Hippopotamuses

Hippopotamuses are a species of animal native to the Pride Lands.
==Physical characteristics==
Hippopotamuses are large, bulbous, heavily built animals with short, stubby limbs. Most are gray or a variation of gray and brown. They have large teeth that stick out of their mouths.
==Sociocultural characteristics==
Hippopotamuses usually occupy watery areas, like springs and rivers. Every year, after the rain, Beshte and his father create "hippo lanes" in the tall grass so other animals can walk through it. In the Pride Lands, there is a group of hippopotamuses who love to bellow.
==History==
===The Lion King===
Hippopotamuses attend Simba's presentation. Later, they help Simba rid himself of Zazu during the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" musical sequence. Finally, hippopotamuses attend the presentation of Simba's cub.
===The Lion King II: Simba's Pride===
Hippopotamuses attend Kiara's presentation. Later, a baby hippopotamus plays with its parents during the "We Are One" musical sequence. They also appear during the "Upendi" musical sequence. When Kovu is exiled from the Pride Lands, several hippopotamuses participate in driving him away. Finally, hippopotamuses gather at Pride Rock for the Marriage of Kiara and Kovu.
===The Lion King 1½===
Hippopotamuses attend Simba's presentation, during which they faint from Pumbaa's flatulence. Later, they appear during the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" musical sequence.
===The Lion Guard===
===="The Rise of Makuu"====
Beshte brings his friends to Big Springs, where the hippopotamuses live. While there, Beshte explains to them how the fish pick his hide and teeth clean, and Basi adds that the crocodiles eat the fish when the population spikes, thus fulfilling the Circle of Life.
In the midst of their talk, Pua, the leader of the crocodiles, approaches and asks Basi how the fish are faring. Basi suggests that the float come back next week, and Pua amicably agrees, leading his crocodiles away. However, before he can leave, he is challenged by Makuu, who accuses him of being afraid of Basi. The two arrange a mashindano, which Basi explains as being a physical contest that determines the leader of the crocodiles.
When the mashindano takes place, several hippopotamuses watch. Makuu wins the contest and uses his newfound authority to invade Big Springs, forcing the hippopotamuses to live at the watering hole. Later, when the Circle of Life is brought back into balance, the crocodiles return Big Springs to the hippopotamuses. As Makuu strides sullenly out of the water, Basi calls out after him, inviting him to come back once the fish are in plenty. He reminds him that all he has to do is ask, and Makuu promises to keep the proposition in mind.
===="Fuli's New Family"====
Beshte invites Fuli to swim with the hippopotamuses. However, he accidentally knocks her into the water, and a hippopotamus lifts her back out.
===="Follow that Hippo!"====
When the Lion Guard is alerted to a hyena attack, they arrive on the scene, demanding to know where the hyenas are. At Kion's cry, a group of young animals emerges from the thicket, explaining that they had simply been playing "Lion Guard." Kion gently explains to them the dangers of pretending to be hyenas, and the young animals vow to never play in such a way again.
After the promise is made, a shy Mtoto approaches his idol, Beshte, and suggests that the real Lion Guard play with them. The other young animals are excited by this idea, but Kion admits that they have business elsewhere. However, Mtoto begs Beshte to stay, and the hippopotamus invites Mtoto to watch them train. On their way to the training grounds, Mtoto gushes about his love for Beshte and admits that it's because of Beshte that he likes the Lion Guard so much.
Once at the training grounds, Beshte tells the team that he's brought along Mtoto, and Kion agrees to let the young elephant train with them. First, the team does an obstacle course, but when it's Mtoto's turn to dash through the water, he gets water in his trunk and sprays it all over Fuli. After Mtoto's mistake, Kion decides to run a stealth-surround drill, in which the team attempts to sneak up on him without alerting him to their presence. However, as they're drilling, Mtoto accidentally falls down a steep cliff and lands on an unprepared Bunga.
After the disaster, Beshte volunteers to walk Mtoto home. On their way home, Beshte tries to encourage a crushed Mtoto by singing "Hero Inside" to him. The song works, and Mtoto returns to his friends, more ready than ever to play a game of "Lion Guard."
On his way back to the team, Beshte is delayed by a group of Pride Landers, who are complaining to him about the hyenas. A patient Beshte promises to take care of the hyenas, blissfully unaware that Janja and his cronies are trailing Mtoto and his friends as he speaks.
Eventually, the hyenas catch up to Mtoto and his friends, and the young animals flee in panic. After a brief skirmish, the hyenas target Mtoto as the slowest. Meanwhile, Beshte continues to comfort the worried Pride Landers, but in the midst of their conversation, the young animals rush up to Beshte and beg him to save Mtoto. Beshte immediately races to the rescue, going underwater just as Ono swoops past.
Just in time, Beshte shows up to save Mtoto from the hyenas, and the two escape into the water. Together, Beshte and Mtoto manage to avoid the hyenas, who skulk on the edges of the river, trying to catch a bite of them as they pass. However, the two run into a float of crocodiles, and Beshte encourages Mtoto to be stealthy as they sneak past.
Ono happens to catch sight of Beshte and Mtoto, and he races back to alert the team. Too late, Beshte and Mtoto are spotted by the crocodiles, and Mtoto fends them off by spraying water with his trunk. Just then, the rest of the Lion Guard appears and dispatches of the crocodiles. In the chaos, the hyenas are knocked into the pool, where they're chased in circles by the crocodile float.
After the rescue, Mtoto relates his tale of rescue to his friends, who react with amazement and awe. Kion approaches and volunteers to give each of them a muddy mark of the Lion Guard, to which the young animals crowd around him eagerly. Mtoto, who bears his muddy mark proudly, proclaims to Beshte that he's his hero, and Beshte, in turn, proclaims that Mtoto is his.
===="Beshte and the Hippo Lanes"====
After a big rainstorm, Basi and his son Beshte forge across the Flood Plains, creating paths called "hippo lanes." Basi explains to his son how it is a tradition for hippos to clear the way after a storm, since it is easy for animals to get lost trying to cross the Flood Plains. He comments that a hippo lane should be "straight and true," and tells Beshte that it will one day be his job to make hippo lanes through the Flood Plains.
Just then, Basi and Beshte hear a young rhino crying for help. They arrive in time to rescue him from Makuu and his float, whom they chastise for not honoring the rule that no animal is to be attacked while trying to cross the Flood Plains after a rainstorm. Makuu relents, but insults hippos for always following the rules.
With Makuu gone, Basi and Beshte work to free the young rhino from the reeds. In the midst of the rescue, the young rhino is spooked by a flock of egrets, and he accidentally spears Basi with his horn. The two manage to free him from the reeds, and the young rhino promises to not cross the Flood Plains again until the hippo lanes are complete.
Shortly after the rescue, the rest of the Lion Guard arrives, and Kion explains that they had heard an animal shouting for help. Beshte reassures him that he and his father had saved the young rhino, and Basi comments that it is now time for him to return to the job. However, as he starts to walk away, he finds himself too injured to move. He tries to continue making hippo lanes, but Kion insists that he should not be putting weight on his injured leg, and Beshte adds that it is just not possible for Basi to be making hippo lanes in his condition.
Bunga comments that the Flood Plains will dry up soon, but no sooner has he spoken when thunder rumbles in the distance. With the impending storm, Basi tasks Beshte with creating more hippo lanes, since Basi himself is too injured to walk. Though Beshte is hesitant to step up to the task, Kion reminds him that he is the strongest in the Pride Lands and that the Lion Guard believes in him. Beshte accepts the responsibility and heads out to clear paths through the Flood Plains, while the Lion Guard leads Basi to solid ground.
After the Lion Guard delivers Basi to safety, Ono arrives with news that a herd of sable antelope are refusing to leave their grazing grounds, even though another storm is on the way. Basi suggests that they lead the antelope to the other side of the Flood Plains, but Ono wonders how they will be able to cross the reeds. Basi reminds him that by the time the antelope arrive at the Flood Plains, Beshte will be done creating hippo lanes. The Lion Guard thanks him for the idea and then leaves to save the herd.
In the meantime, Beshte works to create hippo lanes across the Flood Plains. In the midst of his work, he runs into Laini the galago, who asks to hitch a ride to Ndefu Grove. Beshte accepts the job cheerfully and comments that helping other animals is what the hippo lanes are all about. Along the way, Beshte picks up more passengers, and Chura the frog praises Beshte for his efforts and defends him in the face of critiques from another Pride Lander. Beshte happily concedes to his passengers' requests, then sings "Making Hippo Lanes", in which he explains the importance and process of creating trails through the Flood Plains.
Presently, the rest of the Lion Guard lead the antelope herd into the Pride Lands. There, Ono spots Beshte's hippo lanes and reacts with confusion and shock. As Beshte approaches, Ono questions him on the completion of the hippo lanes, and Beshte explains that he has been crossing the Flood Plains all day, delivering animals from one side to the other. Ono then leads Beshte to a high vantage point where he can see the entire Flood Plains, and Beshte realizes that he has been cutting twisty paths throughout the area, not "straight and true" lanes like his father had instructed him to make.
A horrified Beshte realizes that his hippo lanes are not useful at all. His distress deepens when Ono notifies him that a herd of sable antelope is waiting to cross to the other side of the Flood Plains. Beshte hurriedly rushes back to the water and resolves to make a new hippo lane, one that will help the sable antelope reach the other side of the Flood Plains. However, as he starts to make a new lane, Ono warns him that he is making another windy trail, and Beshte begins to despair. He then realizes that he can ask his father for help, and he takes off to speak with Basi, while Ono leaves to warn Kion of the situation.
As a storm begins to break over the savanna, Beshte admits his mistake to his father, who comforts him and confesses that he had been wrong to send Beshte into the Flood Plains alone. He then attempts to stand, and Beshte rushes to his aid. Together, the two enter the Flood Plains, with Basi asserting that they can make a straight and true hippo lane together. As the two work their way across the Flood Plains, Basi struggles to keep up and tells Beshte to go on ahead of him. Beshte proudly exclaims that he will create a straight and true hippo lane and that he will make his father proud, to which Basi says that he has always been proud of his son. Unbeknownst to the two, Makuu and his float watch from the reeds, plotting a way to get rid of Basi.
Presently Beshte arrives at the edge of the Plains, much to the excitement of his teammates. He starts to compliment his father on a job well-done when he notices that Basi is missing. Concerned, Beshte races back into the hippo lane in search of his father. Ono monitors Beshte's progress and marvels at the perfectly straight and true hippo lane that has been created. Bunga then announces to the herd that they can cross the Flood Plains safely.
In the meantime, Makuu and his float corner Basi in the midst of the hippo lane. Just in time, Beshte arrives to defend his father, but Makuu gloats that he and his float have numbers on their side this time. Basi encourages his son to stand strong against the float, but Beshte reminds Basi that he is injured. He then tells his father to follow him through a new hippo lane.
With Beshte in the lead, the hippos begin to weave a winding trail through the Flood Plains, leading Makuu and his float on a wild chase. The two manage to cross over another hippo lane, but as the crocodiles move to follow them, they get trampled by Bupu's herd. The crocodiles pull back, winded, and Beshte chastises them for endangering the animals of the Pride Lands. In utter defeat, Makuu and his float swim off into the Flood Plains.
Later, Basi and Beshte overlook Bupu's herd grazing on the other side of the water. Kion arrives and compliments the hippos, with Bunga adding that everyone loves the new hippo lanes. Ono then tells Beshte that he is good at making hippo lanes after all, and Basi asserts that he had never had any doubt.
==Notable hippopotamuses==
* Basi
* Beshte
* Kiazi
==Appearances==
Category:Canon articles
Category:Species