Zurg (Lightyear)

Zurg is the main antagonist of the 2022 Disney•Pixar animated film Lightyear. In the film, he is reimagined as a large robotic being several feet taller than Buzz. It is later revealed that Zurg is actually controlled by a human inside, namely an elderly Buzz Lightyear from an alternate future, who found an abandoned spaceship already stocked with the Zurg armor, and simply took on the alien cyborg's identity, seeking to use the ship's technology to travel back in time and prevent the Star Command ship from crashing on T'Kani Prime.
He is based on the character of the same name from the Toy Story franchise.
== Background ==
The Zurg robot is a powerful gigantic lifeless robot one enters inside to operate it's movements, and when it's active, it's lights will flash red and the mouth will light up yellow whenever the user inside speaks. Older Buzz found the suit in the abandoned spaceship alongside the robots etc. It's unknown who or what the Zurg was originally, but according to older Buzz, it was all just "borrowed".
Zurg features a powerful three-barrelled ion blaster on his left hand that can retract into it's wrist to a hand. The robot can even fly via retractable wings at the back and even appears to have extreme durability as it was able to survive the explosion without even a burn or a single scratch on it.
Zurg looks quite like his original counterpart, being a monstrous purple robot with bull-like horns, red eyes, an angry grimace and purple coloration but looks much more threatening and thuggish. His tiny head, huge, broad chest, along with his thick, bulky arms and tree-trunk legs give him the appearance of a wrestler or robotic hulk. This befits his more "warrior" like personality and eagerness to get into brawls with his enemies.
==Role in the film==
After 22 years have passed, Zurg approaches a Zyclops, reporting him about the XL-15 it brought to Zurg's ship to which upon noticing that the XL-15 is empty, Zurg tasks the robot to find Buzz and capture him, sending the Zyclops on an assignment. Noticing that the Zyclops that Buzz and Izzy's team was fighting was disabled, he suddenly becomes furious that he lost one of his henchmen, causing Zurg to summon an army of robots to take revenge against Buzz just as Zurg boards on his spaceship to fly to T'Kani Prime to take revenge against Buzz. Later when Buzz and his allies board the Armadillo to escape from a large swarm of bugs, Zurg then attacks Buzz and his crew, resulting the Armadillo to land onto a distant part of T'Kani Prime.
Zurg appears again in an ambush, attacking Buzz, Sox, and the Junior Patrol just as Buzz tries to find a way to escape from him throughout the mine, leading him to a dead end. Zurg attempts to capture him only for Darby, who is using on an inactive transportation vehicle, to fire a blast at Zurg to knock him back just before Buzz, Sox, and the Junior Patrol escape. Zurg then commands a line of Zyclopses to capture Buzz, sending them on a dispatch. Suddenly, after the fuel crystal from the Armadillo was ejected and Buzz plans to face Zurg himself, the latter captures Buzz and takes him to his lair.
Upon capturing the young Buzz, Zurg reveals his true identity: an older version of Buzz and plot in hopes that the young Buzz will understand. The talk starts of well where Buzz originally thought Zurg's plan was a good idea to go back in time so they can finish the misssion, however, Buzz then strongly opposes this by pointing out that Zurg's actions will cause a possible temporal paradox that would wipe out the current timeline and everyone from it as Buzz finds out that he betrayed him for this, showing no concern over the consequences. Just as Zurg plans to wipe out the current timeline, Old Sox paralyzes him by firing a dart while Buzz plans to find a way to destroy the ship.
Donning his armor again, Zurg destroys Old Sox, denouncing him as a traitor just before he engages into a fight against Buzz. He tosses Buzz into the ship's I.V.A.N., causing him to activate anti-gravity mode in the ship just as Buzz plans to obtain the fuel crystal for the Armadillo. Just before Zurg can grab the fuel, Buzz counters him while asking Izzy for help. While Buzz continues confronting Zurg inside the ship, the latter switches the self-destruct sequence to manual override just before Izzy arrives and defends Buzz from Zurg, due to the fact that she had Sox use his blowtorch gadget to break open the door leading to the chamber. As Buzz plans to escape, Izzy convinces him to blow up the ship to which as Buzz does so, the self-destruct sequence continues just before Buzz, the Junior Patrol, and Sox escape from the exploding ship.
As Buzz boards onto the XL-15 on his way back to T'Kani Prime, Zurg attacks him as he grabs Buzz's fuel crystal in a plan for him to finish his mission, planning to finish him off. Buzz, in revenge, counterattacks, shooting the hyperspace fuel rod on Zurg's hand, seemingly destroying him in a massive explosion, followed by Buzz bringing the Armadillo with Sox and the Junior Patrol back to T'Kani Prime. However, in the last post-credits scene, Zurg is revealed to have survived the explosion.
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*Zurg's name comes from the Zyclops' attempts to pronounce "Buzz" ("B'Zurg").
*In a deleted scene for the film, the portrayal of Zurg was different, where Buzz's dad Larry Lightyear was in control of the robot (and the latter was possibly wearing the suit). The scene did not make it to the final film because the producers felt it was too predictable with the twist.
**When asked why Zurg was not Buzz's father as established in Toy Story 2, director Angus MacLane responded they were unable to figure out how he could properly be established. Instead, they changed Zurg to be Buzz himself, so that he would be his own greatest enemy, not just figuratively, but also literally.https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a40414430/lightyear-angus-mcclane-zurg-twist-toy-story-2/
*Angus MacLane said that the reason why Zurg's design was changed was purely for practical reasons. In MagLane's words: "The Darth Vader skirt we jettisoned for functionality reasons," "We needed him to move differently, not wheel around. I didn’t want it to be a regal, king-like character. I wanted him to move like a robot."https://www.cbr.com/lightyear-director-explains-reason-zurg-redesign/#:~:text=MacLane%20previously%20said%20that%20some,regal%2C%20king%2Dlike%20character.[better source needed]
*MacLane put in that post-credit scene of Zurg to intentionally tease what happens next in a possible sequel for the film.https://movieweb.com/lightyear-director-possible-sequel/
*Zurg's voice actor James Brolin is the father of Josh Brolin, who played Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
**Both Zurg and Thanos traveled through time.
**Both Zurg and Thanos wants to get a crystalized object. (Fuel, Infinity Stones)
**Both Zurg and Thanos commands an army. (ZBots, Chitauri)
**Both Zurg and Thanos face Chris Evans' character but faltered.
**Both discarded someone close to them. (Sox, Gamora)
**Both wanted to erase many people from existence (half the universe, everyone born on T'Kani Prime)
==See also==
*Zurg
*Zurg (Buzz Lightyear of Star Command)
==References==
==External links==
*
*Zurg on Lightyear Wiki
ar:الإمبراطور زورج
es:El Emperador Zurg
fr:Empereur Zurg
it:Zurg
pt-br:Imperador Zurg
Category:Villains
Category:Pixar villains
Category:Animated characters
Category:Main antagonists
Category:Adults
Category:Elderly characters
Category:Pixar characters
Category:Cyborgs
Category:Giants
Category:Lightyear characters
Category:Time travelers
Category:Alternate Forms
Category:Pilots
Category:Supervillains
Category:Robots
Category:Males