@TigaTheDragonLover https://avatar.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000435396

Hot take on ATLA characters (part 2) | FandomLet's focus on my opinions for each of these…avatar.fandom.com

You may want to read this for context. But here is some spoilers for you.

P. S: I personally think that Sokka is better than Toph.

First of all; Iroh’s face looks punchable.

Second; Iroh is nothing more than one of those stereotypical dads you see in media that are idiotic and incompetent. (Minus the abuse)

All he does is spit out random words that has little to absolutely no effect on the plot. After all; actions speak louder than words. I don’t think that Zuko learned anything from Iroh’s so-called wisdom. And neither do ANY of the characters of this show! And as seen with some scenes; Iroh can be completely oblivious to his surroundings such as when he secretly firebended to warm his tea that even Zuko pointed out what Iroh was doing. He is completely unaware of the danger to begin with. Put Iroh in the most dangerous situations ever such as skydiving and he will show absolutely no fear! In fact; Iroh shows nearly zero emotion other than being idiotically optimistic for no reason! (At least through the majority of Season 2 and the and the early Season 3)

When I first watched the series; there was a period where I haven’t gotten to Season 2. During that period, I decided to try out the Netflix live action version. I didn’t like Sokka but I also didn’t like Iroh. They seemed like moody grumpy bears to me. So, I decided to continue watching the series but until I got to the moment where Zuko officially gets banished and travels around the world of Avatar; Iroh suddenly decides to come with Zuko even though a couple of episodes ago, he was completely supporting Zuko in capturing the Avatar!!! Then in Season 2; his flashback is suddenly slapped into our faces that his son died and that’s why his whole personality turned into a complete 180! And I was like; wait a minute? What happened!? Because in Season 1, Iroh was just a regular bad guy of the week who blended in with the Fire Nation but the moment Season 2 begins; he suddenly decides to become a pure good character and help Zuko! And his so-called redemption suddenly appeared out of nowhere without any development!

One could argue that because Iroh’s son died; he had so much grieved for it and realized that continuing the war would result in more losses so he decided that he may not be able to bring back his son but he still has the chance to make the future world a better place and not have our heroes of the story suffer just like him. But if that’s the case; then instead of turning a complete 180 in Iroh’s personality, give him a few episodes for him to grieve about his past! If the ATLA characters in the story can go through character development; then so can Iroh! The rules must be equal for everyone! The show could’ve given us a handful of episodes to showcase how much love did Iroh genuinely have for his son and maybe have him go through the five stages of grief. Taking care of Zuko could be his coping mechanism. That would be so much interesting and even more emotional!

After all; it’s never too late to change!

Or so Iroh SHOULD have been represented.

Instead; Iroh gets special treatment from the audience, the writers and the show itself just because he is an old man! If Iroh was a young adult, then everyone would rage at him. Normally, I see terribly written female characters in modern media especially nowadays. And nowadays, boyhs are considered inferior to women and just bumbling idiots. But; ATLA is the first series where I have witnessed a terribly written male character. No male character I’ve seen (Except Eugene from Wednesday) has such bad writing as Iroh!

From this day on; my hatred towards Iroh began to grow. Before I got into the Avatar franchise; I was neutral towards Iroh. I didn’t have as much hatred as I do now. Even then; his pictures look really adorable and he appears like a friendly guy to the point that you want to hug him so much!

Right after Season 1 ended; the plot tries to shield all of Iroh’s wrongdoings and is trying to manipulate the audience into falsely believing that Iroh is a ‘’great character who gives wisdom to everyone!’’ and they keep Iroh happy and smiling all day long! And I must admit; the manipulative action of the plot is extremely impressive! Iroh is an old man so everyone is blindly willing to listen to elders because no one wants to hurt them! (No, I am not offending elders. Iroh is a fictional character and not a real life one)

And along with some ‘’wisdom’’ with a favorite hobby slapped on it (that is supposed to be a running gag); you’ve got an unrealistic perfect character and in this way, you can get away with making your character overpowered as much as you wish!!!

(And I am far from being done with Iroh criticism! I am just getting started!!!)

Speaking of favorite hobby; Iroh is also a very boring character as his entire personality is his ‘’wisdom’’ and tea making to blend in with his ‘’gentle, calm patient old man’’ atmosphere to the point that the afterword of the ending of 100 Year War is him making a tea shop and it’s even a tactic to manipulate characters to succumb to the plot’s demands; Iroh is a kind all loving character to everyone, even the most stubborn girls like Toph that ever lived! Geez, Toph should’ve gotten a field trip with Zuko instead of being stuck with an old man! And throughout most of the series; most of Iroh’s personality is being nothing but being a tea lover and that’s all we got from him! It’s a very boring running gag!

Example of him using tea to manipulate characters; the robber with a knife and a crooked leg who wanted to steal Iroh’s money. What is the first thing that Iroh does??? Give him some ‘’wisdom’’ and tea!

Normally; I despise overpowered female characters but Iroh is my FIRST DESPISED OVERPOWERED MALE CHARACTER!!!!

(Sorry everyone, I took my hatred to Iroh a little far.)

Heck; I have this impression that Iroh is most powerful bender in general in the world!! Even more than the Avatar himself!! Just what did he do to become the ‘’most powerful firebender’’? First of all; that title goes to Azula! Second; how does one become a firebending master at such an old age! Why only when Iroh’s son died, he decides to become a firebending master??? Everyone else in the series worked hard to become powerful benders! Toph learned earthbending from badgermoles and lives with it so that’s why she’s the ‘’greatest earthbender in the world!’’

Katara repeatedly and continuously practices her waterbending.

And plus; Aang, Toph, Katara and Zuko are all children so they have even more potential to grow their bending powers. The reason I don’t complain from Toph being overpowered is because she worked hard to practice her earthbending skills! (or least the badgermoles did the work for her) She earned it! Iroh did nothing to prove to the audience that he is worthy of being a powerful firebender! And if you were to compare the achievements of what other characters did and compare them to Iroh; you will observe that Iroh achieved more than anyone else in the series!

Katara mastered waterbending of nearly all forms, gained some bloodbending skills and even learned healing.

Toph unlocked seismic sense, invented mental bending, opened a metal bending academy and became a police officer.

Aang mastered all four elements and restored his entire Nation.

Zuko became the Fire Lord of the Fire Nation and restored honor of the Fire Nation.

Iroh mastered firebending, became Dragon of the West, invented lightning redirection, is the only character who can breathe fire, is a member of the White Lotus, opened his own tea shop, and is the only non-Avatar character in the whole franchise who entered into the spirit world! All while he is an old man! OH MY GOD; THAT IS WAY TOO MUCH ACHEIVEMENTS!!! How could such an old man have all of these achievements in a short period of time!? I understand Team Avatar; because they are kids so they have the better mindset of learning and adapting to things quicker and have the potential to gain even more knowledge than adults. The more knowledge is important for young children. But Iroh just wasted his whole life doing ‘’nobody knows what’’ and when his son died; he suddenly decided to change!

You could argue that Iroh represents the ‘’it’s never too late to change’’. But his character is so unrealistic that it makes Team Avatar (even Toph) look like amateurs.

Now comes the part that enrages me the most.

No matter whatever you do, no matter if you speak, no matter if you move, breathe etc.; you have to listen to Iroh no matter what!!! You are not allowed to even object Iroh’s ‘’wisdom’’; otherwise, you will be punished and humiliated by the plot as seen when Zuko betrayed Iroh!! I was honestly extremely happy that Zuko betrayed Iroh (no pun intended) because it was a huge step up for Zuko that he has finally moved on. But the series expects you to be angry at Zuko for betraying Iroh and then; the next two episodes, we see Zuko acting like a crybaby and being Iroh obsessed and all that! Because he is punished by the plot for simply leaving Iroh!!!

If you even criticize Iroh; you will be demonetized by the series! The only people that genuinely hate Iroh are the villains of the show!

The only credit I can give him is that he cares about Zuko although his love for Zuko is very questionable.

P. S: I was completely wrong to call him a Gary stu. The people of this fandom actually correct some of what I say. So, this is not everything I wrote here. I wrote a lot more in my other post.

But still, I think that Iroh is undeservely overpowered and very boring. Too much praise for nothing, and as that one Fire Nation guard once said:

"You do nothing. You say nothing." (Basically Iroh’s whole character in a nutshell)

I still stand by my opinion.