The New Trilogy Gang as Benders
Given his history as a child soldier, it wasn’t as though Finn would’ve had any opportunity to properly know about his abilities. Certainly, the First Order could’ve arguably used benders, but given the risk involved, it just wasn’t worth it.
Airbenders are the most spiritually-invested in all the bending arts, which makes it somewhat similar to that of the Force (so long as you interpret it through the commonly-viewed faith-based allegory). Additionally, it appears that bending (or at least Airbending) can be exhibited later in life — much like how Finn’s Force sensitivity became evident in adulthood.
When it comes to actual combat, Airbending is both the most dynamic and yet the least notably fatal of the bunch: It relies mostly on the bender’s creative thinking to use the environment around them to produce more evasive and defensive movements over actual confrontation. Likewise, Finn isn’t especially fond of combat; he tries to avoid it when possible. In the event that he must participate, however, he is prone to rely on defensive motivations.
It’s easy to assume she’s more of an Earthbender but hear me out: As a Waterbender on an ironically-named backwater planet like Jakku, Rey would have next to no real opportunities to realize her actual potential. It’s a nice reflection of how Finn, also, grew up in an environment that deprived him of any knowledge about his heritage as a bender (which, in itself, is the bending equivalent of two Force-sensitive people growing up without any idea of who or what they are).
It also makes for an interesting commentary, given that water is the element of change and Rey is actually pretty stubborn: She waits for years on a planet for a family she knows will never come, yet can’t help but hope will just come anyway. But whether it’s fate or what, she will have to leave Jakku in search of her true path. A rock can stay in water all it likes, but eventually the water will wear it away.
Waterbending requires adaptability in its user, and predominately tends to use the opponent’s energies against them, much like how Rey was able to use the Force against opponents once she became aware of its existence within her. The focus of energy is a major component of Waterbending, which ties into Rey’s need to learn how to harness her own mental and emotional energies in order to become a proper wielder of the Force
Really, though, she’s more like the Avatar let’s be real here
While Poe is not a bender himself, he has always greatly admired the art of being able to harness an element. He understands that it takes a lot of skill and focus and finds it incredible to see his peers use their bending abilities for anything from fighting to simple tasks around the base.
However, he doesn’t feel much insecurity over his lack of ability, if any at all: He’s proud of the accomplishments he’s reached thus far. He used his creativity, confidence, and guts to get to where he is, and he constantly proves to be a profound leader regardless of whether or not he can’t bend anything other than a spoon!
This sort of tolerance and resilience has earned him the admiration and respect of all kinds of benders and non-benders in the Resistance.
If he could bend anything, though, he’d obviously want to be an Airbender.
It should be noted that while Rose is an Earthbender, she’s not an especially rehearsed one: It’s a bit hard to bend rocks or anything when you’re hardly on solid ground anymore.
Knows very, very limited Metalbending but refrains from using it too often because of her lack of experience with it. The equipment offers plenty of metal, yes, bit it’s not the sort of thing you really want to mess around with due to a number of hazards. Though I wouldn’t put it past her to carry around old nuts and bolts from finished repairs to use as little projectiles in case of emergency.
Earthbenders tend to be enduring and straightforward, while also requiring some patience due to the key technique relying on knowing when precisely to strike in combat. This suits Rose, in my opinion, given her lack of impulsivity in the face of danger. When it comes to other things, though, it’s up in the air.
Given that earth is the opposite to air, it’s fitting that Rose’s stern alliance to the Resistance is compared to Finn’s initial flightiness: She knows where she stands and will fight for it, whereas Finn is still uncertain as to how he fits into this or if he even should be involved at all. It’s Rose’s determination to see to it that the Resistance stays alive that inspires Finn to think of the bigger picture with more sense instead of acting out of personal impulse.
