Sandbox / Characters Avatar The Last Airbender Republic City

In General

• The Republic: The United Republic of Nations is the first one in the Avatar-verse, headed by a representative council made up of ambassadors from each nation. In Book Two, this council is replaced by a popularly elected president.

Pro-bending Affiliated

Athletes

Avatar Korra

The titular main character and Avatar on a quest to keep the world in balance.

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See this page for more information.

Mako

The Legend of Korra - New Team Avatar

Bolin

The Legend of Korra - New Team Avatar

Tahno

"You know...If you'd like to learn how a real pro bends, I could give you some private lessons."

Voiced by Rami Malek

A rival pro-bender of the Fire Ferrets. The captain of the Wolfbats.

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• Agent Peacock: He looks like The Dandy, but he actually is a powerful and quite brutal waterbending champion.
• Alas, Poor Villain: After he loses his bending. Even Korra takes pity on him.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Pro-bending champion, and willing to rub that in everyone's face.
• Back for the Finale: After being absent since the middle of Book One, he returns over two years later to make a cameo in the final episodes of Book Four, listening to Prince Wu's speech imploring Republic City to evacuate in the face of Kuvira's impending attack and then as a trombone player in Varrick's wedding.
• Belated Happy Ending: The video game shows that Korra restored his powers, and that he and the Wolf Bats returned to pro-bending. His attitude doesn't seem to have changed much, but at least he doesn't cheat. The series finale shows him in a band at Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding, seemingly having a good time.
• Break the Haughty: He ends up being attacked and de-bended by Amon for cheating during the pro-bending finals. The next time Korra sees him, he's a broken man.
• Broken Smile: To Korra at the police station after losing his bending.
• The Cameo:
  • He and his team show up in the video game as one of the five pro-bending teams. He is the only pro-bender that actually gets lines.
  • He makes an appearance in Book 4's "Kuvira's Gambit" where he's seen with the Wolf Bats and fangirls in Narook's Seaweed Noodlery during the evacuation. He makes more of an impression in the finale where he's seen playing the trombone at Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding.
• The Casanova: He is already with two women before he hits on Korra.
• Cheaters Never Prosper: Played with. His team wins the tournament through cheating, but get their bending taken away because they were cheating.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Makes a brief appearance in a newspaper photo in "A Leaf in the Wind".
• Dance Battler: He and his teammates have an especially extravagant fighting style with a lot of flips and mid-air twirls, to go along with their status as high grade show fighters.
• The Dandy: Close-up shots of his face make him look like he's wearing eye-liner, he has a minor rose motif, and his fashion choices and way of carrying himself have a rather effeminate swank.
• De-power: Amon takes his bending away, along with that of his team, as punishment for cheating in the finale tournament match. If one takes the game as loosely canon, Korra restored his bending between seasons.
• Don't Create a Martyr: Inverted. As a professional bender who obviously cheats to win his matches and gets away with it, he's a perfect example for Amon to use as why the Equalists are de-powering benders, and Amon does so to demonstrate why such benders deserve to be punished.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Especially notable because those features aren't generally associated with waterbenders.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: After Amon takes his bending, his hair becomes "floppy" to emphasize how broken he is about it.
• Famed In-Story: Tahno is a celebrity due to his status as a pro-bending champion. He appears in newspapers and has posters of himself plastered around the city.
• Foil: To Korra. Both are arrogant and skilled athletes with a certain amount of entitlement. They're set up as rivals right from the start, being waterbenders on opposing teams. They see their bending as a huge part of their identity. Ultimately, both have their bending taken by Amon and become depressed over it.
• Guyliner: Wears it.
• Heel–Face Turn: After being de-bended, he becomes a lot nicer to Korra.
• Hidden Depths: Turns out he's quite the trombone player, as seen in the Book 4 finale.
• An Ice Person: He's a waterbender, so he has the ability to turn water into ice and vice versa.
• Jerkass: Before losing his bending. Afterward he becomes nicer.
• Jerk Jock: A Jerkass who is a jock.
• A Lady on Each Arm: When we first see him, he's got his arms around a pair of fangirls.
• Laser-Guided Karma: He bribes the referee so his team can cheat to win the tournament, then gets his bending taken away by Amon precisely because he's a cheater.
• Making a Splash: He's a waterbender.
• Meaningful Name: Tahno refers to the river Tano in Africa. It also means fame and glory in the Slavonic languages. No name could be more appropriate for him.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: By rigging the match in his favor, he manages to beat the Fire Ferrets and win the pro-bending tournament. Minutes later, he's beaten and de-bended by Amon, who singled him out specifically because he's a cheating jerk.
• Opposing Sports Team: his team, the Wolfbats, is this to the Fire Ferrets.
• Phenotype Stereotype: Averted. Tahno is a good representation of Republic City's multicultural nature in that he is a waterbender who, much like Hama from the previous series, doesn't have any of the traditional Water Tribe features. Instead, his pale complexion and black hair suggest Fire Nation heritage, or even Earth Kingdom blood considering the Foggy Swamp Tribe, which was paler than the more isolated Northern and Southern tribes.
• Please, I Will Do Anything!: Didn't help.
  Tahno: [to Amon] Wait, please don't do this! I'll give you the championship pot, I-I'll give you everything just please don't take my bending!
• Pretty Boy: Called such by Korra herself in "The Spirit of Competition".
• Princely Young Man: Is a celebrity pro-bending champion. Tahno is almost always seen with a posse of his teammates and adoring fangirls.
• The Rival: He and his fellow Wolfbats are this to Korra and the Fire Ferrets.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Despite his deep, baritone voice, he does let out a high-pitched shriek when Naga scares him.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: He bribes the referee so his team can use illegal moves in pro-bending.
• She-Fu: Male example; his fighting style has a large number of high jumps and flashy acrobatics.
• Sissy Villain: Seems like this due to his shriek when confronted with Naga, but is actually a subversion. See Agent Peacock above.
• Smug Snake: Until his Break the Haughty experience.
• Something about a Rose: Never has one in the show, but is depicted with roses in official art.
• Tempting Fate: Not a bright idea to flaunt your cheated victory by declaring if anyone else would like the chance to challenge your team.
• Took a Level in Kindness: After being de-bended by Amon. If he gets over his depression about it, it may actually have done him some good.
• Trademark Favorite Food: He does seem to love noodles.
• Villainous Breakdown: Twice. First, when Korra humiliates him in a tie-breaker fight by beating him in one shot. Then again later, and more seriously, when Amon takes his bending.

Hasook

"Get off my case, pal [Mako]!"

Voiced by Sean Gantka

Hasook is the original waterbender on the Fire Ferrets pro-bending team. He became incompetent during the match with the Tigerdillos, nearly caused the Fire Ferrets to lose, and then almost got them disqualified by not showing up to the match. Korra replaces him and joins Mako and Bolin on the Fire Ferrets.

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• Back for the Finale: Shows up as part of the jazz band in the series finale.
• Making a Splash: Was the team's waterbender before Korra.
• Meaningful Name: "Hasook" is Korean for "lodging" or "boarding house," both types of temporary accommodation. This alludes to his being only a short-term member of the Fire Ferrets.
• The Pete Best: In-universe; he leaves the Fire Ferrets just in time for Korra's arrival to boost their popularity immensely.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Though it is perhaps telling that the big impact he has is entirely through inaction: His no-showing at the Fire Ferrets' pro-bending match is what allows Korra to join the team and get acquainted with Mako and Bolin (as well as the Satos by extension).
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Is never seen again after he leaves the probending match in anger during "A Leaf in the Wind", until the very last episode of the entire show, as a clarinetist in Varrick's wedding band. According to the Book 1 commentary, he was originally intended to have left the team because his girlfriend had a baby. Sean Gantka has written a Facebook post explaining that Hasook left to pursue his true love, music.

Staff

Toza

"I could find you a place to stay right here in the arena. Who knows, you could be champs. At least it's a chance at an honest living."

Voiced by George Coe

A former pro-bender who captained the championship-winning Black Quarry Boar-q-pines, Toza is an elderly man who trains Mako and Bolin and gave them a place to stay when they left the triads.

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• Ascended Extra: In "Republic City Hustle" he's more important and we get a bit of his backstory.
• Cool Old Guy: The web serial "Republic City Hustle" shows that even past his prime, he can more than handle himself in both the arena and in a fight.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Seen moving "Earth dumbbells" in a few of his scenes in the workout room.
• Glory Days: "Republic City Hustle" shows that he was actually quite famous back when he was still pro-bending.
• Grumpy Old Man: His meeting with Korra had him quite grouchy.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He may be a grump, but he gave Mako and Bolin a place to stay, and trained them in pro-bending, which qualifies him for "Heart of Gold" status. In fact, he took Mako and Bolin under his wing in part to save them from a life of crime (after jumping in to help them fight against their triad employers, at that).
• Meaningful Name: The Tosa Inu is a Japanese dog used in dog fighting matches.
• The Mentor: To Mako and Bolin before the start of the series.
• Perpetual Frowner: In the main show; we do get to see him smile a bit in the end of "Republic City Hustle", though.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He plays a fairly significant part in the backstory of Mako and Bolin, being the person who inducted them into the sport of pro-bending and gave them lodging in his gym (arguably making him the closest thing they currently have to a substitute parent). However, his role in the series is very small and he makes no appearance post the first season at all. This was partly remedied by the Republic City Hustle shorts, though.
• Throwing the Fight: Used to do this for the Triads once he grew past his prime, until a young Bolin inspired him to take pro-bending seriously again.

Shiro Shinobi

"They're bending my mind!"

Voiced by Jeff Bennett

The non-bender radio commentator for pro-bending broadcasts, with a stereotypical overexcited "newsreel" tone of voice.

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• Alliterative Name: Shiro Shinobi.
• Bring My Brown Pants: In "And the Winner Is...", as he is attacked by Equalists. On live radio.
  Shiro: I am currently wetting my pants.
• Busman's Holiday: In "Night of A Thousand Stars", Shiro finds himself compelled out of habit to do radio commentary on Bolin's scrap with the "Northern Water Tribe" soldiers kidnapping President Raiko, despite the lack of a microphone.
• Combat Commentator: Professional; he's the pro-bender announcer.
• Deadline News: Even as the Pro-bending Arena is being attacked, and an enemy comes storming into the announcer's room, Shinobi continues commenting on the attack for all the listeners at home. He was just knocked unconscious, not killed.
• Determinator: Nothing short of unconsciousness will stop him from describing everything going on in the arena. Even if the area is in chaos, and he's about to be electrified.
• Dissonant Serenity: When the Equalists attack the arena in episode 6, he continues narrating in the same tone of voice right up to the point where he's knocked out.
• Intrepid Reporter: Was one according to the Welcome To Republic City game before becoming the announcer for the Pro-bending Arena, but gave it up after too many years covering the Triads' crimes.
• Large-Ham Announcer: Comes hand-in-hand with commenting on Pro Bending matches.
• Meaningful Name: "Shiro" meaning white, which makes him a good character. And "Shinobi," translates to ninja, who were gatherers of information and known for their determination.
• Muggle: He is a non-bender, which didn't stop the Equalists from shocking him unconscious in episode 6.
• Opening Narration: With the exception of "The Aftermath", he provides the narration for the show's Previously on… segments. "The Aftermath" instead had Tarrlok giving a press conference in the same style.
• Retired Badass: Was an Intrepid Reporter before becoming a commentator.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He'll stay on the broadcast to the bitter end when dealing with any relatively normal threat, but a Dark Avatar Kaiju? "This is Shiro Shinobi, signing off."
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Briefly, when the series hits its midpoint and Wham Episode.
• Shout-Out: The character is a shout out to muckraking reporter and radio broadcasting legend Walter Winchell.

Homeless People

Gommu

"We got benders and nonbenders living together down here, but do you see us fightin'? No siree; we've figured out how to harmoniously co-exist."

Voiced by Stephen Root

Gommu is a vagabond living in a bush in Republic City Park. He spies Korra eating fish, and asks her for one. He then explains to Korra that Republic City is worse than it seems, before diving back into his bush when a policeman sees them. Before living as a vagabond, he traveled and saw the world working for the United Forces as a telegraph operator.

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• All There in the Manual: The "Welcome To Republic City" internet infodump reveals that he was a Republic Forces telegraph operator, explaining why he knew what to do when warning Commander Bumi's fleet about the disaster with General Iroh's fleet.
• Back for the Finale:
  • He returns in the season 1 finale, as part of a community of hobos who live under the city and shelter the heroes.
  • He makes another return in the penultimate ^note if one treats the final two episodes, released together, as one episode episode of the series, evacuating Republic City with the cop who came after him and Korra in the pilot.
• The Cameo: He shows up in the recap for "After All These Years", having befriended a group of spirits in the Spirit Wilds.
• Cool Old Guy: In season 1, when the Krew have no idea what to do about the Bender vs None Bender conflict, he helps them through it.
• Manly Tears: When Team Avatar splits up in the finale.
• Perpetual Poverty: Since he returned to Republic City after he was a telegraph operator for the United Forces, he has been homeless.
• Wisdom from the Gutter:
  Bolin: Truly, you are a wise and noble hobo.

Skoochy

"My memory's a little 'foggy'. Maybe you can help 'clear it up'."

Voiced by Zach Callison

Skoochy is a crafty and cunning homeless kid who has his ears to the street and is happy to give anyone information, as long as his price is paid. He met Mako and Bolin a few years ago, when they were living on the street as well, soon after he had just escaped from his second orphanage and vowed never to go back. He usually hangs around the Central City Station and picks the pockets of unsuspecting tourists.

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• The Artful Dodger: Implied since Skoochy hasn't been caught for his pick-pocketing.
• Bratty Half-Pint: He'll only help you if you give him money.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Word of God is he's an earth bender.
• Five-Finger Discount: He'll pickpocket unsuspecting visitors.
• Greed: Skoochy only gives out info in exchange for money and regularly pickpockets people.
• The Informant: Willing to give Mako info, for some money.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: His profile describes him as a pick-pocketer and only gives Bolin's whereabouts to Mako for the return of money. However, his first scene also has him being friends with fellow street urchins, even giving off a brotherly vibe when he signals them it's time to go.
• Street Urchin: Lives on the streets after running away from his second orphanage.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: He's seen in one episode of Book 1 and never reappears for the remaining three.

Equalists

General

"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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• Anti-Magical Faction: Or more accurately, Anti-Bending Faction.
• Bilingual Bonus: Their seal means 'flat' or 'tie' in Chinese.
• Cape Busters: This is their purpose, with supers in their case being benders, and also have the training and weapons that are designed to be used against benders.
• Combat Pragmatist: The organization as a whole uses many terrorist tactics in their pursuit of Amon's goal, including hiding among civilian populations, bombings to tie up emergency services, and avert taking on enemies one at a time.
• Dirty Communists: A fantasy equivalent; they share many similar elements, including a desire to make everyone equal and the idea that Bending (which because of its spiritual side can be considered as this Universe equivalent of Religion) is used to control and oppress people.
• Fantastic Racism: 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.
• Muggle Power: The whole point of their existence.
• The Magic Versus Technology War: They make heavy use of the technology provided by Sato to make up for their lack of Bending.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: With heavy use of industrial grays and occasional stark whites making them clearly distinct from the Fire Nation that continues to use this color scheme.
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Though they claimed to be the latter, they certainly had no problems kidnapping innocent children or blowing up a sports stadium full of people.

Amon/Noatak

]]

"I am the solution."

^{Click here to see Amon unmasked}

Voiced by Steve Blum

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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• The Ace: 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 Xanatos Gambit, 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 gaining 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.
• Accidental Public Confession: 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.
• Ambiguously Evil: While Amon is unquestionably a villain, to what degree is another matter. Even after the reveal of his actual back story, his exact motives for his revolution are not made clear, though Tarrlok thinks Amon truly believed his own rhetoric.
  • Word of God confirms 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.
• Antagonistic Offspring: He Bloodbended his father when Tarrlok was yelled at for not wanting to use his abilities.
• Anti-Villain:
  • 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 abusiveness. The fact that bloodbending is known to get people Drunk on the Dark Side probably didn't hurt.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: He prefers not to fight (see Pragmatic Villainy) but when he does, he almost never loses.
• Back from the Dead: In Varrick's latest Mover pitch, anyway. In the Mover, he reanimates as a zombie and joins a Legion of Doom led by Zaheer in order to take down Bolin. Hilarity Ensues.
• Badass Boast:
  Tarrlok: What... what are you?
  Amon: I am the solution.
• Badass Longcoat: A bit shorter than some other examples, but no less badass.
• Bad Powers, Bad People: Zig-zagged. A Well-Intentioned Extremist with the ability to take away people's bending. He's actually a Blood Magic bloodbender, but he's a villain of the Knight Templar flavor, so he's bad in a rather unorthodox way.
• Believing Their Own Lies: Tarrlok theorizes that while the Amon's identity and following were built on lies, Amon genuinely believes benders are the source of the world's woes. Word of God confirms that Amon indeed bought into his own anti-bending rhetoric.
• Beyond the Impossible: 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 "psychic bloodbending."
• Big Bad: He is the main villain of Book 1, the leader of the Equalists, seeking to eliminate all Benders in the world.
• Big Brother Instinct: Tarrlok claims Amon 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. He even gives him a special cell to separated him from everyone else. In the finale, Amon tells him he's all he has left in the world.
  • During a flashback in the season finale, he was shown to be very doting to his brother. He did things like play with him, made sure that he never got hurt, and protected him from their father.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Even though he has Korra completely at his mercy at one point, he decides to let her go. Justified because taking her bending would only make her a martyr and damage his cause.
• Boomerang Bigot: He's a bender himself, using bloodbending to nullify the powers of other benders.
• Breaking Speech: He delivers one so effective and intimidating that Korra suffers a complete breakdown afterwards.
• Broken Ace: As mentioned above, Amon is an incredibly intelligent and charismatic bender who, through the majority of the season, managed to manipulate and control everyone around him to his whim and only loses at the last moment due to Korra gaining Airbending. However, all of his charm and intelligence hides the fact that he is a self-loathing individual whose skills were a direct result of his father's abusive treatment of him and his brother which caused him to hate all benders in the first place.
• Cain and Abel: Zigzagged. Amon takes away his brother's bending, and his brother ultimately kills him. But Amon still loves him regardless.
• The Cameo: During Korra's Mushroom Samba 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."
• Char Clone: The Dark Messiah version. Interestingly enough, while it turned out that he was someone's older brother, it turned out to be of Tarrlok, one of the other antagonists of the series.
• The Chessmaster: His actions in episode 6 sealed his status as one and even more. See Xanatos Gambit below.
• Child Prodigy: By the age of 14, he was at least as good at bloodbending as his father, Yakone.
• Combat Pragmatist: 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.
• Cool Mask: It resembles a Chinese opera mask, and has the spook factor of one.
• Crazy-Prepared: 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.
• Creepy Monotone: He maintains a level tone in all situations.
• Culture Police: Desires to end pro-bending as means to end "bending worship".
• Dark and Troubled Past: According to 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.
• Dark Messiah: 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.
• Death Glare: 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 Death Glare even behind that mask.
• De-power: 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.
• Diabolical Mastermind: Amon is really good at manipulating others and organising a military movement.
• Dissonant Serenity: The cargo bay of his zeppelin being filled with flame by Korra doesn't even break his stride. He is also almost unfazed by Tarrlok's bloodbending. While he is affected, he is able to push through and maintain his composure without faltering. The mask definitely helps with the effect.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: 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 misapphrehension 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 "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, 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 Imperial Japan of World War II infamy.
• Don't Create a Martyr: 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.
• The Dreaded: 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.
• Drunk on the Dark Side: While his brother tried his best to swear off bloodbending, Amon took to it at a young age and embraced it. Tarrlok even comments that Amon seemed to enjoy having the power.
• Empowered Badass Normal: He's a Badass Normal who claims to have gotten his powers through contact with the spirits. In fact, he's actually just an extremely skilled bloodbender.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He does seem to still love his younger brother, even though he rejected him when they were children.
• Evil Counterpart: 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 Nature Spirit. 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.
• Eviler than Thou: Amon ends up pulling this on every villain not working for him. Even Tarrlok can't compete.
• Evil Sounds Deep: What else would you expect from Steve Blum? Evil's as deep as the ocean.
• Expressive Mask: On occasion, there are subtle illustration changes to the mouth on his mask and his eyes and tone do the rest.
• The Faceless: He wears a mask due to Facial Horror he received from a firebender. This turns out to be a lie.
• Facial Horror: He cites this as the reason he wears his mask, and reveals a large scar once he removes it. That turns out to be a lie, however, and the scar is fake. Underneath, he's actually quite good looking.
• Fantastic Racism: Hates benders and seeks to get rid of bending altogether.
• Fatal Flaw: Amon's eventual downfall comes from one simple fact: although he is a 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.
• Faux Affably Evil: He plays up the idea that he's actually a nice guy just doing a dirty job. He 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.
• Fights Like a Normal: His ability to remove bending isn't really immediately useful in a fight, so he has to subdue his opponent using normal methods first. Subverted when we find out that he's actually been using 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 Boisterous Bruiser who has major difficulty with the spiritual side of bending. Finally, it turns out they're both native waterbenders and bending Child Prodigies. In a geographical sense, Korra was born and raised in the south pole while Amon originates from 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 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, while Amon abandoned his and left him to deal with their abusive father alone. Both are also very talented benders, and the more talented of their brothers, which Amon goes out of his way to compliment Mako on. Both are the The Stoic in their Sibling Yin-Yang 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.
• Freudian Excuse: 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.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He claims to have been a simple Farm Boy until his family was murdered. Now he's a Dark Messiah revolutionary trying to bring down bending and replace the Avatar. 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 Amon's actual origins, but he nevertheless hails from more auspicious beginnings than he first claimed.
• Full-Circle Revolution: When the Equalists took over Republic City, they proved themselves every bit as oppressive as the benders they rallied against.
• Genius Bruiser: Really good public speaker, social leader, and master strategist; expert chi-blocker, prodigy waterbender and bloodbender.
• Gold and White Are Divine: An unusual case in that said color pattern is confined to his mask.
• Good Colors, Evil Colors:
  • 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 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 White Mask of Doom. Red and gold are generally considered positive colors in Chinese culture, making their use ironic in this case.
  • The gold on his mask can also be seen as green. Another 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.
• Go Out with a Smile: After losing Republic City and the Equalists, Amon decides to reclaim his old identity as and turn over a new leaf with his long-lost brother Tarrlok. As they leave on a getaway boat, Amon 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 realizing and accepting what Tarrlok is about to do just before Tarrlok ignites the gas tank and detonates the boat.
• Hero Killer: 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.
• He Who Fights Monsters: In trying to eradicate benders as the source of the world's woes, he eventually became as bad as those he sought to eliminate.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: After The Reveal, his true motivations were cast into doubt. Word of God eventually stated that Amon was indeed being truthful about his motivations, and that he truly hated bending as a source of great evil.
• 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 is a a bender himself, using bloodbending to fake spiritual powers. While Tarrlok thinks Amon is none too proud of his this, he still uses it subtly to fight, rather than fighting like a Badass Normal. In the end, the Lieutenant is not at all happy to realize this.
• I Am the Noun: "I am the solution." Also printed on some of his posters, though that's a Readers Of Chinese Bonus.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Once his mask comes off, Amon's eyes are revealed to be a light blue. Fitting, considering his cold, calculating personality and water tribe parents.
• Implacable Man: No matter what you throw at him, he won't stop coming.
• In the Hood: Wears a hooded robe.
• The Juggernaut: When Tarrlok tries to use bloodbending on him, Amon just shrugs it off and keeps advancing. Turns out Amon was also bloodbending to counter Tarrlok's.
• Just Toying with Them: Amon makes a show out of tying up 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 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. 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.
• Just You, Me, and My GUARDS!: How Amon eventually responds to Korra's mano-a-mano challenge to him. Could be justified because Tarrlok had his soldiers watching Korra in case she lost, and Amon is smart enough to suspect something like that.
• Karmic Death: 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.
• Kick the Dog: 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 Mook–Face Turn.
• Kneel Before Zod: Forces a pack of wolves to do this as a child.
• Knight of Cerebus: 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 Downer Ending.
• Knight Templar: 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.
• Light Is Not Good: Though Amon invokes certain heavenly archetypes with his white and gold sun mask, Egyptian sun god name, and 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 waterbending healing, manipulating chi regardless. Thus, arguably White Magic.
• Lightning Bruiser: Extremely agile and nimble fighter with the strength to take down even the most skilled benders with no sweat.
• Made of Iron: 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.
• Mage Killer: Not surprising, given that he's the leader of the Equalists.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Like the lower-level Equalists, although they're Gas Mask Mooks and his is more of a traditional mask.
• Mission from God: He claims that he was chosen by the spirits to bring down bending and replace the Avatar.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Amon" has plenty of possible meanings.
  • To start, it's the name of an Egyptian god. It is a borderline Meaningful Name as Amon (or Amun, Amen, et cetera) not only is associated with the unseen and mysteries, but also with the poor and the opressed.
  • He also shares a name with a demon from the Ars Goetia who is associated with Wrath.
  • 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 Amon Leopold Goeth, a Nazi who was so crazy and sadistic, even the other Nazis thought he was a psychotic nutjob.
  • 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 translated his name written in Chinese characters. 阿蒙. 'cover; ignorant; suffer.'
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Debending Korra ultimately only served to make her even stronger and upend his entire revolution.
• No-Sell: 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 Amon can bloodbend with his mind, he was able to counteract Tarrlok's powers without moving.
• Not Me This Time: He is framed for abducting Korra in "Out of the Past".
• Not So Stoic:
  • 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 reveals his backstory 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.
• Odd Name Out: While the rest of his family have Meaningful Names, Amon's real name is simply the name of a river.
• Obviously Evil: 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 Good Colors, Evil Colors.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: 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.
• Pragmatic Villainy: 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 Breaking Speech, reasoning that removing her bending now wold only serve to martyr her.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: "It is time for you to be Equalized."
• Psychopathic Man Child: In his final scenes he displays naivety and 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 they 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.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: He never does this personally, but quite a few of the Equalist powers depict him this way, probably for Rule of Drama.
• Rebel Leader: He is the leader of the anti-bending movement.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: Once the Equalists took over, it's subverted.
• The Runaway: In his real backstory, he fled from his abusive father.
• Self-Disposing Villain: A case where the hero isn't even aware of it. Korra never has the chance to take care of him, since he escapes. Tarrlok takes care of that.
• Shadow Archetype: 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.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: 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.
• Single Tear: Sheds one right before his death.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Amon may have been the Big Bad of the first book, but compared to later foes like Vaatu or Zaheer, he ends up almost paling compared to them since his goals are simply for equality as opposed to anarchy or the extinction of humanity. The detached nature of Book One also means he leaves much less of an impact on the remainder of the series than his successors^note Bryke made the first book as a standalone miniseries before being picked up for more books. However, he's by no means forgotten (having the odd cameo here and there and still causing Korra trauma in the later books), and his first major appearance in "The Revelation" introduces one of the main themes of the series: is the Avatar obsolete in the rapidly changing world?
• The Social Expert: Amon can expertly predict what people will do and how best to exploit them.
• Straw Hypocrite: Was speculated to be such after the reveal, being a secret waterbender who leads a crusade against bending while using bloodbending himself to both fight and remove other people's bending, but Word of God eventually stated that his anti-bending beliefs are sincere.
• The Stoic: Always calm and collected, even in the midst of battle.
• Stronger Sibling: To Tarrlok.
• Super Power Lottery: He's a master waterbender, can bloodbend without a full moon, and his control is such that he can remove bending from his victims.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: All of which come standard for members of the Water Tribes.
• Tell Me How You Fight: Tarrlok identifies Amon as his brother, despite Amon's appearance being concealed, by the distinctive feel of his bloodbending.
• This Cannot Be!: When he debends Korra only for her to use airbending against him.
• Thought-Controlled Power: His psychic bloodbending technique lets him paralyze people at a glance or subtlety control their movements during combat.
• Tragic Bigot: 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 was an extremely abusive parent, and forced him and his brother 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. When his father made him and his brother use bloodbending on each other, Amon turned on his father, ran away from home, and grew to despise bending as a source of evil and oppression.
• Tragic Villain: In the finale, it's revealed that Amon is actually Tarrlok's older brother, Noatak. He and Tarrlok were forced by their 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 Word of God, Amon 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.
• Tyke-Bomb: 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.
• The Unfettered: He will eradicate bending by any means necessary.
• Unflinching Walk:
  • 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 bloodbend with only minimal flinching.
• Unreliable Expositor: His given backstory is a lie in order to gain support and sympathy.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Until his father forced him and his brother to learn bloodbending.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After being defeated and uncovered by Korra, Amon asks his younger brother to escape together and rebuild their lives as brothers. He agrees, but has ulterior motives for doing so.
• Villain Has a Point: He claims that benders dominate society through their powers and lord it over non-benders. He's right (to a point), especially once Tarrlok started implementing extreme measures, and is able to build a mass movement around himself until he's exposed. This was probably intentional on his part.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Invoked. His Evil Plan 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.
• Villainous Breakdown: After Korra manages to use airbending despite having been debended. He really gets this once he's unmasked, and his "scar" is washed, revealing him for who he really is.
• Villainous Rescue: Rescues Korra from Tarrlok, though he didn't plan on letting her go free after taking down Tarrlok.
• Visionary Villain: Amon's goal truly was equality for all. He just got off message. Way way off message.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: 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, Word of God says Amon was indeed sincere about his goals, which Tarrlok also points out.
• White Mask of Doom: The only known Equalist to have one.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: 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 he didn't take Korra's bending.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: 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.
• World's Strongest Man: 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 Avatar State.
• Would Hit a Girl: He knocks Korra unconscious when he ambushes her.
• Would Hurt a Child: In the finale, he has captured Tenzin and his family and plans on debending them.
• Xanatos Gambit: Pulls one off in "And the Winner Is...". He makes 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.

Hiroshi Sato

"They took away your mother, the love of my life. They've ruined the world. But with Amon, we can fix it and build a perfect world, together."

^{Click here to see Hiroshi after imprisonment}

Voiced by Daniel Dae Kim

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 Mini-Mecha tanks, and bipanes.

---

• Ace Pilot: He can pilot anything he makes, extremely well at that.
• Archnemesis Dad: To Asami.
• The Atoner: 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.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: 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.
• Back for the Dead: After two books of only mentions, Hiroshi gets a redemption arc in Book 4, admitting the shame and guilt that had tarnished his daughter's and company's name. And then, in the finale, he dies. However, because of the circumstances, he chose to die.
• Beard of Sorrow: He's grown one in Book 4 when Asami comes to visit him in prison, suggesting that he's deeply ashamed of his past crimes.
• Berserk Button: 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.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: His true thoughts about Mako and Asami's relationship are downright hateful.
• Boomerang Bigot: 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 Roaring Rampage of Revenge 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.
• Broken Pedestal: Asami's idealized image of her father is shattered once she learns he's with the Equalists.
• Brutal Honesty: 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.
• The Bus Came Back: Hiroshi returns in Book 4, when Asami visits him in prison. The years have not been kind.
• Co-Dragons: With the Lieutenant, both are Amon's right hand men.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: In Book 4, his graying hair causes him to strongly resemble Hayao Miyazaki.
• Cool Old Guy: As a front. By Book 4, years of regret have turned him into one for real.
• Cool Plane: He designed one.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: He supplies the Equalists with weapons on the side, then framed Cabbage Corp for manufacturing them after the Equalists first revealed their electrical weapons.
• Cycle of Revenge: 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.
• The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: 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. In the depths of his hatred, he attempts to kill his own daughter (who has a Strong Family Resemblance to his wife) because she disapproves of his association with the Equalists and chose to act against him.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In response to the death of his wife in a home invasion by the Agni Kai Triad gone wrong, he intends to eradicate the world of all bending.
• Dragon with an Agenda: His main concern while following Amon was to avenge the death of his wife, more than anything.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: He stays behind on the Colossus to finish cutting open a breach in its armor. Kuvira kills him for his efforts, but Hiroshi's sacrifice is what allows the heroes to take the tyrant down for good.
• Enemy Mine: Lin Beifong temporarily released him so that he can help his former enemies against Kuvira. Unfortunately, he doesn't last.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: 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.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For all his faults, his love for Asami is genuine. At least until he gives up on her in the Season 1 finale. 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 give him a chance.
• Evil Old Folks: His choice in life led him here.
• Evil All Along: He sponsored the Fire Ferrets specifically with the intention of diverting suspicion away from him.
• Evil Genius: He is responsible for the Equalists's technological advantage.
• Evil Gloating: Does this to General Iroh when he imprisons him
• Evil Parents Want Good Kids: The reason he kept his involvement with the Equalists secret from Asami. This backfires on him when he tries his We Can Rule Together speech.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: He keeps up his appearance in public. After he's revealed as an Equalist supporter, he gets knocked around inside one of his Mini-Mecha, messing up his hair and knocking off his glasses. The result is far more fitting for his new demeanor.
  • By the time he returns in season 4 his hair has gone completely gray, as fitting his thoroughly broken demeanor.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: He's crushed to death by Kuvira just as he finishes cutting a hole in the Colossus's armor.
• Fantastic Racism: He hates benders. A firebender took his wife, 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. In the fourth book, however, he is nothing but civil to the benders of the main cast when he's called in to help fight Kuvira, though it's unclear if he's completely lost this trope.
• Faux Affably Evil: 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.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He used to be a dirt poor shoe shiner before someone gave him the funds necessary to build the first Satomobiles and found an immense 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.
• Gadgeteer Genius: 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.
• Heel Realization: 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.
• Heel–Face Turn: Despite being willing to kill his only daughter, and unrepentant for his crimes, he later repents, and reconciles with Asami, then makes a Heroic Sacrifice.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Upon realizing his and Asami's Hummingbird can only cut a hole into the Colossus if it stays in place long enough to be destroyed, he ejects Asami from it and stays himself.
• He Who Fights Monsters: 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 kills Asami in his rage. His time in prison manages to give him some perspective on that.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: 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.
• Honest Corporate Executive: Built his company up from a small loan. 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.
• Ignored Epiphany: 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. However, while in jail he has time to reconsider his actions and is able to at least get Asami to speak with him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: His sponsorship for the Fire Ferrets was only a cover for his true motives, as well as his hatred. It is completely averted in season 4, when after spending years in prison, he truly comes to regret what he did.
• Knight of Cerebus: 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.
• Knight Templar: This is how he sees himself as he helps Amon bring in a new world order.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: Both his role as an Equalist supporter and weapons manufacturer and his incarceration are off-handedly mentioned several times in the following season.
• The Lost Lenore: He deeply loved his wife, who was murdered by a firebender.
• Love Makes You Evil: Everything he did was for his daughter Asami and in the name of his wife, or rather, it started that way...
• Mad Scientist: When he wasn't an Honest Corporate Executive.
• Man Behind the Man: 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.
• Mid-Season Twist: When his Equalist associations come out into the open.
• Mini-Mecha: 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.
• Never My Fault: 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.
  • Averted in Book 4 as he says it's his fault for ruining his family and their business
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He is a fantasy equivalent to Henry Ford, with some parallels to Japanese shipping magnate 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 Imperial Japan in World War II.
  • His Book 4 appearnce on the other hand makes him look more like Hayao Miyazaki.
• Offing the Offspring: Was quite willing to go through with this in the depths of his hateful mania. Thankfully, a volley of boulders thwarted him.
• Parental Betrayal: Asami finds out Hiroshi has been supplying the Equalists with weapons and technology. Her response? Willingly accepts the electrical glove that Hiroshi offers... and then promptly shocks him.
• Rags to Riches: His back-story.
• Redemption Equals Death: He forces Asami to eject from their hummingbird mecha so he can finish piercing a hole in the Colossus, despite being crushed in the process.
• Revenge: His main reason for joining the Equalists.
• Revenge Before Reason: He hates benders enough to actually try to kill his own daughter for siding with them.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Double Subverted
• Self-Made Man: 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.
• Shock and Awe: Designed and uses the Equalist chi-blocking lightning gloves.
• Start of Darkness: His wife's murder.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: 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.
• Tragic Bigot: An Agni Kai Gang firebender killed his wife 12 years ago.
• Uncle Pennybags: 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.
• Universal Driver's License: Justified since he designed and likely field tested the Equalist vehicles.
• Villainous Breakdown: He completely loses it when Asami tells him his wife would have condemned his actions in her name.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: 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.
• Villain with Good Publicity: At first, though he's since been exposed.
• Walking Spoiler: Initially, due to how big of a twist his villain status was when Book 1 was still fresh.
• We Can Rule Together: To Asami. It goes badly for him.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: 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.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: 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.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: He tries pulling this in the Season 1 finale, on Asami.
• You Killed My Father: A Triple Triad and firebender murdered his wife. This was his original motive for joining the Equalists and overthrowing the government before his hatred for benders consumed him.

The Lieutenant

"You benders need to understand... there's no place in this world for you anymore."

^{Click here to see the lieutenant unmasked}

Voiced by Lance Henriksen

Amon's second-in-command. Little is known about him, except that he believes quite strongly in the Equalist cause.

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• Alas, Poor Villain: The way he was quite literally thrown aside by Amon generated a lot of fan sympathy for him. Coupled with the fact that he was actually crying.
• Ambiguously Evil: 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 Anti-Villain.
• Ammunition Backpack: Since it's a generator and he wields electrified weapons.
• Awesome Backpack: He carries a power generator on his back to supply power for his weapons.
• Badass Normal: No bending abilities but has the martial arts abilities and modernized weapons to fight and defeat professional benders like Mako and Bolin in battle. And he remains, to date, the only non-bender who's actually taken down a Beifong(Lin) in battle.
• Broken Pedestal: Let's just say that he didn't take learning the truth about Amon well.
• Co-Dragons: With Hiroshi Sato, both are Amon's right hand men.
• The Determinator: Always back up and ready for another fight, no matter how much of a beating he takes.
• Diminishing Villain Threat: 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.
• The Dragon: Amon's primary right hand man, almost always at Amon's side, ready to dispatch or fight any benders that come their way.
• Dual Wielding: Electricfied kali sticks in both hands.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He is just called the Lieutenant, by everyone up to and including Amon. Bolin, however, nicknames him Mustache Guy.
• Evil Sounds Deep: His voice actor, Lance Henriksen, has a very deep voice.
• Glass Cannon: Very agile and deadly in combat. He hits as fast as lightning, and he's very powerful. However, he goes down after one hit.
• Goggles Do Nothing: They don't seem to do very much.
• Good Hair, Evil Hair: He has a Fu Manchu mustache.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: 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.
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: 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.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Starts to shade into this as the Diminishing Villain Threat kicks in. Poor guy can't do anything right.
• Iron Butt-Monkey: No beating really seems to stop him.
• It's Personal: 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.
• Made of Iron: 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.
• Mook–Face Turn: He turns on Amon when he finds out about his bending, though as usual he didn't do that well in the ensuing "fight".
• Noble Top Enforcer: While the Lieutenant comes off as sadistic and cruel, he truly believes in the Equalists' agenda and dedicated his life to it.
• No Name Given: He's just "the Lieutenant".
• No Peripheral Vision: 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.
• Psycho Electro: 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.
• Shock and Awe: Through his electrified kali sticks.
• Spanner in the Works: His "battle" with Amon gave Mako the time to muster up the energy to fire off his lightning.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He actually doesn't look that bad unmasked. Seen here◊.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: 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.
• The Worf Effect: 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.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Amon tries this after he walks in at a very inconvenient time. Word of God is that he survived, however.

The Chi-blockers

The foot-soldiers of the Equalist cause, trained in chi-blocking to nullify the powers of benders.

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• Airplane Arms: They use the further back, ninja-like variation.
• Badass Army: Badass Normal Gas Mask Mooks trained specifically in a Pressure Point-striking fighting method designed to temporarily disarm and disable the wielders of Elemental Powers. 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.
• Badass Biker: The chi blockers are excellent motorcyclists.
• Badass Normal: They completely dominate Korra and Mako in their first fight, due to clever use of their gadgets and their martial arts.
• Combat Pragmatist: They take any advantage they can get. Aside from their grenades, they use bolas, tripwires, whips, and do not obey Mook Chivalry, for the most part.
• Elite Mooks: They're an army of them. Even just a few of them can put up a hell of a fight against very powerful benders.
• Enemy Mine: 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.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Their figures show that more than a few are 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.
• Gas Mask Mooks: Since they use gas grenades, this is a necessary aspect of their outfit. Also helps when being knocked down by airbending.
• Kick the Dog: Electrocuting Shiro Shinobi, the announcer, who is a non-bender and wasn't fighting back.
  • Using bolas and attacking the non-bender communication-staff at the police station.
• Kung Fu-Proof Mook: The Equalists' Mini-Mecha are made from platinum, metal so pure metalbenders are incapable of manipulating it.
• Mage Killer: Their combat training specifically targets benders.
• Mini-Mecha: Their platinum mech-tanks.
• Mook Chivalry: 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.
• The Paralyzer: Their blows cause temporary (and apparently painful) paralysis in addition to serving as a...
• Power Nullifier: Even after the paralysis wears off, a chi-blocker's strike will render their target temporarily unable to bend.
• Pressure Point: The centerpiece of their fighting style, featuring extremely rapid strikes.
• Samus Is a Girl: A minor variation; some of the chi-blockers are clearly women, but you have to be paying attention.
• Shock and Awe: 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 Mini-Mecha have built in tasers and can fire bola disks which shock the recipient unconscious. This same weapon is used by hand occasionally.
• Smoke Out: They use grenades that release a greenish, slightly unpleasant gas to dissuade pursuers.
• The Voiceless: 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.
• The Worf Effect: 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.
• Zerg Rush: 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.

The Protester

Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui

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

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• Attention Whore: 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.
• Back for the Finale: He appears in the first episode or two, then disappears. He comes back in a brief scene later.
• Big "WHAT?!": He lets one out in the finale when Amon outs himself as being a waterbender.
• Bullying a Dragon: Invoked. He deliberately insults any benders that come by, because goading them into attacking him would prove his point.
• Hot Blooded Sideburns: Which also point to Fire Nation parentage.
• No Name Given: He's just "the protester".
• Playing the Victim Card: 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.

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.

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• Butt-Monkey: 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.
• Mob War: They are constantly in this, as Skoochy pointed out.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: 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.
• Goldfish Poop Gang: The Triple Threat Triad is this, mostly serving as recurring side villains. They usually pale in comparison to the Big Bad(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. By Turf Wars, they've finally risen above this status, and they along with their rival gangs are treated as serious threats.
• Psychos For Hire: On a regular basis, they extort people for their money. Of course, they can take tasks for hire as well.
• Status Quo Is God: No matter how many times they are imprisoned, they'll end up being out of prison the next time they are seen or heard.
• The Triads and the Tongs: A combination of this and the stereotypical 1920s American gangster.

Yakone

Characters Avatar The Last Airbender Southern Water Tribe

Lightning Bolt Zolt

Voiced by: Kevin Michael Richardson

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.

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• Anti-Villain: If the Republic City Hustle shorts are anything to go by, he's seemingly a Noble Demon. Of course, he's still a murderous crime lord.
• Asshole Victim: 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.
• De-power: Stripped of his bending by Amon, the first example of his power.
• The Don: Formerly.
• Evil Mentor: According to supplementary materials, he taught Mako how to bend and redirect lightning.
• Kill It with Fire / Shock and Awe: He's a skilled firebender and lightningbender, hence the nickname.
• Noble Demon: 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.
• Put on a Bus: 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.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child: In the Republic City Hustle short he tells Shin not to fight Mako and Bolin, stating that fighting children is "undignified".

Viper

Voiced by: Michael Yurchak

A Water-bending member of the Triple Threat Triad

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• Authority Equals Asskicking: 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.
• Badass Longcoat: A grey one.
• Beard of Evil: Has a small beard.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Was one of the gangsters Korra beat up in her first episode.
• Dragon Ascendant: Since Zolt lost his bending; Viper has either taken over, or leads a section of the Triple-Threats.
• Faux Affably Evil: All of his dialogue is polite, and delivered in a sleezy mocking tone.
• An Ice Person/Making a Splash: Like all water-benders.
• Jerkass: Slimy and smug through and through.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: 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.
• Shame If Something Happened: His debut had him threaten a business.
• Smug Snake: He's smug and contemptuous, it's what makes him over-confident.
• Underestimating Badassery: Justified. He didn't know Korra was the Avatar at the time before getting his ass handed to him.

Shady Shin

Voiced by: Fisher Stevens

A Waterbending member of the Triple Threat Triad.

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• Asshole Victim: Amon depowered him and Zolt to prove his abilities. He made it seem like Pay Evil unto Evil, but he did it because they were benders not because they were bad people, though he used that fact to gain more followers.
• Beard of Evil: He has a small brown beard, and he considers shaving it for a date he has.
• De-power: After Amon debends him; as a bribe, Mako lies and offers to have Korra give it back.
• The Dragon: He may have been it to Zolt, and he seems to be it for Viper.
• Evil Mentor: To Bolin, sort of. He taught him a "fast-paced, street version" of Pai Sho.
• Graceful Loser: 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.
• Making a Splash/An Ice Person: Formerly.
• Meaningful Name: He's a shady figure who's offer of "legitimate" work should be taken with a grain of salt.
• Not-So-Badass Longcoat: He wears a blue coat, not as long as Viper's, but he was depowered before we saw him demonstrate any combat feats.
• Would Hurt a Child: 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.

Two Toed Ping

Voiced by: Richard Epcar

A fire-bending member of the Triple Threat Triad.

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• Affably Evil: Very polite and happily strikes up a conversation with the heroes even when pulling the wool over Mako and Asami's eyes.
• Agony of the Feet: 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.
• Bullying a Dragon: 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.
• Butt-Monkey: Is often beaten in hilarious ways.
• Chekhov's Gunman: He was one of the three gangsters who Korra first encountered in Republic city.
• Four-Fingered Hands: Inverted toe variant, he has 12 toes.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a scar over his left eye.
• Meaningful Name: He has two extra toes. He would have gone with "Twelve-toed" but another gangster claimed that nickname.
• Motor Mouth: 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.
• Nice Guy: For a gangster anyway.
• One-Steve Limit: He wanted to be called "Twelve-Toed Ping", but some other guy already had the nickname.
• Playing with Fire: Like all firebenders.
• Scarf of Asskicking: A small red one.
• Shame If Something Happened: His debut has him firebend a phonograph to show what they could do to a business.
• You All Look Familiar: He's the basis for the every firebending member of the Triple Threat Triads in the game.

Tokuga

The new leader of the Triple Threat Triads after Kuvira's attack on Republic City.

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• Badass Normal: He isn't a bender, just good with swords, knives, and has chi-blocking training. He still managed to depose Viper and take over the Triple Threats.
• Big Bad: He spends all of one fight scene working for Keum, then takes over his operation as retribution for Keum's ill-planned attempt to get the airbenders away from the portal..
• Body Horror: Thanks to brief contact with a spirit, Tokuga's face is part fish and his right arm has turned into a tentacle.
• Dual Wielding: He fights with a pair of hook swords.
• It's Personal: Blames Korra for his transformation into a spirit hybrid, assuming she deliberately called the spirits and ordered them to attack him.
• Smoke Out: He carries smoke grenades on him in case he needs a quick distraction.
• Two-Faced: He gets this inflicted on him by an angry spirit, with the right half becoming fish-like.

Corporations

Varrick Global Industries

Characters Avatar The Last Airbender Varrick Industries

Future Industries

A corporation owned by the Sato family. For Asami see The Legend of Korra - New Team Avatar, for Hiroshi see Equalists above.

Cabbage Corporation

A corporation founded by the Cabbage Merchant.

• Frame-Up: Hiroshi Sato supplies the Equalists with weapons on the side, then framed Cabbage Corp by leaving electrical weapons in one of their warehouses.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: The Legend of Korra reveals that he and his family go on to build a large corporation that makes automobiles, among other things.
• Yank the Dog's Chain:
  • Said corporation is shut down after it is wrongfully accused of providing the Equalists with weaponry. Even after death, the poor guy just can't catch a break. Well after that, his company is back and running.
  • And then we learn that Cabbage Corp's products are pretty much crap compared to the things put out by their rivals at Future Industries. However, the poor quality of their products is partially the CEO's fault due to him focusing on making more money and putting too much emphasis on "cheap" alternatives.

Wonyong Keum

A businessman trying to profit off the new spirit portal. When Avatar Korra interferes, he gets involved with the Triple Threat Triads in an attempt to get his way.

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• Bullying a Dragon: Persists in his plans to make money off the spirit portal even though the airbenders, the Avatar, and even the spirits make it abundantly clear it won't be tolerated.
• Demoted to Dragon: He's the driving force behind the first part of Turf Wars, but Tokuga takes over his operations after being mutated by a spirit.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Hires an extremely dangerous criminal to clear the airbenders away from the portal, which he knows is under the protection of the spirits' and the Avatar's. Tokuga comes back mutated and very angry, and proceeds to take over Keum's whole operation.
• Jerkass: Tries to bully the airbenders away from the spirit portal and thinks he can order Korra around. When that fails, he hires the Triple Threats to do it for him.