Editor's Note: The following may contain light spoilers for the animated 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' series and its sequel 'The Legend of Korra'.

The Big Picture

  • Avatar: The Last Airbender's success is due to its intricate worldbuilding and clear connection between the four nations and their unique bending abilities.
  • Airbending is based on the peaceful and spiritual nature of the Air Nomads, using the Baguazhang martial art style and focusing on non-resistance.
  • Waterbending, based on the indigenous Arctic cultures, allows manipulation of water, including the dark ability to bend blood, and is strongest during a full moon.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a fan-favorite Nickelodeon cartoon series that continues to garner praise from critics and audiences alike, despite being over 15 years old. If you're diving into the Netflix live-action series adaptation this week, and you want to brush up on your bending knowledge, or even introduce yourself to the bending before watching the show, we've got you covered. One of the reasons for the show’s success is the intricate worldbuilding and magic system that's been put in place, and how clearly they tie together. The world of The Last Airbender is divided into four nations, each of them a home to people who can manipulate, or “bend,” a certain element: the Air Nomads, the Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Nation. Each form of bending is distinct and creative and it matches the culture in which it thrives.

Avatar The Last Airbender 2024 TV Show Poster
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Live-Action)
TV-14
Action
Adventure
Comedy

A young boy known as the Avatar must master the four elemental powers to save the world and fight against an enemy bent on stopping him.

Release Date
February 22, 2024
Creator
Albert Kim
Cast
Daniel Dae Kim , Paul Sun-Hyung Lee , Ken Leung , Tamlyn Tomita , Gordon Cormier , Kiawentiio
Seasons
1

Airbending

Subtypes: Airballs, Air tunnels, Flight

Aang (Gordon Cormier) poses in a battle stance in the live action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Image via Netflix

The Air Nomads, as the name implies, are nomadic and have four temples located around the world. As an extremely spiritual culture based loosely on Buddhist monks (including philosophies from both Tibetan and Hindu culture), it is no surprise that their element is air. As a peaceful and monastic culture, the Air Nomads unfortunately fell prey to the Fire Nation’s attack, which began the Hundred Year War. Nearly all of the nomads were wiped out, leaving only remnants of their culture to future generations.

As a perfect match to the nomads’ peaceful and spiritual nature, airbending is based on the Baguazhang martial art style, which is similar to Tai Chi and linked to Taoism. The main thought behind airbending is the avoidance of resistance, much like the air itself. Airbenders have the ability to manipulate the air without and within; some techniques include bending the air around their gliders, so that they create the illusion of flying, and they can run as fast as the wind. Though contrary to its non-resistant nature (mainly, airbenders use the momentum and strength of their opponents against them, if they are forced to engage in combat at all), airbending can also be an offensive move, such as creating punches made from air but backed with force. Airbending was taught to humanity by the sky bison.

Subtypes of airbending include the making of balls, tunnels, and funnels for air to pass through, including the childlike air scooter. Though airbending is featured the least in the original series, the sequel series, Legend of Korra, reintroduces the Air Nomads to the world. This reintroduction showcases the airbending subtypes, including flight without a glider. Once freed from earthly tethers, an airbender can become lighter than air and fly.

Waterbending

Subtype: Bloodbending

Based loosely on the indigenous Arctic tribes and nations, the Water Tribe is split into two factions, the North and the South, both at opposite poles. As a result, the Northern Water Tribe and the Southern Water Tribe live in icy, frozen climates where water is abundant. The concepts of family and empathy are essential to Water Tribe culture, making its ties to waterbending an important connection.

Waterbending in Avatar: The Last Airbender is based on the Tai Chi martial art, an elegant and flowing style that is in constant motion. This type of bending requires deep breathing and fluidity of the physical body and of the mind. At varying levels of skill, a waterbender can manipulate, freeze, and unfreeze, the water around them, making them a force to be reckoned with on the sea. Because natural forces like the tide are controlled by the moon, waterbenders are strongest when the moon is full, and waterbending was taught to humanity by the moon itself.

Waterbenders can manipulate the water particles within the air, plants, and animals. Therefore, waterbending has an especially dark subtype. Considering that approximately 60% of the human body is made of water, a powerful enough waterbender, drawing from the full moon, can bend the blood in the bodies of themselves and others.

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Earthbending

Subtypes: Sand and Metalbending

Earthbending Toph in Avatar the Last Airbender
Image via Nickelodeon

The Earth Kingdom is loosely based on Imperial China and is the largest nation of the four, consisting of several colonies, clans, and cities, each one distinct. The Earth Kingdom prides itself on its diversity, strength, and tradition. As a perfect match for the Earth Kingdom’s diversity, earthbending comes in a wide range of styles, but it primarily bears a resemblance to the Chinese martial art Hung Ga. This martial arts style requires keeping a strong stance rooted to the ground.

Earthbenders in Avatar: The Last Airbender have the ability to manipulate earth and rock, from large portions of mountain to the tiniest grain of sand, depending on the skill and style of the bender. Benders who rely more on power can cause the ground to rumble like an earthquake and move large boulders, while benders who focus on smaller objects can create armor made of rock and move the top layer of earth to knock an opponent off balance. Earthbending was taught to humanity by the badger moles.

One earthbending subtype includes sandbending, the ability to manipulate smaller earth particles in desert sand. Another advanced subtype is metalbending. Because metal is basically refined earth, it is possible to feel and find the bits of earth still trapped in the metal and bend those, making strong objects like prison cells, keys, tanks, ships, and armor susceptible to earthbending manipulation. More patient benders are also capable of feeling movement through the earth’s vibrations, which can be a huge advantage in places where vision is limited. And some benders can even bend without the use of their hands.

Firebending

Subtypes: Lightning Generation, Combustion

Based loosely on East Asian cultures like Imperial Japan, the Fire Nation values strength, innovation, respect for elders, and the arts. As the fiercest and most technologically-advanced side of the Hundred Year War, the Fire Nation values drive and ambition, which is mirrored in its bending style. Based on the Northern Shaolin martial art, firebending uses swift, sharp, and direct movements.

Unlike the other three bending types, firebending allows the bender to create its element from the energy within. Where air, water, and earth are present anywhere, fire is first created in the body, but firebenders can also manipulate pre-existing flame. Firebenders are typically offensive fighters, the most prominent moves being punches and kicks. Because their power comes from the sun, firebenders are stronger during the daytime. Firebending was taught to the humans by the dragons, who have become nearly extinct due to the Fire Nation’s ambition, leading them to hunt their species for sport.

In the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender, firebending has an especially wide variety of subtypes, all of which are exceptionally dangerous. Lightning generation is the possible by separating positive and negative energy inside the body, then directing it out through the fingertips. This subtype is difficult to master, as it requires mental and spiritual peace within the bender. A similar technique, lightning redirection, allows the bender to let the lightning pass through their body safely; the technique was created as a defensive move and was developed through the study of waterbending movements. Lightning redirection proves that learning techniques from only one nation limits what a bender can do.

One other subtype is combustion, a mysterious subset of firebending that allows the bender to direct explosions. This is a type of telekinetic firebending, using chi gathered at the forehead and heating the surrounding air to create an explosive beam of energy. Only a few benders have been known to use this technique.

Energybending

Aang energybending with Ozai in Avatar The Last Airbender
Image via Nickelodeon Animation Studio

As the fifth element, energybending can be performed by anyone granted the knowledge and power to use it by the legendary Lion Turtles. This type of bending differs from all others in that it is mostly performed while remaining stationary. An energybender can manipulate the spiritual energy from other people, other spirits, and themselves. This type of bending only works if the bender’s own spirit is incorruptible, but when it is a success, an energybender can give and take the bending ability of their opponent, as well as create an astral projection of their own spirit.

The live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender will premiere February 22, 2024, and the animated series is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

Watch on Netflix