Bending, Avatar and all that

[Endoperez]

There's a cool map inspired by the Western Air Temple over in the modding subforum, but we got a bit distracted by starting to talk about the bending power levels and such. So... look! our own thread!


So, to start up this discussion...



If an airbender wanted to kill someone, how would he or she do it?

Here is my thought:

He can't rip the air from someone's lungs. I don't like the visual image, so I ignore the possibility.
So, instead, he will have to use the normal bending arts. If the enemy is attacking an Air Temple the answer is easy enough - just push him over the edge and let the fall kill him. Powerful benders might be able to do something to slow down their fall and survive, though.
But if he can't be pushed over, the airbender has to do something else. I'm imagining it like this - he's moving around, dodging until there's an opening, and then he goes in, and slashes, and there's blood and bleeding.

[+] Images

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For some reason, I just like the idea of violent airbenders using weapons.

[Jacktheawesome]

Keep in mind that airbenders possess many of the offensive powers of earthbenders in that they can sling loose rocks and other debris.

[adwuga]

Yeah, a powerful airbender pretty much has a machine gun, but since few could actually do that, I think it would be pretty hard to kill someone. There is a reason they are peaceful monks. If they really needed to, I'm sure they could do a flying kick powerful enough to knock someone out, then the airbender would just have to beat the poor sucker to death.

[Endoperez]

What? Airbenders are earthbenders?

I could see it being the other way around (sandbenders). I could see airbenders being compared to waterbenders, since they can use a blast of air to redirect enemy attacks, kind of, sometimes.

But airbending being able to do attacks similar to earthbending? The only thing I can think of is the coal cannon thingy in Imprisoned (the episode with the floating metal prison for earthbenders), and that was a distraction, not an attack.

[Jacktheawesome]

No, airbenders are not earthbenders. For instance, they cannot directly interact with rocks in the ways that earthbenders can. They can, however, use air currents to direct rocks. An episode that comes to mind is in Blind Bandit, when Aang beats Toph in the arena by pretending to earthbend.
As adwuga said, though, there's a reason they're peaceful monks.

[adwuga]

Also in TLOK, in the arena, that waterbender was using water to throw the rocks kicked up by the earthbender. I can't imagine it would be too different for an airbender, though it would probably be much weaker. An airbender with a blowgun would be pretty fucking scary though. A regular human can shoot a dart extremely fast(all the power of our lungs channeled through a small pipe, trust me, I have a blowgun, and I could kill someone with it) so imagine the power of an airbender. It would be like getting shot with this.

[Endoperez]

I checked the Blind Bandit fight. Aang blast of air pushes a rock away, yes. And in Imprisoned, he can levitate a rock too. Huh. It does look like an airbender can do some of the things an earthbender can... and it feels weird.

I thought that the water+rocks move used simultaneous earthbending and waterbending to perform, but since I was wrong once already...

Yeah, weird.

Well, at least the earthbender is still the only one who can make walls. Outside of the arctic poles.


The blowgun idea is just WICKED.

[Glabbit]

What's this about airbenders not having intrinsic offensive capabilities?
Use your imagination, people. Just because you don't see them brutally murder people with their bending doesn't mean they can't. Consider this: If Aang has both the power to knock someone off their feet and a ways back, and the accurate control required to make a bunch of marbles spin a neat little circle in midair for an undetermined length of time, does he not also have the ability to put enough force into a sharp-shaped patch of air to perforate a man's skull?
And yes, we have often enough seen examples of specific shapes being bended.

That's right, people.
Invisible air bullets.
Stealthiest sniper (rifle) you'd ever not see.

They refrain from doing such things by choice; they respect all life. Even to the extent where their failure to execute a downed opponent ultimately leads to their death. Why else would they be monks?

[Ragdollmaster]

Did somebody say air bullets?

Also yeah, airbending could be some seriously lethal stuff. If highly skilled waterbenders can bloodbend, I'm sure highly skilled airbenders could overpressure your lungs without much trouble. Hell, a basic concentrated blast of air could have enough force to fracture bones and crush organs. A concussive blast to the ears? Say goodbye to balance and hearing for the duration of a fight at least.

[Jacktheawesome]

This is true. And there is that controversial scene when Gyatso's remains are found surrounded by a number of dead attackers (I say controversial because I remember there was a debate on the avatar subreddit a while ago about what could have killed all those soldiers).

[Endoperez]

I would think that air blades would be more likely than air bullets. Blades could come from circular motion. Besides, bullets cover the exact same usage as the blowgun, and the blowgun idea is much cooler than "air bullets".

Any way, airbending should be able to cut stuff.

While Aang is riding on Bumi's coffin in Return to Omashu, he cuts through the wooden supports with air "blades", and in the third season he's decked on the evil overlord armor and mentions he could airbend himself a sword blade.

[Jaz]

Yeah, the airbenders have a lot of potential.

They could even potentially control fire using gusts of air if they're powerful enough. Aang proves this in multiple instances when he blocks fire blasts using airbending. By using this same technique, an airbender could push fire and thus control it. They would have to be careful of course as they could extinguish the fire easily if they had that kind of power and mastery of air.

[Endoperez]

First Airbenders became Earthbenders, now Firebenders. What next, bending the oxygen molecules in water, despite the fact that it's the wrong element, wrong philosophy and the molecules aren't in a gaseous form?


Speaking of fan-made additions to the bending philosophy and uses of bending, have any others read Zhao of the Water Tribe? It's a fan-comic where Zhao (the antagonist of the first season and the admiral who attacked the Southern Water Tribe) has no self control. He also lost his memory, and bending skills, and pretty much everything else. It shows how he strives to do something with his new life, but since he is his own horrible self, it's really hard to root for him.

edit: forgot the link
http://noselfcontrol.deviantart.com/art ... 1-69837313

[Jacktheawesome]

First Airbenders became Earthbenders, now Firebenders. What next, bending the oxygen molecules in water, despite the fact that it's the wrong element, wrong philosophy and the molecules aren't in a gaseous form?

Airbenders became neither of these things; their own art would contain enough potential. Think about it. When airbenders make attacks, they don't have to push them through solid rock, or a body of water. On the other hand, air is the medium through which all other benders' attacks are forced to travel, meaning they can be diverted by a competent airbender. This happens so often in the series, when water or fire or earth attacks are blocked by a wall of air, or diverted mid-flight. It's completely in keeping with the airbending defensive philosophy.

[Endoperez]

Airbenders became neither of these things; their own art would contain enough potential. Think about it. When airbenders make attacks, they don't have to push them through solid rock, or a body of water. On the other hand, air is the medium through which all other benders' attacks are forced to travel, meaning they can be diverted by a competent airbender. This happens so often in the series, when water or fire or earth attacks are blocked by a wall of air, or diverted mid-flight. It's completely in keeping with the airbending defensive philosophy.

First, could you show an example of this "wall of air"?

Since the elements are balanced and in harmony with each other, all the elements should be able to defend against all the elements. Because airbenders can't create solid walls like earthbenders and waterbenders can (at least I don't remember any cases, and this is why I asked), they have to divert the attack or dodge it.

Redirecting enemy attacks is part of the airbending philosophy. However, isn't that based on finding the correct angle, the tipping point... When Aang was trying to learn Earthbending and failed to push a rock, he as an airbender assumed he'd try from a different angle. Korra was told to move like "a leaf in the wind".
Wouldn't this mean that an an airbender defending against an attack would choose the path of least resistance, and have little control over where the attack is redirected?

Redirecting the incoming attack back towards the attacker is part of the waterbending philosophy. That stays true even when a waterbender can't actually do that, such as when we're talking about fire.
Only an airbender who has studied waterbending theory would be able to redirect elements back to the attackers in a fast and smooth manner.