Bolin is an integral part of Avatar Korra’s team in The Legend of Korra. We see Bolin for the first time when Korra travels to Republic City, and he befriends Korra. Bolin’s Pro-Bending tournament was one person short, so he offered Korra to play instead. This meeting becomes a lifelong relationship between Korra, Bolin, and his elder brother Mako. Bolin is an Earth Bender and tries hard to become a Metal Bender like his inspiration Toph Beifong. However, he fails but later discovers that he can bend lava.
This article will look at how Bolin’s character developed throughout The Legend of Korra series.
History
Bolin was born to an Earth Nation male and a Fire Nation female. However, both his parents were killed in a mugging gone wrong. After his parents passed away, Bolin was raised by his elder brother, Mako. Both resorted to a life of petty crimes and odd jobs to survive. Bolin instantly took a liking to the fire ferret who was supposed to be fed to a giant snake. He broke into the pet shop to save the fire ferret, but they got trapped and ultimately rescued by Mako.
Bolin then adopted this fire ferret and named him Pabu, who also is a series regular in The Legend of Korra. One of the most significant events in Bolin’s childhood was when he discovered Toza, a Pro-Bending champion receiving bribes from Triple Threat Triad member Shady Sin. Bolin got upset and told Toza that he should not accept the bribes and play a fair match.
Bolin still went to the match disheartened when his favorite player was getting beaten up. However, Toza retaliated and defeated all his challengers, much to the ire of Shady Sin. The Triple Threat Triad member blamed Bolin for this and ran after him. The brothers were saved by Toza, who offered them to train in Pro-Bending sports at his gym. Bolin agreed and rejoiced at the thought of a life without crime.
Meeting The Avatar
Bolin met the Avatar when she came to the Pro-Bending Arena to watch the ongoing match. He immediately became smitten with her and showed her a few tricks. After Bolin’s team had a member short, he convinced Korra to play for their team. Bolin developed romantic feelings for Korra, but she did not return the same feelings and was interested in Mako.
They played together and qualified for the final and only lost that match due to cheating by the winners. After that, however, Equalists attacked the Arena, and they barely escaped. After this, the Arena was closed, and Korra invited Mako and Bolin to live with her on the Air Temple Island.
He played an important role in helping Korra defeat the Equalists and saved her life numerous times.
Dark Avatar
Bolin then traveled to the Southern Water Tribe with Korra to attend the Glacial Spirits Festival. He developed a close friendship with Varrick there and convinced him to invest and save Asami’s company, to which Varrick agreed. Bolin also got into a relationship with Eska in the Southern Water Tribe but found himself trapped due to the dominating nature of his counterpart. He escaped from the Tribe without even saying goodbye to her.
He was cast in a propaganda film by Varrick as the lead hero. Bolin also played a vital role in preventing Vaatu’s escape. Both Mako and Bolin fought Unalaq even after Vaatu was freed. Bolin even tried to fuse with Vaatu during the harmonic convergence to stop Unalaq from doing the same. However, they were unsuccessful and could only delay the inevitable.
Red Lotus
Bolin was also part of the team when the Red Lotus was revived. They even went to Ba Sing Se to stop the criminals. Mako and Bolin also found their grandmother in the city. Bolin developed Lava Bending and played an integral role in taking down the Red Lotus. He gave stiff resistance to Ghazan, who could Lava Bend entire floors and structures. His Lava Bending also allowed him to rescue and save Korra countless times throughout their chase against the Red Lotus.
After defeating the Red Lotus and capturing Zaheer, Bolin was so tired of the criminal’s rant that he stuck his sock in Zaheer’s mouth to silence him. He then left Republic City with Varrick to join Kuvira in restoring the balance to the Earth Kingdom.
Kuvira’s War
Bolin initially supported Kuvira and believed she was a better leader than Earth King Wu. He even denounced Wu’s authority in favor of Kuvira’s army, who used Bolin’s movie star image to propagate false agenda. But when Kuvira reached Zaofu, Bolin saw the truth and realized that Kuvira quashed all dissenters and sent them into slavery or prison camps. He discussed it with Varrick, and both agreed that Kuvira is crazy. So Varrick, Zhu Li, and Bolin escaped Kuvira’s camp to rejoin the Avatar.
However, they were captured by Bataar Jr. and were sent to a prison camp on the train. Varrick, however, programmed one of the Mecha suits into a bomb prompting all the guards to jump off the train. They then escaped and, this time, successfully reached Zaofu.
He also joined Opal to free her family and was happy to discover that Toph was also going with them. He then played an essential role in defeating Kuvira’s army and joined the Police force afterward.
Conclusion
Bolin added a new dimension to the team Avatar with his Lava Bending abilities and is one of the most loved characters in The Legend of Korra. If you like this article, visit our website for other articles.
