Porcupines

Porcupines are a species of animal native to the Pride Lands and the forest.
==Physical characteristics==
Porcupines are short, stocky animals with large heads and clusters of sharp, striped quills protruding from their backs and tails. They have furry hides, ranging in color from brown, black, tan, and gray, and eyes of either brown or black color. They also have large, bulbous noses, which can be either black or red, and many sport spiky tufts of fur on top of their heads.
==Sociocultural characteristics==
Porcupines live together in prickles, with the number of porcupines in a prickle ranging from two to six. Due to the volume of their quills, they dislike small spaces and are possessive of their personal space. However, they tend to huddle together when scared, which happens easily. Porcupines also make good spies, as seen in the case of Smun's prickle.
==History==
===The Lion Guard===
==="Bunga the Wise"===
When a sudden flood devastates the Pride Lands, the porcupine brothers' home, a hollowed-out log, is destroyed. The Lion Guard comes to the brothers' aid, fixing their home, and the brothers crawl back inside. As the Lion Guard takes their leave, they hear the porcupine brothers complaining about the cramped space inside the log.
==="Can't Wait to be Queen"===
Simba kisses a baby porcupine on the head during the musical sequence "Duties of the King".
==="Fuli's New Family"===
Bunga bounces a porcupine on his head. The porcupine then suggests that Bunga go play in a volcano to get rid of him, but attempts to call him back after Bunga agrees.
==="Beware the Zimwi"===
One night, the porcupine brothers listen to Rafiki tell a story about the fabled Zimwi monster. They react with worry when Rafiki mentions that the Zimwi only emerges during a full moon and Bunga points out that there is a full moon that very night. They are similarly spooked when Beshte makes strange noises while practicing for his audition with the Bellow Fellows.
After the story, the frightened porcupine brothers set off on their own. This leads to a series of misunderstandings in which various animals, including the Lion Guard, mistake the brothers for the Zimwi.
Eventually, the Lion Guard confronts the brothers, only to discover their true identity. The brothers then explain that they had huddled together due to their fright of the Zimwi and that the termite mound they had been standing on had made them appear much taller than they actually were.
==="Mama Binturong"===
In the forest, Smun spies on the Lion Guard and learns that they are looking for tuliza. He reports this to his matriarch, Mama Binturong. Smun later steals Makini's staff and retreats to his hideout, where he has a scuffle with Bunga and is defeated. Mama Binturong leaves the forest to pursue Bunga, and Smun comments that the forest won't be the same without her.
==="Triumph of the Roar"===
Smun and his prickle join Mama Binturong's army, and they plot to take over the Tree of Life. Mama Binturong tasks Smun and his prickle with keeping Ullu, the Night Pride's sentry, incapacitated. However, Ullu frightens Smun by turning her head around backwards and manages to escape the porcupines. Later, Smun and his allies are cornered by Kion, who uses a tornado conjured by the Roar of the Elders to sweep them up and send them away from the Tree of Life.
==Notable porcupines==
*Porcupine brothers
*Smun
==Appearances==
Category:Canon articles
Category:Species