Being that the majority of Avatar: The Last Airbender takes place throughout the Earth Kingdom, fans got the chance to see several skilled Earthbenders in action, each demonstrating techniques that made them quake in astonishment. Yet despite such great power at their fingertips, Earthbenders have the most limits on when they can use their bending, since they can only do so in areas where there is an abundance of rock.
Airbenders and Firebenders can conjure up great gales and fireballs from nothing, and even Waterbenders can use their own sweat as a weapon, but Earthbenders must use the rock already around them to pull off some truly amazing moves that make it hard to believe they even have limits to begin with.
Updated June 21st, 2020 by De’Angelo Epps: Ever since Avatar: The Last Airbender was re-released on Netflix the series has received a resurgence. Both new and old fans have gathered around their nearest Netflix machine and have begun binging this epic story. This means more people being introduced to even more forms of bending. That’s why we just had to update this list to feature a few more great EarthBending techniques.
Earth Smash
The Earth Smash technique is one that comes easily to most Earthbenders, hence why this technique is seen so many times throughout the entire Avatar series.
It entails that Earthbenders are able to destroy rocks with simple punches and kicks. This is applicable to just about every Earthbender no matter their muscle mass, which makes it very useful in Earthbending fights.
Earth Mannequin
This is a technique that can only be done by benders that have a firm grasp on sculpting. This is because the technique involves creating human body parts or entire bodies from a nearby rock source and moving them as if they’re alive.
This was seen when Toph made a large hand to toss Aang away, and when she created Fire Lord bodyguards to train with.
Earth Armor / Metal Armor
A common defensive skill favored by Earthbenders involves them coating their bodies in a thick layer of earth (or metal) to create a rather durable suit of armor. During his battle with Azula in Ba Sing Se’s Crystal Catacombs, Aang covered himself in a layer of bright green crystal that protected him from being burned by Azula’s flames.
The major drawback to this technique is that the armor slows an Earthbender’s speed and diminishes their flexibility. It’s proved to be well suited for camouflage purposes, enabling an Eartbender to blend in with a rock wall to give them the opening they need to turn the tide of battle in an instant.
Earth Wave
Though Airbending and Earthbending are natural opposites, they do have their fair share of similarities. Just like Airbending’s Air Scooter, the Earth Wave is a technique performed by powerful Earthbenders like Aang, Toph, and Roku that enables them to surf on slabs of earth to travel vast distances in a short amount of time.
While extremely useful, this technique takes a fair amount of concentration, energy, and space to successfully pull it off. Toph used a variation of this technique to topple countless mecha suits in The Legend of Korra, showing fans just how strong she was even in her days as an elder.
Metalbending
Originally, Earthbenders were limited to bending forms of naturally-occurring earth. When Toph found herself trapped in a prison of metal, she came to sense the tiny particles of earth within it, thus birthing the alternate bending style of Metalbending. With this trick under her belt, she was able to kick down metal doors and bend metal structures like paper!
By the start of The Legend of Korra, Metalbending became a lot more common, with Republic City’s police force wearing all-metal outfits that enabled them to surf through the skies using metal cables. Whole entire cities like Zaofu were built entirely out of metal as well, meaning that they could be powered exclusively by this technique.
Toph may not have known back then, but her actions back in Avatar changed the world more than she could’ve ever dreamed.
Seismic Sense
Seismic sense describes the way in which very skilled Earthbenders are able to sense even the smallest vibrations in the earth (or metal) that they’re standing on, simultaneously using these vibrations to construct a mental image of their surroundings.
Toph wasn’t the only Earthbender to make use of this technique; Aang learned it from her, as well as her daughters Lin and Suyin. It’s ironic that this technique makes it very difficult to exploit an Earthbender’s blind spots, but as shown during the “The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse”, seismic sense can be used to help Earthbenders find their way through labyrinths, avoid incoming attacks, and even tell if someone’s lying.
Earth Shelter
Earth shelters have been erected by powerful Earthbenders for a variety of purposes; when Team Avatar stormed Ba Sing Se’s palace, Aang and Toph conjured up a shelter around Appa to protect the flying bison and the others after two huge statues were launched at them. Throughout their travels, Team Avatar has used Earthbending to create comfortable, sturdy rock tents in seconds.
We’ve also seen this ability be used to seize an opponent. Aang used this technique during his battle with Ozai to bring the Fire Lord to his knees in preparation to take his bending away, while Toph created an Earth Shelter around Azula immediately after encountering her in Ozai’s secret bunker.
Earth Column
Earthbenders can raise columns of earth into the air with ease in order to change entire landscapes. Aang did just that while building a new zoo for the animals in Ba Sing Se. During the mission to bring down Ozai’s airships, Toph was able to fling herself, Sokka, and Suki on top of one using a column she’d stomped up from the ground below.
In battle, this move is extremely difficult to avoid, not to mention just as lethal. Fans should recall that a warrior as skilled as Jet was killed after Long Feng used this technique to deal a fatal blow to the Freedom Fighter.
Earth Sinking
Skilled Earthbenders possess the ability to change the very composition of the ground under their opponent’s feet in order to trap them in the earth. The most memorable instance of this occurred when General Fong pulled Katara into the ground in an attempt to force Aang into the Avatar State.
Not only did he manage to do just that, but there wasn’t a scratch on Katara despite her ordeal.
Rock Bullets
While we’ve never really seen the use of modern firearms in Avatar or The Legend of Korra, the closest thing we’ve seen to a turret or gun in the series was during Aang’s battle with Ozai, in which the young Avatar compressed a rock into tiny pellets that he launched so fast that they managed to decimate the canyon that served as their battlefield.
No matter how strong you might be, there’s no coming back from getting hit by even one of those bullets.
Magnetization
One of the most master-level Earthbending techniques is magnetization. This technique comes to skilled Earthbenders and gives them the ability to magnetize their limbs to harness the metals inside stones and other minerals and stick to them.
This allows them to scale walls and attach themselves to whatever surface is needed. It is seen in the metalbending process as well.
Earth Levitation
Most Earthbending moves involve an Earthbender levitating rocks before punching or kicking them toward a target. Even smaller Earthbenders like Toph can lift huge boulders despite a lack of muscle. They can use these rocks as sturdy shields, and after the rocks have taken the brunt of a Firebender’s kick, they can still have a weapon to send right back.
Powerful Earthbenders like Toph, Bumi, and Kyoshi can lift entire statues, showing just how useful this technique is not only for combat, but for construction (or interior decorating) as well! Aang even managed to moved huge pillars to shield himself from Ozai’s attacks while simultaneously blocking the Fire Lord’s routes of escape during their fight.
Lava Bending
It makes perfect sense that Earthbenders can manipulate lava, since at the end of the day, lava is just heated earth. Powerful Earthbenders like Ghazan of the Red Lotus can instantly turn normal stones into scalding lava, and Bolin can manipulate lava just as naturally as he can with normal rock.
Ghazan has shown firsthand just how dangerous this technique is, favoring a lava shuriken that can slice through pretty much anything. With how hot lava can get, anyone on the other end of a Lava Bender’s attack is definitely going to walk away with some nasty burns, if they even manage to walk away at all.
Earthquake
Earthbenders are able to create earthquakes and fissures in the ground with a simple strike using their fists, feet, and even hammers. This is a commonly used technique to knock opponents off balance.
It has also been seen completely tearing cities from the ground around them and slicing chunks of rock to create avalanches. This is another very advanced level Earthbending technique.
