How Azula’s “temptress” characteristics color our understanding of the Fire Nation princess

This essay was written with the help of korrastorian and queertoonqueertoons.

Azula is a fantastic antagonist. She is ruthless,calculating, and highly gifted. However, often our conversations surrounding the princess confine her to being “evil.” We seem inclined to view Zuko as the sympathetic anti-hero who was fully capable and deserving of his redemption, yet cannot bestow his sister the same courtesy despite the fact that she shares his background. There are many reasons why this may be the case: the fact that Azula’s foil is our lens for the story, that Azula did align herself with the Fire Nation throughout the series, the fact that we saw her cause physical harm to multiple characters in whom we had vested interest. But aside from the lens, wasn’t this also Zuko’s story? Or what about Iroh? If Zuko can burn down Suki’s village and Iroh can lay siege to Ba Sing Se and joke about burning it to the ground, why can they be redeemed while Azula is written off?

Some turn to psych evals, but there’s another factor at play that is often overlooked: Azula’s character as it is presented to us in the narrative is highly sexualized. Moreover, she’s sexualized in a particularly deviant way. This is not to that every viewer necessarily has an inherent unease surrounding exhibited sexuality, but it is a characteristic that allows us to view Azula in a more sinister light. We often forget that she is only fourteen. Her sexualization enables us to see her as a sort of succubus, someone who actively lures her brother to the darkside and erotically toys with her enemies rather than a child soldier who is the product of abuse. It’s not to say the latter cannot commit evil acts, but as a society, we are less inclined to give the former our sympathies.



One thing to understand about the sexualization of female antagonists, is that it plays into certain tropes we’re used to in our media. It’s the “temptress” trope…the femme fatale that lures men to their end. It’s the trope that in many ways demonizes the sexual autonomy of women. This isn’t to say that sexually empowered women can’t be portrayed as “good”…of course they can. Just as women-antagonists can come across as desexualized (I would argue Kuvira fits this bill). But in general when a woman character exudes sexuality, it often raises suspicions and the viewer is inclined to see the character as “evil.” Look at the fandom’s suspicions of Asami in Book 1, who was guilty of nothing other than “having that look.”

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A key component of this trope is that the temptress is completely manipulative and gains relative enjoyment from her immoral behavior. Given that Azula exhibits these traits (even though canonically Azula does nothing sexual), we are enabled to view her character as “evil.” It’s also worth noting that the sexualization of young girls is not a rarity in our society, so even though this behavior should seem out of place for a fourteen year-old, we’re not inclined to question that this is an inherent part of Azula’s nature (rather than say, a bias introduced by Katara’s lens).

So how is it that Azula is sexualized in a deviant manner? I’ve said it 3 times, so it must be true, right? Listen to the way some of the dialogue is delivered. Grey DeLisle is an absolutely phenomenal voice actress. She made Azula the character she is, and I sincerely doubt I could enjoy the show without that performance. But it’s also important to understand that DeLisle was in her mid-thirties when recording ATLA. She needed to make Azula an imposing and convincing antagonist, which is likely why her performance was evocative of a seductress. That is a character archetype that we quickly understand as “bad.”

However, I don’t want to say DeLisle did anything wrong, or that the sexualization of Azula can be pinned solely on her. She wasn’t recording in a void. There are director’s notes, there are retakes…hell there are the writers in the first place! And this is just to give the character a voice. Animation is a key component as well. In fact, it’s not until Book 3, a year after everyone was working with Azula and came to associate her character with DeLisle’s voice, that the character was drawn in a more sexualized manner. There were more shots with Azula’s hair down (often with a very sensual vibe the senes), and Azula began wearing outfits that were more revealing than her Fire Nation armor or Earth Kingdom robes of Book 2. The writing, the acting, the directing, the animation, the reshots, the storyboarding…it’s all one big interdependent cycle. Many hands went into making Azula who she is. DeLisle’s sultry performance may have given rise to some of Azula’s behavior appearing more and more eroticized on screen. The writers and animators both were likely influenced by that performance while creating Book 3.



So let us actually look at specifics. There are four people with whom it can be strongly argued that Azula interacts with in an eroticized manner (aside from Chan, where thinking of that as “arousing” is rather generous): Zuko, Ozai, Sokka, and Ty Lee. And it just so happens that the way in which her dynamics with those characters is sexualized is one that is inherently coded as deviant or immoral in our society, which I will explicate in their respective sections. I want to quickly preface by saying that I don’t think that the sexual undertones in these relationships was anything Bryke intended. More it is the result of the complicated way in which our society perceives female sexual autonomy and demonizes/sexualizes young girls (especially those who are abused).

Because this is discussing undertones, it’s a bit woolly and subjective. Allow me to start with Zuko, with whom I view her interactions as the most obviously eroticized. To begin, both Zuko and Azula are members of a royal family. Because of our own world’s history, we may be inclined to subconsciously connect royalty and incest. The idea of keeping a “pure bloodline,” is also something Azula explicates to Long Feng: “But true power, the divine right to rule, is something you’re born with.”



Azula frequently toys with Zuko. Perhaps a 14-year old voice actress could taunt in a way that does not sound kinky on some level. But the way DeLisle’s Azula “plays” with Zuko in a number of their scenes is notable. This scene in particular jumped out…I often call it the “Cruel Intentions” scene, which is apparently something others have picked up on as well. In it Azula, wearing a robe, is moving seductively around her bedroom (the first time we see her hair not in a severe bun, also), and DeLisle is practically purring with her lines. There are many other instances of Zuko and Azula interactions that can be read in this manner (talking as Azula’s getting her hair washed comes to mind), but that scene in the Book 3 opener really set a clear tone for their relationship. We also have a weird moment of Mai looking noticeably jealous as Azula interrupts her picnic with Zuko. I’m sure it was intended to be annoyance with Azula, sowing the seeds for her betrayal, but in light of the rather palpable “Zucest” dynamic, small interactions feed into it.

The incestual subtext is there, and on rewatch even Book 2 scenes have something discernible. Societally, incest is viewed as deviant and problematic, so the Zucest dynamic is one we are inclined to look at unfavorably. And given that Azula is in the role of the seductress, the blame for it is placed on her, while we allow Zuko to walk away free and clear.



Ozai is a bit of a different case. We certainly don’t get a scene of Azula touching her father’s chest in a taunting manner as she did with Zuko. However, many I’ve talked to did sense rather erotic undertones in her scene with Ozai in the Book 3 finale. I do quickly want to say that it is my stanch assertion that Azula’s actions—her displayed cruelty, her perfectionism, her quashing of her empathy—was mostly a result of her upbringing and her response to Ozai’s abuse. Zuko’s method of survival was to seek the protection of Ursa. Azula’s was to make herself in Ozai’s image and by doing so, avoiding his wrath. She is clearly a product of abuse as much as Zuko, but the way in which her tactics to handle it manifested is way that happens to have some incestual implications. There is the child-abuse practice of “grooming,” which is often touched with a sexual element. Given Azula’s seeming worship of her father, it’s not a connection that is difficult to make, even if it is a subconscious one.

Again, I don’t believe any of this is intentional. But having a young female character with an abusive father who does everything to make herself into his image is something that is implicitly suggestive. And that inherency is something viewers have going into the Phoenix King scene. I don’t think it’s a liberal argument to say that some of Azula’s desperation and lines in that scene seem to suggest a desired sexual relationship with her father, once again eroticizing her character. “But I thought we were going to do this together.” “I deserve to be by your side.”

Before I move on from incest, I want to talk about Sokka. I wasn’t going to include him because his moments with Azula were so limited, but we do get this, which is pretty charged:

And later Sokka pins Azula up against a wall while she taunts him. If I’m willing to call Azula’s scene with Ozai kinky, then it wouldn’t be fair of me to not count this. Yet how is this deviant in any way? Azula is 14, Sokka’s 15, and they’re not related.

This is a nuanced point and one you do not have to agree with. But as Katara’s literary foil, there is something, just a shade of something deviant when it comes to the eroticization of Azula and Sokka and…yes, Zutara as well. Azula and Katara are two characters with very striking similarities. Yet Katara acts as the nurturing maternal figure to Sokka, whereas Azula acts as the seductive sister. So in that way, any sexual relationship between Azukka(??) and Zutara would have something a bit…incestual about it. It’s just something that colors it, and honestly the emotional background of those four characters might be part of the reason why Zutara was so appealing to so many—but I also think it’s part of the reason that envelope was not pushed. So it’s not that it’s “wrong,” but it’s more like the way in which a woman dating an older man might get the feedback “woah, daddy issues!” There’d be a slight discomfort: “is it just me, or does she remind you of his sister.”

Again, disagree, but if nothing else Azula gaining clear enjoyment [read: sexual enjoyment] from Sokka’s pain during that scene is hardly the depiction of behavior our society tends to favor.

Finally, we have Ty Lee. I’m not sure there’s any one thing I can point to in order to convince anyone that there is pretty clear homoerotic subtext coloring the Tyzula dynamic. I mean that’s really an essay in and of itself. Go watch The Beach episode, here’s a good post about a subtle moment of subtext, here’s a post that juxtaposes Tyzula moments with Korrasami. And of course there’s always my classy-as-hell proof post. What’s more is that we have this moment from Grey DeLisle:



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Even if that was 100% a joke, having that thought color an actor’s performance is everything. There’s also the fact that Ty Lee is the only person in the series to whom Azula apologized, and that it seemed to be Ty Lee’s betrayal (more than Mai’s) that was particularly affecting to her character.

So okay, there’s homoerotic subtext. I’m trying to talk about how Azula’s sexualization is inherently immoral. The problem with Tyzula is that in ATLA’s canon, it’s hardly the picture of a healthy and supportive relationship. We see active abuse/mistreatment of Ty Lee on the part of Azula. Ty Lee, for her part, displays an almost sycophantic devotion to Azula, something untested until her friend is in mortal danger. I’ve often seen Tyzula compared to Harley Quinn/The Joker. YMMV, but what’s clear is that it’s hardly the same salubrious dynamic that we see in say, Korrasami. Additionally, Ty Lee being a contortionist has rather kinky implications, which though in my view is not problematic in and of itself, is still inherently deviant from sexual “norms.” And especially given these are two fourteen-year olds, the implied erotic relationship does take on a bit of a twisted feel (no pun intended).

Overall, what we see is that Azula is coded with deviant sexual behavior. And this coding colors our understanding of her character in a way that seems to limit our sympathies. We don’t see a fourteen-year old child solider, the product of abuse who yes, does bad things and is an antagonist (but that’s what makes child soldiers so frightening, isn’t it?). Instead we’re inclined to see a succubus: sexually deviant and innately evil. Does Azula have agency? Of course. So did Zuko when he burned down Suki’s village at 16. But why can Zuko rise up and be the anti-hero we love when Azula gets shoved aside? They share a background, after all.

It’s certainly not all about sex, but I do think that our societal anxiety surrounding the “temptress” is part of the reason for the different treatment of the siblings in the fandom. I’m not asking anyone to love Azula. I’m not looking to make excuses for Azula’s behavior. All I’m trying to do is highlight the often subconscious assumptions and biases we may have about her. I think it’s the least we can do for our wonderfully complex princess.

