Art is one of the most popular mediums for creative fans to express their passion for a TV show, and Avatar: The Last Airbender is no exception. The latest pieces doing the rounds are a pair depicting Aang after having grown to a young man.
They’re the creation of Instagram user Nicko Tumamak, and a cursory scan of his page reveals him to have a love for imagining male characters as either noticeably effeminate or buff and pretty, often romantically paired with similar guys and occasionally interpreting shipped relationships, such as one image showing Sokka and Zuko well into each other’s personal space.
The color scheme of Aang’s clothes reflect those he wore throughout the series, while the long flowing sash represents his billowing monk’s robes. The delicate glasses are a nice touch, too, giving him a reserved and intellectual countenance that contrasts the excitable and impulsive personality he displayed as an adolescent, and given how much time Aang likely spent reading as he grew up to catch up on the world history he missed, it’s entirely possible he developed near-sightedness.
The modern-style clothing is not as anachronistic as might be thought of at first glance, since after the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai and the end of the century-long war enveloping the whole planet, the world of Avatar began to swiftly develop, and when the story picks up 70 years later with the commencement of The Legend of Korra, it had gone from a pseudo-feudal fantasy setting to a dawning industrial revolution.
Few stages of Aang’s life have been depicted officially, as he passed away at the comparatively early age of 66 as a result of his life force being drained by spending a century in the Avatar State while trapped in the iceberg. He occasionally appeared in spirit form, guiding Korra in the same way his predecessor Roku advised him, and looked somewhere in the vicinity of 40 when doing so. These images of him in his 20s though spark the imagination of the kind of person he initially matured into after the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender, reminding us there are all sorts of stories yet to be told.
