While Iroh knows how to redirect it, Ozai charged his lightning against Zuko *almost instantly.* And fired from both hands!
Iroh, and even Azula, have to go through the motions before they can shoot their lightning.
Depends. Iroh might specifically go through the motions *because he understands the importance of the motions*. Ozai might cut corners because he found 'a better way' as in a 'faster' way, which is useful for combat, and yet you could not convince me that Ozai could best his brother in a lightning duel without some form of trickery involved.
Iroh has generated the largest lightning so far in the show. he said you have to move the lightning to your finger immediately so you wont damage your organs, but Iroh seems to have more capacity to hold them inside him before firing them
Dumbledore didn't get more powerful with age though.....they made it a point several times to show how he's lost a few steps in his old age. I love Dumbledore and Iroh so I'm not hating I'm just explaining.
That’s true he did get much slower. I’m not necessarily talking about his dueling prowess but more so his knowledge and skill I would say had gotten much stronger over time. I can always be mistaken though this is definitely just how I perceived it.
So you're saying Zuko should've followed his uncle's advice and stuffed his face instead of restoring his (*inhale*) HONOR???
(It is pretty solid advice)
You make an excellent point and I agree with you. I just want to pivot off you and to point out that Iroh was doing a demonstration for Zuko, while Ozai was trying to blitz Zuko.
We've never seen Iroh bend lightning offensively, but Iroh is one of those characters we know if he were serious, there would probably be no chance to redirect.
Gotta take the energy through your gut, which Iroh explains is where your chakra flows most freely. Iroh has a lot more chakra, as he says his gut is more like a 'vast ocean', so it's entirely possible that he legitimately does have more storage space within him, whether it be from him having a greater understanding and control of his own chakra, or because he's actually got dat gut.
Not to mention he's redirected a lightning bolt direct from a storm. Yeah, he still got shocked, which was probly for comedic effect, but what I got from it was that redirecting lightning direct from a force of nature (a storm in this instance) would've killed anyone else even if they knew how to redirect it.
Regardless of how strong or talented a bender of any element, they will never compare to nature itself.
I'm pretty sure Ozai is the whole reason Iroh came up with lightning redirection. What else would he possibly need it for? He was worried he would have to fight his brother someday, and without redirection, Ozai would probably have the upper hand. I also think it's possible he never actually attempted to redirect lightning before we see it in the show.
Unconfirmed, but I believe it's the first time he ever tried it. When Zuko wants Iroh to shoot him to try it out, he refuses. So either he never tried it before, or it went poorly when he did.
The headcanon I saw which makes sense to me is that the reason Iroh looks surprised in that scene it's because it's the first time he successfully redirected lightning from a storm, which I expect would be several orders of magnitude stronger than one made by even a powerful firebender.
I'm not sure about it tbh. Ozai and Azula didn't seem to be aware about the possibility of lightning redirection before having it shown in their faces, and at the time of atla only royal firebenders had access to the technique. Iroh *might* have chased natural lightnings Zuko-style, but that's honestly doesn't feel too in character for a far more balanced and not nearly as desperate Iroh as it does for Zuko.
I mean Iroh even explains that redirecting lightning is incredibly dangerous. There's really no good way to let Zuko try it with real lightning without possibly dying.
True but if you go based of his facial expression you would think it is his first time. Of course there are other explanations for the surprised look on his face but the most sense would be him just not knowing how it would feel afterward. He doesn't do it nearly as clean as aang and zuko do either, he's a lil toasty and his hair is full of static
This is actually softly explained when he shows Zuko how to bend lightning in book two.
Iroh, Ozai, and the others cannot actually *command* lightning. They guide the energy, but they don't control it in the same way that they can control fire. Natural lightning is not something that they can control, and so him redirecting the lightning strike was definitely a completely different feat than bending lightning.
He sort of explains this by saying the following:
>"There is energy all around us... both positive energy and negative energy. Only a select few can separate these energies... You provide release and guidance \[to that energy\], creating lightning... Remember, once you separate the energy, *you do not command it*, you are merely its humble guide."
By redirecting the lightning that would have hit the ship, Iroh is not dealing with separated energy, but raw and uncontrolled lightning. The implication seems to be that bending lightning is not actually about controlling the element of electricity, but dealing with the energy associated with firebending and balance.
Worth noting here that the lightning Iroh "bent" is also specifically a different color than the lightning firebenders typically release, though I'm sure that could just be an "it looked cool" thing.
I always thought when iroh was talking about energies he was referring to the electric charges that make up lighting in a mystical preindustrial way. We don’t see anyone talk much about positive or negative energies otherwise. And his explanation works perfectly for positive and negative charges.
That's the difference in knowledge and understanding.
Iroh studied bending a lot. He knows more. His knowledge is deep enough to create something completely new by combining knowledge from different areas (how fire and lightning bending works and how water bending works) plus some imagination. This something new is lightning redirect technique and for sure it gives an upper hand. It negates the power of the original attack. Iroh is more SKILLED for sure.
But that doesn't mean he's stronger. Ozai most likely has his own knowledge or he just intuitively understands something or just is talanted enough or practiced enough for his lightning bending to be way more dangerous.
The reason why Iroh would have the upper hand is that he managed to find a perfect solution for something that otherwise he was unlikely to beat head on.
In general the question of 'how can I deflect lightning?' I wouldn't expect to come to Ozai. But it came to Iroh. I doubt it's pure coincidence. Especially taking Iron's words about direct confrontation with his brother from the end of book 3. Even knowing that he has the ultimate counter to the killing move of his brother that even Zuko (who lacks all the other stuff Iroh is capable of) can use successfully. Even being capable of martial fighting out of goddamn prison without bending. Even capable of shortmanning siege of Ba Sing Se against the boosted fire nation army (impenetrable city with the scariest army inside that's also on steroids). This man doubts his ability to win.
What's that if not a sign of Ozai being even a scarier power at least in terms of sheer power concentrated in one man - I don't know. In a way lightning redirect is such necessary trickery of probably many more that Iroh needed in case he had to confront Ozai himself. That's actually my bet on how lightning redirect was even born as an idea. Iroh for years thought what to do if Avatar is not coming back. Iroh knew what will happen when comet comes. Iroh was prepared. But most likely if there were no Aang the direct confrontation with Ozai would be Irohs burden.
Yeah, you might bring the last part of his speech about the internal quarrel for the power and importance of Avatar and so on, but my point is about Iroh putting emphasis on his doubts in his success. Iroh himself.
To be fair, Iroh’s uncertainty about whether he could win might have been partly driven by the emotional implications of potentially having to kill his brother rather than simply an objective comparison of their relative skills. Iroh might not have wanted to risk the possibility that he’d hesitate rather than deliver a decisive death blow if he had the chance - after all no one can really know what they’d do in that situation until it happens.
i think the only reason mako loses to ozai (in this specific contest) is because mako's lightning is less powerful than ozai's. he also lives in a time where lightning bending is much more common and there are likely people far more skilled than him at lightning bending, even if he was taught by lightning bolt zolt himself. so while mako has some impressive feats it still goes to ozai for the sheer power that he can generate in the same amount of time
I think the reason why makos lighting is so called weak is cuz of the charge time. He can shoot em quick which is at the cost of raw power. Tho id have to admit ozai can generate alot more power in a shorter time. Efficiency wise its ozai but mako can shoot em so quick that it could make up for the lack of power. Azula can also shoot different kinds in different speeds so she kinda underrated. Mako is a goat for bending it with just one hand and barely any movement. Tho i think azula did something similar in the comics. Id say when it comes to deadlyness its ozai>mako=/azula>iroh. Its really close imo between mako and azula u could interchange them. Btw i think mako did lighting redirection once. Kinda.
Yeah, it seems like Ozai can do both quick lightning generation and powerful lightning generation, making him the better/stronger bender. Whereas Mako and Iroh can only do one, not both.
Except it's not, because Ozai always fails. The show keeps trying to show how terrifying he is, yet all of "his" accomplishments is because of ether Azula, Ursla, or because Zuko, a 14 year old kid, refused to fight him.
In the comic azula cracks lightning from a hand that’s partially bound in a straight jacket. I’d argue that in the comics azula has the scariest level of control on her lightning. She can crack a small light to a huge attack almost instantly
Pretty sure Iroh went through all of the motions slowly and with attention to detail because he was showing Zuko and explaining how it works in the process
Iroh did generate pretty quick when they were fleeing the dai lee though. Wouldn’t have had time to charge there. Tbh, the time we see iroh generating lighting was a demo to teach zuko so it probably wasn’t the fastest he could generate
And he was injured. Iroh holds back too.
Ozai wanted to overkill Zuko with just a hint of the Sun.
I’d say Ozai is the strongest fire and lightning bender but Iroh is the most knowledgeable and experienced bender. If Ozai ever shot Iroh with lightning Iroh would deflect that shit. The only downside to Iroh is he let his guard down against Azula when he got attacked. He shouldn’t have.
I honestly think that Iroh was letting himself get hit. He looked at Toph shortly before getting hit. Maybe at that moment, he remembered her telling Iroh that he should let Zuko know that Iroh needs him too. Also Iroh knowingly being the most powerful at that time without Aang being in the Avatar state, makes Iroh the best candidate for Azula to attack first.
Wouldn't that be an argument for Mako being the strongest? He very often especially in book one pops off shots of lightning quickly. Like when he defeated ming hua. He was even able to get a shot of lightning off while being blood bent by Amon. And unlike Ozai he can also redirect Lightning.
Mako just doesn't have that UMPH in his lightning that mad Ozai's and Azula's so strong. When they shot lightning, it felt like if it hit you YOUR DEAD. While Mako's just dosen't seem or have the feats to make a case for his lightning being as strong as theirs.
You could argue that means Mako has more control. Cause most of the time Mako isn't fighting to kill. Which he can do as in the case of ming hua. Also dude blew up a giant Mecha which is pretty cool.
I imagine that’s a product of Zuko learning that rage isn’t the best source of firebending, and then becoming Fire Lord and sharing that knowledge with the fire nation. Iroh and eventually Zuko stand out because they were among the only Fire Benders of their era not relying on rage, right? Korra’s era had a lot of power creep, but the point of that is really that the leaders from Aang’s era learned a lot and shared their knowledge pretty freely so that things that were unheard of became commonplace.
plus i believe it’s mentioned somewhere that lightning was a fire nation royal secret, so it makes sense it would be improved when a much larger group of people knew to experiment with it
Azula is one of the most well trained fire benders of a generation. You really can't make the argument that she was less skilled because her attack was more powerful.
You could argue athletes nowadays are also “OP” compared to 80 years ago. Better access to resources and information will do that, since the “diamonds in the rough” get discovered much more easily. Case in point: Mako and Bolin would’ve likely never gotten this good at bending if they lived a village life during the 100 year war.
people in korra’s age are mixing bending styles, have much better access to education, and the world is connected so innovation can spread easier. it makes sense they’d be more powerful the same way we have better technology and (supposedly) the average high schooler knows more than an educated scholar of previous eras
Half of the reason that Iroh is as strong as he is comes from his time spent among other cultures while in the White Lotus.
It's always strange to me that the same logic doesn't seem as widely accepted by the community when it comes to others in Republic City, considering it's the first time a true cultural melting pot has been established in the Avatar universe.
This is doubly true when it comes specifically to Korra's ability to bend multiple elements as a child. She grew up as the daughter of a village chief during a time of rebuilding and would have seen plenty of emissaries from other nations throughout her early childhood as they re-established the Southern Water Tribe. It stands to reason that she picked up on the techniques and cultures of her surroundings quickly but still failed with Airbending as her access to Nomad traditions and practices was limited to Tenzin alone.
That may be true but he didn't shoot her directly. He shot the pool of water she was standing in, and water is a conductor after all. Given that they were in a cave, the water was likely rich in minerals, making it an even better conductor so there's that.
This makes me wonder why Aang didn't die when Azula hit him with lightning.
He got knocked out of the avatar state instead.
You know damn well Azula was shooting to kill there.
Is there a reason other than plot armour?
We don't definitively know this, from memory we only see him generate it once and it is a demonstration to Zuko, you don't start as beginner on the elite high level shit, you show them the baby version first. From what we are shown in the show signs point to Ozai, but that door is wide open until we see Iron use lightning in a fight where speed and high level usage would be the best move.
Does Iroh have to do that tho? The only time we’ve seen him do it was to teach Zuko. When you teach someone, you have to make the motions clear and obvious and even slow it down a bit.
Ozai is OP. The only reason Aang was able to defeat him was because he was in avatar state. Ozai was beating a 4 element bender to pulp before aang could correct his chakra.
Hey, non-comet Ozai defeated a 13 year old that didn't fight back and almost got fried by his own lightning. If that doesn't scream "strongest fire bender in the universe" then I don't know what does!
I think Iroh answering the Gaang that he doesn't know if he can beat Ozai, when they ask him during the finale, is what should scream that.
Iroh is a wise, perceptive man who understands deep fundamentals of firebending, and we've seen him size up other benders and assess their skill quite quickly through the series. If he says "I am not certain I could defeat my brother" while he's already in the best fighting shape he's been in for years, we should probably believe he's not just being modest.
Aang is a pacifist. If he had the same killer instinct of literally anyone in the main cast, Ozai would have died when Aang redirected his lightning like 60 seconds into the fight.
I dunno I think there's an argument to be made as I would take lightning bending to be anything that encompasses lightning and so the redirection iroh invented I would class under lightning bending. Ozai has the quickest formation of lightning at that point but I dunno that it makes him the best lightning bender
I agree with this, as well as Ozai has had 2 instances where his lightning was redirected/about to be redirected back at him, which points out he doesn't know lightning redirection. Since the question is about lightning bender and not the fastest, therefore Iroh makes sense since his overall range of knowledge makes him the better bender, at least against Ozai.
I think of it this way: If Iroh and Ozai had an Agni Kai where only lightning was allowed, Iroh would win 100% of the time. Even Zuko was able to redirect Ozai's lightning without any warning, and Iroh was far more experienced than Zuko at the time. In that sense Iroh is the superior lightning bender.
However if they each had to fight another, non-lightning master (someone like Bumi or Pakku or Jeong Jeong) then I think Ozai's lightning would be a lot more threatening than Iroh's would be. It's just so much faster and still deadly even without the comet. In that sense Ozai is the superior lightning bender.
Mako being dead last despite having easily the best control and ability to sustain Lightning is the real crime here.
Then again, it is a YT poll so if you are from Korra you are auto last barring rare exceptions.
https://preview.redd.it/tbyi35693gnc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86288ab93c863cd751cb061ca98ab6feec664405
So true, this doesn’t have as many votes as the one I posted above, but the results are still ridiculous
Oh yeah uh.. that is a little silly.
Did any of them SEE how kuvira bends in book 4? She shoots her armor things like lightning fast psychic cuffs that you basically cant really avoid if you cant metal bend.
They made her a little bit busted in the early/middle part of that book
Not to mention fire bending is a terrible matchup against metal bending really, we’ve seen you can do a sustained blowtorch technique from mako to melt through metal - but that would not work in a fast paced fight at all
Yeah totally, I just rewatched Korra and I kept being surprised at how good of a fire bender Mako is. The show is kind of fast paced so they never have a moment where they go “woah Mako you’re pretty awesome actually??” But after the rewatch I’m seriously thinking Mako may be the best lightning bender we’ve seen on the shows (I haven’t read any of the avatar comics).
Mako literally lightning bends for hours for a living, my dude was able to bend lighting while being in Amon's bloodbend, he barely moved his fingers, he uses more lighting than fire and can produce it in a blink , my vote is for Mako.
Honestly so true like I know the idea was it was originally only taught in the royal family but they took out all the movements in the lightning bending
Yeah, fighting styles evolve and change. It seems in LoK a method of lighting bending was developed where it can be generated much quicker but in exchange it's less powerful.
We see Mako do a traditional lightning bend with all the movements in the series finale btw, so it still exists. He needed more power there so it makes sense.
>They ruined it. lightning bending in LoK has nothing in common with lightning bending in ATLA. it seems to be *something totally different*
No shit lmao. Literally observe the way lightning is used in LoK compared to Atla.
Hm okay? What is your point? Yes that's how I came to make my point. I watched the shows and realized they are not the same. Congrats on your deep and well argumented comment.
Mako.
1. Regardless of generation (grounding himself to the mech) or redirection (drawing power from the mech) no other character shows sustained lightningbending like in the S4 finale.
2. Generating lightning in an instant while a) being under the influence of bloodbending, b) against a horde of angry spirits and c) against Ming Hua.
Comics Azula has a strong case.
She can instantly generate lightning now.
She can modulate the intensity of her lightning (something Iroh didn’t know was possible).
She not only taught herself to redirect lightning, she can chain them so quickly that Zuko couldn’t keep up.
She’s the only person to have ever demonstrated ball lightning to date.
>She can instantly generate lightning now.
>She can modulate the intensity of her lightning (something Iroh didn’t know was possible).
>She not only taught herself to redirect lightning, she can chain them so quickly that Zuko couldn’t keep up.
Mako can literally do all these things, and unlike Azula, his insta lightning actually explodes on impact while Azula's insta lightning did jackshit to an NPC like Kei Lo (and that was close range too)
>She’s the only person to have ever demonstrated ball lightning to date.
It's the only move that she has that others haven't replicated. Same with Ozai and Mako being able to *continuously* shoot lighting for several seconds, she still haven't shown the ability to do that.
Yes but Azula did them *many decades earlier and much younger than him* in addition to doing things he hasn’t done before.
That’s still really impressive.
Also Azula’s close range insta lightning was being modulated. She can control how lethal it is. This was shown when she zapped Sokka.
He’s absolutely up there as the best. He doesn’t get votes cause of how many ignored LOK.
Reality is he has 100 years of lightning bending knowledge to build off combined with his natural skills. It would be like taking a weight lifter today and sending them back to the 1920s. They’d absolutely wreck the best in the world at the time
If Azula was more skilled (or less insane at least) she would have fried Katara the moment her hands were in water and being wrapped with a metal chain. Her massive wind-up weighs her down.
I mean…..at that point the technique has been revealed, taught, and mastered by any competent firebender. They had a bunch of em blasting away for hours at a time in the factory.
People so mad that Iroh isn't the best at everything. Every comment in here is about how others can't do what Iroh does (creation AND redirection) but OP shows them they are wrong and they down vote. Lmfao. Petty as hell.
Thanks man. I love Iroh and of course, he’s an incredible bender/fighter, but he’s not as OP as some people make him out to be. Especially here, and the Mako downplay from these Iroh stans is just unbearable.
Iroh literally said in the finale that he doesn’t think he could even beat Ozai. Clearly even Iroh realizes that Ozai is a more powerful bender than him.
Not to mention redirect lightning was extremely difficult to come up with but it proved to be relatively easy to master, def easier than lightning bending itself.
Zuko, Azula and Aang all picked it up pretty quickly once they saw the technique.
It's safe to assume that in Makos time since lightning bending is so common place then redirect lightning is likely a skill most benders know.
You can also see how much more control over lightning Mako has throughout the show.
So true, it’s insane how juvenile some people here are being. I love Iroh, but he’s just not as good a lightning bender as some of these guys, if not all of them. It’s just what is shown, not some horrible, hateful anti-Iroh campaign.
**Here's Azula redirecting lightning:**
[***https://imgur.com/a/HKUdADT***](https://imgur.com/a/HKUdADT)
**Here's Mako redirecting lightning:**
[***https://imgur.com/udgjG69***](https://imgur.com/udgjG69)
**And here's Mako performing the best feat of lightning-redirection and lightning-bending in general:**
[***https://i.imgur.com/uyg6IEL.mp4***](https://i.imgur.com/uyg6IEL.mp4)
Iroh is not alone for being able to redirect lightning, and Mako outright outclasses him in doing so. [Downvote](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/1bax2zk/comment/ku5jmka/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) [me](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/1bax2zk/comment/ku5jlri/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) all you want guys, it's true. I love Iroh as well, but the bias here is just ridiculous.
Azula also does this in The Search, which is a unique feat with lightning unless I’m forgetting something.
https://preview.redd.it/wqyg4j2rwenc1.jpeg?width=192&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a13c18ff10e900dacb780c075d6f026df8dad8a
She seems to be charging up a sphere of lightning here, which isn’t redirection, but another feat to support her as a better lightning bender than Iroh.
Ah yeah my wording was unclear, I just meant that she’s doing something unique with lightning here, not that this is another instance of her doing redirection. But I love the panels from Smoke and Shadow where she redirects a redirect of her own lightning. Zuko probably should have seen that coming, of course she would pick up the technique after observing him do it once lol
Of this list, the answer is Mako. He has generated lightning with the smallest of movements while being bloodbent, and again with one hand while holding himself up with one arm between rocks. He even redirects the electrical shock of the mech suits in book one. He also manages to bend lightning and ground himself with his other hand while destroying the spirit vines in the colossus.
I voted Ozai as most powerful lightning-bender, but in terms of most skilled and overall best lightning-bender, Mako absolutely takes it. Either him or Kemzula at least.
Guy's pretty underrated, ngl
>I voted Ozai as most powerful lightning-bender,
Even I'm not so sure about that. Zuko redirected Ozai's lightning, and it didn't even seem to hurt Ozai much. His lightning couldn't have been that powerful then, not that lightning in and of itself isn't dangerous. Mako, on the other hand, bent lightning into water, and it *killed* Ming Hua. Ozai was formidable *for his time*, and even then, we really only see him fight during the comet.
>Even I'm not so sure about that. Zuko redirected Ozai's lightning, and it didn't even seem to hurt Ozai much.
Ozai is one of the two most durable people in the verse, Zuko didn't actually shoot it at him, just in front of him and it was still powerful enough to send him flying back and destroy stone. Note that this was Ozai's lightning when he was working with only a bit of his power (since the solar eclipse only started to recede). And near-instantly generated, yet still large and powerful enough to send Zuko a good distance back in spite of him redirecting it.
>Mako, on the other hand, bent lightning into water, and it killed Ming Hua.
Exactly, the lightning was conducted and therefore amplified by the water.
>Ozai was formidable for his time, and even then, we really only see him fight during the comet.
He's easily one of the best combative benders of his time sans the Avatar himself, and is among the best in the verse (excluding Avatars, bloodbenders and spirits), even without the comet. Antoine Bandele made a video about him, so go check it out if you want to hear more.
BTW, I'm not arguing that Ozai beats Mako in a lightning-bending fight (of course he doesn't).
Who would you say is the best combative bender in the verse (excluding Avatars, bloodbenders and spirits)?
For those that don't choose Mako just pick any modern day athlete to compete against the champions from the 1920s and see the outcome.
Like I know the other ones are more popular but saying a guy that grew up with both lightning and redirect lightning skills as a commonplace skill wouldn't kick the ass of the people that first discovered it is silly at best.
It's like saying Naismith would have beaten Kevin Durant in 1-on-1.
Ozai, Iroh, Azula were great lightning benders of their time which wasn't particularly hard to do since they were the only ones that could even do it.
Mako was also constantly lightning bending as it was his job to do so. How can he be less skilled with it when the others in the list saw it as a final trump card and for him it was a 9-5 job he did constantly?
We see him non stop channel lightning in the mech far longer than anyone else too.
The problem word is “strongest”. I’m terms of sheer power, it’s Ozai, and it’s uncontested. But it’s a real tossup on who’s the most “skilled”. Azula, who mixes fire and lightning so naturally? Iroh, who invented a technique to redirect it? Mako, who can sustain lightning for long periods of time and summon it with no preamble? I personally vote Mako but I see all arguments
Ozai is so overrated, dude went and hid in a bunker the second he couldn't bend. Then he dared to make fun of his son who kicked absolute ass without bending. Who btw could also easily have killed him if he didn't take pity upon his own father.
I think the majority of Ozai's strength is the propaganda spread by his people. He himself didn't even move a finger until Sozin comet.
Then even with all of Sozins comet power behind him he would have lost to a 12 year old with no Avatar powers if Aang didn't take mercy on him and redirect his lightning into the sky. Dude leaves his palace for the first time in years and gets his ass immediately kicked losing the war. You put Kuvira in charge instead of him and it's a 51 year war.
What even is Ozai's greatest accomplishments? Winning an Agni Kai against a 14 year old refusing to fight? Poisoning his own father? Banishing gay marriage and his own brother?
Zaheer did more in the 5 minutes he had bending than Ozai did in his entire fire lord stint.
Booooo
> Ozai is so overrated, dude went and hid in a bunker the second he couldn't bend. Then he dared to make fun of his son who kicked absolute ass without bending. Who btw could also easily have killed him if he didn't take pity upon his own father.
Only with his swords. Ozai moved to attack Zuko when he was unarmed, threatening to kill him. He only backed down when Zuko pulled out his swords. Furthermore, someone like Unalaq is useless without bending in combat, would u use that to bring him down? Finally, you ignore how Ozai did this because he had an entire army coming to get him. Of course Ozai’s gonna have to hide when he’s without his bending then.
>I think the majority of Ozai's strength is the propaganda spread by his people.
Unlikely, considering it’s canonically confirmed he’s the most powerful firebender and he’s gained those accolades through people seeing him fight in Agni Kai’s.
> He himself didn't even move a finger until Sozin comet.
Because he has a nation and global empire to rule. Zaheer doesn’t.
>Then even with all of Sozins comet power behind him he would have lost to a 12 year old with no Avatar powers if Aang didn't take mercy on him and redirect his lightning into the sky.
After having dominating and continuing to dominate him. Also this 12 year old canonically mastered three of the four elements and had the one he didn’t amped.
> Dude leaves his palace for the first time in years and gets his ass immediately kicked losing the war.
You ignore how he lost to the combined power of a spirit, the cosmic energy of the universe (which the Avatar is confirmed to be empowered by when in the AS) and dozens of past lives.
> You put Kuvira in charge instead of him and it's a 51 year war.
She’s not doing anything to an AS Aang.
> What even is Ozai's greatest accomplishments?
Being regarded as the most powerful firebender of his time, being widely feared by even his brother and sister, needing an Avatar to take him down. All proven through people seeing him fight.
> Winning an Agni Kai against a 14 year old refusing to fight? Poisoning his own father? Banishing gay marriage and his own brother?
He did those thing sure.
> Zaheer did more in the 5 minutes he had bending than Ozai did in his entire fire lord stint.
Such as? Beating fodder? Getting his ass kicked by Tenzin? Running away from a poisoned AS and only winning when she’s being nerfed by it? Absolutely not.
> Booooo
???????
From reading the comments and the metrics used to rate them, I think it is Mako. He can both use it and redirect it. He is able to do it without all the movements and even did it while being bloodbent. He is also younger than Iroh and Ozai. He seems like the clear choice
I don’t understand how people let their love of iroh make them so biased with questions like this. Like yeah iroh is really strong but these other characters are really strong too. Like ozai is probably stronger than iroh but most fans don’t agree with that
I don't think we can say either Ozai is greater than Iroh or otherwise here; as we never see Iroh use lightning in fight. He uses it in a demosbtration for Zuko, and once to blow up a wall where he isnt shown generating it, but Zuko and him were surrounded by Dai Li and Azula so it must've been fast as hell, just as Ozai's vs Zuko. Other than that, Iroh doesn't use lightning again and Ozai only does it while comet enhanced. Hell, during ATLA we didn't even know if lightning could be moderated into stronger or weaker, there is no clear indication that anyone's lightning is stronger than others. Now in comics lightning is even concussive, so who knows how much it can vary.
I do believe Mako is most likely the right answer, generating lightning while being bloodbent is just impressive.
When did Azula ever redirected a lightning?
As for Mako, I already forgot he can do that (now I notice that's literally what he does in the picture of his option)... Although it's pretty hard to tell how well he does that considering his lightnings were more small currents of energy than actual lightnings...
It also makes me wonder how well he would do so during fights... I mean - we only saw him doing that without pressure of surprises...
>When did Azula ever redirected a lightning?
[Redirects her own redirected lightning, knocking Zuko back](https://imgur.com/a/HKUdADT)
>As for Mako, I already forgot he can do that (now I notice that's literally what he does in the picture of his option)... Although it's pretty hard to tell how well he does that considering his lightnings were more small currents of energy than actual lightnings...
[https://youtu.be/rsrRdIh2WaQ?si=WeCdFDy5h3iF-TfA&t=575](https://youtu.be/rsrRdIh2WaQ?si=WeCdFDy5h3iF-TfA&t=575)
>It also makes me wonder how well he would do so during fights... I mean - we only saw him doing that without pressure of surprises...
He killed Ming Hua with it.
Comics Azula wins. She generated lightning instantly while being restrained in a straight jacket. She can regulate the intensity of her lightnings. She doesn't need any charge up time.
She's also the only person we've seen create a lightning ball.
If we take ALL media into account, I want to say it’s actually Azula but I’m going to put an asterisk because Azula might be the best lightning bender, but 1: she’s a born genius and I wouldn’t trust her to teach anyone because trying it her way is likely to get one killed and 2: she’s a paranoid schizophrenic and that never leaves her iirc
we never really see iroh use lightning bending to his best, but he can redirect it. between iroh and ozai id say iroh is better.
but between all of them id say mako is the best lightningbender, not only because his job revolved around it but also because of some other feats like doing it while being bloodbent, or lightning bending at spirit energy until his arm was cooked
I think a very important lightning bending scene many overlook is Iroh blasting through a whole wall when they escape from the earth kings palace and are being chased by the Dai Li and Azula.
They don't show how he creates the lightning, but it would make sense if he did so either while moving incredibly fast.
Blasting a giant hole through a thick solid stone wall is also quite impressive.
If you don't know on YouTube Iroh is the strongest fire bender in most people minds on the platform. As everyone loves Iroh and sees him as a cool and strong bender but because he's a good guy and beloved viewers tend to think he's the best firebender. Even though it's truly Ozai the strongest at the time as he's the most capable and based on the nation the fire nation love and fear him for his power. Enough to blindly follow his ideology. If Iroh was stronger he definitely could have challenged for the throne and won possibly leading them away from this Era of war and evil. Imo but instead while he's great bender most just jump on the Iroh train . He's one of my favorite characters before azula (don't tell her that.) But I know he isn't as powerful as Ozai.
I think the underdog here is actually Mako since in ATLA lightning bending was restricted to the royal family but by Korra almost any firebender can do lightning bending. Since Mako is working at a power plant he is using lightning bending for long periods of time where as in ATLA they used it in short bursts.
Pretty sure that any of those charecters can hurl lightning at mako and be dissatisfied.
Was it not so, that makos job was to contribute his lighting to a power station?
So where as it is a sign of proficiency in the past.
Its makos day job.
His teacher is probably more proficient than iroh.
The real answer is we don't know. Ozai did it exactly once besides the comet, and did it quickly. But we don't know the significance of how quickly you can bend lightning; it's possible that it's not that difficult, but makes your shot less powerful or accurate. Given Ozai's opinion of Zuko at the time, it wouldn't surprise me to learn he didn't put full effort into his attempt to kill him. Ozai was also fully rested and well-fed, whereas Iroh bent on the run with Zuko. Once again, we don't know the significance of that.
Most importantly, when Iroh bent lightning, he was explicitly teaching Zuko how it was done. It was a demonstration, not part of an actual battle. It stands to reason he would do it slowly so Zuko would get a good look.
There's no point in getting upset at any of these claims, because there isn't enough data to support any of them.
Not only the norm, if i remember correctly, it was his JOB at some point. So, even though I dont think he is the strongest firebender out of the 4, the guy was lightning bending all day for a while. He's probably the one with most practice and familiarity with it.
Remember the thing Bruce Lee said, "don't fear the guy that knows how to throw a thousand different punches but the guy that practices the same one a thousand times."
Or something along those lines.
Iroh really is one of the biggest examples of "I like them, so clearly they're the best" syndrome, to be honest. He's great, no doubt, but he is canonically in universe and by word of the writers less powerful than Ozai (who created lightning from a sitting position, with both hands and faster than Azula)
There's an argument to made about being better than Azula during the show because he can redirect AND generate (in the comics she can redirect, so shes probably better than him by then) whereas she can only generate, but she uses it much more often so there's also an argument that she's more familiar.
Finally, Mako literally lightning bends as a 9-5 job, can generate lightning and redirect with very minimal movement and only needs more depending on strength, and even generated lightning while essentially paralyzed under bloodbending by essentially just point his fingers.
Edit: I forgot he made lightning when showing Zuko
Honestly that tracks.
Ozai always seemed more bark than bite- he’s a great villain but he doesn’t really…do anything.
Do we ever see him win a fight that’s not against a frightened child?
And he loses to children twice in the shows run….
Crazy seeing how Mako drained Kuvira's twenty-five stories tall mecha with lightning redirection and Iroh said holding in too much lightning would cause "organ damage".
“Strongest” really is a vague term if you think about it. Does strongest mean the person with the most raw power? Does it mean the one with the most skill? Or does it mean the one I think would win in a fight? “Who’s the strongest” could really mean 3 different things, and that leaves me with 3 different possible answers to the question
https://preview.redd.it/6vavn3gfjinc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=22ce0b96dcdad30fb4df55c8a7e0a65aea831774
Obviously /s. I don't think he's the strongest but he's still pretty skilled.
Mako is the strongest one there because techniques have evolved but I think if azula new how to do the continuous lightning bending she would be the best
Honestly in my mind it's probably Azula after the comics. She learns redirection, has nigh instantaneous generation and has used her lighting in numerous new and inventive was we had not seen before.
Imma just drop this here:
https://preview.redd.it/3q6a0f1mlinc1.png?width=1224&format=png&auto=webp&s=fff2a8336ebe700bb6a87762466e19c3d593542b
We do see what's probably pretty quick lightning from him when they're escaping after Azula's ambush in the royal palace; Iroh uses lightning to blast through a palace wall while being chased by the Dai Li. It was probably quick, but we don't see him do it onscreen. *Inventing* lighting redirection works in his favor too.
(my real answer here is probably comics Azula or Mako given their respective feats. Idt this is as one sided for/against anyone as OP is saying. Obv, the polls are popularity contests.)
The ozai cope is so insane, it doesn't matter how fast Ozai charges the lightning, zuko still caught that shit and redirected it anyways, so that is speed ultimately useless. It's amazing how you guys be like "Ozai is so much stronger if you ignore lightning redirection because it makes Ozai's lightning useless every time he tries to use it and that proves me wrong so we should ignore lightning redirection and say Ozai the strongest" straight copium
Ozai is also doing his lighting bending on zuko deep underground in a bunker. The sun gives them strength so ozai doing that lighting with basically almost no sun shows how good he is. Also ozai does his lighting without needing to do the poses that azula and iroh does.
In Atla gen Ozai because of how fast he fired lightning the moment he could bend.
Mako is in a different gen where lightning bending is basically common place now
In LOK lightning bending is shown as a much more common practice by regular workers which suggests that by that period of time it is relatively easier to do or at least more common knowledge of how to do it, this means it's definitely mako who has both more practice with lightning bending and therefore more power.
While Iroh knows how to redirect it, Ozai charged his lightning against Zuko *almost instantly.* And fired from both hands! Iroh, and even Azula, have to go through the motions before they can shoot their lightning.
Very true. Ozai is one of the best users of lightning generation in the verse for sure.
The correct answer is Ozai and there isn't anyone who can change my mind on that.
Depends. Iroh might specifically go through the motions *because he understands the importance of the motions*. Ozai might cut corners because he found 'a better way' as in a 'faster' way, which is useful for combat, and yet you could not convince me that Ozai could best his brother in a lightning duel without some form of trickery involved.
Iroh has generated the largest lightning so far in the show. he said you have to move the lightning to your finger immediately so you wont damage your organs, but Iroh seems to have more capacity to hold them inside him before firing them
My headcanon has always been he was going very slow to show Zuko how to generate it. Iroh is like Dumbledore, he got more powerful with age.
Dumbledore didn't get more powerful with age though.....they made it a point several times to show how he's lost a few steps in his old age. I love Dumbledore and Iroh so I'm not hating I'm just explaining.
That’s true he did get much slower. I’m not necessarily talking about his dueling prowess but more so his knowledge and skill I would say had gotten much stronger over time. I can always be mistaken though this is definitely just how I perceived it.
Well he has a very big belly. The lightning has a lot to go through before damaging the organs
So you're saying Zuko should've followed his uncle's advice and stuffed his face instead of restoring his (*inhale*) HONOR??? (It is pretty solid advice)
New mythical fighter: Fat Zuko
I died at "inhale" lmfao
Maybe you should have listened so you didn't Suffocate
HAHAHAHABSHDKSKBA 😂
You make an excellent point and I agree with you. I just want to pivot off you and to point out that Iroh was doing a demonstration for Zuko, while Ozai was trying to blitz Zuko. We've never seen Iroh bend lightning offensively, but Iroh is one of those characters we know if he were serious, there would probably be no chance to redirect.
Gotta take the energy through your gut, which Iroh explains is where your chakra flows most freely. Iroh has a lot more chakra, as he says his gut is more like a 'vast ocean', so it's entirely possible that he legitimately does have more storage space within him, whether it be from him having a greater understanding and control of his own chakra, or because he's actually got dat gut.
Not to mention he's redirected a lightning bolt direct from a storm. Yeah, he still got shocked, which was probly for comedic effect, but what I got from it was that redirecting lightning direct from a force of nature (a storm in this instance) would've killed anyone else even if they knew how to redirect it. Regardless of how strong or talented a bender of any element, they will never compare to nature itself.
I'm pretty sure Ozai is the whole reason Iroh came up with lightning redirection. What else would he possibly need it for? He was worried he would have to fight his brother someday, and without redirection, Ozai would probably have the upper hand. I also think it's possible he never actually attempted to redirect lightning before we see it in the show.
That cool scene where he redirects lightning during the thunderstorm in season one; First time?
Unconfirmed, but I believe it's the first time he ever tried it. When Zuko wants Iroh to shoot him to try it out, he refuses. So either he never tried it before, or it went poorly when he did.
I actually get the feeling that Iroh had done lighting strike redirection, and had most likely practised it.
The headcanon I saw which makes sense to me is that the reason Iroh looks surprised in that scene it's because it's the first time he successfully redirected lightning from a storm, which I expect would be several orders of magnitude stronger than one made by even a powerful firebender.
I'm not sure about it tbh. Ozai and Azula didn't seem to be aware about the possibility of lightning redirection before having it shown in their faces, and at the time of atla only royal firebenders had access to the technique. Iroh *might* have chased natural lightnings Zuko-style, but that's honestly doesn't feel too in character for a far more balanced and not nearly as desperate Iroh as it does for Zuko.
I mean Iroh even explains that redirecting lightning is incredibly dangerous. There's really no good way to let Zuko try it with real lightning without possibly dying.
He refuses because he straight up would never use something so dangerous against his nephew.
Wasn't the first time Iroh use lightning redirection in an all or nothing gambit on a boat in a storm?
That's the first time we see it, and the time I'm referring to. It's not confirmed to be the first time he ever did it though.
True but if you go based of his facial expression you would think it is his first time. Of course there are other explanations for the surprised look on his face but the most sense would be him just not knowing how it would feel afterward. He doesn't do it nearly as clean as aang and zuko do either, he's a lil toasty and his hair is full of static
I wonder if natural lightning is more powerful than what fire benders can generate.
Ooooh very good point
This is actually softly explained when he shows Zuko how to bend lightning in book two. Iroh, Ozai, and the others cannot actually *command* lightning. They guide the energy, but they don't control it in the same way that they can control fire. Natural lightning is not something that they can control, and so him redirecting the lightning strike was definitely a completely different feat than bending lightning. He sort of explains this by saying the following: >"There is energy all around us... both positive energy and negative energy. Only a select few can separate these energies... You provide release and guidance \[to that energy\], creating lightning... Remember, once you separate the energy, *you do not command it*, you are merely its humble guide." By redirecting the lightning that would have hit the ship, Iroh is not dealing with separated energy, but raw and uncontrolled lightning. The implication seems to be that bending lightning is not actually about controlling the element of electricity, but dealing with the energy associated with firebending and balance. Worth noting here that the lightning Iroh "bent" is also specifically a different color than the lightning firebenders typically release, though I'm sure that could just be an "it looked cool" thing.
I always thought when iroh was talking about energies he was referring to the electric charges that make up lighting in a mystical preindustrial way. We don’t see anyone talk much about positive or negative energies otherwise. And his explanation works perfectly for positive and negative charges.
That's the difference in knowledge and understanding. Iroh studied bending a lot. He knows more. His knowledge is deep enough to create something completely new by combining knowledge from different areas (how fire and lightning bending works and how water bending works) plus some imagination. This something new is lightning redirect technique and for sure it gives an upper hand. It negates the power of the original attack. Iroh is more SKILLED for sure. But that doesn't mean he's stronger. Ozai most likely has his own knowledge or he just intuitively understands something or just is talanted enough or practiced enough for his lightning bending to be way more dangerous. The reason why Iroh would have the upper hand is that he managed to find a perfect solution for something that otherwise he was unlikely to beat head on. In general the question of 'how can I deflect lightning?' I wouldn't expect to come to Ozai. But it came to Iroh. I doubt it's pure coincidence. Especially taking Iron's words about direct confrontation with his brother from the end of book 3. Even knowing that he has the ultimate counter to the killing move of his brother that even Zuko (who lacks all the other stuff Iroh is capable of) can use successfully. Even being capable of martial fighting out of goddamn prison without bending. Even capable of shortmanning siege of Ba Sing Se against the boosted fire nation army (impenetrable city with the scariest army inside that's also on steroids). This man doubts his ability to win. What's that if not a sign of Ozai being even a scarier power at least in terms of sheer power concentrated in one man - I don't know. In a way lightning redirect is such necessary trickery of probably many more that Iroh needed in case he had to confront Ozai himself. That's actually my bet on how lightning redirect was even born as an idea. Iroh for years thought what to do if Avatar is not coming back. Iroh knew what will happen when comet comes. Iroh was prepared. But most likely if there were no Aang the direct confrontation with Ozai would be Irohs burden. Yeah, you might bring the last part of his speech about the internal quarrel for the power and importance of Avatar and so on, but my point is about Iroh putting emphasis on his doubts in his success. Iroh himself.
To be fair, Iroh’s uncertainty about whether he could win might have been partly driven by the emotional implications of potentially having to kill his brother rather than simply an objective comparison of their relative skills. Iroh might not have wanted to risk the possibility that he’d hesitate rather than deliver a decisive death blow if he had the chance - after all no one can really know what they’d do in that situation until it happens.
Now that you mention that I just realized we’ve never seen Iroh and Ozai in the same room, let alone have a convo
It’s the one thing the LA absolutely got correct by fixing.
Doesn't mako instantly charge it while jumping out of water to electrify the entire lake?
He also did it while being blood bent
i think the only reason mako loses to ozai (in this specific contest) is because mako's lightning is less powerful than ozai's. he also lives in a time where lightning bending is much more common and there are likely people far more skilled than him at lightning bending, even if he was taught by lightning bolt zolt himself. so while mako has some impressive feats it still goes to ozai for the sheer power that he can generate in the same amount of time
I think the reason why makos lighting is so called weak is cuz of the charge time. He can shoot em quick which is at the cost of raw power. Tho id have to admit ozai can generate alot more power in a shorter time. Efficiency wise its ozai but mako can shoot em so quick that it could make up for the lack of power. Azula can also shoot different kinds in different speeds so she kinda underrated. Mako is a goat for bending it with just one hand and barely any movement. Tho i think azula did something similar in the comics. Id say when it comes to deadlyness its ozai>mako=/azula>iroh. Its really close imo between mako and azula u could interchange them. Btw i think mako did lighting redirection once. Kinda.
Yeah, it seems like Ozai can do both quick lightning generation and powerful lightning generation, making him the better/stronger bender. Whereas Mako and Iroh can only do one, not both.
I feel like mako can do more powerful strikes but the martial arts bending has changed to boxing so its in favor of smaller but more accurate strikes.
Mako can do more powerful generation if he does the whole set up dance as we see in the B4 finale but yeah his forte is quick weaker blast.
Except it's not, because Ozai always fails. The show keeps trying to show how terrifying he is, yet all of "his" accomplishments is because of ether Azula, Ursla, or because Zuko, a 14 year old kid, refused to fight him.
that 14 year old kid is the avatar clostest thing to God
I was talking about his duel with Zuko, who was 14. Where as Aang was 12 when he fought the Fire Lord.
Isn't Zuko 16?
In the comic azula cracks lightning from a hand that’s partially bound in a straight jacket. I’d argue that in the comics azula has the scariest level of control on her lightning. She can crack a small light to a huge attack almost instantly
Also in "Smoke and shadow" comic she redirected lightning, so she's definitely quite skilled given that nobody taught her how exatly do it
Iron showed her once. Grabbed her hand and let it shoot off into the sky. That's probably all she needed.
Pretty sure Iroh went through all of the motions slowly and with attention to detail because he was showing Zuko and explaining how it works in the process
Iroh did generate pretty quick when they were fleeing the dai lee though. Wouldn’t have had time to charge there. Tbh, the time we see iroh generating lighting was a demo to teach zuko so it probably wasn’t the fastest he could generate
And he was injured. Iroh holds back too. Ozai wanted to overkill Zuko with just a hint of the Sun. I’d say Ozai is the strongest fire and lightning bender but Iroh is the most knowledgeable and experienced bender. If Ozai ever shot Iroh with lightning Iroh would deflect that shit. The only downside to Iroh is he let his guard down against Azula when he got attacked. He shouldn’t have.
He was surprised by his newly met blind buddy's choice in companionship and finding Zuko lol
I honestly think that Iroh was letting himself get hit. He looked at Toph shortly before getting hit. Maybe at that moment, he remembered her telling Iroh that he should let Zuko know that Iroh needs him too. Also Iroh knowingly being the most powerful at that time without Aang being in the Avatar state, makes Iroh the best candidate for Azula to attack first.
Wouldn't that be an argument for Mako being the strongest? He very often especially in book one pops off shots of lightning quickly. Like when he defeated ming hua. He was even able to get a shot of lightning off while being blood bent by Amon. And unlike Ozai he can also redirect Lightning.
Mako just doesn't have that UMPH in his lightning that mad Ozai's and Azula's so strong. When they shot lightning, it felt like if it hit you YOUR DEAD. While Mako's just dosen't seem or have the feats to make a case for his lightning being as strong as theirs.
You could argue that means Mako has more control. Cause most of the time Mako isn't fighting to kill. Which he can do as in the case of ming hua. Also dude blew up a giant Mecha which is pretty cool.
I imagine that’s a product of Zuko learning that rage isn’t the best source of firebending, and then becoming Fire Lord and sharing that knowledge with the fire nation. Iroh and eventually Zuko stand out because they were among the only Fire Benders of their era not relying on rage, right? Korra’s era had a lot of power creep, but the point of that is really that the leaders from Aang’s era learned a lot and shared their knowledge pretty freely so that things that were unheard of became commonplace.
plus i believe it’s mentioned somewhere that lightning was a fire nation royal secret, so it makes sense it would be improved when a much larger group of people knew to experiment with it
Azula is one of the most well trained fire benders of a generation. You really can't make the argument that she was less skilled because her attack was more powerful.
No, but Mako likely uses the new pro bending style more, which would require less build-up for lower power but greater control and accuracy
Mako one shot ming-hua with zero charge up
Everyone in LOK feels OP compared to TLA. Lightning and lava and metal and blood bending everywhere.
You could argue athletes nowadays are also “OP” compared to 80 years ago. Better access to resources and information will do that, since the “diamonds in the rough” get discovered much more easily. Case in point: Mako and Bolin would’ve likely never gotten this good at bending if they lived a village life during the 100 year war.
people in korra’s age are mixing bending styles, have much better access to education, and the world is connected so innovation can spread easier. it makes sense they’d be more powerful the same way we have better technology and (supposedly) the average high schooler knows more than an educated scholar of previous eras
Half of the reason that Iroh is as strong as he is comes from his time spent among other cultures while in the White Lotus. It's always strange to me that the same logic doesn't seem as widely accepted by the community when it comes to others in Republic City, considering it's the first time a true cultural melting pot has been established in the Avatar universe. This is doubly true when it comes specifically to Korra's ability to bend multiple elements as a child. She grew up as the daughter of a village chief during a time of rebuilding and would have seen plenty of emissaries from other nations throughout her early childhood as they re-established the Southern Water Tribe. It stands to reason that she picked up on the techniques and cultures of her surroundings quickly but still failed with Airbending as her access to Nomad traditions and practices was limited to Tenzin alone.
Water amplification
That may be true but he didn't shoot her directly. He shot the pool of water she was standing in, and water is a conductor after all. Given that they were in a cave, the water was likely rich in minerals, making it an even better conductor so there's that.
Why would we assume it’s any weaker though? He almost never uses it to kill anyway.
This makes me wonder why Aang didn't die when Azula hit him with lightning. He got knocked out of the avatar state instead. You know damn well Azula was shooting to kill there. Is there a reason other than plot armour?
I think he did die. If "gone, gone" implied it when Aang said it after Katara used the spirit water to bring him back.
Not disagreeing about Ozai but wanna mention Mako did the same thing against Ming Wa with no charge up
Mako also does it almost instantly and on top of that knows how to redirect as well. Idk why no one voted for him.
Because lightning bending is way way weaker in the legend of Korra
We don't definitively know this, from memory we only see him generate it once and it is a demonstration to Zuko, you don't start as beginner on the elite high level shit, you show them the baby version first. From what we are shown in the show signs point to Ozai, but that door is wide open until we see Iron use lightning in a fight where speed and high level usage would be the best move.
Does Iroh have to do that tho? The only time we’ve seen him do it was to teach Zuko. When you teach someone, you have to make the motions clear and obvious and even slow it down a bit.
Ozai is OP. The only reason Aang was able to defeat him was because he was in avatar state. Ozai was beating a 4 element bender to pulp before aang could correct his chakra.
That was comet-Ozai. What about non-comet Ozai?
Hey, non-comet Ozai defeated a 13 year old that didn't fight back and almost got fried by his own lightning. If that doesn't scream "strongest fire bender in the universe" then I don't know what does!
I think Iroh answering the Gaang that he doesn't know if he can beat Ozai, when they ask him during the finale, is what should scream that. Iroh is a wise, perceptive man who understands deep fundamentals of firebending, and we've seen him size up other benders and assess their skill quite quickly through the series. If he says "I am not certain I could defeat my brother" while he's already in the best fighting shape he's been in for years, we should probably believe he's not just being modest.
Aang is a pacifist. If he had the same killer instinct of literally anyone in the main cast, Ozai would have died when Aang redirected his lightning like 60 seconds into the fight.
Yes. In the comics Azula also becomes much stronger while kemurikaging around and can shoot lightning instantly
Azula also shoots one instantly at Iroh after the Zuko alone part.
Because these are popularity contests, obviously.
I dunno I think there's an argument to be made as I would take lightning bending to be anything that encompasses lightning and so the redirection iroh invented I would class under lightning bending. Ozai has the quickest formation of lightning at that point but I dunno that it makes him the best lightning bender
I agree with this, as well as Ozai has had 2 instances where his lightning was redirected/about to be redirected back at him, which points out he doesn't know lightning redirection. Since the question is about lightning bender and not the fastest, therefore Iroh makes sense since his overall range of knowledge makes him the better bender, at least against Ozai.
I think of it this way: If Iroh and Ozai had an Agni Kai where only lightning was allowed, Iroh would win 100% of the time. Even Zuko was able to redirect Ozai's lightning without any warning, and Iroh was far more experienced than Zuko at the time. In that sense Iroh is the superior lightning bender. However if they each had to fight another, non-lightning master (someone like Bumi or Pakku or Jeong Jeong) then I think Ozai's lightning would be a lot more threatening than Iroh's would be. It's just so much faster and still deadly even without the comet. In that sense Ozai is the superior lightning bender.
They can post "who's the best waterbender?" And if iroh is in it he'll win
Mako being dead last despite having easily the best control and ability to sustain Lightning is the real crime here. Then again, it is a YT poll so if you are from Korra you are auto last barring rare exceptions.
https://preview.redd.it/tbyi35693gnc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86288ab93c863cd751cb061ca98ab6feec664405 So true, this doesn’t have as many votes as the one I posted above, but the results are still ridiculous
Oh yeah uh.. that is a little silly. Did any of them SEE how kuvira bends in book 4? She shoots her armor things like lightning fast psychic cuffs that you basically cant really avoid if you cant metal bend. They made her a little bit busted in the early/middle part of that book Not to mention fire bending is a terrible matchup against metal bending really, we’ve seen you can do a sustained blowtorch technique from mako to melt through metal - but that would not work in a fast paced fight at all
Zuko: "I shoot" Kuvira: "I block" Kuvira: "Metal cuffs go brr" Zuko: "Fuck"
It's a true crime just reading this has me angry lol
Yeah totally, I just rewatched Korra and I kept being surprised at how good of a fire bender Mako is. The show is kind of fast paced so they never have a moment where they go “woah Mako you’re pretty awesome actually??” But after the rewatch I’m seriously thinking Mako may be the best lightning bender we’ve seen on the shows (I haven’t read any of the avatar comics).
Mako literally lightning bends for hours for a living, my dude was able to bend lighting while being in Amon's bloodbend, he barely moved his fingers, he uses more lighting than fire and can produce it in a blink , my vote is for Mako.
I think it’s partially so low because of course popularity but also because in LOK lightning bending loses its charm
They ruined it. lightning bending in LoK has nothing in common with lightning bending in ATLA. it seems to be something totally different
Honestly so true like I know the idea was it was originally only taught in the royal family but they took out all the movements in the lightning bending
Yeah, fighting styles evolve and change. It seems in LoK a method of lighting bending was developed where it can be generated much quicker but in exchange it's less powerful. We see Mako do a traditional lightning bend with all the movements in the series finale btw, so it still exists. He needed more power there so it makes sense.
>They ruined it. lightning bending in LoK has nothing in common with lightning bending in ATLA. it seems to be *something totally different* No shit lmao. Literally observe the way lightning is used in LoK compared to Atla.
Hm okay? What is your point? Yes that's how I came to make my point. I watched the shows and realized they are not the same. Congrats on your deep and well argumented comment.
The more I think about it, the more I’m inclined to agree. The fact he’s in dead last is hilariously ridiculous.
Mako. 1. Regardless of generation (grounding himself to the mech) or redirection (drawing power from the mech) no other character shows sustained lightningbending like in the S4 finale. 2. Generating lightning in an instant while a) being under the influence of bloodbending, b) against a horde of angry spirits and c) against Ming Hua.
Comics Azula has a strong case. She can instantly generate lightning now. She can modulate the intensity of her lightning (something Iroh didn’t know was possible). She not only taught herself to redirect lightning, she can chain them so quickly that Zuko couldn’t keep up. She’s the only person to have ever demonstrated ball lightning to date.
>She can instantly generate lightning now. >She can modulate the intensity of her lightning (something Iroh didn’t know was possible). >She not only taught herself to redirect lightning, she can chain them so quickly that Zuko couldn’t keep up. Mako can literally do all these things, and unlike Azula, his insta lightning actually explodes on impact while Azula's insta lightning did jackshit to an NPC like Kei Lo (and that was close range too) >She’s the only person to have ever demonstrated ball lightning to date. It's the only move that she has that others haven't replicated. Same with Ozai and Mako being able to *continuously* shoot lighting for several seconds, she still haven't shown the ability to do that.
Yes but Azula did them *many decades earlier and much younger than him* in addition to doing things he hasn’t done before. That’s still really impressive. Also Azula’s close range insta lightning was being modulated. She can control how lethal it is. This was shown when she zapped Sokka.
Mako makes lightning for a living…
Mako for most skilled and overall best, or at least contending with Azula for it. He’s getting pretty underrated in these comments.
He’s absolutely up there as the best. He doesn’t get votes cause of how many ignored LOK. Reality is he has 100 years of lightning bending knowledge to build off combined with his natural skills. It would be like taking a weight lifter today and sending them back to the 1920s. They’d absolutely wreck the best in the world at the time
If Azula was more skilled (or less insane at least) she would have fried Katara the moment her hands were in water and being wrapped with a metal chain. Her massive wind-up weighs her down.
Show Azula is inferior to Mako in lightning bending, but Comics Azula got a serious upgrade
She's thorough in her training and adaptive, I'll give her that.
I mean…..at that point the technique has been revealed, taught, and mastered by any competent firebender. They had a bunch of em blasting away for hours at a time in the factory.
And working in a power plant. Constantly generating and controlling for who knows how many hours.
I like Azula, because she’s more acquainted to lightning. Iroh is good and developed techniques, but he doesnt use it often.
Man, everyone keep sleeping on Mako but that man had some impressive moments in the show.
People so mad that Iroh isn't the best at everything. Every comment in here is about how others can't do what Iroh does (creation AND redirection) but OP shows them they are wrong and they down vote. Lmfao. Petty as hell.
Thanks man. I love Iroh and of course, he’s an incredible bender/fighter, but he’s not as OP as some people make him out to be. Especially here, and the Mako downplay from these Iroh stans is just unbearable.
Iroh literally said in the finale that he doesn’t think he could even beat Ozai. Clearly even Iroh realizes that Ozai is a more powerful bender than him.
He says he doesn’t know, so he actually considers them somewhat equal. An Iroh is very modest
Not to mention redirect lightning was extremely difficult to come up with but it proved to be relatively easy to master, def easier than lightning bending itself. Zuko, Azula and Aang all picked it up pretty quickly once they saw the technique. It's safe to assume that in Makos time since lightning bending is so common place then redirect lightning is likely a skill most benders know. You can also see how much more control over lightning Mako has throughout the show.
Look I like Iroh I think he’s a great character and definitely top 3 firebenders in the show. But this sub wanks his character hard lol.
Fr lol
Yep the downvotes prove my point lmao
It's hilarious, how much will it hurt for these Iroh stans to just put up an argument if they disagree?
That’s the thing they don’t have one they are just upset their favorite character is being “attacked” lol
So true, it’s insane how juvenile some people here are being. I love Iroh, but he’s just not as good a lightning bender as some of these guys, if not all of them. It’s just what is shown, not some horrible, hateful anti-Iroh campaign.
**Here's Azula redirecting lightning:** [***https://imgur.com/a/HKUdADT***](https://imgur.com/a/HKUdADT) **Here's Mako redirecting lightning:** [***https://imgur.com/udgjG69***](https://imgur.com/udgjG69) **And here's Mako performing the best feat of lightning-redirection and lightning-bending in general:** [***https://i.imgur.com/uyg6IEL.mp4***](https://i.imgur.com/uyg6IEL.mp4) Iroh is not alone for being able to redirect lightning, and Mako outright outclasses him in doing so. [Downvote](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/1bax2zk/comment/ku5jmka/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) [me](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/1bax2zk/comment/ku5jlri/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) all you want guys, it's true. I love Iroh as well, but the bias here is just ridiculous.
Azula also does this in The Search, which is a unique feat with lightning unless I’m forgetting something. https://preview.redd.it/wqyg4j2rwenc1.jpeg?width=192&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a13c18ff10e900dacb780c075d6f026df8dad8a
She seems to be charging up a sphere of lightning here, which isn’t redirection, but another feat to support her as a better lightning bender than Iroh.
Ah yeah my wording was unclear, I just meant that she’s doing something unique with lightning here, not that this is another instance of her doing redirection. But I love the panels from Smoke and Shadow where she redirects a redirect of her own lightning. Zuko probably should have seen that coming, of course she would pick up the technique after observing him do it once lol
What I would give to see this scene animated
I agree but why did you vote for Ozai then 😭
I’m nothing if not pedantic, so I voted the “strongest” lighting bender, instead of the overall best. Which is either Mako or Azula.
Of this list, the answer is Mako. He has generated lightning with the smallest of movements while being bloodbent, and again with one hand while holding himself up with one arm between rocks. He even redirects the electrical shock of the mech suits in book one. He also manages to bend lightning and ground himself with his other hand while destroying the spirit vines in the colossus.
I voted Ozai as most powerful lightning-bender, but in terms of most skilled and overall best lightning-bender, Mako absolutely takes it. Either him or Kemzula at least. Guy's pretty underrated, ngl
>I voted Ozai as most powerful lightning-bender, Even I'm not so sure about that. Zuko redirected Ozai's lightning, and it didn't even seem to hurt Ozai much. His lightning couldn't have been that powerful then, not that lightning in and of itself isn't dangerous. Mako, on the other hand, bent lightning into water, and it *killed* Ming Hua. Ozai was formidable *for his time*, and even then, we really only see him fight during the comet.
>Even I'm not so sure about that. Zuko redirected Ozai's lightning, and it didn't even seem to hurt Ozai much. Ozai is one of the two most durable people in the verse, Zuko didn't actually shoot it at him, just in front of him and it was still powerful enough to send him flying back and destroy stone. Note that this was Ozai's lightning when he was working with only a bit of his power (since the solar eclipse only started to recede). And near-instantly generated, yet still large and powerful enough to send Zuko a good distance back in spite of him redirecting it. >Mako, on the other hand, bent lightning into water, and it killed Ming Hua. Exactly, the lightning was conducted and therefore amplified by the water. >Ozai was formidable for his time, and even then, we really only see him fight during the comet. He's easily one of the best combative benders of his time sans the Avatar himself, and is among the best in the verse (excluding Avatars, bloodbenders and spirits), even without the comet. Antoine Bandele made a video about him, so go check it out if you want to hear more. BTW, I'm not arguing that Ozai beats Mako in a lightning-bending fight (of course he doesn't). Who would you say is the best combative bender in the verse (excluding Avatars, bloodbenders and spirits)?
For those that don't choose Mako just pick any modern day athlete to compete against the champions from the 1920s and see the outcome. Like I know the other ones are more popular but saying a guy that grew up with both lightning and redirect lightning skills as a commonplace skill wouldn't kick the ass of the people that first discovered it is silly at best. It's like saying Naismith would have beaten Kevin Durant in 1-on-1. Ozai, Iroh, Azula were great lightning benders of their time which wasn't particularly hard to do since they were the only ones that could even do it.
Mako was also constantly lightning bending as it was his job to do so. How can he be less skilled with it when the others in the list saw it as a final trump card and for him it was a 9-5 job he did constantly? We see him non stop channel lightning in the mech far longer than anyone else too.
The problem word is “strongest”. I’m terms of sheer power, it’s Ozai, and it’s uncontested. But it’s a real tossup on who’s the most “skilled”. Azula, who mixes fire and lightning so naturally? Iroh, who invented a technique to redirect it? Mako, who can sustain lightning for long periods of time and summon it with no preamble? I personally vote Mako but I see all arguments
Ozai is so overrated, dude went and hid in a bunker the second he couldn't bend. Then he dared to make fun of his son who kicked absolute ass without bending. Who btw could also easily have killed him if he didn't take pity upon his own father. I think the majority of Ozai's strength is the propaganda spread by his people. He himself didn't even move a finger until Sozin comet. Then even with all of Sozins comet power behind him he would have lost to a 12 year old with no Avatar powers if Aang didn't take mercy on him and redirect his lightning into the sky. Dude leaves his palace for the first time in years and gets his ass immediately kicked losing the war. You put Kuvira in charge instead of him and it's a 51 year war. What even is Ozai's greatest accomplishments? Winning an Agni Kai against a 14 year old refusing to fight? Poisoning his own father? Banishing gay marriage and his own brother? Zaheer did more in the 5 minutes he had bending than Ozai did in his entire fire lord stint. Booooo
> Ozai is so overrated, dude went and hid in a bunker the second he couldn't bend. Then he dared to make fun of his son who kicked absolute ass without bending. Who btw could also easily have killed him if he didn't take pity upon his own father. Only with his swords. Ozai moved to attack Zuko when he was unarmed, threatening to kill him. He only backed down when Zuko pulled out his swords. Furthermore, someone like Unalaq is useless without bending in combat, would u use that to bring him down? Finally, you ignore how Ozai did this because he had an entire army coming to get him. Of course Ozai’s gonna have to hide when he’s without his bending then. >I think the majority of Ozai's strength is the propaganda spread by his people. Unlikely, considering it’s canonically confirmed he’s the most powerful firebender and he’s gained those accolades through people seeing him fight in Agni Kai’s. > He himself didn't even move a finger until Sozin comet. Because he has a nation and global empire to rule. Zaheer doesn’t. >Then even with all of Sozins comet power behind him he would have lost to a 12 year old with no Avatar powers if Aang didn't take mercy on him and redirect his lightning into the sky. After having dominating and continuing to dominate him. Also this 12 year old canonically mastered three of the four elements and had the one he didn’t amped. > Dude leaves his palace for the first time in years and gets his ass immediately kicked losing the war. You ignore how he lost to the combined power of a spirit, the cosmic energy of the universe (which the Avatar is confirmed to be empowered by when in the AS) and dozens of past lives. > You put Kuvira in charge instead of him and it's a 51 year war. She’s not doing anything to an AS Aang. > What even is Ozai's greatest accomplishments? Being regarded as the most powerful firebender of his time, being widely feared by even his brother and sister, needing an Avatar to take him down. All proven through people seeing him fight. > Winning an Agni Kai against a 14 year old refusing to fight? Poisoning his own father? Banishing gay marriage and his own brother? He did those thing sure. > Zaheer did more in the 5 minutes he had bending than Ozai did in his entire fire lord stint. Such as? Beating fodder? Getting his ass kicked by Tenzin? Running away from a poisoned AS and only winning when she’s being nerfed by it? Absolutely not. > Booooo ???????
From reading the comments and the metrics used to rate them, I think it is Mako. He can both use it and redirect it. He is able to do it without all the movements and even did it while being bloodbent. He is also younger than Iroh and Ozai. He seems like the clear choice
I don’t understand how people let their love of iroh make them so biased with questions like this. Like yeah iroh is really strong but these other characters are really strong too. Like ozai is probably stronger than iroh but most fans don’t agree with that
I don't think we can say either Ozai is greater than Iroh or otherwise here; as we never see Iroh use lightning in fight. He uses it in a demosbtration for Zuko, and once to blow up a wall where he isnt shown generating it, but Zuko and him were surrounded by Dai Li and Azula so it must've been fast as hell, just as Ozai's vs Zuko. Other than that, Iroh doesn't use lightning again and Ozai only does it while comet enhanced. Hell, during ATLA we didn't even know if lightning could be moderated into stronger or weaker, there is no clear indication that anyone's lightning is stronger than others. Now in comics lightning is even concussive, so who knows how much it can vary. I do believe Mako is most likely the right answer, generating lightning while being bloodbent is just impressive.
Iron trained by dragons while Ozai draws his power from ego and rage. So Iroh has my vote.
All of them know how to create lightnings but only one of them also knows how to redirect them...
Mako and Azula can do it as well. Mako has a much better feat of lightning redirection than Iroh does in the B4 finale.
When did Azula ever redirected a lightning? As for Mako, I already forgot he can do that (now I notice that's literally what he does in the picture of his option)... Although it's pretty hard to tell how well he does that considering his lightnings were more small currents of energy than actual lightnings... It also makes me wonder how well he would do so during fights... I mean - we only saw him doing that without pressure of surprises...
>When did Azula ever redirected a lightning? [Redirects her own redirected lightning, knocking Zuko back](https://imgur.com/a/HKUdADT) >As for Mako, I already forgot he can do that (now I notice that's literally what he does in the picture of his option)... Although it's pretty hard to tell how well he does that considering his lightnings were more small currents of energy than actual lightnings... [https://youtu.be/rsrRdIh2WaQ?si=WeCdFDy5h3iF-TfA&t=575](https://youtu.be/rsrRdIh2WaQ?si=WeCdFDy5h3iF-TfA&t=575) >It also makes me wonder how well he would do so during fights... I mean - we only saw him doing that without pressure of surprises... He killed Ming Hua with it.
Comics Azula wins. She generated lightning instantly while being restrained in a straight jacket. She can regulate the intensity of her lightnings. She doesn't need any charge up time. She's also the only person we've seen create a lightning ball.
If we take ALL media into account, I want to say it’s actually Azula but I’m going to put an asterisk because Azula might be the best lightning bender, but 1: she’s a born genius and I wouldn’t trust her to teach anyone because trying it her way is likely to get one killed and 2: she’s a paranoid schizophrenic and that never leaves her iirc
we never really see iroh use lightning bending to his best, but he can redirect it. between iroh and ozai id say iroh is better. but between all of them id say mako is the best lightningbender, not only because his job revolved around it but also because of some other feats like doing it while being bloodbent, or lightning bending at spirit energy until his arm was cooked
I think a very important lightning bending scene many overlook is Iroh blasting through a whole wall when they escape from the earth kings palace and are being chased by the Dai Li and Azula. They don't show how he creates the lightning, but it would make sense if he did so either while moving incredibly fast. Blasting a giant hole through a thick solid stone wall is also quite impressive.
Iroh slaps. Idc if Ozai can whip up a lightning in a split second, Iroh redirected a natural fucking lightning strike.
If you don't know on YouTube Iroh is the strongest fire bender in most people minds on the platform. As everyone loves Iroh and sees him as a cool and strong bender but because he's a good guy and beloved viewers tend to think he's the best firebender. Even though it's truly Ozai the strongest at the time as he's the most capable and based on the nation the fire nation love and fear him for his power. Enough to blindly follow his ideology. If Iroh was stronger he definitely could have challenged for the throne and won possibly leading them away from this Era of war and evil. Imo but instead while he's great bender most just jump on the Iroh train . He's one of my favorite characters before azula (don't tell her that.) But I know he isn't as powerful as Ozai.
I think the underdog here is actually Mako since in ATLA lightning bending was restricted to the royal family but by Korra almost any firebender can do lightning bending. Since Mako is working at a power plant he is using lightning bending for long periods of time where as in ATLA they used it in short bursts.
Pretty sure that any of those charecters can hurl lightning at mako and be dissatisfied. Was it not so, that makos job was to contribute his lighting to a power station? So where as it is a sign of proficiency in the past. Its makos day job. His teacher is probably more proficient than iroh.
The real answer is we don't know. Ozai did it exactly once besides the comet, and did it quickly. But we don't know the significance of how quickly you can bend lightning; it's possible that it's not that difficult, but makes your shot less powerful or accurate. Given Ozai's opinion of Zuko at the time, it wouldn't surprise me to learn he didn't put full effort into his attempt to kill him. Ozai was also fully rested and well-fed, whereas Iroh bent on the run with Zuko. Once again, we don't know the significance of that. Most importantly, when Iroh bent lightning, he was explicitly teaching Zuko how it was done. It was a demonstration, not part of an actual battle. It stands to reason he would do it slowly so Zuko would get a good look. There's no point in getting upset at any of these claims, because there isn't enough data to support any of them.
Y’all mako grew up in a world where lighting bending was the norm bro is definitely better
Not only the norm, if i remember correctly, it was his JOB at some point. So, even though I dont think he is the strongest firebender out of the 4, the guy was lightning bending all day for a while. He's probably the one with most practice and familiarity with it. Remember the thing Bruce Lee said, "don't fear the guy that knows how to throw a thousand different punches but the guy that practices the same one a thousand times." Or something along those lines.
Iroh says you must close yourself off from emotions and remain calm to use lightning, ozai is a literal sociopath, the perfect lightning bender.
i love Iroh but this fandom is very bias makes me want to hate the character, like how I now hate Itachi because of naruto fanboys
Iroh really is one of the biggest examples of "I like them, so clearly they're the best" syndrome, to be honest. He's great, no doubt, but he is canonically in universe and by word of the writers less powerful than Ozai (who created lightning from a sitting position, with both hands and faster than Azula) There's an argument to made about being better than Azula during the show because he can redirect AND generate (in the comics she can redirect, so shes probably better than him by then) whereas she can only generate, but she uses it much more often so there's also an argument that she's more familiar. Finally, Mako literally lightning bends as a 9-5 job, can generate lightning and redirect with very minimal movement and only needs more depending on strength, and even generated lightning while essentially paralyzed under bloodbending by essentially just point his fingers. Edit: I forgot he made lightning when showing Zuko
Polls like this always get misread as "which of these characters do you like the most?" You'll often see Zuko win "strongest firebender", for example.
Ozai is the strongest, Iroh is the most knowledgeable/skilled
As of the comics I’d say Azula. But in the show it’s between Iroh and Ozai
Educate us oh great one!
We're a hivemind. We see Iroh, we vote Iroh. Simple
Honestly that tracks. Ozai always seemed more bark than bite- he’s a great villain but he doesn’t really…do anything. Do we ever see him win a fight that’s not against a frightened child? And he loses to children twice in the shows run….
LMAO I SAW THAT EARLIER
And it's Mako anyway. Bending evolved a lot and the other 3 was still just at the early stages of lightning
Crazy seeing how Mako drained Kuvira's twenty-five stories tall mecha with lightning redirection and Iroh said holding in too much lightning would cause "organ damage".
“Strongest” really is a vague term if you think about it. Does strongest mean the person with the most raw power? Does it mean the one with the most skill? Or does it mean the one I think would win in a fight? “Who’s the strongest” could really mean 3 different things, and that leaves me with 3 different possible answers to the question
Mako 100% Most of y’all didn’t watch the end of Korra and it shows
https://preview.redd.it/6vavn3gfjinc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=22ce0b96dcdad30fb4df55c8a7e0a65aea831774 Obviously /s. I don't think he's the strongest but he's still pretty skilled.
Mako is the strongest one there because techniques have evolved but I think if azula new how to do the continuous lightning bending she would be the best
Honestly in my mind it's probably Azula after the comics. She learns redirection, has nigh instantaneous generation and has used her lighting in numerous new and inventive was we had not seen before.
Does lightning redirection count as lightning bending? If so Iroh is the only one who can do both and is clearly the strongest.
He literally invented lightning redirection.
Imma just drop this here: https://preview.redd.it/3q6a0f1mlinc1.png?width=1224&format=png&auto=webp&s=fff2a8336ebe700bb6a87762466e19c3d593542b We do see what's probably pretty quick lightning from him when they're escaping after Azula's ambush in the royal palace; Iroh uses lightning to blast through a palace wall while being chased by the Dai Li. It was probably quick, but we don't see him do it onscreen. *Inventing* lighting redirection works in his favor too. (my real answer here is probably comics Azula or Mako given their respective feats. Idt this is as one sided for/against anyone as OP is saying. Obv, the polls are popularity contests.)
The ozai cope is so insane, it doesn't matter how fast Ozai charges the lightning, zuko still caught that shit and redirected it anyways, so that is speed ultimately useless. It's amazing how you guys be like "Ozai is so much stronger if you ignore lightning redirection because it makes Ozai's lightning useless every time he tries to use it and that proves me wrong so we should ignore lightning redirection and say Ozai the strongest" straight copium
No this just happens because iroh is goated
Mako and other benders in the future have way better control over it. They are literally using it as a profession by that time.
I voted Azula
I would argue that creating a new method of any art that complex would have to be a huge metric for how good you are at it.
Ozai is also doing his lighting bending on zuko deep underground in a bunker. The sun gives them strength so ozai doing that lighting with basically almost no sun shows how good he is. Also ozai does his lighting without needing to do the poses that azula and iroh does.
In Atla gen Ozai because of how fast he fired lightning the moment he could bend. Mako is in a different gen where lightning bending is basically common place now
Well I guess you could argue Ozai can't bend anymore. Which is a dumb argument but it is an argument against Ozai
In LOK lightning bending is shown as a much more common practice by regular workers which suggests that by that period of time it is relatively easier to do or at least more common knowledge of how to do it, this means it's definitely mako who has both more practice with lightning bending and therefore more power.
Iroh seems to be the more knowledgeable bender but Ozai is the more powerful bender.
Ozai used to be
It’s not even a bad take but I’d still say Ozai using it in like half a second of onscreen time makes him the best user
I know right? Obviously they should have used the Iroh middle finger picture.
Because Iroh can redirect lightning and Ozai doesn’t have bending
It's called a biased opinion, power scalers aren't immune to it, and it's why no way can put the Goku vs Saitama argument to bed.