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This features a list of significant characters from the animated television program The Legend of Korra, the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino.

Overview

The Legend of Korra is set in a fictional world is composed of four sovereign nations: the Air Nomads, Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe. Additionally, there are sovereign states such as the United Republic of Nations and Zaofu. In this fictional universe, some people are "benders," having the ability to manipulate one of the elements of air, fire, earth or water, corresponding to their nationality. Only the Avatar—a being who represents the bridge between the physical and the spirit worlds—has the ability to master all four elements and thus bring balance to the land.

The Legend of Korra takes place 70 years after Avatar: The Last Airbender, which saw the end of a 100-year war started by the Fire Nation that resulted in the Air Nomads' genocide, the Southern Tribes' waterbending population near extinction, and the Earth Kingdom's extensive colonization. Republic City, the capital of the United Republic of Nations, serves as the primary setting for the repercussions of said war, leading to events such as the Equality movement for nonbenders, Harmonic Convergence of the Spirit World, civil war between the Water Tribes, the insurrection of the Red Lotus, and the reunification of the fractured Earth Kingdom.

Principal characters

Avatar Korra

Main article: Korra

Avatar Korra (Chinese: 寇柆 pinyin: kòu lā) (voiced by Janet Varney and by Cora Baker as a child) is the immediate incarnation of Aang from the original series. Athletic, confident and headstrong, Korra fully embraces and relishes her role as the Avatar, but lacked in spiritual development. Over the course of the series, Korra battles foes, both within and outside herself, as she tries to keep the world in balance. She overcomes having her bending removed by Amon, having her connection to her past lives severed by Unalaq and Vaatu, and suffering posttraumatic stress disorder due to Zaheer's mercury poisoning. Through her suffering, Korra ultimately learns to be truly compassionate to others, allowing her to show sympathy to the series' final antagonist, the military dictator Kuvira, and convince Kuvira to surrender peacefully.

Korra was designed to be an inversion of Aang. Said DiMartino, "We also wanted to explore an Avatar who was the exact opposite of peaceful Aang, so we chose a hot-headed teenage girl from the Water Tribe. Her 'punch first and ask questions later' attitude opened up a whole new world of story possibilities." Korra's design was a collaboration between Konietzko, co-executive producer Joaquim Dos Santos and supervising producer Ki-Hyun Ryu. Four-year-old Korra was designed by Ryu. For Korra's look and attitude, the designers took reference from mixed martial artist Gina Carano as well as competitive female snowboarders.

Asami Sato

Main article: Asami Sato

Asami Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 麻美) (voiced by Seychelle Gabriel) is the nonbender only child of wealthy industrialist, Hiroshi Sato. After her Equalist father was imprisoned following the events of season 1, she took over his company, Future Industries. Although the well-mannered Asami grew up in a life of luxury, she has a tough side too. She is an expert driver and has been trained in self-defense since she was a child. She often uses an electrified chi-blocker glove for combat. The only nonbender in Team Avatar, Asami makes up for this by being a master in hand-to-hand combat, an exceptional mechanic and a tech genius. Throughout the series, she invents various weapons, devices and modes of transportation the team uses. Later on in the series, she becomes Korra's closest confidant and eventual love interest.

The idea for the character of Asami came later in the development process. Said DiMartino, "Once we had the idea for a nonbender revolution, we knew we'd need a character who wasn't a bender." Originally conceived to be an Equalist spy, DiMartino and Konietzko ended up liking the character so much that they decided to keep her on Team Avatar. Konietzko had previously had difficulty drawing women and chose to design Asami by himself, wanting a challenge. According to Konietzko, Asami's design was his "idea of a Hollywood Golden Age actress in the Avatar world," and her hair was inspired by that of 1940s actress Rita Hayworth.

Bolin

Main article: Bolin (The Legend of Korra)

Bolin is voiced by P. J. Byrne

Bolin (Chinese: 愽林 pinyin: bó lín) (voiced by P. J. Byrne) is an earthbender who grew up on the streets of Republic City as an orphan with his older brother, Mako. Despite his tough childhood, Bolin is high-spirited, easy-going, optimistic, and has a somewhat childlike and naive view of the world. Physically, he is stocky and muscular. Bolin acts as the comic relief of Team Avatar, and is constantly underestimated by those around him. In the season 3 episode "Enter the Void", Bolin discovers he can lavabend, a rare earthbending technique. Loyal and brave, Bolin matures throughout the series and tries to help others in ways other than fighting.

The idea for Bolin and Mako's characters came from the creators desire to include a story about brothers in the series. They were also meant to illustrate how cultures had blended in Republic City, with their late mother and father hailing from the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom respectively. Bolin's character was inspired by the original concept of Toph Beifong, who was going to be a male character Konietzko described as "kind of a big, not sharpest tool in the shed." When Toph's character was changed to a young girl, the creators still had many ideas for the male earthbender, which they implemented into Bolin. The final design for Bolin was done by supervising producer Ki-Hyun Ryu. Bolin is voiced by P.J. Byrne. Bryne related to the character as he explained, "I'm a people person, I'm a peoplely people, and I think that's what my character is."

Mako

Main article: Mako (The Legend of Korra)

Mako (Chinese: 馬高 pinyin: mǎ gāo) (voiced by David Faustino) is a firebender who grew up on the streets of Republic City as an orphan with his younger brother, Bolin. Forced to take on adult responsibilities at a young age, Mako is cynical and serious. Physically, Mako is tall, lean and handsome. Mako is Korra's love interest during the first two seasons, but they decide in the season 2 finale "Light in The Dark" that they are better off as friends. Mako is level-headed and fiercely loyal, and as the series progresses, he becomes someone his brother and friends can always rely on.

The final design for Mako was done by supervising producer Ki-Hyun Ryu. The character was named after the late Mako Iwamatsu, the original voice of Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Tenzin

Main article: Tenzin (The Legend of Korra)

Tenzin (Chinese: 丹增 pinyin: dān zēng) (voiced by J. K. Simmons) is the youngest child of Avatar Aang and Katara, and the couple's only airbending child. Tenzin is a traditionalist who works hard to protect and pass on Air Nomad teachings and culture. He embodies the peaceful, calm, spiritual nature of the Air Nomads. At the start of the series, he was the only airbending master in the world and thus served as Avatar Korra's airbending teacher and spiritual guide. Tenzin however, had to undergo a lot of spiritual growth himself, facing his insecurities of living in father's shadow. Tenzin and his wife Pema have four children: Jinora, Ikki, Meelo and Rohan.

Tenzin is the biggest link to Avatar Aang and the original series. On the conception of Tenzin's character, DiMartino said, "He was probably the second character we came up with after Korra. Since Korra would have to learn airbending, who would be better to teach it to her than Aang's son? His peaceful, traditionalist personality also provide a good source of conflict for the hotheaded, modern-thinking Korra." Tenzin's final design was done by supervising producer Ki-Hyun Ryu.

Lin Beifong

Main article: Lin Beifong

Mindy Sterling voiced Lin Beifong

Lin Beifong (Chinese: 北方琳 pinyin: běifāng lín) (voiced by Mindy Sterling and by Grey DeLisle when young) is the Chief of Police of Republic City's metalbender police force, the daughter of Toph Beifong, and the older half-sister of Suyin Beifong. A play on the "tough cop trope", Lin is tough and uncompromising, but also loyal and brave.

Although her mother taught Avatar Korra's previous incarnation, Aang, how to earthbend, Lin displayed no affection toward her when they first met, instead seeing Korra's arrival as a threat to her authority and to the rule of law she's worked hard to enforce. Lin's feelings toward Korra improves as the series progresses, and she would do anything to protect the Avatar from danger. In season 1, Lin and Tenzin work through their strained relationship caused by their past romance, and Lin ultimately sacrifices herself to save Tenzin's family from The Equalists. Lin's estranged relationship with her mother and half-sister is explored in seasons 3 and 4. In the season 3 episode "The Metal Clan", Lin and her sister Suyin meet again for the first time in 30 years. It is revealed in the following episode, "Old Wounds", that Suyin was the one who gave Lin her distinctive facial scars. The sisters eventually reconciled after a duel. In the season 4 episode "Operation Beifong", Lin reveals that she still harbors a lot of anger over Toph's decision not to reveal the identity of her father to her. After 20 years apart, the estranged mother and daughter finally reconcile after admitting their flaws. Zach Blumenfeld of Paste magazine described Lin's story as one that "unfolds beautifully over the course of The Legend of Korra," noting that "she balances the female strength that pervades the Avatar universe with the very real loneliness that tends to arise when people prioritize their careers over personal relationships."

Lin's character design was partly inspired by Han Young Ja, a longtime friend and colleague of Konietzko and DiMartino. Elements of her design also came from Marlene Dietrich as the creators wanted her "to have a tough and natural beauty". Lin's design was collaborated on by DiMartino and Joaquim Dos Santos.

Recurring characters and organizations

Animal companions

Naga

Dee Bradley Baker voiced several characters including Naga, Pabu and Tarrlok.

Naga (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) is a female polar bear-dog that belongs to Avatar Korra as her loyal animal companion and main form of transportation. Historically, polar bear-dogs were feared and hunted by the Water Tribe, and Korra is the only person to have ever befriended one. Naga is very protective of Korra, and uses her strength to help Korra out of trouble. The story of how Korra and Naga met is featured in the first official The Legend of Korra comic, published by Dark Horse Comics for 2016 Free Comic Book Day.

Naga was first revealed at the 2011 The Legend of Korra San Diego Comic-Con panel. Naga's design is based on a hybrid of a polar bear and a golden retriever. One of the three original concepts for Avatar: The Last Airbender, Naga was first developed in 2002 as a sketch of a bipedal polar bear-dog creature by co-creator Bryan Konietzko. The creators never found a place for the character in the first series, but brought her back as Korra's companion as they wanted Korra to have an animal mode of transport, and the original sketch was remodeled after the co-creators' dogs.

Pabu

Pabu (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) is a mischievous male fire ferret who Bolin rescued from a local pet store. The story of how Mako and Bolin come to adopt Pabu is featured in the Nickelodeon three-part web series Republic City Hustle.

Pabu was first revealed at the 2011 The Legend of Korra San Diego Comic-Con panel. Pabu was designed by Konietzko and is based on a hybrid of a red panda and a black-footed ferret. The original inspiration for Pabu was Futa, the "seemingly-bipedal red panda who had captured the adoration of the Japanese public" years ago during the production of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

United Republic of Nations

The United Republic of Nations is a sovereign state founded by Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko after the events of the original series as a haven for immigrants from all four nations. Its capital is the 1920s-inspired metropolis, Republic City. Its inhabitants were designed to reflect the multiculturalism of the city, such as firebender Mako and earthbender Bolin, brothers whose late mother and father hailed from the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom respectively.

Sir Iknik Blackstone Varrick

Sir Iknik Blackstone Varrick (voiced by John Michael Higgins) is an eccentric and charismatic nonbending billionaire shipping magnate. Born in the Southern Water Tribe to a poor seal-hunter, Varrick built Varrick Global Industries from a single canoe into a global enterprise, and is always looking for ways to expand his business empire. Varrick enjoys gallivanting across the globe on his enormous yacht and flaunting his extravagant lifestyle, at the expense of his assistant, Zhu Li.

Varrick was introduced in season 2 as a comedic character who represented the prosperity of the Southern Water Tribe. He masterminded a civil war between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, but his attempt to draw the United Republic into the war led to his arrest. Varrick managed to escape from prison during Unalaq's attack on Republic City at the end of season 2. In the season 3 episode "The Metal Clan", it is revealed that he had settled down in Zaofu as the head of the city's technology division. In season 4, Varrick joined Kuvira on her quest to reunite the Earth Kingdom. Unwilling to weaponize spirit energy for her, Varrick eventually deserted her army and helped Team Avatar to stop her from conquering Republic City. After Kuvira was defeated, Varrick and Zhu Li get married in the series finale "The Last Stand".

Varrick was well-received, with critics praising the character's charisma and Higgins' voice acting. Ed Liu of ToonZone News wrote that Varrick "may be the Avatar franchise's most fascinatingly ambiguous character yet...The audience is kept as baffled and off-guard by Varrick as the characters on the show". Liu noted that the character had hidden depth despite "[seeming] like an oddball combination of Howard Hughes, Steve Jobs, and Andy Kaufman, and his flamboyant animation is matched by John Michael Higgins' enormously entertaining vocal performance." Zach Blumenfeld of Paste magazine ranked Varrick as the 8th best character from the Avatar franchise, writing:

He's consistently the funniest character on The Legend of Korra, combining the wackiness of The Last Airbender's Bumi with the mechanical genius and motormouth of Tony Stark. But more importantly, he’s probably the most modern character in the entire Avatar universe: a war profiteer and robber baron who slowly discovers a conscience buried under his previous selfish motives. Varrick’s charisma and ruthlessness allow Korra to address such topics as propaganda, the military-industrial complex and weapons of mass destruction in a light-hearted way. He contributes enormously to the series’ vivacious, faux-1920s aesthetic, and he’s almost impossible to dislike.

Varrick is voiced by John Michael Higgins who described the character as "part Rupert Murdoch, part Thomas Edison, part Bozo the Clown."

Zhu Li Moon

Zhu Li Moon (voiced by Stephanie Sheh) is Varrick's highly competent personal assistant. Initially a minor character who served as comedic relief, Zhu Li gains a bigger role in season 4 when she seemingly betrays Varrick to work for Kuvira, although this is later revealed to be a ploy to sabotage Kuvira's weapon. In the season 4 episode "Kuvira's Gambit", Zhu Li finally stands up for herself and demands to be treated as Varrick's equal, after years of being unappreciated by him. Varrick and Zhu Li get married in the series finale "The Last Stand".

President Raiko

President Raiko (voiced by Spencer Garrett) is a nonbender native to Republic City and the first democratically-elected President of the United Republic of Nations. Raiko was elected by the nonbending majority after dissolution of the United Republic Council as a result of The Equalists movement in season 1.

Tahno

Tahno (voiced by Rami Malek) is a minor antagonist in season 1. He is a waterbender and the captain of the Wolf-bats, the rival championship probending team to Korra, Mako and Bolin's Fire Ferrets. Tahno is a ruthless probender whose bending was later removed by Amon. He makes a cameo in the series finale.

Co-creator Bryan Konietzko drew the first concept art for Tahno in 2010. Supervising producer Ki-Hyun Ryu then designed the character based on Konietzko's initial concept, with Konietzko adding minor tweaks to the final design. Tahno's character was largely inspired by Japanese kickboxer Kizaemon Saiga, who is known for his "ridiculously over the top" antics.

Shiro Shinobi

Shiro Shinobi (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is the fast-talking probending match announcer in season 1. He also does the voice-overs for the short recaps during the opening sequence of each episode.

Air Nomads

Jinora

Jinora (voiced by Kiernan Shipka) is the first child and eldest daughter of Tenzin and Pema and the granddaughter of Katara and Avatar Aang. Unlike her rambunctious siblings, Jinora is a reasonable and disciplined airbender who takes her spiritual duties seriously. Unlike her father, Jinora has a natural affinity for spirits and is able to communicate with the spirits in the Spirit World from the physical world. In season 2, when Korra needed to enter the Spirit World to close the spirit portals before Harmonic Convergence, Jinora was chosen to be Korra's Spirit World guide, and helped her meditate into the Spirit World. In the season 3 finale "Venom of the Red Lotus", Jinora gets her airbending tattoos and is named an airbending master by her father, assuming a permanent leadership role in the new Air Nomads. Jinora is capable of astral projection, an advance airbending technique.

Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club described Jinora's role in the series as being very similar to Katara's in the original Avatar series: "a sweet, but powerful bending master in the early throes of puberty. (That connection is accentuated by her romance with Kai, who is clearly carved from the Aang mold.)"

Ikki

Ikki (voiced by Darcy Rose Byrnes) is the second child and youngest daughter of Tenzin and Pema and the granddaughter of Katara and Avatar Aang. Suffering from middle child syndrome, Geek.com described her as the "Jan Brady" of the Korra universe as she is constantly overlooked in favor of her older sister Jinora and younger brother Meelo, much to her annoyance. Along with her brother Meelo, Ikki is primarily used for comic relief. Lauren Davis of io9 noted that Ikki's strengths are that she is friendly, empathic and not easily rattled.

Meelo

Meelo (voiced by Logan Wells) is the third child and eldest son of Tenzin and Pema and the granddaughter of Katara and Avatar Aang. Meelo is primarily used for comic relief aimed at younger viewers, such as his "fartbending". Lauren Davis of io9 noted that "growing up hearing about Aang's adventures have left [Meelo] with a romantic (and not terribly pragmatic) sense of life on the road."

According to series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, the inspiration for Meelo and many of his antics came from their mutual friend's son, Milo. Konietzko and DiMartino decided that the character "would be a fun, chaotic personality to throw in the mix and test Tenzin's patience and fathering skills." While they originally envisioned Meelo to be a "cute kid", supervising producer Ki-Hyun Ryu, who worked on Meelo's design, insisted that Meelo should be "ugly" instead.

Bumi

Bumi (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker in season 1, Richard Riehle in seasons 2-4) is Avatar Aang and Katara's first child and eldest son. Originally a nonbender, he later developed airbending abilities in season 3 after Harmonic Convergence. Before his retirement, he was a respected commander of the United Force. Despite his immaturity, Bumi is known for his leadership, strategy and bravery. He was named after Aang's childhood friend King Bumi.

Kai

Kai (voiced by Skyler Brigmann) is an orphan from the Earth Kingdom who became an airbender after Harmonic Convergence. Introduced in the season 3 episode "Rebirth", Kai was initially a mischievous and selfish young thief; he ultimately grows into a valuable member of the Air Nomads. It is established in the season 4 episode "After All These Years" that he is in a relationship with Jinora.

Writer Joshua Hamilton, who wrote the first episode Kai appears in, named the character after his son. Kai's personality was inspired partly by Avatar Aang and Avatar Wan, with the writers wanting to have "an adventurous kid with a slightly shadowy background." Kai's design was done by character designer Angela Song Mueller and supervising producer Ki-Hyun Ryu.

Water Tribe

Tonraq

Tonraq (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui in season 1, James Remar in seasons 2-4) is a powerful waterbender and the current Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, as well as the father of Avatar Korra. Born as the heir to the Chief of both Water Tribes, he is the older brother of Unalaq. Growing up in the Northern Water Tribe, Tonraq served as the Northern military's general in his youth. In the season 2 episode "The Southern Lights", it is revealed that Tonraq was banished and disinherited following the destruction of a sacred spiritual forest at his hands. He moved to the Southern Water Tribe, where he became the tribe's unofficial leader and married Senna, with whom he has one daughter, Korra. For many years, Tonraq lived in peace with his family, but when the tensions between the Northern and Southern Tribe escalated into a civil war, he discovered Unalaq had orchestrated his banishment. After this revelation, he led the Southern Water Tribe rebels against his younger brother and the Northern army. After Unalaq's death in the season 2 finale "Light in The Dark", the South gained independence from the North and the Council of Elders officially appointed Tonraq as the first Southern Chief.

Tonraq was designed by Bryan Konietzko and Joaquim Dos Santos. The design was based on the idea that Tonraq is "built like a barbarian and fights with a brutish in-your-face style" in contrast with his brother Unalaq's "slender frame and elegant technique."

Unalaq

Unalaq (voiced by Adrian LaTourelle) was a waterbending master, Chief of the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, Tonraq's younger brother, and Korra's uncle. He has two twin children, Desna and Eska. A traditionalist, Unalaq was a solemn man who took on the task of restoring the lost connection between the Southern Water Tribe and the Spirit World. A particularly spiritual man, Unalaq briefly served as Korra's spiritual mentor until her discovery of his involvement in her father's banishment, at which point he was absolved as her teacher and shunned. Unbeknownst to anyone, Unalaq was working to release Vaatu from incarceration in the Spirit World, and succeeded in this task before fusing with Vaatu to become the first and only Dark Avatar. To this end, Unalaq nearly destroyed Republic City before being defeated and killed by his niece. Even though his attempt to destroy the Avatar and usher the world into an era of darkness was consequently thwarted, Unalaq succeeded in reuniting humans and spirits and thus changing the world forever. In the season 3 episode "The Stakeout", it is revealed that Unalaq used to be a member of the Red Lotus anarchist group, helping them in their attempted kidnapping of Korra when she was a child.

Zach Blumenfeld of Paste magazine compared Unalaq to the High Sparrow from Game of Thrones, both being "a brilliant schemer who hides a power-hungry soul under a spiritual veneer." Unalaq was designed by Ki-Hyun Ryu and Joshua Middleton. Co-creator Bryan Konietzko said that initially he was not pleased with Unalaq's desgin due to its visual similarities with Tarrlok's, the secondary villain from season 1.

Kya

Kya (voiced by Lisa Edelstein) is the second of Avatar Aang and Katara's three children and their only daughter, as well as the couple's only waterbending child. She is named after Sokka and Katara's mother. A waterbending master and healer, Kya has always felt a stronger connection with her mother than her Avatar father. Kya has a "free-spirited" personality. Kya and her older brother Bumi felt neglected by Avatar Aang, who focused his attention on their younger brother Tenzin, the only other airbender in the family. This childhood resentment surfaced in season 2. Kya is revealed to be lesbian in the sequel graphic novel The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars.

Kya's design was a collaboration between supervising producers Lauren Montgomery and Ki-Hyun Ryu, and co-creator Bryan Konietzko. Kya's outfits were designed as a callback to Katara's outfits from the original series.

Princess Eska and Prince Desna

Eska and Desna (voiced by Aubrey Plaza and Aaron Himelstein, respectively) are the androgynous waterbending twin children of Chief Unalaq of the Northern Water Tribe, and Avatar Korra's cousins. Eska and Desna are 16 years old when they are introduced in season 2; they share an unusually close connection and can seemingly communicate with each other without speaking. Desna and Eska "rarely show any emotion besides boredom, due to the fact that they dislike most people, places, and things." Sharing identical personalities, looks and waterbending abilities, the twins provide sardonic comic relief. Although they initially help their villainous father Unalaq, the twins later become Korra's allies. After their father's death, they succeeded him as the Northern Water Tribe Chiefs.

Eska and Desna were designed by Joshua Middleton and Ki-Hyun Ryu. Middleton initially struggled to design Eska and Desna's look, and it was not until Ryu "took a pass and gave them their distinctive hunch and dead-eyed expression that the characters finally came to life."

Katara

Main article: Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Katara (voiced by Eva Marie Saint) is a main character in the prequel series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Katara was Korra's waterbending teacher.

Earth Kingdom

Kuvira

Main article: Kuvira

Kuvira is voiced by Zelda Williams

General Kuvira (Chinese: 古維拉 pinyin: gǔ wéi lā) (voiced by Zelda Williams) is a master metalbender and the main villain of season 4. An orphan taken into the Metal Clan by Suyin Beifong, the prodigal bender served as the captain of Zaofu’s guard. Following the chaos in the Earth Kingdom after the Earth Queen’s assassination, Kuvira earned the trust of the world leaders by stabilizing Ba Sing Se and was appointed as the nation's provisional leader. She subsequently set out to reunite the rest of the fractured kingdom with her army, which earned her the title of the "Great Uniter". In her pursuit of order, Kuvira offered to protect the nation's states from bandits in exchange for their loyalty. During Prince Wu's coronation, Kuvira denounced the authority of the Earth King and dissolved the Earth Kingdom in favor of an "Earth Empire" under her dictatorship. Her reign came to an end, however, after she was defeated in Republic City and imprisoned. She was also engaged to Baatar Jr., who left Zaofu with her to support her ideals, though ended their relationship when she was willing to sacrifice him to have a chance to end Avatar Korra's life.

Kuvira was received well, with reviewers describing her as a sympathetic villain with noble but extremely misguided intentions. The Artifice wrote of Kuvira's motivations: "Kuvira may appear to be a cool and calculating villain on the outside, but much like Princess Azula of Avatar: The Last Airbender, there exists deep resentment and anger beneath that facade. In the series finale, Kuvira reveals the unlikely connection between her desire for world conquest and her personal background. The now-scattered Earth Kingdom is a painful reminder of her rootlessness as an orphan, feeling unwanted and having to construct and carve out her identity all on her own."

Said DiMartino on the conception of Kuvira, "For our fourth and final antagonist, we were looking to have a female character who was physically similar to Korra. We wanted our hero to have to face the shadow version of herself—a woman who was fierce, uncompromising, and a bending heavyweight, Kuvira brought a lot of new story and character possibilities to the table, and I really enjoyed writing the female hero/villain dynamic." DiMartino and Konietzko "took some pages out of history" in crafting Kuvira's villain arc, with DiMartino explaining that, "a lot of [dictatorships] would begin in the way we have Kuvira's story, where they were given power during a time of chaotic disruption, and it was a temporary power." Konietzko added that, "A dictator came from a temporary “okay, you can do whatever you want," because it’s such an emergency, and then you’re supposed to give it back. Historically, they rarely did that."

The character was designed by Konietzko and Ki-Hyun Ryu. Konietzko noted that "[he] had been wanting to do a military dictator as a villain for a long time, so it was fun to finally play around with what the uniform motifs would be." When designing Kuvira, Konietzko intentionally gave her a "somewhat similar vibe" to Korra, just a bit more intense." To incorporate Kuvira's metal armor in battle, the designers gave her thin strips of metal stacked on her back and upper arms that Kuvira could bend.

Earth Queen Hou-Ting

Earth Queen Hou-Ting (voiced by Jayne Taini), was the 53rd sovereign of the Earth Kingdom and daughter of Earth King Kuei. Hou-Ting was a tyrannical ruler who oppressed her citizens and used the Dai Li secret police to eliminate dissidents. In an effort to capitalize on the changes brought on by Harmonic Convergence, Hou-Ting ordered the capture of Ba Sing Se's new airbenders and conscripted them into her army. She was assassinated by Zaheer during the insurrection of the Red Lotus in the season 3 episode "Long Live the Queen", resulting in the collapse of the Earth Kingdom.

Prince Wu

Prince Wu (voiced by Sunil Malhotra) is a great-nephew of the late Earth Queen Hou-Ting and great-grandson of Earth King Kuei. Following the death of his Great Aunt at the hands of Zaheer in season 3, Prince Wu was next in line to the throne. Due to political instability, his coronation was postponed and he was forced to seek refuge in Republic City. In the season 4 episode "The Coronation", Wu was crowned King of the Earth Kingdom. However, his succession was denounced upon Kuvira's declaration as de facto leader of the newly established "Earth Empire". After Kuvira's defeat, Wu announced that he was abolishing the monarchy in favor of sovereign states with democratically elected leaders.

On Prince Wu's character, DiMartino said, "Despite Prince Wu's obnoxiousness and arrogance, he's a good guy underneath. We wrote him to be goofy and to annoy Mako, but when he has his breakdown on the fake throne in the restaurant in episode three, he showed his vulnerable side, and his character gained some more depth. It's always fun to write for characters like this, who don't have any social filters and say and do whatever they like."

Prince Wu was designed by character designer Christie Tseng and Konietzko. The character's design went through a lot of version during the concept stage. According to Konietzko, Wu seemed "too cool" in most of them, while Konietzko wanted him to be "more feeble, with less of a chiseled jawline." On Wu's final design, Konietzko noted he was "particularly happy with his fabulously coifed bangs."

Toph Beifong

Main article: Toph Beifong

Toph Beifong (voiced by Kate Higgins as an adult and by Philece Sampler as a senior) was a main character in the original series. She appears in the season 4 episode "Korra Alone", having made a home in the sacred spirit wilds of the Foggy Swamp where Korra encounters her. In the following episodes "The Coronation" and "The Calling", she assists Korra by removing the remnant mercury poison placed in her body by the Red Lotus, and by helping her overcome her fears brought about by her past adversaries. Toph returns in the season 4 episode "Operation Beifong" to help free her family from Kuvira's Earth Empire forces.

Elderly Toph was designed by Konietzko and character designers Christie Tseng and Owen Sullivan. Konietzko recalled that elderly Toph's height became a serious issue during the animation production. The creative team had wanted Toph to "shrink back down to her twelve-year-old height as an old woman," and Konietzko wanted it to be clear that it was mostly due to Toph being hunched over. However, Toph's clothes in the model sheets obscured her hunched pose leading many of the animators to draw her at the hunched height with straight legs, which in turn led to many retakes.

Fire Nation

Zuko

Main article: Zuko

Lord Zuko (voiced by Bruce Davison) was one of Avatar Aang's main allies in the original series. In season 3 of The Legend of Korra, the now-elderly Lord Zuko is revealed to have been working with the Order of the White Lotus. He enlists Tonraq and the Northern Water Tribe Chiefs, Desna and Eska, to keep the last of the imprisoned Red Lotus from being freed, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

The elderly version of Lord Zuko was designed by character designer Angela Song Mueller and co-creator Bryan Konietzko. The design incorporated attributes from Avatar Roku and Zuko's uncle Iroh, but with a more angular look to tie back to Zuko's design in the original series.

Spirit World denizens

Season 2 introduced the concept of dark spirits, spirits who have become unbalanced due to the influence of the spirit of darkness and chaos, Vaatu. Co-creator Bryan Konietzko designed how the spirits would look in various states: in the 'dark' state, they were "rough and jagged...with deep, jewel-like colors on the body and a bright pattern for the face"; in 'neutral' state, they were "smoother and less menacing"; and in 'light' state, their colors were a "negative image" of the 'dark' state.

After the events of season 2, spirits become a more regular fixture in the series, often seen floating around in the background. Co-executive producer Joaquim Dos Santos noted that some of the spirit designs were inspired by the works of Studio Ghibli, while "others were just a fun way for the designers to cut loose and create with a sense of whimsy."

Aye-aye Spirit

Aye-aye Spirit (voiced by Jason Marsden) is a guardian of the Spirit Oasis that Avatar Wan first stumbled upon after his banishment into the Spirit Wilds. Though refusing to let him in at first, the Spirit developed a bond with Wan, whom he nicknamed ''Stinky'', and allowed Wan to live among them and teach him about spirits.

Iroh

Main article: Iroh

General Iroh (Chinese: 艾洛; pinyin: Aì Luò) (voiced by Greg Baldwin), is a retired General of the Fire Nation and Zuko's uncle. A major character in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Iroh appears in The Legend of Korra where, near the end of his life, Iroh transferred his soul into the Spirit World where he offers his assistance to Korra, and later to Aang's children Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi during their initial visits to the Spirit World. Iroh is also the namesake of Zuko's grandson.

The Equalists

The Equalists are an anti-bender revolutionary group based in Republic City that evolved into a full-blown terrorist organization under the leadership from Amon, and weapons supplied by Hiroshi Sato. Their ultimate goal was to create equality for all by eradicating bending altogether. According to The Equalists, nonbenders are systemically oppressed by benders in Republic City, where bending grants greater social power and nonbenders must work substantially harder in order to succeed. The Equalists used electrified chi-blocker gloves so as to even the playing field between them and benders. Although they were defeated at the end of season 1, The Equalists movement resulted in the dissolution of the non-elected City Council, with nonbender Raiko becoming the first democratically-elected President of the United Republic of Nations after being elected by the nonbending majority.

Bryan Konietzko and Joaquim Dos Santos did the character designs for The Equalists, including their leader, Amon. According to Dos Santos, the design for the Equalist chi-blockers did not come easy and was only approved after 20 to 30 different takes.

Amon

Amon is voiced by Steven Blum

Amon (Chinese: 阿蒙 pinyin: ā méng) (voiced by Steven Blum), born Noatak, was the charismatic and mysterious leader of The Equalists, and the main villain of the first season. Nickelodean's press release described Amon as "a nimble, stealthy fighter who shows no fear even against the highest-level bender." Amon wore a mask to conceal his face, which he claimed had been disfigured by a firebender. According to co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino, the idea for Amon's mask came from his and fellow co-creator Bryan Konietzko's interest in "mysterious antagonists with masks", further explaining:

Amon is meant to be a mysterious dude; no one knows exactly where he came from or what his ultimate goal is. The story was designed so that the viewer discovers information about Amon along with Korra. I think the reason he is so fearsome is that Korra, and in turn the audience, doesn't quite know who she's dealing with or how she's going to defeat him. It's not a simple case of 'beat up the bad guy and the hero wins.' It's much more complex.

Claiming to be a nonbender to whom the spirits granted the ability to remove a person's bending permanently, a power previously demonstrated only by the Avatar, Amon gained the confidence and support of many people with his ideas. DiMartino said of the idea for Amon's character:

Korra is so in love with her powers and thinks bending is the greatest thing in the world, so we thought the best antagonist to challenge a character like that would be Amon and his anti-bending revolution. Since Korra isn't a reluctant hero, like Aang was, the challenge was coming up with a problem that she couldn't solve just by beating someone up, although she tries! Amon is able to sway people to his side with just his ideas. And the ideas of a world where benders are targeted by the enemy is a shock to this young Avatar, who comes of age in a world where bending skills are traditionally celebrated.

By the end of season 1, when the complete conquest of Republic City by The Equalists became imminent, Amon's true identity was exposed to the public by Korra. In actuality, he was a prodigious Northern Water Tribe bloodbender, an illegal and highly feared style of bending, and the son of bloodbending crime boss, Yakone, whose own bending had been removed by Avatar Aang. Amon and his brother, former councilman Tarrlok, were forced by their cruel and perfectionist father to become master bloodbenders and shaped to become a tool in Yakone's master plan for revenge against the Avatar. Tarrlok described Amon as being obsessed with fairness throughout his life, helping those deemed inferior as a child, but growing colder as he got older. Although he succeeded in removing Korra's bending (which was later restored by Aang), Amon had to leave Republic City with his brother after his past was revealed. As they fled, a remorseful Tarrlok used an Equalist glove to ignite the fuel tank of Amon's boat, killing them both. Max Nicholson of IGN summed up Amon and Tarrlok's underlying story arc as being "about two estranged brothers striving to carry out their father's quest for vengeance, only to realize that it was a fool's errand all along," calling it "really a touching concealed narrative".

Amon's body and costume were designed by Dos Santos, while his mask was designed by Konietzko. According to Konietzko, Amon's mask was designed to reference Chinese and Korean masks and face painting traditions, while remaining simple enough for animators to draw and "iconic" enough to be a symbol of the Equalist revolution.

Hiroshi Sato

Daniel Dae Kim, the voice of Hiroshi Sato

Hiroshi Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 博史 さとう ひろし）(voiced by Daniel Dae Kim) was a nonbending wealthy industrialist, the founder of Future Industries and the father of Asami Sato. Nickelodean's press release described him as "a barrel-chested businessman with a big personality". A brilliant inventor who reviewers have compared to Henry Ford, Hiroshi invented the revolutionary Satomobile, the automobiles of this fictional world. Hiroshi, whose family lineage extends back to the first Fire Nation colonists, was born to a poor family and worked from a very young age to help support his family, before eventually convincing a wealthy banker to invest in his Satomobile idea. Hiroshi is also credit with inventing the platinum mecha tank, which Varrick modernized into the mecha suit for Kuvira's military in season 4, and the biplane, the airplanes of this fictional world.

In the season 1 episode "The Aftermath", he was revealed to be an Equalist, creating and supplying the anti-bending group high-tech weaponry to fight against benders. Hiroshi hated benders because a firebender had killed his wife, Yasuko. He was imprisoned for his crimes after the anti-bending revolution was quelled in season 1. By season 4, Hiroshi was shown to be remorseful over his actions and tried to reconcile with his daughter, Asami. When Kuvira threatened Republic City, Hiroshi was temporarily released from prison by Lin Beifong in the two-part series finale to help arm the prototype hummingbird mechas with plasma saws. He made his final amends with his daughter before ultimately sacrificing his life to give Team Avatar the opportunity to take down the giant mecha suit and its spirit energy cannon by cutting through its platinum armor and giving them an entry.

Hiroshi's character design was inspired by and modeled after US President Theodore Roosevelt and Japanese industrialist Keita Gotō. His mustache is based on Mitsubishi founder Iwasaki Yatarō's.

The Lieutenant

The Lieutenant (voiced by Lance Henriksen) is a nonbender and Amon's second-in-command. Nickelodean's press release described The Lieutenant as an "an intense, disciplined fighter who augments his amazing skills with two electrified kali sticks." He wears a pack on his back that serves as a battery to charge up his kali sticks. He turns on Amon in the season 1 finale "Endgame", upon finding out about Amon's true identity as a bloodbender. The Lieutenant's final design was done by Dos Santos, and was inspired by steampunk culture.

Red Lotus

The Red Lotus is an anarchist splinter faction of the Order of the White Lotus. The main antagonists of season 3, their goal is to dismantle the world's existing power structures and plunge humanity into what they believe is the natural order: chaos. To achieve this "true freedom", the Red Lotus planned to eliminate world leaders and end the Avatar cycle. It is revealed in the season 3 episode "The Stakeout", that the Red Lotus attempted to kidnap Korra when she was a child, intending to raise the Avatar to be the person that would open the spirit portals and release Vaatu. They succeeded in throwing the Earth Kingdom into chaos by assassinating the tyrannical Earth Queen in the episode "Long Live the Queen". They later attempted, but failed, to kill Korra while she was in the Avatar state so as to end the Avatar cycle.

Creating and writing for the Red Lotus was "a blast" said co-creator Bryan Konietzko, "[Michael Dante DiMartino], [Tim Hedrick], [Joshua Hamilton], and I got to dream up a team of baddies who represented each of the four elements, but with rare and deadly skills."

Zaheer

Main article: Zaheer

Zaheer (voiced by Henry Rollins) is the leader of the Red Lotus and an anarchist, who strongly believes in the foundation of a new world without the Order of the White Lotus, the four nations, or the Avatar. After season 2's Harmonic Convergence, he also became an airbender. In the season 3 episode "Enter the Void", after having let go of his final earthly tether upon P'Li's death, Zaheer unlocked the ability of flight. Prior to becoming an airbender, Zaheer was already a martial arts master who practiced a freeform, parkour style. Becoming an airbender only accentuated his already formidable skills.

In pursuit of his goals, Zaheer and three of his comrades were captured and imprisoned. After becoming an airbender thirteen years later, he escaped the custody of the Order of the White Lotus and subsequently freed his allies from prison. He threw the Earth Kingdom into chaos by assassinating the Earth Queen and attempted to end the Avatar cycle by killing Avatar Korra while she was in the Avatar State, though failed, leaving him as the only survivor of their group of four. Following his defeat, Zaheer was once again imprisoned. Zaheer returned in the season 4 episode "Beyond the Wilds" when Korra confronts Zaheer in his prison cell. Realizing his actions unintentionally created a tyrant, Zaheer helps Korra reconnect with Raava in the face of their common enemy Kuvira.

Zaheer was well-received as a morally ambiguous and sympathetic villain. Zaheer is the first, and only, villainous airbender seen in Avatar franchise. With Zaheer, it is the first time viewers see airbending used in brutal and agonizing ways. Geek.com noted that:

After two show’s worth of seeing airbenders as oppressed, lighthearted, good people, it was jarring witnessing the logical dark conclusions of a valid interpretation of airbender philosophy. Air is the element of freedom, so total anarchy is the only real political stance. Zaheer's more violent airbending techniques, from flight to literally sucking the life out of someone, were also a visual treat.

Zaheer was designed by Konietzko. On the conception of Zaheer, Konietzko explained that, "All the way back to Avatar days, writers would pitch 'evil' Airbender premises. Whether these were interesting or not, Mike and I always shot them down, saying, 'Aang is the last Airbender.' But when Harmonic Convergence created new Airbenders, we finally had the opportunity to explore such a character, and we loved doing so!"

Ming-Hua

Ming-Hua (voiced by Grey DeLisle) was the waterbender ally of Zaheer and a member of the Red Lotus. A powerful waterbender who was born without arms, Ming-Hua was able to waterbend liquid arms that were extremely effective, allowing her to use them as hands to grab things, as tendrils to climb or as deadly ice spears. She was was freed from prison by both Zaheer and Ghazan. Ming-Hua played an integral part in deposing the Earth Queen and attempting to kill Korra. Ming-Hua died of electrocution by Mako.

The idea for Ming-Hua's character came from a joke pitch Konietzko and DiMartino had about Amon surviving the boat explosion at the and of season 1, but needing to bend water in the place of his missing limbs. The character was designed by Konietzko, who based Ming-Hua's face and petite build on a friend of his.

Ghazan

Ghazan (voiced by Peter Giles) was the earthbender ally of Zaheer. Ghazan was a member of the Red Lotus with a special subset of bending, lavabending. Ghazan was freed from prison by Zaheer after Zaheer had acquired airbending. Ghazan played an integral part in deposing the Earth Queen and attempting to kill Korra. Ghazan eventually committed suicide when under threat of re-capture.

Ghazan was designed by Konietzko, who noted that "Ghazan's basic look came together pretty smoothly" for him, however, "pinning down the specifics of his tattoos in the final model sheet took much more time."

P'Li

P'Li (voiced by Kristy Wu) was the firebender ally and girlfriend of Zaheer. P'Li had the powerful firebending subset of combustionbending. As girl, P'Li was saved by Zaheer from becoming a warlord's killing machine. Upon being freed from prison, P'Li joined the rest of the Red Lotus in trying to take down the world leaders and the Avatar. In the season 3 episode "Enter the Void", P'Li is killed while battling Lin and Suyin Beifong.

Metal Clan

Zaofu is an autonomous city state. A progressive metalbending city, it is the home of the Metal Clan and was founded and governed by the Beifong-family. Considered the safest and most prosperous city in the world, the settlement is constructed entirely out of metal-alloys and protective platinum domes.

Suyin Beifong

Suyin Beifong (voiced by Anne Heche) is the matriarch of Zaofu, youngest daughter of Toph Beifong and half-sister to Lin Beifong. Suyin is married to an architect named Baatar, with whom she has five children: Baatar Jr., Opal, Huan, Wei and Wing. Geek.com described Suyin Beifong as "one of the more morally flexible ally characters", noting that while Suyin is dedicated to helping others and is fiercely loyal to her family, she still holds onto some personality traits from her criminal past.

Suyin and her sister, Lin, clashed a lot in the past due to their different personalities. Matt Patches of ScreenCrush described Suyin as the "liberal arts-educated, poetry-quoting, world-traveling, New Yorker-reading, self-identified foodie" to Lin's "blue collar, bread-and-butter townie." Max Nicholson of IGN wrote that despite "how different Lin and Su were from each other," they were "also the same -- almost like two sides of Toph's coin."

Baatar Jr. Beifong

Baatar Jr. Beifong is Suyin Beifong and Baatar's eldest son, former fiancé of Kuvira, and Zaofu's chief engineer responsible for enacting his father's architectural designs. After Earth Queen Hou-Ting's murder and subsequent stabilization of the Earth Kingdom, he left Zaofu together with Kuvira to reunite the nation.

Baatar Jr.'s design was done by Konietzko and Angela Song Mueller. On designing Baatar Jr., Konietzko noted that the character "got a pretty major update from the dorky, awkward young engineer he was in Book Three to this harsh, creepy second in command of Kuvira's forces in Book Four."

Aiwei

Aiwei (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) was an earthbender and the trusted adviser of Zaofu's matriarch, Suyin Beifong. Aiwei was a truth-seer, capable of using his earthbending as a vibration-sensitive lie detector. In the season 3 episode "The Terror Within", he was discovered to be a mole for the Red Lotus after they failed to kidnap Avatar Korra. After his escape from Zaofu, Aiwei met the Red Lotus leader Zaheer in the Spirit World in the following episode "The Stakeout", where he was thrown into the Fog of Lost Souls by the airbender.

Avatar incarnations

The Avatar-cycle follows the cycles of the seasonal order of Earth's climate, as each element represents a season: Spring (Earth); Summer (Fire); Autumn (Air); Winter (Water).

Avatar Aang

Main article: Aang

Avatar Aang (voiced by D. B. Sweeney) is Korra's immediate predecessor and the main character in the prequel series Avatar: The Last Airbender. In Book One of The Legend of Korra, Aang has been dead for 16 years and appears as an Adult to provide spiritual guidance to his successor.

Avatar Wan

Avatar Wan (Chinese: 萬 pinyin: wàn) (voiced by Steven Yeun) was the first Avatar, having lived 10,000 years prior to Avatar Korra's time. After being banished from his tribe for obtaining the firebending ability under false reasons from a Lion Turtle, Wan learned to live among the spirits and protected them from hostile humans. After being tricked into freeing the dark spirit Vaatu, Wan accompanied the light spirit Raava to track down and defeat Vaatu. Along the way, Wan acquired the ability to bend the other three elements of Air, Water and Earth, eventually becoming the first Avatar as he merged with Raava during Harmonic Convergence.

See also

• List of Avatar: The Last Airbender characters