Duke Meerkat

Duke Meerkat, also known as The Duke, is a character from the Timon & Pumbaa TV series. He is the chief of Timon's former colony and the father of Tatiana. He only appears in "Once Upon a Timon".
==Background==
===Personality===
As the chief of the colony, the Duke is very strict about the rules. He would banish or demote anyone who fails to perform their meerkat duty and will not accept a non-meerkat animal as an official member of the colony, as he refused to allow Pumbaa to live with them. On other occasions, if a meerkat does something heroic, such as rescuing his daughter from a predator like Timon did with the cobra, the Duke rewards them by offering them power, riches, and love.
The Duke is shown to be very caring toward his daughter. He banishes Timon from the colony for leaving his guard post, which caused a cobra to invade the colony and kidnap Tatiana. When Timon and Pumbaa return to the colony with Tatiana, the Duke is overjoyed to see his daughter still alive and the two share a hug.
===Physical Description===
The Duke is a dark brown meerkat with darker brown stripes, a creamy white chest, and a red nose. In addition to that, he wears a wooden hat with green hair at the top, a large silver nose ring, yellow stripes painted on his arms, and a big yellow necklace.
==Role in the series==
==="Once Upon a Timon"===
One day, the Duke leaves the colony, leaving Tatiana alone in the castle with Fred in charge of said castle. Fred, however, goes to a grocery to get a snack and then convinces Timon, who is guarding the back gate, that with the Duke gone, it's now his chance to go on a date with the princess.
Having thought about what Fred said, Timon goes along with it. He places a mop as a dummy to make it seem like the back gate is being guarded so that he can go speak with Tatiana. However, while Timon prepares for his date, a cobra passes through the back gate (as it was not convinced by the dummy trick) to invade the colony and kidnap Tatiana.
The meerkat guards realize that Timon left his post and they try to capture him. Timon manages to escape the guards, but then he gets caught by the Duke. Having heard about the loss of his daughter, the Duke puts Timon on trial and sentences him to life in banishment. As Timon leaves the colony, he sees Fred guarding the back gate, indicating that the Duke has demoted him for failing to protect the castle.
After Timon rescues Tatiana from the cobra, with the help of his then new friend Pumbaa, the Duke drops the charges against Timon and rewards him by giving him a key to the city for power, as well as some riches. Tatiana then offers Timon a hand in marriage.
With Timon now being the Duke's son-in-law, he tries to convince him to declare Pumbaa an official member of the meerkat society. But the Duke tells him that only meerkats are allowed to live in the colony and therefore, warthogs, are not welcomed. He then gives Timon a choice between Tatiana (and the riches) and Pumbaa.
When Timon chooses to stay with Pumbaa, the Duke exiles them from the colony. When Pumbaa asks Timon if he's sure he wants to give up all the stuff the Duke offered him, Timon suggests that they should not worry about it, which makes them come up with their problem-free philosophy Hakuna Matata.
==Gallery==
Duke 1.png
Timon on trial.png
Duke in court house.png
Duke 2.png
TatianaandDuke.png
Duke 3.png
OuatTimon&Duke.png
Duke 5.png
Duke 6.png
Duke 7.png
Duke 8.png
Duke 9.png
Duke 10.png
Duke 11.png
Duke 12.png
Category:Disney characters
Category:Meerkats
Category:Males
Category:Adults
Category:Kings
Category:Characters
Category:TV Animation characters
Category:Timon & Pumbaa characters
Category:Parents
Category:The Disney Afternoon characters
Category:Neutral characters