Azula

History


Azula was born to Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa about two years after her brother, Zuko. She was first seen in the audience at Zuko's ill-fated Agni Kai. She is named for her grandfather, Ozai's father, Fire Lord Azulon. Azula grew up in the riches, splendor, and privileges of being royalty in the Fire Nation. Her sharp wits and the fact that she is a Firebending prodigy gained great attention and acclaim, and quickly made her Ozai's favorite child. Her father began raising her as his true heir early on, taking her into his confidence and grooming her in politics, while mostly ignoring Zuko. From the quality of her ship and soldiers, her favored status was readily apparent.

Even when she was only nine years old, Azula displayed her natural talents, along with her tendency for malice and perfection. When Ty Lee succeeded in performing a cartwheel after Azula had fallen over attempting to do her own, Azula replied by shoving her friend to the ground and laughing gleefully. When she saw the nine-year-old Mai attempting to hide her crush on Azula's brother, Azula used her acting and cunning to convince her mother to make Zuko play with them. "Playing" was quickly defined as forcing Zuko to tackle Mai into a fountain while trying to save her from a flaming apple on her head.

She had no desire to waste time playing around like a regular girl--the very sight of a doll disgusted her. She was much more interested in power, suggesting that her father would make a better Fire Lord than the heir apparent, her Uncle Iroh, who she also dubbed "a quitter and a loser" for abandoning his siege at Ba Sing Se. Shortly after receiving this news, Azula and the rest of her family went before Fire Lord Azulon, and she put on a spectacular display of her firebending prowess. She then smugly watched Zuko try the same performance and fail. When Azulon sent everyone but Ozai out of the room, Azula took her brother and hid behind the curtains--from there, she watched her father request the birthright of Fire Lord to be placed upon him. When Zuko fled in fear from the Fire Lord's anger, Azula stayed to watch with amusement. Azula then supposedly heard her grandfather sentence her brother to death--a fact that she wasted no time in gleefully reporting to the brother in question. She taunted him until her mother pulled her away for a talk; Azula was next seen playing with a knife that Zuko had received from Iroh, and coolly announcing that their grandfather had passed away and their mother had vanished. Soon after, she was watching her father's coronation with glee. No love developed between her and Zuko throughout the next few years--when he was burned by their father in an Agni-Kai, she watched with a savage triumph.

Book 2: Earth
When Fire Lord Ozai branded Iroh a traitor and her brother Zuko a failure, she willingly obeyed her father's command for her to go and capture them, as seen in the final seconds of the first season finale. While en-route, she worked at perfecting her ability to create lightning, with the aid of her advisors Lo and Li. In "The Avatar State", Azula attempted to capture Zuko and Iroh, (now considered traitors to the Fire Nation) luring Zuko with the false promise of being accepted home with open arms. When Zuko learned of the deception, though, he attacked her. She easily evaded his attacks, and struck back with taunts and brief attacks. However, she failed to finish her brother off, as Iroh redirected her lethal lightning attack away from Zuko and into a cliff, and then kicked her off the edge of the ship.

Counseled by her twin masters Lo and Li that the royal procession was not a wise choice to accompany her on her mission, she decided to abandon the unit, opting to find and recruit her childhood friends in "Return to Omashu." Ty Lee required some "convincing," but Mai was only too willing to leave the boredom of the conquered city of Omashu in favor of going on an exciting hunt--especially if it involved interacting with Zuko. While there, Azula renamed Omashu to the city of New Ozai.

During this episode, Azula first encountered the Avatar, Aang. She and her new allies were almost able to defeat Aang and his friends, but their overall unpreparation as well as a trump card delivered by a shrewd King Bumi enabled the three kids to escape. Soon after the battle, she named the Avatar as a personal target in addition to her brother.



In "The Chase," Princess Azula and her two friends relentlessly pursued the Avatar group, using a Fire Nation tank train and Mongoose Dragons as mounts to pursue them night and day. After wearing down the foursome, the three decided to split up as Aang tried to lead Azula and her friends away from Sokka and Katara's trail. Azula noticed the deception, however, and sent Ty Lee and Mai to follow Sokka and Katara, while she continued chasing down the Avatar. Azula encountered the Avatar in an abandoned town and prepared to fight him; she was interrupted, though, by her brother Zuko, who had tracked them and had his own plans for capturing Aang. Azula fought the two boys, and despite the fact that both mostly concentrated on attacking her, she dominated the fight, landing a knockout blow on Zuko and later trapping Aang beneath some fallen rubble. Victory was denied to her, however, when Katara, Sokka and Toph, showed up to rescue Aang, while Iroh arrives to help Zuko. Cornered, she claimed to be willing to give in, saying that "a princess surrenders with honor", but to everyone's surprise and dismay, Azula took advantage of Iroh momentarily being off guard and seriously wounded him with a bolt of blue fire, then escaped as the four benders attacked with their respective elements.

Azula was not seen again until "The Drill" where she, along with her allies Mai and Ty Lee, were overseeing War Minister Qin's efforts to use a giant drill to break through the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. When the engineers reported an accident involving an ambushed engineer, stolen drill schematics, and further sabotage, Azula recognized that it was the work of the Avatar. Upon finding Aang, Katara, and Sokka attempting to break the engine's braces, Azula forced Aang and his gang to quickly flee. She sent Mai and Ty Lee after Katara and Sokka while Azula followed Aang, once again claiming personal ownership over the Avatar's capture. She caught Aang trying to bore a hole at the top of the drill, and they began a brutal match. Her firebending nearly overwhelmed the young Avatar, but he continued to fight as the drill bored its way through the wall. The fight ended in a rather undignified manner, with the drill's slurry water pipes bursting and Azula slipping into Aang; both of them almost fell off of the drill. Azula tried to regain the advantage, but Aang was faster--by the time she had recovered, he was already on his way down the wall to destroy the drill. Azula gave one final strike with flame, but was a second too slow. Aang's powerful impact on the earthen wedge destroyed the drill and knocks Azula away.

Following this incident, Azula took Mai and Ty Lee and began hunting for the Avatar's bison, once again following his trail of hair. When the princess and her companions finally came across him in "Appa's Lost Days," he was in a forest clearing being tended to by a group of female warriors--the Kyoshi Warriors. After a few snide remarks in which she dismissed the warriors as the Avatar's "fangirls," Azula and her friends initiated a fight. Azula engaged Suki in a swift one-on-one battle and managed to disarm the warrior and knocked her to the ground; however, she was distracted by another Kyoshi Warrior and turned to fight her instead. By the time she returned to Suki, the older girl had already driven Appa off with a flaming branch. Suki then proceeded to take a firm stance, whereas Azula merely condescendingly teased her again, before rushing in to battle--the girls clashed, but the rest of the fight was left unseen.

While Suki's fate is still unknown, it is made clear that the Kyoshi Warriors did not claim victory in this battle--at the conclusion of "The Earth King," three girls dressed in Kyoshi Warrior uniforms were welcomed by the Earth King--and the leader of the girls was unmistakably Azula.

Shortly after, in the episode "The Guru," The Earth King revealed that he had had a troubling week, with Long Feng and the Dai Li planning to take over. Azula's initial smug amusement at the irony of the situation turned to a sudden concern, though, when he revealed to them that the Earth Kingdom will invade the Fire Nation--on the day of a solar eclipse. Azula was visibly caught off-guard by this information, and immediately begins to consider what to do.

Afterwards, she confided to Ty Lee and Mai that she planned to take control of the Dai Li and take down Ba Sing Se from the inside. She developed a plan to inform the Dai Li of their true nature, and thus spread the word on to their leader, Long Feng. The plan was successful, and Azula was taken by Dai Li agents in the middle of the night to Long Feng, who struck a deal with her. He gave her control of the Dai Li to overthrow the government in exchange for the Avatar.

Meanwhile, in the "The Guru," Katara discovered that Zuko and Iroh were in the city, and approached Azula, thinking her to be Suki, and informed her of her brother's presence. Azula revealed herself, and before Katara could warn anyone, Ty Lee took the young waterbender down. Azula proceeded to lock her in the crystal catacombs beneath the city and have a "family reunion" by sending a letter to Iroh and Zuko, telling them that the Earth King wished for them to serve him tea. Near the beginning of "The Crossroads of Destiny," the pair fell into her trap, and became surrounded by Dai Li agents. However, Iroh managed to escape them and the palace--Zuko, on the other hand, chose to stay behind to face Azula, challenging her to an Agni-Kai. His sister nonchalantly turned it down, and he was overwhelmed by the Dai Li. He was then imprisoned in the same dungeon as Katara.

Finally, Azula unleashed her coup upon the city, and the Dai Li arrested the Council of Five, the Earth King's highest ranking generals, while she personally captured the Earth King. Sokka and Toph were arrested as well while attempting to warn the Earth King of the danger, and Azula sent them off to a separate dungeon. Immediately afterward, Long Feng arrived on the scene and commanded the Dai Li to arrest Azula, smugly proclaiming a double-cross. The laugh was all Azula's, though, as she gleefully explained that the Dai Li were so impressed by her that they no longer knew who to follow. In a smug and verbose speech, she denounced him for his lack of the divine right to rule--something she possessed and boasted about. She ended by commanding Long Feng to bow to her, since he could not compete with somebody born to rule. He grudgingly obliged, saying that she had beaten him at his own game. She scathingly replied that he was "never even a player."

Azula appeared one last time in the episode, shortly after Iroh and Aang found Katara and Zuko. Aang and Katara had been sent off by Iroh, while he remained behind for a moment with Zuko to bring him finally over to the side of good. However, his choice would not be complete without the devil upon his shoulder, and Azula was only too willing to play that part. Using the Dai Li to immobilize Iroh, she put her tongue and wit to the ultimate test, promising that her father would restore Zuko's honor and that she needed him--she promised him everything if he would help her. She closed the argument by leaving him to choose his own destiny and going after Katara and the Avatar. However, things were not going in her favor during the beginning of the battle, as her attacks could not break through their defense, and she found herself surrounded on both sides by Aang and Katara. Just when it seemed that she might lose the battle, her work came to fruition. Zuko arrived, and after a moment of consideration, chose to attack the Avatar. A long battle ensued and Azula attacked Katara only to be held back in a dire predicament, with one leg and one arm immobilized in water. Azula was saved by Zuko's timely intervention, and actually gave him an approving look before proceeding to fight the Avatar. After disabling him, she moved to end the stalemate between her brother and Katara. Together, she and Zuko easily overwhelmed her. The Dai Li joined them within a few moments, and Azula and her brother appeared unstoppable.

Aang then closed himself off in a chamber of crystal; the rest of the room stared as he entered the Avatar State. However, Azula positioned herself behind the Avatar, and used her lightning to strike the Avatar in the back before he could unleash his own assault. She would have been the Avatar's killer if not for Katara's timely recovery and swift waterbending; all the same, the Avatar was unable to fight, and Azula and Zuko were unquestionably the victors. As the siblings approached the defeated duo, though, they were blocked by the timely appearance of Iroh. He temporarily held off Azula, Zuko, and the Dai Li, allowing himself to be captured once Katara had made her escape with Aang. Later, in the throne room of the Earth King, Azula told Zuko that he had restored his honor by joining her, and that Iroh had been the one who had betrayed him--not the other way around. His honor was restored, she explained--for after a hundred years, she and Zuko had finally conquered the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se.

Book 3: Fire
In "Going Home Again," a canonical interlude comic featured within the second All-Avatar Nick Mag Presents edition, Azula is shown making arrangements for their return to Fire Nation. One of which is passing her position as ruler of Ba Sing Se over to Joo Dee, whom she views as the perfect person to leave in her stead, dubbing the former tour guide Supreme Bureaucratic Administrator. Azula then refuses to take no as an answer when a reluctant Zuko chooses to remain in Ba Sing Se. Gathering Ty Lee, the princess schemes to use Mai and Zuko's mutual childhood crushes to entice her brother's decision. With the false report of a meeting with a Admiral Liang, she sets the two up on a Fire Nation-themed dinner date, featuring the Dai Li agents serving as waiters. However, the ruse is uncovered when Zuko overhears Azula and Ty Lee giggling in the nearby bushes. The princess attempts to catch herself, claiming that she was just telling Ty Lee to stop messing around in the bushes. Neither Zuko nor Mai buys into the tale and leave off on a private walk around Ba Sing Se.

The following day, while boarding the ships, Azula looks on at Zuko and Mai speaking affectionately with one another and concludes that her plan seems to have been quite successful after all. She then turns to her chained uncle and wonders aloud if the prisoner will even survive the trip home. As she bids her brother farewell, Zuko suddenly makes the resolve to come with them back to the Fire Nation. Azula slyly tells her brother to do whatever he wants, as it's his decision.

In "The Awakening," Azula and Zuko return home and both are welcomed with open arms by the people, with a rally held in their honor to praise their successful efforts at the Earth Kingdom capital. Later at the old turtle duck pond, Azula and Zuko converse about Zuko's long-awaited meeting with their father. Zuko is anxious not only about the upcoming audience, but also that he must return to his father without the Avatar. Azula shrugs it off, once again restating her position that the debt is repaid by the Avatar being dead. At this, Zuko momentarily hesistates to agree in Aang's supposed demise. Azula however appears to disregard it and simply walks away.

When Zuko at last meets his father, it is revealed that Azula misinformed Ozai that he was the one who killed the Avatar. Perplexed, Zuko immediately goes to Azula's chamber to question her actions. Azula claims that she saw how worried Zuko was about not having the Avatar, she decided to give him the credit for his demise out of a generous gesture to repay his aid in the takeover of Ba Sing Se. Zuko refuses to believe her explanation, accusing her of retaining an alterior motive. Azula nonchanlantly points out how letting him have all the glory over slaying the Avatar could do little to benefit her, but insidiously acknowledges the fact that should it be discovered that the Avatar was indeed alive, all that glory would swiftly turn into shame and foolishness. She assures Zuko that he has nothing to worry about, as he already said himself, there's no way the Avatar could have survived. With that, the princess bids her deeply incensed brother goodnight.