It's no mystery that the new Avatar that fans follow throughout The Legend Of Korra is pretty much the polar opposite of Aang, her predecessor. Tenzin clearly states as much to her whenever she admits that she's never been able to airbend, and he informs her that the hardest element for an Avatar to learn is the one most opposite to their personality.
With these differences come an entirely new set of strengths and weaknesses, and she's actually an incredibly balanced character despite having learned three out of four elements at an incredibly young age. It takes coming out of her shell and finally interacting with others--specifically, her relationships with Tenzin and the other members of Team Avatar--that help her realize and improve on her own shortcomings.
10 STRENGTH: She's One Of The Physically Strongest Characters Shown In The Series
As early as Korra's first appearance as a young child, she's establishing her dominance as an absolute physical powerhouse. Although she hails from the Southern Water Tribe, her personality and combat style are much more similar to that of an Earthbender--incredibly stubborn and headstrong, preferring to solve problems with her fists. If it weren't for all of the technological advancements that had been made since Avatar Aang's time, including giant mech-suits and the use of lightning bending to subdue opponents, she'd be practically unstoppable.
9 WEAKNESS: She Lacks Any Sense Of Patience & Self-Restraint
Korra is an incredibly impatient person who isn't afraid to take matters into her own hands when she feels like she's being treated unfairly. On its own, this isn't necessarily a negative trait, but the Avatar-in-training tends to take this to the extreme, even when it's not called for.
She makes her way to Republic City alone without any knowledge of how cities actually worked and caused trouble for not only herself but the entire city. She destroyed multiple shops and part of an entire road while trying to stop a few petty thugs, and she didn't even know that one needed money to pay for food.
8 STRENGTH: Competition Drives Her Forward & She'll Give Her All To Be The Best
Korra is an incredibly proud person who has no doubt in her own abilities. The first time that she shows true fear is in the face of Amon, and it's mostly because of the fear linked to the thought of having her bending taken away from her.
It doesn't matter who tries to antagonize her, whether it's a group of petty thieves or the leader of the pro-bending reigning champions. Korra isn't afraid to stand up for herself and her own abilities even if it's an area she isn't particularly confident in.
7 WEAKNESS: She Doesn't Quite Grasp How To Navigate Relationships, & Hurts Both Herself & Her Teammates
Korra had lived a pretty sheltered life before coming to Republic City, and she ends up in an incredibly awkward and complicated love square with the first group of friends she does make. It also doesn't help that the person she goes to for love advice, Pema, essentially solidified in her mind that confessing to Mako was a good idea despite him already being in a relationship.
Not only does she choose the worst possible time to confess to him--right before an incredibly important match--but Bolin witnesses the whole thing and has his heart broken as well. Even after the situation was thought to be resolved, it gets brought up again as Asami finds out about the kiss, and all in all, it's a mess that Korra could have avoided.
6 STRENGTH: She's An Incredibly Motivating Cheerleader For Those Close To Her
Korra tends to keep a more positive outlook on life--at least early on--and this extends to wanting to make sure those close to her face challenges with the proper mindset as well. Just after meeting Mako and Bolin, she was cheering for their pro-bending team as if she'd been a long-time fan. She also manages to repair her relationship with Bolin after their falling out involving her feelings for Mako, and she helps him restore confidence in himself as well.
5 WEAKNESS: She Possesses A Dark, Wrathful Side That Is Incredibly Dangerous For Someone In Her Position
One of the main and most challenging roles given to the Avatar is the role of peace-maker. This is a task that even someone as pacifistic as Aang struggled with when contemplating how he was meant to take down the Fire Lord without actually killing him.
Korra is shown to give into her more wrathful, violent side when situations get tough, which is to be expected as she's always been a more physical person. While being held captive and believing that her father was dead, she was dead-set on making sure that not a single person there besides herself would remain standing when she got out.
4 STRENGTH: She Takes Her Duties As The Avatar Seriously & Doesn't Try To Piggyback Off Of Aang's Legacy
It's true that Korra doesn't always know the best or the right thing to do for the citizens of Republic City, but it's also no secret that she always has them in mind while acting as the Avatar. She tries to maintain the balance between the physical realm and the Spirit realm as best she can, and spends a lot of time patching up public relations as well.
Despite having so much on her plate amid confusing teenage feelings, Korra never tries to escape from her Avatar duties. She does her best to bring peace and balance to everyone, which is a huge plus, even if she does end up making mistakes along the way.
3 WEAKNESS: She Has A Pessimistic Side & Can Give Up If Things Don't Come Naturally To Her
Early on in the series, one of Korra's biggest problems is the fact that she lacks patience. This not only comes across in the way she's unable to listen to others and sit still if she feels that she's in the right but also transfers over incredibly hard into her airbending training.
When she can't figure out how to move like an airbender, she tries to force her way through instead and then burns the entire training ground with firebending. She later does this again, and it's a habit of hers to lash out with firebending when she meets resistance in her training, rather than trying to work through it like an air nomad might.
2 STRENGTH: She Won An Incredibly Hard & Realistic Fight Against Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
In the beginning, Korra doesn't struggle whatsoever in the confidence department. It's more accurate to say that she's a little too self-assured, and can't seem to see her own faults even in situations where she's clearly in the wrong. This is entirely flipped on its head in the latter part of the series after Korra barely escapes from Zaheer and develops PTSD.
Mental illness is an incredibly touchy subject in media and something that's easy to portray improperly, but they really do a great job at writing Korra's fear and struggles in a realistic and hard-hitting way. The reason why this is a strength rather than a weakness is that it's something she is eventually able to work through with the proper support, and she comes out of it all the stronger.
1 WEAKNESS: She Can Be Blind To Others' Feelings If She Wants Something Badly Enough
Although Korra's main goal is to put the interests of the people first, she has a hard time removing her own feelings from the situation, especially when the series first begins. Right before one of the most important matches of Mako and Bolin's pro-bending career, Korra confesses to Mako and proceeds to kiss him while knowing full well that he's already in a relationship.
Additionally, whenever her airbending training with Tenzin wasn't going as expected, she went as far as to accuse him of being a terrible teacher. She insisted that maybe she couldn't learn airbending because she didn't need it, instead of stopping to push through her difficulties because it wasn't something she wanted to have to come to terms with.