Azula Has A Personality Disorder - Tumblr Posts

As an ATLA fan, I used to think that if Azula ever recovered at all, it would be to the detriment of her story. I thought it would take away the impact of what Ozai had done, which I felt was important didn't happen because it's hard for so many people to imagine that a golden child could be abused, or that emotional abuse could have such a profound impact on a child's psyche.

But here's what changed my mind: even though it's never stated, fans mostly agree on the interpretation of Azula as having some form of personality disorder. I've seen people claim npd, bpd, machivellinism, aspd, etc. The general consensus among fans is still the same: Azula's personality disorder was entirely caused by abuse.

This is true for people in real life, not just in a fictional character's narrative. And in real life, people with personality disorders are demonized by people who think they could never recover and will always be evil. Sometimes you even hear that from people in the mental health community, or from therapists. But even if there's no cure, symptoms can go into remission.

I now think Azula recovering is incredibly important as a narrative, because it lets people with personality disorders see her healing and see that possibility for themselves.