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I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this:

For the sake of having a spiritual-connection with the show (let's be real here, bending isn't possible in the real world), it's nice to think that a bender gets his/her ability by being born with spiritual and mental traits regarding that element.

It doesn't completely fit, mind you. It makes you wonder why Katara's mother wasn't actually a water-bender, because by the implied qualities of her throughout the show, she had the good-hearted, helping and bravery of a water-bender.

Maybe nobody has ever tried. Maybe if you're not born a bender you can meditate and change yourself enough to learn it (or beg the avatar to give you the ability).

The problem with this topic is that only the deep thinkers really get here, and sadly, the show NEVER went into detail about it. It did have those twins and Mako and Bolin, but it's never really explained thoroughly. If you're reading about this, you were probably one of those people who were wondering about non-bender oppression and bloodbending before you even finished the first season of TLA.

I'm just saying that if everyone here wants to have a bit of fantasy in their lives, it would be smart for the writers to one day say that bending is quality of heart and can be attained through mental concentration and determination, so that way we can all feel a little bit less hopeless

*** Edit ***

Apologies, I returned to this and realized my answer didn't pertain to the question too well. It was later in the evening, I was tired and I had a differrent topic in my mind.

So what determines a bender's element? According to the show. It depends on 2 things, one is the environment your born too. If your born around other waterbenders or in a specific tribe of people, that will determine your element. Second is your mentality, an earthbender will not be born in the water tribes because the charactoristics of an earthbender do not thrive in those enviroments. Same goes too all the elements. So in short, your bending element is determined by the enviroment of which your born, and your mentality (which grows in the shape of your enviroment anyway).

Its obviously not genetics, because katara had 2 non-bender parents, but she WAS born in a watertribe and had the mentality of a water-bender.

Untill the show states otherwise, that would be the safest answer to assume.

What determines a bender's element? According to the show, it depends on two things. One is the environment your born into. If you're born around other Waterbenders or in a specific tribe of people, that will determine your element. The second thing is your mentality. An Earthbender will not be born in the Water tribes because the characteristics of an Earthbender do not thrive in those environments. The same applies to all of the elements. 

So in short, your bending element is determined by the environment in which you're born, and your mentality (which grows in the shape of your environment anyway).

Its obviously not based on genetics, because Katara had two nonbending parents, but she WAS born in a Water tribe and had the mentality of a Waterbender.

Until the show states otherwise, this is the safest answer to assume.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this:

For the sake of having a spiritual-connection with the show (let's be real here, bending isn't possible in the real world), it's nice to think that a bender gets his/her ability by being born with spiritual and mental traits regarding that element.

It doesn't completely fit, mind you. It makes you wonder why Katara's mother wasn't actually a water-bender, because by the implied qualities of her throughout the show, she had the good-hearted, helping and bravery of a water-bender.

Maybe nobody has ever tried. Maybe if you're not born a bender you can meditate and change yourself enough to learn it (or beg the avatar to give you the ability).

The problem with this topic is that only the deep thinkers really get here, and sadly, the show NEVER went into detail about it. It did have those twins and Mako and Bolin, but it's never really explained thoroughly. If you're reading about this, you were probably one of those people who were wondering about non-bender oppression and bloodbending before you even finished the first season of TLA.

I'm just saying that if everyone here wants to have a bit of fantasy in their lives, it would be smart for the writers to one day say that bending is quality of heart and can be attained through mental concentration and determination, so that way we can all feel a little bit less hopeless

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this:

For the sake of having a spiritual-connection with the show (let's be real here, bending isn't possible in the real world), it's nice to think that a bender gets his/her ability by being born with spiritual and mental traits regarding that element.

It doesn't completely fit, mind you. It makes you wonder why Katara's mother wasn't actually a water-bender, because by the implied qualities of her throughout the show, she had the good-hearted, helping and bravery of a water-bender.

Maybe nobody has ever tried. Maybe if you're not born a bender you can meditate and change yourself enough to learn it (or beg the avatar to give you the ability).

The problem with this topic is that only the deep thinkers really get here, and sadly, the show NEVER went into detail about it. It did have those twins and Mako and Bolin, but it's never really explained thoroughly. If you're reading about this, you were probably one of those people who were wondering about non-bender oppression and bloodbending before you even finished the first season of TLA.

I'm just saying that if everyone here wants to have a bit of fantasy in their lives, it would be smart for the writers to one day say that bending is quality of heart and can be attained through mental concentration and determination, so that way we can all feel a little bit less hopeless

*** Edit ***

Apologies, I returned to this and realized my answer didn't pertain to the question too well. It was later in the evening, I was tired and I had a differrent topic in my mind.

So what determines a bender's element? According to the show. It depends on 2 things, one is the environment your born too. If your born around other waterbenders or in a specific tribe of people, that will determine your element. Second is your mentality, an earthbender will not be born in the water tribes because the charactoristics of an earthbender do not thrive in those enviroments. Same goes too all the elements. So in short, your bending element is determined by the enviroment of which your born, and your mentality (which grows in the shape of your enviroment anyway).

Its obviously not genetics, because katara had 2 non-bender parents, but she WAS born in a watertribe and had the mentality of a water-bender.

Untill the show states otherwise, that would be the safest answer to assume.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this:

For the sake of having a spiritual-connection with the show (let's be real here, bending isn't possible in the real world), It's nice to think that a bender get's his/her ability by being born with spiritual and mental traits regarding that element.

It doesn't completely fit, mind you. makes you wonder why katara's mom wasn't ACTUALLY a water-bender, because by the implied qualities of her throughout the show, she had the good-hearted, helping and bravery of a water-bender.

Maybe nobody has ever tried. maybe if your not born a bender, you can meditate and change yourself enough to learn it (or beg the avatar to give you the ability)

the problem with this topic is that only the deep thinkers really get here, and sadly, the show NEVER went into detail about it. sure it had those twins and Mako and Bolin, but it's never really explained thoroughly. If your reading about this, you were probably one of those people who were wondering about non-bender oppression and bloodbending before you even finished the first season of TLA.

I'm just saying that if everyone here wants to have a bit of fantasy in there lives, it would be smart for the writers to one day say that bending is quality of heart and can be attained through mental concentration and determination, so that way we can all feel a little-bit less hopeless

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this:

For the sake of having a spiritual-connection with the show (let's be real here, bending isn't possible in the real world), it's nice to think that a bender gets his/her ability by being born with spiritual and mental traits regarding that element.

It doesn't completely fit, mind you. It makes you wonder why Katara's mother wasn't actually a water-bender, because by the implied qualities of her throughout the show, she had the good-hearted, helping and bravery of a water-bender.

Maybe nobody has ever tried. Maybe if you're not born a bender you can meditate and change yourself enough to learn it (or beg the avatar to give you the ability).

The problem with this topic is that only the deep thinkers really get here, and sadly, the show NEVER went into detail about it. It did have those twins and Mako and Bolin, but it's never really explained thoroughly. If you're reading about this, you were probably one of those people who were wondering about non-bender oppression and bloodbending before you even finished the first season of TLA.

I'm just saying that if everyone here wants to have a bit of fantasy in their lives, it would be smart for the writers to one day say that bending is quality of heart and can be attained through mental concentration and determination, so that way we can all feel a little bit less hopeless