Katara: It's a random stranger that I can exhibit naive optimism towards! Yay, naive optimism!
Aang: Uh... who are you?
Katara: An optimist!
Sokka: And I'm a skeptic! Skepticism, skepticism, skepticism...
...
Katara: Hopeful optimism?
Sokka: Continued skepticism....
Aang: Uh... who are you?
Katara: An optimist!
Sokka: And I'm a skeptic! Skepticism, skepticism, skepticism...
...
Katara: Hopeful optimism?
Sokka: Continued skepticism....
— Characterization, Cliff Notes style.
In yet another Follow the Leader version of Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series, GanXingba made an abridged version of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Can it capture the flavor of the original?
No, it really can't, which is sort of the point, but it keeps the basic character concepts roughly the same and just exaggerates the bejezus out of them. Aang is an annoying, clueless idiot even more hopelessly in love with Katara, Katara is shrill, overbearing, and needlessly optimistic, Sokka is much snarkier, Zuko is a stereotypical Emo Teen, and, inexplicably but hilariously, Momo is Mexican and Iroh is a stereotypical Jewish old man (not to mention that Ozai sounds like Hulk Hogan, Azula speaks Valley Girl and Pakku is the only Scottish Water Tribesman). It works. It also gave us "Kung Fu Action Jesus".
Had its own website
(now defunct). And then Viacom blocked the entire series, at least in North America.
This series provides examples of:
- Addled Addict: King Bumi has become this in the years that Aang's been gone.Aang: Bumi?! What happened to you?!
Bumi: Steroids and crack cocaine! - All Periods Are PMS:Sokka: Now sis, remember what we said about Waterbending when you're PMSing...
- In a commentary of episode one, the creator of the series explicitly stated that that joke is the one that he's gotten the most criticism for and admits that it wasn't a very good idea anyway.
- All Girls Like Ponies: "Our wedding's gonna have ponies... and flowers... and ponies..."
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Viciously parodied with Jet and Katara.
- Alter Kocker: Iroh
- Armor Is Useless: "This papier-mâché armor is useless!"
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: See Foreign Queasine below.
- A-Team Firing: Zuko's gunships. "I don't even have to dodge. He just kinda misses."
- Attention Whore: Aang. He’s constantly looking for attention, especially from Katara. This is most prominent in episodes 4 and 9 where he doesn’t like it when his friends don’t give him enough attention.
- Author Avatar: Much of the series is Author Avatar* for GanXingba to point out plot holes and other logical inconsistencies. The comet conversation between Aang and Avatar Roku, for example.
- Author Powers: In episode 6, Aang is defeated very easily by Jet (a non-bender) and he isn’t the traditional hero of the episode. He breaks the fourth wall and demands to know who wrote the episode. It was Zuko.
- Ax-Crazy: King Bumi.Katara: "Well, at least we know we weren't in any real danger."
Bumi: "Oh no, I was definitely going to kill you."
Aang: Bumi, you're psychotic.
Bumi: Oh, you're too kind!- Also Jet, with a healthy dose of paranoia.
- Because I Said So: Roku's explanation about the comet giving firebenders more power.
- Berserk Button: Do not be the guy who didn't call Mike Tyson 'Iron Man' (ep. 6). Also see Trash Talk below.
- "THEY'RE NOT MUTTON CHOOOOOOOPS!!!!"
- Brain Bleach: "Now I'm scarred physically and mentally!"
- The closest Aang can manage is to burn Appa's harness, bathe him a dozen times and find a therapist (re. ep 11).
- Brainless Beauty: Poor, poor Zuko.Jin: You're really lucky you're hot, you know that?
Zuko: Actually, I'm feeling a little chilly. - Breaking the Fourth Wall: Episode 6 was devoted to this very concept.Jet: You're too late to stop me.
Aang: Please. I'm the Avatar. You can't even bend! You don't stand a- (crashes into tree with a loud thud) Okay, seriously, what the crap? Who wrote this episode?
Zuko: Thanks for teaching me to break the fourth wall, Uncle.
Iroh: Ah, it's bupkis. What could you possibly need to do that for?
Zuko: Oh, nothing... - Bring My Brown Pants:(Zhao launches all of his ship's catapults)
Zuko: Uncle, I think I need a new pair of underwear... - Brick Joke:Katara: *sigh* Crushed optimism...
- Butt-Monkey: Sokka. Bar none.Aang: Uh,Sokka? Whhy are we walking again?
Sokka: Well Aang, because when I'm being pursued by people who want to kill me, I'd rather throw them off by walking through a dense forest than fly through an empty sky on a giant freaking bison!
Katara: That may make sense, but because you're trying to be the leader, I'm guessing this is gonna fail horribly.
Sokka: Oh c'mon, the writers don't hate me that muuuu....- He hangs a lampshade on it in Episode 9.Bato: You should go back and find Aang.
(One transition later, Sokka and Katara are being chased by a mercenary)
Sokka: Why do I ever listen to anybody!? - Zuko is as well, and he hangs a lampshade on it in Episode 9.Zuko: That's it! I'm not gonna let myself be humiliated anymore—* gets struck by the shirshu's tongue* OH THIS IS JUST EXCESSIVE!
- He hangs a lampshade on it in Episode 9.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Katara calling out Master Pakku about his ideals of female fighters
- Calling Your Attacks
- Katara: BERSERKER BARRAGE!
- Camp Gay: Haru. Just... Haru.
- Character Exaggeration: Naturally.
- Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: Hinted at with Zhao's naval crew, as opposed to Zuko's."They're all lined up in a straight line with their guns pointed the same way... they're probably French."
- Chick Magnet: Iroh, to the tune of 5000 points on "The Game of Love". Also qualifies as a Kavorka Man.
- Combat Commentator: added to the big Katara vs Pakku fight in ep. 11.Commentator 1: Katara with the water blast, Pakku dodges left and counters with a shoulder and down goes Katara! Down goes Katara! Oh my! Pakku on the offensive, do you believe in miracles- AH! IT'S ALL OVER! IT'S ALL OVER! Oh my, let's see that again!
(instant replay)
Commentator 2: Veteran move by Pakku here, goin' from the scoopity-boopity to the flippity-floppity and the rumbly-bumbly and then finishing with a bit of the razzly-dazzly!
Commentator 1: You're drunk again, Chip.
Commentator 2: I've got a problem, Jimmy. - Combat Pragmatist: Iroh's preferred fighting style is the Groin Attack.
- Comically Missing the Point: Zuzu's Date. At first.Jin: Come on! Let's go back to my place and screw like rabbits!
Zuko: I don't think rabbits can operate screwdrivers without opposable thumbs. - Conspiracy Theorist: Jet, with his "crazed theories" about the Freemasons and Illuminati. In fact, Viacom deleted this episode because Jet knew too much of the truth.Jet: Hey, Sokka. Wanna go grab some glory?
Sokka: Glory? Where?
(Later, the two of them set up an ambush)
Sokka: Hey Jet, where's the glory? All I see is an old man.
Jet: Not just an old man. He works for... Them.
Sokka: Who?
Jet: Them! They're like the Freemasons, Templars, and Men in Black combined. They must be stopped. You! Give me your shoelaces! - Crazy Survivalist: Jet, leading the battle against the Martians... Er, Fire Nation, basically Expying a mix of Solid Snake and The Question from Justice League Unlimited.
- Curse Cut Short: Zhao gets one in the last seconds of Episode 8 after burning down his entire fleet of ships.Aang: You know, you firebenders probably shouldn't use wooden ships. Or wear mutton chops.
Zhao: ...Son of a BIIIIIIII- - Dead Fic: The series hasn't been updated since episode 11.
- Department of Redundancy Department:
- Episode 5 has two from Bumi.
"So in other words, they went postal! Get it? Postal, mail delivery system...""Yes? No? Maybe? Lobster?"- And Episode 9.
Sokka: Now that we can conveniently move, I have a convenient plan that conveniently involves these convenient vats of perfume they conveniently make at this temple!"
Katara:How convenient! - Dirty Kid: Aang. Twelve years old, and he propositions Katara for some make-up sex.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Team Avatar are almost on the end of this at the beginning of Episode 6.Fire Nation Soldier: Men, we've been discovered by a harmless looking group of children. Kill them.
- Don't Explain the Joke: King Bumi has this as almost his entire personality:
- Early-Bird Cameo: Chong in episode 5.
- El Spanish "-o": Sokka attempting to communicate with Momo.
- Emo Teen: Zuko. He always complains about how unfair his life is and really wants to get his dad to love him. And his voice.
- Entendre Failure: On the Zuzu's Date episode, his date tries every innuendo short of saying that she wants to have sex with him, failing to get across her meaning to Zuko. In the end, she flat out says that she wants to have sex with him, and instantly, Zuko is transformed from whiny bitch to lady's man extraordinaire.
- Eyedscreen: Episode 8. At least twice.
- Foreign Queasine: Apparently, animal testicles are a Water Tribe delicacy. In Episode 9, Batou serves up a soup of whale testicles, and Episode 11 features a feast involving "seal testicles, penguin testicles, polar bear testicles, and gazpacho."
- For Science!: Complete with Trumpet Music, and that makes everything okay.
- Funny Background Event: In Episode 6, when the kids are cheering for Jet's speech, you can hear someone say 'sieg heil' among the cheers. May also double as
Crosses the Line Twice. - Gag Echo: In the first episode, Sokka, Aang and Zuko all mention the "iceberg pinata" explanation for a Human Popsicle. Later, we learn that Aang and Zuko are both amazingly obsessed with eating Lucky Charms for breakfast.
- Gambit Roulette: Episode 8Zhao: Well darn, it looks like I'm out of luck barring a sudden promotion, like the one arriving right now.Colonel Shinu: What!? There's no way you could have timed this down to the second!Zhao: Of course I can. I went to the Light Yagami School of Strategy. I can practically predict the future.
- Giving Up on Logic: Sokka comes dangerously close to it when he lampshades the Schizo Tech of the series.
- The Ghost: GanXingba himself. He's one of the very few abridgers who has publicized basically nothing about his personal life, despite doing not only this show but being a part of the high-profile Team Four Star. (His real name can be found on the Intarwebs, but that's about it.)
- The Hyena: Yue is an odd case. Most of her dialogue is just her giggling girlishly. Even when she cries.
- Idiot Ball: Sokka actually caught "stupid" as a disease. Then Katara came down with it.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Zuko.Aang: I don't even really have to dodge. He just kind of misses."
- It's All About Me: Aang tends to be very self-centered and wants to be hailed as a hero. In episode 9, he keeps the map leading to Sokka and Katara’s father a secret because he wants them to keep paying attention to him.
- Kung Fu (Action) Jesus:"Kung Fu Action Jesus!He's fightin' the bad guys,And making them pay!With magic kung fu,He'll save the day!It's Kung Fu Action Jesus!"
- Large Ham: Ozai would be right at home in WWE.Ozai: OZAI-MANIA'S ABOUT TO RUN WILD. ON YOUR FACE!
- Larynx Dissonance: Especially Katara. Or at least until she Took a Level in Badass.
- Leet Lingo: Episode 5, when Aang flies Appa through the Fire Nation blockade.Aang: ROFLMAO learn to play n00bs!
Zhao: HAX0R!! - Let Me Get This Straight...: The Mechanist can invent tanks, jet skis, and a gigantic friggin' drill... but the concept of a hot air balloon somehow eludes him.
- Look Behind You: The way Katara was able to get the Waterbending scroll away from the pirates is by convincing them there was a ninja.
- Man of a Thousand Voices: GanXingba voiced every character up until Episode 11, which is the only episode to have guest voice actors.
- Mile-High Club: "You did WHAT with Yue on APPA?!?"
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: Sokka, even more than in the original series.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Steam. Powered. Jet skis.
- Naked People Are Funny- Do not bother Iroh during "Naked Iroh Time".Zuko: Awww, now I'm scarred physically and mentally!
- Naughty Nuns: Episode 9.Sokka: Wow Bato, the nuns let you stay here for free?!
Bato: Let's just say they haven't exactly seen a man in a while... - No Celebrities Were Harmed: Zuko's whiny voice sounds similar to Rob Paulsen's "wussier" characters, such as P.J. and Carl Wheezer.
- Now You Tell Me:Gyatso: Remember, Aang, if you ever fall into the water during a storm, never freeze yourself in a block of ice like a complete idiot.
- Oblivious to Love: Katara doesn’t seem to notice the obvious hints that Aang likes her.
- Oh, Crap!: Pakku in Episode 11 during his fight with Katara.Pakku: Ohohoho!!!! Oh, you sure showed me lass! Ohoho-CHRIST ON A CRACKER!!!
- Only Sane Man: Definitely Sokka. This status is firmly established in episode 10.
- Out-of-Character Moment: "If I acknowledge that part of my character, the plot falls apart! I don't have a choice."
- "Look, I just need to use themnote as a plot device for this one episode. I promise that afterwards, they'll never be mentioned again."
- Precision F-Strike: Katara's calling Pakku out in episode 11.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Plenty of these to go around.
- Katara in Episode 1: "Give! Me! My! CHOCOLATE!"
- Sokka in Episode 10: "Steam. Powered. Jet skis."
- Zuzu's Date has one too.
Jin: Okay, I'll keep it simple. I want. To have sex. With you. - Pungeon Master: Amon.
- Sarcasm Mode- "Sarcastic skepticism."
- Schizo Tech:Sokka: Let me get this straight: you can invent tanksnote , jet skisnote , and a gi-gantic fuh-riggin' drillnote ... but the concept of a hot air balloonnote ... eluuuuudes you. ...I hate this world and everyone in it.
- Screaming at Squick: When Katara has a dream about Zuko flirting with her, she wakes up screaming in horror.
- Shout-Out: Tons, in The Abridged Series tradition.
- It's not lupus.
- Aang questions why Bato doesn't have cybernetic eyes.
- Heart being crossed out of the four elements. Also note Katara's pronunciation of 'mmwwwwWATER' towards the end.
- And Jet's obsession with shoelaces alludes to one of the Question's best known lines. "The tips of shoelaces are called aglets - their true purpose is sinister."
- There's no way June's voice isn't a nod to Doctor Girlfriend.
- In episode ten, Aang wants to be absolutely sure that they will be flying into a zone that is extremely dangerous. A "Danger Zone", if you will.
- Episode 8: "Gentlemen, BEHOLLLD!!"
- "Why a duck? Why a duck?!"
- Zhao went to the Light Yagami School of Strategy; he can practically predict the future!
- Culminating in a dramatic "Just as planned... Oh, Crap!." moment.
- "Hey, Wolverine, nice side burns!" "Why thank you, Cyclops, how's the eye?"
- Yue sounding like the chick from Kung Pow! Enter the Fist initially.
- Bumi: What... is your name? [...] What... is your quest?
- Zhao: When we last met, I was but the learner. Now, I am the master!
- Colonel Avdol: "Admiral Zhao... I have leaned over a great deal of time the only to defeat the Northern Water Tribe... is to burn it."
- Which in itself calls back a similar shout-out in Antfish's own series where Abdul has an Imagine Spot where he is crowned as "Fire Lord Abdul," and when he's snapped out of it, he screams "I WILL DESTROY THE AVATAR!" Aang, voiced by GanXingba, pops in and adds his disapproval of this plan.
- And, at the end of the first episode, a reference to another series of videos (Avatar Stupidity).
Aang: Who are you?Katara: I'm Kata-Aang: Pussy Galore? I must be in heaven!Katara: *angry* You will be in a second! - Side Effects Include...: The side effects for Haru's Sexyfine Shampoo are as follows: "Headaches, blood clots, green rashes, gonorrhea, albinism, thumb cancer, chocolate cravings, heroin addiction, pregnancy, ear mutation, increased risk of cyborg koala attack, the apocalypse, and Zutara." Your Mileage May Vary if that last one is a case of Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking or not.
- Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter: "Why a duck? Why a duck?!"
- Snub by Omission:King Bumi: Good try, but if you want to save the girl -
Sokka: And Sokka! - So Unfunny, It's Funny: Amon's jokes consistently fail to get a laugh out of the audience, but he never stops his drive to make it as a comedian (or at least find someone who does at least find his jokes funny).
- Spit Take: Aang does one (offscreen) in Episode 9 upon learning that he's been eating whale testicle soup.
- Stalker with a Crush:
- When Katara is crushing on Haru, she follows him all over the place.
- In fact, she is named Stalker Girl. She very clearly likes Aang and follows after him, even to the fortress where she dresses up as the Blue Spirit to save him.
- Zuko with Katara. He even had a lock of her hair.
Iroh: You took a lock of that water tribe girl's hair?
Zuko: Well, yeah. I just wanted a piece of her with me everywhere I went. - Stay in the Kitchen: Master Pakku believes that if woman aren't healers or summoners they should be this.Master Pakku: So go learn to heal or get in the kitchen and make some babies!
- Steampunk: Sokka addresses its absurdity in episode 10.Sokka: Steam... powered... jet skis.
- Stock Scream: There's a Wilhelm early in ep. 9.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Aang, Sokka, and Zuko are all independently aware of what an "iceberg piñata" is.
- Tempting Fate:
- The very first line of the series.
Sokka: "Wow, what a normal and uneventful day we're having, surely nothing exciting and life-changing could hap- oh crap."- Why a duck? Why a duck?!
- Ep. 11 devotes up to 40 seconds in the opening to this.
- Episode 8 opens with one of these moments.
Zhao: I went to the Light Yagami school of Strategy; I can practically predict the future! And I forsee my capture of the Avatar within the week.
Blue Spirit: And I forsee your subsequent humiliation. - Throw the Dog a Bone: Zuko, resident Butt-Monkey of the show, is given a break in Zuzu's Date, where he gets to make out (and probably do a little more...) with Jin.
- Took a Level in Badass: Aang can effortlessly own anyone, provided he's not being written by Zuko.
- Katara in episode 11.
- Too Kinky to Torture: Sokka, after being paralyzed by the shirshu.Sokka: Somehow I'm paralyzed, and strangely aroused at the same time.
- Trash Talk:
- When Aang is fighting Zhao, he resorts to taunting him about having mutton chops, which causes Zhao to fly into a rage and accidentally burn his ships.
- Aang loses it when a glider pilot "does the ancient Airbender equivalent of You Got Served."
Aang: So you think you're hot shit, huh?! Well I got news for yo' punk ass! You ain't got nothin'! Ho ho, what is this, loop-de-loops? Get that J.V. shit outta here, son!- The guy Aang's trashing? Teo. Sokka treats it as a What the Hell, Hero? after the reveal.
- Valley Girl: Azula, apparently.
- Weirdness Censor: Sokka is starting to question some of the absurdities he runs into.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Zuko."Time to make Daddy love me!"
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: When Aang states that he's master of all the elements, the four main elements' symbols are shown around him. A heart symbol then suddenly appears but is quickly X'd out.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Aang gets the recieving end of this for laughs in episodes 9 with the map (Then they wouldn't be paying attention to ME!!) and in episode 10 with Aang trash-talking Teonote .Sokka: Wow, Aang! You're a real ass! Even I wouldn't pick on a handicapped kid!
- The Worf Effect: Zuko. "Not so fast Avatooooh noooo..."
- Worth It:
- Sokka's attitude to sacrificing the air balloon's fuel source to get rid of Kenny Loggins music.
- Also why Zhao just watched Aang kick Zuko's ass rather than stop him from getting away.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Master Pakku. His sexism is now a combination of Stay in the Kitchen and the expectation that female protagonists must remain in the back row and heal or summon monsters.
- Yandere: One episode character Meng is turned into one. She calls Aang her lover and she follows after him when he leaves her village. She goes as far as dressing as the Blue Spirit and as Zuko so that she could get Aang all to herself.Meng: You can run, lover, but you can’t hide.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: “When It’s Done” has Zuko join Aang and his friends and he’s finally happy. Just when he’s getting excited about all the fun things he’ll get to do with his new friends, Iroh pops in and tells him that once Ozai is defeated, their time together is done. Cue Zuko crying.
- Yiddish as a Second Language: Iroh.
- Your Other Left: "Down Fluffles, down! * ffwump* "No, the other down!" * whump*
Katara: Encouraging optimism?
Aang: Yeah, I'm gonna have to ask you guys to stop doing that.
Aang: Yeah, I'm gonna have to ask you guys to stop doing that.
