The Legend and the Avatar

The Legend

In a lost age: Power is balanced among four great Nations: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. An order made up of men and women lead each Nation. These Masters possess the ability to manipulate their native element. They call themselves Waterbenders, Earthbenders, Firebenders, and Airbenders. The most powerful Bender in the world is the Avatar, the spirit of the planet incarnate. He alone masters all four of the elements and maintains world order.

The Avatar: Master of All Four Elements

The spirit of the Avatar is the incarnation of the Spirit of the Planet in human form.

There is only one Avatar, who reincarnates himself through the centuries. Each time the Avatar dies it is reborn into the next nation. This successive cycle mirrors the order of the seasons:

Water Tribes - Winter

Earth Kingdom - Spring

Fire Nation - Summer

Air Nomads - Autumn

The cycle provides a natural balance between the elements. This way, no single nation can grow stronger than another.

Upon the death of an Avatar, Bending masters from the successive nation conduct a search to find the child reincarnate. (The successor is expected to show signs of continuity with the one who died, such as being born within a week of the death.) These Benders carefully train the new Avatar to prepare him for his high position. First, he becomes proficient with his native element. Then, when the Avatar reaches maturity, he travels the world and studies with Masters from the other three Bending disciplines. Upon completion of his training, the Avatar possesses sole control of all four elements.

And so, the Nations work to nurture the Avatar, whose responsibility it is to keep Water, Earth, Fire, and Air in harmony with each other and the world.

(This information comes directly from http://atla.avatarspirit.net/legend.php)

Basically…

Above is the Legend of the Avatar World. Whether you are a new-comer or an original watcher it is always good to start with some good background. I know I had forgotten some of this! :) 

So in short the Avatar is one of the most important peace keepers in the Avatar World. He masters each element to keep each Nation from becoming more powerful than the others. This also helps him bring balance to the world.

What once was Aangs job, is Korra’s job now. And she is still learning!