Yakone

"water"

- Republic City is mine, Avatar. I'll be back one day to claim it.

Yakone was a powerful crime lord who threatened Republic City for many years with his bloodbending abilities before they were permanently removed by Avatar Aang. He is the father of Amon and Tarrlok.

Crimes in Republic City


Yakone was the head of a criminal empire in Republic City and had a history of being arrested, though he was always acquitted of all charges.

In 128 ASC, Yakone was accused of bloodbending after the testimony of several witnesses. Chief Toph Beifong, accompanied by some metalbending officers and Avatar Aang, arrested him while he was eating at a restaurant. The criminal sarcastically claimed he would beat this charge again as he had done with the previous ones.

Yakone was then taken to City Hall to be judged before the United Republic Council, where he was defended by a lawyer who appealed to the impossibility to bloodbend when there is no full moon, as witnesses had claimed that his client had performed the feat "at every other time except during a full moon", making the crime seemingly impossible to commit. When the Council made its final decision, announced the verdict, stating that the evidence was enough to convince them that Yakone was a "unique bender" and had used this ability to commit the crimes of which he had been accused. For this reason, the bloodbender was considered guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.



However, Yakone stood up, grinning, and responded by bloodbending Sokka as well as the other council members. Toph attempted to halt Yakone with a metal cable, but he was able to overpower her as well. Soon everyone in the room fell victim to his bloodbending. He used this dark bending art to force Toph over to him and unlock his handcuffs. Yakone's victims included Avatar Aang, who unsuccessfully tried to stop the criminal from fleeing, only to be knocked to the floor. Aang then entered the Avatar State and pursued Yakone, destroying his getaway cart. Surprising Aang by popping out of the wreckage, the bloodbender used his technique again, in an attempt to kill Aang, but was thwarted when Aang entered the Avatar State, breaking the criminal's bloodbending hold and trapping Yakone within an earth shell. Yakone was unable to prevent Aang from removing his bending.

After Republic City
Some time after his trial, with the help of his gang, Yakone underwent surgery to change his facial appearance and left Republic City. He headed to the Northern Water Tribe and met a woman, whom he would later marry. Eventually Yakone's wife gave birth to Noatak, (who later took on the name Amon), and Tarrlok, three years later. Tarrlok and Noatak soon found out that they had the ability to waterbend. Yakone made them practice water bending every night, and eventually revealed to his sons that he was once Republic City's most notorious crime boss, and that his bending was "stolen" from him by Avatar Aang. He then explained to his sons that it was their duty to avenge him by one day killing the Avatar.

During the full moon, Yakone trained his sons in the art of bloodbending, beginning their training on animals such as yaks. Yakone eventually succeeded in teaching his sons how to bloodbend without a full moon, and was very impressed with Noatak's skill. Sometime later, he made Noatak and Tarrlok bloodbend each other. When it was time for Tarrlok to bloodbend Noatak, Tarrlok refused, causing Yakone to become furious and call him weak. Noatak quickly bloodbent his father Yakone and explained to him that it was he who was weak, and threw him into the snow. Noatak then ran away, prompting Yakone and Tarrlok to search for him for days. They never found him and concluded that he must have perished in the ice. Yakone then gave up on getting revenge on the Avatar and died a few years later.

Forty-two years later, Tarrlok brought up Yakone during a Council meeting, hoping that he would be able to convince the Council to vote for the creation of his task force. Later on, Avatar Korra, through the visions shown to her by Aang, realized that Tarrlok was Yakone's son.

During a mission to find and confront Amon, Korra encounted Tarrlok once more, who told the Avatar that Amon was his brother, and informed her about the treacheries that their father had put them through as children.

Personality
Yakone was a corrupt and ruthless individual, as demonstrated during his trial for committing various crimes and atrocities with his bloodbending skill. After being found guilty, he wasted no time in using his ability by bloodbending everyone present, including Aang, Sokka, Toph, and even his own attorney, knocking them all unconscious before escaping.

After escaping Republic City and beginning a new life in the Northern Water Tribe, Yakone had two sons. Upon realizing that his children were waterbenders, he began training them in the art of bloodbending, hoping that they eventually would be strong enough to avenge him by killing Avatar Aang. During his sons training, Yakone forced the boys to bloodbend animals and eventually eachother, despite the fact that Tarrlok did not want to. Yakone constantly told Tarrlok that he was weak, and that he needed to "man-up". At some point, Noatak stood up for his brother and spoke-back to their father, which made Yakone furious.

After Noatak ran away, Yakone's personality changed dramatically. He was no longer focused on getting revenge on the Avatar, and passed away a few years later.

Abilities


Yakone was a powerful bloodbender who was able to display this ability on multiple occasions. Considering the information presented at his trial, Yakone appeared to be capable of bloodbending at any time. The criminal could bend the fluids inside a person, allowing him to either manipulate a person's body in a similar fashion to that of a puppet master or cause injury by painfully twisting their body parts in various directions and could even levitate his targets, throw them around, and knock them unconscious. Compared to his son, Yakone displayed a powerful use of bloodbending, as he was able to bloodbend dozens of people present at his trial into unconsciousness without the aid of the full moon, having his hands restrained, and only exerting minimal mental effort; whereas Tarrlok often used direct gestures to manipulate his victims. However, his bloodbending proved ineffective against Aang in the Avatar State.

Relatives

 * Unnamed wife
 * Amon ​(elder son)
 * Tarrlok (younger son)

Trivia

 * Yakone's name means "Red Aurora" in the Ahtna Athabascan language spoken by the Athna group of Alaskan Natives. When Yakone is used as a metaphor, it can mean "blood spray on the snow".
 * Yakone is the first person known to be able to bloodbend without the help of a full moon, and also the first male bloodbender. His two sons, Tarrlok and Noatak, inherited this ability.
 * Councilman Sokka compared Yakone's special bending abilities to Combustion Man's ability to firebend with his mind, as well as Toph's creation of metalbending.
 * Yakone is the second person known to have had their bending abilities removed by Avatar Aang.
 * He is voiced by Clancy Brown, who also provided the voices of Long Feng and Bosco in the original series.
 * Yakone is the first character in the entire Avatar series to have plastic surgery.