Top 10 Avatar: The Last Airbender Fights

Step aside kids, the OG benders are about to step up to the plate. As the last stages of the war with the Fire Nation continues to escalate, Iroh along with his fellow members of the Order of the White Lotus lead the charge to liberate Ba Sing Se. It might sound like a suicide mission, until you see these geezers decimate everything they come across. With Jeong Jeong, Paaku, Bumi and Piandao in tow, it’s quickly established the insurgents don’t stand a chance. Just another amazing layer to what was already shaping up to be a remarkable finale.

It’s the crossroads of destiny, where battle lines are drawn, and the moment all fans despaired as they watched Zuko cast his lot in with his villainous sister. Despite finding happiness in a simple life with his uncle and even reaching an understanding with Katara, Zuko ultimately chooses to fight against the Avatar for the chance to reclaim his place at his father’s side. It’s as tragic as the fight itself is blinding, with a furious clash of elementals followed by the shocking sight of Azula seemingly bringing down the Avatar with a bolt of lightning to the back.

Brief yet brilliant, this tussle was the shining moment our boy Zuko decided he was done being bad, directly challenging his father and declaring he was joining Aang. Ozai might have thought he had the drop on his son by blasting with him lightning just as the Day of Black Sun ends, but he didn’t account for Zuko using Iroh’s teachings to redirect it back in his tyrannical face. Throw in the bombshell that Zuko’s mother is alive and you’ve got yourself a pinnacle “Avatar” moment here.

See what happens when you listen to Uncle Iroh? You get results! As an arrogant commander with an inflated ego to match Zuko’s, Zhao did little to hide his distaste for the Prince, eager to capture the Avatar for himself and the glory that would come with it. As tempers continue to flare, the two eventually come to blows via the ancient combat tradition of Agni-Kai. You’d expect with his years of experience, Zhao would wipe the floor with the embittered royal teenageer but after following Iroh’s advice, Zuko pulls off one of his earliest wins!

The Fire Nation’s subjugation of the world resulted in countless casualties and victims, but it also created a few monsters, and none were more terrifying than Hama. Originally appearing as a gentle old woman willing to assist Katara improve her waterbending, it’s revealed that she’s the one responsible for a string of recent disappearances, all in the name of revenge against the Fire Nation for her imprisonment years ago. This leads us to the revelation that Hama is a bloodbender, whose drive for vengeance is so strong that Katara is left with little choice but to embrace the taboo art to save herself and her friends.

If you were in doubt that Azula was a badass, then you need only watch her take on the combined might of Aang, Zuko, Toph, Katara, and Iroh… and still walk away the winner! After driving her quarry to fatigue for days on end, the wicked princess takes on pretty much half the cast all at once. With an abandoned village serving as their battleground, Azula effortlessly demonstrates her incredible agility, cunning tactics and insanely strong fire-bending. You know you’re the MVP villain when you force a desperate alliance between your mortal enemies.

A desperate escape from Omashu with Azula on their tail would normally be bad enough, but with the combined threat of her newest recruits, the city’s rollercoaster-like structure and Bumi’s life hanging in the balance, Aang and the rest barely survive this encounter. Not only was the fight fast-paced and frantic, but it also highlighted that, while they weren’t walking volcanos like Azula, Mai and Ty-Lee were still lethal in their own right and not to be underestimated.

How do you establish yourself as one of the series’ greatest characters in just a single fight scene? Well, if you’re Toph, you take on a group of deadly Earthbenders all by yourself and utterly trounce them. With Aang captured, it falls to the blind bandit to take down the Rumble Six, which she does, like a boss! In spite of her ocular impairment, Toph’s sense of touch is beyond anything, allowing her to take every opponent to task with such fluidity and force that it leaves everyone breathless. No one messes with the Melon Lord.

Where do we even begin with a showdown like this? In order to claim his birthright as Fire Lord, Zuko challenges his sister to one last Agni-Kai, who by this point has started to tip into the realm of insanity. Fuelled by the power of Sozin’s Comet, the scale of this flame-fest is unprecedented, with Zuko clearly having the edge over his deteriorating sibling…at least until he took a blow intended for Katara. From there, the once naïve girl from the Water Tribe takes the stage, using her own bending skills to imprison Azula for good. It’s the tag team match we didn’t know we wanted, and ended up becoming one of the series’ stand out spectacles.

Before we reveal our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Zuko vs Earthbenders

The Blue Spirit vs Fire Nation Guards

Azula vs Mai & Ty Lee

Sokka vs Piandao

Zuko vs Katara

It’s the final battle to end all final battles, and it exceeded all expectations. Empowered by Sozin’s Comet, Ozai proved to be an opponent of such ferocity that even with four elements, Aang was left at the Phoenix King’s mercy. Paired with his internal conflict in regards to killing, it looked like Aang was destined to lose, though that was quickly erased when he took the Avatar State to the next level, bending multiple elements in unison before finally bringing Ozai to his knees. This leads to what might just be Aang’s most defining moment as the Avatar; choosing to strip the Fire Lord of his bending instead of resorting to bloodshed. Balance restored.