Zira

"These lands belong to Scar!"

- Zira's most famous line.

Zira is the main antagonist of Disney's 1998 sequel film The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. She was the leader of the Outsiders, Nuka, Vitani and Kovu's mother, Kiara's mother-in-law and Scar's most loyal follower.

She was voiced by the late Suzanne Pleshette.

History
Amongst the members of her pride were her children Nuka, Vitani, and Kovu (who heavily resembles Scar, although they had no blood relation). Zira claimed to be fond of him, even though she regularly abused him while she trained him. In her quest for revenge against her mate's death and exile to barren lands, she had the plan of using Kovu to enter Simba's pride as a rogue, and when he and Simba were alone, Kovu would then kill him and succeed Scar as king.

Years later a young adult Kovu having been accepted into the Pridelander pride, noticed right from wrong by falling in love with Simba's daughter Kiara (whom he met as a cub), he refused this and Zira decided to kill Simba herself. One day when Simba and Kovu were out for walk, Zira and the Outsiders ambushed them with Zira congratulating Kovu for getting Simba alone just as they had planned but Kovu denied having anything to do with it. Simba was able to escape, but during the process, Nuka died after being crushed by logs when pursuing Simba. Zira blamed Kovu for Nuka's death and scratched him across the face, leaving a scar on his left eye like Scar's and accuses Kovu of betraying his pride and Scar for doing nothing to kill Simba. After Kovu leaves, Zira tells the Outsiders that Simba has corrupted Kovu and they shall take his kingdom by force.

That night, Zira, Vitani and the Outsiders arrive and battle Simba, Nala and the Pridelanders. Just as Zira and Simba are about to battle each other, Kiara and Kovu arrive to put a stop to the battle. Zira tells Kovu to get out of the way, but he refuses telling his mother that she will not harm Kiara or Simba while he is here. As Simba and Kiara hug after Kiara says the prides are one, Zira orders Vitani to attack them, but Vitani refuses and joins the Pridelanders having agreed with Kiara. Zira tells her daughter that if she will not fight then she will die as well, only for the other Outsiders to turn against her and join the Pridelanders. Simba tells Zira that it's time to put the past behind them, but Zira refuses to let go of the past and in a last attempt to avenge Scar, leaps to attack Simba only to be knocked down a cliff by Kiara. Zira is able to cling onto the side but refuses Kiara's help and loses grip and falls to her death in a fast flowing river below. Despite Zira's death, her original plan to have Kovu as the new King is most likely to succeed, as Simba forgives Kovu and allows him to marry Kiara so that he can be his new successor as King.

Despite her evil, she did love her children as she was deeply saddened when Nuka was fatally crushed by several logs and, like Claude Frollo, she appeared to care for Kovu, but actually granted him little or no freedom, usually limiting him to being in the Outlands or having freedom built under a watchful eye, usually under Nuka's. However, her love for Kovu ended permanently after he no longer wanted to kill Simba as he had developed feelings for Kiara.

Videogame appearance
Zira appears in 2000 video game The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure as one of the 2 bosses (the other on being Scar) where she battles Simba and roar that would cause rocks to fall towards Simba which he has to dodge before finally defeating her.

Personality
Zira is unusually rich in spirit, but her soul is steeped in hatred. She cannot come to terms with her past and is even ready to give up her children for the sake of revenge. Deep inside though, she genuinely does love them – like any loving mother, she will defend her children and was greatly saddened by Nuka's death, but she will not tolerate disobedience or failure. After Kovu had started to fall in love with Kiara, Zira's love for her youngest son ended and since then, she has hated Kovu for his final decision. She also was so obsessed with revenge that when she faced death, she refused aid and fell to her death out of pure anger.

Appearance
Zira is a slim lioness, sandy tan in color, with a darker dorsal stripe going down her head. Her eyes are Blood Red, but appear blue in certain lights. Like Scar, her claws are always present on her paws and she has a wiry smile when she grins. Her nose is angular and black and she has a notch of unknown origin in her right ear.

Trivia

 * She was voiced in the movie by the late Suzanne Pleshette. Her current voice actress is Grey DeLisle.
 * In Swahili, "Zira" means "hate".
 * Originally, as Zira was hanging for dear life and Kiara offered to help her, Zira refused her help and let go, committing suicide. Instead, it is left ambiguous as to why she fell, as suicide was considered too dark for a Disney animated film.
 * Zira was originally going to be called Bianca.
 * Zira is Scar's mate.
 * She was originally going to team up with the Hyenas, but this was changed to Outsiders as the hyenas were responsible for Scar's death.
 * It is unknown why Zira thinks that Simba had killed Scar. Most likely she was away from Pride Rock during the events that led to Scar’s death.
 * It's odd that she is so loyal to Scar, as when the Pride Lands suffered from no food and water, Scar didn't do anything about it.
 * Since Kovu marries Kiara at the end of the film, meaning that he would succeed Simba as King of the Pride Lands eventually, Zira's plans were technically successful, but not the way she planned.
 * She is the second of two Disney Villains to show love and care for his/her family, The first being Sir Ector from The Sword in the Stone.
 * Zira is patterned after Belladonna from Osamu Tezuka's anime, Kimba the White Lion. Unlike Zira, she eventually asked forgiveness from her wrongdoings to the main character.
 * She is similar to Shere Khan from The Jungle Book. As both are the main antagonist and share a quality not seen in most of Disney's villains: A soft spot. Zira loves her family and Shere Khan is sympathetic towards his victims, when referring to Mowgli as the "helpless little lad." Also, they both hate a certain group (Shere Kahn hates humans and Zira hates Pridelanders). In the climax of the second film, they fall from a cliff. However, Zira drowns in a raging river while Shere Kahn gets trapped in stone.
 * When Kovu's training is being reviewed, the notch in Zira's ear switches sideways to the other ear. This is considered a film goof.
 * She is similar to Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Both are the main antagonist and slim. While they appear to care for a male hero (Frollo seemingly cares for Quasimodo and Zira seemingly cares for Kovu), they actually grant them little or no freedom (Frollo kept Quasimodo isolated in Notre Dame and Zira forbade Kovu from exploring the Pride Lands). As well, both are bent on destroying a certain group (Frollo was determined to kill gypsies and Zira was determined to kill Pridelanders). In the climax, they both fall to death in disgrace. However, Zira doesn't share Frollo's egotistical and selfish ways as she shows love and cares for her family.
 * Zira is also similar to Nyra from The Guardians of Ga'Hoole books as both have sons who they want to live up to their deceased paternal figure (Zira wanted Kovu to follow in the footsteps of his adoptive father Scar and Nyra wanted her son Coyrn to be like his father Kludd). Both also give their sons scars after they turn to the good side.
 * She crosses the MEH after she violently attacks Kovu despite having nothing to do with his brother's death and later violently declared war before attempting to murder the king one last time.
 * In the original script to The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Zira was Scar's mate and mother of his son Nunka who would seduce Kiara. However this would have caused incest as Nunka would have been Simba's cousin and Kiara's second cousin, so Nunka became Kovu and became Scar's adoptive son and Zira became "just a loyal follower" of Scar.
 * Bette Midler and Helen Mirren were considered for the role of Zira. Bette Midler previously played a villain before she was considered for the role: Bette Midler played Winifred "Winnie" Sanderson in Disney's Hocus Pocus.