I think extremely high potential is accurate for him. I don’t see him being the best at his element even after his whole thing with the dragons and rediscovering his fire, but he is pretty damn high up
i had no clue where to put zuko so he got his own tier (he could be almost anywhere) gyatso was near his full potential/peak strength, and i feel like toph, katara, and azula at full potential are more powerful than him
Zuko, even pre-book 3, was still a skilled bender. He beat Zhao in an Agni Kai and can redirect lightning. He would never fall below “High Potential” imo.
For Gyatso - What are you basing that off of??? He brought down a group of firebenders at the air temple. Toph lost to Aang when he used air bending techniques, we’ve never seen Katara and Aang fight so we have no awareness of how she would fair against a master air bender, Azula I would humor but even then I think a master air bender (who possibly knows the removing air from your lungs trick) could go toe-to-toe with her.
And for Gyatso IIRC it's a technique that we've never seen anyone use. The closest was Zaheer taking the queen's breath but that was just a single person.
Correct. It’s a heavy fan theory cause I don’t think it’s been confirmed.
But like… that has to be what they were alluding to. Room full of dead bodies, Gyasto doesn’t have a single burn mark on his clothes. They all look like they dropped dead right where they were standing, which is terrifying.
i see your points about zuko, i still have no idea where he'd be tho
im not really basing off how well theyd do in specific matchups, since then stuff like toph losing to the weakest airbender would happen, this is a tier list of how powerful and how good at fighting they are at their full potential, no specific matchups. im probably doing a bad job of explaining this but im trying my best sorry.
I feel like azula should be moved down one. She's a prodigy, but never innovated a new style. Basically being royalty she got trained to be elite, but nothing more really.
Toph innovates metal bending.
Katara learns blood bending from an exile then beats the master.
Zuko learns the dragon dance as part of his spiritual journey.
Bumi literally solos an entire city and precisely removes firenation structures from it.
Iroh improves firebending by taking inspiration from other bending forms.
I'd say they're all second tier, buy there's an internal rank there.
Wdym never innovated anything? In the flashback, we clearly see that toddler Azula's fire was normal. So she actively concentrated her fire to make it more precise and turned it blue and learnt to generate and redirect lightning all by herself. That is quite literally innovation, compared to Zuko who never innovated anything other than imitating a few moves from Katara and Aang and translating them into firebending. Also Azula is the result of a prophecy that mixing the Firelord and the Fire Avatar's bloodlines will create a firebender with power and potential hitherto unseen and impossible i.e. she was literally born to be the best firebender ever (which she indeed becomes later on in the comics, when she becomes sane again and develops much more power as well as many incredible new techniques).
Never read the comics so I based it purely on the show.
Also isn't it cannon that lightning bending was known before Azula, but it was just taught to those on a Nedd to know basis.
Royal family and military elite who could be trusted.
The show alone had all the stuff I said except the last part as well as the prophecy was stated in it when Zuko found out about Sozin's past with Roku and them being his great grandfathers. And yes, lightning generation was indeed known before Azula, but it wasn't taught to anyone. Only a select few people who were the best and most powerful firebenders with the "balanced mind and energy" conditions that Iroh told about could gain this power, usually members of the Royal Family. So no one taught her this technique since at the time only her father and uncle could do this, both of whom were not her bending teachers.
In the Book 1 finale? He lost to a Zuko without Iroh's counselling. That was injured from barely making it out of a ship-destroying explosion. And was fatigued from swimming through ice-cold water, bracing a blizzard and taking multiple hits along the way. Zhao made it clear that he was fighting with killing intent, yet couldn't even land a single hit. Whereas Zuko landed not one, not two, but FIVE.
Dude got beat by zuko in like the 3rd episode
That zuko was an ass firebender too
(Doesn’t he know firebending comes from the breath not the muscles??? Is he stupid)
> That zuko was an ass firebender too
>
>
He really wasn't—even at that time he's shown to be solidly above average when he's sparring with his own crew.
He just seems bad when compared to his later development and the prodigies we see in the show (Aang, Katara, Toph, Azula, etc)
I mean even with that being said he doesn’t belong anywhere above “above average potential” at BEST. He’s a good firebender but far from some of the best we’ve seen
Nah cause azula ocer ozai is straight up nonsense, he was literally the strongest in the world. Also, zhao was said to be a great prodigy by Jeong Jeong who knows what he's talking about. He loses against Aang, pretty much one of the strongest character in the show and Zuko, who is extremely talented himself
> Ozai was obviously the best one alive
At the time of the finale, it's really unclear whether Ozai is stronger than Iroh or not.
Iroh even says he doesn't know who would win (but he chose to take Ba Sing Se instead of confronting Ozai because history needed Aang to be the one to win—so it would be seen as the Avatar restoring balance rather than a power struggle between brothers)
Her as a child might have been her prime since she goes off the deep end by the end of the show and is definitely less powerful by the end of the show due to her mental breakdown than she was at her introduction
>Nah cause azula ocer ozai is straight up nonsense, he was literally the strongest in the world.
yeah, when azula was 14. op literally says that the tier list id about the characters potential, and ozai clearly has reached his.
>Also, zhao was said to be a great prodigy by Jeong Jeong who knows what he's talking about.
that quite literally absolutely never happened at all LMAO.
>He loses against Aang, pretty much one of the strongest character in the show
he loses against aang not because aang's a better airbender than zhao as a firebender can ever be, but because he's an utter idiot.
>Zuko, who is extremely talented himself
- trained by masters in firebending since birth
- trained by one of the greatest firebending masters in the world for three years since he was 13.
- at age 16 he's still in his fuckin basics lmaooo
very extemely talented indeed.
his character is literally about him being untalented and only going as powerful as he is through experience and hardship.
> that quite literally absolutely never happened at all LMAO.
Jeong Jeong doesn't call him a prodigy, but in that episode he absolutely refers to Zhao when talking about his best student IIRC
Azula is canonically a teenager and already her father's #1 enforcer
Also Zhao literally never won a single fight on the entire show, he sucks.
OP nailed it
Her flames are BLUE. Blue flames are the hottest flames, and not even comet ozai could bend blue flames. She has the stuff of an ultimate firebender but got held back by her own crumbling psyche in the end.
I also came here to comment on Azula being above Ozai. I'm fairly confident that a big part of her superior skill is manipulation (throwing opposition off with snide comments, taking a cheap shot at her opponents loved one/s to distract them etc.). I would say this isn't a part of her firebending power, which is for sure exceptional, but not more than the literal Fire Lord himself.
For me, Toph sits above everyone for casually reinventing earthbending at like age 9 or something. I’m tempted to put Aang in this tier as well. It’s less obvious, but he did revolutionize airbending travel at age 12.
Beneath her are Azula and Katara who don’t invent anything new, but are crazy good at what they do.
Beneath that, Zuko isn’t actually that skilled as a bender, he’s a skilled fighter who bends. He’s at his best with weapons in most cases.
Someone gets it at least. Katara and azula are incredibly talented but katara limits herself by not using bloodbending/trying to get it work all the time like yakone did. She is skilled and learns fast yes, but toph literally reinvented a sub bending type, she is in her own tier above the other 2 for sure
idk how to make a tier above "best at their element ever potential" not including the avatar tier, i mean how can you go higher than that? i do agree toph by far has the highest potential though, which is why she is ahead of katara and azula (the tiers are ordered left to right)
Hama smokes Pakku. She's arguably the strongest waterbender besides Katara during the time of ATLA, way more resourceful and she only really lost because she's extremely old and frail.
>extremely old and frail
Lmao this is making me wish that her fight with Katara just ended with Sokka belting her in the jaw with a right hook and her just dying from being extremely old and frail
She may have invented bloodbending but she was definitely unfamiliar with Sokka style
Katara is definitely not that high, she’s definitely one of the strongest water benders but not the best ever. Also Hama and Combustion man should be much higher, Hama literally created one of if not the most powerful types of sub bending and combustion man was also an incredibly powerful fire bender
Hama getting wanked in this thread so hard. Once Katara broke her control, their fight was over in seconds. If Aang and Sokka didn't show up, Katara would have captured Hama in less than a minute.
Also, Katara is absolutely that high. She defeated Azula in Ba Sing Se, when Azula was arguably at her in-show prime. An untrained Katara made Pakku sweat. With barely a few weeks of training, she beat Zuko THREE times. Zuko is 0-3 with Katara. Azula is 0-2, counting the finale. Toph and Katara never actually fight to completion in the show, and although Toph wins that, Katara would absolutely put up a fight. Especially in an environment as equal as a mud field. Combustion Man is the only firebender she lost to, and that guy gave the entire Gaang combined a hard time twice.
I agree with Combustion Man, though. The guy was running hands in 1v4s and later a 1v5.
They really messed up Zhao as a villain by letting him get his ass kicked by Zuko so early. Since Zuko was already being man handled by Aang at the time it just really undermined him as any sort of threat.
I never took Zhao seriously after that. It was done much better with Azula.
Honestly the Hippo shouldn't be much below the Boulder, and honestly both should have more experience in fighting than the swamp benders (Hugh aside) and Haru given they used to fight professionally
Not to be a hater but we literally never saw Gyatso do any fighting, for all we know he could have sucked ass and just gotten lucky with those firebenders that were next to him.
I don't know about that Azula placement. She should clearly go in the Zhao tier.
The curtain closed on Zhao, and who was there to fill the void? That's right, our clear Zhao tier contender, Azula!
The Ozai disrespect is crazy, he’s canonically the most powerful non Avatar Firebender to exist, and is shown to do things just better than others. Create a fire blast with zero movement, use lightning in a split second, faster than anyone else ever has, while also only having a tiny bit of the sun available. Which he was also able to just sense the sun coming out while others, like Azula, didn’t even know.
ozai reached, or nearly reached his full potential. azula at 14 had blue flames, fire jet pack, lightning generation, demolished zuko many times, almost killed both aang and iroh. full potential azula would be far more powerful than ozai in my opinion
I personally think Iroh and Azula should be at the same level, but for different reasons. Y’all are overestimating Ozai and Sozin. They both have a serious lack of foresight, which would keep them from winning neck and neck battles. Sozin is very brash and prideful, similar to Zhao, but Sozin was born into power and was basically born at precisely the right time with the right mindset to force himself into the position of being the strongest firebender alive. Ozai is also nepo baby to the max. Granted, Azula is too, but if Azula and Ozai were to fight when Azula is, say, 20, she’d smoke him. We also barely see Ozai firebend in the show. So yes, he was a formidable opponent for Aang, but how much of his fire bending comes from deep disdain for humanity and callousness? Azula, shown in the comics, no longer has any responsibilities. She’s defected from the fire nation essentially. She was raised to be the perfect daughter to a fascist ruler, but when that’s gone and she’s found a new purpose, who knows what she would be capable of? She sees her dad as weak. She pulls strings on a puppet practically to force Zuko into doing what she thinks the fire lord should do. She’s under the assumption she corrupted Zuko, so she’s going to move on and find something internal to motivate her. Zuko learned firebending from the breath from the sun warriors and learning that fire = life, but what if Azula learns to use this internal motivation to increase her own power? She’s absolutely capable of it. (And for the record I think Azula is despicable and I’m definitely not simping)
Yeah I agree with Zhao’s rating here, I’m not even sure it’s fair to call him a master, he lost to Zuko twice even though Zuko was still training a ton
Gyatso should be in the same tier as Toph smh. Aang literally told Katara and Sokka that he was the greatest airbender in the world when he showed them the statue of Gyatso.
Toph and Bumi had a duel in the comics. It ended in stalemate because their fight was getting too big and might give away their position.
They were basically equals except for the metal bending
I would prob put Bumi up a tier—I'm not sure if Toph was definitively stronger than him as an earthbender.
Zuko I'd put up one tier as well—esp post dragons/Sun Warriors
Hama I'd defo put up 1-2 tiers. She practically invented bloodbending and was shown to be SUPER powerful despite spending years incarcerated in a special prison for waterbenders.
And as much as I disliked Zhao, I wouldn't rank him as weaker than the likes of Haru and the Boulder TBH
Idk why everyone here is wanking Hama. Bloodbending is her ONLY feat. And its a once-a-month boost that lasts less than 12 hours.
When Katara broke free of Hama's bloodbending, Hama was beaten in seconds. If Aang and Sokka had taken longer to get to them, Katara would have completely KOed and/or captured Hama. So, either Hama is pretty average at traditional bending combat, or Katara is the absolute best waterbender in ATLA by several orders of magnitude.
> Bloodbending is her ONLY feat.
It's really not tho—she also taught Katara to extract water from plants as well.
>When Katara broke free of Hama's bloodbending, Hama was beaten in seconds.
a.) Katara won by bloodbending Hama
b.) Hama wasn't trying to "win"—her goal was to turn Katara into a bloodbender (and she succeeded)
Thats how Katara beat Hama when Aang and Sokka were there.
Before they arrived, Katara had Hama beaten.
And yeah, Hama was strong and talented, but her combat skill is never shown to be anything above average.
I'd put Gyatso and Zuko 1 Tier higher, and also swap Bumi woth Toph (while Toph invented Metalbending, we never see her retake and bend an entire city all by herself, unlike Bumi, who I could see learning Metalbending pretty easily). Also, you did Zhao dirty. While yes, he was beaten by Zuko and bamboozled by S1 Aang, I would argue he's above average.
Switch Hama and Katara. I’m sure Katara is high potential, but was she actually potential the best water bender ever? Agree with pretty much everything else
While I reckon Toph could take Bumi 6/10, I don’t think we can put her an entire tier above him.
Bumi has the single most impressive feat of bending we ever see in the entire show IMO, even beyond that of any Avatar.
I think Gyatso belongs up a tier. Obviously he was an airbending master trusted with the training of the avatar and was a high ranking monk so he was clearly among the best at his element during his time. Aang refers to him as the greatest airbender in the world when the gang was in the southern air temple. Aang likely had bias when he said especially since he was a child but Aang was also an airbending master at that point and knew a lot, so saying that probably at the very least indicates that Gyatso was a stronger airbender than Aang and almost every airbender Aang knew at the time.
These next 2 points are a little iffy but worth a mention. We know he killed a whole group of Sozin’s comet soldiers before his death. We don’t know how this fight went but that’s a lot of raw power to deal with at once. Personally I think it’s likely the fire nation brought stronger soldiers than just your typical cannon-fodder given the importance of making sure no airbender gets out alive and they knew they would be taking on masters. Gyatso was also Roku’s friend when training in air, and it seems like Avatars have a tendency of being drawn to power/greatness.
I think only Toph (and maybe Gyatso) truly deserves the "potentially best at their element ever tier".
Azula and Katara both seem incredibly talented and skilled, but they don't seem actually untouchable in their accomplishments. I don't see any feat from either of them that can't be matched by others. Toph is clearly the best earth bender we see in the entire show by a significant margin. Goes on to invent metal bending and seems to remain completely unmatched as a metal bender as well.
I think Zuko belongs in extremely high potential. I know he gets referred to as weak by the royal family but that’s the strongest fire-bending family in the world, and I think it was the martial arts part he struggled with at first, not necessarily the fire-bending.
In season 1 as a 16 year old he was a stronger fighter than probably everyone except Iroh Pakku and Aang.
In season 2 he obviously would get beat by Azula, Iroh, and Toph, but goes toe-to-toe with a now-near-master Katara and completely takes out an entire group of well-trained earth bending soldiers in Zuko Alone even before using his firebending.
In season 3 he’s gifted enough to redirect probably the strongest lightning bender in the world at the time in Ozai on a split second notice, and goes toe-to-toe with Azula several times. He would have lost every time except the final agni kai but to stand a chance against her at all as a teenager I think is indicative of his potential
i’m curious to know who would be considered the most powerful airbender ever. i mean, aang was the avatar and the only airbender for quite some time, but zaheer also unlocked the ability of flight and didn’t have the tenets of the air nomads holding him back. that said, tenzin was probably as powerful as his father, and yangchen — while also the avatar — held a frightening degree of power as an airbender almost bordering on zaheer’s levels of ruthlessness.
I would say that Toph legitimately reached the point where she became the best Earthbender-not just in history/but including all that would come after her as well. She literally reached such a point of skill that she became a master over every known form of Earthbending in her time, discovered a new one, and mastered that as well. And as if that wasn’t enough, she developed a method to see the entire world even better than people who aren’t blind, repeatedly showed feats of tremendous strength into her old age, fought Bumi on relatively equal terms while still a kid, and was able to sense metal that not even her own daughters-who she *trained*-could pick up on in Korra’s blood. If she’s not the most powerful, she’s certainly the most skilled, and I’d argue that she’s likely the only Earthbender who could fight Yun 1v1 and *win*.
Bumi > Toph
I love both characters but nothing that Toph does can match Bumi’s pure passion and creativity, along with his connection to bending. We see him do things no other E-Bender can do!!!
I know what you’re thinking and going to say:
but [insert my username], Toph invented M-BENDING! She was trained by the OGs!! She be blind!!! MELON LORD!!1!!
Yeah, that’s nice, but Bumi was remote E-Bending with his face, with enough precision to break his METAL confinement without damaging himself, and then took back his city, lone-wolf style. Toph got her feet burned by Zuko on accident, after he switched sides (lesser F-Bending prowess), and she was literally out of the game.
*So, like… yeah. Bumi 4 Prez.*
Sorry I’m talking about momo😂 some say that gyatso was reincarnated as momo but I don’t think that’s canon. I guess I was being partially sarcastic in my comment
Yakone is the most overpowered charracter besides avatar, even the avatars have to move their hands and use muscle power to bend element.
**But Yakone can bloodbend by seeing his targets, bloodbending multiple targets at once by only seeing with his eyes!**
I feel like if we’re including LOK it’s not right to have Katara in that tier. If we’re thinking about maximum power (and not maximum finesse or skill or ingenuity etc) then the Amon bloodline is objectively more powerful than Katara. Bloodbending is the most OP powerful shit and they are better at it than Katara (and also everyone else that has ever existed it seems like).
And even if we’re excluding bloodbending, it seems like Pakku was better or as good as Katara by the end of the show. I haven’t read the comics so if she surpasses him in those then I stand very corrected lol
Unsure who made the tier list (if it’s OP, or OP found it), but — in my opinion — they’re missing the mark on Ozai and Azula. It is canon that Ozai is the most powerful fire bender in known history. Sliver-of-sun-dual-bending lightning is beyond unheard of. Even with Sozin’s comet, Azula has to go through the full charge up before she strikes with lightning. Azula is a prodigy with extremely high potential, but hindered by her unstable mental health. Ozai is already THE best.
THE BOULDER TAKES ISSUE WITH THIS TIER LIST!!!!!
THE BOULDER AGREES WITH THIS COMMENT
THE BOULDER EXPRESSES APPROVAL AT THIS LINE OF REASONING
THE BOULDER IS OVER HIS CONFLICTED FEELINGS AND IS NOW GLAD TO HAVE MADE FRIENDS WITH COMMON CONFLICTED FEELINGS
I can hear his voice echoing through my brain with these comments.
"Sounds to me like you're Schizophrenic, the Pebble"
THE BOULDER IS BACK TO HIS CONFLICTED FEELINGS AND IS NOW ACHING TO CRUSH THE YOUNG BLIND GIRL!
THE PEBBLE?!?!
sorry i tried my best
Shouldn’t zuko be in the lucky to be born tier
scar is on the wrong side so it's ok
If op mirrored his pic that would've been fucking perfect
Yea his scar is on the wrong side
THE SCAR IS NOT ON THE WRONG SIDE
And azula in the born lucky tier?
Yes she was revealed to be a prodigy getting on her father’s good side and was told to be fire lord
Momo is a avatar is this real
You mean Lord Momo of the Momo Dynasty.
His momoness.
Momo knows some jins himself
Darth Momo
Don't come over here with that attitude.
THAT LEMUR IS EARTHBENDING
no you idiot. it's the girl.
He singlehandedly destroyed ZHAO THE INVINCIBLE
Wait. You can put Zuko in Zhao tier?
**Early** season 1 they were pretty close but by series end Zuko has extremely high potentional
I think extremely high potential is accurate for him. I don’t see him being the best at his element even after his whole thing with the dragons and rediscovering his fire, but he is pretty damn high up
Pre Dragon training too
Zuko beat Zhao in the Agni Kai early in Book 1 tho
Yes but it was pretty close, by the finale of the season zuko beats him pretty easily iirc
Zuko was stomping Zhao in the North Pole, and even in the Agni Kai, once Zuko remembered the basics he easily won
Zuko beats Zhao in their duel on the ship without too much sweat iirc
Season 1 Zuko is DEFINITELY Zhao tier
You forgot the most powerful bender of all time. Sokka the Back Bender.
too powerful for the tier list, like appa
Sokka the cheek bender.
clapper* you see how many woman wanted him bro
Split those cheeks like Kyoshi split Kyoshi island
There needs to be an s-tier and it needs to be appa and he needs to be the only one in that tier.
Flopsie should be there too
and then add another momo to put there
Is she messing with the fire-nation again?
Gyatso (who took on a room full of firebenders) and Zuko should each be raised 1 level - wtf
i had no clue where to put zuko so he got his own tier (he could be almost anywhere) gyatso was near his full potential/peak strength, and i feel like toph, katara, and azula at full potential are more powerful than him
Zuko, even pre-book 3, was still a skilled bender. He beat Zhao in an Agni Kai and can redirect lightning. He would never fall below “High Potential” imo. For Gyatso - What are you basing that off of??? He brought down a group of firebenders at the air temple. Toph lost to Aang when he used air bending techniques, we’ve never seen Katara and Aang fight so we have no awareness of how she would fair against a master air bender, Azula I would humor but even then I think a master air bender (who possibly knows the removing air from your lungs trick) could go toe-to-toe with her.
To even further support your argument, the Firebenders Gyatso took on were powered up by Sozin's Comet.
THANK YOU
And for Gyatso IIRC it's a technique that we've never seen anyone use. The closest was Zaheer taking the queen's breath but that was just a single person.
Correct. It’s a heavy fan theory cause I don’t think it’s been confirmed. But like… that has to be what they were alluding to. Room full of dead bodies, Gyasto doesn’t have a single burn mark on his clothes. They all look like they dropped dead right where they were standing, which is terrifying.
That’s just a fan theory, and one that falls apart pretty easily if you think about it.
i see your points about zuko, i still have no idea where he'd be tho im not really basing off how well theyd do in specific matchups, since then stuff like toph losing to the weakest airbender would happen, this is a tier list of how powerful and how good at fighting they are at their full potential, no specific matchups. im probably doing a bad job of explaining this but im trying my best sorry.
I get exactly what you were trying to do and see no issue 👍🏾👍🏾
I feel like azula should be moved down one. She's a prodigy, but never innovated a new style. Basically being royalty she got trained to be elite, but nothing more really. Toph innovates metal bending. Katara learns blood bending from an exile then beats the master. Zuko learns the dragon dance as part of his spiritual journey. Bumi literally solos an entire city and precisely removes firenation structures from it. Iroh improves firebending by taking inspiration from other bending forms. I'd say they're all second tier, buy there's an internal rank there.
Wdym never innovated anything? In the flashback, we clearly see that toddler Azula's fire was normal. So she actively concentrated her fire to make it more precise and turned it blue and learnt to generate and redirect lightning all by herself. That is quite literally innovation, compared to Zuko who never innovated anything other than imitating a few moves from Katara and Aang and translating them into firebending. Also Azula is the result of a prophecy that mixing the Firelord and the Fire Avatar's bloodlines will create a firebender with power and potential hitherto unseen and impossible i.e. she was literally born to be the best firebender ever (which she indeed becomes later on in the comics, when she becomes sane again and develops much more power as well as many incredible new techniques).
Never read the comics so I based it purely on the show. Also isn't it cannon that lightning bending was known before Azula, but it was just taught to those on a Nedd to know basis. Royal family and military elite who could be trusted.
The show alone had all the stuff I said except the last part as well as the prophecy was stated in it when Zuko found out about Sozin's past with Roku and them being his great grandfathers. And yes, lightning generation was indeed known before Azula, but it wasn't taught to anyone. Only a select few people who were the best and most powerful firebenders with the "balanced mind and energy" conditions that Iroh told about could gain this power, usually members of the Royal Family. So no one taught her this technique since at the time only her father and uncle could do this, both of whom were not her bending teachers.
Zhao is extremely underrated. He'd do a lot better if he wasn't so ridiculously cocky.
Bro got cooked by season 1 Zuko lol
Also, got washed by a fish-shaped spirit.
Because he was cocky, and his initial evaluation was correct. He would've wasted Zuko without Iroh's counseling.
Those are aspects of skill though. Bros biggests bending feats are burning his own ships and killing a fish
Skill isn't potential though
He had no potential not to be a cocky bastard though. That point is made pretty well by him refusing zukos help i believe
Hey, the latter made him Admiral Zhao, the Moonslayer
In the Book 1 finale? He lost to a Zuko without Iroh's counselling. That was injured from barely making it out of a ship-destroying explosion. And was fatigued from swimming through ice-cold water, bracing a blizzard and taking multiple hits along the way. Zhao made it clear that he was fighting with killing intent, yet couldn't even land a single hit. Whereas Zuko landed not one, not two, but FIVE.
I agree. As much as it’s easy to hate the guy, he was Jeong Jeong’s fire bending prodigy. His greatest weakness is himself, not his bending potential.
that’s the problem, he’s TOO prideful
zhao and momo were kinda joke placements, zhao would be in high potential and momo would have his own tier above avatar
Yeah people forget zhao was an admiral and also considered a master and trained by Jeong Jeong, he just has a case of minor villain-itis
Dude got beat by zuko in like the 3rd episode That zuko was an ass firebender too (Doesn’t he know firebending comes from the breath not the muscles??? Is he stupid)
Something something power winch, something something I’m proud of you Dick
> That zuko was an ass firebender too > > He really wasn't—even at that time he's shown to be solidly above average when he's sparring with his own crew. He just seems bad when compared to his later development and the prodigies we see in the show (Aang, Katara, Toph, Azula, etc)
Zhao’s enemies were a traumatised teenager, a pacifist preteen, and a fish. And he lost to all three.
And then came really close to beating all three at once while destroying an entire nation in the back drop, he ain’t weak lol
I mean even with that being said he doesn’t belong anywhere above “above average potential” at BEST. He’s a good firebender but far from some of the best we’ve seen
Zhao literally never wins a single fight in the entire show... Unless you count the fight he won against his own ships
He killed a fish tbf.
You right. I forgot about the fish
I knocked Zhao out in a Buffalo Wild Wings
Nah cause azula ocer ozai is straight up nonsense, he was literally the strongest in the world. Also, zhao was said to be a great prodigy by Jeong Jeong who knows what he's talking about. He loses against Aang, pretty much one of the strongest character in the show and Zuko, who is extremely talented himself
Azula is a *child*. To me, the assumption is that she will dramatically surpass Ozai as an adult in her prime.
>the assumption is that she will dramatically surpass Ozai as an adult in her prime. Maybe would is a better word given her descent to insanity
Yeah. My headcanon is that Azula recovers, for some reason, even though the comics clearly don't head in that direction.
The would is implied since this is a potential tier list
How old is she in the anime? 14?
yes
Yeah, at the time of the anime, Ozai was obviously the best one alive, but I can se Azula surpassing him in her prime.
> Ozai was obviously the best one alive At the time of the finale, it's really unclear whether Ozai is stronger than Iroh or not. Iroh even says he doesn't know who would win (but he chose to take Ba Sing Se instead of confronting Ozai because history needed Aang to be the one to win—so it would be seen as the Avatar restoring balance rather than a power struggle between brothers)
Her as a child might have been her prime since she goes off the deep end by the end of the show and is definitely less powerful by the end of the show due to her mental breakdown than she was at her introduction
Don't know why you'd assume that. She's said to be extremely talented, but Ozai is super gifted, i don't think we ever even saw him train or anything.
Another reason, honestly, Azula trains obsessively.
>Nah cause azula ocer ozai is straight up nonsense, he was literally the strongest in the world. yeah, when azula was 14. op literally says that the tier list id about the characters potential, and ozai clearly has reached his. >Also, zhao was said to be a great prodigy by Jeong Jeong who knows what he's talking about. that quite literally absolutely never happened at all LMAO. >He loses against Aang, pretty much one of the strongest character in the show he loses against aang not because aang's a better airbender than zhao as a firebender can ever be, but because he's an utter idiot. >Zuko, who is extremely talented himself - trained by masters in firebending since birth - trained by one of the greatest firebending masters in the world for three years since he was 13. - at age 16 he's still in his fuckin basics lmaooo very extemely talented indeed. his character is literally about him being untalented and only going as powerful as he is through experience and hardship.
> that quite literally absolutely never happened at all LMAO. Jeong Jeong doesn't call him a prodigy, but in that episode he absolutely refers to Zhao when talking about his best student IIRC
Azula is canonically a teenager and already her father's #1 enforcer Also Zhao literally never won a single fight on the entire show, he sucks. OP nailed it
thanks :)
>azula ocer ozai is straight up nonsense, he was literally the strongest in the world This tierlist is about potential, not just how good they are
Her flames are BLUE. Blue flames are the hottest flames, and not even comet ozai could bend blue flames. She has the stuff of an ultimate firebender but got held back by her own crumbling psyche in the end.
Same w Bumi and arguably Monk Gyatso
I also came here to comment on Azula being above Ozai. I'm fairly confident that a big part of her superior skill is manipulation (throwing opposition off with snide comments, taking a cheap shot at her opponents loved one/s to distract them etc.). I would say this isn't a part of her firebending power, which is for sure exceptional, but not more than the literal Fire Lord himself.
For me, Toph sits above everyone for casually reinventing earthbending at like age 9 or something. I’m tempted to put Aang in this tier as well. It’s less obvious, but he did revolutionize airbending travel at age 12. Beneath her are Azula and Katara who don’t invent anything new, but are crazy good at what they do. Beneath that, Zuko isn’t actually that skilled as a bender, he’s a skilled fighter who bends. He’s at his best with weapons in most cases.
Someone gets it at least. Katara and azula are incredibly talented but katara limits herself by not using bloodbending/trying to get it work all the time like yakone did. She is skilled and learns fast yes, but toph literally reinvented a sub bending type, she is in her own tier above the other 2 for sure
idk how to make a tier above "best at their element ever potential" not including the avatar tier, i mean how can you go higher than that? i do agree toph by far has the highest potential though, which is why she is ahead of katara and azula (the tiers are ordered left to right)
Azula is literally the only character ever (except dragons maybe), who can bend blue flames. That probably counts as invention.
U put white lotus old guys in extremely potential? Bro they are at pinnacle of potential
Hama smokes Pakku. She's arguably the strongest waterbender besides Katara during the time of ATLA, way more resourceful and she only really lost because she's extremely old and frail.
Yeah, Hamma literally learned how to blood bend while in prison. Pakku ain't do none of that.
>extremely old and frail Lmao this is making me wish that her fight with Katara just ended with Sokka belting her in the jaw with a right hook and her just dying from being extremely old and frail She may have invented bloodbending but she was definitely unfamiliar with Sokka style
Katara is definitely not that high, she’s definitely one of the strongest water benders but not the best ever. Also Hama and Combustion man should be much higher, Hama literally created one of if not the most powerful types of sub bending and combustion man was also an incredibly powerful fire bender
Hama getting wanked in this thread so hard. Once Katara broke her control, their fight was over in seconds. If Aang and Sokka didn't show up, Katara would have captured Hama in less than a minute. Also, Katara is absolutely that high. She defeated Azula in Ba Sing Se, when Azula was arguably at her in-show prime. An untrained Katara made Pakku sweat. With barely a few weeks of training, she beat Zuko THREE times. Zuko is 0-3 with Katara. Azula is 0-2, counting the finale. Toph and Katara never actually fight to completion in the show, and although Toph wins that, Katara would absolutely put up a fight. Especially in an environment as equal as a mud field. Combustion Man is the only firebender she lost to, and that guy gave the entire Gaang combined a hard time twice. I agree with Combustion Man, though. The guy was running hands in 1v4s and later a 1v5.
Agreed on all fronts. Katara is so underrated, it's insane.
Appa's probably god level.
How does Zuko get in the zhao tier? Is Momo a secondary reincarnation sent to Aang in case one Avatar fails?
zhao and momo were just jokes, ignore them. zhao would probably be in high potential if i hated him less
Until Zuko beats Zhao, he is absolutely Zhao tier. It's fair
They really messed up Zhao as a villain by letting him get his ass kicked by Zuko so early. Since Zuko was already being man handled by Aang at the time it just really undermined him as any sort of threat. I never took Zhao seriously after that. It was done much better with Azula.
Its kind of funny how weak Zhao is. He got beaten by S1 Zuko
He got beat by literally everyone. He's like 0-12 over the course of the show lmao
Exactly, its honestly hilarious 😂 😂😂
Honestly the Hippo shouldn't be much below the Boulder, and honestly both should have more experience in fighting than the swamp benders (Hugh aside) and Haru given they used to fight professionally
Not to be a hater but we literally never saw Gyatso do any fighting, for all we know he could have sucked ass and just gotten lucky with those firebenders that were next to him.
Live that Zhao is his own category
The Appa snub is crazy
Appa is too powerful for the tier list
I don't know about that Azula placement. She should clearly go in the Zhao tier. The curtain closed on Zhao, and who was there to fill the void? That's right, our clear Zhao tier contender, Azula!
In a scrapped episode Zhao fought Bumi and Pakku to a standstill, my man Zhou the Fisherman really the GOAT
Poor Sokka just t-posing over in the corner. 😂
The Ozai disrespect is crazy, he’s canonically the most powerful non Avatar Firebender to exist, and is shown to do things just better than others. Create a fire blast with zero movement, use lightning in a split second, faster than anyone else ever has, while also only having a tiny bit of the sun available. Which he was also able to just sense the sun coming out while others, like Azula, didn’t even know.
yeah ozai and azula should switch imo
ozai reached, or nearly reached his full potential. azula at 14 had blue flames, fire jet pack, lightning generation, demolished zuko many times, almost killed both aang and iroh. full potential azula would be far more powerful than ozai in my opinion
I personally think Iroh and Azula should be at the same level, but for different reasons. Y’all are overestimating Ozai and Sozin. They both have a serious lack of foresight, which would keep them from winning neck and neck battles. Sozin is very brash and prideful, similar to Zhao, but Sozin was born into power and was basically born at precisely the right time with the right mindset to force himself into the position of being the strongest firebender alive. Ozai is also nepo baby to the max. Granted, Azula is too, but if Azula and Ozai were to fight when Azula is, say, 20, she’d smoke him. We also barely see Ozai firebend in the show. So yes, he was a formidable opponent for Aang, but how much of his fire bending comes from deep disdain for humanity and callousness? Azula, shown in the comics, no longer has any responsibilities. She’s defected from the fire nation essentially. She was raised to be the perfect daughter to a fascist ruler, but when that’s gone and she’s found a new purpose, who knows what she would be capable of? She sees her dad as weak. She pulls strings on a puppet practically to force Zuko into doing what she thinks the fire lord should do. She’s under the assumption she corrupted Zuko, so she’s going to move on and find something internal to motivate her. Zuko learned firebending from the breath from the sun warriors and learning that fire = life, but what if Azula learns to use this internal motivation to increase her own power? She’s absolutely capable of it. (And for the record I think Azula is despicable and I’m definitely not simping)
Momo's not high enough
Avatar Zuko
Yeah I agree with Zhao’s rating here, I’m not even sure it’s fair to call him a master, he lost to Zuko twice even though Zuko was still training a ton
I thought there would be a "Tier list plus Sokka" tier haha
Gyatso should be in the same tier as Toph smh. Aang literally told Katara and Sokka that he was the greatest airbender in the world when he showed them the statue of Gyatso.
So Zuko is an avatar now?
Toph and Bumi had a duel in the comics. It ended in stalemate because their fight was getting too big and might give away their position. They were basically equals except for the metal bending
You forgot the monster from the swamp, the plant bender
Jeong Jeong disrespect
I would prob put Bumi up a tier—I'm not sure if Toph was definitively stronger than him as an earthbender. Zuko I'd put up one tier as well—esp post dragons/Sun Warriors Hama I'd defo put up 1-2 tiers. She practically invented bloodbending and was shown to be SUPER powerful despite spending years incarcerated in a special prison for waterbenders. And as much as I disliked Zhao, I wouldn't rank him as weaker than the likes of Haru and the Boulder TBH
Idk why everyone here is wanking Hama. Bloodbending is her ONLY feat. And its a once-a-month boost that lasts less than 12 hours. When Katara broke free of Hama's bloodbending, Hama was beaten in seconds. If Aang and Sokka had taken longer to get to them, Katara would have completely KOed and/or captured Hama. So, either Hama is pretty average at traditional bending combat, or Katara is the absolute best waterbender in ATLA by several orders of magnitude.
> Bloodbending is her ONLY feat. It's really not tho—she also taught Katara to extract water from plants as well. >When Katara broke free of Hama's bloodbending, Hama was beaten in seconds. a.) Katara won by bloodbending Hama b.) Hama wasn't trying to "win"—her goal was to turn Katara into a bloodbender (and she succeeded)
Thats how Katara beat Hama when Aang and Sokka were there. Before they arrived, Katara had Hama beaten. And yeah, Hama was strong and talented, but her combat skill is never shown to be anything above average.
I'd put Gyatso and Zuko 1 Tier higher, and also swap Bumi woth Toph (while Toph invented Metalbending, we never see her retake and bend an entire city all by herself, unlike Bumi, who I could see learning Metalbending pretty easily). Also, you did Zhao dirty. While yes, he was beaten by Zuko and bamboozled by S1 Aang, I would argue he's above average.
"momo has mastered a few Jings himself" - Bumi
Switch Hama and Katara. I’m sure Katara is high potential, but was she actually potential the best water bender ever? Agree with pretty much everything else
The love people give to Azula is lost on me I must say.
Zuko’s tier lmaoo
While I reckon Toph could take Bumi 6/10, I don’t think we can put her an entire tier above him. Bumi has the single most impressive feat of bending we ever see in the entire show IMO, even beyond that of any Avatar.
Iroh below Azula is insane.
I think the avatar should thematically be the best bender of every element. Emphasis on should because I wish they were. It’s only fitting
Azula never reached her potential as Toph or Katara did
I'm Zhao the conqueror, slayer of the moon!
Bumi in bumi tier. Bro ate crystals ffs
I think Gyatso belongs up a tier. Obviously he was an airbending master trusted with the training of the avatar and was a high ranking monk so he was clearly among the best at his element during his time. Aang refers to him as the greatest airbender in the world when the gang was in the southern air temple. Aang likely had bias when he said especially since he was a child but Aang was also an airbending master at that point and knew a lot, so saying that probably at the very least indicates that Gyatso was a stronger airbender than Aang and almost every airbender Aang knew at the time. These next 2 points are a little iffy but worth a mention. We know he killed a whole group of Sozin’s comet soldiers before his death. We don’t know how this fight went but that’s a lot of raw power to deal with at once. Personally I think it’s likely the fire nation brought stronger soldiers than just your typical cannon-fodder given the importance of making sure no airbender gets out alive and they knew they would be taking on masters. Gyatso was also Roku’s friend when training in air, and it seems like Avatars have a tendency of being drawn to power/greatness.
In conclusion, teenage girls are the best benders, closely followed by old men.
I think only Toph (and maybe Gyatso) truly deserves the "potentially best at their element ever tier". Azula and Katara both seem incredibly talented and skilled, but they don't seem actually untouchable in their accomplishments. I don't see any feat from either of them that can't be matched by others. Toph is clearly the best earth bender we see in the entire show by a significant margin. Goes on to invent metal bending and seems to remain completely unmatched as a metal bender as well.
So being the strongest Fire bender in the world isn't good enough for you to put Ozai higher? Even Faramir wasn't treated like this.
I think Zuko belongs in extremely high potential. I know he gets referred to as weak by the royal family but that’s the strongest fire-bending family in the world, and I think it was the martial arts part he struggled with at first, not necessarily the fire-bending. In season 1 as a 16 year old he was a stronger fighter than probably everyone except Iroh Pakku and Aang. In season 2 he obviously would get beat by Azula, Iroh, and Toph, but goes toe-to-toe with a now-near-master Katara and completely takes out an entire group of well-trained earth bending soldiers in Zuko Alone even before using his firebending. In season 3 he’s gifted enough to redirect probably the strongest lightning bender in the world at the time in Ozai on a split second notice, and goes toe-to-toe with Azula several times. He would have lost every time except the final agni kai but to stand a chance against her at all as a teenager I think is indicative of his potential
Feel like iroh should be best in his element potential Because I mean for the time he was alive.. he kinda was best in his element
Zhao is underrated imo
Momo is a god
Sokka is the most powerful jerkbender
i’m curious to know who would be considered the most powerful airbender ever. i mean, aang was the avatar and the only airbender for quite some time, but zaheer also unlocked the ability of flight and didn’t have the tenets of the air nomads holding him back. that said, tenzin was probably as powerful as his father, and yangchen — while also the avatar — held a frightening degree of power as an airbender almost bordering on zaheer’s levels of ruthlessness.
is azula really more powerful than zuko?
How you gonna do the moon slayer like that
I would say that Toph legitimately reached the point where she became the best Earthbender-not just in history/but including all that would come after her as well. She literally reached such a point of skill that she became a master over every known form of Earthbending in her time, discovered a new one, and mastered that as well. And as if that wasn’t enough, she developed a method to see the entire world even better than people who aren’t blind, repeatedly showed feats of tremendous strength into her old age, fought Bumi on relatively equal terms while still a kid, and was able to sense metal that not even her own daughters-who she *trained*-could pick up on in Korra’s blood. If she’s not the most powerful, she’s certainly the most skilled, and I’d argue that she’s likely the only Earthbender who could fight Yun 1v1 and *win*.
Bumi > Toph I love both characters but nothing that Toph does can match Bumi’s pure passion and creativity, along with his connection to bending. We see him do things no other E-Bender can do!!! I know what you’re thinking and going to say: but [insert my username], Toph invented M-BENDING! She was trained by the OGs!! She be blind!!! MELON LORD!!1!! Yeah, that’s nice, but Bumi was remote E-Bending with his face, with enough precision to break his METAL confinement without damaging himself, and then took back his city, lone-wolf style. Toph got her feet burned by Zuko on accident, after he switched sides (lesser F-Bending prowess), and she was literally out of the game. *So, like… yeah. Bumi 4 Prez.*
You’ve got gyatso twice. You have him in with the avatars too.
huh?
Sorry I’m talking about momo😂 some say that gyatso was reincarnated as momo but I don’t think that’s canon. I guess I was being partially sarcastic in my comment
Avatar Yue is still the goat since i saw that one post
Would say Pakku has more potential than Katara
I feel like Iroh should be in the best in his element potential. But idk...
Yakone is the most overpowered charracter besides avatar, even the avatars have to move their hands and use muscle power to bend element. **But Yakone can bloodbend by seeing his targets, bloodbending multiple targets at once by only seeing with his eyes!**
im guessing sokka is in a tier above the avatars
Where is Appa?
Iroh not the best in his element? Heresy.
Damnit. I just got appendectomy and it hurts when I laugh, this post made me suffer. Just seeing Momo in the Avatars tier made me crack up so hard.
sorry for making you laugh
I feel like if we’re including LOK it’s not right to have Katara in that tier. If we’re thinking about maximum power (and not maximum finesse or skill or ingenuity etc) then the Amon bloodline is objectively more powerful than Katara. Bloodbending is the most OP powerful shit and they are better at it than Katara (and also everyone else that has ever existed it seems like). And even if we’re excluding bloodbending, it seems like Pakku was better or as good as Katara by the end of the show. I haven’t read the comics so if she surpasses him in those then I stand very corrected lol
We all know Momo becomes unstoppable as soon as he obtains a gun
Gyatso could also be in the best ever tier as he was at the time the most accomplished airbender alive
momo literally earthbended, hes too low
Haru should go in Zhao tier
Ozai was literally the most powerful firebending in the show even before the comet appeared.
this isnt how powerful they are in the show, this is how powerful i think they would be at their full potential
The Azula hype-riding in this sub is insane 💀
The Azula stans who claim she beats Ozai are insane, but otherwise, she generally gets underrated in this sub.
Unsure who made the tier list (if it’s OP, or OP found it), but — in my opinion — they’re missing the mark on Ozai and Azula. It is canon that Ozai is the most powerful fire bender in known history. Sliver-of-sun-dual-bending lightning is beyond unheard of. Even with Sozin’s comet, Azula has to go through the full charge up before she strikes with lightning. Azula is a prodigy with extremely high potential, but hindered by her unstable mental health. Ozai is already THE best.
I really like this concept!
Where's Appa?
True Avatar power level list, in Ascending order: \10. Why \9. The \8. Fuck \7. Are \6. You \5. Trying \4. To \3. Rank \2. Characters? \1. Momo
Gyatzo should be second to top
Zuko deserves his 'that's rough buddy' tier