Aang (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Avatar Aang is the main protagonist of the series "Avatar: the Last Airbender". When learning of his status as the Avatar, followed by the monks trying to take him from his teacher/father figure, he couldn't handle the pressure and ran away from home. Caught in a sudden storm, he defensively used his powers to seal himself in an iceberg, which protected him for a century while the other Air Nomads were exterminated by the Fire Nation in an effort to kill him. After being freed from the iceberg by siblings Katara and Sokka, he now must face his destiny by mastering all four elements and defeating Fire Lord Ozai to restore balance to the world.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) He's one of the most genuinely kind, empathetic, and gentle individuals in Nickelodeon's history.
 * 2) He possesses a deep respect for life and freedom and often reluctant to fight in his younger years.
 * 3) He is very kind and is always willing to give people a second chance.
 * 4) He is a highly charismatic, funny and entertaining character.
 * 5) His character design is great, with an ancient attire and airbending master tattoos he earned from reaching certain levels of airbending.
 * 6) He is perfectly capable of harnessing the 4 elements, and is extremely skilled at bending. He even learned how to energybend and take away someone else's elemental powers.
 * 7) In The Legend of Korra, he is portrayed as a patient, elderly and wise man who gives great advice to Korra and his son Tenzin.
 * 8) Aang has demonstrated on separate occasions to be capable of avoiding violence while stopping said violence.
 * 9) *In "The Great Divide", he stopped the feuding clans by lying.
 * 10) *Aang managed to one-up the resident bully in "The Headbands" by simply evading his punches.
 * 11) *The series finale had him defeat Ozai by taking away his bending.
 * 12) Character Development: At the start, Aang is a happy-go-lucky, naive kid who doesn't want to be the Avatar. Going through numerous battles and trials, especially when Appa was kidnapped, took a toll on his carefree attitude. By the end, Aang became a more mature young man who took his Avatar duties seriously without losing who he is or sacrificing what he wants and desires.
 * 13) He can be quite funny at times, from his facial expressions to his mistakes.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) He was very out of character in "The Great Divide"
 * 2) He can be jealous and stubborn at times.
 * 3) *In the "Love is a battleground" comic, he becomes violated in the Katara relationship by refusing a relationship with a small volcano eruption - despite the awareness of how the Katara fire flexed in the past.
 * 4) *In the episode "The Ember Island Players" he gets angered at the actor playing Katara because she is in love with Zuko. He lashes out at the real Katara and forcefully kisses her.
 * 5) He even blames Toph for Appa's capture.
 * 6) While a good character overall, he isn't as compelling or well-written as Zuko and often seems more escapist than when the need arises for him to be the Avatar at times.
 * 7) Although taking Ozai's bending away is seen as commendable, many fans often remark that it is a deus ex machina that could've furthered Aang's development.
 * 8) He was flanderized to an imperfect father which lead to his death from The Legend Of Korra when he really prefers Tenzin all over his children: Bumi (name after an earthbending elder) and Kya (name after by late Katara's mother).

Trivia

 * In the unaired pilot, Aang was voiced by Disney Channel alumni Mitchell Musso rather than the small-scale child actor, Zach Tyler.