History WhatCouldHaveBeen / AvatarTheLastAirbender

* The final episode was originally planned to consist of twenty episodes, just like the previous two. However, when writing the script for the three-part season finale, it ended up being too long; arguing that trimming it down would ruin the pacing, the crew successfully convinced Nickelodeon to grant them an extra episode. The original Part 3 of "Sozin's Comet" would be split into two episodes, with additional scenes written in order to help fit the new runtime.

* Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors was going to appear in the film with actress Jessica Jade Andres playing her but their scenes were cut during postproduction as a result of the ExecutiveMeddling for the film's running time being less than two hours, though it didn't stop her from being featured in promotional materials such as the [=McDonald's=] tie-in.

* Several elements present in the pitch bible are absent from the series, with the most notable including:
** Each season was meant to be named after the seasons they took place in (Winter, Spring, Summer) to highlight the approaching comet, as opposed to the relevant element (Water, Earth, Fire) that Aang would be learning.
** Aang was originally meant to be the caretaker of a herd of flying bison, this idea was later scrapped and changed to a family of bison, however even this idea was changed to simply Appa to reduce the amount of characters in the main cast.

** Book One would have not have had any spirits involved. Aang, with the aid of Katara and Pakku, would have created a water tornado that repels the remaining Fire Nation forces instead. Pakku also would have gravely injured during the battle, formally declaring Katara as a waterbending master and Aang's new teacher on his deathbed.

** The Day of Black Sun invasion was the Earth King's idea, with this original version being fully aware of the war and actively working to fight back against the Fire Nation. Aang would have been sworn to secrecy on the matter, and spend much of the second season trying to convey this information to the others via riddles, allowing them to join in the fight without breaking his promise. The invasion would have also served as the finale of Book 2, as opposed to the mid-season finale of Book 3.

* Aang and Katara were not supposed to end up together, with the show having no romantic resolution. While the show was in production, Bryke decided to have Katara/Aang happen as they came to adore Aang and realized that Kataang was their "soft spot".

* Originally, in Book Three, Azula was apparently meant to have been in an arranged marriage, and Appa, in the season finale, would have been confirmed as female.

* Katara and Zuko becoming a couple. Several writers have stated in the years after the show's completion that the pairing was discussed as a possibility in the writer's room. Joshua Hamilton alludes to these debates in the ''Avatar Extras'', with some notes mentioning that the idea of Zuko as a love interest was toyed with, and John O'Bryan also confirmed in an episode of the ''Braving the Elements'' podcast that he and others liked the pairing and fought for it. Notably, M. Night Shyamalan also collaborated this in a roundtable discussion about the live-action film, stating that Bryke where in the middle of producing Book Three at the time, and revealed that that hadn't decided on how the show's conclusion would play out, including "who Katara was going to end up with." However, [[FlipFlopOfGod Bryke themselves regularly insist that they never gave Katara ending up with anyone but Aang any serious thought]].

* The final episode was originally planned to consist of twenty episodes, just like the previous two. However, when writing the script for the three-part season finale, it ended up being too long; aruging that trimming it down would ruin the pacing, the crew successfully covninced Nickelodeon to grant them an extra episode. The original Part 3 of "Sozin's Comet" would be split into two episodes, with additional scenes written in order to help fit the new runtime.

* [[https://twitter.com/aaronehasz/status/1112814662393847808 Aaron Ehasz]] wrote that he, Bryan, and Mike considered a fourth season and intended for Azula to have a redemption arc, with her brother being by her side in much the same way Iroh was for him before it was scrapped because Mike and Bryan wanted to put full focus on [[Film/TheLastAirbender the live-action film]]. He [[https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/animation/282611/what-avatar-the-last-airbender-season-4-would-have-been later went deeper]] by saying that he intended for Aang to be deeply traumatized by Energybending Ozai, requiring another Zuko field-trip to find himself, and potentially running into a reincarnated Monk Gyatso. [[FlipFlopOfGod The actual creators have denied this, however]].

* This story was initially envisioned as a movie.

* Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors was going to appear in the film with actress Jessica Jade Andres playing her but their scenes were cut during postproduction as a result of the ExecutiveMeddling for the film's running time being less than two hours, though it didn't stop her from being featured in promotional materials such as the McDonald's tie-in.

* Behind the scenes, pacing issues necessitated changing the third season to twenty-one instead of twenty episodes, as Sozin's Comet was originally three episodes long instead of four. After realizing how rushed the finale would have been as a result, Mike [=DiMartino=] and Bryan Konietzko expanded it to four episodes.
** Zuko was planned to reunite with his mother Ursa in an epilogue sequence that was fully storyboarded, but it was scrapped due to the creators deciding they'd rather have a longer story that builds up to such a moment. Zuko's reunion with his mom is joked about in the first episode of ''Korra'' in TheUnreveal, and would later serve as a storyline in the comics.

[[caption-width-right:350:The earliest known sketch of Momo, Aang and Appa, with Momo being a Robot and Appa resembling Naga from ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Korra]]'']].

** Toph was originally conceived as a teenage boy and a love interest for Katara alongside Aang, setting up a love triangle. She became a young girl when head writer Aaron Ehasz joked that it would be funny to see a small little girl take out all those big, burly Earthbenders, and the idea stuck despite series co-creator Bryan Konietzko disliking the idea (Toph would ironically become his favorite character). Some of the designs made for this version of Toph would be reused elsewhere in the show (the Earthbender in the show's opening sequence, who turns out to be Roku's Earthbending teacher; The Boulder, who she fights in her debut episode; and her actor in "The Ember Island Players". Aspects of her original male visual design and characterization would also incorporated into Bolin in ''The Legend of Korra''.

* In the earliest concepts, Aang was intended to be the sole survivor of a technologically advanced society that had existed a thousand years ago.
* Katara's name was originally meant to be Kya (which would later become the name of her mother in the show) and is even referred to as such in the unaired pilot. However, the name had to be changed in order to avoid copyright issues with the video game Kya: Dark Lineage.

* Toph was originally conceived as a guy. When designing the show's lead Earthbender, who was originally supposed to be a teenage boy, head writer Aaron Ehasz joked that it would be funny to see a small little girl take out all those big, burly Earthbenders. Though the idea was rejected by series co-creator Bryan Konietzko, the team still decided to work around it, and several discussions and redesigns later, Toph was born (and ironically became one of Bryan's favorite characters). Variants of her original character model make a few appearances throughout the series in bit roles, most notably as a bender in the show's opening sequence (Roku's Earthbending teacher) and THE BOULDER!
** WordOfGod says that the screechy actor who played her in the play is a {{flanderized}} version of her original character design. Aspects of her original male visual design and characterization were later incorporated into [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Bolin]].
* Azula was also originally conceived as a guy; her name would have simply been "Azul".
* Suki, Ty Lee, and Mai didn't exist in the original series Bible.
* Speaking of THE BOULDER, the creators originally wanted him to be voiced by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson the Rock]], but he was unavailable, so Wrestling/MickFoley was brought instead.

* Zuko was originally going to find Ursa. See also CliffHanger on the main page. The production staff even planned a storyboard for it and everything.

* A dropped subplot revolved around Momo being the reincarnation of Aang's mentor, Monk Gyatso.

* Originally, in Book Three, Azula was apparently meant to have been in an arranged marriage, and Appa, in the season finale, would have been confirmed as female. They decided not to do this, for obvious reasons.
* According to NonStandardCharacterDesign, Jet and his Freedom Fighters would've looked more like the designs from ''Anime/CowboyBebop''.
* Since Book Two, the creators wanted to [[OriginsEpisode explain the origin of the Avatar]], but never had the time to. It finally got to be told in [[RefittedForSequel Book 2]] of the [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra sequel series]].
* Aang, Appa, and Momo were originally designed as part of a ScienceFiction universe at a ''very'' early part of the concept period.
* Uncle Iroh was initially meant to be a TreacherousAdvisor to Zuko. This, [[ParentalSubstitute thankfully]], got changed.
* According to the pitch bible, Book Two would have had Zuko capturing Appa and giving him to Ozai as a gift as opposed to the sandbender's, resulting in Team Avatar having to rely on Katara's waterbending to travel places on a raft. Appa would not have been rescued until the end of Book Three, in which Sokka finds him and uses him to take down the Fire Lord's air fleet.
* According to the I.P. Bible, Aang and Katara were not supposed to end up together. Aang's crush on Katara was to remain one-sided until the end. Katara actually had more ShipTease with the then male!Toph than Aang, but nobody was going to end up in a relationship. While the show was in production, Bryke decided to have Katara/Aang happen as they came to adore Aang and realized that Kataang was their "soft spot".

* Katara and Zuko becoming a couple might be an example of this. Several writers have stated in the years after the show's completion that the pairing was discussed as a possibility in the writer's room. Joshua Hamilton alludes to these debates in the ''Avatar Extras'', with some notes mentioning that the idea of Zuko as a love interest was toyed with, and John O'Bryan also confirmed in an episode of the ''Braving the Elements'' podcast that he and others liked the pairing and fought for it. Notably, M. Night Shyamalan said that in his conversations with Bryke during the production of Book Three, the two had not yet decided "who Katara was going to end up with." That said, [[FlipFlopOfGod Bryke themselves insist that Katara ending up with anyone but Aang was never given any serious thought]], implying that if any of these discussions actually did happen, they were all in vain.

* The series was originally called ''Avatar: Legend of Korra'' and then ''The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra'', when Nickelodeon was worried about copyright issues regarding the film series ''Franchise/{{Avatar}}''. The "The Last Airbender" ArtifactTitle was ultimately dropped, and the final name became ''The Legend of Korra'' in the show's home country, while the "Avatar" supertitle was retained for overseas markets.
* Jinora's concept art design had her resembling more like a younger version of Ty Lee from the original series, which has resulted in a popular {{Fanon}} theory that her mother Pema is Ty Lee's daughter.
* The creators planned to have Zhu Li and Bolin develop a romantic relationship, before settling on them having different love interests with the former ending up with Varrick and the latter ending up with Opal.

* Asami Sato was originally intended to be an Equalist spy, but Mike and Bryan realized during scripting that she wouldn't have much use in the story after her planned mid-season villainous reveal, and they've come to like the character far too much to get rid of her.
* After they abandoned the former idea, they tossed around having Asami join the United Forces and begin a relationship with General Iroh.

* The creators planned to have Zhu Li and Bolin develop a romantic relationship, before settling on them having different love interests.

* The [[Manga/ZukosStory tie-in comic]] implies that had the film continued, Azula would have been revealed to have a healthy and deep respect for Zuko underneath the bitter sibling rivalry.

* Episode writer Joshua Hamilton wrote in the ''Avatar Extras'' that the writers toyed with a Zuko/Katara romance and that Zuko was originally going to be Katara's love interest. Another writer for the series, John O'Bryan further confirmed this in the ''Braving the Elements'' podcast when he said that Katara ending up with Zuko was brought up a lot in the writer's room. Even M. Night Shyamalan said that in his conversations with Bryke during the production of Book Three, the two had not yet decided "who Katara was going to end up with". [[FlipFlopOfGod Bryke themselves deny this,]] claiming that that Zuko and Katara getting together was never considered and that Katara/Aang was "planned from the start". This conflicting information has generated quite a lot of controversy within the fandom, particularly when it comes to ShipToShipCombat with rival sides coming up with their own interpretations of these statements. It is possible that there were CreativeDifferences among the staff.

* [[https://twitter.com/aaronehasz/status/1096096868994433024 Originally,]] Zuko ''was'' going to make his HeelFaceTurn at the end of the second season instead of the infamous RedemptionRejection, but the writers realized he wasn't ready yet.

* The series was originally called ''Avatar: Legend of Korra'' and then ''The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra.'' The "The Last Airbender" ArtifactTitle was ultimately dropped, while the "Avatar" supertitle was retained for overseas markets.

* Asami Sato was originally intended to be an Equalist spy, but Mike and Bryan realized during scripting that she wouldn't have much use in the story after her planned mid-season villainous reveal, and they've come to like the character far too much to waste her like that. The concept would prove to quite popular as a FandomSpecificPlot, albeit with Asami still joining the Krew and undergoing a HeelFaceTurn.

* Creator/RobPaulsen had recorded dialogue for adult Aang, he ended up being replaced by D.B. Sweeney.

* The first draft of the movie included all twenty episodes of the series, adding up to a whopping seven hours. Instead, the movie was cut down to barely two hours, and then studio bosses had another half-hour of film cut from theatrical release because they wanted to convert it into 3-D as quickly as possible.

* Early promotional images showed Fire Lord Ozai with the long hair and goatee he had in the cartoon, but in the final movie, Ozai had short hair and was clean-shaven.
* Sokka's actor mentioned wanting to tan for the role. That didn't happen.
* According to Aaron Ehasz, the head writer of the original series, there were ideas for the series to have a Book Four. Shyamalan encouraged them to pursue creating a fourth season but [=DiMartino=] and Konietzko pushed for any Book Four plans to be cancelled and for the movie to made -- although both Konietzko ''and'' [=DiMartino=] [[FlipFlopOfGod insist that this isn't true.]]
* Creator/SummerBishil as Azula showed a fair amount of promise in the movie's SequelHook ending to the point that many feel bad she didn't get to play the role fully. The [[Manga/ZukosStory tie-in comic]] also showed promise in filtering her relationship with Zuko in a different way too. This involved the implications that while the bitter sibling rivalry was still there, there was a deep respect that wasn't before--such as Zuko getting both a ship and a crew for his search thanks to a surprising PetTheDog moment from Azula.

* In the season 2 premiere, Azula was originally going to ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath vaporize]]'' her captain for letting it slip that Zuko and Iroh were prisoners, but realized they couldn't do that on a kid's show.

[[folder: Upcoming Netflix live-action adaptation]]

** After they abandoned the former idea, they tossed around having Asami join the United Forces and begin a relationship with General Iroh.

* The creators planned to have Zhu Li and Bolin develop a romantic relationship but they ended up with different people in the end.

* Asami Sato was originally intended to be an Equalist spy, but during the first season's scripting process Mike and Bryan decided that 1) she wouldn't have much use in the story after her intended mid-season villainous reveal and 2) was too cool a character to waste that way.
** Ironically, the concept has proven quite popular among fan-fiction writers, with many AU fics keeping Asami as an Equalist, often starting out as a WellIntentionedExtremist who, while undercover, comes to care about the Krew, especially Korra, after the ending of season four. There are some though who like to point out that that story basically mirrors Zuko's story, which [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks some don't like]], while others see that as perfectly fine.
* After they abandoned the former idea, they tossed around having Asami join the United Forces and begin a relationship with General Iroh.

* Initially there was going to be a flashback detailing the Red Lotus' kidnapping of young Korra, but was dropped for time.

* The Fire Nation Royal family was going to play a bigger role in Book 4 with the introduction of Fire Lord Izumi's daughter but other than Izumi, the creators couldn't find a way to add them in an Earth Kingdom focused story. Also the Fire Lord's daughter was going to be introduced as a love interest to Mako but in the end, they decided to have him remain single and focus on his friendship with the Krew and Wu instead. Bryan said in an [=AMA=] on Website/{{Reddit}} that they're eventually going to get around to focusing on Zuko's extended family in the comics now that they've got some breathing room from the tight runtime of the show.
* The "Remembrances" episode. It was intended to be this show's version of the "The Ember Island Players" but, as stated above, network interference forced it to be changed into a simple clip show, albeit one emulating the aforementioned episode.

* The creators were initially involved in this with production set to begin in February 2020 in Hawaii, but the UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic stopped it in its tracks since they had planned to film extensively on location, causing their travel to be severely limited. That summer Mike and Bryan left the project because of CreativeDifferences.