They were equal, imo.

Kuruk, easily. The guy sacrificed his lifespan and legacy to preserve the saintly image and reputation of Yangchen, lost the love of his life, and he had to fight off dark spirits.

Azula's life was not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but Kuruk arguably had it worse.

Azula at least had the illusion of an easy life to fall back on, Kuruk was born in the tundra, finally got out of there, only to fight soul-sucking spirits on his own and die young.

Context of both pasts please. (WITH SPOILERS)

@Agus2406 Kuruk basically spent his whole life trying to clean up Yangchen’s mistakes since she favored humans to spirits. Kuruk spent his life having to fight dark spirits and even lost the only woman he loved to Koh The Face Stealer. The world even saw him as a terrible Avatar who neglected his duties and he let them think that because he was trying to protect Yangchen’s legacy and reputation. Kuruk ended up dying at only 33 years old since his body became very weak from fighting dark spirits and from sicknesses.

Azula had it tough because she spent most of her time trying to be absolutely perfect to impress her father, never thinking she was good enough and always tried to win her father’s approval. She suffered from Ozai’s abuse which made her believe that fear and manipulation was the only method of control. Even her own mother thought she was a monster and loved her older brother Zuko more. When her only friends, Mai and Ty Lee, eventually betray her she suffers a mental breakdown, cutting herself off from people and begins seeing hallucinations of her mother and basically just goes crazy eventually landing herself in a psychiatric institution. Zuko eventually takes her out so she can help find their mother but she runs away until she comes back in later comics briefly, but then disappears forever.

IcedTofficial Thank you for the detailed explanation! I understand now the suffering of both characters.

However, I personally think Azula had it worse. At least Kuruk had some happiness, friends and a wife he loved, even if tragedy struck later.

Azula, on the other hand, only had an abusive father, no true love or lasting friendships, and ended up completely isolated and broken. That, in my opinion, makes her suffering more intense.