History ComicBook / AvatarTheLastAirbenderImbalance

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Subverted and in fact this is one of the reasons why Aang [[spoiler:doesn't debend Liling. For one, it wouldn't change the minds of the pro benders movement and if they did follow the law, it would be out of fear about what the Avatar could do to them. Second is that Liling wouldn't actually learn from spirit bending, and instead would view it was a FateWorseThanDeath. With that said, Aang lets the Cranefish government decide Liling's punishment: display her and Yaling in a cage outside the factories, as an example of what happens to murderous leaders]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Just like the real industrial revolution, the creation of machines to replace jobs that previously required human workers leads to a massive job shortage, with many of those out of work forced to turn to crime. Satoru highlights this from the business man's perspective: Noting that because of the improvements made to technology, he had no reason to keep the benders around and spend money on them, yet he never intended to put people out on the streets.
** Change occurs, but change is constant. What was once a blessing for a small town to prosper ended up turning it into a WretchedHive because of the sudden downturn in employment thanks to Satoru. Yes, change was going to occur, but not all of it is good; especially as a town can go from the top of the heap to down in the dumps in less than a few years.
** Though much more prevalent in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', it was only going to be a matter of time before people with the ability to shoot fire or throw rocks at whim would start to use their abilites as leverage and superiority over those who can't. Despite the practice growing traction, Chi Blocking isn't widely used or readily available to non-combatants and it's difficult to stand up to benders who can cause massive damage at whim.
** [[spoiler: Aang realizes that it would've been easy to energybend away the power of Liling; but doing so would've been fruitless; for the racism she spouted wasn't only hers but shared by hundreds of benders and it would've been nearly despotic to remove the bending of hundreds of people, fueling their rage even more so. The bigotry of the people is awful; but it's something that can only be changed by changing the minds and hearts of the people; and brute force wasn't going to solve that problem.]]

* NiceHat: Sokka kept his favorite hat and the Wang Fire Beard. Katara begins to wonder if he's got a hoarding problem.

* VaguenessIsComing: Liling, before her defeat yells at Aang that even if she is stopped, the ideology she already started will not end with her.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Downplayed. Liling's anger is at a king too weak. She thinks that it's because he can't bend that he can't lead his nation effectively. Liling's got no clue exactly how dangerous and capable the likes of Azula and Ozai are. She doesn't and possibly won't understand that even if Kuei could bend, he'd still have lost against them. Also, by that point, Long Feng had already staged a coup against him, and Long Feng was a nonbender.

* AbsenteeActor: Zuko is the only member of the Gaang not to appear in this trilogy, but it's Justified since his duties as Fire Lord keep him busy.

* RealityEnsues: Just like the real industrial revolution, the creation of machines to replace jobs that previously required human workers leads to a massive job shortage, with many of those out of work forced to turn to crime. Satoru highlights this from the business man's perspective: Noting that because of the improvements made to technology, he had no reason to keep the benders around and spend money on them, yet he never intended to put people out on the streets.
** Change occurs, but change is constant. What was once a blessing for a small town to prosper ended up turning it into a WretchedHive because of the sudden downturn in employment thanks to Satoru. Yes, change was going to occur, but not all of it is good; especially as a town can go from the top of the heap to down in the dumps in less than a few years.
** Though much more prevalent in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', it was only going to be a matter of time before people with the ability to shoot fire or throw rocks at whim would start to use their abilites as leverage and superiority over those who can't. Despite the practice growing traction, Chi Blocking isn't widely used or readily available to non-combatants and it's difficult to stand up to benders who can cause massive damage at whim.
** [[spoiler: Aang realizes that it would've been easy to energybend away the power of Liling; but doing so would've been fruitless; for the racism she spouted wasn't only hers but shared by hundreds of benders and it would've been nearly despotic to remove the bending of hundreds of people, fueling their rage even more so. The bigotry of the people is awful; but it's something that can only be changed by changing the minds and hearts of the people; and brute force wasn't going to solve that problem.]]

* MisplacedRetribution: Liling's angry that Kuei had let Ba Sing Se fall against the Fire Nation and therefore wants to vanquish the non-benders, whom remind her of weakness like that of Kuei. However, Liling is also underestimating the strength of Azula and Ozai and doesn't have the full picture of what Kuei was up against. She doesn't realize or accept that a man like Kuei would've stood no chance against the likes of Azula or Ozai and would've fallen anyway. Also, it was Long Feng, a nonbender, who betrayed Kuei first.

* AscendedMeme: There was a long standing joke about Toph having so many statues because she just went around building them and nobody would stop her. Imbalance begins this trend.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Aang has an especially hard time resolving this conflict because there's no real bad guy to fight, just an unfortunate situation where two sides have their own justified desires that simply can't both exist at once. Case in point, the benders have been using their abilities to harass and rob from non-benders and other benders as well. The non-benders don't even feel safe walking down the streets; but an outright ban on bending in the city will serve nothing but to antagonize the benders further, not to mention in the Avatar Universe, removing bending from a bender is like removing a vital limb.
** As mentioned in the point above, Toph argues that taking her bending away would stop her in her tracks quickly. Katara points out that Liling is not the same as Ozai and doesn't deserve that degree of punishment; and that, arguably, her taking her bending won't stop the silver tongue, nor would it affect other benders who would see that as a slight and more discrimination against them; something Toph thinks will stop cold in its tracks if Liling is stopped, here and now.

* IdiotBall: Toph threatens to arrest Liling for the incident... by herself in a room full of benders spoiling for a fight. It's by sheer miracle they manage to lock her up.

* KickTheDog: For someone who came off as quite a smug looking threat, Ru really seems to take a verbal and emotional beating in the second book.

* ManipulativeBastard: Liling does quite a fine job of not only getting the town whipped up into a frenzy the Avatar might not be able to fix; but also able to turn the benders against him by a few choice questions that already prey on the benders' frustration.

* MisplacedRetribution: Liling's angry that Kuei had let Ba Sing Se fall against the Fire Nation and therefore wants to vanquish the non-benders, whom remind her of weakness like that of Kuei. However, Liling is also underestimating the strength of Azula and Ozai and doesn't have the full picture of what Kuei was up against. She doesn't realize or accept that a man like Kuei would've stood no chance against the likes of Azula or Ozai and would've fallen anyway.

* ParentalFavoritism: Liling tends to have more respect for her Earthbender daughter than she does for Ru, the non-bender. Ru doesn't take it very well though still does what she's told.

* ShamingTheMob: Toph tells Aang that [[spoiler: taking away Liling's bending might be the best way to get the benders to calm down]].
* TheSocialExpert: Aside from being a strong Earthbender, Liling has quite a silver tongue and can use it to manipulate the benders into violent bigots.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Downplayed. Liling's anger is at a king too weak. She thinks that it's because he can't bend that he can't lead his nation effectively. Liling's got no clue exactly how dangerous and capable the likes of Azula and Ozai are. She doesn't and possibly won't understand that even if Kuei could bend, he'd still have lost against them.

* PowderKegCrowd: All of the benders ready to start a revolution in Cranefish Town. While Liling was ultimately the one to unite them and light the fuse, odds are good it was only going to be a matter of time before the keg blew up. If not her, then someone else.

** [[spoiler: Aang realizes that it would've been easy to energybend away the power of Liling; but doing so would've been fruitless; for the racism she spouted wasn't only her but shared by hundreds of benders and it would've been nearly despotic to remove the bending of hundreds of people, fueling their rage even more so. The bigotry of the people is awful; but it's something that can only be changed by changing the minds and hearts of the people; and brute force wasn't going to solve that problem.]]

The sixth comic trilogy in the ''[[Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar]]'' franchise. It is the first trilogy written by Faith Erin Hicks, who has taken up writing duties after Gene Luen Yang.

* ArtShiftedSequel: The art style is notably different from the Creator/GeneLuenYang comics, due to {{Guruhiru}} also retiring as artists for the comics, with Peter Wartman taking their place.

* VaguenessIsComing: Liling, before her defeat yells at Aang that even if she is stopped, the ideology she already started will not end with her.

* VaguenessisComing: Liling, before her defeat yells at Aang that even if she is stopped, the ideology she already started will not end with her.

* MamaBear: Liling does give herself up to buy time for her daughters to escape. The words undermine her intent willingly: She wants Ru out of there to carry her sister who was Chi blocked and calls Yaling useless without her bending. She is either failing to notice the damage she risks doing to her own daughter Ru or simply doesn't care. Part 3 blows this out of the water, with her straight up calling her non-bending daughter worthless. This leads to Ru making a Face-Heel turn.

** As mentioned in the point above, Toph argues that taking her bending away would stop her in her tracks quickly. Katara points out that Liling is not the same as Ozai and doesn't deserve that degree of punishment; and that, arguably, her taking her bending won't stop the silver tongue, nor would it affect other benders who would see that as a slight and more discrimination against them; something Toph thinks will stop cold in its tracks if LiLing is stopped, here and now.