Ikki

"air"

- No, no, no! The best way to win a boy's heart is to brew a love potion out of rainbows and sunsets that make two lovers sprout wings and fly to a magical castle in the sky, where they get married and eat clouds with spoons, and use stars as ice cubes in their moonlight punch, forever and ever and ever!

Ikki is the second child and youngest daughter of Tenzin and Pema, and the granddaughter of Avatar Aang and Katara. She has three siblings: an older sister named Jinora and two younger brothers named Meelo and Rohan. The entire family resides on Air Temple Island, near Republic City. Ikki is fun-loving, energetic, and extremely talkative.

History


Ikki was born to Tenzin and Pema in 163 ASC on Air Temple Island. She grew up on this small island, as one of only four airbenders in the world: her, her father, her sister, and her brother.

In the fall of 170 ASC, Ikki and her family traveled on Oogi to the Southern Water Tribe compound to meet Korra, who was due to start her airbending training with Tenzin; during the journey, Ikki relentlessly asked her father if they had arrived. Once they arrived at the compound and stepped off their bison, Ikki jumped in between her grandmother and Jinora, interrupting their conversation regarding Zuko's mother, and began to ask Katara many questions quickly and excitedly, much to Jinora's annoyance. Ikki and her family then left the South Pole, as Tenzin had only come to inform Korra of his duties in Republic City which made it impossible for him and his family to stay at the compound. Ikki and her family subsequently returned to Air Temple Island.

Later, Avatar Korra escaped from her tribe and traveled to Republic City. Once there, she was able to convince Tenzin to allow her to stay on his island so she could learn airbending. Following this decision, Ikki and her siblings were excited and hugged Korra, celebrating her stay.

Ikki tried to offer a frustrated Korra advice during her airbending training, but this did not help, as Korra's failures continued to mount. After Korra snapped at Tenzin and called him a "terrible teacher", she and Jinora comforted their father by hugging him as Meelo mimicked Korra by destroying more of the airbending gates.



Some time later, while Ikki and Jinora helped Korra out with her airbending training, the siblings asked her how much the approaching Mako drove her crazy, which prompted the Avatar to launch them into the air using earthbending, though the siblings landed softly using airbending, giggling behind Korra.

When Tarrlok interrupted Korra, Tenzin, and his family's dinner on Air Temple Island, Ikki asked Tarrlok why he had three ponytails and why he smelled like a lady. She then declared him "weird" and, after being called "precocious" by Tarrlok, glared at him with an expression similar to the one Pema had previously given Tenzin. When Tarrlok eventually left, Ikki waved and cheerfully said, "Bye bye, ponytail man!", much to his annoyance.

Later, Ikki and her brother Meelo pretended to drive a fancy new Satomobile, which Tarrlok had sent to Korra as a gift to persuade her to join his anti-Equalist task force. Ikki loudly made horn noises and told Tenzin to get out of the way, as they were "driving". Soon after, when Tarrlok's messenger brought Korra an invitation to a gala at City Hall, Ikki was playing Pai Sho with Jinora nearby. Ikki later attended the gala with her family and Korra that night.



While Korra, Ikki, and Jinora were out feeding the winged lemurs, the sisters asked the Avatar about her "magical romance" with Mako, as they had seen her out more often. Korra initially denied the existence of this romance but soon afterward asked them for advice on how to approach the firebender if she were hypothetically interested in him. Jinora told Korra of a historical saga she had read that involved jumping into a volcano. Ikki, however, quickly rejected her sister's idea and told Korra to brew a love potion of rainbows and sunsets, to which Korra replied, "The volcano is starting to make more sense to me now". Pema, who had overheard the conversation, then offered the Avatar her own advice, which the girls considered the best alternative.



Afterward, when Mako, Bolin, and Asami Sato moved into the Air Temple, she greeted them excitedly and declared Pabu cute. She then gave them the "Grand Tour". When Bolin asked her questions about the island, she answered very rapidly without hesitating, causing the trio to blink in astonishment. Then, while showing Asami to her new room, Ikki, unaware of the present circumstances, told her about Korra's crush on Mako, much to Korra's horror. After reaching Asami's room, Korra slammed the door shut on Ikki, which in turn caused Ikki to become quite furious herself.

The morning after finding Korra, who had been captured by Tarrlok, Tenzin found Ikki, Jinora, and Meelo lying in bed with Pema. When they woke up, Ikki automatically jumped into her father's arms, telling him that she was scared and afraid Korra was not going to come back. Tenzin apologized for her being scared and reassured her that everything was going to be fine.

Later, during the Equalists' attack on Air Temple Island, Ikki and her family were told by Lin Beifong that they needed to stay calm and move indoors. After fighting off some of the Equalists, Lin was knocked out by the Lieutenant's electrified kali sticks. The Equalists were about to capture Lin, but Ikki rode in on an air scooter along with her siblings, and together they were able to save Lin and fight off the rest of the Equalists.



When Tenzin arrived at the island, he was frightened by the fact that his children had battled the Equalists. Lin reassured him by telling him that his kids had saved her, and that he had taught them well. Tenzin was then told to go be with his wife, who was delivering her baby. After a few minutes, the kids joined their parents and new brother, Rohan. The siblings jumped onto the bed and Ikki introduced Rohan to herself and her siblings. She then expressed that they had a great family and that they were happy that he was a part of it. This poignant family moment was shattered when Korra told them that more Equalist airships were coming. Ikki then asked her dad, "Everything's not going to be fine, is it Daddy?"

As the Equalists continued to approach, Ikki and her family fled to preserve the airbender race by riding away on their sky bison.



However, Ikki and the rest of her family were eventually captured by Amon, who intended to rid the world of airbending during the Equalist Victory Rally. Avatar Korra and Mako swiftly came to the airbenders' aid, and Korra led Ikki and the rest of her family out into the hallways of the Pro-bending Arena. Tenzin led his children to find Pema and Rohan in prison while Korra and Mako defeated Amon.

Once Republic City was safe again, Ikki returned to Air Temple Island with her family. She witnessed her boisterous Uncle Bumi enter the harbor with the rest of the United Forces, much to her excitement and Tenzin's displeasure. In an attempt to have Korra's bending restored by Katara, Ikki and her family accompanied the Avatar to the Southern Water Tribe. When Katara was unable to heal Korra, Ikki stood by her family, who tried to convince Korra that everything would be all right. After Korra's own bending was restored by Aang, Ikki witnessed Korra use energybending to restore Lin Beifong's earthbending.

Six months after the events of the Anti-bending Revolution, Ikki was seen on Air Temple Island having an air scooter race with Korra and her siblings. She was in the lead for most of the race until Korra used the Avatar State to pass her in the final stretch. After her uncle declared Korra the winner, Ikki became indignant, claiming that Korra's use of the Avatar State was unfair. Korra simply stuck her tongue out at her.

Personality


Ikki is extremely curious with a hyperactive mind that seems to race a mile a minute. She always has many questions for any situation, as everything is fascinating to her and her active imagination. She will not stop until she has answers to all of the mysteries in life. Energy and hyperactivity often accompany her wilder moments of curiosity, which sometimes accidentally lead to a point of bluntness, such as when she brought up Korra's affection for Mako to Asami. She irritates her sister when she is trying to learn things from people. For example, when Jinora tried to ask Katara about Zuko's mother, Ikki interrupted by bombarding Katara with a barrage of wild questions.

During Mako, Bolin, and Asami's stay at the island, Ikki seemed to keep up well with Bolin's fast paced and testy questions. She also demonstrated an impressive level of knowledge about Air Temple Island, even being able to cite how many trees there were on the island after only a moment's thought.

Abilities
Though she is still in training, Ikki has already demonstrated proficiency in airbending. She is capable of using an Air Nomad glider, able to generate enough of a breeze to start the training gates, and has even mastered the air scooter. She was shown defeating Equalists single-handedly during the raid on Air Temple Island. She was also capable of landing gently on the ground when catapulted into the air by Korra.

Trivia

 * Ikki is a Japanese male name with a few different meanings, though the most appropriate would be "radiance, shine, sparkle"; the literal meaning of the word is "riot, insurrection". Both translations attribute to Ikki's hyperactive tendencies.
 * Ikki is also short for Tuulikki, a girl's name that means "little wind" in Finnish, a meaning that is in line with her being an airbender.
 * Her attire is the common clothing worn by young airbenders, much like Aang's clothing in Books One and Two.
 * She has mastered the air scooter, a move that was invented by her late grandfather, Aang.
 * Ikki's bangs resemble Pema's.
 * Despite never meeting him, Ikki refers to Aang as "Grandpa Aang".
 * Ikki is one of three characters whose names are palindromes, the others being Appa and Kuruk.
 * Ikki knows exactly how many trees there are on Air Temple Island: 10,552.
 * Ikki and her sister Jinora are the first and only pair of sisters to be seen or mentioned in The Legend of Korra series, and the second in total after Lo and Li in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
 * In the German dub of The Legend of Korra, Ikki is voiced by the same person that voices her brother, Meelo, and Korra.