| 1 | [[WMG:[[center: [- ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' '''[[Characters/TheLegendOfKorra Main Character Index]]'''\ |
| 2 | [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraNewTeamAvatar New Team Avatar]] ([[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraAvatarKorra Avatar Korra]], [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraAsamiSato Asami Sato]], [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraMako Mako]], [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraBolin Bolin]]) | [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraTenzinsFamily Tenzin's Family]] | [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraBeifongFamily Beifong Family]] | [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraAllies Allies]] ([[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraVarrickAndZhuLi Varrick and Zhu Li]]) | [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraEnemiesSeasons1And2 Seasons 1 & 2 Enemies]] ([[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraAmon Amon]]) | '''Seasons 3 & 4 Enemies''' ([[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraZaheer Zaheer]], [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraKuvira Kuvira]]) | [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraPastCharacters Past Characters]] | [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraOtherCharacters Other Characters]] | [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraComicCharacters Comic Characters]]]]]]-] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | !!This is a partial character sheet for ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. Subjective trope and audience reactions should go on the [[YMMV/TheLegendOfKorra YMMV page]]. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Some spoilers will be unmarked. Read ahead at your own risk. |
| 7 | ---- |
| 8 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | !!Earth Kingdom |
| 11 | |
| 12 | [[folder:Hou-Ting]] |
| 13 | !!Queen Hou-Ting |
| 14 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9c9f353bcbb647ee3490e5985ae933cc.png]] |
| 15 | [[caption-width-right:350:"Before I even consider helping you, I'll need you to do something for me."]] |
| 16 | !!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JayneTaini |
| 17 | |
| 18 | The daughter and successor of Kuei, Hou-Ting is the petty, dictatorial monarch of the Earth Kingdom. Feeling that Aang and Zuko took advantage of her father's "vulnerability" to steal her nation's lands for their own empire, she is an immensely bitter woman, who takes out her grievances on her own kingdom. |
| 19 | ---- |
| 20 | * ZeroPercentApprovalRating: It's made clear from her introduction that Hou-Ting has absolutely no redeemable qualities about her. Barring Mako and Bolin's grandmother, nobody in her kingdom and beyond likes her. [[spoiler:News of her death had her people cheering and rioting in the streets]]. |
| 21 | * AbusiveParent: [[spoiler:Considering Wu had a vision of her talking him down, it's heavily implied she was emotionally and verbally abusive towards her great-nephew when she was alive]]. |
| 22 | * AllThereInTheManual: Hou-Ting's name is never once actually spoken in the series until it's revealed as the name of her dynasty, but appears in her credits and is mentioned in a variety of supplementary materials. |
| 23 | * AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: After [[spoiler:Zaheer announces that she is dead]], her citizens start ''cheering''. They then proceed to raid the palace and start riots everywhere. |
| 24 | * AntagonisticOffspring: In a sense. Her father was an ally of the Avatar; she antagonizes the new Avatar, and she thinks poorly of her father and his deal with Aang and Zuko which ceded Earth Kingdom territory to the United Republic of Nations. There are also rumors that she ate her father's pet bear, Bosco (and according to the DVD commentary for "The Coronation", they're true). |
| 25 | * AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Zaheer drains the oxygen from her lungs and suffocates her]]. She ''completely'' had it coming. This is also a {{deconstruction}} in that while Hou-Ting was a very unpopular and terrible leader, she still maintained some form of order. [[spoiler:Right after she's deposed, the Earth Kingdom descends into total chaos, and this eventually leads to Kuvira taking over and proving to be a far worse dictator than Hou-Ting ever was]]. |
| 26 | * BadBoss: She has the Dai Li drag off servants who fail to cater to her whims properly. She's also constantly rude and demeaning towards her NumberTwo, who later [[TheDogBitesBack abandons her]], not that he would have been able to do much anyway. |
| 27 | * BigBadWannabe: Hou-Ting is set up as a prominent threat in Book 3, as Korra has to fight to keep the new airbenders out of the queen's clutches, and then all of team Avatar escape Ba Sing Se as fugitives. However, she's far too confident in her own abilities, resources, and status, treating her position as a license to do whatever she wants, even though her poor management is weakening her kingdom. Zaheer and the Red Lotus eventually take center stage as the Book's main villains once they start hunting Korra down, and are simply far more of a dangerous threat than the queen. [[spoiler:[[EvilVersusEvil When the two come to a head]], Zaheer kills Hou-Ting, which sends Ba Sing Se and the entire Earth Kingdom into complete chaos, while he becomes the main villain that the heroes must deal with in the season]]. |
| 28 | * BrightIsNotGood: Dresses similar to her father, who was TheGoodKing. She, on the other hand, is the worst ruler this show has ever put forth, at least in terms of competence, though in terms of cruelty, she's right up there with [[EvilOverlord Ozai]] and [[TheAntichrist Unalaq]]. |
| 29 | * BullyingADragon: When Korra comes to ask for her help to find Airbenders, she treats her like any random servant and asks her to do her bidding in exchange only to not give the promised reward with a flimsy excuse, apparently oblivious to the fact that double-crossing a teenage, hot-blooded PhysicalGod was probably not a good idea. Of course, she initially decides not to have her imprisoned for her disrespectful behavior knowing Korra will take exception to it, and instead attempts or get her off her back. When Korra predictably turns against her and liberates her Airbender recruits, she tries to have her arrested, failing to realize the other nations won't close their eyes on her doing such a thing to the Avatar. |
| 30 | * TheCaligula: Downplayed. She isn't insane, but she's remarkably self-centered and inept at actually governing her own country, wasting her kingdom's wealth to dine on expensive animals. |
| 31 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Her slow asphyxiation at Zaheer's hands might very well be the most brutal death in the entire franchise]]. |
| 32 | * CruellaToAnimals: Dislikes animals heavily because she's allergic to them; this is excusable, but what makes her truly loathsome is that she has no qualms with and even enjoys dining on rare or endangered animals, including flying bison. There are rumors that she even ''ate'' her father's beloved pet bear, Bosco (and according to the DVD commentary for "The Coronation", they're true). |
| 33 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of GodSaveUsFromTheQueen, HateSink, and AssholeVictim. While she was a horrific tyrant whose [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing demise was justly and widely celebrated]], the ensuing anarchy caused more harm than she ever did and would lead to the rise of an even more oppressive and dangerous tyrant. [[spoiler:Her killer]] later realizes despite how satisfying and deserved her end was [[DidntThinkThisThrough it was a overly impulsive action that did more harm than good]]. |
| 34 | * DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:At the very least, she wasn't going to die a coward. She would not bow before a bunch of super-powered commoners who already made it clear they wouldn't be ordered around. She died disgracefully indeed]]. |
| 35 | * DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: She makes life for commoners living hell, and undid all the progress achieved under her father. If anything, she ''hated'' this so-called progress that her father made. |
| 36 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: She tries to have the Avatar locked up for crimes against her kingdom. As Zaheer points out, the other nations wouldn't stand for this and she'd be forced to release Korra, lest they take more drastic measures. She agrees to give Korra up to Zaheer in exchange for the location of the airbenders, though she goes back on her word as soon as Zaheer slights her. |
| 37 | * DisproportionateRetribution: She tosses people in prison for such things as not trimming the hedges correctly or not showing her the proper respect, basically using any excuse to lord her position over those beneath her. |
| 38 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: |
| 39 | ** While the overtaxation and poverty are rather general traits that could apply to any number of real-world parallels, the SecretPolice and personality cult vibe make her rule suspiciously similar to that of UsefulNotes/NorthKorea. |
| 40 | ** Also seems to be a bit inspired by Empress Dowager Cixi of China, especially given the Earth Rulers' [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Qing inspirations]]. An iron-fisted ruler who wasted taxpayers' money on things like a boat made of marble, while also undermining any effort to reform or modernize the country, bringing China to near ruin as a result. She also shares [[https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/blog_large/public/blog_post/thumbnail/cixi.jpg Cixi's]] FemmeFatalons. |
| 41 | * EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Like her father, she is never actually referred to by her given name, though it is mentioned as a dynasty name in Book 4. |
| 42 | * EvilOverlord: Hou-Ting is nothing but an animal-hating tyrant who robbed her people of their freedom and happiness. |
| 43 | * ExoticEntree: If the rumors are true, she ate her father's pet bear. It is a fact, however, that she enjoys dining on air bison veal, which would be bad enough even if they weren't endangered and sacred to the Air Nomads. |
| 44 | * FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler:Zaheer kills her by bending the air out of her lungs and surrounding her head in a vacuum until she suffocates]]. |
| 45 | * FemmeFatalons: Has very long green nails with golden nail coverings on the pinky and ring fingers. Long fingernails were often a fashion of imperial Chinese aristocracy in real life. |
| 46 | * GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Underneath her pretensions of grandeur, she's a vain and self-centered tyrant whose absolute power allows her to neglect the well-being of her subjects. Especially notable since she is the one Queen seen in either series[[note]]Ursa is a princess and the Fire Nation's ruler is [[SheIsTheKing Fire Lord, regardless of gender]][[/note]]. Her tyranny and incompetence was such heroes and villain use her as arguments against the continued monarchy and [[spoiler:her own nephew decide that it should be abolished.]] |
| 47 | * {{Gonk}}: Aside from her clothing, she wouldn't look particularly out of place in ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'', which tends to use more caricatured faces and facial expressions. |
| 48 | * {{Greed}}: She makes ''Varrick'' look charitable by comparison. |
| 49 | * HairTriggerTemper: It's not at all hard to make her neurotically angry. |
| 50 | * HateSink: She has no redeeming qualities and is just unrepentantly evil. This serves to contrast her with Zaheer and his crew, who are all ruthless but fall under the AntiVillain territory thanks to their more [[AffablyEvil humane qualities]]. Korra just couldn't do anything against Hou-Ting because her death would bring chaos to the Earth Kingdom, [[spoiler:which is exactly what happens after she dies]]. Not even [[GodOfEvil Vaatu]] or Kuvira (who became an even ''worse'' tyrant) are as vile as her. Then there’s also the implication she treated her great-nephew like trash, which really doesn’t paint a good picture on how she might have treated her father. |
| 51 | * HiddenAgendaVillain: It's not made clear why she was trying to build up an airbender army, though it's hinted she wanted to reclaim the United Republic, which was formerly Earth Kingdom territory. [[spoiler:Any designs she had died when she did, although Kuvira later justifies her invasion of Republic City for these same reasons]]. |
| 52 | * ILied: When Korra approaches her asking for information on any airbenders in Ba Sing Se, Hou-Ting sends Korra off an errand to collect some taxes. Once Korra comes back, Hou-Ting continues to insist that there are no airbenders in Ba Sing Se. Later on, she does try to get Korra off her back by giving her another report of airbenders elsewhere, but Korra already knew she was hiding the truth. |
| 53 | * IronicAllergy: Her allergy to animals is this, considering her father's love for his pet bear. |
| 54 | * ItsAllAboutMe: She over-taxes her subjects to fund her lavish lifestyle, imprisons the airbenders in her kingdom to force them to become her army, and people apparently have to keep pictures of her in their homes. |
| 55 | * {{Jerkass}}: She's greedy, rude to everyone, and she abuses her power over her people and her kingdom. |
| 56 | * JerkassHasAPoint: As awful as Hou-Ting is, Bumi points out that sovereign rulers do have the right to conscript their own citizens into the military. |
| 57 | * KarmicDeath: After attempting to force airbenders to fight in her army, it's only fitting that she [[spoiler:is killed by Zaheer, who bends the air out of her lungs and thus asphyxiates her]]. |
| 58 | * KickTheDog: There are rumours that she ate her father's pet bear, Bosco (and according to the DVD commentary for "The Coronation", they're true). She also enjoys eating baby air bison steaks, which would be bad enough even if they weren't endangered. |
| 59 | * KnowWhenToFoldEm: Even she has to fold to international customs. An incident involving the Avatar is a VERY hot one. Killing the Avatar would be considered an act of war, and keeping her indefinitely would bring international condemnation. |
| 60 | * LackOfEmpathy: Of all the villains seen in LOK, she is worst offender of this trope. |
| 61 | * LikeParentUnlikeChild: The Earth King in the first series was a NiceGuy and FriendToAllLivingThings but was a PuppetKing who was not even aware of the corruption going on in his own kingdom. His daughter on the other hand is a Jerkass dictator who is fully in control of the SecretPolice that once controlled her father, and even she has contempt for him as well. Furthermore, she is allergic to animals but has no problem in eating ExoticEntree. Rumor has it that she even [[KickTheDog ate her father's own pet bear]]. Additionally, it seems she’s very mistrustful of the Fire Nation, judging by her attitude towards then-Fire Lord Zuko, while her father had good relations with their former enemies during his reign. |
| 62 | * MythologyGag: Remember when [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Azula]] mused in her VillainousBreakdown how it could take an assassin five minutes to waltz into her room, kill her, and be on his merry way? [[spoiler:The Red Lotus bust into her palace, kill her in the most gruesome use of airbending yet, and go on their merry way. In this case, "merry way" means continuing their plan to [[KillTheGod kill the Avatar]]]]. |
| 63 | * {{Narcissist}}: The Queen cares for nobody but herself. |
| 64 | * NeverMyFault: She blames the various problems facing her kingdom alternatively on her father's weakness, the disloyalty and incompetence of her citizens, and bandits. Never on the fact that she's a tight-fisted tyrant who doesn't care about anyone but herself. [[spoiler:The Queen learns ''the hard way'' whose fault it really is]]. |
| 65 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: She's responsible for swelling the Air Nomad ranks by not only gathering up airbenders, but also ingratiating them to Korra and Team Avatar when they jailbreak the captive airbenders. Prior to her involvement, they only had one recruit who had already abandoned them. Twice. |
| 66 | * NonActionBigBad: Doesn't seem to have any bending ability since she was unable to do anything when confronted by [[spoiler:Zaheer]]. |
| 67 | * NotSoHarmlessVillain: Her forces manages to capture Korra and Asami as they made their escape from Ghazan and Ming-Hua, though Korra was unconscious at the time. Subverted in the following episode when Asami and Korra make their escape long before they reach Ba Sing Se. |
| 68 | * ObviouslyEvil: You mean the squared jaw, long-nailed, [[HairTriggerTemper perpetually angry]] [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen queen]] that is [[CruellaToAnimals allergic to animals]] is evil!? [[SarcasmMode How shocking!]] |
| 69 | * OhCrap: Both times when her Dai Li agents get defeated [[spoiler:and a final one when she realizes Zaheer is bending the air out of her body]]. |
| 70 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Instead of throwing Korra in the dungeon for disrespecting her as she does for others who do the same, she decides to give Korra a report of airbenders in another province to get her off her back. The queen was ''that'' desperate to protect her secret of forcing airbenders to make an army. |
| 71 | * PragmaticVillainy: Zaheer talks her into turning over Korra to him in exchange for the location of her stolen airbenders, reasoning that the other nations would pressure her into releasing Korra once they found out that the Earth Queen had her. That fell through when Zaheer learned that Korra had escaped and confronted the Earth Queen about it; in keeping with her character, she is insulted by his brashness and tries to force the location of the airbenders from him. [[spoiler:It didn't end well for her]]. |
| 72 | * PsychopathicWomanchild: She's basically a brat in the body of a grown woman: a woman who has made the lives of her people worse with her self-centered greed. |
| 73 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Subverted. At first she appears to be agreeable as long as whatever deal she makes benefits her, but in the end, she never honors her end of the bargain. |
| 74 | * SketchySuccessor: Under her reign, the Upper and Middle Rings of Ba Sing Se have grown even more decadent while the Lower Ring and outskirts have been driven down further into poverty. |
| 75 | * SmugSnake: Thinks her Dai Li could beat Korra and the Krew. She was wrong. She also repeats her mistake with the Red Lotus, [[spoiler:and doesn't get to live to learn better]]. |
| 76 | * TheSociopath: Reviewing her key personality traits is like reading through a sociopath diagnostic checklist: superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self, pathological lying, a penchant for manipulating others to achieve her own ends, an absolutely astonishing lack of empathy or remorse for any of her actions, and an insatiable lust for dominance and importance that drives her every move. She has no qualms whatsoever about sacrificing those closest to her if it suits her purposes. |
| 77 | * SpannerInTheWorks: In "The Stakeout", her forces capture Korra, Asami and Naga before the Red Lotus gets the chance. |
| 78 | * StupidEvil: She's not the brightest, and her ego simply worsens the matter. Most of her negotiations and screen time just consists of her using her status to boss people around, even the literal PhysicalGod Avatar. [[spoiler:Even if she wasn't aware of precisely who the Red Lotus were, they were clearly still very dangerous people who could potentially do her harm if provoked and that is precisely what ended up happening]]. |
| 79 | * SupernaturalSuffocation: [[spoiler:How she meets her end at Zaheer's hands]]. |
| 80 | * TooDumbToLive: Having just witnessed [[spoiler:the Red Lotus easily defeat her Dai Li]], she tries to use her position as a shield against any further retaliation. [[spoiler:Zaheer then [[BombThrowingAnarchists denies said position's existence]] and suffocates her]]. |
| 81 | * UnderestimatingBadassery: Since she isn't familiar with Zaheer and his crew, she assumes them to be mere bounty hunters she can push around like everyone else. [[spoiler:This ends with the Dai Li getting [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] and herself getting [[DeathByIrony suffocated by airbending]]]]. |
| 82 | * VillainHasAPoint: She technically does have the ability to conscript Earth Kingdom citizens into the army, something that both she and Bumi mention, although the lengths she goes to are extreme and what she's doing is technically enslavement rather than conscription. |
| 83 | * VillainousLegacy: [[spoiler:In life and in death, she caused the eventual fall of the Earth Kingdom and its reformation into the Earth Empire by abusing its citizens so much that, as soon as she died, the kingdom fell into anarchy. Her brutal reign and use of the Dai Li was also responsible for influencing Kuvira down her StartOfDarkness, instilling the belief that royalty were unfit to rule and technology and innovation should triumph over tradition. Her death and the resulting anarchy also gave Kuvira the chance to step in and take over. Kuvira even shared her belief that the United Republic was stolen Earth Kingdom territory rather than a nation in its own right]]. |
| 84 | * VirtueIsWeakness: A lot of talk about her father's weakness appears to be focused on his moral traits, considering them negative qualities. |
| 85 | * WouldHurtAChild: Not only not above conscripting kids in the first place, she's okay with the Dai Li ''killing'' them if they desert. |
| 86 | * YouWouldntShootMe: Attempts this in "Long Live the Queen" [[spoiler:with the Red Lotus after her Dai Li are curbstomped and her assistant deserts her. [[KilledOffForReal Doesn't work]]]]. |
| 87 | [[/folder]] |
| 88 | |
| 89 | [[folder:The Dai Li]] |
| 90 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9uuv8bu_113.jpg]] |
| 91 | [[caption-width-right:350:"Welcome to her Majesty's army, first Airbending regiment."]] |
| 92 | |
| 93 | The Earth Kingdom's SecretPolice. They are largely unchanged from the previous series, down to the mannerisms and fighting styles, though unlike with Kuei's reign they are perfectly aligned with Hou-Ting's will. |
| 94 | ---- |
| 95 | * BadassCrew: They're vile, but they're no less dangerous than in the previous series, able to hold their own against Korra and her friends. The Red Lotus are out of their league, however. |
| 96 | * CurbStompBattle: They are ''finally'' hit with this when confronted by the Red Lotus, who easily defeat the tyrannical agents to the point where after the Earth Queen's death, they are apparently not able to mount any kind of effective resistance against the anarchy sweeping the kingdom. |
| 97 | * DecapitatedArmy: [[spoiler:After the Earth Queen's death, Ba Sing Se and the ''entire'' Earth Kingdom descend into total lawlessness within a matter of hours. One of them even offers to ''help'' some of the looters, claiming they know where the really lucrative targets are.]] |
| 98 | * DishingOutDirt: The Dai Li are all Earthbenders. |
| 99 | * TheDragon: The DrillSergeantNasty serves as this to the Queen. |
| 100 | * TheDreaded: They're no ordinary soldiers--they're government agents trained to handle potential insurgents against the Earth Queen with extreme prejudice. They don't negotiate nor show mercy to anyone unlucky enough to end up on their (or the Queen's) bad side. When a stationmaster threatened to call the Dai Li on Mako and Bolin, their response to that was to bolt. |
| 101 | * ElaborateUndergroundBase: While they've since abandoned the one under Lake Laogai, Ba Sing Se has no shortage of underground tunnels for them to use as hideouts. Their newest one is right under the Earth Queen's temple. |
| 102 | * EliteMooks: This is why the Earth Queen prefers to use them instead of her Royal Guards. They're tough enough to hold their own against Korra and her friends, though they ultimately failed to stop them from escaping with the airbenders. Then the Red Lotus overpowered eight of them in under a minute without a scratch. |
| 103 | * FascistButInefficient: Despite the power they hold over Ba Sing Sei, having been formed to prevent peasant uprising against the Earth Queen and the ruling class, that is as far as it goes. When training air benders they had kidnapped to build their army [[spoiler:for a planned assault of Republic City]], they actually ''discourage'' comradery and teamwork. |
| 104 | * GoneHorriblyRight: |
| 105 | ** They trained the airbenders to become elite warriors by chucking rocks at them. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, the airbenders turned their skills on the Dai Li and escaped. |
| 106 | ** The Dai Li themselves could be an example when compared to their counterparts in the first series. In that series, they were going behind the Earth King's back and following the corrupt Long Feng, and later Azula. Here they've apparently been reformed to be completely loyal to the monarch... who unfortunately happens to be an evil, oppressive tyrant. Oops. |
| 107 | * HazyFeelTurn: Again. First they served a corrupt official who reduced the Earth King to a puppet, then they switched loyalty to the ruthless Fire Nation. Seventy years later, they're back under the command of a tyrannical Earth Queen. |
| 108 | * HypercompetentSidekick: It's obvious that without the Dai Li at her beck and call, the Earth Queen would be considerably less powerful. |
| 109 | * InterserviceRivalry: The Dai Li still do not get along with the military, and an order from them means a direct order from the Queen herself, which the military balks at. The airship captain who captured Korra tells her whatever reason the queen wanted Korra captured for is beyond his pay-grade. |
| 110 | * {{Irony}}: The Dai Li were originally formed in response to peasant uprisings. [[spoiler:When the Earth Queen is killed and the peasants start looting and rioting, there's no sign of the Dai Li anywhere.]] |
| 111 | * KarmaHoudini: In a manner of speaking after the war. It didn't seem like they were tried for crimes against the Earth Kingdom, nor were they disbanded for said crimes. Instead, they were just reformed to serve the monarch and no one else, which didn't take into account the fact that Kuei's daughter would be an evil tyrant. |
| 112 | * TheMenInBlack: They are definitely this under the Earth Queen. They do dress in black, have a rather conspicuous looking demeanor, and are complicit in the Queen's dirty ops. Whenever they see an Airbender, they capture them and repudiate their existence within Ba Sing Se. Furthermore, it's even Lampshaded when Bolin's cousin says he's heard rumors of them doing experiments on Airbenders. |
| 113 | * SecretPolice: Just like in the last series. Only now, instead of there being no war; "there are no airbenders in Ba Sing Se", and they appear to be completely loyal to the Earth Queen. |
| 114 | * SmugSnake: The agent that acts as a DrillSergeantNasty to the kidnapped airbenders. |
| 115 | * TheWorfEffect: After holding their own against Korra and her friends, plus several amateur airbenders, Zaheer and the Red Lotus steamroll them. This shows the ability of the Red Lotus as superior to them just in time for the Red Lotus to take center stage. |
| 116 | * WouldHurtAChild: Again. Even children are not exempt from the TrainingFromHell; and when Kai tries escaping with the others, they declare that it is punishable by death. |
| 117 | [[/folder]] |
| 118 | |
| 119 | [[folder:Ganbat]] |
| 120 | !!Ganbat |
| 121 | !!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TravisWillingham |
| 122 | |
| 123 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/llfndxv_2461.jpg]] |
| 124 | [[caption-width-right:350:"The Earth Queen and her fancy friends pay big money for bison steaks and other weird meat. I even heard she ate her dad's pet bear!"]] |
| 125 | |
| 126 | The leader of a band of air bison rustlers who make their living selling rare meats to the Earth Queen. |
| 127 | ---- |
| 128 | * DishingOutDirt: He is an earthbender. |
| 129 | * EvilPoacher: Technically not a poacher in the legal sense, since he seems to have permission to do what he does from the Earth Queen, but fits the stereotype perfectly in specifically targeting an endangered species and attacking people who try to get in his way. |
| 130 | * FurAndLoathing: He wears the pelt of a baby bison as a cape. |
| 131 | * KnowWhenToFoldEm: He surrenders and tries to plead for mercy after Tenzin, Kai and the adult air bison take down his truck. [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown Kai will have none of it.]] |
| 132 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: His group provided an obstacle for the new airbenders to overcome as a group and help gain confidence in themselves. |
| 133 | * WouldHurtAChild: Besides attempting to poach baby sky bison, he also imprisoned both Jinora and Kai. |
| 134 | [[/folder]] |
| 135 | |
| 136 | !!Red Lotus |
| 137 | [[folder:General]] |
| 138 | [[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_lotus_insignia.png]] |
| 139 | [[caption-width-right:250:"The natural order, is disorder."]] |
| 140 | |
| 141 | A secret society that broke off from the Order of the White Lotus, consisting of dangerous anarchists who seek to eliminate world leaders and the Avatar and bring about chaos to the world, believing it to be the one true way of life. The main four members are [[BlowYouAway Zaheer]], [[MagmaMan Ghazan]], [[MakingASplash Ming Hua]], and [[HavingABlast P'Li]], all four with unique and powerful abilities. There are also {{Mooks}} and agents all over the world. |
| 142 | ---- |
| 143 | !!!Tropes that apply to the Red Lotus in general |
| 144 | * ApocalypseCult: The Red Lotus acted as one for Vaatu, whom they planned to release to accomplish their ultimate goal, [[spoiler:but Unalaq denied them their chance. Nonetheless, the result of Vaatu's fury was not what they desired]]. |
| 145 | * BombThrowingAnarchists: Minus the bombs, but the ideals are all there. Their ultimate goal is abolition from all rulers, no matter how good or evil they are, and they're quite willing to use violence to make that possible. Other proponents of order they seek to target include the White Lotus, prisons, and the Avatar. In Zaheer's words, "The natural order... is disorder." [[spoiler:Killing the Avatar while in the Avatar State was going to be the final trigger to their plan.]] |
| 146 | * TheConspiracy: The show only mostly follows Zaheer and his team, but there are other members like Aiwei, and some regular mooks are seen as well. While Zaheer and his crew are stopped by the end of Book 3, it's unknown how many are still left in hiding after that. |
| 147 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: In the end, the biggest fault with their plans was their lack of foresight. |
| 148 | ** [[spoiler:Their plan to kill Korra in the Avatar State failed to take into account just how powerful she was at the time. Bound with chains of platinum, she just ripped her chains apart with brute force while easily defending herself from their attacks and sending them back. Once she freed herself Zaheer spent most of the fight avoiding her until the poison took its toll, until then he stood no chance against her.]] |
| 149 | ** Their intention of freeing Vaatu seemed to overlook that the Great Spirit of Darkness and Chaos is an OmnicidalManiac. |
| 150 | ** Their assassination of [[spoiler:the Earth Queen]] in order to bring freedom to the people only resulted in an even worse regime taking its place. |
| 151 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Besides obvious comparisons to real life communist and anarchist groups, the Red Lotus has a distinctive Arabic motif. Their {{Leitmotif}}, Zaheer's own name and the distinctive red turbans the sentries wear in the finale seem to suggest clearly a comparison to Muslim terrorists. |
| 152 | ** They draw heavily from the "White Lotus" sects, anti-government resistance movements come cults that mixed up Buddhism, Manicheanism, and vegetarianism with resistance to Imperial power. In their first incarnation as the "Red Turbans" they led a revolt that toppled the Mongol dynasty ruling China and ushered in the Ming, and later "White Lotus" became a catchall term for Buddhist/Manichean messianic rebels that dogged the Qing. |
| 153 | * EvilIsNotAToy: [[spoiler:They originally wanted to achieve their goals by releasing Vaatu, but doing so would've backfired on them anyways because he is an OmnicidalManiac who would wipe out all existence.]] |
| 154 | * EvilVersusEvil: Their goals put them at odds with the Earth Queen, [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen who is no saint herself]]. [[spoiler:She doesn't survive their encounter, making them the final villains of the season.]] |
| 155 | * FallenHero: Their founder, Xai Bau, is this. He and anyone who followed suit used to be members of the heroic White Lotus. |
| 156 | * FantasticTerrorists: While never referred to as terrorists, the Red Lotus from season 3 are a group of TrueCompanions and extremely skilled benders devoted to freeing people from oppression through violence and murder to institute global anarchy (as opposed to the White Lotus, a BenevolentConspiracy from the previous series). As Korra points out to him in season 4, Zaheer's murder of the Earth Queen only caused a fascist regime to pop up in her place, oppressing the people even worse than she did in the name of protecting them (guilting Zaheer into helping her). They also tried to kidnap the Avatar during childhood to raise her according to their beliefs, which is why she had to live in a fortified White Lotus compound at the South Pole for years. |
| 157 | * FantasyCounterpartCulture: Ironically, they have more in common with the real-life White Lotus society than Avatar's actual White Lotus society does, as they are a MysteryCult in addition to being an ideological movement, and their {{Mooks}} wear red headscarves reminiscent of those worn by the "Red Turban" rebels associated with the White Lotus sect. |
| 158 | * GreaterScopeVillain: The Red Lotus society as a whole, independent of any leader, could be considered this for season three, in addition to Zaheer directly filling the role of BigBad. We know that the group is not limited to the four "main" ones we meet on-screen, but the true scope of the organization goes unrevealed, nor is it entirely clear how highly Zaheer and his gang rank in their hierarchy. However, it's all but implied they were wiped out during the three-year gap. |
| 159 | ** They also serve as this for the entire series up to Book Three. It was their attempt to kidnap Korra as a child that resulted in her being cooped up for the majority of her life, and they were who Tenzin and Tonraq were truly frightened of regarding Korra leaving the White Lotus compound. [[spoiler:Unalaq's involvement also ties them into the plot of Book Two, when Unalaq is able to manipulate Korra into opening the spirit portals thanks to her frustration with her confinement that ''he'' helped engineer.]] |
| 160 | ** Their actions in Book 3 indirectly make them this for Book 4, [[spoiler:as their assassination of the Earth Queen lead to the Earth Kingdom's anarchy, which in turn lead to Kuvira's rise to power. They also poisoned Korra, which resulted in her PTSD and reluctance in maintaining her duty as Avatar. ]] |
| 161 | * HiddenAgendaVillain: In-universe, no one knows what they truly want, as none of the group would give up any information. Zaheer explains most of his plan to Korra when asked. The Red Lotus seeks the abolition of all governments and nations in order to free the people, despite the chaos this would cause. When Korra asks what they want of her specifically, however, Zaheer doesn't give an answer. [[spoiler:It's ultimately revealed that they want to kill her while she's in the Avatar State, ending the Avatar cycle and basically resetting the field. As for where Guru Laghima came in, Zaheer coveted the secret to weightlessness.]] |
| 162 | * IWantThemAlive: Whatever their plans with Korra, simply killing her isn't an option. If she's killed immediately, she'll just be reborn, so that would only serve to render the Avatar a non-issue for a couple of decades at best. Mako even questions them on this; Ghazan only vaguely replies that the world will change for the better. [[spoiler:It turns out their plan is to induce the Avatar State in her and ''then'' kill her, ending the Avatar Cycle. With no world leaders and no Avatar to guide the people, they believe chaos will finally reign.]] |
| 163 | * KarmaHoudini: The organization as a whole after Book 3. Zuko clearly maintains that the remaining Red Lotus members had returned into hiding and still remain at large with no way of knowing how many are out there and they are still a threat to the world. |
| 164 | * KnightOfCerebus: In a recurring theme for the series, episodes involving them are inevitably more serious than normal. They're not entirely devoid of humor, in contrast to Amon and Vaatu, but they're more serious nevertheless. They're also the first villains in either show to [[spoiler:explicitly kill someone on screen--other villains have killed people, but never in full view of the audience. It's a clear sign that they don't play games and the gloves are off]]. |
| 165 | * {{Leitmotif}}: A [[https://youtu.be/qwPCd1D2tZA sinister sounding track]] accompanies their appearances. |
| 166 | * NebulousEvilOrganization: A global one that has existed since the end of the Hundred Year War, and have been enemies of the White Lotus since they splintered from them. They engage in acts ranging from criminal activity, to acts of terrorism, to assassination of world leaders, all for one goal: the elimination of law and order and the dominance of anarchy in the world. |
| 167 | * OneDegreeOfSeparation: [[spoiler:Unalaq]] was a former member of the Red Lotus. |
| 168 | * OrderVersusChaos: They believe Wan interfering in the battle between Raava and Vaatu by sealing the spirit portals has disrupted the natural chaos of the world. Furthermore, they see governments as an extension of this disruption, and seek to eliminate them, as well. They shared Unalaq's goal of releasing Vaatu, [[spoiler:but Unalaq had greater ambitions and used them as pawns, abandoning them when they failed]]. |
| 169 | * PyrrhicVictory: They accomplish the goal of [[spoiler:killing one of the world leaders, the Earth Queen, in order to sow chaos within the Earth Kingdom, but that gave rise to Kuvira, who ended up subjecting the Earth Kingdom to an even more despotic military dictatorship. Poisoning Korra left the one person with the power to fix things out of commission, and Zaheer ultimately had to help Korra recover to undo the damage his actions caused.]] |
| 170 | * QuirkyMinibossSquad: Zaheer and his comrades fulfill this role within their society. |
| 171 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Not the core members (aside from P'Li, who's a [[ColorCodedElements firebender]]), but the sentries. These come in at least two versions: an externally black cloak with red inside (worn by [[spoiler:the guy who poisoned Korra]]), and a black tunic with a red turban. |
| 172 | * RenegadeSplinterFaction: The Red Lotus is an offshoot of the White Lotus, founded after the Hundred Year War by one of their membership who disagreed with the White Lotus coming out of hiding to serve the Avatar. |
| 173 | * VillainHasAPoint: Their desire for anarchy and their disdain for world leaders is at least understandable given the many corrupt world leaders that's been shown in either series. |
| 174 | * WeWillMeetAgain: [[spoiler:Zaheer invokes this on behalf of the whole of the Red Lotus, telling Korra that her conflict with the Red Lotus is far from over, and there are more of them out there. Zuko and the others even acknowledge the possibility of them striking again.]] |
| 175 | * WouldHurtAChild: The Red Lotus considered killing [[spoiler:Korra a necessity for creating a better world. Their first attempt was when she was a child.]] |
| 176 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:It didn't really matter if Korra was going to join their cause or not. Killing Korra in the Avatar State was the trigger to their final plan of ensuring eternal chaos. After all, their goal was to rid the world of all its leaders AND the Avatar]]. |
| 177 | |
| 178 | !!!Tropes that apply to Zaheer's crew in particular |
| 179 | * ThirteenIsUnlucky: It took them thirteen years to make jailbreak. |
| 180 | * AndIMustScream: The main members are each kept in a TailorMadePrison with no company aside from their guards. P'Li and Ming-Hau's prisons exploiting their element's LogicalWeakness is especially brutal, the former being locked inside of a glacier and the latter being locked in a volcano where not even the tinniest drop of water will reach her. [[spoiler: Zaheer's new prison after he's defeated at the end of Book 3 is even worse, to keep him from using his {{Flight}} or any other form of airbending to escape, he is locked in a giant cave where he's chained to the ground.]] |
| 181 | * BadassCrew: According to Zuko, everyone in Zaheer's crew are strong enough to take down any bender on their own, and the entire world together. Note that Zaheer wasn't a bender until recently, so that's high praise indeed. They're basically the villainous counterpart to Team Avatar. [[spoiler: The other known members, Unalaq and Aiwei, are also incredibly skilled in their own right.]] |
| 182 | * BeautyIsNeverTarnished: All four of them have been locked in a TailorMadePrison for 13 years with barely any human contact, but aside from Ming-Hua looking slightly gaunt, they definitely don't look it. Zaheer is [[WildHair unkempt]] but not as much as he should be, and someone must have been providing Ghazan razors to keep that stache of his so neatly trimmed. |
| 183 | * ClassicalElementsEnsemble: Each member has one elemental power, though Zaheer was a [[BadassNormal non-bender]] prior to Harmonic Convergence. [[BlowYouAway Zaheer]] is an airbender, [[MagmaMan Ghazan]] is an earth bender, [[MakingASplash Ming Hua]] is a water bender, and [[HavingABlast P'Li]] is a firebender. |
| 184 | * CoDragons: While the Red Lotus are a band of brothers on equal ground with one another, Zaheer is clearly the leader of his crew, to whom the rest show UndyingLoyalty to. Ghazan and P'li would then count as this as either one are usually in charge of handling some things for Zaheer, while Ming-Hua is usually just there [[BloodKnight for a fight]]. |
| 185 | * CombatPragmatist: Every single one of them has no qualms about fighting dirty, doing whatever it takes to overwhelm their (usually far underpowered) adversaries. Best exemplified when they ganged up on Tenzin after he proved to be too strong for Zaheer to handle alone. When dealing with Korra, they never once try to fight her as an equal, instead trying to place her in situations that would render her vulnerable. |
| 186 | * CriminalFoundFamily: The four main members of the Red Lotus are a close-knit team who endured 13 years of solitary confinement rather than give each other up, and unlike every other antagonist group shown in the series, they fight together until the very end. They're implied to have been together since they were young, and the official Art Book includes a [[https://i.redd.it/95eg4zeuj6j51.png picture]] of them as teenagers happily posing for the camera together. |
| 187 | * DeathByIrony: All of them are [[spoiler:defeated by their own elements. P'Li blows herself up when Su cages her head in metal while she's attacking. Ming-Hua is killed when Mako electrocutes her through her water arms. Ghazan purposefully kills himself with his own lavabending (trying to take Mako and Bolin with him) rather than go back to prison. Finally, Zaheer is beaten when Jinora conjures a tornado to keep him from flying off with Korra, and Korra uses the metal chains she was bound with to slam him into the ground.]] |
| 188 | ** In addition they are also all defeated/killed [[spoiler: in the exact reverse order they all escaped from jail (with P'Li the last to break out dying first, and Zaheer the first to be free being captured last)]]. |
| 189 | * TheDreaded: Everyone who knows of them is terrified of what they can do, both individually and as a team. Zuko says that individually they're some of the most powerful benders in the world; together, they can topple nations. [[spoiler:As the Earth Queen will attest, that isn't an exaggeration.]] |
| 190 | * EliteFour: Downplayed in that Zaheer is one of them rather than four people serving him. |
| 191 | * EvilCounterpart: To Team Avatar; like them, they are a cabal of powerful benders. They are also one to the White Lotus; an entire organization of very powerful people that have more influence than is apparent at first. |
| 192 | * EvilerThanThou: In "Long Live The Queen", [[spoiler:they kill Earth Queen Hou-Ting when it no longer serves their purposes to work with her.]] |
| 193 | * EvilVersusEvil: After the Earth Queen's forces manage to kidnap Korra, the Red Lotus sets off for Ba Sing Se to get her for themselves. [[spoiler:They end up killing the Earth Queen once Korra escapes on her own, no longer having a need to barter with her.]] |
| 194 | * Foil: To the original team Avatar. Like the original Gaang they are an ensemble of an airbender, a water bender, an earthbender, a firebender, and a nonbender (in Zaheer's case, former nonbender). They are incredibly close, implied to have good senses of humor off screen, and from their perspective, are also on an impossible journey to free the world from tyranny. Zaheer is even considerably shorter than his lover, P'Li, just as Aang was to Katara when they were younger. |
| 195 | * GenderEqualEnsemble: Another parallel to Team Avatar, but only among the core members. |
| 196 | * HeroKiller: They're exceptionally powerful benders, to the point that Zuko believes they are a threat to the entire world if allowed to roam free. [[spoiler:They live up to this in "Long Live The Queen" by killing the Earth Queen and sending Ba Sing Se into chaos. Then they make their way to the Northern Air Temple and quickly overwhelm its defenders as a hostage gambit to get Korra. Then they very nearly kill Korra by poisoning her.]] |
| 197 | * InformedAbility: Zuko stated they were powerful enough that any one of them could take down any individual bender in the world. However, when Zaheer [[spoiler: goes one on one with Tenzin in a fight, he promptly gets his clock cleaned. Even with Ghazan and Ming-Hua by his side, Tenzin is still seemingly able to hold them off. It's not until P'Li joins the fight that all four members are finally able to take down Tenzin for good]]. |
| 198 | * InverseLawOfUtilityAndLethality: Since Ghazan and P'Li possess abilities that would be deadly were they to connect, they rarely land hits with those abilities. This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that Ghazan can fall back on normal earthbending if the plot requires that he hit someone, and P'Li's blasts don't need to make direct contact to cause damage. |
| 199 | * KnowWhenToFoldEm: They don't pick fights unnecessarily and don't overplay their hand. Zaheer leaves Air Temple Island as soon as he has what he came for, only fighting long enough to facilitate his escape. When they try to kidnap Korra from Zaofu, they try to sneak out quietly and then play defense until Zaheer can provide cover. When Korra was rescued, they abandoned that attempt. |
| 200 | * MookChivalry: Averted in "The Ultimatum". When it appears [[spoiler:Tenzin is about to defeat Zaheer in a one-on-one fight]], all four members of the Red Lotus simply gang up and easily defeat him. |
| 201 | * MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: Ming-Hua and P'Li are far more ruthless and vicious in battle than Zaheer and Ghazan. |
| 202 | * NeverGoingBackToPrison: All four of the main Red Lotus characters who escaped prison hated being imprisoned and are dead set against going back or being recaptured. Special mention goes to Ghazan, who [[spoiler:eventually kills himself rather than be taken prisoner again]]. |
| 203 | * NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: All of them collectively give one to [[spoiler:Tenzin]] after he refuses to admit defeat, despite his injuries. |
| 204 | * NoNonsenseNemesis: Much like Amon and the Equalists, the Red Lotus are dangerously competent villains. As shown in their kidnapping attempt on Korra, they infiltrate Zaofu with no one noticing, incapacitate Korra without raising any alarms, and only fail to get back out because Pabu happened to catch them and alert Bolin. After losing Korra in the subsequent fight, they cut their losses and retreat. |
| 205 | * OneManArmy: The four main members are all said to be capable of bringing down any other bender, and that together, they alone throw the entire world into chaos. |
| 206 | * PowerOfFriendship: A villainous example. The Red Lotus' greatest strength compared to every other villain in ''The Legend of Korra'' is that they truly care and support each other compared to every other villain group that were formed through manipulation and lies. |
| 207 | * SugarAndIcePersonality: All of them are quite friendly and approachable with the rest of the group; with their enemies they are ruthless opponents. |
| 208 | * TailorMadePrison: All four of them were held in prisons built specifically for them, in environments that offer nothing for them to bend with (Zaheer aside, as he was locked up when he was still just a non-bender). |
| 209 | ** Zaheer, a former nonbender, was held in a metallic prison on a nigh-unclimbable mountaintop that could only be opened by a metalbender. He also seems to [[BreakThemByTalking be the persuasive one,]] so putting him in a prison without frequent interaction with guards makes sense. It didn't work later on, because these safeguards failed to take into account him gaining airbending. When he's caught at the end of Book 3, they lock him inside a mountain chained to a giant metal plate, which can only be accessed by metalbending an elevator down into his chamber. |
| 210 | ** Ghazan, the earthbender, was held in a floating wooden island prison. With the prison floating above the water rather than be anywhere on land, there's no earth for Ghazan to bend. |
| 211 | ** Ming-Hua, the waterbender, was held in a cage over a volcano. Additionally, the cage is suspended such that it prevents any guards from coming close, eliminating the chance of Ming-Hua using bloodbending. |
| 212 | ** P'Li, the firebender, was held in a cell deep inside a glacier at the north pole, with restraints to block her combustion bending. |
| 213 | * TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: P'Li and Ming-Hua both have obvious [[RedRightHand Red Right Hands]] (eye tattoo in the middle of the forehead and missing arms), but Ghazan and Zaheer just look like two guys with no real distinctive features besides being slightly taller or shorter than average respectively. |
| 214 | * VillainousFriendship: The main quartet genuinely like each other, working quite well-together and sharing light-hearted teasing, as a parallel to Team Avatar. During "The Terror Within", when they fail to capture Korra, they keep their composure and retreat. [[spoiler:This doesn't extend to the membership at large, however, as Zaheer had no problem dooming Aiwei to eternal torment in the Fog of Lost Souls for his failure, and Unalaq betrayed the four of them for his own ambitions.]] When Zaheer tells Ghazan and Ming-Hua about [[spoiler: P'Li's death]], they are both visibly saddened. |
| 215 | * WouldHurtAChild: In "The Ultimatum", they force Korra to surrender by threatening to [[spoiler:wipe out the new Air Nation. Out of the two-dozen or so members, at least half are teenagers, several more are even younger, and Tenzin's wife and year-old son are among them. He may have been bluffing, but then again, maybe not. Technically, Zaheer didn't harm them when they were kept imprisoned while Korra turned herself in, but it didn't mean he had to ''care'' for them.]] |
| 216 | [[/folder]] |
| 217 | |
| 218 | [[folder:Zaheer]] |
| 219 | |
| 220 | A formerly non-bender criminal and member of a society known as the Red Lotus who was arrested with his three cohorts for attempting to kidnap the Avatar. |
| 221 | ---- |
| 222 | --> See [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraZaheer his page]] for more details. |
| 223 | [[/folder]] |
| 224 | |
| 225 | [[folder:Ghazan]] |
| 226 | !!Ghazan |
| 227 | !!!'''Voiced by:''' Peter Giles |
| 228 | |
| 229 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c1bef43751a51907861e0c48d42c5b18.png]] |
| 230 | [[caption-width-right:350:"[[NeverGoingBackToPrison I'm never going back to prison]]. If I'm going down today, you're coming with me!"]] |
| 231 | |
| 232 | An earthbender who can create magma. |
| 233 | ---- |
| 234 | * AffablyEvil: While he's ruthless in a fight, outside of battle he's a very friendly guy. He's great friends with his group, and when Bolin is his captive, they strike up a friendly conversation, delivered without a hint of sarcasm. |
| 235 | * AntiVillain: Quite an affable and genuinely friendly person [[PunchClockVillain when not following orders]], and like Zaheer he seems to consider their mission to be for the betterment of all. |
| 236 | * BadassDriver: He can drive on snow and ice while under attack, and get away cleanly. |
| 237 | * BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler: Or sent back to prison in his case.]] |
| 238 | * BigOlEyebrows: He has thick black eyebrows. |
| 239 | * CharacterTics: He tends to cross his arms a lot. |
| 240 | * ConvectionSchmonvection: No one is ever burned by the heat of his lava, even in situations where it logically should. |
| 241 | * DeadpanSnarker: During their getaway in episode 4, P'Li and Zaheer start kissing. He simply says "[[GetARoom Really? Right now?]]" |
| 242 | * DemolitionsExpert: This is his chief specialty in Zaheer's team, and he's probably the best in the world. There's no building in existence that can survive the stone beneath it (or within it) turning to lava, and he has the architectural knowledge to bring down even the most massive, complex structures quickly and efficiently. |
| 243 | * DishingOutDirt: Although he is a [[MagmaMan lavabender]], he does also demonstrate good earthbending ability to fall back on in fights. |
| 244 | * DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:He lets himself be buried in a cave-in rather than go back to prison.]] |
| 245 | * ElementalRockPaperScissors: Ghazan's ability to convert earth to lava made him [[NoSell nigh invulnerable]] to other Earthbenders. [[spoiler: When Bolin manages to learn to do the same, the two actually cancel each other out, making Ghazan easy to defeat when Bolin and Mako double team him.]] |
| 246 | * EvilMentor: To Bolin in a way, as it's thanks to him Bolin is able to [[spoiler: Lavabend]] and after finding out Bolin [[spoiler: is also a Lavabender]] in their last fight he is curious as to what Bolin is capable of. Later in the season four finale [[spoiler: Bolin uses Ghazan's signature move, the Lava Shuriken]]. |
| 247 | * ExtremityExtremist: Absolutely not a straight example of the trope, but he's still notable in how often he uses elbow strikes compared to other benders. |
| 248 | * FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler: Commits suicide by bringing a cave down on top of him, with most of the descending rock being bended into lava as well.]] |
| 249 | * FriendlyEnemy: To Bolin. The two chat happily, and he's downright delighted when he finds out that [[spoiler: Bolin can lavabend too]]. |
| 250 | -->'''Mako''': Bolin, stop making friends with the bad guy! |
| 251 | * GeniusBruiser: Implied to be this when he was dealing with the Inner Wall's destruction, where he focused on heating up the lower part to weaken the foundation so he can demolish a large chunk in one fell swoop on the second strike. [[spoiler: Further implied when, after merely setting certain sections alight with lava and fleeing, it spreads and consumes everything nearby and below it - the end result brings down ''the entire Northern Air Temple.'']] |
| 252 | * IDieFree: [[spoiler:When he realises he can't beat Mako and Bolin, he decides he'd rather die than go back to prison, and makes the cave he's in collapse and melt instead.]] |
| 253 | * InverseLawOfUtilityAndLethality: All bending elements can conceivably cause damage to people and the show doesn't shy away from nastier violence, though they usually take the form of a GoryDiscretionShot here and there. Ghazan's lava-bending, on the other hand, has the potential to cause some serious FamilyUnfriendlyViolence, if you could imagine any living target of his being hit by the lava, screaming in agony as their flesh is burned off their skin, and being reduced to either cinders or a charred skeleton. In order for Ghazan to be able to function on the show with his powerset, most of the time he won't be hitting people with his lava-bending unless it's blunt physical damage with his lava shuriken, strikes people with normal earth-bending during those moments where he is allowed to hit his target, and even when he's turning a whole temple to lava to kill his enemies, he'll leave the area rather than stick around to make sure the lava has totally consumed his foes. |
| 254 | * MagmaMan: He's the only known non-Avatar bender that can create and control lava by liquefying rock. [[spoiler: Until Bolin also picks up it as well.]] |
| 255 | * MeaningfulName: The name Ghazan is an Arabic for "Holy Warrior", and he certainly believes he's fighting for a worthy spiritual cause. In addition, Ghazan was also the name taken by was also the name of the first Muslim Khan of the Ilkhanate, who converted to Islam from Christianity. Ghazan certainly fits the pop-cultural depictions of Mongol warriors - long mustache, WildHair, etc. |
| 256 | ** Consider, also, the phonetic similarity to the Japanese word for "volcano" (''kazan''). |
| 257 | * MinionShipping: Hinted at. Bolin speculates that he 'grew his moustache at age ten', that he was 'raised by an older sister', and that he and Ming-Hua share an 'unspoken attraction'. Ghazan shares a quick glance with his Red Lotus teammate, and then says (in a surprised but not displeased tone) that he's got two out of three right. |
| 258 | * MomentKiller: When P'Li and Zaheer are reunited and start kissing, he breaks in and says, "[[GetARoom Now? Really]]?". |
| 259 | * NeverGoingBackToPrison: [[spoiler:The reason he collapses the cave he's in.]] |
| 260 | * NominalVillain: Ghazan is a genuinely chummy person, especially by the standards of the Red Lotus (the other members don't qualify for some reason or another, like Zaheer's extremism or Ming-Hua's sadism). He even has to be told to not act friendly to Bolin. |
| 261 | * NotBad: Said word for word after Ghazan is genuinely impressed that Bolin was able to guess the majority of his backstory correctly. |
| 262 | * NoSell: Every time Bolin tries attacking him, he converts the rocks into lava and sends them right back. When the Dai Li try their rock gloves, he punches each one right back with ease. |
| 263 | * OnlySaneMan: Not stated, but he is apparently the most down to earth of the four; given how P'Li and Ming-Hua are temperamental and AxCrazy, respectively, while Zaheer has shown himself to possess a nasty [[TheUnfettered ruthless streak.]] Meanwhile, Ghazan hasn't shown any real quirks of his own. |
| 264 | * PersonOfMassDestruction: The Red Lotus's main team are among the most powerful benders in the world, but most of them (even the walking artillery platform P'li) are more in 'precise, controlled OneManArmy' territory than this. Ghazan, on the other hand, has an offensive output roughly on par with a firebending master empowered by Sozin's Comet - or, to put it another way, he can literally ''melt mountains''. |
| 265 | * PetTheDog: He's genuinely willing to strike up a conversation with a captive Bolin despite being on opposing forces. He even expresses admiration for the latter correctly guessing a good chunk of his backstory. |
| 266 | * PunchClockVillain: Ghazan is actually a pretty nice guy, he's just on the opposite side of the heroes. He's genuinely friends with the rest of his team, and strikes up an amicable conversation with a captive Bolin. He also hesitates significantly when the situation requires lethal force; he needed encouragement from Ming-Hua to attack and seemed content to let her [[spoiler:kill Korra, not making a move until she began to break her chains.]] He also doesn't show signs of sadism or psychopathic behavior like the others. |
| 267 | * PrisonsAreGymnasiums: Not much else to do when stuck in a giant cage other than pull-ups. |
| 268 | * ScreamingWarrior: Not normally, but during his [[spoiler:final moments, he screams as he brings the whole cave down in an attempt to take Mako and Bolin down with him]]. |
| 269 | * SheFu: Like Bolin, a rare male example who's light on his feet and full of flips. |
| 270 | * SuperpowerLottery: His lavabending makes it difficult to fight him, particularly for other earthbenders, who pretty much just give him more ammo. |
| 271 | * TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Cornered by Mako and Bolin, he finally loses his cool at the thought of going back to prison, and attempts to bring the whole cave down with all of them in it. They escape, he does not.]] |
| 272 | * TattooedCrook: His ShirtlessScene introduction shows his chest, back and arms have multiple tattoos. |
| 273 | * VillainousBreakdown: He usually keeps his cool and is also pretty jovial to most people he meets, even his enemies. He does have a breakdown though [[spoiler:at the thought of going back to prison and melts the entire cave down with him still in it, as he'd rather [[NeverGoingBackToPrison die than be locked up again]]]]. |
| 274 | * VillainRespect: To the point of being a FriendlyEnemy with Bolin, who he gets on well with, and is downright delighted to find he's unwittingly taught him [[spoiler: how to Lavabend]], seeing him as a WorthyOpponent and telling him to show him what he's got. |
| 275 | * WildHair: It's pretty long... which gives Bumi [[ByTheHair plenty to grab ahold of]]. |
| 276 | * WorthyOpponent: Feels this way about Bolin, after [[spoiler: after Bolin learns how to lavabend]], being downright ''delighted'', and tells him to BringIt, sounding like he's anticipating a challenge. |
| 277 | [[/folder]] |
| 278 | |
| 279 | [[folder:Ming-Hua]] |
| 280 | !!Ming-Hua |
| 281 | !!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/GreyDeLisle |
| 282 | |
| 283 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ming_hua_8025.png]] |
| 284 | [[caption-width-right:350: "I would've killed for some rain."]] |
| 285 | |
| 286 | A waterbender born without arms who uses water to form substitute limbs. |
| 287 | ---- |
| 288 | * AchillesHeel: Connecting the water directly to herself makes for some incredibly versatile and dangerous limbs. But if say, [[spoiler: an electrical current ran through the water]], she's a sitting turtleduck. |
| 289 | * AffablyEvil: Not to the extent of Zaheer or Ghazan given her AxCrazy tendencies, but she openly chats with Bolin. |
| 290 | * ArtificialLimbs: Uses waterbending to create some. |
| 291 | * AxCrazy: She's clearly the most unstable and psychotic member of the Red Lotus, reveling in violence much more than her teammates. She does enjoy her jailbreak a lot more than the men who were already rescued. In "Old Wounds", in order to leave Republic City after Zaheer was discovered infiltrating Air Temple Island, Ming-Hua threatens to hurt a delivery man with an icicle if he refuses to cooperate and suggests kidnapping and torturing a police officer to learn Korra's whereabouts. Later, she threatens a radio operator when he's somewhat reluctant to just hand over the controls, which Zaheer actually calls her out on. In "The Ultimatum", shortly after the group's arrival to the Northern Air Temple, Ming-Hua ambushed and held Opal hostage in order to ensure the cooperation of Kya, Bumi, and the other members of the Air Nation. |
| 292 | * BlackEyesOfEvil: While [[http://s27.postimg.org/hnp4em3z7/Ming_Hua_Looking_Inappropriately_Coy.png at least one close-up]] reveals her eyes to actually be a very dark blue-gray, the effect is the same. |
| 293 | * BladeBelowTheShoulder: She likes freezing the tips of her water-tentacle 'arms' into vicious-looking and very sharp blades of ice. |
| 294 | * BloodKnight: She clearly enjoys fighting, giving her opponents a big SlasherSmile. |
| 295 | * BuildingSwing: Her combat strategy often employs swinging from any available structures to increase her mobility. |
| 296 | * ClippedWingAngel: [[spoiler: In the Season 3 finale, she attempts to lure Mako into water to give herself an environmental advantage. This just makes it easier for him to electrocute her.]] |
| 297 | * CloseRangeCombatant: She generally prefers to use water for her prehensile arms rather than attack at a distance, a good example being her fight against the twins. Most of the time this isn't an issue, since she still has quite long reach, but it's seen once in a while. |
| 298 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: She spent her time in prison thinking of possible backstories for the White Lotus guards who held her captive; ranging from them having issues with their girlfriends, to secretly wishing to be a pastry chef. |
| 299 | * CombatTentacles: She uses her water arms in this fashion, and she can shape them into whatever form she needs, including hardening them into ice tools. And if enough water is available, she can then make far more than just her usual two. |
| 300 | * CreepyShadowedUndereyes: Her eyes look visibly sunken, which [[JustifiedTrope can be explained off as a symptom of dehydration]] but also serves to make her look eerie. |
| 301 | * CurbStompBattle: She had no trouble kicking Mako's ass all over the place in "The Stakeout". Not much of a surprise given it was a firebender versus a master waterbender at nighttime. Her fight against Kya went a little bit better for the latter, though Kya was still on the defensive for most of the fight and ultimately lost. |
| 302 | ** She also takes out Desna and Eska in less than 30 seconds. The twins were unable to land a single blow, and Ming-Hua didn't even need to defend herself against a single attack - she simple evaded all of their attacks before incapacitating them. |
| 303 | * DarkActionGirl: And a HandicappedBadass to boot. To top it off, she is the first to give Desna and Eska a run for their money. |
| 304 | * DeadpanSnarker: Her nonchalant response to the group being caught kidnapping Korra: |
| 305 | -->"So much for the element of surprise." |
| 306 | * DidntSeeThatComing: [[spoiler: How she meets her demise against Mako. Every prior bout to their last one was against him just fire bending. It never once occurred to her that he was able to lightningbend, something she didn't take into account when she led him to an underground lake.]] |
| 307 | * DisabilityNegatingSuperpower: Was congenitally Armless but like Toph before her supplements this with her ability to created water limbs even if they don't fully replace a "natural" limb. |
| 308 | * DisabilitySuperpower: She provides the current page image even. As a 24/7 user of waterbending just to make limbs she can keep Kaya, who is no slouch herself, on the ropes and eventually overwhelem her. |
| 309 | * EvilCripple: No arms, and a deranged maniac aligned with BombThrowingAnarchists. |
| 310 | * {{Goth}}: She has the look down, appearing quite grim and wearing dark clothes, and she's got a snarky attitude. |
| 311 | * GothGirlsKnowMagic: Her appearance and personality are quite gothy, and she's easily one of the most powerful waterbenders in the series, not even needing arms to bend as many [[CombatTentacles water whips]] and [[BladeBelowTheShoulder ice blades]] as she wants. |
| 312 | * HandicappedBadass: She has no arms, but she can bend just fine and use water to create limbs even more versatile. Her lack of arms has been confirmed as congenital diamelia, meaning that, like Toph, she's had her whole life to perfect the technique. |
| 313 | * HighVoltageDeath: [[spoiler:She leads Mako into an underground lake where she thinks she'll have the advantage, but he immediately jumps to high ground and fires lightning at the water, which conducts through her water arms and fries her. Whether it killed her or not is left ambiguous, although WordOfGod confirmed that it killed her.]] |
| 314 | * HoistByHerOwnPetard: Ming-Hua connects her water to her body, giving her unparalleled control over her CombatTentacles. [[spoiler:The tentacles themselves function like normal water. As such, Mako is able to shoot them with lightning, conducting the current through her body and stopping her heart.]] |
| 315 | * AnIcePerson: She will often harden the ends of her CombatTentacles into ice to give them more power. Not necessarily a nice person, indeed. Comes with being a waterbender. |
| 316 | * LeanAndMean: She has a noticeably emaciated face and figure. Given the need to ration her water carefully and the extreme heat of her prison, this is to be expected. Her lack of arms also makes her seem thinner then the average person. |
| 317 | * LogicalWeakness: Since she has no arms if she has no water, Ming-Hua is even more vulnerable than other waterbenders if she has a limited water supply. Mako actually bests her temporarily in "Venom of the Red Lotus" because his fire attacks evaporate her water arms with each strike. [[spoiler:As expected of someone who is constantly connected to water, lightning is also a serious problem.]] |
| 318 | * MakingASplash: She's a waterbender. She can also [[AnIcePerson make ice]]. |
| 319 | * MinionShipping: Possibly. Bolin guesses that Ghazan grew his mustache out at age ten, was raised by an older sister, and that he and Ming-Hua have an unspoken attraction to each other. Upon hearing that last guess, she and Ghazan share a quick glance with each other, then Ming-Hua looks away just as quickly. Ghazan confirms that two out of three of the guesses were right. |
| 320 | * MultiArmedAndDangerous: If she needs the extra power, she can create multiple water limbs. |
| 321 | * MundaneUtility: At one point, she uses her water arms to drive a car. |
| 322 | * NeckLift: She bends an ice brace around [[spoiler:Opal]]'s at the Northern Air Temple to force compliance from the group of airbenders she was pursuing. She also uses a water tentacle as secondary support, which doubles as a way to keep [[spoiler:Opal]] from bending. |
| 323 | * NervesOfSteel: Upon rescuing P'Li, the two are face to face with Zuko's dragon, who readies a fire blast at 'em both. Ming-Hua doesn't even react or flinch, whether it's because she knows she has the elemental advantage, or knew that P'Li was just going to redirect or bend the fire anyway. |
| 324 | * NothingUpMySleeve: During their trip to Ba Sing Se, she wears oversized sleeves that hide her water arms, making for an effective surprise attack. |
| 325 | * PintSizedPowerhouse: [[http://i.imgur.com/mNEaEwx.jpg She's the shortest of the group]] but every bit as dangerous as the rest of them are. |
| 326 | * PsychoticSmirk: This and disdain about sum up her facial expressions. |
| 327 | * ShapeshifterWeapon: Even by normal waterbending standards, Ming-Hua's bending is ridiculously versatile. She has used it to perform building swings, act as pseudo-prosthetics, carve open a window stealthily, and much more. |
| 328 | * SinisterScythe: The most common thing she makes with her icebending extensions is scythes/blades. |
| 329 | * SlasherSmile: Gives one when fighting Mako and Bolin, and an even bigger one to Kya when the waterbender proves skilled enough for her to use her strongest moves yet seen on. |
| 330 | * SpectacularSpinning: In addition to building swings, this is her other preferred fighting method. |
| 331 | * SpiderLimbs: She can create around eight water arms to move around like a liquid powered ComicBook/DoctorOctopus. |
| 332 | * SwissArmySuperpower: She's used her waterbending to create water [[CombatTentacles arms]] and ice [[SinisterScythe scythes]] and [[BladeBelowTheShoulder blades]]. |
| 333 | * ThoughtControlledPower: Like Combustion Man and P'li's [[HavingABlast Combustionbending]] and Noatak and Yakone's bloodbending, she doesn't need to move her body parts at all to manipulate her water arms. |
| 334 | * UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Virtually none of the Krew, or anyone else for that matter, comments on her missing arms. Mako refers to her as "That Water-Arm Lady" once, but that's it. |
| 335 | * WallCrawl: Climbs up the glacier wall after breaking P'Li out of her cell, using her water arms as ice picks. P'Li notes they could have [[MundaneSolution just taken the elevator]]. |
| 336 | -->'''P'Li:''' Show-off. |
| 337 | * WeakButSkilled: She is this when compared to the other members of the Red Lotus. Unlike the other members of her group she isn't a PersonOfMassDestruction (like Ghazan) or in possession of the SuperPowerLottery (like Zaheer and P'Li). Instead her strengths come from her ability to create [[SwissArmySuperpower incredibly versatile variations of water tentacles to overwhelm her opponents]] [[DisabilitySuperpower by using her lack of arms as an advantage to create her own unique bending style]]. |
| 338 | [[/folder]] |
| 339 | |
| 340 | [[folder:P'Li]] |
| 341 | !!P'Li |
| 342 | !!!'''Voiced by:''' Kristy Wu |
| 343 | |
| 344 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/li_5264.png]] |
| 345 | [[caption-width-right:350: "I've waited thirteen years to feel this warm."]] |
| 346 | |
| 347 | A firebender who, like Combustion Man, is able to generate explosions. |
| 348 | ---- |
| 349 | * AchillesHeel: Her ThirdEye tattoo generates her combustion attacks, but [[CallBack can be disrupted by a simple strike to the head.]] |
| 350 | * AffablyEvil: Inverted, and notable for its absence. Unlike the other members of her group, P'Li is all business and very cold, for the most part. She only really shows emotions [[UnholyMatrimony whenever she's with Zaheer.]] |
| 351 | * AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Her death by Suyin was quite cruel and sad. Just hearing her backstory of how she ended up in the Red Lotus just makes it sadder.]] |
| 352 | * AttackItsWeakPoint: Just like Combustion Man before her, attacks to the ThirdEye can disrupt her combustion bending. |
| 353 | * AxCrazy: Gives off an air of this during her rambling when Zuko and Tonraq visit to make sure she's still in her prison, and again when surrounded by flames. She's a little unbalanced, to say the least, though far less so than Ming-Hua. |
| 354 | * BraidsOfAction: A waist-length side-cut worn in a single row braid. |
| 355 | * TheBrute: While they're all dangerous, P'Li is definitely the powerhouse of the group, since her combustion bending has the most direct offensive potential, [[spoiler:though Ghazan later one-ups her by melting the mountain the Northern Air Temple was on]]. She's also the tallest. |
| 356 | * ChildSoldier: She was supposed to be one to some unnamed warlord, raised as a killing machine due to her destructive power. That is, until Zaheer saved her. |
| 357 | * ColdSniper: Combustion bending makes any firebender who has mastered it into essentially one of the most feared and devastating snipers ever to grace the world of Avatar, and P'Li is no exception. Not only can she curve her shots to blast enemies behind cover, but, as evidenced in "The Ultimatum", her visual acuity and [[BuffySpeak hand-eye-chakra-tattoo-thingie coordination]] is insane, allowing her to track moving targets from a distance and pick them off at her leisure. Not only that, she is capable of using her sharp vision and explosive sniping ability in a tactical manner by taking her environment into consideration, such as aiming for structural weak points or [[spoiler:scattering a herd of air bison to prevent the airbenders at the temple from escaping]]. This in mind, it makes sense from a strategic standpoint for Zaheer to have her [[spoiler:circling the temple from their airship, because that's where she could do the most damage and work in the group's favor to control the fight by providing cover fire and keeping the airbenders busy]]. In addition, P'Li is not immune to her own combustion, so having her fight from a distance is simply a matter of practicality. [[spoiler:Suyin takes advantage of this by metalbending a barrier right in front of P'Li, which kills her.]] |
| 358 | * CripplingOverspecialization: P'Li's over-reliance on her combustion bending over regular firebending makes her the worst close-range combatant of the four, and the one with the most obvious weakness in that her combustion must be fired from a distance. Bolin exploits this with a precision shot and puts her out of commission for a battle in Zaofu. [[spoiler:Su later exploits this on Laghima's Peak, resulting in P'Li blowing herself to pieces.]] |
| 359 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: P'Li is about to kill Lin with a close-range combustion attack. While Lin distracts her, [[spoiler: Su encases her head with her breastplate as P'li is about to let off of a blast. The last thing we see is light poking through the holes in the armor before we're treated to a GoryDiscretionShot. At least it was quick.]] |
| 360 | * DarkActionGirl: One of the most dangerous ladies in the series. |
| 361 | * DarkAndTroubledPast: She was raised as a living weapon, only to be rescued by Zaheer. |
| 362 | * DeathGlare: Gives a rather scary one right at the start of "In Harm's Way". Any use of her combustion bending is preceded by a serious glare at her intended target. |
| 363 | * ADeathInTheLimelight: [[spoiler:WordOfGod admitted that they gave P'Li her last scene with Zaheer to give her ''some'' characterization before her death not long afterwards.]] |
| 364 | * DistaffCounterpart: To Combustion Man, as noted by Zuko. |
| 365 | * TheDragon: She is Zaheer’s attack dog. |
| 366 | * TheDreaded: Even more so than the rest of the Red Lotus. On both of the occasions an opponent has had time to articulate a strategy against them, it has included specifically neutralizing or avoiding her. |
| 367 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: She's Zaheer's girlfriend, and even stays behind to protect his defenseless body while he's in the Spirit World as Ghazan and Ming-Hua head after Korra. [[spoiler:The minute she dies, Zaheer loses all that remains of his earthly attachments, but it makes him even more vengeful.]] |
| 368 | * EvilSoundsDeep: A throaty growl, although her voice rises in pitch when she's getting cozy with Zaheer. |
| 369 | * FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler:For what is [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids ostensibly a kids' show]], it's hard to get worse than having a self-inflicted case of YourHeadAsplode. The rather extreme GoryDiscretionShot (not so much as a "boom") leaves most of it in the imagination of the viewer.]] |
| 370 | * FemmeFatalons: Downplayed example. Her nails, while not particularly long, are painted red-black. |
| 371 | * FreudianExcuse: She was captured by a warlord when she was a young girl and raised to be a weapon. This is part of the reason why she joined the Red Lotus. |
| 372 | * GlassCannon: Her combustion bending gives her tremendous offensive power at a second's notice, but conversely it's extremely sensitive and easily knocked out if her opponents can hit the tattoo. However, she can use her normal firebending to supplement her defense if need be. |
| 373 | * HavingABlast: She's able to fire beams from her ThirdEye that explode on contact, just like Combustion Man. Unlike him, she can also curve her shots, so hiding behind cover isn't nearly as effective. |
| 374 | * HeadBlast: Like Combustion Man, P'Li can fire explosive blasts from her forehead. |
| 375 | * HoistByHerOwnPetard: [[spoiler:P'Li is not immune to the effects of her own combustion, so she must fight at a distance. In addition, her detonations require an unobstructed path to follow, as blockades in the way will detonate them early. Suyin takes advantage of both of these faults by metalbending her breastplate onto P'Li's head just as she is about to fire upon Lin. The detonation blows P'Li to pieces.]] |
| 376 | * MauveShirt: Doesn't have nearly as much screen time or characterization as the rest of the Red Lotus before having one tender scene with Zaheer [[spoiler: shortly before her gruesome death.]] |
| 377 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 378 | ** Her name sounds exactly the same as Pele the Hawaiian goddess of the Volcano. There is no way that is just a coincidence. |
| 379 | ** It's also pretty close to a Mandarin phrase meaning "thunderbolt." ''[[HellIsThatNoise Click, click, boom]]''. |
| 380 | ** And it is exactly identical to the oldtimey Russian "''пли''", the shouted command for riflemen and cannon crews to "''open fire''". |
| 381 | * MoralityChain: P'Li is implied to be one to Zaheer, notable in the marked change in his demeanor after [[spoiler: her death.]] Prior to that, he was an honorable person despite his ruthlessness who avoided hurting innocents if possible. But after [[spoiler:she dies and he severs his earthly tether]], Zaheer becomes much more cold and vengeful. And he also becomes slightly unhinged, [[spoiler: laughing and gloating about Korra's imminent death and then going into a full blown rant after Suyin metalbends the poison out of her]]. |
| 382 | * OneHeadTaller: An unusual version in that it's P'Li who's a head taller than Zaheer. |
| 383 | * PlayingWithFire: Unlike Combustion Man, she can use traditional firebending in addition to her explosion talent, hence the need to keep her somewhere very cold. She shows off her skills when she uses firebending to block a fire attack from Zuko's dragon. However, she still usually relies on her combustion. |
| 384 | * TheQuietOne: She speaks the least out of the Red Lotus members we meet. |
| 385 | * RageAgainstTheLegalSystem: P'Li wants to avenge her imprisonment because they kept her away from Zaheer for so long. Zaheer even promises her once they're rid of the Avatar, the Red Lotus will eliminate prisons altogether. |
| 386 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Her outfit is mostly shades of bright and dark red, her [[FemmeFatalons nail polish]] is black with a hint of red, and the dominant color of her ThirdEye tattoo is red. Even her [[http://s11.postimg.org/ofbez6g9f/Poor_Big_Evil_Wounded_Girl.jpg eyes]] are [[RedEyesTakeWarning an unusually russet shade of brown]]. (Then again, of course, she ''is'' a [[ColorCodedElements firebender]].) |
| 387 | * RescueRomance: A rather twisted, evil version of this. Zaheer saved her from a life as some warlord's living weapon, to which she is eternally grateful. He saves her again by breaking her out of prison. |
| 388 | * ReunionKiss: With Zaheer, after the group breaks her out of prison. |
| 389 | -->'''Ghazan:''' ''Really?'' [[GetARoom Right now?]] |
| 390 | * SatelliteCharacter: To Zaheer, even more than Ghazan and Ming-Hua. Most of what characterization P'Li has revolves around her love and loyalty to him. |
| 391 | * StatuesqueStunner: [[http://i.imgur.com/mNEaEwx.jpg She's the tallest of the group]] at 6'8" and cleans up rather nicely after escaping prison. |
| 392 | * TheStoic: She is always calm and composed; rarely losing her temper, unless Zaheer is in danger. |
| 393 | * SugarAndIcePersonality: |
| 394 | ** While all of them have this to a degree, she is the stand-out example. Unless you are Zaheer, don't expect any warm feelings from her. |
| 395 | ** However, her snarking at Ming-Hua when she freed her and Ghazan telling she and Zaheer to GetARoom imply she's at very least VitriolicBestBuds with the rest of the team. [[spoiler: This is also supported by the fact that Ming Hua and Ghazan look visibly saddened when Zaheer tells them she died.]] |
| 396 | * SuperpowerLottery: P'li has more refined control of her combustion blasts than Combustion Man, being able to direct them around corners. |
| 397 | * ThirdEye: The red tattoo on her forehead. |
| 398 | * TinyGuyHugeGirl: P'Li is the tallest of her companions and towers over her lover, Zaheer. |
| 399 | * TragicVillain: Used as a weapon by a warlord when she was a girl, then rescued by Zaheer who, while genuinely loving her, ultimately led her back into the same fate he rescued her from, just in a different context. [[spoiler:Then she dies in defense of him.]] |
| 400 | * UnholyMatrimony: With Zaheer. |
| 401 | * ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: |
| 402 | ** She nearly blew up Tonraq when Zaheer was having trouble with him. |
| 403 | ** She later blasts [[spoiler:Tenzin off a ledge]] when he subdued Zaheer and is about to deliver a finishing blow. |
| 404 | * WeakButSkilled: When compared with Combustion Man, though obviously "weak" in this case is a decidedly relative term. Combustion Man's blasts were powerful enough to crater entire buildings (or building-sized rocks), and the Gaang had no choice but to run whenever they encountered him. P'Li's blasts seem to be much less destructive, but she can curve them around corners, eliminating the biggest weakness of combustion bending. |
| 405 | * WouldHurtAChild: While she shows no pleasure in it, she also shows no hesitation firing directly on [[spoiler:Kai when he tries to distract her from stopping the other airbenders from escaping]], and would have likely killed him had he not [[spoiler:airbended a shield to take the brunt of the blast (and what got through was still enough to knock him unconscious)]]. She appears to treat opposition as simply opposition, regardless of who it comes from, and deals with it in the same way (blasting it until it either stops moving or retreats). |
| 406 | * YourHeadASplode: [[spoiler:Implicitly via GoryDiscretionShot, when Su bends her armour over P'Li's head as she is about to combust.]] |
| 407 | [[/folder]] |
| 408 | |
| 409 | [[folder:Aiwei]] |
| 410 | !!Aiwei |
| 411 | !!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MauriceLaMarche |
| 412 | |
| 413 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aiwei_4127.png]] |
| 414 | [[caption-width-right:350:"You have no idea what's coming for you, Avatar."]] |
| 415 | |
| 416 | A [[LivingLieDetector truth-seer]] and one of the highest-ranking officials in the city of Zaofu. Turns out to be an undercover agent for the Red Lotus. |
| 417 | ---- |
| 418 | * AffablyEvil: Nothing but polite to people, even those who have correctly accused him of treason. He even serves them tea. |
| 419 | * AmbiguouslyGay: Has some vaguely camp mannerisms and nose-piercings. Reportedly was revealed alongside Kya to be LGBT, although further specifics are not elaborated upon. |
| 420 | * BaldOfEvil: He's got no hair on top of his head. Also, he's evil. |
| 421 | * BeardOfEvil: He wears a beard. Also, he's evil. |
| 422 | * ClaspYourHandsIfYouDeceive: Adopts this pose when pretending to discover a guard's involvement in the Red Lotus' attack. |
| 423 | * CrazyPrepared: His escape from Zaofu. He created a tunnel outside the city hidden behind a bookcase and parked a Jeep at its exit. When he is discovered, he bends a metal wall in front of his pursuers (only one of whom is a metalbending novice), escapes through this tunnel, and ''rigs an IED'' to destroy the tunnel, any evidence he may have left behind, and possibly his pursuers if they can get past the wall. |
| 424 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: Overall his plan to frame the young Zaofu Guard Hong Li was rather ill thought through, as the amount of evidence he planted in the guard's apartment was simply too overwhelming making it look like it was deliberately planted, which it was. Secondly the fact that Hong Li was only eighteen and had lived in Zaofu his whole life, whereas Zaheer and his group had been imprisoned for thirteen years, making it rather unrealistic for him to have any reason to have any connection to them in the first place. |
| 425 | * DisneyVillainDeath: Thrown into [[spoiler: the Fog Of Lost Souls by Zaheer.]] |
| 426 | * ExtraOreDinary: Though more focus is given to his truth-seeing abilities, he metalbends a large wall to block Team Avatar during his escape from Zaofu. |
| 427 | * FateWorseThanDeath: Having his [[spoiler: spirit thrown into the Fog of Lost Souls...while technically still alive.]] FridgeHorror when you remember what Katara said in Book 2 [[spoiler: Jinora's strong spirit kept her body alive even after the long trip from the Air temple to the healing hut where Kya's kept her stable for another week. Aiwei's spiritual, but not as much and likely to be found dead sooner or later in that hotel.]] |
| 428 | * {{Irony}}: For a truth-seer, he's also quite a BadLiar, as demonstrated when he fails to convince Zaheer that he was not followed. |
| 429 | * LivingLieDetector: Is a truth-seer, and therefore able to sense whenever a person is lying. This ensures that only he can keep a secret in Zaofu. |
| 430 | * TheLoad: Zaheer accuses him of being a "loose end" before [[spoiler: consigning his soul to the Fog]], blaming him for the failure of the attack at Zaofu. Somewhat justified as he had proven to be a hindrance twice. |
| 431 | ** First setting the bomb when Korra went after him. Had the bomb killed her, it would've hugely delayed the Red Lotus' plans of [[spoiler:forcing into the Avatar State and killing her.]] |
| 432 | ** Second, he insists he wasn't followed even though he was. |
| 433 | * MeaningfulName: His name is similar to Ai Weiwei, activist who vocally opposes human rights abuses by the Chinese government. Fitting for a member of the anti-government Red Lotus. |
| 434 | * TheMole: Turns out to have been working for the Red Lotus the entire time. |
| 435 | * MundaneUtility: Once uses his ability to find out how good the drinks are at a bar. |
| 436 | * NonActionGuy: He is highly intelligent and spiritual, but most certainly not a fighter. |
| 437 | * PayEvilUntoEvil: Zaheer throws him into [[spoiler: the Fog of Lost Souls.]] |
| 438 | * PetTheDog: He shows a surprising amount of compassion when not doing work for the Red Lotus. Notably, he's concerned enough about Lin's well-being when he notices how stressed out she is, that he points her to an acupuncturist immediately. Well, it was his job. |
| 439 | * ProperlyParanoid: When waiting for sunset at the Misty Palms Inn, he apparently spends the entire time peeking through the curtains of his hotel room at regular intervals to make sure he's not being watched. Ironically, he was being staked out by Team Avatar the entire time - from the hotel room directly opposite his - [[FailedASpotCheck and didn't even notice!]] |
| 440 | * SavagePiercings: Inverted. He wears earrings and his trademark nose-to-ear piercing, but these serve to highlight the CrystalSpiresAndTogas nature of Zaofu and his high rank in the utopian city, and make him look more distinguished. |
| 441 | * SpottingTheThread: He was able to deduce that Team Avatar was onto him when he found the passage to his secret tunnel was ajar and, more impressively, noticing the vase on the bookshelf to be just ''slightly'' out of place. |
| 442 | %% * StraightGay: Please see trivia discussion before using this -> http://gayerthanthefourthofjuly.tumblr.com/post/114270235542/so-i-decided-to-ask-bryke-something-really |
| 443 | * WickedCultured: A deeply spiritual man and prolific metalbender with a love of books, and a member of the Red Lotus. |
| 444 | [[/folder]] |
| 445 | |
| 446 | !!Earth Empire |
| 447 | |
| 448 | [[folder:General]] |
| 449 | [[quoteright:244:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/earth_empire_emblem_1972.png]] |
| 450 | [[caption-width-right:244:"Anyone who crosses our borders, or stands in our way, will be crushed."]] |
| 451 | Following the Earth Queen's death, the Earth Kingdom collapsed into anarchy, divided and full of bandits harassing the population. Zaofu being the last state untouched, the world leaders approached Suyin and asked her to take over, reunite the kingdom and bring back order in preparation for Prince Wu's ascension to the throne. When she refused, her captain of the guards, Kuvira, volunteered to do it instead. Despite her rather drastic methods, she proved effective at the task, gaining popularity as "the Great Uniter". When the time came for Prince Wu's coronation, however, she refused to hand over power and proclaimed herself the new official leader, renaming the nation Earth Empire. |
| 452 | ---- |
| 453 | * BadassArmy: They do have nice uniforms and awesome looking weapons. The pilots in the mini mecha are also savvy enough in their second fight with Bolin and would've won if Varrick didn't use the EMP in time. |
| 454 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Kuvira has made prison camps, which she uses to hold people who disagree with her, or anybody who isn't from the Earth Kingdom/Empire. [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Sound]] ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_Americans familiar]]''? |
| 455 | * EliteMooks: The Earth Empire's metalbending soldiers are tough. One-on-one, they can even give Lin a hard time of it, and as for the two-vs.-two against Mako and Bolin, Team Avatar is on the back foot for most of the fight. |
| 456 | * TheEmpire: To contrast with the [[TheRepublic United Republic of Nations]]. [[TokenGoodTeammate Bolin]] even [[LampshadeHanging points out]] he feels uncomfortable about how aggressive "Empire" sounds. |
| 457 | * EvilCounterpart: |
| 458 | ** To the Metal Clan; both Kuvira and Baatar Jr. come from Zaofu, their initial forces are a Metal Clan RenegadeSplinterFaction, and Kuvira based her ideology on what she learned from Suyin. |
| 459 | ** To an extent, they can also be seen as one to the New Air Nation; both are recently born factions who track part of their origins from the Earth Kingdom (most of the New Air Nation's recruits were Earth Kingdom citizens before they gained Airbending) and try to [[WeHelpTheHelpless help the helpless]] in the Earth Kingdom. The difference being the New Air Nation genuinely helps people with no condition, while Kuvira strong-arms the various states into submitting to her in exchange for her help. The parallel is even more visible in the first episode, where the two are actually seen helping the same state, such showing the contrast between their methods. |
| 460 | * FantasticRacism: Hits this point in "The Reunion". All citizens (or at least benders) not of ethnic Earth Kingdom origin are rounded up and sent to re-education camps. |
| 461 | * GasMaskMooks: Kuvira's generic soldiers have this look. It's similar to the design of Varrick's magnet armor from "Old Wounds". |
| 462 | * HegemonicEmpire: At first. Unlike the Fire Nation, Kuvira wanted the Earth Empire with this in mind. They can't take away people's freedoms, or they will oppose them; but with the Earth Kingdom ravaged by three years of war and instability, states ''willingly'' join the Earth Empire because they need someone to protect them. However, ultimately averted when the Empire begins to use force to incorporate those regions that won't submit willingly--and then launches an all-out attack on the Republic. |
| 463 | * HeWhoFightsMonsters: The Earth Empire remembers how the Fire Nation had stolen lands from the Earth Kingdom, how the lands were never given back but rather converted into an independent city-nation, how the monarchy led their nation to ruins, and how easily the whole kingdom collapsed with the death of Queen Hou-Ting. They intend to correct these problems by becoming a military-driven empire led by one figure to reclaim all lost Earth Kingdom territories, including Republic City. By the end of the series, they had become a spiritual successor to Sozin's Fire Nation and Hou-Ting's absolute monarchy. |
| 464 | * HistoryRepeats: Kuvira wants to share the ideals and achievements of Zaofu to the rest of a reunified Earth Kingdom. This is eerily similar to Fire Lord Sozin's own goals that started the Hundred Year War. Had Kuvira not been stopped, the Earth Empire would have become the Fire Nation of the original series -- an expansionist militaristic power. At the same time, they're wary not to repeat the mistakes the Fire Nation made, which is forcibly taking away people's freedoms. |
| 465 | * {{Irony}}: Back in ''The Last Airbender'', the Earth Kingdom was at worst neutral, and the series finale ended with Firelord Ozai almost burning them to the ground. Comes Book 4 of ''Legend of Korra'', Kuvira has essentially made the Earth Empire this show's version of the Fire Nation, while the ''actual'' Fire Nation has become pacific to the point of refusing to take part in a pre-emptive intervention against them. The only difference from the Fire Nation is that the Earth Empire is only focused on taking the entire continent and envision making themselves a dominant superpower, not to take over the world but rather [[GunboatDiplomacy carrying the big stick]] over them, not to mention they're a military junta that lacks any legitimacy. |
| 466 | * {{Magitek}}: Varrick and Baatar Jr. designed technology using spirit vines. [[spoiler:The end result is a WaveMotionGun powered by spirit energy and a HumongousMecha also powered by spirit energy to mount it on]]. |
| 467 | * MilitaryCoup: After she's reunified the Earth Kingdom, Kuvira refuses to turn over leadership to Prince Wu, instead rechristening it the Earth Empire and putting herself in charge. |
| 468 | * MiniMecha: Kuvira has new, smaller mini mecha in her army, much closer to PoweredArmor than the originals. Designed by Varrick, they are equipped with [[GrapplingHookPistol grappling cables]], flamethrowers, lightning launchers and are fast and maneuverable enough to be considered [[LightningBruiser Lightning Bruisers]]. |
| 469 | * PunchClockVillain: The few regular soldiers that received focus are this, The two soldiers Ikki meets start feeling sorry for her and even help her out a bit. When Baatar Jr. went missing before the surrender negotiations, his soldiers became so lost and confused that Raiko had to step in. |
| 470 | * PuttingOnTheReich: |
| 471 | ** Kuvira's metalbending troops wear dark metal helmets reminiscent of the Japanese ''Kabuto'' or Darth Vader helmet, [[GasMaskMooks complete with mask]]). Non-bender privates, on the other hand, wear simpler helmets that are almost identical to a WWII-era [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stahlhelm Stahlhelm]]. The colour of their uniforms is reminiscent of the Wehrmacht's distinctive [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_green#Feldgrau Feldgrau]] hue, but is closer to that of the paramilitary Ordnungspolizei. |
| 472 | ** The [[http://media.tumblr.com/97b82820bc10efc582244728f31262b7/tumblr_inline_nd0xwyxb4m1rqvtlj.png symbol of Kuvira's army and the Metal Clan]], an Earth Kingdom disc on a broad-armed cross within an octagon, bears some resemblance to the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkenkreuz Balkenkreuz]]'', the emblem of the German armed forces. |
| 473 | ** And to even further drive the comparison home, it's later revealed that [[FantasticRacism they're imprisoning anyone with non-Earth Nation ancestry, like firebenders and waterbenders]]. |
| 474 | ** In Episode 10, [[spoiler:it's revealed that their spirit vine-powered superweapon takes the form of a giant cannon mounted on a platform moving on twin railway tracks, based on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwerer_Gustav Schewerer Gustav]], the largest and most infamous of the railway guns employed by Nazi Germany in World War II, and the only one so large as to require twin tracks.]] |
| 475 | * RecruitedFromTheGutter: A good number of soldiers in the Earth Empire are citizens who have turned to a life of crime when there was no one to keep them safe. Joining the Empire was their only alternative to that kind of life. |
| 476 | * RenegadeSplinterFaction: Kuvira's initial army was formed from soldiers of Zaofu who chose to join her in her effort to unite the Earth Kingdom. By the time the show starts, however, it has become much more. |
| 477 | * RepressiveButEfficient: Compared to the original monarchy and the Earth Queen, the Earth Empire is considered to be a sizable upgrade (for better or for worse). It runs on [[VillainWithGoodPublicity good publicity]] from the general Earth Kingdom public, having the fractured kingdom join under her authority after riding it of its rampant crime and reestablishing trade between them, all run by a matriarch who (unlike the Earth Queen) rose to power through merit, competence and hard work instead of lineage. Even compared to the Fire Nation, the Earth Empire prioritized constructive order over force, that Kuvira's authority could ideologically sink in due to the fact that citizens gave up their freedoms willingly with their safety threatened. It is not until it is (nearly) too late do things take a dark turn and the kind of threat they pose is made clear. |
| 478 | * SigilSpam: The Empire's signature metallic disc-and-octagon appears on banners, supply crates and Kuvira's CoolTrain, among others. Interestingly, it's Zaofu's symbol. |
| 479 | * UndyingLoyalty: They are extremely loyal to Kuvira and follow her every command without question. This is most notable during her first fight with Korra, where they actually cheer her on. And in the series finale when [[spoiler:Kuvira finally surrenders and orders her troops to stand down]], they do the same without a fight. |
| 480 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After [[spoiler: Kuvira's surrender]] what happened to her army, Baatar Jr., or she herself is LeftHanging at the end of the show. This was finally resolved in ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfKorraRuinsOfTheEmpire'' [[spoiler:which showed Kuvira standing trial for her crimes while the remnants of her Empire that didn't surrender with her simply changed leaders for Commander Guan. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome After all just because their commander changed sides doesn't mean that the entire Empire packed up over night]].]] |
| 481 | [[/folder]] |
| 482 | |
| 483 | [[folder:Kuvira]] |
| 484 | |
| 485 | The founder of the Earth Empire, and the main antagonist of Book 4. |
| 486 | ---- |
| 487 | --> See [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraKuvira this page]] for more information. |
| 488 | [[/folder]] |
| 489 | |
| 490 | [[folder:Baatar Jr.]] |
| 491 | !!Baatar Jr. |
| 492 | !!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ToddHaberkorn |
| 493 | |
| 494 | [[quoteright:259:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bataar_jr__4106.png]] |
| 495 | [[caption-width-right:259:"Zaofu stopped being my home long ago. I'm ready to take it by force."]] |
| 496 | |
| 497 | Suyin's eldest son and Kuvira's fiancé. |
| 498 | ---- |
| 499 | * AntagonisticOffspring: He becomes this to his parents in "Enemy at the Gates". Fully veers into this territory in "Battle of Zaofu" when [[spoiler:he has his father and Huan arrested for refusing to bow down to Kuvira]]. |
| 500 | * AntiVillain: Like his lover, he works for what he believes is right, while still clearly being wrong. There is also his FriendlyEnemy-type relationship with [[TheCutie Opal]]. [[spoiler:However, after Kuvira nearly kills him while trying to blow up the Avatar he [[HeelFaceTurn redeems himself]], providing vital information to the Krew on how to disable the Colossus.]] |
| 501 | * AscendedExtra: In Book 3, he only had one cameo. Come Book 4, Baatar Jr. has more lines and screen time. |
| 502 | * BadassNormal: Doesn't appear to be a bender, but can pilot a mecha tank fairly well. |
| 503 | * BeardOfEvil: A tiny little one, but he's all evil. |
| 504 | * BerserkButton: When Baatar Jr. furiously orders his father to submit to Kuvira, his father's calm response of "I am ''so'' disappointed in you" clearly rubbed some salt in some old wounds. |
| 505 | * TheBerserker: A mild case -- he's not flying off the handle in his fight with [[spoiler: Bolin, Varrick, and Zhu Li]], but he's evidently pissed as he rushes them down. |
| 506 | * BigNo: Let's one out in "Kuvira's Gambit", [[spoiler:when he realizes Kuvira is perfectly willing to sacrifice him for the sake of conquest.]] |
| 507 | * BrokenPedestal: His family sees him as this and he sees [[spoiler: Kuvira as one after picking the empire over him, and firing the spirit weapon at his location didn't help as well.]] |
| 508 | * ChekhovsGunman: He actually appears in "The Metal Clan" with the rest of the family, but has no lines, gets no special introduction like Huan with his art or the twins playing their sport as his ''[[NonActionGuy father]]'' gets more focus instead to the extent that not even his ''[[NoNameGiven name]]'' is said to instead be referred to as "my oldest, who engineers his father's designs" by Su then in almost a [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall meta]] case of FromNobodyToNightmare, the fourth season properly introduces him as Kuvira's [[TheDragon right-hand]] with a [[FreudianExcuse Freudian]] chip on his shoulder to be his own man instead of an extension of/in the shadow of his identical father. |
| 509 | * CrossingTheBurntBridge: In ''Ruins of the Empire'', he's [[spoiler:sentenced to house arrest in Zaofu under his family's custody. While Baatar Jr. is truly trying to make amends, most of his family is not interested in hearing his excuses except for Suyin. Korra only asks him for help to fight Guan is because of his expertise, not because she trusts him]]. |
| 510 | * DatingWhatDaddyHates: A mother variant. He's engaged to Kuvira, whom Suyin doesn't like. However, Su and Kuvira [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil were previously on very good terms]]--before she became the "Great Uniter", Su probably would have been very pleased with her son's choice. |
| 511 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of GenerationXerox. He debuted in "The Metal Clan" just like the rest of his immediate family (and fiancé,) but whereas his siblings have {{Meaningful Name}}s and {{Establishing Character Moment}}s not only is he introduced simply as a SatelliteCharacter to his father, only referred to as "my oldest" by Su-Yin, but he doesn't even ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking talk]]'' as he's AWOL to the fight between Lin and Su in "Old Wounds" despite everyone else in the family being there and generally seems the absolute ''least'' like Toph overall. Turns out, he's had a chip on his shoulder [[HarsherInHindsight all along]] exactly ''because'' he's seen as a mere clone of his father and being with Kuvira lets him be his own man. He's practically a background extra raging against the author for being so unremarkable. |
| 512 | * DoNotCallMePaul: A milder case; after joining Kuvira, he asks his mother to call him just Baatar rather than Baatar Jr. |
| 513 | * TheDragon: Kuvira's NumberTwo and most loyal enforcer. |
| 514 | * EasilyForgiven: By [[spoiler: Suyin]] in the finale, though not by the rest of his family. [[spoiler:Suyin says the others will likely come to forgive him in time, but it's clear he has a long road ahead in earning it. ''Ruins of the Empire'' confirms the road is long and his siblings still don't trust him, for understandable reasons]]. |
| 515 | * EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:He does not handle Kuvira attempting to blow up a building with him in it just so she can kill Korra very well.]] |
| 516 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: |
| 517 | ** Though he has no problem locking up his family, [[spoiler:he reacts with clear horror when he spots Opal on the test range for the spirit vine cannon. He got lucky thanks to the rest of the family knocking the weapon off target at the last second, and at least it gave Kuvira satisfying results]]. |
| 518 | ** [[UnholyMatrimony He's also in a relationship with Kuvira]], who he loves to the point that Korra's threat to take him with her everywhere she flees from Kuvira to in order to deprive him of their union is what breaks him. [[spoiler:Too bad it doesn't break her.]] |
| 519 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: As mentioned above, while he's not above humiliating and imprisoning his family, he draws the line at [[spoiler: killing them, given his reaction to Opal being in the way of the test firing of the spirit cannon. ''Ruins of the Empire'' reveals that this attitude also (previously) extended to Kuvira, as he is outraged by her suggestion that he would have sacrificed her if she was the one held hostage by Korra, and is quick to refute it.]] |
| 520 | * EvilCounterpart: To Asami. Both are BadassNormal [[GadgeteerGenius Gadgeteer Geniuses]] from families rich/influential enough to have surnames, seek to not simply be the "Jr." of their famous parents, [[DatingWhatDaddyHates are/have been in a relationship with someone their parents dislike,]] are of Earth Kingdom descent that are [[StrongFamilyResemblance identical]] to a parent of the same gender while ''strongly'' rebel against the other parent despite pleas to join them to instead loyally support a powerful female bender that said parent falsely believes brainwashed them [[spoiler: and both reconcile with the parent at the end. This dynamic is further evident that Bataar Jr. and Kuvira ''began'' the fourth season engaged, which surprised those who heard it and is definitely over by the same season's end while Korra and Asami's relationship officially ''starts'' at the end of the season with those who hear it in the comics also being surprised.]] |
| 521 | * TheEvilGenius: While Kuvira handles the military aspects of reuniting the Earth Kingdom, Baatar's ideas are the basis for what the Earth Kingdom will become afterwards. Shared the role with Varrick, then took over as the chief scientist after [[spoiler:Varrick's betrayal]]. |
| 522 | * FaceHeelTurn: Is seen to have embraced Kuvira's methods to the point that he is the one that suggests taking Zaofu by force as a ''first response'', and ''Kuvira'' has to talk him down. |
| 523 | * FailedASpotCheck: He is staring right at Varrick's spirit vine device as [[spoiler:Varrick rigs it into a bomb]] and is smart enough to question what it's doing, even notices that the set up suggests that it's only going to cause the energy to be redirected into itself, and ''still'' doesn't realize that [[spoiler:Varrick built a bomb]] right under his nose without being told. |
| 524 | * FourEyesZeroSoul: Wears a pair of glasses, and is extremely ruthless. He even replaces his rounded glasses in season 3 for a more angular pair. |
| 525 | * FreudianExcuse: His resentment towards his parents comes from what he perceives as being forced into obscurity and being denied his own identity. Considering how his ''father'' got more focus, personally and ''literally'' in terms of camera-work, in "The Metal Clan", this is practically LeaningOnTheFourthWall. |
| 526 | * FriendlyEnemy: To Opal. While they are on opposing sides on what to do with the conflict in the Earth Kingdom, he is nothing but friendly to her, and bears her no ill will at all. He's disappointed in his mother, but doesn't hate her either, though he does take some smug pleasure in rubbing her nose in his support of Kuvira. The friendly facade, however, crumbles when [[spoiler:they come to take Zaofu]]. Even so, [[spoiler: he is horrified to see Opal in the range of the spirit cannon and immediately tries to shut it down.]] |
| 527 | * GadgeteerGenius: He builds the things his father designs, so he's implicitly this. |
| 528 | * HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler:Non-lethal variant. Following Kuvira's betrayal, Bataar Jr fully expects this treatment from everyone in his family. However, his mother, Su, assures him they will eventually forgive him]]. |
| 529 | * HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: After Kuvira nearly kills him trying to blow up the Avatar he defects, providing vital information to the Krew on how to disable the Colossus.]] |
| 530 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Kuvira blows up the building he's being held captive in with the spirit cannon he built for her]]. |
| 531 | * IHaveNoSon: Inverted to I Have No Family, since he considers Kuvira as family now. [[spoiler: Until Kuvira fired the spirit cannon at his direction.]] Even so, [[spoiler:his family hasn't exactly forgiven him for treason]]. |
| 532 | * IronicHell: ''Ruins of the Empire'' has this for him. Baatar Jr. has alienated his family and divorced his wife unofficially. [[spoiler:Though Suyin has forgiven him, she's the only one. She also successfully petitioned for his sentence of treason and sedition to become house arrest rather than a stint of jail. This is still a punishment, and he knows it. Most of his family hates his guts, even his father, and his little sister Opal has become a DeadpanSnarker about his and Kuvira's ambitions. Baatar Jr. is also imprisoned in Zaofu, the same place he grew up, and later jailed his family for defying his wife while ruling as her co-tyrant. To top it all off, Korra tells him he has to work with Kuvira to figure out how to undo Dr. Sheng's brainwashing because Kuvira is the only expendable and willing test subject, and Kuvira doesn't seem to realize that the murder attempt has soured their love. Baatar Jr. makes it clear he's not happy with any of this but he knows it's his own fault]]. |
| 533 | * LameComeback: |
| 534 | --> '''Varrick''': You wouldn't know if a wolf-bat made a nest in your butt.\ |
| 535 | '''Baatar''': You're a fool. Wolfbats don't build nests. |
| 536 | * LaserGuidedKarma: In ''Ruins of the Empire'', his punishment for [[spoiler:betraying his family and supporting a tyrant, Baatar Jr. is sentenced to house arrest in Zaofu, which was once his home and a place he turned into a military base. "Awkward" doesn't even begin to cover how he's spending his sentence after using Zaofu to imprison his parents and siblings. The reason why this isn't a KarmaHoudini is that only his mother believes he is truly sorry; most of his family is on a truce with him but not trusting him, with Opal, in particular, being snarky about Kuvira. He understands why since hanging in a pit in a wooden cage is going to give you lasting trauma knowing your own sibling put you there as well as being in the line of fire from said sibling's super-weapon. To top it all off, Kuvira wants to make amends with him and he's forced to agree that working with her is the only way to save brainwashed victims that are happening because ''their'' general is refusing to stand down. Baatar Jr. at least seems to have accepted his punishment and working to undo the mistakes he caused, and he is certainly suffering while earning everyone's trust back]]. |
| 537 | * LoveCannotOvercome: [[spoiler:Kuvira tried to kill him to avoid a hostage situation in Republic City. As a result, Baatar Jr. has dumped and unofficially divorced her. When she tries to apologize and justify her actions in ''Ruins of the Empire'', Baatar Jr. says her excuses are bullshit; if the roles were reversed, he would never have sacrificed her life to take Republic City and love doesn't justify murder]]. |
| 538 | * LoveMakesYouDumb: He genuinely loves Kuvira and joined her cause because she truly believed she was doing the right thing, completely unaware that Kuvira prioritizes conquest above all else. [[spoiler: He learns this lesson the hard way in "Kuvira's Gambit".]] |
| 539 | * LoveMakesYouEvil: Falling for Kuvira had him become more antagonistic towards his family and [[TookALevelInJerkass more of a jerk.]] |
| 540 | * MadScientist: All but admits to be this when talking to Varrick, saying that it's their "duty" as scientists to explore their discoveries to their maximum. Keep in mind, he was taking about a ''weapon of mass destruction''. |
| 541 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: His near death at the hands of Kuvira finally makes him realize the consequences of his actions.]] |
| 542 | * NoNameGiven: He appears in "The Metal Clan" just like the rest of the family yet is only referred to by Su as "my oldest," so it's not until the ''next'' season that his actual name is stated. |
| 543 | * NotBrainwashed: His family believes Kuvira brainwashed him, though Kuvira asserts that she merely helped him move out from under their shadow. |
| 544 | * NotSoStoic: |
| 545 | ** He's cold, ruthless, and generally keeps his composure in front of others, but it also hides a frustrated and angry individual who wants his own identity, and isn't afraid to lash out when things go bad. Takes a much darker and tragic turn in "Kuvira's Gambit" [[spoiler: when he lets out a BigNo at the realization that Kuvira is perfectly willing to sacrifice him to achieve her goal of conquering Republic City.]] |
| 546 | ** For a more comedic case, he expresses [[DidntSeeThatComing legitimate shock and surprise]], complete with bug eyes, when he sees that [[spoiler: Varrick really ''did'' intend to blow himself and Bolin up with the spirit vine weapon]]. |
| 547 | * NumberTwo: Has a special rank patch designating him Kuvira's second in command. |
| 548 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: Apparently this is the cause of his resentment towards his parents -- he feels living in Zaofu amounted to being forced to live in his parents' shadows. |
| 549 | * RankScalesWithAsskicking: He's Kuvira's second in-command. After [[spoiler: discovering that Varrick, Zhu Li, and Bolin deserted the troop]], he goes after them with mini mechas and utilizes them with great ability, even [[spoiler: taking out Bolin first thing.]] |
| 550 | * RedemptionRejection: Suyin makes one last attempt to reason with Baatar Jr. by apologizing to him and letting him know how much he tore their family apart. Baatar Jr. doesn't buy it: |
| 551 | -->'''Suyin''': I don't know what I did to hurt you, but whatever it was, I'm sorry. When you left Zaofu, it broke my heart -- and our family has never been the same since. Please, Baatar -- stop all this and come home. We want you back with us. |
| 552 | -->'''Baatar Jr.''': ''Kuvira'' is my family now! (Suyin is driven to tears) |
| 553 | ** [[spoiler:Sure enough, he finally accepts it by the next episode]]. |
| 554 | * TheRival: In the intellectual arena, Varrick has plenty of contempt for him and cannot accept the idea of Bataar being better than him. |
| 555 | * SanitySlippage: He starts the season as fairly stoic and composed, but starting with "Enemy at the Gates", his actions and his attitude get gradually more reckless, irrational and angrier. In particular, he seems to really lose his cool when [[spoiler:his father and brother refuse to kneel before Kuvira, with his father [[DisappointedInYou calmly telling him how disappointed he is]].]] |
| 556 | * SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Baatar Jr. wears square shaped glasses and is a brilliant GadgeteerGenius like his father. |
| 557 | * SmugSnake: Smug self-confidence is his default mode. While he's not stupid, he doesn't do as much to earn this attitude as his fiancée, getting rather thoroughly outsmarted by Varrick and completely losing his cool when faced with opposition. To his credit, however, he did manage to build [[spoiler:a 25-story tall HumongousMecha]], which even Varrick (reluctantly) admits is pretty impressive. |
| 558 | * StrongFamilyResemblance: He's a younger mirror of his father, right down to the [[NerdGlasses glasses]]. |
| 559 | * TokenEvilTeammate: Of the Bei Fong family, as he joins Kuvira, the BigBad of the final season and undergoes a [[TookALevelInJerkass darker attitude]] as well. |
| 560 | * TookALevelInJerkass: At the outset of the season, he was a FriendlyEnemy to Suyin and Opal though he did take smug pleasure in rubbing Kuvira's accomplishments in their faces. By "Enemy at the Gates", his friendly demeanor has completely disappeared and he's much more bitter and resentful. He also shows no qualms with using violence and was ready to take Zaofu by force before Kuvira talked him down. He also showed no hesitation in [[spoiler:threatening to crush Varrick's skull if Bolin and Zhu Li didn't surrender.]] |
| 561 | * UndyingLoyalty: To Kuvira. It's rather noticeable that he's the only member of the inner circle that doesn't jump ship. [[spoiler:...Until he finds himself in the Spirit Cannon's crosshairs when his capture and proximity to Our Heroes makes him expendable in Kuvira's eyes. ''Ruins of the Empire'' Part 3 shows that he's pretty much done with her-- he was willing to let her speak her piece, but when she argued that he would have sacrificed her, too, he shut her down.]] |
| 562 | * UnholyMatrimony: He is engaged to [[BigBad Kuvira]]. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for him, Kuvira decided to place a higher priority on the Empire's ambitions rather than keeping their relationship going.]] |
| 563 | * VillainHasAPoint: Despite his attitude towards Varrick and clearly malicious intents with the spirit vine technology, he is right about the fact that once a scientific discovery is made people will try to find as many uses for it as they can. |
| 564 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: He is completely absent from the final episode. That he is not with his family at Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding indicates that he possibly was arrested for his part in helping Kuvira, but we never get to actually see this happen. ''Ruins of the Empire'' reveals that he was sentenced to house arrest for his role in Kuvira's machinations, and he is later enlisted to help undo Guan's brainwashing on Team Avatar.]] |
| 565 | * YouHaveOutLivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Is a victim of one by Kuvira.]] |
| 566 | [[/folder]] |
| 567 | |
| 568 | [[folder:The Colossus]] |
| 569 | !!The Colossus |
| 570 | |
| 571 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_colossus_7808.png]] |
| 572 | [[caption-width-right:350:Whirrrrr''rrrrr''-*[[AudibleGleam gleem]]*-*'''''[[WaveMotionGun BZZOOOOO]]''''''''''[[DroneOfDread OOOOOMB]]'''''*]] |
| 573 | |
| 574 | The final result of the research and development of the spirit vine weapon technology and Kuvira's ultimate weapon, the Colossus is a 25 story tall mecha suit with a spirit vine cannon attached to its right arm, with Kuvira herself as the pilot. The machine makes its first appearance in "Kuvira's Gambit", where it is used to bring Republic City under siege. |
| 575 | ---- |
| 576 | * AnArmAndALeg: In a testament to Kuvira's ruthlessness, she doesn't hesitate to [[spoiler:''rip off the Colossus's cannon arm'' once the gun becomes inoperable. Partly because it's useless now, and partly because it's a quick and easy way to get rid of the saboteurs, who are still at work inside the arm.]] |
| 577 | * ArmCannon: The spirit cannon is mounted on the arm of the Colossus, with artillery shells housing the spirit vines stored in the chest compartment. |
| 578 | * AudibleGleam: In the moment before discharging, one can be seen/heard in the spirit ray cannon's muzzle. |
| 579 | * AwesomeButImpractical: The Colossus is unstoppable against fortified opponents like bunkers, buildings, ships, and other very slow and/or large targets. But it's only glorified artillery, as when Team Avatar, the Air Nation, Lin, Suyin, Wei, and Wing gang up and attack it from multiple sources, it can only strike glancing blows [[spoiler: until Hiroshi's Hummingbird mecha lands to dig in, and becomes stationary.]] |
| 580 | * AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: The Colossus is 25 stories tall, and towers over everything and [[http://i.imgur.com/pLmE4OV.jpg everyone]]. |
| 581 | * ColdSniper: Kuvira uses the Colossus like this, taking out outposts and warships from great distances. |
| 582 | * CranialProcessingUnit: It is piloted from the head. |
| 583 | * CrazyPrepared: It's prepared for almost any eventuality. There are water jets set up all around the cockpit glass to clear blinding obstructions like paint, it has a platinum shell to stop metalbenders, the cockpit is on a gyro so tipping it doesn't upset the pilots, it uses spirit vines as a power source so it's immune to EMP, and it can reach any point on its body with its hands to swat off attackers and the like. |
| 584 | * DarkIsEvil: It shoots [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack purple]] energy beams identical to those of Vaatu, ''the'' spirit of darkness. Though, given how bright these can get[[note]]Not just to the audience; Baatar Jr has to shield his eyes when Varrick "varricked" himself[[/note]], it also invokes the [[BrightIsNotGood opposite]] [[LightIsNotGood tropes]]. |
| 585 | * DiabolusExMachina: There's little foreshadowing of its actual existence, and it makes the entire final battle against Kuvira immensely more difficult for the heroes. It was also finished in record time; the cannon was still being tested only a week before the Colossus was deployed. |
| 586 | * FantasticNuke: The destructive potential of weaponized spirit vine energy is displayed in all its terrifying might with the Colossus, both as a irresistible WaveMotionGun and as a city-leveling explosive. |
| 587 | * FinalBoss: It is the final threat of the series, being the base of operations and primary force of Kuvira's attack on Republic City. Perhaps to emphasize its status as such, the climax of the series only officially ends with the [[FantasticNuke epic destruction]] of the [[spoiler: overloading spirit vine cannon]]. |
| 588 | * HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler: Its ultimate fate: blown in half after the overload Mako started in its spirit vine reactor powerplant eventually cooks off.]] |
| 589 | * HellIsThatNoise: The Colossus is so massive that its thunderous footsteps precede it long before entering battle, but special consideration has to be given to the WaveMotionGun mounted on its forearm - the Spirit Cannon's laser emits a [[DroneOfDread LOUD dissonant hum]] when fired (a CallBack to its spiritual version used by Vaatu). |
| 590 | * HumongousMecha: It is ''goddamn enormous'' (around 250 ft according to Korra), matching mountains and potentially even Unavaatu in sheer size. Its size is [[JustifiedTrope justified]], since it needs to be that big to carry the cannon. |
| 591 | * TheJuggernaut: This thing is ''unstoppable''. It's platinum shell resists nearly all forms of attack, even Bolin's lavabending, having a [[spoiler:skyscraper dropped on it]] only momentarily stuns it. It's saying something that it takes [[spoiler: Mako overloading its Spirit Vine core with his lightning and nearly getting his arm burned to ''finally bring it down''.]] |
| 592 | * KungFuProofMook: It has a platinum shell to stop metalbenders. Its delicate inner mechanisms, on the other hand... |
| 593 | * LogicalWeakness: Repeatedly subverted - the heroes keep attempting tactics against it that should work on a HumongousMecha, from covering the windows to throwing it off-balance, only to be thwarted by a combination of sensible engineering decisions (like installing windscreen wipers) and the Colossus's sheer power and durability. Eventually, though, one LogicalWeakness does pay off - it's too big and slow to prevent its tiny human opponents from setting up a massive brute-force attack to immobilise it and buy themselves time to cut into its hull. Even then, it's a close-run thing that requires the HeroicSacrifice of [[spoiler:Hiroshi Sato]]. |
| 594 | * MadeOfIron: Mostly platinum, actually. Still, its armor shrugs off basically everything Team Avatar and their allies can throw at it -- [[spoiler: even dropping a skyscraper on it just knocks it down for a while]]. |
| 595 | * {{Magitek}}: It is powered by a massive bundle of spirit vines. |
| 596 | ** Additionally, Kuvira interacts with the control system through metalbending, meaning it's a mech powered by ''and'' operated through supernatural means. |
| 597 | * MightyGlacier: It's incredibly tough, incredibly-destructive, and well-built enough to be noticeably faster and more agile than one might expect, but it's still a huge lump of metal that any trained bender can literally fly rings around. |
| 598 | * MotionCaptureMecha: Played with. Kuvira can use the UnusualUserInterface to make it roughly copy her movements, though it's not done perfectly. |
| 599 | * PerilousPowerSource: Spirit vines, at the energy levels they are being coaxed to, are inherently unstable. Cooking off its power core made of spirit vines is Mako's improvised plan to destroy the Colossus after the emergency shutdown proves not to be an option. |
| 600 | * PointDefenseless: One of the few serious oversights in its design. Its only weapons are its cannon and its massive limbs, leaving it poorly-equipped to fend off benders and other fast-moving enemies at close-range. Admittedly, it's so thickly-armoured that the average bender has few ways to damage it even slightly, but thanks to its limited weaponry, they can spend a lot of time figuring out what those ways are in reasonable safety. |
| 601 | * PurpleIsPowerful: The spirit ray and energized spirit vine core glow an unnatural pinkish-purple hue. |
| 602 | * OutsideContextProblem: No one in-universe had expected Kuvira to have this, and out of universe, there was only some slight and subtle {{Foreshadowing}} in "The Battle of Zaofu", where Kuvira orders Zaofu's domes to be dismantled, likely because she needed the metal to build the Colossus. |
| 603 | * SigilSpam: The Earth Empire symbol is on its face, doubling as a crosshair for the cannon. |
| 604 | * SwordOfDamocles: The Colossus practically packs enough power to blow a large hole in a mountain, such that the threat of having an entire army wiped out by such a weapon is enough to get enemies to surrender and cooperate. |
| 605 | * UnusualUserInterface: Though the Colossus can be piloted by conventional controls, Kuvira can also control it more precisely through a series of trackballs mounted in the cockpit. By metalbending the balls, the mecha roughly follows Kuvira's movements. |
| 606 | * WaveMotionGun: A spirit vine cannon is mounted on its arm, and is its primary form of attack. |
| 607 | * WeaponOfMassDestruction: This thing is arguably comparable to ''the Avatar'' in terms of raw destructive potential, which makes sense as it's meant to be the ''Avatar'' universe equivalent to the atomic bomb. It breaks something just about any time it's shown on screen, and a quick obliteration of the United Forces navy is enough to convince Raiko to surrender. With this weapon, Kuvira can very much carry the big stick over other nations without having to conquer them. |
| 608 | -->'''Korra''': The world isn't safe as long as she has that weapon! |
| 609 | [[/folder]] |
| 610 | |
| 611 | !!Others |
| 612 | |
| 613 | [[folder:Dark Avatar Korra]] |
| 614 | !!Dark Avatar Korra |
| 615 | |
| 616 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k7kemp7_9856.jpg]] |
| 617 | |
| 618 | A manifestation of Korra in the Avatar State from her fight with Zaheer, which appears to Korra and tries to attack her. |
| 619 | ---- |
| 620 | * AmbiguouslyEvil: It's not clear exactly why Korra is being harassed by her other self, who does nothing but stalk and/or attack her. There's certainly more to her than mere trauma, though. |
| 621 | * ChainedByFashion: On account of being a reflection of Korra during her fight with Zaheer. She has manacles on all four limbs with a chain attached to the one on the right arm. |
| 622 | * ChainPain: She uses a chain to fight, just as Korra did against Zaheer. |
| 623 | * DiabolusExMachina: Her sudden apparition while Korra was beating Kuvira reverses the situation. |
| 624 | * EnemyWithout: If she really ''is'' more than a hallucination. It still isn't clear whether she is or not. |
| 625 | * FlashStep: When the apparition has at Korra, she dodges her attacks with this often. |
| 626 | * ImplacableMan: Being at best ambiguously real, Dark Avatar Korra can't be stopped by normal means. Korra can't ever land a hit, and Dark Avatar Korra follows her relentlessly. [[spoiler: Makes sense, it's not a real being, but a reflection of Korra's self doubt following her encounter with the Red Lotus.]] |
| 627 | * GlowingEyesOfDoom: Since she's constantly in the Avatar State, her eyes have this effect. |
| 628 | * ImNotAfraidOfYou: Subverted. When Korra confronts her, Dark Avatar Korra only gets more aggressive for it. When Korra tries to declare her other self as not real, this causes Dark Avatar Korra to attack more ferociously than she ever has before. [[spoiler: Presumably despite the words, Korra doesn't believe it herself and not truthfully confronting the doubt within her. By refusing to acknowledge this, the Dark Avatar responds in kind by lashing out at her.]] |
| 629 | * LeftHanging: By the time the finale ends, there's no explanation for what she was or why she appeared to torment Korra, though it's assumed she was just a manifestation of Korra's lack of self confidence that she needed to overcome. When Kuvira puts her end game into play, Korra removes all doubt in her mind and keeps her focus. [[spoiler: After Kuvira is defeated, Korra sees a brief overlay of the Dark Avatar over Kuvira in the spirit world. Implying and possibly symbolizing that 1) Korra's finally gotten over her self doubt and 2) Kuvira, in a way, was the "Dark Avatar" she needed to fight and that the two were {{Mirror Character}}s.]] |
| 630 | * LightIsNotGood: Unlike the Dark Spirits (including the Dark Avatar himself), her eyes glow with the same white light as the normal Avatar State and Raava. |
| 631 | * MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Korra's spirit friend is seemingly able to see her, and she leads Korra to an earthbending fight club Korra couldn't have known about. Korra also reacts when attacked by the hallucination in one scene, even being sent flying by some of its attacks. However, this scene takes place in the hallucination-inducing Swamp and includes some things that are clearly not meant to be actually happening (such as Korra being dragged by her doppelganger into a large pool of mercury which appears out of nowhere), which calls into question how much, if any, of it was real. |
| 632 | * PrimalStance: Combined with flash-stepping, this clearly cements Dark Avatar Korra as unnerving. |
| 633 | * SilentAntagonist: While stalking Korra throughout the entire season, she never says a single word. |
| 634 | * SpannerInTheWorks: Even after Korra recovers from her poisoning, the Dark Avatar still shows up to stop her from defeating Kuvira with the Avatar State. [[spoiler: Turns out it's not the manifestation of the poison but Korra's lack of self confidence. The Dark Avatar showing up during the fight shows she had yet to overcome this.]] |
| 635 | * UnskilledButStrong: Most benders use acrobatic dodges and graceful attacks. Dark Avatar Korra lashes out wildly with the elements and her chain, and does not merely dodge but {{Flash Step}}s away from anything thrown at her. |
| 636 | * WildHair: Since Korra's hair was down when she fought Zaheer for the last time, the Dark Avatar's is too, which emphasizes her brutal image. |
| 637 | [[/folder]] |
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