The Mechanist is everyone’s second favorite war criminal in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Uncle Iroh is our first, of course.
While I am still traumatized by the M. Night Shyamalan live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, these newly released stills are giving me more hope than the actor who played Katara on Ember Island. We’re not quite out of the woods yet—after all, the original creators of the series parted ways with the Netflix production due to creative differences. It’s not exactly a great sign, but considering Netflix’s relative success with the live-action One Piece series, we can raise our hopes slightly.
One of the major character reveals from this newly released batch of photos is the Mechanist. But who the hell is this unnamed character? Is it the skinny guy that Christian Bale played in that creepy movie? Answers below.
Who is the Mechanist in The Last Airbender?
So remember how the Fire Nation wiped out all of the Air Nomads from the temples across the world? Going by the old adage “trust but verify,” Aang—the last airbender—wanted to make sure that his people were really gone. He and Team Avatar traveled to the Northern Air temple, and there discovered that a new group of people were calling the temple home. After being displaced by a flood, a group of Earth Kingdom refugees settled in the ruins of the Northern Air Temple. One of these refugees was the eccentric inventor known as the Mechanist, whose wife was killed by the flood, and his son rendered unable to walk. Inspired by the remnants of Air Nomad culture, the Mechanist rebuilt and mass produced the gliders that Air Nomads used to fly. He eventually built a wheelchair that doubled as a glider for his son, giving his child the ability to fly in place of walking.
The Mechanist is a genius. The man invented a new system of telling time using explosive candles. He also invented a “safer” knife sharpener that only cost him three of his fingers in the process. The man also rocks patchwork eyebrows, which were nearly blow off after he accidentally brought a lit candle to the natural gas reserves below the temple. While everyone is charmed and impressed by the Mechanist’s inventions (especially Sokka) Avatar Aang is mistrustful. After all, the Mechanist destroyed and polluted some of the Northern Air Temple’s most ancient and sacred sites to make way for his inventions.
It turns out that Aang’s mistrust was warranted. The peaceful Northern Air temple was too good to be true. In exchange for being left alone, the Fire Nation blackmailed the Mechanist into creating weapons for the Fire Nation. Ever wondered how the Fire Nation got those cool flippy tanks made of steel? The Mechanist is how. What about that big-ass drill that the Fire Nation used to penetrate the “impenetrable city” of Ba Sing Se? That was inspired by the Mechanist’s designs too. What about those massive war balloons that Fire Lord Ozai used to scorch the Earth during the arrival of Sozin’s Comet? Yep. The Mechanist.
Well … sort of.
After Avatar Aang found out the Mechanist’s ugly secret, he confronted the inventor and demanded that he make the situation right. In order to redeem himself in the eyes of Team Avatar and his son, the Mechanist used his brilliant mind to come up with a plan to rid Northern Air Temple of the Fire Nation influence for good. The Mechanist and Sokka put their eggheads together and created a revolutionary invention: the war balloon. Using the new invention, Team Avatar and the refugees were able to successfully repel a Fire Nation assault. The bad news is … the war balloon was shot down in the battle and recovered by Fire Nation inventors, who reverse-engineered the balloon and created their own.
Who is playing the Mechanist in the upcoming series?
The Mechanist will be played by Danny Pudi, whose breakout role was Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom Community. It’s a flawless casting choice. The Mechanist is eccentric, charming, and funny. If Danny Pudi’s performance on Community is any indication, he’s perfect for the role.
(featured image: Netflix)
