Ed

Ed
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## Character Information

### Enemies

Mufasa, Simba, Nala, Sarabi, Sarafina, Pridelanders, Rafiki, Zazu, Timon, Pumbaa, Scar, Cheetata and Cheetato, Martin Pardon, Ma, Uncle Max, Meerkat Colony

### Occupation

Leaders of the Hyena ClanScar's minions (formerly)

**Ed**: *\*Laughs\**
**Banzai**: *It's not funny, Ed!*
**Ed**: *\*Bursts Out Laughing\**
**Banzai**: *Hey, shut up!*

—Ed teasing Banzai about his fight with Mufasa | ”

**Ed** is one of the secondary antagonists of *The Lion King* and one of the main antagonists of *The Lion King 1½*, alongside Shenzi and Banzai. He is one of Scar's loyal henchmen.

## Appearance

Ed is a smoky-gray hyena with black ears, black eyebrows, black paws, dark gray spots, a pale gray stomach, a black tail, and crossed, yellow eyes. His ears have notches in them (most likely due to a previous fight) and he has a long tongue hanging out of his mouth that has four warts, a feature unique to him.

## Personality

—Alex Kupershmidt about Ed[2]

Ed has never been known to say anything, but he uses laughter to communicate with his friends. He enjoys teasing them, and finds it hard to control his laughter. He is also known for being quite clueless, and getting his friends into trouble numerous times. Ed is a loyal follower, and never questions orders, either from Scar, Shenzi, or Banzai. Despite this, his friends have a tendency to ask for his opinion and treat him as an equal member of the cackle rather than just a subordinate.

Ed appears to have a slow mind, shown when he chews on his own leg after a brief scuffle with Banzai. He tends to laugh at inappropriate times often, even laughing at a joke made by Timon and Pumbaa that was directed at him and his partners-in-crime. Furthermore, when Mufasa pinned the hyenas on the ground and his friends tried to lie, he nodded idiotically.

Despite his apparent slow-wittedness, Ed was aware of what was happening around him, being the first hyena to notice that Simba, Nala and Zazu were escaping - although Banzai was the first to effectively express this, since Ed does not communicate through words - and along with Shenzi and Banzai he was seen snarling when Scar tried to blame the hyenas for Mufasa's death. A couple of minutes later he and the other hyenas made Scar "a king fit for a meal".

## Information

### *The Lion King*

**Banzai**: *Hmm, I dunno, Shenzi. Whadda you think, Ed?*
**Ed**: *Ooh! \*laughs\* Ooh! \*laughs\**

—The hyenas discover Nala, Simba, and Zazu | ”

Ed is first seen in *The Lion King* as one of Scar's henchmen. When Simba andNala are exploring the Elephant Graveyard, Simba laughs in a mocking way, and Ed and the other hyenas who are hiding in an elephant skull, echo his laughter, and make the young cub back away in fear and hide behind Nala and Zazu, who had come to retrieve the cubs from the graveyard. When the hyenas emerge from the skull, Banzai asks Ed what he thought of the cubs; but the hyena only laughs crazily and joggles his head. The hyenas then accuse Nala, Simba, and Zazu of trespassing onto their territory, and Zazu tries to cover them up by telling the trio that it was an accident.

After a brief confrontation, the hyenas begin to joke about "what they were going to have for lunch". But in the midst of their joke, Ed notices the cubs escaping, and tries to warn his friends by grunting and pointing to the escaping prisoners. When he finally gets their attention, Ed and his friends chase after the cubs, and manage to catch up to Zazu and put him in "the birdie boiler". Meanwhile, Nala and Simba had come back to rescue Zazu, but end up being chased away by the three hyenas. The two cubs are soon cornered up against a rocky wall. As the three hyenas close in on them, Simba bravely tries to protect Nala by standing in front of her and roaring at the hyenas. But his efforts are futile as the hyenas continue to close in on them. But before they can reach Nala and Simba, there's a magnificent roar, and Simba's father Mufasa, who had been fetched by Zazu, appears to dispose of the hyenas.

After a brief struggle, Mufasa pins the three hyenas to the ground, and tells them to never come near Simba again. Shenzi and Banzai act as if they had had no idea Simba was Mufasa's son, but when Ed is asked, he stupidly nods yes, and Mufasa roars in anger. After they're released, the three hyenas scurry away.
Later that night, Ed is seen bickering with Banzai. He had been clawed in the butt by Mufasa and Ed was laughing at the injury. After a couple failed attempts to appeal his laughter, Ed is knocked to the ground by a thoroughly annoyed Banzai. The two continue to fight until Shenzi breaks it up. When the two pull away, Ed begins to randomly chew on his leg, while Banzai tries to heave the blame on him. Later, after Scar makes a mysterious entrance, the hyenas begin to talk about how powerful Mufasa was. Whenever Banzai says Mufasa's name, Shenzi shivers. When Shenzi begins to shiver uncontrollably, Ed begins to roll on the ground in laughter. Scar is disgusted at their behavior, but Banzai insists that he's their pal. Scar then drops the hyenas a piece of meat, telling them they didn't even deserve it, since they couldn't manage to catch Simba and Nala. But as soon as he drops the piece of meat, the hyenas dig in hungrily. When they're finished, Scar launches into a song about being prepared for Mufasa's death.
The next day, Ed is seen with Banzai and Shenzi, waiting in a rock cave near a herd of wildebeests. Scar had a plan to lure Mufasa to the gorge to rescue Simba, who had been lured there by Scar. When Scar gives the signal, the three hyenas chase the wildebeests down the gorge and towards Simba. When the wildebeest are in a full-out stampede, the hyenas stop at the top of the ridge and watch the chaos unfold below.

After joining up with Scar again, the three hyenas are sent after Simba, who had run away from the gorge after encountering his father's dead body. The three chase him until he catapults himself into a dense thorn thicket. Banzai tries to stop himself from being hurled in too, but gets pushed in by Ed and Shenzi, who had run into him after sliding down the side of a steep cliff. Banzai climbs back out of the thicket, covered in thorns, and tries to get Ed and Shenzi to keep chasing after Simba. But both refuse, Shenzi saying that she wouldn't want to come out looking like him, and calling him a "cactus-butt". Banzai then starts to gingerly remove some of the thorns from his pelt, and pointedly spits some at Ed, who yelps and covers his face.
Years later, after Scar has taken over the Pridelands and let the hyenas join the pride, Ed comes to Scar to complain about the lack of food with Banzai and Shenzi. All three of the hyenas are starving, and tell Scar that the lionesses weren't hunting for them. Scar then tells them that they could eat Zazu, who was trapped in a cage made of bone. But the hyenas aren't thrilled, and Scar orders them out of the cave. The three start to leave, then pause, telling Scar that they were still hungry. Scar then yells at them to get out, and they race away, Ed letting loose a crazy laugh as they go
After this, Simba is seen returning to the Pridelands, now a young adult. Scar, who's surprised to see Simba, plainly makes his point that the hyenas hadn't done their job, by saying, "I'm a little surprised to see you....alive". He then glares up at the three hyenas, who gulp and back away into the shadows.

Later, during a battle between the hyenas and the lions, Shenzi and Banzai chase Timon into Scar's cave and trap him in the bone cage with Zazu. But Timon and Zazu are soon freed by Pumbaa, who rushes into the cave and ruthlessly beats up Shenzi and Banzai while Ed watches. The three hyenas then run away from the cave.

Later, Simba gets into an epic battle with Scar, and corners him at a steep ledge. Scar, who's desperate to stay alive, blames the hyenas for all the trouble; the plot to kill Mufasa and the whole reason the Pride Lands were in turmoil. Unknown to him, all three of the hyenas are listening to him from the shadows.
At this point, despite his appearance and behavior, both of which suggest that, as Scar had put it, his "lights are not all on upstairs", Ed proves fully cognizant of what is going on around him; he snarls and bares his teeth in fury along with
Shenzi and Banzai upon hearing Scar fully recognizing Scar's betrayal.After hearing what Scar said, the three back away, growling, and disappear into the shadows. Scar and Simba get into another fight, and Simba throws Scar off the side of the ledge, and onto the ground below. When Scar lands, the hyenas approach him, including Banzai, Ed, and Shenzi. At first, Scar is relieved to see them. However his relief turns to terror when Shenzi and Banzai recall what he said. When they ask Ed if he remembers, Ed, who is glaring at Scar in anger, responds with a laugh totally unlike his usual crazy but benevolent giggles: a sinister chuckle, after which he licks his chops. He and the other hyenas then close in on Scar, kill and devour him.

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

The hyenas don't appear in the film, but Nuka mentions them when he says, "the hyenas ran off" when gathering fire withVitani at the Elephant Graveyard, implying that some, if not all, hyenas survived probably including Ed along with Shenzi and Banzai. Originally instead of the Outsiders, Zira was supposed to be accompained by the Hyenas to get her revenge with Cheech Marin reprising his role as Banzai, Whoopi Goldberg returning as Shenzi, and Jim Cummings coming back as Ed.

### The Lion King 1½

**Pumbaa**: *Ah, ha, ha. Uh, beats me, Timon. What?*
**Timon**: *Gifted!*
**Ed**: *\*Laughs\**
**Banzai**: *\*Slaps Ed\* They're talkin' about us!*

—Timon and Pumbaa jeering at the hyenas | ”

## **Family**

* **Shenzi**
* **Banzai**(Brother)
* **Janja**()
* **Cheezi**
* **Chungu** ()

## **Friends**

* **Cheetata** (formerly)
* **Cheetato** (formerly)
* **The Hyena Clan**
* **Scar** (formerly)

## **Enemies**

* **Cheetata**
* **Cheetato**
* **Scar**

While Timon is singing "That's All I Need", the hyena trio can be seen watching him from behind a rock. After Timon finishes the song, Shenzi pushes him aside and starts to infiltrate the meerkat colony with her two companions. The hyenas fail to devour the meerkats, as they escape into their burrows, but Ed blocks a tunnel for Uncle Max to escape down, which leads to Max being nearly devoured by the hyenas.

Ed is later seen at the top of Pride Rock, going after Simba. But the hyenas are insulted by a joke made by Timon and Pumbaa, which Ed laughs at and is slapped by Banzai. Ed and the other hyenas go after Timon and Pumbaa and corner them at the edge of Pride Rock. Timon and Pumbaa try several tactics to entertain them while Uncle Max and Ma dig a tunnel under the hyenas. When the trap tunnel initially fails, Ed along with the other hyenas move in closer to eat Pumbaa, Ma, and Uncle Max. But Timon goes in and finishes the tunnel. The hyenas fall into the tunnel after Timon bravely finishes it, and they plummet to the bottom of Pride Rock to meet Scar after he is thrown off a cliff by Simba.

### Other Roles

#### The Lion King (musical)

Ed's role is mostly the same in *The Lion King* stage musical. As in the movie, he doesn't talk and communicates only through laughter. He is given two new songs to sing: "Chow Down", which is sung when Simba and Nala enter the Elephant Graveyard, and "The Madness of King Scar", when Shenzi and Banzai complain to Scar over a shortage of food and water.

#### Television

##### The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa

Ed along with Shenzi and Banzai appears in a segment called *The Laughing Hyenas*. They appear in four skits: TV Dinner, Cooked Goose, Can't Take a Yolk and Big Top Breakfast.

#### Literature

##### *The Lion King: Six New Adventures*

###### *A Tale of Two Brothers*

**Banzai**: *Hey, who begged you?*
**Shenzi**: *He's right.*
**Ed**: *\*Nods\**
**Taka**: *\*Slides Out Claws\* What were you saying?*
**Banzai**: *It's a good thing we asked you to join us.*

—Banzai, Ed, Shenzi, and Taka | ”

In *A Tale of Two Brothers*, Ed corners a traveling baboon named Rafiki at Five Stones, with the help of his two companions, Banzai and Shenzi. But before the hyena trio can kill the baboon, Ahadi, the king of the Pride Lands, stops them and tells them not to hunt for sport. After a bit of protesting, Banzai and Shenzi submit to him, and Ed giggles, covering his face with his paws.

Later, the hyena trio meets up with Taka. They try to be dramatic and scare him, but Taka isn't impressed, and tells them to stop with all the drama. When things get down to business, Taka warns the hyenas that Ahadi was looking for them, since they had been causing a lot of trouble lately. Banzai suggests moving to the mountains, but Shenzi and Taka yank at his whiskers, and Ed snickers when he lets out a yelp of pain. Taka then says, "No wonder you begged me to join your little gang." Banzai and Shenzi protest, and Ed nods his head in agreement. But Taka lets out his claws, and the hyenas reluctantly submit to him. Later, when Banzai and Shenzi asks why Taka wasn't hunting with Ahadi, the young lion gets angry at them, and corners them up against a tree. While Banzai and Shenzi try to make up excuses, Ed just giggles.

But they manage to smooth Taka's fur by giving him a plan to make Mufasa look bad. When Taka begins to ponder the idea, Ed joggles his head in agreement. When Taka leaves, he promises to bring them food later, then disappears into the Savannah.

## Trivia

* Ed has multiple speaking lines in several objects inspired by *The Lion King*, including *Greedy is as Greedy Does*and *Fight for the Throne*.
* In some of *The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa* episodes, Ed's ears appear without notches in them.
* Ed is the only hyena to have the same voice actor in *Timon and Pumbaa* and *House of Mouse* that he had in the film and its prequels. Banzai and Shenzi were replaced by Tress MacNeille and Rob Paulsen in the shows; however, when they appear again in *The Lion King 1½*, they have their original voice actors.
* Ed was created by Thom Enriquez.
* In 1993 script for the climax of The Lion King, Banzai was originally going to be flung onto the ribcage imprisoning Zazu, thus freeing him and allowing him to peck Banzai on the head, then Ed comes to help. The two come close to killing Zazu when Timon and Pumbaa ram them from behind and send them flying to a burning tree.
* Ed was originally slated to appear in *The Lion King II: Simba's Pride*, as Jim Cummings reportedly reprised his role for the sequel