The Spirit World has been a constant source of mystery in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbenderand The Legend of Korra. Full of zones and confusing mysticism, all who enter from the real world must facean internal lessonin this mystic world. Still, it is the Avatarwho must balance both worlds and the Spirit World has been a common source of conflict, particularly during the events of The Legend of Korra.
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With many characters entering through certain ways and even living there eternally later on, the Spirit World is full of questions. While nothing is ever clearly explained, here are ten things you may not have known about the Spirit World.
While many can see the spirits when they are rampaging through a town, there are many instances when some can only see spirits because of their connection to the Spirit World. In The Search comic, Aang spotted a wolf spirit running below him, but was the only one who could see the creature at that moment. InAvatar: The Last Airbender episode "Winter Solstice," Iroh saw Aang, Roku, and Fang fly over him as spirits. This only affirms that unless spirits are attacking, only a select few can see them otherwise.
9 Spirits Can Pull People In
Spirits can cross over, but humans need a portal of some sort to physically enter the Spirit World. The prime example is when the Ocean Spirit and Aang combined and captured Admiral Zhao. At the time, his fatewas unclear and manythought he had simply died.
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However, in The Legend of Korra episode "Darkness Falls," he is revealed to be alive in the Spirit World. Driven to insanity in the Fog of Lost Souls, Zhao had been there for at least 70 years. Another example is when Koh the Face Stealer took the face of Avatar Kuruk's wife. While it seems as though only strong spirits can do this, the mystery remains.
8 Spirits Can Be Corrupted
Spirits generally only become their agitated attack forms when humans do something wrong. The Panda Spirit, Hei Bai, only became his form during the Winter Solstice to punish the villagers he thought had damaged the forest. In The Legend of Korra, the mere presence of Vaatu or violence was shown to corrupt spirits as well. The episode "Beginnings" revealed that the growing strength of Vaatu and conflict could turn even friendly spirits like the Aye-Aye Spirit. Later as the Harmonic Convergence came closer, Vaatu's corrupting influence became stronger leading Korra to fight evil spirits in the Southern Water Tribe. In addition, Unalaq has also used bending to cause imbalance in Spirits, turning them. As he says, there are no good or bad spirits, but when unbalanced, the darkness takes over.
7 Spiritbending Exists
Just as bending exists for the elements and energy, so does it exist for spirits. Taught to Korra by Unalaq, Spiritbending involves a form of pacification of spirits through a use of healing bending. The Spiritbending technique itself is a twist on the Waterbending healing techniques, and is similar to Energybending. In this, the bender is trying to take over the Spirit's current instability or stability and shift the balance. While Korra has only used this technique to bring balance back to Spirits, Unalaq has knowingly used it to corrupt spirits.
6 PeopleCan Live In The Spirit World
Long before the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Uncle Iroh lost his son Lu Ten during the siege of Ba Sing Se. Decimated by this, the Dragon of the West sought closure in the Spirit World. While this pain was somewhat eased, it was clear that the pain was still quite strong.
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However, it opened Iroh to the Spirit World and when Korra went to save Jinora, shesaw Iroh having a tea party with Spirits. Here it is revealed that instead of dying, Iroh entered the Spirit World as a sort of rapture. Having his own tea shop in the Spirit World, Iroh helped Korra with his legendary wisdom in the touching cameo.
5 People Can Retreat To The Spirit World
In the past, Avatars have had opponents that used the Spirit World to lay low and heal. In this, the concept is similar to the Phantom Zone in Superman where enemies are locked for eternity, but remain immortal while doing so. In the Korra video games, Hundun had retreated into the Spirit World when the Avatar of his time had killed his conjoined twin. The former King of the World, he used his Chaos Attack to amass wealth and strength. However, when the Avatar defeated him, he ran off to the Spirit World and was exiled for a thousand years. It was only upon Korra's decision to keep the portals open, that the exiled villain escaped.
4 Spirits Can Affect Nature And Bending
Spirits are often pushed into violence by the greed and damage people do to nature. During the Winter Solstice, Hei Bei attacked a village. But the greatest power that spirits have are their abilities to affect nature and bending. The best example of this is in the Siege of the North in Avatar: The Last Airbender. When Admiral Zhao stabs the Moon Spirit, he essentially removed the source of Waterbending power. In this, a direct source of bending change occurred. While other spirits did not affect bending like that, the spirit vines could affect nature and even go far as to trap people and drag their souls to the Spirit World.
3 Portals Exist And The Avatar Can Make Them Too
While certain people can send their spiritual forms into the Spirit World, most generally enter the Spirit World through portals. The two best known portals exist in the North and South Poles, but even areas in the Forgetful Valley and the Foggy Swamp have a great attachment to the Spirit World.
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During the battle with Kuvira, Korra used Energybending to deflect a spirit vine cannon blast, and ended up accidentally tearing a portal open. Even Wang Shi Tong created the Library which could go back and forth between realms.
2 The Avatar Can Energybend As A Spirit
When crossing over, physical entry can allow all forms of bending, but as a spirit, most bending cannot be used. The only exception to this is for the Avatar,who can Energybend as a spirit. Energybending's source comes from its spirit, and the spirit world gives great energy as the Avatar is connected to the spirits best while there. When Korra's spirit went to rescue those captured by the spirit vines, she saw the capsule they were all contained in. With Raava's coaching, Korra managed to Energybend by entering the Avatar State and opening the capsule.
1 The Spirits AreAffected By The Planets And Sun
The Solstice and Harmonic Convergence are just a few examples of when the Spirit World is actively changed by the celestial entities. While the world of Avatar has often been affected by comets and eclipses, the Spirit World has generally thrived on its own without any interference. Still, when the magic of the cosmos comes closer to the world, much of the Spirit World is affected in change. The epic duel between Raava and Vaatu occurs during the Harmonic Convergence, and when Aang first met Avatar Roku, it was during the Winter Solstice as both worlds are closest during either solstice and used the magic of the sun to briefly appear instead of Aang as a warning to the Fire Sages.
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