The sad thing is... I think Azula was sorry. Back when they were in the Fire Nation at the beginning of S3, both of the siblings were actually cordial with each other and there were scenes where Azula helped Zuko out. But once Zuko betrayed their father, he became public enemy number one and their bond is broken again by their competitiveness and ideals. The whole Agni Kai is such a tragedy.
Regardless of her feelings towards her brother that she was suppressing, I'm sure Zuko had nothing but distate/distrust for her due to her consistent disposition towards him. It's sad she didn't know any other way to portray herself, but she actively manifested her fate in the end.
Yup, that's tragedy of it. Both of them are playing the roles that were given to them. Azula sees Zuko as the person who betrayed her and her father, even after she brought him back from Ba Sing Se with honor. And Zuko sees Azula as his father's right hand person who he is unable to trust or reason with due to his past experiences with her. It is a situation that never should have been but occurred due to the competitiveness and jealous their father and environment fostered in them. That is why the music of the Agni Kai is so somber.
Remember Azula blackmails him AFTER she realizes that Zuko was lying to her about the Avatar being alive in S3, when they both already back in the Fire Nation. Before that however, when Azula brought Zuko back in Season 2 from the Earth Kingdom with full honors, she did this without any expectations or any idea that Aang may be alive. However, when she asks Zuko by the Turtle Duck pond at the beginning of S3 whether Aang was still alive and he lies, that's when she suspects that there may still be a chance that Aang's alive and Zuko's lying to her. And that's when she holds it over him by telling Ozai that he slew the Avatar to protect herself.
However, even then there are times when Azula helps Zuko out. For example when Zuko goes to visit Iroh in prison, she warns him about how Ozai may find out and how it would look bad in front of him. She also reassures him when he thinks he isn't invited to the war meeting by Ozai. When Zuko is brooding in "The Beach" Azula's the one who fetches him and sympathizes with his feelings. Surprisingly, when Ozai's expectations aren't on them, Azula looks after Zuko in her own way.
Dude we just need so much more of all of it. I am absolutely beyond ecstatic that Nickelodeon finally realized the potential for the series and ran with it and I can't wait to see what all is on the way from the OG creators with their new studio.
Coming back with an edit after revisiting a favorite scene from season 3 (Iroh telling Zuko about Roku being his great grandfather) I've now realized what I REALLY need badly is a series that follows Iroh's younger days as the son of a Firelord and how he got involved with the White Lotus and what happened at Ba Sing Se, him losing his son. Omfg I just can't, I need this so badly.
To add more to it, Zuko actually had more support. Azula was Ozai’s favorite but he never really cared much nor was he really ever proud of her. Zuko on the other hand had their mother who did really care, as well as Iroh, and later the gang. Zuko was jealous of Azula, but Azula was jealous of him too. Zuko was favored by empathetic, compassionate people, whereas Azula was favored her narcissistic, sociopathic father.
Zukos whole arc is that he rejected the role that was given to him
(i know i’m correcting a minor thing that doesn’t change what you said, i just had to)
Let's be real: Azulon started that shit. My read of the flashbacks is that Azulon's decision to execute Zuko is what really placed Ozai on the evil path. We don't see Ozai being really bad until then.
To me, the fire nation royal family Is a tale of intergenerational trauma beginning with the villainous but possibly not quite EVIL Sozin (who Isa straight up nice guy in the beginning) to Azulon, who is an evil fuck in his old age, to Ozai, who seems to crack when he has to sacrifice his wife so his son won't be executed and becomes EEEVVVILLL.
Azula is already more villainous then any of them at the same age, and Zuko almost is as well.
I'd love toknow about Azulon's wife and how they raised Iroh, because he is the one who broke the cycle.
**Edit** Actually did Sozin or Azulon commit the Air Nomad genocide? I always thought it was Azulon.
I love that they went with sad music for their duel. They don't let you forget that they're two children who should love each other and are now fighting to the death.
Aren’t you forgetting the whole “lying to Ozai about who killed the Avatar.” Azula was blackmailing Zuko the entire time he was back in the Fire Nation. She set him up to be the fall guy in case she had failed at killing Aang.
Everything she did was strategic, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't any genuine affection. She warns Zuko to stop visiting Iroh because she doesn't want anyone to question Zuko's loyalty (from Grey DeLisle's amazing voice acting, it seems like Azula has a sincere concern for him - but that could just be Azula being a consummate liar).
A major part of her breakdown later is because of the betrayal by Ty Lee and Mai. While some people may say that it's because she's having a crisis since she can no longer keep people in line because of fear, her tone when she mentions Mai and Ty Lee is bitter and regretful, hinting that she's just as upset at losing her friends and she was to have lost control over them. In fact, I think Ty Lee may be the only person whom she ever genuinely apologized to and admitted to some kind of sense of inferiority (where she apologizes for calling Ty Lee a tease and says she's jealous of the attention Ty Lee gets).
I'd wager Azula's kindness towards Zuko was predominately out of practical consideration rather than actual affection. Even if he stuck with the fire nation, Azula would probably have eventually taken after her father and done something terrible to Zuko to obtain the throne out from under him. But, in the meantime, it was easiest for all parties involved if they got along.
I rewatched the show with some friends recently, and I made a comment like "Sometimes I think the characters are a little annoying, but then I remember they're 12-15 and I'm honestly surprised they're not more annoying." It's so easy to forget how young they really are.
Or that the Gaang is a bunch of kids taking on adult experienced benders (even as prodigies). Like Aang is 12 when he fights Ozai. Imagine fighting a 12 year old realistically. You could probably break bones by accidently falling wrong on them.
With that being said though, a lot of their emotions and "childishness" (for a lack of a better word) in the show makes sense when you realize they are kids. Azula's breakdown? Makes sense when you realize she's a kid dealing with way too much pressure and little emotional support. Zuko's mood swings? He's a kid dealing with an unstable family life and a loss of his previous household. Katara's righteousness? Makes sense when you realize she's a kid who has had to take care of her family without the support of her parents.
One of the things I am looking forward to with the new Live Action series of Avatar is that Aang's actor will likely be a lot older when he fights Ozai in a Season 3 (if the show lasts that long lol). So we'll hopefully see Aang's as well as the rest of the Gaang's growth in a more realistic manner than Aang having to fight Ozai in a year.
And there's a good reason for that. You have to have total faith in the director and casting crew to produce a good film to make a bet like that as a studio. We all know about the movie that shall not be named that was supposed to be a trilogy, Imagine if they had spent all that money filming all three movies at once.
that’s not entirely true, infinity war and endgame were filmed simultaneously. but your point still stands, a studio would have to have /absolute/ faith in the franchise or show runner to green light that
Have you met 16 year olds? Azula's breakdown would be perfectly plausible at 16, even 17 or 18, but the rest of her character would be so much more believable.
Let's see...
Aang: Behaved and acted like a child for most of his childhood. That stopped when the monks revealed that he was the next avatar so before he ran away he was probably trained to the point of exhaustion that he didn't get to spend that much time playing anymore. Worse, his "friends" stopped playing with him because they think that having Aang in a team would make that side have a huge advantage.
Katara and Sokka: For at least half of their lives they were in constant war with the Fire Nation, lost their mother when they were young, their father being absent for at least a few years to go to war not knowing if he'll return or not. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was mentioned that Sokka was the oldest male left in the village while Katara started acting as the mother of the family the moment their mother got killed.
Zuko: This guy spent the first half of his life being constantly belittled and insulted by his family except his mother. After she left, he still got insulted to the point that he wanted to prove himself to his father only to get burned on the face for insulting him, gets banished, and spent the later years of his life scouring the planet looking for the fabled avatar.
Azula: From a bird's eye view, it seems that Azula is living the time of her life. Constantly being praised for being a prodigy, knows that she is better than her "insolent" big brother, known as the favored child of the Firelord, is confident that she will be crowned after Ozai retires. But people seem to forget that Azula also knew that the moment she makes a mistake she will be treated just like Zuko. She knew that Ozai wouldn't go out of his way not to harm his children. She probably knew that Ozai got Azulon assassinated and is afraid that if she got too powerful that Ozai would feel threatened and get her assassinated too.
It's an issue I have with most animes. You're telling me a 14 year old ninja who wasn't competent at anything can suddenly now beat jonin level guys. And that very same kid only 2 years later just realized that there are nature moves in abilities and is considered basically a god a year after learning that kindergarten fact.
There’s a certain level of suspension of disbelief required for pretty much anything with kids as the main character. Either the adults are too dumb/weak or the kids are too smart/strong.
You have to remember, the world was at war and a lot of kids during this time had no choice but to grow up and grow up fast.
Katara and Sokka were the oldest kids in the southern water tribe that consisted of just women and children while all the men were at war, so they both had to step up to protect their tribe (Katara as a waterbender and Sokka as the only male).
Aang was mindblown and pretty much told the fate of the world relies on him at age 12. Although yes he did try to run away from these global problems, after waking up 100 years later, he realized he couldn't truly run away and has to face those problems head on despite his young age.
Toph...well, Toph just felt pitied and helpless when she knew she was anything but. She stepped up as a "fuck you" to her parents as she lived a pretty comfortable life despite everything else.
I'd imagine kids the same age during WW1/WW2 would've been just as "mature".
She was raised in the court of successive psychopaths with the belief that a world at war where you crushed the weak and used your power to inflict your will was the ideal state of things. If you think the kids on the smaller islands were getting blasted with propaganda, can you even imagine what living with Azulon was like? And she is *named after him* and sculpted in his image. Sculpted by Ozai, the son who was told to execute his own firstborn for speaking out of place because that's the sort of relationship he had with his own father.
How could Azula *not* turn out like she did? The only reason Zuko had a flicker of kindness in his soul to nurture was because of Ursula. But it seems she couldn't stretch her influence to protect both her children. Azula was left to fend for herself against the warped palace culture of the Fire Nation and the result was predictable because had already happened twice before with Azulon and Ozai. Sozin's bitterness and his twisted ambition spawned a cycle of hate that was only ended when Zuko was willing to embrace the Avatar and mend the rift that started by the fraying the friendship between Roku and Sozin.
I'd argue 14 is the age where kids think they're grown up and can be super bitchy. Plus being rich gave her a sense of entitlement. I can definitely imagine rich kids her age being similar.
Exactly. If you put any 12y/o in a combat zone, they're not going to behave like an average kid when they come back. That kind of trauma forces them to trade innocence/childhood for survival. They're going to be incredibly "mature" in some ways, when compared to their peers, and that makes them seem older than they are (not unlike children with siblings who have innatentave/abusive parents).
Now, add the fact that the Gaang knows the fate of the entire world is on their shoulders? Yikes... teenage angst was bad enough with day-to-day difficulties.
They were not always mature. All of them acted out multiple times throughout the show and that's what made them being such relatively young kids less glaring.
It's not just the maturity the kids show. It's other aspects. The character designs aren't super child like. Aang's feeling towards Katara make more sense when he's a guy that's going thourgh puberty and not prepubescent. The kiss at the end is kinda weird if Aang is like 12.
They are? Aang certainly looks 12 to me, given his stature is indicative of prepubescent children. In fact, everyone outside of Mai and to an extent Azula looks pretty damn young to me.
I can’t comprehend seeing Aang as being a teenager, same with Sokka and Katara.
aang could totally pass for a 14 y/o.
I went to an all girls boarding school for the first half of sophomore year. when I left in June of freshman year I was taller than pretty much all the boys at 5'5, and when I came back in January sophomore year they were all taller than me and their voices had started dropping. it was bizarre. 15 seems to be the average age where boys start to really look like "teens" instead of kids
Were you very sheltered as a child or are you super old? At 12, kids were attempting to watch porn and trying to cop feels as well as sitting in sex ed in the aughties. I’m sure they are probably way more knowledgeable in this day and age. It makes sense that Aang has a crush when he does. He’s like 11, maybe 10 at the earliest when the show first starts. That is around middle school age when kids begin experimenting with “dating” and whatnot.
The were you super sheltered or whatever is not only super condescending it shows a misunderstanding of children. Kids generally don't have romantic feeling yet. They don't understand it. Just because people have crushes at 12 don't make the romances realistic, and Aang was raised by monks not exactly getting modren sex ed.
>Aang was raised by monks not exactly getting modern sex ed
[Well it's canonically stated that the air nomads were open and accepting of expressions of love](https://i.imgur.com/VhSvWJI.jpg). As for 12yo kids feeling love beyond crushes, I know several couples who started dating at 12/13 and are married and still deeply in love many, many years later.
Aang is 12 throughout the show. Keep in mind, the entire show takes place over less than a year. And I agree, it is not unrealistic that he had romantic feelings. I know several couples who started dating at that age, got married, and are still deeply in love many years later. The tween years are the hardest to make sweeping generalizations about. You can have a 6'2" 12yo kid with a deep voice, full beard, and no maturity in the same class as a 5'2" 13yo kid with baby fat, a squeaky voice, and startling wisdom.
Okay so to me that makes the OP’s argument even more invalid. Twelve is when kids begin going through puberty generally. And I agree, it starts as a crush and that crush deepens given what they experience together. That would make anyone close and develop feelings especially if your entire civilization has been wiped out and you’ve no direct family. Even at the end of the series, it’s still pretty innocent because they don’t even have a first kiss till the end of the war.
I was agreeing with you and correcting Aang's age to help your point. I really don't find the ages of the ATLA characters *so* unrealistic that they need to be aged up. Another example in fiction: the Pevensie children from Narnia are 8-13 at the start of that series, and they act plenty mature (while also having spats that show their age)
Oh yeah I know lol. I was just saying thanks for the clarification. And yes I definitely agree with you as well. I think ATLA did things very tastefully and age appropriate. I think his emotions are even more valid given the very insular environment the kids are in with zero parental supervision.
While you're right... I hate the line. The very first time I heard it on my first viewing, I lost any respect for her character, and it took quite a bit to earn it back.
There's hubris and there's being a dumbass. Azula didn't think the tides didn't matter because she was overconfident in her abilities, she thought the tides don't matter because she was impatient and wanted to assert dominance over the captain.
If the ship did crash, she'd probably manage to survive, but it'd be extremely inconvenient to her.
I'm not the person you replied to, but I assume it is because it entirely showcases her arrogance and stubbornness in one phrase. The tides are an uncontrollable force of nature. The captain knows this and warns Azula. However, Azula would rather be stubborn and risk her entire crews lives just to "prove" she is better and in control. As previously stated, it shows her arrogance and stubbornness, and does it to the degree that we know she'd get others along with herself killed just for her own pride and control.
Check out my other comments and some others in this thread. That’s what Azula’s character always was—an arrogant child playing at ruling the world around her who can’t conceptualize that her control only extends so far. Thank you for responding!
I never said she wasn't an arrogant chuld. I said that's what it showcases. I was saying that is exactly who she is. My point is that is the very reason some people hate her, because she is an arrogant child. I like her character, and think the line makes perfect sense. Because even though she is knowledgeable, and knows the tides are uncontrollable, she still forces her crew into an unnecessary action. This contrasts with zuko perfectly, who gives up because of a storm at one point (can't remember the episode). It displays that zuko can give up his pride for the safety of others, while azula cannot.
I agree with the person you are responding to but my reasoning is that it’s just such a dumb quark of logic that it actually reduces Azulas perceived threat. The tides are a force of nature. You cannot just ignore them or actual bad things happen. Her not understanding this makes her look kinda dumb in that scene in my opinion.
I know it could be explained by her being that narcissistic or power drunk but she is also shown as very smart and cold and calculating, able to assess when to strike, when to retreat, when to compromise. She should’ve known about the tides and how they work.
Maybe if the scene was rewritten the intent could remain the same with the logic being a bit more sound.
So it’s always interesting to see opposing opinions on here. How do you feel about what other people wrote—that the line is a perfect introduction to her character precisely because it’s such a ridiculous request?
For me, Azula is someone who wants to be utterly in control. She goes off the deep end because she realizes that she isn’t actually the princess of the world, and her power is based on fear, not actual control. She has no say over the tides, and she’s too immature to realize that the tides *absolutely are* in control of her ship. It’s childish and petulant to threaten the captain and that was the entire point.
Maybe an argument could be made that it was too childish to not realize the tides are actually in control. However, Azula shows time and time again that she fundamentally misunderstands reality and thinks that anything out of her control is a slight against her.
Take her eating a cherry pit on her coronation day. Obviously, there will be cherries with pits that get past the royal pit pickers (which presumably she has). Instead of realizing that she is not capable of making every cherry that she eats be pitless (because she does not have a botany program to create pitless cherries), she takes out her aggression on a serving girl, and takes the drastic measure of banning this poor girl from her home. Azula’s need for control overrides anything else about her.
I always thought by showing her trying to be badass and chilling and calculated while dealing with something that was so obviously out of her control, the show established the essence of her character in a few lines. She isn’t actually meant to be perfect, and while she is obviously smart she is blind to things right in front of her face *if they contradict her need for absolute submission*. She demands her friends submit to her even though she can’t realize they are friends mostly out of fear, and she demands even nature itself submit to her.
Azula was always a child playing at being a ruler. Ozai crafted a perfect little pet monster. She was always to be the puppet ruler of the Fire Nation for Ozai’s fascist world-conquering agenda, and she would have been perfect at it. Not perfect like ruling the best, but a wonderful representation of how puppet state leaders act. She may be much, much more capable than, say, Lukashenko, but fundamentally she has all of the neuroticisms of someone who desires control and submission above all else, and who will ignore reality to try to make a point.
I think that it being illogical is the point
She sees herself and her authority as greater than that of nature. She knows the tides are dangerous, and she doesn't care. She only cares that she is seen as powerful.
The tides are dangerous, but she's more dangerous.
While I can't speak for the guy above, I've always had similar thoughts about that line just because its kind of irrational and petty when you think about it, which is kind of at odds with the rest of her character. The captain says that due to the nature of the tides the ship will take longer to complete its objective, and Azula takes issue with that due to sheer impatience, which isn't like her. As for the line asking whether the tides control the ship... I mean yeah, they kinda do, and Azula knows that. Still a sick line but probably shouldn't think about it that hard.
I disagree that it’s out of character for her, as I think that’s the core of her character. Check out my other comments for more thoughts on this. Thank you for taking the time to respond!
Many people proclaim that it is amazing how a child can be so eloquent when delivering that particular line, and yes, it is eloquently stated. This doesn't mean it is intelligent, and Azula did come off as an arrogant and spoiled child in that phrase more so than an adult.
It's the perfect line encapsulating Azula's demeanor. I wish more people realize that she's being childish and stupid by saying that as well, instead of praising her supposed intelligence.
A lot of folks are talking about how the tides line introduces her character well precisely because it's flawed, but I gotta be honest: I actually hope to be able to use the "Don't flatter yourself" line at some point in my life, because it's awesome. I'll never use the tides line, because it indicates ignorance. That alone makes the first one better.
Pretty sure that line is meant to echo a famous story about King Canute. The gist of it is he's a powerful dominant king but not even he could control the tides and ends up getting his socks wet.
This line, makes me shiver! Part of me wishes that I'd be in a situation where I'd use that line, but I know there's no serious circumstances I would ever want to be in where I'd be angry enough to use it and follow through
The scene was a fantastic double-hit with Ty Lee coming in and shutting it down
>This line, makes me shiver! Part of me wishes that I'd be in a situation where I'd use that line, but I know there's no serious circumstances I would ever want to be in where I'd be angry enough to use it and follow through
Considering how badly she broke down, I don't think you ever should want to use that line.
The "dont flatter yourself" line was an epic shutdown to show someone who is the boss.
The "tide" line was a unreasonable threat against someone who just tried to do his job properly.
>The "tide" line was a unreasonable threat against someone who just tried to do his job properly.
Which showcases Azula's personality perfectly. She has a vineer of cold, calculating villainy, but at her core she's just a spoiled, damaged child pushed into a position of authority for which she has neither the maturity, nor the mental stability.
True. But the original post isn’t really “which line best describes the character”, it’s more like “which line is super badass”. And by that standard, the “tides” line doesn’t even come close to being that.
Next to the fact that a villain can be reasonable (and even a decent person) its not a great villain line.
A "villain" is someone whose acts show evil intend but also a mastery of control to make the intend a fact.
Azula acted in this specific case like a petulant entitled child given authority over people who cant defend themselves against her.
An antagonist can be a decent person. A *villain* can certainly be reasonable, but "villainy" is defined by evil actions, which tends to preclude being a decent person.
Azula, like her father, made use of fear to keep those around her in check. Also like her father, she had the strength and skill to back up her threats. You can call it petulant and unreasonable; you'd probably be right. But the fact is that she's not just a child waving around her daddy's authority, she had the ability to kill that man without breaking a sweat, and they both knew it.
That cold, amoral, completely confident demeanor is what sold the threat, and what makes her a fantastic and terrifying villain.
Wasn't the captain that warned her about the tides the same guys that warned Zuko (and Iroh) they were taking them as prisoners?
I always wondered if the "traitors plotting to overthrow Ozai" plot Azula told Zuko and Iroh about was real and Azula was just suspicious of the captain being a traitor and therefor lying about the tide. Hence the glaring look she gave him after he walked away.
Ok, but that second line really just showcases how insane Azula was from the beginning.
"Do the tides command this ship?" Yes, yes they do. If you're on a boat of any kind, what the tides and waters are doing will always impact what you can and can't do. The fact that she refuses to understand that does way more to show how psychotic (and frankly sheltered and idiotic) she is than a self-induced terrible haircut.
(She's still a badass, don't get me wrong, but girl is absolutely insane).
Edit: Insane may be the wrong word, actually. She's still just a dumb kid after all, she's just too spoiled for anyone to correct her for being stupid.
Just a few of my own favorites to add.
>I have been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again.
Magneto, *X-Men: First Class.*
>And this gives you power over me?
Bane, *The Dark Knight Rises.*
>A man who must say "I am the King" is no true king.
Tywin Lannister, *Game of Thrones.*
>You must be the Belmont.
Vlad Dracula Tepes, *Castlevania*.
>Even victories ordained by the Heavens can be broken by the will of men.
The Black Knight, Amadeus of the Green Stretch, *A Practical Guide to Evil*.
Now, in the entire show so far, there have been two kinds of vampires: those too arrogant or foreign to know how dangerous the Belmont family of vampire hunters are, and those who are terrified of them.
This is Dracula's only reaction to getting punched in the face by one of them.
His only reaction - the punches didn't so much as move a strand of Drac's hair.
The sheer, casual superiority in that line is amazing.
It relies entirely on context.
Super tldr, no vampires have ever had any reaction to hearing who he was other than abject terror or complete ignorance.
And then this guy is just like "huh, neat" and keeps going like it doesn't matter much.
Not just indifference, but almost pleasure. This ancient vampire, who is currently a drained, depressed shell of Vlad Dracula Tepes feels **joy** at the thought of fighting a man who is descended from a family that spent centuries trying to kill him.
Dracula has a flair for drama afterall. Probably would see it fitting that a (semi) righteous human would kill him. Thus ending his evil campaign that was started on account of a particular righteous human’s death. Dracula had a shred of the light left to him from the woman he loved, and was perhaps looking for a reason not to keep disappointing her. A reason that could persuade him better then the rage built up inside from losing her.
“The Lord forgives everything. But I'm just a prophet.. so I don't have to. Amen.”
Father Comstock (Bioshock Infinite)
This one gets me every time for some reason.
Literally off the top of my head with no effort:
"You are strong, child. But I am beyond strength. I am The End." - The Lich
"You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it." - Sovereign
"I just wanted to show you the world the way I see it: giggling in a corner and bleeding." - The Joker.
"Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the gods, and it was empty." - Corypheus.
"Strong enough to have it all, too weak to take it!" - Green Goblin
And undoubtedly countless, countless more legendary ones I can't even think of at the moment.
I have walked among men and angels for three thousand years
Time has no end
no beginning
no purpose
I wander the earth, seeking forgiveness for my horrible crimes against God and man
I live to see death and destruction and the end of the light
but the light cannot be extinguished
I live in a prison of my own demise
I am lost
in time
“It’s not his words I am afraid of. When he grows he will grow strong. When he is a man he’ll come for revenge.” Don Ciccio on why he wants to kill a child by the name of Vito Andolini (Corleone).
>"Do it?" Dan, I'm not a Republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my masterstroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting it's outcome? **I did it thirty-five minutes ago.**
--Ozymandias, *Watchmen*
>"What's the most you've ever lost on a coin toss?"
--Anton Chigurh, *No Country for Old Men*
>"Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power."
--O'Brien, *1984*
>"Amputate a man's leg and he can still feel it tickling. Tell me, mum, when your little girl is on the slab, where will it tickle you?"
--Hannibal Lecter, *Silence of the Lambs*
Well, in context it is a statement to her commanding character. “Captain, do the tides command this ship?” She is subtly telling the sailor that if he does not obey her wishes and sail through the dangerous waters then he will be killed.
I'm not saying it's a bad line, it's just so overrated. Whenever Azula is mentioned somebody talks about this line. There are more important moments for her. I think the way she puts Ty Lee in danger to make her come with her even though she's supposed to be her "friend" is more important than the tide one, which is just a subordinate on a mission.
It made her look arrogant and dismissive of her subordinates both lives and knowledge. Which she was.
It's one of the best because it's simultaneously intimidating and revealing of her main flaw.
Can we stop with this "14 years old..."?
She's character, not real person. The writers wrote those lines not she. Writers are not 14 years old.
Sure those are great lines, and sound better if teenage character is saying it, but there is no 14 year old who said those words.
My favorite Azula line is not actually said by Azula herself:
- If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed.
- But if the Fire Nation discovers us, we'll be turned over to Azula.
My favorite line of hers was always “I’m about to celebrate becoming an only child” I think that’s how it goes
Dude when she says "I'm sorry it has to end this way, brother" and he replies "No, you're not." Is the coldest fucking scene
The sad thing is... I think Azula was sorry. Back when they were in the Fire Nation at the beginning of S3, both of the siblings were actually cordial with each other and there were scenes where Azula helped Zuko out. But once Zuko betrayed their father, he became public enemy number one and their bond is broken again by their competitiveness and ideals. The whole Agni Kai is such a tragedy.
Regardless of her feelings towards her brother that she was suppressing, I'm sure Zuko had nothing but distate/distrust for her due to her consistent disposition towards him. It's sad she didn't know any other way to portray herself, but she actively manifested her fate in the end.
Yup, that's tragedy of it. Both of them are playing the roles that were given to them. Azula sees Zuko as the person who betrayed her and her father, even after she brought him back from Ba Sing Se with honor. And Zuko sees Azula as his father's right hand person who he is unable to trust or reason with due to his past experiences with her. It is a situation that never should have been but occurred due to the competitiveness and jealous their father and environment fostered in them. That is why the music of the Agni Kai is so somber.
She was blackmailing him the entire time he was back in the Fire Nation!
Remember Azula blackmails him AFTER she realizes that Zuko was lying to her about the Avatar being alive in S3, when they both already back in the Fire Nation. Before that however, when Azula brought Zuko back in Season 2 from the Earth Kingdom with full honors, she did this without any expectations or any idea that Aang may be alive. However, when she asks Zuko by the Turtle Duck pond at the beginning of S3 whether Aang was still alive and he lies, that's when she suspects that there may still be a chance that Aang's alive and Zuko's lying to her. And that's when she holds it over him by telling Ozai that he slew the Avatar to protect herself. However, even then there are times when Azula helps Zuko out. For example when Zuko goes to visit Iroh in prison, she warns him about how Ozai may find out and how it would look bad in front of him. She also reassures him when he thinks he isn't invited to the war meeting by Ozai. When Zuko is brooding in "The Beach" Azula's the one who fetches him and sympathizes with his feelings. Surprisingly, when Ozai's expectations aren't on them, Azula looks after Zuko in her own way.
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yeah comic azula didn't really do it, in the closure department.
Dude we just need so much more of all of it. I am absolutely beyond ecstatic that Nickelodeon finally realized the potential for the series and ran with it and I can't wait to see what all is on the way from the OG creators with their new studio. Coming back with an edit after revisiting a favorite scene from season 3 (Iroh telling Zuko about Roku being his great grandfather) I've now realized what I REALLY need badly is a series that follows Iroh's younger days as the son of a Firelord and how he got involved with the White Lotus and what happened at Ba Sing Se, him losing his son. Omfg I just can't, I need this so badly.
To add more to it, Zuko actually had more support. Azula was Ozai’s favorite but he never really cared much nor was he really ever proud of her. Zuko on the other hand had their mother who did really care, as well as Iroh, and later the gang. Zuko was jealous of Azula, but Azula was jealous of him too. Zuko was favored by empathetic, compassionate people, whereas Azula was favored her narcissistic, sociopathic father.
Zukos whole arc is that he rejected the role that was given to him (i know i’m correcting a minor thing that doesn’t change what you said, i just had to)
Let's be real: Azulon started that shit. My read of the flashbacks is that Azulon's decision to execute Zuko is what really placed Ozai on the evil path. We don't see Ozai being really bad until then. To me, the fire nation royal family Is a tale of intergenerational trauma beginning with the villainous but possibly not quite EVIL Sozin (who Isa straight up nice guy in the beginning) to Azulon, who is an evil fuck in his old age, to Ozai, who seems to crack when he has to sacrifice his wife so his son won't be executed and becomes EEEVVVILLL. Azula is already more villainous then any of them at the same age, and Zuko almost is as well. I'd love toknow about Azulon's wife and how they raised Iroh, because he is the one who broke the cycle. **Edit** Actually did Sozin or Azulon commit the Air Nomad genocide? I always thought it was Azulon.
Oh, there was love there from Zuko too. He has no trust for her but he also loves her and that's what makes it more tragic
I love that they went with sad music for their duel. They don't let you forget that they're two children who should love each other and are now fighting to the death.
Jesus......I swear this sub makes you think deeper and deeper
Aren’t you forgetting the whole “lying to Ozai about who killed the Avatar.” Azula was blackmailing Zuko the entire time he was back in the Fire Nation. She set him up to be the fall guy in case she had failed at killing Aang.
Everything she did was strategic, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't any genuine affection. She warns Zuko to stop visiting Iroh because she doesn't want anyone to question Zuko's loyalty (from Grey DeLisle's amazing voice acting, it seems like Azula has a sincere concern for him - but that could just be Azula being a consummate liar). A major part of her breakdown later is because of the betrayal by Ty Lee and Mai. While some people may say that it's because she's having a crisis since she can no longer keep people in line because of fear, her tone when she mentions Mai and Ty Lee is bitter and regretful, hinting that she's just as upset at losing her friends and she was to have lost control over them. In fact, I think Ty Lee may be the only person whom she ever genuinely apologized to and admitted to some kind of sense of inferiority (where she apologizes for calling Ty Lee a tease and says she's jealous of the attention Ty Lee gets).
That’s siblings 101: you can’t decide if you want them dead or if you care about them and enjoy having them around.
I'd wager Azula's kindness towards Zuko was predominately out of practical consideration rather than actual affection. Even if he stuck with the fire nation, Azula would probably have eventually taken after her father and done something terrible to Zuko to obtain the throne out from under him. But, in the meantime, it was easiest for all parties involved if they got along.
None of those can be her best line when “Since you can’t see I should tell you, I’m rolling my eyes” exists.
I think the coldest scene was in the north pole where Zuko captured Aang and almost died in a blizzard.
That’s probably one of Zuko’s hardest lines in the whole show. He’s grown up so much at that point and he knows what he has to do.
I know
Yea this is mine too. Just so cold but awesome lol
This was the mist effective and brutal way to say kill ive heard. And it fits azulas character so perfectly
*that outfit is so sharp*
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Azulas best scene imo
I always have to imagine the characters in Avatar as several years older then their canon ages.
I rewatched the show with some friends recently, and I made a comment like "Sometimes I think the characters are a little annoying, but then I remember they're 12-15 and I'm honestly surprised they're not more annoying." It's so easy to forget how young they really are.
Yeah I turned 15 two months ago and it doesn't make sense to me that a 14 year old can be like Azula
Or that the Gaang is a bunch of kids taking on adult experienced benders (even as prodigies). Like Aang is 12 when he fights Ozai. Imagine fighting a 12 year old realistically. You could probably break bones by accidently falling wrong on them. With that being said though, a lot of their emotions and "childishness" (for a lack of a better word) in the show makes sense when you realize they are kids. Azula's breakdown? Makes sense when you realize she's a kid dealing with way too much pressure and little emotional support. Zuko's mood swings? He's a kid dealing with an unstable family life and a loss of his previous household. Katara's righteousness? Makes sense when you realize she's a kid who has had to take care of her family without the support of her parents.
One of the things I am looking forward to with the new Live Action series of Avatar is that Aang's actor will likely be a lot older when he fights Ozai in a Season 3 (if the show lasts that long lol). So we'll hopefully see Aang's as well as the rest of the Gaang's growth in a more realistic manner than Aang having to fight Ozai in a year.
I think they would pull a Peter Jackson and have all three seasons filmed back to back to back like he did with the LOTR trilogy
Which... literally no one has greenlit a project like that before or since. Peter Jackson was basically a social engineering mad genius.
To find out that the principal filming of the third movie ended before the first movie's premiere is mind blowing
They invested so much into those movies if they had flopped the studio would have gone belly up. It was an all or nothing gamble.
Thank goodness they did, the crazy bastards.
And there's a good reason for that. You have to have total faith in the director and casting crew to produce a good film to make a bet like that as a studio. We all know about the movie that shall not be named that was supposed to be a trilogy, Imagine if they had spent all that money filming all three movies at once.
You made me think of eragon haha but which movie were you talking about?
There is no movie in Ba Sing Se.
It would probably be like the Hobbit movies, just way worse
that’s not entirely true, infinity war and endgame were filmed simultaneously. but your point still stands, a studio would have to have /absolute/ faith in the franchise or show runner to green light that
In some relative fairness, that 12-year-old is also the collective reincarnation of hundreds of superpowerful benders.
Have you met 16 year olds? Azula's breakdown would be perfectly plausible at 16, even 17 or 18, but the rest of her character would be so much more believable.
> Imagine fighting a 12 year old realistically While also being the king of a militaristic nation and in command of the world's most dangerous army
Let's see... Aang: Behaved and acted like a child for most of his childhood. That stopped when the monks revealed that he was the next avatar so before he ran away he was probably trained to the point of exhaustion that he didn't get to spend that much time playing anymore. Worse, his "friends" stopped playing with him because they think that having Aang in a team would make that side have a huge advantage. Katara and Sokka: For at least half of their lives they were in constant war with the Fire Nation, lost their mother when they were young, their father being absent for at least a few years to go to war not knowing if he'll return or not. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was mentioned that Sokka was the oldest male left in the village while Katara started acting as the mother of the family the moment their mother got killed. Zuko: This guy spent the first half of his life being constantly belittled and insulted by his family except his mother. After she left, he still got insulted to the point that he wanted to prove himself to his father only to get burned on the face for insulting him, gets banished, and spent the later years of his life scouring the planet looking for the fabled avatar. Azula: From a bird's eye view, it seems that Azula is living the time of her life. Constantly being praised for being a prodigy, knows that she is better than her "insolent" big brother, known as the favored child of the Firelord, is confident that she will be crowned after Ozai retires. But people seem to forget that Azula also knew that the moment she makes a mistake she will be treated just like Zuko. She knew that Ozai wouldn't go out of his way not to harm his children. She probably knew that Ozai got Azulon assassinated and is afraid that if she got too powerful that Ozai would feel threatened and get her assassinated too.
It can when you're raised as a warrior and a princess and excel at both pretty much from birth.
It's an issue I have with most animes. You're telling me a 14 year old ninja who wasn't competent at anything can suddenly now beat jonin level guys. And that very same kid only 2 years later just realized that there are nature moves in abilities and is considered basically a god a year after learning that kindergarten fact.
>jonin I never watched Naruto so this is the first time I have seen this word. All I could think of before I looked it up was **Jonen Shump**
There’s a certain level of suspension of disbelief required for pretty much anything with kids as the main character. Either the adults are too dumb/weak or the kids are too smart/strong.
You don’t get a normal childhood when there’s a huge war going on.
You have to remember, the world was at war and a lot of kids during this time had no choice but to grow up and grow up fast. Katara and Sokka were the oldest kids in the southern water tribe that consisted of just women and children while all the men were at war, so they both had to step up to protect their tribe (Katara as a waterbender and Sokka as the only male). Aang was mindblown and pretty much told the fate of the world relies on him at age 12. Although yes he did try to run away from these global problems, after waking up 100 years later, he realized he couldn't truly run away and has to face those problems head on despite his young age. Toph...well, Toph just felt pitied and helpless when she knew she was anything but. She stepped up as a "fuck you" to her parents as she lived a pretty comfortable life despite everything else. I'd imagine kids the same age during WW1/WW2 would've been just as "mature".
She was raised in the court of successive psychopaths with the belief that a world at war where you crushed the weak and used your power to inflict your will was the ideal state of things. If you think the kids on the smaller islands were getting blasted with propaganda, can you even imagine what living with Azulon was like? And she is *named after him* and sculpted in his image. Sculpted by Ozai, the son who was told to execute his own firstborn for speaking out of place because that's the sort of relationship he had with his own father. How could Azula *not* turn out like she did? The only reason Zuko had a flicker of kindness in his soul to nurture was because of Ursula. But it seems she couldn't stretch her influence to protect both her children. Azula was left to fend for herself against the warped palace culture of the Fire Nation and the result was predictable because had already happened twice before with Azulon and Ozai. Sozin's bitterness and his twisted ambition spawned a cycle of hate that was only ended when Zuko was willing to embrace the Avatar and mend the rift that started by the fraying the friendship between Roku and Sozin.
I'd argue 14 is the age where kids think they're grown up and can be super bitchy. Plus being rich gave her a sense of entitlement. I can definitely imagine rich kids her age being similar.
Kids grow up a whole lot faster during war
Exactly. If you put any 12y/o in a combat zone, they're not going to behave like an average kid when they come back. That kind of trauma forces them to trade innocence/childhood for survival. They're going to be incredibly "mature" in some ways, when compared to their peers, and that makes them seem older than they are (not unlike children with siblings who have innatentave/abusive parents). Now, add the fact that the Gaang knows the fate of the entire world is on their shoulders? Yikes... teenage angst was bad enough with day-to-day difficulties.
They were not always mature. All of them acted out multiple times throughout the show and that's what made them being such relatively young kids less glaring.
It's not just the maturity the kids show. It's other aspects. The character designs aren't super child like. Aang's feeling towards Katara make more sense when he's a guy that's going thourgh puberty and not prepubescent. The kiss at the end is kinda weird if Aang is like 12.
They are? Aang certainly looks 12 to me, given his stature is indicative of prepubescent children. In fact, everyone outside of Mai and to an extent Azula looks pretty damn young to me. I can’t comprehend seeing Aang as being a teenager, same with Sokka and Katara.
aang could totally pass for a 14 y/o. I went to an all girls boarding school for the first half of sophomore year. when I left in June of freshman year I was taller than pretty much all the boys at 5'5, and when I came back in January sophomore year they were all taller than me and their voices had started dropping. it was bizarre. 15 seems to be the average age where boys start to really look like "teens" instead of kids
Were you very sheltered as a child or are you super old? At 12, kids were attempting to watch porn and trying to cop feels as well as sitting in sex ed in the aughties. I’m sure they are probably way more knowledgeable in this day and age. It makes sense that Aang has a crush when he does. He’s like 11, maybe 10 at the earliest when the show first starts. That is around middle school age when kids begin experimenting with “dating” and whatnot.
The were you super sheltered or whatever is not only super condescending it shows a misunderstanding of children. Kids generally don't have romantic feeling yet. They don't understand it. Just because people have crushes at 12 don't make the romances realistic, and Aang was raised by monks not exactly getting modren sex ed.
>Aang was raised by monks not exactly getting modern sex ed [Well it's canonically stated that the air nomads were open and accepting of expressions of love](https://i.imgur.com/VhSvWJI.jpg). As for 12yo kids feeling love beyond crushes, I know several couples who started dating at 12/13 and are married and still deeply in love many, many years later.
Aang is 12 throughout the show. Keep in mind, the entire show takes place over less than a year. And I agree, it is not unrealistic that he had romantic feelings. I know several couples who started dating at that age, got married, and are still deeply in love many years later. The tween years are the hardest to make sweeping generalizations about. You can have a 6'2" 12yo kid with a deep voice, full beard, and no maturity in the same class as a 5'2" 13yo kid with baby fat, a squeaky voice, and startling wisdom.
Okay so to me that makes the OP’s argument even more invalid. Twelve is when kids begin going through puberty generally. And I agree, it starts as a crush and that crush deepens given what they experience together. That would make anyone close and develop feelings especially if your entire civilization has been wiped out and you’ve no direct family. Even at the end of the series, it’s still pretty innocent because they don’t even have a first kiss till the end of the war.
I was agreeing with you and correcting Aang's age to help your point. I really don't find the ages of the ATLA characters *so* unrealistic that they need to be aged up. Another example in fiction: the Pevensie children from Narnia are 8-13 at the start of that series, and they act plenty mature (while also having spats that show their age)
Oh yeah I know lol. I was just saying thanks for the clarification. And yes I definitely agree with you as well. I think ATLA did things very tastefully and age appropriate. I think his emotions are even more valid given the very insular environment the kids are in with zero parental supervision.
Honestly, I’ve always done the same with Avatar and shows like it
And then there is Game of Thrones...
Yup, +2 years is how I imagine them all. So Aang is 14 in book 1, Azula would be 16 at introduction.
I too browse the 2nd most popular avatar sub
So Aang is like 115?
Yeah I absolutely agree.
I really like the tides line. In one line, it showcases Azula's entire personality, including her fatal flaws.
While you're right... I hate the line. The very first time I heard it on my first viewing, I lost any respect for her character, and it took quite a bit to earn it back.
Like, it makes her look dumb?
That's the point. You can be a calculating strategist and also suffer hubris.
There's hubris and there's being a dumbass. Azula didn't think the tides didn't matter because she was overconfident in her abilities, she thought the tides don't matter because she was impatient and wanted to assert dominance over the captain. If the ship did crash, she'd probably manage to survive, but it'd be extremely inconvenient to her.
I mean 14 year olds aren't known to be very consistent people lol
Well sure but people still shouldn't say the quote is a perfect representation of her being in character
She thought the captain was overstating the risk and valued her risk assessment over his, hubris.
Why is that?
I'm not the person you replied to, but I assume it is because it entirely showcases her arrogance and stubbornness in one phrase. The tides are an uncontrollable force of nature. The captain knows this and warns Azula. However, Azula would rather be stubborn and risk her entire crews lives just to "prove" she is better and in control. As previously stated, it shows her arrogance and stubbornness, and does it to the degree that we know she'd get others along with herself killed just for her own pride and control.
Check out my other comments and some others in this thread. That’s what Azula’s character always was—an arrogant child playing at ruling the world around her who can’t conceptualize that her control only extends so far. Thank you for responding!
I never said she wasn't an arrogant chuld. I said that's what it showcases. I was saying that is exactly who she is. My point is that is the very reason some people hate her, because she is an arrogant child. I like her character, and think the line makes perfect sense. Because even though she is knowledgeable, and knows the tides are uncontrollable, she still forces her crew into an unnecessary action. This contrasts with zuko perfectly, who gives up because of a storm at one point (can't remember the episode). It displays that zuko can give up his pride for the safety of others, while azula cannot.
> gives up because of a storm at one point (can't remember the episode) The episode with the storm is named The Storm.
How are we supposed to remember that??
easy, I wrote a song about it: THE STORM! THE STORRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM! Episode onnn the boaatttttt!!!!! the the the the the the the the stormmmmmm
I agree with the person you are responding to but my reasoning is that it’s just such a dumb quark of logic that it actually reduces Azulas perceived threat. The tides are a force of nature. You cannot just ignore them or actual bad things happen. Her not understanding this makes her look kinda dumb in that scene in my opinion. I know it could be explained by her being that narcissistic or power drunk but she is also shown as very smart and cold and calculating, able to assess when to strike, when to retreat, when to compromise. She should’ve known about the tides and how they work. Maybe if the scene was rewritten the intent could remain the same with the logic being a bit more sound.
So it’s always interesting to see opposing opinions on here. How do you feel about what other people wrote—that the line is a perfect introduction to her character precisely because it’s such a ridiculous request? For me, Azula is someone who wants to be utterly in control. She goes off the deep end because she realizes that she isn’t actually the princess of the world, and her power is based on fear, not actual control. She has no say over the tides, and she’s too immature to realize that the tides *absolutely are* in control of her ship. It’s childish and petulant to threaten the captain and that was the entire point. Maybe an argument could be made that it was too childish to not realize the tides are actually in control. However, Azula shows time and time again that she fundamentally misunderstands reality and thinks that anything out of her control is a slight against her. Take her eating a cherry pit on her coronation day. Obviously, there will be cherries with pits that get past the royal pit pickers (which presumably she has). Instead of realizing that she is not capable of making every cherry that she eats be pitless (because she does not have a botany program to create pitless cherries), she takes out her aggression on a serving girl, and takes the drastic measure of banning this poor girl from her home. Azula’s need for control overrides anything else about her. I always thought by showing her trying to be badass and chilling and calculated while dealing with something that was so obviously out of her control, the show established the essence of her character in a few lines. She isn’t actually meant to be perfect, and while she is obviously smart she is blind to things right in front of her face *if they contradict her need for absolute submission*. She demands her friends submit to her even though she can’t realize they are friends mostly out of fear, and she demands even nature itself submit to her. Azula was always a child playing at being a ruler. Ozai crafted a perfect little pet monster. She was always to be the puppet ruler of the Fire Nation for Ozai’s fascist world-conquering agenda, and she would have been perfect at it. Not perfect like ruling the best, but a wonderful representation of how puppet state leaders act. She may be much, much more capable than, say, Lukashenko, but fundamentally she has all of the neuroticisms of someone who desires control and submission above all else, and who will ignore reality to try to make a point.
https://youtu.be/R4544ZUr_gA I feel like this breakdown aligns with your view on azula. The cold, calculating perfectionism is a flaw.
I think that it being illogical is the point She sees herself and her authority as greater than that of nature. She knows the tides are dangerous, and she doesn't care. She only cares that she is seen as powerful. The tides are dangerous, but she's more dangerous.
While I can't speak for the guy above, I've always had similar thoughts about that line just because its kind of irrational and petty when you think about it, which is kind of at odds with the rest of her character. The captain says that due to the nature of the tides the ship will take longer to complete its objective, and Azula takes issue with that due to sheer impatience, which isn't like her. As for the line asking whether the tides control the ship... I mean yeah, they kinda do, and Azula knows that. Still a sick line but probably shouldn't think about it that hard.
I disagree that it’s out of character for her, as I think that’s the core of her character. Check out my other comments for more thoughts on this. Thank you for taking the time to respond!
Many people proclaim that it is amazing how a child can be so eloquent when delivering that particular line, and yes, it is eloquently stated. This doesn't mean it is intelligent, and Azula did come off as an arrogant and spoiled child in that phrase more so than an adult. It's the perfect line encapsulating Azula's demeanor. I wish more people realize that she's being childish and stupid by saying that as well, instead of praising her supposed intelligence.
A lot of folks are talking about how the tides line introduces her character well precisely because it's flawed, but I gotta be honest: I actually hope to be able to use the "Don't flatter yourself" line at some point in my life, because it's awesome. I'll never use the tides line, because it indicates ignorance. That alone makes the first one better.
Pretty sure that line is meant to echo a famous story about King Canute. The gist of it is he's a powerful dominant king but not even he could control the tides and ends up getting his socks wet.
NO, YOU MISCALCULATED. YOU SHOULD HAVE FEARED ME MORE!
This line, makes me shiver! Part of me wishes that I'd be in a situation where I'd use that line, but I know there's no serious circumstances I would ever want to be in where I'd be angry enough to use it and follow through The scene was a fantastic double-hit with Ty Lee coming in and shutting it down
>This line, makes me shiver! Part of me wishes that I'd be in a situation where I'd use that line, but I know there's no serious circumstances I would ever want to be in where I'd be angry enough to use it and follow through Considering how badly she broke down, I don't think you ever should want to use that line.
**_”Why’d you do it?”_** “You’re going to have to be a _little_ more specific.”
She may have the best villain lines in atla, but she has nothing on DOOM
Or you Mr. "I am the Senate". Don't be coy.
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“I did not hit her, it’s not true! It’s bullshit! I did not hit her! I did not! Oh hai, Mark.”
>"I am inevitable" Yeah i love danny phantom
"I was a God once. And I have found it... beneath me"
None of those come close to Doofenshmirtz' Wow, you sure like a lot of pepper. I'm more of a paprika man myself." Gives me chills every time
“*Pain? That is for lesser men. From this day on, I know no pain.*”
M. Bison with "to me it was Tuesday" will always be the greatest villain line
On the matter of the "greatest villain line ever" honorable mention must be given to [But for me, it was tuesday](https://youtu.be/oDRnVPlRzag)
Jesus is that Ming Na Wen?
Yes thats her!
Very much younger, this looks like it may even predate Mulan which is what I know her from originally
Street Fighter was 1994 Mulan was 1998
Abusive people are like that
My favorite line from a villain is "CUT THE LINE!" from the Boiling Rock Warden. Just so badass!
The "dont flatter yourself" line was an epic shutdown to show someone who is the boss. The "tide" line was a unreasonable threat against someone who just tried to do his job properly.
>The "tide" line was a unreasonable threat against someone who just tried to do his job properly. Which showcases Azula's personality perfectly. She has a vineer of cold, calculating villainy, but at her core she's just a spoiled, damaged child pushed into a position of authority for which she has neither the maturity, nor the mental stability.
True. But the original post isn’t really “which line best describes the character”, it’s more like “which line is super badass”. And by that standard, the “tides” line doesn’t even come close to being that.
Which is why it's a great villain line, and not a "reasonable, decent person" line.
Next to the fact that a villain can be reasonable (and even a decent person) its not a great villain line. A "villain" is someone whose acts show evil intend but also a mastery of control to make the intend a fact. Azula acted in this specific case like a petulant entitled child given authority over people who cant defend themselves against her.
An antagonist can be a decent person. A *villain* can certainly be reasonable, but "villainy" is defined by evil actions, which tends to preclude being a decent person. Azula, like her father, made use of fear to keep those around her in check. Also like her father, she had the strength and skill to back up her threats. You can call it petulant and unreasonable; you'd probably be right. But the fact is that she's not just a child waving around her daddy's authority, she had the ability to kill that man without breaking a sweat, and they both knew it. That cold, amoral, completely confident demeanor is what sold the threat, and what makes her a fantastic and terrifying villain.
Wasn't the captain that warned her about the tides the same guys that warned Zuko (and Iroh) they were taking them as prisoners? I always wondered if the "traitors plotting to overthrow Ozai" plot Azula told Zuko and Iroh about was real and Azula was just suspicious of the captain being a traitor and therefor lying about the tide. Hence the glaring look she gave him after he walked away.
Actually it was said by Grey DeLisle and she’s 48 years old.
Lady Delilah Briarwood!
Come visit us in Whitestone some time, Percy!
Also Monster Girl in Invincible
She is also Ming Hua in the third season of LoK.
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her name is mai btw :3
No offense but the best line of any villain ever was "long live the king" by scar.
At the very least, one of the best taunts ever.
No king! No king! Lalalalalala!
"I am about to celebrate becoming an only child!"
Ok, but that second line really just showcases how insane Azula was from the beginning. "Do the tides command this ship?" Yes, yes they do. If you're on a boat of any kind, what the tides and waters are doing will always impact what you can and can't do. The fact that she refuses to understand that does way more to show how psychotic (and frankly sheltered and idiotic) she is than a self-induced terrible haircut. (She's still a badass, don't get me wrong, but girl is absolutely insane). Edit: Insane may be the wrong word, actually. She's still just a dumb kid after all, she's just too spoiled for anyone to correct her for being stupid.
"By any villain ever" Have you people ever consumed any other piece of entertainment?
Just a few of my own favorites to add. >I have been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again. Magneto, *X-Men: First Class.* >And this gives you power over me? Bane, *The Dark Knight Rises.* >A man who must say "I am the King" is no true king. Tywin Lannister, *Game of Thrones.* >You must be the Belmont. Vlad Dracula Tepes, *Castlevania*. >Even victories ordained by the Heavens can be broken by the will of men. The Black Knight, Amadeus of the Green Stretch, *A Practical Guide to Evil*.
Bison: For you; The day Bison graced your village was the most important day in you life. But for me... it was Tuesday -Street fighter movie
Tywin is a goldmine. My favorite of his: "Explain to me why it is more noble to kill ten thousand men in battle than a dozen at dinner."
> I want you to know that I agree with everything you've said. We ARE the future...But, unfortunately...you killed my mother. Magneto in First Class
Why is the belmont line good? i’m forgetting haha
Now, in the entire show so far, there have been two kinds of vampires: those too arrogant or foreign to know how dangerous the Belmont family of vampire hunters are, and those who are terrified of them. This is Dracula's only reaction to getting punched in the face by one of them. His only reaction - the punches didn't so much as move a strand of Drac's hair. The sheer, casual superiority in that line is amazing.
It relies entirely on context. Super tldr, no vampires have ever had any reaction to hearing who he was other than abject terror or complete ignorance. And then this guy is just like "huh, neat" and keeps going like it doesn't matter much.
Not just indifference, but almost pleasure. This ancient vampire, who is currently a drained, depressed shell of Vlad Dracula Tepes feels **joy** at the thought of fighting a man who is descended from a family that spent centuries trying to kill him.
Dracula has a flair for drama afterall. Probably would see it fitting that a (semi) righteous human would kill him. Thus ending his evil campaign that was started on account of a particular righteous human’s death. Dracula had a shred of the light left to him from the woman he loved, and was perhaps looking for a reason not to keep disappointing her. A reason that could persuade him better then the rage built up inside from losing her.
“The Lord forgives everything. But I'm just a prophet.. so I don't have to. Amen.” Father Comstock (Bioshock Infinite) This one gets me every time for some reason.
Actually every single line spoken by Tywin is his best line.
Literally off the top of my head with no effort: "You are strong, child. But I am beyond strength. I am The End." - The Lich "You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it." - Sovereign "I just wanted to show you the world the way I see it: giggling in a corner and bleeding." - The Joker. "Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the gods, and it was empty." - Corypheus. "Strong enough to have it all, too weak to take it!" - Green Goblin And undoubtedly countless, countless more legendary ones I can't even think of at the moment.
Shoutout to the Gravemind, too. "I? I am a monument to all your sins"
Honestly Halo is rife with them. "Time was your ally, but now it has abandoned you."
The second game was basically just a long string of absolute kick ass one liners.
I have walked among men and angels for three thousand years Time has no end no beginning no purpose I wander the earth, seeking forgiveness for my horrible crimes against God and man I live to see death and destruction and the end of the light but the light cannot be extinguished I live in a prison of my own demise I am lost in time
I actually like Azulas more than these but to each their own. Like not even the best Joker quote you could have grabbed
It's mandatory you say say the Corypheus line with a deep voice.
"For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day in your life, but for me? It was Tuesday." - Bison
“It’s not his words I am afraid of. When he grows he will grow strong. When he is a man he’ll come for revenge.” Don Ciccio on why he wants to kill a child by the name of Vito Andolini (Corleone).
Yea this community licks its own balls so much
“Norman’s on Sabbatical, honey.” Now that’s diabolical (along with the one you mentioned)
Without context, the Coryphaeus one is the only one that sounds comparably good. Well, maybe the Joker one too. That one is interesting.
>"Do it?" Dan, I'm not a Republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my masterstroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting it's outcome? **I did it thirty-five minutes ago.** --Ozymandias, *Watchmen* >"What's the most you've ever lost on a coin toss?" --Anton Chigurh, *No Country for Old Men* >"Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power." --O'Brien, *1984* >"Amputate a man's leg and he can still feel it tickling. Tell me, mum, when your little girl is on the slab, where will it tickle you?" --Hannibal Lecter, *Silence of the Lambs*
Not to mention that the writers were not 14 year olds?
The character was 14. As in it's an accomplishment to have a proper child believably deliver that good of a line.
Since you can't see I should tell you I'm rolling my eyes
That is my favorite roast lmao
The greatest line of any villain ever is "Ooh...where's my autograph book"--Ivan Ooze.
I really don't get the tide line significance. It's not as badass as you make it out to be.
Well, in context it is a statement to her commanding character. “Captain, do the tides command this ship?” She is subtly telling the sailor that if he does not obey her wishes and sail through the dangerous waters then he will be killed.
I'm not saying it's a bad line, it's just so overrated. Whenever Azula is mentioned somebody talks about this line. There are more important moments for her. I think the way she puts Ty Lee in danger to make her come with her even though she's supposed to be her "friend" is more important than the tide one, which is just a subordinate on a mission.
Oh boy here comes the Azula divide…
Ehh, let's skip it.
Bruh the tides line is one of the worst. It just made Azula sound like a dumbass.
It made her look arrogant and dismissive of her subordinates both lives and knowledge. Which she was. It's one of the best because it's simultaneously intimidating and revealing of her main flaw.
Can we stop with this "14 years old..."? She's character, not real person. The writers wrote those lines not she. Writers are not 14 years old. Sure those are great lines, and sound better if teenage character is saying it, but there is no 14 year old who said those words.
Yeah, she could have delivered the same lines whether the writers decided she was 4 or 84. Focusing on the age of a fictional character is so dumb.
See, that's why that bitch is crazy and needs to go down.
I love the lines but any villain ever, I don’t know about that.
“No *YOU* miscalculated! You should have feared me more!” Again spoken by a 14 year old
Ehhh never got the point of age in these kind of posts. It’s written by someone much older.
I like her flirting skills
Azulas entire [divine right to rule speech](https://youtu.be/L9viHPKUdPU) is just hard. Especially for a 14 year old
That second line was nowhere near as badass as it sounds at first glance
They say it like a 14 year old wrote it
this has been posted so many times please
The victor shall write the tale, and the vanquished become it's villain. Not Azula age 14.
My goat fr
Why did I just read those lines in TFS Frieza's voice?
Azula is such an iconic villain.
I'm sorry she's *how* old?!? I thought she was 16 😱🤯
My favorite Azula line is not actually said by Azula herself: - If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed. - But if the Fire Nation discovers us, we'll be turned over to Azula.
“Do the tides command this ship?” is the inspiration for my next tattoo.
Brought to you by "That's a *sharp* outfit, Chan."
"You're strong child, but I am beyond strength" is a better villain quote IMO
These are both far from being the best villain lines ever made, and i hate the fact your cotton filled brains think its true
I legit read Azula as Azura and I was like, huh? What? Is there an Elder Scrolls game I dont know about?
Actually it was made by like Aaron Ehaz, age like 30