Tropes A to H (Big Bad, Chekhov's Gun, Deconstructed Character Archetype, Foil, Foreshadowing, Hidden Depths) | Tropes I to P | Tropes Q to Z (Red Oni, Blue Oni, Running Gag, Ship Tease, Shout-Out, Shown Their Work, Wham Episode)
The creators went to painstaking
detail to shape the entire series:
- This was done very often in regards to the Asian culture behind the show, most prominently with the martial arts from which the Bending arts are derived.
- Many of the styles of martial arts used by the benders are based on actual styles, and the staff actively took lessons in the various arts in order to get a better feel. The Book 1 Disc One extras have an interview with Sifu Kisu, describing them. He essentially connected each martial art to a Nation based on the shape of the movements.
- Waterbending is Tai Chi (water-like, flowing movements).
- Earthbending is Hung Gar (fast, powerful attacks with a strong stance).
- Firebending is Northern Shaolin Kung Fu (high aggression, flexibility, and acrobatics).
- Airbending is Baguazhang, with a hint of Xing Yi Quan (smooth, circular movements).
- Toph's Earthbending style, which is unique to her, is Southern Praying Mantis-style Chow Gar.
- In fact, Sifu Kisu's own teacher was very pleased when he saw it.
- The concept of chi blocking is similar to the usage of pressure points to incapacitate opponents, albeit exaggerated in effectiveness. It is really possible to temporarily paralyze parts of a person's body by striking certain nerve clusters strongly, precisely, and accurately.
- Even less-known aspects of martial arts, like stances, are given their proper name in the context of the Real Life martial art. Toph calls the Earthbending stance "horse-stance", which is exactly what it's called in Kung-Fu.
- Many of the styles of martial arts used by the benders are based on actual styles, and the staff actively took lessons in the various arts in order to get a better feel. The Book 1 Disc One extras have an interview with Sifu Kisu, describing them. He essentially connected each martial art to a Nation based on the shape of the movements.
- Iroh's lesson to Zuko about "sticking to the basics" in his fight with Zhao is very common advice for real life martial arts students who find themselves in real self-defense situations. No matter how skilled you are, real fights are unpredictable, so trying more advanced moves will actually put you more at risk (especially since your adrenaline is high, making your coordination a little off). Keeping your balance and sticking to simple punches, blocks and kicks is effective even against trained opponents, as seen with Zuko's defeat of Zhao.
- The way the Air Nomads recognize the Avatar's new incarnation is by Aang picking specific toys (which belonged to previous Avatars) out of thousands of possibilities — a practice that mirrors one of the actual ways Tibetan monks find the newly-reincarnated Dalai Lama.
- Furthermore, Aang's mentor and friend Gyatso is derived from a Tibetan personal name, meaning "ocean", and has been the personal name of every Dalai Lama except for the first, while the name of his son Tenzin is a very common Tibetan name, meaning "defender of the faith" or "upholder of the teachings", made popular by the fact that it is the first name of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.
- The Yu Yan Archers favor the Mongolian variation of drawing the bow string.
- All of the Chinese script in the series says what the characters read. There was an expert in ancient Chinese calligraphy on the staff.
- In the episode "The Northern Air Temple", Sokka meets another Mad Scientist type. They are discussing how to prevent the natural gas from leaking and blowing everyone up, since they can't see or smell it. One of them arrives on a solution of putting rotten eggs in with the gas. Although not quite the modern solution, it's pretty close (they use something with a "rotten egg" smell, called Mercaptan). Some of the other inventions also seem to have sound research.
- Waterbenders can cut through things with water, similar to water jet cutters in the real world.
- There's a tumblr devoted to pointing out the ludicrous level of loving detail the show's creators and animators put into even background things. The architecture, the furnishings, the art, the meanings of names, clothing, hairstyles, foods... the night sky in "The Waterbending Master" matches the star map from "The Desert". It's astonishing.
- Aang's lightning-bending injury is true to life for real lightning strike survivors' injuries: he has an "exit wound" scar on his foot where the current left his body.
- Appa's armor during the invasion of the Fire Nation resembles that worn by war elephants in Thailand.
- Piandao's sword-fighting style is heavily based on real Chinese swordsmanship, with accurate stances, attacks, and even sword grips. The swords shown in "Sokka's Master" are also near exact replicas of the jian.
- The Dai Li are name after Dai Li, Chiang Kai-Shek's spymaster during the Chinese Civil War.
