History YMMV / AvatarTheLastAirbender

** '''Zuko''': In-universe. Aang, Sokka, and Katara treat him like a violent sociopath when he shows up at the Western Air Temple, because from their persecutive ''he is''. Zuko has only ever shown up around them to either assault them or, in the case of the Crystal Catacombs, stab them in the back after making peaceful overtures. They've never witnessed the same inner doubts and character growth that the viewers have. Only Toph has no history with Zuko, which is why she's the one willing to reach out to him first.

*** Another interpretation is that, through Zuko's rescue, Zhao felt that he would have owed his life to his rival out of obligation for being saved and may have perceived that as an act of submission. Finally, the last interpretation is that, once the Moon rose again, Zhao realized that his supposed "destiny" of being a legend was indeed false, and without this crutch to explain his own misdeeds, the purpose for his existence fell apart before his eyes.

** The first tie-in video game featured steampunk-heavy people who believed bending to be the source of the all of the world's problems as the antagonists. Now look what's happened in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra.'' Somewhere, "the Maker" must be laughing her ''ass'' off.

* MaryTzu: Azula is cold and calculative, [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy smart enough]] to ''predict'' the movements of the Gaang, [[ImprobableAge very young]], and already a skilled tactican. She conquers a city only with her friends, in a few days, and this city had resisted for 100 years without falling. Iroh failed to do this in 600 Days Siege. Did I mention [[spoiler:She killed Aang?]] [[{{Deconstruction}} All of her personal relationships are built around this trope.]] [[{{Understatement}} This is bad for her mental health.]]

* MaryTzu: Deconstructed with Azula. In the beginning she was cold and calculative, [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy smart enough]] to ''predict'' the movements of the Gaang, [[ImprobableAge very young]], and already a skilled tactican. She conquered a city only with her friends, in a few days and this city had resisted for 100 years without falling. Iroh failed to do this in 600 Days Siege. Did I mention [[spoiler:She killed Aang?]] Her FatalFlaw, however was that [[spoiler:she [[EvilCannotComprehendGood cannot comprehend]] why Mai and Ty Lee betray her]]. This was bad for her mental health.

* AmericansHateTingle: ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' was immensely popular in America. It did... poorly in Japan. So poorly they didn't even bother dubbing the third season. Apparently, many Japanese felt insulted at the way the Asian cultural influence in the series was portrayed (the fact that the bad guys, the Fire Nation, are partially based on Imperial Japan probably didn't help matters too much).

** Azula is an interesting [[SubvertedTrope subversion]]: in Season 2, she appeared to fit ''all five'' of the necessary CompleteMonster qualities. Then Season 3 came, she gradually unravelled, had her VillainousBreakdown, and ended up with only ''one'' of the criteria left (that she has committed horrible crimes.) In the end, although she did a good job emulating her father for a while, she couldn't escape being a TragicVillain.

* MoralEventHorizon: Zhao crosses it by [[spoiler:killing the moon spirit.]]

*** If you do find that to be a MomentOfAwesome, then her being the one to advocate (and partially inspire) the whole "raze the Earth Kingdom until it's all ash" plan of her father's will be an even better one.

** Zhao is still fondly remembered.

* ChildrensTelevisionIsChildish: This show is widely regarded as an aversion.

** The first tie-in video game featured steampunk-heavy people who believed bending to be the source of the all of the world's problems as the antagonists. Now look what's happened in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra.'' Somewhere, "the Maker" must be laughing her ass off.

** The first tie-in video game featured steampunk-heavy people who believed bending to be the source of the all of the world's problems as the antagonists. Now look what's happened in TheLegendOfKorra. Somewhere, "the Maker" must be laughing her ass off.

** Azula is a terrible, terrible person, and while it's possible to feel sorry for her, usually she's such a {{magnificent bitch}} that you temporarily forget those feelings. [[spoiler:Then she spends the whole series finale going steadily crazier and crazier, with her FreudianExcuse coming to the surface. Then she finally snaps after she loses to Katara and the last shot of her in the series is her sobbing uncontrollably, with Zuko and Katara themselves looking sad about it]]. Alas, poor villainess.

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: [[NightmareFuel/AvatarTheLastAirbender Has its own page]].

* AngstWhatAngst: Aang tries to invoke this in "The Serpent's Pass," after [[BerserkButton completely freaking out]] in the previous episode over losing Appa. Don't worry, he snaps out of it.

* DieForOurShip:
** Aang. Holy shit, the Zuko/Katara FanDumb. Sometimes verges on RonTheDeathEater.
** Suki gets this a bit less than Aang and Mai, but still...
** Mai is [[strike: probably]] the ''biggest'' victim in the whole fandom.
** Incredibly, Jin sometimes gets this despite being a oneshot character with no real impact on the plot.
** While this is relatively minor for Ty Lee compared to Mai, it's still there.
** Katara, from Aang/Toph shippers. And also occasionally from Mai/Zuko shippers who [[InternetBackdraft resent her because of Zutara's popularity]], and/or because they [[EnsembleDarkhorse like Mai better]] and find Katara annoying (due to Katara being Mai's [[WideEyedIdealist polar opposite]]).

* RootingForTheEmpire: Azula's ability to provoke this almost rivals Grand Admiral Thrawn. People want to see her win simply because they know it will be awesome to watch.

** Fire Lord Ozai also fits this trope.

*** If you do find that to be a MomentOfAwesome, then her being the one to advocate the whole "raze the Earth Kingdom until it's all ash" plan of her father's will be an even better one.

** Azula, especially [[spoiler:post-VillainousBreakdown]].

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Aang in his Avatar State usually qualifies for this.

** {{Shipping}}, anyone? Let's see, we have [[OfficialCouple Kataang]] versus [[FanPreferredCouple Zutara]] versus [[PairTheSpares Taang]] versus [[NewOldFlame Maiko]] versus [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Jetara]]. Then we have [[BetaCouple Sukka/George]] versus [[FirstKiss Yuokka]] versus [[PuppyLove The Doph]] versus [[PairTheSpares Taang]] versus Toko versus Tokka. And that's not even ''mentioning'' anyone outside of the FiveManBand or any of the [[CrackShip crack]]/ [[HoYay yaoi]]/ [[LesYay yuri]] pairings.

** ...and DIE...

*** Really, all bad guys.

* {{Gainaxing}}: It's hard to tell unless you're really looking, but during the episode "The Beach" Ty Lee has a tendancy to... bounce.

** In Universe example: When Aang is told that airbenders have not been seen in a century, he insists that they must be in hiding.

* MagnificentBastard: Azula. Long Feng, an experienced ChessMaster himself, also tries but he can't quite measure up to her.

* {{Memetic Sex God}}dess: Pretty much every young female character on the show, but especially Katara, Toph, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee.

** It's also somewhat ironic since Zuko got noticeably and progressively more powerful throughout season 1, It just became more and more apparent as the season went on that he had inadequate resources facing effectively impossible odds. From the very first the only reason he was a threat to Aang at all were his [[VillainousValor cunning, desperation, and absolute refusal to give up.]]