# Firebenders VS Earthbenders VS Waterbenders VS Airbenders[Read First]



## Judas (Sep 4, 2010)

This isn't really fight just a simple question as to which Benders are superior in the Avatar-verse. Rank them in whatever order you wish.

My Honest Opinion:
1. Earthbenders
2. Firebenders
3. Waterbenders
4. Airbenders

*1.Earthbendering* comes first. The element allows them to apply the best defense against any other other element coupled with an established offense. 

*2.Firebending* come in second, due to having an offense roughly on par with Earthbenders.I also view of them being among the fastest in the series along with Airbenders, but they are lacking in terms of their defensive capabilities.


*EDIT:*
Ok then, I didn't consider people talking about the "balance of the elements", so I guess the best way to word this is which element do you prefer?


----------



## Banhammer (Sep 4, 2010)

No elemental bender is superior. It comes down to your skill with the art you use


----------



## Judas (Sep 4, 2010)

The thread is more so a personal opinion of which you think is better than the others.


----------



## Banhammer (Sep 4, 2010)

AeroBlitz1316 said:


> The thread is more so a personal opinion of which you think is better than the others.


Well, opinions aside, here's the factual answer



Banhammer said:


> No elemental bender is superior. It comes down to your skill with the art you use


----------



## Level7N00b (Sep 4, 2010)

No bending art is superior to another. They are balanced, which is a main focus of Avatar.

Earthbending is enduring and tough. Weak when your not near any earth.

Waterbending is changing and flexible. Weak when your away from large sources of water.

Firebending is powerful and unrelenting. Lack of Drive, Location, and Control = Shit Firebending.

Airbending is fluid and maneuverable. Lack of killing moves.

There are ups and downs to them all.


----------



## Glued (Sep 4, 2010)

Banhammer said:


> No elemental bender is superior. It comes down to your skill with the art you use



waterbenders can bend blood.


----------



## ForTheFun (Sep 4, 2010)

Banhammer said:


> No elemental bender is superior. It comes down to your skill with the art you use


I agree with this but if I had to choose a bending art to use, I would use fire bending. The others in order would be air, earth, then water.


----------



## Level7N00b (Sep 4, 2010)

Ben Grimm said:


> waterbenders can bend blood.



Only on a full moon, so that is an extremely limited power. And it's unknown to most Waterbenders.


----------



## Gunners (Sep 4, 2010)

They're pretty much balanced. 

I think Earth and Water have the capability of trumphing Air and fire depending on the environment, on the flip side because of their dependance on the environment they have a greater chance of being in a disadvantageous situation.



> Airbending is fluid and maneuverable. Lack of killing moves.


Air bending has lethal moves. Aang's slices were capable of cutting rocks I think. Seeing as most people can't fly blasting them into the air then letting them hit the bottom should kill them.


----------



## Narcissus (Sep 4, 2010)

Banhammer said:


> No elemental bender is superior. It comes down to your skill with the art you use



This.

No element is innately superior to the others in Avatar.


----------



## Judas (Sep 4, 2010)

Made an edit to the OP.


----------



## Weltall8000 (Sep 4, 2010)

Since this is opinion, here's how I view them (though I do more or less agree with banhammer's notion on the matter):

1 Air bending
2 Earth bending
3 Water bending
4 Fire bending

Air because it can apparently be used anywhere. Even in the water Aang could still use it, such as when he used the wind barrier down there. Air seems to be used both offensively and defensively giving it a good balance. It also has a good deal of utility for things such as mobility; enhancing running speed (as seen in the episode Aang ran really fast and got the toads for a sick Sokka and Katara), the Wind Orb with which to ride on, or flight via a glider.

Earth is next as it also has a great deal of offense, defense, and utility. However, it requires Earth material to be nearby, which is quite common, but not as much as Air. This can be problematic while in the sky or large bodies of water. It is quite varied with some cool "sub bending" categories like sand and metal bending. The Earth Armor is also a pretty awesome technique that provides both offense and defense simultaneously. And abilities like tunneling or Toph's "Earth skates" can make for traveling in style as an Earth bender.

Water bending again has quite a few offense, defense, and utility abilities, why I put it as third is because water can occasionally not be readily available. That drawback aside, it's healing abilities and freezing powers are sweet and very useful. Ice tracks, ramps, and sleds can serve for a quick mode of transportation in a pinch and when the full moon is up, the entire art is enhanced substantially, allowing very powerful bending such as blood bending.

Fire bending I place in distant fourth due to its lack of viable defensive moves and relatively low utility to the other three. While I really like the classic element of fire (I'm a fire sign!), and I like its flare, if I were given the choice of elemental bending, I'd choose it last. It can be very formidable offensively, however, other disciplines of bending have a variety of defensive maneuvers, all the while, they also have offensive applications as well. One of the pluses about it though, is that fire benders can produce their bending material with their chi.


----------



## Level7N00b (Sep 4, 2010)

Gunners said:


> Air bending has lethal moves. Aang's slices were capable of cutting rocks I think. Seeing as most people can't fly blasting them into the air then letting them hit the bottom should kill them.



Theoretically, air blades should totally be possible. However, Air Nomad philosophy forbids killing and lethal force against all life forms. Aang usually just avoids, evades, and defends.

So even with the possible killing attacks, he's forbidden to do them.


----------



## Skywalker (Sep 4, 2010)

One is not superior to another.


----------



## Banhammer (Sep 4, 2010)

Give me airbending over any others any day.
Except Toph's Souther Mantis.





AeroBlitz1316 said:


> Made an edit to the OP.



therefore removing it's purpose of being in the OBD.


----------



## Narcissus (Sep 4, 2010)

This is really a thread more for the meta dome.



> It can be very formidable offensively, however, other disciplines of bending have a variety of defensive maneuvers, all the while, they also have offensive applications as well.



Firebending actually has one of the strongest defensive moves of the elements, possibly to make up for their lack of defenses. It requires master level skill though.

Assuming we are allowed to reach master level and have knowledge of all the abilities shown in the cartoon, I'd go with either air or water bending.


----------



## Weltall8000 (Sep 4, 2010)

> Theoretically, air blades should totally be possible. However, Air Nomad philosophy forbids killing and lethal force against all life forms. Aang usually just avoids, evades, and defends.
> 
> So even with the possible killing attacks, he's forbidden to do them.



That may be their philosophy in general, though they may kill if need be (just look at the pile of Fire Nation Army corpses around monk Gyatso's skeleton). It also may be their philosophy, but that doesn't mean that the Air benders are incapable of it, they always have a choice of whether or not they want to adhere to a "no kill" policy.


----------



## cnorwood (Sep 4, 2010)

firebending and waterbending have special arts and powerups that the other two dont. bloodbending and lightning put those two at top tier, and also the full moon and sozins comet are two more powerups that put them above the other two, unless more than 1 earthbender learns metal bending it will soon be a dead art


----------



## Gunners (Sep 4, 2010)

I'd have to pick air bending it'd have the most uses in every day life and it's more discreit than the other elements. 

Fire bending is to destructive and stands out too much, I'm never around water and Earth is similar to the problem with fire.


----------



## Weltall8000 (Sep 4, 2010)

> firebending and waterbending have special arts and powerups that the other two dont. bloodbending and lightning put those two at top tier, and also the full moon and sozins comet are two more powerups that put them above the other two



One night a month and the next some 5-10 minutes every hundred years. Not really reliable powerups. Great while they're there, but very little of the time will they be in effect.

Bloodbending apparently can only be used during the full moon. Lightning requires a serene state of mind...or a sociopath, to perform it. Even then, its only real (shown) application is an offensive strike, which "normal" fire can perform the same function as anyways.


----------



## Narcissus (Sep 4, 2010)

cnorwood said:


> sozins comet



comes once every 100 years for  a day.


----------



## Judas (Sep 4, 2010)

Could a mod move this thread please?


----------



## cnorwood (Sep 4, 2010)

Weltall8000 said:


> One night a month and the next some 5-10 minutes every hundred years. Not really reliable powerups. Great while they're there, but very little of the time will they be in effect.
> 
> Bloodbending apparently can only be used during the full moon. Lightning requires a serene state of mind...or a sociopath, to perform it. Even then, its only real (shown) application is an offensive strike, which "normal" fire can perform the same function as anyways.



those are more powerups than earth or air, no matter how small. and lightning>>>>>>firebending mostly because the difficulty of defense, airbenders can swat away fire and earth and waterbenders can put up walls, a wall will break down against lightning and an airbender will be doing the last swat before his death


----------



## ForTheFun (Sep 4, 2010)

Weltall8000 said:


> Lightning requires a serene state of mind...or a sociopath, to perform it. Even then, its only real (shown) application is an offensive strike, which "normal" fire can perform the same function as anyways.


Except that a lightning blast is a one hit kill move in the Avatar verse, you either avoid it or ridirect it (and yes Aang did die but was brough back by using spirit water). And  fire while not the most versatile can still be use to form fire whips, daggers and small arrows, it can also be charge for stronger attacks, and jet propulsion can be pretty usefull.


----------



## hammer (Sep 4, 2010)

movie earthbenders


----------



## Weltall8000 (Sep 4, 2010)

> Except that a lightning blast is a one hit kill move in the Avatar verse, you either avoid it or ridirect it (and yes Aang did die but was brough back by using spirit water). And fire while not the most versatile can still be use to form fire whips, daggers and small arrows, it can also be charge for stronger attacks, and jet propulsion can be pretty usefull.



And an Earth lance, ice daggers, etc. through the chest, will also be a one shot. Pretty much like the other elemental attacks, you don't want to be hit with a clean shot from it directly.

Zuko survived the lightning blast (while Sozen's comet was up) which he didn't direct away from his heart.

That's all well and good, but it's lack of versatility in comparison to the others is why I find it less appealing than the others.

Jet propulsion is nice in a pinch, but aside from during Sozen's comet, it didn't seem as effective as some of the others mentioned.


----------



## ForTheFun (Sep 4, 2010)

@Weltall8000
Zuko still partialy redirected the lightning and still needed Katara to heal him. The other moves you mentain still need to be a total clean hit to be fatal, lightning can just hit your arm and the electricity will still just end up causing your heart to stop. All i'm trying to said is while no as versatile firebenders firepower still make up for it as is constant and furious attacks are meant to trow opponents of balance and not give them a chance to counter attack.


----------



## pikachuwei (Sep 5, 2010)

Fire ftw

FALCON PAUNCH!!!


----------



## RWB (Sep 5, 2010)

Weltall8000 said:


> One night a month and the next some 5-10 minutes every hundred years. Not really reliable powerups. Great while they're there, but very little of the time will they be in effect.



Nope. Waterbenders are stronger at regular nights, while Firebenders get stronger during the day. The buffs just aren't as great.


----------



## SunnyMoonstone (Sep 5, 2010)

I'm going with the firebender as that had kept the upper hand in a 100+ years war against 2 to all the others. The element themselves may all be able to be called equal, but the forces using them seemed not to be quite as much.

As for the others it be water, air then earth in that order I guess.


----------



## The777Man (Sep 5, 2010)

It's all about the skill you have with each technique. Still, each element has its unique advantages

1. Waterbending: Bloodbending.
2. Earthbending: Earthbenders have the terrain advantage in almost any scenario.
3. Firebending: Firebenders don't need a pre-existing source of fire to fight.
4. Airbending: Airbenders have flight advantage and can use air to propel themselves at fast speeds.


----------



## Wan (Sep 5, 2010)

On basic level I'd say earthbending.  Reliable and easy to control.  On the master level I'd say firebending- lightning, speed increase/limited flight, not dependent on the environment, and the most destructive potential, especially with comet powerup.


----------



## Weltall8000 (Sep 6, 2010)

> Nope. Waterbenders are stronger at regular nights, while Firebenders get stronger during the day. The buffs just aren't as great.



Nope. The specific buffs being discussed were the full moon and Sozen's comet, which are only in effect a minority of the time (one night out of every 30~ and 1 day every 100 years respectively).

While some of the dialogue would suggest that at night water gains power and by day fire gains power in general (Zuko's comment to Katara near the end of season 1 "you rise with the moon and I rise with the sun"). The full moon (which is what was being discussed) is a significant buff to water benders and this was a major plot point in numerous instances throughout the show (the battle against the Northern Water Tribe at the end of S1, or the bloodbending which was stated to only be usable on a night of the full moon.)




> I'm going with the firebender as that had kept the upper hand in a 100+ years war against 2 to all the others. The element themselves may all be able to be called equal, but the forces using them seemed not to be quite as much.
> 
> As for the others it be water, air then earth in that order I guess.



That wasn't so much that firebending > other bending, as much as it was the Fire Nation having a superior military. A major factor in the Fire Nation's success was simply that much of the world isn't really united. Fire Nation seems to be the one elemental tribe that is pretty consolidated.

The Air Nomads, were pretty much destroyed by the Fire Nation with Sozen's comet up, and this probably had alot to do with them fearing the Avatar intervening (As, had Aang not ran away and subsequently frozen, he'd have been a factor). But in addition to that, they had numerous temples fairly spread out.

The Earth Nation does not seem to be very united and what we actually see happening in the series is that the small, remote villages are getting roflstomped by the Fire Nation army. When they attack Earth Nation fortified cities, it is much more difficult for them. And when the cities do fall, it was generally due to Azula who is not only a powerful firebender, but is exceedingly cunning and capable of utilizing internal strife and division to her advantage.

Water Nation was pretty much lol, but again the Southern Water Tribe were basically small villages and the Northern  Water Tribe seemed to be just one fortified city, which its almost losing was in the face of a giant armada of Fire Nation ships, who had a plan to destroy their god, eliminating their ability to water bend.

The point being, so much of the success of the Fire Nation, isn't them being the best benders, it's really more about them being unified and on a mission to conquer, while the rest of the world gets overwhelmed one village at a time.


----------



## ggultra2764 (Sep 6, 2010)

If this is more of personal opinion over ranks for the Benders, here's what I believe would be the best in overall situations:

1. Airbending- The most versatile of the bending abilities. Considering air is just about everywhere in sight, an Airbender can make use of it in any environment making use of it in powerful offensive and defensive attacks to parry incoming bender attacks and knock back opponents. The benders can make use of airbending to move around quickly and float in midair giving them a great advantage in mobility. The only problem with Airbending though is that it lacks a potent finishing move thanks to the policies the Air Nomad culture have over taking lives.

2. Earthbending- Pretty much, the ground one stands on becomes your enemy when facing an Earthbender as they can use it to trigger fissures and earthquakes to make their foes lose their footing and balance on the ground. Earthbending allows for some great offensive and defensive abilities where besides triggering quakes/ fissures, rocks can be flung from the ground to be used as projectiles, use nearby rocks to either form barriers or create body armor and make use of nearby dust to create dust clouds to obscure their opponent's vision. The major issue with Earthbending is that the bender must have constant contact with the ground to make use of their bending, though benders at master levels can overcome this weakness by making use of nearby earth material they can focus on to use it against their foes.

3. Firebending- Making use of the bender's body heat allows them to use Firebending in most situations delivering powerful attacks to overwhelm their foes and at advanced levels, capable of allowing them to manipulate lightning and propel themselves through the air. However, firebending does have a number of weaknesses. Defensive abilities with firebending are limited thanks to the confrontational style of the bending as lower-level benders can be vulnerable to counterattacks and use of firebending can exhaust the bender if involved in prolonged battles. Being in cold and wet environments can greatly reduce the bender's ability to use Firebending. In addition, Firebending is reliant upon the drive and emotions of its bender. One with little drive will barely be able to produce a flame and one who lacks self-control with their emotions will lose control of their Firebending causing the flames generated to potentially injure the one who creates them.

4. Waterbending- When used, waterbending can be a versatile form of bending for both offensive and defensive purposes to deliver attacks to take out large numbers of enemies and defend against bending attacks, as well as providing one with the ability to heal. But like firebending, waterbending does have a number of weaknesses. The effectiveness of waterbending in battle depends on the amount of water one has to use in their environment as it can be easy enough for a crafty foe to place a Waterbender in an environment where they don't have much water to draw upon (the reason Waterbenders always have a pouch of water on them when in such situations). Master level benders can somewhat overcome this weakness by drawing upon moisture in the air to condense it into water and drawing out the water from plant life. However, both of these situations depend on weather conditions and the environment in which the Waterbender is in. Another problem for Waterbenders is that they are reliant on the movements of their arms to control the movement, form and power of their waterbending. If their arms are binded or their chi becomes blocked, then they are unable to control the water. The emotions of the bender can also be an issue where while one is able to increase the intensity of their bending while enraged, it comes at the cost of having no control over their attacks.


----------



## cnorwood (Sep 6, 2010)

firbending: lightning (3 users)
waterbending: blood bending (2 users)
earthbending: metal bending (1 user)
airbending: air scooter???? (1 or previously many users if aang tought them how to use it)


----------



## Level7N00b (Sep 6, 2010)

cnorwood said:


> firbending: lightning (3 users)
> waterbending: blood bending (2 users)
> earthbending: metal bending (1 user)
> airbending: air scooter???? (1 or previously many users if aang tought them how to use it)



Aang invented the Air Scooter to earn his master status, and it isn't a sub technique.


----------



## cnorwood (Sep 6, 2010)

Level7N00b said:


> Aang invented the Air Scooter to earn his master status, and it isn't a sub technique.



i know but i couldnt think of any specific sub tech for airbenders


----------



## Level7N00b (Sep 6, 2010)

cnorwood said:


> i know but i couldnt think of any specific sub tech for airbenders



Soundbending, I guess.


----------



## MarySassy (Sep 6, 2010)

hammer said:


> movie earthbenders



Need 5 people to throw a rock lol
God that movie was so horrible

Anyway in my personal opinion Firebenders have the greatest potential to kill you with one attack. Since theirs no way for you to defend against lightning unless you redirect it.


----------



## ggultra2764 (Sep 6, 2010)

Plantbending is another part of waterbending practiced by those in the Froggy Swamp by manipulating the water that flows through the plants and Earthbenders in the Si Wong Desert of the Earth Kingdom are capable of using sandbending.


----------



## Level7N00b (Sep 6, 2010)

ggultra2764 said:


> Plantbending is another part of waterbending practiced by those in the Froggy Swamp by manipulating the water that flows through the plants and Earthbenders in the Si Wong Desert of the Earth Kingdom are capable of using sandbending.



Both Waterbenders and Earthbenders can use Mudbending.


----------



## Densoro (Sep 6, 2010)

Personally, Airbending takes top for me. It'd make it so much easier to travel, and using it to speed myself up in a duel would be ace too. After that comes Waterbending, just because I like ice *shrug* Do my best to create rainstorms, beat the stupid heat in this place.

Like some of the others have said, Fire- and Earthbending are just too destructive for me.


----------



## Weltall8000 (Sep 6, 2010)

> airbending: air scooter???? (1 or previously many users if aang tought them how to use it)



Aang did teach his air bending pals how to use it. In the series it was shown that the younger monks (about Aang's age) were using the technique as Aang was giving them pointers on how to perform it better. Of course, he was way better at it then any of the others were.


----------



## Sabine (Jan 4, 2014)

You are forgetting that in the new avatar series (legend of Korra) Amon can take peoples bending away by blood bending anytime he wants not just on a full moon. (And yes, he is a waterbender)


----------



## Louis Cyphre (Jan 4, 2014)

2014: Year of necromancy


----------



## Hyperion1O1 (Jan 4, 2014)

A great start to 2014


----------



## Risyth (Jan 4, 2014)

Sabine said:


> You are forgetting that in the new avatar series (legend of Korra) Amon can take peoples bending away by blood bending anytime he wants not just on a full moon. (And yes, he is a waterbender)



Nice bump.


----------



## shade0180 (Jan 4, 2014)

Too many necromancer this year.


----------



## Xam (Jan 4, 2014)

inb4 lock
yes, i always wanted to just say that.


----------



## Toph (Jan 4, 2014)

Wow, such an old thread!

#LOCK


----------



## Darth Niggatron (Jan 4, 2014)

Necromancy is an offense in the obd, Sabine.
Desist.
Inb4ineveitablelock.


----------



## Fujita (Jan 4, 2014)

Sabine said:


> You are forgetting that in the new avatar series (legend of Korra)



> Korra airs in 2012
> Last post in this thread is from 2010

Nobody's forgetting anything 

But Korra might actually make for an interesting new spin on this. So it might have been worth it to re-make the thread if you wanted to discuss the topic further. Thread necromancy is generally frowned upon here, because... well... of what you just did. The entire discussion in this thread had nothing to do with Korra, so shoving that into the thread as a reply doesn't make much sense at all.


----------



## AngryHeretic (Jan 4, 2014)

Gonna use this thread to bump my post count before the inevitable lock.

Waterbending. Because bloodbending op.

Now let this thread die and make another one.


----------



## TheSweetFleshofDeath (Jan 4, 2014)

1. Water bending

2. Earthbending
3. Firebenders
4. Airbenders


----------

