Avatar relics


 * This article is about the method of discovering the Avatar. For the comic, see Relics.

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- You chose them from among thousands of toys, Aang. The toys you picked were the four Avatar relics. These items belonged to Avatars past. Your own past lives.



The Avatar relics are four ancient toys utilized in identifying the Avatar at a young age. The four toys, consisting of a clay turtle, a pull-string propeller, a wooden monkey, and a wooden hand drum, represent the four nations and all were once the toys of previous Avatars.

After the death of an Avatar, newborn infants are presented with thousands of toys, four of which are the relics. If the infant chooses to play with only these four toys, it is a strong sign that he or she might be the reincarnated Avatar, as the real Avatar is believed to subconsciously choose the four toys most familiar to him or her.

History
After Avatar Roku's death, Air Nomad children were presented by these among many other toys. Eventually, Aang had the toys presented to him and correctly chose the four toys that were the Avatar relics.

When the Council of Elders informed Aang that he was the new Avatar, the young airbender doubted his destiny, so Monk Tashi showed him the relics. Upon seeing his childhood toys, Aang stated that he had simply chosen them because they seemed fun, contradicting Monk Tashi's statement that he had chosen them subconsciously among thousands of toys because they were familiar to his past lives.

Connection
This method of identifying the new Avatar is based on the real-world method of identifying the next reincarnation of Tulku Lama in Tibetan Buddhism.