Bunga

Mark of Guard

TBD (Teenager)

Buckelew Lj (The Lion Guard: Drama King)

Silly Honey Badger (by TBD & TBD)

Bunga the Wise (by TBD)

Odd Little Hedgehog (by TBD)

Bravest (by All)

Pesky Varmint (by TBD)

Morsel (by TBD)

Chosen One (by TBD)

Smelly hedgehog (by TBD)

Mister Bunga & that Bunga (by TBD)

Max (adopted great-uncle)

Ma (adoptive grandmother)

Timon's Father (adoptive grandfather)

Simba (adoptive brother)

Nala (adoptive sister-in-law)

Kion (adoptive nephew)

Kiara (adoptive niece)

### Enemies

Janja, Mzingo, Cheezi, Chungu, Janja's Clan, Makuu, Ushari, Reirei, Goigoi, Dogo, Makucha

## Media Information

### First Appearance

The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar

**Bunga** is a fearless honey badger and Kion's best friend in the Disney Juniorshow *The Lion Guard*. He is the adoptive nephew of Timon and Pumbaa. His position on the team is the Bravest.

## Background

### Personality

Bunga is fun-loving and yet trouble making as seen the first video clip while he was playing with Kion. Bunga got a python snake tangled up and at the pond while going across he landed on the snout of a crocodile annoying it. When their fruit ball ended up in the Outlands, Bunga showed fearless and reckless behavior by jumping down into the Outlands but before he did Bunga said, "Simba is a big old scaredy cat when it comes to the Outlands", meaning he doesn't show respect to authority figures. Although he is considered the Bravest of the Lion Guard, he is unfortunately not very bright and as a result, his bravery often gets him into situations where he doesn't realize the danger he has put himself (and sometimes, his friends) in.

### Physical Appearance

Bunga is shown to be a rather short but stocky character, with a well-rounded physique and small paws. His fur is dark silvery-blue.

He sports many colors, from the striking pinks of his ears to the thick navy shades of his bushy eyebrows. His nose appears to be a very dark shade of brown, while his eyes are coal-black. Perhaps his most striking feature, Bunga's teeth are somewhat overlarge and distinctly gap-filled.

### Abilities

* **Powerful Stink:** Like all Honey Badgers, Bunga can shoot a powerful stinky spray that has some good uses like scaring baboons out of a falling tree but thanks to his uncle Pumbaa he was able to increase from his training.
* **Animal Strength and Combat:** Bunga is shown to be able to have the strength to hold Goigo and easily defeated Mzingo.
* **Animal Speed:** Bunga is fast enough to catch up to Kion.
* **Animal Agility:** Bunga is able to flip in the air as he proven to be the most agile of the group.
* **Animal Resistance:** Bunga's thick skin prevents him from being hurt by sharp objects like a porcupine's quills.
* **Venom Immunity:** As a honey badger, Bunga is immune to snake venom.
* **Climber:** As a honey badger, Bunga is a excellent climber on trees but not climbing on rocks.
* **Intelligence:** Rafiki had stated that Bunga will be the most intelligent animal in the Pride Lands if he thinks things through. He was proven not to be that intelligent but he was shown to be intelligent enough to use his gas to save Kiara from the stampede.

### The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar

Bunga is first seen playing Baobab Ball with Kion on Pride Rock. After unintentionally disrupting Simba teaching Kiara how to be Queen, the two leave to continue their game elsewhere. During their game (where they encounter a crocodile named Makuu and a cobra named Ushari), the baobab fruit ends up in the Outlands. Kion refuses to go into the Outlands as Simba had forbidden him to, but Bunga goes in to fetch it. However, he is spotted by a hyena named Janja, who sends his henchmen Cheezi and Chungu to bring Bunga to him as food. Bunga is captured by the two hyenas, but is saved by Kion, who lets out a loud roar where lions in the sky appear roaring with him, much to the shock of the hyenas, giving Bunga time to escape to safety.

Bunga returns to Pride Rock with Kion and comes upon Simba and Rafiki (who heard Kion's roar). Rafiki reveals that Kion used the Roar of the Elders, before he and Simba take Bunga and Kion to an area of Pride Rock called The Lair of the Lion Guard where they talk of the previous Lion Guard, which was led by Kion's great-uncle Scar, who lost his Roar of the Elders after he used it to kill his fellow Lion Guard members after they refused to help him overthrow his older brother Mufasa as King. Simba tells Kion that he is now the leader and fiercest member of the new Lion Guard and sends him out to get members to be the bravest, fastest, strongest and keenest of sight. As he goes around the Pride Lands, Kion invites Bunga to become the bravest member as he is the bravest animal he knows, to which an excited Bunga agrees. Soon after, the two hear a distress call from Kiara's friend Zuri (whose claws are stuck in a log) and go to help. After Zuri is freed, Bunga reveals to her, Kiara, Tiifu along with Timon and Pumbaa about Simba making Kion the leader of the Lion Guard and he is the first member. At first Timon and Pumbaa don't wish for Bunga to join as they consider it work, but via singing "Zuka Zama", Bunga is able to convince otherwise.

Afterwards, Bunga goes with Kion to find three more members for the Lion Guard. They pick a cheetah named Fuli to be the fastest, a hippopotamus named Beshte to be the strongest and an egret named Ono to be the keenest of sight. However soon after, Simba arrives and is disappointed with Kion's choices as the Lion Guard has always been made of lions and berates his son for treating his new role as a game. After Simba leaves, Kion goes to have alone time as Bunga watches on sadly. Shortly after, Janja and his clan attack a gazelle herd and cause a stampede. Bunga warns Kion, who gives him along with Fuli, Beshte and Ono a Mark of the Guard on their shoulders before the group set out to deal with the hyenas. Upon noticing that Kiara is trapped in the stampede, Kion sends Bunga and Fuli out to help her. Bunga is able to get the gazelles away from Kiara by letting out a fart. Kiara thanks Bunga for saving her.

Bunga and Fuli rejoin the others and watch Kion use the Roar of the Elders to blast Janja and his clan back to the Outlands.

### The Lion Guard

Bunga returns in the Spin-off series along with the rest of the Guard.

#### **Season One**

In "The Rise of Makuu" Ono goes to Timon and Pumbaa and tell them that Bunga can't be stinky. Ono tries to change Bunga's smell. However, his new minty smell made his stink useless. Ono soon admits that Bunga's stink has his uses, to which the honey badger replies with "Hakuna Matata" and hopes that his stink will come back.

In "Bunga the Wise" Bunga thought that Rafiki said he was the wisest animal in the Pride Lands. Bunga begins to give the animals advice; however, his bad advice only made things worse. Suddenly, Lake Kiziwa starts flooding and the Lion Guard moves the animals quickly. They soon come to a dead end and they ask Bunga what to do. However, Bunga says that Kion is the one who knows what to do. Kion states that it's not quick and easy and tells the animals to get behind him. Kion soon uses the Roar of the Elders to blast the water away and the animals are safe and sound. Bunga soon finds out that honey badgers are only smart when they think things through. Bunga guesses that he's not so wise after all and says that he can live with that.

In "Fuli's New Family", it is revealed that Bunga is immune to snake bites, thanks to his poison immunity.

In "The Search for Utamu", it is revealed that Bunga ends up living with Timon and Pumbaa ever since his childhood when he managed to find some utamu bugs for them

In "Paintings and Predictions" Bunga is worried that Kion is going to fall off a tree branch but luckily Kion survived.

In "Bunga and the King" Bunga and Simba learn that they were both raised by Timon and Pumbaa.

In "Lions of the Outlands" Bunga learns about Zira and the Outsiders.

#### **Season Two**

In "Babysitter Bunga" Bunga babysits younger Pride Landers.

In the "The Traveling Baboon Show" Bunga watches a group of baboons and finds out that they are food thieves.

In the "The Rise of Scar" Bunga meets Rafiki's apprentice Makini.

In "The Bite of Kenge" Bunga fights a lizard named Kenge.

In "Timon and Pumbaa's Christmas", Bunga gives his uncles a Christmas that they'll never forget. Therefore, all the other animals celebrate Christmas in the Pride Lands together the following day.

In the "The Morning Report " when Bunga was little he and Kion ran into Pua's float.

In "The Scorpion's Sting", Bunga meets Scar and Scar's Army while trying to save Simba.

In "The Underground Adventure" Bunga, Kion, Tiifu, Zuri and Kiara get trapped underground after a fire hits the Mudpots.

In "Pride Landers Unite!", Bunga and the guard gathers animals to help them fight Scar's Army.

#### **Season Three**

Bunga and Lion Guard are now teenagers as seen in "Battle for the Pride Lands." After their final battle against Scar's Army was successful, Kion and Ono receive injuries, forcing the guard Guard to travel to the Tree of Life since the events of "The Harmattan". During their journey, new enemies known as Makucha's Army starts to follow the guard to the Tree of Life.

In "Ghost of the Mountain", a group of red pandas led by Domog claims that Bunga is a protector of them. Before the Lion Guard can leave, Bunga cannot leave the red pandas until he defeats the Ghost of the Mountain. There, Bunga and the group travel to the snowy mountain and it is found out that the snow leopard Chuluun *was* the Ghost of the Mountain. With teamwork between the red pandas and the Lion Guard, Bunga, the Lion Guard, and the red pandas are able to defeat Chuluun who was surrounded by the two groups. With the red pandas saved and another Moja Kwa Moja Stone found, the Lion Guard then continues their journey as the red pandas bid them a farewell with all the teamwork they had.

In "Marsh of Mystery", it is revealed that Bunga eating the mongooses' snails is the reason why the mongooses are angry at the Guard, indicating that the mongooses are aggressively territorial of their snails. After the mongooses stop attacking and retrieve their snails back, Bunga attempts to eat one, but Fuli prevents him from eating one, because the snails belong to them.

Throughout "Mama Binturong", Bunga is the only member of the Guard who is able to access the Stone Forest area in order to retrieve Makini's staff. Bunga engages in a duel between him and Mama Binturong, alongside her porcupine minions. He then uses his stench ability to defeat her and the porcupines in combat (also withering her Tuliza). Bunga was able to retrieve it and bring the staff back to Makini (with a few Tuliza collected during battle).

In "Friends to the End", Bunga is worried that his best friend is turning evil, much to his temper caused by the venom. However, Kion apologizes for all of his actions and the guard continues their journey.

In "The Tree of Life", the Lion Guard meets a group of lions called the Night Pride which is led by a lioness named Rani. The two groups were at odds until Rani informs her grandmother and the Queen of the Tree of Life, Janna, about Kion's Roar of the Elders. Janna insists that the Lion Guard to be allowed into the Tree of Life, allowing Kion to clear up the misunderstanding. After a while, Ono is able to regain his sight, but Kion needs more time to recover from Ushari's venom.

During their time at the Tree of Life and during the episode "Little Old Ginterbong", Bunga meets another honey badger named Binga and starts a relationship with her. The two engage in contests to see who's the better honey badger and after Mama Binturong's identity was revealed, he and Binga manage to defeat the angry binturong using their stench abilities in teamwork.

In "Journey to the Pride Lands", Bunga and the rest of Kion's Guard travel back home to the Pride Lands, only to find out that in "Return to the Pride Lands" that Kion's Guard finds out that they have been replaced by a new group led by Vitani. The two groups have a battle to see which team is better. During competition, Bunga competes with a contender lioness named "Shabaha" during the fourth position as the Bravest during the Battle of the Lion Guards to which the competition is tied after four tough events. After Kion masters the roar, the rest of Kion's Guard give up their role as and become members of the Night Pride. Back at the Tree of Life, Kion has his coronation and Bunga cheers for his best friend as he becomes king alongside Binga just as the honey badgers cheer for him.

### *It's UnBungalievable!*

Bunga and Ono serve as the main characters in this short series of *The Lion Guard*, to which Bunga is also the title character of his own short series, "*It's UnBungalievable!*". Each episode uses a format where two different animals species are selected by said characters to compete for the titles of characteristics (for example: which animal is the fastest, which animal has more hair, which animal eats more, etc.), to which Bunga always picks a winner.

## Family

* **Pumbaa**: Adoptive Uncle
* **Timon**: Adoptive Uncle
* **Simba**: Adoptive Brother
* **Kion**: Adoptive Nephew
* **Kiara**: Adoptive Niece
* **Nala**: Adoptive Sister-in-Law
* **Kovu**: Adoptive Nephew-in-Law
* **Rani**: Adoptive Niece-in-Law
* **Baliyo**: Adoptive Nephew-in-Law

## Trivia

* Bunga is the Indonesian word for "flower", who is also the name of the skunk in the 1942 film *Bambi*.
* He has abnormal coloring for a African honey badger which are normally black-and-white.
* In the series, Bunga represents the bravest of the Lion Guard. In reality, honey badgers are one of the toughest, most fearless and fiercest creatures, even getting lions to back off.
* Bunga is friendly and good-natured, when real honey badgers are cranky and fierce.
* He shares the same eye model as Jake from *Jake and the Never Land Pirates*.
* Bunga's voice actor, Joshua Rush, also provides the voice of Jeremy Birnbaum from the Disney XD show *Star vs. the Forces of Evil*.
* He is the second character to be adopted by Timon and Pumbaa, which becomes a major plot point in one episode.
* According to "Bunga and the King" Simba and Bunga are adoptive brothers since both were raised by Timon and Pumbaa. This would also mean that Kion is Bunga's nephew and Kiara is his niece.