Mastering the Elements: A Look into the storytelling of Avatar: The Last Airbender

Avatar: The Last Airbender is truly one of the most iconic, beautifully animated and written series that exists today. It is both comedic, honest, and tragic and focuses on character development, mental illness, handicaps, and the overall effects of world war on a world suffering both mass genocide, corruption, and overall tragedy.

Avatar: The Last Airbender was recently released on Netflix and the show has gained immeasurable traction among both old and new fans. The show was originally released in 2005 on Nickelodeon where it was met with great reviews from fans and critics alike for its art, story, and character development. My point in writing this article is that there is more to this show than just storytelling, art, and character development. Avatar can be looked at as one of the best looks at a true and honest fictional universes that reflects ours, accurately portraying the effects of war, migration, immigration, political corruption and more. If you watched the show and didn’t get some of these correlations, this will open your eyes to just how deep this show runs.

War

One of the main themes seen throughout the three-season series is the effects of a world war from beginning to the end. From the very beginning of the series, it is apparent that the four nations are essentially divided and all are living in fear of just one: the Fire Nation, a fierce and powerful empire ruled by a single tyrant. This fear of the Fire Nation, felt throughout the world of Avatar is one of the first effects that becomes obvious. The nations realize that the Fire Nation is too powerful and has too much control for anyone to think of fighting back. For 100 years, the Fire Nation managed to grapple control and to make the nations submit, even nearly wiping out an entire nation of people; the air nomads.

The thing is, this 100-year-war was sparked by a possibly noble intention. As Fire Lord Sozin notes to Avatar Roku prior to his plan,”Our nation is enjoying an unprecedented time of peace and wealth. Our people are happy, and we’re so fortunate in so many ways. […] we should share this prosperity with the rest of the world. In our hands is the most successful empire in history. It’s time we expanded it.”

“Our nation is enjoying an unprecedented time of peace and wealth. Our people are happy, and we’re so fortunate in so many ways. […] we should share this prosperity with the rest of the world. In our hands is the most successful empire in history. It’s time we expanded it.” — Fire Lord Sozin

Another effect of the war and partly due to fear is the dying of elemental “benders”. The Fire Nation, knowing that benders of each nation could overpower them if they tried, find ways to suppress and kill off these magically inclined people of the world. Taking away the powers of the people is another reason that the Fire Nation was able to claim control of the nations and reign supreme as the most powerful empire for so long.

Obviously the most heinous effect of the war in the series was the mass genocide of the air nomads. The early episodes of the series show, brutally honest, just how badly the Fire Nation wiped out the air nomads who seemingly hesitantly retaliated due to their religious beliefs. It seems the air nomads truly stood no chance against the power and technological advancement of the Fire Nation. The entire nation, spread throughout the world of Avatar was extinguished, leaving Aang as the last of his people, something that truly left him scarred.

Mental Illness

While not specifically mentioned in the series, and while I am not a therapist or psychologist, I noticed quite a few instances where characters exhibited classic symptoms of mental illness, or the effects of mental and physical stress, resulting in mental ailments.

One of the more prominent instances of mental illness show up in Aang and rightfully so. It became clear to me from very early on in the series that Aang suffers from anxiety, most likely brought on by the immensely heavy burden of being responsible for the war and simultaneously being responsible for having to save the world from the very war he helped create.

Early on in the series, Aang conveys clear signs of anxiety brought on by remorse, especially apparent in the episode where he begins to learn fire bending. After injuring Katara accidentally, he vows to never use fire bending and throughout the series exhibits anxiety toward both learning and using fire bending.

Another form of mental illness that I thought was worth a mention is the absolute mental decay of Azula toward the conclusion of the series. While both Zuko and Azula share a possible mental illness brought on by multiple different events, they both share the loss of their mother as a catalyst. This catalyst serves as an breaking point for Azula toward the end of the series when her demeanor and appearance both change dramatically, leaving her nearly a shell of her former self. This decay of self could be the cause of many things, but I suspect that it was brought on by the loss of drive or mission when she lost her sense of power and belonging as a “leader” of sorts.

Disability

One of the most inspiring things coming from the beloved series is the fact that people with disabilities are portrayed as useful and powerful beings in the world of Avatar. The first instance of disability portrayed in the series shows a paraplegic riding a custom wooden wheelchair armed with the ability to essentially mimic the abilities of an airbender. This is quite a feat and an amazing sight to see, especially for those bound to wheelchairs themselves. Teo helps to save the day alongside his dad, an inventor.

Another portrayal of disability in Avatar is Toph, one of the main characters who, despite being blind demonstrates her immense powers despite all that is against her. Toph, time and time again, saves the day and proves her worth despite her limitations. In fact, because of her limitations, Toph was able to find a way to see using the vibrations in the Earth as as a sort of echolocation, an ability she goes to teach Aang. Toph still has limitations of course, she isn’t able to see, and in several instances the group asks her to either look at something (for example a wanted poster portraying her) and she explains that she isn’t able to see it.

The great thing is, no disability is portrayed as useless or someone fighting on the sidelines. People with disabilities are portrayed as powerful, intelligent, and creative in their ways to overcome their limitations. Even the elderly are often portrayed as wise but also extremely powerful beings, having mastered their element and able to use it with near to no exhaustion.

Character Development

One of the more gleaming portions of Avatar: The Last Airbender is the dynamic character development that effects nearly every main character in the story, even minor characters are portrayed changing and evolving in their decisions and feelings toward the war.

Zuko’s is the most obvious and most brutal of the character transformations of the series, going from a mindless pawn in the Fire Lord’s plans to obtain and kill the Avatar to an ally and friend of the Avatar and his comrades. This transformation literally made Zuko ill near the middle of the series and saw him take many winding paths leading to nowhere before he finally discovered that he could be who he wants and not have to become who others wanted him to be.

This grueling metamorphosis from evil pawn to ally stands as one of the favorite parts of many after watching the series again. Many of the characters grew up and transformed in the series, Aang of course matured and was able to finally overcome his fears of becoming the Avatar and defeating the Fire Lord. Katara was able to master water bending and was able to gain closure on her mother. Sokka was able prove to his father that he was a man now. Toph was able to redefine herself as more than just a blind fighter but instead a powerful ally and friend to many.

Overall

In conclusion, and after re-watching the series I have discovered that there is no one thing that makes Avatar stand out from others in its genre. As an animated series, it is deep and dark, but also enlightening and encouraging. It’s story portrays so many things that make a story great that it is hard to pin down just what makes it such an iconic series. I believe that it is all the elements, working in harmony that make this series great. It is about character development, but it is also about the world that was built, the people that lived in it. Everyone has a story, down to the minor characters. The places aren’t just placeholder but feel real. There are laws and regulations and real consequences for actions taken by both sides of the good and evil spectrum.

That is why Avatar: The Last Airbender will forever be the finest piece of storytelling, at least in digital media, to ever have graced my eyes.