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Recap / Avatar: The Last Airbender "Super Deformed Shorts"
aka: Chibi Avatar

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Don't make me use my moon powers on you!
— Princess Yue

The "Super Deformed Shorts" are three short episodes on based on the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender that were released on the season 2 DVD (season 3 in PAL regions).

This short series uses a chibi art style and soft pastel colors to tell funny, blatantly non-Canon stories about the series' characters, one of which was set in a strange elementary school AU. The characters are depicted as much younger than their canonical incarnations and interacting in light, improbable ways.

More information, including plot summaries of the three episodes, can be found on the relevant page of the Avatar: The Last Airbender wiki.


These shorts contain examples of the following tropes:

  • Age Lift: A weird example with June the bounty hunter. She makes a cameo appearance in School Time Shipping in the same classroom as several characters meant to be kids or teenagers, implying she is not an adult in this chibi series.
  • Art Shift: Zuko temporarily shifts into his season 1 design from the main series when Katara calls his chibi form cute.
  • Berserk Button: When Katara calls Zuko cute, he gets really angry and yells that he is not cute.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Yue.
    "DON'T MAKE ME USE MY MOON POWERS ON YOU!"
  • Butt-Monkey: Sokka, not that this is a huge shift. He gets caught in Suki and Yue's fight in School Time Shipping, Aang, Toph and Katara all use him as a dummy to show off their powers in Bending Battle, and in Swamp Skiing, well...
  • Canon Discontinuity: None of these shorts are canon with the main Avatar story and occur in a much more lighthearted and comedic universe.
  • Chibi: With Blush Stickers and Cross-Popping Veins.
  • Chick Magnet: Sokka attracts both Suki and Yue. As such, both girls get jealous of each other and begin fighting over him.
  • Convection, Schmonvection: Zuko riding on a lava dragon.
  • Crazy Jealous Guy: Aang becomes quite jealous when he sees Zuko, Haru, and Jet surround Katara and offer her bouquets of flowers. In fact, he gets so jealous that he goes into the Avatar State.
  • Denser and Wackier: Contains a lot of really over-the-top scenarios compared to the main series.
  • Didn't See That Coming: Zuko, when Katara reveals who she's going to the dance with: his alter-ego, the Blue Spirit.
  • Dude Magnet: Katara in "School Time Shipping" is so popular with guys that she has four guys fighting for her affection. There's also a fifth guy whom she chooses over her four suitors.
  • DVD Bonus Content: As noted above, the shorts were originally released as DVD Extras.
  • Eat the Camera: Aang enters the Avatar State in School Time Shipping and eats the camera.
  • Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Parodied - Bending Battle starts with the scene pictured above.
    "What's that supposed to be, Sokka?"
    "This is BOOMERANG!"
  • Eyes Out of Sight: Toph as usual. Exaggerated due to the deformed style, as her eyes are not visible at all.
  • The Face of the Sun: Seen at the beginning of Bending Battle and Swamp Skiin' Throwdown.
  • Face Palm: For all of the failed attempts at winning their love interest in School Time Shipping.
  • For the Evulz: Azula, for no reason at all, zaps Katara with her lightningbending.
  • Heart Symbol: Tons in School Time Shipping. Also appears in the other two shorts.
  • High School AU: School Time Shipping takes place in a universe where all the characters appear to go to the same school, complete with Avatar Roku as the teacher and Iroh as the guidance counselor.
  • I Will Show You X!:
    Katara: Tiny Zuko! He looks so cute!
    Zuko: I AM NEITHER CUTE NOR TINY!
    Iroh: You are pretty cute, my tiny nephew.
    Zuko: I'LL SHOW YOU TINY!
  • Mythology Gag: Aang becomes ash and blows away similar to Gyatso in Aang's nightmare from "The Storm."
  • Naked People Are Funny: Sokka loses his pants several times in the "Swamp-Skiing" short, at least two instances resulting in his bare butt being exposed.
  • Nose Nuggets: Toph pulls a massive one out of her nose at the start of Bending Battle.
  • Pinball Gag: Toph uses earthbending to make Sokka a living pinball.
  • Pointless Band-Aid: Mai has a Band-Aid on her nose.
  • Shipping: In-Universe; the school short comments on the shipping phenomenon, as well as Katara's status as a Launcher of a Thousand Ships.
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Ty Lee and Haru, in School Time Shipping. "I like sensitive guys!"
  • 6 Is 9:
    • Momo turns over his sign to change Aang's score from six to nine.
    • And then Appa does the same to turn his score from eight to... eight.
  • Spoof Aesop: Iroh gives one. "Now I hope that you can see that each element has its own strengths and weaknesses. But fire is the best!"
  • Squick: In-Universe: Aang airbends a paper airplane with an invitation to the dance over to Katara, only for her to assume it came from the guy sitting next to her: a giggling, snorting King Bumi. Ick.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Aang in the "Swamp-Skiing" short.

Alternative Title(s): Chibi Avatar

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