The Legend of Korra/WMG/Mako and Bolin

For theories about other subjects, see The Legend Of Korra Wild Mass Guessing Index.

They are the offspring of King Bumi and Azula
Oh, yeah. So, basically, King Bumi rescued Azula from prison and they fell desperately in love. Wow... this theory sounded funnier and less perverted in my mind.

Bolin and Mako are Ursa's grandchildren...
When she was banished, Ursa probably hid out in the Earth Kingdom somewhere. Eventually, she remarried an Earthbender man. They had at least one child who relocated to the United Republic, who later had Bolin and Mako, an earthbender and firebender, respectively.

Similar to above, Mako and Bolin are somehow related to Zuko.
Mako looks similar to Zuko. Bolin and Mako's names follow a small trend from the royal family. S"O"zin, "O"zai, Ir"O"h, Zuk"O", B"O"lin, Mak"O". They all have the OH sound. And before anyone just says it's a tribute to Mako(the voice actor), Two Birds, One Stone. Zuko, the grandson of Roku(again, a hard OH), Traveled with the Avatar. Now, perhaps, HIS grandsons travel with the next Avatar.
 * IT'S A TWIST! 8D
 * Mako's not just a Zuko Expy, it's In the Blood. The brothers may not even know they're related to the royal family until something happens to reveal it.
 * Also more to the point: It cannot be more glaringly obvious that the Avatar 'verse takes cues from various Asian cultures, and The Legend of Korra does not deviate from this whatsoever. It was actually common for feudal lords and the like to preserve their bloodlines by siring children with commoners and keeping them unaware of their lineage until the time comes that a propper heir doesn't seem to exist. And, correct me if I'm wrong because I'm too lazy to find a high-quality image of him right now, doesn't Mako have the Fire Nation Royal Family's trademark Eyes of Gold?

Mako and Bolin are Azula's grandsons.
Azula recovered from her insanity some time after the War ended, and traveled the Earth Kingdom as The Atoner during the turbulent days between her father's defeat and the founding of Republic City. There, she met Haru, fell in love with him and his smexy mustache, and married him. At least one child and one in-law later, here come Mako and Bolin. Maybe they have a firebender father/uncle/cousin who is voiced by Dante Basco.
 * Or maybe she married King Kuei being a Princess and everything. (Don't look at me like that...)
 * I now ship this.
 * He fell for her when she held a fire-knife to him during her takeover of his kingdom. Kuei thought that was hot.
 * Writing fanfic now...

Mako and Bolin are Lu Ten grandsons, Iroh's great-grandsons.
Inheriting both Iroh's open-mindedness and his charisma, Lu Ten had a secret romance with an Earth Kingdom girl. Being a member of the Royal family, directly in line for the throne, his combat abilities would be comparable to Ozai, Iroh, Zuko and Azula. Also, being a prince, he was probably kept way from the most dangerous fighting. The reason he was killed was because he was unfocused and emotionally conflicted, torn between his duty and his feelings. With Lu Ten dead, and either pregnant or having given birth to a child fathered by "the enemy," the mother would have been pressured into leaving her home, with her child. The mother and child would have been homeless, until eventually moving to Republic City, somewhere they could finally be accepted. While till very poor, possibly still homeless, Lu Ten's child was still able to have a family, Mako and Bolin. This would explain Mako's very impressive firebending abilities, being able to win 3v1, assuming bending proficiency is inheritable. It would also make a connection between Mako and the man he is named after, Iroh's voice actor. It would also make quite an interesting backstory, making these street rats directly related to royalty, as well as creating a connection to the previous series.
 * Unlikely. It's doubtful Ozai would have described Iroh's line as dead if he had grandchildren. It's implied from that conversation that Lu Ten was Iroh's only child and that he died childless.
 * Except that idea has points against it. The WMG states that it was secret. If Iroh didn't notice the it is unlikely that family at home had a clue as to what was going on. Also, even if they did know, they probably would have rejected the child because the mother was from their rivals, the Earth Kingdom.

Mako and Bolin will have a family name.
Republic City is densely populated enough that single names wouldn't be sufficient to organize society, surnames will have been adopted by the general populace.

Amon is Mako and Bolin's older brother.
When their parent(s) dropped them off at the orphanage, Mako and Bolin were separated from their older brother because they were benders. Due to the special needs of young benders, they get segregated from the non-bender orphans. Can't have them setting the bed sheets on fire and whatnot. A heartbroken Amon (not his name) came to resent his brothers when they were adopted and he wasn't, because their new parents only wanted benders. While Mako and Bolin ran away from this couple for whatever reason, Amon had escaped the orphanage and joined a non-bender gang that trains him in chi-blocking. So the episode titled "The Skeleton in the Closet"? That skeleton is in Mako and Bolin's closet, and it's their brother Amon. Although Korra either won't find out about this until much later, or will learn it but agree to keep it quiet to protect Mako and Bolin's reputation.
 * Wow, I want this to be true. Maybe all the details won't play out that way, but Amon being related to Mako and Bolin would be a great revelation.
 * Alternatively, Amon is Mako and Bolin's older brother, except he never knew that they were benders. During "The Revelation", Amon claimed that . Earlier in the same episode, Mako  . The stories are similar enough that, looking at the ages of the parties involved, might account for the minor inconsistencies. It will eventually be revealed that   Perhaps he even recognized Bolin at the rally, leading him to later seek out his only remaining family and eventually pull a Heel Face Turn.

Mako won't believe in the traditional Fire Nation concept of honor. Bolin, however, will.
Stemming from the multicultural angle of the show, Mako's personal belief won't lie up entirely with what we've come to expect from a traditional firebender. Growing up in a republican society rather than a feudal one, and among people of many cultures, Mako won't put any stock in the notion of honor. Instead Bolin will, as a way to tie himself to whichever parent of theirs is ethnically Fire. This division between the brothers, and their respective beliefs, will catch them flak from the more traditionally minded members of their native elements: Mako for not measuring up to what a "real" man should be, Bolin for acting like he's Fire Nation.

Mako will be Bi.
And thus Yaoi Fangirl Korra will have a very satisfying relationship with her BF indeed.

Mako will apply the technique of bending lightning in new ways.
From what we've seen, Republic City is a sizable metropolis, and with the series being set in 20's of the Avatar 'verse, it's not a stretch to imagine that there are electric lights and other such devices present within the city. At some point, either via his own merits or by being taught by someone else, our party's resident firebender will gain the ability to influence electric technology with his bending. This could have numerous applications; halting the current in a wire shuts down an electric machine, sending a jolt of power through a device overloads (and explodes) it, stopping and starting the flow of current in lights is used for signaling purposes, etc. Such a skill would invariably prove useful to the party, and would just be cool as hell.
 * Confirmed, sort of, in "The Revelation." Mako and other Firebenders use lightning-generation abilities to help run a power plant.

Mako is Koh.
Only thing I have going for this is the pronunciation of Mako's name, Ma-koh. I'm aware of the Meaningful Name, but nothing says that honoring Mako has to be the only meaning. It's been a full Avatar Cycle since Kuruk tried to kill Koh, so maybe he doesn't care about that anymore. Mako could be Koh's temporary human form, and through a friendship with Korra he can be certain this Water Tribe Avatar won't be as lazy as Kuruk.

Bolin will end up joining the Equalists

 * It's already been spoiled that  Maybe it's a ploy to lure Mako and Korra, and Once they arrive Bolin will use some Chi-blocking attacks to beat the living shit out of them. Mako...Will Not take this well.
 * There's a little problem: Bolin is an Earthbender. The Equalists, as you may recall, have a dim view on the Benders.

Bolin will use Pabu to flirt with girls.
Bolin is a ladies man, and who can resist a Ridiculously Cute Critter like Pabu?

Mako and Bolin were Triad enforcers
When looking for Bolin in the latest online clip Mako's first instinct is to check the Triad headquarters. He knows where those headquarters are and he seems unusually familiar with Triad protocol. This troper thinks that Mako and Bolin used to work as muscle, perhaps even high-ranking muscle, for the Triple Threats and used the money they earned there as a stepping stone to becoming pro-benders. That might also be why the fabulous bending brothers are such a dominant team. They earned those bending skills by fighting for their lives in the back alleys of Republic City.
 * Jossed.. they ran numbers (did accounting).
 * Actually, it seems running numbers seems to mean something a little different than accounting.

Mako and Bolin are Zuko and Mai's grandchildren
Mai and Zuko's child was a firebender, who maried an earthbender, and they they had two sons. Mako looks a lot like Zuko.
 * If Mako and Bolin were the grandchildren of the Fire Lord, wouldn't the Fire Nation royal family have taken them into care after their parents were killed, instead of letting them grow up as orphans on the street? Also, Mako's story of his family getting killed by a firebender implies that neither of his parents was one.
 * How would being killed by a firebender indicate that neither one was a firebender?
 * If one of the parents was a firebender, s/he would have probably tried to fight the other firebender, and Mako would have probably mentioned this in his story.
 * Perhaps they were pacifists? Or they were adopted and he didn't know. Or his mother wasn't exactly faithful. Or maybe the father did try to fight but was just an electrical worker and didn't have the actual fighting skill necessary to beat a street thug. But, at any rate, saying a firebender killed his parents is important to the story because it's how they died but whether they could bend or not is irrelevant because it did them no good and Mako clearly didn't want to spend too much time reliving the entire ordeal.
 * Perhaps Mako and Bolin (or maybe just Mako) was the result of infidelity on the part of their mother and Zuko and Mai's son. If the mother didn't tell Zuko's son that her son (or sons) were his, he wouldn't have known to take them in after they were orphaned.
 * First of all, Any special royal services either Zuko or his daughter would be able to prvide Mako and Bolin woukd be rendered meeaningless after the formation of The United Republic. Secondly, I came up with this theory based almost entiuerly on the fact that Mako and Juko look strikingly similar. I don't think that's a cooncidence.
 * The existence of the Republic doesn't mean the Fire Nation has ceased to exist. It's still there, and presumably the Fire Lord still is a powerful and influential leader. And even if he/she wasn't, had Zuko or his daughter learned that their grandchildren/nephews had become orphans, surely he or she would've taken Mako and Bolin to live with them instead of leaving them on the streets. As for Mako looking like Zuko, many comic book and animation artists simply like to use similar character models. For example, Tahno looks kinda like Jet, and Asami looks like June, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are related.

Mako and Bolin are actually waterbenders. Also Mako is actually Amon and Bolin is the true avatar
There is no such person as "Amon". Just some poor random guy Mako takes complete and utter control over as a puppet for his firebender-hating agenda, using his extremely advanced bloodbending. Think about it: exact same back-story, except with an additional "scarring" in "Amon"'s case as a convenient way to just grab any ol Joe off the street and sticking a mask on him without arousing suspicion. As for Mako's "firebending", all he's doing is imitating firebending forms and super-heating water vapor to incandescence using his insanely powerful waterbending to look like he's a firebender, thus deflecting any suspicion that he's the mastermind behind "Amon" through bloodbending. Bolin knows all of this, but he plays along because he's FUCKING TERRIFIED of Mako and his beyond-Azula levels of crazy nastiness. Also Bolin is the real avatar. Korra can bend three elements because a lionturtle secretly visited her at birth and used spiritbending to give her the ability to earth- and firebend, just to troll people. This explains why she has such trouble airbending: because she CAN'T. Bolin is a waterbending avatar. He just doesn't know it because everyone already thinks Korra's the avatar. He just thinks he's an earthbender because, for some weird reason, he only ever bends the water in the hydrated silica in the crystal structures of rocks.

Mako and Bolin's parents were both earthbenders.
Or, at least Bolin's were. Mako and Bolin's father wasn't really Mako's biological father because their mother had an affair with a firebender, resulting in Mako's conception, but it was broken off at some point before Bolin was conceived and her husband was oblivious because Mako hadn't begun to bend yet (or if he did, he kept a secret, perhaps because his mother asked him to). Mako's biological father may or may not have been Zuko's son.
 * Why does he have to stay oblivious? All Mako knows is his parents were killed by a fire bender. Who's to say that fire bender wasn't his biological father?

The White Lotus Guards and Air Acolytes will be endlessly amused.


 * Episode 6 previews show that the arena might be closed. Maybe this happens in the aftermath?
 * Episode 7 initially subverts this. Korra invites them, but they move in with Asami

Mako and Bolin are not actually blood-related.

 * This would explain why they dont realy look alike, like, in the slightlest. Bolin would be a street child that Mako more or less adopted when he himself had to live on the streets.
 * This theory... Is just adorable!

The death of Mako and Bolin's parents
I've got a couple thoughts concerning the nature in which they died and the intent behind their deaths. Keep in mind, part of this theory resulted from drawing comparisons between Mako and Bolin's parents and the Waynes, which is integral.

One has to wonder if Mako witnessed his parents getting burned to death or getting electrocuted to death. Lightning bending has become a mundane skill, evidenced by Mako and many other firebenders who use it to power generators for work. It would take less time to take down a target with lightning, especially if said targets are benders--one of which, a firebender. Mako and Bolin's parents would have fought back the moment they saw they were in danger. Getting killed by electrocution is faster and less noticeable, as getting killed by fire would mean that the fight was drawn out, leading to possible witnesses and at the most the police being notified. In either case, the couple slipped up in trying to defend each other and the boys, ending in their deaths.

Of course, Mako and Bolin's parents may have been snuck up on, having no chance to fight back. Either way, Mako would have witnessed his parents die a horrible way (and God forbid Bolin witnessing it too, who was even younger at the time).

But what if this wasn't just your usual mugging with a desperate firebender looking for a way to make a quick yuan? What if, like in some versions of the death of the Waynes, that mugging was just a disguise for murder? Or what if it was just that--murder--and Mako never realized it?

A murder seems likely, as a mugging ending up in murder unintentionally seems improbable, at least not in the conventional sense. Any form of resistance would have resulted in a scuffle, and with bending involved it would have gathered too much attention unless dealt with swiftly, as stated above.

We don't know enough to know if the perpetrator was ever caught, or if Mako didn't tell Korra the entire truth if he knew more than he let on. What I do know is, for two benders to be killed by a firebender without much of a fight in a mugging is much more unlikely than it being intentional, planned out murder. In my eyes, their deaths has become a great mystery I hope the show explores. One has to wonder exactly who they were and if there was any reason behind their deaths beyond it just being another unfortunate casualty in Republic City. Were they just a couple who ended up as unfortunate casualties marking the corruption and crime in Republic City? Or were they people of significance intentionally sought out to be killed?

Mako and Bolin spend the other half of Season One (or Part of Season Two) learning the spiritual aspect of bending and become stronger to help Korra
Because of the Equalists, they will be required to live with Korra and the Air Nomads, taking the now free time they have to learn about the history and origins behind their bending. By embracing the spiritual side of their bending and training on the Island with Korra while the Arena (which was where their home was) is being repaired, the two brothers' will have more powerful bending and become better fighters as a whole to help Korra counter the Equalists.
 * Partially confirmed in Episode 7 where.

Mako and Bolin do have a surviving aunt or uncle.
However, this relative is an Equalist who disowned their sibling long ago for either being a bender, marrying a bender, or having bender children. Mako and Bolin will find out about this relative and be eager to meet them, only to end up disappointed and crushed that their only other surviving family members want nothing to do with them.

Mako is building up to becoming a sympathetic villain
In episode seven, he was pretty much a world-class jerk. He claimed Korra accused Hiroshi Sato of being Equalist-aligned because she was jealous of him and Asami, and he threatened to break off his and Korra's friendship because of it. However, at the end of the episode, when it turns out Korra is right, he swings right back around to being nice to her. This troper thinks this is some sort of foreshadowing of Mako's character. Maybe he won't turn into a straight-up villain, but maybe he will become someone who is definitely not a friendly.

Mako and Bolin are Sokka's and Suki's grandchildren.
Bolin is too like Sokka for this to not be true.
 * Or Bolin read The Legend of Wang Fire & decided to be just like him when he grew up.
 * Combining this with the above 'Mako and Bolin not related' WMG, it's just Bolin related to them.

Mako and Bolin are going to run into some old Triple Threat Triad friends in prison.
And Asami is NOT going to be happy about Mako's criminal past.
 * Bolin is also mostly clueless on how dark things were and will make Mako explain, adding further pressure. It isn't pleasant if someone you looked up to got his hands dirty.

Mako will die before series end.
His will be a most epic death, probably with a Facing the Bullets One-Liner or a Taking You with Me. This might happen for two reasons: It could work as Bryke's tribute to Mr. Iwamatsu, giving his eponymous character a viking funeral. The second reason: Bryke enjoys crushing shippers' dreams. What better way to solve the Love Dodecahedrons' detailed in other guesses than to have at least one be all for naught? The second season will see Asami and Korra grieving Mako's loss together, and becoming closer friends in the process.

Mako will be separated from the rest of the group.
Whether by death, willingly parting ways, or unwillingly parting ways, he'll be away from Korra and co. for a long time. The love triangle will cease to be a big issue for Asami and Korra, Bolin will come into his own, and Mako may or may not grow as a person too from the experience.