Avatar: The Last Airbender ruined one of its fan favorite characters
Nickelodeon Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender have began to point out how the Netflix’s adaptation ruined one of their favorite characters.
Netflix‘s adaptation of the hit animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender continues to be beloved by some fans despite making some major changes from the source material.
Set in a fictional world where people can bend the elements, the fate of humanity rests on the shoulder of Aang, a preteen air bender, and his two friends Katara, a water bender, and Sokka, a water tribe warrior.
While some viewers are enjoying the series, some have taken issue to some of the changes made by Netflix and one in particular has to do with fan favorite character King Bumi.
ALTAB fans are unimpressed by major change in Bumi’s character
In both the original and adaptation series, Bumi is the king of the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu and Aang’s only friend who is alive when he unfrozen from the ice after 100 years.
The Bumi fans meet in the animated series is a kooky old man who uses outlandish tricks and schemes to get Aang to realize who is. After they reconnect, Bumi becomes one of Aang’s strongest allies and a real life connection to the life that was ripped away from him.
However, the Netflix version of Bumi is completely different as he is revealed to be a bitter, insensitive person who constantly blames Aang for abandoning his role as the Avatar and “allowing” the world to plunge into a 100 year war.
Netflix’s Bumi constantly rubs salt into Aang’s wounds and reminds him that his actions costed the lives of his people the Air Nomads, who were wiped out by the Fire Nation.
Unsurprisingly, fans of the original series took great issue with Bumi’s entire personality and motivations being changed as he’s one of the OG favorites from the animated series.
“The way they RUINED Bumi was f*cking crazy…in what world would Bumi treat Aang like that???” One fan wrote on Twitter.
Another fan lamented that Netflix’s adaptation turned Bumi into a “douchebag” and expressed how much they hated the way the show seemed to misinterpet the strong relationship between Bumi and Aang.
Below are some more fan reactions surrounding the major breach in character:
While no one would expect a Netflix adaptation of a children’s show to completely stick to its source material, one aspect that really shouldn’t be changed is the essence of a character or else you could end disrespecting what that character stood for in the first place.