Agency and the Legend of Korra

So this past season of Korra was a amazing. I take back anything I said about the show not being as good as Avatar. That said, I want to talk about the star of Beginnings Part I and II, Avatar Wan. (I might make this a blogging series, because I REALLY LOVE THIS CHARACTER, so yeah, we'll see.)

Yup, we're talking about this cutie.

One thing that I really liked about Wan's story (Which is a lot! I love that guy! <3) but one thing I want to talk about today, is Wan's agency. You'll notice that everything that basically happens to Wan good or bad, is a result of his own choices. (DON'T READ THIS UNLESS YOU WATCH THE LEGEND OF KORRA, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED) Examples:

• Leading a rebellion against the leader's of his lion turtle city in order to get food and getting banished.
• Saving Mula the catdeer and meeting his animal guide/getting to live with the spirits as a result. 
• Freeing Vaatu and letting a chaos spirit into the world.
• Training with Raava to master all four elements and bring balance to the world. 

Okay, so my point here is, most of Wan's problems or the blessings in his life happen because he chose to do things. Here are some good things to keep in mind when editing:

• Are things happening to my protagonist, or is my protagonist making things happen?
• Your character;s choices reflect the kind of person they are. For example, Wan is a mostly goodhearted character. Yeah, he occasionally steals to survive, but overall, he does things like steal because his friend are hungry or choses to save Mula because he pities her and has has a good heart. he even freed freaking Vaatu because he thought'd been bullied for 10, 000 years. A selfish character is going to make things happen that benefit them. A more selfless character is going to make choices that benefit other people. 
• Keep in mind that there should be other characters who have goals that conflict what your main character is trying to do. Look at the scene in Beginnings when Wan's human and spirit friends meet and get into a fight. Spirits hate humans because humans are little gits who are selfish and hate nature. Wan's human 'friends' (I use quotations there because I think they were sucky friends) want to take down the spirits because they're afraid and want to avenge their friends. When Wan's friends fight,it hinders Wan's goal to bring balance to the world, and as Raava points out, makes things worse. Basically, everyone--protagonists and antagonists should think THEY are the star of their own story.