As Seen on TV | Avatar - The Last Airbender

Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame.”

Uncle Iroh, Episode 2.09 “Bitter Work”

Reliving the best parts of our childhood is one of life’s most rewarding pleasures, whether that be through watching children experiencing the world or through our own nostalgic reminiscence. I recently watched Nickelodeon’s 2005 anime series Avatar: The Last Airbender and the good old days came flooding back to me. The show is a timeless classic in the wide world of animation. It is not only wholesome, entertaining, and impeccably executed; but also a masterclass in storytelling inspired by Eastern spirituality and religion. The show’s creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko’s initial interest in yoga, kung-fu, and Buddhist and Tao philosophies inspired their conception of the idea for the story. The infusion of Eastern spirituality and teachings into their work is an exemplar of cultural storytelling done right— it is balanced, intriguing, and never preachy.

At Bṛhat, we are passionate about depicting cultural elements on screen in an endearing and enduring manner, which is the only way that culture lives on through storytelling. This passion for recognizing and discussing culture-inspired creativity in the domain of media is what spurred this article, which will revisit Avatar in considerable depth.

Avatar is set in a fictional world where the Earth is divided into four nations: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire; among which are people that have mastery over “bending” their respective elements. Bending is not mere magic that manifests with the swish of a hand, but a far more physical manipulation of the elements; according one of the show’s creators Bryan Konietzko, it is “an extension of the person’s chi into the element”.

Power among the four nations is balanced and harmonious, and the Avatar is born into each nation successively in a cycle. Only one Avatar is reincarnated at a time, and each holds all of the Avatar’s past lives within. If the Avatar is killed while in his “Avatar state”, his/her ability to be reborn is also killed. The Avatar is the only individual among the four nations that has the capacity to master all four elements, making the Avatar distinctly powerful and capable of restoring balance if upset — it is this imbalance that is the premise of the show, when the ambitious and power-hungry Fire Nation attempts to destroy all the other nations. The show’s premise is an imbalance of this power, brought about by the Fire Nation’s propensity for violence and war. The elements, the kingdoms, the bending, and the lore of the Avatar is the metaphysics that binds the four nations and its peoples. The four-element division that forms the substrate of the show is inspired from the theory common to Greek, Chinese, and Indian philosophies that for millennia, explained the interactions between the human body and the environment. The creators remarked that the universality and intuitive comprehensibility of the theory appealed to them.

Aang, the protagonist, is a young boy discovered frozen in an iceberg for 100 years, during which the Fire nation waged war and wiped out the Air Nomads to which Aang belonged. He was an Air bending prodigy who, at just 12 years old, earned the arrow tattoos of an Air Nomad master. Upon learning of his identity as the Avatar, he was tasked with the enormous burden of restoring peace among the nations. Fearful of his newfound responsibility and confused by the change in the way people treated him, he runs away from the monastery with his pet sky bison, Appa. He encounters a violent storm which triggers his survival instincts, by which he uses air and water-bending to suspend himself in a cocoon of ice. He is eventually found by Katara and Sokka, two members of the Southern Water Tribe, who facilitate his revival. And then the trio’s adventures begin.

Aang is not without flaws, yet his goodness, courage and child-like purity of thought and intention shine through his actions, particularly at every climactic point. His nemesis is Zuko, the banished prince of the Fire nation, who is accompanied by his Uncle Iroh, a wise and loving fire-bending master and tea connoisseur. Zuko is sailing the seas on his quest to find and kill the Avatar, in order to restore his own honor before his father. Zuko’s character arc is flawlessly executed, as are his sibling rivalry with his evil sister Azula and his relationship with his Uncle Iroh, who acts more as father figure. It is Aang’s remarkable journey into becoming the Avatar and being able to control his Avatar state, learning from his past lives, and meditating and navigating the human and spirit realms that makes the show a gripping, and suspenseful, and immensely satisfying tale. Avatar is a beautifully written, compelling story filled with action, adventure, companionship and intrigue. The show’s characters are its most memorable aspect, impeccably developed and showing incredible depth and nuance.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the show is the manner in which element-bending styles, inspired by different martial arts, are portrayed through the immaculately executed fight choreography. The fluid, balance-shifting movements of water bending are based on Tai Chi; the spinning, tornado-like movements of the air bending are taken from Bagua; the powerful movements of fire bending are taken from Northern Shaolin style Kung-fu; and the sturdy, grounded, lower center-of-gravity movements of earth bending are taken from Hung ga. The movements are innovative, unlike those seen in contemporaneous animated shows. They are fluid and interesting, yet do not compromise on fidelity to techniques, stances, and posture derived from real martial arts disciplines. In general, animators say that the most challenging scenes to animate are fight scenes — Avatar was no exception. Sifu Kisu, a master of martial arts based in California, was hired as a reference actor and fight choreographer to perform and/or choreograph every fight scene in Avatar. Martial artists filmed reference footage for each fight from various specific angles to enable storyboard artists and animators to draw their movements more accurately, and this greatly increased the authenticity of the characters’ movements.

There is so much to learn from a reference-rich, culturally attuned show like Avatar; particularly for Indian creators, for whom there is copious literature and mythology to readily draw from and be inspired by. Currently, there is an expanding market for historical fiction and mythology-based film, and Avatar is the ideal template to take inspiration from as it incorporates elements of Hindu, Buddhist, Tao, and other teachings with empathy and sensitivity; yet, it is unabashed about taking artistic license. In analyzing well-received content like Avatar and imbibing the art of incorporating religious and mythological references into compelling storytelling, Bṛhat has been pioneering the field of ‘Indic consulting’. We empower creatives, enable authentic research, and serve as vehicles for storyboarding and brainstorming to maximize creative output. In bringing out the multitude of religious and cultural ideas and connections embedded in Avatar, creatives can familiarize themselves with the most authentic yet imaginative ways of engaging with culture/religion without resorting to stereotypical and essentializing tropes. This exercise is crucial because while older Indian cinema was able to retain its genuine appreciation and rootedness in our cultural ethos, modern cinema struggles to depict culture with any level of intrigue or authenticity. The box office bomb Brahmāstra (2022) is just one example of this.

The idea of the Avatar itself is Hindu, with reincarnation being a strong, recurring theme. The concept of Avatar comes from the Saṃskṛta word avatāra, meaning descent, wherein the Gods manifest in different forms in order to fight evil. In the series, each Avatar also interestingly has their own unique “animal guide”, parallel to a vāhana in Hindu and Buddhist mythology: Avatar Roku, the Avatar before Aang, had a dragon as his animal guide; Aang has Appa, a sky bison that is a warrior in his own right, sharing an unbreakable bond with Aang.

Aang is fun-loving, compassionate, and embodies an admirable quality of humility and respect, Through his quest, a multitude of characters help him along, teaching him bending, the lore, and providing information and context that is crucial for his surviving the impending monumental battle. For example, in the episode “The Deserter”: Jeong Jeong, a Fire-bending master, tells Aang that he does not know his own destiny. He does this using the metaphor of a fish, reminiscent of the Chinese proverb “a frog at the bottom of a well cannot conceive the ocean”. Jeong Jeong says, “If a fish lives its whole life in this river, does he know the river’s destiny? No! Only that it runs on and on, out of his control. He may follow where it flows, but he cannot see the end. He cannot imagine the ocean”. The creators of Avatar also stated that in the episode “Sozin’s Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters”, Aang’s dialogue with his past lives was influenced by the Bhagavad Gītā.

Aang is vegetarian, and remarks earnestly to Avatar Yangchen in the episode “The Avatar State” that “the monks always taught me that all life is sacred, even the life of the tiniest spider fly caught in its own web” — a clear allusion to the Hindu/Buddhist ethical principle of ahimsa or non-injury. However, Aang’s brief exchange with Avatar Yangchen, excerpted below, becomes even more profound: Aang’s hesitation to use violence is akin to Arjuna’s reluctance to go to war in the Mahābhārata.

Aang: All these past Avatars. They keep telling me I’m gonna have to do it. They don’t get it. Maybe an Air Nomad Avatar will understand where I’m coming from.
Yangchen: I am Avatar Yangchen, young airbender.
Aang: Avatar Yangchen, the monks always taught me that all life is sacred. Even the life of the tiniest spider-fly caught in its own web.
Yangchen: Yes. All life is sacred.
Aang: I know, I’m even a vegetarian. I’ve always tried to solve my problems by being quick or clever. And I’ve only had to use violence for necessary defense. And I’ve certainly never used it to take a life.
Yangchen: Avatar Aang, I know that you’re a gentle spirit, and the monks have taught you well, but this isn’t about you. This is about the world.
Aang: But the monks taught me that I had to detach myself from the world so my spirit could be free.
Yangchen: Many great and wise Air Nomads have detached themselves and achieved spiritual enlightenment, but the Avatar can never do it. Because your sole duty is to the world. Here is my wisdom for you: Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs, and do whatever it takes to protect the world.

Apart from the core tenets of the show being rooted in various Hindu/Buddhist ideas and essentialities, there are multiple details that embody the worldview. For instance, in Omashu, a city in the Earth kingdom, Aang’s old friend, who is now the King, is fittingly named Bumi (bhūmī is Saṃskṛta for earth). The traditional fire-bending duel where Zuko faces off against his father is called Agni Kai — agni is fire in Saṃskṛrta. In the episode “The Firebending Masters”, Aang hopes to learn fire-bending straight from the source, and sets out to explore the ruins of the civilisation of the Sun Warriors — the earliest known fire-benders who were the first to learn the skill from the dragons themselves — saying that “the past teaches us about the present”. Both the Sun Warriors and the Fire Sages from the episode “The Southern Air Temple” take their lineage, their responsibility to safeguard and transmit knowledge, and the practice and preservation of their rituals very seriously. One fire sage remarks that his grandfather had guarded the temple before him, alluding to their strong spiritual and material connections to their ancestors.

On his journey, Aang is led to Guru Pathik, a character clearly inspired by Hindu ascetics. Guru Pathik possesses a great knowledge and connection with the spirit world, and intuitively knows of Aang’s return from the moment cosmic energy was expended for his emergence from the iceberg. Guru Pathik is a master of yoga and meditation, due to which he had been alive for at least 150 years. The Guru is tasked with teaching Aang about the seven cakras, or centers of vital energy and life force, and how to master control over them. It is made clear to Aang that he must cut ties with the material world to master the seventh cakra and gain the ability to control his Avatar state. The word pathik means a traveler or guide in Saṃnskṛta and can also refer to “knowing the way or path.” Guru Pathik teaches Aang of sacrifice, the greater good, and that the Avatar’s duty is to forgo his own spiritual enlightenment because his duty is to the world. Guru Pathik is a memorable character with profound teachings, such as the heavily advaita-reminiscent “The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation. Things you think are separate and different are actually one and the same.” Avatar is replete with Hindu imagery and references, such as Aang’s use of mudras during meditation, cosmic phenomena like the solstice blurring the lines between the human and the spirit world, an assassin with a deadly third eye, a monkey seated in meditation when Aang first enters the spirit world, earth spirits that need to be appeased by farmers by offering a sacrifice, enlightenment attained under a banyan tree, and more.

Avatar lives on as a modern classic that in fact spent a record-breaking 61 days on the top 10 list on Netflix in early 2024. It is clear that the appeal of the show is still fresh and the ideas it embodies are still relevant almost two decades later. It explores subtler themes such as the effects of propaganda and indoctrination in politics, but also retains a sense of humor throughout. It is infused with reflections on friendship, family, morality, humility and perseverance. The diverse character arcs, the flawlessly executed animation, and the fine attention to detail are its greatest strengths. This is what makes the series truly a touchstone for culture-compatible, creative storytelling that is based in Eastern philosophy and mythology yet catering to a global audience.

Bṛhat is a cultural research organization that cares deeply about the manner in which culture is represented in cinema, television and other media. Read the mission statement of our review series, called As Seen on TV, on the depiction of culture in film and media.

References:

• Avatar Wiki
• The story behind Avatar’s bending designs still rules, nearly 20 years later
• How ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ and ‘The Legend of Korra’ Fight Scenes Were Choreographed
• Nick Animation Podcast Episode 1: Bryan Konietzko & Michael Dante DiMartino
• Origins of the Avatar - Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko on Creating Avatar: The Last Airbender
• It’s the Perfect Time to Discover Avatar: The Last Airbender by Sonia Saraiya