Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in a fantasy world where young heroes must save the world from the destruction and misery of the Hundred Year War. Avatar Aang and his friends must all face the cruel reality of war and strive to become smarter, wiser and stronger in order to defeat the Fire Nation once and for all, and this experience will change them forever. In fact, various supporting characters have also grown up in different ways, including in flashbacks.

Some characters in Avatar are static and have all the skills and powers they need to succeed from the start, which makes character development much clearer. Uncle Iroh, for example, was immensely proud when he saw his nephew Zuko grow from a troubled prince into a wise young man. who was ready to take on the role of Fire Lord. Growth can take many forms, such as adopting new ideas and worldviews, acquiring new skills, growing up, and forming new relationships of all kinds.

10 Earth King Kuei took a more active role in Ba Sing Se

Debut episode: “City of Walls and Secrets”

Earth King Kuei’s growth ranks last among all characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender mainly because he didn’t gain any new skills or develop personally. However, he did gain a new perspective and learned to take a more active role in his kingdom. He went from being a borderline figurehead to a man who genuinely wanted to directly support his people, but unfortunately that didn’t last long.

On the positive side, The Gaang convinced King Kuei to accept the truth about the Hundred Year War and take responsibility for the defense of his country and the great city of Ba Sing Se. On the other hand, he was overthrown by Long Feng and Azula and not long after, the entire Earth Kingdom fell, marking the official end of the war that shook Kuei personally.

9 Hama invented a new bending style to escape prison

Debut episode: “The Puppeteer”

Hama’s entire personal development was explained in a flashback when she told the Gaang how she escaped captivity in the Fire Nation. Hama was a young woman when the Fire Nation raider fleets began attacking the Southern Water Tribe, and after several raids, Hama was captured and imprisoned. The situation seemed hopeless, but then Hama had a creative and desperate idea: he wanted to manipulate the blood of other living beings.

Hama spent years perfecting this new bending style, and it secured her escape on the night of a full moon. It is enormously empowering and rewarding for a bender to develop their own style, but in this case, that development felt twisted and frightening, as bloodbending was a dark art that Hama began to abuse after settling in the Fire Nation.

8 Pakku was taken with the idea of ​​female waterbenders and found love again

Debut episode: “The Master of Waterbending”

Older characters like Pakku don’t change as easily, as they are already set in their ways and have much less to discover about themselves and the world around them. Still, even characters like Pakku can be convinced to change their worldview for the benefit of others, and that’s exactly what happened when Pakku met the Gaang in his home tribe, the Northern Water Tribe.

Pakku shared his tribe’s conservative views on women and waterbending, so Katara challenged him to a bending match.Although Pakku won, he changed his views and accepted Katara as his first student.which led to her being recognized as a worthy waterbender. This may also have inspired Pakku to become active as a member of the White Lotus and fight alongside Iroh, Piandao, and the others when Sozin’s Comet came. He even married the love of his life after being separated from her for so many years.

7 Mai decided to stand up for true love

Debut episode: “Return to Omashu”

Although the acrobatic Ty Lee didn’t experience much growing up, her moody friend Mai certainly did. At first, Mai was the apathetic and bitter counterpart to the cheerful Ty Lee and the nervous Azula, but then Avatar Fans saw a different side to Mai. She had internalized the idea of ​​being quiet and not disturbing others, and was afraid to express her true self in any way.

Mai finally broke out of this shell and began to have some serious conversations with her boyfriend, Prince Zuko, which changed Mai’s character and her relationship with Zuko into new territory. It hurt Mai at times, but she grew up as a person and as a lover, which undoubtedly made her wiser about love and friendship over time.

6 Toph Beifong learned to be a team player and appreciate her parents more

Debut episode: “The Blind Bandit”

On the level of metalbending, Toph truly shined when she single-handedly invented the art of metalbending. In a moment of inspiration, Toph realized that metal is merely an extension of the Earth, a clever idea that helped her escape imprisonment and begin bending in a new way.

On a personal level, Toph has grown up by learning to be a team player and harness the power of friendship rather than fighting alone in the battle arenas as a Blind Bandit. Through her new friends and fighting alongside her, Toph got to know a whole new side of the world. and it also helped her to finally realize how much she had hurt her parents by running away from home.

5 Avatar Roku mastered the elements in 12 years

Debut episode: “Winter Solstice, Part 2: Avatar Roku”

Avatar Roku is in the middle of character development simply because he tried so hard to become an exemplary Avatar. At the age of 16, as custom required, Roku was told he was the new Avatar, and he set out on a journey from his homeland, the Fire Nation, to learn the ways of Air, Water, and Earth, in that order. After 12 years, he had mastered them all, and by the age of 28, he was a great Avatar.

Additionally, Roku had mentally grown into his role as Avatar by embracing the idea that he was responsible for the entire worldnot just his homeland. As an Avatar, he was neutral and benevolent, which brought him into conflict with his increasingly evil friend, the Fire Lord Sozin, who wanted his support in an attempt to conquer the entire world.

4 Katara developed from a beginner in waterbending to a true master

Debut episode: “The Boy in the Iceberg”

Like her brother Sokka, Katara had a rather limited worldview, growing up in a remote place like the humble Southern Water Tribe. Although Katara adapted to new ideas more easily than Sokka, she still had a lot to learn about the world, the art of waterbending, and even about herself. For example, Katara eventually learned that revenge doesn’t pay and that she’s not the type to take a life to avenge a life lost.

Katara also improved her bending skills tremendously. She made some progress as a self-taught waterbender, but she needed that rare waterbending scroll and Pakku’s guidance to fully reach her potential. By the end of the series, Katara was a master of water and she even learned bloodbending from Hama, although Katara personally detests bloodbending.

3 Sokka expanded his worldview and became an outstanding leader

Debut episode: “The Boy in the Iceberg”

Even more than his little sister, Sokka had a rather narrow mindset, having grown up in the Southern Water Tribe. He viewed bending as bizarre magic and could not imagine female fighters. Interestingly, there were female waterbending warriors in the South, such as Hama, but they were all captured before Sokka could meet any of them.

Throughout the show and especially in the first book, Sokka’s worldview expanded rapidly, from meeting the Kyoshi Warriors to witnessing other tamers in action to learning sword fighting from Piandao.who was secretly a member of the White Lotus. Sokka also grew into his role as a leader, personally taking command of the Fire Nation counter-invasion when his father was injured in battle.

2 Avatar Aang learned new elements and saw the world

Debut episode: “The Boy in the Iceberg”

Like Roku, Kyoshi, and other Avatars before him, the young Avatar Aang, as someone gifted with the spirit of Raava, studied hard to master all four elements. Aang made impressive progress in about a year and had Katara, Pakku, Toph and Zuko to thank for teaching him how to direct elements away from their original atmosphere.

Aang also grew up personally, from a carefree child hiding from his duties to the protector of the world. However, Aang made sure not to reveal who was there, and so he categorically refused to kill Fire Lord Ozai when they fought their final battle that would decide the fate of the world.

1 Prince Zuko transformed into a wiser, kinder firebender

Debut episode: “The Boy in the Iceberg”

Without a doubt, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation experienced the most significant and inspiring character development of the entire series when his redemption arc began. When Ozai burned his face, Zuko became convinced that he needed to capture the Avatar to regain his father’s favor, which meant he was willing to damn the entire world for himself. Zuko then began to question whether the destiny his father had given him was really the right path.

Little by little, Zuko began to seek his own destiny and in the process shed his own villainy. Zuko’s priorities, methods and goals changed for the better as he began to become the right person to help Aang save the world and became Fire Lord, and when Zozin’s Comet arrived, Zuko was that person. He even reinvented his firebending, putting aside his anger and instead using the power of life and passion to ignite his firebending, just as the Sun Warriors had taught him.