Kyoko

Kyoko was the ambitious CEO of the Harmony Park Corporation. She sought to capitalize on Republic City's culture of illegal automobile races in underground tunnels. Her company built established above ground, legal versions of "tunnel" racing, but they proved unpopular. Willing to do anything to get what she wanted, Kyoko sought to stamp out HPC's competition by cracking down on the illegal races.^[1][2]

History

Kyoko grew up with an older sister, Quiyue, a powerful earthbender and metalbender. Their parents unfairly favored Quiyue for being a "superior" bender, and they died without Kyoko ever confronting them. The sisters received no money from their parents when they passed away, leaving them penniless.

The sisters lived on the streets for some time and found some success running cons. The pair would pickpocket and steal from the wealthy, and would periodically break into a vulnerable shop. However, Kyoko tired of hustling and thieving, and wanted something more in life. She took the money that the sisters had saved up, and left Quiyue to make her own fortune. She asked her sister to join her in going into the legitimate business world, but Quiyue rejected the offer. After this, Kyoko did everything that was within her power to cover up her past, including cutting all ties with her sister.^[3][4]

Kyoko eventually became the CEO of the Harmony Park Corporation. She wielded as much as she could in her position, although she was still ultimately accountable to the company's board of directors.^[5] Kyoko's chief plan was attempting to capitalize on Republic City's underground tunnel races, making plans to host legal, above-ground races. Kyoko bought up a large chunk of land in a lower-income neighborhood on the outer parts of the city, hoping she could use the money saved on the acquisition to build a grand and large raceway to attract more visitors. She then bulldozed the houses in order to set up the Rolling Harmony Raceway, as well as grand boulevards leading to and away from it. The Raceway was designed to mimic the confines, curves, and difficulties of the tunnel races.

However, the venture failed to bring in the audience that Kyoko thought it would. The audience already attending the tunnel races resented the new Raceway, and continued to frequent the illegal races in the underground. Meanwhile, Kyoko failed to attract a new audience from Republic City's elite, as there was still a deep stigma about visiting the run-down area surrounding the Raceway.^[6]

In light of the abysmal ticket sales HPC was seeing, Kyoko came to believe that all her potential competition ought to be quashed. She hoped that . She reached out to the failing Spider Cat Triad, meeting their leader, Maly, in a vulnerable state. She promised Maly that she would use her power would save Republic City, explaining a worldview that made the airbender mobster feel as if she was doing the right thing. Maly and the Spider Cats thus agreed to become Kyoko's spies in the underground races.^[3][7] Kyoko continued to support and aid Maly, and bankrolled her triad to give them expensive automobiles and racing equipment. Thanks to her funding, the triad became a strong contender in the tunnel racing scene.^[3] The triad members also enjoyed a comfortable life thanks to Kyoko's money.^[3]

She also approached Hibiki and the other members of the Badgermole Triad, hoping they would become professional racers at the Rolling Harmony Raceway, but they turned her down as she was an outsider. Following the triad's rejection, she had Maly individually reach out to Tashi, an impressionable member of the Badgermoles. The airbender provided the child with much needed comfort, and made implications about a wealthy benefactor who could help him break into the legitimate racing world. Through this plan, Kyoko was able to learn more about Badgermole Triad's plans, as he willingly fed Maly information out of fear.^[4]

The businesswoman also planned to use the Republic City Police to crack down on tunnel racing. She made an alliance with Officer Xiaobo, and the pair worked together in order to damage the reputation of Chief Lin Beifong, as she had largely turned a blind eye to the illegal sport. Xiaobo had Beifong temporarily suspended from the police force, citing her lenience on the issue, with her allies in Republic City politics being too preoccupied in other issues across the four nations to push for her to be immediately reinstated.^[8]

Kyoko and Xiaobo hoped that they would be able to damage Beifong's reputation to the point that she would be permanently removed from the police force. Kyoko knew that if Xiaobo was able to become the new Chief, the Republic City Police would be in her own pocket, allowing her to secure vast political power in the city.^[3] Meanwhile, as the situation intensified, Kyoko ordered Maly to sabotage the other vehicles, potentially causing harm to both racers and audience members.^[3]

The racers had no plans to back down to the police, especially as many of them were triad members. Complicating things was the fact that Quiyue was now the leader of the Tiger Monkey Triad, but did not want to see harm come to her sister.^[3] The Spider Cats were also starting to break away from Kyoko, as they had truly come to love the races, though many were still hesitant to go back to life as one of the lowliest triads.^[7] Detective Mako also reached out to his contacts to stop the situation from out of hand, as he knew the racers in the Badgermole Triad were mostly youngsters who did not pose a serious criminal threat, and did not want to see them arrested before it was too late to turn their lives around.^[9] Mako started to catch on to Kyoko's connection to Xiaobo, and had a photo in his possession showing the two discreetly talking to one another at a city gala.^[10]

Kyoko mostly relied on Maly and Xiaobo to do her bidding and crush the races for her. However, she did send mercenaries and one of her aides to meet up with Mako's contacts, while she sat nearby in her luxury automobile. Kyoko talked to the group with an apparent understanding, kindness, and an eerie awareness of who they are and the facts of the situation. She knew of the team's connection to Mako, and invited the group for a short drive around Republic City, wishing to explain the situation from her perspective.^[11]

Physical description

Kyoko bore a striking resemblance to her sister, Quiyue.^[11] She took care to appear glamorous, as part of her carefully curated persona.^[4]

Personality

Kyoko's sole goal and motivation was money. She considered herself to be the perfect capitalist, and believed anything and everything fair game to quash the competition to her company. She thought that poor people must work hard if they wanted to achieve the sort of power that she had.

Her strong work ethic carried over into her plans for the underground races, as she put considerable effort into getting the police to crack down on the races.^[8] She generally sought to buy out any potential rivals instead of confront them.^[11]

Kyoko appeared to be both powerful and benevolent, but this was a façade in order to improve her status. Beneath this, she desperately craved power. She had something of an unresolved inferiority complex, due to the way her parents treated Quiyue better for being a powerful bender.^[4]

Abilities

Kyoko was cunning and resourceful. She used a wide range of tactics to win people over to her side, and reinvented herself several times over, trying to find the persona that brought her the most power.^[4] She was not above using bribes or threats, depending on what seemed to be working. However, she could also manipulate others using just her words, making various implications and insinuations to avoid addressing the truth of the situation.

Kyoko did all she could to avoid a physical conflict, and generally depended on mercenaries.^[11] Her private security was the best that money could buy, being both discreet, and highly skilled across a wide range of bending and weapons techniques.^[12] Kyoko's primary advantage in any violent confrontation was being able to rapidly assess the situation at hand, and could call out her plans to her allies.^[4] She also had some ability as a racing driver.^[5]

Appearances

Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game

• Republic City

References