Avatar: The Last Airbender introduced us to a myriad of bending arts that have diversified from the classical elements of Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. We were introduced to fire-benders such as Azula and Iroh who could generate and redirect lightning. We were introduced to Toph Beifong, the character who discovered Metal Bending. We were also introduced to Combustion Man, the one mercenary of the fire nation hired to hunt down the Avatar.
Combustion Man has a unique fire-bending ability called Combustionbending. This type of bending allows concentrated chi to be dispensed from the forehead, like a canon, requiring great amounts of control and training. While characters like these are few and far between, one Avatar theory points towards why that is the case.
Combustionbenders are Fire Nation super soldiers
Combustionbending is not a hereditary bending art. It is a type of firebending that is cultivated through rigorous training and concentration, and attempting it without the proper training can have disastrous effects. The theory states that Combustionbenders are not naturally born but must train to achieve combustionbending, which implies that those on the parole of the fire nation might just be government-manufactured.
Essentially, combustionbenders might be the result of the Fire Nation’s super soldier program, which might have a high mortality rate. This would mean that out of all the candidates chosen for the training, less than a handful survive to become full-fledged combustion benders. This is also corroborated by the Dawn of Yangchen novel, which talks about combustionbenders and how they are farmed by the Fire Nation.
Could the Avatar learn combustion bending?
There are a lot of sub-bendings that have been explored in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: The Legend of Korra. We have also seen Avatars pick up these sub-bending abilities, but never have they picked up a skill as specialized as combustionbending.
It might be possible for an Avatar to pick up combustionbending if they trained, but it would not be without its problems. Combustionbenders often take a lot of time to master their abilities, and as mentioned before, doing them wrong can cause massive damage to the wielder of the ability. There is also the fact, that focusing on firebending for the time required to learn combustionbending could result in an unbalanced Avatar, who might not be properly equipped to use their newfound abilities in combat.
