| “ | Zuko, please, my love, listen to me. Everything I've done, I've done to protect you. Remember this, Zuko. No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are. | „ |
| ~ Ursa |
| “ | No...I love you, Azula, I do. | „ |
| ~ A hallucination of Ursa trying to reason with Azula. |
Ursa (also temporarily known as Noriko) is one of the overarching protagonists in Nickelodeon's 2005 animated fantasy series Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel comic series of the same name.
She was the ex-wife of Ozai, and later Ikem's wife, mother of Zuko, Azula, and Kiyi, daughter of Jinzuk and Rina, and the granddaughter of Avatar Roku and Ta Min. She was a kind, caring, and loving mother to her children, though Azula believed she favored Zuko over her.
She was voiced by Jen Cohn.
Biography[]
Prior to the series, she grew up in the Fire Nation village of Hira'a until she, as a descendant of Roku, was forced by Fire Lord Azulon to marry Ozai in order to fulfill a prophecy that would bring great power to Azulon's lineage. When she learned years later that the Fire Lord had ordered her husband to murder Zuko and that he was going to go through with it, she ensured her son's life was spared, but was subsequently banished from the Fire Nation Capital for treason. She was only seen in flashbacks throughout the story.
When Azula’s sanity has decayed below the threshold due to betrayal by Mai and Ty Lee, and Ozai leaving her behind, she begins having auditory and visual hallucinations of Ursa talking to her, much to her annoyance; especially when the vision of Ursa told her to find her own destiny and not to usurp Zuko’s Fire Lord title and telling Azula that she loves her, while Azula doesn’t believe it to be so, as their relationship had been very complicated.
Ursa returned to her home town, where she rekindled her relationship with her boyfriend, Ikem. In order to lead a normal life again, she requested that the Mother of Faces grant her an entirely new face and identity while also wiping all of her memories relating to her life with Ozai as a Fire Nation princess. As Noriko, she had another daughter, Kiyi, though after her two elder children tracked her down, she encountered the Mother of Faces again and decided to have the spirit restore her old face and memories.
Personality[]
In contrast with her adult personality, Ursa was quite rough, playful, and spirited in her youth, as evidenced by her teasing of Ikem, which even went as far as kicking him in the stomach and pushing his face in the dirt. As she knew that her marriage to someone with the personality and rank as Ozai would mean she would be constantly isolated and seen by vigilantes, she was very careful and vigilant herself, knowing the servants who she could not trust and hid her medical skills from her then-husband. However, Ursa's forceful attitude was shown even against his fury when she confirmed that he read her letters through a risky plan, which would indirectly affect Zuko negatively at the end. Ultimately, Ozai's emotional abusiveness toward her and his children resulted in Ursa developing a lasting fear of him, connected to her deep worries about her family's safety.
Ursa was rather artistic and perseverant, She always wanted to get the part as the Dragon Empress in Love amongst the Dragons. Her love for the play extended even to her isolated adulthood, showing it to her children who acted as the main rivals in the play. Ursa was a pragmatist, choosing to leave Ikem behind in order to protect him and later accepted banishment in order to save Zuko. Despite her love and affection for her children, she opted to forget their existence at one point in order to find inner peace once she reunited with Noren. Ultimately, she came to regret this decision, realizing that Zuko and Azula were her true family.
Ursa was a kind, caring, and loving mother to her children, showing equal authority in their parenting as her much more powerful husband. One of her defining features was her strong motherly love and protectiveness of her only son Zuko, whom she encouraged to be as he is, especially his determination. Her life was dedicated to safeguarding him from any harm, resorting to any means necessary to keep her son safe such as to give Ozai a vial of poison, aware that he would use it to kill Fire Lord Azulon and take the throne. Similarly, Ursa's relationship with her youngest daughter, Kiyi, was very loving and caring despite it temporary got strained after obtaining her original face. She was overprotective as well, as she panicked when she saw Kiyi riding a flying dolphin fish, being fearful of losing her second daughter too. Together with the traumatic memories of her first marriage, these worries contributed to Ursa's intense fear of losing her children in some way permanently. She only became better at dealing with this fear after Iroh told her that it would never disappear but could be better dealt with them by seeing it with unclouded eyes.
However, Ursa's relationship with her eldest daughter Azula was strained by the fact that the young princess was emotionally abusive and manipulative toward her family and friends, especially Zuko. She was forced to discipline Azula on a regular basis, but it was apparent to her that her daughter's cruelty was beyond a normal level. It was her behavior toward Azula that started the princess' anger and jealousy toward Zuko for how he was loved and cared for by her as she herself craved their mother's love. Although her treatment was good-intentioned, the way she disciplined Azula regularly made her daughter incorrectly believe that Ursa thought of her as a monster; her belief that Ursa never loved her influenced Azula's later behavior and emotional instability. However, despite all this, Ursa cared about her daughter's well-being, as she wondered, teary-eyed, if Azula was safe, warm, or happy after learning that she had vanished in the Forgetful Valley and appeared to regret how her attempts to make Azula a better person had caused her daughter such pain.
Abilities[]
Medical skills[]
Ursa was taught a great deal about many medicinal herbs and poisons from her mother, a master herbalist. After she accepted Ozai's marriage proposal, she was not known to practice but her skill remained excellent. She used her knowledge to create a powerful colorless, odorless poison that was completely untraceable.
Physical prowess[]
Despite the fact that she lived in a luxurious palace, Ursa had enough physical resistance to survive in the Forgetful Valley with Noren's help.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Trivia[]
- Because Ursa only appeared in flashbacks, dreams and hallucinations in the series, she was presumed to be dead. However, in the comic books, she was ultimately revealed to be still alive, and not only that she had Zuko and Azula, but she was also revealed to have a daughter named Kiyi from her second husband, Ikem which is their half-sister. Moreover, her backstory was also revealed, as well as what happened to her after she was banished.
- Her name means "bear" in Latin, hence her motherly nature.
External Links[]
- Ursa on the Avatar Wiki
