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The Character Survey of Doom
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is she heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Korra is tall -- somewhere around 5'10'' -- and built like a battletank. She has broad shoulders and well-defined muscles. Her waist is fairly thick, but her hips are broad and altogether she is very curvy.
2. How old is she? In the series, she's 17. In the City, she turned 18 on November 22nd, 2012
3. Describe her posture. Does she carry herself well or does she slouch?
She has excellent posture.
4. How is her health? Is she fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Look up the word "fit" in the dictionary, and you will see her picture. She lives her life in fighting form.
5. How does she move? Is she clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
Korra is both solid and fluid in how she moves. She owns the space she's in, and she tends to move like it's your job to get out of her way. In some ways, she presents herself much like an earthbender. But she adapts quickly, and when she needs to she can move with a great deal of dexterity and grace, like water.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does she perceive herself in the mirror?
Look at this woman and you tell me.
Korra herself doesn't really look in the mirror. It's not an avoidance thing -- she's just got better things to do with her time than fuss about her looks. She's perfectly comfortable with the way she looks...usually. Like everybody, she has her moments of insecurity, especially when she looks so different from other people (like Asami).
7. Describe her complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
She has clear, warm brown skin.
8. Describe her hair: color, texture, style.
Her hair is dark brown. She keeps it in the same style pretty much all the time -- mostly gathered in the back in a pony tail, but two locks left up front to frame her face.
9. What color are her eyes?
Bright, clear blue.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
Does her expression count as a feature? Because her face is ridiculously expressive. The first thing most people notice about her is how her face reveals everything.
11. What are her chief tension centers?
Her chief tension center is the back of her neck, though she doesn't actually tend to hold tension for long. She's constantly moving and stretching and keeping her muscles warm & relaxed.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does she have six of the same suit?
Korra keeps it simple. In canon, she favors warm, baggy pants tucked into thick boots, and a tight tank top. This is her favorite outfit in the City too, but
Her bra from back home most closely resembles liangdang, but she does have some more western looking underwear that she got with Asami.
13. Do her clothes fit well? Does she seem comfortable in them?
They fit on her like a second skin.
14. Does she dress the same on the job as she does in her free time? If not, what are the differences?
Korra dresses the same pretty much all the time, unless it's a super special occasion.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
None of the above. :P
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Her voice is fairly deep for a woman, but it has a wide range in pitch.
2. How does she normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does she talk easily, or does she hesitate?
She generally speaks at a fairly relaxed cadence, but it changes with her volatile moods. She can get loud and angry very quickly.
She's not shy, but she's not someone who will chat up strangers either.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Not really.
4. What language/s does she speak, and with how much fluency?
Everything becomes English in the end. Canon doesn't really delve into language issues.
5. Does she switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
She tries to speak more formally to her teachers, but overall she's very casual.
6. Is she a good impromptu speaker, or does she have to think about her words?
She is a terrible impromptu speaker, if you're talking about public speaking. She doesn't communicate very well in words.
7. Is she eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
She is the least articulate, oh heaven.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is she book-smart or street-smart?
She's not dumb by a long shot, but honestly? Neither. She's too restless and impatient for booksmarts, and too sheltered for street smarts. But she learns really quickly if you teach her through movement.
2. Does she think on her feet, or does she need time to deliberate?
In a fight, she thinks best on her feet. She hates deliberating, and even when she tries, she's really bad at it. You never want her to make a plan. Ever.
But for more complex, emotional issues, she likes to curl up by herself and take time to process her feelings.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is she more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
She is extremely intuitive -- and far too impatient to spend much time thinking. She's not so much idealistic as extremely innocent; by nature she falls more to the practical end of the spectrum.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
She has been tutored and trained in bending her entire life. As the Avatar, she doesn't need what we would consider a traditional education. She can read and write and do basic arithmetic, but most of what she was taught was the history of her world and the philosophy of bending. And honestly, not much of it sunk in.
5. What are her areas of expertise? What, if anything, is she interested in learning more about?
She is a master bender. All she wants to do in life is bend, or at the very least, fight. She loves anything that gets her moving.
6. Is she an introvert or an extrovert?
She's more of an introvert than an extrovert, though she doesn't fall far from the middle of the spectrum. She loves being around people, but when it comes to processing things that have happened to her and how she feels, she prefers to do it alone. She's not one to talk through her troubles.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is she even-tempered or does she have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Korra's temperament has the volatility of a fire and the inevitability of an avalanche. She's cheerful, but extremely easy to anger or hurt, and she is almost obsessively driven to improve her bending.
8. How does she respond to new people or situations? Is she suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
She likes new people and new situations. She'll try anything once.
9. Is she more likely to act, or to react?
Act. She hates sitting around waiting.
10. Which is her default: fight or flight?
FIGHT
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does she appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
She's extremely goofy and loves physical comedy. Loud burps? Hysterical. Fake mustaches? The best thing ever.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does she deal with them?
Not really, though lord knows she's been through enough to have issues.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined her as a person?
-- Discovering she's the Avatar at age 4
-- Losing her bending at age 17
14. What does she fear?
In a way, her worst fear has already come true. She was afraid of being a failure as an Avatar, and of Amon taking her bending. Amon did take three of her four elements, and as far as she's concerned, she has completely failed as Avatar.
At this point, her biggest fears are her friends getting hurt and her losing her airbending.
15. What are her hopes or aspirations?
Right now she's very unsure. She doesn't have any hope of getting her bending back, and she has no idea who she is or what she wants if she's not the Avatar.
16. What is something she doesn't want anyone to find out about her?
She doesn't really have anything to hide.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with her parents.
Korra's parents are extremely loving, and she had a great relationship with them. But she's also perfectly comfortable being far away from them and not talking to them for long stretches of time.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
She doesn't have any siblings of her own, but she's kind of adopted Tenzin's three children as her little sibs, and they're all very close.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom she is close? Are there ones she can't stand?
Nope.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom she considers part of her family? What are her relationships with them?
Master Katara, Tenzin, and his children are all part of Korra's family, and she adores them. In the City, Tohru and Miles have been adopted into her and Jinora's little family.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Naga, the polar bear dog, is Korra's best friend.
Naga has always been unusually curious and open minded for her species. While the other polar bear dogs gave the budding ice fortress a wide berth, tiny pup Naga liked to explore near it.
Korra was 9 years old at the time, and she loved running outside, practicing her bending. The White Lotus and the members of her tribe were afraid she would get attacked by the cub or worse, its mother, so they went to hunt it down. They killed Naga's parents, but Korra intervened before they could kill Naga.
Katara saw something of Aang in her defense of Naga, and said that Korra should be allowed to keep the dog. It would teach her responsibility and give her a hobby other than bending. Korra's mother had also worried about her daughter's lack of interest in anything else and agreed. Her father was worried it would just give her more reasons to not interact with the other children in the village.
6. Does she have other close friends?
Bolin and Mako became very dear friends to her. In the City, Chekov is the best human friend she has.
7. Does she make friends easily, or does she have trouble getting along with people?
She gets along with people in general, but she doesn't make friends that easily. She wouldn't have made friends with Bolin and Mako if Bolin hadn't made the first moves.
8. Which does she consider more important: family or friends?
She doesn't see the difference.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has she been married more than once?
Single, yo.
10. Is she currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
Romantic? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHHAAHAHAA no. She currently has a messy messed up booty call relationship-type-thing with Hei, but it's not romantic (and it certainly doesn't call enough).
11. Who was her first crush? Who is her latest?
Her first crush was one of the older boys in her village when she was 13. After the White Lotus caught them kissing, they moved her into the compound full-time.
Her latest crush is Mako. Or Hei, if by "crush" you mean "physical attraction and a desire for him to not be miserable".
12. What does she look for in a romantic partner?
She doesn't look for romantic partners; when she feels it, she feels it, and if she never feels it, that's okay too. (But she does tend to be drawn to powerful, emotionally unavailable guys.)
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does she relate to them? If no, does she want any?
She's only 18, geebus!
14. Does she have any rivals or enemies?
In the City? She's not a big fan of He Who Kills, since he tried to hunt down Naga. As for Hei...she doesn't know what he is.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does she fall on the Kinsey scale?
Her sexuality is fluid. In general, she's more attracted to men. This is in part because she spends most of her time with men, and doesn't get many chances to meet other women. But she's not at all averse to women.
16. How does she feel about sex? How important is it to her?
She really, really likes it, although she does have a few hang ups regarding it because of her White Lotus teachers and guardians. She'd really like to be having more of it. In a relationship, it would be very important to her, as she's extremely tactile and physical.
17. What are her turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
She likes it a little rough -- bruising grips, some hair tugging, wrestling. Spanking? Not so much. And restricting her movements? Major turn off (hello trauma trigger). She's also not really a fan of positions that don't let her touch her partner. She wants to be an active participant and not a passive recipient of pleasure.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does she fit type?
I made it up!
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in her life?
Korra is a spiritual leader for her world. Or is supposed to be. Spirituality is extremely important to her, but she's also not very good at it. She feels it in her heart, but the actual work of being spiritual is very difficult for her.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
It's a work in progress. Right now she's mostly treat other people the way they treat her.
4. How does she regard beliefs that differ from hers? Is she tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
She's mostly indifferent to other beliefs, with some mild curiosity. She only gets annoyed when people step on her beliefs.
5. What prejudices does she hold? Are they irrational or does she have a good reason for them?
She has a very black and white view of the world. She's not so much prejudiced as simplistic in her thinking. Her experiences are, bit by bit, broadening her views.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is she rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
At home, she's always been taken care of. In the City, she had to learn to take care of herself when she turned 18, and things were rough for awhile because she didn't have a job or any understanding of finances. With the help of Tohru and now Lin Bei Fong, though, their hodge podge family is now quite comfortably off.
2. What is her social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected her?
She is treated very much as an object or a symbol. The Avatar is someone to be revered in her world, which would give her a fairly high social status, but only a few people see her as a person. To the Order of the White Lotus, she was stubborn clay to be modeled into the shape they thought the Avatar should be. To Republic City, she was both weapon and guardian, to be used and judged.
In the City, she's basically nobody. Which is honestly fine with her, because after Amon took her bending, that's what she thought she was.
3. Where does she live? House, apartment, trailer? Is her home her castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does she share it with others?
She used to share a 2 bedroom apartment with Bolin, Mako, and Asami, but they've all left the City.
She now lives in the Beach House with Jinora, Lin Bei Fong, Miles Morales, 9 cats, 5 sheep, a dog, and Naga.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does she spend her money on?
Stuff for Naga? Sometimes? She's not a person who really cares about stuff. She buys food. That's about it.
5. What does she do for a living? Is she good at it? Does she enjoy it, or would she rather be doing something else?
She works as a bouncer at a bar in the Underground.
6. What are her interests or hobbies? How does she spend her free time?
Hobbies? What's a hobby? She doesn't know the meaning of that word. But she's learning. Sort of. Mostly she just practices her bending forms (even for the elements she can't bend anymore), but recently she's started training with weapons and learning to dance.
7. What are her eating habits? Does she skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
She eats when she's hungry, either out or whatever Tohru makes. Her diet is very meat-heavy.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is her favorite:
1. Color? Blue
2. Smell? Salt water
3. Time of day? After the sun as set and the moon is rising
4. Season? Winter
5. Book? She doesn't read
6. Music? She doesn't know much music
7. Place? The park where she runs through her forms
8. Substance? ...water?
9. Plant? No opinion
10. Animal? Polar bear dog, yo
END
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