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BRIEF HISTORIES ABOUT THE AVATARS

Thousands of Avatars have potentially lived and died in Avatar: The Last Airbender's world, and here's how old some of them lived to be.

Thousands of Avatars have presumably lived throughout Avatar: The Last Airbender's story, but only a handful of them are known - and among those, some have lived much longer lives than others. While bits and pieces of the Avatar's history were revealed in The Last Airbender series, the Avatar's origins weren't explored fully until The Legend of Korra. In season 2, Korra spent some time learning about the Spirit World and how the spirits of light (Raava) and darkness (Vatuu) brought balance to everything.

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As the story goes, 10,000 years before the events of The Legend of Korra, a man named Wan borrowed and subsequently kept the power to firebend from one of the ancient lion turtles, for which he was banished from his home. Keeping that power allowed him to survive in the real world and live among the spirits. Sometime later, Wan sought the other lion turtle cities so he could also learn to bend the other elements. That's when he discovered Raava and Vatuu tethered together, fighting each other. Not thinking clearly, Wan severed Raava and Vatuu's bond and inadvertently allowed the spirit of darkness to escape and wreak havoc.

Wan and Raava only saw one way they could defeat Vatuu and imprison him in the Spirit World; they had to bind together. Doing so enabled Wan to become the very first Avatar. Together, they traveled the world and learned how to master bending the other three elements - air, earth, and water; this was only possible because Raava, who was a powerful ancient spirit, carried the elements for Wan. After they defeated Vatuu, Wan and Raaava continued to maintain balance in the world for many years. Then when he died, Raava's spirit was reborn in another human, thus beginning the Avatar Cycle. (Note that Salai and Szeto aren't included here since very little is known about them.)

Wan

As previously mentioned, Wan was the first Avatar and he began the Avatar Cycle that continues thousands of years later. Wan was born in the year 9,850 BG, though it's unclear how long he lived for. He was 20 years old when he met and bound with Raava, and he appeared to be middle-aged when he died. It stands to reason, then, that Wan lived until he was at least 40 years old, though that has yet to be confirmed

Yangchen

Unfortunately, not much is known about the Avatars who came after Wan - until Yangchen's time, that is. Yangchen was the previous Airbender who became the Avatar before Aang. She succeeded Avatar Szeto and spent most of her life trying to maintain peace and balance in the world, either through wisdom or aggression (despite growing up as a pacifist). Although it's unclear how old she lived to be since her birthdate has never been revealed, it's been confirmed that she died in 345 BG. Like Wan, she lived to be at least middle-aged, based on information gleaned from the shows and graphic novels.

Kuruk

Kuruk was the previous Avatar who hailed from one of the water tribes, before Korra's time, but unfortunately, he was also one of the Avatars who lived a short life. Born in 345 BG, Kuruk spent most of his time traveling the world and taking on dark spirits so others didn't have to. Combined with the high stresses of his daily and solitary life, Kuruk's mission took its toll on him until he ultimately died at the age of 33 years old in 312 BG.

Kyoshi

The odds of being born the Avatar is itself next to impossible, but to then become not only the longest living Avatar but the oldest human on the planet is something else entirely. But that's exactly what makes Kyoshi unique, not including the many feats she accomplished in her years. Kyoshi was born in 312 BG and lived until 82 BG, thus making her 230 years old at the time of her death. The secret to her long life was never confirmed, though there have been hints that she learned how to become immortal from her spiritual teacher, Lao Ge, who is one of two people that have supposedly learned the secret to immortality.

Roku

Unlike those who lived short or abnormally long lives, Roku's life span was comparatively normal. He was born in the year 82 BG and lived until 12 BG, just over a decade before the Hundred Year War began. In fact, it was Roku's hesitancy to kill his childhood friend, Fire Lord Sozin, that ultimately led to the war beginning. But the decades he spent fighting as the Avatar brought balance to the world, and he continued to offer his wisdom to his successor, Aang, long after his death. However, his legacy also carried through to Zuko, his grandson. Despite not having a show of his own, nor books dedicated to him, Roku's influence on the world of Avatar has been nothing short of extraordinary.

Aang

Easily the most famous Avatar to fans of the franchise, Aang lived much longer than anyone would've anticipated, which was entirely due to the fact that he was trapped in an iceberg for a century. Aang was born in 12 BG and went into the ice when he was 12 years old. He reemerged 100 years later when Katara broke the iceberg with her waterbending powers. While the Avatar: The Last Airbender series only follows Aang for about a year of his life, the franchise's graphic novels chronicle the rest of his journey - and it was a long one. Aang lived to be 165 years old (only 66 years old biologically), dying in the year 153 AG.

Korra

Korra is the current Avatar and is at least 21 years old, as of the end of the Legend of Korra series. Her main story ended when the series wrapped up after season 4, but her journey has been continued through graphic novels, just like Aang's story was. Given that Korra can no longer access the Avatar's past lives since they were stripped away from Raava when the spirit was attacked during the Harmonic Convergence, it's possible the next Avatar won't be able to communicate with Korra. But it's also plausible she began a new Avatar Cycle when she rebounded herself with Raava after the Dark Avatar's defeat.


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