Top 10 Funniest Avatar: The Last Airbender Running Gags

The Fire Nation ship that Zuko spends the majority of the first season traveling around on runs into some pretty bad luck. At the end of the second episode of Book 1, we see an avalanche trap a good chunk of the ship, but that’s just the beginning. It ends up being set on fire, struck by lightning, and having its deck ripped out, before finally being destroyed entirely. It’s kind of a miracle it even made it that far given all the damage. Although this one is pretty subtle, it’s kind of comical seeing just how many setbacks Zuko faces, meanwhile the Gaang gets by with nowhere near as many physical blows.

We see subtlety yet again with this one. Once you notice it, though, there’s no going back. “ATLA” employs this fun little gag pretty early on in the series when Bumi tells a joke that falls flat. A dry cough is heard off screen to punctuate just how bad the joke is and, ironically, it makes the whole moment funnier. The creators must have felt that way too because, from then on, that same cough can be heard whenever a bad joke is told. It’s usually accompanied by some blank stares bordering on dirty looks which never fails to be funny.

Animal companions are some of the highlights of any series – and this series has some of the greatest. Momo and Appa, especially when they’re interacting, give us some of the show’s most hilarious moments. It’s hard to deny, however, that Momo in particular is responsible for some of the goofiest shenanigans. For being such a little guy, he really knows how to get into trouble. Who could forget the time he accidentally got himself involved in the Ba Sing Se entertainment industry? Then again, most of the trouble he runs into is really just a result of following his stomach, so can we really blame him?

Admittedly, this gag didn’t really become recurring until towards the end of the series. In the fandom, Zuko’s anger had always been a bit of a punchline, along with his quest to regain his honor. And he wasn’t the only character to be the butt of jokes. Katara spoke frequently enough about the traumatic experience of losing her mom and the importance of having hope – so frequently, in fact, that other characters began to call it out. All of these character traits are made fun of in “The Ember Island Players” so, while the show didn’t necessarily play these traits for laughs, it’s safe to say it was self-aware by the end.

We hope you were keeping track of how often Sokka made art throughout the series, because the writers obviously were and some great bits came from it. His artwork in “Sokka’s Master” – you know, the one where he added a rainbow – comes to mind as a standout. But, we’ve also seen his abilities in episodes like “The Library” and “Day of the Black Sun”. The latter is a particularly hysterical instance given that Sokka manages to design working submarines with mere stick-figure-like drawings. We’re once again reminded of his talents in the finale, which brings a nice close to this running joke. At least Toph thinks they’re nice…

What is Sokka without food? In a bad mood, usually. As is common with many comedic reliefs, Sokka’s love for food is a recurring bit of humor. He’s always the first to complain that he’s hungry and the first to think of food any time the Gaang finds themselves in a sticky situation. This is yet another character quirk that gets brought up in “The Ember Island Players” and to an extreme degree. We’re pretty sure every line the fake Sokka utters has to do with food, and any sort of meat always gets a special mention.

One of the most defining characteristics of the “Avatar” universe – aside from bending, of course – are the animals. Pretty much every animal is a hybrid of some sort, which is a rather cute quirk of the cartoon world. One of the very first of these hybrid animals we see are the otter penguins Aang and Katara go sledding on. From then on, we see all different sorts of combinations, like ostrich horses and an impressively wide variety of pigs. This gag would eventually be flipped on its head in the episode “City of Walls and Secrets” when it was revealed the Earth King managed to keep a pet bear. Just… a regular ol’ bear.

Uncle Iroh’s love of tea might just be the most endearing of the running gags in this show. And, really, we think he knew what he was talking about. There’s nothing like a warm cup of tea brewed just right to bring some peace back into the soul. Between all the action, the quieter moments of Iroh making, pouring, or enjoying some tea are always very sweet, especially when he’s sharing with some welcome company. When he opens his tea shop in Book 2, it really is such a wonderful haven and, for that brief time, he and Zuko look genuinely happy.

Kudos to “ATLA” for managing to make tasteful jokes, even when it concerned sensitive topics like disability. From physical comedy to funny one-liners made by both Toph herself and others, lots of humor stems from people forgetting Toph is blind. She has to keep reminding everyone, especially when it comes to things like reading or writing, that the audience might also momentarily forget Toph can’t do. Sometimes, if the Gaang is pointing to something, Toph can be seen looking the wrong way, which is another subtle but hilariously effective bit of comedy. The jokes run rampant and, yet somehow, they never get old.

Okay, you knew this would be here. The cabbage man has been terrorized for too long not to have earned his spot on the list. We’re not sure we can ever remember anyone in the series eating cabbage and that might just be because the one vendor is constantly having his cart destroyed. This poor guy had such a devotion to his cabbages and, every time, they ended up as collateral damage. Lesser known is Foamy, the Foaming Mouth Guy and purportedly the Avatar’s biggest fan, who only makes an appearance in two episodes but who deserves a special mention all the same.