1. Dismissed Korra as “not girlfriend material.”
This is another one of those things that might just be a girl experience, but every girl I know has gone through being told she’s not “girlfriend material,” and it’s the worst thing to hear pretty much ever. Guys, never say this to a girl. Ever. I know what you’re trying to do, you’re trying to say, “Look, it’s not my fault I don’t want to date you, it’s yours!” Just tell the truth, okay? You’re not into the girl. That’s all you have to say. But saying a girl isn’t “girlfriend material” is really rude and generally just means that you have an idealized version of what girls “should” be. This is a douchebag alert.
2. In spite of dismissing Korra, is still clearly into her.
Look, I appreciate that Mako is a teenager and therefore not the greatest at dealing maturely with emotions, but I think even an eighteen year old can understand the basic concept that when you reject someone, you can’t keep acting interested. You rejected them! Let them move on! Especially if you’ve moved on with someone, and that someone is like Asami and therefore awesome. This trips the douchebag alarm because guys who do this generally just want you to like them because it makes them feel good about themselves to be liked. They are never worth your time.
3. He doesn’t seem to have many positive emotions.
I’ve never understood the allure of being broody, but since Twilight is a thing, I’m forced to admit that a lot of ladies do. Which is fine, but if you’re expecting me to root for a character, they’re going to have to smile and laugh on occasion.
4. Mako has complete conviction in all of his actions, even when they’re blatantly wrong.
Hey, Mako, note — not everything Korra does is because of or about you. She’s also the Avatar and cares about stuff that isn’t getting in your (admittedly attractive) pants. You should make a point of listening to her sometimes. She’s kind of right a lot of the time. Just pointing that out.
Now here’s the good news — all of this can be fixed. If you told me at this point in Avatar that I’d love Zuko as much as I ended up loving him, I’d have told you you were crazy. But thanks to everything he went to in the second season, I fell completely in love. If Mako’s going to be Korra’s love interest, he needs some of that Zuko-style growth. He needs to be someone we’re endeared to separately from Korra, or he’s just an Obligatory Love Interest, and those are the worst.
Also, he needs to learn how to smile a little more. Seriously, Mako, you have such a pretty face. Must you brood about it so?
Clacked by Julia Hass 
on Jun 13, 2012 @ 15:36 EST5EDT
Well done as always, Jules. And I know we’ve discussed this earlier in the week, but #1 on the douchebag list still irks me.
I completely agree on all points. I actually think Bolin/Korra is downright adorable. I have yet to see the reason why Mako and Korra ‘like’ each other.
bolin is by far my top pick for korra its to bad that mako and korra saying the L word in the season finale I feel like a lot could be done with Bolins character, I feel like they put him in as just comic relief… sokka in atla started that way to as comic relief. But sokka had a lot of development and matured as the show progressed, Sokka will always be one of my favorites.
Yeah, a lot more could have been done character development wise with all of the characters on the show instead of focusing on romance, but maybe that can be the second season. One can hope.
Totally agree. Mako has been the least well developed of the main players on the show. I don’t personally really care who Korra ends up with (if anyone), but I’d really like to see the Legend of Korra develop its characters with as much skill as the original series.
I agree, when I saw the final moments of that last episode, it was yeah a sweet moment, but then I couldn’t help but wonder, “what’s his deal?? Poor Asami.” I think of all the characters in legend of korra, the one with the most development by far has been Amon. He’s also by far the most popular character. Just look at the nick message boards and wikis. Not saying the show in general is terrible, I LOVE it. Just that if they’re gonna focus that much on the villain versus the heroes, name the series “Avatar: The Legend of Amon.”
I think people should cut him a little slack. He got sort of a raw deal with his parents being killed and taking care of Bolin at any costs. Bolin has been able to live kind of carefree so that’s why they have such completely different personalities. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bolin but I think Mako and Korra make more sense, they have a lot more passion whether it’s fighting with each other or for the ones they love. I’m not going to justify Mako’s jerkishness because let’s face it he has his moments but he is a hormonal teenage boy who all have a track record for making terrible decisions. I think he might if told Bolin that she wasn’t girlfriend material after Bolin expressed his interest in her and I’m pretty sure it was out jealousy. I think Mako is afraid of his feelings for Korra so he hid behind a relationship with Asami. I mean who wouldn’t want to date her, she’s beautiful and actually really cool but I don’t think they’re right for each other. It just sucks that Asami is going to be hurt in the process.
I would argue that Bolin hasn’t been that well developed either (even though that’s mostly because of the directing and producing fail of not giving him enough screentime), but since the points you brought up and extremely valid, I’m not gonna say anything. Plus, Bolin and Korra would be so adorable together. I think Bolin would also balance out Korra’s more intense traits with his mellow and carefree ones.
Maybe with the latest episode including the attractive somehow-related-to-Zuko character, Iroh, we’ll have another possible love interest? O.o
Mako needs way more development, agreed. I personally think he should stay with Asame and work things out. Korra should fall for Bolin or something. Asame is pretty cool and I like her and Korra so much as characters. It’s cool to have a non-bender in Team Avatar 2.0. I just hope Asame doesn’t go down an evil road and becomes the next villain (or just bad) in season 2 or something. That’d suck. After seeing Turning the Tides, this weeks episode, there’s gonna be some serious group problems in the finale.