These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
When a promotional poster distributed at ComicCon 2011 featured Korra with an Earthbender boy and a Firebender boy, Ho Yay Shipping began immediately. Later, during the panel for the show, it was revealed that the boys were siblings, and everyone not into Incest Yay Shipping jumped ship.
When all that was known about Meelo was that there was a character with his name, people thought he might be Korra's Love Interest. When he turned out to be a toddler, that thought died out completely.
Tenzin and Korra. They were the first two named characters and were paired up almost immediately in a Mentor Ship, until it was found out that Tenzin was a married man in his fifties with three kids. Not to mention Korra is the reincarnation of his father, adding a Parental Incest vibe to the pairing.
This happened over the course to Mako and Asami. Though ironically it was because of the fandom's ever growing distaste for Mako.
The same reason can be applied to all Mako ships.
And Amon/Tarrlok had a brief bit of Foe Yay popularity before the reveal that they're brothers meaning that anyone who didn't like shipping brother/brother incest jumped ship.
Mako: He is a stoic and a focused athlete determined to win the prize money and protect his little brother at any cost. On the other hand, Fandom!Mako is an emotional crybaby tormented by his own good looks, obsessed with his beloved scarf, plagued by his raging Tsundere crush on Korra, and permanently tortured by the very thought of his worst enemy, Hasook.
Amon.
Due to his backstory, his charismatic personality and honorable behavior towards opponents who put up a good fight, he is seen as everything, from a Knight TemplarAnti-Villain, over a power hungry Charlatan taking advantage of oppression to an abused child lashing out at all bending for the actions of his abusive father.
On top of Amon de-bending the Avatar and making a living martyr out of her, the revelation that Korra is also the niece of the Northern Water Tribe's chieftain makes Amon's planned world revolution seem likely to be crushed by a massive counterattack. Insane it might well have been, given his backstory, potentially making the Equalist revolution history's grandest example of Suicide by Cop.
Upon seeing how the government of Republic City actually operates, with a ruling council based on the five extant nations tribes, the entire city is turning into this. Is the government of the city really so callously favoring benders? Does Republic City even have home rule?
Some Tahno fans wonder how much of his taunting was him being a Jerk Ass and how much was just, well, taunting opponents before a sports competition.
It was after the fandom mused on the difference between Aang—as a possible mentor for Korra in achieving the Avatar State—and Korra herself, that the realization that Roku and Kyoshi note the latter being one of the few Avatars to tell Aang flat-out to opt for killing, and considers what she did to her enemies such might've had ideological differences dawned, and now fandom interpretation of her penchant towards violence tends to be taken Up to Eleven.
Is the Republic City council corrupt and biased or are they just in extreme stress from the Equalist Revolt and bending crimes?
Did Yakone really love his wife, or was he a Manipulative Bastard through and through?
Anticlimax Boss: Just as the conflict between Korra and Tarrlok breaks out into actual conflict to the point where Tarrlok crosses the Moral Event Horizon, proves to be a bloodbender with superior skill to Korra, then attacks and kidnaps her, he is captured and de-bended by Amon. This event turns out to be foreshadowing as Amon appears barely affected by Tarrlok's bloodbending. As it turns out, they've done this before.
The Love Triangle story arc itself. By extension, Asami turned into this as she was the initial complication to a Mako and Korra hookup, though this calmed down as the series progressed and it became far more clear that Asami wasn't going to turn out to be a villain for no reason. This led to Mako getting the brunt of hate due to his feelings for Korra while still in a relationship with Asami. For some, the said relationship did not appear to be resolved by the end of the first season, though he and Korra still confessed to each other and kissed as the happy ending. Which only made the Mako/Korra flame wars even hotter.Fans have sent voice actor David Faustino hate-mail on Twitter, and the producers had to warn fans attending Comic-Con to be civil.
Figuring out how to spell Amon's real name.
Broken Base: The Book One finale split the fanbase in half, between those who loved it and can't wait for Book Two and those who were severely disappointed enough to not want to see Book Two. As the previous series had a series finale with much the same reaction, it would seem to be a series tradition.
Contested Sequel: After just Book One has finished, fans are already disputing over how it compares to its predecessor.
Counterpart Comparison: It's been noted that Amon is quite similar to the Nolanverse version of Bane. Both are masked masterminds of Knight Templar organizations that attack a city filled with crime, and much of their quotes are similar. Compare Amon's "I am the solution" to Bane's "I'm Gotham's reckoning". Also, both characters invade a sports stadium and give an intimidating speech.
There's also Howrra: Korra x Howl (Hot Order of the White Lotus Guard). Said guard gets about two seconds of screen time, but the ship still has a pretty devoted following.
A growing number of fans ship Jinora having a one-sided Precocious Crush on Mako or Bolin.
Jinora and Skoochy are this as well as a Toy Ship.
Dokorra (Korra x The Doorman from "The Revelation") is notable for having been started by Bill Rinaldi, the show's production/martial arts coordinator and the inspiration for the Doorman's design.
Crosses the Line Twice: Right after Bolin literally loses his noodles in "The Spirit of Competition", Shiro Shinobi announces an advertisement for noodles.
Pema's also gotten some heat because, apparently, one is a "homewrecking whore" for being married to and having children with a person who used to date another character in the past, in the backstory. Some fans have even accused her of performing some sort of massive moral wrong for confessing her feelings even though this, and changing relationships, happens in real life frequently. This actually started for a few people with blaming her for Korra forcing a kiss on Mako, even though this was Korra's own misinterpretation of her advice, badly worded or not, and still ultimately Korra's own responsibility.
Perhaps the biggest recipient, though, is Mako for folks who ship Korra with, well, anyone else. Given the psychotic shipping wars surrounding the series, the main character's primary (and victorious) Love Interest was never going to have a fun time of it, but after his insensitivity regarding the horribly messy Love Triangle between him, Korra, and Asami, he became Shipfic Enemy No.1.
While Tahno eventually became sympathetic, the fandom already got him a pair of leather pants when he was at his Jerk Ass prime. And then there's Amon. When the fandom isn't Rooting for the Empire, they're swooning over him for otherreasons.
Also, the fact that Amon/Noatak had a horrible childhood does not excuse how he and by extension, Tarrlok treated others. The fandom promptly forgot horrible stuff like the attack on the whole Republic City, his depowering of Lin (that looked like an execution), him being willing to de-bend children who had done nothing wrong, and Tarrlok imposing indefinite detention upon the city's non-benders, among others, to swoon and/or cry all over them. Because Amon being beautiful all along and having a (admittedly real bad) backstory totally excuses his actions. And Tarrlok's heroic sacrifice does help alleviate things, but it doesn't erase it all either.
Plenty, mainly concerning how Aang ultimately bit the dust and whether any other members of the old cast might still be alive.
Another example: who the hell is Lin's father?
Amon is an Epileptic Woodsman. No other character in the entire Avatar canon has incited so much theorizing. His entry on the series' WMG page has probably the most compelling AND outlandish theories on the series so far.
Fandom Berserk Button: Like its predecessor, you would do well to not call this show an anime.
Fandom Rivalry: A small but enduring conflict with fans of James Cameron's Avatar, which is resented for monopolizing the word at the expense of The Legend of Korra's U.S. title.
Mako/Korra was this in regards to Mako/Asami, but when Mako/Korra actually became canon, Bolin/Korra had a huge rise in Fan Preferred Couple status, mainly due to Mako's Base Breaker actions.
Korra/Asami recently won fan-favourite pairing on an unofficial poll. Korrasami fans recently started a petition to demand the writing staff make it canon.
Iroh/Bolin quickly became a huge pairing, especially for those who felt that Bolin got snubbed in the romance department. The most popular Iroh/Bolin blog on Tumblr gained over 700 followers a mere three weeks after the Book One finale. It quickly became the series' most popular HoYay Pairing, perhaps next to Amon/Lieutenant.
In The Revelation, when Amon removes the bending of the members of the Triads, he does it differently than Aang did, first touching the back of the neck and then the forehead. What's one of the chakras on the back of the neck called? The amon.
Korra's odd-looking method of swimming underwater? It's the fastest and most energy-efficient method of underwater propulsion possible for a human.
Girl Show Ghetto: Much attention was paid to averting this, with a creator interview noting that while Nickelodeon execs were gun shy at the prospect of Korra as a lead, a test-audience of boys "thought she was awesome."
God Never Said That: Despite the quote from Andrea Romano being that the original cast might as well be dead, for all of the impact they'll have on the plot, numerous people still insist she declared the entire cast to be dead and gone, accusing her of being mistaken or lying when it was proved otherwise.
Before the series aired, some fans called it Batman meets Avatar. Then in the third episode, Mako reveals that he witnessed his parents being murdered by a mugger, similar to Bruce Wayne's backstory. He was even eight, the average age most writers use for Bruce.
Hiroshi Sato saying to Mako: "So, I understand you're dirt poor." The Brutal Honesty is played for laughs at first, but "The Aftermath" reveals that Sato actually does hate Mako. It's especially harsh considering that Mako is a Firebender, and Sato lost his wife to a Firebender.
When Bolin at first thought that Tarrlok was a possible suitor for Korra, this moment was played for laughs when he at first offered to protect Korra but then went "oh, I like that better!" after realizing that Tarrlok was just an adult trying to get Korra on his task force. The rape-y overtones of Tarrlok bloodbending Korra, though, indicate that perhaps Bolin really did need to teach him a lesson.
Ikki's Death Glare at Tarrlok after noting his weirdness takes new light after Episode 8 when Tarrlok goes into outright villainy.
There were (and are) fans who believe Asami is associated with the Equalists. Then in Episode 8, Tarrlok tragically exploits her Non-Bender status (and her father's Equalist status) to accuse and arrest her.
In Episode 1 Lin basically wanted Korra out of Republic City for her destructive behavior. Then it actually happens in Episode 8.
Due to Episodes 8 and 9, many saw Tarrlok as worse than Amon and cheered for Amon to Kick the Son of a Bitch and take Tarrlok's bending away. Then in Episode 11 we learn that the two are brothers, and that Amon/Noatok is probably the worse of the two.
One of the many puns with Amon's name made is "Amon a boat". Now look at his fate.
"And the Winner Is..." premiered in Canada on Saturday, July 21, the day after the Colorado Batman shootings. Watching a place of public entertainment for the masses getting assaulted, hearing people screaming in terror, becomes much more jarring than it simply happening on a Saturday morning cartoon in light of what just happened.
Remember back in "The Spirit of Competition", the love story that Jinora told Korra about ended with the main character committing suicide by jumping into a volcano. Now look at "Endgame", Korra is looking out at the edge of a tundra, dangerously close to jumping and committing suicide. Granted, she doesn't go through with it, but still.
"And the Winner Is..." also feels uncomfortable to watch just after the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
Hate Dumb: Some of the most rabid Mako haters have harassed David Faustino, his VA, on Twitter, using it to say just how much they hate him. It is unclear if they mean Mako, or David himself, or both.
He's Just Hiding: Despite being clearly shown to be in the middle of a large explosion, some fans are still convinced Amon and Tarrlok managed to survive. Word of god confirmed the death at a Comic-con panel held the same day as the finale.
How I Became Yours was ridiculed, amongmanythings, for depicting bloodbending without the Full Moon. Yakone, Tarrlok, and Amon all possess the ability to bloodbend without the full moon.
Not to mention that, in the end, the Firebender ended up choosing the Waterbender over his Badass Normal love interest (who rebels against the villains near the end).
In "Welcome to Republic City" Chief Beifong's "Eye Am Watching You gesture" is already funny. But instead of using her index finger and middle finger as most people do, she makes the gesture with her index finger and pinkie finger extended, and her middle fingers pressed against her palm - they same hand position Spider-Man uses to activate his web-shooters. Guess who's line-swinging acrobatics Lin goes on to emulate in "And The Winner Is..."?
Also the popular fan idea that the family-killing firebender is actually a waterbender named A. Firebender. Now think about the reveals in the Book One finale.
Another fan idea was that Bolin would become a cop. As of this year's comic con, Mako's a cop.
All the "Korra is Batman" jokes became a bit funnier when The Dark Knight Rises came out and the obvious similarities with the plot of Korra season 1 became apparent [1].
A really minor one. In "And The Winner Is", the sponsor on the radio says that they were provided by Cabbage Corp and called them "The most trusted technological company in Republic City". Once the next episode rolls around on Sato's true alignment and the statement is pretty much true.
When Tarrlok demonstrates bloodbending to Amon in "Out of the Past", he says he's "never faced bending like mine". Well, he has; in fact, he is one of those benders!
Holy Shit Quotient: Practically every episode since Episode 6. Episode 6 ended with a terrorist attack, Episode 7 ended with the reveal of the platinum Mini Mecha and the outing of Hiroshi Sato as an Equalist, Episode 8 ended with the reveal of bloodbending still in the series, and Tarrlok being able to bloodbend; Episode 9 ended with Tarrlok getting his bloodbending removed, but Episode 10 really takes the cake. It involved Equalists attacking the city, attacking Air Temple Island, Lin Beifong getting her bending removed after saving Tenzin's family and taking down an entire airship by herself, and just when you thought it couldn't get any better, General Iroh II shows up at the end of the episode. Just how much better could it get? The finale will probably be phenomenal. It was. Tarrlok's murder-suicide was the icing on the cake.
The SDCC revelation that Mako and Bolin were siblings did not dissuade some fans from shipping them.
After the finale, Tarrlok and Noatak started getting shipped as well.
Internet Backdraft: Go to any forum or comment thread and make this observation: "Character A/Character B is the new Zutara!" It doesn't even matter which two characters you use, an argument will inevitably follow.
Tahno. He just looks so sad and hopeless in episode seven after his bending was taken away in episode six and that there is nothing anyone can do about it. It almost makes up for his douchey behavior from before.
Tarrlok is now one too. Beneath his exterior of a manipulative jerk, he was broken as the result of an abusive childhood, forced to bloodbend even though he didn't like inflicting pain on the animals who were on the receiving end, and witnessed his brother's start of darkness. He used to be a sweet kid.
Korra has been shipped with Mako, Bolin, Amon, Lin Beifong, Asami, that one Order of the White Lotus guard at the beginning who only had ten seconds of screentime, and the Moon.
General Iroh II as well both literally and in the romantic sense.
Lin Beifong is depowered by Amon. That's practically screaming for a reset button of some kind. Similarly, Amon doing the same to Korra in the Book One finale. Both are fixed by the end of Book One.
Amon catches and threatens to de-bend Tenzin and his kids. Because the airbenders are the last of their kind and because the airbending kids are, well, kids, it would have been more surprising if it actually happened.
Magnificent Bastard: Amon. He lets Korra escape his meeting, knowing she's the perfect one to spread the message of his power. He refuses to take away her bending because that would just make her a martyr. And his greatest achievement is sending a threat to city hall to shut down the championship, knowing damn well they wouldn't listen. He then had his equalists sneak in right past the security guards by hiding their equipment and the bombs in their popcorn. And in the finale we find out that he puts really convincing makeup under his mask to look like a massive scar, just in case anyone called him a liar.
Shiro Shinobi has garnered this title by standing his ground during an Equalist attack, continuing to report what's going on in the exact same tone. He also used to report on bending criminals.
Lin Beifong. Like mother, like daughter. She was a fan favorite from the start. What really sealed the deal was when Amon attacked the stadium and, well, awesomeness ensued. Her heroic sacrifice has only further fueled this and ironically has also fueled her mother's memetic badassery.
Amon. Way before the series began airing, he was already considered awesome, and the fact that he's shrugged off such major issues as lightning, explosions, and even bloodbending powerful enough to cripple the Avatar just shows how much balls he has.
Howl (Hot Order of the White Lotus guard) has had mere seconds of screen time and no lines, yet has gained quite the fan base. He's even been shipped with Korra.
Also "Mako's Only Fan," the man who tries to say hi to Mako in Episode 5 and gets ignored. "Hey, Makooo...."
Korra, to an almost unbelievable level. Straight girls and gay guys galore have proclaimed themselves willing to cross the street for her, and many fans proudly identify as "Korrasexual". In fact, it's almost impossible to find a fan that doesn't consider Korra one of these. And it just gets more feverish and insane with every new piece of info. It helps that she's launched a ton of ships.
Iroh II, almost immediately being shipped with everyone, alongside being voiced by Dante Basco, and being very handsome. Fans haven't exactly had a hard time warming up to him either.
Tenzin. People speculate about how good he must be to father four children in ten years and have Lin not get over him after all that time.
When we finally gets to see his face, Noatak. Tumblr is head over heels for this handsome man and his sideburns.
Mentor Ship: As the first named characters, Korra and Tenzin were paired sight unseen. Though piecemeal revelations about Tenzin's age and family life caused many to abandon the pairing, it still has it fans.
The crime lord of the Republic City, Yakone crosses this when he bloodbends the entire courtroom. If it's not the act itself, it's the sadistic glee he takes in it. And if he hadn't crossed it then, well, he definitely skipped across it in the flashback that came with the finale showing how he turned his own sons into his personal bloodbending instruments of revenge and power, and even had them bloodbend each other as a part of that training.
Amon and the Equalists launch a full scale assault on Republic City, capturing the entire council save Tenzin, bombing the streets, gassing Police HQ, trying to wipe out the only airbenders left, and ending with Amon depowering Lin Beifong.
Amon definitely crossed it in the finale if he hadn't already done so. The last element of his humanity goes out the window when we find out he had no qualms about debending his own brother to further his plans. And then he attempts to debend Tenzin's children. And then he (quite literally) tosses the Lieutenant, his most loyal follower, aside with no remorse when the Lieutenant finds out Amon's a bender.
Hiroshi Sato goes flying over the MEH when he abandons the only family connection that still made him somewhat sympathetic and tries to kill his own daughter, reasoning that "she can't be saved" because of her sympathy for benders.
People's loved ones getting killed by firebenders in their backstories. The first time (Mako and Bolin's parents) was irony, the second time (allegedly Amon's family) was tragedy, and the third time (Sato's wife) was comedy. This gets a bit more tolerable when it turns out Amon's story is a lie.
Mako and Bolin's parents' death was Narm itself since it was done by a firebending mugger in the streets, right infront of eight-year old Mako. Now what does that remind you of?
One inherited from the first series - the term "Bender" gets thrown around a lot in this franchise, and if you are familiar at all with British slang, then it becomes very narmful. It's a derogatory British term for homosexuals.
Which is also the reason why Avatar: The Last Airbender was renamed Avatar: The Legend of Aang in the UK.
Amon bloodbending the wolves in his backstory ended up looking rather silly. At least until you look at their eyes.
One-Scene Wonder: Bumi stands on the top of a ship and shouts: "Whoo-hoo!" It lasts approximately two seconds, but on the basis of this, he's an instant Ensemble Darkhorse.
Cabbage Corporation, an automobile company that was founded by the fan-favorite Cabbage Merchant from the last series. As the owner is arrested and dragged away in one episode, he even yells "No! Not my Cabbage Corp!" much like his predecessor's "My cabbages!" whenever his cart was destroyed. They're even voiced by the same actor.
General Iroh skirts this due to having Zuko's voice actor, being Zuko's grandson, and bearing the name of his great-great uncle, an extremely popular character from the previous series. However, he's actually far more important to the finale's plot progression than just the fanservicey side of it.
Paranoia Fuel: Right before the terrorist attack in Episode 6, you see a bunch of random members of the arena's audience slowly and silently starting to reach into popcorn bags to pull out masks, bombs and/or electricity devices for the attack.
Periphery Demographic: Large and healthy. To put it in perspective, the 1-hour series premiere had a 1.01 million adults 18-49 rating out of its 4.5 million viewers, and another episode had almost 4.1 million total and a 1.13 adults 18-49 rating. One A18-49 ratings point is equal to about 1.28 million people, so "young" adults comprise about a third of the viewing audience.
Portmanteau Couple Name: It's Avatar. There are a million and one, and that's not even counting the crackships.
The creators themselves trolled the fanbase via Tumblr by suggesting the couple names were wrong, and it should instead be Koko, Kolin, and Mami for the current core couples.
Promoted Fanboy: In a way. Mike and Bryan are huge fans of Cowboy Bebop and have cited the influence it had on their work numerous times, in addition to including multiple references to it in Avatar The Last Airbender. Now they get to work with Steve Blum himself, playing the Big Bad Amon. It's not unreasonable to guess something like this◊ happened.
For those who hated on Asami for creating conflict in the Makorra triangle, Asami's character growth in "The Aftermath" and in the finale skyrocketed her popularity.
The finale had a lot of fans pull a 180 on Tarrlok. He went from one of the most despised characters in the show to a Woobieonce we learned his back-story. Taking Amon out in a tragic and shockingly dark murder-suicide only helped.
Or, more appropriately, "Asami the Equalist". Some fans kept this up even when episode 7 of the only 12-episode Equalists story arc proves the exact opposite and the final episode of Book 1 only reaffirmed this as she openly defied the wishes of her father, who was an Equalist, to join him and attacked him instead. In the final episode, she beat the crap out of him and destroyed significant portions of his army.. She was even a popular suspect for Amon's identity for a while, though this was largely cleared up after events of "Out of the Past" made it impossible by showing them in two separate places.
Poor Pema just can't catch a break, what with "stealing" Tenzin from Lin. According to the fandom, she's an Equalist spy solely for this; nevermind the fact that her own children are airbenders, and nothing suggests that she's such a monster. Some people have gone as far as saying she hates her children, just because she expressed desire of having a non-bender like her.
Mako, who according to some of the more extreme fan perceptions isn't just a cheating cheater who cheats with whatever girl crosses his field of vision, but is also a budding abusive boyfriend.
Rooting for the Empire: Some fans support the Equalists stripping all benders of their abilities as the only way to put all people on a level playing field and end the oppression of non-benders, even if the benders themselves don't consent to the procedure (Related material like nick.com's Are You A Bender or an Equalist? quiz actively exploits the phenomenon). Debates on whether or not bending is an intrinsic part of a person and the show's civilization/culture, and if what the Equalists are attempting is a fantastical form of mutilation or not, can get quite heated.
Mako, for the portion who do not approve of his behavior and his lack of tact handling his romantic situation with Korra and Asami, as well as those who disapprove of his perceived lack of personality (beyond romantic tactlessness). It's gotten as far as him being blasted more than the actual antagonists and there's been daunting wishes for him to die, be written out, or remain alone for life as an outcome. Interestingly (and perhaps unsurprisingly), as Asami's popularity went up, his went down. His Scrappy status skyrocketed after the finale when he breaks free of Amon's bloodbending (the first one to do so) and finally hooked up with Korra when, for some, it wasn't actually clear that he'd broken up with Asami. While not everyone sees him this way, to say the man is polarizing is an understatement. The anger did not cease when it was learned that he's going to be on the police force in Book Two, as opposed to Bolin, who was a popular metalbender police candidate for fans.
Some supporters of Korra/Mako also pair Bolin/Asami and vice versa. And those who ship Korra/Bolin are likely to ship Mako/Asami. If two of these four characters are being shipped together, then chances are the other two form a second pairing as well.
Bolin/Korra and Asami/Iroh II have become shipmates for people who want to keep Mako out of the pairings all together.
Fans who ship Korra/Tahno also usually keep Mako with Asami, and Bolin usually just keeps his status as The Charmer.
Advance press revealed Korra's mentor Tenzin as Aang and Katara's son, canonically quashing persistant fan theories that Official Couple Katara and Aang's relationship dissolved in the timeframe between series.
The reveal that Tenzin and Lin used to date put a dent in Tokka shipping, and killed off the popular theory that Sokka was Lin's father. Even leaving aside the potential squick factor, first-cousins dating doesn't fly on American television.
Some rabid Zutara shippers resumed where the previous series left off well in advance of airing, with new conflicts actually touched off by the Ship Sinking above. Now that Nick.com revealed that Zuko's still alive, you can bet old!Zutara shipping will be in full force.
Mako/Korra and Bolin/Korra factions rapidly developed and began tearing into each other despite the lack of character descriptions. All the fandom needs are names and faces to launch a thousand battleships. And for worse, lots of shippers for both factions fall on creepy Unfortunate Implications about either of the brothers "deserving" Korra's affections for this or that reason.
Mako/Korra found a new rival in Tahno/Korra, despite the fact that at the time Tahno had only spoken three words: "Go for it." That was all it took for some shippers to go crazy.
And of course, canon had to start in on it by introducing Asami and allowing Mako to have a relationship with her that got complicated. The level of combat is best illustrated by a fan of Bill Rinaldi's tumblr.
There's a surprising amount of Jinora/Skoochy fic. One is Tenzin's Cute Bookworm airbender daughter and the other's a street rat who trades information for money, and naturally they've never met; they just happen to be the only introduced characters in their age group.
Two lines into his character, before he even met any of the other major characters, General Iroh II/'insert character here' ships started picking up steam, and quickly.
Since he was introduced at the Book Two preview at SDCC, Verick has already started to be paired with Bolin, solely on the grounds that it was revealed that they had some sort of relationship. We don't even know what his personality is yet, beyond that he's kind of a playboy.
Signature Scene: Several. Korra's introductory scene in "A Leaf In The Wind", Amon's terrorist attack on the pro-bending arena in "And The Winner Is...", the first appearance of the BioShock-esque mechas in "The Aftermath", Amon's various de-bending scenes throughout the series, but none more so in "The Revelation" and his de-bending attempt on Tenzin and his family as well as Lin's de-bending in "Out Of The Past, and Amon and Tarrlok's suicide bombing in "The Endgame".
In "Turning the Tides" The Mech suits move slowly and awkwardly. A stark contrast from their other appearances.
"The Aftermath" has a scene during the race where if you look closely, the CG models for the characters look atrociously Off Model (Asami especially) and the opposing driver isn't even touching the steering wheel. The fact the sequence is otherwise well-done makes it all the more jarring.
Strangled by the Red String: Mako and Korra's promotion to Official Couple in the Book 1 finale. Rabid shipping aside, the Love Triangles between Mako, Korra, Bolin, and Asami felt rushed and underdeveloped to some, with complications resulting from and reasons for their attraction glossed over, told instead of shown, or quickly buried. The ambiguity of whether Mako and Asami broke up during Book One and whether or not Bolin was over Korra didn't help matters. With three more Books to set things aright, however, whether this applies in the long run or not is still up in the air.
When the series was initially announced, some were upset that it featured a Time Skip, and thus wasn't an immediate continuation of Avatar: The Last Airbender
After the show ran, some old ATLA fans came out to complain of how much this series isn't like the old show and therefore sucks. Despite Mike and Bryan hinting several times that they wanted to create something different from ATLA.
Ugly Cute: Meelo. A direct quote from SDCC: "Strangely though, the more ugly he was the cuter he became." In fact, Meelo was originally going to be a good-looking cute kid, but the team fell in love with Ryu Ki-Hyun's uglier designs.
Viewer Gender Confusion: Many fans were surprised to learn that the Council page (the person that delivered all those gifts from Tarrlok and outted Tarrlok as a bloodbender) is actually a man.
What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: Amon's political agenda (There are people with special abilities who control society, using their powers to abuse and oppress those who don't have them, so this ability should be removed from the world) lends itself well to a whole host of issues, and class warfare in particular. Maybe it's about Capitalism, or Ethnic Minorities, or Apartheid, or Civil Rights, or Disarmament ('Gun Control'). Or maybe it's just a Space Whale Aesop.
Korra has gotten heat, bashing and shaming for daring to angst and cry when she feels she can't live up toAang's awesome legacy, and especially for crying and maybe even considering suicide (for some) when Katara couldn't restore her bending in the Grand Finale. Screams of "sexism" and "misogyny" were heard from "fandom feminists" everywhere.
The fandom only started to lighten up in the Asami hate when she showed herself as an Action GirlBadass Normal. And yet the moment she shows human reactions to the Love Triangle business, some people are quick to accuse her of being "nothing but Mako's Clingy Jealous Girl" (Despite how she mostly defies the CJG trope.)
Bolin. He lost his parents when he was six, and had to live on streets with Mako. In the series proper, he gets kidnapped and nearly loses his bending powers while trying to help his brother with earning money, gets electrocuted during his rescue, and can't sleep well for a week afterwards. Then, in episode 5, he gets emotionally crushed by two of the people closest to him, after which, in the course of a single match, he gets hit in the stomach hard enough to make him vomit, gets (unintentionally) fire-blasted in the back by his brother before getting knocked out of the ring, and finally gets a pretty nasty injury to the shoulder before getting knocked out of the ring again. To top it off Nickelodeon's website reveals that he has an inferiority complex in regards to his brother Mako — and it's justified in-series with Mako getting so much more serious screentime and attention with the ladies.
Asami Sato:
Seriously, it has to suck to find out that your dad was working with Amon this whole time. Made even worse by Asami's adamant defense of her father throughout the episode. Plus, Hiroshi is the only family she has left. The poor lady collapses into Mako's arms in the final scene. Then, she finds out her boyfriend may have a crush on Korra, whom she does care for a lot and considers a great girl. Then she finds out about the kiss. Then when she confronts him about it, he's so not good with people that he can't even be honest with her without blaming his brother for telling her, and later his "tunnel vision" is in action as well as his (somewhat understandable) care for Korra means that he's neglecting her emotionally. In the series finale, she even has to confront her father again as he is so blinded with rage that he tries to kill her. Oh, and Mako confesses his true feelings for Korra while Asami is off-screen, so who knows how she'll be by next series. On the upside, if the Book One finale is anything to go by, Asami tends to respond to emotional stress with lightning fists, so she's not really in danger of the emotional collapse most Woobies experience.
Iron Woobie: Her mother was killed by a Firebender when she was young, she discovered her father was an Equalist after spending a whole day defending him, has to turn on her father because she wanted to do the right thing and has to leave the comfortable life she has always known, she finds out that Korra has a crush on her boyfriend and he might reciprocate, she gets arrested because of her father, then has to see her well-intentioned-but-utterly-bad-with-people boyfriend go crazy trying to find Korra and neglect her; and when she confronts Mako about him responding to Korra's forceful kiss while Asami and him were dating, he doesn't really face her. Then, after having to fight her own father and help save the day, she and Mako are pretty much through. And despite all of this, she never lashes out or blames anyone except Mako (and when she does, she does NOT go the Clingy Jealous Girl route and makes genuinely good points), and still remains friends with everyone.
Adding onto this, according to the creator's comments from The Making of LOK, Asami was slowly realizing that she and Mako just wouldn't work out, even if she never said anything about it. They made her realistically react to a relationship falling apart, right down to the internal thoughts humans have when this happens to us... and she gets flak for it, in addition to everything else.
The policemen that were debended by Amon.
Korra herself slides into major Woobie territory on several occasions, notably at the end of episode 4, near all of episodes 8 and 9, and the finale when she temporarily loses all her bending save for airbending. It's really hard to watch her break down.
alternative title(s): The Last Airbender Legend Of Korra
