Avatar: The Last Airbender has its fans, but the show is particularly popular with fans and writers of fantasy fiction for its simple yet unique take on the elemental-based magic system. Bending, as it is called in the show, is often referred to as a prime example of a hard magic system, distinct from the kind of magic one sees in other fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.
The creators of the show revealed what was expected of them initially, and how they decided to design their world. Different and distinct from the usual Western Fantasies, the show drew from a myriad of sources, focusing on Asian philosophies to populate their world with concepts and ideas, while also deciding to make a magic system that makes sense to the audience.
Nickelodeon wanted something more like Harry Potter
While Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings are great fantasy stories in themselves, Bryan Konitzko was more concerned with how the magic in the world would function, and he was vehemently against a magic system that did not make sense internally (given that the magic in Harry Potter is what is called a soft magic system, where the mechanism of the magic is not fully explained). He said:
“Where does it come from? What’s the limit? Why is one magician better than another, if they’re just saying a word? We wanted to make it natural. it’s all physical, it comes from practice — it’s a skill you have to learn and earn.”
The system of Bending that was developed by the creators took cues from Chinese Martial Arts, with each bending ability corresponding to forms from Kung Fu and Tai Chi. While elemental magic systems have always remained a part of fantasy fiction, Avatar revolutionized the implementation of it by marrying the idea with that of chi and martial arts, which went together like peanut butter and jelly.
Avatar’s magic system is still one of the most well-designed systems in modern media
Action fantasy shows, even those like Avatar, focus greatly on characters and less on the magic and fantasy aspect of it. Rarely are magic systems as fleshed out as that in Avatar: The Last Airbender, which makes the stories that are being written that much more gripping.
In shows such as She Ra and the Princesses of Power, Steven Universe, and Voltron: Legendary Defender, not a lot of focus is given to the magic system, While it can be argued that these shows tonally follow in the footsteps of Legend of Korra and The Last Airbender, the latter two shows still remain the benchmark for a hard, easy to understand magic system in animated shows, one that is yet to be paralleled in any other IP.
