History of Korra (153 AG - 169 AG)

After Avatar Aang passed away, Korra became the new Avatar. Identified at the age of four, Korra began to train waterbending, earthbending, and firebending, proving to be highly skilled at all of them. However, she also spent these years of training largely constrained to the Southern Water Tribe compound due to the threat posed by the Red Lotus to her life and well-being.
== Identification as the Avatar and near-kidnapping ==
Korra was born to two waterbenders named Tonraq and Senna in 153 AG, immediately following the death of Avatar Aang. She spent her first years growing up at her parents' home at the outskirts of the Southern Water Tribe's main city, Wolf Cove. Through her father Tonraq, Korra was related to the royal family of the Northern Water Tribe.
At the age of four,The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book One: Air, page 14. she discovered her identity as the Avatar, a fact she proudly announced to the Order of the White Lotus when they visited her home at her family's request. After performing waterbending, earthbending, and firebending before them, her identity as the Avatar was established, and her training to become a fully realized Avatar began in earnest under the Order's watchful eye. She soon began to properly train her waterbending under the tutelage of Katara, though her instinctive aggressive style was nothing like the calm, slow movements the elderly master tried to pass on.
After Chief Unalaq learned that his niece was the Avatar, he constantly sought Tonraq's permission to train Korra in the spiritual ways of the Water Tribe, but his estranged brother shot him down. Since he secretly desired to indoctrinate Korra in the ways of the Red Lotus and coerce her to reopen the long-dormant spirit portals to release Vaatu, Unalaq commissioned Zaheer, Ghazan, Ming-Hua, and P'Li to kidnap her in 158 AG. However, due to the efforts of Tonraq, Chief Sokka, Fire Lord Zuko, and Councilman Tenzin, the attempt was thwarted, and the criminals were apprehended, although Unalaq's involvement remained unknown. After the incident, Tonraq and Tenzin decided to seclude the Avatar in the Southern Water Tribe compound, away from the public eye as she pursued the bending arts.
== Waterbending training and meeting Naga ==
At some point after starting her waterbending training with Katara, Korra accidentally knocked the elderly woman to the ground by bending a pile of snow on her and quickly apologized. However, their session got cut short by Tonraq, who noticed a snowstorm was heading their way. When the winds carried the howls of a pack of polar bear dogs across the frozen tundra, Korra desired to go play with them but was forced to return home with her parents for safety.
During the night, however, she sneaked out and braved the storm, intending to track down the pack and play with them. Stumbling upon a sole pup, which got separated from the pack in the storm, she gained the animal's trust by offering it some fish jerky and started to hop around on all fours around her, desiring to play together.
When the young Avatar realized after a while that she too had gotten herself lost in the raging storm, Korra urged the animal not to fear as she was the Avatar and proceeded to build a rudimentary igloo with her waterbending. Sheltered from the wind, she attempted to bend a small flame for heat but subsequently lost control of it, startling herself and the polar bear pup. She quickly apologized to the animal, noting that she was not a good firebender yet due to Katara discouraging her from bending the other elements until she mastered waterbending. Musing that being the Avatar was not as fun as she thought it would be due to the abundance of rules, she found herself cheered up by the pup as it started licking her hand. Huddled together, the two youngsters eventually fell asleep.
The next morning, Korra and the pup awoke from their slumber when Tonraq found and cracked open their shelter. She promptly introduced the polar bear dog to them as Naga and asked if she could keep her, as she had lost her pack and needed a new family. Korra happily played with Naga in the snow while Tonraq and Senna discussed Naga's fate with Katara. Much to their mutual enthusiasm, Korra was allowed to keep her, and they all returned home, where the youngsters continued to play together.
Inseparable during the following years growing up, Naga became Korra's best friend, animal guide, and main means of transport, while Korra continued to demonstrate a prodigious talent in the bending arts of during her training sessions at the Southern Water Tribe compound. However, she also earned something of a reputation as hot-headed and somewhat rebellious student.
== Firebending training under Master Yim ==
After mastering earthbending, Korra was introduced by the White Lotus leader to her new firebending teacher, Master Yim. Already at their first meeting, Yim sternly warned Korra that he would not be as lax with her as her waterbending and earthbending teachers, warning the Avatar that he would stop training her if she devoted her time to any kind of "foolishness".
Though unsettled, Korra largely agreed to his demands to train most of the day for the coming months. However, she also pointed out that the Glacier Spirits Festival would begin that week, one of the few times of the year when she was allowed to leave the compound. Unimpressed, Yim brushed the matter aside and demanded Korra to start training. Over the next day, the young Avatar worked hard, but was distracted by the thought of missing the festival. When Yim noticed that her firebending appeared to worsen, Korra set out to ask for leave to go to the festival, but Yim angrily declared that the event was using up too much of her focus. As a remedy, he demanded that she would spent the day of the Glacier Spirits Festival in her room, copying Avatar Szeto's theory of grain distributions to concentrate her mind.
After getting to her room, Korra decided that she could possibly sneak out of the compound and secretly spend at least a little bit time at the festival and return before anyone would notice her missing. After doing so and getting to the festival grounds at Wolf Cove, she contemplated that she had only enough time for one game. As she pondered her options, a boy bumped into her, causing her to blush. 
Asking him what he was doing, he explained that his group was playing weaver's ball, "the biggest game of the year". Excited, Korra asked whether she could join them, but the other children were unsure. One of the other girls inquired about her identity. To impress her, Korra revealed herself as the Avatar, but was met with disbelief, especially by one boy who demanded that she proved it. Initially, Korra was hesitant to accept the bait, as she had wanted to lay low. Once the boy began to taunt her as a liar, however, her patience quickly snapped and she shot fire at the weaver's ball basket as a demonstration. Though the children now believed her, the fire quickly began to spread. This was noticed by Tonraq who had also attended the festival alongside Senna and extinguished his daughter's flames.
Her father then led her back to the compound, telling her she "must listen to [her] teachers", as her bending could have hurt someone. These comments only heightened the young Avatar's frustration, and Tonraq urged her to have patience, as one day she would understand why she was being secluded at the compound.
On a later day, Korra was about to start her training when she noticed that her father was there with several children from the Glacier Spirits Festival. Her father informed her that they had decided to bring the games to the compound; she subsequently began to happily play weaver's ball with the others as her father and Yim patiently watched.
Over the next years, Korra mastered firebending, eventually concluding her training with a last test in 170 AG.
== References ==
== See also ==
* Korra
* History of Korra (170 AG)
* History of Korra (171 AG - Harmonic Convergence)
* History of Korra (late 171 AG)
* History of Korra (171 - 173 AG)
* History of Korra (174 AG)
Category:A to Z
Category:Character histories
Category:Korra
Category:Legend of Korra