#lightning bending

[nothatsahorriblename]

I don't know if people have already pointed this out but people really underestimate ozai's capabilities. Sure it's funny to be like haha he's so pathetic but.

When zuko stands up to ozai on the day of the eclipse

He is not only able to sense the sun while underground,

He is able to use that sliver of sunlight to generate lightning, a pretty intense bolt too

Also, he is able to do this far quicker than any of the firebenders we see on the show

Azula, for example ^

also, he is extremely proficient with regular firebending as well:

This is him while being powered by sozins comet, but he is able to cover a vast area of land, that too from a considerable height (this scene makes me extremely sad, imagine all the plants and animals, also, the amount of vengeful spirits even after the war)

Compared to the fire nation soldiers, also powered by the comet, covering the (roughly) same amount of area, but requiring 16 individual streams of fire (is that the correct term? Idk)

In conclusion: thank you aang for taking away his bending 🙏🏽

[wakkass]

Katara's Lightning: waterbending technique

Part 1

Book 3 provided some very good ideas for alternative uses of waterbending. Everyone knows bloodbending, one of the most powerful and conceptual techniques. In principle, I think the episode with Katara mastering this ability is the most interesting in the season.

But not only because of bloodbending, but also because of creative ways to obtain water. Get it out of the plants! Or even out of thin air! This opens up so many possibilities that, unfortunately, weren't explored during the season. Maybe this was considered in comics or LoK, but I would like to talk about my version of the development of the concept.

I was very interested in controlling water in the air. I thought that this was a very revolutionary approach, because you need to get water from essentially nothing, it’s difficult and at the same time convenient. A source of water is always at hand, great!

However, the question is: is this all? Is it really impossible to go further and develop the ability in some other way? Lately I have been very interested in this question, and my reflection has taken me in an unexpected direction.

I thought about storm clouds. We have already been shown how, together with an airbender, even an inexperienced waterbender can control clouds. However, in the future, when Katara develops her skills, she may well be able to cope with this task herself. Clouds are made of water, and thanks to Hama, she clearly learned to feel the element on a more subtle level and control it even in the air. Making water particles move in the sky might not be that difficult for her.

And imagine how cool it would look during the invasion of the Fire Nation. If Katara didn’t just fly on Appa and destroy airships one by one, but carried a thunderstorm across the sky, like Storm from the X-Men. Bad weather would prevent the air force from entering the battle, and rain would help the waterbenders on the ground and prevent the firebenders from fighting. This would not only be visually powerful, but also quite useful.

And then I thought about what happens in a thunderstorm. Lightning. The firebending technique can essentially be summoned by the opposite element! This idea amazed me…

Let's start with where lightning comes from in nature. In simple terms, when small water crystals of different sizes move very quickly inside a thundercloud and collide with each other, they form opposite charges in different parts of it. The result is natural lightning. That is, all that is needed is to be able to control the water particles in the air, and, as we know, Katara has learned this.

Imagine if, during the same invasion, she had gotten too caught up in creating a storm. The ice particles collided so quickly that at some point, lightning appeared in time with Katara's movements. Powerful, uncontrollable, dangerous. She and Appa were in the middle of a storm without any preparation or protection, it was scary. But at the same time exciting and intriguing. How does it feel to realize that you can create magic of the opposite element? This can't help but stun you.

But Katara would have to restrain herself. I don't think she liked it, but she didn't want to put Appa and herself in danger. As a result, the thunderstorm she created was not half as powerful as it could have been.

Why is it important? Because in my perception this is not just a technique. I feel like the storm, and in particular the lightning, in this case represents Katara herself in book 3. Remember her rage in the episode "Southern Raiders" when she expressed long-buried feelings about the loss of her mother. Remember how long and painfully she nursed Aang after his death, and subsequently experienced enormous stress in “The Puppetmaster” due to bloodbending. I think Katara needs some emotional release (which she got in "Southern Raiders", but more on that in part two). And lightning could personify that internal energy that strives outward.

Remember how Katara's anger manifested itself in book 1 through its effect on the water around her? What if it got bigger because Katara grew up as a master?

This time it is very dangerous to give in to feelings like this and turn them into the element, because Katara is not able to control the lightning itself, only create it. This can seriously hurt her herself, as well as those around her, just like words and deep resentments (for example, towards Sokka for not grieving the loss of their mother as much as she does). Therefore, there is nothing left to do but restrain the impulses of rage and irritation.

Perhaps she would even refuse to create new storms. Unfortunately, without someone who could control the direction of the lightning, she cannot guarantee the safety of herself and the people around her. But where can she find such a handyman?..

Part 2 >

[demonqueenbeee]

[b-izus]

firebender jinx

[untitled-bkog]

We all know the headcannon that Azula slowly lost her hearing due to her excessive lightning bending, but what is infinitely funnier AND tragic is the idea that she gave herself an arrythmia/heart murmur from it.

I mean come on.

Azula: I have a heart condition

Toph: She's lying. Her heartbeat is going crazy.

Azula: That would be the heart condition.

[b3dh3d]

Zuko is finally able to lightning bend 💀

[sauriodesu]

[atla-recluse]

I can't be the only one...

who felt like it was implied by the show that lightning bending was somehow a more "evil", "impure" or "cruel" form of bending in line with what bloodbending was made out to be, based on who we know was skilled enough to do it (Azula, Ozai, likely "past" Iroh). Am I?

I feel like that definitely could have been a bias that they chose to lean into, based on what we learned up to and past the point of lightning bending's introduction as well as bloodbending's.

Hama being an unforgiven-antagonist to the Gaang means that bloodbending was going to be framed as an especially awful form of combat from the start. (A form that seems to get implicitly compared in-show to a physical or spiritual violation.) Likewise, Iroh describes lightning bending as "cold fire".

Lightning? Cold? The surface of the sun would beg to differ.

The previously mentioned three from the Fire Royal Family are also the only ones we see and know of doing the skill. Two of them are show antagonists (Azula, Ozai). The other technically starts as an antagonist but eventually becomes someone that we're now supposed to believe views his past self as though they would have been a wrongful enemy of the Gaang and of world peace itself (Iroh). Meanwhile our poor, good-hearted, awkward turtleduck (*snickers*) Zuko, just can't seem to learn how to do it. Even when the time period of LOK comes, he's implied to have still not learned how.

Also, if we are to assume that no forms of firebending were looked down upon in Fire Nation culture, especially post-dragon extinction, then it makes even more sense that a form of firebending that's "harsher" wouldn't be disapproved of and would even be preferred over other forms for that very reason.

Now if true, that leaves the question of "what makes it worse than other forms of firebending?". I'd argue nothing, really. It seems, at worst, to only be faster and more deadly than other forms of fire bending. Like icebending compared to regular waterbending. A cherry on top for Azula seems to be that she looks fantastic and elegant when she aims her fingers at someone/something, and for Ozai, that he can prepare his shots extremely fast.

Of course, it could also have been the other way around and it was the characters that learned the ability who were having something implied about them, not necessarily the ability itself. Maybe even both.

[theoriginalobsessed]

Been rewatching ATLA in prep for the new Netflix show, and I’ve just realized something

Bending lightning is described as creating an imbalance between positive and negative energy from uncle iron

That’s why Zuko could never bend lightning.

He’s destined to bring balance in his 2 negative and positive sides, and in the world, not imbalance

P.S. he’s good at redirecting lightning, like how he redirects his families negative impact on the world and turns it into something positive

[atuats-sidechick]

Hei-Ran gets lightning bending through meditation. Rangi gets it through pure chaos. The world heals.

[wakkass]

Katara's Lightning: waterbending technique

Part 2

By a happy coincidence, one firebender who just knows how to redirect lightning joined the Gaang. You have no idea how excited I was when I realized the potential for Zuko and Katara's interaction in this concept.

Two benders of opposing elements turn to each other's elements to master one phenomenon: lightning. She's a waterbender who creates this lightning, and he's a firebender who repels it. One draws these skills from the other's martial art: lightning redirection is based on the concept of waterbending, while lightning is a firebending technique.

This is not just a combination of elements, it's their unification into something whole. Mix water and fire! It would seem impossible, but Katara and Zuko are people who have always gone beyond human capabilities to achieve their goals. If they can't do it, no one can.

Thus, by blurring the boundaries between fire and water, they destroy the illusion of difference between peoples (if you remember, this topic was raised by Guru Pathik in book 2). People of water and fire can work together, help and even complement each other.

After all, in fact, each of them makes up for the lack of the other. Katara can't control the lightning, and Zuko can't create it to further deflect it. They need each other for the balance of power. Like Yin and Yang, like day and night, like the sun and moon. How beautiful it is, I can’t.

I think the whole idea of Katara personifying anger would have continued with Zuko joining the team. When he appeared, she found nothing better than to center her rage on him. He betrayed her, this is justified anger. He's the prince of the nation that started the war, he is responsible for these horrors. He's the son of the one who ordered her mother killed.

However, Zuko did something that no one expected, especially Katara: he allowed her to let go of the anger of her life. He achieved this by redirecting the power of her rage to the real culprit of all Katara's worries - the murderer of her mother. And the reprisal against him gave her inner peace and a solution to a problem that seemed unsolvable.

Her anger was just like lightning, which was eager to strike at least someone, just to throw out the accumulated energy. Righteous, but throwing itself at everyone. Zuko didn't hide it, didn't calm it down, but redirected it to where it was needed, finding the necessary target.

This is another metaphorical aspect of their joint technique. He learned to channel her lightning not just through training, but through interaction and strengthening their personal connection. And the result was that understanding at a glance, which formed the basis of their fighting style. I don't know about you, but I thought this summed up their relationship perfectly.

Thus, from now on, she can rely on Zuko and trust him not only with the emotional burden, but also with their lives in the midst of a storm, both metaphorical and literal. After all, she knows that he will always deflect lightning from innocent...

Remember this moment? Zuko and Katara fight back to back, showing their shared trust in each other and cooperation as warriors. But imagine if, on top of everything else, they trained a joint technique for generating lightning and then directing it. It looks so cool in my head, it’s a pity I’m not an animator and/or storyboard artist, I don’t know how to stage scenes (((

And then, when lightning seemingly brought Zuko and Katara together, it ended up nearly tearing them apart, taking his life.

Because Zuko will always deflect lightning from Katara…

< Part 1

[maybecharlieknows]

Kakashi rose his eyes to meet the beastly ones of the enemy, his Chidori still flicking, active, and his own arm blocked into the tree behind. He managed to pierce their arm, but he didn’t block them entirely from moving. Why didn’t he? He saw exactly were to struck with the Sharingan. Why…

“Suiton! Water Trumpet!”

She came from his right side. With a quick move, Kiruna directed a skinny water jet to embrace the lightning and hit the summoner, electrocuting the beast. The hand that was about to land on Kakashi's neck stopped in mid-air.

___________________________________________

From Sanctuary - MaybeCharlieKnows

Arc I: Midnights - Chapter 5: Close

All the Suiton Jutsus are massively inspired by ATLA, as well as Naruto, of course. #tobiramasupremacy

[omnxnom]

BENDING LIGHTNING ⚡️⚡️⚡️

I thought wow what if shadow conjured his chaos spears like how firebenders bended lightning and then this happened lol. inspired by these shots from atla!

listening to the sxsg OST while doing this and im just sooooo

[avatar-legends-confessionblog]

Why did so many people get mad at Randy Ribay for retconning the invention lightningbending when it was already retconned first by F.C Yee?

I only saw him criticized for retconing lightning redirection. In the original show Iroh said he invented the technique, but in "The Reckoning of Roku" that takes place before the events of AtLA it is mentioned as an existing established technique already. Naturally, people are unhappy.

Well, some things are known to be invented, forgotten and then re-discovered again, but anyway... yeah, I also don't like it. It was not relevant to the plot so far, only mentioned briefly once, no one uses it in the novel, so why just not leave it out?

Hope it helps.

X

[ifeelalot]