How they took out the girl combustion bender in Korra was one of the most hardcore things I have seen in a kids show and I'm surprised they got away with it.
@@lucajustluca8257 Wait, isn't the Fire Nation based, as least partially, on Japan? And Combustion Man is a Fire Nation citizen. So... Japan blowing itself up?
not really, combustion man blew himself up. sokka did defeat him but didnt kill him since comsbution man was the one to pull the trigger knwoing what happens if someone hits him in the head
@@edselcervantes6229 if you push a man who was planning to throw a grenade and making him drop tha grenade and kill himself. You still have killed a man with his own grenade.
@@Oscar-j6b but sokka hit him and ran away, combustion had time to ran away and not use his beam thing. the anology would be more of your weapon been jam and if you use it it will explode on your face
Sokka is the only master of Boomerang bending we've seen--and thus a more powerful entity than the Avatar themself! This is without taking into account the Space Sword, Cactus Juice and that Mushroom we presume is friendly. Sokka is THE MAN!
Imagine an Avatar that can use every sub bending art. Lava, metal, lightning, sparky sparky booming, flying, healing, and blood bending. That would be broken. I want it
@@deviljho4260 Avatar Kyoshi lived for 200 years and 4 elements with 8 sub categories of bending, an avatar who lives as long as her could learn almost all of them except flying as its impossible to learn as the avatar
you'd think as long as some avatar learned one a some point, then the Avatar State would be able to metal/lava/etc. bend everything. I guess tho, we never see a situation where the Avatar State would be better off using one of those instead of the base elements.
I actually a have a theory one the tattoos myself, I think that they’re used as focal points for the technique. Now at first this is very obvious but I’d like to point out that sparky doesn’t blow up upon getting hit, he blows himself up after he loses focus. My idea is that it takes a tremendous amount of focus to perform the technique (after all your literally focusing a condensed stream of air and fire) and that the tattoos are there to help that. Just a few other things also, I’ve noticed that both benders using this style had to face what they want to attack (more evidence on focus being important). Also it’s important to note that we don’t see either bender create an attack anywhere other than the tattoo.
@@adrianmcbride1666 I assume that's just because she's more skilled than SSBM, the way it's first shown is kind of implying that considering ssbm never did it
Seeing how Air Nomads can control the temperature of Air and are very spiritually enlightened it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that they could combustion bend.
This does seem reasonable. What if combustion benders are not firebenders, but rather airbenders. If you compress air down to a small anough point, it's going to heat up immensly and by releasing that air, you might create an explosion.
10:00 in the episode "the chase", when tai li chi blockes katara in one hand the other hand continues to bend the water until its blocked too. what I'm trying to say here, is that fire bending works in a different way. the breath ignites. the stomach feeds. the muscles direct it out of the body (or in this case the forehead) and the beliefs are pushing the flame out. when zuko is trying to lightning bend he is correct at all stages exept the needed push from his beliefs. because of that, it blows up in his face. when combustion man's chi point of the forehead is blocked, all the stages are opporational, exept the way out. so the fire, to say it simply, makes its way out.
Love your videos. As a parent of a 3 year old, the comment about a 4 year old who learns they can create fire with their hands who lives in a house made of wood has broken my immersion in the world of Avatar. Every family in the Fire Nation would be one tantrum away from becoming homeless at any time!
Prob the fire nation knew this and their houses were built out of cement, metal or other non-flammable materials. We did saw their warships being made out of metal...
And assuming the parents themselves are fire benders it reasons that they may be able to stop the flames as their own bending should be stronger and more influential than the child
It helps that benders don't make up the majority of people in that world, with maybe the exception of Air Nomads. (I guess you could get around on bisons and just live as a general monk.) The ability is usually genetic too. As previously stated, a parent would probably be able to control the fire. But now I curious about earth bending toddlers. You think trying to cross a room with 50 million toys and a bed of Legos is hard? Try doing it after the kid has rearranged the dirt floor.
Kristian Ramlogan That may not be the case. Katara, for example, is a water bender, but her brother and her parents aren't. Toph's parents also don't seem to be Earth benders. It's not always the case that parents of benders are also benders. If bending is genetic, it's a recessive trait and can skip generations.
My thoughts on the tattoo are that, whether it carries deeper spiritual significance or not, it's used as a focal point for the combustion benders, to help them concentrate on their chakra.
It definitely carries a meaning. Every cartoon that shows someone with a 3rd eye pineal gland with super powers means that they took inspiration from Hinduism or Buddhism.
When you said shivas third eye represents seeing clearly, made me think about how combustion man died. When he got hit with the boomerang he was disoriented with blurry vision, so he blew himself up. Bc his third eye wasn’t open
Combustion benders are also very determined, once Combustion Man was set on his mission there was no way to stop him, even Zuko withdrawing the contract.
I always thought maybe there was an elite league of assassins that were the only ones who knew how to combustion bend and taught their apprentices, and that's why they have the tattoo, that's their mark
An interesting thought I had is whether combustion benders use any other type of fire bending. And if they don’t, if that’s because of the requirements for the pure form of combustion bending or if they’ve blocked out or can no longer perform other fire bending.
I also wondered that during the video. Especially when he talked about a vow of silence. It's a really cool idea, and I don't remember Sparky using ordinary fire bending. Can't remember if the lady from LoK uses regular fire bending. But she also talks... Maybe it just requires an oath or vow of some significance? Possibly related to symbolically moving beyond whatever shame held you back in the past?
P'li (the combustion bender we see in LoK) is shown to firebend at one point. She splits/deflects a blast of fire that Zuko (or his dragon, I forget) shoots at her
they probably can, but combustion benders seem to prefer long range battles for obvious reasons, so they almost never get into a situation where normal fire is better than blasting.
I think you're forgetting something, something that blew my friends' mind when we discussed specialized benders after a pitch for an avatar campaign I had in mind. What if combustion bending is improper lightning bending perfected? During the episode where Iro teaches Zuko how to lightning bend - or more accurately where Zuko fails to learn the technique - the thing that happens when he is unable to equalize the positive and negative chi inside of him is that his attempt at bending fire results in an explosion. What if combustion benders are those who had the talent to not only do that on purpose, but manipulate the result? This revelation was made when I complained about how no one in the show actually *bends* lightning, they can produce it but not control it, which was my idea for a specialized bender. The RP btw was one set in the future, where most of korra is none canon and humanity lost touch with the spirit world to such a degree that due to just how advanced their technology was by the time lead them to forget how to bend, the players - who would not be told this is the world of avatar btw - would go through the world seeking out the old bending teachers - air bison, dragons, badger moles and the moon, not giant lion turtles - in order to relearn and become true Bumi and Toph level masters and stop an avatar that went berserk because, y'know, losing touch with the spirit world. Because when you really, really look at it, the only people in the entire show you could consider as truly having mastered an element are like, Bumi, Toph and maybe Iro.
I'm just imagining a 4-year-old child getting all huffy at being told not to eat sweets before dinner or something and doing that sigh/whining thing children do, and then blowing up the dinner table.
Could it also be that having a firebending brother influenced his bending technique and helped? Kind of like Iroh's lightning redirection with waterbenders.
@@jesusaldairortizrosas1386 True, but emotion has far more connection to bending than survival instinct, as far as we've seen. - its why Zuko couldn't mold lightning - Toph literally slowed the movement of a fortress, (library), when her friends were being taken away from her. - I'm till convinced Katara bloodbent the southern raider's guy to his knees, mid day, during rainfall. - Emotion has driven avatars into avatar state as much, (if not more?), as survival has.
Learned a lot about combustion bending. Great video. When i was a kid and watched Avatar i didn't realise all this,all the spirituality, real world references, world building, great story. Even the 4 different bending techniques are derived from real world Chinese Martial Arts. I love avatar.
Both times his bending backfired, his chakra had been blocked or otherwise interrupted. In "The Runaway", he took a pebble to the chakra and it blasted him back as the air around him detonated, while in "The Western Air Temple", he had his chakra forcibly blocked by Sokka's boomerang, similar to how Azula's lightning blocked Aang's chakra, resulting in a far more devastating explosion. (and if the explosion didn't kill him, the fall certainly did.)
That's strange, I always thought that the sub bending abilities were dependent on one's innate talents for other bending styles that they cannot possess in their entirety Metal bending: Earth +Water (maybe) Lava bending: Earth + Fire Combustion bending: Fire + Wind This would also explain the tattoos as combustion benders all possess a spiritual like quality to them and likely most if not all come from a temple, except a fire temple with different views on spirituality, the tattoos are kind of like the air bending masters tattoos which they likely get upon first learning the ability to combustion bend which may hold some religious/ritualistic relevance to them
Interestingly, In the same episode "Bitter Work", when Zuko tries creating lightning, his energy always backfires at him in a for of explosion. I had an idea, that combustion benind is gaining control over the exact same explosion
This video mentions chakras as a potential cause for the combustion ability, and it got me thinking. We know that physical trauma can block chakras, as evident by Aang’s unfortunate lightning incident. Maybe it’s more like that than a chi block, and damaging the forehead, thereby closing the chakra, causes the misfire.
Special bending techniques should have been combinations of 4 core bending abilities, available to those of mixed origin. Combustion = air + Fire Lava = Eath + Fire Blood = Water + Fire (becouse life) Metal = Just more focused Earth bending Spirit bending = mistake
That breaks the power system though. I person can’t combine elements unless they’re the avatar. I really don’t get why people actually believe that sub-bending is combination of 2 bending arts. It’s actually impossible. Edit: LAVABENDING ISNT THE COMBINATION OF FIRE AND EARTH! It’s pure eartbending, nothing else. I know you said it should have been like that but it actually doesn’t make sense given the rules of the series
lava is heated earth, it's still earth it just has a higher temperature and no aspect of fire except for that heat is found which is like ice is cooled water and steam is heated water, ice is just solid water it's nothing else but water and steam is heated water it's nothing else but gaseous water so I think that you can generate lava as a firebender but not bend it and a earth bender could bend it and change the temperature of that earth like how water changes temperature I'm curious tough, can airbed erst change the temperature of air!
Imagine how hard it would be for Amon to take the bending from a combustion bender having to touch the forehead especially if they were to wear a bandana or headband covering the tattoo.
Well, the lore as I am aware claimed that water healing is actually shifting the chi within a person's own body to assist in the healing. It's more about accelerating natural healing than anything. Blood bending, on the other hand, is the control of a person's body by bending and manipulating the blood within that person.
@@AncientYaky Right but bloodbending on TLOK was said that it was an advanced form of chi blocking, hence how Amon is so good at it that he can take people's bending away. I see your point though.
@@alvinanis3006 I think it stated that blood bending actually severed the path ways of the chi flow so maybe what really happens is that among used blood bending the damage the major points of chi flow on the physical body or he at least used a mixture of the two
@@alvinanis3006 I always thought amon destroyed or blocked bloodflow in the veins to take away bending but then the person would die from internal bleeding or later from blood clot I wish they would have explained how it works. I kinda thought about how people used to destroy a part of the brain to make people docile and complacent don't remember what it's called but insteaqd he did that with blood to damage either a part of the brain or something in the body to stop the bending. I'm not sure my theory makes any sense or if the person would just get brain damage lol. What if I'm right but legend of Korra just didn't make it realistic enough so no mental impairment or death by bloodclot. XD
My theory for the tattoos has always been that they serve as a sort of focus for the combustionbender. Not in a 'lens' kind of way, but rather as a concrete physical point for them to visualize the energy flowing to. They would probably be applied to help combustionbenders use their abilities consciously rather than reflexively, as well as making it easier to do so.
This could also tie in with mental imagery. Obviously the combustionbender can't see their tattoo while bending, but if they know they have the tattoo, they know what it looks like, they know what they look like with it, and so on, then they should be able to visualize in their mind where their tattoo is and use that mental map to focus their chi.
I 100% would have preferred a series about combustion benders and other weird benders over a sequel series focusing on the next avatar (and yes, i liked TLoK, i just think it's an inherently less unique series premise)
I actually like an avatar that'll be the embodiment of all the regrets Korra jave and hopefully, that Avatar can reconnect with Korra as well as the other past avatars
Interesting question. If Aang can take one's bending the same way the lionturtle did, can he also give someone the ability to bend, or change one's bending? This could be an awesome video :)
Also good to note that the lion turtles are the ones who originally gave the humans bending probably through some form of energy bending of that element; so I see this as a possibility
I always thought the camp that P’li was saved from had to do with the bending technique. There seems to be many problems with kids getting kidnapped or abandoned in Avatar. Kyoshi, Kuvira, P’Li and probably more. Probably a job that the next avatar or Korra should take care of!
As far as the specialized bending techniques I’ve always thought it had to do with personality. For example the Beijing family is incredibly stoic even compared to other earth benders so metal bending is very natural as not even metal can bend your will, but Bolin is passionate much like a fire bender hence why he lava bends and not metal, the only other lava bender became so enraged at losing he literally killed himself to attempt to get the last laugh. I have reasons for them all but that would just be very long and I think the idea gets across.
Combustion bending is fire benders mimic Airbenders Lightning bending is when fire benders mimic water benders Lava bending is when earth benders mimic fire benders Metal bending is an advanced art Blood bending is an advanced art Sand bending is when Earth benders mimic air benders Mud bending can be done by both Earth and water benders Spirit bending is when air benders mimic water benders Water bending making water ice mimics air benders Water benders making steam mimics fire benders Flying is an advanced art Water healing is an advanced art When the metal benders in LOK used the needles that advanced art Just food for thought 💭
sampada pande Yeah this is what I always thought after that episode. It would make sense that just like martial arts in real life some disciplines overlap and blend with each other
I would argue that lava bending is earth benders mimicking water benders, not fire benders. There's nothing about their motions that resemble fire bending.
Doesn't it actually say in the show that "combustion man" is from some cult or monastic order? I would assume that confirms it's either religious or requires specialized training to master.
Not in the show. I have my own theory on where combustion bending and a few of the other specialty bending forms come from. Hybrid bending from 2 different element benders having children. If the child gets bending from both parents they are not as powerful in the element as either parent but can combine for a unique power. These are rather rare until after Last Air Bender because intermarriage was uncommon. Mako only got fire from 1 parent but Bolen got Fire and Earth(earth dominant in his skills) and thus can bend lava. Sand benders are nomadic and likely had some relations with the air tribes learning to simultaneously manipulate earth and air. Combustion benders are copying Roy Mustang from FMA by bending the air to create pockets of air with compressed air/fuel mixtures then setting off a spark. Air benders trying to escape the genocide would have tried to pass themselves off as non benders and blend into the population thus creating hybrids and latent air benders before they were tracked down. Only the avatar can master all 4 but hybrids can use 2 to varying degrees of success and the avatar can do hybrid bending once they figure out the trick(previous avatar lava bending to form a temple)
NobodyImportant Just saying that sand benders don’t manipulate air at all, just sand in a style similar to air bending. Plus sand bending is very much something all earth benders can do.
no, the only one with access to multiple bending styles is the avatar. Genetics have nothing to do with it. It has a pretty hard and well defined magic system. sand bending is just earth bending, air has nothing to do with it. lava works on the principle as metal bending, he's not doing anything to the fire, he's just manipulating the earth inside the fire.
In one of the Kyoshi books I think there’s a part where they put fire benders underwater and forced them to create explosions to fight the water pressure, I’ve never read the books and only recently saw this from another comment but it’s a very cool addition that is most likely an early attempt at someone creating combustion bending
I don't think Iroh's lesson on the interconnectedness of the elements was really meant to sound vague. I fully believe that the evolution of benders from non-benders was centered around spiritual practice more than some pre-determined "soul type" or genetics. If you grow up knowing only this one type of bending, you're likely only going to try to bend that one type of element. In essence, the people of the avatar world shut their spirits to the possibility of other bending techniques. So what likely happens, is that at a young age, when still highly impressionable and curious, some kids' souls open to a new possibility that unlocks what we would call specialized bending. So Sparkysparkyboomman just simply unlocked a combination of air/fire bending by having a soul open to the possibility of bending the air around the fire and the fire around the air. (Essentially, he realized there was no spoon and suddenly could explode things with his mind.)
That isn't exactly true, as shown in Season 2 of Legend of Korra. The Lion Turtles used energybending to grant people the ability to bend the four elements. A person only has the capacity to bend one element, which is why Raava had to manually transfer the individual bending abilities to Wan as he used them, and was only able to bend all four when Raava was possessing him, which would burn him out until they permanently fused, making the Avatar half-spirit. Specialized bending comes from gaining deeper insight into the world and the bending arts, like how Toph discovered that she could bend metal through the impurities, due to having the most advanced seismic sense of any earthbender.
I always assume the third eye tattoo was actually a point of focus. Heat emanates all throughout the body. The areas with the most nerve endings are the tongue (mouth), hands & feet which is the most prevalent points of fire bending. However maybe having a tattoo made and having a needle constantly poke in a very precise way gives the bender a light, added awareness of that particular area which allows them to focus on the area. At least, that was my idea behind it. I also assumed that as an assassin, he might have gotten his tongue cut off by one of his enemies.
4:03 I was just about to mention the similarities between this and Ozai’s focused fire, though I was thinking of when he broke through Aangs earth dome
Attention to detail and consistency in TLA: Fire bender takes deep breath and combine it with unlocked Chakra to release a secret technique. Attention to detail and consistency in TLK: Water punch, Air punch, Earth Punch, Fire Punch.
Just wanted you to know that because of your videos I just spent the weekend rewatching all of Last Airbender. So thanks for letting me relive a part of my childhood and see that it really holds up.
Interesting take on the physiology of wielding fire powers. I've been workshopping my own fantasy 4-element physiology. In that world, fire is an element of the heart. A source of powerful emotions like passion, love, hate, rage. Fire is more than just burning heat and destruction to me. It would be easy to fall into rage-based fire manipulation, but the strongest form of fire's power is love.
I'm currently watching the whole avatar series starting with ATLA and currently in boiling rocks part 2 I forgotten how good and deep the show is last time I watched the whole series was in 2006 when it was on Nickelodeon and I only watched book 1 and some of 2 in legend of Korra so I have allot to catch up on
JonJones PokingBag bro isn’t it so good? I just finished rewatching it a few weeks ago and when I watched it as a kid, I was old enough to remember a few particular scenes but young enough that I forgot most of the plot and got to fully experience the show when I rewatched it and it is just incredible
His channel should be bigger than that ...with Avatar alone he is able to deliver stellar essays and dissertations. So many follow up question regarding combustion bending ...so little time
A theory on why Bolin can lavabend but not metalbend; metal bending is not, technically, bending another element. It's a matter of control and how fine-tuned an Earthbender's abilities are, which does appear to be a matter of natural aptitude, letting them manipulate small impurities in refined metals. Lavabending is closer to that quasi-genetic aspect of bending that results in fire nation people only having firebenders or non benders etc. As far as we can tell, lavabending requires control over both heat/fire and earth, so only the Avatar was capable of it.... until Republic city was founded and the nations began mingling. Bolin and Mako are the sons of a Fire Nation man and an Earth Kingdom woman.
I don't know what "true" light bending would be. But I feel like anything the elements naturally do to light is fair game. Examples: water benders can shape ice, right? Why not shape it into mirrors and lenses? I can't see creating a mirror using other styles, but mirages are caused by a sort of lens made of air created by heat. So maybe air/fire benders could do that?
SSJ Raikage except light is actually a state of matter: plasma. The light a star radiates is all that plasma that is made of. A LIGHTsaber cuts clean because is actually plasma. To get plasma you need insane amounts of heat, I would give this “light” sub bending to the fire benders. And if you worry about the insane* amount of heat necessary, consider that lava is the liquid state of a rock, but to get that you also need insane amounts of energy but it was still possible in the avatar world; so I wouldn’t be surprised that a firebender somewhere discovers “light” bending.
If it's just a tattoo, then how would they be able to "shoot" the compressed fire/energy out of there? It seems to me like the streams of air coming from their foreheads that lead to the explosions are more of a visual cue for the audience, rather than what actually happens in the Avatar universe, just like the gusts of air you see when someone is airbending would probably not be visible to the characters, but are there for the audience to understand what's happening. Also, WHATEVER THEY ARE SHOOTING AT THEIR TARGETS IS NOT A LASER!!! ...Sorry, but I had to get that off my chest. Great video as always. Keep up the good work!
Well, an Air Nomad Avatar's tattoos glow when they are in the Avatar State because the tattoos run where their chi flows, so maybe this is another property of tattoos in the world of Avatar? Something spiritual.
Even if any firebender could theoretically learn combustion-bending, we get a pretty good reason why one would avoid it. Namely, the possibility of blowing oneself up. Combustion man is missing an arm & leg, and was brought down by a pebble and a boomerang. The strongest weapon taken out by the most basic weapons.
In the episode Bitter Work, Zuko tries to create lightning, but instead he creates an explosion, the sound and animation is very similar to the explosions of combustion bending.
Is it weird that its almost impossible for me to think of a full explosion in my head ? Like, i can never get the full details of it expanding and everything, all i can think of is a small light than a big ball of fire, i dont know if ive explained that well but im wondering if thats just a normal human thing or not.
The tattoo seems to symbolize a crossing between the physical and spiritual. The eye reminds me of Vaatu and Raava in a distant way. Although combustion benders use the same breathing techniques, they seem to draw energy from their surroundings rather than from within, then channel it through their body and out a spiritual/physical bridge, such as their third eye. I think this because Aang was always aware of combustion man's attacks and could predict them. When they would inhale, Aang was immediately alarmed each time, and I do think it's because of the ancient spirit within him that's aware of this danger. During the slow motion clip, where Aang blocks combustion man's blast with airbending, you can see a yin and yang symbol before it explodes, clueing further into an otherly spiritual originator for their bending. Combustion man also was instinctually the best at tracking the gaang, able to even predict Aang's usually-expert evasion tactics, seemingly able to sense his spiritual presence. And oddly, neither combustion users have had golden eyes like their firebending counterparts. I do wonder if his eyes being black means he's technically a 'nonbender' by normal standards but that he is able to use the innate spirituality to bend, rather than something inherited in the way that other benders gain abilities. Since P'li's eyes are red, this may relate to the fact that she can both bend fire and use combustion.
I just realize this video was made like three years ago, but of all of the combusting, bending series, the tortured bender theory makes the most sense is very dark, but it brings a lot of insight to how they became that way
6:39 Ah ha! Yes it does say that... But then explain this to me... How did Zuko know his name? Because in the episode *The Western Air Temple* the team figures out that Zuko hired Combustion Man and Zuko replies “Well that’s not his name” so if he doesn’t talk how did Zuko know his name? Even if he didn’t tell Zuko his name he must’ve said it at some point because Zuko had to have known his name from some source!? Right? 🤔
Pi lee her tatoo has the sort of waves which is why she can redirect her blast while combution man has more of a prism looking tatoo which is why he has more explosive power
You know I got myself that Korra Statue after I saw yours. More Avatar content is always an easy click from me. You mentioned Focus and concentration. Core tenants of Fire-bending for sure. Also After reading Rise of Kyoshi they mention a method for detecting Firebenders early-on. Which is important when your baby can burn the house down. Which made me wonder why they use Wood for their Buildings and not Stone more. Perhaps I'm Misremembering and they do use stone more. It's been a while since I watched Avatar.
I bought your book as a birthday present for a friend who does a lot more writing than me. If the stars align, I should get it to him soon and I hope he'll appreciate it.
8:18 Yet Katara _Learned_ Bloodbending, so perhaps Yakone's Psychic/Daylight Bloodbending _was_ Genetic. If so, We are lucky for amon's Brother's Final Decision: to end the bloodline there.
me, myself and I yes. Aang has done it. Remember when he was walking around one the North and South Poles with no parka or extra clothing? He was heating the air around him to keep warm. Tenzin said it somewhere in book 1 and the creators have said it in an interview
when did waterbenders change water temperature? I guess fire heats itself, but has there been cold fire? and when talking about earth benders, are you implying lavabenders? are we sure they created it and not just kept it?
@@NoNameAtAll2 waterbenders change water to ice which is changing temperature from hot to cold lavabenders project enormous heat inorder to create earth to lava which is changing cold to hot firebenders are capable of making their fires hotter and cooler ( which does not mean cold fire, it's just cooler than hotter ones)
I have a theory that lavabending is personality based. Bolin and the other lava bender dude where pretty similar in personality, both were more comical and whimsical as far as earthbenders go, while if you notice, practically all the metal benders have more harsh, cold personalities.
Hey I just wanna say that I had an English proficiency test recently. I have no issues with English, but I would have been very tripped up by the Kiwi accent on the listening part had I not been acquainted with the accent beforehand, thanks to your videos. Thanks!
@@ssjraikage7874 Thanks, haha! I actually consider English one of my two first languages - just have to prove that over and over again because institutions demand it. Idk man 😂😂 It's just that having an unexpected variable on any test can fluster you, I reckon.
Niaz Ali Khan I honestly wouldn’t have known that English wasn’t your first language unless you’d said it. It’s absolutely flawless, keep it up. I wonder if I could ever become this fluent in a different language myself
@@ssjraikage7874 post-colonial societies man. You grow up bilingual and unless you're very careful, one language bleeds into another and before you know it you can't even speak one language properly. And I think you could. I had an Italian teacher who picked up Dutch in her 30s. That 10,000 hour rule, I guess!
I think the eye tattoo is done for early training reasons. It acts as a physical image they can focus on when first learning. It gives them an idea of where and how they should view this form of bending. It likely also relates to the real world religion as well. It could also be a reminder to the bender of just how dangerous it is. They need to have a clear imagine of what they are doing and that was why Combustion man died the way he did because he lost his clear image, literally.
Leviathan's Iris what type of flight ? The air bender one where they are literally just human-kites that can pretty much just dodge attacks or the fire bender one where you are “ supposed “ to be like the iron man, and was used only one time by korra and I think Ozai
You should totally make the video on writing antagonists that are protagonists from the future/alternate reality. Not clones or long lost twins, but protagonists themselves, but with different backstory. This is a strong trope because it shows us what the hero can become if things go wrong
my headcanon (pun intended) is that there's some sort of secret academy for Combustion-Benders, almost like the Red Room from Marvel's Black Widow. P'li refers to a place , a place she talks about with pain. this seems to indicate that combustion-bending is taught in a brutal school in some secret location, kinda like Lake Laogai, with teaching methods bordering on torture. as a rite of passage, they earn their tattoos like airbenders, and take a vow of silence. i'd love to see a comic about, either Zuko or Korra, about finding the secret school of combustion-bending.
Now I wonder where chi blocking originated. We know Ty Lee knew it, but... how? And was it an accident, that a "friend" of a violent, narcissist, and dangerously talented Azula knew how to block others' chi? Seems like an odd coincidence.
I had a friend when I was a teenager. We always used to talk about him trying to figure out the meaning of life. Many years after the fact we actually ended up together. He now says the meaning of life for us is each other oh, and now our daughter as well.
It's not hard to imagine a character who has a mastery over spirit able to change their body, as in literally changing bodies. Either possession or creating empty bodies within the spirit world with or without the help of a spirit entity. Or physically alter their own body with some kind of perk, like imagine a butterfly or moth spirit that gives a technique of making yourself a cocoon to reshape your body. Avatar doesn't do enough with interesting spirit world connections. Imagine Bending, but then on the other hand other powerful spirits could form pacts to grant different more unique effects.
that stomach thing that combustion man does first is actually a technique on yoga called a "nauli" the idea is to breathe out entirely and pull your core into to meet your spine. An advanced move that massages your internal organs but also is supposed to push energy up from your centre towards the higher chakras - maybe channelling energy up from the chi centre towards the 3rd eye in order to create the combustion?
SO From everything Ive witnessed of the avatar universe the emotional and mental state of the bender contributes HEAVILY to their bending ability's as well as a load of determination. There are some who are probably more predisposed to being able to preform certain types of bending especially the more gifted benders, but with enough practice any one who can bend that element can really do it. This is partly supported by why the avatar has to go learn all the elements from different teachers who have to teach him the proper state of mind to bend their element, like with ang and earth bending. Something you also see is in Korra is that Lightning bending seems to be a lot more common. Honestly what i think is happening is something similar to craftsman guild mentality from the middle ages where some one got a weird idea to do a thing and figured it out then kept the secret to himself in order to keep his edge over the competition and only shared it with specific people.
I get so excited when I see you posted a video. I always comeback and check to see if you have posted a video, but then there isn't one. so now I just wait to see if you posted.
![What if the Avatar was evil? [ The Last Airbender l Legend of Korra ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wA4QvJISA54/mqdefault.jpg)
![On Writing: magic systems and storytelling [ Avatar TLA/LOK bending analysis ]](/img/n.gif)
So, like, the meaning of life I guess --- imgur.com/a/zuJ7C7e
Kindness... Pizza... And apparently.. the fault in our stars...
I have fallen even deeper to depression now
This got me thinking about Air benders and how a rare few gain the true abilities of flight like their Bison
You forgot 42
I thought you were going to link it into how we don't know much about combustion bending. But Pizza works too
How they took out the girl combustion bender in Korra was one of the most hardcore things I have seen in a kids show and I'm surprised they got away with it.
Yeah that was fucking ruthless, still makes me cringe today
Because korra was a teens show on nick, not kids
Don’t forget zaheer killing the queen that was savage too
sometimes the way they censor children's shows make them more gruesome, such as the death of Robin's parents in Batman TAS
They killed sparky sparky boom the same way in ATLA 10:22
Imagine how powerful Combustion Man would be under Sozin's comet
TACTICAL NUKE! INCOMING!
Japan is having ptsd
@@lucajustluca8257
Wait, isn't the Fire Nation based, as least partially, on Japan? And Combustion Man is a Fire Nation citizen. So... Japan blowing itself up?
@@EliteWarrior1026 that actually sounds like a sick story, how a fire Nation avatar decides to wipe out the fire Nation by bombing the hell out of ut
@@lucajustluca8257 ok but what if the avatar being an extremely powerful bender used combustion bending
I wonder if a combustion-bending tattoo would glow in the Avatar State.
Yes
Yes
Holy shir I actually really want to see that now.
Where are the artists??? I would love to see it
I would love to see a combustion bending avatar series
Don't let this distract you from the fact that sokka killed combustion man with one of the best boomerang throws in history
not really, combustion man blew himself up. sokka did defeat him but didnt kill him since comsbution man was the one to pull the trigger knwoing what happens if someone hits him in the head
edsel cervantes
That’s still killing him.
@@edselcervantes6229 if you push a man who was planning to throw a grenade and making him drop tha grenade and kill himself.
You still have killed a man with his own grenade.
@@Oscar-j6b but sokka hit him and ran away, combustion had time to ran away and not use his beam thing. the anology would be more of your weapon been jam and if you use it it will explode on your face
Sokka is the only master of Boomerang bending we've seen--and thus a more powerful entity than the Avatar themself!
This is without taking into account the Space Sword, Cactus Juice and that Mushroom we presume is friendly.
Sokka is THE MAN!
Imagine an Avatar that can use every sub bending art. Lava, metal, lightning, sparky sparky booming, flying, healing, and blood bending. That would be broken. I want it
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Ravenheart that would be impossible considering it takes years to master one bending art.
@@deviljho4260 Avatar Kyoshi lived for 200 years and 4 elements with 8 sub categories of bending, an avatar who lives as long as her could learn almost all of them except flying as its impossible to learn as the avatar
you'd think as long as some avatar learned one a some point, then the Avatar State would be able to metal/lava/etc. bend everything. I guess tho, we never see a situation where the Avatar State would be better off using one of those instead of the base elements.
@@oi23origin Very true. Sticking to the basics is usually best I suppose. Much like real life martial arts.
.
*_Everything changed when the combustion nation attacked_*
. . . oh no . . .
Just Some Guy without a Mustache 0o0
internal combustion or external combustion?
Just Some Guy without a Mustache oh jeez XD
*Thomas the train has entered the chat
I actually a have a theory one the tattoos myself, I think that they’re used as focal points for the technique. Now at first this is very obvious but I’d like to point out that sparky doesn’t blow up upon getting hit, he blows himself up after he loses focus. My idea is that it takes a tremendous amount of focus to perform the technique (after all your literally focusing a condensed stream of air and fire) and that the tattoos are there to help that. Just a few other things also, I’ve noticed that both benders using this style had to face what they want to attack (more evidence on focus being important). Also it’s important to note that we don’t see either bender create an attack anywhere other than the tattoo.
There has to be a purpose, a highly trained dude wouldn't have a tatoo that points at his one weakness for fun
I’ve always wanted a backstory on it. Maybe they’re weaker benders? Maybe it’s a whole family/village that specializes in this technique
Pli is able to curve her combustion bending, she specifically does not need to be looking at whatever she is attacking.
And the odds of getting the tattoo in the exact spot that the laser comes out are pretty slim too.
@@adrianmcbride1666 I assume that's just because she's more skilled than SSBM, the way it's first shown is kind of implying that considering ssbm never did it
Seeing how Air Nomads can control the temperature of Air and are very spiritually enlightened it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that they could combustion bend.
I'd love to see a video on all the sick techniques that airbenders could use. I mean LoK gave us some, but there's gotta be more.
@@Basil-Spice not to spoil anything but a very wise and noble Airbender have killed 100s of people.
Air nomads can tornado bend try surviving a tornado
Smart
This does seem reasonable. What if combustion benders are not firebenders, but rather airbenders. If you compress air down to a small anough point, it's going to heat up immensly and by releasing that air, you might create an explosion.
10:00
in the episode "the chase", when tai li chi blockes katara in one hand the other hand continues to bend the water until its blocked too. what I'm trying to say here, is that fire bending works in a different way. the breath ignites. the stomach feeds. the muscles direct it out of the body (or in this case the forehead) and the beliefs are pushing the flame out. when zuko is trying to lightning bend he is correct at all stages exept the needed push from his beliefs. because of that, it blows up in his face. when combustion man's chi point of the forehead is blocked, all the stages are opporational, exept the way out. so the fire, to say it simply, makes its way out.
Kinda like how a dragon breathes fire
@@thatonechannel8880 yes. and like a certain goblin in Artemis fowl.
*tylee
@@superbeltman6197 for me it's טאי לי, so sure.
@@nixian_zwaylus "I understood that reference."
Love your videos. As a parent of a 3 year old, the comment about a 4 year old who learns they can create fire with their hands who lives in a house made of wood has broken my immersion in the world of Avatar. Every family in the Fire Nation would be one tantrum away from becoming homeless at any time!
imagining a fire bender baby cry and tiny fire came out from their mouth, or flailing limbs >.
Prob the fire nation knew this and their houses were built out of cement, metal or other non-flammable materials. We did saw their warships being made out of metal...
And assuming the parents themselves are fire benders it reasons that they may be able to stop the flames as their own bending should be stronger and more influential than the child
It helps that benders don't make up the majority of people in that world, with maybe the exception of Air Nomads. (I guess you could get around on bisons and just live as a general monk.) The ability is usually genetic too. As previously stated, a parent would probably be able to control the fire.
But now I curious about earth bending toddlers. You think trying to cross a room with 50 million toys and a bed of Legos is hard? Try doing it after the kid has rearranged the dirt floor.
Kristian Ramlogan
That may not be the case. Katara, for example, is a water bender, but her brother and her parents aren't. Toph's parents also don't seem to be Earth benders. It's not always the case that parents of benders are also benders. If bending is genetic, it's a recessive trait and can skip generations.
Dave Bautista should play Combustion Man.
agreed
He did good in man with the iron fists. I can see him succeeding here
That is an excellent casting for that character
he’d be a terrible choice because no one will ever see him on set
WHY IS THE AVATAR!?
My thoughts on the tattoo are that, whether it carries deeper spiritual significance or not, it's used as a focal point for the combustion benders, to help them concentrate on their chakra.
Like in Naruto when Jaraiya draws a swirl on Narutos palm to help him focus on what to do and where
I think it’s a sign of mastery like air bender arrows .
It definitely carries a meaning. Every cartoon that shows someone with a 3rd eye pineal gland with super powers means that they took inspiration from Hinduism or Buddhism.
When you said shivas third eye represents seeing clearly, made me think about how combustion man died. When he got hit with the boomerang he was disoriented with blurry vision, so he blew himself up. Bc his third eye wasn’t open
The answer to life, the universe and everything is 42.
Ah *Belgium,* I was going to comment that
👏 👏 👏
Heyyyyyyyy 42 here
Actually, it's 22.
Alex Plata it’s not. Rewatch the movie or reread the book
Combustion benders are also very determined, once Combustion Man was set on his mission there was no way to stop him, even Zuko withdrawing the contract.
I always thought maybe there was an elite league of assassins that were the only ones who knew how to combustion bend and taught their apprentices, and that's why they have the tattoo, that's their mark
I like that but p'li said zaheer saved her from being a warlords weapon wich makes me worry that combustion bender are used as tools and nothing more
Nevermind that only happened to p'li but it would be tragic if it happened to ALL combustion memebers
In Avatar the only 2 combustion benders were Combustion Man and P'li and CM was a rent assassin's and P'li was a war machine
An interesting thought I had is whether combustion benders use any other type of fire bending. And if they don’t, if that’s because of the requirements for the pure form of combustion bending or if they’ve blocked out or can no longer perform other fire bending.
I also wondered that during the video. Especially when he talked about a vow of silence. It's a really cool idea, and I don't remember Sparky using ordinary fire bending.
Can't remember if the lady from LoK uses regular fire bending. But she also talks...
Maybe it just requires an oath or vow of some significance? Possibly related to symbolically moving beyond whatever shame held you back in the past?
P'li (the combustion bender we see in LoK) is shown to firebend at one point. She splits/deflects a blast of fire that Zuko (or his dragon, I forget) shoots at her
they probably can, but combustion benders seem to prefer long range battles for obvious reasons, so they almost never get into a situation where normal fire is better than blasting.
alexander martinez combustionbending has an absolute range advantage against every other bending bar lightning.
Your right they can only combustion bend.
"what is the meaning of life, and how do you shoot lasers out of your face?"
These questions are actually one and the same
Lol
I think you're forgetting something, something that blew my friends' mind when we discussed specialized benders after a pitch for an avatar campaign I had in mind. What if combustion bending is improper lightning bending perfected? During the episode where Iro teaches Zuko how to lightning bend - or more accurately where Zuko fails to learn the technique - the thing that happens when he is unable to equalize the positive and negative chi inside of him is that his attempt at bending fire results in an explosion. What if combustion benders are those who had the talent to not only do that on purpose, but manipulate the result?
This revelation was made when I complained about how no one in the show actually *bends* lightning, they can produce it but not control it, which was my idea for a specialized bender.
The RP btw was one set in the future, where most of korra is none canon and humanity lost touch with the spirit world to such a degree that due to just how advanced their technology was by the time lead them to forget how to bend, the players - who would not be told this is the world of avatar btw - would go through the world seeking out the old bending teachers - air bison, dragons, badger moles and the moon, not giant lion turtles - in order to relearn and become true Bumi and Toph level masters and stop an avatar that went berserk because, y'know, losing touch with the spirit world.
Because when you really, really look at it, the only people in the entire show you could consider as truly having mastered an element are like, Bumi, Toph and maybe Iro.
Awesome. What system did you use?
@@andrewpenn1145 s'only an idea. I've got enough on my plate as is without having to gm two campaigns
Wait, how could you do a campaign without them knowing it’s the Avatar world, but also give them characters and obvious elements from it?
I'm just imagining a 4-year-old child getting all huffy at being told not to eat sweets before dinner or something and doing that sigh/whining thing children do, and then blowing up the dinner table.
Azula
@@L0rdOfThePies Hahahaha so true
Bolin isn’t ridge enough to metal bend and he isn’t as closed and grounded as regular earth benders so he can lava bend
Could it also be that having a firebending brother influenced his bending technique and helped? Kind of like Iroh's lightning redirection with waterbenders.
He does have a heart of fire, you see it in his eyes anytime someone he cares about is threatened.
Being seconds to dying may have triggered it for survival.
@@jesusaldairortizrosas1386 True, but emotion has far more connection to bending than survival instinct, as far as we've seen.
- its why Zuko couldn't mold lightning
- Toph literally slowed the movement of a fortress, (library), when her friends were being taken away from her.
- I'm till convinced Katara bloodbent the southern raider's guy to his knees, mid day, during rainfall.
- Emotion has driven avatars into avatar state as much, (if not more?), as survival has.
@@heartofdawnlight survival is an action
So emotion and survival can go hand in hand
Learned a lot about combustion bending. Great video. When i was a kid and watched Avatar i didn't realise all this,all the spirituality, real world references, world building, great story.
Even the 4 different bending techniques are derived from real world Chinese Martial Arts.
I love avatar.
I thought it was because he had a concussion, similar but a fact worth mentioning
Both times his bending backfired, his chakra had been blocked or otherwise interrupted. In "The Runaway", he took a pebble to the chakra and it blasted him back as the air around him detonated, while in "The Western Air Temple", he had his chakra forcibly blocked by Sokka's boomerang, similar to how Azula's lightning blocked Aang's chakra, resulting in a far more devastating explosion. (and if the explosion didn't kill him, the fall certainly did.)
I used to be an assassin like you. Then I took a pebble to the chakra.
That's strange, I always thought that the sub bending abilities were dependent on one's innate talents for other bending styles that they cannot possess in their entirety
Metal bending: Earth +Water (maybe)
Lava bending: Earth + Fire
Combustion bending: Fire + Wind
This would also explain the tattoos as combustion benders all possess a spiritual like quality to them and likely most if not all come from a temple, except a fire temple with different views on spirituality, the tattoos are kind of like the air bending masters tattoos which they likely get upon first learning the ability to combustion bend which may hold some religious/ritualistic relevance to them
Me: *sees notification for avatar video by Tim*
Me: *taps tab so fast thinking I’m early*
Me: *sees people commented 9 hours ago*
Me: TH-cam EXPLAIN
I'm not TH-cam but those 9 hours comment's are from Patreon supporters.
Yeah, like Altria Pendragon Idilfitri said, Tim releases the video for his Patreons early, and then lets us peasants view it a day later.
Altria Pendragon Idilfitri hi TH-cam
Altria Pendragon Idilfitri ah that makes more sense
In my mind, you invoked the image of that Arkansas vine. "AmERikA ExplAIn!!!!!"
th-cam.com/video/BXt6NwKGJW0/w-d-xo.html
1:36 THE LEVEL OF DETAIL IN THIS SHOW IS INSANE
roel250 I know right
Interestingly, In the same episode "Bitter Work", when Zuko tries creating lightning, his energy always backfires at him in a for of explosion. I had an idea, that combustion benind is gaining control over the exact same explosion
This video mentions chakras as a potential cause for the combustion ability, and it got me thinking. We know that physical trauma can block chakras, as evident by Aang’s unfortunate lightning incident. Maybe it’s more like that than a chi block, and damaging the forehead, thereby closing the chakra, causes the misfire.
Special bending techniques should have been combinations of 4 core bending abilities, available to those of mixed origin.
Combustion = air + Fire
Lava = Eath + Fire
Blood = Water + Fire (becouse life)
Metal = Just more focused Earth bending
Spirit bending = mistake
We don´t talk about that one...
I don't think bloodbending should be water+fire. It makes sense how it is
That breaks the power system though. I person can’t combine elements unless they’re the avatar. I really don’t get why people actually believe that sub-bending is combination of 2 bending arts. It’s actually impossible.
Edit: LAVABENDING ISNT THE COMBINATION OF FIRE AND EARTH! It’s pure eartbending, nothing else. I know you said it should have been like that but it actually doesn’t make sense given the rules of the series
lava is heated earth, it's still earth it just has a higher temperature and no aspect of fire except for that heat is found
which is like ice is cooled water and steam is heated water, ice is just solid water it's nothing else but water and steam is heated water it's nothing else but gaseous water
so I think that you can generate lava as a firebender but not bend it and a earth bender could bend it and change the temperature of that earth
like how water changes temperature
I'm curious tough, can airbed erst change the temperature of air!
me, myself and I finally someone gets it
Imagine how hard it would be for Amon to take the bending from a combustion bender having to touch the forehead especially if they were to wear a bandana or headband covering the tattoo.
Curious question: is water healing and bloodbending conncected?
Well, the lore as I am aware claimed that water healing is actually shifting the chi within a person's own body to assist in the healing. It's more about accelerating natural healing than anything. Blood bending, on the other hand, is the control of a person's body by bending and manipulating the blood within that person.
@@AncientYaky Right but bloodbending on TLOK was said that it was an advanced form of chi blocking, hence how Amon is so good at it that he can take people's bending away. I see your point though.
@@alvinanis3006 I think it stated that blood bending actually severed the path ways of the chi flow so maybe what really happens is that among used blood bending the damage the major points of chi flow on the physical body or he at least used a mixture of the two
@@alvinanis3006 I always thought amon destroyed or blocked bloodflow in the veins to take away bending but then the person would die from internal bleeding or later from blood clot I wish they would have explained how it works. I kinda thought about how people used to destroy a part of the brain to make people docile and complacent don't remember what it's called but insteaqd he did that with blood to damage either a part of the brain or something in the body to stop the bending. I'm not sure my theory makes any sense or if the person would just get brain damage lol. What if I'm right but legend of Korra just didn't make it realistic enough so no mental impairment or death by bloodclot. XD
@@rushalias8511 Amon was basically giving his victims a stroke.
My theory for the tattoos has always been that they serve as a sort of focus for the combustionbender. Not in a 'lens' kind of way, but rather as a concrete physical point for them to visualize the energy flowing to. They would probably be applied to help combustionbenders use their abilities consciously rather than reflexively, as well as making it easier to do so.
This could also tie in with mental imagery. Obviously the combustionbender can't see their tattoo while bending, but if they know they have the tattoo, they know what it looks like, they know what they look like with it, and so on, then they should be able to visualize in their mind where their tattoo is and use that mental map to focus their chi.
I 100% would have preferred a series about combustion benders and other weird benders over a sequel series focusing on the next avatar (and yes, i liked TLoK, i just think it's an inherently less unique series premise)
I actually like an avatar that'll be the embodiment of all the regrets Korra jave and hopefully, that Avatar can reconnect with Korra as well as the other past avatars
Having multiple spin-offs that focus on the world of Avatar would be insanely cool!
Interesting question. If Aang can take one's bending the same way the lionturtle did, can he also give someone the ability to bend, or change one's bending?
This could be an awesome video :)
He had given someone their bending back. He gave it back to korra in book 2. As for changing someone’s bending, I don’t see why not.
@@ssjraikage7874 but could be give someone with no bending the ability to bend?
Omree Negri yeah, there’s nothing stopping him. He’s essentially a human lion turtle now
Also good to note that the lion turtles are the ones who originally gave the humans bending probably through some form of energy bending of that element; so I see this as a possibility
If he could he should have made air benders
Sparky sparky boom man does have a nice ring too it. Lol
I always thought the camp that P’li was saved from had to do with the bending technique. There seems to be many problems with kids getting kidnapped or abandoned in Avatar. Kyoshi, Kuvira, P’Li and probably more. Probably a job that the next avatar or Korra should take care of!
As far as the specialized bending techniques I’ve always thought it had to do with personality. For example the Beijing family is incredibly stoic even compared to other earth benders so metal bending is very natural as not even metal can bend your will, but Bolin is passionate much like a fire bender hence why he lava bends and not metal, the only other lava bender became so enraged at losing he literally killed himself to attempt to get the last laugh. I have reasons for them all but that would just be very long and I think the idea gets across.
Combustion bending is fire benders mimic Airbenders
Lightning bending is when fire benders mimic water benders
Lava bending is when earth benders mimic fire benders
Metal bending is an advanced art
Blood bending is an advanced art
Sand bending is when Earth benders mimic air benders
Mud bending can be done by both Earth and water benders
Spirit bending is when air benders mimic water benders
Water bending making water ice mimics air benders
Water benders making steam mimics fire benders
Flying is an advanced art
Water healing is an advanced art
When the metal benders in LOK used the needles that advanced art
Just food for thought 💭
Billy Da Squid I love this comment. Shows how all the elements are connected to one another just like what Iroh had explained to Zuko :)
sampada pande Yeah this is what I always thought after that episode. It would make sense that just like martial arts in real life some disciplines overlap and blend with each other
Billy Da Squid true! I completely agree!
Only water benders can spirit bend
I would argue that lava bending is earth benders mimicking water benders, not fire benders. There's nothing about their motions that resemble fire bending.
What I loved about combustion man’s first reveal and showcase of his power, the light shows briefly before we hear the sound of it, gave me chills
Doesn't it actually say in the show that "combustion man" is from some cult or monastic order? I would assume that confirms it's either religious or requires specialized training to master.
Not in the show. I have my own theory on where combustion bending and a few of the other specialty bending forms come from. Hybrid bending from 2 different element benders having children. If the child gets bending from both parents they are not as powerful in the element as either parent but can combine for a unique power. These are rather rare until after Last Air Bender because intermarriage was uncommon.
Mako only got fire from 1 parent but Bolen got Fire and Earth(earth dominant in his skills) and thus can bend lava. Sand benders are nomadic and likely had some relations with the air tribes learning to simultaneously manipulate earth and air. Combustion benders are copying Roy Mustang from FMA by bending the air to create pockets of air with compressed air/fuel mixtures then setting off a spark. Air benders trying to escape the genocide would have tried to pass themselves off as non benders and blend into the population thus creating hybrids and latent air benders before they were tracked down.
Only the avatar can master all 4 but hybrids can use 2 to varying degrees of success and the avatar can do hybrid bending once they figure out the trick(previous avatar lava bending to form a temple)
NobodyImportant
Just saying that sand benders don’t manipulate air at all, just sand in a style similar to air bending. Plus sand bending is very much something all earth benders can do.
no, the only one with access to multiple bending styles is the avatar. Genetics have nothing to do with it. It has a pretty hard and well defined magic system. sand bending is just earth bending, air has nothing to do with it. lava works on the principle as metal bending, he's not doing anything to the fire, he's just manipulating the earth inside the fire.
@stryfetc1 Metal bending is bending the impurities inside the metal though?
@@kpi7757 Yeah, that's the basics.
In one of the Kyoshi books I think there’s a part where they put fire benders underwater and forced them to create explosions to fight the water pressure, I’ve never read the books and only recently saw this from another comment but it’s a very cool addition that is most likely an early attempt at someone creating combustion bending
I don't think Iroh's lesson on the interconnectedness of the elements was really meant to sound vague. I fully believe that the evolution of benders from non-benders was centered around spiritual practice more than some pre-determined "soul type" or genetics. If you grow up knowing only this one type of bending, you're likely only going to try to bend that one type of element. In essence, the people of the avatar world shut their spirits to the possibility of other bending techniques. So what likely happens, is that at a young age, when still highly impressionable and curious, some kids' souls open to a new possibility that unlocks what we would call specialized bending.
So Sparkysparkyboomman just simply unlocked a combination of air/fire bending by having a soul open to the possibility of bending the air around the fire and the fire around the air. (Essentially, he realized there was no spoon and suddenly could explode things with his mind.)
That isn't exactly true, as shown in Season 2 of Legend of Korra. The Lion Turtles used energybending to grant people the ability to bend the four elements. A person only has the capacity to bend one element, which is why Raava had to manually transfer the individual bending abilities to Wan as he used them, and was only able to bend all four when Raava was possessing him, which would burn him out until they permanently fused, making the Avatar half-spirit. Specialized bending comes from gaining deeper insight into the world and the bending arts, like how Toph discovered that she could bend metal through the impurities, due to having the most advanced seismic sense of any earthbender.
@@Janoha17 what TLoK season two? There is no second season in Ba Sing Se
Why anyone would dislike this is incomprehensible. Great video as always
1:03
Or in Iroh's case, a vast ocean
Aang's arrow point, which glows because it's a flow point of chi is the same position as the eye.
CAN WE GET A VIDEO AS TO WHY AANG’S CHAKRA WAS BLOCKED AT HIS DEATH?!?!?!
This!
Wait what ?!
getting murdered leaves you a little scarred
alexander martinez was he murdered ? I always thought that he died of natural age
@@joaovitorfarinabraga690 wait you meant adult aang? pretty sure his chakras were fine
That slow - mo part is one of the most amazing thing i've ever seen
Thank you so much for your amazing content. You are one of few TH-camrs I will click on as son as I see a new video. Your channel is incredible
I always assume the third eye tattoo was actually a point of focus. Heat emanates all throughout the body. The areas with the most nerve endings are the tongue (mouth), hands & feet which is the most prevalent points of fire bending. However maybe having a tattoo made and having a needle constantly poke in a very precise way gives the bender a light, added awareness of that particular area which allows them to focus on the area. At least, that was my idea behind it.
I also assumed that as an assassin, he might have gotten his tongue cut off by one of his enemies.
4:03 I was just about to mention the similarities between this and Ozai’s focused fire, though I was thinking of when he broke through Aangs earth dome
Attention to detail and consistency in TLA: Fire bender takes deep breath and combine it with unlocked Chakra to release a secret technique.
Attention to detail and consistency in TLK: Water punch, Air punch, Earth Punch, Fire Punch.
PREACH.
im interested to know your thought of combustion bending after The Dawn Of Yangchen, which gives us a bit more information about it
Just wanted you to know that because of your videos I just spent the weekend rewatching all of Last Airbender. So thanks for letting me relive a part of my childhood and see that it really holds up.
damn i'm writing an avatar story and i was doing research about combustion bending then this video pops up!! thank u 🤧♡
Interesting take on the physiology of wielding fire powers. I've been workshopping my own fantasy 4-element physiology. In that world, fire is an element of the heart. A source of powerful emotions like passion, love, hate, rage. Fire is more than just burning heat and destruction to me. It would be easy to fall into rage-based fire manipulation, but the strongest form of fire's power is love.
I'm currently watching the whole avatar series starting with ATLA and currently in boiling rocks part 2 I forgotten how good and deep the show is last time I watched the whole series was in 2006 when it was on Nickelodeon and I only watched book 1 and some of 2 in legend of Korra so I have allot to catch up on
You're so lucky you get to experience so much for the first time still :'(
I ended today's marathon in Boiling Rock part 1. Didn't expect to see a comment like this HAHAHA
@@ralfyralf19 hahaha nice
@@Ashv1rk for ATLA is not that new but for book 2 and all of 3 on LOK it is new last time I watched was when Korra opened the Spirit portal
JonJones PokingBag bro isn’t it so good? I just finished rewatching it a few weeks ago and when I watched it as a kid, I was old enough to remember a few particular scenes but young enough that I forgot most of the plot and got to fully experience the show when I rewatched it and it is just incredible
His channel should be bigger than that ...with Avatar alone he is able to deliver stellar essays and dissertations.
So many follow up question regarding combustion bending ...so little time
Is Supreme Lord Mishka not the meaning of my life?
XD
rip mishka
Like Iroh he gave up his mortal body to live in the spirit world.
Dude to soon....
A theory on why Bolin can lavabend but not metalbend; metal bending is not, technically, bending another element. It's a matter of control and how fine-tuned an Earthbender's abilities are, which does appear to be a matter of natural aptitude, letting them manipulate small impurities in refined metals.
Lavabending is closer to that quasi-genetic aspect of bending that results in fire nation people only having firebenders or non benders etc. As far as we can tell, lavabending requires control over both heat/fire and earth, so only the Avatar was capable of it.... until Republic city was founded and the nations began mingling. Bolin and Mako are the sons of a Fire Nation man and an Earth Kingdom woman.
Imagine the combustion bender on Sozin’s comet
Zuko accidentally created an explosion when he was learning how to lightningbend by Iroh.
I’m curious. If u spend enough time. And practice. Could you learn how to light bend
"He knows too much. Take the shot."
Volt Siano no. Light isn’t even matter. Just because some elements generate light, it doesn’t mean someone could bend it
@@ssjraikage7874 I wouldn't consider energy matter either, yet energy bending exists. And can light be considered energy?
I don't know what "true" light bending would be. But I feel like anything the elements naturally do to light is fair game.
Examples: water benders can shape ice, right? Why not shape it into mirrors and lenses?
I can't see creating a mirror using other styles, but mirages are caused by a sort of lens made of air created by heat. So maybe air/fire benders could do that?
SSJ Raikage except light is actually a state of matter: plasma. The light a star radiates is all that plasma that is made of. A LIGHTsaber cuts clean because is actually plasma. To get plasma you need insane amounts of heat, I would give this “light” sub bending to the fire benders. And if you worry about the insane* amount of heat necessary, consider that lava is the liquid state of a rock, but to get that you also need insane amounts of energy but it was still possible in the avatar world; so I wouldn’t be surprised that a firebender somewhere discovers “light” bending.
Another thing I noticed about combustion bending is that it seems to come in tandem with being a *giant*
If it's just a tattoo, then how would they be able to "shoot" the compressed fire/energy out of there? It seems to me like the streams of air coming from their foreheads that lead to the explosions are more of a visual cue for the audience, rather than what actually happens in the Avatar universe, just like the gusts of air you see when someone is airbending would probably not be visible to the characters, but are there for the audience to understand what's happening.
Also, WHATEVER THEY ARE SHOOTING AT THEIR TARGETS IS NOT A LASER!!!
...Sorry, but I had to get that off my chest. Great video as always. Keep up the good work!
Well, an Air Nomad Avatar's tattoos glow when they are in the Avatar State because the tattoos run where their chi flows, so maybe this is another property of tattoos in the world of Avatar? Something spiritual.
Even if any firebender could theoretically learn combustion-bending, we get a pretty good reason why one would avoid it. Namely, the possibility of blowing oneself up. Combustion man is missing an arm & leg, and was brought down by a pebble and a boomerang. The strongest weapon taken out by the most basic weapons.
I believe the Tattoos, like airbenders are to represent the chi. Instead of the path, the chakra required and that the chi extends from for the skill.
In the episode Bitter Work, Zuko tries to create lightning, but instead he creates an explosion, the sound and animation is very similar to the explosions of combustion bending.
"trials and errors as a kid" man imagine beating it and you accidentally shoot your arm off. talk about embarrassing
can we appreciate that he literally blasts HEATED AIR
Is it weird that its almost impossible for me to think of a full explosion in my head ? Like, i can never get the full details of it expanding and everything, all i can think of is a small light than a big ball of fire, i dont know if ive explained that well but im wondering if thats just a normal human thing or not.
The tattoo seems to symbolize a crossing between the physical and spiritual. The eye reminds me of Vaatu and Raava in a distant way. Although combustion benders use the same breathing techniques, they seem to draw energy from their surroundings rather than from within, then channel it through their body and out a spiritual/physical bridge, such as their third eye. I think this because Aang was always aware of combustion man's attacks and could predict them. When they would inhale, Aang was immediately alarmed each time, and I do think it's because of the ancient spirit within him that's aware of this danger.
During the slow motion clip, where Aang blocks combustion man's blast with airbending, you can see a yin and yang symbol before it explodes, clueing further into an otherly spiritual originator for their bending.
Combustion man also was instinctually the best at tracking the gaang, able to even predict Aang's usually-expert evasion tactics, seemingly able to sense his spiritual presence.
And oddly, neither combustion users have had golden eyes like their firebending counterparts. I do wonder if his eyes being black means he's technically a 'nonbender' by normal standards but that he is able to use the innate spirituality to bend, rather than something inherited in the way that other benders gain abilities. Since P'li's eyes are red, this may relate to the fact that she can both bend fire and use combustion.
The key to life is happiness in your household.
Now say it with a French accent
STOPPPPP XD
You are not Duolingo and you cannot make me say that!
I just realize this video was made like three years ago, but of all of the combusting, bending series, the tortured bender theory makes the most sense is very dark, but it brings a lot of insight to how they became that way
6:39
Ah ha! Yes it does say that... But then explain this to me... How did Zuko know his name? Because in the episode *The Western Air Temple* the team figures out that Zuko hired Combustion Man and Zuko replies “Well that’s not his name” so if he doesn’t talk how did Zuko know his name? Even if he didn’t tell Zuko his name he must’ve said it at some point because Zuko had to have known his name from some source!? Right? 🤔
I'd assume it would be from legends as a fire nation assassin, he couldn't exactly contact someone he didn't know the name of.
He probably wrote it as writing is a thing
Pi lee her tatoo has the sort of waves which is why she can redirect her blast while combution man has more of a prism looking tatoo which is why he has more explosive power
Bastard, you made me binge watch Avatar and Korra. And buy the book.:)
i love how detailed avatar lore is. they really thought out this amazing show.
my favorite bending power, other than waterbending
You know I got myself that Korra Statue after I saw yours.
More Avatar content is always an easy click from me.
You mentioned Focus and concentration. Core tenants of Fire-bending for sure. Also After reading Rise of Kyoshi they mention a method for detecting Firebenders early-on. Which is important when your baby can burn the house down. Which made me wonder why they use Wood for their Buildings and not Stone more.
Perhaps I'm Misremembering and they do use stone more. It's been a while since I watched Avatar.
I bought your book as a birthday present for a friend who does a lot more writing than me. If the stars align, I should get it to him soon and I hope he'll appreciate it.
The tin foil and the graves bit are - funny and disturbing at the same time?
8:18 Yet Katara _Learned_ Bloodbending, so perhaps Yakone's Psychic/Daylight Bloodbending _was_ Genetic. If so, We are lucky for amon's Brother's Final Decision: to end the bloodline there.
since we've seen firebenders, earthbenders and waterbenders change the temperature of their elements, can air benders do the same?
me, myself and I yes. Aang has done it. Remember when he was walking around one the North and South Poles with no parka or extra clothing? He was heating the air around him to keep warm. Tenzin said it somewhere in book 1 and the creators have said it in an interview
when did waterbenders change water temperature?
I guess fire heats itself, but has there been cold fire?
and when talking about earth benders, are you implying lavabenders? are we sure they created it and not just kept it?
@@NoNameAtAll2 The closest in my opinion would be when Katara froze Jet in book 1
@@NoNameAtAll2 waterbenders change water to ice which is changing temperature from hot to cold
lavabenders project enormous heat inorder to create earth to lava which is changing cold to hot
firebenders are capable of making their fires hotter and cooler ( which does not mean cold fire, it's just cooler than hotter ones)
@@ssjraikage7874 thanks for informing me
I have a theory that lavabending is personality based. Bolin and the other lava bender dude where pretty similar in personality, both were more comical and whimsical as far as earthbenders go, while if you notice, practically all the metal benders have more harsh, cold personalities.
Hey I just wanna say that I had an English proficiency test recently. I have no issues with English, but I would have been very tripped up by the Kiwi accent on the listening part had I not been acquainted with the accent beforehand, thanks to your videos. Thanks!
Niaz Ali Khan well you obviously passed the grammar part because it’s perfect
@@ssjraikage7874 Thanks, haha! I actually consider English one of my two first languages - just have to prove that over and over again because institutions demand it. Idk man 😂😂
It's just that having an unexpected variable on any test can fluster you, I reckon.
Niaz Ali Khan I honestly wouldn’t have known that English wasn’t your first language unless you’d said it. It’s absolutely flawless, keep it up. I wonder if I could ever become this fluent in a different language myself
@@ssjraikage7874 post-colonial societies man. You grow up bilingual and unless you're very careful, one language bleeds into another and before you know it you can't even speak one language properly.
And I think you could. I had an Italian teacher who picked up Dutch in her 30s. That 10,000 hour rule, I guess!
One sentence Theory Combustion bending is a lost fire sage technique and the tattoo is a indicator of someone's dedication to that mental path
Tin foiling? More like Tim foiling ;)
Putting on our honorary Tim foil hats as subfuries!
Hey HEY I have a Tim Can at my school that would be OFFENDED BY THIS
I think the eye tattoo is done for early training reasons. It acts as a physical image they can focus on when first learning. It gives them an idea of where and how they should view this form of bending. It likely also relates to the real world religion as well. It could also be a reminder to the bender of just how dangerous it is. They need to have a clear imagine of what they are doing and that was why Combustion man died the way he did because he lost his clear image, literally.
The most broken bending technique ever
IDK flight is pretty OP in the avatar world
Leviathan's Iris what type of flight ? The air bender one where they are literally just human-kites that can pretty much just dodge attacks or the fire bender one where you are “ supposed “ to be like the iron man, and was used only one time by korra and I think Ozai
@@joaovitorfarinabraga690 The airbender one where you can freely fly in whatever movement you want (Zaheer)
You should totally make the video on writing antagonists that are protagonists from the future/alternate reality. Not clones or long lost twins, but protagonists themselves, but with different backstory. This is a strong trope because it shows us what the hero can become if things go wrong
Great video! I hope your doing well>
my headcanon (pun intended) is that there's some sort of secret academy for Combustion-Benders, almost like the Red Room from Marvel's Black Widow. P'li refers to a place , a place she talks about with pain. this seems to indicate that combustion-bending is taught in a brutal school in some secret location, kinda like Lake Laogai, with teaching methods bordering on torture. as a rite of passage, they earn their tattoos like airbenders, and take a vow of silence. i'd love to see a comic about, either Zuko or Korra, about finding the secret school of combustion-bending.
Now I wonder where chi blocking originated. We know Ty Lee knew it, but... how? And was it an accident, that a "friend" of a violent, narcissist, and dangerously talented Azula knew how to block others' chi? Seems like an odd coincidence.
I had a friend when I was a teenager. We always used to talk about him trying to figure out the meaning of life. Many years after the fact we actually ended up together. He now says the meaning of life for us is each other oh, and now our daughter as well.
*Next Video:*
The Secrets of Gender Bending | Avatar: The Legend of Korra
It's not hard to imagine a character who has a mastery over spirit able to change their body, as in literally changing bodies. Either possession or creating empty bodies within the spirit world with or without the help of a spirit entity. Or physically alter their own body with some kind of perk, like imagine a butterfly or moth spirit that gives a technique of making yourself a cocoon to reshape your body.
Avatar doesn't do enough with interesting spirit world connections. Imagine Bending, but then on the other hand other powerful spirits could form pacts to grant different more unique effects.
that stomach thing that combustion man does first is actually a technique on yoga called a "nauli" the idea is to breathe out entirely and pull your core into to meet your spine. An advanced move that massages your internal organs but also is supposed to push energy up from your centre towards the higher chakras - maybe channelling energy up from the chi centre towards the 3rd eye in order to create the combustion?
You're a liar, we all know the meaning of life, the universe and everything is 42
The Indignant Scot yep
Now, we need to find the question.
Nitpicky correction, 42 is the answer. The meaning stays hidden until you find the question.
That's just what the mice want you to think
SO From everything Ive witnessed of the avatar universe the emotional and mental state of the bender contributes HEAVILY to their bending ability's as well as a load of determination. There are some who are probably more predisposed to being able to preform certain types of bending especially the more gifted benders, but with enough practice any one who can bend that element can really do it.
This is partly supported by why the avatar has to go learn all the elements from different teachers who have to teach him the proper state of mind to bend their element, like with ang and earth bending.
Something you also see is in Korra is that Lightning bending seems to be a lot more common. Honestly what i think is happening is something similar to craftsman guild mentality from the middle ages where some one got a weird idea to do a thing and figured it out then kept the secret to himself in order to keep his edge over the competition and only shared it with specific people.
Can someone link me a 1080p version of the wallpaper on his computer?
No fuck you
I get so excited when I see you posted a video. I always comeback and check to see if you have posted a video, but then there isn't one. so now I just wait to see if you posted.