Avatar: Here’s How Appa Reproduces (& the Origins of Sky Bisons) – Explained!

Avatar: Here's How Appa Reproduces (& the Origins of Flying Bisons) - Explained!

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Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the popular Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series is finally here, and we on Fiction Horizon are going to be covering the series, explaining all the changes from the original animated series, as well as some crucial story elements that you might be wondering about, even if they’re not directly related to the live-action Season 1. This article will be dedicated to Appa, Aang’s flying bison, as we are going to reveal some details about his species. In this article, you are going to find out how flying bison reproduce and what their origins actually are. So, if you’re interested, be sure to keep reading.

  • Article Breakdown:
  • Flying Bison or Sky Bison are endangered animals from the world of Avatar. They resemble a large yak and are able to fly using Airbending; they are considered to be the first Airbenders by the Air Nomads.
  • Although the Air Nomad Genocide seemingly wiped out all the Sky Bison save for Appa, a herd was discovered later in the series. Sadly, no detailed information about it has been provided in the series.
  • Although the series never revealed how the Sky Bison came to be or how they reproduce, since they are animals, it can be assumed that they reproduce like regular animals.

The biology of the flying bison is interesting

Appa is a flying bison, born in the Eastern Air Temple. He is by far the most famous member of his species and is one of the primary characters in the whole series. This is why many fans want to know more about him and the flying bison, which is what actually inspired us to write this article, in which we are going to provide you with more details on the biology of the flying bison.

The Flying Bison look like large, oversized yaks, although they have somewhat different fur, as well as a flat tail, and the shape of their heads is different. They have five stomachs and are notorious eaters, although they can go several days without eating or drinking since their metabolism is slow, and food takes time to be processed. They can go on one large meal for days, but they have to stay hydrated regularly, which is why they always drink large amounts of water. Fluid is more important to them than actual food.

And while we know a lot about their eating habits, their anatomy, as well as their powers and abilities, we sadly have no clue about how they reproduce. We know that Appa was supposedly the last surviving Flying Bison after the Air Nomad Genocide, but at one point, suddenly, a whole new herd was introduced to the story. Most fans think that this is one of the original series’ more notorious plotholes, but while we can explain it with domestication (which is a bit of a stretch, but it could work), we cannot really explain how there are so many of them.

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The series never really revealed how the Flying Bison reproduced and after the genocide, it was thought that they were on the verge of extinction. The new herd caused some confusion, but based on what happened there and the fact that we know that Flying Bison are animals like any other, we can assume that they reproduce like every other animal. Had there been something special, we assume that the authors would have revealed something in some of the spin-off works at least, if not in the main series.

Explaining the origin of the flying bison

And this actually brings us to the question of the origin of the Sky Bison. Namely, we don’t really know how they came to be, but following the logic of our previous solution, we assume that evolution simply did its job here. At one point, a long time ago, the Flying Bison were probably regular bison but they somehow managed to learn Airbending and thus became Flying Bison. They also seem to have bred with the manatee, but this was never explained in detail.

This has never been explained but since the authors did not provide us with any special or specific explanation about the issue at hand, we can conclude that this is the only one that makes some sense at least. Anything else would be a complete fabrication, as the series provided no facts about this so we won’t be speculating here. Evolution is a thing in Avatar as well, and knowing what we know, it makes sense as an explanation and that is why we think that evolution is as good of an answer as any other.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!

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