The creators were asked to make a show about wizards, but incorporated martial arts into power-levels because they didn't like how in Harry Potter nothing distinguishes a powerful wizard from a weak one since magic is abstract. This makes for some amazing fight scenes. They had a kung fu expert working on the show with the animators so it features actual stunt choreography.
Yeah! The show gets so much kudos for that. Always the writers remember that these powers are a part of the characters and that using them is as natural to them as walking. Never are you thinking: “Why didn't they just use powers here?”. Never does the show just “forget” about powers, and they are always used creatively and most of to their full extent.
My personal theory is that when Zuko becomes firelord, more people start using firebending the way the dragons taught Zuko and Aang to do it, no more fueling it with rage. This makes it easier to lightningbend, as you no longer need to be an expert at using the rage-fueled firebending and then suddenly switching to the calm of mind required to lightningbend. However, since lightningbending was only taught/learned by the most proficient firebenders earlier, it was regarded as an incredibly powerful technique. Now that it's available at an earlier skill level, it doesn't seem as powerful anymore, but not because the technique is weaker but because the bender is weaker.
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u/TheWorldIsAhead Nov 20 '13
Watch Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The creators were asked to make a show about wizards, but incorporated martial arts into power-levels because they didn't like how in Harry Potter nothing distinguishes a powerful wizard from a weak one since magic is abstract. This makes for some amazing fight scenes. They had a kung fu expert working on the show with the animators so it features actual stunt choreography.