Waterbending



Waterbending is one of the four elemental bending arts, and is the hydrokinetic ability to control water, as well as all its many forms. The people of the Southern Water Tribe, the Northern Water Tribe, and the lesser known Foggy Swamp Tribe utilize this type of bending.

Waterbending is the element of change. The moon is the source of power in waterbending. The first waterbenders learnt from the moon by observing how the moon pushed and pulled the tides, making the Water Tribe the only people to not learn from an animal.

The fighting style of Waterbending is mostly flowing and graceful. Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy, they let their defense become their offense, turning their opponents own forces against them.

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)
 * Unnamed Fire Avatar

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, Waterbenders 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 Serpent's 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 waterbenders move around their bodies. 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 with relative ease. Katara has shown the ability 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 waterborne crafts.



Water Bullet The Water Bullet is a move where a Waterbender bends a large amount of water and sends it in a forceful blow towards their target.

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 attackers 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.



Ice Bending
Water Thermokinesis: 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: Waterbenders 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 Claws Shown by Hama, Ice Claws is a move where the bender draws water around their fingers and freeze it. They can also be sent forward, shooting them at an opponent.

Ice Spear The Ice Spear is a Waterbending move shown to have been used by Southern Waterbenders. It involves freezing a stream of water and then sending the frozen result flying at the target. This move was shown in "The Puppetmaster", where Hamma was talking about the Southern Raiders raiding the Southern Water Tribe.

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.

Breath of Ice: A Waterbender can use their breath to rapidly freeze objects, such as metallic chains, or an opponent. For a more advanced version of the technique, the user takes a deep breath and exhales the air as a cloud of freezing mist. Katara used this technique in "Jet" to freeze Jet to a tree and in "The Awakening" where she stopped the warship from sinking.



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, and used it to slide behind Katara and counterattacked.

Bubble: When in need to cross large bodies of water, capable Waterbenders are able to create a bubble around themselves, keeping an air supply for them and for others. It was used by Aang and Katara in "The Serpent's Pass" and by Katara twice so that she and Appa could submerge, during "The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion" and "The Southern Raiders".

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. Katara used this in the episode "The Crossroads of Destiny" to bring Aang up and out of the catacombs.



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 Dome: A highly advanced technique, as demonstrated by Katara in The Siege of the North Part 1, a Waterbender may surround a foe in a viscous sphere of water and then freeze it, trapping their opponent inside.

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. This technique is executed by Aang and Katara during the "Serpent's Pass" while fighting the serpent.

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.

Water Dome: A master Waterbender can collect water from the rain, forming a dome which can be used for both offense and defense. Katara used this in "The Southern Raiders".

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. 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 tsunami that brings Aang to safety.

Remote Waterbending: As seen in "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang", Avatars can use Waterbending from distances which a Waterbender would not normally be able to. After using the Avatar State, Aang pulls the ocean to put out the fire at Wulong Forest caused by Ozai and his airships.

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"). Katara made good use of this technique during her fight with Hama, being able to use the moisture from the air to attack her from both sides at once, making her spin and fall to the ground.



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. In the case of plant life, this process will then leave behind the withered remains of all the affected 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 can only be performed at night during the full moon. 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 spanned 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 kill Aang.

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. In "Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King," Aang thinks of using "gluebending" to defeat Ozai, suggesting that a Waterbender can bend glue.

Water Run: This is a technique in which Waterbenders would use all four limbs to run on water at very high speeds, in addition to riding on foreign objects with the same purpose. This technique is first used in "The Serpent's Pass", when Katara forms an ice surfboard and increases her speed in order to effectively freeze the Serpent's midsection without being hit; unfortunately the Serpent broke out. Katara used it a second time in "The Painted Lady" to cross the lake to the village, and Aang did a variation of this by freezing blocks of ice to use as stepping stones. Lastly, Aang uses this against Ozai in "Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into The Inferno" to run from Ozai's attacks.



Steam Manipulation: A technique that allows waterbenders to manipulate steam. They can produce it from any water source. It can be used to freeze people or objects. It can also be used for cover. Katara made good use of the technique in "The Awakening" when she used steam to cover the ship for safety and in "The Painted Lady", when she surrounded herself in steam to create an eerie atmosphere.

Enhanced Waterbending


Waterbending is enhanced during the night, due to its lunar affinity. During a full moon in particular, Waterbending is greatly enhanced, to the point where a single Waterbender can overpower multiple opponents with relative ease. Bloodbending is only possible during the full moon. A Waterbender can also resist Bloodbending during this period for the same reasons.

Also in the Siege of the North, the Ocean Spirit combined with Aang in the Avatar State to defend the Water Tribe. This created a giant koi fish spirit made of spiritually enhanced water.

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 the momentum of the opponents' 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 is the skill and prowess of the user that determines victory. In the case of Waterbending however, a Waterbender's ability to perform all of the Waterbending they are capable of is significantly dependent on the amount of water available.

Avatar Roku, born a Firebender, considered learning Waterbending, his opposing natural element "especially challenging", and called mastering the four elements "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. However Waterbenders do carry water around in water skins when they are in places where there is little water, such as the desert. These skins carry various amounts of water depending on their size.

Northern and Southern Style
The Northern Water Tribe developed the first style of Waterbending for use in their home at the North Pole. When the Southern Water Tribe formed in the South Pole, they developed a slightly different style that nonetheless is very similar to their Northern cousins.

The traditional Waterbending styles of the Northern and Southern Water Tribes focus on graceful, fluid movements for their attacks. These styles frequently make use of switching the state of water from liquid to ice and snow. It is with this technique that the Waterbenders built their large polar cities. The Northern Waterbenders seem to traditionally perform more defensive, strategic, and architectural techniques in Waterbending, while Southern Waterbenders seemed to have been more aggressive when fighting and showed to have used more offensive techniques.

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 two Waterbending styles, they keep a rigid and straight stance, possibly reflecting the usually stagnant nature of water in their swamp homelands, and use stiff and circular arm movements to move water like a propeller. This style seems to be very effective in moving the Tribe's boats.

They do not appear to use ice or snow attacks as often as their polar cousins, possibly due to the lack of ice in their environment. One of the Swamp Tribesmen, Huu, was able to develop Plantbending, a technique seen performed only by him. It is unlikely that other polar Waterbenders are aware of this technique, though Hama didn't express surprise when learning of it, preferring to remove the water from plants rather than manipulating the plant.

The battle capabilities of the style seem to be very accurate, since during "The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion", Tho, Due and the other Swamp Waterbenders used this unique style in battle: using noticeable foot movements in addition to moving their arms in the desired direction to shield themselves from harm before stepping and performing an elegant punching motion to attack.

Healing
Waterbenders can sometimes use a unique sub-skill: 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. As a result, traveling waterbenders often carry a water skin with them at all times.

Binding: A second vulnerability 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. Few instances in the series have been seen 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 guard 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 his or her emotions, as shown by Katara in "The Southern Raiders", where even with a full moon, her Waterbending seemed stronger than usual.



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 moon's absence during an eclipse results in a complete loss of Waterbending ability (as seen in The Siege of the North, Part 2).

Overcoming Weakness
Some of the standard Waterbending weaknesses can be overcome by skilled Waterbending masters. In environments without water, a master can pull water particles out of clouds or air, and even out of living organisms such as plants and trees. The drawback is that if water is removed from a living organism, it will wither and die. Water can also be obtained from a master's own bodies if need be, from sweat or saliva.

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 its 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. Furthermore, 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. However, it is currently unknown exactly what effect the death of the ocean spirit would bring to the balance.

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.

In the Foggy Swamp Tribe, Waterbenders were shown to be specially attuned to the environment, one of its members, Huu being able to achieve enlightenment by meditating of a tree in the heart of the swamp, connecting with it, the same way it is connected with the rest of the swamp, as it is a superorganism.