History Fanfic / AvatarOfVictory

** Inverted in that it turns out that the reason that humans can't be both Biotics and Benders at the same time is that [[spoiler: Biotics is a ''form'' of Bending, just not one that anyone knew about. And since Humans can't bend multiple elements (except the Avatar), you can either be a biotic or a bender but not both. In fact, Shepard's "Natural" bending state is that of biotics, and the reason that she was capable of using airbending is because she was the Avatar.]]

What this means for the universe besides Shepard being the Avatar is that Bending is a present and practiced phenomenon among all the races of the Citadel as well as the presence of spirits and certain other aspects of the Avatar universe. Interesting not just because of the crossover itself but because it shows an Avatar who is fundamentally broken and has spent most of her life (including parts of this story) making things worse for herself rather than the spiritual growth that we've seen the other Avatars go through. Fight scenes are excellent and detailed, with most enemies that Shepard faces being competent, and not just because some of them are better at bending then she is. Canon names being included in regard to humans actually ''does'' get explained, so don't let that throw you off.

It has a Spacebattles thread dedicated to its updates, available [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/avatar-of-victory-me-crossover.223851/ here.]]

** [[spoiler: As in MassEffect canon, despite starting from much nobler intentions, Weaver ultimately succumbs to indoctrination, though he accepts it and gracefully--more or less--bows out of action and sets Samsara/Phoenix on the path to self-destruction, rather than fighting to the bitter end against Shepard.]]

** When Jack is taken prisoner and has to escape from Phoenix in Book 3, she does so wearing an outfit similar, if not identical, to the one she pioneered in ''[[Franchise/MassEffect Mass Effect 2]]'', getting the trousers from a dead Phoenix trooper, and the belt from one of her (male) students (she had been gassed in the shower, leaving her naked by the time she was found by [[spoiler:Zia]]).

** RealityEnsues: However, powerful as it may be, Samsara's pockets aren't bottomless (unlike Cerberus…). [[spoiler: Resurrecting Shepard and reconstructing the Normandy (both massively-expensive projects)]] threw the organization into an immense debt, to the point that [[spoiler: Siwang Weaver had to fund the company with his own money for a short time and ask Shepard to pawn off any interesting stuff she found during her missions.]]

* NeverLiveItDown: In-Universe; Asha's ancestor, while a decent commander, accidentally got Avatar Hong killed. Her family has been considered jinxed since then, and her desire to be TheAtoner is part of the reason why she joins Shepard. It really doesn't help matters that Shepard died on Asha's watch as well…

* PlayingWithFire[=/=]KillItWithFire: Garrus finds out he's a firebender during the attack on the Citadel.

** During a conversation between Aethyta and Shepard, the former provides an old saying that is almost exactly [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWBlKy7SLdY Renegade Shepard's summarization of the Council Races]] in the second game[[note]]Which you can only access by talking to two grounded asari on the Citadel (the ones you need to give the forged IDs), which can only occur if you [[spoiler:let the Council die]] in the first game.[[/note]], except replace the last part's answer ("If you want a problem solved…") from "human" to "quarian".

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nccQAhN2Xu4&t=26s/Now In Audiobook form!]]

** When Jack is taken prisoner and has to escape from Phoenix in Book 3, she does so wearing an outfit similar, if not identical, to the one she pioneered in [[Franchise/MassEffect Mass Effect 2]].

* OhCrap: Shepard's reaction upon hearing that the seemingly numberless hordes of Geth that she was fighting throughout the first part of her mission... were only about five percent of ''all'' Geth.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Zaeed, who managed to destroy the prison ship ''Purgatory'' on his own (he took Jack's place in the recruiting process), but also managed to save all the people at the refinery... by accident.

* MakingASplash: Tali learns how to Waterbend [[spoiler: and is later revealed to have learned Bloodbending]].

** RealityEnsues: However, powerful as it may be, Samsara's pockets aren't bottomless (unlike Cerberus...). [[spoiler: Resurrecting Shepard and reconstructing the Normandy (both massively-expensive projects)]] threw the organization into an immense debt, to the point that [[spoiler: Siwang Weaver had to fund the company with his own money for a short time and ask Shepard to pawn off any interesting stuff she found during her missions.]]

* NeverLiveItDown: In-Universe; Asha's ancestor, while a decent commander, accidentally got Avatar Hong killed. Her family has been considered jinxed since then, and her desire to be TheAtoner is part of the reason why she joins Shepard. It really doesn't help matters that Shepard died on Asha's watch as well...

** Zaeed... is viewed as a barely-sane maniac who leaves a trail of devastation a mile wide. Even a Shepard who comes across as ''far'' more Renegade than the Avatar really should, who has ''Jack'' as a best friend, thinks that he's not worth taking on the mission.

* TokenHeroicOrc: In this case, token heroic Batarian [[spoiler: Balak ends up joining Shepard's team. They don't really like each other, but they are willing to set aside (most) of their differences if it gets the job done. Later, we learn ''why'' he's a token heroic batarian... or rather, we learn why ''the batarians are so bad to begin with.'']]

* DoingInTheWizard: Wan was the first Avatar[[spoiler:, but not the first ''human'' Avatar. Also, Vaatu was actually a Reaper super weapon and did not return every ten thousand years (Korra simplified it, taking a hyperbolic "ten thousand years"--akin to Wan Shi Tong's epithet He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things--as a literal, when the cycle operated on a far greater time scale).]]

* EarthAllAlong: [[spoiler: It turns out that the Earth that has been the center of the Alliance in this universe wasn't the first Earth... or the first humans. ''Omega'' is actually the remnants of the original Sol system, from billions of years ago, and that it was ''our'' earth, or something like it, that was the precursor race that kicked off the whole cycle. Unfortunately, they fell to shadowy spirits who formed the First Reaper, and scattered life across the galaxy.]]

** "[[DeadpanSnarker I've made]] [[{{Understatement}} a 'huge']] [[ThisIsGonnaSuck mistake.]]" Words spoken by Morinth after accidentally angering the Avatar into the Avatar state.

[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8099181/1/Avatar-of-Victory Avatar of Victory]] by James Golen is a crossover fanfic between [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender the obvious]] and ''Franchise/MassEffect'', a blend of the universes in question that has the Earth of A:TLA replacing the usual one.

** A little after the above, after bringing back a comatose Shepard due to prolonged Avatar State [[spoiler:out of rage that her sister Talitha was kidnapped by Phoenix]], [[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS2E7BeginningsPartOne just like Korra before her], Shepard is unable to remember who she is, to the horror of Talitha, Liara, Asha, and Erdeni. [[spoiler:And then it turns out she was faking it.]]

** [[spoiler: As in Mass Effect canon, despite starting from much nobler intentions, Weaver ultimately succumbs to indoctrination, though he accepts it and gracefully--more or less--bows out of action and sets Samsara/Phoenix on the path to self-destruction, rather than fighting to the bitter end against Shepard.]]

* GeneralFailure: Sajuuk... was not a good Avatar. At all. He alienated or killed almost all of his potential allies, causing the Protheans to lose the war to the Reapers, and died in disgrace a short time later. He makes [[JerkAss Javik]] seem reasonable in comparison. [[IHatePastMe Shepard makes a conscious effort not to be like him when this Cycle comes around]].

* [[spoiler: EarthAllAlong]]: [[spoiler: It turns out that the Earth that has been the center of the Alliance in this universe wasn't the first Earth... or the first humans. ''Omega'' is actually the remnants of the original Sol system, from billions of years ago, and that it was ''our'' earth, or something like it, that was the precursor race that kicked off the whole cycle. Unfortunately, they fell to shadowy spirits who formed the First Reaper, and scattered life across the galaxy.]]

* BerserkButton: [[TheVamp Morinth]] finds out the hard way, you do ''not'' mess with the Avatar's memories. Doing so results in UnstoppableRage.
** In general, messing with Shepard's loved ones. She goes into the Avatar State and lashes out at Traynor when she learns [[spoiler: her sister might have been kidnapped]].

* [[spoiler:AwfulTruth: The asari were originally created by the Reapers, to serve as a sleeper weapon they could MindControl en masse. Liara goes into a HeroicBSOD when she finds out. Javik even lampshades it afterwards.]]

*** However, even though they are now extinct, by far the most badass were the Nazara. How badass are they, you ask? ''They fought the Reapers to a standstill, and so far came closer than anyone else,'' '''''ever,''''' to ''defeating them outright.''

* {{Badass}}: Most of the characters, to some degree or another.
** AdaptationalBadass: While Grunt was already pretty strong, he was still a vanilla krogan in the source material- he was just a really strong krogan who hit things, "Perfect Krogan" genetics and upgrades nonwithstanding, especially given that the other krogan squadmate you had had previously (Wrex) was capable of doing biotics. This fic fixes this by making Grunt everything he was in the original, but also makes him a Shaman. In a world where spirits exist and have great influence on the real world, this means that he can go around obstacles that would normally be closed, bend beasts and spirits alike to his will, and even convince other people's weapons to backfire on them by communing with them, via a BadassFingerSnap. Oh, and he actually managed to do better than ''Wrex'' in the Rite- Wrex was the last to ''kill'' a Thresher Maw. Grunt... managed to ''tame'' a Maw, and can now summon it like it's a Pokemon. Many of Shepard's other teammates also qualify: Wrex is an earthbender with centuries of experience, Tali learns how to waterbend in addition to her engineering skills, and bending overall is becoming more and more widespread throughout the galaxy after humanity made contact.
** BadassArmy: Just as much as in canon, with the Raloi and even the ''Volus'' starting to qualify: the Volus have, after the Reaper invasion began, [[spoiler: started reverse-engineering the gun that killed the Derelict Reaper on which you found Legion in the original game for use against the Reapers]], and the Raloi are unparalleled snipers.

** BadassCrew: The Normandy's crew, naturally.
** BadassNormal: Asha al'Wahim, a non-bender who nevertheless keeps up with the Avatar.
*** EmpoweredBadassNormal: Garrus Vakarian. Spends the first book bemoaning that he wasn't a bender, only to find himself firebending during the Battle of the Citadel, and having no idea how. [[spoiler: Solana Vakarian, his sister, also permanently gains the ability to firebend, even after the Reaper-tech device that gave her her bending is removed.]]
** BadassPreacher: [[spoiler: Ka'hairal Balak. Also doubles as a BadassTeacher.]]
** BadassUnintentional: [[spoiler: Conrad Verner, who accidentally brings down criminal organizations. Ironic considering [[IJustWantToBeBadass his original aspirations]].]]

* BlowYouAway: Shepard's natural element, stunted after [[spoiler: she used it to kill a batarian..]].

** Shepard is nearly killed by several ''Krogan'' airbenders. Not so much because they were airbending, but because... well, the fact that Krogan Airbenders existed was extremely shocking for her and it caused her to hesitate.

** According to Thane, the hanar have a great deal of waterbenders, though we have yet to see one on screen.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In chapter 32, Shepard almost dies because a Krogan tries to use Airbending to take her out. The reason she nearly got killed, if Tali hadn't intervened? Shepard was honestly so amazed at the prospect of a ''Krogan Airbender'' that she couldn't help but stare.

-->'''Shepard''': Nope. This is all the room we have. [[{{Airplane}} And don't call me Shr-Li]].

** Liara names one geth [[GloriousShotgunPrincess Wuffles.]] It's not the same one, and is a mook who lasts all of three lines before he gets mowed down.