Aang Application for adstringendum
Name: Marbles.
Livejournal: marburusu
Contact: AIM: PhantomMarbles | Plurk: Marburusu | E-Mail: PhantomMarbles@gmail.com
Other Characters Played: N/A!
Are you 18 or over? Nope. I'll be turning 17 in February. No sexual things are gonna be happening with Aang anyway, trust me on that one.
Canon: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Character: Aang, or alternatively, Avatar Aang. Nothing too fancy.
Timeline: After the end of the series; aka post Sozin's Comet 4: Avatar Aang. Aang is chilling in Ba Sing Se with his friends after saving the world.
Personality:
On the surface, Aang is the poster child of kindness. Exhibiting incredible love for others and an optimistic (though also somewhat naive) view on life, Aang is a fantastic friend and a natural born keeper of peace, being generally well-liked and attracting others to his presence with his vitality and enthusiasm. He is a curious boy by nature, constantly seeking knowledge and experience with new things, people and places, and often trying to do as much good wherever he goes. He is typically very selfess and willing to share anything he can offer with others, as well as protect or aid them without any expectation of compensation for his efforts. He is always looking for the good side of others, regardless of war or bad blood -- like with Zuko, he was reluctant to give up on the possibility of a friendship and was quick to trust him when Zuko joined their group. With his happy and cheerful demeanor being so prominent, Aang can easily come off as appearing to be carefree or "airheaded" (excuse the pun), but with a closer look into his interior it becomes obvious that his gentle and friendly exterior hides a great deal of inner burdens.
Indeed, Aang carries the weight of many tragedies on his shoulders. Not only does he despair over having been essentially stuck in time for a century while the world moved on without him, trying to keep up with how much has changed is a great struggle Aang has to deal with. He regrets his recklessness in running away when the monks tried to separate him from his best friend, Gyatso, resulting in his being frozen in the iceberg. He feels he abandoned his people in the wake of their darkest hour and shunted his responsibilities as the Avatar in doing so, and thus readily accepts any blame handed to him by others over his absence during the Fire Nation's reign of terror on the world. He does so several times in the series, one time being when a fisherman accused him of turning his back on the world, then daring to try and come back as though nothing had happened, and another time when the chief of the Sun Warriors claimed that Sozin's killing of dragons for glory was partially Aang's burden to bear because he was not there to stop it. This attitude partially manifests itself in Aang because Aang himself believes that it is his fault, and blames himself too. Despite the clear evidence that Aang would have died if he had not been in the iceberg, he continues to believe that if he had not chosen to run away, he could have been there to help the Air Nomads when they needed him, as well as the rest of the world that suffered during his absence.
As Guru Pathik said, Aang has "felt a great loss" in regards to his people, and takes it upon himself to personally maintain their ways of life. His behaviours and values are largely not understood by the modern world, the Air Nomad culture having been "dead" for so long, but Aang feels it is his duty as the last remaining Air Nomad to keep their legacy going through his own interactions and life style. He is proud of his heritage and culture, often struggling with the concept of shedding it, even for the greater good -- such as when he was forced to go into incognito in the Fire Nation, and showed great resentment towards having to conceal his arrow tattoos. He contributes to keeping the memory of the Air Nomads alive through other practices as well, like continuing to shave the hair from his head, as well as wearing the colour orange that is symbolic of their nation. Aside from the natural preference of his own culture over others, it is likely that he also does these things as a price for his own mistakes, seeing it as a necessary measure to repay his lost nation.
To understand Aang's practices, one must understand the influences he has grown up with for nearly his entire life. Coming from a culture that puts so much emphasis on achieval of spiritual enlightenment, Aang focuses on attaining inner peace, as well as a state of tranquility for the world at large. There are three focal points that compose the basics of his beliefs: dharma, ahimsa, and nirvana. Dharma focuses on spiritual and moralistic duty, which transforms and accomodates to an individual's personal obligations and callings. For Aang, it is fufilling the role of the world's Avatar, which means maintaining balance and order between all of the nations. However, dharma can also refer to nature as it is, the laws of such and the need to accept them for what they are. Ahimsa is the term that literally means avoidance of violence, and focuses on making the choice to act in kindness and pacifism towards all living things, human and non-human alike, as they are all connected in unity. Finally, nirvana is the state of being free from suffering, and is the ultimate goal. In this context, it means the "blowing out" of the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion. These are all very important aspects in the way Aang lives and acts; he understands his place, respects the phenomena of nature, values the treasure of life, and willfully seeks to purge himself of negative emotions and states of being -- however, Aang can never truly detach himself from the world at large due to the immensity of his dharma. As Yangchen told him, his obligation as the Avatar is to the world, and therefore it is not something that he can separate his spirit from in order to achieve enlightenment.
The practice of ahimsa is one of Aang's biggest strengths, and one of his most prominent weaknesses. That Aang was incapable of taking a human life, no matter the sin attached to the life, was Aang's largest obstacle in defeating Ozai -- but also one that allowed him to find the inner strength needed to discover an alternative. He prefers to solve his problems without resorting to a fight, though even when his opponents in battle are actively trying to kill or severely injure him, Aang employs largely defensive tactics. He typically holds back and tries to subdue them without seriously hurting them, regardless of who they are or whether or not they are human. The only exception to this is when others, most specifically his friends, are threatened instead of him -- when the enemy has put them in danger, Aang easily becomes distressed and relentlessly attacks to ensure their safety before his own, even entering the Avatar state if it becomes necessary. In doing so, Aang shows the martyr side of him: that nothing is more important to him than ensuring that his loved ones are happy and protected, if he is in any way possible of achieving it for them. He would willingly sacrifice himself, or anything he has, for sake of those he cares for if he felt that it was necessary -- even if this is something he has struggled with in the past, when it comes down to it it is truly his most important goal in life.
Because of his respect for all living things, Aang is also a vegetarian and abstains from eating any meat, showing obvious discomfort with the concept of killing an animal for his own gain. However, despite preaching the concepts of forgiveness, pacifism and gratitude for life to his friends, he never attempts to force his views on anyone, instead choosing to offer advice and support. This is the same with his alimentary practices; during the series when his friends choose to eat at places that only offer meat, Aang does not try to convince them to eat somewhere else instead. Alternatively, while Aang is not entirely passive, he has difficulty with standing up to those who take advantage of him or push him around, and often tries to be the voice of reason and truce during arguments. He usually has incredible patience and is very slow to become upset, but when he reaches his breaking point, his anger tends to be intense and nearly explosive, resorting to blaming others or simply becoming foul-tempered.
Background: Oh boy. Okay, here we go. Please bear with me and my skimming of some less important information; there's a LOT to go over without even going into what happens during the course of the series, so this is a very long background to read! Sorry!
In the A:TLA world, the earth is split into four nations residing on different continents of the world: the Water Tribe, the Air Nomads, the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. Depending on the nation(s) a person is from, they may have a unique ability to control and manipulate an element of nature, called "bending". For example, someone from the Water Tribe might be able to bend water, while someone from the Earth Kingdom might be able to bend soil and rocks. If they happened to have parents from both nations, they might be able to bend either water or earth, but never both. The only person capable of doing that, my friends, is what we call the Avatar.
What is the Avatar? Described as the master of all four elements, the Avatar is the sole entity capable of bending more than one element with incredible prowess, no matter what nation they belong to. It's a spirit that manifests itself in a human, ensuring that they will be destined to maintain or restore balance in the world during their life. Because the Avatar is a reincarnated deity, there can only be one Avatar at a time -- when the old one dies, the spirit inhabits a new person, and so on and so forth. The Avatar can be anyone at all, but there is a cycle to which the pattern follows in choosing the next one: first is someone from the Water Tribe, second is Earth Kingdom, third is Fire Nation, and last is Air Nomads, before the cycle repeats itself. There's no specific way of guessing whom it is exactly that will become the Avatar right away (the best people can do are risky methods, like what was done in Aang's case; as a young child he picked only toys that had belonged to the previous Avatar incarnations) and almost always, the individual themselves won't even know it until they're told that they are. Thus, an Avatar has no conscious recollection of their past lives and can vary quite drastically in motives and personality.
The lack of knowledge about his own true nature was definitely true for Aang. Raised by monks, Aang spent most of his life thinking he was just like any other child, besides having an incredible gift for airbending. He earned his blue tattoos at a very early age -- markings given to someone of their nation when they've completely mastered the element, as a rite of sorts. Highly influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism and Asceticism, Aang's culture was by large quite different from the rest of the world; all males (including himself) shaved their heads, for one, being their most noticeable trait by far. They were the only nation of all four to be composed entirely of benders, due to their highly spiritual way of life -- the prowess of each person dependent on the idividual, but nonetheless, every Nomad had potential to become an airbender, and because of this, many of their temples were constructed to manipulate the element within the architecture (such as the cliffside Western Air Temple -- yes, it is supposed to be upside-down!). Their temples were sex-segregated as well, with the monks inhabiting the Northern and Southern temples, and the nuns inhabiting the Eastern and Western ones. The Nomads were all vegetarians, and preached pacifism as much as possible, encouraging meaningful values of non-violence and peace for everyone.
Though it is implied Aang traveled to many other places and made friends with people of all nations, even choosing his own Sky Bison named Appa during his early childhood from the Eastern Air Temple, Aang's best friend was Gyatso, a monk that served as a father figure for him throughout much of his life. Anticipating a war, the Nomads were pressured into telling Aang what they had discovered of his destiny once the boy turned 12, and began putting him through rigorous training. Gyatso feared that Aang would lose his childhood and happiness to the obligations of being the Avatar, and tried to offer him as much time as possible to still feel like the young boy he was -- until the other monks began to feel that Gyatso was interfering with their plans. To prevent any further disruptions, the monks informed Gyatso that they would be taking Aang back to the Eastern Air Temple across the world, to complete his training away from him. Aang happened to overhear this conversation, and in a fit of despair, attempted to run away with Appa. They were caught in a storm over the ocean and nearly drowned -- thankfully, they were saved by the triggering of Aang's Avatar state.
The Avatar state is a "trance" of sorts, that an Avatar can sometimes unlock in extremely stressful situations, which brings out a combination of all their past lives and their strength. Until an Avatar can conquer this state, it is an unpredictable mechanism and completely impossible to control, and therefore, intended to be a last resort. While in the state, Aang created a huge boulder of ice that encompassed he and Appa, leaving them alive, but trapped underneath the ocean for literally an entire century. During this time, The Fire Nation commenced the aforementioned war upon the rest of the world. Using a large, flaming comet (later named Sozin's comet, after the Fire Lord of that era) that made its way through the world's atmosphere, the Fire Nation manipulated their enhanced firebending strength to eliminate the Air Nomads, wiping out all four temples in an ambush that the Nomads had no means of defending themselves from. Their intention? To take out the Avatar; their only perceived threat in accomplishing domination over the world. Aang, however, was still locked beath the ocean, completely untouchable by their attacks that left the rest of Aang's nation completely annihilated.
Now, skip forward those 100 years. The Fire Nation had nearly destroyed the Southern Water Tribe, and conquered a good chunk of the Earth Kingdom. It seemed inevitable that they were going to win the war, and soon. Luckily, this was the time two Water Tribe kids from the South Pole, brother and sister Sokka and Katara, stumbled across Aang's iceberg that had floated to the surface sometime during his submersion. After breaking him out of the iceberg, experiencing a rocky beginning (where Aang was reluctant to admit he was the Avatar) and running into the banished Fire Nation prince, Zuko, determined to capture the Avatar to restore his honour, the trio set out on Appa to travel the world, looking for bending masters to teach Aang the world's three other respective elements. Katara, being a novice waterbender herself, would be able to find a master of her own once they reached the North Pole.
Their first major trip was to the Aang's home: the Southern Air Temple, where despite Sokka and Katara's efforts to hide the truth from him, Aang discovered the deaths of his people and his best friend Gyatso. Devastated by the revelation that he really had lost all of his people to the Fire Nation, as well as everyone he'd ever known to those 100 years, Aang's Avatar state was triggered. Katara was able to calm him down by promising him that she and Sokka would be his family from that point onward. While at the temple, the trio also unknowingly alerted the world to the Avatar's return, and also found a winged lemur that Aang dubbed Momo and brought along with them when they departed. They would be headed for the Avatar temple in the Fire Nation, where Aang would be able to encounter his previous incarnation, Avatar Roku, who would serve as his spiritual guide for his journey. Along the way, the trio evaded capture by Prince Zuko and other enemies numerous times, as well as made a few friends -- and even reunited with an old one; Bumi of the Earth Kingdom, who was now a very old man but had once been Aang's pal when he was a young boy. Out of all the friends Aang made, Bumi would serve to be the only one still alive during the course of the series.
During their trip to the Avatar temple, Aang accidentally entered the Spirit World while trying to aid a village tormented by an angry spirit. The Spirit World is a parallel plane of existence that coexists along with the physical world in the A:TLA universe. As the Avatar Wiki describes it, the Spirit World "is the home of spirits, immortal supernatural entities which often embody different aspects of life and nature". It is nearly impossible for a mortal to pass into the Spirit World willingly, but as the Avatar serves as a "bridge" of sorts between the two planes, Aang is able to pass freely through either. The Spirit World contains all of Aang's past incarnations, and it was there that Aang met Avatar Roku for the first time. From Roku Aang learned of his destiny to defeat the current Fire Lord, Ozai, by the end of the summer. It was imperative for him to defeat him by that time, for Sozin's Comet -- the comet that had been used to wipe out Aang's people -- would complete its 100 year orbit and return again, upon which it would become impossible for Aang to restore balance to the world: the immense, unstoppable power the firebenders of the Fire Nation given by the comet's energy would be too much for even him to overthrow. Therefore, Roku relayed onto Aang the necessity for him to master the other three elements in time for summer's end; a task that to anyone would sound nearly impossible, let alone for a 12-year-old boy to accomplish.
Still, having no choice, Aang and his friends continued their journey to the North Pole, while Katara and Aang practiced the art of waterbending along the way to help improve their skills. Prince Zuko attempted to capture them several times, but the trio managed to evade him -- Aang only came close to being permanently taken prisoner when a Fire Nation Admiral, Zhao, used archers to attack him and kidnap him. Aang would have been doomed if it hadn't been for a mysterious man dressed in black and a blue mask that rescued him from Zhao's fortress. However, once they had escaped from the fortress the masked man was stuck with an arrow by an archer and knocked unconscious; taking off his mask, Aang discovered that his rescuer was actually Prince Zuko. Not wanting the other boy to be taken captive by Zhao, Aang decided not to leave him behind, instead taking Zuko with him into the forest and leaving him in the morning when Zuko would not take to Aang's pleas to come to a truce.
Continuing their journey north, Aang encountered a firebending master named Jeong Jeong. Eager to learn the art, Aang began to earn instruction from him, until he became too reckless and accidentally burned Katara. Horrified with his own lack of control, Aang resolved to never firebend again, in fear of causing destruction or suffering by being unable to maintain power over the dangerous nature of fire. Not long after this, the trio finally reached the North Pole. During their stay, Katara and Aang mastered waterbending under the training of master Pakku. However, their happiness was short-lived, due to the arrival of Admiral Zhao and his army -- under Ozai's command, Zhao was determined to seize control of the Northern Water Tribe by force. After attempting, and failing to fight off the forces on his own, Aang retreated to the Spirit Oasis, the most spiritual place in North Pole and home to two circling koi fish that represented the force of balance in the physical world. There he was able to tap into the Spirit World and search for guidance in defeating Zhao's advances. From another spirit, Aang discovered that the two koi fish were Tui and La, the moon and oceans spirits that pushed and pulled, eternally circling each other. Should they be wounded or killed, it would throw off the balance of the universe and ensure the doom of the North Pole.
However, during Aang's visit to the Spirit World, his physical body was left behind where it was vulnerable to attack. Prince Zuko was able to kidnap his body from Katara and take off with it, escaping from the city and travelling with him through the ice caps in a blizzard that had begun. Once Aang's spirit left the Spirit World, he was unable to find his body and had to search for it, eventually discovering it and Zuko. In the ensuing fight to escape, Zuko was once again knocked out -- yet for the second time, Aang chose not to leave him behind in fear that he would freeze to death in the cold, despite the protests of his friends who had come to recover him. Unfortunately for the group, while the Spirit Oasis was unguarded, Zhao was able to discover it and take Tui from the pond, turning the sky above red and causing the waterbenders fighting his army to lose their power. None were able to convince Zhao not to kill the fish, which resulted in the spiritual equivalent of a lunar eclipse. The stress of an imminent loss triggered Aang's Avatar state once more, and he merged with the living koi, La (the ocean) to form a monstrous water creature that was able to single-handedly destroy Zhao's army and drive the remaining forces away. Tui's spirit was luckily renewed when the Princess of the North Pole, Yue, sacrificed her life to become the new moon spirit, which once again restored balance. Though the seige was ultimately unsuccessful, Zhao was killed and Prince Zuko managed to escape alive.
After leaving the North Pole, Aang, Katara, and Sokka headed with Appa and Momo to the Earth Kingdom, looking for an earthbending master to take Aang as their pupil. Along the way, Aang struggled with whether or not to take advantage of his Avatar state to intentionally trigger it in order to defeat Ozai sooner. After realizing the destruction he could cause without being able to control himself, as well as obtaining knowledge from Roku -- that if he were to be killed in the Avatar state, the Avatar cycle of rebirth would be broken -- Aang decided to forgo the possibility in favor of his original plan with mastering the elements and defeating Ozai by summer's end. Hoping to be taught by Bumi, who'd become an earthbending master, the trio traveled towards Omashu (Bumi's home), Aang and Katara slowly developing their ~feelings~ for each other during their trip, as well as Aang coming to terms with the fact that he was in love with her. Once they were able to reach Omashu, they discovered that it had been conquered by the Fire Nation. Aang attmpted to free Bumi from capture, but Bumi refused and told Aang that he would have to find another earthbending teacher.
Leaving Omashu again, the group headed out in search of a teacher, eventually coming across the town of Gaoling where Aang met a young blind girl named Toph. Having exprienced a vision of her prior, Aang realized she was meant to be his teacher when he witnessed her amazing earthbending prowess and ability to "listen" to the earth. Eventually she left with them on their journey. Though they had met her briefly in Omashu, during their journey the group encountered Zuko's younger sister Princess Azula, who was determined to capture Aang as well, but they were also able to evade her. During their travels around the Earth Kingdom, Toph began teaching Aang earthbending -- something that proved to be extremely difficult for him to grasp, being the solid, unmovable element that is the natural opposite of air. However, once Aang learned the trick of being physically and mentally rooted while performing the art, he was able to learn earthbending much more quickly. After much hard work, the group discovered an ancient library where they uncovered the coming of a solar eclipse; much like the spiritual lunar eclipse at the North Pole, a solar eclipse would leave Ozai defenceless and would be the perfect time to launch an attack against the Fire Nation. Sadly, during their trip inside the library, Appa was stolen by sandbenders who later sold him. Aang was devastated by the loss of his companion and vowed tearfully to find him, no matter what it would require of him.
Following guidance of the likeliest place to find Appa, the group traveled to Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom's last stronghold. Much to their horror, they found that Azula was planning an attack on the city, using a large drilling machine to break through the massive outer walls protecting the inside. Thankfully, they were able to destroy the drill, and then commenced their search for Appa once again. In dismay, the city revealed itself to be far bigger than they had imagined. While in Ba Sing Se, the group decided to try and meet with the Earth King to discuss the Solar Eclipse and the possibility of launching an invasion, though they were thwarted by the shady forces of Long Feng: the king's advisor, whom had cleverly gained control over Ba Sing Se by manipulating the king and all of his people. Long Feng did not want to risk losing control, especially after having deceived the king into not knowing about the war with the Fire Nation, so he attempted many times to expel Aang and his friends from the city. He used Appa as blackmail against Aang, as he had been keeping the bison captive. Aang and his friends were finally able to reveal the truth to the king and sentence Long Feng to justice, as well as win the king's willingness to partake in an attack against the Fire Nation. Appa was returned to Aang as well, who found a note attached to Appa's horn -- the note was from a Guru named Pathik, who wished to meet Aang at the Eastern Air Temple and teach him how to conquer the Avatar State. Aang decided to split up from the group for the time being to meet with the Guru in hopes of gaining a higher strength in time to fight Ozai.
Through the release of the seven chakras, Aang would be able to cleanse himself and recieve spiritual enlightenment, which would allow him the ability to control his own Avatar state. Although Aang was able to conquer many of his fears, sorrows, guilts, and doubts through the process (as well as getting over his refusal to firebend), he was unable to unlock his final sahasrara chakra. During the unlocking, Aang experienced a vision of Katara in need of help and realized he was incapable of freeing himself of his attachments to the people he loved in order to connect with the world's cosmic energy. Pathik warned him he had locked his chakra and would not be able to enter the Avatar state at all unless he completed the process of unlocking it, but Aang chose to return to Ba Sing Se to ensure that Katara and the others were not in danger.
Later guilty and slightly reproachful of his recklessness, Aang lied about his failure to master the Avatar state to Sokka and Toph. When the group returned to Ba Sing Se, they were unable to locate Katara. The group also learned of a coup that was supposed to occur later that day, and rushed to alert the King to the treason as soon as possible. There, they found that Azula had infiltrated the palace and overthrown the king, as well as taken captive of her "traitor" brother Zuko, and Katara. The group attempted to escape, but was greatly outmatched and outnumbered once Zuko decided to help his sister capture Aang and restore his honour in the process. Aang realized that there would be no way for them to escape unless he went into the Avatar state, so he attempted to unlock the seventh chakra himself -- and he would have succeeded, if it hadn't been for Azula. Just as Aang was entering the Avatar state, she used her bending to strike him with a bolt of lightning, killing him. Katara was miraculously able to escape with his body and join the rest of the group in flying away from Ba Sing Se on Appa. Though Aang had died, Katara was able to revive him with the spiritual water she had taken from the Oasis in the North Pole, using her waterbending to "heal" him -- however, in doing so his seventh chakra was firmly locked. The group was alive, but they had lost Ba Sing Se, the world's last figure of hope, to the Fire Nation.
Aang spent several weeks in a coma after the incident, waking up to discover that the world believed him to be dead. Aang was horrified by the news, blaming himself for the loss of Ba Sing Se, and that if the world thought he was dead there would no longer be any hope. Afraid of dragging his friends into any more danger, Aang felt his only option was to run away again -- though this time, in hopes of facing his destiny alone rather than avoiding it. Aang became lost in a storm at sea after leaving, and nearly gave into despair until Roku and Princess Yue's spirits appeared to him, encouraging him not to give up and relieving him of the immense guilt he was experiencing. He washed up on the shore of the island where Roku's temple once stoof, reuniting with his friends in the morning and coming to terms with the fact that he would need their help in defeating Ozai. What was next was for Aang to continue his training to ensure they would be ready in time for the Solar Eclipse, disguising himself as a member of the Fire Nation along with his friends. Later, Aang would return to the island after a vision from Roku, to learn about Roku's life as the Avatar, as well as how the war had begun. Roku relayed onto Aang that he and Sozin had once been best friends, and that anyone had the potential to become good or evil, as in the end, Sozin betrayed Roku and left him to die in favour of using Sozin's comet to commence the war and wipe out the race the proceeding Avatar would be a part of. Although Aang did not know this, Zuko -- whom had been welcomed back to the Fire Nation as crown prince -- was experiencing a parallel journey at the same time as him, where he discovered that he was spiritually related to Aang: his mother's grandfather had been Avatar Roku, making Aang's previous incarnation Zuko's great grandfather.
As the date of the Solar Eclipse drew nearer, Aang's insecurities, as well as his fears for himself and his friends began to get the best of him. He started having horrible nightmares about the invasion, eventually driving him into a state where he could no longer sleep. Eventually, he was able to relieve his stress and rest before the invasion, but it was for naught: the invasion turned out to be a failure, as Ozai had known of their plans for quite some time and had escaped to a hidden bunker. The group had no choice but to retreat once more, escaping to to Western Air Temple in hope of safe refuge until they could figure out what to do next. Once there, the group decided Aang would have to stick to his old plan of mastering the elements in time for summer's end. However, Aang was still struggling with his fear of firebending, even if he had been able to overcome his refusal to perform it. Much to the group's surprise, they discovered that someone had followed them to the temple: Prince Zuko, but in a shocking twist of fate he had betrayed his father and decided to join Aang, offering to be his firebending master and help him overthrow Ozai. Reasonably, Aang refused to believe Zuko at first and turned him away. But after Zuko saved them from potential death at the hands of a dangerous enemy, as well as when Zuko lamented on his need to be more careful about his firebending (a parallel Aang made to the memory of his burning Katara), Aang stepped forward and made the decision to trust him and accept him as his teacher.
Unfortunately, to the dismay of the group, Zuko lost his ability to firebend after joining them. He had lost his internal drive, and therefore his source of his power, when he'd given up his determination to capture Aang. After a trip to the ruins of an ancient Fire Nation civilization called the Sun Warriors, Aang and Zuko discovered the true nature of fire as life and energy, not just destruction. With this new information, as well as Zuko's reassurance, Aang was able to overcome his uncertainties and begin to firebend once more, and Zuko regained his ability to do the same once he understood that his "new" internal drive was helping Aang rather than trying to defeat him. This journey with Zuko helped Aang grow closer to him and come to value him as a friend. After this, Zuko began putting Aang through intense firebending training in preparation for Sozin's comet, while Aang struggled in the meantime to work out his feelings about Katara with her. He had hoped they would be able to be together, because before the invasion on the Solar Eclipse, he had kissed her. However, Katara admitted she was still confused, and that the war was more important than any romantic relationship they could form at that moment.
Three days before Sozin's comet, Zuko was informed that the group had decided to wait until after the comet after all to face Ozai, feeling certain that Aang would undoubtedly lose if he did not. However, Zuko informed them that his father was intending to use the comet's power to destroy the Earth Kingdom, and that if they waited until after the comet there would no longer be any world to save. Shocked and scared in the face of such horrible news, Aang was wrought with inner turmoil at not only the concept of having to face Ozai at his full power so soon, but also at the idea of being expected to kill him. Later on, Zuko taught Aang the ability to redirect lightning, warning him that it could prove to be essential to his survival when facing Ozai, and that he would have to be the first to strike Ozai or else he would be the one defeated instead. Aang thought at first he would be alright if Katara could use the Spirit Oasis water on him again, but she admitted to him that she had used all of it to revive him after the fight with Azula -- this time, the situation was kill-or-be-killed. Under the pressure of his friends, especially Zuko, to get over his pacifism and kill Ozai for the good of the world, Aang broke down and argued that he couldn't do so because it went against everything the monks had taught him growing up. He bitterly reprimanded himself for his inability to take a human life but ultimately continued to refuse, eventually storming off to try and meditate on his own.
After falling asleep, Aang awoke in a trance during the night, leaving the island on which they had been staying and swimming out to another smaller island that had mysteriously appeared sometime in the middle of that night. This was the not the first time he had done this -- before, when he, Katara and Sokka had been flying over a swamp filled with spiritual energy in which Aang had seen his vision of Toph, he had felt as though the swamp had been calling to him. Like with the island, he'd unknowingly begun to fly toward it until his friends had snapped him out of his trance. With no one around to stop him, this time Aang swam all the way to the island, following its powerful aura. When Aang fully woke up in the morning, he discovered himself to be stranded on the island in the middle of the sea; it moved so far away from land he could no longer see the shore. After realizing that he was not in the Spirit World, Aang decided to mediate once more and call upon the wisdom of his past lives to help him.
Calling first on Roku, the spirit couldn't tell Aang where he was but offered to give him advice on his impending battle with Ozai. Roku told Aang to be decisive, as Roku had made the mistake in his own life of not showing enough restraint with Sozin, who took advantage of it. Next, Aang called on Kyoshi, the female Earth Kingdom Avatar before Roku, who told him that she would have done whatever it took to uphold justice, and that Aang should consider the same for himself. After Kyoshi, Aang called on Kuruk, the male Water Tribe Avatar before Kyoshi. He informed Aang that most of his life had been spent in general peace, as his era had been one of relative tranquility. His greatest tragedy had been when Koh, the spirit known as the Face-Stealer, stole his wife's face from her -- as a consequence, he advised Aang to be attentive and actively shape his own destiny. Aang was largely unhappy with the answers from the three Avatars, and hoped for someone who would better understand his predicament, so he called a final time on Yangchen: the last Air Nomad Avatar before him. Aang spoke with her about how he was taught to respect all forms of life, and to remove himself from worldly concerns to attain spiritual peace. Yangchen sympathized with Aang, but nonetheless explained that while the Nomads had indeed taught those values, as the Avatar Aang would never be able to remove himself from worldly concerns, because his obligations as a human being were to the world. Her advice to him was to remember that the Avatar's duty would include sacrificing their spiritual well-being for the good of the world if it were necessary. After his discussions with his previous lives, Aang came to the conclusion that he would have to kill Ozai after all.
After falling asleep for another night on the island, Aang woke up to find that the Earth Kingdom shore was coming closer and realized that the island was moving. Aang dived into the water and swam around the island, discovering that it was actually a creature, revealing itself to be an ancient Lion Turtle. Aang asked the Lion Turtle for advice, who told Aang of a time when the four nations had not been divided, and when creatures were capable of bending not the elements, but energy itself at bending's core. The Lion Turtle then deposited Aang on the Earth Kingdom's shore, telling him to wait for Ozai's arrival on the hour of the comet's return that day. When Ozai arrived, Aang was able to destroy his ship and force Ozai to land, where he pleaded with Ozai to reconsider before they began to battle in earnest.
Despite his earlier realization that he would have no other choice, Aang proved to be incapable of outright attempting to kill Ozai during their fight. Instead, he resorted to manipulating their surroundings with incredible prowess to defend himself, but in the process, allowed Ozai to chase him with ceaseless attacks that began to tire him. Ozai tried to strike Aang with lightning, hitting him once. Enduring both the physical pain of the comet enhanced lightning and trying to redirect it as Zuko had taught him, Aang still could not bring himself to redirect it towards Ozai, whom had never learned the technique himself and would have died instantly. After a second of hesitation, Aang shot the lightning into the sky and away from Ozai. After being battered around, Aang fearfully sought refuge by forming a rock sphere around himself, which Ozai repeatedly struck while calling Aang and the other Air Nomads weak-willed. With a powerful blast of fire, he broke Aang's rock sphere and knocked him backwards into earthy debris, which hit the scar on Aang's back from when Azula had struck him and finally unlocked Aang's sahasrara chakra. This allowed him to access the Avatar state, which Aang immediately chose to do, resulting in a quick upper hand over Ozai. When Aang was about to give the final blow that would kill Ozai, he forcefully removed himself from the state and told Ozai that he didn't want it to end that way. Instead, Aang called upon bending's most basic form and attempted to energybend, ultimately succeeding and taking away Ozai's ability to firebend, which effectively rendered him useless.
After the jailing of Ozai and Azula (whom Zuko and Katara had defeated while Aang was fighting Ozai), Aang and his friends retreated, having accomplished the task of saving the earth together. Aang attended Zuko's coronation as Fire Lord, where they vowed to stay ~friends forever~ and help each other rebuild the world as an era of love and peace, and Aang was marked as Avatar Aang, receiving new clothing with an airbending master's medallion on a string of meditation beads. Sometime later, after the group had returned to Ba Sing Se and reclaimed it, Aang and Katara were able to properly confess their feelings and become an official couple, marking the end of the series. Thus, at the point of Aang's arrival in Adstringendum, he has been in Ba Sing Se with his friends for at least a week after the fall of Ozai's reign on the Fire Nation.
Abilities/Additional Notes:
Sample Journal Post:
Sample RP:
Livejournal: marburusu
Contact: AIM: PhantomMarbles | Plurk: Marburusu | E-Mail: PhantomMarbles@gmail.com
Other Characters Played: N/A!
Are you 18 or over? Nope. I'll be turning 17 in February. No sexual things are gonna be happening with Aang anyway, trust me on that one.
Canon: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Character: Aang, or alternatively, Avatar Aang. Nothing too fancy.
Timeline: After the end of the series; aka post Sozin's Comet 4: Avatar Aang. Aang is chilling in Ba Sing Se with his friends after saving the world.
Personality:
On the surface, Aang is the poster child of kindness. Exhibiting incredible love for others and an optimistic (though also somewhat naive) view on life, Aang is a fantastic friend and a natural born keeper of peace, being generally well-liked and attracting others to his presence with his vitality and enthusiasm. He is a curious boy by nature, constantly seeking knowledge and experience with new things, people and places, and often trying to do as much good wherever he goes. He is typically very selfess and willing to share anything he can offer with others, as well as protect or aid them without any expectation of compensation for his efforts. He is always looking for the good side of others, regardless of war or bad blood -- like with Zuko, he was reluctant to give up on the possibility of a friendship and was quick to trust him when Zuko joined their group. With his happy and cheerful demeanor being so prominent, Aang can easily come off as appearing to be carefree or "airheaded" (excuse the pun), but with a closer look into his interior it becomes obvious that his gentle and friendly exterior hides a great deal of inner burdens.
Indeed, Aang carries the weight of many tragedies on his shoulders. Not only does he despair over having been essentially stuck in time for a century while the world moved on without him, trying to keep up with how much has changed is a great struggle Aang has to deal with. He regrets his recklessness in running away when the monks tried to separate him from his best friend, Gyatso, resulting in his being frozen in the iceberg. He feels he abandoned his people in the wake of their darkest hour and shunted his responsibilities as the Avatar in doing so, and thus readily accepts any blame handed to him by others over his absence during the Fire Nation's reign of terror on the world. He does so several times in the series, one time being when a fisherman accused him of turning his back on the world, then daring to try and come back as though nothing had happened, and another time when the chief of the Sun Warriors claimed that Sozin's killing of dragons for glory was partially Aang's burden to bear because he was not there to stop it. This attitude partially manifests itself in Aang because Aang himself believes that it is his fault, and blames himself too. Despite the clear evidence that Aang would have died if he had not been in the iceberg, he continues to believe that if he had not chosen to run away, he could have been there to help the Air Nomads when they needed him, as well as the rest of the world that suffered during his absence.
As Guru Pathik said, Aang has "felt a great loss" in regards to his people, and takes it upon himself to personally maintain their ways of life. His behaviours and values are largely not understood by the modern world, the Air Nomad culture having been "dead" for so long, but Aang feels it is his duty as the last remaining Air Nomad to keep their legacy going through his own interactions and life style. He is proud of his heritage and culture, often struggling with the concept of shedding it, even for the greater good -- such as when he was forced to go into incognito in the Fire Nation, and showed great resentment towards having to conceal his arrow tattoos. He contributes to keeping the memory of the Air Nomads alive through other practices as well, like continuing to shave the hair from his head, as well as wearing the colour orange that is symbolic of their nation. Aside from the natural preference of his own culture over others, it is likely that he also does these things as a price for his own mistakes, seeing it as a necessary measure to repay his lost nation.
To understand Aang's practices, one must understand the influences he has grown up with for nearly his entire life. Coming from a culture that puts so much emphasis on achieval of spiritual enlightenment, Aang focuses on attaining inner peace, as well as a state of tranquility for the world at large. There are three focal points that compose the basics of his beliefs: dharma, ahimsa, and nirvana. Dharma focuses on spiritual and moralistic duty, which transforms and accomodates to an individual's personal obligations and callings. For Aang, it is fufilling the role of the world's Avatar, which means maintaining balance and order between all of the nations. However, dharma can also refer to nature as it is, the laws of such and the need to accept them for what they are. Ahimsa is the term that literally means avoidance of violence, and focuses on making the choice to act in kindness and pacifism towards all living things, human and non-human alike, as they are all connected in unity. Finally, nirvana is the state of being free from suffering, and is the ultimate goal. In this context, it means the "blowing out" of the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion. These are all very important aspects in the way Aang lives and acts; he understands his place, respects the phenomena of nature, values the treasure of life, and willfully seeks to purge himself of negative emotions and states of being -- however, Aang can never truly detach himself from the world at large due to the immensity of his dharma. As Yangchen told him, his obligation as the Avatar is to the world, and therefore it is not something that he can separate his spirit from in order to achieve enlightenment.
The practice of ahimsa is one of Aang's biggest strengths, and one of his most prominent weaknesses. That Aang was incapable of taking a human life, no matter the sin attached to the life, was Aang's largest obstacle in defeating Ozai -- but also one that allowed him to find the inner strength needed to discover an alternative. He prefers to solve his problems without resorting to a fight, though even when his opponents in battle are actively trying to kill or severely injure him, Aang employs largely defensive tactics. He typically holds back and tries to subdue them without seriously hurting them, regardless of who they are or whether or not they are human. The only exception to this is when others, most specifically his friends, are threatened instead of him -- when the enemy has put them in danger, Aang easily becomes distressed and relentlessly attacks to ensure their safety before his own, even entering the Avatar state if it becomes necessary. In doing so, Aang shows the martyr side of him: that nothing is more important to him than ensuring that his loved ones are happy and protected, if he is in any way possible of achieving it for them. He would willingly sacrifice himself, or anything he has, for sake of those he cares for if he felt that it was necessary -- even if this is something he has struggled with in the past, when it comes down to it it is truly his most important goal in life.
Because of his respect for all living things, Aang is also a vegetarian and abstains from eating any meat, showing obvious discomfort with the concept of killing an animal for his own gain. However, despite preaching the concepts of forgiveness, pacifism and gratitude for life to his friends, he never attempts to force his views on anyone, instead choosing to offer advice and support. This is the same with his alimentary practices; during the series when his friends choose to eat at places that only offer meat, Aang does not try to convince them to eat somewhere else instead. Alternatively, while Aang is not entirely passive, he has difficulty with standing up to those who take advantage of him or push him around, and often tries to be the voice of reason and truce during arguments. He usually has incredible patience and is very slow to become upset, but when he reaches his breaking point, his anger tends to be intense and nearly explosive, resorting to blaming others or simply becoming foul-tempered.
Background: Oh boy. Okay, here we go. Please bear with me and my skimming of some less important information; there's a LOT to go over without even going into what happens during the course of the series, so this is a very long background to read! Sorry!
In the A:TLA world, the earth is split into four nations residing on different continents of the world: the Water Tribe, the Air Nomads, the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. Depending on the nation(s) a person is from, they may have a unique ability to control and manipulate an element of nature, called "bending". For example, someone from the Water Tribe might be able to bend water, while someone from the Earth Kingdom might be able to bend soil and rocks. If they happened to have parents from both nations, they might be able to bend either water or earth, but never both. The only person capable of doing that, my friends, is what we call the Avatar.
What is the Avatar? Described as the master of all four elements, the Avatar is the sole entity capable of bending more than one element with incredible prowess, no matter what nation they belong to. It's a spirit that manifests itself in a human, ensuring that they will be destined to maintain or restore balance in the world during their life. Because the Avatar is a reincarnated deity, there can only be one Avatar at a time -- when the old one dies, the spirit inhabits a new person, and so on and so forth. The Avatar can be anyone at all, but there is a cycle to which the pattern follows in choosing the next one: first is someone from the Water Tribe, second is Earth Kingdom, third is Fire Nation, and last is Air Nomads, before the cycle repeats itself. There's no specific way of guessing whom it is exactly that will become the Avatar right away (the best people can do are risky methods, like what was done in Aang's case; as a young child he picked only toys that had belonged to the previous Avatar incarnations) and almost always, the individual themselves won't even know it until they're told that they are. Thus, an Avatar has no conscious recollection of their past lives and can vary quite drastically in motives and personality.
The lack of knowledge about his own true nature was definitely true for Aang. Raised by monks, Aang spent most of his life thinking he was just like any other child, besides having an incredible gift for airbending. He earned his blue tattoos at a very early age -- markings given to someone of their nation when they've completely mastered the element, as a rite of sorts. Highly influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism and Asceticism, Aang's culture was by large quite different from the rest of the world; all males (including himself) shaved their heads, for one, being their most noticeable trait by far. They were the only nation of all four to be composed entirely of benders, due to their highly spiritual way of life -- the prowess of each person dependent on the idividual, but nonetheless, every Nomad had potential to become an airbender, and because of this, many of their temples were constructed to manipulate the element within the architecture (such as the cliffside Western Air Temple -- yes, it is supposed to be upside-down!). Their temples were sex-segregated as well, with the monks inhabiting the Northern and Southern temples, and the nuns inhabiting the Eastern and Western ones. The Nomads were all vegetarians, and preached pacifism as much as possible, encouraging meaningful values of non-violence and peace for everyone.
Though it is implied Aang traveled to many other places and made friends with people of all nations, even choosing his own Sky Bison named Appa during his early childhood from the Eastern Air Temple, Aang's best friend was Gyatso, a monk that served as a father figure for him throughout much of his life. Anticipating a war, the Nomads were pressured into telling Aang what they had discovered of his destiny once the boy turned 12, and began putting him through rigorous training. Gyatso feared that Aang would lose his childhood and happiness to the obligations of being the Avatar, and tried to offer him as much time as possible to still feel like the young boy he was -- until the other monks began to feel that Gyatso was interfering with their plans. To prevent any further disruptions, the monks informed Gyatso that they would be taking Aang back to the Eastern Air Temple across the world, to complete his training away from him. Aang happened to overhear this conversation, and in a fit of despair, attempted to run away with Appa. They were caught in a storm over the ocean and nearly drowned -- thankfully, they were saved by the triggering of Aang's Avatar state.
The Avatar state is a "trance" of sorts, that an Avatar can sometimes unlock in extremely stressful situations, which brings out a combination of all their past lives and their strength. Until an Avatar can conquer this state, it is an unpredictable mechanism and completely impossible to control, and therefore, intended to be a last resort. While in the state, Aang created a huge boulder of ice that encompassed he and Appa, leaving them alive, but trapped underneath the ocean for literally an entire century. During this time, The Fire Nation commenced the aforementioned war upon the rest of the world. Using a large, flaming comet (later named Sozin's comet, after the Fire Lord of that era) that made its way through the world's atmosphere, the Fire Nation manipulated their enhanced firebending strength to eliminate the Air Nomads, wiping out all four temples in an ambush that the Nomads had no means of defending themselves from. Their intention? To take out the Avatar; their only perceived threat in accomplishing domination over the world. Aang, however, was still locked beath the ocean, completely untouchable by their attacks that left the rest of Aang's nation completely annihilated.
Now, skip forward those 100 years. The Fire Nation had nearly destroyed the Southern Water Tribe, and conquered a good chunk of the Earth Kingdom. It seemed inevitable that they were going to win the war, and soon. Luckily, this was the time two Water Tribe kids from the South Pole, brother and sister Sokka and Katara, stumbled across Aang's iceberg that had floated to the surface sometime during his submersion. After breaking him out of the iceberg, experiencing a rocky beginning (where Aang was reluctant to admit he was the Avatar) and running into the banished Fire Nation prince, Zuko, determined to capture the Avatar to restore his honour, the trio set out on Appa to travel the world, looking for bending masters to teach Aang the world's three other respective elements. Katara, being a novice waterbender herself, would be able to find a master of her own once they reached the North Pole.
Their first major trip was to the Aang's home: the Southern Air Temple, where despite Sokka and Katara's efforts to hide the truth from him, Aang discovered the deaths of his people and his best friend Gyatso. Devastated by the revelation that he really had lost all of his people to the Fire Nation, as well as everyone he'd ever known to those 100 years, Aang's Avatar state was triggered. Katara was able to calm him down by promising him that she and Sokka would be his family from that point onward. While at the temple, the trio also unknowingly alerted the world to the Avatar's return, and also found a winged lemur that Aang dubbed Momo and brought along with them when they departed. They would be headed for the Avatar temple in the Fire Nation, where Aang would be able to encounter his previous incarnation, Avatar Roku, who would serve as his spiritual guide for his journey. Along the way, the trio evaded capture by Prince Zuko and other enemies numerous times, as well as made a few friends -- and even reunited with an old one; Bumi of the Earth Kingdom, who was now a very old man but had once been Aang's pal when he was a young boy. Out of all the friends Aang made, Bumi would serve to be the only one still alive during the course of the series.
During their trip to the Avatar temple, Aang accidentally entered the Spirit World while trying to aid a village tormented by an angry spirit. The Spirit World is a parallel plane of existence that coexists along with the physical world in the A:TLA universe. As the Avatar Wiki describes it, the Spirit World "is the home of spirits, immortal supernatural entities which often embody different aspects of life and nature". It is nearly impossible for a mortal to pass into the Spirit World willingly, but as the Avatar serves as a "bridge" of sorts between the two planes, Aang is able to pass freely through either. The Spirit World contains all of Aang's past incarnations, and it was there that Aang met Avatar Roku for the first time. From Roku Aang learned of his destiny to defeat the current Fire Lord, Ozai, by the end of the summer. It was imperative for him to defeat him by that time, for Sozin's Comet -- the comet that had been used to wipe out Aang's people -- would complete its 100 year orbit and return again, upon which it would become impossible for Aang to restore balance to the world: the immense, unstoppable power the firebenders of the Fire Nation given by the comet's energy would be too much for even him to overthrow. Therefore, Roku relayed onto Aang the necessity for him to master the other three elements in time for summer's end; a task that to anyone would sound nearly impossible, let alone for a 12-year-old boy to accomplish.
Still, having no choice, Aang and his friends continued their journey to the North Pole, while Katara and Aang practiced the art of waterbending along the way to help improve their skills. Prince Zuko attempted to capture them several times, but the trio managed to evade him -- Aang only came close to being permanently taken prisoner when a Fire Nation Admiral, Zhao, used archers to attack him and kidnap him. Aang would have been doomed if it hadn't been for a mysterious man dressed in black and a blue mask that rescued him from Zhao's fortress. However, once they had escaped from the fortress the masked man was stuck with an arrow by an archer and knocked unconscious; taking off his mask, Aang discovered that his rescuer was actually Prince Zuko. Not wanting the other boy to be taken captive by Zhao, Aang decided not to leave him behind, instead taking Zuko with him into the forest and leaving him in the morning when Zuko would not take to Aang's pleas to come to a truce.
Continuing their journey north, Aang encountered a firebending master named Jeong Jeong. Eager to learn the art, Aang began to earn instruction from him, until he became too reckless and accidentally burned Katara. Horrified with his own lack of control, Aang resolved to never firebend again, in fear of causing destruction or suffering by being unable to maintain power over the dangerous nature of fire. Not long after this, the trio finally reached the North Pole. During their stay, Katara and Aang mastered waterbending under the training of master Pakku. However, their happiness was short-lived, due to the arrival of Admiral Zhao and his army -- under Ozai's command, Zhao was determined to seize control of the Northern Water Tribe by force. After attempting, and failing to fight off the forces on his own, Aang retreated to the Spirit Oasis, the most spiritual place in North Pole and home to two circling koi fish that represented the force of balance in the physical world. There he was able to tap into the Spirit World and search for guidance in defeating Zhao's advances. From another spirit, Aang discovered that the two koi fish were Tui and La, the moon and oceans spirits that pushed and pulled, eternally circling each other. Should they be wounded or killed, it would throw off the balance of the universe and ensure the doom of the North Pole.
However, during Aang's visit to the Spirit World, his physical body was left behind where it was vulnerable to attack. Prince Zuko was able to kidnap his body from Katara and take off with it, escaping from the city and travelling with him through the ice caps in a blizzard that had begun. Once Aang's spirit left the Spirit World, he was unable to find his body and had to search for it, eventually discovering it and Zuko. In the ensuing fight to escape, Zuko was once again knocked out -- yet for the second time, Aang chose not to leave him behind in fear that he would freeze to death in the cold, despite the protests of his friends who had come to recover him. Unfortunately for the group, while the Spirit Oasis was unguarded, Zhao was able to discover it and take Tui from the pond, turning the sky above red and causing the waterbenders fighting his army to lose their power. None were able to convince Zhao not to kill the fish, which resulted in the spiritual equivalent of a lunar eclipse. The stress of an imminent loss triggered Aang's Avatar state once more, and he merged with the living koi, La (the ocean) to form a monstrous water creature that was able to single-handedly destroy Zhao's army and drive the remaining forces away. Tui's spirit was luckily renewed when the Princess of the North Pole, Yue, sacrificed her life to become the new moon spirit, which once again restored balance. Though the seige was ultimately unsuccessful, Zhao was killed and Prince Zuko managed to escape alive.
After leaving the North Pole, Aang, Katara, and Sokka headed with Appa and Momo to the Earth Kingdom, looking for an earthbending master to take Aang as their pupil. Along the way, Aang struggled with whether or not to take advantage of his Avatar state to intentionally trigger it in order to defeat Ozai sooner. After realizing the destruction he could cause without being able to control himself, as well as obtaining knowledge from Roku -- that if he were to be killed in the Avatar state, the Avatar cycle of rebirth would be broken -- Aang decided to forgo the possibility in favor of his original plan with mastering the elements and defeating Ozai by summer's end. Hoping to be taught by Bumi, who'd become an earthbending master, the trio traveled towards Omashu (Bumi's home), Aang and Katara slowly developing their ~feelings~ for each other during their trip, as well as Aang coming to terms with the fact that he was in love with her. Once they were able to reach Omashu, they discovered that it had been conquered by the Fire Nation. Aang attmpted to free Bumi from capture, but Bumi refused and told Aang that he would have to find another earthbending teacher.
Leaving Omashu again, the group headed out in search of a teacher, eventually coming across the town of Gaoling where Aang met a young blind girl named Toph. Having exprienced a vision of her prior, Aang realized she was meant to be his teacher when he witnessed her amazing earthbending prowess and ability to "listen" to the earth. Eventually she left with them on their journey. Though they had met her briefly in Omashu, during their journey the group encountered Zuko's younger sister Princess Azula, who was determined to capture Aang as well, but they were also able to evade her. During their travels around the Earth Kingdom, Toph began teaching Aang earthbending -- something that proved to be extremely difficult for him to grasp, being the solid, unmovable element that is the natural opposite of air. However, once Aang learned the trick of being physically and mentally rooted while performing the art, he was able to learn earthbending much more quickly. After much hard work, the group discovered an ancient library where they uncovered the coming of a solar eclipse; much like the spiritual lunar eclipse at the North Pole, a solar eclipse would leave Ozai defenceless and would be the perfect time to launch an attack against the Fire Nation. Sadly, during their trip inside the library, Appa was stolen by sandbenders who later sold him. Aang was devastated by the loss of his companion and vowed tearfully to find him, no matter what it would require of him.
Following guidance of the likeliest place to find Appa, the group traveled to Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom's last stronghold. Much to their horror, they found that Azula was planning an attack on the city, using a large drilling machine to break through the massive outer walls protecting the inside. Thankfully, they were able to destroy the drill, and then commenced their search for Appa once again. In dismay, the city revealed itself to be far bigger than they had imagined. While in Ba Sing Se, the group decided to try and meet with the Earth King to discuss the Solar Eclipse and the possibility of launching an invasion, though they were thwarted by the shady forces of Long Feng: the king's advisor, whom had cleverly gained control over Ba Sing Se by manipulating the king and all of his people. Long Feng did not want to risk losing control, especially after having deceived the king into not knowing about the war with the Fire Nation, so he attempted many times to expel Aang and his friends from the city. He used Appa as blackmail against Aang, as he had been keeping the bison captive. Aang and his friends were finally able to reveal the truth to the king and sentence Long Feng to justice, as well as win the king's willingness to partake in an attack against the Fire Nation. Appa was returned to Aang as well, who found a note attached to Appa's horn -- the note was from a Guru named Pathik, who wished to meet Aang at the Eastern Air Temple and teach him how to conquer the Avatar State. Aang decided to split up from the group for the time being to meet with the Guru in hopes of gaining a higher strength in time to fight Ozai.
Through the release of the seven chakras, Aang would be able to cleanse himself and recieve spiritual enlightenment, which would allow him the ability to control his own Avatar state. Although Aang was able to conquer many of his fears, sorrows, guilts, and doubts through the process (as well as getting over his refusal to firebend), he was unable to unlock his final sahasrara chakra. During the unlocking, Aang experienced a vision of Katara in need of help and realized he was incapable of freeing himself of his attachments to the people he loved in order to connect with the world's cosmic energy. Pathik warned him he had locked his chakra and would not be able to enter the Avatar state at all unless he completed the process of unlocking it, but Aang chose to return to Ba Sing Se to ensure that Katara and the others were not in danger.
Later guilty and slightly reproachful of his recklessness, Aang lied about his failure to master the Avatar state to Sokka and Toph. When the group returned to Ba Sing Se, they were unable to locate Katara. The group also learned of a coup that was supposed to occur later that day, and rushed to alert the King to the treason as soon as possible. There, they found that Azula had infiltrated the palace and overthrown the king, as well as taken captive of her "traitor" brother Zuko, and Katara. The group attempted to escape, but was greatly outmatched and outnumbered once Zuko decided to help his sister capture Aang and restore his honour in the process. Aang realized that there would be no way for them to escape unless he went into the Avatar state, so he attempted to unlock the seventh chakra himself -- and he would have succeeded, if it hadn't been for Azula. Just as Aang was entering the Avatar state, she used her bending to strike him with a bolt of lightning, killing him. Katara was miraculously able to escape with his body and join the rest of the group in flying away from Ba Sing Se on Appa. Though Aang had died, Katara was able to revive him with the spiritual water she had taken from the Oasis in the North Pole, using her waterbending to "heal" him -- however, in doing so his seventh chakra was firmly locked. The group was alive, but they had lost Ba Sing Se, the world's last figure of hope, to the Fire Nation.
Aang spent several weeks in a coma after the incident, waking up to discover that the world believed him to be dead. Aang was horrified by the news, blaming himself for the loss of Ba Sing Se, and that if the world thought he was dead there would no longer be any hope. Afraid of dragging his friends into any more danger, Aang felt his only option was to run away again -- though this time, in hopes of facing his destiny alone rather than avoiding it. Aang became lost in a storm at sea after leaving, and nearly gave into despair until Roku and Princess Yue's spirits appeared to him, encouraging him not to give up and relieving him of the immense guilt he was experiencing. He washed up on the shore of the island where Roku's temple once stoof, reuniting with his friends in the morning and coming to terms with the fact that he would need their help in defeating Ozai. What was next was for Aang to continue his training to ensure they would be ready in time for the Solar Eclipse, disguising himself as a member of the Fire Nation along with his friends. Later, Aang would return to the island after a vision from Roku, to learn about Roku's life as the Avatar, as well as how the war had begun. Roku relayed onto Aang that he and Sozin had once been best friends, and that anyone had the potential to become good or evil, as in the end, Sozin betrayed Roku and left him to die in favour of using Sozin's comet to commence the war and wipe out the race the proceeding Avatar would be a part of. Although Aang did not know this, Zuko -- whom had been welcomed back to the Fire Nation as crown prince -- was experiencing a parallel journey at the same time as him, where he discovered that he was spiritually related to Aang: his mother's grandfather had been Avatar Roku, making Aang's previous incarnation Zuko's great grandfather.
As the date of the Solar Eclipse drew nearer, Aang's insecurities, as well as his fears for himself and his friends began to get the best of him. He started having horrible nightmares about the invasion, eventually driving him into a state where he could no longer sleep. Eventually, he was able to relieve his stress and rest before the invasion, but it was for naught: the invasion turned out to be a failure, as Ozai had known of their plans for quite some time and had escaped to a hidden bunker. The group had no choice but to retreat once more, escaping to to Western Air Temple in hope of safe refuge until they could figure out what to do next. Once there, the group decided Aang would have to stick to his old plan of mastering the elements in time for summer's end. However, Aang was still struggling with his fear of firebending, even if he had been able to overcome his refusal to perform it. Much to the group's surprise, they discovered that someone had followed them to the temple: Prince Zuko, but in a shocking twist of fate he had betrayed his father and decided to join Aang, offering to be his firebending master and help him overthrow Ozai. Reasonably, Aang refused to believe Zuko at first and turned him away. But after Zuko saved them from potential death at the hands of a dangerous enemy, as well as when Zuko lamented on his need to be more careful about his firebending (a parallel Aang made to the memory of his burning Katara), Aang stepped forward and made the decision to trust him and accept him as his teacher.
Unfortunately, to the dismay of the group, Zuko lost his ability to firebend after joining them. He had lost his internal drive, and therefore his source of his power, when he'd given up his determination to capture Aang. After a trip to the ruins of an ancient Fire Nation civilization called the Sun Warriors, Aang and Zuko discovered the true nature of fire as life and energy, not just destruction. With this new information, as well as Zuko's reassurance, Aang was able to overcome his uncertainties and begin to firebend once more, and Zuko regained his ability to do the same once he understood that his "new" internal drive was helping Aang rather than trying to defeat him. This journey with Zuko helped Aang grow closer to him and come to value him as a friend. After this, Zuko began putting Aang through intense firebending training in preparation for Sozin's comet, while Aang struggled in the meantime to work out his feelings about Katara with her. He had hoped they would be able to be together, because before the invasion on the Solar Eclipse, he had kissed her. However, Katara admitted she was still confused, and that the war was more important than any romantic relationship they could form at that moment.
Three days before Sozin's comet, Zuko was informed that the group had decided to wait until after the comet after all to face Ozai, feeling certain that Aang would undoubtedly lose if he did not. However, Zuko informed them that his father was intending to use the comet's power to destroy the Earth Kingdom, and that if they waited until after the comet there would no longer be any world to save. Shocked and scared in the face of such horrible news, Aang was wrought with inner turmoil at not only the concept of having to face Ozai at his full power so soon, but also at the idea of being expected to kill him. Later on, Zuko taught Aang the ability to redirect lightning, warning him that it could prove to be essential to his survival when facing Ozai, and that he would have to be the first to strike Ozai or else he would be the one defeated instead. Aang thought at first he would be alright if Katara could use the Spirit Oasis water on him again, but she admitted to him that she had used all of it to revive him after the fight with Azula -- this time, the situation was kill-or-be-killed. Under the pressure of his friends, especially Zuko, to get over his pacifism and kill Ozai for the good of the world, Aang broke down and argued that he couldn't do so because it went against everything the monks had taught him growing up. He bitterly reprimanded himself for his inability to take a human life but ultimately continued to refuse, eventually storming off to try and meditate on his own.
After falling asleep, Aang awoke in a trance during the night, leaving the island on which they had been staying and swimming out to another smaller island that had mysteriously appeared sometime in the middle of that night. This was the not the first time he had done this -- before, when he, Katara and Sokka had been flying over a swamp filled with spiritual energy in which Aang had seen his vision of Toph, he had felt as though the swamp had been calling to him. Like with the island, he'd unknowingly begun to fly toward it until his friends had snapped him out of his trance. With no one around to stop him, this time Aang swam all the way to the island, following its powerful aura. When Aang fully woke up in the morning, he discovered himself to be stranded on the island in the middle of the sea; it moved so far away from land he could no longer see the shore. After realizing that he was not in the Spirit World, Aang decided to mediate once more and call upon the wisdom of his past lives to help him.
Calling first on Roku, the spirit couldn't tell Aang where he was but offered to give him advice on his impending battle with Ozai. Roku told Aang to be decisive, as Roku had made the mistake in his own life of not showing enough restraint with Sozin, who took advantage of it. Next, Aang called on Kyoshi, the female Earth Kingdom Avatar before Roku, who told him that she would have done whatever it took to uphold justice, and that Aang should consider the same for himself. After Kyoshi, Aang called on Kuruk, the male Water Tribe Avatar before Kyoshi. He informed Aang that most of his life had been spent in general peace, as his era had been one of relative tranquility. His greatest tragedy had been when Koh, the spirit known as the Face-Stealer, stole his wife's face from her -- as a consequence, he advised Aang to be attentive and actively shape his own destiny. Aang was largely unhappy with the answers from the three Avatars, and hoped for someone who would better understand his predicament, so he called a final time on Yangchen: the last Air Nomad Avatar before him. Aang spoke with her about how he was taught to respect all forms of life, and to remove himself from worldly concerns to attain spiritual peace. Yangchen sympathized with Aang, but nonetheless explained that while the Nomads had indeed taught those values, as the Avatar Aang would never be able to remove himself from worldly concerns, because his obligations as a human being were to the world. Her advice to him was to remember that the Avatar's duty would include sacrificing their spiritual well-being for the good of the world if it were necessary. After his discussions with his previous lives, Aang came to the conclusion that he would have to kill Ozai after all.
After falling asleep for another night on the island, Aang woke up to find that the Earth Kingdom shore was coming closer and realized that the island was moving. Aang dived into the water and swam around the island, discovering that it was actually a creature, revealing itself to be an ancient Lion Turtle. Aang asked the Lion Turtle for advice, who told Aang of a time when the four nations had not been divided, and when creatures were capable of bending not the elements, but energy itself at bending's core. The Lion Turtle then deposited Aang on the Earth Kingdom's shore, telling him to wait for Ozai's arrival on the hour of the comet's return that day. When Ozai arrived, Aang was able to destroy his ship and force Ozai to land, where he pleaded with Ozai to reconsider before they began to battle in earnest.
Despite his earlier realization that he would have no other choice, Aang proved to be incapable of outright attempting to kill Ozai during their fight. Instead, he resorted to manipulating their surroundings with incredible prowess to defend himself, but in the process, allowed Ozai to chase him with ceaseless attacks that began to tire him. Ozai tried to strike Aang with lightning, hitting him once. Enduring both the physical pain of the comet enhanced lightning and trying to redirect it as Zuko had taught him, Aang still could not bring himself to redirect it towards Ozai, whom had never learned the technique himself and would have died instantly. After a second of hesitation, Aang shot the lightning into the sky and away from Ozai. After being battered around, Aang fearfully sought refuge by forming a rock sphere around himself, which Ozai repeatedly struck while calling Aang and the other Air Nomads weak-willed. With a powerful blast of fire, he broke Aang's rock sphere and knocked him backwards into earthy debris, which hit the scar on Aang's back from when Azula had struck him and finally unlocked Aang's sahasrara chakra. This allowed him to access the Avatar state, which Aang immediately chose to do, resulting in a quick upper hand over Ozai. When Aang was about to give the final blow that would kill Ozai, he forcefully removed himself from the state and told Ozai that he didn't want it to end that way. Instead, Aang called upon bending's most basic form and attempted to energybend, ultimately succeeding and taking away Ozai's ability to firebend, which effectively rendered him useless.
After the jailing of Ozai and Azula (whom Zuko and Katara had defeated while Aang was fighting Ozai), Aang and his friends retreated, having accomplished the task of saving the earth together. Aang attended Zuko's coronation as Fire Lord, where they vowed to stay ~friends forever~ and help each other rebuild the world as an era of love and peace, and Aang was marked as Avatar Aang, receiving new clothing with an airbending master's medallion on a string of meditation beads. Sometime later, after the group had returned to Ba Sing Se and reclaimed it, Aang and Katara were able to properly confess their feelings and become an official couple, marking the end of the series. Thus, at the point of Aang's arrival in Adstringendum, he has been in Ba Sing Se with his friends for at least a week after the fall of Ozai's reign on the Fire Nation.
Abilities/Additional Notes:
Sample Journal Post:
Sample RP: