List of The Lion King characters

This is a list of characters from the movie series *The Lion King*. The characters were made by The Walt Disney Company in 1994.

## Simba
**Simba** (voiced by Matthew Broderick as adult Simba in the films with Joseph Williams providing his singing voice in *The Lion King*; Jonathan Taylor Thomas as a cub with Jason Weaver and Evan Saucedo providing his cub form's singing voice; Matt Weinberg as a cub in *The Lion King 1½*; Cam Clarke in *Timon and Pumbaa* and *Kingdom Hearts II*, as well as his singing voice in ''The Lion King II: Simba's Pride''; Rob Lowe in The Lion Guard; Donald Glover in the 2019 movie and Mufasa: The Lion King and JD McCrary as a cub in the 2019 movie) is the main character of the series. He is a lion who is the crown prince of the Pride Lands, the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, Scar's nephew, Nala's mate, Sarafina's mother-in-law and Kiara's father. In *The Lion King*, after defeating Scar, he becomes King of Pride Rock before marrying and having Kiara with her. His name means "lion" in Swahili.

## Mufasa
**Mufasa** (voiced by James Earl Jones in the films, Gary Anthony Williams in *The Lion Guard* and Aaron Pierre in *Mufasa: The Lion King*) is the overarching protagonist of *The Lion King* franchise. He is Scar's older, Sarabi's mate, Simba's father, and Nala's father-in-law who was introduced as the king of the Pride Lands. In *The Lion King*, he teaches Simba about how a king is supposed to be, and how the king is responsible for protecting and maintaining the delicate balance of the ecosystem, while mediating problems between its creatures. However, Mufasa is killed after being thrown into a blue wildebeest stampede by Scar while rescuing Simba. He returns years later as a ghost in the clouds to encourage an young adult Simba to return to the Pride Lands and reclaim his rightful throne.

## Scar
**Scar** is the main villain in the movie. He was voiced by Jeremy Irons with singing vocals by Jim Cummings.

## Nala
**Nala** is Simba's childhood best friend who later becomes his queen. She appears in *The Lion King*, ''Simba's Pride* and *The Lion King 1½''. Nala's mother is Sarafina. *Nala* means "gift" in Swahili. She is voiced by Niketa Calame and Moira Kelly with singing vocals by Laura Williams and Sally Dworsky.

## Timon and Pumbaa
### Timon
### Pumbaa
**Pumbaa** is a good-hearted warthog in the movie. He usually gossips with the other animals, but then flees with his tail held in the air when things get out of hand.

## Rafiki
**Rafiki** (voiced by Robert Guillaume in most appearances prior to his death in 2017; Khary Payton in *The Lion Guard* and John Kani in the 2019 film (as elderly) and Kagiso Lediga in *Mufasa: The Lion King* (as younger)), whose name means "friend" in Swahili, is an wise and old West African-accented mandrill with an unnaturally long tail like a baboon who lives in a baobab tree and serves as the Pride Lands' shaman and advisor by ceremonially presenting the newborn cubs of the king and queen to the animals and performing his shamanistic services for the lions. He is also shown to be a great martial artist.

In *The Lion King*, Rafiki travels to Pride Rock to perform Simba's presentation ceremony with an anointment and introduces him to a large crowd of onlooking animals gathered at the foot of Pride Rock by standing towards the edge and holding the cub high above their heads, while Mufasa and Sarabi observe from behind them. He travels to the jungle oasis where Simba lives with Timon and Pumbaa to sing a nonsense chant: "Asante sana, squash banana, wewe nugu, mimi hapana." This is a Swahili playground rhyme that translates to "Thank you very much (squash banana), you're a baboon and I'm not!" Like "hakuna matata" (no worries), the chant was heard by the filmmakers on their research to Kenya. After revealing that Mufasa's spirit endures within Simba, Rafiki whacks Simba with his stick and teaches a lesson a lesson about learning from the past instead of running away from it: "Yes, the past can hurt but, the way I see it you can either run from it, or learn from it." He saves Simba from a hyena by whacking him with his stick, while fighting many more hyenas. At the end of the movie, Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub.

## Sarabi 
**Sarabi** (voiced by Madge Sinclair in *The Lion King* as her final theatrical film role and Alfre Woodard in the 2019 movie) is Mufasa's mate, the queen of the Pride Lands, and the leader of the pride's lioness hunting party who is also Simba's mother, Nala's mother-in-law, and Scar's sister-in-law. Her name means "mirage" in Swahili. Years after Scar usurps the throne, Sarabi helps Simba fight against Scar and his spotted hyenas. When Simba defeats Scar, Nala becomes queen and Sarabi becomes the queen mother.

## References