Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in a colorful fantasy realm where naturally gifted people can bend the four elements -- water, fire, earth and air. Bending is an excellent form of self-defense and often has military applications too, as the Fire Nation grimly proved during the Hundred Year War. What about bending air, the freest element of all?
Airbenders are typically Air Nomads, monks who have dedicated their lives to spiritualism, inner peace and pacifism to reach enlightenment. In various eras, these Airbenders enjoyed many perks that came with their bending, but being an Airbender can also mean trouble, especially during Avatar Aang's time.
10 PERK OF BEING AN AIRBENDER: They Make Friends With Sky Bison
In the original Avatar lore, sky bison were the original Airbenders, and humans learned to bend air by following their example, including blue forehead tattoos to match the fur markings on sky bison heads. This resulted in a long-standing partnership between humankind and sky bison.
For many generations, Air Nomads lived with sky bison around the world, and young Air Nomads are allowed to pair up with a certain bison and fly free with it as a respectful partner. Anyone would want a chance to soar in the skies aboard a levitating beast.
9 HARSH REALITY OF BEING AN AIRBENDER: They Have Limited Diets
Some harsh realities of the Air Nomad lifestyle are only a problem for trainees, such as the new Airbenders found in Season 3 of The Legend of Korra. Airbenders are all vegetarians on principle, and Aang was never seen sharing Sokka's love of beef jerky and other meats. His son, Tenzin, followed that example.
When the new Airbenders joined the reborn Air Nomads nation, they had to give up meat, and no doubt that was an uncomfortable change for many of them. Not just anyone would easily give up the chicken, pork, beef and fish in their favorite foods.
8 PERK OF BEING AN AIRBENDER: They Never Want For Anything
The Air Nomads are monks, and thus live ascetic lives where they have no interest in wealth, prestige or other material gains, setting them apart from the likes of Varrick or Fire Lord Ozai. Instead, Air Nomads require only the basics, such as comfortable robes, a temple to call home, a sky bison companion and little more.
In such a lifestyle, a person would never feel frustrated by a lack of wealth or material gain, and they won't ever envy the world's wealthy elite or nobility. Air Nomads have much less tangible desires, and that can be incredibly freeing. No doubt that's the whole point.
7 HARSH REALITY OF BEING AN AIRBENDER: They Can't Form Solid Objects With Bending
Each of the elements has its own strengths and weaknesses, such as the poor defenses of firebending or earthbending's reliance on rocks and soil to bend. Airbenders, meanwhile, have a particular drawback -- they cannot form solid objects with their bending, such as barriers, bridges or projectiles of any kind.
This can be a problem in some situations, while an Earthbender can block a landslide with a barrier or a Waterbender can make an ice wall to block people and animals. Airbenders may fly free, but not everyone appreciates how soft air can be. Sometimes, solid is better.
6 PERK OF BEING AN AIRBENDER: They Can See The World
Three of the nations are bound by their geography, with the Fire Nation being made up of volcanic islands while the Water Tribe is found at each pole. The people in these lands don't often see foreign lands regularly, but Air Nomads certainly can. They are nomads for reason.
Air Nomads can regularly move from one air temple to another around the globe, and see all kinds of exotic new lands and meet new people. Even non-Airbender characters such as Suyin Beifong understand how enriching these experiences can be. Air can travel all over the world freely, and so can its benders.
5 HARSH REALITY OF BEING AN AIRBENDER: They Were Nearly Wiped Out
This may be the single biggest downside to being an Airbender, historically speaking. A century ago, Fire Lord Sozin took advantage of the comet to launch an all-out assault on the Air Nomads and, aside from Aang, wiped them out completely. They all died fighting.
Aang, the sole survivor, felt terrible grief when he found out the truth and beheld Monk Gyatso's time-worn skeleton at his old home. Even later Airbenders indirectly suffered from this, since they had so few fellow Airbenders by their side. Tenzin should have grown up with countless Airbender friends, but he never had the chance, thank to Sozin.
4 PERK OF BEING AN AIRBENDER: They Have Air Acolytes To Support Them
The original Air Nomads didn't have any acolytes to support them, so Aang invented this position all on his own after the war ended. He met some girls who loved all things Airbender, and he transformed their fan club into a formal organization to support the reborn Air Nomads -- the air acolytes.
Two generations later, the air acolytes were busier than ever, supporting Tenzin and his family on Air Temple Island near the bustling Republic City. They are to the Airbenders what the White Lotus is to the Avatar, roughly speaking, and Tenzin's wife, Pema, was an acolyte herself.
3 HARSH REALITY OF BEING AN AIRBENDER: Mastering Flight Is Rare & Exceptionally Difficult
Millennia ago, the famed Guru Laghima unlocked the ultimate Airbending -- true flight. Laghima could fly freely like Superman and levitate over the ground for years without tiring, and no one else achieved this remarkable feat until Zaheer the anarchist did it. He lost P'Li, his last earthly attachment, so he became truly free.
However, Zaheer and Laghima are the only Airbenders in all time to unlock true flight, and Tenzin confirmed just how difficult it is to achieve this feat. No doubt many Airbenders grew frustrated as they tried in vain to release all earthly attachments to pull off this stunt. It's like the idea of true flight is taunting them, just out of reach.
2 PERK OF BEING AN AIRBENDER: They Are Carefree & Have Fun
Bending isn't necessarily supposed to be fun, but it can be, and the Air Nomads know how to relax and enjoy themselves. In fact, Aang's flashbacks made it clear that Air Nomads were often pranksters and jokers, and this may be related to their lack of ambition. They know to not take themselves too seriously.
Being relaxed and having fun isn't juvenile -- it can greatly enhance a person's mood and change their entire life and worldview for the better. No doubt the original Air Nomads had enjoyable and stress-free lives, laughing and flying all day long without a care in the world. They had freedom in every sense.
1 HARSH REALITY OF BEING AN AIRBENDER: They Have Nothing In Common With Other Cultures
The four nations all have distinct cultures, from the reckless innovations of the Fire Nation to the patient and conservative Earth Kingdom and the pragmatic Water Tribe. But these nations have basic similarities, such as economics and commerce, cities, formal militaries and more.
The Air Nomads are much different, being a loose nation of ascetic monks who care more about enlightenment and meditation than big business or joining the military. Air Nomads can't easily be integrated into other cultures, and vice versa. Like it or not, they must live apart from the rest of humanity, and some Air Nomads might feel a bit lonely as a result.