Popular animated series, The Legend of Korra tells the story of Avatar Korra, who has the ability to bend all four elements. During her journey, Korra faces much political unrest and terrorist attacks that she has to overcome to maintain balance in the world.
Similar to its predecessor Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra has a complex number of antagonists who appear over the many seasons of the series. While the appearances of some villains are short, some are here to stay for a long time. Regardless of the number of appearances, all of these villains have made an impressive impact on the storyline.
10 Ghazan
Ghazan is one of the antagonists in Book 3 of The Legend of Korra series. As a member of the anarchist terrorist group, Red Lotus, Ghazan is an expert earthbender and is deemed as an extremely dangerous criminal. During the series, Ghazan is also successful in kidnapping Korra, however, she is saved by Lin. While Ghazan is an earthbender, he also has the ability to lavabend, which makes him the second non-Avatar capable of such ability.
Ghazan was the village during the Book Three: Change series of The Legend of Korra. Not wanting to go back to prison, Ghazan committed suicide by making the cave he was in fall apart.
9 Tarrlok
Tarrlok is introduced as the manipulative and cunning antagonist of The Legend of Korra series. A member of the United Republic Control, Tarrlok is ambitious and wishes to hold great power in the future. To achieve his goal, Tarrlok is willing to do anything and tries to hide his ancestry. While Tarrlok appeared only in Book One, his presence was impactful and set the pace for the entire series.
Tarrlok made his appearance in Book One: Air of The Legend of Korra series. He is the first character in the series to commit murder-suicide.
8 Amon
Charismatic and mysterious, Amon is introduced as the leader of an anti-bender revolutionary group known as the Equalists. While he portrayed himself as a propagator against a person's bending abilities, it is later revealed that Amon's real name is Noatak, a waterbender and the son of the escaped crime boss, Yakone.
Amon is introduced as the main antagonist of Book One: Air but is remembered by the main characters throughout the series. Amon's ability as a fighter along with his scheming mind is a strong factor why he remained in the memory of others even after his death.
7 Ming-Hua
Imprisoned for thirteen years, Ming-Hua is rescued by Zaheer and Ghazan from the prison to fulfill their goal of defeating the Avatar. An expert waterbender, Ming-Hua does not have arms, however, she has created two tentacle-like waterarms to support her. These waterarms are a great strength to Ming-Hua as she has the ability to extend them and attack her enemies from a distance. Despite her laid-back nature, Ming-Hua is extremely agile during battles.
Ming Hua made her first appearance in Book Three: Change. During her battle with Mako, Ming-Hua was killed after getting electrocuted.
6 P'Li
P'Li is a powerful female antagonist of The Legend of Korra series and is skilled with the ability to firebend. Along with her boyfriend, Zaheer, P'Li is a member of the Red Lotus and wishes to get rid of the four nations and the Avatar. P'Li also possesses the rare ability to combustionbend, which allows her to produce a concentrated, destructive beam of heat from her forehead that causes a powerful explosion.
P'Li made her first appearance in Book Three: Change and was later killed in the series by Suyin. However, P'Li has made a short appearance in Book Four: Balance.
5 Unalaq
Unalaq is introduced as the uncle of the main protagonist, Korra. However, under the pretense of helping Korra, Unalaq hid his dark and ambitious side. Unalaq's main objective while training Korra was to unleash the dark and powerful spirit. Since he wishes to restore the spiritual balance in the world, Unalaq is ready to betray and kill anyone who comes in between his path towards his goal.
Unalaq made his first appearance in Book Two: Spirits, where he served as one of the main antagonists along with Vaatu. He was also a posthumous overarching antagonist in Book Three: Change.
4 Hiroshi Sato
Hiroshi Sato is one of the major non-bending antagonists from The Legend of Korra series. A member of the anti-bender revolutionary group, Equalists, Sato later becomes one of their most recognizable leaders. As an industrialist and founder of Future Industries, Sato is mainly responsible for creating high-tech weapons that the Equalists used to fight against the benders.
Sato was introduced in Book One: Air of The Legend of Korra series. He later reappeared in Book Four: Balance, where he sacrificed his life to take down the enormous mecha suit and its spirit cannon.
3 Desna And Eska
Desna and Eska are the cousins of the main protagonist, Korra, and the twin children of Unalaq. Because of their loyalty towards their father, Desna and Eska has a high distaste for other people, especially the Southern Water Tribe. While Desna and Eska are not one of the major villains of the series, they act according to the wishes of their father for the most part but later realize that their father is evil and unredeemable.
Desna and Eska have had frequent appearances in The Legend of Korra series. They made their first appearance in Book Two: Spirits and were also present in Book Three: Change and Book Four: Balance.
2 Kuvira
A courageous and strong-minded soldier, Kuvira is introduced as the main antagonist during the fourth season of The Legend of Korra. Kuvira is a master metalbender who was raised and trained by Suyin Beifong after her parents had abandoned her. To make her nation great again, Kuvira dissolved the Earth Kingdom and made herself the leader of the Earth Empire. Kuvira's confidence in her abilities along with her strength as a fighter made her a feared antagonist in the series.
Kuvira debuted in Book Three: Change of The Legend of Korra series. However, she was the main antagonist in Book Four: Balance.
1 Zaheer
Zaheer is a major recurring antagonist of The Legend of Korra series. A martial arts expert, Zaheer leads the Red Lotus and believes in a world where there are no four nations or an Avatar. To achieve his dreams of creating a new order, Zaheer raises chaos when he kills Earth Queen and even attempts to assassinate Avatar Korra while she was in her Avatar state.
Zaheer was first introduced in Book Three: Change, and he remained as the main antagonist of the series till Book Four: Balance. During his appearances, Zaheer's staunch beliefs as the head of the anarchist movement remained strong and caused several conflicts with the other characters.