His sister tells him ‘You waste all your time playing with knives. You’re not even good!’ and he masters dual swords.

His sister is a prodigy and he’s told he’ll never catch up. He learns from dragons. He trains the Avatar. He takes her down (with the help of a very skilled waterbender)

He’s left behind by his mother, cast out by his father, hunted by his sister, and Zuko still learns unconditional love. 

His father tells him he’s worthless and unloved, that he was ‘lucky to be born,’ and he becomes a man that the world is proud of. 

Anything his family said to him, he managed to turn around and build on it. He thrived on it, exploded from it, turned all the negativity into a positive path and it’s just… it’s amazing.

There’s just no end to my love for this character. No fucking end. 

Bonus: The weak, banished prince has fangirls for all the ages. Take that, Ozai.