Wheel of Punishment



The Wheel of Punishment was an object used in the Chin Village penal system to decide which sentence the victim would undergo.

History
Aang, the Avatar at the time, was subjected to the "Wheel of Punishment" as a sentence against an act of his past life, Avatar Kyoshi, claiming that she murdered Chin the Conqueror. Despite the appearance of Kyoshi's spirit explaining Chin's death and the evidence acquired by Sokka and Katara to support Aang's innocence, Mayor Tong decided that the accusation still stood because Kyoshi technically did kill Chin, as she herself admitted. Aang spun the wheel and was to be boiled in oil, but it was promptly changed to community service by Mayor Tong following the arrival of the Rough Rhinos, in order for Aang to "serve the community" by stopping them from destroying the village.

It is unknown if the wheel was still in commission after the Rough Rhino attack, as a komodo rhino thrust its horns into the wheel in an attempt to impale Mayor Tong, who was hiding behind it.

Punishments

 * Bed of nails
 * Whipping post
 * Boiled in oil
 * Eaten by shark
 * Razor pit
 * Mauled by platypus bear
 * Burned alive
 * Community service

Design
Approximately six or seven feet high in total, the wheel of punishment was an upright free spinning disc most likely made of a light wood. It was set in motion by the accused and only brought to a stop by natural friction. Crude images painted on the face of the disc were used to depict the available forms of punishment, while the fixed pointer at the top showed which one had been selected.

Uses
The wheel was used to determine punishment for the guilty while incorporating a form of entertainment and serving as a deterrent to future would-be criminals.

Goofs

 * When Aang spun the wheel, the villagers were shouting out their hopes for a possible punishment. One of them yelled "eaten by bears", but the picture on the wheel itself depicts a platypus bear instead of a regular bear.