Avatar:TLA Miscellaneous Ideas Thread

#1
I powered through the whole series this past weekend, watching it for the first time. During it, I wrote down some notes and disjointed ideas and stuff, and I thought a Miscellaneous Ideas thread for this series might be useful.

Avatar Cycle:

Air ? Water ? Earth ? Fire à (endless repeats)

Pre-series:
Avatar Yangchen (woman, Air) ? Avatar Kuruk (man, Water) ? Avatar Kyoshi (woman, Earth) ? Avatar Roku (man, Fire)

In-series:
Avatar Aang (man, Air)

Fact One: the Avatar to succeed Aang will be born into the Water Tribe
Fact Two: the Avatar does not switch genders every time a new one is born
Fact Three: of the two shown Avatars born to the Air Nomads, both genders were expressed
Fact Four: the Avatar is supposed to represent balance

Supposition: for balance to be achieved in the cycle of four, two should be men and two should be women

Supposition: balance is not achieved if the same elements are always filled by the same gender. It should flow back and forth.

Supposition from supposition: balance is achieved if the genders do always switch in every completed cycle. (endless) ... woman of Air ? man of Water ? woman of Earth ? man of Fire ? man of Air ? woman of Water ? man of Earth ? woman of Fire à (endless)

Known Cycle [completed]: woman of Air, man of Water, woman of Earth, man of Fire

Partial Cycle:? Aang (man) of Air, ___ of Water, ___ of Earth, ___ of Fire

Theorem: the Avatar to succeed Aang will be a girl born to the Water Tribe
That pretty much counts as sort of notes, sort of an idea.

The next four are a group, pretty much.

A future or past Avatar is born as one of twin siblings. The other sibling has the potential to be a very powerful bender in their peoples' base element. The siblings grow up together and travel together.

A future or past Avatar is born as one of twin siblings; the other twin is born with the opposition element. If they were born in the Fire Nation, the twin sibling would waterbend, etc. etc.

A future or past Avatar is born as one of twin siblings; the other twin can bend one of the two elements that is not in their opposition pair. If they are born in the Water Tribe, the other twin could bend Air or Earth.

A future or past Avatar is born as one of twin siblings; the other twin has no potential for bending at all, but is an incredibly capable martial artist, easily able to learn the base styles of the other bending types but not able to bend.
Yeah, those four are linked.

Zuko is the crazy prodigy and Azula is the one who has to struggle. Ozai banishes his daughter not because she spoke out of turn and embarrassed him, but because he figures a powerful son is much more use than a lesser daughter. Then his daughter actually succeeds in finding the Avatar while his family had failed...
Yeah, that idea is pretty blatantly sexist, I know. But... Aang + a sane Azula? Hmmm...


Anyway, go ahead and make use of this thread. That's what it's here for.
 

jaredstar

Well-Known Member
#2
interesting theories i only have one issue with something that was written


? A future or past Avatar is born as one of twin siblings; the other twin is born with the opposition element. If they were born in the Fire Nation, the twin sibling would waterbend, etc. etc.

A future or past Avatar is born as one of twin siblings; the other twin can bend one of the two elements that is not in their opposition pair. If they are born in the Water Tribe, the other twin could bend Air or Earth.


As i understand it at a comic-con the creators stated that avatar powers are not genetic in nature but spiritual. So that while the the first and forth ideas may be possible, unless one of the parents is of a another nation twin babies that possess the ability to bend (and with one of them being the avatar) would both be natively waterbenders.


Lets take for example Aang and Katara If they have any children, the offspring will either be air benders, water benders or normal (or as normal as children of those two be able to be)


Now if Sokka and Toph were to have kids the there is a 50/50 chance that they will be earth benders or normal. (Zuko and Mai have the same odds)



Now if Sokka and Suki (while i like her as a character, i didn't like how their relationship was shoehorned in) were to have kids, The chances of them having bending children plummets (though it is not impossible since Katara seems to be a spontaneously born bender) though i wouldn't put it past Yue to bless them in some way.


Granted you should take everything i just said with a grain of salt (i have a very very base understanding of how family genetics work)
 
#3
jaredstar said:
interesting theories i only have one issue with something that was written


ndf said:
A future or past Avatar is born as one of twin siblings; the other twin is born with the opposition element. If they were born in the Fire Nation, the twin sibling would waterbend, etc. etc.

A future or past Avatar is born as one of twin siblings; the other twin can bend one of the two elements that is not in their opposition pair. If they are born in the Water Tribe, the other twin could bend Air or Earth.



As i understand it at a comic-con the creators stated that avatar powers are not genetic in nature but spiritual. So that while the the first and forth ideas may be possible, unless one of the parents is of a another nation twin babies that possess the ability to bend (and with one of them being the avatar) would both be natively waterbenders.
Hey, thanks for the clarification. I actually appreciate that even if it shoots down ideas.
 

Gokiwa

Well-Known Member
#4
For twins, you could always do the Fray route. Where one twin has all the bending powers, but the other twin has the past lives (and therefor the Avatar state) and possibly the 'bender-bending' powers used in the last episode.
 

Hashasheen

Well-Known Member
#5
Takes place when Aang and Roku have their chat in that Fire Temple:

"Aang, there is one last thing we must discuss." said Roku as the current Avatar made to leave.

"What is it?" asked the hyperactive monk.

"You are the last Airbender, and the last of the Air Nomads. Like it or not, that is a heavy burden. To continue the cycle of the Avatars, you must rebuild the Air Nomad people."

"Huh?"

"Aang, to put it bluntly, you must impregnate as many women as possible to increase the number of Airbenders in the world."

"WHAT!?!?!"

--

So yeah. Crack idea where Aang must be a total pimp and get with as many women as possible. All the more hilarious considering his lack of social skills and completly naive character.
 

Hashasheen

Well-Known Member
#6
Second Idea:

What if Aang and his iceberg ended up in the North Pole instead of the South Pole? No Katara or Sokka but an earlier catching up on the waterbending. No AirTemple shennanigans telling the entire world about him and Zuko would still be aimlessly wandering the area looking for him. Anything else anyone got?
 

Latewave

Well-Known Member
#7
nuclear death frog said:
Avatar Cycle:

Air ü¿ Water ü¿ Earth ü¿ Fire üc (endless repeats)
This is bothering me. It's Earth-Fire-Wind-Water. You know Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter.
 
#8
Yes, I screwed that up, and never bothered to correct it. I know it's wrong.

By the way, to be clear, it should be Water Earth Fire Air. Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall. Just as in the opening sequence and in a song Iroh sung at one point.
 

Ina_meishou

Well-Known Member
#9
It's a cycle, it has no beginning or end, all three of those lists have the same order in that sense.
 

drakensis

Well-Known Member
#10
I'm considering writing an Avatar fic (this is probably a very bad idea, but hada, the bunny is pretty damn persuasive) and I have a few things I'd want to be sure of as my knowledge of the series is not that great.

1. As I understand it, on the death of one Avatar, the next will be born/conceived from the next element in the cycle. Is it ever mentioned how the Avatar is identified?

2. How bad is chi blocking? I'm considering a character getting their chi seriously mixed up to the point where they can't bend for months or even years. Would this seem plausible and could it be done without causing major physical impairment?

3. My understanding is that while it is traditional for the Avatar to learn bending in the order of the cycle, it isn't actually necessary. Is this correct?

4. Following on from this, how effective are the previous Avatars as teachers?

Many thanks for any answers that can be provided.
 
#11
1. As I understand it, on the death of one Avatar, the next will be born/conceived from the next element in the cycle. Is it ever mentioned how the Avatar is identified?
The Air Nomads tested possible babies by allowing them to pick toys out of a huge group, and if the babies picked out four specific toys (called the Avatar relics) that was the sign. It's an allusion to the Dalai Lama.

http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar_Relics
http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar


2. How bad is chi blocking? I'm considering a character getting their chi seriously mixed up to the point where they can't bend for months or even years. Would this seem plausible and could it be done without causing major physical impairment?
Ty Lee can apparently vary how much damage she does, from temporarily paralyzing a person to possibly much more harm. Her technique is based on the real-life martial art Dim Mak.

http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Chi_Blocking

There shouldn't be any problem with writing that the technique can be used to cause very serious, crippling or even lethal, injury; it just wouldn't have been shown in a children's show.


3. My understanding is that while it is traditional for the Avatar to learn bending in the order of the cycle, it isn't actually necessary. Is this correct?
The cycle follows the seasons of the year. Water is winter; earth is spring; fire is summer; and air is autumn. It may not be required -- Aang wanted to learn Firebending second because of the urgency of defeating Ozai before Sozin's Comet returned -- but it is apparently a very strong tradition. As it happens, every Avatar will learn their opposing element as the third of four.


4. Following on from this, how effective are the previous Avatars as teachers?
Roku serves more as a spiritual guide to Aang rather than as a bending teacher directly. It probably ties the Avatar better to the world of their time to learn the bending disciplines from living masters, rather than from previous Avatars, who are of course all dead.
 

drakensis

Well-Known Member
#12
Hmm. Thanks for the answers.

A couple more questions, this time about the Avatar State: is there any indication that it is affected by Chi Blocking? I gather from the wiki that damage to one of Aang's chakras impaired his connection to it, is this correct?
 
#13
Aang's seventh chakra was blocked by Azula's lightning, not by Ty Lee's technique.

In theory chi blocking *could* disrupt the Avatar's ability to enter the Avatar State if the attacker hit the right spots, but that's speculation.
 

drakensis

Well-Known Member
#14
Okay, thanks for the help. Here's the plot-bunny, please poke holes with abandon.


Aang died in the ice, possibly after a prolonged period. How sad, too bad. On with the story.

The next avatar, a water-bender, chose not to oppose the Fire Nation directly, instead acting in secret to try to recreate the air-bending tradition in hidden enclaves and otherwise protect the Avatar Cycle, since with no Air Benders, in the long run, it was doomed. Around twelve years before Sozin's Comet, the Fire Nation finally tracked him or her down and Azulon, Iroh and Ozai combined their firebending to battle and defeat the Avatar although neither Azulon or Iroh survived (either the battle or Ozai, depending on who you speak to).

So the burden passes to a newly born Earthbender, a girl with the potential to be the strongest of Earthbenders. Pity she's blind, but there you go. Pity that her parents kept her very existence a secret and no one knows that she's the Avatar. Pity that after her parents found out about the 'Blind Bandit' they found someone willing and able to disable her chi almost entirely, so as to 'keep her safe'.

Shortly afterwards an Earth Kingdom noble girl arrives at the newly conquered Omashu, apparently sent to 'learn the ways of the Fire Nation'. The governor, pleased that the influential Bei Fong family appears to be accepting the dominance of the Fire Nation decides to place their blind daughter in the care of his own daughter, Mai, to encourage this and to provide Mai with a companion. Matters do not go as anyone plans...
 

foesjoe

Well-Known Member
#15
drakensis said:
Okay, thanks for the help. Here's the plot-bunny, please poke holes with abandon.


Aang died in the ice, possibly after a prolonged period. How sad, too bad. On with the story.

The next avatar, a water-bender, chose not to oppose the Fire Nation directly, instead acting in secret to try to recreate the air-bending tradition in hidden enclaves and otherwise protect the Avatar Cycle, since with no Air Benders, in the long run, it was doomed. Around twelve years before Sozin's Comet, the Fire Nation finally tracked him or her down and Azulon, Iroh and Ozai combined their firebending to battle and defeat the Avatar although neither Azulon or Iroh survived (either the battle or Ozai, depending on who you speak to).

So the burden passes to a newly born Earthbender, a girl with the potential to be the strongest of Earthbenders. Pity she's blind, but there you go. Pity that her parents kept her very existence a secret and no one knows that she's the Avatar. Pity that after her parents found out about the 'Blind Bandit' they found someone willing and able to disable her chi almost entirely, so as to 'keep her safe'.

Shortly afterwards an Earth Kingdom noble girl arrives at the newly conquered Omashu, apparently sent to 'learn the ways of the Fire Nation'. The governor, pleased that the influential Bei Fong family appears to be accepting the dominance of the Fire Nation decides to place their blind daughter in the care of his own daughter, Mai, to encourage this and to provide Mai with a companion. Matters do not go as anyone plans...
Hmm. This has Toph, which is good. But it lacks Aang, which is bad.

I'm torn about this.
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
#16
Just because Aang's dead doesn't mean he won't show up. He was a previous Avatar, and Toph might connect with someone her age better than some old person.
 
#17
Avatar Toph! That is awesome. Yes.
 

Hashasheen

Well-Known Member
#19
drakensis said:
any suggestions for the name of this fic?
The Greatest Earthbender on the face of this world just a little more awesome.
 

Estrecca

Well-Known Member
#20
The avatar Toph idea has a big problem.

With Aang dead, there is no one left to teach her airbending (and mastery of her opposite element isn't something she is likely to develop on her own), so the cycle is as good as broken this time around, unless some surviving airbenders show up somewhere.
 

biigoh

Well-Known Member
#21
There could always be self-taught air benders who survived the genocide attempt on the air nomads. Or conversely... air temple texts and such.
 

foesjoe

Well-Known Member
#22
biigoh said:
There could always be self-taught air benders who survived the genocide attempt on the air nomads. Or conversely... air temple texts and such.
What about Appa?

Toph learned earthbending from badger moles, why shouldn't she be able to learn airbending from a sky bison? :p
 

drakensis

Well-Known Member
#23
Estrecca said:
The avatar Toph idea has a big problem.

With Aang dead, there is no one left to teach her airbending (and mastery of her opposite element isn't something she is likely to develop on her own), so the cycle is as good as broken this time around, unless some surviving airbenders show up somewhere.
You may find, if you were to read the idea a little more carefully, that I have considered that exact point. What was the Avatar between Aang and Toph doing?
 

zeebee1

Well-Known Member
#24
Just because she died doesn't mean the people she taught air bending are as well. But Aang as Toph, persistant, as in he never leaves, spirit guide has merit.

But with Iroh dead things will be a lot more dangerous. Or it could just mean that Zuko will remain a useless character.
 
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