Azula's relationships

This page is comprised of Azula's relationships with other characters in the world of Avatar, all of which, with the exception of her relationship with her father, were jeopardized through her cruel, manipulative, and selfish personality.
== Relatives ==
=== Azulon ===
Azula was named by Ozai after her grandfather, Azulon. The relationship between Azula and her grandfather remains a mystery. Ozai has mentioned that both of them were firebending prodigies, however, Azulon seemed to be unimpressed with his granddaughter's abilities. The feeling seems mutual, however, as she appeared to be unimpressed with him due to his old age and moments of compassion for Iroh. She was, for the most part, not saddened or even the slightest bit fazed by Azulon's death. Years later, when Azula received a spirit vision of her ideal family, she saw Azulon as being alive, suggesting that she had felt at least some sympathy for him.
=== Ozai ===
In her early life, Ozai seemed to be the only person whom Azula viewed as her equal. The princess was favored by their father as a child; he mentored her politically, and generally took her side in disputes between her and Zuko when they were young. In contrast to Ursa, Ozai was overjoyed at Azula being a firebending prodigy, and praised her powers and skills. It was thus no surprise, given her rivalry with her brother and her distant relationship with her mother and uncle, that Azula gravitated toward the one person in her family who encouraged her as a child. Unfortunately, the person in question turned out to be cruel and sadistic, and Ozai encouraged those traits in Azula as well. For much of her early life, Azula believed that her father was destined to rule the world, and that she was destined to succeed him.The Earth Kingdom Chronicles: The Tale of Azula, Chapter 1.Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Wan Shi Tong's Adventure Guide, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 26. Even after Zuko's banishment, however, Ozai did not fully confirm Azula's position as heir, meaning that she still felt the need to constantly prove her worthiness as successor to her father.The Earth Kingdom Chronicles: The Tale of Azula, Chapter 5. Even though she believed herself the favored child, Azula was not ignorant of Ozai's uncaring attitude and his lack of patience for any failures, including her own.
Azula genuinely craved her father's approval, believing him superior to others and above judgement. As a firebending prodigy and the favored sibling, everyone, apart from Iroh, Zuko, and Ursa, publicly adored her, though she generally assumed that this adoration was motivated by fear.The Earth Kingdom Chronicles: The Tale of Azula, Chapter 2. In contrast, she saw her father's respect as true, and was happy to be provided with a personal ship and soldiers by Ozai as a sign of favor. Soon after the Fire Nation Navy defeat at the Northern Water Tribe, Fire Lord Ozai gave her the task of capturing Zuko and Iroh. Azula sought to please Ozai and further her own position by capturing not just Zuko and Iroh, but also achieving various side goals such as eliminating the Avatar and conquering Ba Sing Se.The Earth Kingdom Chronicles: The Tale of Azula, Chapter 4.
Soon after returning to the Fire Nation with Zuko after the supposed defeat of the Avatar, Azula demonstrated a lack of loyalty to her own father; she was willing to lie, even to him, for her own ends. Even at this point, Azula was well aware that Ozai was quick to judge others, and wanted to avoid his displeasure. During the eclipse, Zuko revealed to his father that it was Azula who "killed" the Avatar at Ba Sing Se and that he survived the attack. Ozai was clearly infuriated at his daughter's failure to kill the Avatar and Zuko's traitorous behavior, but this did not seem to cost Azula her father's favor and trust, as she remained just as high-ranked as she was and did not seem to have been punished in any other way.
Prior to this, Ozai told Azula that she was not to participate in the Earth Kingdom attack that she had suggested to him earlier, and she immediately felt belittled and dishonored and was evidently hurt by what she felt was neglect from her father. However, she was forced to back down harshly by Ozai, who then gently and calmly told her that while he was attacking the Earth Kingdom, Azula was the only one he trusted to take care of the Fire Nation in case of an attack, which appeared to calm down Azula, and she finally accepted it after learning that Ozai had decided to declare her the new Fire Lord, which caused her to express visible joy, but she showed concern over what that meant for Ozai, only to learn that her becoming Fire Lord was largely for nothing as Ozai had declared himself the Phoenix King, a higher rank than Fire Lord.
From this, it became evident that Ozai was incapable of true, unconditional love and dispensed affection and favor to shape his two children as tools that would respond to his will, even for his daughter, and that Ozai would never allow Azula to succeed him, and it even seemed, at least to Azula, that Ozai may have some fear and shame of Azula's deep desire for power, which was not so far behind from his own. This shaped Azula's fears that she could not count on love or affection from anyone, no matter how close they seemed. Unable to trust others, she instead tried to dominate them through fear - a paranoia that ultimately drove her insane following both the betrayal of her closest friends and her own father abandoning her in the now-meaningless role of Fire Lord.
Ozai and Azula were both defeated by the Avatar and his allies during the arrival of Sozin's Comet and, while Ozai was imprisoned in the Capital City Prison, Azula was sent to a secret mental facility elsewhere in the Fire Nation.
A year later, Azula and her father were placed in adjoining cells by Zuko in order to facilitate a conversation between the two. During the first half hour, they said nothing to each other, knowing that they were being watched. When Zuko entered with tea, Azula made him trip, much to Ozai's delight. However, when they were left to have a conversation in private, Azula and Ozai's bond of trust was still great enough for him to trust her with information regarding her mother's fate.
After rediscovering Ursa and then venturing alone through the Forgetful Valley, Azula gradually realized the full extent of Ozai's manipulation of her and discarded all loyalty for him. She instead decided to start molding Zuko into her image of a better Fire Lord. Accordingly, when she helped Ukano, the founder of the New Ozai Society, she openly stated that freeing her father was never her intention. When later on confronted with a spirit vision of her mother, Azula expressed resentment toward Ozai for turning her into his personal firebending weapon. She also dismissed him as a hollow shell of his former self. Regardless, she continued to define her powers and right to rule others through her descent from "Phoenix King Ozai".
=== Iroh ===
Despite the fact that they were family, Azula expressed little sympathy for Iroh and was constantly disrespectful toward him. Even as a child, Azula had a considerably low opinion of her uncle; she referred to him as "His Royal Tea-loving Kookiness", as well as promptly torching a doll he had sent her from Ba Sing Se. In fact, Azula once expressed excitement at the idea that Iroh might die in battle, which would put Ozai next in line for the throne. Though she did admit that Iroh was "considered a great warrior" in his prime, Azula also believed that he had been overrated as a military leader and was directly responsible for the long duration of the Siege of Ba Sing Se.The Earth Kingdom Chronicles: The Tale of Azula, Chapter 4. When Iroh retreated from the siege after the death of his son, Lu Ten, Azula lost her remaining respect for him. She openly called him a "quitter and loser" and considered him a "traitor and a coward" who had "ran from the battle" and betrayed the Fire Nation by letting "control of the Earth Kingdom slip from his grasp".
Years later when Iroh ended up accidentally poisoning himself by consuming a White Jade Flower (mistaking it for the White Dragon Flower), he and Zuko considered their options as to where they should go to find an antidote. Their options were either to journey to the Earth Kingdom, where they risk having their identities and connections to the Fire Nation exposed, captured and possibly killed; or back to the Fire Nation, were they were currently viewed as traitors. With the strong possibility of being immediately handed to Azula should they choose the latter, the duo opted to the Earth Kingdom instead, indicating death was a more favored option than facing Azula. She also called him "Uncle Fatso" and "Old Fuddy-Duddy Uncle". She once attacked Iroh with a fire blast - after she had, as she put it, "surrendered with honor" - and severely wounded him.
Unlike Zuko, Iroh was not blinded by emotion and could see through Azula's lies. He was skeptical when Azula claimed her father wanted them home in the Fire Nation while Zuko eagerly awaited his return home. Iroh's suspicions were confirmed when Azula's ship captain accidentally revealed they were prisoners. He attempted to act politely toward Azula regardless of his distrust, but Azula did not respond kindly and interrupted him while he was talking, demanding for him to be silent.
Despite Iroh's tendencies to avoid unnecessary conflict, he did teach 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 was one of the few other characters who possesses the ability to generate lightning and has demonstrated the technique of redirecting lightning, a technique Azula had not mastered. When Azula tried to manipulate Zuko into taking over Ba Sing Se, Iroh unsuccessfully tried to convince him to let go of his quest to restore his honor and "choose good". After Ba Sing Se fell, Azula brought Iroh home in chains and used him as a ploy to convince Zuko to return home as well.
Upon the arrival of Sozin's Comet, Iroh reversed his niece's victory and liberated Ba Sing Se. Like Ursa, Iroh favored Zuko over Azula, though he did encourage her role in the search for Ursa one year later, helping Team Avatar to accept her by pointing out that finding Ursa could perhaps bring peace to her as well. When Azula was experiencing a spirit vision of her ideal family, Iroh was there as well, praising her as conqueror of Ba Sing Se. Thus, despite all her resentment toward him, Azula still desired that her relationship to Iroh would have been better than it turned out to be. She subsequently expressed resentment over Iroh supporting Zuko instead of her, seeing it as a "betrayal".
=== Kiyi ===
Kiyi was Azula's half-sister, although the princess was unaware of this the first time they met. Kiyi attempted to befriend both Zuko and Azula by showing them her doll. However, Azula, not wanting to be bothered by this child, scared her by saying that she used to give her dolls "headcuts" instead of haircuts, asking if Kiyi would like to see a demonstration. This visibly scared Kiyi, though the girl quickly regained her composure.
When Azula returned to the house intent on killing Noriko, whom she learned was truly Ursa, she glared at the terrified Kiyi and asked her mother if the girl was meant to be her replacement, since she turned out to be a monster.
Some time later, Azula did acknowledge Kiyi as family, saying that she was strong-willed, as it was "in her blood". Despite this, Kiyi did not appear in Azula's spirit vision of her ideal family.
=== Lu Ten ===
Little is known about Azula's relationship with her cousin, Lu Ten. When Ursa informed her children that "Iroh [had] lost his son. Your cousin, Lu Ten, did not survive the battle", Zuko was clearly shocked and saddened by the news, while Azula was shown in the background with an unclear expression and was entirely unsympathetic to Iroh's reaction to his death. Lu Ten was also noticably missing in Azula's spirit vision of her ideal family.
=== Ursa ===
Even though Ursa deeply cared about Azula, and Azula craved her mother's attention and affection, the two developed a difficult relationship from an early point. Unlike Ozai, Ursa attempted to limit Azula's often cruel and manipulative behavior, while also fearing her daughter's bending power due to how it would be used by Ozai. In her early years, the princess generally interpreted this behavior as Ursa disliking her and instead only loving Zuko. Indeed, Ursa often focused on protecting Zuko who was neglected and abused by both Ozai and Azula. This was in direct contrast to her husband Ozai's feelings toward his children, who stated Azula was "born lucky" while Zuko was "lucky to be born". Ursa's care for Zuko only increased Azula's resentment and caused her to lash out even more, prompting more pushback by Ursa. Often, Azula's bavior was a cry for her mother's attention and she was subconsciously massively jealous that Zuko managed to have what she believed she was never able to gain and craved from Ursa: a mother's love and acceptance.
After overhearing a conflict between Fire Lord Azulon and Ozai, Azula mockingly informed Zuko that their father was going to carry out the orders given be Azulon to kill his son. After overhearing this, Ursa angrily questioned Azula and subsequently murdered Azulon to protect Zuko; upon being forced into exile, she visited both Zuko and Azula to say goodbye, but the latter was asleep at the time and thus unaware of her mother's final words of love before leaving. Azula subsequently showed no concern or sadness at all over the death of her grandfather or the disappearance of her own mother, especially when it became known that Ozai would be crowned Fire Lord. Despite this, Ursa's banishment had a deep impact on her fragile psyche, as it allowed Ozai's influence to go unchecked.
Over the next years, Azula became gradually aware of how her mother had influenced her, but initally focused on the negative aspects. For instance, as she and her friends discussed their pasts during a vacation on Ember Island, Azula remarked with a somewhat tired tone that she was well aware Ursa loved Zuko more but did not obsess over it unlike her brother. She also bitterly acknowledged that her own mother thought she was a monster and even stated that it hurt, albeit halfheartedly, as she goes on to state it was true. It is interesting to note that when Azula made her revelation, she stared into a fire pit of burning embers, showing a hint of her deep-rooted issues of anger, resentment and pain toward Ursa, leaving a glimpse of the inner turmoil in Azula's mind that would later manifest itself outwardly as she descended into madness.
It was fully revealed how much Ursa's banishment had impacted Azula during the arrival of Sozin's Comet, where Azula hallucinated Ursa upon cutting her hair as she berated her for removing her beautiful hair. Quickly getting angry and bitter upon seeing the image of Ursa, Azula coldly reminded her mother that she had no reason to see her since her mother thought she was a monster and was further angered when Ursa stated she knew Azula ruled using fear rather than trust due to her confusion, angrily showing she believes Ursa unworthy to lecture her on it for having considered her a monster. When Ursa said she loved her daughter, Azula was immediately reduced to tears and snapped bitterly and threw her hairbrush at her mirror, breaking the glass and ending the hallucination, leaving her alone in her bedroom breaking down, this incident further exposing the enormous turmoil, and possible self-loathing, going on inside Azula's mind as she descended into insanity. This showed that although she was cold at her mother's banishment, Azula deep down mourned her mother and regretted she never managed to earn Ursa's love. The fact that what remained of her conscience, buried deep by her indomitable will in order to allow her to be the cruel and ruthless princess known and feared by many, indicated she even admired Ursa's goodness and possibly showed that had Ursa treated her with the same love she did with Zuko and more gently tried to make her a better person, she perhaps could have indeed become similar to what Zuko would turn out to be.
Seeing the hallucination of Ursa had a deep impact on Azula, even a year later. She agreed at that time to help Zuko find Ursa, though she did so with her own agenda, as her paranoia led her to blame Ursa for every bad thing that had occurred in her life, and to conspire with her enemies. Throughout her journey to Hira'a, where Team Avatar was hoping to find some more leads about Ursa's whereabouts, Azula was often plagued by delusional thoughts of Ursa's treacherous conspiracies against her and hallucinations that declared her mother's love for her, something Azula still could not comprehend. Accusing her mother of setting everyone against her, even her own mind, Azula revealed her plans to Ursa's mirage that she would find and kill her, in order to be free of her interventions forever.
When Azula learned that Ursa had given up her old face, she attacked her in a fit of rage. She was particularly upset that, under the identity of Noriko, Ursa had had another daughter with Ikem, Kiyi. Azula bitterly asked if Kiyi was a replacement for her since she turned out to be such a monster. Noriko, realizing that she, as Ursa, did indeed not love Azula properly, apologized to Azula for this, stroking her face with tears in her eyes. This caused Azula to hesitate, even crying, allowing Zuko to intervene and stop Azula's attack. After Zuko revealed that he would love Azula as a sister no matter what, Azula gave up her goal to kill Ursa, running away and leaving her alive instead. The encounter changed how Azula regarded Ursa; though still resenting her mother's behavior, the princess recognized that Ursa had always loved her, unlike Ozai who had only seen her as a tool.
When confronted by a spirit vision of Ursa later on, Azula expressed despair and resentment at her for "choosing Zuko over her" and not protecting her from Ozai's influence, going as far as to say Ursa ruined her. Deep down Azula wished to reconnect with her mother and family, though she was unable to admit any wrongdoing on her own part. When reflecting on how fearful Ursa had seemed when she had first unlocked her firebending, Azula by the present had come to understand Ursa was afraid for her as much as she had been afraid of her.
=== Zuko ===
Zuko, also referred to as Zuzu by Azula, is Azula's older brother by two years. Though they were closer in the earliest years, Azula exhibited a dominating streak from an early age. For instance, when the two renacted the last duel of Love amongst the Dragons during vacations to Ember Island, Azula forced her brother to always play the evil antagonist who ended up being defeated. As they grew older, the siblings increasingly grew apart. Seeing how Ozai favored her ruthlessness, Azula began to seen her brother as a "weak, whiny boy" who "would never stand up for himself". She began to often lie to Zuko and take pleasure in mentally torturing him; though Zuko knew that "Azula always lies" (as he repeatedly chants, seemingly to convince himself), she was often able to manipulate him.
In truth, this behavior was partially motivated by the fact that Zuko and Ursa were very close. Azula internally tried to justify her disdain for her mother's behavior by framing Zuko as weakling who always needed his mother's protection. She also exhibited little care or respect for his opinions; as children, she convinced her father to banish their firebending master Kunyo even though Zuko held him in high regard. When Ozai also used the opportunity to further belittle Zuko, Azula triumphantly smiled at her brother's visible discomfort.
When Zuko was later burned by Ozai in an Agni Kai and banished, Azula seemed to relish the moment. She saw this punishment as justified, believing that he had "disrespect[ed] our father". After Zuko had been exiled, the princess considered her brother a "failure, total and complete", as he had not even been able to complete the one task given to him: Capture the Avatar. Despite this self-internalized outlook, Azula never managed to fully discard some lingering attachment to Zuko. She occasionally had to admit that he was smart and had a brave side.The Earth Kingdom Chronicles: The Tale of Azula, Chapter 6. 
The fact that she still cared for Zuko, at least in some way, surfaced when she used his hope of redemption to prompt him to betray Iroh and join her in attacking the Avatar in the conquering Ba Sing Se. Though this manipulation was also motivated by Zuko being a useful asset, Azula genuinely thought that she knew "what Zuko wants deep in his heart". She also reasoned that if Zuko was willing to follow her, he could still be a proper Fire Nation prince, though one subordinate to her. When they seemingly succeeded in killing the Avatar and Azula noticed Zuko's regretful stance, she actually felt sorry for him, musing that her brother didn't "understand, even at his moment of ultimate achievement". When Zuko later expressed his desire to remain in exile, secretly feeling regret about how he had betrayed Iroh, Azula attempted to manipulate him into returning home. After first referencing the fact that Ozai would accept him again, she then tried to rekindle Zuko and Mai's romance, before eventually using Iroh's imprisonment in the Fire Nation as a ploy. At this point, Azula seemingly to genuinely want Zuko to be part of her family again.
Following their alliance, Azula's relationship with her brother gradually began to take a drastic change. She expressed 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 instructed 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 shared nostalgia and depression with her brother as they paid a visit to their family's decrepit summer beach house. After Azula found Zuko within the old house, she told him to leave, noting that she understands his feelings toward the place. Along with Mai and Ty Lee, Azula later helps Zuko realize why he was feeling angered, assuming the role of interpreter as they each shared revelations of their life experiences that shaped them into who they are. When her turn came, Azula admitted to her awareness that their mother loved Zuko more, but unlike her brother, did not feel the need to care or spend her time complaining about it. Although, with each act of compassion toward her brother, Azula ensured to couple it with her usual cold-heartedness, a performance reminiscent to that of a love-hate relationship. At one point Zuko finally brought himself to confide his feelings of uncertainty and confusion toward Azula. While faintly sympathetic toward him, she impulsively deemed him pathetic, albeit in a somewhat playful tone.
During the eclipse, Zuko confessed to Ozai that it was Azula who failed to kill the Avatar and that she lied to him to avoid punishment. Afterward, Azula confronted Zuko again while he was assisting a prison escape at the Boiling Rock. Despite her ingenious tactics and attacks, she found Zuko's firebending to have improved greatly and all her attacks were easily deflected by her brother and Sokka, who at that point was an able swordsman, helping Zuko, further put the odds against her, but she was still able to stand her ground against both of them. When the soldiers cut off the line, Azula abandoned her attempts to defeat Zuko and had no qualms leaving her brother for dead, although she oddly did not look too pleased about it, but then her friend Mai betrayed her by saving Zuko's life, a reflection that she still loved him. Zuko escaped successfully along with his allies, leaving Azula enraged. As Mai officially renounced her loyalty to Azula, prompting her to fight Mai, Azula was attacked by Ty Lee, who came to Mai's defense. Although she masked the effects of the incident with anger, Azula was devastated by the betrayal of her two friends and this apparently only served to make her already bad relationship with Zuko worse.
Azula attacked Zuko and his friends at the Western Air Temple. At this point, it was clear that she wished to kill her own brother and mocked him that she was now unquestionably the one that will be the heir of their father. After seeing Zuko survive the fall, she quickly abandoned her pursuit of the Avatar to fight Zuko at the top of her airship. Azula and Zuko dueled to a stalemate and she briefly lapsed on her calm demeanor as she prepared to execute a devastating firebending move on her brother, grinning somewhat maniacally as he countered with an equally powerful move, they were both flung off the airship by the powerful explosion that followed the collision of their attacks. This sent Azula falling to what would have been certain death had she not saved herself by using her firebending to propel herself toward a cliff and used her hair pin to anchor herself there safely. She watched Zuko fly off with a sinister look on her face, clearly ready to pursue her brother once again.
It is important to note that while Azula was falling, Zuko appeared to genuinely regret that she would really die and even seemed almost relieved when she survived. This, coupled with Azula's affection for Zuko during their time together, proves that deep down they did care for one another, but their different views on life and the nature of their upbringing (Zuko through Ursa and Iroh, and Azula through Ozai) and the subsequent bitterness, anger and jealousy from both sides made them incapable of coexisting. While initially vague, it soon became clearer where Azula's rage toward her brother came from as she impulsively felt the need to berate and belittle him and rub their father's favoritism of her in his face, even when the situation did not call for it and even after Zuko made it clear he no longer cared for his father's approval. This apparently stems from a massive and subconscious jealousy of her mother favoring Zuko.
Zuko and Azula finally battled for the last time on the day Sozin's Comet arrived. Zuko and Katara arrived at Azula's coronation where Zuko declared to his sister that he would become Fire Lord rather than 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 overcome her crumbling mental state, but given she smirked maliciously, it was likely to kill Zuko rather than a tactical attempt to separate them. When Katara pointed out to Zuko that he had previously admitted to not being able to defeat Azula 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, enable him to defeat her and keep Katara out of harm's way. The two fought a vicious duel with Zuko easily fighting Azula evenly and even gaining the upper hand. When Zuko finally succeeded in knocking Azula off her feet, Azula became more frustrated and instantly snapped when Zuko taunted her about her failure to utilize lightning generation, believing her to be afraid he would redirect the bolt at her, immediately charging up a powerful lightning attack. She appeared to target Zuko, however, aimed the attack at Katara instead, who was anxiously watching the battle from the sidelines. Zuko leapt in front of the lightning, redirecting enough of the attack to prevent immediate death, but was still badly injured in the process. Azula laughed maniacally and proceeded to fight Katara, who eventually tricked her by freezing them both in a block of ice and liquefying it to the extent where she was able to bind Azula's hands together and secure her to the ground. After defeating Azula, Katara went to heal Zuko. Seeing Zuko alive and standing after her attack finally caused Azula's mentality to collapse. She began screaming wildly and breathing fire, until she ended up on her side screaming, struggling, crying uncontrollably and mumbling incoherently as her emotions spun out of control. Zuko watched with sympathy and sadness despite all that had happened as his sister fell apart.
In an act of pity, Zuko did not imprison Azula but instead had her confined in a mental health facility elsewhere in the Fire Nation after the battle is lost for better treatment. One year later, Zuko, now as Fire Lord, visited Azula. He had tried numerous times to get their father to confess the whereabouts of their mother, Ursa, but had gotten nowhere. He knew that Azula was the only one who could get Ozai to talk. Despite their differences, Azula agreed to help him, needing no reward, saying that the "satisfaction of helping the Fire Lord in some small way [would] be compensation enough", and that ever since she was institutionalized, she had wondered every single day what had happened to their mother.
When Zuko subsequently arranged the meeting between her and Ozai in prison, she acted hostile toward him, knocking him over when he brought tea in order to dignify the unpleasant situation and accusing him of wanting to watch her lap at the beverage like an animal. Ty Lee immediately chi-blocked the angry Azula, but Zuko called her off, gently placing the now paralyzed Azula back in her wheelchair. When Zuko stated that all he wanted was to bring a little dignity to them, she promptly stated that the only way to do that was to leave her and their father to talk in private.
Azula held up her end of the deal and coaxed the wanted information out of Ozai, but her manipulative side prompted her to seemingly destroy the letter that could lead to Ursa's whereabouts in front of Zuko's eyes, thus ensuring her own place on the quest to find her as Zuko needed what she knew. She was released from the mental institution and allowed to accompany her brother unbound and with dignity. Even though her brother had complied to her requests, he remained focused and alert to her every move, even inviting his friends to keep an eye on her during their trip. On their search for Ursa, Azula repeatedly attacked Zuko and his allies in moments of mental confusion; at one point, she threatened her brother at a cliff. When Zuko managed to get a hold on her and began to express his frustration over their broken relationship, Azula initially began to ramble on how Ursa had set up this situation so that Zuko would kill her.
Zuko and Azula's relationship reached a defining point when Zuko fought his sister to prevent her from killing their mother. Azula asked her brother why he was fighting, considering he did not want to be Fire Lord, and also why he did not kill her when he had the chance, unless he needed her to "set him free" of that burden. Zuko replied that he knew the throne, burden and all, was his destiny, before replying that he did not kill her for one simple fact: no matter how messy their relationship was and may always be, she would never stop being his sister whom he cared about.
Azula, having realized at last that somebody loved her unconditionally, dropped the incriminating letter against Zuko before running away, leaving Ursa alive. Zuko chased after her, pleading for her to come back so that he could help her. With tears in her eyes, Azula responded "Same as always, Zu-Zu ... even when you're strong, you're weak," before running off into the Forgetful Valley.
Azula eventually returned as the leader of the Fire Warriors, who disguised themselves as the Kemurikage. She stated that she had eventually accepted Zuko as the Fire Lord but tried to mold him into her image of a proper, more ruthless ruler. Azula continued to mock Zuko, first for defending Kei Lo despite him having replaced him as Mai's boyfriend, taunting him with the question of doing so to earn back Mai's affections and later on after kicking him down.
Although Azula wished to continue molding Zuko into a more fit Fire Lord, she deep down still thought of herself as the only proper heir to the throne. She also believed that if Ursa had let Zuko die and protected her instead, she could have turned out for the better. When presented a vision of her ideal life, Zuko noticeably lacked his scar, suggesting Azula had come to feel some sympathy for the pain Zuko endured from their father.
== Love interest ==
=== Chan ===
Chan and Azula had only a brief relationship. Upon arriving at Chan's party, Azula gave him a surprisingly long and confusing compliment on his suit which Chan seemed to find odd. Nonetheless, the two later shared a romantic evening while stargazing on Chan's porch. They kissed with Chan remarking afterward that Azula was pretty. Azula, being inexperienced with romance, went back to her comfort zone of manipulation and domination of others and stated, "Together, you and I will be the strongest couple in the entire world! We will dominate the Earth!" This statement, coupled by a display of Azula's blue fire, frightened Chan and he went sheepishly back in the house, leaving behind a disappointed Azula. After some time with her friends on the beach, Azula exacted revenge on Chan by ransacking his house along with the others, leaving Chan sobbing. Azula did not meet Chan again afterward.
== Enemies ==
=== Aang ===
Aang, being the Avatar, had, along with Azula's brother and uncle, become the princess' target. In early encounters, she nearly managed to defeat him, typically forcing him to flee. Later on, however, he proved that, with his newly learned bending skills, he could stand a chance against her. Aang defeated her in a battle atop the Fire Nation drill with some aid from Momo, though the victory was hard-fought. In the Crystal Catacombs, she, alongside Zuko, faced Aang again, who was aided by Katara. After a long battle and being outnumbered with the recent arrival of the Dai Li, Aang attempted to enter the Avatar State only to be struck by a lightning bolt fired by Azula before he could complete the transformation.
When Azula and Zuko returned home, Azula informed Fire Lord Ozai that it was Zuko who killed the Avatar, shielding herself in the event that the Avatar survived the attack.
During the eclipse, Azula battled Aang once again, revealing her knowledge of his survival from the attack. She ordered her Dai Li agents to assail Aang and his group, stalling them during the eclipse. Aang eventually ceased to chase Azula, wishing to face the Fire Lord. His attempts end in failure, however, when Azula distracted Sokka during the last moments of the eclipse, ruining the attack and forcing them to abandon the mission.
Azula did not meet Aang again until her assault of the Western Air Temple, however, her prime focus lay in eliminating Zuko who had indirectly caused her former friends, Mai and Ty Lee, to betray her. Zuko held off Azula long enough for Aang to escape.
This was the last time Aang and Azula would face each other before the end of the War. While Aang fought Fire Lord Ozai upon the arrival of Sozin's Comet, Azula was finally defeated by Zuko and Katara. Of all Aang's enemies, Azula was the only one who was successful in killing him. Azula's bolt of lightning cut off Aang's connection with his past lives, blocking his connection to the Avatar State until it was later accidentally restored during his fight with Ozai. Azula proved a competent opponent for Aang in their few face-to-face battles, even forcing Aang on the defensive when he used two elements at once, a testament to her level of skill.
The two encountered each other again a year after the War's conclusion, when Zuko summoned Team Avatar to the Royal Palace to announce his intention to search for his mother Ursa. When Azula entered the room, Aang was immediately alarmed and adapted a defensive stance, warning Azula that he did not want to harm her. Azula was not impressed by the Avatar at all and stood by uninterested as Zuko explained the situation to his friends. Following that little scuffle, Azula completely brushed off Aang's efforts to get along with her, commanding him to be careful with her luggage and mocking the group at every opportunity.
During their journey toward Hira'a, Aang remained on guard in her presence in case she tried to attack them in any way, but still was willing to give her chance to find peace with herself by finding Ursa. When the group encountered a wolf spirit, Azula leaped off of Appa to forge on by herself, prompting Aang to glide in and rescue her only for her to torch his glider in mid-flight. Even though Azula later saved the team from a swarm of moth wasps, relations between Aang and Azula remained tense with her routinely rejecting his attempts to make peace with her and forcing him to remain on guard as they proceeded closer to Ursa's hometown.
After Azula ran away and vanished into Forgetful Valley, Aang voiced his optimism that Azula could change, citing her leaving behind the letter incriminating Zuko as illegitimate as proof. Sokka thought she just dropped it by accident, but Aang insisted that he believed she meant to do it.
Aang, being the reincarnation of Azula's maternal great-grandfather Avatar Roku, is Azula's spiritual relative.
=== Katara ===
Katara and Azula's relationship was limited to them being enemies and interactions limited to fights. During the Confrontation at Tu Zin, Azula attempted to strike her when Katara prevented her from capturing Aang. Shortly before the Coup of Ba Sing Se, Katara realized that the woman who was allegedly Suki was actually Azula in disguise after seeing the color of her eyes. The two battled in the crystal catacombs of Ba Sing Se; in the first part of the battle, Azula was outmatched by Katara, who managed to briefly subdue Azula with water tentacles, until Zuko freed his sister from Katara's grasp and started fighting her instead.
When Zuko decided to face Azula in an final battle to decide who would be Fire Lord, he asked Katara to join him to which she happily complied. When Zuko and Azula battled at the Fire Nation Capital, Azula attempted to shoot Katara with lightning after Zuko taunted her, however, Zuko threw himself in the lightning's path and Katara escaped uninjured. Azula relentlessly pursued Katara in an attempt to strike her down and was nearly able to kill her due to how much more powerful she was than the last time they fought, near-entirely pushing her into the defensive, while making it more pressing by depriving her of any large water source, but Azula's madness eventually got the better of her and Katara managed to last long enough to lure Azula into a storm drain filled with water and hiding the chains she had gotten, froze her in a block of ice after luring her close, which enabled Katara to chain her down to the grid. As Katara liquidated the water, Azula was rendered defenseless; her defeat driving her entirely into madness. Katara watched sadly alongside Zuko as Azula thrashed around, screaming and crying, indicating that Katara did have sympathy, or at least pity, for Azula in the end.
A year later, tensions between the two girls were still high, as Katara did not hesitate to attack Azula the moment she showed up at the Fire Nation palace, not awaiting Zuko's explanation for why his sister was there. Katara eventually agreed to let Azula come on the quest for Ursa with them, though expressed her severe concerns nonetheless and was constantly on guard around the Fire Nation princess. The moment Azula stepped out of line, Katara would act fiercely and decisively, not hesitating to immobilize her with her waterbending. When Azula singed Aang's glider, causing him to crash, Katara berated the princess, though Azula never seemed to care much as she saw Katara to be a "snow peasant", and an "uneducated coconspirator" of Ursa, there to take her down.
Azula and Katara engaged each other in shouting matches on the way to Forgetful Valley, arguments which prompted Zuko to say that the journey would end once they reached the valley. After Azula ran away and disappeared into Forgetful Valley, while Aang and Sokka disagreed on whether or not Azula was starting to change her ways, Katara stayed neutral in the matter.
During the Hundred Year War, Azula never referred to Katara by name, but did so for the first time on the way to Hira'a when she was distracted by a hallucination of her mother.
=== Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors ===
Azula and her team of friends encountered the Kyoshi Warriors in a forest; the band of warriors, at that time, were caring for Appa. The warriors took fighting stances, preparing to defend themselves and Appa to which Azula mockingly asked whether they were the Avatar's "fangirls". Although their leader, Suki, tried to deter them by saying the Avatar was not with them, Azula refused to back off, claiming that any friend of the Avatar's was an enemy of hers. She, Mai and Ty Lee briefly engaged in a fight with the Kyoshi Warriors.
With Mai's knife-throwing skills, Ty Lee's chi-blocking skills and Azula's prodigious firebending, all the warriors were quickly defeated until Suki remained the last one standing. She was momentarily distracted by Appa's escape from the fight until Azula resumed attacking her once more. Suki withdrew one of her fans, however, Azula calmly stated, "Don't you know fans just make flames stronger?" and the two began to fight. Suki and her comrades were finally defeated and captured.
Having learned that Suki was the girlfriend of Sokka, Azula took a special interest in the Kyoshi Warrior leader. She declared Suki her "favorite prisoner", and decided to separate her from the other Kyoshi Warriors to break her spirit. Shortly before Suki was transported to the Boiling Rock, Azula taunted her, but her attempt to exploit the relationship to Sokka was only met with defiance. The princess then switched her approach, instead focusing on the isolation and helplessness Suki would have to endure at prison, but this attempt to elicit a response completely failed. Declaring the Kyoshi Warrior "no fun at all", Azula eventually ordered Suki taken away. Azula's team consequently used the Kyoshi Warriors' attire to disguise themselves and infiltrate Ba Sing Se.
During the eclipse, Sokka, Toph and Aang managed to corner Azula. Powerless because of the eclipse, Azula used her knowledge of Sokka's relationship with Suki to goad him in to attacking her by saying she was alive and imprisoned, but had given up any hope of Sokka rescuing her. Sokka's reaction provided enough time for the eclipse to end, thus foiling Team Avatar's plans.
Suki, while wary of Azula when she was released to join Zuko, Aang, Katara, and Sokka on the search for Ursa, did not seem to have any great fear of her, as indicated when she verbally scolded Azula for being insensitive toward Appa.
When seemingly cornered by Ty Lee in a later battle, Azula mocked the Kyoshi Warriors for their impractical clothing and lacking performance in battle.
=== Sokka ===
Sokka and Azula's relationship was limited to their status as enemies, though she finds him annoying. The two first met in Omashu; when they encountered each other again, Sokka engaged her in a fight. The two have rarely conversed, however, that changed when Azula hindered Team Avatar's efforts to find the Fire Lord. She decided to further her efforts by taking advantage of Sokka's emotions, revealing that she knew his name and that her "favorite prisoner", being Suki, talked about him consistently. She falsely claimed that Suki gave up on the chance of Sokka ever coming to rescue her, prompting him to attack the princess in a blind and emotional rage. She prepared to attack him with a concealed shuriken knife, but Toph intervened and pinned her to the wall. Sokka demanded to know where Suki was being held captive, however, Azula said nothing and escaped once the eclipse ended. This incident left the two even more bitter toward each other than before.
Azula attempted to stop Sokka and Zuko from fleeing the Boiling Rock Prison. During this engagement, Sokka freed Suki and proved an equal match for Azula, evenly taking on her firebending with his swordsmanship and additional support from Zuko.
Sokka's last encounter with Azula before the War's end was during her ambush on the Western Air Temple.
A year after the War ended, Sokka still harbored resentment toward the princess, as he was quick to draw his boomerang to attack her when he saw her. Since she constantly belittled him, Sokka was opposed to the idea of letting her come on their journey to Hira'a, though complied for Zuko's sake. Azula zapped Sokka's boomerang with a small, quick lightning bolt, knocking him over, when he tried to assert his authority on the princess, threatening her with the weapon. During the journey, Sokka was especially wary of Azula's presence, with the princess routinely mocking him and the team and accusing them of conspiring with Ursa to destroy her.
After Azula dropped Ursa's letter to Ikem and vanished into Forgetful Valley, Sokka believed that she only did so on accident, believing Azula to be incapable of caring for Zuko, unlike Aang and Zuko himself.
=== Toph ===
Azula first encountered Toph when she and her friends, Mai and Ty Lee, were following Team Avatar. Later, at the ghost town of Tu Zin, Toph helped the team by knocking Azula down with earthbending. After being cornered by Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, and Iroh, she shot a bolt of lightning at Iroh, distracting the others for a brief moment, thus managing to escape.
During the eclipse, Aang, Sokka and Toph traveled together to find Fire Lord Ozai in order to defeat him and end the war. They infiltrated a large metal bunker, thought to conceal Ozai, only to discover Azula waiting for them. Azula's immunity to sending a bodily reaction when lying rendered Toph's ability to detect fibs useless during their interrogation of Azula as to Ozai's whereabouts. At one point, Azula prompted Sokka to charge at her in blind rage and prepared to strike him with a shuriken dagger. Toph sensed the hidden danger, however, and intervened, pinning Azula's hands to the wall. She, along with the others, abandoned their search for Ozai after the eclipse ended and Azula escaped.
The last time Toph encountered Azula was during the latter's assault on the Western Air Temple. However, Azula was primarily targeting Zuko and did not attack nor interact with any of the other members of the group.
== Former allies ==
=== Lo and Li ===
The twins, Lo and Li, had earned Azula's respect, trust and consideration. The sisters often helped Azula by offering her advice on a situation, such as when they gave her advice on the pursuit of her brother and uncle. Being Azula's firebending teachers they often evaluated her bending abilities, such as during her lightning generation practice
While on Ember Island, Azula stayed at the sisters' cottage, along with Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee. While there, Lo and Li both behaved in a more relaxed manner, while still offering advice on personal matters. During Azula's descent to madness, the sisters approached her, concerned for her mental state. Azula believed her father had ordered them to keep an eye on her and stated she would be the greatest Fire Lord in history. When the sisters both suggested she postpone her coronation due to recent events, Azula lashed at them, demanding to know which of the two suggested that. When neither took a stand, Azula ordered them to fight an Agni Kai, forgetting that neither of them were firebenders. She proceeded to banish Lo, while pointing to Li and stated Li, pointing to Lo, could stay. Azula left, leaving the sisters confused as to who was banished.
=== Mai ===
Mai and Azula were friends from a young age, much like Azula and Ty Lee. However, Azula seemingly treated Mai with as little concern as she did Ty Lee, taking every opportunity to embarrass her about her crush on Zuko. Throughout their childhood, Azula was known for trickery, causing Zuko and Mai to fall into a fountain together for the sole purpose of embarrassing them. She also manipulated Mai as well as Ty Lee into stealing mochi prepared for the birthday of Mai's grandmother, not caring for Mai's noticable discomfort over this.
In their teenage years, however, Azula treated Mai with slightly more respect, greeting one another with familiarity and humor when the princess met up with Mai in Omashu to start her hunt for Iroh, Zuko and later Aang. Despite this, the princess still believed it important that Mai showed her some level of respect, and always viewed her both as a friend as well as a subordinate. Additionally, Azula considered the hostage exchange in Omashu to some degree a test of loyalty, as she forced Mai to either follow her orders or get her brother Tom-Tom back. The princess was happy that Mai seemingly did not hesitate to choose her side,The Earth Kingdom Chronicles: The Tale of Azula, Chapter 2. and was ignorant of Mai's already existing concerns over Azula's morality and domineering traits. When Mai and Ty Lee questioned Azula's brutal methods during the Battle in New Ozai, the princess seemed incapable of understanding their viewpoints.
While respecting the princess for her battlefield prowess and cunning, Mai often demonstrated her lack of fear for Azula, shown when she refused an order from Azula to chase Sokka and Katara in the drill's waste system. She openly defied the command and nonchalantly stated, "She can shoot all the lightning she wants at me - I am not going in that wall sludge juice." During the Coup of Ba Sing Se, Mai allowed Sokka, Toph and the Earth King to escape with the Kuei's pet bear, Bosco, due to a lack of commitment in tending to the bear's needs. In case of the drill incident, Azula was too angry over the Avatar's victory to care about Mai's failure to follow orders.The Earth Kingdom Chronicles: The Tale of Azula, Chapter 4. Either way, it would appear that Azula was sometimes willing to tolerate Mai's decisions. However, these incidents had occurred in the absence of Azula; it is not known how Mai would have acted if the princess was present. Mai was seemingly hesitant to defy the princess outright, although still gave Azula dark looks when the princess' back was turned.
Their friendship ended when Mai chose to aid Zuko's prison escape by restarting his gondola and defeating the guards that were attempting to cut its line. Azula questioned her intently on why she would aid her brother after he had broke up with her, telling her, "You know the consequences." When Mai coolly suggested that Azula miscalculated and declared she loved Zuko more than she feared Azula, the princess lost herself in a rage, attempting to murder Mai with her firebending. However, Ty Lee saved Mai, in turn betraying Azula as well. Azula promptly had them both arrested, severing her friendship with them. After the war, Ty Lee and Mai were released from prison. Mai reunited with Zuko and they became 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, although it was Ozai's abandonment of her that gave the final push.
In the year following the War's end, Azula had not seen Mai again, though in her madness, she accused Mai, along with Ty Lee and Zuko, to be co-conspirators of Ursa, all having plotted to destroy her. Azula eventually met Mai again during the "Kemurikage" conspiracy, when Mai, alongside various allies, confronted the princess in the Garden of Tranquil Souls. At this point, Azula's mental health had greatly improved, and she showed no signs of anger toward Mai. The princess actually complimented her former friend's improved combat skills, though also used the opportunity to mock Mai for having given her the idea of Kemurikage and for having replaced Zuko with Kei Lo as boyfriend, deeming the latter to be far more slummy than Zuko.
When a spirit tried to help redeem Azula through various transformations and visions, Mai was consistently used as Azula's harshest critic, calling the princess out for thinking of herself as a victim when she herself had hurt so many.
=== Ty Lee ===
Ty Lee regarded Azula as a friend and sometimes even openly displayed admiration for her. However, even since they were children, she often treated Ty Lee as a subordinate. Because Azula could not stand to be secondary in skill, even as a child, she shoved Ty Lee to the ground when she was outdone by her friend in acrobatics. At another point, the princess manipulated her friends into stealing mochi prepared for the birthday of Mai's grandmother, not caring when Ty Lee expressed concern over "negative energies" related to the theft. On the other hand, Azula viewed Ty Lee as her main comrade when it came to executing her schemes, such as when the two worked together to embarrass Zuko and Mai - an event both Azula as well as Ty Lee considered very funny.
When they reunited years later, Azula appreciated that Ty Lee had kept her upbeat personality, but also still maintained a great deal of respect for her status as superior. The princess also felt absolutely no remose for pressuring an unwilling Ty Lee into joining her search for the Avatar, her brother, and uncle during her friend's performance, forcing Shuzumu to set fire to the net underneath her and releasing the most dangerous animals the circus had. Just as in Mai's case, Azula viewed Ty Lee as a friend, but also as an underling. While Ty Lee usually never questioned Azula's orders, she did occasionally voice moral concerns when she was uncomfortable with the princess' brutal and ruthless tactics. Though Azula did not reprimand Ty Lee for voicing concerns, she also seemed incapable of understanding her moralistic views.
Azula also roped Ty Lee into her attempt to rekindle Mai and Zuko's romance. Though the princess bossed her friend (as well as several Dai Li agents) around during the preparation phase, the two later shared their enjoyment in seeing their project proceed, giggling together in a bush as they watched Mai and Zuko.
On their visit to Ember Island, Azula laughed when Zuko called Ty Lee a "circus freak", although later displayed some concern about Ty Lee's unpleasant childhood. Despite this, Azula was known to be occasionally respectful and somewhat caring toward Ty Lee. When she made Ty Lee cry by telling her that no boy cared for her as a person, she apologized quickly and admitted it was her own insecurity that shaped that comment.
Like her friendship with Mai, Azula's relationship with Ty Lee also came to an end at the Boiling Rock prison. In the midst of Mai saving Zuko and in turn, betraying Azula, Ty Lee saved Mai from being struck down by Azula by attacking Azula's pressure points, temporarily paralyzing her.
Ty Lee and Azula would meet face to face once again a year later when Ty Lee and Suki were assigned to guard the princess during her conversation with Ozai about Ursa's whereabouts. When Azula instead knocked Zuko over, Ty Lee did not hesitate to chi-block her former friend. Azula immediately recognized her and in her madness called her a "co-conspirator" of Ursa, wondering how Ursa had been able to overturn the fear for her that Ty Lee used to feel, something Ty Lee immediately declared to be nonsense. The two no longer held any real affection for each other, with Ty Lee stating that she still feared Azula even now, and later openly asking Azula why she was so mean all the time.
Azula met Ty Lee again during the Kemurikage crisis, battling her former friend during an attempt to kidnap Kiyi. At the time, the two exchanged no words, instead focusing on their fight. Ty Lee subsequently became involved in the hunt for Azula and the Fire Warriors. In one clash, Ty Lee expressed her furious determination to capture the princess, though Azula opted not to respond. When Azula was later confronted by Ty Lee in a vision, she mocked her former friend for joining the Kyoshi Warriors, but merely opted to knock her out and tie her up rather than killing her, even expressing surprise when the spirit of the temple suggested it to her.
== References ==
de:Azulas Beziehungen
es:Relaciones de Azula
nl:Azula's relaties
pl:Relacje Azuli
Category:A to Z
Category:Azula
Category:Character relationships