List of characters and their tropes from Kimba the White Lion. Expect spoilers!!
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Animals
Main Cast
Kimba/Leo
Voiced by: Yoshiko Ota (1965); Billie Lou Watt (1965 English Dub); Yvonne Murray (1965 anime redub); Unknown Voice Actor ("Leo The Lion", 1984 English Dub "Adult"); Takashi Toyama ("Go Ahead Leo!"); Enzo Caputo (English Dub, Go Ahead Leo!); Megumi Hayashibara (1989 anime, kid); Shinnosuke Furumoto (1989 anime, adult); Masane Tsukayama (1997 movie); Dan Green (1997 movie English Dub); Taeko Kawata (2009 TV movie)
A white lion cub, son of the former Jungle Emperor Panja/Caesar, who becomes the ruler of the jungle after his parents' death.- Abusive Parents: In the 1966 Onward Leo! anime, Leo physically assaults his children and drags them into dangerous situations. He also drags Rune out into the wilderness far from home and forces him to find his way back, which nearly gets him killed.
- Accidental Murder: In the sequel Leo the Lion series, he apparently ends killing Dan'l Baboon/Mandy Mandrill in a fit of rage. However, it's eventually revealed that Mandy survived.
- Actual Pacifist -> Character Development -> Martial Pacifist: A large part of Kimba's arc as a cub in the manga and '65 series is learning that fighting is necessary to bring peace. A similar theme is covered in the '89 remake, where Kimba struggles a lot more with his violent impulses.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: While still retaining his cute appearance as a cub
◊. His design in the 1989 series◊ is much handsomer and attractive compared to his standard design. - Adaptational Curves: In the 1989 series, Kimba's body is notably more muscular (mainly around his shoulders and chest) compared to the original manga and 1965 series. Notably during close up shots (such as Kimba crying) and fight scenes.
- Adaptational Jerkass: In the 1966 series, he's far more violent and willing to kill than most versions of him, and he engages in some very bad parenting practices his original manga counterpart would never have even considered.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Is hit with this very often.
- In the original manga, Leo was childish and obsessed with human culture. Much of his character arc is learning to let go of his obsession with humans and accepting his animal side. As an adult, he became somewhat prejudiced with humanity, while still retaining a childish and bumbling personality.
- In the 1965 anime adaptation, Leo became a strong and wise, albeit naive young king who tried to take the good aspects of human culture and implement them in his jungle, while advocating for peace and equality between all species. He also adopted a strong Martial Pacifist personality, stopping the animals in his kingdom from fighting or eating the herbivore residents of his jungle, teaching them about the importance of every living creature's life. This incarnation of him became the basis for all future appearances.
- In the 1966 anime, Leo's adult form took a very drastic change. While he still retained some of his pacifist principles, he still engaged in violent battles with other animals and considered killing them an option, something his previous incarnation wouldn't under any circumstances. As a father, Leo went from Bumbling Dad to an emotionally abusive Sink or Swim Mentor who would often get chastised by his wife, Laiya. The in-universe justification for such change is that their world was bad enough that his children would surely get killed if they weren't properly trained to survive in the jungle.
- In the 1989 anime, Leo's interest in human culture all but vanished, and most of the series is focused on developing him as a good king who advocates for peace and coexistence, while he fights against his own violent urges as a wild animal. This incarnation of him leans more towards Actual Pacifist and Wide-Eyed Idealist than all the others, as Leo actively refuses to fight against other animals and humans, even if to protect his own kingdom.
- In the 1997 movie, Leo was mostly based on his 1965 incarnation. As an adult, he was wise and graceful, rather than the Bumbling Dad he was in the original manga. He still retained some of his original incarnation's prejudice towards humanity, though this was mostly because they were invading his land and killing the residents of his jungle. He gets better by the end.
- In the 2009 movie, contrary to every other incarnation, Leo became cowardly and spoiled as a cub. This is justified, as the movie is set in an alternate universe where Leo didn't lose his parents at birth and was raised under their guard. Most of the movie is focused on developing him into the same strong leader he was in the previous incarnations.
- Albinos Are Freaks: In Journey into Time he is bullied by other lions for having white fur. (Real-life white lions have leucism rather than true albinism caused by a mutation on the same gene that causes albinism.)
- All-Loving Hero: His main trait, appreciating all life, including grasshoppers.
- Authority in Name Only: Kimba acts more like a democratic leader than he acts like a king. In several episodes, Kimba loses the faith of his people by doing something that goes against their will, once even putting things to a vote and leaving the jungle because his people didn't want him. Rather than "ruling" the jungle or imposing rules that it must follow, he has to prove to his followers that his way of dealing with issues are better overall. The only reason why he's called a "king" in the first place is because his followers respect him that much.
- Badass Adorable: He is an adorable lion cub with enough strength to take down a helicopter.
- The Beastmaster: He sometimes summons other animals to help him fight.
- Berserk Button: Attack his friends or mock his parents, and you'll learn the hard way why the hunters fear him.
- Bilingual Bonus: Kimba is a corruption of Simba, which means lion in the Swahili language.
- Break the Cutie: The first episode was basically this for him.
- Childhood Friend Romance: With Kitty.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: He becomes king while he's still a cub.
- Conveniently an Orphan: Deconstructed; while being an orphan gives Kimba every excuse to go on fun and exciting adventures, he is also the new ruler of the jungle that his father that he never had and has a "Well Done, Son" Guy relationship once ruled. The conflicts between Kimba's attempts to turn the jungle into a utopia and Panja's older rules results in several headaches for the hero.
- Distressed Dude: In the 1989 series, he would occasionally need to get rescued by Kitty in certain episodes. Such as the episode where Kitty had to rescue him from drowning underwater.
- Dub Name Change: He has only kept his original name for the English dub of Leo the Lion, Jungle Emperor Leo and the 2009 special. In both English dubs of the 1965 series and ''The New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion" his name was changed, obviously.
- Furry Ear Dissonance: His ears look more mouse-like than lion.
- Great White Feline: Kimba is a white lion and the main hero of the story.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: At one point in the manga, Kimba is seen wearing pants while walking on two legs (resembling Astro Boy).
- Heart Broken Badass: He doesn't take Kitty's death very well. While he's able to keep his composure for the sake of his daughter. He slowly starts getting less motivated as the story progresses.
- Heroic BSoD: Near the end of the manga and 1997 movie, the morning after Kitty's death. He's completely heartbroken and decides to stare at the clouds all morning. Meanwhile his daughter is busy collecting flowers to put on to her mother's grave. As she's getting closer to her grave, she quitely collapses which quickly alerts Kimba. As he's checking on her body, he's visibly shaking and on the verge of tears.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Both the manga and the 1997 movie end on Leo falling on Dr. Moustache's knife to allow him to eat his flesh and wear his fur to survive a snowstorm.
- Idiot Hero: Although he's not so much of an idiot as he is simply naive, reckless, and tends to overlook things.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: He's pure and innocent... until he reaches adulthood. While Leo retains most of his innocence in the manga, there is no trace of it to be found in the Onward Leo series.
- Leo shows traces of pureness and innocence in the 1989 series, though he struggles with incredibly violent instincts.
- Invincible Hero: Averted in most versions (including the 60's dub). Kimba is portrayed as a pretty strong leader and fighter, but he , and sometimes his emotions and wild nature get the better of him despite his attempts to stay strong. Avoided entirely in the 2009 feature length TV special where Kimba started out as cowardly and severely lacking in survival skills.
- Kid Hero: Leo is forced into this role because of the death of his parents.
- Killer Rabbit: Kimba might be cute as a cub, but that doesn't mean he's not vicious!
- King of Beasts: Leo is the prince, and later king, of all the animals in his jungle.
- Leeroy Jenkins: While Kimba can strategize when he wants to, he prefers charging head first rather than thinking about solutions.
- Meaningful Name: Leo in the Japanese-version, his parents explain that they gave him that name because it means "brave".
- Misplaced Wildlife: To the point that it was even lampshaded in the 2009 special where Kenichi/Kevin thought Leo would be living on the savannah rather than the jungle.
- Mushroom Samba: One episode of the 1965 series featured Kimba eating a mushroom and starts hallucinating his friends and allies acting rude and unfriendly to him.
- Pintsize Powerhouse: He's a lion cub that beats on full grown lions and bull rhinos.
- Red Oni: To Kitty's Blue Oni.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter
- Someone to Remember Him By: His father died before he was born.
- Spared by the Adaptation: While Onward Leo! was a straight adaptation of the second half of the manga, here, he survives to the end.
- Super-Strength: Kimba is incredibly strong to almost cartoonish degrees in the manga, '60s series and Onward Leo sequel, and even the more grounded '89 remake (he takes down a helicopter with a man inside!).
- Taking the Bullet: In the 1989 series, while Kimba and Kitty are under attack by a vulture. One of them tries to brutally attack Kitty only for Kimba to protect her by using his body as a shield. He's clearly in pain as the vulture's claw marks get deeper and bloodier.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: In the 1965 anime he absolutely abhors violence, and values all life. Nearly anyone he fights lives through the encounter, although usually with Amusing Injuries. A noticeable exception is a giant mutant grasshopper, but he feels terrible about what he did. The only time he comes close to killing a person is when he sees Hamegg again but even then he spares him and later rescues him from crashing into a tree and hopes to make peace.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Kimba is commonly portrayed as a pacifist, meaning he won't fight and especially not kill unless it is made necessary. The 1965 series is no exception. However, in its sequel series "Onward Leo!", he would severely hurt, kill and even aid others in fighting their enemies. In that series, he also puts his own son through emotional abuse and mortal danger, which also puts him at odds with his wife.
- Vegetarian Carnivore: Some versions of him try to adopt a vegetarian diet, with varying degrees of success.
- Vocal Dissonance: In the 1989 series, he's voiced by a grown man in the Japanese and English versions despite being a cub. note
- Warrior Prince: Kimba is both a leader and a soldier, willing to protect his animal kingdom through pragmatic and sometimes violent means.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Kimba has received appraisal and guidance from the ghostly forms of his parents.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Kimba is absolutely determined to create a new, kinder jungle at any means. Even if it means forcing the carnivores (and thus himself) to give up meat entirely.
- The Wise Prince: Played with. While Kimba is an empathetic and knowledgable prince, he is still a child who is prone to making impulsive decisions.
Kitty/Laiya
Voiced by: Keiko Matsuo (1965 anime); Sonia Owens (1965 English Dub); Unknown Voice Actress ("Leo The Lion" 1984 English Dub, Adult); Haruko Kitahama (Go Ahead Leo!); Sakiko Tamagawa (1989 anime); Kelly Sheridan (1989 English Dub); Chieko Baisho (1997 movie); Veronica Taylor (1997 movie English Dub)
Kimba's Love Interest (and future wife) and childhood friend.
- Adaptational Badass: In the 1989 series, she gets much more involved in action and peril. She even rescues Kimba from drowning underwater at one point.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In the 1989 anime, she first meets Kimba at an abandoned temple and thinks he's going to kidnap or hurt her. In the original manga and 1965 series, Kitty first meets Kimba after getting rescued by Claw.
- Adaptational Curves: Similar to Kimba, her design in the 1989 is more muscular (mainly around her chest and shoulders) than her standard design.
- Adaptation Personality Change: To a smaller degree than her future mate Kimba.
- In the original manga alongside the 1963 series, she's an upbeat and kindhearted lioness but gets easily jealous. When she becomes a young adult, she still acts like her young self but notably relaxed due to becoming a mother. In the 1966 sequel series, she's frequently against some of her husband's questionable parenting methods between Rune and Lukio.
- In the 1989 series, she's more serious and gets much more involved in action as Kimba. She also gets easily emotional and is seen crying during dramatic and emotional situations.
- Adapted Out: She's notably absent in the 2009 movie special alongside Tommy/Bucky.
- Ascended Extra: While she's already a main character in the original manga and 1965 series. In the 1989 anime, she has a larger role and becomes a secondary protagonist of the series. She would frequently become Kimba's partner throughout the series.
- Badass Adorable: She has quite a few moments of this as a cub, especially in the 1989 series where she's more involved in action.
- Battle Couple: In the 1989 series, she is frequently seen battling alongside Kimba.
- The Big Damn Kiss: In the 1989 series, one episode had her and Kimba sharing their very first kiss as cubs.
- But Now I Must Go: In all appearances, she would typically leave Kimba and his friends to head off to another location but meet up in later episodes (or chapters in the manga). When she becomes a young lioness, she would stay close with her children and her husband.
- Blue Oni: To Kimba's Red Oni.
- Childhood Friend Romance: With Kimba, the 1989 anime takes Kimba and Kitty's romantic relationship much further as cubs.
- Conveniently an Orphan: Similar to Kimba, she's an orphan who has no parents.
- Damsel in Distress: Kimba regularly has to rescue her.
- The Disease That Shall Not Be Named: Near the end of the manga and 1997 movie, she suddenly gets an unnamed plague and gets covered in purple spots. As it gets worse, we see her writhing in pain as she's dying.
- Dub Name Change: To "Kitty" in the 1966 English dub.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The original dub for the 1965 series is the only case where her name is not "Lyra" or some Spell My Name With An S variation.
- Furry Female Mane: She has brown hair that would later be shared with her daughter Lukio/Rukio in the manga and 1966 sequel series.
- First Love: For Kimba.
- Final Speech: As she's dying of a plague, she asks her daughter to come closer and lesson closely to her words. She tells Lukio to watch after her husband Kimba/Leo, make sure Rune/Lune returns safety, and help protect the jungle after she dies.
- Good Parents: In the sequel series Leo The Lion, while Kimba has some very questionable parenting methods. Kitty is more caring and friendlier with her two cubs.
- Leitmotif: In the 1960s series, she has her own character theme performed by violins, and flute as heard in her debut episode. Another varation of her character theme is performed by a group of women singing in opera. This would also become the Love Theme for both Kimba and Kitty in the later episodes.
- Panthera Awesome
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: As a cub, while she loses a bit of her cuteness as an adult. She still looks pretty cute and beautiful as a young adult lioness.
- The Smurfette Principle: She's the only main character in the series that's a female (not counting the supporting characters and human antagonists).
- Spared by the Adaptation: The 1966 sequel series that follows Kimba and Kitty as adults both end up living by the end of the series compared to the original manga.
- Spell My Name With An S: For some reason, no single dub or subtitle ever seems to be consistent about how to translate her name. Her other dub names include Lyre, Lyra, Leah, Laia, Raija, Raiya, Ryer and Raya.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In the sequel series, she calls out Kimba on his questionable parenting methoids with his children.
Dan'l Baboon/Mandy Mandrill/Daniel Baboon
An elderly mandrill who serves as a mentor and advisor to Kimba.
- Adaptational Species Change: He's a mandrill in the original series, but a bearded monkey in the 1997 film.
- Cool Old Guy
- Demoted to Extra: He only appears as a cameo in the 1989 series.
- Dub Name Change: An unusual case when it comes to the English dubs for the 1965 series: "Dan'l Baboon" for the original and "Daniel Baboon" for the 1993 dub, making it a case of Spell My Name With An S.
- The Good Chancellor
- Grumpy Old Man: While he's still a fairly wise mentor figure to Kimba, he's also an ornery old coot.
- Old Master
- Parental Substitute: Acts as a father figure to Kimba.
Bucky/Tommy & Pauly Cracker/Coco
A comical gazelle-parrot duo.
- Adapted Out: While Coco/Pauly managed to appear in the 2009 special. Bucky/Tommy is notably absent alongside Kimba's love interest Kitty/Laiya.
- Black Bead Eyes: In the manga, Bucky was originally depicted with black dots for eyes.
- Berserk Button: Badmouthing Kimba is this for Coco/Pauly.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Coco/Pauly is usually all bark and no bite. But in at least two different instances, he saved Kimba's life. And in another instance, he led an army of birds and straight up tried to kill Bubu/Claw when he was threatening Kimba. Bubu was only saved because Kimba begged Coco to spare him.
- Butt-Monkey: Bucky
- City Mouse: Pauly was once the pet of a hotel owner before living in the jungle.
- Deadpan Snarker: Pauly Cracker
- The Ditz: Bucky
- Dub Name Change: Coco became "Pauly" for the English version of the 1965 series and kept this name for both English dubs of the 1965 dubs. For the dub of Leo the Lion and the 2009 special he kept his original name. Tommy underwent similar changes, becoming "Bucky" for the dubs of the 1965 series, while becoming "Tumy", the Japanese version of his original name, for Leo the Lion.
- Gender Flip: Coco is female in the 2009 special.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: One of Pauly's main character traits is being comically bad-tempered. He rivals Pesto in terms of being easily set off.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Pauly is pugnacious and has a short temper, but he's not a bad guy.
- Lovable Coward: Both of them.
- Plucky Comic Relief
- Punny Name
- Simpleton Voice: Bucky speaks in a dim-witted, simplistic manner in the 1963 series.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Inverted, Bucky and Pauly are present as Kitty's dying of an unnamed plague. The duo can only watch and sadly bow their heads. In general, Bucky and Pauly's comedic nature gets toned down as the manga and 1997 movie gets darker and sadder.
- Those Two Guys: It's not rare to see one without the other.
- Undying Loyalty: They're this to Kimba. While the other animals usually rebel against his ruling or do something reprehensible, they're the first ones to call them out on their behaviour. They're also the first ones to put themselves in danger to save Kimba's life whenever he gets in trouble.
Villains
Claw/Bubu/Jamar
A villainous one-eyed lion.
- Abhorrent Admirer: Is this towards Kitty. Who is a child.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: He has no interest in Kitty in the 1989 series.
- Adaptational Badass: The 1989 anime makes him far more competent and menacing as a villain than both the manga and the 1965 series, coming close to killing Kimba at some points.
- Big Bad: He's the most reoccurring antagonist in the 1965 anime.
- Cats Are Mean: A lion and the primary antagonist.
- Dirty Old Man: If his lust towards Kitty is anything to go by.
- Dub Name Change: For the 1965 series, he went from "Bubu" to "Claw" for the English dub. For the 1993 dub, he regained his original name. The dub of the 1989 series names him as "Jamar".
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: As creepy as his infatuation is to Kitty he never tries to hurt her and tries to genuinely win her affection.
- Evil Cripple: He's missing his left eye in most versions and he's always a bad guy.
- Evil Overlord
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a scar over one of his eyes in the 1989 anime.
- It's All About Me
- The Jailbait Wait: He constantly makes creepy remarks to Kitty that she'll be with him when she's older.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: In the 1965 anime he is a cruel power-hungry egomaniac who routinely abuses his minions. The only time he shows genuine kindness and selflessness is when he's trying to groom a child.
- Named After the Injury: Has an injury over his left eye, presumably missing an eyeball, most likely caused from a claw attack on his face at some point.
- Panthera Awesome
- Spared by the Adaptation: He survives in every single retelling of the story except maybe the 1989 series.
Cassius/Toto/Silkar/Sylvester/Shaka
A black panther in league with Claw.
- Adaptational Badass: In the original manga, he's a bumbling fool. Most adaptations make him a significantly more formidable and capable character.
- Adaptational Heroism: The 2009 special has him be an Anti-Hero rather than a villain as he usually is.
- Breakout Character: He's included in the 2009 special, whereas Bubu is not.
- Cats Are Mean: He's a black leopard.
- Dark Is Evil: His fur is black and is one of the main villains.
- The Dragon: To Claw.
- Dub Name Change: From the comedic "Toto" to the Shakespearean "Cassius" for the 1965 dub and "Sylvester" for the 1993 dub, then in Leo the Lion his name was changed to "Silkar" and in The New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion he was named "Shaka." If you haven't guessed, he isn't even remotely close to having a consistent name in dubs. The only dub to have kept his original name so far is the one for the 2009 special.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: In the 1965 TV series, Cassius is cunning and pragmatic compared to the boorish Claw.
- Manipulative Bastard
- Panthera Awesome
- Smug Snake
Tom and Tab/Dick and Bo
A duo of goofy hyenas in league with Claw and Cassius.
- Adapted Out: They are absent in the 1989 anime.
- Bumbling Henchmen Duo: A pair of goofy antagonists in league with the Big Bad.
- Canon Foreigner: They were created for the television series to serve as comic relief.
- Decomposite Character: Toto's comedic traits from the manga are given to these two "blockheads."
- Fat and Skinny: Tom/Dick is tall and skinny, Tab/Bo is short and chubby.
- Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better: They are mainly shown as bipedal rather than quadrupedal, which makes them stand out in a cast of animals that usually move like in real life.
- Goldfish Poop Gang
- Harmless Villain: They rarely cause any damage.
- Heinous Hyena: A pair of hyenas that work for the villains, although generally too incompetent to do anything.
- Meaningful Name: Doubles as Punny Names — in Japanese, "Dick and Bo" sounds like the Japanese word for "blockhead", reflecting their lack of competence.
- Non-Standard Character Design: In a cast of mainly Talking Animals, these two stand out by looking more like outright Funny Animals, right down to bipedalism and having hands rather than front paws.
- Stupid Crooks: They can't get much right.
The Vulture/Kazim
A vulture that sides with Bubu in the 1989 adaptation.
- Canon Foreigner: Doesn't exist in neither the manga, nor the 1965 adaptation.
- Composite Character: Takes Dick and Bo's place from the 1965 adaptation.
- Named by the Adaptation: The English dub gives him the name Kazim.
- Vile Vulture: A vulture who works for one of the main villains.
Kimba's Family
Panja/Ceasar
- Adaptational Heroism: In the 1965 series, he believed that animals that served humans were unfit to live and fair game for good eatin' -– however, the original English dub instead implied that Caesar was as egalitarian and broad-minded as his son, which makes some episodes somewhat awkward (like Sampson's return, who offers some former pack-mules to Kimba as an offering for a celebratory meal). The 1993 dub keeps his original policy.
- Companion Cube: His pelt is routinely seen being carried and played with by Kimba.
- Death by Origin Story: His death forced Kimba to take leadership as a cub.
- Dub Name Change: From Panja to Ceasar in the 1965 dub. Most other dubs keep his original name.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The 1965 dub of the original series remains the only case in the franchise where Panja does not keep his original name in English and is instead called "Caesar."
- Fantastic Racism: Utterly despises humans and any animal who chooses to associate with them.
- The Good King: Downplayed in the manga and original Japanese: while Caesar was a good king to his loyal subjects, he had little mercy for domesticated animals, viewing any animal who served humans as unfit to live.
- Of Corpse He's Alive: Dan'l and Pauly use his hide to disguise themselves as his ghost to speak to Kimba.
Snowene/Eliza
Kimba's mother.
- The Bait: Was captured by Hamegg in order to lure in Ceasar.
- Death by Origin Story: Like her husband, she dies so Kimba will be forced to take charge.
Leona/Ryona/Kayla
Kimba's cousin, sister, or aunt depending on the version
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Cousin in the manga, sister in the 1965 anime, and aunt in the 1989 anime.
- Death by Adaptation: In the 1989 series.
- Mistaken for Romance: In the 1965 series, Kitty catches her affectionately licking Kimba and attacks her in a jealous rage.
- Skewed Priorities: When Kimba tells the animals carrying the hides of his ancestors to save themselves instead of the hides when drowning in the river, she chews Kimba out for letting some of the hides be washed away.
Lune/Rune
Voiced by: Kyoko Satomi (Go Ahead Leo!); Mifuyu Hiragi (1997 movie); Jose Alvarez (English, Go Ahead Leo!); Tara Sands (1997 movie English Dub)
Kimba and Kitty's son.- Babies Ever After: In the Time Skip ending of the manga, Kenichi, Mary and Mr. Mustache receive a letter and a picture from which they learn that Rune is all grown up and has had cubs.
- Big Damn Heroes: He saves Pinto from getting trampled by the panicked elephants and calms them down convincing them to help extinguish the circus' fire. He and the circus animals are then shipped back into the wild.
- Bratty Half-Pint: He can get a bit rebellious with his father at times.
- Break the Cutie: Even more so in the manga. He decides to run away from home to go live in the world of the humans, only to be subjected to a hellish experience by the hands of Adam Dandy, and as an additional disproportionate karma for his curiosity, returns to Africa only to learn that both of his parents are dead.
- Human Disguise / Disguised in Drag: In the manga Pinto manages to sneak Rune out of Adam Dandy's circus by dressing up and disguising him as a little human girl.
- Fantasy Sequence: In the manga and in the 1997 movie, after being curious about humans and their relationship with animals. We get a short imagination sequence showing Lune/Rune riding on robot pants (complete with a bow tie) traveling around the world.
- Nightmare Sequence: In the manga, while walking through the Big Rotten Apple after escaping the circus, Rune is overwhelmed by all the loud noises and the traffic, to the point he starts seeing the cars morphing into bug-eyed monsters with sharp teeth that circle around him. This makes him take back any remaining interest towards the human world and makes him fully focused on returning home to his family in the wild.
- Reused Character Design: Shares the same design as his father when he was a cub. To the point, that viewers will easily mistake him as Kimba. In the manga at the very least he's missing his dad's black tips around the ears (which his sister Rukio inherited instead).
- Sole Survivor: He alongside his sister are the only surviving members of Kimba and Kitty's family by the end of both the manga and the 1997 movie.
- Talking Animal: In the manga, he has learned the human language from his father, who learned it from Kenichi. Adam Dandy exploits his ability to become a rich showman.
Lukio/Rukio
Voiced by: Eiko Masuyama (Go Ahead Leo!); Hekiru Shiina (1997 movie); Elizabeth Williams (1997 movie English Dub)
Kimba and Kitty's daughter.- Adaptation Personality Change: She's more tomboyish in the 1966 series than the original manga.
- Break the Cutie:
- In the 1966 series, she alongside her brother are horrified after Leo unintentionally knocks out Mandy, to the point it seems like Leo has killed him, right in front of their eyes.
- In the manga and 1997 movie she breaks down when her mother dies from an unnamed plague.
- Reused Character Design: Similar to her brother, she shares the same character design as Kitty as a cub. The only difference is that her design in the manga depicted her with black tips around her ears. The exception is the 1997 movie where she's given a brand new design.
- Tomboy: Is this in Onward, Leo!.
- You Don't Look Like You: In the original manga and the 1966 sequel series, Lukio has the same design as Kitty/Lyra's design as a cub. In the 1997 movie, she's given a new design and lacks Kitty's brown hair/fur with an all yellow body.
Other Animals
Speedy/Bongo
A leopard cub.
- Adaptation Species Change: He was originally a leopard but changed to a cheetah in the dub. He still looks like a leopard.
- Revenge by Proxy: He attacks Kimba becauss he believes Panja killed his grandfather.
- You Killed My Father: Believes Kimba's father killed his grandfather and attacks Kimba.
Dash, Dinkie, and Dot
A Cheetah, Sand Cat, and Leopard constantly seen with each other.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: In later episodes, Dash is colored blue despite being grey before.
- Cats Are Mean: Usually averted, but played straight in "A Revolting Discovery".
- The Dividual: They tend to act as a singular block when on screen. Dash gets the most singular focus when it happens.
- Face–Heel Revolving Door: They (along with Speedy) turn against Kimba in "A Revolting Discovery", only to return to his side at the end.
- Gender Flip: Dash is female in the Japanese dub, male in the English dub.
Boss Rhino/Sebastian
An agressive rhino who acts as a rival to Kimba, who despises humans.
- Fantastic Racism: Hates humans.
- Heel–Face Turn: In "Volcano Island" he lets go of his hatred of all things related to humans and becomes friends with Kimba after Kimba saves his cousin with a raft.
- Rhino Rampage: A rhino who causes destruction for Kimba.
Pagoola/Kelly Phant & Bizo
An aggressive elephant who highly disagrees with Kimba's views on humans and his bratty son.
- Cruel Elephant: Both of them. Pagoola is a giant bully who hates humanity, abuses and throws his weight around smaller animals, gets offended at the smallest insult and demands respect from everyone around him even when he's trying to kill them. Bizo is essentially a smaller version of him, and his father threatens to kill anyone who fights back when he tries to bully them.
- Enfante Terrible: Bizo tries to throw a sickly and dying Lyre off a cliff in the manga, Kimba promptly beats him up for it. In the anime adaptation, he attempts to kill Rune and destroy the vaccine that would save Lyre and the jungle from the deadly plague. He later runs back crying to Pagoola and convinces him to start a war with Kimba and kill his human friends.
- Karma Houdini: Pagoola commits numerous atrocities across all Kimba media, including, but not limited to: stealing, property destruction and attempted murder of humans and numerous species of cubs. You want to know what the best part is? He receives absolutely no comeuppance for his actions and both him and his son survive the end of the series, whereas Leo/Kimba and Laiya/Kitty do not.
- Hate Sink: They regularly show up to bully the main cast, even when they're trying to save the jungle, and get away with it every single time. Good luck trying to find any good qualities whatsoever in these two.
The Mammoth/Great Mother
A Woolly Mammoth who lives on Mt. Moon.
- Empathic Environment: It starts snowing whenever she shows up.
- Honorable Elephant: Is a kind and wise individual.
- Misplaced Wildlife: Ignoring the fact woolly mammoths are supposed to be extinct, they also didn't live in Africa.
Humans
Roger Ranger/Kenichi/Jonathan/Kevin O'Donnell
- Age Lift: In the manga he was a child when he met Kimba. In the 1965 anime he is an adult.
- Animal Lover: Makes friends with Kimba and the rest of the animals in the jungle.
- Dub Name Change: For both English dubs of the 1965 series, Kenichi was given a name change: "Roger Ranger" and "Jonathan" for the original and 1993 dub respectively. The dub for the 2009 special likewise changed his name to "Kevin O'Donnell."
- Nice Guy: He was nice enough to be the reason why Kimba stopped hating humans.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Rather than animals learning to speak human languages, in the 2009 special Kenichi/Kevin can understand the animals.
- Tarzan Boy: In the manga he ends up becoming this after getting lost in Africa with Kimba. To his credit, he adapts to the surroundings pretty well and becomes something of a link between the humans and the animals.
- Token Human: The only human seen among Kimba's friends, when his uncle isn't around.
- What Does He See in Her?: Why he is considers Mary to be the love of his life when she's an animal-abusing Clingy Jealous Girl who he (in the 1965 anime) admits behaves worse than animals is anyone's guess.
Mr. Pompous/Dr. Moustache/Uncle Oscar/Shunsaku "Higeoyaji" Ban
- Accent Adaptation: For some reason he is portrayed with a southern accent in the English dub of Leo the Lion.
- Dub Name Change: For both English dubs of the original series he was renamed: "Mr. Pompous" and "Uncle Oscar" for the original and 1993 dub respectively.
- Token Human
Mary/Conga/Tonga
- Adaptational Heroism: Mary is a more positive figure in the 1997 film, lacking all of her negative qualities to the point that it would have been less of an example of What Does He See in Her? if Kenichi had fallen in love with this Mary. Given she has absolutely nothing in common with any iteration of Mary, her name could just be a Mythology Gag rather than being a true incarnation of the character.
- Age Lift: Like Kenichi she was a child in the manga, but adult in the 1965 anime.
- Alternate Identity Amnesia: In the manga she becomes the Queen of an African tribe, in the Anime she becomes a vicious hunter.
- Animal Nemesis: In the anime she is obsessed with hunting Kimba.
- Babies Ever After: In the ending of the manga, she's living with Mr. Mustache and Kenichi, being the latter's wife and mother of his baby boy.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: In the Anime, Tonga is a hunter who puts animals in cages and starves them so they become wild and thus more fun to hunt, and gleefully massacred a herd of elephants.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Tonga in the 1965 anime is almost as consistent to Kimba as Claw, and far more dangerous.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Is this to Hamegg.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Is very jealous that Kimba gets Kenichi's attention, and routinely abuses him.
- Cruella to Animals: In the 1993 dub she states she'd prefer Kimba to be a minks so she could turn him into a scarf.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Subverted; while her abuse of Kenichi is Played for Laughs at times, it's never portrayed as acceptable.
- Easily Forgiven: In the Anime, she starves animals, enslaves them, kills god-knows-how-many of them off-screen, and on-screen, she kills a lioness and a pack of over 400 elephants. She also tries to kill Kenichi and Mr. Mustache, her boyfriend and his uncle, respectively. But since she's amnesiac, they accept her with open arms once she regains her memories and she doesn't get punished for any of her terrible crimes.
- Egomaniac Hunter: In the Anime, Tonga claims she doesn't care about money, just the hunt.
- Hate Sink: In 1965 anime, even before she became Tonga, she would routinely abuse Kimba for the "crime" of getting attention from her boyfriend. As Tonga, she becomes far worse in her cruelty. The Manga version has her also be cruel and petty.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Is told by her boyfriend that she acts more wild than Kimba multiple times when she attacks the poor cub. And this is before her Face–Heel Turn.
- Inconsistent Spelling: In translations of the manga her name alternates between Merry and Mary.
- In Name Only: Mary in the 1997 film was actually based on an entirely different character from the same manga, who on top of that, also happened to be a little boy.
- Karma Houdini: Read Easily Forgiven above.
- Kick the Dog: Or lion cub in this case. In both the original manga and the 1965 anime, Mary starts physically assaulting Kimba shortly after they interact, and repeatedly do so.
- Race Lift: She was white in the original manga, but she's been subject to this a couple of times. Conga is a native in the 1989 adaptation, with no indication she was ever Mary. There's also a dark-skinned circus performer name Mary in the 1997 film.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: In the Manga she is Hamegg/Viper Snakely's daughter. In the 1965 show there is no such relation between them.
- Would Hurt a Child: In both the manga and 1965 anime, Mary routinely tries to attack Kimba, a lion cub. In the 1965 anime episode "Too Many Elephants" Tonga has no issue killing baby elephants.
Viper Snakely/Ham Egg/Hucklebuck/Jake
A greedy poacher.
- Adaptational Nationality: In the English dub of The New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion, he is portrayed with an Australian accent.
- Adaptational Villainy: Was more of an Anti-Villain in the original manga, but is turned into a straight-up traditional villain in most adaptions.
- Alas, Poor Villain: In the Manga, despite being the killer of Kimba's parents and a former SS Officer, his last moments are him lamenting he will never see his daughter again.
- Anti-Villain: Type II in the manga and to a lesser degree the 1997 film.
- The Atoner: Just when he is about to give up hunting and retire for the sake of his daughter, he finally earns a crumb of sympathy from the audience... and then proceeds to lose it entirely as we learn what his job was before he became a safari hunter— specifically that he was an SS Officer posted in an internment camp. It stings worse when you find out the person blackmailing him, is a former captive of said camp, who simply won't let him retire until he helps obtain the moonstones.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: In the Manga, he dies in Kenichi's arms.
- Dastardly Whiplash: A tall, slim villain with a small, twirly mustache and a hooked nose.
- Dub Name Change: Besides from going from the comedic "Ham Egg" to the sinister "Viper Snakely" for the 1965 series, for the 1993 dub his name was changed to the equally comedic "Hucklebuck" and for The New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion he got his name changed to the more mundane "Jake." Much like Toto, he is nowhere near close to having a consistent name in English.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite being a pretty big bastard, he genuinely cares about his daughter.
- Evil Poacher: Implied to be the case in the 1997 film, in all other appearances he is simply an Egomaniac Hunter.
- Lean and Mean: Throughout the Osamu Tezuka Star System and its various adaptations, the 2009 Astro Boy film excluded, he has consistently been portrayed as a lean villain and the Jungle Emperor Leo franchise is no exception.
- Meaningful Name: He's a Smug Snake making his 1965 dub-name of "Viper Snakely" fitting and his 1993 dub-name "Hucklebuck", as comedic as it is, ends up bringing Frank Buck, an American hunter, to mind.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His 1965 dub-name.
- Redemption Equals Death: In the manga, Kimba finally forgives him, only for Claw to finish him off. He dies begging Kenichi to save his daughter.
- Retired Monster: Not that his current job as a poacher is exactly on the up-and-up, but he used to be a SS Officer. Lamp coerces him into working with him, threatening to reveal his secret to his daughter.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Every single one except the 1997 film.
- Those Wacky Nazis: Before he turned to poaching, he was an officer in the SS.
Kutter/Dr. Minus
One of Hamegg's partners
- Adaptational Dumbass: A professor in the manga, Hamegg's bumbling henchman in the anime.
- Heel–Face Turn: In episode 13 of the 1965 anime he repents his ways and apologizes to Kimba.
Acetylene Lamp
A man who coerces Hamegg to find the moonstones.
- Adapted Out: Not in the 1965 show.
- He Who Fights Monsters: A cruel man who goes after former evil men (like the ex-Nazi Hamegg) and other evil men like Adam Dandy, asking him to have Rune handed over to him or else he'll expose that he sold a moonlight stone to an enemy country.
- Jerkass: Is a cruel man who cares little for anything other than money and power.
- Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Sadistically coerces Hamegg into working for him. They way he does it is by bringing up Hamegg's past as a Nazi officer who worked in the camps.
Adam Dandy
A villainous, opportunistic individual who ends up being Rune's Bad Boss after capturing him.
- Adapted Out / Demoted to Extra: Absent in the 1965 anime, while in the 1997 movie there's a circus tamer with a similar appearance who roughs Rune up a bit before Mary stops him, but nothing more.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Poor, poor Rune...
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Instead of killing Mr. Mustache, he comes up with a more convoluted plan of sending him away and having one of his henchmen impersonate him, which Mr. Mustache manages to bust forcing Adam and his men to abandon ship and survive on an African beach (until they come across Rune). Later, he knocks out Lamp when he comes after him, but tells his men to tie him up so that he can try reason with him later. The result: Lamp manages to free himself and sets Adam's circus on fire.
- The Dandy: Aside from being in the name, Adam embodies this trope for being a campy hedonist who dresses up elegantly.
- Faux Affably Evil: When he first meets Rune and discovering that he can talk, he pretends to be a shipwrecked person and has the lion cub rescue him by alerting a passing ship through a seagull. Once they're safe and alone, Adam takes advantage of Rune's desire to see the human world and has him sign a life contract to become his property, and it all goes downhill from there for Kimba's son.
- Hate Sink: He's scheming, backstabbing, manipulative, greedy and physically abusive villain without a single redeeming quality or Pet the Dog moments. You'll wish for his demise to be much more violent than what it ended up being.
- Humans Are Bastards: Adam utterly crushes Rune's idyllic ideas of civilization and living with humans by being arguably the worst specimen of the entire manga.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: It takes a while before he finally gets his comeuppance, until then he's very lucky to have come across Rune allowing him to become a rich showman.
- Repulsive Ringmaster: Adam sets up a huge circus business with Rune as the star attraction for being a Talking Animal. Of course, any time Rune refuses to listen correctly (such as when he's asked to whip the other lions, or when he allows a group of lions to nap in the middle of a performance) Adam beats the living daylights out of him. Rune's whole subplot with Adam clearly shows the influence Dumbo has had on Tezuka's work.
- Sinister Schnoz: Has a long, pointy nose that goes upwards.
- Undignified Death: His final battle with Lamp ends with them wrestling in a puddle of mud, where Lamp gets the upper hand before they get both trampled over to death by a herd of panicking elephants.
- Would Hurt a Child: He's extremely abusive towards Rune to the point of edging to The Chew Toy territory, but he's also willing to kidnap and threaten with death Pito, a human boy who befriends Rune during his captivity.
- Youthful Freckles
Dr. Plus/Duke Red
One of the professors who asks Hamegg to help him find the moonlight stones.
- Adapted Out: Like Lamp, he does not appear in the 1965 anime.
- Heroic Suicide: Allows himself to die to give his expedition a higher chance for survival.
- Reused Character Design: Is Duke Red from Tezuka's Star System.
