Simba (2019 film)

Simba is a male lion. He is the king of Pride Rock who succeeded Scar. He is the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, and the mate of Nala, with whom he has a daughter, Kiara.
Simba was born the prince heir of Pride Rock. Growing up, he was taught by his father, Mufasa, to respect the Circle of Life and defend the animals of the Pride Lands. However, when he was still a cub, his uncle Scar murdered Mufasa, blamed Simba for the death, and convinced the cub to flee the kingdom. For many seasons, Simba took refuge with a meerkat named Timon and a warthog named Pumbaa in the jungle, during which he embraced a carefree "Hakuna Matata" lifestyle and turned his back on his past.
Eventually, Simba's childhood friend, Nala, found him in the jungle and implored him to return to the Pride Lands and take his place as the rightful king. Rafiki similarly reminded Simba of his past and facilitated his communion with Mufasa's spirit. Moved by his encounter with his father, Simba returned to the Pride Lands and challenged Scar for the throne. After an extended battle, Simba and his allies emerged victorious, and Simba became the new king of Pride Rock.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Simba was born to Mufasa, the reigning monarch of Pride Rock, and his mate, Sarabi. Due to his status as Mufasa's firstborn and only son, he was expected to someday inherit the throne of Pride Rock.
Shortly after Simba's birth, Mufasa called the Pride Landers to Pride Rock to witness the cub's presentation. Rafiki arrived for the ceremony and anointed Simba, after which he presented the cub to the gathered animals. They, in turn, cheered and bowed to Simba.
After the ceremony, Scar lamented how he was no longer the second in line to the throne. Mufasa confronted Scar about his absence at Simba's presentation, but Scar merely feigned ignorance. Though Mufasa asserted that Simba was the rightful king, Scar responded sarcastically, then turned his back on his brother.
===Cubhood===
====Visit to the Elephant Graveyard====
Seasons passed, and Simba grew into a lively young cub. One morning, he woke up his father and begged to be taken on a patrol around the Pride Lands. Amused by his son's enthusiasm, Mufasa led Simba to the top of Pride Rock and showed him the kingdom. As the sun rose over the Pride Lands, Mufasa declared that Simba would become king someday and that everything the light touched would be his to protect. Simba wondered how far the kingdom's borders extended, and Mufasa forbid him to ever visit the shadowy place.
The two left Pride Rock behind and walked through the open grasslands, during which Mufasa taught Simba about the Circle of Life. Just then, Zazu arrived and began to deliver his morning report to Mufasa. As Zazu talked, Mufasa encouraged Simba to practice his pouncing. Simba managed to pounce on Zazu and knock him to the ground, and Mufasa congratulated him on a job well-done. No sooner had this happened when Zazu reported that there were hyenas in the Pride Lands, and Mufasa took off to deal with the threat. Though Simba wished to accompany him, Mufasa ordered him to go home.
With Mufasa gone, Simba followed Zazu back to Pride Rock. He attempted to catch a beetle but failed. Scar commented on his poor hunting skills, and Simba declared that he would someday be the king of the Pride Lands. During their conversation, Scar let slip that there was an Elephant Graveyard beyond the borders of the Pride Lands and that only adults were allowed to venture there.
After his conversation with Scar, Simba hastened to where his friend, Nala, was being bathed by her mother and urged her to come play with him at the water hole. However, before the cubs could depart, Sarabi instructed Simba to bring Zazu with them.
With Zazu flying overhead, Simba and Nala journeyed to the water hole. Along the way, Zazu informed them that they would someday be married, and both cubs reacted with disgust. Simba asserted that he would not have to marry anyone, as he would be the king. Zazu argued that Simba could not break with tradition, to which Simba declared that he would do everything his way. Together, the cubs raced away through a crowd of animals at the water hole, and Zazu lost sight of them.
After losing Zazu, Simba and Nala began to play-fight. In the process, they accidentally tumbled into the Elephant Graveyard. Once they realized where they were, they began to explore the area. Nala warned Simba that they should return home, but he insisted that they would now be treated like adults. Just then, Shenzi and her clan arrived and surrounded the cubs. Zazu intervened, warning Shenzi that she would be starting a war with Mufasa if she hurt Simba, but she declared that hyenas and lions were already at war.
At Shenzi's word, the hyenas attacked Simba and Nala, who fled into a network of tunnels. Eventually, the cubs broke free of the underground and found themselves once more surrounded by hyenas. Just before they could be eaten, Mufasa arrived and fended off the hyena clan. He warned Shenzi to never hurt his son again, then led Simba and Nala out of the Elephant Graveyard.
Once back in the Pride Lands, Mufasa ordered Zazu to escort Nala home. He then chastised Simba for his disobedience and declared that one should only be brave when they had to be. Simba asserted that Mufasa was not scared of anything, but Mufasa admitted that he had been afraid to lose Simba. The two had a playful scuffle, and Simba asked his father if they would always be together. In answer, Mufasa taught Simba about the Great Kings of the Past, who lived among the stars and watched over the lions of the Pride Lands. He then promised to always watch over his son.
====Stampede and Mufasa's death====
The next morning, Scar brought Simba to the gorge and told him to practice his roar in order to impress his father. Simba did so and managed to scare off a lizard. No sooner had he done this when a stampede of wildebeests burst into the gorge. Simba fled the stampede and took refuge on a dead tree.
Meanwhile, Scar warned Mufasa about the stampede and led him to the gorge. Immediately, Mufasa jumped into the fray and bore Simba to safety. Before he himself could escape the stampede, the wildebeests drew him back into the herd, and he only narrowly managed to jump back onto the side of the gorge. As he began to climb up the steep gorge wall, Simba rushed up to meet him at the top. However, as Mufasa reached the rim of the gorge, Scar grabbed him by the paws and heaved him off the side of the cliff to his death. Simba reached the top of the gorge just in time to see his father fall.
Once the stampede had cleared, Simba climbed back down to the floor of the gorge, where he found Mufasa's lifeless body. As the cub grieved, Scar approached and blamed Simba for his father's death. He then urged Simba to run away, and the cub obeyed without question. Per Scar's orders, Shenzi and her clan pursued Simba through the gorge, only to lose him over a ledge. Shenzi ordered her lackeys, Azizi and Kamari, to check that the cub was dead, but they did not follow through on her orders, as they believed that the fall was too high for a cub to have survived.
====Self-exile to the jungle====
Simba crossed a desert and passed out beneath the scorching sun. However, just as vultures began to pick at his body, a meerkat named Timon and a warthog named Pumbaa arrived and fended off the flock. Upon realizing that Simba was still alive, Pumbaa asked if they could keep the cub as a pet, and Timon reluctantly agreed, as he believed that Simba could protect them once he got older.
Upon waking, Simba told the two that he had done something terrible. They, in turn, urged him to forget his past and embrace the present with no worries. They led him to their jungle home and took him in as one of their friends. Over the seasons, he grew up with them and left his past life behind.
===Young adulthood===
====Reunion with Nala====
As a young adult, Simba attempted to play with his jungle friends, but they deliberately avoided him. Timon and Pumbaa gently explained that he was a predator now and that many animals were afraid to spend time with him. That night, the three sat together and wondered what stars were. Simba shared his father's story about the Great Kings of the Past, but Timon and Pumbaa merely laughed at it. Saddened, Simba walked off, and a tuft of his mane flew off in the wind. The tuft of mane was carried across the savanna by various means until it reached Rafiki in his tree. This made the mandrill realize that Simba was still alive.
Back in the jungle, a full-grown Nala attempted to hunt Pumbaa, only to be thwarted by Simba. The two scuffled until Nala used a familiar fighting trick, which made Simba realize her identity. The two had a joyous reunion. However, as they talked, Nala told Simba that he must return to the Pride Lands, as Scar had taken over the kingdom and become a tyrannical king. Unwilling to face his past, Simba instead invited Nala on a tour of the jungle. While on the tour, the two began to fall in love, and Timon and Pumbaa lamented how Simba was leaving their friendship trio.
Eventually, Nala confronted Simba about why he had not returned to Pride Rock, and Simba explained that he was not the rightful king. Nala argued that Scar was a tyrant, but Simba refused to return home with her. Disappointed and angry, Nala bid him farewell and left.
====Communion with Mufasa's spirit====
Simba wandered off, muttering to himself that he did not need to return to the Pride Lands. Along the way, he ran into Rafiki, who revealed that he had once known Mufasa. He promised to show Simba that his father was still alive, and Simba followed him on a run through the jungle. Eventually, Rafiki stopped beside a pool and urged Simba to look into the water. Upon doing what Rafiki had requested, Simba declared that he could only see his reflection, but Rafiki asserted that Mufasa lived on inside Simba.
Just then, Mufasa's ghost appeared and spoke to Simba through a lightning storm. He commanded his son to return to the Pride Lands and take his place as the king of Pride Rock. Moved by his father's words, Simba agreed to return home.
====Battle for Pride Rock====
Simba raced across the desert and managed to catch up with Nala. Together, they journeyed across the desert until they arrived in the Pride Lands. Timon and Pumbaa arrived shortly afterward and pledged their services to Simba. While Timon and Pumbaa distracted the hyenas, Simba and Nala hastened to Pride Rock. Once there, Simba saw Scar demanding that Sarabi be his queen. When she refused, Scar attacked her.
Enraged, Simba roared and ordered Scar to get away from his mother. Though Sarabi and Scar initially mistook Simba for Mufasa, Scar soon realized that Simba was still alive. In the face of Simba's demands to abdicate the throne, Scar declared that the hyenas recognized him as the rightful king, but Nala argued that the pride stood with Simba. Simba then offered Scar an ultimatum: step down or fight. Instead of giving in, Scar accused Simba of having murdered Mufasa and called him a coward. He proceeded to back Simba to the edge of Pride Rock until the younger lion was hanging from the promontory by his claws. With Simba still in a prone position, Scar revealed in an undertone that he, in fact, had killed Mufasa. Fueled by rage, Simba attacked Scar and demanded that he confess his crimes before the pride. Scar refused, but the pride saw through his lies and attacked. The hyenas jumped to Scar's defense, and the two groups engaged in a battle.
As the hyenas and lionesses fought, Simba chased Scar to the top of Pride Rock, where Scar attempted to blame his crimes on the hyenas. Simba did not believe Scar's story and commanded that he leave the Pride Lands forever. In response, Scar attacked Simba, and the two lions engaged in a fight. After a short but vicious battle, Simba overpowered Scar and threw him off Pride Rock into the burning flames below. There, he was betrayed and set upon by his own hyena minions.
====Coronation====
With Scar dead, Simba took his place as the king of Pride Rock. In time, the Pride Lands returned to its former glory, and Simba presented his newborn daughter to the Pride Landers.
==Physical appearance==
As an infant, Simba was small and had blue eyes. As a cub, he was small but stocky, and his fur was slightly fuzzy. Additionally, his eyes were gold. He had golden-brown fur, black lips, a white muzzle, a black tail tuft, and a dark stripe down his forehead.
As a young adult, Simba grew to be much larger and stronger, and gained a smoother, sleeker coat. His size and physique were somewhere in-between that of his father, Mufasa, and that of his uncle, Scar; he was slightly smaller and leaner than Mufasa but slightly larger and sturdier than Scar. He had a brown mane that was darker at the back and lighter at the front. His mane was thinner than Mufasa's but thicker than Scar's.
==Personality and traits==
As a cub, Simba was energetic, adventurous, and playful. Due to his role as the future king, he developed an inflated ego and liked to boast about his own capabilities. He disliked being treated like a cub and strove to prove himself, to the point that he would deliberately put himself in danger just to show off his bravery. Once he set his mind on something, he could not be talked out of it by others, even his close friends, and would refuse to consider the consequences of his actions.
Oftentimes, Simba behaved rashly out of admiration for his father, Mufasa, whom he believed was utterly fearless and able to do anything. He longed to become a king just like his father and constantly vied for Mufasa's attention, even if it meant disobeying the king's direct orders. Losing his father took a heavy toll on Simba, so much so that he suffered severe depression in the seasons afterward and made many efforts to suppress all memories of his past life. Because of the grief and emotional vulnerability that Mufasa's death had caused him, Simba adopted Timon and Pumbaa's carefree lifestyle and attempted to live in blissful ignorance. He thought nothing of his responsibilities and even dismissed the notion of the Circle of Life, which his father had taught him about.
Upon reaching adulthood, Simba remained rather childish and was completely oblivious to the fact that some of the jungle animals were afraid of him due to his status as a predator. Even so, he sometimes lapsed into periods of contemplation and grief, such as when he recounted Mufasa's story about the Great Kings of the Past to Timon and Pumbaa. It took encouragement from Rafiki and Mufasa's spirit for Simba to finally regain his courage and reclaim his birthright as the king of Pride Rock. Determined and driven, Simba led his pride into battle against Scar and the hyenas, and proved his own ferocity and power in the ensuing fight. Though Scar confessed his role in Mufasa's death, Simba spared his uncle's life, as he realized that taking revenge would make him no different than Scar.
==Appearances==
==Trivia==
* Simba was voiced by JD McCrary as a cub and Donald Glover as an adult.
* Chance the Rapper originally auditioned for the role of Simba but lost out to Donald Glover.
* Young Simba was modeled after lion cubs from the Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya.
* In the novelization, Simba was aware that the hyenas had overheard Scar's betrayal and left Scar to their mercy after throwing him off Pride Rock.
==References==
Category:Characters
Category:The Lion King (2019 film) characters
Category:Lions
Category:Males
Category:Mufasa: The Lion King characters
Category:Pride Landers
Category:Pride Lands royal family
Category:Rulers of Pride Rock