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| Avatar: The Last Airbender character | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Zuko | |
| Nationality | Fire Nation |
| Notable Aliases | The Blue Spirit (alter ego) Lee (refugee alias) Zu-Zu (nickname) Crown Prince of the Fire Nation Fire Lord Zuko |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Gold |
| Age | 16[1] |
| First appearance | "The Boy in the Iceberg" |
| Voiced by | Dante Basco[2] |
| Elijah Runcorn (Young Zuko) | |
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. Early in the show he takes on the role of main antagonist.
In the show, 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 & lightning.[3] Before the events of the series, he is exiled from the Fire Nation by his father 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.
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[edit] Plot overview
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. Firelord 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 things" that result in Azulon's death, Ozai's ascension to the throne and her own banishment; for years, Zuko would have no idea if she were dead or alive.
A few years after, Zuko protests a plan of attack that would have sacrificed many soldiers as bait. Ozai challenges his son to an Agni Kai for disrespecting 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, the last Airbender.
Finding the Avatar was considered a lost cause by many because Ozai, his father Azulon, and his grandfather Sozin, all attempted to find the Avatar and failed. However the show pilot sees the revival of Aang, the Avatar. Due to the nature of Aang's return and Zuko's proximity at the time, Zuko begins the chase immediately. They encounter each other multiple times throughout the first season, each time Zuko failing to capture Aang. 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. The animosity between Zuko and Zhao reaches the point where Zuko breaks into Zhao's fortress to free a captured Aang, and Zhao attempts to have Zuko murdered by pirates. The two have one last battle during the siege of the Northern Water Tribe, only to be interrupted when the Ocean Spirit seizes Zhao and pulls him into the Water. Zuko tried to save Zhao at the end, only to have Zhao refuse to take Zuko's helping hand out of spite. Zuko and his uncle were labeled traitors to the Fire Nation after this.
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, seemingly aimless. 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 and both become very successful people. However when faced with the opportunity to return home, Zuko had to choose between Iroh and a path of good, or follow Azula to fight the Avatar and conquer Ba Sing Se. He ultimately chose Azula. After Aang is mortally wounded by Azula, Iroh fights Azula, Zuko, and the Dai Li off. After being betrayed by Zuko, Iroh looks on his nephew with shame. Almost immediately, Zuko begins to regret his actions.
The final season begins with Zuko and Azula's return to the Fire Nation after conquering Ba Sing Se. Both are praised as heroes through the Fire Nation for capturing Ba Sing Se and for killing the Avatar. However Zuko suspected Aang is still alive, which Azula comes to suspect as well. In order to protect herself in case the Avatar did return one day, she tells Ozai that Zuko killed the Avatar. This does earn Ozai's approval, but causes Zuko to panic. He soon begins to show more signs of regret for his past deeds, and is shown visiting Iroh in prison often asking for advice. After visiting Iroh in his cell many times, Iroh finally reveals that Zuko is also descended from Avatar Roku through his mother and it is his destiny to restore balance to the world and redeem the Fire Nation. As more time passes, even though he finally has everything he ever wanted, Zuko isn't happy because he starts to feel like he doesn't belong. At a war meeting, he unintentionally helps Ozai come up with a plan to burn the Earth Kingdom to ash. With his father's plan being the last straw, he decides to leave the Fire Nation and join Aang. He confronts his father before he leaves during the eclipse to where he expresses his feelings toward his father and his evil plans and also tells him that he is going to help the Avatar defeat him. As he is leaving, Ozai lures Zuko back with the knowledge of what really happened to his mother, and Ozai strikes Zuko with lightning, only to have it redirected back toward him. Zuko then goes to free Iroh from his prison cell, only to find that Iroh had escaped. Zuko then follows Aang to the Western Air Temple. Aang and company were initially reluctant to believe Zuko had changed, but they each came to slowly trust him. While with Aang and his friends, Zuko's firebending gets weaker. Driven to find the original source of firebending, he and Aang quest until they meet the last two dragons. After that encounter, he is able to teach Aang firebending, and ultimately helps him to prepare for the final fight against Ozai. Later he helps Sokka free Suki and Sokka's father, Hakoda, from the Fire Nation's maximum security prison, the Boiling Rock. He also helped Katara attempt to find her mother's killer in order to make amends for his betrayal in Ba Sing Se.
During the finale, Aang disappears shortly before Sozin's Comet arrives and Zuko is put in charge of finding him, since he is an expert at doing so. When Zuko is unable to find Aang, he instead finds Iroh, who he profusely apologizes to. Iroh immediately forgives him. Iroh then tells Zuko that he must face Azula for the crown and that Katara must assist. Once they arrive at the Fire Nation Capitol, Azula challenges Zuko to a one on one Agni Kai, and Zuko accepts to fight her alone, despite Katara's protests. During the duel Zuko clearly has the advantage due to his remaining calm and Azula's deteriorating sanity. In a desperate attempt, Azula cheats and attempts to strike Katara down with lightning. Zuko jumps in front of the lightning, managing to redirect most of the energy, but was injured with a burn on his chest. Katara manages to chain Azula up and helps to heal the wound in gratitude, though a scar still remains.
After the war Zuko is crowned as the new Fire Lord. After his coronation, he visits Ozai in prison to learn his mother's whereabouts (the answer is not shown). He is later seen with the main characters at the Jasmine Dragon, which marks his last appearance in the series.
[edit] Appearance
Zuko is a teenager who matures, both mentally and physically, throughout the series. Therefore, his appearance also changes over time. He is thought to be around 16 years old and although lean, is muscular. His most prominent feature is a dark red scar over his left eye that extends over his ear. His hair is black, and put up in a traditional Fire Nation hairstyle for royalty at the beginning of the series. However, as the series progresses and Zuko matures, he cuts his hair and it grows out into somewhat of a crew cut. Zuko has pale skin and golden eyes.
Although Zuko wears many different outfits throughout the series, he is often depicted at the beginning of the series wearing traditional Fire Nation dress: red armor and uniform, and a brown tunic underneath. However, to emphasize the severance with his family, as well as a psychological maturation, Zuko later sheds the Fire Nation armor and appears clad in a simple, brown outfit.
[edit] Personality
While initially the series' primary antagonist, over time, Zuko has shown to be more of a bitter and complex young man than a truly 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. 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 feel as if he is an unfortunate person and that the world is out to get him. This seems to have been imprinted onto him since his father often said that "Azula was born lucky, while Zuko was lucky to be born." However, Zuko doesn't want luck and feels that his struggles have made him a wiser and stronger human being.
He once admitted to Sokka that "[he's] never happy" (although this may have been more for comic relief than his actual feelings.)
His past crimes and mistakes still haunt him. However, after he restored his honor by joining the Avatar, his mistakes proved to be the reason that his Uncle Iroh felt Zuko was destined to restore the honor of the Fire Nation as its new Fire Lord. 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 love and peace.
[edit] Firebending and special skills
[edit] Firebending
Despite his youth, Zuko is highly skilled in both Firebending and dual broadswords. He is capable of holding his own against fighters and benders with more experience using both skills. Through determination, an ability to adapt, and strength, Zuko refuses to give up during a fight. He has also shown great agility.
Although incredibly skilled, whenever Zuko faces his sister Azula, she proves to be the more skilled fighter. She has the ability to generate lightning, a skill very few firebenders are capable of. 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. However, Zuko cannot test this skill as Iroh refused 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 transitions from pupil to Master, joining Aang and teaching him how to firebend. Zuko initially has trouble doing so due to losing his drive and motivation (as for years, his sole motivation was hunting the Avatar). But after he and Aang go on a quest to discover the true source of firebending, the two encounter the last two dragons in existence and learn that firebending is more about life than destruction and rage. Learning the secret of Firebending, Aang and Zuko both display incredible skill with Firebending.
When Zuko finally faced Azula again near the "Western Air Temple", the two are shown to be evenly matched. During the Agni Kai in the series finale, Zuko was able to hold his own during the entire duel, while Azula slipped deeper into madness and fatigue. Zuko gained the upper hand in the intense battle and taunted his sister to use her lightning so that he could redirect it. Azula charged up but at the last second, sent the lightning in Katara's direction. Zuko jumped in the way to save her and was barely able to redirect it, sustaining a large burn on his chest.
[edit] 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 the aid of his swords.
Zuko has demonstrated an ability in stealth on multiple occasions which he uses as 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. [4][5] His proficiency at stealth was also utilized during the 3rd season episode, "The Southern Raiders", in which he and Katara snuck 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 him noticing them until they wanted him to.
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