Aang


 * This article is about the character. For the character in the games, see here. For the episode by a similar name, see Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang.

"air"

- I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people. I'm going to make a difference this time.

Avatar Aang, an Air Nomad, is the current Avatar, the manifestation of the world in human form, and thus the only person in the Avatar world who can use all four bending disciplines: Airbending, Waterbending, Earthbending and Firebending. He is also one of the few Avatars to learn Energybending, and the only one to use it during the series.

Before the beginning of the series, Aang was frozen in an iceberg for 100 years. He emerges, still biologically twelve years old, into a world engulfed by war. During his absence, the Fire Nation waged war with the other nations, and managed to completely wipe out the Air Nomads. It falls to Aang, the last of his kind, to put a stop to the war by mastering the other three elements and defeating Fire Lord Ozai. He remains something of a goofy, kind kid at heart, despite the overwhelming loss of his people and the heavy burdens with which he has been given.

Background
In his childhood, Aang lived at the Southern Air Temple, with a father figure in Monk Gyatso. While still a young boy, he unconsciously showed himself to be the Avatar when he chose the Avatar Relics to play with. Due to the signs of a possible war, Aang was told about his status as the Avatar at age 12, four years earlier than the usual. Aang felt burdened by his status, and came to spend more time practicing Airbending with the monks than playing with his friends, as he was used to. After learning that he'd be sent to the Eastern Air Temple in order to complete his airbending training away from Monk Gyatso, who other monks thought to be too soft on Aang, he attempted to run away on his flying bison, Appa. Shortly after running away, Aang and Appa were caught in a storm, crashing in the water and being swallowed by the waves. Aang saved himself and Appa unconsciously by entering the Avatar State, freezing the two in a block of ice.

Book 1: Water
One hundred years later, Aang is found and freed from the iceberg by siblings Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. He quickly befriended them, and almost immediately attracted Prince Zuko's attention, who was to capture him, and Zhao's, a Fire Nation marine commander. The three set out to find a waterbending master who could teach Katara and Aang; evading Zuko's attempts to capture them along the way. While helping a village, Aang crosses over to the Spirit World, where he meets Fang, the pet dragon of his predecessor, Avatar Roku. He was instructed to visit an Avatar temple on Crescent Island during the Winter Solstice, so he could talk with Roku. Despite a run-in with most of the Fire Sages, who were now loyal to the Fire Lord, Aang managed to speak with Roku, who warned him about the arrival of Sozin's Comet, which would grant the Fire Nation enough power to win the War.

Roku urged Aang to master the three remaining elements before summer's end, when the comet would arrive. When Aang is captured by Zhao, Zuko comes to his aid under the identity of the Blue Spirit, freeing him so he could capture the Avatar himself. Upon the groups arrival at the Northern Water Tribe, Aang was displeased to learn that his teacher, Master Pakku, wouldn't teach Katara, due to the tradition of not teaching females Waterbending to fight. Katara is able to change Pakku's mind, and both begin to learn under him. The period of calm is brief, as Zhao, now an admiral, commands an attack on the Northern Water Tribe with numerous ships. Aang finds the situation overwhelming, and decides to seek guidance in the Ocean and Moon spirits, patrons of the Northern Water Tribe. Aang learns through a spirit named Koh that the spirits are in the mortal world, but not before his body is taken by Zuko. Aang's friends managed to rescue him, but not before Zhao arrives at the Spirit Oasis the lair of the spirits, and kills the Moon spirit, the source of power for all Waterbending. Determined not to fail the Water Tribe, Aang merges with the Ocean Spirit and proceeds to wipe out the rest of Fire Nation ships. After all is over, the group leaves the North Pole, Aang now learning Waterbending under Katara, whose dedication allowed for a quicker rise to mastery.

Book 2: Earth


Aang and the others are left near an Earth Kingdom base, from where they're to be escorted to Omashu, to be taught Earthbending by one of his living peers, King Bumi. Due to a misunderstanding with the general responsible for the base, who wanted to forcibly draw the Avatar State, the group decides to go to Omashu by themselves. Upon arrival they learn that the city has fallen under Fire Nation control. In a trade between the new governor's son, who accidentally left the city by following Momo, and Bumi, Aang fights Azula, Zuko's younger sister, who also decides to capture him. Bumi tells Aang that he must remain in Omashu, and instructs him on who to search for as an Earthbending master: someone who waits and listens before attacking. While passing the Foggy Swamp, Aang has a vision about a laughing girl and flying boar. Upon reaching the city of Gaoling, they search for a supposed underground tournament, hoping to find a good Earthbender. After watching many rounds, they witness a fight between one of the popular contestants and the current champion, a little blind girl. During her match, Aang notices that the girl waits and listens before attacking. She easily defeats her opponent. Aang tries to talk ever, but she evades him.

The group later learns that the girl belongs to the Bei Fong family, whose symbol is a flying boar. They go to her estate and Aang announces himself as the Avatar. He learns that Toph, the earthbender, hides her ability from her family. After the two are kidnapped, Toph manages to fight the attackers off, and joins the group against her parents wishes. As Earth is the opposite element to Air, Aang goes through some difficulties while learning it, but eventually gets it. On their way to Ba Sing Se, the group finds Wan Shi Tong's Library in the middle of the Si Wong Desert, and learn valuable information on a solar eclipse, that will leave the Firebenders powerless, but lose Appa, who is taken by desert people and sold. After crossing the Serpent's Pass, the group comes across a giant Fire Nation Drill, which is trying to penetrate the walls of the city. The group manages to fight them off.

Finally reaching Ba Sing Se, Aang discovers that the city isn't like he thought; true power doesn't lie with the Earth King, but with his adviser, Long Feng, who controls the secret police, the Dai Li. After reuniting with Appa, they storm the palace and manage to tell the Earth King about the solar eclipse. Aang receives a message from Guru Pathik, telling him to go to the Eastern Air Temple, so he could teach Aang how to control the Avatar State. While there, he struggles when he learns he has to let go of his feelings for Katara. He has a vision about her being in danger and returns to the city. He learns that Azula and her friends have infiltrated the city. After freeing Katara, they fight Zuko and Azula in the crystal catacombs. Things take a turn for the worse when the Dai Li, now under Azula's command arrive. Aang retreats and tries to use the Avatar State, but is lightning struck by Azula. Katara manages to help escape with him thanks to Iroh's help. The group leaves Ba Sing Se on Appa with the Earth King, and Katara uses a special water from the spirit oasis to heal Aang, who is now believed to be dead by the rest of the world.

Book 3: Fire


For several weeks, Aang was unconscious as he recovered from his injury. Mentally, he spent this time in the Spirit World, but upon his awakening Aang forgot this journey. Team Avatar reached the Fire Nation and prepared for the invasion, planned during the Day of Black Sun. In the meantime, he was threatened by an assassin Zuko sent after him, Combustion Man. On the day of the eclipse, Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Toph go looking for Fire Lord Ozai, but Azula distracted them long enough that they didn't find him.

Afterward, Team Avatar and a few others went to the Western Air Temple, where Zuko appeared and wanted to join their group. Initially they rejected him, but when Zuko helped them defeat Combustion Man, Aang accepted him as his Firebending teacher. Zuko and Aang sought out the Sun Warriors to learn the original source of firebending, and eventually underwent a trial from the dragons that increased both Firebenders' abilities.

Due to his belief in the sacredness of all life, Aang felt strong anxiety about the concept of killing Ozai. When he left for an island off the shore of Ember Island, he met the Lion Turtle, who taught him about Energybending. Armed with this knowledge, Aang went on to defeat the Fire Lord by taking away his Firebending. He vowed at Fire Lord Zuko's coronation to help him restore peace to the world. After Zuko's coronation, he is seen in Ba Sing Se with his friends, where he and Katara begin what is likely a romantic relationship with a passionate kiss.

Personality
Aang is fun-loving, somewhat naive and adventurous. He possesses a deep respect for life and freedom, refuses to eat meat, and is often reluctant to fight. He craves the stimulation of new people and places. His frequent off-course detours frustrate both allies and pursuers alike. Yet Aang has always prided himself on a complex social network of friends extending over all four nations, and war will not stand in his way. In addition, he looks forward to playing with all the exotic fauna in each place he visits. Whether it's penguins, pig hog-monkeys or gigantic eels, no fit animal Aang sees goes un-ridden.

Since Katara was the first face Aang saw when he returned from the iceberg, he's always had a crush on her. He obviously has been crushing hard, and in a few of the episodes tries to tell Katara how he feels, but there's always been a distraction or something that stops him from telling her. In Nightmares and Daydreams, he tells Katara that he loves her, but later in the episode, it concludes that it was just a daydream and Katara was unaware of what Aang almost said [and did] to Katara. He shows no sign of jealousy, though, when Katara is crushing on Jet, it's possible that he was unaware [or just not into Katara that much yet] that he didn't notice her obviously crushing on Jet. Throughout all three seasons, it's very obvious that he's been crushing on Katara.

Within this carefree exterior however, Aang hides a great deal of guilt and mental burden in his duties as Avatar. Very much the reluctant hero, he wishes he had been there to help his people a century ago. This initially caused him to conceal his true identity from friends, and he still has a tendency to slack off in his studies of the Bending Arts, even though he naturally excels at it. He also tends to becomes very distressed when he sees destruction caused by the war, believing that as the Avatar, it is his job to prevent such events from happening. During "The Storm", Aang decided to stop dwelling on the past, however on several occasions his desire to end the war caused him to take desperate action such as attempting to induce the Avatar State or facing Fire Lord Ozai before he had fully mastered the elements.



Being the last Airbender and having no living peers (with the exception of the aged King Bumi and Guru Pathik), Aang has developed very strong bonds with his friends (particularly Katara) explained by Guru Pathik as a reincarnation of his love for his people. His desire to protect them however leads to violent emotional outbursts when they are threatened and he will even resort to deceiving and hurting others to keep the group together. In "Bato of the Water Tribe", Aang heard that Katara and Sokka might leave the group to visit their father, so Aang hid the map showing his whereabouts and lied about ever having it in the first place.

Aang prefers not to use his bending skill in battle due to his peaceful nature. He prefers to solve problems non-violently. Even when forced into combat, Aang typically holds back, fighting defensively and trying to subdue opponents without seriously hurting them, even if they are not human. This attitude was apparently common among all Airbenders, who were all vegetarians and taught that all living things are precious. The only exception to Aang's pacifism is when his friends are threatened; in which case, he gets very angry and relentlessly attacks his opponents, sometimes even entering the Avatar State. But even in these extreme circumstances he has never taken a life.

Recent events in the Earth Kingdom, however, have begun to take a toll on his care-free personality. Aang's attitude changed dramatically when Appa was captured. He became visibly enraged and hostile, particularly toward Toph, who was "keeping an eye on" Appa while they were gone. Despite attempts by Katara to calm Aang down, his anger continued to grow until finally he flew off to search for Appa alone. Eventually Aang returned to the group, but was still visibly upset. He violated the principles of Airbending when Momo was snatched up by a Buzzard-Wasp. He followed the creature and rescued Momo, but then unnecessarily struck it down with a powerful airbending move conjured with his staff. After Aang returned with Momo the group was confronted by the Sandbenders who had taken Appa. When one of the Benders revealed that they had sold the bison, Aang lashed out and smashed all their sand-sailors in a matter of moments using Airbending. He then turned his sights on the Sandbenders and entered the Avatar State. Aang's rage was only stopped when Katara grabbed hold of him and held him in an embrace until he finally calmed down and returned to his normal state.



After failing in Ba Sing Se, Aang began to feel angry and upset with him self. He felt an urge to redeem himself, and refused to let the others fight in the invasion due to "his mistake." After leaving the ship in a violent storm, he was stopped in the water by the harsh tides. But spirits of Yue and Roku allowed Aang to see that his mistakes were not his fault, and to let others help him. He then returned to his lighter attitude soon after.

Four days before the invasion, Aang began to have nightmares about failing against fighting the Fire Lord. After each dream, Aang began to unravel, and chose to avoid them by not sleeping. This caused him to mentally fall apart even more, causing Aang to see intense hallucinations, blanking off into realistic day dreams. His friends, the night before the invasion, finally forced him to sleep, in which he finally defeated the Fire Lord in his dreams and came back to sanity.

During the invasion, Aang became extremely upset upon not being able to find Fire Lord Ozai, believing that he had lost his only chance to defeat him and end the war. However Aang later decided to face Ozai anyway, even though at this time the eclipse had passed and Ozai now had his powerful Firebending back. He was dissuaded, however, by Toph and Sokka who advised him to retreat and attack at a more advantageous time.

After the invasion, Aang was unwilling to face the reality of having to learn Firebending, and wanted to have some fun at the Western Air Temple. However with the arrival of Zuko, he once again began training in earnest. Although he had planned to wait until after the comet to face Ozai, upon learning of the Fire Lord's plan to burn through the Earth Kingdom, he decided to engage him anyway, even though he wasn't fully trained. However he became extremely conflicted upon learning that he would probably have to take Ozai's life.

Bending
As the incarnation of the Avatar, Aang possesses the ability to bend all four elements, making him the most powerful bender in the world. Because the Avatar spirit has mastered all the elements many lifetimes over, Aang has exceptional natural talent towards bending. Aang can also bend two elements at the same time, as demonstrated in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se". Though Avatar Roku says mastering the elements can take many years, Aang was able to attain great skill with all four within a year after his release from the iceberg. At the end of the series, Aang is biologically only 12 years old, making him the youngest known person to become a fully-realized Avatar. Conversely because he is chronologically 112 years old, Aang is also the only known Avatar who took the longest to achieve this status.

Airbending
By the series' beginning Aang is already an Airbending master, the youngest in history. Aang achieved his mastery tattoos when he mastered 35 of the 36 tiers of Airbending and invented a new Airbending move, the Air Scooter. Because Air is his natural element, it is the one he utilizes the most in battle. Once Aang begins to learn the other elements, for tactical purposes he relies less on Airbending though it continues to remain his signature element. As a master Aang's skill with Airbending is exceptional, being able to fight on-par with powerful masters or against large numbers of opponents. He has been shown to create tornadoes and currents of air strong enough to lift or deflect extremely heavy objects. Aang's skill with air is great, even perilous, though his pacifistic Air Nomad nature halts the use of air as a deadly weapon (unless he is enraged or in the Avatar State). Instead, Aang uses Airbending for pure defense, evasion or other round-about methods of combat other than aggression. When not in battle Aang uses Airbending in his everyday life, often for flying with his glider. While in the Avatar State, Aang's Airbending power is magnified to the point he can erode pure rock away with a powerful gust of air.

Waterbending


Though Aang was originally better at Waterbending than his friend Katara, once she trained under Master Pakku her skills developed rapidly. Katara was deemed a Waterbending Master and became Aang's teacher for the rest of the series. Aang has great skill with Waterbending, though it is one of his least used elements in battle, instead favoring other readily-available elements such as earth or air. He does not carry a water skin, preferring to bend from large sources of water such as rivers, lakes or oceans. By Book 3, it is clear Aang has mastery over the element, capable of creating massive tidal waves (with the help of the moon spirit) or bending entire streams of water. While in the Avatar State, Aang can bend an entire ocean to rise, mimicking the moon pulling the tides.

Earthbending


Because Earthbending is the natural opposing of Airbending, Aang had great difficulty learning the bending art. Airbenders rely on indirect methods of combat, while Earthbending requires a head-on approach. When Aang was forced to protect Sokka, he stood his ground rather than avoid conflict, showing that he had an Earthbender's attitude; he was able to Earthbend soon thereafter. For the rest of the series his Earthbending improves greatly, allowing him to utilize Air, Water and Earthbending in combat together effectively. Aang is capable of bending large boulders, sending massive columns of rock flying or forming earthen armor around his body for protection. By Book 3 Aang can fight and bend blindfolded, detecting things outside of his line of vision by using Toph's seismic sense. While in the Avatar State, Aang can manipulate massive columns of rock, compress boulders into pebbles, or send rocks flying at mach speeds, and requires no physical connection with the ground to Earthbend.

Firebending


In Book 1, Aang is given the opportunity to learn Firebending early from Master Jeong Jeong, against the normal order of learning (Air, Water, Earth, Fire). While training, Aang's impatience to learn the basics of Firebending results in him harming Katara, an accident which caused him great shame. He swore from then on never to Firebend again, out of fear of losing control again. It isn't until the later half of Book 3 when the Invasion plan fails that Aang seeks to learn Firebending. After accepting Prince Zuko as his teacher and discovering the true meaning of fire from the dragons Ran and Shao, Aang no longer fears Firebending and begins his training in the bending art. He is shown to be quite skilled, yet initially reluctant to show the aggressive attitude required for Firebending. Aang is capable of the Dancing Dragon form, as well as powerful kicks and blasts able to incapacitate a Fire Nation Airship with the help of Sozin's Comet. In preparation for fighting the Fire Lord, Zuko taught Aang lightning redirection, a highly advanced and unique technique of Firebending that Zuko's uncle Iroh invented. While in the Avatar State, Aang can create powerful and destructive streams of fire, as well as melt solid stone.

Energybending
Aang is also able to use an ancient form of bending called Energybending, which he used to strip Ozai of his bending, leaving him permanently drained and in a state of weakness. According to Lion Turtle, before the Avatar existed, people didn't bend the elements, but the energy within themselves. However, in order to bend another's energy, the benders own spirit must be unbendable, or they can be corrupted and destroyed. It has been confirmed that Aang is not the first Avatar to learn Energybending. There have been others. However, there are few who have learned this bending and even fewer who have used it due to its dangers.

Other Skills


Aang is extremely agile and quick. Frequently, he can defend himself without bending by simply dodging and avoiding attacks. He sometimes uses techniques similar to the martial art Aikido, which is the pursuit of harmony in conflict situations, rather than destroying or defeating the opponent. This technique is shown in some fights with Zuko and in the Fire Nation School against the student Hide. Aang defeats him, without even touching him, but instead just dodging his blows and pushing him when he is off-balance.

This behavior is matched by his airbending principles, which emphasise non-aggression. The martial art which airbending is based on, Baguazhang, consists of intricate foot and palm movements to dodge, walk circles around the enemy and strike unexpectedly as well as defend from all angles - all principles which Aang utilizes often.

Aang can use his glider staff too with great skill, using it sometimes for attack, defense and bending.

As can be seen in the episode "The Headband", Aang is also an agile and extremely talented dancer, being able to perform somersaults in mid-air among other acrobatic feats and coordinate with Katara in a dance. His somersaults at that time did not seem to be aided by airbending, as he was in a public area surrounded by Fire Nation students and there was no sign of any air currents around him.

Spirit
Aang is the newest incarnation of the spirit of the planet, which has been continually reincarnated since before memorable history. The passage of reincarnation moves from the population of the Air nation to the Water, Earth and Fire nations in order. The most recent incarnations were Avatar Roku (fire), Avatar Kyoshi (earth), Avatar Kuruk (water) and Avatar Yangchen (air). Aang often receives advice and guidance from Avatar Roku, the previous Avatar incarnation. Born into the Fire Nation in life, Roku is a benign force in spirit, serving as Aang's adviser and protector. On the Winter Solstice, after informing Aang of the impending return of Sozin's Comet, he manifested himself to defeat a group of Firebenders holding Aang's friends hostage. (When Roku manifests, his voice can be heard behind Aang's when he speaks.) He has guided Aang several times since, appearing to Jeong Jeong to persuade him to teach Aang, offering critical wisdom in the ways of the Spirit World during "The Siege of the North", and revealing to Aang the nature of the Avatar State.

After receiving a letter from Guru Pathik in "The Earth King", Aang journeys to the Eastern Air Temple to learn to control the Avatar State. Guru Pathik reveals that the secret of entering, controlling, and leaving the Avatar State by free will lay in the 'releasing' of seven chakras. Aang has little trouble with the first six, but struggles with the seventh - earthly attachments, mainly being, Aang's attachment to Katara. Aang's love for Katara, accompanied by a vision of her in dire need of help, captured in Ba Sing Se, causes him to leave the Guru and return to Ba Sing Se. Guru Pathik states that Aang's refusal to let Katara go has 'locked the final chakra' and disallowed him to enter the Avatar State at all. Later, in "The Crossroads of Destiny", however, Aang begins to open the Seventh Chakra and enter the Avatar State by doing just as he had been told - letting go of his attachment to Katara. However, moments after entering the Avatar State, the process is interrupted as he is struck with lightning from behind by Azula, nearly killing him and removing him from the State. Fortunately, after their escape, Katara is able to use the water from the spirit oasis to revive him.

Nonetheless, Aang's connection to his previous lives is severely damaged by this and he has to undertake a journey into the spirit world, meeting with the last four Avatars, to restore it. While he is successful the link to his past selves is not completely restored, because of the wound he suffered, leaving him unable to enter the Avatar State. While he was still able to contact his past lives and enter into the Spirit World, it is only during his fight with Ozai that the connection was fully restored. See: Escape from the Spirit World

Medium
The Avatar also has the capacity to act as a medium, a bridge between mortal world and the Spirit World, the plane of existence where the universe's disembodied spirits dwell. Through inducing a deep meditative state, Aang can separate from his body and travel the physical world's astral plane in astral form, or, with the help of a gateway, travel completely to the Spirit World. Once in the Spirit World, Aang can travel freely and communicate with beings such as Avatar Roku or Koh the Face Stealer. This position as intermediary also allows him to channel other spirits while in the Avatar State. He once acted as the Avatar of the Ocean Spirit to defeat the Fire Nation during the siege of the North Pole. He has also channeled the spirits of previous Avatars, namely Roku and Kyoshi.

Voice Actor
Aang was voiced by Mitchel Musso initially in the unaired pilot but afterward was replaced by Zachary Tyler Eisen from The Boy in the Iceberg onward.

Trivia



 * Aang chose four toys out of thousands -- a turtle shell (Water), a string-powered propeller (Air), a Hog Monkey (Earth) and a drum (Fire). These four toys were the same ones that past Avatars had chosen for generations when they were children. This is the same procedure used by the Tibetan Buddhist monks to recognize the next reincarnation of the Tulku Lama. According to the book Magic and Mystery in Tibet by Alexandra David-Néel, "a number of objects such as rosaries, ritualistic implements, books, tea-cups, etc., are placed together, and the child must pick out those which belonged to the late Tulku, thus showing that he recognizes the things which were his in his previous life".
 * After the end of Book 2 (Earth), Aang's voice starts to get deeper as Book 3 (Fire) progresses.
 * Aang appears to be the youngest monk ever to master Airbending, receiving his tattoos, the Air Nomads' sign of Airbending mastery, when he was still a child. This is most likely because he is the Avatar. However, since there is no evidence of how young most Air Nomad Avatars were when they mastered Airbending, we can only assume Aang is the youngest Monk and Air Nomad Avatar to receive his tattoos.
 * Aang will be portrayed by Noah Ringer in The Last Airbender movie.
 * Aang is the only known male Airbender to grow a full head of hair.
 * Though Aang is listed as a "Fully Realized Avatar" he is frequently mentioned as not having mastered Earthbending and Firebending. He was close to mastering Waterbending, but was still receiving Earthbending training from Toph and had just begun his Firebending training with Zuko near the end of the series. However, it is possible that mastering the Avatar State has given him the knowledge of his past lives, enough so to give him mastery of the four elements. It is also possible that the term "fully realized" only requires the Avatar to be able to bend all four elements with at least a basic level of competency, and it is not necessary to have mastery in all four of the bending arts.
 * In the final episode, Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang, Aang is seen to be wearing a necklace similar to the one that was on Gyatso's skeleton in the episode The Southern Air Temple.

Relationships

 * Aang's Relationships

Non-Canon Appearances

 * Avatar Series Pilot
 * New Recruits (Ambiguously Canon)
 * School Time Shipping
 * Bending Battle
 * Swamp Skiin' Throwdown
 * Gym Time
 * Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth
 * Avatar: The Last Airbender - Into the Inferno
 * The Last Airbender
 * The Last Airbender 2
 * The Last Airbender 3