How Azula and Katara's stories mirror each other in Avatar: The Last Airbender

This video covers some of the parallels between Azula and Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Since they both have relatively similar backstories but go down nearly opposite paths, their characters are a great contrast to each other.

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[mmonrose]

yes!! katara gets so much hate just for being emotionally open lmao

[isthisthekrustykrab]

Am I the only one who gets upset when people downplay their emotional states throughout the series? These two had so much trauma on their hands and had to deal with it a young age.

[ehet]

I personally don't find it annoying when Katara oftenly brings out her mother's demise...because that gives her motivation on keeping moving forward, end injustice, end the war, help the Avatar, and become a SYMPATHETIC what makes her a good support for Aang because that very traumatic experience of her leads her to understand other people...she almost have redemption with Zuko in crystal catacomb (because we all know how she hates Zuko) if not only Zuko betrayed her....and her Sympathetic personality shows up in the episode of the southern raider....how do you think she read her mother's murderer if she doesn't know how to become sympathetic person.

[duchi]

Never noticed the contrast between Katara and Azula
This gives their battle in the Agni Kai with Zuko even more meaning

[sjkdsfsdf]

I Didn't even notice katara being "too emotional" until the the episode were they were watching a play about themselves in a theatre and made katara very dramatic.

[daelenstonemeier]

Am I the only person who noticed that Zuko and aangs relationship almost the exact inverse of Roku and sozins?

[elloniellick]

The fact that A:TLA gave voices to multiple female characters with depth and intelligence is one of the things that makes it so amazing

[linlearnsart]

The women of avatar are amazing characters PERIODT

[tvyvess]

The beach episode showed something we had never seen before, azula apologized to ty lee, she felt bad, she let her empathy show

[Foxywhiskers]

Ozai had Azula do all the work for him (conquering the Earth Kingdom, planning against Team Avatar on Day of Black Sun, killing the Avatar, chasing Zuko and Iroh even though Ozai is the one who wants them to disappear, and so on), and the second it was all done, he completely forgot that she even existed. He was literally surprised to hear Azula's voice behind him when he decided to crown himself Phoenix King. Hell, he didn't even think about taking her with him, and she was clearly hurt and confused by his actions because, as you said, she thought he actually cared about her as a person/daughter. And of course, Ozai knew a way to silence her - he simply gave her a title (a title that would make her better and more meaningful than Zuko), even though he intended to rule the world on his own anyway.

We all know that Azula is a great manipulator, but she was totally blind to the fact that she herself was a victim of manipulation


Katara, on the other hand, was able to cope better with her loss of her mother because she never had to suppress her feelings in the sign of strength. Fans like to make fun of her for her necklace thing but expressing her feelings totally helped her character to grow and even sympathize with people. She even wanted to help Zuko with his scar even though he tried to kill them 2 seasons long! Also, Sokka and Katara have never been separated and I believe that Zuko's exile was a crucial point in Azula's personality (after all she was completely alone with her father).

I would also have liked Zuko to try to calm Azula down or at least make her realize that she is just as much of a victim as him. Iroh also said in the previous episode that it would be terrible if two brothers tried to kill each other over a crown..
And that's exactly what they did but whatever

[andressica]

‘Azula never had an Iroh’
Dang, that hits really different than ‘Azula never had Iroh’

[mrjordan]

Finally someone’s recognized it. It’s always been Katara - Azula and Zuko - Aang since the beginning.

[supermodelzdancerie]

ive watched a lot of avatar analysis videos and this is such a great point!! never noticed how they contrasted each other

[ThisFineLady]

Bless you for pointing out that double standard with Katara and Zuko. Katara deserves better from this fandom.

[symphonysonic]

How did I never notice this at all??? Even how the fire nation took both of their mothers. I only related her to zuko...

[petertracycarroll]

Another symbolism I loved in the show is when azula and zuko are fighting on the blimp and when they fall zuko has friends to catch him but azula has nobody
Also I really hope lok comes to Netflix Ireland I have the series as a dvd set but still Netflix is easier

[LordWyatt]

You forgot Ursa’s line:
*”What is Wrong with that child?”*

[putts]

Both Azula and Katara are:
- 14 years old
- Bending prodigies
- More obviously talented younger sisters of brothers who sometimes struggle with that fact
- Motherless daughters
- Travel the world and achieve impressive things at a very young age
- Daughters of male leaders who value their fathers deeply
- Forced to grow up very young (different reasons but still)
- Able to identify others insecurities and issues (Azula for manipulation, Katara for helping)
- Driven and hard-working especially in bending
Etc.

I think it’s interesting that on paper Azula and Katara are very similar, but in reality they are very different. It shows that “what you are” I.e. genes, inherent skills etc are far less important than your experiences and who you work to become.

Azula, because of her father’s abuse, has moulded herself into the person she thinks will make him value and love her, where Katara has moulded herself into someone very different, because sometimes she felt she had to and sometimes she wanted to. Both have worked hard to become a certain person for a variety of reasons, but what they wanted to become is very different thanks to their different experiences.

Not trying to blame Azula for this - her fathers abuse is to blame, but just acknowledge that she had to make herself fit his idea of the perfect daughter.

It gives me, as someone from a messed up background, hope that working towards becoming someone different is important.

[pumpkin]

Now I want a side story where Katara teaches Azula to process her emotions :((

[celery]

YES! and this honestly explains why I’ve always found their bending fight scene so amazing. honestly one of my favorite parts of the entire show!!!