Why Is Azula’s Fire Blue? & 9 Other Things You Didn’t Know About Her

Who is Azula, really? A sister, a daughter, an interim ruler, a Firebender? None of these qualifications manage to define her successfully. She becomes a master at almost everything she tries her hand at — bending, acrobatics, martial warfare, subterfuge, everything that is, except being a decent human being.

In Avatar: The Last Airbender Azula finds that love and hope are meager promises made by the weak-minded people (an attitude obviously picked up from her father), instead preferring to use force and violence to get what she desires. Here are a few important facts about the Fire Nation princess that are barely covered by the story.

10 Why Is Azula’s Fire Blue?

Blue flames are extremely rare, with only Azula displaying them (even including characters present in The Legend of Korra and the graphic novels.)

Uncle Iroh implies that this is a highly specialized type of Firebending, known as “cold-blooded fire” because it requires extreme focus with minimal interruption from the emotional side of one’s personality. Given that Azula has none, unless it’s about herself, the production of blue fire might as well be second nature to her.

9 How Old Is She?

The second child and only daughter of Ursa and Ozai, at that point second in line to the throne of the Fire Nation, is born in 85 AG, or eighty-five years after the Air Nation Genocide.

Azula was named in honor of Fire Lord Azulon, her grandfather (clearly a failed tactic used by her father to curry favor regarding inheritance rights.) Since the story begins in 100 AG, this makes her between 14 and 15 years old when she begins the hunt for Zuko.

8 When Did The Sibling Rivalry Begin?

Zuko and Azula were apparently rather close when they were very young (toddler/kindergarten age), seeing as they have pleasant nostalgia of summer days spent on the beach at Ember Island.

However, she develops a deep insecurity when she sees Ursa giving her brother more affection, and reacts in her standard aggressive manner. In fact, it can be safely assumed that Azula’s childhood bullying and acts of vandalism were nothing more than cries for maternal attention.

7 Why Is She Terrified Of Her Mother?

Ursa is banished by her husband (under the pretext of treason, which is ridiculous since Ozai is the one who poisons his father.) At this point, Azula seems happy, because the only parent who actually tried to teach her the values of responsibility is out of the picture.

When her dad crowns her as Fire Lord, however, all the guilt and shame comes hurtling back into her mind, already made fragile by the daunting task of monarchy, and she begins hallucinating Ursa everywhere she goes.

6 How Did She Become A Member Of Team Avatar?

When Zuko decides that he wants to find his mother again, he grudgingly enlists the help of his sister (who is the only one aware of where Ursa might be hiding.) Therefore, he calls Team Avatar back, Aang, Katara and Sokka, to help him “keep an eye” on Azula during their journey.

They protest vociferously, but at the end realize that the stakes are far too high to maintain the enmity, and therefore accept her terms. Sokka is especially wary of her, but she arrogantly tells everyone that there would be no problem as long as they keep their distance.

5 Why Did Her Schizophrenia Get Worse?

The relationship between Azula and Ursa is expanded further on the quest mentioned above, with her delusions getting more frequent and bizarre with every passing hour. She is permitted to travel with them free of restraints, which makes Team Avatar extremely nervous, especially since she keeps attacking random illusions.

Interestingly, her hallucinations convince her that everyone she meets is working with Ursa and that they had always been planning to deny her right to the Fire Nation throne from the very beginning.

4 What Is The Peak Of Her Lightningbending?

Azula has incapacitated multiple powerful characters with her lightning blasts, including Aang and Zuko, but she is also capable of tiny sparks intended to annoy her opponents. However, she also learns how to redirect lightning in the graphic novels, a skill she had not possessed in the series.

The most terrifying feature of her talent, though, lies in the generation of ball lightning — an unexplored weather anomaly shaped like a sphere. Thankfully, Azula only uses this to redirect an attacking swarm of spirit moth wasps away from Team Avatar.

3 Is She One Of The (Physically) Strongest Characters?

Aang and Katara are mediocre unarmed combatants, while Zuko and Sokka are a couple of notches higher (especially in terms of swordsmanship.) Nevertheless, none of them are comparable to Azula’s speed, flexibility, and split-second timing, not to mention her proficiency with a range of weapons from throwing knives to swords.

She scales precipitous slopes like a mountain goat and is far too quick for most opponents to even land a strike on her. The only other person in the franchise at this level of physical power is Avatar Korra.

2 When Does She Disappear From The Story?

The graphic novels mark the final appearance of Azula in the Avatar franchise when she forces her unwilling brother into an Agni Kai in what seems like a last-ditch attempt to secure the throne. She technically wins, but Zuko calmly tells her that the outcome of their battle would have no bearing on the improbability of her becoming the Fire Lord.

Azula claps back, saying that her mission has changed, that it now revolves around making him a better (read: fascist) ruler. She leaves the capital after this arc and is never seen again, let alone mentioned in The Legend of Korra.

1 Azula Is The First Main Character Shown On Screen

As strange as this statement might sound — since Azula is first shown smirking at the Agni Kai between her brother and father — she is seen before Aang, Sokka, or even Katara.

This is because she appears in the opening sequence as the unacknowledged Firebender, along with Master Pakku as the Waterbender (but unknown Earth- and Airbenders.) Azula’s inclusion clearly implies that she was to be a major part of the coming narrative, an assumption that is proven beyond doubt later.

About The Author

Ajay Aravind
(429 Articles Published)

In real life, Ajay disguises himself as an academic, mainly writing textbooks for children — who all hate him for making their lives more miserable. He also writes about TV and film, strewing his opinions across the internet to see if people care (they don’t). You can find him @stain_dprinc_ss on Twitter.

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