Scar

*The Lion King II: Simba's Pride*

*The Lion King 1½*

*Hercules* (cameo)

*Once Upon a Halloween*

*The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar* (cameo)

*The Lion King* (2019)

*Mufasa: The Lion King* (upcoming)

*The Simpsons: Welcome to the Club* (cameo)

*House of Mouse*

*A Poem Is...*

*The Lion Guard*

Twisted Wonderland (Mentioned)

*Disney Magic on Parade*

*World of Color*

*Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom*

*Disney's Once Upon a Dream Parade*

*The Legend of the Lion King*

*Villains Tonight!*

*Happily Ever After*

*World of Color: Villainous*

*Villains Grove*

Jim Cummings (last few lines of "Be Prepared", *Simba's Mighty Adventures*, Fantasmic!, and *Simba's Pride*)

James Horan (*Kingdom Hearts II* and *Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom*)

David Oyelowo (*The Lion Guard*)

Chiwetel Ejiofor (2019 film)

Kelvin Harrison Jr. (2019 film's prequel)

### Inspiration

King Claudius from Shakespeare's *Hamlet*

Macbeth

Adolf Hitler

## Character information

### Full name

Taka (according to *A Tale of Two Brothers*)

Askari II (according to *The Lion Guard* creator)

### Other names

Uncle Scar (Simba)

Sire (Zazu)

The boss (Janja)

### Occupation

Prince of the Pride Lands

Leader of the Lion Guard (formerly)

Illegitimate King of the Pride Lands

### Home

Pride Rock, Pride Lands (birthplace)

Outlands (as a spirit)

### Likes

Power, respect, authority, obedience, control, food, fame, being dramatic, taunting his foes, manipulating others, bouncy songs, getting what he wants

### Dislikes

Mufasa, Simba, being second-best, hearing his brother's name, disobedience, guessing games, violence (or so he says), rejection, failure, criticism, disrespect, the idea of leaving the Pride Lands, incompetence, not getting what he wants, losing a meal, the song "It's a Small World"

### Parents

Ahadi † (father)

Uru † (mother)

### Siblings

Mufasa † (older brother)

**Mufasa**: "*Don't turn your back on me, Scar.*"
**Scar**: "*Oh, no, Mufasa. Perhaps you shouldn't turn your back on me.*"
―Mufasa and Scar
**Scar** is the main antagonist of Disney's 1994 animated feature film, *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.

## Background

Two versions of Scar's backstory exist.

According to *A Tale of Two Brothers*, Scar was the second born son of Ahadi and Uru. He was once named **Taka** (meaning "waste" or "want" in Swahili). He became upset when he learned his older brother Mufasa was chosen to be king over himself. Taka would come to meet three hyenas named Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, who tell him that if Mufasa is made to look like a failure, then he’ll look kingly in comparison and take the throne soon enough. This leads to Taka tricking his big brother into going down to the waterhole, where a Cape buffalo called Boma is refusing to share the water with the rest of The Pride Lands which, at the time, is having a terrible drought. While there Mufasa starts to try to reason with Boma and Taka roars and tells Boma that he should move by order of the Lion King, or fight Mufasa, Boma charges out of the water at Mufasa afterwards. Mufasa gets away with the aid of a mandrill called Rafiki, and Boma goes after Taka instead.

Mufasa runs back and looks for Taka being assaulted by Boma's herd. A large buffalo slashes Taka with his horns, causing him to be knocked unconscious. Mufasa leaps in to rescue his younger brother and the buffaloes make ready to attack again. Before they can do so, King Ahadi, father of Taka and Mufasa, appears with a large herd of animals that surrounds the buffaloes. It was during this attack that Taka got a scar on his eye, and renamed himself "Scar", as a reminder of his mistake, explaining his cruel name.

In *The Lion Guard*, Scar was born under the name "Askari" after his ancestor, the original Askari, and was at one point selected as leader of the Lion Guard, a team of lions who would protect the Pride Lands and the Circle of Life, as part of a tradition to all second-born children of the king. With this responsibility, Askari was given a power called the "Roar of the Elders". One day, Askari encountered a strange lion, who suggested that Askari should be the King of the Pride Lands. However, the strange lion led him to a trap where a cobra bit his left eye and left him his infamous scar.

The strange lion offered to cure the cobra's venom in return for Askari's servitude afterwards, but Askari killed them both with the Roar in a fit of rage instead. After reporting the encounter to his brother, Mufasa, he was belittled and received the nickname "Scar" from his older brother and which would eventually become his only name. After that, Scar began to grow jealous and loathsome of Mufasa (as the cobra venom in his body began to corrupt him by bringing out his darker thoughts and tendencies) and came to believe that *he* should be king of the Pride Lands instead of Mufasa. When the Lion Guard refused to help Scar usurp his brother, Scar infuriatingly used the Roar of the Elders to eliminate them. Due to using the Roar of the Elders for evil, the Great Lions of the Past took the Roar away and Scar lost the power completely and descended into depression, becoming shriveled and weak.

### Development

In an early treatment for an African-centered feature called *King of the Jungle*, a main point of conflict was a war between lions and baboons. In this iteration of the story, Scar was portrayed as a baboon and served as the leader of the baboons. Eventually, Scar became a rogue lion that was out for the throne with the J.T. Allen treatment of the story, as well as the *King of the Beasts* version by Allen and Ron Bass. This rendition of Scar was closer to a minion than the true main antagonist (being subservient to Banagi, the leader of the Hyena Clan, as well as a puppet king), and in the *King of the Beasts* version was also depicted as being a bit more honorable compared to the final version of the character, as he twice angrily denounces the Hyena Clan's attempts at aiding him when about to lose against Mufasa and later Simba, repeatedly insisting he fight his foes alone. The filmmakers, however, felt it would be more impactful if Scar had a deeper connection to the heroes; therefore, he was rewritten as Mufasa's envious, younger brother.

Andreas Deja was assigned as Scar's supervising animator. Rather than working on *Pocahontas*, Deja chose to work on *King of the Jungle* due to his love for *The Jungle Book* and Milt Kahl's animation of Shere Khan. Despite this, Deja did not study Khal's animation when working on *The Lion King*, so to prevent himself from simply copying what was done before. He, instead, studied real lions (some of which were brought into the Disney studio) and relied on the vocal performance and facial features of Jeremy Irons. Scar was designed to stand out from the other lions and reflect his sinister nature—he was given dark fur, a black mane, and his claws are consistently featured as opposed to the other lions whose claws only appeared during points of contention.

Scar's song, written by Elton John and Tim Rice, was originally titled "Thanks to Me" and was performed *after* Mufasa's death. As the development on the story progressed, the filmmakers felt that Scar's song was performed too late in the film. They also wanted to use Scar's number as a build up to his eventual takeover, thus it was renamed "Be Prepared" and featured Scar and his hyenas plotting to kill Mufasa and Simba and rule the Pride Lands.

Infamously, a deleted plot point included Scar exiling Nala from Pride Rock because she ignored his "romantic" approaches, after which she finds Simba alive and well with Timon and Pumbaa. This idea was ultimately abandoned, presumably because sexual harassment (and sexual advances in particular) was considered improper in a family movie at the time. However, the stage musical adaptation includes this plot development as part of director Julie Taymor's efforts to expand the female characters' presence in the story.

### Voice

Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Alan Rickman were once considered for the role of Scar. Jeremy Irons was approached thereafter due to his theatre background, as the filmmakers would have envisioned Scar as a "Shakespearean" villain. Initially, Irons was hesitant to voicing a role in an animated feature, as his career was built on dramatic, live-action roles. He was swayed after watching test animation matched to his voice. Irons would give up to ten and fifteen takes on a line, which would be reviewed by the directors and editor and chosen from there.

When it came to "Be Prepared", Irons endured numerous rehearsals and an eight hour session at a studio to perform the song. By the end of the session, Irons literally blew out his baritone voice (specifically with the line "You won't get a sniff without me."), and the rest of the song is sung by Jim Cummings, who voiced Ed the hyena.

### 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).

Scar is heavily sarcastic, frequently replying to attempts at conversation with sarcasm and subtle insults. After taking over Pride Rock, Scar's overall demeanor takes a turn for the worse, becoming somewhat deluded, if not in self-denial, in believing that he is still a logical ruler despite clear evidence to the contrary, apparently being unprepared to confess even to himself that Mufasa was a better king or finding fault in his own leadership. As such, in a dark parallel to Simba's initial idealism to becoming king, he also proceeds to refuse relocating the Pride from Pride Rock despite being confronted with obvious evidence that any surviving animals in the region had fled the premises as well as there being an ongoing drought, not caring if this resulted in the kingdom's, or his own, death. This implied that a large part of the reason why he decided this course of action was simply because he could give that order as king. Even when he is above Mufasa, having betrayed, murdered and stolen the throne from him, he remains sensitive to his brother's mention. It is one of the only subjects that can flare his temper; at the mere mention of Mufasa, he threatens Zazu, assaults Sarabi, and snaps at his own hyena minions. This indicates that Scar suffers from low self-esteem. Even in a position of power, he remains vulnerable to bouts of indecision and insecurity, as he is unable to accept criticism and too stubborn to take the advice of his advisers. Scar is also a hypocrite, as he begs Simba to spare his life due to their family ties despite the fact that he killed his own brother. He also tells Janja not to run like a coward, ignoring the fact that he himself fled from Simba during the battle of Pride Rock.

During his younger years, as leader of his Guard, Scar often did patrols on his own, showing his confidence. He was also a bit naive, as he trusted a no-account rouge that ended up double-crossing him, which ended up wounding him in the end. However, he proved to be very tactic with his intentions as after he turned traitor and slaughtered the stranger in revenge, he spun the narrative around in his favor to make him the hero of the story, showing his lust for attention.

Scar is highly intelligent as he himself liked to boast, easily able to manipulate situations and conversations to his advantage. This made up for Scar's lack of physical strength, which was further demonstrated by his decision to subject a fully grown Simba to a court rather than fighting him openly. Despite this, he did not appear to mind doing his own hunts, as evidenced when he brought a zebra leg for the hyenas. He is a fierce fighter who held his own against the bigger and much younger Simba and came very close to having him slaughtered. However, Scar will not hesitate to deceive in a fight, as seen when he flings embers into Simba's eyes, temporarily blinding him, to gain the upper hand. Scar was an extremely charismatic individual, able to inspire the hyenas to follow his cause and gain fanatical loyalty from Zira and her pride of lionesses, even in death.

Regarding his treatment of Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, he is somewhat harsh with them, as evidenced by his berating them regarding their failure to kill Simba and Nala (even though they only escaped because of Mufasa's timely arrival, which Scar even witnessed himself), and his angrily kicking them out after Banzai made the mistake of mentioning Mufasa within earshot. He could barely tolerate the idea of relying on "idiots" like them. Worst of all, when he realized that they lied to him about Simba's fate, he gives them a glance which seemed to indicate he would deal with them later. Despite this, however, he seems to value them as friends, as evidenced by his remark when he finds the hyenas waiting for him before he realized they overheard his remarks, as well as his attempts at owing them an apology for falling on deaf ears when he realized it was too late and finally passed on.

Scar is also a detestable sadist, convincing his own nephew he was responsible for Mufasa's death and then taunting him for it further. He even toys with Zazu when the majordomo tried talking back at him. Despite his negative traits, he attempts to applaud Zazu to sing a more "bouncy" song, other than "It's a Small World", which he apparently finds to be very exasperating (like a lot of people do in real life), because when Zazu starts to sing it, Scar snaps at him, telling him to stop ("No, no. *Anything* but that.").

Scar remains conniving and power-hungry, even after his demise, as evidently shown by his schemes to weaken the Lion Guard, led by his great-nephew, Kion, and he has apparently become less forgiving of failure to the point that Janja fears Scar greatly. In death, he is still manipulative and—in spite of his pridefulness—knows that his goals cannot be accomplished without the assistance of the Outlanders, prompting him to use both intimidation and temptation to keep his new lackeys compliant. He retains his plotting nature, though he becomes more maniacal, as he gleefully sows dissent, panic, and unrest in the Pride Lands through the work of his allies. He attempts to break the Circle of Life and even kill massive herds of animals in order to weaken the kingdom he once ruled.

If his allies show any sign of failure, cowardice, foolishness, or weakness, Scar will fly into a terrible rage. His anger only rises when his multiple plots are foiled by his grand-nephew, Kion, for whom he harbors a special hatred. In the end, Scar has no concept of forgiveness nor compassion towards others, caring only for himself, and has no comprehension of family, clearly shown when he is surprised and dumbfounded when Kion forgives him for his crimes and instead calls upon the Great Kings of the Past to judge Scar rather than eliminating the evil spirit in hatred.

### Physical appearance

Scar is elegant and poised, but also unkempt and wild-looking. He also speaks with an English accent. He is perhaps the most evidently feline lion in the film, scraggly and melanistic in appearance with a sleek, black mane, tawny fur, and distinctive, almond-shaped neon green eyes. He has large, tan paws with long, curving black claws that unlike those of other lions in the film are always bared and never retracted, perhaps alluding to his vicious nature.

Scar also sports a white goatee beard, characteristic of villains, particularly the evil twin archetype which is fitting given his relationship with Mufasa. Finally, Scar has a small, thin, pink scar over his left eye, thus earning him his namesake (which happened to him during his younger days). Some of his physical traits were based in part on his original voice actor, Jeremy Irons in addition.

After Scar's demise, he became a spirit manifested in lava, fire and smoke.

## Appearances

### *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 his failure to attend 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 which he clearly can’t (and ultimately fails to) keep. With their assistance, he engineers a wildebeest stampede meant to kill both Simba and Mufasa, tricking Simba into waiting in a gorge under the notion that Mufasa has a 'marvelous surprise' for him. 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. Scar proudly watches Simba run from him with a wicked grin, then sends the hyenas to kill Simba, but they fail this task 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, 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' overeating. Additionally, a drought deprives the kingdom of water, driving away most animals. 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. Even Scar's minions, who are used to going hungry for days, start to complain to Scar about the land being bare. Scar, however, continues to pick his teeth with the bones of his previous meal, telling 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, alive and well, returns 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, knowing he's furious with them.

Simba orders Scar to resign as king or engage in battle for the throne. 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 and says that 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's head and bites on his neck, but Simba violently slaps his face and rams into Scar, beginning a battle. The two engage in a vicious fight.

“***Scar:** Ah, my friends.* ***Shenzi:** "Friends"? I thought he said we were "the enemy".* ***Banzai:** Yeah, that's what I heard.**Both:** Ed?**Ed:** (evil, maniacal chuckling)**Scar:** No. N-no, let me explain. No, you don’t understand. No, I didn’t mean— No! (stammering) No!* ”
―Scar learns he's doomed
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 betraying them by 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 pleas, leap upon him, and brutally maul him to death, consuming his flesh 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 the fight between Scar and him. 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.

### *The Lion King 1½*

In the direct-to-video "parallel film" *The Lion King 1½*, Scar makes a few brief, non-speaking appearances in the scenes for which he was present in the original *Lion King* film.

Scar's song, "Be Prepared" is heard briefly as Timon and Pumbaa tour Scar's lair as a possible new home, commenting on how it’s quiet, secluded and with no uninvited visitors. The shadows of the goose-stepping hyena army are seen marching in front of them afterwards, though they have not started singing yet. This convinces Timon and Pumbaa to look elsewhere.

He is also mentioned by Nala when tells Timon and Pumbaa Simba needs their help in order to defeat Scar. Later, he is shown making Simba fall over Pride Rock's peak and fleeing from Simba after confessing he murdered Mufasa, where the hyenas were guarding him. Finally, after Timon, Ma, Pumbaa, and Uncle Max defeat the hyenas, Simba kicks Scar over the side of Pride Rock's summit, into the hole the hyenas fell into, and to his death by his minions' jaws.

### *The Lion Guard*

In *The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar*, Simba's second born cub—and Scar's grandnephew—Kion is told that Scar was once the leader of the Lion Guard, until it met a disastrous end when the power went to his head. As such, Kion makes a great effort to refrain from misusing his gift and becoming the dark figure his granduncle had been.

"The Rise of Scar", a hyena named Janja tires of living under the harsh conditions of the Outlands, but refuses to accept the fact that he and the other hyenas only reside there because they selfishly refuse to adhere to the laws set by the Circle of Life. Instead, they want to eliminate Kion, but each of their attempts have failed. A snake named Ushari claims that the secret to Kion's success is his ability to talk to the Great Kings of the Past, more specifically Mufasa. This gives them the idea to find a way to summon the only lion that's ever sided with the hyenas: Scar. Under Scar's authority, they hope to eliminate Kion and create a new order amongst the Pride Lands that gives them the freedom to devour as much as they want. By using both the combined powers of Kion's roar and Makini's magical bakora staff, Janja and Ushari successfully manage to summon Scar's spirit, manifested in lava and fire.

Revived and reinvigorated, Scar sees this as an opportunity to exact revenge against Simba and overthrow him as king."Let Sleeping Crocs Lie", . Upon learning from Ushari's skink spies that the Lion Guard has accidentally awakened Makuu and his float from their hibernation during the dry season, Scar sees this as an opportunity to wreak havoc in the Pride Lands and orders the Skinks to keep watch on the situation and inform him of any changes. Scar is optimistic that the Lion Guard's mistake would lead to the end of Simba's reign, but is then slightly annoyed by Ushari's claims that the reptiles would rule the Pride Lands.

When informed that Kiburi, a rebellious member of Makuu's Float, had challenged the latter to a Mashindano, Scar decides this is the perfect opportunity to get rid of Simba, knowing that many Pride Landers, as well as the royal family, will be in attendance. He orders Ushari to trick Kiburi into believing that if he killed Simba, he will rule the Pride Lands. However, while Ushari succeeds in tricking Kiburi, the plan ultimately fails due to the Lion Guard's interference. This also causes Kiburi and his three crocodile followers to be banished from both the crocodile float and the Pride Lands forever.

On their way in the Outlands, Kiburi and his followers run into Ushari again, who takes them to the volcano, where Scar reveals himself to them. Singing "I Have A Plan", Scar explains his revenge plan to Janja, Ushari, Cheezi, Chungu, Kiburi and his followers, explaining his scheme to unify all of the animals in the Outlands. With an army of henchmen at his side once more, Scar seeks to ignite a hostile takeover of the Pride Lands to reclaim the kingdom as his own domain and break the Circle of Life for good.

In "Swept Away", Njano arrives to the volcano and informs Janja and his allies that Beshte is alone in the Outlands. Though Janja tries to dismiss the situation, Scar appears and orders his henchmen to eliminate Beshte. When Cheezi and Chungu wonder how they might accomplish this, Scar declares that he has a plan.

Janja and his clan fail to destroy Beshte, however, and Ushari arrives promptly to tell the hyenas that an unhappy Scar wishes to speak with them.

In "Rescue in the Outlands", Scar sends Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu in search of Reirei's Pack, wanting to get them on his side. During their search for the jackals, Janja and his goons stumble on Jasiri, who marks the area as her turf (something which Janja forgot to do) and defeats and sends them back to the volcano when they try to get it back. Upon hearing about Jasiri, Scar, at first, sees her as a possible valuable ally, but Janja reveals that Jasiri is friends with the Lion Guard and also respects the Circle of Life, unlike the other Outlanders (singing "The Worst Hyena We Know" in the process). With this information, Scar changes his mind and decides that she is a threat. He orders Janja to get rid of her immediately and to do this with his entire clan, as he perfectly understands that Jasiri is too strong for only him, Cheezi, and Chungu. As they leave, Scar coldly warns Janja to not disappoint him again.

Janja and his clan nearly succeed in getting rid of Jasiri and also two hyena cubs named Tunu and Wema at the same time, but ultimately fails, as Madoa (Jasiri's sister) secretly escapes to warn the Lion Guard, who save Jasiri and the two cubs and chase Janja's clan away.

In "The Bite of Kenge", Scar stops an argument between Janja, Cheezi, Chungu, and Ushari (the latter having been trampled on by the others) and learns from the hyenas that they have discovered a supply of watermelons intended for the elephants through the Dry Season. Scar sees this as the potential to break the Circle of Life by removing the watermelons from the Pride Lands as this will cause the elephants to become dehydrated as a result. He orders Janja and his goons to return and steal all of the watermelons. But Janja is hesitant as the Lion Guard had already prevented them from doing so earlier and will probably be waiting for them. Ushari then reveals having a friend who can help and will not disappoint them. Satisfied, Scar orders Ushari to find his friend Kenge and tell him to deal with the Lion Guard.

In "The Morning Report", Scar orders Janja and his hyenas to kidnap Zazu. When Janja questions him on what to do next, Scar orders him to interrogate Zazu. Although this annoys Janja, Scar explains that being Simba's royal adviser, Zazu is "keeper of all the secrets of the Pride Lands", and that the information Zazu could disperse would make it easy for them to take over the Pride Lands. He then tells Janja to hurry as the Lion Guard must already be looking for Zazu. The bird is saved at the last moment by the Lion Guard.

In "Divide and Conquer", Scar sends Janja's clan and his new recruits Reirei's pack into the Pride Lands to eliminate Rafiki as he can sense Lions of the Past. Luckily, Rafiki and The Lion Guard are able to defeat the two groups. However, during the battle, Janja tries to escape, only for Scar to appear and berate him for being cowardly, unaware that they are being watched by Kion confusing him.

In "The Scorpion's Sting", Scar sends a scorpion named Sumu to poison Simba. Knowing that volcanic ash is needed to remedy the fatal sting, Scar sends his crocodile, jackal, and hyena minions to slow the Lion Guard, accompanied by Makini, down. It is then that they overpower these foes and secure the ash that he finally makes himself known to his grandnephew and his friends. His minions managed to corner the Guard, but Scar underestimated Kion's skills with the Roar which allowed them to escape. After his father's life is saved, Kion vows to defeat his granduncle once and for all.

In the episode "The Kilio Valley Fire", Scar orders his minions to set fire to the Kilio Valley (the Pride Land's elephants' home). After they succeed in doing so, he rises from the small flame of a remaining flaming stick that was thrown to the ground by a member of Mzingo's Parliament named Mwoga and praises them for their victory before ordering them to remain in Kilio Valley. When being questioned by Kiburi and Reirei, Scar reveals that his plan is to take over the Pride Lands piece by piece so that the Lion Guard will have nothing left to defend the Circle of Life and protect the Pride Lands.

In ""Undercover Kinyonga" Scar summons Janja and his clan back to the volcano. He stops a brief argument from Ushari and Janja (as the cobra was berating the hyena for being late), stating he has no time for "these ridiculous arguments". He then orders Janja to enter the Pride Lands with his entire clan, enter the riverbank above Hakuna Matata Falls at night, and push the rocks into the river until it stops the water from flowing as this will cut off major water supply during the middle of the dry season, which will thus cause the Pride Landers to get thirsty and will plunge the Pride Lands into unrest, desperation, and chaos. However, Scar is unaware that a female chameleon named Kinyonga, who is spying on him by using her camouflage ability, has heard everything and is planning to expose it to the Lion Guard so they can foil his scheme.

Soon after the plan has been confirmed, however, Shupavu and her group notice Kinyonga's shadow against a wall, and brings her to the attention of Scar, who then asks to know who dares to spy on him. Ushari then commands them to stop the intruder, and the skinks pursues Kinyonga out of the volcano but ultimately fails to apprehend her.

In "The Hyena Resistance", Janja enters the volcano and informs Scar of how their attacks have been repeatedly failing. A displeased Scar plans another attack, this time on Big Springs, with Kiburi leading. Once again, the attack is thwarted. Scar orders another attack under Reirei's leadership, but the same thing occurs.

After the three failed attacks, Jasiri celebrates the Hyena Resistance's success with Kion on the border of the Outlands and the Pride Lands. Unbeknownst to them, Njano and Shupavu overhear the conversation and report back to Scar. Scar questions Janja on Jasiri's status, as Janja had previously reported that Jasiri had fallen into a lava pit. Janja then confesses that the Lion Guard had come to save her. Scar orders Janja to lay a false trail for the Lion Guard and then attack Jasiri's clan. The Lion Guard stops the plan.

In "The Underground Adventure", After hearing From Shupavu and Njano that Kion, Bunga, Kiara, Tiifu, and Zuri are at the mud pots at the edge of the Pridelands, Scar orders Njano to fetch him a vulture, who will be delivering a "gift of fire" to Kion and his companions. Kion and his friends barley escape the fire.

In "Beshte and the Beast", Scar gets mad when he hears that Janja's clan, Reirei's pack and Kiburi's Float were defeated again. They then explain that it was actually a very big and strong gorilla named Shujaa who defeated them, not the Lion Guard and that he was able to tear apart the landscape easily. Scar's fury turns into interest and excitement upon learning this. Since the gorilla is destroying the Pride Lands while he's trying to help the Lion Guard, Scar orders his army to keep attacking so the gorilla can make more damage.

In "Pride Landers Unite!", Scar's spies Shupavu and Njano find out about Kion leading a small group of Pride Lands animals to help fight Scar's army. He orders the hyenas, jackals and crocodiles to go to Makuu's watering hole much to Kiburi's excitment and they attempt to take it over which fails in the end.

“***Scar**: That's right, Simba! You never thought you'd see me again, did you?* ***Simba**: What do you want?* ***Scar**: What do I want? Ah, Simba, Simba. Always so naïve. First, we took Kilio Valley. Then we wrecked Big Springs. And now your precious Mizimu Grove is doomed! It's only a matter of time before all of the Pride Lands is mine!*”
―Scar confronts Simba, after many years.
In "The Fall of Mizimu Grove", the Outlanders ambush on Mizimu Grove, attacking the Pride Animals in which the battle against them pauses when Scar appears in front of them as he plans to take over the Pride Lands, frightening away the Pride Landers. He also crosses Simba for the first time since his death. However, after Kion tells the Pride Landers to remain in Pride Rock and Makini's baobab tree survived the fire, it inspires them to stay in the kingdom and work with each other as a plan to defeat Scar.

In "Battle for the Pride Lands", the Lion Guard plans to defeat Scar by taking the battle in the Outlands. While having a discussion with Ushari after learning that the Pridelanders will attack the Outlands, he told Ushari about his scar was given to him by a strange Lion with his cobra snake friend and Mufasa then gave him his current name, Scar. After hearing from the skinks that Janja is considering joining Jasiri's clan, Scar devised a scheme to take out Janja's clan together with the royal family and Lion Guard by using them as distraction while the vultures cause fire in Pride Rock, hoping to eliminate all of them at once. In anticipation should they survive, Scar gave Janja false information that Kion can destroy him by using his powerful roar right at the volcano where Scar is while in reality using the roar would cause eruption that would kill Lion Guard and strengthened Scar further. To make sure his plan would work more efficiently, Scar enlisted Ushari's help to make Kion lose control of his roar.

When the Outlanders are swiftly overpowered by the Pride Landers, the Lion Guard enters the volcano and Kion confronts Scar, but is sneakily attacked by Ushari who leaves him a scar like Scar's and venom inside Kion that causes him to have difficulty in thinking, hoping this will make Kion to lose control of his roar. The evil lion then mocks his grandnephew, declaring that they are now the same and goads his grandnephew to use his roar against him. To Scar's surprise, Kion instead forgives him and declares that he can't judge him for everything he has done but the lions of the past can. Kion then invokes the lions of the past that made the rain fall in the volcano, contaminating the fallen lion. Knowing to be doomed, Scar screams to Kion that his roar is just a curse and that he will become like him before being annihilated once and for all, ending his tyrannical rule over the Outlands, and his threat towards the Pride Lands forever. Despite his ultimate destruction, the venom inflicted upon Kion by Ushari, (who is later killed by Bunga after being thrown into a fire pit) would alter his mind, and give him a personality disorder, one that brings out his darker intentions and makes him lose control of the Roar of the Elders, prompting him to travel to the Tree of Life in order to heal his wounds as there is no cure for the venom on Kion's scar in the Pride Lands. At some point on the way, an image of Scar's spirit briefly appeared to Kion to assure his turn to evil due to what happened to him and his friends earlier that day, prompting Kion to make up with them. However, through his therapy at the Tree of Life, Kion overcomes the insecurities that his uncle had attempted to give to him.