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Fire Prodigy _ Azula

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dear dear, mom miss you~. Q 3Q

Just realized that I haven't draw her for a while~~ so last doodle before 7 July.
compare with Korra's character design, and look back, the last generation characters are actually very young and cute > 3<
looking forward for her active in "The search“

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I saw an character analysis of Azula today and really want to share with you.
It's clear, objective and deep.
Everything just what I wanted to say but don’t know how to describe.

originally post on tumblr by Elphie [link]


It kind of bothers me when I see people describing Azula as “pure evil.”

No. She is not “pure evil.”

For on thing “pure evil” does not exist.

For another, Azula was manipulated from the time of her birth to believe a certain way. She was taught to see others as inferior, and to see the inferior as inherantly weak. She was taught to use her clever mind for war strategies and manipulations, she was taught that her firebending powers were for exerting dominance and force. She was taught that love and emotions were weaknesses, and they must be snuffed out or there would be consequences. She was taught that trust was for fools, and fear was the only reliable way.

She was raised to be a weapon, not a daughter, probably from the moment she first showed any firebending ability. Since Azula was a natural prodigy, this was likely from a very early age.

In short, her entire belief system was instilled in her by her father and her upbringing. Her entire world came crashing down the moment that system failed her. After that Azula shows very palpable emotions- fear/paranoia, sadness, shame, self-loathing. She even shows an awareness of love during her hallucination…it’s entirely subconscious, but the fact that hallucinated Ursa admitted that she loved Azula shows that deep down Azula knows what love is, and she knows that her mother did love her, despite the neglect. And yes Ursa did neglect Azula’s emotional needs. That’s the difference between her and Zuko- Zuko very clearly felt and experienced his mother’s love. Azula did not, because Ursa favored Zuko heavily. Even so, I do believe Ursa loved her daughter in some way.

Anyways. None of those things add up to someone being “pure evil.” That’s a lot of grey area there and I do believe Azula is capable of treating her illness. And anyone’s worldview can be changed. After all, Zuko’s was. And Zuko could have easily slipped down a similar path that Azua did. Those two were very much alike.

And no, I’m not saying that Azula didn’t do horrible things. She is a villain, after all. But she’s not “pure evil.”

Because no one is.

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these are also my girl~:heart:

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EdwardX1's avatar
For sure. Azula was not pure evil. But she was... evil.
Honestly, other than her being younger and prettier, she really was no better nor no worse than her father.
Both grew up as the second born, watching their softy older brothers fail at inheriting the throne and waiting for their chance.
They both had those ideologies instilled in them from a young age and treated their family and friends as mere tools. 
As a kid, I used to hate her so much, and thought the only reason everyone kept saying there was good in her was because she was a charismatic, young, strong female. Like, the mistook respect for actual sympathy (didn't help the way she treated Zuko). That said, she was like my third or fourth favorite character growing up simply because she made such a good rival for Zuko.
Now that I'm older... my view of her hasn't changed but I do appreciate her character a lot more. Probably the best villain of the original series. I do like the idea of her and Zuko sorting out their differences but... I hope it's done in a way where it's very believable how sorry she is.