Since I've been rewatching Avatar a lot things have been running through my mind lately. One of them is how were the first benders were able to bend?

So far where I am in the series I have learned:

Waterbenders learned from the moon.
Earthbenders learned from the badgers. (it's them right? I can't remember the animal's name at the moment)


Me trying to remember from past:
Airbenders learned from the sky bison?
Firebenders learned from the dragons? 

So these people were basically born as non benders and through watching they were able to learn how to bend said element. But there has to be a catch right? Non benders currently in Aang's world can't do that. So there had to be something special about these people. Perhaps the spirits grant a hidden ability to bend to these people. It's lame theory yes, but it's the only thing I came come up with at the moment.

Anyone else ever thought about this? Please share your theories.

Well, the first benders were energybenders. Somehow, they learned to bend the energy within themselves as well as (I'm assuming) energy within others. Since we don't know too much about energybending, we have no idea on how it came about.

But I would love to hear/engage in some interesting theories as well.

I forgot about those energybenders!  

See why I'm rewatching the series?

I would LOVE for them to create something that explains the origins. How energybending came about, how it evolved into people observing the moon/dragons/badgermoles/flying bison and learning to bend that way.

Plus it raises the question; can other types of bending come into existence, then?

I know what you mean. I wish Mike and Bryan would make a TV movie or a comic series about how benders and the first avatar became to be. Heck a tv show would be awesome, but that would be asking too much.

I know this is kind of stemming a little off topic, but it could maybe be a comic. The reason why The Search is a comic is because apparently Nickelodeon shot them down about making a tv movie for the story of where Ursa went.

D:

That's lame. That movie would do really well since the mystery about Ursa's disappearance have plague the avatar community ever since we found out that she's alive.  


But back to topic!

omg i would love to see an origins series about bending holy crap. 

also, maybe the spirits had been observing the world, and decided when they saw people energybending (still don't know how that came about lol) and granted them the knowledge of bending elements when they saw that their human spirits were so strong, and decided to let them in on the secrets of those four elements. or maybe the energy benders sought after the four elements? 

idk, just ruminations.

It's mind blowing really. @.@

Both your theories can probably be combine as one. Perhaps the energy benders wanted to bend the element that was apart their culture and the spirits saw that grant them that power. That raise questions especially when it comes to the story of the first earthbenders, the two lovers. Is it possible that they were both engerybenders? It was vaguely describe about how they were able to earthbend so it's possible they could have been enegrybenders.

Bringing in Chinese/Vietnamese culture in the spiritual sense: With the energerybending I'm theorize that it's based on definitely having that strong connection with your personal energy or chi (in Chinese, "ki" in Japanese) that you have the ability to manipulate your energy to your advantage.

Especially in Chinese/Vietnamese culture they look at five (yes, five) elements to for balance of life in every living thing: Water, Air, Fire, Earth, and Metal. 

When it came time for the element bending Oma and Shu probably thought of what would it would be like if they focused their inner energy into manipulating earth like the Badger Moles.

With waterbenders we know they focused their energy to push and pull like the waves of the water due to the moon.

Fire is life. Manipulate your energy to warm yourself and others.

Air is freedom and very open.

As for the Avatar and the ability to bend four elements, that's high spiritual and energy connection status. All the Avatar-person is is the vessel for this spirit that can constantly be reborn and still remember their past lives.

I also theorize why people can only bend one element is because that's as far as their energy connection within themselves happens to be. Haven't come up with a theory as to how come everyone now can only bend one element except the Avatar and what determines which element that person will be able to bend (besides the physical traits we see), but it could be due to the ancestral culture where their ancestors learned to bend their element.

TL;DR: Energybending to elementbending = Strong spiritual connection with yourself to the point you can manipulate the other elements of life around you. That's my theory.

Honestly, the definition of Avatar pretty much self explains a bit of it's existence.

Noun A manifestation of a deity in bodily form on earth. An incarnation, embodiment, or manifestation of a person or idea: "he set himself up as a new avatar of Arab radicalism".

so did the avatar predate the energy benders?

I feel like the avatar had to come after the benders were establish. Perhaps there was some world crisis and one person was able to harness all the elements.

yeah, that makes more sense to me.

If you think about it the avatar is kind of like a messiah. So since he/she is the bridge between the human world and the spirit world then spirits probably created the avatar during some major world crisis. Maybe it could have been between both the spirits and the humans? The spirits were probably not happy with humans learning how to control the elements. One group of spirits then created the avatar help resolve issue?

I'm rambling here. ^^*

Well, as a deity, I feel like the Avatar is beyond the Spirit and Human World. They are the balance to keep everything flowing. I'm wondering if the Avatar was a mixture of a Human and Spirit Deity. As energy benders, they had the ability to go into any direction for bending, but then it became cultural, and then evolved into genetic. During the beginning as an energy bender that can go in any direction, with the mixture of a spirit deity, the Avatar was born to balance all the elements.

I wouldn't say beyond. The avatar is still human after all and is a bridge between the two worlds. But thats my opinion. ^^

i was going to mention something about genetics, because otherwise it would be all hodge-podgy. and the avatar being born to balance all elements makes sense, so he was born obviously for peace and whatnot. 

and since you mentioned cultural, i think it's kind of a cool idea that the energy benders created the beginnings of culture when they chose which element to master. something else i wonder about though, is when did bending become exclusive to one element per person? and why? if energy benders could bend all the elements, why choose just one? 

i think what you're saying, Chikami, is that the avatar was the reason bending has become exclusive, perhaps? because if he was born to balance the human and spirit world, to bring balance to the elements as well, it was probably integral to the 'separation' so to speak, of the elements.

and Yami, i agree. i don't think the avatar was a deity, or beyond both humans and spirits, but rather a mix of both.