Summary
Sometimes referred to as secondary bending skills, they’re also called specialized bending techniques. In the universe ofAvatar:The Last Airbender, these are sub-skills that some bending masters have been able to isolate and utilize.
The most famous and earliest example of this kind of sub-skill is Metalbending, which was discovered by Toph Beifong during her days as a member of Team Avatar. She remains one of the most powerful Metalbenders inThe Last Airbenderand its sequel series,The Legend of Korra, and several of her family members would eventually follow in her footsteps.
7Guo
The Delicate Art Of Unlocking Memory
It might be odd to choose a doctor as one of the most powerful Metalbenders in existence, as opposed to a warrior or politician, butGuodid some very delicate work with acupuncture using his bending skills. He was so talented that he was even able to successfully treat and cure the stubborn and steely Lin Beifong.
Guo lived and worked in the city of Zaofou, where Metalbending was a common practice, even used by local city officials and certain other professions. His techniques could be compared to those used by Waterbending healers, and are intendedto unlock painful memoriesand open chi flow.
6Aiwei
Used His Power To Aid The Red Lotus
Aiweiwas one of Zaofu’s most trustworthy leaders until he wasn’t, and throughout all of that, he remained a Metalbender of impressive power. He was secretly a member of the Red Lotus the whole time, and only secured a position as one of Suyin Beifong’s closest advisors to give them access to the city.
Zaheer and his accompliceswere able to sneak into the city thanks to Aiwei’s betrayal, but this only raised suspicion of a traitor, and he wasn’t caught immediately. He would be able to do considerably more damage before getting caught, and was only able to escape through a secret passage in his house that was opened using his Metalbending.
5Suyin Beifong
Built The City of Zaofu
The daughter of Toph Beifong would have to be a fearsome Metalbender.Although her motherwasn’t impressed with either of her daughters' abilities,Suyinused her considerable skill to build one of the safest cities in the world, Zaofu, and use it as a refuge for Metalbenders.
Suyin was also active as a warrior and teacher, mentoring other learners and discovering new bending techniques. Her most successful students include her children, and Avatar Korra, the first Avatar to learn Metalbending.
4Korra
The First Avatar To Learn Secondary Bending
Avatar Korralearned of the existence of Metalbending and how it worked from none other than Toph Beifong herself, but it was Toph’s daughter, Suyin, that taught the Avatar the actual techniques of the craft. It wasn’t until Book 3 ofThe Legend of Korrathat the Avatar visited Zaofu and joined Suyin’s classes.
Korra needed to learn something about Metalbending to face Kuvira, a master Metalbender who had been one of Suyin’s top students and one of the main antagonists of season 3 ofTLoK. Korra was a talented Metalbender,and surpassed her teacher (being the Avatar),but several other characters were even more highly skilled.
3Lin Beifong
The Guardian Of Republic City
Someone doesn’t get to be the Chief of Police of Republic City unless they have some intense Metalbending skills, partly because the whole force relies on it as their primary weapon.Lin Beifongis Toph’s oldest daughter, and learned the same deadly skills as Suyin from their talented mother.
Lin Beifong sees more on-screen action than any other Metalbender that appears inThe Legend of Korra, and that’s because of her position as one of the city’s top cops along with providing security for important people like Tenzin. Her battle with the Equalists and their zeppelins is one ofthe most memorable fightsin the whole canon of eitherTLAorTLoK.
2Kuvira
The Dictator Of The Earth Kingdom
Kuvirawas a powerful characterfor a variety of reasons, and her incredible Metalbeinding powers were only one of her many talents. The only other Metalbender that could defeat her in hand-to-hand combat was Toph Beifong. She was also a talented orator and a charismatic leader, which is how she was able to take control of the Earth Kingdom.
It wasn’t just her incredible talents that made her one of the most powerful Metalbenders that ever lived. Kuvira knew the vulnerabilities of her fellow benders and exploited them in battle, which is one of the reasons she defeated virtually every opponent she ever faced. The giant mecha-suit that she used in battle, for example, was made of platinum, a metal so highly refined that it was impervious to Metalbending.
1Toph Beifong
The Original, And Still The Best
Probably the most talented Earthbender that ever lived,Toph Beifongdidn’t have a conventional master, but learned the skill from badger moles, and her lack of sight contributed to her other senses, especially that of touch. InThe Last Airbender,Toph was taken captiveand held in a metal box, so she invented Metalbending to get out.
Toph was able to find a way to bend the bits of earth within metal, and not only did she successfully escape, but she invented the whole concept of specialized bending. Her metal cage was reminiscent of the Fire Nation prison for Earthbenders in Season 1, which was a metal rig out in the ocean.
This Earthbender, on the other hand, would not be so easily contained. After a long hiatus in the swamp, she emerged briefly to face Kuvira, whom she easily defeated, thus retaining her dual titles of the greatest Earthbender and the greatest Metalbender inThe Last Airbenderuniverse.
