Airbender
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Airbender is a collective term for an order of people in the fictional universe of the 2005 animated television series . A moiety of the Air Nomads, they are heirs to the mystical martial art of airbending, the aerokinetic ability to control currents of air.
Origin
It is said that Airbenders first learned their Arts from the Flying Bison, a sacred creature in Air Nomad culture. The Bison seem to typically use their massive beaver-like tail to bend the air.Fighting style
Airbending is based on the Ba Gua style of Kung Fu. This martial art features swift, evasive maneuvers that evoke the intangibility of wind. Ba Gua, or circle walking, is known for its constantly circular movement which makes it difficult for opponents to attack directly. Unlike other bending disciplines, airbending lacks fatal finishing moves, being an almost entirely defensive art. [link]Airbending is the most dynamic and versatile of all the bending arts. By using circular, evasive movements, Airbenders build up massive inertia; this buildup of energy is released with massive power. It also allows for wind-based counterattacks that knock them off-balance, mimicking the sudden directional shifts of air currents. Attacks vary from simple gusts of wind to miniature tornados and cyclones. A common defensive tactic is to circle enemies, suddenly changing direction when attacked and deflecting as needed by throwing up gusts of air as a shield. Airbenders enhance their movement in battle, and can run swiftly by decreasing wind resistance, jump high and far by conjuring gusts of wind, cushion falls by creating cushions of air, and even sprint along vertical surfaces. Master Airbenders can create vortexes to entrap and disorient opponents, as well as massively destructive whirlwinds. Unlike other nations, who only rarely use weapons with their bending, airbenders commonly use their staffs to augment their powers in battle. Metal fans can also be used in combination with airbending.
Airbending is the most passive of the four arts, as many of its techniques center around evading and eluding the opponent. Although airbending can be used to slice through objects, it has never been used against an opponent, as it would go against an Airbender's principles.
Like all of the bending arts, Airbending has no inherent advantages or disadvantages against the other disciplines. The series has repeatedly illustrated that it's the skill and prowess of the user that determines victory.
Elemental Symbol
The symbol for air and airbending is a closed, counterclockwise, inverted triple spiral triskele. This symbol is seen on the pendant on 's prayer beads. It also seems to resemble a tomoe.
The term 'aero'kenesis may relate to the arrows that the flying bisons have and that the Airbenders tattoo on themselves.
The Glider
Aang possesses a small glider that can fold into a more portable staff. In glider form, he can use it in concert with Bending to hover and even fly as long as he has the strength to airbend. As a normal staff, it can be used as a weapon in battle, to aid in Bending, and even as a levitation aid when spun above the head like a propeller. It is assumed that all airbenders had such gliders in Aang's time, or at least airbenders that had reached his level of mastery.
Spirituality and Airbending
Young Airbenders are raised in one of the four Air Temples, at each corner of the globe, hidden away atop mountain ranges on remote islands. The Northern and Southern Air Temples are exclusively male, and staffed by Airbender monks, who instruct young Benders in their art. According to reports from Comic Con 2005, the Eastern and Western Air Temples are exclusively female. Taking into consideration the fact that Aang is the Avatar (as well as the fact that the monks feared war and an attack on the Avatar), and is in some sense outside the normal rules, so the possibility of his training in the east does not rule out the idea of female-only temples.Airbenders who have mastered the element are marked as such by blue tattoos striping along the head and limbs, terminating in an arrow on the forehead, backs of the hands, and the tops of the feet. Monks sport shaven heads, perhaps so the tattoos may be seen clearly, though even Airbenders who have not mastered the element still have no hair.
Though this ritual is probably not exclusive to Air Nomadic culture, when it the Avatar reincarnation is to be an Air Nomad the Air Monks test Airbender children to see if they are the reincarnation of the Avatar by asking them to select four toys out of thousands. If the child selects the toys used in previous incarnations, the Avatar has been found. Traditionally, knowledge of his or her identity as Avatar is kept from the child until age sixteen. (This same test is used by Tibetan Buddhist monks when a reincarnated Dalai Lama is expected.#redirect )
Air Nomads generally espouse a philosophy of conflict avoidance and respect for all forms of life. (comparable to the Hindu/Buddhist concept of Ahimsa #redirect ) This accounts for Airbending's stress on defensive maneuvers and its apparent lack of fatal finishing attacks.
Air Temple Fauna
Airbender Temples are also inhabited by exotic fauna, one species of which is the six-legged, beaver-tailed, three-toed Flying Bisons, giant domesticated beasts ridden by Airbenders. These creatures have brown eyes, shaggy, light grey fur and a brown stripe that runs along the spine, from tail-tip to forehead, where it terminates in an arrowhead. All flying bison can use airbending to fly. A full grown flying bison can easily weigh ten tons. They're considered sacred to Airbenders, whose tattoos deliberately imitate these markings. To direct a Flying Bison to take off, Aang the Airbender uses the command "Yip-yip." To summon one from a far location, one may use a Flying Bison whistle, which is only audible to the species it calls. Though fairly docile, these creatures can be fearsome when aroused to fight. Flying Bison and Badgermoles are each a species of animal known to be capable of bending.
The flying lemur species is also native to the Temple mountain ranges. Sporting giant, bat-like ears and wing-like patagium on their arms, lemurs can glide as well as any Airbender. They are referred to as a "Lemoo" by the Swamp Tribe.
Less well-known are the small, land-dwelling hermit crabs that inhabit the temples' corridors. They look quite similar to their aquatic cousins, with a similar shell-switching lifestyle, but are covered in a thick coat of black and white hair. They seem to prefer damp, dark places, and are apparently very adaptable, as specimens in the Northern Air Temple survived a complete refurbishment of the entire complex, spearheaded by the .
The Last Airbender
A century before the time of the series, the Air Benders were the victims of genocide at the hands of the Fire Nation. The temples were invaded, and all the Airbender monks slaughtered in an effort to break the Avatar's cycle of reincarnation and ensure the Fire Nation's victory in their imperialist war.Ironically, one of the 2 known survivors of the massacre is the very person the Fire Nation sought to kill in its quest for supremacy: the twelve-year-old Airbender and Avatar, Aang, had run away from home shortly before the war began in earnest, and became trapped in suspended animation. He has since been awoken from sleep, and begun a quest to restore balance and peace to the warring nations. The other person was Afiko the Betrayer, who had grown jealous of Aang and helped the Fire Nation massacre his own people. He helped the Fire Lord Sozin until he died of natural causes.
The last known vestiges of Airbender culture include one surviving Flying Bison, , and one lemur, , both of whom are Aang's pets. The abandoned Northern Air Temple has since been colonized by displaced Earth Kingdom citizens, led by .
Notable Airbenders
See also
References
| Information |
| | | | Water Tribe | Earth Kingdom | Fire Nation | Air Nomads |
| Characters |
| Aang | Katara | Sokka | Toph | Zuko | Iroh | Azula | Waterbender | Earthbender | Firebender | Airbender |
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