History ShownTheirWork / AvatarTheLastAirbender

** Furthermore, Aang's mentor and friend Gyatso, as well as [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra his son Tenzin]], are both named after the 14th Dalai Lama.

* The way the Air Nomads recognize the Avatar's new incarnation is by Aang picking specific toys (which belonged to previous Avatars) out of thousands of possibilities - a practice that mirrors one of the actual ways Tibetan monks find the newly-reincarnated Dalai Lama.

* There's a [[http://atla-annotated.tumblr.com/ tumblr]] devoted to pointing out the ludicrous level of loving detail the show's creators and animators put into even background things. The architecture, the furnishings, the art, the meanings of names, clothing, hairstyles, foods...the night sky in [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheWaterbendingMaster "The Waterbending Master"]] [[http://atla-annotated.tumblr.com/post/20827907799/the-night-sky-in-the-episode-the-waterbending matches]] the star map from [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheDesert "The Desert".]] It's astonishing.

* The [[SecretPolice Dai Li]] are name after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dai_Li Dai Li]], Chiang Kai-Shek's spymaster during the Chinese Civil War.

* Piandao's sword-fighting style is heavily based on real Chinese swordsmanship, with accurate stances, attacks, and even sword grips. The swords shown in "Sokka's Master" are also near exact replicas of the ''jian''.

* Appa's armor during the invasion of the Fire Nation resembles that worn by war elephants in Thailand.

** Many of the styles of martial arts used by the benders are based on actual styles, and the staff actively took lessons in the various arts in order to get a better feel. The Book 1 Disc One extras have an interview with Sifu Kisu, describing them.
*** Waterbending is Tai Chi.
*** Earthbending is Hung Gar.
*** Firebending is Northern Shaolin Kung Fu.
*** Airbending is Baguazhang, with a hint of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hsing_Yi Xing Yi Quan]].

** In fact, [[http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1038 Sifu Kisu's own teacher]] was very pleased when he saw it.

AvatarTheLastAirbender/TropesAToH ([[ChekhovsGun/AvatarTheLastAirbender Chekhov's Gun]]) | AvatarTheLastAirbender/TropesIToP | AvatarTheLastAirbender/TropesQToZ ([[ShipTease/AvatarTheLastAirbender Ship Tease]], [[ShoutOut/AvatarTheLastAirbender Shout-Out]], '''Shown Their Work''', [[WhamEpisode/AvatarTheLastAirbender Wham Episode]])]]]]-]

* Aang's lightning-bending injury is true to life for real lightning strike survivors' injuries: he has an "exit wound" scar on his foot where the current left his body.

The creators went to [[http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Influences_on_Avatar:_The_Last_Airbender painstaking]] detail to shape the entire series:

*** Airbending is Ba Gua, with a hint of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hsing_Yi Hsing Yi]].
*** Toph's Earthbending style, which is unique to her, is outhern Praying Mantis-style Chow Gar.

* The way the Airbenders recognize the Avatar's new incarnation is by Aang picking specific toys (which belonged to previous Avatars) out of thousands of possibilities - a practice that mirrors one of the actual ways Tibetan monks find the newly-reincarnated Dalai Lama.

*** Toph's Earthbending style, which is unique to her, is Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis.
** In fact, [[http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1038 the teacher of the martial arts consultant]] was very pleased when he saw it.

** The concept of Chi blocking is similar to the usage of pressure points to incapacitate opponents, albeit exaggerated in effectiveness. It is really possible to temporarily paralyze parts of a person's body by striking certain nerve clusters strongly, precisely, and accurately.

* In the episode called "The Northern Air Temple", Sokka meets another MadScientist type. They are discussing how to prevent the natural gas from leaking and blowing everyone up, since they can't see or smell it. One of them arrives on a solution of putting rotten eggs in with the gas. Although not quite the modern solution, it's pretty close (they use something with a "rotten egg" smell, called [[http://www.gas-leak.org/natural-gas-facts.php Mercaptan]]). Some of the other inventions also seem to have sound research.

* There's a [[http://atla-annotated.tumblr.com/ tumblr]] devoted to pointing out the ludicrous level of loving detail the show's creators and animators put into even background things. The architecture, the furnishings, the art, the meanings of names, clothing, hairstyles, foods... The night sky in "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheWaterbendingMaster The Waterbending Master]]" [[http://atla-annotated.tumblr.com/post/20827907799/the-night-sky-in-the-episode-the-waterbending matches]] the star map from "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheDesert The Desert]]". It's astonishing.

* Aang's lightning-bending injury is true to life for real lightning strike survivors' injuries: he has an "exit wound" on his foot where the current left his body.

* There's a [[http://atla-annotated.tumblr.com/ tumblr]] devoted to pointing out the ludicrous level of loving detail the show's creators and animators put into even background things. The architecture, the furnishings, the art, the meanings of names, clothing, hairstyles, foods... The night sky in "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheWaterbendingMaster The Waterbending Master]]" [[http://atla-annotated.tumblr.com/post/20827907799/the-night-sky-in-the-episode-the-waterbending matches]] the star map from "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheDesert The Desert]]". It's astonishing.

AvatarTheLastAirbender/TropesAToH ([[ChekhovsGun/AvatarTheLastAirbender Chekhov's Gun]]) | AvatarTheLastAirbender/TropesIToP | AvatarTheLastAirbender/TropesQToZ ([[ShipTease/AvatarTheLastAirbender Ship Tease]], '''Shown Their Work''', [[WhamEpisode/AvatarTheLastAirbender Wham Episode]])]]]]-]