Scar is the True Protagonist of "The Lion King"

Although Simba was portrayed as the clear-cut protagonist in Disney's "The Lion King", and Scar as the antagonist, this viewpoint is made for a Disney-age audience. When examined closer, Scar's actions begin to become not only justifiable, but potentially heroic as well. Meanwhile, Simba and Mufasa become the antagonists against the "Dark Prince". Ahadi's selection of Mufasa as his successor shows baffling favoritism of strength over intelligence. Scar states in the film, and I look forward to any disagreement, that "as far as brains go, I got the lion's share. But, when it comes to brute strength, I'm afraid I'm at the shallow end of the gene pool." Mufasa's strength as a leader comes in his literal strength. Is this truly the best quality in a leader? Or is intelligence the preferred trait? The banishment of the hyenas was the other pre-film event that needed to be explained in order to prevent this case. Under Ahadi's, or perhaps a previous king, rule, the entire species of hyenas were banished from the rich and sustaining Pridelands. Why? What could have happened to condemn an entire species to die, albeit indirectly? Mufasa upholds this ruling, which makes him an oppressor of the army that Scar later raises. In the film, we see Mufasa passing on his wisdom to Simba, which will later be the basis of his rule in the sequel. Because of this dependence on his father's teachings, it can be assumed that Simba would carry on Mufasa's support of the banishment of the hyenas. It can also be assumed, to a degree, that Scar is aware of this dependence as well. We learn off screen that Scar has discovered that the hyenas, as a species, do not deserve to waste away and eventually die of starvation. He is also aware, as stated in the previous paragraph, that Simba would continue Mufasa's policies in the event of Mufasa's death. So, Scar rallies his allies with the promise that *they would not starve to death*. Killing Mufasa and the attempt to kill Simba can be seen in one of two primary ways. The first being the one that the film intended, a power-hungry tyrant willing to do anything for the throne. Or, as I believe, it can be seen as a necessary way to prevent the deaths of hundreds, which can be seen in the "Be Prepared" scene, at the price of two deaths. With Mufasa and Simba gone, Scar brings his army into a land where they can survive. The over hunting that occurs, a minimum of three years later, is a natural process that occurs when there are too many predators for the available to prey to sustain. Some predators die off, and the levels return to a balance. Being that this process is a bit too intense for Disney, it is shown as a way to further show that Scar's coup was a disaster, and that Simba must return to save them all from Scar's tyranny. Meanwhile, in the Oasis, Simba spends at least three years, based on his visible aging, frolicking through the jungle learning not to worry about anything. Less than ideal training for the heroic king-to-be of the film. Going back to Scar, I feel the need to reinstate this. He spend at least three years ruling, and the confrontation with Sarabi is the only episode of conflict we see between Scar and the rest of his pride. We can assume, because of this, that Scar's rule was at least successful enough to keep everyone in line for years before serious conflict arose. When Simba does finally return, he confesses to killing Mufasa. A battle ensues, and Scar admits to killing Mufasa. This would cause reasonable confusion among the other members of the pride. After Scar's death, Simba *instantly* expects everyone present to breathe a sigh of relief, because the true king that's been missing for years and could have still, in their eyes, commited patricidal regicide, was finally ready to assume his responsibilities. In the sequel, we learn that Simba has banished everyone that did not rapidly accept him, instead of allowing reasonable time to process all that had occurred. This rightfully causes tensions with those banished, and the entire conflict of the sequel was created. By the end, we learn that the vast majority of those banished did, in fact, come to accept Simba as a leader. They were not, however, allowed to return to the rich Pridelands. Their lack of instant transition from king to king granted them death if they were to return to the land of the king they'd come to accept. To summarize, Scar killed Mufasa and attempted to kill Simba in order to save hundreds of lives. His qualities as a leader are more realistic and generally desirable than those of Mufasa and, arguably, Simba. He was overthrown by the true antagonist of the film, who quickly erased all traces of Scar from the Pridelands through banishing his one time followers.