Avatar: The Last Airbender series

**Avatar: The Last Airbender series** (**Avatar: The Legend of Aang series** in some regions) is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The series began in February 2005 and concluded with a two-hour episode titled Sozin's Comet in July 2008. Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in an Asiatic-like world in which some people can manipulate the classical elements with psychokinetic variants of the Chinese martial arts known as "bending". The series is presented in a style that combines anime with American cartoons and relies on the imagery of East-and-South Asian, Inuit, and New World societies. It follows the protagonist, twelve-year-old Aang and his friends, who must bring peace and unity to the world by ending the Fire Lord's war with three nations. But years after Aang defeated the firelord ozai, The sequel series Avatar: The Legend of Korra is set in a fictional universe in which some people can manipulate, or "bend", the elements of water, earth, fire, or air. Only one person, the "Avatar", can bend all four elements, and is responsible for maintaining balance in the world. The series sequel follows Avatar Korra, the reincarnation of Aang from the previous series, as she faces political and spiritual unrest in a modernizing world.

## Series overview

### Avatar The Last Airbender

#### Characters

* Avatar Aang is the protagonist of the original series, and in it, the current Avatar, a being who exists through reincarnation to maintain world balance.[24][25] A reluctant hero, Aang often acts in a fun-loving, carefree manner.[26] His pacifism and vegetarianism demonstrates his love for life, a primary trait of Buddhism. The creators intended Aang to "defeat enemies with his wits" and be a "trickster hero".[27][28] Though Aang is often frivolous and enthusiastic, he becomes serious during a crisis.[29][30]

In the original series, Katara and Sokka rescue Aang from a century of suspended animation. Having already mastered his native Airbending, Aang learns Waterbending at the North Pole in Book One and continues his instruction from Katara in the rest of the series,[31] Earthbending from Toph in Book Two,[20] and Firebending from Zuko in Book Three.[32][33] Throughout the series, Aang comes to the aid of Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom communities oppressed by the Fire Nation. Unwilling to kill Fire Lord Ozai, despite his past Avatar incarnations insisting on it, Aang ultimately learns the ancient Lion-Turtles' technique of energybending, which allows the user to give or take away a person's bending, and uses it to render Ozai a non-bender.

In The Legend of Korra, it is revealed that Aang aided Zuko in creating the United Republic of Nations. He also married Katara and had three children, with his youngest son Tenzin restoring the Air Nomads while instructing his reincarnation Korra. Like Roku before him, Aang appears at times before his reincarnation Korra prior to their connection being destroyed.

* + Appa is Aang's loyal sky bison, who shared a strong bond with Aang and with Momo, as they were all some of the few remaining traces of the Air Nomad civilization. Appa was most noted for his ability to fly in spite of his heavy weight, a feat achieved through airbending, which made Appa the primary means of transportation utilized by Team Avatar.

* + Momo was a winged lemur and a loyal companion of Avatar Aang and his friends. By late 99 AG, he lived at the Southern Air Temple and was the only known specimen of the winged lemur species to still be alive after the Air Nomad Genocide.

* Prince Zuko is a central character. When exiled, prior to the beginning of the series, by his father Fire Lord Ozai for forfeiting a duel therewith,[44] Zuko believed that capturing the Avatar would regain his honor.[45] In addition to his firebending, Zuko is proficient in the use of double broadswords wielded in his alter ego of the "Blue Spirit". Zuko's ancestry reflects his own anxieties, in that his paternal great-grandfather Fire Lord Sozin started the war while his maternal great-grandfather Avatar Roku attempted to prevent it.[46] In Book One, Zuko fails many times to capture the Avatar, and in Book Two, Zuko and his Uncle Iroh earn further displeasure when they flee into the Earth Kingdom, where he befriends locals and goes so far as to rescuing them from corrupt Earth Army guards.[44][47] When tempted by his sister Azula's offer of honor's restoration, he betrays his uncle to assist Azula's fight against the Avatar.[48] In Book Three, Zuko eventually rejects his father Ozai's plans.[49] After he learns the secret of Firebending with Aang from two dragons, he becomes Aang's Firebending teacher;[32] helps Sokka rescue prisoners; assists Katara in confronting her mother's killer; and receives his uncle Iroh's forgiveness.[50][51] After defeating Azula, Zuko becomes the new Fire Lord and ends the war.[52]

The sequel series reveals that Fire Lord Zuko aided Avatar Aang reorganizing the Fire Nation's colonies in the Earth Kingdom as a United Republic of Nations, and is the only one of Republic City's founders not to have lived there. After abdicating the throne in favor of his daughter Izumi while her son Iroh later serves as a general in the United Forces, Zuko travels the world as an ambassador for peace and keeping major threats in check while Aang's reincarnation Korra was still a child.

* Katara is Aang's best friend, later becoming his girlfriend and ultimately, his wife. In the original series, she had mastered the art of waterbending at the end of Book One,[53] and therefore began teaching Aang the art alongside his study of earthbending in Book Two.[20] Katara is known for resisting gender stereotypes;[31] but acts as den mother to the other protagonists.[20] As a waterbender, she is able to heal injuries, change water into ice, and use it to cut through solid objects. She is known to become enamoured easily, and is often angered by treachery or dishonesty. She also learns bloodbending, the manipulation of liquids within a living creature, in Book Three.[54]

In the sequel series, Katara is revealed to have married Aang and had three children. In an earlier version of the pilot episode, Katara's name was Kya: a name later re-used as her mother's name and later that of her daughter. In the sequel series, Katara is Korra's Waterbending master.

* Sokka is a 15-year-old warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, and Katara's elder brother.[20] With no bending power of his own, Sokka relies largely on a metallic boomerang, a blunt metal club, a machete, and later a black jian created from the metals of a meteorite.[55] Surprisingly in an inhabitant of a mystical world, Sokka is an engineer and something of a jack-of-all-trades, in which respect he is easily able to understand the Fire Nation's advanced technology, and perfects the design of the hot air balloon.[56] In addition, he is both heterodox and resourceful in his endeavors,[57] and a source of comic relief throughout the series. Sokka was in love with the Northern Water Tribe princess Yue at the end of Book One and later shifted his affections to the Kyoshi Warriors' leader Suki in Books Two and Three.

In the sequel series, flashbacks reveal Sokka was the first representative of the Southern Water Tribe to sit on the Republic City Council, and possibly its first chairman. He died a few years after Aang, when the next Avatar, Korra, was still a child.

* Toph Beifong is a blind Earthbending grandmaster of the prestigious Bei Fong family in the Earth Kingdom. In the original series, Toph helps Aang master Earthbending after leaving her home.[19] Toph is often sarcastic, direct, and confrontational; commonly depicted as the choleric and tomboy of the group.[19] Though blind, Toph has the ability to "feel" vibrations in the earth, be it the presence of trees and buildings or the march of ants several meters away. Through this heightened sense, she can identify people's locations, their distance from her, and their physical build. This 'seismic sense' provides her with a distinct advantage when facing other Earthbenders in combat, as they characteristically require contact with the ground and extract rocks from their surroundings. As another result of her blindness, Toph has an acute sense of hearing, enabling her to recognize people by the sound of their voices and to eavesdrop on distant conversations.[29] Unlike other Earthbenders, Toph has a distinct style of earthbending not based on Hung Gar but on the Southern Praying Mantis, featuring quick generation of energy and low kicks, to suit her small stature.[58] Toph taught herself metalbending by manipulating the metals' impurities at the end of Book Two and throughout Book Three.[59]

In the sequel series, flashbacks reveal that Toph was the first Chief of the Metalbending Police Force, the police department of Republic City. Toph eventually became a single mother of two daughters: Lin, who eventually succeeded her mother as police chief, and Suyin, who founded a commune of free-thinking Earth and metalbenders known as Zaofu. By the time the series begins, having once lived with Suyin's family in Zaofu, Toph took residence in the Foggy Swamp where she assists Korra.

* Iroh also known as "The Dragon of the West", is a Firebending master and former heir to the Fire Nation throne. After the death of his son at the Siege of Ba Sing Se, his younger brother Ozai superseded him as Fire Lord.[44] Unlike most firebenders, Iroh lacks hostility toward other nations and generates his fire and lightning not from fury, as is conventional, but from a sense given to him by dragons, the original source of firebending.[32] As a member of the Order of the White Lotus, Iroh has social connections throughout the Four Nations. Iroh is outwardly easy-going and friendly, and particularly fond of food, good tea (ginseng tea is his favorite),[61] the strategy game Pai Sho,[62] cheerful company, and pleasant music.[11] Something of a hedonist in his old age, he focuses more on relaxation and amusements than on the pursuit of the Avatar, a habit that clashes with the obsessions of his nephew Zuko.[44] At the end of the series, after enlisting his fellow White Lotus members to release Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation's rule, Iroh reopened his tea shop within the city called ”the jasmin dragon”.[30][52]

In The Legend of Korra sequel, near the end of his life, Iroh transferred his soul into the Spirit World where he offers his assistance to Aang's reincarnation 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.

* Azula is Zuko's sister who is a major antagonist in Book Two and Book Three.[63] She is a gifted Firebending master. After Zhao's death, Azula is sent by Ozai to capture the Avatar, Zuko, and Iroh. Her amorality and ability to act without hesitation or remorse also accounts for her ability to create lightning, a skill that requires peace of mind.[20] Despite her cruel temperament, she becomes distraught when abandoned by her friends Mai and Ty Lee,[64] and collapses mentally when her father leaves her the now-worthless position of Fire Lord,[33] in which she becomes increasingly irrational, paranoid, and mentally unstable,[30] and ultimately suffers a full psychotic breakdown, in which she is overcome by Zuko and Katara.[52]

Following the end of the war, Azula is placed at a mental institution to be closely monitored. As revealed in the comic sequel, The Search, Azula managed to convince Zuko to let her accompany him in the search for their mother. But in reality, her madness tied to the hatred she bears towards her mother, Azula's reasons were to eliminate Ursa upon finding a letter that claimed Zuko to be only her half-brother and thus making her the legitimate heir to the throne. But after her attempt to kill her mother failed, and unable to accept Zuko still caring for her after everything she had done to him, Azula fled into the Forgetful Valley before the letter's contents were later revealed to be false.

#### Setting

Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in a world—adjacent to a parallel spirit world—that is home to humans and hybrid animals. Human civilization is divided into four nations, named after the four classical elements: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Each nation has a distinct society in which select people, known as "benders" (waterbenders, earthbenders, firebenders and airbenders), have the ability to telekinetically manipulate and control their nation's element using martial arts.

Only the Avatar has the ability to bend all four elements. The Avatar, who may be male or female, is an international arbiter whose duty is to maintain harmony among the four nations, and act as a mediator between humans and spirits. When the Avatar dies, their spirit is reincarnated into the next of the four nations in what is known as the Avatar cycle: the Fire Nation, Air Nomads, Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom. An Avatar is required to master each bending art, beginning with the element of their home nation, and proceeding to learn the others in the order of the Avatar cycle, starting at the age of sixteen. Avatars also possess the ability to enter a condition known as the Avatar State, in which they gain the knowledge and abilities of all past Avatars. Although it is when they are most powerful, if an Avatar were ever to be killed while in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle would end and the avatar would never again be reborn.

#### Synopsis

More than a century before the events of the series begin, Fire Lord Sozin, ruler of the Fire Nation, planned a world war to expand his nation's territory and influence. He was prevented from carrying out his plans by Avatar Roku, who was born in the Fire Nation. After Roku's death, the Avatar was reincarnated as an Airbender named Aang. Because the Avatar was now a child, Sozin saw his chance and proceeded with his militant plans. At the age of twelve, Aang learned about his avatar status because of the threat of Sozin's war. Afraid of his new responsibilities and of separation from his mentor Gyatso, he fled his home on his flying bison, Appa. Aang was forced into the ocean by a storm; he entered the Avatar State and encased himself and Appa in suspended animation in an iceberg near the South Pole for one hundred years. Sozin, knowing the avatar's reincarnation cycle mandated an Air Nomad was the new Avatar, carried out a genocide against the Air Nomads during the passage of a once-a-century comet that increased the Firebenders' power, and continued his world conquest.

In the present day, as the Fire Nation continues its war against the other nations, Katara, a fourteen-year-old waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, and her older brother, Sokka, find and revive Aang and Appa. Aang learns about the war and the siblings join him to reach the Northern Water Tribe at the North Pole so he and Katara can learn waterbending. Aang's return attracts the attention of Prince Zuko, the exiled son of the current Fire Lord Ozai, who pursues them, accompanied by his uncle Iroh. Aang is also pursued by Zhao, a Fire Nation admiral who intends to win Ozai's favor and rob Zuko of his redemption. En route to the North Pole, Aang learns about the genocide against his people when he visits the ruins of the Southern Air Temple. During the winter solstice, Aang meets the spirit of his predecessor, Avatar Roku, and comes to terms with his responsibilities. With the Northern Water Tribe, Aang and Katara learn advanced waterbending from Master Pakku; Sokka falls in love with the chief's daughter, Princess Yue. Zhao's navy lays siege to the tribe, seizing the mortal forms of the ocean and moon spirits—the source of waterbending—and causing a lunar eclipse. Zhao kills the moon spirit to deprive the waterbenders of their abilities but Aang joins with the ocean spirit to drive off the enemy fleet while Yue sacrifices her life to revive the moon spirit. When Ozai hears about his older brother Iroh's resistance to Zhao, he sends his daughter Azula to capture Iroh and Zuko.

After leaving the Northern Water Tribe, Katara continues teaching Aang waterbending while the group searches for an earthbending teacher. They meet Toph Beifong, a twelve-year-old, blind earthbending prodigy who wants independence from her upper-class family. Pursued by Azula, Zuko and Iroh lead new lives in the Earth Kingdom as wanderers and refugees, settling in the capital city Ba Sing Se. At a library guarded by the spirit Wan Shi Tong, Aang and his group learn an imminent solar eclipse could let them stop the Fire Nation before Sozin's Comet arrives. They journey to Ba Sing Se to inform the Earth King of this information. In the city, they find that the Earth King Kuei is a puppet ruler, manipulated by Long Feng, leader of the Dai Li secret police. After Aang's group exposes Long Feng's political machinations, Toph is captured but escapes by learning to bend metal. The Dai Li join Azula to instigate a coup d'état of Ba Sing Se, and Zuko, who has spent his time in Ba Sing Se trying to come to terms with his identity, sides with his sister Azula. During a face off in the catacombs underneath the ancient city, Azula nearly kills Aang, forcing the protagonists to retreat with help from Iroh and leaving the Earth Kingdom under the control of the Fire Nation.

Aang emerges from a coma to find his friends and allies disguised as soldiers on a Fire Nation ship, preparing to invade the Fire Nation capital during the solar eclipse. The invasion is at first successful but Aang and his friends cannot find Ozai and are forced to retreat. Zuko learns about his father's intention to destroy the Earth Kingdom during the return of Sozin's Comet; he begins to regret his decision, and abandons the Fire Nation to join Aang and teach him firebending. As the comet approaches, Aang, a pacifist, wrestles with the possibility that he will have to kill Ozai to end the war. As he, in seclusion, consults the spirits of his predecessors for advice, Katara and the others encounter Iroh, who is leading a secret society called the Order of the White Lotus. The Order liberates Ba Sing Se. Sokka, Toph, and the warrior Suki attack the Fire Nation's airships, while Zuko and Katara confront Azula to prevent her from being crowned as the new Fire Lord. As the comet arrives, Aang confronts Ozai but cannot get the upper hand until Ozai triggers Aang's connection to the Avatar State. Aang strips Ozai of his firebending powers. Zuko is crowned the new Fire Lord and arranges an armistice, establishing peace in the world.

### Avatar The Legend of Korra

#### Characters

* Avatar Korra 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.[65] 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.[66] 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.[67]

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.[68]:14 For Korra's look and attitude, the designers took reference from mixed martial artist Gina Carano as well as competitive female snowboarders

* Asami Sato 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.[65] She often uses an electrified chi-blocker glove for combat.[74] 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.[75]

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.[68]:22 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 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,[78] and has a somewhat childlike and naive view of the world.[68]:19 Physically, he is stocky and muscular.[65] Bolin acts as the comic relief of Team Avatar, and is constantly underestimated by those around him.[66] 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.[75]

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.[68]:15 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.[79] The final design for Bolin was done by supervising producer Ki-Hyun Ryu.[68]:16 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 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.[68]:15 Physically, Mako is tall, lean and handsome.[65] Mako is Korra's love interest during the first two seasons,[75] but they decide in the season 2 finale "Light in The Dark" that they are better off as friends.[84] Mako is level-headed and fiercely loyal, and as the series progresses, he becomes someone his brother and friends can always rely on.[75]

The final design for Mako was done by supervising producer Ki-Hyun Ryu.[68]:16 The character was named after the late Mako Iwamatsu, the original voice of Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* Tenzin 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.[65] At the start of the series, he was the only airbending master in the world[85] and thus served as Avatar Korra's airbending teacher and spiritual guide.[65] Tenzin however, had to undergo a lot of spiritual growth himself, facing his insecurities of living in father's shadow.[66] 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 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",[66] Lin is tough and uncompromising, but also loyal and brave.[65][86]

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.[65] Lin's feelings toward Korra improves as the series progresses, and she would do anything to protect the Avatar from danger.[87] 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.[75] 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.[87] 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.[88][89] 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.[90] 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."[66]

Lin's character design was partly inspired by Han Young Ja, a longtime friend and colleague of Konietzko and DiMartino.[91] 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.

* Zaheer 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.[92] 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.[93]:32

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[94] 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.[92] 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.[95][96]

Zaheer was well-received as a morally ambiguous[66] and sympathetic villain.[97] 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.[96] 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."[98] 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!"

* Kuvira 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 forcefully reunite the rest of the fractured kingdom with her army, denouncing the authority of Prince Wu in favor of an "Earth Empire" under her dictatorship, earning her the title of the "Great Uniter". 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[97] with noble but extremely misguided intentions.[99] 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."[96]

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."[100]:10 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."[101]

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.

#### Setting

The Legend of Korra is set in the fictional world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, 70 years after the events of that series. The world is separated into four nations: the northern and southern Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. The distinguishing element of the series is "bending", the ability of some people to telekinetically manipulate the classical element associated with their nation (water, earth, fire, or air). Bending is carried out by spiritual and physical exercises, portrayed as similar to Chinese martial arts.

Only one person, the "Avatar", can bend all four elements. Cyclically reincarnating among the world's four nations, the Avatar maintains peace and balance in the world. The Legend of Korra focuses on Avatar Korra, a seventeen-year-old girl from the Southern Water Tribe and the successor of Avatar Aang from The Last Airbender.

The first season is mostly set in Republic City, the capital of the United Republic of Nations, a multicultural sovereign state that emerged from civil conflict in the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom after the end of The Last Airbender founded by both Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko. The 1920s-inspired metropolis is described as "if Manhattan had happened in Asia" by the series' creators,[5] and its residents are united by their passion for "pro-bending", a spectator sport in which two teams composed of an earthbender, waterbender, and firebender throw each other out of a ring using bending techniques. Rapid technological growth has displaced the spirituality of bending, and what was considered a renowned martial art in Avatar: The Last Airbender is now commonplace, with benders in Republic City using their abilities to commit crime, compete in spectator sports, and fulfill everyday jobs.[6] The second season is mostly set in the southern polar region, while the third and fourth seasons take place mostly in the Earth Kingdom and, to a lesser degree, in Republic City.

#### Synopsis

The first season, Book One: Air, sees Korra move to Republic City to learn airbending from Tenzin, Avatar Aang's son. She enters the pro-bending league, and befriends the brothers Bolin and Mako, as well as Asami Sato, heiress to Future Industries, a leading engineering corporation. The ambitious politician Tarrlok enlists Korra to fight the anti-bender uprising of the "Equalists", led by the masked Amon, who strips benders of their abilities. Korra and her friends, aided by police chief Lin Beifong and United Forces General Iroh, unmask Amon as a bloodbender and Tarrlok's brother, ending the Equalists' coup. A spiritual meeting with her predecessor Aang allows Korra to realize her powers and to restore the bending abilities of Amon's victims.

The second season, Book Two: Spirits, begins six months later, with dark spirits terrorizing the seas. Korra turns to her spirit-attuned uncle Unalaq, chief of the Northern Water Tribe, for tutelage, and opens the polar portals to the Spirit World at his direction. Unalaq then seizes power in the Southern Water Tribe by force, starting a civil war in which he is opposed by his brother, Korra's father, Tonraq. Seeking allies against Unalaq, Korra experiences the life of the first Avatar, Wan, who fused his soul with the spirit Raava to imprison her opponent Vaatu. Aided by his twin children Eska and Desna, Unalaq frees Vaatu during the Harmonic Convergence, a decamillennial alignment of planets, and unites with him to become a dark Avatar. As Korra fights this figure, her link to the previous Avatars is broken; but with the help of Tenzin's daughter Jinora, she defeats Vaatu and Unalaq, and leaves the spirit portals open, allowing a new coexistence of spirits and humans.

The third season, Book Three: Change, begins two weeks later with people all over the world discovering airbending powers as a result of the Harmonic Convergence. As Tenzin, Korra, and her friends recruit them to re-establish the extinct Air Nomads, the newly airbending criminal Zaheer escapes his prison, frees his allies Ghazan, Ming-Hua, and P'Li, and attempts to kidnap the Avatar. This fails thanks to the help of Suyin Beifong, Lin's previously estranged sister. Zaheer and his team – members of the Red Lotus, an anarchic secret society – kill the Earth Queen, throwing her kingdom into chaos, and try to force Korra's surrender by taking the Air Nomads hostage, including Suyin's daughter Opal. In the final confrontation, Zaheer's comrades are killed and he is captured by the Air Nomads led by Jinora. Two weeks later, a weakened, wheelchair-bound Korra watches as Jinora is anointed an airbending master, and Tenzin rededicates the Air Nomads to service to the world.

The final season, Book Four: Balance, is set three years later. Korra slowly recovers from the injuries incurred in the fight with Zaheer, traveling the world alone and haunted by fear. Meanwhile, Suyin's former head of security, Kuvira, reunites the fractured Earth Kingdom with the metalbenders loyal to her, and refuses to release power to the unpopular heir to the throne, Prince Wu. At the head of her new, totalitarian "Earth Empire", Kuvira seizes Suyin's city of Zaofu and sets her sights on the United Republic, which she claims for her nation. With Toph Beifong's help, Korra frees herself of the remnants of Zaheer's poison, but after losing a duel to Kuvira at Zaofu, she allows Zaheer to help her overcome her fears and fully reconnect with her Avatar Spirit, Raava. When Kuvira attacks Republic City with a giant mecha carrying a spirit-powered superweapon, it takes all the efforts of Korra and her friends, including the inventor Varrick and his assistant Zhu Li, to stop the colossus. Only after Kuvira's weapon blows open a third portal to the Spirit World, destroying much of the city, does she concede defeat. The series ends with the prospect of democracy for the former Earth Kingdom, and with Korra and Asami leaving together for a vacation in the Spirit World.