Viper

"water"

- Since you're obviously fresh off the boat, let me explain a couple things. You're in Triple Threat Triad territory, and we're about to put you in the hospital.

Viper is the leader of the Triple Threat Triad. He rose to this position in 171 ASC after his predecessor lost his bending abilities. An arrogant and devious man, Viper, along with Two Toed Ping and an earthbender, ran a protection racket in the downtown area of Republic City before becoming a crime boss.

Encountering the Avatar
Viper, along with Two Toed Ping and an earthbender, rode up to Mr. Chung's phonograph shop on the day that Avatar Korra had arrived in Republic City. Upon their arrival at the shop, he demanded the money that Mr. Chung supposedly owed him, to which the shopkeeper replied by stating that his business had been slow lately, and he did not have the money at the time. When Mr. Chung offered one of his phonographs as payment instead, Two Toed Ping destroyed it with a quick kick, to which this waterbending mobster stated that his friend was not a music lover.



Just as Viper was about to threaten Mr. Chung once more, Avatar Korra intervened, causing the Triple Threat Triad members to burst out laughing. The waterbender informed Korra that she was in Triple Threat Triad territory, and that they were about to put her in the hospital. Korra responded by saying that it was they who were about to need a hospital, to which Viper replied by asking Korra, "Who do you think you are?" Immediately afterward, he launched a stream of water from the inside of his jacket, only to have it redirected back at him and frozen around his head by Korra. As the man was stumbling around, Korra kicked him in the head, causing him to smash his frozen head into the front of his Satomobile, shattering the ice and temporarily knocking him out.

A few moments later, after Korra had thrown Two Toed Ping through a nearby shop window, Viper, along with the earthbender, signaled for Two Toed Ping to get into the Satomobile so they could escape the Avatar. As they attempted to drive away, however, Korra earthbent part of the road, and caused the Satomobile to crash into another shop. The waterbending mobster consequently fell out of the Satomobile as the door swung open. A few moments later, the Metalbending Police Force arrived on the scene and arrested the three mobsters.

Double-crossing Mako and Asami
In the course of a year, Viper managed to get out of jail and, after Lightning Bolt Zolt lost his bending to Amon, took over as the triad's leader. It was in this position that he was approached by Mako, who was looking to hire the Triple Threats as muscle on a below radar sting-operation. For his help, Viper was promised by Mako that he would try to convince Korra to restore Shady Shin's waterbending and Asami Sato offered a whole arrange of newly manufactured Future Industries vehicles. Viper accepted the deal, though right after the two teenagers left his headquarters, he was approached by Varrick, who paid him a considerable amount of money just to double cross Mako and Asami and keep them busy.



As such, Viper and some of his men accompanied Mako and Asami on one of Varrick's ships in an attempt to capture the culprits of previous shipments sent by Asami and Varrick. However, as Shady Shin grew restless, Viper explained to him that their current mission would take a few hours as they needed to keep the teenagers busy. When their objectives wanted to leave the ship, Viper and his men attempted to halt their escape, though were knocked back by Mako's firebending. He gave chase to the escaping teenagers in one of the rescue-speedboats. On the water, he used his waterbending in an attempt to stop them, though Asami managed to avoid or otherwise get through his attacks. He eventually managed to cut off Asami's vehicle, trapping hers underneath his, and a one-on-one battle between him and Mako ensued atop the hood of the boat. Viper managed to knock Mako back after several blows, but he was thrown on land and through a door when Asami managed to back her boat out of the trap, swerving away from the coast just in time.

Trivia

 * Michael Yurchak confirmed Viper's name long before it was officially revealed over a year later in "The Sting".