Avatar: The Last Airbender takes its time in establishing the characters. From Aang to the Fire Lord Ozai, each and every character is anything but flat. They have depth in layers that would make an onion look simple. When fans think about them, they do not see characters but actual people.
Such was the magic that Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMatrino brought to the world.
There were many characters who had their own individuality and ability to stand out without being backed by others. One of the most developed characters is Zuko. His journey is one that makes him into the person he is today through great turmoil and suffering.
From an anti-hero to a fan-favorite character, his growth was definitely an interesting one to experience.
However, all of that came to be because the creators chose to keep in mind one thing – a stereotype.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Gave Zuko an Individuality Outside of Other Villains
In an interview with IGN, Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMatrino, the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender, revealed that they took extra care when creating some of the most integral characters. It was imperative to make every character stand out, and Zuko was no different. They explained that what they wanted to avoid the most was the common villain and instead someone with depth and meaning behind what he does.
“We wanted to avoid the usual moustache twisting two-dimensional villain. It is much more interesting for us to create an antagonist whose motivations are the pain of abuse and falling from grace. It makes the bad things he does resonate emotionally, since they come from a place people can empathize with, rather than having some “super villain” who just cooks up evil plots all of the time.”
They wanted to create a villain who the audiences could view as human and not just an antagonist fighting for the sake of it. Zuko was given purpose, motivation, and a backstory so tragic that fans couldn’t help but empathize with him.
He needed to be more than just a villain. He needed to be human. Zuko wasn’t just a villain in the beginning. He was an abused child doing everything in his power and out of fear of his father, the Fire Lord Ozai. The amount of work put in to redeem him is regarded as one of the best character arcs in television history and for good reason.
Aang Became the Friendly Neighborhood Hero
Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMatrino explained in the interview with IGN that while on the one hand, they wanted to make Zuko the epitome of individuality, Aang wasn’t the same case. Although he is unique on his own, Aang has to be a witty yet powerful hero.
“One of the inspirations for Aang was the trickster hero, common to many world mythologies. We wanted Aang to solve problems and defeat enemies with his wits as well as his powerful abilities.”
His morals were supposed to be set in stone and the conflicts he faced outside of that were to become his bildungsroman.
After Live Action Series, Avatar the Last Airbender to Also be Adapted into a Multiplayer Video Game
Aang was supposed to be similar to tropes found in many mythologies, those that marked the coming-of-age hero and his journey in a burning world.
