The Legend of Korra/WMG/Korra Herself

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

Korra will undergo a Face Heel Turn.

 * Some elaboration/conjecture: Korra has been very clearly established as an antithesis of Aang. Whereas Aang understood his position as the Avatar, he was relatively reluctant to shoulder it and, at least initially, regarded the duties as a burden. Of course, he later forgoes this attitude as his character develops and he takes the roll very serious. Korra is essentially the exact opposite: she immediately embraced the position. Which is where the potential problem is. She jumped into it without apparently truly understanding what her responsibilities really are. She's much quicker to doll out vigilante justice than actually mediate conflicts and maintain balance. Ultimately, likely after some jarring event, she will realize her shortcomings and either finally understand her responsibilities and handle the job of the Avatar with a greater deal of responsibility, or become despaired and continue her aggressive tendencies in the misguided belief that they can truly help her restore balance. Perhaps said jarring event could be something that makes her sympathetic to the Equalists (like continued atrocities by the Triple Threat Triad), causing her to believe that it is by putting herself on their side that she could restore balance. Queue potential corruption by Amon, whom she may begin to see as a replacement mentor to Tenzin after her frustration with his teachings reaches a boiling point. By the end of the series, we could see a climactic battle between her and one of her former friends who will try to either guide her back to the right path, or take her out before she can cause any further damage.


 * And yes, I know that this probably sounds like the story of another hero from another story. But to this troper, Korra has been demonstrating very Anakin Skywalker-like tendencies (hot headedness, a well-meaning and sincere desire to help others but without the proper discipline to try to do so properly, etc.). This is just conjecture and since this is airing on a kid's network there is a status quo that has to be maintained as far as happy endings go, but the moment this troper hears Korra utter anything along the lines of "I want more", all bets are in.

Korra is related at least one person from the Gaang

 * Korra will be Zuko's niece
 * Lady Ursa disappeared and ran to the Southern Water Tribe, so that the Fire Nation couldn't find her, because after they wiped out the benders, they didn't really watch the poles too much. She married a Water Tribe man, and had (a) child(ren). Korra is her granddaughter.
 * Corollary: Korra is a natural waterbender (due to upbringing and because otherwise it would break the cycle), but because of her Fire Nation background, she won't have the typical Avatar problem of not taking well to her opposite element -- she'll have trouble with air and earth, though.
 * Korra DOES firebend quite a bit in the trailer. And I don't think we've seen her earthbend once.
 * Jossed. Korra's earthbended since the age of 4 and clearly continues to do so, just prefers fire.
 * Korra will be related to Sokka and Suki, most likely their granddaughter
 * Because it would be wonderfully ironic to have the new Avatar be related to the Badass Normals of the old series.
 * It might just be. At one point during one of the here newly released clips, Korra makes a face that looks a great deal like Sokka's infamous pouts. She also seems to like meat a lot.
 * If it means Korra will use the alias "Sappho Fire"...
 * I came up with this long ago \in a website faraway * cough* tv.com* cough* also
 * Wouldn't that make Tenzin (or his son) related to Korra?! Or are they gonna throw us a curve-ball and have another character be part of the "cheesy teen romance..."
 * Well, there is that mysterious new Fire Nation character that Dante Basco's playing...
 * Actually makes some sense. She's half Cloudcuckoolander half Bunny Ears Lawyer and rarely is serious, but also gets the job done in combat pretty damn well. Complete goof-off? Check for Sokka. More efficient ass-kicker than 90% of the men? Check for Suki. Genius in combat? Check for both of the above. Now if only she's inherited her suspected grandmother's proficiency with ropes...
 * Korra is Sokka's ancestor. This is possible because she is a Time Lord, obviously.
 * Korra will be descended from Bato.
 * Because being descended from a main character is lazy.
 * Korra is descended from the kid in Sokka's warrior class who needed to use the bathroom. This is why it's her default excuse.
 * This theory is mostly Jossed: if Korra was related to Sokka and Katara, Katara or Tenzin surely would've mentioned it. Likewise, if Korra was Toph's relative, it would've come up in her conversations with Lin. There's still a faint possibility she's related to Zuko, if we accept the "Ursa secretly ran to the Southern Water Tribe, and Korra is her grand-daughter" theory above as true. That might explain why she seems to favour the element opposite to her Nation (fire), unlike Aang.

Neither Korra nor any of her companions are descended from the original Gaang.
Admittedly, this theory is drawn less from actual evidence and more from the wishes of this particular Troper. But as far as the... what are we calling them? The Krew? The Korralition? As far as they go, it would make for better storytelling if none of them are related to the Gaang aside from Korra being Aang's reincarnation. Having them all related to Gaang members implies that awesome is hereditary, and that other families can't produce a protagonist. In addition, it detracts from their own accomplishments. If Mako and Bolin are descended from, say, Azula, the fandom will inevitably make that a defining characteristic for the brothers. Giving them unknown ancestors allows the viewer to better appreciate characters for the actual personality traits that make them appreciable. Of course, it's still awesome to see characters like Tenzin and Chief Beifong, since this gives us a better idea of what the Gaang did post-ATLA, but the main characters should be known for themselves.
 * THANK YOU.
 * Giving the new Team Avatar unknown ancestors make sense for another reason. In Season 3, when Aang sees Sozin and Roku's past together, he concluded that "anyone was capable of great good and great evil". If no-one in the new Team Avatar is related to the old Team Avatar (apart from Korra being Aang's reincarnation), that statement would apply not just to nations but to families. In short, badassery is not given to you by your parents; it's earned by your hard work.

Korra is feeling the weight of Aang's legacy.
From what we know about Korra she has already mastered earthbending and firebending by the time the series starts. Or at least she's very competent with them. However, she's sixteen, the usual age when Avatars learn of their status, and it took Roku a couple years to get that far. This is because Aang left gigantic shoes to fill. Aang mastered the elements and Avatar State in less then a full year, ending a century-long war in the process, while he was still technically twelve. Aang is most likely going to go down in history as one of most influential and greatest Avatars ever. Because of this, Korra was expected by her tribe to live up to Aang and become his equal, if not better then he was. This caused them to tell her of her Avatarness years before they was supposed to, pressuring her to get started mastering the elements as quickly as possible. (Though they may have had justification for this, especially if the anti-bending movement is a huge threat.) Regardless, Korra will feel some resentment over this. This may result in her bonding with Tenzin, if he has similar problems.
 * Given that its been at least 250 years since an Avatar was revealed at the correct age, and the people supposed to remember this stuff were likely wiped out, the people may have forgotten they're supposed to wait until the Avatar is 16. For all we know Korra could have been told the moment she could comprehend it. At least Korra's Avatar State is guaranteed to be better than Aang's (since she has one more Avatar to draw power from).
 * Kyoshi lived for 230 years, and the protocols survived. Besides, the Southern Water Tribe had a couple decades to rebuild with help from the very spiritual Northern Tribe. And on the off chance they didn't know, Aang (who had a very unfun time when he was told early) probably would've made sure to tell them.
 * Mostly jossed. Korra has known she was the Avatar since age 4 (and Jumped At the Call) and by the start of series (note that she's 17, not 16) she's mastered all of the elements other than Airbending. And Korra in general doesn't seem to have any angst about being the Avatar other than the fact that she has trouble with Airbending. If anything SHE pressures her mentors to train her as soon as possible, while they'd rather take things slowly.
 * Alternate Theory: The weight of Aang's history will now come to bear on Korra, now that the threat of the Equalist movement has been driven home. She'll feel increased pressure to live up to his legacy from all quarters, already having been pressured by Tarrlok and dismissed by Lin Beifong. She may even consider briefly bolting from Republic City for temporary respite from the demands of the council and the press, echoing Aang's running away in "The Storm" and providing evidence that, despite being his Shadow Archetype, they're really Not So Different.

Korra won't meet Aang until near the end of the first season.
As she's a spiritual dunderhead, Korra won't be able to connect with the Spirit World until she's had some character growth. Plus the fans will be dying to see this meeting happen, and it's more dramatic to hold off on it for as long as possible. Since the first season was conceived of and developed as a standalone mini-series, Avatar Aang's appearance was likely included near the end of the first season as that was potentially the end of the Avatar franchise prior to the order for a second season.
 * Korra won't meet Aang until she dies (temporarily) making a Heroic Sacrifice to save the city. He'll help her back to life and encourage her that she'll be an even greater Avatar than he was. Oh, and tell her to get Tenzin to lighten up a bit.
 * This seems very likely so far. We're six episodes in and so far Korra still can't airbend, much less connect with the Spirit World.

Korra will suffer from Heroic BSOD after discovering the Avatar State
In one of the leaks, Even though she's going to Tenzin to try and learn from him along with airbending, even he might not be able to get through to her. Thus it will take destroying an area of the city by accidentally activating the Avatar State to make her realize how important it is.
 * The clip where she's crying into Tenzin's chest has a lot of destruction in the background. Maybe...

Korra will witness Katara's violent death, and suffer a Heroic BSOD
This will be a darker and edgier sequel, but the beginning previews show a bright, happy Korra, a young athlete in the making, focusing solely on the physical aspect of bending. Katara's death will catapult Korra into her first experience with Aang and the Avatar State, having been overwhelmed with the loss of the woman s/he loved, and transform her into the young, embittered Batman clone we see later on. Katara's death may force Korra to take her responsibilities more seriously, but in doing so, she may also lose her sense of optimism and fun; life skills which her new friends and mentors, Aang included, may have to reteach her. On a journey to the Spirit World, Korra may even meet Katara, who will reassure Korra that, though it may be in a different form the next time around, she will always return to her.]]
 * OR Korra will lose control in the avatar state and kill Katara herself.

Korra will meet Koh the Face Stealer.
He did said to Aang that "[they''ll] meet again".
 * They did! It was an interquel between seasons 2 and 3 on the official site. His role there was minor though.
 * New idea: Korra has already met Koh the Face Stealer. And lost. I mean, look at that dramatic publicity shot. Do you see a face? I don't see a face.
 * Who could possibly be looking for a face?
 * Koh.

Korra will meet Iroh in the Spirit World
Most likely, Iroh will be dead in The Legend of Korra. But when Korra first enters the Spirit World, she won't just meet Aang, she'll meet Iroh as well. Why? Because Iroh has been to the Spirit World and has the ability to see spirits. He'll probably be chilling there and offer Korra a cup of tea.
 * It'd be even better if they got into a conversation and she told him about her friends, Mako and Bolin, and Iroh remarks that he likes Mako's name.

Korra will have "accidental" Bisexual tendencies.

 * No!
 * IMPOSSIBLE!
 * Why would you even think such a thing?
 * Why the "accidental"?
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar would be the only way.
 * Not in a Nickelodeon show, she won't.
 * Right, because no Nickelodeon shows have Ho Yay or Les Yay subtext, ever...
 * Yeah especially not between Azula and Ty Lee!
 * Hell, they could even use Romantic Two Girl Friendship with Korra having a close female friend that she admires for being feminine and pretty, a Non-Action Girl that doubles as a Distressed Damsel and a Plucky Girl to Korra's Tomboy. Korra likes Mako and Bolin and is definitely going to be One of the Boys, but will only show her tender side towards her girl friend. Considering the sudden popularity of Yue/Korra on Deviant Art, it could be the Asami character voiced by Movie!Yue's actor Seychelle Gabriel as the creators are well-aware of the fandom's shipping and one of them is a Deviant-turned-Promoted Fanboy. To the casual viewer it will appear that Korra has no Love Interest in the series, but the fans and Tropers will know better... what are you looking at? And the creators will deny everything.
 * I think Asami Sato would make a great girly girl to Korra's tomboy.
 * Asami will be the "refined" one of the pair and Korra will admire that in a girl-crush sort of way. Mako and Bolin will have to endure Korra gushing about how "elegant" Asami is during their pro-bending practices.
 * There's no more pro-bending now that there's a civil war, but that just means the two of them can night fight together, making things even better so expect the only kind of makeovers involving adrenaline. After all, Bryke already gave us underage girls mudwrestling in skimpy clothes.

Korra will have a motorcycle.
We know that the Avatar verse has had an upswing in technology, with cars and motorcycles. Korra will have a steam-powered motorcycle which she uses as her main form of transportation, simply because it'd be really cool. If she has an animal guide, it will be one better suited for muscle then travel, so the motorcycle will be gained partly out of necessity. Because why the hell not.
 * Probably jossed. The trailer shows her riding on Naga, her polar bear dog, to get from place to place.
 * Additionally if Korra has a motorcycle, she will at some point jump off in the air and perform a Rider Kick.]]

Korra will attempt to end the Equalist revolt peacefully...and fail.
Partly because the Equalists, due to the nature of their revolt, can't see Korra as a neutral party. Also, from what we've heard so far, Korra doesn't seem to be an ideal diplomat.
 * It seems more likely that she won't try for a peaceful solution at all. That's what AANG would do, and the creators have specifically stated her to be Aang's opposite in a lot of ways, to the point where writing her scenes caused them to exclaim that Aang would never take her course of action.
 * Or, alternatively: Korra will try to end the Equalist revolt with force...and fail, and then she'll have to learn Old Aang's ways.

Korra will use Energybending to give some non-benders bending to help stop the Equalists.

 * They could even be given Airbending, killing two birds with one stone.

Korra will bring Bending to the masses.
It's been mentioned before that people in this universe learned how to bend by observing nature. This series' conflict is an anti-bending revolution. As she becomes more spiritually aware over the course of the series she will come to sympathize with the idea behind the Anti-bending movement and begin trying to reach out to them. Keeping with the series' overall theme that everything is connected Korra will learn that even the difference between benders and non-benders is illusory. This series will end with Korra discovering a way to teach bending to mundane citizens. This will set up the next series, where the Earthbending Avatar will have to deal with the implications of a world where everyone has superpowers.

Korra will sneak meat and world goods to Tenzin's children.
According to the creators, one of the show's central themes will be Modernity VS Tradition. What better way to show that generational struggle then to have Tenzin's children buck the rules for how they're supposed to behave? And Korra, not being the spiritual sort, won't think anything of slipping Jinora some beef jerky.

Korra will be a Violently Protective Girlfriend
A Blood Knight in love? Bad guys beware.
 * Screw the bad guys, what about other girls?! See the guess about Korra and relationships after the Avatar State = Fear idea.

There is something wrong with Korra's status as the avatar
Now, in the last airbender, it was quite clear that it was natural for the avatar to have problems with the element on the opposing side of the spectrum. For Aang it was earth. For Roku it was water. But Korra does not seem to have any problems using fire at all, having problems with air instead. It's possible that it's a simple personality mis-match, bit that doesn't really appear the case. Yes, she is impatient and has trouble going with a movement rather than blocking it, but neither of those are exclusive to air-bending. Going with a movement rather than blocking it is also a basis for waterbending, which she is good at, while patience is necessary to master any of the bending disciplines. It is more than just that though. Aang never suspected he was the avatar before he was told. Yes, he was good at airbending, but he couldn't use any of the other elements without being taught them first. Korra, meanwhile, is already capable of bending fire and earth at age 5. She has learned how to use them despite living at the south pole, where fire and earth-benders are probably rather rare (it being cold and there being little earth, after all) and, even then, having no reason to even try and study them before. As a final note, Aang died before Korra was born. Yet it took the white lotus 5 years to discover that she was born, despite the ritual used to search for an avatar does not really require a minimum age. And with only three tribes to perform the test on, she somehow went unfound? Was she never tested for some reason, or did she do the test and not appear as the avatar? All in all, there seems to be something really off about her avatar powers.
 * Keep in mind that by Aang's death at 65, post establishment of the multi-cultural Republic of Nations, emigration would have become much more common, (as we see with Republic City) so its not merely a matter of traipsing around the two Poles and Foggy Swamp, but a worldwide search for a waterbender avatar, and its difficult to keep a census when once-isolated peoples become mobile. Not to mention you'd have lots of false alarms with Water Tribe members assuming their special baby must be the avatar because a rock totally moved that one time, or a candle guttered when he burped. That's totally bending right?
 * Except that is not how one is supposed to test for the avatar. Both Roku and Aang were selected by choosing the correct artifacts as toddlers (much like the Dali lama in real life). The test doesn't take that long, and is easy to perform. If Korra had been born outside the water tribes, it would have been logical for her to only be discovered later, but she was born right at the expected location. If this doesn't work, they would probably have to resort to rumors and guesswork, but doing the test with the most concentrated portions of waterbending populace first would still be a first step.
 * What do you mean its not the way? You would first have to confirm the child is a bender before relic testing, otherwise its a massive waste of time and resources. Aang's selection would have been logistically simpler, as in his time, all nomads were benders, and all children were taken to one of four temples eventually, so that's bringing the test subject to you and you can test infants en masse. But benders of other ethnicities must manifest the talent (toddlerhood seems likely), and reports must be passed through word of mouth. Since the four toys have to be schlepped to each purported waterbender child, and the search radius has become global, I'm surprised it took only four years. Records of exact times and dates of birth are not common outside of the first-world countries or urban centers, and weren't even a given in America's 1920's and 30's once you got into great rural swaths of the country where home births were common. Hundreds of thousands of people are born every day in our world...how many Water Tribe members were born on the day Aang died, much less children who would be confirmed as benders? How many people who assumed their child was born on the right day have unwittingly made a false claim because they were a few hours early or late?
 * You must remember that this is not a modern civilization, but a pseudo historic one that has only recently started developing technology. The population should be much, much lower, with most of that population in the fire nation and earth kingdom. The water tribes are small. A large city, a few guys on boats and a small town respectively(though the latter two have probably grown a bit). Even a population of 1,5 million would be seriously stretching it. That's probably around a eighty births per day. Take a period of a week for parents to fudge results, and there would be 560 children to test. It would take a bit of testing, yeah, but even then it shouldn't take more than a year. Anyways, even forgetting this point: How the hell did Korra learn earth and fire bending at age five to the degree that she did? Plus, how did she learn them in a short enough amount of time after one another to know them before the white lotus arrived?
 * Remember the Water Tribes were small and barely thriving seventy years ago. That's more than enough time for a few post-war mini-baby booms (The soldiers came home...got busy, made peacetime babies and had as natives literally the best healers on the planet to limit pregnancy complications) successful population reconstruction programs (United Republic Citizens: Would you like to see new places and meet new people? Consider moving to the Poles today!) and ambassadorial efforts (Well howdy 'cuz! Welcome ta foggy swamp! Y'all look a little wilted, have some sweet tea) You say they've just barely started developing, but we're seeing the analog of a post-WWI population boom by the time of Korra's birth, and the automobile as standard in the bleeding-edge urban center by her teens. Also, Aang was apparently the youngest Airbender to receive his master's tats ever, so Korra comes from genius stock, as it were.
 * As an extra note, Korra uses surprisingly little waterbendering, seemingly preferring firebending, which would normally be the opposite and she only recently learned
 * Actually, I have a theory on this. The Avatar is basically the representation of the benders in the Avatar-verse. Therefore, the bending of the Avatar is dependant on the balance of elements. The element that the Avatar should be able to use best is dependant on which element has more benders and is thriving, which WAS in sync with the Avatar cycle before Aang got himself frozen. Hence Korra's lack of skill at Airbending; there are currently 4 Airbenders in the whole world.

When Korra wins prize money in the pro-bending tournament, Tenzin will take it to repay his costs in paying for the damage she caused in the first episode
If it is her idea or not I don't know.

Korra is a Villain Protagonist
The Equalist Movement began as just that: a movement simply seeking equality between the benders and the non-benders, who are often treated as second class citizens. The benders, who typically hold the positions of power in the Avatar world, overreact and attempt to end the dissent with force, turning the movement violent. The Equalists show that they are more than capable of giving the Powers That Be a run for their money, and so the latter bring in Korra as their Iron Heel to stamp out what began as a peaceful, legitimate protest of inequality. Essentially, Korra could either be a (perhaps unwitting: She may simply be too young to know about the earlier actions of the benders that lead to the current situation) pawn of the benders who want nothing more than to maintain their own power, or she could even be in on it herself. This could also explain Amon's wearing a mask: His face was destroyed during the initial violent crackdown on his movement.
 * This was probably Jossed as of The Winner Is..., where the Equalists attacked the pro-bending colosseum, in what is very reminiscent of a terrorist attack. Now, asking and preaching for equality is one thing, but when the equality-seeking party in question would resort to spreading fear and launching a full scale assault on a large public arena, as well as work on developing war machines in what was likely a planned assault against benders, that's another thing entirely. Long story short, they are pretty much an extremist group, and in almost every case, an idealology taken to an extreme never ends well. I personally CAN sympathize to an extent with their outlook: It has been shown a few times that some Benders do have a fear-based control over non-benders, and it is understandable non-benders would wish for equality. However, it is their exteme and violent methods that make them villanous.

Korra learned firebending from the School of Zuko
She uses an awesome looking breakdance move in the line art animation. This could be a call back to the moves Zuko often employed when fighting. (It was unique to Zuko as a to Dante Basco's real life dance skills.)
 * This implies that Korra either learned her firebending from the royal family (tradition! Dante Basco's still unknown character!) or that the Fire Nation has incorporated its Lord's moves.
 * This in turn implies that either the Fire Family is still peaceful or at least has redeemed itself so that even a Southern Water Tribe girl feels comfortable approaching them or that Zuko was a transformative and culturally influential Fire Lord. Either of these would make this trooper very gleeful.
 * I always assumed the Fire Sages taught the Avatar in the normal scheme of things, but maybe after the war the Royal Family decided to take on the responsibility to foster good relations with the Avatar... and maybe Zuko wanted to see his friend again, no matter what how different he looked.
 * That just... man...

We'll see seeing a lot of Foot Focus of Korra.
And why not? Maybe at some point, she'll forgo any foot wear. Which makes it even easier to earthbend. She'll even remain barefoot in her Southern Tribe home.

Korra's first time in the Avatar State will cause her to be grounded/exiled to Air Temple Island, and it will be crucial to her training.
We all know that avatars who enter the Avatar State causes mass destruction when they can't control it, and when Korra unintentionally enters it the first time, this will cause a number of issues: enraging the Equalists and helping their cause, cause massive protests with the public for the destruction to a good portion of the city and property (as well as learning she is just too dangerous), and will get her restricted to Air Temple Island. This will cause trouble for her as she can't do anything but watch the politics and city spiral out of control, but provides opportunity to cool down and focus solely on her airbending until the end of the series where she breaks the law after becoming a realized avatar. Chief Beifong wanted her out of this city because she read about her mother's adventures (written by someone else), especially where Aang was just plain terrifying in the state.

Whereas Aang entered in the Avatar State through anger and rage, Korra will enter in the Avatar State through fear
The Avatar will enter in the Avatar State from emotional distress. Aang often gained emotional distress through anger/rage and entered in the Avatar State, but emotional distress could be different for Korra. Since the Legend of Korra seems to focus so much on fear according to the trailers and TV Spots, Korra could uncontrollably enter in the Avatar State because she freaks out from it.
 * ...I love it! Somebody write that!

Korra will have trouble with romantic relationships.
A natural progression from the Violently Protective Girlfriend guess above. The girl has been raised in near total isolation at the bottom of the planet for all of her life, and is just now experiencing the world and society at large. Her only exposure to normal social interaction has mostly been with the Order of the White Lotus, Katara, Tenzin and his family. Other teens her own age are going to be a total mystery for her, and as her only exposure to courtship has been through stories from Katara and whichever members of the Gaang were still around, she'll have troubles with manuvering romantically, something teens have issues to begin with. And let's not get started on when sex gets involved. Korra could possably be surprisingly vulnerable in that area. Feel free to list some potential pot-holes she'll come across. And any Drama or Lulz that would ensue from that.

Korra knows bloodbending.
Katara was her waterbending teacher, after all. It isn't too much of a stretch to think that, in her old age, Katara would have come to terms with what Hama did to her. And, she would be teaching the skill to someone she can, presumably, trust pretty well.
 * Alternate theory: In fear of her life, Korra will be desperate to learn bloodbending from Katara. Its clear in-series that Korra doesn't know bloodbending, but oh, how appealing it would be to use its People Puppetry to keep the chi-blockers, and more importantly, Amon from touching her and her friends. Once Korra remembers Katara's skill, or hears of it from Tenzin or Jinora (what with her love of reading the Gaang's adventures) she'll come begging to Katara to give her an easy, potentially lethal way to literally stop Amon in his tracks.

Korra's first meeting with Aang won't go over well.
Korra has been shown to be anything but a spiritual person, and likely only knows about spirits and meeting her past lives in the abstract. Therefore, when she finally "gets" meditation and crosses the Spirit World-Physical World barrier and meets Aang, she is going to freak. And it will be the most hilarious thing in the show to date.

Korra's waterbending in the intro will be cleaner and more precise to reflect her character development in the series.
Korra's waterbending in the introduction of the show is rather messy and unrefined, reflecting her current nature. As the series progresses, the waterbending shown will be more precise and refined over time as she is closer to mastering airbending and the spiritual half of her nature in general. By the time this happens, her bending will be just like Paku's from the original.

Korra's time spent in the Avatar State will be far and few in between
Sort as an addendum to all the other speculations about her and the Avatar State; since she's the Anti-Aang, whereas Aang tapped into the state relatively frequently (heck, he spent 100 uninterrupted years in it), Korra on the other hand even after she does get by her initial spiritual hangups most likely won't be accessing the Avatar State anywhere near as much (save perhaps, as also surmised above, her fear gets the better of her).

Korra 'looking for the bathroom' will become a running gag
She will never be believed, especially when she is desperate to find one for legitimate reasons.
 * I support this! Poor Korra...

Korra, now with better relationships with Chief Lin, will learn Metalbending from her
With the latest episode, Korra seems to have a better relationship with Lin. And with the conflict escalating, Korra will attempt to learn Metalbending from Lin.
 * I can see this happening. They seem to like each other a lot more now at least.
 * And Lin Beifong would use this as a chance to make sure she doesn't go for the Destructive Savior vigilante-esqe methods of fighting in the case such events arise.

Korra will mature into a Lady of War
Based on the previous Avatar reincarnations, it seems female Avatars are more likely to accept their roles as the Avatar and eventually take them fully seriously much sooner. Kyoshi was an Iron Lady and Yangchen is noted to have been one of the most successful Avatars, so Korra is likely to grow into either of these later in life. This theory isn't an onscreen one, but for when she reaches full adulthood as a fully-realized Avatar.

Korra is unlocking her chakras subconsciously as the series progresses
I gotta say that this has to be some clever writing. In the most recent episodes, Korra has been following the steps of unlocking the chakras that Aang followed, only without realizing. The first chakra, which deals with survival, is blocked by fear. Korra dealt with this with her face-to-face meeting with Amon and finally admitted her fear to Tenzin, who told her that admitting one's fears is the first step to overcoming them. The next chakra, which deals with pleasure, is blocked by guilt. Korra felt this when she broke Bolin's heart after kissing Mako and redeemed herself in the pro-bending match that followed, apologising to both the brothers and admitting she enjoyed her time with Bolin. I haven't seen any moments lately where Korra had to deal with the third chakra which deals with willpower and is blocked by shame, but if that gets brought up next, I will be fully convinced this is what's happening. Also as further proof, notice how Korra started seeing visions of her past life as Aang after dealing with fear and in the following episode after dealing with guilt.
 * This could be supported with her growing effectiveness against the Equalists. If, as your theory says, she only started unlocking her chakras in "Voice in the Night", it might explain why she was so thoroughly beaten by a single chi-blocker in the previous episode. Yet the next time she fights them, in "And the Winner Is...", she's opened two of her chakras, and winds up laying waste to the chi-blockers she fights as well as besting the Lieutenant, whom she previously defeated through a surprise attack. Furthermore, she might start dealing with the third chakra in the next episode. Notice how, in "When Extremes Meet", Tarrlok's mentioning of her inability to airbend seems to almost bring her to tears, and her later conversation with Tenzin shows that her lack of airbending ability is making her feel weak as an Avatar. It could be that this is blocking her chakra, and something in "Out of the Past" will give her the chance to unlock that chakra and finally be able to airbend.
 * In "Out of the Past," Korra, imprisoned by Tarlokk (pretty shameful, I would say), gets over her anger and uses willpower to meditate until she actually connects with Aang's spirit. I'd say that this is coming to pass.

Korra will defeat Amon one-on-one without using her bending.
Call it cherry tapping. Call it making the odds more equal. Call it recognizing that Amon's style is geared to fight benders and not non-benders. Korra is gonna kick Amon's ass without resorting to her bending.

Korra's incredible physical strength is supernatural in origin.
Again and again, Korra is shown performing physical feats that no one else on the show can rival. She's unusually strong even in a world filled with Charles Atlas Superpower types. How can she do these things? Because she's that Avatar. We've just never had a chance to see what physical feats a grown Avatar can accomplish before. Aang was too young. Roku had too little screen time. With Korra, though, we're finally seeing a blatant sign of how the Avatar isn't entirely human. Her strength, while rooted in her exceptional physical conditioning, is truly made possible by the fact she's the living incarnation of the planet's spirit.

Korra will discover a new bending element.
Seems like the Avatar world is going through all sorts of progress. Social and industrial. So why not scientific or at least the equivelent? That is to say new discoveries on how things work. So at some point Korra will discover a new form of bending that is not an extension of an existing bending element. Something like lightbending, or Gravitybending.
 * Maybe she uses airbending to create soundbending? After all, sound is the vibrations of air molecules.

Tarrlok is inadvertently doing Korra a favour
By taking her away from Republic City, he's giving her an opportunity to find out more about the world (she was very isolated at home, which hasn't helped in some of her attitude). Like Aang learnt more through his travels than just bending, Korra will be confronted with the reality of life outside the city, for non-benders, and her own behaviour. Whatever her intentions, Tarrlok still has a point about Korra.
 * Jossed. Shame, though -- this would have been a very nifty direction for her to take.