Amon

"neutral"

- The era of bending is over! A new era of equality has begun!

Amon is the charismatic and mysterious leader of a group of chi blockers known as the Equalists, whose ultimate goal is to create equality by ridding the world of benders. A nimble and stealthy fighter, he is fearless in facing his opponents, regardless of their bending skills.

Early life
Amon was born on a small farm to a poor family of non-benders; nonetheless, they were extorted by a firebender. When Amon's father eventually confronted their oppressor, the firebender killed his family and severely deformed Amon's face, forcing him to "hide behind a mask" ever since.

At some point in his life, Amon became the leader of the Equalists, an organization based in Republic City. They terrorize the city, striving to rid the world of bending.

Accelerating plans
When Korra announced her official relocation to Republic City during a press conference at the City Hall, Amon heard her responding to questions through the radio. When his second-in-command inquired about how he was going to handle the unforeseen situation, Amon replied that since the Avatar had arrived early, they would have to "accelerate" their plans.



Later, at an Equalist assembly called "The Revelation", Amon announced to the gathered crowd that he planned on eradicating the world of benders, as they "had only brought suffering" and "were the cause of every war in every era." Amon believed the spirits had chosen him to usher in a new era of balance to the world by removing people's bending in order to make equality a reality. As a demonstration of his great strength, he had his Equalist henchmen bring forward several Triple Threat Triad members and Bolin and proceeded to remove their bending, one by one, starting with Lightning Bolt Zolt's firebending. However, before he could remove Bolin's earthbending, Korra created a distraction by letting out a steam screen into the room, allowing Mako to grab Bolin and escape. As the brothers and Korra were riding atop Naga with several Equalists chasing them, Amon opted to let them leave, as they would be the perfect tool to tell Republic City of his strength and power.

Meeting Korra
Amon had made a severe impression on Korra and she was plagued by nightmares of him in which he took away her bending. Upon hearing that the United Republic Council had proclaimed him public enemy number one, he spread a message over the radio to his fellow Equalists, using the actions of the Council as proof of the oppressive nature of the benders.



After Councilman Tarrlok and Avatar Korra led a task force that successfully raided an Equalist training facility, he was publicly challenged by her to a midnight duel on Aang Memorial Island without the presence of a task force or chi blockers. Amon did not show up on time, nor did he come alone. Just as Korra began to leave the island several hidden Equalists reeled her inside the island's museum. There, Amon emerged from the shadows and revealed to her that he would allow her to keep her bending for the time being because removing it then would make her a martyr and may cause benders from every nation to rally behind her "untimely demise". However, he warned a terrified Korra that he would "save her for last" and finally "destroy her" in their upcoming final showdown.

Attack at the Pro-bending Arena


On the eve of the pro-bending championship match, Amon demanded that the Council shut down the Pro-bending Arena and put an end to the tournament, threatening that there would be "severe consequences" should they refuse. The Council voted to keep the arena open, which Amon revealed to be in line with his plans for the situation. He later entered the arena after the tournament and stripped Tahno and the rest of the White Falls Wolfbats of their bending powers. While some of his Equalists took out the police officers in the stands with electrified gloves, he gave a speech in which he made stated his goals to replace the current government with "a fair minded, equalist government" and remove bending from the world all together. He partially destroyed the playing field before leaving the Pro-bending Arena via the roof on an airship. Boarding the zeppelin, he narrowly escaped Korra's firebending attack and remained unfazed as the flames swirled around him.

Cleansing of Tarrlok
Days later, Amon, with the Lieutenant and a group of Equalists, found Tarrlok in his hideout that was hidden in the mountains outside of Republic City. Tarrlok overpowered all of his henchmen with bloodbending, but, much to his astonishment, Amon was able to resist its effects. He then began to take away Tarrlok's bending after a short confrontation. Tarrlok asked Amon what he was, to which he replied, "the solution" and told his fellow Equalists to retrieve Korra who was trapped inside a metal container in the basement. He told his men not to underestimate the Avatar and to electrify the box that she held was in. While he was putting Tarrlok in the truck they arrived in, Korra overpowered the other Equalists and made it outside of the hideout. She attempted to attack Amon with waterbending but Amon was able to evade the attack. He chased after her though the snow but was not quick enough and could do nothing but watch as Korra slid down the mountainside. The lieutenant and other Equalists then exited the hideout to see that Korra had escaped.

Personality
Amon appears to be a calm and composed individual, and beyond that much of his personality is unknown, nor his motivations aside for word of mouth claims. He has a severe abhorrence toward benders and he appears to be a staunch believer in what he views as equality and affectionately refers to his followers as "brothers and sisters".



He is clever and calculating, as well as a convincing speaker and manipulator. He has a disturbing degree of skill at public speaking, knowing how to mystify and terrify his audiences and enemies alike, creating loyalty and spreading prejudice with each word he says. He seems to have plans for Korra and has thus far avoided fighting her, resorting to allowing her to escape and spread word of his abilities to the city. Amon also chose not to take away her bending when he ambushed her after refusing to fight her, foreseeing that it would make her a martyr for benders and unite them globally against his cause. Despite his cunning and ability, he has often shown a level of caution that contrasts his confidence and composure. He has never appeared in situations where he would be at risk, nor alone. Such examples of this almost coward like behavior includes how he fled when Korra saved Bolin, when he refused to even approach Korra until his equalists had subdued her, and, most recently, how he dared not even approach Korra when she was contained in a metal prison, preferring to load an unconscious and disabled Tarrlok into a vehicle than face a seemingly defenseless avatar, where he may have been at better use. Followed by his sudden pause when he saw that Korra had escaped. This may hint at a more cowardly and self serving nature than he normally shows, as he constantly uses his brothers and sisters as shields and constantly avoids any real battle against benders.

Abilities
Amon has shown himself to be a very skilled, agile and nimble fighter; his superior agility allows him to maneuver himself gracefully to the extent of being able to dodge lightning at close range. His knowledge of chi blocking is powerful, making him dangerous to benders. He has also demonstrated the ability to take away a person's bending permanently, an ability that remains shrouded in mystery. He is also well versed in terrorist tactics, drawing out hatred from non-benders and bestowing fear on benders, always looking for a psychological edge against his opponents as well as terrorizing and threatening all who go against his plans. As seen in the episode Out of the Past, Amon is able to resist bloodbending, which is, normally, only possible for waterbenders with some knowledge of the dark art. However, he resisted with obviously great difficulty and was only able to fully break free once Tarrlok panicked. The nature of this is as mysterious and uncertain as his anti-bending ability.

He has also displayed a gift for political strategy, accurately portending that if he took away Korra's bending so early in his revolution that it would only end in Korra becoming a martyr, and that benders across the globe would unite against the Anti-bending Revolution.

Known victims
Amon has utilized his mysterious skills and abilities to permanently remove bending from the following people:


 * Lightning Bolt Zolt
 * Shady Shin
 * Triple Threat Triad member wearing green
 * Triple Threat Triad member wearing brown
 * Tahno
 * Ming
 * Shaozu
 * Five members of the Metalbending Police Force
 * Tarrlok

Trivia

 * Like several other characters, Amon was revealed on July 23, 2011 at San Diego Comic-Con.
 * Amon's mask has a dense color symbolism. In Chinese opera, gold is associated with deception and aggressiveness, while red is a positive color, linking his desire for a better world for non-benders with his violent methods to acquire it. White is also the color of death in Asia, and thus is common in villain attire.
 * Amon may be an English phonetic spelling for "Aman" meaning "peace" in Malay, Hindi/Sanskrit (अमन) and Arabic/Urdu (أمان). This may explain the Chinese ideogram, meaning "peace" on the chest of his previous character design. The 平 ideogram also means "fair" and "equal", matching the Equalists' name.
 * The Chinese transliteration for Amon's name,, can have a few meanings, but the most appropriate is "to cover".
 * The name Amon is very similar to Amun (also known as Amun-Ra), the King of Gods in early Egyptian mythology, who is associated with hidden things and the unknown. The spelling "Amon" is also used in some transliterations. Amon is an Egyptian name meaning "hidden", which may refer to his covered face.
 * Amon is the seventh evil spirit listed in "Ars Goetia" in The Lesser Key of Solomon. He is said to be a Marquis of Hell.
 * Amon states that benders have started every war in every era. That would be an error considering the war between the villages of Oma and Shu which subsequently led to, and thus it took place before, the origin of earthbending.
 * Amon is the name of the second deadliest pressure point in the human body. Located on the back of the neck, near the base of the brain stem, a precise strike can be fatal.
 * The red circle on Amon's mask is similar to that of the large red disk featured on the flag of Japan, which represents the rising sun and thus the dawn of a new era. This circle also marks one of the two pressure points Amon touches to take one's bending away.
 * Amon also means secret, faithful or roaring stream in Hebrew usage, and the male Hebrew name Amon means educator or builder. Amon (sometimes spelled Ammon) was also the name of an Old Testament king of Judah.
 * Amon sounds similar to the term Anon - short for Anonymous, people who post on image boards that do not require registration (*chan), an internet movement, and/or concept of anonymous activists who protest political injustice. They often use a Guy Fawkes mask as a symbol for the movement and as a disguise, which is similar to the mask Amon uses.
 * Amon's outfit bears a resemblance to Dr. Doom, a villain from Marvel comics. Amon also has similarities to V from V For Vendetta, both being masked revolutionaries who had their faces burned by fire, as well as masters at manipulation.
 * Amon lost his family to a firebender, in a similar manner to how Mako, Bolin and Jet lost their parents, how Asami and Katara lost their mothers, and how Aang lost his people, the Air Nomads.
 * Much like Zuko, his face was scarred by a firebender.
 * Although he plans on taking away bending from every single bender, Amon has only taken the bending away from those who misused their bending abilities (with the exception of the metalbending police), namely members of the Triple Threat Triad, a group of criminals who abused their bending on non-benders, the White Falls Wolfbats, who cheated their way through the Pro-bending Tournament, and Tarrlok, who was a bloodbender and attacked innocent nonbenders.
 * Amon is the only known person who is not an Avatar to have the abillity to remove someone's bending.
 * Amon is the only person known to be capable of resisting bloodbending without having advanced waterbending skills, or access to the Avatar State.
 * Amon has drawn many parallels to Makoto Shishio, an antagonist from the Rurouni Kenshin series, who is also voiced by Steve Blum. Both characters assembled militias to overthrow the government and institute new jurisdiction. Although Shishio wanted to create a society governed by natural selection where only the strong survive, in stark contrast, Amon seeks to stop the strong from taking advantage of the weak. Most of Shishio’s skin was burnt off and, much like Amon, his face is covered throughout the majority of the series.