Shira

### Allies

Gong, Yuna, Hiko, Ryuji, Umeko, Suke, Soo-Jin, Rira, Yeni, Order of the White Lotus, Anh Lau, Jinora, Kai, Kotsang, Zena, Tenzin, Koko, Tonyin, Jomin, Roku II, Minzen, Goshi, Umi, Li-Yan, Kazuro, Nashu, Stinky

### Enemies

Jun, Sakchai, Traditionalists, Kasumi, Arin, Order of the White Dragon, Val, Mirai (formerly)

### Fighting styles

Sandbending, earthbending, metalbending, firebending, airbending, energybending

## Relationships

**Shira** is the most recent incarnation of the Avatar and immediate successor of Avatar Korra. Born and raised in Zhi Lao, a small settlement of sandbenders and nonbenders in the Si Wong Desert, he grew proficient in sandbending and was wholly unaware of his Avatarhood until being told of his status by the Order of the White Lotus in 234 AG. He would reluctantly move to Air Temple Island to be trained in spirituality under Jomin before going on to learn regular earthbending and his three non-native styles of bending arts. Through the assistance of his pet spirit fox, Gong, his childhood best friend, Yeni, various instructors assigned to him for training, and memoirs left by Korra, Shira spent much of his first week as the Avatar adjusting to a far more lavish life than he'd grown used to.

## History

### Early life

Shira was born to Hiko and Yuna in Zhi Lao, a small settlement in the Si Wong Desert, following Avatar Korra's death in 218 AG. His Avatar status was completely unbeknownst to him for much of his upbringing, being distracted by his commitments to academics and his eventual complete pursuit of a career in construction alongside his father and brothers. At some point in his early childhood, Shira befriended Yeni, the most proficient sandbender in his class who would grow to become his closest and only long-term friend.

At the age of 9, using his sandbending, Shira saved both his parents from potential injury or death following a sandsailer accident on their way to retrieve supplies from the Misty Palms Oasis.

Shira's performance in school was satisfactory up until age 13, at which point he began to slip following an accident involving his older brother, Ryuji, eventually leading Shira to sideline school as a whole. Despite his mastery of sandbending at the age of 14, Shira acquired the skill much later than those his age, requiring Yeni's assistance to perform it for the first time.

#### Meeting Gong

Though he does not remember it, Shira's introduction to his pet spirit fox, Gong, occurred at the young age of 2, at which point he befriended the fox, who had been aimlessly roaming the desert, while playing near the outskirts of Zhi Lao. Upon bringing Gong home, Shira's parents agreed to allow their son to keep the fox as a pet, thus forging the lifelong bond between the pair.

Gong would eventually accompany Shira on his Avatar journey, beginning in 234 AG, often acting as both moral support and, occasionally, a guide in locating necessary people or places.

### 234 AG

At some point in the fall of 234 AG, Shira was officially announced as the Avatar by the Order of the White Lotus. Despite his initial resistance, he would be ushered to Republic City with Gong on the same day after being convinced by Yeni. Upon his arrival, Shira was greeted by Anh Lau and exposed to the city's culture and social issues, entailing his first experience with the Traditionalists upon briefly making eye contact with Kasumi. Later in the day, Shira, Yeni, and Gong arrived to Air Temple Island to be greeted by various Air Nation citizens (including Jinora, Kotsang, and Zena) to be shown a tour of the island before settling in. That night, Shira was introduced to Jomin, his spiritual instructor, over a dinner that culminated in Shira storming out after feeling that he was being used for his Avatar status.

The following day, Shira engaged in his first attempts to learn about his Avatarhood, learning about the absence of his connection to his past lives from a letter left by Korra, as well as discovering his spiritual affinity and earthbending for the first time under Jomin's instruction. He also Republic City's greatest attractions with Yeni, Gong, Kotsang, and Zena before being interrupted by a Traditionalist protest nearby. He would engage in his first conversation with Kasumi, in which she detailed a story that convinced him to schedule a meeting with President Lohan regarding the recognition of the Traditionalists as a serious social group. Despite others' pleas, he pressed on with the meeting, ultimately gaining Lohan's swift support. Unfortunately, this would lead to the enactment of city separation efforts the same day.

In a mission to recruit a Republic City Council representative from Kyoshi Island, Shira accompanied Tonyin, Koko, and their children, alongside Yeni and Gong, on a day-long trip to said island. During a brief stop at the Eastern Air Temple, Jomin coached Shira into the spirit-physical in-between necessary to enter the Avatar State, further proving his spiritual excellence. After successfully finding a Kyoshi Island council member in Mara and inviting a Kyoshi Warrior named Umi to join Team Avatar, he returned to Republic City and discovered Lohan giving a speech and, frustrated with his actions, attempted to convince the citizens to resist Lohan's separation efforts. To his demise, the crowd resented Shira, not the president, leading him to flee the scene and return to Air Temple Island.

Shira later encountered emotional troubles when Umi urged Yeni to confess her romantic feelings for him and, though he reciprocated them, Yeni retreated and insisted against them initiating a relationship out of fear of being emotionally vulnerable. He would join his friends and housemates to support Mara getting sworn in as an official councilwoman before reading another of Korra's letters, in which she informed him of the importance of forging his own life path. Later, he made amends with Yeni on the way to Mara's first council meeting, in which the Kyoshi Island representative declared her intent to vote to oppose Lohan's separation efforts. Following the meeting, Shira and Yeni worked through their communication block, him declaring to work to recognize Yeni's problems and promising to listen when she talked, and officially began a romantic relationship.

The following day, Shira again trained with Jomin and quickly grew accustomed to entering the spirit-physical in-between, perplexingly resulting in Jomin's declaration that Shira had completed all necessary spiritual training in order to begin mastering the elements. A conversation with Tenzin confirmed that Shira would travel to a civilization of the survivors of Avatar Roku's village to learn firebending from their dragon. Later, he would discover that Anh Lau had been captured via an ominous phone call, inciting panic across Air Temple Island. After working through their confusion with what a relationship entailed, Shira unsuccessfully attempted to teach Yeni standard earthbending, before the pair were interrupted by Umi relaying a premonition from Roku II that Shira needed to flee Air Temple Island immediately. The official Republic City Council vote would later culminate in a shocking upholding of Lohan's separation efforts, prompting many Air Temple Island officials to organize for Shira, Yeni, and Umi to travel to Roku's former civilization as soon as possible.

## Personality

To many, Shira comes off as a hard-headed, family-oriented teenage boy with a moody streak and an initial resistance to his identity as the Avatar. Beneath the surface, however, Shira holds a heavy emotional connection to those he cares for, demonstrated in his deep family bonds and strong relationships with both Yeni and Gong. He also has a passion for social justice issues, shown in his determination to reroute political spending to poorer Earth Kingdom civilizations, desire to advocate for minority voices to authority figures, and later ardent efforts to establish legal protections for same-sex couples.

Shira bears several similarities to his Avatar predecessor, Korra, such as his argumentative nature, emotional connections to other people, and stubbornness regarding setting his mind upon his goals. Opposite to Korra and similar to another of his predecessors, Aang, however, he resents his status as the Avatar and actively speaks bad of the global idolization of Avatars past.

One of Shira's most quickly recognizable traits is his aversion to physical touch, which has led to uncomfortable blocks and obstacles in some of his past friendships and arguments with members of his family. His general dislike for hugs and other instances of bodily touching became more of a pressing issue for compromise when he entered a relationship with his best friend, Yeni, shortly after being revealed as the Avatar. This marked the first time Shira made a genuine effort to improve his relationship with physical touch.

## Abilities

### Bending

As the Avatar, Shira has the unique ability to use all four elements and, with practice, has the potential to become the most powerful bender in the world. However, due to his unawareness of his Avatar status, Shira's training to master the four elements would not initiate until he was 15.

#### Earthbending

Due to being born and raised in the desert, Shira did not acquire regular earthbending until after he moved to Republic City. Despite his mastery of sandbending, he quickly became proficient in regular earthbending under Jomin's instruction and has used it several times in both combat and nonviolent activities. He has demonstrated the ability to transform stairways into ramps and lift large chunks of earth from the ground, among others.

##### Sandbending

As a Si Wong Desert native, the first bending art Shira mastered was earthbending, by means of being declared a master sandbender at age 14. His master status did not come easy, however, as he first sandbent much later than many of his peers, though he quickly climbed the ranks and exhibited enough talent to hold his own before being declared the Avatar a year later. In his sandbending history, Shira has demonstrated the ability to generate miniature dust storms, use sand to temporarily impair the vision of others, and use swirls of sand as an offensive attack.

### Spiritual affinity

From a young age, Shira demonstrated signs of being unusually connected to the spirit world and spirits in general. From his lifelong connection to Gong, who is a spirit, to his daily entrance to the spirit world via meditation (though he was initially unaware of this ability), he had always shown signs of being spiritual. During his time in training with Jomin, he would become aware of these abilities for the first time, quickly being declared proficient after easily learning how to enter the spirit world and spirit-physical in-between via meditation.

## Appearances

* "The New Avatar"
* "The President"
* "Kyoshi Island"
* "The Republic City Council"
* "Jun's Gambit"
* "The Volcano Colony"