Azula might be one of the main villains from Avatar: The Last Airbender, but she’s still loved by a lot of fans. Most fans agree that she’s definitely a cruel villain, but she’s also well-written and interesting. There are moments when fans were inspired by her abilities and intellect, and other times where they even felt sorry for her.
It’s a mark of good storytelling to make villains do awful things but still have motivations, and Azula might be the best villain of the entire franchise.
Felt Sorry For: When Mai and Ty Lee betrayed her
Azula wasn’t a great friend, and that’s an understatement. She might have thought that her friends were loyal to her because she used fear and manipulation to win them over, but these tactics just create resentment.
While Mai and Ty Lee did the right thing by betraying Azula and sticking together, Azula was clearly deeply upset by this, especially by Ty Lee choosing Mai over her.
Inspiring: Her lightning bending skills
Most of the inspiring things about Azula have to do with the fact that she is really strong and talented as a fire bender. In flashbacks, audiences see that she has always been a prodigy, and she also works hard to be the best she can.
Her lightning bending skills are definitely impressive, and she’s one of few fire benders in the series who are able to create this powerful energy.
Felt Sorry For: Her inability to connect with her friends
There are moments when Azula seems to want to connect with her friends, but she clearly doesn’t know how. Her upbringing was quite tragic, and she learned that the way to get ahead and have others be loyal to you was by intimidating them.
She also seems to lack the ability to feel emotions the way others do, but she did seem at times to want to have better friendships.
Inspiring: How she acted on Ember Island
The episode where Azula, Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee take a vacation on Ember Island is one of the most iconic of the series. These four get up to some typical teenage antics but with a Fire Nation royalty twist.
While Azula of course takes things too far, it is inspiring to see her it that she doesn’t know how to make friends or date and to ask for advice. She even at moments seems to enjoy being around her friends before she starts being mean again.
Felt Sorry For: The pressure she felt to make Ozai happy
Firelord Ozai is a horrific parental figure. He’s truly abusive, and the way he treated his family is scary. While he was outright violent and cruel to Zuko, the way he treated Azula was a little more subtle.
It’s clear that Azula learned from a young age that she needed to be like her father in order to keep him happy and keep herself safe.
Inspiring: Infiltrating Ba Sing Se
Azula was a formidable villain for Team Avatar because she was so intelligent. She was often a couple of steps ahead of them, and she always had a plan.
One of her most magnificent and impressive moves was when she pretended to be a Kyoshi warrior, along with Ty Lee and Azula, to get close to the Earth King, take over the Dai Li, and take down the Earth Kingdom.
Felt Sorry For: When she felt like her mother didn’t love her
While Ozai was a horrible father, Ursa seems like she was a good mother who loved her children. She had a strong bond with Zuko, but she did seem to love Azula, too. However, she was clearly scared of Azula’s violent tendencies and that she would grow up to be like her father and grandfather.
Azula clearly internalized from a young age that her mother loved Zuko more than her, and as awful as Azula is, it’s still sad that she thought this
Inspiring: Thwarting Team Avatar during the day of black sun
While the Gaang and their allies thought they had a great shot of defeating the Firelord during the solar eclipse, they didn’t realize that Azula was way ahead of them.
She knew all about their plan and had everything ready to protect her father and distract Aang and the rest along the way. While it was upsetting to see the Gaang lose, it was impressive on Azula’s part.
Felt Sorry For: When she had a mental breakdown before the Agni Kai
The overall saddest moment where fans felt the worst for Azula was during her mental breakdown leading up to and during her Agni Kai with Zuko. She had lost all of her friends, and she was clearly unraveling.
Even though she was still violent and dangerous, even Katara and Zuko were upset seeing her devolve so much. The comics go on to explain that Azula was placed in a mental health facility after.
Inspiring: When she used fire bending as a jet pack
There are many amazing moments where Azula is a total badass in a fight. She is a fire bending master, and she’s better than Zuko until the end when she has her breakdown. One of the coolest moves she does is when she’s attacking the team at the Western Air Temple.
She uses fire bending as a sort of jet pack to propel herself to safety. However, she was also trying to kill her brother during this scene, so maybe she wasn't completely inspiring.