Characters / The Legend of Korra - Amon

The Legend of Korra Main Character Index
New Team Avatar (Avatar Korra, Asami Sato, Mako, Bolin) | Tenzin's Family | Beifong Family | Allies (Varrick and Zhu Li) | Seasons 1 & 2 Enemies (Amon) | Seasons 3 & 4 Enemies (Zaheer, Kuvira) | Past Characters | Other Characters | Comic Characters

This is a partial character sheet for The Legend of Korra. Subjective trope and audience reactions should go on the YMMV page.

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Amon

Voiced by: Steve Blum, Jacob Bertrand (6, 8, and 10 years old), Alexander Martella (14 years old)

Voiced by (German): Torsten Michaelis

Voiced by (Italian): Pasquale Anselmo

"I am the solution."

^{Click here to see Amon unmasked}

The leader of the Equalists and the primary antagonist of the first book. A man shrouded in mystery, Amon seeks to rid the world of benders and usher in a new era of equality. He seeks to destroy Korra, whose presence in Republic City threatens his anti-bender agenda. He claims to have been burned by a firebender and can remove people's bending. He is eventually revealed to be Tarrlok's brother Noatak who came to see bending as the source of evil due to his father's abusive treatment of his brother and him.

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A-F

• The Ace: In many ways.
  • Amon is exceptionally intelligent, proving himself capable of extraordinary strategic organization, and his challenge to the Council in "And the Winner Is..." is a near-flawless Xanatos Gambit, creating a situation in which it is nearly impossible for him not to advance.
  • He's a charismatic public speaker, winning over huge numbers of non-benders to his side and gaining their trust, all while playing himself up as a tragic and noble figure.
  • He's a master of a dangerous martial-arts style that allows non-benders to challenge benders.
  • And to top it all off, he's a prodigy waterbender—one of the strongest non-Avatar benders in the entire franchise—who can bloodbend with his mind, outside of a full moon. Even without his bloodbending he is arguably the best waterbender ever seen, bending simply by thought and not relying on his hands.
• Accidental Public Confession: Non-verbal one. After being blasted out of a window into the ocean, he reflexively waterbends himself back out to avert drowning, exposing himself as a waterbender and washing off the paint used to fake a firebending scar.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Moments before Amon's brother Tarrlok blows up their boat, he alludes to their abusive childhood. Amon then sheds a single tear. For bonus points, it's hinted that he could tell through his bloodbending and Tarrlok's statement that his brother was about to kill them both, and he allowed it to happen.
• Aloof Big Brother: He was this to Tarrlok as children, though he was much more openly affectionate before his father's abuse.
• Ambiguously Evil: While Amon is unquestionably a villain, to what degree is another matter. Even after the reveal of his actual back story, his exact motives for his revolution are not made clear, though Tarrlok thinks Amon truly believed his own rhetoric.
  • Word of God confirms that Tarrlok's assessment of Amon's motives is pretty close to the truth. He came to hate bending for what it did to his life and the lives of others, and wanted to eradicate it.
• Antagonistic Offspring: He Bloodbended his father when Tarrlok was yelled at for not wanting to use his abilities.
• Anti-Villain:
  • Wanting equality and to help lower class citizens isn't bad... but doing so by trying to eradicate bending is extreme. He only targets benders who use their abilities for evil, at least until he's built up enough support to get away with more ambiguous targets or full-on public servants. He has also told Korra to her face (while his men held her down) that the only reason she still has her bending is that he is saving her for later. For all purposes, he does appear to have a moral code. It's just that he is pragmatic enough to take more amoral or even outright immoral actions to see his plans come to fruition.
  • It's revealed in the finale that he's actually Yakone's son and a bloodbender, and, according to Tarrlok, came to the conclusion that bending was the root of all evil due to his father's abusiveness. The fact that bloodbending is known to get people Drunk on the Dark Side probably didn't hurt.
• Back from the Dead: In Varrick's latest Mover pitch, anyway. In the Mover, he reanimates as a zombie and joins a Legion of Doom led by Zaheer in order to take down Bolin. Hilarity Ensues.
• Badass Boast:
  Tarrlok: What... what are you?
  Amon: I am the solution.
• Badass Longcoat: A bit shorter than some other examples, but no less badass.
• Bad Powers, Bad People: Zig-zagged. A Well-Intentioned Extremist with the ability to take away people's bending. He's actually a bloodbender, but he's a villain of the Knight Templar flavor, so he's bad in a rather unorthodox way.
• Believing Their Own Lies: Tarrlok theorizes that while the Amon's identity and following were built on lies, Amon genuinely believes benders are the source of the world's woes. Word of God confirms that Amon indeed bought into his own anti-bending rhetoric.
• Beyond the Impossible: He is one of the greatest waterbenders alive, capable of using bloodbending (which was always thought to only be possible on the night of a full moon, when a waterbender's power is at its peak) in the middle of the day. In fact, he's so good, he doesn't even need to move his hands; Tarrlok calls this "psychic bloodbending."
• Big Bad: He is the main villain of Book 1 as the leader of the Equalists, seeking to eliminate all Benders in the world.
• Big Brother Bully: He had figured out that Tarrlok was his little brother, and had become the corrupt politician of Republic City. Amon still had to de-bend him when capturing Tarrlok, who was on the lam.
• Big Brother Instinct: Tarrlok claims Amon always looked out for him when they were kids. In "Out of the Past" he does the grunt work of taking Tarrlok to the truck himself while the Lieutenant and some mooks try to nab Korra. He even gives him a special cell to separated him from everyone else. In the finale, Amon tells him he's all he has left in the world.
  • During a flashback in the season finale, he was shown to be very doting to his brother. He did things like play with him, made sure that he never got hurt, and protected him from their father.
• Blood Magic: Amon was a master of the rare and outlawed art of bloodbending. Under Yakone's tutelage, he mastered the technique to such an extent that he could perform it at anytime, without the aid of a full moon, by the age of fourteen. At the same time, he also learned his father's special skill of psychic bending, allowing him to perform his bending skills not only through physical movement, but also solely through sheer focus and strength of will. His bloodbending techniques consisted of body manipulation and torture with minimal effort, levitating targets, throwing them around, subduing them, and knocking them unconscious. With his skill in psychic bending, he could also bloodbend one or multiple targets into submission while able to freely move in for other measures to finish other opponents. Additionally, he exhibited the ability to resist bloodbending with little effort, even against his brother, Tarrlok, who had also mastered the skill to a similar level.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Even though he has Korra completely at his mercy at one point, he decides to let her go. Justified because taking her bending too soon would only make her a martyr, and damage his cause. Plus, he also reasons that it may convince the other nations of the world to make a move against him, something he wants to avoid before he has enough supports to resist them.
• Boomerang Bigot: He's a bender himself, using bloodbending to nullify the powers of other benders.
• Breaking Speech: He delivers one so effective and intimidating that Korra suffers a complete breakdown afterwards.
• Broken Ace: Amon is an incredibly intelligent and charismatic bender who, through the majority of the season, managed to manipulate and control everyone around him to his whim and only loses at the last moment due to Korra gaining Airbending. However, all of his charm and intelligence hides the fact that he is a self-loathing individual whose skills were a direct result of his father's abusive treatment of him and his brother which caused him to hate all benders in the first place.
• Cain and Abel: Zigzagged. Amon takes away his brother's bending, and his brother ultimately kills him. But Amon still loves him regardless.
• The Cameo: During Korra's Mushroom Samba in the Book 3 finale, Korra watches Zaheer's face morph into Amon's mask.
  Amon: "I told you, Korra; the world doesn't need you anymore."
• Char Clone: The Dark Messiah version. Interestingly enough, while it turned out that he was someone's older brother, it turned out to be of Tarrlok, one of the other antagonists of the series.
• The Chessmaster: His actions in episode 6 sealed his status as one. See Xanatos Gambit below.
• Combat Pragmatist:
  • Uses ambushes, greater numbers, weapons the opposition has no defense against, and psychological warfare to lead the Equalists to victory. He also subtly uses bloodbending to gain the edge in fights with other benders without exposing himself.
  • In one case Tarrlok has already captured Korra and locked her in a metal cage. When Amon caught up to them, he told the Equalists to shock the cage and knock her out before moving her. Fortunately, Korra overheard and used some rudimentary physics to avoid the electric shock.
• Child Prodigy: He was shown effortlessly mastering physical waterbending techniques by the age of seven and began bloodbending at age ten. He would later mature into a Teen Genius, mastering his father’s psychic bloodbending at age fourteen, making him the youngest pyschic bloodbender in history.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Ozai from the previous series. While Ozai was the hereditary ruler of a nation, Amon is a populist revolutionary with no official power. Also, while Ozai was continuing an agenda begun by his father and grandfather, Amon actively rejects following in his father's footsteps. Additionally, Ozai was simply an Evil Overlord that just wanted to take over the world because he could and spent most of the time being Orcus on His Throne leaving the dirty work to his army and children while recognizing The Avatar as a threat to be eliminated regardless of age, Amon with or without his minions, isn't afraid to get his hands dirty and is a Well-Intentioned Extremist that even the heroes admit has a point to solving a social ill while seeing The Avatar as an outdated concept that's obsolete and needs to be replaced by him.
  • Interestingly, he also shares traits with Azula. A fourteen year old prodigy in an art who took to it like fish to water. Also, both children have had their abilities exploited to the point where it caused obvious mental distress on the two while both hid it well with their poker faces. However, unlike Azula whose desperation for love and attention drove her closer to Ozai; Noatak's stronger moral code allowed him to rebel against Yakone.
• Cool Mask: It resembles a Chinese opera mask, and has the spook factor of one.
• Cover-Blowing Superpower: After being knocked into the sea, he uses waterbending to recover. Unfortunately for him, a large number of people witness this, causing him and the Equalists to lose all credibility.
• Crazy-Prepared: The finale reveals that he wears fake firebending scars just in case a situation might arise where he'd have to show them. Too bad he didn't think to make them waterproof.
• Creepy Child: Not at first, but as he began bloodbending more and more often, he became aloof and detached, not just from his brother but from people and emotions in general. Specifically, it’s his creepy stare (only further enhanced by his Icy Blue Eyes) when he psychically bloodbends and his willingness to bloodbend his brother and father that really drive this home.
• Creepy Monotone: He maintains a level tone in all situations.
• Culture Police: Desires to end pro-bending as means to end "bending worship".
• Dark and Troubled Past: According to Amon himself, he was a simple farm boy before his family was murdered and he was disfigured by a firebender. His true backstory is even darker.
• Dark Messiah: He's set himself up as a Messiah figure to the Equalist movement, and his ultimate goal is to replace the Avatar as the world's savior. Though the Equalists are not a religious movement, he does claim that his exceptional abilities were granted to him by the spirits that protect the world, and that it is his destiny to be the savior of non-benders by bringing them into balance with those who can (or could) bend.
• Death Glare: Gives quite a potent one to Korra as seen in episode 4 when he confronts her underneath Aang's statue. It's especially notable since he can give quite a Death Glare even behind that mask.
• Decoy Backstory: Amon reveals to his supporters at a rally that he is a non-bender from the Fire Nation whose parents were killed and his own face, horribly disfigured by a power-tripping firebender, setting him on the path to discovering a way to De-power benders. At the end of the season, it is revealed that Amon is actually from the Northern Water Tribe, and his bending-severing technique is an advanced form of bloodbending, which he learned from his father, the ex-crime lord Yakone.
• De-power: Amon can use his bloodbending to take away other people's bending. It works on the same principle as chi-blocking; striking specific points on the body to close off meridians and block the flow of chi. The difference is that because Amon's attacks are internal rather than external, the damage is more precise and thus, permanent; only Korra's energybending was able to reverse the effect.
• Diabolical Mastermind: Amon is really good at manipulating others and organising a military movement.
• Dissonant Serenity: The cargo bay of his zeppelin being filled with flame by Korra doesn't even break his stride. He is also almost unfazed by Tarrlok's bloodbending. While he is affected, he is able to push through and maintain his composure without faltering. The mask definitely helps with the effect.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: On multiple levels.
  • His ideals parallel the development of Communism and Fascism, (particularly the former given the "equality" rhetoric) which rose to compete against the democracies of the early 20th century. His rhetoric also is reminiscent of the Taiping Rebellion, as he fashions himself as a messianic figure and tries to replace the Avatar. Besides, the way his followers cover their faces in And the Winner Is... and the way he argues for the complete reformation of the society kinda reminds one of Anarchist movements which were responsible for a lot of terrorist acts of middle 19th - early 20th centuries in Europe, Russian Empire and other parts of the world.
  • That he names his movement the "Equalists" further calls to mind cults that promise equality for those "in-groups" of theirs, while demonizing others.
  • The way in which he blames "every war" on bending, after several episodes in which its spiritual side has been stressed by Tenzin, is uncannily similar to the misapprehension that religion is the cause of over 90% of the world's wars.
  • Ironically, he also has several aspects of fundamentalist evangelism to him: besides his supposed "mission from the spirits", he lays down his hand on his victims' foreheads in order to "cleanse" them. More darkly yet, most of said victims end up with severe depression and loss of identity. Add in the British meaning of the word bender, and there you go.
  • The white version of his flag calls to mind Japan's history of ultra-nationalist, xenophobic anti-government terrorists, particularly just prior to the Meiji restoration and in the 1920's and 30's, the latter of which gave rise to the Imperial Japan of World War II infamy.
• Don't Create a Martyr: It's the reason he doesn't take away Korra's bending when they meet for the first time. It would just make her a martyr for benders to rally behind.
• The Dreaded: He terrifies Korra to the point that she breaks down into tears after one confrontation with him, and his encounter with Bolin left the earthbender with nightmares for at least a week. Additionally in Korra's case, she still fears him years later despite fighting everything from other terrorist groups to the God of Evil.
• Drunk on the Dark Side: While his brother tried his best to swear off bloodbending, Amon took to it at a young age and embraced it. Tarrlok even comments that Amon seemed to enjoy having the power.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Although he subtly uses Bloodbending to give him an edge in fights, he is still a capable and highly trained fighter and Chi-Blocker in his own right. Indeed, the fact that he integrates the two so well that nobody picks up on it is a testament to his skill, not a detraction from it.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He does seem to still love his younger brother, even though he rejected him when they were children.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He takes great offense when he is framed for a crime. He prefers At Least I Admit It.
  • After removing the bending from Tahno and the other White Falls Wolfbats, his speech at the Pro-Bending Tournament makes it clear he has great disdain for those who bully others and cheat their way to victory and decries those who cheered for them that night (as it was very clear the game was rigged). While he uses it as a metaphor for non-benders being oppressed by benders, he does (in a roundabout way) defend the Fire Ferrets (Korra, Mako and Bolin), because while they're benders, they fought fairly and with honor.
• Evil Counterpart: He is established as one to the Avatar, a human given mysterious power by contact with the spirits, as opposed to the Avatar, who is the physical reincarnation of a Nature Spirit. After the reveal of his true origins, he becomes one to Korra herself. Both are benders of immense skill, both had fathers who were shamed, both fathers moved elsewhere to start a new life, and said fathers eventually ended up siring successors who would change the world. While Avatar Korra took it as her responsibility to bring balance to the world through her bending, due to her status as the Avatar, Amon believed he could bring balance by removing bending itself.
• Eviler than Thou: Amon ends up pulling this on every villain not working for him. Even Tarrlok can't compete.
• Evil Sounds Deep: What else would you expect from Steve Blum? Evil's as deep as the ocean.
• Expressive Mask: On occasion, there are subtle illustration changes to the mouth on his mask and his eyes and tone do the rest.
• The Faceless: He wears a mask due to Facial Horror he received from a firebender. This turns out to be a lie.
• Facial Horror: He cites this as the reason he wears his mask, and reveals a large scar once he removes it. That turns out to be a lie, however, and the scar is fake. Underneath, he's actually quite good looking.
• Fantastic Racism: Amon sees bending as an "impurity" and his goal is to get rid of bending altogether.
• Faux Affably Evil: He plays up the idea that he's actually a nice guy just doing a dirty job. He usually gives his victims the chance to fight for their bending, and he's quite polite when speaking, but he's still the leader of a terrorist organization seeking to create an upheaval against all benders and he's still crazy and wants to destroy all bending because his father was extremely abusive.
• Fights Like a Normal: His ability to remove bending isn't really immediately useful in a fight, so he has to subdue his opponent using normal methods first. Subverted when we find out that he's actually been using bloodbending to subtly influence the movements of his opponents, giving himself a edge in his fights.
• Foil:
  • To Korra. His debending powers make him a sort of anti-Avatar. He styles himself in the same vein as an Avatar, claiming to be a savior sent by the spirits. He is a very calm, controlled individual who claims to be sent by the spirits, while Korra is a Boisterous Bruiser who has major difficulty with the spiritual side of bending. Finally, it turns out they're both native waterbenders and bending Child Prodigies. In a geographical sense, Korra was born and raised in the south pole while Amon originates from the north pole. Not to mention his young self looks strikingly like a male version of Korra.
  • His fabricated backstory is similar to Mako and Bolin. They all had parents killed by a firebender. But while the brothers eventually learned to live with their loss, he took it in a completely different direction. In reality, he is truly a Foil to Mako on a much deeper level. Mako is fiercely protective of his younger brother and protected him throughout their bad childhood, while Amon abandoned his and left him to deal with their abusive father alone. Both are also very talented benders, and the more talented of their brothers, which Amon goes out of his way to compliment Mako on. Both are the The Stoic in their Sibling Yin-Yang relationship to their more emotionally sensitive younger kin too. The fact that Amon lied about their similar-sounding backstory only drives the point home further that Mako is the anti-Amon.
• Freudian Excuse: His family getting killed by firebenders. Though that turns out to be a lie, he does have a real one courtesy of his father Yakone, who forced him and his brother into bloodbending.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He claims to have been a simple Farm Boy until his family was murdered. Now he's a Dark Messiah revolutionary trying to bring down bending and replace the Avatar. Zig-zagged in the finale with his real backstory. His father was Yakone, who fled Republic City after being depowered by Aang, who then raised Amon and Tarrlok as tools for revenge. No one knew about Amon's actual origins, but he nevertheless hails from more auspicious beginnings than he first claimed.
• Full-Circle Revolution: When the Equalists took over Republic City, they proved themselves every bit as oppressive as the benders they rallied against.

G-L

• Genius Bruiser: Really good public speaker, social leader, and master strategist; expert chi-blocker, prodigy waterbender and bloodbender.
• Gold and White Are Divine: An unusual case in that said color pattern is confined to his mask.
• Good Colors, Evil Colors:
  • His mask is white and gold, noble colors, which are his mask which he hides behind, his red circle on his head could be his "evil" ambitions poking through his veneer of righteousness, and the fact that this is surrounded by black seems to mean he is the one noble being surrounded by darkness "benders" his point of view.
  • When viewed through the lens of Chinese opera, Amon's mask takes on considerable symbolism. Its white/silver and gold color scheme immediately places the character in the realm of the mystic, with the gold/yellow coloration also playing into the character traits of treachery and ferociousness. The red circle on his forehead evokes a hint of Buddhist symbolism, referencing his spiritual connection, and also carries some connotations with intelligence and cleverness.
  • White is the color of death in Asian cultures, which fits well with the symbolism often attributed to the White Mask of Doom. Red and gold are generally considered positive colors in Chinese culture, making their use ironic in this case.
  • The gold on his mask can also be seen as green. Another analysis through that lens holds that the white symbolizes cunning, treachery, and craftiness, the green is violence and lack of self-restraint, and the red dot is both spirituality and the mocking of it.
• Hero Killer: More like Hero De-Bender. Anyone he can lay his hands on is effectively neutralized since they can no longer bend. His first confrontation with Korra also implies that he plans to kill her after taking away her bending, though that may have been poor use of the phrase "untimely demise" as a metaphor. He fully enters into this trope after de-bending Lin Beifong and Korra, though doing so to Korra ultimately backfired.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Amon had a severe abhorrence toward benders and was a staunch believer in what he viewed as equality. Amon sincerely believed in his rhetoric, having striven to be fair and treat everyone equally since he was a child. Ultimately, it was this misguided desire for justice as well as a latent lust for power that led him to start the Anti-bending Revolution.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: After The Reveal, his true motivations were cast into doubt. Word of God eventually stated that Amon was indeed being truthful about his motivations, and that he truly hated bending as a source of great evil.
• Hypocrite: He wants to get rid of benders for making non-benders live in terror, while his own strategy consists of doing exactly that. Not to mention that he is a bender himself, using bloodbending to fake spiritual powers. While Tarrlok thinks Amon is none too proud of this, he still uses it subtly to fight, rather than fighting like a Badass Normal. In the end, the Lieutenant is not at all happy to realize this.
• Hunter of His Own Kind: A villainous variation. Amon is a waterbender who was taught the ways of one of the most amoral practices of it - bloodbending - and dedicated his whole life to use his abilities for the goal of ridding the world of bending.
• I Am the Noun: "I am the solution." Also printed on some of his posters, though that's a Readers Of Chinese Bonus.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Once his mask comes off, Amon's eyes are revealed to be a light blue. Fitting, considering his cold, calculating personality and water tribe parents.
• Idiot Ball: He can clearly see and presumably sense (see below) Mako aiming a lightning bolt at him despite being bloodbent yet still let himself get hit anyway and is just lucky he was durable enough to tank it.
• Implacable Man: No matter what you throw at him, he won't stop coming.
  • When Tarrlok tries to use bloodbending on him, Amon just shrugs it off and keeps advancing. Turns out Amon was also bloodbending to counter Tarrlok's.
• Inconsistent Coloring: In his youth, he had dark skin like most Water Tribe characters and like his brother. As an adult, his skin has lightened several shades.
• Internalized Categorism: According to his brother Tarrlok, Amon believed bending to be the source of all evil in the world despite being a waterbender himself. He went so far as to hide all his abilities from the public and only used his powers in the pursuit of his revolution.
• In the Hood: Wears a hooded robe.
• Just Toying with Them: Amon makes a show out of tying up bending members of a crime syndicate (and one of the heroes who got mixed up with them) and removing their powers in front of a huge crowd of Equalist sympathizers. This trope comes into play when, as part of his show, Amon lets the crime boss loose and offers him the chance to fight to protect himself. It's all the more impressive when Amon wins. Rather easily, in fact. It's later revealed he uses bloodbending to get them to move somewhat predictably without revealing his ability, making his defeat of them inevitable.
• Just You, Me, and My GUARDS!: How Amon eventually responds to Korra's mano-a-mano challenge to him. Could be justified because Tarrlok had his soldiers watching Korra in case she lost, and Amon is smart enough to suspect something like that.
• Karmic Death: In the first season finale, Tarrlok, one of the individuals he de-bended, blows up their boat with an electric glove (a signature weapon of the organization that he founded). Tragic, but nevertheless karmic.
• Kick the Dog: After his plans have advanced far enough that he doesn't need the good press anymore, he has no problem attacking benders who haven't done anything to deserve it. The Metalbending police, the entire Republic City Council (save Tenzin), the last airbenders (who escaped), and Lin Beifong. Not to mention bombing the crap out of Republic City. In the finale, he has benders lined up execution-style, captures Tenzin and his family to eliminate airbending altogether (despite the Air Acolytes being altogether peaceful, and Tenzin supporting non-bender rights more than anyone else).
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Invoked in his early targets for de-bending, since he wanted to portray himself as targeting benders using their power to oppress non-benders (the Triple Threat Triad, an organized crime syndicate, and the Wolfbats, who cheated their way into winning the pro-bending tournament). This is also why he refuses to de-bend Korra at first.
• Kneel Before Zod: Forces a pack of wolves to do this as a child.
• Knight of Cerebus: The first couple of episodes are relatively lighthearted and upbeat. Then Amon takes center-stage in the third episode and every episode proceeds to get darker and darker. In the end, Amon is the only major villain in the entire franchise who is not EVER used for laughs. Even Ozai, after he was defeated, was the butt of jokes from other characters. But even after his defeat, Amon still left enough of a mark on Korra that the season very nearly had a Downer Ending.
• Knight Templar: Amon definitely invokes this in his rhetoric, and follows up rather well, rapidly escalating the stakes from vigilantism to terrorism to an open revolt which temporarily succeeds in deposing the government of Republic City.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Any doubt he was over the line was removed once he treated to "rid the world of Airbending" despite the airbenders suffering worse than anyone at the hands of bending nor done the wrongs Amon accuses benders of. Guess what bending leads directly to his final defeated and ousting shortly thereafter.
• Light Is Not Good: Though Amon invokes certain heavenly archetypes with his white and gold sun mask, Egyptian sun god name, and possible mystical connections, he's still the leader of a terrorist organization. He's a waterbender, and while a bloodbender, his method is essentially a reversal of waterbending healing, manipulating chi regardless. Thus, arguably White Magic.
• Lightning Bruiser: Extremely agile and nimble fighter with the strength to take down even the most skilled benders with no sweat.

M-Y

• Made of Iron: Mako shot him in the chest with a bolt of lightning, several seconds long at that, and Amon walked it off. Though Mako can fire non-lethal shots, there's no indication he intended this to be anything less than fatal.
• Mage Killer: Not surprising, given that he's the leader of the Equalists.
• Making a Splash: Drilled relentlessly by his father in waterbending, Amon displayed a natural talent for bloodbending, quickly impressing Yakone and ultimately mastering the art under his father's tutelage. He was capable of launching himself out of a body of water on a gigantic waterspout and rapidly propelling himself over the surface.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Like the lower-level Equalists, although they're Gas Mask Mooks and his is more of a traditional mask.
• Masking the Deformity: Subverted. Amon, the leader of the anti-bending extremists in season one, wears a full-face mask at all times to conceal the extreme facial scarring from his futile fight against a firebender who killed his family. It is later revealed that the firebender story is a lie, as Amon is a bender himself, and his scars are actually painted onto his skin and dissolve under water.
• Meaningful Name: "To cover", which is on the nose for a Malevolent Masked Man.
• Meta Power: Amon is the leader of the Equalists, who feels that people with Elemental Powers have an unfair advantage, and that the world would be a better place if no one could bend at all. Amon himself can't bend, but has the power to remove other people's bending ability. Naturally, he's a hypocrite: he's actually a very good waterbender, and his Power Nullifier is actually bloodbending.
• Mission from God: He claims that he was chosen by the spirits to bring down bending and replace the Avatar. This isn't true.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: The only way to explain how he could sense a silent, hidden Korra is that like a number of spiritual characters, he can sense people's energy and/or the water in their body.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Amon" has plenty of possible meanings.
  • To start, it's the name of an Egyptian god. It is a borderline Meaningful Name as Amon (or Amun, Amen, et cetera) not only is associated with the unseen and mysteries, but also with the poor and the oppressed.
  • He also shares a name with a demon from the Ars Goetia who is associated with Wrath of the Tranquil Fury variety.
  • The word or root "Amen" means "what is hidden", "what is not seen", "what cannot be seen" and the like.
  • One of the worst Nazi criminals was Amon Leopold Goeth, a Nazi who was so crazy and sadistic, even the other Nazis thought he was a psychotic nutjob.
  • Amon is also the name of an acupuncture point on the back of the neck. Amon was shown pressing onto that point as well as the forehead.
  • A fan translated his name written in Chinese characters. 阿蒙. 'cover; ignorant; suffer.'
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • While he had his reasons, debending Tarrlok gave his little brother the much-needed Heel Realization about what they have become. Tarrlok told Korra the truth about Amon and would later kill his brother and himself.
  • Debending Korra ultimately only served to make her even stronger and upend his entire revolution.
• No-Sell: When Tarrlok uses bloodbending to incapacitate his mooks, Amon shrugs it off. Even when Tarrlok redoubled his efforts, it just barely slowed Amon down. Since Amon can bloodbend with his mind, he was able to counteract Tarrlok's powers without moving.
• Not Me This Time: He is framed for abducting Korra in "Out of the Past". He does try to take advantage of her being locked in a metal cage to kidnap her anyway.
• Not So Stoic:
  • When he takes off his mask to "disprove" Korra's revelation of his backstory, Amon is suddenly much more enthusiastic and emotional in his speech. Considering that he was lying, it's most likely an act.
  • Amon loses his composure after he inadvertently reveals his backstory to his followers, and during his reunion with Tarrlok, is far more emotional than he had been up to that point, even shedding a tear just before dying.
• Obviously Evil: He looks pretty dang evil, but looking at him through the lens of Asian Culture (which Avatar takes heavy cues from), he looks a lot more evil.
• Outside-Context Problem: While previous villains in the franchise had established bending disciplines that could be matched or countered by other forms of bending, Amon has the power to negate the ability outright.
• Politically Correct Villain: He wants to strip benders of their bending abilities to make the playing field more equal for nonbenders. In addition, his voice actor Steve Blum posted an in-character video after the show finished its run where Amon makes it clear that while he remains opposed to Korra and Asami, he is supportive of their relationship.
• Pragmatic Villainy: When Korra challenges him to a duel, he has his mooks ambush her. Rather than remove her bending, however, he lets her go with a Breaking Speech, reasoning that removing her bending now wold only serve to martyr her.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: "It is time for you to be Equalized."
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: He prefers not to fight, but when he does, he almost never loses.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: He never does this personally, but quite a few of the Equalist powers depict him this way, probably for Rule of Drama.
• Rebel Leader: He is the leader of the anti-bending movement.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: Once the Equalists took over, it's subverted.
• The Runaway: In his real backstory, he fled from his abusive father.
• Self-Disposing Villain: A case where the hero isn't even aware of it. Korra never has the chance to take care of him, since he escapes. Tarrlok takes care of that.
• Shadow Archetype: To Korra, as essentially the anti-Avatar. He's also one to Bolin and Mako, as they've all lost their parents to firebenders. However, Amon now wants to destroy all benders, while Bolin and Mako are making the best of their situation.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: With Tarrlok. Amon's more calm, collected and is on the side of non-benders. Tarrlok is more prone to anger and is firmly on the side of benders.
• Single Tear: Sheds one right before his death.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Amon may have been the Big Bad of the first book, but compared to later foes like Vaatu or Zaheer, he ends up almost paling compared to them since his goals are simply for equality as opposed to anarchy or the extinction of humanity. The detached nature of Book One also means he leaves much less of an impact on the remainder of the series than his successors^note Bryke made the first book as a standalone miniseries before being picked up for more books. However, he's by no means forgotten (having the odd cameo here and there and still causing Korra trauma in the later books), and his first major appearance in "The Revelation" introduces one of the main themes of the series: is the Avatar obsolete in the rapidly changing world?
• The Social Expert: Amon can expertly predict what people will do and how best to exploit them.
• Starter Villain: As the primary villain of the first season, he would be the first of many Korra would contend with.
• Stranger Behind the Mask: His true identity turns out to be Noatak, a character who had never been mentioned or seen before. He wears the mask both for dramatic effect and because there happens to be one single person in the Republic City government who would recognise him and blow his story. Otherwise, he is a total stranger to both the audience and to every other character in-universe. If his brother was not a factor, he probably would not have needed the mask at all and could have just come up with a different fake-reason for hating Benders other than "I was scarred by a Firebender".
• Straw Hypocrite: Was speculated to be such after the reveal, being a secret waterbender who leads a crusade against bending while using bloodbending himself to both fight and remove other people's bending, but Word of God eventually stated that his anti-bending beliefs are sincere.
• The Stoic: Always calm and collected, even in the midst of battle.
• Stronger Sibling: To Tarrlok.
• Subtle Superpowering: Amon subtly uses bloodbending during his fights to maneuver his opponents to his advantage. This allows him to maintain his image as a Non-Bender crusader.
• Super Power Lottery: He's a master waterbender, can bloodbend without a full moon, and his control is such that he can remove bending from his victims.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: All of which come standard for members of the Water Tribes.
• Teen Genius: By the age of 14, he was at least as good at bloodbending as his father, Yakone.
• Tell Me How You Fight: Tarrlok identifies Amon as his brother, despite Amon's appearance being concealed, by the distinctive feel of his bloodbending.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Amon, whose creepy mask, unexplained Anti-Magic powers and mysterious backstory made for a truly terrifying villain. Under the mask and scar makeup, he looks like a completely normal Water Tribe man in his thirties.
• This Cannot Be!: When he debends Korra only for her to use airbending against him.
• Thought-Controlled Power: His psychic bloodbending technique lets him paralyze people at a glance or subtlety control their movements during combat.
• Too Powerful to Live: You've got a bloodbender who can manipulate his enemies' blood simply with but a thought, No-Sell other people's bloodbending, and can remove the bending of others. Adding his increasingly myopic actions fueled by his self-hatred, it was necessary for him to be taken out from the story for good.
• Touched by Vorlons: Amon claims that the Spirits bestowed him with the power to take away people's bending so that he could succeed in his mission to bring a new balance to the world. It's subverted when it turns out this a lie that Amon was using to conceal the true source of his De-power ability: bloodbending.
• Tragic Bigot: He claims that his parents were murdered and his face disfigured by a firebender when he was just a child, but that all turns out to be a lie. His real backstory however is even more sympathetic. His father was an extremely abusive parent, and forced him and his brother to learn bloodbending so he could use them to exact revenge on Republic City and the Avatar. Ultimately, this mistreatment put Amon on the path to darkness. When his father made him and his brother use bloodbending on each other, Amon turned on his father, ran away from home, and grew to despise bending as a source of evil and oppression.
• Tragic Villain: It's revealed that Amon is actually Tarrlok's older brother, Noatak. He and Tarrlok were forced by their father Yakone to learn bloodbending, so that he could use them to exact vengeance on Republic City and the Avatar. After being forced to use bloodbending on each other, Noatak turned on his father, incapacitated him with bloodbending, and ran away from home, taking up the identity of Amon years later. According to both Tarrlok and Word of God, Amon truly believed bending to be the root of all evil in the world, despite being a bender himself, though Tarrlok also implies Amon enjoyed the power bloodbending gave him. As children, he wanted Tarrlok to run away with him, but Tarrlok didn't want to leave their mother behind. After he's exposed as a fraud, Amon still cared for his younger brother and wanted to escape Republic City together. Tarrlok joined his brother this time, though as they fled from the city on a speedboat to start a new life together, Tarrlok used an electrified glove to ignite the fuel tank on the boat, causing it to explode, killing them both.
• Tyke-Bomb: His father Yakone tried to turn him and his brother, Tarrlok, into this in a plot for revenge on Republic City and the Avatar. While he did turn on his father, he ultimately ended up fulfilling what Yakone wanted him to do anyway.
• The Unfettered: He will eradicate bending by any means necessary.
• Unflinching Walk:
  • Pulls this off in the face of a fireball that blasts most of his Mooks away.
  • Also, when up against Tarrlok, he walks through Tarrlok's attempt to bloodbend with only minimal flinching.
• Unreliable Expositor: His given backstory is a lie in order to gain support and sympathy.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Tarrlok stated that he used to be a sweet kid in their youth...Until his father forced him and his brother to learn bloodbending.
• Vigilante Man: Early in the story, he appears as a vigilante standing up for the masses of non-benders against the superpowered crime gangs of Republic City. This part of his campaign culminates in his public depowering of the crime lord Zolt.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After being defeated and uncovered by Korra, Amon asks his younger brother to escape together and rebuild their lives as brothers. He agrees, but has ulterior motives for doing so.
• Villain Has a Point: He claims that benders dominate society through their powers and lord it over non-benders. He's right (to a point), especially once Tarrlok started implementing extreme measures, and is able to build a mass movement around himself until he's exposed. This was probably intentional on his part.
• Villainous Breakdown: After Korra manages to use airbending despite having been debended. He really gets this once he's unmasked, and his "scar" is washed, revealing him for who he really is.
• Villainous Rescue: Rescues Korra from Tarrlok, though he didn't plan on letting her go free after taking down Tarrlok.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Invoked. His Evil Plan requires popular support, so he avoids actions that could negatively impact his reputation. While officially considered a terrorist, he has amassed a modest army, enough to threaten all of Republic City.
• Visionary Villain: Amon's goal truly was equality for all. He just got off message. Way way off message.
• Walking Spoiler: Look at all the spoilers on this sheet!
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants to make the world more equal for non-benders, but to that end he'll go to some pretty extreme lengths. Despite being a bender himself, Word of God says Amon was indeed sincere about his goals, which Tarrlok also points out.
• White Mask of Doom: The only known Equalist to have one.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: He makes it clear that he could have easily taken away Korra's bending when he ambushed her. He also makes it clear that doing so would have made her into a martyr, which is why he didn't take Korra's bending.
• Willfully Weak: It is revealed that Amon is a powerful bloodbender. However, he consciously refrains from using his powers and instead relies on martial arts and chi blocking to conceal that he is a bender, only using minor applications of bloodbending to alter his opponents’ moves.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: The abuse Amon suffered at his father's hands led him to bitterly despise bending, eventually leading a revolution intended to purge all bending from the world.
• World's Best Warrior / World's Strongest Man: Described as one of the most skilled and powerful benders ever, and certainly the strongest waterbender shown so far. He's possibly the strongest non-Avatar bender to ever live. The only thing ever shown to be able to break his psychic bloodbending is the Avatar State.
• Worthy Opponent: As he prepared to take away Mako's bending, Mako was able to counter by electrocuting him having prepared to do so as he resisted Amon's bloodbending while Amon was distracted. Amon mused over the fact that no one else had been able to get the better of him, and that it was almost a shame to take bending away from one so talented.
• Would Hit a Girl: He knocks Korra unconscious when he ambushes her.
• Would Hurt a Child: In the finale, he has captured Tenzin and his family and plans on debending them.
• Xanatos Gambit: Pulls one off in "And the Winner Is...". He makes a public demand over the radio that the city government shut down the Pro-Bending arena and cancel the championship match. If the pro-bending championships are not stopped, then he and the Equalists have an audience for the demonstration of their power and he gets to begin his war. If the tournament is canceled the government has given into Amon's demand and showed that it will not challenge him.
• Youngest Child Wins: Inverted. He is far more superior in bloodbending talent than his younger brother.
• You Will Be Spared: When he captures Lin, he makes the offer to let her keep her bending if she will tell him where the Avatar is hiding. However, she rejects him, and so he de-bends her anyway.

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"Noatak. I'd almost forgotten the sound of my own name."

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