Scar

## Personal information

### Personality

Cruel, loud, rude, mean, greedy, powerful, impatient, tyrannical, oppressive, spoiled, immature, argumentative, hot-tempered, angry, violent, explosive, pompous, bossy, intimidating, psychotic, irrational, impulsive

“*Long live the King.*”
―Scar to Mufasa before killing him.
**Scar** is among the villains that were imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost. He is the main antagonist of *The Lion King*.

As the brother of Mufasa and second-born Prince of the Pride Lands, Scar was next in line to assume the throne as king. However, his chances were lost at the birth of his nephew, Simba. This embittered Scar with jealousy and a sense of entitlement, prompting him to develop a regicidal plot to take over the kingdom, with the aid of his hyena minions.

As one of Disney's most infamous villains — made especially notorious for his success in murdering Mufasa, Scar is a primary member of the *Disney Villains* franchise.

Scar is the husband of Kira and the father of Stelle, Kovu, Nuka and Vitani.

## Character Information

### Personality

Scar is known to be very resentful of Mufasa and Simba, the latter for essentially ruining any chance of him legitimately becoming king. His resentment and anger towards Mufasa were strong enough that, after he usurped Mufasa's place on the throne by murdering him, he outlawed the very mention of Mufasa's name whenever he was in anyone's immediate vicinity.

Scar seems to possess somewhat of an inferiority complex, as evidenced by his sad resignation to the fact that he was passed over in the gene pool regarding brute strength. At the same time, however, Scar is egotistical and prides himself on his intelligence, saying "As far as brains go, I got the lion’s share." and is somewhat of a narcissist, the latter trait being especially prevalent when plotting the murder of Mufasa after the hyenas' failed attempt at slaughtering Simba at the Elephant Graveyard where he mentions that when he becomes king, they’ll see him "for the wonder [he is]." He has some peculiar quirks of which he is aware, as when Simba affectionately states "You're so weird," Scar tells Simba "You have no idea" (although this specific line was an intentional in-joke referring to *Reversal of Fortune*, in which Jeremy Irons utters the same line).

## Appearances and Timeline

### Before the Isle of the Lost

#### The Lion King

On the day of Simba's presentation, Scar remains in his cave, where he laments his loss of the throne while he is trying to eat a mouse named Nobi. Suddenly, he receives a visit from Zazu, who reprimands Scar for not attending Simba's presentation. Scar wickedly attempts to eat Zazu out of irritation, but Mufasa intervenes and questions Scar's absence, but Scar shows no remorse and merely expresses disdain for the young prince before he departs Pride Rock, dejected, much to the chagrin of Mufasa.

As some time passes, Scar rapidly becomes jealous of his nephew Simba's position as the next king of Pride Rock and starts plotting to kill him in order to take out the competition for the throne. He recruits hyenas—primarily Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed—to aid in his schemes to conquer Pride Rock, using bribery of food to get them on his side. In the first attempt, Scar lures Simba to the hyenas' domain at the Elephant Graveyard, where Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed were to kill Simba and his friend, Nala. When Mufasa foils that plan, Scar witnesses the whole scene with great fury. Later that night, Scar berates the hyenas for failing to kill Simba, but still he gives them food nonetheless. Knowing Simba will always be safe as long as Mufasa is around, Scar proposes they kill both Simba *and* Mufasa.

To motivate and mobilize the hyenas, Scar promises that under his rule, the hyenas will never go hungry again (a promise he ultimately fails to keep). With their assistance, he engineers a wildebeest stampede meant to kill both his brother and nephew, tricking Simba into waiting in a gorge under the notion that Mufasa has a 'marvelous surprise' for him which is to 'die for." Scar alerts Mufasa, who rushes to Simba's aid. Mufasa manages to rescue his son and ends up clinging to a cliff where he spots Scar and pleads with his brother to help him. However, Scar pierces Mufasa's paws with his claws and, grinning wickedly, throws his brother off the cliff to his death with the taunting words, "Long live the king" instead. When Scar sees Simba is still alive, he places the blame of Mufasa's death on his nephew to make him feel guilty. Simba asks him what he should do and he orders Simba to run away and never return as punishment. Simba briefly looks at Scar with terror upon hearing this and frantically runs away from him. Scar proudly watches Simba run from him with a wicked grin as the hyenas show up behind him, and sends them to kill Simba. However, they fail this task yet again due to Simba escaping into the desert through a bed of thorn bushes much too wide and dense for them to follow him through. Believing Simba will die in the wasteland on his own, the hyenas let the cub go, yet warn him with death should he return.

With feigned grief, Scar announces that Mufasa and Simba were killed in the stampede (unaware that Simba survived the hyenas' attack), which saddens the lionesses, Zazu, and Rafiki and takes over the Pride Lands, using the hyena clan as muscle to ensure his reign goes undisputed. As king, Scar enacts a law that forbids the mention of Mufasa's name in his presence. He also locks Zazu in a cage made of rib bones and rocks and forces him to entertain him with singing and grants the hyenas unrestricted hunting rights, resulting in a shortage of food due to the hyenas' overhunting. Additionally, a drought deprives the kingdom of water, driving away most of the animals. Because of the conditions from Scar's lax rule, the lionesses despise Scar and refuse to hunt. Even Scar's minions, the hyenas, who are used to going hungry for days, start to complain to Scar about the land being bare. One day when Zazu accidentally slips Mufasa's name, Scar reacts with fury, ordering Zazu to never mention his brother's name in his presence. Shortly after this, the hyenas come before Scar, grousing. Scar, however, tells them to leave his cave when Banzai infuriates him by mentioning Mufasa's name as well. After receiving complaints from the hyenas once again, Scar summons Sarabi and questions her as to why she and the rest of the lionesses are not hunting for food, to which Sarabi explains the state of the kingdom. She suggests they leave Pride Rock to survive, but Scar uncompromisingly rejects the idea. Pushed beyond composure, Sarabi openly compares Scar to Mufasa in a superior manner, infuriating Scar to the point of ruthlessly striking her. Just as this occurs, an adult Simba reveals his return and confronts the horrified Scar, who initially mistakes Simba for Mufasa. However, after learning it’s his nephew, Scar sarcastically expresses "joy" at seeing him alive and gives a dirty look at the hyenas, angry that they did not kill him like he ordered them to do, prompting them to nervously gulp and back away from him.

Simba orders Scar to resign as king or engage in battle for the throne as Nala and the lionesses rise against the tyrant. Scar initiates a trial against Simba, blaming him for Mufasa's death in an attempt to turn the pride against him. Simba, still thinking he was responsible for his father's death, admits his "crime" and tries to explain he wasn’t a murderer, but Scar backs him up until he’s left dangling over the ledge of Pride Rock. As a lightning bolt strikes below Pride Rock and causes a wildfire due to the dry grass, Scar silently confesses to killing Mufasa, outraging Simba who, in a burst of adrenaline, furiously tackles Scar and forces him to confess his murder. Scar is unwilling to confess, so Simba starts to choke his uncle by pressing his paw onto his throat, forcing Scar to announce the truth in a low tone. Simba demands that he speak louder so that the others can hear him clearly, and, in a disdainful, frustrated, and bitter tone, Scar admits to everyone that he murdered Mufasa without remorse, which enrages the pride. This leads to a ferocious battle in which the lionesses, Timon, Pumbaa, and Rafiki work together to defeat the hyenas. Scar tries to get away in the chaos, but he gets cornered by Simba at the top of Pride Rock. With nowhere to run, Scar begs Simba for mercy and even attempts to blame his crimes on the hyenas (unaware that Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed are listening nearby). Simba refuses to believe him as everything he ever told him was a lie, but he chooses to exile Scar rather than kill him. Scar appears to concede, but he viciously attacks Simba after pulling a cheap shot with sweeping some hot embers into Simba's eyes to blind him. Scar rams Simba and bites on his neck, but Simba violently slaps his face and pushes Scar away, beginning a battle. The two engage in a vicious fight.

Scar eventually gains the upper hand by bashing Simba across the face and knocking him onto his back. However, as Scar leaps to deliver the deathblow, Simba uses his hind legs to hurl Scar over the edge of Pride Rock, sending him tumbling down a rocky slope to the base of the formation. Scar survives the fall, and as he slowly gets to his feet, the hyenas show up. Scar is relieved to see his "friends" at first, but they reveal that they overheard Scar calling them "the enemy" and they begin to surround their fallen master with wide vicious grins. Realizing his mistake too late, Scar begs for mercy and attempts to justify what he said, but the hyenas have had enough of his lies, derogatory treatment and broken promises so they ignore his life plea, leap upon him, and brutally maul him to death as flames surround them.

With Scar overthrown and deceased, Simba ascends Pride Rock and reclaims the Pride Lands as the new king and the kingdom is restored to its former glory.

#### The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

Despite his ultimate demise, Scar maintained the loyalty of the Outsiders, a pride of lionesses led by a lioness named Zira, who were banished to the Outlands by Simba. Zira was fanatically loyal to Scar and intended to install her son Kovu as King of Pride Rock, as he was chosen by Scar personally to be his heir and successor. They would continue to create trouble for Simba in the following years.

Scar appeared in Simba's nightmare in addition. Mufasa clings to the high cliff above the stampede and an adult Simba tries to rescue his father. However, Scar grabs Simba's paw, stopping from reaching him. As Mufasa falls off the cliff into the stampede, Scar transforms into Kovu and throws Simba into the stampede as well. In addition, Scar was also mentioned by Simba when he explains to Kovu the true history of Scar. He also implies during this time that, in addition to the hyenas exacting revenge on Scar, Scar also ended up burned alive by the wildfire.

Scar makes another brief appearance when Kovu is exiled from the Pride Lands by Simba, he stops by a lake where he sees Scar's reflection instead of his own as Mufasa did to Simba and scared by this, he runs off.

In the end, Scar's dying wish would be fulfilled (Kovu becoming the king of the Pride Lands) since Simba would choose Kovu to become the king consort of his daughter Kiara, Scar's great-niece. However, unlike Scar's plan, Kovu would rule for the sake of his subjects under the concept of the Circle of Life rather than his own sake.