Iknik Blackstone Varrick

"water"

- Stop! Look me in the eye... We got a deal!

Varrick is an eccentric and charismatic non-bending billionaire known for his promiscuous nature and flamboyant fashion style. Born in the Southern Water Tribe, he enjoys gallivanting across the globe on his yacht and flaunting his extravagant lifestyle, often at the expense of his assistant, Zhu Li. A man of exceptional character, he is a close friend of Bolin. He later masterminded a civil war between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes when Unalaq's occupation of the South proved to be a threat to his business.

History
Varrick was born to a poor seal-hunter. As he grew up, he managed to expand his business from a single canoe into a global enterprise, until he finally controlled the entire global shipping business. A consummate deal maker, he is always looking for opportunities to expand his business empire.



In 171 ASC, Varrick met with Asami Sato during the Glacier Spirits Festival in order to discuss business arrangements to save Future Industries from bankruptcy. While in the middle of attempting to impress an audience with what he believed to be a levitation trick, Bolin and Asami entered his yacht, and Bolin noted that Varrick was not levitating, to the shock of the people surrounding the billionaire much to Asami's embarrassment. Though he was angry for a moment, Varrick quickly became grateful that Bolin had pointed it out and fired his employee, Swami, for tricking him into believing he was levitating. He quickly took a liking to the young earthbender and showed him a moving picture of an ostrich horse, but then brought out the show girl Ginger to strike poses, because he believed moving pictures to be old news. Asami then tried getting Varrick's attention to remind him of their business arrangement. Varrick soon entered into a brief, but tense stare-down with Asami before agreeing to finalize the details of their agreement. He then took his guests on a rocket-boat ride.



Varrick later attended the banquet held in honor of Chief Unalaq of the Northern Water Tribe. After the chief gave his speech regarding his disappointment in the absence of spirituality in the South Pole, during which Varrick wasn't paying attention because he was picking his teeth, he then took the stage to cheer up the audience by calling on Wacky Wushu's dancing otter penguins to perform.

The next day, Varrick provided Bolin with a snowmobile with a two-person side compartment and a snow-suit equipped with a variety of emergency provisions and equipment, including a flotation device, internal heater, emergency beacon, and food ration pouch, for his friend's journey with Avatar Korra to the Everstorm.



After Unalaq's battleships arrived at the Southern Water Tribe, a disgusted Varrick joined several tribesmen in a meeting at Tonraq and Senna's house. Alarmed of the possibility of Unalaq forcing his views on the South and potential shipping losses resulting from the Northern blockade, Varrick called for a rebellion against the chief. Unalaq later suspected Varrick of being involved in an attempt to remove him from power, calling for his arrest and trial. Varrick managed to escape capture by hiding himself and Zhu Li inside a stuffed platypus bear in Asami's room in the capital city. After Desna and Eska's search of the room turned up nothing, Varrick revealed himself to Mako, Bolin, and Asami after overhearing Bolin's unsuccessful attempts to break up with Eska. He told his friend that he should instead run away. He refused to come out until he was absolutely sure it was safe. The billionaire had Zhu Li give Bolin a bunch of yuans, deposited from the statue's tail, to bribe any guards to release their captive rebels. However, Bolin failed to understand the meaning of a bribe, giving the money to two complete strangers who failed to understand his subtle instruction.



Some time later, Avatar Korra came by, explaining that she had found out that Unalaq had masterminded Tonraq's banishment and imprisonment, and resolved to free her father. At the same time, Bolin and Pabu entered the room, formally dressed, as Eska intended to forcibly marry him. Varrick maintained his advice about running away, before discussing how to free Tonraq and break the blockade. While Korra, Mako and Asami went to free Tonraq, Bolin took Varrick and Zhu Li in their disguise to get to his ship. When questioned whether the "platypus bear" is licensed, Varrick instructed Zhu Li to cause a distraction by scattering money about. As bystanders started grabbing all the money they could, the party was able to make it onto Varrick's boat. However, Korra's group arrived to reveal that Tonraq and the other prisoners were being shipped to the north. With the next obstacle being the blockade, Varrick brought out a biplane so Korra could get into the air and waterbend the Northern ships out of the way. However, Asami noted there was no runway for the plane to take off, but Korra and Mako were able to firebend to give the aircraft an extra boost as Asami piloted it. Korra was then able to break the blockade, allowing them to catch up with the prison ship and free the prisoners. After dropping off Tonraq and the rebels so they could start a resistance against Unalaq, Korra agreed with her father's advice to get help from the United Forces. However, Varrick spotted Eska advancing on their position, determined to get Bolin back. At the urging of his friend, Varrick set full speed away from the crazed waterbender.

Personality
Varrick is not always the brightest, as he was once easily tricked into believing he was levitating, but he prepares for any issue well, and can quickly come up with a plan to avoid danger. He can sometimes be impulsive, such as leading the rebels, but in such times his actions aren't always uncalled for. This can be proven as he was right about Unalaq having bad intentions. Varrick also appears to have problems with dating clingy women, and even had a boat built to escape from one. He also takes a liking to Bolin, to whom he gave advice during the earthbender's relationship troubles with Eska.

He is shown to be morally dubious, such as when he attempted to re-rig Tonraq's trial by having Bolin bribe court officials.

Trivia

 * Varrick is described as being "equal parts Howard Hughes and Richard Branson".
 * He has been referred to as a "captain of industry".
 * There are rumors that he is willing to deal with underworld characters and gangsters if he thinks it will turn a profit, although nothing has been proven.
 * He is a self-proclaimed "biz-bender".
 * Varrick invented the moving picture, which he calls 'movers'. He used his 'movers' for propaganda against the Northern Water Tribe when civil war broke out.
 * Varrick's first "mover" appears to be a reference to Sallie Gardner at a Gallop, one of the first photographic experiments which lead to the development of motion pictures.