If you love Avatar: The Last Airbender, you’re probably a big fan of Appa the sky bison! But how much do you know about the other pets and creatures of the Avatar world? We’ve put together 15 fun facts all about the weird and wonderful animals that make up Avatar: The Last Airbender! Find out which one is named after a real pet, the symbolism of dragon colours, and which real-world country has a Druk on its flag! And if you liked this, check out more TV show facts here! How about these 15 Avatar facts? Or perhaps you’re up for these Anime fun facts? And we know you’re bound to love this Naruto battle quiz! And you can check out loads more anime facts right here!

1. Bosco is Named After a Pet Dog

Bosco the bear is the only non-hybrid animal in the Avatar world, but did you know he’s named after a real life pet? Bosco’s name comes from show writer Lisa Yang – her dog has the same name!

2. And He Lives Much Longer Than Real Bears

Although he’s not a hybrid, Bosco is quite different from normal bears in a few ways, including his life span – in the show, he outlives his human owner King Kuei, whereas in the wild, bears only tend to live about 25 years.

3. Momo Was Meant to be a Robot

Momo started out quite differently from the flying lemur he became. In original early drafts of the show, Momo was meant to be a robot monkey who had been built 1,000 years ago by a lost civilisation! What do you think? Do you prefer the real Momo?

4. And He Was Originally Meant to Be a Re-Incarnation

As well as being a robot, Momo was also meant to have a bigger role – he was supposed to be the reincarnation of Monk Gyatso. He was also meant to have similar markings to Aang and Appa. For whatever reason, it never came about, but we think we like Momo as he is!

5. Appa Was Originally Going to be Smaller and Dog Like

In the show, Appa is a giant sky bison that Aang and friends can ride. Originally, however, he was intended to be much smaller and more similar to a dog. He’s actually supposed to be part manatee as well – can you spot the manatee traits?

6. And He’s a Homage to Studio Ghibli

The Avatar creators are big Studio Ghibli fans and wanted to pay homage to its films. Appa is partly inspired by My Neighbour Totoro – he has six legs, just like the film’s giant furry catbus!

7. And Mula Also Hints at Studio Ghibli

Mula the cat-deer also draws inspiration from Studio Ghibli. He bears a strong resemblance to the elk Yakul from the film Princess Mononoke, and serves a similar role as companion to the protagonist Mononoke.

8. Druk Was Inspired by Bhutan Mythology

Druk the dragon was inspired by legends and stories from the country of Bhutan. Legends tell of a dragon called the Druk who was a ‘thunder dragon’ – a Druk also features on the Bhutanese flag! In fact, one of the names for Bhutan translates as ‘Thunder dragon kingdom!’

9. He is One of Only Three Dragons Left

In the world of Avatar, there are only three dragons left – Druk, Ran and Shaw. Ran and Shaw, who were red and blue, respectively, represented the conflict between positive and negative in the universe, similar to the real life Buddhist symbol of yin and yang.

10. Pabu Nearly Got Eaten

Pabu the mischievous ferret was originally destined for the cooking pot! When we first meet Pabu, Mr Feng the pet show owner is intended to feed him to a snake! Luckily, Pabu escaped, found Bolin and the rest is history!

11. Flopsie Is The Only Tame Goat-Gorilla

Flopsie the goat-gorilla (yup you read that correctly) is the only known tame one of his kind in the Avatar universe. Despite looking a bit scary, Flopsie loves nothing more than having his tummy rubbed!

12. Fang’s Colour is Significant

Fang the dragon was a fiery red colour, which was more significant than you might think – as with Ren and Shaw, Fang’s red colour was symbolic of the positive forces in the universe. Sozin’s unnamed dragon, who was blue, represented the negative.

13. Almost All Avatar Animals Are Real World Hybrids

When creating the world of Avatar, the showmakers decided they wanted to do something different with the animals – rather than just copy ones from the real world, they came up with dozens of hybrid animal mixes to inhabit Aangs universe. These included the arctic hippo, a koala-otter and owl wolves!

14. And They Are Native to Different Parts of The World

Each of the animals in the Avatar universe belong to a different district, just like the people. So air bison are, unsurprisingly, native to the air region, whilst the turtleducks belong to the fire nation! Don’t ask us why…

15. Flying Bison Are the Inspiration For the Airbender Tattoos

You’ll notice that Ang and his bison Appa have the same arrow markings on their heads. This is because the Airbender tattoo is inspired by the bison markings! In fact, the bison inspired air bending! Thanks, bison!