Bagheera

### **Voice**

Arthur Grosser (The Jungle Book) (English)Richard Newman (Simba the King Lion) (English)

### **Inspiration**

The character from the original 1894 novel by Rudyard Kipling

## Character information

### **Personality**

Courageous, protective, generous, wise, brave, kind, simple-minded, intelligent, friendly, rough, strict, serious, grumpy (at times)

### **Appearance**

**In the anime series:** Slender black panther
**In the animated series:** Slender leopard with golden fur and brown spots

### **Goal**

To help Mowgli defeat Shere Khan. (succeeded)
To help by teaching Simba and Buckshot the ways of the Jungle/Forest. (succeeded)

### **Allies**

Mowgli, Simba, Buckshot, Kaa, Baloo, Mother Wolf, Flash, Thin and XL, Flash, Winner, Augustine, Canary, Ludwig, Arbor, Orech and Alex, Eagle King, Ronco, General Sebastian, Ari, Light

### **Enemies**

Shere Khan, Kurdy, Alba and the Monkeys (Bandar-log), the Red Dogs, Vultures, Rhinos, Ostriches, Sewer Rats

### **Likes**

Hunting, teaching Simba and Buckshot the ways of the Jungle and the Black Forest, his friends, peace and harmony

### **Weapons**

Claws and fangs

**Bagheera** is one of the main and supporting characters of the Japanese anime series, *The Jungle Book* and the three Italian animated series, *Simba the King Lion*, *Simba Jr. Goes to N.Y. and the World Cup* and *Winner and the Golden Child*.

## Background

In the anime series, Bagheera is a solitary panther who roams the jungle along with Mowgli and has seen too much of this world, both in good and in bad- way too much for one life. He has had close encounters with men, and for this reason skulks around in a state of distrust.

In the three animated series, he is now a leopard who watches over Simba, Buckshot, and all the jungle community. He is very generous, and his agility is incomparable; he is also the one who teaches Simba how to hunt. He's also a strict teacher while coaching the young cub and his teammates.

### **Personality**

He's friendly to Mowgli, Simba and his friends, but much like Kaa and Baloo, he can get rather rough as needed. Also, he is courageous, protective, wise, brave, kind, simple-minded and intelligent. Plus, he can also be grumpy and serious.

### **Physical Appearance**

In the anime series, The Jungle Book, Bagheera is a slender black panther with white eyes with black irises, black nose and white-silvery claws on his paws. Also in the three animated series, Bagheera is now a slender leopard with golden fur and brown spots.

## Role in the Series

### **The Jungle Book**

Bagheera spent part of his childhood in the care of an English family, though later escaped when his young caretaker was shot by her father. At one point, he was mistaken for a minion of a demon-lord in the eleventh episode, *The Devil in the Mind*, only to redeem himself when he learns that Fargas was being mind-controlled by the blasphemous demons of Hell.

### ***Simba the King Lion***

Bagheera was a leopard (Instead of the traditional Black Panther appearance) who was one of the former King's guardians before he passed on. He was also a guardian and mentor to Simba, even teaching him how to hunt and the ways of the Jungle. When Simba grew up, he was one of his allies during the war against Shere Khan. Since Simba became the rightful king, he was one of his most trusted subjects.

### ***Simba Jr. Goes to N.Y. and the World Cup***

Bagheera was one of the animals involved in a search party to rescue Winner in New York, along with Simba, Kaa, Baloo, Flash, Canary, Ludwig, Thin and XL, and Augustine. He was later captured by the sewer rats from the Stinking Saloon, until he was rescued by his son, Pinball, as well as his friends.

### ***Winner and the Golden Child***

He hasn't been seen very much in the final series, excepting the later episodes. He was involved in supporting a soccer team made by Winner and Cicci in order to thwart the evil plans from Shere Khan and Maya. He assisted the Jungle Team as they were practicing before the great tournament. He was then a spectator and he witnessed Ari, the Child of the Fifth Prophecy, stand up against Maya (as a dragon), and transform her permanently into an ugly vulture. They were able to win over Shere Khan and the Devils of the Jungle. Peace had returned and he was able to visit Ari after he warped his home into the Singing Valley.

## Trivia

* Bagheera was inspired by the character of the same name in the 1894 novel by Rudyard Kipling.
* Bagheera that appears in "Simba the King Lion" is not the same as in "Jungle Book", merely sharing the name. Bagheera in "Simba the King Lion" is a leopard. They have other, unnamed, black panther friends, who look just like Bagheera from "Jungle Book".