Makucha

"So leopards say hello with their teeth. So what?"

- Makucha to Kion and Fuli.

Makucha is the main antagonist of The Lion Guard episodes, "The Imaginary Okapi", "The Golden Zebra" and "The Wisdom of Kongwe". He is a surreptitious leopard who has traveled to the Pride Lands in pursuit of an okapi named Ajabu.

He was voiced by Steven Blum.

Biography
Makucha has chased Ajabu all the way into the Pride Lands, trying to catch him. He is first shown stalking gazelles, and The Lion Guard confronts him. They demand that he leaves, to which he responds that they will have to make him. He flees, an and the Lion Guard pursue him, but he is able to escape.

He tracks down Ajabu and refuses to leave him be as okapis are rare. Ajabu tries to escape Makucha through a herd of zebras, but fails.

The Lion Guard later seen Makucha chase Ajabu and come to the okapi's aid. Makucha faces against Kion, Fuli and Bunga (who has grabbed onto Makucha's tail). Beshte watches the face-off from afar with Ajabu, before deciding to help his friends by charging at Makucha. Upon noticing Beshte approaching, Makucha (perhaps knowing he would be beaten by the large hippopotamus), flees with Bunga still clinging to his tail, before Kion tells him to let go.

Personality
Very confident, manipulative, intelligent, dexterous, and cunning, Makucha is a determined predator. Once he locks on a target, he is hard to shake off and will take days to bring down his prey. Even in the face of fierce opposition, he is assertive, forthright, respectable, praiseworthy, straightforward, and self-assured, willing to fight for what he believes is his.

Appearance
Makucha is a slender, muscular leopard. He has pale yellow fur with brown spots lined with black, green eyes, unsheathed claws and a stripy tale.

Trivia

 * The name "Makucha" means "claws" in Swahili.
 * Makucha bears a resemblance to Sabor from Disney's 1999 film adaptation of Tarzan, though is male and has paler fur.
 * Makucha is one of two leopard antagonists to appear in The Lion Guard. The other being Mapigano.
 * Makucha's defeat is very similiar to Shere Khan's defeat from the 1967 Disney film The Jungle Book.