The Immortalization of Great Leaders

While the concept of magical, god-crafted armor isn’t new in the Greco-Roman society, Aeneas’ shield and the images on it represent the past and future of Rome to inspire pride in the citizens who would read Virgil’s writings. In Avatar: The Last Airbender, the four nations would have similar shields, but each would celebrate their individual culture and past.

Aeneas’ shield, magically wrought by the god Vulcan at the request of his mother, Thetis, was “prophetically wrought” (Virgil 131) to show the future of Italy and Aeneas’ descendents. In an epic Augustus commissioned to boost Roman unity and further establish his place in Roman history, this retelling of their history, beginning with its founding and ending at Caesar, establishes him as one of the divinely appointed rulers of Rome. To begin this narrative, the first scene Virgil depicts is the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, along with their adopted mother, Lupa. Each of the scenes that follow illustrates one of the wars that the Romans would fight in the time between the founding of Rome and the time that Virgil wrote in. “Close by he put Rome, and the Sabine women,” and the war fought between their peoples and the truce reached. Virgil continues telling the tales of the glories of Rome, as proven in battle, until he reaches Caesar Augustus and the sign given to show his right to rule- the same flames licking his temples as Aeneas’ son back in Troy, as well as the falling star at his father’s funeral. Julius Caesar, described as standing with “all the great gods,” (Virgil 132), is the final, and most thoroughly depicted, great leader of Rome. In this fierce battle against Antony and his Egyptian wife, Julius Caesar clearly has the favor of the gods, namely Neptune, Minerva, Venus, Mars, Bellona, Apollo, Vulcan, Apulia- nearly the entire pantheon. If Julius Caesar had the right to rule given to him by the gods, then Augustus’ rightful ascension to the throne is cemented.

While the four nations in Avatar: The Last Airbender are not united, there is one figure that combines all four into one- the Avatar. Born to a different nation with each reincarnation, in a fixed cycle, the Avatar is the only person alive who can bend all four elements- water, earth, fire, and air. As such, each Avatar is highly respected and brings unity to the four nations that cannot be maintained without the Avatar. As such, each nation would have their nation’s most recent incarnation of the Avatar on their shields, with depictions of their deeds celebrating their glory.


Before the Avatar the show centers on, Aang of the Air Nomads, the Avatar was Avatar Roku of the Fire Nation. The first thing on the Fire Nation’s shields would be his dragon, Fang, a representation of firebending, as the first firebenders learned from the dragons. The second would be the headpiece worn by the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Given as a parting gift from his best friend before leaving to begin his training, Roku wore the headpiece his whole life as a symbol of where he began his journey. As part of his training, he used the winter solstice sun to increase his powers, but because he was still young, he accidentally caused a volcano to erupt. His death was caused by twin volcano eruptions, but this time he did not cause the eruptions, but instead used his abilities to protect the people from the destruction, saving many lives but losing his own. Thus the last main image on shields in the Fire Nation would be him saving others from the volcanos, a symbol of his journey to master all four elements. 


Before Avatar Roku was Avatar Kyoshi of the Earth Kingdom. The symbols she became known for were her twin fans, left to her by her mother. One of her main achievements, defeating the uprising known as the Yellow Necks or Autumn Blooms, would also be depicted on Earth Kingdom shields. The final image would be the formation of Kyoshi Island, separated from the rest of the Earth Kingdom mainland to protect them from Chin the Conqueror using a mixture of earth-, air- and fire-bending.



Avatar Kuruk preceded Avatar Kyoshi in the cycle, coming from the Northern Water Tribe. His short life was filled with picking fights, hunting, playing Pai Sho, and losing his fiancee to a spirit entity. Each of these would be depicted on Water Tribe shields, because while his life was short, he was still the Avatar. 





Avatar Yangchen, a peaceful Air Nomad, brought peace to the world as the Avatar before Avatar Kuruk. She convinced the General Old Iron spirit to make a truce with humans to prevent him executing his wrath on the people. Not many details are known about her other than her dedication to peace and her legacy of wise political decisions that brought peace to the world for an entire generation after her death.


Just as Aeneas’ shield represented the leaders of the Roman empire, to honor their memory and their contribution to the history of Rome, the four nations in Avatar: The Last Airbender would represent their greatest leaders, the Avatars on their shields.