History AvatarTheLastAirbender / TropesAToH

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The series provides two examples of this in Jet and Hama, two individuals whose hatred of the Fire Nation blinded them to the point where they could no longer distinguish between friend and foe. Hama was even worse than Jet, because he at least tried to justify it as [[WellIntentionedExtremist doing the right thing]] by making sacrifices, and he did redeem himself [[RedemptionEqualsDeath in the end]]. Meanwhile, Hama was treated so badly that she targeted anyone within reach, mostly civilians. Both of them served as a warning to Sokka and Katara, respectively. about what they could become if they continued to hold on to their own prejudice and anger.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The series provides two examples of this in Jet and Hama, two individuals whose hatred of the Fire Nation blinded them to the point where they could no longer distinguish between friend and foe. Hama was even worse than Jet, because he at least tried to justify it as [[WellIntentionedExtremist doing the right thing]] by making sacrifices, and he did redeem himself [[RedemptionEqualsDeath in the end]]. Meanwhile, Hama was treated so badly that she targeted anyone within reach, mostly civilians. Both of them served as a warning to Sokka and Katara about what they could become if they continued to hold on to their own prejudice and anger.

'''Iroh:''' "Oh yeah, good point. ({{beat}}) I mean, yes."

* BilingualBonus: All the calligraphy in ''Avatar'' is real Chinese.

** To a lesser extent, Zuko's sabres. Zuko uses them to ''deflect stones'' without them suffering so much as a dent.
*** Although that's more of Absurdly Strong Blade, because the sabres aren't shown to have much else in the way of [[Pun shear]] cutting power.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: General Fong deliberately provoking the Avatar State.

* ChildOfTwoWorlds: Zuko is the grandson of both the Fire Lord who began the Hundred Year War (on his father's side) and the Avatar who tried to stop it (on his mother's). His uncle Iroh believes that this makes him destined to reconcile the Fire Nation with the Avatar and, through him, the rest of the world.

* ConvenientlyTimedDistraction: In season 2, "The Chase", when Team Avatar, Zuko, and Iroh has Azula surrounded, she surrenders, but when Iroh lets his guard down and turns to see his new friend, Toph, standing with Aang and the gang, Azula takes advantage of this and fires at him.

**** You could make a case that, in Book 3, Zuko finally lets go (i.e. surrenders) all his anger.

** "Who are you and what do you want?" Iroh to Zuko. [[Series/BabylonFive Vorlon and Shadow]] in one sentence.

** The original fire-bending civilization, the Sun Warriors: [[Mayincatec Aztec/Mesoamerican]], with a vague Southeast Asian-ness.

** The original fire-bending civilization, the Sun Warriors: Aztec/Mesoamerican, with a vague Southeast Asian-ness.

* EscalatingBrawl: Subverted. Hakoda tries to cause a prison riot by shoving the stereotypical huge tattooed guy... who responds with words because he's working on controlling his anger.

** The Badger Moles make their first appearance in the Cave of Two Lovers. Toph later mentions how she learned earthbending from the Badger Moles.

** BiggerBad: Fire Lord Ozai in the first two seasons, before taking a much more direct role in the third.

* ArrangedMarriage: Hahn and Yue, and according to WordOfGod, Ozai and Ursa.

** WordOfGod owns up to the eclipse's visibility all over the world being impossible.
*** It is plausible if Omashu and the Fire Nation Capitol just happened to both be in the swath covered in total eclipse. Intercontinental total eclipse zones are [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Central_eclipses_2001-2020.GIF possible in real life]].

*** It can be argued that, seeing as the Northern Water Tribe capital is on the coast, they could still be fairly far from the "true" North Pole.

* ComingOfAgeStory

* CompetitiveBalance: The bending arts work this way.
** FragileSpeedster: Airbending: Its attacks and defensive abilities aren't particularly strong, but it puts more of an emphasis on mobility and speed.
** MightyGlacier: Earthbending: The bender makes slow, gradual movements but deals and takes attacks like a tank.
** GlassCannon: Firebending: It lacks effective defensive moves but hits hard to make up for it.
** StoneWall: Waterbending (ironically enough): It's not particularly offensive in nature; it focuses more on defensive tactics, usually only countering as an offensive move.

* DevelopmentGag: "The Ember Island Players" is full of them.

* {{Expy}}: Say, that guy who keeps losing arm wrestling matches and subsequently getting beat up by June... Does the spikey brown hair and tattered white gi with a red hachimaki remind anyone just [[{{Understatement}} a little bit]] of [[StreetFighter Ryu]]?

* FiveManBand: See the [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbender Character Sheet]] for more info on them.
** TheHero: Aang, the Avatar and eponymous Last Airbender.
** TheLancer: Katara, who also counts as TheChick. However, in late Book 3, [[spoiler:Zuko fills the role of TheLancer perfectly once he joins the group.]]
** TheSmartGuy: Sokka, "The Idea Guy", and TheLeader. He's usually the one thinking of the strategies.
** TheBigGuy: Toph, although not really big, she fills the role well due to her strength and skills. Appa also counts as TheBigGuy, at least before Toph joined.
** TheChick: Katara, as the TeamMom and tries to keep the group together when there's tension between them.
** TheSixthRanger: [[spoiler:Zuko, after two and a half seasons of chasing down the Avatar and working on his CharacterDevelopment, he officially joins the group]] halfway through Book 3.
*** [[spoiler:Suki also counts, for making several appearances throughout the show, and finally joining the group halfway through Book 3. Suki also counts as a GuestStarPartyMember.]]
** {{Team Pet}}s: Appa, the flying bison who doubles as the [[SignatureTeamTransport chief mode of transportation]], as well as TheBigGuy before Toph joined. Then there's Momo, the flying lemur, the PluckyComicRelief.

* FridgeBrilliance: An in-universe example: When Iroh is trying to teach Zuko how to create lightning, Iroh stresses that Zuko must have a calm mind.

--> '''Iroh:''' "Oh yeah, good point. ({{beat}}) [[CrowningMomentOfFunny I mean, yes.]]"

* CripplingTheCompetition: In the finale, [[spoiler:Aang uses Spiritbending to rob Fire Lord Ozai of his ability to firebend, taking away the threat he poses to the world without breaking Aang's ThouShaltNotKill policy]].

** Fire Nation: Imperial Japan, with a mixture of Japanese and Thai-inspired architecture.
** The original fire-bending civilization, the Sun Warriors, borrow heavily from the Aztecs and Mayans, but are predominately based on the Candi Sukuh of Indonesia, with architectural designs coming from Angkor Wat and Phanom Rung and headdresses resembling those of Iban warriors.

** Air Nomads: Tibet, with elements of the Shaolin Temples of China.
** Water Tribes: Inuit, with elements of Pacific North West Indian.

** Fire Nation: Imperial Japan, also with elements of China.
** The original fire-bending civilization, the Sun Warriors, borrow from Native American cultures, specifically Aztecs and Mayans, but are predominately based on the Candi Sukuh of Indonesia, with architectural designs coming from Angkor Wat and Phanom Rung and headdresses resembling those of Iban warriors.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Although each nation has other elements mixed in, the ''main'' parts of the cultures are derived from:

** Fire Nation: Imperial Japan, with elements of India.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Although each nation has other elements mixed in, the main parts of the cultures are derived from:
** Air Nomads: Tibet, some elements of the Shaolin Temples of China.
** Water Tribes: Inuit, with a little Pacific North West Indian (Northern Tribe).
** Earth Kingdom: Qing (Manchu-dominated) Dynasty China with a little bit of Korea (Song's family from "The Cave of Two Lovers", Ba Sing Se's...''unique'' worldview) and Japan (Kyoshi Islands) in the mix. The Sandbenders appear to be Middle-Eastern Bedouin, or -- more likely -- Muslim and/or Buddhist tribesmen from the Gobi Desert.
** Peasant Clothing in the rural parts of Earth Kingdom is predominately Korean hanboks.
** Fire Nation: Tang Dynasty China/Imperial Japan/Mongolia. There are also Indian touches (''agni kai'', for example). Finally, their war against the rest of the world with fervent nationalism and technological prowess calls back to WorldWarII era Japan.