What is something really dark in Avatar: The Last Airbender?

All right, Ill try to focus on the more subtle ones that are never touched up that much in the show

Tophs Parents


I always find it funny that when talking about character who are abused Zuko, Azula and sometimes Mai come up but never Toph.

Her parents literally hide her away from the world. They pretended they didnt even have daughter. Just because she was blind. She was never allowed outside the grounds of her house, she was treated like a helpless child, and apparently they expected her to spend large amounts of time just sitting in a chair, doing nothing. Just because she was disabled.

How is that not abuse? How come no one talks about how horrible that treatment was, to act like your own daughter doesnt exist. Even after they find out that Toph isnt helpless, theyre still determined to keep her that way. Why? Because they love her? I know thats what were supposed to think, but it would be hard to claim to love someone when youre literally trying to ignore the fact that she exists.

Honestly, I think they were just ashamed to have a blind child. Lots of parents in real life try to ignore the fact that they have disabled children and do their best to hide them away from the world. Not because they love them, but because theyre ashamed. Even after finding out how powerful Toph was, they were still ashamed of her. They still couldnt see past her blindness.

People may think that Toph had an easy life because she was rich, and was never touched by the war until she joined the Gaang. But they couldnt be more wrong.

Child Soldiers are the Norm


Ever notice how not one adult finds it strange to find children traveling alone, fighting, or playing complex political games? Even good adults like Iroh or Hakoda are fine with kids fighting in wars. Long Feng isnt even surprised that a teenager beat him, and Kyoshi Island (which is disturbingly clear of almost all adults) relies on teenage girls to protect them.

At first this might seem like a normal trope of ignorant or useless adults who just let the kids do whatever because the plot says so. But when you look a little closer at the world it doesnt seem like it. The world has been at war for 100 years. Almost all the kids we meet have parents who are either dead, left to fight, or are perfectly okay with treating their kids as soldiers. Both the Fire Nation and Water Tribe seem to see child soldiers as perfectly fine and normal, the former because its a genocidal dictatorship, but even the good guys seem fine with kids fighting because theres just not enough adults to go around.

I mean, even Iroh shot fire at a group of children!

The entire world seems to see child soldiers as fine, even the good guys. This gets even more disturbing when you realize it makes perfect sense.

...I don't like this. Nope. That said, another dark aspect is the corporal punishment factor. Everyone of authority seemed to think it perfectly acceptable to permanently disfigure a child for simply "speaking out of turn". If that's not disturbing, I dunno what is.