Showing posts tagged fire nation origins
Fire Nation Origins – What does canon show us? The misconception that the Fire Nation is mainly based on Japan, and that Fire Nation Japanese elements make up the majority of the Fire Nation culture, has been around for a while. Since I get asked... View high resolution

Fire Nation Origins – What does canon show us? 

The misconception that the Fire Nation is mainly based on Japan, and that Fire Nation Japanese elements make up the majority of the Fire Nation culture, has been around for a while. Since I get asked about this topic several times a week, I have decided to make this a feature. Please note that this post is not about what you do in you fanfic or fanart, which is your own choice, but about what we see in the show.

We are going to take a closer look at the Fire Nation’s language, clothing and armor, geography, political system, architecture, food, hairstyles, names, festivals, traditions, weapons and last, but not least, real world parallels.

Geography

The landscape of the Fire Nation is composed from elements from several different regions/countries: Iceland, South East Asia, Mesoamerica and Japan.

Iceland
Ever wondered why the Fire Nation doesn’t look lush and tropical?

That’s because a lot of it is inspired by the landscape of Iceland e.g. Sokka’s waterfall is modeled on the Gullfoss (Golden Falls) Waterfall in southern Iceland, and the landscape around Hama’s village on the Herðubreið mountain in north-eastern Iceland.

Iceland was also the model for most of the Fire Nation’s volcanic landscape:

BRYAN: … I wanted to go somewhere that would serve as a model for designing the Fire Nation’s volcanic landscape. I ended up fulfilling a lifelong dream and visited Iceland … the landscape was raw, rugged, and violent, with a terrible beauty that perfectly encapsulated what I had in mind for Zuko’s turbulent homeland. I shot thousands of photos and edited them down for the background designers and painters … all these efforts helped us to give the Fire Nation a distinct geological flavor separate from every other locale we had seen in the Avatar world. (Art Book, page 132)

Thailand and South East Asia

There are a few times when the Fire Nation appears tropical. Mainly on Ember Island and the Sun Warriors’ Island.

Ember Island’s landscape and architecture, especially the beach (minus the black sand) is strongly influenced by Thailand.

Mesoamerica

While for the Sun Warrior’s island we gotta go to South America: Their jungles and mountains are mesoamerican.

Japan

The Fire Nation’s geographical shape i.e. long drawn out island chain and the volcanic nature of the islands does remind of Japan’s geographical shape.

Fire Nation Origins – What does canon show us? 

The misconception that the Fire Nation is mainly based on Japan, and that Fire Nation Japanese elements make up the majority of the Fire Nation culture, has been around for a while. Since I get asked about this topic several times a week, I have decided to make this a feature. Please note that this post is not about what you do in you fanfic or fanart, which is your own choice, but about what we see in the show.

We are going to take a closer look at the Fire Nation’s language, clothing and armor, geography, political system, architecture, food, hairstyles, names, festivals, traditions, weapons and last, but not least, real world parallels.

Armor

Note: I am not an armor expert, if I am using the wrong terminology, please let me know, I am happy to correct it.

On first glance Fire Nation armor does look influenced by Japanese Samurai armor. Said style, though, does not originate in Japan, but in China’s Tang Dynasty.

Let us compare the two styles of armor against the Fire Nation armor.

First: Features that both styles share (blue).

Both styles feature scary face masks, helmet flaps, shoulder guards, wide thigh guards and arm guards.

Now, what differs:

Fire Nation armor elements taken solely from Samurai armor (green):

Some of the soldiers wear helmets with horn-like decorations. This style element is taken from Samurai armor.

Fire Nation armor elements taken solely from Tang Dynasty armor (pink):

The high collar, the pentagonal chest armor, style of the knee-high boots, the leg armor and the triangular front armor/guard are all style elements taken from Tang armor.

Note how Tang armor, like Zuko’s armor, has the chest outline and a three piece waist/thigh guard, with a pointed/triangular-ish front. Also note how the Tang shoes feature the same upturned toe we see on Fire Nation shoes and then please compare that against the Samurai shoes on the right hand lower corner, which feature a style never seen in ATLA.

Conclusion: In direct comparison, (1 vs. 5) it becomes clear that Fire Nation armor features more elements borrowed from Tang Dynasty armor than from Samurai armor.

I am aware that the creators, at one point had planned to make the Fire Nation more Japanese, but if you take a look at what we actually see in the show, it becomes clear that they changed their mind. People do that. (See Toph and Azula NOT being boys)

Why does Tang Dynasty armor look so similar to Samurai armor:

The Tang Dynasty 618 to 907 CE is widely considered to be the most glorious, prosperous and influential time in the history of Imperial China. It’s influence stretched far and long, through trade via the Silk Road and across the ocean to Korea and Japan and can still be seen today. (See above). Many aspects of Korean and Japanese tradition -from clothes to art- originated in the fashions and style of that dynasty.

Image sources: One, two, three, four, five

Fire Nation Origins – What does canon show us? The misconception that the Fire Nation is mainly based on Japan, and that Fire Nation Japanese elements make up the majority of the Fire Nation culture, has been around for a while. Since I get asked... View high resolution

Fire Nation Origins – What does canon show us? 

The misconception that the Fire Nation is mainly based on Japan, and that Fire Nation Japanese elements make up the majority of the Fire Nation culture, has been around for a while. Since I get asked about this topic several times a week, I have decided to make this a feature. Please note that this post is not about what you do in you fanfic or fanart, which is your own choice, but about what we see in the show.

We are going to take a closer look at the Fire Nation’s language, clothing and armor, geography, political system, architecture, food, hairstyles, names, festivals, traditions, weapons and last, but not least, real world parallels.

Definition of ‘is’. I define 'is’ in the terms of “The Fire Nation is Japan” to mean more than 50%, or at least the biggest or most influential portion of all influences. If by 'is’ you mean, in the Sino-centric a:tla universe, the Fire Nation features a few references to Japan; congratulations, I agree with you.

Language

Spoken:

Let’s for the sake of this essay assume that they are not speaking English, that we are just hearing it this way.  Speaking English and writing in Chinese would be odd, to say the least.

We also have to assume that everyone in the A:TLA universe speaks the same language and that there are no distinct accents. No one ever points out an accent in the show, and Katara, Sokka, Toph and Aang pass as unnoticed in the Fire Nation, as Zuko and Uncle do in the Earth Kingdom.

Written:

Everyone in the Aang era A:TLA universe communicates in Mandarin, written in traditional characters.

No one writes in Japanese. Chinese characters and Japanese Kanji are not interchangeable. Even though Japanese Kanji originate from Chinese characters, their meaning, pronunciation and writing has changed over the centuries.

Please compare:

Official show title in Japanese: アバター 伝説の少年アン

Official show title in Chinese: 降世神通

And just so that it cannot be argued that the writing I am using as an example was not intended for Fire Nation people, the examples used are from Fire Nation citizens to/for Fire Nation citizens.

Example one: Toph’s wanted poster from season three, episode “The Runaway”:

Toph’s wanted poster is written in Chinese, not Japanese.

緝拿逃犯

當局懸賞一千金幣

緝捕十二歲女童 她

喬裝盲人個子雖小

極之危險 報訊即賞

Wanted — The Runaway.

Authorities are offering a reward of one-thousand gold coins for the arrest of this twelve year old girl. She is small and disguises herself as blind . (She is) extremely dangerous. Any information (leading to her arrest) will be rewarded.

                                                                      

Example two: Uncle’s letter to Zuko is also written in Chinese.

烈火國諸賢秘史藏於龍骨墓窟中  

The Fire Nation’s Sages secret histories are hidden in the Dragon Bone Catacombs.