In the Avatar universe, one of the biggest and most talked-about couples is easily Korra and Asami from The Legend of Korra. Despite being an animated series about action, drama, and fantasy, Avatar fans have become truly connected to their favorite fan couples, and it’s fascinating to watch them debate the best romances. Throughout The Legend of Korra, the series seemed to be setting up Avatar Korra with her on-gain-off again boyfriend, Mako. Though he had communication issues and could be a little stoic, he had a protective and gentle heart. However, over time their relationship only became more and more strained. After several break-ups and even more hurt feelings, the pair finally called it quits for good. They loved each other, but it just wasn’t working out.
Over the next few years, a dark horse romance came out of that heartbreak: Korra and Asami. As best friends turned crushes, the pair grew as companions and eventually started to become more. At the end of the series, they were walking off into the sunset together. The couple only got so much screen time, though, so a lot of their relationship is more mysterious than most end-game romances. Sure, there was a comic series about them later, but not every fan had a chance to read through them. There are still a lot of gaps to be filled.
They Were Rivals Turned Lovers
Asami and Korra weren’t always fans of each other, and the pair are one of the best enemies-to-lovers couples in television. Asami and Korra first met through Mako. At the time, both women were interested in the lawful firebender. Asami was dating him, and Korra was in the flirty friendzone. Over the course of the next year or so, he flip-flopped between them depending on his mood. It was a harrowing experience between the three, to say the least.
During that time, though, Asami and Korra learned a lot about one another and even became very close friends. Once they both had officially moved on from Mako, they started to see attractive qualities in one another. As time went on, Korra and Asami fell in love, finding great support and companionship in each other.
Asami Fell In Love First
In The Legend of Korra, the first three books take place over the course of a year, and book four has a three-year time jump. In the first year, Korra and Asami struggled through their feelings with Mako more than their feelings with one another.
When Korra got poisoned with mercury in one of the most rewatchable episodes of Legend of Korra, she went back to the South Pole, leaving her friends behind. Through letters and time, Asami realized that she had feelings for Korra and wanted to tell her, but she knew that Korra already had to deal with her own recovery, so she didn’t. That didn’t stop Asami from complimenting and keeping Korra close the second she got back, however.
They Lived Together Before Dating
Throughout Korra’s Team Avatar run, the group was in near-constant danger. Depending on the threat, they tended to stick together and stick to one place. When Asami’s father turned out to be an Equalist, Bolin, Mako, and Asami went to live with Korra on Air Temple Island. There, they were safer and more sheltered from Amon’s people.
Though Asami and Korra didn’t fall in love while they were living together, this time was paramount in helping the two women grow close. While bonding, they learned how to support one another and grew to be friends, closer friends than even Korra and the brothers.
Korra Was Initially Intimidated By Asami
When Korra first met Ms. Sato, it was as Mako’s surprise girlfriend after Mako rejected her advances. She was gorgeous, rich, and cool. Of course, the young Avatar felt intimidated by Asami. She may not be an all-powerful Avatar, but she was everything Korra wasn’t: extra feminine, charismatic, and polished.
Obviously, the pair eventually discovered the commonalities between them, and Korra grew comfortable around Asami. After Asami was kind enough to show off her family’s awesome racetrack that Korra loved, her tone changed. She was happy to admit that her assumptions were wrong. That doesn’t change the fact their relationship started off rather frosty, though.
They Learned To Be Best Friends First
Because of the age range of the heroes in The Legend of Korra, characters rush in and out of relationships fairly quickly. After all, they are just teenagers for most of the series.
However, against the status quo, Asami and Korra took a long time with their relationship. They spent a lot of quality time together, wrote years’ worth of letters, and supported each other through thick and thin. Asami became the Avatar’s best friend long before she became her girlfriend. For these two strong women, the progression worked for them and helped build a great foundation for their romantic relationship.
Asami Taught Korra To Drive
Korra may arguably be a more successful Avatar than Aang, but she isn’t good at everything. Understandably, driving isn’t a top priority among the Water Tribes. They simply don’t have the infrastructure that larger cities and nations have. Ergo, when Korra went to Republic City, she didn’t know how to drive. Instead, she uses her polar bear dog, Naga, to get places, but it’s not exactly inconspicuous.
Luckily for Korra, Asami Sato is a driving pro. Throughout her life, she’s practiced racing, motorbiking, and all manners of driven transportation. She happily steps in to help the Avatar learn how to drive. However, despite Asami’s good teachings, Korra is still easily the worst driver of the bunch.
Enemies Of The Avatar Tried To Use Asami Against Her
Despite the couple’s best attempts to keep their relationship out of the public eye, their closeness doesn’t go unnoticed. After they start dating, the residual chaos in the Earth Nation starts to bubble. In a time of tension, mobs take their opportunity. Tokuga, the new leader of the Triple Threat Triad, decides to abduct Asami to try to force the Avatar’s hand. After all, if she retaliates, they’ll just hurt her girlfriend.
Unfortunately for them, Asami is no damsel in distress. She manages to break free, disarm many of Tokuga’s men, and hijack their airship. It seems like stealing the Avatar’s girlfriend is a pretty terrible idea.
They Have Similar Tastes In Men
Korra and Asami have only been linked to one other person: Mako. For a whole year, the two women battled with their feelings for the firebender. Stoic and brooding, he’s every teen girl’s dream tough guy with a handsome face. They appreciated his protectiveness, his rare tenderness, and his loyalty.
However, his controlling nature wore on both of them. As highly independent people, they grew tired of him making decisions because “it was what was best for them.” They had the same taste in men, but eventually, they found a stronger attraction to the independent, supportive woman at their side.
Asami Is The First Non-Bender On Korra’s Team
As far as Avatars go, they certainly seem to attract abandoned/orphaned siblings. Aang had Katara and Sokka, while Korra had Mako and Bolin. Also similarly, there seems to always be one non-bender in the main quad of friends. Both Sokka and Asami joined the Avatar’s side, despite not having any bending powers of their own. That didn’t stop them from having some of the best fighting abilities of any characters on Legend of Korra.
Asami’s mechanical knowledge, driving skills, and hand-to-hand combat prowess have shown themselves invaluable time and time again. Without an element to bend, she still does great work in helping Team Avatar accomplish its goals.
Korra Ruined Asami’s Relationship
While it’s not Korra’s fault that she got in the middle of Asami and Mako’s relationship, her existence is why their relationship eventually crumbled. After all, Mako’s growing attraction and adoration of the Avatar is exactly why he and Asami broke up the first time.
It’s very likely that they would have broken up anyway because of incompatibilities, but his conflicted feelings were a driving force. If Korra wasn’t around, maybe they could have worked things out. Ultimately, Korra really put the nail in the coffin when she and Asami fell in love. After all, Mako can’t be with either of them if they’re together.
They Tell Each Other Their Problems
One of the biggest failures of Korra’s relationship with Mako, and most people in general, is poor communication. Whether it be on both ends or just hers, she does have an issue with opening up to people and being her most honest, authentic self.
Over time, that changes with Asami. Though they are hesitant to talk about their romantic feelings at first, Asami becomes the only person Korra can tell her deepest fears and secrets to. Despite the fact that she once loved being the Avatar, Korra first turns to Asami when she considers retiring from the role. This aspect of their relationship is one of the most important reasons why Korra and Asami work so well together.
Mako Approved Of Their Relationship
As the guy who dated both Korra and Asami, Mako is obviously impacted when they reveal that they’re dating. Though he is initially surprised and he seems a bit uncomfortable with the whole thing, Mako really just wants both women to be happy. He did love them, so he just wants what’s best for them, even if it’s not him. This is almost entirely the summary of his and Korra’s breakup.
He just never expected them to move on and date each other. Understandably, that’s a curveball that he needed a bit of time to process.
Korra Rejected Taking Asami To The South Pole
After the Red Lotus poisoned Korra with mercury, she decided to return to the South Pole to heal. The people of the Water Tribe, particularly Katara and her daughter, Kya are the best healers.
When Korra announced this, Asami wanted to go with her. The Avatar vehemently disagreed and tried to reassure Asami, saying that she wouldn’t be gone long. However, she left for three whole years to heal. If it weren’t for letters, Asami would have lost any sense of how Korra was doing. Though she barred Asami from going because she didn’t want her to see that she was so weak, she probably could have used her best friend’s support.
They Vacationed To The Spirit World
Between saving the world multiple times, having to heal from mercury poisoning, and all the various traumas that came with that, Korra needed a vacation. After Zhu Li and Varrick’s wedding, she planned to head into the Spirit World and just explore it for a little while. With a smile on her face, she invited Asami.
During their vacation, they finally gave in to the romantic feelings that had been growing between them. They started dating, kissed, held hands, and did things that normal couples did. For both women, it was a revolutionary comfort to be able to enjoy their love without the threat of the world falling apart around them.
Asami Almost Wrote To Korra About Her Feelings
Over the three years of Korra’s recovery, Asami began to understand her feelings for her better and better. In her absence, Ms. Sato missed her, wanted to comfort her, and wished they could be together. Being together just made life feel better.
However, Asami knew that Korra had enough on her plate since she had to ultimately recover from acute mercury poisoning. Though she wanted to confess her feelings, she wanted to comfort her friend more than anything else. No matter how much she wanted to tell Korra, she kept her feelings to herself. Once they were alone and safe again, she happily shared her affections.
They Quickly Confessed Their Love To One Another
There’s a bit of a confusing dynamic when it comes to falling in love with a best friend. Though the romantic feelings are new and elating, that comfortable closeness and bond are already there. This can sometimes accelerate a relationship.
For Korra and Asami, this was exactly the case. They finally started dating, spent a few blissful weeks together, spent a few harrowing weeks apart, and then they confessed their love to one another. All of it might have seemed a little fast, but these women already knew and loved each other. They just needed to grow the romantic side of it before they could be madly, openly in love.
Asami Took Care Of Korra When She Was In Danger And Ill
Whenever Korra was in danger or sick, Asami did everything in her power to help her get better. With mercury poisoning, it was offering her letters, her friendship, and her support, even if it had to be from far away. During Asami’s relationship with Mako, she didn’t get in his way when it came to caring for Korra, even though she knew that he was falling deeper in love with the Avatar because of it.
Whether she thought of Korra as her lover or her friend, Asami always made caring for her a high priority. For a hero who struggles with caring about her own safety, that’s important for her to have someone in her life who is always looking out for her.
Both Are Known For Being Very Intense
While Korra and Asami do have a lot of conflicting traits, they line up perfectly when it comes to ideals and world views. Both women are very intense, heroic people who want to help others any way they can. They’re both blunt, which comes from their intensity. However, this works for their relationship and helps them communicate effectively.
Though other people might be surprised by how passionate, serious, and intense they can be, they match each other in that fire. Finding an equal to love is a great and powerful thing, especially for the Avatar. It’s pretty easy to feel isolated.
Asami Didn’t Want Their Relationship To Be Public
When Korra tells her parents that she and Asami are in a relationship, her father supports her privately but asks her to keep it quiet publicly. After all, Water Tribe laws didn’t quite agree with it. Despite not agreeing with his reasoning, Asami does agree that she doesn’t want to go public.
Asami wanted to keep her love with the Avatar to herself for a little while longer. She also wanted to avoid scrutiny or threats while the Earth Nation was still in some political unrest. Though Korra didn’t like it, they tried to keep things quiet for a while. That is until Asami got hurt in battle and her girlfriend couldn’t help but kiss her, of course.
They Started Dating When The Series Ended
Korra and Asami’sending up together is one of the plot endings that fans have considered perfectly in character for the two. While The Legend of Korra is very much its own series, it does take notes from its predecessor when it came to finding friends with siblings, highlighting the awesomeness of non-benders, and, of course, ending the series on a happily ever after.
When Aang’s story ended, the last shot of the series had him kissing his beloved, Katara, as they started their lives as a couple. Similarly, The Legend of Korra ended with Korra and Asami gazing lovingly at each other at the Spirit World portal, ready to move forward together. For two series full of action, disputes, and character growth, it’s a sweet note to end on, as every fan wants to see the Avatar live their happily ever after with the person they love most.
Asami Supported Korra At Her Worst
Since the Avatar has the job of bringing balance and peace to the entire world, it’s understandable that it can wear down any Avatar. In the case of Korra, it sometimes frustrated her to no end and made her doubt her ability to carry out the role. From poisoning to politics, to contemplating retirement, this Avatar seriously questioned her aptitude and capabilities when it came to saving everyone.
Throughout all of these struggles, though, Asami stayed by her side. Even when Korra was irrational, horribly insecure, or stubborn, Ms. Sato supported her and made sure she had someone to rely on no matter what.
Their First Kiss Was Among Spirits
When Asami agreed to go to the Spirit World with Korra, the pair had an understanding that this would take their relationship to a new level. Before they walked through the portal, though, they hadn’t even kissed yet.
Once they’re in the spirit world, it doesn’t take long before the couple starts to enjoy their new feelings. They explore places they haven’t been to before, have romantic picnics, and, for the first time, they lock lips. There’s nothing more romantic than being all alone somewhere and spending time with your significant other. It must have been one great first kiss.
Korra Only Wrote Asami During Her Mercury Poisoning
The Red Lotus contains several of the best villains from Legend of Korra, and they severely injured the Avatar, even though she ultimately beat them. After their altercation, the Avatar ended up wheelchair-bound, disconnected from the Avatar cycle, and saturated with mercury. She traveled back to the South Pole to work with the best healers and get better.
As weeks turned into months and those turned into years, she was sent letters from all of the people who loved her. The only one she ever really replied to, though, was Asami. While she loved the boys, she couldn’t bring herself to tell them about how things weren’t going well and how much she was in pain. She felt like Asami was the only person she could talk to.
They Have Conflicting Opinions About Asami’s Father
In the first season of The Legend of Korra, one of the biggest hurdles and/or twists that Team Avatar ran into was the revelation that Asami’s father, Hiroshi Sato, was one of Amon’s Equalists. Asami and the rest of her friends fled and found refuge on Air Temple Island. During his time with Amon, Hiroshi said many hurtful things to Asami because of her involvement with the Avatar. After the Equalists were disbanded, Mr. Sato was jailed.
Despite all that he’d done, Asami still visited his cell and hoped that there was still good in him. However, Korra thought otherwise. Though they disagreed, Korra didn’t get in Asami’s way and they reconciled before he perished while trying to help save his daughter.
Asami Stopped Korra From Retiring
Once Kuvira was defeated and the spirits were in balance again, Korra had time to reflect and enjoy time with her loved ones. While sitting quietly with Asami, they discussed the role of the Avatar and all that she had done with the title. Less cocky than when she first came to Republic City, Korra wondered if she should retire and let the world figure out things on its own.
Though Asami agreed that she needed a rest, she urged Korra to remain connected to her identity and her role. After all, no one else in the world could do the things she did. Furthermore, despite any trouble she had caused, she also did a lot of good, too.
