Who is the strongest combatant in the Avatar gang?

[Dragomir]

So, between Katara, Toph, and Zuko, who do you guys believe is the strongest? Excluding Aang and Sokka for obvious reasons. Only using their teenage versions. No comparisons between adult Zuko, Katara, and Toph.

Toph
-Master Earthbender if not the best Earthbender at only age 12.
-Literally invented metal-bending.

Zuko
-High mastery of dual-swordsmanship.
-Capable of redirecting lightning(not sure if he could generate it during the show), feats include redirecting his father's double-lightning strike, who was quite the strongest Firebender alive during the show. He legit could have killed his father right there.

-Exceptional Firebending skills.

Katara
-Undoubtedly the strongest Waterbender during the show.
Just watch this to see how her skills have developed.

-Can blood-bend during the full moon.

This is a comparison of ALL their skill sets, not just bending. That's why I included Zuko's swordsmanship.

This is honestly really tough to decide. A strong argument could be made for either one of them. If I really had to pick then I'd go with Toph. She legit invented a new sub-bending style and I feel like if all three of them were to fight, she'd win.

Some tags:
@Admiral Lee Hung @Fujishiro @TheAncientCenturion @Natalija @Veku @Seth
Feel free to tag anybody else that watched the show. That's all I know from the top of my head.

 

[Seth]

If anyone picks someone else than Zuko they are certified Hello Kitty fans.

 

[Light D Lamperouge]

 

[Calypso]

Katara just if she bloodbends.
Zuko.. i like him but he couldn't really beat Azula.

Toph> the rest of them.

 

[Chrono]

If you allow Katara to Blood Bend....then its Katara.

But otherwise Id say Toph. Earth is the best defensive element and has really high offence capability.

Not only that but I feel Toph is more versatile and quick. All she gotta do is shake the ground to make them lose their footing. Once they lose their footing....they cant bend elements that well.

Id say Zuko is the weakest. Unlike Water and Earth that can be created and moved around the opponent. The fire would need to come out of Zuko himself...

Meaning Katara and Toph definitely have the range advantage.

 

[Fujishiro]

Toph is the better of the 3, id think she would have a tough time with zuko but would prevail imo.

 

[Veku]

Tough lol.
When I think back of their fights, especially in Ba sing si, Zuko and Katara always seemed to be predestined to be fairly even (obviously also due to their elements being their counterparts), but Zuko's closed combat skills, also his agility are superior to her's.

Same goes for Toph and Katara, in S3 they seemed to be on par, with no one coming out on top...
Metal bending is a decent addition to her skillset, but also highly circumstancial.

If you rate them at their best it's Katara due to blood bending, though that's as circumstancial as it can get, so I'd put Zuko a little bit above Toph and Katara, since he's a decent swordsmen on top of his bending skills and physical superior to both.

 

[Lee Ba Shou]

What is interesting is that if we go by statements made by the creators,

Toph is the strongest Earthbender of all time (at least at her peak),

But Zuko is not the strongest Firebender of all time. That distinction falls to Ozai, and during TLA, Zuko never surpassed Azula. During Sozin's Comet when she was going on a power trip it's debatable but...I would still say Azula was overall stronger but Zuko was just far more composed and self-actualized lol.

As far as I'm concerned, Katara is not even in the discussion here. She is not weak, Katara is actually a very capable waterbender but I don't think she ever really compared to Zuko or Toph at their TLA peaks. Sure she captured Azula and all, but it was using trickery and her wits rather than outright strength/skill as a bender.

So it's between Toph and Zuko. And while Zuko is certainly my favorite TLA character, does that mean he is a better bender than Toph? Much of Zuko's life, he was considered a disappointment and not a very talented bender by his own father. He was overshadowed by Azula.

Zuko had the benefit of undergoing major character growth throughout the series and studied firebending under Iroh which helped him to become a prodigious bender, but Toph really was just completely overpowered as an earthbender for her entire life. Literally the only other Earthbender in the entire series that compares to her is Bumi, the freaking King of Omashu and the White Lotus' earthbender, the White Lotus who captured Ba Sing Se with like 6 dudes...and literally only Bumi is on Toph's level among all earthbenders lol.

So I would say although I certainly like Zuko more, Toph seems to be more talented.

 

[Veku]

As far as I'm concerned, Katara is not even in the discussion here. She is not weak, Katara is actually a very capable waterbender but I don't think she ever really compared to Zuko or Toph at their TLA peaks. Sure she captured Azula and all, but it was using trickery and her wits rather than outright strength/skill as a bender.

In S1 at the south pole, she has been said to be a oustanding waterbender when her master quickly ran out of stuff to teach her. I think he even said, she was his best student ever.
in S3, Hama said her bloodbending is even better than her's and bloodbending is pretty much the peak of waterbending and that was after Katara learned to suck out the water of air, another technique that seems to be quite rare.
in S2, Katara stalemated Zuko, though both got stronger in S3.
Also it's not really fair to rate Katara's showings against Azula, when Azula was buffed by Zosins comet.
In S2 for example Katara almost won against Azula, if not for Zuko intervening.
in S3 Toph and Katara fought each other and no one came up on top... Obviously just a short skirmish and nothing extremely serious, but it potentially shows the intention of the creators of the show.

I doub't there is a definitve answer to that question tbh.

 

[Zara]

Katara is the strongest. With bloodbending, Katara can defeat the entire the gang easily. Without blood bending (but with a healthy source of water), she can defeat Toph with high difficulty.

It’s blood bending Katara >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> normal amount of water Katara > Toph > Zuko > Katara with little water.

Re-watch Katara vs Azula at the end of season 2 where Katara was winning and Azuka had go be saved by Zuko, and the crazy shit Katara does during a full moon against Hama and on her trip with Zuko to realize just how power Katara really is.

Katara is the greatest prodigy in the series, everyone was taught bending from a very early age and Katara comes out of nowhere and becomes a water bending episode in 2 episodes.