Aang


 * This article is about the character. For other uses, see Aang (disambiguation).

"air"

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

Aang was a male Air Nomad born in 12 BSC and the Avatar during the century-long conflict known as the Hundred Year War. His immediate predecessor was Avatar Roku, and his immediate successor is Avatar Korra. As the Avatar of his time, he was the only person capable of using all four bending disciplines: airbending, waterbending, earthbending, and firebending. He was also one of a select few Avatars, and one of the first in many cycles to learn the ancient art of energybending, and the first Avatar known to have actively used the technique.

Shortly before the beginning of the Hundred Year War, Aang was frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years; he emerged, still biologically twelve years old, into a world engulfed by war. During his absence, the Fire Nation had waged war upon the other nations and managed to completely wipe out the pacifistic Air Nomads. It fell to Aang, the last airbender and the Avatar, to put a stop to the War by mastering the other three elements and defeating Fire Lord Ozai. He remained something of a kind, goofy kid at heart throughout this year-long struggle, despite the overwhelming loss of his people and the heavy burdens he had been forced to bear. After his victory over the Phoenix King, Aang began a romantic relationship with his close friend, Katara. The couple eventually married and raised a family of three children: Kya (a waterbender), Bumi (a non-bender), and the youngest, Tenzin (an airbender).

Early life


Aang was born to two unidentified Air Nomads in 12 BSC, though the monks of the Southern Air Temple took him away after discovering his identity as the Avatar. As an Air Nomad, Aang traveled extensively around the world. During his childhood, Aang was housed, raised, and educated at the Southern Air Temple, under the guardianship of Monk Gyatso, who served as his father figure, counselor, and tutor. As a child, Aang was a member of the Air Scouts, where he learned essential skills such as how to tie reins to a bison's horns with the bison horn knot. During these early years of life, Aang had to pick four toys from amongst thousands, and chose the Avatar relics, proving himself to be the Avatar, even if he himself did not know it yet. When Aang turned six years old, he and several other young Air Nomad boys were taken to the Eastern Air Temple where they each chose a sky bison as their lifelong companion. Aang approached his soon-to-be pet sky bison Appa and offered him an apple, which Appa accepted, thus marking the start of their deep, lifelong friendship.

Aang had always been able to excel with any new bending moves he learned; at the age of six, he was a better airbender than children twice his age, and by the age of ten, Aang had proven himself to be better than his own teachers. For exhibiting prodigious talent with his native element, air, he earned airbending tattoos and the status of an airbending master at the age of twelve, making him the youngest airbending master in Air Nomad history.

In his childhood, Aang also visited the other air temples, as evidenced by his obvious familiarity with the Western Air Temple, as well as cities in the then-peaceful Earth Kingdom, such as Omashu, where he developed a lasting friendship with the good-natured but eccentric Bumi. He even bonded closely with children in the Fire Nation, like Kuzon, with whom he went searching for a dragon in the mountains and saved a mother dragon's egg from poachers.

Due to the signs of a possible war approaching, Aang was told about his status as the Avatar at age twelve, four years earlier than the traditional age of sixteen. Aang felt burdened by his status as the other children refused to play with him anymore, and he came to spend more time practicing airbending with the monks. Monk Gyatso was the only one to show understanding to Aang's burden, having been good friends with Avatar Roku, Aang's past life, and tried to help ease Aang through the transition from childhood to adulthood by providing Aang with balance through fun during the upheaval in his life.

However, soon after learning that he would be sent to the Eastern Air Temple in order to complete his airbending training far away from Monk Gyatso, who other monks thought was too soft on him, Aang 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 while semi-consciously entering the Avatar State, freezing the two in a sphere of ice by using a combination of airbending and waterbending. The Avatar State kept him alive, albeit not fully conscious, in the iceberg for about a hundred years while the war raged on.

Winter 99 ASC


One hundred years later, Aang was found and freed from the iceberg by siblings Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. He quickly befriended them and almost immediately attracted the attention of Prince Zuko, who was to capture him by order of his father, Fire Lord Ozai. A newly formed Team Avatar set out to find a waterbending master who could teach Katara and Aang, evading Zuko's attempts to capture them on their journey to the North Pole. While helping Senlin Village get rid of Hei Bai, a spirit that was destroying their village, Aang crossed over to the Spirit World where he met Fang, the animal guide of his predecessor, Avatar Roku. He was instructed to visit an Avatar temple on Crescent Island during the winter solstice so that he could talk with Avatar Roku. Despite a run-in with most of the Fire Sages, a group now loyal to the Fire Lord, Aang managed to speak with Roku, who warned him about the impending 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 was due to arrive, or no one would ever be able to restore balance to the world. Aang was later captured by Admiral Zhao and Zuko came to his aid under the identity of the Blue Spirit, freeing the former so that he could capture the Avatar himself. Aang, Sokka, and Katara continued their travels to the Northern Water Tribe, all the while developing a tighter bond, and Aang beginning to develop a crush on Katara. Upon the group's arrival at the Northern Water Tribe, Aang was displeased to learn that the waterbending master, Master Pakku, would not teach Katara, due to the tradition of not teaching females to use their waterbending to fight. Instead, Katara learned how to heal injuries using water. However, she was able to change Pakku's mind, and they both began to learn under him. The period of calm was brief, as Zhao commanded an attack on the Northern Water Tribe with a large fleet of ships. Aang found the situation overwhelming and decided to seek guidance in the Ocean and Moon spirits, patrons of the Northern Water Tribe. Aang learned through a spirit named Koh that the spirits were in the mortal world, but his body was taken by Zuko in the process while he was in the Spirit World. Aang's friends managed to rescue him, but not before Zhao arrived at the Spirit Oasis, the lair of the spirits, and killed the Moon Spirit, who was the source of power for all waterbending. Determined not to fail the Water Tribe, Aang merged with the Ocean Spirit and proceeded to wipe out all Fire Nation ships, winning the battle.

Spring 100 ASC


Aang and the others were left near an Earth Kingdom base, from where they were to be escorted to Omashu, but decided to travel alone as the general in charge tried to force Aang into the Avatar State. Upon arrival they learned that the city had fallen under Fire Nation control. They evacuated the citizens from the city in order to fight another day; but, in the process, the governor's son, Tom-Tom, followed them out. Team Avatar was sent a messenger hawk saying the governor would trade Bumi for Tom-Tom. However, Azula, interfered and their attempt was called off. At that, Aang fought Azula, who also decided it should be her mission to capture him. Bumi told Aang that he needed to remain in Omashu and instructed the young Avatar to search for an earthbending master who waited and listened to the Earth before attacking. While in the city of Gaoling, they learned about a tournament that housed the best earthbenders in the world, and attended hoping to find a good earthbending teacher for Aang. After watching many rounds, they witnessed the final fight between one of the popular contestants and the current champion, a blind girl. During her match, Aang realized the girl was the same one he had a vision of while lost in the Foggy Swamp, and noticed her technique of waiting and listening before attacking, thus easily defeating her opponent. The ringmaster offered a sack of gold pieces to anyone who dared to face the "Blind Bandit". Aang accepted that challenge in order to talk to the girl, but she ignored him.

The group later learned that the girl belonged to the Beifong family, and went to the Beifong estate, gaining entrance by having Aang introduce himself as the Avatar. He learned, however, that Toph, the earthbender, hid her ability from her family. After the two were kidnapped, Toph managed to fight all the attackers off revealing her skill to her parents, and ran away from home in order to join Aang's group. As earth is the opposite element to air, Aang went through some difficulties while learning earthbending but eventually got it. While taking a small vacation, the group found Wan Shi Tong's library in the middle of the Si Wong Desert and learned valuable information on a solar eclipse that would leave the firebenders powerless. While sorting through the library's information, they lost Appa, who was taken by desert people and sold. After meeting the kidnappers, an enraged Aang entered the Avatar State and blew away the tribes' sand-sailers when he learned of Appa's fate. After finding their way out of the desert and crossing the Serpent's Pass, the group came across a giant Fire Nation drill which was trying to penetrate the Great Wall of Ba Sing Se. General Sung was reluctant at first to accept the group's help, but after witnessing the quick defeat of his Terra Team at the hands of Ty Lee and Mai, he gladly accepted the Avatar's assistance. In a joint effort, the group managed to fight them off and destroy the drill.

Finally reaching Ba Sing Se, Aang discovered that the city was not like he thought; true power did not lie with the Earth King, but with his adviser, Long Feng, who controlled the secret police, the Dai Li. They figured out where Long Feng had his secret base and infiltrated it, believing that he held Appa captive. After reuniting with Appa, they stormed the palace and managed to tell the Earth King about the solar eclipse and Long Feng's betrayal. After they convinced the Earth King, Kuei, his men searched Long Feng's office and thus finding a message for Aang from Guru Pathik, who had tied it to Appa's horn. The message was for Aang to meet Guru Pathik at the Eastern Air Temple so he could teach Aang how to control the Avatar State. While there, Pathik helped Aang open all his chakras but one, the Thought Chakra. Aang struggled with this one when he learned he had to let go of his feelings for Katara. He told the Guru that he would try, but during his attempt, he had a vision about her being in danger and immediately returned to the city, blocking his chakra. On the way back, he picked up Sokka and Toph and together they learned that Azula and her friends had infiltrated the city. After Aang freed Katara, they both fought Zuko and Azula in the Crystal Catacombs. Things took a turn for the worse when the Dai Li, now under Azula's command, arrived. Aang retreated and tried to use the Avatar State but was struck down in the back by lightning from Azula. The very powerful lightning bolt shot through his body, exiting through his left foot, making his seventh chakra impossible to re-open. The lightning bolt killed him while he was in the Avatar State, severing the connection of the Avatar Spirit to the Avatar World and causing the Avatar to fall from the plane of existence. Katara caught Aang while he plummeted to the ground. A surprising intervention of Iroh allowed her to bring Aang's body to safety. Aang's lifeless body lay on Appa's back, where Katara used water from the Spirit Oasis in the North Pole to claim back his life, which revived the Avatar Spirit in turn, but his ability to use the Avatar State became blocked and inaccessible to him.

Summer 100 ASC


For several weeks, Aang was unconscious as he recovered from his injury. Mentally, he spent this time in the Spirit World, where he reconnected with his four previous selves to heal the Avatar Spirit. However, upon his awakening, Aang had no memory of his long journey through the Spirit World and his meetings with his former lives. Aang woke up to find himself aboard a Fire Nation vessel with hair, believing that he had been captured, but in actuality, Team Avatar and others had stolen and commandeered the ship, and were on their way to the Fire Nation. Upon realizing that he had fallen at Ba Sing Se and thus failed. Team Avatar then reached the Fire Nation and prepared for the invasion, planned during the Day of Black Sun, the day the firebenders of the Fire Nation were at their weakest. In the meantime, he was threatened by Combustion Man, an assassin Zuko sent after him. On the day of the eclipse, Aang, Sokka, and Toph went looking for Fire Lord Ozai, but Azula distracted them long enough for the eclipse to end. They decided to retreat to fight another day.

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 he helped them defeat Combustion Man, Aang accepted Zuko as his firebending teacher. When Zuko lost touch with his inner fire, Zuko and Aang sought out the Sun Warriors to learn the original source of firebending and underwent a trial from the dragons Ran and Shaw that increased both firebenders' abilities.

Due to his Air Nomad 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 with this ability. He vowed at Fire Lord Zuko's coronation to help him restore peace to the world. After Zuko's coronation, Aang is seen in Ba Sing Se with his friends, where he and Katara began a romantic relationship with a passionate kiss.

Harmony Restoration Movement


Following Team Avatar, Fire Lord Zuko, and Kuei's agreement to initiate the Harmony Restoration Movement was officially announced to the Earth Kingdom people by the Earth King, Aang and his friends took a ride on Appa to watch the celebratory fireworks. While on the sky bison, the concerned Fire Lord asked the Avatar to make a promise: if Aang saw that Zuko was turning into Ozai, the Avatar would end his former friend. Initially disbelieving, Aang sought advice from Katara, who nodded in approval, and hesitatingly accepted.

To help the Harmony Restoration Movement, Team Avatar aided in the relocation of Fire Nation colonials back to the Fire Nation, starting with more recent colonies. A year later, with the movement so far successful, Aang, Katara, and Sokka were assisting the colonials led by Mayor Nishi to move and adjust, but after landing in the Fire Nation, the friends discovered that Zuko had withdrawn his support for the movement and was occupying the oldest colony, Yu Dao, eliciting the group to immediately travel there. On the way, Aang consulted with Avatar Roku, who reminded him that Zuko's request to end him if he became like his father should be honored, citing Zuko's intent in making the promise and also revealing that he should have ended Sozin when he had the chance. Despite Roku's advice, Aang decided to attempt to talk to his friend before taking any action.



After landing outside Yu Dao, the team encountered a massive protesting crowd that included several members of the Freedom Fighters, who offered their services to the Avatar. To their disappointment, Aang explained his intention to talk to Zuko and flew with Katara over the walls on his glider. However, in the courtyard, several Fire Nation soldiers ordered Aang to leave and attacked, refusing to listen to the Avatar's attempts at peace. Aang sank their commander into earth while dodging the other troops, but one fireball set caused his clothing to catch fire, prompting Katara to intervene. She single-handedly defeated the remainder of the soldiers until she was halted by Zuko. Aang ordered the Fire Lord to let her go, and he responded by ordering the Avatar to leave. Using airbending, the Avatar separated the two, leading Zuko to retaliate. Aang entered the Avatar State, intent on fulfilling his promise, until Katara was able to calm him down. The Fire Lord then advised they talk, to which Aang agreed in comic frustration. Zuko led Aang and Katara on a tour of Yu Dao, explaining that the city had been heavily integrated for over a century, the firebenders and earthbenders having worked together to transform a small village into a world leader in metalworking, and also one of the great cities and that after seeing the townspeople living together peacefully, he could not separate them. Aang was adamant about restoring harmony to the four nations, but Zuko declined. Katara then proposed hosting a meeting with Kuei, to which both the Avatar and the Fire Lord agreed.

Aang left Yu Dao, speaking with Smellerbee before departing. Appalled that the Avatar was talking instead of fighting, she demanded the removal of the colonials and said that Aang had three days to make a compromise before the Freedom Fighters would take action. On Appa en route to Ba Sing Se, Aang thanked Katara for calming him while in the Avatar State and not allowing him to take Zuko's life.



As they arrived in Ba Sing Se, Aang and Katara encountered two co-founders and presidents of the Official Avatar Aang Fan Club's Ba Sing Se Chapter. When they learned that the couple was searching for a place to stay, they offered them residence at their clubhouse. Aang gladly accepted and he spent the night and the following morning entertaining the girls by showing them some airbending moves and being flattered by all the attention. As he and Katara left for the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace, he noted to her that even though the girls were just part of a silly fanclub, they did make him feel for a moment like he was back home with his people, a statement that, unbeknownst to him, hurt Katara.

After informing the Earth King about the present situation with Fire Lord Zuko in Yu Dao, Aang and Katara were presented with a richly filled dinner table to allow Kuei some time to think about the situation. When the King returned, Aang was shocked to learn that the King refused peace talks with Zuko and had decided to send his army to Yu Dao instead. Realizing that sending in the army would be seen as a declaration of war, Aang and Katara hurried back toward Yu Dao in an attempt to persuade the Fire Nation colonials there to evacuate before they arrive.

On his way to Yu Dao, Aang and Zuko shared a dream where they stood on a cliff, with Roku's spirit behind Aang and Ozai's spirit behind Zuko. In the dream, Zuko told Aang about his troubles from being unable to decide what was right, which prompted Roku to advise Aang to fulfill his promise. Aang went into the Avatar State, but at the last minute Ursa was seen crying behind Roku. Aang and Zuko both woke up to realize it was a dream.



When Aang arrived at Yu Dao, he told the Fire Nation residents to evacuate, but earthbenders and firebenders began attacking him and Katara. When he spotted one of the attackers fleeing, Aang followed him into an ax factory to discover that his attacker was Sneers. Sneers revealed to Aang that he met Kori Morishita and got into a relationship with her; he then tried to persuade him to join the Yu Dao resistance. When Aang refused, Kori introduced the Official Avatar Aang Fan Club Yu Dao chapter, whose members were dressed in traditional Air Nomad attire. Aang remarked on how the clothing that they wore looked just like the uniforms that students at the Western Air Temple used to wear. He then remarked on how their painted airbending tattoos looked just like real airbender tattoos, only to discover that they were the same as genuine airbender tattoos; Aang became enraged by this, explaining that an airbender's tattoos had to be earned through years of practice, and that his culture was not a game.

Aang stormed off and went onto the roof of the building, where Katara found him. He stated that he figured out why the four nations must be separate: because the stronger nation always ends up hurting the weaker one. Katara tried to remind him what Guru Pathik told him about the four nations being really one and the same, but Aang retaliated, saying that he loved his culture and everything that made it unique. He concluded by stating the contradiction in his mind about feeling obligated to follow through with the Harmony Restoration Movement, but in doing so it would result in him killing Zuko, which goes against Air Nomad dogma. Katara began telling Aang why she changed her mind about the Harmony Restoration Movement, but they were interrupted by the protesters, led by Smellerbee. The group of protesters began using a stone battering ram to try and break open the gate. Aang tried to stop them and succeeded, before realizing it was all a distraction so he would not notice a drill further along the wall that broke through the gates.



When the protesters meet up with the Yu Dao resistance, Aang tried to calm them down, but to no avail, as both groups began attacking each other. However, moments later, Earth Kingdom troops arrived, led by General How, as well as Fire Nation soldiers, led by Zuko. General How tried to persuade Aang to end Zuko's life, stating an army with no leader is a dragon without a head, but Aang argued against this. When the armies of both nations began to fight, Aang entered the Avatar State, however, Katara pulled him out of it before long, leading him away from the battle. She finished explaining to Aang why she changed her mind, and stated that when she saw Kori and her family, she also saw her future with Aang, and went on to say that if the four nations had to be separate, then they had to be as well. She told Aang to find a quiet place to figure the situation out, and that she will fully support whatever decision he decided to make. They kiss, and Aang flies off.

Aang traveled to a rocky mountain and earthbent the rocks around him to form a shelter. He contacted Avatar Roku, who advised Aang to "contemplate the world" and also revealed to him that Zuko was his great-grandson. Aang meditated further upon this, and after some time, he entered the Avatar State, which sent a beam of light into the sky. He flew down to the colony and separated the ground between the troops of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. Zuko began to plummet to his death into the crevice between the separated lands, but Aang grabbed his hand to save him. After coming out of the Avatar State, Aang confronted Earth King Kuei and stated that Kuei was fighting not only Fire Nation, but also the Earth Kingdom itself, the Water Tribe, and an Air Nomad. The Earth King realized his mistake, and Zuko also realized his fight was not the work of his father's hatred, but the right choice all along, which caused the Fire Lord to faint and the conflict to end.



Four days later on the roof of the Jasmine Dragon, Aang connected once again with Roku, attempting to explain that when he contemplated the world, he did not picture a map or floating cosmic energy; he pictured all his friends and everyone he loved. Roku, however, chided the Avatar for again being indecisive and leaving the world's balance at risk. Aang spiritually disconnected from him, claiming the world had changed too much for Roku to guide him any longer. Moments later, Iroh informed Aang that Zuko was now awake, and they both went inside the building. Aang talked to Zuko about how he must meet with the Earth King because the colony cannot be either Fire Nation or go back to being Earth Kingdom. Zuko told Aang to break off his promise to kill him if he became like his father because the struggle of figuring out what was right and wrong was something the Fire Lord could not escape. Zuko then told Aang that he wanted to look for his mother, to which Aang encouraged him to do so. Later, Aang departed from the Jasmine Dragon to confront the Official Avatar Aang Fan Club. He told them that he would teach them the ways of the Air Nomads, and dubbed them the "Air Acolytes".

Later life


After the Hundred Year War and the tensions of the Harmony Restoration Movement conflict, Aang managed to maintain a period of peace. Together with Fire Lord Zuko and the rest of their friends, he transformed all the former Fire Nation colonies into the United Republic of Nations, where a metropolis named Republic City became its capital and the home to people from all nations.

Sometime during this period, Aang married Katara and they had three children, named Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin. Tenzin, the youngest and only airbender, was born when Aang was thirty-one years old. Near the heart of the bustling city, Aang founded an island on which he resurrected an air temple for his family and their own descendants to live on. When he discovered a flock of surviving flying bison, along with a new type of winged lemur, the ring-tailed winged lemur, he housed them as well on Air Temple Island.



In 128 ASC, the city was plagued by the actions of a notorious crime lord named Yakone. Due to him being a skilled bloodbender and having managed to stay out of the law's reach for a long time, Aang found it necessary to assist the then-Chief of Police Toph Beifong in his arrest in order to bring him to justice. Aang, Toph, and her metalbending officers apprehended the crime lord at Kuang's Cuisine. The criminal did not resist, and despite Aang saying that they knew that he was a bloodbender, Yakone claimed that he would beat the charges again. After attending his arrest, Aang was also present at Yakone's trial, where Yakone was convicted of crimes. However, before the sentence could be carried out, Yakone used his powers to subdue everyone in the courtroom, leaving them unconscious. Aang was capable of holding out longest, but he lost consciousness as well after Yakone used his skill to levitate the Avatar in the air and throw him against the stairs leading up to the court's platform.



However, employing the Avatar State, Aang regained his senses, allowing him to pursue the criminal. He effectively halted Yakone's getaway by severing his mount from the carriage he was perched upon with an air swipe. Hovering around on an enhanced air scooter, Aang was subdued a second time by Yakone's bloodbending, who was now fully intending to kill him this time. Entering the Avatar State, however, allowed Aang to break free of Yakone's grip, and he swiftly captured Yakone in an earth shell, before utilizing energybending to remove his bloodbending for good.

The one hundred years he had spent frozen in an iceberg while in the Avatar State eventually weighed heavily on his body and drained much of his life energy during that time. When he felt that his end was nearing, he tasked the Order of the White Lotus to search for and watch over the next Avatar. Eventually, at the relatively young biological age of sixty-six, Aang passed away, and the Avatar Spirit was then reborn and reincarnated into the Southern Water Tribe as a headstrong, hot-headed and rebellious girl named Korra.

Legacy


A massive statue of Avatar Aang was created on Aang Memorial Island, a small island located in Yue Bay. A teenage Aang is depicted wearing Air Nomad monk robes and holding a staff with the airbending symbol on top, overlooking the city he founded with the help of his friends. The statue was created and donated by the Fire Nation as a sign of peace and goodwill.

Appearances in Avatar Korra's life
At age seventeen, Korra moved from the safety of the Southern Water Tribe compound to the bustling streets of Republic City. However, every time that she found herself in serious trouble and was on the brink of slipping into unconsciousness, she would be plagued by visions of Aang's encounter with Yakone. Through these images, it appeared Aang was attempting to warn Korra of the imminent threat that Yakone's son, Councilman Tarrlok, posed to her, though it was later revealed that he was actually trying to warn her about Amon.



However, it was not until Korra was at an extremely low point in life due to losing her bending that she inadvertently summoned Aang's spirit for the first time. During their talk, Aang explained that he was there because Korra had asked him to be, as she had finally connected with her spiritual self, due to being open to the greatest change by hitting her lowest point. Aided by all of the previous Avatars who appeared behind him, Aang compassionately used energybending to restore Korra's bending, and passed on the knowledge of the art to her.

Personality
Aang was fun-loving, somewhat naive, and adventurous with a sense of humor. He possessed a deep respect for life and freedom, refused to eat meat, and was often reluctant to fight. He craved the stimulation of new people and places. His frequent off-course detours frustrated both allies and pursuers alike. He would usually want to forget his duties as the Avatar and would long for the normality that others possess. Yet Aang had always prided himself on a complex social network of friends extending over all four nations, and war did not stand in his way. In addition, he looked forward to playing with all the exotic fauna in each place he visited. Whether it was otter penguins, hopping llamas, hog monkeys, or giant koi fish, no fit animal Aang saw went unridden.

Within this carefree exterior, however, Aang hid a great deal of guilt and a heavy mental burden in his duties as Avatar. Very much the reluctant hero, he wished 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 had a tendency to slack off in his studies of the bending arts, even though he naturally excelled at it. He also tended to become very distressed when he saw destruction caused by the Hundred Year War, believing that as the Avatar, it was his job to prevent such events from happening. Eventually, 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 had 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, led to violent emotional outbursts when they were threatened, and he would even resort to deceiving and hurting others to keep the group together. 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 preferred not to use his bending skill in battle due to his peaceful nature. He preferred to solve problems non-violently. Even when forced into combat, Aang typically held back, fighting defensively and trying to subdue opponents without seriously hurting them, even if they were 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 was when his friends were threatened, in which case, he got very angry and relentlessly attacked his opponents, sometimes even entering the Avatar State.

Events in the Earth Kingdom, however, began to take a toll on his carefree 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 he was still visibly upset. He violated the principles of airbending when Momo was snatched up by a buzzard wasp. He gave chase and rescued Momo, but then unnecessarily struck it down with powerful airbending. 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-sailers in a matter of moments using his airbending. He then turned his sights on the sandbenders and entered the Avatar State upon hearing that Ghashiun had put a muzzle on Appa. 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. Shortly after these events, Aang forsook all hope, choosing not to care at all in order to refrain from lashing out in anger and be hurt. The birth of the baby Hope lifted his spirits once again.



After failing in Ba Sing Se, Aang began to feel angry and upset with himself. He felt an urge to redeem himself and refused to let the others fight and be injured 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 the spirits of Yue and Roku allowed Aang to see that his mistakes were not his fault and to let others help him. He returned to his lighter attitude soon after.

Four days before the invasion, Aang began to have nightmares about fighting against the Fire Lord. After each dream, Aang started 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 daydreams. On the night before the invasion, his friends finally forced him to sleep, during which he 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. 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 was not fully trained. He also became extremely conflicted upon learning that he would have no other choice than to take Ozai's life.

Aang did show a somewhat flawed and stubborn side to his personality during the Harmony Restoration Movement. Like Roku, Aang was adamant on the idea that four separate nations would bring peace. This contradicted with Yu Dao, where citizens of two nations were able to live in harmony, make huge achievements, and have biracial families. However, Aang saw this as only another disaster that would lead to another war and persisted to move the Fire Nation colonials back to the Fire Nation, even if it meant separating them from their families. However, when Aang saw how intertwined the people from the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom had become and how his relationship with Katara was the same, he came to terms with the fact that his beliefs were outdated, and realized that the world had changed significantly in the past hundred years, prompting him to defend and support Yu Dao, founding the Air Acolytes and ultimately severing his spiritual connection with his dear friend, guide and past life, Avatar Roku who still completely refused and chastised Aang's choices. Later on, he and Zuko decided to form the United Republic of Nations as a compromise.

In his later years, Aang's personality had become far more serious and decisive. He was embarrassed that Toph would still refer to him by his childhood nickname "Twinkle Toes", despite the fact he was forty years old. He also dealt with criminal lord and bloodbender Yakone in a way described by Tarrlok as "head-on", contrary to his previous attitudes of trying to find peaceful solutions and his aversion to fighting. Aang remained calm, level-headed, and soft-spoken in his later years.

Bending


As a reincarnation of the entity known as the Avatar, Aang possessed the power to bend all four elements, making him the strongest and most powerful bender of his time. Because the Avatar Spirit had mastered all the elements many lifetimes over, Aang had exceptional natural bending talents; he could bend all four elements at the same time. Though Avatar Roku said mastering the elements could take many years, Aang was able to learn all four with considerable skill in a year, though technically he did not completely master all four as stated by Zuko and Toph. As a result of his unconventional training, Aang never demonstrated most of the special subsets of the bending arts. However, he did display the abilities of lightning redirection and seismic sense, making him the first Avatar known to have learned these abilities. Most Avatars were not told of their status until they were sixteen years of age, but Aang had become a fully-realized Avatar while he was biologically still only twelve years old. Thus he became the youngest known Avatar to do so. As he was chronologically one hundred and twelve years old, Aang also has the distinction of taking the longest to achieve this status.

Airbending


By the time of the Air Nomad Genocide, Aang was already an airbending master, the youngest in history. Aang achieved his mastery tattoos when he mastered thirty-five of the thirty-six tiers of airbending and invented a new airbending technique, the "air scooter". The element of air was the one he utilized the most in battle. Once Aang began to learn the other elements, for tactical purposes he relied less on airbending, though it continued to remain his signature element. As a master, Aang's skill with airbending was exceptional, being able to fight on-par with strong and powerful masters or against large numbers of opponents, despite not finishing his airbending training. He had been shown to create tornadoes and currents of air strong enough to lift or deflect extremely heavy objects. Aang's skill with air was great, even perilous, though his pacifistic Air Nomad nature halted the use of air as a deadly weapon, unless he was enraged or in the Avatar State. Instead, Aang used airbending for pure defense, evasion or other round-about methods of combat other than aggression. When not in battle, Aang used airbending in his everyday life, often for flying with his glider, or simply to augment his natural agility. While in the Avatar State, Aang's airbending power was magnified to the point he could erode solid rock away with a powerful gust of air.

Aang's airbending skills, especially his skill with the "air scooter" greatly improved over time, evolving from being able to ride one to creating multiple air scooters simultaneously without any difficulty. At age forty, Aang was shown to have mastered the air scooter to a much greater degree. This version was superior in terms of size and duration when compared to the ones he showed as a child and was capable of being used as a high-speed method of transportation, as Aang quickly caught up with Yakone, despite the latter having a good head-start. Aang was also capable of standing on the scooter, instead of sitting on it as he had done before.

Aside from his individual skill, Aang was also shown as a capable teacher, as he passed on the full extent of his airbending knowledge and techniques to his son Tenzin, who became a powerful master airbender in his own right.

Waterbending


Although Aang was originally better at waterbending than his fourteen-year-old friend Katara, his lack of focus allowed Katara to surpass him as she was later deemed a waterbending master after rapidly developing her skills while training under Master Pakku. Katara became Aang's teacher when they took their leave of the North Pole. Aang first showed prodigious skill in waterbending, being able to easily create a huge wave on his first try. Aang had great skill with waterbending, though it was one of his least used elements in battle, instead favoring other readily-available elements such as earth or air. He did not carry a water skin, preferring to bend from large sources of water such as rivers, lakes, or oceans. His control over the element was monumental, capable of creating massive tidal waves, albeit with the help of the Moon Spirit, or bending entire streams of water. He was even able to extinguish a powerful, comet-enhanced blast of fire from Ozai, then used the water to briefly put the Fire Lord on the defensive. While in the Avatar State, Aang could bend an entire ocean to rise, mimicking the moon pulling the tides, to cover an entire forest. He was also capable of compressing massive volumes of water into smaller streams, (a normally incomprehensible skill) allowing an increase in force and pressure and making it easier to transport.

Earthbending


Because earthbending contrasted Aang's personality and his native element, air, he had great difficulty learning the bending art. Airbenders relied on indirect methods of combat, while earthbending required a head-on approach. When Aang was forced to protect Sokka from a saber-tooth moose lion he stood his ground rather than avoiding conflict, showing an earthbender's attitude; he was able to earthbend soon thereafter. His earthbending improved greatly, allowing him to utilize air, water and earthbending in combat together effectively. Earthbending had even become Aang's second most used fighting style behind airbending, due to its general availability. Aang was capable of bending large boulders, sending massive columns of rock flying, or forming earthen armor around his body for protection. He also eventually learned to fight and bend blindfolded by detecting things through the use of seismic sense, a skill that he learnt directly from Toph. While in the Avatar State, Aang could manipulate massive columns of rock, compress boulders into pebbles, or send rocks flying at high speeds in rapid succession, while requiring no physical connection with the ground to earthbend. During the battle for Yu Dao, Aang managed to create a massive chasm around the entire city, effectively leaving it outside the reach of the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom armies.

Despite the proficiency with which Aang used earthbending in his fight with Ozai, Toph had expressed an opinion that he could still improve.

Firebending


While normally the Avatar must learn the four elements in the proper cycle, Aang was given the opportunity to learn firebending early from Master Jeong Jeong, instead of first mastering water and earth, in addition to his mastery of air. While training, Aang's impatience to learn the basics of firebending resulted 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 was not until after the invasion plan failed that Aang sought to learn firebending again. After accepting Prince Zuko as his teacher and discovering the true meaning of firebending from the dragons Ran and Shaw, Aang no longer feared firebending and began his training in the bending art. He was shown to be quite skilled, yet initially reluctant to show the aggressive attitude required for firebending. Aang was capable of performing the ancient Dancing Dragon form, the breath of fire while simultaneously firing a stream from both hands, and produce highly strong and powerful kicks and blasts able to incapacitate a Fire Nation airship with the help of Sozin's Comet which had greatly strengthened and enhanced his firebending abilities to numerous power levels at the time. In preparation for his face off with Fire Lord Ozai, Zuko taught Aang lightning redirection, a highly advanced and unique technique of firebending that Zuko's paternal uncle Iroh invented by observing waterbenders. While in the Avatar State, Aang could create exceedingly strong and highly destructive streams of fire, as well as melt solid stone. As the Avatar, Aang was also able to use the unique skill of combining firebending with earthbending to create and manipulate lava and magma.

Energybending


After being endowed with the knowledge from a lion turtle, Aang was able to use an ancient form of bending that precedes all other bending called energybending, which he used to strip Ozai of his natural firebending abilities, leaving the Fire Lord permanently drained and in a state of weakness. According to the lion turtle, before the Avatar existed, people did not bend the four elements, but the life force energy within themselves. However, in order to bend another person's life force energy, the energybender's own life energy must be unbendable, or they could become corrupted or even destroyed. It had been confirmed that Aang was not the first Avatar to learn energybending; however, there were very few who have learned this particular bending art and even fewer who have used it due to its dangers. Energybending allows the bender to both strip and restore a person's bending abilities and transfer knowledge from one person to another.

At age forty, Aang's energybending skills had progressed, as he was able to strip Yakone's bending abilities almost immediately with minimal effort, unlike when he stripped Ozai's bending. He also demonstrated the ability to restore a person's bending, as seen when his spirit appeared before Korra and restored her abilities that had been taken by Amon's bloodbending. At the same time, Aang imparted the knowledge of energybending and control of the Avatar State onto Korra.

Other skills


Aang was extremely agile and quick even without bending, proven while forced to hide his bending when masquerading a Fire Nation student. He was able to defend himself without needing to resort to bending by simply dodging and avoiding attacks. This technique was first shown in Aang's fight against the student Hide in the Fire Nation school. Aang effortlessly defeated him without ever striking him, instead simply dodging his blows and pushing him when he was off-balance. He would repeat this feat at Yu Dao against a group of firebending soldiers, dodging and evading their fire blasts with a variety of acrobatic moves and without resorting to any of his bending arts and at the end only having his clothes slightly charred. This fighting style was overall similar to the martial art Baguazhang, which consists of an intricate set of foot and palm movements to dodge, walk circles around the enemy and strike unexpectedly as well as defend from all angles, an art which emphasized the pursuit of harmony in conflict situations, rather than destroying or defeating the opponent – all principles that Aang used often.

Aang could use his glider staff with great skill as well, using it sometimes for attack, defense, or bending.

Aside from his combat skills, Aang also displayed an impressive degree of artistic talent on a few occasions. He was an extremely talented and agile 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. Aang also displayed a degree of musical talent, as he was able to play an Airbender's flute well enough for the Official Avatar Aang Fan Club to revel in his performance. He was also able to play the tsungi horn, although he was self-admittedly terrible at it.

Avatar Spirit
Aang was the reincarnation of a being known as the Avatar, which had been continually reincarnated since before memorable history. The passage of reincarnation moves from the population of the Air Nomads to the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, and Fire Nation in order. The most recent incarnations were Avatar Roku (fire), Avatar Kyoshi (earth), Avatar Kuruk (water) and Avatar Yangchen (air). Aang often received advice and guidance from Avatar Roku, the previous Avatar incarnation. Born into the Fire Nation in life, Roku was 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 manifested, his voice could be heard behind Aang's when he spoke. He had 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, and revealing to Aang the nature of the Avatar State.



After receiving a letter from Guru Pathik, Aang journeyed to the Eastern Air Temple to learn to control the Avatar State. Guru Pathik revealed that the secret of entering, controlling, and leaving the Avatar State by free will laid in the 'releasing' of seven chakras. Aang had little trouble with the first six, but struggled with the seventh – earthly attachments, mainly being Aang's attachment to Katara. Aang's love for Katara, accompanied by a vivid distant vision of her in dire need of help, captured in Ba Sing Se, caused him to leave the Guru and return to Ba Sing Se. Guru Pathik stated that Aang's refusal to let Katara go had 'locked the final chakra' and disallowed him to enter the Avatar State at all. Later, however, Aang began to open the seventh and final chakra successfully and entered the Avatar State by doing just as he had been told – letting go of his feelings for Katara. However, moments after entering the Avatar State, the process was suddenly interrupted as he was struck with lightning from behind by Azula, killing him and removing him from the Avatar State, and the Avatar Spirit itself from the plane of existence. Fortunately, after their escape, Katara was able to use the special water from the Spirit Oasis to revive him.

Nonetheless, Aang's connection to his previous lives was severely damaged by this and he had to undertake a journey into the Spirit World, meeting with the last four Avatars to revive and heal the Avatar Spirit. While he succeeded in healing the Avatar Spirit, the link to his past selves was not completely restored because of his still injured physical body, rendering him unable to enter the Avatar State. He, however, was still able to contact his past lives and enter the Spirit World. It was only when Ozai violently shoved him against a protruding rock that the connection was fully restored.

Medium
As the Avatar, Aang also had 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 could 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 could travel freely and communicate with beings such as Avatar Roku or Koh the Face Stealer. This position as intermediary also allowed him to channel other spirits while in the Avatar State. He once combined with the Ocean Spirit to defeat the Fire Nation during the siege of the North Pole. He had also channeled the spirits of previous Avatars, namely Roku and Kyoshi.

Appearances
{{Scroll|

Book One: Water (水)

 * "Bee Calm"
 * "Don't Blow It"
 * "Relics"

Book Two: Earth (土)

 * "Sleepbending"
 * "Lessons"
 * "Sokka, the Avatar"
 * "Dirty Is Only Skin Deep"
 * "Divided We Fall"
 * "Reach for the Toph"
 * "The Bridge"

Book Three: Fire (火)

 * "Private Fire"
 * "Night Animals"
 * "Boys' Day Out"
 * "Monster Slayer"
 * "Combustion Man on a Train"
 * "Swordbending"
 * "No Benders Allowed"
 * "Love Is a Battlefield"
 * "Dragon Days"
 * "Game Time"

The Promise trilogy

 * The Promise Part 1
 * The Promise Part 2
 * The Promise Part 3

The Search trilogy

 * The Search Part 1

Book One: Air (气)
}}

Trivia

 * Aang was considered to be a Fully Realized Avatar when he was biologically only twelve years of age, which made him the youngest known Fully Realized Avatar in history, though he was not supposed to be told of his identity as the Avatar for another four years. On the other hand, being chronologically 112 years old gives him the distinction of taking the longest known period of time to become a Fully Realized Avatar.
 * Chronologically, Aang is the second oldest known Avatar, dying 166 years after his birth; Kyoshi being the first, having lived to the age of 230.
 * Since Avatar Roku was the maternal great-grandfather of Zuko and Azula, and was the previous Avatar, Aang, Zuko, and Azula were all spiritually related. Also, since Roku was Ursa's grandfather, Aang was also spiritually related to Ursa.
 * Aang is written in Chinese, meaning "peaceful soaring".
 * Aang's premature departure from his Avatar State training to rescue Katara, and its results, are very reminiscent of Luke Skywalker's impulsive actions while training with Yoda on Dagobah in the Star Wars film "The Empire Strikes Back".
 * Aang's aerokinetic abilities and arrow tattoo cause him to bear a resemblance to the comic book superhero Red Tornado.
 * After Aang was shot through the back with Azula's lightning, he had two scars, one on his back where the lightning entered his body and the other on the sole of his left foot where the lightning left his body.
 * Aang and Kuruk were the only known Avatars to remain true to their native upbringing, seeing as how every other identified Avatar defied their people's customs or political figures in some way. For instance, Yangchen was famous for doing whatever it took to preserve balance, Roku threatened the political leader of the Fire Nation, and Kyoshi defied the Earth King's orders regarding the Peasant Uprising in Ba Sing Se.
 * Most if not all of Aang's closest friends, with the exception of his animal companions, were technically nobility. Katara and Sokka were the children of Hakoda, chief of the Southern Water Tribe. Toph was a member of the Beifong family, a revered Earth Kingdom noble family. Bumi was king of Omashu and Zuko was a prince of the Fire Nation turned Fire Lord at the end of the War.
 * Aang choosing four toys out of thousands – to identify him as the Avatar as these four toys were the same ones that past Avatars had chosen for generations when they were children – was 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 in his previous life.
 * The names of the first episode, "The Boy in the Iceberg", and the very last episode, "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang", showed Aang's growth and maturity throughout the series, how he went from being a goofy, naive kid in the beginning to becoming a Fully Realized Avatar by the end.
 * Aang was left-handed in one of his past lives, as mentioned by Katara.
 * Aang is one of the only four characters shown as a newborn on either Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Legend of Korra. The others are Yue in a flashback, Hope, and Rohan.
 * was portrayed by in .
 * Considering that Aang did not officially begin his Avatar training until he was released from the iceberg, he became a Fully Realized Avatar more quickly than any other known Avatar, doing so in only twelve months.
 * Aang was seen wearing a necklace, similar to the one that was on Gyatso's skeleton, at Zuko's coronation.
 * Aang encased in a submerged iceberg is reminiscent of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory on the Id, Ego, and the Superego as a whole, which was contextualized as an iceberg. The small part of the iceberg is the ego, the conscious self, and was represented by the large block of ice destroyed by Katara's waterbending at the beginning of the episode. The Id, the unconscious self, is the submerged portion of the iceberg and thus is represented by the sphere of ice Aang encased himself in while in the Avatar State. An interesting revelation is that roughly 90% of an iceberg is submerged, and the Id therefore exerts much more influence than the Ego on one's mind; the Id's represented by the Avatar State.
 * Aang, Kyoshi and Roku were all known for defying the leader of their respective nations. Aang did not move to the Eastern Air Temple when he was told to and instead ran away. Kyoshi, at first refused to aid the 46th Earth King when he asked her to aid in the Peasant Uprising in Ba Sing Se and Roku nearly killed Fire Lord Sozin in an attempt to put a stop to his imperialistic actions.
 * When the creators first pitched the series, Aang was a ten-year-old boy, but after a suggestion from Eric Coleman, they "aged him up".
 * The concept of having thirty-six tiers of airbending and Aang not mastering one could have been taken from The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.
 * Aang joined with three spiritual bodies native to each of the three remaining nations. He joined with Roku of the Fire Nation, Kyoshi of the Earth Kingdom, and La, the Ocean Spirit, of the Water Tribe.
 * Aang and Piandao are the only two confirmed characters in the original series to have had both their parents as benders.
 * Aang has met the original source of every bending art: a flying bison for air, the Moon Spirit for water, badgermoles for earth, and Ran and Shaw, two dragons, for fire.
 * Including Tui's death in "The Siege of the North, Part 2" and his own fatal injury sustained in "The Crossroads of Destiny", from which they both were resurrected shortly thereafter, Aang was the sixth of nine characters to have been observed dying or being murdered in the original series. In chronological order, the others were Tui, Yue, Zhao, Chin, Jet, Roku, Fang, and Combustion Man.
 * Due to Aang being the sole survivor of the Air Nomad Genocide, all future airbenders, excluding the Avatars not born airbenders, will be descendants of him and Katara.
 * Aang was originally voiced by voice actor Rob Paulsen in The Legend of Korra, before being revoiced post-production by D. B. Sweeney.
 * Aang is shown as the airbender in the opening sequence of The Legend of Korra.
 * Aang was one of the two known Avatars to create a landmass, as Avatar Kyoshi founded Kyoshi Island and he had founded Air Temple Island, most likely being in the Avatar State while doing so.
 * Even as a forty year-old man, Aang was still given the nickname "Twinkle Toes" by Toph.
 * Aang is the first known Avatar to be bloodbent.
 * Aang is the second known person to break free of a bloodbender's hold by their own doing, although he was only able to do so by entering the Avatar state.
 * Aang was shown energybending at the end of the original series and in the last episode of the first book of The Legend of Korra.
 * Although in the original series Aang took Ozai's bending away, in The Legend of Korra he restored Korra's bending.
 * Aang was the first person known to be capable of restoring another's bending.
 * As an adult, Aang's beard resembled the one of co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino.
 * Although Aang's hair is depicted as black once fully grown out, his eyebrows and beard appear to be a brownish color in all other episodes in which his face is seen at a closer view.
 * Aang is the first known Avatar to have an interracial marriage.
 * Aang appeared in every episode in the original series except for "Zuko Alone".