5 shows we want to see in the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe
By John Fallon
Avatar: The Rise of Kyoshi
Although it’s unclear if the Last Airbender graphic novels and books will tie Avatar Studio’s work, they could provide some amazing source material for future series. The story of Avatar Kyoshi was fleshed out in two fantasy novels written by American authors F.C. Yee and Michael Dante DiMartino himself. They take place 400 years prior to the series and follows the life of Kyoshi, an Avatar born in the Earth Kingdom two generations before Aang.
The story revolves around a young Kyoshi who’s learning about her abilities seven years after the death of the last Avatar, the 33-year-old Avatar Kuruk of the Northern Water Tribe. Over those seven years, Kyoshi is abandoned by her criminal parents and cast out onto the streets. She would grow up to blame her parents for her misfortunes and came to hate them, as well as all criminals. By chance, Kuruk’s friend Jianzhu and his acquaintance, Air Nomad Kelsang, visit Kyoshi’s home and falsely identify an Earth Kingdom boy as the Avatar. Kuruk begins to train the young boy before noticing that Kyoshi, then a servant girl, is the genuine article.
Kyoshi’s story would work wonderfully as an animated series. Kyoshi’s approach to her role as Avatar is different than what fans are used to. Unlike Roku and Aang, Kyoshi believed that only justice could bring peace and didn’t back down from killing enemies in order to achieve her goal, if necessary. Even using these methods, she was generally considered an effective Avatar.