Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Western Air Temple has been given a stunning recreation using Unreal Engine 5. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a hit animated series that ran from 2005 to 2008 to critical acclaim and remains adored even now over a decade since its finale. Since the series was complete, the creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino have continued to explore the Avatar Universe with its sequel The Legend of Korra, comics, and novels. The last year has been chock-full of ATLA news with the newly minted Avatar Studios promising several new animated projects while, separately, Netflix has been working on a live-action adaptation.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is influenced by many Asian cultures (particularly Chinese, Japanese, and Indian) and various indigenous cultures from around the world. Not only is this represented in the characters, it is also reflected in the anime-inspired art style and the design choices taken throughout the series. One of the most awe-inspiring examples of this is the Western Air Temple, where Aang and his friends take shelter in season 3 episode 12. The Temple’s design takes influence from the roofs of Bhutanese monasteries such as Paro Taktsang (a sacred Vajrayana Himalayan Buddhist site situated in the cliffside of the upper Paro valley in Bhutan) and Tibetan architecture.
Now, Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Western Air Temple has been reimagined by Leo Torres on YouTube. Using Unreal Engine 5, the artist has created a hyper-realistic version of the cartoon’s Western Air Temple bathed in sunlight and gorgeous greenery. Check out Torres’ breathtaking fan design below:
Click here to see the original post.
Unreal Engine 5 is the most up-to-date version of Epic Games' popular game creation engine, released in 1998. After its initial unveiling back in 2020, Unreal Engine 5 was then available for all in April of this year. Since then, the game engine has been used by many to envision new projects like a Lord of the Rings trilogy game and a God of War remastering. Its release was done with a royalty payment model where creators can build and design and are only required to pay royalties to Epic Games should their project make a profit.
While Avatar: The Last Airbender fans appear to love seeing new content, evident by the positive reactions to fan creations such as the one above, this isn’t always the case. After M. Night Shyamalan’s famously lackluster attempt to create a live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender in 2010, fans have been, understandably, apprehensive about Netflix's new adaptation. Despite the talented, diverse cast and dedicated crew, some fans are still worried that their favorite characters will be butchered yet again. However, hyper-realistic creations like the one above can give fans an insight into just how incredible a real-life Avatar: The Last Airbender world can look ahead of the release of Netflix's show.
Source: Leo Torres/YouTube