Winnie Wolf

Aang gets some hate from time to time, and I support the trend of realizing that many men in old tv shows are extremely toxic and sexist, but I don't see that when it comes to Aang. As I have grown up and changed and learned about feminism, Aang is still just as lovable as he was when I was a kid. He's such a powerhouse of a character. He literally carries the world on his shoulders but handles it like a champ despite being twelve freaking years old and losing his entire culture and people. He has his flaws, but that only makes him more human, more relatable. Scratching my brain tryna remember that piece of ATLA lore that was like the Avatar is born as a human to walk amongst humans, have human struggles and emotions to understand humans and to live a messy, difficult, yet beautiful life. That's how Aang's character works.

I'm thinking about him blowing up at Toph and Katara in the desert when Appa was stolen. That anger was a reflection of how deep his love for Appa is, especially considering he's the only piece of Aang's past and a dear friend. His love was so immense that his grief overtook him for two whole episodes. That's a long time for a tv show like ATLA. And we got to see two sides of it! We got the anger and the denial. That's so human, you've gotta be kidding me.

Thinking about him firebending and burning Katara despite Jeong Jeong and Katara telling him to be careful and practice restraint. He's just a kid. And the idea of being a firebender is so stinking cool. I would wanna play with it, too. He learned firsthand why you don't play with fire. Unfortunately, Katara was the victim, but Aang went on to harbor that hatred and fear of firebending well into book 3. It's a part of his identity that he is scared of and tenatitve to accept considering he caused Katara pain in the past. We all have parts of ourselves that can get ugly and hurt others when we lose control. And many of us have parts of our identities that we are scared to accept.

Thinking about my second favorite episode in the whole show, The Awakening. When Aang wakes up after his failure at Ba Sing Se, and he's super cranky and aggressive but it's because the fate of the whole world is on his shoulders. And he even says it - He wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked the Air Nomads, but he was there when they attacked Ba Sing Se. He should've mastered the Avatar State before leaving Guru Pathik. He should've done better. He should've won. But he didn't. And now he has to deal with that guilt as well as the consequences of his actions (or inaction). He thinks the best way to do it is on his own because he doesn't want anyone else suffering for his inaction. But while trying to be the selfless hero, he actually ends up only prioritizing his own wants and neglecting how his friends feel. Wow, this is a conflict I can get behind! I LOVE IT.

He's a fun-loving, goofy kid who likes to go penguin sledding and ride giant koi fish. And he loves animals so much. He believes all life is sacred. The only time we see him go against that belief is in the desert when he attacks the buzzard wasp after it took Momo. And that's because of the grief and anger he feels over losing Appa! He avoids dealing with his problems, and boy, I can relate. And he suffered massively for it. He has an entire arc in which he blames himself for the destruction of his people because he ran away from his problems. BOY. What an interesting conflict! GAH, I LOVE IT. And not only did his people get wiped out, the world has been imbalanced and at war for 100 years. People have died. All because he ran away. Or... Was the world only saved because he ran away? Maybe it was the good old wait and listen neutral jing. Maybe the world protected him until he could make a difference and bring peace. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I love stories in which everything happens for a reason. This point could be a whole separate post.