Ok, so bending can't be genetic, it can't simply be learned but the Avatar is always able to use all elements and before people left the Lion Turtles they had to temporarily be granted it.
This would imply bending is passed along through reincarnation, not genes or training. Does this mean that the reason there are non-benders because of population growth, that is to say the amount of benders can never exceed the amount of people who have been granted bending directly?
It's because of body-thetans. You need to get an auditing session. Or two. Or three.
Beats me but one would assume the past wars wiped out a ton of them
there are a couple of issues here, the first is the situation with the southern water tribe, the fire nation captured or executed waterbenders and managed to remove the ability from almost the entire population, they also did this deliberately to wipe out waterbending, meaning they knew that killing or capturing them wouldn't just remove the current threat but also eliminate it for good giving evidence to it being inherited. There's also the fact that it's shown in one of the comics that the fire nation were deliberately breeding for firebenders and political marriages were arranged based on the number and strength of firebenders in both people's families.
Well the spirits are still around.
So if they wanted to, unseen off in the spiritual world, some spirits wanna grant more new subjects the ability to bend elements, I'm sure they can.
>Dragon Ball formula
what would happen if korra and aang have a child together?
The secret is that everyone can bend, and can bend all four elements, they just don't try. The Avatar is only special because of the Avatar state.
But that's impossible
it's hypothetical.
like someone makes a time-space portal that connects both timelines and the avatars are aware of where is said portal and meet.
this
its an ability the lion turtles UNLOCKED not one they GAVE
if i remember right its that basically for someone to UNLOCK THEMSELVES they have to be a onion-banana-juice level monk with perfect chakras and awakened avatar state level self actualization and all that bullshit
They would have a normal child, that can either Airbend or Waterbend.
The Avatar-spirit bonds with a child already near birth, since both Aang and Korra were born so soon after their predecessors died, no where near nine months. If the spirit were to have chosen some other baby being born around the same time, they would have been born regular benders.
Avatar Aang and Korra making a child wouldn't pass any Avatar-genes down, so nothing crazy amazing would happen.
>for someone to UNLOCK THEMSELVES they have to be a onion-banana-juice level monk with perfect chakras and awakened avatar state level self actualization and all that bullshit
Not really. The Guru couldn't bend.
I miss Team Avatar
would it be way fucked up genetically since it's an ultra incest baby by two versions of the same person, or do spirits not count and it would be fine because genetically they're different people?
>This would imply bending is passed along through reincarnation
Wan lived on a lionturtle where only firebending existed and yet Wan was able to bend all four elements. Humans have the innate power to bend and the lionturtles help unlock the ability using spiritual power. With the lionturtles mostly hidden from the world, the ability to bend (spiritual power) is passed down.
There's also the matter of Earth Nation unlocking the ability to airbend which is similar to Wan of a fire lionturtle learning airbending. Why Earth Nation obtained airbending isn't explained though.
However if only talking within ATLA, then it's implied that certain people always had the ability and it is genetic. Can't remember what episode, but it implied that all airnomads will always be airbenders while the other nations are tainted with non-benders.
It wouldn't be genetically fucked up, Aang and Korra aren't genetically related at all.
Spiritually though, Korra is a reincarnation of Aang.
Bending type is henetic
The ability to bend itself is loosley spiritual, though genetics influence it.
It's MAAAAAGIC!
They literally don't have to explain it.
What happens if the Avatar is not of the benders in any nation? Maybe he's like someone in the middle of nowhere. Would the reincarnation wheel still continue the same way?
>they have to be a onion-banana-juice level monk with perfect chakras
Except he wasn't a Bender. He specifically says he can't Bend.
Calling now, next Avatar in the Cycle will be Metalbending Tony Stark.
>Bending type is henetic
Yeah, henetic. As in determined by your henes.
The type of bending you can do is loosely genetic. The earth nation is the largest and has the most people which is why many air benders ended up being there when air bending was revived after season 2.
As in the avatar is born to a random couple in the middle of nowhere?
The lotus would find him/her and train them like they did with Korra. It is suggested that baby benders will subconsciously bend as Korra was shown to be able to sorta bend despite only being old enough to have started talking. Aang grew up as an airbender so trying to bend the other elements wasn't on his mind.
Plus an Avatar's death would be worldwide news and anyone who had a child shortly afterwards would be wondering if they gave birth to the next avatar.
Bending is probably not passed down by physical genes, but rather correlated with the collective spiritual devotion of a race.
This is why the Air Nomads were all benders, their way of life made them collectively far more attuned with the spirit world than anyone else.
Obviously that's not the entire explanation, that's not how bending was first discovered, but it's part of the explanation for specific types of bender being differently rare per capita.
Midi-chlorians
Guys, I like Avatar too but you know they didn't think this through too this much.
Non-benders just need to get over the notion that benders are superior and have a revolution.
Even the Avatar can't survive having her throat cut while she's asleep, right?
>The type of bending you can do is loosely genetic.
It's 100% genetic. Two purebred water tribals can't produce anything other than a non-bender, a waterbender or the Avatar.
The different kinds of benders are basically the different kinds of Jedi.
So the answer is midicholorians.
>its an ability
Bending ability is spiritual/personality based. What element you can bend is based on your ancestry. It is not passed through reincarnation, but through your blood.
The avatar is a special case because it merged with a bullshit spirit that carries in itself the memories and souls of past lives and the ability to bend every element.
So there was plenty of lion turtles show, one for each of the elements and the one that gave Aang the ability to energy bend.
Can other lion turtles grant unseen elements or kinds of bending?
Since we've been shown that energy bending is a thing and we've been told that before the elements, people were energy benders, why aren't energy benders an exclusive kind or even a nation?
There's so much potential wasted in this show, I want more, but without any of the retardation grom Korra.
>I want more, but without any of the retardation grom Korra.
So ignore the lion turtle bending origin. Korra added that.
People tapped into their ability and art to bend by observing the celestial bodies/animals. The Avatar is the physical manifestation of the world/universe and the bridge between spiritual and physical (as in, the actual definition of what an Avatar is). The Avatar brings balance and as an extension, that's why they reincarnate in a cycle, to maintain that balance. There was nothing wrong with that, there doesn't need to be any "before."
I think they said there were 12 total Lion Turtle cities, although I might just be pulling that out of my ass, but I don't think there are more than the 5 bending types. I'm surprised they didn't pull out Light and Dark bending tho.
>light and dark bending
they sort of did with the spirit mecha battle
I guess they did, but I also suppose that could have just been energy bending their own energies which just happen to align with light and dark.
>they didn't pull out Light and Dark bending tho.
Uhhh... Book 2?