Jin Avatar was a girl from the city of Ba Sing Se, who developed a crush on Zuko; while he and Uncle Iroh were hiding out in the city. She eventually went on to ask him out on a date, with help from Iroh of course. Like most of the people in the Lower Ring, Jin’s parents were refugees who had moved to the city. And though they had struggled for much of their lives, they were strong – and had been able to provide for their family.
Jin (Avatar) – Date with Zuko
Jin was a frequent visitor to the tea shop where Iroh and Zuko were employed. This made Zuko conclude that she knew they were from the Fire Nation. Uncle Iroh knew better, however, and immediately contradicted Zuko’s suspicions; telling him that the girl had a crush on him.
Jin Avatar came up to the counter one day to pay for her tea and steal a chance to talk to Zuko; and after he introduced himself as Lee, she built up the courage to ask him out on a date. Left to Zuko, he would have said no, but luckily Iroh said that Zuko “would love to”. Excitedly leaving the shop, she said that she would meet Zuko there at sundown.
When Zuko emerged from the shop, his hair had been combed and cleaned by his uncle. Jin preferred his former hairdo; and immediately fixed it back to normal. She then pulled him along to a restaurant in the Middle Ring of the city. She tried to make light conversation as they were having an awkward dinner; so she asked some questions about Zuko and Iroh’s background.
Because they were in hiding, Zuko was not able to tell the truth; and so he just made up a story about travelling the world a lot as part of a traveling circus. Jin guessed that he was a juggler, and asked Zuko for a private performance, to which he reluctantly agreed. Of course, he failed miserably with this, but it only amused Jin. She then took him to the Firelight Fountain, one of her favorite places in the city.
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Jin (Avatar) and Zuko Together At The Firelight Fountain
Jin Avatar spoke excitedly about how beautiful the fountain looked when the light of the lanterns reflected in the water. However, when they got there, the lights had not been on for a while.
Zuko noticed her disappointment, so he asked her to close her eyes; carefully using his bending to light up the lanterns. To thank him for lighting the lanterns, Jin turned to Zuko to give him a kiss, but Zuko interrupted her by holding a coupon for a free cup of tea in front of his face, to which she replied how sweet he was.
She proceeded to say that she had something for Zuko as well for which he also needed to close his eyes. Obeying her request, Jin softly kissed Zuko on the lips; a gesture he hesitantly returned, before backing away. When she asked what was wrong, he simply excused himself by saying that it was “complicated” and that he had to go, leaving her standing alone.
The Fall of Ba Sing Se
As the Fire Nation army marched into Ba Sing Se after it had fallen; Jin Avatar hid in the Pao Family Tea House.
The fall of the city came after Princess Azula’s successful Coup of Ba Sing Se. As the Fire Nation occupation began, Jin Avatar was with Pao and her family at Pao’s tea shop. They watched in horror, seeing the fire nation soldiers swarm the streets of Ba Sing Se. They eventually secured the city completely.
Shortly after the capital city fell, Jin Avatar saw Zuko once again; only this time he was walking with Mai. She addressed him as Lee, and asked him who Mai was. Zuko nervously mentioned that Mai was an old friend from his time in the circus; and that Mai’s occupation in the circus was as a knife thrower. Mischievously joining in on the lie, Mai offered to teach Jin how to throw knives; with Zuko as the target. She had Zuko stand in front of a fountain with fish from the nearby market on his head.
Mai then explained that the trick to throwing knives was all in the wrist; before accurately hitting the fish on his head with an icicle. Jin was amazed by the show of marksmanship; and she had her own attempt. Unfortunately when she threw the icicle; she almost hit Zuko, barely missing his head. This made him fall into the fountain.
After the series came to a fiery end with Aang taking away the Phoenix King’s bending therefore ending the Hundred Year War; Avatar: The Last Airbender looked like it had covered all the primary bases. However, there were many others that had not been resolved, and so the tie-in comics were introduced. Avatar: The Search was one of them.
Without a doubt, Avatar The Search has to be one of the most important Avatar comics. Since the entirety of the Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra hit Netflix in May last year; there has been an increase in the franchise’s interest. This has awoken the section of fans that complain about not having received closure from how the series ended.
One great way to fix this problem would be to venture into the world of the comics; particularly Avatar: The Search, and bring it to life on the small screen. Turning it into an animated movie would definitely give it more exposure, seeing as a lot of people skipped the supplementary material. It has all of the closure any Avatar fan could ever need, and would definitely reach a wider audience.
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Avatar The Search
As Avatar: The Last Airbender ended with Aang’s turn (on screen) as the Avatar; the fate of Azula and Zuko’s mother were left untouched. Fans will remember it to be a major plot point in the series; especially after it was revealed her disappearance was linked to Ozai becoming the Firelord after his father Azulon’s mysterious death.
Between 2008 and and 2013, five years would have passed before any questions to the aforementioned questions would be answered. The answers came in the form of the graphic novel; Avatar The Search, a three part followup to the show. It did the job of addressing exactly what fans had been wondering after the show’s end. It also addressed other subplots, such as the relationships between some certain characters.
One major reveal from Avatar the Search was that it solved the mystery of Zuko’s mother Ursa; details about her disappearance, and where she had been. It also revealed some long hidden facts about her marriage to Fire Prince Ozai.
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Ursa’s Marriage To Ozai
So, it turns out that Zuko’s mother Ursa’s marriage to Ozai was a completely arranged one. This reveal might not be so surprising, considering that from what we know from the show; it was clear Ursa resented Ozai. And really, who wouldn’t?
All jokes aside, we see just what led to her getting married to the future Phoenix King. It turns out that Ursa is a direct descendant of the great Avatar Roku; Aang’s predecessor. Her marriage to Ozai was arranged by Fire Lord Azulon; as a move to mix his family’s bloodlines with another influential family’s blood. This was a ploy to ensure that his family would have continued rule over the Fire Nation.
Azula And Zuko’s Relationship In Avatar the Search
Zuko and Azula might have ended the Avatar series on opposite ends and as enemies; but they do have some touching moments in Avatar The Search. Even though they often turn out to be crazy. It’s clear that there is still some degree of love between them both. This is something that is increasingly important for everyone to see; not just because it helps Zuko’s character progression; but also because it is a dynamic that progresses the ever complex and tortured character that is Azula.
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Avatar The Search: The Spirit World
This is another area of the Avatar mythos that gets explored in Avatar The Search is the spirit world. We see that spirits, just like humans, also have families and familial bonds. There are also some spirits that are so powerful and strong; that they can move between both the human world and spirit planes. We also see that some of the spirits have existed long before time itself started counting. An example of such spirits is one that we are already acquainted with in the series; Koh the Face Stealer.
He is one of these ancient and mysterious beings that was born outside of time to a very powerful god-like mother. Anyone who saw Koh in his only appearance in the show; was instantly marked with his terrifying nature – and he has since become a major talking point of the franchise. Through Avatar The Search, we learn more about Koh the Face stealer; where information on him was previously scarce. One major reveal was that he is the son of the mother of faces; who in turn was the one who helped Ursa, Zuko’s mother disappear.
The Search finds a way to uncover more about what this memorable creature is by weaving it into the fabric of the central character’s lives. It would be the very first time a spirit would get this kind of treatment; something that would become more rampant in the Legend of Korra. Safe to say that Avatar The Search led the way in giving the world of spirits such depth.
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Why A ‘The Search’ Movie Would Be Great
We have already seen Netflix attempt a number of adaptations; and two of those have been expansions of already completed Nickelodeon shows; Rocko’s Modern Life and Invader Zim. The result was two very okay films. Judging from this, we can expect that an on-screen adaptation of Avatar: The Search would be just as great. It most likely would be treated with similar care. It would also be in line to say that Netflix could be missing out on a great opportunity to bring one of Avatar’s most hidden gems to wider exposure. The franchise has an extensive fan base spanning millions all over the world; with more to join thanks to Netflix’s streaming and it would be an opportunity missed to not capitalise on this.
Contributing to the franchise through comic adaptations would not only be smart business; but also an opportunity to give fans something that they probably thought they would never get – closure.
Both Azula and Ty Lee have been best friends since their childhood. Both of them attended school at the prestigious Royal Fire Academy For Girls. As Azula was the daughter of the Firelord Max Ozai and Ty lee also belonged to an aristocratic family. They were automatic selections for this prestigious institution. They also had a close friendship with Mai as well. The three of them were pretty close but Azula was the one who can be characterized as the leader of this group even from that young age.
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Ty Lee is a very soft-spoken yet extremely skilled acrobat. Her talents at acrobatics are even more refined then that of Azula. Even when they were children Azula pushed Ty Lee after she showed her talent. Azula bullied Ty Lee but she still endured the abuse. In this article, we will look at how the relationship between Azula and Ty Lee evolved over the years.
History
Ty Lee was born with seven identical sisters due to which she suffered a loss of her own unique individuality. As all the sisters were identical Ty Lee had to work extra hard to get the attention of her parents. And even after all this hard work her parents would never respond in a way she wanted. This caused Ty Lee craving for recognition all her life. A part of the reason she endured Azula’s bullying was also due to this fact. Ty lee got the recognition she wanted when she was with Azula and the young Fire Princess never compared Ty Lee to her sisters.
Azula, Ty Lee and Mai always played at the palace. Azula also teased Mai because she had a crush on Zuko, her brother. They usually played hide and seek with Azula always coming out as the winner. This was because she had known about the secret passageways in the castle. Ty Lee and Mai had no idea about these passages which provided an unfair advantage to Azula.
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Azula on the other hand had always been competitive from the start. And even thought Ty Lee was not a bender Azula was still jealous of her talents. While the group was on a vacation at the Ember Island, it was also revealed that Azula also envied Ty Lee because of how easy boys were attracted to her. Because of the urge to get attention Ty Lee developed a habit of flirting. And wherever she went the boys there always followed her. Despite all these complexities their friendship survived.
Relationship Of Azula And Ty Lee
Although the relationship between The Fire Nation Princess and Ty Lee started as a friendship, it changed into a fear-controlled relationship with time. Azula has this fearful personality and likes to use fear to control her subjects. And Ty Lee is no different. As they grew older Ty Lee started to fear the Princess more and more. The loyalty that Ty Lee had towards her friend was also because of the fear she instigated in the innocent Ty Lee.
One example of the princess coercing her friend through fear was her recruitment in tracking down Zuko as well as the Team Avatar. Ty Lee had run off and joined the Fire Nation Circus to get a sense of her individuality. But Azula came there to recruit her, and when Ty Lee refused. Azula told her that she would watch her show that night.
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During the performance, Ty Lee was performing a tightrope act. But while she was balancing on one hand high above the ground, Azula ordered Shuzumu, the ringmaster, to set the net beneath Ty Lee’s tightrope on fire. And release an assortment of dangerous animals inside the ring making the act life-threatening for Ty Lee if she were to fall. Although Ty Lee successfully completed the act. She still got the message from the Princess loud and clear and she joined Azula.
Following The Team Avatar
The girls started to follow team Avatar in hopes of catching the Avatar and encountered them twice. Ty Lee showed impressive skills in her encounters with the Team Avatar. She even Chi Blocked the Kyoshi Warriors at one point making them immobile. Ty Lee also encountered the Team Avatar when they tried to stop Azula and company from capturing Ba Sing Se. Aang successfully destroyed the drill that the Fire Nation girls were using to get into Ba Sing Se with the help of Katara and Sokka. They also neutralized Ty Lee but her chi blocking did scare everyone from the Team Avatar.
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Ending Of The Friendship
In the episode “The Boiling Rock” Zuko is captured inside the prison and it is revealed that the prison’s warden is the uncle of Mai. Mai comes to visit and confront Zuko at his betrayal. Zuko apologizes to Main but says that he will continue on his path nontheless. Meanwhile Azula and Ty Lee arrive at the prison only to find out about Zuko. While Sokka and Zuko are attempting their escape from the prison the princess and Ty Lee start fighting them. And when the Warden orders to cut the lines of the cable car, Mai intervenes and neutralizes the guards allowing Zuko and others to escape.
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This deeply angers Azula who confronts Mai by saying that how dare she betray her. To which Mai replies that her love for Zuko was more strong than her fear of Azula. This further frustrates Azula and she prepares to attack Mai. At this moment Ty Lee intervenes and chi-blocks Azula to save Mai rendering Azula immobile. But the guards arrest both Mai and Ty Lee before they could escape. Azula then ordered the guards to lock the two away and “let them rot”, not wanting to be in their presence ever again as a punishment for their unfaithfulness.
After Azula is defeated it is revealed that Mai and Ty are released and Mai joins Zuko. While Ty Lee is accepted by the Kyoshi Warriors in return for teaching them chi-blocking. Ty Lee’s induction into the Kyoshi warriors also solves her identity problem and she happily starts to introduce herself as a Kyoshi warrior.
The scene is so sweet for anyone watching because it’s the first time in the show that Azula does not get her way. She is a spoiled princess, the favorite daughter, and a firebending prodigy. When she finally gets what she deserves, you feel like everything is right in the world again. This is the beginning of the fall of Azula. After this happens, she begins to find it hard to trust anyone.
Conclusion
If you liked this article, then you should definitely visit our website www.avatarfactor.com for reading other articles on the Avatar universe as well.
In the year 2005, a new show aired on the Nickelodeon channel that would forever change the lives of millions of TV viewers all over the world. That show was Avatar: The Last Airbender; a show about an Asian-centric fantasy world where people have the ability to manipulate any one of four (Avatar) elements; water, air, fire and earth.
However, the Fire Nation, a nation of people who can bend fire, has laid siege over the other nations, and using a comet, gained the power to take over most of the world. Only one individual, a spirit-human who is able to manipulate all Avatar elements at the same time and is called the Avatar; can bring harmony back to this war-torn world. The show was known for its coverage of many themes, definitive storyline, and art designs and has since gone on to have a cult following.
One of the most interesting and key features of the Avatar: The Last Airbender series are the Avatar elements themselves. Forces of nature, they are the driving plot of the series, and its spin off materials such as the comics, novels and The Legend of Korra spin off. But why just four elements? Let’s find out why.
The Avatar Elements: Four Instead Of Five
The very first episode of the Avatar: The Last Airbender series shows us right from the onset that there are four avatar elements with Katara’s narration. However, we never get to see why there are only four.
Sure, there do turn out to be more than this number of Avatar elements that benders control, but they turn out tobe sub-bending forms, categorized under the four main avatar elements. Take for example; metalbending for the earthbenders, bloodbending for waterbenders and firebenders can manipulate lightning for lightning bending. You might be wondering where air factors in here; but there is no direct bending sub skill for air, although some airbenders can manipulate air to receive flight as a sub skill.
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Avatar Elements Origin
Get this, each of the sub skills mentioned earlier is actually a part of something called Wuxing or Wu-Hsing. It is a Chinese philosophy that is very ancient, and air is not one of them. Wuxing roughly stands for Five Phases in English, and it points out five elements of nature; water (shui), wood (mu), earth (tu), metal (jin) and fire (huo). So the real question is why aren’t these five being used as the primary avatar elements in the show?
Avatar co-creator Bryan Konietzko gives us the perfect answer to this intriguing question. In the book Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Art of the Animated Series, Bryan points out that there were four avatar elements due to one thing: simplicity. It would have become too complicated to feature so many main elements. There is also the additional fact that the philosophy of the Five Phases is really not the only philosophy based on elements that is existent in ancient Chinese culture.
Konietzko continues;
“People often assume the “four-element theory”… we brought to bending is exclusive to ancient Greece, and that in ancient China only a “five-element theory was used”… in our research we found the four-element theory was prevalent in ancient cultures all over the world, including ancient Buddhist teachings. While the five-element theory is interesting in its own right, we were attracted to the universality of the four simple elements.”
Avatar Elements: The Bare Facts
Elemental theories are a major part of our world; they have existed for thousands of years and continue to do so in modern times. Each culture has its own interpretations and representation on these theories, consisting of additions and variations; however the Avatar elements are some of the most common arrangements frequently appearing in element-based philosophies.
Also, you should know that the Wuxing philosophy is more flexible than the Avatar elements theory. Wuxing has a much different approach, calling the five phases rather than elements. This reflects the fact that they are ever-changing materials and so wood, fire, earth, metal, water do not have or possess Avatar’s same fixedness. This is one major reason why the English translation of Wuxing is regarded as Five Phases as opposed to Five Elements.
In the long run, it actually makes sense that the creators decided to take this path for so many reasons. The inclusion of air as one of the Avatar elements changes the tone of the show drastically. Also, if they had included a fifth avatar element, then we would have had to deal with a fifth nation as well as its corresponding bending form.
Sure, it might have been fun to see, but it definitely would have made the show overcomplicated. That would have been counterproductive, seeing as Avatar was created and directed towards children. With just four avatar elements, the show was able to properly explore each culture or nation’s intricacies as well as their bending form. It was also easier to honor the real-life cultures that inspiration had been drawn from to create the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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Conclusion
We certainly enjoyed the outcome of the decision; and how the writers still included other natural elements as sub skills bending. The world of Avatar was already a very vast one, and the decision to keep it down to just four avatar elements was more than enough to help create the time to explore it all.
In a show about superpowered teens driven by destiny and trauma, it’s surprising that one of the best characters is the elderly uncle that follows around the (original) antagonist. General Iroh is one of the greatest characters in television history for a reason – he’s just perfect. The top General Iroh Moments will be remembered forever!
He’s grounded, powerful, and caring, making for some exciting moments in Avatar the Last Airbender. While he definitely adds some much-needed comic relief to his brooding nephew, there is a deeper part of his character that shines through the darkest of moments and still brings fans to tears. While’s it’s hard to encapsulate the amazingness of Iroh in a simple list; we’ll try our best to do him justice.
10. Defending the Moon Spirit
The Avatar series had a strong start for many characters, but the show didn’t have quite enough time to delve into the deeper personalities of the cast. For one, there were a lot of questions to be left for the early antagonists who wanted nothing more than to push for fire nation domination and get the Avatar.
Uncle Iroh was the elderly escort to Prince Zuko, who was looking to find the Avatar to regain his honor. While he seems to just go along with whatever Zuko is doing, he seems more like a loveable uncle than anything else. It’s during the 18th episode, The Waterbending Master, where we get our first real peek at Iroh’s defiance.
When Zhao insisted on killing the moon spirit, Iroh threatened to take action (and delivers on his words). It’s his insight that ultimately brings the moon spirit back to life as he sits side-by-side with the grieving avatar gang. Lets see some more of the best General Iroh Moments…
9. Meeting Toph
Toph and Uncle Iroh met outside of the terms of Avatar’s battles. While he was following Zuko during some much-needed character development, Iroh runs into Toph while she’s dealing with her own internal struggles. He treats her with the same kindness he treated everyone else, and they both exchange some helpful words on how to help each other.
Even though they probably didn’t realize who significant the other would be in the other’s life, it was a cute exchange that fans loved. He helped Toph learn that she needs to accept help from the people that love her – much-needed advice as she trailed on by herself while conflicting with adjusting to life in the Avatar gang.
8. The Banishment
Following a failed Avatar kidnapping stunt, Zuko and Iroh are both banished. Zuko ceremoniously cuts off his hair and falls down a spiral of angst. Uncle Iroh is doing arguably well, but he is trying his best to be there for Zuko. As Zuko is trying harder than ever to be full of pride after the shameful ordeal, Iroh explains that pride is not the opposite of shame. In fact, “humility is the only antidote to shame.” A very nice lesson for everyone listening.
7. A Memorable Iroh Quote
Uncle Iroh is known for giving some great advice, and that is exactly what he does when Aang asks for it. Although they are technical enemies due to his position in the fire nation, Uncle Iroh never saw Aang as an adversary. He’s pretty comfortable walking with the Avatar as they try to escape a tunnel, delivering some pretty memorable quotes.
One of the most significant was when he told the Avatar he admired how he chose love over perfection. He said, “You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
6. Opening a Tea Shop
When Iroh and Zuko end up in the earth kingdom, Iroh does the most Iroh thing he can and opens up a successful tea shop. It’s during this fun little arc where he gets to act like a real uncle and not deal with all the drama and action of the whole Avatar thing. It’s cute to watch how he puts Zuko to work, interacts with his customers, and even sets his nephew up on a date.
5. Family Moments
It’s safe to say that Iroh favors Zuko over his sister, but the loveable uncle seems like the guy to value family, right? Well, fans were surprised with Iroh’s snarky response to Zuko when they discuss his troubling niece. After Zuko says some harsh things, he explains that he knows that Iroh would say they are siblings and should get along – Iroh just matter of factly replies, “oh no, she’s crazy, and she needs to go down.”
4. The Mugging
This is one of the funnier and less depressing moments of Iroh. After someone attempts to mug him, he simply gives the guy some advice. He sits down and has tea with the guy, who he figures out is just struggling and isn’t prepared to hurt anyone at all. It’s a small moment – but one that sticks with you. It certainly offered a lot of life lessons to the kids watching the show when it was airing on nickelodeon.
3. Harsh Words for Zuko
Understandably, some of the best Iroh moments involve his troubled nephew, Zuko. While he normally has some calming words and a cute little saying to go with his advice, he completely yells at Zuko when he discovers his nephew found Aang’s flying bison, Appa, who had been stolen.
While no one actually knows what Zuko is planning to do with the bison now that he found it, that is kind of the point that Iroh calls him out on, shouting at him how he never really plans anything out. He points out one of Zuko’s major Avatar-catching failures when Sokka and Katara end up saving them from freezing to death.
After Zuko insists on how he’ll make it work because he knows his destiny, Iroh calls him out for constantly following the “destiny” his father laid out. Ultimately, Zuko releases Appa from chains unharmed, and he ultimately finds his way back to the Avatar.
2. Prison Break
We’ve focused a lot on Uncle Iroh’s wisdom, but he is one of the most powerful characters in the Avatar series. While he acts as a frail old man in prison, the audience is let in on a little secret – Iroh is jacked and working out. The second he has the moment, he breaks out of jail like it’s nothing and rejoins his allies to help put an end to the war.
1. Forgiving Zuko (Best of General Iroh Moments)
Easily one of the heartwarming moments of the show was his conversation with Zuko. After Zuko betrays both the Avatar gang and his uncle, Iroh ends up in prison. Zuko tried to visit and reason with his uncle, who stays relatively silent. As Zuko is supposed to be enjoying his newfound life where he is redeemed, he can’t help but feel as though something is wrong. In the end, he makes up his mind and betrays his nation, pursuing the Avatar so he can be his firebending teacher.
This fun twist led to one of the greatest character redemption arcs in animated history. While he does eventually win the trust of the Avatar gang and reunite with his uncle, there is a lot they need to discuss. Zuko pours out his emotions in a heartfelt apology over everything he did and begging for his uncle’s forgiveness, even if he doesn’t deserve it.
He surprises Zuko by quickly pulling him into an embrace. Shocked, he asks Iroh why he forgave him so easily and why he isn’t furious. He simply says he was never angry with his nephew, just sad that he thought he lost his way. It is a tear-jerking moment that never fails to give goosebumps to any fan of the show.
Bonus: Leaves From the Vine
We always see Iroh as the fun-loving uncle. However, we get a rare glimpse of his troubles when he sings a commemorative song, “leaves from the vine,” for his son, who died in the war. It was one of the most touching General Iroh moments.
Without a doubt, Iroh had a huge impact on the Avatar world. He played a major role in driving both story and character development. He gave an entire generation of people some sound advice and interest in tea. We want to hear from you. Did we miss any major General Iroh moments for Iroh?
Azula is an extremely complex villain – and also a fascinating psychological case study!
She possessed a rare intelligence: like a chess player, she plans her every action strategically with a deep awareness of where each action might lead. Rarely caught off guard, always prepared for a vast array of possibilities. Azula was a girl in total control.
However, shaky foundations supported those extreme levels of self-control:
“Trust is for fools; fear is the only reliable way … even you fear me!”
Azula talking to a hallucinated image of her mother. Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book Three: Fire, Episode 20 (Sozin’s Comet Part 3: Into the Inferno).
Azula controlled, influenced, and outright manipulated people with the use of fear. But when people feared something more than they feared her – such as living a life with love – people turned their backs on her. Despite all of her prowess, excellence, and foresight, she was unable to overpower people’s desire for love.
Azula, then, is almost like a typical villain in a typical ‘good vs. evil’ story … emphasis on ‘almost’.
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Tragedy
Actually, Azula’s story is a genuine tragedy. Despite her obvious leaning towards the ‘evil’ end of the moral spectrum, Azula’s eventual downfall to insanity is really quite sad. Especially since there are signs throughout the series’ that her character has the potential to undergo redemption. As a viewer of the series and reader of the graphic novels/comics, I never wanted her to succeed in her missions. Yet, I still feel like I rooted for her throughout.
One of the great things about the Avatar franchise, in general, is that the lines between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are extremely blurry. Azula’s character reflects that theme beautifully.
This article will tell Azula’s story as if she was the main character. Perhaps you, dear reader, will root for her, too!
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Azula’s Life Story
Azula Before the TV Series
Early Life
Azula was born to her father Ozai and mother Ursa – a couple who couldn’t have been more different in personality types.
On the one hand, Ozai was an aggressive, power-hungry son of the Fire Lord. After Azula’s birth, he even stole the throne from his older brother Iroh, who would have been the Fire Lord by birthright. He influenced people by instilling fear into them, by use of his superior firebending.
On the other hand, Ursa was the sensitive, gentle granddaughter of the previous Avatar, Roku. In her worldview, love was more powerful than fear/anger. She hoped that she could pass such perspective onto her offspring.
Azula’s older brother, Zuko, used to happily play with her in her early years. But Azula began to resent him somewhat as she grew older.
She displayed natural firebending skills and instincts from a young age, whereas Zuko was an extremely slow learner. As a result, Ozai gave Azula much encouragement and positive feedback, while regularly scolding Zuko’s apparent weaknesses. Conversely, Ursa seemed to direct much more of her attention toward Zuko.
Azula, then, harbored beliefs that Ursa loved her less than she loved Zuko. Thus, resentment and a negative feeling colored the perception she had of her mother … and also of Zuko. The siblings’ relationship, in fact, would go on to be a quasi-continuation of their parents’ relationship.
Enjoying Zuko’s Plight
Azula regularly teased Zuko as they grew up. She once set his butt on fire for tattling on her after she set a bush on fire in the Royal Court’s gardens. Later, she tricked him into diving onto her friend, Mai, both of them falling into a fountain as a result.
But she even took a sadistic pleasure out of seeing Zuko treated harshly by their father.
One time, at dinner, Azula criticized her and Zuko’s firebending tutor, calling him a “dummy.” When Zuko defended the tutor, Ozai completely shut him down. He lambasted Zuko for having mastered 14 fewer firebending techniques than Azula, despite being 2 years older than her.
Ozai then told Zuko that he almost discarded him at birth because he was so underwhelming. Their father then told them that Azula was “born lucky,” whereas Zuko was “lucky to be born.”
Azula smiled victoriously at the devastaed Zuko. She displayed no sympathy for her emotionally-tortured brother.
She even teased Zuko when she overheard Fire Lord Azulon ordering their father, Ozai, to kill his first-born son.
“Dad’s going to kill you!
… really, he is ”
Azula to Zuko, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Two: Earth, Episode 7 (‘Zuko Alone’).
Zero remorse. Azula’s bitterness towards her brother, likely due to their mother’s preference of him over her, meant that she felt in competition with him. Victories like this one, where Ozai attacked Zuko, were always enjoyable for her.
Motherlessness: Ursa’s Banishment
Can you feel Azula’s sly sarcasm?!
A psychoanalyst would observe that Azula learned a lot from her parents’ relationship.
Ozai dominated Ursa. There are implications that Ozai even physically abused her. And in using his ability to strike fear into Ursa, Ozai always had the final say in decision-making.
Observing this, Azula learned that striking fear into people would be the most effective way to get what she wanted in life. She perceived Ursa’s tendency to show love instead of aggression as an ineffective approach … especially after she disappeared.
Ursa pleaded with Ozai to spare Zuko. Azula was not lying! Fire Lord Azulon genuinely ordered Ozai to kill his first-born son! Ursa, then, struck a bargain with him: she would leave the Fire Nation, never to come back, in return for Zuko’s life. Ozai agreed, and Ursa disappeared – considered “missing” by the rest of the Fire Nation.
This made Zuko’s life increasingly difficult, but Azula was freed from the criticisms of her moralistic mother. Ozai took Azula deeper under his wing. And Ozai, after poisoning his father, became Fire Lord soon after Ursa’s banishment.
Naturally, Azula grew up to become the cold, clinical, ruthless opponent she was always going to be. The scars of her motherlessness wouldn’t be visible for many years.
But more on that later … Years passed by, Azula turned 14 years old, and she was extremely powerful. Next, Ozai banished Zuko. And the events leading to Azula’s downfall were set in motion.
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Azula in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Two: Earth
Hunting for Zuko
The captain’s mistake…
Azula took great enjoyment in seeing her father burn the left side of Zuko’s face – permanently scarring him.
The Ozai banished Zuko (who was accompanied by fan-favorite Uncle Iroh).
Not long after that, when Ozai learned of Zuko and Iroh’s post-banishment antics, he branded them enemies of the Fire Nation. Then he honored Azula with the task of hunting them down to capture as prisoners.
Azula tracked down Zuko and Iroh with relative ease. And, in an attempt to trick them into coming aboard her ship, she convinced Zuko that his father wanted him home again. But then the captain of her ship accidentally referred to Zuko and Iroh as “prisoners” within their earshot. He ruined Azula’s facade! As a result, Zuko and Iroh quickly escaped.
Ozai’s Angels
Ty Lee, Azula, and Mai: “Ozai’s Angels”
Recognizing that she might need some extra help, Azula enlisted the help of her old childhood friends: Ty Lee and Mai. Together, “Ozai’s Angels” (as nicknamed by fans of the Avatar franchise) formed a seriously bad-ass trio!
While Azula recruited Mai in Omashu (a Fire Nation colony in the Earth kingdom), she sighted the Avatar for the first time.
In an attempt to capture him, Azula negotiated with Mai’s baby brother Tom-Tom. She was willing to allow her friend’s sibling to remain captive with their enemy in an attempt to take the Avatar prisoner. An approach typical of her cold, calculated attitude.
The ploy didn’t work, though. Lucky for Mai, the Avatar returned Tom-Tom to his rightful family (feeling morally obliged) before leaving Omashu and the threat of Azula.
Ozai’s Angels hunted and chased the Avatar for several weeks after that. Azula successfully tracked him but was eventually cornered by Team Avatar, supported by none other than Zuko and Iroh. Feigning a surrender, she caught her attackers off-guard by swiftly striking Iroh with a lightning bolt.
Sneaky. Lawless. Quick-minded. Azula: a force to be reckoned with.
Azula’s Coup of Ba Sing Se
Azula dressed in a Kyoshi Warrior costume, during her Coup of Ba Sing Se
Azula’s persistent energy was perhaps her most impressive trait in The Last Airbender series. Failing to capture Zuko and Iroh, followed by her failed pursuit of the Avatar, she never stopped making moves. Her attention turned, almost immediately, to the walls of Ba Sing Se.
This was a city her uncle Iroh had previously attempted to conquer but failed due to the defensive prowess of the city’s walls and the strong will of the city’s people.
Governance in Ba Sing Se, though, had slackened off since then. Azula tried to take advantage with the use of a giant drill. The drill reached the wall, but Azula’s plans were once again thwarted by the Avatar and his friends, who destroyed the great machine from the inside.
The huge drill Azula used to attack the walls of Ba Sing Se.
Not long after this disappointment, Ozai’s Angels met and defeated the Kyoshi Warriors in a battle. Following an impressive victory, they took the Kyoshi Warriors outfits as disguises and infiltrated the government of Ba Sing Se.
Due to Azula’s intelligent planning, they managed to fool the Earth King. Ozai’s Angels were about to conquer Ba Sing Se from the inside out – much like how the Avatar stopped her giant drill.
And after conspiring with the unfaithful Earth minister, Long Feng, Azula took control of the city. Not only that – she betrayed Long Feng and took control of his armed forces, the Dai Li. She was a legitimate conqueror, succeeding where her Uncle Iroh had failed during his previous attack on Ba Sing Se.
Crystal Catacombs: Killing the Avatar
Zuko and Azula fighting together.
While in a position of power, Azula arrested Katara of Team Avatar, who wanted to inform the Earth King about Zuko’s presence in Ba Sing Se. Azula went on to capture and arrest her brother, too, locking him up alongside Katara in the Crystal Catacombs beneath the city.
Despite her unfavourable treatment of Zuko, Azula managed to manipulate him back into helping her. When she seemed outnumbered and troubled in battle against Team Avatar, she convinved Zuko that she had imprisoned him in the Catacombs in expectation of this exact moment. She told him that this was his opportunity to regain his father’s honour. Zuko obliged.
And, in yet another display of her sharp mind and senses, Azula managed to strike the Avatar with lightning. Not only did she strike and seemingly kill him – she did so as he was in the Avatar State. The wound she inflicted upon him appeared to have been fatal. And the Avatar cycle should have been broken, due to him being in the Avatar State.
It was Azula’s crowning hour! She had conquered Ba Sing Se, got her brother back, and killed the Avatar. A Fire Nation Princess, indeed.
Azula in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Three: Fire
Returning Home
Azula after telling Zuko she was giving him credit for killing the Avatar.
Even after such successes as she managed in Ba Sing Se, Azula did not stop. She continued to plot and scheme just as before.
The Fire Nation welcomed her and Zuko back as war heroes. However, sensing that her brother was hiding some information, Azula chose to credit the killing of Avatar Aang to him. Ozai, then, restored Zuko’s honour. But Azula was protected from any backlash, should the Avatar have somehow survived.
Typical of Azula’s plotting, this gave Zuko the impression that she was looking out for him while actually improving her own situation. Smart!
The Beach (Book Three: Fire, Episode 5)
This episode was perhaps the most significant in all of Azula’s character development.
It was the first time throughout the Avatar franchies that we saw true vulnerabilities in the Fire Nation Princess – and it was also the first time we saw any empathy from her.
Along with Zuko, Ty Lee, and Mai, Azula visited Ember Island for a holiday (that none of them really wanted).
Azula decided not to tell people they met that she was Princess of the Fire Nation. It would be interesting, she thought, to see how people treated her without that information.
Azula flirting awkwardly.
As it happened, she found it extremely difficult to socialise under such circumstances. While playing a simple game of volleyball at the beach, she couldn’t curb her incessant competitive drive. When trying to flirt with a boy at a party, she repelled him with her rhetoric – the language of a Princess, it turned out, was far different from that of ‘normal’ people (who would’ve guessed it?!).
Later, though, when Zuko was asked to leave the party, she sought him out. In fact, Azula knew exactly where she would find Zuko in his moment of sadness and urged him to come join her with Ty Lee and Mai.
This was a fascinating moment because it suggested that Azula actually sort of cared about Zuko.
Okay, so she didn’t display such care again throughout the series! But the fact that she was able to display empathy this one time, at least, proves that she isn’t a psychopath … and also proves that her status as a villain is redeemable (hypothetically, at least).
Azula’s “Sob Story”
Azula reflecting on her childhood.
When Zuko, Ty Lee, and Mai recounted traumatic experiences from their childhoods, Azula considered their pain to be overdramatic.
But then she did something out of character: she spoke about traumatic experience of her own childhood. She calimed that her mother, Ursa, liked Zuko more than her. That her mother thought she – Ursa’s own daughter – was a monster. We see Azula’s face appearing to express suffering and regret at such memories.
“She was right of course, but it still hurt!” she then said, snapping back into the cold, unmovable personality that she had built herself upon for so many years.
This was smart foreshadowing of Azula’s destiny in this series. The childhood scars that Azula skilfully hid beneath her perfectly maintained hair were beginning to be revealed…
And this perspective actually raised a lot of questions about her childhood. Ursa was often portrayed as a morally upright person in the series. However, given Azula’s feelings on the topic, it seems quite possible that Ursa actually had a nasty streak of her own.
Is it possible that Azula was the biggest vicitim of the entire Avatar series? Perhaps that’s a bit much … but what happened to her next certainly supports such a theory…
Mai and Ty Lee Betray Azula
Ty Lee chi-blocking Azula at the Boiling Rock.
Following the end of her holiday in Ember Island, Azula helped to implement the Fire Nation’s plan to protect itself against an attack during the solar eclipse. The eclipse removed firebenders ability to bend, and enemies of the Fire Nation saw that as the perfect moment to fight.
Azula, though, was aware of this plan from her time undercover in the Earth Kingdom. Her slickness – once again – worked to the Fire Nation’s benefit.
But after this success, Azula’s sureness of self began to slip.
The obvious turning point towards her deterioration was when Mai – one of her sole, trusted allies – betrayed her in favour of Zuko. During the solar eclipse, Zuko had turned against the Fire Lord and left the Fire Nation to join Team Avatar. When he was helping Sokka to save his father from the Boiling Rock (Fire Nation prison), Mai prevented Azula from making the move that would’ve stopped and possibly killed Zuko in completing his mission.
“You miscalculated – I love Zuko more than I fear you”
Mai to Azula, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Three: Fire, Episode 15 (‘The Boiling Rock, Part 2’)
And when Ty Lee chose to take sides with Mai, chi-blocking the Fire Princess, Azula’s self-control began its disintegration.
Hallucinations
Azula hallucinating an image of her mother.
Azula’s father, Ozai, named her as the new Fire Lord, to rule the Fire Nation – which happily surprised her. Ozai, meanwhile, promoted himself to a position he invented for himself: the Phoenix King – supreme ruler of the entire world.
Despite such a success, Azula’s mental health plummeted.
Likely as a result of her friends’ betrayals, she grew suspicious of almost everybody around her. She banished some of her servants, she banished Lo and Li – her personal agents from the Dai Li – and even banished the Royal Procession (elite firebenders who had traditionally served the Royal Family for years).
Just before her coronation as Fire Lord, Azula struggled to style her hair the way she wanted it. In a mild rage, she cut off her fringe. As she did, her mother appeared to her in the mirror:
“What a shame! You always had such lovely hair!”
Azula’s hallucinated image of Ursa, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Three: Fire, Episode 20 (‘Sozin’s Comet Part Three: Into the Inferno’).
Azula engaged with her hallucination fairly naturally. It was as if seeing her mother came as no surprise, in fact (could that suggest that she had hallucinated such things before?).
In an expression of the philosophy that had driven her life to that point, Azula shouted at her mother.
“Fear is the only reliable way … even you fear me,” she said…
… to which her mother replied: “No, Azula. I love you. I do.”
This brought a tear to Azula’s eye. She then proceeded to throw her hairbrush at the image of Ursa, smashing the mirror to bits.
Azula was literally going insane.
Comet-Enhanced Agni-Kai
Azula before an Agni-Kai with Zuko
Azula was confronted by Zuko and Katara right before her coronation. In response, she challenged her brother to an Agni Kai – “the showdown that was always meant to be.” To her credit (and despite her questionable sanity) this was a smart move on Azula’s part. Outnumbered, she knew she couldn’t defeat Zuko and Katara. But one-on-one she stood a much better chance.
Zuko agreed, telling Katara that he thought he could manage to fight her alone. “Something seems off about her,” he said (oh really, Zuko?!).
Azula’s fighting was wild and unpredictable, although perhaps even more dangerous than before. Zuko’s fighting style, however, was relaxed and controlled. And for the first time in their young lives, Zuko got the better of his sister.
She surrendered. But, as we should know by now, that didn’t mean she had stopped fighting! Azula shot a bolt lightning at Katara who was stood to one side. Before he could strike her, though, Zuko dived and took the strike himself. Katara then proceeded to battle Azula herself.
Katara outsmarted the deranged Azula, chaining her to the floor. Chained up and her physical control taken from her, Azula’s deterioration was complete.
Azula compromised and defeated by Katara.
Azula breathed fire all over the place, without any degree of control, while crying manically. The Tragedy of Azula, and her fall, reached its lowest point.
Mental Institution: Admission and Release
Azula during Zuko’s visit of her in the mental institution.
Azula was locked in a mental institution following the defeat of the Fire Nation. Zuko pitied Azula for her descent into insanity and decided an instituion would be a better match than the prison he’d sent his father to.
After about a year of life in the asylum, Zuko visited her to discuss the whereabouts of their mother.
At this point, Azula had actually made friends with some of the inmates and displayed relatively compliant behaviour.
Zuko asked if she’d be interested in helping him to find their mother again. He requested for her to engage their father in conversation. Azula agreed.
But she later refused to tell Zuko what had been said between her and Ozai.
Avoiding Zuko’s cross-examinations, she asked him if he’d ever been chi-blocked. Zuko told her he hadn’t been. She then explained that one’s flexibility is significantly increased moments before their bending returns after a chi-block … and she demonstrated by escaping her straitjacket.
Shooting lightning at Zuko, she escaped.
Azula headed to an old secret passageway of Ozai’s. There, she knew, some undelivered letters of Ursa’s during her missing years had been stored. Azula burned all the letters, except for one – which contained information suggesting that Zuko was not Ozai’s son.
Zuko demanded information about the letter, but Azula – in old-fashioned Azula style – negotiated with him.
She agreed to tell him what the letters said … but only if he allowed her to join him on his hunt for their mother.
Joining Team Avatar’s Ursa Mission
Zuko eventually submitted to Azula’s demands, and the former Princess of the Fire Nation joined up with her former foes – Team Avatar.
In the early stages of the mission, Azula and Team Avatar (predictably) didn’t get along well. She underwent conflicts with Katara and Sokka, eventually insisting that everyone keep away from her.
Rumours of Ursa’s journeys post-banishment led them to Hira’a, where she had grown up.
During that journey, however, Azula behaved erratically. She hallucinated images and voices of Ursa more and more, acting unpredictably, and generally making a nuisance of herself. She even jumped off Appa, the flying bison, mid-flight in an attempt to escape.
Clearly, travelling with Team Avatar wasn’t going to be a smooth-sailing journey…
Saving Team Avatar
Azula defeat the moth wasps that were overwhelming Team Avatar.
One evening, Azula hallucinated Ursa in a river reflection. She argued intensely with the image of her mother, revealing a secret plot that she had devised to murder her when she met with her.
Then Azula declared, mid-rage, that she was intent upon revealing Zuko as an illegitimate heir to Ozai’s throne. She planned to use Ursa’s letter as evidence and take the throne for herself.
Zuko arrived soon afterwards and asked who Azula had been talking to. She reacted defensively, attacking him and causing Katara to contain her with ice-bending. Azula then proceeded to accuse Team Avatar of conspiring with Ursa to nullify her extraordinary power.
But the group were attacked by a Wolf Spirit as she protested. The spirit spat wasp moths at them, which Team Avatar struggled to deal with. At this, Azula convinced Zuko to free her from the ice. He did so … and she defeated the Wolf Spirit.
Saving Team Avatar provided another new perspective of Azula’s personality. It was another hint that her character could be redeemed.
Later that night, Zuko saw his sister shivering and talking to herself in her sleep. He covered in a blanket, suggesting that he felt Azula does, indeed, have ‘good’ within her. Zuko still held out hope for her.
However, Zuko also found the letter Azula was hiding…
Azula Fights Zuko Again; Arriving in Hira’a
Zuko was, of course, stunned by the contents of the letter. Ozai not being his real father would have meant Zuko was an illegitimate Fire Lord – a bastard.
Azula, meanwhile, woke up to hallucinate Ursa again. Ursa told Azula to accept that she was not destined to be Fire Lord. But Azula acted out angrily, once again. And she quickly turned her anger towards Zuko when she realized the letter was missing…
She accused Zuko of conspiring with Ursa to thwart her and proceeded to attack him. Zuko, though, insisted that she stopped fighting with him.
“Why do we always have to be like this?” he asked her. She eventually agreed to make a sort of peace with, and they undertook the last stages of the journey to Hira’a.
In Hira’a, they met a man named Noren who invited the team into his home. There, they met his wife Noriko and their daughter Kiyi.
Azula became angry (again) when the group criticised her (again). She told Kiyi – who was around 4 years old – that she used to give her dolls a “headcut” instead of a haircut. And then she offered to give one to Kiyi’s own doll. It should go without saying, but Kiyi was a bit freaked out by that…
The Forgetful Valley and The Mother of Faces
The Mother of Faces revealing Ursa’s identity…
As tensions flared up between Azula and Katara (whose motherly instincts apparently kicked in), Zuko decided that, after the team visited the Forgetful Valley, they would end the mission.
More drama inevitably ensued in the valley – of course it did! But Avatar Aang eventually meditated himself into the spirit world and brought a spirit back with him. The Mother of Faces.
It was from this spirit of the Forgetful Valley that Azula and Zuko learned about their mother, Ursa.
The Mother of Faces had given Ursa a new face: the face of Noriko. And memories of her previous life had been erased.
They soon realized that it was Ursa whose home they had been welcomed into back in Hira’a. Azula almost immediately burst to get back to Hira’a and to Noriko. Zuko and Sokka sensed something bad might be about to happen, so they chased after her.
Azula Attacks Her Mother
Azula speaks with her mother.
Immediately, Azula broke into Noren and Noriko’s home to confront her mother.
She was ready to kill Noriko/Ursa, when her mother apologised to her:
“I’m sorry I didn’t love you enough”
Noriko/Usa to Azula, Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Search, Part Four (graphic novel).
Azula teared up, hesitating, when Zuko separated her from their mother. Naturally, Azula attacked Zuko again – and scolded him for not giving up the throne to her. After all, she asserted, he didn’t want the throne anyway.
Zuko refused to give up the throne, though, and Azula ran off into the Forgetful Valley. Her brother searched for her in the ensuing weeks, but didn’t find her. Azula, it was clear, didn’t want to be found.
It was also revealed that Zuko was Ozai’s son, in fact. When Ursa’s memories were restored, she explained that she lied in the letter to her ex-husband.
Disguised as The Kemurikage
Azula in a Kemurikage outfit.
It was quite some time before Azula appeared again.
But during her time in the Forgotten Valley, Azula’s mental health recovered, to some extent. Her conduct when returning to the Fire Nation served as evidence of that. But during her time away, a number of things changed in her outlook.
She accepted that she would never become Fire Lord. Azula also accepted Noriko’s child, Kiyi, as her own blood. She even stopped being loyal to Ozai! But most significantly, she stopped hallucinating.
What she didn’t do, though, was fulfil any sort of redemption arc! Nevertheless, she got back to something like her previously cunning self.
In doing so, Azula devised a plot. The beginnings of the plot included the recollection of how her old friend, Mai, used to have nightmares about the Kemurikage.
The Kemuriage were mythical dark spirits. Fire Nation parents used to scare misbehaving children with this story (including Mai). They explained that the Kemurikage would take them away if they were disobedient. Azula, along with the followers that she enlisted, decided to disguise herself as the leader of such spirits. With her team, she kidnapped several children … including Mai’s young brother, Tom-Tom.
After that, she even attempted to kidnap her half-sister, Kiyi. But Zuko and others caught her in the act.
Azula revealed her identity by shooting lightning at her brother, who redirected her attack habitually … only for Azula to redirect it back at him. A fascinating development in the evolution of their conflicts!
Azula eventually succeeded in kidnapping Kiyi and locked her away.
Last Appearances (so far!)
Azula worked in alliance with Mai’s father, Ukano, who was still loyal to her father, Ozai. Ukano’s ‘New Ozai Society’ had attempted (and failed) to capture Zuko a number of times, with the desire to overthrown him and install Ozai on the throne.
Azula’s plan, however, was not consistent with Ukano’s desires. She was using Ukano to put pressure on her brother, Fire Lord Zuko.
In another battle with Zuko, Azula revealed what her intentions had been while disguised as the Kemurikage.
She told Zuko that she no longer desired the throne – instead, she wanted to turn Zuko into a leader who rules by fear, not love. And moreover, she told Zuko that she believed she had succeeded. During the kidnappings and attempts on his life, he had begun to rule much more like Ozai had ruled before him – and Azula’s words really struck a chord with the young Fire Lord.
After their battle, Zuko and Mai recover the kidnapped children. But Azula disappeared once more, in a cloud of smoke.
Her final appearance showed her dressed as the Kemurikage and watching Zuko give a public address to his people, from a nearby rooftop. What happened to Azula after that is yet to be revealed. Rest assured, though! This page will be updated as soon as any updates come to fruition 🙂
Closing Thoughts
Azula was a memorable villain, more so even than the series’ main villain (Ozai).
She’s intelligent, crafty, humorous, beautiful, and just a outright bad-ass! Okay, so she was a snide, calculating, daughter of a dictator … but she was that way in the most likable manner imaginable.
There is still much hope among fans of the series that she might be redeemed from her villain status. It would be a long journey for Azula, especially given the events during the graphic novels.
But the potential is there. And I’m sure such a story would sell extremely well!
He says that She is just unbelievable. She was able to bring a really amazing realism to Azula without being a kind of a cackling villain.
Erin Grey Van Oosbree, credited as Grey DeLisle and Grey Griffin, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice actress of Irish, Dutch, French, Mexican, and Norwegian descent.
She provided the voice for several characters in the Last Air Bender series. The most popular one was Princess Azula.
She later returned to voice two spirits in one episode of Book Two of The Legend of Korra and provided the voice for Ming-Hua, Lily, Kuon’s wife, and a young Lin Beifong in Book Three.
Some of her other television works include the following.
Television Work (For The Azula Voice Actor)
Adventure Time with Finn & Jake.
As Told by Ginger
Beware the Batman
Codename: Kids Next Door
Dan Vs.
Danny Phantom
Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends
Generator Rex
Gravity Falls
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi
Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil
Kim Possible
Mad
Rugrats
Samurai Jack
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
T.U.F.F. Puppy
The Fairly Odd Parents
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
The Mighty B!
The Powerpuff Girls
The Replacements
The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Super Hero Squad Show
W.I.T.C.H.
WandaVision
What’s New Scooby-Doo?
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!
Xiaolin Showdown
Young Justice
She has also starred in other works.
Other credits
Baldur’s Gate (video game)
Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (video game)
Batman: Arkham City (video game)
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (video game)
Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame (video game)
Bayonetta (video game)
Brütal Legend (video game)
Diablo III (video game)
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil (video game)
Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening (video game)
Escape from Monkey Island (video game)
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (video game)
Final Fantasy X-2 (video game)
FusionFall (video game)
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary (video game)
Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet (video game)
Mass Effect (video game)
Mass Effect 2 (video game)
Mass Effect 3 (video game)
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (video game)
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (video game)
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (video game)
Star Ocean: The Last Hope (video game)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (video game)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords (video game)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (video game)
Tomb Raider: Underworld (video game)
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (video game)
Filmography
When Marnie Was There (2015; English dub)
The Pirate Fairy (2014)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Bratz Girlz Really Rock (2008 – singing voice)
Bolt (2008)
Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008)
Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom (2007)
TMNT (2007)
Asterix and the Vikings (2006)
Clifford’s Really Big Movie (2004)
Personal Information on The Azula Voice Actor
DeLisle grew up in a relatively challenging home. Her mother was heavily addicted to drugs which caused her to live with her grandmother for a good part of her childhood.
Her grandmother is Eva Flores Ruth, a vocalist who performed with salsa legend Tito Puente.
DeLisle was heavily into goth bands like The Cure but, who had become a born-again Pentecostal, set a strict rule banned secular music. In her teenage years, she started singing old gospel songs and eventually got into stand-up comedy.
In her comedy routine, DeLisle imitated voices particularly well and was advised to take a shot at voice acting. Her first starring role came in 1994 in the original English version of Crayon Shin-Chan, as the voices of characters Cosmo and Uma.
Delisle was born on August 24, 1973
Fort Ord, California.
After a few months in a long-distance relationship, DeLisle married her musician Murry in 2002. He was a bassist for the Old 97’s. They were featured in an episode of The Learning Channel program A Wedding Story. Their first child, Jefferson Texas “Tex” Hammond, was born on January 31, 2007, in Los Angeles, California.
DeLisle’s Career Other Than Being The Azula Voice Actor
She was tagged as a “Superstar Voice Actress” on the Anime News Network.
DeLisle has played the leading role in a large number of animated series.
Harp Magazine even went as far as calling DeLisle “golden-voiced.” She is highly recognized for her many roles over the years. Some of her roles include Vicky and Tootie in The Fairly Oddparents, Daphne in What’s New, Scooby-Doo?, and Emily Elizabeth in Clifford the Big Red Dog.
On top of her several English-speaking roles, she also speaks Japanese as the character Yumi on Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi.
She has been tagged as multi-talented and regarded highly in the Voice acting field. DeLisle has even had a lot of voice acting roles in many video games, such as Escape from Monkey Island, Baldur’s Gate 2, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, and several Star Wars games. She also voices the Dark Jedi, Asajj Ventress, in Star Wars: Clone Wars, Therese and Jeanette (Tourette) Voerman in the White Wolf RPG, PC game Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines, Samantha Manson in Danny Phantom, Frankie in Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, and Frida Suárez in El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. DeLisle has released four music CDs, which include goth-inspired folk and Americana tunes and a few gospel-style songs.
DeLisle: The Azula Voice Actor
She is widely recognized for her role as Princess Azula. She is the Princess of the fire nation, a young sister to Zuko, Daughter of Ursa and Ozai. Azula is a complicated child with a chaotic complex. Her mother often reflected on what to do with her. She always had an odd penchant for macabre things, enjoying darker things.
She was named after her Grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon. She is regarded as a true fire-bending prodigy, exhibiting talents beyond her age, even at a young age. She was applauded, whereas her brother Zuko always got the shorter end of the stick.
Azula has this sinister vibe to her character, which DeLisle brought to life perfectly. She seemed perfectly normal but still maintained a dangerous facet. Threatening lightning with a dark smile while she was at it.
Delisle created a masterpiece with the character Azula.
Zuko and Mai were hands down one of the major couples or pairings in the Avatar mythos. They already were in a relationship long before the show started, and by the time we see their pairing, it is pretty established that they are in a relationship.
It was a pretty solid ship and had its own section of fans rooting for it. No matter the hurdles they faced, the Zai/Muko fans always wanted their faves to keep going on forever. And who can blame them? Zuko and Mai’s relationship was one of the most mature relationships in the series, filled with all that teenage angst, emotion, and good stuff.
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But while there was a lot of love for our resident Hothead and Emo/Goth Girl, there were so many things fundamentally wrong with that relationship as well. Their interactions with one another were a sight to see (a major highlight of the excellent general character development on Avatar: The Last Airbender); but their blowouts were astronomical.
This pretty much just shows that as nice as they were together, they also did not make that much sense together. It’s probably why the creators had them break up in the tie-in comics, but we don’t know for sure if they stayed that way.
Here are things that did not make any sense about Zuko and Mai’s relationship.
Zuko and Mai Didn’t Seem To Have Much In Common
It’s obvious that Zuko and Mai cared a great deal about each other. However, it’s also kind of clear that they do not have much in common when it comes to similarities. The strange thin is that this is a common problem with tv shows and movies; as they usually do not have time to fully focus on relationships and show the basic details. The one time we see them share something that they both enjoy is the scene where they have a picnic. But even that does not prove much. It’s hard to tell if they do or do not have things in common with each other.
Mai Seemed to Be Much of A Loner
One thing is clear about Mai’s character: she preferred to be alone.
Sure, she may have been really close friends with Azula and Ty Lee, but mostly, she appeared to be someone who enjoyed her own company more. People seemed to annoy her easily. Even at the point where she tells Zuko he is one of the few things (or people) she didn’t hate, there is the chance that she may have been happier without the stress of having to deal with the problems of a romantic relationship.
Not everyone is meant to be in this kind of relationship or is made for such. With this, it started to seem like a stretch that Zuko and Mai were in a relationship.
Zuko and Mai Had Incompatible Personalities
Let’s be honest. Zuko and Mai were polar opposites. Zuko is a person directly fueled by his passions and emotions, and Mai is a rather subdued and emotionless individual. It even affects how she reacts to things; in the sense that she doesn’t even react to things.
Sure, they say opposites attract, and it might look like their being nothing alike in temperaments might be perfect for them to balance each other out. But that also means that there is a more likely chance that they get on each other’s nerves. Which they do. A LOT. The episode on the beach at Ember Island is a perfect example of their explosive pairing. Zuko on one hand gets tired of the fact that she never shows any emotion, and Mai is fed up with Zuko’s being overly dramatic.
They Are Like A High School Couple
They say there is no love like high school love. It’s also generally believed that high school love is young and dumb, and can’t last long. And that is exactly how Zuko and Mai feel as a couple.
They definitely have that endearing couple thing going on for them in some ways. Mai is an emo type of person and Zuko is dramatic and emo in his own way. However, it is this fact that makes their relationship seem like a coupling that is only fit for exuberant youth. It definitely does not feel like it can stand the test of time.
Just imagine seeing Zuko and Mai together forever, tying the knot, and starting their own family. It would scream catastrophic. Hence, it was only natural that the creators split them up in the follow-up comics to the series. However, there is still a huge chance that they got back together, as we never really get any confirmation as to who the mother of Zuko’s daughter, Izumo is.
Why Mai Went Along With Azula’s Plans for Such A Long Time
This one beats everybody. Okay, so we get the fact that they have been good friends for a long time. But for what it’s worth, Mai isn’t nearly as chaotically evil as Azula is, so why she stuck around to help her for so long is a huge mystery.
Her stance on the war may have been influenced by the heavy level of propaganda that the Fire Nation was giving its people, and there is the fact that Mai’s parents were top-level government as well. But this does not explain why Mai put up with Azula and her schemes, even where it was clear that she can’t stand the princess. She still went along loyally. Maybe this had something to do with extending her loyalty to Zuko to his sister.
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Zuko and Mai Could Have Had Better Matches
There are other people who would have made better matches for Zuko or Mai in the Avatar series. While they are not really that bad of a couple, maybe they would have fared better off with different partners. However, it’s easy to see why they were constantly paired. Zuko and Mai have known each other since they were children, not to mention the fact that they provide some form of balance to themselves.
They actually share a lot of nice relationship moments in the series, but you get the feeling that the chemistry could have existed elsewhere. We’ve already seen some fans ship Zuko with Katara (sorry Aang fans), so we knew there was something budding perhaps. As for Mai, a character like Ty Lee would have been perfect for her, with all of that cheerful positivity meeting Mai’s negative outlook.
Why Zuko Was So Possessive of Mai
Zuko does come off as a possessive boyfriend in the Zuko and Mai ship, and it is really not surprising that he is. The problem is that why.
Their relationship is understandably broken due to Zuko’s exile, and it meant they were apart for longer than they were together. There obviously wasn’t enough time to create any sense of serious ownership; and yet we see Zuko get really mad that Mai is talking to other boys at the beach house party. It’s nothing short of dramatic at the very least; an overreaction if you will. It did show they had serious jealousy problems in their relationship though.
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Why Didn’t Zuko Explain Why He Left Better In His Letter
When he leaves the Fire Nation and goes on to help Aang and the rest of the gang in the Book of Fire, Zuko writes a letter to Mai. However, the contents of that letter are rather surprising, as they do nothing by way of explaining why he is leaving. He does not even explain what he is going to do. We get it, you’re cryptic Prince Zuko – but it still made no sense why he took that approach.
Mai definitely deserved a better explanation on the state of things. He could have surely written more in his letter, explaining in detail. Better still, he should have just had a physical conversation with Mai, no matter how she would have taken the news. It’s one of the most puzzling things about Zuko and Mai’s relationship.
Zuko and Mai Never Tried to Find Each Other While He Was In Exile
You could argue that they were just teens and therefore it would have been difficult for Mai to seek out her boyfriend. But if Avatar: the Last Airbender is clear on something; it is that pre-teens, teens and teenagers rule the fictional world of the four nations.
It would have actually cost her nothing to seek him out and help him. If she really cared about him like she said she did, and if their relationship was so serious, then we expect her to have reached out to him since; and not just when a significant amount of time had passed.
She would have tried to find out how he was doing.
Zuko Never Really Asks Mai to Join Him
It’s only natural to want your significant other to join you on important quests, right? Well, surprisingly Zuko never does ask Mai, and you wonder why.
On the Boiling Rock, Zuko was surely done for. But luckily (for him and for their relationship), Mai intervened and saved his life, albeit at the betrayal of Azula. Before that though, we never see Zuko ask Mai for any help.
Maybe he just never thought she wanted to be part of the entire war. Even throughout the series, we never really can tell what feelings Mai has towards the war. She might have been morally grey about it all, and Zuko could have asked her; but he never does.
Roku was a fire nation Avatar that came after the legendary Avatar Kyoshi. He is also the preceding Avatar to Avatar Aang. Roku’s spirit served as a constant guide at specific points of Aang’s journey in the quest to defeat Fire Lord Ozai during the 100-year war. Roku was a wise and lenient Avatar and although he himself acknowledged that the war was and Sozin gaining so much ground was as a result of his indecisiveness.
Another factor is that his lifelong friendship with Fire Lord Sozin played a great deal in his reluctance to take action against his best friend. This led to the war gaining ground and the fire nation expanding its territory. Roku was also a fire nation born, thus, he may have had to walk softly so as not to be regarded as a traitor.
This ultimately was the cause of Roku’s death, which prevented him from stopping a war that would go on to last for one hundred years. This is something that weighed heavily on him in his afterlife. Aang inherited Roku’s burden of healing the war-torn world, and Roku firmly believed Aang was destined to fix his mistakes.
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Avatar Roku’s Early Life
In Roku’s early years, he was best friends with then Prince Sozin at that time. They spent a lot of time together, constantly sparring and practicing their fire bending. They were extremely close and of course the best of friends. Sozin was quickly able to tell that Roku had a crush on Ta Min, a fire nation girl. He encouraged Roku to speak with her. Roku and Prince Sozin shared a birthday which they celebrated together every year.
During one of their birthday parties, with Sozin celebrating his and Roku’s sixteenth birthday, Roku had the most shocking revelation. He was informed by the Fire Sages that he was the Avatar. Before Roku left the Fire Nation to master the other three elements, Sozin came by to talk to him and was informed by Roku that the Sages had told him not to bring anything with him on his travels, as the Avatar required no worldly possessions on his journey.
After learning this, Sozin gave him the headpiece worn by the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, hoping that he was at least allowed to have that. Roku took the headpiece gratefully and wore it for the rest of his life.
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Roku’s Avatar Journey
After learning that he was the Avatar, Roku began traveling to all the other nations to learn their sacred arts of bending. He trained under Masters to learn the other bending arts. Following the natural order of the elemental cycles, he had to learn air bending first.
To accomplish this, he traveled to the Southern Air Temple. While he was there, Roku became very good friends with a young Air Nomad named Gyatso, who would, in his elder years, become the guardian, mentor, and friend to Avatar Aang. A viable proof that friendships can indeed transcend lifetimes.
In one of the air bending lessons that Roku underwent which involved the students taking off with their gliders; Roku showed off by performing a loop. When Gyatso saw this and tried to upstage him by air-surfing, he lost control and fell.
Roku did however come to the aid of his friend. Although their combined weight proved too much for Roku to control. They lost control and crashed into the other students that were standing safely on the ground.
After years of training and mastering air bending, Roku traveled to the Northern Water tribe to master water bending. This was particularly difficult for him as he was working with his natural opposite. Fire is to Water as Earth is to Air. We would later see Avatar Aang’s struggle to master Earth bending as it was his natural opposite as well. Roku recalls his whole process of learning the bending arts and mastering them as bitter work.
However, years of practice and training helped him to duel his master and stand his ground. During one of these sparring sessions, Avatar Roku took the brunt of a water blow and ended up in the ocean, but popped back up to stand on an ice platform and swept his teacher away with a tall wave of water, crashing into the pinnacle of the chief’s palace, a good distance away.
After he had mastered this, he traveled to the Earth Kingdom to learn earth bending from a master named Sud. This was also another difficult task as mastering the bending arts required you to forget everything else that you knew but still remember it at the same time. They had different forms but were perceived as one of a great whole. He developed a great friendship. During one of their training sessions, they raced each other atop slabs of the earth to the top of a hill.
Although Sud was in the lead most of the time, Roku managed to beat him to the top with time to spare to prepare tea for both of them, much to Sud’s surprise. This showed great mastery and ease in performance. After he had mastered the bending arts, he moved on to more Avatar duties. He was to master the Avatar state and understand more of the spiritual side of the Avatar.
Mastering The Avatar State
After mastering the bending arts, Roku went back to the fire nation. By this time, years had passed and he was already close to becoming a fully realized Avatar. He retired to a crescent Island for 5 months where he attempted to master the Avatar state. This was one of the Avatar temples in the fire nation.
He attempted to master the Avatar State under the guidance of a Fire Sage named Kaja. Avatar Roku growing impatient after failing to master it with meditation tried using the winter solstice sun to force himself into the Avatar State.
Despite his success, he became trapped under its influence and was unable to control his powers, resulting in the destruction of the upper half of the Fire Temple and the eruption of the nearby volcano. Kaja eventually managed to free Roku from the state by aligning the Avatar’s eyes with the winter solstice sun once more, halting the destruction of the temple.
In penance for his near destruction of the Fire Sages’ temple, Roku rebuilt parts of the temple and carved new underground passages out of the island’s magma. This was seen in the Last air bender series when Shayu escorted Aang and his friends through the underground secret passageways. After the incident, Roku became more patient with his training and completely mastered the Avatar State afterward.
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Roku’s Return
After the mastery of the bending arts and the Avatar state, Roku returned home, a fully realized Avatar.
He reunited with Sozin and they shared a hug. He went on to marry his childhood sweetheart Ta Min. Sozin was his best man at the wedding.
At the wedding, Sozin asked to speak with Roku in private and informed his close friend that he had thought hard about the state of the world.
He told Roku that he strongly believed the Fire Nation had entered a period of great prosperity and proposed to Roku that together the pair could spread this wealth to the world by expanding the empire. Roku was shocked by his horrific preposition and firmly told Sozin that the four nations were to be kept separate. He also advised that he never bring the subject forth in future conversations.
Later in his life, Roku found a dragon, Fang, when he was a baby, not yet hatched from his egg, and adopted him as his animal guide and constant companion during his life as the Avatar. He eventually settled down and began living out his life with Ta Min, with whom he later had a daughter, Rina.
Seventeen years after Roku’s wedding, he discovers that Sozin had went ahead with his plans and set up colonies in the Earth kingdom. Infuriated by Sozin’s act of war, Roku confronted his old friend friend, blasting through the doors of the throne room inside the fire nation palace.
He bashed his friend and ordered him to cease the expansion he was trying to achieve. When Sozin replied that Roku’s loyalty was to the fire nation and to his Fire Lord, he also further enunciated that halting the progress of this expansion made him a traitor. Roku warned Sozin not to challenge him and as he turned to leave, Sozin attacked.
Roku easily dodged this attack and used earth bending to reappear behind Sozin. This let Roku strike him with an air blast. Suspending Sozin in the air with an earth pair by the collar of his robe, he entered the Avatar state and destroyed the throne room. He spared Sozin’s life for the sake of their friendship and wanted him that any plans to further the expansion would result in Sozin’s permanent end.
Twenty-five years later, a volcanic explosion erupted at Roku’s home. He was able to save the rest of the island’s inhabitants.
Roku ultimately realizes that his death was inevitable. Right before the pyroclastic flow engulfed him, Fang curled up with his master and the two died together.
When it comes to shows that last a lifetime and live on in the hearts of their fans, then Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show that fits that description perfectly well. This is because the show somehow managed to include everyone in its storytelling, and at the end of the day, there is hardly anyone who has seen the series that has not been touched by its uniqueness. Truly there are very few shows like it, so it is fondly remembered. This fodness even translates to merchandise and paraphernalia; anything that can remind fans about the show is considered golden. And that includes any Avatar the Last Airbender Wallpaper.
In light of this, we’ve compiled some of the most amazing entries from the Avatar the Last Airbender wallpaper list; and we bet you’ll love them to bits.
What better way to start this list than with a canvas poster wallpaper that fully represents the climax of the series? Thus wallpaper showcases the primary characters from the third book; the Book of Fire. We have Sokka, Katara, Aang, Toph and a surprising addition of Zuko. On second thought, maybe not so surprising, considering by the third book, Zuko has switched sides and is now Aang’s firebending teacher. It’s a perfect piece, sure to draw wows and oohs from anyone who sees it, and we can just imagine it over a mantle in the home. Or even over a bed.
This is another canvas poster wallpaper, and this time we have the titular character himself; Avatar Aang. In this wallpaper, Aang looks to be in the avatar state, with his tattoos glowing as they do whenever he goes superpowered. Behind him is Sozin”s Comet, which is surrounded by a beautiful crimson hue. This is ironic considering the fact that the comet embodies the end of the world for the three nations as they know it. Luckily, Aang was able to defeat the Phoenix King and save the world from impending doom.
There are few things as disarming as Aang’s smile, truly. And this canvas wallpaper poster shows just that. It also pays homage to each of the three books in the series. The first frame shows Aang in the ocean swimming; a clear reference to the Book of Water. The second panel shows Aang in a cloud of orange smoke, and that symbolizes the Book of Fire. The third panel shows Aang surrounded by stalagmites, a pointer to his time learning how to bend earth in the Book of Earth. This wallpaper captures the true essence of the show in simple details, and would be a perfect addition to any collection.
While we actually got just three actual seasons of the animated series, the story does not end there. The tie in comics serves as continuations, and the first comic, often referred to as Avatar The Last Airbender Season 4: The Promise. Now in this wallpaper, we get to capture the true essence of that tie-in comic. Not to brag, but we mention this wallpaper is a must-have. It does after all feature Aang, Toph, Katara, Zuko as the new Firelord, Sokka and even Momo as they try to find out what really happened to Zuko’s mother.
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Avatar State Aang
Aang is very rarely angered or distressed to the point where he is visibly fierce. But in this wallpaper we can see that the Avatar is on his edge. He has entered the Avatar state, and is now bending all four elements at the same time. Whatever the case may be, something serious has definitely happened for the otherwise peaceful and easy going defender of all elements. He’s even breathing fire.
Overlooking Aang
In this wallpaper, we see Aang overlooking the world as it stands. It is clearly different from the one he left behind, and from the colors and hues you can tell this is a pretty intense scene. This particular scene was taken from the intro sequence of the show itself, and you can just hear Katara recounting the events of the hundred year war as you look at this fine masterpiece.
Avatar: The Last Star Wars
This last wallpaper on our list is a bit of a parody. It is an interesting take on both franchises, imagining Avatar The Last Airbender characters as Star Wars Characters. Sokka appears as legendary voyager Han Solo. Appa is his trusted sidekick and companion Chew Bacca. Uncle Iroh appears as Yoda, not an unusual portrayal, considering the level of wisdom both characters exude. Momo is none other than JarJar Binks. Finally, we have Katara as Padme Amidala, Zuko as Anakyn Skywalker on the Darkside, and Aang as Obiwon Kenobi. It’s the best cosplay you can think of.
Zuko is arguably the most popular character in the entire Avatar franchise. And it’s easy to see why when you consider his journey through the series.
The story arc of the Fire Nation prince is probably the most complex of any character in the series. He first appears as the main antagonist, winding up as one of the main heroes.
The story most people know is Zuko’s story as depicted in the Avatar: The Last Airbender series. And that’s understandable. The most engaging elements of his story are arguably from that series, anyway.
But the reality of Zuko’s story is NOT the simple “happily-ever-after” implied at the close of The Last Airbender. The complexities become even deeper in our anti-hero’s journey later in his life.
This article re-tells Zuko’s life story. You can use the contents to skip to any particular time during Zuko’s life that you most wanted to read about. And for a summary of Zuko’s legacy, then skip to the last section of the article.
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Zuko’s Life Story
Zuko Before The Last Airbender
Birth
Zuko’s father, Ozai, was the second-born son of Firelord Azulon and the grandson of Firelord Sozin. But Ozai had ambitions of power, despite his older brother, Iroh, being true heir to the throne. Zuko’s mother, Ursa, was the granddaughter of Avatar Roku (the Avatar that preceded Aang).
Understanding Zuko’s family tree is essential to understanding the complexities of his character. It is at the very core of his conflicts. But more on that later…
Zuko, although powerful as a firebender when we met him in Avatar: The Last Airbender, didn’t show bending skills until much later than most newborns. He apparently lacked the “spark in the eye” of firebending infants, a fact that caused great anger and disappointment in his demanding father. Ozai was ready to kill the child, such was his disappointment at his own son’s shortcomings. Ursa, Zuko’s mother, intervened to prevent Ozai’s disposal of Zuko – the only reason he stayed alive. Amazingly, that wouldn’t be the last time her actions saved Zuko from his father. But more on that a little later…
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The Eagle and the Turtle-Crab
As he grew up, the family sometimes took holidays to Ember Island – memories Zuko remembered as the few happy experiences he had growing up. On one such holiday, as a three-year-old, Zuko witnessed an eagle attacking a turtle crab. He saved the turtle crab from being eaten by the eagle. It was one of Zuko’s first displays of empathy.
But Zuko looked back at the eagle. It occurred to him, then, that predators such as eagles would starve without eating other animals: deep-rooted moral conflicts grappled within the young Prince for the first time.
Just then, a wave surprised him and pulled him into the ocean. He drowned and became unconscious. But Ozai actually saved his life, retrieving him from the water. Ozai was angry all the same, perceiving weakness in Zuko’s mind. That his son was concerned so much with helping the needy disappointed the future Fire Lord. For the rest of the day, Ursa comforted Zuko while he vomited sea water. Zuko’s mother, so often, was the only consolation in his harsh upbringing.
Ember Island was the only place where Zuko remembered feeling part of a family. Clearly, though, it wasn’t all happy-families for him there…
Growing Up with Azula
Zuko’s sister, Azula, is an extraordinarily cold and clinical villain throughout the Avatar franchise. As a child, she displayed natural intelligence as well as skill in firebending – Ozai’s dream child, you could say. Her emergence as a infant prodigy estranged Ozai even further from his firstborn, Zuko. Taking Azula under his wing, the girl would grow to be as much a frightening prospect as Ozai himself.
Naturally, then, Zuko didn’t draw much comfort from having a younger sister. Quite the opposite. There were several instances where Azula made his life more difficult than it already was.
She once set his butt on fire for telling their mother about her setting a bush on fire (I must admit, I did laugh a little bit at that one!!). Another time, she devised a plan after noticing a mutual attraction between Zuko and her friend, Mai. Azula’s plan consisted of setting an apple on fire atop Mai’s head, knowing that Zuko would act to protect her – and act he did! In trying to knock the apple off her head, Zuko knocked her into a fountain and landed on top of her. Azula and Ty Lee laughed at their misfortune, with Azula also telling Ty Lee: “I told you it would work!”
Their mother would often bemoan Azula’s ruthlessness. Her own mother thought of her as a “monster,” Azula herself would later reflect. Ozai was thrilled by her natural flair, conversely.
“You Were Lucky to be Born”
Azula once described her’s and Zuko’s firebending teacher as a “dummy” during a family dinner.
Zuko responded: “He’s not a dummy! He just thinks that proper firebending technique has to start –“
But Ozai cut him off.
He snapped at Zuko. Azula had mastered 14 more firebending techniques than Zuko had at that point, despite being two years younger.
Ozai’s went on to tell Zuko that he was lucky to be born, whereas Azula was born lucky.
Fierce words from a fierce father…
Positive Male Role Models
Ozai wasn’t the only male influence in Zuko’s life, though (luckily).
Piandiao – who later taught Sokka (of Team Avatar) the art of swordsmanship – taught Zuko to fight with two broadswords. Piandiao encouraged Zuko to nurture his great potential. Ozai was unable to even recognize that potential.
But it was his uncle Iroh – “the Dragon of the West” – who was clearly Zuko’s most notable male influence.
Iroh recognized that his younger brother, Ozai, treated Zuko harshly. He kept an instinctive eye on poor Zuko whenever he was around. After his own son, Lu Ten, died in battle, Iroh grew even more attached to his dear nephew. In essence, Iroh treated Zuko like his own son.
It was unfortunate for Zuko that Iroh was so often occupied as a War General during his childhood. The confidence boosts Zuko so needed throughout a childhood riddled by put-downs from his father and sister may have come regularly from a consistently present uncle Iroh. Notably, however, Iroh did send Zuko a dagger which had the words “Never Give Up Without a Fight” engraved into it – a gift that Zuko would hold dear for many years. It was gestures like this that would stick with Zuko during challenging times
Uncle Iroh’s influence would go on to be a crucial factor in Zuko’s character arc, as you will soon see. But not before Zuko received even crueler treatments from his father…
Azulon Calls for Zuko’s Sacrifice
When Zuko’s uncle was still known as General Iroh, his son, Lu Ten, died in battle. Iroh subsequently retreated from his siege of Ba Sing Se as a result of his utter heartbreak. His motivation for battle had all but fizzled out. Ozai subsequently called for a meeting with his father – Fire Lord Azulon.
During the meeting, he bid Azula showcase her firebending skills and war strategy nous to impress the Fire Lord. Feeling left out, Zuko volunteered to showcase his own firebending skills. But he embarrassed himself, falling flat on his face during his demonstration.
Unimpressed, Azulon dismissed Zuko, Azula, and Ursa (who comforted Zuko in his embarrassment) to speak in private with Ozai. Azula and Zuko eavesdropped on this meeting, though … and didn’t expect to hear what they heard.
Ozai requested that he be made Azulon’s new heir to the throne, given Iroh’s loss of a natural heir to carry on his own line. Azulon was disgusted. He told Ozai that he should learn to understand Iroh’s suffering. At that point, Zuko ran away – frightened by what he might hear next. Azula, though, stayed to listen to the juicy details.
Azulon asserted that the only way Ozai could understand Iroh’s suffering is if he lost his own first-born son. The implication, of course, was that he should sacrifice the underwhelming Zuko.
Ursa’s Sacrifice
When Azula proudly told Zuko and his mother about Azulon’s request, Zuko refused to believe it. Ursa, meanwhile, went to speak directly with Ozai.
Given their poor relationship, Ursa could only negotiate with Ozai. She eventually agreed to leave the Fire Nation and never return if he would spare Zuko’s life. Ozai reluctantly agreed.
As of the next day, the kingdom assumed Ursa missing or dead. As for Zuko, his only consistent source of love had left him at just 11 years old. He wouldn’t learn any more about her disappearance for many years.
Banishment
And Zuko’s emotional turmoils didn’t end there.
Two years later, after Ozai had taken his place as Firelord, Iroh permitted Zuko to join the other generals in a war meeting. Iroh insisted that Zuko keep quiet during the meeting, but Zuko – a fiery teenager – couldn’t resist. He criticized the proposed strategy of an established war general, infuriating his father, Fire Lord Ozai.
As we’ve seen, it never took much to trigger Ozai’s pent-up anger at Zuko. But what happened next nobody could’ve expected. Ozai called Zuko to fight in an Agni Kei – a combative firebending duel for the honor of the participants. Zuko agreed … but didn’t realize that it was his own father that he’d be dueling.
Zuko begged his father not to fight him, down on his knees. But the Fire Lord proceeded to burn his son’s eye, leaving the permanent scar that is synonymous with Zuko’s character in the Avatar franchise.
Ozai then stripped Zuko of his birthright and banished him from the Fire Nation. Ozai told him that he must capture the Avatar if he were to regain his honor. A virtually impossible task considering the fact that the Avatar hadn’t been sighted for almost 100 years.
Still, Zuko set forth. Fortunately for him, his uncle Iroh couldn’t bear to see his dear nephew roaming the world lost and alone. So he joined the Prince in the obsessive search for the Avatar that followed…
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Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender (Book One: Water)
Avatar Hunting
For two years, the banished Prince searched all over the world for the Avatar. He looked in all the four air temples and in the most obscure of places, leaving not a rock unturned.
While sailing close to the Southern Water Tribe, Zuko noticed an ethereal blue light in the distance – shooting from the ground up into the sky. He instinctively knew that a phenomenon so powerful couldn’t have come from anything but the Avatar … and how right he was.
Not long afterward, he saw a flare coming from an old Fire Nation shipwreck. He looked closer with his telescope. And there he was: The Last Airbender. It surprised Zuko to see him floating over the shipwreck like a young whippersnapper, though. After all, the Avatar ought to have been more than 100 years old by that point.
The Avatar moved towards a nearby Water Tribe village with a Water Tribe girl; Zuko pursued him.
Avatar Aang handed himself over. Finally, Zuko felt he would be able to earn his father’s respect! But Katara and Sokka atop Appa, the flying bison, saved the Avatar after the ship has set sail. It wouldn’t be the last time Zuko’s Avatar hunting would disappoint him so much, either.
Zuko frustratedly continued that chase of Aang for the majority of Book One: Water. His pursuit was not without distraction, though…
Agni Kei with Zhao
Zuko and his uncle Iroh crossed paths with Zhao – Commander of the Fire Nation Navy and a powerful firebender. Zuko hoped to avoid such an audience. But their ship needed repairs after the battle during Avatar Aang’s escape. When they found Zhao’s fleet, there was no choice but to ask for help.
Realizing that Zhao would certainly try to capture the Avatar for himself, Zuko urged Iroh to help conceal knowledge of the Avatar’s return from the Commander. But Zhao knew something was wrong. He had Zuko’s crew interrogated and learned of their mission.
Zhao then asserted that the task of capturing the Avatar was too important to entrust to a teenager. Naturally, Zuko angrily challenged the Admiral to an Agni Kai.
To be fair, though, Zuko handily defeated Zhao. He even also spared the Commander’s life at the end of the duel. But Zhao attacked Zuko as he walked away. Uncle Iroh blocked his cheap shot, though. Iroh then told Zhao that, even in banishment, Zuko was honorable than he was. Zuko clearly appreciated the encouragement from his loving uncle.
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The Blue Spirit: Rescuing the Avatar
It dismayed Zuko to learn that what he hope to prevent had come to fruition … Commander Zhao succeeded in capturing the Avatar.
In response, Zuko dressed up as ‘The Blue Spirit’, sneaking riskily into Zhao’s quarters and ‘rescuing’ the imprisoned Avatar. He couldn’t stand the idea of Zhao delivering the Avatar to his father. That would ruin the chance of Zuko himself regaining his honor by completing the task his father had set him. It would only be another reason for his father to deem him surplus to requirements.
After their escape, Aang soon realized that the Blue Spirit that helped him escape was none other than his nemesis, Zuko. Aang suggested that the two of them could be friends … but Zuko attacked him. Aang quickly escaped but it wouldn’t be long before their paths crossed again…
Capturing the Avatar
Zhao destroyed Zuko’s ship after learning that he was responsible for the Avatar’s escape. But Zuko managed to evade Zhao’s notice while hiding aboard the commander’s ship.
Zuko eventually managed to escape the ship and captured Avatar Aang while he meditated into the spirit world.
He tied the Avatar up and carried him on his shoulder while trekking across the treacherous iced-over landscape around the North Pole. As the ground broke beneath his feet, Zuko sought refuge in a cave. There, he spoke to the unconscious Avatar, giving air to his turbulent emotional past.
Zuko pointed out the irony that, when he finally captured the Avatar, a snowstorm stood between him carrying him to the Fire Nation. Then he compared Aang to his sister, whose life, he explained, always went smoothly and according to her plans. And he referred again to his father’s harsh statement that Azula was born lucky while Zuko was lucky to be born – then going on to claim that he doesn’t need luck.
“I’ve always had to struggle and fight, and that’s made me strong. It’s made me who I am.”
Zuko, in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book One: Water, ‘The Siege of the North Pt. 2’ (Episode 20)
When Aang returns to consciousness, though, he attacks and traps Zuko under a pile of heavy snow. Team Avatar turns up to save him, but Aang insists on saving Zuko from under the snow – recognizing that his foe would surely die if they did nothing.
Zhao’s Death
During the Siege of the North, Zuko attacked Zhao again for trying to kill him. But Zhao got dragged to his death by the hand of the great water spirit, La, combined with Aang in the Avatar State. Zuko offered a hand to pull him back to safety, but the stubborn Admiral refused.
After the battle, Zuko left the scene with his uncle Iroh. It took Iroh by surprise that Zuko no longer seemed obsessed with capturing the Avatar. “I’m tired,” Zuko told Iroh.
“A man needs his rest,” Iroh explained, as Zuko – worn out – lay back and fell asleep.
Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Two: Earth
Azula Inviting Zuko Home
Princess Azula tracked down Zuko and Iroh – now branded as traitors by Firelord Ozai – convincing Zuko that his father wants him back home again.
Excited at the prospect of being back in his father’s favour, and of going home, Zuko happily joins Azula on her ship. But when the captain of Azula’s ship accidentally refers to Zuko and Iroh areas “prisoners,” the Prince and his uncle realise that they need to escape Azula’s grasp.
Their ties and links to the Fire Nation: completely severed. Using the dagger Iroh had gifted to Zuko as a boy, the pair cut off the topknots of their hair. They realized that it was time to assume new identities separate from their royal heritage.
Zuko Alone
The pair traveled through the Earth Kingdom together, with Iroh begging for change and Zuko dressing up again as the Blue Spirit to steal food from locals.
After growing frustrated with Iroh’s passiveness, Zuko decided to leave his uncle behind and pursue his own path. In the popular episode ‘Zuko Alone’ (Book Two: Earth, Episode 7), he worked with a poor Earth Kingdom family who regularly struggled in dealing with the local soldiers. Despite actually being Earth Kingdom soldiers, they treated local people poorly. When Zuko stood up to a group of those soldiers, local people display real gratitude toward him. He is fed and sheltered by the family, forming a close emotional bond with their young son, Lee.
Zuko had regular flashbacks to his childhood during this, the first time he had spent away from his life as a Fire Nation prince. He remembered Azula’s tormenting; his father’s cruelness; his mother’s love.
He realized, in the present, that he would need to move on eventually. And Zuko left the young Lee a parting gift: the pearl dagger that Iroh had gifted to him as a child.
Reminiscent of David Carradine’s Kwai Chang Caine in Kung Fu, Zuko slumbered (like a true nomad) in a humble pile of hay. But Lee’s mother unexpectedly awoke him. She told him that the village soldiers stormed their home, demanding food, and her son pulled a dagger – the one Zuko had gifted to him – in defense. With a sense of obligation, Zuko returned to the village.
He bravely fought the soldiers alone, without the use of firebending. But the large group overwhelmed and knocked him down. After another flashback – of his mother telling him “never forget who you are” – Zuko awoke and defeated the soldiers with his firebending.
Despite his help, the town – including the family he had returned in order to help – turned against him. He fled the village once more, with glares of hatred burning in the back of his head from the villagers he left behind.
Back to Iroh
Zuko’s experience riding solo clearly taught him a lot. He was able to experience the goodness that exists within people from other nations, and the difficulties they face. The people the Fire Nation were invading, he learned, were good, proud people. Zuko slowly realized that he didn’t want to be part of the tyrannical empire that his father was building.
Still, Zuko’s journey from ‘villain’ to ‘hero’ was far from over.
Next, he followed Azula’s tank train trail, revealing himself during her own face-off with Avatar Aang. The face-off quickly exploded into an all-out battle in which Team Avatar (now including Toph Beifong), Zuko, and Iroh quite ironically fought together against Azula, the common enemy.
The six of them cornered Azula, who feigned a surrender. But she slyly shot lightning at her uncle Iroh, badly injuring him. Team Avatar came to help, but Zuko firebended at them and told them to leave.
In the following days, Zuko took care of his uncle, while Iroh taught him how to redirect lightning.
Feeling confident that he had mastered the technique, Zuko asked Iroh to shoot lightning at him for practice. When Iroh refused, Zuko left in a rage.
Seeking out a thunderstorm, he stood at the edge of a high cliff. He screamed at the heavens. “You never held back before!” he declared, urging the universe to somehow retaliate to his anger. Zuko fell to his knees and burst into tears. No lightning struck him.
After returning to Iroh, the pair headed to the walls of Ba Sing Se…
Ba Sing Se
Iroh’s positive, friendly demeanor – along with his obvious passion for tea – landed himself and Zuko jobs in a tea shop.
After impressing with tea-making skills, an entrepreneur offered Iroh the opportunity to open a new tea shop. He offered Iroh a higher pay rate, creative freedom to build the shop however he please, and even a fancy new apartment. Post-banishment, Iroh couldn’t have imagined a better situation to unfold for him … unfortunately, Zuko didn’t feel the same way.
Zuko continued to sulk and whine about how his life was panning out. Iroh, then, made it his business to shake Zuko’s leg on his behalf.
When a regular customer to the tea shop – a teenage girl called Jin – showed interest in Zuko, Iroh convinced his nephew to go on a date with her.
Although reluctant at first, Zuko had an enjoyable (albeit awkward) time with Jin. Upon returning to the tea shop, he even told Iroh that his evening was “nice” (shock horror!).
It wasn’t long, though, before Zuko learned of the Avatar’s presence in Ba Sing Se…
Metamorphosis
He dressed up, once more, as the Blue Spirit and managed to find the Avatar’s flying bison – Appa – locked up in captivity. But during the process of claiming Appa, Iroh turned up.
He confronted Zuko:
Iroh: What do you plan to do now that you have the Avatar’s bison? Are you going to keep him locked up in our apartment? Should I make him tea?
Zuko: First I have to get him out of here…
Iroh: AND THEN WHAT?! You never think these things through…
Zuko & Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Two: Earth, ‘Lake Laogai’ (Episode 17).
Iroh talked Zuko down expertly. He referred back to when the Avatar’s friends saved him back at the Siege of the North, suggesting that Zuko is not in his right mind. Iroh challenged Zuko to look deep within himself to discover what it is that he really wanted in his life. Zuko eventually freed Appa, returning to the apartment with his uncle and dropping the Blue Spirit persona forever.
Zuko then fell into a deep fever. He slept and hallucinated for a number of days, his inner conflicts playing out visually in his mind’s eye. So far removed from his usual behaviour, freeing the Avatar’s bison plummeted Zuko into what Iroh described as a “metamorphosis.”
Zuko was changing. He started out as the tyrannical Firelord’s son; he was becoming a hero that the war-stricken world so badly needed.
And when he awoke from his fever, Zuko was a much friendlier and positive companion for Iroh.
Loyalties Tested
Azula locked Zuko in the Crystal Catacombs during her siege of Ba Sing Se… where he was accompanied by Katara of Team Avatar. Katara expressed extreme anger towards him, which Zuko clearly understood the reasons for.
After talking together for a while, Katara began to sympathize with Zuko’s personal plight. So convinced by Zuko’s transformation, Katara almost applied some of her limited supply of Spirit water – that she had been saving for something important – to Zuko’s face burns. But before she could, Avatar Aang showed up (with none other than Zuko’s Iroh!), distracting her.
Not long after, Azula arrived at the scene. And she warped Zuko’s mind again with promises of acceptance from their father – the promise of happy family life at home, where she told him he belonged.
In spite of his metamorphosis, his experiences of later, and his encounter with Katara, Zuko betrayed his uncle and Team Avatar. Regaining his honor in his father’s eyes remained his top priority.
Before leaving the scene, Azula struck Aang in the Avatar state – with the belief that this would kill the airbender and end the Avatar’s cycle of reincarnation.
Azula assured Zuko that he had made the right choice and had restored his honor; the Prince, though, didn’t feel very honorable…
Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Three: Fire
Returning Home
Zuko soon learned that Azula had told their father, Firelord Ozai, that it was Zuko who killed the Avatar, not her. She explained that there was nothing for Zuko to worry about if what he told her was true – that there was no way the Avatar could’ve survived. Of course, in the back of Zuko’s mind was the fact that Katara possessed a powerful and healing Spirit water … but he didn’t tell Azula that. For sure, though, Azula knew something was on Zuko’s mind. That’s why she was so willing to sacrifice the glory that comes with killing the Avatar.
Nervous about the Avatar’s potential survival, Zuko hired an assassin – who Team Avatar would later nickname “Combustion Man” – to finish the job.
Nevertheless, Ozai did accept Zuko back into the kingdom. He did restore his son’s honour, that Zuko had sought after for years prior. But Prince Zuko still felt the same as before – torn, angry, conflicted.
Indeed, the only saving grace for Zuko’s stay in the Fire Nation was being reunited with Mai. The pair shared an intimate, romantic relationship upon his return. But even his loving girlfriend caused moments of grief for Zuko.
The Beach
In ‘The Beach’ (S3E6?), Zuko and Mai’s relationship encountered some issues. Meanwhile, Mai, Ty Lee, Azula, and Zuko all opened up to each other emotionally, revealing their individual emotional traumas.
When it came to Zuko, the group pressed him to answer a simple question: who are you angry at?
After struggling with the question, Zuko finally responded by yelling: “I’M ANGRY AT MYSELF!”
It became quite clear at that point that Zuko was not satisfied with the choice he made in Ba Sing Se. It seemed as if he regretted his decision to join forces with Azula, betraying his loving uncle as well as the Avatar.
Despite the therapeutic holiday, including this collective release of emotions, Zuko’s turbulence continued. Things with Mai were much better when they got back to the Fire Nation kingdom, but Zuko self-loathing wouldn’t end until he made one big decision in his life.
In spite of acquiring his father’s approval, Zuko still felt the same levels of inner-conflict that he had done before. Nevertheless, he was close to completing the metamorphosis that he began back in Ba Sing Se…
Discovering His Roots: Fire Lord Sozin & Avatar Roku
Zuko began visiting his uncle Iroh, who had been imprisoned as a traitor to the Fire Nation after the events at the Crystal Catacombs.
Iroh’s influence guided Zuko to discover something he didn’t expect: that the previous Avatar – Avatar Roku – was his great-grandfather.
Iroh explained to Zuko that understanding the conflict between his two great-grandfathers – Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin – was critical in understanding the conflict within himself:
Avatar Roku and Firelord Sozin were the closest of friends growing up. They did everything together! Practiced combat, studied, even pursued romances. They were like brothers. When it was revealed that Roku – who was usually less skilful than Sozin – would be the Avatar, Sozin wasn’t bitter. He was excited for his friend.
But Sozin, after becoming Fire Lord, offered a proposition to Avatar Roku. He suggested that, together, they could usher in an expansion of the Fire Nation. The prosperity that they have built could be shared with all the nations.
When Roku refused this proposition, explaining that the four nations should remain separate, the pair were at odds with each other until Roku died. When Roku did pass away, Sozin had an opportunity to pursue his dream of a Fire Nation empire … and to make matters worse, Avatar Aang disappeared. The rest, as Zuko well knew, was history.
After more friction between him and his father, Zuko finally spoke his mind.
He openly criticized his father’s beliefs and mission, declaring his own intention to leave the Fire Nation and teach the Avatar firebending.
He also assured his father that he would help Team Avatar to end the Fire Nation’s assault on the rest of the world. This, he believed, was his destiny. Ozai then struck lightning at Zuko, who stunned the Fire Lord by redirecting his strike to the ceiling. What a way to stand up to a controlling father!
Joining Team Avatar
He left a letter for Mai, explaining his decision to switch sides, and promptly left.
Finding the Avatar wasn’t too hard – after all, he’d been tracking the Avatar for years prior to making this decision.
Convincing Team Avatar that he was trustworthy, however, was much more difficult.
As a result of his betrayal back in Ba Sing Se, Team Avatar were extremely reluctant to accept him – Katara in particular.
Zuko had to defeat the assassin, “Combustion Man” – who he previously hired to kill Aang – to prove that his intentions were good. Even after that, though, Katara continued to act extremely hostile towards him. She assured him that, if he gave even the slightest impression that he might hurt Aang, then she would kill him there and then. Ouch.
The Sun Warriors and The Firebending Masters
Zuko’s firebending skills all but disappeared as soon as he started teaching Aang. Katara mocked him and joked about the inconvenience. His firebending not working would’ve helped Team Avatar back when he was hunting them, after all.
All the same, his firebending wasn’t working. Zuko suggested that the reason could be that he’d changed sides and that he needed to draw his firebending power from another source. He didn’t want to take strength from anger as he had done before.
Therefore, he went with Aang to visit the Sun Warriors – who introduced the pair to the last living dragons in the world. After Zuko and Aang were deemed worthy, the dragons – a.k.a. “The Firebending Masters” – showed them the source of their firebending power. Fire was not merely a destructive thing, they realized. It was the source of all life.
With the knowledge and understanding gained from the masters, Zuko proceeded to teach Aang. He taught him all he could about firebending in the short time they had before the arrival of Sozin’s Comet – the comet which would give Firelord Ozai the power he needed to overwhelm and conquer all four nations.
Bonding with Team Avatar
Zuko helped Sokka to rescue Hakoda and Suki from the Fire Nation’s Boiling Rock prison. In the process of escaping, he betrayed his girlfriend Mai once again and matched his previously overpowering sister in battle. In spite of his betrayal of Mai, though, she saved Zuko’s life by betraying Azula, who was about to cut the line of the cable car carrying Zuko and co. to safety.
Meanwhile, Katara still couldn’t warm up to Zuko. Even though he’d taken Aang to see the dragons and helped Sokka to rescue her father, she simply couldn’t bring herself to trust him. It was fitting, then, that the two of them would take a trip together … to find the man who killed Katara’s mother.
Zuko witnessed Katara’s use of her brutal ability to ‘bloodbend’, as she showcased the dark side of her personality. But when Katara finally met with her mother’s killer, she couldn’t bring herself to kill the man that she had wanted to murder for years.
Finally, after helping her on this mission, Katara accepted Zuko into Team Avatar. His redemption was complete … almost.
Sozin’s Comet
When Aang disappeared in the days prior to the comet, Zuko – identified as the “expert” of the group at tracking down the Avatar – led Team Avatar.
They couldn’t find Aang. But they did find The Order of the White Lotus. Here, Zuko was reunited with his dear uncle Iroh.
Crying apologetically for his betrayal of his uncle, Iroh embraced Zuko. He forgave the betrayal far more easily than Zuko expected.
“I was never angry with you, Zuko. I was just sad because I thought you’d lost your way.”
Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Three: Fire, ‘Sozin’s Comet Part 2: The Old Maters’ (Episode 19).
During the last great battle of the Avatar: The Last Airbender series, Zuko fought Azula again. This time, though, they fought in a comet-fuelled Agni-Kai. Zuko got the better of his sister – who showed early signs of her oncoming insanity – and forced her to admit defeat. True to her treacherous character, though, Azula aimed one last bolt of lightning at Katara, who stood nearby. In the last step toward his redemption, Zuko blocked the lightning by diving in front of Katara, seriously injuring himself in the process.
Katara managed to finish off Azula, thanks to her waterbending prowess and rapid creative thought processes. After neutralizing the Princess, she healed Zuko’s new wounds and thanked him for saving her life. No doubt about where Zuko’s loyalties lay existed for her anymore.
Zuko’s Coronation
Aang was victorious in defeating Firelord Ozai, the comet passed, and the world saved. Team Avatar was a success!
Zuko’s crowning as Fire Lord followed. During the coronation, he promised the four nations that he would work with the Avatar to ensure world peace and harmony are restored. He made it his mission to restore honor to the disgraced Fire Nation.
And the icing on the cake for the new Fire Lord: his girlfriend, Mai, forgave him for betraying her (twice!). Everything came up Zuko 🙂
And that was the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender…
…but Zuko’s story was FAR from over!!
Zuko in the Avatar Graphic Novels
Fire Lord Zuko: First Actions
Zuko visited his father in prison as soon as his coronation was complete.
He insisted that Ozai tell him what had happened to his mother … the outcome of that particular narrative reveals itself later, though (patience, dear reader!! We’ll get there).
The first of his major, official acts as Fire Lord was to help usher in the Harmony Restoration Movement. The movement removed all of the Fire Nation colonies from the other nations, allowing the Four Nations to re-continue their previously harmonious relationships together.
Zuko made Aang promise to “end him” if he ever became a Fire Lord similar to what his father had been. In spite of his redemption, Zuko was still concerned that he could turn bad again.
Assassination Attempts & Yu Dao
Restoring the Four Nations to their previous glories through the Harmony Restoration Movement was a popular policy … until it wasn’t.
Six assassination attempts on Zuko’s life shook up his peaceful demeanor. The last attempt came from Kori Morishita – daughter of the mayor of Yu Dao, one of the Fire Nation’s main Earth Kingdom colonies prior to the Harmony Restoration Movement.
The people of Yu Dao were furious with the Movement. They claimed that the decision forcefully removed innocent people from their homes. Zuko decided to investigate further.
When he arrived at Yu Dao, it came as a surprise to him that the mayor’s wife and daughters were actually earthbenders. In fact, Yu Dao was a great example of how Fire Nation and Earth Nation natives could live together harmoniously. Fire Nation people had been living there peacefully for generations.
Zuko, therefore, canceled the Harmony Restoration Movement. In other words, he allowed Fire Nation colonies to remain in Yu Dao and elsewhere. This perplexed Avatar Aang and Katara, who confronted the Fire Lord for his apparent U-turn.
But after some discussions directly with Zuko, as well as a brief conflict between the Fire Lord and Katara, Aang tried to convince the Earth King to change his mind about Yu Dao.
Mai Breaking Up with Zuko
During the complicated situation in Yu Dao, Mai grew impatient with Zuko’s lack of attention towards her.
Following the several attempts on Zuko’s life, the Fire Lord suffered from nightmares regularly disturbing his sleep. Mai, then, hired the Kyoshi Warriors as his bodyguards.
When Zuko went to Yu Dao, though, he forgot to tell Mai he was leaving. This lack of communication upset her immensely.
Later, Mai learned that Zuko had been holding secret meetings with his father Ozai (in his prison cell). Zuko had originally been meeting with Ozai to learn about his mother’s whereabouts; those meetings, though, had turned into counseling sessions for Zuko’s role as Fire Lord.
When Mai found out about these secret meetings, she broke up with Zuko.
It was yet another challenging and confusing life situation for Zuko to navigate.
The Battle of Yu Dao
After Mai broke up with Zuko, the Earth King marched an army towards Yu Dao in an attempt to reclaim it from the Fire Nation. In turn, Zuko took a Fire Nation army of his own to Yu Dao, prepared for battle.
The battle could easily have escalated into a war, if not for the intervention of Aang. The Avatar headed to Yu Dao, suspecting that he might have to fulfil his promise and “end” Zuko. Luckily, Aang separated the armies by entering the Avatar state and was able to strike an agreement with the Earth King.
Then he turned to Zuko…
Zuko went into metamorphosis again, just like he had in Ba Sing Se when staying with his uncle Iroh. He woke up after 4 days and felt much better. That relieved Aang, who no longer needed to fulfill his promise of killing his friend if he became like Fire Lord Ozai.
After those events unfolded, Zuko tried to get back to the mindset that he had before becoming Fire Lord. This started with re-setting one intention in particular…
Zuko’s Search for Mother … with Azula
He returned to his father’s cell to insist Ozai share more information about Ursa’s whereabouts. But when Ozai refused to help, Zuko turned to Azula – living in a mental asylum.
With the help of his unpredictable sister, along with Team Avatar, Zuko searched for Ursa.
There were many bumps in the road – not least a few fights with Azula (naturally!). Azula also carried with her a letter which implied that Zuko was not Ozai’s son. If true, this would’ve meant Zuko was not the true heir to the Fire Nation’s throne. This, along with a psychotic episode in which Azula was restrained by Team Avatar, made the mission far harder than Zuko wanted.
Eventually, Azula and Zuko managed to reach an agreement. “Why does our relationship have to be like this?!” Zuko lamented to his sister before they made a kind of peace with each other.
Afterward, they arrived in Hira’a – Ursa’s hometown. They were welcomed here by a man called Noren along with his wife Noriko, who also had a young daughter named Kiyi. In search for the man Azula’s letters claim is Zuko’s true father (Ikem), the team headed for Hira’a’s “Forgetful Valley,” where Ikem was rumored to have ventured.
In the valley, an ancient spirit called The Mother of Faces showed itself to them. The Mother told Zuko that she had erased Ursa’s memories and bestowed upon her a new identity. That identity was none other than Noriko – the woman who met with Team Avatar in Hira’a.
Catching Up with Mum
Azula almost immediately attacked Noriko when they arrived back in Hira’a. Zuko managed to stop her attack and restrain Azula. But his tricky sister escaped and ran off into the Forgetful Valley.
Zuko was stopped by The Mother of Faces when chasing her. The spirit asked Noriko, who also followed them, if she would like her memory restored … Zuko’s mother accepted and became Ursa once more.
Ursa embraced her son lovingly, filling a hole in Zuko’s heart that had existed for so many years. She apologised for leaving and explained the letter about Zuko’s father. It turned out that she had faked the letter to anger Ozai. Indeed, Ozai was Zuko’s real father and Zuko was the true Fire Lord.
Zuko played with the daughter of Norem and Ursa, Kiyi – who he then understood to be his baby sister. The siblings got along swimmingly well.
And Ursa finally told Zuko her life story from beginning to end. A satisfying tie up of Zuko’s loosest of loose ends!
Zuko went searching in the Forgetful Valley for Azula, but couldn’t find her (if you think she’s going to make a return … well, aren’t you smart?!).
The New Ozai Society
Zuko was threatened by the emergence of The New Ozai Society on his return to the Fire Nation. This society’s goal was simple: to reinstate Ozai’s nationalist state to power, removing Zuko from the throne in the process.
The New Ozai Society had been bubbling under the surface ever since Zuko’s coronation. But upon his low-key return to the Fire Nation, the society’s leader – Ukano, father of Mai (Zuko’s ex-girlfriend) – decided it was time to attack. Zuko was traveling home with his mother Ursa, sister Kiyi, and Norem (Ursa’s husband), accompanied nonetheless by the Kyoshi Warriors (now his personal bodyguards).
Ukano’s forces successfully captured Zuko and the Kyoshi Warriors, demanding Zuko to relinquish the throne. When Zuko refused, Ukano threatened to burn the caravan that carried the Fire Lord’s family. Disgusted by Ukano’s conduct, one of the masked society soldiers – Kei Lo, who happened to be Mai’s new boyfriend (unbeknownst to Zuko at that point) – unmasked himself and set Zuko free.
Eventually, Kyoshi Warrior reinforcements – accompanied by Mai, no less – came to the Fire Lord’s aid, easily finishing off the New Ozai Society.
The Kemurikage Spirits
A month later, Mai’s baby brother Tom-Tom was kidnapped by what she claimed looked like the Kemurikage Spirits.
The tale of these spirits was a story told to naughty children in the Fire Nation. The myth went that they would kidnap misbehaving children – a narrative used by parents who wanted to get their kids in order.
The kidnappers that took Tom-Tom, though, had taken several other young children for real (and not naughty children, necessarily … hehe).
Zuko offered to help Mai find her brother and the other missing children as soon as he heard the news. He employed the help of Aang, who he supposed would be a great help in dealing with potential dark spirits (being the Avatar and all).
A team of Zuko, Aang, Mai, and Kei Lo (who Zuko was clearly jealous of for being Mai’s love interest) worked together. They headed to the High Temple, where Aang meditated into the spirit world. There, Aang learned that the Kemurikage spirits had not left the spirit world, indicating that the kidnappers were merely dressed like Kemurikage.
A Moment Alone with Mai
During the mission to learn more about the Kemurikage, Zuko and Mai shared some moments of affection.
However, Mai was angered by Zuko when he asked her to compare her new relationship with Kei Lo to the one they had shared. She told Zuko that he broke her heart twice and they should both move on. It seemed to Mai that Kei Lo liked her much more than she liked him; that, she claimed, would prevent her from getting hurt the way Zuko hurt her.
Clearly, there were still feelings between them. But it is still unclear (to this day, reader) whether or not they ever rekindled their relationship due to gaps in the Avatar franchise narrative. You can be sure, though, that this page will be swiftly updated as soon as any such information is revealed!!
Zuko’s Response to the Kemurikage
Zuko soon learned that a military organization had started up in response to the kidnaps – the Safe Nation Society. Zuko angrily enforced that this group should be disbanded or its members would be arrested.
Not long afterwards, though, Kiyi (his stepsister) was kidnapped.
In response, Zuko locked down the entire city and ordered the homes of the Safe Nation Society to be searched. Aang expressed his concern, but Zuko continued to react emotionally. The Safe Nation Society soon kicked off a riot in the city, leading to their imprisonment.
Azula’s Return
Eventually, the team discovered that it was none other than Azula (surprise, surprise!) who led the faux-Kemurikage all along. Zuko fought his sister again, this time being defeated by Azula who seemed to have regained some stability/control in her time outside of the mental asylum.
Zuko told Azula that she was wasting her time fighting him. Even if she killed him, she would never be Fire Lord. But Azula laughed, explaining that taking the throne was not her goal. Her goal was to influence Zuko to become a leader like Ozai, ruling with strength and fear … she also claimed that she had already achieved that goal, citing Zuko’s recent behavior as evidence.
As she told him this, Zuko noticed that his friends had found and saved the missing children. Azula then disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Incidentally, Azula is yet to appear in the Avatar franchise since.
Zuko reflected upon his conduct of late. Azula’s suggestion that she had changed him to be more like Fire Lord Ozai before gave him yet another feeling of guilt. In a speech to the people of the Fire Nation, Zuko apologized for his recent performance as Fire Lord, promising to do better from now on.
The Southern Reconstruction Project
Some years later, Hakoda (leader of the Southern Water Tribe and father of Katara and Sokka) called for a meeting between world leaders. In the meeting, the leaders – consisting of Head Chieftain Hakoda, Fire Lord Zuko, and Earth King Kuei – discussed plans to redevelop the post-war Southern Water Tribe.
This was a project that Zuko was eager to help out and fund. The Earth King, though, was hesitant.
Regardless, Zuko was welcomed with intense hostility by the Water Tribe citizens. They clearly hadn’t forgiven the Fire Nation for the war just yet.
The protestors managed to kidnap the Earth King, luring Zuko into crossing a broken bridge to rescue him. Luckily, Avatar Aang was at hand to help rescue Kuei and things worked out okay.
But it was clear that echoes of the war were still ringing around the minds of people worldwide.
Zuko in The Legend of Korra
Later Reign and Fatherhood
Zuko in older age with his daughter Izumi.
Zuko’s controversial decision to abort the Harmony Restoration Project ultimately proved to be one of his best decisions as Fire Lord.
The Yu Dao example of Fire Nation and Earth Nation citizens living together harmoniously acted as a precursor to the development of Republic City. He was also one of the key figures in initiating the United Republic of Nations, which oversaw more than 50 years of world peace.
Very little has been written of Zuko’s life between the beginnings of the Republic and his appearances in The Legend of Korra (which will be covered in the next section). As with other topics in this article, however, any events that are described in future Avatar franchise installments will be updated into this article as quickly as those events are revealed!
Possibly the most burning questions for fans is that of Zuko’s lovelife.
The Fire Lord did have a daughter named Izumi. However, Izumi’s mother is never revealed during The Legend of Korra, or anywhere else for that matter.
Speculation that Mai was Izumi’s mother has certainly done the rounds on the internet. And the existing Avatar literature leaves plenty of room for that possibility (given that Mai broke up with Kei Lo not long after the events with Azula’s Kemurikage). But Izumi’s mother remains an unanswered question for the moment.
Nevertheless, Zuko did have a daughter. His relationship with her would seem to have been quite positive, too. He eventually abdicated his throne, entrusting it to Izumi in his retirement.
Izumi also bore a grandchild for Zuko, too – Iroh (named for Zuko’s uncle, of course). Iroh would become a general of the United Forces.
One more noteworthy development in Zuko’s life is that he adopted a dragon, which he named Durk.
Helping Avatar Korra
Zuko remained a close friend of Avatar Aang, who would regularly come to the Fire Lord for counsel. On the flip side, Zuko learned to trust Aang’s intuition.
After Aang’s death, Zuko ensured that he was available to the aid of Avatar Korra whenever necessary. Most notably, he helped defend the Republic against the threat of Zaheer and the Red Lotus.
Korra came to Zuko for advice herself after her connection to the spirits of previous Avatars was severed by Zaheer’s brutal assault on her. During a visit to the spirit world, she happened to meet with Zuko’s uncle Iroh, who suggested that she go to Zuko for guidance (as Aang had done before her). Iroh explained that Zuko had a connection to the Avatar spirit himself.
Zuko was stunned that Korra had communicated with his uncle.
Such was Zuko’s good reputation in the Republic, a statue was erected of him near Central City Station.
Death
Zuko’s death is yet to be described in the Avatar franchise. And knowing the topsy-turvy nature of his story, there can be no guarantees that he died peacefully in his sleep!!
That being said, Zuko moved to the paradisal Ember Island after handing the Fire Lord title to Izumi. The idea was that he could relax and retire there … we sure hope that he was able to! And we’re sure that we will hear more about Zuko in the future.
Zuko’s Legacy
Undoubtedly, Zuko’s character arc in Avatar: The Last Airbender left a lasting impact on watchers of TV series’. Not only is it considered one of the best redemption arcs in animated and/or children’s TV history – it is considered one of the best in all TV history.
Zuko’s story is comparable to other epic redemption arcs such as Jaime Lannister and Theon Grejoy in Game of Thrones, Severus Snape in Harry Potter, Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars. Being held up alongside such esteemed company as that would surely be a compliment to any character from any piece of literature!
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a marker point to which all other animated series are compared to. And Zuko is – in no small measure – an important reason for that.
After all, Zuko embodies one of the key themes of the entire series: that good and bad/light and dark exists within everything and everyone. He displays a tendency to be thoroughly hateful, while also proving that he is simultaneously a loving, empathetic character. Don’t we all have such conflicting feelings/morals between love & hate, like & dislike? Zuko represents the human struggle as a whole.
Every show is just as good as its bad guy. While Avatar had plenty of bad guys, from Jet down to Combustion Man, they were all just to keep us waiting for the main Baddie. Azula might have ended up being more of a threat overall, but when it comes to the position of the primary bad guy from the animated series, then no one really takes the cake just like Fire Lord Ozai.
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Voiced by legendary actor Mark Hamill, not much was known about the Firelord except for the brief scenes he appeared in at the beginning of the series. However, as short as those scenes were, one thing was clear. Fire Lord Ozai was a brutal ruler, and an even more brutal father; just ask Zuko or Zuko’s mother. While a legendary character, he however was defeated at the supposed height of his career. Still, he remains one very enigmatic character; interesting enough for us to find out exactly what is behind the man that was once the Phoenix King.
The Fire Lord had his face hidden for the entire first season of Avatar. It built up suspense and made you wonder in your head what he looked like. When they did reveal him, you see that he looks pretty normal but has a very demon like voice and smile to him.
1. He is Voiced By Mark Hamill
We already stated this, but it is worth mentioning again. Afterall, no one else could have really captured the menacing voice that Ozai was meant to have. Interestingly, even in silence, Fire Lord Ozai was an imposing figure to anyone who had the misfortune of being around him. At every single point in time, Mark Hamill captured every fiery emotion that Ozai exuded. From the snide lack of affection for his children to his onslaught on the Avatar in the last fight, Hamill portrayed Fire Lord Ozai in the best of villainy forms.
Mark Hamil is also the voice of many other iconic characters like The Joker from Batman the Animated Series. Mark was able to perfectly capture the essence of the character with his voice. He was brutal, straight to the point and he lacked any real emotion. The only thing he cared about was power.
2. Fire Lord Ozai Killed His Father
Yes, you heard that right. Ozai already had a basket full of evil atrocities by the time we first meet him in the show, and one of them was patricide. In fact, this is the only reason he becomes fire lord, as the throne is rightfully Iroh’s. However, when Iroh’s son dies in battle, Ozai approaches their father to make him his heir in his brother’s place. The infuriated Firelord then asks Ozai to sacrifice Zuko as his punishment.
However, in order to save Zuko, Ursa, his mother and Ozai’s wife, propositioned Ozai to poison Firelord Azulon. Ozai saw this as killing two birds with one stone; as he got to have the throne and Zuko got to live. This would have further secured his legacy and made his claim to the throne stronger. So Ozai goes ahead with the plan and kills his father to become Fire Lord Ozai.
3. He Had No Military Experience
Fire Lord Ozai was a powerful firebender no doubt, but he actually had no experience fighting wars. His brother General Iroh was more skilled, having earned his stripes on the battlefield, as well as the respect of the soldiers. Ozai on the other hand was just royalty. In fact, if it weren’t for his scheming and plotting, he might never have qualified for the throne.
You make the assumption in the show that if Azula is so strong, her father must be that much stronger of a bender. But it’s just not true, he rarely if ever had to fight due to his royalty.
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4. Fire Lord Ozai’s Reign Was The Shortest
While his father Azulon ruled as fire lord for 75 years, and his grandfather Sozin ruled for 78 years, Fire Lord Ozai ruled as fire lord for a much shorter period of time. He only ruled for just five years, which pales greatly in comparison to the length of time his predecessors ruled. While he did commit a lot of atrocities in his time, it was still the shortest reign in history.
5. He Began The Fire Nation’s Industrial Age
Say what you want, but Ozai was a visionary, albeit a murderous one, it was under his rule that the fire nation really improved technologically, down to the point that by the time Sozin’s comet came again, the fire nation had tanks, boats, airships, and other metal war machinery. In that regard, their technological advancements also extended beyond their military. Let’s not forget that the fire nation was the most progressive and prosperous nation at the time as well, thanks to him catalyzing the situation and making their economy better.
6. Fire Lord Ozai Nearly Took Over the World
So many times we hear a villain say they will conquer the world, but not many succeed at their quest. In fact, a lot of them are very bad at their quests for world domination, but there was something about Fire Lord Ozai.
He actually came very close. With the might of the Fire Nation and their new technological war machines, Ozai painted the world red. The might of the Fire Nation at some point became too much for any nation to stand. Even the once impenetrable Ba Sing Se fell, thanks to good old fashioned trickery and spycraft. It was something even the dragon of the west, Iroh couldn’t do.
Of course, he didn’t do it all by himself. He had his father and grandfather’s reigns to thank, but under his reign, the Fire Nation’s hold on other countries increased. By the third season of the series, the Fire Nation has managed to extend their violent influence to 90 percent of the world. If that’s not impressive, we don’t know what is.
7. He Had A Fan Club
Loyalist is a much better word, but you could still call them a dedicated fan club. Fire Lord Ozai was one of the most popular fire lords ever. This is probably because many of the Fire Nation people agreed with him and helped spread his ideals and vision for the world. You can imagine what they tried to do to reinstate him after his defeat at the hands of Aang.
When Zuko took over as the Fire Lord, Ozai’s loyalists rebelled and wanted to put him back on the throne. They didn’t care that he was now a non-bender. Another interesting fact is that it was Zuko’s father-in-law, Mai’s father Ukano that started this rebellion. And guess what they were called? The New Ozai Society. Of course, they failed, but you have to admit that Ozai still having influence even after his incarceration is a scary thing to behold.
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8. Fire Lord Ozai Was A Really Bad Father
This last point is no news. You need only take a look at his children Zuko and Azula to see so. Zuko was such a damaged and lost soul at the end of the series, that it took some divine intervention for him to find his way back to the light. Azula on the other hand was incredibly damaged psychologically. If there is anyone to blame for this, all fingers point at Ozai.
The side characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender are so fleshed out that you can’t separate them from the main characters sometimes. That’s how well written the show is. One of such characters is Ty Lee, one of Azula’s closest friends, if we can call her that. Most of the time, the scenes she is in are focused mainly on fights, so we don’t get to dwell on her other traits. But in this article, we’ll talk about facts you should know about Ty Lee Avatar.
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Ty Lee Avatar: Appeared In A Few Episodes
Eleven. Yep, that’s the number of times Ty Lee appears in Avatar: The Last Airbender. We know, it sounds crazy, considering how it feels like Ty Lee was such a big part of the show. While that’s not wrong, we are made to believe this mostly because of her rather large personality.
In fact, she didn’t make her first appearance until the third episode of Book Two. Furthermore, she only appeared in 11 episodes after that, and even one of those episodes involved her saying no lines. She didn’t even appear in the Legend of Korra series.
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Ty Lee Avatar Was The Only Person Azula Apologised To
It’s an impressive feat to note, almost as impressive as the fact that Azula never apologized to anybody in three seasons on that show. But Ty Lee was the exception, and perhaps it highlights just how serious the friendship between the two girls is. The apology comes after Azula makes her feel bad about her attention-seeking behavior.
The character is often used to show how insane and manipulating Azula was. In the end, it was as if Ty Lee knew all along that she was not really a good friend. Being with Azula meant being around power and that seemed to be the only attractive trait.
She is One of Seven Sisters
When she reveals the fact that she is one of seven sisters in “The Beach”, we don’t quite understand the gravity of that statement. In truth, Ty Lee is one of seven daughters – all of whom look shockingly alike. That really explains a lot about her personality. Her sisters even have similar names to hers. They are named Ty Lin, Ty Lat, Ty Lao, Ty Liu, Ty Lum, and Ty Woo. This totally explains the need for her to constantly seek attention from others, seeing as she does not have an identity when surrounded by her sisters.
Ty Lee Avatar Was A Circus Girl
When she became frustrated at the lack of attention and further lack of identity that came from having six sisters that looked exactly like her, Ty Lee had to do something. So, she ran off to join the circus, and we really cannot blame her for that. Running off was likely the only option she had, the only chance she would ever have at getting what she wanted. Of course, that was cut short by Azula, who ended up pulling the poor Ty Lee back into her evil schemes.
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She is a chi blocking expert
Besides being an incredibly flexible person, Ty Lee also had the distinct ability to chi block. This would in turn block a bender’s access to their bending, and rendered most of them useless in a fight. It was an impressive ability, and she turned out to be a formidable foe. Even when she was faced with a large number of bending opponents, she would simply just take away their bending; tipping the scales back to her favor.
Her Chi Blocking is widely used in the Legend of Korra. All the credit goes to Ty Lee because she was a character who was not a bender but used her Chi Blocking and athletic ability to win fights anyway. She gave real hope to all of the little people.
Ty Lee Avatar: The Kyoshi Warrior
When Ty Lee resisted the will of Azula, she found herself hanging out in a Fire Nation prison alongside the Kyoshi warriors. Eventually, she became friends with this fierce group of ladies, and later even became a member of their team. It was a team-up ordained by the heavens because Ty Lee already showed the skills that the Kyoshi Warriors had always embodied.
Ty Lee never felt like a fully fleshed out bad guy. Azula was a crazy person, and Mai was just down to do whatever would not leave her bored. But Ty Lee never felt evil, she just felt misguided. Her joining the Kyoshi Warriors made a lot of sense.
First Outsider Kyoshi Warrior
You might not know it, but Kyoshi warriors do not take in members, not from their Island. However, Ty Lee was the first-ever non-member of Kyoshi Island to become a Kyoshi Warrior.
Ty Lee Became Friends With Toph
Though the two didn’t interact much since they were on opposite sides of the conflict for most of the animated series, Toph Beifong and Ty Lee did form an unlikely friendship after the events of the series.
In the comics that picked up where the show left off, Ty Lee found herself discontented with her time post-war. She and Toph went to a circus performance to remind the former of her old life. To her surprise, her sisters were doing an acrobatic act together, following in her footsteps. Toph then took her around to more exhibits so she wouldn’t feel so out of sorts.
She Picked the Side of Good
Mai eventually betrayed Azula to save Zuko’s life. This meant that Ty Lee was forced to pick aside. We never really know the lengths that Azula could have gone to, so it really could have ended in death for Mai. Ty Lee could have easily stayed out of the whole business, but instead, she chose to side with Mai, believing Azula to have taken things too far. Ty Lee had to choose to save her friends, so she picked Mai.
Of course, because of this, Ty Lee was sent to prison. It automatically meant her friendship with Azula was over. The interesting thing is that this betrayal seemed to hurt Azula more than anyone else, even leading her to a mental breakdown complete with paranoia. But for Ty Lee, it ended up being a good thing in the long run. She probably would have never met the imprisoned Kyoshi Warrior and become a part of them.
Ty Lee Avatar Wanted To Be An Individual
Remember we mentioned that Ty Lee had six sisters that looked exactly like she did? This was also why she joined the circus. Having so many faces around that look exactly like yours can be crazy, so we assume Ty Lee was always feeling like a part of a group and not really an individual. Through the series, we see she is on a constant quest to find her own identity, and it worked for a while.
Every story has a beginning, and the Last Airbender series told a lot of beginnings in its long run. However, we didn’t quite get the lowdown on the origin of the eponymous character. Not until the spin off series; The Legend of Korra gave us an insight on the First Avatar; Avatar Wan.
The second book or season of The Legend of Korra series was not a very popular one. Many fans really hated it, and it is popularly considered as the lowest ranking season of all. It retconned a lot of the franchise’s established mythos; all the while doubling up with one of the most unbelievably annoying villains to appear on a TV screen; Unalaq.
There was no getting behind his foolish and downright creepy obsession with the spirit world. The only redeeming factor from the Book of Spirits was the First Avatar’s appearance: Avatar Wan.
The First Avatar appeared in two episodes of Book 2, showing viewers a time when the four nations had not been formed; and the spirits had a higher stake to Earth than humans did. While fans got to really see how life was for the First Avatar; the first ever bridge between the spirits and humans, you could argue that not every single detail was picked up. There were some subtle details that may have gone under the radar; and so it’s only right we shed some light on them.
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The First Avatar’s Eye Color
Before he became the first Avatar; Wan was a resident of the city on the Lion Turtle that granted people the ability to bend fire. We can safely assume his people would go on to become the Fire Nation in the coming 10 millenia that spanned from The Beginning.
One other nod to this possibly correct assumption was the First Avatar’s eye color. Throughout the Avatar series, from the Last Airbender to The Legend of Korra; we see that there is a distinct eye color that many firebenders are shown to possess. Most of them have the same copper-colored eyes that Wan does.
We get more of this in the prequel novel, The Rise of Kyoshi; where Hei-Ran and her daughter Rangi are described as having the same ‘copper or bronze-colored iris’. It is also mentioned that this is one of the major ways to discern a firebender; down to the point that a waterbender once uses poison to change his eye color to bronze so he can hide from pirates.
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The Double Meaning of The First Avatar’s Name
Without even adding any actual logic to the name; you have to admit that the name Wan does sound like “one”. Away from that very phonetic link, is the fact that as Wan is the first Avatar to ever exist, his name also possesses a secondary meaning; already shown in the series before. Wan means ten thousand in Mandarin, which is a reference to the events that saw him become Avatar ten thousand years before Korra’s existence and the events in The Legend of Korra.
The name has also been used in Avatar: The Last Airbender before, in reference to the spirit owl Wan Shi Tong, whose library Avatar Aang and his group used to find a way to stop the Hundred Year War. In Mandarin, Wan Shi Tong means “he who knows ten-thousand things,” and the spirit himself mentions this when he is introduced in the episode.
The Basis For His Design
Character designs based on real people are not a new thing. In fact, it is not uncommon for animators to base character designs on likenesses to someone on the team, considering how much of a constant reference point they are when drawing and animating the character. We’ve already discussed how The Boulder was based on pro wrestler and A-List actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, but the very first Avatar was also subject to this treatment.
In the Legend of Korra’s artbook, we are treated to the knowledge that Avatar Wan was modeled after Avatar showrunner and co-creator Bryan Konietzko. He had also previously played the “Foaming at the mouth guy” in Warriors of Kyoshi and Avatar Day in The Last Airbender series.
The First Avatar Determined The Order Of The Elements
The Avatar series has one aspect that is widely known, and that is the order or cycle of the elements. The avatar elements rotate in a cycle, from the Fire Nation first, to the Air Nomads, then the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom bringing up the end. Once it ends, it restarts with the Fire Nation yet again. As Avatar Wan was the first Avatar, and as he was a firebender, it made sense that the order began there.
Also, it is in this order that the Avatar is supposed to learn the respective elements during training. The Avatar is meant to start learning the elements from their native element, and then work their way through the cycle in the order. Avatar Wan established this order, obtaining the elements as he sought to create peace with the spirits. He began with firebending, and then airbending, bringing it all to a close with waterbending and earthbending.
Where He Died
In his last moments, we see Wan passing away in a field after sustaining injuries from a war he was fighting. It is assumed he fought this war alongside or with the Earth Kingdom, as he is shown surrounded by many large wooden coins; which are a signature of siege weapons that the Earthbenders and the Earth Kingdom were associated with.
This location was actually featured in the main Avatar series at an earlier time. During the Book 2 episode ‘Zuko Alone’, Zuko passes through a field of the broken Earthbender coins as he makes his way to a rural town.
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The First Avatar’s Firebending Skills
Although we see that many characters have used the power of fire long before Wan did, the first Avatar was actually the first to create the firebending artform. We see this when he single handedly manhandles a group of wanderers who attempt to attack him with their fire.
As the Avatar, and the first one at that, it should be no surprise that Wan’s bending would be above average in comparison to most firebenders, but we don’t see his skill in using fire to propel himself. The main instances of fire propulsion occur with mainly the Royal Family. In the Last Airbender, it’s Azula and Ozai that do this, and in the Legend of Korra, it’s General Iroh, Zuko’s grandson.
The First Avatar’s Firebending Teacher
In the Last Airbender, we learn that humans learned the art of bending the elements from watching the original masters of bending; dragons for fire, sky bison for air, badger moles for earth and the moon for water. The Legend of Korra may have either retconned or expanded that reveal with the introduction of the Lion Turtles, who are seen giving humans the power to bend, but they did not teach them the art. In the same vein, we see an actual training session from the original masters with Wan.
The First Avatar spends some time in the spirit wilds, and while he does, he learns the firebending artform from a dragon spirit. The dragon spirit teaches him the Dancing Dragon bending form, which we have earlier seen. Aang and Zuko learn it from the last two dragons in the Last Airbender Book 3 episode; The Firebending Masters as they also learn that dragons are not as extinct as the world believes them to be.
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What He Wears As The First Avatar
The Avatar not only acts as the bridge between the spirit and human worlds. He is also a force for unification of the four nations. As such, the Avatar must be impartial and treat everyone with impartiality. While he was not able to unify the four nations in his time as the Avatar, Wan did his best to represent all nations, and we see this especially in his fight against Vaatu.
As he prepares to take on the dark spirit, Wan is dressed in clothing that honors all four nations. His robes are orange and yellow for the Air Nomads; his scarf is red for the Fire Nation; the blue sash he wears represents the Water Tribe and his green armbands signify the Earth Kingdom.
He Inadvertently Created The Red Lotus
The Red Lotus organization is introduced in Book 3 as the main antagonists. They are a militant splinter cell of the White Lotus organization. As opposed to the White Lotus’s task of protecting balance and the Avatar, the Red Lotus vehemently oppose the world order. They believe that the Avatar contributes imbalance to the world, and must be removed permanently. The reason for this belief lies in the actions of the first Avatar. Wan not only sealed away Vaatu in the Tree of Time but also closed off the spirit world from the physical world until the next Harmonic Convergence 10,000 years later.
If it wasn’t for the actions of Wan, the Red Lotus organization may never have been formed. In the same vein, we can argue that without Wan, the world would have been thrown into 10,000 years of darkness. This was something that Vaatu promised afterall.
The First Avatar Was Voiced By Talented Actor Steven Yeun
We’ve had some amazing actors lend their voice talents to bring The Legend of Korra characters to life. There was J.K Simmons, who played Tenzin and Zelda Williams who played Book 4 villain Kuvira. In the same light, the first Avatar was actor Steven Yeun.
Steven Yeun has a number of acting gigs under his belt, primarily with Netflix animations such as Keith in Voltron: Legendary Defender, Little Cato in Final Space and Steve in Tales of Arcadia. Most notably however, is his role as Glenn Rhee on AMC’s hit horror drama show; The Walking Dead.
It’s no surprise that someone of this calibre was hand picked to play the very first Avatar. Avatar Wan’s role was a very pivotal one, and so it makes a lot of sense.
Mai Avatar: Mai is best-known as the typically bored, angsty girlfriend of Prince Zuko during Avatar: The Last Airbender. Although her sassy indifference is basically a negative trait, audiences have found Mai to be rather endearing. After all, who doesn’t have days where they simply don’t give a damn about anything? Even if it’s only occasionally, we are all capable of those moods. Mai basically reflects that part of our personalities, which is why she is so likable!
Even the happiest among us have to do things in everyday life that we’d rather not do. Washing the dishes at home, helping awkward customers at work – you name it! Most people just get on with those menial day-to-day tasks. But Mai is completely honest in those moments. She isn’t afraid to express what she is thinking, even if that might make other people uncomfortable.
It’s true that somebody like Mai isn’t necessarily a good role model. For example, Mai isn’t one of the happiest characters in the series and doesn’t enjoy her life as much as, say, Aang – or even her best friend, Ty Lee. But Mai is pretty much a bad-ass, and the Gothic angel of the entire Avatar franchise. Who doesn’t want to be at least a bit more like her?!
Mai also undergoes a real transformation in her personality by the end of the series. Audiences love to see characters develop and learn throughout a story. Mai is a great example of this in practice.
Without further ado, here’s her story – the good and the bad. We hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Mai Avatar: Her Life Story
Mai Avatar: Upbringing
Mai’s upbringing was exceedingly comfortable – too comfortable, in fact.
Her father, Ukano, was a governor of New Ozai. He bought anything Mai wanted … so long as she behaved the way a governor’s daughter was expected to behave (i.e. quiet, polite, and sensible).
That might sound like a dream come true for many kids growing up, especially those who grew up without even a sniff of luxury. But Mai’s upbringing lacked something essential, despite the abundance that was given to her. In being rewarded for good behavior, she was conditioned to be emotionally distant and cold. In ‘The Beach’ (S3E6) she reflected that this was a form of emotional neglect from her parents, resulting in her moody, teenage angst.
Mai’s mother, Michi, also told Mai stories about the Kemurikage (dark spirits that kidnapped badly-behaving children). This was another strategy of forcing Mai to behave as she was expected to, inadvertently conditioning her to yield to the demands of forceful and aggressive leaders (Azula, for instance).
Accusing Ukano and Michi of bad parenting might seem appropriate at this point. Ukano thought he was doing a good thing by buying extravagant gifts for his daughter, it’s safe to say. And Michi’s own mother told her stories about the Kemurikage as a child. Mai’s parents only raised her the way they did because they believed it was the correct way to raise their child.
Maybe they were bad parents. But that isn’t entirely their fault.
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Mai Avatar: Knife Throwing
Mai’s knife-throwing skills are arguably better than anybody else’s in the Avatar franchise. The origins of those skills is quite a sad story in itself, though (typically for Mai!).
She used to throw knives at her bedroom wall due to the levels of boredom she experienced. Mai resorted to this because she hated life in the Fire Nation so much. Perhaps she was also letting out the pent-up anger that she’d been unable to express in public or with her parents.
Later, Mai was enrolled in the Fire Nation Academy for Girls. She met Princess Azula and Ty Lee there, who noticed Mai’s skill with weapons pretty quickly.
Azula’s Antics
Anybody who has watched Avatar: The Last Airbender knows that Azula grew up to be an intelligent and highly manipulative gal. Well, she was no slack at a young age, either.
At a sleepover, Azula made the suggestion that she, Mai, and Ty Lee should steal the mochi that Mai’s mother Michi had made as a gift for Mai’s grandmother’s 70th birthday. After going along with stealing the mochi, Mai & Ty Lee eventually refused to eat it. Instead, Azula went on to eat the entire dessert by herself.
Mai was uninvolved in this rascality. Nonetheless, she had nightmares about the Kemurikage abducting her for stealing the mochi afterward.
On another occasion, Princess Azula observed Mai’s obvious attraction to Prince Zuko. Upon doing so, she initiated a ‘game’ with Mai, Zuko, and Ty Lee. She balanced an apple on Mai’s head, claiming that players had to knock it off in a certain way. She demonstrated this by setting the apple on fire atop Mai’s head, prompting Zuko to tackle Mai into the pond behind her to put out the fire on her head. Azula got to laugh, telling Ty Lee “I told you it would work!”
Poor Mai! Raised by her parents and alongside the psychotic Princess Azula!
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Mai Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 2: Earth
Mai’s first appearance in the Avatar series is in episode 3 (‘Return to Omashu’) of the second season, Earth.
She had been forced to live in the recently-conquered Earth kingdom of Omashu by her parents. Her father had been appointed governor of the city – so Mai, her mother Michi, and her new two-year-old brother Tom-Tom (who is simply adorable, by the way!) came with him.
Mai was complaining about how boring life was in Omashu (describing it as “unbearably bleak”). Just then, the Omashu resistance attempted to assassinate Mai, her mother, and Tom-Tom. They rolled a huge boulder down towards them that surely would’ve crushed them. But Avatar Aang stopped the boulder with his airbending after appearing on the scene by chance.
Desperate for some excitement – and mistakenly believing Team Avatar (Aang, Katara, and Sokka) to be responsible for the assassination attempt – Mai showcased her combat skills for the first time.
She pursued Team Avatar alongside a team of Omashu guards, demonstrating the frightening accuracy of her long-distance knife-throwing. More persistent and skillful than the guards, Mai actually got close to catching up with Team Avatar. But they were saved by members of the resistance who earthbended the ground beneath them to steal them away from Mai’s hungry claws.
Meanwhile, Mai’s brother Tom-Tom had wandered off and found himself in the campsite of the Resistance. Mai’s father, Ukano, assumed the resistance had kidnapped him.
Formation of “Ozai’s Angels”
Adding to a dramatic day for Mai, her old pal Princess Azula turned up. She invited Mai into the fan-named “Ozai’s Angels” team, which would consist of Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai. They would go on working together for the majority of The Last Airbender series.
“Are you here to kill me?” Mai dryly asked of Azula, before joining the Princess on her mission to capture Zuko and Iroh. Despite her reluctance to pursue Zuko (her childhood crush), Mai was relieved that an opportunity arose to save her from her draining existence in Omashu.
As Princess, Azula appointed Mai to take control from her father of the trade between the government and the resistance for the governor’s son (and Mai’s brother) Tom-Tom. In the negotiation with Team Avatar, Azula asserts that swapping a two-year-old boy for a King (Bumi, Aang’s friend) is not a fair trade. Mai agrees, raising King Bumi out of reach from Team Avatar and out of the trade. Ozai’s Angels and Team Avatar then commenced their first battle against each other, resulting in Team Avatar’s escape.
Aang returns baby Tom-Tom to his parents (without them knowing it was him) and Mai’s broken family is restored. But this is a pretty chilling first impression of Mai. Her willingness to give up baby Tom-Tom in negotiations gave a view of the meanest, most Stoic side of her personality. It is possibly the nastiest perspective we ever get of Mai.
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Mai Avatar: Skillful, But Indifferent
Following the hairy trail left behind by Appa, the Aang’s flying vison, Ozai’s Angels intensely pursued Team Avatar for some time. When catching up with them, Mai, Azula, and Ty Lee left a lasting impression on the series’ heroes with their high-level combat skills. Mai and Ty Lee get the better of Sokka and Katara a few times throughout the series, while Azula gets dangerously close to capturing Aang.
Later in the series, Mai assisted Ozai’s Angels in defeating the Kyoshi Warriors (led by Sokka’s love interest, Suki). After describing the Kyoshi Warrior outfits as “nauseous,” Mai and the Angels dressed up in those outfits to infiltrate the kingdom of Ba Sing Se.
Her fighting skills were never in question. But her commitment to Azula’s mission seemed quite low on a number of occasions. During the Fire Nation’s initial attack on Ba Sing Se, Mai refused to chase Sokka and Katara into a sewage pipe, disgusted by the appearance and smell of the “wall sludge juice.” Classic!
Later on, during The Coup of Ba Sing Se, Team Avatar (now accompanied by Toph Beifong) regrouped and came to reclaim Earth King Kuei’s pet bear from the guard of Mai and Ty Lee. Completely disinterested in the menial task of guarding the pet, Mai told Team Avatar to “just take the bear.”
Yup. Mai really didn’t give a single iota!
Relationship with Zuko
Azula set Mai up on a date with Zuko, with the hope that she could lure the Prince back home. As a result, Mai rekindled the childhood spark that had existed between her and the future Firelord.
But Mai and Zuko’s relationship was bumpy at best. There were plenty of sweet moments of affection shared between the moody pair – who clear bonded over their shared negative outlooks on the world. But, also due to that shared negativity, they found themselves becoming irritated and angry with one another on an equally regular basis.
In Book 3, Episode 6 (‘The Beach’), Mai briefly broke up with Zuko because of his angry demeanor. They get back together in the same episode and their relationship improves significantly after they both express their emotions to each other (as well as to Ty Lee and Azula, both of whom released emotions of their own). But she received a letter from Zuko, in ‘The Day of Black Sun’, explaining that he was going to join Team Avatar. Mai’s heart was broken for the first time as she read the letter.
At The Boiling Rock, where the warden (Mai’s uncle, Mishi’s brother) held Zuko prisoner, she returned to argue with her now ex-boyfriend. Mai, uncharacteristically frustrated and affected, questioned Zuko’s motives in leaving. She disagreed with his view that he had to do what he did in order to save his country. Then, Zuko took an opportunity to escape the cell, locking Mai in there with a prison guard.
“I Love Zuko More Than I Fear You”
Mai turned from villain to hero when she prevented Azula’s attempt to stop Zuko, Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda from completing their prison break. Stunned at her betrayal, Azula goes to attack Mai – one of the only people ever to show her authority such a lack of respect. But, as Azula readied her attack, she was chi-blocked by the other of Ozai’s Angels, Ty Lee.
In spite of all Mai’s awesome combat skills, this was possibly the bravest we ever see of her. Standing up to Azula is no mean feat. But Mai doesn’t give a damn. She told the controlling Princess what she really thought, following her heart rather than her head.
Furious, Azula arrested her former allies and proceeded to go a little bit insane.
In prison, though, Mai and Ty Lee meet and befriend their former foes: the Kyoshi Warriors.
Ty Lee joins the Kyoshi Warriors after the war, when they are released from prison. Mai, meanwhile, returns to her lover, Zuko – forgiving him for previously breaking her heart.
They dated again for a while after Zuko’s coronation as Firelord. You could be forgiven for thinking that their new relationship, having both turned corners in their respective lives, would be much stronger.
But…
Another Break-Up
The new relationship wasn’t as smooth as the lovers had hoped. As Firelord, Zuko confided in Mai less and less; her frustration grew with his poor communication over time. When her new friend Suki told her that Zuko had been meeting with his father, the former Firelord Ozai, Mai decided she’d had enough of him keeping secrets from her. Hurt by Zuko’s lack of effort, she broke up with him once again. What a mess!
Moving on: Meeting Kei Lo
In an attempt to overcome yet another broken heart, Mai worked in her Aunt’s flower shop for a while. She was approached and asked out by Kei Lo – a fresh-faced young man with a huge crush on Mai – while working there.
She agreed to go on a date with Kei Lo and actually had a great time.
However, Kei Lo then took Mai to a meeting of the ‘New Ozai Society’ – a movement that aimed to reinstate Ozai as Firelord, overthrowing Zuko. Mai was enraged at Kei Lo and the society for their ideology – and was even more shocked to learn that her father was the society’s founding member.
She angrily fought with society members, defeating them easily. Left standing was her father and Kei Lo. Mai told her father that bringing her baby brother Tom-Tom to a place like that was completely unacceptable. And she punched Kei Lo square in the face for good measure, declaring their date to be over. Vintage Mai.
The Gothic Angel was never one to shy away from drama, that’s for sure!
Battling the New Ozai Society
Mai, her mother, and Tom-Tom moved out of her father’s home after Mai informed Michi of Ukano’s involvement with the New Ozai Society.
While catching up with Ty Lee, Kei Lo returned to visit Mai again. Mai acted enthusiastically pleased to see him, to the surprise of Ty Lee. Encouraged by Mai’s affection, Kei Lo told her that Ukano had plans to assassinate Firelord Zuko and his family. When Kei Lo left, Mai went back to her usual, emotionally-detached self, causing Ty Lee to criticize her lack of honesty towards Kei Lo. Mai explained that she didn’t trust Kei Lo and just wanted to hear what he had to say. Ty Lee, though, told Mai that she believed Kei Lo was telling the truth.
Mai grappled with her lack of trust towards Kei Lo until his claims, eventually, proved to be accurate. He then helped Mai to save Zuko’s life and defeat the New Ozai Society.
After those events, Mai spoke with an apologetic and caring Kei Lo. She kissed him for the first time … but, as she did, witnessed what looked like Kemurikage spirits – who she had nightmares about as a child – kidnapping Tom-Tom.
Aang Helps With Kemurikage Spirits; Zuko Talks to Mai
Firelord Zuko returned again, enlisting the help of Avatar Aang to save Tom-Tom as well as other children that had been kidnapped. Avatar’s ability to contact the spirit world would be useful in tackling spirit problems, he figured.
Mai, meanwhile, was accused by her father of being the reason Tom-Tom was kidnapped. Kei Lo then encourages her to inform Zuko that Ukano was involved with the New Ozai Society. She didn’t want to expose her father, though, because she wanted Tom-Tom to grow up with a father.
Avatar Aang, Firelord Zuko, and Kei Lo helped Mai to explore the reasons for the Kemurikage attacks. During their mission, Mai and Zuko continued their old-time bickering, much to the awkwardness of Aang and Kei Lo.
Mai and Zuko eventually got some time alone, where the Firelord asked Mai about her feelings for him compared to her feelings for Kei Lo. Angry at Zuko’s initiation of such a conversation, she insisted they both move on. She tells Zuko that she felt stupid for letting him break her heart twice. Then she told him that Kei Lo liked her more than she liked him, which she preferred because it prevented her from getting hurt the same way again.
When Aang and Kei Lo returned, Aang informed Mai and Zuko that he spoke to his contacts in the spirit world. Apparently, the Kemurikage spirits hadn’t actually entered the mortal world at all. The child-abductors, then, were imposters.
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Saving Tom-Tom from An Old Friend
The team soon learned that the ‘fake Kemurikage’ was headed by none other than Princess Azula, who had been released from prison by Zuko just a few months earlier (fool!).
Along with Aang, Zuko, and Kei Lo, Mai managed to retrieve Tom-Tom from the Kemurikage – thanks, too, to the help of her father Ukano.
When the events transpired, Azula and her Kemurikage managed to escape arrest, while Ukano turned himself over to the prison. He apologized to Mai for his behavior and promised that he will try to make it up to everyone from that point onwards.
Mai, though, broke up with Kei Lo, leaving him in tears. Clearly, she didn’t feel like working on a relationship after all the heavy drama that had recently gone down.
What Happened Next?
Mai’s break-up with Kei Lo is Mai’s last appearance in the Avatar franchise’s literature (so far).
However, Gene Yang – who was involved in the writing of some Avatar comics – claimed in an interview that Mai and Zuko got back together 3 years following her break-up with Kei Lo. In The Legend of Korra, we learn that Zuko has a daughter called Izumi. But it is not revealed who her mother is. That has led some fans to further speculate about Zuko’s relationship with Mai.
The adult life and death of Mai, then, is currently unclear. But keep an eye on this page – if we learn anything new about Mai’s life, we will update this article.
Mai Avatar: The Goth Angel
One thing is for sure, though. Mai redeemed herself from being a villain (a quirky villain, but a villain all the same) in her first appearance to being a character we root for in her later appearances. She is one of the many characters in the Avatar franchise that we can’t help but feel affection for.
Plus, her Gothic style is definitely among the coolest of all the characters in the series. Mai will inevitably have a cult following as long as the Avatar franchise remains popular.
