Nala's Father

Nala (daughter)

Kion (grandson)

Kiara (granddaughter)

Simba (son-in-law)

Unofficial:

Kopa (grandson)

“Minkoff and Allers then mentioned how they'd joked about this during production, tossed around some off-color gags, and eventually decided that they just "hoped nobody would notice".”
―The Lion King Tenth Anniversary Reunion Panel.
**Nala's Father** is the father of Nala, the mate of Sarafina, father-in-law of Simba, and the grandfather of Kiara and Kion.

He is mentioned, and appears in a cave painting in *Paintings and Predictions*.

## Appearance

Though only shown in Rafiki's painting as a cub, Nala's father had gold fur with light yellow paws and underbelly, a white chin and a red tuft of hair on his head and a tuft of red hair on the tip of his tail. He bears a striking resemblance to his grandson Kion.

## Background

Contrary to belief, the directors of *The Lion King* did contemplate who Nala's father might've been. Albeit jokingly said, he *was* at least thought about as a character, but had no place in the movie. In the end, the two directors just hoped no one would notice his absence, effectively scrapping the character.

## History

### Prior to *The Lion Guard*

Sometime during his childhood, Nala's Father fell down from a tree branch, but was rescued by the Lion Guard of his time.

Upon reaching adulthood, he met a lioness Named, Sarafina and had a daughter with her named Nala. What happened to him after this is unknown.

### **Paintings and Predictions**

Nala's Father is seen as a painting on Rafiki's wall. Beshte points out the curious cub to Bunga, and the pair mistake him for his grandson, Kion. As Bunga taps the staff on the image, they watch with horror as he plummets from the tree. Unable to handle the outcome, Bunga removes the staff which prevents them from seeing the final outcome. Later on, however, Rafiki reveals that it is in fact Nala's Father who, when he was a cub, fell from a tree but was saved by the Lion Guard of his time. He shows the modern day Guard the whole event by finishing the whole animation.

### **Cave of Secrets**

During "The Wisdom on the Walls", one of the Paintings of the Past shows the painting of Nala's Father on a tree.

## **Family**

* **Sarafina**: Wife
* **Nala**: Daughter
* **Simba**: Son-in-Law
* **Kiara**: Granddaughter
* **Kion**: Grandson
* **Kovu**: Grandson-in-Law
* **Rani**: Granddaughter-in-Law

## Trivia

* It is unknown whether he would be Mheetu's father as well, though he probably wouldn't as Mheetu was deleted by then thus couldn't be fathered.
* In *The Lion King 1½* trivia game, he is mentioned as an option to one of the questions.
* In 2004, when asked about who is Nala's father, according to Brian Tiemann, Minkoff, and Allers "began laughing, ribbing each other, making little sidelong jibes". Eventually, Minkoff pointed towards Allers, jokily mentioning he was the father. They concluded their answer with Minkoff muttering into his sleeve, that the general assumption was that Nala's father was "either Scar or Mufasa".
* According to Tom Bancroft, one of the lead animators for *The Lion King*, the issues of Nala's father was brought up very late, and eventually ignored as they figured no one would notice him not being there.