I think that not using their full potential is part of the overall story. When you think of it they have some scary potential. Aang could probably bend the air out of a person's lungs, Katara can blood bend and Toph could maybe mess with the iron in people's blood if she focused, at least I'm assuming.
As for Sokka...I think that he keeps his sarcasm in check lest he destroy the self-esteem of everyone he crosses. He's probably like an atom bomb of destructive wit but keeps himself in check with lame puns.

Speaking of Sokka, now that he's a swordsman he should have a harder time keeping his enemies alive when he fights them.
For a kid's show Avatar has it's moments of darkness and I'm satisfied with that. Though just once I'd like to see Aang have a Fist of the North Star moment where after a series of punches one of his enemies explode.
Plus, it'd be hilarious hearing the line: "You are already dead." in Aang's squeeky voice.

By the way, extremely cool sig.

Aha, yeah, I just think that overall, a big battle with awesomely cool fights from each side would be better than blowing at someone then running.

Happy birthday, Suigetsu!

[glow=teal,2,300]Remember the 300 char. minimum.[/glow]

I don't know, I never watched all of the episodes, so all I can think is that for a while they weren't very strong at all, and that Aang doesn't know his true potential unless he's in the "avatar state," or whatever it's called. Sokka is strong, but in the episodes I've seen, when he's up against someone who's bending, physical combat is a lot harder than someone would think.

Katara is strong, but I don't think she's super strong. I mean, probably in the later episodes (Yet, again, I'll say I've never seen them.) she kicks some major bum, but for a while all she could do was whip some water and put on some shows during her battles, nothing huge.

As for this blood bending and stuff like that, I've never heard of it until I joined this site. I think it's a little Goddy, considering all of them are kids on the show. They probably really do that...But Aang should be the only one able to destroy someone from the inside out, considering he's over 100 years old and is the Avatar.

I'm confusing myself, so I'll just be quiet. I wish I could watch the episodes on the computer, but I can't because our Flash won't work, and every time I try to redownload it, it fails...=(

Plus that would be Illegal

o.O

Heh, not that I've never watched them...infact, i've ONLY watched them on an Avatar hosting site, mainly 'cause I don't have Sky / Cable, whatever you guys wanna call it.

There're alot of stuff i'd be trying in their shoes. Screw romance, i'd be practicing Super Bending!! XD

@ Ursa - Actually, Katara has become extremely powerful as of season three. ^_^ Time to catch up, hon!

@ Takeo - I'm guessing you're not referring to season 3? Anyway, while Toph has no issue with it, Katara and Aang both dislike using large amounts of power to kick butt. While they're fighters, and Katara *wants* to fight instead of heal, the truth is the two are both peace-lovers at heart.

In terms of season three - using massive amounts of water and earth bending will draw attention to the gAang, and most likely get them in trouble — additionally, Aang's the last airbender (don't debate this, there's a thread in the Show board). If he starts airbending everytime they get in trouble ~ whoo boy.

Also, this should be in the show board... we're discussing aspects of the show, aren't we? ^_^

I agree with all of you and i like the idea of romance in the sorry, I'm a sucker for romance ;D. I feel that all of them are very powerful in their own way and i feel as season three goes on we will see exactly how much they have improved. I mean i would like to see them stop running away as well and kick the crud out of the bad guys, but i mean hey what can i do. But with them running away it shows us their innocence, that they may be strong but are still kids and cant always make the correct decisions. From the start to now i think that the show has done well in what actions these characters would make.

I think they hold back because bending has to use up your energy. I know we haven't heard it in the show, but come on, they're controlling one of the four elements. It just has to use up their energy to do major stunts. The Gaang never know what's coming next, so they don't blow all their energy in one battle. I mean, say SparkySparkyBoomMan attacks one day, and they Gaang use up all their energy in the battle against him. Then the very next day Azula attacks. They'll be dead in five minutes. That's what I like to think anyways.

Also as Katara already said, both Aang and Katara are total peace-lovers. I mean, Aang's a monk. He's not supposed to hurt anyone. I'm sure that fighting puts everything he was taught into disarray. As for Katara, she can kick some major butt, but she doesn't. Personally, I think it has something to do with the Fire Nation killing her mother. She knows from experience that killing someone can destroy a family, and she just can't bring herself to do that. Again, that's just my opinion.

Being a peace lover and wanting to protect yourself and friends from people who will constantly hunt them are two different things. They could often use non lethal means of stopping foes, encasing them in rock / water, or flinging them verryyyy far away.

I'm just saying - if it were me, and I could control three elements (four, but too afraid to use fire) i'd definately be more imaginative. It's like the writers are holding back because they would instantly kill their opposition - solution? Get the enemy to fight just as well as them. [Ty Lee is an awesome example of how much power they can give enemies - she can STOP bending! Perfect ] Now if they had them all fighting that well, it would own.

Another thing - Surely Katara could surround the gaang in a kinda water bubble, much like the way Aang does with air. That'd protect them from fire, no? Actually...fire would be deflected with air aswell...Sorry, haha, i'm arguing with my logic-part-of-my-brain.

I swear, my brain has a mind of it's own...

I think several factors come into play with the so-called holding back. Most of them have been covered here. Yes, the show would be a lot less interesting if Aang just blew everything away all the time, took air out of peoples' lungs, or Katara just threw icicles through people, ect. There's no conflict if the heroes overcome everything all the time.

The creators have said before that no bending style is inherently better than another, and non-benders are not inherently weaker than benders either. It all depends on skill. As Avatar-y as Aang is, it took him a long while to even get serious about learning the other styles. Even after knowing about the comet, Aang was goofing off at the North Pole while under Master Pakku's tutelage. He had elemental inherent opposition when it came to learning earthbending (though at least now he's finally learning how to see like Toph), and had a mental block regarding firebending that he's come over but hasn't had a teacher to learn it yet. So Aang may be a master of three bending styles, but Toph and Katara still are better masters at their respective styles. Aang so far hasn't demonstrated metalbending, and Katara won't teach him bloodbending (though maybe how to take water out of the environment). Honestly, Aang's just not yet a fully realized Avatar. It's not only in his personality to hold back, but he also has had to get a crash course in every element. He had 12 years to be an awesome airbender, but only around six or seven months of waterbending, and three or four months of earthbending (if the seasons run the same length that ours do). It goes to show just how talented he is that he's as good as he is at them.

Level of training at the time the fights take place and environment are factors as well. The gAang could probably take on almost anyone, but most of the time are on defense when it comes to fighting. Rarely have they taken the fight to Azula or Zuko, or anyone else. Sparky Sparky Boom Man hunts them, always putting them on the defensive. Azula made them lose sleep chasing them down, which gave her and the gals an advantage. Katara never suspected they had disguised themselves as Kyoshi Warriors at the end of Season 2, so she was taken out pretty quick. But later on when fighting Azula in the caves under Ba Sing Se, she had plentiful water and would have won that fight if Zuko hadn't interfered. Honestly, I don't think she was holding back in that fight.

I mean, that's it isn't it? Most of the time now they're fighting Azula, Mai and Ty Lee, and a few times with Sparky Sparky Boom Man. Why do they hold back when fighting them? I don't think they necessarily are, but they Azula works everything to her advantage. She's a freaking prodigy, perfectionist and was born lucky. So far she has been several moves ahead of our heroes at every turn, and that's a big factor as to why they tend to run. With Sparky Sparky Boom Man they didn't really understand what he was doing, and he'd always surprise them, so it made it hard to win outright. Toph's pinpoint earthbending did pretty well at the end, though. Who were they fighting before that? Zuko and Zhao, mostly. And Aang kicked both their butts (and Koizilla/Ocean Spirit kicked Zhao into the afterlife at the end of Season 1). The only time Zuko really seemed to handle a fight against Aang was in Crossroads of Destiny, and that's after Zuko had gained some more training with Iroh.

What I'm trying to say is their regular enemies currently are really good, and in the case of Azula, really smart. So then it becomes less of a case of holding back and more of a case that they just never have the real advantage. By the end of the season, I'm betting the gAang finally will, but they've got hard times ahead.

Oh, and Katara was definitely not holding back in the fight against Hamma. That was crazy!

Also, yeah, for the first half of the season they were pretty much in hiding so being super obvious (and Aang is no master of disguise) with huge tidal waves or rockslides would have been a bad idea. They're not even that good at laying low. I could just imagine how bad it'd turn out if they went all out in those fights.

So, yeah, I'm sure we'll get some no holds barred fighting in the epic finale. If there's any time to not hold back, that would be it. Sorry for the rambling.

Takeo- Well, about the air deflecting the fire, you have to watch out because air is also something that contributes to the life of fire, making it stronger at some points. Also, if the air bubble is spinning at a high speed and that fire hits too hard, it may either make it into a tornado with the group inside it (since fire consists of air particles), or the fire would just heat the air up so much that it could suffocate them. I just now thought about that. Lol.

Shuai- I love that signature Takeo made for you. It's lovely. =) But, if they turn around and fight, there's the possibility of them losing and dieing, and Aang being captured and the fate of the world falling slowly into an abyss. But, you're right, they're just kids (Sort of...He's like 100 years old. Lol.). And sometimes, no matter how strong the team may be, the opposer still has a chance to find a way around their tactics.

Princess Ursa- Thank you! I know i love it too, oh and i most definitely love yours, the sig and the avatar are soo cute. But back to topic yes i do agree with the fact that fighting would wear them out and the possibility of them losing would be too risky, but when i watch the show i just hope for the most unsuspected thing to happen. And yes i agree with what you say but i would just love to see them use their skills, that they have improved now to kick someones butt. It just a feeling of wanting action

Lol, I get like that sometimes, too. I'd look at someone who was captured by just two guards, and my boyfriend, Thad, will suddenly hear my gripey voice, "WHY DOESN'T HE JUST BITE HIM AND RUN?!?!" It would work. o.o Pry hands off of you with your teeth. =D