Early Life

Prince Zuko was born into Fire Nation Royalty to Ursa and Ozai, who at the time was not the Fire Lord. Zuko growing up seemed to have a rocky relationship with his sister, Azula though the two did not have the hateful relationship of latter years. when Zuko was young, his uncle, Uncle Iroh, went off to war, where he laid siege to Ba Sing Se. Along with his Uncle went Zuko's cousin, Lu Ten.

Growing up, Zuko grew to love his mother, while only wanting respect from his father, but his father sadly only paid attention to Zuko's Prodigal Sister, Azula. Azula, who had many malicious traits boarding on psychopathy. This trait made the two at odds, but Azula's friend, Mai, was Zuko's first infatuation. Mai also returned the feeling, and constantly mocked the two on it by making them do stupid stuff.

Zuko appears to have a fond memory of an event when he was eleven, when he and his mother were feeding the turtleducks. as his mother fed the ducks passively, Zuko demonstrated how Azula fed the turtleducks, and began throwing the bread at the ducklings. In response to this, he earned a chastizing from his mother and a bite on the leg from the mother turtleduck. When Zuko complains about the bite, his mother responds that that is just what a mother does when her babies are threatened, making a playful biting sound for effect. The two of them laugh and leave the pond.

As the two are walking towards the palace which they live in, they pass Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai all playing outside. Mai looks away ad blushes at Zuko, and Azula takes notice of them, Azula decides to humiliate them and asks her mother if Zuko would play with them. Dispite Zuko's protest, his mother sends him over to the girls. Azula then calls over Mai and places an apple on her head. Then, telling Zuko to get the apple, she sets it on fire. Zuko over-reacted and in his attempt to put out the fire, he knocked over Mai and himself into a fountain that Mai stood in front of. Azula and Ty Lee then came over and commented on how cute the two looked together. Zuko then stormed off, and when his mother commented on him being wet, he told her that "Girls are crazy."

Later that day, the family gets a letter from Uncle Iroh, who had just taken over the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. He then sends gifts to Zuko and Azula, a knife that the general used to surrender the wall for Zuko, and a Earth Kingdom doll to Azula. While Zuko recieves his gift with much happiness and immediately begins playing with it, Azula views her doll with disgust. She inquires if Uncle Iroh did not return, would Ozai become next in line for the position of Fire Lord. She immediately scolded by Zuko and Ursa, and she lets the matter drop, and instead burns her doll.

Later that year, another letter arrives from Ba Sing Se, but this one with a much different air. Zuko's cousin and Uncle Iroh's son, Lu Ten, was killed in battle at Ba Sing Se. This comes to a shock to both Ursa and Zuko, and even Azula turns her head in sorrow. Later, Azula tells Zuko that Uncle Iroh is returning defeated after breaking down over his son's death. At that moment, Ursa walked into the room and told the two siblings that their father had requested a meeting Their grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon. Azula then makes a remark about not referring to him with as much respect, since he would probably die soon.

As Zuko and his family appear before the Fire Lord, Azula demonstrated her skills to her Grandfather, and in a jealous fit, Zuko shows his skills also. to both Azulon and Ozai's annoyance, Zuko's performance is clumzy, and he ends up falling trying one of the moves. Ursa attempts to comfort her son by telling him that he has the heart ofa warrior, for he never gives up in the face of a greater adversaty. Ozai then requests to tell the reason for his meeting, and Zuko, Ursa, and Azula begin to leave. Before Zuko has left, though, Azula pulls him behind a curtain to eavesdrop on Ozai's conversation.

Ozai tells of how Uncle Iroh's right to the throne should be revoked and granted to him. He list his reasons as the loss of Uncle Iroh's spirit after losing his son, and that the loss of his son, who was his only son, gave no heir after Iroh's death. Azulon responds to this suggestion with rage at his younger son. Azulon tells his son that such a proposalwas out of thequestion, and that he was a fool to say it. He then tells Ozai that he will be punished severely, and Zuko runs off to his room.

Azula comes in a short time later, saying that Ozai is going to kill him, literally. She then tells of howAzulon had told Ozai that he would feel the pain of losing a first-born son. Ursa then comes in andasks about what is going on. She takes Azula out of the room, and Zuko is left alone in his room, telling himself that "Azula always lies."

Later that night, Zuko is woken up by his mother, and she tells him that she has done everything for him, and she leaves forever. Azulon was found dead the next day, though it is unknown if Ursa killed him. At hi funeral Ozai was crowned king, the Sage telling the crowd that it was under Azulon's own wish.

At the age of 13, Zuko went to a war meeting and spoke against General's plans to sacrifice Fire Nation men. This was considered an act against the Fire Nation itself so Zuko had to duel his own father. Refusing to fight his father, he gained a burned scar on his face and exiled from the Fire Nation until he could capture the Avatar.

Hunt for the Avatar/Book 1: Water

Zuko and his Uncle Iroh spend over two years hunting the Avatar. All they have is a ship and a small crew of men. None of them are high quality soldiers at all. While searching in the south pole, the Avatar(Aang) set off a trap that shot a flare in the sky. Seein the flare Zuko sees the Avatar and finds him staying at a Southern Water Tribe village. He is suprised to find that Aang is only a boy, and is a little bit dissappointed. Aang comes with him Zuko without fighting becuase he didn't want the water tribe getting hurt. But when Sokka and Katara show up on Aang's pet Appa he escapes.

After this event, Zuko had to bring his ship in to a Fire Nation port for repairs. Zhoa, is head of this port and during this time discovers that the Avatar had returned. He decides that he wants to capture him for himself but before Zuko leaves, Zhoa and Zuko have a dual which Zuko wins. Since this event, Zuko and Zhoa are now rivals in capturing the Avatar.

Later, the Avatar is captured by Zhoa, because Zuko has to bring the Avatar in himself to get his honor back he gets masks and breaks into the Fire Nation base as the Blue Spirit. Aang and Zuko work together trying to escape form the base, Aang doesn't know its Zuko. After Zuko is knocked unconscious by an Arrow, Aang removed his mask to discover that it is Zuko who saved him. Aang then takes Zuko with him so that he wouldn't be discovered by Zhao. But after Zuko wakes up he attacks the Avatar who escapes to save his friends.

Continuing his journey a bounty hunter named Jun rides her Shirshu, a creature with a tongue that can paralize people for periods of time, onto his ship. The Shirshu sniffs out a stowaway on Zuko's ship that she is hunting. She tells Zuko that her Shirshu can sniff out people from miles away. Using Katara's necklace, Zuko found earlier, he uses her Shirshu to hunt down Aang. They first find Sokka and Katara but Katara had a peice of paper Aang had held on her and they were able to find Aang. Zuko battles Aang but ends up losing when Sokka tricks the Shirshu by spreading smells in the air, the Shirshu sees by smelling. Blinded the Shirshu hit Zuko and June with its tongue. Unlce Iroh pretended to be paralized as well. Aang and his friends then escaped.

Whe Zhao plans to go to battle against the Northern Water Tribe, he comes to Zuko's ship to recuirt all his men. While on Zuko's ship Zhao sees the swords that the Blue Spirit used and realized that Zuko is the Blue Spirit. To get Zuko back, Zhao hired so pirates to kill him. The pirates sunk onto Zuko's ship and blew it up, but Zuko was able to survive the explosion. Zuko then snuck onto Zhao's ship so he could go with him to capture the Avatar in the North Pole. Uncle Iroh told Zhao he would go with him to help him defeat the water tribe, but really he knew about Zuko and wanted to watch over him.

When Zhao's ship made it to the North Pole, Zuko snuck into the Water Tribe City and found the Avatar unable to defend himself cause his Spirit was in the Spirit World. After defeating Katar who was trying to protect Aang, Zuko kidnapped Aang and ran off into a blizzard. But because of the blizzard, Zuko had to hide in a cave from the storm. Before the storm stops, Aang comes back to his body and escapes when Katara and Sokka find him. Zuko's was too tired to defeat Katara for a second time. But Aang couldn't leave Zuko out in the blizzard and brought him back with them.

When Zhao attacked the moon spirit, Zuko used this chance to escape. While running from the city he ran into Zhao. Angered by Zhao's attempt to kill him the two men battle. But when the Spirit of the Ocean grabbed Zhao, Zuko attempted to save him but Zhao refused the help and drowned in the ocean. Zuko and his Uncle the escaped from the North Pole on driftwood.

Self-Discovery/Book 2: Earth

At drifting for weeks Zuko and his Uncle had finally found a chance to relax on land. But Zuko was wanting the Avatar more then ever, becuase it was the three year anniversary of when Zuko was banished by his father. But unknown to Zuko, his father has declared him and his Uncle traitors to the Fire Nation. He has also sent Zuko's sister, Azula, out to capture Zuko and Iroh. Azula's first attempt to capture them is she tells Zuko and Iroh ant Ozai has ended the exile he has on them. Zuko is almost over come by this, though his Uncle Iroh has his doubts. They agree to go with Azula but when they are about to board her ship, one of her men accidently lets the plan slip that Zuko and Iroh are actually prisonors. A battle breaks out with Zuko, battling his sister. He is defeat and is about to be finished off by a lightning attack when Iroh, redirects it and Zuko and Iroh escape. Then they both cut the thier topknots off, showing they are cutting their tie off with their family.

Having problems being fugatives, Iroh accidently ate a poisonous planet. Seaking aid form an Earth Kingdom woman named, Song, Iroh is saved. While at Song's house she tries many times to reach out to Zuko, but the closest she gets is when she shows Zuko the scar on her leg given to her by the Fire Nation. Although Song had been so kind, Zuko steals her Song’s ostrich horse.

As their sistuation gets worst, Zuko can barely watch and his uncle has to ask people for money. Not able to take it anymore, Zuko uses the Blue Spirit mask to steal from villagers. When Iroh worries about how he is getting the supplies he asks him about his honor. Iroh believes that even after capturing the Avatar now would not bring Zuko back his honor in his father's eyes. Zuko angered leaves and when he returns tells his Unle that neither of them have anything to gain from travelling together anymore. Zuko then leaves his Uncle Iroh behind.

While travelling alone, Zuko came to a Earth Kingdom town where some Earth Kingdom soldiers were bothering the town's people. Zuko stands up to the soldiers and they run off. A boy named Lee is impressed and tells Zuko that he should go to his family's farm. Zuko agrees and helps out around the farm in exchange for food and shelter. Before leaving Zuko offers Lee, the dagger his Uncle had given him. While Zuko was leaving the town, Lee's mother ran to him. She tells Zuko, how the soldiers came back and took Lee when he decided to fight them using the knife Zuko had given him. Zuko shows up and defeats the soldiers easily except for their leader who is a Earth Bender. Zuko was trying to aviod using Fire Bending so he wouldn't reveal who he was, but he couldn't defeat the Earth Bender without it. Zuko proudly tells them all who he is, but even after saving them, the town's poeple reject Zuko for how he is. Even Lee throws away the knife Zuko had given him.

Zuko tracks down his sister to a town, where she is about to battle Aang. He demands that the Avatar is his to capture and the three of them all battle each other. Zuko is hit and seems to be in trouble when Aang's friends show up as well as Iroh, who has been following Zuko without him knowing it. The six of them corner Azula, and she gives up. Right when she is about to leave she hits Iroh with a blast and leaves him badly injured. Aang and his friends offer to help, but Zuko angered and hurt demands they leave them.

After taking care of his Uncle, Zuko asks him to continue Zuko's training so he can defeat Azula. Iroh attempts to teach Zuko the lightning attack, but because of his inner battle he is unable to learn it. Instead Iroh teaches a move he made up from watching water benders. It was the move he used to redirect Azula's lightning attack. But when Iroh said it was too dangerous to try out, Zuko went to the top of a mountain during a thunderstorm and shouted at the sky and the world becuase it wouldn't strike him down. He then passed out.

Zuko and Iroh start heading to Ba Sing Se, on their way they make it to a desert oasis, where a secert group Iroh is a member of tells them the Fire Nation has a huge bounty on them. The group helps them make their way to the captail city of the Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se. While on the boat to Ba Sing Se, Zuko meets Jet. Together, Zuko and Jet's gang, steal food form the ship captain. After arrving, Jet offers Zuko a place in his gang, but Zuko turns him down. Jet notices Iroh use firebending to warm his tea. Zuko and Iroh find a place to live, but Zuko hates it cause he feels like a prisonor in Ba Sing Se. They both work at a tea shop, and Jet makes several attempts to prove they are firebenders. Nobody belives him, so finally he challenges Iroh and Zuko to battle, hoping that one of them would have to firebend to defend themself. Zuko accepts and uses his dual swords to battle Jet. Finally the Dai Li break up the fight and witnesses say Jet attacked Zuko and his uncle. So Jet got arrested, and Zuko was free to continue working with his uncle.

One of the teashop's regular customers, a young girl named Jin, gets a crush on Zuko and Iroh sets up a date for them. Zuko seems pretty akward throughout the whole thing but towards the end, he lights a bunch of candles by a fountain for her. She kisses him but he stops it only saying, "Its complicated." Zuko quickly returns home and Iroh asks him how it went, but Zuko slams his door behind him. He then slides it open slowly and replies, "It was nice."

Zuko soon learns that Aang and his group are in Ba Sing Se, when he sees a flier put up by them searching for Appa. Zuko gets the idea that if he can capture Appa, he can bait Aang to coming to him. Zuko once again uses the Blue Spirit and forces a Dai Li soldier into telling him where Appa is. He then sneaks into the Dai Li secret base and finds Appa. Suddenly Uncle Iroh appears and asks Zuko what he is doing. Iroh asks him if he had thought about what he is going to do with Appa once he has him. He then tells him that he needs to stop hunting the Avatar and find his own way to live his life. Confused and angered, Zuko shouts but then lets Appa go free. He the drops his Blue Spirit mask into the lake.

When Zuko and his uncle returned home, Zuko devloped a fever and fell down. Iroh told him that the battle about his future has now started effecting his body. Iroh tells him that after his fever passes, Zuko will finally be the person he was ment to be. Zuko has sevearl dreams while he is sick. One of them he is the Fire Lord and no longer has his scar. There are two dragons, one with his sister's voice and one with his uncle's and they both are giving him advice. Another one is pictures of his dead mother crying for his help. Zuko awakens and spashes some water on his face. Then he goes and looks in the mirror and see that he has Aang's head and tatoos. Zuko finally truly wakes up screaming in horror and feels that he still has his scar.

After Zuko has gone through his chage he seems to be more optimistic and enjoys life. He is also excited about Iroh opening up his own teashop and the invation they got to serve tea to the Earth King. However, the invation is a trap set up by Azula and the Dai Li to capture Iroh and Zuko and to overthrow the Earth King. Zuko and Iroh are able to fight their way free but Zuko decides to stay behind to face Azula. She laughs at him and have the Dai Li arrest him and throw him in the cave prison with Katara. Katara starts shouting at Zuko, blaming him for everything. He just sits there and takes it all in until she says that the Fire Nation took her mother away from her. Zuko tells her how the Fire Nation has taken his mother from him as well, and she says she is sorry and that for a long time he has been the face of the enemy. He touches his scar and she offers to heal his scar, but before she can Aang and Iroh show up to save them.

Zuko is about to attack Aang just due to the site of him, but his Uncle stops him and Katara and Aang leave. Iroh asks Zuko once again to give up his search for the Avatar but Azula shows up with the Dai Li and surroud Iroh in crystals. Azula asks Zuko for his help capturing the Avatar whil Iroh asks him to accept his own destiny. Azula leaves to fight Aang and Katara, but Zuko later joins her and attacks Aang. At the end of the battle, Azula strikes a deadly blow on Aang and before Katara and Aang are capture Iroh shows up to save them. Iroh fights off Zuko and Azula until Katara is able to leave with Aang, then he allows himself to be captured by the Dai Li. Later, Zuko seems unsure about his choice to capture the Avatar. He says that he has betrayed Uncle. But Azula tells him that it was Uncle who had betrayed him.

Book 3: Fire

In Book 3 Zuko regains redemption from his father, but only because Azula told him that Zuko killed the Avatar (Aang). When he asks why Azula points out how letting him have all the glory over slaying the Avatar could do very little benefit for her, but goes on to insidiously acknowledge the fact that should it be discovered that the Avatar was alive, all that glory would swiftly turn into shame and foolishness. With that he goes to see the Combustion Man telling him to kill the Avatar, believing he is still alive.

Later Zuko finds a letter telling him to learn about his great-grandfathers demise. Knowing about Sozin's demise and believing the note to be from Uncle Iroh, he goes visits him. Iroh says that he was not talking about Sozin but Roku, his mother's grandfather. Iroh believes since he has Sozin and Avatar Roku's blood running through him he is morally conflicted between sides. He believes it is Zuko's destiny to restore peace to the world. Iroh then gives Zuko Roku's crown which was given to Roku by Sozin.

During the Day of Black Sun, Zuko finally comes to realize that his true destiny is to join the Avatar and restore balance to the world. After leaving a note to Mai, Zuko confronts his father Ozai. He tells Ozai how cruel a man he was to burn and banish him, and how terrible the Fire Nation has become during the last hundred years. Zuko then announces his intention to join the Avatar and after denouncing Ozai as his father, saying that his uncle Iroh was more of a father than him, he swears to his father that he will be defeated. Before he departs, Ozai tells him the truth about his mother's fate. He reveals that she wasn't killed, but banished for treason, giving Zuko hope of seeing her again. When the eclipse ends, Ozai attacks Zuko with lightning, but he redirects it back at Ozai and leaves before he recovers.

After following the Gaang in a hot air baloon, Zuko appears to them at the Western Air Temple and offers to teach Aang firebending. Unfortunately, everyone except Toph is unwilling to trust him, forcing him to retreat back to his campsite. While he is gone however, the Combustion Man arrives at the temple and attempts to kill Aang again. Zuko tries to make him stop, but to no avail, and Sokka ends up defeating him. After earning Aang's trust and joining him, Zuko seems proud of himself, but Katara confronts him with a warning. If Zuko shows any sign of going back to his old ways, she will kill him personally.

In the latest episode of the show, it has been shown that the Gaang has excepted Zuko as a member, and he was passing tea around that he made to all of them. Sokka asks can he talk with Zuko, and Sokka asks where they might be keeping his father, Hakoda. Zuko tells him they'll most probably be keeping him captive on the Boiling Rock, and when Sokka tries to sneak out in the morning, Zuko is prepared, and tells him they shouldn't take Appa but rather his Fire Nation War Baloon. The two travel to the Boiling Rock, and adopt cover as guards. Zuko asks around to see if they're keeping any war ciminals captive, but they're not, but instead the duo find Suki. Later, Zuko stands guard as Sokka talks to Suki in her cell. When a guard tries to enter her cell, Zuko begins battling her, and when the guard sees Sokka, she tells him to arrest Zuko, which he does so they're plan can go on. Zuko is visited in his cell by the prison's warden, Mai's uncle. Later, he Firebends so he's able to get into a cooler to unbolt it, so the small gang can use it as a boat. But when Sokka here that a new shipment of criminals are arriving tomorrow, including war criminals, which could mean his father, he decides to stay as do Suki and Zuko.

Hakoda arrives, and the small gang plan another escape. This includes starting a riot, and getting onboard a gondala that carries prisoners in with a hostage so the guards won't cut the rope. Shortly before the plan is put into action, Zuko is visited by Mai, who is outraged that he left and only left her a letter. When a guard arrives, who has been assigned to protect Mai because the riot, Zuko uses this to his advantage makes the guard jump in front of Mai, and locks them both in the cell. Outside when he catches up with the others, he begins to argue with Sokka about how they'll capture the hostage they need (the Warden). Suki manages to do this, and the gang jump onboard a gondala. They are persued by Azula and Ty Lee, and Zuko battles Azula with Sokka. The Warden manages to break out of his restraints for a second and shouts to the guards to cut it, which they begin to do. Ty Lee and Azula bail, and Zuko saves Sokka in return most probably for saving his earlier. Luckily, as they're cutting the ropes, Mai shows up and beats them all up, and Zuko and the others are able to escape.

Powers and Abilities

Zuko has numerous amounts of techniques when it comes to offensive actions in his arsenal, and is basically always prepared to fight, be it with flashes of flames or his dual blades in which he has shown extreme precision with in many instances, be it with sliding stolen cups into a satchel to defeating bandits in foreign regions of the world.

Firebending

While not a master, Zuko has shown himself to be an highly skilled firebender, having grown up in the shadow of some of the world's most powerful Firebenders in his family, namely his maternal and paternal grandparents, his father, his uncle, and his sister.

The first true test of Zuko's firebending is during his Agni Kai with then Commander Zhao, a master firebender and would become admiral of the Fire Nation Navy. Zuko struggled yet he managed to defeat Zhao, a big accomplishment. Considering that he spent most of his time fighting in the Book of Water, including Aang, himself his fighting skills have greatly improved able to defeat Zhao at the season finale with impressive ease.

In the Book of Earth, where he and his uncle, Iroh, were on the run, his firebending skills evolved. In Book 1, all he seemed to focus on is overwhelming his opponent with fast-paced kicks and jabs producing fireballs and blasts of flame, making it largely ineffective and predictable, leaving him open to counterattacks and tiring him often. Thanks to his uncle's training in Book 2, Zuko begins to display more fine control and technique with his firebending allowing him to fight on a more even basis with the upper-level benders, Katara, Aang, and Azula. He begins to show difference in fighting as well choosing to shoot a pinpoint blast of flame that incinerated the arrow and made a hole in the bow, disarming the archer rather than bowling the archer over with a large fireball. He begins to charge up his attacks similar to Azula to produce a comet-like fireball that not only can shatter a wall of crystal but throw Aang off his feet, burning some of his clothin and to form fiery whips that are much more malleable than regular fireballs.

As of Book of Fire, Zuko has successfully learned how to control and redirect the flow of lightning, able to protect himself from his father's twin lightning bolts and learned an ancient firebending technique called the Dancing Dragon.

Special Abilities

In addition to being a very capable Firebender, Zuko is even more skilled in the use of dual broad swords, best displayed in the episode, The Blue Spirit, defeating many Fire Nation soldiers, benders and non-benders. Later in Zuko Alone, was able to defeat an entire squad of Earth Kingdom soldiers with merely his swords. On several accounts, Zuko has used his firebending prowess in conjunction with his broad swords which naturally increase in intensity, able to produced finely sharp flame blasts.

Zuko's other ability besides his firebending is stealth. He has the ability to infiltrate heavily guarded or, thought to be, impenetrable fortresses in the Blue Spirit, Siege of the North, Lake Laogai, the Western Air Temple and Boiling Rock. He is exceptional at the art of ambush. His level of stealth goes extremely well with his swordsmanship and an important part of his Blue Spirit persona.

Lastly, Zuke, like most proficient Firebenders, are agile, the best example being in the Western Air Temple where he was able to reach the center location and floor of the temple despite it being on and in the underbelly of a cliff and in the Firebending Masters where he evades a series of traps by running along the wall.