Avatar: How Does Aang Know Bumi?

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. This article will be dedicated to the relationship between Aang, the series’ protagonist, and Bumi, one of his closest allies. In this article, we are going to explain the nature of their relationship, as well as how the two of them actually met in the series, and how they became such close allies.

Bumi is a very interesting character from the Avatar: The Last Airbender series

Bumi is the ruler of the city of Omashu and one of Aang’s friends. He is approximately 112 years old, which does not prevent him from being one of the most powerful Earthbenders alive. Despite his age, he still has the same humor as 100 years ago, when he played with Aang in the Omashu postal system (more on that below). When Bumi was still young, he was Aang’s best friend.

He had a habit of opening his mind to new possibilities; for example, he turned the Omashu Delivery System into the “World’s Largest Slide.” This caused Aang to call him a “mad genius.” During Aang’s time in suspended animation, Bumi became “the ruler of Omashu,” the city where he lived. When Aang returns to Katara and Sokka to show them the makeshift slide, they cause a lot of trouble using it, so they are brought before the king of the city to be judged; this king turns out to be Bumi, who recognizes Aang and has him reveal himself as the avatar.

The first time he sees his old friend, he gives him three tests to prove it. Still hiding his identity from him, he forces Aang to perform several tests to save Sokka and Katara’s lives from dying; it is revealed that Bumi never intended to kill them in the first place. In his second appearance, he is trapped by the Fire Nation. Despite being able to escape, he tells Aang that he does not really want to escape. After this, Aang realizes that he will have to look for another Earthbender to teach him these skills.

In the final episode, Bumi reappears alongside Iroh and other elder masters and is revealed to be a member of The Order of the White Lotus, later helping the recovery of the Earth Kingdom through his Earthbending skills. He also reveals how he escaped from his captivity during the Day of Black Sun; when it is revealed that he was able to use his Earthbending abilities even inside a metal cage, he supports the theory that Bumi is capable of Metalbending.

The story of Aang’s and Bumi’s friendship

The story of how Aang and Bumi met is a story with a century-old beginning. Literally. Namely, Bumi and Aang were friends in the original timeline, i.e., before Aang was frozen for a century. While it might seem odd that the two of them are meeting once again in the present timeline, Bumi is, indeed, a supercentenarian and is the only known living person from that time, aside from Aang, of course.

The funny thing is that Bumi does look like a century-old mad geezer, while Aang still looks like a 12-year-old child due to the ice-stopping time and aging for him completely (you can read more about that in our separate article).

The two of them met a long time ago, and Aang actually remembered how a young Bumi taught him how to use Omashu’s intricate mail delivery system as a slide, with the two of them having a lot of fun. And that friendship has endured the test of time and has been active for more than a century. And that is, more or less, how the two of them met and how their story evolved. Aang was a bit disappointed that Bumi could not be his Earthbending teacher in the present timeline, but he understood Bumi’s position and to show that he did not hold a grudge, he would later name his first son after Bumi, which was a sign of respect on the highest level.

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