Society in the World of Avatar

Society is a major part of life in the World of Avatar. Social classes are usually based upon titles, wealth, power and accomplishments. People are usually born into their social rank, but there are some exceptions in which people can gain a higher position due to extreme service to royals. Society differs between nations, as the peaceful Air Nomads are no where near as complicated of a society as the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom.

Air Nomads
Of all the nations, before the genocide, the Air Nomads seemed to value equality the most, as all Air Nomads are monks and nuns. The only known Air Nomad authoritarian entity was the Council of Elders. Details about Air Nomad society are unclear, but it can be assumed that the four Councils were drawn from ordinary monks and nuns with strong abilities. This ensured that there were very few social divisions based on class.

Council of Elders


The authority of the Council of Elders is not well known, however, it has been shown that they are not considered royalty. They are trusted with making difficult decisions and are likely well respected by their people. Like the Fire Sages of the Fire Nation, the councils had one Head Monk, who seemed to have more authority than the other monks.

It can be assumed that the members of the four Councils were drawn from ordinary monks and nuns with strong abilities. For example, Gyatso, is seen as a normal monk in his interactions with Roku, later became a member of the Council of Elders of the Southern Air Temple.

Average Nomads
It is unknown if any partitions were made between average nomads in Air Nomad society. It seems, however, that all citizens are considered equal in rights and in social rank. This seems natural because all Air Nomad citizens were benders and there were thus few differences between the abilities of various Air Nomads.

Water Tribes
Water Tribe society differs between the Southern Water Tribe and Northern Water Tribe. While the smaller Southern Tribe seems to consider almost all members as equals, the Northern Tribe appears to have a few more social divisions.

Northern Water Tribe
The Northern Water tribe is distinguished from the Southern Tribe through its more complex social order, pointed out by Hahn while he was berating Sokka's surprise and displeasure on the subject of Yue's forced marriage.

In the Northern Water Tribe, the chief is considered royalty to some extent, as his daughter carries the title of Tribal Princess. The chief makes decisions for the tribe and can probably create and abolish certain laws and customs. Arranged marriage, however, does not seem to be one of them. However, the power of the Chief does have limits. For example, Chief Arnook stated that he cannot force Master Pakku to take back pupils if he does not want them, even if that pupil is the Avatar.

Southern Water Tribe
In the Southern Water Tribe, chiefdom seems to be less complicated. The chief has the ability to lead his people and make decisions. Unlike Arnook's daughter, Chief Hakoda's children are not considered a Prince or Princess, as Hakoda is not royalty. The chief can also personally lead his warriors in battle. At Chameleon Bay inside of a large tent, Hakoda was seen with a group of about seven individuals planning the next battle. It is unknown if this is some advisor group, or just a group of random officers in the Southern Water Tribe army.

Chief's Advisers
In the Northern Water Tribe, the chief has advisers to help him make decisions. They seem to be in position of high authority, as they sit beside the chief during meetings and other events. Even though the chief has more power than these advisers, they are still important members of the Northern Water Tribe society. Known advisors are the tribe's Waterbending master, Pakku, and the chief's daughter, Princess Yue.

Northern Water Tribe
In the Northern Water Tribe, all citizens seem to be equal, as it is not the size of the vast Earth Kingdom or the advanced Fire Nation. It could be arguable that certain warriors, such as Hahn, are higher than an average citizens because of their political position, however, this has never been confirmed.

Southern Water Tribe
In the Southern Water Tribe, nearly everyone, even the chief's children, are considered average citizens. Things may have been different before the tribe was nearly driven to extinction; however, the tribe has no well-developed society. There are no clear social differences for warriors.

Greetings amongst the Water Tribes
The water tribe members greet each other by holding the other person's elbows. This form of greeting is to portray sign of brotherhood and comradeship among the water tribe members.It is also perhaps the only gesture which does not require bowing down towards the opposite person unlike the rest of the forms of greeting. However to show respect to the opposite person the water tribe members bow their heads to each other. A fine example of this was shown in the episode 'The Waterbending master' where princess Yue was bowing to the people.

Earth Kingdom
A vast, diverse people populate the Earth Kingdom. Its social hierarchy is correspondingly much more stratified.

Earth King


The Earth King is the King of Ba Sing Se and the ruler of the Earth Kingdom. The Earth King's palace and seat of government reside in the Upper Ring of the capital. He occupies the highest social position in the entire kingdom.

Previous Earth Kings exercised tremendous authority over the whole kingdom. Recently, the position has declined to a figurehead (as is the circumstance of the 52nd Earth King, Kuei); this incident, however, makes the Earth King seem like even more of a god to his people.

The Earth King's family probably fall under this class, though this has never been shown.

Regional Leaders
As a confederate monarchy, the Earth Kingdom has a number of leaders who exercise power over individual parts of the Earth Kingdom. While the Earth King has final authority over such leaders, these leaders do have considerable power over their lands.


 * King of Omashu - Omashu, a largely autonomous city in the Earth Kingdom, also has its own regional king. He however, is not powerful enough to fall in the Earth King's social class, as only the sole leader of the Earth Kingdom executes the title, but he still answers to Ba Sing Se.

Council of Five
The Council of Five is a group of the five most powerful generals of the Earth Kingdom. They are held in high respect. The Council of Five have very high authority and obviously have an extremely high social status, as they control the entire military.

Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se
The Grand Secretariat is a position held by the Leader of the Government of Ba Sing Se. It is their job to maintain law and order in the bustling city. This position is considered as a high social status due to it is one of the adviser of the Earth King. The position was likely abolished when the Fire Nation took control of Ba Sing Se and it is unknown if the position still exists because of the crime committed by Long Feng.

Nobles
Not much is known about the nobles, but it is presumed that they attain their status through birthright or by marriage. They lead lives of wealth and luxury.

Many nobles live within the walls of Ba Sing Se, in the Upper Ring. There are presumably other nobles scattered throughout the Earth Kingdom, though the only example is the Bei Fong Family in Gaoling, one of the wealthiest families of the Earth Kingdom, who have respect and many privileges in different parts of the kingdom.

Middle Class Citizens
Not much has been revealed about the middle class populace of the Earth Kingdom. It has been shown, however, that they do retain many rights and opportunities, as Long Feng was born as a middle class citzen and he eventually was able to secure a position as the Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se. Middle class citzens are also able to afford an education, as Ba Sing Se University is located in Ba Sing Se's middle ring.

Low Class Citizens
The majority of the Earth Kingdom consists of this social class. Farmers, craftsman, unskilled soldiers and refugees fall under this category. Ba Sing Se has a ring to contain all these people, the Lower Ring, which is the most densely populated and crime filled ring.

Unskilled laborers have no special tie to royalty, as they are considered mere peasants. The War caused many more people of the Earth Kingdom to become poverty stricken refugees.

Greetings Amongst the Earth Kingdom Citizens
The Earth kingdom form of greeting as seen in most of the series. The citizens of earth kingdom greet each other by folding their right hand in the form of a fist and then clasping it with their left hand and bowing down. This hand sign depicts the earth kingdom emblem (A circle with a square in the centre), where the left hand acts as a circle and the right hand fingers form a rough shape of a square. This form of greeting shows the respect toward the opposite person and portrays the integrity in the people of the Earth kingdom. This form of greeting has been portrayed throughout the series, as most of the episodes had some part of earth kingdom plot in them.

Fire Nation
Fire Nation society is very structured. Most of its people are under strict rule.

Fire Lord
The Fire Lord has absolute power and is the supreme ruler of the entire Fire Nation. Anything they proclaim becomes law. The Fire Lord even has the power to deem members of the Royal Family traitors. The Fire Lord has the highest social rank in the Fire Nation.

Recently, the title of Fire Lord has been misused by the power hungry Fire Nation, as Fire Lord Sozin used his position to destroy an entire race of people and force the Fire Sages to be loyal only to the Royal Family. When Fire Lord Zuko rose to power, however, he declared the war over and ushered in a new era of peace, likely making the title of Fire Lord less of a dictatorship.

Fire Lady
The Fire Lady is the wife of the Fire Lord. She retains one of the highest social statuses in the Fire Nation, with only the Fire Lord obtaining more power than her. It can be assumed that the Fire Lady can have a say in military and political decisions like the Prince and Princess do.

As shown in the series finale, women can actually become Fire Lord, as Ozai appointed Azula as his successor. It is likely that a female Fire Lord's husband would have the same powers and social status that a Fire Lady would have.

Prince and Princess
The Prince and Princess are the Fire Lord's children, and retain two of the highest social statuses in the Fire Nation. Only the Fire Lord, and possibly the Fire Lady, have more power than them. The oldest son of the Fire Lord is considered the next heir to the throne. If, however, the original heir is banished or killed, then the next oldest son will earn the title of heir. If there are no other sons, then the eldest daughter is the heir, as shown in Zuko and Azula's case.

The Prince and Princess can also obtain a higher social status than another due to favoritism from the Fire Lord. An example would be that Azula was Ozai's pride, ergo she gets the better ship and overall, a more luxurious life (though this could be the case for Ozai's rule, since past Fire Lords never did this).

Nobles
Nobles are ranked very highly in Fire Nation society, and have the power to go to befriend, marry and work with the Royal Family. All nobles seem to reside in the Fire Nation Capital, with the exception of appointed regional leaders. Many nobles have been seen, like Ta Min, Princess Ursa, Mai (and her family) and Ty Lee. The Fire Nation's strictness also does not allow nobility to marry others below their ranks, even though they can marry people of a higher rank.

It is believed that Avatar Roku was also nobility due to his friendship with Fire Lord Sozin, something that wouldn't be accepted if Roku was anything less, as well as his marriage to Ta Min, as it is custom that nobility can only marry other nobility or royalty.

Fire Sages
The Fire Sages are the religious authority of the Fire Nation and are socially ranked quite highly. The Fire Sages once led the Fire Nation, however, when the title of Fire Lord was created, they slowly lost their power. When Sozin became Fire Lord, he forced the Fire Sages to pledge loyalty to him.

The Fire Sages did keep a high status even after they were forced to obey the Fire Lord, as they were still allowed in the capital city and they were still present at Ozai, Azula and Zuko's coronation to crown the Fire Lord showing that they are the ones to crown the Nations rulers, this is done by the Great Sage.

High Ranking Military Officials
High ranking military officials are very respected in the Fire Nation and are ranked very high in Fire Nation society. High Admirals and High Generals fall under this position. They seem to act as the Fire Lord's advisers, and are usually present during war meetings.

During the Fire Nation's 100 year war for world domination, military officials became of great importance and likely gained even more power. As shown by Admiral Zhao, high ranking military officials have the power to attack large and great cities, such as the Northern Water Tribe, at will.

Middle Class Citizens
Not much is known about the middle class citizens, except that they are ranked as normal civilians. They have enough wealth to give their children an adequate education. It is likely that middle class citizens can retain a higher rank with hard work and service to the Fire Lord.

Lower Class Citizens
Most of the Fire Nation population likely consists of this social class. As it can be assumed, this social class is the lowest of all the classes. The people in it have little wealth and no power. An example would be the villagers of Jang Hui.

Like in the Earth Kingdom, peasants of the Fire Nation have no special ties to royalty. They are of little concern to the Fire Lord and are usually bullied by military officers.

Greetings amongst the fire nation people
The Fire Nation citizens greet one another with a bow accompanied by a hand gesture just like the Earth Kingdom citizens, however in this hand gesture the person clenches his or her right hand as a fist, with the left hand resting below it. The left palm depicts the element of fire or perhaps the emblem of the Fire Nation itself. This form of sign portrays absolute respect towards the Fire Nation. It has been used as a sign for taking the 'Fire Nation Oath' in the episode 'The Headband'. It has been used more and more in the third season of the series as the most of the plots are based in the Fire Nation territories.

Avatar
The Avatar is in a social class by him or herself, being unique in the world and wielding vast bending powers. Before the War, the Avatar was considered to be without equal in the entire world, a sacred being representing the principle of balance and the planet itself. The Avatar's social standing before the War is never explicitly described, but many hints suggest that he outranked even the most powerful king. When all of the Fire Sages, the assembled Fire Nation nobility and the Crown Prince Sozin all bow to Roku when he is revealed as the new Avatar, with the Fire Sages, at the time sharing power with the Fire Lord in the Fire Nation, giving their allegiance to the Avatar. It has been shown that kings as well as upstarts like Chin the Great stood up to past Avatars, but without exception they were quickly put back in their place. Even when Sozin was already the Fire Lord, Roku had enough authority to openly defy and forbid him from pursuing his dreams of empire, as if the Fire Lord himself were a subordinate.

The Avatars are required to do what it takes to bring balance to the world and thus are not able to claim allegiance or conform to thier native country. Examples of this include: Avatar Yangchen (she was willing to resort to lethal matters, although it is against Air Nomad beliefs), Avatar Kyoshi (she defied the Earth King while possibly claiming Kyoshi Island as her own seperate territory) and Avatar Roku (despite being born in the Fire Nation, Roku not only threatened Fire Lord Sozin's life if the Fire Nation colonies continued to exist, his character traits are considerably unlike that of the Fire Nation citezen stereotype). Due to the Nothern Water Tribes strict rules and traditions, Avatar Kuruk might have also went against his people's customs by attempting to marry outside of his native tribe.

Also, the Avatar was revered and loved by the general populace, with shrines and temples across the Four Nations dedicated to him and spiritual groups tending to places connected to him. The people of the Four Nations viewed the Avatar as the supreme arbiter of any injustice done upon them or the world in general, vested with the power and authority of the great spirit of the World.

On the other hand, the Avatar had little in terms of worldly possessions, not only refraining from accumulating wealth and political power, but also renouncing most of the marks of his station, generally living a simple private life in remote locations (Roku in a small island village, Kyoshi originally on a remote peninsula).