Hello there ! Recently I was watching reviews/analyses about the cartoon show, ” Legend of Korra”. While watching these videos, I scrolled down to read the comments and I found something surprising : How much people hate Korra, the character. From what I can understand, many people hate Korra because of the way she acts in the show and the things she does. They see her as a major stupid jerk who is spoiled, always get her ways and is just a colossal bimbo. Personally for me , I LOVE her for being like this.
” WHAT !?” you scream angrily while sending death glares at me.
(Picture might not be accurate representation)
Well let me explain. , In my opinion, I see her as a unique main character who you rarely see in tv shows,books,etc. Usually in any story, the main character/hero is almost always more noble, powerful,wise,optimistic,etc. compared to the supporting cast. Basically , they are portrayed as superior to the other characters but not in a way where they become “Mary sues” or ” Gary Sues” but more superior as a person . They’ll usually be the one with higher morals, have a good personality , almost always making the right choices, never making any major mistakes, is a good companion, and all that. A good example of this ideal hero is Naruto from the Naruto franchise. He’s noble, kind , friendly, powerful ,has good morals, and is a great friend. He’s basically an idol who real people look up to and inspire to be , a good/better person. Korra on the other hand, doesn’t reach the expectations of an ideal hero. She’s rash, stubborn, aggressive, violent , a bit arrogant , overly-emotional, blunt, immature, and quite a horrid friend/girlfriend. Korra’s the type of person you wouldn’t really dream of becoming like. Compare to the other characters of the show, she’s inferior to them as a person. However, her flawed behavior makes me find her more interesting and believable than most other main characters from other franchises because you can’t tell if she has what it takes to save the day from the way she acts * which I find quite rare* and whether she’ll improve as a person. Usually if there is any doubt in the hero’s ability to save the day , it’s because the threat they are facing is very powerful or because the hero doesn’t have the self-confidence to believe in themselves. I haven’t really found a character who is similar to Korra in that they want to do good for this world but usually make things worse because of their personality and actions.It’s refreshing to have a main character who’s not the most wonderful person ever who you would love to be friends in real life but instead have a main character whose more of that Alpha jerk who you might not like at all.
Korra ? Why u such a jerk ?
Well now…. that wasn’t very nice
” Hey wait a minute !” you exclaimed while frowning . “Anti-heroes don’t have the qualities of an ideal hero but people still love them and most people don’t hate them ! What’s the deal with Korra !?” Yes, that is true, but there is a big difference between Korra and the anti-heroes out there. The anti-heroes are allowed to act the way they do is because their role in the story is not to be the ideal hero. They are not excepted to be good people. They’re excepted to do whatever it takes to do the right thing. Korra’s problem is that her actions are too similar to that of an anti-hero ( seriously , she threaten to kill a man brutally if he didn’t give her information) but her role in the series is that she needs to be the Avatar, a powerful, and wise being capable of bring balance and peace without causing more trouble to the world, something she isn’t capable of yet. Her role as the avatar quickly makes her brutal and violent actions seem barbaric and crude for we placed her with higher expectations to be more like Aang, the most detailed example Avatards have of what the Avatar is suppose to be like. Had she not been the Avatar or the only Avatar we know off, I feel that a bit more people would have liked her because they could have viewed her as the “Bad-girl” who’s not afraid of doing reckless and dangerous things for the greater good.( or evil if you want.)
Seriously. Don’t double-cross her. Ever. She’ll feed you to Naga…
Something else I notice in the fandom is that Avatards are accusing her of being a “Mary Sue.” At first, I would have agreed with you , but now after watching all of season one and the current episode of season two that is out right now , I find her far from being a Mary Sue. Yes, she did manage to know how to bend three of the four elements at age four but it doesn’t mean she’s the best out there. She had her butt whooped by Amon and the equalists in season 1 and two dark spirits have defeated her as well in season 2. Let’s not forget about Desna and Eska, her cousins, who appear to be as good or even better at waterbending then she is. It also appears that Korra hasn’t actually mastered air bending for Tenzin had mention that it was time that Korra learns real air bending instead of just using her own style. ” But what about the Avatar State !? She goes into that state on a flip of switch various times ! Isn’t that Mary sue !?” you asked raising an eybrow. Well,from what I’ve seen of what she can actually do in the avatar state : No , I don’t see that as something that makes Korra a Mary sue. Why ? Well comparing to what Aang has done in the Avatar state to what Korra has done, I have to say Aang is much more of a powerhouse than Korra. His bending appears to be amplified greatly , allowing him to create much more powerful and advance attacks even if he can’t activate the avatar state at will. Korra on the other hand, can active the avatar state at will but can’t generate the advance attacks Aang does. I see this is has a fair trade that keeps Korra from being too powerful. Also another thing that keeps Korra from straying into ” Mary Sue territory” is her impulsiveness and being very impatient. A great example of these two flaws hers is in season 2 where she basically causes a giant mess of because of her hot-headiness . She basically brushes Tenzins off for Unalaq because she felt she would have better results in her learning if she had Unalaq as her mentor. She also quickly snaps at her father even thought she didn’t really take the time to understand nor explore more of her father’s backstory. Let’s not forget the time when she nearly died because her first instinct to open a spiritual portal is to attack it ( repeatedly) before realizing she had to go the avatar state to open it when she was just only moments away from death. The greatest example of this flaw of her is when she started a civil war between the northern and southern water tribes, before quickly joining the southern water tribe’s side and quickly becoming eager to help supply troops and weapons to fight the northern water tribe instead of trying to stay neutral and solving the situation calmly and peacefully how a reco. Basically, she’s doing her job wrong.
I’m pretty sure almost everyone has felt this way before once or twice (maybe even more) when watching Legend of Korra.
Even then, I’m pretty sure almost everyone from every fandom has felt this way before when witnessing a character mess up or do something stupid.
In the end, I really like Korra for the way she is portrayed : A powerful girl with a bad attitude who has the weight of the world on her shoulders. It’s nice to have the main character not be all confident and wise about their duties for once, but instead have the main character be immature, naive, and uncertain about the task they need to do and how to do it.
(Remember, Korra hasn’t been in the ‘Avatar business’ for that long. Even though she did receive training throughout her childhood/life, it appears to be more focused on her fighting techniques than about how to solve the world’s problems)
So… what are your thoughts about Korra ?
superficialprattle 