Avatar: The Last Airbender is an anime-style action cartoon taking place in an Asian-inspired world that is grievously out of balance. The industrious Fire Nation is bent on conquest, and only the Avatar can save the world. Avatar Roku is gone, so it falls to 12-year-old Aang, a prodigy Air Nomad, to make things right.
From the very start, Aang has been a likable and noble young hero, and ever since he emerged from an iceberg at the Southern Water Tribe, he had made it his mission to promote peace, harmony and prosperity to the entire world. He has a balanced and fair attitude and worldview as a hero, making him easy to assess in Dungeons & Dragons alignment terms.
The Tenets Of A Neutral Good Character
A Neutral Good character, in Dungeons & Dragons terms, is a hero who strikes a balance between Lawful and Chaotic in terms of their own actions and their views of society as a whole. A Neutral Good character is more flexible than a Lawful character but more consistent than a Chaotic one, and they borrow the best aspects of Lawful and Chaotic. In many regards, this makes Neutral Good the best alignment for a shonen-style protagonist like Aang.
A Neutral Good character is wholly dedicated to promoting peace, justice, equality and prosperity to all, and they will always confront evil and criminals to defend the innocent and uphold justice. Unlike a Lawful Good character, a Neutral Good character isn't part of a rigid hierarchy of rules and authority, while a Lawful character is dogmatic and highly reluctant to break the rules or defy tradition. Neutral Good characters still have a consistent code of honor and ethics, but they aren't quite as rule-bound as Lawful characters. Meanwhile, Neutral Good characters value personal freedoms and creativity like Chaotic characters, but they also know that excessive chaos or freedom can tear society apart and cause people to exploit and abuse one another without laws and rules to restrain them.
This means that Neutral Good characters are fairly improvisational while also having a healthy respect for authority and the law, such as kings, military leaders and even the rules of a local deity. Neutral Good characters follow and enforce the law when they can, but when pressed, they will bend or even defy the law to do good and save everyone. To a Neutral Good character, laws are important, but they must not interfere with the hero's quest to do some good in the world. Moreover, a Neutral Good character isn't afraid to openly question or break any law that doesn't make sense or is obviously oppressive or unfair. Corrupt and dogmatic laws are more trouble than they're worth, but anarchy should still be avoided. A balance must be struck.
Avatar Aang As A Neutral Good Hero
As a Neutral Good fantasy hero, Aang has moments when he respects law and tradition, and others when he openly flaunts the rules and makes up his own to save the day, no matter what kind of mess he might make. Lawful characters such as Long Feng think he's an immature brat, and Chaotic characters such as Jet think he's too stubborn and narrow-minded. However, Aang's friends would say that he is flexible, fair and balanced as a true Avatar and steward of world peace.
Aang's Good side is evident right from the start. He is fiercely devoted to protecting the peace and harmony of the world, and he is quick to confront evil and protect the innocent from harm, from the Southern Water Tribe's citizens to the people of the Fire Nation itself, like when the bloodbender Hama abused her powers to harm innocents as revenge for her tribe's fate. Aang is also a pacifist, determined to put an end to all hostilities and talk things out, whether it's a bar brawl or a full-scale battle. In Aang's eyes, violence never solves anything, and anger, revenge and hate are problems, not solutions.
Aang's Neutral side is expressed in many ways, from his most impulsive and Chaotic moments in battle to his strict adherence to tradition and his respect for authority as a Lawful person. For example, Aang didn't resist arrest when he was framed for Avatar Kyoshi's past actions, actually going to trial without complaint. He also follows Air Nomad dogma to the letter and shows great respect to national leaders, such as the Northern Water Tribe's council and Earth King Kuei.
Then again, Aang must be free like the air, and he isn't afraid to act his age, which is where his Chaotic side comes in. He follows King Bumi's advice to think in unconventional and creative ways, and he's known to impulsively run off to have fun or save people who are in danger, no matter the risk. Most notably, Aang had an outburst in Ba Sing Se, growing tired of all the rules and declaring his intent to find Appa on his own accord. Toph loved that Chaotic moment from Aang, breaking a wall in her enthusiasm. In the end, Aang will simply do whatever he must to save the world from Fire Lord Ozai's wrath, whether that involves bowing to a king or breaking every rule in the book.
