Booby trap

Booby traps are concealed tripwires designed to discourage someone from entering a certain place or committing a certain act. When activated, an obstacle appears in an attempt to hinder that person's progress.

Sun Warriors


To protect their secrets and their existence, the Sun Warriors installed booby traps around the perimeter of their city. A tripwire triggers one of the booby traps. If an intruder steps on the tripwire, the floor drops away, revealing a deadly row of sharp, wooden spikes.

Aang activated one of these traps, making the ground drop away to reveal a patch of deadly spikes. He barely avoids falling into these with the use of his Airbending. Zuko overcame this trap by building up enough momentum to run along the walls near the trap.

Another trap involves the removal of the golden egg from the pedestal in the central room. This causes a green gluey liquid to shoot out and fill the room. The slime can only be removed by anteater sloths, domesticated by the Sun Warriors for this purpose.

Fire Nation


The Fire Nation is also know to use booby traps on their ships. Aang set one of these off when he and Katara unexpectedly traveled their way to the site of a ruined shipwreck. Katara warned him that the ship could be booby-trapped, but Aang ventured onto the wreckage anyway. Their wandering eventually led Aang to unconsciously set off a booby trap, accidentally locking them inside the ship and firing a flare that alerted Zuko.

Connections
The traps used by the Sun Warriors resemble those used by the Mayans.