Bending advantages.

[katara]

OMG here we go...sorry if I repeat any reasons...
I narrowed it down to...
earth and water

Fire, although is the dominant element in the show, is only very powerful to a select few ex. dragon of the west and Azura. The soldiers of the fire nation only win because of 1. their mass numbers against the unorganized many smaller minorities of their victims and 2. because of their machinery
Fire bending is easily deflected by rock, air and water
in the show, all three have defended easily (exception to Azura because she is a real master)

Air yes its useful and yes it can be used in many situations (expect underwater) but air is not really a strong element, it cannot be formed into something concrete like rock or water and it doesn't have the power of firebending. Air is useful but sometimes the speed just isn't enough.

OK... so those two are definately out

Earth obviously earth is very easily acessable and can tire opponents out easily, they need to mostly dodge. earth has great defense and offense capabilities and some can even bend metal. earth is almost impenitrable.
Water its my choice
It is flexible, can bend around shields and water can be used for continuous attacks. It can continuously bash your opponent. rocks get thrown, you need a new one, air and fire disappear after used but with water combo, it has devastating power.

If you look at the masters Id rate like this
1.Azula (fire)
2.Toph (earth)
3.Paku (water)
4.Aang (air)

oh yea one more thing...
earth and air are strong no matter almost what
but, fire is weak in dark and water weak in light....
so, that complicates things

[sekar]

I see you skip my chart.

Give air some credit, it's you need a lot of creativity with that element

[Teiú]

Though my favorite one is Fire i really thinks earth have the most advantages outside a fight. Thinking about it, Earthbend rocks (hehe, could not let this pass).

With Earth you can open and close some passages, break floors under people, throw massive objects at your enemy...

But for fight i still prefer Fire, over all the other elements. Earth bending asks you to stay with you body close the Earth, Water bending asks you for... water, Wind have strong powerful moves but the ferocity of attacks cant compare with Fire bending.

Firebenders can take fire from their body like hands, foot, mouth... plus, warm places ability. But fire isn't really creative though, as it is only fire. You can do cool things with Water and Earth talking about platforms, cages, things alike.

Wind... you can fly and run like a bolt (plus, beautiful avoiding moves)

[naru]

I love Earthbending...nuff said


Ok while I also believe it depends on the bender, I think earthbending has its many uses as well:

-It can be used to run more quickly, (Toph has shown this, as well as the Terra Team)

-Can make armor that you can still move fairly well in(Aang, Toph sorta)

-It can be used to make building or something as simple as a bench

-Sandbenders have shown that it can be used in a similar fashion to air

-Toph, in the earthbending tournament, showed that dirt can move very fluidly like water

-You can tunnel with it

-A rock can be used as a shield as well as a projectile

-You can climb earth with it

-It can be used for "puppeteering" like the Dai Li

-You can quickly imobilize an opponent by pulling them into the ground

Etc., Etc. the list goes on, Im sure I could think of more, the point is Earthbending deserves some attention too


In light of what Sekar has said though this is a bit of a biased argument since Im not talking about any other elements

So here goes


Air:

Air has some great battle advantages:

-Air is EVERYWHERE (except under the ocean, but honestly who fights there)

-It is very fast, I mean cmon its air whats stoping it, certainly not gravity or anything like that

-It has been shown that it CAN cut flesh (buzzard wasp)

-It gives the user incredible speed, agility, and overall evasiveness

-Theoretically you could suck the air out of someones lungs (though I doubt any Airbending monks would do that)

-It can pretty much deflect all the other elements back at the user, Aang sent a HUGE mass of earth back at Bumi, he also has blocked fire from Zuko on a few occasions, and though I dont recall seeing him deflect water Im sure he can

-As someone said it doesn't seem to take special movements, Aang has shown he can Airbend just by flicking his fingers or sneezing

Again theres more they just dont come to mind at the moment

Water:

-Yes water is very versatle, it can be formed into just about any shape or form

-It can move very quickly though not quite as fast as Air and some fire attacks

-It can be frozen to make a stronger shield, or turned to steam for cover, or just plain old water

-It has been stated you can control someone like a puppet with it

-you can freeze someone

-you could drown someone in a bubble of water or something like that

-Katara and Aang have shown that you can fly around atop a pillar of water

-Healing

-Pure pwnage in the ocean or when a large source of water is near

-Other:______________

Fire:

This is definitely a creative element as just like air it has really no solid substance

-Well its aggressive and powerful

-A powerful enough blast will shatter rock and turn water to steam

-Fire whips

-Lightning has pure destructive power and happens in the blink of an eye

-Easy to use repeatedly, rapid fire

-Can be used to cook, or keep warm

-Fits in well with normal martial arts (can be mixed in with a normal fist fight)

-

[fuka]

Air just beacuse It's all around you and it can be used at any time. And beacuse it's my favorite element.

[baoli]

I had this argument on an open RP board about five years before Avatar came out - I had a character who was effectively a top-tier Earthbender, (the only 'power' I asked for in regards to that one was the ability to do whatever I wanted regarding earth manipulation) the mods thought I was underpowering myself and let me. I rapidly showed them the errors of their way and schooled a whole group of people with random home-made custom elements (chaos, void, the matrix...they were a little weird at times) in good old fashioned elemental combat.

The whole point of it at the time was this: The only limits on an element's capability is you. If you have the ability to use a skill to it's total mastery level, you can do EVERYTHING you can imagine, so long as you can rationalize it. And given just how far you can push the base four, really it's not a matter of which one is better because it's everywhere or not - it's all in how the bender uses what they've got.

Thus, I vote for all!

...But Earth is best! *runs*

[nekochi]

I'm going to say air simply because of the time period that Avatar is set in. No one's seen an airbender in 100 years so your opponents don't really no what to expect. You have the element of surprise on your side.

Now if we were to go back to a time when airbenders were still common... Well, I'm not even going to try to judge in those circumstances. The point of the four elements is that they balance each other out. Fire is hot where water is cold and air is pliable where earth is rigid. No one could live without the air we breath or the warmth that the sun provides or without the food that the earth gives us or without water. In this way, all the elements are needed for human life and it's pointless to try and say which one is the most powerful or important. They all have their advantages and disadvantages.