Waterbending

WATERBENDING

Waterbending, one of the four elemental bending arts, is the hydrokinetic ability to control water in all its many forms. This type of bending is utilized by the people of the Water Tribe, who are divided into the Southern, Northern, and lesser known Foggy Swamp tribes, each with their own unique bending style.

Water is the element of change. The moon is the source of power in waterbending, and the original waterbenders learned to bend by observing how the moon pushed and pulled the tides. The Water Tribes are the only people who did not learn bending from an animal, though the Moon and Ocean Spirits took the form of koi fish in the mortal world near the beginning of the Avatar World.

The fighting style of waterbending is mostly fluid and graceful, acting in concert with the environment. Foggy Swamp style waterbending, however, is more rigid and straight. Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy; they let their defense become their offense, turning their opponents' own forces against them. Even when waterbenders do take an attack stance, their moves always appear to flow from one to the other.

Waterbending Techniques

Breath of ice: A waterbender can use their breath to rapidly freeze objects, such as metallic chains, or an opponent. For a more advanced version of the technique, the user takes a deep breath and exhales the air as a cloud of freezing mist.

Cloud manipulation: By working together, a waterbender and airbender can easily manipulate clouds, which are made of air and water, to create various shapes.

Healing: Waterbenders can sometimes use a unique sub-skill: the ability to heal injuries by redirecting energy paths, or chi, throughout the body, using water as a catalyst. Waterbenders can use their abilities to heal by surrounding a sick or injured person with water, which glows during the process.

Ice blade: Waterbenders can create a swordlike blade of ice.

Ice bullets: Waterbenders are able to rapidly shoot shards of ice at their opponents.

Ice claws: Using ice claws involves the bender drawing water around their fingers and freezing it. They can also be sent forward, shooting them at an opponent. A waterbender can also use this as an advantage; being small and unnoticeable, they can hide them in their sleeves.
Additionally, this technique uses little water and thus can be performed quickly using the Condensation technique.

Ice creeper: A waterbender can send a ray of ice on the ground, speeding at an opponent to freeze them. This technique freezes a trail of water beginning with the waterbender performing the move and ending with their targets freezing.

Ice disc: A waterbender can create a cylindrical column of ice and proceed to slice razor-sharp sections of it off and send them at an opponent. They are sharp around the edges but also thin.

Ice hook: Waterbenders, if creative enough, may form a hook out of ice which they can use to climb vertical surfaces.

Ice shield: A waterbender can freeze an amount of water in front of them, creating a shield of ice.

Ice spear: The ice spear involves freezing a stream of water and sending the frozen result flying at the target.

Iceberg spike: Waterbenders can shoot small shards of ice at their opponent, or cause a giant spike to protrude from a body of water.

Phase change: Waterbenders also possess the ability to alter the physical state of the water they manipulate, between liquid, solid and gas, at will. Changing the phase of water allows for multiple techniques in the course of a battle, from encasing an opponent in ice to hiding behind a wall of mist. Ice and steam/fog can also be molded in a diverse range of shapes. Ice provides a degree of hard lethality since it can be molded into spikes or blades to pin down or impale opponents. Steam or mist can obscure a battlefield and mask movement.

Solutions: It has been shown that waterbenders can manipulate any mass of liquid consisting of some water, such as ink, soups, perfumes, etc.

Steam manipulation: A technique that allows waterbenders to manipulate steam, and can also be used to manipulate fog. It can be used to freeze people or objects or to create cover.

Water bullet: The water bullet is a move where a waterbender bends a large amount of water and sends it in a forceful blow toward their target. It is similar to a water jet, but it is more for a quick use since the jet takes more concentration. It is basic yet useful because it takes little time to perform and has a significant effect on the target.

Water cloak: A waterbender can use their water as a form of armor with tentacle-like arms. The bender can use these arms to grab objects or enemies, whip enemies, blast enemies with water, and freeze them. If a waterbender has less water available, he or she can simply form the arms instead of the entire cloak.

Water filtering: When working in concert with an earthbender, a waterbender can purify polluted water. The waterbender suspends the polluted water in the air while the earthbender removes the pollutants.

Water jet: High pressure jets can be used to force opponents back or even blast clean through a target if focused enough. Water jets are primarily used if the user has the intent of severely hurting their opponents.

Water knife: The ability to shape water into a super-sharp edge or point for a split-second, enabling a waterbender to cut through metal, wood and stone.

Water pressure manipulation: Waterbenders are also able to manipulate water pressure, allowing them to use water to grasp other objects or cut through without simply parting around them. Water can be used as a semi-solid while being able to move and flow like a liquid. Water can be pressurized to such a level where it can slice through metal. Waterbenders can also use this to avoid sinking in water, effectively allowing them to walk on water.

Water wall/water shield: A bender manipulates a body of water and erects it in front of them to create a shield. Although usually protective, the shield needs some type of compression or else it will not be effective, meaning a quickly made shield will often fail to block attacks.

Water whip: The water whip is a commonly used move that involves creating a lashing tendril of water to swipe at an opponent. The shape, size, and length are all determined by a waterbender's control, and more powerful benders can create larger whips, or ones of greater finesse.

Wave: By moving a large mass of water without separating it from its original source, waterbenders can create waves of nearly any size. They do this by using an upward movement that raises the source, which they subsequently send away in their desired direction. This can be used to sweep opponents away or even as a form of transport, with the bender surfing on the crest of the wave. This same process can be used to propel waterborne crafts.

Waterbending Techniques: Master Level

Bloodbending: Bloodbending is a rather sinister application of the principle that water is present in every living organism, thus making them bendable objects themselves. By definition, bloodbending is a technique that allows a bender to enforce his or her will to an organism. This however can only be done during a full moon, when a waterbender is at their strongest.

Bubble: Capable waterbenders are able to cross large bodies of water by creating a bubble around themselves and their fellow travelers, maintaining a supply of air for their journey.

Condensation: Not only can skilled waterbenders condense clouds into a usable source of water when they are within close range of one, but they also can condense invisible water vapor right out of the air. Although, due to the limited quantities of water present in the air, as a mere 1% at most of the earth's atmosphere is water vapor, the amount of water extracted from the air is quite minimal. Favorable environment and climatic conditions increase the amount of water one can remove from the air.

Ice dagger: Much like ice claws, ice daggers form on a waterbender's fingers and shoot at high speeds away from him or her.

Ice dome: A highly advanced technique, a waterbender may surround a foe in a sphere of water and freeze it, trapping their opponent inside.

Ice drill: By turning the tip into ice, waterbenders control massive amounts of water into a spiraled frozen drill.

Ice floor: With a sufficient amount of water a master can cover a large area of the ground with ice, trapping enemies' feet in ice and allowing the waterbender to slide around.

Ice prison: This technique covers an opponent in a prison made of ice. By finely controlling the position of the person within, this technique can restrict the motions of an opponent's hands, thus rendering them powerless.

Ice ramp: Waterbenders can manipulate ice as a means of short transportation. By taking their water and phase changing it into ice while propelling it forward, a waterbender creates the ramp of which to slide on.

Ice tunneling: Waterbenders are able to swim through thick ice with the same ease as through water, allowing them to surprise their foes.

Maelstrom: In a large body of water, a waterbender can create a gigantic whirlpool.

Mass freeze: A waterbender can freeze multiple targets at once, making them slow down or even surrounding them with ice.

Multiple water whips: An advanced waterbending move similar to the single water whip, except it deals with more than one whip, usually four or five. This technique seems to be able to inflict a large amount of damage.

Octopus form: A body of water formed around the user into eight or so whip-like limbs which can be used to grasp or strike an opponent or to intercept and seize incoming attacks.

Partial ice whip: Waterbenders can take hold of the end of an opponent's water whip and locally freeze the opposite end, in order to trap their opponent and pull them in closer.

Razor rings: An experienced waterbender can create multiple simultaneous water rings capable of cutting through layers of soft organic matter.

Water ball: Similar to the ice prison technique, a waterbender can trap their opponent in a ball of water which they can even make levitate intot he air.

Water boxing: To perform the technique, a waterbender surrounds their fist with a small amount of water and punches their opponent.

Water dome: A master waterbender can collect water from the rain, forming a dome which can be used for both offense and defense.

Water drill: A high-pressure, rotating column of water. Capable of exerting a significant amount of pressure upon a solid surface, that allows the action of a drill. The move takes mastery of waterbending since the motions to create a constantly twisting body of water requires bending skill.

Water gimbal: Skilled waterbenders can create a gimbal, or two rotating rings of water, around their bodies. This has both defensive and offensive capabilities, such as being used as a cannon.

Water pinwheel: This move involves the user moving a large mass of water and spinning it vertically around him/her.

Water ring: A skilled water bender can create a ring of water around their body. This can be used for both defense or for offense, such as shooting ice shards at the opponent.

Water spout: This high-level technique involves controlling a whirlpool-like pillar of water or snow, rotating it and directing its movements at the same time, making it easier for the user to dodge attacks. In accordance to the water spout's constantly shifting and coiling movements, it forms a giant snake of water around the lower body, elevating them from the surface of the water. The waterspout has a limited height, however, depending on the amount of water fueling it.

Waterbending Techniques: Avatar Level

Ice fissure: Avatars are able to use waterbending to split frozen ground, by bending the water mixed with the earth.

Remote waterbending: Avatars can use waterbending from distances which a waterbender would not normally be able to access.

Tsunami: Since they can control larger amounts of water, Avatars are capable of creating and controlling water bodies of far greater size and scale, including causing massive tsunamis, at will.

Water compression: An Avatar in the Avatar State has enough power over water to compress its volume, compacting several thousands of gallons into a small volume.

Waterbending Special Abilities

Armless waterbending: Proficient waterbenders can control water without the use of limbs, relying only on the torso to generate enough movement to manipulate a medium. With this technique, waterbenders can create water-like appendages as makeshift arms and even turn the entire body into an ice drill by generating enough momentum. Requires an armless waterbender.