| “ | These airbenders are Earth Kingdom citizens, and I am their queen. Taking them will constitute an act of war. If you disobey me, I will bear down on you with the entire force of my kingdom! | „ |
| ~ Hou-Ting to Korra while rescuing the airbenders. |
Queen Hou-Ting is a major antagonist in Nickelodeon's 2012 animated fantasy series The Legend of Korra. She was the 53rd ruler (circa 150 AG–171 AG) of the Earth Kingdom and the daughter of Kuei, the previous Earth King.
Unlike her father, Hou-Ting took extreme measures to secure her rule while using the kingdom's wealth for her own personal desires. She was also the great-aunt of Prince Wu, whom she subjected to harsh treatment.
She was voiced by Jayne Taini, who also voiced Joan in The Walking Dead: A New Frontier.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Hou-Ting was born after the Hundred Year War ended. She became the ruler of Ba Sing Se, making her the 53rd Earth Monarch. She strongly opposed her father's decision to give Avatar Aang part of the Earth Kingdom to create Republic City, resenting the loss of territory.
During her rule, Hou-Ting exploited her citizens, leaving the Earth Kingdom in disarray. Multiple cities such as Zaofu opposed Earth Queen Hou-Ting's rule, while some citizens such as Mako and Bolin's grandmother Yin continued to support her. After the Harmonic Convergence, Hou-Ting discovered that airbenders had been appearing in Ba Sing Se and commanded the Dai Li to capture them for her personal army.
The Legend of Korra[]
Korra and Team Avatar heard rumors that many new airbenders had been appearing in Ba Sing Se. Believing Earth Queen Hou-Ting could assist them, Korra approached her. Before accepting, Hou-Ting asked Korra to prevent a group of bandits from stealing the taxes. After Korra and Asami fended off the bandits, their leader, Gombo, told them they had sided with the wrong person.
Korra believed Gombo was right. After Korra protected the taxes and brought them to Earth Queen Hou-Ting, she asked for assistance with the search for the airbenders. Hou-Ting stated that the rumors about new airbenders were false. Korra criticized her for extorting her subjects. Hou-Ting commanded Korra to leave the palace, and Korra continued her search without assistance.
The next day, Hou-Ting falsified a report of an airbender outside Ba Sing Se, hoping the Avatar would leave the city. Knowing Hou-Ting was lying about the airbenders, Korra and Asami located the captured airbenders under the Earth Queen's Temple. That night, as Korra, Tenzin, and Bumi attempted to leave with the liberated airbenders, Hou-Ting arrived with the Dai Li, demanding their return because they were Earth Kingdom citizens. She stated that leaving them would be an act of war. Korra refused, and Hou-Ting ordered the Dai Li to attack. Team Avatar escaped, and Hou-Ting became incapacitated due to allergic reactions to Oogi's fur.
Hou-Ting continued trying to create an army of airbenders and hired Bison Rustlers to capture airbenders near the air temples as well as endangered sky bison for her meals.
Zaheer uses airbending on the Earth Queen.
After capturing Mako and Bolin, Zaheer brought them to Earth Queen Hou-Ting, who ordered them imprisoned. She refused Zaheer's demand to surrender Korra until he told her it would cause an international conflict. She learned that the airship holding Korra had been brought down in the desert. After demanding that Zaheer tell her where the airbenders were, she ordered his gang imprisoned. They resisted and defeated the guards, and Zaheer assassinated Earth Queen Hou-Ting by using his airbending to drain the oxygen from her lungs—a technique he called "breathbending."
Hou-Ting's death caused the Earth Kingdom to fall into chaos and anarchy. Bandit gangs rioted in towns and cities throughout the kingdom, and most states suffered from poverty and starvation. The power vacuum left the nation unable to stop the sieges and pillagings.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Her debut episode, "The Earth Queen", bears a near identical resemblance to her father's proper debut episode in Avatar: The Last Airbender, "The Earth King".
- Hou-Ting had an allergy to animal fur and threatened to execute her handlers if an animal came within a few feet of her.
- After her father's death, she ate his pet bear, Bosco, who was one of the few non-hybrid or mythological animals in the Avatar universe after it died. On the show itself, it was just a rumor, but this was confirmed by the creators on the season 3 audio commentary.
- Hou-Ting's assassination is considered the darkest moment in the franchise. However, it is also considered awesome, mainly because it showed how deadly airbending can be despite the peace-loving nature of the Air Nomads.
- Her death scene and the darker tone the remainder of the series takes may have contributed to the series being moved to online streaming.
