Tropes A to H (Big Bad, Chekhov's Gun, Deconstructed Character Archetype, Foil, Foreshadowing, Hidden Depths) | Tropes I to P | Tropes Q to Z (Red Oni, Blue Oni, Running Gag, Ship Tease, Shout-Out, Shown Their Work, Wham Episode)
Foil in this franchise.
open/close all folders
Avatar The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Aang and Zuko are both kindhearted kids that got thrust in a difficult situation. Aang ran away from the life of being the Avatar because of the enormous pressure while Zuko was banished devoted his life in chasing the Avatar. Both believed their respective missions will redeem their failings, however when Aang was trekking his path, growing strong and gaining friends, Zuko was losing what little he had and spent the majority of the series being confused and in emotional turmoil. This gets better when he finally got over his issues and joins Aang's team.
- Aang and Zuko in the ensuing 4 days in episode "Nightmares and Daydreams". Zuko is living a wonderful life most would dream about, waited on hand and foot with nothing at stake. Aang is ragged from sleep deprivation and worrying himself sick, sweating the details of the upcoming invasion. Each one comes to the opposite conclusion about their respective lives. Aang realizes he has nothing to be afraid of as long as he has his friends, and sleeps well. However, Zuko's mind is not at ease, as he starts to realize what's the matter with his care-free life.
- There’s also their respective confrontations with Ozai. Zuko called Ozai out for being a terrible parent and the lies that the FN tells its citizens. Whereas Aang attempted to reason with Ozai. Zuko’s confrontation took place during the Eclipse, when Ozai was at his weakest. Aang’s confrontation took place during Sozin’s comet, when Ozai was at his strongest.
- In a far more complex way, Zuko and his sister Azula. Zuko was regarded as a failure by their father Ozai because he wasn't as talented as his sister while Azula was adored because she's a firebending prodigy and similar to their father in ruthlessness. Their mother, Ursa, tried to teach them empathy and compassion, but their father was simultaneously teaching them that empathy and compassion is weakness. Because Zuko was compassionate and Azula was cruel, Azula believed that her mother favored Zuko over her, while Ozai openly favored her over Zuko. When Zuko was banished, lost his status as crown prince, and lived like a peasant Azula was doing impressive feats and even conquered the last stronghold of the Earth Kingdom. As the series finale Zuko has peace of mind, love, friendship when he gave up his allegiance to Fire Lord Ozai. On the other hand, even if Azula has always been their father's favorite and she cemented her status as the heiress she ended up being betrayed, unloved, alone and losing her sanity. In the comics following the series, the two blur the lines at the same time, as Zuko remains a protagonist but frequently slips into more negative behavior, while Azula remains an antagonist but is slowly making positive developments for herself. Only time will tell if they can both find balance in the end, although Zuko certainly seems to have achieved it by The Legend of Korra.
- Zuko was the sweet kid whose firebending was lacking and Azula was the bully and firebending prodigy. This changes in the third season, where he rejects the Fire Nation's Take Over the World policy and becomes a much more mentally-healthy individual and a more powerful firebender, while she continues to embrace it and goes utterly insane.
- Not as noteworthy but still present are Katara and Toph, Sokka and Zuko, and Katara and Azula. The latter two is generally a result of the foil between two families: one from the diminishing Southern Water Tribe and the other from the glorious Fire Nation. Both lost mothers and the little sister was more talented than the older brother. Sokka and Katara loved each other unconditionally and their father Hakoda are proud of both of them while Zuko and Azula were fighting and hating each other most of the time. The fire siblings' father Ozai is a cruel, unloving figure that favored one over the other.
- Aang has foregone caring and hoping to find Appa whilst Sokka is being overprotective of Suki. Both are struggling with their respective losses (Appa/Yue) and both have to learn to reach a balance between caring too little and caring too much.
- Toph to Mai, in a way. Both were raised by very fancy families that suppressed them, Toph's parents overprotecting her because of her blindness and Mai's parents keeping her well-behaved so she didn't jeopardize her dad's political career. Toph responded by defying her parents, acting out and really enjoying her earthbending, whereas Mai obeyed them, becoming very insular and apathetic to almost everything.
- In Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Rift, we have Aang and Toph. Their upbringings are quite different, as Aang's father figure Monk Gyatso believed that allowing him to be a kid was important, and he has great regard for tradition and staying in touch with his Air Nomad past. Toph's parents, however, were very strict and forced her to learn tradition and propriety, but said very little about why they were, causing her to resent tradition. As a result, Toph wonders if Aang is trying to hold onto his past, while Aang wonders if Toph is trying too hard to run away from her past. It's summed up in this exchange.Toph: Don't you think you're trying a little too hard to hold onto your past?
Aang: Maybe. But don't you think you're trying a little too hard to run away from it?
Toph: Not everyone's past is like yours, Aang. Some of us have to run away just to... just to live. - Chin's village is this to Kyoshi Island. On one hand, the Kyoshi Islanders greatly respect and revere the Avatar, recognizing all the help he's done for them. On the other hand, Chin's village despises the Avatar over one petty crime that wasn't even a real murder, willing to execute the Avatar despite him being the key to stopping the Fire Nation.
- Zhao to Zuko. He exists to demonstrate that while Zuko is an antagonist, he's not really a bad guy. Zhao, on the other hand, is completely irredeemable.
- Xin Fu and Yu to Zuko and Iroh. Like Zuko, Xin Fu is a muscular bender with a nasty temper and often gets annoyed with his respective Older Sidekick. Also both he a Zuko wish to capture Aang for Ozai, though while Zuko wants to capture Aang to restore his honor Xin Fu simply wants the reward money. Master Yu and Iroh meanwhile are both Old Master who are less aggressive than their younger partners and generally are Affably Evil.
- Interestingly, Lao and his partner Loban — both men of wealth — have two inverted traits in The Rift. Lao is an honest owner who valued workers' lives and working conditions, but his strict rearing of his daughter caused a rift between each other. While Loban valued profits even if it meant endangering the land and the workers, he genuinely cared for Satoru after finding him begging on the street as a runaway.
- Loban and Lao Beifong have two differences: business conduct and family. While Lao is more generous and honest than Loban, Loban had proven to have better relation with his nephew Satoru than Lao's strained relations with his daughter Toph.
- Kiyi to Azula, Zuko's other younger sister. Zuko and Azula share the same parents, while Kiyi only shares their mother. Kiyi is Unskilled, but Strong when it comes to firebending. Azula starved for their mother's affection while Kiyi's relationship with Ursa is strained after she returned to her old self. Azula is cruel and broken while Kiyi is a sweet girl.
- The Prison Rig Warden (the one voiced by George Takei) and the Boiling Rock Warden. Both are the heads of harsh prisons situated over a body of water, but that's where the resemblance ends. The Prison Rig Warden is a pale bearded man while the Boiling Rock Warden is a clean-shaven man with a florid complexion. The Prison Rig Warden is a firebender while the Boiling Rock Warden shows little aptitude in combat as he is subdued easily by Suki. The Prison Rig Warden begs for mercy when faced with death while the Boiling Rock Warden shows little hesitation over ordering his own death to prevent an escape.
- Katara and Zuko. At the beginning of the series they're beginners of opposing elements (water and fire respectively), have been raised on opposite sides of the war, Katara is Aang's protector while Zuko's trying to capture him, Katara quickly became a bending prodigy after finding 1 master while Zuko is barely average despite having lots of masters since he was a kid, and are each other's main opponents in combat. However, they're both shaped by losing their beloved mothers at a young age, are impulsive and driven by their emotions, have Chronic Hero Syndrome when it comes to protecting the vulnerable and it's revealed Zuko's outward aggression hides a kind-hearted nature, while the normally caring Katara has a violent and ruthless side. They ultimately end the series fighting the Final Battle side by side.
- Ozai and Hakoda. Both are the leaders of their respective peoples (although Hakoda is officially just a local chief of a single village), both are single fathers to an elder son and a younger daughter (who is more adept at bending than her brother) and both are formidable fighters. But while Ozai is abusive towards both his children and shows blatant favouritism, Hakoda clearly loves both his children equally and cares for them more than anything. Despite his skill at firebending, Ozai never fights unless he has to, while the Badass Normal Hakoda always leads from the front lines. It is also implied that Ozai never truly loved Ursa and is himself the reason for her being gone from his life, while Hakoda clearly loved his wife deeply and did everything he could to save her.
The Legend Of Korra
The Legend of Korra
- Gives us Korra and Asami. Both girls are involved in the resistance against Amon and the Equalists and both are extremely badass. Korra, as the Avatar, has spent her entire life being trained to master the four elements and is pretty much the embodiment of all bending. She also is a buff Action Girl who doesn't show a ton of interest in feminine pursuits. Asami is a nonbender and, though unknowingly, the daughter of a guy heavily supporting the Equalists who fights using stolen Equalist technology and spent her life indulging in various hobbies such as racing and watching Pro-Bending. She also is very elegant, dressing fashionably and enjoying classy things.
- Asami is the polite, mature, levelheaded, intelligent Girly Girl, a nonbender (still Badass Normal), and is more of a well-rounded character; Korra is the brash, confrontational Womanchild Tomboy, a powerful bender (Avatar, to be exact), and undergoes an enormous amount of Character Development.
- Korra and Tahno as well. They're set up as rivals right from the start, being waterbenders on opposing teams. They both see their bending as a huge part of their identity. Ultimately, both have their bending taken by Amon and become depressed over it.
- Korra to Avatar Kuruk — Korra is the current Avatar, continuing to maintain balance in the world. Half-Northern Water Tribe, but identifies only with the South, is living in an era of numerous conflicts with humans and spirits, alike, already has numerous accomplishments under her belt and is racking them up, has had more than one love interest in her life, befriended a polar bear-dog and will hopefully live a long fulfilling life; Avatar Kuruk was the previous Water Tribe Avatar that hailed from the North, lived in an era of such peace he could goof off, only had one love interest in the form of his wife Ummi, killed a polar bear-dog and wore it as a pelt (though not around Korra,) and lived a short life hunting down Koh the Face-Stealer for stealing his wife's face.
- Korra and the first Avatar Wan, separated by 10,000 years, are both present in the recurring Harmonic Convergence. Both have been tricked to do the bidding of the enemy and determined to fix their failure. While Wan is much like Aang - good with spirits and traveled the world to learn- Korra is not talented with spiritual matters and was secluded and controlled almost all her life. There's also the fact that Wan was initially a firebender (having lived on a Fire Lion Turtle) while Korra is a Water Tribe native. Their differences and similarities are also highlighted by the eras they live in- Wan lived in a time where humans and spirits live together and people rely on nature, Korra lives in a time where spirituality is decaying and technology is advancing. At the end of the Book Korra defeats Vaatu without the aid of past lives just like Wan did in the past but instead of closing the spirit portals she has kept them open. Korra also ended Wan's Avatar cycle and started another one, redefining the role of the Avatar in the process.
- In Book 2: Spirits we have brothers Tonraq (Korra' father) and Unalaq. Tonraq is big, strong and a fighter while Unalaq is barely intimidating with his lean frame, soft voice and his spiritual methods. Unalaq turned out to be very ambitious and jealous of his older brother's birthright that he devised a plan to banish him while Tonraq accepts his eventual fate with grace and just wanted a simple life for his family. Both men also lied and tried to control Korra in one way or another Tonraq thought it was the best for Korra to be locked up in the South for her own protection while Unalaq manipulated Korra by promising her agency and freedom. Ultimately Tonraq had good intentions and realized his mistake while Unalaq was serving himself.
- Bolin is the silly, cheerful, immature younger brother who is never afraid to cry, fanboy, or express whatever he's feeling; Mako is the serious, cynical, aloof older brother who has problems expressing his true feelings (i.e. the whole Love Triangle fiasco could've been avoided if he was more truthful). Mako ends up a Celibate Hero, while Bolin becomes an Official Couple with Opal.
- Mako to Korra — Mako is a light-skinned native from Republic City. His and Bolin's parents were killed when they were quite young, and since then, they had to always try to make ends meet. Mako is the "cool-under-fire" guy, meaning he doesn't let his emotions cloud his judgement, making it hard to express his real feelings; Korra is the dark-skinned native from the Southern Water Tribe, and is of Mixed Ancestry because her parents were born into different Water Tribes (Mother-Southern, Father-Northern). Her parents were with her entire life, and admitted that other people (her parents and the White Lotus) were always taking care of her. Before a huge amount of Character Development, she was prone to emotional outbursts and never was afraid to let people know what she thought. In addition, Mako believes in structure and plays by the book, while Korra does things her way and leads Team Avatar as a free-for-all.
- Tenzin to the mentor figures of the previous series. Unlike a majority of those mentors, Tenzin is stern, rigid and highly insecure due to being relatively young (compared to the Cool Old Guys like Iroh, Bumi, and Piandao) and having few role models and little experience in being a teacher.
- Tenzin one to Korra: Tenzin is a light-skinned, levelheaded man who tries to instill peaceful solutions than violence; Korra is the dark-skinned, hot-headed teenage girl who uses force rather than reason. Also, both are of mixed ancestry: Korra's is from her parents being from one of the two Water Tribes, while Tenzin's is from both parents being born into two different nations.
- Tonraq to his brother Unalaq. Tonraq is the older, more physically imposing brother, yet he has no ambitions for power and only desired to have a family and live a normal life after he met his wife Senna, only to realize that would never happen since his daughter was the next Avatar. In contrast, Unalaq is the younger, slimmer brother with great ambitions and a hunger for power, to the point he became so jealous of his brother and his position that he got him banished (though this was for something bigger), and desires to train his niece out of further envy that his brother sired the Avatar. To hammer it in, Tonraq dropped out of the rebellion because regardless of any conflict between him and his brother, he has no desire to hurt him. Unalaq, however, has no qualms about using him to further his own agenda.
- Varrick to Asami. Both are fabulously rich industrialists, brilliant multi-discipline engineers as well as savvy in the boardroom, and have a flexible interpretation of legality in order to get things done. Asami, however, is of a far stronger moral caliber than Varrick, and is less... flamboyant. Varrick also has an insufferable way of brushing off losses, while Asami keenly feels the sting of such losses personally.
- Iroh to Lin Beifong. At first, Lin dismisses the idea that she and Korra should be friends because their parents were. Iroh places great faith in Avatar Korra because that is what his grandfather Zuko would have done.
- Amon 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.
- Amon 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.
- Unalaq to Varrick — Both are callous, untrustworthy villains who are out for themselves alone and deceive the heroes for their own ends, only to betray them later on. However, Unalaq keeps his treachery almost well-hidden, whereas Varrick is pretty open about his selfishness, yet it goes far beyond anyone's notice. Additionally, while Unalaq's perceived help only seeks to benefit himself at the expense of others, Varrick's actions have a touch of sincerity that he's willing to go out of his way to help the heroes get what they want in spite of ulterior motives.
- Unalaq to Jinora — Unalaq is an adult man with years of training himself in spiritual matters, while Jinora is a preteen girl whose natural affinity with spirits makes up for her lack in experience. Jinora befriends spirits; Unalaq only pretends to be a friend of spirits and will use force to control them to reach his own goals. And while Unalaq practically, but smoothly forced his way into becoming Korra's spiritual mentor, Jinora didn't and only became her Guide when things got serious. There's also the kind of the relationship they have with Korra: Unalaq is her distant uncle who only wants to use her, but Korra and Jinora have close sibling relationship (along with Ikki and Meelo).
- Earth Queen, Hou-Ting, is the exact opposite of her father The Earth King, Kuei: he was clueless and passive (in his early years), so she became a domineering control freak; he was used by the Dai Li, so she brought the Dai Li to heel and under her control; he "lost" Earth Kingdom territory, and it seems she wants to take it back, likely through force; she is hostile to the Avatar for Aang and Zuko's perceived exploitation of her father; and finally, she hates animals of all kinds, while her father loved them, but that's because she's allergic to them.
- Zuko’s daughter, Fire Lord Izumi, and the Earth Queen, Hou-Ting, are this to each other as the ruling monarch children of characters from the original series in an increasingly democratic world. Izumi is only in the show for a couple of scenes but she’s a calm, capable leader who refuses to drag her nation into an unprovoked war. Hou-Ting is an evil, tyrannical Manchild of a leader who ate her dad’s beloved pet and endangered sky bison For the Evulz. Zuko and Aang worked with her dad, Kuei, to bring the world into a prosperous, more egalitarian world in turning the former Fire Nation colonies into Republic City. Hou-Ting wants to roll back that progress whereas Izumi wants to continue it. When Korra gets into trouble in book 2, Izumi’s son Iroh II tells her to go talk to his mother because he knows she’s always willing to help the Avatar. Hou-Ting has Korra and her friends arrested and tries to keep her imprisoned until Zaheer tells her that’s a bad idea. Also Izumi is a quite pretty (despite being roughly 60) presumably married mother of two whereas Hou-Ting is an ugly Maiden Aunt. Izumi also comes from a line of great benders whereas her family are Muggles.
- Zaheer and Tenzin. Whereas Tenzin is the oldest living airbender master, Zaheer is one of the newest airbenders. Both studied the Air Nomads but for different reasons. Tenzin studied them out of a sense of duty since for the brief time after the death of his father and the birth of his children, he was the last airbender. Zaheer chose to study them for their belief in freedom. Both studied so that they could mentor the next Avatar. Even the way they fight is different; Tenzin is graceful, relies on extensive and often elaborate attacks, while Zaheer uses a brute force version of airbending which he seems to mix with martial arts. Both even have a significant other, who they are attached to in different ways.
- Zaheer and Jinora. While Zaheer is a middle-age man who gained his airbending powers thanks to Harmonic Convergence, pre-teen Jinora was a born airbender. Because of that, Jinora's style of airbending is more close to traditional airbending, but Zaheer has a more aggressive style. There's also this post
describing their spiritual nature. - Zaheer and Aang. Besides the obvious comparisons with their skills and philosophies on peace and violence, one of Aang's most important choices was refusing power to retain his love for Katara. Zaheer lost his love and last earthly connection, and gained a power that no airbender (including Aang) in 4000 years had ever achieved.
- Zaheer and Amon. Amon claimed to be a non-bender who, by chance, gained mystical powers that let him depower benders, up to and including the Avatar, for the benefit of non-benders, but in reality, was an exceptional waterbender seeking power for himself, and his "spiritual powers" turned out to be particularly nasty application of bloodbending. Zaheer, meanwhile, is actually a former non-bender, who actually got airbending powers (including one that hasn't been seen in 4000 years) by chance, and he actually believes in freeing the common people (bender and non-bender alike) from the Avatar, whom he sees as the ultimate authority figure. Nevertheless, both are equally ruthless and dangerous villains, and both manage to put Korra through a world of hurt in different ways.
- Kuvira and Zaheer, in terms of ideals — While Zaheer was a wanted criminal trying to bring chaos to the world, Kuvira was a captain of a guard who is now looking to restore order, although like Zaheer, she's pretty ruthless and direct in her approach, strong-arming a few people into helping her. While Zaheer wanted to unify the world by tearing down national boundaries and governments, Kuvira practices ethnic cleansing by removing people not of Earth Kingdom origin from the country's population. Also, while Zaheer cares deeply for his friends and lover and would go to great lengths to protect them, Kuvira will not hesitate to sacrifice others to achieve her goals.
- Kuvira and Prince Wu — Prince Wu is incompetent, foppish, and inherited the Earth Kingdom, Kuvira is efficient, austere, and worked hard to reach where she was. It's not purely positive, however. Wu acknowledges his own shortcomings, accepts criticism from someone and is respectful (in his own, foppish way) towards foreigners, while Kuvira is known to put dissidents and non-Earth Kingdom natives into re-education camps, reacts poorly to criticism, and can be condescending and smug towards others at times. Also, while Kuvira wanted to reunite the Earth Kingdom into one large Empire, Wu eventually dissolves the monarchy and allows each state to govern itself, realizing everyone needs to have a choice in the matter.
- Kuvira to Korra — Korra at the start of Book 4 denies her name and status as the Avatar, and her self-esteem is at an all-time low. Kuvira has made a name for herself and is brimming with quiet confidence. Korra is a scrappy, dynamic, hands-on fighter. Kuvira never gets her hands dirty by fighting directly, but stays far from her opponents and barely moves her legs while using bending. Korra's shoulders are typically bare, while Kuvira wears large pauldrons. She was even designed to be physically similar to Korra. In "The Coronation", Bolin describes them as being a lot alike.
- Wan to Korra — Korra is the current Avatar, continuing to maintain balance in the world. As of Book 2 season finale and onward, she is the first Avatar of a new cycle and was born into the Southern Water Tribe; Avatar Wan the first Avatar, who unknowingly disrupted the balance in the world. Wan was the first Avatar of the old cycle and was a native of the (future) Fire Nation.
- Tahno to Korra. Both are arrogant and skilled athletes with a certain amount of entitlement. They're set up as rivals right from the start, being waterbenders on opposing teams. They see their bending as a huge part of their identity. Ultimately, both have their bending taken by Amon and become depressed over it.
- Similarly to how the Earth Queen was characterized to be as different from her father as possible, Gun seems to be built as a contrast to his predecessor as Grand Secretariat from the first series, Long Feng, to highlight the difference in Hou-Ting and Kuei's reigns. While Long Feng was a domineering, earthbending mastermind who conspired against his king and ran the Earth Kingdom behind his back, Gu is a snivelling Yes-Man eager to keep Hou-Ting happy at any costs, and is absolutely useless in any dangerous situation. Doubles as Fridge Brilliance, because after Long Feng's conspiracy fooled the Earth King and led directly to the fall of the Earth Kingdom, Kuei would have decided the Grand Secretariat has too much power, and would have reformed the position to prevent it from happening again.
- Guan to Kuvira. While she was a Villain with Good Publicity who made most of her gains through superior power while hiding her real agenda, Guan is fully upfront about his intentions yet chooses more subtle methods that will nevertheless give him what he wants.
The Kyoshi Novels
The Rise of Kyoshi/The Shadow of Kyoshi
- Avatar Kyoshi to Yun. Both were street kids picked up and raised by Kuruk's old friends (Kelsang for Kyoshi, Jianzhu for Yun), but their similarities pretty much end there.
- Yun is an incredibly talented bender, to the point where he can liquify rocks and write using pebbles from a distance. Kyoshi has an immense amount of raw power—even bending the earth from the sea floor—but initially has trouble with small-scale bending and wasn't even much of a bender at the beginning of the story.
- Yun is confident, charismatic, a skilled diplomat, and messy. Kyoshi has low self-esteem, keeps to herself, is tactless and blunt, and is a Neat Freak.
- Yun is a talented Pai Sho player. Kyoshi cares nothing for the game.
- Though he had his moments of insecurity, Yun embraced his Avatar status and worked hard to be the best Avatar he could be. Kyoshi initially did not want to be the Avatar and is constantly questioning if she is doing her Avatar duties the right way.
- Yun received intense training when he was still known as the Avatar from master benders along with other skills like poison resistance and sneaking undercover. Kyoshi had to learn while on the run with her parents' old daofei gang.
- Both wanted revenge against those who wronged them. But Yun responded by going on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge towards those whom he deemed deserved it while Kyoshi realized that Jianzhu's death didn't make her feel any better.
- Lao Ge to a few from the original series.
- Like Uncle Iroh. Both are powerful benders who liberally copy techniques from other styles, have a great deal of blood on their hands from past deeds, and take an interest in mentoring one of the protagonists. But while Iroh is The Atoner, devoted to Zuko and genuinely interested in turning him towards a better path, Lao Ge is a cynical Trickster Mentor who has no interest in helping Kyoshi pursue a more righteous path, and indeed is quite invested in achieving the exact opposite.
- Like King Bumi he is an extremely aged Master Earthbender who goes against the grain of what's expected. But where Bumi is an eccentric The Good King within the system who has mastered earth bending. Lao Ge is outside of it removing obstacles and corrupt officials. While both are Trickster Mentors Lao Ge is more restrained then Bumi. This even shows up in their bending styles where Ge will hurl himself at a target while Bumi is content to use earth.
- Kyoshi to Korra. While they are superficially similar, both being headstrong teenage girls, their backgrounds could not be more opposite.
- Korra was sheltered by her parents and the White Lotus after discovering she was the Avatar at a very young age. She spent her childhood in the South Pole compound focusing on her Avatar training, and being the Avatar is so intrinsic to her sense of self that she honestly can't imagine not being the Avatar in any way, shape, or form. She's never had to work or wonder where her next meal might come from, since her family or Aang's has always comfortably taken care of her; not only is poverty an entirely alien concept to her, but actually having to exchange cash for goods is something she's not used to, and the thought that she might need to didn't occur to her before it happened. She has good relationships with Aang's family and friends, with Zuko and Sokka protecting her and Katara and Toph mentoring her throughout her life. She's a person of high status on paper, but after the Hundred Year War, 99 years of which were Avatar-free, many people outright question the need for the Avatar and openly disrespect her.
- On the other hand, Kyoshi was abandoned by her parents on the streets at a similarly young age, and forced to fend for herself. She was impoverished and often starved. No one had any idea she was the Avatar, and in fact Kuruk's friends thought another boy was. She was adopted by Kelsang, Kuruk's airbending friend, who did his best to care for her, but her relationships with Jianzhu and Hei-Ran were initially cordial but distant. It isn't until Kyoshi is sixteen, having known Kuruk's friends for years, that they catch on to her being the Avatar, and the knowledge splits them apart— Kyoshi grows closer to Hei-Ran, who takes her for a second daughter after she gets together with Rangi, but Jianzhu ends up killing Kelsang and makes a mortal enemy of Kyoshi in the process. And Kyoshi actually does have the high status of the Avatar, often being looked to not just for world-saving help, but for political power-brokering.
- Unintentionally or not Jianzhu is one to the future Avatar Korra's enemies, Zaheer, while Zaheer was an Air nation fanboy, who despised authority figures, disregarded material links, was fiercely loyal to his friends and believed the Avatar had to be killed to truly bring balance to the world, Jianzhu is a man who is willing to go against his friend's interests and uses authority figures, bribes and materialism to make his vision of the perfect Avatar come true in order to bring balance.
