| “ | Years apart only made my love for you stronger. And deep down I knew you would find a way to get me out. Just like you saved me from becoming that warlord's killing machine when I was a girl. You've shown me what true freedom means. | „ |
| ~ P'Li as she thanks Zaheer for saving her. |
P'Li is a supporting antagonist of The Legend of Korra, the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, serving as one of the secondary antagonists of Book 3: Change.
She is the lover of Zaheer, and a vicious assassin who serves as a lieutenant of the Red Lotus, a group of individuals who are currently pursuing Avatar Korra. She has similar abilities to Combustion Man from the predecessor series.
She was voiced by Kristy Wu.
History[]
Past[]
When P'Li was a young girl, she met and fell in love with Zaheer when he saved her from becoming a killing machine for a warlord, joining the Red Lotus afterwards. P'Li, along with Zaheer, Ghazan, and Ming-Hua, attempted to kidnap Korra with Unalaq when she was a young girl, until they were defeated by Tonraq, Sokka, Zuko, and Tenzin and were betrayed by Unalaq. They were each placed in individual prisons built to dampen their bending abilities, and when questioned as to their motive for kidnapping Korra, none of them gave answers. In order to avoid suspicion as a member of the Red Lotus, Unalaq aided in the construction of P'Li's prison in the Northern Water Tribe.
The Legend of Korra[]
| “ | I've waited thirteen years to feel this warm. | „ |
| ~ P'Li firebending after 13 years in prison |
P'Li while in her prison cell
Previously detained in a Northern Water Tribe prison, her comrades; Zaheer, Ghazan, and Ming-Hua, managed to bust her out. They also successfully overwhelmed Zuko, Tonraq, Desna, and Eska. She and Zaheer then shared a passionate kiss, much to the discomfort of Ghazan.
After the group's reunion, she proves to be a dangerous enemy, her combustion appearing far more accurate and deadly than that of Combustion Man's. When the group is escaping Republic City, she is seen taking out police cars with explosions, and when the group discovers Korra is in Zaofu, she displays that she can even shoot her combustion around corners. However, Bolin temporarily disables her combustion by hitting her third eye with a small pebble. When Zaheer tells P'Li, Ghazan and Ming-Hua about Korra staying at the Misty Palms Inn, she orders Ghazan and Ming-Hua to go capture Korra while she insists on staying behind with the airbender and watching his physical body while he is in the Spirit World.
When the Red Lotus attacks the Northern Air Temple, she is the only one who remains on the airship, scaring off the bison, trapping the airbenders at her mercy and almost killing Kai while he is distracting her. She also ushers the airbenders into the airship (possibly alongside, Zaheer, Ghazan, and Ming-Hua (who possible retrieved the unconscious Bumi & Kya), while chaining the hostages up in platinum handcuffs) and takes them to their hideout and turns them over to the Red Lotus sentries, she then reports back to Zaheer, telling them that the airbenders have been secured and then she and Zaheer share one last kiss before heading out to get Korra. When Korra gives herself up to the Red Lotus, she chains Korra in platinum cuffs, telling her she can't metalbend out of them.
P'Li's death.
She dies shortly after trying to kill Lin, when Suyin encases her head in metal armor, causing her combustion to backfire blowing herself up offscreen, much to Zaheer's horror and sadness. However, with P'Li's death, Zaheer was finally free from all earthly attachments and allowed him to unlock Guru Laghima's unique ability to fly without using bending. He hoped to avenge P'Li by finishing their plans, but he failed and was arrested while his other friends were killed as well.
Abilities[]
- Firebending: Despite relying mostly on her combustionbending, P'Li was a skilled combatant and a powerful firebender, having been able to easily disperse a fire blast from a dragon using traditional firebending and generate her own fire when she battled Mako in Bolin while trying to capture Korra in Zaofu.
- Combustionbending: P'Li was also a combustionbender, capable of producing a concentrated, destructive beam of heat from her forehead which, upon impact, could cause a powerful explosion that would demolish most targets. She also use the technique with relative ease, firing several beams in succession to subdue multiple opponents and hitting targets at great distances with considerable accuracy. She was also the only known user of the technique capable of curving her blasts, enabling her to effectively strike from various angles and directions. However, despite P'Li's precision, like any combustionbender, a single strike to her forehead would temporarily disrupt her ability to focus her chi and combustionbend (though she was intelligent enough to not try and bend with her chi blocked).
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- P'Li is one of the few antagonists in the series known to have a tragic backstory, the others are Amon, Tarrlok and Kuvira.
- P'Li is the tallest female character in The Legend of Korra, and the second tallest female character in the entire franchise (second only to Avatar Kyoshi).
- P'Li is the only member of her group not to have an archenemy.
- In "The Guru", Guru Pathik had stated that the Light Chakra is located in the forehead, where Combustion Man and P'Li's tattoos that creating their combustion bending from. This would imply that they were able to use this bending by overcoming Illusion and focusing on Insight, just as Toph invented metal bending.
