Kuzco

**Emperor Kuzco** is the protagonist of Disney's 2000 animated feature film, *The Emperor's New Groove*. Known for his arrogant and saucy personality, Kuzco is the ruler of the Kuzconian Empire in Peru. When his spoiled behavior gets him transformed into a talking llama, Kuzco slowly comes to realize the error of his ways.

## Personality

At first, Kuzco was very self-centered, thinking that everyone should be put below him because he is the Emperor. Kuzco is forced by law to graduate from "Kuzco Academy," a school that he paid for, in order to stay Emperor. Yzma and Kronk continually plot to make sure that Kuzco fails his class and he doesn't become Emperor. Kuzco's catchphrases are "No touchy!", "Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh", "Boo-ya!", "Boom, baby!", and "It's all about me!".

Kuzco is initially portrayed as an arrogant, comically conceited, selfish, cocky, sarcastic teenager, albeit with a sense of flair, style, as he never takes his job as emperor too seriously. His nature was petty such as having an old manthrown out of the window (but not killing him) simply because Kuzco blamed him for "throwing off his groove" in the opening song (when Kuzco bumped into him due to not being aware of his surroundings), as well as sadistically taunting Pacha with the destruction of the latter's village before having him escorted out when revealing his plans to create Kuzcotopia. He also was initially unwilling to marry any girls who didn't meet his image, often bluntly and rudely dismissing them, as evidenced by the opening of the movie where he had to choose the bride, and refused them just from brief glances. It is implied that this personality stemmed from the fact that Yzma practically raised him from childhood. However, it is also shown that his selfish ways were a cover-up for his yearning for a family, which he never had.

Despite his initial egomania, however, the Disney Adventure Comics, which were implied to take place before the events of the first film due to Yzma still acting as his adviser, did show some redeemable traits to him, as when he fell sick during Kuzcofest and had Yzma took over, he made clear that he wanted the citizenry to have a good time, and he was also implied to have manipulated Yzma into providing the food to the citizenry because he anticipated that she would hoard it all for herself after getting better. The comics also showed him to be a bit of a trickster, such as when during a Llama kickball game, he deduced that Yzma had turned several of her henchmen into Llamas to give an unfair advantage, and spiked the opposing team's water-cooler with the potion to expose Yzma's cheating. He was also not above apologizing when even he realized he went way too far, as evidenced by when he made the mistake of having the court jester sub for him during a meeting with another kingdom regarding a golden foot, which resulted in the jester making an insulting remark about the gift and nearly causing the members of the kingdom to nearly trying to kill him, with Kuzco apologizing for the remark and making a (comparably) more complimentary remark of the gift.

He is also very ignorant and lacks common sense, as he went into a jungle out of stupidity and arrogance, the latter due to believing that as Emperor, he has a good sense of direction (which he clearly didn't) and he thinks all of his notable traits don't make him arrogant or an egomaniac (which he then starts to ponder). He also has no idea that gifts are free. He can also be sneaky and manipulative at times, as he convinced Pacha that he had changed his mind in order to get him to take him back to the palace, only to go back on his promise when the palace was in view and was even willing to let Pacha die so he could get what he wanted. He also was vengeful, as he implied during the aforementioned incident that he did this partially as revenge for his perceived role of cursing and kidnapping him and that he originally intended that, when they actually arrived at the palace, he would have him imprisoned for said role. His sarcastic demeanor is especially evident shortly after learning he had been turned into a llama and planned to get back to the castle on foot: when Pacha tried to negotiate with him, Kuzco lured him close with a "secret," then when Pacha came as close as he could, Kuzco then proceeded to yell that he doesn't make deals with peasants. His sarcasm was also shown earlier when he told the final bride "And let me guess, you have a great personality" when refusing her, and was also demonstrated later on twice, the first time while traveling through the jungle by himself where he sarcastically claimed fear over a "scary tree" in an obvious mocking towards Pacha's earlier warnings, and later when forced to work with Pacha to get himself and Pacha out of the mess he caused with the ravine when helping Pacha reach the rope, Kuzco, while under obvious physical stress from forcing him up, says "It’s a good thing *you’re* not a big fat guy, or this would be really difficult." Kuzco also was implied to be a thrill-seeker, or at least perfectly willing to embrace death if there was no other option, as when deducing from Pacha's "uh-oh" remark that they're most likely going to be headed down a massive waterfall with sharp rocks at the bottom (as well as Pacha confirming his suspicions), Kuzco then states they should "bring it on", and as they're falling, Kuzco is heard cheering over falling down the rapids.

However, throughout his journey with Pacha, he soon realizes his mistakes and becomes more caring, loving, loyal, and brave. He also begins to care more for others as shown when he expresses concern for leaving Pacha's family with Yzma and Kronk, and when he chooses to save Pacha from falling off his palace instead of getting the human potion. Although he is still somewhat self-centered, but not as much as before.

He is also very gullible. One particular time was in "Fortune Cookie Day" when Yzma secretly gave him fortune cookies and made all the fortune's come true. Then, he fell for the fortune that said he'll turn into a sloth unless he gives the kingdom to Yzma. Even though Malina kept giving hard-core, concrete evidence that it was a trick, he still didn't believe her.

Kuzco is also shown to be afraid of ending up on his own after his experience as a llama and his adventures with Pacha, as revealed in the episode "The Mystery of Micchu Pachu" when he hears the tale of another emperor with a backstory just like his, only the emperor ended up alone and friendless.

He has a not-so-secret crush on a local village girl named Malina. She is another reason why Kuzco's selfish ways died down a bit. She has shown to return his feelings but tries her best to keep them under wraps. The two shared a kiss in The Emperor's New School Musical, with Malina obviously enjoying it even though she denies it. She also acts as Kuzco's confident several times, although she's the one to ask him what the problem is. Eventually, Kuzco and Malina officially become a couple in the series finale episode "Graduation Groove".

## Background

Not much is known about his past except in *The Emperor's New School* episode "Father O' Mine", where Kuzco's real father appears in a flashback. He is a strong, muscular man, and was emperor before Kuzco. According to Kuzco and Yzma, he was lost at sea on a trip when Kuzco was just a baby; thereby granting the throne to Kuzco. Since Yzma claims to have raised Kuzco, it is possible that his mother passed away as well, rendering him an orphan. It is revealed that Kuzco and his father share two things: a llama birthmark and the same necklace. At the beginning of the film when it accidentally flashed back too far into Kuzco's past, it was also revealed that he had a stuffed doll as a treasured toy, and eventually threw a fit as a baby when he accidentally broke it while hugging it, only to cheer up when what were presumably his caretakers promptly replaced it with several just like it (an early hint at how he had been spoiled-rotten). In The Adventures of Red-Eyed Tree Frog Man, it is revealed that Kuzco has a fear of frogs after a traumatic childhood experience with them as a baby. In Mudka's Secret Recipe, it is discovered that Kuzco's favorite food is Mudka's Meat Mug which is the only thing he orders.

## Role in Sora’s Adventures

He first appeared in Sora and the Gang in the Kingdom of the Sun