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You think freedom is something that you can give or take on a whim, but to your people, freedom is just as essential as air, and without it, there is no life. There is only... darkness.
~ Zaheer assassinating the Earth queen and ending her reign of terror.
Zaheer: The idea of having nations and governments is as foolish as keeping the human and spirit realms separate. You've had to deal with a moronic president and a tyrannical queen. Don't you think the world would be better off if leaders like them were eliminated?
Korra: No. I mean, I don't really agree with what they've done, but taking out world leaders isn't the answer.
Zaheer: It wasn't too long ago that the airbenders were nearly all wiped out. Thanks to the Fire Lord's desire for world dominance. True freedom can only be achieved when oppressive governments are torn down.
Korra: But that won't bring balance. It would throw the world into chaos!
Zaheer: Exactly. The natural order is disorder.
~ Zaheer's ideology

Zaheer is one of the main antagonists of Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Legend of Korra, which is sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, serving as the main antagonist of of Book Three: Change and the overarching antagonist of Book Four: Balance.

He's the leader of the anarchistic Order of the Red Lotus, the splinter faction of Order of the White Lotus, who believes that chaos is world's natural order and plans to assassinate all world leaders and kill the Avatar forever to

He was voiced by Black Flag singer, Henry Rollins.

What Makes Him Magnificent?[]

  • Unlike Unalaq, who started out with good intention but succumbed to his self-righteous god-like complex, Zaheer maintains being an extremist, who wants to throw the world into a state of chaos out of genuine belief it would be better for people to live. In fact, Zaheer has reasons to believe in his ideas, as it was shown that nearly all political leaders in franchise are either incompetent/unskilled (e.g. Earth King Kuei, a majority of the former United Republic Council, and President Raiko) or power-hungry tyrants, who don't care for their subjects at all (e.g. Chou Family, Ozai, Unalaq and Earth Queen Hou-Ting), with Kuvira, Sozin and even Zuko once (the former two being extremists and the latter one a straight-up hero learning the pressures of leadership) proved to be not good leaders themselves, due to taking care of things in a extreme manners for what they perceived to be for the greater good.
  • He always polite, no matter to whom, having been genuinely nice to the Airbenders during his time hiding and to Ikki, has deeply cared for his compatriots, having even sacrificed his ambitions to fly for his lover, P'Li, and even helps Korra move on from the trauma of her encounter with him so she can stop Kuvira.
  • Kept his airbending a secret from the guards so he can catch them off guard and use it to get the keys to his cell and escape easily.
  • Immediately afterwards, he uses his abilities and his strategy skills to break his friends out of prison, even disguising himself as a White Lotus guard to enter Ghazan's prison.
  • He shaves his head and uses the alias of Yorru to sneak into Republic City undetected and fools the airbenders in Airbender Island that he isn't Zaheer. When he is found out, he manages to escape the city easily, only getting hit once by Kya but he immediately bounces back on his feet.
  • Commandeers a truck to escape the city successfully, and when the Police came to search the truck, Zaheer has a Pet the Dog moment to allow the poor driver to flee the scene.
  • Through Aiwei's help, he manages to infiltrate one of the most guarded cities in the world, Zaofu, and nearly left with Korra, and still manages to evade custody.
  • Through a friendly chat with Korra in the Spirit Realm, he uses it to buy Ghazan and Ming-Hua time to attack and capture her and give her coordinates in the material realm.
  • Being extremely devoted to airbending philosophies even when he was a non-bender, this leads to him having gotten rather skilled at airbending despite only getting his airbending after Harmonic Convergence, and due to that, manages to win most fights untouched with only one hit from Kya and that's it. And the story also proves he isn't a villain sue to and that he is just extremely skilled for an amateur level and isn't a master in airbending after being nearly defeated by Tenzin, who has a lifetime of experience as an airbender, pretty easily during their battle.
  • Enacts glorious justice onto the slimy, hedonistic Earth Queen Hou-Ting out of contempt for her tyranny.
  • Scolds Ming-Hua for threatening the life of a radio operator and their purpose is to help oppressed people like him.
  • Made rousing speech to all of Ba Sing Se, announcing the Earth Queen's death and that the people are free, claiming his own identity isn't even important but their freedom is. With this speech and having Ghazan tear down the Inner Walls of Ba Sing Se, Zaheer succeeded in starting the revolution in the Earth Kingdom spanning across the entire continent.
  • While he does threaten the Air Nomads lives, due to his fascination with them, Zaheer himself wasn't as willing to wipe them out and was gonna leave them alive if Korra surrenders and free them after killing her.
  • Nearly baits Korra to a trap and captures her.
  • Upon seeing P'Li's death and being briefly distraught, due to his only remaining Earthly tether was taken from him, Zaheer becomes the first airbender since Guru Lahigma that unlocked the ability to fly.
  • Came seconds close to ending the Avatar Cycle by poisoning Korra with mercury, which forced her to enter the Avatar State to survive. having evaded her and came to see her be a few seconds before death in the Avatar and the Cycle to end.
  • While having a minor breakdown ranting about the Revolution and balance upon seeing Korra being healed to the point of Bolin putting a sock in his mouth, in his return in Season 4, Zaheer retains his dignified composure and even seems to accept his imprisonment.
  • Upon hearing his actions on killing the Earth Queen created a power vacuum that caused the rise of Kuvira, one of the Earth kingdom's most brutal dictators, Zaheer feels immense remorse for his actions and helps Korra in healing her from her trauma from his attempt on her life and helps her put an end to Kuvira's tyranny.

What Makes Him a Baddie?[]

  • Zaheer's end goal was to plunge the entire world in chaos to bring absolute freedom by destroying all world governments, even allying with Unalaq to free Vaatu as he was the embodiment of chaos, and he succeeded in plunging the entire Earth Kingdom to chaos.
  • Attempted to kidnap Korra when she was 5 years old.
  • Tossed Aiwei into the Fog of Lost Souls, essentially trapping him in a fate worse than death, as he would be driven to insanity here and his physical death won't save him from this.
  • Threatened genocide on the new Air Nomads and holding the entire population as leverage to lure Korra, and was actually going to act on his threat if she doesn't come, no matter how unwilling he was to do so. When Tenzin stood up to him, Zaheer has him unfairly beaten to near-death after he was severely weakened from their battle with each other.
  • Tried to kill Korra in the Avatar State and thus end the Avatar Reincarnation cycle, with him poisoning her with mercury to achieve it, leaving her traumatized for 3 years straight, and outright laughed in his presumed victory.

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Avatar: The Last Airbender
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The Legend of Korra
Amon | Varrick | Zhu Li | Zaheer | Kuvira | Jargala Omo

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