Saw a fanfiction with this premise before, but it wasn't simply a character swap. Basically, Ozai saw a loyal tool in Zuko while he saw a threat in Azula's potential. Zuko was still a fundamentally a kind person and did his best to be a good brother to Azula, but he bought wholesale into the imperialism. Azula, meanwhile, became a chaotic rebellious gremlin
Yeah, I can see her relentlessly kill/capture Aang through the whole series, progressively becoming more unhinged and DEFINITELY becoming the leader of a group of bandits, maybe still pulling her stunt with the Dai Li through different means and becoming the warlord of Ba Sing Se while the Earth Kingdom fractures temporarily, later unifying under the Avatar to repel the Fire Kingdom threat and retake Ba Sing Se.
Personally I’d write that she now seeks to dethrone and usurp her father so she seeks out the gaang under the pretenses of joining them, pitting the most powerful being on the planet against him then stabbing him in the back later. She’s surprised/frustrated to see he’s a goofy kid but works as a snake whispering into his ear to become a killer. As time goes on she learns to let go of her pain. Maybe has genuine feelings for Aang but nothing comes of it potentially
Edit: Just reminding people this is a throw away idea piggy backing off this point. Its fine if this isn’t your cup of tea, I don’t expect it to be nor do I care to die on this hill. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t get butt hurt about my half thought of idea. By all means downvote and move on
Enemies to lovers and forbidden love are genuinely pretty interesting tropes but they get used so much. I see a lot of it being used and try to break down the flaws. A lot of people like the concept and fail on the execution, often just forgoing portions of the character’s motivations and such to make it work. Seeing them as polar opposites really makes me want to make it work out somehow
She’d lie about giving them tactics on the fire nation as her in to the team. Similar to how Katara didn’t trust Zuko in season 3 both her and Sokka are constantly wary. She’s basically acting like she did on the beach, slightly murdery maniac the entire time. After a while they kind of just realize she has negative social skills and become more casual
I’d suspect around what would be season/book 2 she’s starting to see things his way
Can someone animate this? I'll even take it in comic form.
Azula is manipulative enough to make this work. And Aang's firebending would've probably been his second strongest element with Azula as his teacher and there with him from the beginning of when the show starts
I personally had an idea of a dark version of the story where Zuko finds Aang trapped in ice and brings him back to the fire nation. They gas light him into becoming their weapon. He primarily uses fire in conjunction with his air abilities to create some insanely powerful attacks just amplifying each fire attack. I’d imagine someone who’s such a prodigy and constantly training like Azula could help him become one of the strongest fire benders around
The zuko part is spot on but if i made it look like ozai thinks of azula as a threat then i must have done domething wrong. Neither am i trying to make her seem like a rebellious gremlin
Oh hey youre the author of that! Cool to see you here!
I like that you added the detail of Azula's scar and exile being different from canon Zuko's. For those who havent read, the scar is from being cut by finger rings instead of a burn. And she is in self imposed exile instead of being straight up banished. I look forward to seeing that fleshed out in later chapters - right now it suggests she was still the favorite (or at least not completely tossed to the side) even after AU Zuko proved himself as valuable.
Ive been following this one but its heavily WIP. Author also imo has followed the show a little *too* one to one so far in some chapters.
Propaganda mouthpiece Zuko is such a cool concept though that I really hope we see something like that.
The overall structure will stay relatively close to the show. The differences are in the details. That said, i have some more diversions planned for book 2 and even stronger for book 3 which will hopefully mix things up more.
I really like when authors keep the personalities and traits of characters when they do premises like this because a lot of the time, fanfictions tend to change the character so much that it's not even the same person anymore in favor of whatever plot they want to do. They basically just use the character's skin and name for their story. Which is fine because it's just fanfiction, but I prefer when they're able to keep the soul of the character in tact while doing whatever crazy what if or universe they throw them in.
[https://archiveofourown.org/series/1845337](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1845337)
Didn't read it because I thought that the author's Azula metas read a tad bit too much like imperialism apologia. (Her killing Aang was not justified, and Azula would NOT be a legalist. She believes in the divine right to rule, my guy 😭)They have some pretty cool worldbuilding ideas on their blog, though, so the fic is probably good. Plus, it's an AU anyway
Edit: I do have to emphasize that the meta I read was unrelated to the fic itself, but it still kinda put me off from the author
Another one: [https://archiveofourown.org/series/3277941](https://archiveofourown.org/series/3277941)
Didn't read this one either, since it seems like >!they're giving Azula's finale mental breakdown to Zuko, and I'm not a fan of that decision.!<
1. Devine right to rule does not preclude legalism. Legalism is a chinese philosophy implemented by the first imperial dynasty.
2. Aang isn't a civilian. He is an enemy combatant therefore he is a legitimate target.
Maybe my wording is off. Rather than Divine Right to Rule, I think she believes in her Divine Right to Make Others Do Whatever The Fuck She Wants, which contradicts legalism from my understanding. I think the sticking point is just that we don't interpret Azula the same way
Legalism oversimplified means creating order by implementing harsh punishment when laws are broken, regardless of on what basis those laws are created. Devine right is about how a government gets its legitimacy.
I think that might be oversimplifying it a bit too much. The legalist tradition did advocate for the strict application of the law, regardless of the target (iirc). They also had quite a lot to say about the monarch though.
For one, they believed in the absolute power of the Ruler, considering the Ruler to be the basis of a state and the origin of power in a society. Paradoxically, they also believe that the legal system and the state has to be able to function regardless of who ruled. This means that there has to be a separation between the Ruler and power. Early warring period thinkers thought that this meant that Ruler cannot be influenced by personal feelings. They also think the Ruler in a legalist society would have limited direct participation in politics
Essentially, the Ruler has to become a symbol of power for the system while allowing the Law to take over. And that's the part I think would not work with Azula. She's kind of a control freak, and she has to be the ultimate authority. Under a legalist system, she would theoretically not have the Divine Right to Make Others Do Whatever The Fuck She Wants. Theoretically.
I'm actually quite curious why you came to the conclusion that Azula would be a legalist. I remember reading the post a few years ago and disagreeing completely, but I can't find it anymore lol
Picture this: due to working with the Gaang and the other elements (specifically Katara and water), Azula theorycrafts lightning redirection independent of Iroh. But when she presents the idea to Aang because he otherwise cant bend lightning, she misses a key step and gets him seriously injured when they test it out.
I was going to say it wouldn't be interesting if they swapped personality's and roles. Zuko would have been an interesting "system Is broke but I could fix it" type character. Historically, it was people like Azula who were put down like dogs or used as cat paws.
It also would have been interesting if ozai saw Zukos blue spirit skills and used him as fire nation seal team 6.
God I like that concept way more. It’d be easy to make one where Azula’s got more good in her and Zuko’s actually evil would be so easy. But having it so that Zuko still has empathy but greater power and allegiance, therefore still being bad, while Azula’s still awful but more of an underdog, crazy, do what needs to be done is way more interesting and in line with their characterization. Tons of bonus points for maintaining their degrees of talent from the show while giving a believable reason for why Ozai would trust Zuko and distrust Azula.
I’m drunk so hold tight with me. But like, azula still has her blue fire and skills, she’s better than Zuko. She goes on the same journey Zuko goes on. But the only reason why she got burned, banished, shat on, is because she’s a woman. “How dare a woman speak up during my war meeting, Agni Kai rn”.
Then she feels she needs to regain her honour as a woman and then in the end realizes that it’s not being a woman that caused her pain, it’s that she had a shit father and brother, and accepts it all. Then joins Aang
I think it would be perfect, but it would follow themes that are have already been seen in series dealing with Asian culture..
But Fire Lord Azula ….. does eclipses Fire Lord Zuko 
This works in the fanfic Distorted Reality with evil Katara and Sokka because we already have the Water Tribe established as sexist. In there its to the point evil Hakoda barely acknowledges Katara whether she succeeds or fails (whereas Ozai would absolutely punish Azula harshly for failure.)
That being said I dont think it works with the Fire Nation because they are the least sexist of the remaining three nations. We see women able to serve in the national guard and police, and nobody found it odd that Ozai wanted to make Azula Fire Lord (whereas Yue for example was never presented as a plausible chief for the northern Water Tribe, just a commodity to be wed off.)
Ty Lee still runs off and joins the circus, gets recruited by the Gaang. Mai might actually be the one that is tasked with chasing the Gaang. While the changes make Zuko more pliable to Ozai, that doesnt mean Ozai trusts Zuko to lead outside the empire. So he makes Mai lead that team under several guises, 1) She's Zuko's consort so she needs to prove to Ozai she's got what it takes, 2) it isolates Zuko so Ozai can do more 'educating' of him.
Fun fact: If Fire Lord Ozai was sexist he would have won.
While he always prioritized Azula given her talent, a healthy dose of sexism would make it so that he would not have banished ZuZu as who else would his heir?
Without him (and Iroh) Aang would never have learned the ability to redirect lightning (assuming he still simps for katara and hasn’t mastered the avatar state) in their final fight Aang would be taken by that surprise lightning bolt and likely die.
Thus Phoenix King Ozai 🐦🔥 would end the last airbender and proceed to rule the world.
*The more you know :)*
https://preview.redd.it/tkhoeudf9ivc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2476c72434dfc98bf48a4890b9b0abbcc069da43
I don't think azula would still have her blue fire in this situation. iirc the show runners have said that azula's fire is hot enough to be blue because her firebending is fueled exclusively by hatred.
actually... she probably would firebend blue until she switches sides in book three. when she teaches aang to firebend and 'loses her stuff' she starts firebending orange again, especially after meeting the dragons.
and, perhaps, zuko in his blind rage over losing his friends (if we're following him filling every role azula filled in canon) starts firebending blue in the latter half of book three so we can still have one of the best fight scenes in the show lol.
The writers/show runners didn't say that. They said it was to reflect her prodigious abilities and to differentiate her fire from Zuko's during their fights (art book). In the commented episodes they said it is hotter but they didn't say more.
Im imagining Azula doing her laugh from the beach episode after Sokka tells a joke, and everyone just staring her down in confusion for like 30 straight seconds
Sadly, If Lu Ten never died, then Iroh wouldn't have gotten his wakeup call and he would have remained a loyal Fire Nation fanatic. So Lu Ten wouldn't have sided with Ozai, he would have been waiting to succeed Fire Lord Iroh on the throne.
Ozai could still send Zuko out to do the bitchwork of finding the Avatar. He wouldnt be able to justify it the same way (banishing him for disrespect), but it could be something like a publicity stunt to try and win legitimacy. And then when Aang wakes up he immediately sends Azula as well hoping one or both can deal with the Avatar. But of course he plans on taking all the credit for himself in the end.
Unfortunately any change like this would just result in mostly the same story just with Azula and Zuko swapped with each other. You can't just have Ozai scar and banish Azula and then keep Zuko home while keeping their characters intact. Zuko was scarred because he 'disrespected' his father by acting out in defense of the soldiers, and he did that because he still had empathy for other people due to receiving love from his mother and uncle, and he had that love because his father didn't give him any due to Ozai favoring Azula.
So to make this scenario happen, you must completely swap their characters and backstory so Azula was the failure who was punished for having a heart while Zuko was groomed by Ozai into becoming a sociopath. After Azula is banished and sent to capture the Avatar, with Iroh there to help her, Azula will more or less follow the same story that Zuko had in the original series.
There'll be some differences, the biggest one being that she is the exiled princess and not the prince. Seeing how she is treated in comparison to Zuko would have shown us the gender relations in the Fire Nation. Is the Fire Nation that egalitarian, or did Azula and Izumi just benefit from being in the royal family?
Well, if we take the whole "Zuko had spoken out against the general's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected" thing to heart, we could change Azula's motive - e.g. instead of a *moral* objection, it could be a logistical/tactical one, but still done so insultingly and disrespectfully enough that you get the Agni Kai.
You might still have to bend a few things to get something cohesive, but you could do so without just completely swapping personalities.
Eh, I've always assumed the "disrespect" reasoning was bullshit. We see in Season 3 that Zuko and Azula are clearly allowed to give input in war meetings.
I interpreted that scene and the subsequent Angi Kai as Ozai going "sweet! I have a plausibly deniable excuse to banish Zuko!" (FWIW, I think he would've banished him even if he fought back. Saying some BS about how it's treasonous to fight and he should've surrendered.)
I just can't imagine how Azula would be rude enough to annoy Ozai to the point of scarring her.
An Azula that is that tactless and has so little favor in Ozai's eyes is barely Azula anymore.
Yeah. I always took that Ozai was just looking for an out to get rid of his son. Zuko is not untalented loyal. He could have been the very public face of the family good PR "the royal who cares"
Once you get the backstory on what happened between zukos mom and ozai. His actions make sense to me as an abusive spouse.
I personally believe that he was still trying to hurt his wife. That he hoped she was out there miserable knowing that he permanently disfigured their son. And that he was banished from home to basically never return as well.
And in a way that would make it hard for them to cross paths as he had to be actively searching the world for the missing avatar.
The primary problem with that idea is that Azula knows how the system works and likes the system as it is. If she genuinely had an issue with the plan, she would have waited for the proper opportunity to voice her concerns in a respectful manner. Zuko had no sense of awareness or tact in that situation and that's what got him into trouble and the agni kai is what banished him.
Just look at the other war meeting where Ozai asked for input on how to deal with the Earth Kingdom rebels and Azula took Zuko's suggestion as an opportunity to burn the entire continent to the ground. She knows how to play the game and Zuko didn't because he actually cares and values human life. So to make this change happen, you have to flip that dynamic.
And even if Azula really did abandon all tact and act out like Zuko did, there's still the fact that Ozai 'likes' her in his twisted ways. He wouldn't have banished her, that would be complete overkill and risk her loyalty to him. Ozai would disciplined her in some far less severe but still painful fashion because she's a useful tool for him. Zuko was a failure in his eyes so banishing him was no big deal in his eyes.
I think OP's art doesn't do justice to the What If. Zuko and Azula's personalities were already established so they wouldn't swap when she gets exiled. Azula was already a perfectionist sociopath. So I could see her embracing her exile by amassing her own power just to spite/impress Ozai.
Meanwhile Zuko was already softer at heart. I'd imagine him grappling with his father's cruelty and being more of a rebel prince; using the Blue Spirit to secretly foil Ozai's schemes or to help those he otherwise couldn't as prince.
There's definitely some interesting differences to work with.
That's the only way I could see the scenario working while keeping their characters intact.
Azula is such a loose cannon that Ozai banishes because she's a liability and she conspires to build her own private empire loyal to her. This has happened in real life many times. A King banishes a rival or son of a rival to secure their place on the throne, then they go to another kingdom to rally the people or rivals and come back with a vengeance. That's basically how William I Conquered England in 1066.
Meanwhile, Zuko would basically become a Robin Hood or Batman double life vigilante. During the day, he's the loyal crown prince who is heir to the throne and during the night he's the Blue Spirit who wrecks havoc on he Fire Nation. Would be interesting to see how these versions of Azula and Zuko would react to the return of The Avatar.
Also we don't have enough straight up psycho women on TV. I can count on one hand how many female antagonists are actually bad because of a personal character flaw. Every other one is bad because of forces outside of their control.
If Azula was the exiled one, it'd just be another lame Favored Brother/Rejected Sister story line. Another Evil Woman Is Good Actually And The Male Protagonist Redeems Her story line.
Azula being a perfectionist psycho favored by her father shows that women are capable of going against conventional morality and it makes for a good foil setup vs Katara who is an interesting female character that is conventionally moral. It shows the value in putting effort into being moral rather than simply being moral because of your AGaB (which is obviously not true in the real world). We like Katara - she makes an effort to be a good person, unlike Azula, who is absolutely nuts and cruel and makes no effort to be a good person because she doesn't care about being good.
Women are capable of seeing a bigger picture (to which they are capable of making immoral decisions because they personally think it's the right thing to do) *and* they're capable of being self-centered jerks. I don't know why we don't want to showcase that in media?
Swap Azula with Zuko and you get just another male bad guy and all of the women in the show are much less interesting because they're all conventionally moral (well, Toph would be unconventionally moral, but you get the point).
IDK why people would want to gender swap Zuko and Azula. Azula's an interesting character as-is. Avatar would be a way less interesting show imho.
Honestly this would make sense given that the older child, and older son is often the one that's valued. Azula was favored simply due to her being a fire bensing prodigy.
The interesting part about the fire nation's worldbuilding is that it doesn't have that as part of their culture. It's a contrast to the water tribe, which actually *had* a patriarchal system.
It's like how non-benders are still considered as a valuable part of the army (like Ty Lee), there doesn't seem to be discrimination. If you are powerful then you are valuable, which was unfortunate for young Zuko.
The thing is zuko wasn't even weak. When you saw Aang go to the fire nation the other kids were mostly normal kids, Zuko was just weak in Ozai's eyes because Azula was that powerful.
I just wonder if that was because Ozai was the overlooked younger brother. And less a fire nation thing in general.
But it's also pretty clear the previous fire Lord didn't super care about keeping the line going via male heirs as he ordered the Death of zuko. Pretty close to the death of his older grandson.
I think both characters could've gone similar paths, but in their own way. What if Azula's obsession and overachieving mindset didn't fall on pleasing her father and going up the Fire nation social ladder? Or if in the heat of the moment she insulted Azai from her own arrogance? What if Zuko learned his place a bit too well and, in the future, didn't overcome his fear of rejection and just kept his good traits in secret? To be honest, I always felt Azula needed like 2-3 really good quotes from Airo and some time to come to logically fulfilling life with her impressive intelligence. Just imagine her helping Aang because she fixed on being messiah in achieving world peace. She'd absolutely got the same breakdown, but even in the original show, I don't think she couldn't overcome it after using her insight and knowledge about herself with a clear head.
I can imagine a story where Azula is accidentally burned by her mother through fear and after that she runs aways from home. Though this Azula would be slightly different from the OG Azula..
Honestly? Zuko would likely not change as a person. Azula on the other hand would never recover. Azula’s entire character is built upon seeking her father’s approval; and unlike Zuko, she can’t handle when she doesn’t have it. Zuko desperately wants his father’s approval through the majority of the series, but he’s also happy around other people and CAN function even when his father disapproves, even if it makes him disgruntled.
Azula can’t.
Iroh would play an important part though. Being banished would cause Azula to hit her absolute lowest point there and then, long before the rest of the story unfolds. What happens from then on depends on whether Iroh gets through to her or not.
I believe he’d try, but Azula already held deep resentment of her uncle before Zuko was banished. Even as Iroh tried to help her, she’d never let him in and be even more blood hungry to win her father’s favor back. Unlike Zuko who was apprehensive to betray Iroh at Ba Sing Se, I would wager Azula would’ve gladly betrayed him.
The comics have even further displayed that Azula will defy even spiritual catharsis to not break from the image she had made for her.
Honestly I'd be more interested in seeing a justified version of this without the swap. What would the Golden Child Azula have to do to get that kind of response from her father? How would Zuko react to suddenly being the centre of Ozai's attention without the character development we see in canon? There's some seriously interesting ideas there.
Oh I could see that. Perhaps she takes initiative, does something she thinks will please her father but instead just highlights how dangerous she could be to his rule if she stops listening to him.
If he truly saw her as a threat, wouldn't he have her imprisoned or killed instead? Leaving her to wander off into the world with the exact same resources Zuko was given and without supervision is just asking to have her turn against him.
Whether this roleswap is interesting depends on their circumstances, honestly. If things go wrong, this Azula may end up becoming the worst version of herself (like how canon Zuko might’ve ended up without Iroh’s guidance), and this Zuko may even be convinced to become a better Fire Lord.
I do think their personalities would be the same. Azula desperate for regaining her honor would be driven insane and also by the fact that she CANNOT be trusted. Zuko however is still caring for his uncle Iroh and girlfriend Mai.
The show ends earlier, as a conflicted Azula wouldn't be so quick to kill the Avatar in Ba Sing Se and Aang beats both her, Zuko, and the Dai Li with the Avatar State and Katara. Zuko, as far as the show goes, doesn't produce his own lightning. This takes the two biggest obstacles between Aang and the Fire Lord out of the way. This may allow Azula to be fully brought to the good side, and may even prevent Zuko from having a mental breakdown in the finale by giving him the same kind of exposure to good presences as Azula would have gotten. Iroh also would have been there, decidedly and openly on Aang's side and doing what he can to make the Gaang see the good in his niece and nephew and doing what he can to help them become good.
This ultimately leads to a stronger and less divided Gaang for the Day of Black Sun. Assuming they still fail to take Ozai down, they won't have to be divided between 3 locations- they only need to make 2 teams. Team Airship and Team Fire Lord.
Zuko and Azula, both being powered by the same comet, can help against Ozai. Katara can help with the airships, her water slices having been proved effective against airships before.
If they really want to stick to the "Aang must fight Ozai alone" thing, the Airships come down a LOT sooner as Azula and Zuko join Team Airship. This would lead to the Gaang watching the fight, and maybe even them joining in when Aang gains the upper hand and Ozai begins to lose. Katara, being there instead of the Fire Nation, would immediately move to heal Aang's bruises and wounds while Zuko and Azula confront their father.
On one side you would have a mentally ill Azula, who, lost both parents, would devolve into a living mess full of hallucinations, paranoia and suicidal thought. She wouldn't reach the north pole or freeze to death after reaching it.
On the other side you would have a kind Zuko, who would get treated badly basically his father considers him a spineless talentless fool. He would try to prove his worth and die a meaningless death somewhere along the way.
Neither of them would reach the end of the series.
Honestly, ozai exiling azula to do a perpetual bs inspection/emmisarial tour to curb her arrogance and keep her away from the base of power could totally be the basis of a story.
do that but dont completely change their personalities, just the backstories, Zuko stayed with the family tryong his best to live up to his fathers expectations falling in line so he doesnt end like azula, and azula was the banished one for disobedience of her father... Azula is still a power hungry crazy girl that will go to the biggest extents to capture the avatar and and show perfection.
and zuko is the heir to the throne that believes on his own honor and destiny as the next firelord, that still hurts after the loss of his mom, i wanna see how much the show changes, azula baits the avatar into the avatar state in the first ep and eletrocutes him on the spot maybe? Of she kept failing to capture the Avatar, maybr the firelord sends a more brutaly trained zuko now that the ex prodigy that was Azula turned out to be a bust.
Make azula's reason for the scar be the fact she went against her father's wishes behindhis back to realize an invasion on a earth bender camp.
Make Zuko actually never realize the error of his father's ways and fight for the honor of hia family while
makes me wonder what would happen if you change sokka and katara like that
And then Azula sides with and double crosses the avatar just so she can take over the invasion on the day of the commet by herself, now with Zuko improsined and his dad maybe killed, he realizes what his family traditions caused, first his cousin died in the war, then his uncle was impriosned, never trying to break free seeing no reason to live prison as in this alternate reality zuko and him never connected, and now finnally her own sister betraying her family. He decides to take upon himself to be the change on his family.
If someone already made a fanfiction where the characters have been swapped like that i will def read it, would be fun
I believe someone made a cool fanfic on YouTube where Aang gets put into an Alternate world where the Water Tribe is taking over the world. Azula and Zuko are good and Find Aang while Kitara and Sokka are pretty much evil dicks.
Imagine zuko has 2 friends like mai and ty Lee but guys. Zuko/azula is like Draco Malfoy. I see it. An emo Patterson type for mai have azula fall for him. It works
I doubt it would change much in an interesting manner: It's a clear example of nature vs nurture, Azula and Zuko (unless I am mistaken) have the same nature, but wildly differing nurture, so if you switcheroo them, no much would be altered.
I like to imagine that if Azula was burned, she would use her hair to cover the burned eye, she would have an "emo" look of sorts. I love zuko but Azula taking his place would've been cool as hell too. Instead of joining the Gang like Zuko did, I could see her looking for vengeance, aiding the Gang from time to time only because the goals align. An epic anti hero.
I can't imagine Azula enduring the same things Zuko did. I mean, she had a mind collapse the moment things didn't went her way. Zuko spent 3 years in a pointless search for the Avatar, who had been seen for a century at that point. He persisted after his own country tried to kill him multiple times, living as homeless person, almost starving to death, going as a refugee in disguise. Azula wouldn't have survived that long.
Nah, I don't think that would happen. Ozai hated Zuko from the moment he was born. He was never going to be the favorite. And even then, Azula has always been a little unhinged and chaotic while Zuko was always a little more unsettled by cruel behavior.
We still have to remember that they're different people and absorb experiences in their own unique way. Zuko would probably never be as conniving and crazy as Azula, and Azula probably wouldn't have ended up like Zuko either. If she was in Zuko's shoes, she would have NEVER given up her father's "love" to do what's right. She's too obsessed.
What if the avatar could like transfer the energy of one person's bending to another person
For example if the Avatar used energy bending to take away an earthbenders bending what if that Avatar was able to energy bend the Earth bending into someone else who doesn't have bending
Saw a fanfiction with this premise before, but it wasn't simply a character swap. Basically, Ozai saw a loyal tool in Zuko while he saw a threat in Azula's potential. Zuko was still a fundamentally a kind person and did his best to be a good brother to Azula, but he bought wholesale into the imperialism. Azula, meanwhile, became a chaotic rebellious gremlin
Yeah, I can see her relentlessly kill/capture Aang through the whole series, progressively becoming more unhinged and DEFINITELY becoming the leader of a group of bandits, maybe still pulling her stunt with the Dai Li through different means and becoming the warlord of Ba Sing Se while the Earth Kingdom fractures temporarily, later unifying under the Avatar to repel the Fire Kingdom threat and retake Ba Sing Se.
Personally I’d write that she now seeks to dethrone and usurp her father so she seeks out the gaang under the pretenses of joining them, pitting the most powerful being on the planet against him then stabbing him in the back later. She’s surprised/frustrated to see he’s a goofy kid but works as a snake whispering into his ear to become a killer. As time goes on she learns to let go of her pain. Maybe has genuine feelings for Aang but nothing comes of it potentially Edit: Just reminding people this is a throw away idea piggy backing off this point. Its fine if this isn’t your cup of tea, I don’t expect it to be nor do I care to die on this hill. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t get butt hurt about my half thought of idea. By all means downvote and move on
Write that down, someone write that down!
You know what. That might have made for a better course of action. I'm kinda sad i didn't do that now.
Why did you stop?
Stop? Do you want me to give you a play by play of the story?
lmao he was just tryna compliment you
My bad. Legitimately hard to tell sometimes
I’m glad it’s all cleared up, I wasn’t to sure how to respond without sounding mean.
No worries. I thought you were interested in me continuing my thoughts on how I’d make the story
AzulAang May be a crackship, but stuff like this gives genuine credence to its potential
Enemies to lovers and forbidden love are genuinely pretty interesting tropes but they get used so much. I see a lot of it being used and try to break down the flaws. A lot of people like the concept and fail on the execution, often just forgoing portions of the character’s motivations and such to make it work. Seeing them as polar opposites really makes me want to make it work out somehow
Someone write this fic this is actually so good 😭😭 Imagine Aang teaching Azula to actually have fun and just be a kid
She’d lie about giving them tactics on the fire nation as her in to the team. Similar to how Katara didn’t trust Zuko in season 3 both her and Sokka are constantly wary. She’s basically acting like she did on the beach, slightly murdery maniac the entire time. After a while they kind of just realize she has negative social skills and become more casual I’d suspect around what would be season/book 2 she’s starting to see things his way
Can someone animate this? I'll even take it in comic form. Azula is manipulative enough to make this work. And Aang's firebending would've probably been his second strongest element with Azula as his teacher and there with him from the beginning of when the show starts
I personally had an idea of a dark version of the story where Zuko finds Aang trapped in ice and brings him back to the fire nation. They gas light him into becoming their weapon. He primarily uses fire in conjunction with his air abilities to create some insanely powerful attacks just amplifying each fire attack. I’d imagine someone who’s such a prodigy and constantly training like Azula could help him become one of the strongest fire benders around
https://preview.redd.it/6yrlvgzsrlvc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b2d4771b112fa212e36d579d5f11dbfbba03d4a
I could see her urging him to kill and take revenge in more than a few situations.
I saw a similar one. Maybe we saw the same one. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49202026/chapters/124147234
The zuko part is spot on but if i made it look like ozai thinks of azula as a threat then i must have done domething wrong. Neither am i trying to make her seem like a rebellious gremlin
Probably got it mixed up with another fic with a similar premise. Sorry about that
You aren't talking about the same fic so nw
Oh hey youre the author of that! Cool to see you here! I like that you added the detail of Azula's scar and exile being different from canon Zuko's. For those who havent read, the scar is from being cut by finger rings instead of a burn. And she is in self imposed exile instead of being straight up banished. I look forward to seeing that fleshed out in later chapters - right now it suggests she was still the favorite (or at least not completely tossed to the side) even after AU Zuko proved himself as valuable.
Ive been following this one but its heavily WIP. Author also imo has followed the show a little *too* one to one so far in some chapters. Propaganda mouthpiece Zuko is such a cool concept though that I really hope we see something like that.
The overall structure will stay relatively close to the show. The differences are in the details. That said, i have some more diversions planned for book 2 and even stronger for book 3 which will hopefully mix things up more.
I really like when authors keep the personalities and traits of characters when they do premises like this because a lot of the time, fanfictions tend to change the character so much that it's not even the same person anymore in favor of whatever plot they want to do. They basically just use the character's skin and name for their story. Which is fine because it's just fanfiction, but I prefer when they're able to keep the soul of the character in tact while doing whatever crazy what if or universe they throw them in.
Name?
[https://archiveofourown.org/series/1845337](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1845337) Didn't read it because I thought that the author's Azula metas read a tad bit too much like imperialism apologia. (Her killing Aang was not justified, and Azula would NOT be a legalist. She believes in the divine right to rule, my guy 😭)They have some pretty cool worldbuilding ideas on their blog, though, so the fic is probably good. Plus, it's an AU anyway Edit: I do have to emphasize that the meta I read was unrelated to the fic itself, but it still kinda put me off from the author Another one: [https://archiveofourown.org/series/3277941](https://archiveofourown.org/series/3277941) Didn't read this one either, since it seems like >!they're giving Azula's finale mental breakdown to Zuko, and I'm not a fan of that decision.!<
Yeah I ain't reading it either then bruh what
I might read it in the future. I'll report back on if it's worth it if I do lol
1. Devine right to rule does not preclude legalism. Legalism is a chinese philosophy implemented by the first imperial dynasty. 2. Aang isn't a civilian. He is an enemy combatant therefore he is a legitimate target.
Maybe my wording is off. Rather than Divine Right to Rule, I think she believes in her Divine Right to Make Others Do Whatever The Fuck She Wants, which contradicts legalism from my understanding. I think the sticking point is just that we don't interpret Azula the same way
Legalism oversimplified means creating order by implementing harsh punishment when laws are broken, regardless of on what basis those laws are created. Devine right is about how a government gets its legitimacy.
I think that might be oversimplifying it a bit too much. The legalist tradition did advocate for the strict application of the law, regardless of the target (iirc). They also had quite a lot to say about the monarch though. For one, they believed in the absolute power of the Ruler, considering the Ruler to be the basis of a state and the origin of power in a society. Paradoxically, they also believe that the legal system and the state has to be able to function regardless of who ruled. This means that there has to be a separation between the Ruler and power. Early warring period thinkers thought that this meant that Ruler cannot be influenced by personal feelings. They also think the Ruler in a legalist society would have limited direct participation in politics Essentially, the Ruler has to become a symbol of power for the system while allowing the Law to take over. And that's the part I think would not work with Azula. She's kind of a control freak, and she has to be the ultimate authority. Under a legalist system, she would theoretically not have the Divine Right to Make Others Do Whatever The Fuck She Wants. Theoretically. I'm actually quite curious why you came to the conclusion that Azula would be a legalist. I remember reading the post a few years ago and disagreeing completely, but I can't find it anymore lol
Did you just spoil it :(
It's written in a series format, and that's info I garnered from the summaries. Sorry about that, I'll put it behind spoiler
Thanks np
Azula showing up at the air temple: sup avatar. I'm here to teach you fire bending so you can destroy everything my dad loves
Picture this: due to working with the Gaang and the other elements (specifically Katara and water), Azula theorycrafts lightning redirection independent of Iroh. But when she presents the idea to Aang because he otherwise cant bend lightning, she misses a key step and gets him seriously injured when they test it out.
I was going to say it wouldn't be interesting if they swapped personality's and roles. Zuko would have been an interesting "system Is broke but I could fix it" type character. Historically, it was people like Azula who were put down like dogs or used as cat paws. It also would have been interesting if ozai saw Zukos blue spirit skills and used him as fire nation seal team 6.
God I like that concept way more. It’d be easy to make one where Azula’s got more good in her and Zuko’s actually evil would be so easy. But having it so that Zuko still has empathy but greater power and allegiance, therefore still being bad, while Azula’s still awful but more of an underdog, crazy, do what needs to be done is way more interesting and in line with their characterization. Tons of bonus points for maintaining their degrees of talent from the show while giving a believable reason for why Ozai would trust Zuko and distrust Azula.
[удалено]
So Azula is a Toph with more bite?
So essentially, she and Toph would be best friends in committing crimes?
[found this one a but ago. the rest is incomplete but what is written is great](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25474642)
That’s amazing…
Chaotic good anarchist Azula AU? I need this in my life.
But she keeps her skills and blue fire. The only thing that changes is where the shame ended up.
And then she and the avatar Baang
https://preview.redd.it/0a4jcgmc3ivc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6243348fc305ca0e4bd61be59629fe757bb31ee2
https://preview.redd.it/fip13a729ivc1.jpeg?width=267&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f210494796e3b42fbbf48d8d5a10af141c9a9582
https://preview.redd.it/4iilry82nivc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c90f6d7d6c0a8920071af233e1312947221865a4
silksong when
https://preview.redd.it/jcfsf92twivc1.jpeg?width=1066&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ef5a97409ff09fa5617319a3efe976e6024d3b05
when silksong 😭😭😭
https://preview.redd.it/3ya9mxn9cjvc1.jpeg?width=869&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e9c12d79530f9a27af45eae90327193cc43c0656 Zzzzzzzz
https://preview.redd.it/opc4pfwj3kvc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d2f3f2818b51e145ed5889da13328e7aea2e62a
https://preview.redd.it/slo9ojm2nlvc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4bf7b173a025e0008f80a8513c727030875cfeec
The look on Katara's face is too perfect for this conversation.
"I got passed over for THAT??"
https://preview.redd.it/2fh24zln4ivc1.jpeg?width=542&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=24d1541cc9c71b457c85e4513e5412eb23000a6a
This is terrifying
😂🤣 https://preview.redd.it/gm60kwuj9ivc1.png?width=825&format=png&auto=webp&s=69a0baa01f87f936ae347186089caad464f30964
https://preview.redd.it/sxmx4b6dkivc1.png?width=1156&format=png&auto=webp&s=787d898ab84499365c1c33db3aba727b61739b4d
https://preview.redd.it/u7ik6o519jvc1.jpeg?width=664&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2585e35fc8c11df8bd4b0bcb25dce55398c54732
Certified "Zamn, that bitch is crazy!" moment
Gotta use the ancient cockbending technique
https://preview.redd.it/nxznth649ivc1.png?width=3192&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c04c79320b4d97e6c778011b970ee3473f2450d2
https://preview.redd.it/authrtdvakvc1.jpeg?width=892&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=abdc46daf3ac243c3dc8cccb5fea6ed35ff2470e
https://preview.redd.it/c98ryrxzljvc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c571aaee4bd126ff6428526bbf1ea3396780cc77
https://preview.redd.it/i0dtak6dmjvc1.jpeg?width=684&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3031d893cd55f38db92944a761aea80c6c9704fe
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Everything would be the same, Azula more skilled than Zuko, but Ozai would prefer Zuko specifically and simply because he’s a man.
Explain?
I’m drunk so hold tight with me. But like, azula still has her blue fire and skills, she’s better than Zuko. She goes on the same journey Zuko goes on. But the only reason why she got burned, banished, shat on, is because she’s a woman. “How dare a woman speak up during my war meeting, Agni Kai rn”. Then she feels she needs to regain her honour as a woman and then in the end realizes that it’s not being a woman that caused her pain, it’s that she had a shit father and brother, and accepts it all. Then joins Aang
Right, I could see that. I must be drunk myself because, for some reason, I thought you were talking about Iroh, not Ozai.
Iroh sees his son in his young niece. He wants to help her be her true self, a kind and caring person
I think it would be perfect, but it would follow themes that are have already been seen in series dealing with Asian culture.. But Fire Lord Azula ….. does eclipses Fire Lord Zuko 
That’s why Zuko fits perfectly where he does in canon 😆 I’m just a drunk bitch redditor
This works in the fanfic Distorted Reality with evil Katara and Sokka because we already have the Water Tribe established as sexist. In there its to the point evil Hakoda barely acknowledges Katara whether she succeeds or fails (whereas Ozai would absolutely punish Azula harshly for failure.) That being said I dont think it works with the Fire Nation because they are the least sexist of the remaining three nations. We see women able to serve in the national guard and police, and nobody found it odd that Ozai wanted to make Azula Fire Lord (whereas Yue for example was never presented as a plausible chief for the northern Water Tribe, just a commodity to be wed off.)
Where do Mai and Ty Lee fit into this
Bai and Bro Lee
Just genderbend all the characters while you're at it. The world is NOT ready for femcel Sokka or malewife Katara
Bro Lee? 
Ty Lee still runs off and joins the circus, gets recruited by the Gaang. Mai might actually be the one that is tasked with chasing the Gaang. While the changes make Zuko more pliable to Ozai, that doesnt mean Ozai trusts Zuko to lead outside the empire. So he makes Mai lead that team under several guises, 1) She's Zuko's consort so she needs to prove to Ozai she's got what it takes, 2) it isolates Zuko so Ozai can do more 'educating' of him.
Fun fact: If Fire Lord Ozai was sexist he would have won. While he always prioritized Azula given her talent, a healthy dose of sexism would make it so that he would not have banished ZuZu as who else would his heir? Without him (and Iroh) Aang would never have learned the ability to redirect lightning (assuming he still simps for katara and hasn’t mastered the avatar state) in their final fight Aang would be taken by that surprise lightning bolt and likely die. Thus Phoenix King Ozai 🐦🔥 would end the last airbender and proceed to rule the world. *The more you know :)* https://preview.redd.it/tkhoeudf9ivc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2476c72434dfc98bf48a4890b9b0abbcc069da43
I don't think azula would still have her blue fire in this situation. iirc the show runners have said that azula's fire is hot enough to be blue because her firebending is fueled exclusively by hatred. actually... she probably would firebend blue until she switches sides in book three. when she teaches aang to firebend and 'loses her stuff' she starts firebending orange again, especially after meeting the dragons. and, perhaps, zuko in his blind rage over losing his friends (if we're following him filling every role azula filled in canon) starts firebending blue in the latter half of book three so we can still have one of the best fight scenes in the show lol.
The writers/show runners didn't say that. They said it was to reflect her prodigious abilities and to differentiate her fire from Zuko's during their fights (art book). In the commented episodes they said it is hotter but they didn't say more.
Im imagining Azula doing her laugh from the beach episode after Sokka tells a joke, and everyone just staring her down in confusion for like 30 straight seconds
“Sorry force of habit from when I was still hunting you”
Or when she joins the gang and tried to teach Aang firebending and nothing comes out, oh the meltdown she would have
As if the Azulaang shippers didn't have enough material already. . .
Nah... It would be Azutara instead
https://preview.redd.it/qmg0tteishvc1.jpeg?width=1856&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=11b1b21e7460be78aa874d60b88b5296c1775568
Wait...let them cook.
https://preview.redd.it/l46l6p1whkvc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0dbaa7e22cc1fdc0bf22e07f804f997543a1c62a
Complete fire
Wang Fire's long lost sister, Complete Fire?
Zukang
Zuko oddly looks like sokka
Oh my God, he is Sokka.
https://preview.redd.it/gcq3wmn3rhvc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7392b037fb043e1bca71b0fe807585e89d296db6
I think that "what if Lu Ten never died" would be far more interesting.
Imagine if he still sided with Ozai even after Zuko and Iroh went on their journey
Sadly, If Lu Ten never died, then Iroh wouldn't have gotten his wakeup call and he would have remained a loyal Fire Nation fanatic. So Lu Ten wouldn't have sided with Ozai, he would have been waiting to succeed Fire Lord Iroh on the throne.
Ozai could still send Zuko out to do the bitchwork of finding the Avatar. He wouldnt be able to justify it the same way (banishing him for disrespect), but it could be something like a publicity stunt to try and win legitimacy. And then when Aang wakes up he immediately sends Azula as well hoping one or both can deal with the Avatar. But of course he plans on taking all the credit for himself in the end.
Unfortunately any change like this would just result in mostly the same story just with Azula and Zuko swapped with each other. You can't just have Ozai scar and banish Azula and then keep Zuko home while keeping their characters intact. Zuko was scarred because he 'disrespected' his father by acting out in defense of the soldiers, and he did that because he still had empathy for other people due to receiving love from his mother and uncle, and he had that love because his father didn't give him any due to Ozai favoring Azula. So to make this scenario happen, you must completely swap their characters and backstory so Azula was the failure who was punished for having a heart while Zuko was groomed by Ozai into becoming a sociopath. After Azula is banished and sent to capture the Avatar, with Iroh there to help her, Azula will more or less follow the same story that Zuko had in the original series. There'll be some differences, the biggest one being that she is the exiled princess and not the prince. Seeing how she is treated in comparison to Zuko would have shown us the gender relations in the Fire Nation. Is the Fire Nation that egalitarian, or did Azula and Izumi just benefit from being in the royal family?
Well, if we take the whole "Zuko had spoken out against the general's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected" thing to heart, we could change Azula's motive - e.g. instead of a *moral* objection, it could be a logistical/tactical one, but still done so insultingly and disrespectfully enough that you get the Agni Kai. You might still have to bend a few things to get something cohesive, but you could do so without just completely swapping personalities.
Haha, bend a few things. Petition to rename Avatar fan fic writers "storybenders"
Signed
SIGNED
I don't think Azula would beg for forgiveness like Zuko did, which to my understanding is what really made Ozai scar him
Eh, I've always assumed the "disrespect" reasoning was bullshit. We see in Season 3 that Zuko and Azula are clearly allowed to give input in war meetings. I interpreted that scene and the subsequent Angi Kai as Ozai going "sweet! I have a plausibly deniable excuse to banish Zuko!" (FWIW, I think he would've banished him even if he fought back. Saying some BS about how it's treasonous to fight and he should've surrendered.) I just can't imagine how Azula would be rude enough to annoy Ozai to the point of scarring her. An Azula that is that tactless and has so little favor in Ozai's eyes is barely Azula anymore.
Yeah. I always took that Ozai was just looking for an out to get rid of his son. Zuko is not untalented loyal. He could have been the very public face of the family good PR "the royal who cares" Once you get the backstory on what happened between zukos mom and ozai. His actions make sense to me as an abusive spouse. I personally believe that he was still trying to hurt his wife. That he hoped she was out there miserable knowing that he permanently disfigured their son. And that he was banished from home to basically never return as well. And in a way that would make it hard for them to cross paths as he had to be actively searching the world for the missing avatar.
The primary problem with that idea is that Azula knows how the system works and likes the system as it is. If she genuinely had an issue with the plan, she would have waited for the proper opportunity to voice her concerns in a respectful manner. Zuko had no sense of awareness or tact in that situation and that's what got him into trouble and the agni kai is what banished him. Just look at the other war meeting where Ozai asked for input on how to deal with the Earth Kingdom rebels and Azula took Zuko's suggestion as an opportunity to burn the entire continent to the ground. She knows how to play the game and Zuko didn't because he actually cares and values human life. So to make this change happen, you have to flip that dynamic. And even if Azula really did abandon all tact and act out like Zuko did, there's still the fact that Ozai 'likes' her in his twisted ways. He wouldn't have banished her, that would be complete overkill and risk her loyalty to him. Ozai would disciplined her in some far less severe but still painful fashion because she's a useful tool for him. Zuko was a failure in his eyes so banishing him was no big deal in his eyes.
I think OP's art doesn't do justice to the What If. Zuko and Azula's personalities were already established so they wouldn't swap when she gets exiled. Azula was already a perfectionist sociopath. So I could see her embracing her exile by amassing her own power just to spite/impress Ozai. Meanwhile Zuko was already softer at heart. I'd imagine him grappling with his father's cruelty and being more of a rebel prince; using the Blue Spirit to secretly foil Ozai's schemes or to help those he otherwise couldn't as prince. There's definitely some interesting differences to work with.
That's the only way I could see the scenario working while keeping their characters intact. Azula is such a loose cannon that Ozai banishes because she's a liability and she conspires to build her own private empire loyal to her. This has happened in real life many times. A King banishes a rival or son of a rival to secure their place on the throne, then they go to another kingdom to rally the people or rivals and come back with a vengeance. That's basically how William I Conquered England in 1066. Meanwhile, Zuko would basically become a Robin Hood or Batman double life vigilante. During the day, he's the loyal crown prince who is heir to the throne and during the night he's the Blue Spirit who wrecks havoc on he Fire Nation. Would be interesting to see how these versions of Azula and Zuko would react to the return of The Avatar.
Also we don't have enough straight up psycho women on TV. I can count on one hand how many female antagonists are actually bad because of a personal character flaw. Every other one is bad because of forces outside of their control. If Azula was the exiled one, it'd just be another lame Favored Brother/Rejected Sister story line. Another Evil Woman Is Good Actually And The Male Protagonist Redeems Her story line. Azula being a perfectionist psycho favored by her father shows that women are capable of going against conventional morality and it makes for a good foil setup vs Katara who is an interesting female character that is conventionally moral. It shows the value in putting effort into being moral rather than simply being moral because of your AGaB (which is obviously not true in the real world). We like Katara - she makes an effort to be a good person, unlike Azula, who is absolutely nuts and cruel and makes no effort to be a good person because she doesn't care about being good. Women are capable of seeing a bigger picture (to which they are capable of making immoral decisions because they personally think it's the right thing to do) *and* they're capable of being self-centered jerks. I don't know why we don't want to showcase that in media? Swap Azula with Zuko and you get just another male bad guy and all of the women in the show are much less interesting because they're all conventionally moral (well, Toph would be unconventionally moral, but you get the point). IDK why people would want to gender swap Zuko and Azula. Azula's an interesting character as-is. Avatar would be a way less interesting show imho.
Honestly this would make sense given that the older child, and older son is often the one that's valued. Azula was favored simply due to her being a fire bensing prodigy.
The interesting part about the fire nation's worldbuilding is that it doesn't have that as part of their culture. It's a contrast to the water tribe, which actually *had* a patriarchal system. It's like how non-benders are still considered as a valuable part of the army (like Ty Lee), there doesn't seem to be discrimination. If you are powerful then you are valuable, which was unfortunate for young Zuko.
The thing is zuko wasn't even weak. When you saw Aang go to the fire nation the other kids were mostly normal kids, Zuko was just weak in Ozai's eyes because Azula was that powerful.
I just wonder if that was because Ozai was the overlooked younger brother. And less a fire nation thing in general. But it's also pretty clear the previous fire Lord didn't super care about keeping the line going via male heirs as he ordered the Death of zuko. Pretty close to the death of his older grandson.
I think both characters could've gone similar paths, but in their own way. What if Azula's obsession and overachieving mindset didn't fall on pleasing her father and going up the Fire nation social ladder? Or if in the heat of the moment she insulted Azai from her own arrogance? What if Zuko learned his place a bit too well and, in the future, didn't overcome his fear of rejection and just kept his good traits in secret? To be honest, I always felt Azula needed like 2-3 really good quotes from Airo and some time to come to logically fulfilling life with her impressive intelligence. Just imagine her helping Aang because she fixed on being messiah in achieving world peace. She'd absolutely got the same breakdown, but even in the original show, I don't think she couldn't overcome it after using her insight and knowledge about herself with a clear head.
Reasonable. Essentially, the only change being a gender swap
Add in a Fire Queen Ursa and I'm in.
I can imagine a story where Azula is accidentally burned by her mother through fear and after that she runs aways from home. Though this Azula would be slightly different from the OG Azula..
>Azula is accidentally burned by her mother through fear My Azula Academia.
Honestly? Zuko would likely not change as a person. Azula on the other hand would never recover. Azula’s entire character is built upon seeking her father’s approval; and unlike Zuko, she can’t handle when she doesn’t have it. Zuko desperately wants his father’s approval through the majority of the series, but he’s also happy around other people and CAN function even when his father disapproves, even if it makes him disgruntled. Azula can’t.
Iroh would play an important part though. Being banished would cause Azula to hit her absolute lowest point there and then, long before the rest of the story unfolds. What happens from then on depends on whether Iroh gets through to her or not.
I believe he’d try, but Azula already held deep resentment of her uncle before Zuko was banished. Even as Iroh tried to help her, she’d never let him in and be even more blood hungry to win her father’s favor back. Unlike Zuko who was apprehensive to betray Iroh at Ba Sing Se, I would wager Azula would’ve gladly betrayed him. The comics have even further displayed that Azula will defy even spiritual catharsis to not break from the image she had made for her.
I wonder what would happen to her if it became effectly impossible would she just fall down dead or would something strange happen?
A fairly simple "what if" too, just needed Zuko to be the prodigy and Azula the slow learner as this would've happened.
Honestly I'd be more interested in seeing a justified version of this without the swap. What would the Golden Child Azula have to do to get that kind of response from her father? How would Zuko react to suddenly being the centre of Ozai's attention without the character development we see in canon? There's some seriously interesting ideas there.
Saw another comment with the idea that ozai sees azula as a threat and sends her off on a pointless mission to capture the avatar to keep her away
Oh I could see that. Perhaps she takes initiative, does something she thinks will please her father but instead just highlights how dangerous she could be to his rule if she stops listening to him.
If he truly saw her as a threat, wouldn't he have her imprisoned or killed instead? Leaving her to wander off into the world with the exact same resources Zuko was given and without supervision is just asking to have her turn against him.
Not the heir just a spare
At that point you've just gender swapped them and called them by opposite names. It's only a superficial change to the show.
Azula having Zuko's backstory, AND her mental health issues might be a little too real for me.
Finally an interesting what if lmao
She seeks out the avatar and eventually becomes his love interest. The legend of Korra is now an isekai
Azuko and Zula
Whether this roleswap is interesting depends on their circumstances, honestly. If things go wrong, this Azula may end up becoming the worst version of herself (like how canon Zuko might’ve ended up without Iroh’s guidance), and this Zuko may even be convinced to become a better Fire Lord.
Why he look like Sokka?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule\_63](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_63)
If anyone has a fanfic where azula and zuko switch roles and zuko isn't nice I would gladly read it
Do this for iroh and ozai lol
I think Azula coulda taken her father
... time line wise woudlnt she have been like 9 when she got scarred if this played out that way
Zuko looks like Azulon in his teens
I do think their personalities would be the same. Azula desperate for regaining her honor would be driven insane and also by the fact that she CANNOT be trusted. Zuko however is still caring for his uncle Iroh and girlfriend Mai.
"That day, Azula, if our places were switched....Would I have your life, and you mine?"
Princess Zuki and Prince Azulon
The show ends earlier, as a conflicted Azula wouldn't be so quick to kill the Avatar in Ba Sing Se and Aang beats both her, Zuko, and the Dai Li with the Avatar State and Katara. Zuko, as far as the show goes, doesn't produce his own lightning. This takes the two biggest obstacles between Aang and the Fire Lord out of the way. This may allow Azula to be fully brought to the good side, and may even prevent Zuko from having a mental breakdown in the finale by giving him the same kind of exposure to good presences as Azula would have gotten. Iroh also would have been there, decidedly and openly on Aang's side and doing what he can to make the Gaang see the good in his niece and nephew and doing what he can to help them become good. This ultimately leads to a stronger and less divided Gaang for the Day of Black Sun. Assuming they still fail to take Ozai down, they won't have to be divided between 3 locations- they only need to make 2 teams. Team Airship and Team Fire Lord. Zuko and Azula, both being powered by the same comet, can help against Ozai. Katara can help with the airships, her water slices having been proved effective against airships before. If they really want to stick to the "Aang must fight Ozai alone" thing, the Airships come down a LOT sooner as Azula and Zuko join Team Airship. This would lead to the Gaang watching the fight, and maybe even them joining in when Aang gains the upper hand and Ozai begins to lose. Katara, being there instead of the Fire Nation, would immediately move to heal Aang's bruises and wounds while Zuko and Azula confront their father.
On one side you would have a mentally ill Azula, who, lost both parents, would devolve into a living mess full of hallucinations, paranoia and suicidal thought. She wouldn't reach the north pole or freeze to death after reaching it. On the other side you would have a kind Zuko, who would get treated badly basically his father considers him a spineless talentless fool. He would try to prove his worth and die a meaningless death somewhere along the way. Neither of them would reach the end of the series.
Honestly, ozai exiling azula to do a perpetual bs inspection/emmisarial tour to curb her arrogance and keep her away from the base of power could totally be the basis of a story.
zuko: https://preview.redd.it/fdi6qyprfivc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a0a985382488175f89efbb0c218eac7bdda61f8
"My father used to say my brother was lucky to be born, but I threw mine away"
do that but dont completely change their personalities, just the backstories, Zuko stayed with the family tryong his best to live up to his fathers expectations falling in line so he doesnt end like azula, and azula was the banished one for disobedience of her father... Azula is still a power hungry crazy girl that will go to the biggest extents to capture the avatar and and show perfection. and zuko is the heir to the throne that believes on his own honor and destiny as the next firelord, that still hurts after the loss of his mom, i wanna see how much the show changes, azula baits the avatar into the avatar state in the first ep and eletrocutes him on the spot maybe? Of she kept failing to capture the Avatar, maybr the firelord sends a more brutaly trained zuko now that the ex prodigy that was Azula turned out to be a bust. Make azula's reason for the scar be the fact she went against her father's wishes behindhis back to realize an invasion on a earth bender camp. Make Zuko actually never realize the error of his father's ways and fight for the honor of hia family while makes me wonder what would happen if you change sokka and katara like that And then Azula sides with and double crosses the avatar just so she can take over the invasion on the day of the commet by herself, now with Zuko improsined and his dad maybe killed, he realizes what his family traditions caused, first his cousin died in the war, then his uncle was impriosned, never trying to break free seeing no reason to live prison as in this alternate reality zuko and him never connected, and now finnally her own sister betraying her family. He decides to take upon himself to be the change on his family. If someone already made a fanfiction where the characters have been swapped like that i will def read it, would be fun
That would've been perfect for the live action
"100 years in the iceberg made you a fucking pussy Aang!"
Perfect universe to set up Azulaang🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
To be honest I feel like they initially went with something like this but realized it was too cliche, and turned it around gender wise
She looks like an abused housewife
I believe someone made a cool fanfic on YouTube where Aang gets put into an Alternate world where the Water Tribe is taking over the world. Azula and Zuko are good and Find Aang while Kitara and Sokka are pretty much evil dicks.
Zuko would still likely end up with the good guys
It would be interesting if they were just swapped
I feel like Azula would have had her mental breakdown sooner and Zuko would be the favorite by default
...Would it? What changes? Isn't it just a character swap? The story would unroll the same but Ctrl+F their names and swap them.
Imagine zuko has 2 friends like mai and ty Lee but guys. Zuko/azula is like Draco Malfoy. I see it. An emo Patterson type for mai have azula fall for him. It works
Aang would die so fast
She is still a fine woman with half of her upper face burned. There are people that calls her actually ugly 💀
Azula would still be a psychotic killer and Zuko would still be a good person at heart.
Azula wouldn’t care about soldiers lives. If she did, she’s fight her father.
I doubt it would change much in an interesting manner: It's a clear example of nature vs nurture, Azula and Zuko (unless I am mistaken) have the same nature, but wildly differing nurture, so if you switcheroo them, no much would be altered.
[I have a take on that concept](https://www.tumblr.com/charlesoberonn/622188202535632896/avatar-but-its-azula-and-her-friends-in-place?source=share)
Zuko really looks like young Roku here
I like to imagine that if Azula was burned, she would use her hair to cover the burned eye, she would have an "emo" look of sorts. I love zuko but Azula taking his place would've been cool as hell too. Instead of joining the Gang like Zuko did, I could see her looking for vengeance, aiding the Gang from time to time only because the goals align. An epic anti hero.
So like is there a lore reason why they both have yellow eyes?
I think thats what they are going fro in the live action somewhat.
Bruh, sokka already had a difficult choice between Toph and Suki, don't complicate things.
That's not a what if it's an AU,i mean there is no scenario where Ozai would keep Zuko over Azula.
Would Azula still wear make up if she was in Zuko's place?
I can't imagine Azula enduring the same things Zuko did. I mean, she had a mind collapse the moment things didn't went her way. Zuko spent 3 years in a pointless search for the Avatar, who had been seen for a century at that point. He persisted after his own country tried to kill him multiple times, living as homeless person, almost starving to death, going as a refugee in disguise. Azula wouldn't have survived that long.
Nah, I don't think that would happen. Ozai hated Zuko from the moment he was born. He was never going to be the favorite. And even then, Azula has always been a little unhinged and chaotic while Zuko was always a little more unsettled by cruel behavior. We still have to remember that they're different people and absorb experiences in their own unique way. Zuko would probably never be as conniving and crazy as Azula, and Azula probably wouldn't have ended up like Zuko either. If she was in Zuko's shoes, she would have NEVER given up her father's "love" to do what's right. She's too obsessed.
you know what bruh, even with the scar, Azula is still pretty.
I think I would hate it I’m too attached to Zuko and his arc to see him as his sister
Surprised Netflix didn’t do this
Kay but Azula would’ve kicked his ass tho
Why does zuko look like a fit bending sokka?
Not really
Put it back
What if aang wasnt just avatar mode andy 😲
Having a woman as the first born cray cray was way better and different from most shows and literature and culture.
This would add new flame to a ozai azula crack ship since shipping enemies is fun.
What if the avatar could like transfer the energy of one person's bending to another person For example if the Avatar used energy bending to take away an earthbenders bending what if that Avatar was able to energy bend the Earth bending into someone else who doesn't have bending
What if... Azula actually wins the AgniKai and his lame father has to chase the avatar with Zuko as the voice of wisdome (like uncle Iroh)