The 10 strongest benders in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender,’ ranked

Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender introduced viewers to a whole cast of characters with amazing abilities. These people have the ability to control the elements, and only one of them can control them all. These characters have specifically shown their unique set of skills and what makes them different from other benders.

Whether it’s using their gifts as external senses or going above and beyond to prove themselves worthy, all the characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender have shown how far their powers could go, whether it’s for good or for evil. And here are the top 10 strongest characters in the show that were able to showcase that.

10. Azula

Azula was seen as the child prodigy in the fire nation royal family. The was more talented in firebending as a young child compared to Zuko and was trusted by her father to not only capture the Avatar but was also declared the new queen of the Fire Nation before Zuko and Katara took her down. Also, she’s capable of manipulating lighting, something that only a few characters could do in the series. The only reason why she isn’t the strongest is because she uses fear to control others, which obviously played a role to her downfall.

9. King Bumi

King Bumi is a ruler in the Earth Kingdom and an Order of the White Lotus member that people seem to underestimate. Sure, he was captured by the Fire Nation, but that was because it was a wise decision. He knew that there is a better opportunity to strike and that wasn’t when Omashu was invaded. He was patient enough to wait for the eclipse and was able to free himself then. Not only that, he used all the energy he save up to reclaim the city back from the Fire Nation. He may be old, but he’s very wise.

8. Avatar Kyoshi

Out of Avatar Aang’s past lives that he met, Avatar Kyoshi was someone who had done incredible feats to the point where she is remembered by future generations. However, some argued that what she did was somewhat cowardly and oddly convenient when it came to stopping Chin the Conqueror. All she did was split the peninsula where she lived, which also led to Chin’s death. So in a way, she really didn’t fight the big bad and opted to run away. However, she did use a mix of lava and airbending to make this possible and her talents inspired those from Kyoshi Island that even young women have the strength to fight.

7. Prince Zuko

Speaking of the fire nation siblings, Prince Zuko was able to outmatch his sister, despite him being seen as a failure by his father. But thanks to his journey with Iroh and obtaining wisdom from the dragons, he was able to find his own strength and was able to find firebending techniques to defeat his power-hungry sister. While Zuko may not be the most powerful firebender, he does have something that defines his own strength — his definition of honor and his willingness to give mercy.

Also, it was foretold by the fire sages in the graphic novels that a “powerful lineage of rulers would come forth from a marital union between a descendant of Avatar Roku and the Fire Lord’s bloodline” (aka Zuko’s mother and father). So perhaps he was the ruler that had been prophesied.

6. Hama

Hama was one of the surviving Southern Water Tribe water benders and managed to escape thanks to the discovery of bloodbending, a water bending art that manipulates humans. She was so strong that people in a small town feared her. She was also seen as scary to Katara, who was excited to see another water bender just like her. She has to be the most deadliest waterbender in existence as not only she’s able to manipulate life, but she can also take it on a whim.

5. King Ozai

Ozai declared himself as ‘The Phoenix King’ for a reason. He’s one of the strongest firebenders to date. And while it was curious to see if he could be defeated by Iroh, stopping this firebending maniac has to be done by the hands of the Avatar. Since his introduction in the show, he was portrayed as this menacing and intimidating figure in the fire nation that he has the guts to harm his own son. Ozai’s full potential was also witnessed at the show’s finale, where his firebending skills could wipe out forests, can fly, and had a power level equal to a fully realized Avatar. He may be strong, but he’s not strong enough.

4. Katara

Katara was able to prove her worth as a water bender after she was criticized by Master Pakku that “female waterbenders are only good for healing.” In the end, she became a waterbending master, a first in his class. Alongside her fighting skills, she’s also a good healer and was able to help her friends when injured. Katara may be kind and hopeful at heart, but when provoked, that’s when she’s able to demonstrate her strength.

3. Iroh

Iroh was the fire nation’s greatest general before he failed his siege of Ba Sing Se. Regardless, he was next in line for the fire nation throne, before the crown was moved to Ozai upon Azulon’s dying request. Regardless, he’s still a wise firebender since he’s able to learn firebending techniques inspired by the other nations, and was able to teach one of them to Zuko. It’s also interesting how everyone in the Fire Nation underestimates this man due to his age and “failures.” Like he was taunted when he was in prison but was able to train himself and fool the guards to prepare for his grand escape. This man is someone not to mess with.

2. Toph Beifong

Toph has to be one of the strongest members of Team Avatar. First of all, she learned earthbending through the badgermoles, a type of animal that can navigate their surroundings using their other senses. Also, she is the first to master and create metal bending, a specialized earthbending skill that can manipulate processed metal by finding traces of “unpurified” crude earth embedded in the material. Let’s not forget how at age 12, she was one of the strongest benders in an underground earth bending tournament as ‘The Blind Bandit.’ For someone blind, she’s really tough.

1. Aang

And as obvious, Aang has to be the strongest bender in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not only is he the Avatar, but he was able to end the hundred-year war at age 12, and was able to do it without death. He was able to trap King Ozai and take away his bending for good during Sozin’s comment, the day when fire benders receive a boost in power. Not to mention, he had until the summer to master all four elements, unlike other Avatars that received years worth of training. If that isn’t enough proof to showcase just how powerful this 12-year-old air bender monk is, I don’t know what to tell you.