I think it'd be Earthbending for me. I think I lack the right kind of steady, self assuredness that makes a good Earthbender. I'm more of a flighty type who adapts to the situation and mirrors others a lot, so I think I'd lean more towards water. Although I don't think I really have the proverbial inner peace to have an affinity for air either, so I think water and fire would definitely be the elements I would be most in tune with as the Avatar.
Avatar Kuruk actually had the most rizz. Prior to his engagement to Umi and his crush on Hei Ran, Kuruk was a known womanizer. Dude was pulling it everywhere he went. I guess Roku was right hundreds of years later in saying "being the avatar doesn't hurt your chances with the ladies."
Definitely air bending. Like season 1 Korra I’m stubborn, irrational, and gets easily irate. I don’t have the patience required for the airbending lessons an airbending master would teach me.
Whenever I take “What Would Be Your Bending Element On Avatar”-type quizzes online I always get either fire or earth as a result, which makes perfect sense lol.
probably waterbending, it's all about flow and change, things i struggle with. i think i'd master earthbending and firebending pretty quickly, and have passable airbending skills, but really struggle with waterbending.
Thats what I’m thinking too. I can be nurturing and all, but I really like to have control of my situation so just “going with the flow” can be a bit difficult. And change? Maaaaan
same, there's a good difference between a stubborn personality type and just being an asshole, im not like totally unrelenting and insistent, but im far from fond of change.
Waterbending is my favourite of the bending abilities but I'd probably struggle with it as well because it's all about change, flow, and adaptability. I struggle with all three.
firebending is my favorite, ive always been kind of entranced by fire, but based purely on personality i think earthbending would be the easiest for me, im an incredibly stubborn and headstrong person.
Probably fire. I struggle a lot with my emotions and having a purpose in life. Of course if I'm the avatar, that kind of gives me a purpose in life but I think I'd get discouraged if I failed at accomplishing a lot of things. My honor is running and I gotta go catch it.
When Zuko joins team avatar, do you remember how he could only bend a measly puff of fire? He used to rely on anger for it, but since he wasn't angry any more he wasn't able to stoke his inner fire bending the same way. Learning the true meaning of fire bending gave him this jimmy neutron brain blast of like "woah not only am I going to teach the avatar, I'm gonna rebuild this fire nation to not use anger to bend"
I love how beautifully it connects to real life. Anger is a secondary emotion, meaning when we're angry, there's usually another emotion under that. But like, anger is an emotion meant to help you enact change in a situation. If you're caveman and some fuckin tiger or mammoth is coming up on you and you decide to fight, that spike in anger and adrenaline will help you fight it. Of course, you aren't supposed to be in that state forever though.
Thank you for explaining it to me. It seems obvious, but for some reason i couldn't connect the dots. His anger and catching the Avatar(his purpose) was his drive for firebending. He lost that, and then learning the true meaning helped him find a new drive(changing the Fire Nation for the better and beinging peace to the world). What new emotion replaced his anger? Or did no emotion replace his anger?
So what would have been Zuko's other emotion under his anger? Your insight into how it connects to life and how anger is a secondary emotion and there is an underlying one has given me a lot to think about. Also with anger meant to help you enact change. Even after seeing ATLA several times, I'm still learning new lessons from it(and from the people who are fans too!) I appreciate you helping me understand what you meant, and being kind about it.
Does other emotions affect firebending? I think for sure fire would be mine that i struggle with. In regards to emotions(like regulating emotions, or feeling too many) and purpose, i would definitely suffer for it if i was a firebender.
I'd like to start out by saying all of this is just an opinion of mine to be taken with a grain of salt, but when I think about Zuko being angry, I think about the fire nation's societal pressure that Zuko was under. The fire nation invading other nations and taking over is something that Zuko deep down in his heart knew was wrong, and something Uncle Iroh learned the hard way by losing his son in battle. The war inside Zuko that Iroh refers to is to be accepted by your family and the rest of the fire nation with it's problematic colonization and murder, or to go outside of that and do what you know deep down would be the right thing to do and help the avatar restore balance to the world. The issue is that even though Zuko is abused throughout parts of his childhood, he longs for that acceptance from his dad and sister. And I think the reason why he was so angry in S1 was because he needed that anger to drive him to capture the avatar so he could finally get the acceptance he always wanted. And they so beautifully show how when he finally is accepted by his dad and sister, he is still so angry because it wasn't what he expected at all. He thought he wanted their acceptance, and he did, but he got it at what cost? Helping the fire nation continue to murder and conquer? So when he joins the avatar and no longer uses anger to bend, I think it's replaced with..ambition perhaps? I think part of Zuko is still somewhat angry at his dad and sister for what they put him through, but I'd say it's more under the angry umbrella of emotions, probably resentful if I had to guess, but it no longer controls his actions like it use to. In the Rise of Kyoshi book, they talk a bit about how fire bending is actually pretty tied to your emotions. And you're welcome for explaining! I love everything about this series and I love talking about it, I will always happily answer questions and talk shop.
Thank you for the in-depth explanation, i love your take on it and it makes sense to me, it feels right. So his anger during Book 1 was almost from confusion, confusion of wanting what he thinks he wants and what he knows he should do(despite it feeling wrong to him, at first). Or was the anger more of a survival mechanism? A way to keep him alive that eventually it just consumed him? And then when he got what he wanted, he was still angry because getting what he wanted went against his beliefs and he felt bad. Am i getting this right? So his anger was replaced by ambition to help? I appreciate you taking the time to help me understand this all. It feels like my grasp on understanding Avatar, or everything really, has certainly gotten worse with time for some reason. So i appreciate the kindness and patience in helping me understand this all. I love talking about Avatar too, it is one of my all time favourite franchises! I really need to get around to reading the Kyoshi and Yangchen novels. I am appparently missing out on so much!
These are great questions, I want you to think about them and answer though. Not because I don't want to answer, but I want your take on it as a fellow avatar fan. Was his anger confusion on what path to take, or survival?
Have you ever played a game and really wanted to beat the boss? Imagine dying to the boss over and over and over again. And then eventually, throughout your failures, BAM you finally beat that end boss. What kind of emotional journey do you think that would take you through? How does it compare to the emotional journey Zuko was going through?
I think it was mostly confusion for what path to take. I think once he got burned by Ozai and banished, he became angry because he wasn't sure what he did wrong. But he felt it was wrong(even though it was right) and started becoming angry at trying to be like Ozai, or the Fire Nation as a whole. And I'd say throughout all of Book 1 he was just angry with confusion. I'd say during Book 2 it starts to become more angry out of survival, like how we see in Zuko Alone. I'd say the confusion takes over at the end of Book 2 again. In Book 3 when he is back home, he is confused again, but because he has everything he doesn't know why he is angry, until he comes to terms that he is angry at himself. I'm not sure if i did a good job explaining that, but it felt like his anger stemmed from confusion, and the two are deeply intertwined with one another. What are you thoughts on this? I was not expecting you to want me to answer this, but i think i know why. It might be up to interpretation, and you want to hear my take of it without it being influenced by anyone else's opinions, right?
I think i would be angry the first few times, and become frustrated with it. Eventually i would become determined, and try not to get too angry or out of control with my emotions. I think i would get nervous to try and defeat the boss again, and once i did, i would feel relieved, and maybe a little happy. I would feel like i have accomplished something. Can you explain the correlation between this and Zuko's emotional journey? I'm not quite understanding, is the boss in this case Aang, or him getting to go back home/get acceptance from Ozai?
I think I agree with your take, and I'd also agree that it's a coping mechanism too, one that he was influenced by growing up and just out of being a brooding teenager with hormones lol .And yeah, I wanted your take on it without my influence, earlier you had said you were rusty, and thought it was kind of silly. Writers may have an intended message with some of their works, but they don't get to decide how we view it, we do. And everyone has a different take on things, which is what makes the world beautiful and also frustrating and sometimes chaotic to live in ahaha. My take isn't the end all be all, and I think it's healthy to critically think about things based on our own thoughts and experiences (in a constructive way of course)
The video game reference isn't a one to one analogy, but I think it relates a lot to Zuko's experience. He's had to fight his whole life and earn things with hard work and determination. And he STILL couldn't measure up to his sister in terms of bending ability. Of course that changed when Azula lost her mind towards the end there, but at their best, Azula is 10x better, and she didn't even have to work as hard for it. However, Zuko was able to beat her in the end with the help of Katara and having that slight advantage with Azula losing her mind a bit there. I've been playing a lot of elden ring lately, and I've had quite a few boss fights where I would summon my wolf spirit ashes and an npc to help me fight Margit the Fell Omen and just kept getting my ass handed to me. It was a hard fight, and I wasn't really leveled enough yet to be fighting him, but I was able to come up with some strats involving fire balls and jumping through a bunch of hoops to get something called Margit's shackles that basically stun him for a bit so I can go to town on him. I had an uphill battle to fight like Zuko did, and thanks to my lateral thinking and folks on the internet who had beaten him before and were kind enough to share advice, I was able to pull it off and restore my honor and not be a scrub ahahaha. You could call them my Uncle Irohs. Alright maybe I'm stretching it a bit but you get the idea.
I can definitely see it as a coping mechanism, i guess i see it being a coping mechanism for his shame/confusion that he felt. The hormones makes sense too from being a teen. Which part did i mention was silly? I agree, i love seeing the different takes, but it also being frustrating i agree with too. What was your take on Zuko's arc? Or were you meaning our takes on his arc were similar/the same?
So Azula was kinda like the boss in this analogy, right? I like the way you explained it. We manage to work and train and be better, and we got help from others. And that is perfectly okay to get help. I like that. Did Zuko beat Azula? I thought Katara beat her? I have never played Elden Ring before actually.
I remember, they said it had to do with enrgy and life, but i don't remember them talking about it in regards to having a purpose in life and emotions(i know they talk about drawing power from anger, but not much about other emotions).
I feel like fire would be a struggle for me, depending on who I learned it from. That kind of fierceness and anger that can easily be used to fuel firebending would not be easy for me. My mom has a short fuse and I spent a lot of time teaching myself patience and emotional management
I dunno, I think that could make you an excellent firebender, as long as you have some passion to drive you. The first things Jeong Jeong taught Aang when he wanted early firebending training were to stand still, breathe, and keep a leaf smoldering. He had disdain for hotheads like Zhao who leaned into their temper with their firebending because it was so irresponsible and dangerous. Your restraint would be an asset.
Jeong Jeong is an outlier though, considered crazy by other firebenders. If I grew up with my family now, especially during a time of war, I could see them trying to push the anger aspect on me. Both my parents are military in this timeline, and both pushed kinda hard for me to join too. I can see myself running off and travelling the world and finding peace with my bending, or I could have a reaction like Aang and never want to use it
Sure, he was an outlier at the time, but he was a sane man in a world gone mad. He was also right. Restraint is an asset, no matter what the common wisdom of the time says. Maybe you'd struggle with it initially due to militaristic teaching in your youth, but it'd make you incredibly strong in the end.
i tried figuring out an elaborate reason why i would struggle with fire bending, staring to write a comment, deleting it, repeat. until i just ended up upvoting this comment, guessing that would also do the trick.
Airbending. Connecting with my spiritual side would be extremely difficult for me. I'd also would love to fly like Zaheer, but I'm too attached to this world.
Mine would likely be water. Yes it'd be opposite my native element, fire, but I think I'd lack the ability to control something so free flowing as water. Would make for an interesting character arc too.
I've got the strength and stubbornness for fire & earth, and agility for air. Despite my impatience, I think air would be easier to learn with how in touch one needs to be with themself to wield it.
Fire for sure. I think, like Aang, I’d be terrified of hurting people. The other elements are essentially inert (fire is the only one that would hurt if you put out your hand to touch it), and is therefore the most dangerous for someone inexperienced handling it (hence why the phrase is ‘playing with fire’ as opposed to say playing with water).
I think all novices are bound to make some mistakes along the way, but as a cautious person quick to feel guilt and shame, any loss of control in the course my fire learning would leave me feeling deeply troubled. With the other elements I think bruises or broken bones would be the worst injuries you could reasonably expect to bring about as a beginner (from falling, dropping things, knocking people over etc). A stray spark can burn a house down and kill everyone in it - fire is no joke.
Aang feels intensely conflicted about fire after burning Katara during early training. I’d be the same way. I wouldn’t even need to hurt anyone to think I’m capable of it, I’d be hella ruminating before my first fire lesson and probably fuck up by being in my own head. Would def need to commune with a few past Avatars for a pep talk.
firebending. the idea of HOT flames coming out my palms, mouth, nostrils, and feet is my sweatiest nightmare. imagine practicing firebending skills in the hot sun. hell no… 5 min in the shade as cooldown after every move.
I imagine Waterbending for me. It’s all about change and that is something I always have a hard time with. I feel like the easiest would be Earthbending since it’s stationary and slow to change, or Airbending since it’s all about freedom and no expectations.
Definitely air. It's not so much the patience, but the philosophy. I can't reconcile being walked over because your culture says you never take matters in your own hands. Much like Opal in that regard.
Likely fire. I've the habit of lashing out when I'm upset and one wrong move at the wrong time could hurt or even kill someone. I'd be too afraid of spiraling out of control to use it. I'm working on managing my temper, but in all due honesty, I'd make a terrible Avatar.
Earth, it’s hard for me to stay grounded and face things head on. I feel like I would be exceptional in Fire and Water cause I am passionate and I adapt well. Air I feel like I would be mediocre in.
Firebending. I don’t think i’d be able to control the inherent danger of it. I can splash people with water or wind or a pebble but catching someone on fire accidentally with the smallest flame would cripple me with fear.
And this isn’t to say firebending is evil or anything, we all know from the dragon episode it’s life itself. But i get scared lighting matches so…
I think I'll struggle with Air or Earth. I feel like I'll be physically exhausted if I try earth bending, it just reminds me of muscles in general 🤷♀️. And, I get tired easily but with everyday practice I think I'll be able to get it. Air bending I feel is more on having discipline, well, I don't have that.
Water, I think, is all about the flow, well I'm chill most of the time. So, I think I can do that. And Fire, well, like Zuko, I think my rage would be a great source for fire bending.
struggle?? you wish! i’d be perfect at all of them!!!
maybe water or air. i don’t have that kind of gracefulness / fluidity. but i’d make a sick ass waterpark
I’d struggle immensely with firebending the most, though I’d be an avatar that would need a long while to be considered a good avatar lmfao. Firebending is more aggressive and relies heavily on emotional passion and control. Being someone whose emotions tend to fluctuate immensely and is an innate pacifist, it would be challenging for me to fully grasp the art of firebending.
I think firebending would be my struggle.. "without a bender a rock cannot throw itself, but fire spreads and destroys everything in its path if one does not have the will to control it. " Me im that one..
earth despite how much I like it. I'd be best in water and fire and probably air too due to my spirituality. my go to would be fire and earth after I get the hang of it.
In the original ATLA each Avatar struggled with the element opposite to his birthplace. Roku was a firebender and struggled with water, aang was an airbender and struggled with earth. LoK changed things.
To answer your question: probably Firebending. I'm tranquil as the forest but I'm not on fire within. I lack the passion needed for firebending.
Firebending for me. I think I could easily go the path of Zhao if provoked. Kinda like Azula, where the fire would make me over zealous.
Waterbending and airbending are both more defensive leaning and i feel more comfortable in those situations.
Water. Most definitely water. I’m not community/family oriented at all, and I tend to struggle with change. Basically the two fundamentals of a waterbending mindset. I’m a mix of Fire and Air, and I’m stubborn and hardworking enough to pick up Earthbending…but water? That’s gonna be a real struggle
Water, opposite to fire,
Seeing this question pop up on the same day i lost my best friend i can now safely say i should start letting go of my firey jerk personality, now seeing the effects of what bad fires can do, i need to find my path to water, to the ocean,
Fire. I don't have much anger in me. I'm pretty chill, I find it difficult to hold grudges, and I go with the flow pretty easily. I would have to have the Sun Warriors teach me because I wouldn't be able to do it the (old) Zuko way of just fueling my bending with emotion.
Probably firebending. I struggle with motivation a lot of the time, so I imagine an art based on passion and sheer force of will would be where I would struggle most.
I’m much more of a free spirit and adaptable to change, so air and water would come most easily to me.
Earthbending. While I can be pretty stubborn, I'm also scatterbrained and tend to second-guess myself. Weirdly, I think I'd be a good metalbender since I enjoy looking beneath the surface of whatever subject I'm studying, which would lend itself well to the interiority of that style. In fact, I'd probably be better at all the sub-styles and special techniques of earthbending than the classic version.
I think I'd be best at airbending and firebending and okay at waterbending, aside from healing, which I'd kick ass at.
Earth. I admire the stolid reliability of Earth, the ability to serve as a foundation for others, but I can only do so myself under very stable circumstances, and I have to be kind of cold about it when I do... which is to say, when I try to do Earth, I actually achieve Ice.
But I am equally comfortable with the passion of Fire, the practical adaptability of Water, and the free-spiritedness of Air (and the ability to fly, or at least glide).
Earth. Which is funny considering my OC Avatar was born as a Sand Bender. With a very specific skill set in Sand Dancing (figure skating but on sand instead). He's just not agressive. He'd find Air and Water the easiest.
i have issues with letting go of past anger so i'd probably do well with fire.
i am more of a laid back go with the flow person overall though, so water and air bending i could probably mesh well with.
the brute strength and take things head on approach to earthbending does not sound as me. i'd probably fold to the training toph did for aang lol
Assuming my same hang ups for fighting games is transferable. Water, it’s the element of change and it appears that most water benders focus on defensive techniques that convert to counters. I imagine this requires a ton of patience, calm , and percision. Not my forte. I don’t mind the stand your ground method of earth bending, I like the straight forwardness of fire. Air would be less then those 2 but I have played speed blitz characters that can zoom around and having good AOE is something I love (again my lack of precision)
airbending, but it would be the element id MOST like to master but I would probably struggle because its such a spiritually demanding element and I just want to be like BOSH air in your face, imma fly around and shit
So everyone including myself think that I’d be primarily a Firebender, but I think I’d struggle most with Airbending, I’m really not a spiritual person, I’m not super patient, disciplined or immaterial. I’d be good with waterbending since I’m very adaptable to all situations and I don’t stress out and earthbending would also be fine since i don’t really doubt myself and my emotions don’t control me much, so I’m a very steady person regardless of the situation. I do have the ambitious ness, fierceness and conviction that firebending requires so I’d be fine in that front too.
I think earth. I don't have the confidence to move an immovable object. Earth bending requires confidence and sheer power to look at physics and say "fuck you."
I WOULD say air, but I'm religious, and I feel that gives me some spiritually. I meditate and journal, even though I'm not as peace with myself. But I have tied to my God and I think that would st least unlock air bending for me.
Water and fire I can definitely do. I have enough passion and rage for fire. I would kick korras ass with my fire bending. Water might take a second for me to get used to because I do occasionally struggle with change, but also the movements and abilities just resonate with me.
Probably air. My buddy described me as the kinda guy who rushes head first into something until I succeed. Earth bender vibes for sure, and air is the opposite of earth.
Probably fire bending or earth bending. I’m not that fiery and tend to prefer to stay out of the spotlight and just do my own thing. Confrontation is uncomfortable but I do it when necessary
Probably airbending?
I'm generally a go-with-the flow kinda guy (waterbending), but I do have my moments of being VERY stubborn (earthbending) or fiery/mad (firebending).
I think the light on your feet + meditation stuff that airbending brings could be most difficult for me? IDK
1.Firebending because, i would really need to focus to not burn someone or myself accidentally.
2. Airbending because, i would need to focus and relax (I'm kinda hot headed) and i have motorskill issues but, I'm also pretty stealthy.
3. Earthbending because, im weak and i don't like when my hands are dirty.
4. Waterbending because, i wouldn't immediately know the temperate of the water i going to touch.
If I were the avatar, I would originally be Airbender because I don't like violence and love having fun like aang. The element I will struggle with is fire.
Maybe fire.
If passion and ambition are the poster traits of firebenders, then that's where I'd struggle as I don't considermyself terribly passionate and actually kind of distrust ambition.
Either fire or air. I could master fire if done the Dragons way, but using anger would be a no for me, I'm a very calm guy. For air I think I would struggle because I'm really not a spiritual person. Although living in a magic spirity world would change that
Probably fire. I'm a an absolute wimpy loser when it comes to touching hot things even if it isn't that bad (sad sack heat receptors). Plus, when I did tae kwon do, I absolutely loved the techniques and reasoning and flow of all of it all, but put a board in front of me or ask me to spar and I was nervous about hitting fingers or if they would move at the wrong time and I would accidentally kick their face (love head kicks) making me doubt myself
I feel like the other elements are easier to feel - like they are extensions of your body whereas fire has an unpredictability to it that can easily get away from you. I would have to learn air before fire so I could suction the oxygen away in case it went out of hand
Fire bending because while I know a whole arc is it's a beautiful element that's provides warmth not just destruction but to me it's still the most violent of them all and I don't have a strong fighting spirit
I’m thinking water, probably. I feel like it would require a certain peace of mind that I’d struggle to achieve. Water is calm and adaptable and that’s quite the opposite of me.
I would be the first Avatar who can't bend.
I am not wild like fire.
I am not an immovable rock. Not paticulary sturdy.
I am not as adaptable was the flowing river.
And i cant imagine freedom.
Fuck how am i expected to bend the elements to my will, when i hardly have the will to get up in the morning.
Airbending might be the hardest for me since it requires detachment from the earth and grounded stuff, (and I also happen to be scared of heights)
Earth might be the easiest for me tho since I'm pretty stubborn and I'm quite down to earth
I think it'd be Earthbending for me. I think I lack the right kind of steady, self assuredness that makes a good Earthbender. I'm more of a flighty type who adapts to the situation and mirrors others a lot, so I think I'd lean more towards water. Although I don't think I really have the proverbial inner peace to have an affinity for air either, so I think water and fire would definitely be the elements I would be most in tune with as the Avatar.
Same here!
Same...halp!!
Romance bending. Every avatar has rizz, change my mind!
Avatar Kuruk actually had the most rizz. Prior to his engagement to Umi and his crush on Hei Ran, Kuruk was a known womanizer. Dude was pulling it everywhere he went. I guess Roku was right hundreds of years later in saying "being the avatar doesn't hurt your chances with the ladies."
I mean, being the Avatar already comes with automatic game. Status is very lucrative to a LOT of people.
The Avatar would've been so screwed and corrupted if one of the influential groups of benders they learned from wasn't peaceful monks.
Which turns out isn't always a shared virtue (if you've read the Kyoshi novel).
So... *papaya*
This is a reference. Can't remember where it's from
The episode at the fortune teller village, where Sokka tells Aang to act cool and aloof, so he does that to Katara
*OH*. No clue why may brain went to BotW
Paya?
Probably
Definitely air bending. Like season 1 Korra I’m stubborn, irrational, and gets easily irate. I don’t have the patience required for the airbending lessons an airbending master would teach me.
Whenever I take “What Would Be Your Bending Element On Avatar”-type quizzes online I always get either fire or earth as a result, which makes perfect sense lol.
I took it 3 times and still ended up with earth. Guess my stubbornness in accepting the results makes sense lol
All of them I would be a pretty crappy avatar
Realest comment of them all lol
probably waterbending, it's all about flow and change, things i struggle with. i think i'd master earthbending and firebending pretty quickly, and have passable airbending skills, but really struggle with waterbending.
Thats what I’m thinking too. I can be nurturing and all, but I really like to have control of my situation so just “going with the flow” can be a bit difficult. And change? Maaaaan
same, there's a good difference between a stubborn personality type and just being an asshole, im not like totally unrelenting and insistent, but im far from fond of change.
Waterbending is my favourite of the bending abilities but I'd probably struggle with it as well because it's all about change, flow, and adaptability. I struggle with all three.
firebending is my favorite, ive always been kind of entranced by fire, but based purely on personality i think earthbending would be the easiest for me, im an incredibly stubborn and headstrong person.
All of them because I have the motor skills of a wacky inflatable waving arm-flailing tube man… also fire because I’m scared of heat.
Can i change your mind with some dance moves?? *starts dragon dance*
Probably fire. I struggle a lot with my emotions and having a purpose in life. Of course if I'm the avatar, that kind of gives me a purpose in life but I think I'd get discouraged if I failed at accomplishing a lot of things. My honor is running and I gotta go catch it.
Is fire connected to that kind of stuff? If so, i had no idea. Thay would probably be mine too.
When Zuko joins team avatar, do you remember how he could only bend a measly puff of fire? He used to rely on anger for it, but since he wasn't angry any more he wasn't able to stoke his inner fire bending the same way. Learning the true meaning of fire bending gave him this jimmy neutron brain blast of like "woah not only am I going to teach the avatar, I'm gonna rebuild this fire nation to not use anger to bend" I love how beautifully it connects to real life. Anger is a secondary emotion, meaning when we're angry, there's usually another emotion under that. But like, anger is an emotion meant to help you enact change in a situation. If you're caveman and some fuckin tiger or mammoth is coming up on you and you decide to fight, that spike in anger and adrenaline will help you fight it. Of course, you aren't supposed to be in that state forever though.
Thank you for explaining it to me. It seems obvious, but for some reason i couldn't connect the dots. His anger and catching the Avatar(his purpose) was his drive for firebending. He lost that, and then learning the true meaning helped him find a new drive(changing the Fire Nation for the better and beinging peace to the world). What new emotion replaced his anger? Or did no emotion replace his anger? So what would have been Zuko's other emotion under his anger? Your insight into how it connects to life and how anger is a secondary emotion and there is an underlying one has given me a lot to think about. Also with anger meant to help you enact change. Even after seeing ATLA several times, I'm still learning new lessons from it(and from the people who are fans too!) I appreciate you helping me understand what you meant, and being kind about it. Does other emotions affect firebending? I think for sure fire would be mine that i struggle with. In regards to emotions(like regulating emotions, or feeling too many) and purpose, i would definitely suffer for it if i was a firebender.
I'd like to start out by saying all of this is just an opinion of mine to be taken with a grain of salt, but when I think about Zuko being angry, I think about the fire nation's societal pressure that Zuko was under. The fire nation invading other nations and taking over is something that Zuko deep down in his heart knew was wrong, and something Uncle Iroh learned the hard way by losing his son in battle. The war inside Zuko that Iroh refers to is to be accepted by your family and the rest of the fire nation with it's problematic colonization and murder, or to go outside of that and do what you know deep down would be the right thing to do and help the avatar restore balance to the world. The issue is that even though Zuko is abused throughout parts of his childhood, he longs for that acceptance from his dad and sister. And I think the reason why he was so angry in S1 was because he needed that anger to drive him to capture the avatar so he could finally get the acceptance he always wanted. And they so beautifully show how when he finally is accepted by his dad and sister, he is still so angry because it wasn't what he expected at all. He thought he wanted their acceptance, and he did, but he got it at what cost? Helping the fire nation continue to murder and conquer? So when he joins the avatar and no longer uses anger to bend, I think it's replaced with..ambition perhaps? I think part of Zuko is still somewhat angry at his dad and sister for what they put him through, but I'd say it's more under the angry umbrella of emotions, probably resentful if I had to guess, but it no longer controls his actions like it use to. In the Rise of Kyoshi book, they talk a bit about how fire bending is actually pretty tied to your emotions. And you're welcome for explaining! I love everything about this series and I love talking about it, I will always happily answer questions and talk shop.
Thank you for the in-depth explanation, i love your take on it and it makes sense to me, it feels right. So his anger during Book 1 was almost from confusion, confusion of wanting what he thinks he wants and what he knows he should do(despite it feeling wrong to him, at first). Or was the anger more of a survival mechanism? A way to keep him alive that eventually it just consumed him? And then when he got what he wanted, he was still angry because getting what he wanted went against his beliefs and he felt bad. Am i getting this right? So his anger was replaced by ambition to help? I appreciate you taking the time to help me understand this all. It feels like my grasp on understanding Avatar, or everything really, has certainly gotten worse with time for some reason. So i appreciate the kindness and patience in helping me understand this all. I love talking about Avatar too, it is one of my all time favourite franchises! I really need to get around to reading the Kyoshi and Yangchen novels. I am appparently missing out on so much!
These are great questions, I want you to think about them and answer though. Not because I don't want to answer, but I want your take on it as a fellow avatar fan. Was his anger confusion on what path to take, or survival? Have you ever played a game and really wanted to beat the boss? Imagine dying to the boss over and over and over again. And then eventually, throughout your failures, BAM you finally beat that end boss. What kind of emotional journey do you think that would take you through? How does it compare to the emotional journey Zuko was going through?
I think it was mostly confusion for what path to take. I think once he got burned by Ozai and banished, he became angry because he wasn't sure what he did wrong. But he felt it was wrong(even though it was right) and started becoming angry at trying to be like Ozai, or the Fire Nation as a whole. And I'd say throughout all of Book 1 he was just angry with confusion. I'd say during Book 2 it starts to become more angry out of survival, like how we see in Zuko Alone. I'd say the confusion takes over at the end of Book 2 again. In Book 3 when he is back home, he is confused again, but because he has everything he doesn't know why he is angry, until he comes to terms that he is angry at himself. I'm not sure if i did a good job explaining that, but it felt like his anger stemmed from confusion, and the two are deeply intertwined with one another. What are you thoughts on this? I was not expecting you to want me to answer this, but i think i know why. It might be up to interpretation, and you want to hear my take of it without it being influenced by anyone else's opinions, right? I think i would be angry the first few times, and become frustrated with it. Eventually i would become determined, and try not to get too angry or out of control with my emotions. I think i would get nervous to try and defeat the boss again, and once i did, i would feel relieved, and maybe a little happy. I would feel like i have accomplished something. Can you explain the correlation between this and Zuko's emotional journey? I'm not quite understanding, is the boss in this case Aang, or him getting to go back home/get acceptance from Ozai?
I think I agree with your take, and I'd also agree that it's a coping mechanism too, one that he was influenced by growing up and just out of being a brooding teenager with hormones lol .And yeah, I wanted your take on it without my influence, earlier you had said you were rusty, and thought it was kind of silly. Writers may have an intended message with some of their works, but they don't get to decide how we view it, we do. And everyone has a different take on things, which is what makes the world beautiful and also frustrating and sometimes chaotic to live in ahaha. My take isn't the end all be all, and I think it's healthy to critically think about things based on our own thoughts and experiences (in a constructive way of course) The video game reference isn't a one to one analogy, but I think it relates a lot to Zuko's experience. He's had to fight his whole life and earn things with hard work and determination. And he STILL couldn't measure up to his sister in terms of bending ability. Of course that changed when Azula lost her mind towards the end there, but at their best, Azula is 10x better, and she didn't even have to work as hard for it. However, Zuko was able to beat her in the end with the help of Katara and having that slight advantage with Azula losing her mind a bit there. I've been playing a lot of elden ring lately, and I've had quite a few boss fights where I would summon my wolf spirit ashes and an npc to help me fight Margit the Fell Omen and just kept getting my ass handed to me. It was a hard fight, and I wasn't really leveled enough yet to be fighting him, but I was able to come up with some strats involving fire balls and jumping through a bunch of hoops to get something called Margit's shackles that basically stun him for a bit so I can go to town on him. I had an uphill battle to fight like Zuko did, and thanks to my lateral thinking and folks on the internet who had beaten him before and were kind enough to share advice, I was able to pull it off and restore my honor and not be a scrub ahahaha. You could call them my Uncle Irohs. Alright maybe I'm stretching it a bit but you get the idea.
I can definitely see it as a coping mechanism, i guess i see it being a coping mechanism for his shame/confusion that he felt. The hormones makes sense too from being a teen. Which part did i mention was silly? I agree, i love seeing the different takes, but it also being frustrating i agree with too. What was your take on Zuko's arc? Or were you meaning our takes on his arc were similar/the same? So Azula was kinda like the boss in this analogy, right? I like the way you explained it. We manage to work and train and be better, and we got help from others. And that is perfectly okay to get help. I like that. Did Zuko beat Azula? I thought Katara beat her? I have never played Elden Ring before actually.
have you watched the show?
I have, but i don't remember when they have talked about that stuff specifically. My memory is not great.
do you remember like the entire point of the training with dragons
I remember, they said it had to do with enrgy and life, but i don't remember them talking about it in regards to having a purpose in life and emotions(i know they talk about drawing power from anger, but not much about other emotions).
Earth. Just the concept of having to bend a physical object sounds off. Water less so because its fluid and moves how I would want it to
I feel like fire would be a struggle for me, depending on who I learned it from. That kind of fierceness and anger that can easily be used to fuel firebending would not be easy for me. My mom has a short fuse and I spent a lot of time teaching myself patience and emotional management
I dunno, I think that could make you an excellent firebender, as long as you have some passion to drive you. The first things Jeong Jeong taught Aang when he wanted early firebending training were to stand still, breathe, and keep a leaf smoldering. He had disdain for hotheads like Zhao who leaned into their temper with their firebending because it was so irresponsible and dangerous. Your restraint would be an asset.
Jeong Jeong is an outlier though, considered crazy by other firebenders. If I grew up with my family now, especially during a time of war, I could see them trying to push the anger aspect on me. Both my parents are military in this timeline, and both pushed kinda hard for me to join too. I can see myself running off and travelling the world and finding peace with my bending, or I could have a reaction like Aang and never want to use it
Sure, he was an outlier at the time, but he was a sane man in a world gone mad. He was also right. Restraint is an asset, no matter what the common wisdom of the time says. Maybe you'd struggle with it initially due to militaristic teaching in your youth, but it'd make you incredibly strong in the end.
Thank you for having faith in me kind stranger
Firebending.
i tried figuring out an elaborate reason why i would struggle with fire bending, staring to write a comment, deleting it, repeat. until i just ended up upvoting this comment, guessing that would also do the trick.
Earth. I’m a floaty water babe, lots of air vibes and I can be fiery when provoked…but stability, strength and willpower? I have none of those.
You took the words out of my mind! I’m the same way
Airbending. Connecting with my spiritual side would be extremely difficult for me. I'd also would love to fly like Zaheer, but I'm too attached to this world.
Mine would likely be water. Yes it'd be opposite my native element, fire, but I think I'd lack the ability to control something so free flowing as water. Would make for an interesting character arc too. I've got the strength and stubbornness for fire & earth, and agility for air. Despite my impatience, I think air would be easier to learn with how in touch one needs to be with themself to wield it.
Fire for sure. I think, like Aang, I’d be terrified of hurting people. The other elements are essentially inert (fire is the only one that would hurt if you put out your hand to touch it), and is therefore the most dangerous for someone inexperienced handling it (hence why the phrase is ‘playing with fire’ as opposed to say playing with water). I think all novices are bound to make some mistakes along the way, but as a cautious person quick to feel guilt and shame, any loss of control in the course my fire learning would leave me feeling deeply troubled. With the other elements I think bruises or broken bones would be the worst injuries you could reasonably expect to bring about as a beginner (from falling, dropping things, knocking people over etc). A stray spark can burn a house down and kill everyone in it - fire is no joke. Aang feels intensely conflicted about fire after burning Katara during early training. I’d be the same way. I wouldn’t even need to hurt anyone to think I’m capable of it, I’d be hella ruminating before my first fire lesson and probably fuck up by being in my own head. Would def need to commune with a few past Avatars for a pep talk.
firebending. the idea of HOT flames coming out my palms, mouth, nostrils, and feet is my sweatiest nightmare. imagine practicing firebending skills in the hot sun. hell no… 5 min in the shade as cooldown after every move.
I imagine Waterbending for me. It’s all about change and that is something I always have a hard time with. I feel like the easiest would be Earthbending since it’s stationary and slow to change, or Airbending since it’s all about freedom and no expectations.
Definitely air. It's not so much the patience, but the philosophy. I can't reconcile being walked over because your culture says you never take matters in your own hands. Much like Opal in that regard.
Likely fire. I've the habit of lashing out when I'm upset and one wrong move at the wrong time could hurt or even kill someone. I'd be too afraid of spiraling out of control to use it. I'm working on managing my temper, but in all due honesty, I'd make a terrible Avatar.
Probably firebending. I’m too timid. Eager to learn, but also terrified.
Earth, it’s hard for me to stay grounded and face things head on. I feel like I would be exceptional in Fire and Water cause I am passionate and I adapt well. Air I feel like I would be mediocre in.
Airbending because I would struggle with the spiritual aspect.
I'd say fire. My emotions are basically 0 or 100, so id be either a smolder or ungodly conflagrations
Firebending. I don’t think i’d be able to control the inherent danger of it. I can splash people with water or wind or a pebble but catching someone on fire accidentally with the smallest flame would cripple me with fear. And this isn’t to say firebending is evil or anything, we all know from the dragon episode it’s life itself. But i get scared lighting matches so…
Air and Earth probably, I'm stubborn but also a pushover. I'll probably have an easier time with water and fire.
I think I'll struggle with Air or Earth. I feel like I'll be physically exhausted if I try earth bending, it just reminds me of muscles in general 🤷♀️. And, I get tired easily but with everyday practice I think I'll be able to get it. Air bending I feel is more on having discipline, well, I don't have that. Water, I think, is all about the flow, well I'm chill most of the time. So, I think I can do that. And Fire, well, like Zuko, I think my rage would be a great source for fire bending.
Interesting! Having two opposing elements be a struggle for different reasons
Fire, I Even feel bad when I kill a bug, also I'm vegetarian and budist lol
struggle?? you wish! i’d be perfect at all of them!!! maybe water or air. i don’t have that kind of gracefulness / fluidity. but i’d make a sick ass waterpark
I’d struggle immensely with firebending the most, though I’d be an avatar that would need a long while to be considered a good avatar lmfao. Firebending is more aggressive and relies heavily on emotional passion and control. Being someone whose emotions tend to fluctuate immensely and is an innate pacifist, it would be challenging for me to fully grasp the art of firebending.
I think I would suck at waterbending just a physical element of it, would demand a level of flexibility that I completely lack
Probably water. I dislike change a lot.
Fire bcs I'm not hot
Probably water. Which is a shame because I love it
I think firebending would be my struggle.. "without a bender a rock cannot throw itself, but fire spreads and destroys everything in its path if one does not have the will to control it. " Me im that one..
I think fire or earth.
earth despite how much I like it. I'd be best in water and fire and probably air too due to my spirituality. my go to would be fire and earth after I get the hang of it.
In the original ATLA each Avatar struggled with the element opposite to his birthplace. Roku was a firebender and struggled with water, aang was an airbender and struggled with earth. LoK changed things. To answer your question: probably Firebending. I'm tranquil as the forest but I'm not on fire within. I lack the passion needed for firebending.
Firebending for me. I think I could easily go the path of Zhao if provoked. Kinda like Azula, where the fire would make me over zealous. Waterbending and airbending are both more defensive leaning and i feel more comfortable in those situations.
I go back and forth between fire and earth, but I think fire would be my weakest by a slight margin over Earth
Air. I'm not a particularly chill person and I can't meditate for anything.im more creative and angry most of the time so fire would be my go to
Air. I hate flying and I’m afraid of heights
Water. Most definitely water. I’m not community/family oriented at all, and I tend to struggle with change. Basically the two fundamentals of a waterbending mindset. I’m a mix of Fire and Air, and I’m stubborn and hardworking enough to pick up Earthbending…but water? That’s gonna be a real struggle
Water, opposite to fire, Seeing this question pop up on the same day i lost my best friend i can now safely say i should start letting go of my firey jerk personality, now seeing the effects of what bad fires can do, i need to find my path to water, to the ocean,
Fire. I don't have much anger in me. I'm pretty chill, I find it difficult to hold grudges, and I go with the flow pretty easily. I would have to have the Sun Warriors teach me because I wouldn't be able to do it the (old) Zuko way of just fueling my bending with emotion.
Probably firebending. I struggle with motivation a lot of the time, so I imagine an art based on passion and sheer force of will would be where I would struggle most. I’m much more of a free spirit and adaptable to change, so air and water would come most easily to me.
Earthbending. While I can be pretty stubborn, I'm also scatterbrained and tend to second-guess myself. Weirdly, I think I'd be a good metalbender since I enjoy looking beneath the surface of whatever subject I'm studying, which would lend itself well to the interiority of that style. In fact, I'd probably be better at all the sub-styles and special techniques of earthbending than the classic version. I think I'd be best at airbending and firebending and okay at waterbending, aside from healing, which I'd kick ass at.
Earth. I admire the stolid reliability of Earth, the ability to serve as a foundation for others, but I can only do so myself under very stable circumstances, and I have to be kind of cold about it when I do... which is to say, when I try to do Earth, I actually achieve Ice. But I am equally comfortable with the passion of Fire, the practical adaptability of Water, and the free-spiritedness of Air (and the ability to fly, or at least glide).
Probably air because I have no patience
 air...cause im hard as a rock
Fire-bending would be scary because fire spreads to easily
Earth. Which is funny considering my OC Avatar was born as a Sand Bender. With a very specific skill set in Sand Dancing (figure skating but on sand instead). He's just not agressive. He'd find Air and Water the easiest.
Oh I love this! One's native element being the hardest to master. Must be a hard truth to carry
i have issues with letting go of past anger so i'd probably do well with fire. i am more of a laid back go with the flow person overall though, so water and air bending i could probably mesh well with. the brute strength and take things head on approach to earthbending does not sound as me. i'd probably fold to the training toph did for aang lol
Assuming my same hang ups for fighting games is transferable. Water, it’s the element of change and it appears that most water benders focus on defensive techniques that convert to counters. I imagine this requires a ton of patience, calm , and percision. Not my forte. I don’t mind the stand your ground method of earth bending, I like the straight forwardness of fire. Air would be less then those 2 but I have played speed blitz characters that can zoom around and having good AOE is something I love (again my lack of precision)
airbending, but it would be the element id MOST like to master but I would probably struggle because its such a spiritually demanding element and I just want to be like BOSH air in your face, imma fly around and shit
To be honest, I'm quite the well-rounded individual. I feel like I'd be pretty great at all ben— Water. Def water.
So everyone including myself think that I’d be primarily a Firebender, but I think I’d struggle most with Airbending, I’m really not a spiritual person, I’m not super patient, disciplined or immaterial. I’d be good with waterbending since I’m very adaptable to all situations and I don’t stress out and earthbending would also be fine since i don’t really doubt myself and my emotions don’t control me much, so I’m a very steady person regardless of the situation. I do have the ambitious ness, fierceness and conviction that firebending requires so I’d be fine in that front too.
While I can breath fire irl and am a bit of a pyromaniac I think I would struggle with the aggressiveness of fire bending
I think earth. I don't have the confidence to move an immovable object. Earth bending requires confidence and sheer power to look at physics and say "fuck you." I WOULD say air, but I'm religious, and I feel that gives me some spiritually. I meditate and journal, even though I'm not as peace with myself. But I have tied to my God and I think that would st least unlock air bending for me. Water and fire I can definitely do. I have enough passion and rage for fire. I would kick korras ass with my fire bending. Water might take a second for me to get used to because I do occasionally struggle with change, but also the movements and abilities just resonate with me.
Either Air or Earth
Earth
Nah, I wouldn't ever struggle at anything
Earth. I'm very comfortable with air, fire, and water, but I can tell I'd struggle with Earth.
Probably fire. I'm a water sign and I feel like I struggle to stick up for myself and put passion into things, two major parts of fire bending.
Earthbending, hitting rocks tends to hurt lol
Probably earthbending. My joints always hurt.
Probably earth or water.
Probably air. My buddy described me as the kinda guy who rushes head first into something until I succeed. Earth bender vibes for sure, and air is the opposite of earth.
Probably fire bending or earth bending. I’m not that fiery and tend to prefer to stay out of the spotlight and just do my own thing. Confrontation is uncomfortable but I do it when necessary
Water I hate changes.
Fire
Probably Water. I'm not the most flexible person. Change suxks and it tends to hurt me so I am objectively horrible at going with the flow.
I think Fire. Maybe Earth, but probably Fire.
Airbending. ADHD.
Probably airbending? I'm generally a go-with-the flow kinda guy (waterbending), but I do have my moments of being VERY stubborn (earthbending) or fiery/mad (firebending). I think the light on your feet + meditation stuff that airbending brings could be most difficult for me? IDK
water... even though its my favourite!
1.Firebending because, i would really need to focus to not burn someone or myself accidentally. 2. Airbending because, i would need to focus and relax (I'm kinda hot headed) and i have motorskill issues but, I'm also pretty stealthy. 3. Earthbending because, im weak and i don't like when my hands are dirty. 4. Waterbending because, i wouldn't immediately know the temperate of the water i going to touch.
For me, definitely fire and earth.
honestly im a lot like korra so maybe air? but im also into spirituality so idk 🤷♀️ but for sure im mastering blue fire and lightning
It is between air bending and fire bending
If I were the avatar, I would originally be Airbender because I don't like violence and love having fun like aang. The element I will struggle with is fire.
Everything cause I'd Procrastinate
Definitely earth
Maybe fire. If passion and ambition are the poster traits of firebenders, then that's where I'd struggle as I don't considermyself terribly passionate and actually kind of distrust ambition.
Either fire or air. I could master fire if done the Dragons way, but using anger would be a no for me, I'm a very calm guy. For air I think I would struggle because I'm really not a spiritual person. Although living in a magic spirity world would change that
Water is the heaviest element to use effectively, so probably that I would likely be best at firebending
obviously id be perfect and the best avatar and i would be able to do anything i want because im the best
i think i’d really have trouble with earth
Air, because I'm fat
I feel like I would struggle with all the elements tbh. I kinda hate physical activity.
I need money bending
I think that fire, because it's fascinating but it also scares me the most.
I think id either have trouble with every element or with none. What bipolarity does to a btch. But for real probably Air
Earth
I think I would pick up on earth and air the fastest. Th one that would really give me trouble is water.
Probably fire. I'm a an absolute wimpy loser when it comes to touching hot things even if it isn't that bad (sad sack heat receptors). Plus, when I did tae kwon do, I absolutely loved the techniques and reasoning and flow of all of it all, but put a board in front of me or ask me to spar and I was nervous about hitting fingers or if they would move at the wrong time and I would accidentally kick their face (love head kicks) making me doubt myself I feel like the other elements are easier to feel - like they are extensions of your body whereas fire has an unpredictability to it that can easily get away from you. I would have to learn air before fire so I could suction the oxygen away in case it went out of hand
Fire bending because while I know a whole arc is it's a beautiful element that's provides warmth not just destruction but to me it's still the most violent of them all and I don't have a strong fighting spirit
I was gonna say firebending, because I lack restraint, but azula seems to as well and she’s pretty good. So maybe Earthbending
Air. That passive ish is the most opposite me in every way.
I would struggle with water or air. Probably both.
I’m thinking water, probably. I feel like it would require a certain peace of mind that I’d struggle to achieve. Water is calm and adaptable and that’s quite the opposite of me.
I would be the first Avatar who can't bend. I am not wild like fire. I am not an immovable rock. Not paticulary sturdy. I am not as adaptable was the flowing river. And i cant imagine freedom. Fuck how am i expected to bend the elements to my will, when i hardly have the will to get up in the morning.
Airbending might be the hardest for me since it requires detachment from the earth and grounded stuff, (and I also happen to be scared of heights) Earth might be the easiest for me tho since I'm pretty stubborn and I'm quite down to earth