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

Victor: Baatar Jr. and mecha suit pilots



After deserting the military of the Earth Empire in mecha suits, Bolin, Varrick, and Zhu Li were tracked down and ambushed by Baatar Jr. and two other mecha suitpilots. After shooting down Bolin's suit, 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 suit down, he moved in for the kill. Although Bolin managed to exit just in time, his suit 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 suits, 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' suits 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, forcing them to call on Meelo and Ikki and flee Zaofu.

Duel on the train
Combatants: Korra, Mako, Asami, and several Earth Empire soldiers

Victor: Korra, Mako and Asami



Upon finding a kidnapped Wu locked in a suitcase in the train, Kuvira's agents walked into the luggage cart and one of them shot a few metal plates at Korra, who deflected them. She blew them against the ceiling with her airbending, knocking them out cold. They were being approached by soldiers from both sides, and Korra bought them a few moments by bending the door shut. The Avatar metalbent the roof open, but Wu refused to go up there, much to Korra's chagrin. She worked him up there with an air blast, followed by herself, before helping up Asami and Mako. They made their way further to the back of the train, but the soldiers used cables hidden inside their coats to pull themselves up to the roof as well. Mako tried to hold them back with firebending, but was unable to properly do so and was restrained. Korra managed to grab one of the cables, holding the soldier at bay. Asami even managed to knock one of the soldiers out, with her combat skills and an electrical glove, but the metalbenders on both sides peeled up the roof, trapping Team Avatar in between. Korra bent an air sphere around them and jumped off the train, landing them all safely on the ground below.

Duel at the Earth Empire checkpoint
Combatants: Bolin, Varrick, Baraz and Ahnah, several other prisoners, four Earth Empire soldiers and four mecha suits

Victor: Bolin, Varrick, Baraz and Ahnah, and several other prisoners



Bolin and Varrick led the way to the checkpoint, trying to get through with bluffing and intimidation. Their attempt was successful, until a guard inside the checkpoint recognized Varrick from the wanted poster in front of him. He ran out and revealed them as deserters, upon which the group ran. They were soon stopped though, when two mecha suits jumped in front of them, halting their escape. Realizing they were surrounded, Baraz quickly burned through the ropes around his wrists, and launched a blazing arc at the soldiers, forcing them to seek cover. They shot back, and while the firebenders freed the other prisoners, Ahnah also set to work trying to defeat the soldiers with her waterbending. Bolin and Varrick came came under attack of a mecha suit, and even though Bolin covered them, Varrick still ran off.

Ahnah created a sheet of ice under one of the mecha suits and Baraz knocked it off balance, but it used the spikes hidden in its calves to stay upright, and tried to shoot them with lightning. Baraz was forced to counter the suit's flamethrower with his own firebending. Bolin, meanwhile, was under attack of multiple suits, but when he tried using his lavabending, the suits were prepared for it, nimbly evading the attacks.



Varrick meanwhile, was hiding in the checkpoint, and created an electromagnetic pulse-device from scrap. Bolin's lavabending still was not really helpful against two suits, so he resorted to regular earthbending to knock one down, but was immediately forced to dodge a shot from another one. He came under the attack of three suits at once, and could not do anything other than throw up a wall to cover behind. While the guards were distracted fighting the benders, Varrick had gotten his EMP device to work and disabled all four suits. Pleased with himself, he ran up to Bolin, telling him to get out of there. Bolin looked up and saw the prisoners were losing their fight against the guards. He decided not to abandon them and created a pool of lava, forcing the guards back through the gate, effectively sealing their victory.

Duel between the Beifong family and Kuvira's army
Combatants: Lin, Suyin, Wei and Wing, Kuvira, and several Earth Empire soldiers

Victor: None, interrupted by Toph



In an attempt to take out Kuvira, Lin, Suyin and the twins decided to fight Kuvira while they had the element of surprise. Trying to help out Opal and Bolin, who were in the town the cannon was targeting, they bent a fissure underneath the weapon, causing it to shift position, and partially miss the target. The soldiers started attacking, and Lin blocked a barrage of shots coming her way. She and Suyin were working together, Lin laying the shots up and Suyin using her considerable acrobatic prowess to launch them. Though outnumbered, the Beifong Clan had the upper hand against the soldiers on pure skill. The twins also did their part, forcing the soldiers apart by launching a massive rock their way. Ultimately though, Suyin covered her sister, cover that was reinforced by her sons.

Suyin peeked around the corner, seeing Kuvira standing on the cannon, and decided to fight her one on one. She launched herself and a rock onto the top of the cannon, but Kuvira was quick enough to roll out of its way. Suyin used her former protégée's tactics against her, pulling small metal plates from the floor of the cannon and launching them at her. Kuvira nimbly dodged them all, launching several at Suyin herself. In turn, the Beifong pulled a door off the cannon, spun it around in front of her to catch the plates, before folding it into armor. They exchanged several plates, each deflecting all of them. Kuvira launched a whole barrage of plates at her former mentor, but the latter pulled a piece off the rail, spinning it around herself, knocking all plates out of the way. She dropped it and pushed Kuvira aside with a cart, who could not do anything but launch it over the edge to stop herself from getting crushed. Kuvira deflected a few more plates, before turning her armband into a sword, which Suyin had trouble avoiding. She did manage to throw Kuvira off the cannon, but the latter used her sword to hold herself on the railing, and kicked Suyin aside. She grabbed the Beifong with a cable, slamming her against the cannon, and ultimately off the super weapon.



Back on the ground, Suyin finds herself surrounded by four soldiers. Wing comes to his mother's aid, knocking them all down. He and launches himself and his mother back to Wei and Lin, who have covered themselves with a makeshift wall. The wall is breached, and Beifongs are surrounded by soldiers and mecha suits. Those are all knocked down by Toph, who came in to save her daughters and grandsons. Opal and Bolin fly in on Juicy, and they all jump on the beast, and fly away.

Slowing down the giant mecha suit
Combatants: Korra, Tenzin, Bumi, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Opal, Kai, Ryu, Lin Beifong, Suyin Beifong, Mako, Bolin, Wing and Wei, several other airbenders, and Kuvira

Victor: Kuvira

In an attempt to buy Varrick and Asami enough time to get the hummingbird mecha suits flying, Team Avatar and the airbenders decided to slow down Kuvira's giant mecha suit. After running past a paint shop, Meelo got an idea, which resulted in the equipping each airbender with several balloons filled with purple paint. After spotting the airbenders, Kuvira shot her spirit energy cannon at them, but they managed to evade the blast. As they drew closer, she attempted to swat the airbenders away, but they were too nimble and easily evaded the arms of the mecha suit. They successfully covered the cockpit windows in purple paint, temporarily blinding Kuvira, who started washing the paint away. Meanwhile, at the base of the giant, Lin, Wing, and Wei attempted to break the ankles of the suit, but failed when they discovered they were made out of platinum as well. They tied the legs up with cables on massive spools while Bolin sank one of the feet into a pit of lava. Korra briefly charged herself in the Avatar State before unleashing a massive blast of air at the mecha suit while the airbenders joined her. The giant machine started tumbling back, but Kuvira managed to break the cable tying the legs up and regain balance on the giant suit. She shot another blast at the building the airbenders were on, who dove out of the way just in time. They all retreated to the Future Industries tower to treat their wounded.

When the hummingbird suits were not done in time, Korra, Mako, Bolin, Lin, Suyin and the twins returned to the battlefield to detract Kuvira's advances while work continued. Korra drew Kuvira's attention by going into the Avatar State and riding an airspout in front of the suit. The metalbender responded with a blast of spirit energy, which Korra managed to dodge. The Avatar jumped around the corner and lifted massive chunks of rock out of the street, and hurled them at the metal giant. Although several blocks away, she scored hit after hit, but none of them did anything to even dent the suit. Several airbenders flew in to distract Kuvira, who unsuccessfully tried the swatting technique again. When she started charging the cannon again, more airbenders dove in from above, towing a tornado behind them. This caused Kuvira to lose her aim and the balance of the suit, stumbling into a building. Meelo leaned against the cockpit window, and Kuvira facepalmed the suit to try and get him off. He dove out of the way and she tried to blast him of the sky. She nearly ended up hitting Jinora, who was pushed out of the way by her father. They were knocked unconscious, and Ikki and Meelo flew in to save them both.

On the other side of the giant mecha suit, Bolin, Lin, and Suyin toppled a skyscraper, attempting to crush Kuvira between it an another one. Even though their plan worked, the suit proved too robust for this strategy to have the desired effect. Wei and Wing attempted this again with another building, but Kuvira blew them out of the sky before they could topple another building. They were saved by their mother and aunt when the hummingbird suits finally flew in. Varrick and Zhu Li attempted to cut a hole in the back, but the suit's arm reached further back than they had anticipated and nearly crushed them. Asami and Hiroshi tried to cut a hole in the leg, but they could not find a spot Kuvira could not reach. As Kuvira drew closer to the Future Industries Tower, she also approached a river, which Korra used to freeze the suit in place. In a wild shot, Kuvira tore the wing off of Varrick and Zhu Li's suit, forcing them to eject. Korra froze the arm with the cannon on it in place as well. Hiroshi and Asami went for an exposed spot on the leg again, this time succeeding in cutting a hole through the armor.

With brute strength, Kuvira started breaking the ice that was trapping the arm. Asami wanted to leave, but Hiroshi was adamant that he could cut through the skin. She saw the arm coming free and wanted to leave immediately, but Hiroshi refused. He ejected his daughter, finishing the hole before he was killed by Kuvira.

Duel between Korra and Kuvira
Combatants: Korra and Kuvira

Victor: Korra

After making her way to the cockpit of the giant mecha suit, Korra wasted no time knocking out the soldiers who helped Kuvira piloting the suit.

Duel at the power core
Combatants: Mako, Bolin and two Earth Empire soldiers

Victor: Mako and Bolin

Duel at the cannon
Combatants: Lin Beifong and an Earth Empire soldier

Victor: Lin Beifong