Like Avatar, Aang is the most powerful character in Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, he only achieves this status at the end of the series, which means there are a number of incredibly powerful characters that viewers meet early on. Before learning every bending style and mastering the Avatar State, Aang is just a talented airbender.
At the start of the show, the best Benders belong to the Fire Nation Royal Family and the White Lotus. The raw power of Benders like Ozai and Azula greatly enables the Fire Nation's conquest of the world, and the talents of masters like Pakku and Bumi help minimize the damage done to their respective nations. Of all the members of Team Avatar, only one of its members was already among the strongest in the world before meeting Aang.
10 Piandao is the greatest swordsman in the world
Piandao can defeat almost all Benders
Piandao is the strongest non-Bender in Avatar: The Last Airbender. He is considered the best swordsman in the worldand countless warriors visit his home in hopes of training them. Although a citizen of the Fire Nation, he does not support his country's evil deeds, instead dedicating himself to continually perfecting his art.
Piandao's abilities are so great that he is considered a member of the White Lotus. The only non-bender in the group, he is perfectly capable of holding his own against some of the greatest Benders to ever exist. Piandao is also talented enough to greatly increase the abilities of anyone he trains, as seen in his mentoring of Sokka during the third book.
9 Huu's power is often overlooked
Huu's specialty makes him a force to be reckoned with.
Huu is a peculiar Waterbender. An elder of the Misty Swamp tribe, Huu achieved enlightenment while meditating under the Banyan Tree. This brought him into contact with the swamp he called home, and led him to develop his own style of Plantbending to defend her.
Huu fights by controlling the water within vines and other planets, and bringing them together to create what appears to be a giant swamp monster. Even without plants, Huu is still a fully capable Waterbending master. He was an essential part of Team Avatar's invasion of the Fire Nation Capital during the eclipse, acting as a shield for his new allies.
8 Combustion Man is one of the most destructive benders
Combustion Man fights like no other in the series
Combustion Man's real name is unknown, but his talent is shown throughout the film. The Last Airbenderthird season. In addition to being a master of Fire, Combustion Man has the ability to explode anything he aims at with his mind.His reputation as an assassin is so great that Zuko hires him to kill Aang during Book Three, confident that he can complete the mission despite knowing how powerful Aang has become.
In every encounter between Combustion Man and Team Avatar, the heroes are put on the defensive. Even when he is defeated in “The Western Air Temple”, he is not a superior fighter. Combustion Man is only killed after a blow to the head from Sokka's boomerang disrupts his bending, causing him to explode.
7 Jeong Jeong was tasked by Roku to train Aang
Jeong Jeong is a member of White Lotus
Jeong Jeong is the greatest Firebender in the series who is not a member of the royal family. Also known as The Deserter, Jeong Jeong taught Aang the basics of Firebending, after receiving a personal request from the spirit of Avatar Roku. While he did not train Aang for long, he did fully train Admiral Zhao, who is a fearsome Firebender in his own right.
Jeong Jeong's elite status is cemented by his place among the White Lotus. While he is not the greatest Firebender in the group, his power is still immense. His performance during Sozin's Comet is exceptional, and even without the power boost the comet grants, he is still capable of summoning some of the largest amounts of fire in the series.
6 Toph was a powerhouse before she met Aang
Toph learned from the original Earthbenders as a child
While Toph Beifong grows significantly as a Bender in her time with Team Avatar, she was already infinitely more powerful than her friends before they began their adventure. Born without sight, Toph met the original Earthbenders, the badgermoles, as a child. They not only taught her to Earthbend, but also to see using a seismic sense.
As long as her feet touch the ground, Toph can see everything around her and detect even the slightest movement in an instant. With her unique defensive fighting style, Toph, fighting as The Blind Bandit, has defeated many of the world's best Earthbenders to win the Earth Rumble tournament multiple times. At just eleven years old, and before she even discovered Metalbending, Toph is the second best earthbender in the world.
5 Azula is a firebending prodigy.
Azula can fight as well as bend
Princess Azula was raised by her father, Fire Lord Ozai, to be his perfect heir. While Ozai completely failed her as a parent, he did manage to raise her to become one of the world's deadliest fighters. Azula was a child prodigy and did not slow down her training at all throughout her adolescence, always striving for perfection.
Azula's distinctive blue flames are representative of her incredible talent.. She is also one of the few Firebenders who can create her own lightning. Azula is a dominant force throughout the second book, always finding a way to come out on top, no matter if she is up against Aang, Zuko, or anyone else.
4 Paku is the greatest waterbender in the world
Paku continues to train the only waterbender superior to him
While the Northern Water Tribe is full of Waterbenders, Master Pakku is unquestionably the best. He is respected by all around him and is responsible for teaching all Waterbenders who wish to learn how to fight. Since every Waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe has been killed by the Fire Nation, he is the only true master left between the two main tribes.
Master Pakku fittingly represents his country as the sole Waterbender of the White Lotus. In addition to helping liberate Ba Sing Se during the series finale, Pakku is also responsible for training Katara. While Katara is undoubtedly a prodigy, it speaks volumes that Pakku was able to train her to his level in a matter of weeks.
3 Bumi's earthbending proficiency is unmatched.
Bumi deserves his place as king of Omashu
King Bumi has had over a hundred years to become the greatest Earthbender in the world. The king of Omashu battles his old friend Aang near the beginning of the series and wins, despite holding back heavily. Later, during the eclipse, Bumi is able to single-handedly free Omashu from the Fire Nation's control.
Bumi's talents are known far and wide. The Earth Kingdom generals expected him to be the one for every Earthbending Aang, and he stands among the White Lotus as their only Earthbender. Visually, no other Earthbender in the series demonstrates their art with the same spectacle as Bumi.
2 Iroh is the dragon of the west
Iroh is almost as powerful as his brother
Iroh is one of the most famous and feared Benders in the world. The older brother of Fire Lord Ozai, Iroh is infamous for being the general who waged war on Ba Sing Se and, although this is not true, he earned the title “Dragon of the West” by supposedly killing the last dragons. Instead of hunting dragons, Iroh learned from the original firebendersand developed a completely different style from the rest of his family.
Iroh is the leader of the White Lotus and commands great respect from Piandao, Jeong Jeong, Pakku, and Bumi. In addition to decades of experience as a firebender, Iroh has also trained with waterbenders and learned to redirect lightning. His skill far surpasses that of Zuko, Azula, and Zhao, as demonstrated on multiple occasions. Zuko is even confident during the final battle that Iroh can defeat Ozai, even though Iroh himself is unsure if he can.
1 Ozai could only be stopped by the Avatar
Ozai is a master of fire like no other
Fire Lord Ozai is the strongest character at the beginning Avatar: The Last Airbender. A Firebender like no other, Ozai is a ferocious monster driven only by his desire to conquer and destroy. He trained Azula to be as powerful as she is, and in all the time he has been Fire Lord and waged war, no one has been able to overthrow him.
In addition to being able to use Firebend, Ozai can use Lightningbend. This is a huge advantage he has over his older brother, Iroh, who can simply redirect lightning. Iroh himself isn't even sure that “Sozin's Comet” could defeat Ozai in a fight, despite how powerful he has been shown to be. Ozai is never seen fighting without the effects of Sozin's Comet amplifying his power, but with how badly he beat Aang for most of their battle, he undoubtedly could have held his own without the advantage.