Avatar: Whose the Best?

With new Avatar stories in the works, fans are both excited and nostalgic. New Avatars gives us more depth into the Avatar lore as well as enhance the incredible stories that already exist. We know that we will be getting 3 movies in the Avatar universe that will center around different Avatars, the first focusing on the Gaang. We also know that there is a new series in the works centered around the next Avatar in the cycle after Korra. That said I would like to dive into the quality of Avatar’s we’ve had so far. Now I want to be clear that this is not a reflection of the shows but of the actual in fiction Avatar and how he/she did at being the Avatar.

Let's start with the one we all know and love, Aang. Aang emerged from an iceberg and realized that he was the Avatar and was kind of hit with his duty and responsibility all over again and all at once. Here he could have gone in two different directions. He could have hid again, run away and ignored what was going on in the world around him. Or he could have done exactly what he did. Now here we see something very Buffy the Vampire Slayer-esque; a chosen one who could have gone very bad (or in this case useless) if it wasn’t for the people around him. This found family found itself very early and Sokka and Katara helped ground Aang and help him through his grief, as well as helping carry the load of being the Avatar. Aang was never alone. For that reason Aang ended up being an incredible Avatar, literally one that changed the world. Not only did he and his friends end a war but they changed its course. The world truly became a better place because of him (and the rest of the Gaang).

Within the same show, let's talk about Roku. Roku didn’t necessarily have the support system that Aang had, he became the Avatar alone the way most Avatar’s before him did. Now we didn’t see a whole lot of Roku or his time as the Avatar but we know that even in his afterlife he helped Aang and continued to be a strong and wise Avatar.

One Avatar we only saw briefly but I am hoping we get to see more of with one of the upcoming movies is Kyoshi. An Island and warriors named after her shows us that she was beloved. She was strong and caring and truly fought for her people. Now of course the previous Avatar’s didn’t truly have the pressures that Aang had so we don’t really know what the differences would be. But we know that they had strong moral character and they didn’t shy away from their responsibilities.

Now I am going to do an entire article about Korra herself but with the broad strokes she had the coolest character journey. She was the inverse of Aang in a lot of ways, she was too hot headed he couldn’t tap into his anger. She had to navigate the world that Aang and his friends created. And in doing so she became an incredible Avatar, capable of self-sacrifice and love and friendship. She, like Aang, had a group around her that helped ground her.

I don’t really think we can name a “best” or “worst” Avatar, I feel like the closest we can get is most impactful and that title does go to Aang, though I feel like Korra deserves more credit then she gets. Aang was the one that essentially recreated the world's culture after ending a war. The stakes don’t get much higher than that.