Kuvira facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kuvira |
|
|---|---|
| The Legend of Korra character | |
 |
|
| First appearance | "The Metal Clan" (2014) |
| Created by | Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko |
| Voiced by | Zelda Williams |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Leader of the Earth Nation/Earth Empire Dancer (formerly) Captain of the Guard (formerly) |
| Title | Supreme Leader of the Military of the Earth Empire |
| Relatives | Unnamed Father (abandoned) Unnamed Mother (abandoned) Suyin Beifong (adoptive mother) Opal Beifong (adoptive sister) Wei and Wing Beifong (adoptive brothers) Huan Beifong (adoptive brother) Bataar Beifong, Jr. (adoptive brother) |
| Nationality | Earth Kingdom |
| Bending element | Primary:
|
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Green |
General Kuvira (古維拉, Gǔ Wéi Lā) is a character from the TV show The Legend of Korra. She was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Kuvira first appeared in the third season of the show. She became the main villain in the fourth and final season.
Kuvira was designed to be similar to the main hero, Korra. This helped show how much Korra had changed throughout the series. Many people liked Kuvira's character. They found her reasons for her actions easy to understand.
Contents
Kuvira's Story
Early Life and Rise to Power
Kuvira was left by her parents when she was eight years old. Suyin Beifong took her in and raised her. Suyin helped Kuvira develop her talents. They became very close, and Kuvira learned Suyin's ideas about progress and self-improvement.
Kuvira became a strong member of Zaofu's security team. She eventually became the captain of the city's guard. She was also part of Suyin's dance group. Kuvira appeared a few times in the third season. She helped try to stop Zaheer from kidnapping Korra. She also helped search for Zaheer's allies.
Taking Control of the Earth Kingdom
Three years later, the Earth Queen died, causing a lot of trouble. Kuvira was given the job of bringing order back to the land. She truly wanted to help her people. However, she also did some harsh things to reach her goals.
For example, she would only help poor areas if they gave her many natural resources. She also made some citizens work for her without choice. People who disagreed with her, or people from different backgrounds, were put into special camps. She also forced people to join her army.
Later, Kuvira decided to take power for herself. She believed the old Earth Kingdom rulers had caused the country's problems. She renamed the nation the Earth Empire. After Prince Wu's coronation, Kuvira announced she would rule the nation. She then tried to take control of Zaofu. She wanted to use its wealth and technology for her empire.
At the same time, she asked Varrick to create powerful weapons. These weapons used energy from spirit vines. Because of these actions, and her refusal to listen to others, Bolin and Varrick left her side.
Battle for Zaofu and New Weapons
Kuvira began to attack Zaofu after talks with Suyin failed. She met Korra, who tried to convince her to leave Zaofu alone. Kuvira refused. She asked why Zaofu should be treated differently from other states. She even tried to convince Korra to make Suyin surrender. Kuvira pointed out that both she and Korra had made tough choices in the past.
That night, Suyin and her sons tried to capture Kuvira but failed. Kuvira then demanded that Zaofu surrender completely. Korra refused to give up the city. The two women agreed to fight for Zaofu. Kuvira had the upper hand at first. Korra had not practiced her bending much in three years. But when Korra used the Avatar State, Kuvira was quickly overwhelmed. Korra almost defeated her.
Kuvira survived when Korra had a vision that stopped her from using the Avatar State. Kuvira tried to attack Korra again. But Jinora and Opal Beifong stopped her. Kuvira tried to capture them with her army. However, Meelo and Ikki, Jinora's siblings, arrived and helped them escape. Kuvira then took control of Zaofu. She imprisoned the rest of the Beifong family when they would not follow her.
Later, Kuvira tried to kidnap Prince Wu, who was in Republic City. She likely planned to harm him. But Korra, Asami Sato, and Mako stopped this attempt. Kuvira also had her army start collecting spirit vines in the Foggy Swamp. Bataar Jr. took over the spirit vine weapon project. This led to a huge cannon that fired powerful energy beams.
During a test of the cannon, Kuvira found out that Zhu Li had been secretly damaging the weapon. At the same time, Bolin, Opal, Lin Beifong, and Toph rescued the Beifong family. They also saved Zhu Li and returned to Republic City.
Final Battle and Surrender
With her prisoners gone and her weapon ready, Kuvira planned to conquer the United Republic. She believed this land was stolen from the Earth Kingdom long ago. To do this, she traveled to Republic City in a giant mecha suit called The Colossus. This suit had the spirit vine weapon on one arm. She wanted to force the United Republic to surrender.
Korra and her friends kidnapped Bataar Jr. Korra threatened to keep him and Kuvira apart forever unless Kuvira left Republic City. Kuvira fired her weapon at the place where Bataar Jr. was held. She wanted to kill Korra and her friends. But they all survived. Kuvira's actions made Bataar Jr. turn against her too.
Korra and her friends decided to destroy The Colossus. In the big battle, the mecha suit was destroyed, and Kuvira was hurt. She refused to give up and ran into the spirit wilds. She found the spirit vine weapon there, which was still working. She fired the cannon at Korra. But the weapon started taking too much energy from the nearby spirit vines. It went out of control and threw Kuvira off.
Just before the beam could hit Kuvira, Korra saved her. Korra used energybending to stop the beam. This accidentally created a new spirit portal. Both Kuvira and Korra were sent into the spirit world by the weapon.
Kuvira asked why Korra saved her after everything that happened. Korra explained that she saw a lot of herself in Kuvira. Both were strong and determined. They sometimes acted without thinking about the results. Korra challenged Kuvira about her actions. Kuvira explained that she was abandoned as a child. She could not let the same thing happen to the Earth Kingdom. Korra understood Kuvira's desire for control. She compared it to her own struggles after being poisoned.
The two women then returned to the real world. Kuvira agreed to surrender. She was thankful to Korra and respected the Avatar's power. As Lin and Suyin led her away, Kuvira apologized to Suyin for what she had done.
Character Design
The creators, DiMartino and Konietzko, wanted a female villain for the fourth season. The previous villains were all male. They also wanted an earthbender to be the main villain for the last season. This was because the other bending types had already been used for villains in Avatar shows. Konietzko also wanted a military leader as a villain.
For Kuvira's look in the fourth season, she first had a very long braid and a special cape. This design was changed because it was hard to animate. The team also discussed how to show her armor during fights. They decided to use thin metal strips on her back. Kuvira's costume became a model for other Earth Kingdom characters in the show.
Kuvira was made to look similar to Korra in height, build, and personality. This made Korra have to face "a version of her past self." People noticed the similarities between them when Kuvira first appeared. DiMartino enjoyed writing the story between Kuvira and Korra as a female villain and hero. He felt Kuvira brought new story ideas to the series. Zelda Williams voices Kuvira. Konietzko said that when Zelda auditioned, she was shown a picture of Kuvira. She found that she looked a lot like the character.
Abilities
Kuvira is a skilled earthbender. This means she can control the element of earth. She is also very good at metalbending. She can use metal strips to cover her opponents' eyes and tie their limbs. She can also make weapons like knives, blades, and whips from metal. Kuvira can even sense when others are metalbending near her.
Images for kids
-
Kuvira's main image.
