Mako Ships Rated on a Scale of 1-10
I was thinking about how even though I'm ride or die for Wuko, I still love and accept many other Mako ships. He's very shippable! But some ships I like much better than others. So here's my thoughts on a bunch of different Mako ships. I'm not going to worry about age gaps, consenting adults and all that. Some of these are weird pairings that I never thought of until I made this list.
It goes without saying, I hope, that this reflects only my personal tastes, and is based entirely on my own preferences and headcanons. If you have different opinions that's fine! I've excluded ships that involve incest or underage characters.
Mako/Wu: 11/10
I’m not even gonna explain myself.
Hasook/Mako: 7/10
Oh yes, let's dive into this one! It actually makes a ton of sense when you think about Mako telling Bolin it’s a bad idea to date a team member—Why does Mako know that with such certainty? Because he and Hasook were dating, their break up was ugly, and afterward they couldn’t get along and THAT’S why Hasook quit the team.
Iroh II/Mako: 4/10
Idk I mean it’s semi-popular, and there is that fun little commentary that Mako slicked his hair back because he wanted to look like Iroh, but I’m not sure about everything else. I’ll choose to overlook the age gap because I’m overlooking it with other ships, but I’m just not feeling their vibe overall.
Opal/Mako: 5/10
Mako and Opal don’t interact really in the show, but I think they could get along. I think Opal is just enough of a sweetheart for Mako to get heart eyes for her, I think she’s just mean and feisty enough for Mako to fall in love, and even though she’s an air nomad and probably gave up all material possessions, that her Beifong connections checks the Sugar-Baby-Mako box that I always have. And Mako has a history of stealing Bolin’s crushes oooops sorry Bo.
Asami/Mako: 9/10
It’s no secret that I love Masami! I think they’re sexually compatible and they get along well. I think Asami knows Mako extremely well, and can call him out on his bullshit. I think he cares about her deeply and wants to be there for her, even when his heart is pulling him elsewhere. In another universe, Masami is endgame for me. I love them together.
Korra/Mako: 8/10
I like Makorra. I like the rockiness of their relationship. I like that Korra inspired Mako to grow as a person and become more selfless. And I like the idea that they could make it work if they decided to have another go at a relationship. I think they both would be mature enough by the end of the series to get together. If the series had ended with them together, I would have participated in the popping of bottles. I seriously think it’s a good ship. Two points deducted because I like Masami better.
Desna/Mako: 2/10
This is not the worst pairing I can think of, and I like the idea of Mako and Bolin dating twins, but personality-wise, I don’t think these two really mesh that well. This is more of a begrudging agreement to a set-up so they can both look after their siblings under the guise of a double date.
Eska/Mako: 3/10
Okay I actually think out of Mako and Bolin, Mako would make a better submissive boyfriend to Eska. And I think he’d look hotter in the goth betrothal necklace. And Mako stealing Bolin’s crush has a basis in canon. Giving it a low rating because she’d be my least favorite world leader for him to get with. If he wants to be a Consort, he has much better options.
Hisa/Mako: 4/10
I was genuinely terrified when we saw the comic preview for Mystery of Penquan Island that Hisa would be a canon love interest for Mako. And I’m still a teensy bit worried about that... I think Mako might be able to develop feelings for her because she’s got that powerful woman vibe. And I think Mako would be an awesome stepdad to a gaggle of orphaned-then-adopted kids. But I don’t think Hisa would go for him. She’s a little too ACAB-y to date a cop, I think. She and Bolin seemed to have better chemistry.
Ginger/Mako: 2/10
I think Mako’s sugar baby tendencies would mean he’s happy to entertain a relationship with a sexy movie star. I don’t know if they’d have much chemistry beyond that though. Also I kinda think Ginger might be a lesbian so maybe not.
Hong Li/Mako: 9/10
LOVE THIS SHIP. I wrote thirteen thousand words of it. There’s so many parallels between them. Their careers are similar. They were both framed by powerful people. They were both treated like criminals. And Mako is the one who cleared Hong Li’s name. I love this ship it has so much potential. I want Hong Li to show his appreciation to Mako and for Mako to date someone in his tax bracket for once. One point deducted to compensate for my bias and the fact that Hong Li doesn’t actually have a personality in canon.
Izumi's Daughter/Mako: 6/10
I mean this was an early concept the creators had when they were first trying to write season 4. Mako was supposed to be a bodyguard for and date the Fire Nation Princess. It has plenty of potential, and plenty of backing by the creators and in canon. Mako attracts the attention of important people, so of course the Fire Nation Princess would fall in love with him. I like the idea of Mako becoming a Consort, so why not to the Fire Nation?
Izumi/Mako: 4/10
I was gonna rate this lower but I like the idea of mommy-issues Mako getting with a MILF, and I think it could be funny if Izumi saw him at the meeting where Wu was being a doofus and Mako looking miserable in the corner and catching her eye, and deciding maybe he’d like to spend time with a competent world leader instead.
Lin/Mako: 7/10
We aren’t discussing problematic age gaps in this post, so let's put that aside. And I routinely ship Mako in power-imbalanced relationships so lets ignore that too. I actually like Lin and Mako together because she is just Mako’s type. He likes a woman who can kick his ass. He likes a woman who tells it like it is. She’s tough as nails, hot, and I think she’d like an eager-to-please younger boyfriend. Also it would be funny for her to out-do Tenzin when it comes to getting a younger partner.
Kuvira/Mako: 5/10
I think Mako likes powerful women. Kuvira is a powerful woman. That’s really all there is to this. Also there’s some meta out there about Mako being Kuvira’s narrative foil moreso than Korra is and I think that’s really interesting stuff.
Radio Operator/Mako: 6/10
This is mostly just funny to me. In the commentary, the creators thought this would make a good ship because Mako was literally causing a city-wide panic and his autistic ass was like “I WAS GIVING EVERYONE VERY CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS” and she was thinking ‘oh, that's kinda cute’ and the creators even concocted this whole back story where they’d see each other all the time in the halls because she’s like an emergency dispatcher and he’d make up reasons to be patched through to talk to her. So it’s cute and funny.
Huan/Mako: 4/10
I don’t hate this! I think Huan’s artsy-ness might be a little much for Mako at first, but I think he’d get a taste for abstract art once he spends a little more time with Huan. I like the idea of Mako dabbling in art as well, and I think they might make something interesting together. But idk if it really speaks to me beyond that.
Suyin/Mako: 1/10
I don’t like this at all. I know I said I wasn't gonna factor in age gaps, and I’d be happy for Mako to get with an older woman, but Suyin is too much Mom to be fucking around with guys the same age as her own kids. I want Suyin to mother Mako and Bolin in an actual mom way, not a MILF way. No thank you.
Mako/Wing: 4/10
I included this because I am warm to the idea of Weilin, and so if Mako dated Wing we’d have a set-of-siblings-dating-another-set-of-siblings scenario that I like a lot better than Eska and Desna.
Zhu Li/Mako: 5/10
I don’t know how much chemistry they’d have, but I think Zhu Li can do way better than Varrick. She can divorce Varrick and Mako could be the First Gentleman. Maybe I just think Mako should be on the arm of a world leader.
Pema/Mako: 2/10
I’m putting this on the list because Pema is my favorite MILF. I also think it could be funny for Tenzin to leave Lin for Pema—a younger woman—and then Pema leaves Tenzin for Mako—a younger man. Points deducted because I don’t think Pema actually likes younger men. But Mako’s old enough that I think it’s less weird for her to get together with someone Mako's age than it would be for Suyin, so it gets one more point than Su.
Mako/Tahno: 10/10
Ohhhhh yesssss yessss. God I love the sexual tension between two probenders on opposite teams. It’s a water/fire ship. Mako’s so fucking flirty with him with that little wink when they face off. The animosity between them practically screeeeaams that they have definitely hate-fucked in the locker rooms at some point. God it’s so delicious I want more of it. This is not endgame for me in any universe I just really want them to have a competitive tension fueled explosion of feelings.
Varrick/Mako: 0/10
ABSOLUTELY NOT. Mako will forever hold a grudge against that man and would never get with him. No amount of sugar money in the world would convince Mako to fuck with Varrick.
