Top 20 Avatar The Last Airbender Fights

Granted, this isn’t so much an epic confrontation between equals as it is a one-sided beatdown courtesy of Avatar Roku putting the Fire Lord in his place. After uncovering Sozin’s plans for worldly domination under the banner of the Fire Nation, Roku decides to put his childhood friend in his place. Even with his impressive fire-bending, Sozin stands no chance against the Avatar in his prime, who outright threatens him with elemental efficiency. That’s certainly one way to end a lifelong friendship.

And this is where the dream trio well and truly fractured. Following Zuko and Sokka’s escape from the Boiling Rock, Mai decides that she’s willing to risk it all for her old flame rather than serve as Azula’s enforcer. While this betrayal nearly leads to her being barbecued, Ty Lee joins the mini-rebellion at the last second by using her chi-blocking to subdue Azula in an instant. It’s the start of Azula’s spiral into madness, and a reaffirmation that despite fighting for the Fire Nation, both Mai and Ty Lee aren’t without moral codes of their own.

Hired by Zuko to put an end to the Avatar, the nameless assassin only known for his ability to make things explode turned out to be very dedicated to his job. His first encounter with the Gaang leads them to run for the hills on account of his combustion abilities proving deadly enough to even overcome their combined bending. Only for him to hunt them halfway around the world and try to take them out at the Western Air Temple. Unfortunately, for all his talents, Combustion Man has no defenses against the might of a boomerang to the face.

One of the earliest examples of both Azula’s cruelty, manipulation and fighting prowess, this sibling battle on a boat is both fiery and frantic. After accidentally revealing that Zuko and Iroh are to be taken back to the Fire Nation as prisoners, both uncle and nephew battle their way to freedom. Naturally, the Dragon of the West takes down anyone who comes at him with expert precision, whereas Zuko struggles to overcome Azula’s superior agility and mind-games. Extra points for the flaming knives though!

Before they were the closest of allies, the exiled prince and the girl from the Southern Water Tribe were locked in one brawl after another, with this being their most poignant. With Aang out for the count following the siege of the north, it falls to Katara to protect him, demonstrating how far she's come as a waterbender by holding off a desperate and volatile Zuko. And for the most part – she wipes the floor with him. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, when the sun rises, firebenders come into their own.

While Zuko’s time alone was mainly about introspection and dealing with the trauma of his younger years, that’s not to say the prince didn’t get into a fair few scuffles along the way. After being taken in by a kind family, Zuko chooses to come to their aid when their village is attacked by a group of corrupt earthbenders. The final-face off with the hammer-wielding Gow initially proves to be too much for Zuko to handle…at least until he relents and reveals himself to be a firebender. It’s a hollow victory however, as his identity once again causes him to be shunned by all.

The duel atop the drill is certainly one of Avatar’s most creative showdowns, and once again showcased that even against an Avatar, Azula is a force of nature. As the titular drill burrows its way into Ba Sing Se, Aang uses every elemental trick in the book to hold off the relentless princess. Water whips, air waves, even a shell of stone, but it still isn’t enough to hold off Azula's relentless barrage of flames. Though she is finally brought to a halt when Aang goes on the offensive with a rock-coated fist. That looked like it hurt.

Ah yes, the bad boys of the Avatar franchise, filled with more pride than sense, and both accomplished dual-wielders. After the former freedom fighter kicks up a fuss in the Jasmine Dragon, it doesn’t take long before the two of them end up crossing blades…er…hooks. While the battle is absent of bending, it’s brilliantly choreographed, displaying how nimble both are, as well as their skill with their respective weapons – playing out almost like a wuxia flick. A shame that the Dai Lee intervened, otherwise we could have seen who the truly superior swordsmen was.

Finally, Sokka gets a chance to shine! After taking up swordsmanship in an effort to prove himself as a valuable member of the Gaang, the jokester of Team Avatar gets a chance to put his skills to the test when his new master challenges him to an impromptu battle. While obviously less skilled than a legendary warrior like Piandao, Sokka’s innate agility and inventiveness allows him to stay on equal footing, at least for long enough to demonstrate just how handy he can be with his newly-forged space sword.

Before she was widely regarded as one of the strongest waterbenders, Katara had to prove herself capable – not exactly an easy task when her would-be teacher viewed her as useless simply because she’s a girl. Endlessly frustrated by Pakku’s stubbornness, Katara decides to take matters in her own hands and challenge him directly. What follows is an exquisite display of waterbending, as both the new and the old generation throw everything they have into the fight, with Katara demonstrating that despite her tender age, she’s a natural at putting her foes on ice.

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 one way trip, until you see these geezers decimate everything they come across. With Jeong Jeong, Pakku, 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 adolescent, 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 walks 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.

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.