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| “ | 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 trespassers! |
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| ~ The hyenas encountering Simba, Nala, and Zazu in the Elephant Graveyard. |
| “ | I'm surrounded by idiots. | „ |
| ~ Scar referring to Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. |
Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed are major antagonists in Disney's The Lion King franchise.
They are three malicious spotted hyenas who are the leaders of the hyena Clan, Scar's former minions, and the arch-nemeses of Timon, Pumbaa, and Zazu. They are also the ancestors of Janja.
Portrayals[]
- Shenzi was voiced by Whoopi Goldberg (who also voiced Stretch in Toy Story 3 and Stormella in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie, & portrayed Janette Grayson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), In The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa, she was voiced by Tress MacNeille (who also voiced Anastasia Tremaine in Cinderella II: Dreams Come True and Cinderella lII: A Twist of Time, Dil in The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists. The Queen of Hearts, One of the Fates, Si and Am in Disney's House of Mouse and Mickey's House of Villains).
- Banzai was voiced by Cheech Marin. In The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa, he was voiced by Rob Paulsen (who also voices Strut in The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure), Rinkus in The Land Before Time: The Stone of Cold Fire, Chief in The Fox and the Hound 2, Broccoli Overlord in The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange, Hades' singing voice in Mickey's House of Villains).
- Ed was voiced by Jim Cummings (who also provided Scar's singing voice in the final half of "Be Prepared", and voiced Steele in Balto, Fuzzy Lumpkins in The PowerPuff Girls, Jacked Santa in The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Long John Silver in The Pagemaster, Jacques in Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island, Pete in the Mickey Mouse series, Nessus in Hercules, Dennis in Tarzan, the Medicine Man in Young Pocahontas, Lidong in Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Razoul in Aladdin, Doctor Robotnik in Sonic SatAM, Lord Boxman in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, and Hadrian in Minecraft: Story Mode).
Members[]
Shenzi[]
Shenzi is the only female member of the trio. She is very confident, intelligent, manipulative and constantly scheming. This makes her the matriarch of the trio (and probably the entire clan), former second-in-command and right-hand woman of Scar, a trait consistent with true spotted hyenas; females are usually larger than the males and dominate them. This also makes her the secondary antagonist in the first film and the main antagonist in the midquel. Despite her dislike of Mufasa, Shenzi clearly has a measure of respect and fear for him, as she gets the "shivers" when she hears his name, and though she elbows Banzai before he can repeat the name in front of Scar, she clearly agrees with his opinion that they were better off when Mufasa was in charge (even if he did not like them or allowed them to live in the Pride Lands, he at least treated them better and did not abuse or insult them for amusement like Scar)
She comes up with the idea of telling Scar that Simba is dead after he escapes, confident in the belief that he will never learn otherwise, and is confident enough to tell him that there is 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 eyeshadow.
According to The Lion King 1½, her full name is Shenzi Marie Predatora Veldetta Jacquelina Hyena.
Banzai[]
Banzai is the most aggressive member 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 really cowardly. He is also extremely greedy, talking about food frequently. Otherwise, Banzai is apparently just as intelligent as Shenzi, knowing a few languages like pig Latin, Spanish, and French. His distinguishing feature is his unusually heavy eyebrows, but apart from these he is the model for most generic hyenas.
Ed[]
The comedic and most insane member of the trio, Ed converses entirely through obnoxious chuckling and sports a permanently foolish grin. He is heavily implied and has proven to be mentally ridiculous, imbecilic, and crazy. His eyes never seem to focus on anything appropriately, he has notched ears and his tongue is almost always hanging out. He is famous for his foolishness, his craziness, getting his friends in trouble, laughing maniacally and obnoxiously at unnecessary times, and usually being absentminded and oblivious to his surroundings.
Appearances[]
Shenzi, Banzai and Ed are large, slender, muscular spotted hyenas who are each rather mangy with the top half of their bodies covered in gray fur while their bellies are tan. They have dark brown paws, hunched backs, yellow eyes, sharp, slightly yellowed teeth, dark brown ears, spots all over their bodies, rings of the same color around their eyes, short, black tails and long black manes running down their spines.
Shenzi is a slender, large female hyena whose distinguishing features are five long, dark brown "bangs" on the top of her head while the patches around her eyes are shaped to resemble heavily applied eyeshadow. She also appears to have a larger upper lip than Banzai and Ed while her eyes are usually shown to be half-shut. She even seems to lack the dark gray "stubble" mark that Banzai and Ed possess.
Banzai is a slender, muscular, fierce-looking hyena whose distinguishing features are unusually heavy, dark brown eyebrows. He has two very short strands of dark brown hair on the top of his head and even appears as if he has a short beard as the fur on his chin is slightly longer than either Shenzi's or Ed's.
Ed is a slender, muscular hyena whose distinguishing features are his eyes being always wide open and rarely focus on anything while his mouth usually hangs open with his tongue hanging out. He also has notched ears and a slightly mangier mane with three strands of dark brown hair on the top of his head.
Personalities[]
All three spotted hyenas are rather comedic (although it should be clarified that Shenzi is the most intelligent of the trio), immature, childish, obnoxious and argumentative. Despite the common belief in the Pride Lands that hyenas are stupid, Shenzi's sense of humor hides a ruthless sense of cunning. She is not merely the leader of the trio, but becomes the matriarch of a pack of over 200 hyenas, and her decisive leadership and diplomatic skills resulted in incredible gains for her pack, regardless of the cataclysmic results to the Pride Lands. Furthermore, it seems that she has successfully hidden from Zira the fact that the hyenas, and not Simba, killed him, allowing her pack to escape the Graveyard and leave the Pride Lands. Shenzi can be just as ruthless as Scar, but unlike him, her first duty is to strengthen her clan rather than the pursuit of personal power. She allies the Clan with Scar even though the hyenas dislike the lions simply to provide for them, tells Scar that Simba is dead to get them into the Pride Lands, and is even unafraid of informing him that there's no food or water left, meaning the Clan is starving and dehydrated. When Scar deceitfully tries to pin Mufasa's death on the hyenas at the end, she doesn't hesitate to inform the Clan of his betrayal due to being intelligent enough to see it before the others, resulting in his elimination. Shepresumably has taken the Clan away from the elephant graveyard to find better hunting grounds.
As the model for most generic hyenas, Banzai is the most brutish and trigger-happy of the trio by far. He is wrathful, aggressive, sadistic, violent, ruthless, gluttonous, and impulsive, thinking with his teeth first and his brains never. However he always submits to Shenzi, who is both smarter and more controlled than him. However multiple times Ed irritates him, and Banzai pummels him every time. He is the greediest of the three, frequently making references to hunger, and asking for food. He also speaks and acts without thinking, complaining when the Pride Lands lacks food under Scar's rule. When about to commence the Wildebeest Stampede, he complained to Shenzi that he wanted to attack the wildebeest early, which would have thrown the whole plan off, but was stopped by Shenzi, reminding him to wait. Otherwise, Banzai appears to be Shenzi's intellectual equal. He understands pig Latin, as Zazu tried to keep Simba from calling the hyenas stupid; Spanish, when he immediately refrained from saying "Mufasa" in front of Scar any further; and French, for which "entree" and "buffet" are associated with food. He learned that he and his two comrades couldn't defeat Mufasa on their own, let alone kill him, which he explained to Scar after the failed attempt on Simba and Nala's lives; this would eventually lead to the entire Clan overwhelming Simba and, at the battle's end, Scar. Banzai seems to have bad luck, and tends to take the injuries; when Scar sang of his malice he was fired out of a geyser and handled roughly by Scar, Banzai's rear end was severely lacerated by Mufasa's sharp claws, causing him to reportedly be unable to sit down for a week; and later when he is knocked into a thorn patch while chasing Simba out of the Pride Lands.
Ed comes off as the 'idiot' of the trio, but Shenzi and Banzai never actually treat him as stupid. They treat him as an equal, despite the fact that he responds only by laughing, and his laughter to meaningful language. He repeatedly shows lucidity, being the first to notice Simba, Nala, and Zazu escaping while his two peers are busy cracking jokes about lions. When Shenzi comments that the hyenas would be running the show if the lions weren't around, he nods in agreement, listening to the conversation, and when Scar betrays the hyenas at the end, he understands that they have been betrayed just as well as Shenzi and Banzai, and is just as angry as they are. In addition, both Banzai and Shenzi have waited until Ed's reply before deciding on a response or a proper course of action at least twice: The first time when Shenzi and Banzai were rhetorically asking who was present in the elephant graveyard, and the second when noting that Scar had earlier called them their enemies before exacting revenge with the other Hyena Clan members. Ed definitely seems to have difficulty with some things, though. When they were attacked by Mufasa and Shenzi and Banzai denied knowing that Simba was his son, Ed confirmed it with a rapid nod; during a scuffle with Banzai, he chews on his own leg obliviously; also, when Pumbaa saved Timon and Zazu from being ganged up upon by Shenzi and Banzai in the final battle, he had no idea what to do and ended up cowering with the rest of the hyenas after Pumbaa pummeled them. Whatever his shortcomings, Ed was smart enough to block the entrance to a meerkat tunnel, thus leaving Uncle Max briefly at the trio's mercy.
Despite their dislike of Mufasa, they clearly have a measure of respect and fear for him, as Shenzi gets the "shivers" when she hears his name and, while she elbows Banzai before he can say the name in front of Scar, the trio clearly agrees that they were better off when Mufasa was in charge. Even if he disliked them and forbade them from living in the Pride Lands, he still treated them better and did not abuse or insult them for amusement, unlike Scar. Shenzi is a female, while Banzai and Ed are males.
Biography[]
Background[]
Banzai seems to be the only one who can translate Ed's laughter to have meaning, suggesting they have known each other for a long time. However, Banzai and Ed do scuffle frequently, mostly down to a combination of Banzai's short temper and Ed's total lack of tact.
The Lion King 1½[]
Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed in The Lion King 1½.
They re-appeared as the main antagonists in The Lion King 1½ (which takes place before, during and after the first film).
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 during the final battle scene of the first film. Eventually, Timon and his friend Pumbaa are cornered by the hyenas when attempting to get them away from Simba as he goes to fight Scar. 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. Then, the hyenas fall into the tunnel, which transports them to the ground just in time for them to confront Scar.
The Lion King[]
| “ | Shenzi: Friends? I thought he said we were the enemy. Banzai: Yeah, that's what I heard. BOTH: Ed? Ed: (giggles madly and licks his chops) |
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| ~ The hyenas before they kill Scar for his broken promises against them. |
The hyena trio are the secondary antagonists in the first film. They appear in the Elephant Graveyard where they, under Scar's orders, chase his brother Mufasa's young son Simba and his friend Nala in an attempt to kill and devour them. Simba tries to scare them away by roaring at them, however he is only able to make a weak roar. Amused, Shenzi tells Simba to do it again. Simba appears to make a louder roar, much to their shock. Then revealed that the roar came from Mufasa, who had been alerted to the cubs' peril by his majordomo Zazu. The hyenas fight Mufasa, but are soon overpowered by him. When Mufasa warns the trio to not come near Simba again, Shenzi and Banzai pretend not know that Simba was Mufasa's son. However, when they ask Ed if he knew that Simba was Mufasa's son, Ed nods, thus ruining the hyenas plan to appease Mufasa, who roars in fury. The hyenas then quickly flee in fear.
Afterwards, the hyenas assist Scar to carry out his plan to murder Mufasa by triggering the wildebeest stampede. Immediately after Scar betrays and murders Mufasa and tells Simba (who is deceived by Scar into believing that he is responsible for his father's death) to run away and never return, he orders the hyenas to slaughter Simba as well. Still, Simba gets away from the hyenas as they can't follow him through the thorn-bushes he falls into. They decide to tell Scar that Simba is dead. (Believing he will starve in the desert anyway). As Scar takes over the throne, he allows the hyenas to hunt around the Pride Lands (much to their delight). However, as the years passed, the trio complain about the lack of food and water in the Pride Lands (to which Scar neglects); even Banzai secretly confesses to both Shenzi and Ed that, despite hyenas living in the elephant graveyard in exile, Mufasa's reign was much better than Scar's, implying some remorse over their role in Mufasa's death.
When a young adult 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 a little nervous. As Simba tries to chase and overthrow Scar after the latter bragged to him about having killed Mufasa, 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" while Ed watches in fear.
When Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed overhear Scar deceitfully trying to thrust all blame for the events on them to Simba, claiming that it was all their idea, they back away, growling angrily at his betrayal and alert the rest of the clan of what they just heard.
After Scar is defeated by Simba, and thrown off Pride Rock, he finds himself surrounded by the hyenas and greets them casually. However, they reveal that they overheard him betraying them as he desperately tries to explain that he didn't really mean what he said, but Shenzi, Banzai, Ed and the entire clan are fed up with his lies, derogatory treatment, broken promises of never going hungry again, and now betrayal. Without hesitation, they close in to leap on Scar and fiercely rip him apart to his death, eating his body up to satisfy their hunger.
After Scar’s death, the trio are never seen again. It is highly likely that they either fled the Pride Lands for good or died in the fire as they were killing Scar.
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride[]
The hyenas do not appear in the sequel, however they were mentioned by Nuka, who says to his sister Vitani that the graveyard has become more creepy ever since the hyenas left, implying that not all of them were killed in the fire. The exact fate of the hyena trio remains unknown.
The Lion King (2019)[]
- Main article: Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi
Alternate Universe[]
In the book "A Tale of Two Brothers" (which serves as the non-canon prequel to the original film), the then adolescent hyenas surround a helpless mandrill named Rafiki who arrived in the Pride Lands. King Ahadi comes to the rescue just in time, with his adolescent sons Mufasa and Taka close behind him where Ahadi chides the hyenas, telling them that they already ate because it is against the rules to hunt for sport in the Pridelands, and commands the hyenas to leave Five Stones.
After their failed hunt, the hyenas skulked at a distance from Pride Rock, complaining about Ahadi and his constant supervision. Banzai and Shenzi exchanged complaints about the king and advocated the ushering in of a new era, amusing that with Mufasa dead, they would be able to rule the Pride Lands. Later, Shenzi advises Taka to make himself look good by making Mufasa look bad. Taka has decided to incite a greedy and selfish buffalo named Boma to fight Mufasa. But the plan didn't turn out so well, and Taka's eye was wounded by the buffalo herd in the process, and hences the name "Scar" from then on.
They are seen in the book, "Friends in Need", where they are preparing to boil a young Zazu until Prince Mufasa passes by, and scares the hyenas away next.
Other Media[]
Timon and Pumbaa[]
Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, as they appear in Timon and Pumbaa.
In the TV series, the hyenas are recurring antagonists, continuously intimidating 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.
House of Mouse[]
The hyenas made cameo appearances in several House of Mouse episodes. They're notably seen near the beginning of the premiere episode "The Stolen Cartoons".
In "House of Turkey", the hyenas are anxiously waiting to eat Mr. Turkey, but when they learn that he's a guest performer and not an entrée, they briefly try to eat Pumbaa.
In "Donald's Pumbaa Prank", they were seen at their table about to eat Zazu.
In "House of Crime", Shenzi can be seen in a cage along with other villains before they all disappear.
The hyenas were also part of the entourage of Disney villains featured in Mickey's House of Villains.
Kingdom Hearts II[]
Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, as they appear in Kingdom Hearts II.
The hyenas appeared in Kingdom Hearts II. Other hyenas appear as well, but while they're brown in color, the trio are still gray.
When Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy show up in the Pridelands, they are met by the hyenas. The hyenas surround the three of them and try to devour 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 get away.
Later, the hyenas are 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. Unlike in the film, Scar is killed in his battle with Simba, and thus the hyenas remain loyal to him until the end. Following Simba’s ascension to the throne, the hyenas run away in exile.
Later on, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are wandering across the landscape when they see the hyenas running towards the three of them. Upon realizing it is them, they stop, displeased that they're not the meal they thought. Then, they giggle when Sora mentions Simba, who is being tortured 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 anything about Scar's ghost. They run away but the three of them are caught soon enough. Simba realizes they know nothing of Scar's ghost. Soon, Scar's ghost arrives though, and frightens Simba away. The hyenas laugh at his nervousness and depart.
Once Upon a Studio[]
TBD.
Enemies[]
- Simba
- Nala
- Sarabi
- Mufasa †
- Sarafina
- Pridelanders (zebras, antelope, elephants, wildebeests, giraffes, etc.)
- Zazu (arch-nemesis)
- Rafiki
- Timon (2nd arch-nemesis)
- Pumbaa (3rd arch-nemesis)
- Timon's Ma
- Uncle Max
- Scar †
Trivia[]
- Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed are the movie's equivalent of Fortinbras, from the Shakespeare play Hamlet, of which The Lion King is based upon.
- Being the leader of the trio and entire clan, Shenzi is realistically portrayed as a female; in real life, hyena clans are lead by the females.
- Ed is shown to have notches in his ears; it is actually common for hyenas to receive notches in their ears due to frequent fighting, typically in cubhood.
- 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. Ernie Sabella, Pumbaa's voice actor, auditioned for Shenzi before he was given the role of Pumbaa.
- Originally, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed were meant to return in The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, as showcased in various early treatments and drafts of the film. Cheech Marin would have reprised his role as Banzai for the sequel.
- In one of the earliest drafts, the hyenas would have allied themselves with a rouge elephant named Brutus (a scrapped character who was designed to be the main antagonist of the sequel) to lay claim to the Pride Lands. In a cut reprise of One of Us, they would have forced Kovu to do their bidding, using him as a puppet ruler, as he was the son of Scar. They would give him an ultimatum; Either fight Simba, or they would kill Shani (an early-iteration of Kiara).
- In 1996 drafts, the hyenas were the henchmen of Bianca (an early iteration of Zira) who was the sister-in-law of Scar, and the aunt to Kovu. They would have plotted to kill Shani as to weaken Simba, only to discover Kovu’s commitment to the former. In retaliation, they, under Bianca’s command, invaded the Pride Lands and attacked Simba with murderous intent. Presumably due to the hyenas’ involvement in Scar’s downfall, the hyenas were scrapped and replaced with a pride of lions known as the Outsiders in the final film. Despite this, some 1996 scripts that were yet to be corrected show Banzai and Shenzi singing My Lullaby alongside Zira.
- Although they serve as the secondary antagonists in the film, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed are considerably less evil in Timon and Pumbaa. While they maintain their carnivorous nature, they don't appear as threatening than in the film. Furthermore, in the episode "TV Dinner", when Martin Pardon kicks Ed towards them, Shenzi and Banzai succeed in catching him, showing that at their core, they care for each other's welfare.
- 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.
- Whilst Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed do not return for The Lion Guard, they are alluded heavily, as cave paintings of the hyena clan are seen throughout the series (specifically Season 2). In addition, a promotional video for Return of the Roar noted that Janja and his clan are descendants of the hyenas of the original film.
- Originally, they were planned to appear in Kingdom Hearts. However, The Lion King world was scrapped, and for this reason, the three hyenas were cut from the video game, but later appeared in Kingdom Hearts II.
- The voice actors of Shenzi and Banzai, Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin, also voiced Pixar characters. Marin voiced Ramone in the Cars franchise while Goldberg voiced Stretch in Toy Story 3. They voiced these characters after a decade since the release of The Lion King. They later voiced Quita Moz and Lama, the two sunbirds from Elena of Avalor, which marks the first time Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin voiced Disney characters together since The Lion King.
- In WickedBinge's Disney Villain Sidekicks: Evil to Most Evil, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed won the Gold Medal for the evilest Disney Villain Sidekicks in Disney History.
- In the original script for the first film, after being defeated by Timon, Pumbaa, and Zazu, Banzai and Ed would've been thrown off the edge of Pride Rock into a burning tree, leaving Shenzi as the remaining leader of the clan who follows Simba and Scar up Pride Rock and witnesses Scar attempting to accuse the hyenas for Mufasa's assassination. The hyenas’ subsequent betrayal of Scar would have been more menacing with minimal dialogue.
- In an early production of The Lion King 1 1/2, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed would have met Timon & Pumbaa in the Graveyard. They would have hunted the duo before losing them in the caverns, much to their frustration. Later, Timon & Pumbaa would come across Scar and the hyenas when they have finished singing "Be Prepared." The trio then proceed to chase the duo out of their territory in revenge.
- In early storyboards of The Lion King 1 1/2, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed were supposed to be chased away from Pride Rock by Timon and Pumbaa after the battle of Pride Rock.
External Links[]
- Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed on the Disney Wiki
- Shenzi on the Lion King Wiki
- Banzai on the Lion King Wiki
- Ed on the Lion King Wiki
[]
 Villains
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