History WesternAnimation / TheLionGuard

* ADogNamedDog: Most of the background animals are named after whatever their Swahili species name happens to be. For example: Ma Tembo the elephant, Twiga the giraffe, and Mbuni the ostrich.

** {{Justified}} with the Tree of Life, because animals from ''all over the world'' come to heal there and seek safety, with a supernaturally diverse ecosystem capable of housing animals from all climates. This results in [[PolarBearsAndPenguins polar bears, penguins]], Siberian tigers, Eurasian water shrews, giant pandas, lemurs, musk deer, Bactrian camels and South American pampas foxes hanging out together.

** Makini losing her Bakora staff.

* MakeMeWannaShout: The Roar of the Elders has the power to strip dozens of trees, blow back enemies, and, it's implied, even kill. Kion takes his newfound power ''very'' [[ComesGreatResponsibility seriously.]]

* InkSuitActor: In “The Lost Gorillas”, the titular gorillas, Majinuni and Hafifu are voiced by and modelled after [[{{WebVideo/Danisnotonfire}} Dan Howell]] and [[WebVideo/AmazingPhil Phil Lester]], respectively.

* CheatedDeathDiedAnyway: The Lion Guard prevented Makucha, Chullunn and Ora from killing the elderly Janna, Unfolding Janna dies of old age in her next appearance.

* TownGirls: Several young female characters in the show can be categorized. Sweet and comforting Tiifu and prissy diva Zuri who are both obsessed with beauty are femme, mature yet headstrong future queen of the Pridelands Kiara and sassy, smart, and affectionate Jasiri as neither, and snarky and brash tomboy Fuli and the similarly tomboyish Vitani as butch.

* KarmaHoudini: Despite having tried to kill the Lion Guard in gruesome ways multiple times, the second Janja defects, he is automatically portrayed as a good guy. This goes with the rest of Scar's Legion of Doom at the end of the season 3 opener as well.

* PandaingToTheAudience: Giant pandas inhabit the bamboo forests at the Tree of Life.

** Pythons are depicted as more pleasant than cobras, which are morally ambiguous or outright evil [[spoiler:to the point of being TheCorrupter]].

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

--->"'Til the Pride Lands' end, Lion Guard defend!"

--->"With strength and respect, Night Pride protect!”

---> "We'll fight fot what's right, Pride Landers unite!"

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The crocodiles determine their leader by fighting. This causes problems for The Pride Lands, because the wise old leader gets booted out by a stronger crocodile that is not near as wise or considerate.

* TheGreatSerpent: At one point in the "Zuka Zama" song sequence, Bunga slides along the coils of a ''gigantic'' rock python.

* AdultsAreUseless: Compared to the Lion Guard, a lot of the Pride Lands' older animals in this show are awfully incompetent. For instance, only the Lion Guard bothered to do anything about Makuu usurping the hippo pond in ''The Rise of Makuu'' and in ''Bunga the Wise'', every animal eagerly takes Bunga's advice without even questioning it. Even Simba and other older cast members fall into this as [[DeusExitMachina they often aren't around when they'd be a huge help]]. Nala in particular is seen needing her son to save her from Janja's half dozen or so hyenas who have proven to be nowhere near the threat level of Scar's original army. Clearly this is [[NecessaryWeasel neccesary]] to make sure the [[KidHero young Lion Guard]] is effective. Ironically, the most helpful adult on the show has arguably [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest been Mufasa.]]

** Often, neither Simba, Rafiki, or any of the older lions are around whenever trouble is brewing. Obviously this [[NecessaryWeasel is necessary to keep the Lion Guard busy.]]

** Nonetheless, the show does avert this by including good reptile characters such as Pua, [[LovableLizard Hodari]], [[TurtlePower Kongwe]], and [[HollywoodChameleons Kinyonga]]. As well as Makuu having a HeelFaceTurn. Not to mention the one reptile predator that are consistently portrayed as non-malicious are pythons ([[SnakesAreSinister ironically]]). Pity they only make that effort for [[PoisonIsEvil non-venomous reptiles]].

* TurtlePower: Kongwe, an African spurred tortoise who is the Pride Lands' [[WiseOldTurtle oldest and wisest]] animal.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Invoked; Kion's greatest fear is that he will become just like Scar, and always makes sure to regulate his use of the Roar of the Elders to avoid it. This is going to be a major theme in Season 3, where Kion after gaining an identical scar, begins to struggle with whether he is evil or not.

* HighSchoolSweethearts: Unlike the [[ChildhoodFriendRomance other two central couples of this franchise]], Kion and Rani fisrt meet in their adolescence.

* HistoryRepeats: Scar attempts to invoke this in Season 3, where he gives Kion a scar, and attempts to turn Kion into a similar version of himself. Much of Season 3 will apparently be based around Kion wondering whether Scar is correct or not.

* MeleeATrois: In the Outlands, Jasiri’s clan is constantly at war with Janja’s clan, but Zira and her outsiders make no distinction and is hostile towards both hyena factions.

* MusicalNumberAnnoyance: In "The Kilio Valley Fire", the leaders of the villainous animal clans argue in song over who gets to run the ruined Kilio Valley. They all turn to Kiburi, leader of his crocodile clan, expecting him to join in their musical number, but he flatly replies, "I don't sing."

** Scar was part of the old Lion Guard and used the Roar of the Elders to kill the other members of the Guard. This creates a PlotHole within the first film, since in that film Mufasa trusts Scar, which he would not do, had Scar already committed a quadruple murder. The exact history of this event is still not known, so the story may fill in the gaps later. It's highly possible that Scar kept his killing of the Guard a secret and the truth only came out during his reign as king.

** "The Rise of Scar": Ushari is now allied with Janja's clan, and together they've succeeded in bringing back the spirit of Scar.
** "Let Sleeping Crocodiles Lie": The threat of the revived Scar is properly introduced, who begins building a LegionOfDoom to take over the Pride Lands. In that same episode, we are introduced to a new crocodile villain in Kiburi as Makuu's HeelFaceTurn becomes permanent.

* EdutainmentShow: While not exactly a traditional example of an educational show about animals, and while the show perpetuates a ''lot'' of animal myths, the show does introduce kids ([[PeripheryDemographic and adults]]) to [[SeldomSeenSpecies a very wide array of African animals]] that they might not have know about otherwise, such as hyraxes and aardwolves, and it also teaches [[ShownTheirWork obscure but true]] facts about animals (elephants having funerals, cattle egrets having excellent vision, honey badgers and pangolins spraying musk, monitor lizards being venomous, etc.). Some episodes also introduce ideas relating to wilderness conservation, and the ways in which ecosystems function.

* EvilEggEater: There was an episode where Ono the egret had to protect a [[SeldomSeenSpecies hamerkop]]'s egg from a hungry African harrier-hawk.

* SeldomSeenSpecies:
** Bunga and Ono, respectively a honey badger and a cattle egret.
** Mzingo is a white-backed vulture.
** Ushari is an Egyptian cobra.
** A tree hyrax first appears in "The Rise of Makuu."
** Beisa oryx and yellow-billed oxpeckers first appear in "Never Judge a Hyena By its Spots".
** A correctly drawn (unlike [[WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} the most famous one in children's television]]) aardvark shows up in "Bunga the Wise", as well as imbabala (A.K.A. Cape bushbuck), African crested porcupines, African helmeted turtles and a banded mongoose.
** In the song "Zuka Zama", one can see bee-eaters and great-blue turacos in the background. Botswanan long-eared bats and an African rock python also make an appearance.
** "Can't Wait To Be Queen" has eland, grey-headed bushshrikes, and western yellow wagtails.
** Reedbucks are mentioned by Mzingo in "Eye of the Beholder".
** "The Kupatana Celebration" introduces Reirei the black-backed jackal and her family. From the same episode, we see a long-eared jerboa attending the celebration, and a scrub hare and an African black duck appear in Reirei's song.
** During Fuli's song in "Fuli's New Family", we see a group of African genets.
** "The Search For Utamu" had galagos (bushbabies), a serval, and dung beetles.
** "Call of the Drongo" has Tamaa, the titular drongo bird (supposedly a fork-tailed drongo, but is drawn resembling a greater racket-tailed drongo). The same episode also features a zebra mouse and giant forest hogs.
** "Bunga and the King" has sable antelopes.
** An okapi named Ajabu appears in "The Imaginary Okapi." It is even pointed out that okapis are not native to the Pride Lands (at least, not in this point in the mythos, considering okapis do appear in ''Simba's Pride'').
** "Too Many Termites" features a group of aardwolves. Also an In-Universe example, as the Pridelanders haven't seen them much either (mostly due to them being a nocturnal species).
** "Never Roar Again" has a klipspringer.
** "The Lost Gorillas" has pangolins.
** "Ono's Idol" has Hadithi, an African hawk-eagle. Yellow-billed storks, white-necked ravens, and southern red bishops also appear in the same episode.
** "Beshte and the Hippo Lanes" has Chura, an African common toad.
** "Ono the Tickbird" features Kifaru and Mwenzi, a white rhinoceros and red-billed oxpecker respectively.
** Rainbow agamas appear in "The Travelling Baboon Show".
** "Ono and the Egg" prominently features a hamerkop named Kulinda, and Mpishi is an African harrier-hawk. Red rock hares are also featured in the same episode.
** "The Rise of Scar" introduces a group of skinks, who serve as spies for Ushari. Shupavu and Njano in particular appear to be based on a fire skink and a rainbow mabuya respectively.
** An emperor speckled moth appears during Beshte's song in "Swept Away".
** In "Rafiki's New Neighbors", Furaha and his troop are Zanzibar red colobuses.
** "Rescue in the Outlands" features tsetse flies.
** The titular antagonist of "The Bite of Kenge" is a rock monitor. Lampshaded by Ono when he claims he's never actually seen one until now.
** Hodari from "The Little Guy" is a William's dwarf gecko.
** African grass rats are mentioned by Reirei in "Divide and Conquer".
** Kongwe is an African spurred tortoise.
** Kinyonga is a veiled chameleon.
** Kuchimba from "The Underground Adventure" is a golden mole.
** Anga is a martial eagle.
** "The Accidental Avalanche" features a family of Japanese macaques aka snow monkeys.
** "Ghost of the Mountain" has red pandas, and the villain is a snow leopard named Chuluun.
** Marsh mongooses are featured in "Marsh of Mystery".
** The VillainOfTheWeek in "Dragon Island" are Komodo dragons. The same episode also prominently features an Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin named Lumba-Lumba. A school of manta rays and an eldery palm civet appear as well.
** "Journey of Memories" has a greater Egyptian jerboa.
** Azaad from "The Race to Tuliza" is an Asiatic cheetah.
** Besides the titular character of "Mama Binturong", there's also Malayan porcupines as her {{Mook}}s, a Malayan tapir, a white-cheeked gibbon, a Javan mongoose, and a mouse deer.
** "Friends to the End" has barnacle geese and a clouded leopard.
** Rani and the Night Pride are most likely Asiatic lions, judging by their names.
** Ullu is an Indian scops owl.
** Inhabitants of the Tree of Life include pikas, Lac Alaotra bamboo lemurs, white-throated laughingtrushes, blue-throated bee-eaters, gray foxes, macaroni penguins, Himalayan tahr, water shrews, gray-headed tanagers, rosy-faced lovebirds, and musk deer.

A [[Creator/DisneyChannel Disney Junior]] animated series based on ''Franchise/TheLionKing'' franchise that came out January 15, 2016. Prior to release of the series itself, the PilotMovie ''Recap/TheLionGuardReturnOfTheRoar'' aired on November 22, 2015. The series is set [[{{Midquel}} within the timeframe]] of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride''.

** This is also the first Disney Junior show to have an clear romance arc, as Kion is left torn over his desire to go home, and his love for Rani. It is also notably, the first time, that a Disney Junior show has had a marriage.

* HighSchoolSweethearts: Unlike the other two central couples of this franchise, Kion and Rani fisrt meet in their adolescence.

* DisneyAcidSequence:
** The hyenas' VillainSong "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcRq4g9pfoY Tonight We Strike]]" shows the hyenas blue and contains weird scenes, like the hyena's leaping through the air with spotlights coming from nowhere shining on them.
** It happens again in their ''next'' VillainSong "Out of the Way".
** Happens yet again (minus the blue hyenas) in their third villain song "Panic and Run".

* InsistentTerminology: Whenevr the Lion Guard talk about their love interests, they always call them friends or really good friends, presumably because using more formal like love would be a bit too mature for Disney Junior. When Kion uses this term in front of Kiara, she immediately deduces what Kion is really talking about.