Dante Basco is by now a household name. Many fans of the Avatar the Last Airbender recognize that name as the embodiment of the Prince Zuko voice. The show aired almost some sixteen years ago, but you would not believe that if you hadn’t seen it become what it is now.
Avatar the Last Airbender was a show that really captured the hearts of fans all around, particularly because of its stellar writing and visuals. However, more endearing to the series was perhaps the show’s voice acting cast. Consisting of voice actors that were as talented as they were gifted, the sights of the Avatar series made more impact with the sounds that accompanied them.
A fan favorite character in the place of Prince Zuko would have probably been a difficult task to take on for just any actor; considering the character’s complex backstory. But for Prince Zuko voice actor Dante Basco; it was just another day at the office.
Dante Basco has been attached to quite a few other roles that have lived on in the hearts of fans all over the world. Let’s take a look at what else the Prince Zuko Voice actor has taken on in his rather illustrious career.
The Prince Zuko Voice Actor Was The Leader Of The Lost Boys
Steven Spielberg pretty much rules the seventies down to the nineties, and it’s no surprise; he was good at what he did. Several pop culture titles owe their existence to him, but he also has a link to the Avatar series in the most unlikely manner.
Many people might not realize it, but Dante Basco, the Prince Zuko voice actor actually played the role of Ruffio; the leader of Steven Spielberg’s 1991 Peter Pan related flick “Hook”. The role saw him perform alongside great industry stalwarts like the now late Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman, but even though he was a kid; the Prince Zuko voice actor shone with an amazing performance.
The Prince Zuko Voice Actor Appeared In Many Popular Sitcoms
From the seventies down to the two thousands, sitcoms were one of the most popular forms of entertainment all over the world. Many of these shows went on to become syndicated, being broadcast nearly in all countries in the world.
We had shows like the Cosby Show, Sanford and Son, Family Matters, Different Strokes and a host of many others take the screen by form. Dante Basco was not a stranger to this world, appearing in a number of sitcoms in the same talented fashion that he had when he got his big break in Hook.
On the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the man behind the Prince Zuko voice had a guest role as Kevin in the Episode: “Cold Feet, Hot Body”. On Hanging with Mr Cooper, he starred as Sammy in the Episode: “Seoul Shake”.
He also appeared in various other series; as Champ Hopkins in the Highway To Heaven episode: “Choices”, in CSI: Miami as Ruben Franco in the episode: “Happy Birthday”; Madrid in the The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, in The Steve Harvey Show as Lee in the episode: “Guess Who’s Not Coming to Counseling”, in Moesha as Marco in 4 episodes, and in Touched by an Angel as Miguel in the episode: “Random Acts”. He has had many other shows and television films under his belt as well.
The Man Behind The Prince Zuko Voice Is Also Jake Long
Jake Long: American Dragon was an animation phenomenon when it began airing on the Disney Channel. Mixing both culture and action, kids all over the world, as well as some older viewers dived into the world of Jake Long, a boy who had the ability to become a dragon; who was tasked with protecting the world.
Dante provided the voice talent for Jake Long, and just as he would fully capture who Prince Zuko was; he brought the eponymous character to life in the grandest way. Fans would remember Jake Long for a very long time after.
The Prince Zuko voice actor also reprised his role as Jake Long in another Disney spinoff; Lilo and Stitch: The Series.
Besides this role, he has also appeared in other cartoons and animations, such as Disney’s Kim Possible as Fukushima in the episode “Exchange”; in the Cartoon Network show Victor & Valentino and We Bare Bears as Javier and Master Cheddar respectively. Basco has also appeared in Star Wars Rebels, voicing the character Jai Kell, and voiced Flash Thompson as well as Scorpion in Ultimate Spiderman.
He Is A Video Game Hall Of Famer
Providing voice talents for TV shows and animated films is not all Dante can do. In the video game world he is a pretty big name; not just for voicing characters, but also as a gamer streaming gameplay on Twitch. He has appeared as a voice actor for the following games:
Video Game Titles Character
- Def Jam Fight for New York Additional Voices
- Saints Row Stillwater’s Residents
- Scarface: The World Is Yours Additional Voices
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Prince Zuko
- Skate Shingo
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth Prince Zuko
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno Prince Zuko
- Aion Youth Male Voice, Additional Voices
- Skate 2 Shingo
- Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Seeing Farther
- Terminator Salvation Resistance Soldier
- Final Fantasy XIII Cocoon Inhabitants
- Skate 3 Shingo
- Nicktoons MLB Prince Zuko
- Avatar: The Legend of Korra General Iroh II
- Mortal Kombat X Additional Voices
The Prince Zuko Voice Actor Is A Web Series Regular
Dante Basco has also appeared in a number of various web series over the years; including some he owns. It is safe to say he is a regular on these as much as he is on regular screens.
Year Web Series Title Role Episode
- 2013–21 JustKiddingNews Himself 6 episodes
- 2014–19 Nostalgia Critic Himself 6 episodes
- 2016–18 Camp Camp Billy “Snake” Nikssilp 3 episodes
- 2016 Perfect-timing villain Agent Tanner 1 episode
- 2017 Squad Wars Himself The Try Guys 90s Boyband Music Video Challenge
- 2018 Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures Narrator 11 episodes
- 2019 Rooster Teeth’s Hardcore Tabletop: World Series 5 episodes
- 2020-21 Let’s Read Homestuck Rufioh Nitram 2 episodes
- 2020 Death Battle Zuko Zuko VS Shoto Todoroki
He Was Also In Avatar: The Legend Of Korra
Seeing as Fire Lord Zuko was still alive at the turn of events in the Legend of Korra, it made sense that the Prince Zuko voice actor would reprise his role. However, the elderly Zuko was voiced by Bruce Davison. Dante instead voiced Zuko’s grandson; General Iroh II from his daughter, Fire Lord Izumi. It was a very nice nod to the predecessor series; showing that there had indeed been a passage of time. In truth, General Iroh II bore a strong resemblance to his grandfather in his youth.
Dante Basco brought to life one of our most beloved characters in the capturing of Prince Zuko’s voice; but it seems this is something of regular form for the voice actor. We have a lot to be thankful to him for in his actualization of Zuko; it could have totally gone another way with any other actor.