Shere Khan (Disney)



Shere Khan the tiger is the main antagonist in Walt Disney's 19th animated film The Jungle Book and its sequel. He hates humanity because of their guns and their fire, so he seeks to destroy Mowgli, a human raised among wolves in the jungle.

Personality
Shere Khan is a large and powerful tiger known for his sadistic, cruel, intimidating, and vicious attitude. Everyone including Bagheera knows he's powerful, especially he himself, resulting in a very arrogant and boastful personality. He is very sophisticated and suave and shown to be incredibly polite when he wants to, but becomes incredibly dangerous when angered. All animals of the jungle fear Shere Khan and he is often known as the "Lord of the Jungle". The vultures addressed Khan as "Your highness." He puts on a cocky, yet friendly face, even when about to kill.

His only known fears are man's gun and man's fire which he overcame in the sequel as the climax took place in a temple surrounded in lava, though he didn't seem to care. This fear led to Shere Khan's vow to murder any human that entered his jungle which he has been known to do successfully with the exception of Mowgli. Shere Khan speaks with a British accent and openly thinks highly about himself seeing various other animals namely Colonel Hathi as "ridiculous"

The Jungle Book
Despite having been referred to and spoken of several times, he did not make a live appearance in the first film until about two thirds into it. He is first seen stalking a deer as prey. His hunt was ruined when Colonel Hathi came marching by with his heard and scared it away, much to Khan's disgust. After Bagheera stopped them, Shere Khan eavesdropped on their conversation and was delighted when he heard about Mowgli. After they had left, he began his hunt for Mowgli.

After searching some, he heard Kaa singing and became suspicious. He grabbed Kaa's tail and got him to come down. He politely questioned Kaa about Mowgli and Kaa acted strangely while answering his questions. Kaa's suspicious behavior prompted Shere Khan to search his coils for Mowgli, but was still not totally fooled when he didn't find him. He told Kaa if he did see him, he was to inform him first before continuing his search.

Later he heard the Vultures singing and investigated the occasion. He then found Mowgli and easily scared off the Vultures with the word "Boo." He intimidates Mowgli and after being impressed by his courage, gave him ten seconds to run away (mainly for his own enjoyment). Instead of running, Mowgli fetched a stick to fight off Khan, causing Khan to become annoyed. The second he reached ten, he attacked Mowgli, who's stick idea, of course, failed immediately, mostly due to Mowgli's sudden terror at seeing the power of Shere Khan. Baloo, arriving just in time, grabbed his tail before he could get to the boy. After a chase, the Vultures got Mowgli to safety.

Shere Khan then became furious, battled Baloo, and nearly killed him. The Vultures intervened, stopped him before he could, and stalled him while Mowgli tied a burning branch to Khan's tail. Khan then became terrified and tried to put out the fire, but failed. He then fled with burning branch still tied to his tail, greatly humiliating him.

The Jungle Book II
Shere Khan returns in The Jungle Book II. He appears much earlier than in the previous film where he is first seen crushing a makeshift coconut head of Mowgli with his paw. Furious at Mowgli for humiliating him, Khan was determined on getting his revenge on Mowgli by killing him. Shere Khan then made his way to the Man-Village where Mowgli now lived. He snuck quietly past the sleeping villagers. He heard one of Mowgli's friends call out his name and found Mowgli's house.

TaleSpin
Shere Khan appeared, in a more anthropomorphic form, in the television series TaleSpin. His character, while still villainous, had taken on a more corporate identity. He wears a white shirt, a red tie, and a gray suit, but he still goes barefoot.

Depicted as stereotypical businessman that owns his business that includes a fleet of plans and even his own navy, Shere Khan is extremely ruthless and willing to do most anything to make money. None the less, he does have a sense morals and believes in aiding those who have helped him. Despite his threatening presence, he far more frequently appeared as an ally then an antagonist.

This version of Shere Khan also makes a cameo on a mugshot in Darkwing Duck and Bonkers.

Jungle Cubs
Shere Khan appears as a cub in the animated series Jungle Cubs. In this series it shows that Shere Khan was originally friends with Baloo, Bagheera, and others. Shere Khan was more of a bully and cocky in the series rather than a dangerous predator. Shere Khan tags along with Baloo and friends on many adventures.