Spirit World (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
The Spirit World is a dimension that features in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Contents |
History
The Spirit Realm was an ethereal realm that was separate from the physical world with it being the home of Spirits. Originally, travel between the spirit plane and physical plane was rare with it being extremely difficult for any human other than the Avatar due to being the bridge between the worlds.
Throughout Avatar Yangchen's lifetime, she often sided with humans when they clashed with spirits in the physical world. Although Yangchen trusted the humans to uphold their ends of the bargain and respect the balance of their surroundings, many did not.
As a direct result of Yangchen's actions, many spirits had turned dark by the lifetime of Avatar Kuruk. Dark spirits made use of newly created passageways to the physical world, attempting to wreak havoc and kill as many humans as possible. Kuruk battled against the dark spirits, but the duels took a harsh toll on his mind, body, and soul. Kuruk eventually decided to hunt down the spirits that could not be saved by tracking them down in the Spirit World, making use of the new passageways so that he could use his bending. Eventually, Kuruk found the source of the cracks between the realms, a malevolent spirit known as Father Glowworm. Though Kuruk managed to grievously wound the spirit, it managed to escape, and the fight took a heavy physical toll on Kuruk.
In 296 BG, Yun was taken to the Spirit World by a weakened Father Glowworm, who wished to feed on his blood and restore his strength. However, Yun managed to resist the spirit and deceived him long enough to overpower Father Glowworm, eating his eyeball and absorbing his essence.[10] After the battle, he dug down until he reached the Xishaan Mountains in the physical world.[16] During Kyoshi's life, many of the few remaining spirits in the physical world wished to return to the Spirit World, with their homes being harassed by daofei, as well as due to the long-term consequences of Kuruk taking action against dark spirits.
At the beginning of Avatar Roku's life, the physical world began to experience another period of strange spiritual activity, including a growing number of dark spirits, especially at the polar regions where the dormant spirit portals were located. Spiritually-focused tribespeople believed this was linked to nations extending their reach and abusing natural resources during the technological renaissance and the first true industrial revolution, as well as sacred land being claimed for political ambitions and the killing of ancient creatures such as the dragons.
During the winter solstice of 99 AG, an enraged forest spirit named Hei Bai took Sokka and several people of the Senlin Village to the Spirit World following the Fire Nation's destruction of a forest in the physical world. Avatar Aang later managed to calm the spirit by showing it that the forest would regrow leading to Hei Bai returned the humans to the material world. (Episode: Winter Solstice, Part 1: The Spirit World)
Next year, the spirit Wan Shi Tong came to relocate his library to the Spirit World after being angered when Team Avatar used his collection of knowledge to play an invasion of the Fire Nation. (Episode: The Library)
Overview
In appearance, the Spirit World was a parallel plane of reality that co-existed alongside the physical world.
Locations within the Spirit World included:
- Realm of Koh :
- Hai-Riyo Peak :
- Xai Bau's Grove :
- Wan Shi Tong's Library : the Spirit Library of Wan Shi Tong with the structure sometimes finding itself within the real world.
There was also the roaming Fog of Lost Souls which was a spirit that served as a prison for humans who were driven mad within it.
It was home to the spirits that were a vast range of immortal, supernatural entities that often embodied different aspects of life and nature. Spirits had the ability to take over the body of a human for a short period of time. When this happened, the host took on some of the physical characteristics of the spirit. There was a danger in possession, however, as the host could potentially die if the spirit resided within it for too long.
Within the Spirit World, emotions shaped reality with this especially being the case for the Avatar as they were the bridge between the worlds.
The Avatar had a special role in that they served as a bridge between the Spirit World and the physical world.
Inhabitants
- Raava : the spirit of light and peace who was among the oldest beings in the Spirit World. She came to merge with the human Wan thus begin the Avatar cycle.
- Vaatu : the spirit of darkness and chaos who was among the oldest beings in the Spirit World and served as a dark counterpart to Raava.
- Mother of Faces :
- Koh : the Face Stealer was an ancient and malicious spirit that stole the faces of any creature that showed emotions within his presence.
- Wan Shi Tong : an ancient owl-shaped spirit who collected knowledge that he kept within his Spirit Library.
- Tui :
- La :
- Hei Bai : a forest spirit who took the form of a giant panda.
- Painted Lady :
- Iroh :
Notes
- The Spirit World was created by Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko where it featured in the setting of the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe.
Appearances
- Avatar: The Last Airbender:
- The Legend of Korra:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
