Of all the characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Fire Lord Ozai was one of the most enigmatic and most fearsome of them all. They don’t even show his face throughout most of the show; this effectively painted him as an infamous myth among all the characters in the show, something to match the legendary Avatar.
Then again, he was defeated even at the height of his power, all the strategic build-up and the atrocities he committed finally brought to justice. Despite the devastating loss against the Avatar, Ozai still remains an imposing figure. His feats are simply too dark and too incandescent to forget. Even before the events of the Nickelodeon show, Ozai already has a notorious track record.
VOICED BY MARK HAMILL
Who else but Mark Hamill has the authority to bring the most destructive Fire Lord to life? It’s a fitting role for the veteran sci-fi and fantasy genre actor who is also known otherwise as the best Joker voice ever and Luke Skywalker as well. Despite not having as much dialog as the other characters, it’s safe to say Hamill breathed fire into Ozai and made him alive.
From the snide lack of affection for his children to his threats against the Avatar in their final battle, Hamill made Ozai a formidable villain who also appears have a shadowy past in stark contrast to the fiery ambitions.
HE HAS NO MILITARY EXPERIENCE
Despite being one of the most successful Fire Lords ever, Ozai didn’t actually have the military experience to back up his tenacity and earn the respect of soldiers. He was merely royalty who also happens to be a powerful firebender. Compared to his older brother, Iroh (uncle Iroh), Ozai’s achievements are no match.
How Ozai got the throne was due to deception and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Though, there was no doubt that Iroh was the official successor before his son died during the siege of Ba Sing Se. Ozai was merely a scheming younger brother who managed to snag the throne with impressive cunning.
KILLED HIS OWN FATHER
Well, this is the main reason Ozai became the Fire Lord. He saw an opportunity when Iroh’s son died and struck. Though, it wasn’t that simple, of course since he would be branded as a usurper if he did that in the open. Fire Lord Azulon actually wanted Ozai to kill Zuko so that Ozai would learn what loss was felt similar to what happened to his brother.
In order to save Zuko, Ursa, his mother and Ozai’s wife, proposed a scheme to Ozai: to poison the Azulon. For Ozai, this was killing two birds with one stone; he gets to have the throne and Zuko gets to live, practically securing his legacy and stronger claim to the throne. Ozai obliged and basically killed his own father in order to become the Fire Lord.
HE HAD THE SHORTEST REIGN AS FIRE LORD
As soon as Azulon died, Ozai claimed that his father chose him as the heir over Iroh, owing to the fact that he still has children/heirs. Ozai was practically unstoppable afterward since, due to his grieving, Iroh also didn’t challenge his claim to the throne. With him on the throne, Ozai began his new reign of terror.
His atrocities include wiping out the Air Nomads, basically killing all of Aang’s friends and guardians. Even so, Ozai actually had the shortest Fire Lord rule ever. He only rule for five years. By comparison, both Ozai’s grandfather, Sozin, and his father, Azulon, ruled 78 and 75 years respectively.
OZAI BEGAN THE FIRE NATION’S INDUSTRIAL AGE
Despite only having ruled for half a decade, Ozai was still one of the most progressive leaders of the Fire Nation. He catalyzed the Fire Nation’s industrial age and even improved their economy, basically making them the most powerful country in the world of Avatar.
During his sovereignty, and under his vision, the Fire Nation’s military progressed the most especially with tanks, boats, airships, and other metal war machinery. In that regard, their technological advancements also extended beyond their military.
NEARLY CONQUERED THE WHOLE WORLD
With the might of the Fire Nation and their new technological war machines, Ozai painted the world map red. The might of the Fire Nation became too much for any nation to stand and even the once impregnable Ba Sing Se was conquered through trickery and spycraft. It was something even Iroh couldn’t do.
Of course, it did help that Ozai already had the hard work of his father and grandfather as a headstart. Under his leadership, the Fire Nation managed to extend their violent influence to 90 percent of the world in Avatar.
HE HAD LOYALISTS
Without a doubt, Ozai is one of the most popular Fire Lords ever. Many of his fellow Fire Nation people agreed with him and helped spread his ideals and vision for the world. So, when his impending Hundred Year war victory was abruptly cut short by the Avatar, those who were loyal to him didn’t give up.
Indeed, after Zuko took over as the Fire Lord, Ozai’s loyalists rebelled and wanted him back on the throne– even without his bending powers. Oddly enough, it was Zuko’s supposed father-in-law who instigated this rebellion: Ukano, Mai’s father. The group even renamed themselves New Ozai Society. They did fail but the fact that Ozai still had influence even after his defeat and imprisonment is scary.
HE CRIED ONCE
Avatar: The Last Airbender has always painted Ozai as a ruthless and calculating authoritarian but it turns out he wasn’t past redemption. During the continuation of the events of the show as seen in the comic book, The Promise, Ursa, Zuko’s mom and former wife of Ozai reunited with the defeated Fire Lord.
It wasn’t a heartfelt reunion, though; Ozai never really loved her anyway, but Ursa still managed to knock some conscience into Ozai’s noggin using some piercing words which were long overdue. Something about being a terrible human being and a bad family man. More than anything, this made Ozai realize the pain he inflicted on the world and his family and made him broke down into tears.
A REALLY BAD FATHER
As for being a bad father, anyone who has watched the show should already be aware of this fact. However, the depths of Ozai’s bad parenting goes a lot deeper than what the series unveiled to us. From the time Zuko was born, Ozai already wanted to discard him, fearing that he might be a non-bender.
That stemmed from Ozai’s mere distaste, saying Zuko “lacked that spark in his eyes” and resembled Ursa (his wife, Zuko’s mother) more than him. Azula, despite being daddy’s girl, also wasn’t insulated from the Ozai’s maltreatment. Ozai psychologically abused both of his children with Zuko getting the added bonus of physical abuse.
ZUKO MIGHT NOT BE HIS SON
We all knew Zuko was as the prince of the Fire Nation and son of Fire Lord Ozai but that didn’t stop theories from existing that Zuko could well have been Ursa’s son from her original lover, Ikem. As you can recall, Ozai and Ursa were only wed on Azulon’s behest and intention of mixing Avatar Roku’s genes with royalty.
Ursa loved someone else and could have well conceived Zuko with Ikem right before her forced marriage with Ozai. Meanwhile, Ursa even once sent out dummy letters to check if Ozai was intercepting her letters with Ikem. One of the letters had the word “our son Zuko” and was addressed to Ikem; it further says “when I look into his eyes, it is as if I am looking into yours.”
That would make sense why Ozai has always been a terrible father to Zuko but whatever the case may be, the show nor the showrunners or any other material connected with the series hasn’t confirmed anything. That means Zuko lineage remains debatable which doesn’t matter since he made for a better Fire Lord than Ozai.
