Aang, Katara, and Sokka in Avatar: The Last Airbender
(Nickelodeon)

Here’s the Age of Every Member of Team Aang in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’

Avatar: The Last Airbender is coming to Netflix. Not the original animated series from Nickelodeon (although that one is also streaming on Netflix). No, a new live-action adaptation. But how similar will the new series be to the original? Will the characters be the same ages?

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The Last Airbender tells the story of a young boy named Aang, who must travel around the world to learn how to manipulate the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Accompanying Aang are two siblings named Katara and Sokka, along with the diminutive but tough Toph. The original animated series was a hit when it first aired, although fans have their doubts about the adaptation.

Judging from the trailers, it looks like the characters’ ages will be roughly the same in the new series. Here’s each character’s age in the original!

Aang

Zach Tyler as Aang in Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)
(Netflix)

Aang is 12 years old at the beginning of The Last Airbender. Well, sort of. After running away from the responsibility of being his generation’s Avatar (the one person who can control all four elements), Aang and his flying bison Appa are frozen in an iceberg for 100 years. When Aang thaws, he finds a vastly changed world around him. Is he 12 years old, or 112? Depends on how you look at it.

About one year passes from the beginning of the series to the end, which means that Aang is 13 when the series ends.

Katara

Katara grins and throws something in her South Pole village.
(Netflix)

Katara, a burgeoning water bender from the Water Tribe, is Aang’s first ally, and she and Aang learn the art of water bending together when they travel to the North Pole. At the beginning of the original series, Katara is 14 years old, and by the time it ends, she’s 15.

Sokka

Sokka from the animated Avatar The Last Airbender
(Netflix)

Sokka, Katara’s cocky older brother, is 15 years old when the series begins and 16 when it ends. Sokka’s storyline in the original series is one of the most interesting, as he gradually unlearns the sexism he grew up with.

Toph

Toph stands in a fighting stance in a dimly lit arena in Avatar: The Last Airbender
(Netflix)

Toph is already a formidable earth bender when she joins Aang’s team. Her age makes her skill even more surprising: At the beginning of the series, Toph is only 12, like Aang.

Zuko

Zuko (Dante Basco) in Book One of 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' on Nickelodeon.
(Netflix)

Zuko, the troubled crown prince of the Fire Nation, is the oldest member of Aang’s team at 16 years old.

There you have it! Although Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show about teens and tweens, the original series has earned fans of all ages. You can check out the original series on Netflix now, and the adaptation on February 22.

(featured image: Netflix)


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Julia Glassman
Julia Glassman (she/her) holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and has been covering feminism and media since 2007. As a staff writer for The Mary Sue, Julia covers Marvel movies, folk horror, sci fi and fantasy, film and TV, comics, and all things witchy. Under the pen name Asa West, she's the author of the popular zine 'Five Principles of Green Witchcraft' (Gods & Radicals Press). You can check out more of her writing at <a href="https://juliaglassman.carrd.co/">https://juliaglassman.carrd.co/.</a>