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This article is about Mako and Bolin's grandmother. For the girl Zuko went on a date with, see Jin. For the CEO of Yin Incorporated, see Da Yin.

Yin is an Earth Kingdom resident from the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se, where her family owns a small fruit stand. She is the mother of San and Chow, as well as the grandmother of Bolin, Mako, and Tu.[3]

History[]

171 AG[]

Family reunion[]

In 171 AG, Yin excitedly greeted her grandsons, Bolin and Mako, after they arrived at Ba Sing Se's Lower Ring. Unaware, she inquired about her son and daughter-in-law and was disheartened to discover that they were killed when Bolin and Mako were young.

Mako, Bolin, and Yin

After receiving San's old scarf from Mako, Yin hugged her grandchildren.

Yin painfully listened as Chow recalled the circumstances which led San to leave Ba Sing Se for Republic City. Following the story, she led Mako and Bolin to a room where she showed them a letter their father wrote, which included a photograph of a young Mako and Bolin along with their parents. Yin expressed her disappointment over never meeting her daughter-in-law, but concluded from how her grandchildren grew up that she was a good woman. Mako gifted her with the red scarf that once belonged to San, stating that his parents would have wanted her to have it.

During dinner, Mako and Bolin explained that they came to Ba Sing Se with Avatar Korra in search of airbenders. However, the family reacted in shock and Chow told them about the Dai Li arresting the new benders. When Tu added that it was rumored that Earth Queen Hou-Ting was performing experiments on them, Yin reprimanded him for speaking negatively about the queen before blowing a kiss and bowing to a portrait of Hou-Ting in her honor.[3]

The next day, Yin bade her grandsons goodbye before they returned to the Upper Ring with passports given to them by Tu.[4] Sometime later, Yin covered her mouth in shock upon hearing of the fall of the Earth Queen over the radio.[5]

Evacuating Ba Sing Se[]

Bolin carrying Yin

Since she refused to leave herself, Yin was carried out of her burning apartment by Bolin.

When Ba Sing Se fell to the chaos following the Queen's death, fire threatened to destroy the housing block Yin and her family lived in. However, the old lady refused to leave her home despite her family's urgings, opting to calmly invite Bolin, who came to get them all out, for tea instead. When Bolin urged her to leave as well, she reiterated that she could not abandon the place where she raised her family. Even when her grandson emphasized that home was where one's family was, she refused to leave, prompting him to lift her over his shoulder to carry her out. As he wanted to leave, Yin asked him to wait and she quickly grabbed the portrait of Hou-Ting off the wall, before telling him he could go.

Safely aboard the Ba Sing Se airship, Mako and Bolin had commandeered at the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace, Yin hung up the portrait of the Queen on the wall, paying her respects to the late queen. When Mako approached her, she asked him whether the vehicle would be their new home, though was told they were going to make their way over to the Si Wong Desert in an attempt to locate the wreckage of Korra's airship in hopes to find her. They eventually made it to the Misty Palms Oasis, where Yin asked Chow in shock why Bolin was hugging and kissing a "big rat", referring to Pabu. When Naga approached to greet Mako, she was quickly lead to safety by Tu, preventing her from being trampled by the excited polar bear dog.

Yin with Asami, Korra, and Mako

After meeting Asami and Korra, Yin asked Mako why he was not dating either of them, inadvertently creating awkwardness for the teenagers.

Upon noticing Asami, Yin mistook her for being the Avatar, stating she was even more beautiful than she had imagined. However, Mako corrected her and introduced her to Korra, whom she, upon examination, declared to be very muscular for a woman. Taking both Asami and Korra's hand, she turned to her grandson again, asking why he was not dating any nice girls like them. Unaware of the awkward situation she created for the three teenagers, Asami quickly changed the subject by asking what had happened to the brothers.

Yin and her family accompanied Team Avatar toward Zaofu, where they planned on using a strong radio transmitter to reach the Northern Air Temple. While everyone prepared to leave for the temple, Yin left to take a nap.[6]

While Team Avatar and their allies left to save the Air Nation, Yin watched over Naga and Pabu. She grew distraught upon discovering that the animals were playing tug-of-war with Mako's scarf and immediately retrieved the clothing item from Naga's mouth, admonishing the animals for their shameful and disappointing behavior.[7] Two weeks later, Yin and her family attended Jinora's anointment ceremony as an airbending master at ­Air Temple Island.[8]

After the insurrection of the Red Lotus, Asami allowed Yin, along with the rest of her family, to stay at the Sato estate.

174 AG[]

Meeting Prince Wu[]

Yin faints

Upon receiving a kiss on the hand from Prince Wu, Yin fainted, completely starstruck by the royal.

When Mako, Korra, Asami, and Prince Wu traveled to the Sato estate, Yin answered the door when they rang the bell and pleasantly greeted her grandson. Before she could finish her sentence, however, she noticed that Prince Wu was with him and became starstruck. Told that the royal would stay at the estate for a while as well, she received a kiss on the hand by Wu, which caused her to faint.[9]

When Yin visited the estate's gym later on and noticed that Wu was on the ground, she chastised her grandson for having injured the prince, although Mako had merely been attempting to teach the royal to defend himself. Cuddling the royal, Yin inquired if he would like to have a cherry-berry lemonade and glared at Mako when he chided the prince for being weak. She subsequently listened as Mako relayed part of his past to Wu, though when he told them he had kissed Korra while dating Asami, Yin reprimanded him for being "naughty" and commented that he took after his grandfather. Learning that Mako had professed his love to Korra at some point, she approvingly asked if they lived happily ever after, though was told about the other love triangle that occurred between him, Korra, and Asami, prompting her to scold her grandson once again for his behavior that mirrored his grandfather's. As Mako finished his story, Wu declared that he had learned that women were complicated and apologized to Yin, a statement to which she took no offense. When the training session resumed, Yin was shocked to see Mako knock down Wu again with a single hit and reprimanded her grandson with a slap on the arm.[10]

Evacuating Republic City[]

Yin enjoying Wu's singing

Yin was flattered to have Prince Wu dedicate a song to her.

Weeks later, Yin, together with Tu, joined the last group of citizens set to evacuate Republic City. They became stranded at Central City Station, however, when Kuvira attacked the metropolis and had her army destroy the train tracks. When Prince Wu arrived with two badgermoles, Yin and the other evacuees followed the creatures underground as they tunneled a way out for them. She was pleased and flattered when the royal dedicated one of his songs with which he commanded the animals to her, even though most other evacuees did not appreciate his singing. Yin looked on in surprise when Wu started singing and dancing with renewed vigor when three of Kuvira's mecha suits threatened them, which led the badgermoles to attack the soldiers and crush their machines.[11]

Post-Earth Empire[]

Angry Yin

Yin disapproved of King Wu's plans to abdicate and abolish the monarchy.

About three months after Kuvira's defeat and the Earth Empire's dissolution, Yin attended Wu's address where he informed his audience that he would soon be stepping down as king and abolishing the monarchy. Despite promising Mako and Bolin that she would behave prior to the speech, Yin loudly and angrily booed the king while proclaiming her support for the monarchy. When Wu threw his crown into the crowd while singing about his plans, Yin caught it and happily declared that Wu would always be her king.[12]

Personality[]

Ashamed Naga and Pabu

Yin expressed her disappointment in Pabu and Naga for fighting over Mako's scarf.

Yin cares for and loves her family, taking great pride in everything related to them. She values their shared memories, even to the point where she was unwilling to leave her family home in Ba Sing Se while it was burning down. In that regard, she can also be quite stubborn.[6] She can be stern at times, acting like a parental figure whenever a family member misbehaves.[10]

Yin is an absolute fanatic of royalty and easily ignores someone's possible negative personality traits in favor of their royal status. As such, she would often pay her respects to a portrait of Earth Queen Hou-Ting, which was also the sole object she saved from her burning home,[3][6] and chided Mako for punching Prince Wu, even though he was only training him in self-defense.[10]

Relatives[]

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
Yin
   
   
Bohai
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
LiLing
   
   
Chow
   
   
   
   
   
   
San
   
   
Naoki[2]
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
Chow Jr.
   
   
Tu
   
   
Meng-Meng
   
   
Mako
   
   
Bolin

Appearances[]

The Legend of Korra

Book Three: Change (易)

Book Four: Balance (平衡)

Graphic novels

References[]

  1. DiMartino, Michael Dante (June 30, 2014). I received this heartwarming message this morning.... Tumblr. Retrieved on July 2, 2014.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Official Family Trees. Nickelodeon. Retrieved on January 23, 2015.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Hedrick, Tim (writer) & Graham, Ian. (June 27, 2014). "The Earth Queen". The Legend of Korra. Book Three: Change. Episode 3. Nickelodeon.
  4. Hamilton, Joshua (writer) & Zwyer, Melchior (director). (July 11, 2014). "In Harm's Way". The Legend of Korra. Book Three: Change. Episode 4. Nickelodeon.
  5. Hedrick, Tim (writer) & Zwyer, Melchior (director). (August 8, 2014). "Long Live the Queen". The Legend of Korra. Book Three: Change. Episode 10. Nick.com.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Hamilton, Joshua (writer) & Heck, Colin (director). (August 15, 2014). "The Ultimatum". The Legend of Korra. Book Three: Change. Episode 11. Nick.com.
  7. DiMartino, Michael Dante (writer) & Graham, Ian (director). (August 22, 2014). "Enter the Void". The Legend of Korra. Book Three: Change. Episode 12. Nick.com.
  8. Hamilton, Joshua and Hedrick, Tim (writer) & Zwyer, Mel (director). (August 22, 2014). "Venom of the Red Lotus". The Legend of Korra. Book Three: Change. Episode 13. Nick.com.
  9. DiMartino, Michael Dante (writer) & Heck, Colin (director). (November 14, 2014). "Reunion". The Legend of Korra. Book Four: Balance. Episode 7. Nick.com.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Hamilton, Joshua, Mattila, Katie, and Hedrick, Tim (writer) & DiMartino, Michael Dante (director). (November 21, 2014). "Remembrances". The Legend of Korra. Book Four: Balance. Episode 8. Nick.com.
  11. Hedrick, Tim (writer) & Graham, Ian (director). (December 19, 2014). "Day of the Colossus". The Legend of Korra. Book Four: Balance. Episode 12. Nick.com.
  12. DiMartino, Michael Dante (writer), Wong, Michelle (artist), Ng, Killian (colorist). Ruins of the Empire Part One (May 21, 2019), Dark Horse Comics.
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