Timon

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 Vol. 1

**Timon** is a comical meerkat. Timon is the best friend of Pumbaa, friend and guardian (when he was little) of Simba, son of Ma, and nephew of Uncle Max. Inspired by the idea of having a major predator on their side in *The Lion King*, he and Pumbaa took Simba in when he collapsed of heat exhaustion and guilt after his father's death.

Timon is one of the few characters whose name has no meaning in Swahili; *Timon*is an historical Greek name, taken to mean "he who respects". Timon's name may also possibly derive from Shakespeare's tragedy *Timon of Athens*.

### **Personality**

Timon can be self-centered and thoughtless at times, but in the end, he has a good heart, and is loyal to his friends and family. Unlike most meerkats, who work constantly, Timon is a daydreamer which results in him being an outcast of his colony. His status at the bottom of the food chain means he relies on stronger animals to protect him once he's on his own, and as such, he usually looks out for himself, but nonetheless, never abandons his friends and family in times of trouble and is willing to risk himself for them. He is also shown to be self-absorbed and not as clever as he'd like to think he is, such as sometimes claiming Pumbaa's good ideas as his own. Timon is not incapable of thinking up his own plans though, as shown by one of his greatest moments being the "Tunnels" plan in*The Lion King 1½*.

He is also a bit of a coward, but with some amount of ability to be a bit of a daredevil, as evidenced by the part of *The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride* where he tried to intimidate Zira by sarcastically introducing himself and Pumbaa to her and yelling at her to get out of their Pridelands, but it backfired when Zira instantly replied, "YOUR Pride Lands?!" and roared, and Timon hid behind Pumbaa.

In *The Lion King 1½*, Timon is shown to have a very good heart in this film and is loving in some scenes between him and Ma, and shares a strong bond with her. He is also shown to have unique heroic characteristics in this film not seen in other appearances, such as having exceptional bravery in the part where he risks his own life to fix a failed hyena trap that Ma and Uncle Max create.

Timon is also iconic for being best friends with Pumbaa, the warthog. The two are nearly inseparable, and are shown together constantly. Being extremely close, they share interests such as sleeping, fun-filled activities, and most of all, eating bugs, which they mostly refer to as grubs. The duo are also known to argue time and time again, mostly because of Timon's selfishness and Pumbaa's ultimate nobility causing their personalities to clash. Even so, they never separate for long, and soon enough, their bond is tightened once again. Also, while Pumbaa is generally the true brains of the outfit, he is still very childish, with Timon shown to be rather protective of the warthog when the latter is in some kind of misfortunate event due to his naivety. This is an example of Timon's ultimate loyalty towards his friends and family. Despite his self-absorbed nature, he will eventually come around to do what's right, despite the sacrifices he has to make.

### **Physical appearance**

Timon is a slender, lanky ochre meerkat. He has both peach underbelly and palms, with dark brown fingers, toes and eyelids. He has a trim on his tail's tip, light inside and black outside hanging ears, wide mouth, black eyebrows, wide slightly bulging eyes, red hair, thin neck, 5 tan horizontal markings vertically on his back.

## Disney

### In the films

#### *The Lion King*

Timon, along with Pumbaa, found Simba when the cub had succumbed to heat exhaustion. After Pumbaa suggested that an adult Simba would make a great bodyguard, Timon took the idea for his own. When Simba woke up, they taught him their life philosophy, "Hakuna Matata". They also introduced Simba to a diet of bugs to keep him from one day eating them. They lived happily with Simba, until his childhood friend Nala arrived to search for help.

After Timon and Pumbaa are almost eaten by Nala and Simba rescues them, Timon is baffled to see Simba realizing who Nala is to him. Trying to find out why Simba and Nala stopped fighting suddenly, he walks in between them and shouts about what is happening with them. After learning that Simba is the king, and that he was going to reclaim his kingdom, Timon was at first doubtful, but when Simba confirmed it, he was exceedingly enthusiastic about it, feeling a great sense of power. When he and Pumbaa see Simba and Nala falling in love, he is regretful about losing Simba, not only as a bodyguard but also as his friend, eventually becoming heartbroken by the whole event. Later that night during a nap, Nala awakens Timon and Pumbaa asking where Simba was. Oblivious to the three, Simba has returned to Pride Rock to reclaim the throne. Fortunately, Rafiki, a mandrill friend of Simba and his father Mufasa, informs the trio by simply saying the the king has returned.

Timon joins Nala and Pumbaa as they race to meet up with Simba. With all four standing near a desolate Pride Rock, Timon questions Simba if they are going to fight Scar for his home. After Simba confirms so, Timon replies by saying that he is with him to the end and bows. At Pride Rock, he and Pumbaa dance the hula to distract the hyenas so that Simba and Nala could get by and Simba would have a clear shot at Scar. He and Pumbaa then fight off numerous hyenas before he is chased by Shenzi and Banzai into Scar's cave and takes cover in Zazu's cage. Pumbaa rescues both him and Zazu. At the film's end, Timon is shown standing on top of Pumbaa, while claiming great praise alongside him, Simba and Nala, as heroes of the Pride Lands.

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

It is unclear whether Timon and Pumbaa have taken up residence at Pride Rock, or just make frequent visits. They serve as aides to Simba, and are often called upon to keep an eye on his adventurous daughter Kiara so in a way replacing Zazu's role as babysitters. Despite being bumbling, Simba trusts them to look after Kiara, and does not blame them when Kiara runs off as he knows what Kiara is like. When Kiara goes on her first hunt, they are hired to make sure she won't get hurt. Enraged, she escapes from the Pridelands to hunt outside the boundary.

Timon and Pumbaa also teach Kovu how to have fun after he forgets due to years of indoctrination in hatred. When Kovu's pride, the Outsiders, turn on Simba and ambush him, Timon is on Simba's side automatically, not even wanting to hear his argument. Though, he is not seen driving Kovu out or aiding the lionesses in holding back Kiara. Timon and Pumbaa later assist in the battle against Kovu's vengeful mother Zira, and her pride of exiled lions, but get chased off and cornered by a group, until Timon threatens to use Pumbaa's tail as a gun and use his gas on them causing them to flee in fear. Despite being slightly cowardly, they are willing to fight for what is right. When Simba tries to make peace with Zira after realizing that both prides "were one", he uses the same advise Timon and Pumbaa gave him when he was a cub (Put the past behind you) showing how much he had learned from his old friends.

#### *The Lion King 1½*

Timon, his mother Ma and Uncle Max were part of a group of meerkats who lived on the savannah, but he was unable to do any job properly, and almost led to the meerkat being eaten by the hyenas Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. Feeling depressed, he received counsel from Rafiki, who taught him the "Hakuna Matata" philosophy and told him to "look beyond what you see". Timon took this literally, and set off to find the ultimate paradise. Along the way, he first encountered Pumbaa, and the two became friends. On the way to find paradise, they passed by the presentation of Simba (it turns out that Pumbaa accidentally passed some gas and the smell made a few animals collapse, causing the other animals to think they were bowing and later they all bowed) and Mufasa was very puzzled at seeing this and his majordomo Zazu then tells him they are bowing to his son; Simba, Nala, and animals singing "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" (it was Timon who hit an elephant's leg with a stick, causing the tower of animals to collapse); the elephant graveyard by running from Mufasa who was on the way to save Simba and Nala from the hyenas ("I see *carnivores*"); the hyenas marching to "Be Prepared" ("something tells me this ain't the traveling company of Riverdance"); and the wildebeest stampede ("Shall we run for our lives?" "Oh yes, let's").

Finally, they reach a beautiful oasis and are enjoying life until they find a collapsed Simba. After rescuing Simba, Timon and Pumbaa find themselves with their hands full trying to keep up with the mischievous cub. Simba quickly adopts both Timon and Pumbaa as surrogate fathers.

The film also shows more of Simba's life with Timon and Pumbaa before Nala came along, stating that Simba had beaten Timon in nearly every bug-eating contest they had done with one another. Timon and Pumbaa, afraid that Nala would take away their friend, attempted to spoil Simba and Nala's date by letting out bees, a spider, and tripping the two (explaining why they fell down the hill in the first film), but all failed. Later on, they see Simba and Nala quarrelling. They also mistake the appearance of Mufasa's ghost as bad weather. After they realize Simba has gone back to take his rightful place as king, it is revealed that Pumbaa had set off to help Simba before Timon, who was indifferent and reluctant. Timon eventually came to his senses thanks to Rafiki's continued advice, and quickly followed, after which Rafiki says, "My work here is done." After providing their hula distraction (shown in the first film. This apparently was Timon's fault because before he did the dance, he asked Simba what his (Simba) plan was to get past the hyenas, Simba replying "Live bait." When Timon realizes he and Pumbaa were the live bait, he sarcastically asked Simba "What do you want me to do? Dress in drag and do the hula?". A few seconds later, the hyenas wake up and see Timon in a hula skirt, a flower, and a flower necklace and Pumbaa like a cooked pig), the two run into Ma and Uncle Max, who had been searching for Timon ever since he left the meerkat colony. Later on during the fight, they defeated the hyenas by digging a massive tunnel network, sending the hyenas down Pride Rock where they get to take revenge on Scar who had betrayed them. This scene explains what happened to Timon and Pumbaa while Simba is fighting Scar. After Scar is killed in the first film and this film, Timon and Pumbaa show up alive and unharmed against the hyenas that chased them, suggesting to audiences that they have either outsmarted or beat up the hyenas in the first film. At the end, Timon takes his entire meerkat colony to live in the oasis, free from threats.

Despite the appearance of Timon's mother, Ma (who was also given reference in at least one episode of *Timon and Pumbaa*) and his Uncle Max (believed to be his great uncle due to his age-which may be premature-and the fact that Ma also calls him 'Uncle' Max), Timon's father is never mentioned.

### In TV series

#### *The Lion King*

In the spinoff series, Timon and Pumbaa have many adventures in the jungles of Africa. He and Pumbaa have been to many famous places such as Las Vegas, Paris and Hollywood. Many of Timon's actions in the show involves "get rich quick" schemes.

In the episode "Once Upon a Timon" a pre-existing version of his back story was revealed. He lived in a modernized Meerkat colony complete with streets, shops and even a princess who Timon had a massive crush on. One day when Timon had guard duty, he left his post to speak with the princess. While he was gone a snake invaded and kidnapped her. Timon was banned and met Pumbaa. Soon enough he came across the captive princess and rescued her. He was offered to marry her and get the good life but that would mean leaving Pumbaa. He decided to stay with his pal.

In the series, Timon's last name was revealed to be **Berkowitz**.

#### *Timon and Pumbaa's Wild About Safety*

Pumbaa and Timon star in a series of educational shorts, following several guidelines to a safety and healthy life. Timon however, acts as the example most of the time, not knowing any safety/healthy guidelines. This leads Pumbaa to teach his friend about a certain topic.

Quite a few episodes begin with Timon and Pumbaa enjoying an activity when Timon demonstrates an act of irresponsibility to his own well-being, which prompts Pumbaa to begin the lesson. Timon can behave rather dim-wittedly in the shorts, following the lines of the television series where it was revealed that Pumbaa was the real brains of the outfit, and Timon would usually just steal his ideas.

#### *The Lion Guard*

Timon and Pumbaa are set to appear with several of the film's other characters in the upcoming Disney Junior series *The Lion Guard* which will centre around Simba's son Kion.

## Other

He has a special scent of.

He has the voice of *Nathan Lane* performing as *Timon* in *The Lion King.*

If we could choose for him a song it would be .

He is nicknamed Timmy by his mother and Tunnel Klutz by other meerkats.

Timon's last name was revealed to be **Berkowitz**.