She’s the perfect Avatar, except for a few minor details...
It’s been eight years since Hanuel Beifong, granddaughter of Bolin and Opal Beifong, was declared the avatar, and in that time, she’s brought peace to the earth confederation and beyond. After years of chaos and havoc, the world is finally safe under their beautiful, charismatic and friendly earth avatar.
However, things change when Korra’s true successor, a girl from the Si Wong desert who wants nothing to do with a greater destiny, discovers powers she never knew she had or ever wanted.
characters
hadiyah saeed
age: 17 (born 200 ag)
pronouns: she/her
ethnicity: earth kingdom (sandbender)
nationality: si wong (earth confederacy)
element: avatar (earth)
alignment: neutral good
other names: haruko saeed
Hadiyah Saeed is the primary protagonist of the Legend of Haruko series. A strong-willed but cynical teenager, Hadiyah spent most her life not knowing of her Avatarhood, until she discovered it by chance. Hadiyah is the daughter of Zahrun and Lilavati Saeed, and the elder sister of Aazir Saeed. Hadiyah's personality has been shaped by the hardships she's faced, including the death of her mother, her father's abandonment, and her status as an outsider among her peers.
hanuel beifong
age: 17 (born 200 ag)
pronouns: she/her
ethnicity: earth kingdom
nationality: zaofu (earth confederacy)
element: earthbender
alignment: neutral good
The scion of a prominent political family in the Earth Kingdom, Hanuel Beifong was the perfect option for an earth Avatar to suceed Korra- other than the fact she isn't the Avatar at all. Hanuel is a bright, cheerful teenage girl, with no clue that she isn't what she believes she is. She desperately wants to live up to Korra's legacy, as well as the expectations everyone seems to have for her. At times, Hanuel can be incredibly oblivious to what's going on around her, but at the end of the dat, all she wants is to do good by her mentors and help the world as best she can.
koto miyamoto
age: 18 (born 199 ag)
pronouns: she/her
ethnicity: fire nation
nationality: air temple island (united republic)
element: airbender
alignment: lawful good
Koto Miyamoto is the airbending member of Hadiyah's team Avatar, as well as Hadiyah's primary love interest. She is strong-willed and stubborn to a fault, and is incredibly dedicated to justice. Koto is the adopted daughter of prominent airbenders Kai and Jinora, and was born to Daizo and Kahoru Miyamoto. Koto holds great disdain for her nation of birth, but hold Air Nomad values at her core.
aazir saeed
age: 15 (born 202 ag)
pronouns: he/him
ethnicity: earth kingdom (sandbender)
nationality: si wong (earth confederacy)
element: earthbender
alignment: chaotic good
Aazir is the younger brother of Hadiyah Saeed. He is incredibly close with his sister, but sometimes as if she babies him, due to her protective and closed-off nature. As Hadiyah's Avatarhood is discovered, Aaazir grows increasingly frustrated, feeling as if he has been left not only in his sister's shadow, but his father's. Despite this, Aazir has many skills of his own, including his skills with seismic sense, and his keen eye.
jae seong
age: 17 (born 200 ag)
pronouns: he/him
ethnicity: mixed-race
nationality: republic city (united republic)
element: nonbender
alignment: chaotic good
Impulsive and dramatic Jae Seong is the nonbender on Hadiyah's team Avatar. What he lacks in elemental powers, he makes up for with his plethora of useful skills, such as lockpicking, ranged weapon proficiency, and sailing. Jae is optimistic and cocky, and believes he can either talk or wit his way out of the dangerous situations he puts himself into. Jae grew up in Republic City with his elder sister Ji-Min, but left for a life on the sea after the murder of his parents. Jae has feelings for fellow team-member Tala Hira, but doesn't know how to act on them.
tala hira
age: 19 (born 198 ag)
pronouns: they/them
ethnicity: earth kingdom / water tribe
nationality: coral isles (earth confederation)
element: firebender
alignment: true neutral
Tala Hira is the firebending member of Hadiyah's team Avatar. They hail from the tropical coral isles, and spend most of their free time running a family inn with their younger sister Masina and grandmother Tuli, both waterbenders. Tala is affliliated with the same Red Lotus chapter as Hadiyah and Aazir's father, which puts them in a tight spot when loyalties must be decided. Tala is especially close with firebender Ahsa of the Red Lotus, as she taught them most of their bending skill, as well as Jae Seong, though they are oblivious to his crush. Tala seeks a just world, and is willing to lie to their friends to get it.
hang thao
age: 19 (born 198 ag)
pronouns: she/her
ethnicity: earth kingdom
nationality: foggy swamp tribe (earth confederation)
element: waterbender
alignment: chaotic neutral
Hang Thao hails from the waterbending tribes of the Foggy Swamp region, though she lived most of her early life away from her home due to the forced relocation of swampbenders following Avatar Korra's death. After running into the rest of the team, Hang became part of Hadiyah's team Avatar, and Hadiyah's waterbending instructor. Hang seeks to reconnect with her heritage, and the family members she's been seperated from because of the relocation. Despite her tendancey to undermine her own abilities, Hang has a strong affinity for spirit-related matters, as well as strong waterbending skill.
mira tran
age: 52 (born 165 ag)
pronouns: she/her
ethnicity: earth kingdom
nationality: gaoling (earth confederation)
element: nonbender
alignment: lawful evil
Mira Tran is the Prime Minister of the Earth Confederacy during the majority of the Legend of Haruko storyline. She is well within her second term in office, and is the major promotor of Hanuel's supposed 'Avatarhood'. Mira has no evidence that Hanuel is the Avatar, but uses her connection to the Beifong family to secure power. Mira rose to power soon after Korra's death, and seeks to secure her power through her proximity to Hanuel. She plays a mentor-like role to the false Avatar, making Hanuel a glorified puppethead.
jitsuko tanaka
age: 17 (born 200 ag)
pronouns: she/her
ethnicity: fire nation
nationality: royal caldera city (fire nation)
element: firebender
alignment: lawful good
Jitsuko Tanaka is a firebending prodigy and the chosen firebending member of Hanuel Beifong's team avatar. She hails from a prominent Fire-Nation royal family, but her parents died of the Sun Plague when she was very young. Jitsuko was raised by her two elder siblings, Ochako and Teijo, and holds a deep respect for the Fire Nation and its monarchy. She believes in following the rules in every situation.
mikah ullulaq
age: 18 (born 199 ag)
pronouns: he/him
ethnicity: water tribe
nationality: agna qel'a (northern water tribe)
element: waterbender
alignment: neutral evil
Mikah Ullulaq is a healer from hailing from the Northern Water Tribe and the waterbending member of Hanuel's team avatar. He is one of the first Northern Water Tribe men to learn healing, and takes great pride in this fact. He does not like confrontation.
teijo tanaka
age: 24 (born 193 ag)
pronouns: he/him
ethnicity: fire nation
nationality: royal caldera city (fire nation)
element: firebender
alignment: lawful evil
Teijo Tanaka is the older brother of Jitsuko Tanaka and the royal advisor to Fire Lord Nozomi. He is very power-hungry and has been planning to assasinate the Fire Lord.
zahrun saeed
age: 42 (born 175 ag)
pronouns: he/him
ethnicity: earth kingdom (sandbender)
nationality: si wong desert (earth confederacy)
element: earthbender
alignment: chaotic neutral
Zahrun Saeed is the father of Hadiyah and Aazir Saeed and the current leader of Tala Hira's red lotus chapter. He is a wildcard in the story of LOH and only makes a few appearances, but plays a major villain role as the story draws to a close. not much is known about his past or background.
arnook nakasuk
age: 35 (born 179 ag)
pronouns: he/him
ethnicity: water tribe
nationality: agna qel'a (northern water tribe)
element: waterbender
alignment: true neutral
Arnook Nakasuk is a Red Lotus waterbender with expirence in healing, spiritbending, and spirit tracking. He is close with Zahrun Saeed, and joined the Red Lotus after meeting him. He often plays a passive role in conflicts.
ahsa
age: 28 (born 192 ag)
pronouns: she/her
ethnicity: heritage unknown
nationality: central earth confederacy
element: firebender
alignment: chaotic neutral
Asha is a Red Lotus firebender with skill in lightningbending. Her origins are unknown, but she joined the red lotus when she was a teenager. she is dating Tehreem and is a mentor to Tala.
tehreem kharal
age: 28 (born 191 ag)
pronouns: she/her
ethnicity: earth kingdom (sandbender)
nationality: si wong desert (earth confederation)
element: nonbenderbender
alignment: true neutral
Tehreem Khraral is a red lotus memember and nonbender. She is has skill with technology and often fights with an electric glove. She is dating Asha, and joined the Red Lotus because Zahrun asked her to.
setting
Legend of Haruko is set in the world of Avatar, about 45 years after the Legend of Korra finale. Political borders have remained largely the same since Korra's teenage years, though the Earth Kingdom is now the Earth Confederacy. The technology and culture of the world are inspired by the late 1970s and early 1980s.
There are 6 major nations in the world of Legend of Haruko.
The Fire Nation is a technologically advanced nation that spans across a volcanic archipelago to the far west of the world. It is mostly populated by firebenders. Historically, the peoples of the fire nation were divided into clans based on heritage and birthplace. Notable characters from the Fire Nation include the Tanaka siblings, as well as Koto Miyamoto, who was born there.
The Air Nation has been reconstruced and repopulated after the air nomad genocide over two hundred years ago. Most airbenders and air acolytes have little air nation heritage, but have pledged their loyalty to the nation and live by the Air Nomad way of life. Most air nomads live at one of five air temples scattered across the continent. Koto Miyamoto is part of the Air Nation.
The Northern and Southern Water Tribes, while once one nation, have recently become independent of one another. The Southern Water tribe is more politically progressive than the North, as the north still retains many of their isolationist policies. Notable water tribe characters include Mikah, Arnook, and the late Avatar Korra and her family.
The United Republic is a diverse, metropolitan nation known for its progressive policies. Notable characters from the United Republic are Jae Seong.
The Earth Confederacy is a large nation that spans most of the largest continent in the world. It is known for its diverse populace and slow-moing political change. A majority of the characters in Legend of Haruko hail from this nation.
trivia
- legend of haruko is not an accurate name, as the main character's name is actually hadiyah
- tala was not planned to be a part of the harukrew. the first firebender of hadiyah's team avatar was ji-min, jae's older sister!
- the font loh was written in is called antic slab. it's a thin-line serif font
- despite haruko (hadiyah/koto) being the canon couple, hanuko (hanuel/haruko) was much more popular during the series's runtime, and my favorite ship is taliyah (tala/hadiyah)
- there is a town in loh book 3 called bahn mi town. this is because my readers kept pressuring me to make a place called sandwichtown
- while the chapters don't have names on ao3, each chapter has an unused name i never got to updating the ao3 with
- in the official loh timeline, beyonce dies sometime during avatar kuruk's lifetime
- legend of haruko used to have an instagram page where i ran a weekly 'fun fact friday' event sharing loh trivia. some of these trivia facts are from that page.
- hang is the tallest living character in loh, standing at 6'5 (195 cm)
- pasha (hadiyah's mere-fox animal companion) is modeled and named after my cat padme. padma (a side character) is also named after her
- in early drafts of loh, tala was a lavabending earthbender. i also planned to give hadiyah lavabending but never did
- jae's designed is based off the punk rock movement of the late 1970s, however, i could've made him more punk
- despte being the younger sibling, aazir is taller than hadiyah by 2 inches
- in the southern water tribe, chiefs are elected by democratic vote
- korra and asami have two children in loh who both appear as supporting characters. hayata sato is a waterbender who became a probender, and saila sato is a nonbender who went into politics
- in really early drafts of loh, jae was called sun-ji. i later gave this name to his father.
- hang is the best cook in the harukrew. koto and jae are the worst
- aazir and hadiyah were originally planned as cousins, then became siblings. hadiyah used to have a different brother named riko who appears in 'like salt to a wound'
- hadiyah, aazir and zahrun are all part of the namja sandbending tribe, known for their blocky, geometric tatoos
- hanuel bears a resemblence both to her grandfather bolin and her great-grandmother toph
- hang and tala are the only members of the harukrew who don't have siblings, though tala has a younger cousin who is like a sister to them
- during loh, mira is in her 2nd term as prime minister
- koto was conceptualized before hadiyah was
- ahsa has a last name but i can't remember it
- i have plans to reboot loh at some point, based on an au i made for it at one point, however i will probably not do this til young gods is done.
gallery
The Harukrew- from left to righ Aazir, Jae, Koto, Haruko, Tala, and Hang
Legend of Haruko: Book 1: Dream poster
