History WMG / TheLionKing1994

In the novels, Scar's name was said to be "Taka" which loosely means "trash" or "want" in Swahili. Not only are his actions deplorable, but anything he gets near seems to become utterly corrupted, destroyed or morally "unclean" in some fasion due to his desires. His father, brother and nephew seem to keep this in line with their presence, and he seems to have little effect on Pride Rock until he actively starts taking control of the pride. When he takes command of Pride Rock, things go downhill due to his rule. While he's briefing the Hyenas in "Be Prepared", the area begins to shift under his full, unchecked presence.

* Disney then realized how incredibly difficult it would be to get the rights to the anime - it had been in the hands of various animation studios in japan, numerous dubbers, and everything - but it was too far along in pre-production to change most of the story, so they [[SerialNumbersFiledOff changed]] Kimba to Simba, Claw to Scar, and added elements of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''. Unfortunately, this still wasn't enough to keep FanDumb from attacking it as a rip-off when it's more like how ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 The Magnificent Seven]]'' was a re-telling of ''Film/SevenSamurai'', only this time, instead of it being the Seven Samurai [[RecycledInSpace replaced by cowboys]], it was Kimba's characters with the plot of Hamlet, making it a very strange - and ultimately, very [[SugarWiki/SoCoolItsAwesome great]] - variation of RecycledInSpace.

This is where their legitimacy comes from. The lion hide in the Hercules movies wasn't actually Scar, he just bares an uncanny resemblance to his ancestor. This is also why Scar needed such an elaborate set-up to kill Mufasa as well as the lack of marks on Mufasa from Scar's claws or the wildebeest's hooves. Also why Simba wasn't particularly bothered by the thorn bushes. Scar figured the hyenas would be able to end Simba's life with a bite though thanks to the spectacular crushing force found in a hyena's jaws. It would also explain the lack of human presence in the setting. Why bother with the area surrounded by wastelands and inhabited by nearly unkillable super lions? Regular lions are bad enough.

[[WMG:The incest problems going on in the pridelands are worse than they seem.]]
Sarafina gave birth to Nala, who was the daughter of Scar. Now, Sarafina may not have cared for Scar, but Mufasa was already taken. (in this universe, lions are meant to be monogamous) Perhaps she agreed to it because of the shallowing gene pool due to Mufasa's, err, prominent genes. Nala was never intended to be betrothed to the Prince she was related to, but Sarafina didn't want to admit to having a cub with such an unpopular lion. Nala looks like her, so she just said it was a wandering rogue. When Nala was chosen as Simba's future mate, Sarafina couldn't object without revealing her secret. When Scar became leader, who did he want as a mate in the broadway show and longer rough draft? Nala, his own daughter. Scar was a vain, egotistical lion, and who better to be the mother of his lineage than someone who shared his own genes? As well, she, again, looks like Sarafina, who he apparently didn't find bad-looking. If he had succeeded in raping Nala, this would have went even further.
If Kovu is also fathered by Scar, then that means his original goal of having his lineage carry on actually worked and he in fact succeeded in a sick kind of way.

* Subadult male lions are kicked out of their birth prides, and challenge other males for the role of pride leader.
* This also means that the original intention of the writers to make Kovu Scar's son (instead of just his protege and heir) is true; he and Kiara are indeed having an incestuous relationship of their own.
* Every lioness in the new generation would have to be sired by Simba, and later Kovu. This is what happens when you try to superimpose a monogamous marriage-based relationship onto a traditional pride structure.
* Unless Nala's Mom left her pack and was taken in by Mufasa while she was pregnant with Nala.
* There's also the possibility that ''Scar'' is Nala's father. Which would make his attempt to rape her in the musical [[MoralEventHorizon even more dastardly]].
* You can take this even farther. Lion prides are typically made up of a group of lionesses who are all sisters or otherwise closely related, plus a single male who mates with all of them. Female cubs stay in the same pride while juvenile males are kicked out to find another pride to call their own. Based on this information we can reasonably assume that Simba and Nala are at least cousins (as children of sisters Sarabi and Sarafina, respetively). Now if Mufasa is expected to have sired all of the cubs in the pride, this would make Simba and Nala somewhere between half-siblings and full brother-sister in relatedness. Even if Mufasa isn't Nala's father, the only other reasonable alternative is for Scar to be her father - making Simba and Nala close to half-siblings.
* This troper once read a fanfic where Nala's father was a rogue lion.
* The Lion Guard makes mention of Nala's father, although briefly. It doesn't explain where he went, but the assumption some people are making is [[spoiler: he was killed by Scar along with the rest of the last Lion Guard]]

[[WMG:The second film is Scar's DyingDream.]]
It started as him wondering how things could have been different if he had wisely decided to take a mate and continue his line at Pride Rock, his bitterness against the system contributing to why he imagined choosing someone other than his oldest son to be his heir. He started having regrets about his actions and wishing to reconcile, hence the cubs from both sides coming together. Also, with him dying before the presentation of Kopa, it would explain why he was unaware of that cub and imagined a female named Kiara instead.

[[WMG:Lion King 2 was an alternate reality]]
Building upon the above guess...

Scar had his own pride of lions as well as the hyenas, meaning the conflict between Simba and Scar lasted much longer than the battle we saw in the first movie. A deleted scene from the first film outright says that he has no family of his own or his own species. Zira and her Lioness companions is the [[ForWantOfANail nail]] that changes reality.
* In fact, Scar's pride may have overran Pride Rock for a limited time due to his larger number of forces.
Sarabi and Sarafina died during that conflict which is why they don't appear in Lion King 2 (yet they both appeared at the end of the original Lion King). Most importantly, Simba actually killed Scar, and Zira saw him do it (which is why Simba never outright denies killing him).
* Kovu was around the same age as Kiara yet he knew who Scar was/looked like growing up. The beginning of the film when we see Kiara's birth Scar was still alive (or had just died a few weeks/days earlier).
** Although they exist in different timelines Kopa and Kovu are around the same age.

[[WMG:Ni is Kopa from the future.]]
Kopa was sent back in time but raised and adopted by a pride which he left when he was of mature age. He decided to return to his 'home' but upon saving Nala who he immediately realised was his mother as a cub, complications arose. Being savvy about time travel and remembering his mother's story he quickly fabricated some lies about his name and past, per accordingly, and stole the quick chance to return to his home.

The reason why he left was because if he stuck around he would either:
# Get killed or driven out anyway
# Create an alternate timeline
# Invoke a temporal paradox

His last words "Lions who listen to the chattering of monkeys will never learn to roar. A wise old baboon told once me that - and he was right." parallel his past (future?) experiences as a cub. The reason why he seems so serious and hides his emotions (most of the time) is because he's just coming to terms with the situation but doesn't want to seem unusual. Assuming that he lives during the time where his cub self is born the universe goes through a period of instability due to the two identical presences living in the same timeline (which is why Kopa disappears and Kiara comes along as a suitable replacement).

[[WMG:Mufasa's death was [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning deliberately planned by Mufasa]], so Simba could develop as a leader on his own without being able to constantly rely on Mufasa.]]
When Mufasa confronts Scar about not being at Simba's presentation at the beginning of the film and Scar calls Simba "the little hairball," Mufasa replies "That 'hairball' is my son--and your future king." Whoa, whoa whoa. At that point, the only way Simba would be Scar's future king is if Scar outlived Mufasa--which did come to pass, but how would Mufasa know that at the time, unless he were planning exactly that? While it's reasonable to assume that Mufasa is the older brother, presumably Mufasa and Scar aren't widely different in age, so the only reason Mufasa could be so certain that Scar would outlive him is if he were arranging it.
* Is it ever actually stated that the king has to die to pass on the throne? Maybe Mufasa had retirement plans.
* While that is a strange thing to say, now that you mention it, Mufasa would have needed a much stronger motivation than that. Even if he was willing to sacrifice himself for such a nebulous goal, he couldn't have expected Simba to survive a royal coup.
** Except Mufasa survived and ''knew'' he would. Maybe he ''and'' Scar planned the events ''together'' for some reason we don't know...
*** Apart from that being fantastically unlikely beyond all traditional forms of reason, Mufasa's survival would invalidate the premise, such as it was, of the original theory. So no.
** Why couldn't he have expected Simba to survive a royal coup? He figures Simba is strong enough to do it, and tenacious enough to kill Scar. Neither does Mufasa necessarily endorse this plan; it is sufficient that he suspects Scar will kill him.
** It doesn't mean that Mufasa ''expects'' to die before Scar (though as Scar is the younger brother, Mufasa might think that he will), but... well, if he was to get pedantic about it, he'd just end up sounding like a colossal jerk. "That hairball is my son, and your future king. Well, that is, unless you die before I do. Come to think of it, with how frail and weak you are you are, you're very likely to snuff it long before me, so I guess there's no actual chance you'll ever live to see him on the throne." Doesn't seem much like something Mufasa would say, does it?

[[WMG: Scar was neglected by his and Mufasa's father because he was supposed to be a female lion.]]
This is completely alternative to the short stories, but I came upon those after my theory so I am ignoring any mention of their father, because I really like my theory. This takes a while but it's totally worth it. Okay. So there are two clues in the movie: "There's more to being king than getting your way all the time" versus "I am the king I can do whatever I want." If we're assuming past behavior from present--and Mufasa's dad had a HUGE influence on him, via the "kings of the past" scene--that means Mufasa's wisdom was passed down from HIS father, and Scar's lack of wisdom points to a negligent father. So Mufasa was the favorite child.

Now, Simba and Nala are (apparently) half-siblings, and already betrothed as chidren--probably from birth, if our nobility are anything to go on; in short, an arranged marriage. When Scar was born, there was probably talk of another arranged marriage back in
his day as well, and Scar, if a female, would have been the chosen mate. I can imagine their father having high hopes for whatever dynasty that would come of a Mufasa-Scarina marriage if he had been a she. But, as so often happens, Scarina turned out to be Scar, the disappointed parent scorned him, and the rest is The Circle Of Life.

[[WMG:The real reason Zira was exiled was because Sarabi and Scar were involved.]]
If you see the story as a parallel to ''{{Hamlet}}'', obviously Sarabi is Gertrude. She was behind her mate's death, or was willing to be with Scar once the murder happened, and Scar used her to legitimize his claim to the throne a la Claudius. Simba isn't upset about this because he wasn't around for it, but Zira was present through the whole thing. She was probably popular with the other lionesses, hence why she has such a large pride in the sequel - her friends left with her. She was banished because there were many pride members who didn't know that Sarabi and Scar were together.

[[WMG:The Hyenas are naturally a ''democratic'' power and their involvement with Scar is just the result of his political seduction.]]
To be more precise, they're intuitively Jacobins, and the only reason they fall for the "fascist leader" Scar is their own political inexperience. However, their first intuition after Scar proposed to kill the king was to kill him ''without'' replacing him - which clearly shows that they intuitively not only oppose the present king, but monarchy ''itself'', and see the death of the king as a means to get rid of monarchy as such. But they're inexperienced and unorganized, and Scar promises to teach them how to organize, so they get behind him without really realizing what they're supporting.
* Which makes it a clear case of TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil. Also seconded.
* This actually makes a lot of sense, given that they have no clear matriarch (If Shenzi was actually the matriarch, "Be Prepared" would likely have included Scar pretending to share power with her. Also, you'd think she would be able to get other high-ranking females to join her when confronting Scar about the drought, instead of two males, one of which can't speak properly). Thirded.
** I think if Shenzi wasn't the Matriarch why would Scar pay her any attention at all? He wants ALL the hyenas to side with him, and he has to negociate with the boss to make that happen. But I do suspect due to ages given in supplemental material that she was new to the job.
* Another thing to notice here is that in the last image of "Be Prepared", the placement of the moon sickle in the background reminds a bit of the communist Sickle and Hammer.

[[WMG:In the Elephant Graveyard, some of the "elephant" skeletons are actually the bones of mammoths and mastodons.]]
The skull that the hyenas climb out of is far too large to be that of a modern elephant. Would an elephant's head really be that big compared to Simba? Big enough for hyenas to climb through the eye sockets and nose?
* The graveyard is obviously very old. Many of the bones break easily, suggesting that they've been decaying away for a while. Also, elephants often cover their dead in sticks and leaves. In the case of the Elephant Graveyard, any sticks and leaves have clearly all disintegrated long ago.
* If Africa is the wrong location for mammoths and mastodons, we can say that humans dragged the bones down there for cultural reasons, and then wound up abandoning them.
* Thing is; even mammoths and mastodons weren't that large. And the few that could approach that size were on different continents and never could have gotten there; human influence or not.
* Maybe the "skull" that the hyenas climbed out of was actually just a large rock oddly shaped like an elephant skull.

[[WMG:As mentioned on PoisonOakEpilepticTrees, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_sexual_behaviour#Lions way male lions co-rule with their brothers]] raises several alternative character interpretations: namely, the entire story is just a tragically overblown lovers tiff. Pass the BrainBleach please.]]
* But Scar and Mufasa don't rule together. But maybe that was the problem. Mufasa didn't want to share the power and... umm... other things with his little bro, and Scar takes it personal. And to think all of this could have been avoided with a quickie!

[[WMG:Nala was the equivalent of the pride's crown-princess.]]
She wasn't betrothed to Simba per se but to the next king, hence Scar's desire to make her his mate in the musical.
* Having a crown princess makes a lot more sense than trying to superimpose the human tradition of male heirs onto this lion pride. Imagine that Nala was the crown princess, and that Scar killed Mufasa solely for the sake of overthrowing Mufasa--with the added bonus that it helped him drive off Simba, which he would have done anyway (Disneyfication of the IRL lion habit of killing the old alpha male's progeny). Furthermore, it explains what happened to Kopa between films--he simply grew up (being Kiara's older brother) and went off to find a pride of his own to rule. Meanwhile, Kiara became the new crown princess, and it was expected that she would marry a Pride lion or a rogue male (such as Kovu pretended to be) and eventually rule beside him.


[[WMG: The "Lion King" story we know was heavily {{Bowdlerise}}d; the original was an epic about hyenas.]]
In certain respects, the "traditional" roles that lions and hyenas play in fiction are switched: hyenas actually hunt more than lions, and lions are more than happy to scavenge or steal their food. If one were to inverse the cast of the story as it stands, it'd be much closer to fact.

The real story follows a pack of hyenas, who rule the "Packlands" under the head of their empress, Sarabi. She and her mate, Mufasa, have just produced a baby girl, Shenzi, who has been chosen to be heir to the throne. However, there is a schemer amongst the hyenas: Scar, king of a small pride of bedraggled, depraved lions. The pride had been exiled to the Outlands long ago, but Scar had managed to keep hyenas and lions on friendly terms otherwise. With the arrival of Shenzi signaling a new dynasty, Scar seizes the opportunity and kills the queen, leaving the Packlands to be taken over by his legions of lionesses. Shenzi runs away, only to be adopted by 2 exiled hyenas, known only as "Banzai" and "Ed" (Timon and Pumbaa were added to the story for comedic purposes). Shenzi grows up, returns to the Packlands, and [[ForegoneConclusion you know the rest.]]

Disney decided, for the sake of the audience, to drastically alter the story. The hyena protagonists were switched in favor of lions, and Scar was made a brother to the king instead of a 3rd-party warlord. Shenzi was demoted to an extra minion, along with her mentors whose traditional names are not known. The pride of evil lions appearing in the sequel are thus [[TheArtifact a leftover from the original tale]], or possibly a simple nod to the story's previous villains.
* You know, I think I'd actually watch this version.
** Agreed. Someone oughta write this...

[[WMG:The hyena's were forced into a ghetto like wasteland because otherwise, being better predators, they would out-compete the lions.]]
Hyenas and lions are competing predators in real life. Hyenas are actually more successful in killing prey than lions. The lions used their brute strength to drive the hyenas to the Elephant Graveyard, where there was so little to eat the lions hoped the hyenas would soon all die of starvation and not eat everything in the Pridelands.
* Other, superior hunters are '''bad''' royal PR.

[[WMG:''The Lion King'' is a racist story.]]
ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin- The Pride falls into disrepair under the '''black man'''e and his lower class cronies and it takes a tannish mane, his British advisor, a MagicalNegro and his suddenly white girlfriend to set things right. The only snag in this theory is Mufasa, whom I have no explanation for. Also, just so we're clear, I don't ascribe to any of these beliefs- just taking a Wild Mass Guess here.

[[WMG:''The Lion King'' is all capitalist propaganda.]]
This is clearly an attempt to show the Russian revolution as evil and damaging to “the circle of (capitalism)”. The lions form an absolute monarchy and a dictatorship in which they rule the pride lands in immense decadence and luxury. The Hyenas, on the other hand, live in filth and starve. It is generally taken from the theme of the film that this is acceptable. Just as the Russian aristocracy believed it was the way of things for them to live the high life whilst the workers starve.

Scar offers the Hyenas a revolution of the common man. He leads them to revolt against their oppressors and take power for themselves.
In the film, this is portrayed as leading to famine, starvation and a complete destruction of the eco-system. Clearly capitalist scare-tactics in order to warn against a workers uprising.

Mufasa is the Tsar, Simba -- Anastasia, Rafiki -- the Orthodox Church, and the Hyenas are the workers.

Cracked ads further to this allegory, stating:

''That's the only way to explain how Scar got an entire army of these animals behind him with such dissident slogans as "Stick with me, and you will never go hungry again!" Scar wasn't promising them unlimited power, just the ability to eat and function as members of society. The hyenas were pissed because the oppressive lion regime had reduced them to second-class citizens, hoarding all the pie for themselves.

No wonder they followed Mufasa's brother. What Scar offered the hyenas was a revolution of the common man. He was more or less their four-legged Lenin.''
** This works in other ways - Communism can work, if the leader isn't corrupt. Unfortunately when it doesn't work, it brings everybody DOWN rather than pushing the lower classes up. Remember how hungry the hyenas were? The smallest of scraps would seem like an improvement.
** Then Simba comes along and the lionesses vote for him. The hyenas, being illegal immigrants, black people and the mentally disabled, have no vote.

* An alternative theory is absolutely opposite.
Mufasa's rule may symbolise the Communist dictatorship of the Soviet Union. Scar could be an obvious hint on Gorbachev (remember that Gorbachev has some red spot on his head and Scar has on his eye ... well ...) The death of Mufasa and rise of Scar to power symbolises Perestroika and the later years, including what had happened after the 1991 - the hyenas may symbolise the capitalists, who came to power in the former USSR, who opress the lions (workers) and make them work for them day and night.
Exiled Simba may represent oany of the current Russian politicians - for example Putin or Zyuganov. Mufasa's ghost may symbolise the Neo-Stalinist tendencies in the present-day Russian society, especcialy in the CPRF. After Scar was overthrowned, he was killed by his former allies, just like Gorbachev is now forgotten by the capitalists who came to power with his help.

[[WMG:The whole thing was an EvilPlan on the part of Rafiki.]]
As shaman, omnivore, and Savannah primate, Rafiki was the equivalent of the Pope to the many animals that inhabited the Pridelands. However, that alone could not quench his thirst for power. After all, he was of the same order as humankind: [[HumansAreBastards the desire to control and destroy were in his blood]]. But, Rafiki knew that to go about destroying others to get what he wanted would accomplish nothing. So, he took a diplomatic approach, and sided with the lions, the kings of the Pridelands.

For a long time, Rafiki and the lions more or less ruled side by side, until the arrival of a new king: Mufasa. Mufasa had it all; he was charismatic, kind, selfless, and a very efficient hunter. Rafiki just couldn't compete, and he began to fall in influence. He and Mufasa were still as close as he had been with every king, but Rafiki knew something had to be done. He needed a pawn, someone who could be easily controlled. With the birth of Simba, the newcoming king, and the lingering memory of Scar's humiliation, the gears started turning, and Rafiki concocted a plan.

[[OffscreenVillainy First, Rafiki convinced Scar]] [[CrypticConversation through a few vague words]] that he was the rightful king, not Mufasa. The monkey was there to hear all of Scar's plans, and with a few choice words, he pushed the maniacal lion along a certain path. At the same time, Rafiki would suggest that Zazu try and keep Simba in line, so Simba would thus act out and go against the stuffy hornbill's wishes. This was all in preparation for the final stroke, when Scar would kill Mufasa, [[BreakTheCutie leaving Simba to pick up the pieces]].

Unfortunately, Scar went against Rafiki's wishes and ordered his hyenas to kill Simba. While said hyenas weren't successful, Rafiki was furious at Scar and distraught that his plan had fallen through so easily. As Scar took over the Pridelands with his legions of giggling carnivores, Rafiki wept for the apparent death of his ticket to the throne.

Rafiki returned to his old tree-palace, with influence as a shaman but not as the king's friend. Of course, he was elated when word of Simba being alive was carried in on the wind. It was time to put the plan back into motion all over again.

With a little smoke-and-mirror magic, Rafiki was able to convince the exiled prince he was destined to return to the Pridelands and reclaim the throne. In the epic battle that followed, the old monkey made sure he played a significant enough part as to factor into the new king's crowning.

So, Rafiki, the jolly and wise baboon/mandrill shaman, took hold of the throne as Simba's head advisor. Finally, he could manipulate events and make decisions through the king just as he always did. He had to share that privilege alongside [[ThoseTwoGuys Timon and Pumbaa]], but they didn't use their power at all, and they could be easily controlled.
* In Lion King 2, Rafiki then worked to bring Kiara and Kovu together so he could increase the number of lions he had influence over.
* This guess requires too much OffscreenVillainy in my opinion.
* Mufasa would have been terrible at hunting. The manes of adult male lions make them stand out, which is detrimental to a successful hunt.
* Scar's descent into power hunger began when he was a young cub, and leader of the Lion Guard
[[WMG:''The Lion King'' takes place after humans have gone extinct.]]
We see ''no'' evidence of humans in the film, which is a bit odd even for a secluded area like the Pridelands. At some point in time, humans were wiped out in a cataclymic WWIII that failed to go nuclear, at least not to the point that it could collapse Earth's biosphere entierly. The Outlands are actually the edge of the bombed out wasteland that covers most of the planet, with the Prideland being one of the few areas so devoid of human life that it saw no fighting.
* Or, ''before'' humans ever existed. This also ties in nicely with the "Why is there a skeleton of a mammoth/mastodont?" question above.
* Possibly Jossed in WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa, since sometimes on the show, Timon and Pumbaa meet humans. There was even a human recurring villian named Quint.

[[WMG:The story is not told from [[UnreliableNarrator Simba's]] point of view, but Scar's]]
Bear with me.

Scar never controlled the hyenas. What happened was this: Some hyenas[[note]]Who were never exiled, BTW[[/note]] had decided to go hunt some wildebeest. Unfortunately, they ran into a cliff, where they screeched to a halt. The wildebeest, however, kept going. Unfortunately, Simba had been chasing a butterfly into that same ravine. Scar saw this, and alerted Mufasa. Skip to the part where Mufasa is dangling off a small ledge. Scar tried to help, but he was too weak (it's strongly implied he's a runt, and Mufasa is a really buff and presumably heavy loin). Mufasa realized so, and told Scar there is no way he (Mufasa) would survive, just before falling. Scar inherited the throne because Simba was a kid at the time, and suffered a severe case of survivor's guilt, driving his bonkers. He spent most of his time crying and just getting more and more insane, shirking his responsibilities. Soon, the Hyenas took over. What happened to Simba? The Hyenas convinced him it was all his fault. Soon, Scar believed the events happened the way the movie presented it. When Simba came back, the Lionesses filled him in, and he exiled Scar. The Hyenas then killed him.

Yes, I just made a Disney movie LighterAndSofter.

[[WMG: The movies all exist in alternate universes]]
No, 1 1/2 was not just an embellishment, it actually happened...in an alternate universe. There is no evidence of Scar having a mate, cubs, or any lion allies in the first film (especially if you take the stage show into account, where Zazu points this out), and yet he apparently did when you consider the sequel. No, this was not Disney failing to take continuity into account in a quick cash grab; IT'S AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE.

[[WMG:The 'circle of life' was propaganda to justify an oppressive caste system based on species.]]
Every animal is bound to their social station based at birth. Lions of a certain bloodline were meant to rule. Hyenas were born to struggle in poverty on the brink of starvation. Herbivores were destined to sacrifice their lives for carnivores (even though lions in this universe were just as healthy eating insects which lack human-equivalent intelligence). When Scar failed as a king, the lionesses claimed it was because he didn't keep the hyenas in their place, not because he was corrupt and power hungry. Either way, they still wouldn't overthrow Scar because it would go against the 'circle of life' for anyone but the rightful heir to take the throne.
** Going with this, the hyenas were oppressed for having conflicting beliefs. And while that's terrible, when they came into the Pride Lands, these conflicting beliefs just added further tension between lions and hyenas.

[[WMG:Sarabi hired Scar as a hit man to kill Mufasa.]]
Mufasa was just doing what normal lions do, aka sleeping with every female in the pride. It wasn't until Sarafins gave birth to Nala that Sarabi realized what was going on. She confronted Mufasa about it, but he refused to listen. Then she came up with a plan. She went to Scar, unaware that he had just tried to off her kid, and made a deal with him; if he killed Mufasa, she would give him the throne and become his queen. Scar agreed, but things went badly when he killed Simba as well, securing his place as king. Sarabi was heartbroken at the loss of her cub, but rejoiced at the death of her mate and became Scar's queen, although she was always wary of him. Simba's death always stood between them. A little while after, however, Scar met the younger and prettier(in his head at least) Zira. He took Zira as his mate and demoted Sarabi to pride member. Now furious beyond belief and wondering why she can't keep her mates loyal, Sarabi sends Nala to find someone to kill Scar. When she returned with Simba, her long lost son, Sarabi couldn't have been happier. However, by this point her mind was cracked beyond all repair. She began hallucinating, thinking her son was actually Mufasa come back to punish her. When the Outsiders were banished, Sarabi went with them, which is why we never see her in the sequel. She dies sometime before the final battle, alone and crazy.

[[WMG: Mufasa is the REAL monster in the story.]]
When he was told that he would be king, he bullied and tormented his little brother about it. Also, he's [[FantasticRacism racist against hyenas]], banishing them to the elephant graveyard and leaving them to starve to death for no good reason, just because [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything he thinks he's better than them]]. Hey, it's not their fault that they have to scavenge, Trollfasa! What happened to "Circle of Life"?! He doesn't really love his son and wife. He's only pretending to so that he looks like a better king. The reason he's so protective of his son is because he knows that he'll look like a bad king if his son dies. If was able to, he would let his son get killed.
* This doesn't work too much beyond the FantasticRacism, because it completely kills the premise of the movie. Also, Mufasa tries ''way'' too hard for someone who's just doing it for appearance's sake.

[[WMG: Kopa, from the end of the first movie, was Scar's biological son.]]
Thanks to Scar's advanced age, the elder lionesses couldn't carry any cubs to term. Nala, whose belly was hanging low in a lot of shots in the Oasis (not "has to be pregnant" low, just low, like other lions including Simba have shown) was the only one young enough to make up for Scar's age and give birth to even a single one of his cubs. Simba just adopted Kopa because he's cool like that; unfortunately, Kopa died soon after he was born, be it from congenital or genetic disorders caused by parents of advanced age, such a problem making him unable to get himself out of a bad situation before it turned fatal, or even one of Scar's detractors or fangirls kidnapping or killing him (not Zira; we've seen Kovu as a cub, and he's all wrong for the look). The reason Kopa looks like Simba instead of Scar and/or Nala? He just looks like most of the male lion cubs on his father's ([[IncestSubtext or both parents']]) side of the family than his father in particular. This isn't meant to be a [[PoisonOakEpilepticTrees Poison Oak Epileptic Tree]], just a "lions do all sorts of things humans think of as wrong, including this, so this is totally plausible" guess.

[[WMG: Simba died when the Stampede initially came towards him. The rest of the movie is what would've happened had he lived.]]
Bear with me here, I won't try to make a really big explanation. Based on a discussion had with a friend, this WMG happened as such: He literally couldn't move from shock and was trampled by the wildebeest. The only doubt I have about it being a WMG is that this might not actually be that uncommon for really young lion cubs in RealLife. Given the possibility of being small and inexperienced, either the situation I described would happen or the cub would be killed while trying to run.

[[WMG: Mufasa caused the drought.]]
Recall the clouds Mufasa used to show himself to Simba with? I say he has been saving it up for a long time, drying out the Pride Lands.

[[WMG: Scar and Mufasa took over the pride together.]]
While prides are normally led by a single male lion, sometimes brothers will work together to take over a pride and rule together. Mufasa and Scar did this, with Mufasa being the dominant brother. Scar resented that Mufasa was seen as the king when they were supposed to rule together.

[[WMG: The movie is anti-Jacobite propaganda]]

* 1. Lions are a symbol of England
* 2. Like the Jacobites, scar's main supporters live in the more difficult fringes of the area, while the main characters live in the more central area.
* 3. Scar and Mufasa being brothers represents the two side's supported leaders being close relatives.

[[WMG: Hades brought Scar back to life.]]
''[[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Jafar]]'' wasn't the only Disney villain Hades brought back to life to kill ''Disney/{{Hercules}}''.
* Well, that does happen in the game "[[TabletopGame/SorcerersOfTheMagicKingdom Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom]]" at Walt Disney World. It's probably Non-Canon, though.

[[WMG: The Movie is Propaganda for Simba's Family]]
The story was, in fact, commissioned by Simba's granddaughter in order to justify Simba's seizure of power and [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade unfairly portray Scar as a monster]].

[[WMG: Zazu made a noble but naive attempt to leave Africa after he was disgusted by scar's rule.]]

* Disney then realized how incredibly difficult it would be to get the rights to the anime - it had been in the hands of various animation studios in japan, numerous dubbers, and everything - but it was too far along in pre-production to change most of the story, so they [[SerialNumbersFiledOff changed]] Kimba to Simba, Claw to Scar, and added elements of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''. Unfortunately, this still wasn't enough to keep FanDumb from attacking it as a rip-off when it's more like how ''Film/TheMagnificentSeven'' was a re-telling of ''Film/SevenSamurai'', only this time, instead of it being the Seven Samurai [[RecycledInSpace replaced by cowboys]], it was Kimba's characters with the plot of Hamlet, making it a very strange - and ultimately, very [[SugarWiki/SoCoolItsAwesome great]] - variation of RecycledInSpace.

Even droids may take part in the process, and C-3PO was one of them. Unfortunately, while R2-D2 too was reincarnated, in his previous life he had been small, compact, hard-shelled, and hiding a large assortment of tools, thus he was reincarnated as a beetle. R2-Beetle was forced to leave and live elsewhere thanks this new constant danger of Zazu/C-3PO's diet. Despite the loss of his friend, C-3PO learned to enjoy his new life as a hornbill, still faithfully serving his masters, "[[RevengeOfTheSith finally getting the hang of this flying]]", and still keeping his position as the universe's ButtMonkey.

This occured to me watching ''Be Prepared''. Look at how massive in numbers the Hyenas are. Now, Hyenas are good predators in real life, there being so many was a major problem of overpopulation. There's no way the Pridelands could've supported them and the lions (as seen in Scar's reign). There are far fewer lions than there are Hyenas, the Lions are actually pretty reasonible in number. Mufasa had two options, get rid of the hyenas or get rid of the lions. If the lions had left, the Hyenas were still too numorious for them to be supported and too dim-whitted to realize this (as shown, the Hyenas aren't very clever). Thus, from that view, it's possible he told them to leave for the sake of everyone. However, it's possible they weren't even banished, just told to leave and thought they were banished or possibly Scar made them think that. It fits into the movie well because Scar's reign shows the Pridelands can't support both groups, so there's good reason to get the Hyenas out as they're the bigger problem than the lions are.

As shaman, omnivore, and Savannah primate, Rafiki was the equivalent of the Pope to the many animals that inhabited the Pridelands. However, that alone could not quench his thirst for power. After all, he was of the same order as humankind: [[HumansAreBastards the desire to control and destroy were in his blood]]. But, Rafiki knew that to go about destroying others to get what he wanted would accomplish nothing. So, he took a diplomatic approach, and sided with the lions, the kinds of the Pridelands.

[[WMG:Nala was the equivalent of the pride's throne princess.]]

** Or, ''before'' humans ever existed. This also ties in nicely with the "Why is there a skeleton of a mammoth/mastodont?" question above.
** Possibly Jossed in WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa, since sometimes on the show, Timon and Pumbaa meet humans. There was even a human recurring villian named Quint.

As {{Disney}} continues its trend of making live-action/CGI adaptations out of its classic films, they could eventually give another villain the top billing like Film/{{Maleficent}}. What better choice than Scar -- it starts off with his childhood, showing how he and Mufasa were once close brothers. Then we see how Scar gets his namesake scar and eventually grows to envy Mufasa. Followed soon by a closer look of his reign over the Pridelands. It would introduce characters such as Ahadi and Uru (Scar and Mufasa's parents) as well as providing depth on the Hyenas, Zira and other followers of Scar.

[[WMG: Zazu is [[MrBean Mr. Bean-ana Beak]].]]

While [[DracoInLeatherPants fangirls tend to give Scar]] a FreudianExcuse by saying that he's TheUnfavourite, that doesn't really fit with Scar's [[ItsAllAboutMe personality]]-if anything, he sounds like he was given the right to be king, and could be considered the EvilCounterpart to Simba. His parents pampered him, either because he was originally going to be king or because they wanted to comfort him in the fact that he wouldn't. Being pampered did nothing to make him a capable ruler, and as Mufasa was more focused on actually learning how rulership works was chosen as king instead. Scar believed that he deserved to be king because of this pampering, along with thinking that being ruler=[[ItsAllAboutMe getting what I want.]] He used this to justify killing Mufasa, along with the fact that he believed that Mufasa "stole" his rightful position. [[TheCaligula Unsurprisingly, he had no skill when it came to actually ruling]]. Mufasa was trying to temper Simba because this he didn't want something like Scar happening again, though he didn't think Scar was willing to kill him the way that he did.