Zuma is one of the main protagonists of the Canadian cartoon series PAW Patrol. He is a Labrador Retriever who is the water pup of the titular team. In the US and Canada, his voice is by Alex Thorne from Season 1 to 3, but in Season 4 it was replaced by his brother, Carter Thorne. In the UK, he is voiced by Samuel Woodward.
Appearance
Zuma is a Chocolate Labrador puppy. He has brown fur, floppy ears, and greenish yellow eyes. His collar is dark blue and has a tag that's orange with a silver anchor symbol on it representing the sea. His gear is a bright orange water helmet along with scuba gear on his back.
Personality
Zuma is very laid-back and calm, though he's not as serious about duty as Chase. He is relaxed and his own fears tend to be more subtle than the rest of the pups' phobias. He is always loyal and has an abundant liking for Ryder. He is playful and always ready to have a good laugh. He's usually sunny and optimistic. He's shown to be rather good with ocean animals. Him and Rocky are good friends and he does his best to keep Rocky from getting wet. He wants to get other people to lighten up.
He has a competitive side; he and Skye have a friendly rivalry at times, but it's all in good fun. Once, in "Pups Fall Festival", they even argued about who got to the elevator first. They're often shown to have a close friendship and they've been seen doing things together.
He sometimes speaks like a surfer and uses slang like "dude", fittingly for the water rescue pup. He's even an expert kitesurfer.
Gallery
Trivia
- Zuma is a chocolate Labrador. Labrador retrievers are extremely fond of water, making him perfect for his job.
- Zuma is the very first pup to appear on an episode's title card ("Pups Make a Splash").
- Although Zuma appears to be the 7th member of the PAW Patrol (hence the #7 on his hovercraft), Rubble was actually the 7th member of the PAW Patrol.
- Some viewers mistake him for a girl, likely because of the -a ending of his name, which may denote feminine quality in certain languages. People also tend to mistake his gender judging by his high voice. In the Brazilian dub of PAW Patrol, like Marshall, Zuma is referred to as a female pup when Thamires Oliveira voices him in Season 1 (and some episodes in Season 2) before his role is taken over by Yago Contatori, who later redubbed Thamires Oliveira's lines.
- Though his Season 6 voice actor, Shayle Simons, also voices the Australian Leo Chockers from Let's Go Luna (the other is Carlos's voice in late Season 3).
- Zuma is the only pup who has a pup pack that doesn't need sound recognition to respond. For example, in "Pups Save a Goodway", he turns on his flashlight in the dive.
- Zuma is shown to be an expert kite-surfer.
- Zuma likely has a great lung capacity, evidenced by his rescue in "Pups Save a Walrus" (he had to give Wally his rebreather for an extended period of time underwater).
- In the first three seasons of the show Zuma had a speech impediment (possibly rhotacism). His impediment can most fluently be heard whenever he says something that starts with an "R" (i.e. when he says "Ryder", "Rocky" or "Rubble", it sounds like "Wyder," "Wocky," or "Wubble," respectively, similar to the Looney Tunes character, Elmer Fudd). He has since lost the impediment when Carter Thorne took over as voice actor.
- In the earlier episodes of the UK dub, he spoke with a lateral lisp due to Samuel Woodward lacking his front teeth.
- His buoy is actually a life preserver.
- Zuma's name means "peace" in Arabic.
- His name is often mistaken for an online game with the same name, Zuma.
- He may have been named after a beach in Malibu, California.
- Even though his fear was not revealed in "Pups Save a Toof", he is afraid of ghosts as seen in "Pups and the Ghost Pirate".
- "Pups Save the Critters" also implies that he may be afraid of crocodiles, as he looked nervous around Jenny and the reptiles.
- Zuma can walk on hind legs, proven in "Pups and the Ghost Pirate".
- This makes Zuma the first pup who can walk on their hind legs, the second being Everest.
- The third being Marshall doing karate in "Pup-Fu!".
- The fourth being Tracker in "Tracker Joins the Pups!".
- "Pups Save the Easter Egg Hunt" proves how much Zuma and Rocky are friends, even though Rocky is afraid of water.
- In "Pups and the Lighthouse Boogie", it is shown that Zuma is an expert on Pup Pup Boogie.
- Zuma is the only pup who has amber eyes.
- Zuma is the only pup with a single-color fur as the other pups' fur consists of multiple colors.
- Zuma was given a submarine in "Pups Save the Diving Bell".
- Most times when Zuma uses his equipment in his vehicle, it is a buoy. However, in "Pups Save a Dolphin Pup", it is shown he has a buoy rope without the buoy. Also, in "The New Pup", it is revealed that he has a buoy line in his pup pack besides his scuba gear. In "Pups Save the Woof and Roll Show", that is the only time he uses his dinghy.
- He has a friendly rivalry with Chase and Skye.
- Zuma is described as the youngest pup along with Rubble at 5 years old and Everest is the oldest at 8 years old. Presumably some liberty is taken and dogs in the show have similar lifespan to humans, as 5 "dog years" would make him equivalent to 36 years old.
- In an introductory video by Nick Jr. UK, Zuma is erroneously described as the youngest pup (even though Rubble was clearly younger in "Pups Get a Rubble"), but no difference in age between him and Rubble was quoted.
- Zuma seems to be able to swim in freezing waters with no problem.
- In "Tracker Joins the Pups!" Zuma says that he loves coconut and coconut milk.
- Zuma is the only pup to wear the cap of his Sea Patrol uniform backward.
- In "Sea Patrol: Pups Save a Wiggly Whale", Zuma mentioned that he likes seaweed.
- Zuma says "dude" a lot in the series.
- Zuma's hovercraft could reference the vehicle in many tv shows, cartoons and the N64 game Diddy Kong Racing, which you have the option to drive said vehicle in-game.
