Avatar: The Last Airbender was one of the most popular children's series during its time. Even now, fans can't help but re-watch the familiar, lovable show. It features a range of characters with different bending abilities and developments, and it's no wonder why it's still popular over a decade after its first release.
However, beloved as it is, fans still have a wide range of opinions on decisions the show made in terms of its plot and characters. And of course, among these are a range of unpopular opinions that many fans can't support even though they can't help but admit they may be slightly true.
10 Deus Ex Machina Is Overused
Deus ex machina is a plot device where a tricky, unsolvable problem is spontaneously resolved by an unexpected occurrence, one that often breaks previously assumed rules of the world. Unfortunately, Avatar: The Last Airbender is notorious for its constant use of poor deus ex machinas.
For example, during Aang's losing streak with Fire Lord Ozai, he was spontaneously hit with a rock in the right place on his head to jumpstart his Avatar energy. These moments often ruin the buildup of the plot when overused, as it feels like a random way for a character to win a battle rather than them actually outsmarting and beating their opponent.
9 Aang & Katara's Relationship Isn't Interesting
Aang and Katara felt more forced at the end of the series than fans were hoping. An unpopular opinion is that it would have been a much more interesting ending if Aang and Katara had gone their separate ways, with Aang focusing solely on being the Avatar as he should have from the beginning and Katara focusing on paving the way for women waterbenders.
Instead, Aang and Katara were forced into a relationship that felt stiff and limited their character growth. Plus, the fact that Katara acts more motherly towards Aang than anything else only makes the relationship feel somewhat strange.
8 Aang Taking Fire Lord Ozai's Bending Was Selfish
An unpopular fan opinion claims that Aang should have taken Firelord Ozai's life instead of his bending. It was dangerous to allow Fire Lord Ozai to live after all the atrocities he had committed, especially considering the risk he'll commit more, even without his bending.
But because of Aang's code, he selfishly took away Fire Lord Ozai's bending instead of killing him as he should have. Even worse, the ability to take away his bending was presented as a deus ex machina that didn't match the previous rules of the world that Avatar: The Last Airbender had previously set up.
7 Aang Wasn't A Good Protagonist
Even outside the incident with Firelord Ozai, Aang had been shown to act selfishly on a number of occasions, such as when he chose Katara over the Avatar state. He sabotaged and was often pushy with his friends, but it all seemed to be constantly overlooked. He showed almost no major growth throughout the series, making him a lame protagonist as well.
Aang's childish nature never left, and it's hard to say whether that was a good or bad thing. His lack of growth makes him a less interesting character when compared to the growth fans saw in characters like Sokka and Zuko.
6 Bloodbending Changes The Rules
The introduction of bloodbending was unique at first, but when fans actually consider it, it opens a whole can of worms in the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe. For instance, if waterbenders can control the blood in humans' veins, then other benders should have access to that as well.
For example, airbenders should be able to control the oxygen in the blood and earthbenders should be able to control the iron. However, this concept is never truly explored in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Plus, this would unfairly give three of the four benders the ability to literally control other humans, which just seems like a problematic scenario.
5 Stopping The Airfleet Was Too Easy
When the Fire Nation assembled a massive fleet of airships, they were stopped incredibly easily by three kids. The fleet was intending to burn down the Earth Kingdom and featured the largest airships fans had seen in the series.
To stop them, Sokka, Toph, and Suki were able to take control of one airship and crash it into the others like a row of dominos to bring the entire fleet down. This was portrayed as way too simple a feat for three kids to accomplish, as they brought down the entire fleet in this manner.
4 Girl Characters Have Little Development
Many of the women characters have little development over the course of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The best example of this is Suki, who was known as an amazing, skilled fighter, and was renowned for this alone.
However, Suki didn't get much additional character development outside of this, nor is much known of her at all beyond this. This is a huge disservice to her considering how she helped the overall plot progress. Many of the women characters are only motivated by the male characters, where fans wish they had more of a story apart from their male counterparts.
3 Long Feng Would Have Been A Better Antagonist
An unpopular opinion claims that the final fight with Fire Lord Ozai wasn't as spectacular as it could have been — especially since the fight resolves because of yet another deus ex machina. However, a better antagonist can be found in Long Feng, the leader of the Dai Li and Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se.
Unlike Fire Lord Ozai, Long Feng was significantly more cunning and also had a strong grip on the nation that he was essentially running. Plus, he was one of the few villains that Aang didn't technically defeat, making him all the more interesting.
2 Zuko Should Have Ended Up With Katara
Though Zuko ends up with Mai, some fans believe this is an uninteresting pairing that ultimately undoes part of his character development. Instead, these fans would rather see Zuko end up with Katara.
Zuko and Katara had much more natural chemistry together than either of their canon relationships, such as the development between them when they go after Katara's mom's murderer. The also seem to balance each other much better than either of their canon relationships, creating more of an "opposites attract" angle that would have worked out well for them.
1 The Pacing Limited The Show
Overall, the pacing of Avatar: The Last Airbender simply lacks in comparison to its amazing content. It cut several developments short for both characters and plots and limited how much of the world fans were actually able to participate in.
Instead of having emotional, cohesive plot lines that span the series, fans are left with episodic scenes that never feel fully resolved before they're rushed into the next event. Because of this, some fans have a hard time re-watching the series as adults, as it's not as cohesive as other similar shows.