this variant of a:tla is 'darker' in that it is influenced heavily by how dark our history can be , a:tla already covers topics such as war , class , death , and so much more think of this 'verse' as revealing the ugly sides of the war no one decided to mention in the animated 'textbook' version of events.
below the cut you will find a list of some of the atrocities committed by the fire nation over the past 100 years. current or modern ( within the past 25 years ) events are marked with *
cw. do not read under the cut if the following will be considered triggering: historical events to include the shino-japanese war , imperial japan , war crimes , prison labor , eugenics , the vietnam war , torture , the trail of tears , human experimentation , political extremism , also contains mentions but not descriptions of: rape , murder , starvation
* prison labor ( visualized in the animated series , expanded ), a vast network of labor camps of political & other "large scale" prisoners, where prisoners were often worked to death under extreme conditions, prison systems were separated by benders & non-benders, and specialized against benders whenever feasiable
* eugenics ( lightning bending specialization, vaugely hinted at in the series , expanded ) the fire nation royal family , over it's past uninterrupted ( indefinite ) rule has systematically curated their bloodline to contain the most powerful firebenders in the fire nation along with the other noble houses of the fire nation. this was done through carefully choosing strategic and powerful marriage matches between families, with occasional male and female concubines being introduced for "heirs" if those individuals possessed extraordinary firebending abilities.
the southern decent ( historial influence: the bataan death march & the trail of tears ) during the southern water tribe raids , the raids had begun as naval battles at sea and escalated over time. as the fire nation destroyed 3 of the 4 prominent cities in the south , many relocated to the nuteral jasmine island but those that didn't had to fight in technologically outmatched naval warfare. as the fire nation's grip spread across the southern water tribe there were strongholds they took for themselves which resulted in the forcible transfer of many southern water tribe residents from their homelands to wolf cove. due to this being done in the middle of the antartic winter , the movement resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocents.
the desecration of taku ( historical influence: the rape of nanking & my lai massacre ) early in the 100 year war , taku was one of the first cities to fall to the fire nation. it did not only fall, the city was pillaged, and destroyed , murdered & raped. the event took place immedieatly after the retreat of the earth kingdom army from the city , and the evidence was covered up by the fire nation's decision to burn the remainder of the city to ashes where possible. what remained was horrifying , but due to the hold the fire nation had on the world little would come out about the incident for years. the event is the largest confirmed massacre of innocents by firenation forces in the last century.
air nomad traps ( adapted fan theory ) during the initial days of the 100 year war, sozin's forces set up fake camps to pose as refugee outposts and aid stations. these areas were decorated with air nomad relics and insignia to lure out unsuspecting surviving airbenders. as they slowly gained the trust of the hired actors the fire nation would then come in & execute the survivors seeking refuge.
* advanced torture methods ( visualized in animated series , expanded ) massive fires in enclosed spaces ( think - an air temple ) consume all available oxygen to feed the fire , the fire nation did not just burn the air nomads alive but suffocated them with their own element. this was a method that was used primarily with the air nomads, lost for a few decades but was brought back once ozai took power, and implemented as a method of torture. in similar context, the dry cells that were developed for the water tribe are not just meant to keep them dry but dehydrated, the material actively absorbs the water out of the skin and increases evaporation into the air leaving the waterbenders in a state of near death dehydration.
* the scorched earth policy ( vizualized in animated series , expanded ) the pacification of the kingdoms around them was partially a means for gaining resources for the volcanic island kingdom. locals are required to pay tribute to the fire nation , those that do not comply find their farm or shops up in flames.
the dark cloud ( historical influence : chemical warfare ) the war felt endless , and while they had begun with an advantage the overtaking of the world was not a clean endeavor - any advantage was required - at any cost , according to the fire lord , the creation of the dark cloud was an example of that a weaponized version of volcancic ash , used to poison the air and water in enemy strongholds making the earth and air toxic and uninhabitable. this practice was later outlawed.
* the dragonsbreath files ( historical influence : napalm & unit 731 ) excellence through experimentation , experimentation as dictated by divinity. experiments performed by the fire nation army on it's own soldiers and prisoners of war to develop "better" or more deadly variants of firebending ( think combustion man ). one of the most notable advances here included the introduction of siphon bending , which consisted of soldiers carrying canisters of pressurized flammable material ( oils , petrolum , etc. ) concept was: as the canister explodes they are able to ignite it , giving them control over the shape and projection. the goal was to create a fire that could not be easily extinguished by water bending due to the assistant chemical agent. water bending prisoners were forced to attempt to "bend away" a napalm-fire, only to find the gel is hydrophobic (water-repellent), leading to a slow and agonizing failure
* there is no god but the firelord ( visualised in animated series , expanded + historical influence : hitler youth ) disloyalty is not tollerated within the firenation , the royal family has not withstood an eternity without a broken bloodline by being understanding of the differences in opinions with others. no. rather they are the only true and moral path avaiable to their people , and the people of the fire nation would do well to remember it. any questioning of the royal house resulted in the individual's disappearance , never to be seen again. though this trend became less and less common over the years as sozin's school ciriclum became implemented throughout the country , what outsiders see as cult training and indoctrination, the fire nation sees as progress and order. the ciriclum involves the dehumanization of their enemies , weapons and fire bending training , and first aid skills.