Korra Vs Aang as characters

[Mindbender]

Does anyone else see a parallel between Korra and Siddhartha Gautama?

I do not see the parallel myself. Korra does not seem nearly as naive as Siddhartha Gautama did in the story of the Buddha. And while Korra and Aang are both energetic and hungry for adventure and exploration, the adventure Aang was hungry for was to ride wild hog monkeys and giant elephant koi. Korra is hungry to get in fights with gangsters and pro-benders. She's far more aggressive, almost like she has a chip on her shoulder, something that also makes the Siddhartha Gautama parallel harder for me to see.

[Melon Lord's Revenge]

to MB's OP,

I think seeing her character evolve will be just as exciting as what we got with Aang. Early on in TLA we are thrown into that dark, oppressed world at war with the fire nation, and Aang's eventual past burden and responsibility caught up with him. It was heavy stuff...but with Korra we've got a wild child teenager at odds with accepting her full responsibility as well...there are probably some great things in store for us and her journey. She's the new Avatar in a world pretty much at peace...that hasn't faced any threat, and she is meant to succeed one of the greatest Avatars who ever lived. Her greatness will come, and while the story advantages of TLA were leading up to this amazing conclusion, we're in the dark with LOK and that's a good thing. We have so much background on how this world works that for me personally, I'm already rooting for her to learn Air just as much as I was for Aang when he struggled with Earth and Fire. I'm anxious for her to accept her position because she's going to be faced with something big and will fail before she can prevail. Not every character gets such an emotional and powerful backstory like Aang, but with Korra it will be her present and future and her relationships with the rest of the characters that define how we receive her for the rest of the series.

[Archsage]

to MB's OP,

I think seeing her character evolve will be just as exciting as what we got with Aang. Early on in TLA we are thrown into that dark, oppressed world at war with the fire nation, and Aang's eventual past burden and responsibility caught up with him. It was heavy stuff...but with Korra we've got a wild child teenager at odds with accepting her full responsibility as well...there are probably some great things in store for us and her journey. She's the new Avatar in a world pretty much at peace...that hasn't faced any threat, and she is meant to succeed one of the greatest Avatars who ever lived. Her greatness will come, and while the story advantages of TLA were leading up to this amazing conclusion, we're in the dark with LOK and that's a good thing.

I think this is a very great point. The world of TLA was already in turmoil. LOK only has the very beginnings of civil unrest. Two completely different situations, which is why I don't think it too wise for Mindbender's OP to compare Aang as better than Korra. If you look at the very early parts of TLA, when the war wasn't even fully realized to Aang, his character was just some average happy kid with powers playing around. And in LOK, before the revolution was fully realized to Korra, we'll just see some average wild teen with powers playing around. So far there's not much difference between Aang and Korra's character as far as depth is concerned.

So I agree that we'll see Korra's character character change with circumstance, and that it will be just as exciting (if not more) than what we got with Aang.

[JooDee626]

I agree. It's kinda refreshing that Korra doesn't have any "Daddy or Mommy Issues" like every main character from ATLA.

Except THE main character. But I agree.

It seems like LoK will be less epic on both the visual and emotional levels but I think it will fit in with the feeling of the show pretty good. And of course, it COULD turn out to be something extremely epic in the future.

Why do you feel LoK will be less epic visually? We have yet to see that magic but I don't think it falls short in any regards.

I do agree that Korra's emotional depth has yet to develop. What we can see, for now, is the culture shock she's experiencing as she adjusts from the rural backdrop of her Southern Water Tribe to the bustle of the big city. You see her eagerness to be just like the citizens of Republic City, quick to prove herself worthy of their approval. She will find herself troubled when the people she's aspiring to impress are the same people who will go against her and her bending peers.

But ultimately, I don't see the same struggle Aang had to go through. Aang was younger, with a heavier burden. He had a war to stop. Korra has a political party to combat. But the depth of that has yet to be revealed. I'm sure the plot thickens.

I agree with QiBreezy. I think Korra's emotional depth will develop as her spirituality develops. I also think we will get a lot more visually as the story progresses. As this story is set primarily in Republic City, if they showed us every beautiful thing in Republic City in the first few episodes, there would be nothing to wow us with later. I think we can look forward to some visually frightening scenes as well; i.e. hoards of "Equalists" rallying together against the benders.

I think we'll get a lot more from Korra emotionally as the romantic story develops as well. The writers are clearly setting up some sort of love triangle between her and the bending brothers(Mako and Bolin). As a sort-of-side-note, it seems odd that Mako and Bolin have more emotional depth than the main character. Wonder how much of a role her relationship with them will play in her spiritual development.

Also, Aang's "mommy/daddy issues" were the issues he had over the loss of Monk Gyatso and the other Air Benders. Monk Gyatso was Aang's father figure. (Many people have "daddies" who are not their biological father.)

Yuh, so Anime right? See, IMHO... lol.

OK, so here's the thing, according to tradition, Avatars are informed of their abilities at the age of 16. They broke this tradition with Aang which is why he freaked and fled. Is this just Air Nomad tradition or is it for all Avatars?

That's how it works in all the nations, Avatar Roku was told on his 16th birthdayparty for example.

I think she discovered it for herself by actually bending all the elements as a child. And you might on to something there, knowing she is the Avatar might have over-boosted her confidence as a child giving her her attitude.

I said something like this on one of the episode forums. It must have been something remarkable about Korra that she was able to bend three elements as a child. She has obviously come much farther in her studies than your average Avatar would have come by the same age. She seemed to be a pretty confident person to begin with (even as a toddler, as seen in ch1). But all things considered, I don't think her head is quite as swollen as it could be. If someone that willful finds themselves with as much power as Korra had/has, it is pretty uncommon for them to not believe they are the center of the universe - privileged/entitled. Korra doesn't seem to have that holier-than-thou attitude. She seemed genuinely concerned for Mako and Bolin when she found out that they were orphans, etc. She didn't go into hysterics sobbing about it, or pity them, because she respects them. It would have been patronizing to feel sorry for them. The fact that she didn't pity them says something about her character too. That she has understanding of people, and is aware that not everyone has lived as privileged a life as she has. That being said, i think it's a little unfair to say that Korra is emotionally shallow. She obviously has a bit of fortitude that we are overlooking.

[Legend_of_Iroh]

I think some interesting characteristics in Korra with come up eventually. After seeing 104 "A Voice in the Night," I saw that Korra was more than just a cookie-cutter tomboy. As she wept as she confided her fear with Tenzin I felt a growing connection with her. While Aang had a lot of back story I think a lot will occur with Korra in the "here-and-now."

[BlackInk]

And that connecting part was probably more or less the point of this episode, so I agree. The Voice in the Night was a "turning point" for Korra as a character.