Meelo

"air"

- Yeah, let's do it! What are we doing?

Meelo is the third child and only son of Tenzin and Pema and grandson to Avatar Aang and Katara. He resides on Air Temple Island with the rest of his family. This young airbender has two older sisters, Jinora and Ikki; however, there is another, younger sibling on the way.

History
When Korra was ready to start her airbending training, Meelo and his family traveled to the Southern Water Tribe to pay his grandmother a visit and to stay for the night. He was chewing on his father's head as the family arrived and hopped off their sky bison. When Katara took him off his father's shoulders, Meelo did not recognize his grandmother, and quickly squirmed his way out of the hands of the "strange woman". He went on to play with his sisters in the snow, claiming to be a "snowbender", by using his airbending to blow off a pile of snow that covered him, showering his mother. Meelo and the rest of his family headed back home the next day, as Tenzin's duties as a United Republic Council member prevented them from relocating to the Southern Water Tribe as planned.

Meelo met Korra again not long after their last encounter, as the Avatar had run away from home and traveled to Republic City under the guise of "if Tenzin can't come to her, then she will go to Tenzin." The young boy was thrilled when he saw her again, especially after his father complied and let Korra stay at Air Temple Island in order to learn airbending with them.

As an airbender, Meelo was present during Korra's airbending training. While Korra was struggling with weaving her way through the airbending gates, he mimicked his father's advice by stating that Korra should try to "be the leaf." When Meelo participated in the meditation exercise, Tenzin singled him out as an example for Korra of how to properly meditate. However, the young boy had actually fallen asleep. Later on, when Korra destroyed the ancient training tool with her firebending in a fit of frustration and called Tenzin a "terrible teacher", Meelo instantly copied Korra's words, running around screaming and kicking the shambles of the now-broken tool.

Meelo sat quietly at dinner as Councilman Tarrlok entered and offered Korra to join his task force. He later enjoyed playing with Ikki in a new car which was sent as a gift from Tarrlok to bribe Korra. He also attended the gala Tarrlok threw for Korra along with the rest of his family, where he apparently mistook an object for a toilet, much to his father's horror.



Upon the arrival of Mako, Bolin, Pabu, and Asami who had come to live on Air Temple Island, Meelo immediately took a liking to the new residents. After welcoming them to "his domain", Meelo seemed to develop a crush on Asami, calling her pretty and asking for a piece of her hair. Later on, when the members of the Team Avatar were talking about saving Republic City, Meelo interrupted by jumping down and passing gas on their hands. He enthusiastically agreed with them, although he had no idea what they were doing.

The following morning, Meelo, sleeping in the bed of his parents, awoke early one morning to the phone ringing on a bedside table. He answered it and inquired who was calling, commenting that whatever it was had better have been important in order to have woken him at six in the morning. Tenzin quickly stole the phone away from his son to take the message himself, and Meelo crawled back toward his mother.

Personality
Meelo is enthusiastic, very energetic, and is always disrupting the calmness of Air Temple Island. Like his grandfather, he is quite goofy, as shown through his rambunctious behavior and the various comical comments he makes. Meelo loves to play around and explore, and he also enjoys jumping on his father's head just to pull his beard or gnaw on his head. His sporadic behavior can be useful when it comes to doling out his unique approach to airbending, such as sleeping when it is time for meditation with his father and sisters, and using airbending while flatulating to make a soft landing.

Abilities
Though an airbender in training, Meelo has already demonstrated several skills. Beyond a high level of acrobatics, he has also been seen to levitate himself with an air spout.

Trivia

 * Meelo's attire is the common clothing of young airbenders, much like the clothing worn by Aang in the first two seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
 * Meelo was inspired by Professor Christopher Moss' son. Christopher Moss is a great friend of the co-creators; when they went to visit him in Amsterdam, his son was "crawling all over [his father]" while he calmly continued the conversation. This was later an inspiration to create Meelo's personality to "throw in the mix and test Tenzin's patience and fathering skills".
 * According to the creators, Meelo was originally going to be a "cute" kid until assisant director Ki Hyun Ryu said "I want him to be ugly!" Co-executive producer Joaquim Dos Santos then stated that "the more ugly [Meelo] was, the cuter he became."
 * Oddly enough, Meelo does not know his grandmother, as he yelled "Unhand me, strange woman!" when Katara picked him up. However, he does seem to know Korra, who has lived at the Southern Water Tribe her whole life, as he did not mind being picked up by her, and was happy when she would be staying at Air Temple Island.
 * Meelo very much resembles a Japanese cartoon character, Shin Chan, in both his mannerism and appearance.
 * Meelo appears to have a crush on Asami, as can be evidenced by his asking her if he could have a piece of her hair.