Kuvira

"I'd like to make an announcement to the world: the Earth Kingdom is no more. And from here on out, this man has no authority. I have created a new Earth Empire, and I will continue to lead it into the future myself, bringing about a new era of prosperity for my people. And let me assure my fellow leaders of one thing: anyone who crosses our borders or stands in our way will be crushed!"

- Kuvira's warning at Wu's coronation ''

Kuvira, known as "The Great Uniter", by her supporters, is the main antagonist 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.

The Metal Clan
Kuvira began her life in the Metal Clan when Suyin took her under her wing as a child, and raised her like a daughter. She became 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 Army
During the three-year timeskip between Book 3 and Book 4, the world leaders turned to Suyin to restore order to the Earth Kingdom, but she declined on the grounds that she did not want to impose her ideals on the nation. Kuvira, however, quickly seized the opportunity, forming a rift between herself and Suyin. Kuvira then left Zaofu along with Baatar Jr., Suyin's eldest son.

Both Kuvira and Baatar Jr. went on a mission to unite the Earth Kingdom 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.

The Earth Empire
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 Wu's inaugural 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, metalbending the Kyoshi medal of freedom given to her by Wu for emphasis. 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, sending her to go speak with Kuvira on their behalf. 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, stating it was now his number one priority.

Invading Zaofu
With Zaofu as the last remaining territory that had not yet been united with the rest of the Earth Empire, she gathered her army and marched on her former home. However, with the other world leaders watching her closely, she wanted to make the attempt to negotiate with Suyin using her trust in Bolin. Meanwhile, Varrick was experimenting with the spirit vines to create a superweapon, but the energy from the vine caused an explosion, and the engineer resolved to put a stop to the project. Kuvira responded by threatening to kill him, to which he agreed to continue the research. Bolin attempted to convince Suyin that Kuvira only wanted the best for the world, but Opal brought up that Kuvira throws dissenters into prison camps. Suyin makes it clear that she will not hand over Zaofu, and Kuvira gives her a day's warning before she takes the city by force.

During this time, Korra arrived in Zaofu and attempted to reason with Kuvira, informing her that her methods were wrong. Kuvira responded by telling her how hard the decisions she had to make were, and Korra admitted that she knew the feeling, resolving to talk things over with Suyin once more before an official siege began.

Soon after, Bolin posed a lot of questions to Kuvira regarding her methods, to which she responded by threatening him. Bolin joined Varrick and Zhu Li in deserting the army, but Baatar Jr. caught up to the trio and arrested them. Kuvira sentenced all three of them to a correctional facility, but at this point, Zhu Li turned on Varrick and pledged her loyalty to the warlord. Kuvira decided to give her one more chance, but left the other two deserters to their punishment.

Later that night, Suyin and her twin sons attempted to sneak into Kuvira's camp to assassinate her, but they were discovered when they unwittingly attacked Zhu Li while she was asleep. Kuvira knew she would try a sneak attack and held them hostage, informing the Zaofu citizens that Suyin violated the negotiation. The next morning, Korra attempted to negotiate peacefully with Kuvira one last time, but she instead proposed a duel, stating that the victor could do as they wished with Zaofu.

The warlord proved to be more than a match for the Avatar, until she entered the Avatar State, leaving her opponent dazed. Just as she was about to land the finishing blow on Kuvira, she began hallucinating Anti-Korra in Kuvira's place, and collapsed. Kuvira restrained her, but just as she was about to kill her, Opal and Jinora, who were observing the battle, interfered. The warlord sent her army to attack Zaofu, and even after Jinora called her siblings for reinforcement, they could not win, and were forced to escape with Korra in tow.

After the battle, Kuvira declared herself victorious, becoming the new ruler of Zaofu. She announced to the citizens that anyone who did not bow before her would be imprisoned along with Suyin and her sons. The only ones who refused were Baatar and Huan, who were immediately arrested. Meanwhile, Baatar Jr. had witnessed the apparent deaths of Bolin and Varrick, as well as the destruction of the spirit vine machinery, but he was certain that he could resume the research with the help of Zhu Li. Kuvira agreed to this, and ordered the dismantling of Zaofu's domes.

Trivia

 * Kuvira is voiced by Zelda Williams, daughter of the late Robin Williams.
 * Kuvira is the first main Legend of Korra villain to be female.
 * Kuvira is the first main antagonist of Legend of Korra to be introduced in the preceding book and the second in the franchise after Azula.