Does Amon's image not just scream "This guy is a BadAss". The symbol by the way means Equality.
http://greenguy22.deviantart.com/art/Amon-299386490
Amon, like any great villian, has the skill to cause the protagonist a lot of worries. He is an agile hand-to-hand fighter, able to take down the best benders without even breaking a sweat. However, his true power is his waterbending. Not only is he a master in the art of bending water but he has mastered, through years of training and his own natural talent, blood-bending. Although some can break free from his grip when he does decide to control them with this formidible power, if he was ever to get an adversary on the back foot he would be able to end the fight by using his blood-bending abilities to permenantly block their chi (stopping them from bending). We see these skills used throughout the series numerous times, like during his "Revelation" and after the pro-bending tournament final. He is also, like many a great villian, cunning, intelligent and highly manipulative. His speeches are always filled with rheotoric and plans are always well thoughtout to the most minute details. His backstory is one that is compelling and somewhat heartbreaking.
Amon (originally known as Noatak) standing up to his father for his brother Tarlok.
This all seems like any other great villian, they usually will have a great backstory and be awesomely skilled and intelligent. However there is one point of difference that pushes Amon beyond these others. This is his moral ambiguity, in both the his motivations and methods of doing what he wants, as well as his humanity at the end of the series. What he wants is equality. Equality, fairness, for one person to be treated the same as someone next to them. We all want this don't we? Recent history has been all about creating a world of equal oppurtunity free of discrimination. Amon wants this world. He sees that some benders are using their powers to exploit and get above non-benders and he wants equality. This is built into him from his background, where he realises he is only being used by his father, a notorous gang criminal, to get back at the Avatar, the most virtuous person in the world charged with keeping balance and order. The first time we see him, during his "Revelation" show, we see he is targetting gang-leaders and their affiliates. At this Equalist rally Amon reveals his plan to eradicate the powers of benders, as they only brought suffering to the world and were the cause of every war in history. Admittedly there is a lot of false rheotoric behind this, such as his sympathetic backstory (where his family, all non-benders, was extorted by a firebender and his face was left horribly scarred) and how he has been chosen by the spirits to bring order and equality. However the fact remains he is looking for an idealised future that we all want and are brought up to want.
Another hype fanart picture of Amon.
Amon is human after all. Man tears make the great antagonists better.
http://greenguy22.deviantart.com/art/Amon-299386490
Amon, like any great villian, has the skill to cause the protagonist a lot of worries. He is an agile hand-to-hand fighter, able to take down the best benders without even breaking a sweat. However, his true power is his waterbending. Not only is he a master in the art of bending water but he has mastered, through years of training and his own natural talent, blood-bending. Although some can break free from his grip when he does decide to control them with this formidible power, if he was ever to get an adversary on the back foot he would be able to end the fight by using his blood-bending abilities to permenantly block their chi (stopping them from bending). We see these skills used throughout the series numerous times, like during his "Revelation" and after the pro-bending tournament final. He is also, like many a great villian, cunning, intelligent and highly manipulative. His speeches are always filled with rheotoric and plans are always well thoughtout to the most minute details. His backstory is one that is compelling and somewhat heartbreaking.
This all seems like any other great villian, they usually will have a great backstory and be awesomely skilled and intelligent. However there is one point of difference that pushes Amon beyond these others. This is his moral ambiguity, in both the his motivations and methods of doing what he wants, as well as his humanity at the end of the series. What he wants is equality. Equality, fairness, for one person to be treated the same as someone next to them. We all want this don't we? Recent history has been all about creating a world of equal oppurtunity free of discrimination. Amon wants this world. He sees that some benders are using their powers to exploit and get above non-benders and he wants equality. This is built into him from his background, where he realises he is only being used by his father, a notorous gang criminal, to get back at the Avatar, the most virtuous person in the world charged with keeping balance and order. The first time we see him, during his "Revelation" show, we see he is targetting gang-leaders and their affiliates. At this Equalist rally Amon reveals his plan to eradicate the powers of benders, as they only brought suffering to the world and were the cause of every war in history. Admittedly there is a lot of false rheotoric behind this, such as his sympathetic backstory (where his family, all non-benders, was extorted by a firebender and his face was left horribly scarred) and how he has been chosen by the spirits to bring order and equality. However the fact remains he is looking for an idealised future that we all want and are brought up to want.
Amon taking Lightning Bolt Zolt's firebending away.
What further enforces the fact he has good in mind is that he has all the capability to be a gang-leader, exploit thousands and make huge bundles of money, yet he is an idealist in what is essentailly an unfair world. The only reason i can see that he is chastised by his closest follower, the Leutenant (the guy with the electric batons and moustache), is because he is a bender (and thus called a liar) and the son of the most notorious gang-leader in recent history, yet he is not judged as his own person or on his ideals and beliefs. It reveals that the non-benders don't want equality as such, they want to be on top. Amon is shown to be better in his beliefs than the lackies he leads. The only reason he is seen as bad by those in power is because those in power have bending and would be affected by this. There is such a strong parallel now to rich people being in governments around the world, yet not wanting to help economic equality because it would diminish their own personal estates.
A wicked cool election poster for Amon. I know he would have my vote for what ever the fuck he wanted.
So why is Amon the villian then? The music and the way he is visually portrayed gives off the vibe that he is bad, but his beliefs are in fact the purest and best they could be surely. It seems he is the villian due to the methods he wants to go to to make the world equal. They are too Draconian. He wants to rid the world of bending, the thing which has traditionally given the Avatar (the true champion of balance) all their power. And he does this all with force. Sometimes it all does come across quite harsh. I mean, sure the gang-leaders deserved there powers being taken away but realistically the pro-benders did not. They were definitely wrong for bribing the referees but they didn't deserve their powers to be taken surely. It would be like breaking a footballer's legs if he was to try and matchfix. Very harsh indeed, but at the same time he never actually kills anyone. With his bloodbending he could quite literally break people into two, but he doesn't. During "The Revelation" he casts himself as a sort of second (non-bender) Avatar and performs his role perfectly for this part. But it could be considered somewhat treasonous not to mention megalomanic to say you get to decide what is right and wrong.
It is this middle ground that makes Amon such an intriguing and a great chracter. He has very good, the best even, intentions. He wants to make the world a better place for everyone. He wants equality. He is not selfish in his beliefs. But it is the way he goes about it that is what makes him the villian. But at the same time we must reason that if he did not do it by force, could he realistically achieve equality? The moral ambigiuity of his character is not only an interesting point in itself but it asks many philosophical questions. Is equality in a world where so much depends on birth ever actually possible? Should might ever be used to do what is perceived to be right? How far should punishments be pushed? Of course the show has one disappointing answers for us. No, equality is not achievable. It is just part of the word and we need to live with it.
A recreation of one of Amon's posters.
Lastly, Amon is also one of the more remarkable villians due to his exit from the series. He is killed by his brother Tarlok (the first time a family member has killed another family member in the Avatar series and thus a very poignant moment). He is not plotting his revenge, he is trying to just escape it all with his brother. He has lost his emotionless traits and finally seems human, shedding his sociopathic ways with his tears, something he hasn't really been since he was betrayed as such by his father. Emotions are always a way to be memorable and I think the writers did a good job in sending off a great character in this way.
The antagonist in the newest season of Korra had shown some moral ambigiuty (and definitely the same amount of skill, cunning and background as Amon) but this moral ambigiuity has just been broken in the most recent (4th) episode, inspiring me to write this post, and so I think Amon will retain his position as my favourite villian of all time.
Unalak, you showed so much promise, but now you're just a man looking for power.
For a more detailed run through of Amon's traits, backstory and history etc see the following link:
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