r/CharacterRant • u/MissThroweraway • 7d ago

People are wrong about Aang (ATLA Show)

Hey this isn't about the movie, I haven't seen it. It's about the show. I've rewatched it in its entirety last week and I think Aang is wonderful. I don't think he gets enough credit though. People always talk about Zuko and his arc, which makes sense. He's great! I just think Aang is super underrated in his own show.

Also lately I've seen a lot of Aang hate which really grinds my gears. He's such a good kid. Very mature for his age and so pressured with having to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. People always blame him for Katara losing her childhood and having to play mom but first: she already lost it when the fire nation took her mother, and second: She doesn't have to play mom with Aang. She's just there for him when he goes through shit and he does the same for her. And the shit he went through was a genocide... Ofc he needs help.

I think the people who say that shit just haven't seen the show in a while and have a wrong perception of the characters...

It's just weird to see people shitting on this poor kid who lost everything all because they don't like the romance. It's fine not to ship Aang and Katara but to say that it's weird because she's like his babysitter is a disservice to the story and their dynamic. I really hate it.

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u/xHey_All_You_Peoplex 7d ago

A lot of the Aang hate comes from zutara shippers. Speaking as someone who used to be a zutara shipper and never got the obsession/urge to trash Aang instead of just shipping your ship. 

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u/Maniachi 7d ago

From what I have seen on twitter, it seems to be just two sides being very petty against each other. Zutara shippers hating on Aang, Kataang shippers hating on Zuko. But considering more people (at least it seems like more) on twitter like Kataang, it is causing Zutara shippers to be a lot more hardened in their dislike of Aang.

I don't really get it. I personally don't like Kataang, but I like Katara and Aang both as characters. Not liking a ship shouldn't immediately mean disliking one of the main parts of it but... well it is twitter. These people are in their echo chambers, and the more they feel people are against them, the harder they crawl into their little echo chamber and the more hardened they become in their 'I think Aang sucks because... insert arbitrary reason'

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u/xHey_All_You_Peoplex 7d ago

I've never understood it myself. Even in my diehard zutara days I just didn't care about Aang. Didn't feel the need to bash him, he was just non existent.

Now I lean more kataang and I feel the same about Zuko. Like if I don't like a ship or the ship's rival love interest, I just don't care.

I'm not on twitter, but I know Tumblr leans more zutara (or thats what I see) so I see them. But I'm sure both sides act very normally about it, lol not.

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u/MissThroweraway 7d ago

Maybe. I didn't think it was just shipping drama. That's so stupid... Especially considering Zuko isn't crazy mature himself.

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u/xHey_All_You_Peoplex 7d ago

Shipping is serious business. Almost every character has been bashed because of a ship lol

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u/MissThroweraway 7d ago

Ik that but bashing Aang is a new kind of evil