16 Insane Fan Theories About Avatar: The Last Airbender

To a lot of folks, Avatar: The Last Airbender stands as one of the greatest triumphs in animation. It was a near-perfect story that perfectly blended action, heart, humor and a dense mythology accessible to everyone. Although its sequel series The Legend of Korra wasn't met with the same level of praise, it's still a solid entry in the Avatar series that many people enjoy. Of course, you can't be a successful show without accumulating some crazy theories along the way, and with a fan base as passionate as this show's, you can bet there are some insane Avatar: The Last Airbender fan theories. 

Could bending just be the result of genetic engineering? Could Lin actually be the illegitimate love child of Toph and Sokka? Was there actually a very good reason why the live action movie was so horrible? In this list, you'll find some of the wackiest fan theories about Avatar: The Last Airbender. Some you might agree with, others you might dismiss as totally nutty. Either way, check out the list below and be sure to comment on what your favorite The Last Airbender theory is!

For those of you wondering why the Royal Fire Family seemed to be all-powerful with their bending, the true answer might be a little more Lannister-y to admit on a children's cartoon.

This theory suggests that the reason the Royal Fire Family kept producing powerful Firebenders was because they practiced incest with one another. It's certainly not hard to believe that Emperor Azul and Emperor Ozai would be so obsessed with keeping their bloodline pure and powerful that they decided to "keep it in the family" so to speak. They would have done it to protect their firebending genes and preserve their legacy. 

For those of you who were upset that Zaheer escaped from prison and was immediately a fantastic Airbender, this might be the theory for you. Instead of the show just randomly making Zaheer uber-powerful, this theorist suggests that Zaheer was actually Aang's son.

This theorist was convinced that Zaheer did something to upset Aang, and Aang responded by taking his bending away. It would've explained why Aang and Tenzin's relationship was so strained and it would also explain how Zaheer knew so much about Air Temple Island and its culture.

According to this theory, the events of The Last Airbender take place after some horrific apocalyptic event destroyed everything. Those who believe this theory point to the time gap between Avatar Wan and Avatar Aang as proof.

Wan was said to be the first Avatar and he lived 10,000 years before Aang, but not much has changed in civilization in that time. Mankind should have made significant improvements in technology during the time period, but this theory states that something bad happened that prevented mankind from evolving properly. Whatever happened horribly disfigured all of the animals in the process.

The theory cites the huge difference between Aang and Korra as further proof that something apocalyptic happened. Korra lives in an advanced technological age only set 70 years after Aang, so why did nothing change in almost 10,000 years between Wan and Aang?

You know how bending is supposed to be a deeply spiritual experience that connects you to the world around you? Well this theory destroys that whole idea. According to this wacky video, the events of Avatar happened after four nations each sent a small group of people to an uninhabited planet deep within the galaxy.

Everyone landed at their own sophisticated research station (that they called Lion Turtles) and began devising ways to breathe on the planet. The solution was to inject tiny implants into humans that would allow the host to bend a specific element and better adapt them to the outside world. The video is absolutely bonkers, but well worth the watch. 

When the Legend of Korra premiered, fans were overjoyed to revisit the world of Avatar again. The first season introduced the new Avatar, Korra, and a dangerous new threat, Amon. What made Amon so dangerous was his ability to apparently un-bend benders, much like what Aang did to the Firelord in the original show.

This theory suggests that Amon was actually the reanimated zombie body of Aang himself, and that Katara was the one pulling the strings. That's right, this theory puts forth the idea that Katara used blood-bending to bring back Aang back from the dead for a mysterious reason. Did she just want to test Korra? Did she finally turn evil? This may not have been what happened, but it's cool to think about. 

This theory is all about pondering what would have happened if Aang wasn't frozen in ice for a hundred years. If, for some reason, he didn't run away and he managed to stop the Fire Nation from taking over the world, then he would have lived a long, extended life. When he died, the next Avatar would come from the Water Tribe. Given the timeline of things, this theorist is convinced that if everything progressed naturally, Katara would have become the Avatar after Aang. Who knows if that's true, but it's hard to doubt that Katara would have made a fantastic Avatar.

When you look at World War Two and the The Last Airbender, it's not hard to see the parallels between the two. In the war, a Germany fueled by nationalism began conquering all of Europe in an effort to show their superiority. In the show, the Fire Nation started a war much for the same reason and even wiped out an entire race of people. The Nazi's were defeated by the three large superpowers, United States, England, and the Soviet Union - a tidy parallel to the Water, Air, and Earth kingdoms. 

It's a well-known and completely plausible theory that The Last Airbender was a metaphor for WWII, but not much discussion happens around the idea that Korra was actually a reference for the Cold War. In the end of the first season, Amon was basically a communist who wanted to make everyone equal, when he considered himself superior. It's almost exactly what happened with Stalin and the rise of communism during the time of the Cold War. 

When the first Avatar, Wan, started his adventure, the very first spirit he came across was Aye-Aye, a lemur spirit. At first, Aye-Aye was hesitant of humans, thinking they were nothing but savages who wanted to eat all the animals and destroy his home. Over time, Wan and Aye-Aye learned to trust each other and became good friends.

This theory posits that everyone's favorite Lemur, Momo, is actually the spirit Aye-Aye reincarnated. It would explain Momo's above average intelligence and his fierce loyalty to the Avatar. 

It isn't hard to realize that the geography of Avatar is vastly different than our own, but what if that was intentional? This theory suggests that the entirety of Avatar: The Last Airbender actually takes place on another, smaller planet than our own. It would explain how everything is so close together and it would mean significantly less gravity. As any eighth-grade science class will teach you, less gravity would explain how the characters can jump so high and maneuver in the air so gracefully. It would also explain how there are huge animals, like lion turtles, roaming around. 

One eagle-eyed viewer was such a big fan of Princess Azula, that they started noticing something odd. While watching the show, this theorist realized that Azula is probably left-handed. A majority of her lightening attacks come from her left hand, and when she finally breaks down in the last episode, she throws her hairbrush with her left hand at the mirror.

It's a minor theory, but it reinforces the entire "Azula is a prodigy" angle that dominated her storyline. It also proves that the show was focused even on the tiniest details, which helped make it so perfect.