Why Legend of Korra Is A Worthy Sequel To Last Airbender

The Characters

It is hard to compare the tight unit of Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Toph to nearly any other band of protagonists as they worked so well with one another and easily made Avatar The Last Airbender one of the best animated series, but the likes of Korra, Mako, Bolin, and Asami do a respectable job of moving the story forward that was left for them. What made the latter characters so enjoyable was how different they were from the original crew, in both age and personalities, having to take on completely different challenges while maintaining the spirit of their "forefathers".

Korra herself doesn't have much in common with Aang, being far more headstrong and living in a world that isn't torn apart by the Fire Nation's rampage, but it's in these differences that you come to appreciate the reincarnation of the past Avatars that much more. The Legend of Korra's characters might pale in comparison to those that came before according to many, but they definitely hold their own.

The Action

Aside from the humor and personalities that were abundant in Avatar The Last Airbender, Legend of Korra does manage to have action that is on the same level on its predecessor. In fact, since a key story element is that bending has evolved decades after the events of the original series, the action can sometimes be more off the chain considering what people in the universe can do now. Earth benders can bend metal with ease thanks to Toph, blood bending is far more rampant than it once was, and fire benders can fling lightning like no one's business.

The fights might not be as memorable to fans, but they are definitely pound for pound as good as those we saw in the original adventures of Aang.

The Villains

This is the one aspect where I personally think that Legend of Korra is able to surpass Avatar The Last Airbender. While you had some interesting antagonists such as Zuko (for a time) and Azula, the head of the Fire Nation wasn't nearly as complex as some of the villains we saw in the sequel series. With the first season giving us the masked Amon who had a hatred for benders that allowed him to rally a group under his iron fist, Korra started things off with a bang with the very real possibility that she might lose her bending forever.

While this is definitely an argument that fans will continue into the future, look no further for the best villains of the two series than in Legend of Korra's third season, a band of criminal benders led by the evil airbender Zaheer. The villains in Korra are as complex as the heroes and definitely are worthy of the original series.

Adult Situations

Avatar The Last Airbender was fairly "adult", not being afraid to kill its characters when it needed to for the purposes of the story, but man does Korra go far further with this. Using air bending to suffocate victims, having villains' heads explode in an attack gone awry, and blowing up major character toward the tail end of a season are par for the course for the Legend of Korra and show the difference between how far the sequel series was willing to go versus its predecessor.

It Brings The Gang Back Together (Sort Of)

Legend of Korra doesn't give you a complete reunion between the original players of Avatar The Last Airbender, most obviously because in order for Korra to exist, Aang has to be dead, but it does give us plenty of the previous players making appearances as well as giving us insight into how they ended up during their lives. We get a sense for how Zuko was able to lead the Fire Nation back to prosperity, we see Katara as an elderly woman long after her days of adventuring, and season four of Korra show us just how insanely strong Toph has become. It's a nice send off to the world and these characters once everything wraps and it's definitely worth a watch!