Avatar the Last Airbender
Character Development
Character development is one of the most amazing parts of watching TV and movies…at least if it's done right. Now a lot of series end very badly and tend to destroy all character development that was made across the seasons (looking at you Game of Thrones). But some shows end perfectly. Some shows are the pinnacle of what writing should be and one of those shows is Avatar the Last Airbender. One of Avatar’s greatest strengths was its character development.
One of the most revered character arcs is Zuko, and we will talk about it because it is in fact amazing. However my favorite character arc to talk about is Sokka. Sokka starts the series as an arrogant, sexist jester who doesn’t actually know how to fight as well as he thinks he does. His growth happens quickly but very naturally. The first major moment is when the gaang first encounters the warriors of Kyoshi. His tone immediately changes and he asks the girls to teach him, he even swallows his pride and puts on makeup. The more gradual changes happened every time he fought for Katara’s right to learn, specifically when they were in the Northern water tribe. He went to bat for his sisters right to learn making him a very good brother and an even better man.
Katara’s growth mainly came from her bending abilities. She started the series as a responsible young woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders. She also started as a young woman who knows she has this ability but can’t really use it yet. Her determination to master her bending is one of my favorite parts about her character. And as she got more advanced in her bending she also grew in her patience, compassion, control and grace with herself. Something that we got to see throughout the series a little bit was Katara’s anger, everything that she went through caused her to bottle up her emotions and her anger would burst out, she got that under control when she realized that she could blood bend. After realizing the damage that could cause, she really learned how to regulate her emotions.
Aang had more ability than character growth, and I think one of the biggest traits that was always missing was self-awareness. Granted that is why he had the rest of the group, so they could keep him honest about whatever situation they were in. The best example of this is the very end of the series when he is having anxiety over having to kill the firelord…Aang baby what do you think has been happening for the last 4 seasons? You’ve literally killed so many people. However through his loss and ability growth he learns to no longer be an 11 year old boy, and grows into the Avatar.
Toph is hands down my favorite character, and she started the series very sarcastic and closed off from other people. Now she never stopped being sarcastic but she did finally let people in. Her and Katara ended up friends and Toph actually cared about the rest of the group, and earth bending wasn’t the only thing she cared about.
Okay finally we get to Zuko, from villain (more like antagonist) to hero. He starts the show as a broken prince in search of his fathers approval and he ends up being a noble firelord, with friends that love him. His journey is always a joy to watch. It happens little by little and it happens so organically it's beautiful. His relationship with Mae softened him, spending so much time with Iroh wizened him and having to occasionally team up with the Avatar opened his mind and his heart. There are too many scenes to choose from to pinpoint his development but one of my favorites is really anytime him and Iroh stood together, especially if that meant he was distracted from his mission.
Honestly when a show can have an incredible and satisfying character arc for every major character you know you have something special. From beginning to end Avatar the Last Airbender is the perfect show and it's character development is really only one reason why.
About the Creator
Alexandrea Callaghan
Certified nerd, super geek and very proud fangirl.
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Comments (1)
Excellent work, keep it up, please & thank you. Good glorious morning right? I sure feel like a good glorious morning manifested today!