Ozai

His Imperial Majesty, Fire lord Ozai, is the ruthless, Firebender ruler of the Fire Nation (currently for six or seven years) and Ba Sing Se, brother of General Iroh, son to Fire Lord Azulon and Fire Lady Ilah, and father to Prince Zuko and Princess Azula. He was also the husband to Princess Ursa. Ozai, like his father Azulon and his grandfather Sozin, continues the War with the other nations, striving for the Fire Nation to encompass the entire world in its grasp.

History
In the Book Two episode "Zuko Alone," it is revealed Ozai is second born; Iroh should have been Fire Lord by birthright. In this episode, which is mostly flashbacks, we see him requesting his father, Fire Lord Azulon, change the rules so that Ozai, rather than Iroh, can inherit the throne; Azulon is shown as being furious at this, and says he will not allow it. Azulon also states that Ozai is to be punished for his request, and according to Azula, Ozai was ordered to kill his son Zuko. Instead, Zuko's mother mysteriously disappears. Fire Lord Azulon died soon afterwards, and Ozai took the throne, which at the funeral, is said to have been Azulon's wish. Ozai's cruelty and aggression seems to stem from his own failed relationship with his father. In season three's first hour-long episode, "The Invasion/The Eclipse", Ozai reveals to Zuko how he truly rose to power. He had planned to go through with Azulon's order but his wife, Princess Ursa, prevented him from doing so. She devised a plan in which she would be responsible for Azulon's death. This resulted in her banishment from the Fire Nation, Ozai's rise to power, and ultimately, the prevention of Zuko's death at his father's hand.

Despite familial ties, even Ozai's son has borne the brunt of his cruelty. Two years before the series began, the then 13 year-old Zuko, his eldest and least favored, spoke out in Ozai's war room against a general's popular plan to sacrifice novice troops in pursuit of victory. Angered by his impudence, Ozai demanded Zuko duel in an Agni Kai, not with the General who Zuko disrespected, but with Ozai himself. Seeing the Fire Lord in the arena, Zuko fell to his knees, pleading for forgiveness and refusing to duel his own father. For this perceived cowardice and disrespect, Ozai badly burned Zuko's face, permanently scarring him. He then exiled Zuko from the Fire Nation, under orders not to return until he had done the impossible: captured the long-lost Avatar, missing for a hundred years. This was meant to be an easy way of getting rid of Zuko, seeing as at the time of Zuko's banishment, the Avatar was still missing.



With the Avatar's sudden reappearance as the twelve-year-old Airbender Aang, Ozai has become more aggressive in his pursuit of victory. Distrusting his son's competence, he sent Zuko's rival Zhao to hunt for the Avatar, even promoting him from Commander to Admiral. Unfortunately, Admiral Zhao was thwarted in his mission by Ozai's brother Iroh, who turned traitor in an effort to stop Zhao from killing the Water Tribe's patron Moon Spirit. Ozai recently expressed distaste at what he saw as his brother's treachery and son's failure by giving his daughter, Azula, the task of capturing both Zuko and Iroh. This latest betrayal has caused Zuko and Iroh to cut off their top-knots as a symbol of renunciation of their past and their connection to Ozai.

Before, Ozai's only appearance was a shadow in the throne of the Fire Nation Palace. In the season premiere of the third season of the show, his full face was finally revealed when speaking with his son Zuko, who had regained his honor by "killing" the Avatar, and helping Azula to conquer Ba Sing Se.



During the eclipse on the Day of Black Sun, Ozai evacuates the Capital City in preparation for the invasion and hides in a heavily guarded underground bunker. Zuko shows up and demands permission to speak to his father. Ozai grants it but clearly was not pleased to see Zuko. Zuko reveals that Azula shot down the Avatar and that she said that he did it because the Avatar was in fact alive. Ozai is infuriated and attempts to attack Zuko, but is stopped when Zuko pulls out his twin dao swords against his father's disabled Firebending. Zuko tells him that he is done trying to earn his love, knowing that the very man who banished him and scarred him was not worthy of his love. Ozai says that it was to teach him respect, but apparently Zuko learned nothing. However, Zuko denies this, stating that he now knows that the Fire Nation is unworthy to rule the world and must return to peace and harmony with the other nations. Ozai laughs at this declaration. Zuko goes on to say that he will free Uncle Iroh from jail and help the Avatar to defeat him, moving Ozai to declare Zuko a traitor once again. Zuko refuses to fight him since fighting his father is the Avatar's destiny, not his, so Ozai distracts him during the eclipse by telling Zuko what happened to his mother.

Ozai reveals to Zuko that his father, Fire Lord Azulon, did indeed order Ozai to kill him, and that he would have done it had Zuko's mother, Ursa, not found out the plot. She decided to have Ozai spare Zuko's life by handing the throne over to Ozai through Azulon's overthrow. However, Ursa "committed treasonous things that night" and was not killed, but banished as a result, making Zuko realize that she may be alive. Ozai decides that banishment is not a fitting punishment for traitors, and chooses to kill Zuko now. Ozai, being such a powerful Firebender, senses that the solar eclipse is over and reveals his prowess at bending lightning, almost pinning Zuko down. However, Zuko did not back down and redirected the lightning at Ozai, slamming him against the wall and leaving him to seethe in anger as Zuko fled the Fire Nation.

It is not yet known how Ozai intends to respond to Azula's failure to kill the Avatar and the lies she told him.

Abilities
Firelord Ozai is one of the most powerful firebenders in all of the land, with only Iroh rivaling him. He has been seen burning his own son's face while taking a casual, relaxed, stroll during their Agni Kai. In the episode The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse Ozai quickly generates the most powerful lightning attack seen so far without having to slowly move his arms in a circular direction (he instead moves both arms quickly in a circular direction, performing the same movements, just much faster).

Trivia

 * In "The Deserter," the Fire Lord's whole face (or a merely speculative mock-up of it) is shown in puppet-form at the Fire Nation Fire Days cultural festival that the Avatar gang attended.
 * In "Zuko Alone," Ozai is seen sans his trademark shadow for the very first time. Every portion of his body was illuminated except the area around his eyes.
 * The modern way to write down the official red seal that is placed on all the wanted posters is 烈火國王敖載印寶 (liè huǒ guó wáng áo zǎi yìn bǎo), which translates as "Fire Lord Ozai's official seal." Ozai is written as Áo zǎi (敖載) which translates as "haughtily load." However, since in written documental Chinese the word 載 (zǎi) is used for the word 'year,' the translation for Ozai's name can also be 'haughtily year,' most likely a reference to him being the catalyst for the difficult year setting of the series.
 * Ozai is voiced by Mark Hamill who also played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars Trilogy.

Relatives
See Fire Nation Royal Family Tree

Azula ? }}
 * years= 0YA (Spring)-Present
 * after= heir apparent