Earthbender

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Earthbender is a collective term for an order of people in the fictional universe of the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. A moiety of the Earth Kingdom, they are heirs to the mystical martial art of earthbending, the geokinetic ability to control earth.

Earth Kingdom soldiers earthbending.

Earth Kingdom officer earthbending.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

1 Origin
2 Fighting style
3 Magnetism
4 Techniques
- 4.1 Sandbending
- 4.2 Metalbending
5 Earthbending Animal
6 Weaknesses
7 Elemental Symbol
8 Notable Earthbenders
9 See also
10 References

[edit] Origin

Humans first learned earthbending by observing and imitating the earthbending powers of badgermoles that naturally inhabit the mountains in what is now Earth Kingdom territory. According to legend, two star-crossed lovers named Oma and Shu (à la Romeo and Juliet) learned the art to meet within the mountain that divided them. The pathways they made by earthbending became known as "The Cave of Two Lovers."

[edit] Fighting style

The Praying Mantis style of Earthbending

Earthbending is generally based on the Hung Gar style of Kung Fu, which features heavily rooted stances and strong kicks and punches that evoke the mass and power of earth. There are exceptions to this rule -- the blind Earthbender, Toph's, style is based on Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu.^{[citation needed]} Unlike other bending disciplines, earthbending maintains a balance between offensive and defensive capabilities. ^[1]Aang has demonstrated Earthbending by wielding his Glider Staff, and master Earthbenders, such as Toph, can create armor out of Earth. Avatar Level Earthbenders can move hill size statues at will and even fracture landmasses, as demonstrated by Avatar Kyoshi in the episodes "The Avatar State" and "Avatar Day."

The Hung Gar Style of Earthbending

The principle of Jing is the essence of battle strategy, with a total of 85 possible actions. Positive Jing occurs when one chooses to fight while negative Jing is when one chooses to evade. The Earthbending discipline stresses Neutral Jing, which involves listening, waiting, and doing nothing. King Bumi stresses this in his tactics against the Fire Nation.

Earthbending is not limited to rock or soil alone. A powerful Earthbender can also manipulate coal, gems, crystals, and other earth-based material. Furthermore, Earthbenders with an especially strong awareness for earth such as Toph can also bend metal, as it still contains minute amounts of some unrefined earth. Her "sight" enables her to locate and target the small earth fragments that would go undetectable to even the best Earthbenders.

Earthbending is the opposing bending art to Airbending. When first learning to Earthbend, the pupil must first learn confrontational tactics and familiarity with the brute strength necessary to work with earth. This contrasts with the emphasis of Airbenders on mobility and evasion.

Like all of the bending arts, Earthbending is balanced so as not to be more or less powerful than the other arts. The series has repeatedly illustrated that it's the skill and prowess of the user that determines victory.

[edit] Magnetism

Each of the four bending disciplines contain a special sub-skill unique only to certain members of the element. Earthbenders in particular possess limited magnetic capabilities, allowing them to grasp vertical surfaces and cling unsupported to earthen structures.^[2]

[edit] Techniques

[edit] Sandbending

Sandbenders are Earthbenders who have adapted to live in the Si Wong Desert. They use Earthbending in a specialized style, which emphasizes the manipulation of sand. They move quickly in the desert on specialized wooden catamaran sailers that are propelled by bending miniature, localized sandstorms behind their sails. Since economic opportunities are limited in the desert, Sandbenders get by however they can. They have been known to scavenge for dead animals, or even steal from passing travelers at the nearby cantina. Because sand is sediment which travels in flows, their style resembles air and waterbending more than earthbending. It is displayed that most, if not all, Earthbenders are capable of easily bending sand, the Sandbenders of the Desert are simply especially proefficient with it due to their habitat.

[edit] Metalbending

Toph, discovering the unique ability to Metalbend.

Metalbending was first hinted at by Aang in the episode The Drill when he was trying to make an indentation in a giant drill with Waterbending. This is a type of bending that only Toph is able to do. Most Earthbenders are unable to affect processed metals. Usually the trace amount of earth still present in metal is so minute that it goes undetected even to the best Earthbenders. Due to her ability to "see" earth, Toph is able to locate the small fragments of earth in metal, target them, and utilize it to "bend" the metal portion.

In the episode The Earth King, Toph was captured in a metal cage. She tried desperately to break the cage until one of her captors berated that even if she was the best Earthbender alive it was impossible to bend metal. It was at the exact moment that Guru Pathik, during the episode The Guru was explaining to Aang about the light chakra and how it is blocked by illusion. He went on to explain that it is an illusion that the four nations are different or that air is any different from earth and also how even metal ultimately is simply just earth that has been purified and refined. Toph realizes this herself and starts meditating on her cage trying to feel the vibrations of the trace amounts of earth in the metal. She then breaks out and traps her captors in it. It is unknown if any other Earthbenders have had the ability to bend metal.

[edit] Earthbending Animal

Badgermoles are gigantic animals, a cross between a badger and a mole. Badgermoles use Earthbending to make tunnels and caves and travel underground, where they hunt for prey and live. They are naturally blind but use their Earthbending to feel the ground and "see", similar to the ability of Toph. A little known fact about the Badgermoles is their love for music -- if the right music is played, one can get a badger mole to do just about anything. Badgermoles can control the earth just as easily as humans can and are said to be where the first two human Earthbenders learned how to control earth.

[edit] Weaknesses

An earthbender's powers are firmly rooted to the ground they stand on. Removing them any substantial distance from the earth, such as on the ocean, strips them of their powers. Additionally, because of their inability to bend processed metals, the bending abilities of an Earthbender can be negated by securing them within a metallic barrier, separating them from any contact with the earth (with the exception of Toph, see above).

[edit] Elemental Symbol

Earthbending Symbol

The symbol for earth and earthbending is a tall rough isosceles trapezoidal shape, the base of which is made up of the Bagua trigram "Kun," denoting "earth." Inside, at the top, is a spiral. The symbol is present on wooden "elemental solitaire" cards owned by the Fire Nation's General Iroh.