(no subject)
Aug. 6th, 2021 01:08 pmPlayer;
Character;
CHARACTER NAME: Zuko
AGE: 16
CANON: Avatar: The Last Airbender
CANON POINT: Upon being blown up by pirates late season 1
BACKGROUND/HISTORY: Zuko was born to the younger son of the monarch of the Fire Nation, the leading sovereign country of the world of A:TLA. Following his birth, his father, Ozai, wanted to kill him for not having the "spark" that supposedly would indicate great firebending prowess, which pretty much set the stage for their relationship going forward. While Zuko was growing up, Ozai made no secret of the fact that he preferred his younger daughter Azula, and Zuko was frequently the subject of cruelty from them both despite his mother's efforts to protect him.
When Zuko was eleven, his cousin Lu Ten--the only son of Iroh, Ozai's older brother and then-heir to the throne--died during Iroh's campaign to conquer the great Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se. Ozai took advantage of Iroh's grief to attempt to usurp his claim to the throne. This enraged Azulon, the Fire Lord, who demanded Ozai kill Zuko as punishment for his offense to Azulon's own first-born son. (Funnily enough, Ozai didn't have much of a problem with this.) In order to save Zuko's life, his mother Ursa made a deal with Ozai to arrange Azulon's death in exchange for leaving the palace and both her children behind. As a result of Azulon's "convenient" last request, Ozai inherited the throne over Iroh and became the new Fire Lord, thus suddenly making Zuko the new Crown Prince--but without his mother around to try and shield him from Ozai's ire.
Two years later, Zuko attended a war meeting during which he objected to the ruthless tactics suggested by an attending general. As a result of this, Ozai ordered that he participate in an Agni Kai (a firebending honor duel), to which Zuko agreed, but when it turned out his opponent was not the general but Ozai himself, he attempted to forfeit. As punishment for this "disrespect," Ozai burned Zuko's face and banished him from ever returning to the Fire Nation until he'd captured the Avatar, a figure that hadn't been seen for a hundred years. (At least his uncle Iroh came with him.) Despite the fact that this was clearly meant to be an impossible task, Zuko threw himself into it with a worrying amount of gusto--and his efforts paid off when, two years or so later, the Avatar resurfaced--in the form of a twelve-year-old boy who had gotten himself frozen in ice for a hundred years, as you do.
Zuko's attempts to capture the Avatar were mostly futile and embarrassing, though he did come close a couple of times and committed quite a few unsavory acts in the trying. Unfortunately for him, his problems can't actually all be solved by kidnapping a twelve-year-old, and it takes him a good two and a half seasons to figure that out. Until then at least he can be commended for single-minded enthusiasm.
PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY: n/a
PERSONALITY: Oddly enough, Zuko could be described as primarily compassionate and sensitive. As a child, Zuko was friendly and idealistic; he enjoyed feeding turtleducks with his mother and he cared enough about the welfare of Fire Nation foot soldiers to stand up to a general willing to sacrifice them in the name of tactics. Unfortunately for him, he was born to the cruel and power-hungry second son of an imperialist war machine, and this shaped his early character in a number of unfortunate ways. Ozai has little patience for kindness, as exemplified in his treatment of Zuko and in the kind of behavior he encouraged in Azula. Regardless, Zuko remained confident in his ideals growing up, encouraged first by his mother and later his uncle Iroh. What really changed him was the ill-fated Agni Kai that left him permanently scarred and exiled--despite the constant mistreatment, Zuko remained desperate for his father's love and this categorical rejection transformed him into someone angry, volatile, and cruel. Someone his father might approve of, in other words. Much of his anger and temper stem from him being deep in denial that his father never did love him and never will, and there was never actually anything "wrong" with Zuko to cause Ozai to treat him that way.
The point is, despite Zuko's potential for kindness, he spends the majority of A:TLA being a volatile, angry jerk who tries to get his way by stomping around and yelling at people, including his poor uncle who is trying his hardest to just give his idiot nephew some therapy. He throws his weight as a royal around, he berates the sailors under his command for daring to have a sense of self-preservation, and he is remarkably easy to pick a fight with. Not to mention he spends the majority of his time trying to kidnap a child, to the point of invading neutral villages on plural occasions. None of these are very pleasant traits, and accordingly Zuko is downright insufferable for a good two seasons.
Despite all that, though, there are still several moments even early on that indicate Zuko's a good person at his core. For one thing, he very consistently never goes back on his word--every promise or deal he makes with an enemy, he upholds, to the point where it doesn't seem to occur to him to do otherwise. For better or worse, Zuko is earnest, and doesn't seem to have a duplicitous bone in his body. Whenever he does try to lie, he's terrible at it. He also, when it comes down to it, does prioritize the safety of others over his personal vendetta, as shown when he chooses saving his uncle and later his crewmen over pursuing the Avatar. And, ultimately, what really drives his own cruelty is his hope he can somehow earn his father's love despite everything--and, later, when he finally accepts that this is impossible, he chooses the side of peace and kindness of his own volition.
SUITABILITY: Zuko is well-suited to survival scenarios, both being very physically fit and also possessed of a Will Of Steel. Over the course of the series, he survives: being dunked in the ocean, climbing a ship mast in the middle of a thunderstorm, his ship blowing up with him inside it, swimming in freezing waters, getting into a fight while still injured from the previous two incidents, walking through a blizzard after that fight, prolonged starvation and dehydration (twice), getting into fights while starving and dehydrated, weird spirit fevers, and being hit by lightning (twice). Most of these are after the canon point I've chosen, but the potential is still there! The one thing that can always be said of Zuko is that he doesn't know when to quit. He is also very good at fighting and quite capable of defending himself against any specific dangers. Unfortunately, on the other hand, interpersonal conflict is something Zuko is not particularly well-suited to deal with, but as a writer I consider that a fun challenge more than a detriment.
ABILITIES/SKILLS:Samples;
(Note: Some of these use my alt account![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fireglowup, because I am that nerd with plural accounts for different canon points. This is still me, and I'm willing to provide proof if necessary! The alt account is from season 3, but he's still the same person, just a lot farther along in his character arc.)
SAMPLE ONE: Communication
SAMPLE TWO: Interiority
SAMPLE THREE: Conflict
Character;
CHARACTER NAME: Zuko
AGE: 16
CANON: Avatar: The Last Airbender
CANON POINT: Upon being blown up by pirates late season 1
BACKGROUND/HISTORY: Zuko was born to the younger son of the monarch of the Fire Nation, the leading sovereign country of the world of A:TLA. Following his birth, his father, Ozai, wanted to kill him for not having the "spark" that supposedly would indicate great firebending prowess, which pretty much set the stage for their relationship going forward. While Zuko was growing up, Ozai made no secret of the fact that he preferred his younger daughter Azula, and Zuko was frequently the subject of cruelty from them both despite his mother's efforts to protect him.
When Zuko was eleven, his cousin Lu Ten--the only son of Iroh, Ozai's older brother and then-heir to the throne--died during Iroh's campaign to conquer the great Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se. Ozai took advantage of Iroh's grief to attempt to usurp his claim to the throne. This enraged Azulon, the Fire Lord, who demanded Ozai kill Zuko as punishment for his offense to Azulon's own first-born son. (Funnily enough, Ozai didn't have much of a problem with this.) In order to save Zuko's life, his mother Ursa made a deal with Ozai to arrange Azulon's death in exchange for leaving the palace and both her children behind. As a result of Azulon's "convenient" last request, Ozai inherited the throne over Iroh and became the new Fire Lord, thus suddenly making Zuko the new Crown Prince--but without his mother around to try and shield him from Ozai's ire.
Two years later, Zuko attended a war meeting during which he objected to the ruthless tactics suggested by an attending general. As a result of this, Ozai ordered that he participate in an Agni Kai (a firebending honor duel), to which Zuko agreed, but when it turned out his opponent was not the general but Ozai himself, he attempted to forfeit. As punishment for this "disrespect," Ozai burned Zuko's face and banished him from ever returning to the Fire Nation until he'd captured the Avatar, a figure that hadn't been seen for a hundred years. (At least his uncle Iroh came with him.) Despite the fact that this was clearly meant to be an impossible task, Zuko threw himself into it with a worrying amount of gusto--and his efforts paid off when, two years or so later, the Avatar resurfaced--in the form of a twelve-year-old boy who had gotten himself frozen in ice for a hundred years, as you do.
Zuko's attempts to capture the Avatar were mostly futile and embarrassing, though he did come close a couple of times and committed quite a few unsavory acts in the trying. Unfortunately for him, his problems can't actually all be solved by kidnapping a twelve-year-old, and it takes him a good two and a half seasons to figure that out. Until then at least he can be commended for single-minded enthusiasm.
PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY: n/a
PERSONALITY: Oddly enough, Zuko could be described as primarily compassionate and sensitive. As a child, Zuko was friendly and idealistic; he enjoyed feeding turtleducks with his mother and he cared enough about the welfare of Fire Nation foot soldiers to stand up to a general willing to sacrifice them in the name of tactics. Unfortunately for him, he was born to the cruel and power-hungry second son of an imperialist war machine, and this shaped his early character in a number of unfortunate ways. Ozai has little patience for kindness, as exemplified in his treatment of Zuko and in the kind of behavior he encouraged in Azula. Regardless, Zuko remained confident in his ideals growing up, encouraged first by his mother and later his uncle Iroh. What really changed him was the ill-fated Agni Kai that left him permanently scarred and exiled--despite the constant mistreatment, Zuko remained desperate for his father's love and this categorical rejection transformed him into someone angry, volatile, and cruel. Someone his father might approve of, in other words. Much of his anger and temper stem from him being deep in denial that his father never did love him and never will, and there was never actually anything "wrong" with Zuko to cause Ozai to treat him that way.
The point is, despite Zuko's potential for kindness, he spends the majority of A:TLA being a volatile, angry jerk who tries to get his way by stomping around and yelling at people, including his poor uncle who is trying his hardest to just give his idiot nephew some therapy. He throws his weight as a royal around, he berates the sailors under his command for daring to have a sense of self-preservation, and he is remarkably easy to pick a fight with. Not to mention he spends the majority of his time trying to kidnap a child, to the point of invading neutral villages on plural occasions. None of these are very pleasant traits, and accordingly Zuko is downright insufferable for a good two seasons.
Despite all that, though, there are still several moments even early on that indicate Zuko's a good person at his core. For one thing, he very consistently never goes back on his word--every promise or deal he makes with an enemy, he upholds, to the point where it doesn't seem to occur to him to do otherwise. For better or worse, Zuko is earnest, and doesn't seem to have a duplicitous bone in his body. Whenever he does try to lie, he's terrible at it. He also, when it comes down to it, does prioritize the safety of others over his personal vendetta, as shown when he chooses saving his uncle and later his crewmen over pursuing the Avatar. And, ultimately, what really drives his own cruelty is his hope he can somehow earn his father's love despite everything--and, later, when he finally accepts that this is impossible, he chooses the side of peace and kindness of his own volition.
SUITABILITY: Zuko is well-suited to survival scenarios, both being very physically fit and also possessed of a Will Of Steel. Over the course of the series, he survives: being dunked in the ocean, climbing a ship mast in the middle of a thunderstorm, his ship blowing up with him inside it, swimming in freezing waters, getting into a fight while still injured from the previous two incidents, walking through a blizzard after that fight, prolonged starvation and dehydration (twice), getting into fights while starving and dehydrated, weird spirit fevers, and being hit by lightning (twice). Most of these are after the canon point I've chosen, but the potential is still there! The one thing that can always be said of Zuko is that he doesn't know when to quit. He is also very good at fighting and quite capable of defending himself against any specific dangers. Unfortunately, on the other hand, interpersonal conflict is something Zuko is not particularly well-suited to deal with, but as a writer I consider that a fun challenge more than a detriment.
ABILITIES/SKILLS:
- Firebending: Zuko can generate and manipulate fire as a form of combat and has been trained in this since childhood. Unlike his prodigy sister Azula, his raw talent is about average, and he's never been able to perform on her level. As a result of sheer training and discipline, though, he's still one of the most skilled firebenders out there and able to outfight other benders twice his age. Thanks to his uncle learning and developing more unconventional uses of firebending, Zuko can also use lesser-known techniques such as Breath of Fire, which enables him to keep warm in freezing environments.
- Swordfighting: Zuko is extremely skilled in swordfighting, having studied under the preeminent swordmaster in the Fire Nation. His skill is such that he can hold his own against benders without even using his own bending.
- Stealth: Really sneaky! Once infiltrated a Fire Nation stronghold all by himself and NOBODY saw him coming.
- Tsungi horn: Pretty good at it, apparently.
- Blue Spirit mask
- Dual dao blades
- Pearl dagger
(Note: Some of these use my alt account
fireglowup, because I am that nerd with plural accounts for different canon points. This is still me, and I'm willing to provide proof if necessary! The alt account is from season 3, but he's still the same person, just a lot farther along in his character arc.)SAMPLE ONE: Communication
SAMPLE TWO: Interiority
SAMPLE THREE: Conflict
