Wan


 * This article is about the first Avatar. For the spirit, see Wan Shi Tong.

"fire"

- My name is Wan, and I will show you how I became the first Avatar.

Avatar Wan was the first Avatar, having lived ten thousand years prior to Avatar Korra's time. Banned from his home, this teenaged explorer learned how to coexist with the spirits, working to bring balance between them and the rest of mankind, a quest that eventually led to him becoming the first Avatar.

Gaining firebending


Living in poverty, Wan stole to survive and feed his friends. To achieve that goal, he regularly stole from the Chou family. However, one day, after snatching food from them, he was chased down the streets of the city by the three angry Chou brothers. He managed to outrun them at first by making his way across rooftops, though when he stopped to eat, the brothers caught up to him. Wan attempted to escape again, but was tripped by one of the Chou brothers and subsequently cornered. His sack of food was taken away from him, and he was thrown into a muddy pen with hybrid pigs. Wan returned to his family's treehouse, bringing Jaya and Yao what little food he had managed to salvage in his tunic. He gave away his own portion to several hungry animals, lamenting their impoverished lifestyle, wishing they could live like the Chous. However, he devised a plan to gain more power so he could change his life.



Wan joined the group of four hunters that were preparing to leave the city and venture into the Spirit Wilds to collect food for the city. Although the lead hunter was skeptical at first to let Wan join, Wan was allowed to accompany them since there were no other volunteers lining up. As such, the young man traveled with the hunters to face the fire lion turtle, the guardian of their city, to receive the power of firebending which enabled them to defend themselves against the hostile spirits living in the Spirit Wilds. Soon after the group set out, Wan pretended to chicken out and was subsequently ordered to go back the the lion turtle to return his firebending ability. However, Wan did not listen and returned to the city directly, keeping his fire. With it, he inspired several other poor people to join him on a raid of the Chou estate. Although things were going smoothly at first, the Chou brothers called in reinforcements and Wan was captured and unmasked. He was brought before the lion turtle, and although the creature permitted him to keep his firebending at his request, Wan was banished to the Spirit Wilds for his crimes.

Befriending the spirits


As he wandered the Spirit Wilds, Wan was on edge, shooting at every spirit he encountered. While running away from a large frog-like spirit that wanted to trample him, Wan got eaten by a plant, though managed to save himself with his bending. He ran on until he collapsed from exhaustion on an open grassy spot. However, much to his surprise, the grass started to wrap itself around him and pulled him under. He used his fire to save himself from a certain death by suffocation and kept continued his journey through the wilderness. Afraid to lower his guard in the hostile environment, he remained awake the entire night.



By morning, his hunger prompted him to stop at what he perceived to be a fruit-carrying tree. As he tried to sink his teeth in what he thought was a fruit, the fruit turned out to be a swarm of bees hurdled together that promptly attacked Wan for his disturbance. Wan's desperate attempt to get away from the angered insects led him to fall off a cliff. As he landed, he found himself looking at a peaceful island-like oasis with more fruit trees. Still hungry, he made his way over toward the little island, though found his path blocked by a spirit called Aye-Aye, who appeared out of nowhere before him and told him he was not welcome at the oasis. Wan tried to reason with the spirit, telling the entity that he was hungry and in need of sleep. However, when the spirit coldly told him that it was not his problem, Wan attempted to force the spirit aside by firebending at him. Enraged, the spirit met Wan's challenge, easily evading his attack by teleporting behind him, grabbing him, and throwing him aside in the nearby bush. Wan walked away in defeat, but when he noticed that several other spirits were granted access to the oasis, he covered himself in leaves and branches, disguising himself as "Bushy, the Bush Spirit". He briefly managed to fool the oasis guardian, but the latter was able to discover his deception through his human scent. When ordered to return home, Wan revealed that he was banished. The other spirits suggested he find other lion turtle cities, but the guardian refused to give him directions.



Wan subsequently set out to find these mentioned cities on his own. While traveling through the wilds, he spotted a cat deer caught in a net. Still hungry, he approached it with the intent of eating it, though after seeing the creature up close, he climbed the tree in an attempt to free it. At that moment, however, the group of hunters he was supposed to accompany arrived and they intended to kill the cat deer. Wan firebent at the hunters and ran off, hoping the men would forget about the animal and chase him. Having discovered the dangers of the Spirit Wilds for himself, he used the wilds' hazards in his advantage to get rid of two of his pursuers. Before he could free himself completely from the hunters, Wan was knocked unconscious by a fire blast. However, before the men could do anything, Aye-Aye, touched by Wan's selfless act, intervened and saved him. Was was brought back to the oasis by the spirit, where he was placed in the spirit waters, healing him. Deciding he had had enough of humans, Wan chose to stay at the oasis and learn the ways of the spirits, which earned him the nickname "Stinky" from Aye-Aye.

As time went by, Wan befriended the spirits and honed his firebending skills by learning the Dancing Dragon form from a white dragon, training himself to the point where his bending became an extension of his own body, not just a tool. He used his abilities to protect the spirits and drive off hostile humans.

Meeting Raava


Two years after his banishment, Wan wanted to travel the world to find the other lion turtle cities. During his journey, he was disturbed by a stampede of fleeing spirits, who ran away from the raging fight between the "all-powerful spirits". He went to investigate, as the battle risked wiping out the entire valley. Concerned about the destruction of the environment, Wan approached the two raging spirits, oblivious to their identity, and ordered them to stop. The white spirit, Raava, told him off, saying that the fight did not concern him. However, when he objected, telling her that it was his concern when the lives of spirits and animals were at stake, the dark spirit, Vaatu, begged him for help. Upon hearing that the dark entity had been tortured by his counterpart for ten thousand years, Wan used his firebending to break the hold Raava had on Vaatu. It was only after Vaatu had already fled that Wan learned the error of his actions, as Raava explained who she was and what her purpose was.

Becoming the Avatar


Feeling bad about his mistake, Wan wanted to help Raava track down Vaatu, though was told to stay out of the conflict. As such, he resumed his goal of finding the other lion turtle cities. He came across human harvesters with the ability to control the air. He followed them toward their city, which was build atop a flying lion turtle. As he was having a conversation with the people living there, Vaatu arrived as well, his presence turning the peaceful spirits living in the town to raging dark entities. Wan used his firebending ability to protect the people until Raava showed up and knocked Vaatu down. After Vaatu left, Wan noticed that Raava was growing weaker, thus he promised to rectify his mistake and help Raava nonetheless. In order to do so, Wan requested the airbending lion turtle to grand him the ability to control air. Since no human had ever held the power to control more than one element before, the lion turtle decided that Raava was to carry the ability to airbend for Wan until he managed to master it. Together, the two set out to train, and eventually, Raava relinquished the element of air to Wan by passing through his body and combining their energies. Although a dangerous undertaking, Wan survived the ordeal, and the little alliance set out to find the waterbending and earthbending lion turtle to receive the last two elements.



Over the course of a year, Wan and Raava worked together, training to master the four elements in order to be ready to face and defeat Vaatu by the time of the Harmonic Convergence. Near the end of that time, Wan and Raava came across a village in the Spirit Wilds near the fire lion turtle that was inhabited by Wan's former friends. However, the human presence was further offsetting the already fragile balance between mankind and the spirits. When a gathering of spirits led by Aye-Aye approached the village, Wan attempted to resolve the conflict peacefully. However, Vaatu's arrival caused the spirits to turn dark and the conflict escalated, prompting Wan and Raava to intervene. In order to be powerful enough to control the four elements simultaneously, Wan and Raava merged their energies, but this put a strain on Wan's body, one that he could not keep up with, and he passed out. When he woke, he found the village destroyed, and Vaatu informed him that all the humans had been killed. As Vaatu left, Wan found a severely weakened Raava behind a rock. He gently picked her up, placed her in a teapot for easy transportation, and set out toward the southern spirit portal.



At the day of the Harmonic Convergence, Wan and Raava traveled through the portal to the Spirit World, where Vaatu emerged as well. When the dark spirit challenged Raava, Wan stepped forward, defying the spirit's claim on the victory. Utilizing all his skills, Wan attacked Vaatu, but even though he managed to land a few hits, he was no match for the dark entity. As a last resort, he called upon Raava to help him by merging their energies. Even though that put him in mortal danger, Wan refused to give up and kept fighting Vaatu. However, the spirit managed to knock him down and pin him too the ground near the southern spirit portal. When the Harmonic Convergence took place, Wan placed his hand on the spirit portal, permanently joining his own energy with Raava's. Due to this bond, Wan became Raava's literal avatar, and the first in the reincarnation cycle. With his newfound strength, managed to trap Vaatu in an elemental cage. He imprisoned the dark spirit in the hollow of a tree in the Spirit World and subsequently closed the northern spirit portal in order to prevent any human from ever physically entering the Spirit World and releasing him. After guiding the spirits in the mortal world to return to the Spirit World via the southern portal, Wan also closed that portal, announcing that he would be the bridge between the two worlds and keep balance.



As time passed, Wan tried to maintain the balance in the world, urging the different groups of people to live coexist peacefully. However, this proved to be a daunting task, one that he would work at his entire lifetime without ever seeing it come to an end. Years later, an armored and elderly Wan laid resting in the aftermath of a battlefield. Before passing away, Wan apologized to Raava for failing to bring peace to the world. However, the light spirit reassured him that they would always be together through all his lifetimes and would never give up. With that, Wan exhaled his last breath and his spirit left his body to be reincarnated as the next in the cycle.

Legacy


A statue of Wan can be found inside the hall of statues in the Southern Air Temple sanctuary. Unlike his reincarnations, his image is enveloped by that of Raava, referencing his legend and founding of the cycle, and is made out of wood, which caused it to have decayed over time. Concurrent with Korra's success in bringing back the southern lights, his statue illuminated.

Appearances in Korra's life
In 171 ASC, Avatar Wan appeared to Korra while she was in search of Raava after having amnesia. According to the shaman, Korra had to connect with her deepest Avatar memories. She had to confront her own past in order to move forward. In order to help her find the light spirit, he recalled how he became the first Avatar.

Abilities
Wan was both agile and skilled in acrobatics, as he was able to swing off a clothesline, land on an adjacent block, and run across rooftops. He was also able to leap large distances. Due to his time spent learning from the dragons, Wan was very skilled in firebending, being the first human to use fire as an extension of his body, rather than merely a tool. Following this, he obtained the same skill in the usage of other three elements.

Trivia

 * In Mandarin Chinese, "Wan" means "ten thousand", the number of years he lived before Korra, and can be used non-literally to mean uncountable or infinite.
 * The order in which Wan received the elements reflects the natural order of the Avatar Cycle.
 * Wan's acquisition of fire through deception fits with the thematic theft of fire, in which an individual steals fire for the benefit of humanity. In this case, Wan's acquirement of firebending indirectly helped bring balance to both the physical and spirit realms.