Ozai

History
Fire Lord Ozai is the ruthless, permanently shadowed Firebender ruler of the Fire Nation (currently for six or seven years), brother of General Iroh, son to Fire Lord Azulon and Fire Lady Ilah, and father to Prince Zuko and Princess Azula. He is also the husband of Princess Ursa. The Fire Lord is leading his country in a century-long war against the other three nations of the world, the goal of which is to create a planetwide empire. The war began when Ozai's grandfather Fire Lord Sozin utilized the firebending-enhancing powers of a comet to launch his first strike, the genocide of the Air Nomads. Now, the war is in its final stages. By summer's end, Sozin's comet will return, giving the Fire Nation the power needed to storm the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se and realize Ozai's goal of world conquest.

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 (who may or may not have been lying but was listening to the secret meeting behind a curtain), Ozai was ordered to kill his son Zuko. Instead, Zuko's mother mysteriously disappears, though the cause is unknown. 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.

Despite familial ties, even Ozai's son has borne the brunt of his cruelty. Two years before the series began, the then 14 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 angered, 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 his 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.

Ozai's visage is only in shadow, and he has not taken an active part in the show aside from giving commands.

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.