Brains: Evil; Brawn: Good: In his conflict with Scar. Though it's shown in the sequel that, while not perfect, he manages to turn the pridelands around and is a far more competent ruler than Scar, who had no idea what to do with his power.
Brains: Evil; Brawn: Good: In his conflict with Scar. However, it turns out he's far more intelligent when it comes to ruling the Pridelands than Scar is.
And they're lessened quite a bit when you realize he's just Color-coded for our convenience: Given how a lot of other Disney villains wear dark clothing, and lions don't wear clothes...
Elaborating on that, Scar never had a queen, despite being surrounded by lionesses. Also it's easy to forget, but Simba and Nala had an arranged marriage, which implies that Scar didn't just fail to get a queen, but refused to get one.
Though we do find out he had a mate in the sequel, and not having an Arranged Marriagemight be justified by the fact that he's not first in line.
Busted! In a deleted scene found on the Diamond Edition Blu-Ray, Scar discusses his need to find a queen and then coaxes Nala into becoming just that. Needless to say, she angrily refuses and runs off. The scene would be the set-up for the scene where she finds Simba, but it was cut because it featured really creepy undertones (obviously), according to the commentary.
Badass: His scheme took major guts to pull off, and he almost won in the end.
Bad Boss: Lets the hyenas run rampant over the Pride Lands until even they run out of food, casually manipulates all of them into helping his selfish scheme, and ultimately tries to pass the blame onto them when he tries to weasel his way out of justice.
Berserk Button: Mentioning how much better of a king Mufasa was than him, probably because he knows it's true. Just using the M-word in front of him by itself sends him into a rage.
The Caligula: He is an absolutely terrible ruler, and he threatens or intimidates anyone who tries to tell him otherwise. The mere mention of Mufasa is enough to send him into a rage.
Despotism Justifies the Means: Quite happy to let the Pride Lands go to hell in a handbasket if that means he can be King. He's also pretty up-front that he wants the job for the power, and refuses to even acknowledge that he's supposed to have duties and responsibilities to go with them.
Evil Sounds Deep: Scar carries a subtle reverb in his voice that becomes noticeable whenever he is dripping with sickly-sweet sarcasm or he completely loses control of his temper.
Faux Affably Evil: Sure, he has no problem in murdering his own brother in cold blood to obtain the throne, but he's so cool.
Fascist, but Inefficient: He's an effective schemer right up until he actually gains power, at which point his disregard for anyone but himself runs the entire kingdom into the ground.
Genre Blind: He sends his bumbling minions to kill someone whom they've already failed to kill, and just look at the results of the aforementioned Evil Gloating.
Green-Eyed Monster: Several lines in "Be Prepared" imply how jealous he is of Mufasa's success as king and the "injustice" that he's no longer next in line for the throne after Simba's birth. Heavy emphasis on the "monster" part,
And he's a literal example as well, since he really does have Green Eyes. Also notice that, in Real Life, lions don't have green eyes, making the use even more metaphorical.
It's All About Me: "I'm the king, I can do whatever I want" sums his rule up. It's also a Deconstruction of the trope, as this view on life results in the Pride Lands going to heck and him having a 0% Approval Rating.
Manipulative Bastard: One of the classic movie examples, and fitting for a villain in a Shakespearean-style film. There are very few characters in the story whom he does not deceive, and he sometimes manipulates others purely for his own amusement.
Meaningful Name: He was re-named "Scar" because of the permanent scar on his left eye. According to the books, his real name is Taka, which means "trash" in Swahili.
Obviously Evil: Just in case you hadn't noticed all the Evil Tropes above. And yet his brother still trusts him.
Only Known by Their Nickname: According to a storybook published following the film's release, his birth name was Taka (Swahili for "trash" or "want").
Psychopathic Manchild: Best exemplified by his "I am the King, I can do whatever I want" excuse, because it is essentially the attitude of Simba as a cub, even though Simba never meant it in such a bastardly way.
Pyrrhic Victory: His original fate in the Alternate Ending. He wins the fight with Simba by throwing him off Pride Rock, but is then burned to death himself when the fires surrounding Pride Rock engulf it. By throwing Simba off Pride Rock, he actually saves Simba from suffering that fate and allowing him to have his happy ending anyway, making Scar's victory in the fight meaningless.
His plan turns out this way. He succeeds in becoming King, but the once-bountiful Pride Lands quickly go to hell in a handbasket under his disastrous and self-serving leadership. Even the hyenas think that Mufasa's reign was better for them.
Red Right Hand: His scar, and his claws that are always bared (unlike the others).
Sanity Slippage: More obvious in the musical, but still visible in the movie. The musical has a number called "The Madness of King Scar", where he begins to go completely insane.
Sanity Slippage Song: "The Madness Of King Scar" in the musical version. He grows more insane as the song goes on, eventually seeing the ghost of Mufasa everywhere and becoming desperate to have cubs to continue his line. He also becomes increasingly paranoid, believing that the lionesses hate him (which they probably do) and are plotting to murder him.
Smug Snake: After becoming king. Although Scar was a master of manipulating everyone around him to seize the power he craved, he proved to be utterly incompetent at actually using the power once he had it, though this was more due to laziness and selfishness than a lack of intelligence. He hadn't been raised to be a king so he had no experience. Like Simba as a cub, he thought that it was just all about the power and the glory rather than actual hard work. He'd originally persuaded the hyenas to support him by promising that they'd never go hungry again, but the drought in the Pride Lands leads to a famine and causes the hyenas to begin grumbling about Scar even before Simba comes back.
The original ending of the film had a far more pronounced one. After his fight with Simba, which ends with Simba being the one thrown off Pride Rock (but lives), Scar is last seen laughing insanely as the fires surrounding Pride Rock engulf and kill him.
Villain Song: "Be Prepared" were he explains to the Hyenas how he intended to murder his brother and nephew to become king. There was also a cut reprise to "Be Prepared" were he introduces the Hyenas as his 'executive staff', though its also a Villain Song for them as well.
Wanting Is Better Than Having: After killing Mufasa and finally becoming the King of Pride Rock he ends up turning the paradise to ruins. Although he obviously mopes over the ordeal of being king, Scar is too proud to admit that he wasn't cut out for the job.
Wicked Cultured: Not only his speech is the more refined in the movie, but somehow he knows about the gene pool.
Villain Song: They and the other Hyenas act as backup singers for "Be Prepared", though its mostly for Scar. The cut reprise would've been more of a Villain Song for the Hyenas.
Rage Against The Reflection: During "Not One Of Us", as he's being driven from the Pride Lands, he looks at his reflection in the river. While Simba once saw Mufasa in a pool of water, all Kovu sees is Scar, which leads to this.
The Chessmaster: Despite being Ax Crazy, she shows some apsects of this. She trained Kovu from birth to sneak into the Pride Lands and become her instrument of Simba's destruction. Then she proceeds to use this to throw Simba off his game by revealing it to him (even though Kovu already underwent a Heel Face Turn by the time).
Disney Villain Death / Inevitable Waterfall: Worth mentioning is her death was originally much darker, including her being Driven to Suicide and letting go of her own free will. It even would've shown her being crushed by logs in the torrent.
Dragon Their Feet / Dragon Ascendant: Is Scar's mate, thus was most likely his second-in-command. She didn't appear in the first film at all, but becomes the Big Bad of the second one.
The Exile: Was banished from the Pride Lands along with the other Outlanders. We never find out why, but she is ticked off about it.
Fatal Flaw: Her thirst for vengeance. While she shows at Nuka's death and other times that she loves her children, her all-consuming thirst for vengeance causes her to be an Abusive Parent, ultimately causing the death of one of her children and the Heel Face Turn of the other two, as well as her own demise.
Villainous Breakdown: Naturally she was never the most sane person, but after Nuka dies, she throws her Evil Plan out the window, banishes her favorite son, and starts a full-out war with the Pride Lands. Gets even worse when Kovu and Kiara return and stop the fighting, threatening her own daughter with death.
What Have I Done: Cruelly subverted. After Nuka's death, she seems to blame herself but then shifts the blame to Kovu.
Heel Face Turn: Is the first of the Outlanders to see the logic in what Kovu and Kiara are trying to say.
Meaningful Name: The word "vitani" means "war" in Swahilli, however the word also bears a resembalence to "shetani", the Swahilli word for "demon of war".
