History Characters / TheLegendOfKorraAllies

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His over-protectiveness of Korra caused the creation of the compound that ended up hindering her spirituality, which was one of the main issues in Book One, and he almost got the Northern Tribe wiped out for going overboard on dealing with invaders twenty years prior, which resulted in his banishment. Both were somewhat justified. For the former, the Red Lotus had attempted to kidnap Korra after she was revealed as the Avatar. For the latter, his brother Unalaq set him up, but even if he didn't deal with the invaders, he'd still get banished for failing to protect his homeland's sacred forests.

* OpenMindedParent: ''[[ComicBook/TheLegendOfKorraTurfWars Turf Wars]]'' reveals he's fully supportive of Korra [[spoiler: and Asami's relationship, though he warns the two to tread carefully, as not everyone might not be as accepting of their relationship.]]

* RebuiltPedestal: Korra's opinion of him sours after she learns he was responsible for keeping her at the White Lotus compound and never shared the fact that he was exiled, causing her to think more highly of Unalaq. This is reversed when she learns Unalaq's true nature, though it doesn't change the fact that he still kept secrets from her, including another related to the Red Lotus kidnapping her, so it takes a bit of time for Korra to forgive him.

* IgnoredEnamoredUnderling: Zig Zagged. It's implied that the reason she put up with Varrick for so long is due to having a crush on him whilst he is ObliviouToLove and continually takes her for granted. However, in Season 4 [[spoiler:she betrays him due to his mistreatment of her and lists the ways in which he's made her suffer over the years. Whilst this was all a ruse to get closer to Kuvira it is implied that she drew on genuine feelings and it is enough to make Varrick undergo CharacterDevelopment. When they reunite he proposes to her.]]

* EvilVersusOblivion: At first it started out as EvilVsEvil with Unalaq, as Varrick's whole agenda was to start a war against him, and escalate it by planning false flag operations that blamed the Northern Water Tribe, so that planned war could increase his profits. However, once it was revealed that Unalaq was working for Vaatu, he had no idea that the war he tried to escalate would bring Republic City up against the spirit of darkness that seeks to bring about an apocalypse. As a result, Team Avatar was almost desperate for help from Varrick against Unalaq, even if Varrick used them for his own ends.

* BadassInCharge: The Leader of the United Forces and a bonafide badass. For example, during the Equalist ambush, he leaves his post to defiantly bend directly at the planes attacking and destroying his ship. He manages to down a few too.

* DisneyDeath: Blown out of the sky by P'Li. [[spoiler:He comes to a few hours later when a baby air bison licks him while he's hanging upside down from a little tree.]]

* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: His bald head allows him to sense an incoming attack from behind. Beforehand, he was despondent that he learned head-shaving was elective ''after'' having it done to him. After experiencing the benefits firsthand, he then tries to convince other air nomad recruits to go bald as well.

* BlowYouAway: They have the newfound ability (new to them, anyway) to airbend.

* BasementDweller: His mother urges him to join the other airbenders, but he refuses. And when he ''does'' finally get a job, he can't stand his own mother embarrassing him

* {{Foil}}:
** To Kuvira. Kuvira is efficient, austere, and worked hard to reach where she was. Wu is incompetent, foppish, and inherited the Earth Kingdom. It's not purely positive on Kuvira's side. Wu acknowledges his own shortcomings, accepts criticism from someone, and is respectful (in his own, foppish way) towards foreigners. While Kuvira is known to put dissidents and non-Earth Kingdom natives into re-education camps, reacts poorly to criticism, and can be condescending and smug towards others at times. Also, while Kuvira wanted to reunite the Earth Kingdom into one large Empire, Wu [[spoiler:eventually dissolves the monarchy and allows each state to govern itself]].

* IJustWantToHaveFriends: [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] with the way he acted with team avatar he want to befriend them but does not know how.

* NoSocialSkills: Wu show little in social que, thought he get better thought out the season.

* BasementDweller: His mother urges him to join the other airbenders, but he refuses.

* AbdicateTheThrone: [[spoiler: After Kuvira is defeated, Wu decides to dissolve the monarchy and allow the various states of the Earth Kingdom to govern themselves in hopes of transitioning into a republic similar to the UR.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: Subtle, but as the season progresses, he becomes a less selfish and more mature individual, which is cemented in the final three episodes where he actively helps with the evacuation process and [[spoiler: saves the evacuees from Kuvira's troops with a surprisingly clever plan by using Badgermoles to tunnel out of the city. By the time of Varrick's and Zhu Li's wedding, he decides to abdicate the throne, honestly believing that the Earth Kingdom would be better off dispensing with the notion of hereditary monarchy.]]

* TheHedonist: Initially. Wu loves to have fun and live the high life, unfazed and unconcerned about the responsibilities of being a ruler. He even admitted that he was okay with leaving the actual work to the ministers while he lives it up. He grows out of it as the season progresses.

* RebuiltPedestal: Korra's opinion of him sours after she learns he was responsible for keeping her at the White Lotus compound and never shared the fact that he was exiled, causing her to think more highly of Unalaq. This is reversed when she learns Unalaq's true nature, though Korra is still a little disappointed that he didn't tell her the real reason why she was kept at the compound.

* CharacterDevelopment: When Ryu first appeared, he was a lazy, BasementDweller who wanted nothing to do with the New Air Nation. But, by the end of Book 3, he officially joins. Three years later, Ryu now has a ''job'' and takes it seriously, though his coworkers still don't think too highly of him. In addition, Ryu is rather disgruntled at his parents visiting him. He then plays a minor, but vigorous role in the final battle against Kuvira.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: It's apparent that the other airbenders and even Korra (by evidence that she'd voice such an opinion in that context to Jinora and Opal) don't have the highest opinion of him after he joins the Air Nomads.

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: However, while he supports the Southern Water Tribe and Team Avatar, he's only helping out of self-interest and then it is shown he is still a shrewd and ruthless businessman by essentially scamming Asami out of her business.

* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Varrick didn't care much for Korra's cause and independence. [[OnlyInItForTheMoney He may be focused on making money off of the war]], but ''did'' want to claim retribution against Unalaq, so they had a common enemy.

** Making money off the civil war; does he care who wins? No. [[note]] This wouldn't have panned out in the long run with Vaatu's return, but he had no way of knowing that, which shot his plan down from the very begining. [[/note]]

* SkunkStripe: Tonraq's hair is either graying with age, or from the stress of being a head of state by Book Four (or both), as his temples are now gray.

* ThisMeansWar: His happy go lucky persona only goes so far. When his business is threatened, he's willing to go to extremes to protect his interests. He was behind Unalaq's assassination attempt after the latter closed the Southern Water Tribe harbors from traffic, and he still got his war. However, this became a huge mistake on his part. Unalaq's arrival gave him the opportunity to instigate a war make even more profit from it, yet he did not expect that Unalaq would release an evil that will destroy everything, which ultimately compromises his agenda.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: He even lampshades it when [[spoiler:his own conscious is telling him to stop working on the spirit vine tech instead of him focusing on all the money he could make]] something is very wrong with the situation.

** By sending his men to attack Unalaq, Varrick helped Unalaq find an excuse to screw over Tonraq, which almost got Tonraq killed, causing a chain of events that led to a civil war. In hindsight, though, he had Unalaq accurately pegged from the start. If anything, he merely sped up a confrontation that would have happened anyway, and in doing so kept Unalaq from consolidating his plans first. The worst part, though, is that Tonraq would've ended up in prison at the North Pole had it not been for Korra's intervention, and Unalaq's plans to unleashing apocalypse have been accelerated. It turns out that failing works out for him anyway, because
[[AllAccordingToPlan it was all part of the plan]]. Varrick still got his war, and his escape allows him to profit off it. On the other hand, if he ''had'' successfully captured or killed Unalaq, it would have diffused the plan to release Vaatu at a very early stage in the plot, but it would still provoke a war he can profit from.

** In "Day of the Colossus", he again shows that he's surprisingly clever when [[spoiler: He uses his singing to convince the Badgermoles to dig a tunnel out of the city and even fakes a TakeMeInstead moment to distract three of Kuvira's goons when they corner them.]]

** In "The Coronation", he shows that despite his ego, he can freely accept criticism. When Mako tells him that while Kuvira is no saint, he's just as unfit for the throne, rather than become angry and defensive, he actually agrees with Mako and admits that he probably wouldn't make a great ruler, stating that no one ever told it to him like that before. [[spoiler: this partially influences his decision to ultimately dissolve the monarchy and let the various states govern themselves.]]
** In "Operation Beifong, he shows some surprisingly quick thinking when he actually suggests that they evacuate the city in preperation for Kuvira's impending attack. Both Raiko and Mako praise this suggestion, though he freely admits it was just to impress Korra.