While fictional fantasy series transport viewers to impossible worlds full of magic and mysticism, they also tend to look an awful lot like medieval Europe. The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Witcher and many of the most famous fantasy films and TV series explicitly pull from Western folklore and mythology, meaning that even worlds that are designed to stretch the bounds of our imagination are Eurocentric at their core.
And then there’s the fiercely beloved animated Nickelodeon series from 2005. not to be confused with James Cameron’s film series, depicts an epic power struggle between four nations who channel the elements of water, fire, air, and earth, respectively, in was an American production, its creators forged a distinctly Asian world, with influences from monastic Tibet, Thai kingdoms, and Japanese villages, as well as Arctic Indigenous communities.
