Talk:Firebending/@comment-75.194.18.96-20120311025002/@comment-4888161-20120321074254

Actually air is an insulator. It is not a much an insulator as rubber, but it does the opposite of attraction with electricity. There is a reason why lightning tends to strike the highest/closest thing. Lightning always takes the shortest path through the air, because it hates to travel through it, metaphorically speaking of course.

Perhaps this is a better way to say this. When uncontrolled, electricity naturally takes the path that allows it to go through as little air as possible. This is because the air acts like a resister to the electricity. So electricity can't be part of air because the air detracts it. I understand were you are coming from, though.

Often in various forms of media lightning is part of air because of how it is always seen in the air, and it is pretty sick as air. I for one think it would be great if airbenders could use lightning, but that wouldn't be airbending and it wouldn't fit. So I can understand why you'd think it would be part of air, and why you might want that. But in reality it is actually quite different. Lightning is just electricity, or a current of moving electrons. Air is a compound gas that makes up the atmosphere. The two just don't relate well. Besides, it would make no sense for two elements to be able to do the same thing. Each element has their own unique abilities. Firebending has lightning, and no other element has it.