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* CharacterDevelopment: At the start, Aang is a happy-go-lucky, naive kid who doesn't want to be the Avatar. Going through numerous battles and trials, especially when Appa was kidnapped, took a toll on his carefree attitude. By the end, Aang became a more serious and mature young man who took his Avatar duties seriously. This is probably most noticeable when compared to his actor in the [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers "Ember Island Players"]] episode, as Actor!Aang always portrays him as happy-go-lucky and naive.
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* CharacterDevelopment: At the start, Aang is a happy-go-lucky, naive kid who doesn't want to be the Avatar. Going through numerous battles and trials, especially when Appa was kidnapped, took a toll on his carefree attitude. By the end, Aang became a more serious and mature young man who took his Avatar duties seriously.seriously without losing who he is or sacrificing what he wants and desires. This is probably most noticeable when compared to his actor in the [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers "Ember Island Players"]] episode, as Actor!Aang always portrays him as happy-go-lucky and naive.
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* InTheBack: In the finale of Book 2, Aang's attempt to enter the [[SuperMode Avatar State]] is promptly shut down by [[CombatPragmatist Azula]] putting a lightning bolt into his back.
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* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Feminine Boy to Toph's Masculine Girl. Aang is an easygoing, energetic, and non-confrontational MartialPacifist while Toph is a [[TheLadette bullheaded and casually violent brawler]] and former [[ProfessionalWrestling Professional Earthbender]] who is about Aang's (physical) age. Toph lampshades this in "Ember Island Player", and doesn't really think there's anything wrong with it.
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* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Feminine Boy to Toph's Masculine Girl. Aang is an easygoing, energetic, and non-confrontational MartialPacifist while MartialPacifist. Toph is a [[TheLadette bullheaded and casually violent brawler]] and former [[ProfessionalWrestling Professional Earthbender]] who is about Aang's his (physical) age. Toph lampshades this age. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in "Ember [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers "The Ember Island Player", Players"]], where they watch a ShowWithinAShow that has Aang portrayed by a GenkiGirl and doesn't really think there's anything wrong with it. Toph by a huge BoisterousBruiser bodybuilder man, and she actually ''liked'' the idea.
%%* TaremeEyes:
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* WiseBeyondHisYears: Balances this out by being a WideEyedIdealist as well.
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* WiseBeyondHisYears: Balances WiseBeyondTheirYears: He is only twelve but has the WIS score of 20. But then again, he is the Avatar. He is chronologically a hundred and twelve years old. He was frozen in time for a hundred years, so mentally he was still twelve at the beginning of the series. He matured a lot throughout the show, however. A point is made of this out by being in "The Southern Raiders". When Katara sets off [[spoiler:to avenge her mother's death with Prince Zuko]], Aang makes it a WideEyedIdealist as well.point to advise her several times. At the end, Sokka responds with the line: "You know, for a kid, you're pretty wise. Usually it's annoying, but right now I'm just impressed."
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[[center: [- [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbender Main Character Index]] | '''Avatar Aang''' | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderMentors Mentors]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderOtherCharacters Other]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComicCharacters Comics]]]]-]
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'''Avatar Aang''' | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderMentors Mentors]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderOtherCharacters Other]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComicCharacters
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* EarnedStripes: When airbenders are recognized as masters they are give blue arrow tattoos that follow chi lines from their forehead, to their hands and feet. Aang was one of the youngest to ever wear tattoos at age 12, [[spoiler:until his grand daughter Jinora earned them at age 11 in ''The Legend of Korra''.]]
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* DoesNotLikeSpam: Sea prunes don't sit well with his stomach.
* EarnedStripes: When airbenders are recognized as masters they are give blue arrow tattoos that follow chi lines from their forehead, to their hands and feet. Aang was one of the youngest to ever wear tattoos at age 12, [[spoiler:until hisgrand daughter granddaughter Jinora earned them at age 11 in ''The Legend of Korra''.]]
* EarnedStripes: When airbenders are recognized as masters they are give blue arrow tattoos that follow chi lines from their forehead, to their hands and feet. Aang was one of the youngest to ever wear tattoos at age 12, [[spoiler:until his
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* HealTheCutie: He went through a lot of trauma after waking up from a 100-year sleep, to find all his loved ones dead and the world locked in a horrific war, but he rarely let it show much... until he loses Appa. Come "The Serpent's Pass", he [[HeroicSafeMode shuts down and stops responding to the concerns of his friends]]. However, seeing Katara help a couple deliver a baby named Hope gets him out of his funk.
-->'''Aang:''' I thought I was trying to be strong. But really I was just running away from my feelings. Seeing this family together, so full of happiness and love, it's reminded me how I feel about Appa ... and how I feel about you.
-->'''Aang:''' I thought I was trying to be strong. But really I was just running away from my feelings. Seeing this family together, so full of happiness and love, it's reminded me how I feel about Appa ... and how I feel about you.
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!!Avatar Aang (安昂)
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Aang_Official.png]]
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Aang_Official.png]]
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!!Avatar Aang
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!!Avatar AangAang (安昂)
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* YoungerMentorOlderDisciple: Due to what his age actually is, Aang is often older than anybody who teaches his. This is especially the case with Toph who is younger than him both physically and officially.
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* YoungerMentorOlderDisciple: Due to what his age actually is, Aang is often older than anybody who teaches his.him. This is especially the case with Toph who is younger than him both physically and officially.
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[[header:Avatar Aang]]
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* PeterPanParody: Aang himself bears multiple resemblances to Peter Pan, having been a child much longer than normal (having been trapped in the ice for so long), his affinity to mystic forces (him being the Avatar predisposing him to general Spirit World weirdness), is prone to childish jokes (though he tries to keep his carefree actions from hurting anyone, feeling great remorse if it accidentally does), adopting a ragtag group of children as a surrogate family (Team Avatar) and antagonizing (physically) older men in positions of authority (Zuko, Zhao, Long Feng, Ozai, etc). This is cemented in "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]]", where Aang is played by a spritely woman in a stage play adaptation of his adventures, it being tradition where Peter Pan was played by a woman.
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* ItsAllAboutMe: Mainly during the series finale and stated as much by Yangchen. "Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world." He was willing to put the world at stake in favor of his own ideals in his refusal to kill Ozai because the airbenders taught him that all life is sacred (never mind that Gyatso's body was surrounded by the bodies of like twenty Fire Nation soldiers). [[spoiler:Subverted in that by continuing to search for and ultimately finding the non-murderous solution he was looking for, he avoided [[DontCreateAMartyr creating a martyr out of Ozai]], slowing down whatever spirit of resistance remained to allow his allies to declare victory. He did make the right move to save the world after all.]]
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* ItsAllAboutMe: Mainly during the series finale and stated as much by Yangchen. "Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world." He was willing to put the world at stake in favor of his own ideals in his refusal to kill Ozai because the airbenders taught him that all life is sacred (never mind that Gyatso's body was surrounded by the bodies of like twenty Fire Nation soldiers). [[spoiler:Subverted in that by continuing to search for and ultimately finding the non-murderous solution he was looking for, he avoided [[DontCreateAMartyr creating a martyr out of Ozai]], slowing down whatever spirit of resistance remained to allow his allies to declare victory. He did make the right move to save the world after all. Played straight however as the Legend of Korra reveals that by refusing to kill Ozai and taking a third option, he informed the world that bending could be removed,and Amon nearly destroyed the Avatar with the knowledge. The consequences of his decision were foreshadowed by Avatar Kyoshi and the Dai Li, Avatar's are to balance the world, not compromise with it. ]]
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The previous picture is better – shows off the whole body and clearer colors
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[[quoteright:195:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aang_1.png]]
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* YoungerMentorOlderDisciple: Due to what his age actually is, Aang is often older than anybody who teaches his. This is especially the case with Toph who is younger than him both physically and officially.
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* TheAce: The youngest airbending master in history [[spoiler:(before [[GenerationXerox his granddaughter Jinora]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra bested him at 11]])]] and quite smart about different cultures or spiritual matters.
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* TheAce: TheAce:
** The youngest airbending master in history [[spoiler:(before [[GenerationXerox his granddaughter Jinora]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra bested him at 11]])]] and quite smart about different cultures or spiritualmatters.matters.
** Amongst all known Avatars, Aang faced the perhaps single greatest uphill battle at an age four years before all others even discovered they were Avatars (biologically, at least), and managed to get an excellent grasp of all three non-native elements ''and'' energybending in the span of one year when all others (including his successor, Korra) needed several years to even just master the other elements. He and Zuko went on to guide world in a radically different, more culturally merged era, marking the largest change in the world's long-stagnant status quo and causing the world to develop at a much faster pace. He left behind less problems for his next life to face than most of his immediate predecessors too, with only Yanchen having a cleaner record in the sense Aang's actions indirectly still allowed the rise of the Anti-Bending movement.
** The youngest airbending master in history [[spoiler:(before [[GenerationXerox his granddaughter Jinora]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra bested him at 11]])]] and quite smart about different cultures or spiritual
** Amongst all known Avatars, Aang faced the perhaps single greatest uphill battle at an age four years before all others even discovered they were Avatars (biologically, at least), and managed to get an excellent grasp of all three non-native elements ''and'' energybending in the span of one year when all others (including his successor, Korra) needed several years to even just master the other elements. He and Zuko went on to guide world in a radically different, more culturally merged era, marking the largest change in the world's long-stagnant status quo and causing the world to develop at a much faster pace. He left behind less problems for his next life to face than most of his immediate predecessors too, with only Yanchen having a cleaner record in the sense Aang's actions indirectly still allowed the rise of the Anti-Bending movement.
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* HarmfulToMinors: His reaction when he comes across the skeletons of his entire culture, including his ParentalSubstitute and mentor Gyatso.
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%% TheHero
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it was a fairly bad, off model picture
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Aang_Official.png]]
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* {{Hypocrite}}: When attempting to master the Avatar state with Guru Pathik, at the end he's told that he needs to let go of his worldly attachments, but he thinks of Katara and refuses, unable to understand why he would want to do such a thing. During the series finale, when consulting past Avatars for their wisdom on whether or not [[spoiler:he should kill Ozai]] the last Avatar he consults is fellow air nomad Yangchen, confident that she'll understand his position: As an air nomad, he was raised to believe that, among other things, he should give up worldly attachments in order to achieve spiritual enlightenment. This quite clearly contradicts his earlier position: First he refuses to give up worldly attachments and then later argues in ''favor'' of the exact kind of spiritual enlightenment that he rejected before.
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* {{Hypocrite}}: When attempting to master the Avatar state with Guru Pathik, at the end he's told that he needs to let go of his worldly attachments, but he thinks of Katara and refuses, unable to understand why he would want to do such a thing. During the series finale, when consulting past Avatars for their wisdom on whether or not [[spoiler:he should kill Ozai]] the last Avatar he consults is fellow air nomad Yangchen, confident that she'll understand his position: As an air nomad, he was raised to believe that, among other things, he should give up worldly attachments in order to achieve spiritual enlightenment. This quite clearly contradicts his earlier position: position; First he refuses to give up worldly attachments and then later argues in ''favor'' of the exact kind of spiritual enlightenment that he rejected before.before. This could be a case of CharacterDevelopment, however, as in the first example he seemed to believe that Pathik was telling him he actually had to leave Katara behind or sacrifice her, whereas the second seems to be more a matter of not simply going with whatever she and the others tell him when he thinks it's wrong. After all, Roku showed him in between the two events that it's possible to both be a fully-realized Avatar and have a love life at the same time, so that part of the interpretation would have to change. Still, at least on face value he's making two opposing arguments which both amount to seemingly needless complication of things.
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* IGotBigger: Throughout the series, Aang's recurrent height is 4 1/2 feet, thus making him the second shortest member of Team Avatar. In the tie-in, sequel comics, Aang's height increases with Toph commenting on it
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* IGotBigger: Throughout the series, Aang's recurrent height is 4 1/2 feet, thus making him the second shortest member of Team Avatar. In the tie-in, sequel comics, Aang's height increases with Toph commenting on itit.
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* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: Aang ''is'' this trope: he's a pacifist who openly shows his emotions and affections. Toph says this of Aang in "Ember Island Players".
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* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: Aang ''is'' this trope: trope; he's a pacifist who openly shows his emotions and affections. Toph says this of Aang in "Ember Island Players".
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* ItsAllAboutMe: Mainly during the series finale and stated as much by Yangchen. "Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world." He was willing to put the world at stake in favor of his own ideals in his refusal to kill Ozai because the airbenders taught him that all life is sacred (never mind that Gyatso's body was surrounded by the bodies of like twenty Fire Nation soldiers).
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* ItsAllAboutMe: Mainly during the series finale and stated as much by Yangchen. "Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world." He was willing to put the world at stake in favor of his own ideals in his refusal to kill Ozai because the airbenders taught him that all life is sacred (never mind that Gyatso's body was surrounded by the bodies of like twenty Fire Nation soldiers). [[spoiler:Subverted in that by continuing to search for and ultimately finding the non-murderous solution he was looking for, he avoided [[DontCreateAMartyr creating a martyr out of Ozai]], slowing down whatever spirit of resistance remained to allow his allies to declare victory. He did make the right move to save the world after all.]]
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* GoodScarsEvilScars: Sports permanent scars on his back and on the sole of his left foot after being killed by Azula's lightning and revived by Katara
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* GoodScarsEvilScars: Sports permanent scars on his back and on the sole of his left foot after being [[spoiler:being killed by Azula's lightning and revived by KataraKatara.]]
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* AuthorAvatar: The first character conceived by Bryke. He was designed by Bryan to have his philosophical outlook but to have the appearance of Mike. This is especially true for his adult version in LegendOfKorra.
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* AuthorAvatar: The first character conceived by Bryke. He was designed by Bryan to have his philosophical outlook but to have the appearance of Mike. This is especially true for his adult version in LegendOfKorra.''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''.
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* RunningGag: In the comics, Aang has a notion of saying something brazen just seconds before someone else says something which shoves his foot back into his mouth.
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-->''"There's just too many of them. I can't fight them all... I'm just one kid."''
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----
[[header:Avatar Aang]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Zach Tyler Eisen (original), René Pinochet (Latin American Spanish)
-->''"There's just too many of them. I can't fight them all... I'm just one kid."''
[[header:Avatar Aang]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Zach Tyler Eisen (original), René Pinochet (Latin American Spanish)
-->''"There's just too many of them. I can't fight them all... I'm just one kid."''
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->'''Voiced by:''' Zach Tyler Eisen (original), René Pinochet (Latin American Spanish)\\
\\
"There's just too many of them. I can't fight them all... I'm just one kid."
\\
"There's just too many of them. I can't fight them all... I'm just one kid."
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\\
"There's just too many of them. I can't fight them all... I'm just one kid."
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[[center: [- [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbender Main Character Index]] | '''Avatar Aang''' |[[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderMentors Mentors]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderOtherCharacters Other]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComicCharacters Comics]]]]-]
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[[center: [- [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbender Main Character Index]] | '''Avatar Aang''' |[[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderMentors Mentors]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderOtherCharacters Other]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComicCharacters Comics]]]]-]
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* TheLightfooted: Aang's has been given the name "Twinkletoes" by Toph. He's able to float down gently from ten feet in the air.
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* TheBabyOfTheBunch: Aang is the youngest and most innocent member of Team Avatar.
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* TheBabyOfTheBunch: Aang is the second youngest after Toph and most innocent member of Team Avatar.
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* StockShonenHero: {{Zigzagged|Trope}}. Due to the anime influence of the series, Aang plays much of the trope straight. However he also inverts many core aspects of the trope (such as being calmer than the norm and not being a BigEater).
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* StockShonenHero: {{Zigzagged|Trope}}.{{Downplayed}}. Due to the anime influence of the series, Aang plays much of the trope straight. However He's a naive and excitable KidHero with nearly infinite compassion, extends a kind hand to anyone, and cherishes his family and friends above all else. He's the current incarnation of the Avatar, which pretty much amounts to being the most powerful bender on the planet. One of the main plot points in the series is Aang becoming stronger in order to defeat the EvilOverlord. However, he also inverts many core aspects of the trope (such as being calmer more of a {{Keet}} than the norm HotBlooded, InTouchWithHisFeminineSide and not being a BigEater).
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[[center: [- [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbender Main Character Index]] | '''Avatar Aang''' |[[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderMentors Mentors]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderOtherCharacters Other]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComicCharacters Comics]]]]-]
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:#-F]]
[[folder:#-F]]
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* ArrogantKungFuGuy: {{Zig Zagged}}. While he's still a definite nice guy, Aang was this as well, being just a child and wanting to always get to the cool stuff. His first attempt at firebending fails because he stopped his "control the fire" to make more fire, and burned Katara. This seems to only apply to firebending, though. When it comes to airbending and waterbending, he's highly spiritual, and doesn't really like fighting much. And he doesn't like bending earth at all.
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* ArrogantKungFuGuy: {{Zig Zagged}}.{{Zigzagged|Trope}}. While he's still a definite nice guy, Aang was this as well, being just a child and wanting to always get to the cool stuff. His first attempt at firebending fails because he stopped his "control the fire" to make more fire, and burned Katara. This seems to only apply to firebending, though. When it comes to airbending and waterbending, he's highly spiritual, and doesn't really like fighting much. And he doesn't like bending earth at all.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:G-L]]
[[folder:G-L]]
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* GrowingUpSucks: {{Zig zagged}}. Aang has to rise to his responsibilities as the Avatar and leave his childhood behind early, [[IJustWantToBeNormal which he never wanted.]] He later expresses how his feelings with Katara are complicated for him, and Avatar Roku tells him that love gets better as you get older. Furthermore, for most of the story Katara is unsure of her feelings for him, because he has a lot of growing up to do in her eyes. Rising to the challenges of growing up, and displaying selflessness and maturity, win her over in the end.
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* GrowingUpSucks: {{Zig zagged}}.{{Zigzagged|Trope}}. Aang has to rise to his responsibilities as the Avatar and leave his childhood behind early, [[IJustWantToBeNormal which he never wanted.]] He later expresses how his feelings with Katara are complicated for him, and Avatar Roku tells him that love gets better as you get older. Furthermore, for most of the story Katara is unsure of her feelings for him, because he has a lot of growing up to do in her eyes. Rising to the challenges of growing up, and displaying selflessness and maturity, win her over in the end.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M-R]]
[[folder:M-R]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:S-W]]
[[folder:S-W]]
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* WeaponTwirling: A {{Justified}} version, since he uses his staff to create wind attacks (or defenses) this way.
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* WeaponTwirling: A {{Justified}} version, since he {{Justified|Trope}}. He uses his staff to create wind attacks (or defenses) this way.
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* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Aang isn't evil or villainous in any way, but it is scary when he gets upset and goes into the Avatar State.
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* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Aang isn't evil or villainous in any way, but it is scary when he gets upset and goes into the Avatar State.State.
[[/folder]]
[[/folder]]
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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Aang_Official.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Zach Tyler Eisen (original), René Pinochet (Latin American Spanish)\\
\\
"There's just too many of them. I can't fight them all... I'm just one kid."
The twelve-year-old (well, [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld technically a hundred-and-twelve-year old]]) plucky [[BlowYouAway Airbending]] boy destined to save the world. When he learned of his status as [[TheChosenOne the Avatar]], followed by the monks trying to take him from his teacher/father figure, he couldn't handle the pressure and ran away from home. When he was caught in a storm, he defensively used his powers to seal himself in an iceberg, which protected him for a century while the other Air Nomads were exterminated by the Fire Nation in an effort to kill him. After being freed from the iceberg by Katara and Sokka, he now must face his destiny by mastering all four elements and defeating [[EvilOverlord Fire Lord Ozai]] to restore balance to the world.
For tropes applying to the Avatar entity in general, [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbender return]] to the main Character page.
----
* EleventhHourSuperpower: Energybending is a skill Aang learned in the last part of Season 3. Also [[spoiler:one could argue his chakra becoming unblocked during the fight with Ozai (allowing Aang to enter the Avatar State again).]]
* TheAce: The youngest airbending master in history [[spoiler:(before [[GenerationXerox his granddaughter Jinora]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra bested him at 11]])]] and quite smart about different cultures or spiritual matters.
* AchillesHeel: While going into the [[SuperMode Avatar State]] makes him the [[PhysicalGod most powerful character in the series,]] it also makes him very [[GlassCannon vulnerable]]. Because the Avatar State pulls all the spirits of the former Avatars -- that is, the entire spirit that ''is'' the Avatar -- into one body at the same time, dying while in the state means the Avatar spirit would die, the chain of reincarnation would break, and the Avatar would cease to exist.
* {{Adorkable}}: Aang is a goofy, smiling kid who has a [[{{Keet}} ton of energy.]] There's also his crush on Katara.
* AdrenalineMakeover: Compare [[http://piandao.org/screenshots/water/water9/water9-227.jpg Aang's first season look]] to his [[http://piandao.org/screenshots/fire/fire10/fire10-928.jpg third season look.]]
* AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength: He is haunted by how scary and destructive he can be when he's in Avatar State; being that he's a pacifist by nature and upbringing, it's very justified. In the episode he even says "I was scary" referring to the Avatar State.
* AllLovingHero: He has a love and respect for all life, including those of his enemies.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: {{Zig Zagged}}. While he's still a definite nice guy, Aang was this as well, being just a child and wanting to always get to the cool stuff. His first attempt at firebending fails because he stopped his "control the fire" to make more fire, and burned Katara. This seems to only apply to firebending, though. When it comes to airbending and waterbending, he's highly spiritual, and doesn't really like fighting much. And he doesn't like bending earth at all.
* TheAtoner: He wants to stop the Fire Nation not only because it's his job as the Avatar, but also because he wants to atone not being there for his people when the Fire Nation ambushed them.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: In the first episode, he's more interested in chasing a penguin than finding out what happened while he was frozen in the iceberg.
* AuthorAvatar: The first character conceived by Bryke. He was designed by Bryan to have his philosophical outlook but to have the appearance of Mike. This is especially true for his adult version in LegendOfKorra.
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: Aang is the youngest and most innocent member of Team Avatar.
* BackFromTheDead: With a dose of OnlyMostlyDead since Katara got to him in time.
* BackToBackBadasses:
** With the Blue Spirit.
** A subtle one with Zuko, in the climax of "The Firebending Masters."
* BadassAdorable: Total ass kicking hero with elemental kung fu, looks adorably huggable.
* BadassInDistress: PlayedForLaughs in "Avatar Day," where Aang is wearing a heavy wooden stock. Not only does it not fit him, but he's able to casually slip out of it while chatting with the other prisoners. Note that he also does this in "The Earth King" by dismantling the earth-handcuffs to wave at the king.
* BadassPacifist: Aang has demonstrated on separate occasions to be capable of avoiding violence while stopping said violence.
** In "The Great Divide", he stopped the feuding clans by lying.
** Aang managed to one-up the resident [[TheBully bully]] in "The Headbands" by simply evading his punches.
** The series finale had him defeat [[BigBad Ozai]] [[spoiler:by taking away his bending.]]
* BaldOfAwesome: All of the MartialPacifist airbenders shave their head. Naturally, this includes Aang [[spoiler:except during the first half of the third season, when he was hiding his identity.]]
* BattleCouple: Downplayed with Katara. They are a couple and both of them fight but rarely side-by-side.
* BerserkButton: He hates it when he feels that his culture is being mocked.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's one of the most genuinely kind, empathetic, and gentle individuals in all of fiction. He can also throw hurricanes, tidal waves, and mountain ranges around like softballs.
** Case in point, when the buzzard-wasp kidnapped Momo, Aang rescued him and then, with nothing but [[TranquilFury pure cold-blooded anger]] in his eyes and no hesitation at all, [[OutofCharacterMoment killed]] the buzzard-wasp as it was retreating. He also [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar beheaded]] it. Aang has indirectly killed many mooks before but this was the only on-screen death in the series. This wasn't Avatar State. It was all Aang.
** If you hurt his friends, if you harm people for profit, if you are callous in the face of human suffering in his presence, you'd better pray to all the spirits in the world that Katara is around with a CooldownHug, because there's no telling what he'll do when his rage unleashes his Avatar State.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: He's a goofy and fun-loving kid, but if you mess with his friends, you'll likely regret it afterwards.
* BigGood: By default, he is this, but secures this status after becoming a fully-realized Avatar.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Katara. Both are extremely optimistic people who keep that outlook while also becoming more realistic due to CharacterDevelopment. They are [[ChildProdigy child prodigies]] in their own field (Aang in Airbending and becoming the youngest Fully Realized Avatar, Katara becoming a Waterbending master at only 14). They have a ChronicHeroSyndrome tendency, [[NiceGuy are incredibly nice individuals]], but can be '''''[[BewareTheNiceOnes terrifying]]''''' when pushed too far. They even share a similair trait of being more [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] when it comes to a personal topic.
* BlessedWithSuck: Sure, he's the Avatar, a godlike human being who can manipulate all four elements to balance out the world. Sure, he's the bridge between the Spirit World and the regular world. Yeah, okay, he's the spirit of the planet all rolled into one dude. His past lives worked out just fine being the Avatar. Unfortunately for Aang, he doesn't get to wait until his 16th birthday to be told that he's the Avatar. Nope, some grumpy old dudes tell him when he's ''twelve'' because they fear a war is soon to break out. They make plans to take Aang away from his guardian, so Aang runs away...and gets frozen inside an iceberg for 100 years while a war sweeps across the world while he's gone. Then when he gets out of the iceberg, he has to fix everything! By himself! With a bunch of scary guys trying to capture him! And he's 12. Plus, the first thing he learns about the new world he's entered is that he is [[LastOfHisKind the only Air Nomad left]] since all of the others were wiped out by the Fire Nation in the opening moves of the war, who were the priority targets due to having the Avatar. Finally, there's what comes with being the Avatar: [[AllYourPowersCombined the ability to draw on the power and experiences of all past Avatars]]. It seems good... But until Aang learns how to control it the Avatar State manifests when he's in grave danger or furious beyond control, has the power of an EldritchAbomination and absolutely no care for collateral damage. There is a ''good'' reason why Aang had nightmares about the Avatar State for a while... Additionally, whereas every other Avatar (that we know of) had years to learn how to bend all the elements (a task that usually takes roughly a ''decade'' - Roku started at 16 and finished in his twenties, Korra started prepubescent and finished in her late teens), Aang has less than one year. Oh, and even after he can control the Avatar State there's a downside (for the world, at least): if he dies while in it, the Avatar Cycle is broken. No more Avatar. And given he's the spirit of the ''world'' and that killing the spirit of the moon made the moon disappear until it was resurrected...
* BlindfoldedVision: Toph trains Aang to see like her this way.
* BlitheSpirit: Aang acts as one of these in "The Headband" when he becomes accidentally enrolled in a straight-laced Fire Nation school. And being the friendly, world-traveling free spirit he is, he won't settle for anything less than throwing everyone a dance party. Yes, that's a reference to ''{{Film/Footloose}}''.
* BlowYouAway: He's primarily an Airbender, and recognized as a master, denoted by the tattoos.
* ABoyAndHisX: A Boy and His Flying Bison and Winged Lemur.
** For the former, Appa was Aang's loyal pet and friend, as well as Team Avatar's primary means of travel. Aang first met Appa at the Eastern Air Temple when the latter was just a calf during a customary event where all airbender children are paired with a flying bison for life. After Aang offered an apple to Appa, the young sky bison seemed to bond with him immediately, affectionately licking his face. Aang loved his fellow survivor of a century of sleep, noting that they could both be the last of their kind.
** For the latter, Aang discovered Momo, a winged lemur, while wandering about the ruins of the Southern Air Temple. Aang quickly claimed him as a pet and named him Momo. He also seemed protective of Momo, as seen when he struck a buzzard wasp in order to protect him. This was shown during his final battle with Ozai, as Aang told Momo, the only one that accompanied him when he ventured onto the lion turtle, to stay far away from the scene of the fight.
* BreakTheCutie: Starts as a naive and innocent child. By the end, he has seen too much tragedy and heart-ache to be either.
* BrilliantButLazy: His ''only'' major setbacks in learning water and fire seemed to be his childlike lack of focus.
* BrokenAce: The most talented bender of his age group, [[CursedWithAwesome but he never wanted to be the Avatar.]]
* BrokenBird: Briefly becomes this after Appa's kidnapping in Book 2.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: {{Downplayed}} with Katara. While Aang still remains mellow and optimistic even after CharacterDevelopment, he does suffer moments that cause him great emotional turmoil (i.e., learning the genocide of his people, Appa's kidnapping, feeling useless after the events of Book 2). In those moments, Katara is there to give him {{Cooldown Hug}}s and pep talks about remaining hopeful. They switch roles when Katara takes on a SheWhoFightsMonsters mentality after Zuko reveals he can help her find her mother's murderer, and while Aang doesn't force her to stop, he does give advise on how revenge will lead her down a wrong path.
* CharacterDevelopment: At the start, Aang is a happy-go-lucky, naive kid who doesn't want to be the Avatar. Going through numerous battles and trials, especially when Appa was kidnapped, took a toll on his carefree attitude. By the end, Aang became a more serious and mature young man who took his Avatar duties seriously. This is probably most noticeable when compared to his actor in the [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers "Ember Island Players"]] episode, as Actor!Aang always portrays him as happy-go-lucky and naive.
* CharacterTitle: The "last airbender" refers to Aang.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Most of Aang's speed and agility are shown to be from the use of his airbending, but he's also displayed feats of this trope that can't be attributed to it. While not as impressive as Zuko, he has done things like briefly BridalCarry Katara while jumping down a couple stories, and also once carry Zuko, despite both of them clearly being heavier than him and his thin build wouldn't hint he possessed that sort of strength. He's also fallen a few stories out of a tree, and got back up seconds later with no lasting injuries.
* CheerfulChild: Aang is initially bright, fun-loving and infectiously cheerful. [[CharacterDevelopment He matures over the course of the series]], but for the most part, retains his mellow upbeat attitude.
* ChickMagnet:
** [[PrecociousCrush Meng]] from "The Fortuneteller" and all of the young girls from "The Warriors of Kyoshi" were completely enthralled with him.
** Some of Aang's female "classmates" in "The Headband" thought he was quite charming.
** The tie-in comics showed that the Air Acolytes were initially a group of fangirls who had crushes on the Avatar.
** [[TheParagon Katara]] eventually realized that she had fallen in love with him and they became a couple.
* ChildMage: Mixed with KungFuKid due to the martial arts nature of bending.
* ChildProdigy: Usually it takes a couple years for a bender to attain mere competency of their element, and a lifetime to become a master. Not so for Aang, who became the youngest airbending master in recorded history and got a decent grip of the other three elements in ''less than a year''. At least part of his quick mastery of the other elements can be attributed to a time crunch, since he had to learn the three elements in less than a year or else the world would pretty much end.
* TheChosenOne: He's the Avatar, and it was his destiny to defeat the Fire Lord and stop the war that Sozin started.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Much to his allies' consternation, he's always digressing to do {{Sidequest}}s rather than focusing on his training and fleeing from the Fire Nation.
* ComesGreatResponsibility: Much of Aang's character development in the first episodes is learning that as the Avatar he has duties he can't avoid.
* CrazyJealousGuy: In the comic "Love is a Battlefield", he becomes violent towards Katara for refusing to be in a relationship with him by erupting a small volcano - despite his awareness of how firebending had hurt Katara in the past. In the episode "The Ember Island Players" he gets angered at the actor playing Katara because she is in love with Zuko. He lashes out at the real Katara and forcefully kisses her.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Aang was an example of this trope in the first episodes whenever he tapped into the Avatar State. CharacterDevelopment, a showcase of the fact that he is a master airbender, and the realization of how scary he is in the Avatar State contributes to the lessening of this carefree nature.
* CulturedBadass: He's quite knowledgeable with different cultures.
* CursedWithAwesome: Aang is initially upset at finding out he's the Avatar (and to be fair, the circumstances of the world shortly after he runs away do make the responsibility a pain). Still, you'd think that a 12 year old kid finding out that he could bend not just one, but ALL of the elements would be a little more excited. And as Avatar Roku mentions, being the Avatar doesn't hurt with the ladies.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: While he had a happy childhood with the Air Nomads, he made the fatal mistake of freaking out and running away from his responsibilities, ending up being frozen in ice for a century, and finally paying dearly for it when he discovers the corpse of his beloved mentor.
* DeadlyDodging: A fundamental part of Airbending because of their pacifistic nature.
* DeadpanSnarker: Surprisingly often, though it's usually subtle and good-natured. Other times when he's being sarcastic are when he's frustrated, or the time he [[YouFightLikeACow made Zhao angry enough]] so he would destroy his own fleet of ships.
-->(Aang is prying open a large drainpipe to the city of Omashu)\\
'''Sokka:''' A secret passage? Why didn't we just use this last time?\\
(A flood of sewage pours out and splashes Sokka)\\
'''Aang:''' Does that answer your question?
* DespairEventHorizon: Comes very near to it after Appa was kidnapped. [[HopeSpringsEternal He eventually got better.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: In the comic books set between ''The Last Airbender'' and ''The Legend of Korra''. With his main character arc completed, he tends to help out whoever is the main character of a particular arc get through their problems.
* DishingOutDirt: Once he learns Earthbending. It was the hardest for him to learn; being a native airbender, he found earth's direct, confrontational, and rigid discipline difficult to grasp.
* DistressedDude: The Fire Nation knows that if Aang is killed he'll simply reincarnate so their goal is to imprison him until he dies naturally.
* TheDitherer: On occasion when he gets overwhelmed by the hardship of his journey he'll play delinquent and go penguin sledding instead or undergo additional/superfluous training to avoid the issue.
* EarnedStripes: When airbenders are recognized as masters they are give blue arrow tattoos that follow chi lines from their forehead, to their hands and feet. Aang was one of the youngest to ever wear tattoos at age 12, [[spoiler:until his grand daughter Jinora earned them at age 11 in ''The Legend of Korra''.]]
* ElementalPowers: Hardly a rarity in this universe, but being the Avatar, Aang is the only person innately capable of mastering more than one.
* EntitledToHaveYou: Displays some of these traits along with being a (downplayed) CrazyJealousGuy. He tells Katara: "we kissed at the invasion and I thought we were going to be together" - when in actuality it was no "we" as it was not a mutual kiss. Aang gave Katara a ShutUpKiss which left her upset and confused. Katara not wanting to be in a relationship with him is what leads to him planting another ForcefulKiss on her, resulting in her running away in anger. Only in the finale do they share a mutual kiss, this time with Katara initiating it. The DVD commentary even [[WhatTheHellHero points out how selfish Aang was being]].
* EvilMeScaresMe: He says, "I was scary" when reflecting on the Avatar State. While not evil in any way, the Avatar state can be a terrifying experience both for the Avatar and the surrounding people.
* ExposedToTheElements: As a nomad Aang seems to be comfortable in his standard vestments in both the North and South Poles while other characters wear more layered clothes. ''The Legend of Korra'' reveals that Airbenders like Firebenders can keep themselves warm with breathing techniques.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Him growing hair between the second season finale and the third season premiere.
* FatalFlaw: Aang's flaw is his [[HonorBeforeReason conviction]]. He was raised as a dedicated pacifist, and though [[MartialPacifist he will fight if necessary,]] he won't kill. When his opponent is the BigBad who slaughtered Aang's people and oppresses the populace of two nations, this turns out to be a bad thing.
* TheFettered: Unlike Ozai, who refused to check himself with morality or compassion, Aang is extremely dedicated to his pacifist ideals and will go to great lengths to keep them.
* FirstGirlWins: [[InvertedTrope Gender Inverted]]. Aang is the first boy we see Katara meet and ultimately the one she gets with.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Needless to say, Aang is more than slightly overwhelmed about effectively disappearing from the world for the entirety of a century-long war that wiped out his society. Also, literally, as he was stuck in an iceberg for 100 years.
* FragileSpeedster: Like most Airbenders, his original fighting style involves speed, agility, and misdirection more than toughness, which is part of what makes it so hard for him to learn Earthbending, which typically involves [[NighInvulnerable enduring attacks rather than dodging them]]. By the end of the series he's a MasterOfAll.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: The Avatar has an innate connection to nature, and Aang is a vegetarian by choice.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: When he enters the Avatar State.
* GodInHumanForm: At base power, he's "merely" a talented bender housing the spirit of the planet. He falls into PhysicalGod when the [[SuperMode Avatar State]] is activated.
* GodOfGood: As the [[GodInHumanForm human form]] of an incredible spirit of light, he maintains equilibrium between the four nations, as well as between the physical and spirit worlds.
* GoodIsNotSoft: For of Aang's [[NiceGuy kind-heartedness and sweet demeanor]], when [[BerserkButton he gets pissed]], he turns into a cold, ruthless CreepyChild with GlowingEyesOfDoom and the VoiceOfTheLegion.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Sports permanent scars on his back and on the sole of his left foot after being killed by Azula's lightning and revived by Katara
* GrayEyes: To emphasize his mystical nature as the Avatar. Although gray eyes are a common Air Nomad trait, he stands out as the SoleSurvivor.
* GrowingUpSucks: {{Zig zagged}}. Aang has to rise to his responsibilities as the Avatar and leave his childhood behind early, [[IJustWantToBeNormal which he never wanted.]] He later expresses how his feelings with Katara are complicated for him, and Avatar Roku tells him that love gets better as you get older. Furthermore, for most of the story Katara is unsure of her feelings for him, because he has a lot of growing up to do in her eyes. Rising to the challenges of growing up, and displaying selflessness and maturity, win her over in the end.
* HeIsAllGrownUp: Before their battle with Fire Nation, Katara and Aang talk with the former telling the latter how much he has grown over the past year and he's not "the goofy kid she saved from an iceberg".
%% TheHero
* HeroicSafeMode: The [[SuperMode Avatar State]] isn't evil, but it's not necessarily good either. Its main concerns are Aang's survival, his rage and sorrow, and maintaining balance. Aang's morals and innocent bystanders are secondary considerations, at best. Luckily, it retains his crush on [[KidWithTheLeash Katara]], and she can calm it with {{Cooldown Hug}}s.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: In "The Desert", he is genuinely upset at Appa getting kidnapped and desperately tries to find him, but in turn, Aang becomes hostile and aggressive during his search.
* HonorBeforeReason: Was going to let himself be punished for a ''crime'' (that word being used loosely) Kyoshi committed two avatar cycles ago.
* HopeBringer: Lampshaded frequently by Katara.
* HumanPopsicle: Until Katara frees him from the iceberg.
* HumbleHero: Aang rarely "pulls the Avatar card" when asking for leniency, unless he needs to.
* HurtingHero: Aang is the last of his people alive and under tremendous pressure to save the world.
* {{Hypocrite}}: When attempting to master the Avatar state with Guru Pathik, at the end he's told that he needs to let go of his worldly attachments, but he thinks of Katara and refuses, unable to understand why he would want to do such a thing. During the series finale, when consulting past Avatars for their wisdom on whether or not [[spoiler:he should kill Ozai]] the last Avatar he consults is fellow air nomad Yangchen, confident that she'll understand his position: As an air nomad, he was raised to believe that, among other things, he should give up worldly attachments in order to achieve spiritual enlightenment. This quite clearly contradicts his earlier position: First he refuses to give up worldly attachments and then later argues in ''favor'' of the exact kind of spiritual enlightenment that he rejected before.
* AnIcePerson: Once he learns Waterbending, Aang is able to turn water into ice effortlessly.
* IGotBigger: Throughout the series, Aang's recurrent height is 4 1/2 feet, thus making him the second shortest member of Team Avatar. In the tie-in, sequel comics, Aang's height increases with Toph commenting on it
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Didn't want to be the Avatar and would rather have just been a normal kid.
* ImportantHaircut: After letting his hair grow out for the first half of Season 3, he shaves his head again for the big invasion.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: [[spoiler:Achieving this is what enables him to un-bend Ozai in the finale.]]
* TheInsomniac: In "Nightmares and Daydreams".
* InstantArmor: A favored tactic of his earthbending, [[IncrediblyLamePun suiting]] Aang's defensive nature. He uses it against Azula (twice), Combustion Man and Ozai.
* InstantExpert: Aang is able to learn basic waterbending and firebending extremely quickly, but his lack of focus prevents him from completely mastering any except airbending (which he started with).
* InstantFanclub: Has one on Kyoshi Island and in Ba Sing Se as well.
* InstantFlightJustAddSpinning: While Aang has the added advantage of airbending, he uses his Gliderstaff for this purpose numerous times.
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: Aang ''is'' this trope: he's a pacifist who openly shows his emotions and affections. Toph says this of Aang in "Ember Island Players".
* IShallTauntYou: Aang is an advocate of irritating enemies into making mistakes and creating openings.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Mainly during the series finale and stated as much by Yangchen. "Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world." He was willing to put the world at stake in favor of his own ideals in his refusal to kill Ozai because the airbenders taught him that all life is sacred (never mind that Gyatso's body was surrounded by the bodies of like twenty Fire Nation soldiers).
* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: Especially near the end of the show, when everyone is expecting him to kill Ozai.
* JackOfAllStats: He can control all 4 elements, but he is not the best with any of them, except air, since he is the last one alive. To be clear though, he is still a child and new to all 3 other forms of bending (the entire series taking place over about 3/4 of a year). Once he has had more time to practice and master them, it is expected that he will in fact be a master of all 4 and capable of outshining individuals from any school in their own specialty. While Toph and Katara both demonstrate mastery of their own schools which may edge out the inexperienced Aang at times, they have both been practicing those skills all their lives (also, Toph is explicitly an earth-bending prodigy while Katara is stated to be the most determined and hard-working student her water-bending master ever encountered). It has to be mentioned that Aang is a borderline case at best, since he is also the most powerful bender alive. Even without the Avatar State. Aang was a prodigious airbender even for avatar standards: he was already inventing new bending techniques without having any formal training or finding out he was the Avatar.
* JerkassBall:
** In "The Desert" after [[MoralityChain Appa]] was [[BerserkButton kidnapped]], Aang became [[JerkassWoobie hostile and aggressive out of desperation]]. However, in the next episode, he reverts into the HeroicSafeMode instead.
** Briefly, at the beginning of the finale, when it seems the only possible option for dealing with Ozai is to kill him. Aang starts snapping and yelling at everyone else to come up with another solution.
* TheJuggernaut: A rare heroic type. When he's in the Avatar state, do NOT be in his way. [[spoiler:The final battle between the Avatar-State Aang and the [[BigBad Phoenix King Ozai]]]] is definitely a great example of what happens when [[CurbStompBattle someone tries to fight the juggernaut.]]
* {{Keet}}: Is very energetic. He ''is'' only twelve.
* KidAppealCharacter: An energetic yellow-orange colored kid and the youngest member of the core team. He's balancing his love of having fun with responsibilities of his job and growing up. Despite this he's also TheHero, balancing out to KidHero below.
* KidHero: Essentially. Though going just by years he's 112, for a hundred of those years he was a HumanPopsicle.
* KingInTheMountain: While he's frozen in the iceberg.
* TheKirk: Often gets caught in between Sokka and Katara in Season 1.
* LastOfHisKind: The Fire Nation killed most, if not all, of the other Airbenders.
* LaughOfLove: He's a frequent cause of these:
** In "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheWarriorsOfKyoshi The Warriors of Kyoshi]]", Aang's {{fangirl}}s tend to giggle and squeal when they're with him, much to Katara's jealousy.
** In "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFortuneteller The Fortuneteller]]", [[PrecociousCrush Meng]] giggles when Aang catches her hands as she accidentally trips while carrying a tray full of snacks, and later when she admits that she's been [[StalkerWithACrush stalking him]].
** In "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheHeadband The Headband]]", two Fire Nation girls giggle when Aang, while dancing, gets very close to them before leaping away.
** He also sometimes laughs when with Katara, who sometimes reciprocates, [[spoiler:and they get together at the end of the series]].
* LightningBruiser: By the second season, Aang becomes this as he still is the quick on his feet but now has the destructive force of Earthbending.
* LikeASonToMe: Gyatso was the closest thing Aang had to a father; likewise Aang was the closest thing Gyatso had to a son.
* LivingRelic: Called as such by Professor Zei, though he's not as old as most examples.
* LoveAtFirstSight: It's implied, and later confirmed by 'Avatar Extras,' that Aang fell for Katara when he first saw her after being freed from the iceberg.
* MacGuffinSuperPerson: Aang is a textbook example, being hunted by every villainous force in the series.
* MagicalBoyfriend: Towards Katara. He's an energetic, kind, generous messiah-figure that helps her achieve everything she ever wanted to.
* MakingASplash: Once he learns Waterbending. He was able to pick up basic moves very quickly, though more advanced moves take more time compared to more adept waterbenders.
* ManicPixieDreamGuy: Interestingly, Aang is this to Katara, with him being the cheerful, quirky little thing who teaches the heroine to relax and have fun.
* MartialArtsHeadband: He has one in the third season to cover his arrow.
* MartialPacifist: It being the Airbender motto and all.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Feminine Boy to Toph's Masculine Girl. Aang is an easygoing, energetic, and non-confrontational MartialPacifist while Toph is a [[TheLadette bullheaded and casually violent brawler]] and former [[ProfessionalWrestling Professional Earthbender]] who is about Aang's (physical) age. Toph lampshades this in "Ember Island Player", and doesn't really think there's anything wrong with it.
* MasterOfOneMagic: He excels at Airbending, having invented at least one new technique for it and risen to the rank of master at a very young age. While he does master the other three elements, he never picks up the advanced techniques, such as healing, Bloodbending, Metalbending, or proper Lightning generation, though he is able to redirect lightning.
* MeaningfulName:
** Aang was written 安昂 , meaning "peaceful soaring" in Chinese and Vietnamese.
** The name Aang is similar to the Malaysian and Indonesian word ''angin'' and Filipino word ''hangin'', meaning "wind". Aang is also the Inuit word for "hello", which could be a reference to his friendly nature.
* MessianicArchetype: Being a GodInHumanForm, a natural pacifist, and even [[spoiler:temporarily dying at the end of Book 2]] clearly paints him as one of these.
* MyGreatestFailure:
** Aang feels tremendous guilt over not being there for the Air Nomads when the Fire Nation attacked.
** He feels great shame for accidentally burning Katara's hands because of his careless firebending.
* NatureSpirit: Subverted, actually. Though the Avatar was originally suggested to be this, as per ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' he's actually just a normal human that has a spirit of light bonded with him.
* NiceGuy: Aang is peaceful, fun-loving, polite, respects all life (including enemies), and is respectful of the cultures of others.
* NiceHat: He has a few that he wears over the course of the series, mostly when he needs to hide his arrow.
* NotWearingPantsDream: Happened when he began to stress over facing Ozai in Book 3.
* OffhandBackhand: Aang does this ''to a rock'' while riding Appa and again to Sokka with earthbending while blindfolded.
* OfficialCouple: With Katara.
* OlderThanHeLooks: Due to being frozen for a hundred years he's actually 112.
* OneManArmy: He's the Avatar after all.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Aang is the only one who can fight Ozai, though not for the usual reasons for this trope. Simply having just anyone defeat Ozai doesn't guarantee an end to the war, because it would result in even more war and conflict. Since Aang is TheChosenOne, defeating Ozai would be an act of divine providence and a signal that he was in the right.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Aang is usually a very happy-go-lucky kid. He's very peaceful and spiritual, and has stated repeatedly that he doesn't eat meat. Then in [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheDesert "The Desert"]], his best friend and pet since he was a kid, Appa, is stolen by Sandbenders. The normally cheerful Aang spends the entire episode being cranky, aggressive, and angry. He even kills a wasp-buzzard that tried to take one of his other friends even after the threat it posed was gone. When they run into the Sandbenders who stole Appa, you know [[PhysicalGod they're in]] [[UnstoppableRage for a world]] [[MuggingTheMonster of hurt.]]
* PapaWolf: If any harm comes to Appa or Momo, you better pray you're not the one who did it. Otherwise, you'll have the Avatar in an UnstoppableRage.
* ParentalAbandonment: A weird case, as his parents are never seen, nor even ''mentioned''. It's like he was born out of thin air. Even if he did have parents, no chance that they survived the purge.
* PhysicalGod: By himself he's just a GodInHumanForm, but if you manage to push him into the [[SuperMode Avatar State]], you've lost the fight, if not your ''life''. Only [[spoiler: Azula]] has managed to beat him while he's in it, and [[spoiler: that's only because she sneak-attacked him in the back while he was transforming.]] The most ''generous'' way to describe his final fight in the GrandFinale would be as a CurbStompBattle.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: Notes in the art book indicate that Aang is only 4 and a half feet tall, but he is still one of the most powerful benders alive.
* PlayingWithFire: Once he learned how to use firebending. He was initially reluctant to learn this at first, thinking of fire as evil, but he was eventually able to learn a different form of firebending that focuses on life.
* ThePollyanna: Usually remains cheery and upbeat in spite of the CrapsackWorld he lives in.
* PowerFloats: When he enters the Avatar State.
* PowerGlows: [[SoGoodWeMentionedItTwice When he enters the Avatar State.]]
* PowerStrainBlackout: At first, activating the Avatar state left him weak and visibly exhausted. As the series went on, this disappeared.
* PowerTattoo: Arrow tattoos to denote his mastery of airbending, which glow when he uses his Avatar powers.
* PrimaryColorChampion: He has a blue arrow tattoo, and starts off with orange and yellow clothing. This is later replaced with a dark orange robe.
* RazorWind: [[MemeticMutation Airbending slice!]] Although Aang rarely uses this side of Airbending and almost never on a living being, in a moment of rage after losing Appa in Season 2 he coldly bisects a fleeing vulture-wasp that had tried to eat Momo.
* RecklessPacifist: Sure, he'd never kill anyone directly, but his collateral damage record is hard to ignore.
%%* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Zuko's red (during their training).
* RefusalOfTheCall: Discovering that he was the Avatar pretty much ruined his life, as everyone saw the PhysicalGod and not the twelve-year old that desperately needed companionship. Running from it resulted in his life being ''completely'' ruined, as he SleptThroughTheApocalypse of his people.
* {{Reincarnation}}: Of the previous Avatars, most recently, Roku.
* {{Retcon}}: The main series never explained what the Avatar State was or what made the avatar so special. Only a tie-in game briefly spoke of The Avatar being the spirit of the planet in a human body. ''Legend of Korra'' book 2 then spent a two-parter establishing that the Avatars (Roku, Aang, Korra herself etc.) are all basically {{Heroic Host}}s for Raava, the spirit of light and peace, and when the current host dies, Raava takes them with her to the next one.
* RookieRedRanger: Played with, while Aang is certainly the youngest and most naive member of his team he is also the most worldly and the most experienced combatant.
* SadClown: His cheerful exterior and fun-loving personality is a way to cope and ignore the guilt he feels for running away from his home and people and getting frozen, allowing the Fire Nation to wage war for a century, wiping out his people. He finally faces his guilt later on when he's mentored by Guru Pathik.
* SarcasmBlind: There have been times when Sokka, and in one instance Zuko, have used sarcasm only for Aang to miss it completely. One particularly notable instance is when Aang is confiding in Sokka about his struggles with learning earthbending, while Sokka is stuck in a hole, and describes his situation using words that perfectly and literally describe Sokka's predicament. Sokka lampshades it using sarcasm, which goes completely over Aang's head.
* ScarsAreForever: Suffers a permanent scar on his back from being shot with lightning by Azula. He also has one on the sole of his left foot, where the lightning left his body.
* SealedBadassInACan: As he proves eventually afterwards.
* SealedGoodInACan: Unsealed in the series premiere.
* SecondLove: For Katara, since Jet was her first.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The sweet, playful Sensitive Guy to sarcastic, grounded Sokka's Manly Man.
* ShirtlessScene: Frequently in Season 3. Aang has a perfectly good shirt he could be wearing... he just chooses not to. Because all the fire he has to deal with would burn his clothes off if he did. Clothes just don't play well with fire.
* SickeninglySweethearts: With Katara in ''The Promise'' and ''The Search''. All the cuddling and petnames give Sokka 'oogies'.
* SimpleStaff: His WeaponOfChoice. When he has to improvise with a spear he even breaks off the head.
* SingleTargetSexuality: Showed interest in Katara and ONLY Katara from the moment he met her.
* SkilledButNaive: Extremely skilled, master airbender and skilled in the other three bending arts as well, but he's extremely (often willfully) blind to how the world is. He spent most of the last season hemming and hawing over being confronted with the idea that he would have to kill Ozai. Before it was thrown right in his face he never considered that it would take more than just beating the guy in a fight to magically solve every problem in the world.
* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: He entombed himself and Appa in an iceberg and as a result missed ThePurge of his people. At one point, he has a nightmare about missing the Fire Nation invasion.
* SoulPower: [[spoiler:Energybending which can remove bending from a bender.]]
* SphereOfPower: During the series finale he creates a sphere of air around himself, and supplements it with other elements. Provides the picture for that page, in fact.
* StockShonenHero: {{Zigzagged|Trope}}. Due to the anime influence of the series, Aang plays much of the trope straight. However he also inverts many core aspects of the trope (such as being calmer than the norm and not being a BigEater).
* SuperMode: The Avatar State.
* SuperpowerLottery: Can learn all types of bending, not just his native one. He masters the basics very quickly thanks to his millennia of experience through past lives, and has a defense mechanism that sends him into SuperMode.
* SuperSpeed: He can give himself a boost with a tailwind, thanks to his airbending.
* SurvivorGuilt: From the Air Nomad Genocide.
-->'''Aang:''' "The Fire Nation attacked our temple. My people needed me, and I wasn't there to help."
* TeacherStudentRomance: Katara was his (second) waterbending instructor and they became an OfficialCouple in the series finale.
* TeensAreShort: According to the art book, he's about 4 1/2 feet. For comparison, Katara is not even 5' and she's still about a head taller than Aang.
* ThouShaltNotKill: This becomes a plot point in the finale, where he's torn up by the possibility that [[GodzillaThreshold he will have to kill Ozai for the good of the world]].
* TookALevelInBadass: When first met, he is a scared boy who, from his perspective, just learned he was to be the Savior of the World and must leave home from the only man he knew as a father. Now the world is in danger and so he shirks his responsibilities. Less than a year later, he is a fully competent Avatar, Master of All the Elements. Even without using the Avatar State, he can hold his own against a super-powered Phoenix King Ozai. When he finally activates the Avatar State, it is a no holds contest.
* TooQualifiedToApply: A flashback in "The Storm" shows that after Aang was publicly revealed to be the Avatar the other airbender kids stopped playing competitive games with him because they felt he'd have an unfair advantage, even though his actual level of ability hadn't changed.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: "The Great Divide" reveals Aang has an intense liking towards egg custard in a tart.
* TranquilFury: When Aang enters the [[SuperMode Avatar State]], he seems perfectly serene. [[BerserkButton Unless he's in a raging fury instead.]]
* {{Troll}}: Becomes a rare benevolent one in "The Deserter". He trolls the HELL out of Admiral Zhao by using his lack of self-control against him. It's actually very effective: [[spoiler:Zhao accidentally destroys his entire fleet in the process.]]
* TurnTheOtherCheek: Being a pacifistic monk, he is inclined to do this. Unfortunately, this mindset is what makes learning earth bending so difficult.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: He's a 12 year old goofball with the ability to master all four elements and restore balance to the world. Not to mention that if you piss him off enough, he'll enter his UnstoppableRage superpowered [[SuperMode Avatar State]].
* UnstoppableRage: While in the [[SuperMode Avatar State]]. He's not quite unstoppable, just insanely powerful, and dying in that state would end the Avatar Cycle.
* UptownGuy: {{Zigzagged|Trope}}. While Aang is the Avatar (a position considered equal to or higher than royalty) fell in love with Katara (a girl from the struggling Southern Water Tribe). However, since Katara is the daughter of the Southern Tribe Chief, this technically makes her a princess.
* WaifFu: Aang is a GenderInvertedTrope of this. While Toph is about the same size as he is, she's much more smashy with her fighting technique. Aang is the lightest and smallest fighter in the whole series, whose biggest physical talent lies in a fighting style that emphasizes speed and grace. Naturally, being the avatar, he can kick more butt than anyone else on the show.
* WalkingDisasterArea: Because of the Fire Nation's SternChase.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: In the later half of Season 3.
* WarriorMonk: All Airbenders are this.
* WeakButSkilled: Aang could be considered this, especially before he learns the other Bending skills. Airbending itself mostly relies on evading. Bumi taunts him with this;
-->'''Bumi:''' Typical Airbender tactics, avoid and evade. I was hoping the Avatar would be a little less *kicks a rock at the Avatar* '''PREDICTABLE'''.
* WeaponTwirling: A {{Justified}} version, since he uses his staff to create wind attacks (or defenses) this way.
* WideEyedIdealist: Aang starts off this way. But being shouldered with the weight of the Avatar Spirit, his entire people dying, Appa's kidnapping and the horrors of war quickly got rid of it.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Katara. TheyDo.
* WiseBeyondHisYears: Balances this out by being a WideEyedIdealist as well.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Aang isn't evil or villainous in any way, but it is scary when he gets upset and goes into the Avatar State.
->'''Voiced by:''' Zach Tyler Eisen (original), René Pinochet (Latin American Spanish)\\
\\
"There's just too many of them. I can't fight them all... I'm just one kid."
The twelve-year-old (well, [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld technically a hundred-and-twelve-year old]]) plucky [[BlowYouAway Airbending]] boy destined to save the world. When he learned of his status as [[TheChosenOne the Avatar]], followed by the monks trying to take him from his teacher/father figure, he couldn't handle the pressure and ran away from home. When he was caught in a storm, he defensively used his powers to seal himself in an iceberg, which protected him for a century while the other Air Nomads were exterminated by the Fire Nation in an effort to kill him. After being freed from the iceberg by Katara and Sokka, he now must face his destiny by mastering all four elements and defeating [[EvilOverlord Fire Lord Ozai]] to restore balance to the world.
For tropes applying to the Avatar entity in general, [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbender return]] to the main Character page.
----
* EleventhHourSuperpower: Energybending is a skill Aang learned in the last part of Season 3. Also [[spoiler:one could argue his chakra becoming unblocked during the fight with Ozai (allowing Aang to enter the Avatar State again).]]
* TheAce: The youngest airbending master in history [[spoiler:(before [[GenerationXerox his granddaughter Jinora]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra bested him at 11]])]] and quite smart about different cultures or spiritual matters.
* AchillesHeel: While going into the [[SuperMode Avatar State]] makes him the [[PhysicalGod most powerful character in the series,]] it also makes him very [[GlassCannon vulnerable]]. Because the Avatar State pulls all the spirits of the former Avatars -- that is, the entire spirit that ''is'' the Avatar -- into one body at the same time, dying while in the state means the Avatar spirit would die, the chain of reincarnation would break, and the Avatar would cease to exist.
* {{Adorkable}}: Aang is a goofy, smiling kid who has a [[{{Keet}} ton of energy.]] There's also his crush on Katara.
* AdrenalineMakeover: Compare [[http://piandao.org/screenshots/water/water9/water9-227.jpg Aang's first season look]] to his [[http://piandao.org/screenshots/fire/fire10/fire10-928.jpg third season look.]]
* AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength: He is haunted by how scary and destructive he can be when he's in Avatar State; being that he's a pacifist by nature and upbringing, it's very justified. In the episode he even says "I was scary" referring to the Avatar State.
* AllLovingHero: He has a love and respect for all life, including those of his enemies.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: {{Zig Zagged}}. While he's still a definite nice guy, Aang was this as well, being just a child and wanting to always get to the cool stuff. His first attempt at firebending fails because he stopped his "control the fire" to make more fire, and burned Katara. This seems to only apply to firebending, though. When it comes to airbending and waterbending, he's highly spiritual, and doesn't really like fighting much. And he doesn't like bending earth at all.
* TheAtoner: He wants to stop the Fire Nation not only because it's his job as the Avatar, but also because he wants to atone not being there for his people when the Fire Nation ambushed them.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: In the first episode, he's more interested in chasing a penguin than finding out what happened while he was frozen in the iceberg.
* AuthorAvatar: The first character conceived by Bryke. He was designed by Bryan to have his philosophical outlook but to have the appearance of Mike. This is especially true for his adult version in LegendOfKorra.
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: Aang is the youngest and most innocent member of Team Avatar.
* BackFromTheDead: With a dose of OnlyMostlyDead since Katara got to him in time.
* BackToBackBadasses:
** With the Blue Spirit.
** A subtle one with Zuko, in the climax of "The Firebending Masters."
* BadassAdorable: Total ass kicking hero with elemental kung fu, looks adorably huggable.
* BadassInDistress: PlayedForLaughs in "Avatar Day," where Aang is wearing a heavy wooden stock. Not only does it not fit him, but he's able to casually slip out of it while chatting with the other prisoners. Note that he also does this in "The Earth King" by dismantling the earth-handcuffs to wave at the king.
* BadassPacifist: Aang has demonstrated on separate occasions to be capable of avoiding violence while stopping said violence.
** In "The Great Divide", he stopped the feuding clans by lying.
** Aang managed to one-up the resident [[TheBully bully]] in "The Headbands" by simply evading his punches.
** The series finale had him defeat [[BigBad Ozai]] [[spoiler:by taking away his bending.]]
* BaldOfAwesome: All of the MartialPacifist airbenders shave their head. Naturally, this includes Aang [[spoiler:except during the first half of the third season, when he was hiding his identity.]]
* BattleCouple: Downplayed with Katara. They are a couple and both of them fight but rarely side-by-side.
* BerserkButton: He hates it when he feels that his culture is being mocked.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's one of the most genuinely kind, empathetic, and gentle individuals in all of fiction. He can also throw hurricanes, tidal waves, and mountain ranges around like softballs.
** Case in point, when the buzzard-wasp kidnapped Momo, Aang rescued him and then, with nothing but [[TranquilFury pure cold-blooded anger]] in his eyes and no hesitation at all, [[OutofCharacterMoment killed]] the buzzard-wasp as it was retreating. He also [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar beheaded]] it. Aang has indirectly killed many mooks before but this was the only on-screen death in the series. This wasn't Avatar State. It was all Aang.
** If you hurt his friends, if you harm people for profit, if you are callous in the face of human suffering in his presence, you'd better pray to all the spirits in the world that Katara is around with a CooldownHug, because there's no telling what he'll do when his rage unleashes his Avatar State.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: He's a goofy and fun-loving kid, but if you mess with his friends, you'll likely regret it afterwards.
* BigGood: By default, he is this, but secures this status after becoming a fully-realized Avatar.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Katara. Both are extremely optimistic people who keep that outlook while also becoming more realistic due to CharacterDevelopment. They are [[ChildProdigy child prodigies]] in their own field (Aang in Airbending and becoming the youngest Fully Realized Avatar, Katara becoming a Waterbending master at only 14). They have a ChronicHeroSyndrome tendency, [[NiceGuy are incredibly nice individuals]], but can be '''''[[BewareTheNiceOnes terrifying]]''''' when pushed too far. They even share a similair trait of being more [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] when it comes to a personal topic.
* BlessedWithSuck: Sure, he's the Avatar, a godlike human being who can manipulate all four elements to balance out the world. Sure, he's the bridge between the Spirit World and the regular world. Yeah, okay, he's the spirit of the planet all rolled into one dude. His past lives worked out just fine being the Avatar. Unfortunately for Aang, he doesn't get to wait until his 16th birthday to be told that he's the Avatar. Nope, some grumpy old dudes tell him when he's ''twelve'' because they fear a war is soon to break out. They make plans to take Aang away from his guardian, so Aang runs away...and gets frozen inside an iceberg for 100 years while a war sweeps across the world while he's gone. Then when he gets out of the iceberg, he has to fix everything! By himself! With a bunch of scary guys trying to capture him! And he's 12. Plus, the first thing he learns about the new world he's entered is that he is [[LastOfHisKind the only Air Nomad left]] since all of the others were wiped out by the Fire Nation in the opening moves of the war, who were the priority targets due to having the Avatar. Finally, there's what comes with being the Avatar: [[AllYourPowersCombined the ability to draw on the power and experiences of all past Avatars]]. It seems good... But until Aang learns how to control it the Avatar State manifests when he's in grave danger or furious beyond control, has the power of an EldritchAbomination and absolutely no care for collateral damage. There is a ''good'' reason why Aang had nightmares about the Avatar State for a while... Additionally, whereas every other Avatar (that we know of) had years to learn how to bend all the elements (a task that usually takes roughly a ''decade'' - Roku started at 16 and finished in his twenties, Korra started prepubescent and finished in her late teens), Aang has less than one year. Oh, and even after he can control the Avatar State there's a downside (for the world, at least): if he dies while in it, the Avatar Cycle is broken. No more Avatar. And given he's the spirit of the ''world'' and that killing the spirit of the moon made the moon disappear until it was resurrected...
* BlindfoldedVision: Toph trains Aang to see like her this way.
* BlitheSpirit: Aang acts as one of these in "The Headband" when he becomes accidentally enrolled in a straight-laced Fire Nation school. And being the friendly, world-traveling free spirit he is, he won't settle for anything less than throwing everyone a dance party. Yes, that's a reference to ''{{Film/Footloose}}''.
* BlowYouAway: He's primarily an Airbender, and recognized as a master, denoted by the tattoos.
* ABoyAndHisX: A Boy and His Flying Bison and Winged Lemur.
** For the former, Appa was Aang's loyal pet and friend, as well as Team Avatar's primary means of travel. Aang first met Appa at the Eastern Air Temple when the latter was just a calf during a customary event where all airbender children are paired with a flying bison for life. After Aang offered an apple to Appa, the young sky bison seemed to bond with him immediately, affectionately licking his face. Aang loved his fellow survivor of a century of sleep, noting that they could both be the last of their kind.
** For the latter, Aang discovered Momo, a winged lemur, while wandering about the ruins of the Southern Air Temple. Aang quickly claimed him as a pet and named him Momo. He also seemed protective of Momo, as seen when he struck a buzzard wasp in order to protect him. This was shown during his final battle with Ozai, as Aang told Momo, the only one that accompanied him when he ventured onto the lion turtle, to stay far away from the scene of the fight.
* BreakTheCutie: Starts as a naive and innocent child. By the end, he has seen too much tragedy and heart-ache to be either.
* BrilliantButLazy: His ''only'' major setbacks in learning water and fire seemed to be his childlike lack of focus.
* BrokenAce: The most talented bender of his age group, [[CursedWithAwesome but he never wanted to be the Avatar.]]
* BrokenBird: Briefly becomes this after Appa's kidnapping in Book 2.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: {{Downplayed}} with Katara. While Aang still remains mellow and optimistic even after CharacterDevelopment, he does suffer moments that cause him great emotional turmoil (i.e., learning the genocide of his people, Appa's kidnapping, feeling useless after the events of Book 2). In those moments, Katara is there to give him {{Cooldown Hug}}s and pep talks about remaining hopeful. They switch roles when Katara takes on a SheWhoFightsMonsters mentality after Zuko reveals he can help her find her mother's murderer, and while Aang doesn't force her to stop, he does give advise on how revenge will lead her down a wrong path.
* CharacterDevelopment: At the start, Aang is a happy-go-lucky, naive kid who doesn't want to be the Avatar. Going through numerous battles and trials, especially when Appa was kidnapped, took a toll on his carefree attitude. By the end, Aang became a more serious and mature young man who took his Avatar duties seriously. This is probably most noticeable when compared to his actor in the [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers "Ember Island Players"]] episode, as Actor!Aang always portrays him as happy-go-lucky and naive.
* CharacterTitle: The "last airbender" refers to Aang.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Most of Aang's speed and agility are shown to be from the use of his airbending, but he's also displayed feats of this trope that can't be attributed to it. While not as impressive as Zuko, he has done things like briefly BridalCarry Katara while jumping down a couple stories, and also once carry Zuko, despite both of them clearly being heavier than him and his thin build wouldn't hint he possessed that sort of strength. He's also fallen a few stories out of a tree, and got back up seconds later with no lasting injuries.
* CheerfulChild: Aang is initially bright, fun-loving and infectiously cheerful. [[CharacterDevelopment He matures over the course of the series]], but for the most part, retains his mellow upbeat attitude.
* ChickMagnet:
** [[PrecociousCrush Meng]] from "The Fortuneteller" and all of the young girls from "The Warriors of Kyoshi" were completely enthralled with him.
** Some of Aang's female "classmates" in "The Headband" thought he was quite charming.
** The tie-in comics showed that the Air Acolytes were initially a group of fangirls who had crushes on the Avatar.
** [[TheParagon Katara]] eventually realized that she had fallen in love with him and they became a couple.
* ChildMage: Mixed with KungFuKid due to the martial arts nature of bending.
* ChildProdigy: Usually it takes a couple years for a bender to attain mere competency of their element, and a lifetime to become a master. Not so for Aang, who became the youngest airbending master in recorded history and got a decent grip of the other three elements in ''less than a year''. At least part of his quick mastery of the other elements can be attributed to a time crunch, since he had to learn the three elements in less than a year or else the world would pretty much end.
* TheChosenOne: He's the Avatar, and it was his destiny to defeat the Fire Lord and stop the war that Sozin started.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Much to his allies' consternation, he's always digressing to do {{Sidequest}}s rather than focusing on his training and fleeing from the Fire Nation.
* ComesGreatResponsibility: Much of Aang's character development in the first episodes is learning that as the Avatar he has duties he can't avoid.
* CrazyJealousGuy: In the comic "Love is a Battlefield", he becomes violent towards Katara for refusing to be in a relationship with him by erupting a small volcano - despite his awareness of how firebending had hurt Katara in the past. In the episode "The Ember Island Players" he gets angered at the actor playing Katara because she is in love with Zuko. He lashes out at the real Katara and forcefully kisses her.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Aang was an example of this trope in the first episodes whenever he tapped into the Avatar State. CharacterDevelopment, a showcase of the fact that he is a master airbender, and the realization of how scary he is in the Avatar State contributes to the lessening of this carefree nature.
* CulturedBadass: He's quite knowledgeable with different cultures.
* CursedWithAwesome: Aang is initially upset at finding out he's the Avatar (and to be fair, the circumstances of the world shortly after he runs away do make the responsibility a pain). Still, you'd think that a 12 year old kid finding out that he could bend not just one, but ALL of the elements would be a little more excited. And as Avatar Roku mentions, being the Avatar doesn't hurt with the ladies.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: While he had a happy childhood with the Air Nomads, he made the fatal mistake of freaking out and running away from his responsibilities, ending up being frozen in ice for a century, and finally paying dearly for it when he discovers the corpse of his beloved mentor.
* DeadlyDodging: A fundamental part of Airbending because of their pacifistic nature.
* DeadpanSnarker: Surprisingly often, though it's usually subtle and good-natured. Other times when he's being sarcastic are when he's frustrated, or the time he [[YouFightLikeACow made Zhao angry enough]] so he would destroy his own fleet of ships.
-->(Aang is prying open a large drainpipe to the city of Omashu)\\
'''Sokka:''' A secret passage? Why didn't we just use this last time?\\
(A flood of sewage pours out and splashes Sokka)\\
'''Aang:''' Does that answer your question?
* DespairEventHorizon: Comes very near to it after Appa was kidnapped. [[HopeSpringsEternal He eventually got better.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: In the comic books set between ''The Last Airbender'' and ''The Legend of Korra''. With his main character arc completed, he tends to help out whoever is the main character of a particular arc get through their problems.
* DishingOutDirt: Once he learns Earthbending. It was the hardest for him to learn; being a native airbender, he found earth's direct, confrontational, and rigid discipline difficult to grasp.
* DistressedDude: The Fire Nation knows that if Aang is killed he'll simply reincarnate so their goal is to imprison him until he dies naturally.
* TheDitherer: On occasion when he gets overwhelmed by the hardship of his journey he'll play delinquent and go penguin sledding instead or undergo additional/superfluous training to avoid the issue.
* EarnedStripes: When airbenders are recognized as masters they are give blue arrow tattoos that follow chi lines from their forehead, to their hands and feet. Aang was one of the youngest to ever wear tattoos at age 12, [[spoiler:until his grand daughter Jinora earned them at age 11 in ''The Legend of Korra''.]]
* ElementalPowers: Hardly a rarity in this universe, but being the Avatar, Aang is the only person innately capable of mastering more than one.
* EntitledToHaveYou: Displays some of these traits along with being a (downplayed) CrazyJealousGuy. He tells Katara: "we kissed at the invasion and I thought we were going to be together" - when in actuality it was no "we" as it was not a mutual kiss. Aang gave Katara a ShutUpKiss which left her upset and confused. Katara not wanting to be in a relationship with him is what leads to him planting another ForcefulKiss on her, resulting in her running away in anger. Only in the finale do they share a mutual kiss, this time with Katara initiating it. The DVD commentary even [[WhatTheHellHero points out how selfish Aang was being]].
* EvilMeScaresMe: He says, "I was scary" when reflecting on the Avatar State. While not evil in any way, the Avatar state can be a terrifying experience both for the Avatar and the surrounding people.
* ExposedToTheElements: As a nomad Aang seems to be comfortable in his standard vestments in both the North and South Poles while other characters wear more layered clothes. ''The Legend of Korra'' reveals that Airbenders like Firebenders can keep themselves warm with breathing techniques.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Him growing hair between the second season finale and the third season premiere.
* FatalFlaw: Aang's flaw is his [[HonorBeforeReason conviction]]. He was raised as a dedicated pacifist, and though [[MartialPacifist he will fight if necessary,]] he won't kill. When his opponent is the BigBad who slaughtered Aang's people and oppresses the populace of two nations, this turns out to be a bad thing.
* TheFettered: Unlike Ozai, who refused to check himself with morality or compassion, Aang is extremely dedicated to his pacifist ideals and will go to great lengths to keep them.
* FirstGirlWins: [[InvertedTrope Gender Inverted]]. Aang is the first boy we see Katara meet and ultimately the one she gets with.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Needless to say, Aang is more than slightly overwhelmed about effectively disappearing from the world for the entirety of a century-long war that wiped out his society. Also, literally, as he was stuck in an iceberg for 100 years.
* FragileSpeedster: Like most Airbenders, his original fighting style involves speed, agility, and misdirection more than toughness, which is part of what makes it so hard for him to learn Earthbending, which typically involves [[NighInvulnerable enduring attacks rather than dodging them]]. By the end of the series he's a MasterOfAll.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: The Avatar has an innate connection to nature, and Aang is a vegetarian by choice.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: When he enters the Avatar State.
* GodInHumanForm: At base power, he's "merely" a talented bender housing the spirit of the planet. He falls into PhysicalGod when the [[SuperMode Avatar State]] is activated.
* GodOfGood: As the [[GodInHumanForm human form]] of an incredible spirit of light, he maintains equilibrium between the four nations, as well as between the physical and spirit worlds.
* GoodIsNotSoft: For of Aang's [[NiceGuy kind-heartedness and sweet demeanor]], when [[BerserkButton he gets pissed]], he turns into a cold, ruthless CreepyChild with GlowingEyesOfDoom and the VoiceOfTheLegion.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Sports permanent scars on his back and on the sole of his left foot after being killed by Azula's lightning and revived by Katara
* GrayEyes: To emphasize his mystical nature as the Avatar. Although gray eyes are a common Air Nomad trait, he stands out as the SoleSurvivor.
* GrowingUpSucks: {{Zig zagged}}. Aang has to rise to his responsibilities as the Avatar and leave his childhood behind early, [[IJustWantToBeNormal which he never wanted.]] He later expresses how his feelings with Katara are complicated for him, and Avatar Roku tells him that love gets better as you get older. Furthermore, for most of the story Katara is unsure of her feelings for him, because he has a lot of growing up to do in her eyes. Rising to the challenges of growing up, and displaying selflessness and maturity, win her over in the end.
* HeIsAllGrownUp: Before their battle with Fire Nation, Katara and Aang talk with the former telling the latter how much he has grown over the past year and he's not "the goofy kid she saved from an iceberg".
%% TheHero
* HeroicSafeMode: The [[SuperMode Avatar State]] isn't evil, but it's not necessarily good either. Its main concerns are Aang's survival, his rage and sorrow, and maintaining balance. Aang's morals and innocent bystanders are secondary considerations, at best. Luckily, it retains his crush on [[KidWithTheLeash Katara]], and she can calm it with {{Cooldown Hug}}s.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: In "The Desert", he is genuinely upset at Appa getting kidnapped and desperately tries to find him, but in turn, Aang becomes hostile and aggressive during his search.
* HonorBeforeReason: Was going to let himself be punished for a ''crime'' (that word being used loosely) Kyoshi committed two avatar cycles ago.
* HopeBringer: Lampshaded frequently by Katara.
* HumanPopsicle: Until Katara frees him from the iceberg.
* HumbleHero: Aang rarely "pulls the Avatar card" when asking for leniency, unless he needs to.
* HurtingHero: Aang is the last of his people alive and under tremendous pressure to save the world.
* {{Hypocrite}}: When attempting to master the Avatar state with Guru Pathik, at the end he's told that he needs to let go of his worldly attachments, but he thinks of Katara and refuses, unable to understand why he would want to do such a thing. During the series finale, when consulting past Avatars for their wisdom on whether or not [[spoiler:he should kill Ozai]] the last Avatar he consults is fellow air nomad Yangchen, confident that she'll understand his position: As an air nomad, he was raised to believe that, among other things, he should give up worldly attachments in order to achieve spiritual enlightenment. This quite clearly contradicts his earlier position: First he refuses to give up worldly attachments and then later argues in ''favor'' of the exact kind of spiritual enlightenment that he rejected before.
* AnIcePerson: Once he learns Waterbending, Aang is able to turn water into ice effortlessly.
* IGotBigger: Throughout the series, Aang's recurrent height is 4 1/2 feet, thus making him the second shortest member of Team Avatar. In the tie-in, sequel comics, Aang's height increases with Toph commenting on it
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Didn't want to be the Avatar and would rather have just been a normal kid.
* ImportantHaircut: After letting his hair grow out for the first half of Season 3, he shaves his head again for the big invasion.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: [[spoiler:Achieving this is what enables him to un-bend Ozai in the finale.]]
* TheInsomniac: In "Nightmares and Daydreams".
* InstantArmor: A favored tactic of his earthbending, [[IncrediblyLamePun suiting]] Aang's defensive nature. He uses it against Azula (twice), Combustion Man and Ozai.
* InstantExpert: Aang is able to learn basic waterbending and firebending extremely quickly, but his lack of focus prevents him from completely mastering any except airbending (which he started with).
* InstantFanclub: Has one on Kyoshi Island and in Ba Sing Se as well.
* InstantFlightJustAddSpinning: While Aang has the added advantage of airbending, he uses his Gliderstaff for this purpose numerous times.
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: Aang ''is'' this trope: he's a pacifist who openly shows his emotions and affections. Toph says this of Aang in "Ember Island Players".
* IShallTauntYou: Aang is an advocate of irritating enemies into making mistakes and creating openings.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Mainly during the series finale and stated as much by Yangchen. "Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world." He was willing to put the world at stake in favor of his own ideals in his refusal to kill Ozai because the airbenders taught him that all life is sacred (never mind that Gyatso's body was surrounded by the bodies of like twenty Fire Nation soldiers).
* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: Especially near the end of the show, when everyone is expecting him to kill Ozai.
* JackOfAllStats: He can control all 4 elements, but he is not the best with any of them, except air, since he is the last one alive. To be clear though, he is still a child and new to all 3 other forms of bending (the entire series taking place over about 3/4 of a year). Once he has had more time to practice and master them, it is expected that he will in fact be a master of all 4 and capable of outshining individuals from any school in their own specialty. While Toph and Katara both demonstrate mastery of their own schools which may edge out the inexperienced Aang at times, they have both been practicing those skills all their lives (also, Toph is explicitly an earth-bending prodigy while Katara is stated to be the most determined and hard-working student her water-bending master ever encountered). It has to be mentioned that Aang is a borderline case at best, since he is also the most powerful bender alive. Even without the Avatar State. Aang was a prodigious airbender even for avatar standards: he was already inventing new bending techniques without having any formal training or finding out he was the Avatar.
* JerkassBall:
** In "The Desert" after [[MoralityChain Appa]] was [[BerserkButton kidnapped]], Aang became [[JerkassWoobie hostile and aggressive out of desperation]]. However, in the next episode, he reverts into the HeroicSafeMode instead.
** Briefly, at the beginning of the finale, when it seems the only possible option for dealing with Ozai is to kill him. Aang starts snapping and yelling at everyone else to come up with another solution.
* TheJuggernaut: A rare heroic type. When he's in the Avatar state, do NOT be in his way. [[spoiler:The final battle between the Avatar-State Aang and the [[BigBad Phoenix King Ozai]]]] is definitely a great example of what happens when [[CurbStompBattle someone tries to fight the juggernaut.]]
* {{Keet}}: Is very energetic. He ''is'' only twelve.
* KidAppealCharacter: An energetic yellow-orange colored kid and the youngest member of the core team. He's balancing his love of having fun with responsibilities of his job and growing up. Despite this he's also TheHero, balancing out to KidHero below.
* KidHero: Essentially. Though going just by years he's 112, for a hundred of those years he was a HumanPopsicle.
* KingInTheMountain: While he's frozen in the iceberg.
* TheKirk: Often gets caught in between Sokka and Katara in Season 1.
* LastOfHisKind: The Fire Nation killed most, if not all, of the other Airbenders.
* LaughOfLove: He's a frequent cause of these:
** In "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheWarriorsOfKyoshi The Warriors of Kyoshi]]", Aang's {{fangirl}}s tend to giggle and squeal when they're with him, much to Katara's jealousy.
** In "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFortuneteller The Fortuneteller]]", [[PrecociousCrush Meng]] giggles when Aang catches her hands as she accidentally trips while carrying a tray full of snacks, and later when she admits that she's been [[StalkerWithACrush stalking him]].
** In "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheHeadband The Headband]]", two Fire Nation girls giggle when Aang, while dancing, gets very close to them before leaping away.
** He also sometimes laughs when with Katara, who sometimes reciprocates, [[spoiler:and they get together at the end of the series]].
* LightningBruiser: By the second season, Aang becomes this as he still is the quick on his feet but now has the destructive force of Earthbending.
* LikeASonToMe: Gyatso was the closest thing Aang had to a father; likewise Aang was the closest thing Gyatso had to a son.
* LivingRelic: Called as such by Professor Zei, though he's not as old as most examples.
* LoveAtFirstSight: It's implied, and later confirmed by 'Avatar Extras,' that Aang fell for Katara when he first saw her after being freed from the iceberg.
* MacGuffinSuperPerson: Aang is a textbook example, being hunted by every villainous force in the series.
* MagicalBoyfriend: Towards Katara. He's an energetic, kind, generous messiah-figure that helps her achieve everything she ever wanted to.
* MakingASplash: Once he learns Waterbending. He was able to pick up basic moves very quickly, though more advanced moves take more time compared to more adept waterbenders.
* ManicPixieDreamGuy: Interestingly, Aang is this to Katara, with him being the cheerful, quirky little thing who teaches the heroine to relax and have fun.
* MartialArtsHeadband: He has one in the third season to cover his arrow.
* MartialPacifist: It being the Airbender motto and all.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Feminine Boy to Toph's Masculine Girl. Aang is an easygoing, energetic, and non-confrontational MartialPacifist while Toph is a [[TheLadette bullheaded and casually violent brawler]] and former [[ProfessionalWrestling Professional Earthbender]] who is about Aang's (physical) age. Toph lampshades this in "Ember Island Player", and doesn't really think there's anything wrong with it.
* MasterOfOneMagic: He excels at Airbending, having invented at least one new technique for it and risen to the rank of master at a very young age. While he does master the other three elements, he never picks up the advanced techniques, such as healing, Bloodbending, Metalbending, or proper Lightning generation, though he is able to redirect lightning.
* MeaningfulName:
** Aang was written 安昂 , meaning "peaceful soaring" in Chinese and Vietnamese.
** The name Aang is similar to the Malaysian and Indonesian word ''angin'' and Filipino word ''hangin'', meaning "wind". Aang is also the Inuit word for "hello", which could be a reference to his friendly nature.
* MessianicArchetype: Being a GodInHumanForm, a natural pacifist, and even [[spoiler:temporarily dying at the end of Book 2]] clearly paints him as one of these.
* MyGreatestFailure:
** Aang feels tremendous guilt over not being there for the Air Nomads when the Fire Nation attacked.
** He feels great shame for accidentally burning Katara's hands because of his careless firebending.
* NatureSpirit: Subverted, actually. Though the Avatar was originally suggested to be this, as per ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' he's actually just a normal human that has a spirit of light bonded with him.
* NiceGuy: Aang is peaceful, fun-loving, polite, respects all life (including enemies), and is respectful of the cultures of others.
* NiceHat: He has a few that he wears over the course of the series, mostly when he needs to hide his arrow.
* NotWearingPantsDream: Happened when he began to stress over facing Ozai in Book 3.
* OffhandBackhand: Aang does this ''to a rock'' while riding Appa and again to Sokka with earthbending while blindfolded.
* OfficialCouple: With Katara.
* OlderThanHeLooks: Due to being frozen for a hundred years he's actually 112.
* OneManArmy: He's the Avatar after all.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Aang is the only one who can fight Ozai, though not for the usual reasons for this trope. Simply having just anyone defeat Ozai doesn't guarantee an end to the war, because it would result in even more war and conflict. Since Aang is TheChosenOne, defeating Ozai would be an act of divine providence and a signal that he was in the right.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Aang is usually a very happy-go-lucky kid. He's very peaceful and spiritual, and has stated repeatedly that he doesn't eat meat. Then in [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheDesert "The Desert"]], his best friend and pet since he was a kid, Appa, is stolen by Sandbenders. The normally cheerful Aang spends the entire episode being cranky, aggressive, and angry. He even kills a wasp-buzzard that tried to take one of his other friends even after the threat it posed was gone. When they run into the Sandbenders who stole Appa, you know [[PhysicalGod they're in]] [[UnstoppableRage for a world]] [[MuggingTheMonster of hurt.]]
* PapaWolf: If any harm comes to Appa or Momo, you better pray you're not the one who did it. Otherwise, you'll have the Avatar in an UnstoppableRage.
* ParentalAbandonment: A weird case, as his parents are never seen, nor even ''mentioned''. It's like he was born out of thin air. Even if he did have parents, no chance that they survived the purge.
* PhysicalGod: By himself he's just a GodInHumanForm, but if you manage to push him into the [[SuperMode Avatar State]], you've lost the fight, if not your ''life''. Only [[spoiler: Azula]] has managed to beat him while he's in it, and [[spoiler: that's only because she sneak-attacked him in the back while he was transforming.]] The most ''generous'' way to describe his final fight in the GrandFinale would be as a CurbStompBattle.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: Notes in the art book indicate that Aang is only 4 and a half feet tall, but he is still one of the most powerful benders alive.
* PlayingWithFire: Once he learned how to use firebending. He was initially reluctant to learn this at first, thinking of fire as evil, but he was eventually able to learn a different form of firebending that focuses on life.
* ThePollyanna: Usually remains cheery and upbeat in spite of the CrapsackWorld he lives in.
* PowerFloats: When he enters the Avatar State.
* PowerGlows: [[SoGoodWeMentionedItTwice When he enters the Avatar State.]]
* PowerStrainBlackout: At first, activating the Avatar state left him weak and visibly exhausted. As the series went on, this disappeared.
* PowerTattoo: Arrow tattoos to denote his mastery of airbending, which glow when he uses his Avatar powers.
* PrimaryColorChampion: He has a blue arrow tattoo, and starts off with orange and yellow clothing. This is later replaced with a dark orange robe.
* RazorWind: [[MemeticMutation Airbending slice!]] Although Aang rarely uses this side of Airbending and almost never on a living being, in a moment of rage after losing Appa in Season 2 he coldly bisects a fleeing vulture-wasp that had tried to eat Momo.
* RecklessPacifist: Sure, he'd never kill anyone directly, but his collateral damage record is hard to ignore.
%%* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Zuko's red (during their training).
* RefusalOfTheCall: Discovering that he was the Avatar pretty much ruined his life, as everyone saw the PhysicalGod and not the twelve-year old that desperately needed companionship. Running from it resulted in his life being ''completely'' ruined, as he SleptThroughTheApocalypse of his people.
* {{Reincarnation}}: Of the previous Avatars, most recently, Roku.
* {{Retcon}}: The main series never explained what the Avatar State was or what made the avatar so special. Only a tie-in game briefly spoke of The Avatar being the spirit of the planet in a human body. ''Legend of Korra'' book 2 then spent a two-parter establishing that the Avatars (Roku, Aang, Korra herself etc.) are all basically {{Heroic Host}}s for Raava, the spirit of light and peace, and when the current host dies, Raava takes them with her to the next one.
* RookieRedRanger: Played with, while Aang is certainly the youngest and most naive member of his team he is also the most worldly and the most experienced combatant.
* SadClown: His cheerful exterior and fun-loving personality is a way to cope and ignore the guilt he feels for running away from his home and people and getting frozen, allowing the Fire Nation to wage war for a century, wiping out his people. He finally faces his guilt later on when he's mentored by Guru Pathik.
* SarcasmBlind: There have been times when Sokka, and in one instance Zuko, have used sarcasm only for Aang to miss it completely. One particularly notable instance is when Aang is confiding in Sokka about his struggles with learning earthbending, while Sokka is stuck in a hole, and describes his situation using words that perfectly and literally describe Sokka's predicament. Sokka lampshades it using sarcasm, which goes completely over Aang's head.
* ScarsAreForever: Suffers a permanent scar on his back from being shot with lightning by Azula. He also has one on the sole of his left foot, where the lightning left his body.
* SealedBadassInACan: As he proves eventually afterwards.
* SealedGoodInACan: Unsealed in the series premiere.
* SecondLove: For Katara, since Jet was her first.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The sweet, playful Sensitive Guy to sarcastic, grounded Sokka's Manly Man.
* ShirtlessScene: Frequently in Season 3. Aang has a perfectly good shirt he could be wearing... he just chooses not to. Because all the fire he has to deal with would burn his clothes off if he did. Clothes just don't play well with fire.
* SickeninglySweethearts: With Katara in ''The Promise'' and ''The Search''. All the cuddling and petnames give Sokka 'oogies'.
* SimpleStaff: His WeaponOfChoice. When he has to improvise with a spear he even breaks off the head.
* SingleTargetSexuality: Showed interest in Katara and ONLY Katara from the moment he met her.
* SkilledButNaive: Extremely skilled, master airbender and skilled in the other three bending arts as well, but he's extremely (often willfully) blind to how the world is. He spent most of the last season hemming and hawing over being confronted with the idea that he would have to kill Ozai. Before it was thrown right in his face he never considered that it would take more than just beating the guy in a fight to magically solve every problem in the world.
* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: He entombed himself and Appa in an iceberg and as a result missed ThePurge of his people. At one point, he has a nightmare about missing the Fire Nation invasion.
* SoulPower: [[spoiler:Energybending which can remove bending from a bender.]]
* SphereOfPower: During the series finale he creates a sphere of air around himself, and supplements it with other elements. Provides the picture for that page, in fact.
* StockShonenHero: {{Zigzagged|Trope}}. Due to the anime influence of the series, Aang plays much of the trope straight. However he also inverts many core aspects of the trope (such as being calmer than the norm and not being a BigEater).
* SuperMode: The Avatar State.
* SuperpowerLottery: Can learn all types of bending, not just his native one. He masters the basics very quickly thanks to his millennia of experience through past lives, and has a defense mechanism that sends him into SuperMode.
* SuperSpeed: He can give himself a boost with a tailwind, thanks to his airbending.
* SurvivorGuilt: From the Air Nomad Genocide.
-->'''Aang:''' "The Fire Nation attacked our temple. My people needed me, and I wasn't there to help."
* TeacherStudentRomance: Katara was his (second) waterbending instructor and they became an OfficialCouple in the series finale.
* TeensAreShort: According to the art book, he's about 4 1/2 feet. For comparison, Katara is not even 5' and she's still about a head taller than Aang.
* ThouShaltNotKill: This becomes a plot point in the finale, where he's torn up by the possibility that [[GodzillaThreshold he will have to kill Ozai for the good of the world]].
* TookALevelInBadass: When first met, he is a scared boy who, from his perspective, just learned he was to be the Savior of the World and must leave home from the only man he knew as a father. Now the world is in danger and so he shirks his responsibilities. Less than a year later, he is a fully competent Avatar, Master of All the Elements. Even without using the Avatar State, he can hold his own against a super-powered Phoenix King Ozai. When he finally activates the Avatar State, it is a no holds contest.
* TooQualifiedToApply: A flashback in "The Storm" shows that after Aang was publicly revealed to be the Avatar the other airbender kids stopped playing competitive games with him because they felt he'd have an unfair advantage, even though his actual level of ability hadn't changed.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: "The Great Divide" reveals Aang has an intense liking towards egg custard in a tart.
* TranquilFury: When Aang enters the [[SuperMode Avatar State]], he seems perfectly serene. [[BerserkButton Unless he's in a raging fury instead.]]
* {{Troll}}: Becomes a rare benevolent one in "The Deserter". He trolls the HELL out of Admiral Zhao by using his lack of self-control against him. It's actually very effective: [[spoiler:Zhao accidentally destroys his entire fleet in the process.]]
* TurnTheOtherCheek: Being a pacifistic monk, he is inclined to do this. Unfortunately, this mindset is what makes learning earth bending so difficult.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: He's a 12 year old goofball with the ability to master all four elements and restore balance to the world. Not to mention that if you piss him off enough, he'll enter his UnstoppableRage superpowered [[SuperMode Avatar State]].
* UnstoppableRage: While in the [[SuperMode Avatar State]]. He's not quite unstoppable, just insanely powerful, and dying in that state would end the Avatar Cycle.
* UptownGuy: {{Zigzagged|Trope}}. While Aang is the Avatar (a position considered equal to or higher than royalty) fell in love with Katara (a girl from the struggling Southern Water Tribe). However, since Katara is the daughter of the Southern Tribe Chief, this technically makes her a princess.
* WaifFu: Aang is a GenderInvertedTrope of this. While Toph is about the same size as he is, she's much more smashy with her fighting technique. Aang is the lightest and smallest fighter in the whole series, whose biggest physical talent lies in a fighting style that emphasizes speed and grace. Naturally, being the avatar, he can kick more butt than anyone else on the show.
* WalkingDisasterArea: Because of the Fire Nation's SternChase.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: In the later half of Season 3.
* WarriorMonk: All Airbenders are this.
* WeakButSkilled: Aang could be considered this, especially before he learns the other Bending skills. Airbending itself mostly relies on evading. Bumi taunts him with this;
-->'''Bumi:''' Typical Airbender tactics, avoid and evade. I was hoping the Avatar would be a little less *kicks a rock at the Avatar* '''PREDICTABLE'''.
* WeaponTwirling: A {{Justified}} version, since he uses his staff to create wind attacks (or defenses) this way.
* WideEyedIdealist: Aang starts off this way. But being shouldered with the weight of the Avatar Spirit, his entire people dying, Appa's kidnapping and the horrors of war quickly got rid of it.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Katara. TheyDo.
* WiseBeyondHisYears: Balances this out by being a WideEyedIdealist as well.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Aang isn't evil or villainous in any way, but it is scary when he gets upset and goes into the Avatar State.
