History Characters / AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNationRoyalFamily

** ''The Search'' reveals that Ozai's mistreatment of Zuko stems from [[spoiler:Ursa's wish that Zuko was Ikem's son instead of his. Jealous, Ozai secretly ordered for Ikem's assassination (which failed) and decided to "[[EvilIsPetty honor]]" Ursa's wish by no longer treating Zuko as his son. This also casts a darker light on Ozai's praise for Zuko in the beginning of Book 3; he's not only proud that Zuko "killed" the Avatar but also extinguishing his mother's influence in the process]].

%%* {{Narcissist}}: She's aware of her talents as a bender.

* 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 small heart. And to drive the point in a manner that Ozai would understand, she says [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex he couldn't even love himself]]]].

* DrivenByEnvy: Ozai resents his brother Iroh for being Azulon's favorite despite the fact that Ozai's bloodline is supposed to strengthen the Royal Family's firebending potential for generations to come. And it doesn't take long for Ozai to make his attempt for the throne once Iroh's son died in the battle.

* GreenEyedMonster: While Ozai doesn't have love for anyone else, he cannot stand being unloved by his family. Azulon prefers Iroh over him, and Ursa prefers [[FirstLove Ikem]] over him, even going as far as wishing that Zuko wasn't Ozai's son. Ironically, his children are the only ones who are devoted to him and yet he ends up driving them away because of his jealously and wrath.

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: [[spoiler:After Sozin's Comet leaves the atmosphere, Ozai went from the feared and powerful Phoenix King to being the butt of the jokes after losing his firebending. He is then thrown into the same prison cell where his brother used to be held, dressed in rags and completely miserable at his predicament. When Ursa returns and confronts her former husband, she realizes that without his dominating powers, Ozai is just a miserable wretch who couldn't even love himself, let alone his family.]]

* AlwaysSecondBest: To Iroh, whom he could never seem to beat. Iroh's memoirs in ''Legacy of the Fire Nation'' mention that Ozai often flips the board and burn the pieces whenever he loses a game of Pai Sho to Iroh, heavily implying Iroh nearly wins all of the games. And he could never get Azulon to pass the throne to him despite showcasing his children and pointing out Iroh's flaws. Even when he becomes the most powerful firebender in the world, there are still plenty of characters who believe Iroh could still beat him.

* AlwaysSecondBest: To Iroh, whom he could never seem to beat. Iroh's memoirs in ''Legacy of the Fire Nation'' mention that Ozai often flips the board and burn the pieces whenever he loses a game of Pai Sho to Iroh, heavily implying Iroh nearly wins of the games. And he could never get Azulon to pass the throne to him despite showcasing his children and pointing out Iroh's flaws. Even when he becomes the most powerful firebender in the world, there are still plenty of characters who believe Iroh could still beat him.

* TheUnFavourite: If there are two siblings, chances are one will be picked over the other. For Azulon, he favors Iroh over Ozai. For Ozai, he favors Azula over Zuko. This breeds resentment and rivalry between the two siblings.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Parental favoritism in the royal family tends cause the next generation (usually TheUnFavourite) to do everything they could to win their previous generation's approval. Since they were in a period of war that lasted for 100 years, that means being more brutal, horrific and ruthless.

** [[BigBad Ozai]] not only had a favorite and an [[TheUnFavourite unfavorite]] child, but he brutally scarred the latter, Zuko, and [[spoiler:[[OffingTheOffspring has attempted to kill him multiple times]] (though as for this, only ''after'' he joined the revolution against him).]] Zuko found a better father figure in his uncle and mentor Iroh and eventually outgrew the need for Ozai's approval.

* FreudianExcuse: It's implied he was TheUnFavourite to Azulon. The ''Search'' comic series gives another possible reason why Ozai is abusive to Zuko: he wed Ursa as part of a eugenics experiment (partly explaining his [[TheSociopath complete dissociation with his family's well-being]]), and he [[spoiler:punishes Zuko after Ursa lied to him and told Ozai Zuko was the son of another man. Ozai knows this was a lie, but decides to take it at face value as punishment for Ursa]].

** Despite it being implied he was TheUnFavourite to his father Azulon, Ozai is the son who is most like his father, both being AbusiveParents and the most powerful benders in the world. And both, despite being strong leaders, don't care for the people of their nation, being more interested in taking over the world.

** He's designed to be a dark reflection of Zuko's worst traits. Both were hot-tempered and impatient in their youth, and both resented being TheUnFavourite next to their sibling. The difference is that Ozai allowed his envy to consume him while Zuko managed to risen above his flaws during his journey. According to Iroh in ''Legacy of the Fire Nation'', there were many times he saw Ozai inside Zuko yet also many times where he saw Zuko becoming what Ozai should have been.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Azula is manipulative as all get out and such a ConsummateLiar that Toph, the LivingLieDetector, can't tell when she's lying. But despite this, in "The Beach," she proves to be [[NoSocialSkills cringe-inducingly inept]] when it comes to genuine social interaction. Even as a child, her mother wondered just what was wrong with her because she already demonstrated what amounts to AmbiguousInnocence at best and TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior at worst. As of Book 3 and ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch'', she begins to exhibit some pretty unambiguous raging paranoia though, to be point of delusions and hallucinations. It's complicated by [[WordOfGod Bryke's]] word in ''Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle'' that she turned crazy because she felt her mother [[TheUnFavourite didn't love her]] as much as Zuko and that while she could turned out better, her nation's TakeOverTheWorld policy only worsened her problems.

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: She's constantly striving to be [[ThePerfectionist the absolute best]] at what she does (especially if it means being better than Zuko) and refuses to settle for less, and uses {{manipulati|ve bastard}}on and strong-arm tactics to ascertain worship from her peers. She also feels that she's Ursa's [[TheUnFavourite failure]], thoroughly depends on her father's "love", and tends to put down those she secretly envies like [[DudeMagnet Ty Lee]]. By the season finale, [[spoiler:her friends have left her and her father has made it clear that he's only using her. [[FromBadToWorse It]] [[AlasPoorVillain doesn't]] [[VillainousBreakdown end]] [[TearJerker well.]]]]

* KickedUpstairs: Her father rewards her for her loyal service by naming her the new Fire Lord... moments before he makes the position irrelevant by crowning himself Phoenix King. Azula knows exactly what's happening to her and doesn't take it well ("You can't treat me like [[TheUnFavourite Zuko]]!") and it's one of the contributing factors to her VillainousBreakdown.

* TheOphelia: A self-induced case. She had a mischievous streak as a child, but the feeling of her mother's ignorance turned it into outright cruelty, which [[BigBad Ozai]] manipulated and she emulated. When Mai and Ty Lee betrays her at Boiling Rock, she starts to lose control of things, which leads to paranoia. Unlike Zuko, who can adapt and change due to his [[TheExile banishment]], Azula is just too rigid in her philosophies. Because of the growing paranoia, she steadily imagines a knife to her back like with her former two best friends and ends up [[ImportantHaircut having long, disheveled hair]]. She loses the ability to repress her insecurities about being Ursa's [[TheUnFavourite failure]], resulting in her final defeat during the final Agni Kai. Losing everything and everyone over the course of one summer snaps the girl and she goes insane.

* TheUnFavourite: It's clear that her mother loved Zuko more than her, leading her to seek approval from her father, which opened her up to being abused and manipulated for all her life to become a self-loathing perfectionist who feels like she has to keep up her act or else she'll lose the only source of familial guidance and direction she's ever had.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: This was ultimately the trigger for most of her actions throughout the series. Since she believed that her mother rejected her as a monster and [[TheUnFavourite preferred her brother Zuko]], she dedicated herself to becoming DaddysLittleVillain, proving to both her Mother and Zuko that she doesn't need their love, as being feared is the only thing that mattered. Ultimately, this trope is subverted, she chose evil because she felt it was the only way to receive any love and trust from a parental figure, in this case Ozai. But when Ozai decided to ultimately discard her like he did Zuko, Azula realized that ''nobody'' loved her and it caused her to break.

* {{Tykebomb}}: Ozai raised her to serve as [[DaddysLittleVillain his obedient and perfect heir]] by molding her to his way of thinking. This is one of the most successful examples, as Ozai made sure to "coddle and praise" her rather than "abuse her and insist she is made to serve him" (that's what [[TheUnFavourite Zuko]] is for). Deconstructed, as her praise from her father meant that she never really did things for herself or [[NoSocialSkills had any idea on how to handle people besides intimidation]] [[LonelyAtTheTop and even her only friends left her because they could no longer side with her, despite fearing her]]. When Ozai names her Fire Lord, it is because he names himself the new title of Phoenix King since the former title has no meaning to him and thus [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he has no more real need for Azula]]. She has a lot of MommyIssues ''because'' she was being raised to be his obedient and perfect heir and her mother was afraid of her (or rather, afraid for her,) with Ursa having no idea on what to do with her daughter. Unsurprisingly, she [[VillainousBreakdown snapped and is reduced into a frantic and sobbing state]], to where [[SympathyForTheDevil Zuko and even Katara felt genuinely sorry for her]].

* TheUnFavourite: She perceives herself to be this, at least in her own mind: "My own mother...thought I was a monster." She tries to laugh it off at the time, but this perception of her relationship with her mother [[spoiler:contributes heavily to her VillainousBreakdown in the series finale]].

* TheUnFavorite: If there are two siblings, chances are one will be picked over the other. For Azulon, he favors Iroh over Ozai. For Ozai, he favors Azula over Zuko. This breeds resentment and rivalry between the two siblings.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Parental favoritism in the royal family tends cause the next generation (usually TheUnFavorite) to do everything they could to win their previous generation's approval. Since they were in a period of war that lasted for 100 years, that means being more brutal, horrific and ruthless.

** [[BigBad Ozai]] not only had a favorite and an [[TheUnfavourite Unfavourite]] child, but he brutally scarred the latter, Zuko, and [[spoiler:[[OffingTheOffspring has attempted to kill him multiple times]] (though as for this, only ''after'' he joined the revolution against him).]] Zuko found a better father figure in his uncle and mentor Iroh and eventually outgrew the need for Ozai's approval.

* FreudianExcuse: It's implied he was TheUnfavorite to Azulon. The ''Search'' comic series gives another possible reason why Ozai is abusive to Zuko: he wed Ursa as part of a eugenics experiment (partly explaining his [[TheSociopath complete dissociation with his family's well-being]]), and he [[spoiler:punishes Zuko after Ursa lied to him and told Ozai Zuko was the son of another man. Ozai knows this was a lie, but decides to take it at face value as punishment for Ursa]].

** Despite it being implied he was TheUnfavorite to his father Azulon, Ozai is the son who is most like his father, both being AbusiveParents and the most powerful benders in the world. And both, despite being strong leaders, don't care for the people of their nation, being more interested in taking over the world.

** He's designed to be a dark reflection of Zuko's worst traits. Both were hot-tempered and impatient in their youth, and both resented being TheUnfavorite next to their sibling. The difference is that Ozai allowed his envy to consume him while Zuko managed to risen above his flaws during his journey. According to Iroh in ''Legacy of the Fire Nation'', there were many times he saw Ozai inside Zuko yet also many times where he saw Zuko becoming what Ozai should have been.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Azula is manipulative as all get out and such a ConsummateLiar that Toph, the LivingLieDetector, can't tell when she's lying. But despite this, in "The Beach," she proves to be [[NoSocialSkills cringe-inducingly inept]] when it comes to genuine social interaction. Even as a child, her mother wondered just what was wrong with her because she already demonstrated what amounts to AmbiguousInnocence at best and TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior at worst. As of Book 3 and ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch'', she begins to exhibit some pretty unambiguous raging paranoia though, to be point of delusions and hallucinations. It's complicated by [[WordOfGod Bryke's]] word in ''Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle'' that she turned crazy because she felt her mother [[TheUnfavorite didn't love her]] as much as Zuko and that while she could turned out better, her nation's TakeOverTheWorld policy only worsened her problems.

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: She's constantly striving to be [[ThePerfectionist the absolute best]] at what she does (especially if it means being better than Zuko) and refuses to settle for less, and uses {{manipulati|ve bastard}}on and strong-arm tactics to ascertain worship from her peers. She also feels that she's Ursa's [[TheUnfavorite failure]], thoroughly depends on her father's "love", and tends to put down those she secretly envies like [[DudeMagnet Ty Lee]]. By the season finale, [[spoiler:her friends have left her and her father has made it clear that he's only using her. [[FromBadToWorse It]] [[AlasPoorVillain doesn't]] [[VillainousBreakdown end]] [[TearJerker well.]]]]

* KickedUpstairs: Her father rewards her for her loyal service by naming her the new Fire Lord... moments before he makes the position irrelevant by crowning himself Phoenix King. Azula knows exactly what's happening to her and doesn't take it well ("You can't treat me like [[TheUnfavorite Zuko]]!") and it's one of the contributing factors to her VillainousBreakdown.

* TheOphelia: A self-induced case. She had a mischievous streak as a child, but the feeling of her mother's ignorance turned it into outright cruelty, which [[BigBad Ozai]] manipulated and she emulated. When Mai and Ty Lee betrays her at Boiling Rock, she starts to lose control of things, which leads to paranoia. Unlike Zuko, who can adapt and change due to his [[TheExile banishment]], Azula is just too rigid in her philosophies. Because of the growing paranoia, she steadily imagines a knife to her back like with her former two best friends and ends up [[ImportantHaircut having long, disheveled hair]]. She loses the ability to repress her insecurities about being Ursa's [[TheUnfavorite failure]], resulting in her final defeat during the final Agni Kai. Losing everything and everyone over the course of one summer snaps the girl and she goes insane.

* TheUnFavorite: It's clear that her mother loved Zuko more than her, leading her to seek approval from her father, which opened her up to being abused and manipulated for all her life to become a self-loathing perfectionist who feels like she has to keep up her act or else she'll lose the only source of familial guidance and direction she's ever had.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: This was ultimately the trigger for most of her actions throughout the series. Since she believed that her mother rejected her as a monster and [[TheUnfavorite preferred her brother Zuko]], she dedicated herself to becoming DaddysLittleVillain, proving to both her Mother and Zuko that she doesn't need their love, as being feared is the only thing that mattered. Ultimately, this trope is subverted, she chose evil because she felt it was the only way to receive any love and trust from a parental figure, in this case Ozai. But when Ozai decided to ultimately discard her like he did Zuko, Azula realized that ''nobody'' loved her and it caused her to break.

* {{Tykebomb}}: Ozai raised her to serve as [[DaddysLittleVillain his obedient and perfect heir]] by molding her to his way of thinking. This is one of the most successful examples, as Ozai made sure to "coddle and praise" her rather than "abuse her and insist she is made to serve him" (that's what [[TheUnfavorite Zuko]] is for). Deconstructed, as her praise from her father meant that she never really did things for herself or [[NoSocialSkills had any idea on how to handle people besides intimidation]] [[LonelyAtTheTop and even her only friends left her because they could no longer side with her, despite fearing her]]. When Ozai names her Fire Lord, it is because he names himself the new title of Phoenix King since the former title has no meaning to him and thus [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he has no more real need for Azula]]. She has a lot of MommyIssues ''because'' she was being raised to be his obedient and perfect heir and her mother was afraid of her (or rather, afraid for her,) with Ursa having no idea on what to do with her daughter. Unsurprisingly, she [[VillainousBreakdown snapped and is reduced into a frantic and sobbing state]], to where [[SympathyForTheDevil Zuko and even Katara felt genuinely sorry for her]].

* TheUnfavorite: She perceives herself to be this, at least in her own mind: "My own mother...thought I was a monster." She tries to laugh it off at the time, but this perception of her relationship with her mother [[spoiler:contributes heavily to her VillainousBreakdown in the series finale]].

* TheUnFavorite: Iroh believes this to be the FatalFlaw of the royal family as picking favorites only encourage destructive rivalry between family members, only leading to more pain and suffering. What's worse is that it's treated as normal, meaning that future generations would continue to play favorites had Zuko not [[BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting broke the mold]].

* EmptyShell: As lampshaded by Ursa below in the comics [[spoiler: after he is de-bended]]:
-->'''Ursa''': [[spoiler:After all these years, I finally ''see'' you, Ozai. You're just a ''[[SmallNameBigEgo small, small man]]'' trying with all your might to be ''big''. Your ''heart'' is so small, you've no room for your son, or your daughter, or your brother... or even '' yourself''.]]

** Although he is the world's strongest firebender and with a disdain towards the weak, Ozai is remarkably weak in other fields of physical strength. He's never known to been a frontline general like his brother and father, and he can be forced into submission by his sword-proficient son when their firebending is temporarily unavailable, whereas his daughter could easily fend off other benders without her firebending. [[spoiler:Amusingly, natural selection usually weeds out the specimens unable to adapt in new situations more so than the "weak," making Ozai's permanent loss of firebending even more poetic.]]

** Ozai is a strong believer that [[TheSocialDarwinist Firebenders are the superior people to rule]] and he strives to be the strongest Firebender that ever lived, so much so that he didn't bother to learn any other fighting technique like sword fighting. [[spoiler:When Aang [[BroughtDownToNormal takes away his Firebending at the series finale]], it ironically turns him into the ''weakest'' member of the Royal Family because of his CripplingOverSpecialization]].

* SlipknotPonytail: She's the page image because it is the only result of falling off a cliff and using firebending to ''fly'' to safety.

** We first see Azula, aged ten, in a flashback in the first appearance, smirking with glee as her brother and father have a fight. That ends with her father calling his apologetic son a disrespectful traitor before ''burning off half of his face'' for refusing to fight back. At age fourteen, she isn't much better. She constantly lies and is cruel as ever. Her introduction scene has her threatening to throw a man off a boat. In the end, [[spoiler:she ends up having a VillainousBreakdown during a life-or-death duel against her brother]]. Unlike other examples; it is darkly fascinating as a study. As she felt neglected or like a monster to her mother, she ended up emulating her father; like children tend to do sometimes. Her cruelty is a byproduct of neglect and Ozai's (and by extension, her environment) upbringing, as confirmed by [[WordOfGod Bryke's word]] in ''Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle'' that she could have turned better in a healthier environment.

[[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAvatarAang Avatar Aang]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZuko Prince Zuko]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderMentors Mentors]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation]] | '''Fire Nation Royal Family''' | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderOtherCharacters Other]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComicCharacters Comics]]]]]]-]

[[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAvatarAang Avatar Aang]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] |[[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZuko Prince Zuko]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderMentors Mentors]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation]] | '''Fire Nation Royal Family''' | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderOtherCharacters Other]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComicCharacters Comics]]]]]]-]

[[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAvatarAang Avatar Aang]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderMentors Mentors]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation]] | '''Fire Nation Royal Family''' | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderOtherCharacters Other]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComicCharacters Comics]]]]]]-]

** Although he is the world's strongest firebender and with a disdain towards the weak, Ozai is remarkably weak in other fields of physical strength. He's never known to been a frontline general like his brother and father, and he can be forced into submission by his sword-proficient son when their firebending is temporarily unavailable, whereas his daughter could easily fend off other benders without her firebending. [[spoiler:Amusingly, natural selection usually weeds out the specimens unable to adapt in new situations more than "weak," making Ozai's permanent loss of firebending even more cathartic.]]

* {{Irony}}: Despite it being implied he was TheUnfavorite to his father Azulon, Ozai is the son who is most like his father, both being AbusiveParents and the most powerful benders in the world. And both, despite being strong leaders, don't care for the people of their nation, being more interested in taking over the world.

* ShockAndAwe: Very good at it, too. He can generate lightning ''extremely'' quickly; while both Azula and Iroh, master firebenders in their own right, require at least three to "charge", Ozai only needs two. Also, while Azula and Iroh shoot lighting from one hand at a time, Ozai can ''dual-wield'' his lightning. His lightning is also far larger than either of theirs and pure white symbolizing that it's hotter than theirs as well.

* CripplingOverSpecialization: Ozai is blessed with an incredible natural talent for fire bending, and he relies heavily on this talent rather than learn how to fight without it. Compared to his brother and children, he has no technique beyond incinerating his opponents with large amounts of fire. Terrifyingly enough, this seems to be enough for him to outmatch all but [[GodInHumanForm Aang]] and [[LightningBruiser Iroh]]. [[spoiler:Ironically, this becomes his undoing once Aang takes away his firebending, leaving behind a weak man who couldn't break out of prison even if he wanted to]].

** In the comics, [[spoiler:he has managed to regain composure during his time in prison and becomes a cunning and dominating ManipulativeBastard to Zuko's regime. It works for most of the prison visits until Ursa arrives, who then proclaims to Ozai [[ImNotAfraidOfYou she is no longer afraid of him anymore]] and gives a ReasonYouSuckSpeech of how he is ultimately a small man who tries with all his might to act big before saying her goodbyes. Ozai's response as Ursa leaves him forever notably shows him stuttering and eventually screaming for her to come back and beg at his feet, making him powerless in both bending ''and'' words.]]

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: She was always superior to Zuko when they were growing up, even though he was the older sibling. Her fire bending was much stronger than his and unlike him she can produce lightning. In most of their fights she overpowers him and forces him to flee. [[spoiler:Subverted when they battle in Agni Kai in the finale. Her breakdown gets the better of her and Zuko stays one step ahead of her the whole fight. She is forced to cheat by trying to shoot Katara with Lightning and Zuko injures himself trying to redirect it.]] Also subverted in "The Southern Raiders", where Zuko duels her evenly for several minutes and the match ends in a draw, with both parties emerging unscathed.

* {{Foil}}: For Zuko. He was the sweet kid whose fire bending was lacking and she was the bully and fire bending prodigy. [[spoiler: This changes in the third season, where he rejects the Fire Nation's TakeOverTheWorld policy and becomes a much more mentally-healthy individual and a more powerful firebender, while she continues to embrace it and goes ''utterly'' insane.]]

* CheerfulChild: He was one, judging by Iroh's memories of him playing at fire bending

* AmbitionIsEvil: Fueled by his resentment towards Iroh, Ozai strives to be the best in schools and in firebending. But his ambition made him more ruthless and sociopathic in the process, willingly to sacrifice family members to gain the throne and the world.

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

* CripplingOverSpecialization: Ozai is blessed with an incredible natural talent for fire bending, and he relies heavily on this talent rather than learn how to fight without it. Compared to his brother and children, he has no technique beyond incinerating his opponents with large amounts of fire. Terrifyingly enough, this seems to be enough for him to outmatch all but [[GodInHumanForm Aang]] and [[LightningBruiser Iroh]].

* EvilIsBurningHot: Comes with being an anger firebender.

* SmugSuper: After becoming the world's most powerful firebender, Ozai acts high and mighty over his enemies and subordinates, eventually developing delusions of godhood in Season 3 finale. It's only when he confronts [[OneWingedAngel an enraged Aang in the Avatar State]] does that smugness disappear and he flees like a coward.

* TautologicalTemplar: In ''The Search'', Ozai reveals to Zuko that the key to being a strong Fire Lord is accepting that every action the Fire Lord takes is the correct one no matter what others say. Of course Zuko calls him out for this for obvious reasons [[VillainHasAPoint but realizes that Ozai isn't wrong about the conflicting messages Zuko's sending out to the rest of the world]].

* EvilCounterpart: Serves as one to Hakoda, father of Katara and Sokka. Both are the leaders of their respective countries, both are expert strategists when it comes to warfare, both can very distant with their children and they even have similar facial features. The crucial difference is that Hakoda cherishes his family despite his duties while Ozai is all to willingly to throw his family away for personal power.

* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: The sequel comics reveal that his mistreatment of Zuko is largely just his spiteful response to Ursa's claim that Zuko isn't his son. A claim that he ''knew'' was a lie.]]

[[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAvatarAang Avatar Aang]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] | '''Mentors''' | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFireNation Fire Nation Royal Family]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderOtherCharacters Other]] | [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComicCharacters Comics]]]]]]-]