History Characters / TheLegendOfKorraEnemies

!!This is a partial character sheet for ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. Visit [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorra here]] for the main character index. Subjective trope and audience reactions should go on the [[YMMV/TheLegendOfKorra YMMV page]].

[[foldercontrol]]

!!Equalists

[[folder:In General]]
[[quoteright:235:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/equalists-insigna_7815.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:235: "For too long, the bending elite of this city have forced non-benders to live as lower class citizens!"]]
A faction created by Amon in reaction to Bender criminals (particularly the Triads) abusing their power to pick on the non-benders. They serve as the major antagonists in Book 1.
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* AntiMagicalFaction: Or more accurately, Anti-Bending Faction.
* DirtyCommunists: A fantasy equivalent
* FantasticRacism: Their movement claims that the Benders are oppressing the non-benders of the city.
* {{Hypocrite}}: While Amon and Hiroshi Sato qualify for their own reasons, the Equalists as a whole qualify for the fact that despite saying benders are oppressors who abuse their powers on non-benders, they use their technology and Amon's abilities to do the same to benders and any non-bender not associated with them.
* MugglePower: The whole point of their existence.
* TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar: They make heavy use of the technology provided by Sato to make up for their lack of Bending.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Though they claimed to be the latter, they certainly had no problems kidnapping innocent children or blowing up a sports stadium full of people.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Amon]]
!Amon / Noatak
[[quoteright:332:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Amon_5948.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:332: "I am the solution."]]
->Voiced by Creator/SteveBlum

The leader of the Equalists and the primary antagonist of the first book. A man shrouded in mystery, Amon seeks to rid the world of benders and usher in a new era of equality. He seeks to destroy Korra, whose presence in Republic City threatens his anti-bender agenda.
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* TheAce: In many ways.
** Amon is exceptionally intelligent, proving himself capable of extraordinary strategic organization, and his challenge to the Council in "And the Winner Is..." is a near-flawless XanatosGambit, creating a situation in which it is nearly impossible for him not to advance.
** He's a charismatic public speaker, winning over huge numbers of non-benders to his side and inciting their distrust, all while playing himself up as a tragic and noble figure.
** He's a master of a dangerous martial-arts style that allows non-benders to challenge benders.
** And to top it all off, he's a prodigy waterbender--one of the strongest non-Avatar benders in the entire franchise--who can bloodbend with his mind, outside of a full moon.
* AccidentalPublicConfession: Non-verbal one. After being blasted out of a window into the ocean, he reflexively waterbends himself back out to avert drowning, exposing himself as a waterbender and washing off the paint used to fake a firebending scar.
* AmbiguouslyEvil: While Amon is unquestionably a villain, to what degree is another matter. After the reveal, his exact motives for his revolution are not made clear, though Tarrlok thinks Amon believed his own rhetoric.
** WordOfGod is that Tarrlok's assessment of Amon's motives is pretty close to the truth. He came to hate bending for what it did to his life and the lives of others, and wanted to eradicate it.
* AntiVillain:
** Wanting equality and to help lower class citizens isn't bad... but doing so by trying to eradicate bending is extreme. He only targets benders who use their abilities for evil, at least until he's built up enough support to get away with more ambiguous targets or full-on public servants. He has also told Korra to her face (while his men held her down) that the only reason she still has her bending is that he is saving her for later. For all purposes, he does appear to have a moral code. It's just that he is pragmatic enough to take more amoral or even outright immoral actions to see his plans come to fruition.
** It's revealed in the finale that he's actually Yakone's son and a bloodbender, and, according to Tarrlok, came to the conclusion that bending was the root of all evil due to his father's [[AbusiveParents abusiveness]]. The fact that bloodbending is known to get people DrunkOnTheDarkSide probably didn't hurt.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He prefers not to fight (see Pragmatic Villainy) but when he does, he almost never loses.
* {{Badass}}: Amon is high in the running for the most dangerous character (apart from spirits or the Avatar) in the entire franchise.
* BadassBaritone: He ''is'' voiced by Creator/SteveBlum.
* BadassBoast:
-->'''Tarrlok:''' [[WhatTheHellAreYou What... what are you?]]\\
'''Amon:''' I am the solution.
* BadassInCharge: He's the leader of the Equalist Movement, and more than a match for the Avatar herself.
* BadassLongcoat: A bit shorter than some other examples, but no less badass.
* BadPowersBadPeople: Zig-zagged. A WellIntentionedExtremist with the ability to take away people's bending. He's actually a [[BloodMagic bloodbender]], but he's a villain of the KnightTemplar flavor, so he's bad in a rather unorthodox way.
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: Tarrlok theorizes that while the Equalists philosophy was based on lies, Amon genuinely believes benders are the source of the world's woes. WordOfGod confirms that Amon indeed bought into his own rhetoric.
* BeyondTheImpossible: He is one of the greatest waterbenders alive, capable of using bloodbending (which was always thought to only be possible on the night of a full moon, when a waterbender's power is at its peak) in the middle of the day. In fact, he's so good, he doesn't even need to move his hands; Tarrlok calls this "[[ThoughtControlledPower psychic bloodbending]]."
* BigBad[=/=]ArcVillain: He is the main villain of Book 1, the leader of the Equalists, seeking to eliminate all Benders in the world.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Tarrlok claims he always looked out for him when they were kids. In "Out of the Past" he does the grunt work of taking Tarrlok to the truck himself while the Lieutenant and some mooks try to nab Korra. In the finale, Amon tells him he's all he has left in the world.
* BondVillainStupidity: Subverted. While he lets Korra go even though he has her completely at his mercy, he does so because taking her bending would only make her a martyr and damage his cause.
* BoomerangBigot: He's a bender himself, using bloodbending to nullify the powers of other benders.
* BreakingSpeech: He delivers one so effective and intimidating that Korra suffers a complete breakdown afterwards.
* CainAndAbel: Zigzagged. He takes away his brother's bending, but his brother ultimately kills him. And he still loves him regardless.
* TheCameo: During Korra's MushroomSamba in the Book 3 finale, Korra watches Zaheer's face morph into Amon's mask.
--> "I told you, Korra; the world doesn't need you anymore."
* TheChessmaster: His actions in episode 6 sealed his status as one and [[MagnificentBastard even more.]] See XanatosGambit below.
* ChildProdigy: By the age of 14, he was at least as good at bloodbending as his father, Yakone.
* CombatPragmatist: Uses ambushes, greater numbers, weapons the opposition has no defense against, and psychological warfare to lead the Equalists to victory. He also subtly uses bloodbending to gain the edge in fights with other benders without exposing himself.
* CoolMask: It resembles a [[http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Opera/color-yellow.html Chinese opera mask]], it has the spook factor of one.
* CrazyPrepared: The finale reveals that he wears fake firebending scars just in case a situation might arise where he'd have to show them. Too bad he didn't think to make them waterproof.
* CreepyMonotone: He maintains a level tone in all situations.
* CulturePolice: Desires to end pro-bending as means to end "bending worship".
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy:
** For the entire run of the season. In fact, his only important mistakes come up [[AccidentalPublicConfession due to survival instincts]] and [[LastOfHisKind a lack of experience]] with [[BlowYouAway airbenders]].
** When Korra challenges him to a one-on-one duel, he [[JustYouAndMeAndMyGuards ambushes her while she's alone with several Equalists for backup.]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast: According to [[UnreliableExpositor Amon himself]], he was a simple farm boy before his family was murdered and he was disfigured by a firebender. His true backstory is even darker.
* DarkMessiah: He's set himself up as a Messiah figure to the Equalist movement, and his ultimate goal is to replace the Avatar as the world's savior. Though the Equalists are not a religious movement, he does claim that his exceptional abilities were granted to him by the spirits that protect the world, and that it is his destiny to be the savior of non-benders by bringing them into balance with those who can (or could) bend.
* DeathGlare: Gives quite a potent one to Korra as seen in episode 4 when he confronts her underneath Aang's statue. It's especially notable since he can give quite a DeathGlare even behind that mask.
* DePower: He has the ability to strip people of their bending, which he accomplishes through the use of bloodbending. It's not clear exactly how this works, but it can't be healed even by the most skilled healers. Korra's energybending, however, can reverse the effect.
* DiabolicalMastermind: Amon is really good at manipulating others and organising a military movement.
%% Amon is not a DiscOneFinalBoss. That's when a character is set up as the BigBad, but there's actually someone higher. Amon is the BigBad of season one, and each season is a self-contained story. There is no one higher then Amon within his story arc.
* DissonantSerenity: The cargo bay of his [[CoolAirship zeppelin]] being filled with flame by Korra [[UnflinchingWalk doesn't even break his stride]]. He doesn't seem fazed by Tarrlok's bloodbending, and while he's affected he is able to push through and maintain his composure without faltering. The mask definitely helps with the effect.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: On ''multiple'' levels.
** His ideals parallel the development of Communism and Fascism, (particularly the former given the "equality" rhetoric) which rose to compete against the democracies of the early 20th century. His rhetoric also is reminiscent of the Taiping Rebellion, as he fashions himself as a messianic figure and tries to replace the Avatar. Besides, the way his followers cover their faces in ''And the Winner Is...'' and the way he argues for the complete reformation of the society kinda reminds one of Anarchist movements which were responsible for a lot of terrorist acts of middle XIX - early XX centuries in Europe, Russian Empire and other parts of the world.
** The way in which he blames "every war" on bending, after several episodes in which its spiritual side has been stressed by Tenzin, is uncannily similar to the misnomer that religion is the cause of over 90% of the world's wars.
** Ironically, he also has several aspects of fundamentalist evangelism to him: besides his supposed [[MissionFromGod "mission from the spirits"]], he lays down his hand on his victims' foreheads in order to "cleanse" them. More darkly yet, most of said victims end up with severe depression and loss of identity. Add in the British meaning of the word bender, [[CureYourGays and there you go]].
** The white version of his flag calls to mind Japan's history of ultra-nationalist, xenophobic anti-government terrorists, particularly just prior to the Meiji restoration and in the 1920's and 30's, the latter of which gave rise to the ImperialJapan of WorldWarTwo infamy.
** TheReveal has him appear as a BoomerangBigot and unintentionally echoing his father, Yakone, through his abuse of others. Aside from being an explicit case of him emulating his father, this is something often linked to children that are sexually abused.
* DontCreateAMartyr: It's the reason he doesn't take away Korra's bending when they meet for the first time. It would just make her a martyr for benders to rally behind.
* TheDreaded: He terrifies Korra to the point that she breaks down into tears after one confrontation with him, and his encounter with Bolin left the earthbender with nightmares for at least a week.
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: While his brother tried his best to swear off bloodbending, Amon took to it and embraced it. Tarrlok even comments that his brother seemed to enjoy having the power.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: He's a BadassNormal who claims to have gotten his powers through contact with the spirits. In fact, he's actually just an extremely skilled bloodbender.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He does seem to still love Tarrlok, although he rejected him when they were children.
* EvilCounterpart: He is established as one to the Avatar, a human given mysterious power by contact with the spirits, as opposed to the Avatar, who is the physical reincarnation of a NatureSpirit. After the reveal of his true origins, he becomes one to Korra herself. Both are benders of immense skill, both had fathers who were shamed, both fathers moved elsewhere to start a new life, and said fathers eventually ended up siring successors who would change the world. While Avatar Korra took it as her responsibility to bring balance to the world through her bending, due to her status as the Avatar, Amon believed he could bring balance by removing bending itself.
* EvilerThanThou: Amon ends up pulling this on every villain not working for him. Even Tarrlok can't compete.
* EvilSoundsDeep: What else would you expect from Creator/SteveBlum? Evil's as deep as the ocean.
* ExpressiveMask: On occasion, there are subtle illustration changes to the mouth on his mask and his eyes and tone do the rest.
* FamousLastWords: "I had almost forgotten the sound of my own name."
* FantasticRacism: Hates benders and seeks to get rid of bending altogether.
* TheFaceless: He wears a mask due to FacialHorror he received from a firebender. This turns out to be a lie, however.
* FacialHorror: He cites this as the reason he wears his mask, even revealing an impressive scar once he removes it. That turns out to be a lie, however, and the scar is fake. Underneath, he's actually [[http://minuiko.tumblr.com/post/25723337788/one-other-thing-it-kills-me-to-see-how-helpless good looking]].
* FatalFlaw: Amon's eventual downfall comes from one simple fact: although he is a [[TheChessmaster truly brilliant strategist]] whose schemes account for every eventuality he can think of, he has no ability to improvise and thus no fallbacks for eventualities he ''didn't'' think of, meaning Korra's airbending catches him completely off-guard at the worst possible moment and sinks his ''entire'' plan, mere moments from victory.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He plays up the idea that he's actually a nice guy just doing a dirty job. He [[WouldHurtAChild usually]] gives his victims the chance to fight for their bending, and he's quite polite when speaking, but he's still the leader of a terrorist organization seeking to create an upheaval against all benders and he's still crazy and wants to destroy all bending because his father was extremely abusive.
* FightsLikeANormal: His ability to remove bending isn't really immediately useful in a fight; he has to subdue his opponent using normal methods first. Subverted when we find out that he's actually been using psychic bloodbending to subtly influence the movements of his opponents, giving himself a edge in his fights.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Korra. His debending powers make him a sort of anti-Avatar. He styles himself in the same vein as an Avatar, claiming to be a savior sent by the spirits. He is a very calm, controlled individual who claims to be sent by the spirits, while Korra is a BoisterousBruiser who has ''major'' difficulty with the spiritual side of bending. Finally, it turns out they're both native waterbenders and bending [[ChildProdigy Child Prodigies]]. In a geographical sense, Korra was born and raised in the south pole while Amon originates in the north pole. Not to mention his young self looks strikingly like a male version of Korra.
** His fabricated backstory is similar to Mako and Bolin. They all had parents killed by a firebender. But while the brothers eventually learned to live with their loss, he took it in a completely [[FantasticRacism different direction.]] In reality, he is truly a Foil to Mako on a much deeper level. Mako is fiercely protective of his younger brother and protected him throughout their bad childhood, whilst Amon abandoned Tarrlok and left him to deal with their abusive father alone. Both are also very talented benders, and the more talented of their brothers, and Amon goes out of his way to compliment Mako on that front. Both are the TheStoic in their SiblingYinYang relationship to their more emotionally sensitive younger kin too. The fact that Amon lied about their similar-sounding backstory only drives the point home further that Mako is the anti-Amon.
* FreudianExcuse: His family getting killed by firebenders. Though that turns out to be a lie, he does have a real one courtesy of his father Yakone, who forced him and his brother into bloodbending.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He claims to have been a simple FarmBoy until his family was murdered. Now he's a DarkMessiah revolutionary trying to bring down bending and replace the Avatar. [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] in the finale with his real backstory. His father was Yakone, who fled Republic City after being depowered by Aang, who then raised Amon and Tarrlok as tools for revenge. No one knew about Yakone, but he nevertheless hails from more auspicious beginnings than he first claimed.
* FullCircleRevolution: When the Equalists took over Republic City, they proved themselves every bit as oppressive as the benders they rallied against.
* GeniusBruiser: Really good public speaker, social leader, and [[TheChessmaster master strategist]]; expert chi-blocker, prodigy waterbender and psychic bloodbender.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: An unusual case in that said color pattern is confined to his mask.
* GoodColorsEvilColors:
** His mask is white and gold, noble colors, which are his ''mask'' which he hides behind, his red circle on his head could be his "evil" ambitions poking through his veneer of righteousness, and the fact that this is surrounded by black seems to mean he is the one noble being surrounded by darkness "benders" his point of view.
** When viewed through the lens of [[http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-messages-meanings/color-around-the-globe/china-the-colorful-masks-of-the-chinese-opera.html Chinese opera]], Amon's mask takes on considerable symbolism. Its white/silver and gold color scheme immediately places the character in the realm of the mystic, with the gold/yellow coloration also playing into the character traits of treachery and ferociousness. The red circle on his forehead evokes a hint of Buddhist symbolism, referencing his spiritual connection, and also carries some connotations with intelligence and cleverness.
** White is the color of death in Asian cultures, which fits well with the symbolism often attributed to the WhiteMaskOfDoom. Red and gold are generally considered positive colors in Chinese culture, making their use [[LightIsNotGood ironic]] in this case.
** The gold on his mask can also be seen as green. Another [[http://atla-annotated.tumblr.com/post/19671786341/amons-mask-analyzed-through-beijing-opera analysis]] through that lens holds that the white symbolizes cunning, treachery, and craftiness, the green is violence and lack of self-restraint, and the red dot is both spirituality and the mocking of it.
* GoOutWithASmile: After losing Republic City and the Equalists, Amon decides to reclaim his old identity as Noatak and turn over a new leaf with Tarrlok, his long-lost brother. As they leave on a getaway boat, Noatak happily contemplates the new life they would build with each other as brothers, while Tarrlok silently decides to kill both of themselves as recompense for their past crimes and to halt their father's villainous legacy once and for all. From the driver's seat Noatak smiles as he muses on how he'd almost forgotten the sound of his own name and begins crying, perhaps [[DeathEqualsRedemption realizing and accepting]] what Tarrlok is about to do just before Tarrlok ignites the gas tank and detonates the boat.
* HeroKiller: More like Hero De-Bender. Anyone he can lay his hands on is effectively neutralized since they can no longer bend. His first confrontation with Korra also implies that he plans to kill her after taking away her bending, though that may have been poor use of the phrase "untimely demise" as a metaphor. He fully enters into this trope after de-bending Lin Beifong ''and'' Korra, though doing so to Korra ultimately backfired.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: In trying to eradicate benders as the source of the world's woes, he eventually became as bad as those he sought to eliminate.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: After TheReveal, his true motivations are never really addressed. His backstory implies he's either a KnightTemplar seeking to rid the world of bending because he sees it as the root of all evil, or was seeking to follow in his father's footsteps and take over Republic City. Though evidence is presented for both, WordOfGod eventually stated that Amon was indeed being truthful about his motivations.
* {{Hypocrite}}: He wants to get rid of benders for making non-benders live in terror, while his own strategy consists of doing exactly that. Not to mention that he's a [[BoomerangBigot a bender himself]], using bloodbending to fake spiritual powers. While Tarrlok thinks [[YouAreWhatYouHate Amon is none to proud of his powers]], he still uses them subtly to fight, rather than fighting like a BadassNormal. In the end, the Lieutenant is not at all happy to realize this.
* IAmTheNoun: "I am the ''solution''." Also printed on some of his posters, though that's a [[BilingualBonus Readers Of Chinese Bonus]].
* IcyBlueEyes: Once his mask comes off, Amon's eyes are revealed to be a light blue. Fitting, considering his cold, calculating personality and status as a waterbender.
* ImplacableMan: No matter what you throw at him, he won't stop coming.
* InTheHood: Wears a hooded robe.
* TheJuggernaut: When Tarrlok tries to use bloodbending on him, he just shrugs it off and keeps advancing. Turns out he was bloodbending himself.
* JustToyingWithThem: Amon makes a show out of tying up [[ElementalPowers bending]] members of a crime syndicate (and one of the heroes who got mixed up with them) and removing their powers in front of a huge crowd of [[AntimagicalFaction Equalist]] sympathizers. This trope comes into play when, as part of his show, Amon lets the crime boss loose and offers him the chance to fight to protect himself. It's all the more impressive when Amon wins. [[CurbStompBattle Rather easily]], in fact. It's later revealed he uses bloodbending to get them to move somewhat predictably without revealing his ability, making his defeat of them inevitable.
* JustYouMeAndMyGuards: How Amon eventually responds to Korra's mano-a-mano challenge to him. Could be justified because Tarrlok was supposed to have soldiers watching the fight, and Amon is GenreSavvy enough to suspect something like that.
* KarmicDeath: In the first season finale, Tarrlok, one of the individuals he de-bended, blows up their boat with an electric glove (a signature weapon of the organization that he founded). Tragic, but nevertheless karmic.
* KickTheDog: After his plans have advanced far enough that he doesn't need the good press anymore, he has no problem attacking benders who haven't done anything to deserve it. The Metalbending police, the entire Republic City Council (save Tenzin), the last airbenders (who escaped), and Lin Beifong. Not to mention bombing the crap out of Republic City. In the finale, he has benders lined up execution-style, captures Tenzin and his family to eliminate airbending altogether (despite the Air Acolytes being altogether peaceful, and Tenzin supporting non-bender rights more than anyone else), and attacks and possibly ''kills'' the Lieutenant when he finds out Amon is a bloodbender and makes a MookFaceTurn.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Invoked in his early targets for de-bending, since he wanted to portray himself as targeting benders using their power to oppress non-benders (the Triple Threat Triad, an organized crime syndicate, and the Wolfbats, who cheated their way into winning the pro-bending tournament). This is also why he refuses to de-bend Korra at first.
* KneelBeforeZod: Forces a pack of wolves to do this as a child with bloodbending.
* KnightOfCerebus: The first couple of episodes are relatively lighthearted and upbeat. Then Amon takes center-stage in the third episode and every episode proceeds to get darker and darker. In the end, Amon is the only major villain in the entire franchise who is not EVER used for laughs. Even Ozai, after he was defeated, was the butt of jokes from other characters. But even after his defeat, he still left enough of a mark on Korra that the season very nearly had a DownerEnding.
* KnightTemplar: Amon definitely invokes this in his rhetoric, and follows up rather well, rapidly escalating the stakes from vigilantism to terrorism to an open revolt which temporarily succeeds in deposing the government of Republic City.
* LightIsNotGood: Though Amon invokes certain heavenly archetypes with his [[GoldAndWhiteAreDivine white and gold]] sun mask, Egyptian sun god name, and [[MessianicArchetype possible mystical connections]], he's still the leader of a terrorist organization. He's a waterbender, and while a bloodbender, his method is essentially a reversal of [[HealingHands waterbending healing]], manipulating chi regardless. Thus, arguably WhiteMagic.
* LightningBruiser: Extremely agile and nimble fighter with the strength to take down even the most skilled benders with no sweat.
* MadeOfIron: Mako shot him in the chest with a bolt of lightning, several seconds long at that, and Amon ''walked it off''. Though Mako can fire non-lethal shots, there's no indication he intended this to be anything less than fatal.
* MageKiller: Not surprising, given that he's the leader of [[AntimagicalFaction the Equalists]].
* MalevolentMaskedMen: Like the lower-level Equalists, although they're GasMaskMooks and his is more of a traditional mask.
* MissionFromGod: He claims that he was chosen by the spirits to bring down bending and replace the Avatar.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: "Amon" has plenty of possible meanings.
** To start, it's the name of an [[EgyptianMythology Egyptian god]] and a [[ArsGoetia demon]]. In the case of the former, it is a borderline MeaningfulName as Amon ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS or Amun, Amen, et cetera]]) not only is associated with the unseen and mysteries, but also with the ''poor and the opressed''.
** The word or root "Amen" means "what is hidden", "what is not seen", "what cannot be seen" and the like.
** One of the worst Nazi criminals was [[Film/SchindlersList Amon Goeth]].
** [[http://masterarrowhead.tumblr.com/post/21546778935/hawkfeather-atla-annotated-energybending-a Amon is also the name of an acupuncture point on the back of the neck.]] Amon was shown pressing onto that point as well as the forehead.
** A fan [[http://atla-annotated.tumblr.com/post/21979689321/amon-is-the-answer-interesting-choice-of translated his name written in Chinese characters]]. 阿蒙. 'cover; ignorant; suffer.'
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Debending Korra ultimately only served to make her even stronger and upend his entire revolution.
* NoSell: When Tarrlok uses bloodbending to incapacitate his mooks, Amon shrugs it off. Even when Tarrlok redoubled his efforts, it just barely slowed Amon down. Since he can bloodbend with his mind, he was able to counteract Tarrlok's powers without moving.
* NotSoStoic:
** When he takes off his mask to "disprove" Korra's revelation of his backstory, Amon is suddenly much more enthusiastic and emotional in his speech. Considering that he was lying, it's most likely an act.
** Amon loses his composure after he inadvertently outs himself as a bender to his followers, and during his reunion with Tarrlok, is far more emotional than he had been up to that point, even shedding a tear just before dying.
* OddNameOut: While Yakone and Tarrlok have {{Meaningful Name}}s, Amon's real name is simply the name of a river.
* ObviouslyEvil: He looks pretty dang evil, but looking at him through the lens of Asian Culture (which Avatar takes heavy cues from), he looks a ''lot'' more evil. See GoodColorsEvilColors.
* PragmaticVillainy: When Korra challenges him to a duel, he has his mooks ambush her. Rather than remove her bending, however, he lets her go with a BreakingSpeech, reasoning that removing her bending now wold only serve to martyr her.
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: "It is time for you to be Equalized."
* PsychopathicManChild: In his final scenes he displays naivety and untoward optimism, shucking off his persona of Amon as if it was a disguise. He's incredibly cheerful for a defeated man and is seemingly giddy from the prospect of being with his little brother again, as if he and Tarrlok are two little schoolboys running away from home. He seems to think everything will be just fine, ignoring the fact that every facet of their identities were shaped so that a normal life would be improbable or even impossible. That said, his boat is suspiciously well-stocked with Equalist equipment, which suggests he had ulterior motives.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: He never does this personally, but quite a few of the Equalist powers depict him this way, probably for RuleOfDrama.
* RebelLeader: He is the leader of the anti-bending movement.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified: Once the Equalists took over, it's subverted.
* TheRunaway: In his ''real'' backstory, he fled from his abusive father.
* SelfDisposingVillain: A case where the hero isn't even aware of it. Korra never has the chance to take care of him, since he escapes. [[MurderSuicide Tarrlok takes care of that.]]
* ShadowArchetype: To Korra, as essentially the anti-Avatar. He's also one to Bolin and Mako, as they've all lost their parents to firebenders. However, Amon now wants to destroy all benders, while Bolin and Mako are making the best of their situation.
* SiblingYinYang: With Tarrlok. Amon's more calm, collected and is on the side of nonbenders. Tarrlok is more prone to anger and is firmly on the side of benders.
* SingleTear: Sheds one right before his death.
* TheSocialExpert: Amon can expertly predict what people will do and how best to exploit them.
* StrawHypocrite: Was speculated to be such after the reveal, being a waterbender who leads a crusade against bending while using bloodbending himself to both fight and remove other people's bending, but WordOfGod eventually stated that his anti-bending beliefs are sincere.
* TheStoic: Always calm and collected, even in the midst of battle.
* StrongerSibling: He's Tarrlok's.
* SuperPowerLottery: He's a master waterbender, can bloodbend without a full moon, and his control is such that he can remove bending from his victims.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: All of which come standard for members of the Water Tribes.
* TellMeHowYouFight: Tarrlok identifies Amon as his brother, despite Amon's appearance being concealed, by the distinctive feel of his bloodbending.
* ThisCannotBe: When he debends Korra only for her to use airbending against him.
* ThoughtControlledPower: His psychic bloodbending technique lets him paralyze people at a glance or subtlety control their movements during combat.
* TragicBigot: He claims that his parents were murdered and his face disfigured by a firebender when he was just a child, but that all turns out to be a lie. His real backstory is ''even more'' sympathetic. His father, Yakone, was an extremely [[AbusiveParents abusive parent]], and forced him and his brother Tarrlok to learn bloodbending so he could use them to exact revenge on Republic City and the Avatar. Ultimately, this mistreatment put Amon on the path to darkness. Eventually, when his father made him and his brother use bloodbending on each other, he turned on his father, and ran away from home, and it is implied that he was convinced that bending was evil.
* TragicVillain: In the finale, it's revealed that Amon is actually Tarrlok's older brother, Noatak. He and Tarrlok were forced by their [[AbusiveParents father]] Yakone to learn bloodbending, so that he could use them to exact vengeance on Republic City and the Avatar. After Yakone forced him and Tarrlok to use bloodbending on each other, Noatak turned on his father, incapacitated him with bloodbending, and ran away from home, taking up the identity of Amon years later. According to both Tarrlok and WordOfGod, he really and truly believed bending to be the root of all evil in the world, despite being a bender himself, though Tarrlok also implies Amon enjoyed the power bloodbending gave him. He wanted Tarrlok to run away with him, but Tarrlok didn't want to leave their mother behind. In the finale he's looking forward to a peaceful life with his brother. Apparently that's all he really wanted.
* {{Tykebomb}}: His father Yakone tried to turn him and his brother, Tarrlok, into this in a plot for revenge on Republic City and the Avatar. While he ''did'' turn on his father, he ultimately ended up fulfilling what Yakone wanted him to do anyway.
* TheUnfettered: He will eradicate bending by any means necessary.
* UnflinchingWalk:
** Pulls this off in the face of a fireball that blasts most of his {{Mooks}} away.
** Also, when up against Tarrlok, he walks through Tarrlok's attempt to bloodbending with only minimal flinching.
* UnreliableExpositor: His given backstory is a lie in order to gain support and sympathy.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Until his father forced him and his brother to learn bloodbending.
* VillainExitStageLeft: After being defeated and uncovered by Korra, Amon asks Tarrlok to escape together and rebuild a life as brothers. Tarrlok agrees, but has [[MurderSuicide ulterior motives]] for doing so.
* VillainHasAPoint: His talk about benders oppressing non-benders gained a lot more credence once Tarrlok took over. This was probably intentional on his part.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Invoked. His EvilPlan requires popular support, so he avoids actions that could negatively impact his reputation. While officially considered a terrorist, he has amassed a modest army, enough to threaten all of Republic City.
* VillainousBreakdown: After Korra manages to use airbending despite having been debended. He ''really'' gets this once he's not only unmasked, but his makeup to make him look scarred is washed off in the water, revealing him for what he really is.
* VillainousRescue: Rescues Korra from Tarrlok, though he didn't plan on letting her go free after taking down Tarrlok.
* VisionaryVillain: Though subject to much debate, Amon's goal truly was equality for all. He just got off message. Way way off message.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He wants to make the world more equal for non-benders, but to that end he'll go to some pretty extreme lengths. Despite being a bender himself, WordOfGod says Amon was indeed sincere about his goals, which his brother Tarrlok also points out.
* WhiteMaskOfDoom: The only known Equalist to have one.
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: He makes it clear that he could have easily taken away Korra's bending when he ambushed her. He also makes it clear that doing so would have made her into a martyr, which is why Korra will be the last to lose her bending, and then she will die.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: The abuse Amon suffered at his father's hands led him to bitterly despise bending, eventually leading a revolution intended to purge all bending from the world.
* WorldsStrongestMan: Described as one of the most powerful benders ''ever'', and certainly the strongest waterbender shown so far. He's possibly the strongest non-Avatar bender to ever live. The only thing ever shown to be able to break his psychic bloodbending is the [[SuperMode Avatar State]].
* WouldHitAGirl: He knocks Korra unconscious when he ambushes her.
* WouldHurtAChild: In the finale, he has captured Tenzin and his family and plans on debending them.
* XanatosGambit: Pulls one off in "And the Winner Is...". He makes [[DoNotAdjustYourSet a public demand over the radio]] that the city government shut down the Pro-Bending arena and cancel the championship match. If the pro-bending championships are not stopped, then he and the Equalists have an audience for the demonstration of their power and he gets to begin his war. If the tournament is canceled the government has given into Amon's demand and showed that it will not challenge him.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Lieutenant]]
!The Lieutenant
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Screen_Shot_2012-04-29_at_11_40_21_AM_7512.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"You benders need to understand... there's no place in this world for you anymore."]]
->Voiced by Creator/LanceHenriksen

Amon's second-in-command. Little is known about him, except that he believes quite strongly in the Equalist cause.
----
* AmbiguouslyEvil: While there's no doubt he's one of the bad guys, his reasons for doing the things he does remain unknown, as is whether he would qualify as a straight up villain or an AntiVillain.
* AmmunitionBackpack: Since it's a generator and he wields electrified weapons.
* AwesomeBackpack: He carries a power generator on his back to supply power for his weapons.
* {{Badass}}: He may get a lot of abuse, but it can't be denied that he's always back up and ready for a fight. He manages to curbstomp Bolin and Mako in their first fight. In episode 10, he manages to fight Lin to a standstill.
* BadassBaritone: Owing to his voice actor, he has a very cool, deep voice.
* BadassMoustache: It adds to his badass appearance, since he's a badass and has a moustache.
* BadassNormal: No bending abilities.
* BrokenPedestal: Let's just say that he didn't take learning the truth about Amon well.
* CoDragons: With Hiroshi Sato, both are Amon's right hand men.
* TheDeterminator: Always back up and ready for another fight, no matter how much of a beating he takes.
* DiminishingVillainThreat: He appears very threatening early on, soundly defeating Bolin and Mako in "The Revelation," but every time he is encountered thereafter, he is usually either attacking a helpless or outmatched opponent or he loses.
* TheDragon: Amon's primary right hand man, almost always at Amon's side, ready to dispatch or fight any benders that come their way.
* DualWielding: Electricfied kali sticks in both hands.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: He is just called the Lieutenant, by everyone up to and including Amon. Bolin, however, nicknames him Mustache Guy.
* EvilSoundsDeep: His voice actor, Lance Henriksen, has a very deep voice.
* GlassCannon: Very agile and deadly in combat. He hits as fast as lightning, and he's very powerful. However, he goes down after one hit.
* GogglesDoNothing: They don't seem to do very much.
* GoodHairEvilHair: He has a Fu Manchu mustache.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Asami once beat him by electrocuting him with his own weapon. Perhaps not coincidentally, this is the point where he stopped being a serious threat.
* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon: He wields a pair of electrified kali sticks, because his opponents are metalbending cops, and electricity works pretty well on all benders. The fact that an industrialized city like Republic City has conductive metal ''everywhere'' doesn't hurt, either.
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Starts to shade into this as the DiminishingVillainThreat kicks in. Poor guy can't do ''anything'' right.
* IronButtmonkey: No beating really seems to stop him.
* ItsPersonal: When Korra's trapped in a metal cage, he shows a certain satisfaction in getting to shock her unconscious as payback. Unfortunately for him, she was one step ahead.
** He also takes realizing that he'd been played by Amon pretty badly.
** Otherwise averted. It's suggested that he feels eradicating bending is a ''logical conclusion''.
* MadeOfIron: Has been sucker punched with a boulder, knocked off a building, blasted over a roof, and smashed into the ground from midair by a polar bear dog. And each time, he has dusted himself off and returned ready to fight again.
* MookFaceTurn: He turns on Amon when he finds out about his bending, though as usual he didn't do that well in the ensuing "fight".
* NobleTopEnforcer: While the Lieutenant comes off as sadistic and cruel, he truly believes in the Equalists' agenda and dedicated his life to it.
* NoNameGiven: He's just "the Lieutenant".
* NoPeripheralVision: Maybe it's the goggles, but the Lieutenant has had an unfortunate tendency to be taken out by surprise, typically by someone new showing up from behind or the side while he's fighting another opponent.
* PsychoElectro: While he is serious in wanting to end bending like all other Equalists, he seems to actually enjoy inflicting pain on benders with his electric arsenal a bit ''too much''.
* ShockAndAwe: Through his [[StaticStunGun electrified kali sticks]].
* SimpleStaff: Of the two handheld rod variety.
* SpannerInTheWorks: His [[CurbStompBattle "battle"]] with Amon gave Mako the time to muster up the energy to fire off his lightning.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: He actually doesn't look that bad unmasked. Seen [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5q76pCfDJ1qa7n5e.gif here]].
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He really did believe in Amon's message and felt that the world would be better off without bending. He was enraged when he saw that Amon was a liar and a fraud.
* TheWorfEffect: His role in a lot of episodes is essentially "Equalist more dangerous than a mook but less than Amon." Him being the only person in that niche means he shows up a lot to show things are serious, but the heroes can beat him without Amon suffering a loss.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Amon tries this after he walks in at a ''very'' inconvenient time. WordOfGod is that he survived, however.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Chi-blockers]]
!The Chi-blockers
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Chi_blockers_6466.jpg]]

The foot-soldiers of the Equalist cause, trained in chi-blocking to nullify the powers of benders.
----
* AirplaneArms: They use the further back, ninja-like variation.
* BadassArmy: BadassNormal GasMaskMooks trained specifically in a PressurePoint-striking fighting method designed to temporarily [[PowerNullifier disarm]] and [[TheParalyzer disable]] the wielders of ElementalPowers. Later armed with electric weapons that achieve similar effects to chi blocking without needing special training, and eventually equipped with heavy firepower in the form of mecha tanks, airships and bomber airplanes.
* BadassBiker: The chi blockers are excellent motorcyclists.
* BadassNormal: They completely dominate Korra and Mako in their first fight, due to clever use of their gadgets and their martial arts.
* CombatPragmatist: They take any advantage they can get. Aside from their grenades, they use bolas, tripwires, whips, and do not obey MookChivalry, for the most part.
* EliteMooks: They're an army of them. Even just a few of them can put up a hell of a fight against very powerful benders.
* EnemyMine: In the game, they fight alongside the Triple Triads under Hundun, partly because they were hired as mercenaries and partly because they were swayed by promises of equality.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Their figures show that more than a few are [[DarkActionGirl women]]. The ladies fight alongside the men. Also we can't be sure with their masks, but they seem to be non-benders from any of the three nations.
* GasMaskMooks: Since they use gas grenades, this is a necessary aspect of their outfit. Also helps when being knocked down by fartbending.
* KickTheDog: Electrocuting Shiro Shinobi, the announcer, who is a non-bender and wasn't fighting back.
** Using Bolos and attacking the non-bender communication-staff at the police station.
* KungFuProofMook: The Equalists' MiniMecha are made from platinum, metal so pure metalbenders are incapable of manipulating it.
* MageKiller: Their combat training specifically targets benders.
* MiniMecha: Their platinum mech-tanks.
* MookChivalry: Averted for most of the first book, but played straight in "Turning the Tides" when half a dozen stand still and let themselves be knocked over by a slow attack, and they back away when the Lieutenant fights Lin.
* {{Ninja}}: They seem to take loose inspiration, focusing on pragmatic fighting and using chi-blocking.
* TheParalyzer: Their blows cause temporary (and apparently painful) paralysis in addition to serving as a...
* PowerNullifier: Even after the paralysis wears off, a chi-blocker's strike will render their target temporarily unable to bend.
* PressurePoint: The centerpiece of their fighting style, featuring extremely rapid strikes.
* SamusIsAGirl: A minor variation; some of the chi-blockers are clearly women, but you [[FreezeFrameBonus have to be paying attention]].
* ShockAndAwe: A favored tactic of theirs, in various flavors:
** The less skilled among them use electricity-generating gloves. The ones in full attire never do.
** The MiniMecha have built in tasers and can fire bola disks which shock the recipient unconscious. This same weapon is used by hand occasionally.
* SmokeOut: They use grenades that release a greenish, slightly unpleasant gas to dissuade pursuers.
* TheVoiceless: They apparently use this as a psychological tactic, as their near-absolute silence in battle, communicating and coordinating only through gestures and reading each other's body motions, accentuate the inhumanity their faceless masks lend them. It's almost jarring when we hear them speak in episode 9 during unguarded moments.
* TheWorfEffect: In episode 10, several of them were quickly defeated by Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo. Granted, most of them had probably never fought an airbender before.
** They also easily lost to Asami.
* ZergRush: They performed this quite often, though also mixed smart tactics and gadgets with it, making them very dangerous. Probably the best example would be when they ambushed Korra with about two dozen attacking her at once.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Protester]]
!The Protester
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Screen_Shot_2012-04-29_at_11_27_37_AM_9261.png]]
->Voiced by Creator/CarlosAlazraqui

He's a protester who comes into the Republic City park to preach about Amon's ideals.
----

* AttentionWhore: He promotes the Equalists for this reason, according to the official website. He attempts to get said attention by taking the unpopular position on any given issue (in this case, bending rights). His parents were evidently supportive of benders.
* BackForTheFinale: He appears in the first episode or two, then disappears. He comes back in a brief scene later.
* BigWhat: He lets one out in the finale when Amon outs himself as being a waterbender.
* BullyingADragon: Invoked. He deliberately insults any benders that come by, because goading them into attacking him would prove his point.
* HotBloodedSideburns: Which also point to Fire Nation parentage.
* NoNameGiven: He's just "the protester".
* PlayingTheVictimCard: Enjoys goading benders, and when they are about to beat him up always shouts about how the benders are oppressing him and other non-benders. He does this at least once when Korra was about to beat him up so he'd tell her and Mako where Bolin might be after he was kidnapped by Chi-Blockers; but he's probably done it more than once.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hiroshi Sato]]
!Hiroshi Sato
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Screen_Shot_2012-04-28_at_3_49_17_PM_7077.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"So, I understand you're dirt poor!"]]
->Voiced by Creator/DanielDaeKim

Descended from the first Fire Nation colonists, Hiroshi came from a poor background but rocketed himself to riches through investment in and development of the consumer automobile (or the "satomobile"). His wife was murdered by a Firebender when Asami was young. Her murder prompted him to join the Equalists, as he believed they could make a better world for non-benders like himself and his daughter. He is responsible for their technological advantages, supplying them with taser gloves, weaponry, platinum MiniMecha tanks, and bipanes.
----
* AcePilot: He can pilot anything he makes, extremely well at that.
* ArchnemesisDad: To Asami.
* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:It's revealed in Book 4 when Asami comes to visit him in prison that he's deeply ashamed of his past crimes and how he tore their family apart, and now he truly wants to make amends. Though at first Asami is determined to never see him again, she reconsiders and does visit him again in prison, admitting that, while she's not sure if she can forgive him, she'd like to try.]]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Not so much in straight out hand-to-hand combat, but whenever he brings out a new weapon for the Equalists after being outed as their supporter, he's on the frontline, demonstrating their power personally.
* BeardOfSorrow: He's grown one in [[spoiler:Book 4 when Asami comes to visit him in prison, suggesting that he's deeply ashamed of his past crimes.]]
* BerserkButton: Do not say his actions would be condemned by his late wife. He ''will'' go off on you for that, even if you're his daughter.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: His true thoughts about Mako and Asami's relationship are downright hateful.
* BoomerangBigot: He is disgusted that Asami is dating a 'street rat', showing a surprising level of classism for someone who used to ''be'' as dirt poor as Mako, if not more so. Part of it is also the fact that Mako's a firebender, though.
** Much darker example; he's on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge for his wife's murder and will destroy everything in his way of bringing down the benders. This includes destroying her legacy and everything she held dear, including the daughter they had together.
* BrokenPedestal: Asami's idealized image of her father is shattered once she learns he's with the Equalists.
* BrutalHonesty: His second line in the series says it all, after asking Mako's opinion on the factory.
--> '''Hiroshi''': ''(To Mako)'' So, I understand you're dirt poor.
* TheBusCameBack: Hiroshi returns in Book 4, when Asami visits him in prison. The years have not been kind.
* CoDragons: With the Lieutenant, both are Amon's right hand men.
* CoolOldGuy: As a front.
* CoolPlane: He designed one.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: He supplies the Equalists with weapons on the side, then framed Cabbage Corp for manufacturing them after the Equalists first revealed their electrical weapons.
* CycleOfRevenge: His thirst for revenge at the death of his wife utterly consumed him to the point he finally tries to kill his ''own daughter'' and can't see the monster he's become.
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: While his intentions are arguably pure to begin with, his bitterness over his wife's death and his long-term association with the Equalists have left him incapable of seeing that his wife would never approve of what he's done in her name.
* DisproportionateRetribution: In response to the death of his wife, he intends to eradicate the world of all bending.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: His main concern while following Amon was to avenge the death of his wife, more than anything.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: A reason he was obsessed with eradicating benders as well as wanting to kill his own daughter was because he cannot comprehend the idea of someone not wanting revenge after what firebenders did to his wife, whom he insisted he still loved.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: For all his faults, his love for Asami is genuine. At least until he gives up on her in the Season 1 finale. [[spoiler:In season 4 it's revealed he still loves her dearly and is completely ashamed of what he's done to her. After long consideration, Asami decides to try to repair their relationship.]]
* EvilOldFolks: His choice in life led him here.
* EvilAllAlong: He sponsored the Fire Ferrets specifically with the intention of diverting suspicion away from him.
* EvilGenius: He is responsible for the Equalists's technological advantage.
* EvilGloating: Does this to General Iroh when he imprisons him
* EvilParentsWantGoodKids: The reason he kept his involvement with the Equalists secret from Asami. This backfires on him when he tries his WeCanRuleTogether speech.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: He keeps up his appearance in public. After he's revealed as an Equalist supporter, he gets knocked around inside one of his MiniMecha, messing up his hair and knocking off his glasses. The result is far more fitting for his new demeanor.
** [[spoiler:By the time he returns in season 4 his hair has gone completely gray, as fitting his thoroughly broken demeanor.]]
* FantasticRacism: He hates benders. A firebender took his wife, [[RunningGag and the loved ones of other characters]]. Too bad it never occurred to him that firebenders took the family of one of his enemies as well.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He is a kind, loving father with high standards for work but an empathy for the lower class. It is these characteristics which first hide his true side and then make him an excellent spokesman for the Equalists.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He used to be a dirt poor shoe shiner before someone gave him the funds necessary to build the first Satomobiles and found a vast industrial empire. Due to his wife's death, he went on to use his vast mechanical intelligence and newly acquired resources to build death machines for Amon and the Equalists, which probably killed dozens if not hundreds of innocent people as a result.
* GadgeteerGenius: Hiroshi is a brilliant man who was able to figure out how to mass produce automobiles to the point his name was in the idiom. He later designed the Equalist technology, from the small shock-gloves, to mecha-tanks made of a rare metal, and finally biplanes.
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: It seems being in prison for years has given Hiroshi time to reflect on his actions. When Asami visits him in prison in Book 4, he tells her that he deeply regrets his actions and understands that he will never be forgiven for them.]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: He cannot see he has become just as evil and dangerous as the firebending gang which took his wife. He is so far gone, he nearly [[OffingTheOffspring kills Asami]] in his rage. His time in prison manages to give him some perspective on that.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Was finally defeated and captured by his daughter using the anti-bending technology he designed and used to help the Equalists take over Republic City.
** When he originally had the main characters pinned, and offered his daughter to join him, she shocked him with the gauntlet he gave her.
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Built his company up from a small loan. [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Then it's revealed he's actually working for the Equalists.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: His hatred of benders stemmed from a firebender killing his wife, yet he tries to kill his own daughter for siding with benders against him and calling him out on dishonoring his wife.
* IgnoredEpiphany: Sure, he realized that he hurt his daughter, but he ignored the bigger picture behind it--he refused to see that his actions against benders were wrong, and doesn't even show any regret for losing what he cared the most due to his actions: his own family. [[spoiler: However, while in jail he has time to reconsider his actions and is able to at least get Asami to speak with him.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: His sponsorship for the Fire Ferrets was only a cover for his true motives, as well as his hatred.
* KnightOfCerebus: Especially when he reveals his true colors, and later when he wants to kill his own daughter, it is NOT played for laughs. When Asami thinks of him, she's more than ready to put him down once and for all.
* KnightTemplar: This is how he sees himself as he helps Amon bring in a new world order.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: Both his role as an Equalist supporter and weapons manufacturer and his incarceration are off-handedly mentioned several times in the following season.
* TheLostLenore: He deeply loved his wife, who was murdered by a firebender.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: Everything he did was for his daughter Asami and in the name of his wife, or rather, it started that way...
* MadScientist: When he wasn't an HonestCorporateExecutive.
* ManBehindTheMan: Not in the sense that he's the true mastermind behind the Equalists, but Hiroshi's financial and scientific support was key in turning the Equalists from a political movement with a charismatic leader into a regional military power capable of seizing Republic City and defeating the United Forces navy. Without him, the Equalists would be far less of a threat.
* MidSeasonTwist: When his Equalist associations come out into the open.
* MiniMecha: He designed them, and pilots one.
* {{Muggle}}: He is a non-bender but still politically and financially influential in Republic City, before he was outed as an Equalist.
* NeverMyFault: Asami, and to a lesser extent Mako and Bolin both call him out and implicitly point that he's responsible for much of the Equalists' atrocities, given that he made their weaponry that allowed them to succeed. For the most part however, all he does is simply blame his wife's death for them as well as blaming Asami for consorting with benders.
** In the Book 1 Finale, he does acknowledge that he hurt his daughter, but more so because he is aware that it bites him in the ass as opposed to feeling any remorse for his actions against benders.
** [[spoiler: Averted in Book 4 as he says it's his fault for ruining his family and their business]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He is a fantasy equivalent to Henry Ford, with some parallels to Japanese shipping magnate [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwasaki_Yataro Iwasaki Yataro]], who would later found Mitsubishi. Further parallels come up in his association with the Equalists. Ford was a notorious anti-Semite and Nazi sympathizer, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was one of the largest suppliers of military vehicles to ImperialJapan in WorldWarII. In Book 4, he strongly resembles Creator/HayaoMiyazaki.
* OffingTheOffspring: Was quite willing to go through with this in the depths of his hateful mania. Thankfully, a volley of boulders thwarted him.
* RagsToRiches: His back-story.
* {{Revenge}}: His main reason for joining the Equalists.
* RevengeBeforeReason: He hates benders enough to actually try to kill his own daughter for siding with them.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Double Subverted
* SelfMadeMan: Born to a poor family from the city's Dragon Flats district, he worked hard to make ends meet. His company, Future Industries, started out selling Satomobiles, the first cars marketed to the common man. By twenty-five, he'd made his first million yuans.
* ShockAndAwe: Designed and uses the Equalist chi-blocking lightning gloves.
* StartOfDarkness: His wife's murder.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: The way he was going to kill his daughter. Before Asami got into a mecha tank, he was going to go all out on her in one, showing no mercy or no regret.
* TragicBigot: An Agni Kai Gang firebender killed his wife 12 years ago.
* UnclePennybags: Agrees to sponsor the Fire Ferrets on the spot when told that they need the financial aid, the only condition being that they wear his logo. While it is arguably good press, especially if they win, he does it because he got his big start in the same way. It later turns out that he did so merely to deflect suspicion of any Equalist ties.
* UniversalDriversLicense: Justified since he designed and likely field tested the Equalist vehicles.
* VillainousBreakdown: He completely ''loses it'' when Asami tells him his wife would have condemned his actions in her name.
* VillainExitStageLeft: Defied by Asami. When all his plans have failed, and he's been beaten in a Mecha-Tank battle, he fires off his last grappling hook to distract her, and then he physically runs away. Asami hits him with a bolo.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: At first, though he's since been exposed.
* WalkingSpoiler: Initially, due to how big of a twist his villain status was when Book 1 was still fresh.
* WeCanRuleTogether: To Asami. It goes badly for him.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Perhaps moreso than Amon, he believes that the world would be a better place without benders. However, he has been slipping into selfishness as time went on.
* WickedCultured
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Well, considering the loss of his beloved wife was the main reason why he's a hate-filled wreck right now, he applies. However, given his attitude and downright spiteful actions towards people who did nothing to him, this can fall flat.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: He tries pulling this in the Season 1 finale, on Asami.
* [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Wife]]: His original motive for joining the Equalists and overthrowing the government before his hatred for benders consumed him.
* YouMonster: Asami's final reaction to Hiroshi. Even attacking him in retaliation fails to get thorough to him, thus proving he is far beyond redemption.
[[/folder]]

!!Politicians

[[folder:Tarrlok]]
!Tarrlok
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Screen_Shot_2012-04-28_at_3_33_24_PM_2946.png]]
-> Voiced by Creator/DeeBradleyBaker

A member of the United Republic Council, representing the Northern Water Tribe. Ambitious and manipulative, he is Tenzin's primary political rival.
----
* {{Ambadassador}}: For the Northern Water Tribe, and can fight Korra on equal terms.
* AntiVillain: Initially, once he's revealed as a BitchInSheepsClothing, he appears to be a straight up villain. However, in the first half of the finale, when Korra and Mako find him locked up on Air Temple Island, he reveals his backstory, which is exceedingly tragic. It was established in episode 8 that he was Yakone's son, and, it turned out that Yakone was an [[AbusiveParents absolutely terrible father]]. See TragicVillain for more.
* AssInAmbassador: He has his own agenda and will be a pain to everyone, use every fault or failure he can find to make them bend to his will. And if they do not bend, he will break them.
* TheAtoner: He realises that what he was doing was wrong, and he became the very weapon against the Avatar his father wanted him to be. In repentance, he tells Korra the truth about Amon, and later kills both himself and his brother as his brother tries to escape the city with him.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He is the Northern Water Tribe's council representative, and one of the most powerful waterbenders ever shown onscreen in either series. If Korra weren't the Avatar, he probably could have beaten her in a straight fight. Since Korra has multiple elements to bend, he's forced to fall back on his bloodbending once she deprives him of a water source.
* BadassBureaucrat: His manners at the council suggest a DeskJockey, but he quickly proves to be a competent martial organizer.
* BadPowersBadPeople: He's a particularly evil bloodbender, just like his father. However, subverted in his backstory. He was a kind-hearted kid who ''hated'' blood-bending, and tried his best not to use it. However, his father's manipulations and his own desperation made him the very thing he hated.
* BerserkButton: Hearing he was ''just as bad as'' '''Amon''' did not go well with him. Becomes HarsherInHindsight when they're revealed to be brothers, a fact even Tarrlok wasn't aware of at the time.
* BigBadWannabe: He tries to [[BigBadEnsemble stand on equal grounds with Amon]], but ultimately he cannot.
* BigGood: Subverted. He at first appears to be the leader of all the good guys in opposing Amon, but it's a stretch to call him a good person. It soon becomes clear that he has his own agenda.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: To the public, he's considered a fair-minded and likable guy. Behind closed doors, well...
* BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins: Heavily {{Downplayed| Trope}}; the most prominent signifier of his roots is his elaborately triple tailed, beaded hair.
* BreakTheCutie: He used to be a sweet child, but was put through hell when Yakone made him learn bloodbending. He felt the pain of the animals he was forced into practicing on, saw his brother's StartOfDarkness, and was a wreck by the time Yakone passed away.
* CainAndAbel: Zig-zagged. His brother takes away his bending, but he ultimately ends up killing both himself and his brother.
* CharacterDevelopment: It comes late, but it's potent. And [[TearJerker really sad]]. After being forced to use bloodbending, having his bending taken by Amon, then learning that Amon is actually his brother, Tarrlok becomes a lot less self-serving. In his final moments, he seems to have gotten some perspective on his and Amon's actions. While Amon decides to run away with Tarrlok, believing they could turn over a new leaf and live as a family, Tarrlok is much more realistic and skeptical. Instead, he decides to repent for his and Amon's actions and prevent further damage. Tarrlok blows their boat up and ends both their lives and legacies, even as his brother smiles over thoughts of their new life.
* ChekhovsGunman: Makes a brief appearance in a newspaper photo in episode 2.
* TheChessmaster: He frames the Equalists for kidnapping Korra, planting appropriate evidence and ''electrocuting himself'' to make it stick. He also sends Tenzin and Lin on a SnipeHunt for Korra while he's at it.
* ClaspYourHandsIfYouDeceive: Steeples his fingers over his desk when Korra confronts him in his office.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience[=/=]GoodColorsEvilColors: His clothes are the [[BrightIsNotGood palest]] shade of blue among waterbenders seen in the Avatarverse, almost silver in tone, [[LightIsNotGood which fits well]] with his BitchInSheepsClothing personality.
* CompositeCharacter: WordOfGod is that Tarrlok was intended as a cross between Azula and Long Feng from the previous series.
* ControlFreak: Especially evident in how frustrated he gets at Korra when she leaves his task force.
* CorruptPolitician: He browbeats the Council into going along with his plans, all of which only serve to make him more powerful.
* TheDandy: He is mocked by Ikki for "smelling like a lady" when he joins Tenzin's family for dinner.
** AgentPeacock: He wears nice clothing and has such pretty hair. And he is one of the strongest waterbenders of the age.
* DeathByFlashback: Before his MurderSuicide, the audience gets to learn about his past.
* DePower: And [[KickTheSonOfABitch richly deserved]] at the time.
* DevilInPlainSight: As everyone panics over Amon, they ignore the ambitious, amoral politician who's been using that threat to further his own agenda.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** His actions of arresting non-benders under the pretense of them being Equalists, simply because they were protesting having their power cut off, are highly reminiscent of Joseph [=McCarthy=] and the Communist phobia (or Red Scare) that infected North America during the 1950's.
** His rise to power mirrors that of Mussolini and to a lesser extent [[GodwinsLaw Hitler]], persuading the democratic and monarchic power structures to give him more and more power, supposedly in order to counter the threat of the Equalists/Communists.
* [[DrivenToSuicide Driven to]] MurderSuicide: He kills both himself and his brother by blowing up the boat they're in.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: He's genuinely fond of his mother. His concern for her is the reason he didn't run away with his brother.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: He may be using the Equalist threat to advance his goals, but he's genuinely disgusted by Amon. He also considers Yakone's methods to be beneath him. Of course, he will cross these lines if his patience is tested.
* EvilAllAlong: His goal was to use the Equalist threat to become a legitimate sole ruler over Republic City.
* EvilOverlord: By all accounts, Tarrlok's in charge of Republic City, with the police in his pocket and the rest of the Council (sans Tenzin) being his [[YesMan Yes Men and Woman]], which was his goal all along. Then the Council learns he's a bloodbender. Then Amon debends him.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Much like Hiroshi, his meticulously coiffed hairdo is disheveled after his revelation as a bona fide villain and a tangle with Korra, which he won only because of [[PeoplePuppets bloodbending]]. He is far less unkempt when speaking to the police, even though he's pretending to have been attacked by the Equalists, only further emphasizing this trope.
* FallenHero: He could have been a good man. A great one even. However, his pride blinded him to the fact he had become just like his father and a scourge to Republic City.
* FamousLastWords: "It will be just like the good old days."
* FauxAffablyEvil: Whenever he seems to act polite, it's usually accompanied with a smug voice tone, so take his "friendliness" with a grain of salt.
** From the DeathGlare Tenzin got from Pema when Tarrlok invites himself to their home for dinner (due to [[SacredHospitality airbenders never turning away a hungry guest]]) in "The Voice in the Night", it appears that not even ''Pema'' likes him.
* FreudianExcuse: He was trained by Yakone to take over the Republic City.
* FriendlyEnemy: While he and and Korra are nominally on the same side, he has an almost inhuman patience for her flouting the law and undermining his efforts. He also has an open offer of re-employment for Korra in his task force after the arena was closed. All this despite having pressured Korra into joining him for his own efforts near their first meeting. He's later shown to be more "enemy" and less "friendly" in episode 8.
** May also count as PragmaticVillainy.
* GeneralRipper: Evident when he shuts off the power in the Dragon Flats District, drawing many innocent non-benders out of their homes, only to brand them as an Equalist rally and arrest them all. The causes and reasons for his treacherous actions are magnified after we learn his past of being subjected to his own father's treachery. Tarrlok needed an excuse to exercise the might of Republic City, and made the Equalists his Enemy X.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Subverted, as he was always a villain, and his excessive actions are just him trying to exert more control over the city. He never had decent intentions and he uses the fight against the Equalists as an excuse for his own ends.
* HeelRealization: After losing his bending and learning that Amon is his brother, he realizes that he had become the very thing his father wanted, which he had been trying to avoid.
* HeroicSacrifice: At the end of the first season finale.
* IAmNotLeftHanded: Who needs water when you've got blood?
* IAmNotMyFather: While they were both bloodbenders, Yakone ruled the underbelly of the city as a crime lord, and Tarrlok believes that's why he failed. Tarrlok decided to take Republic City as a sleazy politician, instead.
* AnIcePerson[=/=]MakingASplash: He's a waterbender.
* InTheBlood: The only thing separating Tarrlok from his dad is he chose to be a politician, not a crime lord.
* JerkassHasAPoint: It's practically his hat.
** In episode 4, Tarrlok is using his task force to score political points, but the Equalists ''are'' a [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized militant revolutionary group]] openly advocating the violent overthrow of their country's government and the extermination of bending. Some sort of official response is necessary to that existential threat and Tarrlok is the only council member offering a plan.
** In episode 7, Tarrlok's opening narration is politically self-serving yet accurate: the Equalists ''are'' warring on benders under the guise of fighting for equality, Chief Beifong ''did'' utterly fail to protect Republic City during the arena attack, and new leadership was needed for the police considering how ineffective Chief Beifong had proved against the Equalists. Lin herself even comes to agree with the latter two points.
** In episode 8, he brings up how Korra is only a "half-baked Avatar in training" because she has yet to master airbending. When Korra later barges into his place trying to intimidate him into releasing her friends, she accuses him of oppressing people exactly like Amon says benders do, and he points out that she's used force to oppress and intimidate people before, so in that respect they're NotSoDifferent.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: At first, it seems that Tarrlok wants to close down the Pro-Bending arena to spare innocent lives. But when Lin Beifong enters the picture, he realizes someone else can take the responsibility (and the rap) of others, thus relinquishing him from any blame if anything happened. Then, when Korra approaches him about abusing his power to arrest innocent civilians, he kidnaps her using bloodbending.
** Subverted in the finale, where he is genuinely repentant for everything he's done, having had time to reflect, and helps Korra unmask Amon then sacrifices himself to put an end to both Amon and Yakone's evil legacy.
* KnightTemplar: While personal paranoia is a major factor, Tarrlok definitely invokes this with his rhetoric, claiming that his actions are a righteous crusade against Amon. Though it's later revealed to be a front.
* LamarckWasRight: Inherited his father's extraordinary bloodbending talent.
* LaserGuidedKarma: He goes after everyone who isn't a bender, using a "if-you're-not-one-of-us-you're-against-us" philosophy. And then he gets reduced to a non-bender, himself.
* LetsGetDangerous: His demeanor makes him out to be just an AttentionWhore, but his waterbending isn't half bad. Then there's his bloodbending...
* LetNoCrisisGoToWaste[=/=]OpportunisticBastard: His entire crusade against the Equalists isn't really to protect the benders of Republic City; he's only taking advantage of the crisis to consolidate his own power.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: Whenever his hair is down.
* ManipulativeBastard: Very good at manipulating others into furthering his goals. Even knowing that he's up to something won't help you. Goes into the realm of [[PeoplePuppets physical]] manipulation, since he's a bloodbender.
* MeaningfulName: "Tarlock" is a name of Irish origin that means "instigator" or "abettor," which is certainly fitting for his status as a ManipulativeBastard.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Seems to have this feeling towards his crimes done after some time held by his brother. Leads to his RedemptionEqualsDeath. It also happens to a lesser extent after bloodbending a group of people in episode 9. Two episodes later, we see exactly why.
* NotSoDifferent:
** His approach to dealing with dangerous non-benders is, if anything, more indiscriminate than the Equalists' actions toward elitist benders. Korra calls him on this, likening him to Amon. It turns out they really aren't that different, being ''brothers'' and both blood-benders who use their powers to nefarious ends, though Tarrlok had no idea who Amon really was until well after Korra calls him out.
** According to him in a HannibalLecture, he and ''Korra'' aren't all that different, because they both go to extremes in order to get what they want.
* NotSoStoic: "When Extremes Meet" shows that he has a pretty short fuse. ControlFreak above explains more on that.
* OpeningNarration: Replaces Shiro Shinobi in the PreviouslyOn recap for "The Aftermath", giving a speech about Lin's failure to stop the Equalists in the previous episode and calling for her to be replaced.
* OverlordJr: He's the son of Yakone, the master crimelord of Republic City during Aang's time as the Avatar.
* PeoplePuppets[=/=]ThePowerOfBlood: It is revealed during his fight with Korra in "When Extremes Meet" that he is a bloodbender, one good enough that he can do so on a whim, rather than only during a full moon. His father, Yakone, could do the same.
* PraetorianGuard: His task force
* PersonalityPowers: The power hungry politician can control people? What a shock!
* PsychopathicManChild: Has shades of it in episode 8. He has a lot of power in the city but comes off as a spoiled brat who will do anything to get what he wants and won't listen when others try to reason with him.
** He ultimately grows up some in the finale, while his big brother Amon ironically takes on a few PsychopathicManChild traits himself. Amon thinks that everything will be flowers and sunshine now that he's reunited with his baby brother ([[AlternateCharacterInterpretation though he starts crying as he says this]]), while Tarrlok is more somber and, in repentance and to head off further harm, quietly kills them both.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: After realizing what he and his brother had become, he blows up the boat they're in, killing them both and ending Yakone's bloodline.
* PsychoticSmirk: In "The Voice in the Night".
* TheRival: To Tenzin, in the political arena, and to Korra in dealing with the Equalists.
* SiblingYinYang: His brother is Amon.
* SleazyPolitician: Everything he does is for his own personal agenda.
* SmugSnake: His regular attitude gives off this vibe, though it's subverted by the end of the series.
* TheSocialExpert: Besides his fighting, this is his most dangerous skill. He can generally read a person and knows how to play them so they follow his way. His only misjudgement was thinking Korra would be his by showering her with gifts. Then he wises up and just attacks her pride by having reporters berate her.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Tarrlok looks similar to his father, which might clue viewers in to their relation before the reveal.
* TakingYouWithMe: How he ends Yakone's bloodline by killing both himself and his brother.
* ThisCannotBe: When his bloodbending fails to stop Amon.
* TogetherInDeath: With his brother.
* TragicVillain: When it was discovered he was a waterbender, Tarrlok's father Yakone forced Tarrlok and his brother Noatak to learn his bloodbending techniques so that he could use them to exact revenge on Republic City, even going so far as to pit Tarrlok and Noatak against each other and demand they use their bloodbending on each other. Noatak bent Tarrlok, but Tarrlok refused to bend Noatak back, and Yakone rounded furiously on Tarrlok. At this, Noatak turned on Yakone and ran away from home. Ultimately, this was the StartOfDarkness for both of the brothers; Noatak went on to become [[BigBad Amon]], and Tarrlok attempted to fulfill his father's dream of ruling Republic City through legal, but still underhanded means, becoming the SleazyPolitician we see in the present day.
* {{Tykebomb}}: His father tried to mold him and his brother into this to take his revenge on Republic City and the Avatar. Tarrlok [[WhatHaveIBecome becomes horrified when he realizes]] that he became what his father tried to make him.
* TyrantTakesTheHelm: He implements a city-wide curfew to all non-benders and a law that makes it illegal to even be associated with Equalists (i.e. Hiroshi Sato, which is what Tarrlok uses to rationalize arresting his daughter). He shuts down the power to their homes, which forces them to break that curfew by going outside to protest, and arrests all those that don't follow his new law, claiming that they're Equalists for not doing so.
* TheUnfavorite: Yakone favored Noatak more than him, although given how they were both treated that's not saying much.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Courtesy of his dad.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: He desires Republic City to be led by a powerful leader, so that threats such as the Equalists may be eradicated. Ego comes into it to a degree, of course.
* VillainousBreakdown: He starts freaking out as his plans unravel. He manages to regain his cool after his HeelFaceTurn.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Until he's exposed as the man who kidnapped Korra.
* WeHaveBecomeComplacent: He considers this for the Benders against the Equalists. He feels Benders need to take back the power and when they to, they end up becoming the very monsters the Equalist supporters are told Benders are.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Seems like it at first, with his heavy-handed but arguably reasonable responses to the Equalist threat. Except it's not so well-intentioned; that part's a front.
* WhatHaveIBecome: Is genuinely horrified by the fact he became the soldier of vengeance his father wanted him to become.
* TheWorfEffect: Tarrlok's bloodbending, which is demonstrably strong enough to incapacitate at least eight people simultaneously, has only a limited effect on Amon, and Tarrlok is taken out in seconds.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Tries this on Korra and the rest of Team Avatar when Korra no longer follows his orders. Then to Saikhan later on.
[[/folder]]

!!Spirits

[[folder: The Dark Spirits]]
!The Dark Spirits
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dark_spirit_3953.png]]
The main antagonists of Book Two.
----
* {{Badass}}: The larger spirits are capable of matching Korra blow for blow. Even while she's in her PhysicalGod SuperMode, the Avatar State, at least until she gets more used to fighting them later on.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: With the exception of those who lead them (Vaatu and Unalaq), the Dark Spirits are not malicious or evil in their invasion and attacks on human beings, they just don't have any concept of morality beyond "everyone who defiles the spirits must be killed". Even if this is their nature, their allegiance is only to those who are allies of Vaatu.
* CombatTentacles: Some of them fight using this style.
* TheCorruption: "The Beginnings" reveals that dark spirits are in fact a product of Vaatu's influence. A failed battle with a larger spirit also leaves a bit of corruption in Korra, threatening to destroy her Avatar spirit if it isn't cleansed. Negative human emotions in the spirit world can also corrupt them, as demonstrated by both Korra and Unalaq. The latter can even control the corrupted spirits, even if they were once friendly to his enemies.
* DarkIsEvil[=/=]DarkIsNotEvil: A combination of both. Being dark spirits, they are inherently destructive. However, this is only because they're extremely angry, similar to Hei Bai's rampage in the previous series. Much like Hei Bai, they can be calmed down and convinced to leave peacefully.
* EldritchAbomination: An army of them. However, they are nothing compared to Vaatu, their master.
* EliteMooks: When working for Unalaq (who serves their master, Vaatu), they easily overpower the the Southern rebels and later Korra's group, whereas the Northern soldiers were defeated without much trouble.
* FusionDance: The smaller spirits are capable in a fight, but can be taken down by a skilled bender. However, they can combine into larger spirits to increase their strength and durability. These fused spirits can also reform into their original smaller forms if the big form is blasted apart.
* GaiasVengeance: Focused on Tonraq, who desecrated one of their forests in the past. Later revelations about Unalaq's hand in things indicate that he likely made them attack humans as part of his plans.
* GripingAboutGremlins: The imp-like spirit that sabotages Bolin's snowmobile in "The Southern Lights" seems to be invoking this trope.
* TheHeartless: They're vicious, dangerous spirits who were apparently formed by the Southern Water Tribe being spiritually thrown out of whack for over the past century. The reality, however, is that Unalaq is behind the attacks.
* TheImp: The smaller spirits give of this vibe.
* {{Intangibility}}: In the same sense as a cloud of gas. They can still be barred by physical barriers, but can manage to slip through cracks.
* InvincibleMinorMinion: Physical offense has almost zero effect on them. They can be blasted apart by a strong enough bending attack but may reform if the dark spirit was made up of smaller ones fused together. The bigger ones can be almost unstoppable, at least for any bender not experienced at fighting spirits.
* LightningBruiser: Strong enough to toss humans around like ragdolls but fast enough that it's very hard to land a solid hit on them. Even then, bending is practically useless on the bigger ones.
* MadeOfAir: They are difficult to harm via conventional means, though strong bending attacks are seen to blast apart weaker ones with little trouble.
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: They have way too many teeth when they roar.
* MusicSoothesTheSavageBeast: Bumi manages to calm one down with some flute playing. It only worked on that one, though; the rest got mad and attacked him.
* NoSell: They can (sometimes) laugh off even Avatar State-boosted bending assaults without even trying.
* UnstoppableRage: Unalaq explains that they aren't evil, just ''pissed off'' at the spiritual imbalance and desecration. At their core, they are chaos personified.
* VillainDecay: A somewhat different from normal example, as the weaker dark spirits are different from the ones that appear early on, and even then they are still dangerous. However, the fact remains that the first two dark spirits to appear (the giant squid and the one at the festival) appear almost invulnerable, while at the end we see whole groups of dark spirits being blasted apart with normal bending and no sign of them regenerating.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vaatu]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tvtropes_img_vaatu_6662.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"I lived ten thousand lifetimes before the first of your kind crawled out of the mud."]]
!Vaatu
->'''Voiced by:''' Jonathan Adams

The spirit that embodies darkness and chaos, counterpart of Raava, the spirit of light and peace.
----
* AnimalisticAbomination: Like his counterpart, he resembles a giant flatworm.
* ApocalypseHow: If Vaatu wins the conflict between himself and Raava, he would probably cause a Species Extinction event. When working with Unalaq, it might not have been that bad, though certainly a Societal Collapse at the very least, but the result is cataclysmic nonetheless.
* ArchEnemy: To Raava, being her polar opposite and the one she must duel every ten thousand years to determine the fate of the world. After Raava's merger with Wan, he's practically this to the Avatar.
* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: Light and Darkness cannot exist without each other, so they exist in all living beings. Vaatu can thus never truly die. If destroyed, he'll slowly be reborn over the next 10,000 years and emerge once more to continue the cycle.
* {{Badass}}: This by virtue of being Raava's opposite.
* BadassBaritone: Courtesy of Jonathan Adams.
* BadassBoast: Delivers a pretty great one to Wan.
-->'''Vaatu:''' I lived ten thousand lifetimes before the first of your kind crawled out of the mud! It was I who broke through the divide that separated the plane of spirits from the material world! To hate me is to give me breath. To fight me is to give me strength. Now prepare to face oblivion!
* BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: Battles his counterpart once every ten thousand years, unless he is contained. Light and darkness cannot exist without each other. Even if one of them wins the victor can't destroy the other, as their counterpart will emerge from within their self again after ten thousand years. Though if Vaatu wins, humans aren't going to be there by the time the next battle rolls around.
* BigBad: He's the BigBad of "The Beginnings" two-parter. "The Guide" reveals that [[TheDragon Unalaq]] has been working for him in the present, setting Vaatu up as the true main antagonist of Book 2. Even after his defeat, remnants of his damage have taken a life of their own.
* BigBadDuumvirate: With Unalaq. Despite Unalaq being a mere mortal and technically being subordinate to him, they are rough equals as far as importance goes.
* BiggerBad: As the embodiment of chaos, he serves as a BiggerBad for the Avatar world as a whole. He was sealed by Avatar Wan almost ten thousand years ago, and the opening of the spirit portals in the present threatens to release him once more.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Averted, unlike the Dark Spirits. He noticeably takes ''considerable'' thrill in taunting humanity and trying to wipe them out. Though he does honour his deal with Unalaq.
* TheCameo: During Korra's MushroomSamba in the Book 3 finale, Ming Hua's body contorts and stretches out into Vaatu's - he proceeds to taunt her:
--> "You are too weak to resist, and ''I'' am stronger than ever! '''Let go.'''"
* CastingAShadow: Has a shadow beam that he fires from his eye, his main mode of offense.
* ChaosIsEvil: Is the chaos spirit and revels in death and destruction.
* CombatTentacles: Has these which he employs in his fights against Raava and Wan.
* CompleteImmortality: As Raava explains to Wan in "Beginnings", neither she or Vaatu can ever truly be destroyed. One defeating other results in the defeated party regrowing in the victor over the next ten thousand years. And they are both immune to most damage like ordinary spirits are. Even though Korra used her uncle's spirit pacification technique on him, he will still return if there is still darkness remaining.
* TheCorrupter: Can turn normal spirits dark by preying on their negative emotions and throwing them out of balance.
* CrystalDragonJesus: As an addition to the Avatar universe Raava and Vaatu really lend themselves more to stereotypically western ideas of good and evil (hiding behind [[InformedAttribute a thin veneer]] of OrderVersusChaos) than the duality aspect that was played up in other major spirits like the Moon and Ocean.
* DarkIsEvil: He's a gigantic shadowy being and he wishes to plunge the world into darkness. Really, Wan should have known he was trouble just by looking at him.
* DeathByIrony: He looks upon humans as meaningless, refusing to even recognize the Avatar as anything more than Raava. It should go without saying that the Avatar ends up being his undoing. Twice.
* DevourTheDragon: Averted. Both he and [[TheDragon Unalaq]] mutually agreed to fuse together with the purpose of making each other more powerful. When this happens, both their personalities co-exist as opposed to Vaatu consuming Unalaq entirely.
* TheDreaded: If you hear anybody not working for this guy talk about him, then they're terrified of him. Even Korra doesn't deny that she's afraid of him.
* DroneOfDread: Heard when he fires his EyeBeams like a [[Franchise/MassEffect Reaper.]]
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: His goal is to bring a rule of darkness and chaos to both worlds.
* EldritchAbomination: His minions are practically insects in comparison.
* EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The result of him winning during a Harmonic Convergence.
* EvilCounterpart: Serves as this to Raava, the spirit of light, peace and balance.
* EvilIsNotAToy: Averted. Despite being the personification of chaos and having a great [[HumansAreBastards hatred for humans]], his arrangement with Unalaq is entirely on the level. Presumably, their mutually beneficial goals kept them on the same page.
* EvilLaugh: A particularly awkward one after he is released.
* EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce: While the ten thousand year cycle between him and Raava is endless (unless, of course, he remains imprisoned in the Tree of Time while the portals are closed), no matter who wins, humans certainly would not survive ten thousand years under his rule, and the world will be damaged beyond repair.
* EvilPlan: To bring eternal darkness to the whole world, remaking it in his image.
* EvilSoundsDeep: As expected from Jonathan Adams.
* EvilTwin: Is exactly similar to Raava in appearance, but with a red and black color scheme.
* EyeBeams: He can fire a massive purple beam from his diamond eye.
* FemaleAngelMaleDemon: He is male and the spirit of darkness and chaos, in spite of Asian symbolism assigning darkness to femininity.
* ForTheEvulz: Seems to be his primary motivation. He never gives any reason for wanting to bring about ten thousand years of darkness ([[TakeOurWordForIt whatever that even means]]) other than because it's just what he does.
** Interestingly, ten thousand years of imprisonment and his dealings with Unalaq seemed to have softened his views to some extent, as he's willing to join with Unalaq and become the Dark Avatar to create a new world order (albeit a dark and chaotic one) for humans and spirits rather than just kill humans off. Of course, this may have simply been a pragmatic compromise, given how Raava doing the same put him in that tree.
* FromASingleCell: If defeated in the previous battle, he will regenerate from within Raava over ten thousand years, as light and darkness cannot exist without each other. His consciousness exists in even the smallest fragment of darkness - WordOfGod is that he is now in Raava (and therefore within Korra) and too weak to do anything, but will be giving whoever's Avatar in the next ten thousand years trouble.
* FusionDance: As he was defeated through a fusion of a human and Raava, he decided to mimic the arrangement with Unalaq, becoming the Dark Avatar.
* GenericDoomsdayVillain: He's the spirit of Chaos and Darkness and Evil and wants to KillAllHumans just because he can, or rather because it's in his nature.
** More specifically chaos is in his nature, and by Korra's time he seems to have accepted humans as beings that can be a part of the chaotic world he wants rather than a worthless race to be killed off, provided they serve him of course.
* GreenThumb: Can make vines and other evil plants grow by shoving his tentacles into the earth.
* GoodColorsEvilColors: He is black and red, to contrast [[HeavenlyBlue Raava.]]
* GodOfEvil: He's the embodiment of chaos and darkness and is evil.
* GodzillaThreshold: Once Vaatu enters the picture, all bets are off. Since the president was still not of any help, this situation was so dire for Team Avatar, that [[EnemyMine they had to seek Varrick's help]].
* HealingFactor: Like any spirit, it doesn't matter what happens to his physical form. It'll regenerate almost instantly.
* HeroKiller: He ripped Raava out of Korra and destroyed her, leaving Korra unable to rely on her past lives again.
* {{Jerkass}}: There's no denying it. Even if it's in his nature as a GodOfEvil, Vaatu is a huge jerk.
* KickTheDog: He attacks innocent villages for no good reason, then tops that by corrupting Wan's spirit friends, forcing them to fight Wan's human friends. When the humans are slaughtered, he then has the gall to gloat in Wan's face about their deaths.
* KillEmAll: According to Raava, this is the result if he comes to power. All life on Earth will perish.
* KnightOfCerebus: Much like previous BigBad Amon, Vaatu has no comedic quirks and anything involving him is guaranteed to be played much more seriously. When he's finally freed from his prison, it's a true cause for alarm. He also serves as one to the ''Avatar'' series in general, his presence bringing an air of menace previously unseen in either show, so much that it makes Ozai pale in comparison.
* LightningBruiser: His size definitely doesn't reflect his speed, just like other spirits.
* MadeOfAir: Like the other spirits, attacking him does nothing. Only by using bending to restrain him can humans hope to fight him.
* MakeMyMonsterGrow: Gets larger with every spirit he corrupts.
* TheManBehindTheMan: Not to the Dark Spirits, which are just regular spirits corrupted by his influence, but to Unalaq.
* ManipulativeBastard: He tricks Wan into freeing him from Raava by playing on Wan's desire to help.
* MultiversalConqueror: He was the one who broke through the barrier between spirit and physical worlds, and he plans to conquer both.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: By leaving Wan alive, he allowed him to become the first Avatar, leading to his defeat. The battle will inevitably come again, of course, but Vaatu would have had ten thousand years of freedom instead of being stuck in a tree, plus the Avatar still exists in the present day to stop him again...but also to free him too.
* ObviouslyEvil: He is a gigantic, shadowy being with a deep booming voice. Despite this, Wan takes his word over Raava's, since Vaatu was more convincing than her.
* OmnicidalManiac: Plans on plunging the world into darkness for ten thousand years should he win his duel with Raava.
* OrderVersusChaos: He represents chaos, Raava represents order.
* OutsideContextVillain: Prior to his appearance in "The Beginnings", there was no hint of his existence or the eternal struggle between peace and chaos.
* PowerGlows: His eye beams are preceded by the red lines on his body turning purple and glowing.
* PunyEarthlings: He doesn't seem to give two damns about humans or their existence, which backfired spectacularly when Wan sealed him up.
* PurpleIsTheNewBlack: His "essence" is mostly reflected by a purple glow, most notably when he fires his "laser" beams and when the Dark Avatar is assuming its monstrous giant form.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: His color scheme is black and reddish-orange in comparison to Raava's white and blue.
* ReviveKillsZombie: Unlike normal Dark Spirits, who are simply rendered docile by Unalaq's spirit pacification technique, Vaatu is destroyed by it. Being the embodiment of chaos, it would seem there's nothing left after the technique is finished purifying him.
* SatanicArchetype: Not of Satan per se (aside from the basic stereotypical GodOfEvil shtick), but of [[Usefulnotes/{{Zoroastrianism}} Ahriman]]: like the Zoroastrian evil god, Vaatu is a primordial being of darkness, chaos and lies opposing a light of order (though not necessarily truth), reveling in wickedness for its own sake, and just as powerful as his competitor. He also corrupts spirits into shadows of their former selves, and seeks the utter annihilation of all life. As if that wasn't enough, he bears distinctively Vedic patterns on his body.
* SealedEvilInACan: Wan sealed him in a tree in the Spirit World, then sealed the portals at the north and south poles so Vaatu could not escape. Unalaq arranges for his escape in the present day.
** By the end of Season 2, he is again... within Korra, and all of her successors for ten thousand years. Neither Raava nor Vaatu can exist without the other.
* SmugSuper: He's very arrogant, but his boasts are not unfounded: he is an immortal and powerful spirit.
* TimeAbyss: Says he lived ten thousand lifetimes before humans first "crawled out of the mud."
* UnderestimatingBadassery: As an immortal and powerful spirit, he believes Wan, a mere human, is no threat to him. Then Wan fused with Raava and sealed him in a tree for 10,000 years.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: He convinces Wan to release him by pretending that Raava's a bully who's been oppressing him for ten thousand years.
* YouHaveFailedMe: Subverted; when Unalaq believes Korra has been killed and they no longer have the means to free Vaatu, Vaatu calmly explains that he can sense Raava's essence and thus Unalaq hasn't failed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Hundun]]
!Hundun
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hundun_3063.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"I am known by many names ... but you may call me Hundun, Master of the Chaotic Attack. In my time, I was a king."]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SteveBlum

An ancient enemy of the Avatar, who was defeated by an incarnation that preceded Aang, and has lived in the Spirit World ever since. Now with the Spirit Portals open, he seeks to bring chaos to the world and destroy the Avatar.
----
* AmbiguouslyHuman: He's been living in the Spirit World for a thousand years, and his appearance as an old man has a few inhuman traits.
* AristocratsAreEvil: He claims to have been a king during his life in the physical world. The treasures that he still had in the physical world allowed him to hire both the chi-blockers and the Triads as his personal army.
* BadassGrandpa: He's thousands of years old, but age certainly hasn't slowed him down.
* BarrierChangeBoss: He'll occasionally throw up elemental barriers to protect himself. They can be broken by using the corresponding element, stunning him momentarily.
* BarrierWarrior: He has placed barriers to guard his treasure all over the world. The barriers can only be destroyed by using the corresponding element.
* BattleAura: A red one when he goes OneWingedAngel.
* BeardOfEvil: Has a long, white beard and is the BigBad of the game.
* TheBeastmaster: Is able to control Dark Spirits.
* BigBad[=/=]ArcVillain: He is the main villain of the video game, uniting several old enemy factions in order to destroy Korra. He plans to steal her chi for himself so that he can become whole.
* BodyHorror: The sight of [[spoiler:his malformed, scarred Siamese twin]] is not a pretty one.
* CastingAShadow: Like Vaatu, he wields dark powers.
* ChaosIsEvil: He's a force of chaos out to give the world a good serving of it and is the self-proclaimed "Master of the Chaotic Attack".
* CompositeCharacter: Of Vaatu (a being of chaos with a low opinion of humans and a personal grudge against the Avatar), and King Bumi (an elderly king and powerful earthbender whose hunched-back appearance belies his true power and massive physique).
* ConjoinedTwins: [[spoiler:He's a conjoined twin whose brother is hidden behind his cloak.]]
* CrazyPrepared: Though he was defeated by a previous Avatar and forced to escape into the Spirit World, Hundun had vast treasure hidden in the physical world and protected by spirit barriers in case he would need it later.
* DarkIsEvil: Wields dark powers and is out to plunge the world into chaos.
* DishingOutDirt: During the final boss fight, one of his ranged attacks is to levitate a massive boulder and pitch it at Korra. Korra can deflect these back at him to momentarily stun him.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: During the final battle with him.
* DopplegangerSpin: He can create copies of himself.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: Part of his grudge with the Avatar stems from his brother being grievously injured during a fight with a previous Avatar and part of his plan is to use Korra's chi to heal him and become whole]].
* EvilCounterpart: Being an old, weakly aristocrat who gained virtual immortality by meditating into the Spirit World upon death, it's easy to see him as one to Iroh.
* EvilIsBigger: Once he sheds his cloak, he grows to several times Korra's size. At his new height, Korra is the same size as his knee.
* EvilLaugh: Gives these out frequently.
* EvilOldFolks: His appearance is that of a hunchbacked, wrinkly old man.
* EvilSorcerer: Possibly the closest thing the ''Avatar'' world has to one.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He seems cordial and somewhat whimsical, but he's a deranged monster out to kill Korra.
* FinalBoss: Of the video game.
* FlunkyBoss: The first round of his battle has him summon Dark Spirits to attack you before entering the fray himself, and he does it a second time after you've done some damage.
* ForegoneConclusion: He will be defeated by the end of the game, considering he's nowhere to be seen two weeks later at the start of Book Three.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: [[spoiler:His brother has a scar on his eye similar to Zuko's thanks to the Avatar.]]
* GutturalGrowler: Par the course when voiced by Steve Blum.
* KungFuWizard: Possibly the most straight up example in the ''Avatar'' world.
* LastVillainStand: With his army of Equalists, Triads, and Dark Spirits defeated, Hundun decides to fight Korra one on one.
* LightningBruiser: Despite his age and massive build, Hundun moves around the arena with surprising speed. He also possesses immense strength and is capable of swatting Korra across the arena like a ragdoll and deal out heavy damage. If you're ill prepared, Hundun can and will wipe the floor with you.
* MasterOfIllusion: A little mix of this and RealityWarper. Hundun can cast powerful illusions and in the penultimate chapter, he drags Korra through several illusions and forces her to fight various enemies. One notable illusion has her in a pro-bending match against three dragonfly bunny spirits with bending and another has her fighting Mecha Tanks and Equalists while in her giant spirit form.
* MeaningfulName: "Hundun" is the Chinese word for "chaos".
* NiceHat: He has a rather tall hat with the symbol of the Red Lotus on it.
* ObviouslyEvil: He was designed to look as creepy and evil as possible.
* OneWingedAngel: Of the "behold my true form" variety. [[spoiler: For the final battle with Korra, he reveals his conjoined twin under his cloak.]]
* PowerEchoes: When he goes OneWingedAngel.
* PunyEarthlings: His opinions on humans are rather low to say the least. During the Heart of Chaos chapter, he gives two [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Speeches]] about how easy it was to manipulate the Equalists and the Triads with promises of equality and wealth, respectively. [[JerkassHasAPoint And he's not entirely incorrect]].
-->'''Hundun:''' These Equalists are so simple. Sprinkle in a few words about the equality they crave, and they dance in the palm of your hand. Pathetic humans.\\
'''Hundun:''' These fools. They hear the jingle of coins and forget their own mothers. They have no idea what they are doing, or they do not care.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Wears Fire Nation style clothing. Though he is actually an [[DishingOutDirt earthbender]].
* RedEyesTakeWarning: He gains glowing, red eyes when he goes OneWingedAngel. [[spoiler:His brother's one eye glows blue instead.]]
* {{Revenge}}: Against the Avatar [[spoiler: for injuring his brother]].
* RubberMan: He [[spoiler:and his brother]] can stretch his limbs Dhalsim-style.
* SealedEvilInACan: A previous Avatar sealed him within the Spirit World, but he's free again thanks to Korra opening the Spirit Portals.
* SiblingTeam: [[spoiler:He fights in conjunction with his conjoined twin.]]
* ShockAndAwe: One of his attacks is to rain down purple lightning bolts.
* ThisCannotBe: His reaction to Korra unlocking her Avatar State and tearing apart his army.
* VillainTeamUp: He's employed some Equalists who are still around after Amon's defeat, the Triads, and the Dark Spirits.
* VillainTeleportation: Does this liberally, especially during the final battle.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: During the final battle.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: His hair is white from age and he's the main villain of the game.
[[/folder]]

!!Northern Water Tribe

[[folder:Unalaq]]
!Unalaq
[[quoteright:333:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unalaq_9534.png]]
[[caption-width-right:333:"I have spent my life studying spirits and learning their ways. All of this knowledge is lost in the South. But I could teach you everything I know."]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Adrian [=LaTourelle=]

Korra's uncle and the chieftain of the Northern Water Tribe. He serves as her spiritual mentor early on in Book 2, before his less than noble intentions come into the light and drive a wedge between them.
----
* AbusiveParents: He's not physically abusive, but he's definitely [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]] and emotionally abusive. When Desna was injured during their joint attempt to open the northern spirit portal, Unalaq ignored his plight and pressed on.
* AlwaysSecondBest: His brother was like this to him. He was oldest and next in line to become chief, so to subvert this Unalaq got him banished. But during his banishment, Tonraq sired Korra, the Avatar, double subverting it.
* AmbitionIsEvil: It's made clear that Unalaq cares for power beyond all else except his goal of bringing back the spirits and desires to gain more for himself no matter the cost. He also can't stand the idea of someone having power that he doesn't which is the main reason he hates his brother, who was to become chief of the North Pole and later fathered the Avatar, and is implied to be one reason why he merged with Vaatu.
* TheAntiChrist: He acts as [[SatanicArchetype Vaatu's herald]] and merges with him to become the new Dark Avatar, the equal and opposite to the Avatarverse's MessianicArchetype.
* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: After fusing with Vaatu and destroying Raava, the two transform into a massive humanoid version of Vaatu's spirit form.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He's no slouch in combat, easily besting his brother one-on-one and later holding his own against Mako and Bolin.
* AxCrazy: He takes [[SlasherSmile a savage joy]] in destroying Raava.
* {{Badass}}: While he may be a terrible human being, he is not someone to be trifled with.
* BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: He's a deconstruction stating why this philosophy is ''not'' a good thing. He plans to release Vaatu and bring balance to the world on his terms.
* BaitTheDog: He takes Korra's advice and agrees to let the rebels who just tried to kill him have a fair trial. In his very next scene, he arrests Korra's parents. And the trial turned out to be rigged anyway. Hell, this could be considered his whole character arc.
* BigBad[=/=]ArcVillain: He appeared to be the main villain of Book 2, seeking to conquer both of the Water Tribes and open the Spirit Portals. However...
* BigBadDuumvirate: Unalaq wanted to do more than just that and he was not the only one; he is actually working with Vaatu, and is behind the Dark Spirit attacks. Furthermore, the Water Tribe Civil War was but a distraction. All of this was leading up to becoming the new Dark Avatar through a fusion with Vaatu.
* BigLittleBrother: Looking at Tonraq and Unalaq, you wouldn't peg Tonraq as the older brother. The difference is made more apparent by flashbacks, where Tonraq looks almost identical to his present-day self, while Unalaq looks much more youthful.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: After the reveal of his true nature in "Civil Wars", Part 2", and Varrick was the only one who caught on. Though even then it isn't until "The Guide" and "A New Spiritual Age" that the full extent of his evil is revealed (before he just came across as a jerk. After "A New Spiritual Age" it's pretty clear the guys pure evil.)
* BrokenPedestal:
** Korra realizes he's just power-hungry and spiteful once she learns that he deliberately rigged her father's trial and orchestrated his banishment from the Northern Water Tribe.
** His children eventually let go of their devotion to him when it becomes clear that he doesn't care for them at all. In the end, they admit to Korra they hold no grudge for her defeating him and that they won't miss him.
* CainAndAbel: The Cain to Tonraq's Abel.
* TheCameo: During Korra's MushroomSamba in the Book 3 finale, she witnesses Ghazan's head twist around 360 degrees and turn into Unalaq's. He mocks her plight:
--> "The time of the Avatar is over. Give up."
* ChestBlaster: In his OneWingedAngel form, Vaatu's EyeBeams are fired from his chest.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: His only loyalty is ultimately to himself, or rather to Vaatu whom he doesn't betray. He secretly betrayed Tonraq in order to become chief, [[spoiler:hid his involvement with the Red Lotus after they failed to kidnap four-year-old Korra and even worked with his enemies, the White Lotus to imprison P'Li]], and in addition to screwing over his brother a second time, abused Korra's trust while using her to further his own ends.
* ClassicVillain: Shows signs of Ambition, Pride, and Envy. Ultimately somewhat zig zagged, however, since he consistently remains a KnightTemplar, though his projects of uniting with Vaatu do invoke classical villainous traits of Satanism.
* TheCorrupter: Within the spirit world, his presence is enough to turn normal spirits dark.
* CurbStompBattle: He delivers one to Tonraq. Tonraq puts up a terrific fight but Unalaq defeats him with barely any effort.
* DarkIsEvil: A variant of his healing technique, characterized by [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack purple]] instead of [[GoldAndWhiteAreDivine yellow/gold]], allows him to corrupt or destroy whoever he uses it on, as he attempted to do on Jinora and Korra.
* DarkMessiah: Even more so than Amon--his ambition is to become the new "Dark Avatar" and he is willing to sacrifice anybody, even his own children, to do this.
* DarkShepherd: He'll bring unity whether his flocks want it or not. To this end, he set Tonraq up to destroy the spirit forest in the North so he would be banished and Unalaq would be first in line, and worked to free Vaatu, the universe's equivalent of {{Satan}}, so they could fuse and become the equivalent of the AntiChrist.
* DeaderThanDead: Both he and Vaatu were purified by Korra and turned into nothingness. While Vaatu will be reborn, it seems unlikely Unalaq will be joining him.
* DeathByIrony: He's beaten (along with Vaatu) when Korra uses his own spirt pacification technique against him. His previous advice to Korra to "find the light in the dark" is also echoed when Korra meditates in the Tree of Time to connect to the cosmic energy of the universe.
* TheDragon: To Vaatu prior to their merging, if they do not count as a BigBadDuumvirate. The reveal that he was serving a bigger evil did not make him any less dangerous.
** DragonInChief: Although Vaatu was more powerful than him, Vaatu couldn't do much while being trapped, so Unalaq served as this until Vaatu was freed. After Vaatu was released and they merged as one being, Unalaq commanded most of Vaatu's power even though their personalities coexisted at the same time.
* DrivenByEnvy: Korra speculates that the real reason why he arranged his brother's banishment is because he envied his brother's position. She also suggests that his desire to train her stems from further envy that Tonraq sired the Avatar.
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: He enjoys his merger with Vaatu, since it gives him so much power.
* EvilIsPetty: While Unalaq has higher goals, he still manages to go out of his way to ruin his brother's life just out of envy and spite. He framed him despite ''knowing full well'' that Varrick was the one who masterminded the assassination/kidnapping attempt.
* TheEvilPrince: Arranged his brother's banishment so he would be next in line as Chieftain. And that's just step one.
* EvilUncle: He set his brother up to be banished so he could become chief, uses Korra's trust in him to manipulate her into furthering his goals, and ultimately plans to fuse with Vaatu and become the Dark Avatar.
* EvilCounterpart: By fusing with Vaatu, he becomes the Dark Avatar.
* EvilIsNotAToy: Invoked by Tonraq, but averted; despite many warnings that Vaatu is too powerful to be trusted, their arrangement ultimately goes exactly as planned.
* EvilMentor: To Korra, briefly, before she realized he was evil and called him on it.
* EvilerThanThou: [[spoiler:Strayed from the Red Lotus' ideals and betrayed their mission. The Red Lotus just wanted spirits and humans to exist without laws and boundaries, but Unalaq wanted to take it a step further and ''enslave'' humanity]].
* ExactWords[=/=]SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Unalaq tells Korra that it was her father's and Tenzin's decision to keep her secluded in the White Lotus Compound. Korra even chewed them out, especially her father on it. It turns out Unalaq wasn't lying, but that was only half the truth; [[spoiler:they did so in reaction to the Red Lotus trying to kidnap her when she was four. Unalaq was the one that suggested the idea]].
* FauxAffablyEvil: He very briefly pretends to be a benevolent, if rude, man that seeks to bring balance to the world. Doesn't last long.
* {{Flanderization}}: In universe. Varrick's moving pictures have him portrayed as a over-the-top villain with a waterbending doomsday machine. Strangely, the actor looks a lot like Actor!Ozai from "The Ember Island Players". Funny thing is, the propaganda films [[AccidentallyAccurate weren't that far off, apart from hamminess of the actor of course]].
* FluffyTamer: A rare villainous example, as he is able to corrupt and control Dark Spirits that he either creates himself, or that Vaatu corrupts. He leads an army of his corrupted spirits against the Southern Water Tribe's LaResistance and curbstomps them.
* {{Foil}}: To Jinora. Unalaq is an adult man with years of training himself in spiritual matters, while Jinora is a preteen girl whose natural affinity with spirits makes up for her lack in experience. Jinora befriends spirits; Unalaq only pretends to be a friend of spirits and will use force to control them to reach his own goals. And while Unalaq practically, but smoothly forced his way into becoming Korra's spiritual mentor, Jinora didn't and only became her Guide when things got serious. There's also the kind of the relationship they have with Korra: Unalaq is her distant uncle who only wants to use her, but Korra and Jinora have close sibling relationship (along with Ikki and Meelo).
* TheFundamentalist: He does not compromise with his view of Water Tribe spirituality and practices. Because of this he comes off as a jerk. It's later revealed that he actually is a jerk, as he manipulates Korra to get her on his side when he takes control of the South, and uses his position to settle a personal grudge against his brother on the side. It comes off as a subversion, he's working on freeing the evil Vaatu for the Harmonic Convergence, and plans on destroying the Water Tribes and every nation afterwards so that there is only one world where spirits and humans are under one banner.
* GenreBlind: Subverted. Despite being called on how unwise it is to work with [[GodOfEvil Vaatu]], everything went according to plan and Vaatu never betrayed him.
* AGodAmI: His ultimate goal is to fuse with Vaatu and become the Dark Avatar, ushering in ten-thousand years of darkness with himself as the ruler of humanity.
* GoodPowersBadPeople: Not as pronounced as Zaheer, but still, he is a Waterbending master with an affinity for the spiritual, who specializes in appeasing and purging Dark Spirits. Doesn't prevent him from working with this universe's GodOfEvil and trying to become TheAntichrist.
* GoodShepherd: He's the verse's equivalent of a priest and he's big on fasting, meditation, and other self-discipline practices and he can calm angry spirits and send them back to the Spirit World. However, all thus turned out to be an excuse for executing his final plan.
* TheHeavy: While the Dark Spirits and Vaatu are the overriding [[BigBad Big Bads]] of the season, Unalaq is the more direct threat. Since Vaatu can't doing anything until he's free, the leg-work is left to Unalaq.
* TheHighKing: Unalaq is technically Chief of both tribes, but the South sees him as a mere figurehead to their council of elders. This creates quite a bit of friction when Unalaq decides to assert his authority by force.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He's ultimately defeated by his own spirit-bending technique.
* HolierThanThou: Gives off vibes of this when he is ranting about the Southern Tribe lacking in spirituality. Then he calls in the troops to take over the Southern Tribe in order help them spiritually. This extends to the entire world in general, as he believes that the Avatar has failed in maintaining balance and intends to personally rectify that problem.
* HostageForMacGuffin: Forced Korra to open the portal by threatening to destroy Jinora's soul.
* HumanoidAbomination: After becoming the Dark Avatar by fusing with Vaatu, then destroying Raava, they go OneWingedAngel and become a giant, humanoid Vaatu.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** Talks about spiritual balance, yet he caused a spiritual imbalance in the North in order to get Tonraq banished so that he could be chief. He also plans on releasing and merging with Vaatu to become the new Avatar, but in this case he still believes he can bring balance, just [[AGodIAm under his tyrannical rule]].
** He had also treated his children coldly, yet he had the nerve to call Tenzin a bad father for letting Jinora be Korra's guide into the spirit world. Jinora calls him out on this.
** He accuses Korra of causing chaos when he's trying to release the spirit of chaos and is deliberately corrupting spirits to further his plans.
* {{Irony}}: He sought to fuse with Vaatu and break down the barrier between the spirit world and material world so humans and spirits could coexist. After Korra beat him, she decided he had a point and left the portals open, allowing the two worlds to connect once more.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Unalaq doesn't just want to see his ideals realized, he wants to be the one to realize them. [[spoiler:While the Red Lotus shared his goals, fusing with Vaatu was not part of the plan. Ultimately, they were just one more step to achieving what he believes is his destiny.]]
* IWantThemAlive: When he sends [[CoDragons Desna and Eska]] to capture Korra he explicitly reminds Eska that he needs Korra ''alive''. Given Eska's [[AxCrazy current]] {{Yandere}} [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge state]] this is a very smart move. He was none too pleased when he found that the Avatar was presumed dead.
* {{Jerkass}}: When you take the opportunity at a Southern Water Tribe festival being held in your honor to complain about their lack of spirituality, you qualify for this.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Subverted. [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk All his supposed compassion and care is an act put on to keep Korra from turning on him.]]
* KarmicDeath: After countless atrocities, Unalaq is finally done in by the own spirit pacification technique.
* KnightOfCerebus: A case where a villain gets darker as the season progresses. He started off as a {{Jerkass}} at the outset of the season, but as his true colors are revealed, the season begins to take a darker turn. And when he fuses with Vaatu, things really get dire.
* KnightTemplar: Initially, he was showed as a fundamentalist antagonist who wanted to unite the water tribes and bring balance... at any cost. Indeed, the last part of his goal is actually true. He plans to fuse with Vaatu to become the Dark Avatar, then use that power to rejoin the human and spirit worlds, restoring balance to both. He sincerely believes in his rhetoric, even if to a truly horrifying extreme.
* LeanAndMean: To contrast his brother's HeroicBuild.
* LeaveHimToMe: When Desna and Eska move to engage Tonraq, he tells them to back off, wishing to fight his brother himself.
* LightIsNotGood: Is a self-righteous preacher that can infuse water with bright golden light and appease spirits... who launches a mass scale invasion to force his ideals on his Southern brethren, and who set his brother up to be banished, and framed him as having taken part in an assassination attempt on Unalaq, using a judge who was working for him to ensure Tonraq got a conviction. His powers most certainly don't reflect his personality, aside from his spirituality.
* LightningBruiser: Unalaq moves surprisingly fast and hits hard.
* MakingASplash: He is a master waterbender.
* ManipulativeBastard:
** He plays on Korra's role as the Avatar to guilt her into going along with his plans, even when she doesn't agree with them. After an attempt to kidnap him is foiled by Korra, he agrees to a trial to seem reasonable, but then rigs it so they're found guilty and sentenced to death. He then "convinces" the judge to bump down to life imprisonment to seem merciful.
** He also did this to [[spoiler:the Red Lotus, giving them the idea to kidnap Korra and train her themselves. Though they shared the same idea of balance, Unalaq had greater plans and was simply using the Red Lotus to realize them.]]
* TheMentor: To Korra in Book Two... at least for the first few episodes.
* MomentKiller: He has a bad habit of cutting into otherwise heartwarming moments. It's even become a minor [[MemeticMutation meme]].
* MookMaker: He can corrupt spirits, which will then do his bidding.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Korra learns to copy his spirit pacification technique after watching him perform it a few times, which proves to be his undoing when she uses it to defeat him and Vaatu in their OneWingedAngel form. In addition, his needless attempt to screw over Tonraq only served to alienate Korra before she had opened both spirit portals, causing him a whole lot more grief than he needed to deal with.
* NoOntologicalInertia: Subverted. As part of his new world order, Unalaq covered Republic City in spirit vines. Though he's stopped, these vines continue to be a problem in Book 3, since not even Korra can figure out how to get rid of them and their presence is seriously affecting city infrastructure.
* NotEvenHuman: After his monstrous transformation after fusing with Vaatu. This is probably why the show got away with killing him.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: The outset of the season portrays him as a fundamentalist {{Jerkass}} with a HolierThanThou attitude towards things, but not outwardly malicious. The rest of the season, however, sees him jump off the tracks and head into OmnicidalManiac territory real fast.
* NotWorthKilling: It would be trivially easy for the North's forces to wipe out the Southern resistance, but Unalaq is content to leave them bottled up in one area while he dedicates the majority of his resources to securing the spirit portal. He doesn't kill Tonraq after beating him down since he's not worth killing and he wants to gloat.
* ObviouslyEvil: He has a LeanAndMean VillainousCheekbones appearance and shares a lot of traits with Tarrlok and Fire Lords Sozin and Ozai. This made TheReveal as an enemy a lot less surprising as a result. Even in-universe, Tenzin was wary of him, but didn't think he would go so far.
* OhCrap: Has this expression when Tonraq is only inches away from punching him in the face. He manages to waterbend Tonraq away before the hit lands, though.
* OneWingedAngel: When Raava is destroyed, he and Vaatu turn into a giant, humanoid version of Vaatu.
* OneWorldOrder: He plans to fuse with Vaatu and create a world where there are no nations, just humans and spirits united under his "new world order".
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: He orders his children to stop attacking Tonraq so he could beat him himself.
* ParentalNeglect: He isn't openly or outright abusive, but his children seem afraid of him and he cares very little for them beyond their usefulness to him. When trying to breach the Northern portal with their help, he shows no concern when Desna is injured by the backlash from a failed attempt. Tonraq's attempt to appeal to Unalaq's PapaWolf mentality likewise falls on deaf ears.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Years ago, when the Red Lotus were causing trouble, he helped Zuko by creating the secret prison to hold P'Li. He even kept it a secret from everyone, including his own children. [[spoiler:Then it turns out he was just using them for his own ends, and it was in his best interests to keep them locked up]]. In the present, he tries to invoke this to stay on Korra's good side, but it falls apart quickly.
* RebelliousRebel: In a sense. [[spoiler:The Red Lotus was itself a RenegadeSplinterFaction of individuals who rebelled against the Order of the White Lotus and whose purpose was in direct opposition to them, but Unalaq had greater goals which the Red Lotus wouldn't have approved of, and he used them as so to achieve this. When they failed, he then left them to rot.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: He chews out the Southern Tribe for its spiritual decay and decadence in the middle of a banquet in his honor, saying it is their fault the spirits are attacking. Ultimately, his words were nothing but excuses for his cause. In fact, [[SubvertedTrope He was actually behind the attacks.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: As the Dark Avatar, his eyes glow in a fiery red light when he uses his version of the Avatar State.
* TheResenter: His brother was next in line to become Chief, so he set him up to be banished in order to take the position for himself.
* ReviveKillsZombie: On account of being fused with Vaatu, when he fell prey to it.
* SiblingYinYang: Unlike his older brother, Unalaq is ambitious, focused on spiritual concerns, and feels driven to lead his people.
* SlasherSmile: Shows a nasty one often after freeing Vaatu, and displays it again when beating Raava to death. Even before that, he's smirking like a madman when he threatens Jinora.
* TheSociopath: Another trait that he shares with Fire Lord Ozai: Unalaq displays a distinct lack of empathy towards anyone, including his own brother and children, callously manipulates anyone he needs to, is completely self-centred and arrogant, and has virtually no regard for the lives of anyone beyond their usefulness to him.
* SuperMode: As the Dark Avatar, he has his own Avatar State which has glowing red eyes.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute:
** He has many similarities with Fire Lord Sozin. Whereas Sozin tried to forcibly spread technology and industrial advances to the other nations of the world, Unalaq is trying to return to the old ways and spiritual roots to the Southern Water Tribe... by landing his army in his brother's city. He is also similar to Sozin in trying to manipulate the Avatar to his own profit and/or their own nation above all others, or forcing to doing it.
** Eventually he becomes a straight SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute of Fire Lord Ozai. He tries destroy the entire world in a misguided attempt to usher in a "new age," proclaims himself the Dark Avatar (like Ozai proclaims himself the Phoenix King) and confronts the Avatar in a cosmic event.
* TheUnfettered: He will bring about unity between spirits and humans by any means necessary, no matter who or what he has to sacrifice to do so.
* VillainBall: Unalaq might have succeeded were it not for his petty desire to screw over Tonraq. Doing that turned Korra against him before he could complete his plan. His heavy-handed invasion of the south didn't do him any favors, either. If the intent was to make sure no one entered the portal and found Vaatu, he could have easily sent his men to guard just the portal, as opposed to a full-blown occupation.
* VillainHasAPoint: Korra agrees with him that the Avatar wasn't meant to be a bridge between the spirit and human worlds and that Wan may have made a mistake when he sealed off the spirit portals, so she leaves them open after he and Vaatu are defeated and resolves to find a way for humans and spirits to live together in harmony.
* VillainousCheekbones: Has very pronounced cheekbones, and he's not the nicest guy.
* VillainousBreakdown: Has one when Korra reawakens Raava and extracts her.
* VillainousLegacy: [[spoiler: He was a member of the Red Lotus and proposed the plot to kidnap Korra when she was a child. However, he was never caught and covered up his involvement.]]
* VisionaryVillain: He intends to change the world. He plans to do this by releasing Vaatu and fusing with him to become a Dark Avatar, in order to create a world where there is no barrier between the spirit world and the material world.
* WhiteMagic: Engages in a holy form of waterbending that allows him to pacify spirits by turning negative energy into positive energy. The water also glows with golden light. Becomes a case of GoodPowersBadPeople after TheReveal.
** BlackMagic: He has a dark variation on this ability which infuses dark energy instead of light, which can kill human souls if used on them.
* WouldHurtAChild:
** Threatens to wipe out Jinora's soul in the Spirit World to force Korra to open the portal, and would have done the same to Korra if not for a timely rescue.
** [[spoiler:As part of the Red Lotus, he was the one to suggest the plan to kidnap Korra as a child. While they (seemingly) were genuine in their desire to train her under their ideals, his plans for her would have brought harm to her eventually.]]
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: He tells Korra this when she thinks he needs her to open the northern spirit portal because she was needed to open the southern one. He's actually lying, but he thinks it will help him control her, which backfires. Later played straight in "A New Spiritual Age": as soon as Korra opens the second portal, Unalaq tries to erase her soul. [[spoiler:He also did this to the Red Lotus, leaving them to rot in jail after they failed to kidnap Korra.]]
* YoungestChildWins: Was second in line for the North's chieftainship, but became first in line for the throne after Tonraq's banishment. Turns out that this case of the trope involved cheating on the part of the youngest child, however.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Desna and Eska]]
!Desna and Eska
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/desna_and_eska_56.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Eska is on the left ([[IdenticalTwinIDTag note hair decs]]) and Desna on the right.]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Aaron Himelstein (Desna) and Creator/AubreyPlaza (Eska)

Korra's twin cousins and Unalaq's children. Desna is the boy and Eska is the girl.
----
!!Tropes that apply to both twins
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: As a team, they are able to beat Tonraq, and later Mako and Bolin. Ming-Hua easily defeated them, however, helping to establish her skill.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther:
** When they are pressed into trying to open the spirit portal and Desna is injured, Eska shows she cares more for him than she does for aiding her father's ambitions.
** Not quite love but definitely a better relationship then before: in the finale, Eska uses Bolin's name ("NOT MY BOLIN!") and when they part she calls him "my turtle-duck" instead of "my '''feeble''' turtle-duck".
* BigDamnHeroes: When Bolin was getting swarmed by dark spirits, he gets a timely rescue from the twins.
* BreakTheHaughty: Eska gives this impression at the end of "Civil Wars, Part 2" when we see her chasing the boat Bolin is on looking like she is about to kill him.
* CannotTellAJoke: Eska appears to think an insincere statement followed by an [[DontExplainTheJoke explanation of how it is insincere]] is side-splitting sarcasm. Desna apparently agrees with her.
* CharacterDevelopment: Eska maturely decides that she and Bolin were not meant to be together at the end of Book 2.
** It takes a while, but Desna finally manages to realize what type of person his father is, and [[BlindObedience lets go of his blind loyalty to him]] just in time to help protect Korra in the finale.
* CharacterFocus: Out of the two of them, Eska has gotten the lion's share of character development, while Desna was mostly there for CreepyTwins jokes and to act as extra muscle for the bad guys.
* CoDragons: They become this to their father in "Peacekeepers". "Harmonic Convergence" reveals that he also leaves the minutiae of organizing his army to them when he knows that a battle is coming.
* TheComicallySerious: Both of them are hilariously deadpan to everything.
* CreepyMonotone: How they both talk. As a result, it's even hard to tell if they are sarcastic or serious. It's even present when they ''[[TheUnsmile laugh]].''
* CreepyTwins: They're described as "androgynous creepy twins" by the writers. Korra echoes this sentiment.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Desna and Eska look like they stand around and do nothing but be creepy, but in "Peacekeepers" they're able to fight Korra as a team and hold their own (before a Dark Spirit interrupted).
* {{Dance Battler}}s: Their fighting style includes a lot of acrobatics.
* EmotionlessGirl: They don't seem to be given to emotion. Even when jealous of Bolin hugging Korra, Eska doesn't break from her usual [[CreepyMonotone monotone]] (though she does raise her voice ever-so-slightly).
* EasilyForgiven: Especially from their cousin.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
** When Desna gets injured during Unalaq's attempt to open the Spirit Portal without the Avatar, Eska defies her father's order so she can take him back to the real world and have him healed.
** They also apparently [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas really care about their mother]], seeing as the only thing bugging them about their father's death is now they'll break the news to her.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Despite being eager to kill her first cousin, Eska does seem to care a lot about her brother. She thought he was much more important than trying to help her father.
** Averted with Desna; when he does find out about his father's plan to release Vaatu, he believed his father even when Eska seemed to be having doubts. Later on, he and Eska decide that there was nothing to gain from serving Vaatu.
* EvilDuo: After Eska goes crazy, she and her brother become this trope, with Eska as the Id and Desna as the Superego.
* FlechetteStorm: They use a version of this with ice needles in their battle against Ming-Hua.
* {{Foil}}: Desna and Eska seem deliberately as opposed to Princess Yue (the last Northern Water Tribe heir we witnessed) as possible, being tactless, ruthless, and relishing their status to Yue's compassion and SpoiledSweet nature. Eska's relationship with Bolin especially contrasts with Yue's relationship with Sokka: Sokka worried he wasn't worthy because of his lower status and Yue wanted to be with him, but was bound by her engagement to Hahn; Eska exploits Bolin's lower status to domestically abuse him into slavery and puts her desire to be with him before his own emotions or input.
* HalfIdenticalTwins: One is a boy and the other a girl, but they still look very similar. Bolin even thinks they're ''both'' girls at first.
* HeelFaceTurn: The two show slight hesitation and reluctance to some of their father's orders, but still believe he was doing what is best for all. Bolin's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove turns Eska around, at which point they let Mako and Bolin escape. They swear Unalaq off for good when they witness his transformation into the monstrous Unavaatu, and don't even care when he dies. In Book 3, they aid Tonraq and Zuko in trying to prevent P'Li's escape. They're beaten, but at least they tried.
* HimeCut: Both have this, befitting their status as the children of the chieftain of the Northern Water Tribe.
* IdenticalTwinIDTag: A few.
** Desna's coat has a straight hem. Eska's has a V shape.
** Desna has wide leggings, while Eska has narrow ones.
** Eska has blue hair ties and eye makeup, neither of which Desna wears.
* IncestSubtext: In Republic City, a hotel staff member apologizes to them, believing that there has been a mistake: they've been booked for a single room with [[ThereIsOnlyOneBed only one bed]]. Eska tells him that no mistake has been made. (Granted, she immediately follows it up by saying that Desna sleeps in the tub.)
* {{Jerkass}}: They come across as condescending, but Eska especially rubs people the wrong way, due to her insistence in bossing Bolin around.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: In comparison to [[spoiler:Vaatu]].
* LightningBruiser: They hit hard, they hit fast, and when on large stretches of water like the ocean or the snow-covered South Pole, they can use a waterbending technique that makes them go faster than a speed-boat or a plane.
* MakingASplash[=/=]AnIcePerson: They're both Waterbenders.
* NoSocialSkills: It's implied very heavily that they don't know how to interact with other people other than family members. Eska actually ''hissed'' at Bolin when he first talked to her.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Especially Eska. She was first shown as merely a creepy {{Jerkass}} princess with comedic flaws. After Bolin ditched her, she later works up to becoming one of the most dangerous villains, as Korra finds out in "Peacekeepers". In the final act of the season, they tend to be key to Unalaq's plans by removing threats that neither him nor his army could take out.
* {{Royal Brat}}s: Both of them look down on Korra's Southern Water Tribe heritage, thinking she is a "rube", despite being the Avatar (and their cousin). After Harmonic Convergence, they're square.
* RunOrDie: As they lack their father's training in the spiritual arts, when they see a dark spirit coming after Korra over open water, they keep away from the fight until it is over.
* SingleMindedTwins: Both have the same emotionless and snarky personality.
* SpockSpeak: They frequently engage in this. In fact most of their lines are delivered in a eerie monotone.
* StealthHiBye: They're good enough to pull this on Bolin and Mako at the end of Book 2.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: They resemble Mai from the original show by personality and expression. You could include status, but Mai was the daughter of a Fire Nation governor while these two are a prince and princess. Eska is also reminiscent of Azula in several ways, acting essentially as an examination of what would have happened if she had found a date in "The Beach", complete with horrifying laugh and devolution into a complete lack of composure at a companion's betrayal.
* ThemeTwinNaming: They are named after rivers. Desna is a river in Russia and Ukraine that flows into the Dnieper. Eska is a river in southern Alaska.
* TwinTelepathy: The two of them are able to communicate from just glances without speaking.
* VictoryIsBoring: Now that they both rule the Northern Water Tribe, neither of them enjoys their new positions and would rather be fighting. They're more than willing to drop everything when they learn Zaheer is on the way to break P'Li out.
* TheWorfEffect: In Book 2, Tonraq loses to them, and they manage to beat Mako and Bolin. In Book 3, Ming-Hua beats both of them with practically no effort.

!!Tropes that apply to Eska
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Eska takes advantage of Bolin's attraction to her and turns him into a servant for herself and her brother. Deconstructed, as he quickly wants out of the relationship. Eventually, Eska stuck out for him in the end.
* AmicableExes: Eska and Bolin decide to be this at the end.
* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Eska tries to force Bolin to marry her when even she recognizes that he wants out of the relationship.
* AxCrazy: Eska's insanity rivals ''Azula's'' after being rejected. Though she seems to have calmed down by the episode ''The Sting''. However, she still maintained a grudge towards Bolin.
* TheChiefsDaughter: Eska is the daughter of the chieftain of the Northern Water Tribe and thus essentially a princess like Yue.
* ClassicVillain: Eska has come to represent Envy, Wrath, and Lust after Bolin "rejected" her.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Eska. Her reaction to Bolin hugging Korra was to restrain him in ice and drag him back to her. She later remarks that Korra "stole" Bolin from her, blaming her cousin for the entire thing.
-->'''Eska:''' Why did you initiate physical contact with another woman?
* DarkActionGirl: One of the CoDragons to the BigBad and a very lethal waterbender in her own right.
* DeclarationOfProtection: Eska tells Bolin she will protect him after he becomes afraid of dark spirits... in her own way.
-->'''Eska:''' I will protect you, my feeble turtle duck.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Eska, pun intended; it happens when Bolin apologizes for ditching her during her wedding. Bolin's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove caused Eska to defrost--both literally (she had trapped him in ice) and figuratively.
* DomesticAbuser: She treats Bolin like a servant.
* TheDreaded: To Bolin, who is terrified of her.
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Very, VERY subverted. Things go south after Bolin jilted Eska.
* FourthDateMarriage: Eska forcibly makes Bolin her fiancé and declares they will be married at sunset. Bolin runs. Very fast.
* HairDecorations: Eska wears beads in her hair.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Eska is the masculine to Bolin's feminine.
* MathematiciansAnswer: When Eska said she would make Bolin hers, he asked if as a boyfriend or slave. She just said yes. Turns out there's little distinction between the two in her eyes.
* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: Eska is the one we've seen speak more frequently and the one more likely to make demands. She's also the one more prone to hunting down men who break up with her. It is, however, possible that Eska only seems more verbose than her brother because she's given more attention, being the one dating Bolin. Both seem to be equally competent fighters.
* NightmareFace: Eska gets a rather terrifying one after Bolin tries to ditch her. Even Unalaq's commander was freaked out.
* NightmareFetishist: she claims to enjoy the sweet scent of desperation.
* NotSoStoic: Eska takes Bolin breaking up with her... poorly. In a more down-to-earth example, when Desna is injured while they're trying to open the Northern spirit portal, she shows immediate concern, even ignoring Unalaq's orders so she can get Desna to a healer.
* OppositesAttract: Bolin attempts to start a relationship with Eska, Despite the fact that Bolin himself is BigFun (in every sense of the trope) and that Eska has all the warmth and charm of a glacier. Though the "attract" part disappears rather quickly. [[{{Yandere}} At least, from Bolin's side.]]
** Reconstructed in the Book 2 finale, where he admitted he always loved Eska, but just felt too overwhelmed by the thought of marriage.
* PitbullDatesPuppy: Eska quickly shows herself to be domineering, possessive and insensitive to Bolin's feelings. Bolin, for his part, is too intimidated by her to ever stand up for himself or breakup with her. This hits its peak when Eska tries to bully Bolin into marrying her with Bolin only responding by sobbing at the prospect then fleeing as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
* PowerBornOfMadness: After becoming an AxeCrazy {{Yandere}} Eska comes off as far more vicious and dangerous than her brother.
* PsychoExGirlfriend: Eska already showed {{Yandere}} tendencies before Bolin broke up with her and left her at the altar, but after the break up she completely drops her emotionless personality and becomes a full-blown AxCrazy WomanScorned out for her cousin for "stealing her husband".
* PsychopathicWomanchild: Eska's behavior after Bolin's leaving her (and her behavior before when you realize she seems to have actual feelings for him) has revealed that underneath her icy exterior [[NotSoDifferent she does have something in common with him]]--she is a rather sheltered individual with a fairly childish view of the world. Unfortunately, where Bolin's [[ChildrenAreInnocent childishness is sweet and innocent]], [[ChildrenAreCruel hers is domineering and insane...]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Eska has shifted into being the Red Oni after being rejected by Bolin, leaving Desna as Blue Oni and OnlySaneMan.
* TookALevelInKindness: After Bolin apologizes to Eska for ditching her, Eska and Bolin were able to reaffirm their feelings for each other, they join the heroes later on (albeit late to the party), and commend their cousin for defeating their father. Then they both reach the conclusion that the whole thing was just something caused by the heat of the moment; Eska breaks up with Bolin on good terms, saying he's still special to her.
* UptownGirl: Bolin starts pursuing a romance with Eska, who, as the daughter of the chieftain of the Northern Water Tribe, is essentially a princess.
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Eska when she protects Bolin from dark spirits.
* WellExcuseMePrincess: Eska sees Bolin as an uncultured man and by the way she treats him, he wonders whether she sees him as a boyfriend or slave. Eventually deconstructed, as the relationship is unhealthy, Eska treats Bolin like an object (and plans to take him home to the Northern Water Tribe without asking), and Bolin wants out desperately.
* WomanScorned: Bolin skipped town on his wedding to Eska and [[UnstoppableRage she is pissed]]. Granted, he didn't want to get married in the first place, but he still ran away without confronting her, so you can kinda see how that might upset someone.
* {{Yandere}}: Eska is one woman you ''don't'' want to see scorned. She informs Bolin that should he try to break-up with her, she will freeze him in a block of ice and feed him to dolphin-piranhas. And when he does break up with her... [[http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/615/147/f98.gif she looks ready to commit murder.]] Later, when their father tells the twins he wants Korra found alive, Eska showed visible disappointment. But by the episode Harmonic Convergence, she seems to have gotten over it.
* YourMakeupIsRunning: Eska while pursuing Bolin after he breaks off their engagement and it stays that way, until the episode The Sting.

!!Tropes that apply to Desna
* AgentPeacock: Given his noted feminine appearance and waterbending skills.
* BlindObedience: Desna is confident that, no matter how bad his father's plan sounds, it can't possibly be for anything other than the greater good on the grounds that Unalaq is the wisest man Desna knows. He gets over it by the next episode.
* DeadpanSnarker: Desna shows some skill at this in "Civil Wars, Part 2".
* DisproportionateRetribution: PlayedForLaughs. When they find out about the super secret ice prison, Desna comments that he wants to throw his tailor in there for messing up the sleeves on his coat.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: Desna and Eska have nearly identical clothing and hairstyles, so naturally Desna comes off as this. Bolin even mistakes him for a girl in "Rebel Spirit".
* MeaningfulName: Desna means "right hand" in an old Slavic language. He's one of his father's right-hand men alongside Eska and he's very often placed on the right of his father whereas Eska tends to be on the left.
* OnlySaneMan: One can't help but get the vibe that Desna is this, given his father's obsession with the spirits and Eska's downright psychotic obsession with Bolin.
* PrettyBoy: Desna is a definite pretty boy, so much that he's mistaken as an "attractive lady" by Bolin in "Rebel Spirits"
* SatelliteCharacter: Desna has virtually no characterization outside of a couple snarky one-liners, being there to be the creepy twin that makes them CreepyTwins.
* TemptingFate: Desna dryly exclaims there's no way anyone could break out of his father's secret ice prison. Zuko cautiously warns him not to underestimate Zaheer and his cabal, reminding them of their breakouts. Desna learns this the hard way in the next episode.
* WellDoneSonGuy: {{Implied}} with Desna. He thinks his father is the wisest man he's ever known and uses this as his reason for helping Unalaq fuse with Vaatu. He gets over it in the end.
[[/folder]]

!!Triads

[[folder:Triads In General]]

The gangs that run the Republic City streets. Most of them are benders, which set up much of the bender/non-bender conflict that the Equalists capitalized on.
----
* ButtMonkey: The Triple Threat Triad gets this treatment, and nothing usually goes right for them. Korra easily handles them in the pilot, and Amon's Equalists kidnap their leader and several others to have their bending removed. This is averted when Varrick hires them as part of a trap set for Mako, which succeeds in being a distraction even though he figured it out.
* MobWar: They are constantly in this, as Skoochy pointed out.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: In Book 1, they were more of a laughable joke, often getting served. In "The Sting", they manage to put up a decent fight against Mako and Asami. The laughable tone that encompassed their villainy from the first Book vanishes in this episode.
* GoldfishPoopGang: The Triple Threat Triad is this, mostly serving as recurring side villains. They usually pale in comparison to the BigBad(s) of the season, and are a laughable threat to the heroes. When they're working for Varrick, however, they actually manage to get the job done.
* PsychosForHire: On a regular basis, they extort people for their money. Of course, they can take tasks for hire as well.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Zolt]]
!!Lightning Bolt Zolt
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lightning_bolt_zolt_126.png]]

->'''Voiced by:''' KevinMichaelRichardson

The firebending leader of the Triple Threat Triad at the start of the series. He is deposed after losing his bending to Amon, the first person to suffer that fate.
----
* AntiVillain: If the ''Republic City Hustle'' shorts are anything to go by, he's seemingly a NobleDemon. Of course, he's still a murderous crime lord.
* DePower: Stripped of his bending by Amon, the first example of his power.
* TheDon: Formerly.
* EvilMentor: According to supplementary materials, he taught Mako how to bend and redirect lightning.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: He is the first person to lose his bending to Amon and apparently loses his position as the Triad's boss soon after. He also never gets his bending restored after Amon's defeat.
* KillItWithFire / ShockAndAwe: He's a skilled firebender and lightningbender, hence the nickname.
* NobleDemon: In the ''Republic City Hustle'' shorts, he is shown as a somewhat honourable figure, protecting the brothers from Shady Shin's wrath, being pissed off at Tousa ''specifically'' for not fulfilling his part of the deal after "what they've done for him", and respecting Mako's wishes.
* PutOnABus: In Book 2, he's apparently stepped down, been imprisoned or overthrown after losing his bending, with Viper having replaced him as the Triad's leader.
* WouldntHurtAChild: In the ''Republic City Hustle'' short he tells Shin not to fight Mako and Bolin, stating that fighting children is "undignified".
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Viper]]
!!Viper
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/viper_6733.png]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Michael Yurchak

A Water-bending member of the Triple Threat Triad
-----
* AnIcePerson[=/=]MakingASplash: Like all water-benders.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Not apparent in his first appearance, since he was up against Korra and only had a single water pouch to work with. When he comes up against Mako in Book Two while in open water at nighttime (a situation that both empowers him and weakens Mako), he manages to overpower Mako briefly.
* BadassLongcoat: A grey one.
* BeardOfEvil: Has a small beard.
* ChekhovsGunman: Was one of the gangsters Korra beat up in her first episode.
* DragonAscendant: Since Zolt lost his bending; Viper has either taken over, or leads a section of the Triple-Threats.
* FauxAffablyEvil: All of his dialogue is polite, and delivered in a sleezy mocking tone.
* {{Jerkass}}: Slimy and smug through and through.
* NiceHat: Grey like his coat.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Subtle, but the fact he still has his bending meant he likely avoided Amon's mass debendings during the time he controlled Republic City. Whether or not this was luck or being good at avoiding the Equalists has still yet to be explained.
* ShameIfSomethingHappened: His debut had him threaten a business.
* SmugSnake: He's smug and contemptuous, it's what makes him over-confident.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Justified. He didn't know Korra was [[PhysicalGod the Avatar]] at the time before getting his ass handed to him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Shin]]
!!Shady Shin
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shin_acting_cool_380.png]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Fisher Stevens

A Waterbending member of the Triple Threat Triad.
-----
* BeardOfEvil: He has a small brown beard, and he considers shaving it for a date he has.
* DePower: After Amon debends him; as a bribe, Mako lies and offers to have Korra give it back.
* TheDragon: He may have been it to Zolt, and he seems to be it for Viper.
* EvilMentor: To Bolin, sort of. He taught him a "fast-paced, street version" of Pai Sho.
* GracefulLoser: Despite the brothers costing the Triple Threats a lot of money by getting Toza to not throw a fight, after Zolt calms him down, Shin leaves amicably even wistfully saying maybe they can fix a fight together someday. He's even willing to hire the brothers out for a job, like when Bolin was trying to find cash.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Amon depowered him and Zolt to prove his abilities. He made it seem like PayEvilUntoEvil, but he did it because they were benders not because they were bad people, though he used that fact to gain more followers.
* MakingASplash[=/=]AnIcePerson: Formerly.
* MeaningfulName: He's a shady figure who's offer of "legitimate" work should be taken with a grain of salt.
* NotSoBadassLongcoat: He wears a blue coat, not as long as Viper's, but he was depowered before we saw him demonstrate any combat feats.
* WouldHurtAChild: In Republic City Hustle, he and two other gangsters go after Bolin and Mako after they cost the group a lot of money, saying they're going to have a "talk" when they all get home. Zolt tells him to stand down because fighting kids is undignified.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ping]]
!!Two Toed Ping
[[quoteright:333:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/two_toed_ping_6351.png]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Richard Epcar

A fire-bending member of the Triple Threat Triad.
-----
* AffablyEvil: Very polite and happily strikes up a conversation with the heroes even when pulling the wool over Mako and Asami's eyes.
* AgonyOfTheFeet: Implied. Mako pulls a flame dagger and threatens to turn him into "No-Toed Ping" if he doesn't say who hired the Triple Threats. Ping's information, while not useful, is genuine because he'd never lie with his lucky toes on the line.
* BullyingADragon: By the time Ping decided to pick a fight with Korra, it was abundantly clear that he was dealing with the Avatar. He tries anyway and gets thrown into a building window for his efforts.
* ButtMonkey: Is often beaten in hilarious ways.
* ChekhovsGunman: He was one of the three gangsters who Korra first encountered in Republic city.
* FourFingeredHands: Inverted toe variant, he has 12 toes.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Has a scar over his left eye.
* MeaningfulName: He has two extra toes. He would have gone with "Twelve-toed" but another gangster claimed that nickname.
* MotorMouth: From Toes, to dating, to strong-arming, Ping likes to talk. And an advantage is he rarely talks about anything ''useful.'' He can go on for hours about the said categories just to waste time.
* NiceGuy: For a gangster anyway.
* OneSteveLimit: He wanted to be called "Twelve-Toed Ping", but some other guy already had the nickname.
* PlayingWithFire: Like all firebenders.
* ScarfOfAsskicking: A small red one.
* ShameIfSomethingHappened: His debut has him firebend a phonograph to show what they could do to a business.
* YouAllLookFamiliar: He's the basis for the every firebending member of the Triple Threat Triads in the game.
[[/folder]]

!!Earth Kingdom

[[folder:Earth Queen Hou-Ting]]
!Earth Queen Hou-Ting

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lr0hwyb_8669.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Before I even consider helping you, I'll need you to do something for me."]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Jayne Taini

The daughter and successor of Kuei, Hou-Ting is the petty, dictatorial monarch of the Earth Kingdom. Feeling that Aang and Zuko took advantage of her father's "vulnerability" to steal her nation's lands for their own empire, she is an immensely bitter woman, who takes out her grievances on her own kingdom.
----
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: After [[spoiler:Zaheer announces that she is dead]], her citizens start ''cheering''.
* AntagonisticOffspring: In a sense. Her father was an ally of the Avatar; she antagonizes the new Avatar, and she thinks poorly of her father and his deal with Aang and Zuko which ceded Earth Kingdom territory to the United Republic of Nations. She also apparently ate her father's pet bear, Bosco.
* BadBoss: She has the Dai Li drag off servants who fail to cater to her whims properly. She's also constantly rude and demeaning towards her NumberTwo, who later [[TheDogBitesBack abandons her]], not that he would have been able to do much anyway.
* BigBadEnsemble: With Zaheer. The two have opposing goals, but both antagonise Korra. [[spoiler:At the end of "Long Live the Queen", Zaheer kills her, leaving Zaheer and the Red Lotus as the sole BigBad.]]
* BigBadWannabe: Hou-Ting is far too confident in her own abilities and resources, treating her position as a license to do whatever she wants. The reality is that Zaheer and his group are considerably more dangerous and her poor management is weakening her kingdom. [[spoiler:When the two clash, she ends up dead.]]
* BrightIsNotGood: Dresses similar to her father, who was TheGoodKing. She, on the other hand, is the worst ruler this show has ever put forth, at least in terms of competence, though in terms of cruelty, she's right up there with [[EvilOverlord Ozai,]] and [[TheAntichrist Unalaq]].
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Her slow asphyxiation at Zaheer's hands might very well be the most brutal death in the entire franchise.]]
* CruellaToAnimals: Though somewhat justifiable, since she has allergies to most animals. She and her court also dine on rare animals. There are rumors that she even ''ate'' her father's beloved pet bear, Bosco.
* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:She would not bow before a bunch of super-powered commoners who already made it clear they wouldn't be ordered around. She died disgracefully indeed.]]
* DidntThinkThisThrough: She tries to have the Avatar locked up for crimes against her kingdom. As Zaheer points out, the other nations wouldn't stand for this and she'd be forced to release Korra, lest they take more drastic measures. She agrees to give Korra up to Zaheer in exchange for the location of the airbenders, though she goes back on her word as soon as Zaheer slights her.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** While the overtaxation and poverty are rather general traits that could apply to any number of real-world parallels, the SecretPolice and personality cult vibe make her rule suspiciously similar to that of UsefulNotes/NorthKorea.
** Also seems to be a bit inspired by Empress Dowager Cixi of China, especially given the Earth Rulers' [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Qing inspirations]]. An iron-fisted ruler who wasted taxpayers' money on things like a boat made of marble, while also undermining any effort to reform or modernize the country, bringing China to near ruin as a result.
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: She makes life for commoners living hell, and undid all the progress achieved under her father. If anything, she ''hated'' this so-called progress that her father made.
* DisproportionateRetribution: She tosses people in prison for such things as not trimming the hedges correctly or not showing her the proper respect, basically using any excuse to lord her position over those beneath her.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Like her father, she is never actually referred to by her given name, though it is mentioned as a dynasty name in Book 4.
* EvilOverlord: Hou-Ting is nothing but an animal-hating tyrant who robbed her people of their freedom and happiness.
* ExoticEntree: If the rumors are true, she ate her father's pet bear. It is a fact, however, that she enjoys dining on baby air bison steaks, which would be bad enough even if they weren't endangered.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler:Zaheer kills her by bending the air out of her lungs and surrounding her head in vacuum until she suffocates.]]
* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler:"You wouldn't dare attack a queen!"]]
* FemmeFatalons: Has very long green nails with golden nail coverings on the pinky and ring fingers. Long fingernails were often a fashion of imperial Chinese aristocracy in real life.
* {{Foil}}: She is the exact opposite of her father: he was clueless and passive (in his early years), so she became a domineering control freak; he was used by the Dai Li, so she brought the Dai Li to heel and under her control; he "lost" Earth Kingdom territory, and it seems she wants to take it back, likely through force; she is hostile to the Avatar for Aang and Zuko's perceived exploitation of her father; and finally, she hates animals of all kinds, while her father loved them (though the hatred of animals is partially justified because she has allergies. In any case, it is rumored that she ''ate'' her father's beloved pet, Bosco).
* FreudianExcuse: Her father's weakness is one as to why she became an iron-fisted tyrant. Then there's her allergy to most animals, which she uses to justify her cruelty to animals.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Especially notable since she is the one Queen seen in either series[[note]]Ursa is a princess and the Fire Nation's ruler is [[SheIsTheKing Fire Lord, regardless of gender]][[/note]].
* {{Gonk}}: Aside from her clothing, she wouldn't look particularly out of place in ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'', which tends to use more caricatured faces and facial expressions.
* {{Greed}}: She makes ''Varrick'' look charitable by comparison.
* HairTriggerTemper: It's not at all hard to make her neurotically angry.
* HateSink: Zaheer and his allies fall squarely under EvilIsCool and come across as rather humane, but the Earth Queen more than picks up the slack.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: It's not made clear why she was trying to build up an airbender army, though it's hinted she wanted to reclaim the United Republic, which was formerly Earth Kingdom territory. [[spoiler:Any designs she had died when she did.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: She over-taxes her subjects to fund her lavish lifestyle, imprisons the airbenders in her kingdom to force them to become her army, and people apparently have to keep pictures of her in their homes.
* {{Jerkass}}: Really, this is the ''nicest'' thing you can call her.
* JerkassHasAPoint: At one point Bumi lampshades that, yes, sovereign rulers do have the right the conscript their own citizens into the military.
* KickTheDog: There are rumours that she ate her father's pet bear, Bosco. Whether or not this is true is unknown, but it's really not something that could be put past her. She also enjoys eating baby air bison steaks, which would be bad enough even if they weren't endangered.
* KarmicDeath: After attempting to force airbenders to fight in her army; it's only fitting that she [[spoiler: is killed by Zaheer, who bends the air out of her lungs and thus asphyxiates her.]]
* LackOfEmpathy: Of all villains, she is worst offender of this trope.
* ILied: When Korra approaches her asking for information on any airbenders in Ba Sing Se, Hou-Ting sends Korra off an errand to collect some taxes. Once Korra comes back, Hou-Ting continues to insist that there are no airbenders in Ba Sing Se.
* {{Narcissist}}: The Queen cares for nobody but herself.
* NeverMyFault: She blames the various problems facing her kingdom alternatively on her father's weakness, the disloyalty and incompetence of her citizens, and bandits. Never on the fact that she's a tight-fisted tyrant who doesn't care about anyone but herself. [[spoiler:The Queen learns ''the hard way'' whose fault it really is.]]
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: She's responsible for swelling the Air Nomad ranks by not only gathering up airbenders, but also ingratiating them to Korra and Team Avatar. Prior to her involvement, they only had one recruit who had already abandoned them. Twice.
* NonActionBigBad: Doesn't seem to have any bending ability since she was unable to do anything when confronted by [[spoiler: Zaheer]].
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Her forces manages to capture Korra and Asami as they made their escape from Ghazan and Ming-Hua, though Korra was unconscious at the time. Subverted in the following episode when Asami and Korra make their escape long before they reach Ba Sing Se.
* ObviouslyEvil: You mean the mannish-jawed, long-nailed, [[HairTriggerTemper perpetually angry]] [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen queen]] that is [[CruellaToAnimals allergic to animals]] is evil!? [[SarcasmMode How shocking!]]
* OhCrap: Both times when her Dai Li agents get defeated [[spoiler: and a final one when she realizes Zaheer is bending the air out of her body]].
* PragmaticVillainy: Zaheer talks her into turning over Korra to him in exchange for the location of her stolen airbenders, reasoning that the other nations would pressure her into releasing Korra once they found out that the Earth Queen had her. That fell through when Zaheer learned that Korra had escaped and confronted the Earth Queen about it; in keeping with her character, she is insulted by his brashness and tries to force the location of the airbenders from him. [[spoiler:It didn't end well for her.]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Subverted. At first she appears to be agreeable as long as whatever deal she makes benefits her, but in the end, she never honors her end of the bargain.
* SketchySuccessor[=/=]FisherKing: In a sense. Under her reign, the Upper and Middle Rings of Ba Sing Se have grown even more decadent while the Lower Ring and outskirts have been driven down further into poverty.
* SmugSnake: Thinks her Dai Li could beat Korra and the Krew. She was wrong. She also repeats her mistake with the Red Lotus, [[spoiler:and doesn't get to live to learn better]].
* TheSociopath: Reviewing her key personality traits is like reading through a sociopath diagnostic checklist: superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self, pathological lying, a penchant for manipulating others to achieve her own ends, an absolutely astonishing lack of empathy or remorse for any of her actions, and an insatiable lust for dominance and importance that drives her every move. She has no qualms whatsoever about sacrificing those closest to her if it suits her purposes.
* SpannerInTheWorks: In "The Stakeout", her forces capture Korra, Asami and Naga before the Red Lotus gets the chance.
* TooDumbToLive: Having just witnessed [[spoiler:the Red Lotus easily defeat her Dai Li]], she tries to use her position as a shield against any further retaliation. [[spoiler:Zaheer then suffocates her.]]
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Since she isn't familiar with Zaheer and his crew, she assumes them to be mere bounty hunters she can push around like everyone else. [[spoiler:This ends with the Dai Li getting [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] and herself being suffocated by airbending.]]
* VillainHasAPoint: She technically does have the ability to conscript Earth Kingdom citizens into the army, something that both she and Bumi mention, although the lengths she goes to are extreme and what she's doing is technically enslavement rather than conscription.
* WouldHurtAChild: Not only not above conscripting kids in the first place, she's okay with the Dai Li ''killing'' them if they desert.
* YouWouldntShootMe: Attempts this in "Long Live the Queen" [[spoiler:with the Red Lotus after her Dai Li are curbstomped and her assistant deserts her. Doesn't work.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Dai Li]]
!Dai Li

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9uuv8bu_113.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Welcome to her Majesty's army, first Airbending regiment."]]

The Earth Kingdom's SecretPolice. They are largely unchanged from the previous series, down to the mannerisms and fighting styles, though unlike with Kuei's reign they are perfectly aligned with Hou-Ting's will.
----
* BadassCrew: They're vile, but they're no less dangerous than in the previous series, able to hold their own against Korra and her friends. [[spoiler:The Red Lotus are out of their league, however.]]
* DecapitatedArmy: [[spoiler:After the Earth Queen's death, Ba Sing Se descends into total lawlessness within a matter of hours.]]
* DishingOutDirt: The Dai Li are all Earthbenders.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: While they've since abandoned the one under Lake Laogai, Ba Sing Se has no shortage of underground tunnels for them to use as hideouts. Their newest one is right under the Earth Queen's temple.
* EliteMooks: The Earth Queen prefers to use them instead of her Royal Guards. They're good enough to hold their own against Korra and her friends, though they ultimately failed to stop them from escaping with the airbenders. Then the Red Lotus overpowered eight of them in under a minute without a scratch.
* GoneHorriblyRight:
** They trained the airbenders to become elite warriors by chucking rocks at them. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, the airbenders turned their skills on the Dai Li and escaped.
** The Dai Li themselves could be an example when compared to their counterparts in the first series. In that series, they were going behind the Earth King's back and following the corrupt Long Feng, and later Azula. Here they've apparently been reformed to be completely loyal to the monarch... who unfortunately happens to be an evil, oppressive tyrant. Oops.
* HazyFeelTurn: Again. First they served a corrupt official who reduced the Earth King to a puppet, then they switched loyalty to the ruthless Fire Nation. Seventy years later, they're back under the command of a tyrannical Earth Queen.
* HypercompetentSidekick: It's obvious that without the Dai Li at her beck and call, the Earth Queen would be considerably less powerful.
* KarmaHoudini: In a manner of speaking after the war. It didn't seem like they were tried for crimes against the Earth Kingdom, nor were they disbanded for said crimes. Instead, they were just reformed to serve the monarch and no one else, which didn't take into account the fact that Kuei's daughter would be an evil tyrant.
* {{Irony}}: The Dai Li were originally formed in response to peasant uprisings. [[spoiler:When the Earth Queen is killed and the peasants start looting and rioting, there's no sign of the Dai Li anywhere.]]
* TheMenInBlack: They are definitely this under the Earth Queen. They do dress in black, have a rather conspicuous looking demeanor, and are complicit in the Queen's dirty ops. Whenever they see an Airbender, they capture them and repudiate their existence within Ba Sing Se. Furthermore, it's even Lampshaded when Bolin's cousin says he's rumors of them doing experiments on Airbenders.
* NiceHat: Much like in the previous series. This generation's has a few similarities to a Kaiser pickelhaube, though. Whether or not that was intentional is up to interpretation.
* SecretPolice: Just like in the last series. Only now, instead of there being no war; "there are no airbenders in Ba Sing Se", and they appear to be completely loyal to the Earth Queen.
* SmugSnake: The agent that acts as a DrillSergeantNasty to the kidnapped airbenders.
* TheWorfEffect: After holding their own against Korra and her friends, plus several amateur airbenders, Zaheer and the Red Lotus steamroll them.
* WouldHurtAChild: Again. Even children are not exempt from the TrainingFromHell; and when Kai tries escaping with the others, they declare that it is punishable by death.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ganbat]]
!Ganbat

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/llfndxv_2461.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"The Earth Queen and her fancy friends pay big money for bison steaks and other weird meat. I even heard she ate her dad's pet bear!"]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TravisWillingham

The leader of a band of air bison rustlers who make their living selling rare meats to the Earth Queen.
----
* DishingOutDirt: He is an earthbender.
* EvilPoacher: Technically not a poacher in the legal sense, since he seems to have permission to do what he does from the Earth Queen, but fits the stereotype perfectly in specifically targeting an endangered species and attacking people who try to get in his way.
* FurAndLoathing: He wears the pelt of a baby bison as a cape.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: He surrenders and tries to plead for mercy after Tenzin, Kai and the adult air bison take down his truck. [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown Kai will have none of it.]]
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: His group provided an obstacle for the new airbenders to overcome and gain confidence in themselves.
[[/folder]]

!!Red Lotus
[[folder:In General]]
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_red_lotus_8300.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:"The natural order, is disorder."]]

A secret society that broke off from the Order of the White Lotus, consisting of dangerous anarchists who seek to eliminate world leaders and bring about chaos to the world, believing it to be the one true way of life. The main four members are [[BlowYouAway Zaheer]], [[MagmaMan Ghazan]], [[MakingASplash Ming Hua]], and [[HavingABlast P'Li]], all four with unique and powerful abilities. There are also {{Mooks}} and agents all over the world.
----
* BadassCrew: According to Zuko, all four of the main members are strong enough to take down any bender on their own, and the entire world together. Note that Zaheer wasn't a bender until recently, so that's high praise indeed. They're basically the villainous counterpart to Team Avatar. [[spoiler: The other known members, Unalaq and Aiwei, are also incredibly skilled in their own right.]]
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: All four of them have been locked in a TailorMadePrison for 13 years with barely any human contact, but aside from Ming-Hua looking slightly gaunt, they definitely don't look it. Zaheer is [[WildHair unkempt]] but not as much as he should be, and someone must have been providing Ghazan razors to keep that stache of his so neatly trimmed.
* BigBadEnsemble: Their goals put them at odds with the Earth Queen, [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen who is no saint herself]]. [[spoiler:She doesn't survive their encounter, making them the sole Big Bads.]]
* BiggerBad: The Red Lotus society as a whole and whomever leads it (assuming it wasn't Zaheer) could be considered this for season three, in addition to Zaheer directly filling the role of BigBad. We know that the group is not limited to the four "main" ones we meet on-screen, but it is unclear as of yet how numerous, powerful or influential the rest of the society is, and how highly Zaheer and his gang rank in their hierarchy.
* BombThrowingAnarchists: Minus the bombs, but the ideals are all there. Their ultimate goal is abolition from all rulers, no matter how good or evil they are, and they're quite willing to use violence to make that possible. In Zaheer's words, "The natural order... is disorder." [[spoiler:Killing the Avatar while in the Avatar State was going to be the final trigger to their plan.]]
* CombatPragmatist: Every single one of them has no qualms about fighting dirty, doing whatever it takes to overwhelm their (usually far underpowered) adversaries. Best exemplified when they ganged up on Tenzin after he proved to be too strong for Zaheer to handle alone. When dealing with Korra, they never once try to fight her as an equal, instead trying to place her in situations that would render her vulnerable.
* TheConspiracy: It turns out they also have mooks in addition to the active members. Who knows how many more of them are left.
* TheDreaded: Everyone who knows of them is terrified of what they can do, both individually and as a team.
* DeathByIrony: All of them are [[spoiler:defeated by their own elements. P'Li blows herself up when Su cages her head in metal while she's attacking. Ming-Hua is killed when Mako electrocutes her through her water arms. Ghazan purposefully kills himself with his own lavabending (trying to take Mako and Bolin with him) rather than go back to prison. Finally, Zaheer is beaten when Jinora conjures a tornado to keep him from flying off with Korra, and Korra uses the metal chains she was bound with to slam him into the ground.]]
* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:In the end, the biggest fault with their plans was their lack of foresight. Their plan to kill Korra in the Avatar State failed to take into account just how powerful she was at the time. Even poisoned and berserk, she is still too much for them to handle, and Ming-Hua and Ghazan ended up dead in the struggle. They came very close to killing her, but couldn't finish the job]].
** Their intention of freeing Vaatu falls into this as well. They don't understand that the Great Spirit of Darkness and Chaos is an OmnicidalManiac.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Besides obvious comparisons to real life communist and anarchist groups, the Red Lotus has a distinctive Arabic motif. The {{Leitmotif}}, Zaheer's own name and the distinctive red turbans the sentries wear in the finale seem to suggest clearly a comparison to Muslim terrorists.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Each character gets one during their respective escapes.
* EvilCounterpart: To Team Avatar; like them, they are a cabal of powerful benders. They are also one to the White Lotus; a small group of very powerful people that have more influence than is apparent at first.
* EvilerThanThou: In "Long Live The Queen", [[spoiler:they kill Earth Queen Hou-Ting when it no longer serves their purposes to work with her.]]
* EvilIsNotAToy: [[spoiler:They originally wanted to achieve their goals by releasing Vaatu, but doing so would've backfired on them anyways because he is an OmnicidalManiac who would wipe out all existence.]]
* EvilVsEvil: After the Earth Queen's forces manage to kidnap Korra, the Red Lotus sets off for Ba Sing Se to get her for themselves. [[spoiler:They end up killing her once Korra escapes on her own, no longer having a need to barter with her.]]
* FallenHero: Their founder, Xai Bau is this. He and anyone who followed suit used to be members of the heroic White Lotus.
* FourElementEnsemble: Each member has one elemental power, though Zaheer was a [[BadassNormal non-bender]] prior to Harmonic Convergence.
* GenderEqualEnsemble: Another parallel to Team Avatar, but only among the core members.
* HeroKiller: They're exceptionally powerful benders, to the point that Zuko believes they are a threat to the entire world if allowed to roam free. [[spoiler:They live up to this in "Long Live The Queen" by killing the Earth Queen and sending Ba Sing Se into chaos. Then they make their way to the Northern Air Temple and quickly overwhelm its defenders as a hostage gambit to get Korra. Then they very nearly kill Korra by poisoning her.]]
* HiddenAgendaVillain: In-universe, no one knows what they truly want, as none of the group would give up any information. Zaheer explains most of his plan to Korra when asked. The Red Lotus seeks the abolition of all governments and nations in order to free the people, despite the chaos this would cause. When Korra asks what they want of her specifically, however, Zaheer doesn't give an answer. [[spoiler:It's ultimately revealed that they want to kill her while she's in the Avatar State, ending the Avatar cycle and basically resetting the field. As for where Guru Laghima came in, Zaheer coveted the secret to weightlessness.]]
* InverseLawOfUtilityAndLethality: Since Ghazan and P'Li possess abilities that would be deadly were they to connect, they rarely land hits with those abilities. This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that Ghazan can fall back on normal earthbending if the plot requires that he hit someone, and P'Li's blasts don't need to make direct contact to cause damage.
* IWantThemAlive: Whatever their plans with Korra, simply killing her isn't an option. If she's killed immediately, she'll just be reborn, so that would only serve to render the Avatar a non-issue for a couple of decades at best. Mako even questions them on this; Ghazan only vaguely replies that the world will change for the better. [[spoiler:It turns out, their plan is to induce the Avatar State in her and then kill her, ending the Avatar Cycle. With no world leaders and no Avatar to guide the people, they believe chaos will finally reign.]]
* [[KnightOfCerebus Knights of Cerebus]]: In a recurring theme for the series, episodes involving them are inevitably more serious than normal. They're not entirely devoid of humor, in contrast to Amon and Vaatu, but they're more serious nevertheless. They're also the first villains in either show to [[spoiler:explicitly kill someone on screen--other villains have killed people, but never in full view of the audience]].
* {{Leitmotif}}: The music from the Changes trailer serves as their main theme.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: They don't pick fights unnecessarily and don't overplay their hand. Zaheer leaves Air Temple Island as soon as he has what he came for, only fighting long enough to facilitate his escape. When they try to kidnap Korra from Zaofu, they try to sneak out quietly and then play defense until Zaheer can provide cover. When Korra was rescued, they abandoned that attempt.
* MookChivalry: Averted in "The Ultimatum". When it appears [[spoiler:Tenzin is about to defeat Zaheer in a one-on-one fight]], all four members of the Red Lotus simply gang up and easily defeat him.
* NebulousEvilOrganization: A global one that has existed since the end of the Hundred Year War, and have been enemies of the White Lotus since they splintered from them. They engage in acts ranging from criminal activity, to acts of terrorism, to assassination of world leaders, all for one goal: the elimination of law and order and the dominance of anarchy in the world.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: All of them collectively give one to [[spoiler:Tenzin]] after he refuses to admit defeat, despite his injuries.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Much like Amon and the Equalists, the Red Lotus are dangerously competent villains. As shown in their kidnapping attempt on Korra, they infiltrate Zaofu with no one noticing, incapacitate Korra without raising any alarms, any only fail to get back out because Pabu happened to catch them and alert Bolin. After losing Korra in the subsequent fight, they cut their losses and retreat.
* OrderVersusChaos: They believe Wan interfering in the battle between Raava and Vaatu by sealing the spirit portals has disrupted the natural chaos of the world. Furthermore, they see governments as an extension of this disruption, and seek to eliminate them, as well. They shared Unalaq's goal of releasing Vaatu, [[spoiler:but Unalaq had greater ambitions and used them as pawns, abandoning them when they failed]].
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: [[spoiler:Unalaq]] was a former member of the Red Lotus.
* PyrrhicVillainy: They seemingly managed to break Korra and destabilize the Earth Kingdom, but their most powerful agents are either dead or captured, and the world at large is now aware of them.
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: Zaheer and particularly his three comrades fill out this role within the society.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Not the core members (aside from P'Li, who's a [[ColorCodedElements firebender]]), but the sentries. These come in at least two versions: an externally black cloak with red inside (worn by [[spoiler:the guy who poisoned Korra]]), and a black tunic with a red turban.
* RenegadeSplinterFaction: The Red Lotus is an offshoot of the White Lotus, founded after the Hundred Year War by one of their membership who disagreed with the White Lotus coming out of hiding to serve the Avatar.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: All of them are quite friendly and approachable with the rest of the group; with their enemies they are ruthless opponents.
* TailorMadePrison: All four of them were held in prisons built specifically for them.
** Zaheer, a former nonbender, was held in a metallic prison on a nigh-unclimbable mountaintop that could only be opened by a metalbender. He also seems to [[BreakThemByTalking be the persuasive one,]] so putting him in a prison without frequent interaction with guards makes sense. It didn't work later on, because these safeguards failed to take into account him gaining Airbending.
** Ghazan, the earthbender, was held in a floating wooden island prison.
** Ming-Hua, the waterbender, was held in a cage over a volcano.
** P'Li, the firebender, was held in a cell deep inside a glacier at the north pole, with restraints to block her combustion bending.
* VillainousFriendship: The whole group seems to genuinely like each other, and is full of teamwork and light-hearted teasing. During "The Terror Within", when they fail to capture Korra, they keep their composure and retreat. [[spoiler:This doesn't extend to the membership at large, however, as Zaheer had no problem dooming Aiwei to eternal torment in the Fog of Lost Souls for his failure, and Unalaq betrayed the four of them for his own ambitions.]] This is another parallel to Team Avatar.
** Blink and you'll miss it, but when Zaheer tells Ghazan and Ming-Hua about [[spoiler: P'Li's death]], they are both visibly saddened.
* WeWillMeetAgain: [[spoiler:Zaheer invokes this on behalf of the whole of the Red Lotus, telling Korra that her conflict with the Red Lotus is far from over, and there are more of them out there. Zuko and the others even acknowledge the great possibility of them striking again.]]
* WouldHurtAChild:
** Subverted with Korra. Though they tried to kidnap Korra not long after she was revealed to be the Avatar, resulting in their imprisonment, this was only because they wanted to [[{{Tykebomb}} train her themselves]].
** [[spoiler:However, killing her later on was the trigger to their final plan. The only reason it wouldn't have counted as hurting a child before was that Korra would have been conditioned to willingly do herself in for their cause.]]
** Played straight in "The Ultimatum". In order to force Korra to surrender, they threaten to [[spoiler:wipe out the new Air Nation. Out of the two-dozen or so members, at least half are teenagers, several more are even younger, and Tenzin's wife and year-old son are among them. He may have been bluffing, but then again, maybe not. Technically, Zaheer didn't harm them when they were kept imprisoned while Korra turned herself in, but it didn't mean he had to ''care'' for them.]]
* WrongContextMagic: All four possess bending that should, by most normal rules of bending, be impossible. In rough order from least to most uncanny:
** Zaheer's airbending is technically the closest to normal, with only his aggressive fighting style betraying anything odd. However, he gained the ability through Harmonic Convergence, when bending is usually present from birth. [[spoiler: He's also the only airbender seen using the art to its full [[LethalHarmlessPowers lethal potential]], as well as being the only airbender in thousands of years to fly.]]
** Ming-Hua lacks arms, but can use her waterbending to create substitute limbs, and seems to use them in place of her normal arms for bending. Most benders have less control when they can't use their limbs to direct their element, but this seems to have resulted in an unusually fine control over her water arms.
** P'Li can create explosions like Combustion Man in addition to normal firebending. Unlike him, she can send the blasts around corners.
** Ghazan can liquefy Earth into magma when previously, only Avatars have shown the ability to do so. Prior to his appearance, it was assumed to require a combination of earth and firebending.
** The two known non-core members continued this trend. [[spoiler: Unalaq was able to control spirits (though partially because of his allegiance to Vaatu), while Aiwei could detect lies in addition to metalbending. The finale introduces a few mook-level Red Lotus members, who seem to be average.]]
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:It didn't really matter if Korra was going to join their cause or not. Killing Korra in the Avatar State was the trigger to their final plan of ensuring eternal chaos. After all, their goal was to rid the world of all its leaders AND the Avatar]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zaheer]]
!Zaheer
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zaheer_6125.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"When you base your expectations only on what you see, you blind yourself to the possibilities of a new reality."]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Music/HenryRollins

A formerly non-bender criminal and member of a society known as the Red Lotus who was arrested with his three cohorts for attempting to kidnap the Avatar. Having now gained airbending through Harmonic Convergence, he breaks his cabal out of their prisons and intends to finish what they started.
----
* AffablyEvil: He's always civil and polite, even to his jailers. He also acts very nicely around Tenzin's children during his infiltration of Air Temple Island. He even honestly tells Korra a large amount of what his plan is, when she tries to interrogate him. [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy Though this is partially to buy his associates time to kidnap her]].
** His affably evil status is tested quite a bit in "The Ultimatum". Until then he seemed unwilling to get his hands dirty directly when it came to harming innocents, but here he outright threatens to kill [[spoiler:every last airbender at the temple]] if Korra doesn't surrender herself. He's confident he won't have to follow through on the threat, but his and his team's subsequent actions indicate he is prepared to do so if he feels he has to.
** His status is tested even further in the finale, where he dips into FauxAffablyEvil territory. [[spoiler:He never planned on holding up his end of the bargain, and had set a trap to kill whoever was going to receive the Air Nomads after Korra turns herself over.]]
* AmbiguouslyEvil: Much like Amon, it's clear Zaheer is a villain. His level of villainy, however, is another matter entirely. Though he explains most of his plan to Korra, the full extent of it remains a mystery. [[spoiler:It turns out, he wants to kill her while she's in the Avatar State, ending the Avatar cycle, because he feels the world needs to return to how it was before Wan became the Avatar in order to achieve true balance.]]
* AntiVillain: Genuinely cares about his friends and girlfriend, is good with kids, acts almost [[AffablyEvil infallibly polite]], and has a sincere interest in the Air Nomad culture and philosophy. His goal is to eliminate the leaders of the five nations and throw the world into chaos so that a new world can begin, but he comes across as one of the most ''human'' of the franchise's antagonists.
* AscendedFanboy: A longtime student of airbending culture who gained the ability.
* AstralProjection: He can project his spirit into the Spirit World, which he uses to communicate with his operatives. It is likely he tracked Korra down through this method.
* BadassNormal: Zaheer was a non-bender until Harmonic Convergence, but he was a master martial artist on par with the other three, so the Order of the White Lotus imprisoned him with as much caution as the benders he worked with.
* BaldOfEvil: Though he starts out unkempt, he shaves his head and beard later on, taking on a more airbender-like appearance.
* BatmanGambit: Attempted by Zaheer when he talks to Korra in the Spirit World while Ming-Hua and Ghazan capture her defenseless body. The Earth Queen's forces derail the plan by kidnapping Korra themselves when Asami tries to take her to safety.
* BenevolentBoss: To the rest of his crew, whom he deeply respects and cares for. He goes out of his way to rescue each and every one of them. To any subordinate who proves to be a liability, not so much.
* BewareTheHonestOnes: He's a polite, civil, philosophical, and one may even say kind man at first glance. But he is also a BombThrowingAnarchist who seeks to create social disorder and despite his code of honor, isn't above cold-blooded murder to get there. [[spoiler:Both Aiwei and the Earth Queen learned this the hard way.]]
* BigBad[=/=]ArcVillain: He is the main villain of Book 3, as the leader of his gang, part of the Red Lotus, aiming to plunge the world into chaos.
* BlowYouAway: He gained airbending through Harmonic Convergence.
* BullyingADragon: [[spoiler: His plan was to poison Korra, forcing her into the Avatar State to counteract it, and kill her to end the Avatar cycle permanently. Korra ends up breaking free of her chains (not even by bending, but just sheer strength alone) and nearly hands Zaheer his ass in her enraged Avatar state, only losing after she succumbs to the poison.]]
* ChaosIsEvil: Defied; he believes that chaos is neither good nor evil, but rather is the natural state of things, and that by creating chaos through the destruction of governments, a better world will rise from the ashes.
* ColorMotif[=/=]ColorCodedElements: He has a very noticeable preference for gray clothes, different from the more garish Air Nomad outfits but nonetheless consistent with how air is color coded.
* CulturedBadass: Is an avid student of airbending culture, quite knowledgeable about history, is well-spoken in general and infallibly polite to almost everyone he comes across, even enemies.
* CurbStompBattle: He hands these out with alarming regularity. He almost effortlessly dispatches the Order of the White Lotus guards at his, Ghazan's, and Ming-Hua's prisons and does similarly well against the Dai Li. He ends up on the receiving end of one when he fights Tenzin in "The Ultimatum", where the vast disparity in their respective airbending experience becomes clear. [[spoiler:And he ends up on the receiving end of another one from Korra when she's in the Avatar State, showing why BullyingADragon is ''never'' a good idea.]]
* DieOrFly: [[spoiler: Quite literally in "Enter the Void". After P'Li is killed by Suyin and it looks like Zaheer's plans have completely fallen apart and he's about to be recaptured by Lin and Suyin, Zaheer quite calmly begins reciting the teachings of Guru Laghima and then falls backwards off the cliff...because P'Li's death has cut his last tie to the earth and he has achieved the ability of flight.]]
* EarAche: Has cauliflower ear from a life of fighting.
* EleventhHourSuperpower: [[spoiler: He manifests the ability to fly at the end of the penultimate episode of Book Three.]]
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: WordOfGod states that Zaheer was a master martial artist and professional fighter before being imprisoned, and then he got airbending....
* EnlightenedAntagonist: Highly spiritual, gained airbending and virtually mastered it in two weeks. He's also a terrorist.
* EnlightenmentSuperpowers: [[spoiler:He achieves Guru Laghima's power of flight through intense meditation and severing his earthly bonds.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He genuinely cares for his friends and his lover P'Li, personally leading the attempt to break them out of their jails. [[spoiler: Her death strikes him with grief, though it also allows him to let go of all earthly attachments to achieve flight.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** He despises tyrants such as the Earth Queen and Fire Lord Ozai.
** Believes that Unalaq's attempt to become a Dark Avatar was selfish.
** After [[spoiler:he kills the Earth Queen]] and is trying to announce the deed to the people, Ming-Hua threatens the operator when he's a bit hesitant. Zaheer ''immediately'' calls her out on this, telling her it goes against what they stand for.
* TheEvilGenius: He's the group's strategist and coordinates all of their plans.
* EvilLaugh: For a blatant AntiVillain, he gives a surprisingly good when it seems [[spoiler: Korra will soon die from the poison in her system]].
* EvilVirtues: Polite, thoughtful, honest, brave, philosophical, honorable, determined, apparently good with kids, loyal to his friends, loves his girlfriend. If it wasn't for the fact that he seeks to create social disorder, let alone the increasingly ruthless methods he employs in the completion of said goal, it would be near impossible to look at him and think "villain".
* FateWorseThanDeath: Nothing is actually said of this, but [[spoiler:at end of the third season he's arguably heading for this. He's fated to go back to prison once again, knowing that his revolution was a failure and his close friends are all dead.]]
* {{Flight}}: [[spoiler:When P'Li dies, he loses his last attachment to the Earth, allowing him to achieve enlightenment and master the power of flight.]]
* {{Foil}}: For Tenzin, where as Aang's son is the oldest living airbender master, Zaheer is one of the newest airbenders. Both studied the Air Nomads but for different reasons. Tenzin studied them out of a sense of duty since for the brief time after the death of his father and the birth of his children, he was the last airbender. Zaheer chose to study them for their belief in freedom. And both studied so that they could mentor the next Avatar. Even the way they fight is different, Tenzin is graceful, relies on extensive and often elaborate attacks, while Zaheer uses a brute force version of airbending which he seems to mix with martial arts. Both even have a significant other, who they are attached to in different ways.
** For Jinora, while he is a middle-age man who gained his airbending powers thanks to Harmonic Convergence, pre-teen Jinora was a born aibender. And because of that, Jinora's style of airbending is more close to ''traditional'' airbending, but Zaheer has a more aggressive style. There's also this [[http://leafo-flameo.tumblr.com/post/97484802478/airbending-spirituality-the-acquisition-of-spiritual post]] describing their spiritual nature.
* ForeignCultureFetish: His fascination with Air Nomad culture can be seen as this as he didn't become an airbender until the events of Book 3.
* FullContactMagic: Though technically true of all bending, Zaheer's airbending deserves special mention because of how different it is from traditional airbending. Unlike the graceful, sometimes dance-like motions favored by other airbenders, Zaheer commands the air with [[SupernaturalMartialArts punches, kicks, air grapples, and a whole assortment of other martial arts moves]] that have more in common with [[AttackAttackAttack hyper-offensive]] firebending moves. Justified as Zaheer is self-taught and therefore is not using "proper" airbending, and is implied to have been a BadassNormal before getting airbending.
* GoodPowersBadPeople: Airbending is without a doubt the least offense-based bending, but Zaheer is anything but defensive in his use of it. Taken a step further in "Long Live The Queen", where he uses airbending to [[spoiler:bend the air out of the Earth Queen and suffocate her, a feat never seen before in either series and a stark contrast to the pacifist philosophy of Air Nomads]]. He also has a twisted interpretation of airbending philosophy.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: He has an 'x'-shaped scar on the back-left side of his head. He also has a small one on his left eyebrow.
* HannibalLecture: Gives a rather chilling one to the White Lotus guard bringing him his rice, and again to the Earth Queen [[spoiler:while killing her]].
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** He calls Ming-Hua out for threatening a radio operator, saying that they do not harm the innocent, but previously had no objection to her doing the same to an innocent truck driver in "Old Wounds". To be fair, the latter was done out of necessity since there was a city-wide manhunt for them, and the driver was allowed to run once it was clear they would be exposed.
** He uses the extinction of the airbenders by the Fire Nation as an example of an oppressive government that needs to be destroyed, then threatens to do the same to the new Air Nation in order to force Korra to surrender herself.
* InkSuitActor: Once he shaves, he looks [[http://38.media.tumblr.com/b02ec55708f276c2f91f1923ccb1051f/tumblr_n8mzy9Gjdf1rg2ffoo1_1280.jpg quite a bit like the real]] Music/HenryRollins.
* InstantExpert: He's been an airbender for all of two weeks, yet bends like a master. [[spoiler:He was also able to fly around with ease the moment he achieved enlightenment.]] It's implied he's a dedicated student of Air Nomad culture, so he likely memorized much of the lore and just started applying it, once he gained the power. Since the Red Lotus was planning to raise Korra as a {{Tykebomb}}, it may also have been for the purpose of having someone knowledgeable about airbending to serve as her master. Despite his natural talent, however, his fight with Tenzin proves that intuition is no substitute for experience.
* JustBetweenYouAndMe: He engages in this with Korra in "The Stakeout", believing she at least deserves to know why they're after her. It also serves to keep her in the spirit world while his friends capture her. When it comes to why they specifically need her to enact their plan, however, he refuses to answer that.
* KickTheDog: In "Venom of the Red Lotus", he gloats about [[spoiler:Korra's imminent death in front of her father and friends]].
* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** While the "son of a bitch" in this case isn't the most vile of examples, [[spoiler:Aiwei was a traitor and so hardly the most sympathetic of individuals.]]
** [[spoiler: Inflicted this on the Earth Queen, which was [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing met with rejoicing]] in-universe.]]
* KillTheGod: [[spoiler:His ultimate plan for Korra, since the Avatar is [[BigGood the world's most important protector]] and [[OrderVersusChaos an agent of Order]].]]
* KnightTemplar: He believes that the key to global freedom and peace is to destroy the world's governments and the boundaries between nations, throwing the world to "natural disorder". He is, of course, ruthless in his methods, having no qualms with cold-blooded murder, kidnapping a little girl (later he claims that he didn't plan to harm her, [[spoiler: but his ultimate plan does involve her death]]), [[spoiler: throwing one of his associates into what amounts to Hell, and asphyxiating a defenseless woman]]. Probably best demonstrated in "The Ultimatum", where he is willing to [[spoiler:commit genocide on the new Air Nation]], something that is made clear that he isn't happy about, but will do regardless. His plan with Korra is to [[spoiler:kill Korra during the Avatar State, ending the Avatar Cycle, to rid the world of kings and queens, and even the Avatar stands in his way]].
* TheLeader: To his small gang. He makes the effort to break them out once he escapes, and they follow his lead.
* LethalHarmlessPowers: Zaheer shows that airbending's lethal potential is dependent on the person's willingness to kill, [[spoiler: as demonstrated on the Earth Queen]].
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: He's this to the Earth Queen. Granted, his goals to eliminate every government in the world have grave consequences, but he's far more sympathetic than the animal-hating, child-abusing, despotic Earth Queen. His hatred of tyrants like her is quite legitimate, because she robbed people of their freedom, detains them without trial, and cares for no one but herself. Zaheer, on the other hand wants to give people freedom and has people he cares about, especially the love of his life, whom he saved from cruel subjugation. Zaheer is [[NecessarilyEvil aware of the consequences of his actions, yet deems them necessary for a good cause.]] By contrast, [[TheSociopath the Earth Queen was always without conscience and unrepentant to the end.]]
* TheMole: He passes himself off as a new airbender wishing to join the Air Nomads, but is foiled when Kya [[SpotTheThread notices]] that his skill and knowledge are too extensive for someone who recently discovered it. He may not have gotten Korra's location as planned, but he got away with Guru Laghima's locket.
* MoralityChain: P'Li is implied to be one to him, notable in the marked change in his demeanor after [[spoiler: her death.]] Prior to that, he was an honorable person despite his ruthlessness who avoided hurting innocents if possible. But after [[spoiler:she dies and he severs his earthly tether]], Zaheer becomes much more cold and vengeful. And he also becomes slightly unhinged, [[spoiler: laughing and gloating about Korra's imminent death and then going into a full blown rant after Suyin metalbends the poison out of her]].
* NeverHurtAnInnocent: Played with. Zaheer will avoid hurting innocents if possible, and specifically calls Ming-Hua on doing it without just cause, but he isn't above doing so if it's necessary to accomplish his goals. He also acknowledges the chaos his own actions will cause, but believes this to be necessary to create a better world.
* NotSoDifferent: Claims to be this to Korra, citing that, like her, he wants to restore peace and balance to the world. He also agrees with her decision to keep the spirit portals open. While Korra concedes that he [[VillainHasAPoint has a point]], she finds his methods to be too extreme.
* OneHeadTaller: An unusual version; in that it's P'Li who's a head taller than Zaheer.
* OrderVersusChaos: On the side of chaos, seeing it as the natural state of existence for the world and the only way to provide the world with freedom. He also believes that the ones who impose order, the leaders of the world, [[VillainHasAPoint are usually the ones who end up doing the most harm]].
* PayEvilUntoEvil: He [[spoiler:kills the Earth Queen]] while lecturing her on [[spoiler:her treatment of her citizens]].
* PetTheDog: Several.
** He compliments Meelo on being a good airbending teacher.
** While he and the Red Lotus do threaten a truck driver, they allow him to run when the police insist on searching the truck.
** Stops Ming-Hua from harming a radio worker, saying that their goal is to help the oppressed, not hurt them.
* PreAsskickingOneLiner:
-->Zaheer: When you base your expectations only on what you ''see'', you blind yourselves to the possibilities of a new reality.
* PreMortemOneLiner: [[spoiler:Delivers a fantastic one to Hou Ting before suffocating her.]]
-->'''Zaheer:''' Maybe I forgot to mention something to you. [[spoiler:I don't believe in queens.]]
* PyrrhicVillainy: [[spoiler: He kills the Earth Queen, instigates a revolution in Ba Sing Se that spreads throughout the Earth Kingdom, and though he failed to kill Korra as planned, Zaheer severely wounded her to the point she's been rendered incapacitated while the Red Lotus are still an active threat. However, Zaheer is now once again imprisoned, his friends and lover are dead, the Red Lotus are no longer a secret, and Korra is still alive and slowly recovering from her ordeal.]]
* RealAfterAll: [[spoiler:Guru Laghima's true {{flight}} was never achieved by any airbender for the 4,000 years after his death, and most regarded it as a myth, even among the Air Nomads themselves, it would appear. Zaheer proves that it is indeed possible.]]
* RightMakesMight: He believes this is why he was given airbending after Harmonic Convergence.
* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Zaheer is able to track Korra through meditation, though later revelations suggest he was actually communicating with [[spoiler:Aiwei]] at the time.
* ShutUpHannibal: [[spoiler: After his plans completely fall apart at the end, Zaheer rants that the Red Lotus's goals cannot be stopped until Bolin quite literally stuffs a sock down his throat.]]
* SimpleStaff: He steals a glider staff from Air Temple Island. It quickly becomes his WeaponOfChoice.
* SoftSpokenSadist: Though sadist would be a bit of a stretch, the way he [[spoiler: kills the Earth Queen while giving her a HannibalLecture best exemplifies this]].
* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:Of the main four of the Red Lotus, at least, by the end of the season finale.]]
* StealthPun: After spending most of the season obsessing over weightlessness and flying, part of his defeat involves being quite literally dragged down to earth.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Averted; he uses this to his advantage by telling Korra the Red Lotus's plans, while his allies go to capture Team Avatar.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Zaheer unlocks an advanced airbending technique when [[spoiler: P'Li is killed, which severs his last earthly tether, enabling flight.]]
* UnderestimatingBadassery: [[spoiler:He thought the Red Lotus could [[KillTheGod kill the Avatar]] by forcing her into the Avatar State via poison and a lava pit. Korra responds by [[HeroicWillpower resisting the poison for much longer than Zaheer expected]] and when the Avatar State is finally triggered, she goes full-on [[UnstoppableRage angry-god-beast]] against the Red Lotus. He only survives because of the poison hindering her.]]
* TheUnfettered: He never once shows any remorse for his actions, and goes to increasingly ruthless extents to achieve them. In a more literal sense, he strives to achieve Guru Laghima's greatest skill -- the power of flight -- which requires forsaking all earthly attachments. [[spoiler:When he finally succeeds after P'Li is killed, this also sends him to his most ruthless point.]]
* UnholyMatrimony: He and P'Li are involved, even sharing a kiss after the latter is broken out of prison.
* UnskilledButStrong: Played with; it'd be more accurate to say he's Unskilled, But Aggressive. As mentioned in FullContactMagic, Zaheer doesn't have the finesse that other airbenders do, thanks to only recently gaining the ability. To make up for it, he's a lot more vicious and direct in his attacks than the typical airbender, and he's [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy very aware]] that airbending, unlike the other disciplines, is relatively rare and thus few know how to defend themselves against it. His lack of actual technique is ''painfully'' obvious when he [[spoiler: fights Tenzin in "The Ultimatum"; not only is Tenzin an airbender himself, negating Zaheer's normal advantage, he has decades of experience on Zaheer, absolutely mopping the floor with him until the rest of the Red Lotus joins the fight.]]
* VillainHasAPoint: While coming across as somewhat pretentious, his speech to his guards about Guru Laghima's teachings are a very valid message, that you are only truly restricted by our own perceptions and instincts. The fact that no one expected him to gain airbending only added to the sheer irony. He even has a point about how the leaders of the world are often unfit to rule, such as the [[EvilOverlord war-mongering Fire Lords]] - one of whom ordered the genocide of the original Air Nomads - [[SleazyPolitician the somewhat incompetent Raiko]], [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen and the tyrannical Earth Queen]].
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:He starts losing it once Korra is safe and the poison is removed from her body. He goes on about how the revolution has already begun and that chaos is the natural order. Bolin stuffs a sock in his mouth to get him to shut up.]]
* VillainousValor: Prior to gaining airbending, Zaheer was just a normal person who managed to gain the trust of three powerful benders (as well as win the heart of one) and lead them on a mission to kidnap the Avatar. Even after gaining airbending, Zaheer is on the front lines with his cabal, personally breaking each of them out of prison and leading them on their renewed mission. Simply put, Zaheer is a villain, but he's not a coward.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: He achieves this after [[spoiler:he murders the Earth Queen. The people cheer him on for toppling their tyrant. In a bit of a twist, Zaheer specifically avoids giving his name, instead emphasizing that their freedom is more important.]] To the President and the United Republic, as well as pretty much everyone else, he and the Red Lotus are terrorists.
* VocalDissonance: His voice sounds far younger than his appearance would suggest. Though similar to the RealityIsUnrealistic case of DanteBasco and Iroh II, HenryRollins is well over 50 years old and sounds exactly the same in real life. It certainly fits a lot better once he's shaved his beard and head.
* WarriorPoet: Described as such in [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary materials]].
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Zaheer takes his gift of airbending as a sign that the group's cause, overthrowing the governments and bringing in a new world, is righteous.
* WickedCultured: He's well-versed in Air Nomad poetry, history and lore.
* XanatosSpeedChess: Deftly maneuvers around obstacles to his capturing Korra, formulating plans which incorporate the unexpected.
* YouHaveFailedMe[=/=]YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: He throws [[spoiler:Aiwei's spirit]] into the Fog of Lost Souls for failing to help his team secure Korra and for being a potential liability. The latter turned out to be true when Korra tracked him down.
** [[spoiler:It turns out he also planned to do this to Korra if the Red Lotus had managed to capture her the first time.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ghazan]]
!Ghazan

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghazan_1783.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Look, all you need to know is that the world is about to change, for the better."]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Peter Giles

An earthbender who can create magma.
----
* AffablyEvil: While he's ruthless in a fight, outside of battle he's a very friendly guy. He's great friends with his group, and when Bolin is his captive, they strike up friendly conversation, delivered without a hint of sarcasm.
* AntiVillain: Quite an affable and genuinely friendly person [[PunchClockVillain when not following orders]], and like Zaheer he seems to consider their mission to be for the betterment of all.
* {{Badass}}: Was able to easily best Bolin when they fought one-on-one, with Bolin being a professional martial artist of sorts. [[spoiler: He also effortlessly destroys a section of Ba Sing Se's inner wall on his own (which in the last series took the combined might of the Dai Li), and one-ups himself later by destroying the Northern Air Temple]].
* BadassDriver: He can drive on snow and ice while under attack, and get away cleanly.
* BadassMustache: Haru would be proud. Bolin at one point theorizes that he started to grow it from the age of ten.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler: Or sent back to prison in his case.]]
* ConvectionSchmonvection: No one is ever burned by the heat of his lava, even in situations where it logically should.
* DeadpanSnarker: During their getaway in episode 4, P'Li and Zaheer start kissing. He simply says "Really? Right now?"
* DishingOutDirt: He's an earthbender.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:He lets himself be buried in a cave-in rather than go back to prison.]]
* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Ghazan's ability to convert earth to lava made him [[NoSell nigh invulnerable]] to other Earthbenders. [[spoiler: When Bolin manages to learn to do the same, the two actually cancel each other out, making Ghazan easy to defeat when Bolin and Mako double team him.]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: Similar to Zaheer, he drops the pretext when [[spoiler: his defeat is imminent and he'll be sent back to prison.]]
* FriendlyEnemy: To Bolin.
* GeniusBruiser: Implied to be this when he was dealing with the Inner Wall's destruction, where he focused on heating up the lower part to weaken the foundation so he can demolish a large chunk in one fell swoop on the second strike. [[spoiler: Further implied when, after merely setting certain sections alight with lava and fleeing, it spreads and consumes everything nearby and below it - the end result brings down ''the entire Northern Air Temple.'']]
* IDieFree: [[spoiler:When he realises he can't beat Mako and Bolin, he decides he'd rather die than go back to prison, and makes the cave he's in collapse and melt instead.]]
* MagmaMan: He's the only known non-Avatar bender that can create and control lava by liquefying rock. [[spoiler: Until Bolin also picks up it as well.]]
* MeaningfulName: His name may come from ''kazan'', the Japanese word for "volcano".
* MinionShipping: Hinted at. Bolin speculates that he 'grew his moustache at age ten', that he was 'raised by an older sister', and that he and Ming-Hua share an 'unspoken attraction'. Ghazan shares a quick glance with his Red Lotus teammate, and then says (in a surprised but not displeased tone) that he's got two out of three right.
* MomentKiller: When P'Li and Zaheer are reunited and start kissing, he breaks in and says, "[[GetARoom Now? Really]]?".
* NoSell: Every time Bolin tries attacking him, he converts the rocks into lava and sends them right back. When the Dai Li try their rock gloves, he punches each one right back with ease.
* OnlySaneMan: Not stated, but he is apparently the most down to earth of the four; given how P'Li and Ming-Hua are temperamental and AxCrazy, respectively, while Zaheer has shown himself to possess a nasty [[TheUnfettered ruthless streak.]] Meanwhile, Ghazan hasn't shown any real quirks of his own.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: The Red Lotus's main team are among the most powerful benders in the world, but most of them (even the walking artillery platform P'li) are more in 'precise, controlled OneManArmy' territory than this. Ghazan, on the other hand, has an offensive output roughly on par with a firebending master empowered by Sozin's Comet - or, to put it another way, he can ''melt mountains''.
* PunchClockVillain: By the standards of the Red Lotus, he's quite nice. Very friendly with the heroes when not in combat, and he hesitates significantly when the situation requires lethal force. He needed encouragement from Ming-Hua to attack and seemed content to let her [[spoiler:kill Korra, not making a move until she began to break her chains.]] He also doesn't show signs of sadism or psychopathic behavior like the others.
* PrisonsAreGymnasiums: Not much else to do when stuck in a giant cage other than pull-ups.
* SheFu: Like Bolin, a rare male example who's light on his feet and full of flips.
* SuperpowerLottery: His lavabending makes it difficult to fight him, particularly for other earthbenders, who pretty much just give him more ammo.
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Cornered by Mako and Bolin, he finally loses his cool at the thought of going back to prison, and attempts to bring the whole cave down with all of them in it. They escape, he does not.]]
* TattooedCrook: His ShirtlessScene introduction shows his chest, back and arms have multiple tattoos.
* VillainousBreakdown: It's brief, but he [[spoiler: freaks out at the idea of going back to prison and proceeds with the above TakingYouWithMe.]]
* WildHair: It's pretty long.
* WorthyOpponent: Feels this way about [[spoiler:Bolin, after Bolin learns how to lavabend]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ming-Hua]]
!Ming-Hua

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ming_hua_8025.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: "I would've killed for some rain."]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Music/GreyDelisle

A waterbender born without arms who uses water to form substitute limbs.
----
* AchillesHeel: [[spoiler: Connecting the water directly to herself makes for some incredibly versatile and dangerous limbs. But if say, an electrical current ran through the water, she's a sitting turtleduck.]]
* AffablyEvil: Not to the extent of Zaheer or Ghazan given her AxCrazy tendencies, but she openly chats with Bolin.
* ArtificialLimbs: Uses waterbending to create some.
* AxCrazy: She does enjoy her jailbreak a lot more than the men who were already rescued. In "Old Wounds", in order to leave Republic City after Zaheer was discovered infiltrating Air Temple Island, Ming-Hua threatens to hurt a delivery man with an icicle if he refuses to cooperate and suggests kidnapping and torturing a police officer to learn Korra's whereabouts. Later, she threatens a radio operator when he's somewhat reluctant to just hand over the controls, which Zaheer actually calls her out on. In "The Ultimatum", shortly after the group's arrival to the Northern Air Temple, Ming-Hua ambushed and held Opal hostage in order to ensure the cooperation of Kya, Bumi, and the other members of the Air Nation.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: While [[http://s27.postimg.org/hnp4em3z7/Ming_Hua_Looking_Inappropriately_Coy.png at least one close-up]] reveals her eyes to actually be a very dark blue-gray, the effect is the same.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: She likes freezing the tips of her water-tentacle 'arms' into vicious-looking and very sharp blades of ice.
* BloodKnight: She clearly enjoys fighting, giving her opponents a big SlasherSmile.
* BuildingSwing: Her combat strategy often employs swinging from any available structures to increase her mobility.
* ClippedWingAngel: [[spoiler: In the Season 3 finale, she attempts to lure Mako into water to give herself an environmental advantage. This just makes it easier for him to electrocute her.]]
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: She spent her time in prison thinking of possible backstories for the White Lotus guards who held her captive; ranging from them having issues with their girlfriends, to secretly wishing to be a pastry chef.
* CloseRangeCombatant: She generally prefers to use water for her prehensile arms rather than attack at a distance, a good example being her fight against the twins. Most of the time this isn't an issue, since she still has quite long reach, but it's seen once in a while.
* CombatTentacles: She uses her water arms in this fashion, and she can shape them into whatever form she needs, including hardening them into ice tools. And if enough water is available, she can then make far more than just her usual two.
* CurbStompBattle: She had no trouble kicking Mako's ass all over the place in "The Stakeout". Not much of a surprise given it was a firebender versus a master waterbender at nighttime. Her fight against Kya went a little bit better for the latter, though Kya was still on the defensive for most of the fight and ultimately lost.
* DarkActionGirl: And a HandicappedBadass to boot. To top it off, she is the first to give Desna and Eska a run for their money.
* TheDarkChick: Seems to be this for the group. Out of the four, she really enjoys fighting the most, always grinning a SlasherSmile for her opponents, threatening to hurt innocent people like the truck driver in Republic City and the radio man in Ba Sing Se. We don't even know if she also truly believes in their cause like the other three or if she's just in it ForTheEvulz, but she definitely seems to be having the most fun with it.
* DeadpanSnarker: Her nonchalant response to the group being caught kidnapping Korra:
-->"So much for the element of surprise."
* EverythingIsBetterWithSpinning: In addition to building swings, this is her other preferred fighting method.
* {{Expy}}: Of Killer Frost. Like Killer Frost, she's an AxCrazy AnIcePerson (comes with being a waterbender), is a cold-blooded killer, and she's got that SlasherSmile.
* {{Goth}}: Dark clothing? Check. [[LeanAndMean Scrawny]], sallow, stringy-haired, and otherwise bearing a marked resemblance to an [[StringyHairedGhostGirl onryo]]? Check. [[DeadpanSnarker Snarky]]? Check. [[KubrickStare Glowers a lot]]? Check. (The Lone Psycho Goth Variant, as if there were any question.)
* HandicappedBadass: She has no arms, but she can bend just fine and use water to create limbs even more versatile. (WordOfGod is that her lack of arms is due to congenital diamelia, meaning that, like Toph, she's had her whole life to perfect the technique.)
* HighVoltageDeath: [[spoiler:She leads Mako into an underground lake where she thinks she'll have the advantage, but he immediately jumps to high ground and fires lightning at the water, which conducts through her water arms and fries her. Whether it killed her or not is left ambiguous, though even if it didn't, mere minutes later Ghazan makes the entire cave melt and collapse with Ming-Hua still on the lower level.]]
* AnIcePerson: Not necessarily a nice person, indeed. Comes with being a waterbender.
* LeanAndMean: She has a noticeably emaciated face and figure. Given the need to ration her water carefully and the extreme heat of her prison, this is to be expected. Her lack of arms also makes her seem thinner then the average person.
* LogicalWeakness: Since she has no arms if she has no water, Ming-Hua is even more vulnerable than other waterbenders if she has a limited water supply. Mako actually bests her temporarily in "Venom of the Red Lotus" because his fire attacks evaporate her water arms with each strike. [[spoiler:As expected of someone who is constantly connected to water, lightning is also a serious problem.]]
* MakingASplash: She's a waterbender. She can also [[AnIcePerson make ice]].
* MinionShipping: Bolin speculates that she has an "unspoken attraction" with Ghazan. See above entry.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: If she needs the extra power, she can create multiple water limbs.
* MundaneUtility: At one point, she uses her water arms to drive a car.
* NeckLift: She bends an ice brace around [[spoiler:Opal]]'s at the Northern Air Temple to force compliance from the group of airbenders she was pursuing. She also uses a water tentacle as secondary support, which doubles as a way to keep [[spoiler:Opal]] from bending.
* NothingUpMySleeve: During their trip to Ba Sing Se, she wears oversized sleeves that hide her water arms, making for an effective surprise attack.
* PsychoticSmirk: This and disdain about sum up her facial expressions.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: [[http://i.imgur.com/mNEaEwx.jpg She's the shortest of the group]] but every bit as dangerous as they are.
* SinisterScythe: The most common thing she makes with her icebending extensions is scythes/blades.
* SlasherSmile: Gives one when fighting Mako and Bolin, and an even bigger one to Kya when the waterbender proves skilled enough for her to use her strongest moves yet seen on.
* SpiderLimbs: She can create around eight water arms to move around like a liquid powered Character/DoctorOctopus.
* SwissArmySuperpower: Even by normal waterbending standards, Ming-Hua's bending is ridiculously versatile. She has used it to perform building swings, act as pseudo-prosthetics, carve open a window stealthily, and much more.
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Virtually none of the Krew, or anyone else for that matter, comments on her missing arms. Mako refers to her as "That Water-Arm Lady" once, but that's it.
* WallCrawl: Climbs up the glacier wall after breaking P'Li out of her cell, using her water arms as ice picks. P'Li notes they could have [[MundaneSolution just taken the elevator]].
-->'''P'Li:''' Show-off.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:P'Li]]
!P'Li
->'''Voiced by:''' Kristy Wu

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/li_5264.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: "I've waited thirteen years to feel this warm."]]

A firebender who, like Combustion Man, is able to generate explosions.
----
* AchillesHeel: Her ThirdEye tattoo generates her combustion attacks, but [[CallBack can be disrupted by a simple strike to the head.]]
* AffablyEvil: Inverted, and notable for its absence. Unlike the other members of her group, P'Li is all business and very cold, for the most part. She only really shows emotions [[UnholyMatrimony whenever she's with Zaheer.]]
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Her death by Suyin was quite cruel and sad. Just hearing her backstory of how she ended up in the Red Lotus just makes it sadder.]]
* AttackItsWeakPoint: Just like Combustion Man before her, attacks to the ThirdEye can disrupt her combustion bending.
* AxCrazy: Gives off an air of this during her rambling when Zuko and Tonraq visit to make sure she's still in her prison, and again when surrounded by flames. She's a little unbalanced, to say the least, though far less so than Ming-Hua.
* {{Badass}}: She shot down a ''dragon''.
* BerserkButton: Harming Zaheer. She nearly blew up Tonraq when he was fighting Zaheer, and [[spoiler:Tenzin]] likewise nearly caught an explosion when he had Zaheer on the ropes.
* BraidsOfAction: She wears a short braid on the top of her head with the sides and back shaven.
* TheBrute: While they're all dangerous, P'Li is definitely the powerhouse of the group, since her combustion bending has the most direct offensive potential[[spoiler:, though Ghazan later one-ups her by melting the mountain the Northern Air Temple was on.]] She's also the tallest.
* ChildSoldier: She was supposed to be one to some unnamed warlord, raised as a killing machine due to her destructive power. That is, until Zaheer saved her.
* ColdSniper: Combustion bending makes any firebender who has mastered it into essentially one of the most feared and devastating snipers ever to grace the world of Avatar, and P'Li is no exception. Not only can she curve her shots to blast enemies behind cover, but, as evidenced in "The Ultimatum", her visual acuity and [[BuffySpeak hand-eye-chakra-tattoo-thingie coordination]] is insane, allowing her to track moving targets from a distance and pick them off at her leisure. Not only that, she is capable of using her sharp vision and explosive sniping ability in a tactical manner by taking her environment into consideration, such as aiming for structural weak points or [[spoiler:scattering a herd of air bison to prevent the airbenders at the temple from escaping]]. This in mind, it makes sense from a strategic standpoint for Zaheer to have her [[spoiler:circling the temple from their airship, because that's where she could do the most damage and work in the group's favor to control the fight by providing coverfire and keeping the airbenders busy]]. In addition, P'Li is not immune to her own combustion, so having her fight from a distance is simply a matter of practicality. [[spoiler: Suyin takes advantage of this by metalbending a barrier right in front of P'Li, which kills her.]]
* ContraltoOfDanger: A throaty growl, although her voice rises in pitch when she's getting cozy with Zaheer.
* CripplingOverspecialization: P'Li's over-reliance on her combustion bending over regular firebending makes her the worst close-range combatant of the four, and the one with the most obvious weakness in that her combustion must be fired from a distance. Bolin exploits this with a precision shot and puts her out of commission for a battle in Zaofu. [[spoiler:Su later exploits this on Laghima's Peak, resulting in P'Li blowing herself to pieces.]]
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: While Lin distracts her, [[spoiler: Su encases her head with her breastplate as P'li is about to let off of a blast. The last thing we see is light poking through the holes in the armor before we're treated to a GoryDiscretionShot. At least it was quick.]]
* DarkActionGirl: One of the most dangerous ladies in the series.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: She was raised as a living weapon, only to be rescued by Zaheer.
* DeathGlare: Gives a rather scary one right at the start of "In Harm's Way". Any use of her combustion bending is preceded by a serious glare at her intended target.
* DistaffCounterpart: To Combustion Man, as noted by Zuko.
* TheDragon: Zaheer's right hand woman, always at his side, whether it's watching over him as he's in the Spirit World, or being with him while they plan to capture Korra.
* TheDreaded: Even more so than the rest of the Red Lotus. On both of the occasions an opponent has had time to articulate a strategy against them, it has included specifically neutralizing or avoiding her.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: She's Zaheer's girlfriend, and even stays behind to protect his defenseless body while he's in the Spirit World as Ghazan and Ming-Hua head after Korra. [[spoiler: The minute she dies, Zaheer loses all that remains of his earthly attachments, but it makes him even more vengeful.]]
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler:For what is [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids ostensibly a kids' show]], it's hard to get worse than having a self-inflicted case of YourHeadAsplode. The rather extreme GoryDiscretionShot (not so much as a "boom") leaves most of it in the imagination of the viewer.]]
* FemmeFatalons: Downplayed example. Her nails, while not particularly long, are painted red-black.
* FreudianExcuse: She was captured by a warlord when she was a young girl. This is part of the reason why she joined the Red Lotus.
* GlassCannon: Her combustion bending gives her tremendous offensive power at a second's notice, but conversely it's extremely sensitive and easily knocked out if her opponents can hit the tattoo. However, she can use her normal firebending to supplement her defense if need be.
* HavingABlast: She's able to fire beams from her ThirdEye that explode on contact, just like Combustion Man. Unlike him, she can also curve her shots, so hiding behind cover isn't nearly as effective.
* HoistByHerOwnPetard: [[spoiler:P'Li's is not immune to the affects of her own combustion, so she must fight at a distance. In addition, her detonations require an unobstructed path to follow, as blockades in the way will detonate them early. Suyin takes advantage of both of these faults by metalbending her breastplate onto P'Li's head just as she is about to fire upon Lin. The detonation blows P'Li to pieces.]]
* MeaningfulName: Her name sounds exactly the same as Pele the Hawaiian goddess of the Volcano. There is no way that is just a coincidence.
* OneHeadTaller: An unusual version in that it's P'Li who's a head taller than Zaheer.
* PlayingWithFire: Unlike Combustion Man, she can use traditional firebending in addition to her explosion talent, hence the need to keep her somewhere very cold. She shows off her skills when she uses firebending to block a fire attack from Zuko's dragon. However, she still usually relies on her combustion.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Her outfit is mostly shades of bright and dark red, her [[FemmeFatalons nail polish]] is black with a hint of red, and the dominant color of her ThirdEye tattoo is red. Even her [[http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140822171710/avatar/images/e/ef/P%27Li%27s_tearful_eyes.png eyes]] are [[RedEyesTakeWarning deep russet]]. (Then again, of course, she ''is'' a [[ColorCodedElements firebender]].)
* RescueRomance: A rather twisted, evil version of this. Zaheer saved her from a life as some warlord's living weapon, to which she is eternally grateful. He saves her again by breaking her out of prison.
* ReunionKiss: With Zaheer, after the group breaks her out of prison.
-->'''Ghazan:''' ''Really?'' [[GetARoom Right now?]]
* SatelliteCharacter: To Zaheer, even more than Ghazan and Ming-Hua. Most of what characterization P'Li has revolves around her love and loyalty to him.
* StatuesqueStunner: [[http://i.imgur.com/mNEaEwx.jpg She's the tallest of the group]] at 6'8" and cleans up rather nicely after escaping prison.
* TheStoic: She is always calm and composed; rarely losing her temper, unless Zaheer is in danger.
* SugarAndIcePersonality:
** While all of them have this to a degree, she is the stand-out example. Unless you are Zaheer, don't expect any warm feelings from her.
** However, her snarking at Ming-Hua when she freed her and Ghazaan telling she and Zaheer to GetARoom imply she's at very least VitriolicBestBuds with the rest of the team. [[spoiler: They also look upset when Zaheer tells them she died.]]
* SuperpowerLottery: P'li has more refined control of her combustion blasts than Combustion Man, being able to direct them around corners.
* ThirdEye: The red tattoo on her forehead.
* TragicVillain: Used as a weapon by a warlord when she was a girl, then rescued by Zaheer who, while genuinely loving her, ultimately led her into back into the same fate he rescued her from, just in a different context. [[spoiler:Then she dies in defense of him.]]
* UnholyMatrimony: With Zaheer.
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend:
** She nearly blew up Tonraq when Zaheer was having trouble with him.
** She later blasts [[spoiler:Tenzin off a ledge]] when he subdued Zaheer and is about to deliver a finishing blow.
* WouldHurtAChild: While she shows no pleasure in it, she also shows no hesitation firing directly on [[spoiler:Kai when he tries to distract her from stopping the other airbenders from escaping]], and would have likely killed him had he not [[spoiler:airbended a shield to take the brunt of the blast (and what got through was still enough to knock him unconscious)]]. She appears to treat opposition as simply opposition, regardless of who it comes from, and deals with it in the same way (blasting it until it either stops moving or retreats).
* YourHeadASplode: [[spoiler:Implicitly via GoryDiscretionShot, when Su bends her armour over P'Li's head as she is about to combust.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Aiwei]]
!Aiwei
->'''Voiced by:''' Maurice Lamarche

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aiwei_4127.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"You have no idea what's coming for you, Avatar."]]

A [[LivingLieDetector truth-seer]] and one of the highest-ranking officials in the city of Zaofu. Turns out to be an undercover agent for the Red Lotus.
----
* AffablyEvil: Nothing but polite to people, even those who have correctly accused him of treason. He even serves them tea.
* AlasPoorVillain: There's no excuse for his treachery, but his punishment is more than a little harsh. For reference, [[spoiler: it is the same punishment given to the man who ''destroyed the Moon.'']]
* BaldOfEvil [=/=] BeardOfEvil: He's got no hair on top of his head and wears a beard. Also, he's evil.
* ClaspYourHandsIfYouDeceive: Adopts this pose when pretending to discover a guard's involvement in the Red Lotus' attack.
* CrazyPrepared: His escape from Zaofu. He created a tunnel outside the city hidden behind a bookcase and parked a Jeep at its exit. When he is discovered; he bends a metal wall in front of his pursuers (only one of whom is a metalbending novice), escapes through this tunnel, and ''rigs an IED'' to destroy all possible leads, cave in said tunnel, and, on the offchance that his pursuers got through the metal wall, ''kill said pursuers''.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Thrown into [[spoiler: the Fog Of Lost Souls by Zaheer.]] Subverted, since [[spoiler: the Fog subjects its prisoners to eternal madness.]]
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Like a more traditional earthbender, he goes barefoot to better detect lies.
* ExtraOreDinary: Though more focus is given to his truth-seeing abilities, he metalbends a large wall to block Team Avatar during his escape from Zaofu.
* TheLoad: Zaheer accuses him of being a "loose end" before [[spoiler: consigning his soul to the Fog]], blaming him for the failure of the attack at Zaofu.
* LivingLieDetector: Is a truth-seer, and therefore able to sense whenever a person is lying. This ensures that only he can keep a secret in Zaofu.
* TheMole: Turns out to have been working for the Red Lotus the entire time.
* MundaneUtility: Once uses his ability to find out how good the drinks are at a bar.
* NonActionGuy: He is highly intelligent and spiritual, but most certainly not a fighter.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Zaheer throws him into [[spoiler: the Fog of Lost Souls.]]
* PetTheDog: He shows a surprising amount of compassion when not doing work for the Red Lotus. Notably, he's concerned enough about Lin's well-being when he notices how stressed out she is, that he points her to an acupuncturist immediately.
* ProperlyParanoid: When waiting for sunset at the Misty Palms Inn, he apparently spends the entire time peeking through the curtains of his hotel room at regular intervals to make sure he's not being watched. Ironically, he was being staked out by Team Avatar the entire time - from the hotel room directly opposite his - [[FailedASpotCheck and didn't even notice!]]
* SavagePiercings: Inverted. He wears earrings and his trademark nose-to-ear piercing, but these serve to highlight the CrystalSpiresAndTogas nature of Zaofu and his high rank in the utopian city, and make him look more distinguished.
* WickedCultured: A deeply spiritual man and prolific metalbender with a love of books, and a member of the Red Lotus.
[[/folder]]

!!Earth Empire

[[folder:In General]]
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/earth_empire_9630.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:"Anyone who crosses our borders, or stands in our way, will be crushed."]]
Following the Earth Queen's death, the Earth Kingdom collapsed into anarchy, divided and full of bandits harassing the population. Zaofu being the last state untouched, the world leaders approached Suyin and asked her to take over, reunite the Kingdom and bring back order in preparation for Prince Wu's ascension to the throne. When she refused, her captain of the guards, Kuvira, volunteered to do it instead. Despite her rather drastic methods, she proved effective at the task, gaining popularity as "the Great Uniter". When the time came for Prince Wu's coronation, however, she refused to hand over power and proclaimed herself the new official leader, renaming the nation Earth Empire.
----
* TheEmpire: To contrast with the [[TheRepublic United Republic of Nations]]. [[TokenGoodTeammate Bolin]] even [[LampshadeHanging points out]] he feels uncomfortable about how aggressive "Empire" sounds.
* EvilCounterpart:
** To the Metal Clan; both Kuvira and Baatar Jr come from Zaofu, and Kuvira based her ideology on what she learned from Suyin.
** To an extent, they can also be seen as one to the New Air Nation; both are recently born factions who track part of their origins from the Earth Kingdom (most of the New Air Nation's recruits were Earth Kingdom citizens before they gained Airbending) and try to [[WeHelpTheHelpless help the helpless]] in the Earth Kingdom. The difference being the New Air Nation genuinely helps people with no condition, while Kuvira strong-arms the various states into submitting to her in exchange for her help. The parallel is even more visible in the first episode, where the two are actually seen helping the same state, such showing the contrast between their methods.
* GasMaskMooks: Kuvira's generic soldiers have this look. It's similar to the design of Varrick's magnet armor from "Old Wounds".
* {{Irony}}: They're practically becoming this series version of the Fire Nation when in the original series they were neutral at best.
* {{Magitek}}: Varrick is designing technology [[spoiler:using the spirit vines from Republic City]].
* MilitaryCoup: After she's reunified the Earth Kingdom, Kuvira refuses to turn over leadership to Prince Wu, instead rechristening it the Earth Empire and putting herself in charge.
* MiniMecha: Kuvira has new, smaller mini mecha in her army, much closer to PoweredArmor than the originals.
* PuttingOnTheReich:
** Kuvira's troops wear dark metal helmets reminiscent of either Samurai helmets or World War II German Army helmets (or Darth Vader helmets, [[GasMaskMooks complete with mask]]).
** The [[http://media.tumblr.com/97b82820bc10efc582244728f31262b7/tumblr_inline_nd0xwyxb4m1rqvtlj.png symbol of Kuvira's army and the Metal Clan]], an Earth Kingdom disc on a broad-armed cross within an octagon, bears some resemblance to the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkenkreuz Balkenkreuz]]'', the emblem of the German armed forces.
* SigilSpam: The Empire's signature metallic disc-and-octagon appears on banners, supply crates and Kuvira's CoolTrain, among others. Interestingly, it's Zaofu's symbol.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kuvira]]
!!Kuvira
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yakt9lf_8461.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Pledge your loyalty to me, and I'll give you a new purpose in your lives."]]
->Voiced by: Zelda Williams

The founder of the Earth Empire, and the main antagonist of Book 4. Raised in Zaofu by Suyin herself, Kuvira was a captain in her metalbending corps, as well as one of the members of her dance troupe. After the fall of the Red Lotus and the Earth Kingdom's descent into anarchy, however, her loyalty toward Suyin was shaken when the leader of Zaofu refused to help reuniting the Earth Kingdom, feeling this would be acting like conquerors. After failing to convince her otherwise, Kuvira interpreted Suyin's refusal as cowardice and left Zaofu with Baatar Jr and part of the city's force to do the job herself; she was eventually recognized by the United Republic as the temporary leader of the Earth Kingdom, in preparation for the coronation of Prince Wu, heir to the throne. Believing him unfit, she instead unites the region and reforms it as the new Earth Empire, with herself in charge.
----
* TheAce: Suyin took Kuvira in as her protege when the latter was eight, taking an interest in her talent and leadership skills. From there, she became part of her dance troupe and captain of her guard. Suyin even noted how Kuvira was like a daughter to her.
* AffablyEvil[=/=]FauxAffablyEvil: A slight mix of both. Despite her normally cold and aloof demeanor, Kuvira is quite polite to everyone around her and even makes a point to use diplomacy over military force, if only to maintain her good publicity. However, the second something goes wrong or someone slights her by challenging her authority, she drops the niceties and starts dealing out threats.
* AmbiguouslyEvil: Does she have greater designs for her Earth Empire, or is she really taking over because she feels she can do a better job than the failures which have preceded her? Her comments after the reveal seem to tend toward the former, given she's [[spoiler:going after Zaofu. Though she also claims this is because it's unfairly hoarding its technological advances]].
* AMotherToHerMen: She does care about her soldiers, stating that she wouldn't put them through things she wouldn't go through herself. Which is why she makes it a point to fight Korra one-on-one. Though whether it's genuine or just playing to the crowd is up for interpretation.
* AntiHeroSubstitute: She's been set up as one to Korra, while Korra is still handicapped by the trauma following her encounter with Zaheer and the remnants of poison in her system. Korra specifically expresses her frustration that Kuvira is doing the job Korra should be doing, and Bolin notes the similarity between the two.
* AntiVillain: Like Zaheer the previous season, she's received a lot of praise for how you can easily see why she thinks what she's doing is right, while still clearly being wrong. Also like Zaheer, she has [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes friends and a lover]].
* AscendedExtra: She only has a couple of lines in Book 3 but has a more significant role in Book 4, leading an entire army and uniting the Earth Kingdom under her rule.
* AssassinOutclassin: Was highly anticipating that Suyin would [[spoiler:attempt to assassinate her and had devised a BatmanGambit to capture her, making it look like she was the aggressors while maintaining her good publicity.]]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The leader of the Earth Empire, and one of its most powerful benders.
* {{Badass}}: In Book 4, she shows off by incapacitating an entire group of bandits by herself, using small metal straps to restrain them all without ever leaving the roof of her train. She utterly wipes the floor with Korra, until the latter goes into the Avatar state.
* BadBoss: She's benevolent as long as people do what she wants, but she's quick to use threats and force when people question her.
* BatmanGambit: Becomes clear in "Battle of Zaofu". [[spoiler: Kuvira knew Suyin would act first and try to stop her, this was the reason she recommended a temporary truce to Korra. By doing this, she maintains her VillainWithGoodPublicity status, making it appear that Suyin and Zoafu were the aggressors against her army during peaceful negotiations. Lampshaded by Korra after she found out that Suyin and the twins were captured after their failed attempt by pointing out to Opal that people could see it as Kuvira defending herself.]]
* BeautySpot: The first thing to distinguish her from any ordinary guard is the presence of one just below her right eye.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor[=/=]DoNotTauntCthulhu: Throughout her fight with Korra, Kuvira constantly goads her to go into the Avatar State and give her a real challenge... Korra eventually does just that and had it not been for [[spoiler:a vision of Dark Korra]], Kuvira would have been a stain on the ground.
* BenevolentBoss: Kuvira does not emote, but she is civil and polite of her subordinates. She openly praises Bolin and Bataar in front of others, never taking credit for them or diminishing their accomplishments. She even was merciful to Zhu Li after she begged to be spared. She even expresses that she would not subject her soldiers to anything she wouldn't put herself through, when she squares off against [[spoiler: Avatar Korra]] herself.
* BerserkButton: Question her authority at your own peril. Bolin and Varrick learn this the hard way.
* BigBad[=/=]ArcVillain: She is the main villain of Book 4, forger of the Earth Empire, created from the disarray of the Earth Kingdom following the Earth Queen's demise.
* BigDamnHeroes: She saves Tonraq after Zaheer blows him off a cliff.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: She's always very soft-spoken and cordial while speaking with people, even coming off as reasonable in some of her arguments for the necessity of her actions. However, the moment someone's loyalty to her comes into question, or if someone denies her what she wants, she's quick to break out death threats or trips to her re-education camps. Bolin and Varrick find that out the hard way. [[spoiler:The former is sent to the camps for trying to help Varrick escape, while the latter is forced to continue the spirit vine battery project under close and ''armed'' guard.]]
* BraidsOfAction: As a Zaofu guard, she has a long braid under her helmet.
* BrokenPedestal: Becomes this to Bolin in "Enemy at the Gates" when he discovers that she sends people in conquered territories to labor camps and dissenters are sent to re-education camps. When she threatens to send him to one, [[spoiler: he tries to defect from her army, only to be captured by Bataar, where she makes good on her threat.]]
** This also appears to be how she feels toward Suyin after she refused to lead the Earth Kingdom.
* BullyingADragon: Presumably because of her arrogance, Kuvira acts quite cocky and tends to be overconfident in her ability to remove obstacles by force, even against enemies who are technically much more powerful than her. In "Battle of Zaofu", [[spoiler:she not only agrees to fight [[PhysicalGod Korra]] in a woman-to-woman fight, but spends the entire duel taunting her and [[TooDumbToLive goads her into using the Avatar State]]. When Korra finally does, she almost ends up crushed under a boulder, and only wins [[WorfHadTheFlu because of a Dark Korra vision]].]]
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Why she doesn't [[spoiler: send Varrick to a re-education camp after he, Zhu-Li, and Bolin attempt to defect from her army as she still needs him to develop the spirit vine technology]].
* TheCaptain: Captain of Zaofu's guard in Book 3. She's leader of her team in Book 4.
* ChainedToARailway: What she does to the bandits who sabotaged her maglev. Far from being cartoonishly villainous, Kuvira takes this trope and reminds us why the trope exists -- because being hit by a train is terrifying.
* ChekhovsGunman: She appears several times in the background before she is formally introduced in the Book 3 finale. Her first appearance is as one of the two metalbending dancers in "The Metal Clan".
* TheChessmaster: Pretty much rivals Amon and Zaheer in terms of cunning. Kuvira has been a couple steps ahead of anyone who challenged or got in her way thus far in Season 4.
* ClothingCombat: Not only is her armor fashionable, the back and armbands are made of multi-layered metal sheets which she can use to restrain opponents in combat. She can also sharpen them into blades for lethal attacks.
* CombatMedic: She's at least trained in basic battlefield care.
* CombatPragmatist: She uses metal binders to blind and restrain her opponents. The metal parts of her army's uniforms can be used to similar affect to deal with dissenters.
* TheConqueror: Though she's called the "Great Uniter", that's more or less a euphemism for an impressive series of conquests solidified by {{Leonine Contract}}s, or, when that fails, she'll simply conquer by military force. She was tasked with uniting to deal with bandits, but after she finishes that, she decides to conquer nations [[spoiler: like Zaofu]] which were not under siege by bandits.
* ConsummateLiar: Kuvira is a master of manipulating facts and circumstances to benefit her final goals.
* ConsummateProfessional: With [[BigFun Bolin]], [[CloudCuckoolander Varrick]] and her [[UnholyMatrimony fiance's]] general friendly demeanor around her, her strict no-nonsense demeanor and lack of voice inflection stand out.
* ControlFreak: Very much so. When something goes wrong, she is [[TranquilFury polite, but angry]]. Taken to extremes in "Enemy at the Gates" where even the ''slightest'' challenge of her authority is grounds for immediate internment at a re-education camp. This is lampshaded by Opal in "Battle of Zaofu."
-->'''Opal:''' You don't care about equality! This is about control!
* CoolTrain: Travels around the Earth Kingdom on a maglev.
* CurbStompBattle:
** Took down a group of 20 bandits in a matter of 30 seconds without even leaving the roof of her train.
** Beat Korra in a duel without breaking a sweat in "Battle of Zaofu". Granted, Korra wasn't in top condition, but Kuvira was still able to curb-stomp her with her earth and metal-bending, and ''dodged every single attack'' from the avatar. During the entirety of the fight, Kuvira wears a smile on her face, and it is pretty obvious that Korra is no challenge to her and that she is merely toying with her. It is only when Korra entered the avatar state that Kuvira got hit... Sadly, Korra wasn't able to maintain it, and Kuvira took that chance to neutralize Korra. In fact, had not Opal and Jinora intervened, Kuvira would have executed Korra on the spot with metal-bended sharp blades.
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy:
** Not only is she a VillainWithGoodPublicity, she understands the value of that reputation, and takes the path that gets her what she wants without making herself out to be evil or cruel. And when she does act that way, she makes sure she has a plausible excuse to save face.
** In "Battle of Zaofu", [[spoiler:she deduces that Su would attempt to take her out at night, and so ordered Zhu Li to sleep in her bed as a decoy, managing to capture Su and her twin sons as a result. She also knows that the airbenders in Korra's entourage won't go down without a fight, and should she beat Korra, they will come running and thus break the terms of the agreement. However, she also has her entire army behind her, so if Korra did manage to beat her, she could give the order anyway to invade Zaofu or aid her in combat]].
* DarkActionGirl: Put simply, anyone who can take on a fully realized Avatar and walk away ''alive'' has all but ''earned'' this title. Though admittedly, Korra wasn't at 100% during the fight.
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: She left Zaofu with the legitimate intent to save the collapsing Earth Kingdom and restore order. Three years later, and she's attacking stable, peaceful areas just for the sake of dominance.
* DeadpanSnarker: Will occasionally dip into this at times, such as when threatening to throw Varrick off the train. Though it serves to make her more intimidating.
-->'''Kuvira:''' (''While metalbending Varrick's collar'') And now there's a voice in ''my'' head telling me to drop you on the tracks. Should I listen?
* DeceptiveDisciple: She was Suyin's protege, and believes herself to be furthering Suyin's ideals. Su sees things differently.
* DishingOutDirt[=/=]ExtraOreDinary: She's an earthbender and a particularly proficient metalbender.
* DisproportionateRetribution: In "Enemy at the Gates", she threatens to throw Varrick off the train when [[spoiler: he refuses to continue work on the spirit vine technology]] and later threatens to send Bolin to one of her "reeducation" camps because he starts to question whether some of her actions are necessary. [[spoiler: By the end of the episode, she makes good on the latter threat.]]
* DistaffCounterpart: Early on, of Chin the Conquerer, and after "Enemy at the Gates", appears to be becoming one to [[BiggerBad Fire Lord]] [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Sozin...]]
* TheDreaded: Became this during the interval between Books 3 and 4. When the bandits attacking her train realize exactly ''whose'' train they attempted to rob, they are practically wetting themselves and begging for mercy.
* TheEmperor: After Wu's coronation she abruptly declares herself the new ruler of the reunified Earth Kingdom, renaming it the Earth Empire. One of the [[http://icy-ashford.tumblr.com/post/102007913861/oh-kuvira banners]] associated with her forces has characters that [[BilingualBonus translate]] to "May Kuvira live ten thousand years", a phrase frequently applied to the Emperor of ancient China.
%%* EvilCounterpart: To Korra and Su.
* EvilIsPetty: Like Unalaq before her, Kuvira has higher goals and ambitions, but she also has a habit of doing petty and unnecessary things to people that she has gotten an advantage over, often just to prove she can or to rub her triumph in their faces. Though unlike [[VillainBall Unalaq]], she's [[PragmaticVillainy crafty]] enough to only do so when she knows she can get away with it. Examples include:
** In "After All These Years", she forces the Governor of Yi to [[KneelBeforeZod pledge his loyalty to her]] if he wants to keep his job, after she has already gotten him to sign her unfair contract rendering him a mere figurehead.
** In "The Coronation", she uses her authority to get herself moved into Prince Wu's presidential suite while having him moved to a smaller junior suite then rubs it in by smugly telling him she always gets what she wants.
* ExactWords: She assured Bolin that she wanted a peaceful resolution to uniting the Earth Kingdom, but that doesn't mean she isn't prepared to use force if (or when) that option fails, as seen when she turned up on Zaofu's front lawn with her entire army in tow. Just because she ''wants'' a peaceful resolution doesn't mean she ''expects'' it.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Introduced in Book 3 first as a dancer with Suyin and loyal guard Captain, she wears loose bangs and a long braid. Come Book 4, she's a ruthless conquerer who keeps her hair in a low, tight bun.
* FallenHero: Eventually becomes this, but clearly evident in "Enemy at the Gates".
* FlechetteStorm: Her primary offense in battle is to shoot thin strips of metal at her opponent.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Zaheer, in terms of ideals. While Zaheer was a wanted criminal trying to bring chaos to the world, Kuvira was a captain of a guard who is now looking to restore order, although like Zaheer, [[KnightTemplar she's pretty ruthless and direct in her approach,]] strong-arming a few people into helping her.
** To Prince Wu: He is incompetent, foppish, and inherited the Earth Kingdom, she is efficient, austere, and worked hard to reach where she was. It's not purely positive, however. Wu acknowledges his own shortcomings and accepts criticism from someone, while Kuvira is known to put dissidents into re-education camps.
** To Korra: Korra at the start of Book 4 denies her name and status as the Avatar, and her self-esteem is at an all-time low. Kuvira has made a name for herself and is brimming with quiet confidence. Korra is a scrappy, dynamic, hands-on fighter. Kuvira never gets her hands dirty by fighting directly, but stays far from her opponents and barely moves her legs while using bending. Korra's shoulders are typically bare, while Kuvira wears large pauldrons. She was even designed to be physically similar to Korra. In "The Coronation", Bolin describes them as being a lot alike.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Her most prominent appearance in Book 3, where she introduces herself to Tonraq after saving his life, is scored with eerie music that seemed rather out of place at the time, but makes much more sense given her role in Book 4.
** Her map of the Earth Kingdom also includes the United Republic. Noteworthy in that it is the only other nation included (with even the nearby Air Temples omitted), and is shown as territory she has yet to conquer.
** She takes Prince Wu's presidential suite and smugly tells him "I always get what I want." Not long after, she usurps his kingdom at his own coronation.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: From captain of the Zaofu guard in Book 3 to the leader of an entire army in Book 4.
* GeniusBruiser: Manipulative, charismatic, incredibly intelligent, and has all the skills to back it up.
* GunboatDiplomacy: Since she knew Suyin would never agree to surrender Zaofu under normal conditions, she brought along her entire army in an attempt to intimidate her. She quickly defaults to AggressiveNegotiations, though.
* HairTriggerTemper: Kuvira acts like the [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Great Uniter]] as long as the person does what she says and doesn't question her. Question her and she's quick to lose her temper, give cruel threats, and act on them. This somewhat backfires on her in "Enemy at the Gates". When Varrick tries to shut down the [[spoiler:spirit vine project]], she gets mad and threatens to throw him off the train. Upon learning the truth about the labor and re-education camps, Bolin confronts her about it and questions her actions, at which she snaps and threatens to send him to a re-education camp. [[spoiler:This leads both of them to lose faith in her and attempt to defect from her army, only to be captured by Bataar.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** Despite having openly renounced the traditional Earth Kingdom rule, Kuvira still defines the parameters of her Empire in accordance with the old Earth Kingdom borders, and uses this as her justification for why Zaofu, which was ''not'' thrown into chaos by the Earth Queen's assassination, must be treated the same way as any other region, and assimilated, designating it an "internal Earth Empire business".
** In addition, Kuvira makes several arguably valid criticisms of Suyin and Zaofu for hoarding their own riches and technical innovations, and not extending their hand to aid the rest of the Earth Kingdom. Kuvira herself, however, has very pointedly refused to help anyone who doesn't comply with her specific terms.
** Kuvira gets very angry when [[spoiler: Jinora and Opal stop her from killing Korra]] and remarks that they had a deal for a one-on-one duel. However, Kuvira frequently lies and refuses to honor deals she makes when it suits her.
** She admonishes the governor of a territory for letting his pride get in the way of making a smart decision, but Kuvira herself is incredibly smug, arrogant, and overall full of herself and loves to show off her power.
* IceQueen: Her default expression is one of contemptuous boredom. She took down 20 bandits in 30 seconds without so much as a change in heart rate, according to Bryan.
* InsistentTerminology: She used the term "Generous Offer" when talking to the Governer about her LeonineContract more than once.
* IronLady: In charge of a large army and is a no-nonsense kind of lady.
* {{Irony}}: Her voice actress was supposedly named after a title character of a series that's [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda similarly named]] to this show. For added irony, said character is the BigGood [[EverythingIsBetterWithPrincesses Princess]]. Virtually the exact opposite of Kuvira.
* JustThinkOfThePotential: How she feels about [[spoiler: weaponizing the spirit vines]].
* JustToyingWithThem: Pretty much sums up her "[[CurbStompBattle fight]]" with Korra. She clearly sees Korra as no threat to her and throughout the battle, she constantly taunts and mocks Korra with an arrogant smile on her face, goading her into using into the Avatar State. It nearly bites her in the ass when Korra actually does. She only won due to Korra [[spoiler: seeing a vision of Dark Korra]].
* KneelBeforeZod: Has a habit of making people do this, just to rub her triumph in their faces. She forced the Governor of Yi to pledge his loyalty to her after making him sign an unfair contract that rendered him a mere figurehead. And she later makes [[spoiler:the whole of Zaofu]] bow to her. Par for the course for East Asian cultures when in the presence of an Emperor.
* KnightOfCerebus: A notable [[AvertedTrope aversion]] of the concept, given the previous antagonists had this status. She's just as much a threat as previous villains, but Book 4 on its own is rather serious, so unlike them she's actually pretty consistent with the tone, only making things somewhat darker than they are normally with her onscreen appearances.
* KnightTemplar: Seeks to enforce order in the Earth Kingdom for the sake of the people. She achieves this by bullying the state leaders into pledging loyalty to her and locking dissenters in prison camps.
* LadyOfWar: Extremely composed during fights.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Usually accompanied by a militaristic drum beat, fitting her conqueror motif.
* LeonineContract: She offers territories military protection in exchange for control over their resources. The large amount of bandits running around and the lack of any cohesive force other than her own to stop them ensures that this lopsided deal is the only offer available.
* [[LikeASonToMe Like a Daughter to Me]]: Suyin expresses this sentiment between herself and Kuvira.
* LongRangeFighter: Serving as a foil to Korra, who gets up close and personal with her opponents, Kuvira prefers keeps her distance and use the metal strips of her uniform to trip opponents up. She can still handle herself up close, though, dodging attacks then using her metal strips to throw opponents back.
* ManipulativeBitch: To [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Bolin]]. Everyone clearly sees that she is an ambitious, power-hungry conqueror, but Bolin believes her to be a WellIntentionedExtremist and Kuvira is taking full advantage of his [[WideEyedIdealist idealism]] to keep him on her side. This is most prominently shown near the end of "The Coronation" where she tells Bolin that she [[ExactWords wishes to avoid conflict]], then cryptically reveals to Suyin that [[spoiler: she's going after Zaofu]] afterwards. Eventually, Bolin sees through the ruse and [[spoiler: attempts to defect, but fails.]]
* MauveShirt: She gets a few short speaking roles in the Zaofu section of Book 3, then a few more lines in the finale, and ends up being a prominent character in Book 4.
* MeaningfulName: Kuvira means "courageous woman." While her agenda may be up for debate; she certainly doesn't shy away from danger, so it fits to a T.
* MuggingTheMonster: A group of bandits attacked her train in the first episode. [[CurbStompBattle Kuvira quickly teaches them why that was a big mistake]].
* NotSoDifferent: Bolin believes that, like Korra, Kuvira comes across as harsh and aggressive but is ultimately a decent person who's doing good in the world. Kuvira herself even tells Korra that they are similar in how they are often forced into making hard decisions that are often criticized by others.
* NumberTwo: Seems to take this role after [[spoiler:Aiwei's betrayal]]. She left this role between Books 3 and 4 to restore/take over the Earth Kingdom.
* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: She doesn't force anyone into joining her, but she can't be blamed if they're in a [[ChainedToARailway hopeless situation]] and hardly have a better option...
* OneWomanArmy: Utterly [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomps]] an entire gang of earthbender bandits on her own without breaking a sweat.
* TheParagonAlwaysRebels: Used to be one of Suyin's finest apprentices, for whom she had high hopes. When she left, many left with her.
* PerpetualFrowner: When not doing a PsychoticSmirk, her expression is usually one of contempt.
* PowerHair: For a soldier, keeping her hair out of her face is just practical. Notably, though the same length, it was a bit less neat in Book 3, before her FaceHeelTurn.
* PragmaticVillainy: Always makes a point to use diplomacy over military force to maintain her good publicity, though she will default to force if all other options are exhausted. Also, while she does engage in petty acts of cruelty from time to time, she has the foresight to make sure that they don't interfere with her long term goals and that she can get away with it with no repercussions.
* PsychicStrangle: A variant. She lifts Varrick up by metalbending his shoulderpads against his neck and threatens to drop him on the train tracks. Also, part of her fighting style is to fire off a metal strip from her uniform to restrain opponents and then use her metalbending to toss them around like a rag doll.
* PsychoticSmirk: Tends to wear these when something goes her way and gives a subtle, yet particularly creepy one to Prince Wu in "The Coronation".
-->'''Kuvira:''' There is something you should know about me. I ''always'' get what I want.
* APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: Formerly an apprentice of Suyin that she saw as a daughter of hers, the two disagreed when it came to re-establishing order to the Earth Kingdom after the events of Book 3, culminating in Kuvira taking her son, Varrick, Zaofu's security force as well as it's wealthiest citizens with her, severing their bond.
* RealityEnsues: In "The Battle of Zaofu", Kuvira nearly learns the hard way why it's ''never'' a good idea to taunt a PhysicalGod.
* RedBaron: The Great Uniter.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delivers one to Suyin after [[spoiler:[[AssassinOutclassin her failed attempt to assassinate her]]]]:
-->'''Kuvira:''' I knew you would try a sneak attack. You were afraid to step up and lead the Earth Kingdom when you had the chance; you were afraid to join me when I became leader; and now, you are afraid of a fair fight. You have always been a coward.
* SadisticChoice: Her method of "rehabilitating" the bandits who attacked her train. Either they join her army and receive a second chance, or she leaves them tied to the railway for the next train to run over them.
-->'''Kuvira:''' Hopefully, someone saves you before the next train speeds through, but I wouldn't count on it.
* SheIsTheKing: Mako calls her "Emperor" rather than "Empress" after she seizes power.
* ShipperOnDeck: Refers to Bolin and Opal as her "favorite couple". However, when Bolin begins questioning her willingness to wage war on Zaofu, Kuvira intimidates him by asking him whether or not he's more loyal to Opal than her.
* SmugSmiler: When not being TheStoic, she is this instead. Whenever something goes her way, expect to see a cocky smile on her face.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: She is the series's first female BigBad. [[note]]Ming-Hua and P'Li were female villains in Book 3, but Zaheer served as the main villain of the Book while they served as his CoDragons.[[/note]]
* StartOfDarkness: As seen in "Enemy at the Gates".
* StealthPun: She's an IronLady in the most [[ExtraOreDinary literal way]] possible.
* TheStoic: In Book 3, Kuvira was warm and friendly. In Book 4, she's changed. Her voice is more level, she's terse, and barely smiles, even when telling Opal that she is engaged.
* UndyingLoyalty: She expects and inspires this in her soldiers. Best shown during her fight with Korra, where they actually cheer her on.
* UnholyMatrimony: With Baatar Jr. in Book 4.
* TheUsurper: Deems Prince Wu unfit to lead the Earth Kingdom and thus takes power from him, renaming it the Earth Empire.
* VillainBall: Her fight with Korra in "The Battle of Zaofu" has a few examples:
** Challenging Korra to a one-on-one fight served no purpose, as she already has her pretext for war. Fortunately for her, [[spoiler: Korra had been out of practice and Dark Korra had affected her severely. Were either of these things not the case, Kuvira would probably have very publicly lost and given up all claim to Zaofu]].
** [[JustToyingWithThem Toying with Korra]] and goading her into the Avatar state was very close to her undoing. Kuvira has seen how devastating the Avatar State is but didn't try to stop it.
** After defeating Korra in a one-on-one fight with the understanding that if she did so Korra would have to leave Zaofu and let Kuvira continue her invasion, [[spoiler:she tries to kill Korra]]. She had literally nothing to gain from doing this, and it only served to pointlessly escalate the conflict and give Korra even more motivation to stop her.
** Potentially zigzagged as [[spoiler:killing Korra]] meant eliminating one of the few people in the world who could defeat Kuvira and Korra gave her word to leave Zaofu, but not to not interfere elsewhere.
* VillainHasAPoint: She rightly points out how unfit Prince Wu is to be king and thus usurps power from him, while also noting that any foreign-installed leader would be a mere puppet beholden to their interests.
* VillainousValor: If you're willing to take on a ''fully-realized Avatar by yourself'', you have to be this.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Despite being treated like a conqueror in the lands she's attempting to annex, she enjoys some popular support for her actions and has gathered quite the range of allies. She got a standing ovation when she declared herself the new ruler of the Earth Empire at Wu's coronation, when Wu barely elicited a half-hearted cheer from one person.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: While her methods are domineering, she really seems to believe that her cause will truly unite the shattered Earth Kingdom.
* WithUsOrAgainstUs: There are two choices with her: Submit to her rule and pledge your absolute obedience to her or be sent to a re-education camp.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Baatar Jr.]]
!!Baatar Jr.
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lhb7lu2_1540.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Now that you've seen all the good we've done since we left Zaofu, you must be sorry that you didn't come and help us."]]
->Voiced by: Creator/ToddHaberkorn

Suyin's eldest son and Kuvira's fiancé.
----
* AntagonisticOffspring: He has becoming this to his parents in "Enemy at the Gates". Fully veers into this territory in "Battle of Zaofu" when [[spoiler:he has his father and Huan arrested for refusing to bow down to Kuvira]].
* AscendedExtra: In Book 3, he only had one cameo. Come Book 4, Baatar Jr. has more lines and screen time.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He's Kuvira's second in-command. After [[spoiler: discovered that Varrick, Zhu Li, and Bolin deserted the troop]], he goes after them with mini mechas and utilizes them with great ability, even [[spoiler: taking out Bolin first thing.]]
* BeardOfEvil: A tiny little one, but he's all evil.
* TheBerserker: A mild case - he's not flying off the handle in his fight with [[spoiler: Bolin, Varrick, and Zhu Li]], but he's evidently pissed as he rushes them down.
* BlackSheep: Is seen as this by Suyin for joining up with Kuvira's army.
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: In "Enemy At The Gates", after noticing how [[spoiler:both Bolin and Varrick]] have started to question Kuvira's methods, he gets informed by guards that [[spoiler:the former tried to visit the latter]]. He immediately orders them to [[spoiler:check Varrick's lab, thus discovering their escape]]. And in "Battle of Zaofu", [[spoiler:he insists on Varrick walking him through every step of the process of his work with the spirit vines. It serves a double purpose of keeping Varrick from not working and gives Baatar the information he needs to do the work without Varrick's help. He didn't quite catch on to Varrick turning it into a bomb, but it still played out in his favor.]]
* [[DatingWhatDaddyHates Dating What Mommy Hates]]: He's engaged to Kuvira, whom Suyin doesn't like.
* DoNotCallMePaul: A milder case; after joining Kuvira, he asks his mother to call him just Bataar rather than Bataar Jr.
* TheEvilGenius: While Kuvira handles the military aspects of reuniting the Earth Kingdom, Bataar's ideas are the basis for what the Earth Kingdom will become afterwards. Shares the role with Varrick, the chief scientist of Kuvira's empire.
* FaceHeelTurn: Is seen to have embraced Kuvira's methods to the point that he is the one that suggests taking Zaofu by force as a ''first response'', and ''Kuvira'' has to talk him down.
* FreudianExcuse: His resentment towards his parents comes from what he perceives as being forced into obscurity and being denied his own identity.
* FriendlyEnemy: To Opal. While they are on opposing sides on what to do with the conflict in the Earth Kingdom, he is nothing but friendly to her, and bears her no ill will at all. He's disappointed in his mother, but doesn't hate her either, though he does take some smug pleasure in rubbing her nose in his support of Kuvira. The friendly facade, however, crumbles when [[spoiler:they come to take Zaofu]].
* FourEyesZeroSoul: Wears a pair of glasses, and just as cold and distant as his lover.
* GadgeteerGenius: He builds the things his father designs, so he's implicitly this.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Despite his attitude towards Varrick and clearly malicious intents with the spirit vine technology, he is right about the fact that once a scientific discovery is made people will try to find as many uses for it as they can
* LameComeback:
--> '''Varrick''': You wouldn't know if a wolf-bat made a nest in your butt.\\
'''Baatar''': You're a fool. Wolfbats don't build nests.
* MadScientist: All but admits to be this when talking to Varrick, saying that it's their "duty" as scientists to explore their discoveries to their maximum. Keep in mind, he was taking about a ''weapon of mass destruction''.
* NotSoStoic: He's cold, ruthless, and generally keeps his composure in front of others, but it also hides a frustrated and angry individual who wants his own identity, and isn't afraid to lash out when things go bad. For a more comedic case, he expresses [[DidntSeeThatComing legitimate shock and surprise]], complete with bug eyes, when he sees that [[spoiler: Varrick really ''did'' intend to blow himself and Bolin up with the spirit vine weapon]].
* NumberTwo: Has a special rank patch designating him Kuvira's second in command.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Apparently this is the cause of his resentment towards his parents -- he feels living in Zaofu amounted to being forced to live in his parents' shadows.
* SanitySlippage: He starts the season as fairly stoic and composed, but starting with "Enemy at the Gates", his actions and his attitude get gradually more reckless, irrational and angrier. In particular, he seems to really lose his cool when [[spoiler:his father and brother refuse to kneel before Kuvira, with his father [[DisappointedInYou calmly telling him how disappointed he is]].]]
* SmugSnake: Smug self-confidence is his default mode. While he's not stupid, he doesn't do as much to earn this attitude as his fiancée, getting rather thoroughly outsmarted by Varrick and completely losing his cool when faced with opposition.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: He's a younger mirror of his father, right down to the [[NerdGlasses glasses]].
* TookALevelInJerkass: At the outset of the season, he was a FriendlyEnemy to Suyin and Opal though he did take smug pleasure in rubbing Kuvira's accomplishments in their faces. By "Enemy at the Gates", his friendly demeanor has completely disappeared and he's much more bitter and resentful. He also shows no qualms with using violence and was ready to take Zaofu by force before Kuvira talked him down. He also showed no hesitation in [[spoiler:threatening to crush Varrick's skull if Bolin and Zhu Li didn't surrender.]]
* UnfortunateName: Like his father, his name sounds like the French for "bastard". Though it turns out to be [[FourEyesZeroSoul a lot more appropriate]] in this case, to the point that the actual meaning (Mongolian for "hero") is an IronicName.
* UnholyMatrimony: Is in a relationship with [[BigBad Kuvira]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Varrick]]
A former business mogul turned chief scientist for Kuvira's empire. For tropes pertaining to him, refer to [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraOtherCharacters the "Other Characters" page.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zhu Li]]
Varrick's ever-present assistant. For tropes pertaining to her, refer to [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraOtherCharacters the "Other Characters" page.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Bolin]]
A former member of Team Avatar turned loyal corporal in Kuvira's army. For tropes pertaining to him, refer to [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraNewTeamAvatar the "New Team Avatar" page]]
[[/folder]]

!!Others
[[folder:Dark Avatar Korra]]
!Dark Avatar Korra

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k7kemp7_9856.jpg]]

A manifestation of Korra in the Avatar State from her fight with Zaheer, which appears to Korra and tries to attack her.
----
* AmbiguouslyEvil: It's not clear exactly why Korra is being harassed by her other self, who does nothing but stalk and/or attack her. There's certainly more to her than mere trauma, though.
* ChainedByFashion: On account of being a reflection of Korra during her fight with Zaheer. She has manacles on all four limbs with a chain attached to the one on the right arm.
* ChainPain: She uses a chain to fight, just as Korra did against Zaheer.
* DiabolusExMachina: Her sudden apparition while Korra was beating Kuvira reverses the situation.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Since Korra was barefoot during her fight with Zaheer, this Korra is barefoot as well.
* EnemyWithout: If she really ''is'' more than a hallucination.
%% * EvilTwin
* FlashStep: When the apparition has at Korra, she dodges her attacks with this often.
* ImplacableMan: Being at best ambiguously real, Dark Avatar Korra can't be stopped by normal means. Korra can't ever land a hit, and Dark Avatar Korra follows her relentlessly.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Since she's constantly in the Avatar State, her eyes have this effect.
* ImNotAfraidOfYou: Subverted. When Korra confronts her, Dark Avatar Korra only gets more aggressive for it. When Korra tries to declare her other self as not real, this causes Dark Avatar Korra to attack more ferociously than she ever has before.
* LightIsNotGood: Unlike the Dark Spirits (including the Dark Avatar himself), her eyes glow with the same white light as the normal Avatar State and Raava.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Korra's spirit friend is seemingly able to see her, and she leads Korra to an earthbending fight club Korra couldn't have known about. Korra also reacts when attacked by the hallucination, even being sent flying by some of its attacks.
* PrimalStance: Combined with flash-stepping, this clearly cements Dark Avatar Korra as unnerving.
* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:Even after Korra recovers from her poisoning, the Dark Avatar still shows up to stop her from defeating Kuvira with the Avatar State.]]
* UnskilledButStrong: Most benders use acrobatic dodges and graceful attacks. Dark Avatar Korra lashes out wildly with the elements and her chain, and does not merely dodge but {{Flash Step}}s away from anything thrown at her.
* TheVoiceless: She's absolutely silent, not even making a sound in combat.
* WildHair: Since Korra's hair was down when she fought Zaheer for the last time, the Dark Avatar's is too, which emphasizes her brutal image.
[[/folder]]
----

** He compliments Meelo on being a good airbending teacher. Could be considered a subversion since Meelo isn't actually a very good teacher.

-->Zaheer: When you base your expectations only on what you ''[[BadassNormal see,]]'' you blind yourselves to the [[EmpoweredBadassNormal possibilities of]] [[BlowYouAway a new reality.]]

** He compliments Meelo on being a good airbending teacher.

* LongRangeFighter: Serving as a foil to Korra, who gets up close and personal with her opponents, Kuvira prefers keeps her distance and use the metal strips of her uniform to trip opponents up. She can still handle herself up close, though, dodging attacks then using her metal strips to throw opponents back, as well as delivering a punishing uppercut during her CombatByChampion with Korra.

* LongRangeFighter: Serving as a foil to Korra, who gets up close and personal with her opponents, Kuvira prefers keeps her distance and use the metal strips of her uniform to trip opponents up. She can still handle herself up close, though, dodging attacks then using her metal strips to throw opponents back.

* LongRangeFighter: Serving as a foil to Korra, who gets up close and personal with her opponents, Kuvira prefers keeps her distance and use the metal strips of her uniform to trip opponents up. She can still handle herself up close, though, delivering a punishing uppercut to Korra during their CombatByChamption

* LongRangeFighter: Serving as a foil to Korra, who gets up close and personal with her opponents, Kuvira prefers keeps her distance and use the metal strips of her uniform to trip opponents up.

* DanceBattler: Uses metalbending for both combat and dance.

* StartOfDarkness: As seen in "Enemy at Gates".

* VillainBall: Zigzagged. After defeating Korra in a one-on-one fight with the understanding that if she did so Korra would have to leave Zaofu and let Kuvira continue her invasion, [[spoiler:she tries to kill Korra]]. She had literally nothing to gain from doing this, and it only served to pointlessly escalate the conflict and give Korra even more motivation to stop her. On the other hand, [[spoiler:killing Korra]] meant eliminating one of the few people in the world who could defeat Kuvira and Korra gave her word to leave Zaofu, but not to not interfere elsewhere.

** Another possibility is that Kuvira was goading Opal and Jinora into helping Korra so that she could claim that the other side broke the deal.

* VillainBall: Zigzagged. After defeating Korra in a one-on-one fight with the understanding that if she did so Korra would have to leave Zaofu and let Kuvira continue her invasion, [[spoiler:she tries to kill Korra]]. She had literally nothing to gain from doing this, and it only served to pointlessly escalate the conflict and give Korra even more motivation to stop her. On the other hand, [[spoiler:Killing Korra]] meant eliminating the one of the few people in the world who could defeat Kuvira. Korra gave her word to leave Zaofu, but not to not protect other places like the United Republic.

* VillainousValor: If you're willing to take on a ''fully-realized Avatar by yourself'', you either have this or you're just TooDumbToLive.

* LongRangeFighter: Serving as a foil to Korra, who gets up close and personal with her opponents, Kuvira always keeps her distance and prefers to pelt opponents with the metal strips of her uniform or use her earthbending and metalbending to trip them up somehow. She can handle herself up close, though, giving Korra a punishing uppercut during their CombatByChampion.

* KneelBeforeZod: Has a habit of making people do this, just to rub her triumph in their faces. She forced the Governor of Yi to pledge his loyalty to her after making him sign an unfair contract that rendered him a mere figurehead. And she later makes [[spoiler:the whole of Zaofu]] bow to her. Par for the course for East Asian cultures when in the presence of an Emperor.

* KneelBeforeZod: Has a habit of making people do this, just to rub her triumph in their faces. She forced the Governor of Yi to pledge his loyalty to her after making him sign an unfair contract that rendered him a mere figurehead. And she later makes [[spoiler:the whole of Zaofu]] bow to her.

* LongRangeFighter: Serving as a foil to Korra, who gets up close and personal with her opponents, Kuvira always keeps her distance and prefers to pelt opponents with the metal strips of her uniform or use her earthbending and metalbending to trip them up somehow.

* RealityEnsues: Kuvira nearly learns the hard way why it's ''never'' a good idea to taunt a PhysicalGod.

* ReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delivers one to Suyin after [[spoiler:[[AssassinOutclassin her failed attempt to assassinate her]]]]:
-->'''Kuvira:''' "I knew you would try sneak attack. You were afraid to step up and lead the Earth Kingdom when you had the chance; you were afraid to join me when I became leader; and now, you are afraid of a fair fight. You have always been a coward."

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor[=/=]DoNotTauntCthulhu: Throughout her fight with Korra, Kuvira constantly goads her to go into the Avatar State and give her a real challenge... Korra eventually does just that and would have handed Kuvira her ass had it not been for [[spoiler:a vision of Dark Korra]].

-->"I knew you would try sneak attack. You were afraid to step up and lead the Earth Kingdom when you had the chance; you were afraid to join me when I became leader; and now, you are afraid of a fair fight. You have always been a coward."

* VillainousValor: If you're willing to take on a ''fully-realized Avatar by yourself'', you must have this.

* VillainousValor: If you're willing to take on a ''fully-realized Avatar by yourself'', you either have this or SuicidalOverconfidence.

* LongRangedFighter: Serving as a foil to Korra, who gets up close and personal with her opponents, Kuvira always keeps her distance and prefers to pelt opponents with the metal strips of her uniform or use her earthbending and metalbending to trip them up somehow.

The founder of the Earth Empire, and the main antagonist of Book 3. Raised in Zaofu by Suyin herself, Kuvira was a captain in her metalbending corps, as well as one of the members of her dance troupe. After the fall of the Red Lotus and the Earth Kingdom's descent into anarchy, however, her loyalty toward Suyin was shaken when the leader of Zaofu refused to help reuniting the Earth Kingdom, feeling this would be acting like conquerors. After failing to convince her otherwise, Kuvira interpreted Suyin's refusal as cowardice and left Zaofu with Baatar Jr and part of the city's force to do the job herself; she was eventually recognized by the United Republic as the temporary leader of the Earth Kingdom, in preparation for the coronation of Prince Wu, heir to the throne. Believing him unfit, she instead unites the region and reforms it as the new Earth Empire, with herself in charge.

* TheChessmaster: Kuvira has been a couple steps ahead of anyone who challenged or got in her way thus far in Season 4.

* PragmaticVillainy: Always makes a point to use diplomacy over military force to maintain her good publicity, though she will default to force if all other options are exhausted. Also, while she does engage in petty acts of cruelty from time to time, she has the foresight to make sure she can get away with it first.
* PsychicStrangle: [[spoiler:She lifts Varrick up by metalbending his shoulderpads against his neck and threatens to drop him on the train tracks.]]

* VillainBall: Zigzagged. After defeating Korra in a one-on-one fight with the understanding that if she did so Korra would have to leave Zaofu and let Kuvira continue her invasion, she tries to kill Korra. She had literally nothing to gain from doing this, and it only served to pointlessly escalate the conflict and give Korra even more motivation to stop her. On the other hand, Killing Korra meant eliminating the one of the few people in the world who could defeat Kuvira. Korra gave her word to leave Zaofu, but not to not protect other places like the United Republic.

* VillainousValor: If you're willing to take on a ''fully-realized Avatar by yourself'', you must have this.

* BraidsOfAction: She has a long braid under her helmet.

* BullyingADragon: Presumably because of her arrogance, Kuvira acts quite cocky and tends to be overconfident in her ability to remove obstacles by force, even against enemies who are technically much more powerful than her. In "Battle of Zaofu", [[spoiler:she not only agrees to fight [[PhysicalGod Korra]] in a woman-to-woman fight, but spends the entire duel taunting her and goads her into using the Avatar State. She ends up regretting it when Korra finally does, and only wins [[WorfHadTheFlu because of a Dark Korra vision]].]]