In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.
This tv show contains 81 potentially triggering events.
Aangs pets are said to be last surviving members of their species. Others are shown in flashbacks but none are killed on screen. But its implyed theyve been killed off.
S1E12 we see Aang leave the air temple without saying goodbye. We also find out in S1E18 that Katara and Sokka's grandmother left the Northern Water Tribe (and her arranged fiance) without saying goodbye.
Even outside of the Ursa stuff, a major insecurity Katara struggles with is that her father left during wartime to take care of her older brother, essentially she had to take on the role of his parent. It was not out of any disregard for his children on his part, which they both acknowledge, but the emotional pain and resentment this caused is still made explicitly clear to the audience. They meet each other again in the 3rd season and attempt to work through their baggage together.
If anything there’s a bait and switch in which Zuko assumes Iroh’s gonna tell him to forgive his sister ,but his uncle actually agrees that he’s justified in trying to take her down
This also happens several times to several characters, but is especially a major plot point in season one, with the main character being stalked by two separate major antagonists.
In the backflashes to Zukos past it's shown that in his family are some very toxic vibes at work. (surprise?)
SPOILER: Zukos father Ozai is very dismissive and cold. It's implied that his grandfather (the old firelord) demands from Ozai to kill his (underaged) son. This is averted by plot points that lead to Zukos mother leaving her children.
When the Fire nation invades the Southern Water Tribe a man takes Kataras and Sokkas mother away after he thought she was a water bender , but is never shown on screen.
both azula (who many see as a poor example of a psychotic break) who becomes the villain in the end after being groomed (?) by her father and neglected by her mother, but also zuko (who had been abused by his father) is originally a main antagonist.
The fire lord and other fire nation characters are manipulative and mentally/emotionally abusive both explicitly and in subtext. Throughout her entire time on screen Azula is almost always emotionally and mentally manipulating those around her. S2E14 (and other episodes that take place in Ba Sing Se) has explicit gaslighting/psychological manipulation and brainwashing, especially towards the end of the episode.
Alcohol doesn’t exist in the series, but a character drinks juice from a cactus when he doesn’t have any water, giving him a similar effect to being drunk. He’s fine in the end.
there are no horses in the show, but they have “ostritch horses” which are the show’s version of horses, and they are sometimes shown to be weak and unhealthy, especially in the episode “zuko alone” they don’t die though
Appa is treated horribly by several characters throughout an entire episode. He is stolen, tied up, sold, beaten, starved, threatened with flames, attacked by other animals. It's a very sad episode, and is hard to watch, and it doesn't really end happily.
Appa is reunited with Aang a few episodes later.
Yes, but they are in food or have cultural meaning. It’s never gory or disturbing, and the animals that still look like animals are long dead and are just like a bear rug and etc.
If this is a trigger for you, just skip this episode completely. It's not important at all for the plot. I skipped it my first time watching the series, and I missed absolutely nothing.
there are giant cave beasts that look like spiders in an early episode. sokka wakes up with a spider web and spider in his mouth in s2 e5 (?) and there is a creature in the spirit world that looks like a centipede/spider that steals faces.
A catfish/alligator hybrid makes several appearances in the Swamp episode. They usually aren't the focus of most scenes but they do take up significant spotlight during a campfire scene and a period where Appa is separated from the group.
SPOILERS! In the season finale, Azula is beat due to water being brought up and surrounding her, and the water is turned into ice. She is soon unfrozen, and is not harmed by this ordeal other than coughing a bit.
Subverted? I think? I'm not so sure.
A persistent bully tries to lash out and even burn our main character in 3x2 but fails miserably because he's just a regular kid and our main character is so much more athletically capable than him so he just dodges him the entire time. The main character doesn't seem very shaken up by it at all and the bully ultimately gets out completely scot-free by the end so... Honestly Idk--
In the season one episode "the blue spirit" aang is taken prisoner and tied up. Several characters throughout the show are restrained by ice/rocks/ropes etc.
Aang briefly kisses Katara on the lips and she gets pissed at him, since they had just been discussing how she did not want to be in a relationship with Aang right now.
Not explicitly, but it’s easy to believe it happens. Lots of earthbending. At one point Katara is sucked into the ground, and at another point Sokka is trapped in a crack in the ground, though neither die.
In Season 2 Episode 1, a character is forcibly buried alive. It's shown that she is scared and resisting. She is rescued and survives unhurt, but not before being completely buried. Additionally, in season 2 episode 10, there is an entire building that sinks beneath the sand with multiple characters trapped inside it. Most escape but two are left inside & implied buried forever.
Sort of. In season 1 episode 20 Aang visits Koh, the face stealer. A huge centipede bodied spirit with multiple stolen faces he switches between. Outside, Aang encounters a monkey without a face.
In season 3 episode 8, we see bloodbending in action which distorts/twists the bodies of unwilling victims. One of the most unsettling and intense scenes in the series.
It never goes anywhere obviously, but it is teased at once. In the fifth episode, a character narrowly avoids being impaled by a stalagmite in this manner. It is not lingered on for too long.
During the invasion on the fire nation in book 3, Sokka and Katara's dad most likely broke a rib or more. Sokka also breaks a leg during the series finale.
It depends on what you see as mutilation. A third of a character's face is burned, including his eye, which is constantly squinted. It's not graphic, but could be triggering to some.
No, but in S2E3 a toddler wanders off from his parents when they aren't looking. The parents then presume he's been kidnapped. He isn't harmed and returns to his parents at the end of the episode.
Yue and Jet (teenagers) are both shown to die, the genocide of the Air Nomads did kill children but it is never shown only vaguely hinted at by showing children in flashbacks before the killings, and Aang (13) is killed but brought back.
“The Beach” has some “spicy” moments meant to parody anime tropes. Mostly just swimsuits and there’s a scene where Zuko dramatically takes off a towel and birds fly by. Nothing super sexual, it’s just meant to parody anime tropes.
Many hinted deaths. Most obvious, is the entire airbender community. At one point, you see a bunch of skeletons of both air and firebenders at one of the Airtemples.
Loads of times. The main character is constantly being kidnapped, and most of the secondary characters have also been kidnapped at least once. It's "kid friendly" and they usually rescue themselves or are rescued by friends; but sometimes it's played more seriously.
In the season 1 finale, there is a monster who steals faces, which he can then swap at will. The face swapping is used (deliberately by the monster) for some very jumpy effects.
Sokka gags in an episode where he is nervous about meeting his dad, but he doesn't vomit.
Toph vomits in the episode The Day Of Black Sun part 1, due to sea sickness. She gets a helmet from The Duke, which is later shown being rinsed by him. No actual vomit is shown though.
In the first episode of season one, a kid says “I need to pee!” and Sokka asks, who else has to go and all the kids raise their hands. Later in the episode the same kid says he needs to pee, and Sokka shouts “no potty breaks!”.
Two notable instances.
In Season 3, a character’s father is taken to a prison as a war prisoner. Some of the guards are hostile and try to trip him. SPOILER: His son breaks him out.
In Season 1: Aang is captured and held in a military stronghold briefly. A villain threatens to keep him in imprisoned in perpetuity. He is rescued pretty quickly.
No. There is, however, a lot of lightning shown, particularly when the character Azula is on screen because she bends it. A character is also shown to die by lightning at the end of season 2, however they get resurrected. They show a flashback to this scene later on, too.
Kinda????? Aang has to travel to the spurit world but his physical body stays in the real world, and Sokka is transported to the spirit world in one episode, so maybe that counts????
Zuko has a few breakdowns. The most major of which he goes on top of a mountain top during a lightning storm to “practice” lightning bending. He overcomes them.
SPOILER: Azula has a major breakdown at the end of the series where she becomes unstable, hallucinates her dead mother, and chops off part of her hair. She battles the heroes in this state and loses. She’s last shown crying in defeat.
Not dysphoria proper, but in the Ember Island Play episode, Aang's actor....is an actress, which is shown to piss Aang off, moreso when Toph makes a joke about it. ("At least I'm not a flying bald lady!")
There is a scene in season 2, episode 19 where a character is stuck in a very small space. Some stuff happens and then there are 2 characters stuck in that same space.
The character that's put More focus on having PTSD is Prince Zuko, who's mission to trap the Avatar stands from the trauma of getting shamed, abused and humilliated by his own father.
Sort of. When Princess Yue was born, she was “basically asleep”, her eyes were closed and she wasn’t crying, and she was essentially stillborn and none of the healers could save her. They then brought her to a Spirit Oasis and the Moon Spirit brought her to life. She was stillborn at first, but is okay in the end.
While Yue mentions that she didn't cry when she was born and had to be saved by the Moon Spirit, both babies delivered in yyhe show are born safe and healthy.
No, but there is in world racism between the various nations, and the Air Nomads were almost entirely wiped out (except Aang) in a genocide by the Fire Nation.
Sokka trains with the Kyoshi warriors, a group of warriors who are all women, who make wearing their uniform a requirement for training. The leader convinces him that he should be proud to wear it, but he is then immediately teased for wearing it by a different character waking by.
In the episode The Serpent's Pass" (Book 2 Chpt 12), the female character Smellerbee is mistakenly identified as male, and takes offense to it. This leads many to believe she is MTF.
In this version, not the netflix live action, Oma and Shu are a heterosexual couple. Only in the remake are they both female.
Because my comment wasn't clear enough: OMA AMD SHU ARE A HETEROSEXUAL COUPLE IN THE ATLA CARTOON, WHICH THIS IS ABOUT. ONLY ON THE NETFLIX LIVE ACTION REMAKE ARE THEY A LESBIAN COUPLE.
There are no black people in the show. It's all based on Asian cultures, so it's safe to assume everyone is based on various Asian races. There is one darker skinned man, but he's just fine.
Aang makes a joke about him not looking like he's 112 years old, since he's actually 12 but was stuck in an iceberg for 100 years. It is not implied that he is actually that old.
Spirituality is a major theme throughout the franchise, mainly focusing on fictional faith but it takes influence from real religions such as Buddhism. Especially considering how the main character is a monk
In the beach episode there's a brief focus on Zuko's shirtless body. Ty Lee gets more attention from guys at the beach as she's viewed as the most attractive girl present. However, none of these scenes feel blatantly objectifying.
Not in the show proper, but during a voice actor panel (near the end), Azula's voice actress makes a quick joke about it, much to the horror of Zuko's voice actor.
A teenage girl sneaks into a teenage boy's tent at night; he is waiting for her in a mildly suggestive pose. Sex is implied, but kids would probably miss it. A teenage couple cuddles on the couch; again, sex is implied in way that kids would probably miss. Multiple instances of kissing. Multiple instances of a character being clearly attracted to another character (getting flustered, blushing, staring, flirting.) Some cleavage shots & cheesecakey swimsuits.
In a flashback showing how Zuko got his scar, Zuko is crying because he doesn’t want to fight his father, and Ozai calls him “weak” among other cruel terms. All other times where male characters cry (such as Aang) they’re comforted by their friends.
Life as refugees is a common theme in the show. For those in this situation, they experience various degrees of housing instability that takes the form of camping or relying on the generosity of strangers for shelter
The show takes place is a purely fantasy world that doesn’t have an equivalent to Christmas (or at least none with a Santa figure) or any other real world holidays or folklore
Cars haven’t been invented yet, but ostrich horse drawn carriages have. There’s no honking or tire screeching, but ostrich horses will make sounds if that counts.
No cars in the show. A cabbage cart is smashed multiple times, meant to be humorous, and less funny, several airships are crashed in the four part finale. Also, there's at least one boat crash in episode 2.
In Season 1 Episode 6, which takes place on a ship, an antagonist is thrown overboard despite protesting that he can't swim. He is not rescued and it can be assumed that he drowned. The comment below by DouglasCarpenterFamily contains heavy spoilers for the season 1 finale, more than is necessary & I advise you skip it if you care about plot spoilers. The essential information is that another antagonist is likely drowned in the season 1 finale. Not graphic.
There is a very small amount of animated wounds shown throughout the show, but they are not graphic and aren't drawn in a bloody way, but rather with a pink-ish color. For reference, as someone who is bad with blood and gore myself, these didn't affect me at all.
One of the main characters, zuko, does have a burn scar on his face throughout the show.