Combustion Man

"fire"

- I've heard about you. They say you're good at what you do. And even better at keeping secrets. The Avatar is alive. I want you to find him. And end him.

Do not include the name Sparky Sparky Boom Man here; see talk page

The firebending assassin/hitman, known to Sokka and his friends as Combustion Man, was a seemingly silent Fire Nation assassin who served as a major antagonist in the first half of Book 3: Fire, being hired by Prince Zuko to track down and eliminate the Avatar. Utilizing a unique method of Firebending which allowed him to trigger huge explosions at will, he terrorized the Avatar and his friends, following them on their travels across the Fire Nation.

History
According to the show's creators, Combustion Man discovered this ability when he was a young child, but initially could not control it, which led to him accidentally blowing off his right arm and leg. He has since replaced these with his trademark metal prosthetics. He then went on to acquire a formidable reputation in a series of very quick Agni Kais. Huge, silent, willing to do any dirty job with no questions asked, and driven to complete his assignments, Combustion Man is a formidable opponent with a reputation for being "good at what he does" and "even better at keeping secrets".

First Attempts
Combustion Man was hired by Zuko to kill Aang, knowing he was alive and could destroy his father's new respect for him. Professional and diligent, the assassin eliminates or intercepts any evidence that could compromise his secrecy. When Aang is spotted by two Fire Nation soldiers, Combustion Man's Raven Eagle intercepts their Messenger Hawk to the Fire Lord and he destroys the message. That night he stealthily approaches Aang and his friends campsite, but his metallic footsteps are detected by Toph. Eschewing stealth, Combustion Man attacks. His powerful bolts counter anything the group throws at him, forcing them to take cover. Aang tells his friends to flee while he himself tries to lead the enemy away. Following a running battle, in which Aang uses both Airbending and Earthbending to fend off Combustion Man's attacks to no effect, Aang eventually retreats onto Appa and the group fly away.

The Runaway Incident


Combustion Man operates more subtly setting up a trap via a wanted poster and captures Katara and Toph, locking them in a wooden cell deprived of both earth and water to bend. The two are nothing more than bait to lure in Aang, which proves successful. After Katara uses her sweat to Waterbend and escape, they help Aang and Sokka, who had only avoided the ambush because Aang heard the assassin inhaling. Toph launches a boulder at him to cover the group's escape, prompting him to explode it. As the rock explodes, a single pebble flies off of the rock and strikes him right on his third eye tattoo, blocking his chi. He gets up and attempts to shoot another explosion in the group's direction, only to find his chi blocked. The air around him detonates and the group escapes leaving him visibly angered. ("The Runaway")

Final Attack and Death
He somehow located the group in the Western Air Temple. Zuko, having undergone a change of heart, deflects his opening attack and tells him to stop. Zuko tells Combustion Man that he will not pay him if he continues his attack, and then changes his offer to double-pay if he ceases to attack. Combustion Man, however, ignores both offers, appearing to attack for reasons other than money (possibly in revenge for the previous encounter). Zuko's antics prove to be a useful distraction for the group who use the time to take cover. When Combustion Man resorts to blowing up pylons supporting the temple, Sokka takes aim and uses his trademark boomerang to strike Combustion Man square on the forehead, briefly stunning him and blocking his chi. He ignores it and tries to Firebend again anyway, causing a massive point-blank explosion which kills him. ("The Western Air Temple") His metal arm is seen falling into the misty abyss.

Legacy
Combustion Man was apparently in the play The Boy in the Iceberg, but he was never seen and was only mentioned. ("The Ember Island Players")

Powers and Abilities


Combustion Man's abilities reflect his namesake, and he is able to trigger explosive detonations through his unique style of firebending. Surprisingly, combustion is the only Firebending technique he appears to know. According to creator commentary on "The Western Air Temple", his unique abilities are due to an extremely overdeveloped third eye. He channels chi energy from his stomach, and then focuses and fires it from his third eye, through a tattoo on his forehead. This energy created thin transparent energy bolts that crack like firecrackers as they travel and then explode violently on impact with a surface. This ability is mentally driven, requiring only inhalation and focus on his part (making his fighting style much less dynamic than standard firebending) and can be used at great ranges with considerable accuracy. A single energy bolt is very powerful and can disintegrate large boulders or evaporate entire bodies of water with ease. The true degree of his power and skill is considerable, and in almost all encounters he overpowered everything Aang's group attacked him with.

In addition to his unique talents, his enormous size allows him to possess considerable physical strength, easily overpowering Zuko with only one hand even when looking the other way, and his metal prosthetics make dangerous weapons. Despite his huge frame and two metal limbs, he is surprisingly agile, using his clawed metal hand and foot as a grapple or to break the force of a fall.

His amazing durability enabled him to charge through Aang's tornadoes and block Katara's "icicle-striking" technique unfazed. It also enabled him to fire prolonged blasts, as seen when he fires an extended blast at Zuko's fire shield to push him backwards.

If however his eye tattoo is struck he temporarily loses control over his ability. If he tries to use his power at these times the air around him will explode. Also, he cannot use this technique without risk if his vision is blurry, as seen in 'The Western Air Temple', where he had to wait until he could focus on Team Avatar to attack them.

Weakness
Combustion Man shows no physical weaknesses when being attacked, and is usually impossible to get close to as he is always shooting explosive bolts, and his enemies are usually pinned down and running in the opposite direction. Ironically, his only shown weakness involves his greatest weapon. Combustion Man is shown twice to be both disabled and stunned when hit in his third eye, even when hit by only a pebble. Even more so it causes his bolts to backfire, the Chi energy in the blast being unable to leave his body causing an explosion. This weakness is first caused by a pebble flung from an exploded boulder lobbed by Toph in "The Runaway" allowing Team Avatar to get away while Combustion Man was stunned. The second time occurred at the Western Air Temple when Sokka used his boomerang's arcing trajectory to attack Combustion Man from behind cover, and he unknowingly struck Combustion Man in the forehead. This caused Combustion Man's Chi to be blocked and caused a fatal backfire when he tried to attack, destroying a large portion of the temple where he was standing. His metal arm was seen falling from the smoke, and he was later confirmed to have died in the explosion.

Trivia

 * Combustion Man is never seen or heard speaking save growls of pain and annoyance, and his real name is never revealed (although Zuko appears to know his real name, he never states it. This is confirmed by Zuko saying 'Well, that's not his name but-' before being cut-off by Sokka)
 * The creators explain in the DVD commentary for "The Western Air Temple" that Combustion Man continued to attack the group because he figured Fire Lord Ozai would be grateful for the elimination of the Avatar, even if Zuko wasn't going to pay him.
 * His tattoo of a Third Eye is reminiscent of the Hindu god of Destruction, Shiva. Shiva is often depicted with a third eye (called jjanacaksu - "Eye of Wisdom") with which he burned the god of love, Kama, to ashes and blasted off the head of his own son, Ganesha (who from that point on bore an elephant's head as a replacement). Shiva's third eye is so powerful that merely opening it causes damage throughout the universe.
 * When encountering Combustion Man in The Runaway, Sokka called him 'Sparky Sparky Boom Man'. Sokka eventually agrees with everyone else that the name doesn't quite do the overwhelming Firebender justice and settles on the moniker "Combustion Man", which is immediately adopted. Aang is the only other companion shown to call the assassin 'Sparky Sparky Boom Man' when he announces his arrival.
 * Combustion Man's arm and leg are apparently fully-functional metal prosthetics. He is the only character shown to use such a device.
 * The first time Combustion Man attacks Aang and his friends (in the episode The Beach), he fought Aang in a remote field with many tall spires. Aang would later end his confrontation with Fire Lord Ozai in an area with a similar terrain.
 * His weakness of being struck in the forehead might be a reference to the Bible tale of Goliath, who was a giant that was defeated by being struck on the forehead. To note, Combustion Man is a very big man.
 * Combustion Man is introduced and defeated in Book 3. His Book 1 and Book 2 counterparts could be seen as Admiral Zhao and Long Feng.
 * Of these 3 antagonists, Long Feng is the only survivor.

Appearances and References

 * The Headband
 * The Beach
 * The Runaway
 * The Western Air Temple
 * The Ember Island Players