Korra

Korra is the main protagonist from the Legend of Korra animated series.

Korra is the current incarnation of the Avatar and immediate successor of Avatar Aang. Born and raised in the Southern Water Tribe, where she mastered waterbending, earthbending, and firebending, she later relocated to Republic City to attain a similar proficiency with airbendingunder the tutelage and guidance of Tenzin as well as overcome her aversion to the spiritual aspects of the bending arts. With the assistance of Aang's spirit, Korra gained the ability to energybend, and after connecting with her past lives, she gained the capacity to enter the Avatar State at will, marking her transition into a fully realized Avatar. However, due to her temporary separation from Raava during the Harmonic Convergence of 171 AG, she no longer has a connection to her past lives. After defeating Kuvira and bringing an end to the Earth Empire, Korra started a romantic relationship with Asami Sato.

In the Heroes Coalition fics, Korra is a member of the Heroes Coalition and is part of the Universal Guardians.

Appearance
Korra had a brown skin tone, brown hair tied in high ponytail with two locks dangling on each side of her head and had crystal blue eyes. She wears a blue sleeveless turtleneck top, a brown furred cape around her waist, blue baggy pants and brown boots.

Personality
On the surface, Korra is fierce, independent, and pugnacious, but beneath her tough exterior, she possesses a strong loyalty toward her friends and duty as the Avatar. She also has an admirable compassion and devotion, demonstrated when she expresses love toward things such as her family and friends. Her offensive battle style means that she is always quick to initiate or rise to a challenge, and is similarly quick witted and impulsive, especially in heated situations. As an "Avatar-in-training", she lacked perception toward the damage her bending is capable of, and her rash decisions often resulted in her accidentally insulting others.

True to Korra's character, Lin once stated to Tenzin that it was "hard to believe [his] sweet-tempered father was reincarnated into that girl". Her personality is, in many ways, the opposite of her past life's; Aang was a peaceful, diffident, nomadic airbender, whereas Korra is tough, impatient, headstrong, sarcastic, and assertive. She has a habit of getting close-up to people when confronting them, sometimes grabbing them by the chin when trying to get her point across. Additionally, while Aang was initially reluctant to be the Avatar, to the point where he ran away to prevent his responsibilities as the Avatar from disturbing his life, Korra fully embraced her position as the Avatar from a young age, reveling in its power. However, similar to Aang, she also has a good sense of humor and enthusiasm, and a vulnerable teenage charm.

Being initially unable to connect with her spiritual side proved to be a stumbling block in Korra's training, and she admitted that her personality is the opposite of the typical airbender's; as Tenzin noted, Avatars tend to struggle with the bending art most opposite their personality. Due to the lack of a spiritual center in her life, Korra is impulsive and therefore has a hard time hiding her true feelings; this could be seen in her reaction to learning that Asami Sato was Mako's date during the gala Tarrlok threw in her honor, where she immediately expressed her jealousy by being rather hostile toward Asami and short with Mako.

Due to her concentration on the physical side of bending, Korra was initially quite worried when she saw "the revelation" of Amon's true abilities during his demonstration, a fear which expressed itself in Amon's words in the nightmare she had soon afterward, "Once I take your bending away, you will be nothing." This and her later encounter with Amon revealed this fear. She tried repressing these fears for the good of Republic City when she joined Tarrlok's task force, but had trouble staying her usual upbeat self and became rather reclusive,[16] and eventually made the rash decision to call Amon out in a one-on-one duel. This indicates that she is ruled by her emotions even when she tries to pretend they do not exist, leaving her vulnerable to Amon as shown by the results of the said encounter.

Like her immediate predecessor Aang, Korra places a high priority on her position as the Avatar, despite their different approaches. Although at first Aang was uncomfortable with having to use outright violence to bring balance to the world, he eventually developed an unrelenting determination toward following his age-old destiny. Korra, on the other hand, takes a non-conformist stance over her Avatar training. For instance, after trying out pro-bending, she stated to Tenzin that the reason why she had been unable to airbend was because the Avatar no longer needed it and was instead meant to focus on modern styles of fighting. Tenzin quickly stamped her proposal out as preposterous, reminding her that the Avatar is destined to master all four elements at all costs.

Upon learning that she was kept locked away from the world by Tonraq and Tenzin, Korra became quite irate toward them, being hostile whenever they tried to speak with her. Korra expressed more hostility for her father after learning about his past in the Northern Water Tribe. However, when she found out that Tonraq was not involved with an effort to overthrow Unalaq, she forgave him quickly. Korra has no qualms intimidating or threatening whomever has offended her friends and loved ones, as exemplified when she struck fear to the Equalist protester to find out Bolin's whereabouts, and when she threatened to feed Judge Hotah to Naga if he would not comply to her wishes. After learning the truth about her father's banishment, Korra developed an animosity toward Unalaq, which caused her to dismiss him as her spiritual mentor. Once she realized that Unalaq had been using her to try to free Vaatu from his prison in the Spirit World, her animosity toward her uncle increased in intensity.

After learning the origins of the Avatar Spirit through the life of Avatar Wan and regaining her memories, Korra became more patient and humble, as exemplified when she thanked Tenzin for his undying loyalty to her.[33]

After the Harmonic Convergence, Korra demonstrated a more patient demeanor yet still retained her impulsive nature. This is evident when she tried to physically force Ryu, an airbending slacker, into becoming a part of the new Air Nation against his will, with Mako and Bolin eventually forced to drag Korra out to stop the mayhem.

Korra's temper and rage, once provoked, could border on murderous, as during her captivity by the Red Lotus and still believing that Zaheer had killed her father, Korra declared that she would be free and none of the Red Lotus would survive. She fully intended to kill Zaheer, showing her righteous fury, but with a dark and wrathful side to her as well.

After barely surviving her encounter with Zaheer and having the poison removed from her system, Korra was placed in a wheelchair during her recovery, which left her traumatized and in a state of depression. She still showed compassion and pride for her friends throughout, however, and was present when Jinora received her airbending tattoos, crying during the ceremony. In the following years, she struggled to recover, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and being haunted by flashbacks to her encounter with Zaheer. Although she recovered physically, her emotional struggle led her to embark on a journey to reconnect with her Avatar Spirit while hiding her identity as the Avatar, going against her tendency of being prideful about it. After an elderly Toph helped her to face and overcome her fears of her past enemies, Korra bent the residual mercury out of her body and regained the ability to enter the Avatar State, though it was not until she faced Zaheer in person and was helped by him to accept what had happened to her and release her fear of "what might have been" that she was able to fully reconnect with Raava.

Bending
As the Avatar, Korra has the unique ability to use all four elements, and has the potential to become the most powerful bender in the world. Furthermore, since she was a child, Korra has always had a remarkable affinity for the physical aspect of bending. She also quickly took to the three different styles of pro-bending with simple instructions from her teammates, greatly impressing them after only a week of training to ultimately become a highly capable member of the Fire Ferrets. While in the Avatar State, Korra is able to use an air spout to raise herself into the air while unleashing all four elements in rapid succession. Later after more training, Korra becomes able to easily enter this form with complete control, even during intense competition.

Waterbending
Korra's waterbending abilities manifested at a young age, before she had even been recognized as the Avatar by the Order of the White Lotus. Subsequently trained formally in the art for over a decade by Katara, Korra has demonstrated a high level of skill in this art in addition to its various techniques. She is capable of creating large walls of ice, powerful water whips, and water waves strong enough to push back and, when frozen, contain an enormous mecha suit standing over twenty-five stories tall. She can also launch herself high into the air and maintain the height on a gigantic waterspout easily, fight off several aerial attacks with various water attacks, and propel herself plus another person through the water at high-speeds to avoid attacks. She used her waterbending abilities to procure herself a spot on the Fire Ferrets pro-bending team, referring to herself as a "top-notch waterbender". While she was taught Northern and Southern style waterbending, which both employ fluid motions, Korra has quickly adapted to Republic City's more aggressive, straightforward waterbending style. Korra is also able to draw a sufficient supply of water from the air for her bending. Korra also has sufficient knowledge of bloodbending to fully understand the nature of its application, despite having never used the outlawed skill.

Healing
During her waterbending training, Korra was also taught the advanced skill of healing. As Katara was well-regarded as the best healer in the world, Korra herself became highly skilled in the art, something she takes pride in. By using a small supply of water as a catalyst on the targeted area, Korra is able to drastically increase the healing rate of injuries. Korra's skills were great enough to quickly soothe away the pain on Bolin's injured arm, and mitigate the severe burns on General Iroh's arm, leaving no trace of scars.

Despite her short time studying under her uncle Unalaq, a spiritual expert, Korra managed to learn his technique of spiritbending, which involves changing negative energy into positive energy in spirits in order to pacify them. While she only managed to understand the mechanics in the beginning, Korra eventually successfully performed the technique and was able to calm countless small spirits at once. She was even able to use the technique to destroy Unalaq and purify the dark spirit Vaatu when the two were fused together as the Dark Avatar. Following her uncle's death, Korra became the only known living practitioner of the skill.

Earthbending
Korra's earthbending abilities also manifested at an early age. Spending many years of intense training, Korra has gained great mastery in this art. While regularly using traditional earthbending tactics in combat, she quickly learned the basics of pro-style earthbending from Bolin, able to attack more akin to a firebender with light footwork and quick jabs. Her prowess is great enough to easily take control of earth targets levitated by other earthbenders. She has demonstrated her adept skill and ability in earthbending on several occasions, notably launching a member of the Triple Threat Triad several stories into the air. Korra's earthbending is also able to affect a considerable radius, upturning and demolishing everything in the area. As seen when pairing with Bolin, Korra is able to effectively synchronize her earthbending with another person to increase the versatility and control of her target.

Metalbending
During Korra's stay at Zaofu, Suyin Beifong offered to train her in the art of metalbending. Suyin started Korra on a meteorite as a beginner and she quickly adjusted to the metallic body and learned to mold it into various forms. As such, she became the first Avatar to learn metalbending. Korra quickly became more versed in metalbending, being able to skillfully wield metal cables with great dexterity and fluidity in her movements and ensnare her opponents, even more experienced metalbenders, with the said cables. She can also tear through a large, thick metal wall obstructing her path, albeit with some difficulty as she is still somewhat new to this skill. Korra's control eventually became of such a level that she was able to remove residual traces of mercury out of her own body, easily pry open the roof of vehicles, and fluidly reshape metal.

Firebending
As with earth and water, fire also manifested at a young age. Due to the fact that she resorts to offensive maneuvers when under pressure, Korra relies a lot on firebending in combat. Her firebending training was finished when she passed the test impressively at the age of seventeen, having learned various advanced techniques such as the breath of fire. Against other firebenders, she can easily deflect and disperse the enemies' attack. Her control is so fine, she is able to produce a small yet intense flame at her fingers that she can maintain to melt through metal chains. She can likewise produce daggers in each hand for close-range combat. She can propel herself through the air with firebending in short bursts, and use these bursts to run along a wall. Contrary to the usual difficulty an Avatar has with learning the opposite of his/her native element, firebending has become second nature to her. Korra tends to utilize firebending when provoked, frustrated, or attempting to assert dominance, such as when she falls back on firebending a newspaper cut out of Lin after failing to do so with airbending. Tenzin attributed this unusual combination to her innate personality being quite fit for the art thanks to her natural assertiveness and fiery spirit.

Airbending
Unlike the prior three elements, airbending did not come easily to Korra. Tenzin explained that it was due to its innate nature of being the most opposite to her personality. While initially having difficulty with airbending's fighting style and battle tactics, during her first pro-bending match, she was able to employ basic airbending movements to dodge the opposing team's assault and ultimately tire them out to win the match for her team. As her training has progressed, her understanding of its moveset greatly improved, and she was able to quickly and gracefully progress through the gates and ultimately learned all of its physical maneuvers; she later applied these tactics against the Lieutenant, effectively dodging all his attacks.

After Amon severed Korra's connection to her first three elements and was about to take Mako's firebending, Korra's emotional build up allowed her to fully connect with her spiritual side to utilize airbending. Despite only knowing the theory and practice of its forms, Korra has shown considerable skill and power in airbending: being able to create air blasts from punching and kicking movements, which were strong enough to send Amon flying several yards through a window. Although she has shown great power in her offensive use of airbending, her style of airbending varies dramatically from other airbenders, employing straightforward offensive movements similar to firebending while showing little of the more characteristic circular and spiraling movements. Six months after the Anti-bending Revolution, she has nearly mastered the art, employing traditional maneuvers, such as gliding, and is able to proficiently use several advanced skills, such as the air scooter. Over time, she took to using a glider both for means of transports and as a way to augment her airbending in combat. After learning from Jinora, Korra became able to separate her spirit in astral form and travel to the Spirit World through meditation. After the end of the Unalaq Crisis, Korra fully mastered airbending. Ultimately, air has become Korra's second most used element, and she is confident enough in her prowess to at least teach the basics to other airbenders.

Energybending
Upon connecting with her past lives for the first time, Avatar Aang restored Korra's bending abilities and bestowed her with the knowledge of energybending. Although never having used it herself before, she was able to freely restore a person's bending, as she did so with Lin Beifong's earthbending. Following the Anti-bending Revolution, Korra extensively used energybending to restore the bending of those benders whom Amon victimized with his bending severing bloodbending technique, except for a few who used their bending for crime, such as Shady Shin.

Korra is also capable of using energybending to connect with her own inner spirit, giving her access to the cosmic energy of the universe, creating a giant astral projection of herself. In this form, she can unleash energy blasts from her chest that can overpower the Dark Avatar's in a direct clash. Although disconnected from her physical body, Korra remained capable of waterbending.

After Raava made her aware that when she was in the Spirit World, she was connected to all the spiritual energy, Korra realized that she was capable of bending that energy, with or without her physical body. As such, she was able to release trapped souls from a vegetative pod after she had meditated into the Spirit World and divert a beam powered by spirit energy in the physical world.

Other Skills
In addition to bending, Korra also has considerable physical prowess. Her impressive raw strength allows her to easily lift Tenzin and his children at the same time, or a grown man with one arm. Likewise, she can easily leap across long distances and over high obstacles from a stationary position, as well as effectively traverse various terrains and vertical surfaces with great speed to hoist herself easily up and off rooftops. She can easily throw a much larger and heavier opponent against a set of pipes with enough force to break them,[14] and can shatter large chunks of ice launched at her with a single punch each. She is also capable of swimming across large bodies of water.

Korra is also quite fast and agile with sharp reflexes, able to easily dodge a much larger opponent's assault in a narrow area or a metalbender's launched cable from close-range. Her dexterity and balance are also considerably high, allowing her to skillfully dodge a large barrage of projectiles nearly unscathed, further aiding her in battle. She has impressive acrobatic skills akin to parkour and free-running; she can slide across surfaces with great control, perform mid-air flips and twirls, run up and across walls. She is also quite flexible, able to bend and twist effectively enough to attack from various angles or squeeze through most spaces. Korra can also be quite precise in her attacks, detaining several skilled Southern waterbenders without inflicting any major injuries.

Korra is also a highly proficient unarmed fighter, able to knock out opponents with a single kick, simultaneously dodge an attack while sweep-kicking the enemy's legs, and once subdued a man using only Mako's scarf. Even against an expert weapons-wielder like the Lieutenant, Korra skillfully parried and countered his close-range assault. Furthermore, with a combination of bending attacks, she was able to create openings and land powerful physical blows, ultimately defeating him. Even without her bending, she was able to defeat several chi blockers before being rescued by Naga.

Korra also has keen instincts under pressure, demonstrating capable tactical and escape skills, such as using her armband as an insulator against the Lieutenant's electrical assault, and faking unconsciousness in order to catch the Equalists by surprise. Her resilience is also considerably high as she is one of few who canceled and broke free from a bloodbending grip, albeit with some difficulty.

Korra is also an eloquent public speaker. She was initially nervous when she had to speak in her first press conference in Republic City. During the gala, Korra's brashness got the best of her after being pitted against a group of reporters, haphazardly giving empty threats to Amon to cover up her fear of him. Over time, Korra became more confident and composed when it was required of her to speak publicly, considering her words before saying them. This was exemplified when she declared the independence of the Southern Water Tribe and her decision to keep the spirit portals open.

Having lived in the South Pole all her life and with Naga as her main means of transportation, Korra never learned how to drive prior to her arrival in Republic City. She gradually learned to do so under Asami's tutelage, though she still struggles between the clutch and the brake. Korra is also capable of piloting a speedboat.

Medium
As the Avatar, Korra also has the capacity to act as a bridge between mortal world and the Spirit World, the plane of existence where the universe's disembodied spirits dwell. Despite this, Korra had always struggled with the spiritual aspects of being the Avatar, initially being unable to connect with her past lives or enter the Spirit World on her own. As her training under Tenzin progressed, she had slowly begun to connect with her spiritual side, seeing visions of her past life as Aang. Later, after her encounter with Amon, all of her active bending abilities were taken away, but this allowed her to finally break free from her airbending block and defeat Amon. Upon sinking into despair after Katara was unable to restore her lost bending, Korra was finally able to connect with her past lives, which restored all her bending abilities, as well as passing on to her the ability to energybend. With her newfound spirituality, she can enter and leave the Avatar State at will.

After being attacked by a dark spirit, Korra was forced to undertake a spiritual journey to rediscover herself. She ultimately gained a deeper connection with the Avatar Spirit and her past lives, all the way to the original Avatar, Wan. With this strengthened connection, Korra is able to purify dark spirits by balancing the energy within them, as well as access various memories from her past lives, including Avatar Aang's memory of Iroh and Toph, and Avatar Wan's memory of his personal teapot. Following the events of the Harmonic Convergence in 171 AG, Korra lost her connection to her past lives by being temporarily separated from Raava, who was destroyed. Due to some residual traces of mercury in her body after her battle with Zaheer, Korra lost the ability to contact Raava and was unable to enter the Avatar State for three years. However, after she bent the remaining mercury out of herself in 174 AG, she regained the power to enter the Avatar State, though it was only after facing Zaheer and releasing her fear of him and the near death experience she suffered that she was able to contact Raava again. She also learned to connect to people's energy via spirit vines.

Trivia

 * Her name follows a longstanding tradition in the polar Water Tribes, where often people include one or two "K"s and/or have an "AH" sound in their name (Arnook, Eska, Desna, Hakoda, Kanna, Katara, Kuruk, Noatak, Pakku, Sokka, Tarrlok, Varrick, Yakone, Yugoda, etc.).


 * Korra is the third known female Avatar after Avatars Yangchen and Kyoshi.
 * The creators could not find a name that they agreed on that followed the tradition of the Water Tribe names, but when they were staying in an eco-lodge, the owner introduced them to his dog Cora. The creators agreed on the name, and with a spelling tweak, it fit into the established culture.
 * Korra's name bears resemblance to the given name of Cora Baker, who provided the voice of four year old Korra.
 * When anglicized, Greek "Kore" reforms as "Cora", with both names meaning "maiden". Kore is also another name for Persephone, Greek goddess of the underworld, who is described by Homer as a "formidable and powerful young queen".
 * Korra's situation is the opposite of Aang's; Aang had mastered airbending during his time spent at the Southern Air Temple and had to travel the world to learn the other three elements, whereas Korra had mastered waterbending, earthbending, and firebending at the compound in the South Pole and had to travel to learn airbending. In addition, while Aang was in tune with the spiritual side of bending and had to work to achieve the physical ability to bend the other elements, Korra is talented with the physical side of bending, but has difficulty mastering the spiritual side.
 * Korra's bending training is similar to Aang's in that they both learned their native elements from a childhood friend of their previous life; Korra learned waterbending from Katara, who became Aang's wife, while Aang learned airbending from Gyatso, a friend of Roku. In addition, Korra and Aang learned their final element from a descendant of their previous life; Korra learned airbending from Tenzin, Aang's son, while Aang learned firebending from Zuko, Roku's great-grandson.
 * Korra is the second known Avatar shown to know of her status as the Avatar before her sixteenth birthday, Aang being the first, though she knew of her status at a significantly younger age.
 * Chronologically, Korra is the youngest known fully-realized Avatar. In terms of biological age, she is the second youngest known, with Avatar Aang being the youngest.
 * Korra is the only Avatar known to have both biological parents featured in the series, have her bending blocked with chi blocking, and to have used waterbending for healing purposes.
 * Korra is the first Avatar known to have her bending removed and likewise restored.
 * Korra is the second known Avatar to utilize energybending.
 * Korra is the second known Avatar to be seen restoring someone's bending that had been previously taken away, and the first to be seen doing so while presently alive.
 * Korra favors the "I'm looking for the bathroom" excuse whenever someone confronts her on what she is doing when she should not be there.
 * Whereas Aang relied most on his native element, Korra does not have a preference for one element over the other.
 * In the Russian dub, Korra is voiced by the same actress who previously voiced Aang in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
 * Korra is the first known person to have ever tamed a polar bear dog.
 * Korra is the waterbender shown in the opening sequence of The Legend of Korra.
 * When she first utilized the Avatar State, Korra bent each of the four elements in reverse order of the cycle; air, fire, earth, water. This was the same order Aang bent the elements during the battle at Wulong Forest when he entered the Avatar State.
 * Korra is the fifth known person to break free of a bloodbender's hold by their own doing, the others being Katara, Aang, Amon, and Mako. She is, however, the first Avatar known to be able to resist bloodbending without being in the Avatar State.
 * Korra used the phrase "if you're man enough to face me" when trying to goad Amon into fighting her, which was the same phrase Katara used when she goaded Pakku into fighting her.
 * Korra's design was inspired by various female MMA fighters, one being Gina Carano.
 * After defeating Amon, Korra's outfit has changed; it has sleeves and an asymmetrically necked top.
 * Korra is the second Avatar known to have familial ties to a ruling class, following Roku, an ancestor of Zuko.
 * A chibi version of Korra can be seen in Republic City Run and in Super Mini Puzzle Heroes Multiplayer.
 * Korra's airbender staff is similar in design to the staff Aang received from the mechanist on the Day of Black Sun.
 * Korra is the seventh person to be seen using firebending to propel themselves into the air, and the fourth to do so in The Legend of Korra; the others were Azula, Jeong Jeong, Ozai, Iroh, Mako, and Wan.
 * Korra is the second person known to be able collect water from air, the first being Hama.
 * Korra is the only person to appear in every episode of The Legend of Korra.
 * Korra and her girlfriend, Asami, are the first known LGBTQIA+ individuals in the Avatar universe. The other known individuals are Kya, Aiwei, and Kyoshi.
 * Korra is also the first LGBT protagonist in a Western family program.
 * Bryan Konietzko drew Korra and Asami cuddling during a turtle duck boat ride for The Legend of Korra / Avatar: The Last Airbender Tribute Exhibition at Gallery Nucleus.
 * Korra had the last line in the series.
 * The design of Korra's boots for Book Four: Balance was based on a pair of existing knee-high faux suede flat winter buckle boots.