| “ | Zhu Li, do the thing. | „ |
| ~ Varrick's most famous catchphrase. |
| “ | Yep, I like to think I'm always there to stand up for the little guy. Especially if that little guy can help this guy become a bigger guy. | „ |
| ~ Varrick buying Future Industries |
| “ | I know, it's not like me, right? Usually I look at a project like this and think, "Wow! "I could make a ton of money off this!" But recently, I've been having these strange feelings ... inside. It's like I'm ... concerned with others. And there's this nagging voice in my head constantly telling me what's right from wrong! | „ |
| ~ Varrick explains his newfounded morality. |
Iknik Blackstone Varrick, or simply Varrick, is a major character of the 2012-14 series, The Legend of Korra.
He serves as the secondary antagonist of Book II: Spirits, a minor character in Book III: Change and a major protagonist in Book IV: Balance.
He is the greedy founder of Varrick industries Global who built his business from a small canoe when he was a boy in the Southern Water Tribe. A greedy war profiteer, Varrick orchestrated the entire Water Tribe Civil War and attacks in Republic City to increase the scope of the war to spark a World War for the sake of profit. upon escaping, Varrick attempts to turn a new leaf before joining Kuvira's efforts to stabilize the Earth Kingdom. When she grows more and more tyrannical and ruthless, Varrick defects and becomes a permanent ally to the heroes, and is currently the husband of his former assistant, Zhu Li, becoming her secretary upon her position as the new President of Republic City.
He is voiced by John Michael Higgins.
Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Heinous?[]
- Varrick orchestrated one of the most infamous armed conflicts in the entire franchise, the Water Tribe Civil War, taking advantage of Unalaq's occupation of the South and rallying up a rebellion that prompts Unalaq to wage war against the Southern Water Tribe and place both tribes in a destructive conflict for the sake of profiteering from the war, and thus, arguably holds more responsibility for one of Unalaq's more viler crimes than even Unalaq himself.
- Pays up mob bosses to cause multiple terrorist attacks all across Republic City to manipulate the United Republic of Nations to join the war and escalate the already destructive conflict into a world war involving all the nations for the sake of profit, having even attempted to kidnap President Raiko.
- Deliberately bankrupts Asami's company, which he knows has very personal value to her, and buys a controlling share of it so he can monopolize the war profiteering business.
- When Mako deduces him as the mastermind behind the attacks, Varrick frames him as the culprit and tosses him in jail.
- Drags Bolin into his heroic sacrifice in Season 4 when he rigs his lab cart to explode despite his unwillingness to.
- Despite the franchise's high heinous standards, Varrick's actions are some of the more realistically vile, and considering he isn't a powerful ruler of any of the 5 nations like the war mongers in the franchise such as Sozin and Kuvira, Varrick's actions to spark a World War makes him heinous enough for his tier.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He is genuinely affable and friendly towards others, such as his former assistant Zhu Li. Even after he was exposed for trying to kidnap President Raiko, he never show resentment towards Team Avatar when they visited him in jail.
- Is a comic relief character who is played for laughs in nearly every scene and was meant to provide levity as the second season's tone grows darker thanks to the threat of Unalaq and Vaatu, and continues to be this in Season 4, with moments such as his reoccurring “Zhu Li, do the thing”, when he says his boat was made for getting away from waterbenders, and him saying putting Mako in jail was him helping before realizing it was actually a bad thing.
- Has some notable displays of standards, such as:
- In general, averting from direct murder, having assured Team Avatar he never planned on hurting the President after kidnapping him. When Mako discovers his shady nature and Varrick makes a subtle threat to kill Bolin and Asami, even when he refuses, he just prefers to have Mako framed for his acts instead, meaning it was an empty threat. Also, he never intends to hurt Mako as he refused to torture him during their confrontation.
- Upon discovering Unalaq's plan to fuse with Vaatu and plunge the world into a Draconian age of suffering and how his attempts at a world war basically helped enable it, Varrick gladly gives the heroes his warship when he had no way to benefit from it so they could stop him.
- Despite his war profiteering nature, Varrick in general averts from profiting from the use of weapons of large-scale destruction. He refuses to build the spirit weapon after seeing how dangerous it is and defected from Kuvira when she still forces him to continue developing the weapon. Seeing Kuvira single-handedly destroys the United Forces warships, he ranted that he wished he never build the weapon in the first place.
- Despite his originally colder treatment, he does genuinely love Zhu Li, and when she supposedly betrays him, sends him to such a weak mental state that he was willing to give up his own life destroying his research when her betrayal left him with nothing else to live for. When reuniting with her, he apologizes for how he treated her, starts treating her like an equal when Zhu Li tells him that and eventually marries her.
- By Season 4, after being more and more disturbed by Kuvira's tyrannical behavior, he defects to the heroes and redeems himself, helping the heroes thwart her invasion of Republic City.
External Links[]
- Varrick on the Villains Wiki
- Varrick on the Heroes Wiki
- Varrick on the Avatar Wiki
- Varrick on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
- Varrick on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
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 Inconsistently Heinous
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TV Shows The Legend of Korra Books Fanon See Also | ||