Make a Musou: Last Airbender Musou

Hello and welcome to yet another article in my series on The Story Arc: Make a Musou. I love Dynasty Warriors, the number of times I bring it up, and the multiple Musou related articles I’ve written should be proof enough of that. However, I am currently in a Dynasty Warriors drought as I have no interest in Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires, so I thought it was time to flex some creative writing.

But what could I do? When it comes to Dynasty Warriors content you can find whatever you want online already. For the past twenty years, the internet has been filled with character analyses, essays on the storytelling, and gameplay deconstructions. I don’t have much to add when talking about Dynasty Warriors itself. However, there is one question that everyone has had at one point in time: “What if ___ was a Musou game?”

That’s right, it’s time to pretend we’ve gone back to the Tumblr days when imagining your ideal game and talking to people about it wasn’t cringe! I have asked my friends to give me a list of franchises, and I will make a Musou roster out of each and every one of them. Last time I made a Musou roster out of Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s entire part. This time though we’re going to be casting a much bigger as we handle one of my favorite games released this year.

This week on The Story Arc, we shall be making a Musou roster out of Avatar: The Last Airbender!

How we’ll be designing the movesets!

Now, we must discuss how Musou Movesets typically work if we are going to create a wide variety of them. If you have already read my pieces on making a Batman Musou, Pokemon Musou, or Sakura Wars Musou, you may skip ahead to when we start talking about how many characters our roster will have. First, let’s go over the basics of each character’s normal attacks. You all likely know how Musou movesets work on a basic level; you string together combos consisting of light attacks and heavy attacks. However, there is a pattern that movesets typically follow that I feel need some explaining.

Pressing light attacks once and then heavy will knock enemies directly in front of you in the air, allowing for a juggle or for you yourself to transition into an attempted combo.

Pressing light attack two times and then a heavy will perform an attack that while not super powerful will hit enemies close to you, generally on your left and right.

Pressing light attacks three times and then heavy will perform an attack that, while not your strongest, will hit a wide range of enemies.

Pressing light attack four times and then a heavy will perform an attack that is either straightforward or will move you slightly forward

Finally, pressing light attack five times, and then triangle will perform an attack that does plenty of damage in a short range, the perfect attack for enemy officers.

These are the foundations of a basic Musou moveset; however, there is more to explain and think of for our roster.

The bar you have been seeing below or next to the health bars in this footage is the Musou gauge. Once it is full, you are able to unleash your most powerful attack: a Musou attack. So we’ll need to think of a Musou for everyone.

Next, we have the trickiest part of our roster, the R1/RB button. The R1/RB button is used as a weapon switch in mainline Dynasty Warriors, but various spin-offs have used it as a button that activates a unique skill or attack for a character. These attacks can span from being very average to something atypical, so thinking about each character’s uniqueness will be hard.

Finally, we’re going to incorporate something that main modern Musous and Musou clones have, skill attacks. Holding down a button will give you an option of activating a skill. Most of these are just buffs like increased attack or speed; however, many Musous gives characters extra moves via skills. As we want to make this hypothetical game seem as appealing as possible, we shall come up with 3 skill attacks for each character.

And that’s everything! 5 Normal combos, a musou attack, a unique skill, and 3 skill attacks for each character. As we go into this, I won’t describe what each and every character’s individual combos will be but rather just how we imagine them playing with a few combo examples. I will mostly focus on describing every Musou, unique, and skill attack we come up with. A fair warning as well that I won’t talk about some characters as much as others, thinking of a variety of different movesets is difficult

With everything about how we will go about this explained, let’s move on.

Our Roster Size

Before we get into picking our characters, we first need to figure out how big the roster could be. While a true dream would be everyone playable, we’re going to have to be realistic with this. Other licensed Musous started with rosters of these sizes

Berserk Musou – 8 characters

Arslan Musou – 16 characters

Dragon Quest Musou – 13 characters + 1 DLC

Touken Ranbu Musou – 15 characters

One Piece Pirate Warriors – 15 characters

Now my last few articles have all been exactly 18 characters long as I think that is the best size for an article like this. I only include these numbers so I don’t have people complaining about my picks being too small. I will be specifically making characters out of characters from The Last Airbender and excluding Korra characters, why you ask? Because if I were to pick characters from both series I would basically be stuck with only the main characters and the main villains of each and that would honestly be boring.

However while I do not have enough room to do both series at this time, The Last Airbender also doesn’t have a large enough cast of recurring characters to make a full roster of 18 characters. So I will instead be crafting a roster of 16 characters.

One final thing I want to note is how I would like special skills to be handled. I want each character’s special skill to specifically be linked to their element.

When activating their R1 skill Airbenders should get a buff that causes air shockwaves to be attached to their light attack, Waterbenders should get a water based buff, Firebenders should get a fire buff that burns through the health of enemies, and Earthbenders should get a buff that makes their attacks unblockable.

With all of that out of the way, let’s finally get into the movesets!

Character 1: Aang



Up first in our roster we’ve got the Last Airbender himself: Aang! The first six characters in our roster are all going to be super obvious picks as Avatar has a main cast of characters so forgive me for not building them up much.

Anyway, time to discuss how Aang will play! The trickiest part of Aang’s moveset will be deciding how to handle the four elements. Since he’s the Avatar he can control all four elements but I am going to make the controversial decision to have him use only airbending in his main moveset!

Why am I wasting this opportunity by having the Avatar himself be restricted to a single element? Because Aang is the only Airbender in our roster of course. Every other element will have its chance to shine through several characters but I only have five attacks to describe the use of Airbending in a Musou game, I need to take full advantage of that!

Don’t worry though, we’ll have Aang use the other three elements in his attack skills.

Gameplay wise Aang will be an all rounder character, because he is likely to be the first character that people play as he needs to be in the middle of the road so players get a quick understanding of what a typical Musou character is like. His light attacks will have him quickly smack enemies around with his staff while his heavy combos will have him attack with his unique bending style.

As a first heavy combo Aang will swing his staff upward to create a gust of wind below the feet of enemies that will both damage them and launch them into the air.

Then as a second heavy combo Aang will slam his staff on the ground in front of him, which will not only hurt whoever the staff touches but will also break the air and send a gust of wind flowing to his left and right to damage more enemies.

For his fifth heavy combo Aang will spin his staff around to create a mini cycle that will suck in enemies around him before damage them and tossing them away.

The fourth heavy combo of Aang’s moveset will have him perform a kick forward that will send a blast of air toward enemies in front of him.

Aang’s fifth heavy will have him create a large ball of air to ride on top of and have him run over enemies around him, dealing heavy damage as they are rolled under his ball.

For his musou attack, Aang will enter the Avatar State and fly into the air, once in the air he will unleash a massive cyclone that will suck in and destroy all surrounding enemies before he returns to normal.

Aang’s three attack skills will of course use each of the other three elements to attack enemies, I couldn’t fit these elements into his main moveset but don’t worry because each will get plenty of use with our other characters.

For his first attack skill Aang will surround himself with water in the shape of a squid and begin to slap around enemies with water tentacles before returning to normal.

As a second attack skill Aang will perform some rapid kicks, constantly launching fire out of his feet at enemies as he does.

Finally, for his third attack skill Aang will encase himself in armor made of stone and deliver some heavy punches to enemies before returning back to normal.

Character 2: Katara



The second character on our roster is Katara! Katara is one of the main members of the gang and has been around since the very first episode. There’s no need to list reasons why she would be on the roster, she deserves it.

As for how Katara will play, she’ll be a bit slower than Aang but her attacks will have more range than his. Katara carries around a satchel of water with her in the early season of Avatar and I think we’ll take the basic concept of that when crafting her moveset. Instead of having her summon water from nowhere for all her attacks, we’ll have a stream of water constantly flowing around Katara that she’ll swing around and morph as she attacks enemies with it in both her light and heavy combos.

For her first heavy combo Katara will slam her water down on a group of enemies in front of her before having it snap up from the ground, taking the enemies into the air with it.

Katara’s second heavy combo will have her extend her puddle of water into a large horizontal line push a wide range of enemies forward with it.

The third heavy combo of Katara’s moveset will have her spin her stream of water around her like a sharp blade to knock away enemies all around her.

Then as a fourth heavy combo, Katara will send her water straight forward at enemies, sending them flying from the sheer force of the impact!

Finally for her fifth heavy combo Katara will launch her water toward the face of an enemy and hold it there for a second, dealing massive damage before she releases them.

Katara’s musou attack will have her raise her arms to the sky as ice consumes her and enemies. After a second the ice will shatter and while all the enemies caught in it will have received massive damage, Katara herself will be unharmed.

For Katara’s attack skills I want to follow a specific theme: Ice! Waterbenders in this franchise frequently control ice and while I wanted to have Katara’s normal attacks follow the specific theme of her controlling a singular stream of water, I can easily fit some ice attacks in here.

Katara’s first attack skill will have her wave her arm and send several shards of ice flying forward in a wide arc.

As a second attack skills Katara will make it start raining icicles on to the heads of enemies

Finally, for her third attack skill Katara will waterbend to create a large snowball and send it rolling forward at enemies.

Character 3: Sokka



Up third on the roster we’ve got Katara’s brother Sokka! Like Katara, Sokka has been traveling with Aang since the very first episode of the series; it’d be utterly ridiculous not to put him on the roster.

As for how he’ll play, Sokka is our first non-bender on the roster. Unlike every bender whose playstyle becomes apparent the moment you look at them we need to be a bit more creative when thinking of a Sokka moveset.

Sokka has wielded two weapons in the show; A sword made of a meteorite and the beloved boomerang. We are going to take advantage of both of them for this moveset. Sokka light attacks will have him swing around his sword while his heavy combos will have him throw his boomerang around in various ways.

For his first heavy combo Sokka will throw his boomerang in front of him vertically, where it will move in an upward arc and pull enemies into the air with it.

Sokka’s second heavy combo will see him throw his boomerang in a wide horizontal arc in front of him.

As a third heavy combo Sokka will throw his boomerang in a full 360 degree arc around him to hit a wide range of enemies.

Then as a fourth heavy combo Sokka will throw his boomerang forward at enemies, any enemies hit by the boomerang will be dragged toward Sokka on the way back where he can quickly hit them with some light attacks.

Finally, for his fifth heavy combo Sokka will just whack his boomerang at the head of an enemy like a blunt object.

Sokka’s Musou attack will have a giant spirit koi fish fall from the sky onto enemies before it swims away through the earth itself.

For his first attack skill Sokka will perform a jumping kick forward at enemies, sure this never worked a single time in the actual show but let’s ignore that for now.

As a second attack skill, Sokka will headbutt an enemy close to him for heavy damage.

Finally, Sokka’s third attack skill will have him use his sword to throw dust into the faces of enemies.

Character 4: Toph



Next up on the roster we’ve got the Earthbender of the gang: Toph! Toph joined the gang in the franchise’s second season and instantly became one of the most beloved characters in the show, so her slot here was guaranteed.

Toph will be the slowest character on the roster so far, being blind a lot of Toph’s fighting in the show is either striking after she learns where an enemy is or tearing down an entire room. In order to attempt to replicate that in a Musou game I envision Toph’s light attacks as slow and precise stomps the raise the earth in front of her while her heavy combos will be either throwing rocks around or raising the ground in specific ways.

As a first heavy combo Toph will stomp on the ground and rock pillars will rise from the ground in front of her, launching enemies into the air as well as damaging them.

Then as a second heavy combo Toph will raise her arms and two rock walls will appear to her left and right, which she will then proceed to kick toward enemies.

Toph’s third heavy combo will have her jump into the air before landing and creating a small earthquake to damage enemies arlundbher.

For her fourth heavy combo Toph will raise the ground underneath her and ride it forward like a wave, crushing enemies as she passes them.

Finally as a fifth heavy combo Toph will make a boulder appear out of the ground and launch it toward some enemies.

For her Musou attack Toph will place her hands on the ground as the earth around her begins to shake in a massive earthquake, bouncing around enemies and damaging them repeatedly.

Toph’s first attack skill will have her stomp and cause several small boulders to begin flying around her, these boulders will harm enemies as they run into them but will also disappear upon contact.

As a second attack skill Toph will extend her arms and cause the ground to literally begin to fold backwards, crushing enemies before returning to normal.

Finally, for Toph’s third attack skill she’ll stomp and small rocks will begin to rain on enemies, each rock doing light damage that begins to stack up quickly.

Character 5: Zuko



Up next we’ve got our final main member of the gang: Zuko! Zuko’s slow development from recurring antagonist is one of the best elements of the entire series but it also raises a big question. How will he fight?

Zuko’s fighting style changes a lot in subtle ways as the show goes on to match the changes in his character. I believe the best way to make a playable Zuko is to have him fight with the calmer fighting style he uses near the tail end of the show. Mostly because we’re going to have a more aggressive Firebender later down the roster and we need them to be as different from Zuko as possible.

For his light attacks Zuko will perform some punching animations as small bursts of flame appear in front of him, while his heavy combos in contrast will have him create constant streams of fire to eat through the health of enemies.

The first heavy combo of Zuko’s moveset will have him slide on his knees toward enemies and fire some, uh, fire at an upward angle to burn them and send them flying into the air.

Then as a second heavy combo Zuko will spread his arms apart and create two separate streams of fire that will harm enemies in an arc as his arms move.

For his third heavy combo Zuko will drop to the ground and begin to spin, shooting fire from his feet in various directions as he does.

As a fourth heavy combo, Zuko will punch forward and a stream of fire will appear from his fist, burning away enemies directly in front of him.

The fifth and final attack skill of Zuko’s moveset will have him launch three rapid fireballs into a crowd of enemies, each dealing heavy damage.

Zuko’s musou attack will have him launch forward two streams of flame that combine into the single, incredibly large fire to burn away any enemy in front of him.

For his first attack skill Zuko will create a ring of fire and throw it forward at enemies like a wheel.

The second heavy combo of Zuko’s moveset will have him open his mouth and for a very short period of time launch fire forward at enemies.

Zuko’s third and final attack skill will have him perform several firebending techniques while mimicking the movements of a dragon.

Character 6: Suki



Next on that roster we’ve got Suki of the Kiyoshi warriors! Now while Suki is typically not considered part of the main gang because she isn’t around often she was with them for the very last arc of the show so I consider her to at least be an honorary gang member.

Like Sokka, Suki is a non-bender so her moveset on paper will be more boring than some of the other characters we have on the roster. However, like Sokka she will have a relatively unique weapon that will help her stand out: her Kyoshi Warrior fans!

Yes, while Kyoshi herself will not be on our roster we’ll at least be representing the clan of warriors who worship her. Sadly I will have to take more liberties with her moveset than most of the gang due to her not being in nearly as many fights as everyone else, but there is at least something to work with here.

For her light attacks Suki will slice at enemies with her fans while her heavy combos will either involve throwing them in various ways or transforming them into a shield and bashing enemies with them. She’ll be the speediest character in the roster so far as I want her to constantly be running around as she slices and jumps at enemies.

The first heavy combo of Suki’s moveset will have her bash enemies with her shield at an upward angle to launch them into the air.

As a second heavy combo, Suki will throw her fans out in front of her where they will begin to boomerang back to her in a wide arc, slicing through enemies on their way back before she catches them.

Then as a third heavy combo Suki will spin around with fans to slice at a large amount of enemies.

For her fourth heavy combo Suki will form a shield with her fans and charge forward at enemies, knocking away any in her path.

Finally as her fifth heavy combo, Suki will transform her fans into a shield before quickly running up to an enemy and bashing them in the head with it.

Suki’s musou attack will see the ghost of Avatar Kyoshi appear to assist her Kyoshi Warrior by raining large boulders down on the heads of enemies.

For her attack skills Suki will call upon her fellow Kyoshi Warriors to attack with her for some team attacks. For example, he first attack skill will have a Kyoshi Warrior drop from the sky and hold an enemy still as Suki runs up and punches them for massive damage.

Suki’s second attack skill will have several Kyoshi Warriors appear by her side as they all throw their fans forward at enemies.

Finally, as a third attack skill Suki will summon other Kyoshi Warriors and they will all charge forward with their shields, knocking away any enemy in their path.

Character 7: Iroh



Up next we’ve got our first character who definitely isn’t part of the gang: Uncle Iroh! Iroh was one of the best characters in the show and his role as being a balance and guide to Zuko was incredible. Underneath his calm exterior though was a man with decades worth of power and training, Iroh doesn’t like to fight but when his hand is forced he is one of the most powerful people in the show, justifying his slot in this roster.

Iroh’s fighting style will be similar to Zuko’s in that his light attacks will be some calm and precise punches that small bursts of fire, but we will give him plenty of different heavy combos to help differentiate him from his nephew.

The first heavy combo of Iroh’s moveset will have him calmly breath as he shoots fire at the ground in front of him, the now burning hot ground will cause enemies to jump into the air.

Then, as a second heavy combo Iroh will point his arms in separate directions and launch fire at enemies to his sides.

As a third heavy combo, Iroh will begin to breathe fire from his mouth as he spins around in a circle, damaging a wide range of enemies.

Iroh’s fourth heavy combo will see him jump into the air before launching a stream of fire from his feet forward at enemies.

Finally, for his fifth heavy combo Iroh will unleash a quick combo of strikes with his fists, each one unleashing fire and heavy damage.

Iroh’s Musou attack will have him call upon a large dragon to breathe fire down upon his enemies, as he is one of few people known to have befriended the dragons. I find this to be a fitting attack to give him.

For Iroh’s first attack skill he shall fires out a small spark from his fingertips that will spread throughout a group of enemies until it forms a huge inferno.

The second attack skill of Iroh’s moveset will have him breath in and out as fire bursts from the ground around him.

Iroh’s third attack skill will have him breath in and out to focus before he unleashes a giant fireball forward, annihilating enemies.

Character 8: Appa and Momo



Yes, I genuinely do believe Appa deserves a slot on this roster. Not only has been around since the first episode, but he’s also gotten into plenty of fights and I can easily see him working in a Musou game.

Now describing how Appa would play is much harder. Obviously he would be a slower character who would hit hard, but what would his attacks be? I imagine Appa’s light attacks just being simply headbutts while his heavy combos would either have him use his large body in other ways or have him call upon Momo for assistance.

For his first heavy combo Appa will bend forward as Momo throws sharp objects on the ground in front of him, enemies will jump into the air upon stepping on the, which will then give Appa an opportunity to juggle them via more headbutts.

Then as his second heavy combo, Appa will roll to his left and right, squishing enemies unlucky enough to be near him.

The third heavy combo of Appa’s moveset will have Momo begin to throw various fruits at all directions around him to hit enemies in the face.

Appa’s fourth heavy combo will have him turn around and slam his tail to the ground, sending a huge burst of air flying toward enemies.

Finally, for his fifth heavy combo Appa will bite at an enemy for devastating damage before tossing them away in a random direction.

Appa’s musou attack will have him roar at enemies, causing a large burst of air to blow them away and damage them.

The first attack skill of Appa and Momo’s moveset will see Momo jump off of Appa and begin slashing at enemies with a stolen pirate sword before returning to Appa

As a second attack skill Appa will briefly fly into the air before slamming down on the ground, crushing enemies with his stomach

Finally, for his fifth attack skill Appa will lick enemies in front of him. Both grossing them out and damaging them.


Character 9: The Swamp Monster



Yes, you read that right. Next up we’ve got what is easily the weirdest pick I decided on for this roster: The Swamp Monster from season 2. This thing terrorized the gang for a single episode before it was revealed that it was actually just a bunch of plants being controlled by some Waterbenders, or rather, Swampbenders.

I love the idea of the Swamp Monster and while he 100% wouldn’t be on the roster if we needed to split this between The Last Airbender and Korra, since I’ve limited myself to only The Last Airbender we have plenty of room for him!

The Swamp Monster will be easily the slowest character on the roster but his arms will reach long distances and hit like a truck, making him a super satisfying character. For it’s light attack the Swamp Monster will merely slam its arms down on the ground while it’s heavy combos will involve it attacking in other ways.

For its first heavy combo the Swamp Monster will reach its arms below enemies before quickly pulling up and launching them all into the air.

As a second heavy combo the Swamp Monster will swing its arms to its left and right as it steps forward, knocking away enemies.

For its third heavy combo the Swamp Monster will stick its arms into the ground as massive vines appear all around it, striking at enemies.

The fourth heavy combo of the Swamp Monster’s moveset will have it reach out one of its arms and extend it, slamming various the vines and branches that make up the arm into enemies before returning its arm to normal.

Finally for its fifth heavy combo the Swamp Monster will grab a grab of enemies and lift them into the air before slamming them down on the ground for massive damage.

The Swamp Monster’s musou attack skill have it spread all over the battlefield, briefly making the entire field a swamp that begins to attack all enemies before everything returns to normal.

For the Swamp Monster’s attack skills it will call upon the other two swamp benders for assistance. Such as for its first attack skill where the two swamp Benders will run past the Swamp Monster in their boats, going so fast that the water is working on land.

The Swamp Monster’s second attack skill will have the Swamp Benders appear and hold enemies in front of the monster still so it can have an easier time attacking them.

Finally, as a third attack skill the Swamp Monster will call the swamp benders who will begin to rapidly waterbend and launch several razor sharp waves of water at enemies in quick succession.

Character 10: King Bumi



Next up on the roster we’ve got our second old man, or third if you count the man inside the Swamp Monster. King Bumi is an odd character who tended to only show up once per season, but whenever he did show up he made a large impression and became one of the most memorable characters in the show. He’s also one of the most powerful earthbenders we have ever seen, securing his placement on my roster.

Gameplay wise I imagine Bumi being a faster version of Toph but with significantly more ranged attacks. See, while Bumi is absolutely ripped in most of his fight scenes he actually stays pretty far from his opponents, preferring to throw pillars of rocks. So we’re going to stick to that and make him our completely ranged character of the roster. A bow user but instead of a bow he’s throwing rocks.

Bumi’s light attacks will have him stomp on the ground and consistently send three rocks flying in different directions around him while his heavy combos will have him create rock pillars and earthquakes which he’ll use to deal greater damage to enemies.

For his first heavy combo, Bumi will stomp on the ground and cause it to crack, these cracks will then explode and send enemies into the sky where he can begin to launch rocks at them.

As a second heavy combo, Bumi will stomp and suddenly two large rocks walls will appear and begin to close in on him, both damaging enemies and pushing them closer to him.

Bumi’s third heavy combo will have him surrounded himself with rock pillars before kicking the pillars and launching them in various directions.

The fourth heavy combo of Bumi’s moveset will have him raise his arms and have six rock pillars launch from the ground behind him before they all land on enemies in front of him.

Finally, for his fifth heavy combo Bumi will create a large rock pillar and slowly push it forward, heavily damaging any enemy it touches.

Bumi’s musou attack will have him drop three entire houses on enemies all around him, crushing the enemies and turning the houses to dust in the process.

As a first attack skill Bumi will bite a rock and suddenly enemies around him will begin to be engulfed by crystals similar to how Sokka and Katara were, holding them in place so Bumi can attack them.

Bumi’s second attack skill will have him raise several of Omashu’s delivery carts from the ground and throw them at enemies.

Finally, for his third attack skill Bumi will stand back as a conspicuously placed cart of cabbages rolls across the battlefield, crushing enemies.

Character 11: The Blue Spirit



Okay, this may seem like an extremely odd pick but hear me out. When we crafted Zuko’s moveset we focused entirely on firebending, and while that’s all well and good there is another factor of his fighting style we completely neglected: sword-play! Yes, throughout the first and second season of the show there are many occasions where Zuko uses a sword to fight as he wants to hide his identity.

In order to properly represent this era of Zuko we will add the Blue Spirit as an alternate Zuko on the roster. The Blue Spirit’s light and heavy attacks will all be fancy swordplay and while I want to avoid overusing bending in his moveset we may throw in a few firebending techniques.

As a first heavy combo the Blue Spirit will take one step forward while swinging its sword upward to launch enemies into the air before taking another step to slice at them again.

Then as a second heavy combo we will simply have the Blue Spirit slash his swords to his side, not every attack needs to be flashy.

The third heavy combo of the Blue Spirit’s moveset will see him slice once in front of him before performing a spinning slash to harm a wide range of enemies.

For the Blue Spirit’s fourth heavy combo he’ll charge forward while launching fireballs from his swords.

Finally, as his fifth attack skill the Blue Spirit will put his two swords together and charge forward at a single enemy, stabbing them for massive damage.

The Blue Spirit’s musou attack will have him rapidly dash forward and perform a single sword slice at enemies, causing the screen to go black for a moment before another slice is heard and every enemy around the Blue Spirit takes massive damage.

For the Blue Spirit’s attack skills we’ll let him set his swords ablaze so he can have some form of firebending in his moveset. I don’t want to describe three separate attacks that will all amount to “He slashes enemies, but on fire” so please forgive my laziness.

Character 12: Jet



The next three characters on our roster are all going to be non-benders surprisingly. Even though a majority of characters in the show are Benders of some shape or form a lot of the memorable recurring characters can’t bend any element. Case in point: Jet!

Jet debuted as a villain of the week in the show’s first season but quickly went on to become one of the show’s most memorable characters during the Ba Sing Se storyline of the show’s second season. That, combined with his unique weapon, sealed his position on our roster.

Jet wields two hook blades which he frequently uses to pull enemies close to him in the show so he can quickly slash at them. That’s something we can easily take advantage of for this roster, for Jet’s light attacks he’ll simply slash at enemies in wide arcs with his blades while his heavy combos will all involve pulling enemies toward him in some form.

For his first heavy combo, Jet will knock some enemies into the air with his blades before grabbing them and spiking them back into the ground.

As a second heavy combo, Jet will grab an enemy by their legs with his right blade and toss them to his left into other enemies.

Then as a third heavy combo Jet will spin around with his blades, hooking onto many enemies and drawing them close to him.

Jet’s fourth heavy combo will have him grab two enemies with his blades and throw them forward into another group of enemies.

The fifth and final heavy combo of Jet’s moveset will have him pull an enemy toward him before slashing at their head for massive damage.

For his Musou attack, Jet will sit back and bite his straw as a flood appears in front of him and consumes his enemies before the water vanishes.

Jet’s attack skills will all follow a theme, calling upon his freedom fighters to help him fight enemies. For example, his first attack skill will have him call upon Longshot who will fire several rapid arrow shots at enemies.

For his second attack skill Jet will summon Pipsqueak, who will grab an enemy before spinning them and throwing them into a crowd.

Finally, for his third attack skill Jet will call upon Smellerbee who will trap enemies in front of Jet in net traps so Jet can attack them with ease.

Character 13: Mai



Up next we’ve got one of Azula’s two sidekicks and later love interest of Zuko: Mai! Mai is admittedly an odd pick for this roster as she doesn’t exactly have a lot of screen time in the show. However if we were to think of this roster from a game design perspective, having several characters who can be recurring stage enemies is typically a good idea for a musou game. So Mai gets to be on here.

Being a non-bender in the cast Mai of course gets a unique weapon to fight with: Throwing….arrows. yeah, at first I wanted to instinctively say she has throwing knives, but upon rewatching her fights in the show she sometimes throws knives but most of the time she is throwing arrows. It’s an odd choice but one we can work with.

Mai’s light attacks will have her slash at enemies with the arrows she keeps concealed in her sleeves while her heavy combos will have her throw various projectiles around in various ways.

For her first heavy combo Mai will perform a sweeping kick as arrows launch from her boots, shooting the feet of enemies and sending them into the air.

The second heavy combo of Mai’s moveset will have her jump into the air and rapidly throw arrows downward at enemies below her.

Mai’s third heavy combo will have her throw a spinning knife forward that will continuously ricochet off of enemies to damage a large amount of foes.

As a fourth heavy combo Mai will begin running forward toward enemies while constantly firing arrows at them.

Finally, for her fifth heavy combo Mai will spin around and throw arrows all around her.

Mai’s musou attack will have the camera move behind her shoulders and allow the player to aim her next arrow, which will be significantly stronger than her normal ones.

I’ll be completely honest, none of you want to read about three more attacks that will amount to throwing arrows. There are plenty of knife throwing movesets in actual Musou games that can give you an idea of how she’d play.

Character 14: Ty Lee



Next we’ve got a character who I probably could have left off the roster entirely but because I put Mai on here if I left Ty Lee off it would have looked weird. Like Mai, Ty Lee was part of the Azula trio throughout seasons 2 and 3 but unlike Mai she never really had any relevance beyond that.

From a gameplay perspective though Ty Lee offers something that no other character on the roster does: pure hand to hand combat. Every other non-bender on the roster has had boomerangs, fans, arrows, so many weapons! Ty Lee though will be fighting with pure martial arts, both her light attacks and heavy combos will be various punches, kicks, and pressure point pokes to incapacitate enemies. She will also be the fastest character in our roster by far as in the show she is portrayed as constantly out maneuvering enemies.

The first heavy combo of Ty Lee’s moveset will have her perform an upward angle palm thrusts to knock enemies into the air where she can then begin to juggle them with her light attacks.

As a second heavy combo Ty Lee will jump into the air and perform a split, kicking enemies to her left and right as she does.

Then as a third heavy combo Ty Lee will perform a spinning kick while jump forward, hitting enemies around and in front of her.

For her fourth heavy combo Ty Lee will cartwheel forward into enemies, kicking them as she moves.

Ty Lee’s fifth heavy combo will have her perform five rapid pressure point pokes on an enemy, dealing massive damage.

As a musou attack Ty Lee will jump into the air and grab onto a trapeze as the ground beneath her bursts to flame. Once the fire disappears she’ll land back on the ground.

For all of Ty Lee’s attack skills I want to follow a specific theme. Because she worked in a circus before joining up with Azula in the hunt for the Avatar she is constantly portrayed as loving and having a close relationship to animals. As such we will have each of her attack skills call upon a specific animal from the world of Avatar for assistance.

For her first attack skill Ty Lee will call upon a Mongoose Lizard to charge forward at enemies.

Ty Lee’s second attack skill will have her summon a Platypus Bear out of nowhere to rapidly scratch at enemies.

Finally, for her third attack skill Ty Lee will be assisted by a Saber-Tooth Moose Lion as it stampedes around her before vanishing.

Character 15: Azula



Second to last on the roster we’ve got Azula. While Ozai was the final foe the gang needed to face, Azula was easily the most prevalent threat throughout the series. She chased the gang all the way to the ends of the earth and constantly committed cruel acts on any who defied her. She absolutely needed to be on this roster.

Figuring out how Azula would play is relatively easy, unlike Zuko and Iroh who will be using calm firebending techniques Azula needs to be extremely aggressive and constantly moving forward as she attacks to close in for the kill. We will be pulling both from techniques she herself uses throughout the show as well as some season 1 Zuko moves. Like Zuko and Iroh her light attacks will also involve her doing some punches and kicks that create small bursts of flame.

As a first heavy combo, Azula will swing her arms upward to launch several thin streaks of fire at an upward angle, knocking enemies into the air.

Then as a second heavy combo Azula will hop into the air and perform a spinning kick that unleashes flame as enemies around her.

The third heavy combo of Azula’s moveset will have her jump higher into the air and launch a large stream of fire downward, spreading the fire to a wide range of enemies.

Azula’s fourth heavy combo will have her point her arms behind her to quickly propel herself forward with flames before turning one of her fists to her side and unleashing a huge torrent of flame at enemies.

Finally, as her fifth heavy combo Azula will unleash a quick combo of kicks on an enemy, launching fire from her feet with each kick for heavy damage.

For Azula’s musou attack there’s truly only one thing we can do. When activating the attack she’ll point two fingers forward at a group of enemies and launch a bolt of lightning that will explode on contact, devastating enemies.

For her first attack skill Azula will charge up a vertical spinning wheel of fire before launching it forward into a group of enemies.

Azula’s second heavy combo will have her perform a jumping kick forward while fire comes from her boots, burning any enemy she touches mid-kick.

Finally, as her third attack skill Azula will run in a circle around enemies while firing a constant stream of fire to burn through their health.



Character 16: Phoenix King Ozai



Our final character is the big bad of the show himself: Fire Lord Ozai! Ozai is not talked about nearly as much as the more active members of his family but most can acknowledge he was pretty cool when he actually did have screen time.

Being the fourth firebender in our roster you would expect Ozai to be hard to come up with unique attacks for, but you’d be wrong. In the final battle of the series we see Ozai do plenty of firebending techniques we have never seen before thanks to the power of Sozin’s Comet. There’s plenty to pull from here.

Unlike every other firebending who we had only conjure small bursts of fire in their light attacks, Phoenix King Ozai will constantly be blasting enemies with constant streams of fire from his arms and legs. His heavy attacks will similarly have very devastating animations. I want Ozai to come across as a true threat that far outclasses the rest of the roster.

As a first heavy combo, Ozai will perform a backflip while launching a steam of fire from his feet, whipping enemies caught in the flame up in the air with him where he can begin to air combo them.

Ozai’s second heavy combo will see him merely raise his arms to his sides before unleashing two large streams of fire to burn enemies and the earth itself around him.

For his third heavy combo Ozai will jump into the air and bunch the ground, causing a shockwave of fire to spread toward all enemies around him.

Then as a fourth heavy combo Ozai will boost himself forward at incredible speeds via fire coming from his feet as he launches a stream of fire from his hands.

Finally for his fifth heavy combo, Ozai will shoot a bolt of lightning toward a group of enemies. We may have made lightning Azula’s musou attack because her doing it was always a big deal, but Ozai does it effortlessly.

Ozai’s musou attack will see him jump into the air before unleashing extremely large streams of fire from his arms, legs, and even mouth at all surrounding enemies for devastating damage.

For his first attack skill Ozai will have several airships appear in the sky above him and begin to burn the earth and enemies around him.

Ozai’s second attack skill will have him begin to launch fire from his hand as he slowly walks forward toward enemies, this attack will keep going until either an enemy attacks him or if the player themselves interrupts it.

Finally, the last attack skill of Ozai’s moveset will have him launch four streams of fire in separate directions that all combine into one big explosion in front of him.

Conclusion

And there we have it! 16 characters from The Last Airbender all given their own Musou movesets. I was quite proud of most of the movesets we were able to come up with but I won’t deny that characters like Mai and the Blue Spirit were super difficult to come up with.

If you’re a Korra fan upset with me for excluding that whole series, please just wait a while. Korra won’t be my next Musou roster but I will eventually write a Korra Musou. For now though, feel free to head to the Make a Musou homepage and check out the other Musou rosters I have created!

3 thoughts on “Make a Musou: Last Airbender Musou”

  1. DLC Selections:

    Yeah, this was…hard. So, I think I’m going with the two canon picks and a guest again.

    Roku
    The Boulder
    Danny Phantom (Was it going to be any other Nickelodeon guest character?)

  2. I do love this list but I hope it’s okay if I make a few suggestions!

    1 – give Aang an alternate moveset where he’s in the Avatar state! I think it’d focus on wide, all encompassing attacks that you have to commit to, using all four elements (and his musou could involve energybending).

    2 – Add Wan Shi Tong, the owl spirit from the library. He’s one of the more memorable characters and could easily have a great moveset. And as a bonus – since he’s a spirit, and a bird at that, you could easily justify him having the airbender mechanic so Aang isn’t the only one on the roster!

    3 – Hama, the bloodbender, would be a great addition. She could focus on draining the vitality from enemies, maybe her musou could be controlling a group of them to fight on your side? I think there’s a lot you could do with bloodbending.

    4 – To up the number of earthbenders, I think the Boulder would be a good addition. You could give him a wrestling themed moveset, which would be super fun to play.

    5 – I know that adds a few more characters than you like to put in – one way to save space could maybe be to combine Ty Lee and Mai? They could fight as a duo, which would offer a lot more variance in their moveset (I imagine Ty Lee as being behind most of the light attacks, while Mai adds area denial to heavy combos?)

    Just some ideas that occurred to me as I read this article because I thought it was super cool. I really like your Musou articles!

Leave a Reply