Prince Zuko is one of the most well-known characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender. His brilliant character arc, combined with the excellent voice work of Dante Basco, makes him one of the most memorable elements that the show has to offer.
From the first season, it was obvious that Zuko was not a bad guy, despite his role as one of the main antagonists. His uncle, Iroh, constantly strived to guide him down a more positive path, always staying by Zuko's side no matter what. In the end, his changing allegiance and addition to Team Avatar did not come as a surprise, and it felt like the proper progression of his character.
10 Zuko Kidnaps Aang From Zhao's Custody
In the first season episode, "The Blue Spirit," Zhao successfully ambushes, captures, and imprisons Aang in a fortress to hand him over to the Fire Lord. However, a masked vigilante, the titular Blue Spirit, breaks into the fortress and nearly escapes with Aang undetected, but they are surrounded at the last second.
The Blue Spirit, knowing Aang's value to Zhao, holds his swords to the Avatar's throat, forcing the Fire Nation soldiers to back down. However, the vigilante is knocked unconscious and Aang removes his mask to reveal Zuko. While the Fire Prince has his own reasons for abducting the Avatar, it still stands that he is the only reason Aang survives that encounter and is able to safely return to his friends.
9 Zuko Confides In Aang
During the "Siege of the North," Zuko kidnaps Aang while he is in the Spirit World, leaving his body defenseless and unconscious. As he makes his way out of the city with the Avatar in tow, Zuko describes his past in detail.
Even though the Avatar cannot hear him, he continues to confide in Aang, explaining his motivations and why he is the way that he is. Any viewer can understand that these are things Zuko has long kept buried, but now that he has someone to speak to about it, he can finally get it out in the open and talk through it.
8 Zuko Shows Mercy To Zhao
After Aang escapes his custody, Zuko goes back to the North Pole and encounters Zhao. The two duel briefly before the Ocean Spirit takes Zhao and pulls him underwater. Zuko, realizing that the admiral is going to die, offers help, holding out his hand. However, Zhao, too angry and prideful to accept assistance, declines and allows himself to drown.
Despite their continued hatred for one another, Zuko demonstrates that he has a heart of compassion. He saw his primary opponent on the verge of death and was still willing to help him.
7 Zuko & Iroh Cut Off Their Topknots
At the start of the second season, Zuko's sister, Azula, tracks him and Iroh down. Upon finding them, she offers them the chance to return home, despite their failure to capture the Avatar. However, upon boarding the Fire Navy ship, they realize they are to be taken prisoner. Zuko and Iroh react quickly, and they manage to escape Azula's grasp.
Of course, they now realize they cannot ever return home as they will forever be seen as outcasts and failures. As a result, they decide to let their identities as Fire Nation royalty go by cutting off their topknots. This could be argued as Zuko's first step toward switching sides, as this moment is when he outright rejects the Fire Nation.
6 Zuko Helps Free Appa
The Ba Sing Se storyline revealed that Appa was in the possession of Long Feng, and was being held under Lake Laogai. Zuko himself discovers this vital piece of information and tracks down the bison on his own, with the intention of using it to lure Aang in.
However, upon finding Appa, Iroh reveals he has been following Zuko and convinces him to release the bison instead. Iroh essentially asks Zuko if he really wants to capture Aang and go back to the Fire Nation after everything they've been through, and Zuko decides that he is happier with his new life in the Earth Kingdom than if he were to return home.
5 Zuko Protects A Family
After they decide to abandon their Fire Nation identities, Zuko and Iroh briefly part ways. While traveling alone, Zuko encounters a family living on a small farm being abused by Earth Kingdom soldiers.
As Zuko comes to terms with his past and who he is as a person, he protects the family and the nearby village by fighting the Earth Kingdom soldiers. He is able to hold his own at first, but when he is overwhelmed, he firebends. The townspeople and the family realize he is a firebender and run him out of town, forcing him to face the reality that even though he has abandoned that life, others will still see him that way.
4 Zuko Wrestles With Guilt Upon Returning Home
During the second season finale, "The Crossroads of Destiny," Zuko makes a critical choice: he opts to join with Azula and take down the Avatar together. Iroh disagrees with this approach and steps in to help Aang and Katara escape, making him a traitor to the Fire Nation. Of course, this does not sit well with Zuko.
Once he has returned home, Zuko is welcomed back with open arms while Iroh is imprisoned. Throughout this time, Zuko continually demonstrates regret over his actions and harbors a lot of guilt over the choices he made.
3 Iroh Teaches Zuko Lightning Bending
After they are reunited, Iroh tells Zuko that by accepting wisdom from many sources instead of just one, he can become a better person. To demonstrate this, Iroh offers to teach Zuko how to redirect lightning.
Iroh developed this technique by studying waterbending, showing Zuko that despite being separate, the four nations can coexist and help each other. The wisdom of one nation may benefit another. Essentially, despite his origins, Zuko can still grow and improve himself.
2 Zuko & Katara Share An Intimate Moment
As the Ba Sing Se storyline nears its end, Zuko and Katara are captured separately by Azula and imprisoned together. Initially, Katara believes this to be a ploy by the Fire Nation but soon comes around to trusting Zuko.
He confides in her about his past and reveals that, like her, he has also lost his mother. The two bond over their shared trauma, and Katara briefly considers using her spirit water to heal Zuko's scar. Katara is the first person on Team Avatar to place her trust in Zuko and is understandably hurt when he later betrays them to join Azula.
1 Zuko Discovers The Truth About His Lineage
As Zuko struggles to come to terms with the guilt he feels for betraying not only Team Avatar, but his Uncle Iroh too, he begins to research his family history. Through this and a conversation with Iroh, he learns that his mother's grandfather was Avatar Roku, making him the descendant of both the Avatar and Fire Lord Sozin, who was responsible for starting the war.
Zuko realizes that this relationship is symbolic of the internal struggles he has been facing throughout the entire series. As such, he begins to understand the role he must play in order to help restore balance to the world.