Zuko

Zuko
Avatar: The Last Airbender character
First appearance	"The Boy in the Iceberg" Book 1, Chapter 1
Voiced by	Dante Basco Elijah Runcorn (Young Zuko)
Information
Gender	Male
Nationality	Fire Nation
Bending Element	Fire, Lightning (redirection)
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Amber
Position	Antagonist in Water Antihero in Earth Protagonist in Fire

Zuko is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Dante Basco and is portrayed by Dev Patel in the 2010 film The Last Airbender by M. Night Shyamalan.

Zuko the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, and a powerful Firebender, meaning he has the ability to create and manipulate fire and lightning through martial arts. He is the elder child of Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Ursa, and brother of Princess Azula. Before the events of the series, Zuko is exiled from the Fire Nation by his father and told to capture the Avatar--then thought to be an impossible task because the Avatar had not been seen in over 100 years--in order to restore his honor and right to the throne. Zuko is accompanied and advised in his search by his uncle Iroh. Over time, Zuko's loyalties and moralities shift as he grows to sympathize with the people that the Fire Nation has terrorized, ultimately joining the Avatar to help end the Fire Nation's tyranny and restore balance to the world. Zuko has two well known great-grandfathers: on his father's side, Fire Lord Sozin, who started the 100 year war, and on his mother's side Avatar Roku, the Avatar preceding Aang.

Plot overview

Season One

Zuko is 16 years old. Six years prior to the start of the series, Prince Ozai, Zuko's father, attempted to usurp his elder brother Iroh's birth right and steal the throne for himself. This was due to Iroh having recently lost his son in the war and abandoning the campaign against the city of Ba Sing Se. Fire Lord Azulon, Iroh and Ozai's father, was furious that Ozai would try to take advantage of Iroh's grief and orders Ozai to kill his own son so that he might feel the pain which Iroh felt after losing a child. Ozai, considering Zuko a disappointment, was willing to kill Zuko to appease his father. However, in an effort to protect him, Ursa, Zuko's mother, committed treasonous acts which resulted in Firelord Azulon's death. Soon after Ozai took the throne and banished Ursa. A few years after, Zuko objects to a plan of attack that would have sacrificed many newer soldiers as bait, whereupon Ozai challenges his son to an Agni Kai for the perceived disrespect shown to him in his own war chamber. Unwilling to fight his father, Zuko begs forgiveness, only to be savagely burned across the left side of his face. Ozai banishes Zuko from the Fire Nation, ordering him not to return until he finds the Avatar, which was thought an impossible quest, with only his Uncle Iroh and a small ship and crew to help him. After three years of searching, Aang emerges from an iceberg, and Zuko tries to capture him. They encounter each other multiple times throughout the first season, but Zuko fails to capture Aang or Aang escapes. During Zuko's pursuit, Fire Nation Admiral Zhao also takes up chasing the Avatar. Zhao views Zuko as a failure and a traitor, and ultimately attempts to have him murdered by pirates. Zuko escapes this attempt on his life and stows away on Zhao's ship during his invasion of the Northern Water Tribe, where Aang is learning Waterbending. At the North Pole, Zuko is still unable to capture the Avatar while Zhao dies after being seized by an ocean spirit. Despite playing the role of antagonist throughout this season, evidence of Zuko's compassionate side exists, such as when he went to great extents to save the life of his uncle, and later the lives of his crew, though he had a chance to pursue the Avatar instead.

Season Two

The second season opens with Zuko and Iroh still chasing the Avatar, only to be confronted by Azula, Zuko's younger sister. They escape and realize they have been branded traitors to the Fire Nation. Now on the run from Azula, Iroh and Zuko travel the Earth Kingdom like ordinary refugees, much to Zuko's frustration. Eventually Zuko splits away from Iroh, feeling he could no longer learn from his uncle. However, Iroh follows Zuko out of concern, and the two reconnect after Azula injures Iroh. Their travels take them to Ba Sing Se, where Zuko follows his uncle's advice and tries to make a new life for himself. Both prosper; but when Azula launches her plan to capture Ba Sing Se, Zuko is faced with the opportunity to return home, and subsequently chooses to side with his sister in the battle against Aang and Katara. After being betrayed by Zuko, Iroh is thrown in jail.

Season Three

The final season begins with Zuko and Azula's return to the Fire Nation after conquering Ba Sing Se. Both are praised as heroes by the Fire Nation for capturing Ba Sing Se and for killing the Avatar. Zuko is shocked to discover that his father, who he is now on speaking terms with, believes him to have killed the Avatar. Further inspection reveals that Azula suspects Aang survived her attack, and has transferred the glory to Zuko to protect herself from blame in the event that the Avatar resurfaces. Zuko begins to visit his uncle in prison, who eventually tells him that he is a descendent of Avatar Roku through his mother's side, explaining that it is Zuko's destiny to restore the honor of the Fire Nation and help the Avatar bring balance to the world. Soon after, in a war meeting held in preparation for the Day of Black Sun, he unintentionally helps Ozai invent a plan to completely burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground. His father, Fire Lord Ozai, is genuinely proud, however Zuko realizes that to have the love of his father, he would have to be cruel and ruthless. Soon after this meeting, he fully resolves to help Aang defeat his father. He confronts his father, telling the Fire Lord he is joining Aang, and incapacitates his father by redirecting one of his father's blasts of lightning back at him. Zuko leaves, and later discovers that Iroh has escaped from prison.

Zuko then finds Aang and his friends and expresses his desire to join their team and teach Aang firebending. Although the team initially rejects him, Aang and company gradually come to accept Zuko after he helps them defeat Combustion Man. When Zuko's lack of a motive (his previous motive being anger and his need to capture the Avatar) weakens his firebending power, he and Aang travel to discover the long-forgotten source of firebending. The ancient Sun Warriors reveal there is a test of worthiness, which is being judged by their world's last two dragons. After being judged worthy, they learn the true source of firebending is life, not anger (as he had been using before) allowing him to firebend again. Later, Zuko helps Sokka free Sokka's father, Hakoda, and Sokka's girlfriend Suki, from the Fire Nation's maximum security prison, the Boiling Rock. While there, he is also confronted by Mai (his girlfriend throughout season three), whom he left behind when he left the Fire Nation. Mai saves their lives, revealing to Azula that she "loves Zuko more than she fears her." Zuko also helps Katara find and confront her mother's killer, making amends for his betrayal of her in Ba Sing Se.

During the finale, Aang disappears shortly before Sozin's Comet arrives and Zuko is put in charge of finding him. When Zuko is unable to find Aang, he searches for and finds Iroh. Iroh immediately forgives Zuko for his betrayal, revealing that he was never angry with the young prince, but only sad because he was afraid Zuko had lost his way. Iroh tells Zuko that he must face Azula for the crown, but cannot do it alone, and Zuko chooses Katara to assist him. At the Fire Nation capital, Azula challenges Zuko to single combat (Agni Kai), to which Zuko accepts. In a desperate attempt to defeat Zuko, Azula attempts to strike Katara down with lightning. Zuko jumps in front of the lightning and, barely able to redirect the energy, is badly injured. Katara then captures Azula and heals Zuko. Afterwards, Zuko is crowned Fire Lord, and he promises that there will be peace for all and is reunited with Mai who was imprisoned for helping Zuko escape the Boiling Rock. They start dating again. Later, Zuko visits his father in an isolated prison, asking the whereabouts of his mother. An ending clip shows Zuko in the Jasmine Dragon with the rest of the protagonists.

The Legend of Korra

In the sequel series Avatar: The Legend of Korra, it as yet unknown whether or not Zuko will appear. Dante Basco, Zuko's voice actor, recently confirmed that he would be playing a character in the series who is related in some way to Zuko. What is known is that following the Great War, Zuko aided Aang in founding and creating United Republic.

Firebending and special skills

Firebending

Despite his youth, Zuko is highly skilled in Firebending. He is capable of holding his own against fighters and benders more experienced than himself due to his adaptability. Through determination, an ability to adapt, and strength, Zuko refuses to give up during a fight. He has also shown great agility and strength (pushing a grown man backwards with a slight push from his palm, breaking a metal chain with his foot, etc.) Originally, though powerful, he relies on large brute force attacks that drain him and leave him open to counter-attacks. However, he is usually able to defeat opponents using his superior strength and agility to tire them out. Later, as he gets more confident and efficient due to training from his uncle, he is shown to use more refinement and economy of energy, out-thinking his opponent. For example, in the Season 1 finale, he is proved evenly matched in a duel with Katara, who had long since been declared a Waterbending master. This stalemate only ended when they switched opponents. (In a previous fight, Katara was able to match him having only just finished mastering waterbending. The time of day, with the moon increasing Waterbender's powers and the sun increasing Firebender's powers, was the deciding factor.) Although skilled, whenever Zuko faces his younger sister Azula in the earlier series, she proves to be the more skilled fighter. She has the ability to generate lightning, a skill very few Firebenders are capable of learning. Zuko attempts to learn this skill from his Uncle Iroh, but is unable to generate lightning because of his own inner turmoil. However, Iroh does teach him how to redirect lightning, a technique he created from watching Waterbenders, but Zuko cannot test this skill as Iroh refuses to throw lightning at his nephew due to the immense risk involved. Zuko does successfully redirect lightning when his own father, Fire Lord Ozai, shoots lightning at him months later. Zuko later shifts from pupil to master by joining Aang and teaching him Firebending. Zuko initially has trouble firebending as his passion (as for years, his sole motivation was hunting the Avatar), the source of his Firebending, is gone. After he and Aang go on a quest to discover the true source of firebending, the two encounter the last two known dragons in existence and learn that Firebending is more about life and harmony than destruction and rage. When Zuko finally faces Azula again in "The Boiling Rock", the two are shown to be evenly matched. During the Agni Kai in the series finale, Zuko fights well throughout the entire duel.

Other skills

Zuko has also shown to be highly skilled in the use of the double broadswords, a talent he refined during his time at sea. In "The Blue Spirit", Zuko succeeds against a number of adversaries with nothing but his sword skill. Zuko can also firebend while wielding swords.

Zuko has demonstrated an ability in stealth and skill's in unarmed combat on multiple occasions, which he uses as his alter-ego, the "Blue Spirit". He was able to infiltrate a Fire Nation fortress, the Northern Water Tribe's city and the Dai Li's base at Lake Laogai without detection. His proficiency at stealth was also utilized during the 3rd season episode, "The Southern Raiders", in which he and Katara sneaked into and out of a Fire Nation command outpost, onto a Fire Nation ship, and then stalked and cornered the former commander of the Southern Raiders in his home village without revealing themselves. Avatar Extras revealed he has abnormal hearing. Avatar Extras also state that he is also naturally gifted at playing the Tsungi horn (though he is never heard playing).

Film

Dev Patel as Zuko

According to Entertainment Weekly, pop singer Jesse McCartney was negotiating to play against type in the role of the Prince Zuko. On February 1, 2009, McCartney was replaced by actor Dev Patel amidst surrounding controversy over casting roles and schedule conflicts. Despite an overall bombardment of the movie in general, some reviews have mentioned that Patel was inarguably the best actor in the film by a considerable margin.

External links

• Zuko at Nick.com
• [1]