Even Avatars need a laugh! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the funniest recurring jokes in “Avatar: The Last Airbender”.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Welcome to MissMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the funniest recurring
00:06 jokes in Avatar The Last Airbender.
00:13 10.
00:14 Zuko's Ship
00:15 The Fire Nation ship that Zuko spends the majority of the first season travelling around
00:29 on runs into some pretty bad luck.
00:31 At the end of the second episode of Book 1, we see an avalanche trap a good chunk of the
00:36 ship, but that's just the beginning.
00:42 It ends up being set on fire, struck by lightning, and having its deck ripped out, before finally
00:47 being destroyed entirely.
00:49 It's kind of a miracle it even made it that far given all the damage.
00:52 Although this one is pretty subtle, it's kind of comical seeing just how many setbacks
00:56 Zuko faces.
00:57 Meanwhile, the "gang" gets by with nowhere near as many physical blows.
01:04 9.
01:08 The Cough
01:18 We see subtlety yet again with this one.
01:20 Once you notice it though, there's no going back.
01:23 Kettler employs this fun little gag pretty early on in the series, when Bumi tells a
01:28 joke that falls flat.
01:40 A dry cough is heard off-screen to punctuate just how bad the joke is, and ironically,
01:45 it makes the whole moment funnier.
01:48 The creators must have felt that way too, because from then on, that same cough can
01:52 be heard whenever a bad joke is told.
02:01 It's usually accompanied by some blank stares bordering on dirty looks, which never
02:07 fails to be funny.
02:09 8.
02:10 Momo Always Doing Too Much
02:13 Animal Companions are some of the highlights of any series, and this series has some of
02:17 the greatest.
02:18 Momo and Appa, especially when they're interacting, give us some of the show's most hilarious
02:24 moments.
02:30 It's hard to deny, however, that Momo in particular is responsible for some of the goofiest shenanigans.
02:37 For being such a little guy, he really knows how to get into trouble.
02:46 Who could forget the time he accidentally got himself involved in the Ba Sing Se entertainment
02:51 industry?
02:54 Then again, most of the trouble he runs into is really just a result of following his stomach.
03:03 So can we really blame him?
03:06 7.
03:07 Zuko's Anger
03:08 Admittedly, this gag didn't really become recurring until towards the end of the series.
03:15 In the fandom, Zuko's anger had always been a bit of a punchline, along with his quest
03:19 to regain his honour.
03:24 And he wasn't the only character to be the butt of jokes.
03:27 Katara spoke frequently enough about the traumatic experience of losing her mum, and the importance
03:32 of having hope, so frequently a fact that other characters began to call it out.
03:41 All of these character traits are made fun of in The Ember Island Players, so while the
03:51 show didn't necessarily play these traits for laughs, it's safe to say it was self-aware
03:56 by the end.
03:59 6.
04:01 Sokka's Art Capabilities
04:10 We hope you were keeping track of how often Sokka made art throughout the series, because
04:13 the writers obviously were, and some great bits came from it.
04:17 His artwork in Sokka's Master, you know, the one where he added a rainbow, comes to
04:22 mind as a standout.
04:32 But we've also seen his abilities in episodes like The Library and Day of the Black Sun.
04:37 The latter is a particularly hysterical instance, given that Sokka manages to design working
04:42 submarines with mere stick-like figure drawings.
04:45 We're once again reminded of his talents in the finale, which brings a nice close to
04:50 this running joke.
04:55 At least Toph thinks they're nice.
04:58 5.
04:59 Sokka and Food
05:00 What is Sokka without food?
05:05 In a bad mood, usually.
05:06 As is common with many comedic reliefs, Sokka's love for food is a recurring bit of humour.
05:12 He's always the first to complain that he's hungry, and the first to think of food any
05:15 time the gang finds themselves in a sticky situation.
05:21 This is yet another character quirk that gets brought up in The Ember Island Players, and
05:26 to an extreme degree.
05:29 We're pretty sure every line the fake Sokka utters has to do with food, and any sort of
05:36 meat always gets a special mention.
05:42 4.
05:44 Hybrid Animals
05:45 One of the most defining characteristics of the Avatar universe - aside from bending,
05:50 of course - are the animals.
05:52 Pretty much every animal is a hybrid of some sort, which is a rather cute quirk of the
05:57 cartoon world.
05:58 One of the very first of these hybrid animals we see are the otter penguins Aang and Katara
06:03 go sledding on.
06:10 From then on, we see all different sorts of combinations, like ostrich horses and an impressively
06:16 wide variety of pigs.
06:30 This gag would eventually be flipped on its head in the episode "City of Walls and Secrets",
06:35 when it was revealed the Earth King managed to keep a pet bear.
06:39 Just a regular old bear.
06:51 3.
06:57 Uncle Iroh's penchant for tea
07:10 Uncle Iroh's love of tea might just be the most endearing of the running gags in the
07:14 show.
07:15 And really, we think he knew what he was talking about.
07:18 There's nothing like a warm cup of tea brewed just right to bring some peace back into the
07:23 soul.
07:24 In all the action, the quieter moments of Iroh making, pouring or enjoying some tea
07:29 are always very sweet, especially when he's sharing with some welcome company.
07:33 When he opens his tea shop in Book 2, it really is such a wonderful haven, and for that brief
07:39 time he and Zuko look genuinely happy.
07:47 2.
07:54 Toph's blindness
07:55 Kudos to ATLA for managing to make tasteful jokes, even when it concerned sensitive topics
08:02 like disability.
08:03 From physical comedy to funny one-liners made by both Toph herself and others, lots of humour
08:09 stems from people forgetting Toph is blind.
08:15 She has to keep reminding everyone, especially when it comes to things like reading or writing,
08:19 that the audience might also momentarily forget Toph can't do.
08:28 Sometimes if the gang is pointing to something, Toph can be seen looking the wrong way, which
08:32 is another subtle but hilariously effective bit of comedy.
08:36 The jokes run rampant, and yet somehow they never get old.
09:06 1.
09:07 My cabbages!
09:08 Okay, you knew this one would be here.
09:12 The Cabbage Man has been terrorised for too long not to have earned a spot on this list.
09:17 We're not sure we can ever remember anyone in the series eating cabbage, and that might
09:21 just be because the one vendor is constantly having his cart destroyed.
09:28 This poor guy has such a devotion to his cabbages, and every time they end up as collateral damage.
09:35 Lesser known is Foamy, the Foaming Mouth Guy, and purportedly the Avatar's biggest fan,
09:46 who only makes an appearance in two episodes, but who deserves a special mention all the
09:50 same.
10:00 Which Atla running gag do you think is the funniest?
10:02 Let us know in the comments.
10:04 Do you agree with our picks?
10:09 Check out this other recent clip from MsMojo, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell
10:13 to be notified about our latest videos.
10:15 Thanks for watching!
10:22 (upbeat music)
10:25 (upbeat music)