Who is your favorite character?

[Qiang]

Thats the thing, she is just as confused as Zuko had been, probably more so actually. She doesn't bare hatred to any one person, she simply fears losing control of physical things or people because she feels thats what keeps her grounded. Without them, she loses her mind and thats what we see. She wanted power and control because she had a monstrous behavior that wasn't kept in check, but no person is beyond redemption if they are merely confused.

[krystalgamer]

Thats the thing, she is just as confused as Zuko had been, probably more so actually. She doesn't bare hatred to any one person, she simply fears losing control of physical things or people because she feels thats what keeps her grounded. Without them, she loses her mind and thats what we see. She wanted power and control because she had a monstrous behavior that wasn't kept in check, but no person is beyond redemption if they are merely confused.

She really took the whole control freak thing to an extreme though...
I agree completely with this though. I feel like Azula is a much more complex character than she's made out to be. You see examples of this when she wants to go with her father in Sozin's Comet to wipe out the Earth Kingdom and nearly throws a tantrum when she's not allowed to. I think once she realized that fear can be conquered, that it wasn't a stable and consistent emotion, she completely lost all sight of who she was and everything she had been taught.

...so basically, it's all Ozai's fault XD

Azula was brought up a spoiled princess, always the best, always feared. Zuko was shamed, felt the heat of the Fire Nation's wrath, and was given no favors despite his status as prince. And that made all the difference - he experienced that the luxuries of royalty and fear could be taken away as easily as they were gained earlier on in life than Azula, and so he stopped relying on them, choosing instead to walk a path of friendship. Azula, on the other hand, lost her friends, gaining a sense of paranoia and a major trust complex instead. She wasn't pure evil, just a misled person. I think maybe she could one day change, though releasing her without someone always watching her would be walking on very thin ice for Zuko.

Although...the breathing fire thing was an interesting reaction...I wouldn't want to be the asylum owner who had to restrain Azula.

[Qiang]

Well put Krystalgamer. It's like you said, I just don't see her being pure evil. Just someone whose worst personality flaw was able to develop above all of her other social means of communicating.

[Devondude09]

Well the chick had some serious issues... let's just say that.

Zuko to me is a character that I find always interesting. His character arc is larger than any other character... even perhaps Aang's.

[Macready84464]

what do you mean by "character arc?" Are you talking about his character development?

[Lil GaGa]

Thats the thing, she is just as confused as Zuko had been, probably more so actually. She doesn't bare hatred to any one person, she simply fears losing control of physical things or people because she feels thats what keeps her grounded. Without them, she loses her mind and thats what we see. She wanted power and control because she had a monstrous behavior that wasn't kept in check, but no person is beyond redemption if they are merely confused.

Good point.
Sometimes I'm almost tempted to say that the hallucination of her mother was actually her concious breaking through. She knew what her problem was, and she knew her mother loved her. But I think if she accepted that fact, she didn't know if she could deal with herself.

Does that make any sense? haha

[Devondude09]

Okay, in order to answer your question I wanted to give you more of a definition, so I googled it for you...

Here is a quote:

"A character arc is the status of the character as it unfolds throughout the story, the storyline or series of episodes. Characters begin the story with a certain viewpoint and, through events in the story, that viewpoint changes...

...for example
In The Godfather, Michael Corleone at first does not want to have anything to do with his father’s crime business. When his father is attacked and barely survives, Michael begins a war of retribution on those responsible. This effectively and ironically sets him down the path to becoming the head of his father's crime syndicate. The Godfather Part II chronicles Michael's effective fall from grace as a result of becoming a powerful crime lord.

In Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle degenerates from a somewhat disturbed, highly disorganized Vietnam veteran into an extremely highly-organized, full-blown psychotic.

Unlike a story arc, the character arc is not confined within the limits of one story. The character arc may extend over to the next story, a sequel, or another episode. In episodic TV series, the character arc has become a hook with which the writers use to ensure viewers continue watching..." and it rattles on for quite a while... there are better sources. I can recommend some great books.

Anyway, to rephrase, Zuko is a more dynamic character. He evolves more throughout the story than other characters. So in a sense I do mean character development, but there is more to it than that. From the outset there is a lot to learn about his character and an alert audience realizes it. This gives him a mystery… a fascination. We learn about him slowly… then when we think we know nearly everything, he begins to change. He is 3 dimensional.

I could go on for pages but noone would want to read it lol.

[shifu-yantao]

if azula was good she would be the best firebender in her nation.and maybe end up as the next avatar like roku cause he was a firbender first. if she put her mind into it than she can master the other elenemts with ease... more faster than the other avatar's did.

[absinthe_spoons]

Except that you CAN'T learn the other elements unless you are an AVATAR.
Lord love a duck. That's like the whole damn point of the show.
Man. I'm kind of grumpy.

[CancerianFireLordess]

Except that you CAN'T learn the other elements unless you are an AVATAR.
Lord love a duck. That's like the whole damn point of the show.
Man. I'm kind of grumpy.

No, you're not grumpy. You're just sick, honeybunches.
I would have responded the same.
Except you beat me to it.