Among the vast world of Avatar: The Last Airbender lies a realm that exists in conjunction with the mortal realm: the Spirit World. We see Avatars Aang and Korra — as well as several other characters — interact or journey into this mysterious plane, one which seems to defy time and space.
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The home world of the spirits, the Spirit World, was once one with the mortal world but has been separate from it for much of its recent history. Various spirits, both benign and dark, are powerful enough to influence the physical world. In this article, we’ll explore the Spirit World, how it operates and the notable spirits that reside there.
What Is The Spirit World?
As said in the introduction, the Spirit World is the home of the spirits and is a parallel plane that coexists with the human world. After Avatar Wan sealed the gates to the Spirit World, it became difficult — though not impossible — for humans to journey into the Spirit World. However, there are cases where powerful spirits, like the Hei Bai, can carry humans into the Spirit World with them.
The only human capable of travelling between worlds with ease is the Avatar, who serves as the bridge between the two worlds and is the host of Raava, the ancient spirit of light and peace. The Avatar can only enter the Spirit World by leaving his or her corporeal body in the mortal world, as demonstrated when Aang had to visit Koh, the Face Stealer.
Moreover, it’s noted that the Spirit World mirrors what humans expect of it, and if their emotions about it are negative, then the spirits present will be affected. According to Iroh, it’s doubly so for the Avatar, since they have a strong spiritual connection through Raava.
Not all spirits can cross over to the mortal world. In fact, only those powerful enough can obtain physical bodies to travel to the Spirit World, but in doing so, they become vulnerable to physical attacks and can be killed.
Unlike the human world, the Spirit World doesn’t seem to follow the flow of time. For instance, Admiral Zhao from Book One of Avatar: The Last Airbender finds himself dragged into the Fog of Lost Souls as punishment. It had been decades since his attempt to conquer the Northern Water Tribe, and most of those who had been alive during Zhao’s time had died. Zhao has indeed aged, but it appears that his aging process had slowed while in the Spirit World.
Similarly, spatial location doesn’t work the same way that it does in the human world. In some places, the Spirit World mirrors what is in the physical world exactly, but characters can reach another area in a much shorter timeframe.
The History Of The Spirit World
The Era Before Avatar Wan
As outlined prior, before Avatar Wan became the first Avatar, the Spirit World and the human world were accessible to one another. As seen in Wan’s backstory, it was a tumultuous time for humans, and even Raava acknowledged that the dangers of spirits forced humans to find refuge on the backs of lion turtles. At that time, spirits were prone to possessing people and, as a result, would leave them permanently deformed.
In order to protect humans when they roam the Spirit Wilds, the lion turtle would gift each human the ability to bend a certain element (largely based on what element the lion turtle had an affinity with). The moment the humans return from their outing, the lion turtle removes the power from them and the cycle repeats itself.
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Things changed drastically after Wan fused with Raava to begin the Avatar Cycle, and stopped Vaatu from overtaking the world. While Wan was training himself for the battle with Vaatu, a sizeable group of people from the lion turtle Wan originated from departed the city and was granted the power to firebend. Due to Vaatu’s influence and the animosity on both sides, the spirits and humans clash.
Not long after defeating Vaatu, Wan sealed off the portals in the North and South Poles so that each side could live in peace without intruding on the other.
The Era Of The Avatar
As the years pass, the connection the human world has with the Spirit World begins to wane. Avatar Yangchen neglected the Spirit World during her lifetime, which caused Avatar Kuruk’s efforts to be devoted to cleansing dark spirits. Avatar Kyoshi, in turn, was left to help the spirits who desired to return to the Spirit World as a result of Kuruk’s clean-up operation.
When it was Avatar Roku’s turn, he wasn’t as preoccupied with the Spirit World, as Sozin’s growing desire for conquest took much of his attention. However, during his lifetime, more dark spirits started appearing near the sealed portals to the Spirit World. Some blamed Sozin’s conquest for causing the imbalance or the fact that his line had begun hunting dragons for sport.
Avatar Aang had numerous interactions with the Spirit World, with Roku’s spirit reaching out to communicate with Aang during the winter’s solstice. Alongside his team, he resolved issues involving spirits such as the Hei Bai, encountered spirits like Koh, the Face Stealer, and Wan Shi Tong, and temporarily fused with the Ocean Spirit La to push back the Fire Nation incursion into the Northern Water Tribe.
After Azula killed Aang during her takeover of Ba Sing Se, his spirit travelled and roamed the Spirit World. He spoke to past Avatars while restoring his connection to Raava. Interestingly, Aang didn’t remember what happened when he died.
But it was during Avatar Korra’s time that we saw the greatest upheaval in both the Spirit World and the human world. For the first time since Avatar Wan closed them thousands of years ago, Korra opened the spirit portals and made it easier for both sides to journey to either plane. Although Korra was tricked into opening the portals by her uncle Unalaq, she decided to leave them open anyway, believing that humans and spirits could coexist peacefully.
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However, her decision led to many problems that she didn’t foresee. Soon after, the Spirit Wilds began to bleed into the human world, just as it did during Avatar Wan’s time. People were forced to evacuate their homes after spirit vines started to overtake the cities. But other characters like Kuvira saw the potential in exploiting these spirit vines, to disastrous consequences.
Another character, a businessman named Keum, wanted to turn his land into a zoo and start guided tours into the Spirit World. Again, like in Avatar Wan’s era, some spirits began to possess and disfigure people and protest against the humans’ conduct towards them. Although the challenges seemed insurmountable, a tenuous peace was developed, and the land around the spirit portal inadvertently created by Kuvira was gifted to the rebirthed Air Nation to safeguard.
Known Domains In The Spirit World
Wan Shi Tong’s Library
Wan Shi Tong’s library is a renowned repository of knowledge, filled with every tidbit of fact and wisdom that’s ever existed in the world. It’s guarded and overseen by Wan Shi Tong, a spirit in the form of a gigantic owl. Filled with shelf after shelf of scrolls, Wan Shi Tong’s library is tended to by a group of fox spirits, who also feed Wan Shi Tong on every new piece of knowledge in the human world.
Wan Shi Tong has demonstrated that he could bring his library into the human world and return it to the Spirit World whenever he desires.
Koh’s Realm
The domain of Koh, the Face Stealer, Koh’s realm is a dark, murky land, with high peaks and a tall, gnarled tree where the spirit resides. Koh’s lair is filled with spirits who have had their faces stolen, marked with their bare empty faces where their features should be.
There is an enormous wolf seen when Aang first appeared in Koh’s realm, though it isn’t known if it resides there permanently or is simply passing by.
The Fog Of Lost Souls
A place made to purposefully trap humans, the Fog of Lost Souls is quite self-explanatory. Souls become trapped in this prison, unable to find a way out and slowly losing their minds in the process. The fog traps its victims with their worst memories, with the most prevalent example being Admiral Zhao being tossed into the Fog.
For the crime of killing Tui, the Ocean Spirit La dragged Zhao to be imprisoned in the Fog of Lost Souls for eternity.
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In a twist of fate, Aang’s children encounter Admiral Zhao when they are in the Fog themselves. The Admiral has lost his marbles, having aged drastically and still obsessed with capturing the Avatar, not realising that much time had passed.
Hai-Riyo Peak
As showcased in Book Two of the Legend of Korra, Ha-Riyo Peak is a tall mountain that overlooks a sunny valley. It’s located close to Iroh’s tea shop, where the former General regularly entertains the company of spirits.
Notable Spirits
Koh, The Face Stealer
One of the creepiest spirits to exist in the series, Koh, the Face Stealer is a malicious spirit that has carved out its territory in the Spirit World. As suggested by its moniker, Koh can steal the faces of others, but only if they show the slightest emotion. Aang was able to survive his jaunt to Koh’s lair after Roku warned him to stay emotionless for as long as he was there.
At some point in the past, Avatar Kuruk had an unpleasant run-in with Koh. Although Koh had stolen the face of the woman he loved, it’s uncertain why Kuruk chose to spare him.
The Mother Of Faces
A powerful spirit we meet in The Search comics, the Mother of Faces resides in the Forgetful Valley located in the Fire Nation. Although quite standoffish to humans, she is willing to help them out, largely by gifting them new faces and identities. She did this for Ursa, Zuko’s mother, after she was exiled from the palace, and wiped her memory of her old life as well.
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In a conversation with Aang, she reveals that she’s also the mother of Koh, the Face Stealer, and states that she would want nothing more than to reunite with her estranged son. After returning the face of a man who was a victim of Koh’s, she ventures to find Ursa, and returns her old face and the memories of her previous life.
Wan Shi Tong
An ancient spirit that embodies knowledge, Wan Shi Tong was first encountered in the desert by Team Avatar. He allows them to peruse his library for whatever they seek, but on the condition that they do not do so to harm another human being. However, he discovers that Aang and his friends had lied, and broken the one rule he set.
Angered, Wan Shi Tong drags his library back to the Spirit World and remains there ever since. Aang’s granddaughter, Jinora, stumbles into Wan Shi Tong’s library, and the spirit allows her to stay after offering him new knowledge. Although this spirit momentarily allies with Unalaq, Wan Shi Tong has a change of heart after Unalaq’s defeat and decides to reopen his library to visitors again.
Hei Bai
A forest spirit encountered in Team Avatar’s early adventures, the Hei Bai had been terrorising a village, kidnapping some of its villagers and dragging them back into the Spirit World with it. Later, Aang discovers that the Hei Bai had done so because it was angered that its forest had been burned down, and taken it out on the villagers.
After pacifying the Hei Bai by showing it proof that its home will grow back again, the Hei Bai’s monstrous appearance fades to reveal a panda.
Raava
The primordial spirit of peace and light, Raava is the spirit responsible for creating the Avatar Cycle. She had been locked in an eternal battle with Vaatu, the spirit of darkness, to maintain balance in the world. It’s suggested that she has existed since the beginning of time and was seen when the first humans appeared.
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Out of guilt for making Raava let go of Vaatu during their battle, Wan decides to help her. The pair begin to visit the lion turtles to obtain all four elements to battle Vaatu and, at the time, Raava could only stay in Wan’s body for brief periods. However, she fused permanently with Wan during Harmonic Convergence, which made him the first Avatar.
Although she was briefly destroyed during Korra’s fight with Vaatu, she was reborn and returned to Korra’s body to preserve the Avatar Cycle.
Vaatu
The opposite of Raava and the spirit of darkness and chaos, Vaatu nearly drowned the world in darkness during Avatar Wan’s time. But he was defeated and locked in the Tree of Time, whereupon Wan sealed off the spirit portals.
During Avatar Korra’s time, Vaatu was freed from his prison and used Unalaq as his host, which made him the first and only Dark Avatar. Vaatu is able to separate Raava from Korra and destroy her, but Raava inevitably grows inside Vaatu as one cannot exist without the other. Korra uses her spiritbending to cleanse and destroy Unalaq and Vaatu, though the dark spirit will return as the cycle renews itself.
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