The famous character of Avatar Korra from the early 2010s hit animated TV show The Legend of Korra had long been a topic of debate among the show’s fans for various reason, including for her sexuality.
This can seem strange at first, give that The Legend of Korra was a Nickelodeon show and we’re not used to seeing much romance and queer representation on such shows, but the last season of LoK ended with a rather dramatic scene between Korra and Asami Sato. So, this naturally led to a lot of people in the fandom wondering – is Korra a lesbian?
What is the Sexuality of Korra from The Legend of Korra Animated Series?
The exact sexuality of Korra hasn’t been officially labeled in the show, in the following comic books or by the creators of the show themselves. Or, not exactly, because co creator Bryan Konietzko confirmed in December 2014 that Korra and Asami are a “lesbian couple.”
This was enough for many people to label Korra herself a lesbian, but for others the debate continued and not without reason. After all, Korra did have relationships with men before Asami and being in “a lesbian couple” is not the same as being a lesbian yourself.
Lesbian, Bi or Pan?
Ultimately, as Korra is a fictional character, her sexuality is up to her creators – whatever they say goes. If tomorrow the two creators come out and say that Korra is heterosexual but was just “going through a phase with Asami” then the entire fandom will be incredibly – and justifiably – outraged, but the creators’ word would still be canon.
Fortunately, they haven’t and certainly won’d do anything of the sort. Instead, what they have done, in addition to labeling Korrasami a “lesbian couple,” was give us four seasons of TV context, as ewll as two graphic novel trilogies (Turf Wars & Ruins of the Empire) the Patterns in Time comic anthology, the Mystery of Penquan Island novel, and several minicomics (Friends for Life, Lost Pets, Clearing the Air and Beach Wars).
Out of all this content we know not only that Korra and Asami are together, but that they both have had relationships with men too. Fans of the “lesbians” label maintain that all those relationships with men were just Korra and Asami “testing the waters” to see what they like.
Yet, there is nothing in the show or comics and graphic novels to suggest that either Korra or Asami were merely “testing” in their relationships with men. In fact, Korra herself seems to have very genuine and strong feelings for Mako during their little “triangle confusion” with Mako and Bolin in Season 1 of the show.
The relationship with Mako didn’t work out – neither did Asami’s relationship with Mako, of course – but everything shown on screen was portrayed as genuine.
That being the case, Korra would have to be bisexual or pansexual, and not a lesbian, even if she is in a “lesbian couple” with Asami. And, given that Korra has only been show having relationships with cis men and women, such as Mako and Asami and with no one else, the “pansexual” label remains just a hypothetical possibility.
So, at least as far as our humble opinion goes, Korra should be identified as bisexual.
What Else Have the Creators Stated?
The final fourth season of The Legend of Korra came out in 2014 and ended, not so much with a “cliff hanger,” but with the hanging question of “Why are Korra and Asami holding hands and staring at each other so… lovingly? Could it be…?”
Of course, at the time, many of the show’s fans immediately became certain that there is indeed a romantic relationship brewing between the two main female characters, but others were left confused as to how and why that would be the case, as – in many fans’ eyes – the dua had seem as nothing more than good friends. Plus, especially at the time, showing gay or bisexual people in kids TV wasn’t exactly common.
So, this one hand holding scene sparked a lot of debates online and in real life, until the LoK co creator duo came out and confirmed suspicions about Korra and Asami.
Creator Michael Dante DiMartino wrote on his Tumblr page: “Over the years we’ve heard from numerous fans, in person and online, how Avatar and Korra have influenced their lives for the better or helped them overcome a life struggle or setback. I am always humbled when people share their personal stories with us and I am grateful that my love for telling stories has been able to help people in some small way.
“So while Avatar and Korra were always meant to be entertaining and engaging tales, this universe and its characters also speak to the deeper humanity in all of us, regardless of age, gender, race, religion, culture, nationality, or sexual orientation.”
In his own Tumblr post, co creator Bryan Konietzko also confirmed that Korrasami is canon, even though the producers at Nickelodeon were a bit hesitant at the time as to how far they were to take it in the TV show.
“We approached the network, and while they were supportive, there was a limit to how far we could go with it,” he explained.
The fact that landholding is all they could show on the TV screen didn’t stop the creators from showing more in the following Dark Horse comic books, however, and those books are officially canon too.
So, when Korra and Asami’s first kiss was shown in 2017’s The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars – Part One, fans of the show and Korrasami shippers could finally rejoice that the creators have confirmed suspicions over the relationship of the show’s two key female characters.
Was Korra and Asami’s Relationship Pre-Established in the Show?
Many fans of the show have said over the years that the hand holding and loving stare between Korra and Asami at the end of Season 4 came a little out of nowhere for them.
In most cases, this doesn’t seem to be said as a complaint, as the Korrasami relationship is still widely embraced by the fandom, but some fans post that the idea of it wasn’t pre-established in the previous four season of the show.
At the same time, many other fans, as well as the two writers themselves maintain that the budding affection and love between Korra and Asami has been subtly established over the run of the show, with much more than only the implication of affection.
From their failed relationships with Mako in Season 1, through their friendship afterwards, to a series of moments between them that, while subtle, show that the two women are starting to see each other as more then friends – all of that slowly leading to the finale of Season 4 at the spirit portal to the Spirit World, and the subsequent kiss in Turf Wars.
Could Korra and Asami’s relationship have been made a bit more obvious than a few short glances and a couple of Asami compliments to Korra while in the middle of talk-and-fight scenes with Earth Kingdom soldiers? Of course it could have been.
However, 1) this was a Nickelodeon kids TV show and the network didn’t want the on-screen relationship to be too explicit, and 2) the vast majority of the story in all four season of LoK are about Korra’s self discovery as the Avatar and as a person.
In that sense, the finale of Season 4 was the culmination of that discovery – she accepted what kind of Avatar she was going to be and she accepted who she herself is as she stepped into the Spirit World with Asami.
Had their relationship been done more obvious earlier in the show, that would have taken away from the culmination of the finale. Plus, for those who want to see more, there are still the numerous books and comics where the relationship between Korra and Asami not only continues to develop but the two are show to kiss.
Other Same Sex Relationships and Queer Characters in the World of Avatar
Korra and Asami are far from the only LGBTQ characters in the universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender. According to data from the show’s Wiki page, other notable LGBTQ characters in the Avatar world include:
- Avatar Kyoshi, the predecessor to Korra, Aang, and Roku.
- Kia, Aang’s daughter and Tenzin’s younger sister.
- Aiwei, the Earth Kingdom Truth Seer of Suyin Beifong.
- Mingxia, a Kyoshi Warrior during the late Hundred Year War.
- Rangi, a Fire Nation officer during the time of Avatar Kyoshi and a friend of the Avatar.
- Zeisan, the sister of Fire Lord Sozin at the start of the Hundred Year War.
For an animated kids TV show that started coming out in 2005 on Nickelodeon, this is a nice list of portrayals of gay, bisexual, and other queer characters.
There have been many other characters and moments that some fans dream of being revealed as bisexual in upcoming shows or media, with Zhu Li and Zuko being at the top of many people’s lists.
Regardless, the fact that Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra are full of progressive characters and stories, as well as queer romance is undeniable and viewers are excited about the new adventures, romance, queer characters, and stories the showrunners are going to introduce in the new upcoming 2025 animated show in the Avatar universe.
The Cultural Impact on Queer Representation of The Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender
Both Avatar: TLA and LoK can be described as incredibly progressive shows. TLA, for example, outright opens with a quarrel between Katara and her brother Sokka about him being sexist toward her.
Had the show came out 20 years later than it did, in 2025, many people and “influencers” would have cried out that it’s “woke” and it’s “poisoning kids TV with political stories.”
Fortunately for all of us, both TLA and LoK came out before something as simple as a girl telling her brother not to be sexist or someone being bisexual was seen as “political.”
Because TLA and Korra came out in time with much less “cultural wars,” both shows managed to do very well and tell tales of various diverse romantic relationships and show bisexual representation in their stories in a truly good and impactful way.
The drawback of the two shows having come out when they did is that networks, such as Nickelodeon were still pretty hesitant to portray queer love in their shows. LoK showed Korra kissing men in its very first season, but the network only allowed for Асами анд Korra to hold hands and look at each other at the end of Season 4.
Despite that, it’s undeniable that even just that one hand-holding in 2014 impacted a lot of young viewers because of how rare such things were on Nickelodeon at the time and how well it was done.
Not only are many viewers online sharing how Asami and Korra’s relationship and subsequent kiss affected them personally, but there is also the fact that the on-screen success and good reception of Asami and Korra’s relationship showed producers that such things don’t need to be a taboo anymore and viewers are both ready and excited about more good LGBTQ representation on TV and in animation.
In a big way, together with LGBTQ characters in other animated shows around that time, such as Steven Universe and Adventure Time, Asami and Korra paved the way for things, such as She Ra or Caitlyn and Vi in Arcane.
At the End, Does the Exact Label Really Matter?
It’s fun to poke at such things, but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter whether Korra is a lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, or any other label. She is undeniably a queer LGBTQ icon at this point and her relationship with Asami was a slam dunk victory for the show, for LGBTQ representation, for the plethora of awesome stories that followed in other shows, and for the younger fans who can now enjoy well-made queer romance stories in newer animations, such as She Ra and Arcane.
If it wasn’t for shows, such as The Legend of Korra or Adventure Time, we might not have been where we are today in terms of queer acceptance and representation on TV, and for that we can only be thankful for Asami and Korra.