Avatar: The Last Airbender brought to life a unique world with its own mythology. At the same time, the series featured a cast of interesting characters with striking designs that instantly made an impact on viewers when the animated series first premiered.
Over the years, fans have fallen in love with characters like Aang, Iroh, Toph, Sokka, Katara, Zuko, and many more. Their designs are iconic and forever etched in the fans’ hearts. As a result, it might surprise fans to learn the original character designs were completely different.
The main characters of Avatar: The Last Airbender (Credits: Nickelodeon).
The first sketches for the show’s cast of characters surfaced online. These designs are presumably from the very early stages of development. As a result, some of them are drastically different from the final outcome, and fans will certainly be surprised by the early designs for Toph, Appa, Iroh, and Azula.
Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s first sketches reveal a drastically different design for Toph and Appa
Avatar: The Last Airbender premiered in 2008 and opened up an entirely new world with fresh possibilities and eclectic characters. Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the characters quickly became popular thanks to their personalities, which are brilliantly captured in their designs.
Toph as depicted in Avatar: The Last Airbender (Credit: Nickelodeon).
However, during development, many of the now-iconic characters looked completely different. On Reddit, one fan shared some of the first sketches for the character designs in the popular animated series. One of the most surprising deviations from the final designs was with Toph.
In the first sketches, Toph is depicted as a boy who is much taller and bulkier than the final version. While the character retains the green and yellow palette, the costume is also quite different. However, Toph’s original design as a boy makes sense given her tomboyish personality in the series.
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Similarly, the fan-favorite sky bison Appa also had a very different design. Initially depicted as a dog with a backpack, the design implies that Appa was originally meant to be more humanoid and involved in the group dynamics instead of a companion.
Avatar: The Last Airbender originally had different designs for Iroh and Azula
Aside from Toph and Appa, the other most recognizable deviations from the original designs are with Iroh and Azula’s first sketches. In the latter’s case, the character is almost entirely unrecognizable because of the heavy armor she sports in the earlier version.
Azula in a still from Avatar: The Last Airbender (Credits: Nickelodeon).
Similarly, Uncle Iroh also dons armor that is heavily scaled to resemble flames of fire. A similar trend can be seen with the other Fire Nation characters, including Zuko, who wears armor with more pronounced scales. The armors are also heavily inspired by the samurai culture, hinting at a Japanese origin for the Fire Nation.
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The early design for the titular last airbender, Aang, is also slightly different, with the character having a more robotic/futuristic aesthetic. As a result, it is safe to say that these early designs were greatly refined, and a lot of work went into the sketches to craft the iconic looks of these characters.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is streaming on Paramount+.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
