I like how no one disagrees with Ty Lee being the best. She was always my favorite character. A shame we never got to see Ty Lee’s influence in the legend or Kora series as she’s basically the IT Girl for chi blocking
@@leobro6398 honestly I think she would chi block him and he wouldn't be able to use his swords as effective because of the fact that everyone who was chi blocked couldn't really move like sokka
@-sageaegis-292 true it is never confirmed that she created it your right. But I have a personal thought that she was so dominant over the show that a bunch of people asked her how to do it after the show like how the metal bending academy happened. Though I do agree that they should explore that path in a book or something
In my opinion Ty Lee deserves to be in a tier of her own. She was the only non bender of the show that could fight strong benders on equal terms, or even just straight up beat them. Definitely worth putting her in low Cabbage tier
The Lieutenant taking Down Lin Beifong on top of a metal building.... "What am I chopped liver. She ain't ever take down no metal bender." Immediately after.. Holds his own against Korra something Ty Lee never did against Aang. Hmmmmmmm.
Piandao fought firebenders during the comet. He can fucking surf on ice with his sword. I honestly think Piandao would kill Ty Lee in a minute, I mean he's got a sword and decades of experience fighting benders and non-benders. His ability with the sword is on the level of Iroh's firebending, Bumi's earth bending and so on. As soon as Ty Lee gets close he would cut her down.
It’s not just about ty lee’s chi blocking that makes her so much powerful than a bender, but her acrobatic prowess as well due to her circus experience! she moves with grace and her balance is on point!
She’s probably the most unrealistically designed character in the show in terms of prowess and ability, and she’s definitely not the most powerful if we want to take everything into consideration.
@@vnrxven8024 I meant unrealistic within the reality set in this show. Obviously water bending isn’t realistic, but it is in the show. Idk who’d be first, but off the top of my head Piandao, Zuko, Hakoda, Amon’s Henchman, Suki, all seem stronger than her.
@@created3612 what if the way tylee fights is a reality in the show and everyone else just isn’t on her level, like tophs earthbending and kataras waterbending. In the show she’s just THAT GOOD, that can be a possibility
I know he isn’t on the list for obvious reasons, but honestly it would be interesting to see how Zaheer fought before Harmonic Convergence. I wonder if he incorporated Airbender fighting techniques without the bending ofc
I think he did. He basically worshipped Guru Laghima - there’s no way he would have only heard of him after Harmonic Convergence since he was in his cell at the time - and he based his philosophy on the air nomads.
Well I think I’m as much as I actually agree with every comment here, I will like to point out Zaheeer is someone that would have learnt about other cultures too (Like Iroh did). So it’s really possible he did not just incorporate Airbender but he was a fighter that developed his own fighting style from series of cultures. That I will really really really like to see
I think pre-air bending Zaheer would very likely be in legendary tier, I can’t remember exactly where it’s stated but his prison apparently had 3 times as many guards as the other red lotus prisons, as well as being the only one to be completely sealed. The other 3 are on their own some of the best fighters in the series so I think those security measures speak volumes to how dangerous Zaheer was
I can’t stop imagining how powerful and skilled grown Jet could become, he wasn’t even properly trained was he? He was self taught, right? Imagine training from Piandao or another legendary fighter. #JusticeForJet
I would have Sokka lower. Throughout the show, I never got the feeling of “great combatant” from Sokka even after his fight/training with Piandao. He was known for his strategic mind instead of fighting skills. None of Piandao’s assessments were about fighting specifically. They were about creativity and resourcefulness which Sokka probably used in the future to perfect his skills but never in the show was he mastery level.
I feel like you are underestimating him a tad too much. He showed great prowess several times through the show, being able to defeat multiple benders with little trouble, be competitive in fights against the three characters listed as top tier here, and held his own against buffed up firebenders on the Sozin Comet passage. But that's not even the big thing about Sokka, what we have to remember is that as a sniper he has the best feat in the whole show: being able to locate and hit Combustion Man based on the angle of his shots, and his boomerang throw was also curved because he couldn't see his target. Perfect aim + more than decent fighting skills to me easily put him as a master.
1 out of 101 different reasons why I love Ty Lee is how in other shows humans have a hard time keeping up with power users. Ty Lee however is so badass she doesn't keep up or is on their level. She is overpowered even compared to benders to the point where she can take armies of earth benders without breaking a sweat and Katara herself saying that she's scared of Ty Lee.
I think Ty Lee is somewhat of “lefty”. Like left-handed fighters are so used to fighting with right-handed, it’s almost an advantage. Whereas right-handed fighters feel awkward. She got used to fighting with benders, but benders never saw someone like her
I really wish we would have seen "one man army" Iroh breaking out of the prison on the day of the black sun. Probably also at least high master tier, if not maybe even legendary. I mean he bended the metal pieces of his cell with his bear hands (I guess). Also all master tier benders are great fighters automatically since the bending is all based on real life martial arts, and Iroh loved to adopt techniques from the other bending styles so he was basically like a MMA fighter lol
My theory on him breaking out of jail is that he somehow timed the eclipse so that he used lighting or his fire bending to break the metal cage and door JUST BEFORE the eclipse started, and then finished the guards with his MMA during the eclipse! But I could be wrong
@@constantinanghelus5001except the bars looked not melted, but Bent if memory serves me well, sure he couldve heated the bars who knows but i like the think dude trained just to be jacked enough to bend metal by hand and knock everyone out without firebending
Sokka deflecting Zuko's fire and jumping over his kicks on Kyoshi island after their first encounter, kicking Oh the pirate's knife out of his hand then him off the ship, knocking Mai's darts out of the air mid throw whilst sleep deprived, dodging Ty lee's attacks at Ba Sing Se was a nice display of his melee skill.
Personally, I think June would wreck Sokka in a one-on-one fight, so I'd have ranked her higher. This may be a case of him having more impressive feats due to him having more screentime, rather than being stronger.
Agreed 100%. Sokka is absolutely one of my favorite characters throughout both shows but I would be lying if I considered him a mastery level fighter. I love Sokka for his creativity and resourcefulness as Piandao said best describes him.
I agree with Zuko actually being better as a swordsman than a firebender, though I think he could be even greater than the sum of its parts if he combined both arts like he did at the end in Zuko Alone
Except that Zuko is a better firebender? That’s specifically why he fights with firebending over using his swords unless he is hiding his identity. We see this exact situation when he is masquerading in that Earth Kingdom village where he loses to the earthbender with his swords but the moment an injured Zuko uses his fire, he stomps.
@@Zong_Chengthats mostly because firebending is much more powerfull than swordsmanship, one requires hella lots of precision and technique to not get touched by your foe, the other can create range by virtue of "dont get hit by the fire coming your way"
@@Freedmoon44 They are both martial arts. Stronger firebending requires Zuko to be a better martial artist. It’s part of the whole reason why practicing sets, breathing or learning new styles and techniques makes the bender in question stronger as their repertoire is now larger or more practiced.
I like how in zuko alone we also see him playing/practicing with the knife Iroh gave him, there's a chance that knife is the reason he learned how to use swords, and is the main thing he has over Azula
I think our man Bumi deserveres a bit higher of a Ranking. He shows pretty decent Mobiltiy, and cleary knows how to damage his opponents, altough its pretty dirty.
m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wohnZIjwFpY.html&pp=ygUUQnVtaSBzZWFzb24gMiBhdmF0YXI%3D He used a mechsuit, so I guess it doesn't count.
Worthy of noting that Sokka learned all four non-bending styles and beat 2 fire nation soldiers during the height of the comet. Definitely still low master tier, but him (Season 3) and asami could probably go toe to toe.
@@vulpevulpevulpevulpevulpevulpe I think it would be one of those fights where asami is beating sokka's ass the whole time but sokka ends up prevailing in the end
Again, very nice video! Glad you included Zuko because he did a lot of non bending fighting. Personally I think Tai Lee was really OP early on in the show, when she also got her wins against the main cast. Suki might have caught up to her by the end of, but it's definitely debatable. One other comment mentioned that she also learned the Chi blocking Technique eventually, although we didnt really see it in the show. In the end it's very hard to rank those two and Piandao. You can make a strong point for all of them for the number 1 spot.
Tbf i thought it was either her or Piandao by virtue of him being the teacher of Zuko and still on a whole other level because Zuko doesnt spend his life mastering the blade, while Zuko is already top tier when it comes to swordsmanship and likely able to hold his own respectfully against someone like Suki who is also a top tier fighter. Then theres Mai whose true power if not for censorship would prob put her at legendary lol
@@chiboz3483 they can easily yes but that goes for everyone, Ty lee NEEDS the element of surprise which she gains through her agility to come close to each bender, Piandao Suki and Zuko needs to take the benders off guard in order to take them out, through a well time dodge or other methods. Mai's accuracy means that she only needs the benders to be distracted for a short instant and its a knife to the face. Against an army her skills wouldnt be nearly as good (like Ty lee as opposed to the stronger legendary Swordsmen who can take on larger groups better) but its still crazy
@@Freedmoon44 in a 1v1 her abilities wouldn’t be useful. Her opponent would be focused on her the whole time. I think her abilities would be more useful in a group which is how most of her fights were. The being distracted things also works for anyone. Just against a bender if you get distracted you are getting a boulder to the face
If Zuko can be added in the list, then Azula should be added too since she was essentially a non-bender during the eclipse and held her own for a good while
Sokka is a strange case cuz in a caged fist fight theres a chance that he loses to momo, but give him some prep time and the right tools, and he could take out the fire lord
I think if he’d been trained by his dad since child hood and Piandao for more than a couple weeks he could quickly become better than almost any non bender. Plus the most dangerous part about Sokka is that he A doesn’t quit even head butting Ty Lee and (possibly breaking her fingers) after she’d disabled three of his limbs and B we see him train with the Keyoshi warriors and was able to learn the basics in only a day something which surprises Suki and he only trains under Piandao for a couple weeks at most but in that time he’s able to move to an advanced degree sword play and is able to fight off multiple fire benders and non bender soldiers. Sokka doesn’t master this these skills in this time but is able to learn the basics of each style in record time. In the comics he also learn Chi blocking from Ty Lee and manages to figure out how to do it with his boomerang becoming a long distance Chi blocker. He still looses to masters like Zuko who also trained under Piandao but for years and Suki who’s trained since childhood. Sokka had to reteach himself how to fight since he was never formally trained
it's a pretty good tier list, I just wouldn't put Sokka in the same tier list as Zuko and Jet because of how much superior swordsmen they are. In the comics Zuko destroyed Sokka in sword fight using only 1 move and he did that around 4 times. Jet on the other hand is pretty equal to Zuko.
I feel like as a non-bender list you really need to include stuff like tactical thinking, innovation/invention, resources, etc. That does make it a lot harder to organize and more about personal opinion, but so many non-benders just don't really have combat as a central part of their character
I would’ve had June way higher, we just didn’t get to see enough of her, but I’d rank her with Mai. I mean she’s literally a bounty hunter! Completely agree on Ty Lee’s placement though!!❤️
I agree with every single one of yout decisions. I also loved that you gave more insight to them and showed evidence. I always love coming back to the Avatar world by watching this kind of videos. Great work!
I know she's pretty much always bending, but Korra's a fantastic martial artist. Her first fight alone, the Agni Kai, has her pulling off some awesome moves without bending.
True, even the benders displayed decent levels of hand to hand combat, like Amon bro taught an elite group of chi blockers, or Azula, defeated both Suki and Ty-lee without her bending.
I think you should place Azula maybe slightly below Zuko, because on the Day of the Black Sun episode, she managed to outmaneuver Aang and Toph in the fortress without firebending and wasted their time until the eclipse was over. Her acrobatics is probably only worse than Ty Lee and Suki, hell she can even perform a perfect planche followed by a curl move
I agree she should be on the list, but higher than Zuko. Remembre the first Azula vs Zuko we saw on the show. It was a close combat at the ship, Zuko firebent fire daggers to use against her at and she outclassed him without firebending. Also she is significantly more movile than him, as you notice in the Day of the Black Sun where she outmaneuvered Aang, whereas Aang was always shown to outmaneuver Zuko.
@@joseantoniomarronmartinez9526 It can really go either way, Azula definitely beats Zuko if they're both bare handed without bending, but Azula doesn't know swords
@@joseantoniomarronmartinez9526 To be honest I think that first example says more about the technique of fire daggers. (they do look cool though) It'd be a lot harder to disarm someone using dual swords.
Good point! Since all the bending are based on real life material art forms, all Master Tier benders are likely to be extremly skilled fighters even without bending and it becomes really apparent when watching Zuko and Azula. I wish we would have seen "One man army" Iroh breaking out of the Prison on the day of the black sun
I personally think Amon could be in legendary tier, is a huge threat before he begins using blood bending and defeats plenty of powerful benders with ease.
Your reasoning for placing the characters the way you did is solid, as always, so I have nothing really to add other than that I'd put Suki at #1. Which is completely biased on my part because she's my favorite character in all of avatar. Always made me sad when people made fanart of team avatar and they would forget her.
Suki actually learned chi-blocking at the end of the show though most of her chi-blocking feats come from the follow up comics. I'd actually put her above Ty Lee as she has the same level of agility as her in addition to her weapons mastery.
Suki already was on the same level as Ty Lee, shown in the boiling rock episode. If Suki learned chi blocking, she'd easily destroy Ty Lee. @@whatthefisfilipinx
I have two things to say about this video: You said Zuko could be more deadly as a non bender with his swords than a bender. This is obviously not the case because in Zuko Alone he was easily defeated by an earth bending soldier without the use of his bending, but when he used his fire bending, he easily beat the same soldier in the matter of seconds. The second thing I wanted to say is that you should've included Azula and Oman on the list since you included Zuko. In my opinion, Azula might be the best fighter in the series as a non bender but it's hard to say between her and Tylee. Azula's agility and persuasion on the second episode of the Day of the Black Sun was breathtaking. Not only did she out maneuver Toph, Sokka, and Aang in the whole fight (with some help from the Di Lee of course), she also was manipulating all of them into wasting their time with her all along! Tylee wouldn't be able to pull that off because she isn't a master manipulator like Azula. Oman though is on a different level in terms non bending fighting skill because I think he could hold his own in a fight with Azula and Tylee at once if they all didn't use bending. He held his own against all benders for a while before season 1 (when he was building his society of Equalists) and for the majority of season 1. No one was able to catch him for the longest time. Oman was so OP as a non bender it was insane.
Sokka skill mostly comes from his intelligence like piando said he takes out combustion man arguably the strongest fire bender but he was also the only member of the gain who could figure out how to get an angle on him not to mention that he thought up the subs and figured out how to make the war ballon work plus the machines built by the fire nation that he destroyed (drill and airship slice)
I don't think Sokka's place is that controversial, honestly. He had great fighting moments, but his strengths really came from his tactical wit and on-the-fly creative thinking. He's in the perfect spot.
I think it would’ve been so cool to see Zuko mix his swordsmanship and bending like for that scene in Zuko alone. I think he could’ve been so much better.
*I LOVE this video! Great job breaking all these rankings down!* For those of us who are unreasonably nerdy: I want to take this opportunity to point out what I call 'chi powers' in the avatar universe. We know that benders do their thing by extending their chi into the environment and their native element responds. This is accomplished by the control of their chi. Non-benders should also have chi, according to the lore, bound by the limitations of their own body, but they should also be able to learn control of this confined chi. So, we've seen benders do some things that appeared to require extra strength, durability, reflexes, and agility. Since this doesn't require their element, they must be using the chi within their bodies. And non benders should be able to accomplish this as well through similar training etc. In other words, if their proficiencies with weaponry or fighting styles seems suspiciously supernatural, then they're using their chi to enhance their outcomes. P.S. This is how I cope with the fact that some people just can't bend... 😅
I think Mai really is handicapped by it being a kids show. She's never actually allowed to hit anyone with her projectiles which limits what you can do with her (Reasons she sort of just fades and leaves Ty Lee to deal with the half dozen Earth Benders). If Avatar was like a Netflix series or something think she would've shinned more.
I do think you could have included Zhu Li in the mech suit, since she's fighting other mech suits at the time. With Hiroshi, he used a mech suit against people without that advantage, but in Zhu Li's mech fight, it was more of an even battle, and she still showed quite a lot of skill.
I would add amon onto this list, he basically bodied multiple people without using bending o n c e. He is impossibly agile and moves like a chi blocker. He would go to master or Prodigy based on his feats alone!
It is impied he was able to do all that by bloodbending the opponents with his mind/eyes. He made them alter their attacks slightly so they would miss him. So I guess thats why he isnt on the list.
@@dariodelvoije no it wasn't implied he was always bloodbending. Ofc he could bloodbend in certain situations but his movement alone suggest he is master martial arts fighter. He can also chiblock and we know that to be able to do that you have to be athletic asf.
@@adamkowalski6061 I guess you're right, but we havent seen him chi block like his henchmen right? Only chi block people permanently using bloodbending.
actually most of his fighting was bending, as told in the first season as a bloodbender he can easily dodge all bending and use it against the bender, i'm not sure of the exact process but we never saw him fight hand to hand, only time he really made physical contact with someone is to get them in a position to take their bending away and taking their bending away
I love Ty Lee so much. She totally deserved that high ranking. It would have been cool to see an evolution of Chi Blocking in LOK, but we didn't get it. #justiceforJet
I love how minutes after asking for better scenes for Soka he shows him knocking multiple arrows out of the air from close distance with a boomerang and then with his I don’t even know what to call it
I totally agree with your take on Zuko. It always felt like that until the final Agni Kai Zuko's firebending was either weakish or just not fully realized. But whenever he grabbed a sword, he demolished almost anyone in his path
🥬 personally I would put Suki above Piandao at #2, I think the only thing keeping Piandao above her is his lore, Suki has better showings imo. Greet list overall
@@jamaaelmariano3242 most firebending soldiers don’t use weapons, I think its fare to assume they weren’t benders especially since they didn’t attempt to firebend at him after losing their weapons. Also Suki season 1 isn’t the same as season 3, she went from not being able to fight Zuko to stalemating Ty Lee
@@MarMar_Stacks The fact that Suki had time to even improve on hand to hand combat until season 3, it would be fair as well to assume that Piandao had already mastered his skill before suki did, which would put her at a disadvantage. Piandao disarmed 2 or more fire soldiers and it would be a coincidence that all of them were non benders? don't think so, its even showed in the show how organized the fire nation was with their non benders in battle, like the Archers Zhao commanded.
I really enjoyed watching this list! You should mention how also Ty Lee was the prototype behind the whole equalists fighters and in a way they should be included on the same spot with her 😉 Also watching the entry for Zuko I remembered that guy who fought Zuko by the end of Zuko alone. He was pretty tough. Just like the bandits from Legend Of Korra.
Yeah Zuko showed much more potential with his sword skills than his bending, if he had put all his focus on sword combat he'd probably be even better than his master was by the time of the series.
The issue is that it seems like Amon cheated during his fights by making people off kilter with his blood bending. Which is a shame because his moves are absolutely sick
Some other benders I would have included; Zaheer-not enough non-bending, he would go in legendary if Zuko is to be believed, but we don't see it Amon-not enough non-bending, he has some amazing feats that look like non-bending, but we have no way to tell if and when he was subtly using bloodbending to help Katara-novice, we see in her fights with paku and ty lee that she is totally useless in hand-to-hand Aang-advanced, he demonstrates from time to time great feats of evasion that appear to be unassisted by air-bending. Could be in not enough non-bending for similar reasons to amon Azula-Prodigy, she beat Zuko in hand to hand at the beginning of book two and was masterful at evasion during the invasion Iroh-master, he was able to toss zhao after his agni-kai, put his chains to great use against the earth benders, and broke out of prison during the invasion I'd probably also rank Wan and Korra, but it's been a while since I've seen that show
I think Iroh mentions rough rhinos as legendary as a sarcastic comment. Iroh knows they can take him, and knowing their immense pride, he was just feeding them with what they wanted to hear.
Sokka is really a fast learner regarding of weapon and martial arts and he is good with strategy i think the Old Sokka is a Legendary level in Korra's timeline.
sokka was beginning to match suki in hand to hand back in season 1, he was always great with a boomerang and he became a master swordsman by season 3, he's way too low.
I would put Piandao as #1, but I guess it depends on the scenario, 1v1 he most likely beats Ty Lee but since she can chi-block and has better mobility she would probably be more useful in a big fight, she's also pretty young so Piandao has a lot more experience, an older Ty Lee would probably beat him without many problems
100% agree that Zuko’s sword skills outclass his firebending skills. It’s pretty much canon since the only reason that he has those sword skills in the first place is because his firebending came in so late and even after it came in he was so bad at it
Smellerbees dancing was the beginning to her insta-kill technique, but she didnt get to finish the ritual because it would have been too OP to add into the show.
I guess I am the only one who thinks Piandao should have his own tier. He was obviously playing with Sokka the creators said so on the commentary. Could Suki and Ty Lee defeat 100 Fire Nation soldiers, maybe, but Piandao did it and we don't know if that would be his limit.
I know bomie isn't the strongest fighter but tbh those punches at the spirit honestly looked like solid punches. If it were a person , it looks like it could have been some serious damage. Those weren't just amateurish punches. They looked like seasoned and experienced punches. But that's just my opinion. Id like to see him in a fist fight with another non bender
Darn, I would've included Amon too. He really only used bloodbending to take away others' bending, but was able to overwhelm his opponents first with his nonbending prowess. Low legendary
I can’t help but feel that Sokas boomerang moment against sparky sparky boom man wherein he threw it with such precision as to hit him in the head while out of sight on lower elevation should have bumped my man up a few notches
You should do a civilization tier list or habitat tier list based on the places, resources, economy and man power they posses for example rank omashu next to ba sing se next to the fire capital
I am thoroughly surprised and saddened that the cabbage merchant is not in a tier of his own: “Immortal being who does not need combat to show his total dominance of the battle field.”
Nice list but you forgot the leader of the red lotus. He was the leader even before becoming an air bender. In my opinion he had to be at least mentioned
I'll be excited to see that animal list! I bet shirshu would get fairly high! I'd also wonder with dragons would be higher or lower than the Sea serpent around serpents pass! 5:41 someone should turn this scene into a "standing here I realize"meme! 6:55 i'll stand by this episode being awesome! I'm also looking forward to the canyon crawlers being mentioned in the animal tier list but the fight with the clan leaders was cool! 13:40 #justiceforjet all of Jets rights were so coo! He really did have a lot of Cool moves, it was especially simister seeing how he could scale the trees with his hooks swords like an animal! I really wonder what Piando would think of him 14:19 hold on now, I'm not sure if Zuko really outclassed Jet they were still going by the time the Dai li showed up.
I think we underestimate Sokka's skill. He is extremely accurate with weapons other than his boomerang. He split a spear right down the middle during the eclipse invasion, and long before he met Piandao, he deflected Mai's very precise and quick knives in Omashu. I think low Master tier is perfect for Sokka. Side note, I would rank June above him in Master tier Edit: Thought not shown to be super agile, also figured out how to avoid Ty Lee's chi-blocking in Ba Sing Se after their first encounter.
Ty Lee is good but Piendao did crush fire benders while they had the comet power boost so it's kinda hard to not use that feat alone as higher scaling.
Thinking about it like an actual tierlist, Ty Lee has the best matchups out of all non-benders against the strongest characters in the show. Pian Dao is absolutely a better martial artist than Ty Lee, but her skillset in the context of the Avatar world is unparalleled
Or how Ty Lee effortlessly took multiple air blasts from Aang and just reset herself np when everyone else got easily knocked down PS I still find it awesome they had the T1000 (Knives stabbing weapons) from T2 voice Piandao.
