Avatar: The Last Airbender &
The Legend of Korra

The World of Avatar
REAL RACE/ETHNICITY THREAD

WATER TRIBE

The Water Tribes are based on the Eskimo meaning the Inuit and Aleut ethnic people of North America and the Yupik peoples of Alaska and Siberia.

The Water Tribes (Cont) However, some elements of the tribes are based off Native Americans & Pacfic Islanders. Casting Indigenous actors for the Water Tribes is still appropriate.

Primarily cast Eskimo Actors, but Pacific/Native is not inaccurate.

The Water Tribes (cont) The Foggy Swampbenders are based off the “Overseas Vietnamese” diaspora as they moved to southern US states like Louisiana. Hence, the swampbenders have southern accents. The swampbenders names are Tho, Due, and Huu... which are VIETNAMSE names.

EARTH KINGDOM

The Earth Kingdom is the most ethically diverse place in the Avatar world. Primarily, it’s consists of ethnically Han Chinese people. The face paints & outfits resemble Han Chinese warriors. Qing Dynasty culture does play a signifcant role in the architect of Ba Sing Se.

Earth Kingdom (cont) Another reason that the Earth Kingdom resembles China is through the architecture. Ba Sing Se’s “Impenetrable City” GREAT WALL is the equivalent to the GREAT WALL of China. The Beijing of the Quin Dynasty Period (1644-1911).

Earth Kingdom (cont) The Sandbenders Tribe in Si Wong Desert are based off real-life Tuareg people who inhabit the Saharan interior of North Africa. They also resemble Middle Eastern culture with their headdress and turbans.

Arabs & Africans are accurate castings for them.

Earth Kingdom (cont) The Earth Kingdom heavily borrows from Korean as well. The women wear hanbok, which is a Korean outfit. Some of the architecture in the Earth Kingdom is based off Korean models.

Earth Kingdom (cont) Every nation uses chopsticks and tea is a popular drink in the Avatar world. The practice of drinking tea is said to have begun in China as early as 2737 BCE. It was not until the Tang Dynasty. however, that tea became cemented as the national drink of China

FIRE NATION

The Fire Nation is based off Imperial Japan for it’s political philosophy in the 100 Year War. Fascism, Colonization, Dictatorship, and Imperalism of Imperial Japan heavily inspired the design of this nation. Fire Nation Armor resembled that of old Japanese soldiers.

Fire Nation (cont) HOWEVER, Principle teachings of Chinese Daoism is taught in Fire Nation. Every single nation reads and write in Mandarin (colloquially known as Chinese). Chinese & Korean architecture heavily influence the Fire Nation Palace & Buildings.

Fire Nation (cont) The culture of the Sun Warriors is primarily based on civilizations from ancient pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, including the Aztec, Incan, and Mayan empires.

The Sun Warriors are also heavily inspired by ancient Native American and Southeast Asian cultures.

Fire Nation (cont)

Aztec Latinos are appropriate for the casting when Zuko & Aang learn from the Dragons. Aztec primarily dominated Central & South America.

Latinos, Arabs, and Africans are culturally accurate and exist in the Avatar world.

AIR NOMADS

The Air Nomads primarily follow the philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism, the primarily appropriate ethnicity being Tibetan.

Air Nomads (cont) Hindu Priests and Gurus are also appropriate for the Air Nomad ethnicity and culture. Guru Pathik was based off Skih Gurus.

Hinduism and Skihism also play roles in the Air Nomad Society. Casting Sikhs or Indians is appropriate.

ALL FOUR NATIONS FACTS

ALL FOUR NATIONS follow aspects of Chinese Daoism, Mandarin Language, and Qing/Han Dynasty Culture.

IN CONCLUSION:

ETHNICTY IS PRIMARILY
Water Tribe: Inuit
Earth Kingdom: Chinese
Fire Nation: Japanese
Air Nomad: Tibetan

The casting for the live action should primarily cast these ethnicities for the nations.

THE FULL LIST

Water Tribe: Eskimos, Native America, Pacific Islanders, Chinese

Earth Kingdom: Chinese, Africans, Arabs, and Korean

Fire Nation: Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Mesoamericans (Latinos)

Air Nomads: Tibetan, Sikhs, Indian, and Chinese

The Bending style is based off real-world martial art, leading to visual differences in the techniques used by Waterbenders (tai chi chuan), Earthbenders (Hung Ga kung fu, for the most part), Firebenders (Northern Shaolin kung fu) and Airbenders (baguazhang).

China, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, India, Mesoamerican, Inuit, Hawaiian, Saharan Africa, Middle East, and Latinos are ALL CULTURES in the Avatar World. Cast the appropriate actors from East Asian, SE Asian, Latino, Arab, African, Inuit, and Indian backgrounds.

The THREE largest cities in the WORLD are Tokyo, Mumbai, and Shanghai. Republic City & The United Republic is NOT based off European culture. Large, megacities ARE NOT a western concept like some Korra critics like to argue. Republic City resembles more to SHANGHAI.

Caucasians should not be cast in Avatar. This is the energy I want creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko to have when casting the live action series on Netflix. White people can enjoy the show, but please stop fancasting whites in the show.

This is a educational thread, let me know if there’s more I missed.

END OF THREAD

And if anyone else fancasts white people in Avatar like these shitty fancasts, EDUCATE THEM PLEASE

CORRECTIONS

Colonizers used the term “E*kimo” which translates to “raw meat eater.” They also correlated this with being uncivilized or savage-like and even going being defined as animals/barbarians. Please just use the tribal name or Inuit in the future.

CORRECTIONS (Cont)

Sikhism is a RELIGION, not an ethnicity, nationality or race. Therefore, it’s appropriate to say Airbenders could be culturally cast as Punjabis or Indians instead.

Jessica Genadry is a joke, WTF IS THIS?

Inuit & Chinese are NOT INTERGABLE. The only two Chinese things that are part of the Water Tribe is the lanaguage (Mandarin), Daoism, and the Martin Arts. EVERYTHING ELSE is based off Inuit/Pacific culture.