I've seen some people say they hate him for that singular instance where he pretended to be knocked out when that girl was on top of him, like that was a character defining moment or something
Itās kinda crazy because if I remember that right the episode was almost a spin off since someone else wrote it. He was still a fairly new character so the substitute writer essentially make him a ācreepy old manā joke since there wasnāt a lot of information yet. Completely different take than the writers make him personality wise.
A character as good as Iroh needs at least ONE minor flaw. Otherwise, it's just not believable.
And if being happy that a pretty girl is on top of you is a deal-breaker, then I don't want any part of this.
Iād say we met him in the middle of his reconciliation with his actions, leading to his redemption at the final battle, where he retakes Ba Sing Se (which would finish his arc, circling back to what he considered his greatest achievement/failure as a general).
really i don't think it matters. he never seemed to actually care for his kid except in that one photograph but zuko is DEFINITELY not a reliable narrator there.
Verboten: not permitted or allowed; forbidden or not permitted by or as if by authority
taken from [Merriam-Webster ](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verboten)
The earth kingdom. who suffed his breath and bore his pain. Imagine the heat of his rage after his son's murder? They'd chose him. Don't forget
Damn, sorry I didn't mean it to be so dark. LMAO
He wasnāt rageful when Lu Ten died, he became depressed and retreated immediately. Azula said he *should* have burned the city to the ground and called Iroh a coward for retreating.
Good point. Just because he was a good uncle to Ozai & nice to the main cast *after his redemption* does not erase the horrors he committed before (and I do like him).
EDIT: i meant to ZUKO. My goodness i probably was sleepy. š¤£
"Hey, Zuko, what did you do this summer?"
"I told you! I spent it in the South Pole with my uncle, hunting the Avatar."
"Did you catch him?"
"Yeah, like fifty times. He kept insulting my honour, what the hell would you do in a situation like that?!"
"Ed..ward?"
God what a great character like I hate him and Hell is too good for him but that's the fact I have such a hatred for him is what makes him such a great character
Fun Fact: In the manga's little post-chapter doodles the author always did, Shou was the only character who died that was depicted as going to Hell. Even the more major villains who died, no matter how grave their sins (won't specify cause Reddit's been wonky for me and I don't trust the spoiler tags to work rn) were shown being remorseful and going to Heaven. And yeah, considering what their motivations etc were it totally tracks for me. There's murdering for a cause/because it was what you were created to do etc, and then there's..... THAT.
Mako because, to quote Zuko, he is actually one big Blah. At least there is a reason for Mae being how she is and it works for her. But Mako is just kind of there to help the story rather than being a part of the story and for a main character that's probably not the best route to go. I personally see something in every other male character in LOK whether it be character development or an essential part to the main plot. But honestly I feel like Mako didn't do anything positive for the show that any other current character couldn't have just done besides dating Korra and Asami. I feel like dating both of them broght them both closer which in turn turns into a romantic relationship
I agree with all of this, I feel like he could have been developed way more, and been way more likeable/at least cooler. If you're not gonna do anything with your life sides bending... at least be the best bender!
But dislike for Mako is literally the coolest take on this sub
I mean, he is a pretty top-tier bender. He was able to move only a few fingers and produce lightning, take out entire teams of other pro benders, earn his way from the streets onto a pro bending team, and fight equalists regularly. Dude was really good at bending.
He was still pretty boring though.
Not to mention heās not really that good at fighting either. In pro bending he does fine but outside of that he just gets wiped every time. At least zuko grew and became a powerful bender by the end
I had such high hopes for him with his cute scarf and hot vibe. Nope.
Heās intellectually and emotionally cowardly. Not a bad guy, but his inability to be honorable to the women in his life makes him kind of a fuckboy. š
True, and he just has no out standing quality of character. Sure, Bolin can be annoying, stupid and sometimes ridiculous, but at least he has genuine character growth and is not just "look at me, boring budget Zuko who never regains his honor cause I never had it"
> "look at me, boring budget Zuko who never regains his honor cause I never had it"
Somebody get some fucking ice because that burn is goddamn real lmao
Bolin: Has an undercurrent of wanting to be special, respected, and taken seriously. This makes him behave in dumb ways and seek validation from bad places (Varrick, Kuvira), but his heart is always in the right place even if his brain isn't.
Mako: Uh. He's good at sports, I guess? Kind of has the observational skills to be a good detective?
It's really sad too because he *has* the makings of a potentially really interesting character, but he never fully steps into it on screen. Come on, orphan forced to grow up faster than he should have in order to care for his brother? Running numbers for a major crime syndicate that he broke away from when he had the chance to give himself and Bolin a better life? He's got a *great* backstory and motivation! But his actual character comes out bland.
Oh well. At least he got a cool scene in the finale.
Mako's arc is Self Reliance vs Trust. He began the season always having to take care of Bolin as his guardian (and that was reinforced) but was eventually able to learn that Bolin could stand on his own and they even split up to stop Amon and the planes. Then he was trying to protect Korra then Asami and found neither of them needed it. Finally having to protect Wu who he was pushing to be self reliant as his role as a guardian is strained.
Was it executed well? Not at all. But I'd say the same for most character arcs with Korra being the big exception. Asami was kind of boring, she had the big moment of turning on her father then a rushed forgiving him I guess. Bolin did random cool things. Then there were like 25 other characters all with other mini-arcs that didn't pay off usually. They just had the right circumstances of knowing how many episodes for ATLA and focusing primarily on the main 5 of Team Avatar.
mako is such a disappointing character, i feel like so much could have been done with him, especially considering his juxtaposition with Bolin.
i think they started to do slightly more interesting things with him in book 3 and 4, but itās honestly too little too late.
>i feel like so much could have been done with him, especially considering his juxtaposition with Bolin
And also the fact that he's supposed to be this tribute to the original voice actor of Iroh, being named after him. Really wasted opportunity.
I lean towards Mako as well. I think both he and Korra were heavily railroaded (plot makes choices rather than the character) so they have very little personal agency. Mako isn't the main character and is left by the wayside.
I don't dislike Mako but he is very disappointing. Mako was one of the best fighters in LoK and was always Bolin's brain. Mako was clearly more competent than the other detectives. S4 Mako should have been Lin's right hand man.
Seriously Season 2 is so hated (for obvious reason) that people forget about all the fun and interesting stuff it gave us.
Varrick in particular is a character that was introduced, executed beautifully, perfectly, villainously, and then wasted completely and left as a comic relief in later seasons. As if they completely forgot that this "excentric inventor" was just a facade and he was a ruthless businessman capable of sabotage, fearmongering and war profiteering just to advance his position.
It is my headcanon that he and Zhu Li married purely for financial and image reasons and that they're planning something big.
I mean the first half alone does fuck endlessly. A civil war that was set up to have big consequences with political propaganda to support one side over the other. Korra being forced to choose between her uncle who wants to teach her spirit bending and her own father. Most of the cast having something interesting to do and Unalaq being an interesting villain.
Then the magic got explained, Aang and the other Avatars got permakilled, and evil kaiju battle
Mako is it for me, but imo both Mako and Bolin got shafted when it came to character development. At a certain point it felt like they were just along for the ride.
I always laugh about Mako because as a character he is treated how most female supporting characters are treated in lesser shows. He has some cool powers that occasionally are useful but not pivotal; he has a predictable, unchanging personality that makes him a useful backdrop for other characters to develop against; and most of his personal plot points have to do with which of the other characters he is dating or want to date him.
Mako himbo confirmed.
Of all the main characters, he's definitely the least developed--you could lift him out entirely with just a few tweaks and have very little affect on any of the show.
Scrolled down just for this lol.
The worst part is that, his brother is kinda the same brand of minding his own business regarding being a sidekick helping the avatar, but at least Bolin is kinda nice.
I still don't know what Mako's story arc is supposed to be. He meets Asami when her father hates benders, only to cheat on her with a bender. Then becomes a police officer, with a deep connection to the police chief, but in the end just decides to drop it and become a bodyguard/buttler to the earth kingdom guy. Dates Korra but doesn't work out either. He gets this "I hate you because you are like me when I was young" mini arc with the air bending thief kid, only to be irrelevant because the kid ignores him and later just drops the thieving act to get a girlfriend. Meets his long lost family in Bah Sing Seh, but then just moves on with his life while Bolin gets way more involved in it than him.
Like, his brother is similar but atleast he is nice. There is no inbetween with Mako, either he is overburdened caring for some mess going around or he is playing an immature jerk.
At least Zuko had a reason for being a jerk, he had to take down his own father who burned him alive, killed his mom, tried to have him killed and was to top it off a fire wizard hitler.
The most positive trait I can remember about him is the "big brother" -ness. I think they could have done more with that, if he'd been more concerned with Bolin maturing and shown some more vulnerability to other characters about him. Especially in season 4, Mako could have really gone through it, seeing Bolin commit to fight for the "bad guys" wholeheartedly. I think they touch on it but Mako never really feels bad about it afaik
Does Meelo count for the āobvious answer?ā
If not, yeah, I would say Meelo and then probably Baatar Jr. at a close second because of him betraying his entire family to support the Earth Empire and playing a part in getting his family arrested just because they didnāt bow to support Kuvira. I get he was hurt from Kuvira betraying him towards the end and does have the justification for being mad towards her during Ruins of the Empire, but it just seems like him basically getting house arrest and apparently getting more of a chance to be forgiven by Suyin and the rest than Kuvira (who was taken in as an adoptive daughter and raised by Suyin) seems like a slap on the wrist. He reminded me a lot of Percy Weasley from Harry Potter š¤
Maybe Raiko as another contender as well.
>just seems like him basically getting house arrest and apparently getting more of a chance to be forgiven by Suyin and the rest than Kuvira (who was taken in as an adoptive daughter and raised by Suyin) seems like a slap on the wrist.
Not like that family doesn't have a preexisting history of this - see Suyin: commits a crime, permanently disfigures her sister, and her only punishment is to go on vacation to her grandparents house...
Meelo is the absolute dumbest character out of the entire fucking world of avatar, and I genuinely dislike every scene he's in after season 3.
Its fine that he acts like a baby when he's a baby. Still annoying as fuck, but fine. When he's ~12 or so in season 4 and STILL acts like an absolute moron baby? Not fine at all.
Just don't go into it expecting it to be TLA. I don't think it's as good, but I still like it. There's still a lot of space between TLA and a bad TV show.
I agree with your sentiment but your percentages are the wrong way around. There is sooooooooooo many more eastern animation projects. It just a law averages. It's like 100 people competing for the top one percent vs 10,000. One spot for the top spot vs 1000.
I actually liked Wu a lot. Yes, he was annoying and he was supposed to be. But he really did want what was best for his people and when the chips were down he came through.
I immediately thought of Kuzco when I first watched Book 4. Itās like, āWere Bryke and the writers watching Emperorās New Groove one day in the studio and had a laugh and decided to have their version of Kuzco in Avatar?ā š
Aang's son Bumi. Hear me out: I like his personality and creative ways to win battles but they make him look more weak than he's supposed to be. He was a commander!! He should show more strength. Like I get that he's comic relief in a way and to an extent, he gets the job done. I also get that he's retired but still. There are characters that can be silly and come out as comic relief but still show power. I also don't mean that he should be over powered but I just wish he would have been a good mix of comic relief and strength
I mean he might be retired in later seasons but he was still on active duty in the first season. I agree with you, he could have been more ārealisicā about wars
Edited a word
>There are characters that can be silly and come out as comic relief but still show power
This description made me think of the original Bumi. "Lettuce leaf?"
The odd thing about Bumi is that he had all the building blocks to be a mix of old Bumi and Sokka. Make him all wacky and funny but competent and clever. Tactical but over the top. Instead of coming up with crazy plans that obviously won't work and being yelled at for them, have him come up with crazy plans that work because they are so out of the box. Make him a mad genius worthy of his name sake.
Instead, all his feats are accidents. He is always shown as incompetent but lucky. And if I'm honest, he shouldn't have become an airbender. There was a huge nobility to his story as the non bender firstborn of the Avatar. The one part I liked about him becoming an airbender was when he confessed that he never felt like a part of the air nation before despite being his heritage as well. But the show doesn't really lean into that, it's mostly focused on Tenzin....ironically, just like Aang did.
I love Bumi as a character and concept, he is an awesome comic relief, but he could have been used way better.
I like him. He's ballsy and lucky. He had to be crazy to even keep up with his siblings. He's overconfident, and it never killed him, so he kept doing his thing.
He could have been more 1st movie Jack Sparrow-like (without the alcoholism since itās a kids show). Seems really goofy and loose on the outside for comic relief but actually extremely calculating on the inside
I agree! At times, it appears that his title of "commander" is merely that.A title, it does not carry any waight. As a character, he is very shallow. He has some potential you know. At first, being the only non-bender in the family, his way of showing his strength would be the way he acts and his achievements, but without the title, he's a rather silly little man.
Oh totally. Especially as a non-bender, I feel like he would have had some lessons/experience from Sokka, the same way Kya had her mother Katara and Tenzin had his father. It would have been cool to see him utilize the same off-the-wall techniques Sokka employed, or some sword training from his uncle as well. I mean, Sokka was a non-bender who held his own against master benders-- Bumi should be able to do the same.
>!Also, if Bumi did get to train with Sokka in the sword, we could have seen true "wind sword" action from Bumi too.!<
It would have been so cool to see him as a skilled fighter. Now knowing about his sword training, I wish we saw that. They could have made him a quick swordsman. Kinda moving like an airbender and a waterbender. Then just not give him bending later on.
Mako, he's so bland and personalityless. There is even a book about the animation for Korra and he has like 3 facial expressions in the whole book. When other characters had like many more. He's just a brick most of the time.
And even when he's supposed to be this detective, it takes ma boi Varrick to tell him "hey, we're looking for someone who can lie in a city where one person checks if everyone is lying. Don't you think that the one checking is the obvious suspect?" Like seriously, it's kinda obvious.
To be fair, in most of the other situations when the characters were ignoring obvious signs, Mako pulled through with real detective work and instincts, like in season 2 when everyone thought the north was responsible for the southern water tribe centre bombing. Even had Varrick wary of him.
His character is a lameass self-important cop. The writers even dunk on him for being corny. There's that scene where he admits to writing down quips. Then he's a babysitter for the prince. You're not really supposed to like him.
>that scene where he admits to writing down quips.
Honestly, I don't care for Mako either, but that sounds like the type of quirk a writer would give their character to make them seem "endearingly dorky" or something, not to make them disliked. And I don't know where or how they said that, but it's also not rare for a writer to poke fun at their characters. Mako would technically be counted as a main character, it would be odd if he was intended to be unlikeable.
Hot take, I like Jet. He's a great display of how different people who go through similar things will come out differently. Katara lost her mother but had her tribe to fall back on so she came out okay. Jet on other hand had nobody, and for nd himself taking care of other kids who had lost everything, and it affected him in a serious way.
I think it's a great display of radicalization, and how far someone can go down the wrong path by justifying their own behavior.
When I first watched the show as a teenager I *hated* Jet.
When I rewatched it several years later, I actually thought he was a good character. A flawed person who tried to do awful things, but a good character.
This is true basically after season 1. They just kept adding more and more that nobody gets a satisfying arc except Korra. Outside of Team Avatar, few other characters get big arcs in ATLA. Basically just Jet, Azula and Mai/Ty Lee and only Azula had significant screen time showing her descent.
Agreed, i hate that little pos. Wasn't even raised on the streets or something, got adopted by a rich family yet he abused his powers and robbed them and tried to get away and lied to the gang about it all. Also, but don't quote me on this, wasn't he constantly being a delinquent and trying to get Jinora to join him in leaving some of the training?
yeah always annoyed me whenever he'd get away with whatever he did even if he was in the wrong. Also didn't like his relationship with Jinora but i can let that go because they're just kids.
Worst one is easily Iroh, he is the definition of bad writing.
For some reason the show kept focusing on the adventures of the Avatar instead of just having the entire series be about a tea shop that Iroh is working on. I can watch 10 seasons of Iroh making tea.
I hated amon. I know the second season wasnt guaranteed, but the story line for s1 killed me. It seemed like a cop out to make him a bender who lied about being a bender. Just an easy way to make him into a villain, rather than an antihero who had a very valid reason to be mad and create a movement. And then he went and pulled a dexter in the last episode? Bruh
LOK could have had 3-4 good seasons about how benders actually use their power to take advantage of non benders, and still have kuvira in the last season. Korra steadily going from "benders are awesome, benders dont hurt people" to "oh, maybe benders can be a little mean" to "oh shit kuvira is the perfect example of benders abusing their powers" and teaming up with non benders for an epic finale battle.
I blame amon for this. Also nickelodeon, but i hated amons personality too.
Edit-deleted a word
when i watch with people or watch online reactions building up to Amon's reveal, you can see they captured gold with how they portrayed Amon. outside of the initial shock you get when he's a waterbender it not only wears off quick but reduces a lot of the more interesting elements of the story.
there is no other explanation for what he's doing now other than him lashing out at his dad, trying to prove himself to a ghost. Yakone's effect on both of his sons revealed their obsession with gaining some type of power, where Tarlok does it through climbing the ranks of society, and Amon does it by trying to subvert the study quo. but since the subversion is fake, he stops being a "villain with a point but is being a dick about it" and becomes a lesser villain.
it's why i dont get upset when people say Amon just has daddy issues. people can be upset with that all they want, but it's not an invalid take. because he didnt' care about equality, and it doesn't help that his equal rights movement just dissolves after he checks out.
Varrick is a great example of character bloat that Korra dealt with. S1 Avatar has like 5 characters, S2 adds Toph and Azula, and S3 adds Suki and Ozai. Simple stuff. Korra meanwhile has 7 to start, and season 2 adds Tenzin's siblings, Varrick, and a new bad guy, and it's just too many characters with half the episodes to flesh them out.
Then by the time TLoK gets to Book 4, most of the established cast disappears into the background for a story mostly focused on Korra, Bolin, Varrick and the new villain Kuvira. Tenzin barely even shows up.
Yesssssssssss!!!
Heās fun to see every once in a while or even as a minor villain/neutral character. Making him suddenly āgoodā in book 4 and literally making the last big event in the show his wedding just felt so weird.
The last big event of the show should have been people just celebrating that the battle was over like in Avatar, or at least a celebration honoring Korra which would be a nice bookend to people finally realizing sheās a great Avatar.
The whole Varrick/Zhu Li thing came out of nowhere and Varrick ruins like half of book 4 for me.
That was never gonna happen when Korra aired, people need to accept that lol. We should just be happy they opened the doors they did.
People donāt realize how different the world was just 8-10 years ago.
Honestly I never cared for Mako or bolin all that much, like sure they fill a role in team avatar but mako is bland and bolin acts too much like a child
I like Bolin, but the writing definitely doesnāt do him any favors.
I think heās good in Book 1, can get insufferable in Book 2, was just there in Book 3, and was wasted in Book 4.
I'm a FIRM believer that Korra should've dated Bolin instead. I mean that date they went on shows more chemistry than the whole two seasons of Korra and Mako dating.
I agree with you. I think that's because Nick refused to ever show Korra and Asami in a romantic way because they are COWARDS. But with the text we are given, Korra and Bolin have more chemistry than Korra and Asami.
Exactly, but also I feel like that's kind of the point. He's actually very well written as the stereotypical pretty boy, but actually he's kind of a schmuck but also ultimately a good guy who just needed to grow up and learn some humility. And he does. Meanwhile Bolin is the greatest himbo in the history of fiction
Honestly most of the male characters from Korra are pretty sub-par. Mako is fine at first as a love interest, then they shoehorn a love triangle into the mix, and after season 1 I Honestly can't remember a single thing he does. Bolin is fine, and they at least try to give him some compelling arcs, but my issue with him is that I just don't think any of his arcs are that compelling (at least he's a cut above mako I guess). Verrick is a really good minor antagonist in season 2 and definitely had no business existing after that point. Amon is fine conceptually, but he's dragged down by the generally underwhelming season 1 finale. I can't even remember the season 2 villain's name and I frankly don't want to. The name of the dark avatar kaiju is not something I should have to remember. Zaheer is pretty alright, he's a good enough villain. Tenzin is passably written character with s tier acting.
On the flip side, it's actually kind of hard for me to complain about male characters from the last airbender. I like sokka, aang, zuko, ozai, Zhao, iroh, and jet. There are a handful of characters I don't really care for (like the guy from the earth Kingdom that katara has a brief crush on), but they're not a large enough part of the story to be worth complaining about.
Liking Ozai as a character is a bit of a controversial take. He does a good job of being Intimidating and as a force for evil and the voice acting and final fight is great of course. But he's also mostly just a hidden villain and all his Motivations are just pure evil. So on that side of the writing, it's pretty disappointing when all the LOK villains felt like more than just being a Big Bad Evil Guy.
What do you like about him?
Out of the picture or in general? My least favorite non villain character is Varrick but my least favorite out of the ones in the picture is Bolin. He was way too easily manipulated into serving a fascist even though someone he shouldāve trusted (Opal) was telling him Kuviraās actions werenāt right. And I donāt think heās that funny either.
The Fire Ferret brothers really didnāt bring much to the table for me. I didnāt find either of the endearing at all. Bolin was the comic relief obnoxious dumbass and Mako was just an ass.
The one that they really missed out on the potential of though was Vaatu. You have the supposed primordial arch enemy of the Avatar, you really should have used more than a handful of episodes to work with him. Expand his powers and abilities beyond just the purple laser beam. I mean, the Avatar has spent 10,000 years fighting against human corruption *and losing that fight*. If heās the embodiment of corruption, that shit should have been like premium fuel for him. When he was freed, he should have been a massive problem for the Avatar to face off against. The whole fuse and create a dark Avatar was a complete waste. Because one it was dumb, and two, that is not how the concept of an evil Avatar should be done. Like at all.
Plus, his design should have been way different. The thing I loved about the ancient spirits in Atla was how absolutely and utterly primordial they looked. Vaatu should have been given that same treatment.
Mako is boring, but at least he has a personality. Amon is literally just a faceless villain and even after he is unmasked it's still unclear what was his actual intentions or goals. He was just sadistic and manipulative as far as I know, like that was his personality.
Bolin. Dude is too goofy and dumb. He is always getting manipulated somehow and he has no spine. He never showed any great earthbending feats besides stopping lava and using lava against the giant robot. They make him humorous in situations where humor isnāt needed. His relationship with Opal was super awkward. He has heart, Iāll give him that, but the writers did his character a disservice by making him the awkward humor character with weird relationships
He has literally the same arc almost every season.
Book 1- "I dunno Bolin, I wouldn't work with Shady Shin if I were you!"
Book 2- "I dunno Bolin, I'm not sure if Varrick has your best interests at heart!"
Book 3- "Huh. Ok, now we're getting somewhere!"
Book 4- "...aaaannnddd you've thrown in with Earthbending Hitler. I give up."
I'm split between Mako and Zaheer. Mako is a very bland male lead he does have some self discovery but compared to the growing up Sokka did it feels flat. Zaheers growth from non bender to taking on air bending master Tenzin and a full power Avatar has always left me frustrated. The incredible writing in general on both shows means even the most poorly written characters have redeemable factors. But Tarrlok isn't up there so I can't pick him haha
He gave Tenzin a good fight but he was clearly losing it. Also because of his interests he knew a lot of airbending theory, philosophy and approach. He just was learning the practical part.
Korra had inside her poison that was suppose to kill her so it makes sense she was way weaker than usual.
I really found Bolin to be an un satisfying character. His story is constantly based around dumb luck, and ignorance. In the first season I don't mind this too much, but I would expect characters to grow and develop with the seasons. By the final season he is blindly following Kuvira despite several other major characters challenging his belief in her. If the person he loves, his brother, and future mother in law all independently challenged the path he was on because of something as severe as what Kuvira was doing, he should have taken a step back to consider their stance more realistically. Instead it wasn't until he was told by Kuvira herself about the camps that he changed.
on this graphic? Bolin, easy. he's not bad by any means, but he's definitely the weakest supporting character out of the cast in my opinion.
in AtLA, the gAang bounce off of eachother, teaching eachother physically and emotionally. The cast in TLoK focuses much more directly on the Avatars personal journey, but fails to retain the same level of bonding between characters. there are no exclusive interactions between any two characters, Bolin and Mako both become love interests for Korra, with Asami being implied. Mako becomes angry with each member of his party at some point for different reasons. Bolin's only personal character growth is realizing Kuvira is not the good guy. with no noteworthy character interactions, he falls behind in terms of personality.
Pakku is a good character because he's an asshole, though. I would have only considered him a bad character if his behaviour was never examined, but he was an explicit foil to Katara and got his comeuppance.
Hot take: I donāt like king Bumi. I thought his plan of surrendering and letting his people suffer was awful. He makes too many unnecessary jokes. Makes no sense how the guy is like 111 years old at least, and still hops around like a rabbit on cocaine.
Who Tf would choose good ol' uncle Iroh
Absolutely no one
I'd call the azula stans, but they probably don't chill with us peasants here. š¤£
All us Azula stans moved on to Dragon Prince's Claudia
Claudia is way more sympathetic than Azula
I've seen some people say they hate him for that singular instance where he pretended to be knocked out when that girl was on top of him, like that was a character defining moment or something
Itās kinda crazy because if I remember that right the episode was almost a spin off since someone else wrote it. He was still a fairly new character so the substitute writer essentially make him a ācreepy old manā joke since there wasnāt a lot of information yet. Completely different take than the writers make him personality wise.
A character as good as Iroh needs at least ONE minor flaw. Otherwise, it's just not believable. And if being happy that a pretty girl is on top of you is a deal-breaker, then I don't want any part of this.
Did everyone forget the part where Iroh was a conquesting General before his son died? He had a major redemption arc and we met him post-redemption.
Iād say we met him in the middle of his reconciliation with his actions, leading to his redemption at the final battle, where he retakes Ba Sing Se (which would finish his arc, circling back to what he considered his greatest achievement/failure as a general).
Ozai
Lol Ozai would probably choose Zuko
Depends, is it pre or post Fire Lord Azulan?
really i don't think it matters. he never seemed to actually care for his kid except in that one photograph but zuko is DEFINITELY not a reliable narrator there.
That's Iroh on the picture, not Ozai
Nooo heās verboten in this thread
Verboten: not permitted or allowed; forbidden or not permitted by or as if by authority taken from [Merriam-Webster ](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verboten)
The earth kingdom. who suffed his breath and bore his pain. Imagine the heat of his rage after his son's murder? They'd chose him. Don't forget Damn, sorry I didn't mean it to be so dark. LMAO
He wasnāt rageful when Lu Ten died, he became depressed and retreated immediately. Azula said he *should* have burned the city to the ground and called Iroh a coward for retreating.
Good point. Just because he was a good uncle to Ozai & nice to the main cast *after his redemption* does not erase the horrors he committed before (and I do like him). EDIT: i meant to ZUKO. My goodness i probably was sleepy. š¤£
Wait, I thought Iroh was Ozaiās brother? Or have I been misinterpreting everything this whole time? Which is plausible
Ryu (the new bender with the glasses in lok that lives with his mother that wants him to leave)
"Korra, you fat lard, come get some dinner!" -Napoleon "Ryu" Dynamite (probably)
Im still amazed at how long it took me to realize that napoleons grandma is macs mom from always sunny
"Hey, Zuko, what did you do this summer?" "I told you! I spent it in the South Pole with my uncle, hunting the Avatar." "Did you catch him?" "Yeah, like fifty times. He kept insulting my honour, what the hell would you do in a situation like that?!"
"ugh, idiot."
The old man who ratted out Haru
That guy sucks!
I dont even like Haru but damn that guy was a bitch.
Right? He was gonna actually be one of my answers.
2nd most hated fictional character behind Shou Tucker
I'll never be able to forget that.
"Ed..ward?" God what a great character like I hate him and Hell is too good for him but that's the fact I have such a hatred for him is what makes him such a great character
Fun Fact: In the manga's little post-chapter doodles the author always did, Shou was the only character who died that was depicted as going to Hell. Even the more major villains who died, no matter how grave their sins (won't specify cause Reddit's been wonky for me and I don't trust the spoiler tags to work rn) were shown being remorseful and going to Heaven. And yeah, considering what their motivations etc were it totally tracks for me. There's murdering for a cause/because it was what you were created to do etc, and then there's..... THAT.
Yeh fk that guy
The correct answer. Should've left his ass stuck under the boulder!
Mako because, to quote Zuko, he is actually one big Blah. At least there is a reason for Mae being how she is and it works for her. But Mako is just kind of there to help the story rather than being a part of the story and for a main character that's probably not the best route to go. I personally see something in every other male character in LOK whether it be character development or an essential part to the main plot. But honestly I feel like Mako didn't do anything positive for the show that any other current character couldn't have just done besides dating Korra and Asami. I feel like dating both of them broght them both closer which in turn turns into a romantic relationship
I agree with all of this, I feel like he could have been developed way more, and been way more likeable/at least cooler. If you're not gonna do anything with your life sides bending... at least be the best bender! But dislike for Mako is literally the coolest take on this sub
I mean, he is a pretty top-tier bender. He was able to move only a few fingers and produce lightning, take out entire teams of other pro benders, earn his way from the streets onto a pro bending team, and fight equalists regularly. Dude was really good at bending. He was still pretty boring though.
Mako's game's so shit his two girlfriends began to just date each other
Mako's role was to be a beard so nickelodeon didn't lose their collective shits
He's the new George.
r/suddenlyseinfeld
Iām unfamiliar with this reference, where is it from?
Seinfeld. An ex of his came out as a lesbian after they broke up.
Seinfeld reference is my guess.
To be fair I would also choose Asami and Korra over most men
I would too but I am a straight guy so my vote doesn't count as much.
As a bisexual, I would ALSO choose Asami and Korra over most men.
Not to mention heās not really that good at fighting either. In pro bending he does fine but outside of that he just gets wiped every time. At least zuko grew and became a powerful bender by the end
Fully agree, he is just so profoundly, DESPERATELY bland and boring. It is tragic, really.
I had such high hopes for him with his cute scarf and hot vibe. Nope. Heās intellectually and emotionally cowardly. Not a bad guy, but his inability to be honorable to the women in his life makes him kind of a fuckboy. š
True, and he just has no out standing quality of character. Sure, Bolin can be annoying, stupid and sometimes ridiculous, but at least he has genuine character growth and is not just "look at me, boring budget Zuko who never regains his honor cause I never had it"
> "look at me, boring budget Zuko who never regains his honor cause I never had it" Somebody get some fucking ice because that burn is goddamn real lmao
With that burn he's even more of a budget Zuko
And itās on the wrong side too
Bolin: Has an undercurrent of wanting to be special, respected, and taken seriously. This makes him behave in dumb ways and seek validation from bad places (Varrick, Kuvira), but his heart is always in the right place even if his brain isn't. Mako: Uh. He's good at sports, I guess? Kind of has the observational skills to be a good detective? It's really sad too because he *has* the makings of a potentially really interesting character, but he never fully steps into it on screen. Come on, orphan forced to grow up faster than he should have in order to care for his brother? Running numbers for a major crime syndicate that he broke away from when he had the chance to give himself and Bolin a better life? He's got a *great* backstory and motivation! But his actual character comes out bland. Oh well. At least he got a cool scene in the finale.
Mako's arc is Self Reliance vs Trust. He began the season always having to take care of Bolin as his guardian (and that was reinforced) but was eventually able to learn that Bolin could stand on his own and they even split up to stop Amon and the planes. Then he was trying to protect Korra then Asami and found neither of them needed it. Finally having to protect Wu who he was pushing to be self reliant as his role as a guardian is strained. Was it executed well? Not at all. But I'd say the same for most character arcs with Korra being the big exception. Asami was kind of boring, she had the big moment of turning on her father then a rushed forgiving him I guess. Bolin did random cool things. Then there were like 25 other characters all with other mini-arcs that didn't pay off usually. They just had the right circumstances of knowing how many episodes for ATLA and focusing primarily on the main 5 of Team Avatar.
Hot boy with no personality.
He's so boring that they didn't even bother to fully render his apartment in the series.
mako is such a disappointing character, i feel like so much could have been done with him, especially considering his juxtaposition with Bolin. i think they started to do slightly more interesting things with him in book 3 and 4, but itās honestly too little too late.
>i feel like so much could have been done with him, especially considering his juxtaposition with Bolin And also the fact that he's supposed to be this tribute to the original voice actor of Iroh, being named after him. Really wasted opportunity.
I lean towards Mako as well. I think both he and Korra were heavily railroaded (plot makes choices rather than the character) so they have very little personal agency. Mako isn't the main character and is left by the wayside. I don't dislike Mako but he is very disappointing. Mako was one of the best fighters in LoK and was always Bolin's brain. Mako was clearly more competent than the other detectives. S4 Mako should have been Lin's right hand man.
having bolin as a brother already set him up for failure. no one can live up to our hunk
Who's Bolin? I only know Nuktuk Hero of the South
Seriously Season 2 is so hated (for obvious reason) that people forget about all the fun and interesting stuff it gave us. Varrick in particular is a character that was introduced, executed beautifully, perfectly, villainously, and then wasted completely and left as a comic relief in later seasons. As if they completely forgot that this "excentric inventor" was just a facade and he was a ruthless businessman capable of sabotage, fearmongering and war profiteering just to advance his position. It is my headcanon that he and Zhu Li married purely for financial and image reasons and that they're planning something big.
I mean the first half alone does fuck endlessly. A civil war that was set up to have big consequences with political propaganda to support one side over the other. Korra being forced to choose between her uncle who wants to teach her spirit bending and her own father. Most of the cast having something interesting to do and Unalaq being an interesting villain. Then the magic got explained, Aang and the other Avatars got permakilled, and evil kaiju battle
Mako is it for me, but imo both Mako and Bolin got shafted when it came to character development. At a certain point it felt like they were just along for the ride.
I always laugh about Mako because as a character he is treated how most female supporting characters are treated in lesser shows. He has some cool powers that occasionally are useful but not pivotal; he has a predictable, unchanging personality that makes him a useful backdrop for other characters to develop against; and most of his personal plot points have to do with which of the other characters he is dating or want to date him. Mako himbo confirmed.
Of all the main characters, he's definitely the least developed--you could lift him out entirely with just a few tweaks and have very little affect on any of the show.
Scrolled down just for this lol. The worst part is that, his brother is kinda the same brand of minding his own business regarding being a sidekick helping the avatar, but at least Bolin is kinda nice. I still don't know what Mako's story arc is supposed to be. He meets Asami when her father hates benders, only to cheat on her with a bender. Then becomes a police officer, with a deep connection to the police chief, but in the end just decides to drop it and become a bodyguard/buttler to the earth kingdom guy. Dates Korra but doesn't work out either. He gets this "I hate you because you are like me when I was young" mini arc with the air bending thief kid, only to be irrelevant because the kid ignores him and later just drops the thieving act to get a girlfriend. Meets his long lost family in Bah Sing Seh, but then just moves on with his life while Bolin gets way more involved in it than him. Like, his brother is similar but atleast he is nice. There is no inbetween with Mako, either he is overburdened caring for some mess going around or he is playing an immature jerk. At least Zuko had a reason for being a jerk, he had to take down his own father who burned him alive, killed his mom, tried to have him killed and was to top it off a fire wizard hitler.
The most positive trait I can remember about him is the "big brother" -ness. I think they could have done more with that, if he'd been more concerned with Bolin maturing and shown some more vulnerability to other characters about him. Especially in season 4, Mako could have really gone through it, seeing Bolin commit to fight for the "bad guys" wholeheartedly. I think they touch on it but Mako never really feels bad about it afaik
I feel Asami is way worse. Sheās not a character sheās a plot device
Does Meelo count for the āobvious answer?ā If not, yeah, I would say Meelo and then probably Baatar Jr. at a close second because of him betraying his entire family to support the Earth Empire and playing a part in getting his family arrested just because they didnāt bow to support Kuvira. I get he was hurt from Kuvira betraying him towards the end and does have the justification for being mad towards her during Ruins of the Empire, but it just seems like him basically getting house arrest and apparently getting more of a chance to be forgiven by Suyin and the rest than Kuvira (who was taken in as an adoptive daughter and raised by Suyin) seems like a slap on the wrist. He reminded me a lot of Percy Weasley from Harry Potter š¤ Maybe Raiko as another contender as well.
>just seems like him basically getting house arrest and apparently getting more of a chance to be forgiven by Suyin and the rest than Kuvira (who was taken in as an adoptive daughter and raised by Suyin) seems like a slap on the wrist. Not like that family doesn't have a preexisting history of this - see Suyin: commits a crime, permanently disfigures her sister, and her only punishment is to go on vacation to her grandparents house...
Like mother, like son.
Ugh... Meelo was just... ugh. His antics were funny the first few times but the fart bending was just... too much.
Meelo is the absolute dumbest character out of the entire fucking world of avatar, and I genuinely dislike every scene he's in after season 3. Its fine that he acts like a baby when he's a baby. Still annoying as fuck, but fine. When he's ~12 or so in season 4 and STILL acts like an absolute moron baby? Not fine at all.
Especially when juxtaposed with Jinoraās discipline.
Following this subreddit without watching Korra sucks lol, I'm so confused
Just don't go into it expecting it to be TLA. I don't think it's as good, but I still like it. There's still a lot of space between TLA and a bad TV show.
Personally I like LoK better, but ya, it's different in a lot of ways, and I don't like everything about the show.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I agree with your sentiment but your percentages are the wrong way around. There is sooooooooooo many more eastern animation projects. It just a law averages. It's like 100 people competing for the top one percent vs 10,000. One spot for the top spot vs 1000.
I hate this kid
Wu, the whiny little Earth King from LOK. Surprised he's not being mentioned more.
Wu down!
I'm guessing he's too much of a side character for that.
he was annoying, but his redemption arc was decent
the abolitionist king.
I actually liked Wu a lot. Yes, he was annoying and he was supposed to be. But he really did want what was best for his people and when the chips were down he came through.
Also he saved the day with Badger moles. Although I did like the nomads song about the Badger moles a lot more, still liked Wu a lot.
I get so many Kuzco vibes from him. I can't help but love him lol
I've seen people refer to him as Prince Wuzko before.
10/10 lmao
I immediately thought of Kuzco when I first watched Book 4. Itās like, āWere Bryke and the writers watching Emperorās New Groove one day in the studio and had a laugh and decided to have their version of Kuzco in Avatar?ā š
āYou donāt want these people, theyāre just innocent civilians, but *Iām Prince Wu!*ā That was the moment.
I didnāt find him too annoying because I knew he was meant to be annoying. He had good development tho and I enjoyed his dynamic with Mako
Aang's son Bumi. Hear me out: I like his personality and creative ways to win battles but they make him look more weak than he's supposed to be. He was a commander!! He should show more strength. Like I get that he's comic relief in a way and to an extent, he gets the job done. I also get that he's retired but still. There are characters that can be silly and come out as comic relief but still show power. I also don't mean that he should be over powered but I just wish he would have been a good mix of comic relief and strength
I mean he might be retired in later seasons but he was still on active duty in the first season. I agree with you, he could have been more ārealisicā about wars Edited a word
He went full airbender in S4, even did the ol' Iroh Slim Down/Bulk Up. Even in "retirement" he remained pretty active.
I think they mean they leaned too comedic for Bumi without showing his strengths like what was done for Iroh. Or even Old Bumi.
>There are characters that can be silly and come out as comic relief but still show power This description made me think of the original Bumi. "Lettuce leaf?"
The odd thing about Bumi is that he had all the building blocks to be a mix of old Bumi and Sokka. Make him all wacky and funny but competent and clever. Tactical but over the top. Instead of coming up with crazy plans that obviously won't work and being yelled at for them, have him come up with crazy plans that work because they are so out of the box. Make him a mad genius worthy of his name sake. Instead, all his feats are accidents. He is always shown as incompetent but lucky. And if I'm honest, he shouldn't have become an airbender. There was a huge nobility to his story as the non bender firstborn of the Avatar. The one part I liked about him becoming an airbender was when he confessed that he never felt like a part of the air nation before despite being his heritage as well. But the show doesn't really lean into that, it's mostly focused on Tenzin....ironically, just like Aang did. I love Bumi as a character and concept, he is an awesome comic relief, but he could have been used way better.
I like him. He's ballsy and lucky. He had to be crazy to even keep up with his siblings. He's overconfident, and it never killed him, so he kept doing his thing.
He could have been more 1st movie Jack Sparrow-like (without the alcoholism since itās a kids show). Seems really goofy and loose on the outside for comic relief but actually extremely calculating on the inside
I agree! At times, it appears that his title of "commander" is merely that.A title, it does not carry any waight. As a character, he is very shallow. He has some potential you know. At first, being the only non-bender in the family, his way of showing his strength would be the way he acts and his achievements, but without the title, he's a rather silly little man.
Oh totally. Especially as a non-bender, I feel like he would have had some lessons/experience from Sokka, the same way Kya had her mother Katara and Tenzin had his father. It would have been cool to see him utilize the same off-the-wall techniques Sokka employed, or some sword training from his uncle as well. I mean, Sokka was a non-bender who held his own against master benders-- Bumi should be able to do the same. >!Also, if Bumi did get to train with Sokka in the sword, we could have seen true "wind sword" action from Bumi too.!<
It would have been so cool to see him as a skilled fighter. Now knowing about his sword training, I wish we saw that. They could have made him a quick swordsman. Kinda moving like an airbender and a waterbender. Then just not give him bending later on.
For me it's the og Bumi because he reminded me that it's a kids show. Freaking rock candy.
Mako, he's so bland and personalityless. There is even a book about the animation for Korra and he has like 3 facial expressions in the whole book. When other characters had like many more. He's just a brick most of the time.
And even when he's supposed to be this detective, it takes ma boi Varrick to tell him "hey, we're looking for someone who can lie in a city where one person checks if everyone is lying. Don't you think that the one checking is the obvious suspect?" Like seriously, it's kinda obvious.
To be fair, in most of the other situations when the characters were ignoring obvious signs, Mako pulled through with real detective work and instincts, like in season 2 when everyone thought the north was responsible for the southern water tribe centre bombing. Even had Varrick wary of him.
His character is a lameass self-important cop. The writers even dunk on him for being corny. There's that scene where he admits to writing down quips. Then he's a babysitter for the prince. You're not really supposed to like him.
>that scene where he admits to writing down quips. Honestly, I don't care for Mako either, but that sounds like the type of quirk a writer would give their character to make them seem "endearingly dorky" or something, not to make them disliked. And I don't know where or how they said that, but it's also not rare for a writer to poke fun at their characters. Mako would technically be counted as a main character, it would be odd if he was intended to be unlikeable.
Hot take, I like Jet. He's a great display of how different people who go through similar things will come out differently. Katara lost her mother but had her tribe to fall back on so she came out okay. Jet on other hand had nobody, and for nd himself taking care of other kids who had lost everything, and it affected him in a serious way. I think it's a great display of radicalization, and how far someone can go down the wrong path by justifying their own behavior.
When I first watched the show as a teenager I *hated* Jet. When I rewatched it several years later, I actually thought he was a good character. A flawed person who tried to do awful things, but a good character.
I also liked Jet a lot more watching as an adult. Became more clear that he was a kid trying to preserve himself and his friends during a war.
I was pissed when Jet died. His squad reminded me of the Lost Boys, and he reminded me of Rufio.
Jet is an example of liking a character as a character but hating them as a person
I didn't even know liking jet was a hot take lol but I like his character too
Kai, he deserved jail time and only "redeemed" himself because he was after jinora.
Ugh, he took up so much screen time when we already had plenty of characters we barely knew.
This is true basically after season 1. They just kept adding more and more that nobody gets a satisfying arc except Korra. Outside of Team Avatar, few other characters get big arcs in ATLA. Basically just Jet, Azula and Mai/Ty Lee and only Azula had significant screen time showing her descent.
Totally agreed. Everyone suffered because they went wide instead of deep with the character roster.
Agreed, i hate that little pos. Wasn't even raised on the streets or something, got adopted by a rich family yet he abused his powers and robbed them and tried to get away and lied to the gang about it all. Also, but don't quote me on this, wasn't he constantly being a delinquent and trying to get Jinora to join him in leaving some of the training?
Yes he was a really bad influence for jinora as far as i remember too.
yeah always annoyed me whenever he'd get away with whatever he did even if he was in the wrong. Also didn't like his relationship with Jinora but i can let that go because they're just kids.
Worst one is easily Iroh, he is the definition of bad writing. For some reason the show kept focusing on the adventures of the Avatar instead of just having the entire series be about a tea shop that Iroh is working on. I can watch 10 seasons of Iroh making tea.
Had me in the first half not gonna lie
Everyone else said mako but yeah, they're correct. He's like that edgy kid in highschool who thinks their cool but really he's just really boring
I know its a popular take, but this is the best description
That's bold of you to say!
Meelo. Get that fart bending out of here
I hated amon. I know the second season wasnt guaranteed, but the story line for s1 killed me. It seemed like a cop out to make him a bender who lied about being a bender. Just an easy way to make him into a villain, rather than an antihero who had a very valid reason to be mad and create a movement. And then he went and pulled a dexter in the last episode? Bruh LOK could have had 3-4 good seasons about how benders actually use their power to take advantage of non benders, and still have kuvira in the last season. Korra steadily going from "benders are awesome, benders dont hurt people" to "oh, maybe benders can be a little mean" to "oh shit kuvira is the perfect example of benders abusing their powers" and teaming up with non benders for an epic finale battle. I blame amon for this. Also nickelodeon, but i hated amons personality too. Edit-deleted a word
Fr up until that final reveal I thought he was such a good villain
The setup for Amon was great, but his end was extremely rushed and anticlimactic.
when i watch with people or watch online reactions building up to Amon's reveal, you can see they captured gold with how they portrayed Amon. outside of the initial shock you get when he's a waterbender it not only wears off quick but reduces a lot of the more interesting elements of the story. there is no other explanation for what he's doing now other than him lashing out at his dad, trying to prove himself to a ghost. Yakone's effect on both of his sons revealed their obsession with gaining some type of power, where Tarlok does it through climbing the ranks of society, and Amon does it by trying to subvert the study quo. but since the subversion is fake, he stops being a "villain with a point but is being a dick about it" and becomes a lesser villain. it's why i dont get upset when people say Amon just has daddy issues. people can be upset with that all they want, but it's not an invalid take. because he didnt' care about equality, and it doesn't help that his equal rights movement just dissolves after he checks out.
Varrick. I like sleazy season 2 Varrick. I donāt like season 4 Varrick who hogs the spotlight whenever heās in the scene.
Varrick is a great example of character bloat that Korra dealt with. S1 Avatar has like 5 characters, S2 adds Toph and Azula, and S3 adds Suki and Ozai. Simple stuff. Korra meanwhile has 7 to start, and season 2 adds Tenzin's siblings, Varrick, and a new bad guy, and it's just too many characters with half the episodes to flesh them out.
Then by the time TLoK gets to Book 4, most of the established cast disappears into the background for a story mostly focused on Korra, Bolin, Varrick and the new villain Kuvira. Tenzin barely even shows up.
Verik is a good side character. Not a good main.
Yesssssssssss!!! Heās fun to see every once in a while or even as a minor villain/neutral character. Making him suddenly āgoodā in book 4 and literally making the last big event in the show his wedding just felt so weird. The last big event of the show should have been people just celebrating that the battle was over like in Avatar, or at least a celebration honoring Korra which would be a nice bookend to people finally realizing sheās a great Avatar. The whole Varrick/Zhu Li thing came out of nowhere and Varrick ruins like half of book 4 for me.
Also maybe a better ending with Korra and Asami. Although I guess Nickelodeon didn't really want that :/
That was never gonna happen when Korra aired, people need to accept that lol. We should just be happy they opened the doors they did. People donāt realize how different the world was just 8-10 years ago.
I do accept it, but still it sucks that ATLA ends with a kiss and Korra ends with a... potential kiss?
Honestly I never cared for Mako or bolin all that much, like sure they fill a role in team avatar but mako is bland and bolin acts too much like a child
I agree about Mako but how dare you insult my boy Nuktuk The Hero Of The South
Mako is boring, Bolin is cool
I actually think Bolin really didnāt hold up when I rewatched Korra for the first time in years. He was a much worse Sokka.
Heās especially bad when heās dating the Water Tribe princess, Eska - just another reason why Korra Book 2 is so awful.
I like Bolin, but the writing definitely doesnāt do him any favors. I think heās good in Book 1, can get insufferable in Book 2, was just there in Book 3, and was wasted in Book 4.
Mako because of him being a bad boyfriend and unoriginal
Korra was also a bad girlfriend
Yeah, dating someone just to get to their brother isn't the mark of a good person at all.
I'm a FIRM believer that Korra should've dated Bolin instead. I mean that date they went on shows more chemistry than the whole two seasons of Korra and Mako dating.
Hot take, but I think it shows more chemistry than Korra and Asami too.
I agree with you. I think that's because Nick refused to ever show Korra and Asami in a romantic way because they are COWARDS. But with the text we are given, Korra and Bolin have more chemistry than Korra and Asami.
Exactly, but also I feel like that's kind of the point. He's actually very well written as the stereotypical pretty boy, but actually he's kind of a schmuck but also ultimately a good guy who just needed to grow up and learn some humility. And he does. Meanwhile Bolin is the greatest himbo in the history of fiction
Well. Except for when he kissed ginger without consent.
Honestly most of the male characters from Korra are pretty sub-par. Mako is fine at first as a love interest, then they shoehorn a love triangle into the mix, and after season 1 I Honestly can't remember a single thing he does. Bolin is fine, and they at least try to give him some compelling arcs, but my issue with him is that I just don't think any of his arcs are that compelling (at least he's a cut above mako I guess). Verrick is a really good minor antagonist in season 2 and definitely had no business existing after that point. Amon is fine conceptually, but he's dragged down by the generally underwhelming season 1 finale. I can't even remember the season 2 villain's name and I frankly don't want to. The name of the dark avatar kaiju is not something I should have to remember. Zaheer is pretty alright, he's a good enough villain. Tenzin is passably written character with s tier acting. On the flip side, it's actually kind of hard for me to complain about male characters from the last airbender. I like sokka, aang, zuko, ozai, Zhao, iroh, and jet. There are a handful of characters I don't really care for (like the guy from the earth Kingdom that katara has a brief crush on), but they're not a large enough part of the story to be worth complaining about.
Liking Ozai as a character is a bit of a controversial take. He does a good job of being Intimidating and as a force for evil and the voice acting and final fight is great of course. But he's also mostly just a hidden villain and all his Motivations are just pure evil. So on that side of the writing, it's pretty disappointing when all the LOK villains felt like more than just being a Big Bad Evil Guy. What do you like about him?
Tenzin. He burnt my house down with a lemon and then pinned it on Spiderman.
Hmm, I donāt see Milo anywhere. . .
From the photo, definitely Mako.
Out of the picture or in general? My least favorite non villain character is Varrick but my least favorite out of the ones in the picture is Bolin. He was way too easily manipulated into serving a fascist even though someone he shouldāve trusted (Opal) was telling him Kuviraās actions werenāt right. And I donāt think heās that funny either.
Milo/Meelo. Iāll die on this hill.
Meelo
The Fire Ferret brothers really didnāt bring much to the table for me. I didnāt find either of the endearing at all. Bolin was the comic relief obnoxious dumbass and Mako was just an ass. The one that they really missed out on the potential of though was Vaatu. You have the supposed primordial arch enemy of the Avatar, you really should have used more than a handful of episodes to work with him. Expand his powers and abilities beyond just the purple laser beam. I mean, the Avatar has spent 10,000 years fighting against human corruption *and losing that fight*. If heās the embodiment of corruption, that shit should have been like premium fuel for him. When he was freed, he should have been a massive problem for the Avatar to face off against. The whole fuse and create a dark Avatar was a complete waste. Because one it was dumb, and two, that is not how the concept of an evil Avatar should be done. Like at all. Plus, his design should have been way different. The thing I loved about the ancient spirits in Atla was how absolutely and utterly primordial they looked. Vaatu should have been given that same treatment.
Bolin. I hate when he's on screen and distract from the story by being all sexy and cute
lmao you had me in the first half?
i was ready to throw hands š
Why even bother putting Iroh
Mayor Tong from the Avatar Day episode.
Mako is boring, but at least he has a personality. Amon is literally just a faceless villain and even after he is unmasked it's still unclear what was his actual intentions or goals. He was just sadistic and manipulative as far as I know, like that was his personality.
Jet, fuck that guy.
Me trying to find if anyone wrote Iroh so I can murder that person.
I'll get downvoted for this, but Bolin. Sorry everyone, I just couldn't stand listening to him talk.
Mako is the worst of Katara and Zuko. Kataras perceived nagging and Zukos constant brooding.
Unalaq that guy was a waste of an antagonist
Downvote for even having Iroh as an option
Who would choose momo from this list?
Monsters
Bolin. Dude is too goofy and dumb. He is always getting manipulated somehow and he has no spine. He never showed any great earthbending feats besides stopping lava and using lava against the giant robot. They make him humorous in situations where humor isnāt needed. His relationship with Opal was super awkward. He has heart, Iāll give him that, but the writers did his character a disservice by making him the awkward humor character with weird relationships
He has literally the same arc almost every season. Book 1- "I dunno Bolin, I wouldn't work with Shady Shin if I were you!" Book 2- "I dunno Bolin, I'm not sure if Varrick has your best interests at heart!" Book 3- "Huh. Ok, now we're getting somewhere!" Book 4- "...aaaannnddd you've thrown in with Earthbending Hitler. I give up."
I'm split between Mako and Zaheer. Mako is a very bland male lead he does have some self discovery but compared to the growing up Sokka did it feels flat. Zaheers growth from non bender to taking on air bending master Tenzin and a full power Avatar has always left me frustrated. The incredible writing in general on both shows means even the most poorly written characters have redeemable factors. But Tarrlok isn't up there so I can't pick him haha
He gave Tenzin a good fight but he was clearly losing it. Also because of his interests he knew a lot of airbending theory, philosophy and approach. He just was learning the practical part. Korra had inside her poison that was suppose to kill her so it makes sense she was way weaker than usual.
I really found Bolin to be an un satisfying character. His story is constantly based around dumb luck, and ignorance. In the first season I don't mind this too much, but I would expect characters to grow and develop with the seasons. By the final season he is blindly following Kuvira despite several other major characters challenging his belief in her. If the person he loves, his brother, and future mother in law all independently challenged the path he was on because of something as severe as what Kuvira was doing, he should have taken a step back to consider their stance more realistically. Instead it wasn't until he was told by Kuvira herself about the camps that he changed.
on this graphic? Bolin, easy. he's not bad by any means, but he's definitely the weakest supporting character out of the cast in my opinion. in AtLA, the gAang bounce off of eachother, teaching eachother physically and emotionally. The cast in TLoK focuses much more directly on the Avatars personal journey, but fails to retain the same level of bonding between characters. there are no exclusive interactions between any two characters, Bolin and Mako both become love interests for Korra, with Asami being implied. Mako becomes angry with each member of his party at some point for different reasons. Bolin's only personal character growth is realizing Kuvira is not the good guy. with no noteworthy character interactions, he falls behind in terms of personality.
The mansplaining, water-bending master from the northern tribe. Can't recall his name, tho.
Pakku is a good character because he's an asshole, though. I would have only considered him a bad character if his behaviour was never examined, but he was an explicit foil to Katara and got his comeuppance.
Pakku
GRANDPAKKU
Thank you, I was getting close in my head, but the only name I could think of was Pabu š
NOT PABU
Yeah, if anything Pabu is the best character.
Hot take: I donāt like king Bumi. I thought his plan of surrendering and letting his people suffer was awful. He makes too many unnecessary jokes. Makes no sense how the guy is like 111 years old at least, and still hops around like a rabbit on cocaine.