Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi


 * NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of the hyena trio from the 2019 movie. The mainstream version can be found here: Shenzi, Banzai and Ed.

Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi are the secondary antagonists of the 2019 Disney film The Lion King based on the 1994 animated classic. They are feral hyenas who were in league with the infamous Scar.

Shenzi was voiced by Florence Kasumba, Kamari was voiced by Keegan Michael-Key (who also voiced Alpha Wolf), and Azizi was voiced by Eric Andre.

Meeting Simba and Nala
The hyenas first appeared when a young Simba and Nala visited the elephant graveyard against Mufasa's orders. Being aware that Simba is Mufasa's son and true heir to the throne, Shenzi orders Kamari, Azizi and their clan to kill the cubs. Though Kamari and Azizi were able to get their fellow hyenas to surround the lion cubs, their chance was foiled when Mufasa comes to the rescue by warding off the hyenas after being alerted by Zazu. Mufasa then issues a warning to Shenzi that he will come for her and her clan if they ever come near his son and his friend again. Not wanting to incur Mufasa's wrath, Shenzi obliges and watches as Mufasa leads Zazu, Simba and Nala away from the graveyard.

During the night, Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi were met by arriving Scar, who happens to be Mufasa's brother. They initially attempt to eat him at first, but Scar confessed that he was the one who tricked Simba and Nala into entering the graveyard as he intended to have them fed to the hyenas. Scar also stated that he has a plan to dispose both Mufasa and Simba so that he can be the new king, and convinces the hyenas to join him in exchange for having free rein of food in the Pride Lands, as he states that a hyena's belly is never full. Finding Scar's proposal to be fair, Shenzi and the hyenas accept the proposal.

Taking Over the Pride Lands
As part of Scar's plan, Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi triggered a wildebeest stampede towards a gorge, putting Simba's life at risk. Scar also lures Mufasa there, where he murders him by scratching his face, leaving him to fall down and get stomped to death by the wildebeests. After banishing Simba by putting the blame on him for Mufasa's death, Scar orders the trio to kill him. Though the trio were able to catch up to Simba, the latter fell over a cliff. Believing that there may be a chance that Simba may survived the fall, Shenzi orders both Kamari and Azizi to go down and find Simba's body before leaving. However, Kamari and Azizi are unable to do so as the cliff is too steep and decided that there is no way that Simba could've survived such a fall before leaving. As such, they decided to lie to Scar and Shenzi that they killed Simba. Unknown to the hyenas, Simba actually survived by hiding behind a ledge before leaving the Pride Lands out of shame for his father's death.

With both Mufasa and Simba gone, Scar takes over as the new King of the Pride Lands, and allows Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi to bring their clan to have their free hunting reign, much to their delight. As the years go by, the Pride Land becomes a barren wasteland due to the hyenas' overhunting. When Scar asks Mufasa's widow Sarabi to become his mate, Sarabi refuses by stating that she will never be the mate of a selfish lion. This prompts an furious Scar to declare that the hyenas will have more hunting grounds than the lionesses, leaving the latter to have little to no food, much to the hyenas' delight.

Final Battle
Eventually, a fully-grown Simba returns to Pride Rock (alongside a fully grown Nala, Timon and Pumbaa) and reveals himself to the lions and hyenas. This made both Scar and Shenzi (along with the other hyenas) realize that Kamari and Azizi lied about Simba's fate. With the other hyenas staring at them for their lie, Kamari and Azizi bow down in shame. Eventually, Simba was able to trick Scar into confessing that he was the one who murdered Mufasa to the other lionesses. With the truth exposed, Scar orders the hyenas to kill Simba and the lions.

During the battle as Pride Rock is being engulfed by fire, Shenzi intended to take down a fully-grown Nala, but the latter taunted her of the fact that she's no longer a cub anymore and shoved Shenzi out from Pride Rock. In the meantime, Kamari and Azizi tried to take down Zazu, but Rafiki arrives to the rescue by beating both of them and the hyenas down with his staff.

As Simba corners Scar on the top of Pride Rock, Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi catch up to them, where they witnessed Scar blaming them for his plot, calling the hyenas as a 'bunch of scavengers' and that he intends to kill them. However, Simba (being aware of Scar's true nature) refuses to believe this by stating that Scar used the hyenas before challenging Scar to a fight, sending the latter to fall over Pride Rock in defeat. Though Scar survived the fall, he is met by Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi, who have rounded up their remaining clan. Being aware of what happened, Kamari and Azizi confronted Scar for using them. Shenzi also stated that while everything what Scar said were all lies, there was one thing he was right about: that a hyena's belly is never full.

Realizing now that the hyena clan have turned against him, Scar angrily attempts to fight back, but he is overwhelmed and mauled to death by the hyenas. It is unknown what happened to Shenzi, Banzai and Azizi afterwards, either they were burned to death by the fire or escaped away along with their remaining clan from the Pride Lands.

Trivia

 * There are several differences between Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi and their original counterparts:
 * While the hyenas are presented as comic relief in the original film, Shenzi is the only one presented in a more menacing role as she acts as the de-facto leader of the hyena clan while Kamari and Azizi retain their sense of humor.
 * Ed only laughs and cackles while Azizi is capable of speaking.
 * The hyenas were friends with Scar in the original film. But in the live action film, they never met Scar until he came to them for help in his plot.
 * A running gag in the movie is that Azizi and Kamari argue about distance away from each other.