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The original was posted on /r/characterrant by /u/Unoriginalshitbag on 2023-10-05 12:11:23.

Look. I love the legend of Korra. Yea sure, it can be pretty rough at times-but there’s a lot to like about this show. Korra herself is an excellent protagonist, which is extremely impressive considering the bullshit this show consistently pulls with contrived conflicts and all around tom foolery. I honestly ended up liking her more than Aang, which is saying a lot which because Aang is an excellent character, surronded by an equally great supporting cast…and it’s a goddamn shame that I can’t say the same for Korra.

To start with, let’s talk about Mako. Mako is boring as fuck. His primary motivation seems to be protecting his little brother, Bolin-which is fine, protecting other characters can still be a great character motivation. Case in point, Sokka and Katara. It’s just…that seems to be the only thing Mako has going for him. He doesn’t seem to have any motivations or wants beyond that. To make matters worse, Mako is stuck doing absolute fuck all for the majority of the show. He’s only in season one as the big brooding bad boy Korra swoons over, and the less that is said about the god awful season 1 love trinagle the better.

Asami at least has a motivation tied to what she herself wants, which is keeping future industries afloat after the whole shit show with her father. Asami’s moments with her dad in season 4 are good, but they came a bit too little too late in my opinion. She’s not an interesting character beyond that central piece of conflict, and her evil dad doesn’t really tie into any of the other character’s goals.

And then there’s Bolin whose just here to make jokes and join up with a fascist dictator at the end of the show. Whoops.

Compare that to adult side characters like Tenzin, Suyin and Lin and there’s a massive difference. Tenzin, whose stuck in the shaow of his father’s legacy, trying desperately to rebuild a dead culture, on top of teaching the avatar airbending. He’s a mentor figure for Korra, but he has his own compelling struggles and flaws, at times hot headed and arrogant and stuck in his own ways, but still a good mentor figure for Korra. Bro is basically her second dad. He kinda had fuck all to do in season four, which is a shame, but watching him rebuild the air nation was some of the best the show had to offer.

And then we get Lin. Who is also a cop (ew), but her struggles with her family and her mother’s legacy made for compelling stories in their own right, even if the whole outburst with Suyin. Lin wasn’t wrong about wanting to bring Suyin to justice. Far from it. But she’s not blameless either. She did hold a grudge for 30 or so years.

This just makes me wonder…what the hell happened? Why are the alleged side characters so much more compelling than the protagonists, who barely have motivations at all, or even a reason to stick with Korra? It’s… bizzare.

Compared this to ATLA. Iroh and the white lotus were all cool and interesting in their own right, but it wasn’t their show and the writers knew it. Everyone knew who the main characters were. There was no confusion there. Korra seemed to he all too willing to give the spotlight to the adult side characters, and seems to have run fresh outta character growth for Korra’s crew.