Well Zuko is a character that has had to struggle since his birth, his father Ozai said to him once that his sister Azula was born lucky and that Zuko was lucky to be born. Zuko has been trying to gain the approval of his father and never got it, in fact he got the complete opposite, Zuko being a prince of the Fire Nation was asked to attend a war council meeting by his uncle Iroh, but Zuko did something disrespectful in his father eye’s he spoke during the meeting when he asked to stay quite. Zuko being no older than thirteen was asked to have an Agni Kai(A fire nation duel).
He agreed, unaware he would face his father, not the general he insulted. Upon turning to face his opponent, he was immediately penitent and knelt, refusing to fight, and tearfully begged for his father's forgiveness. Ozai declared his refusal a sign of cowardice and another display of disrespect, and told him "he will learn respect, and suffering will be his teacher."
Ozai burned Zuko (permanently scarring the left side of his face), stripped him of his birthright, and exiled him from his beloved homeland. Declaring that he could only return if he was able to find and capture the Avatar, who disappeared one hundred years before.
As he got older and wiser and started to see the fire nation for what it was, he started to realize what a corrupt nation it was and he had change of heart and betrayed his nation and help bring his father and his sister down stopping them from taking over the world. I love characters like Zuko who have done wrong in the past but change their ways through out a series.
He realized that his uncle was more of a father to him than his actual father had ever been. Zuko made friends with Aang The Avatar the person he swore he would capture in order to gain his fathers approval, he is now the current Fire Lord and plans the change things for the better. If you want to know more about the character his Wiki Page link is here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuko
