The Last Airbender’s Creatives Came Up With Two Character Designs Just Before Their Pitch Meeting

How do you create an iconic character? Sometimes, it happens in just a few minutes, right before a big pitch meeting.

At least, that’s what worked for “Avatar: The Last Airbender” co-creator Bryan Konietzko in the lead-up to selling Nickelodeon on the now-beloved animated fantasy series in the early 2000s.

After working on the cult-hit sci-fi series “Invader Zim” at the network, Konietzko was given the opportunity to pitch a show to Nickelodeon executives. Nick, which brought in Konietzko’s longtime friend and collaborator Michael Dante DiMartino along the way, was specifically interested in a fantasy series that had action but very little real violence — a concept that ultimately gave way to the premise of elemental bending that underpins the world of “Avatar.”

The idea of starting the series in a South Pole-inspired location ultimately gave rise to the concept of the Four Nations, but Katara and Sokka weren’t formed as specific characters until a little later on. “I remember sketching Sokka and Katara on the back of a sheet of paper a mere hour before the pitch meeting,” Konietzko said in a 2007 interview with Animation World Network. “Of course, their designs have evolved since then, but you would recognize them from those first drawings.”

The show’s early stages are detailed in official supplementary texts like “Avatar: The Last Airbender — The Art of the Animated Series,” which explain just how quickly the show’s co-creators went from a broad request from Nick (fantasy, young or non-human characters, nonviolent but adventurous) to the specific pitch of an elemental fantasy world inspired by martial arts, Asian cultures, imperial history, and Hayao Miyazaki.

All told, the concept came together in just two weeks. The original pilot for the show has most of the core concepts in place that made their way into the final product, though some details are still different. For instance, it seems that Aang’s staff in the pilot has a different design from the one he uses until “Avatar” Season 3.

Today, the world of “Avatar” has expanded far beyond its original pitch, with sequel series “The Legend of Korra” and a series of novels and comics paving the way for major new animated projects on the horizon. 

Though the new animated projects from Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino’s Avatar Studios have faced some delays, the days are approaching when fans will finally be able to see them for themselves. The first of these, a theatrical animated film following the original series’ cast as adults titled “The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender,” is currently set to premiere on October 9, 2026. The film will feature new voices behind the fan-favorite characters, with a cast including the likes of Jessica Matten, Dave Bautista, and Steven Yeun. 

Additionally, a third animated series — “Avatar: Seven Havens,” set after “The Legend of Korra” — is also on the way. And, of course, there’s Netflix’s live-action “Avatar” adaptation, which wrapped production on Season 2 in May 2025 and began shooting the third and final season soon after.