Avatar Korra was the second Avatar that the franchise followed. Being the Avatar after Aang, Korra was tasked with protecting a world that was progressing toward greater unity and recovery after the Hundred Years War and the tyranny of the Fire Nation. However, in that unified peace, there were other villains who rose to power, who would test Korra to her very limits.
Between Korra and Aang, it's been often asked who is stronger between the two. While there are good arguments for both, there are a lot of reasons that Korra is actually the stronger Avatar
Updated by Kristy Ambrose on January 5th, 2021: It's been a few years since both of the Avatar stories came to a close, with The Last Airbender nearing vintage territory and the "some things haven't aged well" era for The Legend of Korra just beginning. Viewers can still enjoy and compare both of the Avatar sagas for their memorable characters, immersive world-building, compelling storylines, and profound moral lessons. Fans still debate about who is the stronger Avatar— the fierce arguments will always rage on and there will always be more evidence to come up with in support of either side. As one of Avatar Korra's most accomplished teachers might say, "Step aside, Twinkletoes."
15 Metalbending
Metalbending was a skill Toph invented in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Metal is nothing more than a substance made from earth, which she discovered, leading to the new sect of Earthbending. That style had been passed on to her daughters, who then created the Republic City Police Force as well as the metal city of Zaofu.
When Korra traveled to Zaofu, she was taught by one of Toph's daughters how to Metalbend, making her the first Avatar to ever learn the craft. This was a skill that Aang never learned and never seemed to consider to learn due to how new and advanced it was.
14 One Avatar, All Nations
Aang was gone for 100 years, and by the time he had returned the world had either forgotten about the Avatar, assumed that they had not been reborn after the death of Avatar Roku, or was killed when the Fire Nation army wiped out the Air Nomads. The world was deeply fragmented, divided by war and resentment. In a way, this made things easier for Aang as he was able to grow and train in relative obscurity.
By the time Korra was born, the environment was the complete opposite. Aang had built the United Republic and made the Avatar a global public figure. Korra had to grow up in a proverbial fishbowl, under almost constant supervision. The pressure was on Korra to serve and protect each nation from a very early age, a burden that Aang didn't have to bear until much later in life.
13 Spirit Energy Bending
Aang might've learned how to bend the energy within, but Korra learned to bend the energy on the outside. Kuvira and the Earth Empire harvested spirit vines to build a massive spirit energy cannon. This was supposed to be the strongest force in the world, but Korra proved that the Avatar is even stronger.
Receiving a full blast from this cannon, Korra responded by putting her hands out and bending them around her. This type of raw energy could've decimated an entire city and Korra simply stretched out her hands and forced it out of her way. Not even Aang could claim that.
12 Combat Training
Aang was a powerful bender in Avatar: The Last Airbender, but he wouldn't have been such a threat without his bending abilities. The same can't be said for Korra. She was already muscular and well-trained before she got to Republic City. Spending so much of her time training, she learned how to fight without bending, being excellent at hand-to-hand combat.
This made her a contender as a regular person as well as the Avatar, something that Aang couldn't claim of himself. With the help of Asami's top-notch physical training, Korra learned more skills as the series went on, making her a bigger threat.
11 Korra Walks Alone
Korra was separated from the spirit of Raava for a short time in Book 2. This severed her connection with the past Avatar spirits, making her unable to contact her past lives. That's a devastating separation, especially because it was this connection that brought Book 1 to a successful conclusion. However, in the absence of this resource, Korra has to utilize other contacts in both the real world and the Spirit Realm to maintain the balance. She does this very well in respect to the spirits, in particular, with Tenzin's gifted daughter and an air bending master, Jinora, guiding her path.
Avatar Korra also maintains close connections with several other prominent people in leadership positions, and she has to work hard to overcome her own impulsive and blunt nature in order to maintain those relationships. Power isn't always found in force or fighting but in negotiation and diplomacy, and Korra is responsible for more at an earlier age.
10 More Experienced
Before Korra set out on her journey to Republic City, she had received years of training from the Order of the White Lotus. People who were familiar with bending arts were there, teaching her how best to utilize her abilities.
Aang was never this lucky. While he had mastered airbending, he had little combat experience but was forced to fight in the Hundred Years War with Sozin's Comet looming over the world. Korra flat out had much more experience and years to hone her craft while Aang was forced to learn as quickly as possible. It worked out for him in the end, but Korra was still stronger.
9 Water, Earth, & Fire Master
By the time we first meet Korra in The Legend of Korra, she had a mastery of firebending, waterbending, and earthbending. She knew how to use them all in battle and chain certain attacks together. The only element she hadn't mastered was air, which she spent the first season doing with Tenzin.
Compare that to Aang, who had only mastered airbending at the start of Avatar: The Last Airbender. He had to spend the rest of the series learning each different bending art, having no knowledge on how to perform any of those skills. By the time the series ended, he couldn't have been considered a bending expert like Korra.
8 A Target of the Red Lotus
From the time she was born, the Avatar was a target of the Red Lotus. The organization tried to abduct her when she was a child, which was one of the reasons Korra was cloistered at the South Pole for most of her life. Zaheer maintained that it was because they wanted to train her differently, but the truth is they always planned to end her life.
Korra had to start her training as early as possible in order to be able to defend herself from the global militant anarchist organization that was trying to kill her. It was fortunate she was a strong fighter from an early age. The threat of the Red Lotus, which extended to Korra's family as well as herself, hung like a shadow over everything she did until she faced them, and even as a teenager still in training, she defeated them.
7 Pro-Bending
Korra had a bit of a temper, getting frustrated when she couldn't learn certain things and taking it out on others. She eventually found herself an outlet, which involved using her bending in a professional setting. Korra became a pro bender with the Fire Ferrets and competed several times.
This extra training ensured that she would always have to keep her bending skills at their best. This meant that, in her free time, she was constantly training and practicing. Aang's outlets were oriented more toward fun and relaxation. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it would've made him a bit weaker than Korra.
6 Political Experience
Part of the Avatar's responsibility is to bring peace between the physical and spirit worlds. In The Legend of Korra, the advancing technology caused Korra to make public appearances and try to communicate new ideas and thoughts to a wide group of people. She learned how to effectively communicate with people and still decide the right thing in the end.
Aang was decent at keeping the peace, but he had a hard time getting through to some hard-headed people. In the face of massive crowds like Korra dealt with, he might've frozen and been unsure of what to say. Korra's age certainly helped her.
5 Trained by Katara
Katara was the first waterbending master the Southern Water Tribe had seen in a generation. Her skills when she was self-taught were already formidable, and after she was trained by Master Paku in the Northern Water and she was a master in both combat and healing.
Not only did Katara help train Korra in waterbending, but she also mentored Korra as the Avatar and helped to heal her after the harrowing experience with Zaheer. Aang was fortunate to meet Katara when he was young, and Katara did teach Aang waterbending, but she was hardly a master then. Korra, on the other hand, had the benefit of an experienced and wise teacher.
4 Less Restrained
Aang and Korra had different strategies when it came to combat. Aang believed that fighting was a last-resort option. If there were another way to solve a conflict, he would take it. Korra, on the other hand, was always ready to put her fists up. She reasoned that people who were causing trouble deserved to have some trouble caused for them as well.
Her tendency to bend first and ask questions later made her a stronger bender. While Aang learned control and peace, Korra was constantly using her abilities, naturally fighting stronger opponents in the process. That alone would make her a stronger Avatar.
3 Fight Through Chi-Blocking
While Aang was never chi-blocked in Avatar: The Last Airbender, it stands to reason that it likely would've incapacitated him just as it did the rest of the characters in the show. Chi-blocking was a combat style used by Amon's goons in The Legend of Korra. Korra faced a few of these soldiers herself and got chi-blocked mid-fight.
However, a mere chi-blocking move wasn't enough to keep Korra down. She pushed through it and kept fighting with her more able appendages. The most impressive part is that she was still fighting quite well, forcing the chi-blockers to fight at their A-game.
2 Mentored By the Bei Fong Family
Aang was fortunate to have Toph as his earth bending master, especially because he had so much trouble with this element initially. Korra had no such trouble learning how to bend earth but instead had to learn to bend not only metal but the metallic poison that had invaded her body. As Aang did before her, Korra went to the swamp where Toph trained her, but the similarities end there.
By that time, Korra had already been under the guidance of Lin Bei Fong in Republic City, although this was more combat training and detective work than bending. Later, Korra would travel to Zhaofu and learn metal bending from the city's matriarch Suyin, Toph's younger daughter. Even Toph's grandchildren helped the Avatar master metal bending. Whereas Aang was only in contact with Toph, and well before her prime, Korra was trained by the whole Bei Fong clan.
1 Greater Antagonists
Avatar Aang faced powerful people like Long Feng, Azula, and Fire Lord Ozai, but he only completely defeated one of those three. Korra, on the other hand, went up against a rampant bloodbender (much stronger than Hama), a waterbending dictator, the scariest airbender in history, and a metalbending master.
She defeated all four of these opponents by improving her skills and learning something from them. She had to be stronger if she was going to take on these foes. Aang did have an epic battle against Fire Lord Ozai, but it's safe to say that some of Korra's villains were physically stronger than him.