Talk:Azula/@comment-35.14.233.95-20120724162932/@comment-35.9.62.225-20120725205747

^ All of which are behaviors she probably got from trying to imitate or impress Ozai. Taunting your siblings is extremely common among all young kids; they usually involve fairly violent threats but aren't backed up with intent. As for the famous Agni Kai scene, my personal theory was that she was happy because of her own jealousy. Since Zuko was the older sibling he would have first claim to the throne, something that probably irritated Azula to no end, and flashbacks suggest that he also got preferential treatment from their mother. That sort of reaction is typical for young kids when they get to see a parent punishing their sibling. Obviously this situation is way more extreme than a typical punishment, even a spanking, but it's unlikely that Azula at that age understood that Zuko would be permantantly scarred. And of course, growing up in a royal family during wartime she was probably somewhat accustomed to violence of all sorts.

The point is, young Azula wasn't that much worse than any other little girl or than her brother, especially given the circumstances they both grew up in. Bryke stated that she had the potential for greater goodness if raised differently. So why were Ursa and Iroh so fixated on saving Zuko from the darkness within, but not her? It almost feels like they gave her up for lost.