Kuvira

''"Pledge your loyalty to me, and I'll give you a new purpose in your lives."

- Kuvira to former bandits ''

Kuvira, known as "The Great Uniter" by her supporters, is one of the primary antagonists in Book 4 of ''The Legend of Korra. S''he served as a captain of the Metal Clan guard in Zaofu before furthering her own agenda by trying to restore order to the Earth Kingdom, which was left in disarray after the assassination of Earth Queen Hou-Ting at the hands of Zaheer three years prior.

She is voiced by Zelda Williams (daughter of the late Robin Williams)

The Metal Clan
Kuvira began as the captain of the Metal Clan's city guard, as well as a dancer in Suyin Beifong's dance troupe. She was present when the Metal Clan welcomed Team Avatar to Zaofu and participated in the attack against Zaheer and his associates after their failed attempt to kidnap Avatar Korra. Kuvira and the city guards searched the city for them but to no avail, and all took part in being questioned by Aiwei, the city's truth-seer. When Aiwei's treachery was exposed, Suyin ordered Kuvira to search the city for him, but was lead to a dead end.

Stopping the Red Lotus
When Suyin received word of the Air Nation being held hostage by the Red Lotus, the Metal Clan traveled to the Northern Air Temple in a rescue attempt, while Kuvira went with Tonraq, Lin and Suyin to ensure the Red Lotus did not back down on their deal. When Mako alerted Lin they were double crossed, they proceeded to rescue Korra, but several were blown off the mountain by P'Li's combustion attack. When Tonraq fell, Kuvira rescued him and bandaged his wounds, formally introducing herself to him. When they learned where the airbenders were being held, Kuvira requested to accompany them on the rescue mission, but was ordered by Suyin to stay with the injured, an order Kuvira accepted.

Kuvira's Legion
During the three-year timeskip between Book 3 and Book 4, both Kuvira and Baatar Jr., Suyin's eldest son, left the Metal Clan to unite the Earth Kingdom through military might (and along the way, the two became engaged). They traveled by train getting state leaders to agree to deals that, in exchange for pledging loyalty to her, they would be under Kuvira's protection.

In the present day, Kuvira, now accompanied by Bolin, Varrick, and Zhu Li, was informed that nearly 90% of the Earth Kingdom's states had pledged their loyalty to her, though Kuvira was unsatisfied, stating she would not be pleased until they were all united. Upon being stopped by a trap laid by bandits, Kuvira single-handedly took them down, and offered them a deal to either join her army or risk being chained to the train rail for the next train to arrive. The bandits eagerly pledged their loyalty to Kuvira. When arriving in the state of Yi, Opal was not pleased to see Kuvira or her brother Baatar Jr., or to hear that the two were engaged, and mentioned that Suyin found their actions to be traitorous. She met with the governor of Yi, offering a treaty that would place Yi under her protection, but the governor called her a manipulator and accused her of only being interested in Yi's reputable supply of ore. Kuvira warned him that by not signing her treaty, he risked the starvation of his people and defeat at the hands of the bandits. Despite the governor's refusal to sign, Kuvira left the contract with Kai, stating she would wait by the border for one more day to give him a chance to reconsider. After bandits stole what little supplies were meant to go to Yi, the governor reluctantly signed the treaty and pledged his loyalty to her, placing Yi under Kuvira's protection.

She forced President Raiko to pardon Varrick for his crimes and allow him back into Republic City, where she and her allies attended Prince Wu's coronation. Before the coronation, she falsely promised to step down as the Earth Kingdom's new leader. During the prince's speech, she took over and announced her plans for the Earth Empire, saying that leadership should not be decided by birthright and that any who stand in her way would be crushed. This earned her massive support from the crowd, except for all the world leaders. When Bolin found himself questioning Kuvira's words, she reassured him that "being crushed" was "simply a rhetoric meaning that she meant business".

The world leaders chose Suyin as their spokesperson on their behalf, sending her to go speak with Kuvira. Kuvira admonished her for not stepping up and fixing the Earth Kingdom, while Suyin retorted with the fact that she didn't want the power. Kuvira threatened Suyin, saying that she knew what would happen to Zaofu if she did not join her. Meanwhile, she had Varrick collect spirit vines from around Republic City to construct a new technology.