| “ | ♪ When I was the Lion Guard's fiercest, I took most patrols on my own. So when I met this strange lion, I had no fear of being alone. He said he had wisdom and power, and the most powerful should be king. With help from me and my roar, he and I could rule everything. I found his idea intriguing, though the most powerful lion was me. But the strange lion was scheming, and had a friend I didn't see. That's how I got my scar, when I led the Guard! ♪ |
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| ~ Scar singing how he encountered the Strange Lion. |
The Strange Lion is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside the Strange Cobra) of Disney's The Lion King franchise.
He was an unnamed lion whom Scar met in the past when he was young, and was one of the two individuals, other than the Strange Cobra, who gave him his signature scar. Because of this, he and the Strange Cobra are indirectly responsible for almost all the terrible events of the franchise.
Description[]
Appearance[]
The Strange Lion had tan colored fur with a dark brown stripe on his forehead, a dark brown mane which reached to his lower chest, red eyes and a scar over his right eye.
Personality[]
Like Scar, the Strange Lion was an unscrupulous animal who would do anything to get what he wanted. He was also quite arrogant, which led to his own demise. It's unknown if his partnership with the Strange Cobra was genuine or not.
Abilities and Powers[]
The Strange Lion was quite clever and persuasive, playing on Scar's jealousy of his brother in order to manipulate him into a trap. However, he does not seem to think ahead of the consequences of his actions, as he did not expect Scar to retaliate after being poisoned.
History[]
Plot and Downfall[]
The Strange Lion's origins are unknown, but given the fact that Scar did not recognize him, it seems to be likely that he may have come from somewhere far away from the Pride Lands and the Outlands. According to Scar, he met the Strange Lion when he was still the leader of the Lion Guard (going under the name Askari) at the time while scouting the Outlands alone, and the two apparently befriended quickly. The lion apparently knew Askari's occupation and that he was second-best in power to his older brother, King Mufasa, yet possesses a special power called the Roar of the Elders, which is always granted to every leader of the Lion Guard. The Strange Lion states his belief that only the most powerful lion in the land should be the true king, and that with the help from Askari and the Roar, they both could overthrow Mufasa and rule the Pride Lands together as equals. Already envious of his brother's position, Askari was enticed by the idea, though he had no real desire to share any power with his new "friend."
The Strange Lion then leads Askari to the base of a volcano. Once there, he springs his trap by having his hidden ally and minion, the Strange Cobra, attack Askari by biting him on his left eye, giving him his trademark scar. As Askari fumes in pain due to the venomous bite, the Strange Lion reveals his true plan: he intends to exploit Askari to take control of the Pride Lands for himself by blackmailing him with a possible cure of the venom. This plan ultimately backfires, however, as Askari, angry that he was lied to and losing control of himself due to the snake venom, instead uses the Roar of the Elder to blast both the rogue lion and cobra away and cause a volcanic eruption, sending them towards the lava river to their deaths.
Returning to Pride Rock, Askari explained his story to Mufasa and expected to be praised for stopping the Strange Lion's attempted coup d'etat, but Mufasa just friendly patted Askari while giving him his nickname Scar, causing him to despise Mufasa and ultimately decide to overthrow him.
Legacy[]
While the Strange Lion and Cobra were never able to proceed with their plans to take over the Pride Lands, their attack on Scar, coupled with the Strange Cobra's venom slowly poisoning his mind, makes certain one thing about them: they are indirectly responsible for making Scar turn into the selfish and tyrannical monster he later became, leading to the tragic events of The Lion King.
In Battle for the Pride Lands, right before the final battle between his army and the Pridelanders, Scar, who died and came back as a ghost formed from volcanic smoke, told his right-hand snake, Ushari the tale of the Strange Lion and how he received his facial scar. He then replicates the event by having Ushari bite Kion on the face while the latter was distracted in order to get him to violently roar at Scar so that the volcano they were in would erupt and kill everyone outside. But just like before, the plan fails when Kion instead calmly summons a rain storm to extinguish Scar, but not before the phantom warns him about his upcoming plight. In revenge, Ushari attempts to attack Kion again, but is stopped by Bunga and both fall into the lava to their deaths. Ono was able to save Bunga, but his eyes were permanently damaged from the smoke, causing him to become temporarily blind, thus leaving Ushari to perish alone.
Ultimately, Scar and Ushari ironically suffered the same fate as the Strange Lion and Cobra from many years ago, albeit in a different manner.
Gallery[]
_Profile.jpg "Lion Guard S0E301 - Outlander Lion (Scar's Flashback) Profile.jpg (48 KB)")
Trivia[]
- The Strange Lion is the second lion in The Lion King series to have a stripe on their forehead. The first being Zira. Both the strange lion and Zira also has the same eye color.
- This has caused several fans to theorize that he was Zira's father, even though this may not be the case as Zira was born in the Pride Lands while the Strange Lion wasn't. Ford Riley, the show's creator, hinted at the possibility that the Strange Lion is related to Zira, but refused to confirm, deny anything or delve into his character any further.
- He is one of four lions in The Lion Guard to have a scar on his eye. The other three being Scar, Kovu and Kion.
- Despite his importance in Scar's descent into villainy, the Strange Lion's name is never revealed (as perhaps Scar didn't know his name). Considering that Scar was destroyed for good in the same episode he reveals how he got his namesake and since the show is over, it's likely that we will never learn the Strange Lion's name.
- He bears resemblance to the franchise's protagonist Simba and his father Mufasa.
- The Strange Lion along with the Strange Cobra are basically the Greater Scope Villains of all the events in The Lion King franchise, because their actions are what led to Scar murdering Mufasa and taking control of the Pride Lands, Zira gaining respect for Scar during his rule thus turning on Simba, the return of Scar during the second season, Kion getting his scar from Ushari, Ono temporarily losing his eyesight and the formation of Makucha's army.
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 Villains
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