Kiara (The Lion King)

Kiara is the main protagonist of the 1998 film The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and a supporting character in the TV series The Lion Guard. She is Simba and Nala's daughter and eldest child, and Kion's older sister. She is also Kovu's best friend, and later his mate. 
In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, she is voiced by Michelle Horn (speaking) and Charity Sanoy (singing) as a cub and as an adolescent, she is voiced by Neve Campbell (speaking), who also portrayed Sidney Prescott and Liz Callaway (singing). She is voiced by Eden Riegel (who also voices Yuna Kamihara) in The Lion Guard as both a cub and an adolescent.
==Overview==
Kiara shares many traits with her parents and grandparents. Like Nala, her fur and belly are both a cream color with a noticeable tinge of gold given to her by Simba, which results in a light creamy gold pelt.
She has brownish-red eyes, which she inherited from Simba and Mufasa. The only other features Kiara seems to get from Queen Nala are her build, eyebrows, tail tuft color, and eye shape. Like Nala, she doesn't have ear rims.
Unlike most of the lionesses in The Lion King universe, Kiara stays one consistent color throughout the film, instead of darkening with age like her predecessors. She closely resembled her paternal grandmother Sarabi when she was an adolescent.
She isn't very large in terms of height either, only coming up to Nala's shoulder and Simba's chest. Kovu easily dwarfs her in size, as well as every other leonine character in the movie. This is probably because, as an adolescent, she hasn't finished growing yet.
==Personality==
Kiara possesses the qualities, traits, personality, and vision to be the best queen there is, giving her the characteristics of a true heroine. She is kind, loyal, strong, moral, and the voice of reason for the Pride Lands and the Outlands. Unlike her friends Tifu and Zuri, she isn't afraid to run around and get dirty and she believes there are more important things than appearance. She is willing to fight for peace and forgive her enemies. Like her younger brother Kion, she follows her heart when it comes to making the right decisions.
As a cub, Kiara is a bit mischievous and playful as her father was when he was a cub. She gets slightly frustrated with her father's overprotectiveness and Timon and Pumbaa's babysitting. Like her parents when they were cubs, Kiara also got herself into trouble when she goes beyond the Pride Lands. Despite all this, she is very friendly and kind, as she became friends with Kovu, an Outsider cub she should be wary of. Unlike Simba, however, she has no desire to be the future Queen.
At some point later in her cubhood, Kiara becomes more accepting of her destiny as future Queen. She also begins hanging out with Tifu and Zuri who can be snarky at times. Kiara at times can show to be a little too proud to be queen towards her little brother Kion, who equally shows his own over proudness to his sister about being the leader of the Lion Guard. At the end of the day, they resolve their differences as they do have a close bond. As the seasons progress, Kiara's relationship with her brother grows much stronger. Kiara is also seen taking her duty as a queen more responsibly. More so when Scar has returned and she does not appreciate it when pride landers, especially her friends call the Lion Guard for ridiculous reasons. 
When Kiara becomes an adolescent, she retains her playful, kind natured self. However, she wants to be more independent. She becomes more against her father's overprotectiveness and it causes tension between them. She becomes closer to Kovu as the film progresses. Additionally, her wisdom shines through as she becomes the voice of reason as she fought for peace between the feuding Pridelanders and Outsiders. 
==Biography==
===The Lion King II: Simba's Pride===
====Cub====
In the beginning, Simba and Nala bring a newborn Kiara to Rafiki who presents her to the animals of the Pride Lands and also Mufasa's ghost before painting a marking on her forehead. Pumbaa and Timon begin to discuss about teaching Kiara and mistakenly believe that she is a male, but Rafiki corrects them causing them to faint.
Months later, Kiara, now a young cub, prepares to go off to play, but is stopped by Simba who tells her to be careful (something he has told Kiara many times as she knows it all by heart) and to stay away from the Outlands, the home of the Outsiders. After Kiara leaves, Simba, against the advice of Nala, sends Timon and Pumbaa to keep an eye on her. Kiara starts to chase a butterfly which leads to the Outlands. Just then, Timon and Pumbaa appear behind and she falls into water and Pumbaa drives in to save her but ends up landing on her. After getting out of the water, Kiara sneaks away whilst Timon and Pumbaa are arguing about what grubs are better: slimy or crunchy. Eventually Kiara reaches the Outlands where she meets another cub named Kovu.
In the lands, she and Kovu get attacked by hungry crocodiles until they escaped. After escaping the two cubs start to play, but then Simba (along with Nala, Timon, Pumbaa and two lionesses) appears, then Kovu's mother and the Outsiders' leader Zira, who talks of how Kovu was chosen by Scar to be his heir, prior to Simba banishing the Outsiders.
After returning to the Pride Lands, Simba scolds Kiara for wandering off and says that one day, he will not be here and needs Kiara to carry on in his place. Simba says that Kiara has to be careful as future Queen. Kiara then asks what if she doesn't want to be Queen, to which Simba replies saying that it's like saying she doesn't want to be a lion, as it's in her blood as he is before singing "We Are One" and takes Kiara back to Pride Rock. Along the way, they see other young animals and their parents (e.g. a young bird trying to fly, a young wildebeest learning to walk and a young hippo playing in the water). After returning to Pride Rock, Simba tells Kiara that as long as she lives here, it's who she is and tells her that she will understand someday.
After Simba goes into Pride Rock, Kiara watches the young bird fly around and then fly off into the sunset.
====Adolescence====
Years later, Kiara, now an adolescent, is preparing to go on her first hunt and is wished good luck by the other lionesses before going to join her parents. Kiara is assured by Nala that she will do just fine, to which Kiara looks up to her and smiles. Noticing her father's uneasiness, Kiara asks Simba to promise to let her do it on her own. Though he promises to, he goes against his word by sending Timon and Pumbaa after her when she is gone. After running into Timon and Pumbaa, Kiara guesses that her father sent them and is angered that he broke his promise, stating that she should have known that Simba would not have given her a real chance. Kiara then goes off to hunt away from the Pride Lands. Timon and Pumbaa try to follow her, but lose track of her. Just as Kiara is about to hunt antelopes, they run off and Kiara notices fire and runs to safety. She manages to escape the flames by climbing up a rock. Kiara then collapses to the ground in exhaustion, before noticing a young male lion looking down at her, but loses consciousness before she talk to him. The lion then puts Kiara on his back and takes her to safety. After waking up, Kiara is at first angry at the lion for bringing her back to the Pride Lands, but changes her mind when she realizes that he is Kovu just as Simba and Nala arrive, having noticed the fire. As Nala gives her a relieved nuzzle, Kiara confronts Simba over not keeping his word, to which Simba replies that it's a good thing he did as he almost lost her, before banning Kiara from hunting ever again, out of fear of losing her. After learning that Kiara was saved by Kovu, who asks to join the Pridelanders, Simba is at first, reluctant to because Kovu is an Outsider, but has to go by the law of owing debts, much to Kiara's happiness. That night as the pride return to Pride Rock, Simba makes Kovu stay outside the den where Kiara thanks him for saving her. Simba calls for Kiara to come inside, to which she does, but not before making a deal with Kovu to teach her to hunt. Unbeknownst to Kiara and the pride, the fire had been set by Kovu's siblings Nuka and Vitani so Kovu could save Kiara to earn Simba's trust in order to kill him and replace him as King as part of Zira's plan to avenge Scar's death.
The next day, Kiara and Kovu meet Timon and Pumbaa and help them chase away birds that are eating the bugs, then running into a herd of rhinos on a gorge. The quartet escape the rhinos by hiding in a tight gap in a rock. As they get out of the gap, Kiara and Kovu accidentally kiss, which causes them to laugh awkwardly, before leaving with Timon and Pumbaa. Later that night, Kiara and Kovu are stargazing when Kiara tells Kovu about how Simba told her about the Great Kings of the Past, to which Kovu asks if Scar is up there. Kiara replies that Simba had said that there was a darkness in Scar that he couldn't escape, making Kovu wonder if he himself has a darkness in him. Soon after, they are taken to an imaginary world called "Upendi" by Rafiki where the two young lions fall in love.
The next day, Kovu comes to Kiara to talk to her, but Simba arrives saying he wants to talk to Kovu. Later that day, whilst out with Timon, Pumbaa and Zazu, Kiara sees Simba limping in the distance and tells Zazu to get help. She, Timon and Pumbaa rush over to Simba who upon being asked what happened to him, he spits out Kovu and Ambush before collapsing, which Kiara cannot believe as Pumbaa carries Simba back to Pride Rock. Back at Pride Rock, Kiara is with Nala at Simba's side and tells Simba that it can't be true about Kovu being part of Zira's ambush. Upon seeing Kovu coming towards Pride Rock, Kiara goes to greet him, but is stopped by Simba who confronts Kovu for coming back and refuses to listen to Kovu's side of the story whilst Kiara watches on with Nala and the other lionesses. When Kiara tries to convince Simba to listen to Kovu, he shouts at her to be silent before banishing Kovu from the Pride Lands, much to Kiara and Nala's horror. Kiara then leaves Nala's side to try and intervene, only to stopped by two of the lionesses, who glare angrily at her for wanting take Kovu's side over her father's. Kiara then sadly calls out to Kovu as Simba watches him being chased away by the Pride Lands animals. Kiara manages to push past the two lionesses, only to be stopped by another two. After Kovu is gone, watched on by the four lionesses, Kiara and Simba get into a heated argument. Kiara approaches Simba and pleads with him to reconsider his decision. Simba, who is not having it, tells Kiara that she will not go anywhere without an escort from now on. Kiara starts to protest, but Simba cuts her off and states that Kovu had used her to get to him. Kiara explains Kovu loves her for herself. Simba angrily snaps back that it's because she is his daughter and tells her that she will not leave Pride Rock so he can keep on eye on her away from Kovu. Kiara tells Simba that he does not know Kovu the way she does. Simba believes Kovu is following in Scar's paw prints and he must follow his father's. However, Simba is unaware, his father wanted Kiara and Kovu together in the first place to bring peace between Pridelanders and the Outsiders and Simba's actions have ironically violated Mufasa's will and broken the Circle of Life. Fed up at her father's obstinate attitude, Kiara declares her father will never be Mufasa (suggesting that in Kiara's eyes, Mufasa would've forgiven Kovu for his former involvement with the Outlanders or at least seen that the ambush was not his fault). Simba stands there in silence while Kiara runs into Pride Rock in tears. Kiara notices a hole and crawls through it to get out of Pride Rock, without Simba and the pride noticing.
Kiara then sets out to find Kovu and eventually finds him and they have a heartfelt reunion. When Kovu suggests that they run away to start their own pride, Kiara tells him that they have to go back, saying that their place is within their pride and that if they run away, the prides would be divided forever. They race back to the Pride Lands and witness their prides fighting. Just as Simba and Zira are about to fight, Kiara and Kovu jump between them, much to the surprise of both of them. When Simba tells Kiara to stand aside, she tells him that the fighting has to stop. Simba tells Kiara to stay out of it, but Kiara reminds him of what he told her as a cub about them being one, saying that she did not understand then, but now she does. Simba begins to protest about the Outsiders, but Kiara tells him that the Outsiders are them and questions her father on what differences he sees. This causes Simba to renounce his previous attitude and reconcile with Kiara, realizing she's right and coming to his senses about how prejudiced and foolish he's been acting because of his own hatred of the Outsiders and their loyalty to his late uncle. Kovu's sister Vitani and the other Outsiders also agree with Kiara and rejoin the Pridelanders. Only Zira refuses peace and she tries to attack Simba, but Kiara leaps in to defend her father and crashes into Zira and the two lioness fall over the edge of the cliff side. Kiara lands on a ledge whilst Zira hangs onto it. Kiara attempts to save her, but the evil lioness angrily refuses and falls to her death just moments before Simba arrives to pull Kiara back up to the top of the cliff where she is reunited with a relieved Nala and Kovu. A remorseful Simba allows Kovu and the other Outsiders to rejoin the pride. The day after, the Outsiders and Pridelanders are rejoined and peace is restored. Kiara marries Kovu with Rafiki blessing their union as her parents, the pride, Zazu, Timon and Pumbaa look on happily. Kiara and Kovu then go with Simba and Nala to roar in celebration at the peak of Pride Rock as the animals of the Pride Lands watch on. Mufasa then speaks from the heavens, commending his son for a job well done on having realized his mistakes and mended the Circle of Life.
===The Lion Guard===
Kiara appears in this series, which takes place after she first meets Kovu and before she encounters him again as an adolescent.
She first appears at the start of the series's 2015 pilot film The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar where Simba is teaching her about being future Queen, only to be interrupted by her brother Kion and his honey badger friend Bunga playing Baobab Ball, much to Kiara's annoyance. Simba tells Kion that Kiara is going to track gazelles with her friends before Kiara starts to remind Kion that she's going to be Queen, only for an annoyed Kion to butt in and finish the sentence for her. Kiara replies that at least she has her life figured out and questions Kion on what he is going to grow up to be (since he is second born and won't directly inherit the throne unless Kiara abdicates or doesn't have cubs) to which Kion replies "Happy". The two cubs are then separated by Simba, who sends Kion and Bunga to play their game elsewhere. As she watches her brother leave, Kiara tells Simba that she can't believe she and Kion are related, to which Simba replies that he hopes Kion will grow up someday.
Kiara is later seen when she and her friend Tiifu look on as her other friend Zuri gets her claws stuck in a log (as she had been sharping them, which she had been doing on every tree she passed), but Timon and Pumbaa are able to free Zuri. Bunga then reveals that Kion is has been made leader of the Lion Guard by Simba and has made Bunga the first member. Kiara questions Kion if Simba knows about this (putting Bunga on the team) to which Kion replies that Simba told him about The Lion Guard and for him to find the Pride Lands best. Kiara, along with Kion, Tiffu, Zuri, Timon, and Pumbaa, listens to Bunga singing "Zuka Zama".
She later tells Simba about Kion putting Bunga in The Lion Guard and proves this to him when Zazu leads them and Tiifu to Kion, Bunga, Beshte, Fuli, and Ono. Simba thanks Kiara before sending her and Tiifu to track gazelles while he has a word with Kion. Kiara and Tiifu are later seen tracking gazelles with Kiara telling Tiifu that they can't take more than their fair share as it would break The Circle of Life. Kiara notices Janja and his clan going into the heart of the gazelle herd. Suspicious, Kiara sends Tiifu to get Simba while she keeps an eye on the herd.
But eventually, Kiara gets caught up in a stampede in the herd started by Janja and his clan. However, Kion and The Lion Guard come to her rescue by chasing the hyenas away while Bunga farts which causes the gazelles to go in another direction, before Kiara is delivered to safety next to Simba, Nala, Tiifu, and Rafiki (who had been watching from afar) and witnesses Kion defeat Janja.
Kiara continues to make recurring appearances throughout the first and second seasons, mostly learning how to be Queen, hanging out with Tiifu and Zuri or carrying out royal duties on behalf of her parents.
In the Season 3 opener "Battle for the Pride Lands" which takes place a year after Season 2, Kiara along with Simba and Nala become trapped after Pride Rock is set on fire by the followers of the spirit of Scar. Luckily, they are rescued by two eagles named Anga and Hadithi. Kiara along with the rest of the Pride Lands animals then witness Scar appear in the flames engulfing Pride Rock declaring that he cannot be stopped, however Kion says otherwise. After Scar is defeated, Kiara notices that Kion now has a scar over his right eye, which he got from Scar's snake ally Ushari. Kiara wishes Kion good luck as he and the rest of the Lion Guard (with new member Anga, who replaces Ono as Keenest of Sight after he begins to lose his eyesight after saving Bunga and Makini) leave the Pride Lands to search for the Tree of Life in order to heal Kion and Ono, with Nala hoping that the group return for Kiara's first hunt.
Kiara reappears at the final episode "Return to the Pride Lands" (which takes place sometime after The Lion King II: Simba's Pride) as an adolescent where she and Kovu stop a returning Lion Guard from fighting Vitani, who mistakes them for intruders. They explain to Kion that whilst he and the Lion Guard were away, the Outsiders joined the pride and Vitani formed a Lion Guard in the usual Guard's absence. That night, after the royal family meet with Mufasa's spirit, Kiara notices Kion staring at four stars in the sky, whom Kion says helped The Lion Guard get to The Tree of Life. He also says that seeing Kiara with Kovu remained him of a friend he made there named Rani, who is a queen. Kiara correctly guesses that Kion sees Rani as more than a friend and asks Kion if he misses Rani. When Kion says that he does, Kiara suggests that he could maybe return to The Tree of Life, saying that she is sure that Simba and Nala would understand.
Kiara later goes to the Tree of Life to witness Kion (who had retired from leading the Lion Guard and was succeeded by Vitani) marrying Rani and becoming the King of the Tree of Life.
===Comics===
====A Little Help From a Friend====
In the comic (which serves as a midquel to the film), Kiara wakes up Simba so he can show her the kingdom. During the tour however, Zazu arrives and alerts Simba of Outsiders being spotted near the Pride Lands's canyon. Kiara is left in the care of Timon and Pumbaa, much to her dismay.
Whilst Timon and Pumbaa are looking for bugs, Kiara (like in the film) takes this opportunity to sneak away and ends up running into another cub. At first, Kiara doesn't recognize him but she later on discovers that it is Kovu.
The princess is delighted and proceeds to invite her friend to come to the canyon with her so they can watch her father drive away the Outsiders together. To her disappointment, Kovu declines the offer as he wouldn't be welcomed. Dejectedly, Kiara begins to walk away, but then she realizes that it would be much more fun to stay and play with Kovu, so she turns around and starts up a game of tag with her former playmate.
As the cubs are playing, Kiara hears Pumbaa cry out for help. The two friends immediately race to the source of the voice and find that Timon is hanging unconscious from a vine in a tree. Quickly, they formulate a plan. While Kovu climbs up the tree and frees Timon, Kiara clambers onto Pumbaa's back and catches the meerkat as he falls. After laying Timon gently in Pumbaa's tusks, Kiara bids her friend farewell, as they both agree that he would not be welcome in the Pride Lands.
On the way back to Pride Rock, Timon revives and thanks Kiara for saving his life. The three friends then agree not to tell anyone about their encounter with Kovu, but to merely mention him as a friend. The story is later recounted to Simba, who praises his daughter for her quick thinking. Kiara accepts the thanks and then adds cheekily that many things are possible, if only with a little help from a friend.
==Songs Performed By Kiara==
*"We Are One" (The Lion King II: Simba's Pride)
*"Love Will Find A Way" (The Lion King II: Simba's Pride)
*"Hakuna Matata" (The Lion Guard)
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*Kiara’s character underwent several changes before her final iteration: 
**In early drafts, Kiara was named Shani, which translates to "accident", "adventure", and "curiosity" in Swahili. In other later, Kiara was named Aisha, roughly translating to "proper" in Swahili, as well as "Life" in Arabic. She was later renamed "Kiara" in the film’s final draft.
**Concept art shows that she was supposed to inherit her father’s cub-hair strands as well as her mother’s facial features.
**Kiara was originally supposed to have an older brother known as "Chaka", who was cut from the film.
**Shani was far more rebellious in nature, having rejected several suitors that had came her way, much to Simba’s frustration. Additionally, she had a group of friends assigned to her by Simba, of whom she did not get along with.
***One of her suitors would've been a supporting antagonist, placing a stake between her and Kovu.
**She would have fallen in love with and later married Scar’s son Kovu. This would've resulted in an incestuous relationship between them as first cousins once removed.
*Kiara is so far the only lioness from the royal family who wasn't betrothed to anyone at young age - it happened with Simba and Nala. However, Kiara was not betrothed to anyone, as there were no male cubs in the pride other than her brother Kion.
*It can be assumed that Kiara's adolescent self is meant to be the equivalent of an adult teenager, as her first hunt is implied to be a transitional ritual into adulthood.
*It is unknown how older Kiara is than Kion. Whether they are twins (with Kiara being the firstborn twin) or a few months apart is not confirmed.
*Though not outright mentioned, it is revealed in The Lion Guard episode "Paintings and Predictions" that Kiara has a great-granduncle who led the Lion Guard that saved her maternal grandfather after he fell from a tree as a cub.
*As The Lion King II: Simba's Pride is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, Kiara, due to being Kovu's love interest from a hostile family (The Pridelanders), is based on Juliet. She is also based on her parents, Simba and Nala.
*Kiara is like Princess Roxanne of the Jewel Kingdom in the following ways.
**They are both played by Michelle Horn in their childhoods, but Horn has a singing double for both characters.
**They are both princesses.
**Both princesses have problems with ruling.
**Both princesses like to go out into the world solo.
*Kiara serves as a lesson to Simba. If she and Kovu hadn't fallen in love, interfered with the final battle, and convinced her father to unite the two prides by using his previous advice of being together as one, he would've ended up becoming just like Zira and his wicked uncle, Scar.
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