Yuffie's Writing How-To's

TV to Books: Avatar: The Last Airbender

ATLA is one of my favorite shows, period. The characterization is phenomenal, and this how-to will talk about my favorite fictional character of all time, Prince Zuko, and how he makes the perfect antagonist-turned-protagonist. 

A little background on Zuko. He's the son of the Fire Lord, the evil dictator/monarch/leader of the Fire Nation who wants to take over the world. But Zuko has major daddy issues. The two had a falling out when Zuko was 16 (or maybe 15?), and the Fire Lord burned Zuko's face and banished the poor kid. Zuko's main deal at the start of the series is to capture Avatar Aang (this all-powerful, spiritual bridge who is the only being powerful enough to stop the Fire Lord in his evil scheme) and take Aang's head to the Fire Lord. Because Zuko thinks his dad will love and respect him again for doing that.

Since the series originally follows Aang as one of the main protagonists, Zuko is the antagonist, the person who opposes Aang and acts as a major obstacle to Aang's goals. And here the real how-to begins:

Why Zuko makes a brilliant antagonist

1. He's got a goal and nothing is going to stop him. Zuko wants to capture the Avatar and redeem himself in his father's eyes. That's a damn powerful motivator. It also makes us sympathize with him. If we were in his position, we might make the same choices he does. Zuko has a reason to be "bad" that we can all understand and relate to, and that's what makes him a complex, 3D villain. He's not just bad for the sake of it. He's not even "bad". He just makes bad decisions.

2. Eventually Zuko starts seeing a new light and gets doubts that the Avatar should be captured. He starts believing in Aang--just a little. The season 1 finale is one of the best points of character development for our banished Prince not because he changes, but because he didn't. We got hints that Zuko might be conflicted about what he's doing, and he even had a heart-to-heart with one Aang's friends. This is the point where we think he might just switch sides.

But he doesn't.

He betrays Aang and runs back to his old, deeply ingrained, mantra that he has to capture the Avatar. Very disappointing for the fandom, but such good characterization. No one can change their world view overnight, and Zuko shows that inner conflict beautifully.

Which brings me to the next point:

3. He keeps failing. He sucks at being a good guy. One of my favorite lines from him, "Why am I so bad at being good?!"

In season 3, Zuko is finally on Aang's side, but his track record in friendship with team Avatar isn't the greatest. Even when he offers himself as their prisoner to prove he's on their side now, they have zero trust for the guy. You can see Zuko is so frustrated at himself because he can't gain their trust, and he makes things worse when he accidentally burns the blind girl. Ouch. No matter what he does or how sincere he is, this guy can't get a break.

This is why I love Zuko. He's a prince, but he's no Prince Charming. Aside from his father and sister, he's the most flawed character in the series. He doesn't suddenly get some epiphany that what he's doing is wrong. It's a long, painful journey for him, and the journey is far from over even when he does finally decide to switch sides and go against his father. At every point, life throws some of the most painful decisions at him: betray his father or betray Aang. Essentially, the choice is family vs. enemy, and a choice like that, looked at logically from a distance, would be simple: pick family. But look at the little details of the plot, of Zuko's character, and you see that what looks like a straightforward decision is actually really, really tough, and that's what makes him such a lovable antagonist.

And sidenote: he's not a villain. He's an ANTAGONIST. He opposes the protagonist, but that doesn't necessarily make him evil or bad. He just has different views and a different background and different morals. He does bad things, you get frusted with him, but at the end of the day, you understand why he made those bad choices. That's what makes a great antagonist in any story, and that's the base to having a strong antagonist-turned-protagonist. Or even antagonist-turned-hero. ;)

To see Zuko in a nutshell, watch the video in the sidebar. Or better yet, watch the series. :)

If you have anything to add to this discussion, or if you have suggestions for the next Movie/TV to books, post in the comments below!

Irrelevant side note: that moment when you realize Azula is only 14 years old.