Sunday, August 23, 2020

Zuko (Avatar) – DEATH BATTLE! Analysis

Note: This analysis of Zuko will focus on his mainline appearances in the Avatar: The Last Airbender show and comics, including The Legend of Korra. Other media such as the video games or that mistake of a movie will not be included.


Background

Long ago, the four regions of water, earth, fire, and air all lived in harmony with one another. This peace was kept in balance by the Avatar, the only person who can bend all four elements. However, insert opening quote here, because the Fire Nation, led by its Fire Lord Sozin, attacked the rest of the world. His goal was to unite the world under the Fire Nation’s rule. With peace disturbed, and along with the disappearance of the Avatar, the other regions sought to defend themselves, and this would last for decades, eventually being known as the Hundred Year War.


After Sozin’s death, his goal would continue to be carried out by his son Azulon, and then later his grandson, Ozai. Ozai would end up having his own children as well with his wife Ursa, named Zuko and Azula. However, besides the war, there was conflict between Ozai and Ursa, leading the latter to being banished from the Fire Nation. This greatly saddened Zuko, who was close with his mother. Despite Ozai preferring Zuko’s prodigy of a younger sister, he allowed his brother Iroh to let Zuko into a war meeting. It was during this that Zuko became enraged at the idea of sacrificing Fire Nation soldiers and created an outburst. Ozai didn’t hesitate to challenge Zuko’s honor, and it was then that he would be scarred for life, literally.


Stripped of his honor and birthright while suffering a major burn to the face, Zuko was exiled from the Fire Nation, only to return if he could capture the Avatar. He became obsessed with restoring what he had lost and more, so he hunted the Avatar down alongside his wise uncle Iroh. Zuko would one day meet and face off against the newest Avatar named Aang several times. Eventually Aang would seem to have been killed by Azula, though she told their father it was Zuko who defeated the Avatar. It was also during this time that Zuko betrayed Iroh, with his uncle being branded as a traitor. Despite gaining the approval of his father and his honor restored, he still felt conflicted. His confusion grew greater when he found out that he was related to Roku, the previous Avatar, from his mother’s side.


Zuko would end up joining up with Team Avatar, after some trust issues of course. He became Aang’s firebending instructor, and tutoring would also help him become a much stronger firebender after learning of the Dancing Dragon form and what firebending really was: life. Near the end of the war, Zuko would reunite with and be forgiven by his uncle. Aang would then bring down Ozai once and for all, ending the war. With Azula also defeated, Zuko would become the next Fire Lord, protecting his nation’s people, helping solve future problems for the entire world with his old friends, and finally restoring his honor. He would also finally reunite with his mother and meet her new family.


More Info

  • Age: 19 (ATLA), 91 (TLoK)

  • Born in 83 AG

  • Son of Ozai and Ursa

  • Became scarred by his father

  • Reigned as Fire Lord for 67 years

  • Aliases: The Blue Spirit, Zuzu, Lee, Sifu Hotman

  • The scar IS on the right, er, left side

  • Something about honor


Equipment

Dual Broadswords

Zuko possesses twin metal blades that he skillfully uses in melee combat for many types of slashes and chops and being able to block attacks with them (18:09). His mastery of them can be shown by how he describes using them as if they were a single weapon (10:14).


Powers & Abilities

Firebending

Firebending is, as the name implies, the ability to control fire (16:24). It represents the element of power, as firebenders who have mastered it like Zuko are described as an overpowering force tempered by the unflinching will to accomplish tasks and desires (13:26). Unlike the other bending arts, firebenders like Zuko can create fire as opposed to using a source to manipulate due to using his body’s own energy to produce flames through breathing (15:10 and 1:48). The main style of firebending is the Northern Shaolin style of kung fu, which also helps for hand-to-hand combat, but during a trip with Aang to find the secrets of firebending, they learned the Dancing Dragon form (10:29/20:20), named after dragons, as they were the original practitioners of firebending (5:36). This style is more fluid, which is unlike most other styles of firebending. Lastly, Zuko has learned knowledge of the other three elements and incorporates that into his firebending (13:26).


Zuko can utilize firebending in various ways, and can do so both with his hands and his feet (15:06), and even with his mouth like a dragon (4:08 and 19:10). He can emit flames (16:24), create intense fiery blasts (11:05, 19:48, 19:18, and 40:27), launch fireballs (9:28 and 27:41), fire arcs of flames (17:21 and 19:59), make fiery daggers for close combat (10:00 and 19:40), expel fire around himself (17:35), create explosive flames (1:30), send out a stream of fire (9:54), spew smoke (4:08), raise fire from the ground (20:10), form protective shields (14:38, 20:46, and 17:18), heat things up through physical contact to melt them (19:40/21:30), apply heat throughout his body to warm himself up and create steam (22:20), swirl up a vortex of flames (20:47), fire thin streams of flames (4:19), lash with whips (40:34/40:55/41:39), launch slashes (41:25), enhance his physical strikes (10:21 and 5:21), let out a wave of fire along the ground (5:18), engulf opponents in a ring of flames (6:28), send out a spiral of fire (1:07:31), propel himself through the air with powerful blasts (1:07:42), slam down a mass of flames (1:07:44), and manipulate already existing flames, which includes redirecting attacks from opponents (19:23 and 21:03), changing the size of them (1:48), and extinguishing them entirely (13:40).


Zuko’s flames are so intense that things like snow can melt just by touching him (10:41), and he’s precise enough with them to shoot smaller flames to hit tiny targets (18:33). Other firebenders have also shown to be capable of forming fire into different shapes (5:05), creating fiery lassos (5:14), raising walls of flames (18:30 and 56:28), rolling up a wheel of fire (21:24), and creating circles of flames (21:50 and 55:30). Firebenders can also charge their attacks to make them more powerful (19:18 and 17:30).


A firebender’s power comes from the sun (12:53 and 22:33), though anything that emits flames can also power a firebender. This is especially notable with comets, as they increase firebenders’ abilities immensely (18:24 and 55:45). The power of a firebender can also rise through feeling intense emotions like anger due to said emotions fueling it further (7:11 and 22:13). Zuko’s firebending is powerful enough to create different colors of flames that’re hotter than normal like green and purple. Lastly, Zuko can use his broadswords as an extension of his body for firebending (20:47/20:59).


Enhanced Hearing

Zuko has greater hearing than most other people (13:59).


Lightning Redirection

While Zuko can’t generate lightning like his sister or uncle, he has learned from the latter to redirect it by letting it flow through his body before releasing it out (39:18 and 1:08:27), which is performed by letting it enter through one hand and shooting back out through the other after it flows through him (18:17 and 11:39). The way it’s done is similar to the defensive style of a waterbender (14:50/18:02).


Feats

Strength & Attack Potency


Speed


Durability


Scaling


Training & Experience


Weaknesses

Firebenders in general have their faults. In situations where fire is normally hard to make, such as underwater (19:40) or in extreme cold (11:40), their firebending becomes weaker or can’t be used at all. Their firebending can also become weaker if they have poor breath control (15:10 and 13:21) or lack motivation (3:53/22:21). Firebenders also naturally focus more on offense than defense, though Zuko does have some form of defensive capability with lightning redirection (39:18). While intense emotions can make a firebender more powerful, if they lose control, it can cause their flames to lose control (2:20 and 15:11). Due to the sun being their source of power, things that blot it out, such as a solar eclipse (32:53), can weaken or completely remove their ability to bend. Benders in general use the chi in their bodies to bend, so if their chi becomes blocked, usually done by striking one’s pressure points (3:51), they are unable to bend anymore for a while (5:40). Lastly, more related to Zuko himself, if he redirects lightning poorly, it will pass through his heart and end his life (18:51 and 1:08:39).


Summary

Advantages

  • Is incredibly skilled in swordfighting and martial arts

  • Can use firebending for many offensive and defensive techniques, including weapons and shields

  • Can manipulate or extinguish an opponent’s fire

  • Can hear things much better than most others, making him less likely to be attacked out of nowhere

  • Can redirect lightning and likely most other electric-based attacks


Disadvantages

  • Firebending can become weaker or unusable in situations where fire is normally harder to make, such as underwater or in extreme cold

  • Firebending can become weaker if lacking poor breath control or lack motivation

  • Firebending focuses more on offense than defense

  • Losing control of emotions can also cause one’s firebending to lose control

  • Things like solar eclipses that blot out the sun can cause one’s firebending to become weaker or completely removed

  • If one’s chi becomes blocked, such as by striking their pressure points, they are unable to bend for a while

  • If lightning is redirected poorly, it can pass through his heart, killing him
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