As the main character of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang has to encounter many struggles and hardships along his journey to defeat Ozai and save the world. And, while he might be barely more than a child at the time the series starts, he has the fate of so many lives riding on his shoulders.
But, it’s not just things that happen to Aang during the series that are sometimes tragic and difficult, because he also has a particularly traumatic past. The things Aang has gone through and encountered in his life are rather heavy despite the fact that he was the leading character in a show aimed at children.
The time that he was forced into the Avatar State
Aang might be able to fight to save others and do what needs to be done, but he’s not naturally an aggressive or violent person. He’s rather compassionate and was taught as an Air Nomad to respect life.
So, when he’s forced into the Avatar State by General Fong, it’s rather disturbing. Fong uses Katara to get to Aang by threatening her life, and this triggers Aang’s abilities, as he wants to save Katara. He ends up destroying things around him, and this clearly upsets Aang a lot and makes him fear using this power.
Losing the ability to control the Avatar State
Learning to control the Avatar State is something that’s quite difficult for Aang along his journey. While he becomes rather scared of using the ability after the incident with Fong, he does use it again.
But, when he trains with Guru Pathik and learns he needs to be able to let go of his connection to Katara to be able to control the Avatar State, he struggles to do so, as he has locked up his 8th Chakra.
He lost almost all of his mentors and was alone
Because Aang was frozen under the sea in the ice for so long, he would have lost many people he knew and loved even if the war hadn’t occurred. But, given what the Fire Nation did to the Air Nomads and the world, Aang didn’t even have mentors from his own country or culture left to help him.
There was no order around him to guide him into becoming the avatar and supporting him, so he basically had to figure it all out on his own with only the help of his inexperienced, young friends.
He struggled to know how to let go of Katara
When Aang comes out of the ice, the first person he meets is Katara. From that moment on, these two start to form a close bond and to care about one another a lot.
Because Aang loves Katara, he’s very scared of the idea that he needs at times to be able to let her go in order to put his duties as the Avatar first. Given that Aang is so young, it’s no wonder that this is a difficult concept for him to grasp.
When he was almost killed by Azula
Aang definitely goes through many close calls on his journey to mastering the elements and defeating Ozai, but the time where he’s almost nearly killed is at the end of season two when he is struck by Azula’s lightning bolt.
In fact, if it wasn’t for the Spirit Water that Katara had, he definitely wouldn’t have lived. The bolt did a number on Aang’s body, and it took him a long time to recover.
Finding Monk Gyatso’s body
Aang continually goes through trauma and grief throughout the series, but especially in the first few episodes, as he learns the truth about the state of the world.
When he goes to the Southern Air Temple, he expects to see the thriving place he used to call home, but instead, he only sees the destruction and death the Fire Nation inflicted. But, the worst moment of all is when he finds his mentor and friend Monk Gyatso’s skeleton.
When he lost Appa
One of the most upsetting episodes from The Last Airbender is when Appa is stolen by the sand benders while Toph is unable to stop them. When Aang finds out what happened, he’s deeply upset, as Appa means so much to him and is one of his only ties to his past and culture.
Aang is deeply angry and sad for months as Team Avatar isn’t able to find Appa again. It’s definitely one of the worst things he has to deal with in the series, and he’s so relieved to finally have Appa back.
He was just a kid but was responsible for saving the world
Aang is so young, but as the Avatar, the fate of the entire world rests on his shoulders. While being the Avatar always means having to try to keep balance in the world, Aang inherits a world that is out of balance and dealing with war and corruption.
He has to fix the mess that he didn’t make, and he has to do it with very few resources and while being hunted down. Luckily, Aang takes this responsibility seriously and is up for the difficult journey.
Because he blamed himself for the war
When Aang learns the truth about how long he’s been on ice, he’s understandably very shocked and upset. And, what’s even sadder about this is that he blames himself for the Hundred Year War.
When he left the Southern Water Tribe and got trapped in the storm, he had to use the Avatar State to save himself and Appa. However, he thinks that his leaving and being lost for so long is why the Fire Nation took over, and he is filled with guilt.
He lost almost all of his loved ones and his entire culture
While lots of sad things happen to the main characters in the series, one of the aboslute worst things that happens is the genocide of the Air Nomads.
It's the worst thing the Fire Nation and Ozai ever do, and Aang is one of the main people left to suffer with the immense grief of what happened. Not only did he lose almost every person he had ever loved, but he also lost his culture and his home.