10 Of The Strongest Benders To Ever Exist (That Aren't The Avatar)
Image Source: Screen Rant
Everyone knows the Avatar is the strongest bender there is in the ATLA universe, simply because they can control all four elements. But they aren’t the only benders there are, and they’ve also struggled against other benders when not in the Avatar State. So it leads one to wonder: who are the strongest benders to exist beside the Avatar? Let’s take a look!
10. The Beifong Girls
Image Source: CBR
It kind of goes without saying that the children of the strongest bender ever should be on this list. Suyin and Lin Beifong are both masters of metalbending, having learned from the pioneer. Suyin managed to take out P’Li, and she is the leader of the Zaofu, a city full of metalbenders she has trained. Lin Beifong was the commander of the Republic City police, and an absolute acrobat with the cables. Both women took on Kuvira, being of middle age, as well as P’Li and the Red Lotus. Despite their differences, when they work together, they’re a force of power to rival many on this list.
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9. Gyatso
Image Source: CBR
Gyatso may seem like an odd choice, since we don’t see him in action much, but he makes this list because of his actions during the Airbender Genocide. In the original cartoon, Aang finds Gyatso’s skeleton in a room, surrounded by the dead bodies of firebenders. There are numerous theories as to what happened, but all of them surround Gyatso absolutely clowning the firebenders before succumbing to their attacks. Some range from removing all the air from the room to him just being an absolute badass. This was seemingly confirmed when the live-action adaptation showed him defending a room of children against Sozin and his firebenders. What makes this even more intense is that he did all of this against firebenders boosted by the power of Sozin’s Comet.
8. Ming-Hua
Image Source: Ranker
Ming-Hua, the waterbender of the Red Lotus gang, is on this list for a reason similar to Toph. Like Toph, she is disabled, and in this instance, she does not have any arms. Water bending is usually characterized by flowing arm movements, similar to water, and to be without arms, one might assume it is a disadvantage for a waterbender. Ming-Hua, instead, was powerful enough to make her own arms using water, all while fighting powerful benders like Kya. Not to mention in that fight she easily goes into octopus form. Her command of water is formidable, and one of the only people who could have given Katara a run for money.
7. P’Li
Image Source: Comicvine
We were introduced to combustionbending with Sparky Sparky Boom Man in the original show, and then P’Li was introduced. She’s a powerful combustionbender who was able to actually direct her explosions, unlike SSBM. That ability alone marked her higher than SSBM, simply because she didn’t need line of sight to be a threat like he did. The destructive power of her bending, combined with her ability to direct her blasts, earns her the spot she has on this list.
6. Iroh
Image Source: Polygon
Iroh was called the Dragon of the West for a reason, and that was on full display in the Sozin’s Comet episode of the final season, when he used the power of Sozin’s comet to absolutely demolish a section of Ba Sing Se’s walls in a single blast. Where Iroh’s true power comes from is his ability to look beyond the borders of the nations and pick up bending forms from other nations, and the fact that he’s reserved. Iroh resembles Toph in many respects. Instead of attacking, as is characteristic of firebenders, he instead waits and listens.
5. Zuko
Image Source: EW
Zuko spent much of the original show trying to get out of Azula’s shadow, and once he and Aang went to the dragons and discovered a new source of his fire, he became arguably stronger than his father and uncle. He only lost against Azula when he sacrificed himself for Katara, otherwise, he was able to outdo her. Let’s not forget his ability to redirect lightning, a move he learned from his uncle, who picked it up from waterbenders. Zuko’s penchant, like his uncle, to learn from others, including other bending nations, with his passionate fire, make him one of the strongest benders there are.
4. Azula
Image Source: BlackGirlNerds
Azula’s ranking on this list comes from her intensity and skill. Throughout the original series, we watched her avoid death by using her feet as rockets, or the fact that she and her father are the only two firebenders we saw, that can make lightning from nothing. Perhaps one of the most important reasons she’s on this list is because of the shade of her firebending. Azula, like her name, bends fire on the blue end of the spectrum. Blue is hotter, more intense, and it fits her personality. The intensity of hatred inside Azula fuels her blue flame. She also took down Aang in the Avatar state. She’s no lightweight.
3. Katara
Image Source: Comics Beat
Katara earned her spot on this list through sheer grit and tenacity. She took on Azula, overpowered the bloodbending lady Hama, held her own against Master Pakku, and moved entire Fire Nation battleships. Katara also became the world’s greatest healer. You could see how powerful she is on Zuko’s face when they confronted the retired captain from the Southern Raiders, when she stops the rain. She struggled at the start, frustrated by her lack of power, but when she found her courage and power, she became the strongest waterbender in the world.
2. Tenzin
Image Source: CBR
He’s the son of Katara and Aang, so that seems almost unfair, but the deciding factor for why Tenzin deserves to be number two comes from the battle he had against the Red Lotus, and he’s also one of the only airbending masters we’ve met. He’s taken on numerous of the Korra show’s villains, such as holding his own against Amon’s mech army in season one, members of the Red Lotus, and dark spirits. Tenzin is quite simply a badass.
benders to exist beside the Avatar? Let’s take a look!
1. Toph
Image Source: ONE eSports
Let’s face it, Toph at number 1 was the most obvious answer. There are several factors that contribute to why Toph is the single strongest bender we’ve met that wasn’t an Avatar. For one, she’s 12 years old in the original show, and still manages to do some incredibly powerful earthbending. Now let’s add on the fact that she is a person with blindness. She’s a pre-teen girl, who can’t see, and manages to absolutely rock (no pun intended) everyone she fights. Toph uses her rerouted neurons to enhance her sense of touch and sound, which is how she sees, with the aid of earthbending. Oh, and I almost forgot, she single-handedly developed the bending form of metalbending. Toph is a force to be reckoned with. Plus, she’s sassy.
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Source(s): Fandom
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