Shenzi, Banzai & Ed

"Shenzi: Well, well, well, Banzai, what have we got here? Banzai: Mmm, I don't know, Shenzi. Uh, what do you think, Ed? Ed: [giggles madly] Banzai: Just what I was thinking... A trio of ''tresspassers!"

- The hyenas encountering Simba, Nala and Zazu in the Elephant Graveyard.

"I'm surrounded by idiots."

- Scar refering to Shenzi, Banzai and Ed

"Shenzi: Friends? I thought he said we were the enemy. Banzai: Yeah, that's what I heard. Both: Ed? Ed: [giggles madly]"

- The hyenas before they kill Scar for his betrayal against them Shenzi, Banzai and Ed are the secondary antagonists of The Lion King and the main antagonists of The Lion King 1½. They were Scar's former henchmen.

Shenzi was voiced by Whoopi Goldberg and by Tress MacNeille; Banzai was voiced by Cheech Marin and Rob Paulsen; and Ed was voiced by Jim Cummings,who also voiced his boss Scar, Razoul, Hernán Cortés and Rasputin.

Shenzi
Shenzi is the only female of the trio. She is confident, collected, intelligent and constantly scheming. This makes her the de facto leader of the trio, and probably the entire clan, a trait consistent with true spotted hyenas; females are usually larger than the males and dominate them. She comes up with the idea of telling Scar that Simba is dead after he escapes, confident in the belief that he'll never learn otherwise, and is confident enough to tell him that there's no food or water left. Her distinguishing features are three prominent bangs hanging over her face and a mane that reaches all the way to her bangs. She also lacks the dark gray 'stubble' snout of the males, and the dark patches around her eyes are shaped to resemble heavily applied eye-shadow. Her full name, according to The Lion King 1½, is Shenzi Marie Predatora Vendetta Jackalina Hyena. Shenzi was originally going to also be male and played by Tommy Chong, reuniting him with his old comedy partner Cheech Marin, who was playing Banzai. She is played by Whoopi Goldberg.

Banzai
Banzai is the most aggressive of the trio, usually speaking in a raised voice, with a shorter temper than Ed or Shenzi, and always ready to get into a fight. But since he usually thinks with his muscles, he still submits to Shenzi. Although he talks big, he, along with the other hyenas, is very cowardly. He is also extremely greedy, talking about food frequently. His distinguishing feature is his unusually heavy eyebrows, but apart from these he is the model for most generic hyenas.

Ed
Ed communicates entirely through obnoxious laughter and sports a permanent idiotic grin. He is heavily implied and has proven to be mentally retarded. His eyes never seem to focus on anything properly, he has two round cuts on each ear and his tongue is almost always lolling out. He is famous for his stupidity, getting his friends in trouble, laughing obnoxiously at inappropriate times, and being oblivious to his surroundings.

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. Afterwards, 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. As Scar takes over the throne, he allows the hyenas to hunt around the grounds (much to their delight), but as the years pass, the trio complains about lack of food in the Pride Lands (to which Scar ignores); even Banzai secretly admits to both Shenzi and Ed that Mufasa's reign was far more better than Scar's.

When Simba returns to Pride Rock to reclaim his rightful place as King, 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 clan to his treachery. After Scar is defeated by Simba, he is surrounded by the hyenas and tries to explain that he didn't really mean what he said, but the hyenas have had enough of his lies, derogatory treatment and broken promises of never going hungry again. Without hesistation, they close in leap on Scar and viciously tear him apart. They run off after this.

The Lion King II: 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.

It is possible that the hyenas Nuka mentioned weren't Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, but several unnamed hyenas since hundreds were shown during the villains' song, and only some of them (Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed among them) were sent to the lower area where they eat Scar, and could possibly have been consumed by the flames. Those who didn't fall below presumably returned to the elephant graveyard, and later "ran off". The fate of Shenzi, Banzai and Ed remains unknown.

The Lion King 1½
They re-appeared as the main antagonists in The Lion King 1½, though their role in the film is small. 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
In the TV series, the hyenas are the main antagonists, continuously bullying 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.

Kingdom Hearts II
The hyenas appear in Kingdom Hearts II. Other hyenas appear as well, but while they are brown in color, the trio are still gray.

When Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy arrive in the Pridelands, they are met by the hyenas. The hyenas surround them and try to kill them, but Scar calls for them and they reluctantly leave. The hyenas attack them again and Scar plans to eat them but Nala knocks him down and allows Sora, Donald, and Goofy to escape.

The hyenas are later seen at Pride Rock during the final battle between Simba and Scar. The hyenas attack Timon and Pumbaa but they are attacked by Sora, Donald, and Goofy. They run away and are banished after Scar's death.

Later on, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are wandering across the landscape when they see the hyenas running towards them. Upon realizing it is them, they stop, upset that they are not the meal they thought. They then laugh when Sora mentions Simba, who is being haunted by Scar's ghost.

Simba and the trio confront the hyenas again. The hyenas tell them to leave them alone. Simba asks if they know about Scar's ghost. They run away but are soon caught. Simba realizes they know nothing of Scar's ghost. Scar's ghost soon arrives though, and scares Simba away. The hyenas laugh at his cowardice and leave.

Personality and Appearance
All three spotted hyenas were rather dim-witted and obnoxious, most of all Ed, who is always cross-eyed with his tongue hanging out, and almost never talks, only laughs. Shenzi is female and Banzai and Ed are both males.

Trivia

 * While Banzai is similar to Eddy from Ed, Edd, n Eddy, Ed is similar to Ed. However, Ed, Edd n Eddy cartoon was premiered in 1999, and The Lion King was released in theaters in 1994, five years until the premiere of the cartoon series.
 * Originally, Shenzi would be a male hyena and not a female hyena, and his voice actor would be Tommy Chong, a voice actor that is friend of Banzai's voice actor, Cheech Marin.
 * The trio may have been inspired by the character Fortinbras from Hamlet because the story of The Lion King is inspired by Shakespeare's story of Hamlet, and thus, the story of Norway's conflict with Denmark in Hamlet mirrors that between the hyenas' hatred of the lions in The Lion King. The fact that the usurper Claudius in Hamlet uses the Norwegians to try and conquer Denmark mirrors the way Scar manipulates the hyenas.
 * Originally, Ernie Sabella, Pumba's voice actor, tried to get the role of Shenzi.
 * Originally; Shenzi, Banzai & Ed were planned to appear as Zira's henchmen in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. However, the idea was scrapped, because the hyenas killed Scar, and Nuka and Vitani were created as Zira's henchmen. Vitani was the equivalent of Shenzi, and Nuka was the equivalent of Banzai and Ed.
 * According with the above, the only confirmed hyena to be planned to appear in the sequel was Banzai, because Cheech Marin (Banzai's voice actor) confirmed this.
 * Despite being the main antagonists of the 2004 midquel The Lion King 1½, the hyenas have little screen time.
 * The Hyenas are similar to Lock, Shock & Barrel from the 1993 movie The Nightmare Before Christmas and are also similar to Pain & Panic from the 1997 movie Hercules.
 * Ed is the only non-speaking hyena. Curiously, Jim Cummings, his voice actor, voiced Scar in the final moments of Be Prepared and in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.
 * Their descendants are the hyena trio Janja, Chungu and Cheezi, the main antagonists of the 2015 TV film The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar. This was confirmed by Disney.
 * It is possible that Shenzi, Banzai & Ed will return in the new 2016 TV series The Lion Guard, with their descendants, Janja, Chungu, and Cheezi. It's not official, but was 99% probably. However, until today, their fate after The Lion King and during The Lion King II: Simba's Pride is unknown.
 * According to the above, in the episode of Timon and Pumba, "TV Dinner"; Shenzi, Banzai & Ed become TV program directors of the Martin Partin's documentary program. Remembering thet the TV series take place after The Lion King, this wold be the hyenas' glorius fate.
 * Originally, they were planned to appear in Kingdom Hearts. However, The Lion King world was scrapped, and for this rason, the three hyenas were cut from the videogame.
 * It is possible that Shenzi, Banzai & Ed will return in the upcoming TBA videogame Kingdom Hearts III.