History Characters / AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNationRoyalFamily

* It is possible that Sozin had pragmatic reasons to destroy dragons. Given that dragons taught the original (more peaceful) form of fire-bending to humans, Sozin may want the Fire Nation folk to forget all that and to use the newer and more destructive form that was since developed, as that new form will better suit his expansive imperialistic aims. Hunting dragons as a cultural practice will effectively breaks the ancient learning connections between them and the Fire Nation people. Having fewer dragons around also make it less likely that another nation will learn the secrets of fire-bending to fight against the Fire Nation.

* TragicHero: Sozin was once a genuinely good man and friend to Avatar Roku who wanted to make the world a better place. However, as time went on, his {{Pride}} began to corrupt his desire to help others into a desire to "help" them by ruling over them, whether they liked it or not, which led to a fallout with Roku. Eventually, he leaves Roku to die and succeeds in turning the Fire Nation into a hegemonic, imperialist state. And yet, he finds that not only has he made the world worse, but he did so by betraying his closest friend, leaving him sorrowful, lonely old man unable to atone for his sins during his final days.

* BeingEvilSucks: Heavily {{implied|Trope}}. He died a very successful man who influenced the course of history for centuries to come, after he left his childhood best friend to die, wiped out an entire people save for the sole individual that he was looking to kill, and plunged the world into a world war that would last a century, among many other crimes. Notably, Sozin's voice narrating his last will and testament from his dying days describing his heinous successes constantly speaks in a bitter and solemn tone, and he doesn't sound remotely proud or pleased with himself, even commenting at one point that he "wasted the remainder of [his] life searching in vain" for the next Avatar.

* MightMakesRight: Firmly believes that the Fire Lord's will is right by way of being the Fire Lord. In general this is how he settles all moral quandaries, which he elaborates on with an anecdote from when Zuko was young. At the beach, Zuko once saved a turtle-crab from being eaten by a hawk, only to realize that the hawk would starve without food. Both animals only want to live, and Zuko was unsure which to side with... only for Ozai to tell him that whichever choice Zuko makes would be morally just. Zuko is the only one powerful enough to decide which of the animals will live, and his choice is just by virtue of him being strong enough to make it.

* MoralMyopia: He was so convinced that he was in the right in his efforts to share the Fire Nation's "prosperity" with the world that he declared Roku a traitor to the Fire Nation for criticizing his warmongering and imperialism. It's only on his deathbed that he realizes his initially benevolent intentions caused untold pain, suffering and atrocities that would continue for decades after his death.

[[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] ([[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAvatarAang Avatar Aang]], [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZuko Prince Zuko]], [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderKatara Katara]], [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderSokka Sokka]], [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTophBeifong Toph Beifong]]) | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderMentors Mentors]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation]] | '''Fire Nation Royal Family''' ([[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderPrincessAzula Princess Azula]]) | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderOtherCharacters Other]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComicCharacters Comics]]]]]]-]

Ruler of the Fire Nation and likely the most powerful Firebender on the planet, Ozai is [[BigBad the main antagonist]] of the series. A ruthless warlord and megalomaniac, Ozai is willing to burn the rest of the world to the ground so he can rule. He has little to no empathy for anyone, including his own children ([[PetTheDog though he acts decently towards them if they prove themselves useful]]). Aang must defeat Ozai before Ozai can harness Sozin's Comet and use it to bring the war to a permanent end.

* EvilIsPetty: In addition to betraying his friend, initiating a genocide, and kickstarting a hundred year war, Sozin was responsible for outlawing same-sex relationships, hunting down dragons, and erasing Fire Nation history before his reign. In some regards, he's even worse than Ozai because unlike his grandson, [[KarmaHoudini he successfully carried out all these petty misdeeds]].

** ''Turf Wars'' reveals he outlawed same-sex relationships. While this attitude [[RealityIsUnrealistic actually fits the real-life setting and era the Fire Nation was based on]], it's said to have been tolerant beforehand. No reason why he did this other than to establish "That guy was the ''worst''!" is given.

* It is possible that Sozin had pragmatic reasons to destroy dragons. Given that dragons taught the original (more peaceful) form of fire-bending to humans, Sozin may want the Fire Nation folk to forget all that and to use the newer and more destructive form that was since developed, as that new form will better suit his expansive imperialistic aims. Hunting dragons as a cultural practice will effectively breaks the ancient learning connections between them and the Fire Nation people. Having fewer dragons around also make it less likely that another nation will learn the secrets of fire-bending to fight against the Fire Nation.

* EvilVirtues: He's fixated on ideas of Respect and Honor, albiet very twisted ones. When Zuko speaks out of turn in his war room and refuses to fight him, Ozai reads this as disrespectful and punishes him accordingly. In fact, his take on what Honor is motivates Zuko for much of the series.

** His thanks to Ursa for [[spoiler:allowing him to usurp Azulon as Fire Lord, while saving their son's life in the process, was to banish her for treason. Despite this it's averted as she had to agree to banishment before the whole thing happened. For Ozai, this was necessary for him to tie up loose ends. He did, however, keep his word of ensuring their children's safety...for the time being]].

* AxCrazy: A hateful, megalomaniacal and sociopathic individual who responds to any perceived slight with utter violence and pettiness. Case in point, Ozai '''burned half of his son's face''' for speaking out of turn, and his response to knowing of resistance in the Earth Kingdom is to commit genocide by fire.

* AxCrazy: Expresses vicious, murderous glee in the process of [[spoiler:leveling the Earth Kingdom.]]

!!!'''Voiced by''': Creator/MarkHamill (English), Rolando Silva, Ricardo Soto and Daniel Seisdedos ([[UsefulNotes/SpanishAccentsAndDialects Latin American Spanish]]), Ami Mendelman (Hebrew), Axel Lutter (German)

!!!'''Voiced by''': Jen Cohn (original), Keyros Guillén (Latin American Spanish)

!!!'''Voiced by''': Creator/RonPerlman (original, elderly), Creator/LexLang (original, adult), Creator/SeanMarquette (original, teen), Nelson Medina and Rolando Silva (Latin American Spanish)

** Then there's [[spoiler:the final battle between him and Aang, who he initially has on the backfoot hard -- before he accidentally awakens Aang's [[SuperMode Avatar State]] after driving him to the sheer desperation for it. Once Avatar!Aang throws the first blast, Ozai [[BlownAcrossTheRoom gets flung for the better part of a mile]] before getting a front-row seat to exactly ''why'' the Avatar is a PhysicalGod. Cue Ozai repeatedly fleeing for the entire rest of the fight besides the occasional token attempts at retaliation, silently freaking out at the untouchable force of destruction tearing '''everything''' apart to end him. It's only once Aang tries to be merciful at the last second that his composure returns -- only to get trapped into AFateWorseThanDeath for his final fighting efforts.]]

* OhCrap: [[spoiler:The two times his lightning is redirected, once by Zuko and once by Aang, he is visibly scared. The biggest instance of this, however, is when he smashes Aang against a rock during their fight and, by doing this, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain inadvertently opens the chakra Azula closed with her lightning attack far earlier]]. He is then faced with a fully realized, and [[UnstoppableRage absolutely furious]], [[SuperMode Avatar State Aang]]. The look of terror on his face is something to behold.]]

* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:The Cain to Roku's Abel in the former friends variety.]]

* BadassNormal: A non-bender who did everything she could to stop her brother.

[[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] ([[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAvatarAang Avatar Aang]], [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZuko Prince Zuko]], [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderKatara Katara]], [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderSokka Sokka]], [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTophBeifong Toph Beifong]]) | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderMentors Mentors]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAllies Allies]] ([[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderGeneralIroh General Iroh]]) | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation]] | '''Fire Nation Royal Family''' ([[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderFireLordOzai Fire Lord Ozai]], [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderPrincessAzula Princess Azula]]) | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderOtherCharacters Other]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComicCharacters Comics]]]]]]-]

See [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderFireLordOzai his own page]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ursa]]
!!Princess Ursa
!!!'''Voiced by''': Jen Cohn (original), Keyros Guillén (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/princess-ursa_large.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"That's what moms are like -- if you mess with their babies, they're going to bite you back."'']]

Even as Ozai's wife, Ursa was a caring mother to their children (though she had considerable problems dealing with [[CreepyChild Azula.]]) She was one of the few people who consistently supported Zuko, and it came as a hard blow to him when she suddenly disappeared.

* AllForNothing: Her banishment. She agreed to be banished for her freedom so long as Ozai doesn't kill the children. Despite this, Zuko was still physically abused while Azula suffered emotional abuse.
* ArrangedMarriage: Revealed to be the case with her marriage to Ozai, [[spoiler:basically because Fire Lord Azulon wanted to conduct a eugenics experiment with his son and the granddaughter of Avatar Roku]].
* AwfulWeddedLife: The comics explain that her marriage was arranged and that her married life with Ozai was NOT what she wanted at all.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: One of the kindest Fire Nation royals. She is also [[spoiler:responsible for Azulon's death]].
* BlueBlood: She comes from a prominent and respected family, being Avatar Roku's granddaughter.
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: {{Downplayed}}. Ursa wasn't rude towards her lover Ikem, but she did tell him that she "joyfully accepted" Ozai's proposal to stop his attempts to resist, which would almost certainly get him killed.
* BreakThemByTalking: [[spoiler:When she visits Ozai in prison, her former husband tries to break her with every death threat he could think of. Taking in Iroh's advice, she ignores his words and instead probes for his weakness underneath that fury. Once she finds it, she gives out TheReasonYouSuckSpeech of how Ozai is a deeply insecure, little man who hates himself in addition to his family, and that is enough to shock Ozai into silence and eventually lead to his VillainousBreakdown]].
* BrokenBird: [[spoiler:It turns out she's deeply unhappy in her marriage to Ozai, which was extorted through implied threats to the man she really loved. She also carries a lot of guilt over Ozai's mistreatment of her beloved son, which she inadvertently caused. And that's ''before'' she's forced to kill her father-in-law.]] When met at the beginning of ''The Search'', Ursa was a confident tomboy. After a miserable marriage to a man with overwhelming power and terrifying reach, she's no longer as strong as she thought she was; to the point of [[spoiler:having her memories of her past life and children erased because of the overwhelming pain]].
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Before being forced to marry Ozai, Ursa had a lover named Ikem, who was also her childhood friend.
* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: She left Zuko and Azula as young children because [[spoiler:she was [[TheExile banished from the Fire Nation]] for killing the previous Fire Lord to save Zuko's life. ''The Search'' gives another heartbreaking reason, making her an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: She sent a fake letter to see if her letters were being interrupted. Ozai indeed intercepts it and confronted her about it. Rather than hit her, Ozai goes [[DisproportionateRetribution above and beyond]] and disavows anything of Zuko and would do anything to hurt him just to "hurt the things Ursa cares about." Which also gave Ursa the clue that if she tried anything, he would kill Zuko AND Azula. Because of this, Ursa had to shun Azula so Ozai wouldn't try to hurt her the same way and had to focus more on protecting Zuko so Ozai wouldn't kill him. Tragically, this also gave Azula her massive mother issues.]]
* DivineParentage: [[spoiler:She is the granddaughter of Avatar Roku. This was the reason for her forced marriage to Ozai.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:DoubleSubverted. She thought that finding Ikem, changing her identity and marrying him was the happy ending she wanted. When Team Avatar finds her, she came to realize that this was not what she truly wanted. Reconciling with her son, who is now Fire Lord, eased the sting. Now if only she can repeat the feat with Azula....]]
* TheExile: [[spoiler:She was banished from the Fire Nation for treason.]]
* FatalFlaw:
** Due to circumstances she herself created (again, worth noting that she didn't expect Ozai's reaction to the whole thing) She failed to balance her affection between Zuko and Azula, resulting in Azula thinking that [[ParentalFavoritism she ''never'' loved her]] because she is a monster due to being heavily influenced by Ozai.
** Ursa has a bad penchant for underestimating. She really did not understand the depth of Ozai's depravity and cruelty; nor did she ever fathom the consequences for her actions. She doesn't do this maliciously; but she lacks the foresight others would, and it not only cost her dearly, but it also affected Zuko and Azula long term.
* FeminineMotherTomboyishDaughter: Very much so. Ursa is a kind, soft-hearted, nurturing, and caring lady, in stark contrast to Azula's ruthless, brutal, aggressive, and sometimes downright psychotic nature.
* GildedCage: After marrying Ozai, her new life was better than her backwater village due to the comforts of the Palace. However, Ursa wasn't allowed to speak to her family or mention her pre-Fire Nation princess life again after their wedding. She couldn't have certain possessions or travel where she wants without the Royal family's permission. Even the letters secretly sent back home were intercepted and confiscated.
* GoodParents: She loved her children, did her best to temper Azula's TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior, and [[spoiler:was [[TheExile banished from the Fire Nation]] for killing the previous Fire Lord to save Zuko's life]]. [[spoiler:But as ''The Search'' reveals, she doesn't consider herself a perfect one.]]
* HeroicBSOD: Up until the end of Smoke and Shadows, she has a very difficult time dealing with reminders of Ozai and her time with him.
* TheHighQueen: [[spoiler:Upon the reinstatement of her royal status in ''Smoke and Shadow'', Ursa's status as a former Fire Lord’s wife is retroactively applied, and is bestowed the title of "Lady", and her son being the reigning Fire Lord makes her the equivalent of a queen mother. That said, she's definitely beautiful, kind, gentle and motherly]].
* IdenticalGranddaughter: [[spoiler:She looks very similar to Roku's wife; Ta Min, who's also her grandmother.]]
* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:Her last words to Zuko are "Never forget who you are!" She then proceeds to literally and willingly forget a significant part of who she is, and who Zuko and Azula are for that matter.]]
* LadyMacbeth: Downplayed. [[spoiler:Ursa came up with the idea of killing Azulon and made a bargain with Ozai to help him become Fire Lord, but she did it in order to protect Zuko.]]
* MamaBear: She used to provide the main page quote: "That's what moms are like — if you mess with their babies, they'll bite you back." ; she knows what she's talking about, having [[spoiler:orchestrated the murder of Fire Lord Azulon for ordering her son Zuko's death]].
* MasterPoisoner: She knew a lot about poisons and herbs thanks to her mother. [[spoiler:She gave Ozai an odor-less, color-less poison to kill Azulon.]]
* MeaningfulName: Ursa is Latin for "[[MamaBear bear]]." It [[spoiler:Gains [[BearsAreBadNews further]] meaning when one stops to think of ''Ozai's'' use of the word "vicious" to describe her treason. Right after telling Zuko that [[ScarsAreForever disfiguring]] [[AbusiveParents his son]] wasn't a big deal and right before he tries to ''[[PsychoElectro smite]]'' the boy. ]]
* MissingMom: She left Zuko and Azula as young children because [[spoiler:she was [[TheExile banished from the Fire Nation]] for killing the previous Fire Lord to save Zuko's life.]]
* MomentOfWeakness: [[spoiler:It's revealed in ''[[ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch The Search]]'' that Ursa choose to have her memories of her life as the former Crown Princess of the Fire Nation erased by the Mother of Faces in order to live her life over with Ikem free of the trauma and pain she suffered under Ozai. This includes the memory of her children despite how much she loved them. After deciding to have her memories restored at the end of the book she is left ashamed of herself that she chose to give up her memories of her children and vows to make up for her mistake with Zuko.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:''[[ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch The Search]]'' reveals that while she was still married to Ozai she regularly tried to send letters to Ikem her true love that were constantly intercepted. To see if her letters have been intercepted, Ursa wrote a letter that states that [[RedHerring Zuko was Ikem's son rather than Ozai's]], knowing that it would provoke Ozai. It backfired horribly, as Ozai's jealousy and rage over this [[AbusiveParents caused him to openly treat Zuko as if he was not his own son as punishment for Ursa (though Ozai had already been treating Zuko pretty badly even before his confrontation with Ursa).]] Tragically, this ''also'' led to Ozai favoring and corrupting Azula. Furthermore, because of Ursa's ploy backfiring heavily, she had to protect and focus more on Zuko, unintentionally neglecting Azula (at least from her perspective) in the process.]] As a consequence, Azula was never properly disciplined by her mother and ends up becoming (from Azula's own perspective) a monster that her mother doesn't want. The worst part of it all? Ursa's plan and fallout from it was nothing more than DisproportionateRetribution. Ursa likely presumed that she would've been just yelled at if not hit by Ozai. But for Ozai to turn around and no longer have any qualms about killing Zuko or Azula was WAY too far.
* ParentsAsPeople: While Ursa loved her children dearly she made several mistakes that show she wasn't the perfect mother that Zuko remembered her to be. She was a little too focused on protecting and raising Zuko and unintentionally neglected Azula which not only caused her to fall under her father's influence but also gave her major emotional issues since she was left to believe that her own mother hated her and considered her a monster. [[spoiler: And as "The Search, Part 3" reveals that she willingly had her memories wiped by the Mother of Faces after Ozai banished her. Ozai forbade her from contacting Zuko and Azula and she loved them too much to bear knowing of them but never seeing them again. Even Noriko, who is Ursa under memory loss and with a new identity, admits this when she hears of what her past-self did, and when she's restored to being Ursa, she re-iterates this admittance to Zuko, outright asking herself "what kind of mother forgets her own children?"]]
* ParentalFavoritism: Played with and deconstructed. Ursa loves both her children dearly, but she preferred to spend time with Zuko, since [[WhiteSheep he was more like her]] while Azula took more after Ozai. That Zuko was [[TheUnfavorite disdained by his father]] also made Ursa very protective of him, whereas she wasn't afraid to punish Azula's sadistic impulses (the very thing that made Azula Ozai's favorite in the first place). Azula was thus left believing that her mother didn't love her, leaving her with deep mental scars, including a need for Ozai's approval, jealously of Zuko, and a resentment of Ursa.
* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: According to the [[AllThereInTheManual old official site]], she was the perfect match for Ozai, though they grew distant later on. Subverted in ''The Search'', which reveals that she pretended to love Ozai because the alternative would endanger both her original fiancé and both their families.
* RapeAsBackstory: {{Implied|Trope}}. It is, unsurprisingly, never explicitly shown or stated, but given their marriage was unhappily arranged and Ozai's controlling nature, it isn't hard to guess that neither Zuko nor Azula were willingly conceived.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[spoiler:Ursa gives one to Ozai upon seeing him in his cell, trying to dominate her with threatening words but powerless nonetheless. Rather than just call [[YouMonster him a monster]], Ursa decides to reduce Ozai's character as a small man with a big ego and a tiny heart. And to drive the point in a manner that Ozai would understand, she says [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex he couldn't even love himself]]]].
* SatelliteFamilyMember: Ursa's role in the story revolves around the impact she had on her children, Zuko and Azula. She was extremely loving and affectionate toward Zuko to make up for his father's abuse. Following her mysterious disappearance, Zuko clings to his childhood memories of her in hard times. In Book 2, he briefly bonds with Katara over their lost mothers. On the flip side, Ursa had a more troubled relationship with Azula. She loved her daughter, but had a difficult time understanding or connecting with her. Azula believes that her mother thought she was a monster and loved Zuko more than her, which significantly contributes to Azula's VillainousBreakdown in Book 3.
* SheKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:She was banished because she, along with Ozai, knew the truth behind Azulon's death and how to make an undetectable poison. For Ozai, such knowledge could easily delegitimatize his claim for the throne or worse, make him a target for assassination by her machinations ([[MamaBear and with good reasons]])]].
* SilkHidingSteel: While her family run around the world and are driven by personal honor/ambition/friendship, she calmly took care of them. That means encouraging her children to play together and killing her [[AssholeVictim father-in-law]] to save her son, while never breaking the mask.
* SlidingScaleOfParentShamingInFiction: Type I. She doted on her son, Zuko, who was badly ignored and mistreated by his father, but in doing so, accidentally forgot to give her daughter, Azula, the same protection. While she ''did'' love her daughter very much, she mistook Azula's behavior to mean she could handle things on her own even though Ozai was just as bad to her in a different way. In addition, because Ozai's favoring Azula's abilities and Ursa's letter put Zuko's life at risk by Ozai, she thought Azula was at least fine on her own. This messed Azula up badly and [[spoiler:ultimately led to her VillainousBreakdown in the GrandFinale. Ursa tried to patch things up with her in ''The Search'' and Azula seemed to let her, only to run away later on.]]
* StarCrossedLovers: With Ikem. An ArrangedMarriage kept them apart.
* SympatheticAdulterer: [[spoiler: ''[[ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch The Search]]'' reveals that she's still sending letters to her original lover Ikem even after her (forced) marriage to Ozai. Considering the kind of person Ozai is, one can't really blame her.]]
* TarnishingTheirOwnBeauty: [[spoiler:She gained a completely new identity from the Mother of Faces who offered a less attractive one to test her sincerity. She accepts it since she is on the run]].
* TokenGoodTeammate: Before Iroh's and Zuko's respective {{Character Development}}s, she was the least evil member of the Fire Nation's Royal Family, as unlike the other two, she was never directly involved in the atrocities commited by the Fire Nation, and she tried to be a good parent to both her children.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Downplayed when they were still married, as Ozai looked slightly better looking when he was younger, just more menacing and with visible cheekbones compared to the more pleasant Ursa. It's more apparent once they're older and no longer married: Ozai has sunken cheeks, narrower eyes, a long goatee and an almost always menacing look; meanwhile, Ursa looks much like her daughter Azula grown up.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Her writing the letters to her [[spoiler: first love Ikem that she wished Zuko to be his first-born than Ozai's reached the latter when his soldiers intercepted the letters. The revelation drove an already teering-near-insanity Ozai into full-blown villainy as he decides to make Zuko's life hell and almost trying to kill him twice under various pretexts. Ozai will also encourage cruelty and sociopathic tendencies in Azula, judging kindness and other noble values as 'weakness', which eroded her own morality and made her into a self-proclaimed monster.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: They had a scene storyboarded detailing her ultimate fate in the finale, but it got cut due to [[WordOfGod Mike and Bryan]] feeling such a brief scene would be unsatisfactory. This question is finally answered in ''The Search''.
* YamatoNadeshiko: She is soft-spoken, beautiful, calm and very proper, teaching Zuko about small things in the ways of life and wondering what's wrong with Azula when she's in full CreepyChild mode. She shows the core of iron by [[spoiler:''killing her father-in-law'' to [[MamaBear save Zuko's life]]. ''The Search'' reveals that she wasn't this when she was younger. On the contrary, she was rather tomboyish.]]
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Unfortunately, it goes both ways [[spoiler:because the first time, she was part of an arranged marriage to someone she did not love. The second time, it's because she was exiled and can never see her children again, and her old home isn't the same anymore. After Zuko has revoked her banishment, however, returning to the capital hasn't been easy for her either]].
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:After Ursa gives him the poison, Ursa would be the final loose end; Ozai had to banish Ursa without her taking the children, and to avoid exposing him as his father's murderer.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zuko]]
See [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZuko his own page.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Azula]]
See [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderPrincessAzula her own page]].
[[/folder]]


!!!Iroh's Family
[[folder:Iroh]]
See [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderGeneralIroh his own page]].
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Lu Ten]]
!!Prince Lu Ten
!!!'''Voiced by''': Creator/MaeWhitman (original, child)

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lu_ten.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"If only I could have helped you."''-- '''Iroh''']]

Iroh's only son, who like his father served in the Fire Nation army, and died during the siege of Ba Sing Se, prompting Iroh's withdrawal from the city, his retirement from the army, and his HeelFaceTurn. It also provoked Ozai's grab for the throne and everything that followed.
----
* BigBrotherMentor: Is implied to have been this to Zuko. A brief flashback to Zuko's childhood sees him being tended to by Iroh and Lu Ten.
* CheerfulChild: He was one, judging by Iroh's memories of him playing at firebending.
* TheGhost: Never appears, save once as a child in a flashback. We do see what he looked like around the time he died if the picture his father puts over his grave is an accurate representation.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: His death caused Iroh's HeelFaceTurn.
* MissingMom: We never heard a single thing about her, not even a name or a brief mention by her husband. Not even in flashbacks.
* ModestRoyalty: Isn't ever addressed as "prince", despite his father being first in line for the throne. He also served in the army, rather than staying home and directing the war from there.
* MyGreatestFailure: Lu Ten was Iroh's greatest pride and joy, so Lu Ten dying while under Iroh's command left Iroh broken.
* NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead: Amazingly, even Ozai and Azula, both of whom despise his father and would have no compunctions about expressing their opinions, are never heard saying a bad word about Lu Ten himself. Fire Lord Azulon was offended and furious that Ozai would dismiss his death and Iroh's grieving.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: A rather saddening variant. The picture of Lu Ten that Iroh puts on the shrine was based off a younger picture of {{Creator/Mako}}, Iroh's voice actor. His last recording before his death was the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f56Cbjwwv-E Leaves from the Vine]]", and he passed away before "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheTalesOfBaSingSe The Tales Of Ba Sing Se]]" was broadcast.
* PosthumousCharacter: He died about five years before the time that the series begins.
* SatelliteFamilyMember: Lu Ten's only contribution to the plot is his death during the 600 day siege of Ba Sing Se, which triggered his father Iroh's HeelFaceTurn and caused him to abandon the war effort out of grief.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Lu Ten only has a few scenes scattered across the seasons for appearances (most of which are just flashbacks or people remembering him) but his death was the catalyst for the majority of the plot; if he hadn't died, Iroh would not have had his HeelFaceTurn and would have likely leveled Ba Sing Se, pretty much ending the war almost a decade before Aang would awaken again.
* WarriorPrince: His father Iroh was heir to the Fire Nation throne (and its topgeneral) when Lu Ten fell in battle during the Siege of Ba Sing Se.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Iroh could not find him in the Spirit World. He had to conclude by the time he ascended there, his son's soul had more than likely already been reincarnated to live out its next life. Meaning Iroh would probably never find the person who was once Lu Ten.
[[/folder]]

!!Past Generations
[[folder:Sozin]]
!!Fire Lord Sozin
!!!'''Voiced by''': Creator/RonPerlman (original, elderly), Creator/LexLang (original, adult), Creator/SeanMarquette (original, teen), Nelson Medina and Rolando Silva (Latin American Spanish)

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/old_sozin.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I've been thinking: We should share this prosperity with the rest of the world. In our hands is the most successful empire in history. It's time we expanded it."'']]

Sozin is the man responsible for the destruction of the Air Nomads, father to Azulon, grandfather to Iroh and Ozai, and great-grandfather to Zuko, Azula, and Lu Ten. As Fire Lord during Roku's era, Sozin plotted to take over the world as a way of sharing the Fire Nation's prosperity with everyone. Knowing that the Avatar would oppose his plans, he used the power of a passing comet to launch a devastating first strike on the Air Nomads, wiping them out (except Aang, who he missed) and leaving him free to wage a one hundred year war. Although he is now long dead, his comet will return to allow his grandson [[BigBad Ozai]] to do the same for the rest of the world.
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* TheAce: Whatever else you can say about him, he was undeniably an extraordinary Fire Bender - he's the only Fire Bender we see besides his grandson Iroh (who is probably the most skilled fire bender of his time) who doesn't merely bend fire, but heat. And [[CoolOldGuy Iroh]] usually does it [[MundaneUtility with tea.]] Sozin did it ''with a volcano''.
* AllegoricalCharacter: Represents how a [[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget well-intentioned ruler can turn their nation into an imperialistic, war-mongering empire]]. He started off as a caring best friend to Avatar Roku and a [[WellIntentionedExtremist someone wanted to spread prosperity of the Fire Nation to the rest of the world]]. But over time, such well-intentioned goals devolved into a need to conquer and control as Sozin had a fallout with Roku and eventually betrayed him to make imperialistic dreams come true. His fear of the Avatar's return eventually morphed into a fear of an ethnic group, namely the Airbenders, whom [[FinalSolution the Fire Nation wiped out]] under his orders.
* AllForNothing: He started the war as a means to spread the prosperity of the Fire Nation to the world. Instead, due to his friend being the Avatar who opposed the idea, the two came into conflict and left him to die. After spending years amassing an army to wipe out the Air Nomads, he failed to locate Aang before deciding to go along with his war. He also started the tradition of hunting dragons to test one's skill in firebending. Instead of prosperity, his dying days made him realize his actions had done horrible damage to the world, damage that his descendants continued due to wanting to control rather than than make the world a better place and spending the next 100 making the Fire Nation look like monsters. His last words had him also realize he was too late to fix any of his crimes. [[spoiler:Even his greatest atrocities, the extinction of dragons and Airbenders, were rendered moot; at least two dragons were kept secret by Iron and their hatchling Druk became Zuko's companion while plans to locate survivors by conservationists occurred, while the events of Harmonic Convergence during [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Avatar Korra's time]] granted Airbending to previous non-benders.]]
* AmbiguousStartOfDarkness: We know he had become thoroughly evil by the point that he left his former best friend, [[BigGood Avatar]] Roku, to die (after pretending to save his life, at that) to stop him from interfering with Sozin’s plan to TakeOverTheWorld. But it is not clear whether he had ever truly believed what he had originally said about sharing prosperity with the rest of the world, or whether that was ''always'' an excuse for imperialism. The whole backstory is told by Roku’s spirit, and he was absent for decades at a time, and by the time he learned what was happening Sozin had already fallen so far as to consider any and all criticism treasonous.
* AmbitionIsEvil: [[spoiler:It is when it leads you to leave your best friend to die. Not to mention that whole "take over the world" thing.]]
* TheAtoner: Averted. He did genuinely regret his actions, but only at the end of his life, too late to actually atone for anything.
* BaitTheDog: Right before he begins his plans for conquest, he's personally helping to save his citizens (and best friend) from an erupting volcano.
* BeardOfEvil: He appears to have started the trend that his son and grandson took up. Notably, he only started growing a beard after he started to develop his imperial ambitions.
* BetrayalByInaction: [[spoiler:After arriving on Roku's island and helping his old friend evacuate the civilians and try to stem the volcano's eruption Roku is hit full on with a pocket of toxic gas and asks Sozin for his help. After realizing that, if Roku were to die, he could finally go through with his imperialistic plans, Sozin flew off the island on his dragon and left his friend to die covered in volcanic ash.]]
* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:Towards Roku who was his best friend growing up.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: The rest of the world never learned the part he played in Roku's death, so for the twelve years between there, he acted as a relatively benevolent ruler, still allowing the Air Nomads to go about their business (even as they were leery about the colonies and the military build-up), all while plotting to wipe them out.
* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:Every generation of rulers up to him became this for Zuko as the series progresses. Zuko throughout his life used to believe that Sozin's war was a just cause for spreading greatness to the rest of the world, but all the war has brought was not greatness, but fear and terror on other people]].
* BullyingADragon: Seems to think that Roku being of the Fire Nation means he, Sozin, can order around a fully-trained Avatar. What follows is arguably the most one-sided "fight" in the entire franchise.
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:The Cain to Roku's Abel in the former friends variety.]]
* CoolOldGuy: For all of his faults, Sozin was no slouch, even in his elderly years. He was able to aid Roku in battling the volcano that was destroying his island, redirecting the steam from the lava so that it would rapidly cool.
* CosmicMotifs: Comets, having renamed [[CometOfDoom the Great Comet Sozin's Comet]] and used the power it grants Firebenders to kick off the 100 Year War by [[FinalSolution killing all the Air Nomads]] (ironically except the one they were after), fitting comets usual association with extinction.
* CreepyMonotone: Courtesy of Creator/RonPerlman.
* CurbstompBattle: Despite being probably the most powerful Firebender of his day, he is on the receiving end of one, courtesy of Roku.
* DeathByIrony: He started off as a nationalist that wanted to "share Fire Nation prosperity" with the world. By the end of his life, not only did he regret ever acting upon his ambitions, but he realized all too late that he couldn't do a damn thing to change it. It's a healthy dose of irony, karma ''and'' a rather tragic finish to what could've been a great leader (morally speaking).
* TheDragonSlayer: During his reign as Firelord, Sozin started a tradition of dragon hunting that nearly wiped out the species. Those firebenders that succeeded in this endeavor, gained the title “Dragon”.
* ElementalMotifs: Fire, even beyond the typical association of [[PlayingWithFire Firebenders]], with his [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition to 'spread their wealth']] corresponding to a fire spreading and consuming everything around it.
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:The way he betrays Roku by leaving said former friend to die on the volcano of the latter's island. However, he feels that Roku betrayed him earlier by spurning his plan.]]
* EvilFormerFriend: [[spoiler:Towards Roku. He betrays his friend by leaving him to die on the volcano when he had the chance to save him.]]
* EvilIsPetty: In addition to betraying his friend, initiating a genocide, and kickstarting a hundred year war, Sozin was responsible for outlawing same-sex relationships, hunting down dragons, and erasing Fire Nation history before his reign. In some regards, he's even worse than Ozai because unlike his grandson, [[KarmaHoudini he successfully carried out all these petty misdeeds]].
* EvilOldFolks: Sozin was 82 when the Hundred Year War began.
* EvilPlan: To TakeOverTheWorld. He didn't think it was evil [[spoiler:at first]] and his descendants all continue carrying out this plan. His grandson Ozai almost succeeded.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Comes with being voiced by Creator/RonPerlman.
* FriendOrIdolDecision: In a way. During the eruption of the volcano of Roku's island, he has to choose between saving his best friend's life or letting him die to pursue his dreams of conquest. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for the world, he chose his ambition.]]
* GreaterScopeVillain: Ozai is the current leader of the Fire Nation, sure, but Sozin was the one responsible for the creation of the militaristic dictatorship that lead to the atrocity and 100-Year War that requires the Avatar to act in the first place.
* HairstyleInertia: Sozin has donned his man bun since at least his teenage years.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler:He realizes towards the end of his life that starting a world war and killing his best friend wasn't worth making the world better, but dies too soon afterward to fix things. At the very least, it's demonstrated that he was able to posthumously direct Zuko to help stop what he began.]]
* HeelRealisation: [[spoiler:At the end of his life he realized he was a villain and that his plan to "share prosperity" was only leading to pain.]]
* HeteronormativeCrusader: As revealed in ''[[Comicbook/TheLegendOfKorraTurfWars Turf Wars]]'', he outlawed same-sex relationships.

** The greatest and most renowned Fire Lord....dies filled with regret at everything he did.
** He committed the Air Nomad genocide in order to wipe out the next Avatar before he could become a threat. His genocide killed every single Air Nomad ''except'' the one he was looking for.
** Even though he ultimately lost the Hundred Year War, his dream of uniting all four nations under one rule was realized when Aang and Zuko founded the United Republic.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Subverted. He doesn't physically suffer the consequences for his actions, but he ultimately comes to realize that he committed unforgivable atrocities by annihilating the Air Nomads and betraying his best friend, on top of wasting his life on a wild goose chase to find the next Avatar. At the end of his life, Sozin dies a rather somber man, unable to enjoy his success or attempt to undo the damage he's done. The world let Sozin off, but his conscience didn't.
* KickTheDog:
** Sozin decreed the practice of hunting dragons for glory which led to the almost complete extinction of the species. This in spite of the fact that Sozin ''owned a dragon himself''.
** ''Turf Wars'' reveals he outlawed same-sex relationships. While this attitude [[RealityIsUnrealistic actually fits the real-life setting and era the Fire Nation was based on]], it's said to have been tolerant beforehand. No reason why he did this other than to establish "That guy was the ''worst''!" is given.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Begrudgingly, but quickly backs down when Roku orders him to cease his imperialism by way of ''destroying half of the palace and leaving him to hang from a stories-high pillar''. Sozin doesn't so much as make a ''peep'' about his ambitions until Roku is literally dying at his feet.
* MayDecemberRomance: He died at the age of 102, and his son Azulon became Fire Lord at 20 (meaning that Sozin fathered him at the age of ''82''). It is safe to say that Sozin was much older than his wife.
* MythicalMotifs: Dragons, having a blue one for a companion. Takes a darker turn when he started the tradition of hunting them and bestowing the title of "Dragon" on whoever succeeds.
* TheNapoleon: He was short compared to his old friend Roku, at least in their younger years.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Sort of. After he ordered the massacre of all dragons, the Fire Nation lost its advantage to make air attacks.
* OpportunisticBastard: [[spoiler:He went to Roku's island with the genuine intent of helping, but when he saw an opportunity to get rid of Roku and realized that would allow his dreams of conquest to flourish, he took it.]]
* PlayingWithFire: A fire bender second only to the Avatar of his time.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He displays an [[WhiteMansBurden imperialist, and at least implicitly racist attitude towards other nations]]. In addition, ''Comicbook/TheLegendOfKorraTurfWars'' reveals that he [[HeteronormativeCrusader outlawed same-sex relationships]].
* PosthumousCharacter: We learned of his backstory through a flashback-like episode, particularly by word-of-mouth from Roku and Zuko's history scrolls. Azula pitched in on the basics of Sozin's impact on the world at the beginning, too.
* PredecessorVillain: To Ozai, and his conflict started the entire plot of the show before his death.
* {{Pride}}: Sozin at the end of his life knew that his life was a total waste and that he had committed horrible atrocities in the name of changing and saving the world, which to do so he [[spoiler:murders his best friend in cold blood and initiates a genocide that fails to kill the one person he was after]]. Sozin knows he is irredeemable, but has far too much pride to openly admit that he committed horrible acts of evil and thus the war continues on for nearly a century after his death.
* PyrrhicVictory: As mentioned above, after betraying his best friend and committing genocide on the Air Nomads, he spent the rest of his life hunting down the Avatar to no avail. He died a depressed, broken man.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Averted. He came to regret many of his decisions, but never got a chance at redemption.]]
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething:
** Despite having had a falling out with Roku years before, he was still willing to help him save Fire Nation citizens from an erupting volcano.
** Dialogue from Aang describing the Fire Nation before the war implies that he was a competent ruler.
* ShadowArchetype:
** To Zuko -- Both [[spoiler:betray someone they cared about]] for the sake of their goal, [[WasItReallyWorthIt only to regret it]], the difference being Sozin came to regret it [[HeelFaceDoorSlam too late to do anything about it]]. [[spoiler:Learning this is one of the things that leads to Zuko's HeelFaceTurn.]]
** To Roku -- The men were literally born on the same day, both growing up in the upper echelons of the Fire Nation as best friends, and both had good intentions and a desire to improve the world. The difference was all in how: Roku wanted to help people as they needed it, Sozin wanted to impose solutions to create his vision of a better world. Additionally, [[TheDitherer Roku's indecisiveness in the face of his friend's betrayal ultimately proved costly]], destroying his life and the life of his successor Aang through the genocide of the Air Nomads, while [[DidNotThinkThisThrough Sozin's inability to stop and reflect on his actions and the consequences]] until near the end of his life resulted in his own successors being dangerous imperialistic warmongers, with him unable to do anything to stop it.
* ShipperOnDeck: In his youth, he helped a young Roku try to court the latter's future wife, Ta Min.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: He is Roku's former friend who only appears in flashbacks, the Fire Lord who was single-handedly responsible for starting the Hundred Year War, and causing all kinds of misery.
* StoutStrength: Sozin had a considerably shorter and wider frame than Roku, but was obviously well built and physically powerful.
* TragicHero: Sozin was once a genuinely good man and friend to Avatar Roku who wanted to make the world a better place. However, as time went on, his {{Pride}} began to corrupt his desire to help others into a desire to "help" them by ruling over them, whether they liked it or not, which led to a fallout with Roku. Eventually, he leaves Roku to die and succeeds in turning the Fire Nation into a hegemonic, imperialist state. And yet, he finds that not only has he made the world worse, but he did so by betraying his closest friend, leaving him sorrowful, lonely old man unable to atone for his sins during his final days.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: A bit older than the usual examples, but we first see Sozin as a cheerful, [[StoutStrength chubby]] teenager practicing firebending with Roku, and helping Roku ask out a girl he liked (who, as it happens, would be Roku's future wife). He is also quite generous, giving away a precious treasure to Roku (Roku's signature hairpiece, to be specific, a piece of Fire Nation regalia only ever meant to be worn by the Crown Prince), just so Roku will have a piece of home to take with him on his trip around the world.
* UngratefulBastard: Even after Roku chose to spare his life due to their past friendship and saved him from falling from the volcano on his island [[spoiler:Sozin still left his friend to die so his plans of conquest could continue uncontested.]]
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Ends up being a subversion, as he realized his utopia wasn't worth everything he'd done to try and create it.
* VillainousLegacy: A textbook example. Sozin is long dead by the time the series starts, but he was the one who put the Fire Nation on its imperialistic path and started the war.
* VisionaryVillain: Despite all that he would come to do (and destroy), Sozin had truly wanted to share his nation's wealth and prosperity to the rest of the world.
* WasItReallyWorthIt: At the end of his life, he decides that no, it really wasn't. Too bad his descendants didn't take a hint. [[spoiler:Until Zuko realizes so.]]
* WeCanRuleTogether: Offers this to Roku, his best friend and the Avatar, pointing out that together they would be unstoppable. Roku will have none of it.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: As illustrated by his quote. Unfortunately, his descendants dropped the "well-intentioned" part altogether, [[spoiler:until Zuko and Iroh did their HeelFaceTurn]].
* WhiteMansBurden: Essentially what he's trying to do to the world to forcibly make everyone's lives better by incorporating them into the Fire Nation. While his descendants weren't as interested in helping the world, they continued to preach this as propaganda.
* YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood: Well, his idea of good. But part of Sozin's bitter resentment towards Avatar Roku was that they were in the perfect position to truly change the world for the better. [[WeCanRuleTogether With Sozin as Fire Lord during a time of great, industrial prosperity and Roku having divine authority as the Avatar]], they could have united the Four Nations as one powerful empire where everything can be shared.

[[folder:Zeisan]]
!! Princess Zeisan

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zeisan.jpeg]]
Princess Zeisan was the younger sister of Fire Lord Sozin who was introduced in the canon [[TabletopGame/AvatarLegendsTheRoleplayingGame ''Avatar Legends'' tabletop game]]. A non-bender, she devoted herself to the teachings of the Air Nomads to learn chi-blocking to fight back against her family's corruption, eventually marrying a leader of a renegade Air Nomad faction for political gain.

* BadassNormal: A non-bender who did everything she could to stop her brother.
* FamilyThemeNaming: Continues the trend of people in the Fire Nation Royal family having a strong "Z" sound in their names.
* {{Irony}}: The sister of the man who committed the genocide of the Air Nomads studied under them and even had romantic relationships with two different Air Nomads.
* MarriageOfConvenience: She fell in love with a woman named Sister Rioshon while studying chi-blocking but married a man named Khandro since he was a more suitable political match.
* MuggleBornOfMages: She's the only known non-bender to be born into main branch of the Fire Nation Royal family across all the various entries and generations in the franchise, although Izumi and her daughter's bending status has never been confirmed.
* ShadowArchetype: To Azula. In fact, her entire character can be summarized as an inversion of Azula's journey, being the younger sister of an older brother she constantly quarrels with... except she's the one who suffered hardships (due to being a non-bender) and made the choice to defect from Fire Nation and join the Air Nomads (aka Aang's people) to stop the Fire Lord's tyranny.
* SiblingRivalry: She and her brother never got along and she eventually tried to undermine his reign from behind the scenes.

[[folder:Azulon]]
!!Fire Lord Azulon
!!!'''Voiced by''': Walker Edmiston

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/avatar_the_last_air_bender_firelord_azulon_png_by_metropolis_hero1125_de4zkqr.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"You dare suggest that I betray Iroh? My firstborn? Directly after the demise of his only beloved son?! I think Iroh has suffered enough. But YOU, your punishment has scarcely begun!"'']]

Azulon was the Fire Lord before Ozai, son of Sozin, father to Iroh and Ozai, and grandfather to Zuko, Azula, and Lu Ten. Famed for his military prowess and skill at firebending, he ruled the Fire Nation with an iron grip. He was a man with little warmth in him, sentencing men to death with a stunning callousness. Ozai seemed to have had as strained a relationship with him as he did with his own son, always seeking to earn his favor but always being met with scorn. After Ozai tried his patience one time too many, making an inappropriate bid for the throne, Azulon ordered Zuko's death, to teach his son a lesson in humility. He died shortly after giving that order, making way for Ozai to succeed him as Fire Lord.

* AbusiveParents: He ordered Ozai to kill Zuko so he would know what it is like to lose a son. Ozai later admits that he would have actually gone through with it if Ursa hadn't intervened. It's left ambiguous if he carried on this from ''his'' father, Sozin, or if he started the "tradition" of Fire Lords being abusive bastards (not enough of Sozin's family life is shown to know for sure, but we do know he was concerned about his father's ailing health).
* TheAce: He was an accomplished general for the Fire Nation, turned the army more efficient, leading to numerous conquests and led the Fire Nation for the majority of the Hundred Year War. Furthermore Azulon was considered one of the best firebenders in the world with no one daring to cross him and is remembered as one of the Fire Nations strongest and most efficient leaders.
* AmbiguousSituation: Much of his actual character and even his actions are fairly ambiguous. The only knowledge we have of him and his actions (besides Zuko's memories) comes from two in-universe sources, neither of whom is bound by VillainsNeverLie.
* AssholeVictim: Outside of him seemingly caring for Iroh and Lu Ten, all signs point to Azulon being completely devoid of benevolence, political or private. Supplementary material shows him ruling the Fire Nation with an iron fist and carrying out the war against the other nations with brutality only matched by Ozai. Of note were his orders to raid the Southern Water Tribe and kidnap all its waterbenders, leading to the tribe's collapse and almost complete destruction of its culture. Also, he was willing to have his innocent grandson killed just to prove a point to Ozai. Other than possibly Iroh, it's unlikely anyone missed him when Ozai and Ursa killed him. Though at the very least, he got a funeral. [[spoiler:Considering the Fire Nation has long distanced itself from its imperialist past, it goes without saying Azulon's legacy is a stain on its history]].
* BaitTheDog: He seems to be stern but reasonable in his only scene, calling out Ozai's inappropriate bid for the throne and expressing sympathy for Iroh's loss of his only son. But then Azulon orders Ozai to kill Zuko as punishment for defying the Fire Lord, making it clear that Ozai's abusive tendencies were perfectly "normal" in the Royal Family. It's also likely that Azulon's outrage over Ozai's bid for the throne was less in defense of Iroh and more over his authority being challenged.
* BeardOfEvil: Much like his father and son, he was a ruthless dictator, and grows a long, thin beard.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: He's sympathetic towards his own grandson Lu Ten dying but is perfectly willing to order his youngest son to murder his own son just because he feels Ozai crossed him.
* ChildProdigy: Presumably, since Ozai compares Azula's abilities to Azulon's own at the same age.
* DeathByIrony: ''The Search'' revealed that Azulon's death was caused by [[spoiler:an untraceable poison, made from the flowers he was admiring in Ursa's family greenhouse]].
* DisproportionateRetribution: His response to Ozai's bid for the birthright of the throne was to make Ozai kill his own son. While Azulon clearly saw this to be proportionate to Iroh's loss of his only son, it was unnecessarily cruel and only reinforced Ozai's present belief that burning Zuko's face for talking out of turn was normal for the Fire Lord to do.
* TheDreaded: WordOfGod states that no one dared to cross him when speaking of his firebending prowess and ruthless persona. Even Zuko felt intimidated in his presence. Azulon's ironfisted reign was also a pretty good reason. Heck, Ozai was only able to cross and overthrow him with help from Ursa via poison and likely didn't even consider a coup until Ursa mentioned her plan.
* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: In an interview with Bryan and Mike, even Azulon’s death caused Iroh immense grief along with the death of Lu Ten.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He genuinely loves his oldest son, Iroh, and sticks up for him in the face of Ozai's disrespect... though he does it in a rather twisted way.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: As his quote illustrates, he didn't appreciate Ozai's attempt to use Lu Ten's death to usurp the birthright from Iroh and further his own ambitions. However, it was more because he was offended at Ozai trying to cross him, even though it was a pragmatic solution to continue his bloodline.
* EvilOldFolks: We only know him as an abusive grandfather, [[MoralityPet or at the very least only towards Ozai and his bloodline]]. But, he definitely ordered the extermination of the Southern Water Tribe's waterbenders.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He acts friendly and charming to Ursa's family but it's really just a charade to force Ursa into an arranged marriage with Ozai in order to breed powerful firebenders for the royal bloodline. In his later years, he doesn't seem impressed by Ozai's children, not even with Azula's best performance. And though he is willingly to defend his firstborn Iroh, Azulon undermines this one positive aspect by ordering Ozai to kill his only son for crossing him personally.
* GenerationXerox: Apparently he was very similar in terms of skill to his granddaughter when he was her age. And it's all but stated that Ozai's [[AbusiveParent parenting skills]] and [[ParentalFavoritism favoritism]] originated from Azulon's example.
* GruesomeGrandparent: Ordered Ozai to kill Zuko without a shred of remorse.
* GrumpyOldMan: Probably the most sadistic example of this trope! Once Ozai falls out of favor with him (that, or his even older years making him more miserable than he showed), he turns completely ignorant towards Ozai about anything. Even when his granddaughter shows amazing firebending abilities, Azulon barely bats an eye. Then again, he did seem to think Ozai was wasting his time with his pomp and wanted him to get to the point. Plus this was at the time when Iroh lost his son (which Azulon seems to be sympathetic about) and is still away from home for an infinite amount of time.
* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: His cruel order that Ozai kill his own son results in his own death after Ursa makes a deal with Ozai to save Zuko.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: As talented of a leader and general as he was, Azulon seemed to not understand his own son beyond his ambition. He orders that Ozai kill his son as an act of punishment - not realizing that Ozai was [[KickTheDog perfectly happy to do the deed.]] He pays for the miscalculation with his life.
* LeanAndMean: Azulon appears to be very slender and was a ruthless conqueror who was no better with his relatives.
* MakeAnExampleOfThem: Azulon ordering Ozai to kill Zuko served as a reminder to his son that anyone, even a blood heir, was expendable and thus no one would be safe to cross the Fire Lord. It's a lesson that Ozai took to heart when he became Fire Lord.
* MisplacedRetribution: Azulon ordering Ozai to kill Zuko as punishment for disrespecting Iroh and his deceased son is honestly foolish since Ozai doesn't have empathy to understand the loss of a firstborn. Either that, or Azulon sees Ozai's bloodline as expendable and doesn't care what Ozai thinks as long as the punishment is carried out.
* OffingTheOffspring: He also saw Zuko as a disappointment and a waste of his time, and unsurprisingly, Azulon orders Ozai to kill him as punishment for crossing him.
* OurFounder: A massive statue of Azulon stands at the main sea entrance to the Fire Nation. The statue is more than ornamentation however, as it serves as the lynchpin of the Great Gates of Azulon, the Fire Nation's main sea defense. What he was well remembered for the era of stability he brought to the Fire Nation.
* OutOfFocus: Compared to his father, who had ADayInTheLimelight in "The Avatar and the Firelord" and is naturally important to the plot of the show despite being dead, and his son, who's the BigBad of the show, Azulon comes in the middle, and thus doesn't have much impact on the events of the show.
* PapaWolf: Despite his evil heritage and seeking his grandson's death, Azulon was offended for Iroh after Ozai asked for the throne.
* ParentalFavoritism: Seems to have favored Iroh over Ozai.
* PetTheDog: Despite his harsh behavior towards Ozai and his indifference toward Zuko and Azula, he strongly defended Iroh's birthright and even seemed sympathetic about Lu Ten's death. He also didn't seem to hold Iroh's abandonment of his siege on Ba Sing Se against him despite the fact that his success would've led to the Fire Nation's victory.
* PosthumousCharacter: He's long dead by the time the series starts.
* PredecessorVillain: Responsible for the partial genocide of the Southern Water Tribe. Apparently, his ruthlessness was only matched by his son, Ozai.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: During his funeral, it's mentioned he led some of the Fire Nation's conquests. Also, he was considered the most powerful firebender of his time.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Like his father and his son, Iroh, Azulon personally led the Fire Nation military in a number of battles. In fact, the only Firebender in the Royal Family who hasn't appeared to do so was Ozai.
* TheStoic: Until Ozai made his request, Azulon did not change his facial expression once, even though he was clearly annoyed by Zuko's pathetic display and even Azula's impressive demonstration.
* SuperBreedingProgram: According to ''The Search'', he set up the ArrangedMarriage between Ursa and Ozai as a eugenics experiment to breed powerful firebenders with the blood of Avatar Roku and the Fire Nation Royal Family. Zuko and Azula are the largely successful products of the experiment. That said, given that he later ordered Ozai to kill Zuko as punishment, and showed indifference to Azula, he either gave up on the experiment or was personally disappointed by its outcome.
* ThickerThanWater:
** He and Iroh, despite his failure, are implied to have a good family relationship.
** ''The Search'' implies that earlier in his life he used to be much warmer to Ozai and Ursa. It could be interpreted that the very cruel old grandfather we see in the series proper could have been old age affecting him a lot more than thought. That and the rest of the family, likely including him, just heard about Lu Ten's death and know that Iroh hasn't returned home yet, yet Ozai shows off Azula's skills (Zuko's demonstration was his own decision) as if none of that even happened.
* WouldHurtAChild: Azulon orders his own grandson's death as punishment for Ozai disrespecting him.

* TheBeautifulElite: The Royal Family as of the time of the main series are all extremely good-looking. Even Iroh is referred to as handsome by several women in the Earth Kingdom.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The royal family of the Fire Nation are dysfunctional for the most part. The great-grandfather, [[GreaterScopeVillain Sozin]], was an [[WellIntentionedExtremist idealistic man who started a war]] he ended up regretting at the end of his life, which included the murder of his best friend, [[spoiler:Avatar Roku]], and the [[FinalSolution near-complete genocide of the entire Air Nomads]]. The grandfather, Azulon, was a brutal tyrant who told his younger son to [[OffingTheOffspring murder his grandson]] as punishment for mocking the death of his another grandson, Lu Ten. The father, [[BigBad Ozai]], is the BigBad of the series and an OmnicidalManiac warlord who's continuing his family's policy of active genocide across the entire planet. He has raised his children to be as bad as he is, resulting in his son, Zuko, becoming a WellDoneSonGuy whose face he horrifically scarred for talking back to him, and his daughter, Azula, a very powerful DaddysLittleVillain [[spoiler:whose perfectionism and inability to socialize eventually lead to her having a VillainousBreakdown]]. The mother, [[YamatoNadeshiko Ursa]], [[spoiler:killed her father-in-law to save Zuko, leading to her [[TheExile exile]] that prevented her from having any positive influence on the children at all]]. The uncle, Iroh, is a good man, but was politically marginalized and only able to help provide a good example for his nephew. Commenting on it later, [[LittleMissBadass Toph]] says that given what his family was like, Zuko actually [[WhiteSheep turned out a lot better]] than you might have expected.
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Both an individual and generational example. [[PredecessorVillain Fire Lord Sozin]] began the war with the idea of [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans spreading the greatness and prosperity of the Fire Nation to the other nations of the world]]. By the end of his life, he had left his best friend to die and committed genocide. By the time of [[BigBad Fire Lord Ozai,]] any of Sozin's possible noble intentions were gone, [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans with power being the only thing on Ozai and Princess Azula's mind]].

* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Sozin claims the Fire Nation's campaign of global conquest is a way of "sharing their wealth and ideals with the rest of the world and uniting the four nations". Over the century this campaign lasted the Fire Nation has committed actions such the genocide of the Air Nomads (a peaceful people) to try and wipe out the next Avatar, the kidnapping and displacement of the Southern Water Tribe, attempted genocide of the Sun Warriors (who themselves are Fire Nation), occupation of Earth Kingdom territory, and propaganda meant to paint other nations as savage and evil. Roku saw through it immediately, and Zuko calls out his father Ozai and by extension the entire Fire Nation out on this, pointing out that the Fire Nation's actions have justifiably earned them nothing but hate and fear from the people all around the world. While Sozin's claims of being a WellIntentionedExtremist might be genuine, or at least they were at one point, both his son and younger grandson obviously don't really believe a word of it and merely pretend to be as part of their propaganda.

** To Roku -- The men were literally born on the same day, both growing up in the upper echelons of the Fire Nation as best friends, and both had good intentions and a desire to improve the world. The difference was all in how: Roku wanted to help people as they needed it, Sozin wanted to impose solutions to create his vision of a better world.