Pride Lands

The Pride Lands is a vast savanna territory controlled by a pride of lions who are led by a reigning monarch. The residents of the Pride Lands, called Pride Landers, live under the governance of said monarch and are policed by a divinely appointed group called the Lion Guard. The center of government in the Pride Lands is Pride Rock, while Mizimu Grove serves as the primary location for celebratory and/or commemorative gatherings.
The Pride Lands is known for being a fertile territory with plenty of resources. This often makes it the envy of surrounding territories, factions, and individuals. The Pride Lands is bordered by the Back Lands, the Outlands, the desert, and the Theluji Mountains.
==Governance==
===Structure===
The Pride Lands operates as a monarchy in which the sovereign's will is law. Regarding the order of succession, the Pride Lands monarchy appears to favor absolute primogeniture, in which the eldest child of the reigning monarch inherits the throne, regardless of gender. However, the reigning monarch can hand-choose who they wish to succeed them, as seen when Scar selected Kovu to be his heir and protégé.
In order to maintain dominion of the Pride Lands, the reigning monarch requires the approval of his pride. In extreme cases, a reigning monarch will use force to keep his subjects in line, as seen when Scar employed the hyenas to be his enforcers, against the lionesses' will. In cases of open rebellion within the pride, the reigning monarch will typically exile any and all agitators. Ultimately, though the Pride Lands has strict laws and traditions, the reigning monarch has absolute authority over their kingdom and thus can disregard rules at their whim.
===Key positions===
====Ruler of Pride Rock====
:Main article: Ruler of Pride Rock
The ruler of Pride Rock is the reigning monarch of the Pride Lands. They have complete and total authority over their subjects as well as jurisdiction over the laws and regulations of the kingdom. Though policing and petty disputes are often left to the Lion Guard, the reigning monarch will handle large-scale issues, such as treaties, induction of foreigners as Pride Landers, exiles, and declarations of war.
====Royal Mjuzi====
:Main article: Royal Mjuzi
The Royal Mjuzi is the official knowledge keeper of the Pride Lands as well as the reigning monarch's chief advisor. They can commune with the Great Lions of the Past and are responsible for recording the history of the Pride Lands. Often, Royal Mjuzis will preside over important ceremonies, such as the presentation of an heir at Pride Rock or celebratory events like the Kumbuka celebration.
====Majordomo====
:Main article: Majordomo
The majordomo is the royal steward of the reigning monarch. It is their duty to report on significant activity in the Pride Lands to the reigning monarch, most notably during emergency events like invasions. At times, they will advise the reigning monarch and remind him or her of Pride Lands law and protocol.
====Lion Guard====
:Main article: Lion Guard
The Lion Guard is the policing force of the Pride Lands. Led by the second-born cub of the reigning monarch, they are tasked with protecting the Circle of Life and the Pride Lands at large. The Lion Guard enforces border security and keeps the peace among the Pride Landers. They are also expected to deal with external and internal threats, such as invaders, disruptors of the peace, and any animal who is not in compliance with Pride Lands law.
===Laws===
====Respect for the Circle of Life====
The animals of the Pride Lands hold reverence for the Circle of Life, or the concept that all creatures are connected and balance must be maintained between them. Any animal who does not respect the Circle of Life is not allowed within the territory of the Pride Lands and is often banished to outlying territories, such as the Outlands. Anti-poaching is a particularly important law in the Pride Lands, as it ensures that no animal takes more food than it needs.
Additionally, Pride Landers are expected to cooperate and live in harmony with one another so that the Circle of Life is kept in balance. This is often achieved through the allotting of territory to different species and official conventions between Pride Lander leaders.
====Borders====
The Pride Lands enforces strict border security. This includes any animal who is not a Pride Lander, species that are not permitted to hunt in the Pride Lands, and exiled individuals. It is implied that, in extreme cases, the punishment for trespassing is death.
====Repayment of debts====
Royal protocol demands that any debt the reigning monarch owes must be repaid. This law can even apply to exiles, as seen when Simba allowed Kovu entry into his pride as repayment for him having saved Kiara's life.
====Betrothal====
Betrothal is a generations old tradition in which the heir of Pride Rock is betrothed at birth. It is unknown if this law is still in effect, as Kiara chose her mate of her own volition.
==Points of interest==
===Pride Rock===
:Main article: Pride Rock
Pride Rock is the center of government in the Pride Lands. It is where the reigning monarch, their family, and their pride reside. It is also the location where most official business is conducted. In times of turmoil, Pride Landers will gather at Pride Rock to express their concerns or receive official announcements and/or proclamations from the reigning monarch.
===Mizimu Grove===
:Main article: Mizimu Grove
Mizimu Grove is where many celebratory and/or commemorative events are held. This includes Kupatana, Ukumbusho, and the Savannah Summit. It is considered a fairly strategic location, as seen when Scar targeted it in his war against the Pride Lands.
===Rafiki's tree===
:Main article: Rafiki's tree
Rafiki's tree is the residence of Rafiki, the Royal Mjuzi of the Pride Lands, as well as his apprentice. If an animal ever requires the assistance of a Royal Mjuzi, they typically visit Rafiki at his tree.
===Lair of the Lion Guard===
:Main article: Lair of the Lion Guard
The Lair of the Lion Guard is the headquarters of the Lion Guard. It is where they rest, convene, and sometimes discuss official business with Pride Landers. Also in the Lair of the Lion Guard are cave paintings done by Royal Mjuzis that document the history of the Pride Lands.
==History==
===Early history===
====Foundation of the Lion Guard====
Askari, a member of the Pride Lands royal family, discovered the Roar of the Elders at Cikha Escarpment, an area within the Tree of Life's territory. He practiced relentlessly with the Roar, eventually mastering it altogether. With the power of the Roar, Askari founded the first Lion Guard and assembled a team of the bravest, fastest, keenest of sight, and strongest lions in the Pride Lands.
====Invasion by evil lions====
When a group of evil lions attempted to take over the Pride Lands, Askari and his Guard worked together to defeat them.
====Peace between elephants and lions====
Due to Askari's efforts, peace was established between the elephants and lions of the Pride Lands. Working together, the two species made the Pride Lands a safe home for every animal who respected the Circle of Life.
===Mufasa's reign===
====Simba's presentation====
Following the birth of his son, Simba, Mufasa held a presentation ceremony in honor of the cub's birth. At Mufasa's summons, many Pride Landers gathered at the base of Pride Rock for the ceremony. Rafiki, the Royal Mjuzi of the Pride Lands, anointed Simba and held him atop the promontory for all the gathered animals to see. They, in turn, cheered and bowed before their future king.
====Stampede====
In an effort to assassinate both Mufasa and Simba, Scar lured Simba to the gorge and instructed his hyena minions to start a stampede of wildebeests. Once the stampede had been set off, Scar alerted Mufasa to the situation, and Mufasa ran to the gorge to rescue his son from danger. Though Mufasa managed to carry Simba away from the stampede, he struggled to climb up the side of the gorge to safety himself. While Mufasa was climbing up the gorge, Scar intercepted him and threw him back into the stampede, to his death.
After Mufasa's fatal fall, Scar blamed Simba for his father's death and urged him to flee the Pride Lands. Simba did as he had been told, and Scar sent his hyena minions to finish the cub off. However, Simba escaped into the desert, and the hyenas left him for dead.
===Scar's reign===
====Scar's coronation====
After the stampede, Scar reported to the pride that both Mufasa and Simba had perished. In his eulogy, Scar pretended to grieve the deaths of Mufasa and Simba, and accepted the crown of Pride Rock. He then invited the hyenas into the Pride Lands, declaring it a "great and glorious" future for his subjects. As the hyenas streamed into Pride Rock and the lionesses looked on in horror, Scar ascended Pride Rock to be crowned king.
====Famine====
Under Scar's reign, the hyenas took over the Pride Lands, and the kingdom became plagued by drought and famine. Many herds left the Pride Lands, to the point that the lionesses stopped hunting altogether. This, in turn, starved the pride and Scar's hyena minions. Many of the lionesses came to resent Scar's leadership, though some continued to favor him as their king.
Eventually, the conditions of the Pride Lands became so poor that Scar summoned Sarabi to Pride Rock and demanded to know why the lionesses had stopped hunting. She explained that the herds had moved on, but he argued that they were not looking hard enough. Sarabi, however, declared that it was "over" and implored Scar to lead his pride out of the Pride Lands. When Scar vehemently refused, Sarabi asserted that he was sentencing them to death. She then unfavorably compared him to Mufasa, which incited him to strike her across the face in outrage.
====Battle for Pride Rock====
As Scar struck Sarabi down, a full-grown Simba revealed himself and challenged Scar for the throne of Pride Rock. Scar pointed out the hyenas recognized him as king, but the lionesses voiced their support of Simba's right to the throne. Simba then offered Scar an ultimatum: step down or fight. In answer, Scar guilt-tripped Simba into confessing his role in Mufasa's death, after which he cornered the young lion on the promontory of Pride Rock and confessed that he, in fact, had killed Mufasa. Furious, Simba pinned Scar and forced him to admit the truth in front of the lionesses.
At Scar's confession, the lionesses attacked the hyenas. A battle broke out between Scar's and Simba's allies amidst a fire at Pride Rock, while Simba chased Scar up Pride Rock. Though Simba gave Scar the chance to run away, Scar instead chose to fight, and Simba managed to throw him off Pride Rock. Scar survived the fall, only to be attacked and eaten alive by his own hyena minions.
===Simba's reign===
====Simba's coronation====
After the battle, rain began to fall on the Pride Lands, putting out the fires at Pride Rock. Simba reconvened with his pride and exchanged nuzzles with Nala and Sarabi. At Rafiki's prompting, he ascended Pride Rock and roared over his kingdom. The lionesses then roared their assent. Under Simba's reign, the Pride Lands was restored to its former glory, and many of the herds returned to the kingdom.
====Zira's exile====
Following Simba's coronation, a lioness named Zira challenged his right to rule and asserted that her son, Kovu, was Scar's hand-chosen successor and thus the rightful king. Simba pointed out that Scar had never been the true king, which incited Zira to attack him in outrage. After defeating her, Simba banished her, her family, and her followers to the Outlands.
====Kiara's presentation====
Simba and Nala had a daughter, Kiara, whom they presented to the Pride Landers at Pride Rock. Afterward, Rafiki formally anointed her as the future queen.
====Dawn of the Lion Guard====
When Simba's son, Kion, came of age, he inherited the power of the Roar of the Elders. Though reluctant to bestow such a responsibility on his young cub, Simba revealed to Kion that he was the leader of the Lion Guard and that it was his duty to gather a team to defend the Pride Lands and the Circle of Life. Per his father's instructions, Kion chose four animals to join him on the Lion Guard: Beshte, Bunga, Fuli, and Ono.
Upon learning that Kion had chosen his friends to join the Lion Guard, Simba lectured him for treating his duties like a game and implored him to choose lions for the Lion Guard. Kion, however, resolved to keep his team as it was and formally bestowed marks of the Guard on each of his friends. Together, the five defended the Pride Lands from an attack by Janja's clan, and Simba at last accepted Kion's teammates as the protectors of the Pride Lands.
====Peace treaty with Sokwe====
One day, Hafifu and Majinuni arrived at Pride Rock to inform Simba if their father, King Sokwe of the mountain gorillas, still agreed to the peace treaty between their kingdoms. However, since the two gorillas had forgotten the message, Simba sent the Lion Guard to speak with Sokwe themselves. After traveling to the Theluji Mountains and convening with Sokwe, the Lion Guard returned to the Pride Lands and informed Simba that Sokwe still agreed to peace with the Pride Lands.
====Savannah Summit====
As the dry season approached, Simba summoned some key Pride Lander leaders to Pride Rock for the onset of the Savannah Summit. Mistaking Makuu, the crocodile leader, for a troublemaker, Kion attacked him, but Simba explained that he had invited Makuu. Together, Simba, Zazu, the Lion Guard, and the Pride Lander leaders traveled to Mizimu Grove for the Savannah Summit.
During the proceedings, the other Pride Lander leaders treated Makuu with distrust, as did the Lion Guard. Eventually, tensions mounted to the point that Kion attacked Makuu in the middle of a negotiation with Bupu, and Makuu stormed off in a fury. Simba lectured Kion for his treatment of Makuu, then left to salvage what he could of the Savannah Summit.
Later, the Lion Guard caught wind of a plot against Makuu and saved him from falling into a pit of rotten fruit. In order to pinpoint the culprit, Kion announced to the other Pride Lander leaders that Makuu had lost his life in the pit, and Twiga and Vuruga Vuruga admitted that they had never meant to hurt Makuu. At the two's confession, Makuu revealed himself and asserted that he had agreed to join the Savannah Summit to help his float and the Pride Lands. However, instead of reacting with wrath, he prompted for the Savannah Summit to continue, and the other Pride Lander leaders began to treat him with more respect, even negotiating on his behalf.
====Water treaties with Dhahabu====
When drought struck the Pride Lands, Simba sent the Lion Guard to appeal to Dhahabu, the queen of the Back Lands, for assistance. After helping her free her blocked water source, they reached an agreement with her, and the Pride Landers began to travel to Dhahabu Grove for water as needed.
Later, Dhahabu visited the Pride Lands and agreed to a water treaty with Simba.
====Battle for the Pride Lands====
Through Janja and Ushari's efforts, the spirit of Scar was resurrected. Immediately, Scar began to form an army of incensed Outlanders in the hopes of getting his revenge on Simba and regaining dominion over the Pride Lands. After seasons of attacks by the Army of Scar on the Pride Lands, Simba declared total war on the Outlands, and the Pride Landers gathered at Pride Rock to train for the upcoming battle.
Though Scar started a fire at Pride Rock and threatened the Pride Landers to leave their home while they still could, they resolved to defeat Scar and his army once and for all. One morning, they gathered on the border of the Outlands and the Pride Lands, and invaded the Outlands together. After an extended battle, the Pride Landers emerged victorious, and Kion vanquished Scar's spirit. However, due to Kion and Ono sustaining injuries from the battle, the Lion Guard temporarily left the Pride Lands to seek healing at the Tree of Life.
====Kiara's first hunt====
Upon reaching adulthood, Kiara embarked on her first hunt. However, after discovering that Simba had sent Timon and Pumbaa to watch over her against her wishes, she fled the Pride Lands to hunt elsewhere. Meanwhile, Nuka and Vitani set the grasslands ablaze per Zira's orders and trapped Kiara in a widespread fire. While trying to reach safety, Kiara collapsed, and Kovu arrived to bear her safely back to the Pride Lands.
Once in the Pride Lands, Kovu asked for permission to join Simba's pride, and Simba reluctantly agreed out of gratitude for Kiara's life. Unbeknown to the Pride Landers, Kovu was secretly plotting to assassinate Simba and become the new king of the Pride Lands.
====Zira's ambush====
In the following days, Kovu formed a friendship and romance with Kiara. As a result, Simba took Kovu on a walk through a fire-ravaged section of the Pride Lands and told him the story of Scar. Just then, the Outsiders surrounded Kovu and Simba, and Zira congratulated Kovu for his part in their plan. Though Kovu denied any involvement in the ambush, Simba believed him to be a traitor.
Zira ordered her pride to attack, and the Outsiders chased Simba into the nearby gorge. Simba managed to escape up a pile of logs, and though Nuka attempted to detain him, the young Outsider instead slipped and got crushed to death by falling logs. In the wake of Nuka's death, Kovu fled the Outsiders, and Zira resolved to invade the Pride Lands while Simba was weak and injured.
====Kovu's exile====
Following Zira's ambush, Kovu returned to Pride Rock and appealed to Simba for forgiveness. However, believing Kovu to have been involved in Zira's ambush, Simba exiled him from the Pride Lands, and the Pride Landers subsequently drove him out of the kingdom.
====Battle between the Outsiders and Simba's pride====
With Zira in the lead, the Outsiders invaded the Pride Lands, and Zazu reported what was transpiring to Simba. Gathering his pride, Simba met Zira's forces near the gorge, and the two prides formed battle lines. Though Simba gave Zira a final chance to return home, she declared that she was already home and ordered her pride to attack. The two sides then converged on one another and began to fight.
In the midst of the battle, Kiara and Kovu intervened and called for peace. Though Simba and the Outsiders listened to the two's pleas, Zira instead attacked Simba. At the last second, Kiara jumped in front of her father, sending both her and Zira tumbling into the nearby gorge. While Kiara managed to find purchase on a ledge, Zira dangled over the raging river below and, refusing help from Kiara, eventually fell to her death.
With Zira dead, Simba welcomed the reformed Outsiders, including Kovu, back into his pride.
====Marriage of Kiara and Kovu====
At Pride Rock, the combined prides honored the marriage of Kovu and Kiara. The royal couples then strode to the promontory of Pride Rock and roared over their kingdom. In answer, the Pride Landers who had gathered below Pride Rock cheered.
====Battle of the Lion Guards====
In Kion's absence, Vitani formed her own Lion Guard out of former Outsiders. When Kion and his Lion Guard returned to the Pride Lands, the two groups agreed to compete in a formal competition for who had the right to defend the Pride Lands. With Ono serving as the judge, the two Lion Guards participated in several challenges, which culminated in a tie.
Eventually, Kion and Vitani faced off, and Vitani called for a mashindano. Upon Vitani's assertion that she did not need the Roar of the Elders to protect the Pride Lands, Kion relinquished his role as the leader of the Lion Guard to her, and she and her teammates became the new protectors of the Pride Lands.
==Appearances==
==Trivia==
* The Pride Lands is located in Tanzania, as Mount Kilimanjaro is within the kingdom's borders.
* In King of the Kalahari, an early draft of The Lion King, the Pride Lands was called "the Dark Continent."
* Disney's Villionaire refers to the Pride Lands as the "Dark Lands" under Scar's reign. Instead of a name change, this may have just been an alias, as the lionesses refer to it as the "Shadowland" in the stage musical.Revealed in the stage musical version of The Lion King
==References==
Category:Canon articles
Category:Locations
Category:Pride Lands locations