When Avatar: The Last Airbender premiered on Nickelodeon in 2005, it was immediately clear the show was something special. With its rich world-building, complex moral themes, and anime-inspired animation, it stood out against the backdrop of other children's programming of its time. But even more than its creative ambition or layered storytelling, Avatar did something quietly radical, especially for a Western animated series made for kids. It reimagined what strength looked like, and more importantly, who got to be strong.

Twenty years later, it is easy to look back on Avatar as a technical and narrative triumph. But what truly made the series revolutionary was its portrayal of female power and not just in the presence of strong girls, but in the dominance of women as the most powerful non-Avatar characters across all four nations. In a media landscape where gender equality was still rare in children’s shows, Avatar did not just break the mold; it remade it. The question now is, has anything since lived up to that standard?

The Unmatched Power of Female Benders

Avatar: The Last Airbender Has an Amazing Message About Female Empowerment

In Avatar, each of the four nations had its own unique style of bending, be it earth, water, or fire, and air, and in every case, the most formidable master (aside from the Avatar) was a young woman. This was not a coincidence. It was a pattern and one that subverted the norms of most action-adventure stories at the time. Azula, for instance, was not just a firebending prodigy, she was terrifyingly brilliant, dangerous, and complex, outclassing nearly every male firebender in the show, including her brother Zuko. Her presence challenged assumptions about who could embody raw, destructive power in a kids' show.

Katara, likewise, grew from a determined novice into the most powerful waterbender of her time. She did not inherit greatness, instead she earned it through hard work, mentorship, and lived experience. Her final confrontation with Azula in the series finale was not only a battle of technique, but also a symbolic clash between two expressions of female strength, between controlled empathy and ruthless ambition. And unlike many series where female characters are sidelined during pivotal moments, Katara was integral to the show’s climax, solidifying her status as a narrative equal to Aang and Zuko.

Toph Beifong, of course, turned the archetype of the "delicate girl" on its head. A blind earthbender who invented metalbending, Toph was not just strong "for a girl", she was the strongest period. Her confidence, sarcasm, and independence shattered expectations, especially in a genre where male characters were often cast as the rough-and-tumble fighters. Then, in The Legend of Korra, Jinora, who was quiet, bookish, and spiritual, became the youngest airbending master, not through brute strength but through wisdom and spiritual depth. Each of these girls represented different forms of power, collectively showing that strength is not a one-size-fits-all concept.

Representation Before It Was Trendy

Avatar: The Last Airbender Was Ahead of Its Time for How It Portrayed Its Female Characters

When Avatar aired, strong female leads in Western children's programming were still more the exception than the rule. Shows like Powerpuff Girls or Kim Possible had started to push boundaries, but Avatar went beyond token representation. It did not just give girls a seat at the table, it gave them the head of the table in nearly every elemental discipline. This level of narrative commitment to female strength was virtually unprecedented in a boys-targeted action series.

Unlike many shows of its time, Avatar: The Last Airbender refused to define its girls by love interests or roles.

Unlike many shows of its time, Avatar: The Last Airbender refused to define its girls by love interests or roles. The girls in Avatar were not sidekicks; they were leaders, creators, revolutionaries. Even the show’s villains, like Azula or Mai and Ty Lee, had depth and inner conflicts that weren’t reduced to stereotypes. This complexity meant that viewers, especially young girls, could see themselves in a variety of roles, from warrior to scholar to spiritual guide.

What makes Avatar’s achievement more notable is that it predates the major wave of gender-conscious media that would follow in the 2010s. Before Frozen redefined princesses and Steven Universe made emotional complexity a centerpiece of animated storytelling, Avatar was already demonstrating that girl power could coexist with rich, emotionally intelligent storytelling. Its impact was not just in who it represented, it was how it did so, giving its girls real agency, narrative weight, and inner worlds.

Has Animation Caught Up Since?

Have Kids Anime and Animated Series Started to do Female Representation Well?

Two decades later, it is fair to ask if kids' media has learned from Avatar: The Last Airbender. The answer is sort of. In the wake of Avatar’s success, Western animation began to embrace more female-led narratives. Series like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, The Dragon Prince, and How to Train Your Dragon have built on that legacy, giving girls center stage as both main and side characters in adventurous, complex plots. These shows push boundaries in both gender and queer representation, and they owe a creative debt to the trail Avatar blazed.

Too often, strong girls in modern media still fall into narrow molds like the spunky tomboy, the stoic warrior, or the misunderstood rebel. What Avatar did was show a spectrum of femininity.

That said, the degree to which female strength is portrayed with variety, as it was in Avatar, is still not universally consistent. Too often, strong girls in modern media still fall into narrow molds like the spunky tomboy, the stoic warrior, or the misunderstood rebel. What Avatar did was show a spectrum of femininity, from Toph’s brash confidence to Jinora’s quiet insight, without demeaning one form over another. That kind of balance remains rare, even now.

Anime has been more hit-or-miss. While certain series like My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer feature capable female characters, they often still play second fiddle to their male counterparts. Exceptions like Yona of the Dawn or Sailor Moon highlight that the medium can tell complex stories centered on female strength, but these remain outliers. In contrast, Avatar integrated its female characters not as exceptions, but as part of the fundamental world order. That’s the bar it set, and many shows have yet to reach it.

Why Avatar: The Last Airbender Still Matters

Avatar: The Last Airbender is Still a Very Relevant and Important Series Today

Avatar: The Last Airbender did not just break new ground; it planted seeds. It proved that strong female characters could be central, multifaceted, and beloved in a mainstream action series without sacrificing quality, depth, or commercial appeal. It inspired a generation of young viewers, especially girls, to see themselves as capable of greatness, in all its different forms. And it did so without ever making a big speech about it; it simply showed us what was possible.

Twenty years later, its legacy endures not just because of nostalgia, but because few shows, animated or otherwise, have replicated its quiet, revolutionary choice to make women the pillars of its world. In doing so, Avatar: The Last Airbender did not just give viewiers a new kind of story; it redefined who gets to shape the story in the first place.