Tarrlok

"water"

- I need someone who will help me attack Amon directly, someone who is fearless in the face of danger, and that someone is you.

Tarrlok is the Northern Water Tribe representative and chairman of the United Republic Council. He is an ambitious politician who is considered fair-minded and likable by the general public and wants what is best for Republic City. However, he can be manipulative behind council doors, and he holds a long-standing rivalry with Tenzin, whom he frequently clashes with on what is best for the city. After Mako and Korra's firsthand experience with the Equalists, Tarrlok finally recruited Korra to fight the Equalist Revolution after much persuasion and bribery.

With the Avatar now on his side, Tarrlok later led a raid alongside a task force consisting of waterbenders, earthbenders, and Korra. This raid was targeted against a secret Equalist training facility in the cellar of a bookstore in the Dragon Flats district.

The task force
After learning just how dangerous Amon was, Tarrlok proposed a solution to the issue during a meeting of the United Republic Council: to create a task force whose sole mission was "to fight Amon and bring him to justice". Tenzin immediately dismissed this idea by saying that such an aggressive strategy would only make things worse between benders and non-benders, and claimed it was merely a way to grant Tarrlok more power. However, after volunteering to command the force and saying that even their friends or families could be in danger because of the Equalists, he succeeded in convincing the rest of the Council to approve his idea, much to the dismay of Tenzin.



Tarrlok later interrupted Korra, Tenzin, and his family's dinner time in Air Temple Island. Tenzin highlighted the lack of respect of the councilor, but Tarrlok countered by saying that airbenders never turn away a hungry guest, convincing Tenzin to let him stay. Tarrlok then saluted Korra, expressing his pleasure at meeting her. He introduced himself as the representative of the Northern Water Tribe in the Council. He then sat down and was interrogated by Ikki, who asked him why he had three ponytails and smelled like a lady, to which he answered with a look of contempt and alluded to her precociousness. Tarrlok complimented Korra for her initiative during the Equalist rally and began explaining to her that Republic City was now better after her arrival, but Tenzin interrupted asking him to stop with the flattering, and reveal the real reason of his visit. To the surprise of Korra and her airbending master, he asked the Avatar to join his task force to stop Amon, as he needed someone fearless to be able to face him directly. However, Korra declined his offer, stating that she had come to Republic City to train airbending so she should focus on that. Tarrlok, surprised by her answer, tried to insist, but Tenzin stopped him saying that Korra had already made a decision so he should now go. The councilman did so, adding that he would not give up yet, and left the temple.

The following days, Tarrlok began sending a series of increasingly lavish gifts to Korra in order to convince her to accept his invitation, ranging from a basket of gifts to a luxurious Satomobile. However, the Avatar did not change her mind. The Councilman then decided to invite Korra to a gala he would throw in her honor. During the party, Tarrlok led the Avatar to some journalists, who began asking questions about Amon, the Equalist revolution, and her refusal to participate in the mission. Korra, upset at their accusations about her backing away and being afraid of Amon, finally announced she would participate in the mission.



In the City Hall, Tarrlok explained the first mission to a group of waterbenders, earthbenders, and Korra: A raid on an underground chi blocker training camp located in the cellar of a bookstore in the Dragon Flats district. Led by the Councilman, the group broke into the place and started fighting. Tarrlok saved Korra when she was being attacked by two Equalists, freezing one of them against the wall. After defeating all the chi blockers, the task force arrested them in the presence of journalists.

In a conference, Tarrlok announced the result of the raid, and said that Republic City had nothing to fear with himself and the Avatar leading the charge. At the question of a journalist about their leader still being free, the Avatar publicly challenged Amon to a duel that night on Aang Memorial Island. Later, when Korra was about to set out to the location they agreed upon, Tarrlok, at Tenzin's accusation to have caused this, claimed to have talked to Korra about her decision, but she had already made up her mind. After the Avatar left, the Councilman informed Tenzin he was going to be watching the island closely, and that if something went wrong, he had a fleet of police airships ready to swoop down.

The Pro-bending Tournament
When Amon threatened the council with "severe consequences" if the Pro-bending Tournament was not cancelled, Tarrlok and the rest of the council unanimously agreed to shut down the arena, much to the disappointment of the Fire Ferrets. However, as he was about to declare the decision as final, Chief Lin Beifong of the Metalbending Police Force entered the meeting, and demanded the council show backbone. If they allowed the arena to stay open, Lin agreed to provide security for the match. Tarrlok and the rest of the council, except Tenzin, accepted this agreement, thus the match continued on as planned.

Following the Equalists' successful attack, Tarrlok was quick to call a press conference during which he put the blame for the arena's destruction in Lin Beifong's hands. Pointing out that she had failed to protect the city, he stated that the police force needed new leadership in order to survive the dire times coming their way.

Increasing influence
Chief Beifong's resignation allowed Tarrlok to increase his influence through Saikhan's institution as the new chief of police. Since the Pro-bending Tournament was over, Tarrlok offered Korra the chance to rejoin his task force while reminding her that she had not yet mastered the art of airbending. Korra adamantly refused, suspicious about him and his burgeoning influence over Republic City. Tarrlok warned her that if she didn't change her mind, she should stay out of his way.

During a prison breakout instigated by the Equalists, the new Team Avatar successfully prevented the convicts from escaping. Tarrlok and his task force arrived just after the Equalists and the escapees were taken into custody by Korra. He reprimanded Korra and her friends about their seemingly illegal actions and warned them to stop interfering.

In the next council meeting, Tarrlok proposed a law that would establish a curfew on non-benders and also criminalize any association with the Equalists. The law went into effect with relative ease as Tenzin was the only one willing to dissent.

Tarrlok formulated the plan of cutting the power of every non-benders, which only seemed to anger them. Upon Korra's arrival, non-benders pleaded with her to stop Tarrlok's actions, reminding her that she was their Avatar as well. Korra asked Tarrlok to stop oppressing the non-benders, but he refused, arresting Asami for being a non-bender and the daughter of an Equalist. Tarrlok arrested Mako and Bolin as well and warned Korra that if she attacked, she would join her friends in prison.

Korra visited Tarrlok's office that same night to see if there was a way to intimidate him into releasing her friends. Tarrlok reminded her that what she was doing was similar to what the Equalists claim that benders were doing: using their powers to oppress others. He also pointed out that he and Korra are similar in that they take extreme actions during extreme situations. Korra denied their similarity and pointed out that Tarrlok is more similar to Amon. Upon hearing this, Tarrlok lashed out at Korra using his waterbending, ensuing a battle. The councilman was impelled to use bloodbending on Korra to prevent his defeat at her hands, much to Korra's surprise as there was not a full moon. Tarrlok replied by saying that there many more things about him she does not know, and afterwards threw Korra in a police car and told her that she would never see Republic City again.

Personality
Though the public sees him as a fair-minded, likable person who wants the best for Republic City, Tarrlok is a very ambitious individual and can be very manipulative behind closed doors. He also takes the aggressive path and does anything to get what he wants. Tenzin and Tarrlok have a long-standing rivalry, rarely agreeing on what is best for Republic City. Despite his ambitions, he does seem to care for the city, trying to stop Korra from going after Amon and shutting down the pro-bending finals when Amon threatened to cause trouble. At the same time, he is shown to be lacking morals, willing to go to extreme measure for his own goal, including wrongfully arresting innocent people under false accusations and even kidnapping or blackmailing to remove obstacles.

Abilities
Tarrlok has demonstrated great skill in waterbending. He was able to defeat many chi blockers at an Equalist hideout with ease. Besides, he is the only known person to be able to bloodbend without full moon. He has enough confidence in his skills to lead a special task force and also has demonstrated himself to be quite intelligent, being quite aware of the Equalist movements and historical events. Tarrlok also has shown the ability to bloodbend, even without the full moon present. Not only is he powerful in terms of bending, but is also very persuasive in his speeches. He always gets the votes of the other councilors and with this advantage, he also always gets his law passed.

Trivia

 * Since he has three ponytails and presumably puts perfume on, Ikki called him "ponytail man" and asked him why he smelled like a lady, much to his displeasure.
 * Tarrlok is a name of Irish origins that means "instigator" or "abettor", perhaps referencing his manipulative nature as stated by Tenzin.
 * He is the youngest member of the United Republic Council.
 * Interestingly, Tarrlok's actions in keeping the Equalist threat at bay are almost identical to those of Alexander Palmer and Joseph McCarthy, two powerful men in the United States government during the late 1920s and the early 1950s, respectively. Both men were instigators of what were known as the "Red Scares", periods in American history where anti-Communist sentiments were high. Between the two Scares, a law was enacted, making it illegal for anyone to be even affiliated in the most remote context with the Communist party; although the curfew was not seen in the United States as such, the ban on association with the Equalists is very similar to this anti-Communism law. Palmer was famous for the "Palmer raids", nighttime surprise attacks conducted on alleged Communist cells, a parallel to Tarrlok's midnight raids on the Equalist bunker in the Dragon Flats district (and presumably whatever other raids he conducts with his task force). McCarthy was also suspected of having ties with high-level security officers (in fact, Palmer was the Attorney General of the United States during the first Red Scare), just like Tarrlok and the Chief of Police.
 * Tarrlok also seems to be following a typical dictator's rise to power. First he unites everyone against an enemy (Amon), opresses those who disagree with him by saying they are with the enemy, and takes over law enforcement, gradually rising to power in this way. In many contexts, this has not only solidified the rule of the dictator in question, but also lent credence to the cause of opposing extremist factions (like the Equalists) as well.
 * Tarrlok is the second bloodbender shown in The Legend of Korra, next to Katara. However, he is the first one to show his abilites without the use of a full moon.
 * Tarrlok's ambitions and methods can be seen in direct contrast with Amon's; both can be classified as types of political extremists, but whereas Amon is a terrorist leader Tarrlok is quickly becoming a totalitarian dictator.