The Fall of the Fire Empire

Avatar: The Fall of the Fire Empire is an Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic by contributor Master Ghandalf who surprisingly also wrote the Azula Trilogy. It's an AU story in which Aang was quickly defeated at some point in season one, and the Fire Nation took over the world and became the Fire Empire. Several decades later, an elderly Azula still rules the Empire with an iron fist as the Dragon Empress, with the Earth Kingdom completely enslaved and the Water Tribes reduced to a few scattered villages. In this dark future, we follow three main viewpoint characters, one from each of the remaining nations:

Jiazin is the daughter of the governor of Long Du Shi (formerly Ba Sing Se), and almost as much of a teenage firebending prodigy as Azula. She is summoned to the Empress' palace for a mysterious mission, but soon finds herself a pawn for both Azula and her spymaster Qing Xi.

Tong is an earthbending slave who rebels and kills his master, then falls in with other rebels who hide out in the tunnels under Lake Laogai.

Kanoda has spent his life listening to the tragic heroic legends of Sokka and Katara, and decides to go off himself to become a hero. But he finds it's not as easy as it sounds when he's captured by the Chosen, Azula's elite order of female warriors.

These three storylines gradually draw closer together as the heroes learn of each other's presence, and work together to finally overthrow the Fire Empire. Naturally, appearances by canon characters are relatively rare, but the OCs here are all very good in their own right, and the story is complex and full of plot twists that will keep you engaged.

Now has a sequel, Legacy of the Fire Empire. Five years after the fall, Kanoda and  must deal with the aftermath and a new threat.

Be sure to add tropes as you see them.

(N.B. Be WARNED that there will most likely come to be Late Arrival SPOILERS in the Sequel's trope section, particularly as time goes on and it becomes harder to hide aspects of the first story's plot.)

Avatar: The Fall of the Fire Empire contains examples of:

 * Action Girl: Jiazin and Chaiy are the two most notable. Even.
 * Affably Evil: Qing Xi.
 * Amazon Brigade: The Chosen; they even have their base on the former Kyoshi Island. In fact, Azula was inspired to create them after her first encounter with the Kyoshi Warriors in this timeline.
 * Anti-Villain: Though he isn't prominent until the later stages of the story, High General Xia is quickly established as being a Noble Punch Clock Villain who is both loyal to the Fire Empire and highly honourable - a sharp contrast to Qing Xi and Yuan.
 * Cheng, thanks to being less cruel than the other Chosen (and her frequent Butt Monkey tendencies), comes off as somewhat endearing rather than scary in her desire to follow the Chosen's purpose, and . It's really not hard to feel for her even from the start.
 * Anyone Can Die
 * The Archer: Chaiy
 * Ascended Extra: Some characters, notably Jiazin's father and Cheng, were originally conceived as bit parts who grew into larger roles as the story progressed.
 * Awesome Moment of Crowning:
 * Badass Grandma: Azula. Even at over a hundred, she's still the single most dangerous individual on the planet.
 * Toph was revealed to have been one as well, being Shu and Chaiy's ancestor, and.
 * And though she doesn't look it.
 * Badass Normal: Gian, all the Chosen (who are forbidden from firebending even if they have the ability - Azula's smart enough that she doesn't run the risk of creating another her) and Kanoda, although he's usually Overshadowed by Awesome.
 * Big Bad: Azula
 * Big Bad Wannabe: Yuan
 * Book Ends:.
 * Butt Monkey: The universe really doesn't like Cheng.
 * The Caligula: Azula
 * Climax Boss: There's one at the end of each major arc (or 'Book'). Noteworrthy locations, too:
 * Book 1:, fought at.
 * Book 2:, fought at.
 * Book 3: Fire Empress Azula, fought on.
 * Co-Dragons: Directly beneath Azula is her inner circle, who are all roughly equal; High Minister Qing Xi, High Admiral Yuan, High General Xia and the Mistress of the Chosen. There is also Zhi, the Chosen who acts as Azula's personal bodyguard and attendant.
 * Companion Cube: Subverted. Like Sokka, Kanoda has a boomerang he greatly values, and helps him out of a tight spot. Unlike Sokka, he loses it early on and never finds it again.
 * The Consigliere: Qing Xi is nearly as smart as Azula, far less charismatic, and decidedly more rational, which puts him in the position of being the one whose cool logic backs up her grand schemes. . Technically this is part of the High Ministers job; most of them end up getting too pushy about it and get themselves fired... literally. The fact that QX has lasted as long as he has speaks to his competence.
 * Cruel and Unusual Death:.
 * Cruel Mercy: After  destroys Yuan's fleet,   lets him live to wallow in his failure and insignificance..
 * And at the end of the story
 * Dangerous Forbidden Technique:.
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: Gian, at least until.
 * And Azula, of course. Of course, as in canon, she may also have traces of Wrong Genre Savvy - whatever variables she'd considered, she certainly didn't take into account.
 * Dark Action Girl: All of the Chosen, with Shiyan as their main representative.
 * Doorstopper: This one story is about as long as the entire Azula Trilogy, though it is divided into three acts that each have their own climaxes.
 * Enemy Civil War:
 * Even Evil Has Standards:.
 * Everyone Calls Her Mistress: The Mistress of the Chosen doesn't use her own real name, having completely surrendered her entire identity to Azula.
 * Evil Counterpart: Meta-example. Shiyan was designed to be, essentially, an evil Suki with elements of Azula mixed in. Doesn't come up in-story, though, since Suki is dead, and likely has been for a while.
 * Five-Bad Band:
 * The Big Bad - Dragon Empress Azula
 * The Dragon - The Mistress of the Chosen, High General Xia
 * The Evil Genius - High Minister Qing Xi
 * The Brute - Yuan
 * The Dark Chick - The Mistress
 * The Sixth Column - Gian,
 * Five-Man Band (the most clear one):
 * The Hero - Jiazin (she fits the role most)
 * The Lancer - Chaiy
 * The Big Guy - Tong
 * The Smart Guy - Kanoda
 * The Chick -
 * The Sixth Ranger -
 * Flaming Sword: Jiazin can wreath her sword in fire.
 * Generation Xerox: Yuan is very much like his grandfather Zhao, if a bit more unstable. Justified, since Zhao is a legendary "hero" of the Empire is this AU, and all his family have lived in his shadow - Yuan is trying to almost literally out-Zhao Zhao!
 * The Governors Daughter: Jiazin is literally the daughter of the Governor of Long Du Shi (aka Ba Sing Se). Subverted in that she is a major (arguably the main) character in her own right, rather than just because of her social status.
 * Heel Face Turn: Jiazin,.
 * Heroic Sacrifice:.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard:.
 * Hot-Blooded: Chaiy, though when you consider what's been done to her people it's hard to blame her.
 * Humans Are Bastards: At least Azula thinks so; she sees herself as the Only Sane Woman in a world where everyone else refuses to acknowledge that they are evil and would turn on each other in a heartbeat.
 * Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Cheng, in contrast to the more experienced and ruthless Shiyan.
 * In the Blood: Averted. Toph's descendants are earthbenders, but aren't anywhere near as powerful as she was.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: The Chosen, like the Kyoshi Warriors, use katanas (though unlike the K Ws, they don't bother with fans). Subverted in that Jiazin, despite being a wealthy and high-ranking noble, uses a straight-edged sword instead.
 * Kill It with Fire:.
 * Knight Templar: The Chosen are a particularly disturbing example; they're raised from birth to unquestioningly view Azula as an absolute god who can never be wrong, and fully see themselves as heroes for doing her will.
 * La Résistance: The Earth Kingdom rebels, led by Toph's grandson Shu Bei Fong and his daughter, Chaiy.
 * Last of His Kind:.
 * Legacy Character: Apparently Qing Xi and Azula's plan.
 * Medieval Stasis: Justified. While taking place in an era analogous to The Legend of Korra, technology has barely advanced from what was around in the original series. It's eventually revealed that the  trapped the natural world in social and technological stasis because of the disruption to the Balance of all things. The world can only get worse but not better.
 * Mercy Kill: Apparently, when an aged Ozai descended into senile madness, Azula smothered him with a pillow -- according to Qing Xi, it was the only merciful act of her life.
 * Nietzsche Wannabe: Azula is a borderline example.
 * Noble Demon: High General Xia.
 * Non-Action Guy: Shu Bei Fong, as stated above, is more of a planner, negotiator and leader than a warrior.
 * No Name Given: Jiazin's father is not given a name (Yan Li) until about 2/3 of the way into the story. Justified in that he usually appeared from Jiazin's Third Person Singular POV until that point.
 * Not So Different: Jiazin and Azula, or at least Jiazin fears.
 * Not Quite Dead:
 * Omnicidal Maniac:.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Like Sokka before him, Kanoda is a skilled fighter, but he has a hard time measuring up against the benders, trained-from-birth fanatics, and he finds himself mixed up with.
 * Pillar of Light: When.
 * The Quiet One: Tong
 * Rebel Leader: Shu Bei Fong is the ultimate head of the rebellion; since he's not much of a fighter, his Action Girl daughter Chaiy actually leads the rebels in the field.
 * Sacrificial Lion:
 * Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: The Chosen are trained from childhood to be the ultimate living weapons. Not incidentally, most of them have no grasp of ordinary human social skills or interaction, which is reflected in their overly-formal, somewhat stilted speech patterns. Of course, this is only to be expected when Azula designed the training program...
 * Sealed Good in a Can:.
 * Sequel Hook: Most of the main plot is wrapped up, but we still don't know, and the epilogue mentions.
 * It seems these will be picked up in the sequel; see below.
 * Shout-Out: The author is a big fan of The Lord of the Rings (as evidenced by his username), and it shows in chapter titles like "The Board is Set" and "The Deep Breath Before the Plunge." And there's possibly a thematic one in the climax, as
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Close to the middle, but tilted more in idealism's favour despite the darkness - while the fic was a Work-in-Progress, the author even admitted in his fanfiction.net profile to being "an optimist at heart" and that he expected a hopeful ending.
 * Smug Snake: Admiral Yuan, the granson of Zhao who continues the family's tradition quite nicely.
 * The Sociopath: Gian, and possibly Yuan. Azula has some sociopathic traits, as per canon, but here that doesn't really even begin to cover how disturbed she is.
 * Spanner in the Works:
 * Spiritual Successor: In general, the fic was written as a thematic counterpoint to the main series, using the same setting in a different time period, and similar character archetypes with different twists. In particular, several characters parallel canon characters' arcs, personalitiles, or abilities:
 * Jiazin = Zuko + some Mai
 * Kanoda = Sokka + Katara
 * Tong = Toph
 * = Aang
 * = elements of Aang
 * Qing Xi= Long Feng
 * Yuan = Zhao
 * Shiyan = Azula + Evil!Suki
 * Cheng = Ty Lee + Evil!Suki
 * Azula = Herself + Ozai
 * Chaiy = Jet + Toph
 * Gian = Combustion Man + Jun
 * Standard Evil Empire Hierarchy:
 * The Emperor: Azula
 * The Right Hand: The Mistress
 * The General: High General Xia
 * The Guard: High Admiral Yuan
 * The Oddball: High Minister Qing Xi
 * Supporting Leader: Chaiy, Tong, and during the Final Battle, as they take on the Imperial army and Chosen while Jiazin, Kanoda, and  go after Azula herself.
 * Theme Naming: Azula's inner circle, the Mistress of the Chosen excepted, are all named for historical or legendary Chinese dynasties.
 * Those Two Bad Guys: Shiyan and Cheng
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl:.
 * Touched by Vorlons:.
 * Two Lines, No Waiting: The story is split quite nicely between its three plot threads, which also becomes less and less of an issue as they get closer together. Even scenes without any of the three heroes are all about something that has a direct impact on at least one of them.
 * Tyke Bomb: The Chosen, as noted above - they're raised from infancy to be Azula's ultimate warrior-servants.
 * Undying Loyalty: The Chosen, towards Azula.
 * Unperson:.
 * Villainous Breakdown: We essentially meet Azula in the middle of one, as she is finally forced to face her own old age, the one enemy she can't possibly defeat. Also,
 * And Yuan seriously cracks after, which dissolves into a Villainous BSOD after.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: We never found out what happened to.
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl:
 * Wrong Genre Savvy: Kanoda at first. He becomes more straightforwardly Genre Savvy with Character Development.
 * You Killed My Father:
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl:
 * Wrong Genre Savvy: Kanoda at first. He becomes more straightforwardly Genre Savvy with Character Development.
 * You Killed My Father:
 * You Killed My Father:

Legacy of the Fire Empire contains examples of:

 * Amnesiac Dissonance:
 * Big Bad Duumvirate: Li Shang and Aitan
 * Cold-Blooded Torture: Aitan has apparently learned to use a version of Ty Lee's chi blocking in order to induce great pain.
 * Demoted to Extra: Jiazin, The Hero in the first story, will be reduced to supporting character according to Word of God. Given that he wants the other major characters to shine this time, the decision is not necessarily a bad one.
 * Late Arrival Spoiler/Trailers Always Spoil: Unsurprisingly, the sequel's summary spoils that Right now, avoiding the author's profile is the best way to avoid spoiling oneself about this, but avoiding the summary whilst browsing helps as well.
 * The Paralyzer: Aitan
 * Religion of Evil: Aitan's Azula worshipping cult.
 * Reverse Mole: Zai, one of Aitan's acolytes, is actually a spy for the Chanjie (Omashu) rebellion.
 * Shipper on Deck: seems to ship Jiazin/Kanoda.
 * Time Skip: