Your Bending Type/Nation (Avatar the Last Airbender / Legend of Korra)

[Blue3]

Uncle Iroh: [Draws Fire symbol in the dirt] "Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will and the energy and drive to achieve what they want."

Prince Zuko: "That's why my Firebending was so weak before, because for so many years hunting you was my drive. It was my purpose. So when I joined you, I lost sight of my inner fire. But now I have a new drive."

Aang: "All this time, I thought Firebending was destruction. Since I hurt Katara, I've been too afraid and hesitant. But now I know what it really is. It's energy and life."

Uncle Iroh: "Power in firebending comes from the breath. Not the muscles. The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire."

(When out of balance, like the Fire Lords of the Hundred-Year War, first wanting to share their glory and prosperity to the world, but can lost control and burn it all down.)

(Subsets of firebending include creating an imbalance between positive and negative energy into a stream to create lightning, and using firebending from your feet or hands as propulsion to fly, as well as healing from fevers and colds.



Uncle Iroh: [Draws Earth symbol] "Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring."

Toph: "The key to Earthbending is your stance. You've got to be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element. If you're going to move it, you've got to be like a rock yourself."

Toph: "No, that's the problem. You've got to stop thinking like an Airbender. There's no different angle, no clever solution, trickety-trick that's gonna move that rock. You've got to face it head on. And when I say 'head on', I mean like *this*."

(When out of balance, like Kuvira of the Earth Empire, first wanting to bring stability and unity and shared prosperity, but can overreach and become totalitarian.)

(Subsets of earthbending include manipulating metal, sand, mud, and even heating earth into lava and cooling lava into earth, and moving plate tectonics in at least one extreme example.)



Uncle Iroh: [Draws Air symbol] "Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Also, they apparently had pretty good senses of humor."

Tenzin: "Airbending is all about spiral movements. When you meet resistance, you must be able to switch direction at a moment's notice."

(When out of balance, like Zaheer of the new Air Nomads, first wanting to bring freedom and liberation without the rule of others, but can lose compassion and bring chaos and ruin in an anarchic world that leads to domination by the strong.)

(Subsets of airbending include weightless-like flight, manipulating clouds, being able to pull air of lungs.)




Uncle Iroh: [Draws Water symbol] "Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribes are capable of adapting to many things. They have a sense of community and love that holds them together through anything."

Katara: "Just push and pull."

(When out of balance, like Unalaq of the Northern Water Tribe, first wanting to bring spirituality and tradition back to a more secular world, but can lose humility and threaten an end to civilization/technology and return to the wildness and brutality of nature.)

(Subsets of waterbending include healing, changing the state of water to ice or steam, manipulating the water in plants to make them move how you want, manipulating the blood in humans/animals to move how you want.)




And then there are the Non-Benders, who perhaps find the most voice in the United Republic, where people from all 4 backgrounds live together in harmony.

(When they lose balance, like the hypocritical leader Amon, they may want to bring revolution and equality, but can become oppressors themselves by forcing equality upon others and taking away their innate gifts while crushing those who oppose them.)




Which would you want to be, and why?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Probably non-bender, but if I had to choose, Earth.

[fhtagn]

Probably Earth

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Either water or fire. Water's more versatile, but I don't like the cold.

[Mr. Smith]

@Blue: Actually, I'd consider Tarrlok and Amon to be vastly superior examples of what waterbending out of balance looks like. And as for Earthbending, the Dai Li and Long Feng are even better than Kuvira.


Anyway, I'd probably be somewhere between a Waterbender and Earhbender (gave Waterbending the nod since it lacked votes).

[Mr. Smith]

..must bump..

[Blue3]

@Blue: Actually, I'd consider Tarrlok and Amon to be vastly superior examples of what waterbending out of balance looks like. And as for Earthbending, the Dai Li and Long Feng are even better than Kuvira.


Anyway, I'd probably be somewhere between a Waterbender and Earhbender (gave Waterbending the nod since it lacked votes).

How do you think those 2 brothers are good examples of waterbending being out of balance? I mean I know they're waterbenders, but ideologically/philosophically one is just power-hungry and the other champions the nonbending equalists, while Unalaq is an evolution of the stuck-up stratified society obsessed with tradition we saw at the North Pole during ATLA.

Long Feng and his Dai Lai definitely represent Earth out of balance too, like Kuvira. One just exists while the Earth Kingdom still stands, while the other exists after it has already fallen.

[Blue3]

For myself...

I'm personally torn between Air, Water, and Earth. I just don't like Fire.

With Earth, I could make stone houses and walls, hide away in defensive caves and bunkers, find gemstones and precious metals, etc.

With Air, I like the philosophy of freedom and spirituality, and being able to fly... though after skydiving, I have to say, it's a lot windier and colder than expected and not as fun!

With Water, I'd be able to purify water, to bring water to plants and animals, transform it between the states... and heal.


The biggest factor to me is healing... imagine if this was a real choice, I picked Earth, then someone I know gets sick or injured, and I realize I could have healed them if I picked Water. So the answer is Water, with Earth in second... though I'd have more of an Airbender philosophy.

[Blue3]

And since some people here don't seem to know about this series, here's some great quotes from Iroh and a few others:





























And this part of the show was amazing:

http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Chakras#Different_chakras

[Mr. Smith]

Any new thoughts?

Sure, where's Energybending? LOL

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Earthbender.  Nature is my home, and it is arguably the most useful of the bending powers.

Toph was also my favorite character.

[Kingpoleon]

The philosophy of fire, though water bending sounds the coolest to me. My chief strategy would be to suffocate people - a non-lethal takedown - by forcing them to create a shield of air/fire/water around them, squeezing said shield until it burst, and then suffocating them(by using an airtight air shield with air, drowning them in water, burning the oxygen with a fire shield, and earth bending suffocation is pretty straight forward). The tricky part is then what to do with them, and blood bending them into compliant allies seems sufficient to me.

[fluffypanther19]

yes!! one of my favorite shows; i would be either an airbender or firebender, leaning towards airbender. i can glide/potentially fly and Zaheer in season 3 demonstrate that i can be as lethal as i need to be if necessary. being the avatar would be awesome except having to deal with all the entailing responsibilities (maintaining balance between spirts and humans, meditating disputes between nations, navigating stupid love triangles )


being a firebnder would be so cool though

hard to choose 

[fluffypanther19]

And since some people here don't seem to know about this series, here's some great quotes from Iroh and a few others:





























And this part of the show was amazing:

http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Chakras#Different_chakras

uncle iroh is no joke an actual true inspiration for me, so much wisdom

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

My roommate just got the entire series on DVD, so we’ve been watching. When asked, I chose earth, since they seem “solid” and you can erect permanent structures with your power.

[Blue3]

Any new thoughts? So even right now!

[Former President tack50]

Even though it's a series I should have watched as a kid, for some reason I never did; I don't think I was even aware of its existance!

In any case, probably non-benders, if forced to choose I imagine I'd pick either air or water

[LAKISYLVANIA]

I relate most to firebending, but would like airbending most.

[Blue3]

With the show being popular to binge watch right now on Netflix... which one are you closest to?

[Mr. Smith]

Definitely waterbending now.

[Progressive Pessimist]

In terms of which type of bending I like the best: Water>Air>Earth>Fire. I always found the practicality of water-bending appealing, but obviously all types of bending are awesome! I would feel left out if I was a non-bender in the 'Avatar' universe.

As for which nation I like the best I think I'd have to go with the United Republic of Nations just because I like urban areas and already love New York City. So why not live in this fictional version of it?

But pre-United Republic I would probably prefer to live in one of the Air Temples. The Earth Kingdom is too big and barren, the Fire Nation is too hot, and the Water Tribes are too depressing even as I like the cold. The Air Temples are also all in close enough proximity to the other nations anyway if I ever wanted to visit on a Sky Bison.