Airbender staff


 * This article is about the staffs used by airbenders. For the gliders made by the mechanist, see glider.



An airbender staff is a versatile instrument used primarily as a tool by airbenders, though it can also function as a valid weapon. It is a square-shafted gun, or staff, made out of a dark, flexible wood. Airbenders used the staff in conjunction with many of their airbending techniques, and it can be unfolded into a fan-like glider that airbenders use to fly.

Prior to the Air Nomad Genocide
As part of airbending training during Avatar Roku's time, prospective airbenders used their staffs to take flight. Gyatso and Roku decided to use the staffs to perform tricks; Gyatso attempted to airsurf, but fell off the staff. Roku tried to catch the young monk with his own staff, but the strain pulled them both to the ground.

Aang's original staff
Aang received a staff handcrafted by the monks when he was young. Aang not only used it as a weapon, but also as a tool to manipulate air currents with airbending. With the staff, he was able to send powerful blasts of air toward his enemies by triggering the smaller wing on the staff and using it as a miniature fan. He could also use the staff as a glider, as it came with a pair of orange folding wings. It was hand-crafted by the monks of the Southern Air Temple. Aang was attached to his staff, as he became angry when Toph used it as a nutcracker.

After recovering from being severely wounded by Azula during the Coup of Ba Sing Se, Aang, out of anger at his failure to defeat the Fire Nation princess at the Earth Kingdom capital, took his glider to attack the Fire Nation head-on. Aang was not strong enough for the journey and lost the glider at sea during a strong storm. Aang survived the storm and was eventually found by his friends on Crescent Island while the glider washed up on shore, damaged beyond repair. However, Aang knew that such a device would reveal his identity, and therefore he left it to burn in a nearby river of lava.

Aang's second staff


Aang was forced to journey into the Fire Nation without a staff up until the Day of Black Sun, the day in which the other nations would invade the Fire Nation. When the invasion force arrived from the Earth Kingdom, the mechanist, one of the gang's allies from the Northern Air Temple, created a brand new staff for Aang, which was thinner, fitted with blue folding wings and a tail fin, and deployed its wings through spring-loaded mechanisms. A somewhat trivial feature was a built-in snack compartment, which would energize Aang during flight. Although he thought this extra feature somewhat frivolous at first, Aang eventually found it useful during his solo trip to confront Fire Lord Ozai. Aang put this staff into good use during the invasion, as it acted much like his old glider, though he could not use the smaller wings to send a powerful blast of air as he could with his old staff. His new staff was more resilient, as he was able to bend it back to fling himself forward and to blast air at Azula. As of the end of the Hundred Year War, it remained in Aang's possession. He notably did not use his glider in his battle against Ozai, as he had left it back on Ember Island when he unconsciously traveled to the lion turtle. Katara used his staff as a smell sample for June's shirshu, Nyla, in a fruitless attempt to try to track down Aang.

During the Harmony Restoration Movement, Aang used it to fly with Katara over Yu Dao's walls to avoid Fire Nation guards since people were allowed to enter only with Zuko's permission.

While Team Avatar was aiding in the search for Ursa, Aang used his glider to chase Azula, who had jumped off Appa from a great height. It was singed, however, when the princess shot fire at it in order to escape.

Avatar Korra's time


After Tenzin and Pema gave birth to three airbending children, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo, Tenzin taught them airbending, part of which involved using authentic airbender staffs to work on their gliding. Jinora also flew in on a glider during the Equalists' invasion of Air Temple Island in order to launch a successful resistance against the invaders.

Following the Harmonic Convergence of 171 AG, Korra came into possession of an airbender staff of her own.

Construction
According to Aang, the staffs were delicate instruments, hand-crafted by monks. The shaft of the glider is made of a single piece of lightweight wood, hollowed down the middle. There are two wider, diamond-shaped pieces at the quarters near the top and bottom, into which a pair of brass rods are inserted. These rods form the hinges for the fan-like glider wings. The mechanist was also known for creating gliders, specifically for Aang for the invasion on the Day of Black Sun. Its design is similar to that of the Air Nomad glider, except with a rounded shaft, blue, rectangular wings, handle bars, and a convenient snack holder.

Each wing is made of four thin shafts of the same kind of wood, fitted exactly so that, when they rotate back into the body of the glider, they lie flush with the sides. Across these shafts is attached a thick, wax paper surface that makes the glider resemble a large fan. There are four wings on the glider: two in the center that provide principal lift, and two at the base that are used for stabilization.

The wings fold back into the glider body with a snap. When folded up, the staff is so well made that it is as strong as any other wooden staff and feels like one solid piece of wood.

Use


The glider is a small, unpowered device and thus requires airbending to use. To ride the glider, riders grasp hold of the two leading spars of the lift wings and loop their feet over the leading spars of the stabilizers. Airbenders use their airbending to bend the air around the glider and provide lift, as the staff generates only minimal lift by itself. Generally, an airbender will create a small burst of wind to lift themselves off the ground in order to get the glider into the air.

Despite its delicacy, the glider can be used like a regular quarterstaff, and airbenders can use the staff to augment a variety of defensive and offensive moves, linking it seamlessly into the precise movements to control the movement of air. For example, in Zuko's quarters, Aang easily defeated the Fire Nation prince by smashing him onto a mattress, into the wall, and onto the ceiling using his glider. Because it extends the airbender's reach, it can create more powerful gusts of wind due to the longer motion arm used in performing the technique. However, direct physical contact between the glider and an object was discouraged due to the aforementioned delicacy, as evidenced by Aang's discomfort when Toph began using his glider to crack nuts.

By spinning the folded staff in the hands, various moves can be performed. When spun in front of the body, the staff will help to create an air shield, capable of deflecting direct firebending attacks. If lifted over the head, the spinning staff will allow for short periods of vertical or hovering flight.



An advanced airbender can also use a glider to perform windsurfing. Aang used this transportation method as he tried to cross into the Fire Nation on his own following the Coup of Ba Sing Se. Although this mode of transportation requires less energy than flying, it is less efficient over longer distances.

Trivia

 * Reflecting the reluctance for the bending powers in Avatar to be construed as "magical" early in the series' development and marketing, the description for Aang's staff on the old Nick.com website reads, "An Airbender's [sic] signature tool is his staff. It does not possess any magical properties. However, it mechanically transforms into a small glider."
 * Only two adult airbenders have been seen using gliders to fly; the first was an adult airbending instructor during Roku's era, and the second was Tenzin.
 * The original Air Nomad gliders were the inspiration for the mechanist's updated version one hundred years after the Air Nomad Genocide.