Mai

Template:Fire character infobox

Quick Answers

Who are Mai's parents?

Mai's parents are Ukano and Michi. They come from a wealthy background and spoiled Mai as long as she behaved. However, Mai found little comfort in material things and craved excitement and freedom, leading to a rebellious attitude towards her parents.

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What is Mai's preferred fighting style?

Mai was exceptionally proficient at throwing stilettos, a skill she taught herself out of boredom by throwing knives at her bedroom wall. She has small knives and spring-loaded holsters concealed in her robes, and was able to skillfully hit targets from a distance. With such deadly accuracy, Mai is able to pin her opponents down, even if they are moving, a useful sill against benders who often need their hands and arms free to bend.

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What role does Mai play in Princess Azula's plans during the Hundred Year War?

Mai is initially recruited by her childhood friend Azula to hunt down and capture Prince Zuko, Iroh, and later Avatar Aang and his friends. However, Mai's loyalty to Zuko leads her to betray Azula. This act of defiance, coupled with Ty Lee's defense of Mai, results in their imprisonment, significantly impacting Azula's leadership and leading to the breakdown of her psyche.

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What is Mai's status in the Fire Nation society?

Mai holds a high status in the Fire Nation society. She was born to Ukano and Michi, making her one of the most privileged girls in the Fire Nation. She attended the Royal Fire Academy for Girls and was a close friend of Princess Azula and Ty Lee. Mai was also Prince Zuko's love interest upon his return to the Fire Nation. Despite her high status, Mai's upbringing was strict, with her parents requiring her to behave perfectly, which led to her emotional distance in later years.

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How does Mai's relationship with Zuko evolve throughout the series?

Mai's relationship with Zuko is a complex and evolving one. It starts with a childhood crush, which later blossoms into a romantic relationship when Zuko returns to the Fire Nation. They share strong feelings for each other, but their relationship isn't without its challenges. They temporarily break up during a rough patch on Ember Island due to Zuko's temper, but they soon reconcile after addressing their issues. Mai is deeply concerned about Zuko's internal conflict regarding his father and the war, and though she tries to make him feel more comfortable, she ultimately breaks up with him after he kept secrets rom her.

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History

Mai is a cold, calm, and reserved young woman, and a longtime friend of Azula and Ty Lee, who she attended the Royal Fire Academy for Girls with. She is described by nick.com as a depressed-looking goth teen, seemingly bored with everything. She is an extremely skilled warrior in the art of Shuriken-jutsu, her primary weapon being small, fletched stilettos that are spring-loaded in holsters on her wrists and ankles. She also employs a variety of other throwing weapons with deadly accuracy and has proven herself capable of besting a powerful bender despite not being a bender herself.

During flashbacks in "Zuko Alone," she is shown, about nine-years-old, sitting off by herself, disinterested, as Ty Lee and Azula play together. However, she does show marked interest in Zuko, turning away shyly and blushing when he walks by with his mother. Azula notices this and takes Mai's obvious crush as a cue to humiliate both Zuko and Mai by orchestrating a situation where in they end up falling into a fountain on top of each other.

In "Return to Omashu," during series present-time, Mai resides in the newly-conquered city of Omashu with her mother, younger brother Tom Tom, and her father, the Fire Nation-appointed governor of the city-state. Mai describes Omashu as "unbearably bleak" to her mother and complains of how bored she is, stating that she is even more bored than she was back in the Fire Nation. However, soon after, Azula arrives in the city, with Ty Lee in tow, to recruit Mai to assist her on a special mission. Desperate to get out of Omashu, Mai agrees to this immediately even though she has not been told what that mission is. Before leaving, however, Azula appoints Mai, in lieu of the governor, to oversee a pre-arranged hostage trade: King Bumi for Tom Tom, her baby brother, who wandered out of the city with a group of fleeing citizens and was subsequently assumed "kidnapped" by the resistance. However, right before Mai begins the transaction, Azula interrupts, coyly suggesting that trading a powerful Earthbender king for a two-year-old is strategically unwise. After a measured pause, Mai agrees and declares the deal off, thus initiating a fight between the two sides. Then, as Mai, Azula, and Ty Lee are leaving the city, Mai confirms, impassively, that their mission is to "track down" the now-fugitive Zuko and Iroh. Azula notes that they also now have a third target (Aang) and Ty Lee pointedly states that it will be "interesting" for Mai to see Zuko again, in response to which Mai turns away and indulges in a rare smile.

In "The Chase," Mai, Azula, and Ty Lee track Aang and his companions. Once Aang splits from Katara and Sokka, Azula sends Mai and Ty Lee to face those two while she chases down Aang. Mai and Ty Lee defeat the siblings rather easily (much in part thanks to the siblings' lack of sleep), but are caught off-guard by an airblast from Appa and sent flying into a nearby river.

In "The Drill," Mai is shown being very bored sitting around in the control room whilst Azula oversees the huge drill that the Fire Nation is using to bore a hole in the wall of Ba Sing Se. When a group of elite earthbenders attempts to stop the drill, Azula sends Mai and Ty Lee to face them, which elicits approval from Mai as it is something to do. However, when Azula sends Mai and Ty Lee after Sokka and Katara who were caught trying to sabotage the drill from the inside, Mai refuses to chase them into the slurry pipeline, stating that despite how much lightning this act of defiance might cause Azula to throw at her, she will not go into that "wall sludge juice"—which gives the impression Mai is not scared of the Princess. Later, Aang destroys the drill by causing the slurry pipeline to back up and then explode, thus covering everyone in the general vicinity in slurry. After this, a completely pristine Mai leans out of a hatch and dryly announces to the sludge-drenched Ty Lee and Azula: "We lost."

In "Appa's Lost Days," Mai has a minor role and her only action is assisting Azula attack Suki and other Kyoshi Warriors stating that their colors were making her nauseous.

In "The Earth King," Mai, Azula, and Ty Lee dressed up as the Kyoshi Warriors to sneak into Ba Sing Se.

Mai is last seen in "The Crossroads of Destiny," where she has apparently been ordered to guard the Earth King's pet bear, Bosco, but does not care enough about her assignment to attempt to stop Sokka, Toph, and the Earth King from retrieving the pet. She was so bored and restless from her duty that she let Toph, Sokka and The Earth King escape with the bear.

Trivia

• The name Mai (明—pronounced identically to the English, "May") means "brightness" in Japanese, which is very likely an ironic statement on the part of the creators. Mai is also the Cantonese pronunciation of Mèi (袂) and means "sleeve of a robe," which is where she hides her weapons.