File:LionKingCharacters.jpg
The main characters in the first film. From left to right: Shenzi, Scar, Ed, Banzai, Rafiki, Mufasa, Simba, Sarabi, Zazu, Timon and Pumbaa. Bottom right: Nala and Sarafina.
The following are fictional characters from Disney's The Lion King franchise.
A total of thirteen supervising animators from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney-MGM Studios were responsible for establishing the personalities and setting the tone for the first film's main characters. The animation team studied real-life animals for reference, as was done for the earlier film Bambi.[1] The animation of the characters counted with supervision by wildlife experts such as Jim Fowler, who visited the studio on several occasions with lions and other animals to help the animators reproduce authentic behavior.[2] Screenwriter Irene Mecchi joined the directing team to help in the character development process and define each character's personality. Story head Brenda Chapman spoke of the challenges of character development: "It was our job to make the main character likeable and sympathetic. It was also challenging to make the environment and characters interesting. In real life, lions basically sleep, eat and have no props."[2]
[edit] The Lion King
Simba, meaning "lion" in Swahili, is the title character of the franchise and the protagonist of The Lion King, the musical, and several video games. He is the tritagonist of both The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and The Lion King 1½, and a minor character in the Timon & Pumbaa television series. Simba is the son of Mufasa and Sarabi. During the events of The Lion King he becomes King of Pride Rock. In Simba's Pride he and Nala have a daughter, Kiara. As the events of 1½ occur during the same time as the original film, his upbringing with Timon & Pumbaa is further explored.
Nala is Simba's childhood friend who later becomes his queen. She is the deuteragonist of The Lion King and a minor character in Simba's Pride, and appears briefly in The Lion King 1½. As an adult she has a slender, graceful build and pale fur. Nala's mother is Sarafina; her father is unknown. Nala's name has no apparent meaning in Swahili.
At the beginning of The Lion King, Nala is a cub, Simba's best friend. Although she is betrothed to Simba by Zazu, Nala thinks marrying him would be "weird". Nala is introduced when Simba interrupts her bath to persuade her to go with him to the forbidden elephant graveyard.
As an adult, Nala leaves the barren Pride Lands to find help. She hunts Pumbaa, but Simba attacks her to defend him. Simba recognises Nala when she pins him with the flip she perfected on him as a cub. Nala is overjoyed to find him alive and tells Simba of the devastation to their home. The two fall in love, but Nala is unable to persuade Simba to return to Pride Rock. When Rafiki later tells her that Simba has returned, she follows him home and rejoins him. There, Nala realizes that Scar was responsible for Mufasa's death. At the end of the film, Nala has become Simba's queen and the mother of his cub.
In Simba's Pride, Simba and Nala have a daughter named Kiara. Nala has several conversations with Simba during the film, acting as a calming influence by trying to mitigate his suspiciousness of Kovu and protectiveness of Kiara. In the end, she stands with Simba, Kiara and Kovu on Pride Rock and they all roar in victory.
In The Lion King 1½, Nala is seen during the "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" sequence and in an extension of the scene in the original film when she explains to Timon and Pumbaa why Simba has gone back to Pride Rock.
In the musical based on the original film, Nala's role is considerably expanded. She first appears as a cub, hunting with the adult lionesses. Later, the events leading up to her leaving the Pride Lands under Scar's tyranny are depicted in detail. During the song "The Madness of King Scar", the lonely, deranged Scar decides to take Nala as his mate, despite her angry opposition to the idea. This leads to the song "Shadowland", in which Nala sings about her need to leave the Pride Lands and find help.
In a partial rewriting of the Lion King story in Kingdom Hearts II, adult Nala asks the game's main protagonists (Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy) to help her against Scar during his reign. She foils Scar's plan to have the protagonists killed and escapes with the party to the jungle, where they encounter Simba, Timon and Pumbaa. The seven characters return to Pride Rock together to defeat Scar, Pete and the hyenas. During the player's second visit to the Pride Lands, Nala asks for the protagonists' help in bringing back Simba's confidence in the face of Scar's "ghost", and also reveals herself to be pregnant. In the end credits, their cub is presented to the animals by Rafiki.
Mufasa is King of Pride Rock at the beginning of The Lion King. He is Simba's father. Mufasa's ghost appears briefly in Simba's Pride. Mufasa's role is as an omniscient character whose wisdom and judgment are always correct, and to whom every character looks for guidance. Mufasa's name has no apparent meaning in Swahili.
In The Lion King, Mufasa is a powerfully-built lion in his prime with golden fur and a thick red-brown mane. He is a wise king who commands respect from the other animals. He is the first named character to appear, surveying his kingdom from the edge of Pride Rock. Mufasa tells his son Simba that he will be the next king, and teaches him about responsibility and how all living things are connected in the circle of life. When Zazu brings him news of hyenas in the Pride Lands, Mufasa rushes to deal with them; later he saves Simba and Nala from hyenas after the cubs explore over the border. That night, Mufasa sternly warns Simba of the thin line between bravery and bravado, but teaches him that the stars are the great kings of the past who will always be there to guide Simba, as Mufasa himself will.
Mufasa's jealous brother Scar sets up a stampede of wildebeest in an attempt to kill the king and his son. Mufasa rushes into the stampede and rescues Simba again, but is murdered by Scar as he tries to escape. Believing his father's death was his fault, Simba goes into exile, returning only when Rafiki the mandrill comes to him as an adult and shows him that Mufasa lives within him. As Simba realises this, Mufasa's spirit appears as a spectacular vision in the clouds. He chides Simba for his lifestyle and tells him that he is the one true king and must take his place in the circle of life. Mufasa's counsel to "Remember who you are" gives Simba the confidence to challenge Scar for the kingdom.
Mufasa's role in the sequel Simba's Pride is minor, though he is often mentioned by the characters. His spirit appears in the sky at the beginning of the film during Kiara's presentation. Throughout the film, Simba is deeply preoccupied with what Mufasa would have expected of him, having nightmares about his father's death and on one occasion addressing him in the stars. Rafiki also talks to Mufasa, but conversationally; Mufasa responds silently, using the wind to communicate, and encourages Rafiki to unite Kiara and Kovu to reconcile the two hostile prides. Rafiki scolds Mufasa for coming up with such a 'crazy' plan and it's not going to work, but goes through with it, and the plan is successful. Mufasa's voice is finally heard at the end of the film, praising Simba for his decision to unite the prides. Though he uses wind to comunicate, he also uses it to let the animals know he's there. In the beginning of the film (even though his spirt is in the sky), he spreads his wind near Pride Rock, and the ones there use it for some things. Rafiki breaths in his wind, Simba and Nala both let the wind blow on their faces, even recently born Kiara plays with the wind. At the end he blows some wind on Simba's face for rewarding him in uniting the prides.
In The Lion King 1½, Mufasa is only seen briefly in alternate shots of scenes from the original film.
Mufasa's role is somewhat expanded in the musical based on the original film. He sings "They Live in You" to young Simba in the scene when the two of them are looking up at the stars and discussing the great kings of the past. There is also an added scene in which Mufasa tells Zazu of his concerns about Simba's daring behavior. Zazu then reminds Mufasa of his early years as a rambunctious cub.
In the video game Kingdom Hearts II, Mufasa appears in Simba's flashback sequences and as a god-like figure in the sky, as in the film.
In The Simpsons episode "Round Springfield", Mufasa appears in the clouds alongside "Bleeding Gums" Murphy, James Earl Jones and Star Wars character Darth Vader (Mufasa and Darth Vader were both voiced by James Earl Jones).
Sarabi is Simba's mother, and Mufasa's queen at the beginning of The Lion King. Her name translates to "mirage" in Swahili. She is a wise, calm and dignified lioness and the leader of the pride's hunting party. She is quite heavily built with honey-colored fur. Her role in the film is minor: she appears in several early scenes with young Simba, and is seen bitterly grieving after Scar reports the deaths of Mufasa and Simba to the pride. When Simba returns to Pride Rock as an adult, he witnesses Scar blaming Sarabi's hunting party for the lack of food and her calmly informing him that the herds have gone and the pride must leave or starve. Scar refuses and Sarabi angrily compares Scar to Mufasa. Scar responds by violently hitting her. Enraged, Simba reveals himself; Sarabi initially thinks he is Mufasa, but quickly recognises her son. Sarabi realizes that Scar is her husband's killer after he tells Simba the truth about Mufasa's death, and she participates in the battle against the hyenas. Though she is alive to witness Simba becoming king after Scar is overthrown, Sarabi is neither seen nor mentioned in Simba's Pride.
Zazu is a red-billed hornbill[4] who acts as majordomo to Mufasa and, later, Simba. He is proud of his position and acts very dignified, though he is not taken very seriously by the lions. Zazu's name has no apparent meaning in Swahili.
Zazu is first seen in the film flying over the Pride Lands during the opening sequence in which Simba is presented. Later he goes to announce Mufasa's arrival to Scar and treats the lion with contempt, and nearly gets eaten. Although he is clearly Mufasa's friend and jokes with him, he treats the king with great respect, addressing him as Sire. When Simba is a little older, Zazu becomes the target of a pouncing lesson in the middle of delivering a news report to the king, which dismays him. Sarabi later orders the hornbill to chaperone Simba and Nala to the waterhole. In the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", Zazu sings about his doubts for the monarchy under Simba's rule, but the cubs ridicule him and he ends up under a rhino. Zazu catches up with them in the elephant graveyard and tries to protect them when they are confronted by hyenas, but Banzai pushes him into a geyser which rockets him into the sky. Zazu then apparently flies to get Mufasa to rescue the cubs. Zazu is with Mufasa when Scar brings the news of Simba being trapped in the wildebeest stampede; he panics and intends to go for help, but Scar slaps him into a wall and knocks him out.
After Simba's exile, Zazu becomes a prisoner of Scar and a source of entertainment. He is the only character who is seen to fear Scar and acknowledge his kingship, but Scar nonetheless tells the hyenas that they are welcome to eat him. During the battle for Pride Rock, Pumbaa breaks Zazu out of his ribcage prison. Zazu bows to Simba after he defeats Scar and is seen during the presentation of Simba and Nala's newborn cub.
Zazu has brief appearances in the two sequels. In Simba's Pride he acts as a scout and advises Simba on royal protocol. He is very scornful of Kovu.
In the musical, Zazu is a puppet controlled by an actor dressed in blue striped clothes and a bowler hat, much like a stereotypical butler. Zazu's blue feathers have been replaced with white and the puppet is partially constructed from parachute silk with a slinky contained in the neck for ease in movement.[5] Zazu sings the song The Morning Report, which was fully animated for the Platinum Edition release of the original film. After They Live In You, Mufasa and Zazu talk about Simba's behaviour and Zazu remarks that Mufasa got into trouble too at Simba's age. In some English productions of the show, Zazu breaks the fourth wall and uses anachronisms for comic effect.
Zazu has made occasional appearances in the Timon & Pumbaa and House of Mouse television series, and a Mickey Mouse cartoon called Runaway Brain. Zazu and Aladdin's Iago hosted an attraction called The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management) in Adventureland at Walt Disney World before it closed.
Rafiki is a mandrill (with the tail of a baboon) who lives in a baobab tree somewhere in the Pride Lands. He is a dear friend to Mufasa and later Simba. He performs shamanistic services for the lions of Pride Rock. He is an enigmatic character, tending to speak about himself in the third person, who drops in unexpectedly to lend advice; although very wise, he also has a very quirky, playful side. As a bipedal animal, Rafiki is able to use props more easily than most of the films' animals. He is never seen without his stick, which is topped with gourds that he uses for ritual purposes, painting and food. The character often serves as the narrator of the story of The Lion King, especially in video games and merchandise. Rafiki's name means "friend" in Swahili.
In The Lion King, Rafiki is introduced in the opening scene when he travels to Pride Rock to perform newborn Simba's presentation ceremony. Mufasa greets him like a friend he has not seen in a long time. Rafiki anoints Simba and presents him to the gathered animals, and later draws a stylized lion cub on the walls of his treehouse home to represent Simba's birth. When Simba is believed to be dead, Rafiki draws his hand across the Simba painting, obscuring it in grief. Later, after picking up his scent on the dust in the air, Rafiki realises that Simba is still alive and joyously restores the drawing, adding the full mane of an adult lion. He travels to the jungle where Simba lives with Timon and Pumbaa, then observes Simba and recognizes that he is suffering from a ponderous emotional burden. To treat it, he approaches the young lion (who does not recognise him) and teaches him a few playful, and sometimes painful, lessons about learning from the past, not running from it. He shows Simba that his father Mufasa lives in him, resulting in the appearance of Mufasa's ghost which gives Simba the courage to face his past. During the battle for Pride Rock, Rafiki displays highly trained martial arts against the hyenas. Simba embraces him before ascending Pride Rock as king, and at the end of the film, Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub.
During the film, Rafiki sings a nonsense chant: "Asante sana, squash banana, wewe nugu, mimi hapana." This is a Swahili playground rhyme which translates to "Thank you very much (squash banana), you're a baboon and I'm not!" Like "hakuna matata" (no worries), the chant was heard by the filmmakers on their research trip to Kenya.
In the sequel Simba's Pride, Rafiki is more closely involved with the affairs and politics of the prides and is often seen with the lions. Mufasa's spirit persuades him to bring Simba's daughter Kiara and Zira's son Kovu together as a way of uniting the prides. Rafiki tries to make them fall in love by singing to them about a place called "Upendi", which means "love" in Swahili. In the end, he blesses the union of Kovu and Kiara as Kovu is welcomed into the pride. Rafiki appears briefly in The Lion King 1½, teaching Timon the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata" and later convincing Timon to follow Simba to Pride Rock to confront Scar.
In the musical, the character of Rafiki was significantly modified. Because director Julie Taymor felt that the story lacked a strong female character, Rafiki was changed into a female mandrill and sangoma. She acts as an involved narrator throughout the story, at one point speaking to the audience in a click language for comic effect. She sings the opening song "Circle of Life", a keening song called "Rafiki Mourns" following Mufasa's death, and a brief part in Nala's song "Shadowland", when she blesses Nala for her journey to find help. Instead of detecting Simba's scent on dust, Rafiki hears Simba's song "Endless Night" on the wind. Rafiki finds Simba and shows him that his father lives on in him through the song "He Lives in You". She is present during the battle, fighting a hyena using hand-to-hand combat, and adorns Simba with the king's mantle after his victory. As in the film, the story ends with her presentation of Simba and Nala's cub.
Rafiki appears in a few episodes of the Timon and Pumbaa TV series and has his own series of skits called "Rafiki Fables" in the same show. He appears briefly in the Pride Lands world of Kingdom Hearts II.
Timon and Pumbaa are a meerkat and warthog double act. Pumbaa's name means 'simpleton', 'stupid' or 'carefree' in Swahili. They are secondary characters in The Lion King and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, serving as friends and sidekicks of Simba. They are the protagonists of the third film, The Lion King 1½, and their own spin-off TV series, Timon & Pumbaa. The Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle Games and The Lion King 1½ video games also center around them.
Scar is the main antagonist of The Lion King and one of the Disney Villains. He is Mufasa's younger brother and Simba's uncle. He has little physical resemblance to the other lions, with dark fur and a black mane, a skinny build and permanently extended claws. Scar is very charismatic, able to convince an entire pack of hyenas to obey him. However, he shows few true emotions, besides jealousy and anger, and enjoys sadistically toying with his victims.[2]
Scar is jealous of Simba's position as the next king of Pride Rock, so he plots to kill his brother and nephew in order to seize the throne. Scar is helped by the hyenas, who do his bidding in exchange for food. Manipulating Simba through his naive trust, Scar arranges for Simba and Nala to get into trouble in the elephant graveyard, but Mufasa saves them. Scar calls up an entire army of hyenas and promises that when he is king the hyenas will "never go hungry again". The hyenas trigger a wildebeest stampede meant to kill both Simba and Mufasa. Mufasa manages to save his son, but as he tries to escape by climbing up the gorge, Scar murders his brother by throwing him off the cliff back into the stampede. Scar then convinces Simba that Mufasa's death is his fault. Scar advises him to run away, then orders the hyenas to kill him, but Simba escapes and flees the Pride Lands.
Scar then returns to Pride Rock and assumes the throne, telling the pride that both Mufasa and Simba died in the gorge. He lets the hyenas into the Pride Lands, declaring "the dawning of a new era" and promising "a great and glorious future". However, Scar's reign is a disaster: food and water become scarce and most animals die or move away, causing the kingdom to become a barren wasteland. Although indifferent to the suffering of his subjects, Scar demands their loyalty and insists on his quality as king, becoming enraged at the mere mention of Mufasa's name. After Simba returns to challenge his uncle for the throne, Scar resumes his deceitful manipulation of Simba, but is soon forced to admit to everyone that he killed Mufasa. While Scar's hyenas fight Simba's supporters, Simba confronts Scar himself. Scar attempts to deflect Simba's anger towards the hyenas, not knowing that the hyenas can hear him, but Simba no longer trusts anything Scar says. After an intense fight, Simba manages to throw Scar off the cliff. Scar survives the fall but is surrounded by hyenas; determined to get revenge on Scar for denouncing them as 'the enemy' on top of years of broken promises, they mauled their fallen leader to death.
Supervising animator Andreas Deja decided to bring Scar to life after learning Jeremy Irons would be the voice actor,[6] and tried to incorporate the actor's facial expressions in the character by studying Irons' films and photographs.[7]
During production of the film, a storyboard of an alternate ending for the film was made in which Simba knocks Scar off of Pride Rock, but he barely manages to hold onto the edge. He begs Simba to help him, with Simba questioning as to why he should. Scar tries to reason with Simba by saying that it would prove Simba to be better than him, as committing murder by letting Scar fall would make him stoop to Scar's level. He insists that Simba has won and is the true king, and he begs for forgiveness. In Simba's moment of distraction, Scar reaches up, grabs Simba by his mane, and hurls him down off of Pride Rock into the fire below. Scar then climbs back up onto the peak of Pride Rock and laughs maniacally, only for the rapidly-spreading fire to consume him, presumably burning him to death, while Simba escapes.
In the sequel Simba's Pride, it is revealed that Simba exiled the lionesses loyal to Scar to the Outlands after he took the throne. They are led by Zira, who has three cubs, Nuka, Vitani and Kovu, the last of whom Scar selected as his heir. Scar appears briefly in the imaginations of Simba and Kovu and is frequently mentioned by Zira, who sometimes addresses him directly. In The Lion King 1½, the main antagonists are the hyenas and Scar's role is very minimal.
In the musical, Scar mentally degenerates during his reign. In the song "The Madness of King Scar", a paranoid and irrational Scar is haunted by visions of Mufasa and begins doubting his reign, fearing that he might be losing the respect of the lionesses. He decides he needs a queen and attempts to seduce Nala, who fiercely resists him. Unable to make them love him, Scar wildly declares that all the lionesses belong to him.
As well as appearing in the various Lion King video games and a cameo in Epic Mickey, Scar is the primary villain of the Pride Lands world in Kingdom Hearts II. As in the film, the Pride Lands suffer a drought under Scar's reign and food becomes scarce. Pete (in the form of a lion) offers Scar use of the Heartless to maintain his hold on the throne. Sora attempts to confront Scar in order to save the world, but Scar confronts the party and is stopped by Nala. Later, Sora locates Simba and brings him back to the Pride Lands, where he defeats Scar. Scar returns to battle again as a Heartless, but Sora and his friends defeat Scar a second time. When Sora later returns to the Pride Lands to see how Simba is faring, rumors of Scar's ghost haunting the Pride Lands have driven Simba into doubt. The "ghost" is revealed to be the interaction of Simba's lack of confidence and Scar's spirit. Multiple copies of Scar's "ghost" combine to form a gigantic Heartless that is eventually defeated by Simba and Sora.
Scar makes cameo appearances in two episodes of the Timon & Pumbaa TV series which in the one as with Simba, Timon drags Scar in a cave to revive Pumbaa's lost memories. He additionally makes a brief, non-speaking appearance in House of Mouse. In a Saturday Night Live Saturday TV Funhouse sketch called "The Disney Vault", Scar appears as one of The Walt Disney Company's lawyers. After two children try to escape the vault, the lawyers stop them and Scar bribes them to stay by showing them The Lion King 5 & 2/3.
In Disney's Hercules, the Nemean Lion is Scar in a cameo; Hercules later wears his skin while posing for a painting.
Scar is one of the Disney Villains the Evil Queen evokes to fight Mickey Mouse in the show Fantasmic! at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
According the rare Lion King novel series, Scar's real name is "Taka" - Which is Swahili for "dirt."
Shenzi, Banzai and Ed are a spotted hyena trio who are Scar's followers. They serve as the secondary antagonists of The Lion King and the main antagonists of The Lion King 1½, but are comic characters in both films.
- Shenzi (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg) is the only female of the trio. Her name means 'savage' or 'uncouth' in Swahili. She is confident, controlled and the smartest of the three. This makes her the de facto leader of the trio and possibly the entire clan (female dominance is consistent with real-life hyena behaviour). She does not hesitate to follow Scar's orders to attack or to confront him later about the lack of food. Shenzi has a long mane and three prominent bangs hanging over her face. She also lacks the dark grey 'stubble' snout of the males. In The Lion King 1½, Timon addresses her as Shenzi Marie Predatorra Veldetta Jackalina Hyena. Shenzi was originally conceived as a male hyena to be voiced by Tommy Chong, reuniting him with his old comedy partner Cheech Marin, who voiced Banzai.[8]
- Banzai (voiced by Cheech Marin) is the most aggressive and excitable of the trio. He speaks in a raised voice and is quick to get into a fight, having little patience, but submits to Shenzi. He also talks about food frequently. Banzai tends to come out badly in conflict situations: he gets the worst injuries when the trio are attacked by Mufasa (Shenzi and Ed receive only minor scratches, but Banzai moans that he "won't be able to sit for a week"), is knocked into thorn bushes when chasing Simba, and nearly gets into trouble with Scar when he complains about Scar's leadership within his earshot. His name has no meaning in Swahili, but is a battle cry in Japanese (see Banzai charge). His appearance generally resembles the unnamed hyena characters.
- Ed (voiced by Jim Cummings) is the only character to have an English human name. Ed communicates mainly through crazed laughter. He wears a permanent idiotic grin with his tongue usually lolling out, and his eyes never seem to focus on anything properly. In the Special Edition of The Lion King, character profiling suggests that Ed is not actually stupid; he 'knows the score', but he cannot speak. While Shenzi and Banzai are joking with each other about eating Simba and Nala, it is Ed who notices that they have escaped. Jim Cummings recorded over four hours of different laughter clips for use with Ed's dialogue.
The three hyenas first appear in the elephant graveyard where they taunt and chase Simba and Nala, intending to eat them, but are attacked by Mufasa. Scar buys their loyalty with food and promises the whole hyena clan that they will never go hungry if they help him become king. This they do, helping Scar carry out his plan to kill Mufasa by triggering the wildebeest stampede. Scar orders the hyenas to kill Simba, but Simba eludes them by crawling through a thorn-patch. Shenzi decides to tell Scar he is dead, reckoning that Scar will never know better. During Scar's reign the trio complain about lack of food, but Scar is indifferent. The clan fights on Scar's side when Simba returns, but most are defeated by the lionesses, and Shenzi and Banzai are ruthlessly beaten up by Pumbaa for Banzai calling him a pig. The trio then overhear Scar trying to blame them for Mufasa's death and the ruin of the Pride Lands. On top of the lies and broken promises, Scar's betrayal is the last straw; when Simba throws him from a high rock, the surviving hyenas surround Scar and eat him alive.
The hyenas are briefly mentioned in Simba's Pride by Nuka, who says that they 'ran off' from the elephant graveyard. They were planned to be Zira's minions, but this idea was ditched because the hyenas killed Scar for his treachery and therefore could not be loyal to Scar in the sequel. They reappear in The Lion King 1½ as the main antagonists. In their first appearance, they attack a meerkat colony while Timon is daydreaming on sentry duty. The trio reappear during the film's climax at Pride Rock, cornering Timon and Pumbaa. Timon proposes marriage to Shenzi as a delaying tactic, which she turns down abruptly. The hyenas then fall into a meerkat tunnel, which transports them to Scar in time to confront him.
The three hyenas make occasional appearances in the Timon & Pumbaa TV series, bullying Timon and Pumbaa. In Kingdom Hearts II, the hyenas appear in the Pride Lands world as Scar's followers. They also appear as villains in Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World.
Sarafina is Nala's mother, a pale-furred lioness with a slender build, much like her daughter as an adult. Her name has no meaning in Swahili and is not mentioned in the film, only appearing in the credits, and she did not have any dedicated animators. Sarafina plays a minor role, appearing a few times throughout the film. She appears to be Sarabi's friend. She only has one line of dialogue: "Hmmm, what do you think, Sarabi?" Her first appearance is in Nala's introduction, when she is bathing her cub; she is also seen as the lionesses mourn Mufasa and Simba, and later when they fight the hyenas. According to the song "Chow Down" from the musical, Sarafina ate Banzai's father.
[edit] The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
Kiara is the wild, mischievous daughter of Simba and Nala and the protagonist of Simba's Pride. Her name means 'princess' in Swahili. Kiara has rounded features and orange fur.
Kiara is introduced as a young cub, being presented to the animals by Rafiki. A little older, she is already tired of her father's over-protective parenting and evades her babysitters, Timon and Pumbaa, so she can explore alone. Kiara wanders into the forbidden Outlands where she meets Kovu, a cub from a pride of exiles. Together they evade a group of hungry crocodiles and Kiara is excited by the adventure, admiring Kovu's self-sufficiency. They are separated by their angry parents. Simba chides Kiara for her recklessness and warns her of her responsibilities as future queen, but Kiara is tired of hearing about the Circle of Life and doesn't want to be queen as it's "no fun".
As a young adult, Kiara goes to complete her first solo hunt. She is unsuccessful as she clumsily alerts the prey to her presence. Despite promising to let her hunt alone, Simba again sends Timon and Pumbaa to watch her. When she discovers that her father had broken his promise, Kiara angrily leaves the Pride Lands. Nuka and Vitani set fire to the grassland, and Kiara faints from the smoke. Kovu rescues her and returns her to the Pride Lands, to her exasperation, until she recognizes him. While Kovu is living in Simba's pride, he gives Kiara hunting lessons and she teaches him how to have fun. Kiara is happy in his company and Rafiki tries to get the two lions to fall in love. After Simba blames Kovu for an ambush Zira and the Outlanders set up and exiles him, Kiara furiously tells him that he will never be Mufasa, horrifying him. She runs away from Pride Rock and finds Kovu, but rejects his suggestion that they form their own pride, convincing him instead that they must heal the divide between their two prides. They return to find that war has broken out. Kovu and Kiara jump in the middle of the battle and Kiara convinces the two sides that fighting is pointless as they are all the same. Kiara knocks Zira away as she tries to attack Simba, then tries to rescue her as she dangles from a cliff, but Zira refuses her help. Kiara finally reconciles with her father and receives her parents' blessing to be united with Kovu.
Kovu is Zira's youngest son, Scar's chosen heir, and the deuteragonist of Simba's Pride. Kovu means 'scar' in Swahili, a reference to his character conception as Scar's son, which was changed due to the implications of him and Kiara being cousins and falling in love. It is never stated who Kovu's father is, only that Scar 'took him in'. Kovu has very dark fur and a black tuft on top of his head as a cub, which develops into a mane with a similar tuft.
As a cub, Kovu lives a rough life in the barren Outlands in Zira's pride of exiles loyal to Scar. After his older brother Nuka leaves him alone, Kovu meets Kiara and brags about his independence, impressing her. The cubs evade some crocodiles and begin to play, but are interrupted and separated by their parents. Zira yells at Kovu for being friendly towards Kiara. When he says he thought they could be friends, Zira hatches a plan to have Kovu infiltrate Simba's pride. Zira trains and conditions Kovu until he is grown, instilling a single-minded dedication to his mission to assassinate Simba and take his place as King of Pride Rock.
Kovu's siblings Vitani and Nuka stage a situation for Kovu to 'rescue' Kiara. He tells Simba that he is a rogue who has left the Outsiders, and asks to join the pride. Simba then allows him to stay in payment of the debt of Kiara's life, and orders the young lion to sleep outside the den. Kovu is scornful of Kiara's inability to hunt, but helps her learn; in turn, she starts to teach him to have fun, and Kovu begins to doubt his mission. He tries to tell Kiara the truth, fearing that he will become like Scar, but feels unable and starts to leave. Rafiki intervenes and tries to get the two lions to fall in love, and Kovu realises he cannot hurt Simba. A much changed Kovu resolves to confess his abandoned motives and tell Kiara of his love, but before he can do so, Simba, who has warmed up to Kovu, takes him on a walk to talk to him about Scar, and Zira's Outsiders ambush them. Kovu tries to help Simba, but Vitani prevents him. Simba escapes but Nuka dies, and Zira blames Kovu. She strikes him, giving him a scar over his eye, identical to Scar's. Kovu angrily disowns Scar and leaves the Outlands. He tries to explain to the king, but Simba believes Kovu was involved in the ambush and exiles him from the Pride Lands as a traitor.
Rejected by both prides, Kovu wanders as a rogue, trying to escape Scar's influence in his life. Kiara finds him and he wants to start a new pride with her, but she convinces him that they must try to reunite their own divided prides. The lions return to Pride Rock and break up a battle, and Kovu stands up to his mother, swearing to protect Kiara and Simba. After Zira's death, Simba admits that he was wrong about Kovu and allows him to join the pride as Kiara's mate and his son-in-law.
Zira is the main antagonist of Simba's Pride. She was Scar's devoted follower and mate, and is the mother of Nuka, Vitani and Kovu. She is very violent and full of bitterness for Scar's death; her name means 'hate' in Swahili. Zira is skinny with angular features and permanently extended claws, like Scar. She has light brown fur with a narrow dark stripe running over her forehead to between her shoulders.
As punishment for their unwavering loyalty to Scar, Simba banishes Zira and her followers to the barren Outlands when he becomes king. She plots to kill Simba and instate her son Kovu in his place, as it was Scar's dying wish that Kovu should succeed him as king. She is single-minded, rarely speaking of anything else, and trains her offspring to be the same way; she practically ignores Nuka, despite his longing to please her. When Kovu refuses to carry out his mission to kill Simba, Zira ambushes them. Simba escapes but Nuka is killed. Zira mourns his death and blames Kovu, striking him and giving him a scar over his eye. Kovu flees, and Zira rallies her lionesses to take Simba's kingdom by force. At the battle's climax, Simba and Zira are about to fight each other when Kiara and Kovu intervene and stop the fighting. Vitani sees the wisdom in Kiara's words and agrees to peace. Zira threatens to kill her daughter if she refuses to fight, disgusting the rest of the Outsiders, who abandon her side. In a last-ditch attempt to get revenge for Scar, Zira lunges at Simba. Kiara deflects her and Zira ends up dangling from a cliff. As the dam breaks and the river rushes into the gorge, Kiara tries to help Zira, but Zira swipes at her. She slowly loses her grip and falls into the river below, where she presumably drowns. The original intention for this scene was to have Zira let go of the ledge deliberately, committing suicide.[10]
Nuka is the secondary antagonist of Simba's Pride. He is Zira's oldest son, but it is never clearly stated whether Scar is his father. Nuka has greyish-brown fur, a straggly black mane and a goatee like Scar's. He has uniquely goofy features and bent whiskers, and is infested with termites as an adolescent. Nuka's name means 'stink' in Swahili. Nuka is a dim-witted youth who tries much too hard and is not taken seriously. He is bitter about being passed over for succession to the throne in favour of the younger Kovu, and deeply jealous of Zira's seeming greater affection for his brother. He constantly seeks Zira's approval. He has an apparent tendency for pyromania, taking manic pleasure from lighting a fire in the grassland. During the ambush on Simba, Nuka tries to kill Simba to prove himself to his mother, but is crushed by falling logs. After his death, Zira mourns him and asks Scar to watch over him.
Vitani is Zira's daughter. It is never stated whether Vitani's father is Scar or another lion. She is easily recognizable due to her wide bangs and freckles. She was originally named Shetani ('devil' in Swahili) in early drafts of the Simba's Pride script, but this was softened to Vitani, which means 'war'. Vitani is introduced as an aggressive cub who is seen challenging her brother Kovu to a fight. As a young adult lioness she appears to be Zira's strongest lieutenant, supporting and acting on her mother's violent plans. However, during the climactic battle, Vitani is the first of the Outsiders to realize that the fighting is pointless and cross over to Simba's side, triggering all of Zira's other supporters to desert her.
[edit] The Lion King 1½
Ma appears in The Lion King 1½ as Timon's mother. Her personal name is unknown. She is a chubby middle-aged meerkat with a light fur tuft on her head, like Timon's. Generally encouraging and optimistic, she believes in Timon when no-one else does and convinces Uncle Max to give him a job as a sentry. After Timon fails in his duty, she remains convinced that he can still find a place in the colony, but when he insists that he has to go, Ma supports him. Later she gets worried about Timon after speaking to Rafiki and searches for him. They finally reunite at Pride Rock and Ma helps in the battle against the hyenas by digging a long tunnel to trap them. After Simba becomes king, Timon takes them and the entire meerkat colony to the jungle paradise he and Pumbaa discovered.
Uncle Max is a prominent member of the meerkat colony and relative of Timon and Ma. He has grey head-fur and a very large nose. Max is a pessimist by nature and very paranoid, believing that a meerkat's fate is to be "food for other animals! Feared by nothing and eaten by all!" Max reluctantly agrees to let Timon be a sentry for the colony and attempts to train him for the job, but is nearly eaten by the hyenas when they attack. He is glad to see Timon go. Max appears again towards the end of the film, where he and Ma encounter Timon and Pumbaa at Pride Rock, and helps Timon get rid of the hyenas by digging a tunnel. Max finally believes in Timon, and after Timon takes the meerkats to his jungle paradise, Max teaches the meerkats tai chi instead of how not to be eaten.
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