Equalists (Earth-2213)

"Are you tired of living under the tyranny of benders? Then join the Equalists! For too long, the bending elite of this village have forced nonbenders to live as lower class citizens! Join Amon and together we will tear down the bending establishment!"

- Equalist propaganda

The Equalists were a radical group of revolutionaries led by Amon that operated within Konohagakure. They deeply opposed the shinobi's use of bending, which they saw as oppressive and impossible to exist within an "equalized" society, which they sought to eliminate using terrorist methods. Duo to this, the movement was referred to as the "Anti-bending Revolution" before Amon's passing.

Ideology
"Amon is the solution."

- Equalist propaganda The Equalists blindly followed the teachings of their leader, Amon, who had allegely received a vision from the spirits that the Fifth Hokage Tsunade had failed Konoha on her duty to balance conflict. He believed that the main cause for the imbalance was the use of bending, which, according to him, was used to harass and oppress the nonbenders of the world, which had been the cause to every war and every death by the First and Second Hundred Year wars. As Amon said, the only way to fully restore equality was to eliminate the shinobi of the world, who marginalized the nonbender majority, and overthrown the "bending shinobi elite" in a massive social revolution. Amon also claimed he had been given the ability to remove the bending powers of a person's body. By eliminating bending through Konoha, Amon hoped we would amass an army that would do the same in the rest of the Land of Fire, and eventually, every nation on the shinobi world. Afterwards, he aimed to establish a free society without bender and nonbender divisions, where no one would have an innate advantage over the other.

Because the Equalists saw Amon as the only person they could possibly rely on the fully eradicate bending around the world, the ideology of his followers focused and depended on him, and thus, most of their propaganda focused around his image as a central motif.

While Amon's final goal was unclear by the time of his death, he stated he planed to extort his revolution beyond the Land of Fire; assisting him were a multitude of Equalist shinigami - warriors that included sleeper agents that disguised as normal civilians, and chi blockers. Amon had a personal deep disdain for bending, referring to it as an "impurity" that deserved "eradication": this steemed from his childhood, where his father Yakone taught him and his brother, Tarrlok, how to perform dark arts. After replacing what he called the "shinobi regime", Amon wanted to create a "fair-minded" and democratic Equalist government.

The ultimate revelation that Amon was a bender dealt a massive blow to the Equalist ideology, which lost nearly all of their supporters. Nevertheless, a significant number of radical Equalists continued to fight over their "new world" and the "common good". After Hundun promised to help the radicals in their struggle, many shifted to stay completely loyal to him, donning colors that resembled his own clothing.

Methods, equipment and abilities
As nonbenders, Equalist soldiers had to make up for their lack of powers through the use of different methods to defeat shinobi. As such, they were trained in martial arts and chi blocking, which could immediatly defeat an unprepared bender. They employed military tactics such as ambushes, hit-and-run strikes, guerilla warfare, use of sleeper agents, and fear tactics, including propaganda, such as they did at Konohagakure's Pro-bending Arena.

The Equalists employed a multitude of tools and weapons, including smoke grenades, bolas, poisons, and knockout gas. Hotaru used a set of electrified kali sticks to temporarily subdue his enemies. With the aid of Hiroshi Sato, the Equalists electrified gloves, described by Amon as the "the power of a chi blocker in his hand". They were capable of instantly neutralizing enemies, including even experienced jonin shinobi.

In order to gain support from many nonbenders that did not want to join his cause, Amon targeted terrorist missing-nins such as Orochimaru, the Akatsuki, and gangs such as the Agni Kai Triad. Doing this, he implanted fear into the minds of the shinobi population and gained new support from nonbenders. After it was publicly revealed Sato was an Equalist, Amon stopped distinguishing between benders regardless of who they were, as he planned to kill Tenzin's family, mostly consisting of children.

Notable members

 * Amon
 * Hiroshi Sato
 * Hotaru
 * Chen-Lu
 * Ling
 * Kimura