Azula 02

Azula is the crown princess of the Fire Nation and an extremely powerful firebending prodigy.[1] Upon Fire Lord Ozai's orders, she begins a quest with her childhood friends Mai and Ty Lee to retrieve her banished brother Prince Zuko and his mentor, their uncle Iroh, while also attempting to capture Avatar Aang, considered the Fire Nation's greatest threat to victory in the war. Azula is known for being a skilled strategist and manipulator.[2] As her brother Zuko states, she "always lies."[3] Throughout the original series and the sequel comics, she is shown to be capable of highly advanced firebending, producing hotter blue flames as well as lightning.

She is Fire Lord Sozin's great-granddaughter through Ozai, and Avatar Roku's through her mother, Ursa.[34] In another flashback, it is revealed that she is named after her paternal grandfather Azulon, Ozai's father.[3] Even as a child, Azula demonstrated her natural talents early in life, along with her tendency for malice and perfectionism. Her sharp wit and the skill she displayed towards Firebending gained her much attention and acclaim, often at Zuko's expense. Even when young, Azula suggests that her father would make a better Fire Lord than the heir apparent, her uncle Iroh, whom she dubbed "a quitter and a loser" for abandoning his siege of the Earth Kingdom's capital Ba Sing Se, which would have secured the Fire Nation's victory in the war, after the death of his son Lu Ten.[3] Psychological analyses estimate Azula as being highly intelligent,[2][35] and as having conduct disorder with notable Machiavellian and, at times, sadistic traits. Following the betrayal by her closest friends Mai and Ty Lee, she begins to crack under the strain of her childhood and life so far leading her to isolate herself and begin to internalize issues that soon develop into her delusions of persecution, hallucinations of her mother speaking to her, as well as the stresses and anxiety causing her to have intermittent mood fluctuations as a response.[2]

From a young age, Azula had maladaptive traits, showing almost no empathy or remorse for actions that harmed others both physically and emotionally. Azula was heavily influenced by her father, who favored her over Zuko due to her superior firebending abilities.[3] However, Azula's father was a ruthless man incapable of true love. Azula was also constantly scolded by her mother due to her cruel nature. This shaped Azula's fears that she could not count on love from anyone, no matter how close they seemed. Unable to trust others, she instead began to control them using fear.

Although a skilled strategist and capable of predicting her enemies' moves, she is awkward in social situations, and later admits to jealousy of Ty Lee's ability to attract potential sweethearts during "The Beach" episode. She ends up seducing Chan with Ty Lee's advice to act dumb; however, she scares him away when she shows her true personality.

From childhood, Azula believed her mother favored Zuko and thought her monstrous, which she admitted to be true but hurt her deeply. After she was betrayed by Mai and Ty Lee, her mental state gradually collapsed, as her attacks became far more vicious and she was seemingly obsessed with killing Zuko. After her defeat, it is revealed in the graphic novel The Promise that she was admitted into a mental institution in the Fire Nation due to her deteriorated mental state. In both the series and the comics, she is shown to be disturbed by frequent hallucinations of her mother although as the comic progresses she is seen to regain her previous mental fortitude and capabilities.

Azula often acts cold-hearted towards her uncle and her brother, but she appears to show some genuine concern for Zuko in the season 2 finale and early episodes of season 3. Although she seems to care about her friends, she frequently manipulates them; her attitude is due to her negative childhood and manipulations and teaching from her father Ozai, as seen when she threatens Ty Lee into leaving the circus in Book 2. There has been only one known occurrence of Azula showing remorse by apologizing after unintentionally insulting Ty Lee.

Azula is highly skilled in firebending, which utilizes Chinese martial arts techniques of changquan, Shaolin kung fu, Southern Dragon kung fu and xingyiquan.[6][36][37][38] The series' creators consulted a professional martial artist in the design of the show's fighting style.[39] Azula is one of the most skilled firebenders in the show and she's a very difficult person to defeat in single combat. Her excellent firebending abilities, hand-to-hand combat skills, intelligence, speed, flexibility, agility and charisma make her a formidable opponent.

Azula is the only firebender who can produce blue flames, which are hotter and contain more energy (according to Planck's law) than those of other firebenders who bend normal orange flames. Her name is derived from azul, the Spanish, Galician and Portuguese word for blue. However, Azula could not produce blue fire as a young child, as shown in flashbacks. Similarly, her grandfather Azulon was never shown to wield blue flames despite his name implying otherwise. Azula can also use her firebending in previously unseen ways, such as jets of flames and whirling disks. She often firebends using only two fingers, rather than a closed fist or open hand common to other firebenders.[6] Azula can fight for long periods of time without tiring. She is also able to generate powerful shields of swirling flames, which she uses to withstand the simultaneous combined attacks of Aang, Katara, Zuko and Toph.[40] She is even able to charge up her fire before releasing it, as was seen during one fight with Aang.[41]

Azula is able to propel herself, using her flames, in a manner similar to a rocket. This ability has also been extended as a means to fly for short periods of time as seen in "The Boiling Rock".[42] She can also breathe fire, as shown when she is defeated by Katara and Zuko.

Lightning generation edit "Lightning is a pure expression of firebending without aggression. It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other firebending is. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire. It is precise and deadly like Azula. To perform the technique requires peace of mind."

— General Iroh (Avatar: The Last Airbender) Azula is capable of lightning generation, one of the rarest types of firebending; Iroh notes that it isn't really possible to teach lightning generation, it's just something particularly powerful firebenders are capable of.[43]

Azula is a skilled unarmed fighter and acrobat. In "The Avatar State," she bests Zuko in combat without resorting to firebending, and in "The Day of Black Sun," she avoids the combined forces of Aang, Toph, and Sokka for several minutes without her bending to aid her. In "Appa's Lost Days," when Suki makes a stab attack at Azula with her fan, Azula jumps horizontally and knocks Suki's sword out of her hand and onto a tree.[11] In "The Boiling Rock," Azula is able to fall and land on her hands, holding her body up horizontally, with ease.

Azula is an expert in persuasion. She is capable of using psychological warfare, intimidation, and mistruths to con other people into obeying her. She also has the ability to lie easily without causing any change in her breathing and heart rate, making it nearly impossible to detect if she's lying, which she demonstrates in "The Day of Black Sun." She is also an accomplished strategist, as she is able to conquer Ba Sing Se, a city thought to be impenetrable while usurping the Earth King and hierarchy of the Earth Kingdom capital all in one swift move.[42][44]

Azula Character Analysis Born a princess with a high position Was favored by her father and second in her mother's eyes Deeply skilled bender from a young age Attended the royal girl Fier Nation academy and had private tutors Was around severe abuse emotional and occasionally physical Abandoned by mother due to political intrigue which affected her Aware of her parents' murder of her grandfather Rose to crown princess after her father coronation and brother banishment which she watched Was used as a weapon by her father against her uncle and bother by age 14 Had a few friends who became partners in hunting the avatar her brother Was a skilled tactician able to infiltrate the heart of the earth kingdom Overthrow the earth king Nearly killed the avatar Achieved high status for this but shared it with her brother is a skilled protective manner Had a tumultuous relationship with her brother Betrayed by her friends Attempted to kill her brother Became fire lord but felt rejected through this as she was unable to claim victory along with her father Suffered a mental health breakdown Was beaten by Zuko & katara in an Agni Kai losing her status

Azula is a complex character who is gifted, clever, beautiful, and deeply psychologically injured. Her story is one of abuse, manipulation, and war. She was raised by abusive people in a cult of power and supremacy; by the age of 14, she was being used to put the same trauma out on the entire world.

The prime driver for Azula’s character is the necessity to retain control over her situation and due to her status as the princess of the world’s dominant power, this is control over everything. Control and power are the only things Azula truly understands as valuable. This control also equals safety, safety from physical harm during a battle, and emotional harm by others. We can see this control manifest in her emotional distress at having even one hair out of place during her training (2x01). She uses her place of power to hold fear over other people, those she considers lesser than her, by invoking the fear of losing their place and physical harm. Her social power and skill in bending back up the threats.

Azula’s need for control started as a child who grew up being taught through the iron hand of Ozai who demanded perfection. Her status as a prodigy with fire bending, physical aptitude, and intelligence gave her positive attention from her father but also led her to be inculcated even stronger into the idea that fear is the only way. Her father taught with the fear of retribution for failure as much as any positive attention. The more blatant abuse Zuko suffered from their father for showing what was perceived as weakness and emotionality was another teacher that she must always control every part of her. (2x07, 3x06)

This control via strength without understanding was worsened by her other connections. Her mother failed to connect and attune to her daughter so even in early childhood they were always moving past each other. Azula’s failure to show empathy was met with judgment and punishment and we don’t see them ever repair the relational rupture. Their mother then abandoned them accompanied by their parents murdering their grandfather and threats against her brother. Leaving her with only Ozai as a point of influence and even more surrounded by violence. (2x07)

Azula also gained little perspective outside of the pure ideology of the fire nation royal family and royal academy for girls. She carried the beliefs of fire supremacy and nationalism with no outside input which left her with the schemas of power in her nascent socio-political awareness and added to the stunting of her ability to gain empathy. She was taught to view the world as nations and people only worth understanding to beat not for its own sake. (2x07, 2x19-20, 3x05, 3x06)

This pain leaves her spending the whole second season [spanning months] as a weapon of her father. She is forced to travel around the world, originally with only staff, with the goal of hurting her own family in the name of not being shamed. To prove she can do it she gives herself the task of stopping the avatar. Azula is able to escape a fight with some of the strongest benders we see in the show easily and is persistent to a fault. (2x03) We see her skills of strategy and combat shine here as well as many of her trauma responses. The biggest one being she is acting in a mindset that can not shift from using the world and not experiencing it. (2x01, 2x03, 2x07-8, 2x13, 2x15)

Azula’s pure genius shows in her ability to take over Ba Sing Se on her ability to read other people, manipulate court games, and her sheer belief in her infallibility. We see her play the Dai Li and Long Feng with only the backup of her two friends. She has an iconic moment of power “Don’t flatter yourself you were never even a player” and invokes her belief in the divine right of kings or lords. (2x18-20)

Once she proves herself and can bring her brother and uncle home, if in a way not planned, putting her back in a secure place of princess she longs to keep. We see her try and maintain control by being the one who understands both her father and Zuko. We see her struggle greatly with normal life but thrive within the system of the place. (3x05-6, 3x11)

However, we see her set world start to collapse when Zuko leaves and her only two friends choose to take a chance for love versus staying in her control bubble. This challenges her sense of safety she works so hard to maintain. It also goes against her understanding of interpersonal relationships and her innate power. (3x11, 3x13, 3x15)

This causes a breakdown in the end. However, this leaves her without a throne and a sense of safety. After the show, we see her mental health stay in a deteriorated state, struggle with the past, and joins a group that wants to harm the new age of peace.

Zuko and Azula are one of the key family dynamics within the story. Azula acts as a foil to Zuko during their childhood being the golden child to his scapegoat. She was Ozai’s favorite whereas Zuko was closer to Ursa. They both suffered severe trauma as young people but Azula spent the time trying to not be viewed as poorly as Zuko. (3x07, The Search) Something she directly tells their father, to not be treated like Zuko (3x18). Building your relationship with your sibling as wanting to prove you are better than them sets them up too but heads, something she acknowledges was also going to come down to them deciding who is the right one to succeed their father.

During the main plot, we see them start as the predator and the prey (2x01, 2x08). Both of them lived in the mindset Ozai Taught them, she was born lucky and he was lucky to be born (1x20, 2x07). She is the long arm of their father only claiming some autonomy when she chooses her team and attacks the avatar as well (2x03, 2x08).

Azula brings Zuko back into their fold because next to Iroh she understands Zuko the best. She knows easily the only thing he wants is to feel in control of his life and craves the respect of their father, these are things she also needs. We see her also offer the double-sided act of letting Zuko take credit. It is partially protective as should he live Azula is protected, Suko would be the one who failed. It can also be some degree of kindness for her brother because she does like the system the way it is and Zuko being in pain causes worse stress.

They continue to bump heads as we see Azula feel most at home within the bureaucracy whereas he struggles to feel as if it was right. Zuko still carries the pain of shame for his actions at the same time Azula pushes much of her emotion down. Part of this is Azula knows where she stands and as long as others play the part she has no worries. Zuko breaks this steady normal as a child when he wants to be empathetic to soldiers and again when he feels the need to save the earth kingdom she wanted to kill in total war. (3x01, 3x05, 3x16)

Their reactions during The Day of Black Sun (3x11) set them on their paths for the end and they mirror each other. Azula uses the time to play her role and waits for the fire bending to turn on to win. Zuko uses the time to pull away from their father for good. They continue to be antagonistic and Zuko is an axle in her relational rupture with Ty Lee and Mai. (3x14-16)

Their final Agni Kai for the title of Firelord shows how much Zuko has learned in his complex bending style and ability to hold control while we notice Azula loose form entirely relying almost completely on her raw power. Her very body language giving off how sick she is currently in her movements now disjointed and lacking precision which conflicts with the controlled fighting we see from Katara and Zuko. (3x18-21).

They have spent their whole life used as pawns by their parents and stuck in the milieu of war and suffering. Azula’s status as her father’s favorite offers her the status Zuko wants but she also lacks the time and ability to grow Zuko earned through his relationship with Uncle Iroh. Their understanding of each other is strong but Azula fails to offer sympathy to her brother when he chooses things she wouldn’t and treats him poorly. And Zuko needs to be able to challenge her so he can properly heal, along with team avatar, the fissures in the world.

We see that Azula and Ursa do not understand each other and the abuse they both suffer disallowed them to properly attach. Ursa didn’t understand Azula’s natural predispositions or her trauma which left Azula often being told off by her mother or treated as separate from the bond Ursa had with Zuko. I wouldn’t go as far as to say Ursa was forming a scapegoat golden child dynamic more so she couldn’t bring herself to look past her trauma. (2x07, The Promise, & The Search)

During the fire nation teens' conversation at ember island, we see that Azula generalized her mother's view of her as a monster as much as the other conditioning she had as a kid. This whole where her mother’s attunement should be opened even more space for what Ozai taught her. Azula lack’s a full ability to process this but it is the one time we see Azula even come close to verbalizing painful emotions other than paranoia and anger. (3x05)

If we are to believe the memory we see from Iroh (1x12) she was already immune to violence as a pre-teen believing that Ozai’s assault of Zuko was justified and even taking gratification from it. This play into her relationship with her mother as the gentleness her mother might have displayed towards her child was missing making the hardest part of the indoctrination become the most prevalent. Worsen when Ursa abandons her children and seeks out her new life. The effects of this are her willingness to be cavalier with life, and failure to attach to others (3x17).

Azula’s relationship with her mother ends up being the breaking point in space after the betrayal of her friends. When we see her experience hallucinations and paranoid thought they center around her mother and their relationship, rather there was love or not being the central question. (3x19)

Paranoid delusions around her mother continue in the comics where we see Azula unable to interact from a clear headspace.

Ozai is Azula's main force of identity shaping her internal and external perceptions to the point of making her more of a human tool than a real daughter. The craving for her father's need is just as strong as Zuko’s but instead of trying to restore it her job is to keep it and not rock the boat. This is seen in her letting Zuko take credit for the killing the avatar which brings her brother back in (3x01) and when she asks Ozai to not treat her like Zuko when he becomes the phoenix king (3x20)

Throughout the show, everything she does is to please her father from going after her brother and then succeeding in killing Aang. (2x01-2x20). She also parrots her father's belief about weakness, fears power, and the might of the fire nation. Examples include naming the city New Ozai, demanding the divine right of kings, and her obsessive focus on acting and appearing perfect.

Ozai’s abuse permeated everything Azula was and is leading to her becoming the shadow of a person we see at the end of the series.

Next to her blood family Mai & Ty Lee are her most influential relationships. She considers them generally friends starting when they went to the same school (2x07). We see that even as a child she had the highest status in the group and already needed to win. However, they do seem to have some genuine care for the princess even if it is never balanced. For example, when recruiting Ty Lee she uses manipulation and fear to force her back into serving the fire nation. (2x03). Mai and Ty Lee are skilled fighters making them useful to Azula, something she values more than anything other than loyalty. She has trouble conceptualizing their emotions as validly seen in her calling their emotions performances, however in the same episode we see her care about making Ty Lee cry and experience very human emotions of envy herself. They bond over their traumas and their shared love of destruction (3x05).

None of the three of them are particularly well adjusted but what Azula has on her side is an utter belief in her competence and her belief that their friends will fall in line with that ambition. For the most part, they do; Ty Lee often flatters her and Mail generally does as she’s told when Azula is around. However one of Azula’s most pivotal moments comes when this obedience falls through. Mai loves Zuko more than she fears Azla’s wrath and Ty Lee can’t bear to see them hurt each other. Earning one of Azula's most characterizing lines ``You should have feared me more”. This betrayal and shift in her stable world put Azula over the edge and fuels paranoid thoughts and a slip into worse mental illness. (3x14)

To consider Mai and Ty Lee to be the manipulative ones or otherwise treat them as the bad or abusive party to Azula is unfair. They are doing what they can as they believe Azula has the right to be in charge and suffer consequences when they step out of line. However, it’s equally unfair to assume everything Azula does is machiavellian; she too is acting on sincerely held beliefs and as a daughter of abusive or neglectful parents. I think Azula has a hard time conceptualizing others as full people objectifying them in her schema of the world but unlike some of her behavior to Zuko, I doubt it’s intentionally cruel.

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Azula was a princess of the Fire Nation, daughter of Fire Lord Ozai and Ursa, younger sister of Zuko, and older half-sister of Kiyi. She was a key adversary of Team Avatar,[7] chasing Avatar Aang and her banished brother far across the Earth Kingdom accompanied by her then two best friends, Mai and Ty Lee.

A firebending prodigy, Azula was manipulative and obsessed with power. She was a skilled strategist who orchestrated the coup of the Earth Kingdom capital, Ba Sing Se,[8][9] and halted the invasion on the Day of Black Sun.[10]

Azula harbored deep mental instabilities, believing her mother loved Zuko more than her.[11] Raised by her father in an environment without a mother-figure, Azula had to be nothing less than perfect in her father's eyes in order to gain affection and attention from him. After the betrayal of her two closest friends Mai and Ty Lee, these instabilities were brought up to the surface.[1] Upon the arrival of Sozin's Comet, Azula was soon to be crowned Fire Lord;[12] however, her defeat at the hands of her brother Zuko and Katara caused her to suffer a complete mental breakdown.[13]

Princess Azula was born to Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa in 85 AG.[2] Azula grew up with all the riches, splendor, and privileges of royalty in the Fire Nation. Her sharp wits and the fact that she was a firebending prodigy gained her great attention and acclaim, which quickly made her Ozai's favorite child.[2] Her father began raising her as his true heir from an early stage, taking her into his confidence and educating her in politics. Azula later attended the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, where she met and befriended Mai and Ty Lee, two daughters of Fire Nation noblemen.[15]

Even though Azula and Zuko had a decent relationship in their early years,[16] the siblings grew apart as they got older due to their parents' behavior. While Azula was clearly favored by Ozai, she felt that her mother loved Zuko much more than her, creating a rift of jealousy between her and Ursa and Zuko. As a result of this resentment as well as Ozai's influence, Azula became increasingly cruel and manipulative, often bullying Zuko and feeling happy over the latter's misery.[16][17] She also manipulated her friends Mai and Ty Lee.[17] As result of her growing tendency toward malice and a desire for perfection, Azula craved power to keep others close to her and avoid loneliness.[17][18]

When she was ten, Azula's life greatly changed. Her cousin Lu Ten was killed in the Siege of Ba Sing Se, and Ozai subsequently attempted to convince Azula's grandfather Azulon to change the succession. Azula eavesdropped on their conversation, and thus learned that Azulon had orded Ozai to kill Zuko in retaliation for his scheming. The girl went on to gleefully warn her brother to flee the palace, though Ursa noticed their exchange and thus learnt of Azulon's order. Ursa subsequently murdered Azulon, allowing Ozai to take the throne and going into exile. At the time, Azula felt satisfaction over her father's rise to Fire Lord and Ursa's disappearance.[17][16] Without her mother's protection, however, Azula was molded by Ozai into the perfect weapon and heir, negatively impacting her mental health.[18]

Two years later, Azula was among those who watched Zuko's Agni Kai with his father. When Ozai burned her brother's face, she smiled smugly in triumph.[19] When Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation, Azula became Ozai's de facto heir. For the next three years, she would continue her relentless training in firebending, strategy, and combat until she refined herself enough to serve her father. By this time, her firebending advanced to the level where her fire was blue, and she could create lightning, thus increasing her overall bending power and intensity, making her a formidable opponent.[2][20] In early 100 AG, Ozai tasked Azula with capturing Zuko and Iroh, having deemed both traitors.[5]

Spring 100 AG Main article: History of Azula (Spring 100 AG) Azula was supplied with a Fire Nation royal sloop, which included a crew and sailed to Zuko and Iroh's last known location. As they approached the port, Azula addressed her crew, emphasizing that she would not tolerate any reluctance to carry out their mission, even if they were apprehending members of the royal family. Before dismissing her crew, Azula reveled in their sense of fear. The ship's captain approached her, explaining that the tides would not allow them to bring the ship in before nightfall. Annoyed by the news, Azula deftly let the man know that his life was at stake if he did not follow her orders.

Azula found Zuko and Iroh in a village resort and invited them to the ship with the false promise of being accepted home with open arms. Her initial plan of luring back her two dissident family members was thwarted by her own ship's captain, who accidentally addressed Zuko and Iroh as prisoners. In the ensuing skirmish, Azula was thrown overboard, allowing her brother and uncle to escape.[20] In order to pursue the Avatar, Azula formed an elite team consisting of her childhood friends Ty Lee, recruited from a circus, and Mai, who was living in Omashu as the governor's daughter. Azula did not manage to capture Aang and his friends in Omashu, but nonetheless was able to crush the city's resistance and secure it for the Fire Nation, renaming the city New Ozai in her father's honor.[15] Azula continued to pursue the Avatar, Zuko, and Iroh for several weeks, making use of technological advancements such as the tank train, being able to find them and wound Iroh in Tu Zin before fleeing the scene.[21]

After her initial failure to breach the strong outer wall of Ba Sing Se with the Fire Nation drill,[22] Azula and her team encountered the Kyoshi Warriors led by Suki, who they swiftly defeated and took into custody.[23] Hoping that it would break her, Azula sent Suki to the Boiling Rock high-security prison.[24] Disguising themselves, Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai entered Ba Sing Se and successfully plotted a conspiracy with the treacherous minister Long Feng.[8][25] She had the Dai Li arrest the Council of Five, the Earth King's highest-ranking generals, while she personally overthrew the sovereign. Sokka and Toph were arrested while attempting to warn Earth King Kuei against the plot, and Azula sent to a separate dungeon. Immediately afterward, Long Feng arrived on the scene and commanded the Dai Li to arrest Azula, attempting to double-cross her. Having prepared against a potential counter, Azula instead convinced the Dai Li to pledge loyalty to her. Realizing that he had been outplayed at his own game, the Grand Secretariat grudgingly surrendered. After taking control of the palace, Azula encountered Zuko in the Upper Ring and managed to convince him to join her in order to redeem his birthright as crown prince. During a battle with the Avatar in the Crystal Catacombs beneath the city, Azula mortally wounded Aang with a lightning strike just after he entered the Avatar State, leaving the Avatar presumed dead forever and the Earth Kingdom capital delivered into the hands of the Fire Nation.[9]