History WhatAnIdiot / AvatarTheLastAirbender

'''Instead:''' She tells Wan not to interfere and Wan frees Vaatu thinking he's helping.

'''Instead:''' She says nothing and Wan frees Vaatu thinking he's helping.\\

'''Instead:''' He [[spoiler: charges head on, and gets pathetically thrown into a wall]].

* Series finale. Aang having been previously advised in a two to one vote by the previous four Avatars (Yangchen and Kyoshi vs Kuruk, with Roku just saying "[[CrypticallyUnhelpfulAnswer Be decisive]]")\\
'''You'd think:''' that Aang would take their advice and put aside his own spiritual needs to kill Ozai. Don't want to pull the trigger yourself? That's fine, hand over control to the Avatar State, or one of the previous Avatars. Let Toph do it. She's clearly got no problem with killing, seeing what she did to Master Yu and Xin Fu. There's lots of options.\\
'''Instead:''' He gambles the safety of the world on a completely new, totally untested technique that he learned like a day ago, and very nearly loses his life in the process.

'''Instead:''' He uses firebending to heat the tea up, putting himself (and, by extension, his nephew) in danger of being lynched as Fire Nation spies. And, in fact, he ''does'' get noticed by Jet; while things don't exactly go as Jet planned, he still came ''very'' close to outing them as firebenders.

'''You'd Expect:''' Roku to try and talk him out out it, to use the experience he gained in traveling the world for 12 years to explain why taking over the world is a bad idea, to take Sozin on a Diversity Tour of the world, to latch onto Sozin's arm and not let go until he is sure that one of the 5 most influential people in the world doesn't let go of his megalomaniac ideas.\\

* In "Zuko Alone" Zuko risks his life to save a boy he just met from Earth Kingdom "soldiers" who were oppressing city. In the process he reveals he's the Fire Lord's son, but he still wins the fight.
'''You Think:''' The villagers would take this selfless act as a realization that not all people from the Fire Nation are bad and would let him live in the city regardless of his background as a way of thanking him.

* Series finale. Aang having been previously advised in a two to one vote by the previous four Avatars (Yangchen and Kyoshi vs Kuruk, with Roku just saying "[[CrypticallyUnhelpfulAnswer Be decisive]]")\\
'''You'd think:''' that Aang would take their advice and put aside his own spiritual needs to kill Ozai. Don't want to pull the trigger yourself? That's fine, hand over control to the Avatar State, or one of the previous Avatars. Let Toph do it. She's clearly got no problem with killing, seeing what she did to Master Yu and Xin Fu. There's lots of options.\\
'''Instead:''' He gambles the safety of the world on a completely new, totally untested technique that he learned like a day ago, and very nearly loses his life in the process.

'''Instead:''' He [[spoiler: charges head on, and gets pathetically thrown into a wall]].
* Also in the sequel, Yakone has bloodbent an entire courtroom with his mind alone. He even manages to KO Aang as well. Thanks to the Avatar State, Aang was able to catch up with Yakone's escape coach and break its wheels.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Aang to not take any chances with someone who could KO a room full of people with the possibility of killing if he wanted to all without lifting a finger. This man's too dangerous to restrain. Even attempting to get close to him is suicide.\\
'''Instead:''' He does just that and just like Ozai, he gambles his own life and safety of Republic City and possibly the United Republic and once again nearly gets himself killed in the process.\\
'''For added stupidity:''' He foolishly air scooters up to Yakone's coach possibly to see if he's Ok. Sure enough, Yakone's angrily busts out and proceeds to make attempts to SNAP Aang's neck. Like Ozai, had it not been for the Avatar State, he would have been killed. Pacifist or not, running up to someone with that much power is pretty foolish in itself.\\
'''As a bonus:''' Because of Aang's actions, Yakone would eventually [[spoiler: Escape prison and have two sons (Amon and Tarlok). One would become a corrupt politician. And the other would become a more powerful Bloodbender than Yakone himself (Can take a person's bending away and uses it to evade attacks sans airbending).]]

* Also in the sequel, Yakone has bloodbent an entire courtroom with his mind alone. He even manages to KO Aang as well. Thanks to the Avatar State, Aang was able to catch up with Yakone's escape coach and break its wheels.
'''You'd expect:''' Aang to not take any chances with someone who could KO a room full of people with the possibility of killing if he wanted to all without lifting a finger. This man's too dangerous to restrain. Even attempting to get close to him is suicide.
'''Instead:''' He does just that and just like Ozai, he gambles his own life and safety of Republic City and possibly the United Republic and once again nearly gets himself killed in the process.

'''For added stupidity:''' He foolishly air scooters up to Yakone's coach possibly to see if he's Ok. Sure enough, Yakone's angrily busts out and proceeds to make attempts to SNAP Aang's neck. Like Ozai, had it not been for the Avatar State, he would have been killed. Pacifist or not, running up to someone with that much power is pretty foolish in itself.

'''Instead:''' He [[spoiler: charges head on, and gets pathetically thrown into a wall]].

* Long Feng, the EvilChancellor of the Earth Kingdom capitol, has a bunch of kids talking about the war, which he keeps quiet behind city walls. Also, they have crucial intel on the Fire Nation.\\

'''Instead:''' He [[spoiler: charges head on, and gets pathetically thrown into a wall]].
* Series finale. Aang having been previously advised in a two to one vote by the previous four Avatars (Yangchen and Kyoshi vs Kuruk, with Roku just saying "[[CrypticallyUnhelpfulAnswer Be decisive]]")\\
'''You'd think:''' that Aang would take their advice and put aside his own spiritual needs to kill Ozai. Don't want to pull the trigger yourself? That's fine, hand over control to the Avatar State, or one of the previous Avatars. Let Toph do it. She's clearly got no problem with killing, seeing what she did to Master Yu and Xin Fu. There's lots of options.\\
'''Instead:''' He gambles the safety of the world on a completely new, totally untested technique that he learned like a day ago, and very nearly loses his life in the process.

'''Instead:''' He [[spoiler: charges head on, and gets pathetically thrown into a wall]].

'''Instead:''' He infiltrates the base of the local SecretPolice, which is made up mostly of elite earthbenders, planning to steal a huge, flying furry monster which has horns, but no reason to be cooperative, what with having defended Aang against Zuko before. And Zuko has no idea whatsoever what he'd do if he actually got Appa out of there. To top it all off, he has no idea if the Dai Li actually ''have'' Appa--he goes there on a guess.
* Iroh's whole plan of settling down as a refugee with Zuko in Ba Sing Se is pretty stupid, [[FridgeLogic if you think about it]], given Iroh knows very well that Zuko is a bundle of issues in a WellDoneSonGuy coating. For particular irony, Iroh gives Zuko a very intense spiel about how Zuko needs to think for himself and decide upon his own course in life shortly before Zuko does just that... by choosing to grab with both hands the slim hope Azula dangles before him that he really can come back to the Fire Nation and reclaim everything he's ever wanted.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Iroh would take Zuko and give him a long talk to find out just whether or not Zuko is happy with their life, and if he is unhappy, how Zuko could possibly become happy, helping Zuko to divorce himself from his original obsession with trying to please his [[AbusiveParents horrific father, Ozai]] and carve out a life for himself as per Iroh's lecture.\\
'''Instead:''' Iroh takes it at face-value that Zuko, proud, honor-focused, dedicated, desperate to claim recognition for his own self, is happy being a faceless refugee in Ba Sing Se, lying about who he is. Zuko promptly betrays Iroh when Azula dangles a very real chance in front of Zuko that he can have everything that he believes he has ever wanted and still wanted; to go home and have things "go back to normal"... [[spoiler:[[HeelRealization or so he thinks.]]]]

* The Earth King gets a major one. He has just received vital information that could turn the tide of the war against the Fire Nation, an eclipse that will happen in a few months and deprive firebenders of their power for long enough to defeat the Fire Lord.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' He would tell this to only those who absolutely ''need'' to know it ''when'' they absolutely need to know it. Only top commanders and soldiers involved in the operation, and those soldiers only on the eve of the invasion. The information is useless, after all, if anyone in the Fire Nation finds out, and all that would take is an unreliable lower ranked soldier to sell what he has learned.\\
'''Instead:''' Being the dangerously deliberately sheltered fool he is, he tells it to three arriving Kyoshi Warriors... who he has never met before and who just happen to be [[FanNickname Ozai's Angels]] [[DressingAsTheEnemy in disguise]], completely ruining the surprise attack before it even gets into the planning stages. There is no reason to give them this vital piece of intelligence and he only has Sokka's word that they're trustworthy (without Sokka getting the chance to confirm their identities) before he starts spouting off vital military intelligence to them. The result is that the invasion fails and many of the Gaang's allies end up in prison.
* What happens next is even stupider, though. The disguised enemies take over the city of Ba Sing Se, and the King is forced to flee. Team Avatar saves him, and he hangs with them for a while. The other Earth King officials who know about the eclipse plan are now prisoners of the Fire Nation.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For the King to tell Team Avatar that he mentioned the secret invasion plan to the fake Kyoshi Warriors. Or at least for the Team Avatar to, upon finding out about the deceit, asked whether the King told them anything important.\\
'''Instead:''' The King doesn't say anything and Team Avatar never asks. It doesn't cross their mind, either, that the officials who knew about the plan might reveal it to the Fire Nation, under torture if nothing else. So the heroes go on with their plan, only to be promptly defeated by the not-so-surprised Fire Nation.

* The Book 1 finale. As part of the final act in his war on Republic City, Amon's about to [[spoiler:commit a public execution of airbending]] in front of [[spoiler:the Equalist rally at]] the pro-bending arena, when Korra and Mako show up and [[spoiler:out him as [[BoomerangBigot Noatak]], using [[BloodMagic bloodbending]] to DePower benders]].\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The DangerouslyGenreSavvy revolutionary to [[spoiler:own up to his true identity, since it's arguably more sympathetic than the one he's been using, and]] call Korra out on thinking she could stop the Equalist movement by [[spoiler:unmasking him]] instead of helping address the people's actual problems.\\
'''Instead:''' He [[spoiler:shows his "scarred" face to cover his backstory, chases Korra and Mako away from the crowd after they rescue Tenzin and his kids, and in a class A display of losing the plot like a typical would-be dictator, proceeds to '''[[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope resort to]] [[PeoplePuppets active bloodbending]]''']] to try to destroy them in the ensuing battle. Worse yet, he is [[PlotArmor inexplicably]] lax when it comes to attacking Mako[[spoiler:, who's able to take advantage and fight through to hit him with a lightning bolt. From then on, he gradually loses control of the fight and even uses waterbending in front of his followers it in order to break a fall]]. The rest is history.

'''You'd expect:''' After reading her the obligatory riot act for sneaking out at night, and probably a bonus one for [[RebelliousPrincess associating with such "riff-raff"]] - he'd assign her a seeing-eye maidservant, fire the so-called instructor who was supposed to teach her only breathing exercises, and allow her to instruct [[TheChosenOne the Avatar]].\\

'''You'd expect:''' He'd demonstrate the good sense possessed by even the most scatterbrained Cub Scout and not touch the thing with a ten-foot-pole until he's 100% certain it's the right one.\\

'''You'd expect:''' The General would NOT try to piss off the AVATAR. Or to just realize that you CANNOT control a supernatural force.\\

'''You'd expect:''' Long Feng to give them the "no war within the walls" speech, then get the intel. The Earth Kingdom wins the war, leaving Long Feng as Supreme Dictator of the entire world.\\

'''You'd expect:''' for the King to tell Team Avatar that he mentioned the secret invasion plan to the fake Kyoshi Warriors. Or at least for the Team Avatar to, upon finding out about the deceit, asked whether the King told them anything important.\\
'''Instead:''' the King doesn't say anything and Team Avatar never asks. It doesn't cross their mind, either, that the officials who knew about the plan might reveal it to the Fire Nation, under torture if nothing else. So the heroes go on with their plan, only to be promptly defeated by the not-so-surprised Fire Nation.

'''You'd expect:''' Roku to try and talk him out out it, to use the experience he gained in traveling the world for 12 years to explain why taking over the world is a bad idea, to take Sozin on a Diversity Tour of the world, to latch onto Sozin's arm and not let go until he is sure that one of the 5 most influential people in the world doesn't let go of his megalomaniac ideas.\\

'''Instead:''' He infiltrates the base of the local SecretPolice, which is made up mostly of elite earthbenders, planning to steal a huge, flying furry monster which has horns, but no reason to be cooperative, what with having defended Aang against Zuko before. And Zuko has no idea whatsoever what he'd do if he actually got Appa out of there. To top it all off, he has no idea if the Dai Li actually ''have'' Appa - He goes there on a guess.

'''You'd think''': They'd use the utmost discretion, continue to check for his presence, not only out of respect for abusing the library, but also because Wan Shi Tong is a spirit (who dwarfs them), and the last angered spirit took on an entire armada with the help of the Avatar.\\
'''Instead''': Sokka quite loudly announces that with the information they can finally destroy the Fire Nation, and Wan Shi Tong is obviously right behind him.
* Sequel series ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' episode 10: Lin is fighting the Equalists using a combination of earth and metal bending. Cue the arrival of the Lieutenant, a guy she's met before and knows for a fact has an electric current running through his kali sticks.\\
'''You'd think''': She would use earthbending to take him out then and there.\\
'''Instead''': She uses her cables to grab his sticks with metalbending, getting herself electrocuted in the process.

'''You'd think''': Lin and her police would use earthbending to at the very least upset the balance of the things and make it easier to pull them over.\\
'''Instead''': They continue to try and overpower the mechas with the cables and get their asses kicked because of it.
* The book 1 finale. As part of the final act in his war on Republic City, Amon's about to [[spoiler:commit a public execution of airbending]] in front of [[spoiler:the Equalist rally at]] the pro-bending arena, when Korra and Mako show up and [[spoiler:out him as [[BoomerangBigot Noatak]], using [[BloodMagic bloodbending]] to DePower benders]].\\
'''You'd expect''': the DangerouslyGenreSavvy revolutionary to [[spoiler:own up to his true identity, since it's arguably more sympathetic than the one he's been using, and]] call Korra out on thinking she could stop the Equalist movement by [[spoiler:unmasking him]] instead of helping address the people's actual problems.\\
'''Instead:''' he [[spoiler:shows his "scarred" face to cover his backstory, chases Korra and Mako away from the crowd after they rescue Tenzin and his kids, and in a class A display of losing the plot like a typical would-be dictator, proceeds to '''[[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope resort to]] [[PeoplePuppets active bloodbending]]''']] to try to destroy them in the ensuing battle. Worse yet, he is [[PlotArmor inexplicably]] lax when it comes to attacking Mako[[spoiler:, who's able to take advantage and fight through to hit him with a lightning bolt. From then on, he gradually loses control of the fight and even uses waterbending in front of his followers it in order to break a fall]]. The rest is history.

'''You'd Expect''': the Lieutenant to [[spoiler: alert the other Equalists of Amon's bloodbending statues, or at the very least perform a sneak attack on him]].\\
'''Instead:''' he [[spoiler: charges head on, and gets pathetically thrown into a wall]].

* In the first season of [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar: The Last Airbender]], Zhao captures Aang who has less than a year to master all four elements if he is going to stop the villains' plan to take over the world. However, if Aang is killed he will simply reincarnate as a baby.\\
'''You'd expect:''' That Zhao would realize it's extremely unlikely that a newborn baby would have time to master one element let alone all four and would thus decide to kill Aang.\\
'''Instead:''' Zhao decides to imprison Aang.

* Series finale. Aang having been previously advised in a two to one vote by the previous four Avatars (Yangchen and Kyoshi vs Kuruk, with Roku just saying "[[CrypticallyUnhelpfulAnswer Be decisive]]")\\
'''You'd think:''' that Aang would take their advice and put aside his own spiritual needs to kill Ozai. Don't want to pull the trigger yourself? That's fine, hand over control to the Avatar State, or one of the previous Avatars. Let Toph do it. She's clearly got no problem with killing, seeing what she did to Master Yu and Xin Fu. There's lots of options.\\
'''Instead:''' He gambles the safety of the world on a completely new, totally untested technique that he learned like a day ago, and very nearly loses his life in the process.\\
'''However:''' Consider this. One; he's the last of the Air Nomads. If he sacrifices his spiritual needs, that's his entire culture, dead. Two; wanton murder sucks. He might've killed in the Avatar state and maybe accidentally sent enemy soldiers to their deaths, but setting out specifically to kill a man and then doing so is a whole different kettle of fish and any piece of media that goes into war but doesn't glorify it will show at least one character emotionally set back or traumatized by having taken lives or lost friends in battle. Three; the Fire Nation had been so deeply indoctrinated by the Royal Family that Zuko replacing Ozai as Fire Lord was rejected by a good number of people as soon as he tried to have his country give land back to the Earth Kingdom (five assassination attempts, anyone?). If Ozai had been killed, it wouldn't have even taken that long before the country at large deemed Zuko's ascension little more than a ''de facto'' power grab and revolted against it. In case no one understood, this is why Iroh refused to take either the direct fight against Ozai or the throne in the aftermath. It wasn't a matter of either crushing the Fire Nation or defeating the Fire Lord; it was a matter of peace defeating war, and humble redemption besting arrogant violence, in order to stand a chance at repairing a broken world.

'''Instead:''' He gambles the safety of the world on a completely new, totally untested technique that he learned like a day ago, and very nearly loses his life in the process.

'''Instead:''' Being the dangerously deliberately shered fool he is, he tells it to three arriving Kyoshi Warriors... who he has never met before and who just happen to be [[FanNickname Ozai's Angels]] [[DressingAsTheEnemy in disguise]], completely ruining the surprise attack before it even gets into the planning stages. There is no reason to give them this vital piece of intelligence and he only has Sokka's word that they're trustworthy (without Sokka getting the chance to confirm their identities) before he starts spouting off vital military intelligence to them. The result is that the invasion fails and many of the Gaang's allies end up in prison.

'''Instead:''' He uses firebending to heat the tea up, putting himself (and, by extension, his nephew) in danger of being lynched as Fire Nation spies.

* Wan Shi Tong has let the team into his library, one of the most sacred things he has. He is incredibly suspicious of them and all humans, since the last one burnt down a section of his library and used his knowledge not only for destruction and violence, but also to murder a fellow spirit. He tells them not to use the information for destructive purposes. However, Sokka finds some partly destroyed information which he can use to find a fire-nation weakness.
'''You'd think''': They'd use the utmost discretion, continue to check for his presence, not only out of respect for abusing the library, but also because Wan Shi Tong is a spirit (who dwarfs them), and the last angered spirit took on an entire armada with the help of the Avatar.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', "The Blind Bandit": Lao Bei Fong, a wealthy Earth Kingdom merchant, discovers that the blind 12-year old daughter he kept hidden within his [[BigFancyHouse estate]] has been sneaking out to participate in quasi-legal underground pitfights. He then witnesses firsthand how great of an Earthbender she really is when she [[CuteBruiser beats half a dozen experienced adult earthbenders into submission]] ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome and makes it look easy]]''.\\

** While wandering the Earth Kingdom in the beginning of season 2, Iroh, the EccentricMentor of ''[[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', comes across a plant that is either "the rare White Dragon Bush, whose leaves make a tea so delicious it's heartbreaking!", or else "the White Jade Bush, which is poisonous."\\

** During one of their trips through the Earth Kingdom, we had a crazy general trying to force Aang into the Avatar State.\\

** Long Feng, the EvilChancellor of the Earth Kingdom capitol, has a bunch of kids talking about the war, which he keeps quiet behind city walls. Also, they have crucial intel on the Fire Nation.\\

** In the first season of [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar: The Last Airbender]], Zhao captures Aang who has less than a year to master all four elements if he is going to stop the villains' plan to take over the world. However, if Aang is killed he will simply reincarnate as a baby.\\

** And of course, the defining idiocy of the series comes from, again, Admiral Zhao during the first season finale. Zhao is invading the Northern Water Tribe in order to stop Aang from learning waterbending. Zhao is also aware that the Ocean and Moon spirits (the entities that power waterbending) are in the heart of the Tribe's city in the form of relatively harmless koi fish. Killing the Moon Spirit would destroy waterbending.\\

** The Earth King gets a major one. He has just received vital information that could turn the tide of the war against the Fire Nation, an eclipse that will happen in a few months and deprive firebenders of their power for long enough to defeat the Fire Lord.\\

** What happens next is even stupider, though. The disguised enemies take over the city of Ba Sing Se, and the King is forced to flee. Team Avatar saves him, and he hangs with them for a while. The other Earth King officials who know about the eclipse plan are now prisoners of the Fire Nation.\\

** The newly minted Avatar Roku is celebrating his wedding, when he is approached by his best friend Fire Lord Sozin. Sozin tells Roku that it would be just swell to TakeOverTheWorld.\\

** Zuko does a few less than brilliant things, but consider the time he finds out that Aang in in Ba Sing Se, too, thanks to the "lost pet" flyer about Appa.\\

** Iroh's whole plan of settling down as a refugee with Zuko in Ba Sing Se is pretty stupid, [[FridgeLogic if you think about it]], given Iroh knows very well that Zuko is a bundle of issues in a WellDoneSonGuy coating. For particular irony, Iroh gives Zuko a very intense spiel about how Zuko needs to think for himself and decide upon his own course in life shortly before Zuko does just that... by choosing to grab with both hands the slim hope Azula dangles before him that he really can come back to the Fire Nation and reclaim everything he's ever wanted.\\

** Iroh has just made it into the heavily-defended Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se alongside a boatload of Earth Kingdom refugees, who would not look kindly upon a Fire National sneaking in with them. He has just gotten a cup of too-cool tea.\\

*** But this ''is'' Iroh we’re talking about, after all…his magnanimous wisdom [[RunningGag consistently gets subverted in canon]] by his overwhelming love for tea.
** Series finale. Aang having been previously advised in a two to one vote by the previous four Avatars (Yangchen and Kyoshi vs Kuruk, with Roku just saying "[[CrypticallyUnhelpfulAnswer Be decisive]]")\\

** Sequel series ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' episode 10: Lin is fighting the Equalists using a combination of earth and metal bending. Cue the arrival of the Lieutenant, a guy she's met before and knows for a fact has an electric current running through his kali sticks.\\

** See also, the episode where the poor man's gundams were introduced. Having established that metalbending doesn't work and they're too strong to use cables on.\\

** The book 1 finale. As part of the final act in his war on Republic City, Amon's about to [[spoiler:commit a public execution of airbending]] in front of [[spoiler:the Equalist rally at]] the pro-bending arena, when Korra and Mako show up and [[spoiler:out him as [[BoomerangBigot Noatak]], using [[BloodMagic bloodbending]] to DePower benders]].\\

** The Lieutenant [[spoiler: walks in on Amon bloodbending Mako and Korra, proving he's been spouting lies to the Equalists]].\\