Banzai, Shenzi and Ed

Shenzi, Banzai and Ed were a trio of hyenas in The Lion King movies. They serve as Scar's minions. Shenzi is the leader of the whole Hyena clan. Shenzi was voice by Whoopi Goldberg, Banzai was voiced by Cheech Marin, and famous voice actor Jim Cummings, recorded laughter for Ed.

The Lion King
The Hyena Trio are the secondary antagonists in the first film. They first appear in the Elephant Graveyard where they, under Scar's orders, chase the young Simba and Nala in an attempt to kill and devour them, but are frightened off by Mufasa. Afterward, they help Scar carry out his plan to murder Mufasa by triggering the wildebeest stampede. Immediately after Scar tells Simba to run away and never return, he commands the hyenas to kill Simba too, but Simba eludes the hyenas as they cannot follow him through the thorn-bushes he falls into. Years into Scar's reign, they complain about lack of food in the Pride Lands but Scar ignores them. When Simba returns to Pride Rock, Scar angrily stares at the hyenas for failing to kill him, making them feel very nervous. As Simba tries to chase and overthrow Scar, the hyenas join the fight, but most are defeated by the lionesses, and Shenzi and Banzai are ruthlessly beaten up by Pumbaa for trying to eat Timon and Zazu and calling Pumbaa a "pig". When Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed overhear Scar trying to foist all blame for the events on them to Simba, claiming that it was all their idea, they alert the rest of the pack to his treachery. After Scar is defeated by Simba and is surrounded by the hyenas, he tries to explain that he didn't really mean it, but the hyenas have had enough of his lies, derogatory treatment and broken promises of never going hungry again, and viciously devour him alive.

The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride
They did not appear in the sequel, however they are mentioned by Nuka, who says that the graveyard has become creepy since the hyenas ran off. They were originally going to be Zira's minions, but the idea was canceled, because of the fact that the hyenas killed Scar because of his treachery against them. Mostly the hyena trio are replaced by Vitani and Nuka. Vitani is the equivalent of Shenzi and Nuka was the equivalent of both Banzai and Ed.

The Lion King 1½
They re-appeared as the main antagonists in The Lion King 1½. In their first appearance, they attack a meerkat colony when Timon, who is the sentry on duty of the colony, is daydreaming. They fail to catch any meerkats, but this incident drives Timon to leave the colony to find where he truly belongs. The hyenas make an appearance again during the film's climax at Pride Rock. Eventually, Timon and Pumbaa are cornered by the hyenas. Timon proposes to Shenzi as a desperate move to buy time for his mother and Uncle Max as they dig a tunnel, which she turns down abruptly. The hyenas then fall into the tunnel, which transports them to the ground just in time for them to confront Scar.

Timon and Pumbaa and other media
The Hyena Trio are recurring characters in the the TV series The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa, continuously bully Timon and Pumbaa. It should also be pointed out that significant plot points involving the three hyenas and Timon and Pumbaa in this series (particularly, the episode, "Once Upon A Timon"), have since been reconnected by the events that took place in The Lion King 1½.

They also appear in Kingdom of Hearts II, in the Pride Lands world. There role is the same as in the movie, however they did not kill Scar in this version.



Personality and Appearence
All three hyenas were rather dim-witted and obnoxious, most of all Ed, who was always cross-eyed with his tongue hanging out, and almost never talks, only laughs. Shenzi was female and Banzai and Ed were male.