Scar (Disney)

"Long live the King."

- Scar's most famous quote

Scar, born as Taka, is the main antagonist of Disney's 32nd full length animated feature film, The Lion King. He is Mufasa's envious younger brother and the uncle of the main hero of the film, Simba. Scar's desire to rule Pride Rock drives him to enact a plot to kill Mufasa and Simba to leave himself the sole royal in line for the throne.

He was voiced by Jeremy Irons.

The Lion King
"Run away, Simba. Run. Run away, and never return."

- Scar, to Simba

In the first movie, Scar is first seen after the presentation of his nephew Simba, where he was confronted by Mufasa. After a brief argument between the two, Scar leaves. He later tricks Simba into going to the Elephant Graveyard so that Shenzi, Banzai and Ed will eat him, thus putting his plan into action; but before they can close in and kill them, Simba and his friend Nala are saved by Mufasa, who scares off the hyenas. It's then shown that Scar watched the whole thing on top, and he is angry that his plan had failed. He then sings his song "Be Prepared".

Scar then sets another trap for Simba by having him stay inside a canyon while Shenzi, Banzai and Ed chase wildebeests into the canyon, causing a stampede; but once again, Simba's saved by Mufasa; but this time, Mufasa's injurd and he winds up hanging onto the edge of a cliff. He looks up to see Scar and he asks for his help, but Scar grabs his rother by his paws with his claws (thus making Mufas let out a roar of pain) and he whispers to him, "Long live the King!" (which makes Mufasa realize that his own brother has turned on him), and then he throws him off the edge of the cliff to his death. Being that Simba didn't see his uncle's action of throwing Mufasa, Scar was able to make Simba think that Mufasa's death was his fault, and he tells him to run away and never return. The minute Simba is out of sight, Scar orders Shenzi, Banzai and Ed to kill him; but unknown to Scar, Simba escapes. Believing Simba to be dead, Scar takes over the throne to the Pride Lands and he lets the hyenas take over.

Many years later, Simba (who's now an adult) is talked into going back to Pride Rock to face Scar, by his future mate Nala (who's also an adult now), Rafiki, and Mufasa's ghost. Simba confronts Scar after he whacks his mom Sarabi; but when Scar accuses Simba of killing Mufasa in front of everyone, Simba's backed into the edge of a cliff and he nearly falls off; but as he's about to throw Simba off, Scar reveals to him that he was the one who killed Mufasa by whispering in his ear. Hearing this, a devastated Simba jumps back up and pins his uncle down; then he makes him tell everyone who's actually to blame for Mufasa's death, and Scar shouts out that he killed Mufasa (so that everyone can hear him {which was what Simba told him}). After a fierce battle with the hyenas, Simba corners Scar at the top of Pride Rock and Scar pleads for his life, blaming his evil plot on the hyenas not knowing that Shenzi Banzai and Ed are listening; finally realizing Scar's true nature, they angrily back away. Instead of killing Scar, Simba tells him to leave and never return (the same words that Scar said to Simba when he was little). But Scar, who's now turned on Simba, throws some burning ashes into Simba's eyes as he pretends to leave and the two engage in an intense battle, where they both appear evenly matched. However, with Scar eventually overcoming his foe, Simba is knocked onto his back; but as Scar jumps through the flames to attack and kill his nephew, Simba quickly uses his hindlegs to send Scar flying over the side of Pride Rock, sending him tumbling into a pit.

However, Scar survives the fall and as he struggles to his feet, the hyenas arrive. Scar greets his "friends" in a pleasing matter, but they make it clear to Scar that they are no longer his friends and are determined to get revenge on Scar, for betraying them. The hyenas then begin surrounding Scar with wide grins and gleaming eyes. Scar pleads for his life and attempts to explain himself, but the hyenas don't trust him or like him anymore. They close in, leap on Scar, and rip him to shreds as flames rise around them.

The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride
Aside from being mentioned several times, Scar has two non-physical appearances in The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. The first is when Simba has a nightmare about Scar betraying Mufasa, but then Scar changes into Kovu. The second is when Kovu looks into a water hole at one point his reflection changes to that of Scar.

The Lion King 1/2
Scar makes a few brief appearences in The Lion King 1/2, being that it takes place during the first film, but shows the view points of Timon and Pumbaa. Scar's first appearance is when Simba is chasing him across the edge of Pride rock, his last appearence is when he is witnessed tumbling over the edge of the cliff and Pumbaa mentions his name by saying "I think Scar is down and out."

In The Lion King: Six New Adventures
According to the novel series, The Lion King: Six New Adventures, Scar's real name is Taka, which is Swahili for "dirt", "trash", or "want". In A Tale of Two Brothers, one of the books in the set, young adult Taka is angry that Mufasa is chosen to be the heir to the throne. He gets even angrier when his father, King Ahadi, breaks his promise to go hunting with him, choosing to solve the drought problems in the Pride Lands instead. Taka wanders off to talk to Shenzi, Banzai and Ed the hyenas, who tell him that if Mufasa were to be made to look like a failure to their father, Ahadi, and the rest of their pride, then he, Taka, will look good in comparison and take the throne.

Taka then tricks his brother into going down to the waterhole, where a Cape buffalo named Boma is refusing to share the water. The Pridelands are in a terrible drought and any water there is precious. Mufasa begins reasoning with Boma, when Taka roars and says that Boma must move by order of the Lion King, or Mufasa will face Boma in combat. Boma charges out of the water at Mufasa. Mufasa escapes to safety with Rafiki, but Boma says that his herd will get Taka. Mufasa runs back to find Taka being attacked by Boma's herd. The largest of the buffaloes slashes Taka with his horns, knocking him unconscious. Mufasa leaps in to save his brother and the buffaloes ready themselves to attack again. Before they can do so, however, Ahadi appears with a large herd of animals. The herd surrounds the buffaloes and ends the fight. Later on, Rafiki examines Taka and finds a deep cut on his left eye, which will never fully heal. Taka then requests that he be called "Scar" from now on, as a reminder of how he foolishly allowed his anger to rule him.

In Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
In Adventure Land, Scar makes a deal with Hades, where as if Scar could obtain the crystal of the magic kingdom, he would be granted immortality and rule over the pride lands forever. He forces the hyenas to work for him again, lying to them that he's invincible. he tries to get them to start an elephant stampede to crush anyone who gets in his way, but they fail. When the Park guests injure Scar in front of the hyenas, Shenzi is the first to see through his lies, rallies up the pack, and leaves. After a conversation with Hades, Scar twice battles the park guests, the first time beating them, the next time, it's vice versa. Hades gives Scar one last chance and turns him into a devilish storm, and battles the park guests again. Scar is ultimately destroyed and the park guests win. later, at the end, he is sucked into a snow globe with Hades and all the other villains he recruited.

In Kingdom Hearts
"How does it feel to be king, hmm?"

- Scar's Ghost taunting Simba.

His ghost was a boss in Kingdom Hearts II. He looks like the living Scar, but he is darker in color and he has a dark aura around him.

When Scar was alive, he killed his brother Mufasa and framed Mufasa's son Simba, sending him away so he could become king. Years later when Simba was convinced by his father's ghost and the baboon Rafiki to return and take his place as king, Scar blamed Simba for Mufasa's death and nearly threw him off Pride Rock. However, he revealed it was he himself who killed Mufasa, causing Simba to attack Scar. A brutal battle started and apparently ended when Scar was thrown off Pride Rock. However as revealed by Pete, anger and hatred turned Scar into a Heartless, and he climbed back up and attacked Simba but with help from Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy, Scar was killed.

However, Scar was not fully gone. Now a ghost filled with hatred, he would haunt Simba, who was now king. This caused Simba to become extremely afraid. This made him the laughing stock of the hyenas, mainly Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. Simba seeked help, and went to the hyenas, asking if they knew of Scar's Ghost. They knew nothing, and said Scar's Ghost only hangs out around fraidy cats. Immediately, Scar's Ghost appeared. He taunted Simba, asking what it was like to be king. Simba retreated, causing the hyenas to laugh maniacally. Simba went to his paradise, where he met Timon and Pumbaa, but even there he was not safe from the ghost, and was still tormented. He was having doubts and Sora tried to snap him out of it but it didn't work. Then Donald used his powers to create a fake ghost, and it taunted Simba until he overcame his fear and pounced on it. Now facing his fears, he went back to the Pridelands. Scar's Ghost was already there, and it was now haunting Simba's wife Nala and Pumbaa. When Simba returned, the ghost confronted him, but Simba told it to get out, scaring it away. Soon after, all of the ghosts came and formed a giant Heartless beast called the Groundshaker. The beast attacked, and a large battle ensued. The Groundshaker took several hits, and it collapsed and disappeared. Simba claimed his place as king.

The Lion Guard
In The Lion Guard, it is revealed that, when Scar was younger, he led The Lion Guard that protected The Circle of Life. His place was a tradition to all second born children of The Lion King/Queen, and was given a power called the Roar of the Elders which when used, causes the lions of Pride Lands past to roar with him. However, the power got to Scar's head and he believed that with this power, he should be king instead of Mufasa. But when the rest of The Lion Guard refused to help him overthrow Mufasa, Scar used the Roar of the Elders to destroy them. Due to using the Roar of the Elders for evil, Scar lost his power completely and became shrivelled and horrible.

Appearance
"...But when it comes to brute strength, I believe I am at the shallow end of the gene pool..."

- Scar remarks on his poor genetics

Scar is a lanky lion but stands eye to eye with Mufasa and Simba, making him tall if not bulky like they are. He has sharp features and is gangly lion, thanks to poor genes, with reddish brown fur and striking green eyes. He has a silky black mane, elbow tufts, and his claws are ever present on his paws.

Personality
Scar was a cunning, manipulative, and somewhat narcissistic lion, with a cultured demeanor and a wry, cynical wit. However, even with his evil and deceiving ways, he was still very cowardly and preferred to run rather than fight, though if cornered Scar has shown the ability to hold his own as seen in his fight with Simba. Scar is filled with hate and disgust for his brother and nephew and most likely everybody against him. He does not care much about the hyenas and seems to view them more as tools and weapons to use for his own benefit, which ultimately resulted in his death when he tried to blame his plan on them.

Scar was intolerant of failure, berating the hyenas for their failure to kill Simba, and angrily throwing them out after they made the mistake of mentioning his brother, Mufasa, of whom Scar was extremely jealous. Nevertheless, Scar was very charismatic, able to rally the hyenas to his cause and inspire fanatical loyalty from Zira and her pride of lionesses. Scar was highly intelligent, able to manipulate conversations and situations to his advantage with relative ease. He also proved to be extremely sadistic, convincing his own nephew, Simba, that he was responsible for the death of his father, Mufasa and later going on to taunt him that in fact, he himself was responsible for Mufasa's demise.

Video Game appearance
Scar appears as both the main antagonist and final boss of the 1994 videogame adaption The Lion King on Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive.

Trivia

 * Scar is notable for being voiced by Jeremy Irons and animated by Andreas Deja (who also animated Jafar, Alameda Slim, Dr. Frankenollie, and Gaston.
 * Scar is very similar to Claudius from the Shakespearean play Hamlet; both are the uncle of the main character, and both kill their brother, the main character's father, in order to rule over a land originally ruled over by said brother. This is part in due to the various parallels The Lion King shares with Hamlet.
 * Scar is also similar to real-life dictator Adolf Hitler, the scene where Scar is over looking his hyena army mimics the scene where Hitler over looks his army and streches out his hand over them.
 * Interestingly enough though Scar is not present most of the time in the sequel and prequel films he still has an important part to play in their stories.
 * Despite the fact that Timon and Pumbaa are his enemies, they never interact with each other in the film.
 * It is said that there is no blood relation between Scar and Kovu, who appeared in "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride", so there is no blood relation between Kovu and Kiara. However Scar's (presumed) "mate" Zira mentions that Scar took Kovu in.
 * In an early script for The Lion King, Scar was a rogue lion who was never related to Mufasa.