Death Battle Predictions: Aang VS Edward Elric

According to the ancient cultures of the world, four elements in nature make up the matter we interact with on a daily basis: water, earth, wind and fire. Scholars and philosophers debated over how each of these energies worked in conjunction with each other to create the various phenomena we observe, and while mankind has made steps to try and harness the power these elements bring, few in fiction have mastered an unrivaled control over them, and the next episode of Death Battle will see two young-blooded heroes who have done just that take center stage for yet another destined showdown with as we enter the second half of the season:

Avatar Aang, the Last Airbender. Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. Over their many years battling evildoers, these young men have overcome great odds by themselves and with their allies, thanks to a combination of their undisputed ability to harness the elements and manipulate them to their whim, along with a healthy dose of sharp wit and cunning. Their animated adventures have inspired a generation of children from the East and West, and although their stories have since ended, we’re pulling them out of retirement and in their primes for one last action-packed brawl to settle the score on who the sole master of the elements is.

Background

Aang

“If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear.”

In a distant world far removed from ours, civilization was divided into four distinct kingdoms, each representing the four major elements: the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes and Air Nomads. Within each group are Benders, individuals who can control their home nation’s element through training in their respective martial arts. The only person capable of Bending all four elements is the Avatar, an arbiter whose duty is to enforce balance and harmony between the nations within their lifetimes; upon their deaths, their spirit is reincarnated into their successor, and the cycle begins anew. For centuries, this balance was upheld, but everything changed when the Fire Nation’s rising military might saw them disrupt it completely.

With their threat growing stronger, the newest Avatar - an Air Nomad child by the name of Aang - was the only one who bore the power that could stand up to the Fire Nation’s increasing influence. However, fearing the responsibilities that would befall him, Aang fled the Air Nomads on his flying bison Appa and encased both of them in an iceberg for 100 years. Within that time period, the Fire Nation wiped out the Air Nomads completely in a vain attempt to kill the Avatar, unaware of Aang’s escape. Believing the Avatar to be dead, the Fire Nation continued its conquest of the world while survivors from the remaining two kingdoms sought to find a way to survive under their oppressive might.

Aang would later be reawakened by a pair of Water Tribe members named Katara and Sokka, who brought him up to speed on what had transpired during his hibernation. Unsure of himself yet knowing that he can no longer run away from his duties, he and his new friends began travelling the world to learn how to bend all four elements and prevent the Fire Nation’s domination from completion. Ultimately, Aang succeeded in fulfilling his role as the Avatar, ushing in an era of peace while being cherished by the hero who saved civilization from crumbling down. Before passing away at the age of 66, he would marry Katara and have three children with her; his spirit would reincarnate itself into a young Waterbender named Korra not long after his death.

Edward Elric

“Even your gravest mistakes shouldn’t stop you from moving forward.”

Before being orphaned as a child, Edward Elric and his younger brother Alphonse lived a simple yet comfortable life in a countryside cabin along their single mother Trisha. Whatever happiness the Elric siblings enjoyed ended when Trisha passed away due to a plague, driving the two into despair. With no other recourse, Ed and Al opted to dabble in the field of Alchemy, the scientific field that has become prevalent in their world to the point of being an accepted part of daily life, and one both brothers had shown a great aptitude for. Alchemists had the ability to utilize Transmutation Circles to create anything they so desire, with the trade-off being the Law of Equivalent Exchange: they must sacrifice something of equal value to complete their trade.

The Elric brothers sought to use a Transmutation Circle to resurrect their mother, despite knowing the many dangers told to them about trying to transmuting themselves to bring back another living being back from the dead. Sure enough, their experiment went awry; Ed lost his left leg while Al lost his entire physical body. To salvage what was left of his brother before he was gone for good, Ed sacrificed his right arm to help place Al’s soul in a large hulking suit of armor. The only possible way to restore their bodies back to their original forms and maybe even return their mother back was through the use of a Philosopher’s Stone, an artifact capable of transmutation without the sacrifices needed for Equivalent Exchange.

As young adults, Ed and Al became government-approved State Alchemists to gain more information about the whereabouts of the Philosopher’s Stone; in exchange, they serve as wandering military lap dogs that travel around cities and towns to solve problems through the power of Alchemy. The many adventures they have gone on together saw them uncover dark secrets about society, and battle the monstrous Homunculi, artificial beings created by the enigmatic and mysterious Father. By the end of their travels, Ed managed to recover Al’s original body at the expense of his Alchemy skills, and later settled down with childhood friend Winry Rockbell while continuing to study the cultures and alchemy of other countries. 

Equipment

Aang

Glider Staff

Aang’s main weapon and the one he uses throughout the series. With it, he is able to channel airbending which allows him to fire gusts of wind from it as well as use it to fly. Aang's original glider staff was destroyed near the beginning of Season 3, he received a new one during the Day of Black Sun. With a snack compartment!

Edward

Automail

A form of prosthetic limb used by Ed and other characters in the Fullmetal Alchemist universe. They function almost exactly like normal human limbs (with them even being attached directly to a person's nervous system to move and function). Due to their mechanical nature, they’re typically stronger and more durable than normal human limbs. Due to Ed’s accident involving human transmutation and the cost of Al’s revival, Ed needed to replace his right arm and left leg with automail prosthetics.

Throughout Fullmetal Alchemist Ed used three different models of automail, all built by his childhood friend and engineering prodigy, Winry Rockbell, his first model was comprised mainly of a steel composition. After a run-in with Scar left his first model damaged beyond repair, Ed was built a new model with a higher percentage of chrome to make the steel more rust-resistant.

Ed received his final upgrade when he and Al found themselves traveling to colder regions towards the mid-end of the series, where Ed was given “northern automail”. This automail is composed of a more flexible cold-resistant aluminum-carbon nanotube fiber, it is also lighter than his previous models, and its unique composition makes it more suited for combination with his alchemy abilities.

Abilities

Aang

Airbending

Originating from the Lion Turtles that were much more common during the time of Avatar Wan, air is one of the four bending arts and used by the Air Nomads. Airbending is the most defense-based of the different bending arts as well as the most dynamic. Aang is most skilled at airbending compared to the other three elements, as such he uses it the most throughout the series and has used many techniques of Airbending while fighting.

• Air Manipulation: Airbenders are able to manipulate the wind to knock enemies off-balance and take them down, mimicking the sudden directional shifts of air currents. Attacks vary from simple gusts of wind to miniature tornadoes and cyclones. Most air-based attacks are performed through the use of movement. Even a simple movement can create an air gust and airbenders increase the power of their moves by performing larger sweeps and spins, using the momentum of their movement to simulate larger gusts. 
• Airshield: This is the most common defensive attack in an airbender’s aresnel. It involves an airbender throwing up gusts of air close to their bodies as a shield. This is less to block the attack but rather push the attack away.
• Airsphere/Air-barrier: This is one of the most useful defensive airbender techniques that Aang has, in which he uses the wind in order to surround himself in a dome of air which deflects attacks from all directions. 
• Airblasts: This is one of Aang’s most common forms of attack. Airblasts is when an airbender such as Aang will fire off a blast of compressed air from the hands, feet, or mouth. He can also fire off an airblast from his staff as shown in the comics when he knocked people back. He can fire off multiple airblasts at once (which he once did to defend against Combustion Man). Also if he maintains the airblast for a long period of time, then he will push an enemy back.
• Airscooter: This technique was actually invented by Aang himself. Aang creates a spherical ball of air that he can ride upon. It allows him to outrun enemies and scale buildings, as seen during the battle on the Fire Nation Drill.
• Breath of Wind: This airbender technique is created from the mouth and lungs. It requires extremely good breath control to employ effectively. Size and focus is more easily controlled, including narrow jets that can strike targets as small as insects, to large gale force gusts capable of cooling magma into solidified rock, Aang used this in order to halt an active volcano. 
• Airswipe: This is an extremely effective technique that benefits from being both an offense and defense-based attack. Basically, an airbender conjures a crescent-shaped construct of solidified air capable of deflecting colossal projectiles, such as the catapulted flaming rocks often used by the Fire Navy ships, as well as send back any attacks directed at them as shown during Aang’s fight against Azula in Book 3.
• Air Funnel: A smaller version of the Air Vortex, it basically creates a small air funnel through which small rock projectiles could be entered through the top and could be fired out of the opposite end.
• Air Suction: Aang uses air to bring people or objects towards him. It was used in The Library", when he pulled Professor Zei out of harm's way, and "The Warriors of Kyoshi” when Aang takes up the fans dropped on the ground when he was fighting Zuko.
• Air Marbles: A technique supposedly invented by Aang. He causes two or more marbles to spin in a circle between his hands in order to impress others. He rarely does it. It could however be used to shoot small objects at high speeds. 
• Air Bomb: A technique which creates a powerful air current in all directions around the bender.
• Air Vortex: Aang can create a large funnel of air (he usually does this by running around and around). This attack can be used to deflect objects as well as throw objects back at the enemy as demonstrated by Aang in his duel with Bumi which showed the air vortex throwing back a large boulder.
• Air Wake: Aang performs technique by running in a circle and instantly building huge inertia, then shooting out a blast of compressed air shaped like the user's body at a target.
• Air Spout: Master airbenders like Aang are able to rotate and control the direction of the Air Spout enough to levitate them off the ground. They can also remain in the air so long as they choose to. This was used by Aang "The Avatar State", when Aang, enraged and in the Avatar State, rose into the air to destroy General Fong's base with a wave of earth. 
• Tornados: An Avatar or an Avatar-level bender Aang is able to create tornados or mini-tornados. Aang used this technique during the battle of Wulong Forest where he narrowly avoids a lightning blast from Fire Lord Ozai by creating a mini-tornado and moving to the top of a rock column.

Waterbending

The second bending art that Aang learned. It could be argued that it is the most versatile and adaptable of the four bending arts and focuses on using your opponent's strengths against them. Thanks to teachings from Katara and Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe, Aang eventually became a master at using waterbending. 

• Water Manipulation: Waterbending usually involves the shaping and moving of a body of water. As such, waterbenders are able to move and shape water in anyway they wish. Avatars like Aang with the Avatar State are able to pull water from large distances such as in his fight against Ozai where he pulled water in from the sea. 
• Ice/Snow Manipulation: Waterbending masters like Aang are able to manipulate ice and snow around them in order to form attacks as well as means of protection. Masters such as Pakku are able to create a snow sprout that can carry the bender around. 
• Streaming the Water: Named by Katara, it is a move that draws water from a source that Waterbenders move around their bodies to be used as a defensive technique.
• Water Waves: Waterbenders are able to move a large mass of water in order to create waves. These waves are able to sweep enemies away or be used to transport the user. 
• Ice Shield: A waterbender can freeze an amount of water in front of them, creating a shield of ice. 
• Bubble: Capable waterbenders are able to create a bubble around themselves, keeping an air supply for them and for others while under water. Usually it requires two waterbenders to do this technique.
• Tsunamis: Avatars are capable of creating and controlling water bodies of far greater size and scale, including causing massive tsunamis at will. In "The Awakening", Aang and Princess Yue create a large tsunami in order to bring Aang to a safe location. 
• Water Compression: An Avatar in the Avatar State has enough power over water to compress its volume, compacting several thousands of gallons into a small volume. Aang does so when creating his elemental sphere when preparing to pursue Ozai in "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang".

Earthbending

The third bending art and the one Aang had the most trouble learning due to being completely opposite to his airbending style, with a focus on being sturdy, taking damage and dishing it back, rather than avoiding it. But thanks to the help of Toph Beifong, he eventually learned how to use earthbending effectively and mastered it, using its strong offensive and defensive attacks to greatly benefit him while in combat. 

• Earth Manipulation: Aang is able to manipulate the earth around him while in combat. While he hasn’t learned/mastered the sub-versions of earthbending like metalbending and lavabending, he is still able to effectively manipulate the earth around him for various techniques.
• Seismic Sense: A Toph speciality, this technique involves detecting vibrations in the ground to perceive objects and people even while blindfolded. Aang used this technique during the battle of Wulong Forest where he sensed that Ozai was about to attack him even with his back turned to him.
• Earth & Stone Levitation: This is the most common earthbending attack in which Aang levitates stones of various sizes, propelling them at foes with punching or kicking motions.
• Earthquakes: By striking the ground any which way, Aang is able to create localized earthquakes or fissures to throw opponents off-balance. More advanced earthbenders can make very narrow fissures which are much more precise. 
• Rock Destruction: Earthbenders can easily destroy rocks and boulders with punches and kicks.
• Rock Shield: A shield made out of rock which can be used in order to block attacks. It can also be hurled at the opponent for a quick retaliation.
• Rock Column: A more powerful version of rock projectiles, involving forcing columns of rock out of the ground and then firing them as projectiles. This was used during Aang’s fight against Ozai.  
• Rockslide: Aang is able to create a rockslide when he is near a cliff or mountainside. 
• Earth Gauntlet: A less advanced version of the Earth Armor technique, which Aang used when fighting Azula on the drill. The technique is useful in that it grants some level of the protection of Earth Armor but allows the rest of the body to remain flexible.
• Earth Armor: Earthbenders can bring rocks, dust, pebbles, or crystals around them and mold them to fit their body in order to create something akin to armour. Aang has shown that he is able to do this technique as shown with his fight against Azula where he was able to create crystal armour. He was able to create rock armour against Combustion Man and finally Ozai, which proved beneficial as this move is great for defense, especially against fire. 
• Earth Bomb: By sending a rock toward the ground, earthbenders can throw opponents off their feat as well as cause a significant amount of damage. 
• Earth Wave: High level earthbenders can create a wave of earth to ride on and use it as a form of transportation - both Aang and Toph have done this. 
• Earth Tunnel: A master level Earthbending can open up holes in the ground as well as create tunnels while in the ground. Aang used this technique in “The Drill”
• Compressed Rock Bullets: Used by Aang in his fight with Phoenix King Ozai. Aang disintegrated one of his compressed rocks from his Elemental Sphere and shot its shrapnel-like fragments with great speed, in a machine gun-like fashion.
• Giant Earth Armor: By harnessing the power of the Avatar State, Avatars can surround themselves with large pieces of earth which they can use to create a giant rock body. This was used by Aang in order to fight Old Iron. 
• Tectonic Manipulation:  The Avatar can create crevasses so deep they even fracture landmasses as shown by Avatar Kyoshi in "Avatar Day" when she separated Kyoshi island from the mainland as well as when Aang used the  technique to separate the town of Yu Dao from its surrounding land.

Firebending

One of the four bending elements and the one that Aang had the biggest struggle with. After accidentally hurting Katara in Book 1 with reckless firebending, Aang had been extremely reluctant to learn the element out of fear that he may end up hurting his friends again if he loses control of the fire. However, with time, the help of his firebending teacher Zuko, and a visit to the ancient sun warrior temple, Aang eventually learned and mastered firebending. It is the most offense-based of the four elements and focuses on overpowering enemies with fiery attacks.

• Fire Manipulation: Firebenders are able to manipulate fire with their natural energy. They can either produce their own fire or manipulate the fire around them for attacks and techniques. 
• Fireballs: A firebender is able to produce fireballs from their punches and kicks. 
• Fire-Streams: A basic firebending technique. Aang can shoot out continuous streams of fire from his fingertips, fists, palms, or legs.
• Breath of Fire: A firebender can mix air from the lungs with a flame they produce from their mouth, creating a hot blast. 
• Fire-Whips: An Avatar-level firebender can produce fire whips. They have very long ranges, as seen in "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang", when Aang used the technique from hundreds of feet above Ozai. Each fire-whip functions as an extension of the user and are powerful enough to demolish large rock formations. 
• Dance of the Dragon: This firebending form was learned from the sacred statues that were hidden atop the ancient civilization of the Sun Warriors. It involves a more fluid and natural form of firebending compared to current day firebending. It’s also more balanced than most firebending techniques, featuring a mix of offensive and defensive moves. 
• Lighting Redirection: After observing the redirection techniques of waterbenders, Iroh learned how to redirect lightning and taught it to Zuko, who then taught it to Aang. Firebenders are capable of redirecting the course of lightning strikes by absorbing it through one arm, guiding it through the stomach and out through the other arm.

Spiritual Abilities 

Avatar Spirit

As the Avatar, Aang was able to contact his past lives to seek advice and guidance. Usually Aang contacts his predecessor Roku for advice. Though their connection has been severed multiple times in the series, he has always managed to restore itself. 

Spirit Medium

As the carrier of the Avatar Spirit, Aang also had the capacity to act as a medium, a bridge between the mortal world and the Spirit World. Aang can travel from both worlds and has connected to other spirits in order to aid him in battle, such as in the Book 1 finale when he combined with the Ocean Spirit to defeat the Fire Nation during their siege of the Northern Water Tribe. He has also channeled his previous lives into himself, like with Roku and Kyoshi.

Energybending

Aang is able to bend a person's life energy. Aang has used this ability to remove Ozai and Yakone's bending, as well as restore Korra's after Amon took it away.

Avatar State

Through channeling the energy and power of the previous Avatars, Aang is able to tap into the Avatar State. This greatly increases Aang’s bending powers as well as gives him access to the knowledge and experience of past Avatars. He can also replicate their skills and abilities even if he does not know them himself, such as the time he created an Earth Golem to fight General Iron.

While Aang could initially only trigger the Avatar State subconsciously when he is in mortal danger or under emotional stress, he eventually became a fully realized Avatar and could enter the state anytime he wants. 

Edward

Alchemy 

Alchemy in FMA is the ancient metaphysical science/mystical art of manipulating and altering matter by using natural energy, also known as transmutation. Alchemy is split up into three stages: 

1. Comprehension - Understanding the inherent structure and properties of the atomic or molecular makeup of a particular material to be transmuted, including the flow and balance of potential and kinetic energy within.
2. Deconstruction - Using energy to break down the physical structure of the identified material into a more malleable state so as to be easily reshaped into a new form.
3. Reconstruction - Continuing the flow of energy so as to reform the material into a new shape. 

Those who are capable of studying alchemy are called Alchemists and Ed is an extremely special case. After Ed committed the Alchemist taboo of human transmutation, he was transported to the Gate of Truth to face God itself. After going through the gate, it granted Edward great alchemical and universal knowledge, though he lost his right arm and left leg in the process. Due to his experience, he is able to perform transmutations without a circle. 

Transmutation 

Due to Ed’s experience in the Gate of Truth, he is able to perform transmutation without a circle. Using this ability, he can do various things such as:

• Transmute from one material to another: Ed has the ability to transmute materials into other objects. He once transmuted coal mine waste into gold, trades it to Yoki, then transmutes it back.
• Transmuting himself and others: He once transmuted himself, Ling and Envy in order to escape Gluttony’s stomach
• Transmuting the material structure of an object: During Ed’s fight against Greed, he transmuted Greed's hardened carbon shield into a weaker version. He can also make his metal arm stronger as shown during his fight against Pride.
• Transmuting elements: Ed is able to transmute the natural elements including water, such as when he deconstructed Jerso's drool and used the water as a weapon. He can also make weapons out of blood due to its iron composition
• Transmutation of plants: Ed is able to transmute natural plants into weapons such as when he attacked Envy with a giant log. 
• Transmuting substances such as ammonia: During his fight against Chimera, Ed transmuted ammonia, creating an extremely bad smell which knocked out the Chimera’s sensitive noses
• Philosopher's Stone transmutation: Ed is able to transform himself into a philosopher's stone

Deconstruction

Deconstruction Alchemy is an aspect of alchemy that allows the user to destroy the body of a person completely. When Ed uses destruction alchemy on another being the physical structure of whatever he targets is broken down and not reshaped, essentially reducing it to debris. He learned this technique after his fight with Scar, Ed copied his technique to apply alchemy in a destructive manner.

Healing

After he was stabbed, Ed decided to use himself as a philosopher's stone in order to boost his power and use healing alchemy in order to quickly close the wound. This method of healing is extremely dangerous and can reduce the alchemist’s lifespan for quite a fair bit but it does allow him to survive potentially fatal wounds.

Alchemical Creations

Blade

Ed’s go to weapon, in which he transmutes his automail arm into a blade for close quarters combat. It has a very short ranged but can lead to quick strikes up close.

Spear

A personal favorite of Ed’s. The spear can be good for close-quarters combat or thrown as a projectile in order to take out enemies at a distance. 

Walls

After touching the floor, Ed can create walls for protection from enemy attacks or to limit an enemy’s movement (creating a trap for them).

Hands

After touching the ground or the walls, Ed can create multiple giant hands that can grab or strike his opponents.

Cannons

Whenever Ed needs some firepower he can create multiple cannons, giving him an extremely powerful ranged attack. He can use steel or even coal that is stored in a train in order to create them.

Staff

Edward doesn’t use this one too often, but he’s been shown to be quite skilled with it all the same. 

Spikes

After touching the wall or floor, Ed can create a floor of large sharp thorns that pierce the enemy.

Feats

Aang

Accomplishments

• Became a fully realized Avatar
• Founded Republic City
• Defeated Prince Zuko on multiple occasions
• Completed King Bumi's challenges, which required a fair amount of problem solving
• Defeated Zhao by using his temper against him
• After fusing with Koi Fish, took out an armada of firebenders and stopped the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe
• Won Earth Rumble VI
• Stopped a drill from infiltrating Ba Sing Se
• Eventually learned how to bend all four elements
• Defeated Fire Lord Ozai and ended the 100 year war
• Overcame and defeated Yakone, one of the strongest bloodbenders
• Crushed any hopes of Taang or Zutara becoming a thing (Kataang wins)

Strength

• Creates a tornado to redirect a massive boulder (19:00) 
• Destroys a flaming boulder with airbending (6:50) 
• Splits a small hill while sleepingbending  
• Flips over a mini-tank with airbending 
• Raises and disperses large body of water (14:50) 
• Avatar State Aang barricades an entire city with earthbending  
• Holds onto a giant fish's fin as it swims 
• Lifts a large boulder on his back 
• Swings a weapon through a stone column 
• Holds 3 people while flying 
• Whacks a giant serpent's face back 
• Creates a large fissure in the earth that extends around a city
• Creates a huge ripple in the earth that throws back several men 
• Sends out a comet-enhanced blast of fire that helps bring down an airship

Speed

• Runs faster than the wind (5:08) 
• An example of Aang's agility (20:25) 
• Suppresses an explosion with bending (17:40) 
• Reacts to and dodges lightning (19:50) 
• Evades Toph's bending
• Reacts to arrows from a long and short distance
• Counters an explosion with an air blast just as it ignites 
• Catches himself with a puff of air as he falls 
• Runs along the surface of water 

Durability

• Gets hit by Bumi's earthbending (17:15) 
• Gets hit by a giant spirit and crashes into a roof (9:45) 
• Survives an explosion that sends him crashing into a roof (18:40) 
• Gets struck in the gut by Toph's bending
• Hit by debris and falls a great height, getting right back up to fight 
• Slammed into a tree branch, drops a distance, and gets up just fine 
• Cratered into a shingled roof and gets up fighting 
• Caught in a load of debris and falls 

Edward

Accomplishments 

• Became the youngest State Alchemist in history at the age of twelve
• Attempted human transmutation and almost succeeded at a young age
• Trained in physical combat and alchemy for years under Izumi Curtis
• Aided in and personally defeated Father, foiling his government-wide conspiracy to surpass god by turning millions of people into a philosopher’s stone
• Eventually grew taller 
• Defeated Pride
• Figured out the alchemical composition of Greed’s ultimate shield 
• Fought Scar multiple times

Strength

• Matched Scar’s destruction alchemy
• Cut a machine gun like weapon in half with his automail
• Punched down a tree
• Defeated a chimera with a single kick

Speed

• Created a wall before gatling gun fire hit him.
• Dodged point blank gunfire.
• Outspeeds Kimblee
• Destroys Cornello’s gun before he can attack
• Avoids Roy Mustang’s attacks (though he was holding back) 
• Avoids Pride’s attack
• Scales to Hohenhiem who can block lightning.

Durability 

• Survived THAT
• Automail can withstand attacks from a chimera
• Was able to move and perform Alchemy as he was bleeding out from his severed leg.
• Survived a point blank explosion caused by Kimblee with a philosopher's stone (28 kilotons)
• Gets hit by Envy’s tail 
• Got the shit beaten out of him by Greed
• Gets slammed into stuff by Pride 
• Got slammed through the wall

Weaknesses

Aang

While Death Battle is likely going to remove this constraint for very obvious reasons, it is still worth pointing out that Aang is a pacifist by nature, and will rarely ever go after an opponent with lethal force unless he’s pushed to extreme ends, like having his friends threatened. 

Even while tapped into the Avatar State, his skill as a bender does have its limits: he cannot bend metal like Toph, he needs air, earth and water physically present to bend them, and a solar eclipse will his worsen firebending skills. An additional danger comes about if he is killed within the Avatar State, as dying in said form will mark a permanent end to the Avatar Cycle for good.

Edward

For all of Ed’s strengths he also has quite a few shortcomings; he has quite the short temper, part of it coming from his short physical stature. His temperament has often gotten the better of him, and other opponents have exploited this against him in the past.

Ed also needs to understand the composition of something he’s trying to transmute, if he misunderstands its composition it will result in a failure for the alchemic act and possibly leave him open to attack. Extreme heat can also cause great discomfort to automail users, who must remain with a heated metal object grafted to their skin.

And finally, Ed requires both of his arms in order to perform alchemy, meaning if he happens to lose one (which happens a lot) he'll be unable to use alchemy and will be rendered helpless.

Summary

Aang

“I wasn’t there when the Fire Nation attacked my people. I’m gonna make a difference this time.”

Advantages:

• Far stronger than Ed with the Avatar State
• Avatar State’s access to the experiences and knowledge of past Avatars should allow him to keep up with Ed’s superior knowledge
• Extreme heat can cause major discomfort to automail users such as Ed
• Isn’t fighting Captain Planet

Disadvantages:

• Weaker than Ed without the Avatar state
• Pacifist nature could likely mean that he might hold back using all of his power initially
• Will be unable to manipulate Ed’s prosthetic arm due to not being a metal bender
• Will be unable to take away Ed’s alchemy
• There was apparently a live-action Last Airbender movie?
• AND A NETFLIX LIVE ACTION SERIES WHAT?

Edward Elric

“Damn it, there are so many idiots whose asses I have to kick! I'll have to start carrying a list just to keep track of 'em all!”

Advantages:

• Stronger and more durable than base Aang to the point where he can conceivably beat him before the Avatar State comes into play
• Smarter than base form Aang due to having a formal education he can fall back on
• Deconstruction Alchemy could serve as his ace in the hole, even while Aang is in the Avatar State
• As it is a power that is based more within the environment rather than his own being, his Alchemy cannot be sealed away or stripped by Aang’s energybending
• Prosthetic arm should be relatively safe considering that Aang cannot bend metal
• Fullmetal Alchemist has really fucking good openings like holy shit

Disadvantages:

• Far weaker than Aang when he’s in the Avatar State
• Probably outgunned experience-wise, given that Avatar State Aang can call upon the centuries worth of experience possessed by previous Avatars
• Extreme heat can cause great discomfort to automail users
• Pretty much screwed if his automail arm is broken
• There was apparently a live action Fullmetal Alchemist movie?
• short haha

Verdicts

Grand Blazer

I just hope both teams can have fun out there.

And shout outs to big brother medd for the helping hand, even though he isn’t making a verdict.

Malcolm Belmont

(Sorry, Joseph my man...at least Avatar is really cool though)

So yeah i am a little bit disappointed that we aren’t getting Edward vs Joseph considering i personally think that matchup is a lot more thematic then Aang vs Ed but i can’t deny that this matchup has been highly requested for a while and it deserves to make it into a DEATH BATTLE. What benefits this matchup is honestly this is easily the closest matchup DEATH BATTLE have had in a while - yes even more then Johnny vs Falcon, I could honestly see this matchup going either way and i would understand DEATH BATTLE giving it to either combatant but this is my own opinion based on the research that i have looked at conducted so obviously I think there is a winner in this DEATH BATTLE...well yeah but i would like to first go over their stats for a bit.

In terms of Destructive Capability - Aang is fairly easy to figure out, in the first book Aang and Zuko clashed creating a large explosion - thanks to Kepekely for calcuating this. The feat came out to around to 0.01975 tons of TNT or to Small Building/Building level. However, this is Book 1 Pre Avatar State Aang so this is obviously nowhere near his very best so let’s go all the way to the end of Book 3 - his final duel against Ozai. Well during his final fight against Ozai, he once 1: raised the sea level of the coastline and extinguishes the fire near Wulong Forest. This feat was calced thanks to VSBW to be 2.0139 kilotons of TNT on the low end and  32 kilotons of TNT. Plus while I don't believe if it has been calced - while in the Avatar State, he once created a large fissure in the earth that extends around a city. Considering the range of the Earthbending - this feat should at least be Town to City Level so putting his maximum at Town to City is not out of the realm of possibility. So Aang while not in Avatar State is Small Building Level and while in the Avatar State - he would be Town Level. As for Edward Elric, he is a lot simpler than Aang. In Chapter 2 of the manga, he created a large building sized statue that he then used to crush Cornello with. This feat was calced to be  8.352e9 Joules. 2 Tons - Large Building level. This is currently his most impressive destructive capability feat plus the fact that he has shown to be able to morph entire builders before should comfortably put him at Large Building Level. So basically Aang is inferior in Destructive Capability when outside of the Avatar State but while in the Avatar State - he is superior so point to Aang. 

Now let’s talk speed. There aren’t that many good Aang speed feats that we can use in order to determine his top speed though we scale him to another member of Team Avatar who has displayed the most impressive speed feat in the series - Zuko. Considering they have both able to keep up pace with each other and have reacted to and dodged each other’s attacks. I would say it’s pretty fair to compare them. In his final battle with Azula, in order to save Katara he reacted to and managed to catch a lighting bolt before it could hit here. This speed feat has been calced to be at the very least  Mach 592.5 or Massively Hypersonic. So we can scale Zuko to Aang considering the two have been shown to be equals. This would put Aang’s speed at similar speeds to Zuko - Mach 592.5 or Massively Hypersonic. As for Edward, well we know that he is fast enough to dodge a bullet from point blank range which came to  Mach 2.877 or Supersonic+ but he likely scales far higher. King Bradley was able to blitz several soliders at once with minimum effort. This feat came to about Mach 5.76 or Hypersonic. Ed’s fought other Homunculus before and matched their speeds and considering one of those characters was Greed who was able to match and keep up with King Bradley before. I would say scaling Ed to Bradley works well. So without scaling he comes to about Supersonic and with scaling he comes to Hypersonic. As you can see if we scale Aang to Zuko then he should have the edge over Ed in this category.

As for Durability - well we can scale their durability to their Destructive Capability for the most part. Remember that Aang and Zuko clashed creating a large explosion feat? Well we can also scale that to Aang’s durability which would put his durability at around 0.01975 tons of TNT Small Building/Building level while in non Avatar Form. As for Aang’s durability when he is Avatar form his Earth Shields were able to tank hits from a Sozin Comet Powered Up Ozai who was able to preform a fire feat coming to 21.857194839 tons (City Block level). Considering that Aang’s earth shields was able to survive hits from Ozai with some difficulty - we can scale Aang to Ozai’s destructive capability - that being City Block Level though considering Aang’s City/Town Level Destructive Capability - you could also scale to that. As for Edward - we can also scale his durability to his Destructive Capability though he’s tanked building busting attacks from the likes of Envy. So that should put Ed’s Durability at Large Building Level. So yeah, in terms of non Avatar State - Ed wins but while in the Avatar State - Aang wins. 

Now let’s talk arensels and versatility. This is an interesting one because I generally think that Aang and Edward are superior in certain areas. If they fought entirely at close range that i would say that in terms of aresnels - Edward easily has the edge - he just has a lot more tools - his many weapons for a start at fighting at close range plus there’s his automail arm that’s superior to Aang’s glider but while in theory I do think Edward has the better arsenal at close range - there’s also Aang’s fighting style in order to consider. The fact that Aang’s entire fighting style revolves around maneuverability and constantly dodging your enemy’s attacks and not going for the brute force approach may actually prove a reasonable challenge to Ed at close range since Aang will be able to dodge his attacks due to the speed difference. I also think that Aang clearly beats Ed at medium to long range in terms of their arensels and versatility. Aang just has a lot more options to counter Ed’s long ranged attacks like his cannons and spikes while Aang has many different ways of keeping Ed at a distance and hitting back hard. So in terms of arensels i would say that Ed has the edge in close range but it’s close while Aang has the edge in long range by a mile. 

However, there’s also Destruction and the Avatar State to consider which are generally considered to be their trump cards. The Avatar State obviously increases Aang’s destructive capability,durability and speed while Destruction allows Ed in order to one shoot anything that he comes into contact with. But here’s the thing with Destruction - not only does he need to keep himself at a close range in order to do it but also throughout the manga. He has never been able to use Destruction Alchemy on a living human being (yes i know about Pride but that was different). He only used it on living armours and solemed used it on anyone else (i know Scar is able to do so but Scar is likely much more advanced on Destruction Alchemy then Ed). So I think despite Ed’s Destruction Alchemy potentially causing a huge problem for Aang - i think the Avatar State will reasonably be able to counter it. 

Now let’s talk intelligence and experience. Obviously Ed has the edge in intelligence, he is a genius both off and on the battlefield - able to easily come up with brilliant strategies on the fly in order to counter his enemies. His way of defeating the Chimeras is a perfect example of this. Aang’s by no means dumb (at times) but he’s no where near Ed’s level and can be pretty moronic at times so obviously Ed takes the Intellgence Catagory. Experience is a bit tricky and I would say it depends. I think Ed does have the experience angle when talking about outside of the Avatar State - because Aang’s experiences (at least in the original Avatar series) are fairly limited to a few years at most while Ed’s been an alchemist for at least a while. But here’s the thing - one of the abilities of the Avatar State is granting the knowledge and experience of previous Avatars. That means that Avatar State Aang has a wealth of knowledge and experience to pull from when he goes into the Avatar State. So i would say Ed wins intelligence and experience when we are talking about non Avatar State Aang but Aang wins this if we are talking about Avatar State Aang. 

Overall, I do think this fight is extremely close and i could see DEATH BATTLE giving this to Ed but ultimately i think Aang in the Avatar State is just too much for Ed to handle. Frankly if this was a fight between Non Avatar State Aang and Ed then i would say yeah - Ed wins this comfortably but i think ultimately he loses against Avatar State Aang and Ed sadly isn’t fast enough to kill Aang before he goes into the Avatar State and once he goes into it - it’s all over. Overall i think Aang’s better Destructive Capability,Durability,Speed and Experience while in the Avatar State gives him a slight edge over Ed though it’s very close. Aang is going to be the Elemental Victor in this bout. 

Kirby Kid

Favorite match up so far in a while, and a fight that makes sense and is actually pretty close. Good arguments are made for both sides, though in this case I definitely am leading towards one more than the other.

Ed is a skilled fighter, knowledgeable on alchemy and capable of kicking ass close quarters. His magic is destructive and capable of unleashing tons of damage. 

With that said, Aang is gonna have no trouble whipping past him evading his onslaught of attacks, even in close quarters, Aang has speed feats to match and even surpass Ed. Aang whole fighting style is based around whipping around an opponent and evading their attacks, so he should no issues there.

It’s already been discussed how much weaker physically Aang is compared to Ed, but other than that, the amount of Power Aang holds once he enters the avatar state will blow Ed away at every angle. He won’t be able to get in close, which is kind of important when the dude you’re fighting can create shields of elements backed with the bending force of a kid with past lives that are capable of erupting volcanoes, causing tsunamis and moving large bunches of clouds like they’re nothing.

If Ed was able to take Aang out before going Avatar state I’d say he could win, but even without Avatar State Aang is capable of dodging/deflecting lightning. Even without considering lightning bending, Korra in her canon video game title dodged lightning that came from the sky in her final boss fight, and seeing as her pool of power is MUCH weaker than Aang’s, I don’t see an issue with scaling that (especially since Aang has achieved his prime living to be an adult). 

I predict Ed will get bendead by Aang in the end.

The Black Shulk

(FMA Openings are godlike holy shit)

this was inevitable.  Really wish it was Ed vs Joseph but we can’t always have what we desire. With that being said time to get into the good ol fashion verdicto.

Ed vs Aang w/o Avatar State is an open and shut case. Aang cannot harm or take a hit from Ed in his base form and their speeds certainly match up to each other. All Ed needs to do is land a single hit on Aang and the match is done

With Avatar State things get a little trickier as Aang has the stat advantage with his elemental abilities. With that being said I still think Ed could be able to take the victory so as long as he plays his cards right. All of Aang’s elements are well...elements. Things that can be transmuted and messed with. Ed can manipulate the environment to shut down all of Aang’s options. Furthermore Aang’s physical durability is not boosted by the Avatar State, meaning Ed can still get in and one shot. Of course getting around Aang’s powerful elements is no easy task, but the speed and general on the fly thinking Ed is known for can help turn the tide in his favor. This is all assuming Aang can even get the time to pop the Avatar State, as Ed can always one shot him on contact, making the Avatar State itself not that relevant in the grand scheme of things.

In the end Ed will get past his shortcomings and take the W

Carmine

(Before we continue,

a tribute to the fallen.)

So here we are, one of the closest battles of the season, and one I was questioning would happen on top of that. At one point I was sure Aang would get memed onto Captain Planet, leaving Ed for Joseph, but that’s besides the point.

I think most of us are in agreement here. Ed would beat base Aang pretty comfortably, having the power to just push through anything Aang tossed at him, with specific large AOE Alchemy techniques that will eventually catch him. That’s not why the bottom line though.

The Avatar State is the one thing that stands in Ed’s way here, having considerably more power than what Ed has shown. So it just reverses the result, right? Well, not exactly how I would put it. While Aang does have the potential to one shot Ed in Avatar State, but Ed has had that potential from the beginning of the fight and onwards. Let me explain.

Not only does Ed have physical superiority over base Aang, but he’s also got other options, like the instant killing Deconstruction Alchemy. Which Ed has used on multiple foes in the past, not humans due to moral constrictions obviously, but we are aware he does know the make up of a human being to be able to use it if we take away that moral weakness. Meaning Ed only needs to tag Aang to get the kill.

He also has the speed to achieve this. Even if we take the lightning fire benders shoot as 100% genuine, Ed’s father Van Hohenheim has his own lightning timing feat from actual clouds. At best, the speed is comparable, at worst, Ed kind of runs all over Aang before he realizes. Which leads me to my next point.

Ed’s Alchemy is far more precise and has more utility than Aang’s bending. The four Aang controls are only the basic elements of Alchemy. Ed could go on an even more micro scale and potentially nullify a majority of what Aang could throw at him. As said, he has the speed to do this.

So what about Avatar State itself? Well we know Deconstruction Alchemy could potentially put it down, but it may not be reliable enough to try only one move, maybe just to get past the air shield I suppose. The real ticket is it’s debatable durability. We’ve never quite seen it show any upgrades in durability, plus there have been multiple instances in The Last Airbender and Korra of it being hurt by base level guys. Hell, most even accept bending upgrades like Sozin’s Comet and a full moon buffing mostly bending, so why not this too? Point is, the possibility is there for Ed to pull a counter attack.

So what this boils down to. I think Ed killing Aang before he goes into the Avatar State is much more viable than Aang killing Ed in the form, Ed’s Alchemy can counter most if not all of Aang’s elemental attacks, and even in the Avatar State, Aang could still be susceptible. Making me think Edward has enough advantages to pull through in this fight. I think Edward will use Equivalent Exchange one more time, Aang’s life for victory.

Joshski

(KINO)

I’ve been expecting this fight to happen for a long while now, even if I’m not the biggest fan of it and would personally prefer Ed vs Joseph or Aang vs BotW Link, this was by far the most requested matchup for both Aang and Ed (which apparently blows a lot of Death Battle fan’s minds) and is probably the closest fight this season despite what a lot of people may think.

As pretty much everyone here will tell you Ed beats base Aang with pretty much no issue at all. The only stat that’s really close is speed, besides that Ed has a massive advantage in strength and durability, so much so that he could probably end the fight with one good hit...if it weren’t for one thing. The Avatar State.

With the Avatar State Aang not only gets the strength advantage but he also gets access to the experience and knowledge of past avatars allowing him to keep up with Ed’s intelligence advantage. With all that on top of Aang’s already impressive elemental abilities, one would assume Ed would just be fucked the second the Avatar State comes into play, however, Ed still has a couple of tricks up his sleeve which could net him the win even against the Avatar State.

Deconstruction Alchemy, for one, could end the fight immediately should Ed manage to tag Aang with it, which isn’t impossible thanks to Ed’s speed. Aang’s elements are also just the basic elements of alchemy, Ed could probably just transmute and manipulate them and take away most of Aang’s options. To top it all off the Avatar State was never really shown to give any upgrades in physical durability hell there’s even been moments of it being harmed by base level characters, meaning should Ed manage to get past Aang’s air shield he would only need one hit to finish Aang off.

In the end, I believe Edward Elric will take the victory in a close bout.

Unserious Sam

("The monks used to say that revenge is like a two-headed rat viper. While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself.")

(“Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You've got two good legs. So get up and use them. You're strong enough to make your own path.")

Y’know, it feels super weird being here when there are no Mario characters involved. Oh well, Avatar is a fucking great series and Fullmetal Alchemist is one of my favorite series, period. Best part about it? The match is actually pretty close. 

First of all, speed isn’t exactly something either has an advantage in. Both Aang and Ed have very similar speed feats, right down to high end feats involving scaling to forms of lightning timing (whether through Firebenders or Daddy Issues). Neither has a big advantage in speed, meaning neither can really blitz each other. Because of this, Ed seemingly has a huge advantage.

At first glance, being comparable to attacks from Father and pre-series Kimblee would put Ed in a league WAAAAY above the airbender, as a lot of feats from most benders in The Last Airbender don’t quiiiiite reach levels like this. On top of that, Ed’s automail is a fairly safe weapon, considering Aang is not able to metal bend, and Ed is the smarter/craftier of the two. And lastly, if Ed gets in close, Destruction Alchemy is basically a surefire way to kill Aang with a touch (as well as likely being able to deconstruct weapons like Aang’s staff). Earthbending would also be fairly null, considering Ed’s go-to attacks involve manipulating solid objects and the ground in similar ways. Aang’s best bet in base form is to use firebending to potentially weaken/dismantle Ed’s automail, but given Ed’s other advantages and the attacks Aang would likely try first, it’s a bit debatable if he’d go for that.

So Ed should just be able to win, right?

Well, definitely not as easy as you’d think initially. Mainly because of one thing.

The Avatar State.

If Aang gets into this state, he becomes comparable to other Avatars that cause Volcanic eruptions, and can create fissures on a city wide scale, which means Aang is able to take an advantage in raw power with this form. But this isn’t the ONLY advantage Aang gets past in this form. He also gains the experiences and knowledge of the past Avatars, meaning he’ll essentially render Ed’s advantage in being the bigger brain null as well (darn shame considering Ed’s too used to falling short).

But so what? Ed can just kill Aang before the Avatar state, and even if he does the Avatar still can’t counter having his molecular structure decomposed, right?

The latter is possible, but would be insanely difficult for Ed to get the jump on, considering the Avatar State would essentially be throwing out a plethora of attacks that are in a calibur above Ed’s, making it extremely hard for Ed to get in close. However, it could be argued that the Avatar State could also still be hurt badly by Ed’s normal attacks, as the increase in physicality the Avatar State gets is not the most quantifiable thing in existence. It’s possible, but should Aang get INTO the Avatar state, it’s very clear that Aang does get the advantage regardless.

So, basically, the debate comes down to

Scenario A: Ed, with his raw power and area of effect, can land a good clean hit on Aang to end this before the Avatar State can kick in.

Scenario B: Aang manages to get INTO the Avatar State, and overwhelms Ed like that (probably by destroying his automail and rendering Ed useless).

Scenario C: Ed manages to get in close to Aang during the Avatar State, and landing a killing blow with Destruction Alchemy or possibly some other form of attack.

Because Ed wouldn’t go in for the kill with Destruction Alchemy normally, along with what I had previously mentioned, I’d say Scenario C is the least likely of these three.

Between Scenario A and B, it’s very tricky given how even in speed they are, and the nature of the Avatar State. Both scenarios are likely, and I feel like the episode itself will probably go with a scenario like B, but I might have to lean a bit more towards Scenario A.

Because both are very close in speed, and Ed’s AoE/AP being so strong, I think Ed being able to take care of Aang before he can think to go into the Avatar State is the most likely scenario. Aang can definitely play it safe and use his techniques to keep dodging/play keepaway, but Ed could eventually come up with a plan to outsmart the airbender and trap him.

This match is one where I honestly see easy scenarios where either can win, but thinking about it out like this, I might have to VERY VERY slightly lean on the Fullmetal Alchemist to win this match. I expect the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, to give an arm and a leg to just edge out a victory.

Maybe I’m just really wanting some love for the Elric Brothers idk