What Type of ATLA Bender Would Cosmere Characters Be? Part 1: Stormlight Archives
In the world's greatest TV show (fight me), Avatar: The Last Airbender, people can be fire benders, earth benders, air benders, or water benders--or the Avatar, the one who has all four types. And each type of bender has certain characteristics associated with them. And it turns out I have so much to say and care about this so much that this has to be a series... Sorry, anon.
“Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want. Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns, and they found peace and freedom. And they apparently had great senses of humor. Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribes are capable of adapting to many things. They have a sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.”
Never have I been more confident. Dalinar is not only an earth bender in terms of his canon powers (remember when he used his Adhesion powers to help rebuild Thaylen City?), but also in terms of personality: Dalinar is a rock, an unmoving force, someone who does not yield. I think of the scene where he used his shard hammer to dig out a latrine because he needed to think. Earth bender behavior. He also likes to wrestle--and we know that wrestling is a part of Earth Kingdom culture. And as a final note so that no one says anything in their tags--burning ONE city to the ground doesn't AUTOMATICALLY make someone a fire bender...
Jasnah has the will and the drive of a fire bender, I think. And she's a person who holds on to her sense of control very, very tightly, and given how unstable fire is as an element, those who master it have to have just that sense of control. And when she wants to, Jasnah can unleash a whole lot of destruction.
I could also see Lift as a water bender--in fact, I literally wrote my water bender analysis and then erased it. Because the more I thought about it, the more Lift's free-wheeling, humorous, but deeply caring attitude reads air bender to me. I mean, she defeats Nale by hugging him. She dodges and avoids and steals and helps people but does not kill.
I feel like Shallan of all people simply has to be the "element of change." Water is about adaptability, and Shallan is able to mold herself into the person she needs to be for any situation. There's also the importance of community and family in the Water Tribes, and Shallan was willing to go to...great lengths for her family. Finally, I kinda like the Jasnah-fire / Shallan-water contrast.
Listen, the Fire Nation were the ones out there inventing all of the terrible weapons: the drill, the airships (although they had help with those), those big metal ships. That drive toward destructive inventiveness just makes me think of Navani. Plus, Navani loves dating the most destructive people you've ever met.
Or a member of the Earth Kingdom but a nonbender, if we want to be mean / accurate. *coughs* In part, I'm thinking here about how Adolin & Dalinar are more similar than either of them would admit at times, and since Dalinar is 100% Earth Bender, I feel like Adolin should be as well. Adolin has the persistence and the strength of an earth bender as well.
And in turn, I think Renarin needs to be a bender who is a different type than his father & brother, ATLA-genetics be damned. And if Renarin were a water bender, then his family could be like, "See, Renarin? You're not a warrior like the rest of the family. Just go into a noncombat career. It's what you're meant for" and Renarin would be like, "But that's not what I want" and be ready to throw down at all opportunities like Katara. *cough* Also, Renarin had the strength and mental flexibility to attract and accept an enlightened spren, which feels water bender to me.
As the resident escape artist, I think Dieno (the Mink) would need to be an air bender. Plus, I kind of love the idea of an air bender general, and one who wants freedom for his people.
This time, I am kinda going with ATLA genetics. Because Gavilar is DEFINITELY fire bender, I've argued that Navani and Jasnah are fire benders as well...and then we have Elhokar. Imagine him as a fire bender but one who has never been seen as particularly strong, particularly good at it. Maybe he's always been good at the aesthetics of fire, of using flame to cause a whole series of torches to suddenly light up in a stunning display, but when he uses fire to fight everyone just mutters who Gavilar was so much better at it...
LISTEN. This might be controversial, but Szeth-as-a-corrupted-air-bender has become SO important to me since I thought of it minutes ago. Partly I'm thinking about Shin culture--we learn during a scene with Rysn that the Shin view warriors as the lowest of the low; to them, killing is not an honorable thing. They're also highly religious--I'm seeing Air Tribe overtones all over the place. And Szeth fights like an Air Bender would fight if an Air Bender went rogue: dancing around, using walls and ceilings as much as the floor, literally throwing people up and through the air, flying...
11. Taravangian: Water bender
A water bender who has, just, so much mastery over blood bending, not that he lets most people know that... His public face is definitely that of an innocent master healer.
But specifically, I think Venli is a metal bender, ala Toph. Partly I think I went earth bender given that Venli can shape stone 'n' all, but I like the idea of Venli stubborn-ing her way into a whole new type of bending, and being able to bend metal would be great for freeing people from prisons...
Another controversial one, I assume. And I could talk about how Kaladin has enormous destructive capabilities or about how fire is also warmth/light or how the Fire Nation Army uses spears to fight... But in all honestly, my brain just keeps imagining Zuko saying, "Honor is dead but I'll see what I can do" or Kaladin literally screaming into a lightning storm while crying. I'm sorry. Kaladin is Zuko now. It's the Honor. But if you see him as an air bender because of the whole flying thing and because Syl is definitely an air bender, then I can respect that.
After all, his name is-- [the booing drowns me out]
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