Avatar: The Last Airbender has likely been one of the best animated shows that the early 2000s had to offer. It had everything: great characters, a fantastic story, and gorgeous music and animation. You could see how much the characters had grown and progressed throughout the story, and by the end, you felt like you’d been on an incredible journey as well.
What likely made Avatar stand out was that it appealed to both kids and adults. It had plenty of light-hearted laughable moments, but when it was time to be serious, this show had no qualms about getting pretty deep into some tough topics and dark scenarios. That’s probably one thing that took people by surprise; just how serious this show could get and how it could get you to care so much about this world.
That being said, there are some times that Avatar the Last Airbender went to some pretty dark places. Whether it was creepy topics, difficult scenarios, or just plain disturbing scenes, this show could get dark. There were also some rather sad scenes that could just make you cry like a baby. After all, it was a show that was set in the middle of a war, where one nation had tried to take over the others through some pretty brutal means. And while there was rarely any blood, the fighting could get pretty intense.
So, let’s take a look at 20 times Avatar: The Last Airbender went WAY too far. Think we missed some particularly dark moments? Let us know!
20 Maybe I’m Crazy
Towards the end of Season 3, Azula is given control of the Fire Nation while her father goes off to destroy the Earth Kingdom (yeah, we’ll talk about that later.) During this time, she becomes increasingly more paranoid, and she starts seeing hallucinations of her mother. By the time Zuko and Katara confront her, she’s barely holding on to what shred of sanity she has left, but it leaves when she’s fighting Zuko. By the end, she’s having a complete breakdown, screaming and sobbing.
What’s incredibly sad about this is that Azula is fourteen. Barely a teenager, and she’s having a complete mental breakdown. Now throughout the series, you could say that she has always been a bit off, with her psychopathic tendencies, but this is where we see her completely lose control. It’s powerful, sad, and a little scary.
19 Controlling Your Blood Sounds Terrifying
Remember Hama? The seriously creepy old lady who’s been secretly living in the Fire Nation, even though she’s a waterbender escapee? Yeah, this whole episode was insanely creepy, but the culmination of it is when Hama is showing Katara that she can blood bend. The idea of someone being able to control the blood in your body is creepy enough, but then we find out that Hama has been stealing people, and planning to use them for her own creepy purposes.
The kicker though is when Hama bloodbends Aang and Sokka, nearly killing them until Katara is forced to bloodbend Hama to stop her. She then says that her purpose is done. The implications of Katara being capable of bloodbending and actually bloodbending someone are seriously disturbing, and she knows it.
18 Hey Kids, Let’s Talk About A Heavy Topic
While the show never outright says the word “genocide,” that’s pretty much what happened to the Air Nomads. Not long after Aang was trapped in that iceberg, Fire Lord Sozin wiped out all of the Air Nomads in a brutal attack. He had no qualms about destroying an entire race and culture, which is completely messed up.
The crazy thing is that one hundred years later, Fire Lord Ozai attempts to do the same thing with the Earth Kingdom. On the day of Sozin’s Comet, he sets out to destroy the Earth Kingdom by fire, and is only stopped by Aang. If he had been allowed to keep going, who knows what he would’ve done? So, the Fire Nation leaders have committed genocide once, and then attempted to do the same thing years later. Yeesh, calm down you hotheads.
17 Their Family Life Was Pretty Messed Up
It’s no secret that Zuko and Azula’s home life was pretty dysfunctional. Between their parents, their grandfather, and the expectations the whole nation had on them, it’s actually pretty impressive they aren’t more warped than they are. That being said, they went through a lot. Zuko’s father burned Zuko’s face for speaking out against him and then refusing to fight him. He was then exiled. This poor kid just can’t catch a break. No wonder he’s so angry.
But Azula doesn’t get off easy. While she does show her psychopathic tendencies at an early age, it’s also easy to see how she’s been twisted and warped by her father and grandfather. Her mother also essentially rejects her, which damages Azula a lot more than we initially see. In the end, this emotionally abused girl is the one who has the complete breakdown. It’s all seriously messed up.
16 Willing To Do Anything
Like I said, Zuko’s family dynamic is very messed up. At one point, Fire Lord Azulon seeks to punish Ozai for speaking out and tells him to kill his firstborn son, Zuko (though I don’t think it would’ve been much of a punishment for him.) But Ursa, Zuko’s mom, makes a deal with Ozai to protect him.
Ursa concocts a poison for Ozai to give to Azulon. In return, she will leave the Fire Nation in exile. So basically, while she wasn’t the one who ultimately killed him, Ursa plotted to kill Azulon to save her son’s life. I mean that’s a pretty impossible situation to be in, but dang. She must have been willing to give up anything to save her son. It’s just sad that she had to leave since I think that really hurt Zuko.
15 Iroh Loves the Ladies
Now Uncle Iroh is likely hands down one of the best, inspiring, and just genuinely likeable characters in Avatar. He’s funny, but still wise, and he’s just this amazing person who never gives up on his angry, hurting nephew. But that being said, Iroh does have a couple of faults, and one of them is that he’s a tiny bit of a pervert.
This only really happens when Iroh and Zuko meet up with June, a beautiful but formidable bounty hunter. Now Iroh has been known to be a bit of a flirt, but he totally hits on June multiple times, and it kind of creeps her out. He even pretends to be paralyzed with June and Zuko when they’re hit with June’s pet’s venom just so he can be close to her. Sorry, Iroh, that’s a little creepy.
14 He’s Not Just Mostly Dead
In the Season 2 finale, we had Aang and Katara fighting off Zuko and Azula. At one point, Aang realized that he needed to go into the Avatar State, and so he focused his meditation. And he succeeded... until he’s shot by lightning by Azula. Thanks to Iroh, Katara managed to get Aang out of there and used her healing spirit water.
But at that point Aang did briefly die. Katara’s healing managed to bring him back, but he does die for a bit there. This is confirmed in season 3 when Aang is remembering what happened. He says that he went down, that he wasn’t just injured. That’s pretty intense to actually kill off your main character (even though it was short.) Good thing Aang had Katara.
13 Feeling the Sibling Love... Not
We know there’s little love lost between these two siblings, but the way Azula treats Zuko is pretty awful. She’s constantly manipulating him, playing all sorts of mind games with him, which really does mess him up. But what’s also pretty crazy is that she’s tried to kill him multiple times.
When she’s tasked to bring Zuko in, she doesn’t exactly go easy on him. And don’t even get me started on that final Agni Kai between the two. Azula was aiming to kill in every single one of her attacks. And then she shot lightning at Katara, knowing Zuko will attempt to stop it. That attack nearly killed him, and it would’ve if Katara hadn’t been able to restrain Azula and then heal him. The two siblings may not get along, but killing people? That’s taking it a little far, Azula.
12 Don’t Ever Go To Lake Laogai
Seriously, Ba Sing Se had a lot of messed up things happening in it, but probably the most disturbing is the Dai Lee, the secret police. These guys pretty much run Ba Sing Se, and anyone who opposes them is taken to Lake Laogai and brainwashed into obedience.
It gets even creepier when said people are triggered by certain phrases, such as “The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai,” which then gets people to do what the Dai Lee want them to do. What’s worse is that Jet was brainwashed too and was turned against Aang and his gang, which caused some issues. But the idea of brainwashing and hypnotism in general is just plain creepy and for a kid’s show to have it happening is pretty crazy.
11 An Endangered Species
There are quite a few messed up things going on in the Fire Nation. They started the Hundred Year War, their leaders were responsible for thousands of deaths, and they even contributed to the near extinction of a powerful species: the dragons. Yep, the people of the Fire Nation almost killed all of the dragons.
In the Fire Nation, it was considered the sign of ultimate power if a firebender could slay a dragon, since dragons were the original firebenders. As a result, dragons were hunted relentlessly to the point that everyone thought they were all killed. Zuko and Aang discover that there are at least two dragons left, but the idea that these huge creatures were almost wiped out is kind of crazy, and a little sad. They’re truly beautiful creatures.
10 This Scene Could've Gone Very Differently
In Season 3, Katara goes on a revenge quest with Zuko to find the man who killed her mother. When she does find him, there’s a moment where we think she might legitimately kill him. The method she was about to use was pretty horrifying since she was bending the rain around her and then froze it into ice shards. So, this man was almost impaled by several sharp ice spikes.
What’s so dark about this scene is that it’s Katara filled with a rage we have never seen from her. Throughout the series, Katara is usually the one who calms others down; she’s helped Aang in his own grief twice. But here, we see that she is just as capable of darkness and rage as anyone else, which I think is an important thing to show. Katara isn’t perfect, and here, she almost kills a man in cold blood. That’s pretty serious.
9 Defeating The Avatar
What probably surprised everybody was the knowledge that Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin used to be good friends. Though if you think about it, it makes sense, since Roku was a firebender. Unfortunately, over time the two friends grew apart and even became enemies after Sozin told Roku of his plans to conquer the other nations.
The saddest part of this whole story is that Sozin was partially responsible for Roku’s death. The island that Roku lived on was erupting and Roku was trying to stop it. Sozin initially showed up to help him, but their efforts proved to be fruitless. In the end, Sozin left Roku behind to die as he flew away on his dragon, realizing that he could fulfill his plans for conquest if Roku died. That’s incredibly harsh, Sozin.
8 Who Designed This Spirit??
In one of Aang’s journeys to the Spirit World, he comes across a rather terrifying spirit called Koh the Face Stealer. In order to avoid his face being stolen, Aang must not show any emotion on his face while he talks to this spirit.
Besides this seriously creepy concept, the design of Koh is just plain disturbing. Think of a giant centipede with human face that’s constantly shifting into different faces. The way this spirit just scuttles around Aang, surrounding him, looking at him from different angles, and even coming within inches of his own face is just so creepy. Everything about this spirit is just dripping in horror and uneasiness. Whoever designed Koh the Face Stealer should get a medal, because he is easily one of the scariest things to come out of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
7 Little Soldier Boy Comes Marching Home
There’s an episode in season 2 called “Tales of Ba Sing Se” that’s more of a series of mini stories surrounding our main characters. And one of those stories involves Iroh. It shows him shopping and interacting with the locals, giving you an idea of his character as a wise, gentle, but quirky old man. He even sings this cute folk song to a young boy who’s crying.
But the kicker is toward the end when he goes up to a hill and sets up a small picnic around a picture of his son. We know that he lost a son, and so we can see Iroh’s deep sorrow as he wishes his dead son a happy birthday. He then laments that he couldn’t help him and sings that same folk song he sung earlier, but this time it’s broken up by Iroh’s sobs. This story is one of the most powerful ones I’ve seen in Avatar. It’s simple, yet incredibly heartbreaking, giving us a look into a character that didn’t seem to be that deep in the beginning.
6 You Want This Kid To Do What?
Toward the end of the series, we see Aang facing a big moral dilemma. Everyone is essentially expecting him to kill the Fire Lord in order to bring peace to the world. And from most logical standpoint, it seems like the right thing to do. But Aang is not a killer and actively avoids it; he’s even a vegetarian.
Here’s the messed-up part of this: Aang is twelve. Yes, he’s the Avatar, so he is pretty wise beyond his years, and he is technically over 100 since he’s been frozen in that iceberg, but physically, mentally, emotionally, Aang is still a kid. He still plays around, tells silly jokes, and acts a lot like a kid. And his allies are pressuring him, expecting him to kill someone. Because he is the Avatar in the middle of a terrible war, Aang does have a lot on his shoulders, but the idea that he’s expected to kill someone when he’s not even a teenager yet is pretty disturbing.
5 Does It Count When Your Family Does It?
Toph has a pretty tumultuous relationship with her parents. They believe she’s helpless due to her blindness and refuse to let her do anything remotely dangerous. So, she decides to run away and join Aang’s group. But then her parents send two powerful earthbenders to bring her back.
Here’s the crazy part. Her parents essentially hired these two guys (one of them being a criminal) to go and steal their daughter. And they do! They trap her in a metal cage and start hauling it back to her parents. I get that they’re worried about her, and maybe they’re even convinced that the Avatar actually stole her, but this is pretty extreme. It’s a good thing that Toph figures out how to metalbend, otherwise who knows what would’ve happened?
4 An Attempt On His Life
In the beginning of Season 3, everyone believes the Avatar is dead, except for Zuko. He has his own doubts. So, what does he do? He hires someone to go take out the Avatar of course. Sigh, Zuko, sometimes I just wonder about your thought process.
Granted, this is before Zuko decides to switch sides, and this action is likely just to cover his own butt in case Aang does turn out to be alive. But seriously, hiring a guy who can make explosions with his mind to go take out a 12-year-old kid is pretty messed up, Zuko. You could’ve handled this in so many different ways that didn’t involve attempted assassination. (I think he’s been around Azula too long.) At least when he switched sides, he protected Aang from said assassin.
3 There's Been A Death In The Family
We mentioned this whole scenario earlier with Zuko’s mom, but let’s talk about it more because the whole thing is pretty crazy. Ozai asks Azulon to make him the next in line to be the Fire Lord instead of Iroh, since he believes that Iroh is weak. Azulon reprimands Ozai, saying that he couldn’t possibly understand Iroh’s pain of losing a son.
So, what’s Ozai’s punishment? Azulon tells him to kill his son, Zuko, so he can properly understand what it feels like to lose a son. Seriously? And the fact that everyone was just okay with this really gives you a look into the Fire Nation culture. If it wasn’t for Zuko’s mom, Ozai likely would’ve killed him with probably not much hesitation. This is beyond messed up. Zuko’s grandfather basically tells his father to kill him. Geez, this family has so many issues.
2 Yes, She Went There
When Katara learns blood-bending, she is horrified and refuses to do it again. And we don’t blame her since blood bending is seriously creepy and morally questionable. But all of that changes when she and Zuko go on a quest to find the man who killed her mother. Their journey leads them to the Southern Raiders, where Katara proceeds to bloodbend the ship’s captain. She does this to restrain him and control him and it freaks out even Zuko.
What’s creepy about this is that Katara considers bloodbending to be an awful abuse of her abilities. And yet in this scene, she bloodbends this captain quickly and without mercy or a second thought. This is a great way to show just how angry she is and how dark the path of revenge can be. It’s still incredibly disturbing to see this girl, who has often been the moral compass of the group, give in to her anger.
1 A Truly Sad Death
Jet is a bit of a mixed character. On one hand, you have to admire his commitment to fighting the Fire Nation. On the other hand, his violent views of necessary sacrifice are pretty extreme. But when he realizes that he’s been brainwashed by the Dai Lee, he joins up with Aang and his group to find out what’s going on.
Sadly, in the fight with the Dai Lee, Jet is mortally injured. He tells Katara to go and that he’ll be fine. But as they leave, Toph sadly says that he was lying. While the show never outright says he dies, it’s hinted pretty strongly, especially with his injuries and the reaction of his crew. It’s incredibly sad, because Jet essentially sacrifices himself to save his friends and to break free of his brainwashing. The whole situation is just awful.