Avatar: The Last Airbender

Avatar: The Last Airbender (also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang in several countries) is an American animated television series that currently airs on the Nickelodeon television network. Set in an Asian-influenced world of martial arts and elemental magic, the series follows the adventures of the successor to a long line of Avatars, Aang, and his friends in their quest to save the world from the ruthless Fire Nation. The series is written in the form of a book series, with each episode serving as a "chapter" and each individual season as a "book." Originally slated to begin airing November of 2004, Avatar: The Last Airbender debuted on TV on February 21, 2005. Avatar: The Last Airbender is co-created/produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California. It is animated in South Korea. The first episode of Avatar was created six years following its original conception, a period much longer than the norm for animated shows. While it was originally set to premier in November of 2004, the first episode of Avatar aired in February 2005. Following the conclusion of the first season of Avatar, Nickelodeon promptly ordered a second twenty-episode season that premiered on March 17, 2006, and concluded on December 1. A third season will begin airing in September 2007.
Avatar: The Last Airbender takes place in a fantasy world, home to humans, fantastic animals, and supernatural spirits. Human civilization is divided into four nations, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Air Nomads, and the Fire Nation. Within each nation, an order of men and women called "Benders" have the ability to manipulate their native element. These Bending arts combine a certain style of martial arts and elemental mysticism. The Bending types are Waterbending, Earthbending, Firebending, and Airbending.
In each generation, one person is capable of bending all four elements; this is the Avatar, the spirit of the planet manifested in human form. When the Avatar dies, he or she is reincarnated into an unborn baby native in the next nation in the Avatar Cycle, which parallels the seasons: winter for water, spring for earth, summer for fire, and autumn for air. While legend holds that the Avatar must master the elements in order, starting with their native element, this can sometimes be compromised when the situation requires it. Learning to bend the element opposite one's native element is extremely difficult because opposing Bending arts are based on opposing fighting styles and doctrines.
The Avatar possesses a unique power that resides within him or her, called the Avatar State. It is a defense mechanism that empowers the Avatar with the skills and knowledge of all the past Avatars. When the Avatar enters this state, his or her eyes and mouth begin to glow. The glow is the combination of all the Avatar's previous incarnations focusing their energy through his or her body. However, if the Avatar is killed in the Avatar State, then the reincarnation cycle will be broken, and the Avatar will cease to exist. Through the ages, countless incarnations of the Avatar have served to keep the four nations in harmony and maintain world order. The Avatar also serves as the bridge between the physical world and the Spirit World, home of the world's disembodied spirits.
(From Wikipedia, free encyclopedia)