Makucha

Makucha is a leopard who serves as the main antagonist of The Lion Guard episodes "The Imaginary Okapi", "The Golden Zebra", "The Wisdom of Kongwe", and the third and final season. He journeys to eat all the rare animals at the Tree of Life and also get his revenge on the Lion Guard. He also leads an army of other animals to help him defeat the Lion Guard and the Night Pride.
==Background==
===Personality===
Makucha is confident and cunning, but also very persistent. Once he targets his prey, he doesn't quit until he catches them. He is willing to fight for what he thinks is his. He is very cocky in his abilities, but not to the point of arrogance, as he will surrender if he is severely outnumbered. Makucha has a great liking for okapis as food and will go to great lengths to catch one. He frequently roars and growls to express anger or irritation.
===Physical appearance===
Makucha is a stocky, well-built leopard with incredible agility and physical strength. His fur is a pale lemon color, and his rosettes are brown outlined with black. The spots on his face and neck are smaller and solid colored. His sclerae are yellow with his irises being green. His inner ears are light pink, rimmed with black and a single rosette on the back of each. Half of his long tail is striped in black and pale cream, and his underbelly, muzzle, and paws are pale cream in color. He has thick, bushy dark brown eyebrows, long black whiskers, black claws, white teeth, and a black nose. His pawpads are red-brown. He also bears a vague resemblance to Sabor from Tarzan.
===Abilities===
*Expert Combatant: Makucha is a capable fighter, as he was willing to take on Kion, Fuli, and Bunga at once.
*Expert Hunter: Makucha is a great hunter, as he has proven to be eager to hunt his favorite prey; the Okapi, as this type of animal, is hard to find, but Makucha proved to be skilled enough to find one and chase it. Even better for him, the animals in Pride Lands have no idea what a leopard is as they have never seen leopards; they are not native to the Pride Lands.
*Animal Strength: Makucha seems to be quite strong, as he was willing to take on Kion. He was strong enough that he was willing to take on more Kion, Fuli, and Bunga at once.
*Animal Speed and Agility: Makucha's speed is greater than Kion's, but not as great as Fuli's, as she was able to catch up and keep pace with him. He able to Zig Zag thanks to his counter balance unlike Fuli a cheetah unable to do that.
*Animal Leaping: Like all leopards, Makucha can jump the highest of all big cats. As such, he was able to jump across a chasm with little effort.
*Animal Stamina: Makucha keeps chasing his prey no matter what; he is willing not to give up this rare meal for himself. He also has proven to run long distances with racing against Fuli a few times and still managed to run off.
*Animal Endurance: Makucha was able to endure by zebra that crashes into him by accident, Ajabu's kick and Beshte's brute strength as well as being thrown some distance. He was also able to get back up easily and keep chasing his intended target no matter what.
==Role in the series==
==="The Imaginary Okapi"===
Makucha is seen stalking gazelles, before being confronted by the Lion Guard, who orders him to leave. He replies that they will have to make him leave, before running off. The Lion Guard pursue Makucha, but he is able to outrun them.
Makucha begins stalking the okapi Ajabu, having pursed him from a far-off place. Ajabu tries to escape him through a herd of zebras, but he does not give up as okapis are rare.
During this pursuit, Makucha once again faces The Lion Guard and takes on Kion, Fuli, and Bunga. Beshte, who is watching from afar with Ajabu, decides to help his friends and charges at Makucha. Seeing Beshte approaching, he gives up on hunting Ajabu and leaves in search of easier prey.
==="The Golden Zebra"===
Makucha appears when Kion and the Lion Guard are passing through his territory in the Back Lands. He tries to drive them off, but, after a fight, he reluctantly allows the Lion Guard to pass through his territory.
Later, when the Lion Guard is trying to break a dam that is blocking the waterhole for Dhahabu's herd, and he reveals that they are in his territory once again, and he has brought reinforcements. The Lion Guard manages to fend off Makucha's minions, but Makucha threatens to harm Dhahabu if they get any closer to the waterhole. Realizing what she must do, Dhahabu kicks Makucha, and he is knocked at the dam. The impact of his hit causes the dam to break, and Makucha breaks a hasty retreat.
==="The Wisdom of Kongwe"===
Fuli and Makini are confronted by Makucha while leading Kongwe through the Back Lands. Fuli jumps to the tortoise's defense, and Makucha backs off, though he warns Fuli that they are in his territory.
Fuli and Makini continue guiding Kongwe through the Back Lands. Suddenly, Makucha jumps out of the underbrush, and Fuli gives chase. However, he skillfully evades her and climbs into a tree. Fuli attempts to follow him into the branches but gets her claws stuck in the tree trunk. Makucha takes advantage of her prone position to attack Kongwe, but Fuli wrenches herself free just in time and fends him off.
After the attack, Kongwe advises Fuli to observe Makucha in order to defeat him. At first, Fuli is adamant that she has already observed Makucha, but then she realizes that he always zigzags in order to outpace Fuli. With this new wisdom, Fuli resolves to take him on once more. Fuli approaches Makucha and challenges him to another fight. This time, Fuli anticipates Makucha's zigzagging strategy and manages to catch up to him and pin him down. She orders him away from Kongwe, to which he begrudgingly backs off and leaves.
==="The Harmattan"===
Makucha sees the Lion Guard in his territory and they start to attack the guard. He brings his friends Fahari and Jiona to help him fight. He soon sees Anga and is surprised to see her. During the fight, a dust storm comes and the guard starts to get blown away. They soon find shelter, but Makucha's Leap follows them. He says for them to leave, but there's nowhere else to go. Kion says that they need to get along and stays in the spot. After Makucha says that he wants them to get out of his territory and that he'll even help them by showing the way out, Kion agrees to go with Makucha. The Guard leaves with Makucha's leap and later he saves Kion from a falling boulder.
Makucha overhears Makini talking about the Tree of Life. He says he'll kidnap Makini and get her to tell him how to get them there. Kion thinks that Makucha left, but he didn't. He kidnaps Makini and Kion tries to save her. After Makucha loses, the Guard continues on their journey. He then says that he'll follow them to the Tree of Life.
==="Ghost of the Mountain"===
After watching Chuluun lose to the Lion Guard, Makucha encounters her and talks to Chuluun and asks her to join him on his quest to get revenge on the Lion Guard and to take over the Tree of Life to which she then accepts happily to join him telling him to lead the way as they both start following the path taken by the Lion Guard to the Tree of Life.
==="Dragon Island"===
Once again, after seeing Ora lose to the Lion Guard, Makucha and Chuluun have been watching him. Makucha invites Ora to join their quest of revenge against the Lion Guard and to take over the Tree of Life, noting they could use someone like him. Liking the sound of Makcuha's plan, Ora agrees to join in.
==="The River of Patience"===
Makucha and his new friends plan to approach the Tree of Life while Ullu warns Rani about this situation. During battle, they get stopped by Rani and the Night Pride along with the Lion Guard's help.
After being defeated, Makucha and the two members of his army meet Mama Binturong to bring him reinforcements to take revenge against the Lion Guard and the Night Pride.
==="Little Old Ginterbong"===
Makucha and his friends meet Mama Binturong who comes up with a plan to get into the Tree of Life in order for the predators to eat the animals. Later, after Mama Binturong is shown to have played dirty tricks, they get stopped by the Night Pride and the Lion Guard to protect the Tree.
==="Long Live the Queen"===
Makucha and the rest of his army attack a family of tigers to which the Night Pride and the Lion Guard were able to defeat them.
==="The Lake of Reflection"===
==="Triumph of the Roar"===
When Makucha brings reinforcements to help his army to take revenge against his enemies, he and his army approach the Tree of Life and prepare to eat the animals living there. Kion was able to use the power of the Roar of the Elders to defeat them and create a tornado to send Makucha and the rest of his army far away from the Tree to never be seen or heard from again.
==Relationships==
===Friends/Acquaintances===
====Makucha's Leap====
Whenever Makucha sees the Lion Guard, his leap of leopards obey their leader's order, but eventually, they get defeated, retreating from battles against their enemies.
====Chuluun====
Makucha and Chuluun are good friends. They started working together in "Ghost of the Mountain." They tried to defeat the Lion Guard and the Night Pride once they arrived to the Tree of Life. Even though they are defeated, they're still good friends.
====Ora====
Makucha and Ora are good friends. They started working together in "Dragon Island." They tried to defeat the Lion Guard and the Night Pride once they arrived to the Tree of Life. Even though they are defeated, they're still good friends.
====Mama Binturong====
Makucha and Mama Binturong are good friends. They started working together in "Little Old Ginterbong." They tried to defeat the Lion Guard and the Night Pride. Even though they are defeated, they're still good friends.
====Fahari and Jiona====
Makucha, Fahari, and Jiona are good friends. He and the other two aforementioned leopards begin working together to go after the Lion Guard from reaching the Tree of Life to eat the rare animals. By "Triumph of the Roar", Fahari and Jiona add reinforcements to Makucha's army after being defeated while trying to survive the harmattan. Makucha is still good friends with Fahari and Jiona, despite their defeats.
====Smun and his prickle====
Smun and the other porcupines helped Makucha's army get stronger in the episode "Triumph of the Roar".
===Enemies===
====Ajabu====
As the okapi's main prey, Makucha was the reason he invaded Ajabu's territory, hoping he would be safe. However, he suspiciously stalks Ajabu thinking the okapi is his prey, only retreating when the Lion Guard protects Ajabu from the leopard.
====Kion====
Makucha and Kion have been enemies ever since "The Imaginary Okapi." In "The Harmattan" while going to the Tree of Life, Makucha and his leap tried to get rid of the Lion Guard. In "Triumph of the Roar", Kion blasted Makcuha away with his Roar.
====Bunga, Fuli, Beshte, and Ono====
Makucha hates the rest of the members of the Lion Guard since they chased him out of the Pride Lands. Makucha even followed them to the Tree of Life.
====Makini====
Makucha tried to attack Makini in "The Wisdom of Kongwe." He even tried to get rid of her in "The Harmattan."
====Anga====
Makucha hates Anga since she was a new member of the Lion Guard.
====Rani and the Night Pride====
Makucha hates Rani and all the other members of the Night Pride since she and all the other members wouldn't allow him into the Tree of Life. This is because like all other members of his army, he doesn't respect the Circle of Life.
====Varya====
Makucha has tried to kill Varya the tiger and her cubs before they could reach the Tree of Life.
====Kongwe====
Kongwe nearly becomes a meal for the leopard after he spots her and admits that she is a tasty delicacy but is forced to leave by Fuli but later returns, claiming to have waited for too long and is ready to feast.
Luckily for the tortoise, her wise words are able to help Fuli defeat him and once she does, he claims to have lost his taste for the tortoise by listening to her and also studying his movements.
====Dhahabu====
Dhahabu realizes that the evil leopard is a threat after failing to try and reason with him on sharing water and he tries to hurt her.
She is later used by Makucha as blackmail to try and make the Lion Guard leave, only to be kicked away by the golden zebra and then run off defeated.
Despite perhaps being another "free meal" for the leopard, he fails to attack her and later only uses her to try and get what he wants although she does not seem to be a huge enemy of Makucha.
====Thurston====
Makucha and Thurston are enemies. When Thurston tells Makucha not to eat him, Makucha says he's looking for someone more tastier.
==Trivia==
*Makucha is the third leopard to appear in The Lion King franchise. The first and second being King Leopold and Princess Claudia, who appeared in the Timon & Pumbaa episode "No-Good Samaritan".
*Apparently, leopards are not native to the Pride Lands and the grazing animals have no defenses against them, making Makucha what is considered an invasive species.
*Real leopards and lions are enemies; lions in the wild often steal from leopards or kill them to rid themselves of a rival competitor. The same can be said of leopards and cheetahs, with the former often willing to kill the latter or steal prey from it.
*Makucha vaguely resembles Sabor from Tarzan and shares her persistence in pursuit of prey.
*He is one of the four villains not to be associated with Scar during season 2. The others being Mapigano, Mpishi, and the Outsiders.
*He is the second villain after Scar who created a group to get revenge on the Lion Guard and achieve his goals by gathering enemies from different species.
==Gallery==
The-imaginary-okapi (166).png|"Name's Makucha, lion"
The Imaginary Okapi 16.png
The-imaginary-okapi (189).png|Makucha escapes the Lion Guard
The-imaginary-okapi (191).png
The-imaginary-okapi (331).png|"Look who's here"
The Imaginary Okapi 44.png
The-imaginary-okapi (374).png
The-imaginary-okapi (398).png|Makucha chases Ajabu
The Imaginary Okapi 14.png
The-imaginary-okapi (408).png
The-imaginary-okapi (411).png|Makucha lunges
The-imaginary-okapi (414).png|Makucha is kicked by Ajabu
The-imaginary-okapi (421).png|"Now you're just making me mad!"
The-imaginary-okapi (447).png
The Imaginary Okapi 57.png|"So leopards say hello with their teeth?"
The-imaginary-okapi (456).png|"So what?"
The Imaginary Okapi 58.png
The Imaginary Okapi 03.png|"I can fight two at once!"
The-imaginary-okapi (469).png|Makucha and Bunga
The Imaginary Okapi 29.png
The Imaginary Okapi 34.png
The-imaginary-okapi (484).png|"Not even an Okapi is worth this"
The-imaginary-okapi (493).png|Makucha leaves the Pride Lands
The-golden-zebra (40).png|The Lion Guard's second encounter with Makucha
The-golden-zebra (45).png|Makucha refutes to let the Lion Guard pass
The-golden-zebra (53).png|Makucha tries to attack Ono
The-golden-zebra (58).png|Beshte rear-ends Makucha
The-golden-zebra (65).png
The-golden-zebra (72).png|Bunga jumps over Makucha
The-golden-zebra (77).png|Kion Swats Makucha
The-golden-zebra (88).png|Makucha reluctantly lets the Lion Guard pass
The-golden-zebra (464).png
The-golden-zebra (465).png
The-golden-zebra (470).png
The-golden-zebra (474).png|"Actually I do"
The-golden-zebra (477).png|"You're Lunch!"
The-golden-zebra (480).png|Makucha about to attack Dahabu
The-golden-zebra (492).png|"This time, I brought my friends"
The-golden-zebra (493).png|Makucha's leap
The-golden-zebra (519).png
The-golden-zebra (566).png
The-golden-zebra (571).png
The-golden-zebra (592).png|Duhabu kicks Makucha
The-golden-zebra (594).png
The-golden-zebra (596).png
The-golden-zebra (607).png|Makucha's 2nd defeat
The-wisdom-of-kongwe (317).png
The-wisdom-of-kongwe (320).png|Makucha confronts Makini and Kongwe
The-wisdom-of-kongwe (323).png
The-wisdom-of-kongwe (326).png|Fuli tells Makucha to "Back Off!"
The-wisdom-of-kongwe (458).png|Fuli races against Makucha
Makucha Third Defeat.jpg|Makucha's 3rd defeat
The Harmattan (40).png
The Harmattan (41).png
The Harmattan (81).png
Chuluun Makucha Defeated.jpg
pl:Makucha
Category:Characters
Category:The Lion Guard characters
Category:Leopards and cheetahs
Category:Males
Category:TV Animation characters
Category:Disney Jr. characters
Category:Hunters
Category:Villains
Category:African characters
Category:Anthropomorphic characters
Category:Disney characters
Category:Presumably Deceased characters
Category:Animated characters
Category:Adults
Category:Main antagonists