After getting acquainted with Avatar: The Last Airbender, most fans must have been utterly convinced that indeed Aang is the strongest Air Nomad Avatar. However, the storyline of that universe is vast, and although Twinkle Toes (as Toph calls him) may be an Air Nomad way more powerful than the very first Avatar, he isn’t the strongest one out there.
Instead, the title of the strongest Air Nomad goes to one other person who struggled even more than Twinkle Toes throughout her life: Malu. Although she never appeared in the animated series of the Avatar universe, there was no other Air Nomad more powerful than her. What’s more, she didn’t even have a teacher, to begin with, and reached these levels of strength by herself!
Not Aang, but Malu is the Strongest Airbender
While everyone knows who Aang is in the Avatar universe, not many are aware of Malu. Even then, many fans who are quite fairly well acquainted with the books may know about the “ghost witch of the mountain,” who is none other than the strongest Air Nomad herself.
Allow us to elaborate: This new character, who is commonly referred to by others from the Avatar universe as the “ghost witch of the mountain”, was actually an Air Nomad born to two Air Nomad monks from the Eastern Air Temple.
However, her time with her parents was limited, as the passing of Sozin’s Comet disrupted all peace and tranquility in the land of the Air Nomads and brought about the attack from the Fire Nation.
It was during this war that she got separated from her parents after her mother hid her in a cave to protect her. Because of this, while the so-called ghost witch of the mountain managed to pass the war, her parents weren’t so lucky.
Thus, all on her own, she began leading a solitary life. During this time, she not only protected herself and survived by herself, but even trained hard and perfectly mastered her airbending skills without a teacher guiding her through the incredibly hard process.
Through her solo training, she became the first-ever self-taught Airbender. In fact, her training made her so powerful that when she came out of hiding by 10 AG, she was able to fiercely take her revenge by attacking the soldiers of the Fire Nation and defeating them.
Soon enough, this mysterious figure who entered the Earth Kingdom out of nowhere came to be known as a legend among the people. As she grew famous, rumors started going around that this unparalleled mysterious beauty could even control the spirits.
Moreover, her supposed ability to appear and disappear according to her will eventually earned her the title of being “ghost witch of the mountain”, when in reality, she was just the strongest ever self-taught Airbender there ever was.
As for why people don’t know about her existence: It is simply because Malu was never really introduced in any of the animated series of the Avatar universe. Instead, she was only a TCG (Trading Card Game) character, which is why many are unaware of her.
Aang, in the meanwhile, is Much Stronger as an Avatar
While the “ghost witch of the mountain” is the strongest and most powerful Airbender, Twinkle Toes is one of the strongest Avatars. Although he may not be the strongest Avatar, he is more than just more powerful than the very first Avatars, including Avatar Wan.
Not only did the fan-favorite character master the four bending arts, i.e. Airbending, Waterbending, Firebending, and Earthbending within minimal time, but he was also entrusted with the responsibility of saving his world as an Avatar when he was only 12, while other Avatars were informed at 16.
Adding to this are all the tragedies he faced throughout his life, including losing his family, culture, tribe — everything. Despite that, he continued to grow and save everything he now held dear, further proving just how strong and worthy of an Avatar he was.
All in all, Malu might be the strongest Air Nomad, but nobody compares to Aang either.
