Here's our power rankings of the Avatars in the Avatar world.
Number seven: Avatar Wan.
[whooshing]
[booming]
Wan was the source of great change in the Avatar world.
In fact, he's the very reason the Avatar has existed for thousands of years.
Raava! The only way to win is together!
So there's no doubt he's powerful and important.
He was definitely a formidable opponent to humans and spirits alike
and more importantly, he was a peacekeeper.
There's no need for violence.
I know there must be a way to work out a compromise.
But as the very first avatar ever
he did have one significant disadvantage.
He lacked the knowledge of previous Avatars.
While each of his successors were able to build and improve
upon the skills learned by their past incarnations,
Avatar Wan had the colossal task of starting from scratch.
I'm sorry, Raava. I failed to bring peace.
Even with Vaatu locked away
darkness still surrounds humanity.
There wasn't enough time.
[Raava] Don't worry.
We will be together for all of your lifetimes.
And we will never give up.
Not only was the Avatar a brand new concept,
but even bending itself seemed to be much less familiar
to the people of Wan's time.
Meaning Wan had to be truly innovative.
Number six: Avatar Roku.
[splashing]
[screaming]
His ability to eventually best each of bending masters
shows that Avatar Roku was clearly a skilled bender.
[gasping]
But his greater power came from his unwavering moral compass.
Since Roku, who had been the most recent fully fledged Avatar at the time
of the infamous Fire Nation attack, it's easy to draw the conclusion
that he failed in his duty to keep the peace.
But upon closer inspection, it's clear that if it weren't for Roku,
the war might have started much sooner.
I've seen the colony, Sozin.
How dare you occupy Earth Kingdom territory?
How do you, a citizen of the Fire Nation, address your Fire Lord this way?
Your loyalty is to our nation first.
Anything less makes you a traitor.
Don't do this, Sozin. Don't challenge me.
It will only end badly.
It's over.
Even when he was forced to choose between his Avatar duties and his loyalty
to his nation and friend, Roku was able to stay on the path
of what he knew was the right thing to do, and stop Sozin from starting the war.
[yelling]
[grunting]
[whooshing]
[booming]
[whooshing]
I'm sparing you, Sozin.
I'm letting you go in the name of our past friendship.
But I warn you, even a single step out
of line will result in your permanent...
end.
Unfortunately, eventually
Sozin took advantage of Roku's compassion.
Please...
Without you all my plans are suddenly possible.
Which led to the Avatar's downfall,
giving Sozin the opportunity to put his plan into effect.
[coughing]
Number five: Avatar Yangchen.
I am Avatar Yangchen, young airbender.
As one of the strongest leaders
of the physical world, Yangchen believed her Avatar duties
were more important than her personal identity.
I know that you're a gentle spirit,
and the monks have taught you well,
but this isn't about you.
This is about the world.
But the monks taught me that I had to detach myself
from the world so my spirit could be free.
Many great and wise Air Nomads have detached themselves
and achieved spiritual enlightenment.
But the Avatar can never do it
because your sole duty is to the world.
Here is my wisdom for you.
Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice
your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes.
This meant that, in contrast to Avatar Aang,
she would not let the pacifist culture
of the Air Nomads affect her decisions about leading the Four Nations.
Which led her to being somewhat ruthless, willing to do whatever it would take
to maintain the balance between the nations.
As a result, the peace was kept during her lifetime and long after her death.
But that peace came at a price.
By over investing in humanity,
and largely ignoring the spirits,
she caused major problems in the Spirit World
that future Avatars would need to deal with.
Number four: Avatar Korra.
As the first Avatar born into an industrial revolution,
Korra had her work cut out for her.
- Watch where you're going! - Whoops! Sorry about that! Excuse us!
Especially after her connection to previous Avatars
was unfortunately severed.
[sloshing]
[groaning]
[booming]
[groaning]
While she was clearly a natural at three
of the four bending styles from a young age,
I'm the Avatar! You gotta deal with it!
Her ability to conquer her weaknesses
like airbending, and her connection to the spirits,
are what led to her truly innovative accomplishments.
I think I'm doing it wrong.
Thanks to her airbending, she was the only victim of Amon
who was still able to bend after he was through with her.
And, despite her initial struggles with the spiritual side
of her Avatar duties, she eventually united people and spirits
better than any Avatar in history. Changing the world forever.
What if Unalaq was right when he said the Avatar
shouldn't be a bridge between the two worlds?
What if Avatar Wan made a mistake when he closed the portals?
What if humans and spirits weren't meant to live apart?
Number three: Avatar Kuruk.
Perhaps the most underrated and misunderstood Avatar in history,
Kuruk was not considered to be a great Avatar by the people of his time.
Seen as hedonistic, lazy, and largely unhelpful to the people,
Kuruk's reputation was quick to plummet.
It wasn't until his successor, Avatar Kiyoshi,
uncovered the tragedy of his past
that she alone learned the truth about Kuruk.
He had appeared so absent from the issues plaguing the physical world,
because he was secretly spending his time and energy
protecting physical world from unseen,
but powerful, spiritual threats.
So Kuruk endured the debilitating side effects
of his spirit battles in total secret.
And as a result, he was able to protect the people of the physical world
at the expense of his own reputation in life.
Number two: Avatar Kiyoshi.
Growing up as an anonymous orphan
living on the streets, as well as being thrust
into an adolescent war against adversity,
Fueled Kiyoshi's strong,
and sometimes ruthles, approach to her role.
[whooshing]
I killed Chin the Conqueror.
Using this strength, Kiyoshi would go on to accomplish a great many things
during her time.
Including starting and training the Kiyoshi Warriors,
and even defeating Chin the Conqueror by earthbending an entire land mass.
[crumbling]
[whooshing]
It was a true demonstration of her colossal power.
Number one: Avatar Aang.
Coming from the peaceful nation of the Air Nomads
Aang's power might not be immediately obvious
and not just because he can be kind of goofy.
Now, check this out!
[whirring]
but because he will do almost anything to avoid a fight.
Everyone expects me to take the Fire Lord's life,
but I just don't know if I can do that.
But don't forget, when we first met Aang
he had already become the youngest airbending master in history.
And in less than a year, he would go on to master waterbending,
earthbending
and firebending faster than any Avatar that came before him.
But what really set and apart from the others, was energybending.
Aang's entire journey led him to a final showdown with the Fire Lord
where taking his life
seemed like the only option.
Even the Avatars of the past believed
that killing the Fire Lord was absolutely necessary.
I offer you this wisdom, Aang.
Only justice will bring peace.
But Aang would not abandon his principles.
His power of will lead him to an alternate solution,
one that would forever change bending and the world as a whole.
In the era before the Avatar,
we bent not the elements,
but the energy within ourselves.
In the end, Aang's true power
came not from his bending mastery,
but from his principles and his strength of will.