Amon (Legend of Korra)

"I am the solution."

- Amon "As you know, the Avatar has recently arrived in Republic City. And if she were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world. But, she is wrong. The only thing bending has brought to the world, is suffering. It has been the cause of every war in every era. But that is about to change. I know you have been wondering, "What is the Revelation?" You are about to get your answer. Since the beginning of time, the spirits have acted as guardians of our world, and they have spoken to me. They say the Avatar has failed humanity. That is why the spirits have chosen me to usher in a new era of balance. They have granted me a power that will make Equality a reality. The power to take a person's bending away. Permanently."

- Amon's speech. "The revolution may be built on a lie, but I think Amon truly believes bending is the source of all evil in the world."

- Tarrlok about Amon.

Amon is the main antagonist in the first season of The Legend Of Korra and the charismatic and mysterious leader of the anti-bending terrorist organization known as the Equalists, whose ultimate goal is to create equality by ridding the world of bending. A nimble and stealthy fighter, Amon was fearless in facing his opponents, regardless of their bending skills.

Amon appears to be a calm, passive individual most of the time, as he has never been seen losing his composure. He has a bitter hatred for benders, as he blames them as a whole for the death of his family, his supposed disfiguring, and every war that has ever occurred. Amon is cruel and cold, seen when he taunts Korra about his plans to defeat her.

In spite of his apparent cruelty, Amon claims to be a staunch believer in what he views as equality. He refers to his followers as his "brothers and sisters", and does not seem to require for them to refer to him in any title, seen when all of them simply refer to him as "Amon". He also allows some benders to fight back to give them a chance to keep their bending, as seen during his confrontation with Zolt in "The Revelation".

Amon has introduced himself to be a very skilled and nimble fighter. His superior agility allows him to dodge the attacks of benders, and his knowledge about chi blocking, as well as his power to take bending away forever, provides an incredible counterattack, making him the equal of any bender. Amon was also revealed to be a very powerful waterbender and a psychic bloodbender, upon which his unique bending-removal technique had derived.

He was voiced by Steven Blum with the voices of the young Noatak provided by Jacob Bertrand and Alexander Martella.

Childhood
Amon was born as Noatak to the former numerous crime boss, Yakone, along with his younger brother, Tarrlok. The two brothers remained happy during their younger years, until they both realized their waterbending abilities, prompting Yakone to display a harsher personality towards the two, particularly Tarrlok. Noatak would regularly defend his brother against his father whenever he lashed out on Tarrlok. Eventually, they were both taught to bloodbend, when Yakone revealed his criminal life to them, declaring that they would avenge him and become bloodbenders of the highest order.

Noatak used his profound abilities to perform extraordinary feats, such as manipulating an entire pack of wolves. Unfortunately, he carried the burdens of his father's expectations and eventually became cold and detached. Tarrlok, however, was more often opposed to the idea of bloodbending and found it to be cruel and sinister in nature. Yakone later forced the two to bloodbend each other, and while Noatak showed little restraint in doing so, despite his brother's agonizing screams, he defended Tarrlok when Yakone lashed out on him for refusing to do the same. Noatak then bloodbent his father, and declared that bloodbending was not the most powerful weapon, but that the Avatar was and reminded his father that the Avatar had removed his bending through energybending. He then ran away, despite Tarrlok's pleas, and lead a life of his own, blaming bending for all the events that had caused his life such trauma. Overtime, he claimed the alias of Amon and began an anti-bending revolution within Republic City through the organization known as the Equalists.

Republic City
When Korra announced her official relocation to Republic City during a press conference at the City Hall, Amon heard her responding to questions through the radio. When his second-in-command inquired him about how he was going to handle Korra's arrival, Amon replied that since the Avatar had arrived early, they would have to "accelerate" their plans.

During an event he held known as "The Revelation", Amon claimed he was born on a small farm to a family of non-benders. The family was then apparently harassed by a firebender. When Amon's father confronted the supposed assailant, the firebender ruthlessly murdered his family and severely deformed Amon's face, prompting him to wear a mask to conceal his facial scars. This is later proven false, however, during the later Equalist Victory Rally. Amon later announced that he believed the spirits had called on him to bring a new balance to the world by removing people's bending. He set forth a demonstration to remove Lightning Bolt Zolt's bending, though allowed him to fight for it. Amon was successful, and removed his bending in the presence of his followers, along with Korra and Mako, who had infiltrated the event.



He later defeated more benders, including Shady Shin. However, before he could remove Bolin's bending, Korra let out a steam screen into the room, allowing Bolin to escape with his brother, Mako. As the brothers and Korra later escaped, Amon elected to leave them be, so he could allow word of his power to spread.

Amon had made a severe impression on Korra, as she was plagued by nightmares of him taking away her bending. After he heard that the United Republic Council had proclaimed him public enemy number one, he spread a message over the radio to his fellow Equalists, using the actions of the council as proof of the oppressing nature of benders.

After Councilman Tarrlok and Avatar Korra successfully executed a raid on an Equalist training facility in the Dragon Flats district, he was publicly challenged by Korra to a midnight duel on Aang Memorial Island with the condition that the island would be exempt of the task force and chi blockers. Amon didn't show up on time, nor did he come alone. As Korra was on her way to leave the island, many Equalists reeled in Korra inside the island's museum. There, Amon emerged from the shadows and revealed to her that he would "save [her] for last", but would nonetheless "destroy [her]".

On the eve of the Pro-bending championship match, Amon demanded that the council shut down the Pro-bending Arena and put an end to the tournament, threatening that there would be "severe consequences" if they did not. The council voted to keep the arena open, which Amon revealed to be in line with his plans for the situation. He later entered the arena after the tournament and stripped Tahno of his bending. After making a speech to the audience and partially destroying the arena, Amon airlifted out of the arena, narrowly escaping Korra's attacks.

Several days later, Amon, accomponied by several Equalists, appeared to Tarrlok in his hideout deep within the surrounding woodland of Republic City. Despite Tarrlok's unique bloodbending skills, Amon was minimally affected by the bending, taking a momentary pause to regain control, and was eventually able to counteract his bending completely. Tarrlok, confused that his bloodbending had been deflected, was then swiftly subdued by Amon and had his bending removed, paralyzing him for a period of time.

After the United Forces battle fleet arrived during the battle for Republic City, Amon's forces engaged them with a surprise attack, with an aerial assault led by Hiroshi Sato destroying the fleet after it ran into a minefield. Later on, when Korra and Mako infiltrated Air Temple Island to locate Amon, they instead found Tarrlok as a solitary prisoner, and learned from him that Amon was his brother, whose real name was Noatak, and they were both the son of Yakone. It was additionally revealed that Amon did not use energybending, as previously thought, but that he was in fact a waterbender, and somehow used bloodbending to remove a person's bending. When Korra challenged Amon's story of his past at the rally in the pro-bending arena, Amon revealed his face to the crowd, showing what appeared to be a firebending scar stretching across his face, thus making Korra look like she was lying. As Amon turned his attention to Tenzin and his children to "wipe out Airbending," Mako shot lightning at the stage, allowing Korra time to free Tenzin and his family. Amon, his Lieutenant, and several other chi blockers attempted to fight back but were all blown off the stage by Mako and Tenzin.

Amon pursued and eventually found Korra, subduing her with bloodbending. When Mako arrived to help, he too was stopped by Amon's bloodbending. With the Avatar and her friend helpless, Amon took away Korra's bending. This action was witnessed by the Lieutenant, who, after seeing Amon use bloodbending, denounced him as a traitor and attempted to attack, although Amon was able to stop him easily with his bloodbending power and hurled him through the air.

The distraction, however, allowed Mako to struggle into position and blast Amon with lightning, buying time for him and Korra to escape. Amon caught up with them and again used his bloodbending to stop them. He prepared to take away Mako's bending, musing over the fact that no one else had been able to resist him so, and that it was almost a shame to take bending away from one so talented. Korra, however, seeing Mako in danger suddenly unlocked her airbending and used it to to knock Amon away from Mako. As she unleashed a barrage of air attacks upon him, Amon attempted to fight back with bloodbending, but the narrow corridor allowed Korra to keep on attacking and blast him out a window into the harbor below, where his "scar" was washed away by the water, no more than a dye.

Defeat and death
A crowd of his followers began to denounce Korra as a tyrant. Amon, in a fury, arose from the sea on a giant column of water, causing his stunned followers to realize the Avatar had been telling the truth about him. Realizing that he had lost everything, Amon dodged Mako's blasts of fire and fled, deciding to reconcile with Tarrlok and start over. They escaped out to sea on an Equalist speedboat. Amon, now going by his true name, happily spoke of how there was nothing they could not do together, and shed a tear. Tarrlok, however, used an Equalist glove to ignite the fuel tank, causing the boat to explode, killing them both.

Korra's Hallucination
Amon returned in Book 3 as one of Korra's hallucinations when the Red Lotus administered mercury poison into her body. During this visage, Zaheer 's face slowly crumbled, revealing Amon's mask, telling her the world didn't need her anymore.

Toph's opinon
"What did Amon want? Equality for all."

- Toph about Amon. Amon is mentioned by Toph, when she explains to Korra that even through Amon fought for the wrong side, his intensions of wanting equality for all was a reasonable motive. After the Anti-Bending Revolution, Republic City abolized it's United Republic Council, cause of it's unfairness among non-benders. Instead Republic City had a democratic elected president that gave non-benders a voice above benders and finally equalizing non-benders and benders.

Personality
From an early age Amon had been driven by a quest of equality in the world. Oppressed by his bloodbending father for most of his teenage years, Amon abhors benders and their tyranny over non-benders, believing them to be the cause of all war and misery in the world. He believes his power to remove people's bending is the solution to equality. It's implied that his father's bloodbending on him detached Noatak from the world as he was always kind to Tarrlok before but the cruel abuse made him a cold sociopath.

As leader of the Equalists, Amon was a charismatic spokesman garnering many followers to his cause. Though worshipped by most of the Equalists, his fearsome demeanour and actions have alienated even his own followers (one in particular gave Korra and her friends the location to Hiroshi Sato's mech factory after realising Amon was a revolutionary terrorist rather than a man of the non-benders). Even his loyalist lieutenant was horrified to learn Amon was in fact a bender having devoted his life to the revolution. Presenting himself as a humble victim of a firebender to rally people with a falsified scar to support his backstory, Amon often martyred himself for his cause. Despite being a bender himself there was never a doubt in his mind that bending was the true source of evil in this world.

Though staunch and cruel in his convictions, Amon was not without an honourable side. He is truly dedicated to his goal of equality and he does not make his followers refer to him with a superior title, all of whom he calls his "brothers and sisters". He even seemed to respect Aang for his ability to remove people's bending, considering it a greater skill than bloodbending and was impressed by Mako's firebending skills by besting him (a feat very few were able to do). He will even allow benders to keep their bending if they can best him in combat as seen with Zolt.

Amon relied on fear as the key to his revolution against bending. However, the fact that many believed that Amon was fighting for equality, it may be all false. Amon never cared if non-benders were attacked, even by his own men. This proves that Amon wasn't figthing for equality for non-benders, but rather to gain power in Republic City, just like his father. He took advantage on the fear and discrimination amoung non-benders in order to get their attention and therefore gaining power and respect.

Despite being a powerful bloodbender and waterbander, Amon loathed this as it reminded him of his cruel childhood and thus revolved his combat style around his enemies being intimidated. This was reinforced by his unwaverably calm demeanour even in battle to the point where even the Avatar herself could not break his cold demeanour. He was intelligent enough to coordinate attacks on Repiblic City to push Tarrlok to paranoia and fulfil his prophecy that benders would eventually oppress non-benders to submit the citizens of Republic City to Equalist rule.

In his final moments, Amon regained a shred of his former life as Noatak. Though he wanted to return to the "good old days" with Tarrlok, his final tear before his death implied that he knew about his brother's murder-suicide but was ready to end his painful life as he wanted: with his brother.

Powers and Abilities

 * Waterbending: Amon was a waterbending prodigy from a young age, displaying a natural talent in the art. Under Yakone's tutelage Amon rapidly mastered waterbending, and was capable of creating gigantic water spouts. He could also bend on instinct and rapidly respond to adverse conditions.
 * Bloodbending: Amon is unquestionably the most powerful Bloodbender seen in the Avatar world. Between his genetic disposition towards the art and Yakone's training, Amon– like his brother– could Bloodbend without a full moon to enhance his powers. However, unlike Tarrlok, Amon could perform the art using only his mind– a sub-skill called Psychic Bloodbending originally created by Yakone. Amon could levitate people using his mind alone and perform advanced body manipulation and torture techniques with minimal effort. He was even capable of Bloodbending multiple targets at once while still moving freely. A secondary aspect of Amon's mastery of Bloodbending was his ability to resist the influence of other Bloodbenders– even those at similar levels of mastery.
 * Bending Severing: Amon's most frequently-used and trademark ability was his power to sever a person's bending, taking away their power forever. Originally Amon claimed this power was granted to him by the spirits, but his brother later revealed that the ability was a variation on Bloodbending. The technique was performed while holding the base of the victim's neck and pressing on their temple, while Amon would block his victim's chi pathways with Bloodbending– effectively robbing a person of their bending in the same fashion as Energybending. There exists no known medical intervention which can undo this effect– however, Energybending can be used to reopen a person's locked chi pathways and restore their bending.
 * Hand-to-Hand Combat: Amon was a versitile combatant outside of his bending abilities. Due to his need to hide his true nature as a Waterbender, Amon largely relied on martial arts and Chi Blocking to fight. Amon's style tended to be nimble and graceful to avoid close-ranged attack, and made the most of his natural agility. He augmented this with small applications of Bloodbending to defend against and redirect attacks. Amon also demonstrated strong physical resilience, and was able to quickly recover from powerful attacks (the most prominent example being his quick recovery from a point-blank lightning bolt fired at him by Mako).
 * Intelligence: Aside from his combat skills Amon was a natural leader and manipulator, possessing a strong intellect and charisma. He was able to mask his bending abilities even in the heat of battle as part of his mystique. Amon was also a gifted political strategist, and was able to accurately predict that revoking the Avatar's bending too soon would make her a martyr against his revolution. He even altered his own appearance with a fake scar to evoke sympathy for his fabricated backstory. Finally, Amon showed talent in strategy through the coordinated assaults of his Equalist forces. Well-versed in terrorist tactics, Amon effectively used intimidation, subversion, and manipulation to control the fear felt by nonbenders for benders in preparation for his revolt.

Trivia

 * Steve Blum is best known as the voice of Ares from God of War, Gene from Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, Professor Galvez Mena from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Starscream from Transformers Prime, and the English voice of Orochimaru from Naruto.
 * Amon is the seventh evil spirit listed in "Ars Goetia" in The Lesser Key of Solomon. He is said to be a Marquis of Hell.
 * Like several other characters, Amon was revealed on July 23, 2011 at San Diego Comic-Con.
 * Amon is considered a far greater threat than Firelord Ozai. Amon was a self-proclaimed freedom-fighter using charisma to gather allies when Ozai was a tyrannical emperor ruling by fear.
 * Ironically, Amon's father, Yakone was Aang's final adversary, and Amon himself was Korra's first adversary.
 * The name Amon is very similar to Amun (also known as Amun-Ra), the solar/creator diety and King of the Gods in Egyptian mythology. The spelling "Amon" is also used in some transliterations. Amon is an Egyptian name meaning "hidden", which may refer to his covered face.  A sun symbol is on his mask as well.
 * The Chinese transliteration for Amon's name, 阿蒙 (pinyin: āméng) can have a few meanings, but the most appropriate is "to cover".
 * Amon has the Chinese ideogram for "peace" on his chest. The same ideogram also means "fair" and "equal", matching the Equalists' name.
 * Amon is the name of the second deadliest pressure point in the human body. Located on the back of the neck, a precise strike can be fatal.
 * It is shown that Amon can perform a form of bloodbending that can create the same effect as energybending, even though it is confirmed that only the Avatar can do such a thing.
 * Amon also has similarities to V from V For Vendetta, both being masked revolutionaries who had their faces burned by fire, as well as masters at manipulation. Unlike V, however, Amon wore a fake scar.
 * The relationship between Amon and Tarrok is similar to 2012 KBS television series Bridal Mask is about two brothers living Korea under Japanese rule in 1930s where the older one - Kang-san is masked hero for protected people from Japanese and younger one - Kang-to is Pro-Japanese officer who obsessed captured Bridal Mask before he become second the Bridal Mask after his brother's death by accident where Kang-to shot him.
 * Stills of Amon's debut in "The Revelation" has been parodied across the internet, portraying him telling nonsensical jokes, thus leading to the birth of the meme "Comedian A mon", also known as "Stand-Up Amon".
 * Amon's voice actor Steven Blum is best known for anime villainous roles such as Vladimir Zadornov from Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, Ares from God of War, Jake Martinez from Tiger & Bunny, Shishio Makoto from Rurouni Kenshin, and Orochimaru from Naruto.
 * Amon is the second villain to die at the hands of a family member, before Unalaq and after Azulon.
 * In the late development art, his symbol on his chest means Fire in Kanji.

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