Azula

Background
After recovering from her psychotic breakdown on the day of Sozin's Comet, Princess Azula was stripped of her title and exiled to a small island in the southeastern Fire Nation. She has lived there ever since, even though she is no longer guarded or closely monitored. For now, she seems content to stay by herself, in her house away from the island's single fishing town, with only regular visits from Ty Lee to keep her company.

Zuko is unable to simply pardon her due to political considerations, but he doesn't really take the "exile" thing seriously anymore, as evidenced by letting her only "guard" be her best friend, who comes and goes as she pleases.

Personality
Azula's mental instability and delusions of grandeur are a thing of the past, and the years have smoothed out some of her crueler edges, but she remains intimidating, uncompromising and more than a little ruthless. She still feels bitterness toward her brother and his friends for defeating her (and worse, witnessing her mental collapse), but no longer entertains fantasies of serious revenge, contenting herself with snide remarks and thinly-veiled put-downs on the rare occasions that she sees them.

Even disinherited, Azula retains an intense pride in her bloodline and past accomplishments. Though she likes Irah and her friends very much, and may finally be ready to reconcile with their parents as a result, she is unlikely to ever ask anyone's forgiveness. Firebending is also still a very large part of Azula's identity, and she has continued to practice and refine her style over the past two decades. She almost certainly numbers among the most powerful living masters of the discipline, but has never agreed to teach any students.

Relationships
Ty Lee is the only one of Azula's old acquaintances to regularly visit her during her exile. Originally assigned to act as the former princess' minder, the perky Kyoshi Warrior has won her forgiveness, and the two women are now best friends in truth. Yi Lin is convinced that they are romantically involved, but most everyone else sees her "proof" as evidence of nothing more than very close friendship.

Azula has great affection for her niece, Irah; if anything ever leads her to reconcile with her brother (and his friends), it will be her love for his daughter. Azula sees much of herself, and much of what she wishes herself to be, in the girl.

If Irah is the largest incentive for Azula to put aside past grievances, Katara is the biggest obstacle to doing so. The Avatar's wife still holds an intense grudge against Azula for (among other fairly valid reasons) striking her future husband dead with lightning. She doesn't like the idea of her children even speaking with Zuko's sister, and would be downright horrified to learn how much they look up to her.

Notes for Writers
"How to portray Ty Lee and Azula's relationship?" The general consensus (if there is such a thing) is that we like the idea of "Tyzula" as canon, but very subtly so: subtle enough that it could be perceived as a very close friendship by kids, but just obvious enough for someone with a crazed shipper mindset like Yi Lin to be able to tell what's going on - and make it bigger than it really is.

From the beginning, Yi Lin suspected something (like she notices that Azula has only one bedroom, with a double-sized bed). But at some point, she might have seen more than she should have when investigating. Now, she's driven to prove it to her friends, but like the boy who cried wolfbat, her friends don't believe her. And Ty Lee and Azula don't make things easy for Yi Lin. In response, Yi Lin has grown obsessed with it, going over the top in her investigations ("Hmmm, the pillow on the left hand side has less bounce; obviously it is used more often, ruling out the possibility of her using the bed by herself, meaning they sleep together. This is proof.").

The main rule of thumb is to keep things legitimately ambiguous. Signs of "proof" should have a reasonable "just friends" explanation.

Fun Facts



 * Thanks to her stressful past, Azula is going prematurely gray. Reflecting her slightly more relaxed personality, she wears her hair in a loose bun instead of the traditional severe topknot (though she has retained her trademark bangs).


 * Azula has unorthodox ways of dealing with stress (she still complains about having to do "peasant work" and cook her own food, for example), such as erecting a scarecrow of her brother in her garden to keep birds away.


 * After visiting her island, the kids were so enamored of Irah's aunt that they used her likeness as a figurehead on their boat.


 * Although she is only directly related to Irah, all of the kids refer to her as "Aunt Azula".

Stories

 * Aunt Azula Explains It All, by CowboyNinjaBear. Irah and Azula have a talk about love and what it means to be a princess.
 * Ty Lee and Azula Go Out of The Town, by Anonymous /co/mrade.
 * All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go But Down, by Acehole Rimmer. Azula is the guest of honor at Irah's birthday party.
 * Part two
 * Part three
 * Ursa and the Earth King, by Anonymous. Azula has a very strange dream.
 * Thunder and Lightning, by CowboyNinjaBear. Irah and her aunt have a late-night chat.

Snippets
'''Main listing at Azula Snippets. Also see:'''
 * Let's Talk
 * This Is What Yi Lin Actually Believes
 * Yi Lin Must Never Know

Comics

 * [[Media:Azula_and_young_irah.jpg|Azula and Young Irah]]. Azula causes mischief with her young niece.
 * [[Media:Hayoda_understands_the_subtext.jpg|Hayoda Understands the Subtext]]. Azula has a friendly chat with Hayoda.
 * [[Media:Family.jpg|Family]]. Two princesses are reunited with their family.
 * [[Media:Zuko_azula_epilogue.jpg|Epilogue]]. A lot can change in 20 years.
 * [[Media:This is what yi lin actually believes.jpg|This is What Yi Lin Actually Believes]]. Azula and Ty Lee are just friends...or are they?
 * [[Media:A_world_of_proof.jpg|A World of Proof]]. Yi Lin certainly believes differently.

Gallery
See Category:Azula for a complete listing.