Sal Mander

Sal Mander is the main antagonist of the Timon & Pumbaa TV series episode "You Bet Your Tuhkus".
==Background==
===Physical appearance===
Sal is a tall, green anthropomorphic salamander with blue eyes and blond hair. In addition to that, he wears a pink suit with a handkerchief in the pocket and a black bowtie.
===Personality===
At first, Sal is a rather feisty salamander. When his game show begins and when it's time for commercial break, he has a habit of licking his lips with his long tongue and winking as a signal or gesture.
When Timon and Pumbaa participate in his show, Sal reveals his more neutral side, as he supports cheaters and dislikes it when they get caught. This is due to his only concern being his ratings. During the second commercial break, Sal forces Pumbaa to cheat if he does not want Timon to get killed by the pointy sticks, making the warthog sob, therefore showing his cruel side. When Timon and Pumbaa win the Tuhkus Trophy, Sal is about to kill the duo with a pointy stick, showing his malicious, vengeful, and evil nature.
==Role in the series==
Pumbaa watches You Bet Your Tuhkus, which is hosted by Sal. After disqualifying two contestants for cheating, he announces that Timon and Pumbaa will be his contestants for the next week. Pumbaa reveals to Timon that he sent in their names. Timon refuses to participate in the show, but changes his mind when Sal announces that they will compete for the Tuhkus Trophy, which is worth a lot of money.
When they arrive at the game show, Timon and Pumbaa meet Sal backstage. Sal tells the duo that he will give them easy questions, but, much to Pumbaa's surprise and discomfort, also gives them answer sheets, revealing that he dislikes cheaters who get caught. Sal also states that his only concern are the ratings, to which Timon agrees, but Pumbaa is still reluctant.
When the game begins, Sal asks Timon and Pumbaa two questions (one for each of them), but the two answer each question wrong. Sal reveals that if a contestant gets an answer right or wrong, good or bad things happen to their partner. While on commercial break, Pumbaa tells Timon that he is against the idea of him and Sal trying to cheat, even if it's to win money. Timon tells his friend that it's not about money, it's about the Tuhkus Trophy, which is worth a lot of money. But the warthog still refuses to cheat.
On the second round, Sal announces the Tuhkus Challenge, introducing Tuhkus Mountain, which has two heart-pounding levels of do-or-die obstacles. Timon volunteers to go up the mountain while Pumbaa answers the questions. Sal tells a concerned Timon that he'll ask Pumbaa very easy questions, but gives Timon a helmet and pads just in case. While Timon climbs the waterfall of delicious food, Sal asks Pumbaa what color blueberries are. But Pumbaa, who still refuses to cheat, replies that he does not know, which causes Timon to get bitten by piranhas.
Timon makes it to level 2, which is the hilltop of horsey rides. In this level, Timon is surrounded by two horses, one who gives a happy ride and one who doesn't. In order for Timon to ride on the happy horse, Pumbaa has to answer the question right. Sal asks Pumbaa what horses eat. While Pumbaa is thinking, Timon throws his helmet at him in order for him to get the answer right, enabling the meerkat ride the happy horse and make it across.
For the last challenge, Timon has to cross a gorge of pointy sticks, which is challenging for him since he hates pointy sticks. When it's time for another commercial break, Sal warns Pumbaa that if he does not cheat like they agreed, Timon will get killed by all the pointy sticks. This causes the warthog to cry and agree to cheat, but only for the safety of his best friend.
Timon sees what's going on with Sal and Pumbaa, and the enraged meerkat confronts the salamander and protests against him forcing Pumbaa to cheat. Sal then decides that they will both face the gorge of pointy sticks. When Timon and Pumbaa get sent to the top of the gorge, they apologize to each other, with Pumbaa stating that he knows how much Timon hates pointy sticks and Timon saying that he knows how much Pumbaa hates cheating.
When Sal resumes the game, he threatens Timon and Pumbaa that they will fall off the flaming gorge of pointy sticks if they don't get the right answer to the question he's about to ask. He asks the duo the little-known name of Beethoven's last concerto in D-minor was. Pumbaa replies that there is no way that they could possibly know that, which, much to Sal's surprise, turns out to be the correct answer. Timon and Pumbaa rejoice over winning the game and grab the Tuhkus Trophy. However, Timon admits to Pumbaa that they didn't win the trophy fair and square. When a vengeful Sal prepares to kill Timon and Pumbaa with a pointy stick, the meerkat throws the trophy to Sal, who then falls and lands on the pointy sticks. Timon then tells Pumbaa that he not only learned that cheating is wrong and hurtful, but friendship is more important than winning.
==Trivia==
*His name is a play on his species, as he is a salamander.
==Gallery==
Ybyt.png|Sal hosting on TV
Ybyt2.png|Sal with Timon and Pumbaa
Ybyt3.png|Sal asking a question
Ybyt4.png|Sal announcing the Tuhkus Challenge
Ybyt5.png|Sal asking Pumbaa what color the blueberries are
Ybyt6.png|Sal getting confronted by Timon
Ybyt7.png|Sal asking Timon and Pumbaa a question about Beethoven's music piece
Ybyt8.png|Sal about to murder Timon and Pumbaa with a pointy stick
Category:Villains
Category:Males
Category:Timon & Pumbaa characters
Category:TV Animation characters
Category:Animated characters
Category:Disney characters
Category:Characters
Category:The Disney Afternoon characters
Category:Lizards
Category:Anthropomorphic characters
Category:Neutral characters
Category:Frogs
Category:Urodela
Category:Adults