Fans of the hit series Avatar: The Last Airbender often categorize it as one of the best Nickelodeon series—and perhaps one of the best anime series—of all time. After all, the fact of the matter is that The Last Airbender's story, writing, characters, animation, and action are all a cut above the rest, making it a must-watch series for anyone interesting in a well-realized world and an epic yet relatable story. The fact that fans were clamoring for a sequel years after the show ended its original run—something that eventually became a reality—is a testament to just how popular this show really was.
That being said, even the most passionate fans have some problems trying to ignore some weird happenings in the show that is close to impossible to explain away without creating any doubts in the minds of viewers. Keeping this in mind, here are ten of the strangest things on the show that people find extremely hard to overlook.
The Details Of How The Fire Nation Wiped The Air Nomads Is Still Up In The Air
The fact that that Air Nomads had their temples situated on the top of steep mountains should've been the perfect defense for them, yet the Fire Nation still managed to successfully attack them and wipe them off the face of the earth. Given the fact that airships hadn't been invented at that time, this makes the act of the Fire Nation successfully destroying the Air Temples and killing off its inhabitants all the more difficult to believe.
Zuko Should've Turned On His Father The Moment He Was Scarred By Him
It's fair to say that Zuko was a fairly logical individual, so the fact that his tyrannical father ended up scarring him just for raising his voice during a discussion should've been the straw that broke the camel's back. Instead, Zuko still hungers for his father's approval to the point where he hunts ardently for the Avatar in order to win back the approval of someone who should've never deserved his time of day in the first place.
Ozai Had A Massive Overreaction For Something As Trivial As An Interruption
The idea of scarring your son simply because he interrupted you in a council meeting is a ridiculous notion... yet Ozai follows through with this needlessly stupid decision anyway. One can argue that this action was what pretty much sparked the fire of rebellion in Zuko, who ended up learning many useful things under the tutelage of Uncle Iroh and decided to side with the Avatar to overthrow his tyrannical father.
Azula Throwing Off Toph With Her Masterful Lies Puts The Latter's Abilities In Doubt
For the longest time, the fact that Toph could figure out whether a person was lying or not was pretty much treated as gospel. However, everything changed when Azula decided to show off her lying skills.
We doubt that Azula's deception skills were advanced enough to get past Toph's adept senses, making this a potential plot flaw in a series that's already a bit less than airtight.
Zuko's Source Of Power Remains The Same Post His Face Turn, But He Still Treats It Like A New Thing
After realizing the error of his ways, Zuko decides that he would start channeling the power of his firebending from the sun itself, as opposed to his own hatred. However, he's been doing this all along! During his fight with Katara in season one, Zuko even talks about how his power rises with the sun, which certainly dampens the impact of his revelation somewhat.
Aang Should've Shown His Airbending To Prove His Avatar Status To The Passport Attendant
While trying to secure tickets for the Full Moon Bay ferry, the passport holder who's dealing out the tickets ends up shunning Aang and the group initially, even going so far as to say that Aang's claims of being the Avatar are a bluff.
However, Aang could've easily refuted this by showing her his airbending skills, something that somehow never even crossed his mind. Had it not been for Toph and her lineage, the party would've found themselves stuck without a ride.
Toph Gives Herself Eyeholes When She Dons Her Suit Of Rock Armor... Even Though She's Blind
While training the Avatar, Toph decides to don a suit of rock armor and tells Aang to break down her defenses. However, she ends up leaving some space for her eyes... even though she's blind. This was a goof-up on the part of the animators, who should've given a hole for her mouth instead, given how clear her voice was in this armor. It would've made more sense.
General Fong's Methods To Bring Out Aang's Avatar State Are Downright Psychotic
An annoying side character whose entire existence was seemingly to push the Avatar's buttons, General Fong ends up taking it upon himself to force Aang into the Avatar State permanently in a bid to defeat Fire Lord Ozai.
However, the manner in which he does this is so barbaric—basically making Aaag think that Katara had been buried alive—that one can't really understand how this method would've helped him. If anything, Aang's rage in the Avatar State would've been so immense that he could've potentially sent General Fong to an early grave.
The South And North Pole Should Have Extended Day-Night Cycles
For some reason, the day-night cycles are normal on the poles, something that plays a major role in the plot when the Northern Water Tribe is attacked by the Fire Nation. However, this shouldn't even remotely be the case. After all, it's common knowledge that the poles more or less experience six continuous months of day, following by the rest of the year being shrouded in eternal darkness.
Appa's Treatment At The Circus Is Extremely Disturbing
One of the episodes in Avatar won an Annie Award for the realistic manner in which animal abuse is depicted, with Appa being a victim of a kidnapping that leads to him being sold to a circus where he's treated horribly.
While this episode was certainly eye-opening in many ways, one has to question whether Appa's treatment should've been so brutal in the first place. It's fair to say that kids wouldn't exactly have the awareness required to understand the nuances of animal slavery and could've just been traumatized by Appa's treatment instead. Yet, exploration of such heavy subjects lent a lot of gravitas to the at-times comedic series.