Dark spirits

"spirit"

- There are no evil spirits, there is light and dark in them all. But when they're unbalanced, the darkness takes over.

The dark spirits are entities that were swayed to the dark side due to Vaatu's influence, who fed upon their anger and other negative emotions. However, even after Vaatu was locked away, spirits could be swayed to the dark side due to imbalance. By Avatar Korra's time, the spirits had grown restless due to the destruction of a spiritual forest in the Northern Water Tribe, and managed to cross from the Spirit World to the mortal world, attacking both the Northern and Southern Tribes as vengeance for this act. However, Korra was able to unlock the South Pole's spirit portal, causing these spirits to disappear, though other dark spirits still remain in the physical world, attacking seemingly at random, with some lurking in tainted sacred areas.

History
When Wan, oblivious to Vaatu's identity, freed him from Raava's grasp in 9830 BSC, Vaatu used his influence to sway several spirits to the dark side, using their anger to grow stronger. The ever growing conflict between mankind and the spirits made his turning of spirits even easier. Wan managed to stop it by merging with Raava, becoming the first Avatar, and imprisoned Vaatu inside a tree in the Spirit World, allowing the dark spirits he turned to regain the balance within themselves.



In 151 ASC, these spirits were angered after Tonraq destroyed their forest in the Northern Water Tribe's tundra while in pursuit of the barbarians who attacked the tribe. As a result, they attacked the city and were unable to be stopped until Unalaq effectively calmed them by using a sort of spiritual waterbending to restore the balance of light and dark within them, sending them back to the Spirit World.

By 171 ASC, the dark spirits began scourging the icy regions of the South Pole, where they were known to attack ships in the waters near the Southern Water Tribe.

It was only six months after the conclusion of the Anti-bending Revolution that Avatar Korra got wind of these attacks, when she visited the Glacier Spirits Festival at the Southern Water Tribe. Her uncle, Unalaq, theorized that the displeasure of the spirits was caused due to the spiritual deterioration and the decay of traditions of the Southern Tribe.



During Korra's visit, one of these spirits visited the festival at night. The entity charged at the Avatar and managed to pin her down, although it was distracted when Mako and Bolin came to her rescue. The brothers proved to be no match for the spirit, and it quickly defeated them. However, by that time, Tonraq and Tenzin had joined the scene and were battling the spirit each in their own way; Tonraq assisted his daughter in attacking the being with waterbending, though he was batted away, while Tenzin attempted to reason with the entity, though he suffered the same fate. The spirit was eventually faced by Korra, who entered the Avatar State, but even harnessing the powers of her past lives proved to be ineffective against the spirit's prowess. It used one of its tendrils to bring Korra to the ground and was about to deliver the final blow, when Unalaq intervened, encircling the being with water. The spirit changed color and started to glow, eventually dissipating in a flash of gold light.



More dark spirits stalked Korra, her family, and her friends as they journeyed to the Everstorm, where Unalaq intended for the Avatar to unlock a spirit portal to restore the southern lights. When the party reached the Everstorm, the dark spirits ambushed them, stealing their supplies. Though this compelled Tonraq to turn around, the others continued on. As Korra ventured into the frozen spirit forest alone, the dark spirits attacked her, merging into a single entity in an attempt to restrain her. However, Korra went into the Avatar State and managed to unlock the portal. The dark spirits disappeared as the southern lights were restored and the spirit forest returned to an unfrozen state.

A giant dark spirit attacked Korra while she was being pursued by Desna and Eska on the Mo Ce Sea. Despite her attempts to purify the spirit, it broke free of her hold and swallowed her whole, dragging her below the surface. This spirit ended up infecting her with its influence, forming a lethal threat to her Avatar Spirit. However, by learning about her origins and Raava, Korra managed to cleanse herself from the spirit's infection.



At the Eastern Air Temple, while attempting to aid Korra in crossing over to the Spirit World, Tenzin performed a spiritual cleansing of an ancient meditation area. In doing so, Tenzin stirred dark bat-like spirits therein, and the swarm promptly attacked them. They could not be stopped by regular bending, as they broke through Korra's water blast and Tenzin's wind vortex. However, their relentless assault was halted when Korra engulfed them in water, utilizing her uncle's spiritual cleansing technique to quickly pacify them. As they dispersed in a golden light, their dark energy was also cleansed from the surrounding stones, restoring the environment's spiritual energy.

Abilities
The dark spirits are seemingly invincible, possessing chaotic and nearly amorphous bodies that sustain damage with limited to no effect. Though their abilities seem to vary, some being inhumanly fast and like shadows while others more brutish and large, they are almost impossible to defeat by mundane tactics. Only the purifying technique that Unalaq possess seems able to stop them. Like every spirit, they can possess a human being, though their presence puts their host in mortal danger. They feed off of negative emotion.

Trivia

 * Grey DeLisle, Azula's voice actress, will voice one of these dark spirits.
 * There is a special relationship between light and dark spirits, as one cannot exist without the other.
 * Dark spirits are stated by Unalaq to not be inherently malevolent, but rather chaotic, instead merely reacting to nature's destruction. This, combined with their supposedly intricate relationship with light spirits, reflects traditional Asian ideas of yin and yang, that neither darkness nor light have moral attributes, and that evil comes from imbalance. When spirits are angered, Vaatu takes advantage of this and corrupts them with his essence.
 * According to Unalaq, they are primarily focused on taking revenge on Tonraq for destroying their sacred forest.