So you've heard of "Korra the Milk Bender," or worse yet, saw it in the wild, and now you're wondering, "Who came up with the accursed concept of 'milk bending' and created the notorious artwork?"

We've gathered everything we know about the infamous image and how it came to be a meme and put it all into this brief explainer. Gain this knowledge at your own risk, for you won't be forgetting it, ever.

What Is ‘Korra the Milk Bender’?

Kora the Milk Bender is the name of a fetish artwork depicting The Legend of Korra character Korra, an avatar and a powerful waterbender, bending her own breast milk coming out of her inflated breasts.

In the The Legend of Korra, waterbending is the ability to control water. By extension, bloodbending is an illegal bending technique that allows powerful waterbenders to control blood inside people's bodies, giving them direct control over them.

On January 5th, 2016, DeviantArt artist mangrowing posted a fetish artwork that explored the concept further, depicting Korra as "milkbending" her own breast milk. The censored version of the artwork is shown below.

How Did 'Korra the Milk Bender' Become a Meme?

The artwork first achieved minor popularity as a cursed image and a mild form of shock content in the early 2020s. At that time, the image was mostly posted out of context or paired with humorous captions with the purpose of weirding out the viewer.

In late February 2024, an upcoming collaboration between the battle royale video game Fortnite and the Avatar series, including sequel The Legend of Korra, was leaked, with Korra later announced as a future skin in the game.

In late March and early April 2024, the image was widely circulated online, being spread on X / Twitter, Discord and other platforms.

‘Korra the Milk Bender' Usage In Memes

After achieving online notoriety in early April 2024, Korra the Milk Bender was referenced in various memes and inspired partial redraws. Since the image is rather well-known, subtly hinting at it in a meme is sufficient for those in-the-know to instantly recognize what is being referenced.

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For the full history of Korra the Milk Bender, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.