10 Ways The World Of Avatar Changed Between The Last Airbender & Legend Of Korra

The story of Avatar: The Last Airbender ends with a kiss, Aang & Katara at sunset, in the plaza beside the Jasmine Dragon. The Legend of Korra jumps straight ahead by seven decades, starting off with seventeen-year-old Avatar Korra of the Southern Water Tribe. Many original characters have vanished, but everyone from the first Team Avatar makes their appearance in some form or another.

Aang passes away at the ripe young age of sixty-six (in part due to time spent encased in ice), but the world he has helped rebuild is stronger and more bizarre than ever. Here are a few examples of change that stand out the most.

10 The Gamification Of Bending

Without any real need for Bending as a martial art and rising public demand to watch performances in a protected space, the sport of Pro-Bending becomes an inevitable development. It includes Earthbending, Firebending, and Waterbending, and each team has three players.

As long as one side succeeds in tossing their opponents out of the ring, victory is theirs (with a few complicated bylaws involved, of course.) The sport is so popular that thousands of people pay good money for tickets to live matches every week.

9 A Telecommunications Renaissance

With the conclusion of the Hundred Year War, communications technology began to advance, starting with the radio. All major news events were covered by radio, including live broadcasts of important Pro-bending matches. Further, portable versions allowed law enforcement groups (as well as criminal ones) to exchange data with each other in real-time.

Also, rather than sending avian messengers as they used to, telegraphy now became the primary mode of communication, slowly bringing the world together through consistent information dissemination.

8 The Birth Of The Mafia

Crime becomes heavily organized, especially in Republic City, with several competing groups coming into existence. They were mostly triads, known as such because the top brass consisted of three dons.

A few famous ones have included the Triple Threat Triad, the Agni Kai Triad, the Red Monsoon Triad, the Terra Triad, and the Creeping Crystal Triad. Each organization has its own complex system of criminal activity, and rarely impinge on another’s territory (the Turf Wars trilogy of graphic novels covers what happens when they do.)

7 The Invention Of The Automobile

No need for rhinos when there are cars available for private transportation, is there? The automobile in the story bears a striking resemblance to the popular 1920s variants in the real world and quickly pushes public transit out of the equation. The original ones were powered by petroleum (implying that oil production and extraction was a common feature.)

Further, the billionaire Southern Water Tribe member, Iknik Varrick, comes up with a railway system based on magnetic levitation, which revolutionized long-distance transport.

6 Metalbending & The Police

The police force of Republic City was started by Toph Beifong, which makes no sense given her natural hatred of rules. Still, the department was based on the Earthbending subset of Metalbending, with many of its employees being highly adept at the new style (taught by the creator, of course.)

In fact, the complicated task of law enforcement has been made a little simpler by instituting a form of hierarchy: there is a Police Chief, a squad of detectives, as well as lower-ranking officers. Outside the police headquarters stands an enormous metal cast bearing Toph’s appearance, as a tribute to her efforts.

5 Photography & Cinema

The photographic camera was invented around two decades after the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai, as there are pictures of Katara and Aang’s very young children (for context, Tenzin was fifty-one years old when The Legend of Korra began.) News agencies also used cameras to capture crucial events like elections, fights, or even paparazzi photos of unsuspecting celebrities.

More importantly, the video camera was conceived around fifty years later, but the first feature film ever produced, The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero of the South, unfortunately, contained overtones of patently false propaganda.

4 The Rise Of The Nonbenders

Aang and Zuko came together to create the United Republic of Nations, with the main goal of this new country being that non-benders and benders could peacefully coexist. However, it became apparent that those without bending talents were “oppressed” by those with (as the Triads mainly consisted of benders.)

This led to the so-called Anti-Bending Revolution covered in Book One: Air, whose leader was ultimately exposed by Avatar Korra. However, this also led to a drastic alteration in the political representation afforded to non-benders, and the UNR Council was soon disbanded to make way for a democratically elected President.

3 Electricity Generation & Transmission

Forget candles and lanterns, electricity is here to stay. Although it is unknown how the concept was discovered, Republic city obtained most of its power needs from plants established around the fringes of its urban area. Rather than use water, coal, or nuclear sources of energy, the municipality hired Firebenders to produce lightning, which is then temporarily accumulated in enormous batteries.

After enough power had been obtained, it was transported to most neighborhoods via a network of cables. Workers were taken care of, as well (although they did burn out quite easily from the output expected of them) by being made to wear special clothing devised to protect them from any unforeseen complications.

2 An Urban Sprawl

The era of Ba Sing Se ended when the magnificently urban Republic City was constructed. It is a realistic cosmopolis, consisting of advanced forms of architecture, transport, and various other forms of technology.

The city also contained several important landmarks, many of which are testimonials to iconic real-life places like London’s Hyde Park, the Eiffel Tower, as well as the Statue of Liberty (depicted as Aang holding aloft an Airbending staff.) Republic City has drawn aesthetic inspiration from cities like Vancouver, Hong Kong, NYC, Shanghai, as well as Chicago.

1 Cabbage Capitalism

The art of making money is honed to perfection in Republic City, with several mega-corporations being created to serve the increasing need for mass production. For instance, Hiroshi Sato’s company Future Industries makes cars (also known as Satomobiles for obvious reasons.)

One of his main competitors is Cabbage Corp, which is established by the infamously unlucky cabbage seller in Avatar and is currently under the control of Lau Gan-Lan, his son. Interestingly, the cabbage merchant has a statue dedicated all to himself, proudly framing the headquarters of Cabbage Corp.

About The Author

Ajay Aravind
(429 Articles Published)

In real life, Ajay disguises himself as an academic, mainly writing textbooks for children — who all hate him for making their lives more miserable. He also writes about TV and film, strewing his opinions across the internet to see if people care (they don’t). You can find him @stain_dprinc_ss on Twitter.

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