| “ | Long live the king. | „ |
| ~ Scar reveals his true nature to Mufasa before he pushes his brother off the gorge's edge to his death in the stampede and his most famous quote. |
| “ | Now, this looks familiar. Where have I seen this before? Let me think. Ah yes, I remember! This is just the way your father looked before he died. (grabs onto Simba's shoulders) And here's my little secret... I killed Mufasa. | „ |
| ~ Scar admits his crime to Simba before he attempts to push him off from Pride Rock, unintentionally sealing his own fate. |
| “ | I'm surrounded by idiots. | „ |
| ~ One of Scar's most iconic quotes. |
Scar is the main antagonist of Disney's 1997 Broadway musical The Lion King, based on the 1994 animated classic film of the same name.
Based onto his original counterpart, he is an selfish, malevolent, power-hungry and deceitful lion who is the envious younger brother and archrival turned murderer of Mufasa and the second-born prince of the Pride Lands that was originally next-in-line to assume the throne as king until his line-in succession was untimely replaced at the hands of the birth of his nephew, Simba. As a result, he becomes Simba's arch-nemesis whose desire to rule the Pride Lands drives him to enact in a regicidal plot to kill both his older brother and nephew and usurp the throne, that he proves successful. He's also Shenzi, Banzai and Ed's former boss and leader.
He is portrayed by various actors including John Vickery.
History[]
Simba's presentation[]
| “ | I WAS FIRST-IN-LINE...until the little hairball was born. | „ |
| ~ Scar expresses his hatred on Simba to Mufasa and Zazu. |
On the day of Simba's presentation, Scar deliberately missed the ceremony out of jealousy and resentment for having his plan to take the throne becoming difficult which caused him to hate his newborn nephew alongside with his older brother as well. Afterwards, he stalked and toyed with a mouse that had strayed in a cave and lamented about how his life was unfair because he would never get a chance to become king. As he was about to eat the mouse, Zazu, Mufasa's hornbill majordomo, arrived to announce that his older brother was on his way, scaring the mouse off. Zazu merely taunted Scar for losing his dinner and berated him for his absence at Simba's presentation. Incited, Scar trapped Zazu in his cane, but Mufasa quickly arrived to order his younger brother to release him.
Scar reluctantly did so and sarcastically commented that Mufasa was "descending from on high to mingle with the commoners." Instead of rising to the bait, Mufasa remarked that Scar had missed Simba's presentation, but Scar feigned shock, claiming that he had forgotten all about it. Zazu retorted that Scar should have been "first-in-line" at the ceremony, to which Scar pointed out he was once first-in-line until Simba was born. Mufasa reminded Scar that Simba was his son and that he was destined to become the future king, so Scar made a sarcastic comment to practice his curtsy and started to walk away from him. Mufasa ordered Scar to not turn his back on him, and Scar replied that it was Mufasa who shouldn't turn his back on him. An enraged Mufasa lunged into Scar's path and demanded to know if Scar was challenging him, but Scar denied Mufasa's accusation and explained that he didn't have enough physical strength to challenge him before sauntering off into the savanna. As Scar walked away, Mufasa lamented their estranged relationship, and Zazu joked that Mufasa should make Scar into a throw rug.
Plot an assassination attempt on Simba[]
A few months later, and Simba grew into a rambunctious and lively young cub. One day, Mufasa had to send Simba back to Pride Rock while dealing with several invading hyenas. There, Simba visited Scar to inform him that Mufasa had shown around the Pride Lands. However, Scar wasn't seemed to be remotely interested due to his jealousy, and tried to cover his disinterest by simply claiming that he has a "backache". Pretending to be a kind uncle, he asked Simba if Mufasa has shown him the rise above the northern border, to which Simba explained he'd been forbidden to go there. Scar immediately affirmed Mufasa's decision and replied that only the bravest lions go there, purposefully letting it slip by revealing that the forbidden land was an elephant graveyard. Though Simba was excitedly intrigued at the prospect of an elephant graveyard, Scar made him promise to not visit the area which he agreed.
However, Scar, knowing that Simba would go to the Elephant Graveyard to simply just prove his bravery, secretly ordered Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, three leaders of the Hyena Clan and his brutal, sinister henchmen, to execute him and Nala as a part of his devious plan to overthrow Mufasa as king. This plan was ultimately foiled when Mufasa came to the cubs' rescue by scaring away the hyenas and bringing them back to the Pride Lands, leaving Scar contempt with furious. Later that night, Scar visited the hyenas at the Elephant Graveyard and became aggravated by their mention of Mufasa being stronger than him and assumptions that they're actually friends. Though he expressed his contempt and disappointment in their failure to murder Simba due to Mufasa's interference, he nonetheless gave them a zebra leg to eat for their services and loyalty. When Shenzi and Banzai pointed out that killing the cub would be difficult as long as Mufasa was around, Scar agreed with them and sang his song "Be Prepared", revealing his intention to murder Mufasa and Simba so he can claim the throne for himself. He convinced the hyena trio and the rest of their clan to help him in his plan through the song by promising them that they'll never go hungry again once he became king.
Death of Mufasa and banishing Simba into exile[]
| “ | Run away, Simba. Run. Run away, and never return. | „ |
| ~ Scar banishes Simba after he slyly incriminates Mufasa's death upon him. |
The next day, Scar had set up another trap for Simba by convincing him to stay inside a gorge and saying that Mufasa had a marvelous surprise for him while ominously hinting his true intention by saying "it's to die for". Once he was clear of the gorge, he approached the hyena trio, who were secretly stalking a wildebeest herd outside the gorge, to give them the signal to charge the herd into the gorge, creating a stampede where Simba was. With that done, Scar feigned panic and alerted Mufasa and Zazu to the incident. Along with Zazu, the two brothers raced to the gorge to find and rescue Simba. While Mufasa dived into the stampede to rescue Simba, Zazu declared that he'll go to get help from the lionesses, but Scar, not wanting his plan to be ruined, knocked the hornbill out by hitting him against a wall and watched Mufasa and Simba struggle to survive the stampede while following them on above a ledge to monitor Mufasa's progress.
After Mufasa managed to get Simba and himself out of the stampede, he began to climb up the gorge's steep cliff to safety, but was unable to reach the ledge. Mufasa looked up and spotted Scar coldly staring at him then pleaded for his brother to help him, but Scar seized the opportunity presented by his usually powerful brother's helplessness, exposed his heartless betrayal by lunging at Mufasa and grabbed hold of his paws, slamming his claws to sink them into them. He then leaned over to give his horrified brother a cruel smile by saying out his most infamous line "Long live the King" and prizing Mufasa's paws off the cliff before letting go them, sending Mufasa plummeting back into the stampede where he was trampled to his death by the wildebeest while an horrified Simba watched, unaware what Scar had done and believed that Mufasa had lost his grip.
Moments after Mufasa's fall and the stampede was over, Scar found a distraught and devastated Simba next to his corpse at the bottom of the gorge (most likely to make sure that Mufasa didn't survive), mourning his father's demise. As Simba didn't see what his uncle did, Scar managed to manipulate and deceive him into believing Mufasa's death was his fault (as Simba had roared seconds before the stampede started). In the face of Simba's uncertainly, Scar told him to run away and never return, adding that the pride will never forgive Simba for what he did and asking him what his mother, Sarabi, would think of the situation. The cub did as he'd been told by running away from the Pride Lands into exile for the rest of his life, and the minute Simba was out of earshot, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed appeared and were ordered by Scar to chase down and kill him. However, Simba managed to escape from the hyenas who chose to not report to Scar about it out of fear of his wrath, reasoning that Simba'll die out in the desert anyway.
Believing Simba to be dead and out of the way, Scar returned to Pride Rock to inform the pride that their king and prince had perished during the stampede, breaking the hearts of everyone present, especially Zazu, Nala and Sarabi. "With a heavy heart", he announced that, since he was first-in-line for the throne, he must become the new king of the Pride Lands, but falsely promised that from this tragedy will rise a "new era" in where lions and hyenas shall come together and live as one. As he made this proclamation, the hyenas began swarming Pride Rock to make it their new home, thus breaking the Circle of Life, much to the horror of the pride and the sadness of Rafiki, the Pride Lands' Royal Mjuzi.
Scar's tyranny over the Pride Lands[]
| “ | Come, sweet Nala. It's written in the stars. (Nala: What are you doing? Are you listening to me?) We'll create a host of little Scars. | „ |
| ~ Scar tries to seduce Nala into becoming his queen. |
Under Scar's tyranny, the hyenas acted as enforcers while the lionesses were all forced to overhunt the Pride Lands of its resources for larger amounts of food than usual in order to satisfy both species. Over time, this ultimately resulted in the various species of the Pride Lands leaving, causing a terrible famine that turned the once great kingdom from a lush, plentiful ecosystem into a barren, disrepair wasteland. Drought also struck the lands, and both the lions and hyenas were all complaining over the lack of food or water left for them to feed on, despite Scar's promise that the hyenas will never go hungry again. Unfortunately, Scar refused to accept any responsibility for his actions resulting in this or do anything about it, which caused the problems to escalate on even further. In addition, he also became increasingly paranoid as he felt he was haunted by Mufasa and forbade any mention of his name in his presence out of pure hatred for him while he had any of his followers who had questioned his leadership put to death for doing so.
One day, as meals became more skimpy, he trapped Zazu into a bone cage and forced the hornbill to sign to him while he laid on a flat rock in the royal den, picking his teeth with the bones of his previous meal and asking him why he was not loved as Mufasa was. Shortly after this, the hyena trio came before Scar, grousing about the land being bare of any food or water while also blaming the lionesses. When Zazu accidentally slips Mufasa's name saying how much he's missed him, Scar reacts with fury and reminds Zazu of the law to never mention Mufasa's name in his presence while Shenzi, Banzai and Ed immediately retreat. When Zazu tries to calm Scar of his mental illness by suggesting to him of getting a queen, Scar is struck by an idea and decides to seduce Nala who was precisely arrived at his cave to try convincing him to actually deal with the ongoing problems that only he could fix. Scar refused to listen and attempted to seduce Nala in song, causing Nala to scratch him across the face as an act of refusal. Nala departed away from the cave as Scar threatened her by claiming that one way or another, she'll be his, while declaring that she and the pride will become completely his no matter what.
Battle of Pride Rock[]
| “ | But there's only one little problem. You see them? They think I'm king. | „ |
| ~ Scar during his confrontation with Simba. |
When an young adult Simba returned to Pride Rock after being convinced by Nala, Rafiki and Mufasa's ghost, he arrived in time to witness Scar angrily summoning Sarabi. Sarabi approached Scar who demanded to know why her hunting party haven't recently brought back any food. Sarabi attempted to explain the situation of the famine, but the false king continued to blame her and the other lionesses for not looking hard enough and Sarabi insisted that the Pride Lands were finished and that they must leave Pride Rock in order to survive by searching for a new home. Refusing to admit his fault, Scar forbid anyone to leave his kingdom despite Sarabi stating that he can't do this as it would lead to the deaths of everyone in it, asserting that as the king, he had the privilege to do whatever he pleased. However, Sarabi unfavorably compared Scar to Mufasa, stating that he wasn't even half the king his late brother was. In response, Scar lost his temper and brutally backhanded Sarabi to the ground, stating that he was ten times the king Mufasa was.
Just then, Simba, furious at Scar for striking his mother, emerged and raced to Sarabi's defense. Scar initially mistook him for the deceased Mufasa and was briefly shocked to see him "alive" before discovering that he was actually Simba who had returned from exile and now wanted to claim the throne. After realizing who the interloper was, the surprised Scar pretended to be happy to see Simba alive and well while angrily glaring at the hyena trio for failing to kill Simba as ordered which caused them to become afraid and retreat. When Simba approached Scar while threatening to maul him for hurting his mother, Scar attempted to explain that the pressures of being the king have been difficult for him to bear, so Simba advised him to pass the throne to him and let him bear the responsibility. Scar pretended to agree with Simba's statement, but then pointed out to the army of vicious hyenas surrounding them, saying that he can't as they firmly believed that Scar should remain as king. Nala (who briefly left Pride Rock to search for help, only to have found Simba and alerted him of the Pride Lands' conditions) arrived to rebuke his claim and state that Simba was the rightful ruler of the Pride Lands with the other lionesses, including Sarabi, backing her up.
Simba gave Scar a choice: either abdicate the throne or fight for it. Unwilling to give up the power or fight Simba one-on-one, Scar deceitfully played on Simba's guilt over the death of his father simply by questioning if it must end in violence and stating how he would hate to be responsible for the death of another family member. Simba realized what Scar was up to and stated that it wasn't going to work, claiming that he'd put the past behind him, but Scar questioned if the rest of the pride put the past behind them. When Nala asked Simba what Scar was talking about, Scar acted surprised that Simba hasn't told the pride his little secret and said that now was his chance to tell them who was truly responsible for Mufasa's death.