The four nations are made up of the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads, each of which has its own ethnic background, based on the lion turtle bending power given to those living in those regions long ago. In these regions, residents may be born with a bending power genetically passed down from the first generation given the power, or they may be born as non-benders. Much like different cultures in the real world, each nation has its own customs, government, and arts.
The Southern and Northern Water Tribes, located at the South and North Poles, are based on Indigenous Arctic cultures.
The Southern Water Tribe is small and lacks resources, alluded to being due to a series of devastating Fire Nation raids that wiped out the region’s water benders. Its citizens primarily wear light blue and white apparel equipped to suit its cold climate and live in tents similar to tupiit. It has a unique water bending style, which has been preserved in water scrolls despite much of the region’s culture and history being erased. Later in the series, its Northern sister tribe sent healers, waterbenders, and soldiers to help rebuild the region.
On the other hand, the Northern Water Tribe is extremely powerful and full of spiritual energy, due to it containing the Spirit Oasis where the Moon and Ocean Spirits are found. Its citizens primarily wear dark blue and white apparel equipped to suit its cold climate and live in large, extravagant structures made out of ice and snow. It has its own water bending style, with waterbending women learning to heal and waterbending men learning to fight.
The Earth Kingdom, located within the Eastern hemisphere and being the biggest of the nations, is based on Monarchical China.
It has many villages and cities, with its capital, Ba Sing Se, being home to its monarchical King; however, the city of Omashu is an exception to this, having its own king and forces. Due to the Hundred Year War, numerous Earth Kingdom regions are overtaken by the Fire Nation, where both cultures are blended together.
The Earth Kingdom’s citizens wear numerous styles of clothing that differ from region to region, but almost all garments are made up of various shades of green, beige, and brown cloth. Since the Earth Kingdom is so widespread, there are many different architectural and earthbending styles within its regions.
The Fire Nation, located within the Western hemisphere and being the second largest of the nations, is based on Imperial Japan.
It has the most powerful military, resources, and economy out of all four nations, allowing its citizens to live a life of comfort even during the war. The Fire Nation is also the most technologically advanced which gives its soldiers an advantage with weapons and machinery, some of which include fire navy ships, hot air balloons, airships, tank trains, and tundra tanks.
Its citizens wear lavish garbs made out of red, gold, grey, and black cloth. Most of its architecture is in the style of those found in Japan and Thailand, with most buildings being elevated while also having gable, concave curved roofs. As a result of firebending techniques being originally taught by dragons, most firebending styles are sharp in nature and are powered by the bender’s chi in all regions.
The Air Nomads, having four temples concealed on mountain tops on remote islands and within the Earth Kingdom, are based on Tibetan Buddhist monks.
After the Air Nomad Genocide during the Hundred Year War, these regions lost much of their defining characteristics, with temples either being inhabited by war refugees or abandoned. However, these regions were once full of monks, air gliding airbenders, flying bison, and winged lemurs that brought rich culture and tranquility to the temples.
Its citizens wore loose-fitting robes in different shades of orange, yellow, and burgundy that were unique to each temple. Airbending masters, those who mastered 36 tiers of airbending, were also adorned with five light blue arrow tattoos to symbolize their achievement.
It is unknown whether airbending styles differed between temples, but all airbending is achieved through freedom, flexibility, and by choosing the path of least resistance.
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Note: The four nations’ emblems, see here, are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. The copyright holder of these works gives permission to share and remix work. All credit for each of these belongs to Luis Fernando Sanchez Rivas.
