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Waterbending has 2 variants, each with their unique advanced forms. (self.TheLastAirbender)

submitted ago by Seraph451

Waterbending has 2 forms, attack and healing. Advanced attack form is bloodbending. What's the advanced healing? Stasis.

First episode, Aang's flashback to getting frozen in ice, we see him go into the avatar state as he's about to drown. He freezes the ice around him and goes into hibernation until someone else pulls him out.

A very advanced healer might learn to put themselves or others into stasis, allowing them to prevent that person from dying.

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[–]Mellytonin 18 points19 points ago

I love this theory! So advanced firebending is lightning, metalbending is advanced earthbending... What's advanced Airbending?

[–]Don't forget Master Pabu!Gammaj4 12 points13 points ago

It's been suggested that it may, in fact, be climate control. you'll notice that Aang always wears the same clothes. Even when Katara and Sokka have switched to fur parkas because, you know, they're at the North Pole, Aang keeps wearing the same stuff he wears everywhere else.

[–]The Pebblezenthor109 5 points6 points ago

that's interesting. but i think there needs to be more evidence than a lack of changing clothes

[–]Don't forget Master Pabu!Gammaj4 6 points7 points ago

It is admittedly based on very weak evidence.

[–]kazegami 7 points8 points ago

I recall something about using air to bend soundwaves.

[–]The era of shipping is overmonkeking 0 points1 point ago

Yes, this is the correct answer.

[–]The Pebblezenthor109 15 points16 points ago

personally i think it would be pressure bending. as in controlling the air pressure in and around a person. this theoretically means they can explode people (think of suddenly losing your space suit while in space).

[–]Izawwlgood 3 points4 points ago

Der, you wouldn't explode. You'd at worst, suffer from extreme vertigo as your inner ear ruptures and is unable to tell you up from down.

I think we never see 'advanced airbending', aside from Aang's creation of the air scooter, because all the air nomads are gone.

[–]The Pebblezenthor109 2 points3 points ago

so you're saying if an astronaut loses their spacesuit all they suffer is vertigo? well damn...

[–]Izawwlgood 0 points1 point ago

No, they'll die in pretty short order due to asphyxiation. But you don't explode. Your eyes don't burst, your blood doesn't boil. People can survive total vacuum for short periods of time.

An advanced airbender could probably force extremely high pressure air down the throat of a victim, causing them to pop, but that's quite the opposite of your notion.

[–]The Pebblezenthor109 3 points4 points ago

yes, you are right you wouldn't explode in a complete vacuum. but in order to save face, and regain some pride i would like to point out that i did in face preface that statement with "theoretically."

[–]The First Soundbender :googolplexbyte 0 points1 point ago

IIRC when someone is placed in a vacuum they die of a heart attack, not asphyxiation.

[–]Izawwlgood 0 points1 point ago

Don't think so. Find some info! IIRC that experiments that resulted in accidental depressurization of astronauts led to them blacking out within 5-10s.

There's no physiological reason, aside from maybe embolisms, that would result in a heart attack in a vacuum.

[–]Prestian 0 points1 point ago

I'm pretty sure Tenzin will have been taught the air nomad culture.

[–]Izawwlgood 0 points1 point ago

Certainly, but in the LAB universe, the entirety of air nomad culture is seen in the explorations or recollections of a 12 year old boy. We have no idea what 'advanced airbending' is going to entail.

[–]Dai Li AgentShakerzaman 7 points8 points ago

Well I always liked to think Advanced Airbending was like taking the air out from peoples lungs. But since the monks are peaceful they forbade the teaching of it.

[–]skaijo 1 point2 points ago

"asshole scientist"/ I don't see how taking air out of peeps lungs would do much of anything. Waterbenders would have a significantly greater impact on lungs than Airbenders, since lungs are mostly water. Air->Lungs->Bloodstream is largely controlled through diffusion and assisted by the expansion of the chest, which really does all of the work in terms of the breathing (lungs are just along for the ride). The whole point is that although we need lungs to breath, they don't really do any of the work in terms of breathing--they're just a site for diffusion. If advanced airbending dealt with lung attacks, it'd be a major waste of skill considering firebenders get lightening.

tl:dr Plus I could just close my noes.

[–]Dai Li AgentShakerzaman 0 points1 point ago

I dunno I guess I thought of something akin to like what Red Tornado does (hey he also has an arrow on his head!) When he spins around and just sucks the oxygen out of the air. But I guess it doesn't really make sense.

[–]The Pebblezenthor109 0 points1 point ago

yeah, this was always my belief. the early airbenders realized that controlling the air around people is the most deadly, because it includes, suffocation, expansion of lungs, decompression of the air around you, (which to me seems more cruel than being crushed by a rock, burned, or drowned) plus the power of flight. So they decided to detach themselves from the world and become peaceful.

[–]lavakeese 3 points4 points ago

I like this.

[–]Legollama 2 points3 points ago

Some people say it's the spiritbending thing the lion turtle teaches Aang, but I'm not too sure about that.

[–]all-she-wrote 5 points6 points ago

... that doesn't make sense to me, either. I'd think bending the elements stems from spiritbending/energybending, with each element being a sort of derivative of the original discipline. It's something that transcends earth-bound, physical manifestations.

[–]RushofBlood52 4 points5 points ago

Didn't that lion turtle say that's what they bent before they bent elements?

[–]Grimant 1 point2 points ago

Energybending is what they had before elementbending

[–]DISRESPECT YOUR SURROUNDINGS!prances_with_pantses 1 point2 points ago

So... Dragonball? ;)

[–]rainydayman15 -1 points0 points ago

flying with no glider

[–]The First Soundbender :googolplexbyte 0 points1 point ago

I think the wiki says it is sound bending, also Aang didn't know water bending yet when he froze himself, although I suppose he was in the avatar state. plus there is also plant bending...

[–]twunger 0 points1 point ago

Plant bending is just blood-bending for plants...A.K.A waterbending.

[–]supernova812 0 points1 point ago

Well we know that know that Air and Earth are opposites, as is the same as fire and water. so:

fire (lightning) opposes water (healing) i.e. destroying vs. restoring.

earth (metal bending) opposes air (ethereal) i.e. maybe tangible vs. intangible

[–]majeric 0 points1 point ago

Spirit bending?

[–]uro627 0 points1 point ago

A common theory is Soundbendeing. Makes sense when you think about it considering sound is simply vibrations traveling through air. And Aang has used airbending to amplify sound at least once in the series (Tales of Ba Sing Se). But that's not quite as epic as the other advanced forms like lightning, metalbending and bloodbending, IMO.

[–]Matt0753 0 points1 point ago

To become an air bending master one must master 36 air bending techniques. Aang mastered 35 and invented the air scooter technique which made him a master. The only one he didn't master was the deadly attack of air bending the air from the opponents lungs. I didn't make this up.

[–]AlienSamuraiNewt 1 point2 points ago

Hopefully we'll find out in The Legend of Korra!

[–]Prestian -2 points-1 points ago*

Advanced firebending is "Blue Fire". Lightning is a special technique of firebending, just like healing is a special technique of waterbending.

[–]darthjon 1 point2 points ago

No, the blue fire was because Azula's fire was so hot, advanced firebending is still lightning. I think the explicitly state that some people had blue fire, and Azula's ability to easily produce lightning came from the fact that she is essentially a sociopath

[–]ToggleOff 14 points15 points ago

Does each element have two components to it?

Water has attack and healing as you mentioned.

Fire has the direct control of fire, but also the control of heat. Fire Lord Sozin redirected the heat out of the volcano to rapidly cool the lava.

Earth lets you move rocks and...swim around underground like Bumi does? I'm not very sure about this one.

Air would have the combat portion and the flight portion? Advanced flight might be flying without a glider which Aang does in his avatar state.

[–]cybergeek11235 7 points8 points ago

If firebenders can control heat - and i'm not saying they can't! - would they then be able to mimic airbending by controlling air temperatures around them? You know, creating thermal currents and such?

[–]scsingh93 5 points6 points ago

It would probably be impossibly difficult to do it to the same extent, though.

[–]The Pebblezenthor109 -1 points0 points ago

i agree, it think the most they could do would be able to change the direction of the wind.

[–]cybergeek11235 0 points1 point ago

I was thinking more for something akin to paragliding, actually; not so much with the general day-to-day stuff.

[–]The era of shipping is overmonkeking 0 points1 point ago

I like to think that firebenders control the energy that is transferred from molecules to molecules which result in heat, while airbenders control the movement of the molecules itself. So they're actually using different techniques to do the same thing.

Just like waterbenders can get water out of air by condensation, airbenders , theoretically, too can get water through compression of particles in air.

[–]francoferret 0 points1 point ago

It would seem logical to me that they can only control the temperature of fire/lava.

[–]Seraph451[S] 3 points4 points ago

This is a really good thought. For earthbending I would say it's control of both movement and shape, which allows powerful benders like bumi to tunnel around.

[–]SolidShepard 5 points6 points ago

I actually just finished rewatching the series with my roommate, and I never really felt satisfied with the whole "spirit-bending" ending, because they had never hinted at any spirit-bending or wise Lion Turtles in the whole show except for that one time in The Library where Katara found that some past avatar had met a Lion Turtle. But then, I got to thinking, Aang's huge blue pillar of light is almost EXACTLY like the one that came out of his iceberg in the VERY FIRST EPISODE. Maybe his stasis was actually spirit-bending, rather than advanced healing?

I'm sure someone somewhere has made the connection before, its just not a theory I've heard, so I thought I'd share it.

[–]Izawwlgood 1 point2 points ago

No, freezing himself in ice was due to the Avatar's defense mechanism, not 'advanced water bending'. Otherwise, we would see other advanced healers doing it.

[–]The Pebblezenthor109 1 point2 points ago

yes, it was the Avatar defense mechanism, but remember he gets all of the experience from his past lives. think of it as a bunch of people bending the same water, which would be powerful bending. i think its fair to say that it is advanced waterbending. but better categorized as "really very difficult advanced waterbending"

[–]Izawwlgood -1 points0 points ago

Then again, why don't we ever see anyone do it? Not past lives, not other water benders?

[–]The Pebblezenthor109 1 point2 points ago

when in the series does a waterbender need to cryogenically freeze someone? i mean they don't explain lightning bending until the second season, and they don't even introduce metal bending until the end of that season. its not that they can't do it, its just that there hasn't been a reason for anyone to do it.

[–]Izawwlgood 1 point2 points ago

It's just that your idea is hand wavy at best and not based on anything in the series itself. I think at one point, they even say "Aang, you froze yourself in a block of ice as part of the Avatars defense mechanism". Whereas every other 'advanced technique' in the series is explained as being a product of a bending style, or duplicated by others in the series.

[–]The Pebblezenthor109 -1 points0 points ago

I think at one point, they even say "Aang, you froze yourself in a block of ice as part of the Avatars defense mechanism"

if this is true, then can you provide the episode in which they say this. because if so i will gladly concede this argument. if not then i still believe that it is a very advanced form of water bending, and with enough training/people and conditions are right, it is very possible.

[–]Izawwlgood 0 points1 point ago

I don't have an episode, but from the Avatar Wiki:

Aang saved himself and Appa while semi-conscious by entering the Avatar State, freezing the two in a sphere of ice by using a combination of Airbending and Waterbending.

Which is linked to S1E12. This seems to suggest 'stasis' is not at all an advanced water bending technique, but is actually a by product of being the avatar.

[–]The Pebblezenthor109 1 point2 points ago

okay, so it was a combination of air and water, meaning that it is not solely a waterbending technique, which proves me wrong. it is something only the avatar can do so it can't be advanced waterbending. thank you for enlightening me =]

[–]Seraph451[S] 0 points1 point ago

The avatar wiki is edited by users. I'd like to see something from the creators of the show or the story writers about it before I concede to a wiki.

Besides, how can this defense mechanism work if he isn't underwater? We see no airbending at work there, and additionally a form of stasis makes much more canonical sense within the Avatar universe than the "oh it's a defense mechanism".

Just my two cents.

[–]Izawwlgood 0 points1 point ago

Meh, I disagree. He formed an airbubble around himself, and froze the water outside. He did all this WHILE IN THE AVATAR STATE. Thus, 'advanced water bending being stasis' is actually less canonical sense within the universe. Again, it's mentioned that the avatar state put him in stasis, not 'utilizing advanced water bending', which again, was never mentioned in the series.

[–]Seraph451[S] 0 points1 point ago

The Avatar state doesn't have any special abilities beyond what the avatar has already, it just increases his power and experience (also range). He can mix different bending abilities even when not in the avatar state. The Avatar state has even been called a defense mechanism itself (meaning the increase in power/range/experience), but the abilities of the avatar are still limited by what the bending arts can do.

Watching the scene again, I can see when Katara releases him there's a release of steam, so he did create an air bubble. However that doesn't mean that the air bubble was a necessary part of the stasis.

There's no connection between airbending and any kind of stasis or healing in the series, but waterbending does have that connection. So possibly he created the air bubble to hold himself within stasis because he was underwater.

Anyway, the original post was just idle musing, and a way to explain where the iceberg came from. I can't imagine any kind of time or stasis bending being associated with anything other than water.

[–]divinesleeper 0 points1 point ago

OR the advanced water healers could speed up others' blood flow, increasing the speed at which they obtain energy and nutritions, effectively allowing them to be stronger and last longer in battle.

[–]Seraph451[S] 0 points1 point ago

sounds like those energy candy things they eat in Naruto.

You'd also burn through your body's available energy pretty quick, and need to replenish or die from lack of nutrition/hydration.

[–]divinesleeper 0 points1 point ago

Actually I envisioned it more like Gear 2 from One Piece. I don't really enjoy Naruto :P

[–]The Disco Infernocitrusfury 0 points1 point ago

I like to think that, in the past, there were benders of legendary power who discovered devastating techniques, similar to mythical warriors in Asian martial arts. However, these techniques were either forbidden or shunned for their brutality, or benders nowadays aren't powerful enough to do them/ there are no scrolls/teachers who can teach them.

Airbenders would suffocate and pressurize/depressurize people, Firebenders would manipulating body temperature, Waterbenders used bloodbending to screw with people's circulatory systems (i.e. sending bloodflow in the wrong direction, forcing someone to bleed, flooding/draining the heart), and Earthbending is pretty brutal already if you think about it. I mean, getting a boulder chucked at you? That would hurt.

So why wouldn't an Avatar know these techniques?

If these hypothetical super-benders did exist, there's no guaranteeing that one was an Avatar.

Also, a previous Avatar may have helped kill/control them so that such violent methods could never be used.

On top of that, the Avatar's job is peacekeeping and restoring balance. If an Avatar ever learned and used them, they would probably have become victim to some bad karma for overstepping their responsibilities or using unnecessarily force, similar to how Avatar Kuruk lost his wife to Koh for being lazy.

[–]Aracksonrackz 0 points1 point ago

the more advanced form of airbending should be soundbending. think about it; sound is just the vibratoion of the air around you

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