Earthbending calls for a stubborn will and some impressive muscles, and not just anyone can move the world with this bending art. Avatar Aang was quite handy with air and water early on in Avatar: The Last Airbender, but he was quickly humbled when it came time to move a rock. Since then, earthbending has been one of the most essential fighting styles in the franchise, well into the days of Avatar Korra in The Legend of Korra.
The strongest Earthbenders in Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s universe simply blew everyone away with their astonishing feats, to the point it felt like they were moving entire mountains as they commanded the earth to do their bidding. Not counting flashback characters like Avatars Kyoshi and Roku, a handful of Earthbenders have proven themselves the best there is, including those who can bend metal or even lava.
10
The Boulder Favors Showmanship Over Fundamentals
The Boulder Puts the Hurt in the Dirt
Before the sport of pro bending was invented in Republic City, the Earth Kingdom was home to the Earth Rumble series, where the Gaang first laid eyes on the likes of The Boulder. To Sokka’s immense pleasure, The Boulder is a flashy showman of an Earthbender who makes bending combat hugely entertaining. According to Aang, though, The Boulder is just listening to his muscles.
True enough, The Boulder stood little chance against a true master like Toph Beifong, whether or not they were battling in a real match. For that reason, The Boulder has last place among the most powerful Earthbenders in the Avatar: The Last Airbender series, though he does have impressive aggression and undeniable power, even if he often leaves himself open in a fight.
9
Aang Learned Earthbending But Never Felt Truly Attuned to It
Aang Still Favors Airbending Above All
The various Avatars typically rank among the strongest benders of any type, but when someone like Aang uses all bending styles, some preferences are bound to come up. Aang’s personality naturally suits his native airbending, and that made him pretty adept at waterbending as well, much to Katara’s satisfaction. Earth and fire didn’t gel so well with Aang’s personality, though.
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Fire is too aggressive for Aang’s liking, and Aang didn’t easily unlearn his detached, flexible ways to embrace the stubborn nature of earth. Even with Toph teaching him, Aang had a tough time, and his best feats in the series rarely involved earth, either. A.ng did well with this element when storming Earth King Kuei’s palace, but otherwise, the dedicated Earthbenders tend to outperform him.
8
Bolin Can Create Moats of Lava and Bends Earth as a Spot
Bolin Still Can’t Bend Metal, However
Toph was the primary Earthbender in the Gaang, and when Avatar Korra formed her own team, Bolin succeeded Toph as the Avatar’s Earthbender pal. Bolin never surpassed his personal hero Toph, but he did impress her somewhat with his ability to bend lava. This is something he learned in battle from fighting Ghazan of the Red Lotus.
Amusingly, Bolin was a bit underwhelming until then, with his earthbending often struggling to overcome the likes of Equalist chi blockers, P’Li’s explosions, or Ming-hua’s water arms. It’s true Bolin is a great shot with precise earthbending attacks, such as with earth disks or pebbles, but that’s just a nifty trick, not a true claim to fame.
7
Lin Beifong Honed Her Bending as the Republic City Police Chief
Lin Favors Metal Over Raw Earth
Toph’s two daughters are both Earthbenders and Metalbenders, and unlike their legendary mother, the Beifong half-sisters were born into a world with metalbending in it. Toph had to invent it, while Lin and her younger half-sister Suyin were able to train with it right away. Combine that with the rapidly industrializing world, and it’s evident why Lin favors metal above all.
Lin is handy with regular Earthbending, with the benefit of her mother’s training and decades of experience supporting her by the time Lin was fighting the likes of the Equalists, Red Lotus, and Earth Empire. That being said, Lin is better defined as a metalbender in particular, which is central to her role as the hands-on chief of Republic City’s police force.
6
Suyin Beifong Turned Bending Into an Elegant Art in Zaofu
Like Her Half-Sister, Suyin Prefers Metal
Most of the praise that Avatar: The Last Airbender fans can heap on Lin also applies to the character’s estranged half-sister, Suyin. Like Lin, Suyin benefitted from Toph’s personal coaching and constant exposure to metalbending in a world with more metal in it than ever. In some ways, though, Suyin appears self-taught, and that clearly worked in her favor.
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While Lin used earthbending and metalbending as a police officer, Suyin wandered the world, absorbing its many wonders and secrets to enrich both her personality and bending style. The end result is a top-tier metalbender who uses this style more elegantly than Lin herself, and with an even more resourceful style, too. However, Suyin doesn’t quite have the raw hitting power as the franchise’s most elite Earthbenders.
Earth Suits Korra’s Stubborn Will in Battle
Avatar Korra defeated some of the franchise’s nastiest villains with all the elements, with Korra seemingly not having a favorite element. That being said, airbending didn’t mesh too well with Korra’s aggressive ways, while fire suited her fierce temper and earthbending matched her tough attitude. Earth may or may not be Korra’s #1 element, but no one will deny her awesome power with it.
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Korra is the one who can casually slam down her fist to shudder the entire battlefield, as seen when she battled councilman Tarrlok, and she quickly adapted to pro bending’s more precise, light-footed earthbending style, impressing Bolin in the process. And of course, Korra is quite the metalbender, swiftly mastering this modern bending style with great effect, stunning Bolin and satisfying Suyin in the process. Korra’s metalbending can’t quite match what Kuvira can do with it, though.
4
Ghazan Destroyed the Entire Eastern Air Temple With His Lava
Ghazan Also Used Lava to Destroy Himself
The members of the Red Lotus often used specialized forms of bending, aside from the dark art of bloodbending, which made them memorable antagonists for Korra to face. That includes the seething lavabending of Ghazan, a gifted Earthbender who definitely favors lava over regular earth. He can bend earth the normal way, but that would just make Ghazan another Earthbender, and he needs more than that to change the world.
Many times in Book Three: Change, Ghazan terrorized the heroes and shifted the tide of battle with sudden surges of lava. As Bolin noted, regular Earthbenders tend to simply give Ghazan more ammo when they fight him, with Ghazan melting any rock into lava to turn back against the other Earthbender. Ghazan was also the one who destroyed the Eastern Air Temple and a section of Ba Sing Se’s massive walls, a testament to his enormous power.
3
Kuvira is the Most Elegant Earthbender to Ever Live
Kuvira’s Technology Makes Metalbending Feel Like the Future
The Legend of Korra saved its most talented bender antagonist for last, with Kuvira being the most formidable metalbender and Earthbender of her time. Kuvira learned much from Suyin and other metalbenders in Zaofu, which explains Kuvira’s staggering skills with that specialized element. Metal also represented how Kuvira wanted to build an oppressive future with metal tanks and mechs under her command.
Like other metalbenders, Kuvira can bend regular earth when necessary, but she greatly prefers metal, and it’s the right call. Metal is everywhere, especially when Kuvira carries bendable metal on her uniform, and she wields that metal like it’s high art. Fans won’t soon forget how Kuvira made a fool of Korra with her metal strips in the battle for Zaofu, and Kuvira even faced both Suyin and Lin without suffering defeat.
2
Toph Beifong Uses Earthbending as an Extension of Herself
Toph Wears Earthbending Like a Second Skin
The historic Earthbender Toph Beifong was a true powerhouse in all eras of her life, though in her 80s, she didn’t like how much her body ached in battle. As a tween, Toph was already at the top of her game, partly because she used earthbending as a part of herself rather than as a tool to be wielded. Unlike The Boulder and other Earthbender athletes, Toph maximized the fundamentals, not caring if those basics were flashy or not.
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The end result is a world-shaking Earthbender who uses this bending art with astonishing precision, power, and creativity in every fight. She can use tremorsense, invented metalbending, fought all the Earth Rumble 6 athletes solo, and helped Aang take out hundreds of Earth King Kuei’s guards. Notably, Toph takes immense pride in being the first and best metalbender, from her boasting to Xin Fu to the elderly Toph angrily saying Kuvira gave metalbenders a bad name.
1
King Bumi Fought Off an Occupying Fire Nation Army on His Own
Bumi Was a Powerhouse Even Beyond Age 100
Even if Toph is the most famous and innovative Earthbender to ever live, she isn’t quite the strongest of them all. That distinction belongs to King Bumi of Omashu, because even without his own metalbending, Bumi is a powerhouse with awe-inspiring feats to his name. It helps how, like Toph, Bumi is closely attuned to earthbending’s basics, including the idea of neutral jing.
Bumi was the one who broke out of his metal container in Omashu during the eclipse to take his city back. That alone established him as the world’s top Earthbender, spending only a few minutes to liberate Omashu, expelling all foreign soldiers and buildings alike. Fans may recall how Bumi needed just one casual motion to toss away several full-sized buildings from a distance, and he even toppled that massive statue of Fire Lord Ozai with a bit of effort. And he did all this at an age greater than Toph’s own in The Legend of Korra, too.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Release Date
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2005 – 2008
- Network
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Nickelodeon
- Showrunner
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Michael Dante DiMartino
- Directors
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Giancarlo Volpe, Ethan Spaulding, Lauren MacMullan, Dave Filoni, Joaquim Dos Santos, Anthony Lioi
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Zach Tyler Eisen
Aang (voice)
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