Summary

• Bending refers to manipulating Air, Water, Earth, or Fire. The Avatar masters all four elements.
• Avatar Roku was Aang's predecessor, hailing from the Fire Nation, who stopped the Fire Lord's conquest.
• Kyoshi and Kuruk were Avatars before Aang, expanding the Avatar universe mythology.

As the young protagonist of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang had many predecessors in his role as the Avatar, but how many are fully known? On Avatar, "bending" refers to the ability to manipulate either Water, Earth, Fire, or Air, with the titular Avatar being the only person in the Four Nations capable of mastering all four elements. The Avatar is also responsible for keeping the balance between the four elemental nations as well as benders and nonbenders. With the Avatar being continually reincarnated through the Avatar Cycle, there are a vast number of Avatars to come before Aang.

Running on Nickelodeon for three seasons from 2005 to 2008, Avatar hasn't experienced any dip in popularity whatsoever twelve years after its conclusion. Its addition to Netflix is certainly testimony to this, The Legend of Korra, whose title character becomes Aang's successor as the Avatar seven decades later. There have also been comics, novels, and now, a live-action series on Netflix that has expanded on the mythology of the show.

Roku

Firebender

Aang’s predecessor as the Avatar, Roku was a native of the Fire Nation. Roku studied Airbending at the Southern Air Temple as part of his training as the Avatar, where he became good friends with the monk Gyatso, who would later become a mentor of Aang's. Roku’s friend Sozin would also become Fire Lord and initiate the Fire Nation’s first attempt at expansion through the rest of the Four Nations, with Roku putting a stop to this. Sozin later let Roku perish in a volcanic eruption on his island, allowing the Fire Nation’s conquest of the world to begin.

The Avatar cycle follows a specific pattern with Avatars emerging from the Air Nomads, Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, and Fire Nation in that order.

Kyoshi

Earthbender

Roku’s predecessor as the Avatar, Kyoshi was born in the Earth Kingdom, and was known for being quite tall. Her tough upbringing led her to flee from an Avatar test, with an Earth Kingdom boy named Yun subsequently being falsely identified as the new Avatar. Kyoshi would ultimately be positively identified as the actual Avatar later.

She was also the namesake of the Kyoshi Warriors, the protectors of her adoptive home, Kyoshi Island, with their leader on Avatar, Suki, becoming Sokka's girlfriend and an integral member of Team Avatar. Additionally, Kyoshi's life as the Avatar is the subject of the book The Rise of Kyoshi and its sequel The Shadow of Kyoshi.

Kyoshi has proven to be such a fan-favorite part of Avatar mythology that her role has been expanded in the Netflix live-action version of The Last Airbender series where she's played by Yvonne Chapman. She's the first Avatar that is able to take over Aang's form, protecting Aang and his allies when they visit Kyoshi Island. She's one of the Avatars before Aang whose history has been more extensively explored in the Avatar universe.

Kuruk

Waterbender

The Northern Water Tribe-born Kuruk was among the Avatars seen by Aang in the episode "The Avatar State", in which Aang sees his many past incarnations as Avatar. Kuruk was known to be more laid back in his affairs as the Avatar, while also being cockier and something of a show-off with his bending abilities. His attitude would later lead to tragedy on the night of his wedding when his fiance, Ummi, was pulled into the Spirit World by Koh the Face-Stealer as punishment for Kuruk's conduct as the Avatar.

Like Kyoshi, Kuruk's story is expanded in the live-action series. There, it's learned that Kuruk spent much of his time as the Avatar with one foot in the Spirit World, trying to keep more dangerous spirits at bay. His feud with Koh even comes back to haunt Aang, who has to return an item stolen from Koh by Kuruk in order to save his friends from the Face-Stealer.

Yangchen

Airbender

Like Aang, Yangchen was born into the Air Nomads, and was raised by the Air Nuns of the Western Air Temple. Yangchen’s legacy among Avatars came out of the truce she struck with the spirit of General Old Iron, in which he would cease his attack on a city and never again wage war on humanity, in exchange for the land remaining untouched by humans.

Yangchen would also erect a statue in honor of his lost love Lady Tienhai which the Air Nomads would visit annually to pay respects to in a ritual known as Yangchen’s Festival. After her death, Yangchen’s actions resulted in her becoming exalted by both the Air Nomads and the Earth Kingdom.

Yangchen has seen her story expanded thanks to the Avatar comics and novels.

Szeto

Firebender

Originally, little was known about the Fire Nation-born Avatar who came before Yangchen, as evidenced by his lack of a name in the animated series. He was among the Avatars glimpsed by Aang on “The Avatar State”, albeit without any lines, and was shown as being capable of lavabending. His name, and more of his story, were expanded thanks to his inclusion in the Avatar comics from Dark Horse. He's also mentioned in Yangchen and Kyoshi's Avatar novels, giving fans more background on the Avatar cycle.

Szeto is the first character in the Avatar franchise shown to be capable of lavabending.

Salai

Unknown origin

Another past Avatar, Salai’s nation of origin is unknown, but he is mentioned by Yun in The Rise of Kyoshi. With Yun being described as “a dedicated Avatar scholar” by author F.C. Yee, the full scope of Salai’s identity, including his place within the Avatar cycle, is not fully known. Many of theorized that Salai is the Earthbending avatar to precede Szeto, but that has never been confirmed. All that is known is that Salai is an Avatar after the first of the line and before Szeto, and here could be a large number of Avatars in that space.

Wan

The first Avatar

First introduced in The Legend of Korra, Wan holds the distinction of being the very first Avatar. Growing up in poverty in a city built on the back of a fire lion turtle eons in the past, Wan’s activities led to him being banished into the Spirit Wilds by the turtle, though he was permitted to keep the Firebending the turtle had previously granted him.

Wan ultimately declared that he would be the bridge between man and spirits, thus beginning the Avatar cycle.

When Wan freed Vaatu, the Spirit of Dark, from the grasp of Raava, the Spirit of Light, without knowing his true nature, Wan volunteered to help Raava recapture Vaatu. Along the way, Wan was granted the ability to bend Air, Water, and Earth by other lion turtles, and later permanently bonded with Raava in their final battle with Vaatu. Wan ultimately declared that he would be the bridge between man and spirits, thus beginning the Avatar cycle.

With Avatar having such a vast canon under its belt, there's clearly a massive history of Avatars before Aang, any one of whom could be the subject of their own spin-off from the main series. That very idea is currently unfolding with the Kyoshi-centric novels, while The Legend of Korra shows that there's also plenty of fertile ground in Avatars beyond Aang, as well. Hopefully, lovers of Avatar: The Last Airbender have more chances in the future to see the history of Aang's predecessors as the Avatar explored.