View source for Avatar:History of Azula (85 AG - 100 AG)

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:History of Azula (85 AG – 100 AG)}}
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'''[[Azula]]''' was born into the [[Fire Nation Royal Family]], being the second child of Prince [[Ozai]] and Princess [[Ursa]].<ref name="dead 201-3">{{Cite nickold|201|3}}</ref> Recognized as a [[firebending]] prodigy, she became Ozai's favorite child, resulting in a rift between her, her mother, and her older brother [[Zuko]].<ref name="ZA">{{Cite episode|1|207}}</ref> Ozai's growing influence greatly impacted Azula's personality and her [[Earth|world]] view, resulting in her regarding fear and power as the only reliable ways to keep others close.<ref name="AIST">{{Cite comic|AIST}}</ref> Accordingly, she began to bully Zuko and manipulate her friends [[Mai]] and [[Ty Lee]].<ref name="ZA" /><ref name="SS3">{{Cite comic|SS3}}</ref>

When Azula was ten years old, her father became [[Fire Lord]] and Ursa disappeared. Though she had resented that her mother had seemingly favored Zuko, Ursa had also shielded Azula from Ozai's worst manipulation. With her mother gone, Azula thus became obsessed with pleasing her father and always achieving perfection.<ref name="AIST" /> Two years later, Zuko was also banished, making Azula the ''de facto'' [[heir to the Fire Lord]], a position she still held when setting out to capture her brother and the [[Avatar]] in 100 [[History of the World of Avatar#Dates|AG]].<ref name="TToA-1">''[[The Earth Kingdom Chronicles]]'': ''The Tale of Azula'', Chapter 1.</ref><ref name="AS">{{Cite episode|1|201}}</ref>

== Early childhood ==
Azula was born to Ozai and Ursa in 85 AG<ref name="dead 201-3" /> and was named after her paternal grandfather, Fire Lord [[Azulon]].<ref name="ZA" /> Azula grew up with all the riches, splendor, and privileges of royalty in the Fire Nation.<ref name="dead 201-3" /> In the first years of her life, cohesion and peace were still strong among her family. Azula and her family often made vacations at [[Ember Island]].<ref name="S2">{{Cite comic|S2}}</ref><ref name="P2">{{Cite comic|P2}}</ref> At the time, Azula also had a good [[Azula's relationships|relationship with Zuko]]; for example, the two would often reenact the final duel of ''[[Love amongst the Dragons]]'' after watching the play during their frequent vacations at Ember Island. Both siblings happily recalled these memories many years later.<ref name="S2" />

[[File:Ursa and Ozai react to Azula's first firebending.png|thumb|left|200px|[[Azula]]'s parents greatly differed in their reaction to her first conscious [[firebending]].]]

However, Ozai soon began to favor Azula over Zuko, disdaining the latter's perceived weakness.<ref name="S2" /><ref name="dead 201-3" /> In contrast to her brother, Azula began to consciously firebend at an early age. When she first unleashed her power, she burned a wooden [[turtle duck]] toy. When Ursa discovered this, she was sad instead of happy, well aware of how Azula's destructive potential would be used by others. In contrast, Ozai was overjoyed, hugging Azula and giving her compliments. This contrast was one of many incidents which shaped Azula's later belief that her mother had always considered her a monster.<ref name="AIST" /> In general, her sharp wits and the fact that she was a firebending prodigy gained her great attention and acclaim, which further cemented her belief that only strength and control yielded support.<ref name="dead 201-3" /><ref name="AIST" />

Her father began raising her as his true heir from an early stage, taking her into his confidence and educating her in [[Politics in the World of Avatar|politics]].<ref name="dead 201-3" /><ref name="AA">{{Cite comic|AA}}</ref> In turn, Azula already began to advice her father on various matters as a young child, for instance telling him covert warfare with spies against the [[Earth Kingdom]] could be more effective than simply deploying more [[Military of the Fire Nation|soldiers]] to the [[Hundred Year War]]'s frontlines.<ref name="AA" />

== Royal Fire Academy and making friends ==
Azula later attended the [[Royal Fire Academy for Girls]], where she befriended some other students, all of them daughters of Fire Nation [[Society in the World of Avatar|noblemen]].<ref name="AA" /><ref name="RO">{{Cite episode|1|203}}</ref> Already convinced of the necessity of fear, control, and might, Azula led her group of friends by mixing charisma, bullying, and manipulation. Her first friends included Ty Lee, [[Hong]], [[Peijing]], and a few others. Using her status as princess and her firebending power, Azula abused the students outside her circle, such as by burning the toy [[platypus bear]] of a younger student due to disliking "how it looked at" her.<ref name="AA" />

[[File:Mai befriends Azula.png|thumb|right|200px|By displaying her [[Martial arts in the World of Avatar|martial abilities]], [[Mai]] was able to befriend [[Azula]].]]

One day, Azula was proudly telling her circle about how she was already advising her father Ozai, when she was approached by Mai. The latter declared that they should be friends much to the princess' skepticism. Mai then demonstrated her [[Martial arts in the World of Avatar|abilities]] at [[Mai's weapons|throwing knives]]. Though Azula was not intimidated by this display, she agreed that the other girl had useful skills and thus accepted her as a new friend. The princess then employed Mai to throw knives at other students at the Academy. Over time, Azula grew closer to Mai, teaching her ways to manipulating others and factually choosing her as a kind of second-in-command.<ref name="AA" />

Sometime later, Azula was furious when Hong opposed one of her arguments in debate class. Afterward, the princess threatened the other girl, arguing that only her father Ozai might be able to protect Hong's older brother from being deployed to the most deadly frontlines. Horrified, Hong declared her willingness to subsequently always agree with Azula, whereupon the satisfied princess smugly declared that with this issue solved, they could resume being "friends".<ref name="AA" />

[[File:Azula's lesson after the Hong-Peijing duel.png|thumb|left|200px|After witnessing the [[Agni Kai]] of [[Hong]] and [[Peijing]], [[Azula]] instilled a lesson of fear, power, and distrust amongst the [[Royal Fire Academy for Girls|Academy]] students.]]

Despite this, Azula enjoyed manipulating Hong over the following time. Eventually, Hong's older brother was sent to the frontlines regardless of any previous promises, leaving her angry, confused, and fearful. Azula then informed Hong that their common friend Peijing was actually a native of the [[Fire Nation colonies|colonies]] and was an Earth Kingdom sympathizer; the former information had been a secret which Peijing had previously shared with the princess, while the latter claim was a lie made up by Azula for fun. Afterward, Hong and Peijing got into a furious argument, eventually resulting in an [[Agni Kai]] challenge. Excited, Azula told Mai about this development, smugly revealing how she had manipulated both of the other girls. At the Academy's Agni Kai arena, the princess subsequently enjoyed watching the [[Duels|duel]] between Hong and Peijing, correctly predicting that Headmistress [[Pearl]] would do nothing to prevent the fighting. After the clash, Azula answered Pearl's question about the Agni Kai's potential lesson: She proclaimed that people should not trust anyone, not even their friends, and instead always try to become stronger to prepare for the inevitable betrayal.<ref name="AA" />

Ultimately, Azula kept only Ty Lee and Mai as lasting friends from her time at the Royal Fire Academy.<ref name="RO">{{Cite episode|1|203}}</ref> One of the reasons the princess maintained her friendship with Ty Lee and Mai was because the two girls possessed skills that she did not, and so she spent part of her adolescence learning these abilities from them.<ref name="DBS2c">[[Michael Dante DiMartino|DiMartino, Michael Dante]] & [[Bryan Konietzko|Konietzko, Bryan]] (May 6, 2008). [[Transcript:The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse (commentary)|"The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse" commentary]]. [[Book 3: Fire, Volume 3]] [[List of Avatar: The Last Airbender DVDs|DVD]].</ref> 

[[File:Azula eating mochi.png|thumb|right|200px|Even as a young child, [[Azula]] ignored her friends' discomfort over the theft of [[mochi]].]]

Azula frequently invited Mai and Ty Lee to play in the [[Fire Nation Royal Palace]]. They often played hide-and-go-seek, with Azula always winning by cheating, as she knew the palace's secret pathways. Ultimately, Mai and Ty Lee discovered Azula's secret. In another instance, Azula visited Mai's family alongside Ty Lee; at the time, [[Michi|Mai's mother]] had prepared [[mochi]] for her grandmother's birthday. Azula subsequently manipulated her friends into stealing the mochi despite their misgivings. She was also completely unfazed when both Ty Lee and Mai refused to eat any stolen mochi, opting to eat all of it herself. When they later went to sleep, Mai experienced nightmares and talked about the [[Kemurikage]] in her sleep; Azula overheard this, but merely considered it interesting instead of feeling any empathy.<ref name="SS3" />

== Deteriorating relationship with Zuko and Ursa ==
[[File:Ursa and Azula in their youth.png|thumb|left|200px|Despite their difficult relationship, [[Ursa]] was a positive influence on [[Azula]].]]

Though Azula was clearly favored by Ozai, she felt that her mother loved Zuko much more than her, creating a rift of jealousy between her and Ursa and Zuko. Confronted daily with her brother's close relationship with their mother and Azula's comparatively distant one, Azula often attempted to gain Ursa's attention in some way. However, these attempts usually resulted in family quarrels. Around 94 AG, Azula walked together with her mother and brother in the [[Royal Palace gardens|royal garden]]. Feeling neglected and bored, as Ursa only talked with Zuko, Azula ignited a flower, prompting Zuko to tell on her to Ursa. Ursa scolded Azula for disrespecting the royal garden, but the princess just said that the flower "deserved it", as it had not grown to her liking. In retaliation for telling on her, Azula burned Zuko's bottom, calling him a tattletale. Seeing this, Ursa promptly sent her to her room. Scowling over this treatment, Azula stormed off.<ref name="S2" /> Scenes like this became regular occurrences, and as a result, Azula developed an increasingly hostile attitude toward Zuko and Ursa.

[[File:Young Azula and Zuko.png|thumb|right|200px|[[Azula]] smiled triumphantly at [[Zuko|her shocked brother]] while he was reprimanded by [[Ozai]].]]

Months later, Azula and her family ate together at the palace dining hall. The princess, dissatisfied with the conservative training techniques of her [[Kunyo|firebending teacher]], happily told her father that she set his britches on fire after being lectured by him. Ozai agreed that the teacher sounded like a fool for insisting on specified forms and declared that he would send him to the colonies as punishment. Full of spiteful joy at her father's agreement, Azula said that it "serve[d] him right" and called him a "dummy". When Zuko attempted to defend the tutor, he was promptly silenced by his father, who reprimanded him for his poor firebending skills and compared him with Azula and her natural talent for the bending art. Ozai revealed that he nearly discarded Zuko at birth, believing the prince to be a nonbender. He stated that Azula was "born lucky", and Zuko was "lucky to be born", causing Azula to smile triumphantly at her shocked brother.<ref name="S2" />

[[File:Young Azula.png|thumb|left|200px|Even as a young child, [[Azula]] exhibited a duplicitous and cunning streak, as demonstrated when she manipulated [[Ursa|her mother]] to get her way.]]

Azula often displayed her natural talents, along with her tendency for malice and perfection, but these traits were especially clear when the princess played with her friends in the royal garden in 95 AG. When Ty Lee successfully performed a cartwheel after Azula's failed attempt, she shoved her friend to the ground out of jealousy while laughing gleefully. When she saw ten-year-old Mai attempting to hide her crush on her brother Zuko, Azula used her acting and cunning to convince her mother to make Zuko play with them. During their game, she placed an apple on Mai's head and set it on fire, forcing Zuko to tackle Mai into a fountain to put out the fire. She found great pleasure in embarrassing the two of them.<ref name="ZA" />

== Ursa's banishment ==
A true tactician, Azula desired power from a young age, suggesting that her father would make a better Fire Lord than the heir apparent, her uncle [[Iroh]]. She torched a doll that her uncle had sent her as a gift from the Earth Kingdom, preferring the weapon Zuko had gotten over a simple doll. Not long after this, her cousin [[Lu Ten]] was killed in battle, prompting Iroh to abandon his legendary six-hundred-day [[Siege of Ba Sing Se]], which in turn prompted Azula to call him "a quitter and a loser". She also showed some slight disrespect to her grandfather, as when she was told to call him "Fire Lord Azulon", she responded with, "Can't we just call him grandfather? He's not exactly the powerful Fire Lord he used to be".<ref name="ZA" />

[[File:Azula telling Zuko of Ozai's punishment.png|thumb|right|200px|[[Azula]] told [[Zuko]] that [[Ozai|their father]] was going to kill him on [[Azulon]]'s orders.]]

Shortly after receiving this news, Azula and the rest of her family went before Fire Lord Azulon, and she put on a spectacular display of her firebending prowess. After her routine, she watched smugly as Zuko tried to copy her performance but failed. When Azulon ordered everyone except Ozai out of the room, Azula grabbed her brother and hid behind the curtains. From there, she and Zuko watched their father request that he be made Fire Lord instead of Iroh. When Zuko fled in fear of the Fire Lord's anger, Azula stayed behind to watch with amusement. She later met her brother back in his room, claiming gleefully that she heard her grandfather sentence him to death. She taunted him about it until their mother angrily pulled her away for a private talk.<ref name="ZA" /> Under pressure from Ursa, Azula confessed what she overheard and was told by her mother to go to her room, which she did with a devious smile.<ref name="S2" /> A short time later, Azula played with the [[Zuko's pearl-handled dagger|dagger that Zuko had received from Iroh]] and coolly announced to him that no one knew where their mother was and their grandfather had passed away during the night. Soon after that, she watched her father's coronation with glee.<ref name="ZA" /> No amicable feelings developed between her and Zuko throughout the next few years, as Ozai began to favor her more and more over her brother during this period.<ref name="TToA-1">''[[The Earth Kingdom Chronicles]]'': ''The Tale of Azula'', Chapter 1.</ref>

== De facto Crown Princess ==
[[File:Agni Kai audience.png|thumb|left|200px|[[Azula]] sadistically relished in the sight of [[Ozai|her father]] burning [[Zuko|her brother]]'s face during their [[Agni Kai]].]]

In 97 AG, Azula, alongside Iroh and [[Zhao]], watched Zuko's Agni Kai with his father. When Ozai burned her brother's face, she smiled smugly in triumph, along with Zhao.<ref name="S">{{Cite episode|1|112}}</ref> When Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation, Azula became Ozai's ''de facto'' heir; however, much to her frustration, he did not fully confirm her position as crown princess, meaning that Zuko was still a possible contender for the throne.<ref name="TToA-1" /><ref name="TToA-5">''[[The Earth Kingdom Chronicles]]'': ''The Tale of Azula'', Chapter 5.</ref> For the next three years, she would continue her relentless training in firebending, strategy, and combat until she refined herself enough to serve her father.<ref name="TToA-1" /><ref name="AS" /> At one point in her childhood, [[Lo and Li]] were appointed as Azula's teachers and advisors. She came to value their advice in various matters, including her firebending training as well as strategy.<ref name="AS">{{Cite episode|1|201}}</ref><ref name="Cc">[[Michael Dante DiMartino|DiMartino, Michael Dante]]; [[Joshua Hamilton|Hamilton, Joshua]] & [[Giancarlo Volpe|Volpe, Giancarlo]] (April 10, 2007). [[Transcript:The Chase (commentary)|"The Chase" commentary]]. [[Book 2: Earth, Volume 2]] [[List of Avatar: The Last Airbender DVDs|DVD]].</ref><ref name="TToA-2">''[[The Earth Kingdom Chronicles]]'': ''The Tale of Azula'', Chapter 2.</ref>

Eventually, her firebending advanced to the level where her fire was blue, and she could [[Lightning generation|create lightning]], thus increasing her overall bending power and intensity, making her a formidable opponent.<ref name="TToA-1" /><ref name="AS" /> However, this period was also marked by Ozai's emotional manipulation of Azula to the extent that, years later, she expressed her wish that her mother would have been there to protect her from Ozai's influence.<ref name="AIST" />

Shortly after Zhao's failed [[Siege of the North]], Azula was summoned by her father to his throne room. As she knelt before Fire Lord Ozai, he commented that Zuko was a failure and Iroh was a traitor. He charged her with a mission: to find and capture her uncle and brother.<ref name="SN2">{{Cite episode|1|120}}</ref> By [[History of Azula (Spring 100 AG)|spring 100 AG]], Azula had mobilized a force and set out to do exactly that.<ref name="AS" />

== Trivia ==
* Some additional information on this period of Azula's life is provided by ''{{Film|The Last Airbender Prequel: Zuko's Story|Zuko's Story}}''. However, ''Zuko's Story'' was written for the 2010 ''{{Film|The Last Airbender}}'' live-action film timeline.

== References ==
{{Scroll|{{Reflist}}}}

== See also ==
* [[Azula]]
* [[History of Azula (Spring 100 AG)]]
* [[History of Azula (Summer 100 AG)]]

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[[Category:Azula]]
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