Which Kind Of Bender Are You?

Avatar:  Only there for the group photo

One question I often see is:  

“Why are Katara and Zuko so underused/ weak in the “Legend of Korra’?”

The answer is quite simple:  Fan service.  

Bryke wanted the Aang Gang to be in LoK for fan service, but didn't want them to get in the way of other characters.   Therefore Toph, Zuko, and Katara are present but are almost useless.  

Which feels out-of-character for them, and frustrating for the fans when pre-established characters do nothing to help.  

This is my most current elemental chart for Avatar the last Airbender.  It’s gone through many different versions but I’m really happy with how this one turned out.  

I’ve included my old versions for reference.  

Central area:  The four classic with Energy bending in the center.  

Inner Circle:  Basic sub-skills most benders can use.  

Outer Circle:  Advanced sub-skills that are difficult to learn.  

Outer Edge:  True power of the Element.  Only achieved when you master the spiritual side of that Element.  

AIR

AGILITY:  Heightened sensitivity, speed, and reaction.  

LEVITATION:  Able to float in the air.  

VORTEX:  Able to send air compression blasts at your opponent, similar to a vortex cannon.   

CLOUD:  Able to create a cloud to ride on as seen in LOK and “Journey to the West”.

WATER

ICE:  Able to bend Ice and turn water into Ice.  

HEALING:  Able to energize water for healing purposes.  

PLANT:  Able to bend plants by bending the water in them.  

BLOOD:   Able to bend animals by bending the water in them.

EARTH

SAND:  Able to control earth as sand, dirt, or a granulated state.  

METAL:  Able to bend metal.  

MINERAL:  Able to bend large Crystals.  

LAVA:  Able to bend Lava or earth in a molten state.  

FIRE

FLAME:  Able to alter your flame in fire bending.  Make it hotter = blue fire.  Also includes sensing chi with fire.  

LIGHTNING:  Able to produce or redirect lightning.  

HEAT:  Able to manipulate heat.  

COMBUSTION:  Able to make explosions with firebending such as Combustion Man, or when Zuko failed to learn Lightning bending.  

Avatar:  What order should you learn the Elements?

Each Avatar must learn to master the four elements.  It’s traditional to learn the elements in the same order as the avatar cycle, but this isn’t mandatory.  There are several examples where an Avatar learned the elements “out of order”.   One idea I’d love to see is an Avatar learning in reverse order.   (Such as Korra learning:  Water, then Air, then Fire, and finally Earth) I like this idea because it might help the Avatar connect better to their past lives.  By learning in reverse order, the Avatar could learn about their predecessors along with learning the elements.   e.g.

Korra would learn about Aang while learning Airbending.

Roku as she learned Firebending.

And Kyoshi as she learned Earthbending.

(She would still learn waterbending first since it’s her native element, and I see no reason for her to learn about “Kuruk the idiot”.) The past Avatars might even be able to help the current Avatar learn the bending.  

BUMI:  the Monkey King

[WARNING!:  THIS VIDEO CONTAINS SWEARING]

We first see Bumi at the end of season 1 of Legend of Korra, and we are left with three impressions.  

He’s Crazy (just like the guy he’s named after)

He’s strong (as the commander of an Army)

And He’s fun

However, in season 2 we find out that he’s kinda a washed-up has-been, which I thought was really sad.  

First, I was really excited to meet the character from his first impression.  Tenzin was always the calm and collected side of airbending, so I was excited to see the wild and fun side of Air in Bumi.   Second, Avatar is an amazing show that never looks down on anybody.  Got a disability? No Problem!  You can still be a strong person.  You don’t have Bending?  Not a Problem!  There are plenty of skills you can learn that make you just a strong as a bender.  

Sokka was a non-bender, but the show never put him down because he couldn’t bend.  Sokka was still an important member to the group and did his part.  Bumi on the other hand is openly ignored.  Sure he doesn’t have bending, but he is often portrayed as a useless character.  This really saddened me, because the show had always treated their characters with great respect.   . .

Needless to say I was unhappy with Bumi’s characterization.   . .

So, Here is how I would have rewritten Bumi

I would describe Bumi in three words:  The Monkey King.  Yes I would have based Bumi on Sun Wu Kong from the Chinese classic, Journey to the West.

Despite not being a bender, Bumi would be an accomplished martial artist as wild and free as the monkey king.  He would represent the fun-loving and more wild side of the element of Air, to contrast Tenzins more subdued personality.   And even though he isn’t an airbender, he still knows how to fight like one.  

His fighting style would be Monkey Style or Momo Style if you prefer.  

He would tends to fight with a staff to shows just how strong a non-passive airbender could be.   I imagine him as the fun but crazy uncle who fits right in with flying children.  Overall he would be a fun strong character, not a failure.   Also, Bumi has kids.  Many of whom are Airbenders.  

Epic Fail.  

Avatar Kuruk:  Failure or Retcon?

WARNING:  Minor Spoilers for the Kyoshi Novels.  

Avatar Kuruk was the Water Tribe Avatar before Korra and is considered by many to be a failure of an Avatar.  He was brash and was more interested in personal pleasure than keeping balance.  

The recent Kyoshi novels explain that Kuruk wasn’t a failure.  Rather, he spent his life fighting dark spirits which most people were unaware of.  The Kyoshi novels suggest that he was a good avatar even though public opinion was very much against him.  

However, this new information feels like a retcon to me for one specific reason:  

Everything we know about Kuruk doesn’t come from a third party account, it comes from Kuruk himself.  

Other than the novels, our info on Kuruk comes from the season 2 “Escape from the Spirit World” game, and the episode 319.  Kuruk himself recounts that he wasn’t the best Avatar and spent most of his time goofing off.  

However, if Kuruk wanted to explain he wasn’t a complete failure, then he had apple time to do so.  Plus, as our main source of info he had full controlled how the fans viewed him.  

I do not think the dark spirits were an original part of his character.  I think it was a much later addition after dark spirits were introduced in Korra.  I believe this retcon existed because Bryke didn’t want fans to think Kuruk was a total failure.  

But a retcon is still a retcon.  

And not all Avatars did a good job.  

Avatar: The Last Airbender is the G.O.A.T. | Video Essay

A love letter to the show.   

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.  

The Final evolution of my Avatar Sub-Elements/ Sub-Bending Chart. (hopefully)

ATLA Creators Leave NETFLIX Project:  And I’m not worried.

This might be a Very Unpopular Opinion, but I'm not overly worried about the creators leaving the Netflix Avatar the last Airbender remake.

Let me explain:   Despite how much Mike and Bryan are praised, they didn't come up with everything good in ATLA.  Like any project, they worked with a team and other team member contributed many things that fans love about the show.  Good team member act as "checks and balances" to prevent personal biases from taking over, and to yield a better product.  

Mike and Bryan made ATLA but they also made Legend of Korra.  They made Korra without their full team and LoK wasn't as good.  Because Mike and Bryan didn't have their full team, many of their biases didn't get ironed out of the final product.  And because they were more in control, their inadequacies shone through.  Thus, Korra's quality suffered because the creators aren't perfect, and they didn't have others to balance them.  

Therefore, I'm not overly worried to see Mike and Bryan go because they aren't the source of all goodness.   Just like with J. K. Rowling, maybe it's time for someone else to nurture the franchise.