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(#1) Avatar Actually Takes Place on a Different, Smaller Planet
It isn't hard to realize that the geography of Avatar is vastly different than our own, but what if that was intentional? This theory suggests that the entirety of Avatar: The Last Airbender actually takes place on another, smaller planet. It would explain how everything is so close together and it would mean significantly less gravity.
Presumably, less gravity would explain how the characters can jump so high and maneuver in the air so gracefully. A smaller planet might also somehow explain how there are huge animals, like lion turtles, roaming around.
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(#2) Momo Is an Incarnation of Aye-Aye, the Lemur Spirit
When the first Avatar, Wan, started his adventure, the very first spirit he came across was Aye-Aye, a lemur spirit. At first, Aye-Aye was wary of humans, thinking they were nothing but savages who wanted to eat all the animals and destroy his home. Over time, Wan and Aye-Aye learned to trust each other and became good friends.
This theory posits that everyone's favorite Lemur, Momo, is actually Aye-Aye reincarnated. It would explain Momo's above-average intelligence and his fierce loyalty to the Avatar.
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(#3) The Last Airbender and Korra are Metaphors for WW2 and the Cold War
When you look at WWII and the The Last Airbender, it's not hard to see the parallels between the two. In the war, a Germany fueled by nationalism began conquering all of Europe in an effort to show their superiority. In the show, the Fire Nation started a conflict for a similar reason and even wiped out an entire race of people. The Nazis were defeated by three large superpowers - the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union - a tidy parallel to the Water, Air, and Earth kingdoms.
It's a well-known and completely plausible theory that The Last Airbender was an allegory for WWII, but not much discussion happens around the idea that Korra was actually a reference for the Cold War. In the end of the first season, Amon was basically a communist who wanted to make everyone equal, while he considered himself superior. It's similar to what happened with Joseph Stalin and the rise of communism at the beginning of the Cold War.
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(#4) Azula is Left-Handed, a True Sign of Evil
One eagle-eyed viewer was such a big fan of Princess Azula that they started noticing something odd. While watching the show, this theorist realized that Azula is probably left-handed. A majority of her lightning strikes come from her left hand, and when she finally breaks down in the last episode, she throws her hairbrush with her left hand at the mirror.
It's a minor theory, but it reinforces the entire "Azula is a prodigy" angle that dominated her storyline. It also proves that the show was focused even on the tiniest details, which is what helped make it so perfect.
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(#5) Lin is the Illegitimate Child of Toph and Sokka
Google Toph and Sokka and you'll see all the fan art dedicated to pairing these two together romantically. For some reason, it is a theory that will never stop and Legend of Korra did nothing to quell the speculation. In the sequel series, we find out that Lin and her sister are actually only half-sisters with different dads, and we never find out who Lin's actual father is.
Toph says her dad was some random person, but why even have them be half-siblings in the first place if the identity of the father wasn't important? People speculate that Suki perished in a battle sometime in the future and Toph was there to... comfort Soka. This led to the birth of Lin.
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(#6) The Horrible Live Action Movie is Actually an Adaptation of the Ember Island Players Play
Almost any fan of the cartoon will call The Last Airbender live-action movie a complete abomination. It completely bungled every important aspect of the show and it's a point of contention amongst fans to this day. Hopefully, this theory can at least make the whole ordeal manageable.
What if the horrible M. Night Shyamalan movie wasn't an adaption of the cartoon but rather an adaptation of the satirical Ember Island Players play the characters watched near the end of the series? It would explain how the movie got so many details wrong and solidify Shyamalan not as the guy who ruined any chance to see the cartoon adapted faithfully but as the master of twists who trolled us all.
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(#7) Katara Was Supposed to be the Next Avatar
This theory is all about pondering what would have happened if Aang wasn't frozen in ice for a hundred years. If, for some reason, he didn't run away and he managed to stop the Fire Nation from taking over the world, then he would have lived a long, extended life. When he passed, the next Avatar would have come from the Water Tribe.
Given the timeline of things, this theorist is convinced that if everything progressed naturally, Katara would have become the Avatar after Aang. Who knows if that's true, but it's hard to doubt that Katara would have made a fantastic Avatar.
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(#8) The Royal Fire Family Practiced Incest
For those of you wondering why the Royal Fire Family seemed to be all-powerful with their bending, the true answer might be a little more Lannister-y to admit on a children's cartoon.
This theory suggests that the reason the Royal Fire Family kept producing powerful Firebenders was because they practiced incest with one another. It's certainly not hard to believe that Emperor Azul and Emperor Ozai would be so obsessed with keeping their bloodline pure and powerful that they decided to "keep it in the family," so to speak.
They would have done it to protect their firebending genes and preserve their legacy.
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(#9) The Series Takes Places After The Apocalypse
According to this theory, the events of The Last Airbender take place after some horrific apocalyptic event destroyed everything. Those who believe this theory point to the time gap between Avatar Wan and Avatar Aang as proof.
Wan was said to be the first Avatar and he lived 10,000 years before Aang, but not much has changed in civilization in that time. Humankind should have made significant improvements in technology during the time period, but this theory states that something bad happened that prevented humans from evolving properly. Whatever happened horribly disfigured all of the animals in the process.
The theory cites the huge difference between Aang and Korra as further proof that something apocalyptic happened. Korra lives in an advanced technological age only set 70 years after Aang, so why did nothing change in almost 10,000 years between Wan and Aang?
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(#10) Zaheer Was Actually Aang's Son
For those of you who were upset that Zaheer escaped from prison and was immediately a fantastic airbender, this might be the theory for you. Instead of the show just randomly making Zaheer uber-powerful, this theorist suggests that Zaheer was actually Aang's son.
This theorist was convinced that Zaheer did something to upset Aang, and Aang responded by taking his bending away. It would explain why Aang and Tenzin's relationship was so strained and it would also explain how Zaheer knew so much about Air Temple Island and its culture.
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(#11) Amon Was Ty Lee's Son
When Amon was revealed to be using an advanced form of chi-blocking to take away people's bending abilities, people were quick to make comparisons to Avatar's original chi-blocker, Ty Lee. The theory that started to make its way around the internet was that Amon was actually Ty Lee's son and was continuing his mom's mission of putting everyone on an even playing field.
The evidence people point to is that Suki was there when Aang explained how he took the Firelord's ability away, and right afterwards, Ty Lee joined the Kyoshi Warriors. It was believed that Ty Lee got the information from Suki, then set out to rid the world of bending once and for all.
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(#12) Varrick is a Reincarnation of Sokka
In the Legend of Korra, we didn't get to see much of everyone's favorite boomerang wielder Sokka. Katara, Toph, and Zuko were still alive, but it was made clear that Sokka had passed earlier in the timeline. Proving it's incredibly hard to let go, this theory suggests that Sokka didn't actually perish but was reincarnated into the character Varrick.
The theorist points to the fact that both Sokka and Varrick are bright young men from the Southern Water Tribe with over-the-top personalities, wacky senses of humor, great talent for strategy and leadership, and humongous egos. It's hard to believe this theory for sure. If only Varrick had accidently stumbled upon Sokka's lost space sword.
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(#13) Vaatu's Real Plan Was to Make Jinora the Anti-Avatar
Many people agree that the plot surrounding Korra in Season 2 is convoluted and confusing. Everything with Vaatu, Raava, and Unalaq just didn't come together like it should have, but what if that was intentional? This theory attempts to make sense of the confusing narrative by suggesting that Vaatu had a secret evil plan all along.
His goal was actually to turn Jinora into an evil Anti-Avatar and use her to defeat Korra. It's not what ended up happening, but it's hard to deny that would have been a better conclusion to a messy season.
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(#14) Pokemon is Just Avatar Hundreds of Years in the Future
According to this theory, the world of Avatar and the world of Pokémon are one in the same, just set hundreds of years apart. Apparently, at some point in the future, the spirits decided that humanity wasn't worthy of bending and stripped them of their powers, leaving only the original benders, like the badger moles and the dragons, behind.
To compensate, humanity started capturing these original benders and making them fight each other. This eventually evolved into the Pokemon world we know and love today.
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