"Avatar: The Last Airbender" is one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed animated series of all time. Set in a fantastical world in which certain people possess the ability to "bend," or manipulate, one of the four elements, a single individual known as the Avatar possesses the ability to bend all four. In return, they are tasked with serving as the bridge between the human and spirit worlds as well as maintaining balance. In the original "Avatar" series, that individual is Aang, a plucky 12-year-old airbender who must bring peace between all four nations.
The show, which began airing on Nickelodeon in 2005 and released its final episode in 2008, has lived on over the past decade and changed through a variety of spin-off projects like "The Legend of Korra," a full-length animated series that takes place 70 years after the events of "Avatar," and "The Rise of Kyoshi," a prequel YA novel series penned by F.C. Yee. There's even a 2010 live-action adaptation directed by M. Night Shyamalan, but... we don't talk about that one too much. Now, the series is finally coming back to Netflix on May 15 in its three-season entirety, with a live-adaptation currently in the works at the platform as well.
"Avatar" has remained such a beloved part of the internet zeitgeist as a result of its incredibly involved, and still-devoted, fandom. The series' influence is seen not only in the thousands of fan-fiction stories to its name, or in the continued interested in adaptations, novels, and comics that have emerged over the years, but also in the ways that the series pops up on social media platforms through reaction GIFs and well-known memes.
The series aired during the nascent stages of social media as we know it today: Twitter launched in 2006; Tumblr in 2007. GIFs are an integral part of how we talk online, and as social media became crucial to communication, "Avatar" was in its heyday. Now, moments from the show are not only well-known in fandom circles, but also online as reaction GIFs or one-line phrases that have become a part of internet-speak. That's both a testament to the continued popularity of the show itself, but also to the ways in which it's permeated internet culture in the 15 years since its first episode aired.
Here are some of the best, and most recognizable, "Avatar: The Last Airbender" reaction GIFs, moments, and memes, to serve as a refresher of the series' impact on internet culture in the years since its debut.
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