Aang
The last Airbender and reincarnated spirit of balance.
Avatar Aang, also known simply as Aang, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He is the last surviving Airbender and the youngest airbending master of his generation, as well as an incarnation of the Avatar, the spirit of light and peace in human form. Aang is tasked with bringing balance to the Four Nations and spent a century in suspended animation before being discovered and embarking on a quest to master the elements and end the Fire Nation's imperialist war.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Last
- Original series:
- "Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender" (2026)
- The Legend of Korra:
- "Darkness Falls" (2013)
- Creator
- Michael Dante DiMartino; Bryan Konietzko
- Gender
- Male
- Spouse
- Katara (wife)
- Children
- Bumi (son)
- Kya (daughter)
- Tenzin (son)
- Nationality
- Air Nomads
Facts from the source article.
Appearances
Aang was born as the reincarnation of Avatar Roku and raised by Monk Gyatso at the Southern Air Temple. Before learning he was the Avatar, he became one of the youngest Airbending Masters by inventing a new technique. Because Fire Lord Sozin grew hostile toward other nations, the senior monks decided to reveal Aang's nature as the Avatar four years early and relocate him to another Air Temple. Learning he would be taken from Gyatso, Aang fled on his flying bison Appa, was caught in a storm, and entered the Avatar State, encasing himself and Appa in an iceberg for a century. After being freed by Katara and Sokka, Aang attracted the attention of Prince Zuko, the banished son of Fire Lord Ozai. Aang traveled to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending, visited the Southern Air Temple where he learned the Fire Nation had wiped out his people, and met his past incarnation Roku, who told him he must master all four elements before Sozin's Comet. At the Northern Water Tribe, Aang became an apprentice to Waterbending Master Pakku alongside Katara. After helping repel a Fire Nation invasion, he journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to find an earthbending teacher. Ozai sent his daughter Princess Azula to hunt down Zuko and Iroh.
Creation and conception
Aang's character originated from a drawing by Bryan Konietzko of a balding human man in his forties with an arrow design on his head, based on Michael Dante DiMartino's appearance. Konietzko later turned this man into a child with a flying bison. DiMartino was interested in a documentary about explorers trapped in the South Pole, which he combined with Konietzko's drawing. The plot matched the first episodes of the series, where water people rescue an air guy while trapped in a snowy wasteland with fire people pressing down on them. The creators originally intended Aang to be trapped in an iceberg for one thousand years and wake to a futuristic world with a robot named Momo and a dozen flying bison, but they changed this to an Asian-inspired fantasy world. Aang's bald head was explained by his culture inspired by Buddhist monks, the robotic Momo became a flying lemur, and the herd of bison was reduced to one. The show's art style was influenced by anime, particularly FLCL, which the staff were ordered to watch. Aang's design was based on FLCL protagonist Naota Nandaba, and commentators noted similarities in appearance, personality, and themes of childhood trauma and premature responsibility. In the episode "Tales of Ba Sing Se", Aang's name was written as 安昂 (ān áng) in Chinese.
Critical reception
Critics and fans alike responded warmly to Aang. Kendall Lyons described him as a lighthearted kid who is easy to relate to, often bringing a sense of calm to tense situations. Others have called him reckless and excitable. While he appears unstoppable in his role as the Avatar, the show emphasizes that as a person he is simply another Airbender, highlighting his realistic flaws. In 2016, Screen Rant placed Aang at number 15 on its list of the 30 best animated TV characters of all time. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Dutch windsurfer Kiran Badloe won a gold medal while sporting a blue arrow haircut modeled after Aang's design.
More in Characters & Avatars
Elsewhere in The Legend of Korra
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