Azula's relationships

This page comprises of Azula's relationships with other characters in the series, all of which she has jeopardized through her cruelty and manipulative, selfish personality, with the exception of her father naturally.

Fire Lord Ozai

 * "You can't treat me like this! You can't treat me like Zuko!" - Azula, to Fire Lord Ozai in "Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King"

Explicitly stated by Zuko, Azula is favored by their father, Fire Lord Ozai; Azula's cruelty and sadism is only matched by her father's. As Firebending prodigy and the favored sibling, everyone adored her and, judging by her ship and soldiers, she was given the better treatment. In the final seconds of the season one finale, Fire Lord Ozai gave her the task of capturing Zuko and Iroh. In the first episode of the third season, Azula demonstrates her lack of loyalty to even her own father; she is willing to lie, even to him, for her own ends.

During the events of The Day of Black Sun, Zuko revealed to his father that it was Azula who struck down the Avatar at Ba Sing Se and that he survived the attack. Ozai is clearly infuriated at his daughter's failure to kill the Avatar, but it would seem that Ozai has not totally lost his trust in Azula: In his self-appointment to Phoenix King, Ozai appointed Azula his successor as Fire Lord. However, one could argue that this was Ozai's form of punishment towards Azula for her failure to kill the Avatar since even though she would have been Fire Lord, it would have been void and meaningless in the face of the Phoenix King, a higher rank than Fire Lord.

Prior to this, Ozai told Azula that she was not to participate in the Earth Kingdom attack that she had suggested earlier. She immediately felt belittled and dishonored, and was evidently hurt by what she felt was neglect from her father.

However, it is made clear that Ozai is incapable of true, unconditional love and dispensed affection and favor to shape his two children as tools that would respond to his will. This shaped Azula's fears that she couldn't count on love or affection from anyone, no matter how close they seemed. Unable to trust others, she instead tries to dominate them through fear - a paranoia that ultimately drives her insane following the betrayal of her closest friends.

Ozai and Azula were both defeated by the Avatar and his allies during the arrival of Sozin's Comet, and while Ozai is being held in the Capital City Prison, Azula was sent to a secret mental facility elsewhere in the Fire Nation. It is probable that Ozai's favor for Azula was badly tarnished when he learned that she was defeated by Zuko.

Princess Ursa

 * "My own mother... thought I was a monster." - Azula in "The Beach"



Little has been revealed of the relationship between Azula and her mother, Ursa, granddaughter of Avatar Roku. It is known that she cared deeply for the neglected Zuko, despite her daughter Princess Azula having better Firebending powers. This is a direct contrast to her husband Ozai's feelings towards his children, who has stated that while Azula was "born lucky", Zuko was "lucky to be born." It is also seen that Azula was often scolded by Ursa for the unkind and disrespectful remarks she made about her brother, uncle, or grandfather.

In "Zuko Alone", Azula tells Zuko that his father was going to have to kill him after angering the then Fire Lord Azulon. Zuko tells himself that Azula is just lying, but as his mom gives him her final goodbyes, she states that everything she has done has been to protect him. It is eventually revealed that she did "vicious, treasonous" actions that night in order to save Zuko, resulting in Azulon's death and her banishment. It is noted, however, that Azula seems to show no concern or sadness at all over the death of her grandfather or the disappearance of her own mother, especially when it becomes known that Ozai will be crowned Fire Lord; like her father Ozai, family seems to be pale in comparison to her desire for power.

In "The Beach", when her turn comes to share a revelation of her life, Azula remarks that she was well aware Ursa loved Zuko more, but unlike her brother doesn't obsess over it. She does however reveal how it hurt that her own mother thought she was a monster, albeit halfheartedly, as she goes on to state it was true.

During the arrival of Sozin's Comet, Ursa appears before Azula in an hallucination. Azula is quick to remind her mother that she had no reason to see her since she thought she was a monster. Ursa rejected this accusation, saying she loved her daughter, and that she feared that Azula was committing her various crimes out of confusion. Enraged, Azula threw her hairbrush at her mirror, and the hallucination ended. Azula was left in her bedroom breaking down in tears.

Since Ursa has yet to be found, it is unknown if Azula will ever get the chance to reconcile with her.

Zuko

 * "You know Father blames Uncle for the loss at the North Pole. And he considers you a miserable failure for not finding the Avatar. Why would he want you back home, except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him?" - Azula to Zuko in "The Avatar State"



Zuko, a.k.a. Zuzu (One of the many nicknames Azula calls him) is Azula's older brother, but they have little appreciation of one another. Even though she is the younger sibling, Azula has been known to lie to Zuko and take pleasure in torturing him; though Zuko knew that "Azula always lies" (as he repeatedly chants, seemingly to convince himself, in "Zuko Alone"), she was often able to manipulate him. This is most notable in "The Crossroads of Destiny," when she uses his hope of redemption to make him betray Iroh and join her in attacking the Avatar and conquering Ba Sing Se. It seems as if the two didn't always harbor hatred towards each other. As children they got along much better than as teenagers, but this may have only been because of the presence of their mother and/or uncle.

However, following their alliance, Azula's relationship with her brother gradually begins to take a drastic change. She expresses concern over Zuko after discovering that he had been secretly visiting an imprisoned Iroh, warning him that if it were to be discovered that he was meeting with their uncle, it could be misinterpreted as conspiracy. Azula condescendingly instructs Zuko to be more careful in regards to Iroh, ending her warning with the use of his old nickname of "dum-dum" for effect. During their vacation to Ember Island, Azula shares nostalgia and depression with her brother as they pay visit to their family's decrepit summer beach-house. After Azula finds Zuko within their old beach-home she tells him to leave, noting that she understands his feelings towards the place. Along with Mai and Ty Lee, Azula later on helps Zuko realize why he is still so angry, assuming the role of interpreter as they each share revelations of their life experiences that shaped them into who they are. When her turn comes, Azula admits that she is well aware that their mother loved Zuko more, but unlike her brother, doesn't feel the need to care or spend her time complaining about it. Although, with each act of compassion towards her brother, Azula ensures to couple it with her usual coldheartedness, a performance reminiscent to that of a love-hate relationship. At one point Zuko finally brings himself to confide his feelings of uncertainty and confusion towards Azula. While faintly sympathetic towards him, she impulsively deems him pathetic, albeit in a somewhat playful tone.

During the Day of Black Sun, Zuko confessed to Ozai that it was Azula who failed to kill the Avatar and that she lied to him to avoid punishment. Afterwards, during "The Boiling Rock, Part 2", Azula confronted Zuko again while he was assisting in a prison escape at the Boiling Rock. Despite her ingenious tactics and attacks, she failed to land a single blow on Zuko, who easily deflected her attacks. Although it should be noted that Azula was fighting both Zuko and Sokka (who at that point was a very able swordsman) at the same time. Also, her friend Mai betrayed her by saving Zuko's life, as she still loved him. Zuko escaped, leaving Azula enraged. Mai then renounced her loyalty to Azula, so she was ready to fight Mai. This led to Ty Lee attacking her out of Mai's defense. Although she hid it with her anger, Azula was clearly devastated by Zuko's influence on her two friends.

During "The Southern Raiders", Azula attacks Zuko and his friends at the Western Air Temple. At this point, it's clear that she wants to kill her own brother. She engaged Zuko on the top of her airship, as he was hoping to buy time for his friends to escape. Azula attempted to launch a devastating attack on Zuko, but was flung off of the airship when Zuko counterattacked. This sent Azula falling to what would have been certain-death, but she broke her fall by using her firebending to propel herself towards a cliff. She used her hair pin to anchor herself safely on the side of the mountain. She watched Zuko fly off with a sinister look on her face, clearly ready to pursue her brother once again.

It's important to note that while Azula is falling, Zuko shows genuine regret as he believed she really was going to die. This, coupled with Azula's affection for Zuko during their time together proves that at best, they do care for one another, but due to their different views on life and the nature of their upbringing (Zuko through Ursa and Iroh, and Azula through Ozai), they cannot comprehensively coexist. While initially vague, as the series progressed it became clearer where Azula's rage towards her brother comes from. She impulsively feels the need to berate and belittle him and rub their father's favoritism of her in his face, even when the situation doesn't call for it. This apparently stems from a massive and subconscious jealousy of her mother favoring Zuko.

Zuko and Azula finally battle for the final time on the day Sozin's Comet arrived. Zuko and Katara showed up at Azula's coronation and Zuko declared to his sister that he would become Fire Lord, not her. Azula responded to this by immediately challenging Zuko to an Agni Kai for the crown, which he eagerly accepted, it is not clear if she did because she realized she would probably be unable to successfully fight both Zuko and Katara, or because of her mounting desire to kill Zuko and crumbling mental state. When Katara pointed out to Zuko that he'd previously admitted to not being able to take Azula out by himself, he simply stated that Azula was "off" and "slipping", indicating that he sensed Azula's mental instability which he hoped would give him an advantage and enable him to defeat her. The two fight a vicious duel with Zuko equally matching Azula blow-for-blow. When Zuko finally succeeds in knocking Azula off her feet Azula seems to become even more angry. When Zuko taunts her about not using lightning, believing her to be afraid he'd redirect it at her, she immediately charges up a powerful lightning attack, but aims it at Katara instead, who was watching the battle from the sidelines. Zuko jumps in front of the lightning, redirecting enough of the attack to prevent immediate death, but is still badly injured in the process. Azula then laughs maniacally and proceeds to fight Katara, who eventually tricks her by freezing them both in a block of ice and liquefying it enough for her to be able to bind Azula's hands together and secure her to the ground. After defeating Azula, Katara goes to heal Zuko. Seeing Zuko alive and standing after her attack was what finally caused Azula's mind to crack. She began screaming wildly and breathing fire, until she ends up on her side screaming, struggling, crying uncontrollably and mumbling incoherently as her emotions spun out of control. Zuko watched sadly as his sister fell apart.

Azula is imprisoned in a mental health facility elsewhere in the Fire Nation after the battle is lost and it is unknown what will happen between her and her brother in the wake of this new era of peace. While Zuko probably hopes that her mental treatment will eventually send her on the right path again, it is unlikely that things will ever improve between the two for years to come.

Iroh

 * "I still think our dad would make a much better Fire Lord than his royal tea loving kookiness." Azula to Zuko and Ursa in "Zuko Alone"



Like Zuko, Iroh cares little for Azula. Even as a child, Azula had a considerably low opinion of her uncle; she referred to him as "His Royal Tea-loving Kookiness", promptly torched a doll he had sent her from an Earth Kingdom city and called Iroh a "quitter and loser" for losing heart and failing to capture Ba Sing Se after the death of his son Lu Ten. She also calls him "Uncle Fatso" in "The Headband". She also expressed excitement at the idea that he might die in battle, which would put Ozai in line for the throne. Once, in "The Chase," she attacked Iroh with a fire blast---after she had, as she put it, "surrendered with honor"---and severely wounded him. Unlike Zuko, Iroh is not blinded by emotion and can see through Azula's lies. Despite Iroh's tendencies to avoid unnecessary conflict, he goes as far as teaching Zuko more difficult bending techniques in order to help him defeat her. In his own words, he said "She's crazy, and needs to go down". Iroh is one of the few other characters who has been shown with the ability to create lightning (in "Bitter Work"), and has demonstrated the technique of redirecting lightning, of which Azula has no knowledge. Azula also acknowledges him as her "Old Fuddy-Duddy Uncle". In "The Crossroads of Destiny", while Azula was trying to manipulate Zuko into taking over Ba Sing Se, Iroh was trying to convince him to let go of trying to restore his honor and "choose good".

After Ba Sing Se fell, Azula decided to take Iroh back home in chains, and used him as a ploy to force Zuko to come back as well. It is unknown if she ever visited him during his stay in prison until his escape in during "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse".

During the arrival of Sozin's Comet, Iroh reversed his niece's victory and liberated Ba Sing Se. Meanwhile, Zuko defeated Azula in an Agni Kai back home and claimed his rightful title as Fire Lord. Azula was institutionalized following her loss of sanity. It is unknown if Iroh has any sympathy for Azula's unfortunate downfall.

Lu Ten

 * "Oh yes he is. He found out his son died and he just fell apart." - Azula to Zuko in "Zuko Alone"

Not much is known about Azula's relationship with Iroh's son, her cousin Lu Ten. When, in "Zuko Alone", Ursa informs her children that "Iroh has lost his son. Your cousin, Lu Ten, did not survive the battle", Zuko is shown to be very shocked and sad by the news, while Azula is shown in the background with an unclear expression. Her feelings about Lu Ten, both before and after his passing, remain a mystery, though she was very unsympathetic to Iroh's reaction to his death.

Aang

 * "It's not just Zuko and Iroh anymore. We have a third target now." - Azula to Mai and Ty Lee in "Return to Omashu"



Aang, as the Avatar, has become Azula's target along with her brother and uncle. In their first encounters, she nearly defeats him, normally forcing him to flee. However, he proves that, with newly learned bending skills, he can stand against her. In "The Drill", Aang defeats her in battle with a little help from Momo though the victory was hard fought. In "The Crossroads of Destiny", she battles against Aang and Katara alongside her brother Zuko. After a long battle, and being outnumbered with the recent arrival of the Dai Li, Aang attempts to go into the Avatar State, but is struck from behind with by a lightning attack by Azula before he can complete the transformation.

When Azula and Zuko return home, Azula informs Fire Lord Ozai that it was Zuko who struck the Avatar; shielding herself in the event that the Avatar survived the attack.

On the Day of Black Sun, Azula faces Aang once again, revealing that she is not surprised that he survived. She then sent her Dai Li agents after Aang and his group, stalling them during the eclipse. Aang eventually stops chasing Azula as he has to face the Fire Lord, but his attempts end in failure when Azula distracts Sokka during the last moments of the eclipse, ruining the attack.

Azula doesn't meet Aang again until she attacks the Western Air Temple in "The Southern Raiders", but she is more focused on killing Zuko, who caused her friends Mai and Ty Lee to betray her. Zuko holds off Azula long enough for Aang to escape.

This is the last time in which Aang and Azula would ever face each other. While Aang fought Fire Lord Ozai during the arrival of Sozin's Comet, Azula was finally defeated by Zuko and Katara. Aang, being Roku's reincarnation, is Azula's spiritual great-grandfather although it is unclear if either is aware of this. Of all the villains in the series Azula is the one who came closest to killing Aang, in fact the lightning strike was essentially fatal as Katara had to use the Spirit Water to resurrect Aang who would remain in a coma for several weeks, this also temporarily cut off his connection his previous lives and blocked his connection to the Avatar State until the series finale.

Mai

 * "No, you miscalculated! You should have feared me more!" - Azula to Mai in "The Boiling Rock, Part 2"

Mai seems to regard Azula as a friend; however, Azula treats Mai with as little concern as she does with Ty Lee. Throughout their childhood, Azula was known for trickery, such as causing her brother Zuko to fall with Mai into the water in order to laugh at them.

In an interesting note, Mai does not necessarily fear Azula, as shown in the episode "The Drill", where Mai refused an order from Azula to chase Sokka and Katara in the drill's waste system ("She can shoot all the lightning she wants at me - I am not going in that wall sludge juice"). In another occasion, she also allows Sokka, Toph and the Earth King free to escape with the king's pet bear Bosco in "The Crossroads of Destiny", knowing that she couldn't stand a chance against Toph and Sokka, plus, she was glad to get rid of Bosco. However, these incidents have occurred in the absence of Azula; it is not known how Mai would have acted if she was around. It seems that Mai might be hesitant to defy the princess outright, but still has given Azula dark looks when the princess's back was turned.

In "The Boiling Rock, Part 2", The end of their friendship takes place. During Zuko's prison escape, Mai chooses to aid him by defeating the guards that were in pursuit of him. Azula questions her intently on why she would aid him, telling her "she knew the consequences." When Mai suggests that Azula miscalculated (thus, implying Azula isn't as perfect as she seems to believe) and declares that she loves Zuko more than she fears Azula, for a brief moment Azula loses herself in a rage, preparing to strike down Mai with her firebending. However, Mai is saved by Ty Lee, in turn betraying Azula as well. Azula promptly has them both arrested, severing her friendship with them. After the war, Ty Lee and Mai were released from prison. Mai gets back together with Zuko and they become a happy couple.

Mai's betrayal of Azula might be seen as the catalyst for Azula's downfall, as it was her actions that led to Ty Lee's betrayal and Azula's fall into insanity.

Ty Lee

 * "Ok, ok, calm down. I didn't mean what I said. Look, maybe I just said it because I was a little... jealous." - Azula to Ty Lee in "The Beach"



Like Mai, Ty Lee regards Azula as a friend and even openly displays admiration for her, but ever since they were both children, she hasn't treated Ty Lee as such. Because Azula cannot stand to be "number two", even as a child, she shoved Ty Lee to the ground when she could do acrobatic flips that Azula couldn't. Azula also bullied an unwilling Ty Lee into joining her search for the Avatar, her brother, and uncle while she was doing a performance, forcing the ringmaster to set fire to the net underneath her and releasing the most dangerous animals. In "The Beach", she laughs when Zuko calls Ty Lee a "circus freak". Despite this, Azula has been known to be occasionally respectful and somewhat caring toward Ty Lee. When she makes Ty Lee cry by telling her that no boy cares for her as a person, she apologizes quickly and even admits that it was her own insecurity that shaped that comment, proving that even she can care when she feels like it.

In "The Boiling Rock, Part 2", their friendship also comes to an end. In the midst of Mai saving Zuko and in turn, betrayal of Azula, Ty Lee saved Mai from being struck down by Azula by attacking Azula's pressure points and temporarily paralyzing her. Ty Lee and Mai were released when the war ended, and Ty Lee joined the Kyoshi warriors after teaching them chi-blocking techniques.

Katara

 * "There you are, filthy peasant!" - Azula to Katara in "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang"



Through the series, Katara and Azula's relationship is limited to them being enemies, and in most of their battles Azula has been very brutal and violent, but keeping her calm mood, until their final battle in the Fire Nation Capital. In "The Chase", Azula strikes her when she stops her from killing Aang. In "The Guru", Katara is the only one who notices that Suki is in fact Azula in disguise, but that's understandable, since she's the first one who actually knew Suki to talk to her. In "The Crossroads of Destiny", the two battle in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se. In the first part of the battle, Azula seemed to be on the receiving end of Katara as the waterbender used water tentacles to subdue the princess, until Zuko freed his sister from Katara's grasp and started fighting her in Azula's stead.

According to Azula's Earth Kingdom chronicles book, she knows Katara's name.

When Zuko decided to face Azula in a final battle to decide who would be Fire Lord, he asked Katara to join him. Katara was happy to do so. When Zuko and Azula battled at the Fire Nation Capital, Azula shot Katara with lightning after Zuko taunted her, but Zuko threw himself in the lightning's path and Katara escaped uninjured. Azula then relentlessly pursued Katara in an attempt to strike her down, but Katara proved an even foe. In a genius waterbending move, Katara stole some chains and froze herself and Azula in a block of ice. She then liquidated part of the water and chained Azula's hands together and bound her to the ground, finally defeating her and driving Azula entirely into madness. Katara watched sadly along side Zuko as Azula thrashed around screaming and crying, indicating Katara does have sympathy for Azula at the very end.

Although insane, Azula likely harbors a deep grudge against Katara for defeating her.

Sokka

 * "So, Sokka’s your name, right? My favorite prisoner used to mention you all the time. She was convinced that you were going to come rescue her. Of course, you never came and she gave up on you." Azula to Sokka in "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse"



Like with Katara, Sokka and Azula's relationship is limited to their status as enemies. The two first met in "Return to Omashu" and Sokka fought her in "The Chase". The two have rarely conversed, but that changed during "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse". When Azula attempted to keep Aang and his friends from finding the Fire Lord, she decided to further her efforts by taking advantage of Sokka's emotions. She revealed that she also knew his name and that her "favorite prisoner" talked about him all of the time. She falsely claimed that she gave up on Sokka ever coming to rescue her, causing him to attack Azula in a blind and emotional rage, as he knew she was referring to Suki. She tried to stab him at this point but Toph stopped her, and he demanded to know where Suki was. However, Azula said nothing and escaped once the eclipse ended. This incident left the two even more bitter towards each other than before.

During "The Boiling Rock, Part 2", Azula attempts to stop Sokka and Zuko from fleeing the Boiling Rock Prison. During this engagement, Sokka frees Suki and proves an even match for Azula, evenly taking on her firebending with his swordsmanship and additional support from Zuko.

Sokka's last encouter with Azula is during her ambush in the Western Air Temple.

Lo and Li

 * "I order you to fight an Agni Kai!" - Azula to Lo and Li



Unlike most characters, the twins Lo and Li have at some point earned Azula's respect, trust and consideration. During most of the times they were seen with Azula, they either evaluated a situation and offered advice on it, such as her lightning generation practice and her pursuit of her brother and uncle. There are only two moments in the series where this dynamics is different. The first of them is when Azula stays at their cottage in Ember Island, along with Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee. There, the two behave in a more relaxed way, still offering her advise, though this time on more personal matters. They are last seen with Azula in "Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno", when they try to make some sense of a maddening Azula. They show concern for her, Azula believing her father to have ordered them to keep an eye on her. When Lo suggests she should postpone her coronation due to recent events, Azula lashes at them, demanding to know which of the two suggested that. When neither takes a stand, Azula orders them to fight an Agni Kai, forgetting that neither of them are Firebenders. She then randomly banishes one of them while pointing to the other, causing the two to wonder who was banished and who wasn't.

It is unknown if the twins have any sympathy for Azula following her defeat and subsequent institutionalization. However, now that they are out of the princess' service, it is possible that they are now advising Zuko.