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| “ | I am the solution. | „ |
| ~ Amon |
Amon is the main antagonist in the first season of Avatar: 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 is 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.
Amon without his mask
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. Amon was also revealed to be a very powerful waterbender and a psychic bloodbender, upon which his unique bending-removal technique had derived.
History
Childhood
Noatak and Tarrlok during their childhood.
Amon was born as Noatak to the former 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
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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.
Amon demonstrating the extent of his power by removing Zolt's bending abilities.
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.
Amon threatening Korra.
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]".
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Amon disrupting the Pro-bending Arena.
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.
Amon nearly effortlessly overcoming the effects of Tarrlok's bloodbending.
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's supposed scar was the fabricated proof to his fictional cover story.
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.
Noatak reunited with his brother, Tarrlok.
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, killing them both. Just before that, Amon shed a tear, perhaps because he knew what was about to happen, and that there was no going back for him.
Trivia
- 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
- 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 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.
- 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.
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