Zuko

Zuko
Voiced by	Dante Basco
In-universe information
Aliases	The Blue Spirit (alter ego) Lee (refugee alias) Fire Lord Zuko
Gender	Male
Position	Deuteragonist, Secondary Antagonist in Books 1 and 2 Allies with the main protagonists in Book 3
Nationality	Fire Nation

Zuko is a fictional anti-heroic deuteragonist 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. Though he is the deuteragonist, he was a secondary antagonist in Books 1 and 2 and he joined the main protagonists in Book 3.

In the show, Zuko is the elder child of Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Ursa. Zuko is a skilled Firebender and the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, a race of people in which some have the ability to create and manipulate fire and (later) lightning to an extent. Zuko is his mother's favorite, as Azula is her father's favorite for her skills in firebending. Before the events of the series, he is exiled from the Fire Nation by his father, the Fire Lord Ozai, and sent to capture the Avatar 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, however, Zuko's loyalties and moralities shift as he discovers just how much pain and suffering that the Fire Nation has caused, ultimately joining Aang and his friends to end his nation's tyranny.

Plot overview

Season One

Six years prior to the start of the series, Prince Ozai, Zuko's father, makes a bid for the throne over his elder brother Iroh, due to the latter's having recently lost both his only son and his campaign against the city of Ba Sing Se. Fire Lord Azulon, Iroh and Ozai's father, is furious that Ozai would try to cheat Iroh at such a low point in his life, and orders Ozai to kill his eldest son in order for him to realize the severity of his action. 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, does "terrible, treasonous and treacherous things" that result in Azulon's death, Ozai's ascension to the throne, and her own banishment.Which means Ozai probably wrote a fake will resulting in him becomeing the king.

A few years after, Zuko objects to a plan of attack that would have sacrificed many soldiers as bait, whereupon Ozai challenges his son to an Agni Kai for the perceived disrespect shown 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. After two years of searching on Zuko's part, Aang emerges from suspended animation, and Zuko begins the chase immediately. They encounter each other multiple times throughout the first season, but Zuko fails to capture Aang or Aang escapes. During Zuko's pursuit, another Fire Nation leader named 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 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. Zuko begins his transformation, no longer driven by hunting the Avatar, and is allowed to begin to establish an identity free of pursuit. 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, and his nephew begins regretting his choice almost immediately.

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 like Azula, willingly submitting to foul deeds. Finding himself in conflict with this fact, he realizes that by sacrificing his own conscience, he woud lose what remained of the gentle, compassionate nature he inherited from his mother, Ursa.

Soon after this meeting, he fully resolves to help Aang defeat his father. He confronts his father, places himself firmly on the Avatar's side, and leaves, later to discover 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, A.K.A. as known by Sokka Sparky Sparky Boom Man and they eventually befriend him. 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. The dragons find them worthy and show the two the true nature of firebending by creating an colorful light display from two clashing jets of fire.

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. He also helps Katara find and confront her mother's killer, making amends for his betrayal of her in Ba Sing Se and helping her to dissociate her anger at the Fire Nation from her feelings for him. Through these actions, he earns full trust from the group at last, though he continues to despair about being unable to reconcile his own betrayal of his uncle.

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. In an intensely heartfelt moment, 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 then tells Zuko that he must face Azula for the crown and Zuko chooses Katara to assist him. At the Fire Nation capital, Azula challenges Zuko to single combat, to which Zuko accepts. During the duel, Zuko clearly has the advantage due to his enduring calm, his ability to redirect lightning, and Azula's deteriorating sanity. In a desperate attempt, Azula attempts to strike Katara down with lightning. Zuko jumps in front of the lightning and, barely able to redirect the energy with his instinctive move, is badly injured. Katara then defeats Azula and heals Zuko. Afterwards, Zuko is crowned Fire Lord. He also makes up with Mai and gets back together with her (on the condition that he never breaks up with her again). Later, Zuko visits his father asking the whereabouts of his mother which brings into question whether or not his mother is still alive. An ending clip shows Zuko in the Jasmine Dragon with the rest of the protagonists, in which he is finally happy and at peace with himself.

History

Zuko's father is Fire Lord Ozai, and his mother is Princess Ursa, who was banished from the Fire Nation. His great-grandfather from Fire Lord Ozai's side is Fire Lord Sozin, and his great-grandfather from Ursa's side is Avatar Roku. His father clearly favors Azula for her fire bending ability.

Appearance

Zuko is a teenager who matures, both mentally and physically, throughout the series. Zuko is around 16 years old at the beginning of the series, making him the oldest of the main children. His most prominent feature is a dark red scar over his left eye that extends over his ear, inflicted by his father, Ozai, when Zuko refused to duel him after disrupting a war meeting. The scar unintentionally causes people to pity him, as they take it for a war scar inflicted by the Fire Nation. At the end of the series, he has a scar on his lower chest received from a lightning strike, inflicted by Azula.

His hair is dark brown but somtimes looks black and many have come to believe that Zuko's hair is a symbol of his many personality changes. During Book 1, he is bald save for a pony-tail. His hair is never seen down, and is very rigid. This symbolizes his unchanging attitude, his straight forward character, and his harsh personality. In Book 2, Zuko and his Uncle Iroh must cut their hair in order to help diguise themselves. Zuko's hair grows throughout the Book, signifying his personality change. Finally, in Book 3 he is seen with his hair both in the traditional fire-nation style (long hair with a top-knot) and flowing freely. The fire-nation style is representitive of him still growing but also slightly more rigid. The flowing freely is established as his final hair style when he told his father that he is going to help the Avatar, and signifies him finally being free of the need for his fathers acceptance and love.

He has also changed his clothing from his Fire Nation Royal Armor to the simple red and gold robe that disclude his armor to make himself less conspicuous.

Personality

While initially the series' primary antagonist, over time, Zuko has shown that he is a complex young man, motivated by his need to restore his honor and dignity, and not an evil character; he eventually forsakes his past goals and becomes a hero. Zuko's sole motivation for many years was catching Aang, so he could return home with honor as his father had proclaimed. Although, as his quest continues, he begins to doubt whether his father will ever welcome him home. However, his mistakes and struggles lead him to realize his destiny was to oppose his father and join the Avatar to help defeat the Fire Lord.

Zuko's bitterness and his personal circumstances make him believe himself victimized. However, he also believes that his struggles have made him a wiser and stronger human being. He is frequently impatient and arrogant. Both of these qualities vanish after his change of alliance. However, even before this change, the episode "Zuko Alone" shows a softer side of him. After his banishment, his experiences with those less fortunate change his mind, making him a kinder and more tolerant person.

His past mistakes still haunt him. Perhaps due to this, he is very intolerant of his own mistakes, expecting the best of himself and others. He also becomes extremely upset when he does not meet his own expectations or when he feels he has jeopardized his honor (something that he claims is the only thing he has left.) However, after he restores his honor by joining the Avatar, he becomes a much happier and laid-back person, although still retains some of his bitter personality at times. Although, he does claim in the Boiling Rock he is "never happy", but he might be exaggerating. His Uncle Iroh felt that Zuko was destined to restore the honor of the Fire Nation as its new Fire Lord, something Zuko took to mean his father would accept him back as crown prince. However, he eventually realizes his father's true character and turns against him to help the Avatar. This shows a desire for peace and for each nation to rule itself, putting him at odds with many members of the Fire Nation elite. Having earned the trust and friendship of Avatar Aang, Zuko is determined to help lead the Fire Nation and the world into an era of peace and kindness.

He is also shown as loving his family and being friendly to certain individuals who earn his trust. These include his uncle, Iroh; his mother, Ursa; his girlfriend, Mai; and, to a slightly less obvious extent, Aang, Toph, Sokka, and Katara. He is deeply protective of his friends, even going as far to help Katara track down her mother's killer to gain her trust or going with Sokka to the Boiling Rock to try and help him find his father and Suki. It's possible that Zuko has some insecurity issues, as when a guy showed interest in Mai he became very paranoid and possessive of her; however, it's unknown if this is a continuous trait of his, or if it simply appeared in his then-irritable state. Although he rarely shows his feelings, Zuko is also unusually good at helping and dealing with the issues and problems of others when he is in a relaxed state of mind. This is most likely due to the many lessons he has learnt from Iroh.

In “Tales of Ba Sing Se”, Zuko’s name was written as 蘇科 (sū kē).

Firebending and special skills

Firebending

File:Zuko On Fire2.png

Zuko using broadswords in conjunction with his Firebending.

Despite his youth, Zuko is highly skilled in both Firebending and dual wielding. 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 instead of out-shooting them. For example, in the Season 2 finale, he is proved evenly matched in a duel with Katara, who had long since been 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 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 doing so due to losing his passion (as for years, his sole motivation was hunting the Avatar), the source of his Firebending. 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. Learning the secret of Firebending, Aang and Zuko both display incredible skill, though Zuko is more proficient with more experience.

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, showing a mastery of offensive and defensive firebending, while Azula slips deeper into madness and fatigue. As the battle goes in Zuko's favor, he taunts his sister to use her lightning so that he can redirect it. Azula charges up but at the last second sends the lightning in Katara's direction. Zuko jumps in the way to save her, but isn't able to properly redirect the lightning, and thus sustains a large burn on his chest. He is able to survive the injury, as Katara heals him after the battle.

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" and "Zuko Alone", 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 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.

Film

File:Zuko lastairbenderfilm.jpg

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.