Amon (Legend of Korra)

"The era of bending is over! The revolution has begun!"

- Amon giving a speech.

Amon, real name Noatak, is the charismatic and mysterious leader of the criminal anti-bending organization known as the Equalists, whose ultimate goal is to create equality by ridding the world of benders. A nimble and stealthy fighter, Amon is fearless in facing his opponents, regardless of their bending skills. He serves as the primary antagonist in the first season of The Legend of Korra, which is a sequel to the hit Nickelodeon series, Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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 counter attack, making him the equal of any bender. He is even immune to bloodbending, a waterbending technique that can cause intense pain as the blood is controlled. His immunity allowed him to defeat Tarrlok and take his bending.

It is also revealed in Skeletons in the Closet that he was Tarrlok's older brother and they used to be very close. In the season finale, he takes away Korra's earthbending, firebending, and waterbending, but ultimately loses when she masters airbending putting him in the water. He is forced to waterbend to survive, exposing himself as a bender, losing all the respect he gained from the Equalists. He releases Tarrlok and they leave Republic City on a boat. Tarrlok then kills them both by using an Equalist glove to destroy the boat.

History
Amon claims he was born on a small farm to a family of non-benders. The family was harassed by a firebender. When Amon's father tried to go after him, the firebender killed him and deformed Amon's face, forcing him to wear a mask since then. This is later revealed to be a lie.

At some point in time, Amon became the leader of the Equalists, an organization against the art of bending, based in Republic City. They terrorized the city, striving to rid the world of bending.

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.

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 from him.

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 the 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.

He would later appear to Tarrlok in his mountain lodge, who had captured Korra and framed the Equalists for the crime he had commited. 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, asked Amon what he was, to which he replied that he is "the solution", before swiftly dodging another of Tarrlok's attacks and subduing his bending completely.

In "Skeletons in the Closet", It was revealed that Amon (known as Noatak) is in fact Yakone's eldest son. Yakone had underwent surgery and moved to the Northern Water Tribe, where he started his own family. Amon, along with Tarrlok, were his sons and Yakone eventually revealed his past and taught his sons to bloodbend. He later forced the two to bloodbend each other, but Tarrlok refused, much to Yakone's dismay. Noatak defended his brother, bloodbent his father, and declared that bloodbending was not the most powerful weapon, but that the Avatar was and used Aang removing Yakone's bending as an example. 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.

After the United Forces battle fleet arrived, 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.

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, going by his true name Noatak again, happily spoke of how there was nothing they could not do together. Tarrlok, however, used an Equalist glove to ignite the fuel tank, causing the boat to explode, presumably killing them both. Just before that, Amon shed a tear, perhaps because he attempted everything his father wanted him to.

Revelation speech
''"My quest for equality began many years ago. When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren't rich and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for the firebender who extorted my father. One day, my father confronted this man, but when he did, that firebender took my family from me. Then he took my face. I've been forced to hide behind the mask ever since. 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's wrong. The only thing that bending has brought to the world is suffering. It has been the cause of every war, in every era! But, that's about to change. I know you've 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 that 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!"''

Trivia

 * Like several other characters, Amon was revealed on July 23, 2011 at San Diego Comic-Con.


 * The name Amon is very similar to Amun (also known as Amun-Ra), the King of 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.


 * The Chinese transliteration for Amon's name, 阿蒙 (pinyin: āméng) can have a few meanings, but the most appropriate is "to cover".


 * 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.


 * Amon is also the first name of Amon Goeth, the notorious Nazi officer who was found guilty for murdering tens of thousands of people. He was also the primary antagonist in Schindler's List.


 * Amon sounds very similar to Anon - short for Anonymous, an internet movement or concept of anonymous activists who protest political injustice. They often use a Guy Fawkes mask as a symbol for the movement and as a disguise, which is similar to the mask Amon uses.


 * 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.


 * The red circle on Amon's mask is similar to that of the large red disk highlighting the Flag of Japan, which is meant to represent the dawn of a new era.


 * Amon's outfit bears a resemblance to Dr. Doom, a villain from Marvel comics.


 * 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.


 * "The Revelation" bears similarities to the stories told in Book of Revelation, the final book in the New Testament. Christ must defeat the anti-Christ -a charismatic monster who claims he has been blessed by God- before he destroys the world, similar to how Korra must defeat Amon before he wreaks havoc upon the balance of the Earth.


 * 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.