Character Study - Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Originally hot-headed and impatient, now fully enlightened, courageous and above all, honorable. Zuko is a proud hero and rightfully so. His uncle Iroh would be proud.

Hiya Toonsters and Happy New Year!,

I thought I figure I start the new year with my first blog of the year. And since it's been a while since I did my last character study, I thought I could do one with one of the most unique characters of fiction, one of many who started off as a villain, and then through character development (and a bit of redemption) became a hero. And no one characterizes this trope than none other the crown prince of the Fire Nation himself, Zuko. This character study is for his characterization from Avatar: The Last Airbender only, and there will be spoilers in this one so if you haven't seen the show in a long time, then do so now. If not, then you are golden.  And, no, I will not bring up The Legend of Korra since I haven't seen the show aside from season 1 aka Book 1: Wind. Like I said, this is only applied to Zuko's characterization in the former. That being said, let us begin this long and hard journey.

Origins: The son of Firelord Ozai and Ursa, brother to Azula and nephew to Iroh, Zuko's life was a complicated one. Although Ozai shows no love and affection towards him, it was his mother, Ursa, who would love and die for him, as any mother would. In his teens, he sees himself as a proud prince. However, it didn't last for long. In a war meeting with the other Fire Nation generals, Zuko questioned one of the generals over their plan to use their soldiers as scapegoats when trying to invade the Earth Kingdom. This argument led to an Agni Kai or Fire Duel. However, it wasn't one of the generals Zuko going to face. To his horror, he had to fight his own father, who was in the war meeting when the argument happened. In a way, Zuko didn't just dishonored one of the generals, he also dishonored his father. For refusing to duel him, Ozai left Zuko a constant reminder of his refusal, a horribly, burned scar on his face. As punishment, Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation after the fact. Fast forward to where story of Avatar began. Learning of the history of the Avatar and knowing that the next one was an Airbender (despite the fact that the Fire Nation wiped out all of the Air Temples), Zuko made it his mission to find and capture the Avatar. And by doing so, he would return to the Fire Nation and reclaim his honor. And to his shock, the Avatar was a young boy (a 112-year-old boy, to be precise), in the form of Aang. Initially, he captured him after Aang sparing the Southern Water Tribe from further harm from the Fire Nation, but escaped, thanks to Katara and Sokka, Zuko, along with his uncle, Iroh, travelled across the world finding the Avatar, which ultimately failed, resulting being branded as traitors by the Fire Nation (due to failing to seize the Northern Water Tribe, no less). Gone into hiding, Zuko and Iroh went under the aliases of Lee and Moshi, hiding from the Fire Nation until settling down in the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se. Despite some hiccups (from his scuffle with Jet to struggling with himself while figuring what to do with the air bison Appa at Lake Laogai), Zuko's hot, fiery temper was cooled down and relaxed, thanks to his uncle. That is until Azula manipulated her brother into betraying his own uncle and left Aang in near-death. As he returned to the Fire Nation, he was the same as he banished from the Fire Nation, hot-headed and boastful, earning the praise of his own father while berating Iroh for not siding with him. But after some soul-searching (and learning about the true history of Firelord Sozin and Avatar Roku), his anger and rage was replaced with self-reflection, humility, remorse and defiance, as he stood up to his own father and speaks his peace regarding the Fire Nation as a whole. Embracing his uncle's teachings, Zuko vowed to join the Avatar to end Ozai's reign of terror, which wasn't an easy task to pull off. With patience and determination, Zuko slowly earned Team Avatar's trust, one by one, especially Katara, who still had bitter memories back in Ba Sing Se when Zuko betrayed Iroh, Aang and all the rest. As he earned Team Avatar's trust, he reconciled with his uncle Iroh for his past actions, stating from his own uncle that he has become the man he truly was destined to be. And while Aang, now a full-blown Avatar, fought against Ozai (who declared himself the Phoenix King), Zuko, with the aid of Katara, fought against Azula for the role being Firelord, which he became. As the war ended, as Firelord, Zuko, with the aid of Iroh and Avatar Aang, vowed to bring peace and balance back to the world, ushering in a new era of light and hope.

Zuko in a nutshell!

Appearance and Personality: Zuko's personality was a mixed bag and has changed through the course of the entire series. When we first met him as the show began, Zuko was a proud, hot-headed, angry prince, who was driven with one goal, to capture the Avatar and regain his honor for his father and the entire Fire Nation. His Firebending is equal to his extremely hot temper, and I do mean HOT. Despite being a hothead, deep down, Zuko is downright honorable. And the one thing that keeps him from becoming full-fledged evil like Ozai, was his own uncle, Iroh, one of the Fire Nation's fierce generals, nicknamed The Dragon of the West. With his wisdom and guidance, Iroh helps Zuko find his true path and his true self, as well, just to fill the void after Iroh's son, Lu Ten, died after the failed siege of Ba Sing Se years prior. At first, he went against his uncle's teachings after the fall of Ba Sing Se, but after learning the true story of both Firelord Sozin and Avatar Roku (and remembering his past memories of his mother, Ursa), Zuko's quest and personality went a 180. His impatience, his temper and his futile attempt of pleasing his own father was replaced with humility, benevolence, courage, enlightenment and most importantly, honor, which he realized that it is something you earn, not given. With this new drive, he joined Team Avatar to save the world from the evils of his own father. Although he still has his temper, it is not as extreme as it once was, for he, for the most part, is calm, stoic, reserved and almost as wise as his uncle. As a Firebender, like most Firebenders, can conjure up flames from out of nowhere or control flames like a pyrokinetic. Initially, his Firebending was powered by his rage, but thanks to last two surviving dragons that Iroh spared and sent to live at the temple of Sun Warriors, through his enlightened soul, Zuko controls his Firebending without so much recklessness. And as an added bonus, Iroh taught him to redirect lightning, a method Iroh learned by studying the movements of Waterbenders. Other than Firebending, Zuko is also skilled with dual broadswords. A swordsman after my own heart.

It was not just his personality that changed, but his appearance changed as well. As a kid and into his teens, he had a head full of hair, but with a ponytail. But after Ozai burned him, most of hair was burned off, sparing his ponytail in the process. Throughout Book 1, Zuko was sporting a bald head with a ponytail. But when he and Iroh became fugitives of the Fire Nation, he cut off his ponytail. And as Book 2 progressed, his hair starts growing back, from a crew cut to becoming a bit spikey, and finally near the end of Book 2 and into Book 3 and beyond, he ends up with a mop full of hair, which resembles the hairstyle of the late, great Martial Arts legend, Bruce Lee. The Bruce Lee hairstyle goes well with Zuko's enlightened nature, for he has found his true path and his true self. "Be Water, my friend", indeed. But aside from his physical appearances, the only that remains unchanged was his burned scar on his left side of his face, a parting gift from his own father when he refused to fight him in an Agni Kai. That scar was a constant reminder of his struggles that he had to endure until finding his true purpose.

That's no Oni, that's the Blue Spirit, enemy of the Fire Nation!

And at the time, to avoid the Fire Nation's suspicions and conceal his Firebending and utilizing his sword skills, Zuko goes under the guise of the Blue Spirit. His mask resembles that of an Oni, a demon from Japanese folklore, that invades people's dreams. When he donned that mask for the first time, he did to save Aang and stick to Zhao, stating that no one captures the Avatar but him. Then, during his time at Ba Sing Se, he did to steal stuff to support himself and his uncle Iroh. Speaking of which, the last appearance of Zuko's alter-ego is when he tries to figure what to do with Aang's flying bison, Appa, and where Iroh questioned his own nephew in what he wants in life. After freeing Appa, Zuko discarded his mask, and the Blue Spirit was never mentioned again. BTW, his mask does ring true to that one trope from TV Tropes, "Blue Oni, Red Oni". Truly mind-blowing.

Voice: For the voice of Zuko himself, he had to display the very character he represents, depending greatly on his mood. Whether it's being a hothead with a very bad temper, a cynical, proud prince, or a humble, enlightened, stoic hero. And no one can pull such emotions than the very youthful and entertaining Dante Basco. When I first heard of him, it was from the movie Hook, where we played the Lost Boy, Rufio, who he filled in for Peter Pan, and he was as arrogant as Zuko was, but in a funny, playful kind of way. Basco was also the voice of the American Dragon himself (and I don't mean Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan), Jake Long. Of all the characters he played, Zuko was my most favorite of them all, and I know deep down he feels the same way, too. Now, if only Zuko can shout out "Bangarang", my life would be complete. Just sayin'. BTW, Basco was not just an actor, he is also a breakdancer, too. Those breakdance moves Zuko does when does his Firebending, that is all Dante right there. Flamey-O, good sir, Flamey-O!

Legacy and Personal Thoughts: Although not the first, Zuko is one of many fictional characters that started of evil, but turned good. In wrestling terms, a wrestler who started off bad turns good, regarding if they manager treated you poorly or you fail to impress him, tired of the same schtick over again and so on and so forth. That term is often what we call a Heel/Face Turn. But unlike most of the characters that went from bad to good, Zuko's journey was long and hard one. He had to endure what he had gone through, hit a few bumps in the road like turning on his uncle Iroh and siding with Azula at the time. But in the end, once he learned about his forefathers, he embraced his uncle's teachings and joined the Avatar. But gaining Team Avatar's trust wasn't easy for him, just like a former heel wrestler that has to adjust to his surroundings, especially want some crowd support. Through hard work and determination, Zuko earned his place, not just as being a loyal friend, but also becoming the Firelord in the process, vowing to bring peace and balance to the world, with the help of the Avatar, of course. And I can related to Zuko personally. I may have short temper like he does, but like the banished prince himself, through hard work and determination, learning from my mistakes, and a little bit of patience, I will better myself and blossom into the man that I am. And as long as you have love ones that support, you will never stray away from being good. And on the fictional side, Zuko would've been a great ally to my fictional self in his battle to save the world of fiction from evil. He would've been the Spock to my Kirk, as I think emotionally, he thinks logically. And we may have a few tiffs every once in while, at the end of the day, Zuko is the one friend and ally that I could always depend on. And on a funny note, speaking of team-ups, if Zuko was paired up with another Nicktoons hero, Danny Phantom, they would make meme magic together if they mashed-up their names, you know, Danny, Zuko, Danny Zuko from Grease, GET IT?!!

Anyway, I hope this character study was quite informative. If want to know more Zuko's adventures, read the Avatar comics, which takes place after the show ended, especially one issue involving Zuko's mother, Ursa. THAT is a must read. We see you around next time for another character study. Stay FLAMEY-O, my friend and Happy New Year, toonsters!

Saraba da (Farewell), for now!