Avatar: The Last Airbender aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008, spanning three seasons and attracting praise from critics and fans alike. The show created a dedicated fanbase that endures to this day. It was popular enough to get a sequel: The Legend of Korra, which aired from 2012 to 2014.

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Even though both Avatar shows were ostensibly aimed at kids ages eight and up, the universe remains ever-popular with people of all ages. Avatar has earned one of the most loyal fandoms outside big names like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Trek, and Star Wars. But, like any fictional universe with deep and complex lore, there are facts that even hardcore fans get wrong, misconceptions that fans think are true, urban legends that take on a life of their own, and some rumors that just won't disappear.

Updated on February 11, 2022, by Belle Huston: Avatar: The Last Airbender has been around for years at this point - plenty of time for old rumors and urban legends to spread across a fandom! We clear off the dust and find the truth in this article.

26 Zutara Was Meant To Be

Avatar The Last Airbender - Zuko and Katara

It's taken as common knowledge among the fandom of Avatar that the creators originally intended for Katara and Zuko to get together. This pairing has become even more popular than the canon Katara/Aang, even years after the end of the series. But the truth is more complicated than it seems.

Avatar Extras for the first episode first made the claim that Katara was originally supposed to be in love with Zuko, but it's hard to tell if the Avatar Extra is a joke or factual. Creators DiMartino and Konietzko said there was a 50-50 chance that Katara would've ended up with Zuko or Aang during Season 3, before changing their story and saying they never intended for Katara and Zuko to end up together. Series writer Aaron Ehasz once said during a lecture that the production team was planning on doing Katara/Zuko, but Nickelodeon executives pushed them to go with Aang, remarking: "If Katara got with Zuko, six-year-olds would cry."

25 No Air Book

Avatar The Last Airbender - Aang

All three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender are called "books" and named after an element that exists within the world (in the form of "Book One: Water," "Book Two: Earth," and "Book Three: Fire"). Astute fans have pointed out that the fourth element of air is glaringly absent and speculated that the show was prematurely cancelled. However, this is simply not the case.

The three seasons of Avatar are named after the element that Aang learns to master in that particular season. There was no "Book Four: Air" season planned since Aang was already a master Airbender from the very beginning. The names also correspond to the relevant nation the main cast visits; the North Pole, the Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Nation respectively. Plus, anyone who's seen the show knows that the story wraps up pretty well at the end of the third season.

24 Avatar Is An Anime

Avatar The Last Airbender - Aang, Katara, Sokka, Momo, and Appa

Many people assume, because of its art style and its setting in a fictional world obviously influenced by Chinese and Japanese cultures, that Avatar is an anime. While its animation is clearly influenced by anime and makes use of Japanese media tropes (fainting when surprised or hearing an absurd remark, exaggerated facial expressions, sweat drops to indicate exasperation), Avatar is ultimately an American cartoon.

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Indeed, the creators themselves are from the U.S., and the writing staff, music design team, voice actors, and sound design, are all from America. It was produced by Nickelodeon, an American company. While it is true Avatar was animated mostly by South Korean studios, this is true for a lot of animation, including The Simpsons. Though, it's worth noting that Japanese anime, as well as martial arts films and kung fu cinema, were huge influences on DiMartino and Konietzkoto when creating the concept of the series.

23 A Show For Kids

Avatar The Last Airbender - Aang, Katara, Sokka

So many people won't even give Avatar a chance because "it's a kid's show." For proof, they point out that it was a cartoon and it was aired on Nickelodeon. While Avatar may be marketed toward children, the show deals with very mature themes like warfare, politics, loss, love, betrayal, nationalism, militarism, and countless others.

It's one of the few shows made for children that still resonate with kids and adults alike, and the fact that they address such issues without ever losing their Y7 rating is a remarkable achievement. It may seem juvenile in its first few episodes, but keep in mind it's also because the characters themselves are barely teenagers when the series starts. If you stick with it, you'll be surprised how quickly the characters mature and develop, and how quickly the world grows on you.

22 There Are Four Styles Of Bending

Avatar The Last Airbender - Elemental Benders

The bending arts in the Avatar Universe are the ability to bend elements to the user's will. The elements in Avatar are based on the concept of earth, water, fire, and air, being the four elements that make up all matter. Each element also corresponds to one of the four nations: the Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Logically, there must be four styles of bending for each element, right?

Not exactly. There are many sub-styles of bending, such as bending lava, sand, and metal for earthbenders, bloodbending and healing abilities for waterbenders, and lightning generation for firebenders. But there is a fifth one even more ancient than the other four: energybending, which bends the energy within the human body itself. Only Avatars have this ability.

21 The Series Has Black And White Morality

Avatar The Last Airbender - Ozai Breathing Fire

One could easily perceive that Avatar has some pretty black and white morality: the Fire Nation is evil and cruel while all other nations are good and virtuous. While this seems to be true early on, as the series continues, it becomes clear this isn't the case.

While Ozai and Azula are certainly evil, a variety of sympathetic Fire Nation characters are introduced, including Zuko, Avatar Roku, and Iroh. When we see citizens of the Fire Nation in the third season, it turns out they're just ordinary folks living their lives and constantly being fed war propaganda.

In addition, the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe both get at least one villainous figure apiece, in the form of General Fong, Long Feng, and Hama. It would be a mistake to say the world of Avatar pushes the belief that some people are "born bad"; it's a consistent message that everyone has the capacity for good and evil.

20 They Never Say What Happened to Zuko's Mom

Avatar The Last Airbender - Ursa

Zuko's mother and the mystery of what happened to her are central to his development as a character, and many fans were hoping he would meet her at some point in the series. Originally, the writers had intended Zuko and his mother to meet during four-part series finale "Sozin's Comet," but ultimately had to scrap it because there was simply no time or space to make it happen.

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Some have claimed that this plot point was left unresolved, but this isn't true. The Avatar graphic novels have continued the story of Zuko trying to locate his mother, Ursa, and locating her is the subject of The Search trilogy. Though Ursa never appeared in the present timeline of the television series, appearing only in flashbacks, her story was told later via the comics.

19 Iroh Was A Good Guy From The Beginning

Avatar The Last Airbender - Iroh

Iroh is one of the greatest characters in the Avatar Universe. Overall, he's a generally likable guy, voiced to calm perfection by his late voice actor, Mako Iwamatsu. Few fans would disagree that Iroh is an amazing character that adds a great deal of enjoyment to the show. That being said, like any character (and any human being), Iroh has his flaws.

It's hinted in flashbacks that he wasn't always the sage-like, angelic uncle we all know and love. Iroh was a Fire Nation General and Crown Prince, after all. Acting on a vision, he besieged the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se for six hundred days, becoming the first person in history to breach its outer wall. He even wrote, "Ba Sing Se is a magnificent city. I hope you all get to see it someday. If we don't burn it to the ground first."

18 Aang Was A Weak Avatar

Avatar The Last Airbender - Aang Avatar State (Smite promo art)

It's easy to dismiss the immature Avatar as a weak opponent, especially early in the series when he's clearly young and naïve. But was Aang a weak Avatar? No, no, and no. In fact, Aang was such a powerful Avatar that it was kind of scary.

Most Avatars are told of their status at the age of 16, but because of the Hundred Year War, Aang was told at the age of 12. By that time, he had already mastered airbending. In the span of a single year, Aang not only managed to master bending of the three other elements, but also mastered the Avatar State and even energybending, lightning redirection, and seismic sense. No other Avatar has ever mastered all of these techniques. Again, he did all of this in the span of a year, all while still a child!

17 It's A Cartoon For Boys Only

Avatar The Last Airbender - Aang and Sokka

When it comes to action cartoons, many people assume they're like Dragon Ball Z or others almost exclusively marketed towards boys. While Avatar: The Last Airbender was made by two men and its main antagonist and protagonist are both male, it's difficult to think of a series for young people that treats its female characters with more respect or has such a diverse fanbase as Avatar. The women of Avatar are just as important to the plot as the guys, are the center of the action just as often, and their characters are just as well-rounded.

Toy manufacturers are partially responsible for this unfortunate perception. In their Avatar line of toys, Mattel made Aang, Sokka, Zuko, and even minor characters like Jet, but Katara, one of the most central characters, was never made because they assumed action figures would only sell to boys. Fans rallied successful petitions for a Katara figure, but sadly Mattel had ceased making Avatar toys by then.

16 The World Has Magic

Avatar The Last Airbender - Aang and Zuko

Avatar is often compared to Harry Potter in a number of ways, but it would be unfair to say Avatar is a series with magic. There are dragons, spirits, and other such things, but bending is absolutely not magical. In fact, it's a very physical process. Each of the four elements corresponds to a form of martial arts, including Tai-Chi, Hungar, Northern Zhaolin, and Ba-Gua. This is why they needed a martial arts consultant on for each of the fight sequences on the show.

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It would be different if Aang waved a wand or cast a spell to summon a tornado out of nowhere, but that just doesn't happen. While a Spirit World exists, many of the more "magical" elements of the Avatar Universe, such as psychic powers, fortunetelling, and superstition, are also portrayed with skepticism (especially by the science-minded Sokka). Avatar has fantasy elements, but it's got its head on straight.

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14 Jet Is Still Alive

Avatar The Last Airbender - Jet and Katara

After being brainwashed by the Dai Li in a plot to eliminate the Avatar and his friends as threats to their police state in Ba Sing Se, Jet attacked Long Feng, the leader of the organization. While he is seriously injured, Jet's fate afterward is left somewhat unclear, leaving some fans to speculate he is still alive. Sadly, this is not the case.

DiMartino and Konietzko explained in the commentary for "The Ember Island Players" that Nickelodeon was totally opposed to showing kids being destroyed or fatally wounded on the show, so saying that Toph sensed that Jet was lying about how he would be okay is how they chose to communicate the fact that he'd passed from his injuries to the viewers. In the Avatar Extras for the same episode, a commentary bubble said, "For the record: Jet is [gone]."

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12 The Movie Is Accurate

Avatar The Last Airbender Movie - Aang

Probably only the uninitiated still think this given the righteous anger most of the Avatar fandom has for M. Night Shyamalan's 2010 film The Last Airbender, but it's still a huge misconception. Not only is the film considered one of the worst ever made, but it's absolutely worthless as an adaptation. Night Shyamalan's ill-fated attempt to make a live-action adaptation of Avatar was not loved among fans and audiences, to say the least.

For starters, casting white actors in the roles of Katara, Sokka, and Aang, spurred controversy and accusations of whitewashing and racism, especially since the "villains" - the Fire Nation characters - were played by people of color. The names are pronounced wrong, the plot is incoherent, the acting is bad, Sokka's humor is totally absent...a whole new list could be written on everything wrong with this movie. Suffice it to say: watch the series instead.

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10 Zuko, Sokka, Toph, Katara, Aang, And Azula Are Older

Avatar The Last Airbender Movie - Aang, Zuko, Toph, Katara, Sokka

We're used to seeing Avatar's main cast put themselves in mortal danger every day. But look closer. What if we told you that the ages of the main characters range from 16 years old to as young as 12?

We're so used to our heroes fighting the good fight that we never stop and think that, in spite of everything they've been through, our main characters are all just kids. Both Aang and Toph are 12 during the series, Katara is 14, and Sokka is the oldest at a mere 15. Zuko is 16, and even menacing characters like Azula are only 14 years old. Given that many of the characters mature quickly or have to deal with adult responsibilities, it's easy to forget they're just teenagers.

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8 Mai And Zuko End Up Together

Avatar The Last Airbender Movie - Mai and Zuko

Mai/Zuko is one of the most visible pairings in the series. After Mai turns on Azula due to her feelings for Zuko and becomes an ally of Team Avatar, many fans assumed they stayed together after the show ended, eventually marrying and living happily ever after.

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Unfortunately, they'd be wrong. Zuko and Mai's relationship became strained when she grew upset with his keeping of secrets from her. A year after the events of the series, Mai broke up with Zuko in the second part of The Promise trilogy after finding out about Zuko's repeated visits to his imprisoned father. So far, there's no sign they ever got back together. Zuko does have a daughter in The Legend of Korra, Izumi, who somewhat resembles Mai, but her mother remains unconfirmed.

In a way, the two growing apart makes sense. Not everyone can be like Aang and marry their first love, after all.

7 Whatever Nation You're Born In Is The Element You Can Bend

Avatar The Last Airbender - map

To be clear, not everyone in the Avatar Universe can bend an element. Much like mutants in the X-Men Universe or wizards in Harry Potter, some people are born with bending abilities and some aren't. Because of this, there are a wide range of conventional weapons that non-benders use in combat. A trained non-bender like Sokka can be just as formidable as the most skilled bender.

While heritage does decide what element you can bend, it's shown as more of a spiritual matter than a genetic trait. The only exceptions to this rule were the Air Nomads, where every single child was born an Airbender. Also, while the four nations have a very homogenized population during Avatar: The Last Airbender, by the time of The Legend of Korra, the world is less divided following the end of the war and the foundation of Republic City.