Nala (The Lion King)

Queen Nala is the deuteragonist of Disney's franchise. She is the current Queen of the Pride Lands. She is the daughter of Sarafina, the best friend and later mate of Simba, and the mother of Kiara and Kion.
In The Lion King: Six New Adventures books (which are non-canon to the films and TV shows), Nala and Simba are the parents of a son named Kopa.
She was voiced by Niketa Calame (Laura Williams singing) as a cub and (Sally Dworsky, (who later did the singing voice for Miriam in The Prince of Egypt) singing) as an adult in the films. In The Lion Guard, she was voiced by , who also voiced Meridian Clade in Strange World.
==Appearance==
Nala is a slender, cream-colored lioness with turquoise eyes. As a cub, she has a pink nose which becomes brown after she grows up. She has tan ears and part of her tail is also colored tan, giving her an appearance similar to that of her mother.
==Personality==
As a cub, Nala was sassy, defensive of her own accomplishments, and regularly gave Simba beef when prompted. Though Simba sometimes tried to claim her ideas as his own, Nala generally did not stand being overlooked.
As an adult, Nala is shown to be more mature. Scar's poor reign of no food and water had made her realize the importance of accountability, as she had seen what Simba's lack of interest in the Pride Lands had caused. She often tried to reason with Simba, standing as his voice of reason, firm, and resolute in her beliefs with a cutting edge to her argument. 
Once Nala becomes queen, she grows much more reserved and wise. Unlike Simba, She is not overprotective of Kiara.
Nala is also one of the few Pridelanders who was able to see past Kovu's villainous side. She refrains from judging him for his past and supports Simba in his decisions.
==Relationships==
===Simba===
 As cubs, Nala and Simba were childhood best friends and would go on adventures together (including the visit to The Elephant Graveyard). Both cubs were not pleased to learn that they would be betrothed to each other in the future, claiming that they could not marry because they were friends and it would be weird and awkward between them. After escaping Zazu, she and Simba argue over whose idea it was and get into a play fight. Nala easily beat Simba after he pounced her by flipping and pinning him, and did so once again when he tried pouncing her a second time, teasing him "pinned ya." While the two were being chased by the hyenas, Nala was nearly killed by Shenzi, but Simba saved her by scratching Shenzi. Nala, along with the rest of the pride, was devastated when Scar told them that Simba, along with Mufasa, had perished in a wildebeest stampede.
Years later, Nala gets into a fight with a young lion, whom she pins down. The lion recognizes this move and says Nala's name and says that he is Simba, which makes Nala overjoyed that her friend was alive. Eventually, the two friends became lovers, something they thought wouldn't happen when they were young. After the two tumble down a hill together, Simba finally pins Nala, and she rewards him with a surprise lick on the cheek and they nuzzle each other lovingly. It is also heavily implied that they mated in this scene, resulting in Nala getting pregnant and giving birth to their daughter Kiara at the end of the film. Nala joins Simba in battling Scar and the hyenas, after learning that Scar was responsible for Mufasa's death and had blamed Simba for it.
In the second film The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Nala, unlike Simba, isn't overprotective of their daughter Kiara and is more accepting towards Kovu, whom Simba distrusts due to him being Scar's heir. Nala expressed shock when Simba decided to banish Kovu for supposedly being involved in the Outsiders ambush and did not let him explain himself. She did express happiness when Simba later had a change of heart and allowed Kovu and the Outsiders to rejoin the pride.
In The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, Nala accepts her and Simba's son Kion's destiny to be leader of The Lion Guard whereas Simba believed that their son wasn't ready for that responsibility as he was cub. After Kion and The Lion Guard save Kiara from a stampede and defeats Janja and his clan (who started the stampede), Nala and Simba express pride in their son.
===Kiara===
 Nala has a loving mother-daughter relationship with her daughter. Unlike Simba, Nala doesn't act overprotective of her and believes that their daughter would be fine on her own.
During Kiara's childhood, Nala would help her in tracking gazelles in preparation for her first hunt.
When Kiara becomes an adolescent and prepares for her first hunt, Nala assures her that she will do just fine. Nala is relived when she and Simba find Kiara safe from the fire in The Pride Lands and when Simba is reluctant to let Kiara's childhood friend and saviour Kovu into the pride, Nala points out to him that he owes Kovu, Kiara's life.
Nala along with Kiara is shocked when Simba banishes Kovu for supposedly being part of Zira's ambush. When Kiara and Kovu stop the battle, Nala watches in horror as Kiara and Zira falls down a cliffside. After Simba, is able to get Kiara back up the cliff, a relived Nala rushes over and hugs her daughter.
Nala then watches proudly as Kiara marries Kovu and roars along with her, Simba and Kovu.
===Kion===
 Though Nala is not seen interacting with Kion as much as Simba, the two have a good mother-son relationship.
Unlike Simba, Nala accepted that Kion was ready to lead The Lion Guard and encouraged Simba to listen to Rafiki (who said that Kion was ready). After Kion and The Lion Guard save Kiara and defeat Janja and his clan, Nala expresses pride in her son.
In Never Roar Again, Kion came to his mother's aid when she was surrounded by Janja's clan and later saved her from Makuu's float.
When Kion returned after the War with the Outsiders, Nala was more than happy to see her son again and later watches happily as Kion marries Rani.
===Mufasa===
Though they are not seen interacting much, Nala loved and respected Mufasa due to him being her leader and the father of her best friend Simba.
After learning that Nala and Simba were in The Elephant Graveyard attacked by Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, Mufasa bravely came to the cub's aid. He later expressed disappointment at Simba for putting Nala in danger.
After Mufasa's brother Scar tells the pride that both Mufasa and Simba perished in a wildebeest stampede, Nala expressed sadness over the loss of both the king and her best friend (unaware that only Mufasa died whilst Simba survived and had fled The Pride Lands).
Years later after bringing Simba back to The Pride Lands, Nala, upon discovering that Scar was responsible for Mufasa's death and had framed Simba for it, she and the pride aid Simba in fighting Scar and his hyena army to avenge Mufasa.
Mufasa posthumously becomes Nala's father-in-law after she marries Simba.
==Songs Performed By Nala ==
* "Just Can't Wait To Be King" (The Lion King)
*"Can You Feel The Love Tonight" (The Lion King)
*"Hakuna Matata" (The Lion Guard)
==Trivia==
*In an earlier draft of The Lion King, Nala was originally called Nadra.
*Nala is the third Disney heroine to have known the hero in childhood, separated, and reunited in adulthood, the first two being Faline and Maid Marian (Princess Aurora may or may not count, as she couldn't walk or talk in infancy, and she was hidden in a woodcutter's cottage). Yet, she's the second to actually be seen as a child with the hero, Faline being the first. 
**Nala is also the third Disney heroine to have known the hero since childhood and being married to him, the first two being Faline and Maid Marian.
*Nala has beaten Simba three times, twice as cubs and once as adults. She did each of these with her famous "pinned ya" move.
*Nala is similar to Zoey as both are their film's deuteragonist and both are the best friend and love interest of the (Nala with Simba and Zoey with Rudolph). But unlike Nala and Simba, Zoey and Rudolph don't have children together. Another difference is that Nala was only friends with Simba in childhood but developed feelings for him when she was a young adult whilst Zoey had feelings for Rudolph since childhood.
*Young Nala rarely appears in the midquel, but she is not animated nor seen speaking.
*In the original script for The Lion King (then called King of The Jungle), Nala was the daughter of a lioness named Naanda who, along with two other lionesses named Diku and Dwala, was a sister to Sarabi. Mufasa was also heavily implied to be Naanda's mate. This would have made Nala and Simba's relationship incestuous as they would have been first cousins as well as half-siblings. As a result, Naanda became Sarafina, her relation to Sarabi's family was scrapped, and Diku and Dwala were dropped.
* In earlier scripts, Nala had a trouble-making younger brother named Mheetu, but her brother had to be cut from the film due to time constraints.
*In an early draft, when asked by Simba why she was in the jungle, Nala would have told him that Scar banished her from the Pride Lands (due to refusing his advances). In another draft, Simba would have admitted to Nala that he blamed himself for Mufasa's death, Nala would have assured him that Mufasa's death was an accident and that he should not blame himself.
* In the early drafts of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Nala was meant to have two cubs: Kiara and a son named Chaka (who was meant to be the cub seen at the end of the first film). However, Chaka (along with his betrothed Timira) was cut as he made the film too complicated.
*According to early concept art, Nala was originally going to have brown eyes. She was also going to have spots on her legs as a cub. These two features would later be given to her son Kion.
*Nala is the only major character from the original film (aside from Mufasa and Scar) who does not return for The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa.
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