The Legend of Korra/WMG/Tenzin and Family

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

Tenzin will be able to see Aang in Spirit Advisor mode along with Korra.
Well, he is Aang's son, and to see his dead father again would set up some interesting plot points...possibly.
 * There's a precedent from the original series: during Roku's first appearance, Iroh was able to see his spirit dragon.
 * But Iroh and Roku have no blood relation...
 * True. The point is that, canonically, people who aren't the Avatar can still see the spirits of past Avatars (and their companion animals) under certain circumstances.
 * Also, about the blood relation thing, you don't know that. Roku and Iroh are both Fire Nation nobility. There could be some family relation.
 * Actually, they are, by marriage; in the Avatar and the Fire Lord, Iroh revealed that Roku was Zuko's great-grandfather, on Ursa's side... Hence the wording "blood relation".
 * This troper was under the impression that Iroh could see Fang because he had been to the Spirit World. It's implied that people who visit gain the ability to see spirits.
 * In The Deserter, Jeong Jeong is able to see Avatar Roku, despite having no apparent connection by relation or having visited the Spirit World, so it's possible.
 * It's established that the Avatar can channel past avatars, and observers see the the previous Avatar when this occurs. That's what in all likelihood happened in that case.
 * Not to mention that Tenzin seeing his dad again would be a MAJOR Crowning Moment of Heartwarming/Tear Jerker. Just imagining Aang telling Tenzin how proud he is at how he's been teaching Korra and the kids gives me The Feels.

Korra going into the Avatar State will distress Tenzin.
Being Aang's s son and the Airbending master destined to teach the Avatar, Tenzin knows about the Avatar State and all it implies: it triggers during moments when the Avatar is under great distress or danger. As such, when Korra activates the Avatar State, Tenzin will be greatly saddened, since he will feel that he has failed as Korra's protector, maybe inducing a Heroic BSOD. However, this will be followed eventually with Tenzin having a Big Damn Heroes moment that'll be his Crowning Moment of Awesome.

Tenzin will be able to bend dreams/memories.
I recently watched a marathon of the series with a friend of mine and occasionally gave hints at who Tenzin was (The correct answer at the time was "Aang and Katara's son"). However, my friend has a tendency of missing the point and somehow came up with this conclusion: Friend:I bet Tenzin can control dreams and memories. Me:All of life is a memory, eventually (What I'm really thinking: Well,he's definitely head of SOMEONE'S dreams). But now that I give it some thought, I like the idea. I have no idea how it would work or why; I just think it's kinda awesome.

In his youth, Tenzin formed a Power Trio with his siblings similar to that of Aang, Katara, and Sokka.
Tenzin was Aang's counterpart, obviously.
 * Even better, he was Sokka's counterpart. Sure, he's wise and calm now but... TENZIN STYLE!

Tenzin is Zuko's godchild
Or whatever their non-religious equivalent is..Or possibly, he's friends with Zuko and Mai's children.
 * The inverse is likely as well. Which means we could well have Fire Lord Katara on the throne by Korra's day.
 * Huh? Succession doesn't work that way. How would Katara have been the Fire Lord when she's not a member of the Fire Nation Imperial family? Unless, of course, you mean Zuko and Mai's child and heir to the throne was named Katara.
 * Exactly.

Tenzin will have had a romantic relationship with Zuko and Mai's daughter.
Just to drive the shippers insane. Because Mike and Bryan are like that.
 * I support this theory.
 * I do too.
 * I don't even care about shipping and this would please me.
 * Kya or Bumi having relations with Zuko's daughter (or any other possible children) would also achieve the same effect.
 * Jossed, in a way: Apparently he had a thing for Lin Beifong, Toph's daughter.

Tenzin has had run-ins with Amon and the Equalists before.
A few of the trailers have him say things like "Amon is more dangerous then ever". This implies that Tenzin remembers a time when the Equalists weren't quite as dangerous. In his younger years, Tenzin encountered Amon and his group, and got to see Amon's Start of Darkness.
 * Related theory: Pema is an ex-Equalist. However, she left the group when she realized that they were becoming too radical.
 * Tenzin and Amon were best friends and Pema their mutual friend/LoveTriangle object of affection. Tenzin supported Amon's belief in non-bender empowerment because he believed it supported balance in Republic City until Amon really got radical. Pema was in the movement until Amon tried to assassinate Tenzin and rejected him.

Tenzin will be Korra's Parental Substitute
after her parents freaked out and abandoned her as a baby when they found she was the Avatar. "Korra's Mother: We love you so much."
 * Jossed. In a leaked clip, her parents are shown hugging her when she leaves for Republic City.


 * He is sort of her guardian as well as a teacher. God knows Korra certainly acts like a Bratty Teenage Daughter to him at times.
 * Alternate Theory: After Korra was discovered, when Tenzin was still childless, he secretly and briefly hoped for just such a scenario, but his understanding that this was not to be helped him realize his frustrated familial impulses, and he went seeking a family of his own in earnest while cultivating an avuncular relationship with Korra.

Pema is Ty Lee's daughter.
Because their daughter looks way too much like Ty Lee for it to be coincidence, even wearing the same outfit! Plus, it has been noted that Tenzin's wife is a non-bender, just like Ty Lee.
 * And there always was that WMG from At LA that said Ty Lee was descended from Air Nomads...

Pema is the daughter of the Foaming Mouth Guy.
There will only be a reference to this fact once, very briefly. One of Tenzin and Pema's kids will get very excited over something, and begin foaming at the mouth and then faint, prompting Tenzin to turn to his wife and say, "He/She gets that from your side of the family."

COMBO!!! Ty Lee and Foamy shacked up and eventually led to Pema.
Pema's age is kinda right on the cusp of being either the daughter or granddaughter of such a pairing. And since Ty Lee signed up with the Kyoshi Warriors, she'd be living in proximity to him. And they're both... erm... "distinct" in personality. Birds of a feather...

Pema will be forced to evaluate her views on bending as Amon gains more power.
Although she clearly loves her family, she expresses disdain at the thought of another bending child in the pilot and wants one that is "normal" like her. As Amon's anti-bending revolution sets into motion, she'll start to question her definition of "normal" and ultimately accept the possibility of having another bending child.

Before she comes to this conclusion, however, a rift of sorts may form between her and Tenzin. Pema will be used to give an average person's perspective into the Equalist movement -- a non-bender who can understand their viewpoints, but who also has loved ones who bend. She may point out that Amon -does- have some valid points despite his extremism, which will undoubtedly piss off Tenzin. By the end, though, they'll reconcile and grow from the experience.
 * Related to the above: Pema will become a target for the Equalists' ire as a non-bender in a mixed marriage (having three airbender kids, with a possible fourth on the way does not help her case either). Considering Tenzin's status in the city, Pema is a class traitor and a "race" traitor.

Tenzin's children are 1/4th everything.
To add to the aforementioned "Pema is Ty Lee's daughter" idea, Pema is Ty Lee's daughter via a man she married from Kyoshi Island. So Tenzin is half Air Nomad and half Water Tribe. Pema is half Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. Therefore their four children are a quarter everything. In other words, the poster children for the United Republic of Nations.

Tenzin's eldest daughter, Jinora, either is or will become a Badass Bookworm.
We've been told that she's a bookworm, and I've heard that Jinora means "essence of victory" in Sanskrit. Which leads me to believe that Badass Bookworm, Knowledge Is Power, or both will be in effect for her
 * Books! The best weapons in the world!
 * Jinora, master of Sokka Style.

Tenzin has been an uncle/great uncle long before he became a parent.
Guessing how old both Kya and Bumi is, it won't be surprising to learn that they both may have teen to adult aged children and young grandchildren by now.

Jinora will become a full airbending master at some point in the series, but won't want to shave her head and take the arrow tattoo.
The Korra/Tenzin bond will be tested when Korra sides with her master's daughter in a family dispute about what it means to be an Air Nomad in the modern era. Jinora won't want to inherit the temple and simply pass on her people's traditions to her children, nieces, and nephews. She'll want a life of her own, across the bay in that alluring Babylon. Tenzin, meanwhile, will have major angst over the idea that the Air Nomads might still die out despite his and his father's best efforts unless the children keep to the ancient ways. Korra will be torn between her personal feelings to Jinora and to Tenzin.

Jinora will develop a crush on Mako
Birds of a Feather anyone?
 * She does say he's cute in a new clip. Possible rivalry with Korra now that Makorra is confirmed?

The gender of Tenzin and Pema’s 4th child
Take your bets!
 * Male and female. Which is to say...

Pema will have twins.
Just when they thought they had their hands full enough with kids... BAM!

Pema's fourth child will be a waterbender.
From a view that bending abilities might be genetic, Katara's waterbending ability may have passed Tenzin's generation and gone to her grandchildren.
 * Tenzin's older sister Kya is already confirmed to be a Waterbender, so while the unborn child's abilities are in the air, waterbending did not skip a generation in Aang's family.
 * That, and Pema herself is stated as being a non-bender from one of the water tribes.

Pema's fourth child will be a non-bender.
She says she wants one, and to need to perpetuate the Air Nomads' numbers aside, she's earned it after how much trouble the older three must give her.

Tenzin's family will be captured and held hostage by the Equalists.
You know the whole "I Have Your Wife" trope, and since it's up to Tenzin to help repopulate the Airbenders (who are not only mostly pacifists but also children at this point), that makes his family a bigger target for hostage situations. In any case, he'd either be forced to betray/kill/capture Korra or his family dies.
 * I agree with kidnapping as well as it being a major arc in the season, but only Pema will get kidnapped and while she is in labour with her child. When the child is born Tenzin will have to sacrifice his bending to save his wife and child before Korra can finish learning Airbending. With him being "Depowered", this frustrates Korra to the point where she activates the Avatar State out of rage due to fact as she can no longer become a "true Avatar" with the only Airbending master gone. With her going rampant throughout Republic City this activates the trigger that the Equalists needed to show the true dangers of bending. Which in turn starts a full blown war between the Equalists and Benders.

Tenzin and his family will be harassed and threatened by a cultural supremacist group, led primarily by waterbenders.
Since Avatar tends to reference real life, Tenzin would essentially be a mulatto; and quite a few waterbenders, mostly the ones from the north, would feel slighted by Katara choosing someone from another nation over them and form a hate group against mixed-race children. But is the son of the Avatar gonna put up with that?Like hell he is! At least one episode would feature a protest, maybe even a sit-in of sorts. It could be a fantastic homage to the civil rights movement, if executed right.
 * Not too likely, casual racism doesn't seem to exist in this world. Consider how the Dai Li accepted Azula as their leader, and the Gaang experienced no discrimination while traveling in the Fire Nation. Not to mention no one in the Fire Nation even noticed that only Toph has the physical characteristics of an Earth Kingdom national. Sure Hama, and Jet had issues, but they had considerable wrongs done to them. More neutral parties are incredibly PC.
 * Agreed. The Fire Nation mainly believed themselves to be superior due to their technological advancements and wealth, but that's about it. No one seemed to really care about physical differences in the Avatar world, especially since it's been shown that even within one nation, there's actually quite a lot of genetic diversity. Not everyone in the Fire Nation is pale-skinned and golden-eyed, just look at Pian Dao and Ty Lee. The only reason the Air Nomads and Water Tribes were more or less homogeneous is because one was comprised of Nomads and the other was extremely isolated.

Tenzin will, at some point, pretend to be Amon to teach Korra a lesson
With Korra continuing to be reckless in regards to challenging Amon and the Equalists, Tenzin will decide that the only way for Korra to realize how unprepared she is is by fighting her himself. He will dress like Amon, ambush her, and duel her without using any Airbending, highlighting how even a non-Bender could take down the Avatar if properly trained. This will finally convince Korra to practice patience in her training rather than continuing to seek Amon out before she's ready.

Jinora will receive a flying bison
After Ikki continually begs for one, Tenzin will give in...and let Jinora get one, since she's the oldest and most responsible of the Airbending siblings. This will allow her to help out with Korra, Mako, and Bolin as their eyes in the sky during their adventures.
 * Aang and his friends were six when they received their flying bison.

The Equalists will try to turn Tenzin's kids against him.
The Equalists will try to use the fact that it's up to Tenzin to repopulate the Air Nomads to convince them that their father doesn't genuinely love them. They say things like "Daddy doesn't really love you, he only 'loves' you so he can continue his people", along with fabricating the situation to make them believe the lies. That would be the biggest blow to Tenzin, who would have to go out of his way to prove he loves them.

Tenzin knows who Amon is.
Or at least suspects. Take a look at his reaction at the end of "The Revelation," when Korra tells him what she saw. The look on his face could be interpreted as "That's impossible!" or "Uh-oh..." He knows of someone who could potentially permanently take away bending.

Jinora was born following some military victory and named in commemoration of that victory.

 * Here's the theory: Aang's death led to an opportunistic war by someone trying to take advantage of the Avatar's absence (possibly the Earth Kingdom trying to reclaim the United Republic, which it views as it's rightful territory) Tenzin and Pema both fought in the war and it's how they met. Jinora was born either near the end or shortly after and her name (apparently means "Glorious Victory" in Sanskrit) is in commemoration.

Jinora admires Azula.

 * We know she's a history buff. Who wouldn't want to shake the hand of the Magnificent Bitch who conquered Ba Sing Se with only two handmaids?
 * Well, she does find Ax Crazy Firebender conquerors romantic...

Tenzin was born on Air Temple Island

 * Following some of the ideas about Bending being derived from both culture and genetics, Tenzin (and his own children) have all been born and raised in Republic City, the closest substitute to an Air Temple. Kya and Bumi look more Water Tribe because they were born in the Southern Water Tribe, where Katara wanted to be with familiar faces while starting motherhood. But by the time Tenzin was conceived, Republic City was safe/stable enough that Katara was comfortable giving birth there.

Tenzin will at some point be forced to display just how skilled the current lone master of Airbending really is

 * He seems to be far more ...controlled...than his father, but it's not unreasonable to expect that before Korra gets to display any decent airbending, something might force Tenzin to show how much of a badass he is on his own terms (and not just as the son of an Avatar). It'd be really great moment for Korra to gain some real respect for the one element she seems to have the least understanding of.

Amon will at some point take away Tenzin's bending

 * And Korra, with the help of Spirits, will learn how to reverse it, or discover more behind Amon's style of energybending.

In a dark turn for the story, Pema will eventually give birth, and Amon will kidnap the baby, forcing Tenzin to surrender
Seems like something Amon will do.
 * But wouldn't that sort of thing upset his group, even though they are for ending bending? He's basically gotten off on just targeting the benders that either crossed the Moral Event Horizon or been JerkAsses and avoided Kick the Dog moments. Perhaps that is what will occur and start his downfall to making Korra tap into her airbending and be able to confront Amon without suffering repercussions because of the mistake he made.

Amon is Tenzin's

 * According to the series' wiki, Tenzin is in his early fifties (51, to be exact), judging from what we've seen of Amon, he could be in his late twenties to early thirties. Which would put Tenzin in his early twenties at the time of . This may also mean that   Amon being one of them. One may bring up the story , but it's clear that this could be easily falsified and the real reason   would hide his own identity would be the fact   and the   son, which would mean that he would be well known. Seeing that Tenzin left   on sour terms and for another woman, this and the fact that   is not a bender   may have fueled the anger/hate Amon has for his  . The   may just be a huge Calling The Old Airbender Out by a jilted Amon.

Monk Gyatso's first name was Tenzin
You know, like the Dalai Lama. It will turn out that Aang named his son in honor of Monk Gyatso.

Jinora and Ikki are the real villains
One of them openly swoons about mass murder, the other appears to be possessed by a demon in episode 8. Jinora has studied enough to realize the moon is still fully there when the moon isn't full, and has found a way for tarrlok to tap into that power (Maybe she found Yakone's secret during her study of the gaang's old adventures). Meanwhile, the demon inside Ikki is responsible for giving Amon the power to energybend.

Tenzin will subvert the Panicky Expectant Father trope
After all, this is his fourth child. He knows what will probably happen. Other residents of Air Temple Island, however, might not keep such a level head.

Tarlok will use his new law to threaten Tenzin's family
He must be intending to deal with Tenzin's continued opposition somehow. Tenzin's association with Korra, non-benders, and Asami (Hiroshi was given as the justification), gives the Councilman several possibilities should he find a 'legal' excuse to intimidate the residents of Air Temple Island purely to influence Tenzin.
 * Which would be very easy to do as there are no confirmed benders on Air Temple Island apart from Tenzin and his kids. Meaning that there are a lage number of non-benders there, including Pema.
 * Exactly what I was trying to suggest. Though it would be interesting to see how far Tarrlok bothers to justify (under his law) involving Pema and the Air acolytes. Or whether he simply abandons all pretence and arrests them for being non-benders.
 * Jossed. He never gets that far before he gets outed as a Bloodbender. Also, it's unlikely that such threats would have worked, considering that the Island is heavily implied to be Tenzin's private property, and the people on it are his guestes and staff -- as long as they are on the island, they can't break any curfews.

Meelo is the real Avatar.
This theory explains itself.