Firebenders, Ranked By How Likely They Are To Accidentally Burn Down A Forest While Bending

Firebending is amazing: it’s martial arts plus portable sunshine plus the ability to boil tea at a moment’s notice (Uncle Iroh, we see you).
But fire is also… well… fire. And forests are basically nature’s version of “please don’t bring an open flame near me” signage.

So let’s do the most responsible thing possible: rank Avatar’s firebenders by how likely they are to accidentally turn a peaceful woodland
into the world’s angriest campfire while bending. This is a playful, fictional listno real forests were harmed in the making of these jokes.

For realism, this article draws on wildfire prevention and fire behavior basics from U.S. public agencies and fire organizations, plus
well-known entertainment coverage of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. No links herejust the good stuff.

How We Ranked Them: The “Oops, That’s a Wildfire” Formula

1) Control and discipline

Can they shape heat precisely, stop on a dime, and avoid stray embers? Or do they bend like the answer to every problem is “more flame”?

2) Power output

Tiny flickers are cute. Giant walls of flame are cinematic. Giant walls of flame in a forest are a lawsuit waiting to happen.

3) Temperament under stress

Some firebenders get calmer when things go sideways. Others take “fight or flight” and add “ignite.”

4) Context: forests hate wind, heat, and “one spark” energy

In the real world, wildfires often start from small human-caused ignition sourcesone careless moment, one stray spark, one “it’ll be fine.”
Add dry fuels (leaves, needles, grass) and wind-driven embers, and “accidental” becomes “uh-oh” fast.
That’s our vibe check for this list.

The Ranking (Least Likely → Most Likely)

1. Jeong Jeong

   If firebending had a “Leave No Trace” merit badge, Jeong Jeong would be the stern instructor making you redo it until your aura is tidy.
   He’s obsessed with restrainttreating fire as something you handle with patience, not swagger.
   Accidental forest-burning requires carelessness, and Jeong Jeong’s entire personality is basically “carefulness, but make it anxious.”

2. Uncle Iroh

   Iroh’s firebending is powerful, surebut it’s also measured. He bends like a person who knows the difference between “heat” and “chaos.”
   He’s the guy who would stop mid-fight to relocate the battle away from dry brush, then apologize to the shrubbery.
   If a leaf caught fire near him, he’d probably offer it tea and a blanket.

3. Avatar Roku

   Roku doesn’t firebend like he’s showing offhe firebends like a seasoned professional who’s seen what fire can do when it stops being polite.
   Even when things get intense, he reads as methodical. He’s not out here freestyle flamethrowing near pine trees for the vibes.

4. Zuko (post-“figured himself out” era)

   Early Zuko? Hot-headed, reckless, and emotionally sponsored by rage. Later Zuko? Breathing, centering, and actually thinking.
   Once he starts bending from a steadier inner “fuel,” he becomes much less “oops” and much more “I will put that out immediately.”
   The scar says “I learned the hard way,” and the forest appreciates a man with boundaries.

5. Mako (The Legend of Korra)

   Mako bends like someone who’s had to be useful for a livingefficient, controlled, and practical.
   He’s not trying to roast the entire ecosystem; he’s trying to get the job done.
   Even his flashier skills read as precise, not sloppy. If the forest is at risk, it’s because the situation is chaoticnot because Mako is.

6. Lightning Bolt Zolt

   Yes, he’s a criminal. But criminals can be competent. Zolt gives off “experienced operator” energydangerous, but not clumsy.
   The accidental-forest-fire risk comes from arrogance: he might assume he can control every variable (wind, dry fuel, panic)
   and then learn that nature does not respect confidence.

7. Azula

   Here’s the twist: Azula is terrifying, but she’s also absurdly precise. Her flames and lightning are controlled like a scalpel.
   That makes her less likely to burn down a forest by accidentbecause “accident” implies she lost control.
   The forest is safer from her mistakes… and far more worried about her choices.

8. Fire Lord Sozin

   Sozin radiates “I do big things” energy, and big things plus fire plus forests is how you end up with a cautionary tale told to campers forever.
   He’s strategic, but he’s also willing to use overwhelming force.
   Accidents happen when you treat collateral damage as background sceneryand Sozin absolutely would.

9. Admiral Zhao

   Zhao is a walking “overconfident decision made in the last 30 seconds” generator.
   He’s impulsive, proud, and easily provokedthree traits that pair beautifully with “let’s throw more fire at it.”
   In a forest, he’s the guy who would fireblast first and then ask, “Wait, are these trees… dry?”

10. Fire Lord Ozai

    Ozai’s power output is “yes.” His restraint is “no.” He bends like the rules don’t apply to himespecially nature’s rules.
    Even if he didn’t mean to torch the woods, his default settings are high heat, high volume, maximum intimidation.
    In wildfire terms, he’s the human-caused ignition source who insists the problem is actually everyone else’s lack of respect.

11. P’Li

    Combustionbending is basically long-range explosive fire, and forests are famously not explosion-resistant.
    P’Li has control, but the technique itself is the issue: one mis-aim, one deflection, one surprise gust carrying embers,
    and suddenly the woodland is starring in its own disaster documentary.
    She doesn’t need to be carelesscombustionbending just has a larger “oops radius.”

12. Combustion Man

    The top spot goes to the guy whose entire brand is “precision explosions,” except the precision is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
    Combustionbending is loud, destructive, and not exactly designed for delicate environments.
    In a forest, the line between “missed my target” and “created a new weather system made of smoke” is uncomfortably thin.
    If we’re talking accidental wildfire potential, he’s basically the final boss.

What This Says About Firebending (And Why the Forest Should Be Nervous)

The funniest part is that the most dangerous firebenders aren’t always the ones with the biggest flamesthey’re the ones who combine
huge output with ego, haste, or emotional volatility. That tracks with real-world wildfire lessons: many ignitions are human-caused,
and small mistakes can become big incidents when conditions are dry and wind carries embers into fine fuels like grass and leaf litter.

Avatar also makes a point that matters here: fire isn’t “evil,” it’s powerful. The series repeatedly contrasts destructive fire
with fire as energy, warmth, and lifemeaning the safest benders are the ones who treat fire as something to steward, not unleash.
When a firebender respects balance, the forest gets to keep being… you know… a forest.

Also, a quick shout-out to the franchise’s real-world inspiration: firebending movements were designed with strong, dynamic martial arts influences.
That’s cooluntil someone decides the appropriate “training space” is a dry woodland in peak fire season. Please don’t be that guy.
Even in fiction, we can root for better decisions.

Extra: Field Notes From the Ember Zone (Fan-Style “Experiences” to Make This Weirdly Real)

Below are a few imagined (but extremely believable) moments you’d have if you lived in the Avatar world and routinely shared oxygen with firebenders.
Consider this the emotional documentary portion of our program.

1) You learn to judge danger by the smell of the air

In a city, you notice food carts. In a forest village near Fire Nation training grounds, you notice humidity.
Dry day? The entire community gets that quiet, tense energylike everyone collectively remembers that “one spark” is not a metaphor.
People stop saying “nice weather” and start saying “interesting weather,” which is what you say when you’re trying not to panic.

2) You become fluent in “firebender body language”

With Iroh, you relax: shoulders down, breath even, gentle heat like a kettle warming up. With late-series Zuko, you’re cautiously hopeful:
he’s intense, but he’s present. With Zhao? You back away slowly because you can practically hear his ego crackingle like tinder.
And with Ozai, you don’t read body languageyou read exit routes.

3) You develop a deep appreciation for the word “pause”

The safest firebenders do this thing where they stop before they bend. They breathe. They look.
That tiny pause is the difference between “controlled flame” and “we are now all volunteering for the emergency bucket line.”
You start wishing every hothead in your life had to pass a “pause” test before making big decisions.

4) You witness the weirdest form of teamwork: the anti-wildfire squad

The Water Tribe visitors are suddenly the most popular people at any woodland settlement. Earthbenders get recruited to clear defensible space
(in-world terms: creating clean breaks and moving fuel away from structures), and airbenders become the “please don’t let the wind do that” department.
Nobody wants to admit it out loud, but everyone knows the truth: it’s not that firebenders are badit’s that fire is fast, and forests are flammable.

5) The “combustionbender incident” becomes local folklore immediately

Every region has a story that starts with, “So this one time, we thought it was fine…” and ends with,
“Anyway, that’s why the elders banned training within three ridgelines of the pines.”
If P’Li visits, the wildlife leaves first. If Combustion Man shows up, the wildlife files a formal complaint.
No one is being dramatic. They’re being experienced.

6) You start respecting fire as a character, not a tool

Living around bending changes how you think: fire isn’t just something people “use.”
Fire has moods. It reacts to wind. It climbs what it can climb. It turns small errors into big consequences when conditions line up.
The benders who lastwho don’t hurt people, who don’t scar landscapesare the ones who treat fire like a living force that demands attention.
The ones who don’t? They end up as cautionary tales, whispered in the same tone as “don’t walk alone at night” and “don’t anger the spirits.”

Conclusion

If you want the forest to survive firebending, the ranking isn’t really about who’s “strongest.”
It’s about who’s disciplined, who respects balance, and who understands that in dry conditions,
a flashy move can turn into a full-blown catastrophe faster than you can say “Agni Kai.”

And if you take nothing else from this: please don’t let Admiral Zhao supervise anything with flames. Ever.
Not even birthday candles. Especially not birthday candles.