30 Strongest Avatar Characters (Ranked)
Avatar: The Legend of Aang and Avatar: The Legend of Korra has been regarded as legends in animation history. An amazing storyline, adventure awaiting every fan with each episode, hybrid animals, and awesome element-bending techniques in every battle; these are just some of the things that you will surely want to see in these two series. But one of the best things that we just love to research in Avatar is the ranking of the strongest characters.
After all, the Avatar series is packed with action done by different kinds of characters, both benders, and non-benders. That’s why I decided to make a list dedicated to showing the top 30 Avatar characters. Each character displayed here has unique abilities and personalities that made each of them strong in their own right, as well as stronger than other characters. To give you a more detailed list of each popular avatar characters’ strengths, here are the top 30 strongest characters in the whole Avatar series.
30. Meelo
He may be a kid, but he sure made it into the top list because he is a low-key monster in terms of his abilities. Of all of Tenzin’s kids, Meelo is also known to be the funniest and most adorable, as well as the most noticeable one. After all, Tenzin’s serious nature is way different from the characteristic of this kid.
What also made him a fan favorite is that he has a similarity to Aang in terms of appearance, but with thicker eyebrows, and the appearance of a mischievous kid! If trained enough, Meelo can become one of the strongest airbenders in the future, as seen in one episode where he fended off some enemies all by himself.
29. Master Piandao
Master Piandao is one of the best warriors in the series who proves that there is no need to be a bender if you want to become powerful and skilled. His skills with a sword are truly remarkable, but what made him quite appealing to some viewers is his wise characteristic, which made him deserving of the title “Master”.
Even though he has an old age, he is still capable of using his sword with ease, as well as dominate multiple enemies in a fight. This was proven when he fought a group of firebenders through his swordsmanship. To add up to his amazing reputation, he is one of the Orders of the White Lotus members who reclaimed the city of Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation for the Earth Kingdom to rule it once more.
28. Varrick
Varrick is not the fighter-type of character. But he got into the list because of his tactical wit, which is a very powerful tool in battle. His appearance already gives him the personality of a scheming crook, and he has proven it over and over. Sadly, he is not on good terms with some of the finest benders in The Legend of Korra series. But still, his strategies always made him one step above.
His most remarkable deed was when he managed to lay down a trick to the Earth Empire leader, as well as fool the people in Republic City, which caused some turmoil in the process.
27. Mako
Mako is known for his good looks, as well as being the first love interest of Korra in Avatar: The Legend of Korra. Mako is the son of a firebender and an earthbender, but is capable of earthbending. He is known to have a brother named Bolin, who will be discussed later as he has the superior ability. Both of them are pro-benders who are competing in a tournament and became Korra’s teammates.
Mako’s skill in firebending, and as a pro-bender is so advanced that he has learned how to bend lightning. However, despite his proficiency in the ability to shoot lightning, he does not use it that much, which is who he stumbled down on the bottom ranks of this list. But his skills in firebending earned him a position in the police department of Republic City.
26. Longshot
Longshot is a member of the Freedom Fighters, a group of Earth Kingdom teenage and child rebels who are fighting against the Fire Nation who took over their land. Let me give you an insight on who the Freedom Fighters are first. They are a group of rebels who are fighting with a passion due to their hatred for what the firebenders did. Their commitment towards their goal is so extreme, that they also hurt innocent people in the process.
The young members of the Freedom Fighters are a force to be reckoned with since they are skilled with birl calling as their means of communication to prevent detection. They also built their base in a treetop, where they cut off the Fire Nation’s supply lines near its vicinity. They are also woodsmen – experts capable of forest combat.
Longshot is one of the best Freedom Fighters, thanks to their excellent skill in archery. He is also one living proof in the series who shows that there is no need for any bending skills to shoot off an opponent. He does not only have a good aim with a bow and arrow but is great in using it even when moving. He was even shown to perform tricks such as shooting enemies while hanging upside down on tree bark. His aim is also accurate enough to disarm the weapon of his opponents if he does not want to kill them.
25. Pipsqueak
Pipsqueak is another member of the Freedom Fighters who specializes in combat. Unlike Longshot, who lives up to his name, his name is a misnomer of his overall looks and strength. He is known as the largest and physically strongest member of the rebel group, with an aspect that is surprising for his size. He may not be a bright one, but his raw strength made him a very important member of the group.
With his massive build and immense physical strength, Pipsqueak often uses a wooden log as a weapon, since he can carry it with ease. He might have a massive build, but he is a combat-conditioned warrior because of his agility, showing that he is well-trained and not just any savage brute.
24. Jet
Jet is one of the most heroic icons in the Avatar series, because of his heroism. He also has that idea that’s equal to a rebel and has the passion rooted in a deep hatred and a sense of moral righteousness. Jet was the leader of the Freedom Fighters, a group of refugees from the Earth Kingdom called teenagers, until his untimely death when he got seriously injured.
Jet is known to be one of the most agile fighters in the group and is often shown wielding two daggers as a weapon, which matches his combat aspects. Jet is also accurate in long-ranged weaponry, with throwing knives and darts as his weapon of choice for long-ranged attacks. He is also known as a master of stealth and is good at laying out strategies before and during combat. It was just too bad that he died in the series.
23. Lin Beifong
Lin is the daughter of Toph, one of the members of Team Avatar in The Legend of Aang. Lin Beifong is present in the Legend of Korra as the chief police officer of Republic City. She is the practitioner of metal bending, an advanced version of earthbending that her mother invented. She is a very strict police officer who apprehends criminals with no mercy.
Her metal bending powers allowed her to use whips made of steel, as well as easily use metal armor in combat. She is known to be capable of using a more refined version of metal bending than the one that Toph used in the final parts of the series. However, she is known to have lost a lot of battles in the process as well. This fact is the reason why she is at the bottom ranks of the strongest. But take note that this ist still has the strongest characters in the series.
22. Mai
Mai is the most reserved woman in Azula’s group. It seems that she is the exact opposite of Ty Lee’s cheerful attitude. She was Zuko’s former love interest but still loved him enough to betray Azula in the final parts of the series. Mai’s character that makes her seem that her emotions are dead, makes her a very formidable fighter as well.
Mai is extremely skilled when it comes to long-ranged attacks, which also contrasts Ty Lee’s hand-to-hand combat expertise. She uses stilettos, a specialized type of throwing knives, and specialized darts called hand arrows. She is so skillful at throwing, that she can attack opponents from a long distance without the aid of supporting tools such as bows or slingshots.
Her accuracy is so deadly, that she can even disarm opponents when needed by pinning their parts to the wall or ground with her weapons.
21. Ty Lee
Good looks, hot body, and acrobatic movements. These are the qualities of Ty Lee, one of the friends of Azula and one of her teammates in hunting down Aang. Ty Lee is a member of the circus but is known to have skills suited for hand-to-hand combat. Her skills in performing in the circus allowed her to become a very agile fighter in the process, even more, agile than Jet. She is currently a member of the Kyoshi Warriors, an elite group of female fighters.
Ty Lee is capable of outmaneuvering any opponent with ease, which is probably the reason why she survived a lot of dangerous fights despite her cheerful attitude. She also learned how to block chi, which disables a bender’s bending abilities, as well as their ability to properly move during a fight. This is why she deserves to belong in Azula’s elite group, despite being a non-bender. You can say that she is another fine example that skills are needed to be strong in the series, not just bending.
20. Suki
Suki is one of the leaders of the Kyoshi Warriors – a band of powerful fighters founded by the late Avatar Kyoshi. Suki is a non-bender as well, but it does not hinder her from becoming a formidable fighter. She is known as one of the most badass fighters in the series, who has proven herself over and over throughout the series.
Suki is an expert in hand-to-hand combat, proving to be a good match against the likes of other hand-to-hand fighters such as Ty Lee. She is also an excellent acrobat, as she can balance by walking on top of the heads of the rioters in the prison she got in. She also learned chi blocking when Ty Lee became one of them. She is also proven to be a good master, as she taught Sokka some fighting techniques in a short time.
19. Tenzin
Tenzin is the son of Avatar Aang, who serves as the spiritual guide of Avatar Korra. Since the art of bending requires one to have sufficient spiritual training as well, Korra sought his teachings to fully become the Avatar, He is a skilled airbender who has taught his bender children, as well as attempt to revive the airbenders once more.
Tenzin is also known to be a good airbender as well, despite being a yet-incomplete teacher to Korra, as he still has a lot to learn himself. His skills as a bender, teacher, and spiritual guide earned him a spot among the strongest characters.
18. Katara
We all know Katara as one of the supporting characters to Aang in their Team Avatar, as well as his love interest. Katara is the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. She deserves a spot in the top 30 strongest characters in the series for being a self-taught waterbender. This proves that she is intelligent enough to master waterbending at a very high level.
Her mastery of waterbending allows her to freeze water, use it for healing the wounds of other people, and create massive water-based attacks as well. She even learned the art of bloodbending, the ability to control the bodies of people by bending the blood, that’s also composed of water.
17. Combustion Man
Combustion Man is the hired assassin of Zuko during his time as an antagonist. Bearing no name at all (it was Sokka who named him Combustion Man), Combustion Man looks intimidating than his name, with his huge build and his tattoo that makes him more mysterious.
Combustion Man is a firebending assassin who utilizes fire through a different means than others. Most firebenders are known to shoot fire out of their fists, but Combustion Man is capable of performing a different form of bending. Most of the time, he turns firebending into an explosion by using his forehead, which is why he has a tattoo to further imply that he possesses a unique form of firebending.
Aside from his muscular body, he also dons metallic limbs that make him resilient against most physical attacks. But thanks to the teamwork of Aang and his friends, they were able to defeat this difficult opponent.
16. Ghazan
Ghazan is a fugitive and member of the Red Lotus. He is a dangerous earthbender who attempted to kidnap Avatar Korra. Just like his allies Ming Hua and Zaheer, Ghazan is known to be a very powerful bender who is capable of defeating enemies with ease.
His earthbending prowess is so great, that he is capable of utilizing a different advanced form of bending – lavabending. Through lavabending, he can disintegrate enemies through the means of drowning or covering them with molten rocks. This makes him fight like a firebender and an earthbender at the same time.
15. Zaheer
Zaheer is the leader of the Red Lotus, a group under surveillance by the Order of the White Lotus that’s known for being an anarchist militant. Zaheer is known to be a powerful martial artist that makes him extremely dangerous in one-on-one fights. But not only that, but he is also one of the very few known characters in the series that can airbend,
Zaheer is known to be a very proficient airbender that creates very large currents of wind that can known enemies away, as well as use it as a powerup to make him move fast enough to evade fast attacks. His airbending also reached the point where he can fly, making him one of the two airbenders who have achieved this very complicated ability.
14. Ming Hua
Ming Hua is one of the villains of The Legend of Korra, who is a member of the Red Lotus. She is an armless waterbender who happens to have awesome bending abilities without the need to move some arms around. She is monitored by the Order of the White Lotus but was aided by her assistants Ghazan and Zaheer. It is highly noted that Zaheer and Ghazan are also formidable benders, with her being the strongest of the three.
Her waterbending ability is so proficient, that she can use the whole sea or ocean to overwhelm her opponents. Even Korra or Katara cannot beat Ming Hua if they fight using waterbending only.
13. Jeong Jeong
Jeong Jeong is a firebender who was introduced in The Legend of Aang. Unlike most firebenders, who are known to be ruthless and evil, Jeong Jeong is one of those who has a kind heart just like Iro. He is a master firebender who has isolated himself in the Earth Kindom to avoid being seen by one of his kind.
Even though he is not interested in firebending, as he sees no purpose in using it to its fullest, Jeong Jeong is still a master of firebending. If only he had a sinister goal in mind, along with his hot temper, he would have used his firebending to its fullest to the point of becoming one of the top 5.
12. Amon
Amon is the very first villain in The Legend of Korra. This masked villain had the mysterious power that can prevent anyone from bending anymore. This made fans speculate that he might have the same energybending ability as Avatar Aang. However, it is something way different that appears to be too dangerous if mastered enough.
The secret to his anti-bending ability is chi blocking at its highest level, which can potentially make Ty Lee too dangerous if she achieves the same level of chi blocking. Additionally, his power of bloodbending also made the effect appear permanent to those who got affected by this special ability of his. And since he is a master of bloodbending, he is also a very powerful waterbender.
11. Sokka
Sokka ended up far in this list because he is a very good character, despite being the most humorous one in Team Avatar. Sokka is a non-bender but has the wits of a true genius. Despite the series being more focused on the magic of bending, Sokka is the one who exploited science to its fullest.
He is a master of engineering who can craft a wide variety of weapons and tools that have helped his team through various challenges. He can even exploit science to create optical illusions, such as assisting his sister Katara in making her seem like she can perform earthbending. He is also a critical thinker, a very fast learner (evidenced when Suki helped him learn more about how to fight), as well as solve problems at a very fast rate.
Being a non-bender, despite belonging to a team of powerful benders, Sokka is not affected by this fact since he has the abilities that made him great. He is a clever tactician who often devises plans for his team whenever they join a battle or when they are pitted in some sort of challenge. His fighting skills are also known throughout the series to have improved over time.
10. Toph Beifong
Toph is one of the members of Team Avatar. She is a blind earthbender who is very skilled enough to create her style of earthbending, which she eventually taught to her daughter. What made her interesting is that she did not learn earthbending from any master, but from mole badgers only.
Due to being blind, she focused on sharpening her other senses, which is proven when she learned how to sense the vibration of surroundings and people. This made her act like she is not blind at all, and made her more sensitive enough to bend the earth at a higher degree than most earth benders. She is also the founder of metalbending, which exploits the minerals of metal by bending the earth around it.
9. King Bumi
King Bumi is the earthbending friend of Aang several years ago. With Aang being frozen for several years, King Bumi has physically aged already through time, unlike Aang who is still young. King Bumi is the old king of Omashu, who is over 100 years old already.
But never let his age fool you! He is a master earthbender, and is considered one of the most powerful characters in the series. He is also known to have a strong build, which does not make him look like 100-years-old, along with the ability to bend his body. He is a true genius who has revolutionized his city and is extremely smart enough to take over Omashu back without any help at all.
8. Avatar Wan
Avatar Wan is the very first Avatar, who lived back when the spirit and the human world were the same. The origin of the Avatar is a spirit that housed all bending elements and was forced into an entity that will continue to conjure such power through reincarnation, making it the boundary between the spirit and human worlds.
Wan’s abilities in learning how to master all four elements without the knowledge of any past Avatars, since there were no past avatars before him, made him a character of exceptional talent.
7. Zuko
Zuko was initially a villain in The Legend of Aang but gained tremendous character development through his journey that made him a better character, and one of Aang’s friends. The result of his change is through the challenges he faced when he tried to prove his honor by hunting Aang when he got banished by his father.
Zuko is a powerful firebender who was responsible for teaching Aang how to firebend. He even gained a huge boost in power after accepting his own identity and becoming true to himself. He is not capable of generating lightning, but he learned how to redirect it when hit with one.
6. Azula
Azula is the younger sister of Zuko. The reason why she is more powerful than Zuko is that she is a more powerful firebending master. Her powers in firebending are so strong that she can generate hotter flames, which appear blue. Her firebending is so advanced as well, which is why she can also generate lightning to cause more damage.
Azula is a talented firebender, but not as great as Iroh because of her attitude, as well as her mental health that made her insane by the end of the series.
5. General Iroh
Iroh is known as the favorite of a lot of fans because despite accompanying Zuko as a villain in the first parts of the series, he still became kind and compassionate to him. He is known as the high-ranking official of the Fire Nation that is feared by a lot of people, even his men when they opposed him.
Iroh is a master of firebending, and is also considered the most powerful living firebender in The Legend of Aang. He is not just a master of lightning-bending, but is also a creator of several firebending techniques. He is also the one who invented the way to redirect lighting, which Zuko learned.
4. Avatar Roku
Avatar Roku is a popular Avatar, though not alive by The Legend of Aang anymore for obvious reasons. However, he was the Avatar before Aang and is also a friend of the former Fire Lord Sozin. He is a well-experienced and well-trained person who has traveled around the world and mastered all elements.
A testament to his power was when he challenged an erupting volcano to save the people living in his hometown, which is an island. He almost won, but nature is proven to be a formidable force to withstand.
3. Fire Lord Ozai
Fire Lord Ozai is another powerful firebender in the series, who is also the main villain of The Legend of Aang. He is a conqueror who was able to almost complete his goal of taking over the world, as well as get rid of the Avatar cycle for good by committing genocide on all airbenders. He even became the Phoenix King near the end of the series.
Ozai is a formidable fighter who is claimed to be unbeatable and even gained a more intense firebending power when Sozin’s comet passed by. He is also a master of bending lightning and can use advanced firebending techniques to the point where he can fly like a rocket.
2. Avatar Korra
After Aang’s death, it was Korra who got reincarnated as the Avatar. Unlike Aang, who has a calm and jolly attitude, Korra is known to be more serious and short-tempered. She is also very emotional, who often breaks down compared to Aang. But it’s her abilities that made her on top of the list.
Korra is a very strong bender despite lacking in her balancing aspects to become a true Avatar. But through training and determination, she managed to master everything she needs to become the Avatar, and was able to take down powerful benders in her series.
1. Avatar Aang
Of course, Aang is the most powerful character in existence, especially during the parts of his final battle. Throughout his series, we all saw how he was determined in mastering all bending techniques to become a true Avatar. As a result, he was able to take down an adult king all by himself, even though he was 12 years old at that time.
Aang is a master of airbending, who even used it to fly around and do other tricks as he finds it easy. He had a hard time mastering all other bending techniques but became a proficient master upon learning the principles of the bending techniques. He even learned energybending in the spirit world, which he used to ultimately disable Ozai’s firebending forever.