7 Most Powerful Sub-Elements In 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' and 'The Legend of Korra'
The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender is home to a host of powerful benders. The Air Nomads guide the air around them to glide and jump. The Water Tribes can control the ebb and flow of the water that surrounds them. The Earth Kingdom stands strong and shapes the land at their feet. The Fire Nation is filled with passion and ambition that comes to life in flames. However, there are also more powerful sub-skills among each element.
7. Healing
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Healing is a sub-skill available to waterbenders. At first glance, it doesn’t seem very powerful, but it gives waterbenders and their companions the chance to live and fight another day. At times, a second chance can completely turn the tides of war. In the Kyoshi novels, one healer found a way to manipulate the blood in a person’s body to keep them alive in a frozen state until they can get more help. Perhaps, that is how Aang survived in the iceberg for 100 years.
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6. Flight
While most airbenders can use gliders to propel themselves through the air, only two airbenders have achieved actual flight. Guru Laghima and Zaheer both managed to let go of their earthly tethers and achieve true flight. This method of transportation allows them to dodge many enemy attacks or even fly up out of reach. As long as their bending skills have merit, a flying airbender would be almost unstoppable.
5. Spirit
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In The Legend of Korra, Unalaq teaches Korra how to use her waterbending to calm spirits. Past Avatars had no choice but to strike deals with the spirits or appease them in some other way. Korra is the first Avatar to have some element of control over the Spirit World, and she ends up bringing both worlds together in an incredible way.
4. Lava
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Some earthbenders discover they have a skill that seems closer to firebending or waterbending. These powerful earthbenders can guide the flow of lava by diverting its destruction or raising a wall of lava to act as a dam. This can result in immense destruction like leveling mountains and splitting continents, to say nothing of its offensive capabilities in a regular fight. A powerful enough lavabender could even create islands.
3. Metal
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In the original series, Toph is thrown into a metal cage to prevent her from earthbending, but she uses her seismic senses to feel out the tiniest fragments of earth in the metal. This allows her to break free of the cage and expands her sense of sight. Toph invented this technique during a time of war when the Fire Nation was relying heavily on metal instruments. If she had discovered this power just a few episodes earlier, she could have single-handedly stopped the drill and destroyed much of the Fire Nation’s warships.
2. Lightning
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Some firebenders achieve a balance between their minds and spirits that lets them generate lightning. Instant electrocution is a KO in any fight. Azula almost destroyed the Avatar cycle when she hit Aang with a blast of lightning. Some firebenders have learned a less powerful form of lightingbending that lets them redirect the flow of lightning and release it safely. In The Legend Of Korra, lightningbending is more common, and lightningbenders are used as a source of electricity to power up the city.
1. Blood
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Bloodbending is perhaps the most powerful sub-skill. A waterbender with this skill can turn any living thing into a puppet. One single waterbender managed to haunt the Fire Nation with bloodbending for decades. In the sequel series, Amon finds a way to use bloodbending to take away people’s bending, and Korra can only restore it after learning energybending from Aang. Bloodbending is truly a terrifying force to be reckoned with.
Bending is a powerful art, even at the most basic level. These sub-skills all have the potential to make the world a terrifying place. However, many of them can be used for good. Even bloodbending has a healing component to it. As the creators dive deeper into the Four Nations with the upcoming films, more sub-bending arts may be discovered.
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Source(s): Collider, Avatar Factor