Bolin

Lore & Background

Bolin hails from a multicultural family in Republic City, a "modern metropolis" founded by Aang and Zuko after the Hundred Year War to foster harmony between benders and non-benders. His parents' nationalities are never explicitly stated in the series, though his older brother Mako is a firebender. Designed by Ryu Ki-Hyun with input from Joaquim Dos Santos, Bolin was conceived as a male version of Toph Beifong's original concept—a "big, not sharpest tool in the shed"—before becoming a distinct character with a simplistic, naive view of the world. His voice actor, P. J. Byrne, described himself as a "peoplely people," fitting Bolin's role as the show's comic relief who often improvised his lines. Throughout the series, Bolin navigates relationships with Eska, a macabrely domineering princess from the Northern Water Tribe, and later falls in love with Opal, an airbender he meets in Zaofu.

In Their Own Story

In Book One: Air, Bolin initially infatuated himself with Avatar Korra while showing her pro-bending tricks. When the team needed thirty thousand yuans to enter the Championship, he accepted Shady Shin's offer to work for the criminal underworld but was kidnapped by Equalists before being rescued by Mako and Korra. After their home was destroyed, they lived on Air Temple Island until Bolin helped stop Equalist biplanes with Asami. In Book Two: Spirits, he became involved with Eska, a relationship he found borderline abusive until she engaged him; he later fled but returned to help defeat the Dark Avatar. There, he admitted his love for Eska, who kissed him before declining his proposal to live in Republic City. Bolin also starred as Nuktuk in Varrick's film "The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero of the South," thwarting a kidnapping of President Raiko on opening night.

Reader's Guide

During Book Three: Change, Bolin traveled with Team Avatar to find new airbenders. In Ba Sing Se, he reunited with extended family before they liberated captive airbenders from the Earth Queen. Later in Zaofu, he fell for Opal, who joined the Air Nation. When captured by the Red Lotus and their allies Ming-Hua and Ghazan, Bolin was trapped by lava in a collapsing temple. Facing death, he miraculously discovered his own lavabending abilities, matching Ghazan's power. With Kai arriving on his baby bison Lefty, they escaped. In a subsequent battle in a cave, Bolin used his new skills to fight Ghazan; when Mako joined the fray, Ghazan collapsed the cave but died while the brothers survived. In Book Four: Balance, Bolin began working to re-unite the Earth Kingdom under Kuvira.

Did You Know?

• Bolin's character was inspired by the original concept of Toph Beifong, who was initially written as a male earthbender described as "kind of a big, not sharpest tool in the shed."
• Voice actor P. J. Byrne improvised much of his dialogue because he was "sort of the comic relief of the show," with material kept or cut based on reception.
• Bolin discovered lavabending during a life-or-death situation in Book Three when Ghazan trapped him and Mako in a collapsing cave consumed by lava.
• In Book Two, during their relationship, Bolin's girlfriend Eska told him he would have a special place "in the organ that pumps my blood."