokka's hackles. For his part, Aang often makes light of Sokka's serious demeanor. Along with Katara, he views Sokka's skeptical favoring of science over magic with some bewildered amusement, though he has grown impressed with Sokka's engineering skills. In "The Drill," Aang tells Sokka that he's usually the one who comes up with plans to help them, proving that he needs to depend on Sokka's help once in a while. Aang is also one of the few characters who is never voiced any annoyance by Sokka, nor contempt because he has no bending skills. Aang and Sokka are both seen goofing around with each other, often to Katara's chagrin. In fact, the two sometimes gain amusement from Katara's irritation with their more whimsical attitudes. He also seems to desire Sokka's permission for a relationship with his sister Katara, as seen in "The Fortuneteller" (though Sokka couldn't tell he was talking about Katara.)
Toph
Toph is a blind twelve-year old who is exceptionally skilled at Earthbending. Toph is Aang's Earthbending teacher, although she has a much different teaching approach than Katara, more akin to that of an army drill sergeant. Just like their elements, Aang and Toph's personalities are complete opposites as well. At first, Aang is intimidated by Toph's bold nature and tries to work peacefully around it. He is beginning to learn to stand up to her, however. He takes back his staff/glider when she refuses to stop mishandling it. In a moment of sleep-deprivation, Aang finally snaps at Toph, believing that she allowed Appa to be captured based on her previous complaints about him. However, they seem to get along much easier now. In the episode the Earth King, he refers to everyone, including Toph, as his family.
Toph first appeared in "The Swamp" as a vision to Aang. The vision was simply a message that he would meet her in the future (as Aang correctly concluded in the episode).
Appa
Appa the flying bison is both Aang's dear pet and the group's primary means of travel. Aang met Appa at the Eastern Air Temple when he was just a calf. Appa is not only a skilled flier but also an adept swimmer, and he seems fairly impervious to adverse weather. Aang loves his fellow survivor of a century of sleep, as they both may be the last of their kind. Aang possesses a flying bison whistle (inaudible to humans) to summon Appa from a distance, and he commands him to fly with a cry of "Yip-yip!"
Appa is a natural Airbender, and it is speculated that his species, like the badgermoles, inspired the locals to develop their own Airbending skills. The Airbenders even tattoo themselves with the flying bison's arrow-shaped markings. Appa seems to be able to communicate with animals of other species, such as Momo, and he hates going underground (as seen in the episode "The Cave of Two Lovers").
Appa is very faithful and protective of Aang, and on various occasions he has actively entered into battle to protect his little friend.
As seen in "The Desert," Appa means a lot to Aang, since he has been with Aang for over 100 years. When Appa is taken by Sandbenders, Aang is driven mad in his anger, reverting to his Avatar State and destroying all the Sandbender skiffs and almost killing the Sandbenders.
Momo
Aang discovers Momo, a winged lemur, while wandering about the ruined Southern Air Temple. Aang quickly claimed him as a pet and named him after the peach Momo was holding at the time (momo is Japanese for "peach"). Aang is very fond of the creature, because he represents the small hope that other fragments of Air Nomadic culture, even other Air Nomads, could have survived somewhere in the world.
Prince Zuko
The Firebender Prince Zuko is ostensibly one of Aang's greatest enemies. His quest to capture Aang, thus ensuring the Fire Nation's victory, is a threat to Aang's work and the world at large. Yet each has worked in the other's service. Because Zuko's throne and right to return home from exile are forfeit if he does not find the Avatar, he must protect Aang from other potential threats. When Aang was captured by Zuko's rival, Admiral Zhao, Zuko posed as a blue-masked, dual-broadsword-wielding vigilante named the Blue Spirit to free Aang from custody. In turn, Aang rescued Zuko from capture when he was knocked unconscious in their escape attempt. Afterward, reflecting on an old Fire Nation friend named Kuzon, Aang asked Zuko if they could have been friends under different circumstances, only to receive a fire blast in reply (though Zuko seemed to regret the action after-the-fact). Aang also saved Zuko from freezing to death in the icy tundra of the North Pole. In "The Chase", Zuko and Aang fight alongside once again, this time against Zuko's sister, Azula. It is interesting to note that the character development of Zuko in the series parallels that of Aang's, for example in the episode "The Storm", both Aang and Zuko's confront their pasts, and in a more recent episode "Bitter Work," while Aang was trying to learn a new art (Earthbending), Zuko was also learning a new skill (generating and redirecting lightning).
During the course of "The Earth King," Zuko fell into a deep fever, during which he experienced a number of visions, hallucinations, and dreams, some of which seemed to allude to future events in his life. In the last of these, Zuko experienced a false awakening in which he saw himself with Aang's face.
In the beginning of the episode "The Guru", Zuko seems to have finally let go of his chase of Aang. Mentioning to Katara that he no longer feels cursed to chase the Avatar forever, he seems accepting of settling down happily with Iroh for a life in Ba Sing Se. However, in the season finale, "The Crossroads of Destiny," Zuko is face with the choice of joining Azula in her take over of Ba Sing Se and capture of the Avatar, or siding with Iroh and "choosing good". Persuaded by his sister, he chooses the former and relentlessly attacks Aang.
Admiral Zhao
Zhao was a high ranking and important officer in the Fire Nation Navy who had believed since childhood that he was destined for greatness. After discovering Aang's return to the world, Zhao became convinced that capturing Aang would be one of the paths to that greatness. As a result Zhao became one of Aang's primary enemies during Book One, although the two would only encounter each other face to face on a few occasions.
Zhao participated in a number of notable attempts to capture Aang. The first came during Aang's visit to the Fire Temple in order to seek advice from the spirit of Avatar Roku. Zhao attempted to corner and ambush Aang, but was thwarted when Roku himself intervened and caused an eruption of the volcano the temple was situated on. Later Zhao employed the skills of a legendary squad of archers to trap Aang, only to watch as Aang escaped from the fortress where he was imprisoned with help from Zuko, who was disguised as the Blue Spirit. While Aang was briefly being tutored by renegade Firebending master Jeong Jeong, Zhao led a convoy of ships up the river to Jeong Jeong's camp, where he attacked both his former teacher Jeong Jeong and Aang. However, Aang had learned from Jeong Jeong about Zhao's tremendous temper and lack of control, and decided to use that against his foe. He egged Zhao on until, careless with rage, Zhao's wild firebending destroyed the ships in his convoy. Aang then left Zhao there to stew on this, effectively defeating Zhao without having thrown a punch.
Finally, Zhao led a huge armada to attack and destroy the Northern Water Tribe, where Aang was studying waterbending. Having discovered the mortal forms of the Moon (Tui) and Ocean (La) Spirits, Zhao sought to kill the Moon spirit and depower the waterbenders. While Aang is in the Spirit World, Zhao invades the Oasis and bags the Moon Spirit koi fish, causing a lunar eclipse which negated waterbending abilites. Quickly confronted by Aang's group and Iroh, Zhao eliminated Tui and fled. Angered, the Ocean Spirit allowed Aang to control its powers while in the Avatar State to vanquish Zhao's fleet. Foiled in his escape by the appearance of Zuko, Zhao fought the prince until the Moon Spirit was restored by Yue's sacrifice. Seeing the return of its ally, the Ocean Spirit left Aang to hunt down Zhao. Zhao, unwilling to accept help from Zuko, is carried underwater to his apparent death, a fact which Aang seems to be unaware of.
Princess Azula
Azula is Zuko's younger sister, a princess of the Fire Nation and the current heir apparent to the throne, considering Zuko's status as an exile and having been declared a traitor by his father. Cruel, ruthless, cunning and a firebending prodigy who appears to have completely mastered the art despite being a young teen, Azula is formidable opponent for Aang, and perhaps the only character seen thus far who equals his bending capacity.
In season two, Princess Azula took the lead in the Fire Nation's main efforts to capture Aang. The two first met during Aang's attempts to rescue King Bumi in the episode Return to Omashu. The two engaged in a wild fight across the city and its delivery system, during which she seemed to have an advantage in their encounter, although Aang, with help from Bumi, escaped her.
The two met again in "The Chase" during which Azula and her allies relentlessly pursued and harried Aang and his friends. Finally, the two confronted each other in a deserted Earth Kingdom town. As they prepared to face off Zuko arrived and turned the bout into a three way fight. Despite the fact that both Aang and Zuko principally concentrated their efforts against Azula, she had the upper hand against both of them (from Zuko's lack of experience, and Aang's sleep-deprivation_, knocking out Zuko and incapacitating Aang until Katara, Sokka and Toph came to his aid.
Aang and Azula would face off for a third time in The Drill, where they battled on even terms atop the huge drill attempting to breach the walls of Ba Sing Se. Despite Aang now having earthbending skills in addition to air and water bending, his exhaustion from his efforts to sabotage the drill beforehand gives Azula a large advantage, but Aang fought back and managed to knock her off balance and finish his demolition of the drill, ending their battle in a virtual draw.
His fourth faceoff against Azula occurs in "The Crossroads of Destiny." At first, their skills seem to be equal, but after Zuko joins the fight, Aang fights against each individually. The arrival of the Dai Li forced Aang to open the seventh Chakra and enter the Avatar State. However, just after entering the state, he is struck in the back by a lightning blast from Azula and falls unconcious to the ground, defeated. He is caught by Katara and they both are saved by the intervention of Iroh, who temporarily holds off the siblings and the Dai Li as Katara escapes with Aang.
King Bumi
So far, King Bumi, the Earthbender ruler of the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu, is the only known peer of Aang's still living. Aang fondly remembers how a young Bumi taught him to use Omashu's mail chutes as a giant super slide. Now a supercentenarian, Bumi maintains the eccentric and unconventional thinking that caused Aang to dub him, "a mad genius." In the second season premiere, it is revealed that Aang plans to receive teachings in Earthbending under King Bumi, but after he is taken prisoner in "Return to Omashu," Aang is forced to find a new teacher.
Iroh
Aang spent a small time with Zuko's uncle when they were tunneling into the underground of Ba Sing Se to save Katara and Zuko. Despite the past, Aang bore no real grudge against Iroh and vice versa. Instead, Aang asked Iroh for some advice as Iroh had done for Toph earlier. When Aang told him he had given up the chance to gain control of the Avatar state when he had heard it would mean forgoing his feelings for Katara, Iroh commended Aang on choosing love instead of power. At the end of season 2, Iroh holds off Zuko and Azula, allowing Katara to escape with the injured Aang.
Trivia
- In "The Storm," it was shown that the four toys Aang chose that determined his destiny are a turtle (Water), a string-powered propeller (Air), a Hog-Monkey (Earth) and a drum (Fire). This is the same procedure a child must go through in order to be recognized as the reincarnation of a Tulku Lama in Tibetan Buddhism. According to the book Magic and Mystery in Tibet by Alexandra David-Neel, “a number of objects such as rosaries, ritualistic implements, books, tea-cups, etc., are placed together, and the child must pick out those which belonged to the late tulku, thus showing that he recognizes the things which were his in his previous life”.[1]
- In "The Blue Spirit," it is revealed that a hundred years ago, one of Aang's best friends was a Fire Nation boy named Kuzon.
- In "The Tales of Ba Sing Se," Aang was written as 安 昂 (Ān Áng) which means "peaceful rise."
- Aang has been known to airbend unintentionally. Apparently, everytime he sneezes he airbends, sending him 10+' into the air or blowing anything in front of him some distance, regardless of size or mass.
- Aang doesn't seem to be affected by the extremely low temperatures of the North and South Poles. This may be because he used to live in Air Temples, which are located on mountaintops in high altitudes where it can get very cold.
- In Maasai language, Aang means 'house' or 'our.' [2]
- In The King of Omashu, it is revealed that Aang does not eat meat.
References
- ^ David-Neel, Alexandra. Magic and Mystery in Tibet. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1971 (ISBN 0-486-22682-4)
- ^ http://www.aangserian.org.uk/contents.htm