About

Aang Locks In, also known as Avatar Locks In, refers to a clip from the 2012 animated series The Legend of Korra in which the character Aang breaks free of a villain's control and enters the Avatar state, promptly defeating him. In late March 2024, the clip achieved virality in memes as a video and GIF caption format, most commonly being used as a part of the When You Gotta Lock In trend. The format is an offshoot of the Uragami Locks In meme format.

Origin

On June 9th, 2012, episode nine "Out of the Past" of Book One: Air of The Legend of Korra animated series premiered.^[1] In the episode, the character Aang engages in a fight with criminal bloodbender Yakone, who subdues him with his power to control blood. Aang enters his Avatar state, breaking free of Yakone's hold and promptly defeats him, removing his bending ability. On March 24th, 2021, the official YouTube channel for Avatar: The Last Airbender series uploaded the scene, which accumulated over 3.8 million views in three years (shown below).

On March 10th, 2024, YouTube^[2] user ArdaGhazi posted an edit of the video, titled "Avatar Aang had to lock in 🥶🥶🥶," pairing it with the slowed + reverb version of "Heartburn" by Tenseoh, previously used with the similar Uragami Locks In meme. The video (shown below) received over 8,000 views in two weeks.

On March 15th, 2024, X^[3] user @aangdaily posted a clip from the scene, commenting, "Bro remembered he’s the Avatar 💀." The post (shown below) received over 8,500 reposts and 117,000 likes in 10 days.

Bro remembered he’s the Avatar 💀 pic.twitter.com/Qk2z8x1wAA

— daily aang (@aangdaily) March 15, 2024

Spread

On March 15th and 16th, 2024, X^[4][5][6] users @GildedData, @PlayersXProtags and @StretchisBored all posted edits in which the clip was paired with the slowed + reverb version of "Heartburn," with videos garnering over 2,200 reposts and 16,000 likes, 2,900 reposts and 20,000 likes and 10,000 reposts and 69,000 likes, respectively, in 10 days. The later version achieved particular virality as it was used in caption memes in the following days (shown below).

Ask and ye shall receive https://t.co/hUILybAQx9 pic.twitter.com/cgjWYeipEA

— StretchisBored (@StretchisBored) March 16, 2024

In the following weeks, various caption memes based on the edit were posted on X and TikTok. For example, on March 21st, 2024, X^[7] user @JohnnySpittin posted a Jujutsu Kaisen meme that received over 1,200 reposts and 17,000 likes in four days (shown below).

Gege when Sukuna is about to lose a fight so he gotta lock in and off screen the other character pic.twitter.com/EvkaFBNGS9

— Johnny (@JohnnySpittin) March 21, 2024

Related Memes

Uragami Locks In

Uragami Locks In refers to a clip from the 2014 anime series Parasyte in which the character Uragami notices something in protagonist Shinichi Izumi, changing from a relaxed state into a serious, intense expression. In late November 2023, the clip achieved popularity in memes as a video and GIF caption format.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References