Yakone

"Republic City is mine, Avatar, and I'll be back one day to claim it!"

- Yakone

Yakone is a villain in The Legend of Korra, who was first mentioned by Councilman Tarrlok in the episode "The Voice in the Night". He serves as the posthumous Bigger Bad of the first season, being directly responsible for the actions of both Tarrlok and Amon.

Tarrlok mentioned him in order to persuade other council members in the United Republic Council to allow his task force to face Amon head-on, just as Aang had done to Yakone.

During the show, which is set several years after the death of Avatar Aang, Yakone and Aang appear through flashbacks during a few of Korra's defeats. The flashbacks would later be unveiled in the episode "Out of the Past", when Korra heeds Tenzin's advice and meditates on them after being imprisoned by Tarrlok.

History
Yakone was a sinister crime lord accused of Bloodbending after the testimony of several witnesses. Chief Toph Beifong, accompanied by some metalbending officers and Avatar Aang, arrested him while he was eating at a restaurant. The criminal sarcastically claimed he would beat this charge again as he had done with the previous ones.

Yakone was then taken to City Hall to be judged before the United Republic Council, where he was defended by a lawyer who appealed to the impossibility to bloodbend when there is no full moon, as witnesses had claimed that his client had performed the feat "at every other time except during a full moon", making the crime impossible to commit. When the Council made its final decision, announced the verdict, stating that the evidence was enough to convince them that Yakone was a "unique bender" and had used this ability to commit the crimes for which he had been accused. For this reason, the bloodbender was considered guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

However, Yakone, stood up, grinning, and proceeded to bloodbend Sokka. Toph attempted to halt him with a metal cable, but Yakone was able to overpower her as well. Soon everyone in the room fell victim of his bloodbending, including Avatar Aang, who unsuccessfully tried to stop him from fleeing, only to be knocked to the floor. Aang then entered the Avatar State and pursued Yakone, destroying his escaping cart. Climbing out of the wreckage, the bloodbender used his technique again, planning to kill Aang, but was thwarted when Aang entered the Avatar State, breaking the bloodbending hold and trapping Yakone within an earth shell. Unable to fight back, Yakone was unable to prevent Aang from removing his bending.

After Republic City
With the aid of his former gang, Yakone managed to escape prison and underwent surgery in order to change his facial appearance and escape Republic City to the Northern Water Tribe, where he met a warm, kindhearted woman, who later became his wife and birthed two children, Noatak and Tarrlok.

Overtime, the brothers' waterbending capabilities became more and more relevant and Yakone, having carried the grief against Avatar Aang throughout the years, taught his children to bloodbend in secret, whilst revealing his criminal past to them, utilizing them to his advantage to avenge him when the time was right. Eventually, however, his training took a turn for the worst when he ordered the two to bloodbend each other, and while Noatak, his eldest, showed little restraint, Tarrlok hesitated and declared that he wouldn't ever bloodbend again, angering Yakone and causing him to lash out on his son. Noatak, however, defended his brother and disagreed with his father, bloodbending Yakone and flinging him into the snow. Noatak escaped, leaving his father and brother, which sent Yakone into depression when he was unable to find him, since he now believed his dreams of vengeance could never be realized. He eventually died due to this.

Noatak / Tarrlok
About forty years later, his son, Tarrlok, who inherited his ability, tried to follow his father's steps in order to "win" Republic City. Aang tried to communicate with Avatar Korra on several occasions about Yakone's life and warn her about Tarrlok and Amon; however, it was not until she was captured by the bloodbender that the Avatar decided to meditate, and in doing so, managed to finally comprehend the message from her predecessor.

Noatak, Yakone's eldest son, would be revealed as Amon during the battle in Republic City. Noatak's bloodbending abilities were much more powerful than that of Tarrlok, and as such, he was able to develop a method of bending-removal using bloodbending, eventually taking the alias "Amon" and leading an anti-bending revolution against Republic City. After Amon's defeat, the brothers escaped in a speedboat across the Mo Ce Sea.


 * Tarrlok: "Our father sent us down this path. Fate caused us to collide."

Tarrlok ignited the boat's engine with an Equalist glove, causing both to die in the resulting explosion, ending their bloodbending line forever.