Avatar: The Last Airbender and its official sequel series, The Legend of Korra, both feature a delightful cast of characters, major and minor alike. Clearly, a lot of thought went into making these characters well-written, emotionally resonant, and highly entertaining, and it paid off. Even minor cast members like King Bumi, Jet, and Opal are all fun to watch and help reinforce the themes of these two animated fantasy series.
Each Avatar and Korra fan will have their own opinion on who their favorite characters are, but based on online discourse and the sheer appeal of certain cast members, some characters are more popular than others. The most popular Avatar and Korra characters have great combat moves, engaging dialogue, a fascinating worldview, and great comedy and/or drama to their name, making them staples of the overall Avatar franchise.
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General Iroh and Toph Beifong from show Avatar: The Last Airbender
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Tenzin is a Frazzled Father and Airbender Master
Even if Tenzin only played a supporting role in The Legend of Korra, he became one of the most popular characters thanks to his unique blend of character traits and his role in training the new Avatar, Korra. Tenzin is the youngest child of Aang and Katara and the only airbender among them, so he pushed himself hard to carry on his father’s legacy.
Tenzin takes himself seriously as a monk in the story, but he is also an amusingly frazzled and overwhelmed father of four, and he definitely inherited his mother’s hot temper, too. Rather than making Tenzin a walking contradiction, that made him better-rounded as a bender and as a person, and he can be much funnier than he realizes. That, combined with his excellent airbending moves, make hime one of the most popular characters.
Bolin is the Best Brother in the Entire Series
Yue, Long Feng and June from Avatar: The Last Airbender
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The bender brothers Mako and Bolin both appeared early in The Legend of Korra, once Avatar Korra arrived in Republic City to begin airbending training with Tenzin. Mako may be more mature and responsible as a pro-bending team leader, but fans generally don’t like his uptight personality and his messy love life, so they like his slightly younger brother Bolin better.
Bolin is a classic himbo, a well-meaning yet oafish hero who makes up for his blunders with sheer enthusiasm and kindness. He became a key member of Team Avatar and bravely fought by Korra’s side, all while being a loyal friend and a great source of humor. He also built a charming love life with Opal, who gained airbending powers in Book Three: Change.
Mai’s Moody Sarcasm Resonated With Fans
Fans love energetic and friendly characters, but they also have a soft spot for moody, grouchy characters too, if those characters are written well. Mai is an archetypal moody teen, an apathetic young lady who can’t stand how boring and dull her life seems to be. Still, she has a good heart and cherishes her friends, including her on-again, off-again boyfriend Zuko.
Mai’s dry humor and comedically angsty dialogue made her entertaining rather than annoying, and best of all, she chose love over power when it mattered most. During the battle of the Boiling Rock prison complex, Mai declared that she loved Zuko more than she feared Azula, which inspired Ty Lee to fight with her against their former friend, Princess Azula.
Zaheer Got Fans Thinking With His Philosophy of Anarchy
Fans don’t always love villains, but if an antagonist has cool dialogue, a great action scene, and a memorable philosophy, then the awesome factor will make those villains popular after all. While Fire Lord Ozai felt like a typical cartoon villain and Unalaq wasn’t that memorable, the Airbender named Zaheer stood out as a worthy foe for Korra’s team.
Zaheer fascinated fans with his brutal worldview about disorder being the natural order, and his anarchistic message resonated with the oppressed people of the Earth Kingdom. He also provided more insight into the Air Nomad culture, mentioning Guru Laghima as the first airbender to achieve true flight and become untethered from the earth itself.
Princess Azula is Terrifying, But Also Cool and Heartbreaking
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Zaheer, Tenzin and Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender
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Princess Azula is another antagonist who fans can’t help but love, even if there’s no hope to redeem her. Azula is one of the most brutal members of Zuko’s family tree aside from Ozai, a power-hungry and vain princess who believes ruling through fear is the key to success. She was born with immense talent, but the equally huge pressure to succeed eventually got to her.
Azula was a viciously effective Avatar hunter and army leader in the Avatar: The Last Airbender series, driving up the tension and stakes with her overwhelming mental and bending power. She also had remarkable emotional depth despite her villainous ways, having a tiny soft spot for her brother and cherishing her friendship with Mai and Ty Lee. She also grappled with her dysfunctional relationship with her mother, unable to admit she wanted her mother’s love the whole time.
Avatar Aang Saved the World With Spirit and Hope
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The protagonist himself, Avatar Aang, has plenty of fans as one of the series’ most popular characters, with only a few cast members being even more popular than him. Aang may feel like a goody two-shoes as an idealistic Air Nomad, but he also has his aggressive side, and he sometimes has a temper to rival Katara’s or Zuko’s, no matter his pacifistic ways.
Aang has immense power as the Avatar, and he has a wise, humble view of his Avatar gifts, unwilling to take lives or destroy anything with his bending. Aang also has plenty of wise life lessons to share, not unlike Iroh, such as Aang’s comment that revenge will sting those who seek it. Aang’s comedy is also top-notch with his whimsical antics and bizarre facial expressions.
Prince Zuko Learned to Embrace His True Destiny
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Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation is the most popular antagonist in the entire series. He is far more than an angsty prince trying to capture the hero and selfishly regain his honor; he is a genuinely good person warped by his villainous family and dire circumstances. Born into any other family, Zuko would have been a heroic firebender from the start.
Zuko also has the series’ best redemption arc, going from a self-centered Avatar hunter to a prince who recognized his true destiny and sought it with all his might. He was never meant to become the next Ozai — Zuko’s role in the world was to help the Avatar restore balance and justice in the world, which helped him learn that humility is not just pride’s opposite, but its cure.
Sokka Shines as Team Avatar’s Planner and Tactician
Split Images of Zhao, Azula, Zuko, and Ozai
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Sokka the Water Tribe warrior quickly became a fan-favorite with his compelling blend of smart non-bender tactics, witty sarcasm, love of meat, and endless comedy, including pratfalls. At first, Sokka infuriated his sister with his regressive views on girls, but he soon changed his tune after meeting the Kyoshi Warriors. He also started to embrace lofty concepts like destiny and spiritualism after being isolated from such things all his life.
Sokka established himself as Team Avatar’s tactician and investigator, using his sharp mind and all kinds of tools and weapons to get the job done. He helped design a variety of vehicles, for example, and it was Sokka who devised the eclipse invasion of the Fire Nation, though it fell to his father Hakoda to actually lead it. Sokka also had a wonderful romance with Suki, a Kyoshi Warrior.
Toph Beifong Showed Fans a New Side of Earthbending
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From the moment she first appeared in Book Two: Earth, Toph Beifong became a fan-favorite thanks to her tough and cool personality, her incredible earthbending, and her compelling character arc. Toph subverted all expectations about earthbenders and embraced the true fundamentals, making her a wise expert in earthbending.
Toph acted standoffish and snarky on the outside, but she also had the heart of a friend and true hero, and she even had secret vulnerabilities to balance her character. She ran away from her stuffy home, only to realize she must have hurt her parents in the process, proving that Toph wasn’t so self-absorbed after all. Toph also returned in The Legend of Korra as a wise old metalbender who helped out Korra, and then saved the Beifongs from Kuvira’s Earth Empire.
Iroh Dispensed Valuable Wisdom and Forgave His Troubled Nephew
Zuko’s uncle Iroh is definitely the franchise’s most popular character, mainly because of his sage personality and his endless nuggets of resonant wisdom. Iroh didn’t just share life lessons with Zuko and Toph — he helped inspire viewers with his incredible quotes. One example was when he told Zuko that pride’s opposite was not shame, but humility.
Iroh could have turned out like his father Azulon and his younger brother Ozai, but after losing his beloved son Lu Ten in the siege of Ba Sing Se, everything changed. Iroh abandoned his claim to the throne and went from a legendary general to a humble mentor for his nephew, and much later, he did the same for Korra in the spirit world.
Avatar The Last Airbender TV Poster
Avatar: The Last Airbender
In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.
Release DateFebruary 21, 2005CastJack De Sena, Dante Basco, Mae Whitman, Dee Bradley BakerMain GenreAnimationGenresAnimation, Action, Adventure, FantasyRatingTV-Y7-FVSeasons3StudioNickelodeon Animation StudioFranchiseAvatar: The Last AirbenderCreatorMichael Dante DiMartino, Bryan KonietzkoNumber of Episodes61NetworkNickelodeon
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