List of The Lion King (franchise) characters

The following is a list of characters appearing in Disney's The Lion King franchise. It includes characters from the 1994 film, its direct-to-video follow-ups, its two television series, printed media, and its photorealistic remake's follow-up.
Simba (voiced by Matthew Broderick as adult Simba in the films with Joseph Williams providing his singing voice in The Lion King; Jonathan Taylor Thomas as a cub in The Lion King with Jason Weaver and Evan Saucedo providing his cub form's singing voice; Matt Weinberg as a cub in The Lion King 1½; Cam Clarke in Timon & Pumbaa and Kingdom Hearts II, as well as his singing voice in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride; Rob Lowe in The Lion Guard; Donald Glover in the 2019 film and Mufasa: The Lion King and JD McCrary as a cub in the 2019 film) is the main protagonist of The Lion King franchise. He is the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, Scar's nephew, Nala's mate, Sarafina's son-in-law and Kiara and Kion's father as well as Rani and Kovu's father-in-law. After defeating Scar, Simba takes Mufasa's place as King of Pride Rock before marrying Nala and having Kiara and Kion with her. His name means "lion" in Swahili.
In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Simba is an overprotective father of Kiara and obtains a great hatred of the Outsiders, a group of lions led by a lioness named Zira, whom he exiled due to their reliability to Scar. He finally lets go of his hate after Kiara and Kovu stopped the battle between the Pride Lands and the Outsiders because as lions they are one.
In The Lion Guard, Simba fathers Kion, and refuses to accept Kion's decision to allow non-lion animals into the Lion Guard in the first place. However, he accepts his proposal afterwards. In the show's second season, after a failed attempt on Simba's life, orchestrated by the spirit of Scar, Simba, and Kion plot to defeat him once and for all. As of season three, Scar's ghost has been conquered and his followers have become neutral under the rule of Jasiri, who becomes the new Outlands leader. However, due to a facial wound caused by a snake bite during the battle, Kion journeys to find the Tree of Life, to get healed. Simba bids his son farewell on his trip. Afterwards, he welcomes Kion home following his journey and accepts his love to Rani of the Night Pride by accepting her as his daughter-in-law after Kion and Rani's marriage and Kion's coronation as King of the Tree of Life.
Nala (voiced by Moira Kelly in the films with Sally Dworsky providing her singing voice in The Lion King; Niketa Calame as a cub in The Lion King with Laura Williams providing her cub form's singing voice; Gabrielle Union in The Lion Guard; Beyoncé in the 2019 film and Mufasa: The Lion King and Shahadi Wright Joseph as a cub in the 2019 film) is Sarafina's daughter, Simba’s best friend and later mate, Kiara and Kion's mother and Mufasa and Sarabi's daughter-in-law. She is also Rani and Kovu's mother-in-law by the end of the second film and the third season of The Lion Guard. Although she is a prominent character in The Lion King, she makes minor appearances in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, The Lion King 1½, and The Lion Guard.
In The Lion King, she is portrayed as Simba's childhood friend (whom she is betrothed to when they were born and younger infants by their parents). After helping Simba enter the elephant graveyard, she has to be rescued by her future father-in-law, Mufasa when the hyenas attack them. Several years later, Nala encounters Simba as a young adult and develops a relationship with him. After returning to Pride Rock, she helps Simba defeat Scar and take his rightful place as King of Pride Rock afterwards she becomes Simba's wife and mate as well as his Queen.
In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Nala is depicted as slightly older, calmer, and less overprotective of Kiara than her mate, Simba. She was the only lion who supported her daughter's relationship with Kovu throughout the second film. By the end of the second film, she and Simba are presented at their daughter's wedding and she accepts her son-in-law into her family as well as her new king of the Pride Lands.
During the three seasons of The Lion Guard, she has a second cub; a male lion named Kion. By the end of the series, (like Simba) she accepts her son's marriage to the Queen of the Tree of Life and leader of the Night Pride, Queen Rani while gaining her as her daughter-in-law.
Timon (voiced by Nathan Lane in the films and earlier episodes of Timon & Pumbaa; Quinton Flynn in earlier episodes of Timon & Pumbaa; Kevin Schon in later episodes of Timon & Pumbaa and in The Lion Guard; Bruce Lanoil in the video games and Billy Eichner in the 2019 remake film and Mufasa: The Lion King) and Pumbaa (voiced by Ernie Sabella in most appearances; Leslie Hedger in Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure and Seth Rogen in the 2019 film and Mufasa: The Lion King) are a meerkat and common warthog duo. Timon being an insouciant, yet trustworthy friend, while Pumbaa is kind-hearted and courageous with occasional childlike naivety. The pair act as comedy relief, and as friend and mentor to Simba throughout the film series.
When they first meet Simba in The Lion King, they save him from a flock of vultures. They take him in and bring him to their home in an oasis. Later, after Simba grows up and returns to the Pride Lands to battle Scar, they helped Simba stop Scar's tyrannical reign and they become Simba's royal advisors.
In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Timon and Pumbaa are assigned by Simba to keep watch over his daughter Kiara when she goes to play in The Pride Lands and later on her first hunt. They later aid Simba and his pride in the fight against Scar's vengeful follower Zira and her pride the Outsiders. After the Outsiders reform and rejoin Simba's pride, Timon and Pumbaa look on as Kiara marries Zira's son Kovu.
Although they are supporting characters in the first two films, they are featured as the main characters in The Lion King 1½ as well as in the TV series Timon & Pumbaa.
In the TV series The Lion Guard, they are the adoptive uncles of the honey badger Bunga and make their home at Hakuna Matata Falls.
In the 2019 film, Timon and Pumbaa had different animals as their neighbors in the oasis like a flock of guineafowl (one of them is voiced by Amy Sedaris), a galago (voiced by Chance the Rapper), an elephant shrew (voiced by Josh McCrary), a topi (voiced by Phil LaMarr) that has an awkward conversation with Simba, a bat-eared fox, an aardvark, a greater kudu, some dik-diks, and some Thomson's gazelles.
Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons in The Lion King with Jim Cummings providing his singing voice; Jim Cummings in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure; James Horan in Kingdom Hearts II, Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure, and Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom; David Oyelowo in The Lion Guard; Chiwetel Ejiofor in the 2019 film and Kelvin Harrison Jr. in the follow-up for the 2019 film) is the main antagonist of The Lion King franchise. He is a black-maned lion who is Mufasa's younger brother, Simba’s uncle, and Kovu's adoptive father. His name refers to his scarred eye. In The Lion King, by murdering Mufasa and exiling Simba, he becomes "King of the Pride Lands". However, years later, Simba returns to Pride Rock and overthrows Scar to become King of the Pride Lands. Scar survives the fall but is attacked and killed by his hyena minions after they overheard him betraying them.
As depicted in The Lion King: Six New Adventures and the 2024 prequel movie his birth name was Taka, but he was punished with the name "Scar" after he betrayed Mufasa to a rival pack.
In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, it is revealed that Scar had gained loyalty from a group of lions who were exiled from Pride Rock by Simba to the Outlands in the wake of Scar's death, with Scar's longtime mate, Zira, being their leader. Scar is mentioned several times by the characters but makes two cameos. His first appearance is during Simba's nightmare, where he morphs into his adopted son Kovu and throws Simba into the stampede that killed Mufasa, similarly to the first film. His second appearance is during Kovu's exile in which Kovu looks into his reflection and instead of his, he sees the image of his adopted father. At the end of the film, Kovu marries Kiara, Simba and Nala's daughter, and Scar's great-niece, and becomes Simba and Nala's son-in-law and successor.
As an alternate background in The Lion Guard, Scar was once the leader of the titular group and possessed the Roar of the Elders, but lost it after using it to destroy the other members of his Lion Guard when they refused to help him overthrow Mufasa as king, as the Roar is meant to be used for good and not evil. In season two, Kion, Simba's son and the leader of the new Lion Guard, unknowingly summons Scar back as a fiery spirit in a volcano after using the Roar in anger when Janja provokes him. Scar then conspires with the animals in the Outlands to take over the Pride Lands and defeat the Lion Guard and Simba, who were initially unaware of his return. Later in the season, the Lion Guard find out that Scar has returned, while they are in the Outlands getting volcanic ash needed to cure Simba of a scorpion sting. In season three's one-hour premiere "Battle for the Pride Lands", Scar continues to battle the Lion Guard, who are now adolescents. It is also revealed that Scar (originally named Askari) got his scar after being bitten by a cobra as an adolescent while befriending a rogue lion from the Outlands. Angered, Scar used the Roar to kill the lion and snake, while Mufasa teased him and nicknamed him "Scar", leading to Scar plotting to dethrone Mufasa. At the end, Kion summons the Great Kings of the Past to rain upon Scar, thus destroying him once and for all.
In the 2019 film, Scar told Zazu to get help to rescue Simba while he goes to help him. This was a cover-up so that Scar can kill Mufasa. When Mufasa is dead and Simba has fled, Scar takes over as the ruler of the Pride Lands while allowing the hyenas to work with the lions. This led to overhunting. When Sarabi refuses to become Scar's mate, Scar makes things worse by having the hyenas eat first and they do not leave much behind. By the second advancement, Scar struck down Sarabi when she mentioned Mufasa. Like the films, Scar fought Simba and tried to blame Mufasa's death on the hyenas. When Scar is thrown off of Pride Rock, he survived the fall and was confronted by the hyenas. Scar states to them that if they build an army, they will retake the Pride Lands. Kamari and Azizi state that they heard the insult towards them. Scar claims that he was trying to fool Simba and that there can still be a partnership between lions and hyenas. Shenzi states to Scar that he was right about a hyena's belly never being full. Scar strikes at some of the attacking hyenas until they swarm over him and kill him.
Shenzi (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg in the animated films; Tress MacNeille in Timon & Pumbaa and Kingdom Hearts II; Jenifer Lewis in Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom; Florence Kasumba in the 2019 film), Banzai (voiced by Cheech Marin in the animated films, Kingdom Hearts II, and Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom; and Rob Paulsen in Timon & Pumbaa and The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure), and Ed (voiced by Jim Cummings) are the three spotted hyenas who serve as Scar's minions and reside in the Elephant Graveyard. After Scar promises them and the rest of their fellow hyenas that they will have food in return for them helping him get rid of his brother Mufasa and nephew Simba to become King of the Pride Lands, the three hyenas trigger the wildebeest stampede which kills Mufasa and then chase Simba out of the Pride Lands on Scar's orders. When Simba returns to Pride Rock, Shenzi and Banzai are defeated by Pumbaa. The three turn on Scar when he tries to blame them for Mufasa's death and the ruin of the Pride Lands, and lead the rest of the hyenas into eating him alive during a wildfire.
In the original draft of the film, the hyenas were African wild dogs, referred to as "cape dogs" in the film. Their species may have been changed to illustrate the strong rivalry and competition between lions and hyenas in real life, where the competition is much stronger than between lions and other African savannah predators.
Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed make recurring appearances in Timon & Pumbaa. They are given their own segments titled "The Laughing Hyenas", where they serve as villain protagonists who seemingly become more neutral as the segments progress. In said segments, the hyenas are shown wandering around the Serengeti in search for food. At the end of the episode "TV Dinner", the hyenas replace television host Martin Partin, which may indicate that they are living a new life as directors and stars of the wildlife documentary show Kingdom of the Creatures, where they get fed during their new career. In later seasons, they made minor appearances trying to attack Timon and Pumbaa.
In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, it was only mentioned by Nuka that the hyenas have left the Elephant Graveyard, most likely out of fear of Zira's wrath for betraying Scar. However, in the original draft of the film, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed were going to return as Zira's henchmen, with Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings reprising their roles from the original film.
In The Lion King 1½, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed act as the local predators who attack Timon's meerkat colony before their allegiance with Scar. They act as the main antagonists of the film, serving the same role they did in the original film as Scar's loyal followers who take over the Pride Lands, sending a young Simba into exile where he meets Timon and Pumbaa. To prevent the hyenas from protecting Scar, Timon and Pumbaa distract the trio with the help of Timon’s family, before ultimately banishing them to the bottom of Pride Rock, allowing Simba to vanquish his uncle in battle and reclaim Pride Rock.
Shenzi (voiced by Florence Kasumba) appears in the CGI remake complete with a different personality. She is portrayed as a ruthless and cunning matriarch with a no-nonsense attitude and air of authority. She is also shown to have a rivalry with Nala. Banzai was replaced with Kamari (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), and Ed was replaced with Azizi (voiced by Eric André). Nevertheless, these two play largely similar roles to those of Banzai and Ed in the original film, except Azizi can speak. As in the original film, Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi hear the insult that Scar uses on them. When Scar is defeated and the hyena pack confronts him, Scar states that they can retake the Pride Lands if they build an army. Kamari and Azizi state that they heard the insult he used on them. Scar claims that he was trying to fool Simba and that there can still be a partnership between lions and hyenas. Shenzi quotes: "There's only one true thing you ever said, Scar. A hyena's belly is never full." The hyenas then attack as Scar strikes at some of them before the hyenas swarm over Scar and kill him.
Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones in the films, Gary Anthony Williams in The Lion Guard and Aaron Pierre in Mufasa: The Lion King) is the overarching protagonist of The Lion King franchise. He is Scar's older brother, Sarabi's mate, Simba's father, Nala's father-in-law, and Kion and Kiara's paternal grandfather who is introduced as the King of the Pride Lands. The outstanding queen Uru of the Pride Lands alongside the brave King Ahadi are Mufasa's parents. His brother Scar's original name is Askari/Taka. Scar was a nice cub but turned sour when he noticed Mufasa was going to be future king and King Ahadi spent extra time with him to teach him about ruling the lands. The name "Mufasa" has an unknown origin, previously attributed to a fictional language called Manazoto. Mufasa is depicted as a just, wise, and responsible leader, a gentle but firm father, and a strong and fierce protector when sufficiently provoked. In The Lion King, he teaches Simba what a king is supposed to be, and how the king is responsible for protecting and maintaining the delicate balance of the ecosystem, and mediate problems between its creatures. However, Mufasa is killed after being thrown into a blue wildebeest stampede by Scar while rescuing Simba. He returns years later as a spirit in the clouds to encourage an older Simba to return to the Pride Lands and reclaim his rightful throne.
In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, he instructs Rafiki to bring his granddaughter, Kiara, Simba's daughter, and Kovu, Scar's son and heir, together to reunite the two lion prides.
Mufasa is an unusually large African lion, who is 3 metres (10 feet) long, 170 centimetres (1,70 metres) tall, except for his mane, and who weighs 300 kilograms (660 pounds). A Siberian tiger-sized African lion. For comparison, a real life adult male African lion weighs 250 kilograms (550 pounds), is 2,5 metres (250 centimetres) long and 123 centimetres (1,23 metres) tall.
In The Lion Guard, Mufasa serves as a spirit guide to his grandson Kion when he needs advice, and sometimes appears on his own when he notices he is troubled by something. When Kion fights against Scar's spirit and his army as a teenager, he gets bitten by Ushari, who gave him a scar on his eye. As a result, during the journey to the Tree of Life, Kion stops communicating with his grandfather due to issues with his scar and personal concerns about turning evil like Scar, and Mufasa has become worried that he forgot about him, just like Simba did years ago when he became an adult. When they finally talk again, Mufasa reassures Kion that he would always be here for him no matter what; showing that regardless of his grandson's scar, he still loves him dearly and knows he has more compassion and honour than Scar. Alongside Askari and the previous queen of the Tree of Life, Janna, he proudly watches over Kion after his marriage to Rani by accepting her as his paternal granddaughter-in-law. Jones reprised his role in the pilot episode, but the character was voiced by Gary Anthony Williams in subsequent appearances.
Lion King directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff have described Jones's voice as powerful and similar to the roar of a lion.
Jones reprises his role in the 2019 remake of the film directed by Jon Favreau. According to Favreau, Jones's lines remain mostly the same from the original film. Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays Scar in the film, said that "the comfort of [Jones reprising his role] is going to be very rewarding in taking [the audience] on this journey again. It's a once-in-a-generation vocal quality".
Aaron Pierre voices young Mufasa in the follow-up to the 2019 film, Mufasa: The Lion King. In the movie, it is revealed Mufasa was swept away in a flood as a young cub and separated from his biological family. He was adopted by a royal lion family, through which he becomes the adoptive brother to Scar. Braelyn and Brielle Rankins voice Mufasa as a cub.
Zazu (voiced by Rowan Atkinson in The Lion King with Jeff Bennett providing his singing voice; Jim Piddock in Disney's Activity Center: The Lion King and The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure; Edward Hibbert in Timon & Pumbaa, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and The Lion King 1½; Jeff Bennett in The Lion Guard; John Oliver in the 2019 film and Preston Nyman in Mufasa: The Lion King) is a red-billed hornbill and majordomo to Mufasa and later Simba. After Mufasa's death, Zazu becomes a prisoner of Scar before Pumbaa breaks the bone cage, releasing him when Simba returns to the Pride Lands. He eventually acts as a scout and advises Simba on royal protocol.
In Timon & Pumbaa, it is revealed that Zazu is not only a lion king's majordomo; he is a jungle administrator. In the episode "Zazu's Off-By-One Day", he is shown to be responsible for counting the population of the animals.
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.
Also appearing in the 2019 remake of The Lion King, Zazu plays the same role as in the original film, but this time, he is introduced to Timon and Pumbaa and helps out in the battle by pecking a hyena numerous times. In Mufasa: The Lion King, Zazu is revealed to have originally been hired by Sarabi's father to protect and guide her while attempting to find a new place to live, due to a group of white lions taking away their land. Zazu and Sarabi join Mufasa and Scar, eventually settling in the Pride Lands together.
Rafiki (voiced by Robert Guillaume in most appearances prior to his death in 2017; Khary Payton in The Lion Guard and John Kani in the 2019 film (as elderly) and Kagiso Lediga in Mufasa: The Lion King (as younger)), whose name means "friend" in Swahili, is a West African-accented mandrill with an unnaturally long tail like a baboon. He lives in a baobab tree in the Pride Lands and performs shamanistic services for the lions of Pride Rock. He is also shown to be a great martial artist.
In The Lion King, Rafiki is introduced in the opening scene when he travels to Pride Rock to perform newborn Simba's presentation ceremony. During the film, Rafiki sings a nonsense chant: "Asante sana, squash banana, wewe nugu, mimi hapana." This is a Swahili playground rhyme that 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. Rafiki travels to the jungle where Simba lives with Timon and Pumbaa and teaches him lessons about learning from the past: "Yes, the past can hurt but, the way I see it you can either run from it, or learn from it" and then whacks him with his stick. During the battle for Pride Rock, Rafiki saves Simba from a hyena by whacking him with his stick, while fighting many more hyenas. At the end of the film, Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub.
In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Rafiki is more closely involved with the affairs and politics of the pride 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 Outsiders with pride. 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, and Kovu is welcomed into the pride. Rafiki appears briefly in The Lion King 1½, teaching Timon the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata", talking to Timon's mother about her son, 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 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, and adorns Simba with the king's mantle after his victory; the play ends with her at the presentation of Simba and Nala's newborn cub.
Rafiki serves as a supporting character in Timon & Pumbaa, as well as the main character of his own segments called "Rafiki Fables", where his shamanism is expanded. In the episode "Good Mousekeeping", it is revealed that Rafiki can grant wishes and can even take some of the wishes back. In another episode "Rafiki's Apprentice", Rafiki's stick is revealed to have magical powers. He explains to his nephew, Nefu, that the gourds on his stick are the key to his mystical abilities and also reveals through a painting that his stick was given to him by his grandfather when he was a young mandrill. He is also shown to have a collection of sticks which may be selected if the old one gets broken or lost.
Rafiki serves as a recurring character in The Lion Guard. In Mufasa: The Lion King, it is revealed Rafiki was exiled from his group of baboons and monkeys due to being "different" and seeing prophecies. He goes on a journey to Milele, later known as the Pride Lands, to find his long-lost brother. On the journey, he meets Mufasa, Scar, Sarabi and Zazu and joins them.
Rafiki is a meetable character at the Disney Parks and Resorts along with Timon, and can be found in Adventureland and at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Sarabi (voiced by Madge Sinclair in The Lion King as her final theatrical film role and Alfre Woodard in the 2019 film) is Mufasa's wife, the queen consort of the Pride Lands, and the leader of the pride's hunting party. She is also Simba's mother, Nala's mother-in-law, Scar's sister-in-law and Kopa, Kiara, and Kion's paternal grandmother. Her name means "mirage" in Swahili. In The Lion King, she serves as the Queen of Pride Rock. Years after Scar usurps the throne, Sarabi helps Simba fight against Scar and his hyenas. When Simba defeats Scar, Nala becomes Queen and Sarabi becomes the Queen mother.
In the 2019 film, following Mufasa's death, Scar tries to get Sarabi to be his mate in a levirate marriage, but she turns down his advances.
Tiffany Boone voices young Sarabi in Barry Jenkins' follow-up to the 2019 film, Mufasa: The Lion King. In the movie, it is revealed she was forced to leave her family and home due to a group of white lions taking over the land and attacking them. Her father enlists a hornbill, Zazu, to guide and support her on a journey to find a new home. On the way, she meets Mufasa and Scar (who was at the time named Taka). Although Taka is attracted to her, she falls in love with Mufasa due to his unique smelling ability and his strength.
Sarafina (voiced by Zoe Leader in The Lion King, Penny Johnson Jerald in the 2019 film and Dominique Jennings in Mufasa: The Lion King) is a lioness who is Nala's mother, Simba's mother-in-law, Kopa, Kiara, and Kion's maternal grandmother, Vitani, Rani, and Kovu's maternal grandmother-in-law and Sarabi's friend. She is first seen sleeping inside Pride Rock with Nala and the rest of the pride. She later cleans Nala before the latter leaves to go to the Elephant Graveyard with Simba. She makes her final appearance mourning the loss of Mufasa and Simba, unaware that Simba is still alive.
In the 2019 film, Sarafina's role is still the same. When the hyenas arrived at Pride Rock following Mufasa's death, Sarafina told Nala to stay close to her.
Quint (voiced by Corey Burton) is a human who is Timon and Pumbaa's archenemy. He is a sneaky, manipulative and sly muscular man with a pinkish-red bulbous nose (which becomes the same color as the rest of his body in most episodes of season three) who has varying roles in the series. Because of the variety of occupations, he also has different first names relating to his jobs and titles, most of which happen to start with "C".
Quint is a con artist who tricks Timon into stealing a gold nugget Pumbaa found in "Yukon Con", a criminal who stole a suitcase that has $1.29 million in "How to Beat High Costa Rica", an evil clock inspector who wants to get revenge on a timekeeper in "Swiss Missed", a French chef who wants to make Speedy the Snail escargot in "French Fried", and many other roles. Quint has the tendency of speaking in third person, which further shows his conflated ego.
In some episodes, Quint appears to be a simple and respectable man with an honest job, but even so, he tends to get in Timon and Pumbaa's way, intentionally or not. In other instances, as shown in "Palm Beached" and "Going Over-Boar'd", because of Timon and Pumbaa's failure to act in accordance to regulations or rules, he will get into scrapes with the duo in the defense of his business or occupation. Despite this, he has triumphed over Timon and Pumbaa in episodes "The Swine in the Stone" and "Going Over-Boar'd".
In the episode "The Pain in Spain", two Quints are seen together. This may prove that there is more than one of him.
Speedy (voiced by Corey Burton doing a Bing Crosby impression) is a talking and singing grayish/bluish snail with a shiny red shell and a yellow fedora. Timon and Pumbaa plan to eat him at first, but his ability to speak and sing and his bon viveur, good-humored attitude get him to become friends with them. Timon gives him the name "Speedy" because he thinks that it would be a brilliant incongruity. Speedy frequently finds himself in danger, such as becoming a French gourmet snail by Culinary Quint and an earring out of his shell by a married couple, as well as getting captured by a seagull as he returns to his home. In these situations, Speedy is rather helpless and relies on Timon and Pumbaa to save his life.
In "The Man from J.U.N.G.L.E.", Speedy is revealed to be a superhero called Super Duper Hero X after Timon and Pumbaa were captured by his arch-nemesis, Chromosome Quint. The seagull that has been capturing Speedy also turns out to be an aircraft controlled by Chromosome Quint. Speedy also makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the episode "Washington Applesauce".
Fred (voiced by S. Scott Bullock) is a meerkat who was Timon's best friend back at the meerkat colony. He is a practical joker, employing such gags as the hand buzzer, the squirting flower and the whoopee cushion. He also loved Timon's hyena jokes. When Fred visits, he pulls more practical jokes on Timon and Pumbaa, such as impersonating Timon's mother or impersonating a Billy Goat guard. Timon and Pumbaa, however, don't find Fred's jokes very funny and they often overpower him. Aside from pulling practical jokes, Fred enjoys doing all sorts of activities, such as playing Turtle Tennis and Fishing for Flamingos. He also mentions that he and Timon have always gone Bowling for Buzzards, a sport which Timon would later share and play with Pumbaa, including the time they found Simba lying in the desert.
At the meerkat colony, Fred's duty was to guard the Duke Meerkat's castle. However, on the day the Duke left the colony, he snuck away to get a snack and convinced Timon that it was now his chance to go on a date with Princess Tatiana, knowing that Timon had a massive crush on her. When the Duke banished Timon from the colony after a cobra infiltrated the colony and kidnapped the princess, Fred's new duty was to guard the back gate, which indicates that he has been demoted for failing to protect the castle.
A meerkat who looks and sounds strikingly similar to Fred (minus the red nose and buck teeth) briefly appears in The Lion King 1½, at the end of the song "Digga Tunnah".
Boss Beaver (voiced by Brad Garrett) is an ill-tempered and cantankerous beaver. His lifestyle is the exact opposite of Timon and Pumbaa's Hakuna Matata lifestyle: Boss Beaver values hard work whereas Timon and Pumbaa value freedom of rules, responsibilities, and worries. He owns a lumber mill and an amusement park called "Boss Beaver's Log Land". Boss Beaver also has three mottos: "Makuta Hamaka" ("work really hard"), "safety first" and "you break it, you buy it." He also has a son named Boy Beaver (voiced by Mark Schiff), who is shown to be mischievous but also quite malicious behind his father's back, as he damages rides and machines which lead to Timon and Pumbaa nearly getting killed. This could, however, all be due to Boss Beaver's negligence as a parent, as it is implied that he rarely, if ever, spends time with his son.
With his uptight and disciplinary attitude, Boss Beaver is greatly narcissistic, as he seemingly prioritizes his business and reputation over other things. For example, in "Amusement Bark", as he catches his son attempting to hurt Timon and Pumbaa, he is seemingly more concerned that the duo will demand an exorbitant monetary settlement for their injuries. Boss Beaver also emphasizes the importance of safety conditions and is willing to make others pay for violating any safety regulation.
Although he can sometimes be too harsh on his employees, Boss Beaver is willing to promote them if they are good at their jobs and favors, as shown in "Oregon Astray" where he promotes Timon to (temporary) supervising, senior chief executive, governing guides assistant. He is also capable of realizing his mistakes, as he acknowledges his son's malicious nature, to which he is greatly appalled by.
Alongside Speedy, Boss Beaver makes a non-speaking cameo in "Washington Applesauce".
Irwin (voiced by Charlie Adler) is a good-hearted yet accident-prone and clumsy penguin who loves making new friends. Timon and Pumbaa meet and befriend him at a boat stop in Antarctica when they see that he has two extra tickets for the duo to get on the ship. When Irwin leaves his home with the duo, it is shown that he has obviously injured all of the members of his penguin rookery, which is why none of his old friends were willing to join him on the trip. Because of Irwin's clumsiness, Timon tries various attempts to get rid of him, including pretending to play a game of hide-and-seek and a new game called "get lost", though these backfire as they get Irwin to accidentally cause the boat and the island to sink.
In his second appearance, Irwin reunites with Timon and Pumbaa at the Hakuna Matata Megamall, a newly-built shopping mall in the jungle. Due to his accident-prone and clumsy nature, Timon and Pumbaa try to avoid him by hiding in various stores, while Irwin gives chase as he tries to ask them a question, which is if they've seen his car.
Toucan Dan (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is a dangerously clever toucan who is a criminal mastermind. He is a convincing liar and impersonator and would also do anything to get away with his crimes, including getting someone else in trouble. In his debut, "I Don't Bolivia", he keeps tricking Timon into freeing him from his cage. Later in the episode, Timon impersonates Toucan Dan to not get in trouble with the police, thus Vulture Police saw him disguising as Toucan Dan and then Toucan Dan impersonates Timon and this makes Pumbaa have to decide which one is the real Timon. Toucan Dan is also shown to know sign language, as he uses it to trick Timon into thinking he's Santa Claus.
Toucan Dan makes his second and final appearance in "Alcatraz Mataz", in which he frames Timon for committing a crime of stealing a train car full of beak polish and the police throw him and Pumbaa in prison. In order to clear Timon's name, Timon and Pumbaa escape to catch Toucan Dan and make him confess and admit his crime. Later, before long, the Vulture Police showed up and found out the truth. So they arrest Toucan Dan instead, much to Timon & Pumbaa's relief and their names are officially cleared. However, they still arrest Timon and Pumbaa for escaping prison when they told them not to, no matter if they were framed or not.
Rabbit (voiced by Charlie Adler) is a large and tall pink dimwitted and annoying hare. He made his debut "Mojave Desserted". In that episode, Timon and Pumbaa save his life when he was drowning in quicksand and he decides to repay the duo hand and foot. Annoyed by Rabbit, Timon and Pumbaa hatch a plan to put themselves in danger and have Rabbit save them and then leave them alone.
Rabbit makes his second and final appearance in "Africa-Dabra!", this time appearing as an unsympathetic and ruthless magician. After Timon pulls him out of a hat, he teams up with the meerkat to become part of his magic act, telling him that he has been looking for a partner for years. When he gets annoyed by Pumbaa ruining the magic acts, he breaks up Timon and Pumbaa's friendship. When Pumbaa finds out that Timon never truly said anything mean about him, he gets revenge on Rabbit by trapping him in a cage and later skinning him for his disguise.
The Vulture Police (voiced by Townsend Coleman and Brian Cummings) are recurring characters in the series. They are a pair of vultures who serve as policemen in both the jungle and any other wildlife-inhabited place. They strongly believe in due process and justice and though they are willing to help victims of a crime, they will not make arrests until the perpetrator is proven guilty, as shown in "Yosemite Remedy" where they initially let a raccoon criminal go since his crime of stealing Timon and Pumbaa's suitcase was not witnessed.
They make their first appearance in "The Law of the Jungle", where they arrest Timon for using the Forbidden Stick to scratch his back and take him to Judge Rhino, who gives several tests to see whether he's innocent or guilty. In their final episode, "Alcatraz Mataz", the Vulture Police throw Timon and Pumbaa into jail. In order to clear their names, Timon and Pumbaa desperately escape in order to get Toucan Dan to confess his crime. When the vulture police arrest Toucan Dan after finding out that he's the true criminal, Pumbaa tells Timon that now that his good name has been cleared, he is now free from prison. However, the police still throw Timon and Pumbaa back into jail, and they tell them that even though they are innocent of the crime, they still disobeyed them by escaping when they told them not to, which is a federal offense.
The Vulture Police make a brief appearance in "Wide Awake in Wonderland", appearing in one of the bedtime stories Timon reads to an insomniac Pumbaa.
Cheetata (voiced by Rob Paulsen) and Cheetato (voiced by Jim Cummings) are a pair of sophisticated twin cheetahs, reminiscent of Shere Khan from the Disney version of The Jungle Book as they are villainous wild cats with deep sinister voices. Although hard to tell apart, aside from their voices, Cheetata appears to be more eager and aggressive while Cheetato seems more likely to think things through.
The cheetahs are shown hunting and intimidating their victims in their unique, haughty style. They are also both masterminds, as they come up with ways to get rid of Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed and also force Timon, who manipulated them into letting him go catch Pumbaa (his true intention being to go find Pumbaa so that they can both escape the cheetahs to safety), to give them his wallet so that they can make sure he actually returns instead of running off like he was planning. But even so, they continuously get outsmarted by Timon and Pumbaa.
The Three Natives (both voiced by Jeff Bennett) are a trio of tribes who are really university students taking part in the "Be a Native" weekends. They have a leader (also voiced by Bennett) who is also a university student and usually precedes what he says with "Bungala, bungala." The natives first appear in the pilot episode "Boara Boara", where it is shown that they've once served a warthog king and they mistake and treat Pumbaa for said king while making Timon his servant. Everything goes well until they make Pumbaa relight the fire and realize that he's an impostor when they see that he is unable to do so. After Timon and Pumbaa escape, the three natives shed their disguises upon getting tired of the leader's tendency to hit them in the head with his staff and return to the university. The leader orders them to return or else they'll lose their deposit.
Aggressive, hostile and fiercely protective of their tribe, the natives will throw the perpetrator into a volcano if the king is not respected. They are also quite ruthless and greedy, as they steal a gold tooth that belongs to a beast and attempt to kill Pumbaa in order to remove his tusks.
Smolder (voiced by Jim Cummings) is a grumpy and short-tempered grizzly bear who gets easily angered and threatens to harm anyone who gets on his bad side, such as when he is awoken from his nap or when someone gets his food order wrong. His troubles typically come from Timon and Pumbaa, and with his strength, claws, and sharp teeth, he is capable of damaging objects, which he demonstrates as he warns the duo what would happen to them if they do anything to make him angry. Smolder is also willing to fight those who dupe him, as shown in "Jailhouse Shock" where his cellmate, Little Jimmy, takes advantage of his aggressive nature to get even with Timon and Pumbaa.
Although menacing and dangerous, Smolder is genuinely a nice guy, as he shows sympathy for Timon and Pumbaa in the episodes "Ready, Aim, Fire", in which he reveals his name as Smolder (a parody of Smokey Bear) who dislikes fires and saves Timon and Pumbaa from being cooked by Quint, and "Stay Away from my Honey!", in which he develops a friendship with the duo. Smolder also has a romantic interest in a beautiful supermodel and spokesperson named Leslie Lambeau (voiced by Grey DeLisle), though it is unrequited due to the difference in species. In "Dapper Duck Burgers", Smolder is also shown to have a guilty pleasure for toys.
Tatiana (voiced by Tress MacNeille) is the daughter of Duke Meerkat and the princess of the meerkat colony. She only appears in one episode but she's vital for Timon's past. According to Timon, Tatiana loves anyone who is brave, cunning, and resourceful, but Fred tells him that candy, flowers, and a bath are all that is needed to impress her. Tatiana also enjoys painting.
After Timon leaves his guard duty post to prepare for his date with Tatiana, a king cobra enters the colony and kidnaps the princess, which makes everyone believe she's dead and causes Timon to get banished. After Timon and Pumbaa meet for the first time, they see that Tatiana is still alive and rescue her from a cobra. When Tatiana returns to the colony with Timon and Pumbaa, Timon is offered her hand in marriage. When the Duke makes him choose between Tatiana or Pumbaa, he ultimately chooses to be Bestest Best friends with Pumbaa, and as a result, the two get exiled from the meerkat colony.
A female meerkat who bears a striking resemblance to Tatiana makes a brief appearance in "Timon in Love". The only difference is that Tatiana has blond hair while the other meerkat has red hair, and she's not wearing a tiara.
Sharla (voiced by Billy West) is a female warthog who was voted head hog of Pumbaa's former sounder, as well as Pumbaa's ex-girlfriend. While she only appears in one episode, she is vital for Pumbaa's past. She and three male warthogs of the sounder banished Pumbaa from the group due to his awful scent, which was appalling even by warthog standards.
Years later, as Sharla and the three warthogs are about to migrate for the rainy season with a big bag of bugs, a flock of guineafowl, who are their natural enemies and worst nightmares due to their ability to strip off the flesh of a warthog in ten seconds, surround the sounder camp as they are after the warthogs' supply of grubs. Unable to leave the camp, the warthogs make a distress call, which Pumbaa answers. When Pumbaa reunites with his sounder, he has Timon come up with ideas on how they can get rid of the guineafowl. However, because none of Timon's ideas work, Pumbaa switches the supply of bugs with a supply of firecrackers to fake out the guineafowl while Sharla and the other warthogs migrate with the real bag of bugs.
Being head hog, Sharla is somewhat authoritative and demanding but ultimately serves the needs of her sounder. Although she banished Pumbaa from the group, she continues to have romantic feelings towards him and has never forgotten him. Sharla even offers Pumbaa to become a member of the sounder again, but Pumbaa rejects the idea, as he decides to continue living as a wanderer with Timon and he can't have the warthogs endure his foul smell forever, to which the female warthog understands.
Ned (voiced by Frank Welker) is a high and mighty African bush elephant who is considerably popular in the jungle. Due to his popularity, he looks down upon lowly animals and ridicules Timon and Pumbaa when they fail at proving their worth to him, making fun of and laughing at Pumbaa for trying to be an elephant like him and willing to ruin Timon's reputation. Although selfish and sarcastic, Ned has a change of heart after Pumbaa rescues him and his hippo henchmen from falling off a cliff and offers Pumbaa to join his clique as an honorary elephant, to which Pumbaa rejects.
In "Unlucky in Lesotho", Ned is revealed to run a Good Luck Club, which lost most of its members due to Ned bringing an unlucky jar into the club. Because he gets attacked by piranha upon falling into the river after a black panther cub crosses his path, Ned is never seen or heard from again after this episode, implying that he was devoured by the piranha.
Shifty (voiced by Joe Alaskey), most commonly known as Little Jimmy, is an extremely dangerous bluebird, similar to Toucan Dan in the fact that he is also a deceptive criminal mastermind. He also has two different personas with matching voices: one fake, innocent voice to pass himself off as a cute hatchling and a deeper, criminal one to show that he is truly an adult. In his first appearance, "Nest Best Thing", Little Jimmy tricks Pumbaa into building a birdhouse for him, which is actually a hideout. The pigeon police show up and arrest Little Jimmy.
In "Jailhouse Shock", Little Jimmy is cellmates with Mr. Bear. To get revenge on Timon and Pumbaa for turning him in, he tricks Mr. Bear into thinking that Timon and Pumbaa hurt him so that he could hurt them back. Despite "Little Jimmy" presumably being his fake name, Timon and Pumbaa continue to address him by that name.
Gopher (voiced by Jim Cummings in the first film and Ernie Sabella in Timon & Pumbaa) is a gopher who makes a brief appearance in The Lion King and is expanded in the TV series, albeit with a design change. He serves as Zazu's lieutenant, assisting him in jungle administration as well as reporting underground news.
Kiara (voiced by Neve Campbell as a young adult and Michelle Horn as a cub in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride with Liz Callaway and Charity Sanoy providing her singing voice; Eden Riegel in The Lion Guard and Blue Ivy Carter as a cub in Mufasa: The Lion King) is Simba and Nala's daughter, Kion's older sister, Mufasa, Sarabi and Sarafina's granddaughter, Scar's great-niece, Kovu's mate, Zira's daughter-in-law, and Nuka, Vitani and Rani's sister-in-law. She appears at the end of The Lion King as Simba and Nala become the king and queen of the Pride Lands. She is the protagonist in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and a recurring character The Lion Guard. As Simba's first cub, Kiara is heir to the Pride Lands.
Kiara is portrayed as a curious, playful, and adventurous princess, much to Simba's worry about her safety. As a young cub, Kiara is reluctant about being queen. She also befriends Kovu when playing at the Outlands where they work together to escape a group of crocodiles. Unfortunately, their friendship is cut short as they are separated by their respective parents. As a young adult, Kiara is rescued by Kovu as part of Zira's plan to avenge Scar's death, but the two lions eventually fall in love. When Kovu is exiled from the Pride Lands following Zira's ambush on Simba, Kiara, ignoring Simba's orders to not leave Pride Rock without an escort, calls her father out for his actions telling him "You will Never be Mufasa!" & leaves to find Kovu, and after doing so, returns with him to the Pride Lands to reunite the Pride Landers and Outsiders. Kiara shows wisdom and level headedness as she brings peace to both feuding parties. Kiara then tries get Zira to let go of her hate, but to no avail. Eventually Zira found herself in danger and soon fell to her death after refusing Kiara's help.
In The Lion Guard (which takes place in between the first and second half of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride), Kiara as an older cub has become more accepting to her position as future queen and takes her training more seriously. She and Kion have their fair share of sibling rivalry. Unlike her great uncle Scar and grandfather Mufasa's sibling rivalry, it does not turn into hatred, as Kiara and Kion resolve their differences and became very close. They also can be seen playing together from time to time. Additionally, unlike her friends Tifu and Zuri, she is more mature, believes there are more important things than appearance, and she is not afraid to get dirty. In the series' final episode "Return to the Pride Lands", which takes place sometime after The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, she and Kovu have become mates and explain to Kion what happened in the Pride Lands whilst he and the Lion Guard were away at the Tree of Life and what had happened to Zira. After learning that Kion had fallen in love with the Tree of Life's young queen Rani, Kiara encourages her brother to return to her. Kiara later witnesses Kion become Rani's mate and the King of the Tree of Life.
Kiara appears in Mufasa: The Lion King, the prequel to the 2019 photorealistic computer-animated remake of the original film. In the movie, she is narrated the story of how her grandfather Mufasa becomes the first King of the Pride Lands by Rafiki. At the end, she meets her little brother, Kion.
Kovu (voiced by Jason Marsden as a young adult, as well as both an older cub and a young adult in The Lion Guard with Gene Miller providing his singing voice in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and Ryan O'Donohue as a young cub) is Zira’s son Scar’s adopted son and chosen heir, Nuka and Vitani's younger brother and Kiara's mate. His name means "scar" in Swahili. He is shown to be aggressive and crude at first glance. Unlike the other Outsiders, he is open to meeting animals and is more honorable. As a young cub Kovu befriends Kiara, though this did not last long as they are separated by their feuding parents. However, Kovu's newfound friendship with Kiara gives Zira the idea to use their friendship so that Kovu will have the opportunity to kill Simba. Since then, Zira trains Kovu to assassinate Simba and take his place as the king of Pride Rock. During a planned ambush, he rescues Kiara, as part of the ruse, and Simba reluctantly allows him to stay in the Pride Lands. However, as he spends time in the Pride Lands bonding with Kiara, Timon, and Pumbaa, his kind, honorable side returns, and he falls in love with Kiara, dropping his mission. After Simba is ambushed by the Outsiders and Nuka is killed, Zira manipulates Simba into believing Kovu had masterminded the ambush. Furious, Simba exiles him from the Pride Lands and had his animal subjects assault him into leaving, as Kovu left the Pride Lands in shame. Eventually, after Kovu reunites with Kiara and convinces the Pride Landers and Outsiders to stop fighting each other, Simba forgives Kovu and welcomes him back to Pride Rock as Kiara's mate and future king consort.
In The Lion Guard, Kovu appears with his family in the episode "Lions of the Outlands", which takes place sometime after Kovu's first encounter with Kiara, who plot to take over Jasiri's territory. Kiara's brother Kion learns from Kovu that Kiara knows him. Kovu reappears as a young adult in the series' final episode "Return to the Pride Lands", which takes place sometime after The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, where Kion and the Lion Guard, who had been away from the Pride Lands for several months to go to the Tree of Life, learn that Kovu and the rest of the Outsiders have rejoined Simba's pride following Zira's death. Simba is proud to announce that Kovu and Kiara are his successors. Kovu later witnesses his brother-in-law Kion become Rani’s mate.
The Outsiders are a pride of offshoot lions that were loyal to Scar. After a failed takeover following Scar's death, Simba exiled them to the Outlands. In The Lion Guard, they tried to invade the territory that Jasiri's clan lives in. Kion was hesitant to use the Roar of the Elders because of what it did to Scar. After being told by the rest of the Lion Guard that Scar used the Roar for evil, Kion defeated the Outsiders with the Roar of the Elders which sent them flying to the Outlands' termite mound area which became their base of operations. In the series' final episode, "Return to the Pridelands", it is revealed that after the Outsiders rejoined Simba's pride, four of them formed a new Lion Guard with Vitani to protect the Pride Lands whilst Kion's Lion Guard's were travelling to the Tree of Life. At the end of the episode, Vitani's Lion Guard became the Pride Lands' permanent Lion Guard after Kion's Lion Guard decided to step down and stay at The Tree of Life.
Zira (voiced by Suzanne Pleshette in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride; Nika Futterman in The Lion Guard), whose name means "hate" in Swahili, is Nuka, Kovu, and Vitani's mother, and Scar's widowed mate, who plots to avenge Scar's death by forming the Outsiders. She takes advantage of Kovu's friendship with Simba's daughter Kiara, as part of her plan to assassinate Simba. When this plan failed due to Kovu's love for Kiara, Zira resorts to an all-out war against Simba's pride. However, because of Kiara and Kovu's actions, Vitani and the other Outsiders realize that they would rather join Simba's pride and turn against Zira who persists in her revenge. Attempting to attack Simba, Zira is intercepted by Kiara and falls into a flash flood to her death, despite Kiara's attempt to rescue her.
Zira makes an appearance in The Lion Guard alongside Kovu, Nuka, Vitani, and the rest of her pride in the episode "Lions of the Outlands". She tries to convince Kion that using the Roar of the Elders against her and the other Outsiders would cause him to lose it just as Scar did, and to side with his fellow lions. However, Kion is eventually able to see through her deceptions and drives her and the others off with the Roar. Years later, her death was mentioned by Kiara and Kovu when the Lion Guard returned and met Vitani's incarnation of the Lion Guard.
Kathleen Turner had originally been cast as Zira in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride before being replaced by Pleshette. Turner talked about the role and even sang a portion of her character's song (stating the film would be her singing debut) during an interview on The Rosie O'Donnell Show on March 10, 1998.
Nuka (voiced by Andy Dick) was Zira and Scar's eldest child, Vitani and Kovu's older brother, and Simba's cousin. His name means "stink" in Swahili. Jealous of Zira's apparent favoritism for his adopted brother Kovu, Nuka often attempted to gain his mother's attention and approval. During the Outsiders' ambush, Nuka attempts to finally kill Simba himself to prove his worth, but was crushed to death by the falling logs, though he managed to gain the attention he longed for. A heartbroken Zira mourned her son's death and prayed to Scar to "watch over" him. She subsequently accused Kovu of betrayal and scars him for the incident.
In The Lion Guard, Nuka assisted his mother in a plot to take over Jasiri's territory.
Vitani (voiced by Meredith Scott Lynn as a young adult; Lacey Chabert as a cub, as well as both a cub and a young adult in The Lion Guard with Crysta Macalush providing for her cub form's singing voice) is Zira’s middle child and only daughter, Scar’s adoptive daughter, Nuka and Kovu’s sister, and Kiara's sister-in-law. Although she has a prominent appearance in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, she makes a cameo appearance in The Lion Guard. As a young adult, Vitani is Zira's strongest lieutenant, supporting and acting on her mother's violent plans. With Kovu and Kiara's help, Vitani and the Outsiders turn on Zira and join the Pride Landers to settle the feud between the two prides peacefully. After Zira's death, Vitani and the other Outsiders are pardoned by Simba and rejoin his pride.
In The Lion Guard, Vitani assisted her mother in a plot to take over Jasiri's territory. Years later, after she and her pride joined Simba's while Kion and his friends were travelling to the Tree of Life, Vitani formed her own Lion Guard in their absence, where it was also mentioned what happened to Zira. As the future king's sister, she believes that it is her responsibility to protect the Pride Lands. She proves herself worthy to become the leader of the Lion Guard after she bravely challenges Kion despite not having the Roar of the Elders, thus revealing her heroic and honorable attributes thereby redeemed from her past villainy. Kion then bestows her the position and power of the leader of the Lion Guard. This allows Vitani to use the Roar of the Elders, and she and her Lion Guard are officially recognized as the new Lion Guard of the Pride Lands.
Her name is a Swahili portmanteau of the words "Vita" ("War"), "Ni" ("I Am"), and "Shetani" ("She-Demon"); the portmanteau can be roughly translated to "I Am War" or "Demon of War". "Shetani" itself was originally her name in early drafts of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, but this was softened to "Vitani".
Ma (voiced by Julie Kavner) is Timon's mother. Generally encouraging and optimistic, she believes in Timon and convinces Uncle Max to give him a job as a sentry or lookout. 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 with the death of Scar, Timon takes them and the entire meerkat colony to the jungle paradise which he and Pumbaa discovered. Ma is mentioned several times in Timon & Pumbaa and in The Lion Guard episode "Beware the Zimwi" by Timon, who claims that her cousin's friend knew an ox that was eaten by the Zimwi.
Uncle Max (voiced by Jerry Stiller) is a prominent member of the meerkat colony and is Timon's uncle and either the brother or brother-in-law of Ma. He has a 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 but ends up going with Ma to find him. 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.
Originally, Max was not a character during production of The Lion King 1½. However, when the character of Timon's father was cut from the film due to there being too many characters, his role and much of his dialogue were transferred to Max and Ma.
Kopa is the son of Simba and Nala, Mufasa, Sarabi, and Sarafina’s grandson, and Scar’s grand-nephew appearing in the book series The Lion King: Six New Adventures, and is shown to look a lot like his father as a cub, except with a tuft of hair on top of his head. He debuts in the story A Tale of Two Brothers, which served as a prequel to The Lion King. The books were released before the film's production had finished, and thus, Alex Simmons (Kopa's creator) did not know that Simba and Nala would be given a cub at the end of the film.
Ahadi is the father of Mufasa and Taka (Scar), the grandfather of Simba, the great-grandfather of Kopa, and the king of the Pride Lands during the events of The Lion King: Six New Adventures story A Tale of Two Brothers. He is shown to look a lot like Mufasa except with darker fur but described as having green eyes and a black mane by the author of the book, making him more similar to Scar.
Uru is the mother of Mufasa and Taka (Scar), the grandmother of Simba, the great-grandmother of Kopa, and the queen of the Pride Lands during the events of The Lion King: Six New Adventures story A Tale of Two Brothers. She is absent from the book but is mentioned to have left to search for water to save the kingdom.
Mohatu (voiced by Avery Brooks on The Lion King: The Brightest Star audiotape) is the King of the Pride Lands during the events of the story The Brightest Star. He is the grandfather of Mufasa and Scar and the great-grandfather of Simba. He went to find water for the animals of the land during a drought and helped the animals get on with each other. When he died, he became a star that was brighter than the others. He is shown to look a lot like a darker furred version of Mufasa, having facial features like Simba's, and was said to have been one of the greatest kings of the Pride Lands. He is succeeded by Ahadi.
Ni is a character who appears in The Lion King: Six New Adventures story Nala's Dare. He is a young lion who has left his pride to start his own and travels through the Pride Lands during Scar's reign and saves Nala from hyenas before leaving, after meeting the rest of the Pride Landers.
Kula is a character in The Lion King: Six New Adventures story Nala's Dare. She is one of Nala's friends and one of the cubs of the Pride Landers who lived during Scar's reign.
Chumvi is a character in The Lion King: Six New Adventures story Nala's Dare. He is one of Nala's friends and one of the cubs of the Pride Landers.
Joka is a giant African rock python in The Lion King: Six New Adventures story A Snake in the Grass. He is extremely intelligent and can formulate complicated plans in a short amount of time. He has the power to twist his words into whatever he rightly wants and uses hypnotism to lure unsuspecting victims into believing his empty words. The name Joka translates as 'dragon' in the Swahili tongue.
Jelani is Rafiki's lazy cousin in The Lion King: Six New Adventures story Follow the Leader. Despite being considered the leader of his troop, he is unconcerned about the suffering of his subjects, as he is often too concerned about his own welfare to lead them to a new home.
Kwaheri is Kopa's monkey friend in The Lion King: Six New Adventures stories Nala's Dare and How True, Zazu? He is social, talkative, and critical to his friends. He often flaunts his talents around Kopa to either spark a reaction or just be a show-off.
Boma is a cape buffalo who appears in The Lion King: Six New Adventures stories A Tale of Two Brothers and How True, Zazu?. His grandparents were killed during an attack by ants. He is the leader of the cape buffalo and he is aggressive, controlling, selfish, strong, and short-tempered. He is also somewhat reclusive and gruff, as he does not seem to understand that there is a balance between species and refuses to share the last remaining water-hole during a drought, which can affect the whole of the Pride Lands. It is due to him that Taka got his scar after which he renamed himself Scar. If challenged or insulted he becomes very angry. However, he is mildly cooperative if not insulted or challenged. Taka tries to get Mufasa in trouble by telling him to talk with Boma to share the water-hole. Mufasa tries to reason with him to share the water-hole, but he refuses. Scar then roars and tells him that he must obey or challenge Mufasa. He then chases after Mufasa who is rescued by Rafiki. Rafiki starts to grow tired while running but is picked up by Mufasa who then jumps across a ravine. Boma is unable to make the jumps and falls into it. Mufasa tells him that he does not have to fight but he keeps hurling threats while saying that the other buffaloes can still harm Taka. Taka is then attacked by three buffaloes during which he receives his scar. Ahadi stops this attack with a large herd of animals and has an elephant push Boma out of the ravine.
Zuzu is Ahadi's majordomo. She only appeared in A Tale of Two Brothers; although she was mentioned in How True, Zazu? It is revealed that she is Zazu's mother. Flirtatious and gossipy, Zuzu is a very maternal bird who never passes up the chance for some juicy gossip, much like her son, Zazu. Her talkative nature and nosy habits often make her a bit of an annoyance to the other animals; however, Ahadi puts her personality to good use to get a better grip on the doings of his kingdom. Zuzu is also known for being loyal and brave, as she was willing to help Rafiki even though she did not fully understand the danger Mufasa was in. It is revealed that she retired and gave Zazu her place as the king's majordomo.
King Joe is a comic book character in The Lion King book A False Ancestor as he is a rogue stranger who lurks in the Pride Lands. He tricked Simba by saying that he was the great-great-great-grandfather of the current king, which is Mufasa. He later saves Simba from a river from nearly getting eaten by an alligator. After he saved Simba, he was never mentioned or seen again. He bears a similar mane and appearance to Nuka.
Kataka is a meerkat who appears in the story called Falling in Love. She is part of a meerkat colony that lives in the same oasis that Timon and Pumbaa reside in.
Zak is a zebra who appears in a story called Falling in Love. He resides in the same oasis as Timon and Pumbaa. Timon enlisted Zak to help get Kataka back to her colony.
Growler is a young warthog who appears in a story called Pumbaa's New Friends. He is part of the warthog sounder that lives in the same oasis as Timon and Pumbaa. He considered Pumbaa a disgrace to all warthogs when his mother befriended Pumbaa. After Simba and Timon expose Growler's plot to dispose of Pumbaa, Growler's mother called Growler a disgrace and banished him from her sounder.
A group of baboons that live in the Congress of Baboons.