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[bent_the_world]

OOC INFORMATION
Name: Faye
Contact: red.headed.rapunzel@gmail.com, crossthesky @ Plurk
Other Characters: Lust

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Korra
Age: 21
Canon: Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Canon Point: Season 4, episode 8
Character Information: Korra's Wiki Entry

Personality:

The key component to Korra's personality stems from her Avatar identity. Unlike previous Avatars, Korra was aware from a very young age just what she was. She was able to bend three of the four elements since she was a small child, something she herself has always been aware is practically unheard of. We see her as a little girl, bending fire, earth, and water, and shouting 'I'm the Avatar, deal with it!'. She grew up knowing she was extremely special and destined for great things, and internalizing this deeply - despite not fully understanding what it is to BE the Avatar. Even once she begins her proper training.

But by the time she's seventeen, at the start of the series, Korra is confident in herself to the point of brashness and egotism. Still not yet able to bend air, she assumes her training will be a simple thing, because she's Korra. She's the Avatar. Why wouldn't it be simple? She begins with an assumption that life and the tasks beyond the isolated compound she was raised on will be a breeze for her, because of her abilities and her duties. All her life, she's thought of little beyond being the Avatar and helping the world. When she learns her air bending teacher, Tenzin, can't stay with her in the South Pole due to duties in Republic City, Korra tries to negotiate, uses emotional outbursts, and finally loses her temper when she doesn't get what she feels she should have. She even goes so far as to ignore her parents' and Tenzin's wishes, and sneaks out to go to Tenzin in Republic City.

When her air bending training proves difficult, Korra's response is to lash out and lose her temper. She destroys a priceless training artifact in a fit of rage, over simply not being able to pick up air bending as easily as she feels the Avatar should. This is a very stark example of two intrinsic points: Korra has little control over her temper, and isn't used to working for things.

Being raised on a compound for her own protection - something she was unaware of, most of her life - kept her isolated but also provided an environment where everyone looked after her. She was handed everything she needed, physically speaking, and was already a master of water, earth, and fire before even leaving the compound. Growing up, she was best at everything, or at least considered herself to be. She admits in canon 'I've always just had people take care of me.'

When she first comes to Republic City, she attempts to do what she's always known she was born to do - help people. But she ends up causing a great deal of property damage and getting arrested, a situation she doesn't react well to. She's the Avatar! She stopped a crime! She can't understand why something like local laws are more important than that. Even her physical interactions with people display her assertiveness and deep seated belief in her own importance as Avatar. She invades other people's personal space often when arguing or making a point, and often grabs or touches people to make sure they're paying attention to her.

It's no surprise, with what's been detailed already, that Korra is impulsive and impatient. She does what she feels is best, in the early days throwing herself even into situations she's been specifically told not to. She always wanted to see a pro-bending match, and when she's told by Tenzin she can't, she sneaks out anyway. And then ends up joining a pro-bending team, when the opportunity presents itself. And encounters another instance where she's not quite as awesome at everything as she thought. Despite being the Avatar, she's never see pro-bending or been exposed to modern bending styles. She does miserably, losing her temper and breaking the rules to use all her available styles of bending, not just water. She can't take the fact that she isn't flawless at this from the start, either.

But this point also marks an important developmental point for Korra. She starts to realize that her stubborn insistence that she can do everything, and do it her way, may not be right. She implements the teachings of Tenzin that she's been ignoring, and finds herself doing well on the pro-bending court. From here, we see subtle shifts in her way of thinking. She starts relying a little bit more on others - going to the authorities for help instead of rushing in headlong herself, laying out her ideas calmly instead of losing her temper every time she's challenged. But her pride and her self identity not just as Korra but AVATAR Korra are still the strongest facets of her personality. She's able to be manipulated into joining a dangerous task force, by calling out her bravery and Avatar abilities.

When her bending abilities are threatened by the first season's villain, Korra breaks down. The idea of losing her bending is more than just the loss of her abilities, it's the loss of herself. She can't conceive of being anything the Avatar. It's something that shakes her to the core and is a recurring theme through the series - Korra struggling with her identification as the Avatar. She breaks down again in season 2, when her connection to her previous Avatar lives and connection with the light spirit Raava is severed, believing herself useless without her Avatar abilities.

As the series progresses and Korra experiences more of the real world and more worldwide crises, the growth that was started in season 1 continues. Korra is able to connect with her spiritual side, and continues to rely more on the help of others. She begins to understand how the world works, and starts finding her true place in it, not just the place she thought she needed. With the aid and guidance of her friends and loved ones, Korra is able to reevaluate the Avatar's role in the world and therefor her own.

But the largest change in Korra occurs in the third season. When she's poisoned by the third season's villain, she comes as close as she's ever come to dying. While she's able to break free and Zaheer is captured in the end, the mercury poison in her system did her serious damage. Even once removed, she was physically, spiritually, and mentally broken down, unable to walk or care for herself. Her connection with Raava and her Avatar spirit was broken. Her recovery took three years, in which she began losing herself. What good was an Avatar that couldn't even be the Avatar? Her helplessness over losing her connection to the previous Avatars returns, she couldn't even ask them for guidance. She fell into a deep depression, and eventually began hallucinating herself in her Avatar state - a wild, haunting version of herself. What was once her greatest strength and pride was now the greatest source of distress in her life.

This is the final point of Korra's maturity. Even once recovered physically, her hallucinations persisted and she couldn't fight or bend the way she used to. She was easily knocked out in an underground bending match. She fled, from everyone, lying about where she'd be so she couldn't be found, to try and reclaim herself. When she learns there's still poison in her body, she is quick to blame that for all her problems. When she finds she has to remove it herself, it's a struggle. Again, we see a resurgence of her not wanting to work for something, returning in her depressed state. She wants it to be easy, a quick fix. But she's able to get over it and remove the poison...which makes no difference. It's here that she really starts examining herself and her role as Avatar. She confronts the idea 'the world doesn't need you'. She realizes that's part of the real problem - her own belief that this could be true. Her visions come because she's still terrified of what was done to her, that she was nearly defeated even in her Avatar State. It was a traumatizing experience she ran from rather than confronted.

Once Korra makes peace with that as best as she can and resumes her Avatar duties, she settles
back to something closer to the brash, impulsive, optimistic young woman she was five years ago, but more matured and mellowed. She understands that while she went through traumatic and terrible things, suffering is necessary for true compassion.

While still quick to jump to action and short of temper, Korra tries to think things through and keep her temper in check. She begins using diplomacy before fighting, and putting herself in her opponent's place to understand them instead of just relying on a black and white idea of 'good' and 'bad' people. She's more humble, more quick to apologize, she's able to forgive. She's able to open up to and rely on others. She can see her own flaws and tries to do better. She finally learns to give of herself, Korra the person, not just Avatar Korra. While her Avatar identity is still extremely important to her, it's no longer the whole of her.

Despite all these changes, she's still optimistic, passionate, devoted to her loved ones, inquisitive, and committed to the greater good. As well as perfectly okay with using violence if talking doesn't work. She still has growing and healing to do, and still can be plagued with self doubts, but one of her greatest strengths is her ability to do just that: grow and heal.

5-10 Key Character Traits:

Stubborn, loyal, quick-tempered, impatient, brave, protective, impassioned, strong, proud, hopeful.

Would you prefer a monster that FITS your character’s personality, CONFLICTS with it, EITHER, or opt for 100% RANDOMIZATION? Fits!

Opt-Outs: Kelpie, merperson, naga

Roleplay Sample: Korra on the Test Drive Meme.