Avatar: The Last Airbender kept its elementalbending combat system simple at first, with the four elements of fire, air, water, and earth defining the bending arts. That was enough for Book One: Water, but starting with Book Two: Earth, the cartoon introduced subbending styles to mix things up and strengthen its characters, heroes and villains alike. It’s one thing to have waterbenders make ice or Aang the airbender fly his glider to add variety, but subbending styles are something else entirely and far from universal.

Sub-bending styles in Avatar are not only powerful and special – they are also rare because only the most skilled and talented benders can train them. In fact, fans have even seen some of these special bending styles invented on-screen, either in the present or in a flashback, proving that even after thousands of years, there is still room to push the boundaries of elemental bending.

Combustionbending enables devastating yet precise attacks from long distances

Notable User(s): Combustion Man

Firebending had a reputation for being destructive and difficult to control. Firebenders could set large areas ablaze with their attacks, even creating entire walls of flame, as Jeong Jeong once did, but combustionbending is a different matter entirely, as it is both destructive and easily controllable. This rare, memorable style of firebending made its debut in Book Three: Fire, when an unnamed man was hired by Zuko to hunt down Team Avatar. Without explaining exactly how it worked, the man used the eye-like tattoo on his forehead to set off explosions from a distance. While the explosions were powerful, they were by no means sloppy. The man, later dubbed Combustion Man, could hit targets with great precision, making him an offensive powerhouse against any element.

Combustionbending has few weaknesses. It does not noticeably tire the bender, nor does it require physical movement, whereas other bending styles almost always require arm and/or leg movement. Holding benders down is a good way to neutralize their powers, but this does not work against Combustionbending, which works through willpower alone. This may be why Sokka called it firebending from the brain. Still, even this subbending style is not perfect. The user must spend about two or three seconds charging up their blast, leaving their enemies only a tiny window of time to either fight back or escape. Additionally, Combustionbending will spiral out of control if the eye tattoo is hit. The Combustionbender could even be injured by their own explosive power, as seen when Combustion Man injured himself during the second battle against the Gaang in the heart of the Fire Nation.

Notable User(s): Toph Beifong

For thousands of years, all benders took it for granted that metals like iron and steel couldn’t be bent at all. This kept technologies like weapons and vehicles competitive in a world where bending meant everything. But that changed when Toph Beifong had a revelation. Shortly after being captured in a metal box, Toph realized that metal came from the earth itself and the separation was an illusion. With this new mindset, Toph focused heavily on bending the impure metal, and the metal bent to her will. So Toph single-handedly invented metalbending and promptly made it a part of her bending repertoire, both in and out of battle.

This proved extremely useful in numerous battles against the full might of the Fire Nation army in Book Three: Fire, with the Fire Nation being by far the most industrialized nation. Time and again, Toph and her friends found themselves up against metal armor, metal airships, and more, but the invention of metalbending evened the odds. Toph could bend metal in all sorts of ways, from cutting off parts of airships to encasing herself in iron plates to become an armored warrior who could even repel fire attacks. Notably, Toph even bent the metal of a meteorite, proving that Earth from space is still Earth.

Lie detection was a simple way to deal with deceitful people

Notable User(s): Toph Beifong

Lie detection is a subtle subbending style that may not be a formal fighting style, but is still an unusual way to use earthbending. Toph Beifong did not necessarily invent lie detection, but since she was born blind and relies entirely on vibration sensors for vision, Toph is the ideal person for this subbending style. Toph “sees” everything by sensing the vibrations on the ground, and she can even feel what is going on in other people’s bodies. In particular, Toph can sense the physical symptoms of a person lying, such as an increased heart rate, and therefore know when someone is not being honest. Toph can also tell when people are being honest by the lack of these symptoms. This is how Toph knew the brainwashed Jet in Lake Laogai was being honest about Appa, and Toph humorously felt Katara was lying about Haru.

Bloodbending can control any body during a full moon

Notable users: Hama, Katara

Bloodbending is still considered one of the cruelest and most inventive subbending styles in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Hama invented it herself when she was captured by Fire Nation forces at a young age, driven by her desire to escape. Hama eventually realized that all living things have water within them, and she felt the pull of rat blood during the full moon. Hama practiced her new bending style over the years, then used it to control a prison guard and secure her escape. As Hama explained, bloodbending only works during a full moon, when waterbending is at its maximum power.

Hama used this art of bloodbending to kidnap villagers, only to then use her bloodbending against the Gaang when Katara refused to help her kidnap more people. Remarkably, despite Hama controlling Katara, Sokka, and Aang with bloodbending, Katara managed to break free and control Hama in return with her newfound bloodbending. This suggests that bloodbending can be instantly awakened as a fighting style, though this may have been a simple plot convenience instead. After Hama’s capture, Katara banned bloodbending entirely, disgusted by its power and nature.

Lightningbending is the cold, deadly cousin of firebending and is based on the separation of inner energies

Notable Users: Ozai, Iroh, Azula

Although lightningbending is more common than bloodbending or metalbending, it is still a rare variation of firebending that most firebenders aren’t even aware of. Only a few true fire prodigies master this bending art, which begins with total numbness and the separation of one’s yin and yang. All of this is difficult to pull off, but when done right, the results are impressive. The firebender can fire lightning from one or both hands to hit a target with great precision, enough to stun, seriously injure, or even kill a target. For example, Azula used lightning to nearly kill Aang in the Avatar State, and Ozai’s lightning was also a serious threat to Zuko and Aang.

There is a related technique of lightning redirection that Iroh invented after studying waterbending. A bender can extend one arm to allow the lightning to travel through the arm and into the chest, then redirect it with the other hand. This works if the bender has the right energy flow and is careful with the lightning, and can be fatal if done incorrectly. Zuko used this technique to survive his father’s electrical attack against him, and then Aang used it to block another attack from Ozai during their fight.

Healing through the use of the life-giving nature of water

Notable User(s): Katara

Healing is probably the most common and widely used of the sub-bending arts in Avatar: The Last Airbenderalthough it is not very common yet and not all waterbenders can use it. This subbending style is based on the fact that water is the source of all life and therefore can restore a person’s health. Healing is not foolproof as a variety of conditions or injuries cannot be eliminated, but overall healing is an excellent way to protect someone and preserve their life. Burns, for example, can be healed if the injuries are still fresh. This water can sense blockages in a person’s chi. Water healing can even relieve psychological issues such as severe stress.

Water healing has its limitations with regular water. Such mastery cannot unlock a person’s chi, nor can it remove scars or remove a person’s blindness. Nor can it restore a person’s mastery once it has been lost. Water from the Northern Water Tribe’s Spirit Oasis can do more, however, and Katara was sure it could have healed Zuko’s burn scar. Katara used all of that water to heal the life-threatening injury Aang had sustained from Azula’s lightning attack, something regular water certainly couldn’t have done.