Equalists

"URN"

- Are you tired of living under the tyranny of benders? Then join the Equalists! For too long, the bending elite of this city have forced non-benders to live as lower class citizens! Join Amon and together we will tear down the bending establishment!

The Equalists were an organization of radical revolutionaries, led by Amon, that operated within Republic City. They opposed the use of bending, which they saw as inherently oppressive and unfair, and sought to equalize society through its elimination. Because of this, the Equalist movement was occasionally referred to as the "anti-bending revolution".

Equalist fighters were known for employing chi blocking as a means to counteract bending and its advantages. Adept at using long-range weapons to restrain and immobilize their enemies, the Equalists utilized a selection of tools and equipment, including smoke grenades, electrified gloves, and motorcycles.

Formation porn is something isnt it?
After fleeing the Northern Water Tribe in 144 ASC, Noatak, the waterbending son of the crime lord Yakone, developed a strong hatred toward all benders due to having a troubled childhood under his father's influence. He believed that benders were the cause of all evil in the world. At some point, Noatak used makeup to appear scarred, donned a mask to hide his identity, and assumed the alias of Amon. He claimed to have been born on a farm to a family of non-benders, that he was a non-bender himself, and that he developed strong feelings of hatred and revenge after his parents' supposed murder at the hands of a firebender. He also claimed that he was chosen by the spirits to bring balance to the world, as the Avatar had failed in doing so. The anti-bending movement began recruiting adepts who had been oppressed, wronged or otherwise had developed hatred for bending, and the Equalists eventually became a formidable group within Republic City.

Psychological impact on Avatar Korra


The Equalists and their leader had made a profound impression on the Avatar, as Korra had nightmares about being attacked by them after witnessing their skill at the rally. When Korra later aided a special task force led by Councilman Tarrlok to raid a secret underground training facility in the Dragon Flats borough, an Equalist ambushed her when she was in pursuit of two trainees. However, Korra managed to evade his attack and immobilized him by bending a rock straight into his stomach. A second Equalist member was frozen to the wall when Tarrlok came to Korra's rescue. The raid resulted in the defeat and capture of four Equalist members.

At the ensuing press conference, Korra challenged Amon to a duel on Aang Memorial Island at midnight, without the presence of the task force or the chi blockers. However, it appeared as though Amon did not hold up his end of the deal as midnight passed without his appearance. Korra, believing he did not turn up, started to return home. However, as she did so, several Equalists ambushed the Avatar and quickly overpowered and immobilized her. It was only then that Amon emerged from the shadows and explained part of his plan to eradicate all benders. Knocking Korra out cold, but without doing further damage, the Equalists left her in the island's museum.

Attack on the Pro-bending Arena


Amon later demanded the shutdown of the Pro-bending Arena before the sport's championship match, but the United Republic Council did not agree to this. As a result, the Equalists disguised themselves in the arena and waited for their moment. After the match, they sprang into action, electrifying several members of the Metalbending Police Force who were present on security detail, Tenzin, Lin Beifong, and the Fire Ferrets. As they appeared on the playing field, the still present White Falls Wolfbats attacked them, but Amon easily evaded their attacks and took their bending away. The Equalists kept the arena secured as Amon declared war on all the benders, before blowing up the playing field. As they escaped on their airship, Korra came after them. With a little help of Lin, she managed to knock some Equalists off the cables suspended underneath the airship, but was soon knocked off herself. A fight ensued on the arena's roof between Korra and Lin against four Equalists, among whom the Lieutenant. Lin immobilized two of them with her metalbending and Korra knocked out the other one and even threw the Lieutenant off the roof, but Amon and the remainder of his cronies escaped.

Battle at the Equalist factory


In the aftermath of the attack, the Equalists framed the head of Cabbage Corp by planting evidence in the factory indicating that Cabbage Corp was responsible for the manufacturing of the electrified gloves. This action was a decoy to lead the authorities away from Future Industries where Hiroshi Sato was working on a new weapon for the Equalists, the mecha tanks. However, Korra overheard him on the phone and together with Tenzin, Lin, and several officers, they discovered a hidden factory where several of the tanks were already operational. Hiroshi had set up a trap for them and used them as a test run for the new machines. They proved to be a great success and the Equalists manage to take several police officers hostage. Korra, Tenzin, and Lin managed to keep out of their clutches, however, due to the interference of Asami who took out her father and the Lieutenant, allowing Mako and Bolin to carry them out.

Sometime after the discovery of Hiroshi Sato's secret factory, an Equalist raiding party instigated a jailbreak of chi blockers and sympathetic inmates to the cause. However, after a daring pursuit by Team Avatar, the getaway of Equalist raiders and the escaped convicts was thwarted and they were handed over to the Metalbending Police Force to be imprisoned.

Korra's kidnapping


When Korra was kidnapped by Tarrlok, the councilman blamed the incident on the Equalists. Team Avatar, Tenzin and Lin infiltrated an underground Equalist prison, where Lin found her officers but was too late to save their bending abilities. Mako aggressively interrogated an Equalist guard about Korra's whereabouts, where the guard revealed that they weren't responsible for the Avatar's kidnapping. Tenzin figured out that Tarrlok was behind the kidnapping, and the group successfully escaped the underground compound to confront him.

Amon personally led a small team of Equalists to Tarrlok's mountain hideout to "equalize" the disgraced councilman and capture Korra. Tarrlok easily subdued the Lieutenant and the henchmen with bloodbending, but Amon, with some struggle, resisted its effects. Amon backed Tarrlok into a wall and took away his bending. While Amon carried him to the truck, the rest of the team went to capture Korra with Amon warning them not to underestimate her. However the Avatar outsmarted them and successfully evaded Amon's pursuit.

Attack on Republic City


On the eve of an emergency meeting called by Councilman Tenzin, the Equalists advanced their plans and captured all of the council members. Tenzin successfully evaded capture due to his mastery of airbending, solely becoming the leader of the city.

At this point, the Equalists began their attack on the city starting with the bombardment of buildings and establishments from their airships. Utilizing their mecha tanks, the Equalists took over the police headquarters and captured the remaining officers of the Metalbending Police Force, including Chief Saikhan. They moved forward with their attack by invading Air Temple Island. Though successful at repelling the attackers, Tenzin and his family were forced to evacuate the city, leaving both the island and the city as a whole under Equalist control.

A division of the United Forces, led by General Iroh, arrived to retake Republic City, however the Equalists were aware of their impending arrival. To this end, Hiroshi Sato created biplanes to destroy the fleet of battleships. General Iroh was the only known person who escaped the first attack on the United Forces.

It was later revealed by Tarrlok that Amon was his brother, and shared his waterbending and bloodbending talents. Korra and Mako realized that the Equalist revolution was a lie, and went to the Pro-bending Arena to expose Amon at his rally.



After Amon successfully held the city from the United Forces, he went to the Pro-Bending Arena to conduct his rally. However, Korra and Mako arrived in disguise and revealed that Amon was a waterbender and a bloodbender. In order to end all suspicions against him, he removed his mask, revealing scar marks. Korra and Mako attempted to leave, but Amon revealed Tenzin and his three children tied up to posts, and proceeded to try to take their bending away. He was knocked back by Mako's lightning, and the Equalists around him were knocked out. After Korra freed the airbenders, Amon followed Korra and Mako and bloodbent them. He took Korra's bending. The Lieutenant saw this and attacked Amon, saying he was a traitor for being a bender, but was easily defeated. As Amon was preparing to remove Mako's bending, the firebender stunned him with lightning. Mako used this time and tried to escape with Korra but Amon bloodbent them again and proceeded to remove Mako's bending. However, he failed after Korra used her newly-unlocked airbending to send him flying toward the window.



The Equalists were shocked to see their leader flying toward the sea. After Amon's mask floated to the surface, they were outraged and angry at the Avatar for seemingly killing their leader. However, Amon, at instinct, used his waterbending to levitate himself from the sea, much to the surprise of his followers, including the protester. Realizing that his true identity had been exposed, Amon attempted to escape with Tarrlok at his side. However, his brother blew up the speedboat as they were traversing the Mo Ce Sea, killing them both.

The Equalists were left without any leaders, as Amon, Hiroshi Sato, and the Lieutenant were all defeated.

Ideology


The Equalists followed the teachings of Amon, who began spreading his ideas after allegedly receiving a vision from the spirits that the Avatar had failed humanity in its duty to bring balance to the world. The main cause of this imbalance was bending, which he believed was used only to bully and oppress the world's non-benders and which had been the cause of "every war". According to Amon, the only way to restore equality was to remove the abilities of the world's benders, who exploit and marginalize the non-bending majority and then overthrow the "bending elite" in a wide-ranging social revolution. Accordingly, Amon claimed to have been granted the ability to permanently remove a person's bending powers. Through eliminating bending throughout the world, the Equalists' aim was to create a society free of bender/non-bender divisions, where no person has an innate advantage over another.

Because Amon's followers saw him as the only person who could truly eradicate bending throughout the world, the Equalist ideology was focused almost entirely on him. Accordingly, Equalist propaganda often featured Amon as a central motif.

Although Amon's final goal remained unclear at the time of his death, he had expressed an eventual plan to export the Equalist revolution beyond the borders of Republic City to the rest of the world. Assisting Amon in his quest were a multitude of Equalist fighters, including sleeper agents disguised as ordinary civilians and highly trained chi blockers. Amon himself seemed to have a deep disdain for bending, as he had referred to it as an "impurity" that must be cleansed. This most likely stemmed from his childhood, when his father Yakone would train him and his brother Tarrlok to bloodbend. His intent was that after he had taken over Republic City, he would replace the "bending regime" with a "fair-minded" Equalist government.

Methods, equipment, and abilities


Equalists were shown using various means to defeat benders. Equalist members were trained as hand-to-hand fighters and in the art of chi blocking, a key skill in defeating a bender. Because of their lack of bending capabilities, Equalists typically employed underhanded tactics such as ambush attacks, hit-and-run strikes, and use of sleeper agents, among others. They also employed fear tactics, which was exhibited during the attack on Republic City's Pro-bending Arena.

Aside from their fighting skills, the Equalists employed a large range of tools, such as special suits, smoke grenades, knockout gas, bolas, motorcycles, and airships, among other things. The Equalist Lieutenant was shown using a set of electrified kali sticks to electrocute and temporarily subdue opponents. With the support of Hiroshi Sato, the Equalists began utilizing electrically-charged gloves, which Amon described as "the power of a chi blocker in their hand". These are capable of instantly neutralizing any enemy, even a metalbending police officer, whose metal armor is impervious to traditional chi blocker attacks.



Sato also developed a mechanical suit known as the mecha tank. These are made of platinum, which is immune to metalbending due to its purity. Mecha tanks use extendable claws, metal cables, and can disperse electricity through these appendages to electrocute enemies. They are also quite durable; the device that Sato operated withstood multiple fire and air strikes from Tenzin and Korra without any visible damage. However, their second encounter showed that, with the right benders present and awareness of the machine's weapons, the tanks are actually quite vulnerable to benders. In fact, the main weakness of the Equalist equipment seems to be the sheer reliance on surprise and ambush, as proven during the second utilization of mecha tanks, which were soundly defeated. Sato later provided a fleet of small, high-speed aircraft which were armed with bombs and torpedoes that were powerful enough to destroy the entire United Forces fleet.



To gain public support, Amon used his powers to target benders who were well known for abusing their powers, such as the Triple Threat Triad and White Falls Wolfbats. In doing so, he implanted fear into the bender population and won the support of non-benders. After it was made known that Sato was an Equalist, Amon made no distinction as he began to target all benders regardless of who they were. This was made evident when the Equalist leader planned to strip the bending of Tenzin and his family which consisted of mostly children. Despite their use of guerrilla attacks, the Equalists also possessed massive amounts of both man and firepower, enough to completely defeat the Metalbending Police Force, take over Republic City in the span of a day, and even defeat the United Forces fleet, although relying very heavily on planted agents and the element of surprise.

List of known members

 * Amon (deceased)
 * Lieutenant (later defected)
 * Hiroshi Sato (incarcerated)
 * Doorman
 * Protester
 * Warehouse worker
 * Feathered hat man

Trivia



 * The Equalists' symbol seems to be a large red circle inscribed with the Chinese character, which can mean "equal", "level", or "peace". This symbol is seen on many Equalist banners throughout the series.
 * Though often compared to Nazis, Equalists are in fact more closely related to real-live communists. Much like the Equalists believed benders oppress non-benders, communists believed that society is divided into upper classes (aristocracy or bourgeoisie) exploiting the lower classes (workers) and attempted to "equalize" the society (usually by brutal means, i.e. killing members of upper classes; also by extensive use of propaganda - typically flyers and posters). Both factions used to hide from the law, but eventually grew strong enough to openly oppose ruling classes. Moreover, both leaders of communists and Equalists eventually betrayed their own virtues (communist leaders lived in luxury much like pre-revolutionary aristocracy; while Amon turned out to be water- and bloodbender).
 * The Equalists were originally named the 'anti-benders', until the name change was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2011.
 * The highly advanced technology used by the Equalists parallels the real world time period in which the show is based upon. Smoke grenades were developed shortly after the First World War, motorcycles gained prominence in the early 1900s, and the electric weapons are reminiscent to the sharp growth of electronics from 1890s to the 1920s.
 * The large banners featured on a wall of the chi blocker training room and hanging from the ceiling of Hiroshi Sato's hidden factory have the words: "阿蒙就是答案", which mean "Amon is the solution".
 * Amon was the only member of the Equalists to not have been seen using any sort of physical weapon.
 * The Equalist tactic of using a smoke screen on motorcycles to blind an enemy is similar to the use of smoke generators by American destroyers during WWII. The American ships would use the smoke to cover a retreat or to catch the enemy by surprise.
 * Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creators of The Legend of Korra, voiced the two Equalists standing guard at the end of one of the tunnels when Lin, Tenzin, Asami, Bolin, and Mako infiltrated the prison facility in search for Korra and the captured police officers in the episode "Out of the Past".