The Air Nomads is a collective term for a nation of people who practice the discipline of Airbending. One of the series' four major nations, the Air Nomads were wanderers by definition, but had four Air Temples, one at each corner of the globe, hidden away atop mountain ranges in the northern Earth Kingdom and on three remote islands. The Air Nomads were home to a monastic order of men and women who practiced Airbending. Unlike the other Nations, the people of the Air Nomads were, without any seen exception, all benders due to the high level of spirituality of their people.
The Air Nomads are the most mysterious of all the benders because of their disappearance 100 years ago. They were a peaceful race that was wiped out by the Fire Nation. The Air Nomads lived in large temples and traveled the world on flying bison. They were the most spiritual of all the cultures and lived in harmony with nature. They also were fun-loving and had a strong sense of humor. Aang is the only known living Air Nomad.
The Air Nomads were the smallest of the four nations in the world. Its economy, such as it was entirely based on limited agriculture. Population of the Air Nomads was small compared to even the Water Tribe, and was far smaller than either of the world's two major powers, the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. However, they were the only nation completely composed of benders, as all Air Nomads were capable of Airbending.
A century before the time of the series, the Air Nomads were the victims of genocide at the hands of the Fire Nation. Ironically, the sole known survivor of the massacre was the very person the Fire Nation sought to kill in its quest for supremacy: the twelve-year-old Airbender and Avatar, Aang, who had run away from the Southern Air Temple shortly before the war began and became trapped in suspended animation in a globe of ice along with his lifetime friend, Appa. He has since been awakened and has succeeded in his quest to restore balance and peace to the warring nations.
The Air Nomads wear yellow, orange, and brown clothing. Aang and other young Airbenders wear orange shawls over long-sleeved yellow shirts, an orange sash, double-layered pants with brown underneath and a loose yellow layer on top, and high boots that reach just below the knees. Older monks wear long robes in shades of yellow and orange. Most Air Nomads have gray or brown eyes and a light complexion.
Young boys to be trained as monks have shaven heads, while monk elders grow beards and mustaches. They had the longest and most prominent facial hair of any nation. Female Airbenders do not fully shave their heads, just their foreheads so their arrow is visible. It has been shown that when not shaven, Air Nomads have black or brown hair.
Airbenders who have attained a level of mastery in the art are marked with arrow tattoos, based on the arrows of the Sky Bison, the first Airbenders. For male Airbenders, a primary arrow tattoo is placed on their shaven head that extends down their back, along with four others, one on each limb that terminates in an arrowhead at the hands or feet. For the women, it is unknown whether their arrows continue under their hair.
According to the series' creators, these arrows mark the paths through which chi travels through the body. Because of this, when an Airbender Avatar tattooed in this fashion enters the Avatar State, these tattoos are known to glow, along with the Avatar's eyes and mouth. If the body has received an injury deeper than the tattoo then that spot will not glow in the state, but it is not known if re-tattooing the area (once the injury has healed) would enable it to glow again.
The Air Nomad insignia is a stylized, swirling orb. Within the circle, coiling lines illustrate the wind. The symbol can be seen on the design of doors and surfaces in the Air Temples, as well as on pendants of monks' prayer beads.
The Air Nomad flag is a banner held between two wooden poles. The center of the banner is emblazoned with the Air Nomad insignia.
The Air Nomads were situated on remote mountains in large temples. There were four temples in all, one for each direction on the compass. Two were for and run by males and two were for and run by females. The young boys of the Southern Air Temple were known to travel to the Eastern Air Temple in order to choose their very own personal sky bison. This was considered an important choice as the intelligent animals would be with the choosing Airbenders for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, Aang's bison, Appa, is the only known surviving sky bison
While other nations possess royalty and are run by monarchies, the Air Nomads are led by the senior monks of the Air Temples. Many hints suggest that the Air Nomads are based on Chinese Shaolin monks and Tibetan culture due to their peaceful nature, monk-ruled society, and geographical isolation due to elevation.
Air Nomads at the Eastern Air Temple. Aang is the small boy located at the near bottom left of the picture.
The Air Nomads are the only nation comprised entirely of benders, due to the highly spiritual nature of their lives. Meditation was an important part of the Airbenders' daily routines, as it helped them to focus their energies and understand the potency of their element.
It has been mentioned that they have a good sense of humor, a fact shown when Monk Gyatso employed a unique teaching method when tutoring Aang with his Airbending skills — accurately blowing fruit pies onto other monks' heads. Useful training and a fun game combined.
The arrow tattoos adorning an Air Nomad's body signifies that he or she has mastered Airbending. This is an emulation of the natural arrows on the heads of Flying Bison revered by the Air Nomads who can naturally Airbend and are the original teachers of the art, much like the Badgermole is to the Earthbenders. As seen in the episode "The Storm," aspiring Airbenders have no tattoos. In order to receive the tattoos as well as the title of a master, an Airbender must pass the thirty-six levels of Airbending along with engendering a new technique. In actuality, Aang had only reached the thirty-fifth level before he left the Jongmu Temple, but his invention of the Air Scooter earned him the tattoos prematurely, making him the youngest Airbending master in history.
Also, in the episode "The Serpent's Pass" Aang told the gang that the Monks told him that hope was only a distraction.
Each nation of the Four Nations is influenced by their own distinct, dominant season, in which their bending is at its peak. Autumn is the dominant season of the Air Nomad race. Airbenders are thus at their strongest in this season. More Air Nomad children were born during autumn than any other season, all retaining bending abilities.
As could be determined, air is the main and most significant power source and natural resource of the Nomads, as without it they would be rendered powerless. Luckily, air is everywhere, so depriving Air Nomads of their power source is quite a feat. With the power of air channeled under their control, the Airbenders could defend and protect their homes and way of life (before the Fire Nation launched its attack). It also made traveling much easier, since they could ride on their sky bison, or glide with the air currents using their gliders. The Air Nomads were peaceful vegetarians who believed that all life was precious and ate mostly fruits and vegetables. They do not seem to mind, however, eating eggs and dairy products seeing how Aang was willing to eat an Egg Custard Tart in The Great Divide. They were also known to make sweets, such as pies. According to "The Southern Air Temple" with "Avatar Extras" bonus commentary, one of the commentary bubbles confirmed that the Air Nomads did indeed sell their pies for money, a reasonable one silver piece each, and all the money made from that was given to charity. The Air Nomads were a tranquil race of people endeavoring to preserve the environment around them. Any industry that they engendered, such as farming and gardening, were powered naturally. They also produced their own food.
Contrary to the propaganda spread in the Fire Nation, the Air Nomads did not have an army, or any form of military, as Air Nomads believed in peace and non-violence. This, coupled with the then passing Sozin's Comet, is likely why they were defeated by Fire Lord Sozin when he invaded the Air Temples at the beginning of the war. Also, as a side note, the Fire Nation refers to them as the Air Nation (or at least the teacher from "The Headband" does). This may be to make Fire Nation people think they were more organized and threatening.
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