Even though The Legend of Korra – the sequel to the massively popular Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender – has always been overshadowed by the success of its predecessor, it still does a lot to expand the Avatar canon. It has also been criticized for not being as awesome as the original, though that may just be because A:TLA was too good to top. It did, ittedly, have its problems, as anyone who's seen the original would be able to make out.
Despite convoluted storylines and haphazard execution of otherwise good ideas, though, TLOK introduces a whole new bunch of new characters to the universe and manages to deliver many memorable moments we love to revisit at times. It also introduces us to some powerful characters, benders and non benders alike. Given the advances in technology between the two series and widespread propagation of new bending styles in TLOK restricted to a few in A:TLA (like metalbending), many TLOK fighters are more powerful than the best benders in A:TLA.
While comparing benders in TLOK and A:TLA is not an easy feat, we can compare them with Aang; arguably the most powerful bender in the first series. So, how do the best of TLOK fair against the youngest Avatar of all time? We count down the 10 Legend Of Korra Characters Strong Enough To Take On Aang (And 10 Who Don’t Stand A Chance) to find out.
Strong Enough: Korra
Avatar Aang couldn’t have been more different from Avatar Korra in temperament. Whereas Aang was always composed and wise, Korra, in the beginning of the show at least, always appeared brash and irresponsible, often not thinking her actions through. Even though both of them were Avatars and were pretty powerful, how do they match up against each other?
For Aang fans, we’re sorry to report that Korra is by far the most powerful Avatar we’ve seen in the show or flashbacks, not just compared to Aang. Not only did she turn into a giant monster to defeat the equally giant Dark Avatar at the end of season 2 , but she was also mentally strong enough to resist Zaheer’s poison meant to finish off an Avatar in season 3, and eventually defeat him.
Doesn't Stand A Chance: Bumi
One of Avatar Aang’s children with Katara, Bumi was always shown to be a goofy-yet-likeable character in the show. His differences with his father, who spent more time with Tenzin than with any of his other kids, form a central part of his arc, as we see during his conversations with his sister, Kya. While he was originally a non-bender, he became an airbender after the events of season 2.
While we’re happy for him, he will still hilariously fail if ever faced against his father. Not only was Aang a much, much better bender, but he also had many more years of experience due to being stuck in the state of childhood for a 100 years. Bumi would need to learn a lot of things if he hopes to even have a chance.
Strong Enough: Bolin
Bolin was Mako’s brother, and, along with Korra and Asami, he was one of the main characters throughout the four seasons of the show. While originally shown to be indecisive and under-confident, he developed to be a powerful bender. Though he did go off the trail a bit in season 4 when he started working for Kuvira, he soon realized the error of his ways and easily took on Kuvira’s huge mech units in the episode "Reunion".
He was also the only bender other than Ghazan who could lavabend, which would prove to be massively problematic for Aang – if they ever fight – as he wouldn’t know how to counter it.
Doesn't Stand A Chance: Kya
Like Bumi, Kya – Aang’s daughter – always struggled with her relationship with her father, mostly due to him spending way more time with Tenzin than her. It may also have been because she was a waterbender, and had less in common with Aang than Tenzin. While we saw her throughout the series, Kya features extensively in the third season.
From whatever we saw of her fighting skills, it’s fairly safe to say that she has no chance against Aang, or even any other moderately skilled bender from the first series. When she fought against the Red Lotus - along with Tenzin and Bumi – she was quite rapidly subdued. While she was a nurturing figure and we do kind of like her, she still didn’t have much in of bending prowess to take on Aang.
Strong Enough: Ghazan
Ghazan was a part of the Red Lotus – a faction of the White Lotus that believed in anarchy and disorder to be the solution for the world’s problems – and, together with P’Li, Ming Hua, and Zaheer, Ghazan was the primary threat to Korra’s safety in season 3. He was the first bender to be able to lavabend, and, from whatever we saw of him in the show, would give Aang a tough fight if they ever hypothetically fought.
Not only could he lavabend, which was something Aang wouldn’t have ever seen in his life, much less know how to fight, but Ghazan was also incredibly calm and strategic during battles. While he was defeated by Bolin and Mako, we must that both of them were pro-benders and incredibly skilled fighters in their own right.
Doesn't Stand A Chance: P’Li
Combustionbending was one of the unique and powerful bending variations we saw in both of the series, others being bloodbending and lavabending. Only two benders had been shown to have the ability, and P’Li was the only one in TLOK. She was also Zaheer’s love interest, and after she fell in the season 3 finale, she allowed Zaheer to be free from his "earthly tethers" and literally fly.
While we did see that no one is able to counter her in all of her fights in the beginning, they quickly learned to keep away from her blasts, and Suyin eventually figured out how to take her down. She likely wouldn't stand a chance if she had to go face-to-face with Aang.
Strong Enough: Zaheer
Zaheer was the main antagonist of the third season, and was one of the new airbenders who cropped up after Harmonic Convergence in season 2. He was well versed in airbending philosophy and fighting styles, quickly turning into a formidable foe with his newfound airbending in the starting of season 3.
At his strongest against Korra, she was severely struggling to counter him, and at one point, it even looked like she was defeated for good. On top of everything, he could also fly. We know Aang could, too, though that was only in his Avatar state and during Sozin’s Comet. Zaheer could also do it much more effortlessly, and if faced against Aang, he would be quite tough to take down due to his added mobility. He was also good at hand-to-hand combat, which we assume he already was skilled at before becoming the leader of Red Lotus.
Doesn't Stand A Chance: Earth Queen
The Earth Queen was first introduced in the third season, and was shown to be a shrewd and cunning leader. When she learned of the new airbenders, she quickly took steps to recruit them into her army. She knew what to do to keep things as they were, and despite the excessive poverty and squalor in outer parts of her city, she was a loved and respected leader (as we see from Bolin and Mako’s grandmother’s outlook towards her).
All of that doesn’t mean that she was a powerful fighter, though, much like all the other Earth nation royalty shown in the two series. She was also inexplicably trusting of some random strangers claiming to have the Avatar, who eventually turn out to be the Red Lotus sent there to take her down and declare a state of anarchy in Ba Sing Se.
Strong Enough: Unalaq
Unalaq was the chief of the Water Nation and was first introduced in the second season. He was one of the few characters in the two series whose actions had a profound impact on the world. This could be seen when he released the dark spirit Vaatu, fused with it to turn into a massive entity called the Dark Avatar, and tried to usher in a new age of darkness with a Dark Avatar in the place of the regular one. While his original plans didn’t succeed, he did end up combining the spirit and real world forever.
Though he was defeated by Korra, who had her own giant Avatar thing going, Aang would have had a much tougher time taking on Unalaq with Vaatu. Not only was Vaatu an ancient, powerful spirit, but Unalaq was a skilled waterbender himself. If Unalaq, at his most powerful, ever had a fight with Aang, he’d probably make Aang’s fight with Ozai look like a minor tussle.
Doesn't Stand A Chance: Kai
When we were introduced to Kai in season 3 (during Team Avatar and Tenzin’s hunt for new airbenders in the Earth nation), he was rather annoying. After training with the airbenders and getting familiar with the Air Nation’s philosophy, though, he soon turned into a likeable character, and even played an important role in their victory against the Red Lotus in the season finale.
While he is crafty and intelligent, we’re sorry to report that he would not last very long in a fight against Aang. Not only does Aang have the advantage of learning airbending from the original masters, but he was also the Avatar. Kai may give Aang a tough fight by being small and evasive, but we wouldn't put our money on him if we were you.
