Red Lotus

"neutral"

- Do you have any idea the power these criminals possess? Individually, they can take down any bender. Put them all together, they could take down the entire world.

The Red Lotus is a splinter faction of the Order of the White Lotus founded by Xai Bau after the Hundred Year War. By 171 AG, the only publicly known members are four people who had been incarcerated for thirteen years following a failed attempt to kidnap Avatar Korra. The Red Lotus's leader, Zaheer, managed to escape imprisonment two weeks after Harmonic Convergence, using airbending abilities he had acquired due to the planet's energy shift, and subsequently freed the rest of his group. The Red Lotus' goal is to have the humans and spirits coexist again and usher in a new world order by doing away with the established nations and its leaders, which they originally planned to do by freeing Vaatu from the Tree of Time. According to Lord Zuko, Zaheer and his associates are dangerous as individuals and are capable of taking down the entire world as a unit.

Founding
After the Order of the White Lotus came out of hiding at the end of the Hundred Year War to serve the Avatar and the world's nations, Xai Bau became frustrated with the group's direction, deeming the White Lotus as merely reduced as the "Avatar's bodyguards". In order to preserve the way how he believed the order should have been, he broke away and founded the Red Lotus to help free the world from the nations' influence. In order to achieve that goal, they wanted to truly unify the world by reopening the spirit portals so man and spirits would live together once more as one, as well as by doing away with the nation borders and their leaders.

Attempt to kidnap Korra and incarceration


When still a teenager, Zaheer met Chief Unalaq after they both just joined the Red Lotus. They learned about Raava, Vaatu, and how Avatar Wan had severed them, bringing imbalance to the world, which he, according to the Red Lotus, only strengthened by dividing the physical and spiritual world. The Red Lotus subsequently devised a plan to kidnap the Avatar in order to reverse Wan's decision and teach her the ways of the Red Lotus. As such, Zaheer, Ghazan, P'Li, and Ming-Hua launched their plan to kidnap Korra a year after her identification as the new Avatar, though were unsuccessful due to the intervention of Tonraq, Tenzin, Chief Sokka, and Fire Lord Zuko. The foursome was apprehended and detained in four maximum security prisons scattered around the globe. However, Unalaq had not come with his comrades that day and had thus managed to avoid being arrested. He washed his hands in innocence, covering up his involvement and pursuing his own personal ambitions to be the Dark Avatar, something that was never in the Red Lotus plans at all. To further defuse any suspicion against him, Unalaq collaborated with Zuko and built a prison in the western tundras of the North Pole to contain P'Li. The organization's lesser-known members, such as Aiwei remained undercover.

As was the case with P'Li, the Order of the White Lotus imprisoned Ghazan and Ming-Hua in environments that would prevent them from using any bending, while Zaheer was imprisoned in a remote mountaintop cell constructed entirely out of metal.

Members of the White Lotus and Chief Lin Beifong of Republic City spent the next thirteen years interrogating each member of the Red Lotus in order to determine the gang's motives, but were ultimately unsuccessful.

Escape


Shortly after the Harmonic Convergence of 171 AG, Zaheer acquired airbending abilities, which he used to ambush the sentries outside of his cell when they came to bring him his daily ration of rice and escaped. He promptly traveled to Ghazan's prison and used his disguise as a White Lotus sentry to come close enough to board the wooden ship. While evading the attacks of the sentries, he managed to provide the earthbender three pieces of earth, which Ghazan promptly used to lavabend and break out of his wooden holding. After having done away with all the sentries, the two men greeted each other and Zaheer revealed that his abilities were a result of Harmonic Convergence as well as a sign that the group's path was righteous. The two promptly headed to free their third associate, Ming-Hua, who was detained in a volcanic facility devoid of moisture. After providing her with water to escape, the three resolved to free P'Li from the tundras of the Northern Water Tribe, prompting Lord Zuko to take action. He and Tonraq, now the Chief of the newly-freed Southern Water Tribe, headed to the North Pole to increase the security of P'Li's prison.

Using a snowstorm conjured by Zaheer to act as cover, the three made their way toward P'Li's prison in the western ice tundra at the North Pole. While Zaheer faced off with Zuko and Ghazan kept Tonraq busy, Ming-Hua quickly defeat Chiefs Desna and Eska and drilled her way down to P'Li's underground cell, where she incapacitated the two guards on duty and freed the firebender. Resurfacing, the two were immediately attacked by Druk, Zuko's dragon, though P'Li managed to redirect the flames and retaliate with a combustion beam of her own. With the group complete, Ghazan and P'Li swiftly defeated Zuko and Tonraq before fleeing the scene.

Tracking the Avatar


As part of their plan to find the Avatar, the four criminals traveled to Republic City and sought refuge in an apartment complex overran by spirit vines. Zaheer shaved his head and infiltrated Air Temple Island under the guise of "Yorru" in an attempt to determine Korra's whereabouts, though his apparent knowledge of Air Nomad culture and desire to meet the Avatar aroused suspicion from Kya, who eventually discovered his true identity. After a short battle, Zaheer managed to defeat Kya and fled the island, using a glider he had taken from Tenzin's office.

After returning to base, P'Li chastised Zaheer for exposing himself on Air Temple Island and compromising the group's whereabouts, stating that the incident prompted the police to begin looking for them. In light of the recent event, Ghazan inquired whether the group would continue with their plan to attack President Raiko, an operation which Zaheer decided to delay in order to focus on determining a way out of the city. To that end, the group ambushed a truck driver, whom Ming-Hua threatened to smuggle them all out of the city undetected.

The truck driver attempted to drive out of the city via Kyoshi Bridge, though by the time they got there, the road had already been barricaded and every vehicle was being searched by the police. Anxious over the situation, the driver wavered while questioned by the officers, who forced him out of the vehicle as a result. The truck driver fled the scene and left the police to open the back of the truck, from where Zaheer launched a surprise airbending blast, knocking the officers back and giving Ming-Hua enough time to gain control of the wheel and begin driving out of the city. The four were pursued by five police cars, three of which were immediately blown up by P'Li's combustion beams. In order to halt the remaining officers, Ghazan turned a section of the road into lava, which allowed the four to successfully escape.



The group temporarily camped in a forest outside of the city, where Ghazan, Ming-Hua, and P'Li discussed how to find the Avatar while Zaheer meditated. The waterbender expressed her regret over not having taken a police officer to interrogate for Korra's whereabouts, but P'Li simply reassured the two that they would find the Avatar in due time. Shortly after, Zaheer opened his eyes and announced that Korra was in Zaofu with the Metal Clan.

Attempt to capture the Avatar
With the aid of Aiwei, the Red Lotus infiltrated Zaofu under the cover of darkness, managing to capture the Avatar by sedating her and Naga with shirshu-spit darts. Their escape did not go unnoticed, however, as Pabu alerted Mako and Bolin, who subsequently attacked the Red Lotus and drew attention to of the group's presence. The foursome was soon surrounded by members of the Metal Clan, who used their metalbending to box them in between metal plates. However, Ghazan used his own skill to free themselves by creating a lava moat, forcing a stalemate between the two groups. Eventually, Bolin managed to block P'Li's chi by striking her third eye with a pebble, while Lin and Suyin Beifong dropped in from above on cables and rescued Korra. Zaheer attempted to recapture the Avatar, but was thwarted by Suyin, who pierced the wing of his glider with metal shards, forcing him to make a crash landing near the rest of his team. Realizing their attempt to kidnap Korra had failed, Zaheer created an air dome to cover their escape.

Pursuit of Korra


The Red Lotus later made camp in a cave not too far from the Misty Palms Oasis and contacted Aiwei to meet Zaheer at Xai Bau's Grove at sundown. In the Spirit World, Zaheer confronted Aiwei over what had happened at Zaofu, blaming the truth seer for the fiasco and accused him of having left loose ends. Although Aiwei assured the airbender that there was no evidence left linking back to the Red Lotus, Zaheer deemed Aiwei himself to be a loose end and subsequently threw his soul into the Fog of Lost Souls. Afterward, he returned to Xai Bau's Grove to have a conversation with Korra, who had followed Aiwei there. While secretly alerting his friends back in the physical world that Korra was at an inn in the Misty Palms Oasis, he distracted her by telling her about the origins of the Red Lotus and how Unalaq had engineered their first attempt to kidnap her.



While P'Li remained behind to guard Zaheer's body, Ming-Hua and Ghazan traveled to the village to retrieve Korra. Before they could locate the room she was in, Asami, carrying Korra while riding Naga, made a break for it, while Mako and Bolin instigated a fight with Ming-Hua and Ghazan. Eventually Ming-Hua managed to gain the upper hand against Mako, throwing him into a door and rendering him unconscious. As Bolin tried to avoid the burning lava bent by Ghazan by jumping into the inn's pool, Ming-Hua waterbent a sphere of water around him, effectively trapping him. While holding the two brothers aloft, she told Ghazan to pursue Korra. Before he could get to her, however, Earth Queen Hou-Ting's troops captured Asami and Korra to bring them back to Ba Sing Se. With Mako and Bolin in tow, the two returned to P'Li and Zaheer. The latter promptly informed them to load the brothers onto the truck and prepare to head to the Earth Kingdom capital.

Taking down the Earth Queen
While en route to Ba Sing Se, Ghazan and Ming-Hua guarded the bound up brothers in the back of the truck while Zaheer drove with P'Li sitting next to him. With nothing else to do, the four in the back engaged in a conversation. Although Ming-Hua and Ghazan deflected Mako's inquiries about their plans, they humored Bolin by answering his questions in regards to their time in prison. The questionnaire was cut short, however, as Zaheer ordered Ghazan to gag the brothers depending their arrival at the Earth Kingdom capital.

Inside the palace, the four gained an audience with Earth Queen Hou-Ting by baiting her with information about "her" airbenders. Zaheer managed to strike a deal with the queen: information about the airbenders in return for the Avatar, as the Avatar's imprisonment in the Earth Kingdom would lead to a world war. The Red Lotus was escorted to await Korra's arrival in the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace's antechamber.



Noticing a Dai Li agent swiftly pass by their chamber, Zaheer followed him, sneaking into the throne room, where he overheard that the Queen's ship with Korra aboard had crashed in the Si Wong Desert. Deciding to take manners in own hands, the team barged into the throne room, resulting in a fight with the Dai Li. After quickly defeating the earthbenders, Zaheer confronted and suffocated the Queen with his airbending.

While Ghazan was sent toward the city's walls, the other three made their way to the capital's communications room in order for Zaheer to make a city-wide announcement of the fall of Hou-Ting's regime. As the Red Lotus leader stated that he delivered Ba Sing Se back into the hands of the people, Ghazan used his lavabending to bring down the inner walls, separating the different classes in the capital, bringing forth a chaotic, plundering horde.

Afterward, Zaheer went to the palace's prison, where he released all inmates. Before releasing Mako and Bolin, he gave them a message to be delivered to Korra.

Members

 * Aiwei (trapped in the Fog of Lost Souls)
 * Ghazan
 * Ming-Hua
 * P'Li
 * Unalaq (betrayed group in 158 AG; deceased)
 * Xai Bau (founder)
 * Zaheer (leader)

Trivia

 * the Red Lotus's ideology follows that of real world Anarchism.