Duels (174 AG)

Duels are battles fought by at least two individuals and can be considered a form of recreation, a way of settling disputes, or a training tool for students who are developing skills in a particular fighting art. They may be friendly spars, fought to pass time, or in the most extreme cases, fought to the death.

The following is a list of known duels that occurred in 174 AG.

Duel between Kai, Opal, and Earth Kingdom bandits
Combatants: Kai, Opal and three bandits

Victor: Kai and Opal



After three bandits robbed a store in a town in the state of Yi and tried to get away in a jeep, Kai and Opal jumped off Lefty and used their wingsuits to pursue the thieves. As Kai passed them, he directed a powerful gust of air at the hood of the jeep, flipping it over. Opal swooped down and used her own bending to prevent serious harm to befall the bandits upon their landing. As they lay in the dust, Kai tied them up and the airbenders were able to return the stolen goods to the owner.

Duel between Kuvira and several Earth Kingdom bandits
Combatants: Kuvira and twenty bandits

Victor: Kuvira



Kuvira's train was halted by an earthen railroad block erected by bandits. She exited her train to stand atop the vehicle and patiently awaited the bandits to swoop down on her. Although severely outnumbered, she easily avoided the rocks tossed at her and incapacitated all the bandits bearing down on her with her metalbending by either blinding them with a metal slab over their eyes or tying them down by their hands or feet with a metal ring around the respective limbs. Restraining the last of her opponents, she piled them all together, effectively ending the battle.

Duel between Kai, Opal, and food thieves
Combatants: Kai, Opal, two bandits flying a biplane

Victor: Bandits



After picking up supplies from nearby towns, Kai and Opal directed Lefty back to toward the governor's town. However, before they reached the settlement, a plane appeared and one of its passengers shot a grappling gun, which hooked itself in the net covering the food on Lefty's back, enabling the bandit to slide over. Kai tried to blast the man away using his airbending, though the thief nimbly avoided being knocked away. Making it onto the flying bison, the man unfolded his double-bladed sword and started cutting the tethers which were holding the food supply down. Kai managed to land a hit on the bandit, but he swung around to the other side of Lefty and attacked the airbender from there. Although his attack missed, he did cut the last tether. Kai attacked him again, but the bandit dodged and managed to land a cut on the young airbending, ripping the right wing of his wingsuit and preventing him from giving chase as the airplane took off with the supplies.

Duel in an Earth Kingdom fighting cage
Combatants: Korra and a female earthbender

Victor: Female earthbender



Fighting in a relatively small ring, Korra faced off in an earthbending duel with another woman. She was barraged with several rocks and earth pillars, which knocked her off balance. Although she attempted to fight back, her opponent easily avoided her attack and retaliated aggressively, forcing Korra to dive and tumble to avoid being hit. Although Korra bent a rock and a fissure back at her, the other woman dodged the rock and blocked the fissure with a wall, before launching herself into the air with an earth pillar. Using the extra momentum from her descent, the woman launched another rock at Korra, which hit the Avatar, sending her tumbling over the floor, into the wall, and effectively sealed her defeat.

Mecha tank duel
Combatants: Bolin, Varrick, Zhu Li, Baatar Jr., and two mecha tank pilots

Victor: Baatar Jr. and mecha tank pilots



After deserting the military of the Earth Empire in mecha tanks, Bolin, Varrick, and Zhu Li were tracked down and ambushed by Baatar Jr. and two other mecha tank pilots. After shooting down Bolin's tank, Baatar Jr. launched himself at Varrick, though was intercepted by Zhu Li, before being tackled to the ground by a recovered Bolin. Baatar Jr. quickly managed to gain the upper hand, however, and after knocking Bolin's tank down, he moved in for the kill. Although Bolin managed to exit just in time, his tank was entirely destroyed when Baatar Jr. landed an electrified punch to the suit and Bolin was forced to continue the battle with his bending alone.

Meanwhile, Zhu Li took on the other two mecha tanks, while Varrick merely ran in the way. Although she took some damage, she managed to hold her own until Bolin interfered with his lavabending, melting her opponents' tanks and capturing the pilots with his earthbending. Before the two could secure their victory, they were forced to surrender by Baatar Jr., who had caught Varrick and threatened to crush his head.

Duel for Zaofu
Combatants: Korra and Kuvira

Victor: Kuvira



With negotiations going nowhere, Korra deduced Kuvira left her no other choice than fight. Kuvira ordered her army to stand back, so that instead of taking Zaofu in all out battle, Kuvira would challenge the Avatar in single combat. The terms of duel were that the victor can do whatever they want with Zaofu. Jinora and Opal wanted her to use the Avatar State, though Korra decided she will fight honorably and only use the Avatar state as a last resort. She goaded Korra into throwing all she had, who quickly started off the fight with a couple of fire blasts, all of which Kuvira nimbly dodged. Korra left herself exposed for a moment allowing Kuvira to strike, and bend two metal plates around her ankles, tossing her through the air. Korra continued attacking, implementing more earth and airbending into the fight, but was unable to land a hit on Kuvira, and her army kept cheering for the Great Uniter. The metalbender dodged everything Korra threw at her, and managed to trap her foot in a fissure, blind her with a metal slab and hit her with another rock.

As the battle went on, Korra became more used to Kuvira's style, able to deflect the metal plates shot at her with her airbending. Kuvira kept blocking all of Korra's attacks, initiating few herself, and waiting for the Avatar to make a mistake. Ultimately, she did attack, and Korra raised a wall to protect herself. She launched this wall at Kuvira, who threw it right back at her. Korra stopped the rock, but while suspending it, Kuvira disintegrated the boulder, causing Korra to lose balance again. Kuvira taunted her again, and Opal wanted to intervene, but Korra stopped her.



Korra continued failing to land a hit on Kuvira, who seemed to be enjoying the battle. With another metal plate around the Avatar's ankle, she sent her tumbling through the air, crashing down in front of Suyin. The matriarch urged Korra to go into the Avatar State, and when she saw Kuvira lunge for her, she did so. With a single blast, she knocked Kuvira back. Korra accelerated herself, before blasting Kuvira even further away, sending her tumbling across the ground. The Avatar raised herself on an airspout, lifting a huge boulder with her, intending to crush Kuvira. However, Korra had another hallucination of herself in the Avatar State, and snapped out of it, dropping the boulder. Kuvira called her weak, trapped her in a prison, and prepared to cut her head off, only to be stopped by Opal and Jinora. However, their interference violated the terms of the duel, further securing her takeover of Zaofu.

Chase through Republic City
Combatants: Korra, Mako, Asami, bathroom attentdant, and one Earth Empire soldier

Victor: Earth Empire soldier



Wu was doused with a sleeping agent when he went to the bathroom, and was subsequently loaded into a van by the very bathroom attendant who sprayed him. Mako was starting to get worried why Wu wasn't coming back, and decided to look for him. Korra saw the attendant at the employee's exit, and decided to follow him. She asked him whether he'd seen Wu, to which he replied negatively, but Wu appeared from the pile of laundry in the back of the van, making Korra realize he was lying. Before she could do anything however, the attendant launched her into the ceiling, and quickly drove off. Korra told Mako and Asami to get the car, while she ran after the van. It emerged from the alley, and Korra wasn't far behind. She launched a fissure after it, but did not succeed in stopping it. Asami pulled up beside her, and Korra jumped into the car. They managed to catch up with the van, but it made a sharp turn into a narrow alley, and the attendant raised a wall, leaving Team Avatar unable to persue them directly. Asami drove them onto the elevated freeway, knowing she could cut them off that way. She ended up above the van, and Korra jumped out of the car, cushioning her self with airbending onto the roof of the van. She subsequently metalbent the roof open, and saw that Wu and the other soldier were gone. The Avatar pulled the bathroom attendant from behind the wheel with a single airbending move, and stamped on the brake, skidding the van to a halt.