Surtr

"Pure Ones, attack! Crush them! Before they can recover!"

- Surtr to his soldiers

Surtr, or better known as Metal Beak, is the the main antagonist of the 2010 Warner Bros. film, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. He is the husband of Nyra, and the leader of the Pure Ones.

He is based on Metal Beak from the Guardians of Ga'Hoole books. However, unlike the book's Metal Beak, who was a Barn Owl and whose real name was Kludd, the older brother of Soren (the books' and film's protagonist), this version of Metal Beak is a Greater Sooty Owl and is unrelated to Soren. Kludd appears in the film, but as a separate character, instead serving as a Pure One soldier rather than the leader.

He was voiced by Joel Edgerton.

Before the film
Metal Beak was originally called Surtr and took part in the battle of the Ice Claws with the Pure Ones against the Guardians of Ga'Hoole. During the battle, Surtr was bested and maimed by a Guardian named Lyze of Kiel, resulting in him wearing a metal mask to cover his facial scars and going under a new name; Metal Beak.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Some years later, Metal Beak and his wife Nyra and the rest of the Pure Ones, took over St. Aegolius Acadamy for Orphaned Owls (St. Aggie's for short) and would send out his minions to capture owlets in order to either convert them into Pure One soldiers or make them pickers to pick through pellets to find flecks to power his device to use against the Guardians. He had made an alliance with Allomere, a Guardian who had became a turnfeather for the Pure Ones as Metal Beak has promised him a portion of the owl kingdoms to rule as King if he helped them.

After being given a moonblinked Eglantine and another owlet, Allomere returned to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree and told the Guardians the Pure Ones plan, which made the Guardians decide to fight them. However, this was part of Metal Beak's plan and when the Guardians arrived, the device was activated and the Guardians were pinned to the ground with it's power. However, Soren and the band arrive to save the Guardians (after Eglantine revealed to him that Kludd had moonblinked her and gave her to Allomere). Seeing the group, Metal Beak believed that they were Guardians, and felt betrayed by Allomere, who was meant to bring all the Guardians. Saying that there was only room for one king, Metal Beak ordered Allomere killed; the treacherous Guardian was then attacked and dragged by several bats. However, unbeknownst to Metal Beak, Allomere had escaped the bats, but was later killed by his former apprentice Shard, after discovering that Allomere killed his parents.

Later in the battle, Metal Beak battled Lyze of Kiel (now known as Ezylryb), who despite his age was able to overpower his enemy, until Nyra's arrival. However, before they could kill Ezylryb, Soren arrives with a flaming branch to defeat Metal Beak to stop him destroying another owl's soul (after Kludd became a Pure One and battled him). The two owls battled, but Metal Beak was able to overpower the younger owl and leaped at Soren with talons out to kill him. Luckily, Soren was able to grab the branch and stabs Metal Beak through the heart, killing him. Following this, a shocked Nyra retreated with the remaining Pure Ones.

Near the end of the film, Kludd (who had survived falling into a forest fire during his battle with Soren) comes across Metal Beak's body and gazes down at his fallen mask, possibly taking it for himself.

Personality and Traits
Behind his cold, cruel and ruthless personality, Surtr was nonetheless a very charismatic individual.

Quotes
"Metal Beak: Well, the legendary Lyze of Kiel. Once again, it's come down to just you and me. At last, I can take my revenge for this. (Indicates scar behind his iron mask) Ezylryb: Hmm. You should thank me. It appears to be an improvement."

- Exchange between Surtr the Metal Beak and Ezylryb aka Lyze of Kiel

Trivia

 * Surtr is also possibly inspired by an unnamed High Tyto that Kludd killed in the books with aid of Nyra to overthrow Pure Ones' leadership and responsible for Kludd's scarred face that forced him to wear mask to hide the said scars. The difference however, that High Tyto came from Tyto Alba, not Greater Sooty Owls.
 * The ending of the film implies that "Metal Beak" might just be a title, with Kludd being the next to bear it, which also implied that Kludd DO would become Metal Beak much like in books albeit the second one.
 * If Metal Beak felt truly betrayed by Allomere or if he just wanted to get him out of the way is unknown, though the former is much more likely from his lines that saying, "You should know, Allomere. There is only room for one king!".
 * He is blind in his left eye. On the other side of his face, he has no feathers, which is strange, as normally one wouldn't have feathers on his or her blind side. This may have been done, however, to make him appear more battle-worn.
 * Even though it's implied that Surtr lost his whole beak, parts of it are still visible in the movie. Concept art reveals that only a large part of his upper beak is missing.
 * In the books, Greater Sooty Owls are the lowest ranking Pure Ones and are never promoted past soldiers.
 * The Metal Beak in the books is never referred to as Metal Beak by his fellow Pure Ones, while in the movie he takes obvious pride in the title.
 * While instructing his soldiers to "crush" the Guardians, Metal Beak appears to make a Nazi salute.
 * Metal Beak's real name Surtr is only revealed in the film's video game.