Introductions!

          For those of you who have seen the beginning of the first season you know that a lot happens in the first episodes. You see a good amount of characters for the first time, learn a little about their background, and watch how they all tie into the story. Pretty much all of my favorite characters are introduced in the first episode which is great because I can add them to this short list of the main characters that appear that I think are important to the story.

  Since the show is about the Avatar let's start with Aang.

Age: 12
Origin: Born in the Southern Air Temple
Capabilities: As the Avatar he is originally an Airbender but is able to bend the other elements and communicate with his past lives and use their power and knowledge by entering the Avatar State.
Role: He is the protagonist and the story follows his adventure across the world as he masters the four elements to defeat the Fire Nation and restore peace to the world
Personality: Aang is a funny kid. He's only 12 and is energetic and friendly and a kind person with a good heart. He faces many difficulties being the last of his kind and faces many challenges which forces him to grow and mature at an early age. Well he's mature when he needs to be anyway...most of the time.

 Katara is Sokka's younger sister and she is the one who releases Aang from the ice.

Age: 14
Origin: Born in the Southern Water Tribe in the South Pole
Capabilities: She is a Waterbender and has had to teach herself what she knows because she is the last Water bender in her Tribe.
Role: She is pretty much Aang's first friend and she and her brother join Aang on his journey. She later ends up becoming Aang's waterbending master.
Personality: Being one of the oldest in her Tribe with her mother dead and her father fighting in the war against the Fire Nation she has been given much responsibility. A smart, kind girl she has grown up quickly and is tough, stubborn, and likes to do things for herself. She tends to be the level headed serious one in the group.

 Last but definitely not least is Katara's brother named Sokka and he is the final member of the trio.

Age: 15
Origin: Born in the Southern Water Tribe in the South Pole
Capabilities: He cannot bend like his sister or Aang but that doesn't mean he does't have skills! He is very intelligent and is great at inventing things. He can read a map, and devise strategies that help get them out of trouble many times. Though he can't bend that way he uses logic and strategy make him a valuable asset.
Role: He is a warrior and as mentioned before, he also joins Aang to company his sister, and help with the war effort. He's skilled with his boomerang and can think quick on his feet coming up with clever ways or inventions that help the three of them get out of trouble.
Personality: He looks up to his father and when his dad leaves to go fight be begs to join him. However, being to young he is told to look after the tribe and his sister which he does with much passion. Seeing his opportunity to help his father and wanting to protect his sister and help Aang he joins them. He is my favorite  character in this series!! He is the comic relief and is full of jokes and sarcasm and though he tends to be unlucky he helps keep everyone's spirits up.

The Story

          So, if you have never heard of Avatar: The Last Airbender and are afraid to waste time watching two episodes of something that you may not even like let me give you a quick run down:

          As the introduction to each episode says the story takes place in a world divided into four nations: The Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads. Among the people in the world some have the capability to manipulate the elements (water, earth, fire, air). This technique is called bending. Now in order to keep balance among the nations there is a being that can bend all four of these elements and he/she is called an Avatar.

          There can only be one Avatar at a time in this world. He/she is born in a nation and is then taught the other elements and masters them. When the Avatar dies they are reincarnated into the next nation in the Avatar cycle. Besides being able to master all four elements the Avatar can enter the Avatar State which allows them to communicate with all the past Avatars and gain all their knowledge and experience for a short period of time. However, if an Avatar is killed in the Avatar State then the cycle will be broken and not being able to reincarnate into the next nation-the Avatar will no longer exist.

      Here is where this series begins. It starts with two siblings living in the Southern Water Tribe named Katara and Sokka who find a boy trapped in a huge ball of ice with his pet bison. Katara accidentally releases the boy in the ice whose name is Aang. Aang is an airbender and the next Avatar in the cycle. This is incredible news because no one has seen the Avatar in over 100 years! When Aang was 12 he was frozen in the ice and in his prolonged absence the Fire Nation rulers took advantage of the absence of the Avatar and rose to power stretching their empire all over the world.

          Now, that Aang has been released he must face his destiny and master all the elements so that he may put an end to the reign of the Fire Nation and restore balance among the nations.

A kid show that's not just for kids

            Posting that link brought back memories of my first time watching this show. It was actually my little brother who got me hooked. He kept raving on and on about this show he was watching in Nickelodeon and wanted me to watch it with him. I of course being the cool older sister had no time for such childishness but in the end when he caught the first episode playing I agreed to watch it hoping he would quit annoying me. I don't know about you guys but after that first episode I was enthralled. It wasn't at all what I was expecting! From the menacing Zuko to carefree Aang to the sarcastic and hilarious Sokka all the characters were interesting and I enjoyed watching the first episode a lot. I actually looked it up on the guide to see if they were going to play the second episode. 
         I finally caught up to my brother in the episodes and we began to watch it religiously. Luckily my brother and I get along great part of the reason being that if we find a series or a book that we love we become absolute nerds and we would have conversations on how cool it would be to have a flying bison or a kind and funny uncle like the former great general Iroh. Even putting aside characters for a moment and just thinking about being able to have the ability to bend elements sent our mind buzzing. We interact with the elements water, fire, earth and the air everyday and many of us do not realize how much we depend on them. Could you imagine living in a world like the one in this show where people are able to bend and manipulate these elements!? It sounds so cool!! Anyways, I'd better stop before I get too carried away. Yip Yip!
         

Every great show needs a beginning

          This blog is all about Avatar: The Last Airbender and why I enjoyed this show so much. 


Note: This is Avatar: The Last Airbender an animated TV show that aired on Nickelodeon from 2005-2008. It is NOT Avatar the movie directed by James Cameron that takes place on the planet Pandora. 


Yes, it may have seemed silly to point that out but I have had people that have never heard about the show think that I'm talking about that movie. Before I start telling you how awesome it is here is a link to a blog I found that has full length episodes of the show. If you have never heard of this show or have just never got around to seeing an episode here's your chance! This link has the very two first episodes and introduces some of the main characters. 

Book 1 Water: Chapters 1 & 2

If you have seen it then here's a refresher! I myself became very happy when I discovered this website and immediately abandoned the homework I was working on and proceeded to re-watch some of the episodes :).