Waterbending



Waterbending, one of the four Bending Arts, is a hydrokinetic and cryokinetic ability to control water and its forms. The people of the Southern Water Tribe, the Northern Water Tribe, and a few in the Earth Kingdom (Foggy Swamp Tribe) mastered this technique some time ago. Waterbending's season is winter, and more Waterbenders are born in the wintertime than any other season.

Notable Waterbenders

 * Avatar Yangchen
 * Avatar Kuruk
 * Avatar Kyoshi
 * Avatar Roku
 * Avatar Aang
 * Katara
 * Master Pakku
 * Hama
 * Yugoda
 * Tho
 * Due
 * Huu
 * Princess Yue (As Moon Spirit)

Origin


Source: The Moon and Ocean spirits

Learned From: The Moon

The people of the Water Tribe first learned Waterbending by observing how the moon pushed and pulled the tides of the ocean. They then learned how to simulate the effect themselves. As such they have a strong spiritual connection to the Moon (and its counterpart the Ocean) and any adverse effects on these mediums can affect them too.

According to the episode "The Waterbending Scroll," the word 'waterbending' is written in Chinese as 截水神功, which can be translated as "The Divine Ability to Halt Water".'

Fighting style


Waterbending is based on the style of Tai Chi, which is a martial art that features slow movements and elegant forms that evoke the feel of flowing water. Waterbending's strength is its defensive capabilities which, rather than supporting a separate set of offensive methods, are transformed into attacks and counters - defense into offense. Rather than simply stopping to deflect an attack, Waterbending's defensive maneuvers focus on control, achieved through turning an opponent's own strength against him, instead of directly harming the opponent.

According to Iroh, water is the element of change. Waterbending provides a versatility of experience.

Water Manipulation: Almost all forms of waterbending involve moving and shaping a body of water to the user's desire. By simply levitating a large mass of water, a waterbender can move water anywhere they wish, even parting it under the surface of a lake or sea, allowing them to walk along the bottom of a basin without the need to swim. These large bodies can also be used as weapons, either by shaping them into gigantic whips, swung repeatedly at a target as a snake-like body, or simply dropped onto an opponent to smother them or put out a fire. On the sea or ocean, waterbending can be used to create giant maelstroms. Aang and Katara used this to see off a giant sea serpent in "The Serpents Pass".

Snow manipulation: A move that pushes and levitates snow for attack, shielding and defense.

"Streaming the Water": Named by Katara, it is a move that draws water from a source that a waterbender moves around their body. A more advanced version demonstrated by Aang apparently involves "sinking and floating".



Water Whips: The most frequently seen move, involves creating a lashing tendril of water to swipe at an opponent. The shape, size and length are all determined by a waterbender's control. More powerful benders can create larger whips or ones of greater finesse. Due to water being incompressible, a whip can be sharpened into a blade that can even slice through metal and flesh with relative ease. Katara has shown the abilty to create water whips with her feet with great finesse as shown in The Earth King within Book 2.

Water Jets: High pressure jets can be used to force opponents back or even blast clean through a target if focused enough.



Waves: By moving a large mass of water without separating it from its original source, water benders can create waves of nearly any size. This can be used to sweep opponents away or even as a form of transport, with the bender surfing on the crest of the wave. This same process can be used to propel water borne crafts.

Water Drill: A high pressure rotating column of water. Capable of exerting a significant amount of pressure upon a solid surface, that allows the action of a drill.

Water Walls/Water Shields: Water can be molded into any shape and can by used to deflect an attack, trap opponents in a viscous body, reshaped and propelled at an attacker before they can recover, or solidified into a shield of ice. This diversity and ability to swiftly change to suit the situation is what makes the waterbender's defense so adaptable.



Water Thermokineses: Waterbenders also possess thermokinetic abilities regarding their element, meaning that they can alter the physical state of the water they manipulate (between liquid, solid and gas) at will. Changing the phase of water allows for multiple techniques in the course of a battle, from encasing an opponent in ice to hiding behind a wall of mist. Ice and steam/fog can also be molded in a diverse range of shapes. Ice provides a degree of hard lethality since it can be molded into spikes or blades to pin down or impale opponents. Steam or mist can obscure a battlefield and mask movement. Katara made good use of this to enhance her performance as the Painted Lady.



Water Pressure Manipulation: Waterbenders are also able to manipulate water pressure, allowing their techniques to grasp other objects or cutting through without simply parting around them. Since water is incompressible, it can be used as a semi-solid while being able to move and flow like a liquid.

Ice Spikes: A waterbender can shoot small shards of ice at their opponent, or cause a giant spike to protrude from a body of water. The Northern Water Tribe employs these as a primary defense at their homeland when enemy ships are sighted.

Ice Creeper: A waterbender can send a ray of ice on the ground, speeding at an opponent to freeze them.

Ice Shield: A Waterbender can freeze an amount of water in front of them, creating a shield of ice.

Ice Discs: A waterbender can create a cylindrical column of water and proceed to slice razor-sharp sections of it off and send them at an opponent.

Frosty Breath: A waterbender can use their breath to rapidly freeze objects, such as metallic chains, or an opponent.



Water Knife: ability to compress water, allowing for the sharp edge of a knife. It enables a waterbender to effortlessly cut through metal, wood and stone.

Waterbending Master Level
The mark of a master waterbender is the ability to swiftly change from one state of water to another and rapidly switch techniques during combat, keeping the opponent off guard while constantly adapting to the enemy as demonstrated by Master Pakku. For example, he deflected a stream of water away from himself, froze it, used it to slide behind Katara before melting it and then used it to counterattack.



Water Spout: This high level technique involves controlling a whirlpool-like pillar of water as a weapon, rotating it and directing its movements at the same time. Another form exists, which is nicknamed the "Water Snake", in accordance to the waterspout's constantly shifting and coiling movements.



Octopus form: A body of water formed around the user into 8 or so whip-like limbs. which can be used to grasp or strike an opponent or to intercept and seize incoming attacks. It is assumed that this requires a great deal of concentration.

Ice Prison: Covers an opponent in a prison made of ice. By finely controlling the position of the person within, this technique can restrict the motions of a waterbender's hands, thus rendering them powerless.

Maelstrom: In a large body of water, a waterbender can create a gigantic whirlpool.

Mass Freeze: A waterbender can freeze multiple targets at once.

Monsoon: A waterbender can cause rain to fall from clouds in the sky and cause a monsoon of frozen rain or unfrozen rain.

Avatar Level Waterbending


Tsunami: Since they can control larger bodies of water, Avatars are capable of creating and controlling water bodies of far greater size and scale, including causing massive tsunamis, at will.



Tidal Wave: A large wave which a waterbender makes with a circular motion with his/her arm. In "The Awakening", Aang and Princess Yue create a large tidal wave that brings Aang to safety.

Special Techniques
Cloudbending: In, "The Fortuneteller", it's shown that (because clouds are made with water and air), a skilled Waterbender or Airbender can manipulate them easily to create various shapes (used in that instance to provide a message to nearby villagers). It was later used as a defense by Aang and his friends to disguise their flights on Appa while moving about the Fire Nation. It is unknown if a Waterbender can perform this technique without an Airbender and vice versa.

Sweat Manipulation: First shown by Katara, resourceful Waterbenders can bend their own sweat to use as a makeshift weapon in the case of being separated from a source of water

Condensation: Not only can skilled Waterbenders condense clouds into a usable source of water ("The Desert"), but they also can condense invisible water vapor right out of the air ("The Puppetmaster").



Plantbending: A member of the Foggy Swamp Tribe, Huu, has illustrated that talented Waterbenders can manipulate plant life--from the highly water-saturated vines and roots found within the swamp lands and seaweed from the ocean floor--they can even rapidly regenerate the plant mass of the plants they bend (since the cell tissues of a plant is more versatile than the cell tissues of an animal--and why Bloodbending can only be achieved on the nights of the full moon; see below), all by bending the ample amount of water within them just as they can with watery mud. Going further, a skilled Waterbender is able to separate and completely extract the water from plants for more effective utilization just as they are able to separate the water from mud, sand, and even polluted river systems etc--albeit in the case of plant life, this process will then leave behind the dried out, withered, dead remains of all the affected former plant life.

Bloodbending: Bloodbending is introduced in the episode "The Puppetmaster." Since the human body is roughly 70% water, Bloodbending does not necessarily bend blood, but the fluids in one’s body, allowing the user to manipulate a body's muscles to move as they wish or to stop movement completely. Potentially, a Bloodbender could stop a victim's heart or crush his/her internal organs, though this has not been stated. Bloodbending is said to only be performed during the night when there is a full moon, when waterbenders experience a significant increase in their powers. Though some people believe Katara used Bloodbending without a full moon in the Southern Raiders, this is incorrect, due to the moon being full during the episode, which barely spammed three days, while moon phases last a week.



Only two people, Katara and Hama, have mastered this technique. Despite having lived in the Fire Nation now, Hama originated from the Southern Water Tribe. She discovered this technique during her long imprisonment by the Fire Nation. She first figured out how to do it by bending the water inside the prison rats when her power was enhanced during a full moon. She then manipulated the prison guards forcing them to open her cage and prevent them from following her. Hama later used it to kidnap Fire Nation civilians, making them literally walk into her clutches and imprison them, but she was later found and arrested.

Bloodbending is considered to be quite a sinister art since it forces the bender's will over the victim's will. Katara was forced by Hama to learn this technique in order to stop Hama from making Sokka and Aang kill each other.

In "The Southern Raiders", Katara used Bloodbending to subdue the leader of the Southern Raiders, allowing Zuko to properly interrogate him. Once she realized he was not the man who killed her mother, she released him from her control.

Solutions: It has been shown that Waterbenders can bend any liquid that is partially water, or anything that contains water. In "Bato of the Water Tribe", Katara bent the contents of the abbey's perfume vats. She has also been seen to use Waterbending to stir and ladle stew into bowls, and has bent mud as well. In "The Drill", Katara halted the flow of the slurry on the back of the drill to prevent Ty Lee from following her. Later on, with Toph's aid, they were able to push the slurry back into the drill. Katara was also seen to bend mud when she and Toph ended up fighting when they were supposed to be training Aang in "The Runaway". In the same episode, Katara bends soup right into Appa's mouth from a pot. In "The Southern Raiders", Katara bended ink to make a Fire Nation official leave the room so she and Zuko could search through the files about the current location of the Southern Raiders.

Enhanced Waterbending
Waterbending is enhanced during the night, due to its lunar sympathy. During a Full Moon, Waterbending is apparently greatly enhanced, to the point where a single waterbender can overpower multiple benders and other soldiers. Bloodbending is only possible during the full moon. A Waterbender can also resist Bloodbending during this period for the same reasons.

Opposing Bending Art
Waterbending is the opposing bending art to Firebending, though it is similar in its require for inner discipline and strong connection to external forces. Firebenders use quick strong punches and kicks to shoot fire, while Waterbenders use slow movements and elegant turns and spins to return attacks. Firebenders attack first, while Waterbenders wait and turn their target's attacks against them.

Like all the bending arts, Waterbending is balanced out as to not be more or less powerful than the other arts. The series has repeatedly illustrated that it's the skill and prowess of the user that determines victory.

Avatar Roku, born a Firebender, considered learning Waterbending, his opposing natural element, "bitter work", which is also the title of the episode where Aang tries to master his natural opposite, Earthbending. Iroh created a technique that uses Waterbending philosophy. Zuko was taught the technique and both of them have been shown using it effectively against powerful opponents. Zuko later taught it to Aang, who also was able to use the technique.

Weapons
So far, the only times a weapon has been used with Waterbending is when Avatar Kyoshi uses her fans to create a wave in "Avatar Day", and in "The Earth King", when Aang used his staff to freeze water. It has been stated that, given their almost "Samurai-like" cutting techniques, a katana or a cane sword would be the best weapon suited for a Waterbender.

Foggy Swamp Style


Foggy Swamp Style is the Waterbending style used by the Foggy Swamp Tribe of the Earth Kingdom.

Instead of the fluid, graceful movements of the other Waterbending styles, they keep in a rigid stance, and use stiff, circular arm movements to move water like a propellor. This style seems to be very effective in moving the Tribe's boats, the swamp skiffs, but it's effectiveness in hand-to-hand combat has yet to be seen.

The water whips of the style seem to be very accurate, since Tho and Huu were able to defend themselves from Fire Nation bombs by picking them of in mid-air with water whips.

Healing
Skilled Waterbenders can use a special sub-skill unique only to certain members of each element. Waterbenders in particular possess the ability to heal wounds by redirecting energy paths (or chi) throughout the body, using water as a catalyst.

Weaknesses
External Water Source: A Waterbender's weakness is his or her need for an external source of water, though a skilled Waterbender can condensate the natural moisture in the air or on the ground into a usable form. As a result, traveling Waterbenders carry a water skin with them at all times.

Binding: A second vulnerability, however, lies within the use of one's arms as a primary means of Waterbending. This leaves the Waterbender vulnerable when he or she is bound at the hands or has had the flow of chi blocked in the arms. As of yet, there have been few instances in the series where Waterbending was performed with the lower body, such as when Katara anchored her feet in ice during her fight with Master Pakku, or when she created a piece of ice to use as a surfboard when fighting a giant sea serpent. Another lower body technique is outlined on the Waterbending scroll stolen by Katara, from which both she and Aang learned a technique named the Water Whip. However, Katara used her feet when she fought the guards Earthbenders, in the Royal Palace, in the episode "The Earth King", performing a larger than normal water whip.

Emotional State: A Waterbender's power comes from the internal life energy chi. Due to this, a Waterbender's power is connected to his or her present emotional state. If an inexperienced Waterbender were to lose his or her temper, their waterbending force is intensified, but in turn, control is lost. This was demonstrated twice by Katara, the first occasion ironically serving as the catalyst of the series. Although this has the potential to be quite dangerous, it also serves as a boon to a bender with proper training and experience, as well as balance over their emotions, as shown by Katara in "The Southern Raiders", where even with a full moon, her Waterbending seemed stronger.



Lunar Eclipse: Another Waterbending weakness is its dependence on the moon (see below). Although Waterbenders gain power from the moon (with Waterbending at its zenith during full moons), the moons absence during an eclipse results in a complete loss of Waterbending ability (as seen in The Siege of the North, Part 2).

Overcoming Weakness
It was later revealed that some of the standard Waterbending weaknesses could be rendered useless if known how. A skilled Waterbender can pull water particles out of air, plants, and even their bodies if needed. The drawback is, the bender must be able to move to do so, meaning a bound waterbender would still not be able to bend.

Elemental Symbol
The symbol for water and waterbending is a circle comprised of a stylized rightward-facing ocean wave, with three spiral crests, breaking over three wavy diagonal lines representing water. It also shows how the moon and ocean spirit work together. The symbol is featured in connection with Northern Water Tribe spirituality, and on the pendant worn by Katara, originally carved by a Waterbender named Master Pakku for her grandmother as an engagement present.

Spirituality and Waterbending
"The legends say the moon was the first Waterbender. Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves... Our strength comes from the Spirit of the Moon, our life comes from the Spirit of the Ocean. They work together to keep balance." -Princess Yue Like the moon controlling the tides, Waterbenders move water using their chi to mimic gravitational pull by choosing how to direct their energy utilizing two jings, which in turn work to push and pull the water being controlled. Because of this lunar sympathy, a Waterbender's power is stronger at night, at their absolute zenith during a full moon, and lost during a lunar eclipse. A Waterbender's power is also enhanced during the rain, for obvious reasons. Futhermore, a Waterbender's power is strongest when he or she is situated in colder climates, during the winter, or near their native polar homelands.

Legend further elaborates that Tui (meaning "push") the Moon Spirit, and its symbiotic partner La (meaning "pull"), the Ocean Spirit, gave up their immortality to be a part of the mortal world. In fact, these spirits exist in the physical forms of two koi fish eternally circling one another in a pond, in the highly spiritual oasis, in the capital city of the Northern Water Tribe.

The "push and pull" relationship between the moon's gravity and the water's inertia is represented by Yin and Yang. The Moon Spirit koi is white, with a black forehead marking, and the Ocean Spirit koi is black, with a white forehead marking, mimicking the two primal forces.

Without the equilibrium of these two spiritual aspects, Waterbenders lose their powers. This was illustrated when Tui's mortal form was killed by Admiral Zhao during the Fire Nation's siege of the Northern Water Tribe in "The Siege of the North, Part 2". The moon disappeared from the sky, the balance of the world was upset, and the Waterbenders defending the North Pole were rendered powerless.

The Fire Nation's invading fleet was subsequently defeated when the Avatar, Aang, acted as a literal avatar of La and combined to form a gigantic water creature that swept the Fire Nation forces out to sea. Balance was restored when Princess Yue, who had received a part of Tui's life force at birth to prevent her immediate death, returned that force and sacrificed herself so that Tui might live.