Bending vs Nen vs Alchemy

Though it isn't anime, it's certainly misconstrued as such. Avatar The Last Airbender features Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors using the four elements: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire.

Meanwhile, Hunter X Hunter, has a spiritual energy system called Nen: built upon a series of stages known as Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu. Mastery of these four grants access to your aura, inner energy that can enhance strength, speed, dexterity, and imbue objects and techniques with mystical effects.

And elsewhere, Full Metal Alchemist weaponizes the concept of alchemy, with main characters Edward and Alphonse Elric inherently capable of producing alchemical effects/transmuting objects on the fly, along with several characters like Armstrong and Mustang who augment their fighting styles with alchemy.

While Alchemists arguably have access to Bending, you are only allowed access to the abilities that the characters from each series have shown, and resources available in our world:

• No Philosopher Stones... unless you're a misogynist or just greedy.
• No learning from ancient dragons.

You have to select a single type: Firebending or Earthbending, what kind of Nen user you are, or are a specific branch of alchemy. Despite copying one particular power set, there are limitations:

• You are not the Avatar.
• You cannot go and see the Gate of Truth.

Abilities are cordoned off as such. Benders in Avatar are capable of using their own sweat for elemental manipulation. Alchemists can't do that. Vice versa, Alchemists can transform their elements into unique, elegant weapons. Benders rarely do this. More examples:

• Toph can create armor using earth, Armstrong can create pivots
• Mustang can snap his fingers to cause explosions, Zuko can shoot jets of flame/fireballs from his hands.
  • Mustang is useless in the rain, Firebenders can generate fire on their own, rain or snow (fact: Zuko survives in arctic temperatures thanks to this).
• Alchemists create electricity only when they clap and activate alchemical circles, Firebenders like Azula can generate electricity.
• Alchemists can take almost anything and transmute it; Benders can only use their specific element.

Now, which power set you would prefer? Alchemy, Nen, or the Bending Arts?

edited 16th Jan '14 3:22:55 PM by FOFD

The limits of alchemy are your knowledge and imagination. Mustang not only overcame his weakness to water but actually used water to his advantage when fighting Lust. All he needs is an ignition. In the first few episodes we see Ed repair electronic components almost effortlessly. We see Al with his soul bonded to a suit of armor while his physical body is preserved at the gate. We see both Al and Ed create explosives on the fly and shape rock and metal in alarming detail. We see Hoenheim hold back a fusion blast.

Not sure about nen but Alchemy blows bending right out of the water in scale, versatility, and reliability.

And for the record I'd like to specialize in carbon manipulation. Just call me Bucky Fuller.

I'd pick nen, of course. You can devise your power however you like, with nen, as long as you're willing to put n the effort.

That's true only for those who saw da Truth or got their hands on the Stones, who can do stuff without Circles, and Mustang's brand of alchemy was developed and fine tuned for a whole lifetime before becoming practical. Alchemy takes HUGES ammounts of time and resources to develop, even rarer is to figure out combat applications.

The stones don't let you do stuff without circles, they just amp the power of any existing transaction. The main limitation of alchemy is and always has been that you have to draw a large and complicated circle for anything you want to do, which probably takes hours for anything useful and minutes even for simple things. Military use of alchemy relies entirely on pre-inscribed circles and generically useful effects. Roy's use of explosive gas is probably the most precise and powerful thing his world has ever seen, and basically reaches the limits of standard alchemy.

Nen is limited by only your imagination and effort. But it takes a lot of imagination and effort, making it probably impractical for your non-protagonist average person.

No, the stones do let you do stuff without circles. Tim Marcoh never used a transmutation circle when he was healing people with his Philosopher's Stone. Ed destroyed Kimblee's palm circles to incapacitate him, only to be foiled when Kimblee busts out his stashed Philosopher's Stone and make more explosions without them. Nobody in Fullmetal Alchemist needs to use a circle when they have a Philosopher's Stone on-hand. With a Philosopher's Stone, alchemists don't even need to make the motion Ed and Al do; the Stone lets them just will transactions to occur.

The Philosopher's Stone completely breaks the balance, and should probably be disqualified from the OP right along with being the Avatar.

edited 14th Jan '14 1:16:24 PM by TobiasDrake

To be honest I can't remember enough details to challenge that assertion, but I'll just note that that doesn't make any sense at all given the mechanics that the series establishes. And not just in a "this breaks the rules of alchemy" sense that you might expect from something forbidden, but rather a "this is stupid and makes no sense" sense.

edited 14th Jan '14 1:22:56 PM by Clarste